If you feel so inclined, please take a look at some thoughts I wrote regarding revival on my other blog, The Religious Affections
Blessings,
Kristian
9 years ago
Saturday, January 31, 2009
Friday, January 30, 2009
Lord, Lord!
"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 you name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?' And then I will declare to them, 'I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.' "
Matthew 7:21-23
Most of us find this particular passage to be among the most frightening in all of Scripture. Maybe it is for many but I don't think it's meant to be. I would, in fact, argue that it is one of the sweetest reminders of salvation by grace through faith that we see in Scripture. The only caveat is that "faith" may be something different than we often consider it to be. We tend to view faith as our belief concerning Jesus Christ and what He did for us on the cross and through His resurrection. Amen to that! This is indeed faith, but I would submit to you that this is only a part of the picture and faith without works is dead according to James.
"For as the body apart from the spirit is dead, so also faith apart from works is dead."
James 2:26
Faith, as I have discussed in the past, is much more than an intellectual ascent concerning Who Jesus is and what He has done. Faith must be an actual tasting of the Lord - Jesus Christ seen and savored through the eyes of the heart and this seeing and savoring leading to a glorious joy. We could spend a thousand pages talking about "tasting" the Lord but today I would like to focus on one more aspect of true faith that is at the heart of Jesus' words in the text from Matthew 7.
The context of this passage is actually "The Sermon On The Mount" and can be found at the very end of all that Jesus says in this sermon. This is a long sermon and contains in it a plethora of exhortations, commands and directions for what Jesus desires for us. I always considered it odd that we tend to preach sermons that focus almost exclusively on the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus...yet Jesus never did. Jesus' sermons and conversations certainly focused in on His own centrality in the Gospel and points to His death and resurrection being the focal point of God's story of redemption. But it is more than a little curious that in what is considered to be His "main" sermon, Jesus says nothing about this. In fact, He points to something all together different - how we are to live our lives - otherwise known by the dirty W word, "works." There, I said it! Jesus is talking about works in the "Sermon On The Mount." Some of you are probably ready to beat me silly at this point, thinking that I will be arguing for salvation by works. I urge you to follow me to the end of my argument before you write me off as such.
The headings of each section of this sermon are as follows:
Matthew 7:21-23
Most of us find this particular passage to be among the most frightening in all of Scripture. Maybe it is for many but I don't think it's meant to be. I would, in fact, argue that it is one of the sweetest reminders of salvation by grace through faith that we see in Scripture. The only caveat is that "faith" may be something different than we often consider it to be. We tend to view faith as our belief concerning Jesus Christ and what He did for us on the cross and through His resurrection. Amen to that! This is indeed faith, but I would submit to you that this is only a part of the picture and faith without works is dead according to James.
"For as the body apart from the spirit is dead, so also faith apart from works is dead."
James 2:26
Faith, as I have discussed in the past, is much more than an intellectual ascent concerning Who Jesus is and what He has done. Faith must be an actual tasting of the Lord - Jesus Christ seen and savored through the eyes of the heart and this seeing and savoring leading to a glorious joy. We could spend a thousand pages talking about "tasting" the Lord but today I would like to focus on one more aspect of true faith that is at the heart of Jesus' words in the text from Matthew 7.
The context of this passage is actually "The Sermon On The Mount" and can be found at the very end of all that Jesus says in this sermon. This is a long sermon and contains in it a plethora of exhortations, commands and directions for what Jesus desires for us. I always considered it odd that we tend to preach sermons that focus almost exclusively on the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus...yet Jesus never did. Jesus' sermons and conversations certainly focused in on His own centrality in the Gospel and points to His death and resurrection being the focal point of God's story of redemption. But it is more than a little curious that in what is considered to be His "main" sermon, Jesus says nothing about this. In fact, He points to something all together different - how we are to live our lives - otherwise known by the dirty W word, "works." There, I said it! Jesus is talking about works in the "Sermon On The Mount." Some of you are probably ready to beat me silly at this point, thinking that I will be arguing for salvation by works. I urge you to follow me to the end of my argument before you write me off as such.
The headings of each section of this sermon are as follows:
- The Beatitudes - where Jesus pronounces blessings on those who mourn, the meek, those who hunger for righteousness, on the merciful, the pure in heart, the peacemakers etc.
