Posted on

You Are Jaw-Droppingly Gifted

The Gifts That God Imparts To You Make You Very Special

SYNOPSIS: It is through the operation of the gifts of the Holy Spirit that the body of Christ ministers effectively to God, to itself, and even to the world. How awesome is it that God would share his grace with his children, you and me, through the gifts that he places within us, allowing us to be vessels through which his supernatural power flows as the Spirit enables us.

The Journey// Focus: Exodus 36:1

The Lord has gifted Bezalel, Oholiab, and the other skilled craftsmen with wisdom and ability to perform any task involved in building the sanctuary. Let them construct and furnish the Tabernacle, just as the Lord has commanded.

As you read about the work of the uber-skilled craftsman that God anointed for the construction of the tabernacle, you are tempted to stand back in jaw-dropping amazement at the incredible gifting of the Holy Spirit that enabled these workers, Bezalel and Oholiab, to pull off this stunning feat. But do you realize that “the Lord has gifted” you, too. And when your gifts interact with the rest of your spiritual shape, your personality, experiences and passions, the angels stand back in jaw-dropping amazement at what the Holy Spirit has enabled you to do, too!

The Apostle Paul wrote in I Corinthians 12:1 and 7, “Now about spiritual gifts, brothers, I don’t want you to be ignorant…. Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good.” What follows is Paul’s description of the body of Christ building itself up and functioning in its God-given call to be the dwelling place of God and repository of truth in the world. Essential to this process of edification is the operation of spiritual gifts within the body. Paul says each one has at least one gift, these gifts are determined and empowered by the Spirit, and they are to be used for the common good, i.e., “as a means of helping the entire church.” (vs. 7 NLT)

When you understand and begin to operate in your gifts, serving according to your passion, the church is unleashed to experience the effectiveness and success that Christ envisioned when he said he would build his church. And the widespread, Spirit-directed operation of the gifts active among all the church members indicates the church’s degree of health. When people are operating in their gifts and authentic ministry is occurring, there is no limit to what God will accomplish through that body of believers to reveal his power and presence to the world.

The presence of spiritual gift in your life—and in the lives of all the others in your spiritual community, means several things:

First, it means that ministry is not just for the pastors, but also for the parishioners. Each believer is called to a ministry, and ministries are enabled only as one understands and operates in the ministry gifts. It is through the gift-based ministry of the believers that God’s grace flows to the body. I Peter 4:10 reminds us, “Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God’s grace in its various forms.”

Second, it means that ministry is a privilege, not a problem. So many Christians have looked a service in the body as a duty that must be endured, perhaps even resisted and avoided in some cases, and not a joy. Most likely, this occurs because that believer is not serving according to their gifts. When Paul teaches in Ephesians 4 on ministry gifts, he reminds his readers in verse 7, “But to each one of us grace has been given as Christ apportioned it.” Christ gives the gift that enables us to minister. Furthermore, that gift is associated with grace. Seeing it as a problem reveals a profound misunderstanding of what the Bible teaches about gifts.

Third, it means that the impartation of spiritual gifts by the Holy Spirit gives you the privilege of being partners in ministry, not a pew potato. I Corinthians 12:7 says, “Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good.” A gift requires a stewardship, a producing of fruit, a contribution to the common good. An uninvolved believer simply warming a pew is an oxymoron.

Fourth, it means that gift-based ministry releases your potential, which in turn, as your work in harmony with all the other gifts operating in your church, enables your fellowship to grow exponentially. Operating in the gifts of the Spirit release God’s power to work through the Christian in ways that would not ordinarily occur. When many believers are operating in the gifts in a Spirit-coordinated way, unlimited and unexpected results occur. Ephesians 4:16 says that it is through the operation of the gifts, that “the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work.

Fifth, it means that using your spiritual gifts to minister enables other believers to experience God’s grace. I Peter 4:10-11 says, “Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God’s grace in its various forms… so that in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ.” What is the conduit of God’s grace (the Greek word is charis) in the church? Your spiritual gifts (the Greek word for gifts is charismata).

