Tag Archives: Bible

Feb 27 2009

Why I believe righteousness is by faith and not by works.


“1What then shall we say was gained by Abraham, our forefather according to the flesh? 2For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God. 3For what does the Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness.” 4Now to the one who works, his wages are not counted as a gift but as his due. 5And to the one who does not work but believes in him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness, 6just as David also speaks of the blessing of the one to whom God counts righteousness apart from works:
 7 “Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven,
   and whose sins are covered;
8blessed is the man against whom the Lord will not count his sin.”

 9Is this blessing then only for the circumcised, or also for the uncircumcised? We say that faith was counted to Abraham as righteousness. 10How then was it counted to him? Was it before or after he had been circumcised? It was not after, but before he was circumcised. 11 He received the sign of circumcision as a seal of the righteousness that he had by faith while he was still uncircumcised. The purpose was to make him the father of all who believe without being circumcised, so that righteousness would be counted to them as well, 12and to make him the father of the circumcised who are not merely circumcised but who also walk in the footsteps of the faith that our father Abraham had before he was circumcised.

The Promise Realized Through Faith

 13For the promise to Abraham and his offspring that he would be heir of the world did not come through the law but through the righteousness of faith. 14 For if it is the adherents of the law who are to be the heirs, faith is null and the promise is void. 15For the law brings wrath, but where there is no law there is no transgression.

 16That is why it depends on faith, in order that the promise may rest on grace and be guaranteed to all his offspring—not only to the adherent of the law but also to the one who shares the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all, 17as it is written, “I have made you the father of many nations”—in the presence of the God in whom he believed, who gives life to the dead and calls into existence the things that do not exist. 18In hope he believed against hope, that he should become the father of many nations, as he had been told, “So shall your offspring be.” 19He did not weaken in faith when he considered his own body, which was as good as dead ( since he was about a hundred years old), or when he considered the barrenness of Sarah’s womb. 20No distrust made him waver concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God, 21fully convinced that God was able to do what he had promised. 22That is why his faith was “counted to him as righteousness.” 23But the words “it was counted to him” were not written for his sake alone, 24but for ours also. It will be counted to us who believe in him who raised from the dead Jesus our Lord, 25 who was delivered up for our trespasses and raised for our justification.”

(Romans 1 ESV)

If you disagree you can reach God 24/7. Its His truth, I just believe it.

Feb 23 2009

The Enemy Is You…


“We have found the enemy, and it is us”, Pogo.

A religion or belief system that does not save me from myself is not worth very much. Each of us came into the world with a built in “ME” complex that is never completely overcome. Some of a baby’s first words are usually “mine” or “me”. We never have to be taught to be selfish, it comes with the package.

The human ego, or the “self” part of each of us, is our greatest obstacle on our journey toward Christian maturity. The reason the gospel is offensive and a scandal to many is because it leaves absolutely no room for the human ego. Those who are dead in their sins and then are made alive have nothing to boast about. (Romans 3:26, 27; Ephesians 2:8-10)

It is clear that as long as I have confidence in my ability to live a life worthy of God’s ideal of sinless perfection, I will not fully embrace God’s provision for sin offered in the gospel. God doesn’t need my help or yours to make us righteous in regard to salvation. The exact opposite is true.(Romans 5:18-20) Only when we come to the end of ourselves and believe God’s record that our best behavior, on our best day, is far short of God’s righteous demands (Romans 3:9-20) are we willing to throw ourselves upon His mercy offered in the gospel of Jesus.

People who think they can enter heaven based even partially upon the basis of their good works on earth are either arrogant or ignorant. They are either so arrogant they think they deserve what God says they don’t, or so ignorant they don’t understand the absolute moral bankruptcy of the unsaved. The Apostle Paul said of himself that nothing good was in him, as to his flesh. (Romans 7:18)

Each of us on earth inhabits a body that is God’s natural enemy. That doesn’t cease to be true once we are born again. There is the constant tension within the Christian of the flesh against the Spirit.(Romans 7; Galatians 5) The two are at war for control of our thoughts and intentions and we must cooperate with what the Spirit desires to the defeat of the ego.(Romans 6:12-14)

Every religion, other than Christianity, appeals to the human ego. Each of them has the adherent doing some act, some ritual, some sacrifice to entice god into looking favorably upon him or her. This appeals to the ego in that one can take credit for what he or she has accomplished, and in most cases what has been done is observable by others. Only in Christianity is a believer received wholly upon the merit of another, namely Jesus Christ. Christians understand that while they were in fact God’s enemies He loved them, died for their sins, and rose from the dead to allow them to share in His eternal life. Becoming a Christian is in contrast to what the ego demands because the believer has absolutely nothing of worth to offer God, and even more scandalous, nothing more needs to be done. The penalty of transgressions against God has been paid in full and the believer is fully acquitted of all charges (Colossians 2:14) against him and becomes a child of God.

