Tag: faith

Contend for the Faith! (Jude)

Post author By Rich Leino
Post date December 17, 2007
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Jude 1-25

1 Jude, a bond-servant of Jesus Christ, and brother of James,To those who are the called, beloved in God the Father, and kept for Jesus Christ: 2May mercy and peace and love be multiplied to you.

3 Beloved, while I was making every effort to write you about our common salvation, I felt the necessity to write to you appealing that you contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all handed down to the saints. 4For certain persons have crept in unnoticed, those who were long beforehand marked out for this condemnation, ungodly persons who turn the grace of our God into licentiousness and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ.

5 Now I desire to remind you, though you know all things once for all, that the Lord, after saving a people out of the land of Egypt, subsequently destroyed those who did not believe. 6And angels who did not keep their own domain, but abandoned their proper abode, He has kept in eternal bonds under darkness for the judgment of the great day, 7just as Sodom and Gomorrah and the cities around them, since they in the same way as these indulged in gross immorality and went after strange flesh, are exhibited as an example in undergoing the punishment of eternal fire. 8. Yet in the same way these men, also by dreaming, defile the flesh, and reject authority, and revile angelic majesties.

9 But Michael the archangel, when he disputed with the devil and argued about the body of Moses, did not dare pronounce against him a railing judgment, but said, “The Lord rebuke you!” 10But these men revile the things which they do not understand; and the things which they know by instinct, like unreasoning animals, by these things they are destroyed. 11Woe to them! For they have gone the way of Cain, and for pay they have rushed headlong into the error of Balaam, and perished in the rebellion of Korah. 12These are the men who are hidden reefs in your love feasts when they feast with you without fear, caring for themselves; clouds without water, carried along by winds; autumn trees without fruit, doubly dead, uprooted; 13wild waves of the sea, casting up their own shame like foam; wandering stars, for whom the black darkness has been reserved forever.

14 It was also about these men that Enoch, in the seventh generation from Adam, prophesied, saying, “Behold, the Lord came with many thousands of His holy ones, 15to execute judgment upon all, and to convict all the ungodly of all their ungodly deeds which they have done in an ungodly way, and of all the harsh things which ungodly sinners have spoken against Him.” 16These are grumblers, finding fault, following after their own lusts; they speak arrogantly, flattering people for the sake of gaining an advantage.

17 But you, beloved, ought to remember the words that were spoken beforehand by the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ, 18that they were saying to you, “In the last time there will be mockers, following after their own ungodly lusts.” 19These are the ones who cause divisions, worldly-minded, devoid of the Spirit.

20 But you, beloved, building yourselves up on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit, 21keep yourselves in the love of God, waiting anxiously for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to eternal life. 22And have mercy on some, who are doubting; 23save others, snatching them out of the fire; and on some have mercy with fear, hating even the garment polluted by the flesh.

24 Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling, and to make you stand in the presence of His glory blameless with great joy, 25to the only God our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen.

As we come near the end of the year, we arrive at the second to the last book of the Bible, the Epistle of Jude. Jude identifies himself as the brother of James at the beginning of the Epistle. Like his brother James, Jude is not proud in the flesh. He identifies himself as a bondservant of Jesus Christ when, in fact, he could have identified himself as the earthly brother of Jesus.

Jude greets us and reminds us that God has called us out of a world of sin and will keep us until the day that all creation longs for: the revelation of the sons of God when Christ returns in glory. In the meantime, however, he writes a very ominous warning: “ 3Beloved, while I was making every effort to write you about our common salvation, I felt the necessity to write to you appealing that you contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all handed down to the saints.”

Notice that he starts out saying that he planned on writing a letter to encourage everyone about the common salvation that they all share but then something has alarmed him. Something has him greatly concerned. He is so concerned that he has to warn the readers that they need to “…contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all handed down to the saints.”

I’m not sure you really can feel the sense of what he means when he’s telling us to contend earnestly for the faith. In boxing, the person trying to capture the belt from the champion is called the contender. The idea is that we literally have to fight for the faith. That we are supposed to be humble and tender-hearted toward one another is very clear from the Scriptures but just as clear is how we are supposed to fight for the faith and, especially, to protect the flock of God. Paul, when talking about the Christian life, uses regular military and sports analogies. He compares the Christian life to training for battle, putting on armor, fighting the good fight, running the race, and disciplining the body. Why? Because what we’re about here is extremely dangerous stuff. We, who are in the military, train to steel our bodies and minds because warfare is very dangerous to the body. Christian, you need to be aware that you are in the middle of a spiritual battle and, everywhere around you, are people whose eternal souls are in peril. It’s one thing to have your body destroyed but, worse yet, to have your soul destroyed. This is serious, serious stuff.

Now, there are some people that believe I’m wound too tight about certain things. There is some truth to that. Sometimes I’m not as gentle and humble in heart as I should be. Yet, I fear, that I take Christianity so seriously only seems strange in light of a culture that does not take spiritual things seriously at all. When you read Jude or Peter or James or John or Paul or Jesus, you can’t help take things seriously if you take them seriously. Do you know who preached about Hell more than anyone in the entire Scriptures? It’s not an Old Testament prophet. It’s not even an Apostle. It is Jesus, the Son of God, Himself. He obviously knew better than all how serious God is and how much spiritual battle has to be given; for He had come to do battle to the death.

Jude, however, doesn’t tell us to just contend for faith in general. He didn’t tell us to contend for the faith of the Mormon or the Jehovah’s Witness or the Muslim. He commanded us to contend for the faith that was once for all delivered to the Saints. Paul identifies the Gospel as “…the righteousness of God is revealed faith to faith….” The New Testament reveals, over and over, that men have only ever been justified before God by faith and men will only ever be justified before God by faith. Once for all literally means that faith in Christ has been, is, and always will be the way in which wicked men can be cleansed from their sins and be able to stand before a Holy God.

Why would we have to fight for such a truth? Because even though there should be nothing shameful to us about the fact that God has sent His Son into the world to die for the sins of everyone who believes in Him, the world does not love that news and is ashamed of it. As we discussed last week, the world does not know Him. It does not know the Love of God. That also means that when we are contending for the faith, we are contending for the Love of God. We are contending for the truth that only Christ saves from sin.

The world hates that idea. It says it is unloving. It says it is intolerant. We start to hear the world’s song and we begin to waiver. Maybe claiming Jesus as the only way isn’t loving, maybe tolerance is the key…. No. Jude tells us to contend, to fight for the faith.

What makes matters worse, as Jude continues, is that there are deceivers who have crept into the Church. He reminds us all that we have been warned that such men have always existed and will always exist among us. He reminds us of the stories of Cain, Balaam, Korah, Sodom & Gomorrah. He reminds us of the people who were delivered out of Egypt with great power; who had seen a lamb slain and put blood over the doorposts so the wrath of God passed over them. In spite of seeing God’s power and hearing His promise to save all who trusted in the blood of the lamb, many died in the desert in unbelief. Throughout the history of God’s people, all saw the same wonders and tasted the same heavenly gift but then men like Korah would lead many astray.

As we mentioned previously, men like Korah don’t seem evil. To their followers, it appears that God is on their side. “We’re all following the same God anyway,” I’m sure they thought to themselves, “why can’t Korah lead? Why does Moses get to hog the power?” So Moses stepped away humbly and warned everyone else to move away as well. All who listened to Moses were saved but those who left the Truth and stood next to Korah were swallowed up by the ground.

This happens so often in the Scriptures that we read it and we think: “Oh, I’d never side with Korah” or “I’d never have sided with all of Israel against Joshua and Caleb” or “I’d never have rejected Jeremiah’s prophecy” but many of us don’t realize that it wasn’t so obvious to the people who died in sin. It was just common sense after all.

Jude calls such false teachers: “…clouds without water, carried along by winds; autumn trees without fruit, doubly dead, uprooted; 13wild waves of the sea, casting up their own shame like foam; wandering stars, for whom the black darkness has been reserved forever….” They look like just like regular clouds but they don’t bring any rain to relieve the dry and parched ground of men’s souls. Christ asked: “Is anyone thirsty” for He satisfies the thirst of men’s hearts but these men are simply empty clouds. Men chase after these false teachers, these moving clouds, waiting to be satisfied but they die of thirst. Have you ever noticed that every 3 years a new “Christian” bestseller comes out with the latest prayer formula or purpose formula or best life formula? These books are clouds without rain and they blow with the winds of the world’s culture.

These men also look like regular Christians – they look like every other tree except they are not rooted in Christ and they bear no fruit. They also seem to be stars bringing light into the darkness. They seem to be bearing truth. The truth is that they are not fixed in the heavens like stars useful to find your way. The traveler navigating by such a star will follow it foolishly not knowing it is leading him nowhere. They are unreliable guides for life.

But I hope for better things for you, things that accompany the salvation that was purchased for you by Christ: “ 20But you, beloved, building yourselves up on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit, 21keep yourselves in the love of God, waiting anxiously for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to eternal life. 22And have mercy on some, who are doubting; 23save others, snatching them out of the fire; and on some have mercy with fear, hating even the garment polluted by the flesh.”

Build yourselves up in the holy faith that has been revealed in the Word. Remember that the Word is fixed and the faith has been delivered once and for all. Learn it. Take comfort from it. Build yourselves up by it. Build each other up by it. Keep yourselves in the love of God.

And what is the love of God? Remember John. Not that we loved Him but that He loved us and sent His one and only Son to live for us and to die for us and to pay the penalty for sin that we deserved. Be established in the truth that God will only accept those that are found in His Son. Remember that you bring nothing in your hands to God but sin and, in the acknowledgment of sin and shame, you have the Cross of Christ to lay hold of by faith and say: “Christ, you are my only hope in this life.” Fight for it. Fight for it. Fight for it! You have no hope if you give that up even when men around you are trying to tell you that to hold on to Christ alone is to be close-minded. Hold on to the perfect Love of Christ even when men around you are tempting you to turn aside to the love of the world.

And remember your brothers and sister around you. Have mercy on those who are weak among us. Have mercy on those who are doubting. Are they weak in the faith and listening to the wrong people? Are they tempted to turn aside from the truth? Gently bring them to the Word and show them the perfect and only Way. Save them from the fire for that is all the false teachers have to offer and that is the sure reward for those that lead Christ’s sheep away. Protect the weak from such wolves. Put on your armor and, even as you are gentle toward the sheep, you stand up to false teachers and say: “You can’t have this one. This one is of us! This one is Christ’s! You may not have him!” This is the burden of love that we in leadership have for all of you.

But my confidence is not in men, in the end, but it is in the power of God to save and in the power of God to finish the good work He began in you all: “ 24Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling, and to make you stand in the presence of His glory blameless with great joy…”

Indeed, God has loved you with an everlasting love. God has brought you from death to life and has put you on your feet. He is powerful enough to make you stand and powerful enough to keep you from stumbling. He has clothed you with Christ and intends to present you blameless with great joy on that great Day.

