God threw this one to me today so I thought I'd share
Jesus said "If you love me, you will keep my commandments." (John 14:15)
If we're believers, what do we think when we hear that? A typical response I think is something like "Okay God, I love you, I'll keep your commandments." We better get the gospel when we say that, because if we don't get the gospel, one of two things will happen.
- Thing 1. Pride. We'll do well, in some areas, and say "Look how good I'm keeping A, B, and C compared to those other people. Man, I rock!" Never mind D through Z.
- Thing 2. Despair. We'll recognize our miserable failure to do what we said and give up. "I can't do this, it's hopeless for me!"
We need to get the gospel.
Jesus didn't say "To be saved, keep my commandments." He said "If you love me, you will keep my commandments." If you just read that as "Obedience doesn't matter" that is NOT what I said. Hold your thought and keep reading. Let's focus on the first part -- "If you love me..."
Well how do you get to the point of loving God?
"We love because he first loved us. If anyone says, 'I love God,' and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen. And this commandment we have from him: whoever loves God must also love his brother." (1 John 4:19-21)
How did God first love us?
"In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins." (1 John 4:10)
"For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him." (John 3:16-17)
"God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us." (Romans 5:8)
So God first loved us through the cross. When we repent of our sins and turn to Jesus for our salvation, we get a new heart, a new nature -- one that desires God above all things. It is from this new nature that we can truly love God, and demonstrate it through obedience, which includes loving others.
But let me try to be very clear -- this obedience from the new nature is not a "try really hard to show my love" thing. It's a "by my new nature I will obey, because I love God" thing.
Or to put it another way getting rid of that pesky and confusing "you will" and clarifying the meaning:
"If you love me, you better keep my commandments to show it." No.
"If you love me, you're going to keep my commandments." Yes.
Not getting this right leads to works based self-righteousness that focuses on ourselves and what we do. It makes our perception of God's love for us, and possibly our state of salvation, dependent on our performance. That's evil.
Getting this right leads to to grace based Christ-righteousness that focuses on God and what he did. It makes our perception of God's love for us, and our state of salvation, dependent on the cross. That's good. That's God.
Showing posts with label grace. Show all posts
Showing posts with label grace. Show all posts
Thursday, November 3, 2011
Wednesday, July 14, 2010
God And Suffering?
Life is very hard at times, but God’s got our back.
God loves us. Don’t be fooled into thinking that God is not loving because of the trials we face. What parent does not allow their child to suffer a little to prepare him for what is to come? A young child does not understand why a doctor gives him a painful shot, yet it is for his own good. It is the same with the suffering that God allows us to experience. We don’t understand it at the time – and maybe we never will in this age. We just need to trust, just like a child, that God knows what he is doing when he allows us to face difficulty and pain in life.
God gets our pain. Whatever pain we may be going through, God understands it. The fullness of God dwelt in his Son Jesus Christ. He endured hunger, thirst, temptation, shame, persecution, nakedness, bereavement, betrayal, mockery, injustice, and death. On top of that, he also bore God’s wrath against sin on the cross so that we don’t have to face it ourselves. That is the ultimate in suffering! God doesn’t just understand our suffering from a distance; he experienced more of it firsthand than we ever will, and He knows deeply about whatever it is we face in life.
God gives us hope. Man’s abuse of the free choice God gave us – sin – brought, and continues to bring, suffering in this world, which in turn lets us see and experience the horrible effects of sin. But there is immeasurable hope to be found in the cross of Jesus Christ. He conquered sin and death, and, as God’s eternal Son, he’s the only one capable of doing so. Through Christ, God gives us a way to be free from the power of sin in our lives today and free from the presence of sin in the world to come. Apart from Christ, there is no hope.
God shows us grace. Really we deserve nothing from God. We’re His creatures, and we’re sinners who fall short of His glory. We deserve nothing, yet, despite whatever pain is in our lives in this age, we still have life and breath and many other good things. We deserve nothing, yet we will have everlasting joy if we are in Christ. That begins with sincerely admitting we are sinners incapable of saving ourselves, truly believing Jesus Christ died on the cross as payment for our sins, and really choosing to turn away from our sin and follow Him.
