The Significance of our Faith - Part 1

In Romans 1:17-18, Paul makes a very bold declaration about the gospel of Jesus Christ…

For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, “The righteous shall live by faith.”

The basis of our faith is the gospel of Jesus Christ, but when it absolutely comes down to it, what exactly does that mean?  What is the gospel and what is its significance to our faith.   Paul cuts to the chase in these verses to describe the significance of the gospel, but to really strip away all the extra and get to the core of the gospel, we have to look to another of Paul’s letters.  Paul defines the gospel clearly in 1 Corinthians 15:1-8, where he essentially summarizes the gospel in these 4 points

• Jesus was born
• Jesus lived the perfect life you could not live
• Jesus died as a sacrifice for your sins
• Jesus arose from the grave so that you could have eternal life

The gospel, which means “good news,” is comprised of these four points.  However, Paul gives us three other truths about the gospel in his declaration in Romans 1.

First, the gospel is nothing to be ashamed of.  Paul says he is not ashamed of the gospel, but the truth is that he had every reason in the world to be ashamed of the gospel.  First of all, Paul was a Roman citizen writing to Christians in Rome.  Paul says in Romans 1:1 that he was a bond-servant – or voluntary slave - of Jesus. To a Roman citizen, however, slavery was incredibly shameful.  No true Roman citizen would admit to being a slave – much less willingly enter into a live of servitude.  Paul did precisely that when he committed his life to Jesus.

Paul was also a Jew, writing to both Jewish and non-Jewish Christians in Rome.  To both Jews and Romans, crucifixion was shameful.  To Jews in the first century, crucifixion was the modern manifestation of the tree hanging referenced in Deuteronomy 21:22-2.  As such, all those who are crucified are cursed.   To Romans, crucifixion was the most debasing form of punishment imaginable.  Roman law forbade a Roman citizen from being crucified (which is why Paul was ultimately killed with a sword and not crucified.  In fact, Romans only practiced crucifixions in the remote regions away from Roman civilization.  Paul, however, was worshipping and proclaiming the good news about a convicted criminal (wrongly accused but nonetheless convicted) who was crucified for his “crimes.”  More than that, Paul proclaimed that he himself had been crucified with Christ through baptism. 

Paul had been openly identifying himself with some of the most shameful things in Jewish and Roman culture, but here he says “I am not ashamed of it!”

Second, Paul says the gospel is the power of God for salvation.  Paul’s entire reason for not being ashamed is that the gospel can bring about salvation.  However, we need to be very clear about what he means when he says salvation.   Paul is very specific and clear about his choice and use of words.  Paul doesn’t say redemption.  He doesn’t say justification.  He doesn’t say conversion.  He says salvation.

One of the keys to understanding all of Paul’s writings is to know what he means when he uses that specific word.  When we say salvation, we most often are referring to that “moment” when we “accepted” Christ or “Asked Jesus into our hearts.”   However, Paul never speaks of salvation in those terms.  When Paul uses the word salvation, he is not referring to that moment when we “got saved.”  When Paul speaks of salvation, he is referring to something much broader and much more comprehensive than just our conversion experience. Paul is referring to the entire salvation experience from our calling to our resurrection.  From Paul’s other writings (particularly in Romans chapter 8), Paul makes it clear that there are four stages to our salvation, which begins with our calling.

Your salvation did not start with you. You were dead in your sins.  God called you. John 6:44 says no man comes to the father unless the father draws him.  God issued you an invitation to respond to his gospel.  It may have been delivered by a person or it may have been as you were reading His word, but it was the Holy Spirit drawing you to respond to a clear message that was delivered to you.  That message and the drawing of the Holy Spirit that accompanied that message is God’s calling – his invitation to you to come to him for salvation.

Following your calling comes justification – that is, assuming you respond properly to the calling.  Whether you believe the calling is irrevocable or you believe that you have the ability to freely accept or reject that calling makes no difference to the fact that justification occurs when you respond to God’s call.    This is what we normally speak of when we talk about our salvation experience.  We accept God’s offer of salvation and are born again.  Justification is a legal term meaning “not guilty.”  Although all of us are guilty, when we accept the gospel by faith, our verdict changes from “guilty” to “not guilty.”   We no longer have to worry about the punishment associated with our sins.

