Obeying the Gospel

SAVED FROM, SAVED FOR (JUNE 9)

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". . . 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).

THE QUESTION 'NOW WHAT?' IS ONE OF LIFE’S MOST IMPORTANT QUESTIONS. Unfortunately, many of us who have sought salvation from our sins do not understand what salvation is for. Like ancient Israel, we’ve been rescued from “Egypt,” but we don’t have a good grasp of the goal God had in mind when He set us free.

THE PAST. It is not a good situation if the Christian has “forgotten that he was cleansed from his former sins” (2 Peter 1:9). Now that we follow Christ, the dominant note in our lives should be gratitude: “thanks be to God, that you who were once slaves of sin have become obedient from the heart to the standard of teaching to which you were committed” (Romans 6:17). But we dare not define ourselves solely in terms of the things we don’t do anymore.

THE FUTURE. Nature abhors a vacuum, as they say, and the gospel was meant to do more than subtract the evil from our lives (Luke 11:24-26). The question is, why did God want certain things removed from our lives and what does He now want to put in their place? We are not what we used to be, but what comes next?

Having forgiven us, God wants us to “become partakers of the divine nature” (2 Peter 1:4). His plan is to repair the damage of sin (Peter described it as “corruption”) and transform us into people who think and act as creatures made in His image. In fact, He plans to makes us into people who have the same character as His Son, Jesus Christ. “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).

So a glorious destiny awaits us in Jesus Christ, and even now, we “are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another” (2 Corinthians 3:18). And it’s not just our character but also our conduct that is being renovated. “For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works” (Ephesians 2:10). So let’s be frank: are we participating in God’s plan . . . or not?

"We have been holding the letter of truth while at the same time we have been moving away from it in spirit because we have been preoccupied with what we are saved from rather than what we have been saved to" (A. W. Tozer).

Gary Henry - WordPoints.com + AreYouaChristian.com

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WHAT WE NEED TO BE SAVED FROM (JUNE 8)

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"For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false witness, slander" (Matthew 15:19).

THE CANCER THE GOSPEL WAS MEANT TO CURE IS MUCH MORE SERIOUS THAN MANY PEOPLE ARE WILLING TO ADMIT. If we want any help at all, it is usually just with our outward behavior or our external circumstances. But the gospel proposes to help us with our character — which in the Scriptures is often called our “heart.” It is our character that produces our conduct, and so the gospel works on the cause of the problem and not just its symptoms.

Sin is any transgression of the will of God, but sin may occur at different levels, some more basic than others. We may sin by doing things “on the surface” that are not right, but these sins are the symptoms of a deeper problem: our hearts are in rebellion against God. Looking back at Matthew 15:19, Jesus said that it’s “out of the heart” that evil thoughts and sinful deeds arise. That’s where the real problem lies, and that’s where we need the most help.

One of the most fascinating of the prophecies in the Hebrew Scriptures is Ezekiel 36:26,27, where God said, “I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules.” Jews in the first century who were looking for the coming of the kingdom of the Messiah could not have done better than to be longing for the new hearts the Messiah would make it possible for them to have.

One of the most important things in life is to take responsibility for our faults. In the gospel of Christ, we are asked to take responsibility at the deepest level. If we are to be saved from our sins, we must humbly acknowledge not just that we have done sinful deeds, but that we are sinful people. Whatever sins we have done outwardly, it is from our hearts that such deeds have come. We need to be saved not just from the penalty for our sins, but from the sinfulness of being the kind of people who would do such things to begin with. Recognizing this is the first step toward repentance.

"Christ's definition of sin penetrates far deeper than a list of sins on a membership card. It goes to our inner desire, motivations, and secret thoughts" (Erwin W. Lutzer).

Gary Henry - WordPoints.com + AreYouaChristian.com

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

FROM GOD, FOR OUR PROFIT (JUNE 7)

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"All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work" (2 Timothy 3:16,17).