He lives, he loves, he understands, and he offers the greatest gift in the world, free of charge. God rocks.
Grace and Peace
God loves us. Don’t be fooled into thinking that God is not loving because of the trials we face. What parent does not allow their child to suffer a little to prepare him for what is to come? A young child does not understand why a doctor gives him a painful shot, yet it is for his own good. It is the same with the suffering that God allows us to experience. We don’t understand it at the time – and maybe we never will in this age. We just need to trust, just like a child, that God knows what he is doing when he allows us to face difficulty and pain in life.
God gets our pain. Whatever pain we may be going through, God understands it. The fullness of God dwelt in his Son Jesus Christ. He endured hunger, thirst, temptation, shame, persecution, nakedness, bereavement, betrayal, mockery, injustice, and death. On top of that, he also bore God’s wrath against sin on the cross so that we don’t have to face it ourselves. That is the ultimate in suffering! God doesn’t just understand our suffering from a distance; he experienced more of it firsthand than we ever will, and He knows deeply about whatever it is we face in life.
God gives us hope. Man’s abuse of the free choice God gave us – sin – brought, and continues to bring, suffering in this world, which in turn lets us see and experience the horrible effects of sin. But there is immeasurable hope to be found in the cross of Jesus Christ. He conquered sin and death, and, as God’s eternal Son, he’s the only one capable of doing so. Through Christ, God gives us a way to be free from the power of sin in our lives today and free from the presence of sin in the world to come. Apart from Christ, there is no hope.
God shows us grace. Really we deserve nothing from God. We’re His creatures, and we’re sinners who fall short of His glory. We deserve nothing, yet, despite whatever pain is in our lives in this age, we still have life and breath and many other good things. We deserve nothing, yet we will have everlasting joy if we are in Christ. That begins with sincerely admitting we are sinners incapable of saving ourselves, truly believing Jesus Christ died on the cross as payment for our sins, and really choosing to turn away from our sin and follow Him.
He lives, he loves, he understands, and he offers the greatest gift in the world, free of charge. God rocks.
Grace and Peace
Monday, April 5, 2010
Another False Idol
I sinned against the LORD and my wife today. Granted, I do that pretty much every day without knowing about it, but today it was blatantly obvious. Thank the LORD for grace, patience, forgiveness, and mercy! In the spirit of taking a bad situation and pulling something good out of it, and least I came to realize something that hopefully can be useful to another brother or sister.
Among the many false idols that we must be wary of, reason can be one of them as well.
Specific examples aside, here is the situation. My wife wanted something done. Just a not-too-difficult task that came out of an off the cuff remark. The task seems to be pointless. It seems to be a waste of time, a little bit of money, and encourages something else that seems to be a further waste of time. To appease the logical side of my brain, a reasonable reason needs to be given! My wife thinks the asking in itself is enough of a reason.
Guess what? She was right.
After sinfully contributing to my end of the ensuing argument and sucking joy out of our lives, for a short time, for both of us, I got the reason I was seeking. It was a valid one. It contributed to further bonding between her and some members of the family she is trying to get closer to. Perfectly valid, as relationships are very important.
However, she was still right. I didn't need to know that. The asking in itself should have been enough for me if I was loving her correctly. Christ didn't say "ask, present your case in a good amount of detail, and it shall be given". Our dad in heaven doesn't just answer the prayers that have a rock solid court room style defense laid out for our requests. So who am I to demand more than God?
No, sometimes loving our wives also means trusting them and seeking to be a blessing when opportunities come up -- even ones we don't understand. We don't need to understand, whether or not there is a good reason to be had.
I'm so glad the Spirit convicts us soundly when we do wrong. Praise the LORD for his correction, his patience and his love!
Grace and Peace
Among the many false idols that we must be wary of, reason can be one of them as well.
Specific examples aside, here is the situation. My wife wanted something done. Just a not-too-difficult task that came out of an off the cuff remark. The task seems to be pointless. It seems to be a waste of time, a little bit of money, and encourages something else that seems to be a further waste of time. To appease the logical side of my brain, a reasonable reason needs to be given! My wife thinks the asking in itself is enough of a reason.
