By S. Michael Durham
A priority for Real Truth Matters is to emphasize the fact that Jesus is the gospel. It is a sad day when men say positive things and attach the title “gospel” to it and Jesus is left out of the equation. When everything is labeled the good news about Jesus it is odd that Jesus is hardly mentioned. Often people tell me how little their pastor speaks of Jesus. Recently at a celebrated Christian concert a worship leader from the largest church in the United States sang and never once uttered the lovely name of the Savior. Do you find that strange, as I do, or am I singing out of the wrong hymnal?
This morning I was meditating on Jesus’ words to His disciples before His arrest in John 14:4-6:
“And where I go you know, and the way you know.” Thomas said to Him, “Lord, we do not know where You are going, and how can we know the way?” Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.”
According to Jesus, the disciples knew where He was going and the way there. He was going to the Father and they supposedly knew the way to the Father. But Thomas interrupts—if not contradicts—Jesus and says, “We don’t have any idea of where you are going; so how could we possibly know the way there?” Jesus’ answer is famous. It is often memorized and quoted in sermons, witnessing encounters, and gospel tracts. It has become an evangelical pep rally cheer: “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.”
Our Lord’s answer forcefully declares two things. First, He needed no Mediator to get to the Father. He was the way to the Father. He went on to explain to Thomas that since he had seen Jesus, Thomas had seen the Father. Our Lord didn’t need anyone to lead Him to God. He was His own way to God. Therefore, since “you believe in God,” He asks them, “believe also in Me.”
Second, Jesus is powerfully stating that He, Himself, is the gospel. “I am going to the Father and since you know Me you know the way to the Father for I am the way, the truth and the life.” Most readers will probably say, “Well, of course, Jesus is the way to God, the Father. Everyone knows that. Jesus died on the cross and rose again so that we can get to God.” Yes, and praise the Lord that is true. He did die and rise again. But at the time He said this He hadn’t died yet. But He emphatically says He was the way to God even before His death.
Let me mix this up a little more. The disciples did not believe in either His death or His resurrection at this point. Even after it happened they didn’t believe in His death in an evangelical way. When the early reports came in that Jesus had risen from the dead, they didn’t believe what they were hearing. Yet, in spite of their unbelief in His death and resurrection, they were regenerated and had eternal life. Jesus removes any doubt of their spiritual condition when He said, “And where I go you know, and the way you know.” So how could they be saved if they didn’t believe in His death or resurrection?
The answer is the same as it was for any saint prior to Calvary—they believed God. They trusted God to be integral and faithful to Himself. For the disciples, they believed Jesus. They trusted in Him, in spite of the fact, they understood little of what He said. Am I suggesting that you or I need not believe in Jesus’ death and resurrection? That we can doubt it and still be saved? No, of course not! His death and resurrection are integral to who Jesus is and to God’s faithfulness. If we doubted the validity of either His death or resurrection we could not truthfully call ourselves a Christian.
All I want to show is that Jesus is the gospel, meaning the good news is Jesus and not just what Jesus did. In fact, it is because of who Jesus is that His death can save, and it was because of who Jesus was that He was raised from the dead. His death and resurrection do not legitimize Him but validate Him. His sacrifice in our place does not make Him “the way, the truth and the life.” He was already all of that and that is why His death can save.
Many people believe the historical fact of Jesus’ death and resurrection but they aren’t true Christians. And when they die they will not be allowed to enter the Kingdom of God’s dear Son. Why? Because they don’t believe in Jesus—they don’t believe Him to be enough. They do not see Him to be “the way, the truth and the life.” They do not love Him because they have never seen His glorious beauty and excellent virtue. All they see and all they know is a ticket master that has supposedly punched their ticket. He might as well take off His holy white garment and thrust off His golden belt and put on the garb of a train conductor. He is not altogether lovely to them. He is not the gospel to them; Jesus is not good news to them. He’s just a ticket puncher. And they love the ticket more than the Conductor.
Jesus is more than a conductor on the train to glory. He’s more than the train to glory. He is the glory. And if you know Jesus you have witnessed that glory, “the glory of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.”
Tuesday, March 31, 2009
Thursday, March 19, 2009
Book Announcement
By S. Michael Durham
The following is the preface for a book I am writing about the essence and nature of the gospel message. I have yet to select a title; that will come near the end of the process. The rough draft is nearly completed and tedious rewrites will begin. It is my hope that by the end of summer, the book will be ready for print. No promises! But to let you know this is in the works and solicit your prayers for this effort, I thought I would throw this preface out as a teaser.
In this postmodern culture of American society, we must admit the fact that America is a post-Christian nation. Americans in recent generations have no knowledge of the holy and an advanced knowledge of the profane. They have no understanding of the God of the Bible. The unbeliever is completely ignorant of what many Christians take for granted as basic truths of Scripture. If we are to reach this generation, we must assume they know absolutely nothing of the claims of the Bible or of the God it reveals. How has this nation digressed into blatant paganism when there is a church on every street corner? How can the amoral doctrines of tolerance, pluralism and moral relativism be the tenets of America’s convictions when Christian television stations and networks spring up like weeds in my garden?
This country has more access to Christian information than any people, anywhere, anytime. Yet it is rapidly becoming an anti-Christian culture that has no tolerance for truth in any facet of the marketplace. Why? Because most American churches have become irrelevant. Their message and methodology cannot answer the deepest questions of America’s soul. We have abandoned the gospel and its purity for an impersonation of a slick Madison Avenue ad agency. We have nothing different to offer this generation. They have heard our polluted gospel of health, wealth and beauty, and have felt ripped off when those promises proved empty. They have fallen for the sting operation of American Christianity that has left this nation embittered against the church. It would be much better if they hated us because of our adherence to a narrow gospel than to despise us for a stand-for-nothing mentality.
Let me make this very clear. I refuse to soften the harshness of my warning with skillful rhetoric or dainty tones. Far too long have smooth-haired prophets and soft pastors recognized a problem, but have stated the situation with admonitions that lacked urgency. No heart will be aroused and no mind will be alerted with a soft approach. Refined and respectable reproofs have not worked. The American evangelical scene continues to race to self-destruction and God’s judgment. The terrible calamity demands the voices of militant spirits willing to be considered the enemy of the church if need be in order to save some. It must be stated in soul rending thunder. The trumpet must be blared to awaken the conscience. Listen, church of America: YOU ARE WRONG! You have been wrong-headed and weak-hearted for quite some time. You are mistaken either purposely or in ignorance (let God be the judge) in doctrine, spirit and in practice especially when it comes to the proclamation of the gospel of Christ.
This is why I say we must start afresh. We must start with exactly what early Christianity started with. We must lay before the church a new paradigm that isn’t really new––the Bible and church history demonstrate time and time again the need for drifting generations to be awakened and alerted. Jeremiah called his sleeping generation to return to the old paths: “Thus says the LORD: ‘Stand in the ways and see, And ask for the old paths, where the good way is, And walk in it; Then you will find rest for your souls’” (Jeremiah 6:16). Before Jeremiah there was Isaiah, who warned a posh people inundated with modern methods of worship: “this is a rebellious people, Lying children, Children who will not hear the law of the LORD; Who say to the seers, ‘Do not see,’ And to the prophets, ‘Do not prophesy to us right things; Speak to us smooth things, prophesy deceits. Get out of the way, Turn aside from the path, Cause the Holy One of Israel To cease from before us’” (Isaiah 30:9-11).
And before Isaiah there was Joshua calling: “Choose you this day whom you will serve” (Joshua 24:15). He called the people to remember and choose whom they would serve for he could see the drifting already so soon after possessing the land of promise. Drifting, degeneration, defection and death are always the ways of men. No matter how mighty and miraculous a movement of God begins, it will eventually drift into deterioration. By the end of the first century of Christianity the drifting had begun so that most of the latter epistles were nothing but warnings and reproofs against the deterioration caused by false teachers and leaders. After a period of darkness during the middle centuries where religious tyranny reigned and greatly persecuted the truth, a remnant of God allowed the cry to sound and be heeded. An Augustinian German monk named Martin Luther penned 95 reasons why he could no longer abide with the church paradigm of his day. With the driving of the nail into the Wittenberg church door, Luther drove the first blow to shatter the religious defection from truth and, at the same time, began construction upon the true foundation of Christ. Unfortunately, Luther could not remove all the debris of the Romanists, and after his death his structure was soon dilapidated.
In America’s religious history not all is rosy. Prior to the Second Great Awakening, it was said that the Chief Justice of the United States, John Marshall, wrote to the Bishop of Virginia, James Madison, that the Church “was too far gone ever to be redeemed.” A poll taken at Harvard discovered not one believer in the whole student body. Yet again, men of God sounded the clarion call of the one true gospel of Jesus Christ.
It is imperative that we go to the Bible and properly study its teaching on this most important of subjects––the salvation of men by a gracious God. We must establish the truth of the gospel, how it is that we come to know the tender mercies of God, how we are saved, and the biblical evidence of true conversion. Men more able than I have sounded this call, but the churches, amid the deafening noise of ministerial success and mega-church growth, have not heard. Why should you read this and heed this call? Only that the Lord would be pleased to use you and me, the weak and the foolish, to convince all who have thought themselves wise to depart from the unchanging Word of God.