It is through the operation of the gifts of the Holy Spirit that the body of Christ ministers effectively to God, to itself, and even to the world. How awesome is it that God would share his grace with his children, through the gifts that he places within us, allowing us to be vessels through which his supernatural power flows as the Spirit enables us.

Yes, “the Lord has gifted” you “to perform your task involved in building the sanctuary” of his presence among his people!

Going Deeper: Have you discovered the spiritual gifts God has placed within you? If not, ask your pastor to help you figure out just how jaw-droppingly gifted you are—then get to work.

Posted on

Passing The Collection Plate

Giving Is An Invitation To Partnership

SYNOPSIS: Offerings didn’t originate with the preacher, but with God. Interestingly, God could have created all the resources a ministry would ever need to operate if he wanted to. He is God, the Creator, after all. Apparently, he didn’t want to. What he wanted was willing partners who would take steps of faith to sacrifice their own resources to invest in the things that mattered to him. Amazing, isn’t it? God wants you as an invested partner!

The Journey// Focus: Exodus 35:4-5, 20-23, 29

This is what the Lord has commanded: From what you have, take an offering for the Lord. Everyone who is willing is to bring to the Lord an offering… Then the whole Israelite community withdrew from Moses’ presence, and everyone who was willing and whose heart moved them came and brought an offering to the Lord for the work on the tent of meeting, for all its service, and for the sacred garments. All who were willing, men and women alike, came and brought gold jewelry of all kinds: brooches, earrings, rings and ornaments. They all presented their gold as a wave offering to the Lord. …All the Israelite men and women who were willing brought to the Lord freewill offerings for all the work the Lord through Moses had commanded them to do.

Preachers get a bad rap for taking offerings—early and often. Surveys reveal that a high percentage of the un-churched believe there will be an over-emphasis on money if they attend a church service. Even believers—some of them, anyway—clinch their wallets a little tighter when it comes to offering time. Unfortunately, some preachers and televangelists have given folks good concern about getting fleeced.

Yet there is a place in the work of God for giving people the opportunity to give of their time, talent and treasure to support and advance the work of the Kingdom. In fact, the call to give didn’t originate with the preacher, but with God. Interestingly, God could have created all the resources a ministry would ever need to operate if he wanted to. He is God, the Creator, after all. Apparently, he didn’t want to. What he wanted was willing partners who would take steps of faith to sacrifice their own resources to invest in the things that mattered to him.

And when people—you and I—are willing to give and allow God to touch our hearts, as was the case with the Israelites in this story, opportunity and generosity meet to create a miraculous giving moment. Human willingness meets with Divine enablement and the Kingdom of God is advanced in defining ways that please the heart of God and delight the hearts of the giver. What happens in the catalytic moment is what Jesus said would happen: It is better to give than receive. (Acts 20:35)

Arguably there is no more impactful way to partner with the Almighty than by joyfully, willingly and sacrificially giving to his work. It is worship—it honors God with your trust at the most costly level. And it unties his hands to bless you, the giver, with divine abundance—the giver becomes a conduit: the more you give, the more God gives you to give. Generous, joyful Kingdom givers get caught in a cycle of Divine generosity—and there is nary a more beautiful thing.

Yes, I know: I’m a preacher who just wants more money. Right? No, wrong! I just want to see God’s abundance unleashed in your life through the joy of generous giving. Just try it, and see if it doesn’t work.

Legend has it that a man was lost in the desert. He’d wandered for days and was near death from thirst. He stumbled on a dilapidated, deserted shack. An old pump was in the yard, likely useless, but he was dying, so he starting furiously pumping. All he got was squeaks and dust.

He was about to give up when he saw a jar nearby. A note was attached, and it still had a little water. It said, “Use the water in this jar to prime the pump.” He suddenly faced a decision: Drink the water in the jar and live a few more hours or put faith in the note and hope for a flow of life-giving water. Then he decided to hedge his bet, so he poured in some in, kept some back, and began to pump. All he got was just a dribble, but there was hope! So he poured in all the water and began pumping. And soon there was all the water he could want.

