Everyone needs Jesus

For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die— but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God. For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life. More than that, we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation. (Romans 5:6–11)

A friend said, “I don’t know why faith is a big deal. I believe in God and that Jesus died for the sins of the world. So no big deal.”

I replied, “But what about your sins?”

Silence, then he said, “Oh, I see what you mean.”

Redemption, justification, salvation, and being reconciled to God is a personal relationship, not a philosophy, and none of it happens without the recognition and admission of personal sin. Yes, Jesus died for the ungodly, and that means you and me, because all have fallen short. 

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. (John 3:16)

Yes, He died for the whole world, but the benefit of that death is for those who believe in Him and receive Him into their life. All who do this realize that their faith is a gift and not their own doing — or at least we should for He 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)

And the entire Bible repeats it. Salvation is not something anyone can do by ourself,  nor is faith: “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) 

And this is why I call Him “Lord Jesus” — because He is the Author and Finisher of my faith and uses all things to transform me into His image. I can only agree with Him, agree all that He says and asks me to think and to do, because He gives me the faith and the power to respond. Without Him, I can do nothing. (See John 15)

Lord Jesus, You gave me this new day to love and serve You, to pray, to care about others and do whatever You put before me. I am Your child and You are my very life.

 

Grace blesses obedience…

Jehoshaphat his son reigned in his (Asa) place and strengthened himself against Israel. He placed forces in all the fortified cities of Judah and set garrisons in the land of Judah, and in the cities of Ephraim that Asa his father had captured. The Lord was with Jehoshaphat, because he walked in the earlier ways of his father David. He did not seek the Baals, but sought the God of his father and walked in his commandments, and not according to the practices of Israel. Therefore the Lord established the kingdom in his hand. And all Judah brought tribute to Jehoshaphat, and he had great riches and honor. His heart was courageous in the ways of the Lord. And furthermore, he took the high places and the Asherim out of Judah. (2 Chronicles 17:1–6)

The mystery and marvel of grace is that it is God's free gift and nothing I do can earn it, yet after receiving it in the wonder of salvation and eternal life, grace grants the power to earn His blessing. The example above is clear; Jehoshaphat did what God wanted and God then blessed him.

Obedience is not to earn a blessing but it is an expression of gratitude for already having a blessing. This king responded to the Lord’s goodness by walking in His ways, and the Lord responded to his obedience by granting him all that he needed and more.

This grace is so amazing. The more unworthy and helpless I feel, along with the deeper conviction of needing Him, the more blessings He pours out. Answered prayer is one of them. We have been praying for years about a rift between two family members. This week, God healed that rift and restored the relationship big time. It is so incredible that I can hardly grasp the reality. God did that? Awesome beyond awesome.

A young friend asked me for prayer regarding a promotion. He wanted more wages so he could help his dad with family expenses. The promotion seemed unlikely but with a big hug he told me yesterday that God granted it. Another awesome grace. And there have been more.

As for Jehoshaphat, he named a place where he gathered his soldiers to bless God after various peoples of the Transjordan invaded his land, but then slaughtered each other. He called that place Beracah, which means “valley of blessing.” (2 Chronicles 20:1–30) 

This response is mine too. Every day brings new needs and new surprises. Grace does not operate on expected predictability but on God’s ways being higher than mine. For this, my heart rejoices.

Lord Jesus, seeing You doing “exceedingly above all that I can ask or imagine” fills me with joy. Truly this week has been incredible. Thank You for Your abundant grace and a host of surprises.

Why me?

One question that has no answer is this: Why does God save some and not others? There are debates. The Armenians insist it is up to us, that we must make the choice to believe, but there is much in Scripture that says we do not make that choice without the work of the Holy Spirit in us. For instance, Jesus said:

No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him. And I will raise him up on the last day. (John 6:44)

Since all have sinned and fall short, why does God save some and punish others? This is such a conundrum that some decide there is no hell because God can save everyone and God loves the world — so all will be saved. But that is not biblical either.