From that moment forward, we begin the process of sanctification, which is a transformation process. This is the process whereby we day by day, “beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another” (2 Corinthians 3:18).  It is our spiritual growth into the image of God.  It is how we, as fallen humans, little by little regain the fullness of the God-image that we lost in Eden.

Ultimately, we wait for our glorification.  This is the end of our hope, when we finally see Jesus face to face – when our sanctification is complete and our bodies are raised imperishable.  It is the end of our salvation.

When Paul speaks of salvation, he means all of this.  When he says we are SAVED BY FAITH – he means ALL of this.  This is why he can quote Habakuk 2:4 and say that the righteous will live by faith.  It is God’s foreknowledge of our faith that causes him to draw us to him.  It is our faith that causes us to call upon him for salvation.  It is through our ongoing faith that we daily walk with him and are sanctified.  And it is by our faith in the hope of the resurrection that we are ultimately glorified.  We are fully saved by faith.

Finally, Paul says in Romans 1 that the gospel is righteousness from God.  We do not have a righteousness that is our own, we have God’s righteousness.  We are not self-righteous – although we may sometimes act that way.   We have nothing within us that makes us righteous.  It is a righteousness that comes through the gospel – through the work of Jesus Christ.

Why is a righteousness from God important? God willing… that will be the subject of next week’s blog.

What Is Joy?

Do you really know what joy is?  Think about it.  What comes to mind when you think about joy?  Is it happiness?  Is it contentment?  Is it peace?  Or when you think about joy, do your thoughts naturally go to some past experience that brought you that indescribable feeling that can only be described as joy?

When it comes right down to it, joy is one of those things that we all think we know and we certainly can identify it when it happens.  However, putting down into words exactly what joy is can be more difficult.  Even more difficult than that is the concept of how to get more joy in your life.  We can pursue those things that we think might bring back those warm, comfortable, feelings that we so often describe as joy; but usually those things we pursue either disappoint us or only result in brief, temporary pleasure.

Biblically, being joyful is more about being gracious and thankful than it is about being happy. Rather than having a pleasurable experience, joy is more related to being glad for our experiences – even when they are not pleasurable.

Indescribable Joy: Discovering the Principles of Joy from Paul’s Letter to the Philippians, will walk you through eight principles from the book of Philippians that will help you better understand exactly what joy is and how you can actually create more joy in your life.  In this way, regardless of what you might face in life, you too can have Indescribable Joy.

Indescribable Joy is now available in paperback and Kindle formats from Amazon.com or at http://www.jjdison.com/home/BookStore/indescribable-joy

Worldly Joy versus Godly Joy

Every day we are bombarded with advertisements and other enticements that tell us we can only be happy if…  If we have the bigger house… if we have the most luxurious or fancy car… if we have the most amazing experiences.  We are told that we have no value unless we have these things.  We are told that our success is measured by these things.  And so we strive for these worldly pleasures thinking they will bring us more JOY.  This Worldly Joy however is nothing more than a lie.  It is temporary, fleeting, and even unsatisfying.

Sure, there are some things that do bring us real joy – for the moment.  These are moments of pure absolute joy – such as your wedding day or the day your child was born.  These moments, however, are rare and precious.  Most of life is hard and demanding and does more to drag us down than to create joy within us.  As a result, we live for the precious moments – and perhaps strive to create more of them in all the wrong places by pursuing false joy. It is a trap to distract us from pursuing true Godly Joy. 

There is a better way.  We all have within us the capability to have that kind of Joy. Real, sustainable, and even “Indescribable Joy” comes from a relentless pursuit of God.  Through a careful study of Paul’s letter to the Philippians, we can find 8 principles for building real joy in our lives.  Those principles are as follows:

1. The Principle of Prayer
2. The Principle of Purpose
3. The Principle of Humility
4. The Principle of Service
5. The Principle of Truth
6. The Principle of Perseverance
7. The Principle of Reasonableness and
8. The Principle of Contentment

Indescribable Joy: Discovering the Principles of Joy from Paul’s Letter to the Philippians will discuss each of these principles in detail so that you too can have Indescribable Joy.

