Tag Archives: gospel

Dec 30 2008

Works and Religion meet Grace and Truth


Two religious leaders met on a breezy night long ago in the city of Jerusalem.

One of these men, a trained theologian and an official of the civil court for his faith group, initiated the meeting. He was very likely one of the most respected men in that part of the world, known for his holy life, his piety, and his dedication to the Jewish law. There was no person of his faith who could better represent the religion of the Jews than this man.

The other man was a commoner. He likely had little formal education and could not claim much accomplishment in life by usual standards, except he was good at wood working. He had gained quite a reputation as a spiritual leader himself in spite of His lowly station in life. It was said of him that the blinded eyes were opened, the lame walked, lepers were cleansed, and even the dead were raised to life at His command. Some said he was a great prophet, others that he was King of the Jews.

It was his notoriety of doing mighty works (miracles) that drew this educated man to a street preacher under cover of darkness. He could not understand how this plain man, in appearance not unlike other thousands in the area, could do the wondrous things he did. He concluded that only a man sent from God could possibly do such things.

The event and the conversation is recorded in John’s gospel chapter 3 verses 1thru 21.

          1 “Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. 2 This man came to Jesus by night and said to him “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher come from God, for no one can do these signs that you do unless God is with him.” 3 Jesus answered him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.” 4 Nicodemus said to him, “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born?” 5 Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. 6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. 7 Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’ 8 The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.”

 9 Nicodemus said to him, “How can these things be?” 10 Jesus answered him, “Are you the teacher of Israel and yet you do not understand these things? 11 Truly, truly, I say to you, we speak of what we know, and bear witness to what we have seen, but you do not receive our testimony. 12 If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how can you believe if I tell you heavenly things? 13 No one has ascended into heaven except he who descended from heaven, the Son of Man 14 And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, 15 that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.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. 17 For 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. 20 For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed. 21 But whoever does what is true comes to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that his works have been carried out in God.”

This is the story of law meeting grace, of religion meeting Truth. And it contrasts, not only Nicodemus and Jesus, but Jesus and us.

Had I been in Jesus’ place in the story, and just had such a sincere compliment, by response might well have been “Thank you very much”, said as humbly as I could muster. And then after some small talk about what we had in common I might have invited him to church or even asked if we could study the Bible together. But Jesus after hearing the compliment replied “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.” There was no explanation, no quoting of Scripture, just this odd statement. And as Nicodemus understandably asked questions Jesus only repeated the same in different terms. And He added this rebuke “Truly, truly, I say to you, we speak of what we know, and bear witness to what we have seen, but you do not receive our testimony. 12 If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how can you believe if I tell you heavenly things?”  He said to Nicodemus in so many words, “Your problem is unbelief”.

This ruler of the Jews, undoubtedly a good man by the measure of a man by men, did not need to “do” more good things. He did not need more religious activity. He did not need to be more “sound” in doctrine or to follow the correct pattern of worship. His only need was Life. He was dead in his sins. He and every other man and woman needed to be born again.

After dropping a bomb on this leader of the Jews Jesus explained.


“ 14 And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, 15 that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.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. 17 For 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”.

Not one thing has changed in the last 2000 years. The only way men are made fit for the kingdom of God is by being born again by doing what Jesus told this man to do.

The scandal of modern churches is that instead of telling people about the one who was lifted up as the serpent in the wilderness so those who look can live, is that we have told them to follow Nicodemus rather than Jesus.

We invite them to church, ask them to say a prayer, or repeat some words and be baptized, and then we begin the process of teaching them to behave like our model of a Christian. We tell them to pray, read your Bible every day, don’t cuss, drink, steal, or cheat on your wife, tithe your gross income, and attend church regularly, and “if” you do these things well, and in this church or another just like it, you will go to heaven when you die. This is the modern version of becoming a Christian.

Paul was not ashamed of the gospel, even at the cost of life or limb, because “It IS the power of God for salvation” and “In it THE righteousness of God is revealed”. (Romans 1:16, 17) Only by telling folks the good news about what Jesus has already done is the “power of God” (creative power) released to impart faith and repentance and to give everlasting life to a dead man. In the story of Jesus, and there alone, is the sinner introduced to the Righteousness of God whose name is Jesus. Those who believe the message and trust His claims are “made” righteous and condemnation flees forever.

Law (good deeds, rule keeping, religious activity, etc.) kills, but the breath of God (Spirit) gives Life.

