Journal Challenge 2
Yesterday I went through Joel, and that was a bit confusing, but I came away understanding the need for true brokenness and not just faux brokenness before God. Today, I began Amos. Amos is a bit easier to understand (at least chapters 2-3 are), because it is all judgement. Amos helps us out by telling us when he was a prophet, which was during Uzziah's reign two years before an earthquake (1:1). During this time, the surrounding nations have not been too kind to Israel and Judah (no surprise there), and so God begins pronouncing judgement upon them. He mentions Damascus, Gaza, Tyre, Edom, the Ammonites, and Moab. All of which shared a border with Israel and Judah. Damascus is judged becaused they destroyed Gilead, which was a refuge city. This was a city of protection that was established for people to enter and not have to worry about being killed. So, because of their actions against Gilead, Damascus is reduced to nothing. The same is said about the Ammonite people. Gaza and Tyre are judged because they took Israelites and sold them to Edom. Edom is judged because "he pursued his brother with the sword." Edomites were the descendants of Esau, Jacob's brother. Moab was judged because they "burned to lime the bones of the king of Edom." So, here we see, that even though he wasn't chosen by God to be His people, God still protected Esau's descendants because of the relationship between Esau and Jacob and Isaac.
But God also pronounces judgement upon Judah and Israel. Judah "rejected the law of the Lord" and they followed after false gods (2:4). Israel, though, they are some messed up people when Amos is talking to them. They take advantage of the righteous and the needy, they do not care about the laws God has given them, and, in fact, they get others who are committed to God to turn away. See verse 12 of chapter 2: "But you made the Nazirites drink wine, and you commanded the prophets, saying, 'You shall not prophesy.'" After this, God says that the strong, mighty, swift, and nimble will not be able to stand on the day of judgement.
So, here is my thought: who have I led astray? Have I made people go against their vows or not be used by God? The Bible says "God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble." (James 4:6, 1 Peter 5:5). Do I think myself better? Do I think myself strong or mighty? To think such a way is to pharisaical and to think of myself as righteous, when I know that my righteousness is as clean as a woman on her period (Isaiah 64:6).
Just my leaving thoughts...
Saturday, July 16, 2011
Friday, July 15, 2011
Journal Challenge: Day 1
This last week at Journey Youth Camp, I challenged my students to keep a journal for 30 days once we returned home. This serves multiple purposes. The first is it creates a habit of getting into the Word daily. The second is so that they can look back and remember what God taught them. Instead of writing mine down to myself, I decided I would keep a journal on my blog. As I was trying to decide where I should start, I felt I should look at the Old Testament minor prophets I had never previously studied. So, I am starting with Joel.
Journal: Day 1
The hard part with these minor prophets is that you get very little context to what was going on in the land of Israel or Judah at the time of the writing. Joel is one of those books where we just do not know when it was written. Best guesses put it somewhere between 800-835 BC during the reign of Joash in Judah. With Joel, God, again, is pronouncing judgment upon His own people for their disobedience and sin. However, he does proclaim grace and mercy upon His people once they return to Him. As I read this, I cannot help but draw parallels to Revelation. From the swarms and hordes of locusts to the sun being darkened and the moon turning to blood. If these events truly came to pass in Judah during this time, there would be a record of it in either 2 Kings or 2 Chronicles.
Alas, there is no record of this happening. This leads me to believe the words Joel received from the Lord were prophetic for a time 800 years in the future. My clues? After words of terror about earthquakes and the sun and moon being darkened, God says this: "'Yet even now.' declares the Lord, 'return to me with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning; and rend your hearts and not your garments.'" Now, to understand this "clue" of mine, you must understand the word "rend." The word "rend" means to "tear apart." In the Old Testament, the Jewish people would tear their garments in moments of great distress and agony, whether physical or because of sin. What God is calling them to do here is to tear their hearts instead. Allow themselves to be fully broken inside, not just make a show of it on the outside. The next step in this clue, is when God says that after they come back to Him, His people will "never again be put to shame." He says that twice (2:26-27).
Now, we know that later on in history, both Judah and Israel were taken captive and spent 70 years in captivity, so, what is God talking about? Simple. Look at verse 28: "And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh; your sons and daughters will prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, and your young men shall see visions. Even on the male and female servants in those I will pour out my Spirit."
This isn't talking about some follow the rules and you'll be ok stuff. This is God saying that His Spirit will come and dwell with and within man. This is the reason why His people will never be to shame again. Listen, we WILL NOT be put to shame. Why? Look at Romans 5:5: "and hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us."
There is the fulfillment of Joel 2:28-29. It is through God's Holy Spirit that we have hope, and that hope is a symbol of love which will not put us to shame. It is also through God's Holy Spirit that we have our spiritual gifts, which include all manner of prophecy (verbal prophecy, dreams, and visions).
So, this is my challenge, based on my readings and diggings tonight: rend your heart before God. Be broken before Him over your sin and call upon His name as your source of life and meaning, and you will not be put to shame.
Journal: Day 1
The hard part with these minor prophets is that you get very little context to what was going on in the land of Israel or Judah at the time of the writing. Joel is one of those books where we just do not know when it was written. Best guesses put it somewhere between 800-835 BC during the reign of Joash in Judah. With Joel, God, again, is pronouncing judgment upon His own people for their disobedience and sin. However, he does proclaim grace and mercy upon His people once they return to Him. As I read this, I cannot help but draw parallels to Revelation. From the swarms and hordes of locusts to the sun being darkened and the moon turning to blood. If these events truly came to pass in Judah during this time, there would be a record of it in either 2 Kings or 2 Chronicles.
Alas, there is no record of this happening. This leads me to believe the words Joel received from the Lord were prophetic for a time 800 years in the future. My clues? After words of terror about earthquakes and the sun and moon being darkened, God says this: "'Yet even now.' declares the Lord, 'return to me with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning; and rend your hearts and not your garments.'" Now, to understand this "clue" of mine, you must understand the word "rend." The word "rend" means to "tear apart." In the Old Testament, the Jewish people would tear their garments in moments of great distress and agony, whether physical or because of sin. What God is calling them to do here is to tear their hearts instead. Allow themselves to be fully broken inside, not just make a show of it on the outside. The next step in this clue, is when God says that after they come back to Him, His people will "never again be put to shame." He says that twice (2:26-27).
