Tag Archives: Jesus

Jul 19 2010

Blessed is the man against whom the Lord will not count his sin


The title of this post is a quote from Romans 4 in the Bible. The impact of this statement is highlighted in the context of the great apostle’s theme of justification by faith.

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

Is this blessing then only for the circumcised, or also for the uncircumcised? We say that faith was counted to Abraham as righteousness. How then was it counted to him? Was it before or after he had been circumcised? It was not after, but before he was circumcised. 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, and 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.” (Romans 4:1-12)

This should be very good news! And, it is good news to those who understand what Jesus accomplished for wicked, ungodly sinners when He took upon him their sins and paid the awful price the justice of God demanded. He cried from the cross, “It is finished!” With that cry and his shed blood and final breath, sinful mankind had been reconciled to God. Three days later the certification that God’s plan of salvation was complete was displayed as a risen Jesus. Our three common enemies had all been unquestionably defeated for good, death, hell, and the grave.

This is not good news for everyone…

That God is not counting sins against those with their faith in Jesus is not good news for the self-righteous. They are not unlike their first century counterparts who were the most religious folks of their time, the sect of the Pharisees. Oh yes, we have plenty of them today.

They love the praise of men. “Listen to me”, “see what I have done”, “notice what I avoid”, “honor me because I am such a good person”. These church members never miss a service, they do all the right things so far as can be humanly observed, but inside they are corrupt to the core.

They want part of the credit for their salvation. The message of the grace of God offends them deeply, it makes them angry. It is not unlike the anger the church folks had against Jesus. “Eating with sinners!”, “Doing things we don’t approve on the Sabbath, the nerve…!” He deserves to die!”

Good news for those who trust Christ alone…

This is really not complicated. If you will take a deep breath or two and read carefully through the text quoted above, and, if you really want to know the truth, you can.

The plan that Jesus would die for sinners, in their place, for their sins, was not a remedy quickly and frantically put together because of the sin of Adam. No, before the creation, in eternity before time, God purposed to bring glory to himself by justifying guilty sinners. Peter, in the first major address after Jesus’ resurrection said,

“Men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus of Nazareth, a man attested to you by God with mighty works and wonders and signs that God did through him in your midst, as you yourselves know—this Jesus, delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men.” (Acts 2:22,23)

Paul joins Peter and confirms this eternal plan of God.

“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love he predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved. In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight.” (Ephesians 1:3-8)

All of your sins (past, present, and future) are forgiven, removed, and forgotten.

Answer this question. How many sins had you committed about 2,000 years ago? How many ways had you offended God before the earth was spoken into existence? None! ALL of your sins were in view in eternity past when God’s “definite plan” was conceived and you “were chosen in Him” and He decided to make you “holy and blameless” to the “praise of His glorious grace“.

This is one time in your life when something that sounds to good to be true IS! In the person of Christ, by his work and worth, God has forgiven ALL your sins and declared you “right”. So, your righteousness does not rise from your performance but rather from God’s decree. He “counts” (credits, or puts to the account of..) you righteous based on the perfection both in the living and dying of Jesus Christ.

The Hebrews writer said it another way. In comparing Jesus and his priestly work of offering himself, to the human priests who daily had to make offerings for sins, he made this declaration.

“For by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified.” (Hebrews 10:14)

“Those who are being sanctified” is you and me, if we are trusting in Christ alone and not ourselves and our ability to do good. Jesus made one offering for sins, once for all time, once for all people, and once for all sins, and He sat down…

Duty does not determine destiny…

Has it ever occurred to you that God doesn’t have to wait until next month to see what you will do next month? Or next year? God knew before time what you would do today and every tomorrow and loved you anyway to show His glory.

I understand this is new territory for some who might read this. It really does sound too good to be true! And, as I said earlier, many are offend by God’s message of salvation by grace. In fact, Jesus promised it would be so. I can’t change that. I hope you will have an open heart for God’s truth. It is after all, God’s truth, not mine.

I’ll end this post with three propositions for your consideration. God’s plan of salvation is complete but still in progress, we are perfect but not yet, and we are on our way to being just like Jesus in a perfect place, in a perfect body, perfectly righteous and holy.

As to our standing with God…

1. Our “positional” standing. We stand by faith in Christ, have been declared “righteous”, are adopted as sons, promised an inheritance, been given life eternal, promised a bodily resurrection to immortality, have our names in the book of life, are sealed by the Holy Spirit, and are SAFE.