- Salt and Light - where Jesus encourages us to live as salt and light in this world (and contrary to what some believe, saltiness has nothing to do with harshness or rebuke but grace, love and holiness)
- Christ Came to Fulfill the Law - where Jesus makes very clear that He has not come to abolish the Old Testament laws but to fulfill them and warns anyone who tries to be rid of them that there will be consequences
- Anger - where Jesus likens sinful anger with murder and exhorts us to be reconciled to our brothers at almost any cost
- Lust - where Jesus uses hyperbole to show the seriousness with which we must fight against sin in our lives
- Divorce - where Jesus makes it very clear that divorce is unacceptable and that it indeed causes other people to sin
- Oaths - where Jesus tells to simply let our 'yes' be yes and our 'no' be no
- Retaliation - where Jesus tells us to show scandalous grace to those who hurt us and sin against us
- Love Your Enemies - where Jesus actually likens God's perfection with how He loves His enemies and commands us to do the same. I would like to note here that this is not some forced or coerced love that is spoken of but a sincere and heart-felt love that causes us to pray for and do good things for our enemies
- Giving to the Needy - where Jesus commands us to keep our giving secret as well as making sure it is done without being forced (not letting your left hand know what your right hand is doing)
- The Lord's Prayer - where Jesus teaches us how to pray
- Fasting - where Jesus again commands us to be careful about announcing our good works
- Lay Up Treasures in Heaven - where Jesus warns us of the lure of riches and commands us to serve God and not money
- Do Not Be Anxious - where Jesus tells us to live as the sparrows of the air and the lilies of the field, not spending our lives budgeting and storing up riches to protect ourselves but to trust Him with all that we need to live
- Judging Others - where Jesus warns us against the dangers of hypocrisy
- Ask, and It Will Be Given - where Jesus exhorts us to seek God, ask of God and to trust in God's desire to give us good things
- The Golden Rule - where Jesus tells us to treat others as we ourselves would like to be treated
- A Tree and Its Fruit - where Jesus warns us of false prophets who may look like they believe all the right things but whose lives bear fruit that prove them to be false
As you can see, this long sermon contains almost exclusively exhortations and commands about how we, as children of God, are to conduct ourselves and live our lives. No mention of the message about His coming death and resurrection and no mention of salvation by grace through faith. And considering the stern statement of Matthew 7:21-23 this ought to really make us wonder at what Jesus really means by them.
Jesus mentions that many will come to Him and call Him "Lord" and proclaim all of the things they have done for Him or in His name. This is interesting because according to 1 Corinthians 12:3, no one can say that Jesus is Lord except by or in the Holy Spirit. So the mystery of what Jesus is saying here is deep, indeed, because we know that according to Romans 10:9, if we confess with our mouths that Jesus is Lord and believe in our hearts that God raised Him from the dead we will be saved. What in the world could be going on here? Are the people who Jesus is talking about saved or not? They call Him Lord and seem to be preaching His gospel, yet Jesus condemns them to hell.
The key is found in the second half of verse 21: "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." Only those who do the will of the Father get to enter the kingdom of heaven. That sounds odd because we know that we are saved by grace alone, apart from any works (see for example Ephesians 2:4-10). Yet, Jesus states very clearly that not everyone who knows Who He is, preaches His gospel and does mighty works in His name will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only those who do the will of His Father Who is in heaven will enter the kingdom of heaven.
So what's really going on here? Are we saved by faith or by works? Are we to trust in Jesus or our good deeds? The answer is actually simpler than it at first seems to be and it is, of course, that we are saved by faith. However, faith is more than facts that we have bought into or truths that we have taken a stand on. Faith is the also the outworking of what we know to be true in our conduct, our hearts and our lives. No one can love their enemies without faith. No one can overcome sin without faith. No one can give to the needy in secret without trusting that God sees and will indeed be pleased by such a gift. No one can trust God to provide for them without faith. So it all comes down to faith in the end. But again, faith is much more than an intellectual ascent to the truth or an acceptance of some particular fact. Apart from works such as are laid out in the Sermon On The Mount there can be no salvation because the lack of them would prove that there was no real faith. Faith without works is dead and leads to death.
