Missing The Mark

It is one of those strange things that probably every pastor knows about, but probably few really talk about – and heaven forbid any of us should admit it in a blog like I am about to do. 

As a pastor, some days you deliver the word that you believe God has given you and everything goes smooth – the delivery, the response from the congregation, and even the perceived movement of the Holy Spirit in the service.  Those are very encouraging days.  Other days, however, you do the exact same thing and can’t help but feel like absolutely nothing happened.  No response.  No movement of the Spirit.  It all just falls flat – or so it seems.   It is days like that which can really discourage a pastor and make him feel like a failure.   Sunday night was one of those days for me.

I do not say that to try to garner sympathy or to manipulate you into saying something encouraging to me or to try to convince me I am wrong.  That is really not the point.  The reason I say it because I believe so strongly in the importance of real, effective, discipleship in the church that I believe every single believer should be actively engaged in it.   After spending the entire summer talking about what is important in the church – Loving God, Loving Others, Bible Teaching, Prayer, Fellowship, and the Lord’s Supper – and then spending the last four week really digging into the essentials of discipleship – Spiritual Disciplines, mentoring, and Jesus’ model of discipleship – I really believed we would all be on board with changing the way we do discipleship  -  especially since the method I presented Sunday night is so absolutely simple that anyone can do it.

Maybe I misread the response, but after all of that, it sure seemed to me last night that (with perhaps a few exceptions) not everyone is necessarily on the same page as I am right now when it comes to discipleship.  Maybe everyone is still soaking it all in.  Maybe everyone is just slow to respond. 

Maybe everyone is afraid to try something new.  Or maybe my own “fears” are right and everyone is not yet on board with the idea at all.  Regardless, I can’t help but think right now that somehow I just missed the mark.

For decades now we (the generic we, not specifically our church) have gone about church the same old way – except that (at the risk of overgeneralizing) we are beginning to fall away even from that way.  In years past, the model was Sunday School, Sunday morning worship, Sunday afternoon training union, Sunday evening worship, and Wednesday night prayer meetings.  We were dedicated and committed to being there every time the doors open.   Over time, we have become less committed to that.  These days, you are considered committed if you attend Sunday morning worship three times a month, much less three times a week.  Fewer and fewer of us are coming to Sunday School and, even if we do, we are not (again at the risk of overgeneralizing) really using Sunday School to truly disciple believers so that they know how to be true followers of Jesus Christ.  Fewer still come to prayer meeting on Wednesday night and training union is all but non-existent. 

The bottom line is this. Three marks have been missed.  

First, the church at large that has really missed the mark when it comes to making disciples of Jesus Christ.  Our children are growing up and leaving the church.  More and more Christians are becoming less and less committed to the cause of Christ.  And society is suffering as a result.  The church has begun to lose our saltiness. 

Second, I think perhaps I may have personally missed the mark over the last few weeks making my point about the critical need for discipleship and how something MUST change in how we go about discipleship.  What the church in America been doing for the last 100 years simply is not working.  We have to go back to the drawing board.  Fortunately, we don’t have to reinvent the wheel.  We just have to fall back on how Jesus himself did discipleship.  His method works and we have 2000+ years of testimony to prove that it does.

Finally, I really think I missed the mark Sunday night in explaining the D-Life process.  I don’t think we came away from our time with as good a feel for the process as I had hoped.  The thing is, the D-Life process is so simple anyone can do it.  Read a chapter a day.  Get together and discuss some simple questions about one of the passages.  Pray together.  Fellowship.  Perhaps do a ministry project together every couple of months.  It is really quite simple.  The real work - if indeed it is work at all - is on the part of the spiritually mature members of the group to be available and mentors to the less mature believers in the group.   Since I may have done such a poor job, maybe more information about D-Life would be helpful, so how about a link to another article by the creator of the D-Life process.  Try here: http://livingthedlife.com/discipleship-by-storytelling-and-group-discussion/

I hope that I am wrong.  I hope that everyone just needs some time to let it all soak in.  The last thing I ever want to do is “guilt” anyone into doing anything you have not bought into yourself.  Discipleship is a commitment and that commitment must come as a result of one’s own internal desire to grow closer to God.  It must be something you WANT to do otherwise, it will never work.  Otherwise, it will just be another “program” that dies from lack of interest.  Yes, it is cliche, but discipleship cannot be a program.  It must be a lifestyle.  It must be because we find it so important that we devote our lives to it - which is really what the Great Commission is all about.

Therefore, if or when you are ready to take your relationship with God to the next level, we want to be ready to help make that possible.  So… WHEN you are ready, CLICK HERE to sign up and we will get you plugged into a discipleship group right away.

I love you all.  Forgive me for venting a bit.  I believe in this… and I hope you will come to that point as well soon.

The Significance of our Faith Part IV - Responding to the Sovereignty of God

Note: This is the fourth and final part in this series on Significance of Faith in the Christian life and salvation process.