This is where faith comes in. Faith is trusting God even when we cannot figure out or see what He is doing. He reveals Himself as sovereign and good. Believing that can be a challenge if I use my eyes to built my faith. That is mostly a no-no.

When it comes to punishment, I know what God would do if I got what I deserved, but He also put that punishment on His Son so I am no longer condemned. Yet God has every right to condemn. He has dominion over all and when anyone refuses to obey the law that He has the right to make, those laws would be meaningless without justice. He has provided a substitute to take it for me, but if I refuse that offer, who then would experience the judgment I deserve? No one but me.

 The human heart expects consequences. Sometimes I can be deluded and think my foolish choices will turn out good, but that is folly. Some might delight in ‘getting away with it’ but eventually face the results of making light of the laws of God. The final consequence is standing before His throne and facing His judgment on our lives. Because I know Jesus and know that He died for my sin, I’m not anxious about what He will determine, but there are millions who do not fit that category. And it seems because God did not draw them or choose them. 

This makes no sense to me. Why me? I’ve done nothing to earn or deserve God's mercy. Yet God says this: 

As it is written, “Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated.” What shall we say then? Is there injustice on God’s part? By no means! For he says to Moses, “I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.” So then it depends not on human will or exertion, but on God, who has mercy. For the Scripture says to Pharaoh, “For this very purpose I have raised you up, that I might show my power in you, and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth.” So then he has mercy on whomever he wills, and he hardens whomever he wills. You will say to me then, “Why does he still find fault? For who can resist his will?” But who are you, O man, to answer back to God? Will what is molded say to its molder, “Why have you made me like this?” Has the potter no right over the clay, to make out of the same lump one vessel for honorable use and another for dishonorable use? What if God, desiring to show his wrath and to make known his power, has endured with much patience vessels of wrath prepared for destruction, in order to make known the riches of his glory for vessels of mercy, which he has prepared beforehand for glory — (Romans 9:12–23)

God is God. He has every right to do as He pleases, and I have no right to find fault, resist His will, or even try to figure out what He is doing unless He reveals it to me. And He has not given reasons for loving Jacob and not Esau, or loving me and not that other person. 

The horrified try to figure out why Abram took Issac up the mountain, but the Bible says he did it because he trusted God to restore his life. Yet even with his deep faith, Abe didn’t guess what would happen. God stopped the sacrifice by offering a substitute. Faith is about trusting God, not knowing for certain why or what or having reasons that make sense.

My conclusion? God picks some but not others according to reasons He has not revealed and I’m to trust Him anyway, even if I don’t understand the why of it.

PRAY: And that is my faith today. Lord, if You surprise me with goodness for no reason I can see, I trust You. If You send hard things for no reason I can see, that might shake me up but it should not. You are God and You do not change. You are always wise and good, Enable me to trust You all the time and no matter what. Amen.

Saved by what?

 

The author of this year’s devotional seems to write for those who are in constant doubt of their salvation. I finally did a bit of research and discovered that this person was involved in the “Holiness Movement” in the USA. Churches aligned with the holiness movement teach that the life of a born again Christian should be free of sin. Their emphasis is on “a second work of grace” which is called “entire sanctification” or “Christian perfection.” The Bible says this about claiming no sin:

This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin. If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us. (1 John 1:5–10)

Striving to be sinless so as to be “entirely sanctified” and be a perfect Christian causes all sorts of problems. The Bible is clear that we will not have that perfection of behavior this side of heaven. It is also clear that our perfection is in Christ, not in ourselves or our ‘good works’ for we are saved by faith, not by anything we do. The verses that talk about being perfect are about wholeness in our faith, trusting Jesus alone for redemption. “For by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified.” (Hebrews 10:14)

God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God. For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life. More than that, we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation. (Romans 5:8–11)

Another danger is that those who strive for perfection may not have Christ in their life at all. He was perfect and did not strive for it. Faith in Him means that I have all that He is. My striving is human effort and no one is saved by human effort. This ‘second blessing’ doctrine is dangerous for it puts faith in ‘how I am doing’ rather than in the One who does it for me. It also appeals to sinful pride.