Now, we know that later on in history, both Judah and Israel were taken captive and spent 70 years in captivity, so, what is God talking about? Simple. Look at verse 28: "And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh; your sons and daughters will prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, and your young men shall see visions. Even on the male and female servants in those I will pour out my Spirit."
This isn't talking about some follow the rules and you'll be ok stuff. This is God saying that His Spirit will come and dwell with and within man. This is the reason why His people will never be to shame again. Listen, we WILL NOT be put to shame. Why? Look at Romans 5:5: "and hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us."
There is the fulfillment of Joel 2:28-29. It is through God's Holy Spirit that we have hope, and that hope is a symbol of love which will not put us to shame. It is also through God's Holy Spirit that we have our spiritual gifts, which include all manner of prophecy (verbal prophecy, dreams, and visions).
So, this is my challenge, based on my readings and diggings tonight: rend your heart before God. Be broken before Him over your sin and call upon His name as your source of life and meaning, and you will not be put to shame.
Sunday, July 10, 2011
Redemption: How sweet it is
"And in that day, declares the Lord, you will call me 'My Husband' and no longer will you call me 'My Baal.' For I will remove the names of the Baals from her mouth, and they shall be remembered no more. And I will make for them a covenant on that day with the beasts of the field, birds of the heavens, and the creeping things of the ground. And I will abolish the bow, the sword, and war from the land, and I will make you lie down in safety. And I will betroth you to me forever. I will betroth you to me in righteousness and in justice, in steadfast love and in mercy. I will betroth you to me in faithfulness. And you shall know the Lord."
What a beautiful promise we have from the Lord! A promise, given in the midst of turmoil and unfaithfulness, to Israel and, by extension, to the Church.
How often do we run from Christ, the Husband of the Church? How often do we "go after [our] lovers, who give [us our] bread and water, wool and flax, oil and drink"? (Hosea 2:5) It is God who gives us those things, and yet we seek them in our new baals. These gods the Israelites worshiped were supposed to have power and control over the land and weather, so they would sacrifice and worship them, when all the while, God is saying, "I gave that to you!" Our modern society has grown technologically to where we no longer think that way, and yet, we still have our own false gods and our idols: money, success, pleasure, satisfaction, laziness, etc. We see these things and we chase after them because we think, "That is where I find my validation; that is where I find my joy," not know that God is saying, "No! You find that in Me!"
And, still, in the midst of this, God says that He will bring them back unto Himself and "betroth you to Me forever." In other words, the Church will be married to Christ, and we will no longer search for those things outside of Him. Just as Hosea's wife was a prostitute, so we are here. We leave Christ in search of things that we think are better. How miserable humanity is! We leave a faithful, loving, gracious Husband to whore with the baals and idols sin offers. But, God redeems us as Hosea redeemed Gomer. Check it:
"And the Lord said to me, 'Go again, love a woman who is loved by another manand is an adulteress, even as the Lord loves the children of Israel, though they turn to other gods and love cakes of raisins.' So I bought her for fifteen shekels of silver and a homer and a lethech of barely." (Hosea 3:1-2)
Hosea bought his wife out of the life of adultery and prostitution and freed her from it! She never had to return to it again. Remind you of any other Husband you know?
What a beautiful promise we have from the Lord! A promise, given in the midst of turmoil and unfaithfulness, to Israel and, by extension, to the Church.
How often do we run from Christ, the Husband of the Church? How often do we "go after [our] lovers, who give [us our] bread and water, wool and flax, oil and drink"? (Hosea 2:5) It is God who gives us those things, and yet we seek them in our new baals. These gods the Israelites worshiped were supposed to have power and control over the land and weather, so they would sacrifice and worship them, when all the while, God is saying, "I gave that to you!" Our modern society has grown technologically to where we no longer think that way, and yet, we still have our own false gods and our idols: money, success, pleasure, satisfaction, laziness, etc. We see these things and we chase after them because we think, "That is where I find my validation; that is where I find my joy," not know that God is saying, "No! You find that in Me!"
And, still, in the midst of this, God says that He will bring them back unto Himself and "betroth you to Me forever." In other words, the Church will be married to Christ, and we will no longer search for those things outside of Him. Just as Hosea's wife was a prostitute, so we are here. We leave Christ in search of things that we think are better. How miserable humanity is! We leave a faithful, loving, gracious Husband to whore with the baals and idols sin offers. But, God redeems us as Hosea redeemed Gomer. Check it:
"And the Lord said to me, 'Go again, love a woman who is loved by another manand is an adulteress, even as the Lord loves the children of Israel, though they turn to other gods and love cakes of raisins.' So I bought her for fifteen shekels of silver and a homer and a lethech of barely." (Hosea 3:1-2)
Hosea bought his wife out of the life of adultery and prostitution and freed her from it! She never had to return to it again. Remind you of any other Husband you know?
Saturday, July 9, 2011
Grace vs Forgiveness: Why grace saves and forgiveness doesn't
When it is 4 a.m. and someone is awake, it's either because they are in pain, don't want to sleep yet, have insomnia, or are getting up for work. Those that don't want to sleep are young and will grow out of it (I did). Those in pain or insomniacs take a pill. Those getting up for work have already slept. So that leaves us with me. I just can't sleep tonight. I'm tired, my eyes are heavy, but I just can't shut off. So, while all normal people in my time-zone are asleep right now, I take to the interwebs and I blog...
This is one of those good kind of "can't shut off nights." I've prepared (mentally), several possible teaching lessons that are in their infancy. The one I am most prepared to discuss (the one that takes the least amount of brain power), is a discussion of forgiveness and grace. In my last blog posting, I spouted possible heresy, saying that we don't need to ask for forgiveness from God to be saved, we only need to openly confess that He is our Lord and Master and that we will follow Him always. I made the point that it is our faith that saves us and not us wanting to be free from guilt of doing bad things. That is called easing your conscience.
