REFLECTIONS

Written by Stephen Shead

For our last two devotions in our series on growing in holiness, we’re going to take a step back to see the big picture again. But at the same time, we’ll think back over the practical topics we’ve covered. Here’s a list of the areas of practical living we considered. Choose the one that stands out as the area where you most need to grow in holiness:

• Money, greed, and generosity

• Lying and keeping your word

• Submitting to authorities

• Anger and forgiveness

• Sexual purity and contentment

• Stealing and honesty

• Slander, gossip, and gracious words

• Coveting and contentment with what God has given you

As you think about those, let’s turn to Colossians 3:1-4. These verses give us such a clear and simple perspective on life as a follower of Jesus. This is the perspective on life that will help us to persevere and grow in holy living.

1 Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. 2 Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. 3 For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. 4 When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory. (Colossians 3:1-4)

If you have turned to Jesus as your saviour and Lord, the most important thing is not what’s happening in your life here and now. It’s your past, present, and future with Jesus. I find it helpful to visualise it as “back, up, forward”:

1. When you look back, you remember that Jesus died and rose to deliver you from sin and devote you to God.

2. When you look up, you remember that your true life is safe with Jesus. He has secured an eternal inheritance for you, safely guarded in heaven.

3. When you look forward, you remember what you are eagerly waiting for: the return of Jesus in glory. When that happens, you will be raised to life and joy with him, and the only “you” left will be the new you, remade to be like Jesus.

So Paul encourages to fix both our hearts (v1) and our minds (v2) on those realities. That is, fix both your desires and your thoughts on Christ himself. Don’t get stuck focusing on what this world has to offer, or on your own troubles or failings. Work each day at developing that steady perspective of looking back, up, and forward to Jesus.

How do you do that? There are several things God has given us to help us continue clinging to his grace in Jesus. They are sometimes called “the means of grace.” We touched on one of them when we looked at the Sabbath command: gathering regularly with other believers to remind one another of the great story of salvation. That’s the story Paul has just summarised.

The two other essential means of grace are fairly obvious: filling your mind with Scripture and filling your day with prayer. We can’t gather every day, but those other tools for keeping a Christ-centred perspective are available to us every day.

So … back to the list. Decide which area of holy living you are going to prioritise over the coming weeks, or even months or years. Change can be slow, though God may also surprise you. To start with, follow our three steps:

1. Be real with God.

2. Rest in the gospel.

3. Resolve with God to live in devotion to him, by his grace and power.

After that, make a plan! What will it look like for you to work hard at growing in this? Write down your plan, or put it in your diary, or set up a regular reminder on your phone. Even better, message someone now to say, “This is what I want to work on over the next few weeks – I’m not sure how I’ll go about it yet, but can you be my holy-living buddy?” Arrange to catch up with them and talk about your plan.

In all that, one final word: Always seek to be motivated by grace, not by guilt. We all feel guilty when we fail God, even though we are objectively righteous because of Jesus. It’s probably a good thing that our sin makes us feel guilty. But guilt is a lousy motivator to change. If you expect feeling guilty to do the job, you will cling to your guilt, but it will only crush you. Resting in the gospel means, after you have confessed fully and honestly, you return to filling your mind with the grace of God in Jesus. Remember that Jesus dealt fully and finally with all your guilt. Meditate on God’s amazing love in washing you clean, delivering you and devoting you to himself – all by his grace and nothing else.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Stephen is our senior minister.

REFLECTIONS

Written by Stephen Shead

Western society today seems to assume that our desires are usually good. “If you want it, it must be good.” But the Bible has a very different assessment of our condition. Ever since Genesis 3, our desires have been fundamentally disordered.

With that in mind, let’s look at the last of the Ten Commandments:

“You shall not covet your neighbor’s house. You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or his male or female servant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.” (Exodus 20:17)

Many people think that the Old Testament law was only concerned with outward obedience, and that Jesus introduced a new kind of righteousness of the heart. You can only think that if you stop before the last commandment. Most of the commandments are about what we do – “You shall not murder,” etc. But the Tenth Commandment takes us back to the source of our actions: the thoughts, attitudes, and desires of our hearts.

Jesus explained the way that sinful deeds come from sinful desires:

21 “For it is from within, out of a person’s heart, that evil thoughts come—sexual immorality, theft, murder, 22adultery, greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance and folly. 23 All these evils come from inside and defile a person.” (Mark 7:21-23)

Both the Tenth Commandment and Jesus himself hold the highest possible standard up before us: God wants us to have desires and impulses that honour him and honour others. Living a life devoted to God means…

• not fantasising about another person’s spouse,

• not feeling jealous of someone because of their job or salary,

• not feeling bitter and angry because of the car or house or clothes or holidays that another person can afford that you would love to have,

• not imagining and toying with the idea of sin in your mind.

