Every Time I Think I’m Out…

Now that my wife and I have started another blog on WordPress to track the progress of our pregnancy, I am going to try to start posting on this blog again too!  I often think that I would like to write on here, but usually I don’t have the time.  But writing is valuable, and I will make my best effort to do so in the new year! 🙂

A Quick Thought

I know that I have written on a similar topic recently, but I heard something as I rode in my car the other day that got me thinking along these lines again. I heard a preacher say in a message on free will vs. the sovereignty of God that, “God will not force you to love Him.” I have 2 questions (one with two parts) in response to that:

1. If Romans 3:10-12 is true (there is none good), how exactly does loving God come about in a person’s life? That is, if He does not do something to compel me to love Him, how do I, as one of the “none good,” come to love Him?

2. If loving God is the best thing for me, why should I be upset if He “forces” me to love Him?

Jesus Rose, the NT was Written, then I was Born

The title of this post is obviously untrue, but it is sad to me how little I have cared about the rest of Christian history.  Sure, I know about Augustine, Luther, Calvin, the Puritans, but I have never invested alot of time into studying the last 2000 years of our faith.  And I enjoy history!  Lately I have been reading this book, and it has been such a blessing to me.  I would encourage anyone who reads this blog to take a look at Christian history and marvel at the power of our God, who has gone to amazing lengths to protect the glory of His name, the integrity of His Word, and the foundations of real faith.  It is great to consider the men and women who have sacrificed to preserve the true faith, and also how God used disgusting sin to preserve the true faith as well.  I believe that anyone who studies Christian history will come away with a greater appreciation for God’s sovereignty over all things, as well as His amazing grace and love.  Knowing history helps me to love the God of all history more!

Robots?

This morning I was in a Bible study where we looked at John 9. This is the (true) story of Jesus healing the man who was born blind from birth. What an amazing account! It is clear from the context of the passage that this was not simply the healing of a blind man, but also another revelation of the spiritual blindness of the Pharisees. The chapter concludes with Jesus healing the spiritual blindness of the man born blind and indicting the Pharisees because they think they can “see” on their own. Rereading this account reminded me of how thankful I am that God shined into my heart so that I could have the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ (2 Cor. 4:6)! I was blind and now I see, by the grace of God alone.

So then I got in my car and there was a sermon on the radio. It was by a pastor who I respect a lot, who does a lot of good work. But I heard him say this morning that people are all free moral agents, because God does not want to force our love. His point was that this (forcing love) would make people like robots, who have no ability to choose not to love God. So we are all able to choose, we are completely free. Well, I have no problem with saying that people make their own choices and are held accountable to their own choices. But to say that we are all free moral agents who can choose to follow God or not on our own – well, I have a problem with that. There is a word that he is missing in that statement: dead. We are dead free moral agents. We make choices alright, choices to reject God, to hate Him, to turn our backs on Him, to love this world. And Scripture says that we are DEAD in sin. Dead people do not choose life. Dead people do not choose Christ. We, along with all people, are dead and without hope of living.

Dead people need to be raised from the dead! And praise God, through His Son Jesus Christ the dead are raised! Those who live and walk in darkness are made alive, not by being free moral agents, but by God shining His glorious and irresistible light into our dark hearts! When we see Him with Spirit-enlightened eyes, we become alive – alive like we never have been before. We see the horror of our sin, repent and trust Jesus Christ for new life here and now, and eternal life to come. We see the greatness of the God who we have rejected all this time, and worship Him! We walk in His light and live by His grace and power. Living for the first time, we become a light in a dark world. And we see with light filled eyes what we have been saved from, causing our love to grow day by day in spite of this life’s trials.

So does that make us robots? Here is what I know: without God shining light in dark and dead hearts, we are without hope. And when God does shine light into hearts, we are saved and filled with joy inexpressible. We need a work of God to make us able to love Him. But in loving him, we find real joy for the first time. If this makes us robots, then let’s pray that all who we know would become robots too!

“As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our sinful nature and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature objects of wrath. But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved. And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” -Ephesians 2:1-10

What People Really Want

While driving yesterday, I was listening to a news report on a Christian radio station. It said a survery conducted found that unchurched young people are more likely to attend a church that looks like a traditional church, rather than a warehouse or school building or big edifice. The reasoning was because they prefer the gothic style and more reverent setting. As I listened to this report, the main thought that crossed my mind was this: “Who cares?” These people are unchurched, which means they are not going to church! And that means that no building has to this point impressed upon their hearts the need to be at church. While I believe the hearts of those conducting these surveys are pure and desire to see those outside coming in, I say let’s stop wasting our time with surveys like this. Young unchurched people are not a market share that is untapped, they are people who just like all people have one great need – the saving mercies of God through Jesus Christ! Buildings are going to accomplish nothing, the gospel of Jesus Christ will accomplish powerful things that we cannot imagine! And we must go OUT and bring that gospel to those who need it, not counting on our buildings to lure them in. Jesus is the great attraction of the church – may that always be the case, by the grace of God.

