Each of us is confronted with decisions each day.  Now, for those who who do not have a prayer life, and do not seek after God’s will, this message will not be meaningful.  However, if you do desire to be in God’s will, we’re going to take a look at what that means Biblically.

Many times people walk haphazardly through life, and then retroactively say that it “must have been God’s will, because He is sovereign.”  That is a horrible way to go through life, and definitely not rooted in the Bible.  Yes, God is sovereign over all things, but just as God hates sin, yet it still exists, He also has a desire for your life, that you will either walk in or not.  The Bible is explaining how you can be in the moral will of God, where you can live in such a way that is in accordance with His perfect nature and righteoussness, where He desires you to be.  To appeal to God’s sovereignty as justification for any behavior or emotions, makes a mockery of God’s love for us.  At best, that kind of god is apathetic, and at worst not good at all.  God give us His Word, as an umerited gift to us – grace, that we can know Him, and in knowing Him, know what He desires for us.

Romans 12:1-2 – “I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed bythe renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.”

What is the framework by which we should filter decisions to determine God’s will?  First we must know that God’s will means sacrifice for us.  We must choose to follow God, even when it is not easy (it seldom will be).  We must choose to follow God, when we do not feel like it.  We are to be living sacrifices.  Following God’s will doesn’t always mean doing what the world does, just in a slightly better way, it means that we follow the Word of God, regardless of social norms, regardless of peer pressure, regardless of our own anxieties.  We shouldn’t conform ourselves to the world, but we should allow the Holy Spirit, through the Word of God, to transform our minds.  Only then, when we see and savor God Himself in His Word, will we be able to see clearly what His will is for us.

From God’s Word, our mind sees to understand God, and our heart’s affections are pierced to desire God Himself.  We see for example, in Matthew 6:31-33 that because God is sovereign over all things, we should pursue first His Kingdom and righteousness.  “Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.”  The knowledge of the sovereignty of God, is meant to allow our hearts to have peace in the goodness of God amidst life’s struggles, so that we are free to pursue a life glorifying to God. 

Where do Christian’s go wrong in discerning God’s will?  Usually it is one of two ways.  1)  They aren’t looking for God’s will in His Word.  If you pray to God to reveal His will to you, and you aren’t looking for an answer from His Word, you are allowing yourself to be deceived.  Now, these aren’t the people who are going through life haphazardly.  These are Christians who are genuinely seeking God’s will through prayer.  The problem is that they allow their own emotional response to be the arbiter of truth.  Our hearts are sinful and deceiving.  Jeremiah 17:9 – “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it?”   That’d be like me wanting to flip off the driver in front of me after he cuts me off, and saying – well that must be God’s will because He is sovereign over my emotions.  No, my heart is sick, and needs to be transformed into the image of God, so that its desires will be for God, not my own personal wants.

2)  They are receiving bad counsel.  I thought about breaking this out into two categories, but I’ll keep it to one.  Obviously if you are receiving counsel about what you should do in life from a non-believer, you should assume that is likely not God’s will for you.  The second category would be receiving counsel from believers who do not point you back to God’s Word, but only talk about your feelings.  God’s sovereignty over feelings doesn’t mean you should place trust in them, your trust is in your identity in Christ.

I’ve learned this much about myself and others throughout my time here on earth.  Romans 3:10-11 is true.  “None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks for God.”  That any of us have a heart’s affection for God, is the grace of God upon our lives.  We’ve been ransomed by the blood of Christ, not to continue on as slaves of sin, but as slaves to Christ in righteousness.  This righteousness will never be found apart from God in the counsel of non-believers, in the will of a fallen world/society, or in our own personal emotions.  The righteoussness of God is found in seeing and savoring God in His Word, sacrificing your own desires to His, and trusting that He is good above all else.

Psalm 1:1-2 – “Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers;
but his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law he meditates day and night.”

Grace and Peace,
Adam

My word of exhortation today is going to be extremely pragmatic.  I thought after the rest of this week’s WFTDs, it’d be good to wind down with some encouragement about things you can do to spur on your growth and fruitfulness in the Lord.

Let’s first look at a passage from the Apostle Paul to the Church at Corinth:  Corinthians 3:5-9 – “What then is Apollos? What is Paul? Servants through whom you believed, as the Lord assigned to each. I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth. So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth. He who plants and he who waters are one, and each will receive his wages according to his labor. For we are God’s fellow workers. You are God’s field, God’s building.”

If you are a true believer in Christ, then God dwells in you as the Holy Spirit.  As such, God is always at work, conforming you into His image.  The are, however, means of grace by which God accomplishes His work in you; His Word, Christian Community, Prayer, Discipleship, Marriage, Service, etc.   I want to use a different picture than Paul, and suggest that of a Trellis and a Vine.  A Vine will go wherever there is a Trellis.  It will climb vertically up the side of a building, it will cover an entire porch, or even an entire castle – wherever there is a support for it to grow from.  Now the point of Paul’s message above was to be crystal clear that if He, or Appollos, or anything else had been helpful to people as they conform to the image of God, it was not them, but God at work through them, and in the individual causing the growth.  Likewise I want to suggest that things I’m encouraging below are not themselves what is going to change you, but the means by which God might work in your life to change you.  What things are currently present in your life to help support your growth in the Lord.  Is there a piece of trellis missing?

• Do you have time, every day with just you and the Lord in prayer over His Word?  If not, you need that.
• Are you being discipled in some way?  If not, you need that.
• Are you discipling others?  If you’ve been a Christian for more than a few years, you need to be.
• Do you have a group of Christian men (if you’re a man) or women (if you’re a woman) who really know what’s going on in your life, and you can turn to for Biblical encouragement?  If not, this would be greatly helpful to you.
• Do you have a prayer life that is growing?  If not, work towards that.  Start by… praying for it.
• Are you serving others with your time and money?  If not, you need to be.

