Confessing sin and being obedient is vital…

What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it? Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life. For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his. We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin. For one who has died has been set free from sin. Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. We know that Christ, being raised from the dead, will never die again; death no longer has dominion over him. For the death he died he died to sin, once for all, but the life he lives he lives to God. So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus. Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, to make you obey its passions. Do not present your members to sin as instruments for unrighteousness, but present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life, and your members to God as instruments for righteousness. For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace. (Romans 6:1–14)

Before Adam sinned, he reflected the image of God who created him. Alive in his inner spirit, he listened to God and expressed that life in his thinking, emotions, and will. After he sinned, that inner spirit became dead or separated from God and he was left with a soul and body that could not obey the Lord. This condition became the problem of all who came after him. 

No one could obey God with a dead spirit unless God revived that inner faculty. Such a person is only able to do things according to his own ideas, emotions, and choices, which the Bible calls our sin nature. Sadly, that sin-nature was passed down to all humans. All were born with our spirits dead to God and no longer able to function in union with Him. Since we were created to reflect God, humanity began to worship home-made gods, even our own selves and fed by outside forces; the world and the devil. This old nature was once powerful in Adam before he sinned but became unable to please God or bring life back to the deadness within. 

Given the appropriate circumstances and an appealing set of lies, Satan can influence people who seem like they have faith, but their faith is in themselves. One cult believes Jesus died to give them the right to earn their salvation, but He is not God in human flesh, only a created being that they do not worship. Not one Bible verse supports that so they rewrite a few!

On the other hand, God tells Christians that because of faith in Christ, our spirit is made alive and we can hear and obey Him. He tells us to renew our minds, base our emotions on His, and yield our will. This is why Jesus said, “Not my will but thine be done” even though His will was perfect and without sin. 

Religious people might try but no matter how good we might look, Isaiah 53:6 calls it “turning our own way” and “iniquity” if we try to please Him without that reborn spirit. However, Jesus will say, “Depart from me; I never knew you.” (Matthew 7:21-23)

Romans 8 adds that, “For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit. For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace. For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God’s law; indeed, it cannot. Those who are in the flesh cannot please God.” (Romans 8:5–8) A dead spirit cannot serve God. 

It is a challenge to listen to God in my spirit, to be filled with the spirit and refuse to let my old nature rule. It often wants comfort, an easy life, no worries or challenges, and having my way, but God's will is not like that.  

Jesus, when You toss difficulties my way, I’m learning to listen and obey rather than ask You to remove them. Very often You surprise me with great grace to face those issues in ways that I would not imagine. Your mind, Your feeling, Your will is so much better than what my selfishness can come up with. Thank You for saving me from myself!

 

Responding to Christ’s invitation

 

Years ago, I was part of a team in an evangelism training program. We went to the homes of people who visited the church and asked permission to share the gospel with them. One visit stands out. We were talking to a shy young woman. She said yes to every question. When we got to the crux of the issue — would she like to accept Christ — she said yes again. At that point, the two other people on my team talked her out of it.

I was shocked until they explained; had she really been convicted and heard the call of Christ, talking her out of it would have been impossible. They realized that she was compliant and saying yes only because she thought it was the right way to respond to ‘grown ups’, not because Jesus was speaking to her heart.

How many people have done something like that? How many children grew up in the church and assumed they were in God’s family but had never heard His call on their life? Jesus said:

“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’ (Matthew 7:21–23)

Too often the gospel comes across as ‘pray the prayer and you are in’ but this is putting the cart before the horse. First the invitation: “You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide . . . .” (John 15:16)

The invitation is a package. It includes being called and chosen and those who are in that group are reborn and become God’s children. Their lives are changed and they are with Him and faithful to Him:

“For many are called, but few are chosen.” (Matthew 22:14)

“. . . He is Lord of lords and King of kings, and those with him are called and chosen and faithful.” (Revelation 17:14)

“But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God . . . .” (John 1:12, also John 3:1-21)

I remember a belligerent man saying he could become a Christian any time he wanted to. I said, “No, you cannot. Jesus must call you first.”

This is not a popular thought. Our human desire is to be in charge, controlling what happens to us and having a say in what we believe. However, the Bible is clear that “no one seeks God” and that “everyone goes their own way” and it is for this independent, ‘I will do it myself’ attitude that Jesus died, rose again, and offers us rebirth and a new life in His kingdom, a realm where He rules and we do not.

Salvation is God’s work. We need to respond when He calls, but He calls when He knows we will respond; His Spirit has done the work of conviction in our hearts and we are ready and willing to have a relationship with Him. This calling is powerful. Many testify, “I went forward even though I didn’t want to and even held on to the chair in front of me” or “I don’t know why or how, but I knew God called me and I was powerless to say no to Him.”

