Obeying the Gospel

IS IT POSSIBLE TO "DRIFT" AWAY FROM CHRIST? (AUGUST 18)

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"Therefore we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, lest we drift away from it. For since the message declared by angels proved to be reliable, and every transgression or disobedience received a just retribution, how shall we escape if we neglect such a great salvation?" (Hebrews 2:1-3).

IN CHRIST, WE ARE SECURE IN HIS LOVE AND PROTECTION, BUT OUR VERY GRATITUDE FOR GOD’S GRACE CAUSES US TO BE ALL THE MORE CAREFUL TO MAINTAIN OUR SALVATION. After affirming that God’s “divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness,” Peter wrote, “Therefore, brothers, be all the more diligent to confirm your calling and election, for if you practice these qualities you will never fall” (2 Peter 1:3-11). Both of these points of emphasis are needed. Each makes the other more meaningful.

But think carefully. After obeying the gospel, we may cease being faithful to Christ and end up being rejected by Him. But under what circumstances might that happen? Is it only open defiance and rebellion that would cause Christ to turn away from us?

Most of us would say we’re “doing our best” and any problems we have are only those of “weakness.” So if we believe that a deliberate, premeditated choice to leave Christ is the only way we can be lost, most of us will overestimate our security (Revelation 3:17).

But even a quick look at the Scriptures shows that there are other ways we might turn away from Christ, short of outright rebellion. One is the problem of “drift.” As Hebrews 2:1-3 warns, we will lose our salvation if we “neglect” it. The writer hoped his readers would not be “sluggish, but imitators of those who through faith and patience inherit the promises” (Hebrews 6:12). Since the way is hard (Matthew 7:14), sluggishness can be deadly.

In Christ’s letters to the churches of Asia, there were warnings against a lack of love (Revelation 2:4,5), doctrinal error (2:14-16), lukewarmness (3:16), etc. If they didn’t repent, these Christians were going to be disowned by Christ. Today, we need the same message of caution. Rebellion is a temptation for all of us, no doubt, but it is not the only way we may depart from Christ. In a dangerous world, our confidence needs to be balanced with carefulness — so don’t let the devil tell you that “drift” won’t ever be a problem for you.

"The condition upon which God hath given liberty to man is eternal vigilance" (John Philpot Curran).

Gary Henry - WordPoints.com + AreYouaChristian.com

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REVERENCE VS. PICK AND CHOOSE (AUGUST 17)

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"But if you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law but a judge" (James 4:11).

CONFRONTED BY GOD’S LAW, THERE IS A CHOICE WE MUST MAKE BETWEEN TWO ATTITUDES. Will we submit to it (and be “under” the law) or will we pick and choose which commandments to obey (and be “above” the law)? Most people obey God’s law occasionally, if and when it suits them, but very few are willing to make an unconditional commitment to obedience and submit to the Father with a simple “not my will, but yours, be done” (Luke 22:42).

Those of us who live in the United States are heirs to several historical traditions, and we are often influenced by these even in our attitude toward God’s law. First, we are heirs of the democratic tradition, which today has morphed into the egalitarian idea that hierarchies (and their requirement of submission) are never anything more than a necessary evil. Rulers only rule with the consent of the governed, and only the people have the right to say what the laws are going to be. Second, we are heirs of the Enlightenment, in which human reason became the test of all knowledge. And third, we have inherited the theory of capitalism, with its modern concept of consumerism, in which the customer is always right and the market makes its money by giving him what he wants.

Having breathed this atmosphere all our lives, it is hard for any of us to come to the Scriptures with a completely submissive attitude. Trained by egalitarianism, we are suspicious of the very idea of authority, and as children of the Enlightenment, we view human reason as the final judge of what is true and good. As capitalistic consumers, we simply shop the religious “marketplace” for doctrines, duties, and worship styles that please us. If there are any that don’t, we pass them by just as conveniently as we would pass by a product at Trader Joe’s that didn’t fit our lifestyle.

These days, “reverence” has come to be a meaningless word. The idea that God is the sovereign Ruler of the universe — and that He has the right to govern everything about us — is hard for us to swallow. But we must rise above our culture. If God is indeed our Creator, we are not free to sit in judgment on His laws. The truth must be embraced and acted upon. Not just some of it, but all of it.

