Obeying the Gospel

TURNING FROM THE POWER OF SATAN TO GOD (NOVEMBER 6)

View on Website -- https://wordpoints.com/turning-from-power-of-satan-to-god-november-6/

". . . to open their eyes, so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me" (Acts 26:18).

PAUL WAS AN APOSTLE AND WE ARE NOT, BUT THE MISSION ASSIGNED TO HIM IS ONE WE CAN LEARN FROM. He was given the task of taking the gospel to the Gentiles, and in the text above, God was telling Paul what the purpose of his preaching would be. We, no less than Paul, need to understand the purpose of the gospel. Indeed, there is nothing more important for us to understand.

TO OPEN THEIR EYES. The gospel provides the solution to our worst problem, the remedy to our worst illness. But in order to help us, the first thing the gospel has to do is open our eyes to the truth about our situation. We must see our need for the gospel.

SO THAT THEY MAY TURN FROM DARKNESS TO LIGHT AND FROM THE POWER OF SATAN TO GOD. If our problem is sin, and if God is offering forgiveness, what we need to do is turn around. In denial of the truth about God, we’ve been going in the wrong direction. We’ve submitted ourselves to the power of Satan. That can change — and God will forgive us — but not without a real conversion (or “turning”) to Him.

THAT THEY MAY RECEIVE FORGIVENESS OF SINS AND A PLACE AMONG THOSE WHO ARE SANCTIFIED BY FAITH IN ME. Here are the two things that result from the gospel. First, the forgiveness of sins. This is why Jesus died, and it is what the gospel is about. Second, those forgiven have “a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me.” This is what is unique about those who are faithful to Jesus Christ. They still struggle, as all do, but they have a hope based on “the righteousness from God that depends on faith” (Philippians 3:9).

All of this is a wonderful plan, of course, but it requires life’s most serious choice and its greatest love. For those living under the deadly power of Satan, no moderate remedy will do. Jesus Christ can save us, but we must turn to Him decisively. In sin, we took our hearts away from our God and Father. We must give them back. For after all, there are only two alternatives, only two possible “fathers” waiting for us in eternity. We must choose between them.

"There is no heaven with a little of hell in it -- no plan to retain this or that of the devil in our hearts or our pockets. Out Satan must go, every hair and feather!" (George MacDonald).

Gary Henry - WordPoints.com + AreYouaChristian.com

For more information, visit http://AreYouaChristian.com

TESTING EVERYTHING BY THE SCRIPTURES (NOVEMBER 5)

View on Website -- https://wordpoints.com/testing-everything-by-scriptures-november-5/

"Now these Jews were more noble than those in Thessalonica; they received the word with all eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so" (Acts 17:11).

THE PROPHETS IN ISRAEL HAD PREDICTED THE COMING OF A MESSIAH. This Messiah or Christ (literally, “Anointed One”) would reign over a kingdom superior to any of the kingdoms of mankind (Daniel 2:44). But Jesus of Nazareth was not the only individual in the first century (or even later) to claim to be the Messiah. Messianic pretenders were a dime a dozen, as we might say. So how could a person know? How could one be sure?

When Paul came as a former Jewish rabbi and spoke in the synagogue at Berea, he proclaimed that Jesus of Nazareth was the Messiah, the very One who had been predicted in the Jewish Scriptures. Paul was an eyewitness that Jesus had been resurrected (Acts 9:1-9), and Paul could perform miracles to verify his claims (2 Corinthians 12:12). But to their credit, the Berean Jews knew that the ultimate test of Jesus’ messiahship was scriptural in nature: if this Jesus truly was the person the Hebrew prophets had spoken of, then everything about Jesus would interlock with what had been said about the Messiah in the prophecies themselves.

So listening respectfully to Paul’s claims, they were “examining the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so.” In the final analysis, that is the test every religious teaching has to pass. Does this teaching match up with what God is known to have revealed in the past? God does not contradict Himself, and any new revelation has to be consistent with what we know God has already said. (The shocking story in 1 Kings 13 makes this point very dramatically.)

Fortunately, there is an abundance of Jewish Scripture against which Jesus can be measured (Psalm 16 & 22; Isaiah 53; Micah 5:2; etc.) — and there is no detail of Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection that does not match up. For His part, Jesus was willing to be tested against the Scriptures, and He even upbraided those who had not done this. “O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken! Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things and enter into his glory?” (Luke 24:25,26).

