Obeying the Gospel

LONGING TO PUT ON OUR HEAVENLY DWELLING (SEPTEMBER 25)

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"For we know that if the tent that is our earthly home is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. For in this tent we groan, longing to put on our heavenly dwelling" (2 Corinthians 5:1,2).

HEAVEN IS A TOPIC THE CHRISTIAN FINDS IT IMPOSSIBLE TO BE INDIFFERENT ABOUT. If he accepts the account of the gospel given in the New Testament, it is a subject he is intensely interested in, because he realizes that eternity with God is what the gospel is primarily about. It’s the reason he became a Christian in the first place, and without that hope, the gospel is a cruel fraud.

Paul spoke of our physical bodies as a “tent” or “tabernacle,” which is a temporary dwelling. And knowing (as we all do in our more honest moments) that this life is hard and heartbreaking, he said, “In this tent we groan, longing to put on our heavenly dwelling.” He looked forward to eternity with a longing that he described as “groaning.” Paul had more than a mild interest in heaven.

Just a few verses later, he said that “while we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord” (v.6). While Paul was obviously willing to stay in this world and work as an evangelist as long as the Lord wanted him to, he did not hesitate to say what his preference was: “Yes, we are of good courage, and we would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord” (v.8). As he put it in his letter to the Philippians, “My desire is to depart and be with Christ, for that is far better” (Philippians 1:23).

For one thing, our lives in this world wear us out. We grow weary. If we’re as busy as we ought to be, we become “exhausted” in the sense of being “drained” or “depleted.” So one reason the Christian looks forward to heaven so longingly is that it is the rest God has prepared for His people. In the visions which John recorded in Revelation, he said, “And I heard a voice from heaven saying, ‘Write this: Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on.’ ‘Blessed indeed,’ says the Spirit, ‘that they may rest from their labors, for their deeds follow them!’” (Revelation 14:13).

Until we “put on our heavenly dwelling,” however, we press toward the goal (Philippians 3:14). God helped Israel through the wilderness, and He will help us also. If the journey is hard, that will just make our home all the sweeter when we get there.

"The Promised Land always lies on the other side of a wilderness" (Havelock Ellis).

Gary Henry - WordPoints.com + AreYouaChristian.com

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ETERNAL GLORY (SEPTEMBER 24)

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"Therefore I endure everything for the sake of the elect, that they also may obtain the salvation that is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory" (2 Timothy 2:10).

BY THE TIME PAUL WROTE HIS SECOND LETTER TO TIMOTHY, HE HAD SUFFERED A GREAT DEAL OVER A PERIOD OF MANY YEARS. And why had he done so? In the text above, he said that his labor had been motivated by a desire to see others “obtain the salvation that is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory.” The glory that awaits, of course, is glorious just because it is God’s glory. In a similar passage in Romans 5:1,2, Paul had said, “Since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God.”

Contrary to what we often hear today, this “eternal glory” is what the gospel of Christ is primarily about. Yes, those who have this hope in Christ will do all they can to alleviate suffering in the world, but if we downplay — or leave out altogether — the main point of the gospel, we have not shown true love to our neighbor. On this battlefield we call “life,” people do have many needs, and it’s sometimes hard to know what kind of help to render first. But God’s glory is far and away the most important need that anyone has. More attention needs to be paid to the greatness of that need.

The “eternal glory” of which Paul spoke is worth more than anything else we will ever have the privilege of enjoying. That is not to say the joys of this world are trivial, for they are very good. But since we lack in this world the main thing we were created for — full, complete, perfect fellowship with our Creator — any of the joys available to us right now must be classified as lesser joys. Even if we could have them all, they wouldn’t come close to the one thing waiting for the faithful when Christ returns: eternal glory. Paul was not wrong to spend his lifetime working so others might have that. And we are not fools if we can say, as he did, “Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 3:13,14).

"I would not give one moment of heaven for all the joys and riches of the world, even if it lasted for thousands and thousands of years" (Martin Luther).

Gary Henry - WordPoints.com + AreYouaChristian.com

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INDIVIDUALLY . . . AND TOGETHER (SEPTEMBER 23)

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"And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts, praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved" (Acts 2:46,47).