The following is the preface for a book I am writing about the essence and nature of the gospel message. I have yet to select a title; that will come near the end of the process. The rough draft is nearly completed and tedious rewrites will begin. It is my hope that by the end of summer, the book will be ready for print. No promises! But to let you know this is in the works and solicit your prayers for this effort, I thought I would throw this preface out as a teaser.
In this postmodern culture of American society, we must admit the fact that America is a post-Christian nation. Americans in recent generations have no knowledge of the holy and an advanced knowledge of the profane. They have no understanding of the God of the Bible. The unbeliever is completely ignorant of what many Christians take for granted as basic truths of Scripture. If we are to reach this generation, we must assume they know absolutely nothing of the claims of the Bible or of the God it reveals. How has this nation digressed into blatant paganism when there is a church on every street corner? How can the amoral doctrines of tolerance, pluralism and moral relativism be the tenets of America’s convictions when Christian television stations and networks spring up like weeds in my garden?
This country has more access to Christian information than any people, anywhere, anytime. Yet it is rapidly becoming an anti-Christian culture that has no tolerance for truth in any facet of the marketplace. Why? Because most American churches have become irrelevant. Their message and methodology cannot answer the deepest questions of America’s soul. We have abandoned the gospel and its purity for an impersonation of a slick Madison Avenue ad agency. We have nothing different to offer this generation. They have heard our polluted gospel of health, wealth and beauty, and have felt ripped off when those promises proved empty. They have fallen for the sting operation of American Christianity that has left this nation embittered against the church. It would be much better if they hated us because of our adherence to a narrow gospel than to despise us for a stand-for-nothing mentality.
Let me make this very clear. I refuse to soften the harshness of my warning with skillful rhetoric or dainty tones. Far too long have smooth-haired prophets and soft pastors recognized a problem, but have stated the situation with admonitions that lacked urgency. No heart will be aroused and no mind will be alerted with a soft approach. Refined and respectable reproofs have not worked. The American evangelical scene continues to race to self-destruction and God’s judgment. The terrible calamity demands the voices of militant spirits willing to be considered the enemy of the church if need be in order to save some. It must be stated in soul rending thunder. The trumpet must be blared to awaken the conscience. Listen, church of America: YOU ARE WRONG! You have been wrong-headed and weak-hearted for quite some time. You are mistaken either purposely or in ignorance (let God be the judge) in doctrine, spirit and in practice especially when it comes to the proclamation of the gospel of Christ.
This is why I say we must start afresh. We must start with exactly what early Christianity started with. We must lay before the church a new paradigm that isn’t really new––the Bible and church history demonstrate time and time again the need for drifting generations to be awakened and alerted. Jeremiah called his sleeping generation to return to the old paths: “Thus says the LORD: ‘Stand in the ways and see, And ask for the old paths, where the good way is, And walk in it; Then you will find rest for your souls’” (Jeremiah 6:16). Before Jeremiah there was Isaiah, who warned a posh people inundated with modern methods of worship: “this is a rebellious people, Lying children, Children who will not hear the law of the LORD; Who say to the seers, ‘Do not see,’ And to the prophets, ‘Do not prophesy to us right things; Speak to us smooth things, prophesy deceits. Get out of the way, Turn aside from the path, Cause the Holy One of Israel To cease from before us’” (Isaiah 30:9-11).
And before Isaiah there was Joshua calling: “Choose you this day whom you will serve” (Joshua 24:15). He called the people to remember and choose whom they would serve for he could see the drifting already so soon after possessing the land of promise. Drifting, degeneration, defection and death are always the ways of men. No matter how mighty and miraculous a movement of God begins, it will eventually drift into deterioration. By the end of the first century of Christianity the drifting had begun so that most of the latter epistles were nothing but warnings and reproofs against the deterioration caused by false teachers and leaders. After a period of darkness during the middle centuries where religious tyranny reigned and greatly persecuted the truth, a remnant of God allowed the cry to sound and be heeded. An Augustinian German monk named Martin Luther penned 95 reasons why he could no longer abide with the church paradigm of his day. With the driving of the nail into the Wittenberg church door, Luther drove the first blow to shatter the religious defection from truth and, at the same time, began construction upon the true foundation of Christ. Unfortunately, Luther could not remove all the debris of the Romanists, and after his death his structure was soon dilapidated.
In America’s religious history not all is rosy. Prior to the Second Great Awakening, it was said that the Chief Justice of the United States, John Marshall, wrote to the Bishop of Virginia, James Madison, that the Church “was too far gone ever to be redeemed.” A poll taken at Harvard discovered not one believer in the whole student body. Yet again, men of God sounded the clarion call of the one true gospel of Jesus Christ.
It is imperative that we go to the Bible and properly study its teaching on this most important of subjects––the salvation of men by a gracious God. We must establish the truth of the gospel, how it is that we come to know the tender mercies of God, how we are saved, and the biblical evidence of true conversion. Men more able than I have sounded this call, but the churches, amid the deafening noise of ministerial success and mega-church growth, have not heard. Why should you read this and heed this call? Only that the Lord would be pleased to use you and me, the weak and the foolish, to convince all who have thought themselves wise to depart from the unchanging Word of God.
Tuesday, March 10, 2009
Some Chastening on Chastening Part 2
By S. Michael Durham
Often chastening, or discipline, is seen as a negative thing. It is always viewed within the context of pain. Anytime something bad happens, we immediately presume we have disobeyed the Lord and He is chastening us. Should correction be the only way we understand the discipline of God?
In our previous post, I made the case that natural consequences and chastening are two different things. I stated and explained two reasons: 1) discipline distinguishes between the Christian and non-Christian. Since both Christians and non-Christians can receive bad consequences for their own actions or another’s, consequences by themselves are not discipline. 2) All bad things are not discipline. If I lock my keys in my car I shouldn’t deduce God is punishing me. I can deduce I did a stupid thing and the consequence is I can’t open my car door.
But there is a third reason why we should distinguish unpleasant natural consequences from chastening. It is that most discipline from the Lord is not correctional, but is character building and instructional. Instruction is also a part of discipline. Our heavenly Father is always instructing us. Instruction is occurring even when correction isn’t. The word discipline comes from the word disciple. A disciple means a person who learns from a teacher. The word can be translated “pupil.” So, you can see that instruction is not just a part of discipline – it is all of it. Even correction is to be instructional.
Two evidences that chastening can occur in your life without being correctional or the result of disobedience are found in Hebrews 12. The first evidence is the persecution of the Hebrews to whom the author was writing. The Hebrews were having a difficult time because they were being persecuted for their faith, and the author to the Hebrews calls their persecution “discipline.” It was not sin in their lives that brought this discipline, but rather righteousness. They were not being disobedient, but obedient – and for that reason they were being persecuted.
Second, I present as evidence Jesus Christ the Lord. Listen to the writer of Hebrews:
For consider Him who endured such hostility from sinners against Himself, lest you become weary and discouraged in your souls. You have not yet resisted to bloodshed, striving against sin. And you have forgotten the exhortation which speaks to you as to sons: “My son, do not despise the chastening of the LORD, Nor be discouraged when you are rebuked by Him” (Hebrews 12:3-5).
The author encourages the disheartened Christians by reminding them that Jesus also endured chastening. Surely, there is no debate about Jesus’ obedience! He was the sinless, spotless Lamb of God. And yet, He too received scourging, literally. The word scourge is the same word used to speak of the terrible beating that was administered to Jesus by a Roman whip, “Then Pilate therefore took Jesus, and scourged him” (John 19:1). Hebrews 12:6 says that God “scourges every son whom He receives.” Jesus was no exception. But by it, He was helped, even though He was already morally perfect. Again, the same author says of Jesus, “though He was a Son, yet He learned obedience by the things which He suffered” (Hebrews 5:8). What’s my point? Jesus was chastened and yet He was perfect, without sin. Thus chastening must not always be about correction. Jesus didn’t need correcting but He was chastened. His discipline was instructional. Again Hebrews 5:8, “He learned . . . by the things which He suffered.” And so do we.
All discipline is not correctional, but not all pain is correctional either. There is another practical point to be made. It is the goal of the enemy to discourage us when we endure pain and suffering. If our immediate response to adversity is to think, “there must be sin in my life and that is why I am going through this,” then we are apt to miss God’s purpose in adversity. It will be easier for Satan to convince you that something is wrong with you, which makes his job easier to persuade you that God really doesn’t love you. How? Because it puts the basis of your relationship with God on your performance.
I’m convinced that most of us have some “prosperity gospel” mixed in with our theology. We are not that far astray from Job’s comforters after all. Way too many good Christians think to an unbiblical extreme that says, “If I’m doing fairly well pleasing God, then life will be easy, but if life is not easy I must not be doing too good a job.” You see God’s favor based upon your discharge of Christian duty.
God’s love for me is not based on anything I have done or will ever do. His love for me is squarely resting upon the Lord Jesus Christ. The Apostle Paul says that we are “accepted in the Beloved.” Yes, discipline will occur when I disobey, but it will also occur when I have not disobeyed. And even when I have disobeyed, God’s discipline is not because He loves me less or because He thinks me a problem child. We’re all problem children. Don’t base God’s opinion of you based on your circumstances good or bad. You will be misled either way.
Finally, not all of discipline has to be painful either. The act of receiving instruction is not always painful. Often it is quite enjoyable. Whether it be studying the Bible or listening to a sermon, instruction is being imparted and that is discipline. The conclusion is simple—because God loves us, He teaches us, using both pleasure and pain.