25 to the only God our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen.”

Tags Christ, faith, James, Jesus Christ, love, sin

Epistles Scripture

Not That We Loved Him… (1 John 4)

Post author By Rich Leino
Post date December 9, 2007
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1 John 4:1-21

1 Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world. 2By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God; 3 and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God; this is the spirit of the antichrist, of which you have heard that it is coming, and now it is already in the world. 4 You are from God, little children, and have overcome them; because greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world. 5 They are from the world; therefore they speak as from the world, and the world listens to them. 6 We are from God; he who knows God listens to us; he who is not from God does not listen to us. By this we know the spirit of truth and the spirit of error.

7 Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. 8 The one who does not love does not know God, for God is love. 9 By this the love of God was manifested in us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world so that we might live through Him. 10 In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. 11 Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. 12 No one has seen God at any time; if we love one another, God abides in us, and His love is perfected in us.

13 By this we know that we abide in Him and He in us, because He has given us of His Spirit. 14 We have seen and testify that the Father has sent the Son to be the Savior of the world. 15 Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God. 16 We have come to know and have believed the love which God has for us. God is love, and the one who abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him. 17 By this, love is perfected with us, so that we may have confidence in the day of judgment; because as He is, so also are we in this world. 18 There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves punishment, and the one who fears is not perfected in love. 19 We love, because He first loved us. 20 If someone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for the one who does not love his brother whom he has seen, cannot love God whom he has not seen. 21 And this commandment we have from Him, that the one who loves God should love his brother also.

As I was preparing for this message, I realized that I was going to be teaching on probably the most famous portion of the Bible that says “…God is love…” in 1 John 4:8. Of course, the reason it is famous is not because people actually understand what love means. It’s famous with many men and women who actually hate Christianity because they have their own ideas about what love is. Love seems like an idea that anyone can define personally and, so, the idea that God is love makes them very happy because it fits exactly with their idea of who He should be. What they don’t want from God, however, is the love that He has offered. They also only want love if it’s how they’ve defined it and not necessarily how God has defined it. They want love on their own terms and they want God on their own terms.

I’ve told a number of you a story about something that happened on the Oprah Winfrey show a number of years ago. There was a discussion about God. Of course nobody in the room, including Oprah, seemed to know much about who God is. One woman said this: “I don’t think I believe in God.” Oprah responded by asking: “Do you believe in love?” The woman stated that she did. Oprah replied, with all the wisdom of the world: “Then you believe in God.” Is this true? By saying God is love are the Scriptures really saying that love is God? Is anything that we decide is love is what God is?

Well to answer this, we should listen to John at the beginning of this chapter again: 1Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world. 2By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God; 3 and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God; this is the spirit of the antichrist, of which you have heard that it is coming, and now it is already in the world.

John is warning Christians of something we need to be careful to listen to. The plain fact is that there are many false prophets and teachers in the world that are claiming to represent the truth. We are commanded by the word of God to test every spirit. We are commanded to take captive every thought to the Word of God and measure it against the Word to determine if it is true.

Life would be much easier if false teachers had red horns, sharp teeth, tails, and looked really mean and evil. In classic American films, the bad guys always wear black and have evil eyebrows. But in the real world, false teachers often sound very convincing, look really nice, and smell really good. They might even have a huge following and be on TV claiming to teach the Gospel. They tug at our heart strings. They seem to be saying things that must be true because so many people follow them, listen to them, and even proclaim how their lives have been changed.

Now, I love the Internet and e-mail as much as anyone but one thing that I really do not like are those e-mails you get with stories created to make you cry or feel good. A few years ago, I received an e-mail from a close female friend of the family. The story was designed to make everyone feel really warm by telling a tale that Jesus one time found Satan with a world full of sinners and asked Satan how much he wanted from Jesus so that Jesus could “buy” them from him. It seemed like such a beautiful tale of how much Jesus loved these wretched creatures that Satan owned and that Jesus would be willing, in fact, to give His life to Satan for them.

The problem with the story is that it was a lie. Jesus didn’t save men from Satan ultimately but He redeemed them from the wrath of God. Jesus didn’t give His life to Satan, He offered Himself to His Father. I lovingly responded to the friend instructing her that this was not the Gospel and that central to the Gospel was that we know what Christ has actually done. She responded in a way I’ll never forget because it is the spirit of our age: “I know, Rich, but it’s just a good reminder of how much God loves us.”

What? It’s not a reminder at all if it’s not what happened. Love rejoices with the truth. Right?! But, you have to understand that many of us are not really testing the spirits that are making us feel good against the Truth. Many of us are led astray by many false ideas because we’re not testing the things we hear or read. Just because it feels good doesn’t mean it is.

John gives us a very basic test in verse 2 by declaring: “ 2…every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God….” At first, it might seem like everyone you meet could be trusted because, after all, who denies that Christ has come in the flesh? This is the season, after all, when the whole world is celebrating the birth of Jesus. All over are trees and Christmas lights and people are giving each other “seasons greetings”. The reality is much different though.

When John wrote this, there was a heretical group called the Gnostics. They were named after the Greek word for knowledge, which is gnosis. The difficult thing for Greeks to believe, due to their philosophers, was that Christ could have come in the flesh. Death was, to them, an escape from physical things. Flesh was evil. God could not take on human flesh because that would corrupt Him. Many believed Jesus was God but they taught that Christ only seemed to come in the flesh. This is why John, in his Gospel and his epistles, makes such constant reference to Jesus’ real humanity. You see, to John and to all Christians, we must testify to the truth that Christ was fully God and fully man in one person. Those who deny his humanity are false teachers and we know they are false because they deny this.

But the sense of what John is saying is not merely that we believe that God once took on human flesh in a manger two thousand years ago. The verse literally says that Christ has come in the flesh meaning that He still is in the flesh. The divine nature and the human nature of Christ are still united in the one person of Christ as He reigns on high. False teachers always deny one or both of these very central truths.

Modern liberal scholarship about Jesus can best be summed up in a single word: unbelief. It is so common that it pervades the Churches and many of us today are infected in very subtle ways. There is a tendency in the Church today to think of God and our relationship to Him as completely spiritual and something that the mind or flesh does not participate in. But God redeems us in the whole person when we are born again and is redeeming our flesh as well as our mind. Our flesh was created good in the Garden but it was our hearts from within that defiled from the inside out.

An Anglican bishop was recently asked what would happen to his faith if conclusive proof was found that Christ was not raised from the dead. He responded, foolishly, that his faith did not depend upon the physical resurrection of Christ. Now, I’m not suggesting we should expect evidence to be coming out that disproves the resurrection but, beloved, the physical resurrection means everything to our faith. That Christ’s physical body was raised from the grave means the difference between being alive with Him or still dead in your sins! Christ’s humanity is central to our salvation.

John continues by exhorting us with great affection: 4 You are from God, little children, and have overcome them; because greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world. 5 They are from the world; therefore they speak as from the world, and the world listens to them. 6 We are from God; he who knows God listens to us; he who is not from God does not listen to us. By this we know the spirit of truth and the spirit of error.

Paul notes in Ephesians that we all used to walk according to the pattern of this world. John is saying the same thing here. We are those who, at one time, thought just like the world thinks but, when God saves us from the world, He saves our minds too. Our minds are not instantly transformed, however, which is what Paul notes in Romans 12 as we are commanded to be transformed by the renewing of our minds. God transforms our thinking as we grow. We were once fools but He gives us wisdom as we grow.

I described it to the Wednesday night class this way. Our minds are like a tuning fork. If you’ve ever picked up a tuning fork, you can actually hum at the correct note and the tuning fork will start to vibrate in your hand. The fallen mind is like a tuning fork that resonates with the spirit of the world. We still have sin that abides within us and God is working in us to make us more like Him. In the meantime, however, we need to recognize that this sin nature is within us and clouds our thinking. Sometimes the world will send us really nice e-mails that make us cry and respond or make us say: “Why, that’s just common sense.” We need to be on our guard, however. Christ told us that out of our hearts proceed all manner of things including blasphemy. Hollywood tells you to listen to your heart while God tells you that’s the last place you ought to rely upon for truth.

We’ve been redeemed to overcome the world and its upside-down thinking about reality. We have been redeemed and the other tuning fork resonates with the things of God. We recognize that they are the things of God not by first testing with our heart but by going to His Word. Those that belong to God listen to His Word because their hearts respond as His Word resonates within them.

John says very simply: “ 6 We are from God; he who knows God listens to us; he who is not from God does not listen to us. By this we know the spirit of truth and the spirit of error.”

Do you want to tell truth from error? Read God’s Word. Do you want to know who belongs to God? They are those that listen to His Word. If you get a story from someone and they say “…this means so much to me…” but you point out that God’s Word says this is wrong but they don’t care about what God has to say then they do not know God and you should not be deceived. Now, you should certainly pray for them but don’t let your emotions carry you away in agreeing with those who disagree with the Word of God. Trust God’s Word first and last in all things. Don’t change the Word because your heart is commanding it but let your hearts be changed by the Word.

We are all prepared now, I hope, to learn anew from God on what He means by love rather than what we think it is. We are prepared to hear: “ 7 Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. 8 The one who does not love does not know God, for God is love.”

I hope you have been really paying attention the last few weeks because this theme keeps coming forward like the refrain to a song. We love one another because we are born of God. We love because love is from God and we are from God. If we do not love then we do not know God. Notice that it doesn’t say this: “If you love then you will learn to know God.” No, we love because we know God, because we are born of Him. We love because we have life. If we do not love, we have no life and we do not know Him.

But what is love? What does it mean that God is love? John answers that question very directly: “By this the love of God was manifested in us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world so that we might live through Him.”

Oh! Do not miss the profound love found in this statement. What love is this! What love is it that God sent His one and only Son. His Son whom He loved from eternity and had perfect, unbroken fellowship along with the Holy Spirit. You see the profound truth is that if God had never created man He would have been perfectly content in Himself. He did not need us to express love. Love has existed forever within the community of the Godhead as Father, Son, and Spirit love each other with a perfect love.

But God sent His one and only Son, whom He loved, to a world that hated Him – to a world of men who were dead in their sins and trespasses. There was nothing that God gained by sending His Son to die for us other than a love that He decided to lavish upon us. This is a love that we cannot comprehend. A love that we will never grow tired of praising when we are in glory with Him as we contemplate the great grace of our God toward us.