In this sense we are “saved” or “have been saved”. Our destiny is settled. Based wholly upon the worthiness and merit of Jesus we have been justified, redeemed, reconciled, set right, and been made perfect by God. We did not deserve it and can’t claim any credit for the gift we have received. The theological term that represents these truths is Justification.

2. Our “practical” standing. Unfortunately we still fall far short of God’s ideals of worship, devotion, and morality. We still sin. But, God is at work in us to change us so that we are becoming more like Jesus. He uses circumstances, the Bible, other Christians, and most importantly, the transforming work of the Holy Spirit who lives in us, to constantly and consistently make us more what He desires and destines us to be finally.

We are to cooperate by obedience, by saying the same thing about our sin God does (confession, 1 John 1:9), by prayer, giving of thanks, by putting God’s words into our hearts. and by loving God and others the very best we can. What God has begun in you He will complete. Ours is to live like whose we are. The theological term that represents these truths is Sanctification.

3. Our “future” standing… We are promised a home with God, one not made with human hands, a glorified body like the body of Jesus, the absence of worry, fear, doubt, sin, death, and we will experience the joy we share in the glory of God and the Lamb of God who took away our sins. We are promised a shared inheritance with Jesus as adopted sons and daughters to live, rule and reign with him forever. The theological term that represents these truths is “Glorification“.

In the act of “Justification” God sets sinners right with himself and has saved them from the “Penalty of sin“.

In the act of “Sanctification” God’s children are being saved from the “Power of Sin”.

In the act of “Glorification” God will save his own from the very “Presence of Sin“.

“Blessed is the man against whom the Lord will not count his sins” If this is not your blessing it can be and should be.

Do a lifestyle U-Turn. You have been doing it your way for a long, long time. How is it working out for you? Changing the direction of your lifestyle from self-rule to God’s-rule is called “repentance”. God commands every person to repent. Change your mind now!

Put your whole trust in Jesus Christ. He promises everlasting life and resurrection of the body to those who will simply depend on Him. Most people I know, church folks and unchurched, believe Jesus existed, and most believe he was raised from the dead after his death on a cross. Most people know John 3:16.

It is one thing to believe some facts and quite another to depend on those facts. Or, to be more exact, it is one thing to believe a person lived and did good things, even miracles, died on a cross, and was raised from the dead. But to rest on those truths, to trust dependently upon Him is much, much more than just agreeing to facts. Take God at his word and trust Him to give you eternal life and a home with Him.

Come out for Jesus! Make it public that you are trusting Christ and that you intend to follow him. Say it and show it. Tell a minister, a Christian friend or relative. Then follow the Lord in a symbolic death, burial, and resurrection in the waters of Christian baptism. By doing so you are identifying yourself as one of God’s people, a follower of Jesus. You are showing that you have died to your old life and are going to life the Christ-life going forward.

Love God and love your neighbor as you live your new life for Jesus sake.

Agape’

Royce

Jul 15 2010

How can we know we are Christians?


Maybe a better question would have been not “how can” we know, but simply “can we know”? Well, there is no doubt this topic is one worth discussing. Some good people, people whose lives are given to serving Christ and others are doubtful and really don’t think you can know if you are safe or not until the final judgement. Others ask themselves and others, have I been good enough?

There are all sorts of subjective conclusions about this subject but the final authority on this question and all questions spiritual must be answered by God’s revelation, the Bible. When we stand on what God has said we stand on solid ground. Now we have another problem! Everyone who has an opinion claims biblical authority for what they believe and or teach. So, knowing full well that I am only one more undeserving, redeemed sinner, I will add my thoughts.

Almost everyone who goes by the name “Christian” agrees on a set of facts. Those are that Jesus was God in flesh, that he was the Christ of God, that he died for our sins, that he rose from the grave three days later, and only though faith in him can we be forgiven of our sins and finally have a home in heaven. For the most part, these things are not the topic of debate. The worrying question is, am I personally saved because of these facts?

To further complicate matters, some people have assurance of their salvation who shouldn’t. There are likely tens of thousands of regular church attenders, givers, teachers, preachers, and people who live what is considered to be a good moral life, who think they are saved but are not. (Matthew 7:21-23) And, there are many, many people who should have assurance but do not. So how do we unravel this puzzle of misconceptions, assumptions, and false assurance, or lack of assurance?

Both Peter and Paul addressed this head on. Peter warned,

“Therefore, brothers, be all the more diligent to make your calling and election sure, for if you practice these qualities you will never fall. For in this way there will be richly provided for you an entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.” (2 Peter 1:10,11)

Paul, in 2 Corinthians said the same thing this way,

“Examine yourselves, to see whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Or do you not realize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you?—unless indeed you fail to meet the test!” (2 Corinthians 13:5)

Why would the Holy Spirit move these men to write these things if you can’t make your calling and election sure, or if you can’t know if you are in the faith? It is absurd to think such a thing.