"If you believe what you like in the gospel, and reject what you don’t like, it is not the gospel you believe, but yourself" (Augustine of Hippo).

Gary Henry - WordPoints.com + AreYouaChristian.com

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

THE ESSENTIAL TRUTH ABOUT GOD'S SON (AUGUST 16)

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"Everyone who goes on ahead and does not abide in the teaching of Christ, does not have God. Whoever abides in the teaching has both the Father and the Son" (2 John 9).

THE GNOSTICS IN THE FIRST CENTURY, WHO DENIED THAT JESUS WAS GOD IN THE FLESH, PRESENTED THEIR TEACHING AS BEING MORE ADVANCED. But John was emphatic: if we leave the teaching of Christ, we do not go forward; we go backward. In fact, we separate ourselves from God. As John worded it, we do “not have God.”

The “teaching of Christ” is a teaching we must “abide in” if we hope to be saved from our sins. And whatever else the teaching of Christ may include, it certainly includes the fact that He was God in the flesh. This was the principal point of dispute between the Gnostics and the apostles of Christ. The apostles were the authoritative bearers of Christ’s teaching (John 14:25,26; 15:26,27; 16:12-15), and as one of those apostles, John did not back down. Either we adhere to the teaching of Christ and His apostles concerning the miracle of His Incarnation or we have departed from God.

If there is one constant in human history it is that human beings always make things more complex as time goes along. So with regard to the gospel, it should be no surprise that very soon after it began to be preached, it began to be corrupted by those who wanted to make it more advanced — supplementing it with layers of increased complexity and making it more appealing to those who would be turned off by its original message. In this world, nothing stays in its original condition for very long. The tendency to “go beyond” seems almost irresistible. But to return to our point, John, along with all of the apostles, warned that to go beyond the teaching of Christ is not to improve the gospel; it is to degrade it.

“Everyone who goes on ahead and does not abide in the teaching of Christ, does not have God.” That is one of the starkest warnings in the Scriptures. Elsewhere, John wrote, “If we reject the Son, we reject the Father” (1 John 2:23 CEV). But on the other side of this warning is a hope that is the very heart of the gospel. If we have Christ, and hold on to the truth about Him, then God is not only His Father but ours as well. It is amazing what doors truth opens.

Whoever stumbles upon Christ (who is a granite stone)
Lies shattered; but grasp him and be led securely home.
(Angelus Silesius)

Gary Henry - WordPoints.com + AreYouaChristian.com

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

WHAT IF WE DENY THE INCARNATION? (AUGUST 15)

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"For many deceivers have gone out into the world, those who do not confess the coming of Jesus Christ in the flesh. Such a one is the deceiver and the antichrist" (2 John 7).

WE CANNOT ACCEPT THE GOSPEL WITHOUT EMBRACING WHAT JESUS TAUGHT ABOUT HIS BEING GOD. This may go against the modern mindset, in which there is no proposition that is not negotiable, but when it comes to the salvation of our souls, the truth about Jesus Christ is necessary. There are some facts such that if we leave them out, what we have left is not the gospel of Christ.

When John wrote, probably toward the end of the first century, what would later be called Gnosticism was beginning to influence Christians. Central to this teaching was a denial of the Incarnation: God actually taking upon Himself human form in the person of Jesus (John 1:14; 5:18; 10:30; 14:7-9; 19:7). To deny this, John says, is to be a “deceiver.” That is a strong term, obviously, and John does not use it lightly. There may have been some who were sincere in their denial that Jesus was God in the flesh, but sincere or not, the effect of such teaching is always the same. If Jesus was (and is) the Son of God, to deny that fact is to be deceived — and to teach such a denial to others is to deceive people concerning the way of salvation. The consequences of doing that are frightening indeed.

It is interesting how John describes this denial. He says it is a failure to “confess” the coming of Jesus Christ in the flesh. Here, then, is a truth that must be acknowledged — at whatever cost. It is not an optional truth; it is what it is, and our choice is simply whether to confess it or not. If we deny it, it still remains true.

It would be impossible to overestimate the importance of believing in the Incarnation. The entire gospel depends on it. God could not have died an atoning death for our sins if He had not become a human being who was capable of being killed. So to leave this out of our “gospel” is to drain the gospel of its main meaning.

