God Will Win

HE SHALL SAVE HIS PEOPLE

What impression should we give to souls as we proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ to them, whether in a preaching service or a one on one evangelistic opportunity? Should we lead them to believe that God wants to save everyone? Should we lead them to believe that God is trying His best to get sinners to believe the gospel message?

How we speak to sinners gives them impressions about the God on whose behalf we are speaking. Should we preach (or speak) to souls as if their salvation depended upon us? Is it proper that we give the impression that God is dependent upon us in some way for the salvation of sinners?

While the answers to these questions may be difficult to give in a short article like this, I know for sure that God does not want Himself misrepresented to the world of mankind that He created. We who know Him because we have been given eternal life have the responsibility of representing Him and the truth about Him. We must be careful not to allow our representation of God to be controlled by the person or persons to whom we are seeking to reach. We must be truthful regardless of the result. We must proclaim the gospel in truth so that it is first a sweet savour of Christ unto God, whether the hearers are saved or perish (2 Corinthians 2:15).

Should we preach the gospel with soul urgency? Should we preach the gospel as ambassadors for Christ pleading with sinners to be reconciled to God? Should we plead as though God was pleading through us? Yes! This is clearly the message of 2 Corinthians 5:20.

We must tell sinners that God wants them to repent and believe. This is God’s command to all men everywhere (Acts 17:30). They must know that not repenting and believing is sinful rebellion against God. We must stand on behalf of God, on the authority of God, with confidence in God as we labor to proclaim the message of God (1 Cor. 3:9) that He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever believeth in Him should not  perish, but have everlasting life. We must declare in Christ’s stead, that He came into the world to save sinners. God obviously wants to save sinners!

But in the final analysis, we must not present God as One who is trying to do something that He can’t do without the sinner’s help. We must so speak to sinners that they are left with a sense of utter helplessness in themselves and be moved to call upon the Lord for mercy. They must not be left to think that if they continue in their rebellion against God, that God has failed. He will save all whom He intends to save.                   

Eternal Life Now

THE GIFT THAT KEEPS ON GIVING

In John 17:2, Jesus speaks to His Father about His responsibility toward those the Father gave to Him. The Father gave all power to His Son so that His Son might give eternal life to all that the Father gave to Him. The gift of the Father through the Son is eternal life. The Father glorified the Son by the resurrection and exaltation of His Son to the glory He had with Him before the world was. The Son glorifies the Father by giving eternal life to those the Father gave to Him.

Jesus adds in His prayer an explanatory note about eternal life that is very significant. And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent. It is possible to understand Jesus’ words as an explanation as to what eternal life is. While eternal life has other dimensions and implications, it is essentially the life of God. When a sinner is given eternal life, he is given the life of God. This is Christ in  you, the hope of glory (Col. 1:27). This eternal life is in Jesus Christ, and is ours when we have the Son (1 John  5:11,12).

When Jesus says, that they might know, He is saying that eternal life is more than simply a stagnant blessing reserved for a future age. He is emphasizing the very purpose for eternal life. In other words, eternal life is the gift that enables us to know the only true God, and Jesus Christ… To know Him is both the essence and the goal of eternal life.

When Jesus gives eternal life we receive the capacity to know in a way and to a degree that we never knew before. The darkness of our minds because of sin that kept us far from the only true God, and Jesus Christ is removed by eternal life. We are no longer without God in the world. The gospel is no longer hidden. We are no longer going about to establish our own righteousness. We are submitted to the righteousness of God in Jesus Christ. Eternal life is at work in us enabling us to increase in life-impacting knowledge of God.

If we have eternal life, given by and in Jesus Christ, we can pray with the Apostle Paul for increase of knowledge (Eph. 1:16-19; 3:16-19). We understand his passion when he wrote, that I may know Him. We are continually growing in the grace and knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. This is eternal life and this is the goal of eternal life.

Do you have the gift that keeps on giving? You need to be dependent upon Jesus Christ for this gift. He alone has the power to give it. When He gives eternal life you will continually be changed into His image as your life is shaped by knowing Him.

