Who can figure out this mystery?

When confronted by “why God saves some and not others” often the answer given is that God saves those He knows will say yes to Him. In other words, people are saved by their receptivity. This cannot be true because: 

It is written: “None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks for God. All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one. Their throat is an open grave; they use their tongues to deceive. The venom of asps is under their lips. Their mouth is full of curses and bitterness. Their feet are swift to shed blood; in their paths are ruin and misery, and the way of peace they have not known. There is no fear of God before their eyes.” (Romans 3:10–18)

The Bible is clear: “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.” (Ephesians 2:8–9) Those who say “I am saved because I accepted Christ” also forget that Jesus said, “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 human desire to rule our own lives pops up even here. So we can boast? Rather than trust this God who is sovereign and does what pleases Him, even many times that have no logical reasons?

Charnock outlines how often the sovereignty of God means He does what He pleases and we have no clue why. Here are some examples from His Word and from history:

He sometimes conquers thousands, sometimes with a few laborers. Other times the harvest is small with many laborers. Evangelists may reach hundreds, or labor long and catch nothing. In Corinth, the gospel triumphed over many people, yet in Athens it is mocked, and gathers but a few. 

Miracles were not allowed or God uses them in unexpected ways. Sinners rise out of their graves of sin and beds of sluggishness at the first hearing of this good news while others lie snoring longer. We share, but are frustrated by the outcomes we expect and sometimes shocked by outcomes we thought impossible. 

Sometimes hearers leap at the appearance of Christ, but others lie upon a lazy bed when He knocks from heaven. Sometimes the fleece is dry, and sometimes wet. God can shine light into dark hearts, yet hearts remain dark with light shining all around them. 

Sometimes the strongest arguments and clearest promises cannot prevail over black and despairing resistance, then an unexpected word that seems to have no virtue in it itself opens that heart to Christ. Sometimes a spontaneous word not thought of before gives light where all other efforts were empty. 

A thought comes into my mind like a sunbeam, making a Scripture truth visible in a moment, yet before I never noticed or gave consideration. This, called rhema, is from God’s pleasure. For me, the mystery is why He has persisted for more than fifty years when I am so stubborn to obey?

As for gifts, why are they given? Why am I strong in some and not in others? Because, “All these are empowered by one and the same Spirit, who apportions to each one individually as he wills.” (1 Corinthians 12:11) 

It is the same for His wisdom concerning the gospel. Why was it given to the poor Galileans and not the Pharisees? He granted some “to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven” and not others (Matthew 13:11). Again, this is a mystery, one not revealed except that God does as He wishes and His acts of sovereignty please Him.

PRAY: Lord God, You have shown me enough of Yourself that I can trust You with what You keep hidden. My sinful, human and fleshy nature is disappointed because I want to know, solve the puzzle, discover the bottom line, be in on this secret. Yet my proud heart is humbled and even glad that You are God and I am not. Worship happens and that is one more mystery — that a proud and self-serving sinner is enabled to bow in surrender to a God that I cannot always understand what You are doing or why. I will be still and know that You are God, and that You will be exalted among the nations, and exalted in the earth. You, the Lord of hosts, are with me and You are my fortress. (Psalm 46:10–11) Amen!

Pride and worth…

 

Not too long ago, a professing Christian said to me, “I feel so unworthy…” and I replied, “That is exactly how God wants us to think.”

No one is worthy of salvation. There is no distinction for “all have for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.” (Romans 3:23-24) The gospel is not for ‘worthy’ people for there are none. As it is written:

“None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks for God. All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one.” “Their throat is an open grave; they use their tongues to deceive.” “The venom of asps is under their lips.” “Their mouth is full of curses and bitterness.” “Their feet are swift to shed blood; in their paths are ruin and misery, and the way of peace they have not known.” “There is no fear of God before their eyes.” (Romans 3:10–18)

Those who say they are not worthy often say this as a complaint, as a “I wish I were a better person” and are trying to make the gospel about them and their worth. It is a pride thing to want to earn my salvation, to be able to say I am worthy of such an incredible gift.

Pride shows up in so many ways. It focuses on the failures of others, is fault-finding, independent, wants to prove I am right, wants self-advancement, is confident, or self-conscious, quick to blame others, quick to cover up sin or excuse it, and so on. I have a list and try not to read it too often for it is very convicting. Nevertheless, the Lord knows how to humble a proud heart and the only way to avoid the pain of that is to say yes to it.

The above passage provides an outline for those who are washed by the gospel:

“You are given the righteousness of Christ and the Holy Spirit has blessed you with an understanding so that you now seek God. Rather than turning from Him, you now turn to Him and have great worth in His sight. You are now able to do good because He lives in you. Your words can tell others of His grace and bring good news to others who are still lost in sin. The goodness of God can now flow out of you as you praise Him in joy. You are quick to bring life to those who are spiritually dead because you now know the way of life and peace with God. Your distain for Him has become reverent love and respect…”

The flesh wants all the credit, even to say “I accepted Christ” even though Jesus said, “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, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name, he may give it to you.” (John 15:16)

Humility admits no worth yet declares the incredible worth of the One who saves, the One who did all the work and declared, “It is finished” at the moment of His death.