He continues “ 10 In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins.” Do you see this? God did not love us because we loved Him but it says that God loved us even though we did not love Him. His Son came to pay for the sins of a people who only had incurred wrath and judgment. He came because God cannot look upon sin. Every single one of our sins was added to Christ on the Cross and, before we even knew Him, before we loved Him, our sins were put on Christ and He who knew no sin became Sin for us. He who had never displeased His father took on the wrath for sin that we deserved. You see, that when God commands us to love our enemies it is because God loved us while we were His enemies and, by His love, we were redeemed to Him!

How can the following ever be read as a burden once we have really fallen at the foot of the Cross in gratitude: “ 11 Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. 12 No one has seen God at any time; if we love one another, God abides in us, and His love is perfected in us.”

This isn’t Law, it’s the response of the Gospel. Of course I love those who you love God. How could I not love them for you have shown much more love and much more forbearance toward me.

It is very telling to me that the world right now is very content to proclaim “Peace on Earth and good will to men” because they think they know what it means. But, like most things, this is a spirit that needs to be brought captive to the Word of God where Christ states in John 14:27 – “Peace I leave with you; My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Do not let your heart be troubled, nor let it be fearful.”

That same Apostle who recorded those words of Christ tells us even more in 1 John 4:18-19: “ 18There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves punishment, and the one who fears is not perfected in love. 19 We love, because He first loved us.”

There is no fear now. There is no condemnation. There is no judgment. There is peace. The world seems to constantly be seeking peace and to offer peace but the most important kind of peace is the kind that only Christ can give. That peace is peace with God Himself. The world believes in every kind of love except the love that God gives. That’s because the world thinks that what love is begins with us, but perfect love begins with God.

Because God first loved us, He sent His one and only Son to die for us. Because God first loved us, our dead hearts heard the Gospel of Christ’s death and resurrection heralded to the world and our dead hearts of stone began beating with life. Because God first loved us, our feet ran to the Cross and answered: “Yes Lord! I believe that you are the sacrifice for my sins and have satisfied the judgment of God that I deserved. I have peace with God through You, Lord!” Because God first loved us, we behold the wondrous salvation we have received and our hearts burst forth in joy. Because God first loved us our hearts answer back in love as God’s love resonates within us. We love God and we love others because God first loved us. Beloved, we know what love is because God first loved us.

Let us pray.

Tags Christ, election, faith, His Son, His Word, life, love, sin

Epistles Scripture

Everything We Need (2 Peter 1:1-14)

Post author By Rich Leino
Post date December 2, 2007
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2 Peter 1:1-14

Simon Peter, a bond-servant and apostle of Jesus Christ, To those who have received a faith of the same kind as ours, by the righteousness of our God and Savior, Jesus Christ: Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord; seeing that His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness, through the true knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence. For by these He has granted to us His precious and magnificent promises, so that by them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world by lust. Now for this very reason also, applying all diligence, in your faith supply moral excellence, and in your moral excellence, knowledge, and in your knowledge, self-control, and in your self-control, perseverance, and in your perseverance, godliness, and in your godliness, brotherly kindness, and in your brotherly kindness, love. For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they render you neither useless nor unfruitful in the true knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. For he who lacks these qualities is blind or short-sighted, having forgotten his purification from his former sins. Therefore, brethren, be all the more diligent to make certain about His calling and choosing you; for as long as you practice these things, you will never stumble; for in this way the entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ will be abundantly supplied to you. Therefore, I will always be ready to remind you of these things, even though you already know them, and have been established in the truth which is present with you. I consider it right, as long as I am in this earthly dwelling, to stir you up by way of reminder, knowing that the laying aside of my earthly dwelling is imminent, as also our Lord Jesus Christ has made clear to me.

As we continue in our series through the Books of the Bible we come to the second Epistle of Peter. In the notes, you may have noticed that the passage we’ll be focusing on is 2 Peter 1:3-10. You may also notice that I tend to cover longer sections of Scripture and try to explain what the Apostle is telling us. There is a reason for that. Too often we like to use Scripture to find particular verses and then read those verses as if there is nothing else in that book surrounding those passages. We may even have memorized a short portion of Scripture but really have no idea what people were talking about when they wrote it.

Have you ever been in a conversation where you feel like somebody took a small part of what you said and then twisted it? I’m sure you were quite upset that people put words in your mouth by only choosing a small portion of what you said and then twisted its meaning. In the end, you don’t even recognize your own message in the way someone quoted you. Scripture is no different.

As we read this passage, one of the things that I’m certain that most people’s eyes will immediately focus upon are verses 5-7. I’m certain of it because there we find stuff that we’re told to do. After all, isn’t the Word supposed to be practical? Isn’t it supposed to give me a list of things that I need to do throughout the week?

I remember talking to a Pastor a few years ago because he was preaching on a particular passage and it seemed like no matter what passage he would cover, he had to come up with how that particular behavior was an example to all of us on how we should behave. It didn’t even matter if it was Paul journeying around in a particular country, he was going to find some example like: “”¦this means we should all be on a personal journey.” I remember thinking: Are you kidding me?

Before I joined the Church, I went over to his house to eat and we got along well so I asked him about it carefully. I remarked: “Well, soon we’ll be getting into Romans and the first 11 Chapters don’t really say anything about what we are supposed to do but it talks about what God has done in Christ Jesus.” He responded that he planned on giving a personal application to every portion as he went through it. I asked why and he said that he was taught in Seminary that you have to give an application, something for a person to “take home”, in every sermon. That really saddened me because he might have learned that from a professor but he didn’t learn that from the Scriptures.

I want you to notice something about verse 5. It begins like this: “Now for this very reason also, applying all diligence, in your faith supply moral excellence”¦.” Now, we’re going to get back to this part again but did you catch the beginning? It said: “For this very reason”¦.” What reason, Peter? Well many of us would just ignore that part because we’re being told to do something now but Peter says “”¦for this very reason”¦” and so it only makes sense that if we’re supposed to do something for a reason then we ought to know what that reason is. Right?

Here’s the reason he gives earlier: “Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord; seeing that His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness, through the true knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence. For by these He has granted to us His precious and magnificent promises, so that by them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world by lust.”

Wow! What a reason. What a motivation! Let me unpack that a little bit. Notice something first about this motivation: what are we doing in those verses? Absolutely nothing. God is doing everything. We are recipients. Do you know what that’s called? It’s called the Gospel. The Good News is not that we’re getting things done for God but that, first of all, God has done wonderful things for us.

His divine power, the power that created heaven and earth, the power that said “Let there be light” and by the power of His Word it was so. That same divine power has given us everything pertaining to life and godliness. He has given us knowledge of Himself and called us by His glory and excellence. You and I were corpses rotting in the grave and God called us from death to life and made us alive so that we could hear Him. He made us alive so that we could see the beauty of the Cross.

Finally, He has granted to us His precious and magnificent promises, so that by them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world by lust. God has promised us. Now people break their promises all the time but not God. He has promised us to become partakers in the divine nature in Christ Jesus and that we are sure to escape death because we have placed our trust in Him. Do you know what? Your salvation was certain, the fact that you would reign in heaven as God’s adopted child was absolutely sure the moment God decided to save you. This is often spoken of as an inheritance in Scripture.

Do you remember what I told the children about an inheritance last week? An inheritance is not something you earn from your parents but it’s something that you simply receive. You didn’t choose your parents, you didn’t earn the money they made all their lives or the house they bought. They did all the work. They put all the toil into it so they could pass something on. We contribute nothing to the inheritance we receive from our ancestors and so it is with God.

Some of you may remember when I spoke about the Prodigal Son. He had spit on his father by claiming his inheritance early. Generations of work had gone into securing a large property that was passed from father to son over many, many centuries. The son demands his portion from his father wishing him dead and then goes out and spends it on a big party. Centuries of ancestral blessing are spent in a few weeks and the boy is destitute.

He’s working with pigs and then he comes to his senses. He’ll go back to his father and ask for forgiveness. His only desire now is to be a slave in His father’s house. He knows he doesn’t deserve anything more. This is exactly what the Pharisees expected too. Forgiveness could not be granted but the boy had to earn his way back. He would be expected to wait in the town as the people in the town came to heap shame upon the boy.

But then the oddest thing happened. The father saw the boy from far off and he ran to him. He ran to him before that boy could get to the town and receive the shame of the townspeople. He ran to him and fell on his neck weeping and kissing this scoundrel. The boy was coming to the Father expecting to earn his way back into the father’s favor but the father who had long loved the boy had overtaken him before his plan could be completed. He said “Father forgive me”¦” and before he could say “make me your slave”, the father squeezed the breath out of him. You see, beloved, God doesn’t permit slaves into His kingdom, He only permits sons. He only permits in those whom He adopts out of sheer grace. They deserve nothing from His Hand but He gives them a rich inheritance. He gives them a rich inheritance more lavish than the inheritance they squandered while they were living their own life. The only thing the son can do is receive that blessing.

Are your eyes wide open now? Do you understand now what that “reason” is that Peter was talking about in verse 5 when he says: “For this very reason”¦.” Why would the son that was just lavished with love by His father and given an inheritance desire to serve Him? Because he loves Him! He’s grateful for what God has done. There is no more condemnation. He knows he can’t earn what was just given so now He obeys the Father out of the sheer joy for how incredibly blessed he is.

So Peter goes on and tells us: “Now for this very reason also, applying all diligence, in your faith supply moral excellence, and in your moral excellence, knowledge, and in your knowledge, self-control, and in your self-control, perseverance, and in your perseverance, godliness, and in your godliness, brotherly kindness, and in your brotherly kindness, love.”

Do you see how you have a completely different way of looking at these verses now? You were probably ready to start working at these so you could work for God and receive a blessing you were missing out on. In fact, the most popular “Christian” books out there are constantly telling you that the reason you’re missing out on God’s blessing is because you’re not living up to your purpose. But Peter doesn’t motivate us by giving us a purpose. No! He motivates us by the promise of God and what He has done and so we respond by adding to the faith that we have in Him these virtues. Why? Because what child who loves their Father dearly, doesn’t want to delight in the things that He delights in?

And so as Christians, in the household of God, we take on character traits that reflect our Father and His Son who redeemed us: moral excellence, knowledge, self-control, perseverance, godliness, brotherly kindness, and love. Now it’s not as if we have to be perfect in one before we start maturing In the other. Rather, it’s that we’re maturing in all of these traits at the same time and should be striving for them. It’s also not that we’re striving by ourselves but it is the plan of God that He will ensure that He completes in you the work that He began in you. There is a sense, though, in how one character trait is necessary for another.

Our moral excellence is the sense in which we love and do the things that God loves. We do so because we don’t want to insult the One we love. My constant prayer is that I will love the things that God loves and to learn to hate my sin more every day. Why? Because the reason I sin is that I love my sin more than I love God and it’s the same reason you do too. So, as we mature, we become more excellent in our thoughts and behaviors.