(For exposition of John 171-5: cbcweb.net/weekly-pulpit-2016/)

CAN MODESTY BE DEFINED?

Some thoughts were provoked in me after recently witnessing a visitor turned away from a prison visit because she was wearing a sleeveless top. By the way, sleeveless tops are not the only forbidden clothing at the prison. The rules also forbid: “revealing shorts, halter tops, see-through garments of any type, low-cut blouses or dresses, spandex or tight-fitting pants or blouses, miniskirts, backless tops, skirts cannot be more than 2 inches above the knee…” Church folk see a list like that and cry: legalism! Or, when someone speaks out in some particular way to encourage modesty of dress, an endless debate ensues about what is too tight, too short, too low, etc.. Interestingly, those in charge of enforcing the rules for prison visitation don’t seem confused at all about such matters.

Why such rules for dress at a prison? It seems the answer is obvious. But, here again, debates ensue over the merit of such rules. Why should women be controlled because men can’t seem to control themselves? Why should women be restricted for the sake of men who are stimulated in some fleshly way by revealing, form-fitting or suggestive clothing? Shouldn’t men bear some responsibility? Should men be absolved from their responsibility to control their eyes and their minds? And so the debate goes on while the heart of the matter is completely lost.

Laws or rules are made because the hearts (the inward desires and motivations) of men and women are naturally corrupt. But when the Spirit of Christ is controlling the heart, rules that originate from the mind of Christ are not burdensome. The heart of a Spirit-filled child of God is ever seeking to conform to the desire of God, not the standards of the world.

The world must police its own, and therefore specific rules are put in place and enforced—no questions asked. The officer who turned the lady away from a prison visit because she had improper attire did not reason with her or ask her if she would conform. He simply turned her away. That’s the law. She was not happy-at all (her verbal and body language said it all)! But, she left to buy a shirt that covered her. She no doubt returned, dressed according to the law, but still with a spirit of immodesty. Her heart was not changed.

Grace changes everything. No, grace does not open the door for us to dress according to whatever standard we please. Grace does not cause us to ignore indecency and shrink from confronting brothers and sisters who may not be sensitive to what their manner of dress is provoking in others, or saying about themselves. Grace teaches us to live soberly, righteously and godly in this present world (Titus 2:12). Grace teaches us to love one another, helping one another to see more clearly. Grace changes us from the inside, leading us to be submissive followers of Christ in every area of our lives, including our appearance.  Our spirit and body have been purchased by the high price of Christ’s own blood (1 Cor. 6:19,20). How can we then live and dress in any way except what pleases Him?

I exhort you, in love, be concerned about dressing modestly in a very immodest world. Dress to cover up; not reveal or accentuate. Let your dress say something about who you are, and whose you are—not your own, bought with a price! 

(For a helpful study of this issue I recommend Jeff Pollards booklet: Christian Modesty: The Public Undressing of America, available at chapellibrary.org/files/4313/7643/2903/cmod.pdf.)

THE BELIEVER AND TEMPTATION TO SIN

If we assume that being born again removes any propensity to sin, then any temptation that is experienced will naturally create suspicions about the truth of our condition before God. Temptation to sin is not sin. Eve was tempted by Satan before she had any nature to sin. She was tempted to ignore God and follow the counsel of another. She chose to ignore God, and therein she sinned, the evidence being her act of disobedience. 

Jesus was tempted, and yet His temptation was without sin (Heb. 4:15). Like the first Adam, Jesus was challenged to ignore His Father and to choose that which would have been surrender to another counselor. His relationship with His Father was unique from the first Adam, and yet the temptation was similar enough for Jesus to be called the second Adam. Jesus withstood the temptation which the first Adam failed. Jesus remained submissive to His Father and continued to enjoy oneness with Him that He had enjoyed in eternity. He was without sin in every way that expression can be considered. Tempted, and yet no desire to transgress the will of His Father and thus no action that betrayed such sinful desire.

James teaches us the progression of sin begins with desire and lust controlling, conceiving and then bringing forth (1:14,15). If you feel tempted to make a decision, speak a word or respond with an attitude that you know does not match the revealed will of God, you have not sinned. That you could sin is a real possibility. At the point of desire you must consider God’s glory and not allow lust to control, take root, and bring forth. You must refuse the temptation to follow the counsel of a competing Master. All counsel against God’s Word is counsel of the ungodly.