As a small side note – If you’re not giving anything at all of your money, you’re missing out on a massive amount of joy as a Christian.  Is your church helpful to you?  Support it financially so that you are taking part in God’s kingdom building that way.  Do you have a passion to help orphans?  There are a multitude of Christian ministries/missionaries that desperately need your support.  Pray, and whatever needy person God has given you a passion for – partner with a ministry and get involved.

This is a small list, but hopefully something popped out as an area that is weak or missing in your life.  Every one of these things is Biblically commanded, not merely so that you can be “obedient”, but because God loves you, and these are the ways He is going to work in your life – exposing sin, drawing you closer to Him, revealing Himself to you for your joy.  Know you’re all prayed for – hope you have a great weekend.

Grace and Peace,
Adam

I’m going to preface todays WFTD by saying that I’m completely stealing this message from John Piper.  I’m ok with this because I know that John is a better preacher/teacher than I am, and since it was helpful to me, I assume it may be helpful to you all as well.  In any case, I’ve enclosed a link where you can listen to his sermon below – it is probably the most clear and compelling sermon I’ve heard in my life about our need for Christ’s righteousness.

If you walk up to anyone on the street evangelizing, usually the conversation will go something like this.  Super Christian (SC) – “Where do you think you’re going to go when you die”.  Arbitrary Pagan (AP) – “I’m going to heaven”  SC – “That’s great!  Why do you think you’ll go there?”  AP – “Because I’m a good person, and I’ve treated people well my whole life.”  SC – “Have you ever done anything wrong, like lied to someone?”  AP – “Of course, I’ve done some things I’m not proud of”  SC – “Well, the Bible says that God is perfectly holy, and only those who are completely sinless can be in His presence in heaven”  AP – “Well no one’s perfect”  SC – “Ha ha, that’s true.  None of us are.  That’s why God came to live a perfect life, and die in our place, so that whoever believes in Him, would never perish, but have everlasting life” The conversation would likely continue from there, but that’s usually about 80-90% of how things go usually.  (Side note – It’s really interesting when you get the people who admit right off they think they’re going to hell, ironically, those people are easier to evangelize to… it does kind of catch you off guard though!)

I’m actually not going to talk about non-believers though today.  I want to discuss believers who believe they they are right with God based on their works.  There are a great many professing Christians today, that slowly mix together the idea of their being justified before God, and being continually sanctified by Him through the Holy Spirit.  Now, we all know that we are able to judge the validity of a professing believer’s claim of faith based upon their works.  That is true, and Jesus calls us to be discerning in that way, so as to protect ourselves from false teachers.  Unfortunately however, there are a great many professing Christians, that are now believing that their own works of righteousness, are co-mingled with the death of Christ on the cross, to be the foundation of their being justified (declared righteous) by God.  We can say that our works give evidence of our justification and the indwelling of the Holy Spirit/saving faith, and we can say that it personally gives us assurance of our justification, but our works must never be the grounds of our justification before God, even as an addition to Christ’s death, burial, and resurrection.

The foundation of the gospel of Jesus Christ is that on the cross, Jesus was not making people saveable, but he actually saved sinners.  He is the author and perfector of our faith.  All grace, necessary to cover our sin, was purchased by the blood of the Spotless Lamb on that cross, and we cannot add to his work with our own.  Christ fully ransomed His bride, the Church, on the cross, our sin was put on Him, and His righteous life was credited to us.  Now I’m going to fight to not make todays WFTD turn into a 12 page essay, so let me try to be concise, and then encourage you to listen to the sermon below.

Luke 18:9-14 – “He 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.”

Now at first, it’s easy to dismiss the Pharisee as saying his works were his own, but that’s not actually the case.  Look at who he thanks – God.  The pharisee is thanking God for being the foundation of who he is, and producing in him righteous works.  He is trusting in his own righteousness, that he believes is wrought by God, not in himself.  This would be similar to someone today saying, “thank you God for making me a new creation in Christ, and through no merit of my own, but according to your choosing, giving me a new heart that wishes to serve the poor, and live according to your will.  I am righteous before you God, because of these things that you are working through me.”  Now at first glance, I would have to admit, I’d have a lot more in common with the Pharisee, than the tax collector.  I believe that who am I rests in God’s choosing, not my merit, and I do believe that the Holy Spirit is at work in me producing works to the glory of God.  But there is one crucial difference.  The pharisee is looking towards his own works to be the foundation of his righteousness before God, whereas the tax collector is pleading for God to be merciful (for Him to be forgiven and given a righteousness apart from his works).

Let’s look down a few verses, still in Luke 18, verses 18-22 – “And a ruler asked him, “Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” And Jesus said to him, “Why do you call me good? No one is good except God alone. You know the commandments: ‘Do not commit adultery, Do not murder, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Honor your father and mother.'”And he said, “All these I have kept from my youth.”When Jesus heard this, he said to him, “One thing you still lack. Sell all that you have and distribute to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.”

Here was a man that was coming to Jesus, trusted in God, and had many righteous works to back up His claim to be a believer.  In the end, Jesus commands him to do 3 things – sell everything he owns, distribute to the poor, and follow Him.  Why then does Jesus say there is only “one thing” that he lacks?  The one thing, is a righteousness apart from his own works, found only in the one Good Teacher, Jesus Christ.  This man needed the perfect righteousness of Christ to be reconciled to God.  We have no hope apart from the perfect righteousness of Christ.  Any trust in anything beyond the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ as the one final act of reconciliation, and justification of sinners, is no gospel – it is not good news.  May we all rest our hope only in the blood of Christ, and peace wash over us that while we have nothing to offer, God in his great mercy and grace has given us His son, all that we need.  Below is a hymn that seemed relevant I wanted to share “Rock of Ages, Cleft for Me” as well as John Piper’s sermon message.