Of course, we cannot know what God desires or who He is unless we gain knowledge of Him. How do we learn about God? By reading His Scriptures; by devouring it; by hanging by His every Word. Beloved, it is not spiritual or Godly to be ignorant of God’s Word. We have to know something about the people we love or they begin to wonder if we really love them. Imagine if I never spent any time getting to know my wife then she would begin to wonder if I really love her. Ask any woman whether they appreciate if you know her birthday or your anniversary and you’ll begin to realize how critical knowledge is to your relationships and growth.

Now I need to pick on the men here for a minute. It never ceases to amaze me how many men tell me how hard it is to understand the Bible with all the facts and stuff inside of it. It’s just too hard and they don’t have the time. They have a simple faith, they tell me. But then start talking to that same man about Sports. Watch out! I used to be embarrassed that I didn’t know all the endless statistics and details about baseball, football, or basketball from player’s names to who is winning to who is being drafted. These same men who say it’s too hard to study the Bible somehow find time to study and become knowledgeable about Sports. Do you know why? They LOVE Sports. Interesting isn’t it that we KNOW lots of stuff about the things we love. Men! It’s time to add knowledge to your moral excellence. This Saturday, 8 am, see you there!

As we progress in the knowledge of the Lord and mature in what He delights in we begin to gain self-control. That is, that we are more able to withstand the onslaught of sin and temptation as Christ matures us and as we get to know more and more about how big He is and how small we are. We never have victory over sin but we do learn to gain more control over it.

Self-control is a process of discipline and those who discipline themselves in anything gain perseverance ““ they gain endurance. Again, this is not something we do on our own but it is of the Spirit who supplies it richly to us. It is just a matter of fact that discipline has a quality all its own in terms of giving us the ability to stand firm when things are rough and, as we discussed last week, we need perseverance for the sufferings of this world.

As we persevere in our faith, fixed upon the Cross of Christ, we become more Godly ““ that is, more God focused. We begin to focus more on His glory than our own. We’re willing to take the shame of the Cross because we realize we have no reason for pride.

You may recall that I talked about, two weeks ago, how men who lose the knowledge of God in their minds end up losing what makes men and women around them meaningful: that is, the image of God. As we become more Godly, we start to be more reverent and loving of our brothers and sisters around us who are created in the image of God and we have brotherly kindness for those in the Church. How can you not love a man or a woman whom Christ loved and gave Himself for? What kind of love do you have for what your Savior did for you if that love does not flow out of you towards those He loves?

And so, it is so natural, isn’t it, that love itself is expressed. For Paul says in Romans 13 that love is the end of the Law, that is that it is the goal of the Law. When we mature in love we begin to grow beyond all the “thou shall not’s” in the Law and grow into the mature character that loves God with all our heart, soul, and mind and loves our neighbor as itself.

But just remember this. If you start with trying to love God on your own strength before you’ve believed the Gospel, before you’ve fallen at the foot of the Cross, and before you’ve heard the news of your acceptance by God and His rich blessing then you won’t be able to do any of it. You’ll be trying to show love and brotherly kindness as a way to fix up your life. You’ll be trying to get those merit badges so you can show God how serious you are that He’ll have to take notice of you and bless you. But there is no blessing if we approach these things as if they’re something that slaves do. We can only express them as children of God. We have to be born again.

We have to have believed the Gospel that men couldn’t possibly earn anything from God’s hand because we had only earned wrath for our sin and so God sent His Son to do it for us. He endured the shame and rejection that we deserved, to give us the inheritance that He earned for us. So we come anew every day, as Peter tells us that he reminds us over and over: these are the wondrous things that God has done in the Gospel and so rejoice Christian. Be at peace. Receive the salvation promised by your Father and in your joy and love that answers back the love He has for you, be matured daily to become more excellent, more enraptured by His Word, more controlling of the sin that is being put to death in you, more enduring and able to withstand the onslaught of sin in the world, more Godly in your focus, more loving to those that bear His image, and more loving of the One who has loved you with an Everlasting love.

The Gospel is simply this: God has done what we couldn’t do. Amazing Grace! We receive simply with empty hands offering nothing in return and then the love we have for our Redeemer comes bubbling out of the spring He is filling up within us and the character of a transformed life shines forth to the world!

Let us pray.

Tags faith, life, love, perseverance, Peter, sin

Epistles Scripture

A Ready Hope (1 Peter 3:13-17)

Post author By Rich Leino
Post date November 25, 2007
No Comments on A Ready Hope (1 Peter 3:13-17)

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1 Peter 3:13-17

Who is there to harm you if you prove zealous for what is good? But even if you should suffer for the sake of righteousness, you are blessed. AND DO NOT FEAR THEIR INTIMIDATION, AND DO NOT BE TROUBLED, but sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts, always being ready to make a defense to everyone who asks you to give an account for the hope that is in you, yet with gentleness and reverence; and keep a good conscience so that in the thing in which you are slandered, those who revile your good behavior in Christ will be put to shame. For it is better, if God should will it so, that you suffer for doing what is right rather than for doing what is wrong.

As we continue in our expositional series through the Books of the Bible, we come to the First Peter. Many times in the Epistles, the authors will tell their audience why they are writing the letter. When Peter begins, however, he doesn’t explain why he’s writing to the Saints scattered around Asia Minor. As the letter develops, though, it becomes much clearer that the Epistle was written to encourage believers in their faith and to persevere in it. I pray that you may find that encouragement, as well, today.

More than a mere nice encouragement, though, Peter is giving the encouragement to readers who are facing real trials and real persecution ““ including death ““ and he is giving them words that are supposed to give them hope and strength and the ability to stand firm in the midst of persecution. The word hope occurs five times in First Peter and occurs in the passage we just read from 1 Peter Chapter 3.

It is interesting, as you read through this book, that the need for this hope is set against the suffering that Christians not only experience but are bound to experience in this life. Christians endure suffering in a world that is not their own. They are strangers in the world and, because of this, they are rejected by it. They are scorned by the world and experience suffering because they bear Christ’s name.

From the first to the last portions of the letter, Peter instructs believers to be holy and to avoid evil He wants believers to understand that there is something more to suffering than merely putting up with it but, more importantly, he wants to remind people that suffering is an expected part of the Christian life. In business, it is illegal to perform what is called “bait and switch”, that is to say that you cannot lure people to your business promising them a car for $10,000 and then, when they’re ready to by, you reveal that the price is really $20,000. It’s illegal and we know why because it is dishonest. But the promise of the Christian life is that we will suffer. It’s not a matter of if we will suffer but whether we are prepared for it. One thing is for sure and that is that we should not be surprised by suffering. Also, if there was no hope beyond it then suffering would just be pointless.

Hope is what makes suffering worthwhile. The Apostle Paul compares the suffering in the creation to the pains of a woman in labor. Look, ladies, the only reason that labor is exciting is that there’s a baby at the end of it. Imagine if you just experienced the incredible pain of labor constantly and you had no expectation that it would never end and that there would be no joy, no baby, at the end of it. Probably the saddest stories I’ve heard are of women that go through labor to give birth to stillborn children. All that pain and, at the end, only grief.

So the question for you, Christian, is this: what hope is it that you are supposed to be ready to give a defense of? After all, the apostle Peter, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit has given us each a command and it is this: “”¦always be ready to make a defense to everyone who asks you to give an account for the hope that is in you, yet with gentleness and reverence”¦.” Well, I’m asking you Christian: what is your hope?

This is a really serious question because, when sorrow comes, when persecution comes and when suffering more painful than child labor comes along, what hope are you clinging to that will sustain you? It is very sad to me, indeed, but it does not surprise me to hear more and more of people whose faith is shipwrecked because of the death of a child or a loved one or some other horror that awaits in this wicked world. I’m saddened but the reason I’m not surprised is how weak and pitiful the message of hope that I hear out of the mouths of Christians these days. Beloved, our hope is powerful but you have to have that hope in your bloodstream or the house of your belief is built on sand. The waves of sorrow in this life will crash against that house and wash it all away. I truly believe that when great persecution begins against the Christian Church in the United States that many people’s houses will crumble because they do not hear enough of the glorious hope that has to be the bedrock of their souls to withstand the suffering that the world will bring. In fact, the very way many of us have been trained to express our hope to others shows how poor our hope really is. I believe our hope can be much stronger and that is the goal of this passage.

What do I mean? Have you ever heard somebody witness Christ this way: Jesus loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life. Have you ever been taught that a personal testimony is supposed to be something like: I used to beat up my wife and my kids but then I accepted Jesus into my heart and now I don’t do that anymore.

Is our hope really about how much our lives have been improved since Jesus came into our hearts? Is it really? I know you might want to say it is but please stop and think about it for a second. What happens when the storm of sin and misery comes and our life falls apart around us? Then how are we supposed to “testify” of the wonderful things that God has done? What if our hope is nothing more than how good our life is going and our joy and hope is that things will be just like today but only better? Americans are particularly prone to this because we have such happy lives with very little poverty and want. It’s easy to mistake our material happiness with real hope.

Also, let me ask you another question: just because Jesus makes you happy, what difference does that make to me? I have Muslim friends that tell me how fulfilled their life is since they began reading Muhammad. I have Mormon friends that are convinced that their heart is most happy because they prayed a prayer in the Book of Mormon and received a burning in the bosom. Buddhists will “testify” of the inner peace that comes from within when you meditate on the sound of “one hand clapping”.

So the question for the “shopper” of meaning in life is: which one should I choose for happiness and hope? After all, aren’t we told that it doesn’t matter what you believe as long as you’re sincere? Aren’t we told that we have to have faith in something?

Beloved, our hope is not that we have hope. Our hope is not that we have faith. Our hope is not that we once we were sad but now we’re glad. Our hope is much more meaningful. The hope that we’re commanded to share points to something beyond ourselves. Our hope makes a claim on men’s lives that they have to pay attention to. If Christianity is just something that made my life nice then that’s good for Rich Leino but what difference does that make to Steve Jones? Works for Rich, he might say. But, what if our hope was not in ourselves but was fixed upon something else?

But wait, Rich, this is what we’ve grown up with. You can’t be serious. I mean, come on, who doesn’t love stories of men who were heroin addicts and they prayed to God for deliverance and, Presto!, they never craved the drug again? What about the alcoholic that prayed to God and, Glory!, they instantly hated alcohol and never craved a drink again in their lives? We love those stories. We want to parade them out as our Gospel “superstars”. Look how powerful the Gospel is because they’re happy now and delivered from sin and misery!

What about those stories, though? What about the thousands of others that have prayed to God for instant delivery from addiction after becoming a Christian and the delivery isn’t instant? What about the man that struggles with the same sin regularly and cannot conquer it and cries out to God that he doesn’t want to sin that way anymore? I thought the Gospel was supposed to be about how happy I am so why isn’t this working for me?! Why do I still struggle with my sin? But the majority of Christians have left such men in their misery and passed them by and run to these “superstars” and say: “This is the Gospel. Happiness. Health. Victory.”