Guess what? She was right.
After sinfully contributing to my end of the ensuing argument and sucking joy out of our lives, for a short time, for both of us, I got the reason I was seeking. It was a valid one. It contributed to further bonding between her and some members of the family she is trying to get closer to. Perfectly valid, as relationships are very important.
However, she was still right. I didn't need to know that. The asking in itself should have been enough for me if I was loving her correctly. Christ didn't say "ask, present your case in a good amount of detail, and it shall be given". Our dad in heaven doesn't just answer the prayers that have a rock solid court room style defense laid out for our requests. So who am I to demand more than God?
No, sometimes loving our wives also means trusting them and seeking to be a blessing when opportunities come up -- even ones we don't understand. We don't need to understand, whether or not there is a good reason to be had.
I'm so glad the Spirit convicts us soundly when we do wrong. Praise the LORD for his correction, his patience and his love!
Grace and Peace
Friday, December 11, 2009
Grace
You know, looking back at my life before I knew Jesus Christ, I think I could do the "saved by works" thing. Really. I wasn't so bad of a person like all those child molesters and rapists out there. I'm good enough.
Nevermind that I wasted my time every night playing videos games and watching pornography.
Nevermind that I didn't give any of my time or money to help other people.
Nevermind that my prayers to God all thanked him for my family, my life, my job, and my friends -- but instead of every caring what God's will was, I justed wanted him to keep me rich and comfortable.
Nevermind that I would do "nice" things for my wife now and then, but all too often only to get what I wanted.
Nevermind that I was looking for happiness in all the wrong places and coming up empty.
Nevermind that I often had in my heart way too much worry, or sadness, or anger, or fear, or anything else that wasn't peace and wasn't joy.
Nevermind that I led a selfish and sinful life and was proud of it and being able to revel in how much time and money I was able to waste on nothing.
Nevermind that my long term goal was to "enjoy" life as much as possible before I died.
But at least I wasn't like those other wicked people, right? Right? Nope. Wrong.
Thank God for grace. Thank God that my salvation was not, is not, and never will be dependent on my own efforts, because the best I could ever do comes up infinitely short of what God requires. Thank God that Jesus came into this sinful and broken world and paid the price that we could never pay.
Thank God that all he requires is belief in his son, Jesus Christ. That sounds too easy, doesn't it? But that's it. That's what the Bible teaches. In my own experience, and that of many others, the moment you truly believe in the saving power of Christ and turn to him, you are transformed from the inside out. That moment is a catalyst for a new life of joy and hope.
The only real questions to ask are "What does belief in Jesus Christ look like?" and "What's my response to it?"
Grace and Peace
Nevermind that I wasted my time every night playing videos games and watching pornography.
Nevermind that I didn't give any of my time or money to help other people.
Nevermind that my prayers to God all thanked him for my family, my life, my job, and my friends -- but instead of every caring what God's will was, I justed wanted him to keep me rich and comfortable.
Nevermind that I would do "nice" things for my wife now and then, but all too often only to get what I wanted.
Nevermind that I was looking for happiness in all the wrong places and coming up empty.
Nevermind that I often had in my heart way too much worry, or sadness, or anger, or fear, or anything else that wasn't peace and wasn't joy.
Nevermind that I led a selfish and sinful life and was proud of it and being able to revel in how much time and money I was able to waste on nothing.
Nevermind that my long term goal was to "enjoy" life as much as possible before I died.
But at least I wasn't like those other wicked people, right? Right? Nope. Wrong.
Thank God for grace. Thank God that my salvation was not, is not, and never will be dependent on my own efforts, because the best I could ever do comes up infinitely short of what God requires. Thank God that Jesus came into this sinful and broken world and paid the price that we could never pay.
Thank God that all he requires is belief in his son, Jesus Christ. That sounds too easy, doesn't it? But that's it. That's what the Bible teaches. In my own experience, and that of many others, the moment you truly believe in the saving power of Christ and turn to him, you are transformed from the inside out. That moment is a catalyst for a new life of joy and hope.
The only real questions to ask are "What does belief in Jesus Christ look like?" and "What's my response to it?"
Grace and Peace
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