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 works. Show all posts
Showing posts with label works. Show all posts
Thursday, November 3, 2011
Friday, October 21, 2011
Sola Fide
I've been reading a book about a couple who grew up solidly on the Word of God, was very against the Catholic church, and eventually through their study in the Word came to the conclusion that the Catholic church was the true church founded by Jesus Christ. While I'll obviously disagree with some of the arguments in the book, it's still an interesting read.
The man did make some good points I never thought about how the different covenants in the Bible (with Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses, and David) were connected and how the groups involved grew from a couple to a family to a tribe to a nation to a kingdom -- until at the end you reach the new universal covenant through Jesus Christ. I've never really looked into the different covenants all together before, so that to me was an interesting approach about how the bigger picture went.
But now on to the main two points of this pair of posts -- sola fide and sola scriptura. The man he said that through his studies, these two pillars of the Reformation, which he held as the only pillars, were knocked over for him. Those are what I want to think and talk about here. For today, I'll deal with sola fide. I wanted to deal with both, but this ended up to be a very long post as it is.
Sola Fide
Sola fide means "faith alone". In other words, we're justified, or made right with God, solely by our faith in Christ, not our faith plus works we do. Now I didn't quite follow how the man's logic went as he told his story, but he did quote two verses, James 2:24 (a man is justified by works and not by faith alone) and 1 Corinthians 13:2 (if I have all faith so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing). Well those sound pretty compelling on the surface, but you can make a lot of things compelling when you take them out of context.
First let's look at the James verse. There's a part of the verse missing. It starts "You see, a man is justified...". He is concluding an argument. Go read the rest of James chapter 2 for the full argument. He uses the word faith in two ways. One way is "lip service" which is bogus faith. In other words you say that you believe but that's about it. The Bible has a lot more to say about that kind of non "faith", and it's never anything good. The other ways is "real faith". What kind of faith is real? The kind that produces something -- for there will absolutely be evidence in your life to show that your faith is real. If someone can't look at your life and tell that you have a heart for God, you should be very troubled.
Now let's look at the 1 Corinthians verse -- the argument here seems to be that I am nothing if I have faith but not love -- so to be something, I must have faith plus love, which is shown by my good works. How about the verse just after it too, though? "If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing." Those are works, that without love, make him nothing. There's other stuff in that passage too, that, without love, makes him nothing. One might say then "well then, I need faith, and works, and love, and" but read the whole passage and get the context. Paul isn't talking about justification anywhere in the passage -- he's talking about the importance of love and what it looks like. That's it.
Now, to be fair to the man, he's not presenting his full argument in this book -- just telling his story and throwing in some key points. I'm sure these two verses aren't the extent of his supposed discovery, but for a person who writes about himself as a student of the Word, to take them out of context like that to argue an important point is not a good thing.
What his wife said in her explanation resonated with me more: "Justification meant being made a child of God and being called to live a life as a faithful child of God through faith working in love." I read that and thought "duh" but I also don't see how in the world that goes against sola fide. I'm really not quite sure what she understood it to mean before! Absolutely justification means being made a child of God, and after you're justified, you're called to, and will, produce fruit -- with the Spirit in you, you'll have a desire to obey God and live a life that glorifies him.
Look at how it works from my understanding and experience -- you repent of your sins and put your faith in Christ. That in itself is a gift from God, and recognizing it as such glorifies him. We're not talking "I said the sinner's prayer and I'm good to go" nonsense, we're talking "Jesus barged into my life with a wrecking ball and got me" faith. Okay, at that point, you're justified. Born again of the Spirit. A new creation. Adopted into sonship. Bye bye heart of stone, and hello heart of flesh. After that, what are you going to do? Walk the walk without taking away the credit from God -- glorifying him. What about when you fall? Mourn over your sin and thank God for his grace and mercy in forgiving you and picking you up -- glorifying him.
Notice there's a running theme here, and it's not about you.
So however you say the words to understand this mystery of being "right with God" through Jesus Christ, never go down that dangerous road where you think "I NEED to do [whatever] TO BE or STAY in good standing with God." It's evil. The proper response for the Spirit filled believer is "I WANT to do [whatever] BECAUSE I'm ALREADY in good standing with God."
The first takes the focus off God and puts it on you. The second takes the focus off you and puts it on God. Only one of those glorifies him.
The man did make some good points I never thought about how the different covenants in the Bible (with Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses, and David) were connected and how the groups involved grew from a couple to a family to a tribe to a nation to a kingdom -- until at the end you reach the new universal covenant through Jesus Christ. I've never really looked into the different covenants all together before, so that to me was an interesting approach about how the bigger picture went.
But now on to the main two points of this pair of posts -- sola fide and sola scriptura. The man he said that through his studies, these two pillars of the Reformation, which he held as the only pillars, were knocked over for him. Those are what I want to think and talk about here. For today, I'll deal with sola fide. I wanted to deal with both, but this ended up to be a very long post as it is.
Sola Fide
Sola fide means "faith alone". In other words, we're justified, or made right with God, solely by our faith in Christ, not our faith plus works we do. Now I didn't quite follow how the man's logic went as he told his story, but he did quote two verses, James 2:24 (a man is justified by works and not by faith alone) and 1 Corinthians 13:2 (if I have all faith so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing). Well those sound pretty compelling on the surface, but you can make a lot of things compelling when you take them out of context.
First let's look at the James verse. There's a part of the verse missing. It starts "You see, a man is justified...". He is concluding an argument. Go read the rest of James chapter 2 for the full argument. He uses the word faith in two ways. One way is "lip service" which is bogus faith. In other words you say that you believe but that's about it. The Bible has a lot more to say about that kind of non "faith", and it's never anything good. The other ways is "real faith". What kind of faith is real? The kind that produces something -- for there will absolutely be evidence in your life to show that your faith is real. If someone can't look at your life and tell that you have a heart for God, you should be very troubled.