But, oh, what about the poor sinner? Nobody goes to the Scriptures any more and hears Paul crying out in agony:

Romans 7:18-24

For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out. For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing. Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me. So I find it to be a law that when I want to do right, evil lies close at hand. For I delight in the law of God, in my inner being, but I see in my members another law waging war against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members. 24Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?

Paul had a Gospel answer to that question. Paul had a hope that didn’t point to himself. Paul didn’t answer that question by thinking of Peter or Elijah or some other hero who lived a good life and got good things that came. Paul, one of the greatest evangelists that ever lived, knew that his hope was fixed on something more firm. Remember, beloved, that Paul prayed three times to be delivered from an affliction of the flesh and the answer from the Lord was “my grace is sufficient for you.” Do we have a hope that can trust in that answer?

Years ago there was a prominent man that was brought to all the typical large Evangelical meetings. His testimony was all about how perfect his life was now. He had once been a practicing homosexual. He was miserable in that life but, one day, he “found Christ” and prayed that he would be delivered from his sin. Now he was a happy man with a beautiful wife and children. As usual, he was brought around like a display of what Christianity offers.

The only problem is that men make for bad objects of faith. Because they’re not God, they end up disappointing those that place their trust in their lives. The man ended up falling greatly, left his wife, and went back into his homosexual lifestyle. The Evangelical community didn’t have much use for him then. Their object of hope had failed so they had to find another superstar to place on a pedestal.

Why is it we need to hear from sports figures or from the Power Team how happy Christ makes them? Maybe, just maybe, some of that will rub off on us and we can be super-successful too. Maybe our hope is that we’ll get everything good in life.

But, beloved, this is not the hope that Peter is talking about. Life is not going to give you everything you want and when you go placing your hope in how you or others have been changed then you will always be disappointed and you will never have any real testimony to share.

Well, I’m tired of talking about what our hope isn’t and you’re probably tired of hearing it so let’s just get to it. This, and this alone, is our hope. This is what can stand the trial. This is what another man cannot ignore when you share. This is what should make you be able to withstand the shame and persecution of the world. This is what should set you apart and make you blameless before the world for your conduct:

1 Peter 1: 3-12

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to obtain an inheritance which is imperishable and undefiled and will not fade away, reserved in heaven for you, who are protected by the power of God through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. In this you greatly rejoice, even though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been distressed by various trials, so that the proof of your faith, being more precious than gold which is perishable, even though tested by fire, may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ; and though you have not seen Him, you love Him, and though you do not see Him now, but believe in Him, you greatly rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory, obtaining as the outcome of your faith the salvation of your souls. As to this salvation, the prophets who prophesied of the grace that would come to you made careful searches and inquiries, seeking to know what person or time the Spirit of Christ within them was indicating as He predicted the sufferings of Christ and the glories to follow. It was revealed to them that they were not serving themselves, but you, in these things which now have been announced to you through those who preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven–things into which angels long to look.

I don’t mean to sound like a grade school teacher when I remind you of this but our hope is Christ. Our hope is Christ. Our hope is Christ. Our hope is not how we feel about what Christ has done. Our hope is what Christ has done. Our hope is in a God that saw us in our great need, our death in sin and misery, our hatred of Him. He saw us in our despair and sent His Son into the world.

Beloved, the prophets of old used to pore over the Word of God longing, longing, longing to understand the mystery that was going to be revealed. What is this Messiah being spoken of? Who is this? The Rabbis were absolutely baffled. This Messiah is sometimes referred to as a man and sometimes referred to as God. Oh, how they longed to see what has been revealed in Christ Jesus.

Glory! It has burst upon the scenes of human history. There is no mystery remaining. There is no more wondering about what Messiah would do. There is no more anticipation of the saving work of a gracious God. All has been fully revealed in the person and work of Christ Jesus.

Our hope is that a real man named Jesus Christ came as the Son of God come down from heaven ““ God and man. Fully God so that He could obey the demands of the Law that no man could obey and so God obeyed it for us. And He came as fully man so He could represent us as our Priest who took the wrath of God upon Himself.

You see, beloved, our feelings can change. Our circumstances can become painful. We can be experiencing human suffering on a level that would make the birth of a child seem easy by comparison. But Christ’s work has been accomplished. It is fact. He died a death on a Cross to put away the curse of sin and death for everyone who believes. By placing my faith in Him, I am united to Him in His death and resurrection and I know that my victory over the grave is assured.

And so I have hope. I have hope when things are going well around me. But when suffering has come, I’ve had the Cross of Christ to look to for hope. When Anna was born, she had suffered multiple strokes and was severely anemic. I watched as my helpless little child gasped for every breath. Life has a way of coming into laser sharp focus when you think you’re about to lose a child just moments after the unspeakable joy of their birth. But I knew then how Job could say: though He slay me will I trust in Him! I had faith in a God that, through the tears of horror, I knew was my great Savior and would trust Him no matter the outcome. Glory be to God that Anna is well but that result was not certain from the beginning and we have no guarantees in this life that more profound suffering might await. Are we firm in our hope to withstand it when it comes?

We also have the Cross of Christ to look to in order that we may be empowered to obey our Savior out of gratitude. That Cross ought to transform our lives in a way that makes us different from the world. We can put up with the shame for Christ’s sake and live a life that honors the Savior who purchased us.

And so, because of that life, someone is bound to ask you or me, what is it that makes your life different?

Please, please after all of this, I hope that your answer isn’t merely that Jesus makes you happy and He can make somebody else happy too. I pray that you will learn to testify of what Christ has done to save sinners. I pray that you will testify of His life, of His work, and of His sacrifice for sin. Don’t have them look to your life, but at the life of Christ. Then turn to the man who is asking and tell him of his need for a Savior that takes away sins and testify of Christ as the only remedy for their sin. That is a hope that can never fade away or tarnish. That is a hope that demands a response from everyone. That is a hope that can sustain. Our hope is either in Christ or it is worth nothing at all.

Let us pray.

Tags Christ, faith, hope, life, Peter, sin, suffering

Epistles Scripture

True Religion (James 1:1-27, 2:14-17)

Post author By Rich Leino
Post date November 17, 2007
No Comments on True Religion (James 1:1-27, 2:14-17)

James 1:1-27
James 2:14-17

As we continue in our series through the Word of God we come to the Epistle of James. Scholars agree that the writer is the brother of Jesus (Matt 13:55). James became the leader of the Church at Jerusalem after the departure of Peter in Acts 12:17. He was the spokesman at the Council of Jerusalem (Acts 15:13-21), and was a “pillar” to whom Paul reported his missionary experience (Gal 2:2,9, Acts 21:18-19)

Notice is verse 1 how James introduces himself as a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ. Never in this epistle does James “drop names”. What do I mean? Well, James grew up with Jesus. He was His brother. If there was anyone who could rightfully call Jesus his brother and be proud of it, it was James. He could say, “Yeah, I remember when I was growing up with Jesus”¦.” Isn’t that the way of the world? James is a humble man ““ a bondservant of Christ. No confidence in the flesh but simply confidence in Christ.

In verse 2, James begins with a very strange command: “Consider it all joy when you encounter various trials”¦.” Another way of stating that is to consider it pure joy. Perhaps some of his readers thought that James was some guy out of touch with reality living safely in Jerusalem but, surely, James was not unaware of the trials around him. He had witnessed the death of Stephen and the persecution that followed. There is something more behind these words.

The Christian does not have a command to pretend like everything is OK and pretend there is no grief or suffering in the world. Yet, we understand that God stands behind every trial and test. We keep our trust in our heavenly father for we know that he sends us trials to test our faith and we know He is in complete control of every situation.

The joy spoken of is pure because it looks beyond the present circumstances that might cause some real grief even as Christ wept with those who wept. Yet behind that grief is the knowledge that God is working together all things together for the good for His saints. We also understand that the trials are a refining process.

And so, in verse 4, we are instructed to persevere so that our faith will be mature and complete. This is not something that can be rushed. It’s not something that can be produced by simple steps or 40 days of purpose. It’s something that is lived out in the day-to-day life of the believer who trusts and rests in the work of the Cross. It is laying hold of that truth at 5 in the morning when our mind is groggy and we’re in a bad mood. It’s found in these times and not merely our times of ecstasy or things that we enjoy in our worship experiences. True Christianity is lived out on the ground as we mature in the faith.

Another way of saying “mature” is the word “complete”. In the name of Jesus, Peter healed the lame man who sat begging at Solomon’s Colomnade. The account in Acts 3:16 notes that the beggar was given complete healing. The man’s feet and ankles became strong so he could function as a complete human being with no handicap.

And so we’re supposed to mature and James continues naturally by noting: “But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all generously and without reproach, and it will be given to him”¦.” For God is a generous God. What are we to be asking for? Wisdom. God always grants that request. James is saying: “I know some of you won’t admit it but you need wisdom.” Beloved, you and I need wisdom for wisdom is what we’re after. This is not about being proud. Men and women never want to admit they lack anything but we need wisdom for it is a treasure. Wisdom is not mere knowledge though it surely must include knowledge. Wisdom is the ability to have eyes to see things as the Scriptures see them ““ to have a heart that rightly interprets everything around us and not as the world does.

But, as verse 6, notes many of us are double-minded in the Church. We’re “hedging our bets”. We’ll try on religion as long as it helps us out. We’ll add Christianity and Scriptural principles to our lives to complement the other parts that we have all worked out. We’ll go to God when it suits us and we can’t work things out on our own. James reminds us all that this will not work. You receive nothing from the Lord in such cases. You receive no wisdom because you have not begun with the fear of the Lord. In fact, if Christ is just an option for you then you have not even received salvation for faith requires a recognition that we are utterly lost without Christ as our only hope. In fact, Paul states that, if Christ be not raised then your religion is vain. The Scriptures say that there are two options here: Either Christ is raised or He isn’t. If He is raised then believe upon Him but if He is not raised then the Word of God commands you this in 1 Cor 15:32 ““ “If the dead are not raised, LET US EAT AND DRINK, FOR TOMORROW WE DIE.” If you don’t believe that Christ is raised then you’re wasting time that could be better spent on a Sunday morning.

But don’t fear, double-mindedness does not mean that we never doubt or suffer unbelief. Our faith in Christ need not be perfect ““ that’s the reason we have a Savior to begin with. One of my favorite stories is when the father of the epileptic pleads with Christ to heal his son in Mark 9. Christ asks him if he believes. The father answers with emotion: “Lord I do believe: help me overcome my unbelief!” That is my daily cry. I know that if I hold on to the feet of Christ as a beggar then my faith never needs to be perfect as long as I am always looking to Christ for my hope and salvation. But I can never view that as simply an option. It is the only way or it is no way at all.