When he’d fully satisfied his thirst, he filled the jar back up and added to the note, “Believe me, it really works, but you’ve to give it all you’ve got!”

Going Deeper: Try it! Believe me, it really works. And if you don’t believe me, at least believe God. In his own words, he says to you, “Test me in this,” says the Lord Almighty, “and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that there will not be room enough to store it.” (Malachi 3:10)

Pass

Posted on

The Radiant Face of the Pastor

God's Anointing: The Ultimate Criterion for Spiritual Leadership

Moses was tasked with leading a people, some who didn’t want to follow him, others who were jealous of him, and still others who just didn’t like him or his style of leading. But God gave Moses a gift to fulfill his high call of pastoring the Israelites: the manifest Presence of God himself. As a result, the glory of the Lord lit up Moses’ face whenever he returned to the people from the Lord’s presence. Now most pastors don’t expect something that dramatic, but they do crave God’s approval as they stand before their people. Without that, they’ve got nothing.

The Journey // Focus: Exodus 34:29-30,35

When Moses came down from Mount Sinai with the two tablets of the Testimony in his hands, he was not aware that his face was radiant because he had spoken with the LORD. When Aaron and all the Israelites saw Moses, his face was radiant, and they were afraid to come near him…they saw that his face was radiant. Then Moses would put the veil back over his face until he went in to speak with the LORD.

Most of the direct interaction pastors have with the people of their church is quite positive and appreciative. Those who are upset and who do not appreciate their pastor’s leadership style or his ministerial abilities don’t usually speak to the pastor directly—which is certainly the Biblical approach to handling differences—they tell other people. Pastors usually hear of it either second or third hand, or after the fact when those who are disgruntled have landed in another church.

This is, undoubtedly, the most disheartening thing that the pastor faces. Don’t let your pastor kid you: he takes it personally. (I realize your spiritual leader may be a woman, but just for the sake of discussion, let me use the masculine pronoun to refer to your pastor.) It gnaws at his insecurities, shakes his confidence in his abilities, discourages his spirit, frustrates his vision, and if all that weren’t enough, it hurts his feelings. Yes, pastors have feelings just like you. I know all of this because I am a pastor, and because I interact with enough of them to know this is true.

Is the challenge the pastor faces any different than the one Moses faced? He was tasked with leading a people, some of whom didn’t want to follow, others who were jealous of him, and some who just didn’t like him or his style of leading. But God gave Moses some special gifts to fulfill his high call: miracles, divine interventions, the dramatic Presence of God himself, and in this case, the glory of the Lord that lit up Moses’ face whenever he would return to the people from the Lord’s presence.

Most pastors I know don’t expect something that dramatic—neither do I. But we do crave some sort of Divine aide that will indicate the Lord’s approval as we stand before our people. Our only qualification to lead is God’s anointing upon our life and ministry. Without that, we’ve got nothing.

What is interesting to note is that even though Moses had these Divine displays of affirmation on his résumé, there were still those who resisted and rejected his leadership. I guess it happens to the best of them—and I guess I, and every other spiritual leader, have to steel ourselves against the insecurities, oppositions and rejections that will assault our leadership at one time or another.

But at the end of the day, for most of the pastors I know, including me, the privilege of representing God to the people and the people to God is more than enough to make up for any slight, oversight, or personal inconvenience we may experience.

Soli Deo Gloria!

Going Deeper: Here is a prayer you might consider lifting up to God on behalf of your spiritual leader: “Dear Father, I am not asking for you to make my pastor’s face to glow like Moses. But Lord, it is true that my leader cannot fulfill his Divine calling to lead me and my fellow believers to the victories you have destined our church to achieve without your visible anointing and favor upon his life. So I ask that you would put your hand on him in a special way. Cleanse him that he might contain your holy favor and purify his motives that he might handle your blessing and anointing as a sacred trust. And fill him with the Moses-like enabling Presence that your people will be inspired to follow. Cause your Presence to go before him…let your hand be with him…expand his territory…bless him indeed…and cause his life to expended for your glory and honor.”