So, I guess, this will be a continuation, since Ephesians 2:8-9 says "For it is by grace through faith that you have been saved..." Grace saves us when we put our faith in the Giver of Grace. So, what does that word mean: grace? I've heard it defined as "unmerited favor", "getting what you do not deserve", and other things along those lines. Now, I'm not saying those are wrong (they are actually decent), but as I study Scripture, I find that those definitions are incomplete. For instance, take Romans 12:3. Paul writes, "For by the grace given to me..." Here, the definition "unmerited favor" works decently. But that definition is a repeat of the other I gave you. "Unmerited favor", broken down, means "you didn't earn the standing you have." So, in light of the subtle deficeincies I see, I propose this definition of grace: "the power to do what you cannot do yourself." This power, when dealing with Scripture and spiritual matters, comes from God. Now think of Ephesians 2:8: "For it is by the power you do not possess that has been given to you because of your faith in Christ that you are saved." Or Romans 12:3: "For by the power I do not have on my own, which was given to me..." It just seems a more complete definition to me. But, more on grace later.
Now we shift our focus to forgiveness. This is easy. Forgiveness isn't saying, "That's ok" to someone who has hurt you. Far from it. We have taken this mentality of "forgive and forget" to an extreme and even applied this to God! I saw a video from Francis Chan the other day where he said we have the tendency to take God and make Him subject to our morality. Ouch.
I am here to tell you (super-fundamentalist, bring out your heresy book again) that God doesn't forget our sin. "But, then how do we get to heaven?" I said He doesn't forget, not that He doesn't forgive. Read the end of Revelation. Every man, woman, boy and girl who EVER lived will stand before the throne and give account for what he or she has done. EVERY SINGLE ACT, WORD, OR THOUGHT! However, Christ is there as our advocate and says, "I paid John's penalty. He followed me. He trusted me. He let me be his Master. He is mine." Then He will say, "Well done, my good and faithful servant. Enter into your rest." No where in there does God ever forget our sin. I think He will see it clearly (God is outside of time...different lesson), but it was placed upon Christ while He was on the cross. Therefore, we no longer face the penalty of our sin. We have been forgiven. Our sin is no longer held against us. That is my working definition of forgiveness: "not holding a past offense against someone." This is key in marriage and relationships.
Think of this: A man is walking home from work, when a mugger pulls him into an alleyway. "Give me your wallet," the mugger says, thrusting a gun at the man's chest. "Here, take it," the muggee replies. As the mugger takes it, he shoots the man anyway, killing him. After the investigation, the mugger is caught and goes on trial for murder. He is convicted. The man's wife is there in the courtroom. (Here is where the rubber meets the road, folks.) She walks down the aisle, leans over to the mugger and says, "I forgive you. I no longer hold this against you."
Now, will she EVER forget that this man killed her husband? NO! But forgiveness is not holding it against him. "Yeah, but this is murder!" It doesn't matter. It was our sin that forced Jesus to die, and, still, He forgives us. "Yeah, but that's Jesus! He's God!" Agreed. Yet aren't we called to live like Him? Luke 6:36-37,40 "Be merciful, even as your Father is merciful. Judge not, and you will not be judged. Condemn not, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven...A disciple is not above his teacher, but everyone when he is fully trained will be like his teacher." We will be like Him if He is our teacher. From the mout of Jesus Himself.
Back to the illustration: The woman stands up, tears rolling down her cheeks. She looks at the prosecuting attorney, and then leans back down to speak to her husband's murderer again. "Also, I heard that you cannot afford an attorney, so I would like to help you pay for one."
Enter grace. The mugger didn't have the power to help himself. He didn't have the ability to hire a good lawyer. So, in a shower of grace upon a man who killed her husband, the wife paid in his stead.
Yes the event was ficticious, but the premise is not. The premise is based on Christ. If we are to show Christ in everything, how can we not respond the same way? That's my question to you reading this: which shows Christ more? Holding onto past grievances, or forgiveness?
"Love...keeps no records of wrongs..." 1 Corinthians 13
This is one of those good kind of "can't shut off nights." I've prepared (mentally), several possible teaching lessons that are in their infancy. The one I am most prepared to discuss (the one that takes the least amount of brain power), is a discussion of forgiveness and grace. In my last blog posting, I spouted possible heresy, saying that we don't need to ask for forgiveness from God to be saved, we only need to openly confess that He is our Lord and Master and that we will follow Him always. I made the point that it is our faith that saves us and not us wanting to be free from guilt of doing bad things. That is called easing your conscience.
So, I guess, this will be a continuation, since Ephesians 2:8-9 says "For it is by grace through faith that you have been saved..." Grace saves us when we put our faith in the Giver of Grace. So, what does that word mean: grace? I've heard it defined as "unmerited favor", "getting what you do not deserve", and other things along those lines. Now, I'm not saying those are wrong (they are actually decent), but as I study Scripture, I find that those definitions are incomplete. For instance, take Romans 12:3. Paul writes, "For by the grace given to me..." Here, the definition "unmerited favor" works decently. But that definition is a repeat of the other I gave you. "Unmerited favor", broken down, means "you didn't earn the standing you have." So, in light of the subtle deficeincies I see, I propose this definition of grace: "the power to do what you cannot do yourself." This power, when dealing with Scripture and spiritual matters, comes from God. Now think of Ephesians 2:8: "For it is by the power you do not possess that has been given to you because of your faith in Christ that you are saved." Or Romans 12:3: "For by the power I do not have on my own, which was given to me..." It just seems a more complete definition to me. But, more on grace later.
Now we shift our focus to forgiveness. This is easy. Forgiveness isn't saying, "That's ok" to someone who has hurt you. Far from it. We have taken this mentality of "forgive and forget" to an extreme and even applied this to God! I saw a video from Francis Chan the other day where he said we have the tendency to take God and make Him subject to our morality. Ouch.