It is widely stated and believed that we serve a sovereign God; but if you think about that, what exactly does that mean?  Without going through a theological diatribe on the meaning of sovereignty and the many ways in which God is sovereign, suffice it to say that God being sovereign means that he has supreme independence and is not accountable to anyone but himself.  It furthermore means that he has the power and the capability to do whatever he desires without having to answer for any of his actions.

That raises an important question. How can we trust in a God who is sovereign?  How can we be sure that he will not do something arbitrary or vicarious or capricious?  Sure, we can trust in the fact that he is supposed to be a loving and kind God who only has our best interests at stake, but then we read Paul’s description of God’s sovereignty in Romans chapter 9 and literally our faith can be shaken at the core.

Romans chapter 9 takes the concept of God’s sovereignty into a very controversial area of Christian theology known as predestination and election.  There are numerous and various views on predestination and election that I will not go into in this article because that is not really the intent of this post.  However, it is almost impossible to read Romans chapter 9 and not come away with the distinct impression that sometimes God’s actions can seem somewhat arbitrary.

Think about it.  God sovereignly chose the nation of Israel – beginning with Abraham – to be the bearer of his covenant and ultimately to bring forth his messiah.  Why Israel?  Israel was repeatedly unfaithful to God. Why start with Abraham?  Abraham had not done anything to earn merit in God’s eyes for this great honor.  He was the son of an idol maker and an idol worshipper, but God chose him above all other men in the world at that time.  Then, God chose his son Isaac – not his firstborn Ishmael by the servant girl and not the many sons that Abraham bore after Isaac (and yes, read Genesis 25:1-5…Abraham ended up having a bunch of other kids after Isaac).  Why Isaac – other than the fact that he was the promised son?  Then there is Jacob – the deceiver and theif – the second born.  He was chosen over Esau the first born.  Why?  Because that is what God decided?  What was God thinking when he made these choices?  Only he knows.

To take the faith-shaking discussion further, Paul then discusses others whom God, in his sovereignty, has outright rejected – such as Pharoah.  That just seems wrong – until you realize that God did not reject Pharoah until after Pharoah had first rejected God – not once, but twice.  Still, it seems a bit frightening to imagine being rejected by God, though – especially when we find Paul basically telling us that God’s sovereignty does not excuse us from anything.   What if God prepared some vessels for wrath?  Who are we to argue with the Sovereign?  What if God prepared some vessels for glory?  Can the clay argue with the potter?  It is certainly enough to make your head spin…

…until you get to the end of Romans 9 and then go further into Romans 10.

You see it is most certainly true that God is sovereign to do whatever he chooses to do and we have no say so in the matter.  That means he is sovereign to save or to condemn at his own pleasure.  However, what we find out at the end of Romans 9 is what God actually DID DO in his sovereignty.  You see, in God’s sovereignty, he decided that he would call the elect based on faith (Romans 9:24-29) – not just the Jews who believed, but gentiles as well.  Furthermore, God decided in his sovereignty that he would reject and condemn those who did not have faith (Romans 9:30-33) – not just the heathen gentiles, but the unbelieving Jews as well.  In other words, God’s sovereign choice of election is based on faith – not on some arbitrary or capricious choice of his own.  Thus we see, moving into Romans 10, the significance of our faith in dealing with God’s sovereignty.

Romans 10 gives us the method by which God accepts our faith and includes us into the elect.  If we confess with our mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in our heart that God raised him from the dead, we shall be saved.  This is a promise from God.  The thing about God’s sovereignty is that it will never be in conflict with his character, and his character is such that all of his promises will be kept.  We do not have to worry about the seemingly arbitrary or apparently capricious actions of God as it relates to our salvation because he has given to us exactly what we need to ensure our salvation.  Furthermore, he has promised us that in receiving salvation by faith we will be included among the elect.

But how did we get there?  Did we arrive at our faith by some irresistible force of God or by our own free will choice? Should that even matter?  Obviously it does matter to some because the answer to those questions is the basis upon which much of the theological controversy exists.  However, I find that God has made it very clear in Romans chapters 8-10 that we have placed much too much emphasis on trying to understand God’s actions in salvation (as identified in Romans 8:29-30) and not nearly enough emphasis on what our responsibilities are to carrying out God’s plan for salvation (as identified in Romans 10:13-15).

Clearly, God’s hand in salvation is supreme.  His perspective and his participation is clearly established in Romans 8:29-30 – for those he foreknew he predestined; those he predestined he called; those he called he justified; and those he justified he will glorify.  We can spend ages (and we have) debating exactly what that means and may never be able to come to an agreement. Quite frankly, I believe God has intentionally left just enough mystery on this one because I think he wants us to accept by faith his work in salvation instead of trying to force his work into some theological construct of our own design.

By contrast, we should instead be focusing on man’s responsibility in the salvation process as equally and as clearly established in Romans 10:13-15 – Our salvation comes when we confess Jesus; that confession comes as a result of calling on the name of the Lord; how can anyone call unless they first believe; how can they believe unless they hear; how can they hear unless someone preaches; and how can someone preach unless someone is sent?  While understanding God’s role in salvation requires faith, man’s responsibility in the salvation process is merely a matter of obedience.  Send someone to preach so that the lost can hear, believe, call upon the name of the Lord, and thus be saved.

