Reconnecting with the Gospel pt. 33 – Dying to Sin and Living for Joy in Righteousness

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After a long pause, we’re picking back up in Romans today.  We’ve gotten through Romans 5, which is probably the weightiest chapter of the Bible or at least in the top 5 or so.  To recap, Romans 5 is basically setting out how we are identified by God, with the conclusion being that we are identified either in Adam, or in the second Adam – Jesus Christ.  Everyone who is born of Adam, born from him, inherits Adam’s sin nature and the judgment due Adam (this is referred to as “Federal Headship” in theological circles by people who like to come up with confusing names for things).  Everyone who is born again through faith in Christ, inherits the righteousness of Christ and eternity with Him in a fullness of joy.  To give an analogy (a poor one sadly) you can think of this as two trees, either you are a branch in the tree of Adam, or you are broken off the tree of Adam and grafted into the tree of Christ.  One tree will be delivered up to be burned/judged for eternity, and the other will bear fruit and be glorious for all eternity.

With that as a background, we’re going to jump into Romans 6 which begins with the practical applications of Romans 5.  Meaning, if Romans 5 is true and we believe on Christ, and are identified with Christ, how will our lives bear out that belief and identification?

Romans 6:1-11 – “What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound?  By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it?  Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death?  We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.  For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his.  We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin.  For one who has died has been set free from sin.  Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him.  We know that Christ, being raised from the dead, will never die again; death no longer has dominion over him. For the death he died he died to sin, once for all, but the life he lives he lives to God.  So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.”

Now the self-righteous reader might look at the people suggesting that they continue in sin that grace may abound as foolish non-believers, but I want to be fair and offer grace to those people and assume they had a legitimate logical question.  Specifically, if as a believer, you are identified with Christ, and you are living to make much of the glory of God – then there could be a logical (but flawed) argument that sinning makes much of Christ.  Basically the logic pattern is this:  The fullness of the glory (Character and majesty) of God was displayed through Christ triumphing over sin and death on the cross.  If there was “more” sin for Christ to have triumphed over, then the glory of God would be seen as even greater.  Therefore, sinning more leads to making much of the glory of God.  This argument is flawed in many different ways, but hopefully you can at least better understand where the people were coming from as not being completely illogical.  

The answer to that argument goes to the heart of what it means to actually believe and be identified with Christ.  Basically the answer given in Romans 6:2-11 is that the glory of God is made much of by manifesting the death of and resurrection Christ (the gospel message) in our own lives, namely dying to self and sin and bringing to life righteousness.  Many people talk about being a “Christian” or a “believer”, but what does your life say about who Jesus is and what you believe?  Now from personal experience, I can tell you that no matter how tempting or alluring sin may seem, it always has horrible repercussions – not only immediate, but long-term, and eternal (for non-believers).  Each of us will make decisions today to either harden our heart against the truth of God and continue in sin, or we can trust Christ, and manifest our belief in the gospel through turning from sin to pursue joy in fellowship with Christ. 

Simply put, the offer to you from Christ is freedom from sin and eternal joy in worshipping God.  Christ came to put sin to death, that he might taste death for us, become a curse for us, that we might become the righteousness of God.  My encouragement to you today, is that if your soul is burdened by sin, look to Christ.  Isaiah 53:4-6 – “Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted.  But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed.  All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned—every one—to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.”    If your soul hungers to be right with God, if you thirst for a joy that no sin can deliver, look to Christ.  John 6:35 – Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst.”   What a salvation we have in Christ!  He has the same call for each of us yesterday, today, and tomorrow – Whoever would come, come.
Grace and Peace,
Adam

Spiritual Momentum

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Brothers and Sisters,
Please forgive the drought of daily encouragement.  The good news is that over the past months I finished up my CPA.  I have no love for accounting, so it was a beating, but this was requested by my employer, so it’s done.  The bad news is that it has proven more taxing on my spiritual life than even I had imagined.  At the same time, one of the downsides to doing a good job at work is that people give you more and more work to do, so that is presenting a challenge as well.  I do have plans to get back into and finish Romans, but I wanted to take today to talk about how to talk about something that is close to my own heart today – how to rebuild and maintain spiritual momentum.
If you are like me, you see pastors week in and week out preaching the truth of God’s Word, and it may seem like they are on another level than each of us spiritually.  It may seem like the struggles and doubts that we all encounter as followers of Christ are not experienced by our spiritual leaders or other Christians around us.  That is simply not true.  We see stuggle in the heart of Paul who scribed much of the New Testament and whose missionary efforts help found much of the early (NT) Church.  We have been forgiven in Christ, but until we are with Him, we are living in a fallen world and with fleshly bodies with indwelling sin subject to temptation.  (Romans 7:16-25)
In Matthew 13, Jesus tells and then explains a parable of a man sowing seed in a field: vs 4-8 – “A sower went out to sow.  And as he sowed, some seeds fell along the path, and the birds came and devoured them.  Other seeds fell on rocky ground, where they did not have much soil, and immediately they sprang up, since they had no depth of soil, but when the sun rose they were scorched. And since they had no root, they withered away.  Other seeds fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked them.  Other seeds fell on good soil and produced grain, some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty”
vs 18-23 – “Hear then the parable of the sower:  When anyone hears the word of the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what has been sown in his heart. This is what was sown along the path. As for what was sown on rocky ground, this is the one who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy, yet he has no root in himself, but endures for a while, and when tribulation or persecution arises on account of the word, immediately he falls away. As for what was sown among thorns, this is the one who hears the word, but the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and it proves unfruitful. As for what was sown on good soil, this is the one who hears the word and understands it. He indeed bears fruit and yields, in one case a hundredfold, in another sixty, and in another thirty.”
Many of us would not fall into the first category, although that is not to say that this message would not be helpful to that group of people.  Many of us (All of us, I would argue) will have times where we may ask ourselves if we are to be numbered among the second and third groups.  We have received the gospel, we have responded in joy at the love of Christ, we have been growing in our fellowship with Christ, and then something happens.  Maybe there is a tragic death around us, maybe someone close to us has a crippling disease or accident.  Maybe we lose our job and don’t know how we’re going to make it financially.  Maybe we allow a good desire, such as becoming a CPA to honor our employers wishes, to become an end, instead of the means of honoring Christ, evidenced by a lack of personal fellowship with Christ and ministry.  Maybe we have been growing in fellowship with Christ, but there is still some sin in our life that we haven’t let go of, and now it is threatening to choke off our growth in Christ.  Maybe there is a temptation to pursue a new job or new material possessions that ultimately we don’t need, and are unhelpful to growing fellowship with Christ.  This list could go on, but I am confident I don’t need to tell you how many different ways we can allow sin and the cares of this world to derail us from our fellowship with Christ. 
My encouragement today is that just because you may be struggling through something today, doesn’t mean you have to stay there.  God has plans for you to be fruitful in encouraging others’ faith and sharing the gospel for salvation, and even these current struggles will be used by God to that end.  What I want to say/remind you of is that what you may see in Spiritual leaders is not an absence of struggle, but people who take full advantage of every means of grace given by God to maintain their spiritual momentum; ex: meeting often with other Christians to talk about life and encouraging one another in the gospel of Jesus Christ, hearing Biblical preaching, taking communion, fellowship with God in nature, ministry, fellowship with God by reading His Word and prayer, and fasting to name a few.  Every Christian is at risk of falling away from their faith, but God uses means to call those whom He loves back to Himself continually, and their faith is even stronger for having gone through the struggle.  On a personal level, I want to remind each of you, that God loves you.  If you are really struggling in your faith, none of what you’re going through today is a surprise to God, He has known you completely – your past, present, and future, and He redeemed you fully on the cross through Christ.  He had you in mind before the foundation of the world as an object of His love – to redeem you to Himself.  
Ephesians 1:3-9 – “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love he predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved. In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ” 
So, if you are not where you would like to be in your fellowship with Christ, how do you start rebuilding momentum?
1)  Tell a fellow brother or sister in Christ (preferably more than 1) exactly how you feel and what is going on with you.  Remember that we are told of a spiritual gift of discernment, but not of mind reading!  One of God’s primary means of encouraging the faith of believers is through the community of saints.  Simply put, your fellow brothers and sisters in Christ cannot help encourage you well if they do not know how you need to be encouraged.  If you’re worried about being judged, you’re valuing the opinion/potential judgment of a fellow sinner more than you are the opinion/fellowship of God.  That is a poor trade.
2)  Take an inventory of your life.  This can be as quick as 5 minutes or an all day introspection.  What things in your life are driving you?  How are those things helping to grow your joy in relationship with Christ?  If what’s driving you is not helping grow you fellowship with Christ, should you be allowing those things to drive you?  Our hearts can be deceitful, so I would also encourage talking this over with a fellow brother or sister in Christ.
3)  Begin to walk in step with the Spirit.  Most Christians are either trying to run in front of the Spirit of God or are standing still in the hardness of their heart/sin.  Each day is going to come with enough worry of its own – most of us don’t need to make huge changes to our life to follow Christ.  Much of following Christ is in the simple day to day choices. Should I spend time with Christ in His Word today?  Yes, but you don’t have to start reading 2 hours a day and comitting to 4 hours of prayer in the morning.  Just take a step to spend some time with Christ each day, and allow God to guide you from there.  Should you go to Church and be involved in community?  Yes, but you don’t have to be involved in every ministry or occupy yourself fully 7 days a week.  Just take a step to have people really start to know you, and meet up with them for a meal or coffee outside of church, and allow God to guide you from there. 
Each of us needs to continually breath life into our faith. (2 Tim 1:6).  Each of us needs to be encouraged daily by others. (Heb 10:24-25)  Each of us have been promised trials and sufferings as Christians (Jam 1), but in persevering we have been promised the treasure of Christ for eternity.  There will be a day where these struggles are no more, when the span of our life seems like the blink of an eye, where our joy in perfect fellowship with Christ is so great that it must be sung for all eternity.  I would encourage you to set your mind on these things (Col 3:2) that you would put other things in right perspective.  Know that you’re loved and prayed for – if you’ve read this far and have been encouraged even a little bit, I would encourage you to consider your fellow brothers and sisters in Christ and seek out ways to encourage one of them today in the gospel.  Grace be with you.