Now let's look at the 1 Corinthians verse -- the argument here seems to be that I am nothing if I have faith but not love -- so to be something, I must have faith plus love, which is shown by my good works. How about the verse just after it too, though? "If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing." Those are works, that without love, make him nothing. There's other stuff in that passage too, that, without love, makes him nothing. One might say then "well then, I need faith, and works, and love, and
Now, to be fair to the man, he's not presenting his full argument in this book -- just telling his story and throwing in some key points. I'm sure these two verses aren't the extent of his supposed discovery, but for a person who writes about himself as a student of the Word, to take them out of context like that to argue an important point is not a good thing.
What his wife said in her explanation resonated with me more: "Justification meant being made a child of God and being called to live a life as a faithful child of God through faith working in love." I read that and thought "duh" but I also don't see how in the world that goes against sola fide. I'm really not quite sure what she understood it to mean before! Absolutely justification means being made a child of God, and after you're justified, you're called to, and will, produce fruit -- with the Spirit in you, you'll have a desire to obey God and live a life that glorifies him.
Look at how it works from my understanding and experience -- you repent of your sins and put your faith in Christ. That in itself is a gift from God, and recognizing it as such glorifies him. We're not talking "I said the sinner's prayer and I'm good to go" nonsense, we're talking "Jesus barged into my life with a wrecking ball and got me" faith. Okay, at that point, you're justified. Born again of the Spirit. A new creation. Adopted into sonship. Bye bye heart of stone, and hello heart of flesh. After that, what are you going to do? Walk the walk without taking away the credit from God -- glorifying him. What about when you fall? Mourn over your sin and thank God for his grace and mercy in forgiving you and picking you up -- glorifying him.
Notice there's a running theme here, and it's not about you.
So however you say the words to understand this mystery of being "right with God" through Jesus Christ, never go down that dangerous road where you think "I NEED to do [whatever] TO BE or STAY in good standing with God." It's evil. The proper response for the Spirit filled believer is "I WANT to do [whatever] BECAUSE I'm ALREADY in good standing with God."
The first takes the focus off God and puts it on you. The second takes the focus off you and puts it on God. Only one of those glorifies him.
Monday, August 29, 2011
Spend Your Life Wisely
I remember this TV show, or maybe call it a short film, I saw when I was a kid. I don't think it was a Twilight Zone episode, but it could have been one. It was 1 of 4 stories that were run all together on some special that would air now and again.
The gist is this -- it's a different world where the currency you spend is minutes of your actual life. The main characters were a brother and sister. The brother works and saves all his "life" (pun intended) and ends up with some insane amount of years. The sister is about to run out and is in the casino gambling her last little bit away to try and get more time, but failing.
The catch? You can't give your time away.
But there are these "elder" beings of some sort. The "in charge" dudes who run the show. You can make one special request of them. Usually the special requests are "give me more time!" Maybe sometimes they are "give someone else more time!" but I don't explicitly remember that. But the brother's one request, as his sister is about to die, is quite unique. He asks for all his time to be given to her. Wow.
It's funny how we're drawn into these stories of self-sacrifice for others. It's almost like that's wired in us by God or something.
That's where the story stops in my head. I don't remember the end, if there even was one. For me, it's irrelevant, especially for the point I want to make here.
Spend your life wisely. Or as John Piper wrote in a book (and as a title) -- don't waste your life. This message is not alone. Remember the story Jesus told about the guys who were given a bunch of money by their master? The first two guys multiplied it and the master was happy and wanted them to enter his joy. Do you remember what he said about the third dude? The one who did nothing with it and gave it back? "You wicked and slothful servant!"
Ouch. I don't want Jesus to call me wicked and slothful. I'd rather go for good and faithful.
And I must confess, God's convicted me on this lately in one area of my life. He didn't even convict me hard on it. He just kind of took away my desire for something I've obsessed about for quite a while now that ate a chunk of "free" time. Sow to righteousness, reap to righteousness. Sow to Halo, reap to Halo. Forget that. I mean really, with all that we can do in this world, that's what I'm going to choose to spend that much of my time on? Hardly edifying. All it did is feed my lust to win and fuel my foul mouth when I didn't. Nuts to that. I'd rather buy from Jesus "gold refined by fire" than work so hard at something so trivial.
Don't get me wrong. This is not about works salvation. I'm not saved because of any good work I do, but rather I do good works because I have been saved and have been given a new heart that desires to seek God and do what is right (despite failing to do so at times!). Yes, my works will be judged, by my standing before God will be based on the work Jesus already did on the cross.
Don't get me wrong. This is not about legalism or stifling our freedoms. I am free to do a lot of things -- but as Paul wrote "not all things are helpful". Rest and play are good things, but I am supposed to have self control, not be driven by desire. Some rest. Some play. Build myself up in knowledge and love. Use that to build others up. Stuff like that.
Don't get me wrong. This is not about forcing things that are by my own efforts and laboring really hard to get them done. If they are not of God, my labor is in vain. There is no point, and I should just use my time more wisely and sleep, or watch paint dry. If we're driving ourselves nuts and stressing out and making should-be-joyful things into burdens-of-the-LORD, then we're missing something and our efforts are for nothing.
Get me right. I'm talking about choice here. We have been given a finite span of life on this earth. It only lasts so long -- but there is an eternity, and what we do now in this life does affect the next one. How much are we going to spend of that life for our own comfort, convenience, and pleasure now, or in retirement? How much are we going to spend providing ourselves with "moneybags that do not grow old, with a treasure in the heavens that does not fail"?
I know less of the former and more of the latter is right. I pray that I really get it and really live it, because I know that I have gotten complacent and lazy toward the kingdom, which is a tragedy. Praise God for his patience and love!
The gist is this -- it's a different world where the currency you spend is minutes of your actual life. The main characters were a brother and sister. The brother works and saves all his "life" (pun intended) and ends up with some insane amount of years. The sister is about to run out and is in the casino gambling her last little bit away to try and get more time, but failing.
The catch? You can't give your time away.
But there are these "elder" beings of some sort. The "in charge" dudes who run the show. You can make one special request of them. Usually the special requests are "give me more time!" Maybe sometimes they are "give someone else more time!" but I don't explicitly remember that. But the brother's one request, as his sister is about to die, is quite unique. He asks for all his time to be given to her. Wow.