I am here to tell you (super-fundamentalist, bring out your heresy book again) that God doesn't forget our sin. "But, then how do we get to heaven?" I said He doesn't forget, not that He doesn't forgive. Read the end of Revelation. Every man, woman, boy and girl who EVER lived will stand before the throne and give account for what he or she has done. EVERY SINGLE ACT, WORD, OR THOUGHT! However, Christ is there as our advocate and says, "I paid John's penalty. He followed me. He trusted me. He let me be his Master. He is mine." Then He will say, "Well done, my good and faithful servant. Enter into your rest." No where in there does God ever forget our sin. I think He will see it clearly (God is outside of time...different lesson), but it was placed upon Christ while He was on the cross. Therefore, we no longer face the penalty of our sin. We have been forgiven. Our sin is no longer held against us. That is my working definition of forgiveness: "not holding a past offense against someone." This is key in marriage and relationships.
Think of this: A man is walking home from work, when a mugger pulls him into an alleyway. "Give me your wallet," the mugger says, thrusting a gun at the man's chest. "Here, take it," the muggee replies. As the mugger takes it, he shoots the man anyway, killing him. After the investigation, the mugger is caught and goes on trial for murder. He is convicted. The man's wife is there in the courtroom. (Here is where the rubber meets the road, folks.) She walks down the aisle, leans over to the mugger and says, "I forgive you. I no longer hold this against you."
Now, will she EVER forget that this man killed her husband? NO! But forgiveness is not holding it against him. "Yeah, but this is murder!" It doesn't matter. It was our sin that forced Jesus to die, and, still, He forgives us. "Yeah, but that's Jesus! He's God!" Agreed. Yet aren't we called to live like Him? Luke 6:36-37,40 "Be merciful, even as your Father is merciful. Judge not, and you will not be judged. Condemn not, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven...A disciple is not above his teacher, but everyone when he is fully trained will be like his teacher." We will be like Him if He is our teacher. From the mout of Jesus Himself.
Back to the illustration: The woman stands up, tears rolling down her cheeks. She looks at the prosecuting attorney, and then leans back down to speak to her husband's murderer again. "Also, I heard that you cannot afford an attorney, so I would like to help you pay for one."
Enter grace. The mugger didn't have the power to help himself. He didn't have the ability to hire a good lawyer. So, in a shower of grace upon a man who killed her husband, the wife paid in his stead.
Yes the event was ficticious, but the premise is not. The premise is based on Christ. If we are to show Christ in everything, how can we not respond the same way? That's my question to you reading this: which shows Christ more? Holding onto past grievances, or forgiveness?
"Love...keeps no records of wrongs..." 1 Corinthians 13
Wednesday, July 6, 2011
Forgiveness and Salvation Are Not The Same Thing
I must preface this by saying, please read the entire post. It will not make sense unless you do that. Also, do not let the title throw you.
You enter into this post with one of two mindsets: with a narrow viewpoint brought about by what you already "know" or a broad viewpoint brought about by not allowing your knowledge to interfere with what you will read. I pray that you have the latter mindset.
First and foremost, we must look what the Bible says about forgiveness, specifically forgiveness of sin. I use the English Standard Version (ESV) in my study. In the gospels, whenever Christ talks of forgiveness, it is always in relation to us forgiving other people. We must forgive to be forgiven. Move onto Acts. In chapter 2 verse 38, Peter said to the crowds at Pentecost, "Repent and be baptized everyone of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit." Spoiler Alert: This is the only time I've found in Scripture where asking for forgiveness leads to salvation. By the way, this was addressed to the Jews, alone, who had seen Jesus and knew who He was. Later in Acts, we find Peter again preaching, this time to Gentiles and notice the difference: "To [Christ] all the prophets bear witness that everyone who believes in Him receives forgiveness of sins through His name." (Acts 10:43) Yes, he just said belief comes before forgiveness. Perhaps you knew that. Let's keep going.
Paul doesn't actually spend a lot of time on forgiveness in his letters. Why? He is writing to Gentile churches who didn't know who Jesus was prior to a evangelist coming. Instead, he says "righteousness" and "made righteous" and "justified". In Romans 4:5, he writes "And to the one who does not work, but believes in Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness." He does say that it is through Christ's blood that we are redeemed and forgiven in Ephesians 1:7 and Colossians 1:13-14.
In Hebrews, which was written to Jewish Christians, the writer echoes the Old Testament and says in 9:22 "without the shedding of blood there is no forgivess of sins." And in chapter 10, she (I believe Priscilla wrote Hebrews) writes "Christ had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins" (verse 12).
This brings us to one of the most quoted verses in all of Scripture, 1 John 1:9, which says "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." However, even here this doesn't say it gives us eternal life or that we are saved.
Now we have to look at what Scripture says saves us. This is simple, in words, but very difficult in terms of actions and understanding. Faith saves us. More than that, our confession of Christ as Lord and Master saves us. It isn't asking for forgiveness that saves us, as we like to tell people. I would posit that we don't even have to necessarily ask for forgiveness to be saved. Most of you think I'm bordering on heresy, so let me hit the Scriptures.
Let's look at the most famous passage of Scripture, John 3. Here, Jesus tells Nicodemus he must be born again, which throws the Pharisee for a loop. He doesn't understand that. "How can a grown man go back into his mother's womb?" Silly Nicodemus. Jesus isn't speaking physical, he is speaking spiritually. Look at 3:14 and 15, "And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in Him may have eternal life." Did you see that? Jesus himself says its about belief in Him that saves us. He didn't say, "anyone who confesses their sins to me will be saved."
And here, you may be saying, "Yeah, but Jesus died for our sins." Well, duh. Sin still separates us from God, and we can't get past that gap. Forgiveness is incomplete, though. (Now I know you think I'm speaking heresy.) It's true, though. Forgiveness isn't enough to save us. Let's look in Romans 10. "If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved." What does this mean? Simply, We have to accept that Jesus is our Master and believe that He is alive and defeated death. You can believe in your heart and be justified. Literally, you can believe in Jesus in your heart and get forgiveness of sins, but do you see what actually saves us? We have to confess with our mouth that Jesus is Lord!!! It's not all about the inward. We have to confess and tell the world that we serve Jesus. This is what is meant by "If you deny me before men, I will deny you before my Father." Uh-oh.