Indescribable Joy is now available in paperback and Kindle formats from Amazon.com or at http://www.jjdison.com/home/BookStore/indescribable-joy

Beside Myself with JOY

How can you really know how to have more joy in your life?  Before you can answer that question, you first have to realize that JOY is part of the Fruit of the Spirit – Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Goodness, Kindness, Gentleness, Faithfulness, and Self Control.  That realization brings forth two important facts about JOY.   First, if we have the Holy Spirit living within us (which all Christians do), then we have the capability within us to experience joy regardless of our circumstances.  Second, because it is a Fruit of the Spirit, we are not just capable of having joy, but are commanded and expected to have joy.

Those two facts help us understand that joy is not so much an emotion as it is a state of being.  Sure, there are some things that naturally produce joy in our lives.  We react to those things joyously.  This is Joy by Reaction.  It is real, but it is rare and fleeting. 

The Bible, however, commands us to rejoice and to be joyful.  Since scripture would never command us to do something we are not capable of, that means we are all capable of having Joy by Choice.  This is a step beyond Joy by Reaction and requires us to be actively obedient to the command to be joyful – regardless of our circumstances.

As Christians, however, we are supposed to be full of the Holy Spirit.  Since the Holy Spirit lives within us, the Fruit of the Spirit ought to be flowing from us.  Joy is a part of that fruit. As such, we should be striving for that place in our lives where we are experiencing joy – not by reaction nor by choice, but naturally through the outflowing of the Holy Spirit.  This is Joy by Nature and that is what we are all really looking for in our lives – to naturally experience joy regardless of our circumstances because the Holy Spirit himself has filled us with HIS joy.

Indescribable Joy: Discovering the Principles of Joy from Paul’s Letter to the Philippians, will walk you through eight principles from the book of Philippians that will help you progress through these three stages of joy so that regardless of what you might face in life, you too can have Indescribable Joy.

Indescribable Joy is now available in paperback and Kindle formats from Amazon.com or at http://www.jjdison.com/home/BookStore/indescribable-joy

Faith versus Belief

Does what you believe make a difference in your life?   I suppose the answer depends upon what you believe.  For example, for each of the following statements, decide first if you believe it.  Then, whether or not you actually do believe it, ask yourself how it would change your life if you did believe it:

·         The sky is blue.

·         You cannot breathe under water.

·         If a police officer sees you run a red light, he will give you a ticket.

·         Flowers are pretty.

·         The person sitting next to you right now has a deadly, contagious disease.

·         You car is faster than my car.

·         George Washington was the first president of the United States.

·         The Zombie Apocalypse will break out tomorrow morning.

There are lots of things we believe (or don’t believe) for various reasons.  For some of those things, believing or disbelieving really makes no difference whatsoever in our lives.  On the other hand, there are other things that if we really believe them would actually change the course of our lives and/or modify our perspective and our behavior.  To me, this is the essence of the difference between BELIEF and FAITH.  Consider these verses (emphasis added for effect)

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

Ephesians 2:8 - For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God (ESV).

So, is there really a difference between faith and belief?  According to some dictionaries, a belief is an opinion or a conviction.  According to other dictionaries, belief is synonymous with faith.  Similarly, according to some dictionaries, faith is confidence or trust in a person or thing.  However, other dictionaries speak of faith in terms of a belief system.  The implication is that while there may be nuances between them, ultimately there is very little difference between faith and belief.  I could not disagree more.

The Bible gives us a very clear definition of faith in Hebrews 11:1, which says “Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen” (NASB).  The Bible, therefore, defines faith in the context of two principles – the “assurance of things hoped for” and the “conviction of things not seen.”

The Assurance of Things Hoped For. 

This very statement is an oxymoron.  How is it possible for us to be assured for something we hope for?  If it is something we cannot prove, then by definition it is something we hope for.  There is no assurance in it.  Faith, however, says that our belief in this unassured, hoped for thing is so strong that in our minds it is absolutely certain.  It is so certain in our minds, in fact, that we actually consider it to be fact – even though it cannot be proven.