It's funny how we're drawn into these stories of self-sacrifice for others. It's almost like that's wired in us by God or something.
That's where the story stops in my head. I don't remember the end, if there even was one. For me, it's irrelevant, especially for the point I want to make here.
Spend your life wisely. Or as John Piper wrote in a book (and as a title) -- don't waste your life. This message is not alone. Remember the story Jesus told about the guys who were given a bunch of money by their master? The first two guys multiplied it and the master was happy and wanted them to enter his joy. Do you remember what he said about the third dude? The one who did nothing with it and gave it back? "You wicked and slothful servant!"
Ouch. I don't want Jesus to call me wicked and slothful. I'd rather go for good and faithful.
And I must confess, God's convicted me on this lately in one area of my life. He didn't even convict me hard on it. He just kind of took away my desire for something I've obsessed about for quite a while now that ate a chunk of "free" time. Sow to righteousness, reap to righteousness. Sow to Halo, reap to Halo. Forget that. I mean really, with all that we can do in this world, that's what I'm going to choose to spend that much of my time on? Hardly edifying. All it did is feed my lust to win and fuel my foul mouth when I didn't. Nuts to that. I'd rather buy from Jesus "gold refined by fire" than work so hard at something so trivial.
Don't get me wrong. This is not about works salvation. I'm not saved because of any good work I do, but rather I do good works because I have been saved and have been given a new heart that desires to seek God and do what is right (despite failing to do so at times!). Yes, my works will be judged, by my standing before God will be based on the work Jesus already did on the cross.
Don't get me wrong. This is not about legalism or stifling our freedoms. I am free to do a lot of things -- but as Paul wrote "not all things are helpful". Rest and play are good things, but I am supposed to have self control, not be driven by desire. Some rest. Some play. Build myself up in knowledge and love. Use that to build others up. Stuff like that.
Don't get me wrong. This is not about forcing things that are by my own efforts and laboring really hard to get them done. If they are not of God, my labor is in vain. There is no point, and I should just use my time more wisely and sleep, or watch paint dry. If we're driving ourselves nuts and stressing out and making should-be-joyful things into burdens-of-the-LORD, then we're missing something and our efforts are for nothing.
Get me right. I'm talking about choice here. We have been given a finite span of life on this earth. It only lasts so long -- but there is an eternity, and what we do now in this life does affect the next one. How much are we going to spend of that life for our own comfort, convenience, and pleasure now, or in retirement? How much are we going to spend providing ourselves with "moneybags that do not grow old, with a treasure in the heavens that does not fail"?
I know less of the former and more of the latter is right. I pray that I really get it and really live it, because I know that I have gotten complacent and lazy toward the kingdom, which is a tragedy. Praise God for his patience and love!
Tuesday, August 3, 2010
The Primary Issue
I've observed something and learned something over time. Sometimes believers can get overly concerned about the behavior of non-believers. I can understand this, especially when the overt practicing of sin makes it more difficult to instill a proper worldview in my children or when other, particularly innocent, people get hurt as a result.
But when we get to the point where we challenge an unbeliever's actions or moral perspective only, maybe pointing out they don't line up with the Bible, I think we do the gospel a disservice. Think about the effect that has. What does it say to someone? I think the main thing it says is "You get to heaven by your own efforts in being good, but you're screwing it up." This inevitably leads to a response of "You just want to use that book to control how I live. Screw that."
Bummer. That's not the message. Behavior is a secondary issue. Yes, its important. Yes, the Bible tells us how we should live. However, that doesn't matter one bit for the person that hasn't dealt with the primary issue! And the primary issue is in the heart of man. We don't live up to our own standards, let alone God's infinitely higher ones. Changing our behavior on our own terms isn't going to help fix that. The only things that will help fix it is 1) agreeing with God's analysis of our condition -- we're broken sinful people that can't earn our way into his favor and 2) accepting his solution to the problem by placing our faith in Jesus Christ, recognizing that on the cross he took the punishment for our sins, paying a debt we could never pay.
So, for unbelievers who live together and are not married, there is only one solution
For unbelievers who practice homosexuality, there is only one solution.
For unbelievers who condone abortion, there is only one solution.
For unbelievers who railroad God out of school, there is only one solution.
For unbelievers who drunk themselves stupid every night, there is only one solution.
For unbelievers who waste their lives on trivial pursuits, there is only one solution.
The list could go on, but the one solution to all the bad behaviors we tend to get vocal about, and more, is Christ crucified. Period. That's it. We don't get our actions right and then come to Christ. Rather, we take care of the primary issue by coming to Christ as we are, in humility and faith, and then letting him do the cleaning up from the inside out -- bogus behavior on the outside vanishes when we have a new heart on the inside that wants nothing more than to live for Christ!
Grace and Peace
But when we get to the point where we challenge an unbeliever's actions or moral perspective only, maybe pointing out they don't line up with the Bible, I think we do the gospel a disservice. Think about the effect that has. What does it say to someone? I think the main thing it says is "You get to heaven by your own efforts in being good, but you're screwing it up." This inevitably leads to a response of "You just want to use that book to control how I live. Screw that."
Bummer. That's not the message. Behavior is a secondary issue. Yes, its important. Yes, the Bible tells us how we should live. However, that doesn't matter one bit for the person that hasn't dealt with the primary issue! And the primary issue is in the heart of man. We don't live up to our own standards, let alone God's infinitely higher ones. Changing our behavior on our own terms isn't going to help fix that. The only things that will help fix it is 1) agreeing with God's analysis of our condition -- we're broken sinful people that can't earn our way into his favor and 2) accepting his solution to the problem by placing our faith in Jesus Christ, recognizing that on the cross he took the punishment for our sins, paying a debt we could never pay.
So, for unbelievers who live together and are not married, there is only one solution
For unbelievers who practice homosexuality, there is only one solution.
For unbelievers who condone abortion, there is only one solution.
For unbelievers who railroad God out of school, there is only one solution.
For unbelievers who drunk themselves stupid every night, there is only one solution.
For unbelievers who waste their lives on trivial pursuits, there is only one solution.