You may be asking, "Are you saying that we can ask God to forgive us, but if we don't live for Him and serve Him, we aren't saved?" YES!! That's exactly it! We have to tell people we serve Christ and we actually have to serve in order to be saved!!
"Are you saying that its our works that save us, then?" NEVER!! It's our faith in Christ that saves us (Ephesians 2:8-9), but we actually have to show we have faith by serving (James 2:14-26)!
Now, we combine these two. If we confess Jesus as Lord and serve Him, then He will forgive us! Jesus says in Matthew 7:21, "Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father in who is heaven." Jesus then speaks of those who did miracles and prophesied in his name that won't enter into heaven. He calls them "workers of lawlessness." They did those things for themselves, or because they wanted to, not because God commanded it.
Why did I spend all this time on this subject when the majority of people who will read this are already Christians? Because I want those who think that because they asked for forgiveness they are going to heaven, that isn't necessarily true. I don't want you to question your salvation, unless you are not actually living for Christ and acknowledge Him as your Master.
The other reason I write this is for those of us who spread the Word of God and the Gospel of Christ to those who need it. People need to understand it isn't the forgiveness of sins that saves us, its the faith in Christ and subsequent living for Him showing our faith. It's our acknowledgement of Him as Master.
You enter into this post with one of two mindsets: with a narrow viewpoint brought about by what you already "know" or a broad viewpoint brought about by not allowing your knowledge to interfere with what you will read. I pray that you have the latter mindset.
First and foremost, we must look what the Bible says about forgiveness, specifically forgiveness of sin. I use the English Standard Version (ESV) in my study. In the gospels, whenever Christ talks of forgiveness, it is always in relation to us forgiving other people. We must forgive to be forgiven. Move onto Acts. In chapter 2 verse 38, Peter said to the crowds at Pentecost, "Repent and be baptized everyone of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit." Spoiler Alert: This is the only time I've found in Scripture where asking for forgiveness leads to salvation. By the way, this was addressed to the Jews, alone, who had seen Jesus and knew who He was. Later in Acts, we find Peter again preaching, this time to Gentiles and notice the difference: "To [Christ] all the prophets bear witness that everyone who believes in Him receives forgiveness of sins through His name." (Acts 10:43) Yes, he just said belief comes before forgiveness. Perhaps you knew that. Let's keep going.
Paul doesn't actually spend a lot of time on forgiveness in his letters. Why? He is writing to Gentile churches who didn't know who Jesus was prior to a evangelist coming. Instead, he says "righteousness" and "made righteous" and "justified". In Romans 4:5, he writes "And to the one who does not work, but believes in Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness." He does say that it is through Christ's blood that we are redeemed and forgiven in Ephesians 1:7 and Colossians 1:13-14.
In Hebrews, which was written to Jewish Christians, the writer echoes the Old Testament and says in 9:22 "without the shedding of blood there is no forgivess of sins." And in chapter 10, she (I believe Priscilla wrote Hebrews) writes "Christ had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins" (verse 12).
This brings us to one of the most quoted verses in all of Scripture, 1 John 1:9, which says "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." However, even here this doesn't say it gives us eternal life or that we are saved.
Now we have to look at what Scripture says saves us. This is simple, in words, but very difficult in terms of actions and understanding. Faith saves us. More than that, our confession of Christ as Lord and Master saves us. It isn't asking for forgiveness that saves us, as we like to tell people. I would posit that we don't even have to necessarily ask for forgiveness to be saved. Most of you think I'm bordering on heresy, so let me hit the Scriptures.
Let's look at the most famous passage of Scripture, John 3. Here, Jesus tells Nicodemus he must be born again, which throws the Pharisee for a loop. He doesn't understand that. "How can a grown man go back into his mother's womb?" Silly Nicodemus. Jesus isn't speaking physical, he is speaking spiritually. Look at 3:14 and 15, "And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in Him may have eternal life." Did you see that? Jesus himself says its about belief in Him that saves us. He didn't say, "anyone who confesses their sins to me will be saved."
And here, you may be saying, "Yeah, but Jesus died for our sins." Well, duh. Sin still separates us from God, and we can't get past that gap. Forgiveness is incomplete, though. (Now I know you think I'm speaking heresy.) It's true, though. Forgiveness isn't enough to save us. Let's look in Romans 10. "If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved." What does this mean? Simply, We have to accept that Jesus is our Master and believe that He is alive and defeated death. You can believe in your heart and be justified. Literally, you can believe in Jesus in your heart and get forgiveness of sins, but do you see what actually saves us? We have to confess with our mouth that Jesus is Lord!!! It's not all about the inward. We have to confess and tell the world that we serve Jesus. This is what is meant by "If you deny me before men, I will deny you before my Father." Uh-oh.
You may be asking, "Are you saying that we can ask God to forgive us, but if we don't live for Him and serve Him, we aren't saved?" YES!! That's exactly it! We have to tell people we serve Christ and we actually have to serve in order to be saved!!
"Are you saying that its our works that save us, then?" NEVER!! It's our faith in Christ that saves us (Ephesians 2:8-9), but we actually have to show we have faith by serving (James 2:14-26)!
Now, we combine these two. If we confess Jesus as Lord and serve Him, then He will forgive us! Jesus says in Matthew 7:21, "Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father in who is heaven." Jesus then speaks of those who did miracles and prophesied in his name that won't enter into heaven. He calls them "workers of lawlessness." They did those things for themselves, or because they wanted to, not because God commanded it.
Why did I spend all this time on this subject when the majority of people who will read this are already Christians? Because I want those who think that because they asked for forgiveness they are going to heaven, that isn't necessarily true. I don't want you to question your salvation, unless you are not actually living for Christ and acknowledge Him as your Master.