Posted on

Knowing The God Who Wants To Be Known

To ask God that you might know him is a request that pleases his heart! After all, that is the reason he created you; that is why you exist. God himself says in Hosea 6:6, “For I desire…the knowledge of God [from you] more than burnt offerings.” That should be your chief aim in life. To know God who wants to be known is truly the sweetest nectar of life.

The Journey // Focus: Exodus 33:11

The Lord would speak to Moses face to face, as a man speaks with his friend.

If I could choose an epitaph that described my life, it would be this: “The Lord would speak to Ray Noah face to face, as a man speaks with his friend.” But is that really possible for a human being?

It was for Moses! If anyone ever really knew God, if a human being ever experienced an extraordinarily intimate revelation of God, if a man ever truly had a close personal friendship with God, it was Moses.

But Moses didn’t always have this kind of relationship with God. If you were to review Moses’ life, you would be reminded that in his first forty years, Moses knew a lot about God. He was born to Hebrew parents, but raised in the lap of luxury in the Egyptian palace as one of Pharaoh’s sons—he was a prince of Egypt. Moses knew about God through his heritage, but there is no indication of a walk with God characterized by love and obedience. In fact, it appears Moses was somewhat indifferent to God.

But then Moses tried to play God and killed an Egyptian, and he had to flee the palace to the backside of the Sinai Desert, where he lived as a fugitive for the next forty years until he met God at the burning bush. And during these four decades, Moses unlearned everything he knew about God in the first forty years. It was a desert experience—literally and spiritually—where Moses knew nothing but the silence of God. God had enrolled Moses in the University of the Desert—the Graduate School of Sinai—where he trained Moses in the curricula of solitude, monotony and failure.

But then came the burning bush, which marked the beginning of the final forty years of Moses’ life. And in this period, he came to know and experience God the way we want to know and experience him: In his power and glory. Moses, unlike any other man, experienced first hand every attribute of God a human being could possibly experience: God’s omnipotence—that he is all-powerful; his omniscience—that he is all-wise and knowing; his omnipresence—that he is everywhere at all times; his Divine nature—that is, his justice, righteousness, holiness, and incomparable greatness.

What more could a human being want? Yet that wasn’t enough. Moses didn’t just want to know about God, he wasn’t satisfied with seeing the evidence of God’s activity. He wanted more:

If you are pleased with me, teach me your ways so that I may know you and continue to find favor with you…Now show me your glory. (Exodus 33:13,18)

You’ve got to admire Moses’ boldness, audacity and greediness for God! Here is what he’s really asking: “God, I want to know you…your character…your nature…what makes you tick. I want to enter into the deepest dimension of intimacy with the Almighty that’s possible for one human being.”

Amazingly, God obliged this big, audacious request—he revealed himself fully to Moses. (Exodus 33:14-23) Now this doesn’t simply tell us something about Moses, it mostly reveals something vitally important about God: God wants us to know how much he wants to be known.

He has made himself knowable. He is not some unapproachable deity way out there in a galaxy far, far away. He is the God who is there, the God who is near, the God who will reveal himself to those who long to know him.

What other nation is so great as to have their gods near them the way the Lord our God is near us whenever we pray to him. (Deuteronomy 4:7)

God wants us to know that he’s near and that he is knowable: “I will cause my goodness to pass in front of you, and I will proclaim my name, the Lord, in your presence.” (Exodus 33:19) In other words, I will let you know me.

To ask to know him is a request that pleases the heart of God! You see, that’s what we were made for: To know God. That’s what he desires from us. God himself says in Hosea 6:6, “For I desire…the knowledge of God [from you] more than burnt offerings.” And that should be our chief aim in life—to know God—because that is truly the sweetest nectar of life. Jeremiah 9:23-24 says,

This is what the LORD says: ‘Let not the wise man gloat in his wisdom, or the mighty man in his might, or the rich man in his riches. Let them boast in this alone: that they truly know me and understand that I am the LORD who is just and righteous, whose love is unfailing, and that I delight in these things. I, the LORD, have spoken!

Knowing God is the best thing in life. In fact, it is eternal life. Jesus said in John 17:3, “This is eternal life: That they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.”