May all of us who claim to be gospel preachers and teachers be what we profess in 2009. It is a matter of life and death.

For telling the story of Jesus,

Royce

Dec 25 2008

Christmas eve thoughts


Today, Christmas eve 2008, has been a wonderful day. I arose at 5:30 a.m. and drove across town for a weekly Bible study. Several men and I meet at 6:30 a.m. every Wednesday to fellowship, pray, and be challenged from the Word of God. Every week I am blessed by being with those good men whose lives encourage me to be all I can be for God.

I came back home and had a very long nap in my king size Lazy Boy recliner. (How appropriate is the name “Lazy Boy” for my chair?) In the afternoon Carol and I did some last minute Christmas shopping and then went across the river to a Christmas eve service at First Baptist West Monroe. It was a candle light service and we worshiped in song and taking the Lord’s Supper together. It was a warm, inspiring worship experience.

The pastor, John Avant, told us briefly about his visit with Dr. Billy Graham yesterday the 23rd. He traveled to Billy Graham’s home in NorthCarolina, (just a few miles from my family home) with the president of Chic Fillet. He spoke with passion and joy about singing carols for the beloved evangelist who is confined to his bed. Dr. Graham is 90 years old and still an encouragement to all who come into his path. He will soon be gone and there will not be another who will preach the gospel of Christ to so many millions as he.

Last night, my daughter Kelly and her family joined us for food, fun, and exchanging gifts. The boys were excited about bedroom shoes, bath robes, and lazer tag. They played ping pong on their new table, a gift from their grandparents. They are such a joy. Kelly is a gifted, beautiful, funny wife, mom, teacher and mentor to her students. Our son in law Jorgen (pronounced “yawn”) owns and operates an Ace hardware store, a Maggy Moo’s Ice Cream store in the mall, and is also very active in a marketing company. Nine year old twins, Corbin and Kevin, and their older brother Jorgen III who is 12, keep mom, dad, and us grandparents very busy indeed.

We just watched a Christmas special on Fox News channel from Saddleback church and Rick Warren and then the Fox and friends crew had a nice Christmas program too. In today’s politically correct world, what a refreshing thing for the number one news network to actually read scripture and talk about Christ coming to save sinners from their sins! I applaud them for doing so.

Tomorrow we will drive to Keller, Texas to my son’s house where we will celebrate Christmas with him, his wife and daughters. My son Jason recruits doctors for temporary assignments and his wife Trina is a speech pathologist for the Keller school system. They have three daughters, Kelsie 16, Adysen8, and Allie who is 7. Each is unique and precious and we love them very, very much and look forward to spending time with them.

Both of our kids and their spouses are devout followers of the Christ and are active in their churches and leading their children to be people of God. I have much to be thankful for this Christmas season.

This year has been wonderful. Carol and I have had lots of opportunities for ministry through her work with WFRRelief and our Grief Share ministry. Carol, my beautiful and amazing wife, has spoken to women’s groups, leads a Heart to Home group, teaches the Bible, does the public praying for her chorus group and sings with the chorus and her quartet Sweet Harmony. On one Saturday recently they sang at 6 different places. What a delight to have such a talented and gracious wife.

I have had the wonderful blessing of joining God in His redemptive work. God has honored His word and I was blessed to have a part in reaping the harvest. For this and every opportunity to lead others to Him, or to help them more fully trust Him, I am humbled and grateful. It is far, far more than I deserve.

Christ is indeed the gift that keeps on giving. If I have another day, another week, month, or many more years to live on this earth I pray that I will continue, as weak and frail as I am, to follow Him where ever He leads.

I expect 2009 to be a great year. It, like all the years of my almost 63, will be full of problems, difficulties, hardships, and disappointments, but through it all, whether alive or dead, I will be a victor in Jesus.

I am humbled by what God can do with an average country boy with lots of warts and bumps spiritually, but who though oft times stumbling, and sometimes falling, continues to follow, and has for over 45 years.

In the last few days I have had visitors to Grace Digest from several countries around the world and from many states. I am amazed. Soon Carol and I will begin our 5th year of facilitating Grief Share groups for those who have lost loved ones. And, there are many who need to be loved, encouraged, prayed for, and many, many folks must hear about this Christ child who has provided eternal life for everyone who will trust Him.

May God bless you. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.

His peace,
Royce

Dec 18 2008

The truth about Atheism


One of the greatest rebukes of human beings is found in the Bible in the 14th and 53rd Psalms “The fool says in his heart there is no God”.

