Overwhelming Truth

The preacher asks, “Why am I here?” He then answers that the desire and purpose of God is that we should reflect the image in whom we were created, yet more than that, reflect the image of the One in whom we were re-created.

For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them. . . . and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness. (Ephesians 2:10 & 4:24)

This morning I read again in Charnock a description of what that means. It takes my breath away and calls me to worship. His writing is restated here, with some changes since he wrote in 1853 and even though his thoughts are eternal, they need a bit of editing. Charnock says…

The effects of redemption proclaim God's great goodness. We are delivered from the corruption of our nature, the ruin of our happiness, the deformity of our sins, and the punishment of our transgressions. He frees us from the ignorance that darkened our minds and the slavery to sin that enchained us. 

When He came to make Adam after his crime, instead of pronouncing the sentence of death he merited, God utters a promise no man could have expected. God's kindness rises above His provoked justice, and while He put Adam and Eve out of paradise, He gives hope of regaining even a better eternal home. God is more ready to pour out the blessings of His goodness than charge them with the horror of their crime.

I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel. (Genesis 3:15)

God's goodness pardons us from more transgressions than there are moments in our lives. His goodness overlooks as many follies as there are thoughts in our hearts. He not only relieves our wants, but restores our dignity. What a great testimony of His goodness to instate sinners with the highest honors rather than merely supply our present necessity. In an admirable pity He is inclined to redeem us, and in incomparable affection He resolved to exalt us. 

What can be desired more from Him than His goodness has granted? He sought us when we were lost and ransomed us when we were captives. He pardoned us when we were condemned and raised us when we were dead. In creation He reared us from nothing yet in redemption He delivers our understanding from ignorance and vanity, our wills from impotence and obstinacy, and our whole person from a death worse than that nothing He drew us from by creation.

God's liberality in the gospel infinitely surpasses what we admire in the works of nature. His goodness in redemption is more astonishing to our belief than His goodness in creation is visible to our eye. There is more of his bounty expressed in this verse, “So God loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son” (John 3:16), than there is in the whole volume of the created world! In creation, heaven spoke and the earth was formed. In redemption heaven Himself sank to earth and was clothed with dust to reduce man’s muck to its original state.

For this, God parts with his dearest treasure. His Son eclipses His choicest glory. For this, God must be made man, eternity must suffer death, the Lord of angels must weep in a cradle, and the Creator of the world must hang like a slave. He must be in a manger in Bethlehem, and die upon a cross on Calvary. Unspotted righteousness must be made sin, and unblemished blessedness be made a curse. 

For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age, waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works. (Titus 2:11–14)

PRAY: What else can I say but “O Lord, open my lips, and my mouth will declare your praise.” (Psalm 51:15) The reality of redemption described by this writer, Steven Charnock, has a greater impact on my heart than the magnificence of the Rockies, the color and beauty of flora and fauna, and even the wonder of babes and children and people created in Your image. May I praise You night and day, in sickness and well-being, and with all of my heart. 

Secured and kept by grace

 

When a person is drafted or enlisted into the army, at that moment he (or she) is a soldier. Then comes boot camp and many other experiences that teach that person how to be what they already are, living and acting as a soldier should act.

In Scripture, the gospel includes a similar idea. When Jesus took me into His forever family, I became a Christian, but I certainly didn’t know how to act like one apart from His enlightenment and training that came with this new identity. It is described here:

For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age, waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works. (Titus 2:11–14)

The Bible calls this sanctification or consecration. When Christ saved me, I was set apart by Him and for Him, a new creation but one that had a lot of learning to do so I would live like that new person should live. Every Christian knows the fight to keep that old nature from ruining our efforts.

Today’s reading says this truth: “The thought of God in the deliverance of Israel was not that they should wander in the wilderness but that they should be brought into the Promised Land, which typifies the life of full consecration.”

However their refusal to enter, and their excuses about the giants in the land, and all their mistakes and disobedience did not mean these people were not His. They had a lot to learn after resisting His leading and teaching and they often went AWOL from bootcamp to do their own thing, but He eventually took them to the place He promised.

At the end of the reading, the writer of the devotion makes a statement that is not biblical: “Entire consecration, therefore, is binding on every Christian, and sooner or later each one must come to know it, for there is no entering heaven without it.”

This statement may be intended to provoke persistence in learning, but it fails to show that consecration is both a reality and a process. If misunderstood, it flies in the face of salvation by grace. The OT saints were not entirely set apart in their behavior even after getting in the promised land. The thief on the cross was told he would be in paradise with Jesus and he missed bootcamp entirely! When Jesus says, “You are mine,” then we move into training to act like it, and our lives change. Some change at different rates, or in varying ways, but Jesus saves — our efforts to behave come from the Holy Spirit who is with us and in us. We are not saved by faith and then kept saved by works as this writer seems to suggest.