MANY OF US, LIKE TIMOTHY, HAVE BEEN ACQUAINTED WITH THE SCRIPTURES SINCE WE WERE CHILDREN. But we, also like Timothy, need to be reminded of the extraordinary nature of these books that comprise the sacred writings. In 2 Timothy 3:16,17, Paul points to several fundamental facts about these documents.

SCRIPTURE. The Jews, and later the Christians, recognized a very special body of writings which they knew as “Scripture.” The word basically meant “writings,” but when referring to this unique collection, it meant writings that came from God. Of all the writings in the world, these are the most treasured and the most authoritative.

BREATHED OUT BY GOD. The uniqueness, and hence the authority, of the Scriptures derives from their having been “breathed out by God,” as Paul says. We do not know precisely the process through which this took place (indeed, the writer of Hebrews indicates, in 1:1,2, that it was not always in the same way), but the end result is clear: the books that can be called “Scripture” originated in the mind of God. In the words of Peter, “men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit” (2 Peter 1:21).

PROFITABLE. The Scriptures are not merely for our study; they are for our profit. God has revealed Himself for the purpose of our betterment. When mankind departed from God, one of the most tragic results of this alienation was the loss of the knowledge of God. But God reached across the gap and progressively reintroduced mankind to the truth about Himself. So the record in the Scriptures of this revelation is extremely profitable to us: “for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness.”

We are right to say that the Scriptures are unfathomable. That is not to say they are mysterious or impossible to understand, but simply that they are inexhaustible. No matter how many years we study, there is always more to learn — and more to profit from. Indeed, the inexhaustible nature of the Bible is one of the clues that it was not produced by merely human wisdom.

"God's Book is packed full of overwhelming riches; they are unsearchable -- the more we have the more there is to have" (Oswald Chambers).

Gary Henry - WordPoints.com + AreYouaChristian.com

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DELIVERED FROM THE POWER OF DEATH (JUNE 6)

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"Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood, he himself likewise partook of the same things, that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil, and deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery" (Hebrews 2:14,15).

WHEN JESUS ARRIVED AT BETHANY AFTER HIS FRIEND LAZARUS HAD DIED, HE FOUND MARY AND MARTHA GRIEVING THE LOSS OF THEIR BROTHER. To Martha, Jesus said, “Your brother will rise again” (John 11:23), and she replied, “I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day” (v.24). Then Jesus said these words to her: “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?” (vv.25,26).

It is a fundamental fact of the gospel that by dying Jesus enabled those who accept His salvation to have a whole new perspective on death. To be able to die, He had to take upon Himself human flesh (John 1:14), but as the Hebrew writer points out in 2:14,15, by sharing in our “flesh and blood” and then dying for us, He took away from Satan the power of death and delivered “all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery.”

We shall all have to die physically, of course, unless we happen to be alive when Christ returns. That is because when Adam and Eve were expelled from Eden, they and their progeny were barred from the Tree of Life — the physical immortality that would have come from eating of that tree was forfeited (Genesis 3:22-24).

But in Christ, the fear of death has been broken. The assurance of our own resurrection makes all the difference. In short, it is hope — the anticipation of what is beyond death — that “gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Corinthians 15:57).

But actually, what Jesus did was better than just giving us a new perspective on death: on the other side of death, He opened the door to a life much better than what we call “life” right now. I expect heaven will be even better than what Adam and Eve had in the Garden of Eden. Although it seems ironic that Christ gave us this life by dying, that is the good news. He died that we “might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life” (Titus 3:7).

"Jesus audaciously abolished death, transforming it from a door that slammed to, into one that opened to whoever knocked" (Malcolm Muggeridge).

Gary Henry - WordPoints.com + AreYouaChristian.com

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

JESUS' FINAL INSTRUCTIONS TO HIS APOSTLES (JUNE 5)

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"And Jesus came and said to them, 'All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age'" (Matthew 28:18-20).