So why should we care about this? We all know that we are supposed to do the things prescribed for us, no commanded of us, in the Sermon On The Mount. The question is this: do we understand the weight of what Jesus is saying? Do we understand that without a faith that can forgive the worst of trespassers against us there is no real faith and thus no salvation? Do we understand that the "will of my Father" Jesus is speaking of is indeed the very things He just spoke of in His sermon? Do we understand that loving an enemy is much more than simply withholding punishment but actually doing good to them from a sincere heart of love and forgiveness? Do we understand that at the last judgment Jesus will not ask us what we believed but will actually look at the totality of our lives and make a sound judgment as to whether or not there was true, saving faith in our hearts? Don't make the mistake of thinking that at the last judgment you can say "Jesus is why I should be let in!" That is no different than what the people who Jesus condemned to hell did. "Lord, Lord..." That is not to say that there is any other reason than what Jesus did on our behalf that should gain us entrance into the kingdom of heaven - there isn't.
Our works do not gain us entrance at all. Our works simply show that our faith is genuine and of a saving nature. Our works show whether or not we truly do love people as Christ commanded us to do. Our works simply show whether or not we truly do trust God enough to forgive those who have sinned against us. Our works show whether or not we truly do treasure Christ and His Kingdom above all else. Our works show whether or not we truly do belong to Him and have been born again with a heart full of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness and self-control. None of the things that Jesus commands of us in the Sermon On The Mount are different from what Galatians 5 refers to as the fruit of the Spirit. Galatians focuses on the condition of the heart of faith and Matthew 5-7 shows us what such a condition of heart looks like.
Let's look at Matthew 6:14-15 as an example:
"For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you, but if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses."
It's pretty clear, isn't it? If you forgive, God will forgive you. If you don't forgive, God won't forgive you either. And forgiveness isn't just a state of the heart - it comes with loving behavior and loving pursuit of the person who has sinned against you. Just look at Matthew 5:43-48 to get an idea of the cost involved in truly forgiving someone. God doesn't just forgive you in a passive way - He pursues you and does good to you and His kindness leads you to repentance (Romans 2:4). It's important to point out that, once again, it's not your forgiving of another person that saves you, it is your faith in the act of forgiving that person that saves you. But don't be deceived, if you don't forgive people their sins against you through scandalous and loving actions, God won't forgive you either.
Don't trust in your works for they will gain you no good standing with God. We are saved by grace through faith. But, if you look at your life and think that you can circumvent the life of humility, suffering, sacrifice and hardship that Jesus demands of us in this text I urge you to assess yourself soberly and find out if you indeed are in the faith. If you don't love anyone but those who you are drawn to and those who love you back - repent and live like Jesus! If you have budgeted your life away and avoided living like a sparrow in His Father's hands - repent and live like Jesus! If you think that Jesus is impressed by the numbers of people you have drawn through your preaching or if you think that Jesus will reward you for doing everything for Him - repent and live like Jesus! If you think that anything other than a faith that dies to your own rights and needs will save you - repent, for the Kingdom of God is at hand.
Living a life like that which Jesus demands doesn't look successful nor does it look very sexy. In fact, it will look like you have lost everything. You will pursue people who have hurt you with love and care. You will forgive, from the depths of your heart, those who have done the most heinous things to you. You will be betrayed and abandoned by the very people you love and pursue. You will be mocked and reviled because you take extreme measures in your life to put sin to death. You will be alone at times...you will feel like this earth is not your home...you will suffer abuse at the hands of people you have loved and still do love...you will suffer financial difficulty...you will give generously but no one will know that you did...you will love your spouse, even in the face of extreme betrayal and unhappiness...you will look weak...you will have your heart broken over and over again. But in reality, you have lost only your life in order to gain eternal life with Christ.
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
A Letter to a Brother in Christ
Do you ever come across old emails that encourage you? I came across an email letter I wrote to a dear Brother in Christ back in 2007. I wanted to post this as an encouragement for the Body of Christ....
Brother,
Thank you for your candid email. I actually was prompted by the Lord a few days ago to intercede in prayer for you in this specific area of temptation. So, I have already been praying for you and I will continue to pray for you in this spiritual battle.
I have been reading that book on the Pursuit of Holiness (great book). The author identifies essentially two points of the Christian life: the love of God and the fear of God. These must go hand in hand. They are basically two sides of the same coin. The author claims a lot of times we as Christians get this unbalanced. Sometimes we are flippant about sin and the fear of God and just "dwell" on His love and start to say sin is okay or "is under grace". Other times we do not dwell on His love and because of sin and failure with the fear of God we never recover and are continually in despair. I feel this must be in equilibrium or balanced in the Christian life by the Holy Spirit.
I believe you have the right idea to start at the Cross. That is where we all need to go and receive repentance and restoration from Jesus. We must really grasp and understand what the atonement really is especially in regards to the area of sin in our lives. I believe at the Cross of Christ we can develop and understand both the love and the fear of God.