The list could go on, but the one solution to all the bad behaviors we tend to get vocal about, and more, is Christ crucified. Period. That's it. We don't get our actions right and then come to Christ. Rather, we take care of the primary issue by coming to Christ as we are, in humility and faith, and then letting him do the cleaning up from the inside out -- bogus behavior on the outside vanishes when we have a new heart on the inside that wants nothing more than to live for Christ!
Grace and Peace
Sunday, July 11, 2010
Don't Waste Your Life
From a book I just picked up by John Piper (don't waste your life -- haven't cracked it open yet):
"I will tell you what a tragedy is. I will show you how to waster your life. Consider this story from the February 1998 Reader's Digest: A couple 'took early retirement from their jobs in the Northeast five years ago when he was 59 and she was 51. Now they live in Punta Gorda, Florida, where they cruise on their 30-foot trawler, play softball and collect shells...' Picture them before Christ at the great day of judgment: 'Look, Lord. See my shells.' That is a tragedy."
"God created us to live with a single passion: to joyfully display his supreme excellence in all the spheres of life. The wasted life is the life without this passion. God calls us to pray and think and dream and plan and work not to be made much of, but to make much of him in every part of our lives."
I look forward to the read.
Hear the Word and live the Word!
Grace and Peace
"I will tell you what a tragedy is. I will show you how to waster your life. Consider this story from the February 1998 Reader's Digest: A couple 'took early retirement from their jobs in the Northeast five years ago when he was 59 and she was 51. Now they live in Punta Gorda, Florida, where they cruise on their 30-foot trawler, play softball and collect shells...' Picture them before Christ at the great day of judgment: 'Look, Lord. See my shells.' That is a tragedy."
"God created us to live with a single passion: to joyfully display his supreme excellence in all the spheres of life. The wasted life is the life without this passion. God calls us to pray and think and dream and plan and work not to be made much of, but to make much of him in every part of our lives."
I look forward to the read.
Hear the Word and live the Word!
Grace and Peace
Wednesday, March 31, 2010
Five Love Languages
You may have heard of the five love languages before. If not, briefly, these are five distinct categories, or languages, in which we can show and receive love. The concept is mainly applied to married couples -- the husband and wife may both be earnestly trying to show love to each other but neither feels loved for some reason. The problem in that case is they speak different love languages. The solution is to learn the love language, or languages, of their partner and learn to speak that language. Its a pretty cool concept, and so true.
The five love languages are words of affirmation, acts of service, giving gifts, quality time, and physical touch. Try to find a genuine act of love that you show your spouse and its going to fit into one of these categories.
But I had an interesting thought tonight. Okay maybe boring to you, but interesting to me. How do these languages apply in other relationships, particularly our relationship with God?
I am fully convinced God can hear us speak love to him in any of these languages, but how do we? Let's think about it.
Words of affirmation. That sounds like a big chunk of Psalms to me. Much "worship music". How about just dancing like David before the LORD praising his name and lifting it up? Praise is very good.
Acts of service. That sounds like meeting the physical and spiritual needs of others. Feed the hungry out on the streets of the city. Help your neighbor, your biblical neighbor that is, out when they need it. Do a service project through a local church. Anything where you get out there and be the hands and feet of Jesus. Service is good.
Giving gifts. That sounds like offerings to me. God has given us so much, how hard is it to give some back to him? Send tithes to your church home. Sponsor a child in another country. Support a missionary. Help fund a special project through the church. There are so many ways to do it. Giving is good.
Quality time. That sounds like prayer and getting into the word to me. Just spend time with the LORD talking to him and listening to him speak to your heart. Don't speed read the Bible just to meet your reading plan. Don't rush through rote prayers you say all the time without thinking. If your heart isn't in it, God doesn't want it. Spending some real time with him is good.
Physical touch. Okay, I admit I don't know about this one. But I can think of how it could play out the other way round. Its when we stand before Jesus Christ one day. After a lifetime of applying the above four languages to our relationship with Jesus, what a joy it would be to hear, as he puts his hand on a shoulder, "well done, good and faithful servant, well done."
Grace and Peace
The five love languages are words of affirmation, acts of service, giving gifts, quality time, and physical touch. Try to find a genuine act of love that you show your spouse and its going to fit into one of these categories.
But I had an interesting thought tonight. Okay maybe boring to you, but interesting to me. How do these languages apply in other relationships, particularly our relationship with God?
I am fully convinced God can hear us speak love to him in any of these languages, but how do we? Let's think about it.
Words of affirmation. That sounds like a big chunk of Psalms to me. Much "worship music". How about just dancing like David before the LORD praising his name and lifting it up? Praise is very good.
Acts of service. That sounds like meeting the physical and spiritual needs of others. Feed the hungry out on the streets of the city. Help your neighbor, your biblical neighbor that is, out when they need it. Do a service project through a local church. Anything where you get out there and be the hands and feet of Jesus. Service is good.
Giving gifts. That sounds like offerings to me. God has given us so much, how hard is it to give some back to him? Send tithes to your church home. Sponsor a child in another country. Support a missionary. Help fund a special project through the church. There are so many ways to do it. Giving is good.
Quality time. That sounds like prayer and getting into the word to me. Just spend time with the LORD talking to him and listening to him speak to your heart. Don't speed read the Bible just to meet your reading plan. Don't rush through rote prayers you say all the time without thinking. If your heart isn't in it, God doesn't want it. Spending some real time with him is good.
Physical touch. Okay, I admit I don't know about this one. But I can think of how it could play out the other way round. Its when we stand before Jesus Christ one day. After a lifetime of applying the above four languages to our relationship with Jesus, what a joy it would be to hear, as he puts his hand on a shoulder, "well done, good and faithful servant, well done."
Grace and Peace
Tuesday, January 12, 2010
Motivation
You know before I came to Christ I thought there was something screwed up with "religion". I guess I still do, because I still maintain that Christianity is not about a religion, but a relationship with God.
What I thought was stupid was the whole system of works. You see, at this time, I didn't know the gospel of Christ. I figured everything, Christianity included, was about works righteousness. We live our lives and then we are judged to determine our eternal destination and what rewards or punishment we receive, based on what we do in life and how we measure up to God's standard.