Reconnecting with the Gospel pt. 32 – Joined with Christ for Eternity

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Last time we went pretty deep into a subject that doesn’t get talked about much, the Federal Headship of Adam, and the Superior Headship of Christ for believers.  I don’t know why pastors don’t talk about the hard things in the Bible.  I am comforted by the words of Christ, who when he was about to be crucified said this to his disciples – John 16:12-13 – “I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now.  When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth”  Now, we know that as believers, the Holy Spirit dwells in us.  So I realize that what we talked about last time was meaty and difficult maybe for some to take in, but we stand or fall on God’s Word as truth.  I am confident that the Spirit will guide you into all truth, even those truths that are difficult. 

Today’s message continues the message from last time, which is my way of saying that it’s not going to be much easier.  That message again was that through Adam, all man has sinned and been condemned to judgment (even before they are physically born)  (Psalm 51:5).  Eveneryone of us is a physical descendant of Adam.  Although we cannot remember it, in God’s eyes, all of humanity was with Adam when He sinned against God (in his loins).  This truth is set up as a comparison to our salvation in Christ.  While none of us were actually on the cross with Jesus, and we cannot remember it, not by the flesh, but by our faith, we were with Christ.  Just as Adam’s sin was counted to us as condemnation and death, Christ’s death through our faith, has given us salvation and life through Him.  Through Christ, the “second Adam”, according to the will of our Heavenly Father, everyone of us has been born again through the Spirit of God.  Much more than that, every blessing that is found in Christ has been promised to us, who are adopted sons and daughters of God.  

Let’s be honest, it’s difficult to take in that everyone is condemned by God before they’re born. If you’re having a hard time with that, and saying “that’s not fair”, I’ve been there, so I’m sympathetic to that reaction.  However, I never promised to preach an easy message, just the Truth from God’s Word.  My exhortation is to look at what happened after Jesus’ sermons.  You’d have thought that thousands would run to Him, but more often than not, He would start a message with a great crowd, but by the end, no one save His disciples would be left.  We must humble ourselves before God, and submit that while we may not understand some things, it is Truth because God has told us it is truth, and then ask/work to see God’s good purposes in it.

Why is all of this talk from Romans 5 about the headship of Adam and the headship of Christ important?  It’s important to understand because it explains so much of the Bible.  Let me talk through a few questions and answers based on this Truth from Romans 5.
Question:  Why was it important that Jesus was born of the Spirit and not physically through Joseph?  Answer from Romans 5 – Because if Jesus would have been born through Joseph, he would have been born a sinner as all of us are, and there is no salvation from sin for a sinner.  There is only salvation through the spotless righteous Lamb of God.
Question:  Why is it important to believe in that everyone is born a sinner through Adam?  Because if people do not realize that their “sin problem” before God is not primarily that they sin (that is to say they do sinful acts) but that they are a sinner (that is to imply every thought and intention falls short of the righteousness of God), then people will always be trying to “clean themselves up” instead of falling down on their knees and pleading the mercy of God.  Look at the example given of the Pharisee and Tax Collector in Luke 18 to illustrate this.  Luke 18:9-14 – “He (Jesus) also told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and treated others with contempt: “Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee, standing by himself, prayed thus: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector.  I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I get.’ But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, a sinner!’  I tell you, this man went down to his house justified, rather than the other. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.” 
Question:  Without trying to understand the mind of God completely (no one can), why might God have ordained things in this way?  Meaning if the end goal of God is His glory being magnified and enjoyed by His Church forever, how does this glorify God to have everyone born a sinner?  Humbly I would submit, that in part this was done to show how great the mercy and love of God is that He would come and die for His Church, a sinful people living under judgment.  Just above in Romans 5:7-8 we are told – “one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die— but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”  Was God’s love present before the condemnation of man through the fall of Adam?  Yes, He never chanegs; but his love wasn’t shown to us as glorious as it was through Christ on the cross.
Question:  Why is it important to know that ultimately God judges only two groups of people, Adam, and everyone born of him and Christ, and everyone born of Him?  Further why is it important to accept that Adam was your father, and his sin was imputed to you?   A lot of reasons, but let’s start with the second half of that question.  If you can understand and accept that Adam was your father, and his sin was imputed to you, the imputation of Christ’s righteousness to you through faith, is going to make a whole lot more sense.  Through faith, as a believer in Jesus Christ, you are now a new creation (2 Cor 5:17).  Christ is now your Saviour and Father, and whereas in the flesh, your former self had the sin of Adam imputed to you, now as a new Creation, the sin is gone, the wrath of God removed, and Christ’s righteousness is imputed to you.   Further, a lot of the language you’re going to read in the Bible is going to make a lot more sense.  Specifically, your “adoption” as sons and daughters, Christ as the “head” of the body/church, and imagery of you being grafted into Christ (Romans 11), the language of being “in” Christ, etc.  I could go on, but all of that language should start to have a rich meaning to you if you understand Romans 5.
Ultimately, I’m digging into Romans 5 because although it maybe difficult and confusing at first, I think in the long term, it will bring clarity to your understanding of the saving work of Christ, strengthen your faith, and be a wellspring of joy to you.  If you can believe this, all of that was just the intro.  Now let’s continue through the Word.    