So where does God’s Perspective meet Man’s Responsibility?   They meet at the call.  God calls on us.  We respond and call on him.  See picture below:

		Confession
Foreknowledge	Predestination	Calling	Justification	Glorification
		Believing
		Hearing
		Preaching
		Sending

Therein lays the significance of our faith with respect to dealing with and responding to God’s sovereignty.  If we will simply be obedient to his commands to spread the gospel, then we can have faith that he will carry out his promise to call those he has sovereignly foreknown and predestined (whatever that may mean) to be saved.

The Significance of our Faith - Part III: Pursuing a Holy Life

Do you ever struggle with doing the right thing? I know that I certainly do.  In fact, I had an issue today where I had to admit that I had reacted in the flesh.  It wasn’t what I said, per se, that was wrong, but rather my attitude and my delivery.  I ended up having to apologize, and in the end my point – which was extremely valid – was essentially lost.  You may not like to admit it – and unless you are a psychopath you probably will admit it - but everyone struggles with doing the right thing sometimes.  Fortunately, we have the gift of God’s grace.

You have most likely heard of the phrase “God’s grace is sufficient.”  Romans 5:20-21 says

“Now the law came in to increase the trespass, but where sin increased, grace abounded all the more, so that, as sin reigned in death, grace also might reign through righteousness leading to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.”

Do you know what that means? Essentially, the more we sin, the more grace and forgiveness we receive in return.  This is an astounding promise.  No matter how badly we fail, God is there to pick us up and forgive us.  The problem with this promise, however, is that some people use it as an excuse to quit trying to be good.  Some people say it gives us a license to sin or a free pass to do whatever we want, because – after all – God will forgive us.  Perhaps you do not do this overtly, but I wonder how many of us fall into this trap subconsciously.   That is why this beautiful promise comes with such a stern warning – stated twice, in fact, in Romans 6.

Romans 6:1 says “What shall we say, then?  Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase?  By no means…”

Likewise, Romans 6:15 says “What then” Shall we sin because we are not under the law but under grace?  By no means!”

The reality is that because God’s grace is sufficient, we are obligated to strive with all our might to live out the Holy life that God intended - not for salvation's sake, but for the sake of the Holy name of Jesus Christ.  Romans chapter 6 gives us three reasons why we have this obligation.  First, we are dead to sin.   The Sin Nature that used to control us may still exist in our flesh, but its power has been put to death.  Its only power over us is the power we choose to allow it to have in our lives.  Second, we are baptized into Christ.  That means we have identified ourselves with Christ and so are obligated to live according to his established plan.  It would be a fallacy to identify yourself with any cause and not strive to represent the values and ideals of that cause.  The same is true with Christianity. When we identify with Christ, we obligate ourselves to represent him faithfully.  Finally, we are crucified with Christ.  Our Old Self has been killed.  It is dead.  We have been born again.  We are new creatures in Christ.  In other words, we are not the same person we were before, so we ought to no longer be acting like that person.  Instead, we ought to act as the new person we are – made in the image of Christ.

Here’s the thing.  If you haven’t been changed by Jesus so that you are a different person – a person striving to be LIKE Christ – then you are not saved.  Likewise, if your desires have not changed so that you want to live like Jesus, then you are not saved.  Grace is a wonderful thing, but it is NOT fire insurance.  Salvation is not a get out of hell free card.  You can’t just “ask Jesus into your heart” and then go on with your lives the same as you always did before.  Being a Christian means FOLLOWING Jesus.  This is what we call being HOLY.

Jesus paved the way for grace by faith through his death on the cross.  However, in the three years leading up to that death, he taught us principles for how we should live our lives.  Jesus taught us what it means to be Holy.  As Christians, we are then obligated to live Holy lives.  Lives that are different from the world.  Lives that are an imitation of Jesus and that live out the principles he taught.

This takes us back to the question at the beginning of this post.  Do you have trouble living a Holy life?  If the answer is yes, the problem could be one of two things.  One: you might not be saved.  If you are not saved, there is no way you can live a Holy life.  In fact, it is not just a struggle, it is impossible.  On the other hand, the second reason may be that you are saved.  You see, even for those of us who are saved, living a Holy life can still be a struggle.  In case you missed that: we all still struggle to be Holy. Anyone who claims that living Holy is not a struggle is either (a) a liar, or (b) just exposing their ignorance and perhaps their lost condition.

So what is the difference between the one who is not saved and the one who is when it comes to living Holy lives?  The difference is the level of frustration.  The unsaved person doesn’t generally think twice about the way he lives.  In fact, the unsaved person may be perfectly content with the way he lives – especially if (a) he is comparing himself to Christians or (b) if he has deluded himself because he is relying on religious ritual instead of faith for his righteousness.  In fact, in his own self-righteousness he may even consider himself Holy.  As such, he is perfectly content where he is.  The saved person, however, knows that he is wretched, knows he is supposed to be Holy, and is frustrated by the paradox.  This is precisely the paradox that the Aspostle Paul describes in Romans 7:14-25 when he laments his desire to be holy in contrast to the weakness of his flesh.