THE LAST SECTION OF ACTS 2 INDICATES HOW IMPORTANT THE COLLECTIVE ASPECT OF THE GOSPEL WAS TO THE EARLIEST CHRISTIANS IN JERUSALEM. Their “together” activities were not the sum total of their lives in Christ; nevertheless, they entered into this part of the gospel with great engagement and enthusiasm.

Today, religiosity has been cut off from spirituality. Disillusioned by “organized religion,” many wish to be spiritual but not religious. In practical terms, this means they do not “go to church,” preferring to have a relationship with God that is strictly private. Yet in the New Testament, in texts like Acts 2:41-47, we see Christians giving heed to both parts of the faith. To be blunt, we can’t be Christians without doing what they did, which they did under the direction of the apostles.

There is something else that must be said, and I fear to say it, but I believe I must. If we resist the idea of “church” because it is so frustrating and messy, that is probably an indication of how much we stand in need of it. Yes, it certainly would be easier not to have to adjust ourselves to other people, submit to them, and work out the inevitable conflicts that arise. But that is precisely the point. If there is one thing the gospel wants to do, it is to teach us humility — and the local congregation is a big part of what the Lord has designed for that purpose. There are many things about C. S. Lewis that I disagree with, but I have always appreciated the honesty with which he saw that he needed to “go to church.” So if you find the “people” part of Christianity a turnoff, I invite you to contemplate the quotation below. Then look in the mirror and ask yourself why the spiritual-but-not-religious approach is so appealing to you. While you’re doing that, I’ll go look in my mirror too.

"When I first became a Christian . . . I thought that I could do it on my own, by retiring to my rooms and reading theology, and I wouldn’t go to the churches and gospel halls . . . But as I went on I saw the great merit of it. I came up against different people of quite different outlooks and different education, and then gradually my conceit just began peeling off. I realized that the hymns (which were just sixth-rate music) were, nevertheless, being sung with devotion and benefit by an old saint in elastic-side boots in the opposite pew, and then you realize that you aren’t fit to clean those boots" (C. S. Lewis).

Gary Henry - WordPoints.com + AreYouaChristian.com

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OBEYING THE GOSPEL MEANS TRUSTING IN CHRIST (SEPTEMBER 22)

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". . . that we who first trusted in Christ should be to the praise of His glory. In Him you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise" (Ephesians 1:12,13 NKJV).

IN THE NEW TESTAMENT, THE ACT OF BECOMING A CHRISTIAN IS DESCRIBED IN SEVERAL WAYS, EACH OF THEM INSTRUCTIVE. One of these is “trusting (or hoping) in Christ.” In the NKJV, Paul spoke of the Jews as those “who first trusted in Christ,” and then he said that Gentiles in places like Ephesus had “also trusted.” For today’s meditation, let’s think about what it means to trust in Christ.

If you compare several translations of v.12, you will notice that many render the verb not as “trusted” but as “hoped.” But while the literal meaning of the Greek verb is to “hope before” or to “be the first to hope,” the ideas of hope and trust are so intertwined that “trusted in Christ” is not a bad translation.

Faith, trust, and hope all have to do with intangible (“unseen”) realities, usually because these are in the future. Based on evidence, we believe that certain things are true and that certain things are going to happen. Belief engenders trust, and trust is the thing that makes hope possible. Faith is, as the Hebrew writer described it, ”the assurance of things hoped for” (Hebrews 11:1).

There is no better example of faith than Abraham. “Under utterly hopeless circumstances he hopefully believed . . . being absolutely certain that whatever promise [God] is bound by He is able also to make good” (Romans 4:18-21 Weymouth). So today, when we obey the gospel we trust in Christ. Believing God’s promise of salvation, we stake our lives on the reality of the promise.

If you’re like me, you may have found that trusting Christ is an ongoing work. Yes, we know that Christ has proven His trustworthiness. And yes, when we were baptized we made a commitment to trust Him. But life wears us down, and our trust runs low. So we have to go back, remember the foundations of our faith, and remake our commitment to trust Him. As life unfolds, our decision to trust has to be repeated frequently and fervently. That’s not a lack of faith — it’s how serious commitments always work.

"Relying on God has to begin all over again every day as if nothing had yet been done" (C. S. Lewis).