But … how do you obey that? It seems challenging, to say the least. For the Apostle Paul, the commandment “You shall not covet” was the one which convinced him that he was a sinner (see Romans 7:7-12).

Once again, the gospel is the answer. It brings us very good news about God’s grace in Jesus – good news that moves us to strive with all our might. God announced that good news long before Jesus, through the prophets. He promised that one day he would transform the corrupt and covetous hearts of his people. Through Jeremiah, God promised to put his law in our minds and write it on our hearts, because he would forgive our sins (Jeremiah 31:33-34). Through Ezekiel, God promised to give his people a new heart and a new spirit to obey him (Ezekiel 36:24-28).

Jesus is the fulfilment of those promises. If you trust in him, he really has put his law in your heart. He has given you his Spirit, who has implanted in you a new impulse to love God and love your neighbour.

You might doubt that sometimes – after all, the old, covetous “you” is still there, in your fleshly body. That’s why there is a battle inside us, and it’s why we need to strive to put to death the old. But imagine how much further away from holy living you would be if you didn’t know Christ! The fact that we do long to be rid of the desires that wage war against our souls shows that God’s Spirit is at work. And God’s grace and love in Jesus motivates us to strive, not desperately but with hope and confident assurance. In Philippians 2:12-13, Paul says.

12 Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed—not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence—continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, 13 for it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose. (Philippians 2:12-13)

In week 2, we saw that true freedom isn’t just being able to do whatever I want. It’s being able to do what God wants, by his grace and power. But we can go one better: True freedom is both wanting and doing what is good and pleasing to God. What a comfort it is to know that God is the one who is working in you to produce both wanting and the doing! So keep striving.

As we finish today: What is the positive opposite of coveting? I think the answer is: contentment! Here’s a great verse to memorise:

But godliness with contentment is great gain. (1 Timothy 6:6)

If you belong to God through faith in Jesus; if he has claimed you for himself and made you holy; if your future is to be conformed to the image of Christ (Romans 8:29), then you are unspeakably rich.

So today, bring the desires and impulses of your heart to God. I’m sure you know which desires in your heart most need the ongoing grace and power of God. Seek to be content by remembering that Christ is your treasure. Ask God to fill “the bottle” of your mind with Christ and his grace, and the eternal riches of knowing him.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Stephen is our senior minister.

REFLECTIONS

Written by Stephen Shead

“Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me.”

Did you hear that saying when you were a child? How old were you when you realised that it’s complete rubbish?

There was a good intention behind that saying. It was meant to teach children not to take unkind words to heart – and sometimes that’s helpful. But try this slight variation:

“Sticks and stones may break my bones, but malicious rumours and false accusations will never hurt me.”

(What? Hold on a minute…!)

The Ninth Commandment is there to guard people against false words that really do harm – and to help us guard our own words so that they bring grace instead. It says:

“You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor.” (Exodus 20:16)

The main situation the Ninth Commandment was intended for – its “laser pointer” meaning – was the courtroom. In ancient Israel, the words of a witness before a judge didn’t just have the potential to harm. They could kill. For example, in 1 Kings 21 the wicked queen Jezebel had Naboth put to death simply by lining up two “scoundrels” to falsely accuse him of cursing God and the king.

Australia does not have capital punishment, but even here false testimony can kill a person’s relationships, financial security, work, and reputation.

What about the “door” meaning of the Ninth Commandment? How does it open the door to different ways of living in devotion to God? It has an obvious application to how we treat others, and a more surprising application to our words and Jesus.

The obvious application is to warn us of the evil of slander, unkind rumours, and malicious gossip. Leviticus 19:16 says:

“ ‘Do not go about spreading slander among your people. Do not do anything that endangers your neighbor’s life. I am the LORD.’ ” (Leviticus 19:16)

The surprising thing is the way the Ninth Commandment connects to testimony about Jesus. Jesus was condemned to death based on the lies of many false witnesses (Matthew 26:59-66). But shortly afterwards, there was a crowd of eyewitnesses who testified to the truth that Jesus had risen from the dead (see Matthew 28:5-8; Acts 10:42). The Apostle Paul says:

14 And if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith. 15 More than that, we are then found to be false witnesses about God, for we have testified about God that he raised Christ from the dead.…

20 But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. (1 Corinthians 15:14-15, 20)

So, for us as followers of Jesus, what is the positive life of holiness that flows from “You shall not give false testimony”? First, God calls us to commit to truthful words that give grace to others. Ephesians 4:25 says:

Therefore each of you must put off falsehood and speak truthfully to your neighbor, for we are all members of one body. (Ephesians 4:25)

Then a few verses later, Paul takes it even further:

Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen. (Ephesians 4:29)

In the ESV translation, the final phrase reads: “that it may give grace to those who hear.” I love the idea that my words should be like little packets of grace, sent from my mouth to build others up and supply what they most need.