I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. (Galatians 2:20)

PRAY: Pride is easy to declare. Humility not so much. As soon as I think I have it, i’m reverting back to boasting. Jesus, You know my ups and downs, the things that mess with my mind and the struggle to wait on You without boasting about it. I know I’m set free and that freedom means living without thinking much about myself, but about You and about others. Keep me in the right place and frame of mind that most glorifies You. You are worthy — totally and completely!

Free to Choose

My understanding is that when sin entered our world, humanity lost all power and desire to love God or even seek Him (see Romans 3:10ff). Salvation changes that. With faith and new life in Christ we can choose whom we will serve. The constant barrage of choices can be confusing, deceptive and dangerous. Without the guidance of the Word of God and the Holy Spirit, we struggle to make godly choices.

The Bible is filled with examples. For instance, this passage warns me not to be friends with the world’s system of thinking or I will become an enemy of God. It also says that I need to resist the devil, implying that I need to know how he is trying to influence me. I’m to be sorrowful over sin rather than smug that I did it, and humble in my attitude rather than proud.

“You adulterous people! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. Or do you suppose it is to no purpose that the Scripture says, ‘He yearns jealously over the spirit that he has made to dwell in us’? But he gives more grace. Therefore it says, “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.” Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Be wretched and mourn and weep. Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you.” (James 4:4–10)

Not all choices are obvious. Not all ungodly choices are blatantly sinful. Sometimes the enemy lures me into busyness that is good but it keeps me from following God’s plan which is better.

Years ago, John MacArthur preached a sermon on knowing the will of God. He went through the verses that plainly state it, then pointed to Psalm 37:4 which says: “Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart.” His point was when God is our delight, He puts the “I wants” in our heart, or in other words, we can do whatever we please because He is giving us those good choices.

In my pride, I’d like to think that I can make good choices on my own, but I know that is not how it works. The old nature is dead in sin, but still vulnerable to Satan’s lies, the world’s lure the flesh’s lusts — and these ‘choices’ often are presented to my pride. Again, the key to making good choices is humility. God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble. Submit myself therefore to God . . .

^^^^^^^^^^^

Lord, every day is filled with choices, opportunities to admit that I cannot do the right thing without You at my side. I need You. Even though You have granted me a renewed ability to choose (like Eve had before she ate that forbidden fruit), I must rely on Your grace to make the godly decisions.

Rituals or Redemption . . .

The religious people of Jesus’ day had rituals that they assumed would please God. One of them was a ceremonial hand washing that they thought represented their innocence and purity. When Jesus’ disciples ate without performing this ritual, these Pharisees and scribes were not pleased. However, Jesus said to them . . .

“But what comes out of the mouth proceeds from the heart, and this defiles a person. For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false witness, slander. These are what defile a person. But to eat with unwashed hands does not defile anyone.” (Matthew 15:18–20)

As Chambers says, most people will deny feeling these awful things in their hearts. They claim ignorance and innocence, yet actually they simply do not believe what Jesus says. He adds, “either Jesus Christ is the supreme Authority on the human heart, or He is not worth paying any attention to.”

Obviously, Jesus cannot be telling the truth if He is lying. The Bible cannot be true if words like this are not true . . . 

“None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks for God. All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one. Their throat is an open grave; they use their tongues to deceive. The venom of asps is under their lips. Their mouth is full of curses and bitterness. Their feet are swift to shed blood; in their paths are ruin and misery, and the way of peace they have not known. There is no fear of God before their eyes.” (Romans 3:10–18)

I can read this and believe it is true about others, like the people who go into a mall and shoot children, or the people who make their living selling heroin, or the people who beat their wives — but what about me?

In trying to find out something about the ritual of hand washing, I happened on a book whose author said we are not sinners because of what we do because of our circumstances, or past mistreatments; we are sinners because of what we are: selfish, prideful, and only interested in having what we want when we want it.

It is easy to blame all sorts of things for having evil thoughts, but I realize that such things cannot be eradicated by rituals, by saying verses to counter them, by doing all the right things as if not following through on those thoughts gives me the right to declare my innocence. As Chambers says, it is a fool’s paradise to think that such ‘innocence’ is a safe refuge.

I’ve made excuses for sinful thinking. Chambers goes farther; he names the motives for those excuses and says anyone who does not carry out their evil thoughts is more likely a coward. We live in a civilized world and are afraid of what people will think. Any abstinence is more about loss in stature rather than obedience to God.

Chambers says, and I agree, that “When I am undressed before God, I find that Jesus Christ is right in His diagnosis.” He is also right in saying that the only safeguard is the Redemption of Jesus Christ. By giving myself to Him, “I need never experience the terrible possibilities that are in my heart.”

Of course godliness and purity is too deep down for me to get to naturally or by any of my own strategies. I need the Holy Spirit. He brings into the center of my life the very life of Jesus Christ. As 1 Corinthians 1:30 says, He becomes to me “wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption.”

He can do that only because He died to take my sin and lives to replace it with Himself.