Romans 5:15-21 – “But the free gift is not like the trespass. For if many died through one man’s trespass, much more have the grace of God and the free gift by the grace of that one man Jesus Christ abounded for many.  And the free gift is not like the result of that one man’s sin. For the judgment following one trespass brought condemnation, but the free gift following many trespasses brought justification.  For if, because of one man’s trespass, death reigned through that one man, much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man Jesus Christ.  Therefore, as one trespass led to condemnation for all men, so one act of righteousness leads to justification and life for all men.  For as by the one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners, so by the one man’s obedience the many will be made righteous.   Now the law came in to increase the trespass, but where sin increased, grace abounded all the more,  so that, as sin reigned in death, grace also might reign through righteousness leading to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.”

I could literally spend hours here and probably only scratch the surface of what is being proclaimed.  Here’s what I want to focus on today; the grace of God in Jesus Christ is sufficient to cover ALL your sin.  I want to do a quick side by side comparison between Adam and Jesus, as Paul describes above.
What did each do?
Adam committed one sin – unbelief, manifested through his choosing to believe Satan instead of God and eating the fruit he was forbidden to eat
Jesus committed one act of righteousness – belief, manifested through his trusting the will of the Father and dying in the place of sinners to redeem a people to God
What was the consequence?
Adam’s sinful act – death and separation from God to himself and everyone that came from him physically
Christ’s righteous act – life and reconciliation to God for Himself (rising from the dead to sit at the right hand of God) and everyone that came from Him spiritually by faith.
What is the abiding fruit of Adam and Christ?
Adam – sin, which continually grows, leading to final condemnation, judgment, and the wrath of God
Christ – grace, which continually grows, leading to complete righteousness, and the peace, love, and joy of God
There is ONE main thing that if you get nothing else out of today’s scripture, I want you to see, know,  and savor deep in your heart:  Just as there is no hope for anyone who is from Adam, born a sinner, condemened to die, there is nothing that can rob you of your hope if your hope is in Christ.  Just as there is no hope for the most moral of people who have been born of Adam, because their condemnation was secured in him, and they themselves are sinners inwardly, there is always hope for anyone who trusts in Christ.  Why?  Because when Christ died, his one act of righteousness, ACTUALLY saved people.  Jesus’s act of righteousness didn’t just cover your first 20 years of sin, or 50 years of sin, Christ’s death covered ALL your sin.  He did not leave men to ask sinners to manifest belief (righteousness) in themselves; they never would!  Even the faith to believe is a gift from God, secured by Christ’s finished work on the cross.  Just as non-believers remain joined to Adam, and receive the condemnation due him, all believers are joined to Christ through faith, and the victory over death and sin that Christ evidenced through his ressurection is yours as well.  This is foundational.  Every one of us as believers will have ups and downs, times where we feel closer to God than others, but at our core, when everything else is lost, we cannot lose Christ.  My hope for each of you, is that this doctrine, although difficult to take in, will give you a peace that surpasses all understanding.  If you hope in Christ alone, if you love God and seek to follow after him; know that He is enough.
I apologize that this message has taken me so long to get out.  There’s a combination of reasons between my studying for my CPA exam (without a love for accounting) and honestly, the difficulty of this text and deciding where to press.  We really could spend a year in this one chapter of Romans, and be well served.  If you are a Christian, at some point you’re going to have to wrestle through Romans 5 and 9 honestly, and ask God to grant you wisdom and Truth in accepting it.  I say acceptance because the hardest part of these two chapters are not as much interpretating what it says as it is accepting that it means EXACTLY what it says.  Though it may stretch your faith, I promise you, it will be healing to your soul to know that from beginning to end, God is in control, and He is good.  We bring nothing but our sin to the table, but in Christ, we have been given a new righteousness, the righteousness of God.  We are already accepted by God for once and always, because we are in Christ through faith.  Know that you’re loved and prayed for.
Grace be with you,
Adam

Reconnecting with the Gospel pt. 31 – The Headship of Christ

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As promised, today we’re going to seminary together.  These waters we’re wading into are deep, but hopefully will be helpful to better understand the gospel.  Specifically, today we’re going to look at the depth of man’s sin, and what is called the “Federal Headship” of Adam.

I want to ask a leading question first.  What is man’s greatest problem?  Now many people would answer “sin”, and not a bad answer in itself, but not really complete in light of Romans 5.  I want to take that answer a step further today, and suggest that man’s greatest problem is that he is born through the line of Adam, thereby inheriting the condemnation of Adam.

Let me explain what I mean by that.  Most people know the story of Adam from Genesis, how Adam ate the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil against the command of God.  The consequence of Adam’s rebellion was the judgment of God that Adam would endure hardship from then on and would ultimately return to the earth (death).  Federal Headship is the Biblical concept that Adam, as the first born man, represented all of humanity, thus when Adam sinned against God, His sin was counted (imputed is the Christianese term) to all of humanity.  That means that the consequences of Adam’s sin; a sinful nature, physical death, and separation from God were also put on everyone that would come through the line of Adam.  (Quick side note:  This is also why it was essential that Jesus was born of the Spirit, not through Joseph)  Therefore, everyone born through Adam has already been judged by God as guilty in Adam.  In a very real sense, every one of us is born already condemned.  People talk about sin and separation from God as being the “cause” of our judgment, but really those are not the cause of our judgment primarily, sin and separation from God is our judgment, the fact that we willfully continue as sinners merely stores up the wrath of God against us to be unleashed upon those unbelievers for eternal punishment.

How do we know that man is born condemned?  Aside from the Bible telling us it is so, that everyone of us is born in iniquity (Psalm 51:5), it is seen because everyone of us sins against God in the same manner as our common father, Adam, and everyone of us sees the fruit of that sinfulness in physical death.  Adam’s sin was counted as our sin.  In many cultures, this idea is well understood and accepted without issue, but in the US and western culture people (myself included initially) often take issue saying “it’s not fair”.  My short answer to that response is that everyone who makes that argument has themself sinned against God willfully, and therefore their point about fairness is moot.  The longer answer is that the complete and total fall of ALL humanity through Adam is actually good news to us, and I explain why that is so.  That’s where I hope to get to today; where as a believer in Jesus Christ, you are encouraged by this Biblical doctrine of Federal Headship and find a greater peace and joy through Jesus Christ.