"In the Old Testament the new lies hidden, in the New Testament the old is laid open" (Augustine of Hippo).

Gary Henry - WordPoints.com + AreYouaChristian.com

For more information, visit http://AreYouaChristian.com

CHOOSE LIFE! (NOVEMBER 4)

View on Website -- https://wordpoints.com/choose-life-november-4/

"I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and curse. Therefore choose life, that you and your offspring may live, loving the Lord your God, obeying his voice and holding fast to him" (Deuteronomy 30:19,20).

WE ARE ABLE TO CHOOSE OUR DESTINY. If the alternatives are obedience to God (which leads ultimately to life) and disobedience (which leads to death), it is possible to “choose life,” as Moses urged Israel to do. And God, who gave us the power to choose, is always hoping that life is the choice we will make. As He instructed Ezekiel, “Say to them, As I live, declares the Lord God, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live; turn back, turn back from your evil ways, for why will you die, O house of Israel?” (Ezekiel 33:11).

When we come to the New Testament, we hear Jesus exhorting people to make the same choice: to reject death and choose life. But since the road to life requires sacrifice, many people — indeed, most people — turn away from it, preferring instead a course of less resistance. “Enter by the narrow gate,” He said, “for the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few” (Matthew 7:13,14).

Even in the little decisions of daily life, the power of choice is amazing. But those who know its power know that choosing is more than simply having a preference — it requires action. And certainly with regard to God, we haven’t “chosen life” if we’re not doing the kinds of things Moses commanded Israel to do in Deuteronomy 30: “loving the Lord your God, obeying His voice and holding fast to him” (v.20). Choosing life is not a passive experience.

I have lived for threescore and ten years in this world, and among the things I am most sure of is this: when you come down to the end, the thing that will break your heart will not be the choices you made; it will be the choices you didn’t make. And if we spend eternity away from God, never having chosen to accept His forgiveness in Christ, the worst part of it will be knowing that we didn’t have to end up this way. We could have chosen life.

"When you have to make a choice and don't make it, that is in itself a choice" (William James).

Gary Henry - WordPoints.com + AreYouaChristian.com

For more information, visit http://AreYouaChristian.com

HENCEFORTH (NOVEMBER 3)

View on Website -- https://wordpoints.com/henceforth-november-3/

"I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Henceforth there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will award to me on that day, and not only to me but also to all who have loved his appearing" (2 Timothy 4:7,8).

A CURIOUS THING HAPPENS AS THE YEARS GO BY AND WE GROW OLDER IN CHRIST. Toward life’s end, we grow weary; the body deteriorates and the toll taken by the struggles of life can no longer be ignored. But at the same time, we become more excited and enthusiastic. The thought that we’re getting close to the goal for which we’ve always lived fills us with a zest that simply can’t be experienced any earlier in life. With each passing day, Paul’s words become ever more real to us: “Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day” (2 Corinthians 4:16).

Paul was getting close to the end of his life when he wrote the words we find in 2 Timothy 4:7,8. Meditate with me on the phrases in this text. They tell us much about what life in Christ is about.

FOUGHT THE GOOD FIGHT. Our adversary, Satan, will make our path to heaven as hard as he can make it. He cannot separate us from God against our will (John 10:28,29; 16:33), but Jesus Himself said that the way would be hard (Matthew 7:14). In this world, there happens to be a war going on, and we need to be able to say, as we come to the end of life, that we have fought the good fight.

FINISHED THE RACE. If life is a war, it’s also a race. Unless we die when we’re young, it will be a long race, one in which we’ll often be tempted to give up and quit running. Lately, I have found myself saying almost every day, “Feet, don’t fail me now.”

KEPT THE FAITH. Of all the things Paul could have said, this is the grandest. To be able to utter these words as we come down to the end is, in a sense, the principal goal in life. To say that we have “kept the faith” does not mean that we never betrayed the Lord. It means that when we saw that we had betrayed Him, we sought His forgiveness, got back on our feet, and kept striving forward.

“Henceforth,” Paul wrote, “there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness.” It is only the rugged who will receive this crown, those who have fought and run and been tested in the fire.

"The devil tempts that he may ruin; God tests that he may crown" (Ambrose).

Gary Henry - WordPoints.com + AreYouaChristian.com

For more information, visit http://AreYouaChristian.com

SELF MUST BE CRUCIFIED (NOVEMBER 2)

View on Website -- https://wordpoints.com/self-must-be-crucified-november-2/

"Then Jesus told his disciples, 'If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it'" (Matthew 16:24,25).