Often chastening, or discipline, is seen as a negative thing. It is always viewed within the context of pain. Anytime something bad happens, we immediately presume we have disobeyed the Lord and He is chastening us. Should correction be the only way we understand the discipline of God?
In our previous post, I made the case that natural consequences and chastening are two different things. I stated and explained two reasons: 1) discipline distinguishes between the Christian and non-Christian. Since both Christians and non-Christians can receive bad consequences for their own actions or another’s, consequences by themselves are not discipline. 2) All bad things are not discipline. If I lock my keys in my car I shouldn’t deduce God is punishing me. I can deduce I did a stupid thing and the consequence is I can’t open my car door.
But there is a third reason why we should distinguish unpleasant natural consequences from chastening. It is that most discipline from the Lord is not correctional, but is character building and instructional. Instruction is also a part of discipline. Our heavenly Father is always instructing us. Instruction is occurring even when correction isn’t. The word discipline comes from the word disciple. A disciple means a person who learns from a teacher. The word can be translated “pupil.” So, you can see that instruction is not just a part of discipline – it is all of it. Even correction is to be instructional.
Two evidences that chastening can occur in your life without being correctional or the result of disobedience are found in Hebrews 12. The first evidence is the persecution of the Hebrews to whom the author was writing. The Hebrews were having a difficult time because they were being persecuted for their faith, and the author to the Hebrews calls their persecution “discipline.” It was not sin in their lives that brought this discipline, but rather righteousness. They were not being disobedient, but obedient – and for that reason they were being persecuted.
Second, I present as evidence Jesus Christ the Lord. Listen to the writer of Hebrews:
For consider Him who endured such hostility from sinners against Himself, lest you become weary and discouraged in your souls. You have not yet resisted to bloodshed, striving against sin. And you have forgotten the exhortation which speaks to you as to sons: “My son, do not despise the chastening of the LORD, Nor be discouraged when you are rebuked by Him” (Hebrews 12:3-5).
The author encourages the disheartened Christians by reminding them that Jesus also endured chastening. Surely, there is no debate about Jesus’ obedience! He was the sinless, spotless Lamb of God. And yet, He too received scourging, literally. The word scourge is the same word used to speak of the terrible beating that was administered to Jesus by a Roman whip, “Then Pilate therefore took Jesus, and scourged him” (John 19:1). Hebrews 12:6 says that God “scourges every son whom He receives.” Jesus was no exception. But by it, He was helped, even though He was already morally perfect. Again, the same author says of Jesus, “though He was a Son, yet He learned obedience by the things which He suffered” (Hebrews 5:8). What’s my point? Jesus was chastened and yet He was perfect, without sin. Thus chastening must not always be about correction. Jesus didn’t need correcting but He was chastened. His discipline was instructional. Again Hebrews 5:8, “He learned . . . by the things which He suffered.” And so do we.
All discipline is not correctional, but not all pain is correctional either. There is another practical point to be made. It is the goal of the enemy to discourage us when we endure pain and suffering. If our immediate response to adversity is to think, “there must be sin in my life and that is why I am going through this,” then we are apt to miss God’s purpose in adversity. It will be easier for Satan to convince you that something is wrong with you, which makes his job easier to persuade you that God really doesn’t love you. How? Because it puts the basis of your relationship with God on your performance.
I’m convinced that most of us have some “prosperity gospel” mixed in with our theology. We are not that far astray from Job’s comforters after all. Way too many good Christians think to an unbiblical extreme that says, “If I’m doing fairly well pleasing God, then life will be easy, but if life is not easy I must not be doing too good a job.” You see God’s favor based upon your discharge of Christian duty.
God’s love for me is not based on anything I have done or will ever do. His love for me is squarely resting upon the Lord Jesus Christ. The Apostle Paul says that we are “accepted in the Beloved.” Yes, discipline will occur when I disobey, but it will also occur when I have not disobeyed. And even when I have disobeyed, God’s discipline is not because He loves me less or because He thinks me a problem child. We’re all problem children. Don’t base God’s opinion of you based on your circumstances good or bad. You will be misled either way.
Finally, not all of discipline has to be painful either. The act of receiving instruction is not always painful. Often it is quite enjoyable. Whether it be studying the Bible or listening to a sermon, instruction is being imparted and that is discipline. The conclusion is simple—because God loves us, He teaches us, using both pleasure and pain.
Wednesday, March 4, 2009
Some Chastening on Chastening Part 1
By S. Michael Durham
And you have forgotten the exhortation which speaks to you as to sons: "My son, do not despise the chastening of the LORD, Nor be discouraged when you are rebuked by Him; For whom the LORD loves He chastens, And scourges every son whom He receives." If you endure chastening, God deals with you as with sons; for what son is there whom a father does not chasten? But if you are without chastening, of which all have become partakers, then you are illegitimate and not sons. (Hebrews 12:5-8)
What distinguishes chastisement from consequences? Is there a difference? If you run a stop sign and get hit by another car, is that discipline, or consequences, or both? In other words, is the pain from the accident God rebuking you, or is it the natural results of not obeying traffic laws, or could it be both?
Let’s look at the “it’s both” answer. Some will say that the accident is the consequence of not stopping at the intersection, but God can use it to bring correction about either your poor driving skills or if there is some other area of your life where you are not obeying Him. True! The Lord can use it as discipline for something unrelated or for poor driving skills. But that really doesn’t answer our question: Is there a difference between chastisement and consequences? The “both” answer simply acknowledges that God can use consequences as a form of discipline.
Here’s another question to think about—if an unbeliever refuses to stop at a stop sign and is involved in an accident, is this God’s chastening?
How could it be since the Bible says, “If you endure chastening, God deals with you as with sons; for what son is there whom a father does not chasten? But if you are without chastening, of which all have become partakers, then you are illegitimate and not sons”? God disciplines all His sons, but He does not discipline those who are not sons. So, in the case of unbelievers, the automobile accident can’t be chastening, but nothing more than the natural consequence of not obeying a stop sign in busy traffic. Why, in the case of a believer, could it be discipline? It isn’t. And that’s the point. Consequences and chastening are two different things. In other words, something else is needed to make a consequence divine chastening.
What then would make the accident chastening? The instruction of God. It is God’s instruction that turns a natural consequence into a means of correction. This instruction is the work of the Father’s love toward every one of His children. Unbelievers are completely without this loving correction and instruction.
There are three reasons why this distinction is important. First, discipline distinguishes between the Christian and non-Christian. As already stated, God only corrects and instructs His children. That is not to say that non-Christians are never confronted by God because they are. But the confrontation is not chastening. Only true sons are chastened.
The Father of mercy teaches His children truth. What good is a spanking from a father if he does not use it to instruct the erring child? All the spanking will do is embitter the child because it will not see it for anything but punishment. It is the instruction of the father that turns punishment into discipline. The judicial system exacts revenge from lawbreakers. Parents are not to get revenge, they are to correct; and correction cannot occur without wise instruction. The sinner is without this loving instruction. So often, that is why it seems that the wicked prosper and get by with their evil actions. They are without the Spirit’s instruction turning whatever pain into a blessing.
The second reason to differentiate natural consequences from chastening is show that not all bad things are disciplinary. It does not mean that I am being chastened if I accidentally fall off a ladder and break an arm. It means the natural consequence of me trying to defy gravity by falling from a ladder was a broken bone. That’s all! We must be biblical. The Lord was very upset with Job’s so-called comforters because their theology was essentially this: good things happen to good people and bad things happen to bad people. According to them, Job had to have sinned and God was punishing him for it.
The truth was Job hadn’t sinned and God was not punishing him. We live in a fallen world, a world where perfection does not exist. If you miss a stop sign and run into the path of another car you are naturally going to have problems. You shouldn’t think every time something bad happens that God is necessarily trying to get your attention. Life is simply a few days of trouble.
If the Lord should use a natural accident to teach you and bring correction into your life, well then, very good. But don’t see every problem as God’s displeasure. This leads to my final reason why we should note the difference between natural consequences and chastening—most discipline from the Lord is not correctional, but either character building and instructional.
Stay tuned. I will continue this in part 2 in a couple of days.
And you have forgotten the exhortation which speaks to you as to sons: "My son, do not despise the chastening of the LORD, Nor be discouraged when you are rebuked by Him; For whom the LORD loves He chastens, And scourges every son whom He receives." If you endure chastening, God deals with you as with sons; for what son is there whom a father does not chasten? But if you are without chastening, of which all have become partakers, then you are illegitimate and not sons. (Hebrews 12:5-8)
What distinguishes chastisement from consequences? Is there a difference? If you run a stop sign and get hit by another car, is that discipline, or consequences, or both? In other words, is the pain from the accident God rebuking you, or is it the natural results of not obeying traffic laws, or could it be both?
Let’s look at the “it’s both” answer. Some will say that the accident is the consequence of not stopping at the intersection, but God can use it to bring correction about either your poor driving skills or if there is some other area of your life where you are not obeying Him. True! The Lord can use it as discipline for something unrelated or for poor driving skills. But that really doesn’t answer our question: Is there a difference between chastisement and consequences? The “both” answer simply acknowledges that God can use consequences as a form of discipline.
Here’s another question to think about—if an unbeliever refuses to stop at a stop sign and is involved in an accident, is this God’s chastening?