And so, throughout the rest of Chapter 1, James encourages us all to trust, to believe, to persevere in believing throughout trials. We need to understand that God brings us these trials to cause us to grow even as a son is disciplined by his father so that he’ll mature as a man. Paul notes that a man, in fact, hates his son if he doesn’t discipline him and reminds us that God’s refinement of us is proof that He loves us. We need to stop being convinced that we’re mature to begin with so we can view the trials and the suffering that He sends our way as a sign that God is not with us or doesn’t care.

In fact, as James notes in verse 13, many will even blame their sin upon God. You see, the sinful human heart will always reason like this: “God is in control of everything, He knew this would tempt me to sin, He allowed the temptation to occur, I sinned, and so it’s God’s fault.”

Remember Adam and Eve in the Garden when God asks them who told them they were naked. Adam says to God: “The woman YOU GAVE ME brought some fruit”¦.” Yeah, that’s right God, I was fine, I had all my ribs and I was asleep when you made her. It’s her fault but, really God, it’s YOUR fault.

This attitude is as old as mankind and it still doesn’t work. We’re responsible for our own sin. We need to look to God for strength to endure temptation and, in fact, that He would make us wise so that we don’t walk into temptations.

Faith that is born from above must persevere to the end because God has born it within us but we must exercise the faith given us. We must be those who are never content to trust in ourselves or consider ourselves too strong for temptation. We must be learning to hate our sin and fleeing from situations that lead to sin. Our hope is to be eternally blessed as our perseverance perfects our faith until, to the end, we reach the goal. The goal isn’t that we’ve ever clung to Christ and never let go of His life.

But James warns us not to deceive ourselves and think that we can just be playing around with sin and that it won’t affect us. Our problem is that we don’t consider, enough, how horrible sin is and we even deceive ourselves that we deserve the occasional sin because we’ve been good for a while. Beloved, you haven’t been good enough for the last minute to deserve heaven. We need to realize that if not for Christ we have no hope. And so, we should not be deceived that we can just start leaving the things that Christ loves and embrace all the things that God hates in this world. If we do so then eventually we prove to everyone that Christ does not abide with us, for if He did, then we would bear His fruit. So James warns us all that we stay away from sin ““ this is something the true believer will always do because true believers fear the things that God tells them to fear.

James reminds us all where this is all flowing from in verse 18: “In the exercise of His will He brought us forth by the word of truth, so that we would be a kind of first fruits among His creatures.”

Everything we’re talking about here is something that we’ve been born to do. We’ve been re-created by God for this work. It is a fruit of the Christian life. It comes naturally from a Christian. It is only because sin yet abides that we are conflicted and sometimes view what ought to be natural as un-natural but a Gospel-transformed life, a born again life, ought to be seeking this type of transformation.

And so it should never be a burden for us to live according to this Word. It should be sweet to us. So I have to ask myself why it is that I don’t view these next verses as sweet sometimes: “This you know, my beloved brethren. But everyone must be quick to hear, slow to speak and slow to anger; for the anger of man does not achieve the righteousness of God.”

Over the past couple of weeks, after everything that has been going on in this Church, I prepared this message and then I started studying these verses and knew, right away, that I had come up short. I’ll always come up short but my problem is that I sometimes don’t even pursue these things. I am too quick to speak and too slow to listen. I am quick to anger.

But this is not a recipe for self-improvement. It drove me to Christ to beg of Him for wisdom ““ to beg of humility. You see, I believe in this Christ, I believe that He will give me the very thing that He is demanding of me because I’m united to Him by faith in His finished work. I begged of Christ that I would love this kind of demand on my life and be transformed by it. I need to live this out too but it will only be lived out when it is a fruit of my heart. And so I trust and in my trusting, I strive.

I hope after all that, we can understand better how James is able to sum up everything so far by saying this: “Pure and undefiled religion in the sight of our God and Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained by the world.”

At first this may seem strange but, when you understand why widows and orphans are mentioned, then you’ll understand this.

There is a regular pattern that jumps out at you in the Old Testament. It got to be such a regular theme as I taught through the Old Testament this year that I sometimes felt like saying to the class: “Remember what we talked about last week? Here’s another Prophet that is reminding the people of the same thing.”

The pattern is this: Men abandon God in their hearts and God gives them over to idolatry. Because men become idol-worshippers they lose the knowledge of God in their hearts. Because they lose the knowledge of God then they lose the value of the men and women that are created in God’s image. Because men and women no longer have any value, they are things to be used and thrown away when they no longer serve any purpose.

Widows and orphans can’t do anything for us. They were the downtrodden and had no political power. They were destitute among all people because they had nobody to care for them in society. You’re not going to become rich or famous our get any political power from them or by helping them. And so, is it any wonder that those who have the least power in our society, the unborn, can be killed wantonly and without mercy. Society views them as a mere collection of cells. There is no image of God to consider. There is nothing sacred that makes them valuable.

But recreated hearts love the things that God loves and true worshippers of God, people who truly have faith in God, have hearts that are tender to the things that God is tender toward. I read into James 2 because this is completely about what true religion is and what the nature of faith is. It demonstrates whether or not you have the kind of faith that just says you love God and trust God on the one hand but, when the flesh and blood people are around you that God loves, do you love them? If you do not, then you do not love God and you have no faith in God no matter how much you say you love God. This convicts my hearts too brothers and sisters.

James, in fact, warns us all that a faith that just says it loves our brothers but then refuses to do anything to help them proves we have no love for them at all and we have no faith in God and we will not be saved. It’s not the helping of them that saves us. It’s faith in Christ that saves us. BUT, LISTEN, faith in Christ transforms human hearts to love the things that God loves! If you don’t love the things that God loves then you DON’T HAVE FAITH!

Three weeks ago, before everything happened in the Church, I was a mess. It wasn’t because of the situation in the Church though that has been painful for me. It was because my wife and children were away. They were only following me by a week but I missed in the strangest ways. I couldn’t sleep well at night because it was quiet. I woke up sad because there was nobody to hug or hold.

Then Sonya and the kids returned on a Thursday night. I had to get up at 5 am the next morning to get to work but at 4 am I heard James crying out from the next room sweet words: “Daddy!” I got out of bed to find James holding his nose from a nose bleed. Blood dripping on the floor. I took him to the bathroom to clean him up. I was exhausted but what if I had merely said to James: “God bless you little brother, be at peace, I’m sorry you have a nose bleed but I really do love you.” What kind of love would it be if I went back to sleep and left a 5 year old to fend for himself and a bloody nose? Would anyone say that I loved my child? It was not a burden at all, beloved, to clean up that blood. I did it with joy for I had ached for my family and now I had an opportunity to clean up my son. I had an opportunity to love him. It was natural for me to do so because a father loves his son. I didn’t become a loving father because I cleaned up the blood on James’ face. No, beloved, I cleaned up the blood because I was a loving father.

And so we should be toward one another ““ everyone in this Church. If it is hard for you to love the other Saints in the congregation then pray for true trust in Christ. You’re not going to become a Christian because you do things for others. You’re not going to buy God’s favor because you sacrifice for Him. You need birth from above my friends. You need faith in Christ that transforms your hearts and your minds so that loving your brothers and sisters, forgiving them their failings, serving them with joy, is something that flows from you like the love that a father has for His son.

For we are born from above to be like our heavenly Father who was willing to come to those who hated Him and said: “Not because you deserve it, not because you love me, not because you’re nice, and not because of anything that you will ever do for me but BECAUSE I WANT TO BLESS YOU, I am sending my Son into the world to die for the sins of the ungodly. I am sending Him to die for the sins of the ungrateful. I am sending Him to die for the downtrodden that can give me nothing in return.”

And the words of that Gospel penetrated our heart. The words of that Gospel overcame our hate and caused us to love God. And as we continue to trust in that Gospel, even as beggars struggling with unbelief, we can be confident that He will perfect us to the very end if we put our trust in Him.

Let us pray.

Tags Christ, faith, hope, James, love, religion, sin, works

Giving Honor to our Rulers (Romans 13)

Post author By Rich Leino
Post date November 15, 2007
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I recently taught on Romans 13 and it gave me a fresh perspective on the passage.

Romans 13 certainly teaches us about how we ought to honor and respect those who govern us and that, in fact, their authority comes from God. I don’t believe, however, that it says everything about our relationship to the civil sphere and it could even lead one to some erroneous conclusions.

For instance, it does not permit us to simply do everything the governing authorities tell us to do. We are not permitted to disobey God in the obedience to government and civil government is to be honored “where it is due” – that is to say that it has no authority beyond the sphere it has been given authority by God. In some cases, then, we would be permitted to resist or disobey civil authority if their actions are un-Lawful – that is to say that they commanded us to do something that God’s Law forbids. On this point, even the light of nature reveals this to man and everybody intuitively understands that “…I was just obeying orders…” was not an appropriate defense by the Germans or the Japanese following WWII.

If you notice, however, in Romans 13 Paul focuses on something that many of us need to take notice of. In fact, given the attitude that many here exhibit regarding the civil authorities they would do well to pay attention to what Paul is teaching.

Fundamentally, the issue is that Christians are to seek to be at peace with all men and, by extension, aren’t to be seditious as a general rule. That doesn’t mean they just put up with anything but some men have the wicked idea that no man, ever, will ever tell them what to do. They are rebellious and seditious to the core. Christians ought not to be so.

It is telling that the Romans 13 passage focuses on the fact that authority derives from the Almighty and even more telling that the “rubber meets the road” when Paul teaches the Romans about taxes. It’s fascinating, in fact, that the Pharisees tried to trap Christ by asking whether they should have to pay taxes. Some commentators believe that Paul might be addressing many of the Jewish believers at Romans who have this same sort of spirit concerning the authorities that rule over them – “They’re not my leaders.” The Jews couldn’t stomach that these Romans ruled them.

Paul reminds them, however, that rebellious attitude toward authority is indicative of rebellion against God in general. Part of the Christian “transformation” (Romans 12:2) is a renewal of our minds concerning authority. Christians submit to authority because they know God stands behind it. They honor authority because God is behind it. Paul also reminds them that “…if you’re a knucklehead and are seditious then you’ll get exactly what you deserve…” because, as a general rule, people who do evil get punished for doing evil. We’re not permitted to violate the speed limit just because we’re citizens of heaven any more than I’m permitted to drive as fast as in America because I’m an American in Japan.