The other reason I write this is for those of us who spread the Word of God and the Gospel of Christ to those who need it. People need to understand it isn't the forgiveness of sins that saves us, its the faith in Christ and subsequent living for Him showing our faith. It's our acknowledgement of Him as Master.
Friday, June 17, 2011
Grace, Freedom, and Slavery: A likely approximation of what my Father's Day sermon might possibly look like
First and foremost, I am going to ask that you read Romans 5:18-7:6. I would copy and paste it, but it would take a lot of space, and I need to get these thoughts out before they run away tonight. If you don't have a Bible handy, I suggest using blueletterbible.com for an alternative. You can choose to your preferred version (I use the ESV, so all quoted texts will be from it).
In chapter 5, Paul writes to the Roman church that Christ is the New Man. He makes several parallels between Adam and Christ. Where Christ is so much more than Adam was. Look, for instance, in verse 15. "For if many died through one man's trespass, much more have the grace of God and the free gift, by the grace of that one man Jesus Christ, abounded for many." This is a good summation of what Paul is trying to say. Adam's singular sin brought sin into the world for all men. Christ's righteous life, death, and resurrection likewise brought life for all men. Even more, we deserve our fate because we sin as Adam sinned, but we can still receive the gift of grace though we never live a truly righteous life.
Paul concludes by saying wherever sin is, grace is even more abundant because grace covers sin. He then asks a question that sets off on of my favorite discussions in all of Scripture: "Shall we continue in sin so that grace may increase?"
In other words, should we keep on sinning so that we can receive even more grace than we had before? The answer is an emphatic no! As verses 2-11 of chapter 6 says, we died to sin because we are joined in Christ's death and life! Sin should have no reign in our lives because of this very fact. In 6:14 Paul makes one of the most beautiful statements in Scripture: "For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace."
This brings us to a second question: "Are we to sin because we are not under law but under grace?" At first glance, this may seem like the same question, but it's totally different. With the first it was asking if we should sin so that we could receive more grace. This is asking if we should sin since there is nothing keeping us accountable any longer.
Again, the answer is an empatic no! Paul, then, begins to lay the groundwork for what is called slave theology. This says how we were once slaves to sin, owned by it and controlled by it. All we could do is sin's bidding (v. 20). However, through Christ, we are set free from sin because He paid the price. A companion verse to this is found in 1 Corinthians 6:19-20. In the 1st Cor passage, Paul is speaking about fleeing sexual immorality because our body houses the Holy Spirit. He goes on to say that "you are not your own, for you were bought with a price."
In other words, we are owned by Christ since He payed for us with His blood. In context with his question, though, Paul is saying that our new accountability no longer lies with the law, but with our new master, Jesus Christ. Paul has been careful to outline in Romans that none are righteous (3:10-16) and everyone has sinned (3:23). Therefore, he laid the foundation for the understanding that Christ is OUR righteousness. So, when he says that we have "been set free from sin, [and] have become slaves to righteousness," that is, Christ.
Some may have a problem with the imagery of slavery because all we Americans are conscious of is the slave trade from the 18th and 19th centuries. This is not the same as slavery during 1st century Rome. There is a story from the reign of Augustus Caesar. A rich man, Vedius Pollio, was a cruel slavemaster. He had a tank of flesh-eating fish and would routinely feed his slaves to them whenever he would get cross with one. The story says that one day, Pollio was entertaining Augustus and a slave accidently broke a crystal vase. Pollio became so enraged, he ordered the slave to be fed to the fish. Augustus, outraged by the treatment of this slave, ordered, instead, that all of Pollio's crystal be broken in front of him and thrown into the tank instead. This story shows how rare the mistreatment of slaves was in those times, and what was expected of slavemasters by Rome's emporer. Laws were even written to protect slaves from harsh and inhumane treatment.
The Roman church would know what slavery is like, so they would understand this comparison easily. Becuase, here is the reality: we have been freed from having to follow the letter of the law as perscribed in the books of the Law (Genesis through Deuteronomy), but we are now held to the standard of our Master, Jesus Christ. This doesn't give us allowance to do everything we want, but it does mean that if we mess up, we aren't fed to the flesh-eating fish. Peter emphasizes this point in 1 Peter 2:16: "Live as people who are free, not using your freedom as a cover-up for evil, but living as slaves of God."
Yes, we now live according to the spirit of the Law, which is the Spirit of God ("All Scripture is inspired by God..." 1 Timothy 3:16). This is the truth that we have to understand if we are to live for God. We are His slaves because He paid for us. We are no longer held accountable to the law, but, now, according to the righteousness that is Jesus Christ.
In chapter 5, Paul writes to the Roman church that Christ is the New Man. He makes several parallels between Adam and Christ. Where Christ is so much more than Adam was. Look, for instance, in verse 15. "For if many died through one man's trespass, much more have the grace of God and the free gift, by the grace of that one man Jesus Christ, abounded for many." This is a good summation of what Paul is trying to say. Adam's singular sin brought sin into the world for all men. Christ's righteous life, death, and resurrection likewise brought life for all men. Even more, we deserve our fate because we sin as Adam sinned, but we can still receive the gift of grace though we never live a truly righteous life.
Paul concludes by saying wherever sin is, grace is even more abundant because grace covers sin. He then asks a question that sets off on of my favorite discussions in all of Scripture: "Shall we continue in sin so that grace may increase?"
In other words, should we keep on sinning so that we can receive even more grace than we had before? The answer is an emphatic no! As verses 2-11 of chapter 6 says, we died to sin because we are joined in Christ's death and life! Sin should have no reign in our lives because of this very fact. In 6:14 Paul makes one of the most beautiful statements in Scripture: "For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace."
This brings us to a second question: "Are we to sin because we are not under law but under grace?" At first glance, this may seem like the same question, but it's totally different. With the first it was asking if we should sin so that we could receive more grace. This is asking if we should sin since there is nothing keeping us accountable any longer.
