Nov 24 2011

Holiness, God’s work or yours?


I am not sure right now as I write this that anyone except me will ever read it. I am writing it to help clarify in my own mind, in my own heart, what is truth and what is passed off as truth but in reality is at best a myth, and at worst an offense to God almighty.

Many of the people I worship with and communicate with on Facebook, Twitter, or on blogs, have at least an elementary understanding of “grace”. They will quickly admit that they are aware that they can do nothing to earn God’s salvation, that it is “not by works”, or not by “keeping the law”, but by “grace”. However, here is what I am seeing in many Christians, and too often in myself. When we talk about our living before God as His children (Christians) and how we grow to be more like Jesus we expose that fact that we really don’t understand grace at all.

Here’s what I mean. I hear people say things like “We need to help each other make it to heaven” so fellowship, accountability, and small group interaction are very important. Those things are important but they will not “..help you get to heaven”. Only Jesus’ sacrificial offering of Himself can do that. Or someone will say “I want to mature in Christ so I’m not doing these things, and I am doing these things” and they really expect that somehow they will experience God’s approval, or receive God’s favor more because of the exercise. Again, I admit it, I have thought and done some of the same things.

This is what I’m seeing in Scripture and this is what God seems to be pressing upon me to understand and to live out in my own life. There are some things that are becoming so clear that I must set them as stone markers in my life and whatever feeble ministry the Lord wants me to have.

WHAT SCRIPTURE ACTUALLY SAYS IS THE FINAL AUTHORITY FOR WHAT I WILL BELIEVE AND FOR HOW I WILL LIVE. Who can argue with that? This does not leave room for two or more controlling authorities in my life, only one. What someone says about the Bible is not as important as what the Bible says. What the church (Christians) has done historically is not as important as what the Bible says. And, what the popular Christian culture values as important is not as important as what the Bible says.

David Koresh and Jim Jones led their followers to a certain and horrible death while claiming to go by the Bible. So I readily admit that it is entirely possible, even dangerously possible, to claim Bible authority, take a passage out of context and teach hellish untruths all in the name of Jesus. So, to make the claim I make drives me to be very cautious, making as certain as possible that I am saying what the Bible is saying. That is my charge to myself.

I HAVE NO POWER TO MAKE MYSELF GOOD ENOUGH TO WIN GOD’S APPROVAL EITHER BEFORE OR AFTER I BECAME A CHRISTIAN. Every person comes to the cross the same way. Each of us was morally broken, by nature we did things that were against God’s commands, and without His help all of us would be hopelessly lost. We can’t get it right and keep it right, it just isn’t in us to do it.

WE ARE COUNTED “NOT GUILTY” BY GOD ONLY UPON THE BASIS OF THE TOTAL, SATISFYING, SACRIFICIAL, SUBSTITUTIONARY, SACRIFICE OF JESUS CHRIST OF HIMSELF FOR US.

Maybe I can find agreement up to now. That act by which God declares an ungodly sinner “righteous”, or “not guilty” based upon the work and worth of Jesus is called “justification”. I think most people I know get it. They at least understand it’s simplest terms. But, what about “sanctification”?

For some reason, most people who seem to grasp the truth about “justification” don’t seem to understand “sanctification” very well at all. It seems many people who have embraced the idea of “grace” vs. “legalism” really understand the difference. That is until they start talking bout living out the Christ life day by day. They get it mostly right when thinking of being “justified “ and receiving salvation as a free gift, but flip-flop right back into legalism when thinking about “sanctification”. This is why as believers we can never get past the gospel. It is the gospel that clears our heads and transforms our hearts and makes us holy.

The following passages are very timely.

John 17:16-18

16 They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world.17 Sanctify them in the truth;your word is truth.18 As you sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world.

Ephesians 5:25-27

25 Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, 26 that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, 27 so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish. 

1 Thessalonians 5:22-24

22 Abstain from every form of evil.

23 Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. 24 He who calls you is faithful; he will surely do it. 

Hebrews 9:12-14

12 he entered once for all into the holy places, not by means of the blood of goats and calves but by means of his own blood, thus securing an eternal redemption. 13 For if the blood of goats and bulls, and the sprinkling of defiled persons with the ashes of a heifer, sanctify for the purification of the flesh,14how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, purify our conscience from dead works to serve the living God. 