Secondly, when God devotes us to himself, he grows in us the desire to testify to what he has done for us through Jesus’ death and resurrection.

But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. (1 Peter 2:9)

Not everyone in the church will be a brilliant evangelist; but through our actions and our words, we can be truthful witnesses to the fact that Jesus is Lord, and that he has saved us and given us the sure and certain hope of life forever with him.

Over the last week, we have seen several commandments that touch on truthfulness and our words. This is an area of holy living that matters a lot to God! Spend some time thinking about:

• Your words about others: Are they always truthful, or are there situations in which you indulge in harmful gossip?

• Your words to others: Are there situations in which you descend into unwholesome words, or where your words are anything less than packets of grace? (Even words of rebuke can be packets of grace – but it takes a great deal of care!)

• Your words about Jesus: What will it look like this week for you to be a good witness for Jesus in what you do and say?

Again, use our three steps for growing in holy living – though I’ve slightly changed step 3 to make sure our reflex response always includes prayer:

1. Be real with God.

2. Rest in the gospel of Jesus.

3. Resolve with God to live in devotion to him, by his grace and power.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Stephen is our senior minister.

REFLECTIONS

Written by Stephen Shead

What is the opposite of stealing? Is it simply … not stealing?

The Eighth Commandment says:

“You shall not steal.” (Exodus 20:15)

Let’s start by thinking about what stealing is before we consider its opposite. When I think of stealing, my mind usually goes to someone wearing a balaclava and breaking into a house, or a shoplifter. But as we’ve already seen, biblical commands often apply to deep heart issues, not just “big sins”.

In the Bible, examples of stealing using deceptive methods to overcharge people, like merchants who used weights that were slightly too heavy or too light when weighing out goods. Deuteronomy 25:13-15 condemns using “differing weights” and “differing measures”, and then says:

For the LORD your God detests anyone who does these things, anyone who deals dishonestly. (Deuteronomy 25:16)

Stealing involves dealing dishonestly. One author I read defined stealing in the Bible as “the act of taking property from another without permission and in secret.” Stealing stems from greed, and it usually involves taking deceptively.

Other biblical examples include shifting the boundary with your neighbour’s house to sneak some extra real estate (Deuteronomy 19:14), exploiting the poor and vulnerable by charging high interest (Exodus 22:25-27), and not paying your taxes (Mark 12:17). Can you think of other examples? Underpaying a tradesperson; not returning an item that you forgot to pay for at the supermarket; not doing the hours you’re being paid for at work.

So, what is the opposite to stealing? Last week I introduced “the bottle principle”: the best way to get all the air out of a bottle is not to try to suck the air out, it’s to fill it with water. Similarly, the best way to get rid of sin is not to try to stop loving it; it’s to replace the sin with something much better: being captivated by God. That often means meditating on the beauty of the gospel and seeing, in Christ, the attribute of God that is the antidote to the sin.

When it comes to stealing, the God-shaped opposite isgenerosity. Listen to how Paul describes the outstanding generosity of the Christians in the churches of Macedonia (Philippi and Thessalonica):

1 And now, brothers and sisters, we want you to know about the grace that God has given the Macedonian churches. 2 In the midst of a very severe trial, their overflowing joy and their extreme poverty welled up in rich generosity. 3 For I testify that they gave as much as they were able, and even beyond their ability. (2 Corinthians 8:1-3a)

This is an extraordinary testimony! How could they give generously from a situation of “very severe trial” and “extreme poverty”? The secret ingredient was: “their overflowing joy” (v2) – a joy which came from knowing just how generous Jesus was in becoming a man and dying a slave’s death, so that we could be spiritually, eternally wealthy:

For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you through his poverty might become rich. (2 Corinthians 8:9)

Knowing and experiencing the generosity of Jesus, in his death for us, is what will captivate us with God, especially with the beauty of his generosity.