Rock of Ages, Cleft for Me

Today is one of those days I’m glad I’m not the pastor of a mega-church… I’m sure the emails generated off of today’s discussion would reach triple digits.  Here we go!

One of the marks of American culture is the idea of the rugged individualist.  This can be helpful as a society to encourage people away from laziness, but ultimately is not helpful in understanding how we are to live day by day, as followers of Christ.  The idea of Christianity being an individualistic experience is a fallacy, that has permeated many of our churches, but I assure you, is not supported Biblically as we will see.  The Gospel of Jesus is a message that is to be preached to the whole world, yet we know that not everyone will hear it, die to themselves, and follow Christ.  Jesus, Himself, did not pray for the entire world, but for a specific group within it.  Jesus prayed for those whom the Father had chosen out of the world, to be redeemed by Christ’s blood through faith – the Church.

John 17:6-9 – “I have manifested your name to the people whom you gave me out of the world. Yours they were, and you gave them to me, and they have kept your word. Now they know that everything that you have given me is from you.For I have given them the words that you gave me, and they have received them and have come to know in truth that I came from you; and they have believed that you sent me. I am praying for them. I am not praying for the world but for those whom you have given me, for they are yours.”

I know this is going to ruffle a lot of individualistic feathers here, so let me preface this by saying that Jesus loves you – this I know – for the Bible tells me so… (I’m breaking into song now in my head).  He does love you, individually, immensely.  Each of you unique reflects the glory fo God, and are loved by Him.  What I’m going to say though, is that Jesus’s purpose was not to save you, me, or anyone individually, but to ransom a people unto Himself.  Jesus came to ransom His bride, the Church, and it is composed of every people of every tongue of every tribe and nation of the world, men, women, children, elderly, from every walk of life, with every sin struggle you can imagine.  I also want to quickly stop and define the Church (big “C”) as the body of believers whose trust and faith rest solely upon the God of the Bible.  The church (little “c”) generally refers to the local building where people gather, which is composed of believers and non-believers alike (at least until we start doing a better job of church discipline, but save that for another day).  Now, what Jesus dying for His bride, the Church, mean to us, and how does this tie into how we are to live?

I think God gives us an answer in Philippians.  I love the book of Philippians.  To me it’s a beautiful picture of what it means to live as an individual pursuing God, for the Kingdom of God, sustained by the promises of God.  The context for the writing of the book of Philippians, is that Paul has been imprisoned, and he is writing to encourage a church that he helped to found, during his missionary journies.  There is a clearly a special affection that Paul has for this group of people that he had poured himself into over a long period of time.

Philippians 2:1-8 – “So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy, complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. Do nothing from rivalry or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.” 

Ok, now when you read Philippians, put it into the context of Paul writing to the Church at Philippi.  What do you see?  Paul above all is encouraging people to die to themselves, and love God, by serving their brothers and sisters in Christ.  When is the last time that you really wanted to have a quiet night at home, but you chose instead to do something to help a brother or sister in Christ from your local church body?  How are you humbling yourself before other Christians, and considering their needs greater than your own?   Our business as Christians, is to be encouraging and building up the Kingdom of God, and that begins within the church.  Do the people around you at within your church body know that you love them, care for them, and are actively at work encouraging them to grow their knowledge and faith in the Lord?

My goal isn’t to discourage anyone from spending time and resources evangelizing to the poor, and other non-believers, but if you’re doing that while there is a homeless person at your church, isn’t something wrong?  We’re all a bunch of a struggling sinners, and we need to be the hands and feet of God to each other – to strengthen our faith for the good of Christ’s bride – the Church.  Our purpose should align with Christ’s – not that we would individually become super theologians (red capes optional), but that the Church as a whole would grow together.  I want to encourage you to take a look at your life, is your pursuit of God only individualistic?  My hope is for your joy to be similar to my own.  Just as the fullness of joy is found in the presence of God, marveling at His glory outside of ourselves – seek that now, in others.  My greatest joy isn’t in finding a new theological truth, and it isn’t gaining ground on sin in my own life, but in seeing the glory of God magnified in my brothers and sisters in Christ around me.  My exhortation is to get involved in the lives of those in your church around you; intentionally love and encourage others.  Intentionally seek to grow your own knowledge in the Lord from His Word, and then intentionally share that knowledge with your brothers and sisters in Christ.  Pray for them as much as you pray for yourself.  Give of your time and resources as much to them as to those outside of your church.  The fruit and joy you gain is eternal.  I hope this finds you well, know that you’re prayed for.

Grace and Peace,
Adam

Have you ever stopped to think about how amazing a time we live in?  We have computers that can do in seconds, calculations that used to take months or years.  We can watch hundreds of television shows on a phone that fits in our hand.  If we want to talk to a relative, we can, from anywhere in the world instantly with a cell phone.  If we want to know anything about anything, we can find it within 30 seconds by searching on the internet.  Amazing.  At the same time this interconnectedness is a great blessing, it also opens us up to limitless opportunities for temptation and false teachers.  Now temptation is nothing new, but never before in history have believers been confronted with so much false teaching in the name of Christ.  All you have to do is look on TV at the televangelists, each wants to tell you that Jesus wants your dreams to come true… for $19.99.  This would be comical, if it weren’t so tragic that the largest “church” in America, is led by a pastor who teaches that God wants them to have “Their Best Life Now” and defines that as being healthy and financially prosperous verses joy in God Himself.  So how should we defend ourselves against false teaching, and how will we know it when it comes to us?