Again, the answer is an empatic no! Paul, then, begins to lay the groundwork for what is called slave theology. This says how we were once slaves to sin, owned by it and controlled by it. All we could do is sin's bidding (v. 20). However, through Christ, we are set free from sin because He paid the price. A companion verse to this is found in 1 Corinthians 6:19-20. In the 1st Cor passage, Paul is speaking about fleeing sexual immorality because our body houses the Holy Spirit. He goes on to say that "you are not your own, for you were bought with a price."
In other words, we are owned by Christ since He payed for us with His blood. In context with his question, though, Paul is saying that our new accountability no longer lies with the law, but with our new master, Jesus Christ. Paul has been careful to outline in Romans that none are righteous (3:10-16) and everyone has sinned (3:23). Therefore, he laid the foundation for the understanding that Christ is OUR righteousness. So, when he says that we have "been set free from sin, [and] have become slaves to righteousness," that is, Christ.
Some may have a problem with the imagery of slavery because all we Americans are conscious of is the slave trade from the 18th and 19th centuries. This is not the same as slavery during 1st century Rome. There is a story from the reign of Augustus Caesar. A rich man, Vedius Pollio, was a cruel slavemaster. He had a tank of flesh-eating fish and would routinely feed his slaves to them whenever he would get cross with one. The story says that one day, Pollio was entertaining Augustus and a slave accidently broke a crystal vase. Pollio became so enraged, he ordered the slave to be fed to the fish. Augustus, outraged by the treatment of this slave, ordered, instead, that all of Pollio's crystal be broken in front of him and thrown into the tank instead. This story shows how rare the mistreatment of slaves was in those times, and what was expected of slavemasters by Rome's emporer. Laws were even written to protect slaves from harsh and inhumane treatment.
The Roman church would know what slavery is like, so they would understand this comparison easily. Becuase, here is the reality: we have been freed from having to follow the letter of the law as perscribed in the books of the Law (Genesis through Deuteronomy), but we are now held to the standard of our Master, Jesus Christ. This doesn't give us allowance to do everything we want, but it does mean that if we mess up, we aren't fed to the flesh-eating fish. Peter emphasizes this point in 1 Peter 2:16: "Live as people who are free, not using your freedom as a cover-up for evil, but living as slaves of God."
Yes, we now live according to the spirit of the Law, which is the Spirit of God ("All Scripture is inspired by God..." 1 Timothy 3:16). This is the truth that we have to understand if we are to live for God. We are His slaves because He paid for us. We are no longer held accountable to the law, but, now, according to the righteousness that is Jesus Christ.
Friday, June 3, 2011
Plans - Pt 1 of ?
Plans. The thing that eats at everyone. That fear-inducing word that all high school graduates spend months or years pouring over and that all college graduates fear. "What are your plans after this?" Or, "Where do you see yourself in 5 years?" Ha. Five years. Seems like such a long time when you are graduating high school, now, as the 6th year past high school passes, it seems like a blur. Yes, plans.
One of the most quoted verses in all of Scripture is Jeremiah 29:11. "For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord. Plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope." Comforting, right? Well, it should be, but not for the reasons you may think. I want to start off this open-ended series talking about this verse because it is THAT important. So, let's dive in...
To correctly understand this verse, and the verses that promise prosperity that follow, we have to know what happened in chapter 28 or Jeremiah. This was after Israel had been defeated and was in exile in Babylon, yet Judah was not yet conquered. Even so, they were in desperate need for some good news. Hannaniah stepped up to the plate in order to give the news they wanted. Jeremiah writes "Hannaniah, the prophet from Gibeon, spoke to me in the house of the Lord, in the presence of the priests and all the people..." Here we see Hannaniah carefully constructing this. He seeks out Jeremiah at the temple in Jerusalem in front of the priests that were there. He was going to make sure as many respectable, honest, trustworthy people heard him as was possible. So, in this setting, Hannaniah speaks. "Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: I have broken the yoke of the king of Babylon." Hannaniah then begins to tell Jeremiah that God was going to overthrow Babylon within two years. WOOHOO! God is going to come through for His people again! Except...
Jeremiah does everything but laugh in Hannaniah's face (although, I personally would like to think he did). Jeremiah turns to Hannaniah and tells him, (paraphrase) "Hey, buddy, listen. All those prophets we've studied and all their prophecies have one thing in common. Calamity. Read them. There are wars, sicknesses, plagues, all sorts of things. Never a timetable for peace."
Too late, though. Hannaniah had it in his head that he was right, and because he was confident, the priests believed him. So, as good news usually does, word traveled fast. I'm sure a letter was on the next caravan to Babylon to tell all the Israelites what Hannaniah said. Well, God had other plans. He told Jeremiah to go to Hannaniah and tell him that God called him a false prophet, and because he lied, and used God's name in the lie, he would die within the year. And, yep. In the 7th month of the year, Hannaniah was dead. Way to go Hannaniah.
Now we get to chapter 29. God tells Jeremiah to write a letter to the Israelites in Babylon. Here's what most of it reads like:
"Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, to all the exiles whom I (God) have sent into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon: Build houses and live in them; plant gardens and eat their produce. Take wives and have sons and daughters; take wives for your sons, and give your daughters in marriage, that they may bear sons and daughters; multiply there, and do not decrease. But seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the Lord on its behalf, for in its welfare you will find your welfare. For thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Do not let your prophets and your diviners who are among you deceive you, and do not listen to the dreams they dream, for it is a lie that they are prophesying to you in my name; I did not send them, declares the Lord. For thus says the Lord: When seventy years are completed for Babylon, I will visit you, and I will fulfill to you my promise and bring you back to this place. For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not evil, to give you a future and a hope. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will hear you. You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart. I will be found by you, declares the Lord, and I will restore your fortunes and gather you from all the nations and all the places where I have driven you, declares the Lord, and I will bring you back to the place from which I sent you into exile."
I know that was a long section (shoot, I typed it), but did you catch what God told the exiles? Build a life in Babylon! Only the youngest might see Israel again, cuz it's going to be 70 of Babylon's years before I bring you back home (Babylon and Israel had different calendars). He tells them not to worry, though. He will bring them back because He knows the plans He has for them. Ah, finally. We have arrived at the key verse.