The loving, faith response to this lavish love is to say no to an unrighteous lifestyle (Titus 2:11, 12) and to do the good works God designed each believer to do (Ephesians 2:10). The idea that a sinner can obtain eternal life, or keep it, based upon putting in a good enough performance flies in the face of the weight of Scripture which teaches the opposite.

In the letter to the Romans Paul made it very, very clear by saying about the righteousness of God which is by faith,

“21But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it— 22the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction: 23for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, 25whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God’s righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins. 26It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.

 27 Then what becomes of our boasting? It is excluded. By what kind of law? By a law of works? No, but by the law of faith. 28For we hold that one is justified by faith apart from works of the law.” (Romans 3:21-28)

To the struggling Christian, forsake your ego and its desires and trust Christ alone for your security. God’s truth will set you free if you will only believe His record. I hope you will.

For Him,
Royce

Feb 8 2009

Looking good and being good, Wolves in sheep’s clothing


“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’ (Matthew 7:21-23)

The above passage is often used as a proof text for those whose idea of salvation from sin and hell is a mixture of works and grace. Those of us who believe sinners are acquitted and set right with God solely upon the merit of Jesus (His perfect life, sacrificial death, and bodily resurrection) are pointed to this text as proof faith in Jesus is not enough.

Ironically, every one of those men who believe men are saved by a combination of grace and works (they refuse to admit they trust “works” and prefer the word “faithfulness”) also believe a person can be saved and then lost. The reason they believe this is that they believe their acceptance by the Father depends, at least in part, on their performance.

So what is being said in the verses quoted above? Is this proof I am in error for teaching that men should trust Christ alone for forgiveness of sins and eternal life? No it does not! The truth is it teaches the exact opposite. What does it say?

First the context.

The context is Jesus’ warnings to the Jews about false prophets. He began this section in v15 by saying “Beware of false prophets..” , and continued by teaching how to know who they are. He concluded by using the metaphor of the wise man who builds his house on a rock.

What are the lessons for us from this passage?

First, you can know a real man of God by watching him. His “fruit” is a dead give away to what he really is. Is the “fruit” (results) of a preacher, or church leader expensive houses, fine cars, and great fame? Watch out! He is likely a wolf in sheep’s clothing (Matthew 5:15). Is the result (fruit) of a man’s ministry a flock of self righteous people who trust their own goodness for salvation? Do they try to share the glory that only Christ deserves? Do they talk more about the Holy Spirit, tongues, and miracles than they do about the good news about Jesus? Watch out! Do they talk more about their heritage, a particular church, how to worship correctly, baptism, or any other subject you can imagine than about the Lord Jesus Christ who alone is eternal life? Watch out!

Secondly, this section of scripture teaches that Christ alone, that depending only upon Him is the way to life and heaven. Verses 13 and 14 immediately precede the section about false prophets.

 13 “Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. 14For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few.”

Jesus is that “narrow gate”, He is the “narrow way”. He is the door to the sheepfold; He is “the” way, “the” truth, and “the” life. His way is very narrow and considered intolerant by those on the wide path. It is the path of designer religions, good works, law keeping, and those who claim to have a private revelation from God the rest of us don’t have. The way to destruction is to take the path of least resistance, the one that is lined with ego polishing stations and places to display fleshly pride.

Jesus is also the “Rock” in the section of scripture in verses 24-27.

“Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock.”

A wise man builds his whole house of faith on Jesus Christ. A foolish man uses all sorts of other foundation materials and when the wind of judgment blows and the flood of God’s wrath against sin comes the house will fall. We are warned to trust Jesus alone for our eternal hope.

Finally, Jesus affirms the eternal security of the believer and denies the flimsy doctrine of those who think they are, at least in part, good enough to be approved by God, and yet live in fear that they might loose their souls because of a performance that doesn’t meet God’s approval.