How could it be since the Bible says, “If you endure chastening, God deals with you as with sons; for what son is there whom a father does not chasten? But if you are without chastening, of which all have become partakers, then you are illegitimate and not sons”? God disciplines all His sons, but He does not discipline those who are not sons. So, in the case of unbelievers, the automobile accident can’t be chastening, but nothing more than the natural consequence of not obeying a stop sign in busy traffic. Why, in the case of a believer, could it be discipline? It isn’t. And that’s the point. Consequences and chastening are two different things. In other words, something else is needed to make a consequence divine chastening.
What then would make the accident chastening? The instruction of God. It is God’s instruction that turns a natural consequence into a means of correction. This instruction is the work of the Father’s love toward every one of His children. Unbelievers are completely without this loving correction and instruction.
There are three reasons why this distinction is important. First, discipline distinguishes between the Christian and non-Christian. As already stated, God only corrects and instructs His children. That is not to say that non-Christians are never confronted by God because they are. But the confrontation is not chastening. Only true sons are chastened.
The Father of mercy teaches His children truth. What good is a spanking from a father if he does not use it to instruct the erring child? All the spanking will do is embitter the child because it will not see it for anything but punishment. It is the instruction of the father that turns punishment into discipline. The judicial system exacts revenge from lawbreakers. Parents are not to get revenge, they are to correct; and correction cannot occur without wise instruction. The sinner is without this loving instruction. So often, that is why it seems that the wicked prosper and get by with their evil actions. They are without the Spirit’s instruction turning whatever pain into a blessing.
The second reason to differentiate natural consequences from chastening is show that not all bad things are disciplinary. It does not mean that I am being chastened if I accidentally fall off a ladder and break an arm. It means the natural consequence of me trying to defy gravity by falling from a ladder was a broken bone. That’s all! We must be biblical. The Lord was very upset with Job’s so-called comforters because their theology was essentially this: good things happen to good people and bad things happen to bad people. According to them, Job had to have sinned and God was punishing him for it.
The truth was Job hadn’t sinned and God was not punishing him. We live in a fallen world, a world where perfection does not exist. If you miss a stop sign and run into the path of another car you are naturally going to have problems. You shouldn’t think every time something bad happens that God is necessarily trying to get your attention. Life is simply a few days of trouble.
If the Lord should use a natural accident to teach you and bring correction into your life, well then, very good. But don’t see every problem as God’s displeasure. This leads to my final reason why we should note the difference between natural consequences and chastening—most discipline from the Lord is not correctional, but either character building and instructional.
Stay tuned. I will continue this in part 2 in a couple of days.
Monday, March 2, 2009
The Truth About Lies, Part One
Immediately following the ice storm at the end of January, most people in Western Kentucky were plunged into darkness as tree limbs and telephone poles snapped causing power lines to be downed and strewn upon the ground. Most have never known life without electricity. Our modern houses are certainly not built with an extended power outage in mind, and as temperatures plummeted to around fourteen degrees a couple of days later, people were scrambling to stay warm. Generators and kerosene heaters were premium items as stores sold out as soon as new shipments came in. Sadly, generators and kerosene heaters were the causes of ten deaths in just the few days immediately following the storm. The worst part about carbon monoxide poisoning is that one is unknowingly lulled into sleep and then into death. Those who placed generators in their homes or had faulty kerosene heaters were probably very comfortable. Their goal had been accomplished. They were nice and warm and only felt a bit tired as they drifted off for a nap. But in the midst of their ease, an unseen and undetected force slowly choked the life out of them.
While this is a real, physical threat, there is a similar principle in the spiritual realm that is just as deadly. Instead of carbon monoxide, the danger is in the lies we believe about ourselves, others, God, and the way our lives are to be lived. Unfortunately, these aren’t little lies circulating here and there. Our whole world system is built upon lies. Satan, the father of all lies, exercises great influence over our world. 1 John 5:19 says that “the whole world lies under the sway of the wicked one.” He was a deceiver from the beginning, and continues to do so today. His aim is nothing less than your total destruction. And the deceptions are so subtle and convincing that we buy into them fully. That is the nature of deception! For those who are not saved in Christ, Satan deceives them as to what life is truly about and who God really is. The goal is to lead them into a life-long distraction from Christ, and, ultimately, lead them to hell. That can even mean leading a person to believe that they are saved or religious and on their way to heaven when, in fact, they are not. The myriad of deceptions are endless.
But the gentle, lulling-to-sleep nature of lies from the enemy does not end when one is born again. For the Christian, Satan’s goal is still destruction, even though one is sealed for eternity. Lies can work to destroy your testimony, your joy, and your love. They are incredibly effective. I am now coming to the Truth in several areas of my life. I have believed lies in how I am to raise my children, treat my fellow brothers and sisters, relate to my wife, among others. The problem with many of the lies is that they don’t sound bad on the surface. In fact, most of them sound good and right. Oh, but is that not the nature of the deceiver? As he lied to Eve in the garden, he twisted God’s words to create half-truths. I don’t believe that Eve thought she was plunging into all-out rebellion against God even though that was exactly what she was doing. She thought she was doing the right thing. Oh, how the same is so true for us. Even in the “good” things we deny God’s authority and power and unknowingly reap the consequences of buying into lies.
One example is the very lie I bought into that would eventually lead me to involvement with Real Truth Matters. As a new believer, my natural desire was to be plugged in to a local body of believers. After all, that is how God designed it! There are so many churches who conduct themselves in ways that seem right, but they too have bought into lies. In the end, they do many things are simply unbiblical, or they ignore the headship of Christ and the leadership of the Spirit in exchange for doing things “the right way.” On the surface, it seems right, but in those kinds of churches, I was much like those sitting in a living room with a faulty kerosene heater. I was nice and toasty warm. I was comfortable and being lulled to sleep. Although spiritually speaking I could not be completely destroyed, I could be fixed into a daze and spiritual stupor that kept me in constant bondage, believing that all along I was following God’s will, when, in fact, I was not submitting to His lordship. So it is with any lie.
So how do we wake up from the spiritual stupor that lies put us in? We come to life with the Truth! If the people who died from carbon monoxide poisoning had a carbon monoxide detector, it would have emitted a piercing alarm to let them know danger was imminent. Our detector of destructive lies is the Truth in God’s own word. With a carbon monoxide detector, however, one is looking for the abnormal, a high amount of poisonous gas in a room or house. We are completely immersed in the lies of this world. Truth is abnormal. But Truth is reality. We must be diligent to bathe ourselves in the Truth. We all face the consequences of actions taken under the sway of lies, and change will not come overnight. Sanctification is a process of lives transformed continually by the Truth. I pray that maybe we can share Truths that will overcome lies that keep us in bondage. It is counter-cultural, even against the culture of religion, but it will be well worth the trip.
J.T.
While this is a real, physical threat, there is a similar principle in the spiritual realm that is just as deadly. Instead of carbon monoxide, the danger is in the lies we believe about ourselves, others, God, and the way our lives are to be lived. Unfortunately, these aren’t little lies circulating here and there. Our whole world system is built upon lies. Satan, the father of all lies, exercises great influence over our world. 1 John 5:19 says that “the whole world lies under the sway of the wicked one.” He was a deceiver from the beginning, and continues to do so today. His aim is nothing less than your total destruction. And the deceptions are so subtle and convincing that we buy into them fully. That is the nature of deception! For those who are not saved in Christ, Satan deceives them as to what life is truly about and who God really is. The goal is to lead them into a life-long distraction from Christ, and, ultimately, lead them to hell. That can even mean leading a person to believe that they are saved or religious and on their way to heaven when, in fact, they are not. The myriad of deceptions are endless.
But the gentle, lulling-to-sleep nature of lies from the enemy does not end when one is born again. For the Christian, Satan’s goal is still destruction, even though one is sealed for eternity. Lies can work to destroy your testimony, your joy, and your love. They are incredibly effective. I am now coming to the Truth in several areas of my life. I have believed lies in how I am to raise my children, treat my fellow brothers and sisters, relate to my wife, among others. The problem with many of the lies is that they don’t sound bad on the surface. In fact, most of them sound good and right. Oh, but is that not the nature of the deceiver? As he lied to Eve in the garden, he twisted God’s words to create half-truths. I don’t believe that Eve thought she was plunging into all-out rebellion against God even though that was exactly what she was doing. She thought she was doing the right thing. Oh, how the same is so true for us. Even in the “good” things we deny God’s authority and power and unknowingly reap the consequences of buying into lies.
One example is the very lie I bought into that would eventually lead me to involvement with Real Truth Matters. As a new believer, my natural desire was to be plugged in to a local body of believers. After all, that is how God designed it! There are so many churches who conduct themselves in ways that seem right, but they too have bought into lies. In the end, they do many things are simply unbiblical, or they ignore the headship of Christ and the leadership of the Spirit in exchange for doing things “the right way.” On the surface, it seems right, but in those kinds of churches, I was much like those sitting in a living room with a faulty kerosene heater. I was nice and toasty warm. I was comfortable and being lulled to sleep. Although spiritually speaking I could not be completely destroyed, I could be fixed into a daze and spiritual stupor that kept me in constant bondage, believing that all along I was following God’s will, when, in fact, I was not submitting to His lordship. So it is with any lie.