Consider the following examples.  I might hope that I will win the lottery and as a result go buy a ticket, but do I really, really believe I will win?  For me personally, the answer is no.  The odds are just too much against me. There have been too many experiences by people buying lottery tickets and not winning to convince me this is something I want to place my faith in.  I might hope for it to be true, but I don’t believe it.  If I did believe it, not only would I go buy the lottery ticket, but I would quit my job and go on a big spending spree.

On the other hand, I hope that that the sun will rise tomorrow.  I don’t know for certain that the sun will rise tomorrow, but I believe that it will.  There have been enough examples of the sun rising – every day in fact -  to convince me that the sun will rise tomorrow.  I believe it so strongly that I don’t go around ringing my hands saying “oh, I really hope the sun comes up tomorrow…”  No, for me, it is as good as fact, so I never give it a second thought.  Rather, I make plans for tomorrow as if there were no question as to whether or not the sun will rise.  It will rise.

Faith in Jesus Christ must be like the latter not the former.  With the witness and example of so many who have come before us, we have more than enough evidence to show that Jesus can change our lives.  Do we know it with certainty?  No.  However, we believe it so strongly that we are willing to commit our lives to him and follow his teaching and his commands in the hope that his promises will be kept.

The Conviction of Things not Seen.

This is also something of an oxymoron.  A conviction is something that we believe “deep down” inside of us.  It is something so deep and so moving that it changes how we see and act.  For example, one of my convictions is that abortion is wrong.  I believe this “deep down” inside.  In fact, I believe it so much that I cannot vote for any politician that supports abortion.  Some people have the conviction that killing and eating animals is wrong.  This significantly changes their behavior.  They are vegetarians.  Some will not even go to a restaurant that cooks meat.  When we have a conviction in something, it changes our actions. 

Our conviction as Christians, however, is in something that we cannot see or proven.  We have faith in Jesus Christ for our salvation.  We believe he can forgive our sins.  We have hope that he will save us and that we will one day see heaven.  However, not only do we not physically see Jesus, but we cannot physically see heaven.  In fact, we will not see the fulfillment of the promise until after we experience physical death (that is, unless Jesus returns first – which is also something we hope for).

How can we have conviction in something that seems so out of reach and unattainable?  That is the real essence of faith.  I might believe Jesus existed, but until belief in his teachings and promises change my perspective and my behavior, they are not really convictions.   I might believe that Jesus has the power to forgive sins and grant me eternal life, but until I behave as if such is assured, my hope in it is false.

True faith means we have assurance in our salvation.  We don’t just hope for it like I might hope to win the lottery.  We believe it so strongly that it might as well be fact, like the rising of the sun.   We hold so strongly to the conviction that Jesus can save us that it changes our behavior.  We live like the things he taught us actually matters.

There is a difference between faith and belief.  Some things, if we really believe them, should change our lives.  On the other hand, it is absolutely possible to believe that Jesus can save you and still reject God. The Bible says that the demons believe – and shudder. Similarly, it is absolutely possible to believe that Jesus can save you, but not place your faith in Jesus.

We are saved by grace – THROUGH FAITH… not through belief.

In fact, in the Greek, the word translated “believe” in John 3:16 is actually the verb form of the word faith.  In the English, we don’t have a verb form of the word faith.  John 3:16 is better translated as

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only son so that whoever has faith in him will not perish but have eternal life.

Here’s the question:

Do you believe Jesus can save you?

Or

Do you have faith that Jesus can save you…

If you have faith that Jesus can save you, then it will change your perspective and you will be convicted to live the way he taught.

John 8:31 - If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples…

John 13:35 - By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.

John 15:8 - My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit, and so prove to be my disciples.

For more information about how to live by faith, please try my book – Faith Beyond Belief (Available at Amazon.com)

What Does God Require?