Romans 5:12-14 – “Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned — for sin indeed was in the world before the law was given, but sin is not counted where there is no law.  Yet death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those whose sinning was not like the transgression of Adam, who was a type of the one who was to come.”

A lot of people think about sin as perhaps breaking one of God’s 10 commandments.  Romans 5 raises an interesting question though.  If one of the consequences of sin was death, how was it that people were dying before God gave Moses the written law? (roughly 2,500 – 3,500 years)  The answer given above is that sin was already present in the world, evidenced by physical death.  The entire purpose of the written law was not to remove sin from man, but simply to be a mirror to show man how truly sinful and fallen they were, that they could “count” their own sins.  I would lose count personally after a couple days of living.  In Adam, as mankind’s federal head, man had fallen such that they were incapable of any true righteousness before God.

So how does the Federal Headship tie into the gospel and why is it good news?  To understand that in Adam, your Federal Head, you have already been judged and condemned, you are immediately confronted with the reality that in yourself you have 0 hope, none.  No amount of “good works” could undo the condemnation already incurred.  It would be like a convicted murderer on death row, going back to the judge and asking to be set free because he’d cleaned up his cell some.  Now, there is no more troubling knowledge for those who fear God to know that He has already condemned you, and your time/sins now are only storing up God’s wrath to be unleashed upon you for all eternity.  If you do not see that, you will not treasure Christ as you ought, you will not understand what Christ accomplished for you as you ought, and your joy in Christ will be limited because you will believe that Christ merely covered “part” of you on the cross (the sinful part) instead of ransoming a whole condemned person under judgment already.  Even more, just as the sin of Adam was imputed to you through Adam’s sin, the perfect righteousness of Christ has now been imputed to you through faith in the finished work of Jesus.  If through one sin in Adam, you were condemned to die, how much greater must the grace of God through Jesus Christ be to you, who have inherited His life and righteousness?  Let’s see how this is explained in 1 Corinthians 15:21-22 – “For as by a man came death, by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead.  For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive.” 
God is so loving to those with eyes to see, so I want you all to see and feel what I’m about to say.  All of this was actually good news for man.  How so?  The answer is actually given later in Romans 8:1-4, 28-30 – “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.  For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death.  For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.” “for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.  For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.  And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified.”  Simply put, the second creation of man, the new creation in Jesus Christ described in 2 Corinthians 5:17 is MUCH greater than Adam.  Adam walked with God, but He did not know the plans of God.  Adam talked with God, but He did not have the Holy Spirit within.  Adam obeyed God, but he did not reflect the glory of God like we will.  Adam lived a relatively care-free life, but He did not have the fullness of joy in perfect fellowship with Jesus Christ.
Brothers and sisters, my hope is that this doctrine would be sweet to you and encouraging to your soul.  While your condemnation in Adam was complete, our freedom in Christ is greater still.  We boast in no righteousness of our flesh, but in the perfect righteousness of Christ which has been imputed to us.  What greater news is there than the wrath of God removed through the blood of Christ, the infinite love of God poured out to us for eternity who are joined with Christ, and the joy of the glory of God as a treasure from a God with infinite power at his disposal to maximize his glory and thus, our joy?  Paul speaks of our joining with Christ through faith in a verse many of us will be familiar with, and if you are not, I commend it to you as worthy of memorizing – Galatians 2:20 – “I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.”   More than words on a page, that is reality for those of us who have been set free from our bondage to know and love our Lord Jesus Christ.  My hope and prayer is that each of us would own this verse, that we would claim the victory and life that Christ accomplished for us, and walk in fellowship with our God.
Grace be with you,
Adam 

Reconnecting with the Gospel pt. 30 – At The Right Time Christ Died For The Ungodly

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For many of you like myself, today is the first day back from a long vacation, and the first work day of the new year.  As we ease back into work mode, we too are going to ease back into Romans 5, before we get really, really deep in the next few messages.  My hope is that as always you are encouraged in knowing and following Jesus Christ our Lord.  There is no greater joy than fellowship with God.  So that is my goal today and everday – to lift up the name of Jesus Christ to you, and pray that if He wills, He will reveal more of Himself to you through the Word.  My hope is that your true teacher, the Holy Spirit within you, would grant you renewal, fresh eyes to see and savor God in Jesus Christ – for your joy.

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

Its the most common lie Satan attacks us with;  “You are not good enough for God to love you”.  Do you know how Jesus responded to that lie?  Mark 2:15-17 – “And as he reclined at table in his house, many tax collectors and sinners were reclining with Jesus and his disciples, for there were many who followed him.  And the scribes of the Pharisees, when they saw that he was eating with sinners and tax collectors, said to his disciples, “Why does he eat with tax collectors and sinners?”  And when Jesus heard it, he said to them, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.”  

Everyone is born a sinner.  Unlike how most people commonly refer to “sin”, our sin is a state of being rather than sinful actions we commit.  The sinful actions are simply fruit of sin that is already within us.  This will make more sense next time if this idea is unfamiliar to you.  So in one sense, our “sin” problem is much greater than we might think.  If you are waiting to arrive at a point where you are accepted by God on your own merits, it will NEVER happen.  I’ve got about 10 good years under my belt really pursuing Christ well, and I would tell you that I still sin everyday, still have to ask God’s forgiveness everday and the forgiveness of others often, but don’t take my word alone for this.  I recommend you talk openly with a Christian in their 70s or 80s about the sin they are still fighting.  You will always be battling sin on this side of eternity.  There was sin in you when you were born, you have sinned all your life until today, you will sin today, and you will sin every day until you die.  I says this not to make light of sin, but to make much of the holiness of God.  Even as a Christian, on this side of eternity your best prayer carries in it enough sin to merit God’s damnation of you for all eternity.  However, Psalm 32:1-2 tells us – “Blessed is the one whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered.  Blessed is the man against whom the LORD counts no iniquity”   A good question here to answer for yourself, is “what sin did the blood of Jesus cover”?  Did it cover my sin yesterday?  Did it cover my sin today?  Did it cover my sin tomorrow?  The answer to all of these questions is Yes and Amen.
Let’s circle back to the text above.  When did Christ go to the cross?  Was it while His people Israel were triumphing over their enemies?  No, Israel had been conquered by Rome.  Was it while the religious leaders were passionately pursuing the Lord?  No, Jesus spoke most critically of the religious leaders of that time as hypocrites, who were in love with the world rather than its Creator.  Was it at a time when the people would see their God persecuted and cry out to save Him?  No, the people chose to save a murderer, Barabbas, instead of their King, who they cried out to have crucified.  That was the state of God’s people when He chose to die for them.  That was the “right time”.  Why?  It was to show that Christ saves sinners and to demonstrate the great love with which God loves us.  That truth of the gospel is for you; God’s encouragement to you as you put to death sin in your life and defend against the lies of the enemy.
Paul continues above by asking rhetorically, if God loved you enough to die for you while you were an enemy of God, how much greater love and joy must he have for you now that you have been reconciled to Him?  There is a sense in which God loves everyone.  We all breathe the same air and when it rains, it benefits us all.  However, there is a much greater love and plan for those who by faith are in Christ Jesus; covered by His blood; reconciled to God.  God’s love is poured out to us through Jesus Christ, perfect fellowship with God for our joy, a joy unspeakable without end.  My lawyer logical side is coming out here, but I think it will be helpful for me just list out a few things to help you see God’s plan for His glory and your joy through Jesus and the gospel.
  1. God having infinite power is working at all times to maximize His own joy
  2. Given God is perfect, having no imperfection, therefore there is nothing (no created thing) capable of producing greater joy outside God Himself
  3. God therefore pursues His own joy through enjoying Himself and Making His Glory (Perfections) known
  4. If there is nothing greater than God Himself, no greater joy to be found, the best “good news” of the Gospel of Jesus for us would be fellowship with God