Fortunately there is a solution.  As Paul says right after that in Romans 7:25 – Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord.  The solution is that we have the Holy Spirit.

Romans 8:1-4 says: There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death. For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.

Our flesh truly is weak, but we have something better.  Jesus already accomplished what our flesh could not accomplish and then he gave us the Holy Spirit to help us overcome our fleshly weakness.  The Holy Spirit gives us the power to live Holy lives even though in our flesh it is difficult.  We just have to be willing to live by the Spirit instead of living by the flesh.  That is where faith comes in.  Our faith is so much more than belief.  We cannot just “believe in Jesus” and let that be the end of it.  Even after our “faith in Jesus” saves us, we must continue to live by faith in order to live the Holy life we are obligated to live.  So how do we do that?

Fortunately, Romans 8 gives us some insight into what it means to live by the Spirit instead of living by the flesh.  First, the Spirit desires the things of the Spirit.  This is in reference most likely to the fruit of the Spirit in Galatians 5:22-23 – namely, love, joy, peace, patience, gentleness, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, and self-control.  By contrast, the flesh desires the things of the flesh, which are found in Galatians 5:19-21 – namely, sexual immorality, impurity, debaucher, idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambitions, dissentions, factions, envy, drukenness, orgies, and the like.  So the question is… which of these two lists more accurately characterizes your life?

Similarly, the mindset of the Spirit is life and peace.  In other words, the Spirit controlled person is one who is content, peaceful, desiring good things towards others.  By contrast, the mindset of the flesh is death and destruction.  The thoughts of those controlled by the flesh are dominated by discontentment, anger, bitterness – all things negative.  Again, how would you assess yourself?

Finally, the one controlled by the Spirit has an attitude about God that says she will trust God in all things and obey God at all times – whereas the one controlled by the flesh is often angry at God and frequently disobedient to his commands.  One last time, which of these more closely describes you?

As a Christian, you are SAVED by grace – through faith.  That means NOTHING you can do in your own strength can save you.  You must trust God for your salvation.  However, once you become a Christian, you should be moving away from a life controlled by the flesh and towards a life controlled by the Spirit.  This requires faith.  Faith that God's grace is sufficient.

Sure, sometimes you will mess up.  Like I said at the beginning, I had to deal with this in my own life even today.  It is a part of the human condition.  But our striving and our goal should be for Holiness.  And here’s the best news of all - and it is the real meaning of the phrase “God’s grace is sufficient” - we have complete security in Christ!

The remainder of Romans chapter 8 goes into full on defense against any argument of Satan that our failings in any way make us unworthy of Christ or disqualified from receiving grace.  There is none who can condemn us except Jesus Christ himself and, as it says in Romans 8:34, he is actually the one who is arguing in our favor before the Heavenly Father.  The only one who can condemn us is on our side!  That's FANTASTIC!   So if that’s the case, what do we have to worry about? As it says in verses 35-39, there is absolutely nothing that can separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus!

This gives us tremendous freedom.  Not freedom to sin, but rather freedom not to worry.  We are free to pursue a relationship with God and a life of holiness without the concern of any consequences to our slip-ups.  We can focus on living and not worrying about being judged.  We can forgive ourselves because we know we are forgiven.  We can pursue holiness without fear.

The Significance of Our Faith Part II - Why Do We Need God's Righteousness?

Why do we need God’s righteousness?  Why does Christianity stand apart all other religions – whose goal is to earn favor with whatever deity they have established – in that God claims to give us his righteousness instead of us working towards righteousness?  Didn’t God give us the law? Don’t we have the 10 commandments to obey?  More importantly, why does it even matter?  After all, God is love is he not?   He is a God of forgiveness, slow to anger and pouring out mercy.

Unfortunately, there is an aspect to God’s character that we often forget about.  We read about it in verses like these.

“Now I will soon pour out my wrath upon you, and spend my anger against you, and judge you according to your ways, and I will punish you for all your abominations. And my eye will not spare, nor will I have pity. I will punish you according to your ways, while your abominations are in your midst. Then you will know that I am the Lord, who strikes.” Ez 7:8-9 (ESV)

“I will punish the world for its evil, and the wicked for their iniquity; I will put an end to the pomp of the arrogant, and lay low the pompous pride of the ruthless.” Is 13:11 (ESV)

“Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will punish all those who are circumcised merely in the flesh—“ Jer 9:25 (ESV)

“For behold, the Lord will come in fire, and his chariots like the whirlwind, to render his anger in fury,  and his rebuke with flames of fire. For by fire will the Lord enter into judgment, and by his sword, with all flesh; and those slain by the Lord shall be many.” Is 66:15-16

These are some fairly scary verses about God – and there are many like them in scripture.  In reading them, we do not conjure up pictures of a loving and doting grandfather.  Instead, we imagine a mighty warrior yielding lightning – ready to strike.  If we take them seriously, then we can begin to understand the proverb that says “the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.”   The truth is… God will pour out his wrath.

