Fight? Or just observe?

 

2 Chronicles 9; Zephaniah 1; Luke 23; Jude

I joined an online book club. The first book was excellent — about prayer. It encouraged me to pray with greater faith and enthusiasm. The second book was written by a “spiritual leader” who has a great reputation but his approach is narrow. To him, the saving power of Jesus Christ is not important. He sees Jesus as unjustly treated, something he himself identified with, and promotes liberation theology.

My position on injustice is that God is the ultimate judge. By His criteria none of us deserve anything but wrath for we all sin and fall short. However, God is also merciful and loves us so He sent Jesus to die in our place. Once He granted me the grace to believe that truth, I could see the depths of my sinfulness and the wonder of His grace. I also realize that I cannot demand anything from Him and have no rights outside of being “in Christ” and being His adopted child.

This morning, I’m thinking that I don’t want to read that book. It is full of useless human wisdom, the stuff I fight with in my desire to “trust the Lord with all my heart and lean not on my own understanding.” Why read that which promotes the ideas that oppose faith in Christ alone? Besides, the online discussion could be hot as Christians and perhaps those hooked on false teaching will discuss the merits of this author’s ideas. I’m not sure I want to be involved. However, today’s readings point in another direction. For instance, this passage:

Beloved, although I was very eager to write to you about our common salvation, I found it necessary to write appealing to you to contend for the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints. For certain people have crept in unnoticed who long ago were designated for this condemnation, ungodly people, who pervert the grace of our God into sensuality and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ. (Jude 3–4)

Jude seems to know where I am at. He says to contend for the faith. Contention is about fighting, yet not nasty name-calling. It means speaking the truth in love with the hope that those stuck in human reasoning will hear the Holy Spirit and recognize their need to honor the grace of God.

Yet the other side of the coin is illustrated by a man who told me that he was in the Franklin Mint and noticed a wall display of counterfeit money. He said to an official, “You must need to really study this to discern fake bills.” The man said, “No, not at all. We study the real stuff and the fake becomes very easy to spot.”

I’ve a relative who is in a cult. I do not study their teachings, just the Bible. They are like most false teachers — able to sound good to anyone who does not know the truth. Jude’s words also suggest ungodly people were ‘designated’ or part of God’s plan, perhaps to strengthen our spiritual muscles yet they are already under His judgment.

Today’s passage from Zephaniah refers to that condemnation and judgment:

“I will utterly sweep away everything from the face of the earth,” declares the Lord. “I will sweep away man and beast; I will sweep away the birds of the heavens and the fish of the sea, and the rubble with the wicked. I will cut off mankind from the face of the earth,” declares the Lord . . . . “I will bring distress on mankind, so that they shall walk like the blind, because they have sinned against the Lord; their blood shall be poured out like dust, and their flesh like dung. Neither their silver nor their gold shall be able to deliver them on the day of the wrath of the Lord. In the fire of his jealousy, all the earth shall be consumed; for a full and sudden end he will make of all the inhabitants of the earth.” (Zephaniah 1:2-3; 17–18)

If anyone thinks this is impossible, perhaps the current pandemic is evidence to show that God can do whatever He determines to do! I’m not very interesting in standing too close to those who deny Christ by looking at their efforts to be ‘religious’ apart from His saving power. Such self-righteousness has been my nemesis also.

APPLY: Instead, I need to look at Jesus. Luke 23 describes His arrest and crucifixion, not for anything He had done except to declare His identity and incur the wrath of those who wanted to be left alone to do their own thing. Jesus died asking forgiveness for those who put Him on the cross, forgiving a criminal who was crucified with Him, and willingly committing Himself to the Father in death.

The story does not end here. The God who became man could not stay dead because death is about sin’s punishment; He had no sin. He lives and He walks with those who put their lives into His hands. Our message is not about our suffering or our ‘rights’ but about His victory on our behalf. He did many things but without dying and rising from the dead, my faith in Him ends with this life instead of never-ending life. Today, I want to praise Jesus for all He was and is, has done and will do. He is my Lord and Savior and God over all.