What should you conclude if lust in you conceives and brings forth sin? You should conclude that you need to confess that sin to the One who said He is faithful and just to forgive your sin and cleanse you from all unrighteousness (1 John 1:9). You should not be drug down by the possibility that you are not truly saved if your belief that you have an advocate before the Father, Jesus Christ, leads you to confess and forsake the sin.

If you have no desire to resist temptation and are indifferent to following the will of God, then you should fear the consequences of your sinful condition. Your assurance of salvation should be shaken. You should not presume you have an advocate pleading your case before God. 

Avoid two extremes: presumption that you are born of God if you can continue in your sin with no spirit of repentance over your sin; and distrust of God’s promise to forgive you when you turn from your sin and trust the blood and righteousness of His only Son Who pleads for you.

TRUSTING GOD IN ALL OF LIFE

A fundamental doctrinal truth for every believer in the true and living God is that He is absolutely sovereign. We believe that God is God.

·         Nebuchadnezzar came to understand this: Daniel 4:34,35.

·         Isaiah clearly taught this perspective of truth concerning God: Isaiah 46:9-11.

·         The Psalmist answered his critics very clearly in Ps 115:4, But our God is in the heavens: he hath done whatsoever he hath pleased.

·         James’ instruction to say if the Lord will, we shall live, and do this, or that was deduced from his understanding of God’s sovereign rule in His universe.

Not only is God sovereign, He is the only wise God (1 Tim. 1:17), righteous in all his ways (Ps. 145:17), and intends only that which is to His own glory and the good of His people (Rom. 8:28).

It is this basic understanding of who God is that makes the exhortations of God to His people to trust in Him the most reasonable response to all of life. Because of who He is, and because we believe that He is, we can unreservedly trust Him in every situation and do exactly as He has commanded us with the confidence that His will is best.

Anxiety is all too often the believer’s response to difficulties in life:

·         Anxiety is the sinful response to life and life’s responsibilities. In anxiety we turn to self instead of turning to God. Anxiety is fear without faith. It is vigilance run amok. We scan the horizon constantly, fearfully, but without ever taking action or responsibility and without clinging to God. Bob Kellemen (http://www.rpmministries.org/2015/11/anxiety-stuck-vigilance/)

·         Anxiety is response to life without a sense of confidence in God.

§  The intensity of a situation, the overwhelming difficulty of a relationship, and the crippling fearfulness of the awareness of inadequacy all lead self-focused ones to anxiety.

§  Anxiety then leads to sinful choices: some kind of isolation, avoidance, withdrawal, inactivity; OR anger, manipulation, domination, incessant talk/evaluation, etc..  God is ignored – no soul-quietness.

Clarify:

·         Trusting God does not mean indifference or care-less spirit to life or life’s responsibilities.

·         Trusting God does not mean shirking responsibility and simply letting come what may.

·         Feelings of concern associated with personal pain, financial struggles, or relational strains are not necessarily sinful. Godly vigilance demands that we guard, care, give, love, respond, etc..

Trusting God must be the believer’s default response to life:

Trusting God is the heart/inner posture of one who takes God at His word and constantly sees in the cross of Jesus Christ God’s commitment to his salvation and care.  He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things? (Romans 8:32).

·         One trusting God is able to believe the promise of God even though the promise seems impossible or out of reach: Heb. 11:13.

·        One trusting God is able to keep believing and responding in obedience, even when there is darkness and confusion: Isaiah 50:10 (don’t need to understand everything to be submissive.)

·         One trusting is able to release from his spirit the burden of control (trying to make something happen) and simply focus upon fulfilling his responsibility in life by the aid of the Holy Spirit.

·         One trusting is able to entrust to God, with confidence and thanksgiving, every outcome of life and ministry as he seeks to do His will revealed to him through His Word.

We say to others by our attitudes, words and actions that God is either trustworthy, or He is not!

God is glorified as our lives manifest that we trust Him. What is your life saying to those who know you?