Why I thought it was is stupid is the motives seemed all wrong. Either I'm avoiding bad things that I really want to do, and maybe doing things I might not really want to do, because I fear hell. Or I'm doing that because I desire riches in heaven. Fear and greed. Two ultra-powerful motivators if you ask me. But they suck!
It was only until after I came to know Christ that the truth was made known to me. I do not follow God's law out of fear or greed, but because I love God. His word says that whatever we do, we should do it to the glory of God. And that is not something that should be driven by fear, or greed, but love for God and love for our neighbor (which is a way to show love for God!). What once seemed like a requirement while I was dead becomes a joy now that I am alive. Praise the LORD for that simple and beautiful truth!
Grace and Peace
What I thought was stupid was the whole system of works. You see, at this time, I didn't know the gospel of Christ. I figured everything, Christianity included, was about works righteousness. We live our lives and then we are judged to determine our eternal destination and what rewards or punishment we receive, based on what we do in life and how we measure up to God's standard.
Why I thought it was is stupid is the motives seemed all wrong. Either I'm avoiding bad things that I really want to do, and maybe doing things I might not really want to do, because I fear hell. Or I'm doing that because I desire riches in heaven. Fear and greed. Two ultra-powerful motivators if you ask me. But they suck!
It was only until after I came to know Christ that the truth was made known to me. I do not follow God's law out of fear or greed, but because I love God. His word says that whatever we do, we should do it to the glory of God. And that is not something that should be driven by fear, or greed, but love for God and love for our neighbor (which is a way to show love for God!). What once seemed like a requirement while I was dead becomes a joy now that I am alive. Praise the LORD for that simple and beautiful truth!
Grace and Peace
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
Tolerance And Focus
I just had some thoughts running around my head today about tolerance and focus, in the context of doing some kind of social outreach. Sometimes you get various local religious groups partnering up with one another to use their resources more effectively in helping others.
That might be fine depending on the situation, but we need to remember to keep focused on the end goal.
The end goal is not to make people's lives better for a short time. Doing that is a means to demonstrate Christ's love to other people, but the intended end result of that demonstration should be that more souls turn to Christ! Remember that Jesus didn't do all those miracles just to heal people and improve their short lives here on earth -- he primarily did all those miracles to prove he was who he claimed to be.
So when partnering with others I think we really need to keep in mind how the gospel is going to be preached. We don't want to give the impression that all religions are equally valid and/or that's its really all about just doing the good works, because neither is true. So if Jesus is seen to be just one of the boys along with Buddha, Mohammed, Gandhi, and so on, that's a problem. Jesus is God in the flesh, come to earth to die as payment for the sins of the world. That message comes first and must not be blocked or distorted!
Imagine for a moment a diverse group of guys all working together at some event and someone says "hey you guys, tell me what you know about Jesus."
The Muslim dude speaks up: "He was a prophet like Moses."
The Catholic lady corrects him: "No, he was much more than that. He is God in the flesh and he was crucified to pay for our sins. He rose from the dead and ascended into heaven. Now let me tell you about the true church that he started while he was on earth..."
The Mormon guy breaks in: "You'll have to let me take it from here, because the church you belong to is not the one true church -- the church I belong to is the one true church. But before I talk about that I want to tell you about how Jesus actually came to the New World and about this guy named Joseph Smith..."
The Jewish guy interrupts: "What's wrong with you two? Jesus was a man just like any other. He claimed to be the Messiah, and he claimed to be God. He was crucified, and he died. He disciples probably stole his body to make it look like he rose from the dead. End of story!"
The Buddhist lady backs him up: "That's right. But still, he was a great moral teacher like Buddha. We can learn a lot from his teachings."
As the Jehovah's Witness guy starts to talk about Michael the archangel, the majority of the group notices the Christian guy walking back in from the front door. They see the other guy walking away down the street, obviously reading something in his hands.
"What did you tell him?" they all asked.
"I just told him the simple truth -- that I once I lived an empty, meaningless, and self-centered life, despite all that I had. I told him that Jesus is the one who showed me that sin, saved me, and gave me a new heart. Then I prayed with him for a moment. I also gave him a Bible and showed him where he can read more about Jesus. Why, what are you guys still talking about in here?"
Grace and Peace
That might be fine depending on the situation, but we need to remember to keep focused on the end goal.
The end goal is not to make people's lives better for a short time. Doing that is a means to demonstrate Christ's love to other people, but the intended end result of that demonstration should be that more souls turn to Christ! Remember that Jesus didn't do all those miracles just to heal people and improve their short lives here on earth -- he primarily did all those miracles to prove he was who he claimed to be.
So when partnering with others I think we really need to keep in mind how the gospel is going to be preached. We don't want to give the impression that all religions are equally valid and/or that's its really all about just doing the good works, because neither is true. So if Jesus is seen to be just one of the boys along with Buddha, Mohammed, Gandhi, and so on, that's a problem. Jesus is God in the flesh, come to earth to die as payment for the sins of the world. That message comes first and must not be blocked or distorted!
Imagine for a moment a diverse group of guys all working together at some event and someone says "hey you guys, tell me what you know about Jesus."
The Muslim dude speaks up: "He was a prophet like Moses."
The Catholic lady corrects him: "No, he was much more than that. He is God in the flesh and he was crucified to pay for our sins. He rose from the dead and ascended into heaven. Now let me tell you about the true church that he started while he was on earth..."
The Mormon guy breaks in: "You'll have to let me take it from here, because the church you belong to is not the one true church -- the church I belong to is the one true church. But before I talk about that I want to tell you about how Jesus actually came to the New World and about this guy named Joseph Smith..."
The Jewish guy interrupts: "What's wrong with you two? Jesus was a man just like any other. He claimed to be the Messiah, and he claimed to be God. He was crucified, and he died. He disciples probably stole his body to make it look like he rose from the dead. End of story!"
The Buddhist lady backs him up: "That's right. But still, he was a great moral teacher like Buddha. We can learn a lot from his teachings."