Before returning to the Father, Jesus gave this warning about false prophets, as well as the means to discern false teachers.

Matthew 7:15-20 – “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves. You will recognize them by their fruits. Are grapes gathered from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? So, every healthy tree bears good fruit, but the diseased tree bears bad fruit. A healthy tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a diseased tree bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Thus you will recognize them by their fruits.”

Now many Christians misunderstand what God means by “judge not, lest ye be judged” (Matt 7:1).  Clearly, immediately after saying that in the 1st verse of Matthew 7, Jesus tells people to judge false teachers by their fruit.  So we are called as believers to judge the fruits of others.  Jesus was saying not to judge from a sense of pridefulness, such as the Pharisee judging the tax collector in Luke 18:11.  Clearly God wants us to be wise about who we put in positions of authority over us in matters of teaching the Word of God.  So then, if the great commandment of God is to love Him with all your heart, mind, soul, and strength, and to love others as yourself – Look at the teacher’s life – is this true of them?  What about the people they have discipled – are their lives marked by a passionate love for God Himself and others?

What other fruit should we look for?  Galatians 5:22-23 – “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control;”  Do you see these fruits increasingly in the person’s life?  If not, be wary.  The Spirit of God dwells in every believer, and these are the characteristics of God.  Therefore, if someone does not have these fruits increasingly present in their life, what comfort do we have that the Spirit they are speaking from is of God?

We know that there are many false teachers.  Satan Himself tried to tempt Jesus by twisting scripture, and disguises himself as an angel of light.  What are some of the marks of false teachers?

2 Peter 2:1-3 “But false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, bringing upon themselves swift destruction. And many will follow their sensuality, and because of them the way of truth will be blasphemed. And in their greed they will exploit you with false words. Their condemnation from long ago is not idle, and their destruction is not asleep.”

The root of sinfulness is the desire to be God rather than worship Him.  Therefore, does the person delight in the glory of God, or do they make much of themselves with their lifestyle and speech?  Are they trying to appeal to individuals based on sensual experience apart from a delight in God?  As someone who struggles with pride, know that no man or woman of God, comes face to face with God in His Word, and comes away with a desire to make much of themselves, they come away amazed, humbled, in awe of the beauty, lovingkindness, and goodness of God, and delight to see God rightly made much of, He alone is worthy.  If you find a teacher that isn’t marked by a sense of humility before God and His Word – run.

My exhortation in light of these things, is to be like the Bereans, who after hearing the professed Word of God, went back to the scriptures to see for themselves if it was so.  Acts 17:10-11 – “The brothers immediately sent Paul and Silas away by night to Berea, and when they arrived they went into the Jewish synagogue. ¹¹Now these Jews were more noble than those in Thessalonica; they received the word with all eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so.”  Now, more than ever, we live in a world where ideas are constantly being pushed on us, information is immediately available to us via the internet.  This can be a great blessing, but wisdom demands that we filter what we consider to be true, but the Truth that we find in the Word of God.  People sometimes ask me my opinion about authors, pastors, churches, etc.  Often I do not know much about the individuals or churches, so I refer the questioner to the above passages and encourage them to be a Berean, and trust the Holy Spirit will lead them in their decisions.  Find your safe refuge in the Word of God, be a Berean.  We are all sheep amongst the wolves, be on your guard.

Grace and Peace,
Adam

A lot of times people struggle over the details of Christianity.  At the core people usually just want an answer to the question – “How am I supposed to live, day by day, as a Christian”.  So for those of us who get lost in the “Christianese” language spoken by theological minds, today’s message of encouragement should be helpful.  Let me first give a plug to Peter, the apostle of Christ, part of Christ’s “inner circle” amongst the disciples, consisting of Peter, James, and John.   I love Peter because he speaks simply.  He’s easy to follow, and if you slow down to meditate on what is actually being said, he is actually quite theologically rich.  So whenever I get lost in some discussion over a nuanced question of theology, I like to remind myself of the following message from God to us found in 2 Peter:

 ³His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence, ⁴by which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire. ⁵For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge, ⁶and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness, ⁷and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love. ⁸For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.

I think it’s important to desire to know God deeply from His Word.  I believe that it is importation because our affections for God are only right and good in as much as they conform to what we know of Him in scripture.  Yet, the Bible is not the full revelation of God.  We are told in 1 Corinthians 13:12 – “For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known.”   Just as God Himself is eternal, and neverending, what could be said and known of Him is infinite.  This should not discourage us, however.  What God wants us to see and have a peace about, is that everything that we need to know in this life has been given to us.  God has granted us Himself, as the Holy Spirit, to dwell in us and reveal Himself to us.  Likewise, in His Word, God has revealed enough of Himself for us to live in accordance with His will, in godliness.

So then, how are we to live as Christians?  Peter tells us how.  Your faith is the beginning.  As a believer, you trust that Christ came to reconcile you to God, and by His shed blood on the cross, he purchased for you grace, whereby you are a new creation of God.  On the cross, your sin was put on Christ, His righteousness has been credited to you, and you are now a new creation, holy as He is holy.    For many people, they take this for granted, but let me pause here to pose the question – Does your faith, extend to your own identity?  If your faith is merely in the accomplished work of Christ, but you do not personally trust that through Him, you are a new creation, set apart to reflect the glory of God, every other step from here on will only be works of legalism to you.  If for you, your faith is all head, and not heartfelt love for God rooted in your identity in Christ, prayerfully as God to grant you greater faith, to believe.