God will pour out his wrath on the unrighteous.  In Romans 1:19-20, Paul tells us how God has revealed himself to us so that we are without excuse.  We can make excuses, but even the person who has never crossed the threshold into a church or heard the name of Jesus knows God.  Yes, even the staunchest atheist knows God, but rejects him so soundly that he fights tooth and nail to stamp out his very existence – and therein lays our problem.

Man has chosen to reject God outright.  Romans 1:21 tells us that first and foremost, man refuses to give God glory.  Instead, in Romans 1:22-23, we find that man has exchanged God’s glory for man-made things.  We have created gods of our own creation – in our own likeness.  God does not have a preeminent place in our lives anymore.  That place of godhead is often filled by other things such as wealth, power, even family.   Yes, even the atheist has a god – his science and his reason. 

Man has proven time and time again that his desire is to forsake God and pursue his own selfish pleasures. So in his wrath, God has given man exactly what he desires.  How does this demonstrate God’s wrath?  Because in so doing, man is no longer under God’s protection nor is he under God’s loving, caring, divine influence.  By pursuing his own desires, man is actually leading himself down the path of destruction.  As such, beginning in Romans 1:24 we find that God has given him over to his sexual desires, then given him over to sexual perversions, then finally given him over to perverse thinking so that he no longer distinguishes good from evil.  At the end of the day, Rom 1:32 reminds us that man knows to do right, but chooses to do wrong.  For this, God will bring forth his destructive wrath – both here on earth and for all eternity in Hell.

Of course you may be thinking: “That’s great, but that is not me.  I am a good person.  I keep the 10 commandments (to the best of my ability).  I do good things.  Sure, I’m not perfect – nobody is – but my ledger is clearly in the black.  I certainly have not reached the point of utter depravity you mention here.  I know the difference between right and wrong and, generally, choose the right.”

Unfortunately, while it may offend your human sense of fair play, God has made it clear that not only will he pour out his wrath on the unrighteous, but he will also pour out his wrath on those who consider themselves “righteous.”  You see, in Romans 2:1, we find out that those of us who claim to be “righteous” do the same things as the unrighteous.  When you think about it, you have to admit it is true.  You believe in God.  You may even choose to follow God.  But when it comes down to it, most of the time you are more concerned with yourself than you are with God.  And if you really think about the 10 commandments, you will have to admit that you have broken far more of them than you want to admit – especially if you consider Jesus’ interpretation of them in the Sermon on the Mount of Matthew 5-7!   The fact is, we are ALL lawbreakers (Romans 2:21-22).

Actually, the lawbreaking for those of us who claim to be “righteous” may actually be worse than those who open reject God.  Romans 2:23 says that we dishonor God when we claim to follow him and yet still break his commands.  Romans 2:24 says that as a result, the world blasphemes God.  Yes, it is true – some people will reject God because of you and me.  They will look at us, see how we claim to be righteous, see how we really are no more righteous than they are, will call us hypocrites, and then will turn and walk away.  We are in just as bad a condition as the “unrighteous.”

God will pour out his wrath on ALL men.  We are ALL under the curse of sin (Romans 3:9) because there is truly none who are righteous in God’s eyes (Romans 3:10-18).  We may do everything we can to be “righteous” but the conclusion is this: we can never be righteous enough!

THANKFULLY, there is a solution.  Thankfully, we do not have to depend upon our own righteousness because God has made a way for us to receive HIS righteousness.  Romans 3:21-22 says:

“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.” (NIV) [emphasis added]

BUT NOW… perhaps the two greatest words in the bible.  All the evil… all the unrighteousness… all the failed attempts to appease God… all the useless religiousity… are wiped away by those two beautiful words.  Nothing I could do could bring me righteousness, BUT NOW God gives me his righteousness.

Of course, those two words still do not negate God’s wrath.  God’s righteousness is not just freely given to everyone.  To begin with, it is only available to those who place their faith in Jesus Christ. Those who still actively and openly reject God will still experience the full force of God’s wrath. 

Even for those who choose to receive Christ by faith, God’s wrath is still manifest. In reality, no one has been truly spared from God’s wrath.  It is just that for some, God’s wrath was not poured out on them, but on their substitute, Jesus Christ. 

Jesus Christ received the full force of God’s wrath for my sins – and for yours. It is not in God’s nature to leave sin unpunished.  That is why the cross of Jesus Christ is a demonstration of both LOVE and JUSTICE.  

“But God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” Rom 5:8 (ESV)

God is love… and the death of Jesus Christ on the cross – as a substitute for the wrath we deserve – is a demonstration of that love.  But that sacrifice was also a demonstration of his justice:

“Through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God's righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins.” Rom 3:24-25

A just God cannot just overlook those sins.  They MUST be punished. That punishment was simply poured out on Jesus Christ instead of us. 