If we receive the testimony of men, the testimony of God is greater, for this is the testimony of God that he has borne concerning his Son. Whoever believes in the Son of God has the testimony in himself. Whoever does not believe God has made him a liar, because he has not believed in the testimony that God has borne concerning his Son. And this is the testimony, that God gave us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life. (1 John 5:9–12)

Where what I believe and what the holiness movement believes agrees is that all are sinners and depraved because of original sin. I believe that sin ruins all my choices for it makes all I do based on what I want and think. The author of this devotional believes that God’s grace gives them some sense of right and wrong and enough spiritual “light” to make a free choice for Christ. I agree that grace gives that sense, but it also grants faith — my choosing is not the issue. When faith is granted, we just know that we are saved as the Bible says: “I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life.” (1 John 5:13)

This may not seem an important issue. Those with either view can be genuine believers, or not. Both can be relying on their own works, either to be saved or to keep themselves saved, or to ‘grow’ in their faith. The biggest danger is not being saved at all because of refusing to admit the need to be saved. I hear “I don’t need that” and “I am a good person” far more than any claims to be a Christian for the wrong reasons.

PRAY: Lord Jesus, You know who belongs to You and You know what to do with those who do not, because You know the human heart. I’m so thankful that I don’t have to figure it out for others. I just know that You granted me the faith to trust You and not myself. I don’t like being helpless. However, it means knowing and loving You, so I’m glad to have realized it, and realize how much I need You, and how much You have done for me. Thank You.

When God seems far away…

 
There are times when it seems God is off somewhere and with His back turned. In reading about His great wisdom, it is obvious that He knows how I feel, why this is allowed, and what He wants from me in this time of feeling awry, even though I know that nothing has changed. I am His child, made righteous by faith in Christ, and able to live for Him because of Him.

But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it— the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction… (Romans 3:21–22)

He also knows that this righteousness is mine in that I don’t need to strive for it. It is the same as forgiveness. Confess sin and forgiveness is not only available on a sin-to-sin basis, but all taken care of more than two thousand years ago at Calvary. When He chose me, saved me, and gave me His Spirit, He also granted me His mind, gentleness, meekness, peace, love, joy, and all that I need to live for Him. His virtue is not a commodity in a cupboard that I have to go fetch; it is already mine. The only thing that prevents me from living like Christ is trying to do it without Him. Just as many try to be “Christian” in behavior, so also many of the OT people tried to do it, as Paul described:

For I bear them witness that they have a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge. For, being ignorant of the righteousness of God, and seeking to establish their own, they did not submit to God’s righteousness. For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes. (Romans 10:2–4)

Jesus teaches me that He is my righteousness and trying to establish it on my own is folly. The OT tells me that:

We have all become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous deeds are like a polluted garment. We all fade like a leaf, and our iniquities, like the wind, take us away. There is no one who calls upon your name, who rouses himself to take hold of you; for you have hidden your face from us, and have made us melt in the hand of our iniquities. (Isaiah 64:6–7)

This is not the only time that His face seems hidden, yet I’m getting a vague understanding that in His wisdom, there are times when it seems that He does it that I might remember how weak and blind I am without Him. I’m not aware of any particular sin that demands confession, only vague shadows flitting about. This is usually Satan who is up to one of his specialties. This is described:

And I heard a loud voice in heaven, saying, “Now the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God and the authority of his Christ have come, for the accuser of our brothers has been thrown down, who accuses them day and night before our God. And they have conquered him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, for they loved not their lives even unto death.” (Revelation 12:10–11)

The enemy accuses even as Jesus defends. I’m okay in Christ. His blood secured my victory. My testimony reinforces it. Having little concern for my life compared to dying is also part of that victory. It is easy to criticize others who seem more concerned for comfort than God’s will, yet I also need to pay attention to this myself. Do the discomforts and burdens of life pull me away from God and how He might want to use it to change me in some way? Is the sense of His absence part of an important test or lesson?