This kind of puts a dagger in the whole “prosperity gospel” idea of health and wealth.  To live is Christ and to die is gain!  (Phil 1:21) We should feel that every day.  Each day is a new day to put to death sin, love others, and enjoy a closer fellowship with Christ – for our joy.  If being sick helps me draw closer to Christ, let me be sick.  If being poor helps draw me closer to Christ, let me be poor.  God is not about robbing you of joy, He is about giving you joy in full, fellowship with the Living God.  Creation, obedience to God, studying God’s Word, surrounding ourselves with Christian community (more than just one or two days a week)…. these are all means of pointing you towards the glory of God for your joy.

That’s my encouragement for today.  We don’t have to wait for a New Year, each day, each hour, each moment is an opportunity for renewed fellowship with God, resting on the finished work of Jesus Christ.  God didn’t save us from something (judgment) but He saved us to someone (Himself in Jesus Christ) for everlasting infinite joy.  Let us therefore not look around as much at the “sin” that remains in our life, but look to the author and perfector of our faith, Jesus Christ, and find in Him a joy that kills any desire that would draw us away from Him.

Grace and Peace,
Adam

Reconnecting with the Gospel pt. 29 – Peace and Joy through the Lord Jesus Christ

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Romans 5:1-5 – “Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.  Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God.  More than that, we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.”

Before we jump into Romans 5, lets have a quick recap of where we are in Romans.  In Romans 1-the middle of chapter 3 Paul was basically saying one thing – everyone of us knows God, everyone of us has rejected God, and everyone of us should rightly be condemned as sinners.  This answers the questions about “what about the person in the middle of nowhere that never hears the gospel?”.  The answer is simple, they know God through creation and have rejected Him in their sin.  So no one is clean; no one can go before God with any kind of justifiable defense as to why they should not be judged by Him for their sin.  From the middle of Romans 3-Romans 4 Paul tells us that God put forth His Son, Jesus, God in flesh, to bear the bear our sin, die, be raised in life from death, and that everyone who believes this Provision and Promise of God is declared righteous through Jesus’s finished work.

Now we turn to Romans 5.  I love Romans 5.  The first part of Romans 5 talks about what God has done for us in Christ as individuals; and individuals perspective of salvation and redemption.  The second half of Romans 5 talks about God’s view of salvation and redemption. When we get there, the second half of Romans 5 is deep and challenging, and therefore, we’re probably going to spend a good bit of time here, but it will be well worth our efforts.

Let’s jump in.  Paul writes a building argument in these first 5 verses that as Christians we should be joyful in every circumstance.  That’s the end result of faith, joy in God, specifically the “hope of the glory of God” which we’ll break down what that means in a bit.  So what is the foundation for joy?  Paul tells us in verse one, it is peace with God.  Now in Nahum 1:3 we are told “The LORD is slow to anger and great in power, and the LORD will by no means clear the guilty.  His way is in whirlwind and storm, and the clouds are the dust of his feet.”  Now, I love God, but knowing God, I also know that His righteousness is perfect and mine is far from it (those who know me well will support this claim).  So if I read that passage in Nahum, that’s pretty scary, right!  You should be scared!  My first reaction would be fear.  There’s a healthy fear of the Lord, even for a believer, but that’s another message for another day.  Now remember that in Romans 1-3 we’ve already shown how everyone knows God and rejects him in their sin.  There’s   So how does someone who is a sinner have peace with God who is righteous and just – not forgiving sin?

We have peace with God because we have been justified (declared righteous) by faith (believing/trusting God) through our Lord Jesus Christ.  What I want to focus in on here is how in verse one, it says through our “Lord Jesus Christ”.  Now remember, that our goal is joy in the glory of God, with peace with God as the foundation.  So it’s important to get this foundational part right.  We want to know, what does it mean for Jesus to be called Lord?  What does it mean for Jesus to be called Christ?  The word Christ, Cristos in greek, means the Messiah, the promised/annointed one of God.  God had made promises about the coming Messiah, that our iniquity and sin would be place on Him, and that He would redeem a people to God.  God cannot lie, therefore, all the promises of God to us in the Messiah, have been fulfilled in Christ.  Second, Jesus is Lord.  The word Lord, Kurios in Greek, means that we belong to Jesus that he is our master and has control over us.  Now to those who bristle at the idea of being “owned” and calling Jesus “master”, before you jump ship here I want you to think about one thing; if God loves you enough to die in your place and His plan is for your infinite joy in knowing Him and walking in a right relationship with Him, why wouldn’t you jump at the opportunity to do EXACTLY what He commands of you?
Some people try to have a relationship with Jesus as the Christ (Messiah), but not as the Lord.  That is a tragedy.  That’s not Jesus.  We need to be reminded that whereas before we were slaves to sin, now we have a new master, Jesus.  If I’m trying to enjoy the glory of God built on a foundation of peace with Him, but I’ve got the whole foundation messed up, it makes sense that I’m not going to get very far, right?  So when we speak of being saved through faith in Jesus, implied there is that it is the right Jesus; the Jesus that is the promised one of God and the Jesus who is Lord of our life.
Ok, so we have the right Jesus and we are believing on Him, submitting ourselves to Him.  What now?  We are told that we have been declared righteous.  What happens if you struggle and fall into sin?  All your past, present, and future sins were put on Jesus, His victory and his righteousness are yours by faith.  God’s not going to drag you back into court.  There is no double jeopardy (for you legal people).  I don’t want to make you complacent in your fight against sin; being about the Kingdom of God and personal righteousness is part of believing on the Lord Jesus Christ, but I want you to be able to look to Jesus and find in Him rest and peace.  That is what it means in verse two that through Him we have access to grace by which we stand.  Grace is not some mystical idea, Jesus paid it all for you in His blood on the cross.  His blood is your grace.  The blood of Christ covers all your sin.
Ok, so we’ve got our guilt problem covered and we have peace.  Where is the joy?  Our joy as believers is in the hope of the glory of God.  Ok, so that sounds great, but what does it mean?  Hope here doesn’t mean like hoping Santa is going to bring you a certain present, the word means eager expectation.  So it’s like knowing Santa (mom and dad) got you the toy you really wanted for Christmas, but you have to wait for it, but you know it’s coming.  That analogy is probably stained by some sinful materialism, so it’s not the best, but you get the idea.  You are hoping for what you know is coming.  Really excited.  REALLY excited.  Now what is the “glory of God”?  In a word, Jesus.  Psalm 16:11 says in the presence of God is a fullness of Joy, and at His right hand (Christ sat down at the right hand of God) are pleasures forevermore.  If God’s glory is his characteristics in their perfection, and in Hebrews 1:3 we are told of Jesus – “He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature”, then the glory of God means we get Jesus.  Not for 3-4 years like the disciples, but for eternity, in perfect relationship with Him.  Infinite joy.  No suffering, no sin, but pleasure forevermore.
So we have peace by faith, and joy in hope of the glory of God.  What Paul says after that is that even those things that would seemingly rob us of joy, like suffering, God is going to use to actually increase it.  If one approaches suffering with a view of eternity in the hope of the glory of God, then even death is a means to rejoice.  Our bodies failing only remind us that we are closer to being with Christ.  A lost loved one reminds us that God is going to call us home too one day.  How can we sustain this joy, and trust that God is good even through suffering and loss?  Because God has given us Himself already through the Holy Spirit, indwelling us with the knowledge of His great love for us in Jesus.
My hope and prayer is for your continued joy in the Lord Jesus Christ.  Know you’re loved in Christ more than you can imagine, He is in control, and His plan, whatever your life looks like now, is for your joy in Him.  Rejoice in that, God is faithful.
Grace and Peace,
Adam