Gary Henry - WordPoints.com + AreYouaChristian.com

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NO OTHER NAME BY WHICH WE MUST BE SAVED (SEPTEMBER 21)

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"And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved" (Acts 4:12).

JESUS WAS BORN WHILE AUGUSTUS CAESAR WAS RULER OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE. Augustus was seventy-six when he died in AD 14 on the afternoon of August 19. Far away in the provincial hinterlands that afternoon, Jesus of Nazareth would have been about eighteen or nineteen. Augustus was succeeded by his stepson Tiberias, who was on the throne later when Jesus, then about thirty-three years old, was sentenced by the Roman governor Pontius Pilate to die by crucifixion just outside the city of Jerusalem.

The era of Augustus and Tiberias (and for quite some time afterward) was an age of boiling religious ferment, a time when many people throughout the empire were wondering about the “salvation of the soul.” Wherever you went, there were orators, teachers, scholars, professors, philosophers, prophets, priests, rabbis, miracle workers, magicians — and even many “messiahs” — who claimed to teach how death could be defeated and eternal life obtained. Every one of them was right, and all the others wrong — or so they claimed — and many of them had devoted disciples.

Into this mix came Jesus, a nobody whose only credential was a rural pedigree from despised Galilee. He claimed, like many others, to teach the only way to salvation, but even His message of being sent by God to die for mankind and then be resurrected, thereby procuring salvation, was a narrative familiar in Greco-Roman mythology. Hearing Jesus, a cynic would have said, “Oh no! Not another dying-and-rising-savior cult. The last thing we need is one more guru claiming to teach the ‘only way’ to eternal life.”

In those days, there were many savior gods in whose “name” salvation was offered, based on their alleged resurrection. Yet Jesus’ resurrection was the only one backed up by multiple eyewitnesses — people who would never have submitted to brutal martyrdom if they knew their story was not true. The apostles, when threatened, never backed down: the gospel is true and “there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.” Others may help with lesser troubles, but they knew only Christ can get us to heaven.

"A person may go to heaven without health, without riches, without honors, without learning, without friends; but he can never go there without Christ" (John Dyer).

Gary Henry - WordPoints.com + AreYouaChristian.com

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KEEP YOURSELVES IN THE LOVE OF GOD (SEPTEMBER 20)

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"But you, beloved, building yourselves up in your most holy faith and praying in the Holy Spirit, keep yourselves in the love of God, waiting for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ that leads to eternal life" (Jude 20,21).

LIVING IN A HARD WORLD, THERE ARE SOME DECISIONS THAT HAVE TO BE MADE. If we have obeyed the gospel of Christ, we must decide to grow strong enough to meet life’s challenges. It is good that we have started the journey, but we need to be doing what Jude recommended: “building yourselves up in your most holy faith.” The apostle Peter wrote that it is by the addition of certain strong virtues to our faith that “there will be richly provided for you an entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ” (2 Peter 1:5-11), and he said that we must “grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ” (2 Peter 3:18).

KEEP YOURSELVES IN THE LOVE OF GOD. There is a sense in which God’s power must keep us (1 Peter 1:5), but there is also a sense in which we must keep ourselves (2 Peter 1:10). Paul’s advice to young Timothy was this: “Keep a close watch on yourself and on the teaching. Persist in this, for by so doing you will save both yourself and your hearers” (1 Timothy 4:16). It is, above all, in the love of God that we must keep ourselves — determining not to leave its shelter or the commands that flow from it (1 John 2:4-6).

WAITING FOR THE MERCY OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST THAT LEADS TO ETERNAL LIFE. As we keep ourselves in the love of God, one thing is always uppermost in our minds: Christ is coming back. Even though the Christian stays busy helping others in the here and now and sharing with them the gospel of salvation, it is not wrong to say that the Christian’s life is one of waiting. And John says, “Everyone who thus hopes in him purifies himself as he is pure” (1 John 3:3).

Life will always have its ups and downs. Although we know God’s purposes will surely be accomplished in the end, what will happen to us between now and then has not been revealed. But regardless of what happens, there is one thing we can always do: we can determine that we will be faithful. We can keep ourselves in the love of God. That is the decision we can — and must — make. And it is not just a one-time decision. It must be made continually.