For believers, to our faith, we add virtue.  The same moral excellence we see in Christ, is the same virtues of selflessness, love, and righteousness that through faith we believe has been credited to us, and we now hold out as our own.  If you are someone who is at peace with a mindset that is apathetic towards sin, let me assure you – you are not struggling with a sin issue, you are struggling with a faith issue.  If you believe that Christ redeemed you on the cross, you are believing that He died for your sin, has made you a new creation, righteous, to be conformed into His image.  Now we should live in the righteousness and virtues of Christ that we claim belongs to us through our faith in the gospel.  What does your mindset look like?  Do you claim Christ as your own through faith?  Do you seek to see Christ’s righteousness and virtues manifested in your own life?

To our virtue we add knowledge.  God does not call us to be holy-thinkers, merely, but doers.  With applied virtue, comes knowledge.  We grow in our knowledge of God, and learn how best to act, through our earnest attempts to manifest the righteousness of God in our life.  It’s amazing to hear the stories of martyrs and those who have suffered for Christ physically.  Each one of them will tell a story that will be amazing to most of the world, but shouldn’t really surprise us as Christians – they would say of their suffering that if they could do it all again, they would, and even now there is a piece of them that wishes they were back where they were, suffering for Christ, loving those who cause them to suffer.  Why?  Because when they were suffering, they gained a knowledge of Christ, and saw the beauty of the cross, in piercing clarity, in a way they can only be gained through knowledge of actual circumstance.  How is your knowledge of God growing through applied righteousness and virtue?

To our knowledge we add self-control.  Living is more than just living out our righteousness.  We know that we live in a world that is at enmity with God, that we will be tempted with sin.  Some days God is as much glorified in what we do not do, as what we do.  Each of us will struggle as a believer, so how are we seeking to add self-control to our life?  What sin are you struggling with most?  How have you turned that over to God, and sought His strengthening?  Is their a greater level of self-control towards sin in your life today than there was 6 months ago?  What needs to change to help you grow?

To our self-control we add steadfastness.  Admittedly, one of my own struggles as I seemingly “have victory” over a sin, is that I tend to rest up a bit.  There is a measure of pride in considering a sin struggle “conquered”.  Going back to our faith, we know that we are dependent upon the grace of God in everything, thus we should consider all sin in our life to never be “conquered”, but rejoice that in Christ, we are able to live in godliness, and are putting to death the deeds of the flesh by the Spirit (Rom 8:13).  So then, our efforts at self control, by grace should continue, and even increase over time.  Is there a sin area that you have had a measure of success over for a while, that continually creeps back into your life?  What things contributed to your success originally?  Are you maintaining steadfast vigilance in those things?

To our steadfastness we add godliness.  Christ didn’t die so that we could conquer the sin of gossip, or pornography, or adultery, or any other sin.  God has fully redeemed us, and called us to fully reflect his divine nature.  We don’t merely have Christ’s righteousness in one area, but we have his righteousness fully, Christ Himself dwells in us as the Holy Spirit.  In the same manner then, we ought to continue to pursue a life, in keeping with the image of God we see in Jesus Christ.  When was the last time you looked at your life, and prayerfully sought God to expose sin in your heart/life, so that it would be put to death for His glory?  When was the last time you asked someone else to openly look into your life and see if there is any sinful way about you, that needs to be dealt with?  Do you have good accountability?  Does the idea of being vulnerable scare you?  The heart of a believer trusts that their righteousness is not based on their current sin struggles, but in the righteousness of Christ.  This again, is not a works issue, this is a faith in the gospel issue.  These are things that are meant to encourage someone towards godliness, for their joy.  Accountability is not a means (of the church) to beat someone up over their sin, but a means of grace – ordained by God for us to grow closer to Him.  I know each of us has a back story of a “Christian” that gossiped about your sin struggle, or did not encourage you as you struggled well.  It could be there was a misunderstanding, it could be that the other person is a sinner as well, or very likely it could be that the other person probably wasn’t a Christian themselves.  It really doesn’t matter – what I would say is that if being vulnerable before God and others is an ongoing issue for you today, then my question is – do you really believe the gospel?  Do you believe that you can’t earn God’s favor, but His righteousness must be granted to you first, before you can live it out?  Eagerly pursue those things that will draw you closer to God, no matter the awkwardness, no matter the risk, it’s fruit will far outweigh any temporary uncomfortableness.

To godliness we add brotherly affection.  There are no lone ranger Christians.  Look at how much ground we’ve covered already.  We know that this is a daily, ongoing battle, and God meant for us to be encouraged by other believers.  So as partakers of Christ, we should love those whom Christ loved, we should encourage one another, and earnestly seek to see each other grow closer to God.  God did not ransom individuals (despite popular Christian songs), God ransomed a people unto Himself.  Life is more than just what’s going on in your life, it is about God’s work at redeeming a bride – the body of believers called – the Church.  If someone looked at how you spent a week, would they be able to see how you love your Christian brothers and sisters?  Would they be able to see how you are earnestly desiring that they would grow closer to God?  How do you spend your time and money?  Is it only on yourself, or are there Kingdom building activities that you are actively supporting.  If this is a weak point for you, my encouragement is to ask yourself what you are passionate about, and find a ministry area you can support.  Then support it not just with money, but with your time.  Everyone should have 1 or 2 people at least that they are pouring the knowledge of God into weekly, and loving well, as they pursue God.