Reconnecting with the Gospel pt. 28 – Believe God Today

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Romans 4:13-25  “For the promise to Abraham and his offspring that he would be heir of the world did not come through the law but through the righteousness of faith. For if it is the adherents of the law who are to be the heirs, faith is null and the promise is void.  For the law brings wrath, but where there is no law there is no transgression.  That is why it depends on faith, in order that the promise may rest on grace and be guaranteed to all his offspring—not only to the adherent of the law but also to the one who shares the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all, as it is written, “I have made you the father of many nations”—in the presence of the God in whom he believed, who gives life to the dead and calls into existence the things that do not exist.

In hope he believed against hope, that he should become the father of many nations, as he had been told, “So shall your offspring be.” He did not weaken in faith when he considered his own body, which was as good as dead ( since he was about a hundred years old), or when he considered the barrenness of Sarah’s womb. No distrust made him waver concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God, fully convinced that God was able to do what he had promised. That is why his faith was “counted to him as righteousness.” But the words “it was counted to him” were not written for his sake alone, but for ours also. It will be counted to us who believe in him who raised from the dead Jesus our Lord, who was delivered up for our trespasses and raised for our justification.”

Christians, it’s been a while since we were in Romans and so I’m looking forward to continuing our study of the gospel from Romans today.  Before we jump into Romans, I’ve got a quick exhortation (this one’s a free bonus).  Have you ever stopped to think about how important “today” is?  Living as a Christian isn’t so much about yesterday or even tomorrow, as it is “today”.  God has something to say about our past and He has given us promises for our future, but nothing is as important as what He has to say to you, today.  We see this all over scripture.  We are exhorted specifically in Hebrews 4:7 – “Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts.”  Today and every day, we are to strive to enter into the rest, the shalom, that is afforded us through the gospel of Jesus Christ.  In this way, the gospel is not the beginning of faith, it is not a part of faith, it is central to everything.  It is the water that gives us life as a new creation in Christ.  This is why we are working through Romans, the fullest explanation of the gospel of Jesus ever written.

In much of Romans 4, we’ve been looking at Abraham, who is put forth by Paul as the achetype of our faith.  Abraham, though not knowing the name “Jesus”, believed God, trusted God’s promises, and it was counted to Him as righteousness.  So for us, we too are saved by believing God; specifically God’s promise of salvation through Jesus Christ.  Some well meaning Christians sometimes say to “preach the gospel at all times, and when necessary, use words”.  It’s necessary to use words, all the time.  It’s necessary for anyone to believe and it’s nourishment for your own soul as a believer.
There is no salvation apart from believing the specific promises of God through Jesus Christ.  We are told in Romans 10:14-17 – “How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!” But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Isaiah says, “Lord, who has believed what he has heard from us?” So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.”  
So, as Abraham believed God would provide him with offspring and make him the father of many nations.  Abraham was fully convinced that God was able to do what He promised.  it was Abraham’s believing God that was counted to him as righteousness.
So what has God told each of us?  What has God given us to believe?
  • God has told you that Jesus was delivered up to be crucified for your trespasses.  Jesus died 2000 years before you were born, so when God is speaking of your trespasses, He has in mind every trespass against Him, past, present, and future.  Everything was put on Christ.  God’s wrath was poured out on His Son, Jesus, for ALL your sin.
  • God has told you that you were justified, declared righteous, by God.  This includes not only your being declared not guilty of any sin, but the perfect life of Christ, His righteousness being credited to you.  When you die, and you stand before God, you will not be naked, you will be clothed in the righteousness of Jesus Christ.
  • God has told you that just as the grave could not hold Christ, we too will be raised with Him, to an eternal fellowship with Him – a joy that words cannot do justice.
Just as for Abraham to have a son at his age was not only improbable, but impossible, yet he believed God, so too is our reconciliation to God impossible for us to accomplish.  We could never work our way to God, the only thing the commands of God show is how sinful we truly are.  But just as our reconciliation to God is impossible for us, all things are possible for God, and He has made a way for us to be reconciled to Him through the blood, death, and resurrection of Jesus, a great gospel for those who hope against hope to believe.  We believe the promises of God through Jesus Christ or we perish in our sin.  No one wants to go to hell though, and so we are surrounded by a great many false professions of faith.  Believing is much more than mere agreeing, though.  Look what is written in Romans 10 above.  Not all have “obeyed” the gospel, and then the saying “who has believed”.  They are not separate.  True belief has as its consequence obedience in line with that belief.  If you believe speeding at 150mph in your car will likely lead to your death, you will be obedient to not go that fast if you value your life.  If you have been united with Christ, you cannot go on sinning against a God you love, because you value Jesus and your salvation through Him.
The root lie of all sin is that you would be happier pursuing joy in the world as a God of your own making, rather than serving and worshiping your Creator, the God who loves you enough to die in your place.  This lie has been shattered by the gospel of Jesus Christ.  It’s still out there, tempting you, but whereas you were formerly dead in your trespasses, blind to this lie, you now are free by the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in Jesus Christ.  You know God, you know He is good, seeing the love with which He has loved you in Jesus, and so you trust Him when he says that obedience to Him will not take away from your life, but give you life in its fullest measure.
This gospel and believing has as its result an obedience to God.  Who can say to God, I believe you for this part, but not for the other?  Who can say to God, I believe you for salvation, but not for obedience in this one area of my life?   Who can say to God, I believe that in your presence is a fullness of joy (Psalm 16:11), but I’m going to pursue a greater joy in the world apart from you?  You cannot say to yourself, I believe God, yet not believe Him, right?  Yet this is how many people try to dance around their sin and disobedience.    This is the good news of the gospel, that you should know the Truth, and the Truth should set you free.  God is not out to rob you of joy, but to give it to you in full.
My exhortation for each of us, today, is to believe God.  Get around others who believe God and will encourage your faith from the Word.  If you have been set free by the gospel, you do not have to continue in sin.  Yesterday has no bearing on your today.  Believe God today, and stop mistaking the shadow for the substance.  Even now, for those who believe, the Truth, Jesus Christ, is with you, in you as the Holy Spirit.  Know the Word of Christ, and believe Him.  Hope in Christ will never disappoint.  Even if the world should crumble around us, it is only a reminder that this isn’t our home, that we have a place prepared for us for eternity by Him who loved us enough to die in our place, and that He has secured for us in Himself a greater posession than the whole world could ever offer.
Grace and Peace,
Adam