How can a loving God also be a just God?  Those two concepts seem irreconcilable to man – but not to God.  By pouring out his wrath on Jesus Christ as a substitutionary sacrifice, God could give us his righteousness and so forego pouring out his wrath on us.  It is a perfect demonstration of love and justice. Ultimately, THAT is why we need God’s righteousness.  

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.

Theo Lesson 7 - The Holy Spirit

In this week's lesson, we discussed the role of the Holy Spirit in the life of the believer - from prior to salvation up through sanctification...

Audio can be heard here...

http://www.box.net/shared/traqauvb8g

Theo Lesson 6 - Salvation

Why is Jesus the only means of salvation?

What is the process of salvation and how does it affect my life.

Hear this week's audio at

http://www.box.net/shared/24svftuxm9

Theo Lesson 5 - Jesus the God-Man

What does it mean that Jesus was 100% God and 100% Man?

What is the importance and significance of the Virgin Birth?

These questions and more were discussed in this week's lesson. Hear the audio at

http://www.box.net/shared/2oj0ue8821

Theo Lesson 4 - The Doctrine of Man

What does it mean to be made in God's image?

What really happened in the Garden of Eden and what were its consequences?

What does it mean for man to be Totally Depraved?

Listen to this week's lesson to learn more...

http://www.box.net/shared/8undg83svj

Theo Lesson 3 - The Nature of God

In this lesson, we discussed the OT and NT perspectives of God, the nature of the Trinity, and the characteristics of God.

Audio can be heard here.. http://www.box.net/shared/qpqy43evo7

Lesson 2 of 11 - The Bible as God's Holy Word

To hear this lesson, click on this link

http://www.box.net/shared/jzfkmecu98

Why We Believe: Lesson 1 of 11

Lesson 1... The History of what we believe

http://www.box.net/shared/ng8hive66i

Romans: Lesson 12 of 12

Lesson 11

Six Rules for Practical Christian Living

Rule 6: Live a Life of Encouragement! (Romans 14:19 -15:13)

For audio of lesson, click here: http://www.box.net/shared/mzkijvyila

For printer-friendly version of these notes, click here: http://www.box.net/shared/bvnf8a76c2

Read Romans 15:1-7

Question: What is Encouragement?

Marrion Webster says that to encourage someone is to inspire them with spirit or hope.

In Romans 15, Paul is essentially telling the strong in faith to be encouragers for the weak in faith. According to Paul, it is the responsibility of the strong to close the gap to meet the weak.

Question: What does this remind you of?

Read Romans 5:7

The fact is that when we were weak, God closed the gap for us.

These verses in Romans 15 essentially call us to close that gap by living a life of encouragement.

I. The Reasons for encouragement

A. To promote Peace/unity (Romans 14:19)

Question: How effective is the gospel if the people of God are bickering and fighting amongst themselves?

Peace is one of the fruits of the spirit… love, joy, “peace”

If you recall from earlier in our studies in Romans, the righteousness that comes from God grants us “peace” with God (Romans 5:1).

Read Hebrews 12:14

When we encourage those who are weak in faith, we are working towards creating peace between ourselves – just like God worked towards creating peace between us and him.

Living at peace is more important than being right about open-handed issues.

B. For Mutual Edification (Romans14:19)

Question: How are the “strong” built up through encouragement of the weak?

Read Romans 1:11-12

Read Ephesians 4:15-16

We are all part of the body of Christ, and therefore when all the parts are working together and working as well as they can, the whole benefits.

C. For the Building Up of the body (Romans 15:2)

Encouragement goes hand in hand with building up the body of Christ.

II. The Example of encouragement

A. Christ (Romans 15:3)

Christ did not please himself, but did what was in our best interest

Christ is the ultimate example of one who was strong, closing the gap between himself and those of us who are weak, who were powerless to close the gap ourselves.

B. Scripture (Romans 15:4)

Although ultimately we know that the scriptures were written to point us to Christ, Paul gives us three things here that scripture does in addition to that

1. To teach truth

2. To establish endurance (perseverance)

3. To build hope

Question: Why do some so-called believers fall away?

Answer: They turn from faith because they either do not know or they lose hope in the promises of scripture.

C. Paul (Romans 16: 1-16)

III. The Source of encouragement - God (Romans 15:5)

Question: Is it hard to be an encourager?

In Romans 15:5, we see that GOD grants us the encouragement that we need to live in harmony with others. In other words, it is encouragement of the soul that God gives us that gives us the strength to be able to encourage others, build them up, and therefore increase harmony and unity within the body of Christ.

IV. The Result of encouragement

Question: What happens when we live a live of encouragement and build up others?

A. God is Praised (Romans15:6)

Have you ever tried to come to church and worship when you were out of fellowship with another believer?

By living a life of encouragement, we facilitate our ability to worship God.

B. God’s Glory is Revealed (Romans 15:7)

PRead Romans 15:8-12

Ultimately everything in the Christian life is about the praise and glory of God.

C. Hope is built in the lives of believers (Romans 15:13)

Question: Why is hope so important?

Hope is the natural emotional outflow of a life characterized by faith.

By contrast, a lack of hope is a demonstration of a lack of faith.