I want to make clear here that my point is not to rail on people who conduct these surveys.  I just think it would be sad if we spent lots of time trying to figure out why the unchurched remain unchurched and came to the conclusion that if we built better buildings they would come.  They will not.  Jesus is what makes the church attractive, and the church exists to show Him as most beautiful.  I hope that we will all do that, no matter what kind of building we are in.

“Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making His appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. For our sake He made Him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God.” -2 Corinthians 5:20-21

“I stand amazed in the presence
Of Jesus the Nazarene,
And wonder how He could love me,
A sinner, condemned, unclean.

Refrain:

O how marvelous! O how wonderful!
And my song shall ever be:
O how marvelous! O how wonderful!
Is my Savior’s love for me!

For me it was in the garden
He prayed: “Not My will, but Thine.”
He had no tears for His own griefs,
But sweat drops of blood for mine.

Refrain

In pity angels beheld Him,
And came from the world of light
To comfort Him in the sorrows
He bore for my soul that night.

Refrain

He took my sins and my sorrows,
He made them His very own;
He bore the burden to Calvary,
And suffered and died alone.

Refrain

When with the ransomed in glory
His face I at last shall see,
’Twill be my joy through the ages
To sing of His love for me.

Refrain”

-Charles Gabriel

The Driving Pharisee

It’s funny that my friend Larry wrote this post yesterday, because I was thinking about writing something along a similar vein. As a matter of fact, I will still do so.

A couple weeks ago I was driving up to Philadelphia to visit my wife who was away at a conference for work. My mind was zoned out and for the first time in my life, I ran a red light. As I went through the intersection, a car had to slam its brakes in order to avoid me. I thought, “Wow, those people ran a red light.” Then I looked in my rear view mirror to see that, no, I was actually the one who ran it. It was bright red too, not yellowish red. God was gracious to keep me from seriously injuring myself or someone else in spite of my own ignorance.

But here is the thing I have been thinking since then: anytime I am out driving and I see someone do something that I deem “stupid driving,” the first thought that comes to mind is, “Remember, you ran a red light.” So I guess what I wonder is this: when will enough time pass so that I can do what I really want to do, which is to look down on other drivers with a “clean conscience” again?  At what point will I be justified in my self-righteousness?

Thank You Lord for supplying Your grace and mercy upon me in unending portions through Jesus Christ! May I look at others the way You look at me, through the strength that Jesus supplies!

Savior of Murderers

Yesterday a police officer in Philadelphia was shot and killed in the line of duty.  What a sad story this is, and unfortunately an all too familiar one.  Our prayers should certainly be lifted for this man’s family and loved ones that are left behind.  As I spent a couple minutes today praying for them, my mind drifted to the killers.  There were three of them.  One of them was shot dead on the scene, one was arrested, and one is at large.  I thought about a couple things.  First of all, it is natural and even right to be disgusted by this heinous act.  Our God despises murder, it offends His holy Name – so we too should be offended by it.  But the second thing I thought was this – our God saves murderers!  The sin of these people is not too great for them to be forgiven.  While my natural inclination is to be bitter toward such people and wish for them to burn, shouldn’t a large part of me desire to see this be the means by which God brings about the salvation of their souls?  Have I forgotten the kind of life that I have lived – the kind that displayed bitterness and hatred toward God and others?  Have I forgotten that we all have a hand of guilt in the death of Jesus Christ?  Have I forgotten that in spite of these things, God saw fit to open my eyes and redeem my life from the pit?  I have.  Praise God that He is the Savior of murderers!

“And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross.  He disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in him.”      -Colossians 2:13-15

 

“My Savior Sinners Doth Receive” by Leopold Lehr

My Savior sinners doth receive
Who find no rest and no salvation,
To whom no man can comfort give,
So great their guilt and condemnation;
For whom the world is all too small,
Their sins both them and God appall;
With whom the Law itself hath broken,
On whom its judgment hath been spoken—
To them the Gospel hope doth give:
My Savior sinners doth receive.
My Savior sinners doth receive.

A love more deep than mother-love,
With which His heart was overflowing,
Drew Him on earth from Heav’n above,
On sinners boundless grace bestowing,
He in their stead a curse became,
He bore the cross with all its shame;
Brought full atonement by His suffering,
Gave up His life for them an offering.
This comfort doth the Gospel give:
My Savior sinners doth receive.
My Savior sinners doth receive.

His loving bosom still remains
A haven for the heavy laden;
Christ frees them from their guilty stains,
Their burdened hearts doth ease and gladden.
He casts into th’unfathomed sea
The load of their iniquity;
He gives assurance by His Spirit
That they are saved through His own merit.
Yea, they shall live who this believe:
My Savior sinners doth receive.
My Savior sinners doth receive.