False Assurance

I am a better person than most of my neighbors. I am honest, kind to dogs, children, and old people. I attend church faithfully, I was confirmed, I was baptized, I give a tithe, I have had a successful ministry, I made a decision for Christ, I prayed the sinners prayer, etc., etc. The problem with this is the word “I”. In this case the I’s do not win.

Biblical Assurance

Jesus is the only ground and hope of my faith. I am depending only on Him and the promises of the gospel that if I lean on Him and allow his rule in my life I can know I am secure. I understand that I don’t deserve God’s grace and forgiveness of sins and that I have no power within myself to change my destiny. For me it is either Jesus or nothing!

What Should We Be Looking For When We “Test Ourselves” and How Do We “Make Our Calling and Election sure”?

Peter said it this way.

“His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence, by which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire. For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue,and virtue with knowledge, and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness,and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love. For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. For whoever lacks these qualities is so nearsighted that he is blind, having forgotten that he was cleansed from his former sins.” (2 Peter 1:2-9)

Peter says we have all that is necessary to be certain we are in the faith and they all are found in the person of Jesus Christ. It is in Him that we have everything that matters for daily living and godliness, and we have His promises.

First Test, Peter.

Are you and I purposefully working on being who we are in Christ? If not, DANGER ahead! A life that is not showing the qualities Peter lists, in increasing measure is one that is not safe.

Paul answers this way.

“Do what is right…” (2 Corinthians 13:7)

“Aim for restoration, comfort one another, agree with one another, live in peace” (2 Corinthians 13:11)

“But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh.” (Galatians 5:16)

What does this look like in a person’s life?

“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit. Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another.” (Galatians 5:22-26)

Paul’s Test

We must ask ourselves honestly, does this look good on me? Is this what a watching world sees at my work, at a ball park, when I talk to my CPA, and when I have to interact with people at church that I really don’t especially like? There are no coasting Christians.

I’ll end this post with one of the most convincing statements on assurance in the Bible. John wrote these words specifically so you and I may know we are in the faith.

“I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God that you may know that you have eternal life.” (1 John 5:13)

It would be a cruel thing for God to say this and not let us in on how we can know for sure. He does clearly tell us.

“Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God” (1 John:1)

“For everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world— our faith.Who is it that overcomes the world except the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God.” (1 John 5:4,5)

“And we know that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding, so that we may know him who is true; and we are in him who is true, in his Son Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life. Little children, keep yourselves from idols.” (1 John 5:20)

A Spiritual Check up!

First, agree with God that eternal life is not what we do but is Christ himself. We must “know Him” and be “in Him” to be save.

Second, read 1 John understanding that it was written for your assurance that you are really a Christian. Don’t make the common mistake of going backwards and thinking that if you mimic what John writes, that will make you a Christian. We are not saved by what we do but by Jesus alone.

1 John is a spiritual check list so you can know you are in the faith, that you are secure in Christ. Honest answers will either prove up the genuineness of your faith, or show you that you are not in the faith and point you to Jesus who is himself eternal life.

There are NO promises of assurance for pretenders, make believers, and the self-righteous. ALL of the promises are for those who are in Christ by faith. Don’t be misled. (Matthew 7:21-23)

In the professing church on earth there are two groups of people. There are first those who have a sincere faith in Jesus and are trusting Him alone for their salvation. Good works are what they are designed for (Ephesians 2:10). God’s law of love is written on their hearts and they want to love him and their fellow-man because they are now partakers of the divine nature.

The second group in our churches are those who are depending on their superior morality, measuring themselves by themselves. They will point out how “faithful” they are, to their baptism or confirmation and other things about them that lead them to believe they are safe. This group includes pew riders and preachers, elders and bishops, priests and all other pretenders who will give as evidence they are saved only what they have done or are doing.

A careful, soul-searching reading of 1 John, will tell you for sure if you are, or are not, really a Christian.

In Christ,

Royce Ogle


Jun 27 2010

Are you a good lover?


The most well-known New Testament verse in the Bible begins with the words “God so loved the world…” It does not say simply that God loved, it says He “so loved“. That is He loved in such a way that the expression of His love is the apex of time and eternity. He “so loved” less than lovable people so that He would come to earth leaving the splendor of the heavenlies, meeting all of His own just demands, living up to His own standard for righteousness, taking upon Himself the short comings of every person, then becoming an accursed one dying outside the city as a common criminal.