The Love of God – Our Faith’s Foundation

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God put it on my heart both for my own encouragement and I hope, your edification, to write today about the love of God.  What do I mean when I’m saying the love of God?  I do not primarily mean to talk today about God’s love for us, magnificent as it was displayed through Christ, but rather our love for Him.  Why do I want to talk about this now?  We’ve been going through the book of Romans, unfolding the gospel of Jesus Christ and God’s plan of salvation for us through Him.  My hope is for your edification, the building up of your faith, but I realized in my eagerness to unfold the gospel, I may have neglected to encourage you with the purpose of our study.  My purpose is not primarily to answer your questions, or to enable you to present the gospel more clearly, or to know more of God’s will for your life.  Those are all good things, but they are means to an even greater end; joy in the love of God, Jesus Christ, crucified for you to redeem you to Him.
Let’s ask ourselves a question.  In dating and marriage, why do people spend so much time getting to know one another?  What is their goal?  Certainly the knowledge itself isn’t the goal, but the affection and love that grows out of that knowledge, right?  So it is with our relationship with Christ.  Unfortunately many people spend a lot of time focusing on the knowing, without praying for God to grow their love of Him through it.  Now I do believe, and you may have heard me say, that right knowledge of God begets right affections for Him.  However, many misunderstand salvation and Christianity as merely facts to be believed and works to be done, rather than a joyful relationship with the person of Jesus Christ.  That is tragic.  Those people, perhaps some of you reading this, remain burdened in a way that Christ does not desire.  In Revelation, Christ speaks of a group of people, the church at Ephesus, who seemed to describe this knowledge/works without love.  Rev 2:1-4 – “To the angel of the church in Ephesus write: ‘The words of him who holds the seven stars in his right hand, who walks among the seven golden lampstands.  “‘I know your works, your toil and your patient endurance, and how you cannot bear with those who are evil, but have tested those who call themselves apostles and are not, and found them to be false.  I know you are enduring patiently and bearing up for my name’s sake, and you have not grown weary.  But I have this against you, that you have abandoned the love you had at first.”

Now some of you (and me) may look at that and I say, I haven’t even done the works to be in the position to test my motive for doing them!  Thanks be to God that we live and breathe under the grace purchased for us by Jesus’ blood, that no matter where we are today we can rejoice in our Savior and seek to joyfully follow after Him.  Without a thankful heart flowing from a restored relationship with Jesus through faith, nothing we do would matter.  It might matter it man’s eyes, but not in God’s and wouldn’t serve to help draw us closer to Him.  Being grounded in your faith, following Christ, and overcoming sin are not the products of knowledge, but even if they were, 1 Corinthians 13 tells us we would have gained nothing.  1 Corinthians 13:1-3 – “If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal.  And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing.  If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing.”  Again in Galatians 5:6 we are told – “For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision counts for anything, but only faith working through love.”

Paul, an apostle of God, spoke this of Himself and those with Him who were laying down their lives to spread the gospel of Jesus – 2 Corinthians 5:14-15 – “the love of Christ controls us, because we have concluded this: that one has died for all, therefore all have died; and he died for all, that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for him who for their sake died and was raised.” 

So my exhortation as we begin back in Romans next time is this, ask the question as you read God’s Word – how does the Gospel of Jesus and His revelation of Himself from His Word impact your affections for Christ today?  My hope and prayer is that we would be marked as a people of God by a growing love for Christ that overflows naturally into the world around us.  Nothing else matters.

Grace and Peace,
Adam

Reconnecting with the Gospel pt. 27 – Saving Belief – To Know, Love, and Trust Jesus

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Romans 4:9-15 – “Is this blessing then only for the circumcised, or also for the uncircumcised? We say that faith was counted to Abraham as righteousness.  How then was it counted to him? Was it before or after he had been circumcised? It was not after, but before he was circumcised.  He received the sign of circumcision as a seal of the righteousness that he had by faith while he was still uncircumcised. The purpose was to make him the father of all who believe without being circumcised, so that righteousness would be counted to them as well, and to make him the father of the circumcised who are not merely circumcised but who also walk in the footsteps of the faith that our father Abraham had before he was circumcised.  For the promise to Abraham and his offspring that he would be heir of the world did not come through the law but through the righteousness of faith.  For if it is the adherents of the law who are to be the heirs, faith is null and the promise is void.  For the law brings wrath, but where there is no law there is no transgression.” 

Paul above is using God’s Word in the story of Abraham to put the final dagger in the jewish belief that any of their works merited in part or whole their acceptance before God.  Specifically, an argument that the Jewish readers might have made to Paul at this point was that God commanded God to be circumcised, and thus it was Abraham’s circumcision under the law of God that made him righteous.  So the important question to answer is when was Abraham justified, declared righteous, before God.  Was it before he was circumcised or after.  To put it in a modern day context for the majority of us who do not come from a Jewish background, some Christians mistakenly believe that their baptism contributes to their actual salvation.  So are you saved before baptism or after?  Lets look at the text Paul is referencing about Abraham from Genesis 15.

Genesis 15:1-6 – “After these things the word of the LORD came to Abram in a vision: “Fear not, Abram, I am your shield; your reward shall be very great.” But Abram said, “O Lord GOD, what will you give me, for I continue childless, and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?”  And Abram said, “Behold, you have given me no offspring, and a member of my household will be my heir.” And behold, the word of the LORD came to him: “This man shall not be your heir;your very own son shall be your heir.” And he brought him outside and said, “Look toward heaven, and number the stars, if you are able to number them.” Then he said to him, “So shall your offspring be.” And he believed the LORD, and he counted it to him as righteousness.”

If you read on, you’ll find out that this promise of God was made some twenty years before God commanded Abraham and his household to be circumcised in chapter 17 (The sign and seal of Abraham’s faith).  So it was that Abraham’s righteousness was credited to him before any works had been performed.  It was because Abraham believed God, that his obedience followed, not the other way around.

So what does this all mean to us?  It is so tempting to believe that your right standing before God rests on the things you do.  Do you have victory over this sin or that, etc.  This is perpetuated by many self-righteous persons within the church.  This is the burden of the law that no one can bear.  You aren’t perfect, that’s why you need a savior.  One has good reason to question whether he is truly saved if he continues in sin unrepentantly (1 John 3:9), but the opposite is not true.  Just because we might look good on the outside doesn’t mean we truly know and love God.  The world is full of good, moral, churchgoing people who act that way for a myriad of reasons other than saving belief in Jesus Christ our Lord.  My hope is that you will press into your heart that you are righteous because you believe God, not because of anything external that you do, but because you believe God; to know Him, love Him, and trust Him.

You cannot believe God without knowing anything about Him.

You cannot believe God if you reject His character and glory.

You cannot believe God if you do not trust him.