To brotherly affection we add love.  Do you know what love is?  Romans 5:8 tells us that Christ demonstrated his love for us in that He died for us while we were yet sinners.  Love isn’t “liking” someone and feeling good when you’re around them.  Love is dying to yourself, so that others would grow close to God.  Do you care more about what someone thinks about you, than about whether they grow closer to God?  That isn’t love, that’s selfish pride.  Are you willing to sacrifice financially so that your Christian brothers and sisters do not have any lack in their lives?  Are you willing to put down the remote, forget your plans, and spend time to encourage your Christian brothers and sisters?  This is the love with which God loved us, who although he despised the shame of the cross, endured it for the joy set before Him.  Part of that joy set before Him, as seeing the glory of God reflected in us who had been redeemed.  Shouldn’t we also have that same joy in us?  Our love for others, must be rooted in dying to ourselves, just as Christ did on the cross.  We should constantly love others, by putting their good ahead of our comfort.  If we do that, we will find ourselves constantly growing, and living life as Christians, within God’s will.

This is about as close to a formula for Christian living  as you can get.  My encouragement then, is to start at the beginning.  What are you doing to grow in your faith?  How are you growing in your knowledge of God from His Word, so that your faith could be strengthened?  I would spend at least half of my time and effort as a Christian on this first step, because it is foundational to everything else.  Then with my remaining time and effort, I would push through this list at some regular interval (weekly, monthly, quarterly), and ask yourself some tough questions.  Know that positionally, we are redeemed by God through the shed blood of Christ, yet God has given us a great calling – to be His ambassadors on earth in a ministry of reconciliation – extending the gospel to others.  This lesson is all about that, how we can have joy in being fruitful workers for God, and life in such a way that when we see Jesus Christ, face to face, we would have no regrets at lost opportunity.  Peter doesn’t care about your eschatology (end times theology), he doesn’t care about paedo/credo baptism (infant baptism or believers baptism), he doesn’t answer the question on the origin of evil, he encourages us to know that we know everything we need for life and godliness through Jesus Christ.  May we all have fruitful joyful ministries through Him.

Grace and Peace,
Adam

You know, I decided today to give some air time to one of the OT’s prophets.  These guys had thankless jobs, usually telling their country that God was about to destroy them for their sin.  Even now in church they are seldom read/spoken of, which is a shame because God has a lot to teach us from them.  The beauty of living in this day and age, on this side of the cross, is that we can look anywhere in the Bible, and find Jesus there.  Every Word of the Bible is an encouragement because it does two things:  It first gives us a picture of who God is for our joy, and secondly instructs us in how we should live, so that we may have peace amidst life’s struggles.  So today, we’re going to jump into the book of Zechariah, to see what God has for us there.

Zechariah 1:3 – “Therefore say to them, Thus declares the LORD of hosts: Return to me, says the LORD of hosts, and I will return to you, says the LORD of hosts.”

Zechariah, a prophet of God, was calling Israel to repent of their sinning against the Lord.  You know often times I find that people who are unrepentantly sinning ultimately do come to a place of remorse, but seldom real repentance.  Alcoholics do not desire to deal with the consequences of their sin, so they “feel bad” and vow not to drink anymore.  Adulterers do not desire to deal with the consequences of their sin, so they “feel bad” and vow not to cheat on their wives or husbands again.  Gossips do not desire to deal with the consequences of their sin, so they “feel bad” and vow to try to do better.  What’s the problem with this?  Turning away from the physical manifestations of sin is not repentance.  God doesn’t care if you stop sinning on the outside, because He still sees what’s in your heart.

God passionately desires for true repentance of those who are far from Him and the difference is all about where you’re running to not where you’re running from.  True repentance involves a turning away from sin, and towards God.  The person who focuses on “stopping sinning”, is the same frustrated person that finds him/herself stumbling over the same sin, over and over and over again.  I see many of these people in church on Sunday, and I have been there myself.  They try their hardest and they come up short.  They come up short because despite their genuine efforts, they have no power to change their heart, only God does.  This is why God doesn’t call us merely to “stop sinning”, He calls us to Himself.

Zechariah 1:12-17 – “¹²Then the angel of the LORD said, ‘O LORD of hosts, how long will you have no mercy on Jerusalem and the cities of Judah, against which you have been angry these seventy years?’ ¹³And the LORD answeredgracious and comforting words to the angel who talked with me. ¹⁴So the angel who talked with me said to me, ‘Cry out, Thus says the LORD of hosts: I am exceedingly jealous for Jerusalem and for Zion. ¹⁵ And I am exceedingly angry with the nations that are at ease; for while I was angry but a little, they furthered the disaster. ¹⁶Therefore, thus says the LORD, I have returned to Jerusalem with mercy; my house shall be built in it, declares the LORD of hosts, and the measuring line shall be stretched out over Jerusalem. ¹⁷Cry out again, Thus says the LORD of hosts: My cities shall again overflow with prosperity, and the LORD will again comfort Zion and again choose Jerusalem.'”

Look at the character of God here – gracious, comforting, exceedingly jealous for His people, exceedingly angry with those who would harm His children.  He loves you.  God cannot approach us any other way than in grace.  You cannot reach Him with good behavior, He cannot look past your sin.  We have nothing to offer, God must show mercy on us.  God’s promise to us, is that we are the temple of God – His Holy Spirit dwells in us.  In Christ, we have been credited a perfect righteousness, and we overflow with joy, knowing that He has secured for us a neverending future hope.

Have you tried “appeasing God” in your life?  Is there something that you’re waiting on to change before you draw near to God?  Have you tried making promises to yourself about how you’re going to change, but wonder why you’re caught in a neverending cycle?  Repentance is not about behavior change, it is about heart change, and you cannot move the inclination of your heart one degree.