So how do we wake up from the spiritual stupor that lies put us in? We come to life with the Truth! If the people who died from carbon monoxide poisoning had a carbon monoxide detector, it would have emitted a piercing alarm to let them know danger was imminent. Our detector of destructive lies is the Truth in God’s own word. With a carbon monoxide detector, however, one is looking for the abnormal, a high amount of poisonous gas in a room or house. We are completely immersed in the lies of this world. Truth is abnormal. But Truth is reality. We must be diligent to bathe ourselves in the Truth. We all face the consequences of actions taken under the sway of lies, and change will not come overnight. Sanctification is a process of lives transformed continually by the Truth. I pray that maybe we can share Truths that will overcome lies that keep us in bondage. It is counter-cultural, even against the culture of religion, but it will be well worth the trip.
J.T.
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
The Purpose and Mission of Real Truth Matters Part 2
by S. Michael Durham
In our previous post we state that the mission and vision of Real Truth Matters is as follows:
Real Truth Matters exists to pursue the recovery of New Testament Christianity
by promoting the pursuit of Christ as the Gospel.
How do we present Christ as the gospel? Usually the gospel is thought to be about Christ and what He did, not Christ Himself. The way to answer the “how” question is by returning to the New Testament and examining the preaching of the apostles. The remainder of this post is the continuation of our last post and it is not an in-depth answer but it provides the salient points that will be later discussed in future posts.
2. The gospel’s presentation must be based upon the preaching and teaching of the apostles of Christ.
But even if we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel to you than what we have preached to you, let him be accursed (Galatians 1:8).
Our message must be the same as the apostles from whom we should have received the gospel. Perhaps modern methods of evangelism may differ from theirs. It is not the custom of gospel preachers to come to a city and first go to the local Jewish synagogue to preach the gospel. But the doctrinal content must be the same. The following are a few of the things that the apostles preached that have been lost to many.
a. Faith is more than mental assent, it is the treasuring and trusting of Christ
Jesus.
For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision avails anything, but faith working through love (Galatians 5:6).
b. Repentance is not a onetime act, but a life of pursuing Christ in all areas of life.
Pursue peace with all people, and holiness, without which no one will see the Lord (Hebrews 12:14).
As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten. Therefore be zealous and repent (Revelation 3:19).
But declared first to those in Damascus and in Jerusalem, and throughout all the region of Judea, and then to the Gentiles, that they should repent, turn to God, and do works befitting repentance (Acts 26:20.)
For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men, teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in the present age, looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ (Titus 2:11-13).
c. The apostles preached a fascination with Christ that translated into a lifelong pursuit of Christ.
But what things were gain to me, these I have counted loss for Christ. Yet indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in Him, not having my own righteousness, which is from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith; that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death, if, by any means, I may attain to the resurrection from the dead. Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected; but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me. Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus (Philippians 3:7-14).
d. This fascination should involve the mind, heart and will. In too many cases fascination involves one or two of the three, but seldom all three. But the mind, heart, and will must all be engaged! Our pursuit of Christ should not be academic alone, emotion alone, or action alone.
Jesus said to him, “You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind” (Matthew 22:37).
e. The reality of Jesus Christ in the believer is by the Holy Spirit. He is to be experienced.
And do not be drunk with wine, in which is dissipation; but be filled with the Spirit (Ephesians 5:18).
He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me. And he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and manifest Myself to him (John 14:21).
But when the Helper comes, whom I shall send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father, He will testify of Me (John 15:26).
It is Real Truth Matters’ prayer and genuine desire to be used by the Christ, who is the gospel, to stir men and women to pursue the Savior. Our passion is our aim. RTM will employ new methods to promote this passion, as long as the method will aid the message, not change it. RTM will use technology, innovation, and whatever the Lord puts in our hands to use. But the message will not change even if the medium does. The goal is as already stated, to bring others to a recovery of New Testament Christianity. In the final analysis, the recovery is not the truth, since Jesus Christ is the truth. He suffers no loss and therefore needs no recovery. The recovery is men and women who have yet to discover that the Real Truth does matter.
In our previous post we state that the mission and vision of Real Truth Matters is as follows:
Real Truth Matters exists to pursue the recovery of New Testament Christianity
by promoting the pursuit of Christ as the Gospel.
How do we present Christ as the gospel? Usually the gospel is thought to be about Christ and what He did, not Christ Himself. The way to answer the “how” question is by returning to the New Testament and examining the preaching of the apostles. The remainder of this post is the continuation of our last post and it is not an in-depth answer but it provides the salient points that will be later discussed in future posts.
2. The gospel’s presentation must be based upon the preaching and teaching of the apostles of Christ.
But even if we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel to you than what we have preached to you, let him be accursed (Galatians 1:8).
Our message must be the same as the apostles from whom we should have received the gospel. Perhaps modern methods of evangelism may differ from theirs. It is not the custom of gospel preachers to come to a city and first go to the local Jewish synagogue to preach the gospel. But the doctrinal content must be the same. The following are a few of the things that the apostles preached that have been lost to many.
a. Faith is more than mental assent, it is the treasuring and trusting of Christ
Jesus.
For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision avails anything, but faith working through love (Galatians 5:6).
b. Repentance is not a onetime act, but a life of pursuing Christ in all areas of life.
Pursue peace with all people, and holiness, without which no one will see the Lord (Hebrews 12:14).
As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten. Therefore be zealous and repent (Revelation 3:19).
But declared first to those in Damascus and in Jerusalem, and throughout all the region of Judea, and then to the Gentiles, that they should repent, turn to God, and do works befitting repentance (Acts 26:20.)
For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men, teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in the present age, looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ (Titus 2:11-13).
c. The apostles preached a fascination with Christ that translated into a lifelong pursuit of Christ.
But what things were gain to me, these I have counted loss for Christ. Yet indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in Him, not having my own righteousness, which is from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith; that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death, if, by any means, I may attain to the resurrection from the dead. Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected; but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me. Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus (Philippians 3:7-14).
d. This fascination should involve the mind, heart and will. In too many cases fascination involves one or two of the three, but seldom all three. But the mind, heart, and will must all be engaged! Our pursuit of Christ should not be academic alone, emotion alone, or action alone.
Jesus said to him, “You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind” (Matthew 22:37).
e. The reality of Jesus Christ in the believer is by the Holy Spirit. He is to be experienced.
And do not be drunk with wine, in which is dissipation; but be filled with the Spirit (Ephesians 5:18).
He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me. And he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and manifest Myself to him (John 14:21).
But when the Helper comes, whom I shall send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father, He will testify of Me (John 15:26).
It is Real Truth Matters’ prayer and genuine desire to be used by the Christ, who is the gospel, to stir men and women to pursue the Savior. Our passion is our aim. RTM will employ new methods to promote this passion, as long as the method will aid the message, not change it. RTM will use technology, innovation, and whatever the Lord puts in our hands to use. But the message will not change even if the medium does. The goal is as already stated, to bring others to a recovery of New Testament Christianity. In the final analysis, the recovery is not the truth, since Jesus Christ is the truth. He suffers no loss and therefore needs no recovery. The recovery is men and women who have yet to discover that the Real Truth does matter.
Friday, February 6, 2009
The Purpose and Mission of Real Truth Matters Part 1
by S. Michael Durham
Real Truth Matters exists to pursue the recovery of New Testament Christianity by promoting the pursuit of Christ as the Gospel.
An assessment of much of current American Christianity is that it has been diluted, if not perverted. It has been modified, if not altogether changed, leaving many to believe a false gospel. Our nation has not kept within its borders this distortion of truth. We have transported it by sea and land to pollute a good portion of the world’s Christian population. It should remind us of the infamous garbage barge that traveled all the way from New York City to Central America and back trying to find a place to dispose the garbage. American Christendom has dumped its theological garbage all over the world.
It is the mission of Real Truth Matters to work for the recovery of primitive Christianity without trying to recreate first century culture. Many have attempted to recover New Testament Christianity thinking the secret is returning to a resemblance of first century Judean culture. Others think we need to revive the early church climate and recreate their structure and practice. However, it is unnecessary to duplicate the cultural practices of the first century in order to revive Christianity. The gospel is transcultural, meaning, it will work in any culture. The answer to the recovery of the gospel is not cultural.
Another attempt to rediscover biblical Christianity recommends new methodology. It is suggested that if we can find better methods of communication or better contextualize the message we would advance the cause of Christ. Surely improvement in communication or contextualization is a worthy goal. But, if not careful, the goal becomes more important than the gospel and the gospel is compromised. Most efforts to better share the message has led to changing the message. And most enterprises to more cleverly blend Christianity into the present culture have resulted in a more worldly Christianity.
RTM’s mission is not methodology driven, but theologically driven. The answer is not in something new and improved but tried and true. It is the rediscovery and proclamation of the same gospel that the apostles of Christ proclaimed. In many circles the old gospel will sound very new. But its novelty is in the telling and hearing not in its longevity.
The above purpose statement is a theologically driven mission. The following outline is an explanation of this sentence and our ministry.
A. Christo-Centric—Apostolic Gospel
1. Christ is the gospel. The gospel is not about Christ, it is Christ.
The gospel is not just about the death and resurrection of Christ. It is Jesus. It is Jesus, His person as the Son of God and the Son of Man. It is all about what He is and has done in the redemption of sinners.
This constitutes a major portion of the problem of modernized Christianity. It fails to recognize Christ, Himself. Even though Jesus is the subject of its gospel, He is not the gospel to most professing Christians. Their gospel is what Jesus has done for them. But the New Testament does not tell men to believe in only what He has done. It tells them to believe upon Him and in Him.