“I NEVER KNEW YOU!” (vs23) These stinging words of Jesus fly in the face of those who teach you can be saved and lost, saved and lost. These false teachers Jesus warned of are not apostates, they are not those who once were on solid rock and fell. No, these have never been saved. Jesus NEVER knew them. Oh yes, they were faithful in church attendance, they did all the religious activity. In fact they excelled at being religious, but they went to hell because they missed the narrow way, Jesus.

What could be sadder than to live a life of being good, doing good, and then be forever lost and suffering in eternal fire? Notice Jesus never denies that they did the works they claimed (v22) to have done, He did say He NEVER knew them.

John 6:27,28 records Jesus’ words when asked by the people “What must we do to be doing the works of God?” His reply is my plea. His reply had been my message of hope for over 40 years. “Jesus answered them; this is the work of God that you believe on Him whom He has sent.”

Please believe this; God will not share His glory with another. The Bible is clear. The reason wicked sinners are made fit for heaven by faith is in part so boasting will be eliminated. (Romans 3:27) So I say with the Apostle Paul “Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord” (1 Corinthians 1:31)

For Jesus,
Royce

 

Feb 6 2009

Let’s Stand for the Invitation


I just read a good post by Jay Guin over at OneInJesus.info about the tradition of the invitation at the end of a worship service. It is a very good post and I recommend you read it. He made this statement which is very true.

In fact, we sometimes do baptize too hastily, without taking the time to be certain the person coming forward really understands the commitment being made.

Jay’s post caused me to remember a church I once visited in Texas. Countryside Bible Church is an independent, local church in Southlake, Texas. My wife and I, shortly after our marriage almost 10 years ago, visited there a few times. What an unusual church!

The singing was hearty and passionate, people were very friendly, and a leather bound Bible was given to each visitor by the ushers. The pastor preached a fiery message from the word of God and without a word, when he had finished his sermon, people got up from their seats and started to visit and file out of the building. I was in shock! What were they thinking, no invitation? I was amazed that after such a fine Bible lesson there would be no opportunity for people to respond.

The next time we visited there, we arrived a few minutes early, so I asked one of the men I had seen there before why there was invitation. His answer floored me! “We believe our job is to proclaim God’s truth” he began, “It’s up to the Holy Spirit to convince the listeners that it is true. If someone is here who is not saved, we wait until they come to the pastor or one of the members and express a desire to know God, to repent, or to report that they have trusted Christ and want to be baptised”. My astonished reply was something like, “So you never have an invitation?” The answer was “No, we don’t try to do what only God can do”. Initially I was stunned! I had never considered the impact of what I had just witnessed.

Later I learned that each year of the church’s history they baptised dozens and dozens of people, each of them coming to Christ with only the invitation by the Holy Spirit and the Word of God.

I was there on a Sunday when 5 or 6 people, all adults that day, were baptised. Each of them stood in front of the congregation and told of how they came to understand they were lost, how they understood what Christ had done for them, and how they loved Him for it. Each spoke for 2 or 3 minutes. What was not so obvious was that each of them had previously spent time with an elder in private conversation so that they were reasonably sure the candidate truly did “believe with all of his heart” that the claims of the gospel were true. And, each of them sought someone else out to find out what they needed to do, no one pressured them to do anything.

My last visit there was in 2000. At that time they had 1,000 or more members, a fairly new facility on 10 acres which they had already outgrown, and were planning an expansion. They had never been in debt one penny and didn’t believe it was ok with God to do so. They seemed to be people of the Word, deeply devoted to Christ and to each other.

Let’s stand now for the invitation… How many hundreds of times have I heard those words when not one person in the room expected anything more than two verses of a song, a closing prayer, and everyone would head over to the restaurant or aunt Jenny’s house for lunch and some football. In fact, I have been in churches where they wouldn’t have had a clue what to do next if someone had come forward.

Charlie Knox, a fellow I worshp with is known for his “sayings“. One of my favorites is this one. “The difference between me and God is…He never tries to be me.” Is it possible we sometimes try to do the work that can’t be done by us?

“But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God” (John 1:12,13)

“since you have been born again, not of perishable seed but of imperishable, through the living and abiding word of God.” (1 Peter 1:23)

John 6:40,

Royce