God has offered to let you know him—really know him. It’s the best offer you’ll ever get! I would take him up on it if I were you.

Going Deeper: Not only does God want to be known, God has made himself available. He doesn’t want you just to know about him, he wants you to intimately know his person. God is knowable and personable. Exodus 33:11 tells us that Moses knew God as a friend, and that he “would speak to Moses face-to-face.” Exodus 33:14 God tells Moses, “My presence will go with you…” Exodus 33:19 says that God “caused his goodness to pass in front of him and proclaimed his name in Moses’ presence.” God said he would let Moses see the after-effects of his glory in Exodus 33:22. What is God saying? “I want you to know me, and I will make myself available to you. And now you will not only know about me, you will see and experience my very nature and personhood.” That’s quite an invitation! Have you taken God up on his offer?

Posted on

A Golden Calf! Really?

A golden calf? Really! After all that God had just orchestrated to deliver Israel from Egypt—one miraculous deliverance and one supernatural provision after another. What kind of people would so quickly abandon their God to worship an idol because his methods and his timing suddenly didn’t meet their expectations? Yet don’t we, too, quickly desert the worship of God to rely on other sources for our deliverance, provision and happiness? When we do, those “other sources” become our golden calf. Who or what is your god of reliance? Make sure it is the only one and true God!

The Journey // Focus: Exodus 32:1-4

When the people saw how long it was taking Moses to come back down the mountain, they gathered around Aaron. “Come on,” they said, “make us some gods who can lead us. We don’t know what happened to this fellow Moses, who brought us here from the land of Egypt.” So Aaron said, “Take the gold rings from the ears of your wives and sons and daughters, and bring them to me.” All the people took the gold rings from their ears and brought them to Aaron. Then Aaron took the gold, melted it down, and molded it into the shape of a calf. When the people saw it, they exclaimed, “O Israel, these are the gods who brought you out of the land of Egypt!”

A golden calf! Really? After all that God had just done for them! Are you kidding me? How could they?

After 400 years of slavery, God delivered His people from the thoroughly idolatrous nation of Egypt. The Egyptians had hundreds of gods, and as slaves, the Israelites had been forced to build temples for many of those idols.

The influence of Egyptian for idolatry surfaced when the Israelites insisted that Aaron build a golden calf as an object of worship while Moses was on the mountain receiving God’s commandments. Keep in mind that God had just delivered them with miracle after miracle that no other god could come close to replicating, not by thousands of miles. The God of Israel had shown himself to be the one, true, covenantly faithful God. Yet Israel abandoned him in a flash.

God was so angry with their abrupt, blatant backsliding that He wanted to wipe out the whole nation and start over with Moses. But in one of the outstanding acts of priestly intercession, Moses stood between God’s judgment and the people’s guilt to save the day. Yet Moses ordered the slaughter of those who had led the way and for those who openly participated in this gross spiritual fornication.

That is when the tribe of Levi rose up and executed 3,000 idolaters that day with the sword. God’s subsequent choice of the Levites to serve as priests may have been rooted in their response to help Moses destroy idolatry among the people. And that became one of the priest’s duties in perpetuity—then and now in the pastoral priesthood: to keep the people out of idolatry while keeping them locked into the exclusive worship of Yahweh.

Tragically, over time, after Israel became a strong nation, they again became infested with idolatry, and at times, even the Levitical priests joined the people in the worship of idols. There came the day when idolatry was even practiced in the very Temple of God.

And the Levites who went far from Me, when Israel went astray, who strayed away from Me after their idols, shall bear their iniquity. Because they ministered to them before their idols and caused the house of Israel to fall into iniquity, therefore I have raised My hand in an oath against them that they shall bear their iniquity. (Ezekiel 44:10, 12)

Now if you are like me, the question I have, in light of all that God had just orchestrated on behalf of his people—miracle after miracle—is “how could they?” Yet don’t we, too, quickly desert the worship of God to rely on other sources for our safety, provision and happiness? Think of false god after false god Israel fell for—and in a less obvious way, we fall for as well. Here are some of the gods back then, and how we subtly worship them today:

There was Dagon, who was viewed as the god of vegetation. The Philistines worshiped him as a god of provision. His help was sought to ensure a bountiful harvest. We must realize that we do not worship God primarily for the purpose of receiving his blessings. If our loyalty to him is mostly so that we can get something from him, then we are in real danger of trading our revelation of God for a concept of Dagon.