I think a lot of times we look at the Cross of Christ as a point to where Jesus was physically tortured and died a gruesome dead (which is true), however, we fail to see the spiritual implications of the "scandal of the cross". In all reality God turned His back on His Son which I believe was the most "painful" point for Jesus who is part of the Trinity of God but at the point of the cross God's wrath was poured out on Jesus Christ on mine and your behalf. He became sin for us so that we might become the righteousness of God. How awesome is that!! Praise the name of Jesus!
However, we must remember that sin is a serious thing to God. It essentially is the opposite of holiness. Since God is holy He cannot be around sin. In the Old Testament the priest would enter the holy of holies once a year to give a sacrifice to God for the sins of the people. Their legs would be wrapped with ropes and bells so that when they started to jingle someone outside would pull them out from the presence of God because they would be devoured because of their sin (this particular concept is not explicitly described in the Bible but is more of a Jewish tradition – but the point is well made).
God cannot stand sin and neither can He be in the presence of sin. However, this is where we come back to the "scandal of the cross". Jesus who knew no sin and is the perfect Lamb of God took our place at the "gallows" so to speak. Since God cannot be in the presence of sin He turned His back on His one and only Son and His wrath was poured out on Him for us. This is a very serious thing. So along with Jesus our Lord we must die to our sin (Jesus was sinless of course but took our sin onto Himself) because He died in our place. We also must live in this life because He is Life and has purchased life for us; so that we may no longer be bound by the things of this world.
The story does not end there. He rose again! He conquered sin and death and we now have an opportunity to live righteously before Him by the blood of Jesus. Your identity is no longer of this world but your identity is found in Jesus Christ. Let the life of Christ reign in your mortal body so that you may not fulfill the lust of the flesh.
My advice would be to stick close to Jesus. Worship Him and adore Him. Study His Word and grasp His love for you and develop the fear of the Lord which is the beginning of all godly knowledge - which will propel your life towards godliness and holiness. His love will penetrate those ugly areas of our lives and they will start to dissolve, but our responsiblity is to keep in step with the Spirit.
Remember to cleave to your wife in all circumstances. Do not let the enemy get between you and cause division. Do not let your sin become "habit", and I believe that is why you wrote this email to the brothers. I see the conviction of the Holy Spirit upon you and that is a good thing.
Let the Holy Spirit search your heart and cleanse you and build you up. It is all about relationship with Jesus.
Have a wonderful New Year! Use this New Year as a "new season" in this battle to walk blamelessly before the Lord.
Hang in there and fight the good fight of faith! Jesus loves you and we do too. I feel prompted to leave you with a few verses bunched together for you to meditate and dwell on.
Blessings,
E
“But each one is tempted when he is carried away and enticed by his own lust. Then when lust has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and when sin is accomplished, it brings forth death. Do not be deceived, my beloved brethren.
He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him over for us all, how will He not also with Him freely give us all things?
He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.
Even so consider yourselves to be dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus. Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its lusts, and do not go on presenting the members of your body to sin as instruments of unrighteousness; but present yourselves to God as those alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God. For sin shall not be master over you, for you are not under law but under grace.
How much severer punishment do you think he will deserve who has trampled under foot the Son of God, and has regarded as unclean the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified, and has insulted the Spirit of grace? For we know Him who said, "VENGEANCE IS MINE, I WILL REPAY" And again, "THE LORD WILL JUDGE HIS PEOPLE." It is a terrifying thing to fall into the hands of the living God.”
Brother,
Thank you for your candid email. I actually was prompted by the Lord a few days ago to intercede in prayer for you in this specific area of temptation. So, I have already been praying for you and I will continue to pray for you in this spiritual battle.
I have been reading that book on the Pursuit of Holiness (great book). The author identifies essentially two points of the Christian life: the love of God and the fear of God. These must go hand in hand. They are basically two sides of the same coin. The author claims a lot of times we as Christians get this unbalanced. Sometimes we are flippant about sin and the fear of God and just "dwell" on His love and start to say sin is okay or "is under grace". Other times we do not dwell on His love and because of sin and failure with the fear of God we never recover and are continually in despair. I feel this must be in equilibrium or balanced in the Christian life by the Holy Spirit.
I believe you have the right idea to start at the Cross. That is where we all need to go and receive repentance and restoration from Jesus. We must really grasp and understand what the atonement really is especially in regards to the area of sin in our lives. I believe at the Cross of Christ we can develop and understand both the love and the fear of God.