You have said, “Seek my face.” My heart says to you, “Your face, Lord, do I seek.” Hide not your face from me. Turn not your servant away in anger, O you who have been my help. Cast me not off; forsake me not, O God of my salvation! (Psalm 27:8–9)

PRAY: I’m glad that You know all things. I’m in the dark about my life all this week, a downer after weeks of a new blessing every day. Did I fall into loving the blessings more than I love you, or is that one of the devil’s accusations that is simply not true? May You make this plain, not so I am happier but that You are glorified and blessed. Thank You.

Later: God is amazing. Big prayers answered. He turns me around and then smiles at me!

Stress is not from God

Yesterday a friend told of a woman who said to her husband, “I love you, but right now I don’t like you very much.” Obviously the last part was about his behavior, and the first part was about her choice to love him anyway. How does that work?

In the kingdom of God, we learn that love is about how we treat and behave toward others. It is not based on a merit system. That is, the love of God is about who God is, not about whether we deserve it or not. The NT makes this very plain. However, our human tendency is to think that love has to be earned. We love those who agree with us, or please us, or do things in harmony with our desires and we suppose that if we are like that for others, they will love us. This is not the way God loves.

For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die— but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. (Romans 5:6–8)

Today’s reading says this: “If we would know God, we must know what love is; and then we must apply to God all the best and highest that we know of love. For God is absolutely under the law of love; that is, He is under an inevitable constraint to obey it. He alone of all the universe, because His very essence or nature is love, cannot help loving. We whose natures are not altogether composed of love but are mixed up with a great many other things, do not always love. Because this is the case with ourselves, we think it must also be the case with God; and we torment ourselves with imagining that because of our own special unworthiness He will surely fail to love us. What a useless torment that is!”

I know that torment. In planning a big family reunion, a big challenge came by email last night. I woke this morning fearful that I could not handle this, forgetting that the reunion is God’s idea and how much He is enabling me. It took several minutes of confessing my fears and rehearsing the truth about God before the knots in my stomach unkinked. Who was I trusting anyway? Myself? Such useless torment indeed. A careful and repeated reading of these verses is restoring peace of mind and trust that God will always be with me, no matter how big the challenges…

In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God abides in us and his love is perfected in us. By this we know that we abide in him and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit. And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world. Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God. So we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him. By this is love perfected with us, so that we may have confidence for the day of judgment, because as he is so also are we in this world. There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love. We love because he first loved us. (1 John 4:9–19)

PRAY: Jesus, Your love is not based on my performance or ability. I know that Your grace and strength come through even when I feel the weakest. Forgive my lapse into doubt and fear. Not only that, I’m doing this reunion to show Your love to the people who are coming, and I cannot do that if I doubt it myself. Lord, I believe. Help my unbelief and grant me the fullness of Your Spirit that I can joyfully meet this challenge in love and with a sound mind, not in fear and with stress.

In what do I boast?

 
I know a man who often says that he must ‘do something’ and that his Christian life is based on that rule. He says that he feels right about himself if he is involved in meeting needs and without anything to do, he does not.

Today’s reading is about growing in grace. Grace is not about what I do but about what Christ has done and is doing. The author says that to walk in grace means opposing all growth in self-dependence or self-effort. It means to oppose every legality or rules to put our growing in the hands of our Savior, Jesus Christ, just as we put our eternal destiny in his hands.

And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? (Matthew 6:28–30)

I also know a woman who says that even though she knows salvation is not based on her in any way, she never feels ‘good enough’ to be a Christian. As Jesus says, she is ‘anxious about her clothing’ or to put it in salvation terms, she worries about what covers her or adorns her and her growth.

In this woman’s mind, the conflict is between flesh and Spirit, even though she knows that both cannot be true. If God covers or clothes her, why does she need to add more? If God saves us by grace, why the compulsion to add to that works?
I’m trying to relate. What comes to mind is this: if God does it all, He gets all the credit, all the glory. Being saved by grace is a humble admission that I cannot save myself. This is all about the future after death.

But what about requiring grace to live the Christian life? The Bible says I cannot do anything of eternal value in my life apart from grace. That is humbling too. It goes against the world’s value system. Only little babies and severely handicapped people are unable to do things. This truth hits my pride.