Then there was Baal, who was considered to be the son of Dagon. Baal was a chief god of the Philistines and he was considered to be unpredictable and unreliable. Most famously, Elijah challenged the prophets of Baal to a contest to see who was the true God;, and the sign of the true God would be the one who answered by fire. Elijah taunted the prophets of Baal as they beseeched their reluctant god to answer and prove himself. The prophet mocked Baal’s unpredictability and unreliability for doing only what he wanted to do, when he wanted to do it—which was never. Sometimes we drift into that opinion of God, too, when he doesn’t’ answer when we want and in the way we want. That is flirting with idolatry. God is sovereign and he does as he pleases, but he also mercifully invites us to petition him through expectant, persistent prayer in trust that he is reliable and always acts on the promise of his Word in response to our asking.

There was Ashtoreth, the lone goddess of the four Philistine gods who was considered to be the spouse of Baal. She was the goddess of sex and fertility. She was identified with the Egyptian deity Isis and also with the Greco- Roman sex-deities of Aphrodite and Venus. Need I make application to our cultures infatuation with the goddess of elicit sex. Unlike Israel, we must be careful as believers not to allow our minds to become polluted with a preoccupation with sexual lust and salacious behavior.

Finally, Beelzebub was known, interestingly, as the god who creates and sustains wounds. Jesus called him the prince of demons, clearly identifying him with Satan. Beelzebub means, “the lord of the flies,” an appropriate title for the work of demons. This is a disturbing picture in the natural realm of what the disgusting devil likes to do in the spiritual realm. Just as flies are drawn to open wounds and cuts, so demons are drawn to the open wounds in our hearts. When we allow the hurts of our hearts to fester and go unhealed, we are prime targets for the demonic to work through the idolatrous attitudes of bitterness, un-forgiveness and victimization.

Maybe you think I am stretching the application of Old Testament idolatry a little too far here, but just think about it. Whenever we replace our devotion to and dependence on God, even in the most subtle or self-justifiable ways, with doubts about God’s love, with dependencies on the arm of flesh, with doctrines about God that are not squared with the loving, faithful, sovereign God of the Bible, we are flirting with worship of the golden calf. As Becky Manley Pippert said,

Whatever controls us is our lord. The person who seeks power is controlled by power. The person who seeks acceptance is controlled by acceptance. We do not control ourselves. We are controlled by the lord of our lives.

Who or what is god of your life? Make sure it is the only one and true God!

Going Deeper: Whenever you find yourself in response to your Bible reading saying, “how could they?”, that is a sure sign that you also need to say, “how do I?” The New Testament says, “these things happened to them as warnings to us upon who the ends of the age have fallen.” (1 Corinthians 10:6-11) In what ways might you be flirting with idolatry?

Posted on

Of Filthy Rags And Transformed Hearts

Our Righteousness Comes From Christ Alone

Our righteousness—and let’s be clear, we do have to be righteous to be acceptable to God—comes from Christ alone. You see, God sent his Son to die on the cross—hanging there as our sin—in order to pay the just punishment for sin that we deserved. That is our only hope, that Jesus became sin—our sin—and in so doing, he likewise became our righteousness. 2 Corinthians 5:21 says it well, “God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” It is only through the power of Christ’s resurrection and our death to self (Philippians 3:10-11) that our heart—the core of who we are, that which represents every fiber of our existence—will get transformed. And ?it is out of a transformed heart, and only that, that our tongue can confess Jesus is Lord. Then, and only then, are we saved.

The Journey: ~Romans 10:9-10

That if you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved.

You cannot be saved by your good works—no matter how hard you try, your “good” is not good enough for the perfectly holy and completely righteous God who alone grants salvation.