As the Jehovah's Witness guy starts to talk about Michael the archangel, the majority of the group notices the Christian guy walking back in from the front door. They see the other guy walking away down the street, obviously reading something in his hands.
"What did you tell him?" they all asked.
"I just told him the simple truth -- that I once I lived an empty, meaningless, and self-centered life, despite all that I had. I told him that Jesus is the one who showed me that sin, saved me, and gave me a new heart. Then I prayed with him for a moment. I also gave him a Bible and showed him where he can read more about Jesus. Why, what are you guys still talking about in here?"
Grace and Peace
Thursday, April 23, 2009
Poisonous Religion
An atheist on the Bob Dutko show today got on my nerves a little bit. He wrote a book called "God Is Not Great" with some subtitle indicating that religion is poisoning society.
The point he was trying to make was that "true" altruism, where we help our fellow man just because it is our responsibility to our fellow man, is tainted when we start doing good things because of the promise of reward or fear of punishment. Bob was trying to debate him on another point, but he was being evasive and kept bringing this one up.
I'm just going to set aside the moral argument for the existence of God. That sense of responsibility "altruistic atheists" might have does come from somewhere you know.
This dude doesn't appear to know Christianity at all if I understood his claim correctly. It doesn't even have the right basis! Sure, with some religions people may try to "get in good" with God or a false god by doing good works, but that's certainly not where our good works come from.
How about out because we love God and are grateful to him for what he has done for us?
How about to verify that we have faith in Christ?
How about to show love to our neighbor, who we should love as ourselves?
How about because we are created in Christ for good works that have already been prepared for us?
I must say again that our good works are not the means to our salvation but rather a product of it! So the argument that we have damaged "true" good works because of a motivation for reward is invalid. Any reward that comes from good works done here on this earth is just a bonus.
So, brothers and sisters in Christ, let your light shine so that others' may see them and praise our father in heaven!
The point he was trying to make was that "true" altruism, where we help our fellow man just because it is our responsibility to our fellow man, is tainted when we start doing good things because of the promise of reward or fear of punishment. Bob was trying to debate him on another point, but he was being evasive and kept bringing this one up.
I'm just going to set aside the moral argument for the existence of God. That sense of responsibility "altruistic atheists" might have does come from somewhere you know.
This dude doesn't appear to know Christianity at all if I understood his claim correctly. It doesn't even have the right basis! Sure, with some religions people may try to "get in good" with God or a false god by doing good works, but that's certainly not where our good works come from.
How about out because we love God and are grateful to him for what he has done for us?
How about to verify that we have faith in Christ?
How about to show love to our neighbor, who we should love as ourselves?
How about because we are created in Christ for good works that have already been prepared for us?
I must say again that our good works are not the means to our salvation but rather a product of it! So the argument that we have damaged "true" good works because of a motivation for reward is invalid. Any reward that comes from good works done here on this earth is just a bonus.
So, brothers and sisters in Christ, let your light shine so that others' may see them and praise our father in heaven!
Tuesday, April 7, 2009
Top Volunteer Web Sites
I've looked at just about every "volunteer match" web site under the sun, and I think most of them kind of suck. Here are my top picks out of...many. 3/4 of these are focused on San Diego because, well, that's what I cared about!
OnlineVolunteering.Org
http://www.onlinevolunteering.org/en/vol/index.html
This is the one not focused on San Diego. Its really unique in that it provides a way to hook up on-line volunteers with projects across the world. What I really liked about it is that the opportunities here could really challenge people -- we're talking about web site design, graphic design, writing course world for university classes, providing translation services, etc. None of those would have ever came into my head before when thinking of "volunteer opportunities."
Volunteer San Diego
http://www.volunteersandiego.org/HomePage/index.php/home.html
This is the BOMB for finding local opportunities in San Diego. You can filter by type of service you're interested in, by date, by location, etc. The calendar is really useful and cool.
Single Volunteers San Diego
http://singlevolunteerssandiego.org/AboutUs.htm
Another localized web site. I thought it was pretty unique because it targeted singles and used volunteerism as a way for singles to meet. I like that.
The City Of San Diego Volunteer Opportunities
http://www.sandiego.gov/volunteer-program/opportunities/index.shtml
Another localized web site. This one focuses on opportunities through the City of San Diego. The content is pretty static, but you won't find the opportunities on the other web sites. Some of it doesn't get me engaged personally (filing and typing for example!) but if you dig down you'll see some good opportunities to work with seniors, work with kids, and clean up the community. I like that.
OnlineVolunteering.Org
http://www.onlinevolunteering.org/en/vol/index.html
This is the one not focused on San Diego. Its really unique in that it provides a way to hook up on-line volunteers with projects across the world. What I really liked about it is that the opportunities here could really challenge people -- we're talking about web site design, graphic design, writing course world for university classes, providing translation services, etc. None of those would have ever came into my head before when thinking of "volunteer opportunities."
Volunteer San Diego
http://www.volunteersandiego.org/HomePage/index.php/home.html
This is the BOMB for finding local opportunities in San Diego. You can filter by type of service you're interested in, by date, by location, etc. The calendar is really useful and cool.
Single Volunteers San Diego
http://singlevolunteerssandiego.org/AboutUs.htm
Another localized web site. I thought it was pretty unique because it targeted singles and used volunteerism as a way for singles to meet. I like that.
The City Of San Diego Volunteer Opportunities
http://www.sandiego.gov/volunteer-program/opportunities/index.shtml
Another localized web site. This one focuses on opportunities through the City of San Diego. The content is pretty static, but you won't find the opportunities on the other web sites. Some of it doesn't get me engaged personally (filing and typing for example!) but if you dig down you'll see some good opportunities to work with seniors, work with kids, and clean up the community. I like that.
Sunday, October 19, 2008
We Reap What We Sow
Gal 6:7-8 says it nicely: Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting.
We often just don't pay attention to it enough or believe it enough.
We doubt this when we see someone appear to get away with murder through a loophole in the legal system. We doubt this when we the rich, famous, and powerful appear to do whatever suits them without consequence. We doubt this when punishment for evil does not come swiftly.