For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life (John 3:16).
And this is the will of Him who sent Me, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in Him may have everlasting life; and I will raise him up at the last day (John 6:40).
For the Scripture says, "Whoever believes on Him will not be put to shame (Romans 10:11).
Why is this significant? Because the gospel is not just believing certain facts about Christ. It is the reality of the person of Christ in the believer. Biblical Christianity is the life of Christ in the soul of man. Christ, in believers, also means more than having a companion. The life of Christ is the power from which the believer lives.
Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might (Ephesians 6:10).
When Christ who is our life appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory (Colossians 3:4).
This does not minimize faith in our Lord’s sacrificial death and in His triumphal resurrection. But His death would not have been effectual to the salvation of men had He not been who He is. Nor would He have risen from the dead. It is His person and all that He is and has done that is the good news.
Real Truth Matters exists to pursue the recovery of New Testament Christianity by promoting the pursuit of Christ as the Gospel.
An assessment of much of current American Christianity is that it has been diluted, if not perverted. It has been modified, if not altogether changed, leaving many to believe a false gospel. Our nation has not kept within its borders this distortion of truth. We have transported it by sea and land to pollute a good portion of the world’s Christian population. It should remind us of the infamous garbage barge that traveled all the way from New York City to Central America and back trying to find a place to dispose the garbage. American Christendom has dumped its theological garbage all over the world.
It is the mission of Real Truth Matters to work for the recovery of primitive Christianity without trying to recreate first century culture. Many have attempted to recover New Testament Christianity thinking the secret is returning to a resemblance of first century Judean culture. Others think we need to revive the early church climate and recreate their structure and practice. However, it is unnecessary to duplicate the cultural practices of the first century in order to revive Christianity. The gospel is transcultural, meaning, it will work in any culture. The answer to the recovery of the gospel is not cultural.
Another attempt to rediscover biblical Christianity recommends new methodology. It is suggested that if we can find better methods of communication or better contextualize the message we would advance the cause of Christ. Surely improvement in communication or contextualization is a worthy goal. But, if not careful, the goal becomes more important than the gospel and the gospel is compromised. Most efforts to better share the message has led to changing the message. And most enterprises to more cleverly blend Christianity into the present culture have resulted in a more worldly Christianity.
RTM’s mission is not methodology driven, but theologically driven. The answer is not in something new and improved but tried and true. It is the rediscovery and proclamation of the same gospel that the apostles of Christ proclaimed. In many circles the old gospel will sound very new. But its novelty is in the telling and hearing not in its longevity.
The above purpose statement is a theologically driven mission. The following outline is an explanation of this sentence and our ministry.
A. Christo-Centric—Apostolic Gospel
1. Christ is the gospel. The gospel is not about Christ, it is Christ.
The gospel is not just about the death and resurrection of Christ. It is Jesus. It is Jesus, His person as the Son of God and the Son of Man. It is all about what He is and has done in the redemption of sinners.
This constitutes a major portion of the problem of modernized Christianity. It fails to recognize Christ, Himself. Even though Jesus is the subject of its gospel, He is not the gospel to most professing Christians. Their gospel is what Jesus has done for them. But the New Testament does not tell men to believe in only what He has done. It tells them to believe upon Him and in Him.
For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life (John 3:16).
And this is the will of Him who sent Me, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in Him may have everlasting life; and I will raise him up at the last day (John 6:40).
For the Scripture says, "Whoever believes on Him will not be put to shame (Romans 10:11).
Why is this significant? Because the gospel is not just believing certain facts about Christ. It is the reality of the person of Christ in the believer. Biblical Christianity is the life of Christ in the soul of man. Christ, in believers, also means more than having a companion. The life of Christ is the power from which the believer lives.
Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might (Ephesians 6:10).
When Christ who is our life appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory (Colossians 3:4).
This does not minimize faith in our Lord’s sacrificial death and in His triumphal resurrection. But His death would not have been effectual to the salvation of men had He not been who He is. Nor would He have risen from the dead. It is His person and all that He is and has done that is the good news.
Wednesday, February 4, 2009
Lets Take a Pause
Well, we wanted to keep the blog updated more, but a massive ice storm took those plans away this past week! Due to power and internet outages, the blog has not been updated.
Please bear with us, and we will return soon.
Please bear with us, and we will return soon.
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
Clean up your language!
With the ushering in of a new year, we often shed some of the old and look forward to something new. We want to change our eating habits, replacing bad foods with ones that will do us more good than harm. We may try to kick bad organizational habits in order to get scheduled and tidy. But what about our vocabulary? Are there terms and words that are just played out? Do we need to break out the thesaurus and resolve to abolish some of the tired, worn out phrases that dominated 2008?
This is the 34th year for the annual Words to Be Banished from the Queen's English for Mis-use, Over-use and General Uselessness. So what’s on the chopping block?
Green – Have you gone green yet? Or are you turning green from the overuse of the term of environmental endearment and all its variants such as “green technology” and “green solutions?” As one person said, “I'm all for being environmentally responsible, but this 'green' needs to be nipped in the bud.”
Carbon footprint – I have never been 100% sure what this term means, other than it is a measurable (or at least ‘they’ think it is) means of determining one’s impact on the environment. As for me, I think I left my carbon footprints in my socks.
Maverick – As PeeWee Herman would say, “You don’t wanna get mixed up with a man like me. I’m a loner, a rebel.”
Bailout – Months after the ‘bailout’ of some of the nation’s largest corporations, no one is yet sure what it really means. It’s actually a term for what your cousin needs when he calls you from jail at 2am.
Wall Street/Main Street – A term that was clever for about five minutes, quickly became a worn-out cliché in true, American fashion. It was intended to pit those in middle class economies against the big corporations. But I don’t seem to live on either. I think I live on Cow Pasture Lane.
What doesn’t make the list, however, are terms thrown about in Evangelicalism that should go. Many are not Biblical and flat out misleading, while others need to be exercised with more caution.
Accept/Ask Jesus Into Your Heart – Of all the Evangelical lingo, this is the one most used in evangelism and is probably heard every Sunday in 99% of churches across America. The phrase cannot be found anywhere in the Bible, which is not in and of itself bad, but the concept behind the words is missing as well. The phrase started with a quotation of Christ from the book of Revelation where He says, “Behold I stand at the door and knock.” In context, however, Christ was speaking to a church that sickened Him. MacArthur says of this passage that “rather than allowing for the common interpretation of Christ’s knocking on a person’s heart, the context demands that Christ was seeking to enter this church that bore His name but lacked a single true believer. This poignant letter was His knocking.” As Ray Comfort says, pleading with people to accept Christ portrays Him as the poor beggar, hat in hand, standing outside, pitifully asking to just come in. Is Christ there when a sinner repents? Yes! He is longsuffering! But He is not standing by, simply waiting and watching for what you will do, a victim of our choices. He calls us to repent today! Salvation begins and ends with God. It is not dependent upon our asking. This phrase caused a dilemma in my mind during all my years as a false convert. I felt as if something were majorly wrong. My life did not seem to coincide with what I saw as true Christianity. But I placated myself by saying, “But I did what I was supposed to do! I asked Jesus into my heart, and now He is obligated to save me.” I had reduced salvation down to a magical incantation.
Personal Relationship With Jesus - Once again, a decent concept, but very short of true Christianity. The amazing part of being a Christian is that God, through Christ, IS personal to us. We are to live our lives in communion with Him in ways we never imagined before, and Christians do have a personal relationship with Him. But for many, this cliché falls into the realm of modern language, and the ramifications of a “personal relationship” are lost. God is not the neighbor in the sky that we just need to get to know better. Getting to know who God is can affect salvation, but unless He changes us, we do not relate to Him at all. If we just examine the word “relate,” we may get a better understanding. As a sinner, how do you relate to God? According to Him, you don’t! You are dead in your sins, and spiritual understanding will elude you. How does God relate to you? His wrath abides on you! And to make things worse, you are storing up wrath for your final judgment. So right off the bat, the relationship is broken. It is only through Christ that God’s anger and wrath toward you can be assuaged, and you can be brought into a right standing before God. We think of relationship as how we are toward another person when it comes to interaction and thought. In human relationships, we can improve on things, even turning bad relationships into good ones by consideration, thoughtfulness, and action. But it cannot be so with God! As sinners, we cannot “work” on a better relationship with God. Christ rightly relates us to the Father. It is not of ourselves. This term and the one before normally get strung together to form the double whammy “you can have a personal relationship with Jesus by asking Him into your heart.”