What are these plans? What prosperity is He promising? What fortunes does He promise in verse 14? Well, since we have the context of not just this book, but the entirety of Scripture, it is easy to see the plans He had for the Israelites was bringing Christ through the line of Judah and crucified in Jerusalem, which would have been impossible if they were still in exile in Babylon. Ok, easy, yes? So, what about this prosperity, hope, future, and fortune?
They are one in the same, honestly. Christ and the redemption He brought to earth. He promises prosperity in the security of His grace, hope in the security of His grace, etc. "I will restore your fortunes." Man used to walk with God in the garden. I believe this entire section of the letter is prophecy of the coming Christ!
So, what does that mean for us? Well, God still knows the plans He has for us. He still plans to give us hope and a future. He still plans to restore our fortunes. And the answer to all of that is still, and will always be, Christ. Christ is for our welfare, our benefit. The plans He has for us is seeded deep within the person of Christ. Am I saying God doesn't know what He wants us to do? Never! In fact, I'll back up the position that He knows exactly what He wants us to do in the next installment. What I am saying, however, is that when you read or hear this verse, remember who our hope is and where our future lies. That is key to understanding this verse.
So, plans. That fear-inducing word. It's lost some of its bite, no? God has given us hope in Christ. We have our welfare in Christ. We have our future in Christ. We have fortune in Christ. I hope to take a little more fear out of the word next time.
With the love and grace of Christ,
John
One of the most quoted verses in all of Scripture is Jeremiah 29:11. "For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord. Plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope." Comforting, right? Well, it should be, but not for the reasons you may think. I want to start off this open-ended series talking about this verse because it is THAT important. So, let's dive in...
To correctly understand this verse, and the verses that promise prosperity that follow, we have to know what happened in chapter 28 or Jeremiah. This was after Israel had been defeated and was in exile in Babylon, yet Judah was not yet conquered. Even so, they were in desperate need for some good news. Hannaniah stepped up to the plate in order to give the news they wanted. Jeremiah writes "Hannaniah, the prophet from Gibeon, spoke to me in the house of the Lord, in the presence of the priests and all the people..." Here we see Hannaniah carefully constructing this. He seeks out Jeremiah at the temple in Jerusalem in front of the priests that were there. He was going to make sure as many respectable, honest, trustworthy people heard him as was possible. So, in this setting, Hannaniah speaks. "Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: I have broken the yoke of the king of Babylon." Hannaniah then begins to tell Jeremiah that God was going to overthrow Babylon within two years. WOOHOO! God is going to come through for His people again! Except...
Jeremiah does everything but laugh in Hannaniah's face (although, I personally would like to think he did). Jeremiah turns to Hannaniah and tells him, (paraphrase) "Hey, buddy, listen. All those prophets we've studied and all their prophecies have one thing in common. Calamity. Read them. There are wars, sicknesses, plagues, all sorts of things. Never a timetable for peace."
Too late, though. Hannaniah had it in his head that he was right, and because he was confident, the priests believed him. So, as good news usually does, word traveled fast. I'm sure a letter was on the next caravan to Babylon to tell all the Israelites what Hannaniah said. Well, God had other plans. He told Jeremiah to go to Hannaniah and tell him that God called him a false prophet, and because he lied, and used God's name in the lie, he would die within the year. And, yep. In the 7th month of the year, Hannaniah was dead. Way to go Hannaniah.
Now we get to chapter 29. God tells Jeremiah to write a letter to the Israelites in Babylon. Here's what most of it reads like:
"Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, to all the exiles whom I (God) have sent into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon: Build houses and live in them; plant gardens and eat their produce. Take wives and have sons and daughters; take wives for your sons, and give your daughters in marriage, that they may bear sons and daughters; multiply there, and do not decrease. But seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the Lord on its behalf, for in its welfare you will find your welfare. For thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Do not let your prophets and your diviners who are among you deceive you, and do not listen to the dreams they dream, for it is a lie that they are prophesying to you in my name; I did not send them, declares the Lord. For thus says the Lord: When seventy years are completed for Babylon, I will visit you, and I will fulfill to you my promise and bring you back to this place. For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not evil, to give you a future and a hope. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will hear you. You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart. I will be found by you, declares the Lord, and I will restore your fortunes and gather you from all the nations and all the places where I have driven you, declares the Lord, and I will bring you back to the place from which I sent you into exile."
I know that was a long section (shoot, I typed it), but did you catch what God told the exiles? Build a life in Babylon! Only the youngest might see Israel again, cuz it's going to be 70 of Babylon's years before I bring you back home (Babylon and Israel had different calendars). He tells them not to worry, though. He will bring them back because He knows the plans He has for them. Ah, finally. We have arrived at the key verse.
What are these plans? What prosperity is He promising? What fortunes does He promise in verse 14? Well, since we have the context of not just this book, but the entirety of Scripture, it is easy to see the plans He had for the Israelites was bringing Christ through the line of Judah and crucified in Jerusalem, which would have been impossible if they were still in exile in Babylon. Ok, easy, yes? So, what about this prosperity, hope, future, and fortune?
They are one in the same, honestly. Christ and the redemption He brought to earth. He promises prosperity in the security of His grace, hope in the security of His grace, etc. "I will restore your fortunes." Man used to walk with God in the garden. I believe this entire section of the letter is prophecy of the coming Christ!
So, what does that mean for us? Well, God still knows the plans He has for us. He still plans to give us hope and a future. He still plans to restore our fortunes. And the answer to all of that is still, and will always be, Christ. Christ is for our welfare, our benefit. The plans He has for us is seeded deep within the person of Christ. Am I saying God doesn't know what He wants us to do? Never! In fact, I'll back up the position that He knows exactly what He wants us to do in the next installment. What I am saying, however, is that when you read or hear this verse, remember who our hope is and where our future lies. That is key to understanding this verse.
So, plans. That fear-inducing word. It's lost some of its bite, no? God has given us hope in Christ. We have our welfare in Christ. We have our future in Christ. We have fortune in Christ. I hope to take a little more fear out of the word next time.
With the love and grace of Christ,
John
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