Admittedly, the idea of the Incarnation is unpopular today. It is viewed as anachronistic and unsophisticated. As were people in the first century, we might easily be drawn to a more philosophical rendition of the gospel. But an idea is not false simply because its appearance seems ungainly. Appearances can be misleading.

"The handsomest flower is not always the sweetest" (Old Adage).

Gary Henry - WordPoints.com + AreYouaChristian.com

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WHICH SINS DO WE PREACH AGAINST THE MOST? (AUGUST 14)

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"For all that is in the world -- the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life -- is not from the Father but is from the world" (1 John 2:16).

SOME SINS OPENLY FLY THE FLAG OF CORRUPTION AND REBELLION, WHILE OTHERS DO THEIR DAMAGE MORE PRIVATELY. Sins like pride and greed, for example, are every bit as destructive as sexual immorality (if not more so), but those of us who preach don’t preach against them nearly as often. We ought to ponder why this is so.

Sins come in all shapes and sizes. They are all equal in that they will separate us from God, and that fact should make us treat every sin, even the “least” of them, as a deadly serious matter. But in other ways, sins may be different. Some are oriented toward God while others are more in the direction of other people. Some we confine to our hearts while others erupt into outward action. Some have greater temporal consequences attached to them than others.

Admit it or not, all of us prioritize sins. If you’re a parent, there are some sins you would be more greatly concerned about if you saw them beginning to take root in your children’s lives. Such a prioritization of sins can hardly be avoided, I think. My concern is not that we view some sins as more serious — it’s that we get our priorities from the popular culture. Our “righteous indignation” is determined not by the scale of values in the Scriptures but by the ever-changing dictums of social stigma, political correctness, and modern psychology. So the problem is not that we have a list but that our ranking of the most dangerous sins didn’t come from Jesus.

Looking into our own hearts, what do we see? Whatever mistakes we might make in our concern for others, we certainly don’t want to underestimate the danger of the sins that beset us personally. So what would alarm you most if you took an honest look inside and saw different kinds of sin in your heart?

In heaven there will be no marriage and in hell, no fornication. But in heaven there certainly will be love and in hell, hatred. Even now, hatred will take you closer to hell than fornication will. Sexual sin is an abomination and it will damn your soul, but if things like pride, anger, and selfishness are in your heart, you are already farther down the road to hell than if lasciviousness was your only problem.

"The sins of the bedroom are not the only ones. The sins of the boardroom should be just as much a matter of concern" (Richard Harries).

Gary Henry - WordPoints.com + AreYouaChristian.com

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

GOD’S WRATH IS A PART OF HIS CHARACTER (AUGUST 13)

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"Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God" (Romans 5:9).

HAVING BEEN JUSTIFIED BY CHRIST’S BLOOD IN THE PRESENT, WE SHALL BE SAVED FROM THE WRATH OF GOD IN THE FUTURE. It’s true that salvation in Christ is a present reality (Ephesians 2:8), but Paul is speaking  in Romans 5:9 of a future event: our being spared from the judgment that is coming upon the world. In 2 Thessalonians 1:7-9, Paul wrote of the time when Christ will be “revealed from heaven with his mighty angels in flaming fire, inflicting vengeance on those who do not know God and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. They will suffer the punishment of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his might.” Until that time, we wait “for [God’s] Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, Jesus who delivers us from the wrath to come” (1 Thessalonians 1:10).

Paul is clear in Romans 5:9 that it is “by him [Jesus Christ]” that we shall be saved. In Christ, we are assured of being protected from the wrath that will be poured out on the rebellious and disobedient. But even in Christ, we must not fail to take God’s wrath seriously. There are none among us who don’t need to be warned.

It is a mistake to think of God’s wrath as something that needs to be apologized for — and it is hazardous to hurry past the many Scriptures that speak of this. The devil would love for us to forget the foundational truth that Solomon learned the hard way: “Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man. For God will bring every deed into judgment, with every secret thing, whether good or evil” (Ecclesiastes 12:13,14).

Let us remember, then, that wrath is a part of God’s character. If He treated evil as a trifle to be overlooked, God would not be the perfectly good God the Scriptures reveal Him to be. I would even suggest that God’s wrath is a part of His love. Very likely, it is nothing more than our immature concept of love that sees a conflict between the punishment of evil and the blessing of righteousness.

"God is love, not, God is loving. God and love are synonymous. Love is not an attribute of God, it IS God; whatever God is, love is. If your conception of love does not agree with justice and judgment and purity and holiness, then your idea of love is wrong" (Oswald Chambers).