We doubt this when good people experience unimaginable suffering. We doubt this when those with a heart of gold barely scrape by with severely limited income. We doubt this when reward for good does not come quickly.
We doubt because we are limited beings and cannot see inside people's minds and hearts. We cannot see the full chain of cause and effect that happens because of someone's actions. We cannot see into the future of anyone's life on this earth, nor can we see beyond this life.
However, we have only to look into our own lives to see how this principle is true.
How often have we wronged someone else without any retaliation on his/her part, or without any guilt/shame on our part? And if we think we actually have been able to wrong someone without any noticeable negative effect, did we move a little more down a bad path? Were we able to wrong someone much more easily the next time? And the next?
How often have we helped someone else with no outward motivation without feeling greater joy for having done so, or without having him/her later do something in return? And if we think we actually have been able to help someone without any noticeable positive effect, did we move a little more down a good path? Were we able to help someone much more easily the next time? And the next?
Never be fooled by appearances; they ARE deceiving. We will ALWAYS reap what we sow, whether it is only a tiny effect felt in this life for some evil act or good deed, eternal punishment for rejecting God, or eternal life for our faith in Him.
We often just don't pay attention to it enough or believe it enough.
We doubt this when we see someone appear to get away with murder through a loophole in the legal system. We doubt this when we the rich, famous, and powerful appear to do whatever suits them without consequence. We doubt this when punishment for evil does not come swiftly.
We doubt this when good people experience unimaginable suffering. We doubt this when those with a heart of gold barely scrape by with severely limited income. We doubt this when reward for good does not come quickly.
We doubt because we are limited beings and cannot see inside people's minds and hearts. We cannot see the full chain of cause and effect that happens because of someone's actions. We cannot see into the future of anyone's life on this earth, nor can we see beyond this life.
However, we have only to look into our own lives to see how this principle is true.
How often have we wronged someone else without any retaliation on his/her part, or without any guilt/shame on our part? And if we think we actually have been able to wrong someone without any noticeable negative effect, did we move a little more down a bad path? Were we able to wrong someone much more easily the next time? And the next?
How often have we helped someone else with no outward motivation without feeling greater joy for having done so, or without having him/her later do something in return? And if we think we actually have been able to help someone without any noticeable positive effect, did we move a little more down a good path? Were we able to help someone much more easily the next time? And the next?
Never be fooled by appearances; they ARE deceiving. We will ALWAYS reap what we sow, whether it is only a tiny effect felt in this life for some evil act or good deed, eternal punishment for rejecting God, or eternal life for our faith in Him.
Monday, October 13, 2008
4 Steps To Lasting Joy
First, Seek And Believe.
God gives us evidence of His existence:
Rom 1:20 For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse
Jesus says we should seek the kingdom of God:
Mat 6:33 But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.
Jesus says that if we seek, we will find:
Luk 11:9 And I say unto you, Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you.
Luk 11:10 For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.
We will also be rewarded for seeking:
Heb 11:6 But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.
Next, Trust.
Jesus says we must trust Him:
Mar 11:22 And Jesus answering saith unto them, Have faith in God.
Luk 17:6 And the Lord said, If ye had faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye might say unto this sycamine tree, Be thou plucked up by the root, and be thou planted in the sea; and it should obey you.
Joh 6:47 Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me hath everlasting life.
Next, Follow And Do.
Jesus says we must follow Him:
Mat 8:22 But Jesus said unto him, Follow me; and let the dead bury their dead.
Mar 8:34 And when he had called the people unto him with his disciples also, he said unto them, Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.
Luk 18:22 Now when Jesus heard these things, he said unto him, Yet lackest thou one thing: sell all that thou hast, and distribute unto the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come, follow me.
Joh 12:26 If any man serve me, let him follow me; and where I am, there shall also my servant be: if any man serve me, him will my Father honour.
In Christ we are a new creation, for good works:
2Co 5:17 Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.
Eph 2:10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.
Works come from trusting Jesus and following Him:
Jas 2:18 Yea, a man may say, Thou hast faith, and I have works: shew me thy faith without thy works, and I will shew thee my faith by my works.
Jas 2:19 Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble.
Jas 2:20 But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead?
Finally, Enjoy It.
Jesus says that His commandments, which we keep partially through the works we do, are so our joy may be full:
Joh 15:10 If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father's commandments, and abide in his love.
Joh 15:11 These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full.
Joh 15:12 This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you.
Joh 15:13 Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.
Joh 15:14 Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you.
Now, we must not forget that none of this is because of anything we did.
No one seeks for God on their own:
Rom 3:11 There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God.
It is God the Father who draws us to Jesus:
Joh 6:44 No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day.
Thus, we are saved by God's grace alone, not anything we do:
Eph 2:8 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:
Eph 2:9 Not of works, lest any man should boast.
Thank you!
So, thank you Father; thank you Jesus!
Thank you for the grace that you have given me that allows me to see that Jesus suffered and died for my sins and rose from the dead. Thank you for the grace you have given me that allows me to put my trust in you for everything, including guiding me through my life on earth, providing for me and my family, and, most importantly, my salvation. Thank you for the grace that replaced a slavery to sin with a desire to do good for your glory.
God gives us evidence of His existence:
Rom 1:20 For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse
Jesus says we should seek the kingdom of God:
Mat 6:33 But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.
Jesus says that if we seek, we will find:
Luk 11:9 And I say unto you, Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you.
Luk 11:10 For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.
We will also be rewarded for seeking:
Heb 11:6 But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.
Next, Trust.
Jesus says we must trust Him:
Mar 11:22 And Jesus answering saith unto them, Have faith in God.
Luk 17:6 And the Lord said, If ye had faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye might say unto this sycamine tree, Be thou plucked up by the root, and be thou planted in the sea; and it should obey you.
Joh 6:47 Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me hath everlasting life.
Next, Follow And Do.
Jesus says we must follow Him:
Mat 8:22 But Jesus said unto him, Follow me; and let the dead bury their dead.
Mar 8:34 And when he had called the people unto him with his disciples also, he said unto them, Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.