Believe – This is a biggie. The word is certainly Biblical, and I am not suggesting the cessation of its use. But we must be careful in how we use and explain the word and watch cautiously as to how our audience perceives its meaning. In this word, we find the crux of salvation. Misused, it can lead many down a path of false conversion. What mostly occurs from using the word ‘believe’ is the Santa Claus complex. The thought is that if we just believe the facts about God and Christ that we will be saved. Just look up the ‘plan of salvation’ on most church websites and see what you get. Here is a sample line from a popular tract producer: 'Believe that Jesus Christ died for you, was buried, and rose from the dead.' In salvation, one must certainly cross the hurdle of intellectual belief. If you do not believe that Jesus is the one, true way to the Father, then intellectually, you are disqualified from salvation. But just believing that Jesus died for me will not cut it. If you notice, the King James will often translate it as “believeth on” (John 3:36, John 12:44, 1John 5:10). Doesn’t it mean something different in our modern language than “believe in?” To believe on someone is to trust them. To believe on Jesus is not to simply believe that He is the Son of God and that He died for you, but to take His words and what He has revealed to us upon faith and trust Him! But let’s look at the term “believe in.” If a man rescuing a lost and injured hiker in the woods had to hook himself and the injured man to a cable attached to a helicopter and fly them both to safety, and the man says to the rescuer, “I believe in you,” does that mean he simply believes the facts about the rescuer? No! He believes he came to save him, he believes he can save him, and when he says, “I believe in you,” he is fully placing his trust in the rescuer that he will save him. But let me back up and play out the scenario that to believe means only to believe the facts about Christ and God. The facts are these: Christ, fully God, fully man, suffered eternal punishment upon Himself for your sin. He died, but overcame death and hell by rising again. He stands in your stead, satisfying the judgment that calls out for your blood because of your sin. If you truly believe those facts, then how can that not move your heart to repent, fall at His feet, and live a life utterly given to Him? It is like the parable told of the man who found the pearl of great price and sold all he had to get it. Christ is the pearl, and we are to forsake all to gain Him. It doesn’t say that a man found a pearl of great price, and really believed that it was a valuable pearl. No, the information he believed moved him to radical action. But it takes much more than the intellectual belief. The Holy Spirit takes the word spoken to us about Christ and makes it a living word that changes not only our intellect, but our heart and our will.
In the end, the above evangelical terms can really only be understood rightly by one whom God has converted. To the unsaved man, the terms mean only what the definitions hold at face value. Only God can make the meanings behind them real to a man or woman, but as Christians, we should be careful in how we present them to sinners.
There are many more terms and words we could discuss, but I will leave it to you. What else would you like to see changed in evangelical lingo?
J.T.
This is the 34th year for the annual Words to Be Banished from the Queen's English for Mis-use, Over-use and General Uselessness. So what’s on the chopping block?
Green – Have you gone green yet? Or are you turning green from the overuse of the term of environmental endearment and all its variants such as “green technology” and “green solutions?” As one person said, “I'm all for being environmentally responsible, but this 'green' needs to be nipped in the bud.”
Carbon footprint – I have never been 100% sure what this term means, other than it is a measurable (or at least ‘they’ think it is) means of determining one’s impact on the environment. As for me, I think I left my carbon footprints in my socks.
Maverick – As PeeWee Herman would say, “You don’t wanna get mixed up with a man like me. I’m a loner, a rebel.”
Bailout – Months after the ‘bailout’ of some of the nation’s largest corporations, no one is yet sure what it really means. It’s actually a term for what your cousin needs when he calls you from jail at 2am.
Wall Street/Main Street – A term that was clever for about five minutes, quickly became a worn-out cliché in true, American fashion. It was intended to pit those in middle class economies against the big corporations. But I don’t seem to live on either. I think I live on Cow Pasture Lane.
What doesn’t make the list, however, are terms thrown about in Evangelicalism that should go. Many are not Biblical and flat out misleading, while others need to be exercised with more caution.
Accept/Ask Jesus Into Your Heart – Of all the Evangelical lingo, this is the one most used in evangelism and is probably heard every Sunday in 99% of churches across America. The phrase cannot be found anywhere in the Bible, which is not in and of itself bad, but the concept behind the words is missing as well. The phrase started with a quotation of Christ from the book of Revelation where He says, “Behold I stand at the door and knock.” In context, however, Christ was speaking to a church that sickened Him. MacArthur says of this passage that “rather than allowing for the common interpretation of Christ’s knocking on a person’s heart, the context demands that Christ was seeking to enter this church that bore His name but lacked a single true believer. This poignant letter was His knocking.” As Ray Comfort says, pleading with people to accept Christ portrays Him as the poor beggar, hat in hand, standing outside, pitifully asking to just come in. Is Christ there when a sinner repents? Yes! He is longsuffering! But He is not standing by, simply waiting and watching for what you will do, a victim of our choices. He calls us to repent today! Salvation begins and ends with God. It is not dependent upon our asking. This phrase caused a dilemma in my mind during all my years as a false convert. I felt as if something were majorly wrong. My life did not seem to coincide with what I saw as true Christianity. But I placated myself by saying, “But I did what I was supposed to do! I asked Jesus into my heart, and now He is obligated to save me.” I had reduced salvation down to a magical incantation.
Personal Relationship With Jesus - Once again, a decent concept, but very short of true Christianity. The amazing part of being a Christian is that God, through Christ, IS personal to us. We are to live our lives in communion with Him in ways we never imagined before, and Christians do have a personal relationship with Him. But for many, this cliché falls into the realm of modern language, and the ramifications of a “personal relationship” are lost. God is not the neighbor in the sky that we just need to get to know better. Getting to know who God is can affect salvation, but unless He changes us, we do not relate to Him at all. If we just examine the word “relate,” we may get a better understanding. As a sinner, how do you relate to God? According to Him, you don’t! You are dead in your sins, and spiritual understanding will elude you. How does God relate to you? His wrath abides on you! And to make things worse, you are storing up wrath for your final judgment. So right off the bat, the relationship is broken. It is only through Christ that God’s anger and wrath toward you can be assuaged, and you can be brought into a right standing before God. We think of relationship as how we are toward another person when it comes to interaction and thought. In human relationships, we can improve on things, even turning bad relationships into good ones by consideration, thoughtfulness, and action. But it cannot be so with God! As sinners, we cannot “work” on a better relationship with God. Christ rightly relates us to the Father. It is not of ourselves. This term and the one before normally get strung together to form the double whammy “you can have a personal relationship with Jesus by asking Him into your heart.”
Believe – This is a biggie. The word is certainly Biblical, and I am not suggesting the cessation of its use. But we must be careful in how we use and explain the word and watch cautiously as to how our audience perceives its meaning. In this word, we find the crux of salvation. Misused, it can lead many down a path of false conversion. What mostly occurs from using the word ‘believe’ is the Santa Claus complex. The thought is that if we just believe the facts about God and Christ that we will be saved. Just look up the ‘plan of salvation’ on most church websites and see what you get. Here is a sample line from a popular tract producer: 'Believe that Jesus Christ died for you, was buried, and rose from the dead.' In salvation, one must certainly cross the hurdle of intellectual belief. If you do not believe that Jesus is the one, true way to the Father, then intellectually, you are disqualified from salvation. But just believing that Jesus died for me will not cut it. If you notice, the King James will often translate it as “believeth on” (John 3:36, John 12:44, 1John 5:10). Doesn’t it mean something different in our modern language than “believe in?” To believe on someone is to trust them. To believe on Jesus is not to simply believe that He is the Son of God and that He died for you, but to take His words and what He has revealed to us upon faith and trust Him! But let’s look at the term “believe in.” If a man rescuing a lost and injured hiker in the woods had to hook himself and the injured man to a cable attached to a helicopter and fly them both to safety, and the man says to the rescuer, “I believe in you,” does that mean he simply believes the facts about the rescuer? No! He believes he came to save him, he believes he can save him, and when he says, “I believe in you,” he is fully placing his trust in the rescuer that he will save him. But let me back up and play out the scenario that to believe means only to believe the facts about Christ and God. The facts are these: Christ, fully God, fully man, suffered eternal punishment upon Himself for your sin. He died, but overcame death and hell by rising again. He stands in your stead, satisfying the judgment that calls out for your blood because of your sin. If you truly believe those facts, then how can that not move your heart to repent, fall at His feet, and live a life utterly given to Him? It is like the parable told of the man who found the pearl of great price and sold all he had to get it. Christ is the pearl, and we are to forsake all to gain Him. It doesn’t say that a man found a pearl of great price, and really believed that it was a valuable pearl. No, the information he believed moved him to radical action. But it takes much more than the intellectual belief. The Holy Spirit takes the word spoken to us about Christ and makes it a living word that changes not only our intellect, but our heart and our will.
In the end, the above evangelical terms can really only be understood rightly by one whom God has converted. To the unsaved man, the terms mean only what the definitions hold at face value. Only God can make the meanings behind them real to a man or woman, but as Christians, we should be careful in how we present them to sinners.
There are many more terms and words we could discuss, but I will leave it to you. What else would you like to see changed in evangelical lingo?
J.T.
Saturday, January 10, 2009
We need you!
Real Truth Matters is looking forward to what God can do in 2009! We are praying that God will use and grow this ministry to spread His glory to all men.
There are many things in the works right now, but the website remains the central focus and the constant throughout God’s activities through RTM. And we want this ministry to be interactive. You hear much from us, but we want to hear much from you! Not only is your response and reaction a confirmation of God’s work, but it is also a great encouragement to everyone involved.
If you read this blog, please leave comments if you feel led to. This is a place to discuss the issues and topics presented here. If you read this blog entry, leave a comment to let us know you are out there! We want to use God’s resources wisely and move in the paths he has laid for us.
There are many things in the works right now, but the website remains the central focus and the constant throughout God’s activities through RTM. And we want this ministry to be interactive. You hear much from us, but we want to hear much from you! Not only is your response and reaction a confirmation of God’s work, but it is also a great encouragement to everyone involved.