Do you really know what God expects of you?  I am not talking about what it takes to be saved or whether or not you are keeping his commandments.  I am talking about how God wants you to live and act.    Throughout the Old Testament, there are numerous examples of God’s people doing all the right things, but still angering God because their hearts were not aligned with their actions.   Sure, the requirements of the law are the requirements of the law; but is it possible to be technically obedient to God and still be rebellious in spirit and attitude?  The answer, of course, is yes. 

So what really does God require of us?  They answer may very well be found in Micah 6:6, which says:

He has told you, O man, what is good;

      and what does the LORD require of you

                  but to do justice, and to love kindness,

      and to walk humbly with your God? (ESV)

Apparently – at least according to this verse – there are three things that God requires of us in terms of how we act and behave.

First: To Do Justice

The NIV says to act justly.  The NLT says to do what is right.  Basically, this is all about justice.   Our legal system is supposed to be set up so that justice always wins. Can you imagine what the world would be like if the legal system were corrupt and no one ever received justice under the law?  Some may say that we have reached that point in many ways.  Certainly, this is what happened to Israel and was part of the reason God destroyed Israel. 

However, God’s expectation is not just to have a legal system that defends justice – although clearly this is his desire and when Jesus returns and sets up his kingdom that is exactly the way he will rule.  God’s expectation is for each and every one of us to always show justice – to always do what is right – all the time.  Let’s be honest. We don’t always do what is right, do we?  In fact, much of the time, we do what is selfish – what WE want to do.  Just because it is legal doesn’t mean it is right – or just. Sometimes we even stretch the bounds of legality.  Maybe we obey the letter of the law but not the spirit of the law – or maybe we outright break the law, knowing we will never be caught.  God expects us to always act justly – to always do what is right, not just what is legal or what we can get away with.

In any given situation, how do I know what is right or what is wrong?  Ultimately, the Bible is our standard for right and wrong – essentially the Law.  And, in fact, Jesus gave us a great rule for knowing what is right and what is wrong.  In Luke 6:31 he says “And as you wish that others would do to you, do so to them” (ESV).

Second:  Love Kindness (or Mercy)

I actually prefer the NIV84 rendering here of mercy over kindness, but both are applicable.  Mercy is compassion and kindness towards someone in need – especially someone who has offended you.  Unfortunately, Mercy goes completely against every fiber of our existence.  When someone harms us, we want revenge – we don’t want to show mercy. When we see a homeless person, we think they probably deserve it because they are an alcoholic or a drug addict or a criminal.  After all, why should I help them, I have enough struggles of my own.

Allow me to pose this question to you in response to that.  What if God did not show you mercy?  Your sins are a great offense to God.  What if, instead of providing a means of forgiveness, God sought revenge on you? Let’s not even go that far.  What if God didn’t seek revenge; what if he just sought justice?  I think we would all be in trouble if he did that.

You see, there is a direct conflict between JUSTICE and MERCY.  When someone harms you, isn’t it justice that they pay the penalty for what they did to you – an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth?  Isn’t that Biblical? 

It is Biblical and we all have a right to justice.  So does God.  God DEMANDS justice.  That means each and every one of us deserve to go to hell.  On the other hand, God also DESIRES mercy.  That means God needed to find a way to satisfy justice and still forgive you for your sins. 

So what did God do? God sent Jesus and allowed all the punishment of your sins to be poured out on him.  He received the penalty that you deserved.  Justice was served on him and as a result, God can show mercy to you and to me.

How does this apply to your need for justice?  How can you both ACT JUSTLY and LOVE MERCY?  First, you can make sure that when it comes to others, you always do what is right.  Make sure you are not the one doing harm to others or taking advantage of them in an unfair or unjust manner.  Make sure that no one can exact their right for justice out on you.  This is what it means to “Act Justly.”  Second, when others harm you, if it is possible and not harmful or dangerous to do so, you can take the “hurt” on yourself like God took the “hurt” of your sins on himself.  Instead of exacting your right for justice on others you can show mercy.  I’m not suggesting that you keep letting someone hurt you, but I am talking about forgiveness.