Is joyful generosity something you long to grow in – generosity to the needy, and generosity to ministry and to mission? Has it been a long time since you last sat down and worked out how much you are able to give, and who you will give to? If so, plan when you are will do it. And when you do, here are some Bible passages you could read to help “fill the battle” with living water:

• 2 Corinthians 8–9

• Luke 19:1-10

• Acts 4:32-37

• 1 Timothy 6:6-19

To finish: I recently listened to an episode of a podcast called “You’re Not Crazy”. Sam Allberry – one of the presenters – told a story from a book called Heaven and Hell about a Japanese thief who came to faith in Jesus. All his life, all he had known how to do was steal. But when he trusted in Christ, he and started going to a church which had the 10 Commandments on the back wall. When he read, “You shall not steal,” at first he thought: “How can I ever stop stealing? It’s all I’ve ever known.” But then he read those words again – “You shall notsteal” – and he read them as a promise. It was Jesus’ promise: “You are going to stop stealing.”

I think that is a brilliant way to read the Ten Commandments – and it’s true! When Jesus has finished with you, you will be wonderfully, warmly, joyfully generous. Resting in that assurance is what will motivate us to strive to be wonderfully, warmly, joyfully generous now.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Stephen is our senior minister.

REFLECTIONS

Written by Stephen Shead

As we begin the final week of our devotions on growing in holiness, remember the most important truth in the whole beautiful, complex topic: Holiness is a gift of God’s grace from start to finish. Christ is our sanctification. Our devotion to God flows as a gift, on the current of his constant and unrelenting forgiveness, from God the Father to all who trust in his Son.

Today might be an especially good day to remember these things, as we come to the Seventh Commandment:

“You shall not commit adultery.” (Exodus 20:14)

If modern Western culture could have its way with the Ten Commandments, this one would change into: “Love is love.” It doesn’t matter who it’s with, or whether you’re married or not, as long as you truly love one another (whatever that means). The Bible’s rules about sex are too restrictive, we’re told. Even some Christians think that the Old Testament laws were harsh and judgmental, so Jesus replaced them with a better message of love.

But nothing could be further from the truth. Remember what we read yesterday:

9 The commandments, “You shall not commit adultery,” “You shall not murder,” “You shall not steal,” “You shall not covet,” and whatever other command there may be, are summed up in this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” (Romans 13:9)

Do you see what Paul is saying? The commandments in the Old Testament are loving. They explain how to love others in practice.

In fact, the New Testament is just as clear on the issue of sexual sin. Paul says:

But among you there must not be even a hint of sexual immorality, or of any kind of impurity, or of greed, because these are improper for God’s holy people. (Ephesians 5:3)

“Sexual immorality” in the New Testament means any sexual interaction that is not between a man and a woman who are married to each other. God’s Word says that for God’s holy people – for those of us who now belong to God by his grace – even flirting with sexual immorality (pardon the pun) is completely inappropriate.

Why is that? The reason the Bible urges us to flee from sexual immorality (1 Corinthians 6:18) is because we belong to God – our whole self, including our bodies. Paul says:

19 Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; 20 you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies. (1 Corinthians 6:19-20)

God created us as bodily creatures, with good purposes for our bodies. That means what we do with our bodies matters.

In fact, in God’s design for our sexual selves, both singleness and marriage are concrete expressions or pictures of salvation! They both have value, dignity, and purpose. Marriage is designed to be a lifelong, faithful union of self-sacrificial love and service, which is a picture of the relationship between Christ and his church (Ephesians 5:25-32). Lifelong, faithful singleness is an even more direct picture of what we were saved for: an uninterrupted, undistracted, undiluted devotion to Christ alone (1 Corinthians 7:32-35).

Sexual purity is often very hard. Singleness can be hard. Contentment with your body and your sexual makeup can be hard. Contentment and serving your spouse in marriage can be hard. It’s especially hard because the world bombards us with messages normalising promiscuity and sexual sin. But the Bible urges us to view sex and our bodies and desires from God’s perfect perspective:

3 It is God’s will that you should be sanctified: that you should avoid sexual immorality; 4 that each of you should learn to control your own body in a way that is holy and honorable, 5 not in passionate lust like the pagans, who do not know God; 6 and that in this matter no one should wrong or take advantage of a brother or sister. The Lord will punish all those who commit such sins, as we told you and warned you before. 7 For God did not call us to be impure, but to live a holy life. (1 Thessalonians 4:3-7)

Of course, many of us have fallen – and badly! – in the area of sexual holiness. That’s why we need to constantly return to the life-giving peace and assurance of the gospel. If you trust in Christ as your Lord, he has sanctified you (1 Corinthians 6:11). You are holy and devoted to God – even if you continue to struggle with the same sins. Don’t stop struggling – but also, don’t get trapped and paralysed by guilt. Instead, remember God’s grace, and keep practising our three steps for growing in holy living:

1. Be real with God. Name your sin or your struggles honestly before him.

2. Rest in the gospel of Jesus.

3. Resolve to live in devotion to God, by his grace and power.

Spend time talking to God about this, and in particular ask him for wisdom and courage in practical steps you should take – and the first practical step might be asking a Christian friend or your minister for help.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Stephen is our senior minister.