Faith and hope are both two of the three main elements of Christian character:

The triadic formula: Faith, Hope, and Love

1 Corinthians 13:13; 1 Thessalonians 1:3, 5:8

Paul talks about “hope” more in Romans than in any other epistle

ESV: Romans 17 times; 7 times in Hebrews and 2 Corinthians

NIV: Romans 18 times

Conclusion: A life of encouragement closes the gap between the weak and the strong and is necessary for the building of the body of Christ and for establishing faith and hope in believers.

Romans: Lesson 11 of 12

Lesson 10

Six Rules for Practical Christian Living

Rule 5: Live a Life of Consideration! (Romans 14)

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For printer friendly version of these notes: http://www.box.net/shared/ls2nu48pnf

How do you tell the difference between someone whose faith is weak and someone whose faith is strong?

Closed Handed Issues: An issue that has been unmistakably established by God’s word such that the vast majority of all Christians agree as to its correct interpretation or application.

Open Handed Issues: An issue that has not been directly addressed by God’s word or for which reasonable Christians are in disagreement as to its correct interpretation or application.

With these two definitions – Close Handed (Biblical Principle) and Open Handed (Personal Preference) – we can now define the weak and the strong in faith.

Weak in Faith: Those people that either

(a) insist that Open Handed Issues (issues of Personal Preference) conform to their standard – even to the point of sometimes treating them as Close Handed Issues (Biblical Principles)

(b) insist that God’s Grace and their freedom in Christ allows them to violate Close Handed Issues

Weak in Faith people tend to fall into one of two categories:

Legalism: Adding rules and regulations to Christianity that are not demanded by scripture

Libertinism: Deliberately choosing to live in disobedience under the guise of grace or freedom

Strong in Faith: Those people who hold firmly to and defend Close Handed Issues, but are gracious to others regarding Open Handed Issues

A person who is strong in faith, therefore, is someone who lives a life of consideration.

Read Romans 14:1, 4, 13

St. Augustine first said this… made famous by the 19^th century theologian Richard Baxter:

“In necessary things unity; in doubtful things liberty; in all things charity.”

How then, do we determine what to do in a given situation? Can we do something or not? If someone else is doing something, do we attempt to correct what they are doing or not?

To answer these questions, we must first ask a few questions ourselves.

I. An Open-Handed versus Closed Handed Issue

In these verses here in Romans 14, Paul discusses two issues that people were quarreling over in the early church:

1. Meat vs. Vegetables

In Roman times, it was hard to tell whether or not meat sold in the market had been sacrificed to idols or not. There was a general concern among early Christians that eating meat that had been sacrificed to idols gave tacit support and approval to those religions (akin to some people today saying that if you go to any movie, regardless of rating, you are supporting an industry that is godless and produces filth). The problem is that you did not always know whether or not the meat was sacrificed to an idol or not. Some people addressed this simply by saying they would not eat any meat at all. Paul addressed this in 1 Corinthians 8 and indeed he abstained from meat to avoid being a stumbling block. Some people were taking this to the extreme and essentially saying it is a sin to eat meat at all.

2. One Day vs. Another

This was a similar situation. In Roman times, there were certain feasts and festivals that were celebrated – both Jewish and pagan (In our terms, think Christmas vs. Halloween). Some early Christians were saying that to observe any of these at any level would be wrong.

· Did you know: Origen (early church father d.255) believed it was wrong to celebrate birthdays – therefore he did not celebrate Christmas?

Regarding these two issues, which was right? Actually, once Paul identified this issue an open-handed issue; it didn’t really matter, because there was no right answer. Paul’s solution was simply that if both sides treated the other with respect and did not judge the other, unity would be maintained.

Contrast this, however, with the situation at the church in Galatia. There were some people coming in and saying that salvation required one to observe certain Jewish customs. Read Galatians 3:1-3

These are very strong words from Paul because this was a closed-handed issue, not an open-handed issue

A. Close-Handed Issues must be defended

Short List of Closed-Handed Issues

· Biblical Authority and Inerrancy

· The Trinity

· Virgin birth of Jesus

· Sinless life of Jesus

· Death, Burial, and Resurrection of Jesus as a propitiation for our sins

· Salvation by Faith through Grace

· Moral law as affirmed by Jesus Christ

(i.e., the 10 commandments except for the Sabbath day – even the Sabbath day was affirmed that we always observe Jesus as our Sabbath Lord)

If you disagree with these items, then I would feel obligated to correct your error – and if I could not correct your error, I would probably have to choose not to remain in Christian fellowship with you (I would treat you as a non-believer)

Are there other major issues that you would say are solid Biblical Principles?

B. Open-Handed Issues should be tolerated

Two forms of Open-Handed Issues

1. Secondary Doctrinal Belief

A secondary doctrinal belief is one in which you firmly believe that you are correct in your interpretation of scripture, but you can/should tolerate someone who takes a different interpretation of the same scripture

Test case question: Can you still consider this person a Christian if they believe differently than you on the subject?

If the answer is “yes” then it is an open-handed doctrinal belief.