Luk 18:22 Now when Jesus heard these things, he said unto him, Yet lackest thou one thing: sell all that thou hast, and distribute unto the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come, follow me.
Joh 12:26 If any man serve me, let him follow me; and where I am, there shall also my servant be: if any man serve me, him will my Father honour.
In Christ we are a new creation, for good works:
2Co 5:17 Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.
Eph 2:10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.
Works come from trusting Jesus and following Him:
Jas 2:18 Yea, a man may say, Thou hast faith, and I have works: shew me thy faith without thy works, and I will shew thee my faith by my works.
Jas 2:19 Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble.
Jas 2:20 But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead?
Finally, Enjoy It.
Jesus says that His commandments, which we keep partially through the works we do, are so our joy may be full:
Joh 15:10 If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father's commandments, and abide in his love.
Joh 15:11 These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full.
Joh 15:12 This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you.
Joh 15:13 Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.
Joh 15:14 Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you.
Now, we must not forget that none of this is because of anything we did.
No one seeks for God on their own:
Rom 3:11 There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God.
It is God the Father who draws us to Jesus:
Joh 6:44 No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day.
Thus, we are saved by God's grace alone, not anything we do:
Eph 2:8 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:
Eph 2:9 Not of works, lest any man should boast.
Thank you!
So, thank you Father; thank you Jesus!
Thank you for the grace that you have given me that allows me to see that Jesus suffered and died for my sins and rose from the dead. Thank you for the grace you have given me that allows me to put my trust in you for everything, including guiding me through my life on earth, providing for me and my family, and, most importantly, my salvation. Thank you for the grace that replaced a slavery to sin with a desire to do good for your glory.
Monday, September 22, 2008
Christian Hedonism
A couple times when I was talking with David, the term "Christian Hedonism" (along with John Piper who coined the term) came up. I finally took a cursory look myself at the concept tonight.
John Piper's short and sweet summary is that God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in him. That didn't help me a whole lot, but these did:
"Obeying God is the only route to final and lasting happiness."
"Don't do good deeds for worldly advantage; rather do them for spiritual, heavenly benefits."
That last one just summed up something that has been on my mind as of late, especially after watching one of Duncan's talks on storing up your treasure in heaven. I was wrestling lately with these two approaches to doing good deeds: 1) do good deeds solely to please God without thinking about any future heavenly reward or 2) do good deeds because you're seeking to build up your treasure in heaven. Piper answers this very clearly for me, showing that we are in fact commanded to do #2.
I have yet to read Piper's book (Desiring God) or explore the Bible verses he quotes myself, but this was just the answer to the big question running around in my head tonight -- yes it is definitely okay to seek opportunity to build up my treasure in heaven and find joy in it -- in fact, that's what we're supposed to do!
My big problem now is working on finding the joy more and more often, rather than taking a more duty-driven approach; I suspect it will be easier now. :-)
Here is the great article about Christian Hedonism is:
http://www.desiringgod.org/ResourceLibrary/Articles/ByDate/2006/1797_We_Want_You_to_Be_a_Christian_Hedonist/
John Piper's short and sweet summary is that God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in him. That didn't help me a whole lot, but these did:
"Obeying God is the only route to final and lasting happiness."
"Don't do good deeds for worldly advantage; rather do them for spiritual, heavenly benefits."
That last one just summed up something that has been on my mind as of late, especially after watching one of Duncan's talks on storing up your treasure in heaven. I was wrestling lately with these two approaches to doing good deeds: 1) do good deeds solely to please God without thinking about any future heavenly reward or 2) do good deeds because you're seeking to build up your treasure in heaven. Piper answers this very clearly for me, showing that we are in fact commanded to do #2.
I have yet to read Piper's book (Desiring God) or explore the Bible verses he quotes myself, but this was just the answer to the big question running around in my head tonight -- yes it is definitely okay to seek opportunity to build up my treasure in heaven and find joy in it -- in fact, that's what we're supposed to do!
My big problem now is working on finding the joy more and more often, rather than taking a more duty-driven approach; I suspect it will be easier now. :-)
Here is the great article about Christian Hedonism is:
http://www.desiringgod.org/ResourceLibrary/Articles/ByDate/2006/1797_We_Want_You_to_Be_a_Christian_Hedonist/
Sunday, September 14, 2008
Faith, Works, Paul, and James
I came across an interesting non-existent conflict today, where it appears that Paul claims justification is through faith, and James claims justification is through works. Someone had quoted from James saying that "some religionists today advocate that man is saved by faith only", and I thought "well, yeah, that's right -- and good works come from that -- you're not saved because you do a bunch of good stuff to earn your way into heaven -- if that were true, Christ died for nothing".
As such, I felt compelled to look up the part from James he was talking about. The quoted part is only 2:24 -- "you see that a person is justified by works and not by faith alone". Well, that by itself didn't sound right. Taken in context its pretty clear that in James 2, good works do come through faith, and James' point appears to be that if you're just claiming "yeah, I have faith"...well, you really are probably just saying that and not backing up your statement with your actions.
2:17-18 sums it up nicely I think -- "So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead. But someone will say, 'You have faith and I have works.' Show me your faith apart from your works, and I will show you my faith by my works."
I still decided to take a further look and came across this link that discusses the (non-)controversy:
http://www.biblicaltheology.com/Research/CarterJ01.html
Worth a read if after reading James you still think there is disagreement.
As such, I felt compelled to look up the part from James he was talking about. The quoted part is only 2:24 -- "you see that a person is justified by works and not by faith alone". Well, that by itself didn't sound right. Taken in context its pretty clear that in James 2, good works do come through faith, and James' point appears to be that if you're just claiming "yeah, I have faith"...well, you really are probably just saying that and not backing up your statement with your actions.
2:17-18 sums it up nicely I think -- "So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead. But someone will say, 'You have faith and I have works.' Show me your faith apart from your works, and I will show you my faith by my works."
I still decided to take a further look and came across this link that discusses the (non-)controversy:
http://www.biblicaltheology.com/Research/CarterJ01.html
Worth a read if after reading James you still think there is disagreement.
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