FOR JESUS, THE JOY WAS ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE CROSS. The “joy that was set before him” could only be His after He “endured the cross” (Hebrews 12:2). If we wish to follow Jesus, what will we do? We want the joy He now has with the Father, but will we follow Him to the cross? “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.”

There have been some of the Lord’s disciples who have died by crucifixion as Jesus did. Peter seems to have suffered such a death (John 21:18,19). But that is not what the Lord was talking about when He said we must “take up our cross.” Regardless of what happens to our physical bodies, there is something else about us that must die. There is something that must be “denied.”

“If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself.” For all of us (at least those old enough to have committed sin), it is “self” that must be crucified. Paul said of his own conversion, “I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me” (Galatians 2:20).

God created us for the joy of living inside the limits of His love. He never wanted anything for us but “life.” Yet we rebelled. We threw off His restraints. And what we found was not greater life, but “death” in all of its many forms. So this “self” — this stubborn, greedy demand to grasp what is “ours” — is what got us into trouble. If we’re to be saved, it will have to be gotten rid of.

If we’re not willing to put our self-will to death, we make a tragic and foolish mistake. Jesus said, “Whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.” It is life’s ultimate irony that we only get what we’ve given up.

It sounds like a good thing to be “resurrected,” doesn’t it? But there is some dying that has to be done before a resurrection can take place. If there is anything other than God that we can’t or won’t give up, then the devil has our heart. “Give it up,” Jesus says. “Hold on to it, and you will die. But die, and you will live.”

"Without sacrifice there is no resurrection" (André Gide).

Gary Henry - WordPoints.com + AreYouaChristian.com

For more information, visit http://AreYouaChristian.com

AFTER BAPTISM, WHAT’S DIFFERENT? (NOVEMBER 1)

View on Website -- https://wordpoints.com/after-baptism-whats-different-november-1/

". . . but declared first to those in Damascus, then in Jerusalem and throughout all the region of Judea, and also to the Gentiles, that they should repent and turn to God, performing deeds in keeping with their repentance" (Acts 26:20).

IN THIS TEXT, PAUL GIVES US A SUMMARY OF THE MESSAGE GOD SENT HIM TO PREACH. To one and all, he preached that “they should repent and turn to God, performing deeds in keeping with their repentance.” This preaching called for a change much deeper than simply changing one’s “religious affiliation.” If the only thing that is different after we’ve been baptized is that we “now go to the right church,” it may be that we’ve still got some changing to do.

ATTENDING A DIFFERENT CHURCH. Some have the idea that heaven is simply the reward given by God to those who have identified the right religious group to be a part of. For them, baptism means little more than the doorway between the wrong church and the right church. On this point, let us be clear: unscriptural religious affiliations will jeopardize our souls. But there is more to the gospel — and to salvation — than getting into the right church.

BECOMING A DIFFERENT PERSON. In the text above, Paul said that he called on hearers to “turn to God.” This is the heart of the gospel: turning to God. If we have been religious people and have been affiliated with a group whose doctrines and practices are out of sync with the Scriptures, that will need to be corrected. But those things are symptoms of the problem. The problem the gospel addresses is that our hearts have been taking a disobedient, self-willed stance with regard to God, not just in our religious affiliation but in everything else. The gospel, therefore, calls on us to turn to God, seeking the gracious forgiveness He offers and committing ourselves to a completely new life in Him. This new life will come from an admission that the problem with our previous life was not merely the church we were attending; the problem was us. So yes, the matter of “church” will need to be addressed, but the deeper (and much harder) issue is whether we’re ready to die to what we used to be and learn to be a person with a very different kind of heart. Without this kind of turning to God, baptism is an empty act.

"Conversion is a deep work -- a heart work. It goes throughout the man, throughout the mind, throughout the members, throughout the entire life" (Joseph Alleine).

Gary Henry - WordPoints.com + AreYouaChristian.com

For more information, visit http://AreYouaChristian.com

EVERY DEED WILL BE TESTED (OCTOBER 31)

View on Website -- https://wordpoints.com/every-deed-tested-october-31/

"For God will bring every deed into judgment, with every secret thing, whether good or evil" (Ecclesiastes 12:14).