Say not: “My sins are far too great,
His mercy I have scorned and slighted,
Now my repentance is too late;
I came not when His love invited.”
O trembling sinner, have no fear;
In penitence to Christ draw near.
Come now, though conscience still is chiding;
Accept His mercy, e’er abiding.
Come; blest are they who this believe:
My Savior sinners doth receive.
My Savior sinners doth receive.

Oh, draw us ever unto Thee,
Thou Friend of sinners, gracious Savior;
Help us that we may fervently
Desire Thy pardon, peace and favor.
When guilty conscience doth reprove,
Reveal to us Thy heart of love.
May we, our wretchedness beholding,
See then Thy pardoning grace unfolding
And say: “To God all glory be:
My Savior, Christ, receiveth me.
My Savior, Christ, receiveth me.”

The Law and The Savior

I had a lot of things I wanted to write from my Bible reading, but there were too many to choose from, so I picked none for today. I thought I would write about something else I have been thinking about lately.

“..Scripture imprisoned everything under sin, so that the promise by faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe. Now before faith came, we were held captive under the law, imprisoned until the coming faith would be revealed. So then, the law was our guardian until Christ came, in order that we might be justified by faith. But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian, for in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith. For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ.” -Galatians 3:22-27

Throughout the New Testament, it is made abundantly clear that salvation comes by God’s grace through faith in Jesus Christ alone, apart from any works of the Law. It is also made clear that this has been the case since the beginning, that those who had right standing before God had it because of their faith, not by following the Law. This passage in Galatians shows that the purpose of the Law was to imprison people under sin. To say it differently, the Law existed to show the people of Israel that they could not follow the Law. Why? Because their hearts were sinful and loved to chase after other things, rather than seeking to please God. So why would God do it this way? Maybe to drive His people to their knees, that they would seek His help. But one thing that is definitely clear is that the Law was not making anyone right with God; instead, it brought them under just condemnation. But God in His mercy has made us His children through faith! The Law served to point to a Savior.

Something I have noticed in the past in my life (and I definitely still fight it) and lately with other people is that we do not buy into the idea of salvation by grace through faith alone. Sure, we may affirm and thank God for the truth that our works do not save us, but how many of us live with the feeling that we need to do something to prove our worthiness? How many of us would agree that we need to Jesus to save us, but then think we need to do something to keep ourselves saved? As if Jesus gets us in the door, then leaves us to try our hardest to please God. And if we do not, back out the door we go. Folks, this is law! Where is the hope in that? For years I lived as if I needed to do a certain amount of things and not do a certain amount of other things in order to get my way into heaven. My security rested daily on my efforts. I believe that many people live this way, and because of it have no security, no real hope. Daily they have to question whether they are even in the faith, because their “faith” rests on their efforts. Something we may not realize is this:

“God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, so that no human being might boast in the presence of God. And because of him you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption, so that, as it is written, ‘Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.'” -1 Corinthians 1:28-31

Jesus is our wisdom! Though it may sound foolish to the ears of many, we who are in Christ know that it is He alone who saves. The world reasons away and scoffs at the notion of a crucified Savior, but when eyes are given light, they see the glory of Christ and the depths of their sin. There is infinite wisdom in the person of Jesus, and infinite foolishness in trusting our own wisdom!

Jesus is our righteousness! When we who have faith in Christ stand before God one day, He will pronounce us righteous, in right standing with Him! We will enter into His eternal glory and joy! Why? Not because of a single thing we have done, because on our own we have rejected God, gone after idols. But God will look upon us and see the righteousness of His Son Jesus and count us righteous in Him. Even now, we have right standing with God because He sees us as clean in Christ. My righteousness is never my righteousness, my righteousness is Christ’s righteousness given to me!

Jesus is our sanctification! We are set apart by Him, we are made holy through Him, and we are enabled to live godly lives by His power working within us (Philippians 2:12-13). We would be foolish to think that Jesus saves and then we work to earn it. Jesus saves, and then Jesus empowers holy living that brings glory to God. He alone is our hope for living a life pleasing to God. How long have we labored under heavy burdens, trying to earn that which cannot be earned? Find your rest and truly good works in Jesus!

Jesus is our redemption! How amazing to think that we have been bought! A debt that could only be paid by death was paid by the death of Jesus Christ! Jesus redeemed us from the curse of the Law (Galatians 3:13-14), from our imprisonment in sin. Why then would we want to go back and live for the thing that we have been redeemed from? We have been paid for by the precious blood of Christ, let’s not turn back and try to redeem ourselves by works of the Law.