The Galatian church had a problem with trying to perfect their Christian lives after they were saved, not realizing that this perfection is in Christ, not our fleshy efforts. Paul wrote this:

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. I do not nullify the grace of God, for if righteousness were through the law, then Christ died for no purpose. (Galatians 2:20–21)

Then he added a question that applies to this idea of being perfected before we can get into heaven. Instead, he affirms that growing in grace is part of our new life, not done in self-effort nor  does God turn away believers who fall short of full consecration.

Let me ask you only this: Did you receive the Spirit by works of the law or by hearing with faith? Are you so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh? Did you suffer so many things in vain—if indeed it was in vain? Does he who supplies the Spirit to you and works miracles among you do so by works of the law, or by hearing with faith— just as Abraham “believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness”? (Galatians 3:2–6)

John agrees: “Beloved, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is. And everyone who thus hopes in him purifies himself as he is pure.” (1 John 3:2–3) 

PRAY: Jesus, consecration happens because You saved me and set me apart. Faith in You is my entrance to heaven, not how pure I am before You will let me in. In You, I am no longer condemned. Romans 8:1. While some may be better soldiers in this life and others not so good at it, You will never kick anyone out of Your army for a lack in their level of commitment for it is grace that got us into this amazing relationship with You in the first place, and grace that keeps us here If my commitment could do it, I would not need You.

Self-Denial

 

The word for today is YIELD. A simple search in the English Bible gives only nine references using almost as many different Greek words. Most of them mean to produce something, or give off something which is what the word used here means:

And Jesus cried out again with a loud voice and yielded up his spirit. (Matthew 27:50)

The only one that speaks of consecration to God in the sense of giving all of me into His care is expressed in a negative sense in relation to false teachers:

… to them we did not yield in submission even for a moment, so that the truth of the gospel might be preserved for you. (Galatians 2:5)

A better term is SELF-DENIAL It means to deny myself by repudiating any gratification of self-centered desires and values that are outside of God's will and will not glorify Him. One writer describes it as getting out of the driver’s seat so that God is in that place, denying self any right to master my life. 

Jesus said it this way: “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.” (Matthew 16:24) This “cross” is not about hardships as many use the term, but about dying to our old way of life.

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. (Romans 6:6)

And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. (Galatians 5:24)

These verses make it clear that this is about considering “self’ being separated from God in a state called spiritual death, the state of anyone who is not “alive” through faith in Christ. However…

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)

Because this is true, I can live accordingly. Being able to deny sin and selfishness affirms that I believe the above verse. It is a faith issue. If I think I have rights and my way is okay, then I am not believing God, at least not for everyday life. Yet God’s Word affirms that those who believe in Christ for eternal life only will learn otherwise:

For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age, waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works. (Titus 2:11–14)

As God teaches me to deny self, He also teaches me to identify self. I want good things, but good may not be best. It is His will to which I must yield, not my own, no matter how good my desires might seem. Jesus did say, “Not my will but thine be done.” For that reason, the goal is to… “put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires” (Romans 13:14) and to “present my body as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is my spiritual worship, and to not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of my mind, that by testing I may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.” (Romans 12:1–2, personalized)

PRAY: Lord, in the busyness and duties of this day, remind me often that Your will means abundant life and the very best for me. Help me think that way when the challenges come. They always do, and You are always here to guide me into self-denial and being wholly yielded to Your will. Amen.

What holiness looks like…

 
Since ‘holy’ is about purity and about being set apart and unlike or ‘other than’ this means the people of God are not like what we were once like. Our life “hid with Christ in God” is a hidden life as to its source, at least to those who do not focus on Jesus, but that life with Jesus must not be hidden as to its outward results. People ought to see that I walk as Christ walked. Even in challenges, my life will be different. It should prove that I possess what I profess. This means turning my back on everything that is contrary to the perfect will of God and being what some translations call “peculiar people” in the eyes of the people around me.

For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age, waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works. (Titus 2:11–14)

Wherever I go, this “other than” ought to be seen in my habits, state of mind, values, interests, conversations, and activities. For instance, because I am a follower of the Lord Jesus Christ, I must  no longer look on my money as mine, but as belonging to the Lord to be used in His service. I must not use my energies in the pursuit of worldly means, but “seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness” knowing that God will take care of my needs. (Matthew 6:33)

God does not ask me to seek prominence or worldly advantages. I’m not to make myself the center of my thoughts and goals. My days are not to be spent serving me or my I-wants but in serving the Lord. He calls me to bear one another’s burdens and so fulfill the law of Christ. All my daily duties are to have His attitude, “not as people-pleasers, but as bondservants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart, rendering service with a good will as to the Lord” (Ephesians 6:5–8) The will of God is not only different but perfect, yet it does require something from me:

I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect. (Romans 12:1–2)

First, I must yield to Him, not with eye-service as to impress others by looking good, but from the heart. This is “spiritual worship” and therefore from the spirit, the deepest part that is made alive in redemption and is my connection with the Spirit of God. My worship cannot be outward actions, or merely intellectual or emotional in nature. I can choose to worship but true worship is from the heart and all of my being, yielded totally to the Lord.