Jesus says I’m like a lily? It grows by itself. A weed is also the same. This ‘walking by faith’ rather than by sight is one thing, but abiding in Christ because ‘apart from Him I can do nothing’ does not seem like good news, even though it explains why a person feels as if they ‘must do something’ or is ‘never good enough.’

To add to this hit to pride, God also says:

For consider your calling, brothers: not many of you were wise according to worldly standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, so that no human being might boast in the presence of God. And because of him you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption, so that, as it is written, “Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.” (1 Corinthians 1:26–31)

God is not interested in my IQ, power, or any other credentials. No matter how high or strong I am in any category, compared to Him I am nothing. And I boast in myself? Silly me. All that is wise or good or of any value is because of Christ Jesus, and has nothing to do with how good I think I am. It is like swimming to Hawaii; some of us drown in no time and others cover a few miles, but no one can do it. We also all fall short of the glory of God.

PRAY: Jesus, those who whine about inability might hear, “Suck it up, princess” or something like that. I hear You say, “My strength is perfected in weakness” and “I’ve got you covered” — and that is far better than self-pity or any pride that focuses on me be ‘good enough’ or any compulsion that tells me I must work hard to be worthy. My boast must be in You. Also, I’m not to evaluate those who don’t see these things the way I do. You also say, “Do not quarrel over opinions” because “each of us will give an account of himself to God.” (Romans 14:1-12)

Crucified with Christ

 

READ Galatians 1-6

Some say heaven will surprise us with those we thought would not be there, while others we thought would be there will not. This statement Paul made to the church in Galatia might explain how this confusion happens:

I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting him who called you in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel— not that there is another one, but there are some who trouble you and want to distort the gospel of Christ. But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to the one we preached to you, let him be accursed . . .  (Galatians 1:6–9)

Recently I met a person who talked like a Christian yet remarked: “We are not in heaven yet; we have to earn that.” A person belonging to a large cult told me, “Christ died to give us the right to earn our salvation.” A Christian friend admits that she believes Jesus saved her, but struggles thinking she needs to do something. Was this like the problem they had in Galatia? Paul warned them about their error:

O foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you? It was before your eyes that Jesus Christ was publicly portrayed as crucified. 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”? (3:1–6)

Imagine a loving father telling his bratty child that he will give her a pony, no matter what, no strings attached, and forever. The child believes her dad, is thankful and her bad behavior begins to change. Then for some reason she begins to fear that her dad will take the pony away if she is not a perfect little girl. She works hard to be deserving and worries that she is not good enough, forgetting that the gift was not given on the basis of merit but on the goodness of her father.

While salvation involves more than that — this illustrates the tendency of humans to think nothing so grand as eternal life could be free, a gift from God who send His Son to die so we could have a saving relationship with Him. Human pride tends to think we must do or can do something to earn it.

Paul realized that the Law of God was interpreted that way — a list of what must be done to earn heaven. He explained that the Gospel says otherwise, begging the question: “Is the law then contrary to the promises of God?” He answers, “Certainly not! For if a law had been given that could give life, then righteousness would indeed be by the law. But the Scripture imprisoned everything under sin, so that the promise by faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe.” (3:21–22)

No one can keep God’s laws. Some do better than others, like the 5-year-old who once said to me, “But I’ve never murdered anyone.” So quick we are to justify ourselves by the sins we do not commit!

Salvation is a gift given freely to those who admit their inability to save themselves and who trust Jesus Christ to save them and be their justification and righteousness. But then the question becomes, “Does this mean I can do whatever I please?” Salvation based on faith alone seems to mean that, but two things say otherwise. First, those saved by faith are reborn, given new life and the mind of Christ. Our “I wants” change.

Second, Paul says, “For you were called to freedom, brothers. Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another . . . . But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.” (Galatians 5:13; 16–18)

New life and that old life coexist. The new is able to obey God and the old is opposed to that. The flesh sins still. The Spirit within produces love and obedience. It is as Galatians 2:20 says: “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.” This explains why I still need to confess sin but also need to be filled with His Spirit to live as a Christian. This awesome thought begins my days!