Gary Henry - WordPoints.com + AreYouaChristian.com

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THE VALUE OF THE GOSPEL IS IN THE RESURRECTION (AUGUST 12)

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"If in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied" (1 Corinthians 15:19).

IT’S AN AGE-OLD QUESTION WHETHER THE MAIN PURPOSE OF THE GOSPEL HAS TO DO WITH THIS LIFE OR THE LIFE TO COME. In our age, the emphasis is so lopsided in favor of the here and now, one hardly ever hears from the pulpit about eternity, and there are many who say that if the gospel gives us a happier life right now, the question of the afterlife doesn’t really matter that much. Paul tackled this issue in 1 Corinthians 15, and he maintained, with all the other apostles, that the resurrection of Christ, and consequently our own resurrection, is the heart of the gospel. Leave out the preaching of the resurrection, and whatever it is that you have left, it is not the gospel of Jesus Christ. And Paul didn’t duck the implications of this. If it turns out that there is no resurrection, Christians are pathetic to have believed such a lie. “If in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied.”

Make no mistake: there are many earthly (or “temporal”) blessings that may accompany life in Christ. Yet none of these is guaranteed to every Christian. Some of us, for example, enjoy three meals a day, but many Christians, equally faithful to the Lord, do not. The fact is, the only blessing promised by Christ to all of His faithful people is reconciliation to God — leading to eternal fellowship with Him when our earthly tribulations have been left behind.

In this life, the Lord may deliver us from some of our earthly problems. He certainly is capable of doing so. But sometimes it is His wisdom to allow us to suffer hardship, as He did with Paul’s “thorn in the flesh” (2 Corinthians 12:7-10). When we are called upon to endure, we do so with the promise that He will help us.

So if we are Christians, our hopes should not be pinned on deliverance from earthly hardships. The value of the gospel does not lie in its power to remove the pains and difficulties of this life; its power is the promise of resurrection to eternal life when Christ returns (1 Peter 1:3-5,13). May God help us, against the spirit of our age, to put the emphasis where the apostles put it. May we not destroy Christianity in the process of making it “relevant.”

"Christianity is in its very essence a resurrection religion. The concept of resurrection lies at its heart. If you remove it, Christianity is destroyed" (John R. W. Stott).

Gary Henry - WordPoints.com + AreYouaChristian.com

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IF GOD COMMANDS IT, WE CAN BE COURAGEOUS (AUGUST 11)

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"Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go" (Joshua 1:9).

FACING THE FEARS THAT LAY AHEAD OF HIM, JOSHUA WAS TOLD TO BE “STRONG AND COURAGEOUS.” I can hardly read this text without thinking of my son Brock, whose favorite song as a child was “Dare to Stand Like Joshua.” And I suppose there are few admonitions in the Bible of more practical value than what God said to Joshua. “Be strong and courageous” is extremely good advice.

But today, what I want you to pay attention to is God’s question to Joshua. Just before telling him to take courage, God said, “Have I not commanded you?” This might mean that God was commanding Joshua to be courageous, but it might have another meaning as well. The situations in which Joshua would need courage were those that he would be in as a result of carrying out God’s commands. And I believe God was saying, “Joshua, as long as you are doing what I expect of you, you need not fear. I will always give you the help you need to do what I have commanded you to do.”

In one of his books, C. S. Lewis had an entire chapter called “Is Christianity Hard or Easy?” And in typical Lewis style, his answer was: it is both hard and easy, depending on how you look at it and how you go about it. But Lewis would have been the first to admit that even when it is approached in the right way, Christianity still requires some very hard things. There is no way around this fact, and ironically, we only make the Lord’s commands harder when we try to take the hardship out of them.

But if doing the Lord’s will is hard, so what? If He has commanded it, then we need to be brave. There is no such thing as a command of God that is doomed to fail due to a lack of resources. He is God, and He will help us do whatever He requires us to do.

So as you consider obeying the gospel, many of the what ifs will be frightful. I won’t insult you by saying that your path will be easy. But what I will do is share my own experience: if God commands it, it can be done. Our prayer is not for ease but for boldness.