There are other places in the New Testament where the word “sanctify”, “sanctified”, and “sanctification” are used. In many of those instances the word means “to set apart”, or “to choose”. The idea is like this. Today, on Thanksgiving 2011, we used some dinner wear that we only use maybe two or three times a year. It is special to my wife Carol. Only for more formal dinners does she bring it out. In that sense it is “sanctified” for special use. That is the meaning often of the word “sanctify” and it’s derivatives in Scripture. But, that is clearly not the meaning in the passages above. The meaning of “sanctify” here is “to make holy”. Most dictionaries will give “to make holy” as the primary meaning of the English word.

Each of the passages of Scripture quoted above have something in common. And, that commonality is that God is doing the sanctification, not man.

In John 17 Jesus is praying to the Father asking “Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth.” It is God’s business to “make holy” those who are His own.

In Ephesians 5 Paul writes “…that he might sanctify her”…”that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish.” Jesus is making his bride (the church) “holy” and “without blemish”.

In 1 Thessalonians Paul wrote, “ may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely”. He first warns believers there “ Abstain from every form of evil” but that will not make them holy. That is God’s work in us, only He can make us holy.

And in Hebrews the Bible says “how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, purify our conscience from dead works to serve the living God.”

The Bible could hardly be more clear, the process of making us holy, making sure that we are pure and undefiled is the work of God just as sure as Jesus death, burial, and resurrection were his own doing.

Two more passages underscore this truth beautifully.

13”for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.”Philippians 2:13

10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them. Ephesians 2:10

God is at work in us to shape us into the people He wants us to be. You see, it was his plan before we ever were that we should do good works, those things that are for His good pleasure. We can no more make ourselves holy now than we could before we came into relationship with Christ. We have no ability but His ability. We have no power but His power. And we have no holiness but His holiness.

Our daily quiet time and Bible reading are good and right but God isn’t impressed. We don’t cuss and drink and we go to Wednesday service and Sunday school, those are good things but don’t make you good. Only the sacrificial death of Jesus for sinners makes one holy then, now, and forever.

In our quest for the deeper things of God we must be careful not to get an inch away from the simplicity of the gospel of Christ for there is no truth more important, no knowledge more compelling, and no rest so complete as what is given as a free gift to those who simply put their whole trust in Jesus Christ.

God I want to surrender. Sanctify me.

Royce

 

Nov 21 2011

Thanksgiving like no other…


When King David’s son Solomon decided to build the temple of the Lord and a palace for himself, he made great preparations. The Old Testament book of 2nd Chronicles records the following.

And Solomon assigned 70,000 men to bear burdens and 80,000 to quarry in the hill country, and 3,600 to oversee them. (2 Chronicles 2:2)

A project that requires a 153,600 man workforce is quite an undertaking. In 2 Chronicles chapter 3 you can read about some of the details and size of the building. It would make the TBN headquarters look like a drug flop house. It was not only huge but was adorned with jewels and had gold everywhere. No expense was spared and the furnishings were as magnificent as the building.

Finally, when everything was completed according to specific plans, the Levitical priests brought in the ark of the covenant in which lay the tables of the law. Then the celebration began!

Three praise leaders assembled a choir and the musicians which included cymbals, harps, and lyres. To round it off there were 120 preachers playing trumpets! They started to play and sing in unison and the glory of the God filled the place like a cloud so that the priests were unable to stand to minister.

This is a mega church doing it right! Praise and thanksgiving with singing, and musical instruments, and God give his approval by filling the house with his glory! Is there a lesson for us here? Read the account for yourself, part of it is here.

12 and all the Levitical singers, Asaph, Heman, and Jeduthun, their sons and kinsmen, arrayed in fine linen, with cymbals, harps, and lyres, stood east of the altar with 120 priests who were trumpeters; 13 (and it was the duty of the trumpeters and singers to make themselves heard in unison in praise and thanksgiving to the LORD), and when the song was raised, with trumpets and cymbals and other musical instruments, in praise to the LORD,
“For he is good,

for his steadfast love endures forever,”

the house, the house of the LORD, was filled with a cloud, 14 so that the priests could not stand to minister because of the cloud, for the glory of the LORD filled the house of God. (2 Chronicles 5:12-14)

One of the marks of the people of God way back in David’s day, and in the days of his son Solomon, was praise and thanksgiving. It was done loudly, by many people, using voices and musical instruments of all sorts. Today I read several passages written by the great apostle Paul who was routinely giving thanks. He give thanks for the faith of those who had put their trust in Jesus, for their holy lives, for their generosity, etc. And he taught others to be always giving thanks as well. An unthankful Christian in the Bible is unthinkable.

So, as we gather with family and friends this Thursday, have a blast! Enjoy the food God has provided, praise God for his grace and goodness, laugh, sing, play music, and be  thankful. It’s a plan God approves.

Nov 13 2011

We contributed the need


 

 

This post is by my cherished friend and mentor Edward Fudge.