Nor can you be saved by your moral perfection—no matter how moral or how perfect you are. As the Old Testament prophet Isaiah points out, your righteousness is about as good as a “snot rag”. (Isaiah 64:6). I have actually cleaned that up a bit, because the Hebrew words for filthy rags, ukabeged ehdim, literally means, “like as rags of menstruation.” (NIV Study Bible Notes)

Sorry if that disgusts you, but it’s Scripture—so blame Isaiah. The point being, both our acts of righteousness, and the quality of righteousness that we hope they produce, are disgusting to God. So if you are disgusted by Isaiah’s language, think of how God is repulsed by our efforts to get him to save us.

So what hope is there for our salvation? Well, no hope resides within us. None whatsoever. Ephesians 2:1 says “As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins.” All a dead person can do is lay there and be dead, let alone try to be righteous before God.

No, our righteousness—and let’s be clear, we do have to be righteous to be acceptable to God—comes from Christ alone. You see, God sent his Son to die on the cross—hanging there as our sin—in order to pay the just punishment for sin that we deserved. That is our only hope, that Jesus became sin—our sin—and in so doing, he likewise became our righteousness. 2 Corinthians 5:21 says it well,

“God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.”

How dishonoring to God’s grace and Christ’s atonement when we therefore try to save ourselves by our acts of righteousness and our efforts at moral perfection. The sooner we realize that, the sooner we will, like Paul in Philippians 3:8-9,

“Consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them [our best efforts] rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ—the righteousness that comes from God and is by faith.”

It is only through the power of Christ’s resurrection and our death to self (Philippians 3:10-11) that our heart—the core of who we are, that which represents every fiber of our existence—will get transformed. And it is out of a transformed heart, and only that, that our tongue can confess Jesus is Lord.

Then, and only then, are we saved.

So relax about trying to be righteous and morally perfect! Jesus did it for you. God accepts Christ’s efforts on your behalf as good enough, so you don’t have to be good enough. All you have to do is accept it, believe it, and conform your life to it!

This week, read Romans 10:1-21, and then memorize Romans 10:9-10,

If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is by believing in your heart that you are made right with God, and it is by confessing with your mouth that you are saved.

Consider this: Why are these verses such a centerpiece to the Christian message? How does your own view of salvation line up with what Paul has written? Do you think your Christian friends have a good grasp on what it takes to be saved, and if not, how can you engage them in a spiritual conversation about this matter?

A Simple Prayer:

God, thank you for saving me. It was not because of anything I had done, nor was it because of my own worthiness. Simply out of your mercy and grace, you saved me through Christ’s sacrificial death and glorious resurrection. My salvation is completely on you, none of it is on my. I am grateful!.
Posted on

New Testament Christians and Keeping The Sabbath

Learn to Discern The Letter of the Law and the Spirit of the Law

Are New Testament believers required to keep the Old Testament law—either in part or in full? Christian maturity requires us to master the distinction between specific adherence to the law versus application of the general principles we can deduce from it. We must learn to distinguish between practice (the letter of the law) and principle (the spirit of the law)—and at all times, fulfill the highest law, the law of love.

The Journey // Focus: Exodus 31:12-14, 16-17

The Lord then gave these instructions to Moses: “Tell the people of Israel: ‘Be careful to keep my Sabbath day, for the Sabbath is a sign of the covenant between me and you from generation to generation. It is given so you may know that I am the Lord, who makes you holy. You must keep the Sabbath day, for it is a holy day for you. … The people of Israel must keep the Sabbath day by observing it from generation to generation. This is a covenant obligation for all time. It is a permanent sign of my covenant with the people of Israel. For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, but on the seventh day he stopped working and was refreshed.’”

Any sincere follower of Christ will eventually face the issue of what place the Old Testament law has in the life of a New Testament believer. And there are no easy answers. Those who legalistic apply the law in their faith, like Sabbath keeping or strictly observing Jewish feasts, have embraced an “easy answer” solution to this complex issue. I say that because obviously, they only apply certain aspects of that law, but not others. For instance, regarding Sabbath keeping, if you have read on in Exodus 31 you noted in verse 15 that anyone who “desecrates it must be put to death; anyone who works on that day will be cut off from the community.” Methinks there is some selective obedience to the law in the strict legalist camp!