JESUS’ FINAL INSTRUCTIONS TO HIS APOSTLES SHOULD BE OF MORE THAN PASSING INTEREST. If we wanted to know how Jesus viewed His own mission, we would need to look at the entire body of His teaching, of course, but His last words would be pertinent in a special way. What were the marching orders He gave to those whom He had selected to carry forward His work in the world?

“Disciple” is not a word we use much today, but it is a crucial word. The basic meaning is “pupil” or “learner,” but the extended meaning involves something deeper. A disciple is not merely under the instruction of a teacher; he or she is a follower of that person, one who emulates the life and character of the teacher. And that is what Jesus sought: not just students but disciples. His command to “make disciples” was a charge to proclaim the gospel to all who would listen and then to baptize those who sought the forgiveness of their sins. But while baptism was essential (there could be no discipleship without having “died with Christ”), baptism was just the beginning. Now forgiven and restored to God’s fellowship — and with the hope of heaven in their hearts — those baptized were to be taught “to observe all that I have commanded you.”

So the mission assigned to the apostles was disciple-making, and that could only be done through evangelism, the proclamation of the gospel itself. Whatever the apostles might have thought was more relevant, Jesus’ command never changed: make disciples. 

We need to keep coming back to the central concern of Jesus. Yes, He helped people physically and emotionally, but His greater concern was always with their spiritual needs. “For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul?” (Matthew 16:26). If we follow Jesus, our concern must be for the eternal welfare of people’s souls. So let’s not lose our focus. By God’s grace, let’s do what Jesus told His apostles: teach people how they can be with God when their broken lives in this world are done.

"The church has many tasks but only one mission" (Arthur Preston).

Gary Henry - WordPoints.com + AreYouaChristian.com

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

THE INCARNATE WORD (JUNE 3)

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"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God . . . And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth" (John 1:1,2,14).

THE INCARNATION (GOD TAKING UPON HIMSELF HUMAN FLESH) IS THE HEART OF THE GOSPEL. It is, as C. S. Lewis put it, the “Grand Miracle” that makes all the other miracles, including the Resurrection, meaningful. It is very important to understand this.

Out of all our problems, there is only one that required God to become flesh: the problem of sin. To fix that problem God had to die in our place, and to do that He had to become a man capable of being killed. In the words of John Donne, “God clothed himself in vile man’s flesh so he might be weak enough to suffer.”

Toward the end of the first century, there began to be those who denied the Incarnation. Influenced by the attitudes of Gnosticism, some began to suggest that Jesus was not really God in the flesh. They denied that “the Word became flesh and dwelt among us,” offering what purported to be a more advanced gospel. Sadly, this revision of the gospel is still extremely popular.

If the Incarnation is not true, however, then the gospel of Christ is just another religious philosophy. Take away the Incarnation, and what you have left is something that is antithetical to (“against”) Christ and His gospel. John saw this error for the perversion that it is: “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 1:7).

It would be nice if our worst problem was nothing worse than poverty, disease, injustice, or emotional distress. God could have alleviated those kinds of hardship without the Incarnation. But there was a deeper sickness that required a more drastic solution, and we can be thankful He was willing to do what had to be done.

The gospel is about the forgiveness of our sins — and our need for forgiveness is why God had to become a man and die. May we not water the message down. The Incarnation is astonishing and hard to believe, but it is not optional. If it was not God who died on the cross, the gospel may be an interesting story, but it cannot save us.

"If we waver on the Incarnation we cease to be Christian" (Zach Kincaid).

Gary Henry - WordPoints.com + AreYouaChristian.com

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SALVATION IS NOT EARNED, BUT IT MAY BE FORFEITED (JUNE 2)

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"Therefore we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, lest we drift away from it" (Hebrews 2:1).