God “so loved”…. What about you? What about me?

The great love chapter, a favorite reading at weddings, begins as it ends, with the superiority of being a lover. In the first part of the chapter (1 Corinthians 13) the great Apostle says if he becomes the best orator ever, without being a lover he is only making irritating noise. And, he said if he knew everything, past, present, and future and yet was not a good lover he would be zero, nothing. Then before he explains the God/love he says that if he had enough faith to move a mountain, gave everything he had to the poor, and became a martyr burned at the stake he would have gained nothing.

Wow, doesn’t this pretty much wipe out much of what modern religion is? I mean, isn’t the things he mentions what we strive for to a large degree?

We better start Loving!

Jesus, when asked “What is the greatest commandment?” answered this.

“You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.”
(Matthew 22:37-40)

Do you love theology? I do. Have you spent many years learning the Bible, exploring the richness of its treasures? I have. It’s a waste of time without being a good lover. The Law and the Prophets have no meaning without love.

Paul ends the great chapter on love with these words.

“Love never ends”

“So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love” (1 Corinthians 13:8a, 13)

You and I have a lot of loving to do don’t we? Where is the next object of your love? Someone at work, a neighbor, a relative, a friend?

Remember God “so loved“. Unless love is a verb it is nothing more than a sham, some warm emotion that is fleeting and will never make any sacrifice for another, including God. We too, you and I, must “so love” that others can tell it. And when we do we will have in that act loved God.

Be a somebody, go love someone!

Because God so loved,

Royce


Jun 5 2010

The Secret of Christian Unity


You are probably asking, “What! Another article on unity? Why?” Yes, because I think most of the articles, blog posts, and even books miss the core meaning of Christian unity.

Parts of Ephesians 4 are usually quoted where Paul instructed the Ephesian believers to “maintain” the unity of the Spirit in verse 4 and in verse 13 he spoke of the goal of Christian ministry being to “attain” unity.

I think this definition of the English word is very accurate, and in the context of this brief study.

“Unity is defined as the state of being undivided or unbroken completeness or totality with nothing wanting. It is the smallest whole numeral representation. It has the quality of being united into one. Unity can denote a combining of all the parts, elements and individuals into an effective whole.” (Wikipedia)

I appreciate most this statement, “It is the smallest whole numeral representation”. That would be the word “one” used to describe the many.

So then how you worship, what church you attend, or even your conclusions on a particular Bible doctrine are not causes, or even clues of Christian unity. Many of us have a list of beliefs and practices that others must comply with before we can unify with them. That is not “unity”, that is “uniformity”. Saying the same things and doing the same things doesn’t even come close to making  believers “one”.

A careful and thoughtful reading of Jesus’ prayer for his own in John 17 shines the light on true Christian unity as well as any place in the Bible. Hear his words…

“I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me. The glory that you have given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one, I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me.” (John 17:20–24)

Here it is! Just as the Father and the Son are “one” those of us who have Christ are “one”. Unity begins and has its source in our individual relationships with Jesus Christ. If you are not one with God, through Christ, you can’t have unity with another Christian. It is this supernatural love relationship that results in “unity”, not the observable expressions of our faith like which church we attend, how we worship, what we approve or disapprove, etc., etc.

Every true Christian is one with God the Father, one with Jesus, and because of that infinite oneness, one with every other person who is in Christ. This is why Jesus would say these astonishing words about God’s love for us.

“…and loved them even as you loved me” (John 17:23b)

When I first understood what Jesus had said in his great prayer I could hardly take it in. God loves me like he loves Jesus! God loves you dear believer with the same unpolluted divine love he has for his Son the Lord Jesus Christ. Wow! That is the bedrock of Christian unity. “God so loved the world…” It is that God-love that brings us together and binds us and creates the lowest number to describe God and his people, “One!”

Unity is a love gift, it is the ultimate expression of God’s matchless grace. God was in Christ who with one hand holding on to God the Father and with the other hand holding on to wicked, ungodly sinners he brought the two together making them “one”. We have been “reconciled”, “set right” with God by the doing and dying of our Lord Jesus Christ. All of this happened outside of us without our schemes and abilities.

So you see, you don’t have the latitude to decide who you will have fellowship with, who you will love. Any place on earth where you find a person who is rightly related to Jesus, who is at peace with God, you by family relationship are united to that person.

If  you are in the family of God, rejoice and give thanks for God’s amazing grace. If you are not in the family, come on in. You will be welcome at the table.

Agape’

Royce