So my exhortation here is this – look at the framework spoken of in Zechariah for reconciliation with God.  We come to God empty handed like children every day.  Draw near to God in prayer, earnestly asking that He would be gracious to you, and change your heart’s desire for Him.  We do not call upon a God that is apathetic, but One who is gracious, loving, comforting, and desirous that we would know Him, and delight in His glory.  With a boldness of faith through Christ’s blood shed for you on the cross, ask and earnestly seek that God would draw you close to Himself, and know that the promise of God through Christ is that He will – to the uttermost.

Hebrews 7:25 – “he (Christ) is able to save to the uttermost those who draw near to God through him, since he always lives to make intercession for them.”

Grace and Peace,
Adam

Today I wanted to dig into what is a difficult subject for many people, including myself, which is understanding the implications of an Old Testament man, Melchizadek.  My hope in digging into this some is that you all will be encouraged and refreshed in your delight at what a great savior and salvation we have in our Great High Priest and King.

In Hebrews 7, God is explaining through the author the significance of a seemingly small part of the Old Testament.  Namely, Abraham is greeted by Melchizedek, King of Salem, and Abraham gives him 10% of everything he owns.  Now through Abraham’s descendants came the priestly line of Levites.  The Levites were guardians of the law of Moses, (Think of all the laws/regulations laid out in the books of Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Dueteronomy, and Numbers).  These Levites were accordingly in charge of taking the offerings from the people, making sacrifices to God on their behalf, and appealing to God on their behalf.  So what was the significance of Abraham’s meeting and submission/gift to Melchizadek?

Hebrews 7:2-3 – “He is first, by translation of his name, king of righteousness, and then he is also king of Salem, that is, king of peace. ³He is without father or mother or genealogy, having neither beginning of days nor end of life, but resembling the Son of God he continues a priest forever.”

This Melchizadek was meant to show two things.  One was that, there was a righteousness that surpassed the righteousness that could be found in adherance to the law of moses.  That is to say, that ones actions and personal “righteousness” alone could never merit their reconciliation to God; each person needed to be credited a righteousness that was not their own.  If the very father of the entire Levitical priesthood needed to submit to another, to have him appeal to God on his behalf, how much more in need are each of us?

Secondly, is that Melchizadek is a picture of Christ to us, as a king and priest that is continually interceding with God on our behalf.  Melchizadek’s very name meant righteousness.  He was the king of peace.  Likewise, our righteous savior and Lord, Jesus Christ, who is completely righteous, shed His blood and bore the wrath of God in our place.  It is because of His sacrifice, that by the faith given to us by God, we are credited with His righteousness.  Only through the righteousness of Christ imputed to us do we now have peace with God.  Further, even now He is at the right hand of God the Father, making appeal to Him on our behalf, that all those who have been blessed by God with Christ’s righteousness should never perish, but dwell eternally with Him.

With such a great hope as this, my encouragement today is to draw near to God.  Marvel at His ways, His beauty, and His love, which compels Him to intercede for us even now.  Rest in what a great savior, high priest, and king we have, and joyously proclaim in boldness His love and reconciliation to all.  I hope this finds each of you well.

Grace and Peace,
Adam

Have you ever heard one of the street corner preachers, screaming that the end is near?  Now I don’t personally think this is the most effective approach, but I’ve always had a spot in my heart for these guys; at least they were out there proclaiming the truth (mostly).  After all, I myself, always like to joke about my last ditch evangelism approach – for the most stubborn of persons it includes dousing them with holy water, taking a 30 pound Gutenberg Bible and beating them over the head with it (a true Bible beater), and telling them to TURN or BURN!!!  Well, I probably will never do that (although I’m still holding it out as a possibility for a few select people….) but I haven’t really had a good fire and brimstone message… until today.  So here it is, my toast to the street corner preachers and bible wielding assaulters of the world.

The reality is, that the end is near.  How near, we do not know, only God knows (Matthew 24:36), but we are told in 1 Thessalonians 5:2-3 – “²For you yourselves are fully aware that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. ³While people are saying, “There is peace and security,” then sudden destruction will come upon them as labor pains come upon a pregnant woman, and they will not escape.

Many people go about life, presuming upon the grace of God, saying that they will change their life later, they will be more dedicated to God later, they will be the husband or wife they should be later… these are the people that will be caught up in the judgment of God, when he comes.  These are the “many” that will cry out to the Lord on that day, professing his name, only to be silenced in horror when he says “begone from me, you workers of iniquity… I never knew you”.  What will that day look like?

2 Thessalonians 1:5-10 – “⁵This is evidence of the righteous judgment of God, that you may be considered worthy of the kingdom of God, for which you are also suffering— ⁶since indeed God considers it just to repay with affliction those who afflict you, ⁷and to grant relief to you who are afflicted as well as to us, when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with his mighty angels ⁸ in flaming fire, inflicting vengeance on those who do not know God and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. ⁹They will suffer the punishment of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his might, ¹⁰ when he comes on that day to be glorified in his saints, and to be marveled at among all who have believed, because our testimony to you was believed.”

Isn’t it interesting how there isn’t a caveat after the claim that Christians will be suffering?  It isn’t, Christians in China will be suffering, or Christians in Afghanistan will be suffering – no, suffering is a mark of all Christians.  If you have gone 5-10 years as a Christian without any mocking, without any persecution at work, without any alienation from supposed friends, without any measure of personal lack due to giving for God’s Kingdom – you are not a Christian.  I can’t say this any clearer.  If you obey the gospel of Jesus, these things will come, because the world is at war with God.  Therefore, if you are at peace with the world in every way, what does that mean?  If you want to test yourself to see if your faith is real, as 2 Corinthians 13:5 calls you to do, ask yourself the question of how you are suffering for God’s Kingdom.