Are these examples of secondary doctrinal belief?

· Sprinkle vs. Emersion Baptism

· Pre, Mid, or Post Tribulation Rapture

· Calvinism vs. Arminianism

· Observing the Sabbath – but not because you think it is necessary for salvation (part of the 10 commandments… is it part of the moral code affirmed by Jesus?)

There are a wide range of issues like these that we might hold beliefs about – even strong beliefs – but we need to be very careful about what we determine is absolutely right versus absolutely wrong.

When we have differing views on these, we should tolerate the others views without passing judgment

However, if you say that one of these issues is an essential element that I MUST believe to be a Christian (in other words, turn these open-handed issues into closed-handed issues) I would consider you in error and feel obligated to either correct that error and – worst case scenario - could no longer be in Christian fellowship with you.

2. Personal Preference

Issues of personal preference are those which we may choose for ourselves based upon what we like or dislike rather than on some basis of biblical interpretation.

Test case question: Is the person living in sin if they believe differently than you on the subject?

Are these examples of personal preference?

· Time/Date of church services

· Worship style

· Version of the Bible (unless you insist that a specific version is required to be saved)

Like Secondary Doctrinal Beliefs, some people turn issues of personal preference into closed handed issues.

Now… maybe we’re not really sure. Maybe there’s some apparently conflicting or possibly even unclear biblical direction. Then it becomes not an issue of right and wrong, but an issue of conscious.

II. An Issue of Conscious

Examples of potentially unclear directives

· Drinking

Bible clearly says we are not to get drunk, but it doesn’t absolutely forbid drinking.

· Smoking

The bible is totally silent on this one.

Did you know: Charles Spurgeon, the esteemed Baptist preacher of the late 19^th century, was both a smoker and a drinker and claimed that he could do both to the glory of God?

· Tattoos

Leviticus 19:28 says we are not to have tattoos… the same passage also tells us not to cut the hair on the sides of our head, not to cut our beards, and not to eat fruit from a tree until it has been planted for 4 years. These are all part of the religious, ceremonial code that Jesus fulfilled and abolished.

How do decide in cases like these how we are to behave?

1. Each must be convinced (Romans 14:23)

If you think it is wrong (or even if you are not sure if it is or is not), then for you it is wrong.

2. Each must act unto the Lord (Romans 14:6-8)

Everything you do, you must do unto the Lord.

Do you believe the Lord would find your actions acceptable?

Can you say “I can smoke to the glory of God” like Charles Spurgeon said?

Can you say “I can get a tattoo to the glory of God”?

3. Each one will ultimately give an account of himself to God (Romans 14:12)

We still have another question to ask about the situation.

III. An Issue of Consideration

Paul is very clear that even in cases where we have clear Christian liberty to do something, there may be reasons why we may choose to limit our own freedoms for the sake of others.

Do not be a stumbling block (Romans 14:13)

1. Actions that do not consider others are not made in love (Romans 14:15)

2. Our actions can affect (destroy) others (Romans 14:15)

3. Good can be made into evil (Romans 14:16)

Romans 14:21

Like Paul Harvey’s “Rest of the Story”… there is a second chapter to Charles Spurgeon’s life. Spurgeon smoked and drank because his doctor told him he should do so to relax. After Spurgeon declared that he could smoke and drink to the glory of God, businessmen began using his slogan to promote their products – saying everyone should smoke and drink Spurgeon’s brands to the glory of God. Spurgeon realized that his stance needed to be rethought…

In one service, he said: “I neither said nor implied that it was sinful to drink wine; nay, I said that, in and by itself, this might be done without blame. But I remarked that, if I knew that another would be led to take it by my example, and this would lead them on to further drinking, and even to intoxication, then I would not touch it.”

He then became a total abstainer and said… “I abstain myself from alcoholic drink in every form, and I think others would be wise to do the same; but of this each one must be a guide unto himself.”

Spurgeon was living a life of consideration! When he realized his freedoms were harming others, he limited those freedoms voluntarily.

If you choose to act on one of these issues of Personal Preference and you know that there is the possibility that others may not react favorably towards it, Paul tells us to be sure to keep it as an issue between you and God.

IV. An Issue between You and God (Romans 14:22)

Since we are ultimately responsible to God about what we believe, we should keep “disputable” issues between ourselves and God in order to maintain the unity of the body.

If we choose to act on our confidences, we should do so discreetly so as to not harm the brethren – not sneaking around hiding it, but rather not to flaunt our freedom choices in front of those who may disagree with us. That, simply put, is NOT living a life of consideration.

Perhaps the verse that most readily summarizes this entire teaching is Romans 14:17

The Kingdom of God is not: a matter of eating or drinking

You can replace eating and drinking with any open handed issue.

The Kingdom of God is: Righteousness, Joy, and Peace in the Holy Spirit

What really matters? Being right before God.

What really matters? Being filled with the Joy of the Lord

What really matters? Being at peace – not just with God, but with each others

The only way to accomplish this is to live a life of consideration.

Live a life of Consideration… if necessary, limit your freedoms for others