There is none more foolhardy than the one who declares “There is no God”!

Atheism stands alone as the most absurd belief system of human history. Applying only elementary logic leads to this determination and raises an interesting question. Why would any sane person rail against what does not exist? If those who claim to be atheists really believed what they claim they would be silent in regard to “God”. But they are instead becoming more aggressive, not content to not believe God exists, but are working to remove any mention of God from the public square and to belittle those who do believe in God.

A legitimate question arises. Why not set out to disprove the existence of blue and purple polka-dot elephants? The reason this movement has never launched is that no sane person believes blue and purple polka-dot elephants exist. If an atheist were honest why would he waste one breath trying to disprove what obviously doesn’t exist? The clear answer is, atheists are not honest. I’ll say more about this later.

The other logical dead end for atheism is the moral argument. Any time a self declared atheist makes a moral judgment he has just confirmed the existence of God. If God really does not exist, then we humans find our ancestry someplace in premortal slime, we only exist due to a cosmic chance, or accident, at best. Pond scum is not intrinsically moral. Of all the animals, only humans have any sense of morality. Fish eat their young; and every carnivore is one at the expense of some other of his fellow animals. I have seen some dogs that were loyal friends to their masters but not one had any sense of right and wrong. The only feeble answer for this obvious dilemma of logical thinking is evolution. Since animals have been around as long as humans and many would argue they predated man, why have they not evolved to a moral awareness? There is no answer forthcoming.

When considering the question of atheism and the validity of atheists I have two choices. First, I can do what almost everyone does, including the best theologians, and just take them at their word and believe they really don’t believe God exists. Or secondly, I can believe what God says. This is what He says.

”Forthe wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse. For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Claiming to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory ofthe immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things.

 Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves, because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen.

 For this reason God gave them up to dishonorable passions. For their women exchanged natural relations for those that are contrary to nature; and the men likewise gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another, men committing shameless acts with men and receiving in themselves the due penalty for their error.

And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind to do what ought not to be done. They were filled with all manner of unrighteousness, evil, covetousness, malice. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, maliciousness. They are gossips, slanderers, haters of God, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless. Though they know God’s decree that those who practice such things deserve to die, they not only do them but give approval to those who practice them.”(Romans 1:18-32 ESV)

“The fool says in his heart There is no God”. (Psalms 14 and 53)

God’s revelation to us is clear. The inspired words of the Apostle Paul are a striking rebuke of anyone who says God does not exist. I have highlighted many of the central truths of this passage of Scripture. It is clear that God has revealed himself to every man at some level. And He has done it to the degree that man is without excuse. No person of any age can say I am an honest unbeliever.

Wicked men have known about God but have chosen to suppress the truth about him and to believe a lie and are thus correctly called “fools”. It is not that self proclaimed atheists do not believe there is a God, the truth is they hate God and are deceitful, foolish, faithless, and ruthless and more.

So the next time you see an atheist on TV trying to get a nativity moved from a city square, or the 10 Commandments removed from a court house, you now know what the true motive is. That person hates God. It is not that he doesn’t believe God exists.

This same passage also clearly explains the militant aggression of the homosexual rights crowd. The root motivating cause is unbelief.

Immediately preceding the verses quoted above from Romans chapter 1 is the cure for atheism, homosexuality, murder, theft, lying and every other flaw of sinful man’s nature, the good news about Jesus Christ.

“For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, “The righteous shall live by faith”.(Romans 1:16,17 ESV)

God’s one and only Son, Jesus Christ is God’s righteousness. Those who put their trust (faith) in Him are made righteous based wholly upon the life, death, and resurrection of the God-man Jesus Christ.

God loves atheists and every other denomination of sinners equally and continues to make a loving plea to all men, Repent and turn to Christ for forgiveness of sin, eternal life, and perfect righteousness resulting in becoming God’s dear child and being loved by God just as He loves Jesus.

Jesus is the only way to the Father, please consider Him.

His peace,

Royce

Nov 12 2008

Is Truth absolute? And, can I present it effectively?


Every person who is serious about their personal faith in God, and sharing that faith with others will be blessed by seeing this video. It addresses many questions facing the church today in clear, logical, objective language that will help us have our feet on solid ground as we present truth to others.

I hope you are blessed as I have been by this excellent presentation. Follow this link: GodTube

Comments?

His Peace,
Royce