Now God’s righteousness on that day of judgment will include two things – wrath against those who have persecuted Christians, and relief from that affliction for believers.  God will make things right.  Jesus will not come at this time as a meek and lowly, suffering servant, but as a mighty conquering King, in flaming fire, unleashing judgment surrounded by an army of angels.  These will not be, the fluffy angels you see on TV, think about the biggest person you’ve ever met, times two, with unimaginable power, that cannot be defeated because God is with them, and those will be the angels surrounding Jesus.

What is the wrath of God?  It is eternal separation from Himself.  The irony is that God is giving people exactly what they professed to want.  If you don’t believe in God, and don’t trust on the Gospel of Jesus alone for reconciliation to Him, and live for yourself, Jesus will finally say – “ok, you can have exactly what you want.”  The result for that person will be a place of eternal torment – why?  Nothing is good, except God alone (Luke 18:19).  Everything that people have in their life currently that is good, will be removed.  There will be no friends, there will be no family, no good food… despite what books may claim – you will not be toasting your friends with a beer in hell.  There will be no sunrise, there will be no beauty of life, there will be no quiet peace, you will feel the weight of what it means to exist apart from God completely.  Days, will turn into years, will turn into centuries, will turn into eons, and pain and tears will be the only companion to those who rejected God.  This is what these people chose.  Despite the infinite patience of God towards them, despite making His purity and holiness known to them through creation, they rejected God, to pursue a life of their own choosing, and spat in the face of their Creator.  God is infinitely holy, and justice demands the offense against an infinitely holy God, be equally eternal and infinite.

Who is this wrath directed against?  Two groups – those who do not know God, and those who do not obey the Gospel of Jesus.  We know from Romans 1, that everything about God can be clearly seen through creation, so that no one can defend their judgment before God by saying “I never knew about you”.  The second group, however, is clearly a group that understood the gospel of Jesus, but did not obey it.  Isn’t that interesting?  God isn’t going to judge the belief of a person in the gospel, but rather their obedience to it?  That is because many people are deceived to believe a “decision” is going to save them.  It isn’t.  The only thing that will save a person on that day, is a heart that has been changed by God, that produces from authentic faith fruit in keeping with obedience.  This makes sense, if you love football, you will probably watch it when possible.  If you love God, then you will pursue those things which bring more of Him into your life, and tell others about Him.  On that day, people will not be saved by their works, but many will have their “belief” proven false due to their lack.

But for those who believed and obeyed the gospel of Jesus, what remains?  Infinite joy.  God’s judgment will remove all affliction those Christians have been enduring.  The full weight of the glory of God will be put upon those who have believed, so that for all eternity, we will marvel at the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.  There will be nothing bad, no disease, no sin, no fear, only infinite, unending, ever-increasing joy in the presence of the glory of God.  Days, will turn into years, will turn into centuries, will turn into eons, and every heart will feel no lack, but only an overflowing fullness of joy in God.

People don’t speak about these things enough.  We need to awaken ourselves to this reality, and push forward in obedience to the Lord.  My hope in expounding this scripture is that no one would find themselves caught up in the wrath of God on that day, and to that end we should all struggle, for the Kingdom of God.  My encouragement amidst this scripture, is to refresh yourself with the gospel.  Fall on your knees in thankfulness to God, that although he is infinitely holy, he still loves and pursues the sinner, like me, and like you.  With thanksgiving in the grace of God through the blood of Jesus, break free from sin, and live hard for the glory of God and His Kingdom.  Grasp each day, as though it may be the last, because we know it will come without warning, like a thief in the night.

Grace and Peace,
Adam

I have a hard time understanding what people are talking about when they complain Christianity is boring.  Now, I definitely understand that a pastor can be boring from time to time, but nothing about Christianity from the Bible isn’t immensely controversial in our society today.  Further, if you are a new creation in Christ as a believer, every aspect of your life should be impacted by the gospel, and God’s Word to you.  So usually I must admit, when someone says that Christianity is boring, I usually assume they have no idea what it means to actually be a Christian.

God means for us to be actively involved in His work here on Earth.  We have been entrusted with the ministry of reconciliation.  2 Corinthians 5:17-19 – “¹⁷Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. ¹⁸All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; ¹⁹that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation.”

If you ever played sports, and you had a big game coming up, how did you prepare yourself?  Maybe you ate differently, you practiced more, you scouted out your oponnents, etc.  There definitely was a measure of resolve in yourself that you would push yourself to give everything you had.  That is exactly what God desires for us.

1 Peter 1:13-16 – “¹³Therefore, preparing your minds for action, and being sober-minded, set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. ¹⁴As obedient children, do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance, ¹⁵but as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, ¹⁶since it is written, “You shall be holy, for I am holy.”

also Romans 12:1-2 – “¹I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. ² Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.”

Both 1 Peter and Romans give us instruction on how to prepare ourselves for daily battle – to renew our minds in the Word of God, and discipline our lives in obedience to His Word.  Does God promise us that this life will be easy if we prepare ourselves this way… no, he actually says this life will be very hard as a Christian.  No, the world, even today is littered with the blood of Christian martyrs, some of which were killed in Afghanistan trying to give medical service to villagers just this week.  This is why God follows by calling us to set our hope fully on the grace that will be brought to us at the revelation of Jesus Christ.  God is saying, that this life will be hard, therefore we need to earnestly prepare ourselves, but also rest in knowing that the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus is a glory and joy that in an instant will infinitely surpass in worth, any hardships endured to that point.

So how are you preparing yourself for God’s call on your life?  Do you exert similar effort towards renewing your mind and disciplining your life as you do towards work, sports, etc?  My encouragement is to keep pressing hard into the Word of God and discipline your life out of joy knowing that God has uniquely gifted you for a great ministry of reconciliation through Christ.

Grace and Peace,
Adam