NONE OF THE INHABITANTS OF HEAVEN WILL DESERVE TO BE THERE. Having sinned, we deserve to be punished, and if mere justice were allowed to run its course, we would all be lost. But the wonder of the gospel is that in Jesus Christ we may hope to receive what we do not deserve to receive: forgiveness. By His grace God has made it possible for us to be restored to His fellowship — and to enjoy eternity with Him in a perfect relationship.

But sometimes we leave the wrong impression. When we are emphasizing our undeservedness and the graciousness of God’s forgiveness, we lead people to believe that salvation has nothing to do with our conduct. But, in fact, it has very much to do with our conduct, and I want to mention one way in which that is true.

When we obey the initial terms of the gospel and come into a forgiven relationship with God, God begins at that point to renovate our character and make our hearts those which will be in perfect tune with His heart in eternity. We are required to participate in this process of character rehabilitation. It calls for choice and decision on our part, not to mention diligence and sacrifice.

If we don’t enter into this process of spiritual growth (or if having entered into it in the past, we’ve quit growing in the present), we begin to decline. On nearly every page of the New Testament, we see warnings about this (Acts 20:31; 2 Peter 3:14,17; etc.). There is no question that those to whom these warnings were written were actually Christians. They were “in Christ” and saved by His grace. But in many cases, they were in danger of forfeiting their salvation by complacency, neglect, and apostasy.

To the church in Ephesus, for example, the Lord communicated this warning: “You have abandoned the love you had at first. Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent, and do the works you did at first. If not, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place, unless you repent” (Revelation 2:4,5). The fact is, we are never in greater danger than when we — presuming upon God’s grace — think we don’t need to be warned.

"The safest road to hell is the gradual one — the gentle slope, soft underfoot, without sudden turnings, without milestones, without signposts" (C. S. Lewis).

Gary Henry - WordPoints.com + AreYouaChristian.com

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THE TEMPTING LURE OF “SELF-REALIZATION” (JUNE 1)

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"So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate" (Genesis 3:6).

CREATED TO GROW AND DEVELOP WITHIN THE BOUNDARIES OF GOD’S WILL, THE HUMAN RACE HAS NOT BEEN CONTENT. Deceived, we have proceeded on the assumption that the really good life is outside of those boundaries. When Eve, and then Adam, disobeyed God, they did so because they had lost confidence in God’s goodness. Satan had suggested that God’s restrictions were unfair, and that, in fact, God was being selfish in keeping them from the knowledge they desired. They were seduced by Satan’s lie when he said, in effect, “Seize what is yours. Take what you have a right to enjoy. Break the rules and be your true self.”

Well, we are not fully developed, that much is true. But if we believe there is some true “self” we were meant to be, and “realizing” that dream requires disobeying God, then we have bought into the very same lie that destroyed Adam and Eve. God created us with great potential (we hardly have enough imagination to comprehend it), but fully becoming all that is possible for us requires staying inside the Creator’s will. Despite what the devil may say, at the end of the road of disobedience there is nothing but death.

The fact is, we are not our own. Created by God, we belong to Him. We exist for His purposes. Any declaration of independence on our part is an act of rebellion, all the more serious because it is an abuse of the freedom we were given. God wanted us to use this freedom to obey Him — not as robots but as loving children — but we have chosen to pursue our own path, in defiance of His will. How sad it must be to our Father that not only do we not see our sin, but we glory in it. We think we’re building heaven on earth. We’re the masters of our destiny, and we’re “fulfilling our human potential.”

But if we don’t turn around, we are going to spend eternity in a place where, without any more interference from God, we will be completely “free to be ourselves.” And it will be our little “self” (now fully “realized” and “actualized”) that will make hell, hell.

"The sin that shocks God is the thing which is highly esteemed among men -- self-realization, pride, my right to myself" (Oswald Chambers).

Gary Henry - WordPoints.com + AreYouaChristian.com

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WHEN THE OLD SELF IS CRUCIFIED (MAY 31)

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"We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin" (Romans 6:6).