THE LAST VERSE IN ECCLESIASTES GIVES US THE REASON WHY WE SHOULD FEAR GOD AND KEEP HIS COMMANDMENTS. Reverence and obedience must define the way we live because “God will bring every deed into judgment.” All that we do is going to be tested, not by the trial of any human evaluation, but by the judgment of God Himself. Not wanting to deal with it, we may pretend this testing won’t come, but we will be tried by it nevertheless.

It is not just some of our deeds, but “every deed” that will be brought into judgment by God. Even “every secret thing” will be judged by Him. “No creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account” (Hebrews 4:13). This truth should jolt us. We may present to other human beings only what we want them to know, but God knows even the most secret contents of our hearts.

Our deeds will be judged “whether good or evil.” Just as we may temporarily deny God’s judgment itself, we may also deny the existence of objective right and wrong, but our denial doesn’t make it go away (any more than closing the blinds makes the sun go away). There is an eternal, unalterable difference between good and evil, and it has its origin in God’s own character.

Because He is our Creator, God has a right to bring us into judgment. Having given us life and a free will, He will hold us accountable for the use of our freedom of choice between good and evil. Think of it in terms of “stewardship.” Having been entrusted with great gifts, we will answer for our faithfulness in using them. Surely it is the right of the Giver to conduct such a reckoning.

At the final judgment, and even before, we won’t be able to hide from that which Thomas Merton called “the implacable light of judgment.” Apart from the forgiveness of God, which is what the gospel of Christ is about, none of us has any hope at the judgment. But if we won’t face reality, not even the gospel can help us.

"What we need is not a false peace which enables us to evade the implacable light of judgment, but the grace courageously to accept the bitter truth that is revealed to us; to abandon our inertia, our egotism and submit entirely to the demands of the Spirit" (Thomas Merton).

Gary Henry - WordPoints.com + AreYouaChristian.com

For more information, visit http://AreYouaChristian.com

IN A WORLD OF FUTILITY, HOW SHOULD WE LIVE? (OCTOBER 30)

View on Website -- https://wordpoints.com/world-futility-how-live-october-30/

"The end of the matter; all has been heard. Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man" (Ecclesiastes 12:13).

IN ECCLESIASTES, WE ARE CONFRONTED WITH OUR POWERLESSNESS. Neither the human race collectively nor any of us individually can ever be sure that performing actions “A” and “B” will lead to “C” in this life. It might, but it might not. But if what we do can’t be counted on to give us the life we want, what difference does it make how we live? Let’s summarize the advice given in Ecclesiastes, and then pay special attention to the conclusion.

DO THE BEST THAT WE KNOW TO DO. Wisdom is no guarantee of success, but that doesn’t mean it’s worthless — wisdom will give our plans their best chance of succeeding (11:1-6), and only a fool would disregard wisdom. Even at our wisest, however, we humbly recognize that we’re not in complete control. God may overrule even the best of our projects, based on His greater wisdom.

ENJOY EACH DAY’S HAPPINESS. Rather than basing our happiness on our (very weak) ability to make the future turn out the way we want, Ecclesiastes recommends that we simply enjoy today’s pleasures for their own sake (3:12,13,22). As far as earthly joys are concerned, God means for us to enjoy them and then let them go.

FEAR GOD AND KEEP HIS COMMANDMENTS. After advising us to act wisely and relish the joys of daily living, Ecclesiastes ends with a profound conclusion: no matter what happens, we should fear God and stay within the boundaries of His laws. Doing this is “the whole duty of man” (12:13). The meaning of this statement is aptly rendered in the CEV paraphrase, “This is what life is all about.”

The key to human conduct, therefore, lies not in figuring out what will produce this or that result tomorrow — it lies in the fear of God and obedience to what He has commanded. By frustrating our ability to create the future we want in this world, even by the means of religious activity (7:15), God is calling us back to the main thing that was lost in Eden: simple, unconditional reverence.

We must adjust our minds to the doing of what is right because it is right, and not because it will turn earthly events in our direction. The sooner we give up our “comprehend and control” approach to life, the sooner we’ll be ready to hear the gospel.

"Duty is ours and events are God's" (Angelina Grimké).

Gary Henry - WordPoints.com + AreYouaChristian.com

For more information, visit http://AreYouaChristian.com

THERE ARE THOSE WHO PERVERT GOD'S GRACE (OCTOBER 29)

View on Website -- https://wordpoints.com/pervert-gods-grace-october-29/

"For certain people have crept in unnoticed who long ago were designated for this condemnation, ungodly people, who pervert the grace of our God into sensuality and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ" (Jude 4).