If you read this blog, please leave comments if you feel led to. This is a place to discuss the issues and topics presented here. If you read this blog entry, leave a comment to let us know you are out there! We want to use God’s resources wisely and move in the paths he has laid for us.
Monday, January 5, 2009
What Are Your New Year's Resolutions? - Part Three
I want to round out this series on bringing the flesh into submission with a very familiar passage from 1 Corinthians 9. Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may obtain it. And everyone who competes for the prize is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a perishable crown, but we for an imperishable crown. Therefore I run thus: not with uncertainty. Thus I fight: not as one who beats the air. But I discipline my body and bring it into subjection, lest, when I have preached to others, I myself should become disqualified.
Running the race (persevering in the Christian life) is about how you run. The goal is in mind, but it is only accomplished if you run in such a way to endure and make it to the end. A marathon runner who stops in mile number one of his twenty-six mile journey and eats four double cheeseburgers chased down by a chocolate milkshake will not run nor finish well. . . if at all. And the runner’s disciplines started long before race day. If one just burst on the scene of a race without knowing how to run or how to train, he will not succeed. The same is true in Paul’s analogy. And, because the physical is so inexplicably linked to the spiritual, the body must be brought into subjection as we run toward the goal of knowing Him more.
Everyone who competes for the prize is temperate in all things. Controlling one’s self is crucial. But I discipline my body and bring it into subjection. The word discipline, often translated as buffet, literally means to deliver a punch to the face, just below the eye. Paul is not requiring self torture or mutilation, but is showing us the severe stances we must take against our flesh. Christ said something along a similar line when He said, “If your right eye causes you to sin, pluck it out and cast it from you; for it is more profitable for you that one of your members perish than for your whole body to be cast into hell.” This is the kind of stance we are talking about here. It is a stance that is ready to bring the flesh under the control of the Spirit.
It will not be easy. The flesh will resist and fight. But as it quiets down and comes under God’s authority, you will see the spiritual wealth to be gleaned. I think this may be an often overlooked aspect of the much misunderstood principle of fasting. The flesh, being brought under control, subsides and submits to the Spirit of God in ways that are hard to describe.
I want to know my God more. Knowing Him surpasses anything the flesh and world have to offer. But our flesh can be a difficult customer to convince. Therefore we must be resolute in seeing the diminishing of the flesh, and the gain of the men and women Christ calls us to be. We belong Him. We are not our own. And through His word and Spirit, we can come to know Him, the Way, the Truth, and the Life.
There are areas of my life, my flesh, that need to die so that I can know even more the excellencies of the one I call Savior!
Romans 8:12-13 Therefore, brethren, we are debtors – not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh. For if you live according to the flesh you will die; but if by the Spirit, you but to death the deeds of the body, you will live.
J.T.
Thursday, January 1, 2009
What Are Your New Year's Resolutions - Part Two
There are many barriers to controlling the flesh, but there is one I want to mention before we move on. There is a tendency to want to “feel right” about something before entering into disciplining the flesh. I heard some Christian brothers talking recently about behaviors in their lives that they knew did not honor God. But then they reasoned that they really did not feel bad about it and would have to wait for God to bring conviction before making any changes. While conviction does often come from God with feelings that are appropriate, we cannot knowingly defy God based upon our lack of felt guilt. I once heard a comedian say, “I used to think my brain was the greatest part of my body. But then I realized who was telling me that!” We too cannot rely on our flesh to solely inform us of which parts of itself want to be controlled or destroyed. We rely on the word of God.
1 Peter 1:13 says to gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and rest your hope fully upon the grace that is to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ; as obedient children, not conforming yourselves to the former lusts, as in your ignorance; but as He who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, because it is written, “Be holy, for I am holy.” So how do we tie up the loose ends of our thinking and gird up our minds? I will borrow a bit from my good friend John MacArthur. In his two sermons on The Art of Self Discipline (highly recommended for deeper study: http://www.gty.org/resources/Sermons/series/253), he says to start about first realizing whose you are. You, as a Christian, no longer belong to yourself. You are not your own. As Paul says in 1 Corinthians 6:20 you were bought at a price. It is a price so infinite in value… the very life and blood of the Son of the Living God. Starting there brings things into perspective.
Secondly, we must remember the covenant of our salvation. When you and I were saved, we came to Christ as Lord. That means submission to Him and His ways. We were saved to submit the direction of our lives to the purposes of God. Ephesians 2:10 says that we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them. Inherent in God’s covenant with us is our covenant with Him for Christ to be Lord over our lives. We often need to go back and remember that.
Thirdly, sin should be recognized as a violation of our relationship to God. Sin is not merely a violation of God’s law, it is a violation against Him personally. We often stress this to the unbelieving, yet we so quickly forget after we are saved. How even more important we remember this as we bring our flesh into subjection as children of God. We are partakers of the divine nature, and when we bring ourselves into sin, which is ultimately following the fleshly lusts that should be under control, we are joining Christ with sin. 1 Corinthians 6: 15-17 says Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ? Shall I then take the members of Christ and make them members of a harlot? Certainly not! Or do you not know that he who is joined to a harlot is one body with her? For “the two,” He says, “shall become one flesh.” But he who is joined to the Lord is one spirit with Him.” In sin, you march yourself and Christ into union with fleshly lusts. I often have the tendency to want to compartmentalize these things. I can sin over here, and give in to the flesh, yet keep that separate from my relationship with God. One can certainly try to do that, but according to scripture, it is impossible in reality. So sin is a violation of my relationship with Him and an abuse of His compassion and grace.
Fourthly, we need to have a God-focused conscious. The conscious is a God-designed tool to direct us in ways that are right and away from things that are not right. But the conscious does not stand alone. It can be dulled or misinformed. The way to properly inform the conscious is through the study and internalization of God’s word. We are not left to the whims of our feelings, but a mind that is shaped by the principles and words of God. Feelings will follow, but the Bible is our plumb line. Our conscious, properly defined by God, will either accuse us or excuse us. It may not always be pleasant, but it is necessary.
These lead us to reigning in the thoughts and imaginations of the mind. James 1:14-15 says that each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed. Then, when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin when it is full-grown, brings forth death. Our thoughts and desires must be brought under the rule of God. 2 Corinthians 10:5 says that this battle’s goal is to bring every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ. That is where we are headed, if we are His. That is our goal. As you read through the Bible, and especially commands given to us in the New Testament, you will see this theme across every page.
In the next post, I will wrap this up, and move forward in the new year with a new perspective on resolutions.
J.T.
1 Peter 1:13 says to gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and rest your hope fully upon the grace that is to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ; as obedient children, not conforming yourselves to the former lusts, as in your ignorance; but as He who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, because it is written, “Be holy, for I am holy.” So how do we tie up the loose ends of our thinking and gird up our minds? I will borrow a bit from my good friend John MacArthur. In his two sermons on The Art of Self Discipline (highly recommended for deeper study: http://www.gty.org/resources/Sermons/series/253), he says to start about first realizing whose you are. You, as a Christian, no longer belong to yourself. You are not your own. As Paul says in 1 Corinthians 6:20 you were bought at a price. It is a price so infinite in value… the very life and blood of the Son of the Living God. Starting there brings things into perspective.
Secondly, we must remember the covenant of our salvation. When you and I were saved, we came to Christ as Lord. That means submission to Him and His ways. We were saved to submit the direction of our lives to the purposes of God. Ephesians 2:10 says that we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them. Inherent in God’s covenant with us is our covenant with Him for Christ to be Lord over our lives. We often need to go back and remember that.
Thirdly, sin should be recognized as a violation of our relationship to God. Sin is not merely a violation of God’s law, it is a violation against Him personally. We often stress this to the unbelieving, yet we so quickly forget after we are saved. How even more important we remember this as we bring our flesh into subjection as children of God. We are partakers of the divine nature, and when we bring ourselves into sin, which is ultimately following the fleshly lusts that should be under control, we are joining Christ with sin. 1 Corinthians 6: 15-17 says Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ? Shall I then take the members of Christ and make them members of a harlot? Certainly not! Or do you not know that he who is joined to a harlot is one body with her? For “the two,” He says, “shall become one flesh.” But he who is joined to the Lord is one spirit with Him.” In sin, you march yourself and Christ into union with fleshly lusts. I often have the tendency to want to compartmentalize these things. I can sin over here, and give in to the flesh, yet keep that separate from my relationship with God. One can certainly try to do that, but according to scripture, it is impossible in reality. So sin is a violation of my relationship with Him and an abuse of His compassion and grace.
Fourthly, we need to have a God-focused conscious. The conscious is a God-designed tool to direct us in ways that are right and away from things that are not right. But the conscious does not stand alone. It can be dulled or misinformed. The way to properly inform the conscious is through the study and internalization of God’s word. We are not left to the whims of our feelings, but a mind that is shaped by the principles and words of God. Feelings will follow, but the Bible is our plumb line. Our conscious, properly defined by God, will either accuse us or excuse us. It may not always be pleasant, but it is necessary.
These lead us to reigning in the thoughts and imaginations of the mind. James 1:14-15 says that each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed. Then, when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin when it is full-grown, brings forth death. Our thoughts and desires must be brought under the rule of God. 2 Corinthians 10:5 says that this battle’s goal is to bring every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ. That is where we are headed, if we are His. That is our goal. As you read through the Bible, and especially commands given to us in the New Testament, you will see this theme across every page.
In the next post, I will wrap this up, and move forward in the new year with a new perspective on resolutions.
J.T.
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