REFLECTIONS

Written by Stephen Shead

Today we’re up to the Sixth Commandment, which is the start of a series of super-short, practical commands about relating to others:

“You shall not murder.” (Exodus 20:13)

If there’s one commandment that seems easy to say, “I’m fine,” this is it! Unless you’ve actually murdered someone, that is. And if you have murdered someone, and you have put your trust in Jesus, then I have good news for you: God has completely washed you clean! He has delivered you from the guilt of your murder and devoted you wholly to himself.

Well, that took a dark turn quickly, didn’t it? If you haven’t murdered anyone, did that feel intense? Because according to Jesus, that’s how intense the situation is with your sin and mine as well. Listen to where Jesus takes this commandment:

21 “You have heard that it was said to the people long ago, ‘You shall not murder, and anyone who murders will be subject to judgment.’ 22 But I tell you that anyone who is angry with a brother or sister will be subject to judgment. Again, anyone who says to a brother or sister, ‘Raca,’ is answerable to the court. And anyone who says, ‘You fool!’ will be in danger of the fire of hell. (Matthew 5:21-22)

Jesus is talking here about human anger against a fellow human being, which is very different to God’s wrath against sin. God’s wrath is his perfect response, as Judge of the world, to evil. Human anger is like a fire, an irrational response that erupts in us – a desire to lash out, to take revenge, an impulse to harm without regard for whether it would glorify God.

For sinners like you and me, anger is murder without the final step.

Now it’s true that there is such a thing as “righteous anger.” However, we need to be very wary of our own anger, even when it’s right. Our motives are almost always a complex mix, and we never have all the facts to judge perfectly – which is why the Bible says we should always leave vengeance in God’s hands (Romans 12:19).

It’s also true that in one sense, murder is far more evil than anger alone, because the consequences for the victim are catastrophic. But in another sense, anger is just as bad, because without Christ, anger and murder will both leave you in exactly the same position on the day of judgment – guilty and condemned forever. Before God’s judgment throne, it’s the thought that counts.

That’s why that earlier paragraph – about how God forgives and sanctifies even murderers – was for you as well. Part of growing in holiness is discovering just how deeply evil our sins are – even those that are “only” in our thoughts and desires. Our sin is a hellish corruption of all that is good, a murder-level offence against God’s holiness.

When we grow in appreciating the evil of our sin, we also grow in thankful wonder at the cross of Jesus. It doesn’t matter how deep you plunge into the madness and evil of sin, when you come up again, you discover: Jesus died for that too.

God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. (Romans 5:8)

But the Bible’s negative commandments also open the door to a world of positive possibilities for living in devotion to God. In fact, you can summarise the positive version of all the negative commands in a single word: love. Paul says:

8 Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another, for whoever loves others has fulfilled the law. 9 The commandments, “You shall not commit adultery,” “You shall not murder,” “You shall not steal,” “You shall not covet,” and whatever other command there may be, are summed up in this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” 10 Love does no harm to a neighbor. Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law. (Romans 13:8-10)

We’ll keep thinking about what love looks like next week. For today, think about the things and people that make you angry. Do you struggle to let go of your anger and replace it with love? One of my former Bible teachers once shared his own struggles with anger, and gave us some of the best advice I’ve heard. He said: Whenever I am struggling to let go of my anger against someone, especially when I think I’m in the right, I remember that at the cross of Jesus, God let go of all his righteous anger against me. So how can I hold onto my anger against someone else?

Bring your own anger to God in prayer, and ask him to fill you with his love in Jesus.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Stephen is our senior minister.

REFLECTIONS

Written by Stephen Shead

Do you think of the Bible’s commands as like a laser pointer or like a door?

I guess I’d better explain. A laser pointer is designed to identify one specific thing. It narrows your view to a single point on a screen. That’s how I tend to think of the Bible’s commands: each one tells me one specific thing that I must or mustn’t do.

Let’s start with a laser-pointer approach to the Fifth Commandment:

“Honor your father and your mother, so that you may live long in the land the LORD your God is giving you.” (Exodus 20:12)

The obvious question is: What does it mean to honour my parents? If you’re still a child living at home, most of the time it’s simple: obey them! Not just through gritted teeth, but with genuine respect. What about later in life? Then we need to wrestle with the question of what “honour” means when we are no longer under their direct authority. But what if your parents are no longer alive or you don’t have any contact with them? That means this commandment is not relevant to you, right? Phew – one less to worry about!