CHRIST DIED BY CRUCIFIXION, AND WHAT HAPPENS WHEN WE ARE CONVERTED IS COMPARABLE TO HIS MANNER OF DEATH. We are, so to speak, crucified with him. And the thing that is put to death is our “old self,” as Paul describes it. The “body of sin” is killed, resulting in the situation that we are no longer “enslaved to sin.”

Baptism should be seen as a unique link in this chain of events. Because it takes place by an act of immersion, it aptly represents a burial. In baptism, our “old self” dies and is buried, and our “new self” comes to life (Colossians 2:12). “We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death,” Paul wrote, “in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life” (Romans 6:4).

Think about the physical circumstances when a person was crucified. Fastened to a cross, the person being executed could not move, not even to twist around and look behind him. Similarly, when we are crucified with Christ, we look ahead to our lives in Him — our crucifixion does not allow us to look at anything else.

Obviously, Roman crucifixion was fatal. On the cross, a person could not decide to reverse his course of life. To be crucified is to be set on a path that goes in only one direction. Just so, our death with Christ is the most decisive turning point of our lives.

But finally, and most importantly, death by Roman crucifixion robbed a person of anything that could be called his own. He was stripped of his clothes, nailed to a cross, and deprived of whatever plans he may have had for his life before that moment. In an even deeper sense, our being crucified with Christ means that we die to our previous lives, including the self-will with which we used to talk about “our” lives. With Paul, we can say, “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).

"There are three marks of one who is crucified. One, he is facing in only one direction. Two, he can never turn back. And three, he no longer has any plans of his own" (A. W. Tozer).

Gary Henry - WordPoints.com + AreYouaChristian.com

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WHO ARE THE “PEOPLE OF GOD”? (MAY 30)

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"For if Joshua had given them rest, God would not have spoken of another day later on. So then, there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God" (Hebrews 4:8,9).

THE “PEOPLE OF GOD” IS A PHRASE FAMILIAR TO US IN THE SCRIPTURES, BUT WHO ARE THE INDIVIDUALS TO WHOM THE EXPRESSION APPLIES? In the widest sense, these words apply to every person whom God ever created. But in the Scriptures, the phrase often refers to a subset of the human race: a group with a special relationship due to having been redeemed and rescued by God.

At the time when the Law of Moses was in effect, the tribes of Israel were God’s people in a unique sense. They were the physical family through whom God was going to bring the Messiah, or Christ, into the world. That mission having been accomplished, however, and the special role of Israel having been laid aside (Hebrews 8:1-13), who are the ones today who are the “people of God”? It is those who obey the gospel of Christ. The nation of Israel, in fact, pointed forward to this greater Israel, a spiritual people belonging to God (1 Peter 2:9,10). If you want to know whether you are among these “people of God,” ask yourself these questions:

(1) HAVE I BEEN RECONCILED TO GOD — ON HIS TERMS? God’s people are His forgiven ones, having died to sin in baptism (Romans 6:3-5).

(2) DO I OFFER TO GOD WHAT HE IS SEEKING FROM HIS CREATURES? God has always looked for those who would love Him with all their hearts and live accordingly (Deuteronomy 10:12,13; Micah 6:8).

(3) DO I LIVE ON THE BASIS OF FAITH IN GOD? I am not one of God’s people if my life doesn’t show that I trust Him — taking risks to do things His way. “The righteous shall live by faith” (Romans 1:17).

It is only the people of God who can look forward to the eternal rest that He has promised. For Israel, Canaan was the land in which they hoped to rest, but as Hebrews 4:8,9 points out, God spoke even then of a greater rest awaiting His people. “For if Joshua had given them rest, God would not have spoken of another day later on. So then, there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God.” May God hasten the day when all His foes have been vanquished and He reigns over all His faithful people forever.

Come, Thou almighty King, help us Thy name to sing, help us to praise!
Father all-glorious, o’er all victorious,
Come and reign over us, Ancient of Days.
(Charles Wesley)

Gary Henry - WordPoints.com + AreYouaChristian.com

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