"God has not called me to be successful; he has called me to be faithful" (Teresa of Calcutta).

Gary Henry - WordPoints.com + AreYouaChristian.com

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WHAT "CHRISTLIKENESS" MEANS (SEPTEMBER 19)

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"For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers" (Romans 8:29).

SOMETIMES WE SET OUR SIGHTS TOO LOW. Even in our relationship to God (which we say is the highest of all pursuits in life) we settle for far less than what is really offered to us in Jesus Christ.

For example, think about our concept of “Christlikeness.” When we think of “Christianity,” too often we think only of how it can make us nicer people. What we need, however, is not merely forgiveness but transformation — at the deepest level, from the inside out. The gospel recognizes this, and to become “Christlike” is not merely to become more well-behaved. It is to have imparted to us a new order of existence in which we become nothing less than “sons of God.” Before you underestimate what Christ intends to do to you if you obey the gospel, ponder texts like these:

(1) “And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another” (2 Corinthians 3:18).

(2) “By which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire” (2 Peter 1:4).

(3) “Just as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we shall also bear the image of the man of heaven” (1 Corinthians 15:49).

If we’re honest, we have to admit that we need what these texts are talking about. It is not just our behavior that needs improving. We ourselves — our deepest thoughts and motives — need fixing. So Christ came into the world to bring an entirely new kind of life. If we are in Christ, a life that is “eternal” is being created within us, and one day it will reach its perfection. “You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect” (Matthew 5:48).

Of all the errors we might make with regard to the gospel, the worst would be misunderstanding what its purpose is. The miracle of the Incarnation is that in Jesus a new kind of life has broken into this world. Are we ready for what this kind of life means?

"Salvation means the incoming into human nature of the great characteristics that belong to God" (Oswald Chambers).

Gary Henry - WordPoints.com + AreYouaChristian.com

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FREEDOM FROM SLAVERY TO SIN (SEPTEMBER 18)

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"Jesus answered them, 'Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who practices sin is a slave to sin. The slave does not remain in the house forever; the son remains forever. So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed'" (John 8:34-36).

WE STRUGGLE TO BE FREE FROM SIN — NOT JUST IN ONE WAY BUT IN TWO. In addition to the penalty of sin (eternal death), we also need deliverance from the practice of sin in our lives. The old hymn “Rock of Ages” prayerfully expresses these two things we need from Christ: “Be of sin the double cure, save from wrath and make me pure.” The second is no less important than the first.

We should not be under any delusion about the seriousness of the sins we have committed. Sin is a good deal more than a slight inconvenience or an unhealthy habit — it ties us in bondage to a death-dealing slavemaster from whom we are helpless to deliver ourselves. As Paul reminds us, “Christ died for us at a time when we were helpless and sinful” (Rom 5:6 BBE). Jesus was not exaggerating when He said, “Everyone who practices sin is a slave to sin.” When we are thinking soberly, we see that no one else is capable of enslaving us more terribly than we have enslaved ourselves.

Concerning those who advocated the “freedom” of a licentious lifestyle for Christians, Peter said, “They promise them freedom, but they themselves are slaves of corruption. For whatever overcomes a person, to that he is enslaved” (2 Peter 2:19). Beginning in the Garden of Eden, that has always been Satan’s lie. Promising freedom, he delivers slavery. Such is the nature of sin.

And there is no middle ground. If we’re not in a right relationship with God, we are the slaves of sin. “Do you not know that if you present yourselves to anyone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience, which leads to righteousness?” (Romans 6:16). Deciding which path we’ll take is life’s most consequential decision.

All sin comes down to pride and self-will, of course, and so deliverance from sin is deliverance from the bondage of selfishness. Having demanded to do as we please, we’ve sold ourselves into slavery. And as painful as it is, there is no better day than when we have the honesty to say, with Paul, “Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?” (Romans 7:24).

"He is a slave of the greatest slave who serves nothing but himself" (Anonymous).

Gary Henry - WordPoints.com + AreYouaChristian.com

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RESCUING ALL THREE PARTS OF THE HUMAN MIND (SEPTEMBER 17)

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"I will give them a heart to know that I am the Lord, and they shall be my people and I will be their God, for they shall return to me with their whole heart" (Jeremiah 24:7).