If the Bible’s commands are like a laser pointer, then the Fifth Commandment narrows in on one thing: my attitude to my parents.

But the Bible’s commands are much more like a door. When you open your front door and step outside, it doesn’t narrow in on a single spot. It opens the way to a wide world of possibilities. The Ten Commandments are especially door-like. Each one only names one thing, but the naming is a door to a wide range of possibilities for living lives of devotion to God.

The position of this commandment is a hint that it is a door to more. Commandments 1–4 focused on us and God. Commandments 6–10 will focus on love for our neighbour. This sits in the middle, so … is it about God or about my neighbour? As we read on in the Bible, it widens out in both directions.

Let’s start with the “God” direction. It turns out that honouring our parents is connected to honouring and respecting God himself. Look at these verses from Leviticus 19:

2 “… ‘Be holy because I, the LORD your God, am holy. 3 Each of you must respect your mother and father, and you must observe my Sabbaths. I am the LORD your God.’ ” (Leviticus 19:2b-3)

“ ‘Stand up in the presence of the aged, show respect for the elderly and revere your God. I am the LORD.’ ” (Leviticus 19:32)

See, why did God design us to be born to human parents and grow up under their loving authority? It seems that the answer is: So that we would learn, from the very beginning, the way we should relate to the loving authority of God himself – with honour, respect, and obedience. And it goes the other way: If we are not the kind of people who honour, respect, and obey our parents, then we are not likely to relate to God that way.

But it widens out the other way as well. Parents are the first authority figures God puts us under in life. They are our first “practice ground” for learning to submit to God’s authority. But when we grow up, he puts us under all kinds of other authorities. What is God’s call to us? Honour, respect, and obey them all! Be submissive people, not rebels.

In case you think this was just an “old covenant” thing, the New Testament says exactly the same. Jesus doesn’t free us from having to submit to authorities. He frees us to submit to them even more joyfully and willingly than before – even if they are unjust or harsh. We can do that, because we know that ultimately Christ is our master, he trains and refines us through the things we suffer, and harsh authorities can’t take away the inheritance Jesus has delivered us for.

The Apostle Peter wrote to Christian believers who were suffering under harsh masters:

13 Submit yourselves for the Lord’s sake to every human authority: whether to the emperor, as the supreme authority, 14 or to governors, who are sent by him to punish those who do wrong and to commend those who do right. 15 For it is God’s will that by doing good you should silence the ignorant talk of foolish people. 16 Live as free people, but do not use your freedom as a cover-up for evil; live as God’s slaves. 17 Show proper respect to everyone, love the family of believers, fear God, honor the emperor. (1 Peter 2:13-17)

We could add: honour the government, and the police, and the tax office, and your annoying manager. Don’t just grit your teeth and do the bare minimum. For the Lord’s sake, show them proper respect and honour – wholeheartedly and with gladness, so that those watching on might see and glorify God (1 Peter 2:12).

What are the “practice grounds” in your life for learning to honour, respect, and obey God? Pray now, and plan what you need to change in your heart or your behaviour, for the Lord’s sake.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Stephen is our senior minister.

REFLECTIONS

Written by Stephen Shead

Apologies that this has come out after the next one in the series - especially since the next one referred back to this one! Confusing, I know … I tried twice to send this one first, but had mysterious technical issues.

The next stop in our journey through holy living is the issue of truth and faithfulness. We’ll start with the Third Commandment:

“You shall not misuse the name of the LORD your God, for the LORD will not hold anyone guiltless who misuses his name.” (Exodus 20:7)

Your name represents who you are. We might talk about dragging someone’s name through the mud – that means talking about them in a way that damages their reputation. God’s name in the Bible represents his identity and his character.

One of the issues this commandment was originally tackling was swearing oaths by God’s name – like when someone today might say, “I’ll pay you back, I swear to God.” The problem is: What if you make an oath by God’s name and then you break your word? You have tied God’s name to your word – and then … well, dragged it in the mud. Your unfaithfulness, your lie, has brought God dishonour.

How does this point forward to the holy life Jesus has freed us for and called us into? Jesus raises it to another level:

34 But I tell you, do not swear an oath at all: either by heaven, for it is God’s throne; 35 or by the earth, for it is his footstool; or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the Great King. 36 And do not swear by your head, for you cannot make even one hair white or black. 37 All you need to say is simply ‘Yes’ or ‘No’; anything beyond this comes from the evil one. (Matthew 5:34-37)

Jesus doesn’t just say, “Don’t break the promises you make in God’s name.” He tells us not to swear oaths at all. The reason is because all our words should be equally and totally truthful.