For others, the invite isn’t as obvious and most think their response made them part of God’s kingdom. However, without the call, they would not have been chosen to be in it, they would not be given that new life from God, a heart that hates sin and repents, and they would not find themselves loving and obeying the Lord Jesus Christ. As Jesus said, some will think they are there, go the through the actions that Christians are supposed to do, like going to church or being baptized, yet they do not have that personal relationship with the Lord that happens when His Spirit changes lives. As someone once said, standing in the garage does not mean you are a car.

Answering the call of God requires faith. Up front, it can seem like giving up everything, or doing things that are not much fun, or undergoing far too much change. Faith is believing God rewards those who seek Him, not that God makes life miserable. This is the One who created all things by speaking, who makes flowers and sunsets, who heals the sick and feeds the multitudes, the One who died so we might live. If I could do those things, I’d have reasons to trust myself. Ha.

Lord Jesus, sometimes my faith is nurtured as I look at a new baby, or an orchid, or the latest photo from outer space, or even just as I breathe and walk from place to place. You and what You do in my life is a marvel. Yesterday you used a mistake I made weeks ago — cutting and sewing pieces that were useless — to supply something much needed for another project . . . and I laughed in delight at Your grace. On Sunday, I decided to do something that seemed a bit selfish at the time, but You used that choice as an unexpected opportunity to be a big help to another person. How wonderful! Being in Your kingdom is truly an abundant life. Thank You for inviting, choosing and enabling me to say YES and to trust You and know that You are good.

DO THIS: Make a list of what God invites me to do and the results of being faithful. Compare that to what the Father asked of His Son and the results of His obedience.

 

 

No god like God . . .

This morning’s first light did not diminish the brilliance of Venus in the southern sky. Intending to do it for weeks, I grabbed binoculars and took a long look, amazed at how close it appears even to the naked eye, and how lovely against the deep blue before dawn. I can understand why the pagans venerate the stars, but this morning I again worship the God who created them.

For who in the skies can be compared to the Lord? Who among the heavenly beings is like the Lord . . . ? (Psalm 89:6)

Today’s readings glorify the One who is like no other. The first is a prayer of Solomon as he dedicated the temple . . .

Then Solomon stood before the altar of the Lord in the presence of all the assembly of Israel and spread out his hands toward heaven, and said, “O Lord, God of Israel, there is no God like you, in heaven above or on earth beneath, keeping covenant and showing steadfast love to your servants who walk before you with all their heart; you have kept with your servant David my father what you declared to him. You spoke with your mouth, and with your hand have fulfilled it this day. (1 Kings 8:22–24)

There is no God like you. I can invent gods, worship stuff or money, put people on a pedestal, even adore myself, but there is no God like our God. Isaiah asks many questions in a passage from chapter 40. Here are some of them . . .

Who has measured the waters in the hollow of his hand and marked off the heavens with a span, enclosed the dust of the earth in a measure and weighed the mountains in scales and the hills in a balance?  . . . Who has measured the Spirit of the Lord, or what man shows him his counsel?  . . . Whom did he consult, and who made him understand? Who taught him the path of justice, and taught him knowledge, and showed him the way of understanding?  . . . . All the nations are as nothing before him, they are accounted by him as less than nothing and emptiness . . . To whom then will you liken God, or what likeness compare with him?  . . . To whom then will you compare me, that I should be like him? says the Holy One . . .  

The passage ends with these favorite verses and puts all my foolish ‘idols’ in their place and on their face beside me and before Him . . .

Have you not known? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He does not faint or grow weary; his understanding is unsearchable. He gives power to the faint, and to him who has no might he increases strength. Even youths shall faint and be weary, and young men shall fall exhausted; but they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint. (Isaiah 40:28-31)

As I think about all the things that so easily become substitutes for God, not one of them can compare. They get tired of me, or let me down, or fail to give me whatever I’m hoping to get. But when I wait on the Lord, He never fails me. Whatever I need, He supplies. Even as a grandmother and great grandmother, He helps me make through my busy days. Not one of those substitutes are able to lift my weariness nor promise me that I can walk and not faint.

Jesus addressed the implications and importance worshiping this One God who is like no other . . .

And one of the scribes came up and heard them disputing with one another, and seeing that he answered them well, asked him, “Which commandment is the most important of all?” Jesus answered, “The most important is, ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ The second is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.”

The scribe agreed with Him and when Jesus saw that he answered wisely, he said to him, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.” (Mark 12:28–34)

Like the scribe was told, knowing the right answer is had him going the right direction, but it was not quite enough. Knowing there is only One God is wonderful; knowing I am to love Him with all my heart and soul is also a step in the right direction, but as Jesus also said, even calling Him ‘Lord, Lord’ is not enough. The goal is a mature faith that is displayed by abandoning anything else that I trust (idols) and relying on Him alone . . .  for everything . . .  all the time.