Jesus said in Luke 6:27-30,  “But I say to you who hear, Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you. To one who strikes you on the cheek, offer the other also, and from one who takes away your cloak do not withhold your tunic either. Give to everyone who begs from you, and from one who takes away your goods do not demand them back.” (ESV)

Likewise he said in Matthew 6:14-15, “For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you, but if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.” (ESV)

This is fairly deep stuff, which is why God’s third expectation is so important.

Third: Walk Humbly With God

When we think about these ideas of JUSTICE and MERCY and how they work together, it should make us humble before God, not proud before God.  To walk humbly before God means to live the way He would want us to live rather than the way we selfishly desire to live.  ALL of us deserve JUSTICE. We deserve punishment for the things we have done. None of us should be saying “Well I go to church…” or “I give to the poor…” or “I do this…” or “I do that…”  We are all literally living by the MERCY of God.

Before Micah gave those three requirements in Micah 6:8, he raised a question about how we approach God (Micah 6:7-7):

“With what shall I come before the LORD, and bow myself before God on high?

Shall I come before him with burnt offerings, with calves a year old?

Will the LORD be pleased with thousands of rams, with ten thousands of rivers of oil?

Shall I give my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?”

The answer is “NO” because every one of us are at the complete MERCY of God!  So instead, we ACT JUSTLY, LOVE MERCY, and we walk HUMBLY before God. Jesus himself made this exact same point talking to the Pharisees in Matthew 23:23. “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You give a tenth of your spices—mint, dill and cumin. But you have neglected the more important matters of the law—justice, mercy and faithfulness. You should have practiced the latter, without neglecting the former.” 

We place our faith in Jesus for Salvation… we strive to obey the Law to honor God… but how do we really live our lives?  We always do the right thing (JUSTICE)… We are merciful and kind to others even when they don’t deserve it (MERCY)… and we remain faithful to God.

Stuff God Hates

Are we even allowed to say that?  The very statement itself -  “Stuff God Hates” – seems to be a taboo these days.  The very thought that there might be hate within God’s character seems almost heretical. We are all about God’s love.  After all, “God is love.”   In fact, according to some, “love wins.”   How could God be the embodiment of love and still hate?

  

Certainly, love did win at the cross and scripture itself says that God is love, but does that automatically mean that there are not things that God hates.  Truthfully, scripture tells us that there are things that God hates and it is more specific than just a generic “God hates sin” (which he does).  The question we have to ask ourselves, though, is how we are to respond when we find out about something that God hates.  If there is something in my life that God hates, what does that mean to me?  Certainly God does not hate me – but He hates that particular thing in me?  That seems harsh, but it is true to scripture.

If God truly is the embodiment of love and if there really are things that God hates, then those things must be so horribly bad for me that it is more loving for God to hate those aspects within me than to love me in spite of them.   What that means to me is that my response should be to also hate that particular thing about myself and to trust in Him to remove them from my life.

What, then, are these things that are so bad that a loving God would display hatred towards them.  It turns out that Proverbs chapter 6 identifies 7 of them by name.

Proverbs 6:16-19

16 There are six things that the Lord hates,

seven that are an abomination to him:

17 haughty eyes, a lying tongue,

and hands that shed innocent blood,

18 a heart that devises wicked plans,

feet that make haste to run to evil,

19 a false witness who breathes out lies,

and one who sows discord among brothers.

Haughty eyes

We do not often go around saying someone has haughty eyes.  In fact, some of us might not even really know what haughty means. According to the dictionary, haughty means to be disdainfully proud, arrogant, snobbish, or scornfully arrogant.  Haughty eyes, therefore, would be defined as showing arrogant superiority to others.  Are you always trying to be better than other people?  It’s one thing to strive to do your best – we should all strive to do our best at everything we do – but it is another thing to always think we are the best and better than everybody else. When we look down on others or think we are better than others, we are setting ourselves up for a fall. Psalm 118:27 says “For you save a humble people, but the haughty eyes you bring down” (ESV).   Instead, we are to consider others as being more important than ourselves. As it says in Philippians 2:3, “Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves” (ESV).