In fact, it is very revealing that many despise the institutions that God has given to bless them. What some Christians wear as a badge that they are so inclined to speak of their rulers and institutions with disdain, is a form of the ingratitude that Paul speaks about in Romans 1 as being a mark of depravity. As Durham rightly noted, the command to honor your father and mother is a general command to render honor to due authority. Those who are never trained to honor father and mother never learn how to honor other authority and, in fact, their biggest problem is that the folly in their heart causes them to despise Authority in general. It is no mistake that disrespect to parents is listed among the sins of a depraved society. If I don’t train my child to respect authority then I’m setting him up to disrespect God in the long run.

I also believe that pacifism is a form of a denial of the faith. It not only selfishly lets the pagan do all the protection and “ministerial work” in a society to make life tolerable but it turns around and calls the very thing God has ordained for our general good an evil thing. I have no patience for such men. They may believe they are honoring God in their convictions but they are not honoring the God of the Bible by calling His very authority a wicked thing and something they are forbidden to participate in. I’m not a blind patriot but I thank God for police officers and soldiers who, when they perform it honorably, are God’s ministers for good in judging evil and keeping the sinful heart from bringing anarchy to a society.

Thus, I believe the general principle is to be those who try to live at peace and, as much as is in us, to be agreeable and obedient to our rulers. Disobedience to their rule ought to be the exception when we are forced to do so because they have decreed something God forbid but it doesn’t automatically give us a badge to badmouth or despise the authority. Daniel and his friends were willing to die for their convictions and would not obey the laws that would have caused them to disobey God but, when released, they continued to serve the same men with submission obeying the rules that did not. They didn’t sinfully say: “Not my leader” in the seditious way that Christians believe they are warranted in saying: “Not my President”.

That’s because Daniel was Godly enough to know Who had vested that authority in the Kings and by denying their authority he would have been saying: “You’re not my God.” It’s a reminder that Daniel was unlike the world while many “Christians” are very much like the world with their rebellious spirit. We would do well to wonder how much we’re like the world when it comes to our attitude toward authority as well.

Tags authority, Christ, faith, God Law, life, WWII

General

By Choice: A McDonald’s Experience

Post author By Joshua
Post date March 18, 2007
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I was in McDonald’s one morning, enjoying a nice warm breakfast consisting of an Egg McMuffin, Hash Brown, and a Cinnamon melt. I was hooked up to the internet on my laptop by way of my Wi-Fi technology. As I finished my morning feast, I perused through some of the Puritan prayers found in The Valley of Vision, thanking God for His graciousness to me. I then began to read through my daily Bible reading as appointed by the plan I was using. This I also accessed from the internet, in the comfortable setting of this quiet little McDonald’s.

I was thoroughly enjoying this refreshing time when all of a sudden a stench filled the immediate vicinity. It had the smell of “old” and mold. A figure passed by in my peripheral vision. It was a man dressed very shabbily, his clothes tattered and having the appearance of having been caught in a dust storm. I made the assumption that this man was a bum”¦and this BY CHOICE. I mean, come on, we’re in America. Anyone can get a job in this country. Sure, one may not like the job they’re doing, but anyone – disabled or not – is capable of finding employment.

This guy walks in, has ruined my time of rejuvination, and hasn’t even purchased anything from McDonald’s! No, from some of the money he’s scrunged up somewhere he went and bought a 44 oz drink from EZ Mart. However, the setting in EZ Mart ain’t exactly EZ. So he brings it to McDonald’s and sits in a remote corner where he’s unfettered by party-poopers who might ask him to leave the premises. As I tried to regain focus on the passage I was reading he was making looks in a few different directions. I supposed by the manner in which he was glaring, that people (like me) had been watching him and he was repaying their looks with dissatisfied looks of his own.

Who was this guy who had the nerve to come into McDonald’s, having paid for nothing, even having brought a drink from somewhere else, and yet who was going to use McDonald’s time and space to sit for a while and get out of the cool morning air? I kept trying to read through Galatians 2 but kept glancing back at this man with contempt and indignation. Out of his dingy coat he pulled out a pair of glasses, like he was going to actually use them for something. It was pathetic. As he put them on his face, I noticed there was only one lens. On the other side, the frame had been broken and was missing the rim on the bottom part as well as a lens.

Not only did this man stink, ruin my morning, and loiter at McDonald’s, but he also looked ridiculously foolish wearing these glasses he’d probably found on the street somewhere. He wasn’t even reading anything! Who was he trying to fool? I know these types. They came on hard times once, possibly fell into a deep depression, and have just never picked themselves up from it. Instead of finding work they wallow in their self-pity and beg their way through life. BY CHOICE. I considered all this and I couldn’t even focus on my reading:

We ourselves are Jews by birth and not Gentile sinners; yet we know that a person is not justified by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ, so we also have believed in Christ Jesus, in order to be justified by faith in Christ and not by works of the law, because by works of the law no one will be justified. (Galatians 2:15-16)

Instantly my heart was CRUSHED. Just as Nathan the prophet told the King of all Israel – the one who lived in lavished riches, carefree from the things of the world, reigning and ruling from his throne – just as he told King David, “YOU ARE THAT MAN!”, I realized I was once just like this bum toward whom I was holding great contempt and unjustified indignation. I had no 'works' that 'justified' me before God.

I was once a God-hater BY CHOICE. I once loitered God’s creation, my sin bringing a great stench that invaded my surrounding vicinity. Everything I did was BY CHOICE. I was a fool. I enjoyed God’s creation, all the while never giving Him credit or praise for anything (I didn’t have anything to give. It was all filthy, dingy, and without merit). I was a pathetic, shabbily dressed, and drifting soul, befitting of only being left to myself…deserving no one's help. And yet God in His wonderful mercy and saving grace, and despite my hatred toward Him, took captive my darkened heart. He gave me a ring and He robed me with His righteousness. And He did this BY CHOICE.

Back to that morning at McDonald’s. My heart broke and I began to cry, asking God to forgive my foolishness. Sure, I still thought this man was a beggar and bum by choice. I still truly believe that anyone who wants a job in this land is able to get one, regardless of their circumstances”¦it just may not be the one they want. But I was the same as a filthy sinner before the eyes of God”¦choosing my circumstances, blinded to His light. But he saved me. I repented of my ungrounded attitude toward this man, and approached him asking him if I could buy him something to eat. He politely said, “No thanks, but if you could leave me a couple of bucks, I’d be grateful.” This was expected, as I knew what he probably wanted it for. I told him I had no cash, only a debit card. He again expressed his gratitude and I wished him a good day.

God was merciful to me as a dead sinner, and He’s merciful to me now as a Christian who still struggles with hypocrisy”¦BY CHOICE. Blessed be the Name of the Lord Who saves sinners.

Tags Christ, Christ Jesus, faith, Galatians, Jesus Christ, works

Some More on Christian Armour

Post author By Joshua
Post date February 9, 2007
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Some More on Christian Armour –

Look closely at the label to see whether the armour you wear is the workmanship of God or not. There are many imitations on the market nowadays. It is Satan’s game, if he cannot keep the sinner satisfied in his naked, lustful state, to coax him into some flimsy thing or other that by itself will neithe do him good nor Satan harm. Perhaps it is church atteendance, or good works, or some self-imposed penance by which he intends to impress both God and man. Do such impersonators believe in God? Oh, they hope they are not infidels. But what their armour is, or how they came by it, and whether it will hold up in an evil day, they never stop to question. Thus thousands perish who supposed they were armed against Satan, death, and judgment – whenall along they were miserable and naked. These people are worse off tn those who have not a rag of pretense to hide their shame from the world’s gaze.

To most of us, a careful copy of a masterpiece looks quite as good as the original. But when the master himself appears, he can tell in an instant which is real and which the imposter. It is the same with that self-righteous hypocrite who is a pretender to faith and hope in God. Here is a man in glitterin array with his weapon in his hand. With the sharp sword of his tongue he keeps both the preacher and the Word of God at arm’s length: ‘Who can say I am not a saint? Name one commandment I do not keep, one duty I neglect!’ he demands indignantly. Many are impressed by his seeming piety. It takes the Spirit’s discerning eye to expose him because Satan has so cleverly tampered with him already. He must first be disarmed and unclothed of his own filthy self-righteousness, because God’s armour can never be made to fit over the suit he fashioned for himself. On the other hand, the soul that stands naked and humble before God is fully aware of the magnitude of his need for help. Which would you say is easier: to set a freshly broken bone, or to attempt the repair of one that has already been falsely mended?

Oh, pious hypocrite, either deny the name of Christ, whose insignia you only pretend to march after, or throw away the phony armour of self-righteousness and come to Him in true repentance. Do not dare to call anything the armour of God which does not gloriy Him and defend you against the power of Satan.

-William Gurnall, The Christian in Complete Armour

[Reformers, Puritans, and a Geek]

Tags Christ, Christian Armour, faith, hope, repentance, works

Gospels and Acts Scripture

Hypocrites Concerning Matters of Liberty

Post author By Joshua
Post date February 3, 2007
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Hypocrites Concerning Matters of Liberty –

Matthew 15:1-9

Then Pharisees and scribes came to Jesus from Jerusalem and said, “Why do your disciples break the tradition of the elders? For they do not wash their hands when they eat.” He answered them, “And why do you break the commandment of God for the sake of your tradition? For God commanded, “˜Honor your father and your mother,’ and, “˜Whoever reviles father or mother must surely die.’ But you say, “˜If anyone tells his father or his mother, “What you would have gained from me is given to God,”he need not honor his father.’ So for the sake of your tradition you have made void the wordof God. You hypocrites! Well did Isaiah prophesy of you, when he said:“”˜This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me; in vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.'”

Hypocrites. Everyone’s a hypocrite. To some degree, also, all Christians are hypocrites. In fact, sometimes, especially Christians are hypocrites. Sometimes this hypocrisy is due to ignorance of what the Scriptures teach. Sometimes it’s due to secret sinful indulgences in which people want to continue, unfettered. Then, at other times, it’s simply due to an extra-Biblical “piety” that has caused even the most well-meaning of people to make commandments out of the traditions of men.

Jesus asked a scathing rhetorical question to the Pharisees: Why do you break the commandment of God for the sake of your tradition? He was pointing out their blatant hypocrisy of claiming to be the spiritual authorities of their day, but antithetically nullifyng (in their minds, anyway) the commandments of God by their spiritual “insights”. Now, as noted earlier, some do this out of spiritual ignorance. There are instances in which both ignorance and an extra-Biblical “piety” play a part. Consider, for example, the subject of Christians drinking alcoholic beverages.

Most professing Christians in America, because of the prohibition and temporance movements of times past, ignorantly and automatically assume that the mere intake of alcohol for the Christian is sinful. They think this not for Biblical reasons, but for pragmatic reasons. They also believe this to be an honorable and noble cause because of the past abuse which has been rendered due to sinful men’s over-indulgence of alcohol.