ONE WAY OF LOOKING AT WHAT GOD WANTS TO DO WITH US IN JESUS CHRIST IS TO THINK ABOUT ALL THREE PARTS OF OUR “HEART” BEING REHABILITATED. Sin starts on the inside and works its way outward; so if the problem of sinful behavior is going to be corrected, the thing that most needs to change is inside of us.

Our minds are complicated and not easily described, but for our meditation today, let’s say that our thinking falls into three categories: intellect, emotion, and will. To be redeemed from sin, all three of these must be rescued, not just one or two of them.

INTELLECT. With our intellect, we process information: we learn, analyze, and store “facts.” But obviously, much of the “information” in our minds is incorrect, and that information, if we act on it, will produce behavior that is dysfunctional and destructive. Biblically speaking, untruth on the inside produces sinful behavior on the outside. So the first thing the gospel must do is establish truth in the intellectual part of our minds (John 8:32; Acts 26:18).

EMOTION. As important as our intellect is, our emotions (or feelings) also play a critical role. Since our feelings grow out of our thinking (if I believe a burglar is in my basement, feelings appropriate to that thought will be generated automatically), it is critical that our thinking be based on truth. However, since our actions will mostly be determined by our feelings, we need to make sure our feelings are appropriate to the realities we’re dealing with.

WILL. Our will is our decision-making ability, and freedom of the will means we can choose our actions individually. Here, then, is where the gospel of Christ makes the greatest difference. The disastrous conflict between our will and God’s will needs to be removed.

Putting all of this together, we see an amazing plan. In Christ, we can make better decisions because our feelings are more appropriate, and we can do that because our thoughts are more truthful. In bringing us back to God, the gospel leaves no stone unturned.

"Three things are necessary for the salvation of man: to know what he ought to believe; to know what he ought to desire; and to know what he ought to do" (Thomas Aquinas).

Gary Henry - WordPoints.com + AreYouaChristian.com

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IN CHRIST, WHAT ARE WE SAVED FROM? (SEPTEMBER 16)

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"For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people" (Titus 2:11).

WHEN WE’RE HONEST, WE SEE THAT OUR SINS AGAINST GOD HAVE PUT US IN A DESPERATE SITUATION. In our most private moments, we all have known the agony of Paul’s cry, “Who will rescue me from this body of death?” (Romans 7:24 NRSV). Surely, we need not only to be saved, but we need a Savior.

But if you and I made a list of all the things we’d like to be saved from, it would be a long list, would it not? There is much about our lives in this world that we find disappointing, disagreeable, and difficult. What is it, then, that we desire to be saved (i.e., delivered or rescued) from? When we come to Jesus Christ, what is the help we’re seeking more than any other kind of help?

ETERNAL CONDEMNATION. Even if there could be no relief in this world from all the things that have gone wrong, we would surely long to be with our God in eternity rather than be banished from Him. So heaven is the highest and most important promise of the gospel. This, above all, is what we should be seeking from Christ.

OUR DISOBEDIENT ACTIONS. The gospel involves not only forgiveness but reformation, and it should be this deliverance from our sinful habits and weaknesses that we long for. It is not enough to be protected from the punishment for sin; we need to be saved from the practice of sin. This desire for obedience should move us deeply.

OUR WAYWARD HEARTS. Since our actions flow from our hearts, it is our hearts that are the main problem. Whatever outward sources of difficulty may disturb us, we should be more concerned about the darkness that is still in our own thoughts and motives. We ought to long fervently for the hearts that can be ours in heaven.

The thread running through every mention of the gospel in the New Testament is the idea of a unity being restored that was broken by sin. Sin has broken apart everything that was meant to be together, but through Christ all is being brought back into harmony. Our disintegration — our broken-to-pieces-hood — is being healed. In Christ, our hope is for eternal health and wholeness.

"The terms for salvation in many languages are derived from roots like salvus, saos, whole, heil, which all designate health, the opposite of disintegration and disruption. Salvation is healing in the ultimate sense; it is final, cosmic, and individual healing" (Paul Tillich).

Gary Henry - WordPoints.com + AreYouaChristian.com

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