I do not ask to walk smooth paths
Nor bear an easy load,
I pray for strength and fortitude
To climb the rock-strewn road.
(Gail Brook Burket)

Gary Henry - WordPoints.com + AreYouaChristian.com

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FAITH: WHAT END IS IT MEANT TO HAVE? (AUGUST 10)

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". . . obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls" (1 Peter 1:9).

FAITH IS A PRINCIPLE OF SUCH IMPORTANCE, WE MIGHT HOPE THAT EVERYBODY WOULD UNDERSTAND IT. But many people do not. And one of the most misunderstood things about it is what Peter here calls the “outcome” of faith. Before we go any further, surely we can see that this point is important. If we fail to grasp what the outcome of our faith is supposed to be, we are bound to have trouble.

In 1 Peter 1:9, the word translated as “outcome” by the ESV is telos, a common Greek noun which usually meant something like goal or purpose. The corresponding verb meant to set out for a particular destination or goal. Even in English, however, these words are very flexible and can have different connotations; within a single usage, they can carry more than one meaning at the same time.

When Peter wrote that the “salvation of your souls” is the telos of our faith, he may have meant that heaven is the end point of our journey. Our salvation will be the culmination of our earthly sojourn. Also, he may have meant that salvation is the consequence of our faith. For some other result to be produced, a person would have to do something besides follow Christ. And lastly, he may have meant that salvation is the meaning of our faith. When we say that history is “going somewhere,” we’re stating that it has a meaning and is not purposeless. Similarly, the faith of the Christian is not random or absurd; it will have a meaningful outcome.

But if you’ve read the New Testament, you know something else about heaven: it is the reason why people become Christians. At least, that is what life in Christ was about in the apostolic age. Its purpose or intended goal was not a better world in the here-and-now; it was, as Peter saw clearly, “the salvation of your souls.”

Stephen R. Covey said we should “begin with the end in mind.” And the New Testament leaves absolutely no doubt: the “end” we’re trying to get to is heaven. That’s the meaning of my life, and I hope it’s yours. Any other outcome will not have been worth the journey.

My life, as his,
slips through death's
mesh,
time's bars,
joins hands with heaven,
speaks with stars.
(Luci Shaw)

Gary Henry - WordPoints.com + AreYouaChristian.com

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

WHAT ABOUT THE 'CHURCHES OF CHRIST'? (AUGUST 9)

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"Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, To the saints who are in Ephesus, and are faithful in Christ Jesus" (Ephesians 1:1).

WE HAVE LOOKED AT THE IMPORTANCE OF THE “TOGETHER” PART OF CHRISTIANITY. Now let’s tackle another, more specific, question: if a new convert to Christ is searching for a faithful congregation (as we talked about yesterday), one that works together and worships God in the manner revealed in the New Testament, what about the groups that call themselves “churches of Christ”? Is it, more or less, among the “churches of Christ” that a person is most likely to find the individuals who are the people of the Lord?

First of all, if there is such a thing as the “churches of Christ” denomination (and unfortunately, there is), that is something I would steer you away from. The concept of denominational Christianity is foreign to the New Testament, and I share no more spiritual DNA with members of the “churches of Christ” denomination than I do with people in any other denomination (and in some cases less).

But, as you may know, I worship with a group that calls itself a “church of Christ,” so let me explain. When Paul said, “All the churches of Christ greet you” (Romans 16:16), he was merely saying that those churches belonged to Christ, which the CEV makes clear: “All of Christ’s churches greet you.” Any church that follows the Lord obediently is “of” Him, but how it identifies itself to the public is a question of expediency, as long as the identification is scriptural.

That said, I must be transparent. Of the congregations that I know of personally, many, if not most, of those that are faithfully following the Lord (at least in the United States) do wear the name “church of Christ,” not as a denominational label but as a generic descriptor. They just want to be congregations that are “of Christ.”

So yes, by all means investigate the “churches of Christ.” But when you visit, you’ll need to look deeper than the name and ask lots of questions. Sad to say, most of the “churches of Christ” departed from the gospel long ago. That designation expresses a noble idea, but a congregation is not “of Christ” just because it says it is. As at Sardis long ago, the Lord would say to some today, “You have the reputation of being alive, but you are dead” (Revelation 3:1).

"The people of God wear the name of Christ because they are His people; they are not His people because they wear His name" (Robert F. Turner).

Gary Henry - WordPoints.com + AreYouaChristian.com

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