A Lying Tongue

I used to watch the TV Drama, House, before it was discontinued.  Dr. Gregory House used to always say “everybody lies.”  Of course we would all agree that being hurtful or intentionally deceptive for our own benefit and gain is wrong, but what about a little white lie?  Shouldn’t we lie if it is in the best interest of the other person? The answer might surprise you. When we lie, we are speaking the language of hell.  When he was speaking to the Pharisees, Jesus said in John 8:44  “You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father's desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies” (ESV).  Personally, I do not want to be caught dead speaking the language of hell. Instead, Peter says in 1 Peter 3:10, “Whoever desires to love life and see good days, let him keep his tongue from evil and his lips from speaking deceit” (ESV).

Hands that Shed Innocent Blood

When we think of “hands that shed innocent blood” we immediately think about killing an innocent person.   The most egregious act to fit this description today of course must be abortion.  So many millions of innocents are being slaughtered each year.  However, there is more to this than just killing the innocent.  This is really referring to any act of violence taken against another innocent person. This could include random acts of violence, bullying, spousal or child abuse, etc.

A Heart that Devises Wicked Plans

Have you ever noticed that every good story has an evil genius – that is, someone who crafts the most intricate, deceitful, confusing plan to accomplish some wicked end?  Why do we love such stories? Is it because we like seeing good win over evil or is it because we love to see the intricacy and genius of the complicated plans of the wicked?  Let’s be honest with ourselves.  Who hasn’t thought about planning the perfect crime – in jest and fun of course?  I love crime dramas such as Bones and Castle.  I like where the intro to Castle speaks about how murderers and crime novel writers sit around thinking up the perfect crimes.   This, however, only points out the darkness within us.  Indeed there is much wickedness within all of us. Jeremiah 17:9 says “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it?” (ESV)   God hates this.  Evil thoughts become evil desires.  Evil desires become evil intent.  Evil intent becomes evil plans.  Evil plans become evil actions.  Instead, we should take Solomon’s advice in Prov 4:23 – “Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it” (NIV).

Feet that Make Haste to Run to Evil

Unfortunately, one of our biggest problems is that we like being bad.  Teenage girls love the “bad boy.”  Teenage boys want to be the “bad boy” so the girls will love them.  We grow up thinking “Bad is Cool” and “Good guys finish last.”   By contast, Psalm 1:1-2 says “Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers; but his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night.”  It may not make us cool, but it is what God wants from us.  Instead of running to the evils things, we should run away from them. 1 Timothy 6:11 says “But as for you, O man of God, flee these things. Pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, steadfastness, gentleness.”

A False Witness Who Breathes out Lies

Bearing a false witness is similar to lying in general, but it is about lying for the sole purpose of hurting another person.  This is essentially injustice, which is another thing that God hates.  Additionally, this is actually one of the 10 commandments: “You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor” Exodus 20:16  (ESV).

One Who Sows Discord Among Brothers

This is one I want you to really pay attention to.  God considers a person that thrives on strife and likes to create division and controversy an “abomination.”   If you are the type of person who likes to stir up trouble or manipulate other people into getting in trouble, this is talking about you.  Titus 3:10 says “As for a person who stirs up division, after warning him once and then twice, have nothing more to do with him” (ESV).  By contrast, Matthew 5:9 says “blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God” (ESV).  Likewise Romans 12:18 says “If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all” (ESV); and Hebrews 12:14 says “Strive for peace with everyone” (ESV).

What I find most interesting about these seven things is that at least two of them, a false witness who breathes out lies and one who sows discord among brothers, are referring to people and not to abstract ideas.   Likewise, the other five could be argued to be referring to a type of person and not an abstract idea as well.  That makes this really problematic because the implication is that God hates those people and considers them an abomination.

I cannot begin to try to address the potential paradox of the fact that God can both hate and love at the same time.  It is certainly beyond my theological capabilities.  However, what I can say is that I have no desire to be even remotely associated with anything that the God of the universe, the creator of all things, whose wrath is awesome and fearful, might even possibly hate.  Will he forgive me for it if I display these characteristics?  Actually, since my faith is in the blood of Jesus Christ he already has.  Nevertheless, I want it gone.

Lord, help me to remove any hint of these abominations from my life!