How great a hope is found when we realize that Jesus is our all in all! He is our wisdom, our righteousness, our sanctification, and our redemption. Apart from Him we have no good thing and can do no good thing. And this is good news! Never will my law following be sufficient, but always will Christ be sufficient! May we boast in Him alone!

“In Christ alone my hope is found;
He is my light, my strength, my song;
This cornerstone, this solid ground,
Firm through the fiercest drought and storm.
What heights of love, what depths of peace,
When fears are stilled, when strivings cease!
My comforter, my all in all—
Here in the love of Christ I stand.

In Christ alone, Who took on flesh,
Fullness of God in helpless babe!
This gift of love and righteousness,
Scorned by the ones He came to save.
Till on that cross as Jesus died,
The wrath of God was satisfied;
For ev’ry sin on Him was laid—
Here in the death of Christ I live.

There in the ground His body lay,
Light of the world by darkness slain;
Then bursting forth in glorious day,
Up from the grave He rose again!
And as He stands in victory,
Sin’s curse has lost its grip on me;
For I am His and He is mine—
Bought with the precious blood of Christ.

No guilt in life, no fear in death—
This is the pow’r of Christ in me;
From life’s first cry to final breath,
Jesus commands my destiny.
No pow’r of hell, no scheme of man,
Can ever pluck me from His hand;
Till He returns or calls me home—
Here in the pow’r of Christ I’ll stand.”

-“In Christ Alone” by Keith Getty and Stuart Townend

Listen!

I have been thinking about posting something on this topic for the last couple weeks, and I had a conversation yesterday which made me think I should.  It is not real deep, but in my opinion it is a very important topic for believers (really all people, but for Christians all the more).  It is a failure I notice in my own life, and see all around me.  And I think it has the potential to reflect poorly on Christ if we are not careful.

It seems to me that in this world there are not many good listeners.  I find myself frequently involved in conversations where it is clear that either I or the people I am conversing with have no actual interest in what the other people are saying, but are simply waiting for the person to shut up so that we can talk.  It is not uncommon to say something and moments later to be asked about the thing I just said – because the person I was talking to was not even listening to what I said.  Again, this is what I do at times too.  What does it silently communicate when we immediately pounce after someone is done talking (or while they are talking)?  I do not care.  I am glad that you are done because I have something more important to say now.  In the most extreme cases, I do not love you or care about you.  Many times we miss important words, important statements,  all because we are waiting for others to be quiet so we can have our turn to talk.

We can learn a whole lot about the hearts of people, about their struggles, their needs, their joys, if we would take the time to listen to them.  How much better could we minister the love of Christ to others if we could hear what they are saying!  There will be plenty of time when they finish talking for us to speak too!    And if we listen well, we may by God’s grace be better prepared to give a response that is wise and suitable for the moment.

I am not saying in this post that anyone who interrupts others at times is a poor listener – sometimes interruption is needed in order to correct fallacies.  But my challenge to myself and to all believers is to take time and listen.  You will be amazed at what you hear!  I am so thankful for those who model to me what it is to be a Godly listener, and I hope to grow in this by His power within me!

Some Thoughts on the Persecuted Church

It’s been awhile…I have not been able to write as much as I would like to lately. This post will probably be fairly short too.

Yesterday, as I read through the email update I got from Voice of the Martyrs last week, a couple things struck me. I read these stories of men and women laying their lives down to preach the gospel or to hear the Word of God, willing to be poor and despised for the sake of God’s glory and the name of Jesus Christ – even to the point of death. It made me think of the many verses in Scripture that pertain to people who give their lives for His sake – the hope that is theirs in eternity. Their blood will be avenged, they will reign with Christ forever and ever, they will receive the crown of life, they will wear robes that are pure white. And as I thought about the true hope of these people, I thought of what an honor it will be to serve these men and women in our eternal dwelling place. Certainly I have had it easier than they have so far on this earth! Why shouldn’t they be exalted in eternity? Of course, all glory and honor will go to our great Father, but these who have been tortured and murdered for Christ’s sake have much to look forward to! And in heaven, it will be the joy of the saints to see the martyrs ruling!

Also, I thought of this verse, which reminded me that I should not be satisfied with letting others suffer alone:

“Since therefore Christ suffered in the flesh, arm yourselves with the same way of thinking, for whoever has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin, so as to live for the rest of the time in the flesh no longer for human passions but for the will of God.” -1 Peter 4:1-2

I pray that all believers would be armed with the same way of thinking as Christ, ready to suffer for His name’s sake!

“For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that He might bring us to God…” -1 Peter 3:18

I am thankful for the willingness to suffer that is seen among many faithful believers in our world – pray that our Father would sustain them with a hope of something better by far. I pray that I would be armed with the same way of thinking, ready to suffer shame and even death for the sake of our Savior. Above all, I am eternally grateful for Jesus Christ, who suffered for our sins in order to bring us to God! May we be granted grace to follow His example.