I think a lot of times we look at the Cross of Christ as a point to where Jesus was physically tortured and died a gruesome dead (which is true), however, we fail to see the spiritual implications of the "scandal of the cross". In all reality God turned His back on His Son which I believe was the most "painful" point for Jesus who is part of the Trinity of God but at the point of the cross God's wrath was poured out on Jesus Christ on mine and your behalf. He became sin for us so that we might become the righteousness of God. How awesome is that!! Praise the name of Jesus!
However, we must remember that sin is a serious thing to God. It essentially is the opposite of holiness. Since God is holy He cannot be around sin. In the Old Testament the priest would enter the holy of holies once a year to give a sacrifice to God for the sins of the people. Their legs would be wrapped with ropes and bells so that when they started to jingle someone outside would pull them out from the presence of God because they would be devoured because of their sin (this particular concept is not explicitly described in the Bible but is more of a Jewish tradition – but the point is well made).
God cannot stand sin and neither can He be in the presence of sin. However, this is where we come back to the "scandal of the cross". Jesus who knew no sin and is the perfect Lamb of God took our place at the "gallows" so to speak. Since God cannot be in the presence of sin He turned His back on His one and only Son and His wrath was poured out on Him for us. This is a very serious thing. So along with Jesus our Lord we must die to our sin (Jesus was sinless of course but took our sin onto Himself) because He died in our place. We also must live in this life because He is Life and has purchased life for us; so that we may no longer be bound by the things of this world.
The story does not end there. He rose again! He conquered sin and death and we now have an opportunity to live righteously before Him by the blood of Jesus. Your identity is no longer of this world but your identity is found in Jesus Christ. Let the life of Christ reign in your mortal body so that you may not fulfill the lust of the flesh.
My advice would be to stick close to Jesus. Worship Him and adore Him. Study His Word and grasp His love for you and develop the fear of the Lord which is the beginning of all godly knowledge - which will propel your life towards godliness and holiness. His love will penetrate those ugly areas of our lives and they will start to dissolve, but our responsiblity is to keep in step with the Spirit.
Remember to cleave to your wife in all circumstances. Do not let the enemy get between you and cause division. Do not let your sin become "habit", and I believe that is why you wrote this email to the brothers. I see the conviction of the Holy Spirit upon you and that is a good thing.
Let the Holy Spirit search your heart and cleanse you and build you up. It is all about relationship with Jesus.
Have a wonderful New Year! Use this New Year as a "new season" in this battle to walk blamelessly before the Lord.
Hang in there and fight the good fight of faith! Jesus loves you and we do too. I feel prompted to leave you with a few verses bunched together for you to meditate and dwell on.
Blessings,
E
“But each one is tempted when he is carried away and enticed by his own lust. Then when lust has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and when sin is accomplished, it brings forth death. Do not be deceived, my beloved brethren.
He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him over for us all, how will He not also with Him freely give us all things?
He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.
Even so consider yourselves to be dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus. Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its lusts, and do not go on presenting the members of your body to sin as instruments of unrighteousness; but present yourselves to God as those alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God. For sin shall not be master over you, for you are not under law but under grace.
How much severer punishment do you think he will deserve who has trampled under foot the Son of God, and has regarded as unclean the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified, and has insulted the Spirit of grace? For we know Him who said, "VENGEANCE IS MINE, I WILL REPAY" And again, "THE LORD WILL JUDGE HIS PEOPLE." It is a terrifying thing to fall into the hands of the living God.”
Friday, January 2, 2009
Bible Reading
For those who might be interested, here is a good collection of Bible reading plans for the New Year.
I am going to go with the Discipleship Journal Reading Plan because it allows for a few days of falling behind each month and being the procrastinator that I am I find this helpful in order to stay on track. You can read about John Piper's reasons for going with this plan as well. It's like God has given me permission to fall behind which reminds me that I am under grace and not under law and that my Bible reading should be from desire and not compulsion.
At any rate, I highly recommend using a Bible reading plan.
Blessings,
Kristian
I am going to go with the Discipleship Journal Reading Plan because it allows for a few days of falling behind each month and being the procrastinator that I am I find this helpful in order to stay on track. You can read about John Piper's reasons for going with this plan as well. It's like God has given me permission to fall behind which reminds me that I am under grace and not under law and that my Bible reading should be from desire and not compulsion.
At any rate, I highly recommend using a Bible reading plan.
Blessings,
Kristian
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