See, when someone adds “I swear” to a commitment, it usually shows that their word is actually unreliable. When we lived in Chile, we once booked a tradesman to fix something for us. Every day for a week, he simply didn’t show up; and every day when we rang him, he said, “¡Mañana, sin falta!”, which means, “Tomorrow, without fail!” Why did he add “without fail”? Because he had broken his word so many times that he had to try extra-hard to convince us that this time he was telling the truth!

God is truthful in all his words and faithful to all his promises (Numbers 23:19; Joshua 21:45). Jesus is “the truth” (John 14:6). The Spirit is transforming us to “speak the truth in love” (Ephesians 4:15). And our witness to the unbelievers around us will be hugely impacted by whether we love the truth and are faithful in all our words.

See, if you are a Christian, God’s reputation is always tied to your words, even if you don’t say, “I swear to God” (I hope you don’t say that!). We have been baptised into the name of the true God, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit (Matthew 28:18-20). We bear his name. Any time we are unfaithful to our words, that affects God’s reputation with the unbelievers around us.

But … the opposite is true as well. Wouldn’t it be amazing if we had a reputation for being people of truth? Think about the other people at your work or school; your clients; the people you pay to do your garden or look after your children; the people you shop from; your cousins and neighbours and friends. Imagine if all of them knew that you are absolutely, 100% reliable and faithful in what you say. And here’s the real dream: imagine if they knew that you love the truth because you’re a follower of Jesus and you know his grace and love?

The most important prayer we can pray, according to Jesus, is:

“Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name.” (Matthew 6:9)

What will bring other people to honour God’s name? One thing will be us allowing the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with love for God’s truth, and fill our mouths with faithful words.

If you’re aware today that you don’t take your own truthfulness seriously, don’t despair! The thing that motivates us in holy living is not guilt, but grace. So instead of being stuck in guilt or hopelessness, here are three steps to take with any area of holy living:

1. Be real with God. Name your sin honestly before him – in this case, lying.

2. Rest in the gospel of Jesus. God has saved you by his amazing grace, and the power to love and obey him comes from his Spirit, not your inner goodness.

3. Resolve to live in devotion to God, by his grace and power.

Practise those steps now, and decide how your words will be different from here on.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Stephen is our senior minister.

REFLECTIONS

Written by Stephen Shead

Before we move on to the next of the Ten Commandments, I want to pause and think about the commandments in the Old Testament law, or the Law of Moses. What role do those commandments have in our lives as Christians?

Let’s start with the negative: The New Testament insists that we are not “under” the law (Galatians 5:18). That doesn’t mean the Old Testament Law isn’t important for us. It means the Old Testament law is not the document that determines our covenant relationship with God, like it was for ancient Israel. Paul says, “you are not under the law, but under grace” (Romans 6:14). The new covenant document that determines our relationship with God now is the death of Jesus on the cross for our sins, not the law. Our relationship with God is based entirely on his forgiveness and grace through faith in Jesus.

So how are Old Testament laws relevant for us? Paul says they were written to instruct us (1 Corinthians 10:11). They do that by teaching us unchanging truths about God and people. But even more importantly, they point forward to Jesus as the fulfilment of God’s plan. Some of the commands of the Law point forward to what Jesus did for us – for example, the Old Testament sacrifices point forward to Jesus’ death for sin. Other commands look forward to Jesus’ kingdom and to his Spirit’s transforming work in us.

With that in mind, the sixth Commandment of the Old Testament Law says:

“Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy.” (Exodus 20:8)

This sounds like it’s very relevant to holiness … but how, exactly? For Israel, this required setting apart Saturday to be a day entirely devoted to God, doing no work at all. Today, Christians have different views on whether we have to obey this command in the way Israel did. But almost all Christians would agree that it is wise and good to take a day to rest, gather, and focus on God and his Word.

But the meaning of the fourth Commandment was much deeper. In Exodus 31, God says to Moses:

 “Say to the Israelites, ‘You must observe my Sabbaths. This will be a sign between me and you for the generations to come, so you may know that I am the LORD, who makes you holy.’ ” (Exodus 31:13)

They were to devote the day to the Lord as a sign or reminder that the Lord himself is the one who devotes his people to himself as holy.

In fact, the Sabbath command was all about remembering – remembering God’s plan to save. On every Sabbath, Israel were to remember two great events. The first was the creation of the world in the beginning, and the fact that God made the world as a place for us to enjoy his rest and blessing (Genesis 1–2). We lost that rest and blessing when mankind rebelled against God, and we now live in a world of toil and death (Genesis 3). But God had always planned a great rescue – to deliver his people and take them to his promised land, to enjoy his rest and blessing again.