Yet to completely ignore the commands God gave his people or limit them as only applicable to a small group of Hebrews for a limited time in history is to miss and diminish God’s heart that his law was to be as a perpetual sign of his covenant.

I think the most theologically healthy and honest approach would be simply to acknowledge the difficulty of this issue. Any easy explanation of the role of the law in a Christian’s life is probably incomplete at best; flat out misleading at worst. We also must admit that the Scriptures nowhere divide the Law into Moral, Judicial, and Sacrificial categories—which enables us to set aside most of them while electively embracing a few others. The truth is, they are one unit, and any divisions are extra-biblical. That doesn’t mean our divisions are necessarily wrong; they are simply man made ways of understanding the role of the law.

So when the apostle Paul says we are freed from the law, it speaks not to one part of the law but to all of it. Paul had no distinction of categories of law. Using the gold standard law of the Sabbath as an example, what the apostle set aside was “the strict observance” of it:

“So don’t let anyone condemn you for what you eat or drink, or for not celebrating certain holy days or new moon ceremonies or Sabbaths. For these rules are only shadows of the reality yet to come. And Christ himself is that reality. (Colossians 2:16-17)

In the same way, some think one day is more holy than another day, while others think every day is alike. You should each be fully convinced that whichever day you choose is acceptable. (Romans 14:5)

Interestingly, in Galatians 5:22-25, Paul specifically says that if you are led by the Holy Spirit, law keeping and law breaking is a non-issue.

But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against these things! Those who belong to Christ Jesus have nailed the passions and desires of their sinful nature to his cross and crucified them there. Since we are living by the Spirit, let us follow the Spirit’s leading in every part of our lives.

This is the heart of the matter for the New Testament believer’s posture toward the Old Testament law. In our example of the Sabbath, should we abide by it? I think Paul would say “no”, unless the Holy Spirit leads you to the observance of one specific day. Yet is there a Sabbath principle we must come to grips with? Absolutely. Here are some thoughts offered by Professor David Seemuth:

One does not violate a Sabbath principle and not be affected. Why? Not because there is a penalty associated with Sabbath breaking (that would be Old Covenant) but because built into the Sabbath principle is the preservation and nourishment of the believer. In fact, I think that is the primary issue. Any penalties for “law breaking” have been dealt with in Christ. But there are still principles of importance and preservation and nourishment for the believer contained in the Old Covenant. We don’t follow these because we “must” (as in “do this and live”) but because under the power of the Holy Spirit we are convinced of the Word given to us in Scripture.

So what do we do with the law? Again, there are no easy answers to this complex question. But Christian maturity requires us to master the distinction between specific adherence to the law versus application of the general principles we can deduce from it. Again, using our example, we must distinguish between the Sabbath day and the Sabbath principle.

We do not violate a Sabbath principle because there is a penalty associated with Sabbath day breaking—excommunication or execution—but because built into the Sabbath principle is the preservation and nourishment of the believer. As Professor Seemuth pointed out, penalties for “law breaking” have been dealt with in Christ. But there are still promises in the principle of the law for the believer contained in the Old Covenant that God intended perpetually for the good of our relationship with him as well as for the good of our physical, emotional, relational lives.

We don’t follow these because we “must” but because under the power of the Holy Spirit we are convinced that they are essential to the fulfillment of a law higher than the law of Moses, and that is the law of Christ, which is the law of love.

And when we fulfill that law of love, against such, there is no other law!

Going Deeper: I admit that this is a complex subject, and one that I am sure will evoke disagreement, but I simply ask you to think about the thrust of my thoughts: strict adherence to the law versus the application of the principle of the law. And here is my question for you: are there any areas where you are ignoring the spirit or the intent of the law that as a result, is restraining God’s benevolent intent in you life, such as in the regular observance of the principle of a Sabbath?