God created human beings to enjoy sweet fellowship with himself. But instead of obeying God, we have broken his laws, ignored his wishes, displeased him and gone astray. As surely as human life is God’s gift, just that surely the consequence of sin is death (Rom. 6:23). How can a just and merciful God pronounce sinners “not guilty” and treat them as if they have done exactly what he desired? If he shows mercy, he will not be just. If he does justice, he will not show mercy. Humanly speaking, grace seems an impossible dream. God resolved this dilemma in the person of Jesus of Nazareth. God himself took on human nature and became a baby boy in the womb of the Virgin Mary.

In Jesus, the offended came to the offenders. In a human body, created for that purpose, Jesus gave God the perfect human obedience he had always wanted but had never before received (Heb. 10:5-10). By doing that, Jesus showed God’s law to be both great and glorious (Isaiah 42:21). In one of his last prayers, Jesus could say, “I have finished the work that you gave me to do” (John 17:4). Jesus then offered that faithful life “for sin,” in his body on the cross, fulfilling the Isaiah prophecy of one who would “make his life an offering for sin” (53:10).

On the cross like a great lightning rod suspended between heaven and earth, Jesus absorbed all the consequences of human sin — consequences culminating in his death. At the same time, Jesus gave God the Father the only life ever lived in perfect loving obedience to him. Jesus could therefore shout from the cross, “it is finished!” and with the satisfaction of an accomplished work, die satisfied (John 19:30; Isa. 53:11). God’s grace did not come cheap, although for its recipients it is absolutely free.

In the work that accomplished salvation, there is no such thing as “God’s part” and “our part.” It was wholly God’s work to reconcile, justify and redeem, and he did that in Jesus, once for all. Our work comes after God has finished his work, and it is totally a response to God’s work — of grateful obedience and praise. Not until we have accepted the “it is finished!” concerning Jesus’ work are we ready to hear “It is beginning” concerning our own work. And God’s saving work is what he did in Jesus, not something he does in us. It was outside of us, for us.

 

 

Oct 26 2011

He came to set the captive free…


Jesus? Who needs him?

Millions are living every day thinking that God is taking account of not only the bad things they do but also the good and some time in the end of all things God will weigh the good against the bad and hopefully the scales of justice will tilt in their favor.

Whoops, there’s a problem. This is what the Bible says the truth is.

7For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God’s law; indeed, it cannot.8Those who are in the flesh cannot please God. (Romans 8:7)

“Does not….”, “cannot” please God? Yes. If you are not trusting (having faith in…) God, that is, depending on Christ’s work on your behalf, you “do not” and “cannot” please God. Your plan is in shambles, it’s a No Go!

In the earlier verses of Romans 8 those who are God’s own people are contrasted by those who are only “flesh”, whose minds only think in terms of “flesh”. It speaks of those who only live to please themselves. What I want, what I desire, me, me, me.

Another passage also describes those who have not turned themselves in, (so to speak), to God.

14The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned. (1 Corinthians 2:14)

Here, the contrast is “spiritual” vs. “natural” man. “Spiritual” refers to one in whom God dwells by the Holy Spirit which is true of every true believer in Jesus and his work for them.

There is a reason why Christian teaching, (Bible thumper’s), is silly to you. You are “not able to understand” because you are only natural, or not spiritual.

These verses, if true, are shocking and sobering facts. Not only are you not on God’s good side, you can’t get there on your own. Your mind is captive, your will is limited to only what does not and cannot please God.

Maybe it’s time to wave the white flag! Surrender! Listen to the ancient plea.

Repent! (change your mind about the course of your life, do a mental about-face) Believe the good news about Jesus and what he has accomplished for you.

The crime for not pleasing God is a capital offence. There are no exceptions. Break one tiny bit of God’s law and you are guilty of it all. The punishment is to perish, to be cut off from God and good forever.

But God came in flesh, lived a perfect life, for you. He was obedient in every detail on your behalf. He took all your mess ups (sins) upon himself and died as a common criminal for you. He died in your place. The result is two-fold.

God, who is just and holy, can now declare anyone “not guilty” because Jesus paid their penalty in full. And He can declare them righteous based on the complete obedience of Jesus on their behalf.

You get a Get Out of Jail Free card when you put your whole trust in Jesus.

Jesus spoke the following words to a Jewish leader, one who was high up in rank in the religion of the Jews. Shockingly, though he was one of the best and brightest he was lacking what God requires. So Jesus said to him…

 16“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. 17For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. 18 Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God. 19 And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. (John 3:16-19)

This is really, really good news!

Royce