My exhortation is to not evaluate the condition of your faith based solely on those things external, and move the battle for faith inward to ask yourself if you truly believe.  Do not despair if you cannot see much knowledge, love, and trust of God in your heart; God has promised that we can move mountains even with the faith of a tiny mustard seed.  Know that Christ came to set you free and has told you that his yoke is easy and burden light.  Pray earnestly therefore, that God would incline your heart towards Him increasingly.  Seek Him in His Word, daily, not to check off a box, but to grow your knowledge and love for your Savior.  If you believe God; know Him, love Him, and trust Him, then the external outworkings of that belief will come, but just as with Abraham, your belief is what is credited to you as righteousness, nothing else.

Grace and Peace,
Adam

Blessed Burden

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Much could be said about the glory of God and its pursuit.  The Westminster Catechism begins with this question – What is the chief and highest end of man?  and gives this answer “Man’s chief and highest end is to glorify God, and fully to enjoy him forever.”  So if to glorify God was agreed to be the highest end of man by a multitude of theologians coming out of the Reformation, and has been held as true over hundreds of years up until the modern day, it’s worth taking some time to understand what that means and looks like.

Perhaps it is the culture we live in, man’s indwelling sin that seeks to rise above God, or simply a limitation of the English word, but most people do not have a good understanding of 3 things:

1)  What is the glory of God?
2)  How do we glorify God?
3)  What empowers us to glorify God?

So, with as much succinctness as possible, I’m going to try to be helpful in answering those questions today.

What is the glory of God?  It is heavy.  Literally.  The word we translate in English as glory, in many separate instances in the original language of Hebrew or Greek is actually a word that describes weightiness.  So it is meant to be something that is felt, that presses on our hearts if you will.  If it is heavy, what is it’s substance?  All of the splendor of the magnificence of God’s character and characteristics.  Simply put, God is awesome.  He alone is worthy of worship.  So what are some of the characteristics of God?  Here are some.

  • He is eternal.  He always has been, is, and always will be.
  • He is good.  God is not good from time to time, he is the very essence of good.  Compared to Him no one is good.
  • He is holy.  God’s righteousness makes Him separate.  Compared to God’s holiness our righteousness is like filthy rages.  God is altogether other from man, yet in love He took the form of man to reconcile a people to Himself through Christ.
  • Omnipresent.  We are separate from God, but we exist within Him.  He is everywhere.  In Him we live and move and have our being.  You do not have to look for God, He is with you where you are, wherever you are.
  • Omnipotent.  God is all powerful.  There is nothing beyond the reach of God’s power.  He created all things.  He holds the world, and everything in it together.  There is nothing you could ask of God, that if it is in His will, He could not accomplish.
  • Omniscient.  God knows everything.  He knows you infinitely better than you know yourself.  There are no thoughts hidden from Him, there is no cry from within your heart that goes unheard.
  • God is sovereign.  God is in control of everything.  Good and bad, God is in control.  Blessing or calamity, God is in control.  He works all things according to the counsel of His will, His purpose for His glory, and in some way that only He understands, He can promise us that all things are working towards good for those who love God and have been called according to His purpose.
  • God is faithful.  Men break promises, God is ever faithful.  Men get discouraged and leave, God is ever faithful.  Men see trouble and run, God is ever faithful.
  • God is just.  No evil goes unpunished.  God’s justice was manifested in Christ on the cross.  Every sin that has been committed, is being committed, or will be committed will be punished.  That punishment either rests on Christ, for those who believe on Him, or it will rest on the individual for eternity.
  • God is love.  In this is love, that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.  Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth.  Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never ends.  We love imperfectly, God is love perfected, in its very essence.
  • God is immutable – never changing.  God is not like a man, that he should change His mind.  His will flows from His being.  He is perfect, and every action flows from His perfection.  He cannot change, that He should move from perfection to be imperfect.

Can you feel the weight of the glory of God?  Even writing these things out, I have to stop and stand in awe of how great a God we worship.  If God never saved a single person, He would still be worthy of worship because of His glory.  That He DOES save, and shares His glory with us, is a treasure beyond words.

How do we glorify God?  It’s easiest to explain first, how we do not glorify God. You do not “add” to God’s glory.   We cannot add to it, we cannot take anything away.  Many people talking about “glorifying God” almost as if they believe their works in some way make God greater.  We do NOT make the glory of God greater… My encouragement is to read again the attributes of God above.  How are you going to add ANYTHING to Him?  What good, could you possibly add?  If you truly believed your works could “add” to the glory of God, know that it would be infinitely more likely that your efforts, stained by your indwelling sin, would bring dishonor to Him.  God is not served by human hands, as though He needed anything.  He didn’t create us, that we could “give back”.  Greater is he who serves, than is served.  We receive Him, the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ, and respond in gratitude; but let us not be prideful in the work that God has given us to do.  He a

So if we cannot add to the glory of God, how do we glorify Him?  We, who know Christ as our Savior, are messengers.  By grace through Christ, the Holy Spirit works in us to manifest the glory of God outwardly in righteousness.  This is called sanctification.  We bring light to darkness; we offer a glimpse into the glory of God to those who are perishing in their sin, and offer testimonies of reconciliation to Him through the blood of Christ.

Lastly, what empowers us to glorify God?  This is where I really wanted to get to today.  I want you to see how this is all connected from God’s Word.

God has created us to pursue joy.  No one would argue that they desire what they desire because it provides them with joy, right?  Misguided though we all can be, deceived by our own sin, we all pursue that which we believe will give us joy.  This is part of God’s plan for His glory.  God desires your joy.  Not just a little bit, He wants you overflowing with joy.  His commitment to your joy is so great, that He says in Deuteronomy 28:47-48 that if you are not joyful and glad in your heart, he will destroy you!  Before you   Essentially, the whole of your ability to please God as a professing Christian, depends on whether or not you believe one verse of the Bible, Psalm 16:11 – “You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.”  If you believe that, then EVERYTHING that you are asked to do, that brings you more of Christ, will not be burdensome, but a means to pursuing your own joy.

The greatest joy is found in the presence of Jesus Christ, knowing Him in intimate fellowship.  This is the fullness of joy that has flowed eternally between the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.  Words cannot express the joy God has in the fellowship of the Trinity, and that is the joy wants for you.  So to steal a line from my friend John Piper, “God is most glorified in us, when we are most satisfied (joyful) in Him”  We give glory to God by delighting in Him.

How do we delight in Him?  We come into His presence – we see Him.
How do we see more of Christ in our life?  Matthew 5:8 – “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.” 
How are we pure in heart?  We rest in the finished work and grace provided by our savior Jesus Christ, and live to Him.  1 Peter 1:22-23 – “Having purified your souls by your obedience to the truth for a sincere brotherly love, love one another earnestly from a pure heart, since you have been born again, not of perishable seed but of imperishable, through the living and abiding word of God” 

So what is the glory of God?  The weight of the magnificence of His splendor in all of His attributes.  How do we glorify God?  My knowing God and making Him known.  What empowers us to glorify God?  Joy is the fuel for our pursuit of the glory of God in obedient fellowship.  Less of me and my sin is more of Christ.  He must increase and we must decrease for our joy.  As we approach Thanksgiving, my exhortation is to allow the glory of God to press on your heart, and rejoice in thanksgiving for the hope we have in Christ.  The gospel would not be gospel without joy, and there is joy to the uttermost in knowing Christ Jesus as Lord.  Know you’re loved and prayed for.  Be safe in travels, be bold in the Spirit, and may the grace of God be multiplied to you, your family, and friends.

For your joy,
Adam