THERE WAS AN URGENT PROBLEM AMONG THE CHRISTIANS TO WHOM JUDE WROTE. Having urged them to “contend for the faith” (v.3), in v.4 Jude gave the reason why such a defense of the faith was necessary: it was because “certain people have crept in unnoticed . . . who pervert the grace of our God.” These were teachers who, based on their view of God’s grace, minimized the seriousness of immoral behavior among Christians.

Sadly, the problem faced by Jude and his fellow Christians has not disappeared from the earth. Today, as then, there are those who present God’s grace in such a way that it becomes a license to sin. Advocating what they say is a more advanced spirituality, these teachers promise freedom from the simple dos and don’ts of “legalism.” But Peter, like Jude, saw this teaching for what it was: a perversion of the gospel, based on a lie. “For, speaking loud boasts of folly, they entice by sensual passions of the flesh those who are barely escaping from those who live in error. They promise them freedom, but they themselves are slaves of corruption. For whatever overcomes a person, to that he is enslaved” (2 Peter 2:18,19).

It is indeed sad that false versions of the gospel have to be dealt with, but they do. When the truth is twisted and people are being influenced, the only responsible thing is to “contend for the faith.” The little letter of Jude is a strong dose of medicine, but Jude was not alone. Peter (2 Peter 2:1-3), Paul (2 Timothy 3:13,14), and John (1 John 2:18,19) were no less concerned.

When we obey the gospel of Christ, we commit ourselves to walking “in newness of life” (Romans 6:3,4), and this eliminates the very idea of continuing to live in sin (Romans 6:1,2). Granted, as Christians we will continue to fall short and our only hope of salvation is in God’s forgiveness. But forgiveness requires godly sorrow and repentance. In the absence of “a broken and contrite heart” (Psalm 51:17), grace offers no freedom to continue in sin.

"Grace abounds only when there is genuine repentance and we cannot simultaneously will sin and repentance since this involves a contradiction in terms" (Dorothy L. Sayers).

Gary Henry - WordPoints.com + AreYouaChristian.com

For more information, visit http://AreYouaChristian.com

THE FAITH IS WORTH CONTENDING FOR (OCTOBER 28)

View on Website -- https://wordpoints.com/faith-worth-contending-for-october-28/

"Beloved, although I was very eager to write to you about our common salvation, I found it necessary to write appealing to you to contend for the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints" (Jude 3).

JUDE MAKES TWO POINTS ABOUT THE GOSPEL, EACH OF WHICH OUGHT TO IMPRESS US. First, he calls it “the faith.” And second, he says that it was “once for all delivered to the saints.” The faith is not an ever-evolving system of belief, supplemented in each generation by continuing revelation from God. Instead, it is a body of teaching completely and definitively revealed to the apostles in their generation, just as Christ said it would be (John 14:26; 16:12,13). Having been delivered, it stands complete — once for all.

Although he wanted to write about the salvation he and his brethren were blessed to enjoy, Jude says he found it necessary to urge them to “contend for the faith.” They were being assailed by teachers promoting a false gospel, and the content of this teaching needed to be contradicted in no uncertain terms.

“Contending” can be an ungodly activity, but it is not necessarily so. Paul urged Timothy to avoid the ugly side of controversy: “And the Lord’s servant must not be quarrelsome but kind to everyone, able to teach, patiently enduring evil, correcting his opponents with gentleness” (2 Timothy 2:24,25). Nevertheless, the faith must be contended for. Paul himself “had no small dissension and debate” (Acts 15:1,2) with the false teachers who came to Antioch.

Here is a bold affirmation, but one I believe needs to be made: the gospel is not only true, but it can be rationally and objectively known to be true. It is not something that should be swallowed naively; in fact, it requires careful evaluation. But if the message of Christ is true, it is by far the most important truth in the world — and it is worthy of being defended. Just as surely as the gospel is preached, there will be those who corrupt it. When they speak up, those who know the Scriptures must speak up also.

Seek the truth
Listen to the truth
Teach the truth
Love the truth
Abide by the truth
And defend the truth
To the death.
(John Huss)

Gary Henry - WordPoints.com + AreYouaChristian.com

For more information, visit http://AreYouaChristian.com