Also, I’m to say no to the world and its values, motivations, and the ways of expressing them:

Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life—is not from the Father but is from the world. And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever. (1 John 2:15–17)

All this means being different, ‘other than’ and often mocked by those who cannot fathom why anyone would live this way. It makes no sense to them. In our culture, our Christian ways are ignored, sometimes ridiculed or even opposed. In many parts of the world, this way is persecuted and many Christians die at the hands of those who see this ‘other than’ way of life as a threat to their own.

PRAY: Jesus, thank You for new life with its great challenge to be holy because You are holy. Keep my focus on You during these days of confusion and so many needs in others who ask for prayer and in those who deny that You even exist. Grant me the strength to persevere, not only in prayer but in being what You want me to be — holy and set apart for You.

Hate what God hates . . .

 

The church was in a turmoil. Members complained about everything. When one couple came to the chairman of the board demanding change, he listened then said, “You need to decide if you will be part of the solution or remain part of the problem.”

Their decision? They left. However that incident came to mind today in reading MacArthur’s devotional on the things God hates. Almost all of them are listed in the OT as part of the human problem, but students of the Word know that the solution to that problem is given in the NT, in Jesus Christ who gives redemption and new life. He wants us to focus on the solutions, but at the same time be aware of the problems, such as:

There are six things that the Lord hates, seven that are an abomination to him: haughty eyes, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that devises wicked plans, feet that make haste to run to evil, a false witness who breathes out lies, and one who sows discord among brothers. (Proverbs 6:16–19)

These are broad categories. The first is “haughty eyes” picturing a proud, arrogant person whose pride is reflected in mannerisms. I know that it is not always that obvious, but as the devotional says, it is at the heart of all rebellion against God. It began with Lucifer who cried out against God, “I will ascend to heaven; I will raise my throne above the stars of God, and I will sit on the mount of assembly in the recesses of the north. I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High” (Isaiah 14:13–14).

This attitude of humans being our own god is reflected in this verse: “All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned—every one—to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.” (Isaiah 53:6) Our own way might look good to us, or seem okay on the surface, but God hates the pride that motivates me to do my own thing — as if I have more wisdom than the God who created me.

God also hates “a lying tongue.” Whether I deny truth, or distort it, or mess with it in any way, I am being contrary to Jesus who is “the way, the truth, and the life.” Deception denies Jesus. It also denies sin, the power of God, and the love of God. No wonder God hates lies.

He also hates murderous hands motivated by hatred, greed, desire for power, and pure selfishness so strong that those with this sin will kill rather than go without what they want. Not only is this a total lack of love, it also does not respect the sanctity of life of those whom God created in His image. This is putting self above all others.

Another thing God hates is the heart that plans evil and is quick to do it. Goodness is not their first thought, and may be missing entirely. These are people so focused on their sinful ideas that they are not able to consider doing anything that resembles sacrificial care for others.

It is the same concerning “a false witness” which is one evidence of a lying tongue and those who “sow discord” among those who normally would be united, such as brothers. Lies can harm innocent people, obstruct justice, destroy reputations, and even lives. Spreading strife is just as harmful, ruining relationships and the joy of people who are no longer united in their work, ideas, and goals.

These sinful motivations and activities make headlines in the news and the world around us a scary place. While they are blamed on things like ‘mental illness’ or poverty, or poor upbringing, or all sorts of other reasons, the Word of God diagnoses them as sin. However, it also offers the cure: faith in Jesus Christ and a new life.

For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age, waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works. (Titus 2:11–14)

While those hated sins are associated with lack of faith and resistance to God, Christians need to be on guard. I know that my old nature can listen to lies and fall into pride and selfishness. I must keep short accounts with God and rely on Jesus to fill me with His Spirit and keep me walking with Him.

PRAY: Hating my sin is one thing; loving You, Jesus, is the cure, the solution to the problem of sin. I know what I would be without You, and am so glad for Your grace and saving power. I’m also glad that You teach me to renounce ungodliness, even to hate it and instead be eager to love You and love others with all my heart. And it is my sin to hate, not pointing at the sins of others.

PONDER: Philippians 2:1–5 and focus on all that Jesus does that I might care about others rather than be proud and self-sufficient.