To the serious-minded Christian, no doubt, it can be very tempting to jump on this throw-the-baby-out-with-the-bathwater bandwagon, believing it will somehow accomplish a declension in the abuse of alcohol. In fact, though, the opposite is true and can be attested to by the fact that since the time of prohibition, many have seen alcohol as inherently evil. Thus, it’s considered rebellious to partake. Thus, those wanting to rebel will usually abuse this gift of God, in order to show their rebellion, get back at, or irritate those whom they will.

The drinking of alcohol is just one example and is not intended to be the focus of this entry. what I am trying to expose here is the sin and hypocrisy of professing Christians who seek to bind the conscience of other believers concerning things considered as indifferent by Scripture. Sadly, their attempt to legitimate such an idea cannot be adequately substantiated by Scripture, and most appeals then are pragmatic, not according to the principle of Sola Scriptura.

Scripture speaks clearly concerning the Christian’s treatment of things indifferent. Involved herein is the principle of Christian Liberty. Two instances which immediately come to mind are Romans 14, and a portion of 1 Corinthians 10. You see, Christian Liberty of things indifferent works, at least it should work, both ways. The 14th chapter of Romans can almost be divided perfectly in half. The first section discusses the subject of passing judgment on other Christians for their personal convicions on things which are scripturally indifferent. The second portion examines the ultimate crux of the matter: Not being a stumbling block to the “weaker” Christian.

As for the one who is weak in faith, welcome him, but not to quarrel over opinions. One person believes he may eat anything, while the weak person eats only vegetables. Let not the one who eats despise the one who abstains, and let not the one who abstains pass judgment on the one who eats, for God has welcomed him. Who are you to pass judgment on the servant of another? It is before his own masterthat he stands or falls. And he will be upheld, for the Lord is able to make him stand. – Romans 14:1-4

Here, Paul makes clear that the stronger Christian ought to welcome the “weaker” Christian, but never for the purpose of arguing over opinions (of things indifferent). By “weak” Paul means immature. Now, this doesn’t mean anything negative, necessarily. It simply means, more than likely, a new convert who is not yet mature or educated enough to understand that, for example, meat which has been previously sacrificed to idols insn’t unclean, in and of itself. Therefore, a Christian may freely eat such meat since, to him, it is just meat and is something that can be enjoyed to the glory of God.Paul issues a two-fold admonition here. He says to these two “types” of Christians, “Do not think less or sinful of the other for either his indulgence or his abstinence of the food, because such a matter is indifferent.” Basically, Paul thinks a man should go with his own conscience, but not try to bind the conscience of another, since it cannot be proven Biblically that one must or must not partake. Each one should be convinced in his own mind.

Therefore let us not pass judgment on one another any longer, but rather decide never to put a stumbling block or hindrance in the way of a brother. I know and am persuaded in the Lord Jesus that nothing is unclean in itself, but it is unclean for anyone who thinks it unclean. For if your brother is grieved by what you eat, you are no longer walking in love. By what you eat, do not destroy the one for whom Christ died. So do not let what you regard as good be spoken of as evil. For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking but of righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. Whoever thus serves Christ is acceptable to God and approved by men. So then let us pursue what makes for peace and for mutual upbuilding. Do not, for the sake of food, destroy the work of God. Everything is indeed clean, but it is wrong for anyone to make another stumble by what he eats. It is good not to eat meat or drink wine or do anything that causes your brother to stumble.The faith that you have, keep between yourself and God. Blessed is the one who has no reason to pass judgment on himself for what he approves. But whoever has doubts is condemned if he eats, because the eating is not from faith. For whatever does not proceed from faith is sin. – Romans 14:13-23

Next, Paul speaks to the matter of not causing a weaker brother to stumble. Now, when it comes to the subject of alcohol, I believe this is a much misused passage by those who proclaim it sinful to partake thereof. Their thoughts would affirm this kind of statement:

Look, drinking alcohol, in and of itself, is not sinful. But, I believe, because of the abuse that alcohol indulgence has caused over the years, that we ought not partake, because it will cause people to stumble.

These mostly sincere, but nonetheless wrong people will appeal to Romans 14:21, but apparently have overlooked, discarded, or altogether ignored verse 16. There is a balance when it comes to Christian Liberty:

Firstly, we’re not to use our Christian Liberty as license to sin.

Secondly, we should not indulge in Christian Liberty by rubbing it in the face of the weaker brother who may be caused to stumble.

However, this does not mean that a Christian can cry out, “You’re making me stumble!” every time they see a brother engaging in something that is scripturally indifferent. This is precisely Paul’s point in verse 16. The stronger brother needs to patiently, lovingly, but firmly educate the weaker, so as to show him how things scripturally indifferent are not, in and of themselves, sinful to every individual in all circumstances or situations. This education, mind you, ought not be done for the purpose of merely justifying the stronger Christians partaking, but should be done with the intent of edifying and maturing the weaker brother, in Christian love and charity.

The goal for Paul’s admonition here is not simply so the stronger brother can glory in being “smarter” or further along than the weaker. Nor does he have in mind the stronger being justified in all he does. Rather, the goal is the unity of the brethren and the avoidance of one passing judgment on the other for either their parktaking of, or abstaining from, things which are not really addressed by Scripture, and this is the building up of Christian love.

Now we consider 1 Corinthians 10:23-33

“All things are lawful,” but not all things are helpful. “All things are lawful,” but not all things build up. Let no one seek his own good, but the good of his neighbor. Eat whatever is sold in the meat market without raising any question on the ground of conscience.For “the earth is the Lord’s, and the fullness thereof.” If one of the unbelievers invites you to dinner and you are disposed to go, eat whatever is set before you without raising any question on the ground of conscience. But if someone says to you, “This has been offered in sacrifice,” then do not eat it, for the sake of the one who informed you, and for the sake of conscience””I do not mean your conscience, but his. For why should my liberty be determined by someone else’s conscience? If I partake with thankfulness, why am I denounced because of that for which I give thanks? So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God. Give no offense to Jews or to Greeks or to the church of God, just as I try to please everyone in everything I do, not seeking my own advantage, but that of many, that they may be saved.

Here, the context is not merely believers, but also unbelievers. Look, we, being Reformed, need to be honest. We’ve all, I’m sure, been guilty of doing something that we shouldn’t have done in a certain situation, and then attempted to justify it under the guise of Christian Liberty. If you haven’t, that’s great! However, I know that I’m certainly guilty of having done so. This being said, we would do well to remember this statement.

“All things are lawful”, but not all things are helpful

That is, all things which are not contrary to God’s Law, nor unlawful by demand of the State are OK. But just because such is the case, doesn’t mean they’re helpful or, for that matter, necessary. What we must guard against, as Christians, is the over-indulgence of things indifferent and the flaunting thereof. This is the thrust of Paul’s words in the first portion of the passage at hand.

Paul then says that sometimes we abstain from things scripturally indifferent for the sake of not our own conscience, but the conscience of the unbeliever. This is where the indulgence of Christian Liberty can prove detrimental. For example, it is not wise, in the presence of unbelievers, to talk about, say, alcoholic beverages in the same manner they do. Why? Because typically, in the life of the unbeliever, drunkenness is heavily associated with such discussion and is usually the aim of his drinking in the first place (I’m not saying this is always the case, just typically). Now, engaging in such discussion, unless one is showing the utter foolishness of the said behavior, might give the unbeliever the impression that such practice is somehow acceptable. In turn, this could mislead them. Instead, just as it may be with the weaker brother, with time and opportunity, you could make your case Biblically with much patience, so there’s no excuse for anyone’s misunderstanding.

The fact is, brothers and sisters, there is no rigid instruction in this matter, because each situation for each Christian is unique and distinct from another’s. However, there are Biblical principles to guide us in the way we should go, as can be shown by the aforementioned passages. What we must avoid is trying to make commandments out of our personal convictions of things which are scripturally indifferent, lest we be hypocrites like the Pharisees.

Now, may we be faithful to Scripture, sensitive to our consciences as guided by the Holy Spirit, and seek not our own good, but the good of our neighbors. Grace and Peace.

[Reformers, Puritans, and a Geek]

Tags Christian Liberty, faith, glory, judgment, sin, unclean

Devotion

Psalm 51:5-9

Psalm 51:5-9 –

Verses 5-9

5 Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity,and in sin did my mother conceive me.

The truth of our utter, complete, and total depravity is shown throughout the Scriptures. I would take some time to blog about it, but it’s been written so well by so many other fine folks that for me to do so would be superfluous. Maybe another day, when I’m feeling gratuitously bored. This is only one instance to which man’s being born dead in sin is alluded. David had been taught the story of Eden and man’s fall. He knew the truth of man’s condition, as was epitomized in the state of man right before the great flood. Thus, he recognized the great depth in sin to which he’d sunken, acknowledging he was a prodigy of Adam. But he doesn’t end there.

6 Behold, you delight in truth in the inward being,and you teach me wisdom in the secret heart.

A recognition of God’s absolute divine right to define, elaborate upon, declare, and impart truth to sinful man. He says, “You teach me” Not only did David recognize his depravity, but he affirmed and acknowledged God’s sovereignty in the impartation of saving faith! It wasn’t that David was seeking after this wisdom of his own doing. It wasn’t that David thought he was somehow able to attain this knowledge in and of himself. He prays back to God, God’s thoughts YOU TEACH ME.

7 Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean;wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.

Yes, he remembered Adam’s plunging of mankind into spiritual death. Yes, he realized his utter and complete ineptitude before Holy God. But as previously noted, he doesn’t stop at the acknowledgement of “bad” news. Rather, in light of the bad news, he by faith proclaims the good news! “Father God, if YOU purge me, I will be clean. I will be whiter than snow, if it is of Your doing. For You, O GOD, are able to cleanse to the uttermost!” The story of the Fall was sad indeed, but the glory of the promise given (Gen 3:15) was much greater than the horror of the Fall! David expressed great faith in God’s Redemptive ability ACCORDING TO HIS PROMISE! Abraham believed and it was credited unto him as righteousness! Amen!

8 Let me hear joy and gladness;let the bones that you have broken rejoice. 9 Hide your face from my sins,and blot out all my iniquities.

His absolute throwing out of all other means as being able to console him is a testament to the fact that David knew ONLY God could bring the relief and comfort he needed. Only God could make wrongs (in an eschatological sense, as opposed to an immediate sense) right! Sins forgiven! Iniquities cleansed! He acknowledges (v.8) that his pain is due to God’s judgment of his sin. He realized that “those whom God loves, he chastens.” Oh, the vast riches of good theology Christ’s church can learn from the Book of Psalms! Blessed be the Name of the Lord!

[Reformers, Puritans, and a Geek]

Tags David, faith, Fall David, Father God, God Redemptive, sin