The real purpose of Israel’s Sabbath was to remember that great story of salvation. In Exodus 20:11, they are commanded to remember the original blessing and rest of creation:

For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. (Exodus 20:11a)

Then in Deuteronomy 5, when the Sabbath command is repeated, they are told to remember the great Old Testament salvation event of the exodus:

Remember that you were slaves in Egypt and that the LORD your God brought you out of there with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm. Therefore the LORD your God has commanded you to observe the Sabbath day. (Deuteronomy 5:15)

How does all of this help us, as we think about growing in holy living? Here’s what it teaches us: We need to do everything we can to regularly remember the story of our salvation – how God rescued us through Jesus’ death and resurrection, how he has made us holy by devoting us to himself, and that we are heading for the true, eternal, heavenly rest with him. Our spiritual health depends on constantly remembering God’s grace in Jesus.

And for 99% of us, that means we need to gather regularly to remind one another, unless there’s some reason we physically can’t. Why? Because we’re so forgetful! It’s true that some people have good memories (I’m jealous of you, by the way!). But because of our spiritual condition, all of us will gradually forget the gospel and drift away from Christ unless we persevere in meeting to remember.

Of course, gathering to remind each other of God’s work of salvation is an amazing blessing anyway! So today, reflect on your own attitude and regularity in gathering to be reminded of the gospel. Then, with this area of holy living, practise our steps from yesterday:

1. Be real with God.

2. Rest in the gospel of Jesus.

3. Resolve to live in devotion to God, by his grace and power.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Stephen is our senior minister.

REFLECTIONS

Written by Stephen Shead

(Apologies for the delay in getting this out - I had a technical glitch.)

The next stop in our journey through holy living is the issue of truth and faithfulness. We’ll start with the Third Commandment:

“You shall not misuse the name of the LORD your God, for the LORD will not hold anyone guiltless who misuses his name.” (Exodus 20:7)

Your name represents who you are. We might talk about dragging someone’s name through the mud – that means talking about them in a way that damages their reputation. God’s name in the Bible represents his identity and his character.

One of the issues this commandment was originally tackling was swearing oaths by God’s name – like when someone today might say, “I’ll pay you back, I swear to God.” The problem is: What if you make an oath by God’s name and then you break your word? You have tied God’s name to your word – and then … well, dragged it in the mud. Your unfaithfulness, your lie, has brought God dishonour.

How does this point forward to the holy life Jesus has freed us for and called us into? Jesus raises it to another level:

34 But I tell you, do not swear an oath at all: either by heaven, for it is God’s throne; 35 or by the earth, for it is his footstool; or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the Great King. 36 And do not swear by your head, for you cannot make even one hair white or black. 37 All you need to say is simply ‘Yes’ or ‘No’; anything beyond this comes from the evil one. (Matthew 5:34-37)

Jesus doesn’t just say, “Don’t break the promises you make in God’s name.” He tells us not to swear oaths at all. The reason is because all our words should be equally and totally truthful.

See, when someone adds “I swear” to a commitment, it usually shows that their word is actually unreliable. When we lived in Chile, we once booked a tradesman to fix something for us. Every day for a week, he simply didn’t show up; and every day when we rang him, he said, “¡Mañana, sin falta!”, which means, “Tomorrow, without fail!” Why did he add “without fail”? Because he had broken his word so many times that he had to try extra-hard to convince us that this time he was telling the truth!

God is truthful in all his words and faithful to all his promises (Numbers 23:19; Joshua 21:45). Jesus is “the truth” (John 14:6). The Spirit is transforming us to “speak the truth in love” (Ephesians 4:15). And our witness to the unbelievers around us will be hugely impacted by whether we love the truth and are faithful in all our words.

See, if you are a Christian, God’s reputation is always tied to your words, even if you don’t say, “I swear to God” (I hope you don’t say that!). We have been baptised into the name of the true God, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit (Matthew 28:18-20). We bear his name. Any time we are unfaithful to our words, that affects God’s reputation with the unbelievers around us.

But … the opposite is true as well. Wouldn’t it be amazing if we had a reputation for being people of truth? Think about the other people at your work or school; your clients; the people you pay to do your garden or look after your children; the people you shop from; your cousins and neighbours and friends. Imagine if all of them knew that you are absolutely, 100% reliable and faithful in what you say. And here’s the real dream: imagine if they knew that you love the truth because you’re a follower of Jesus and you know his grace and love?

The most important prayer we can pray, according to Jesus, is:

“Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name.” (Matthew 6:9)

What will bring other people to honour God’s name? One thing will be us allowing the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with love for God’s truth, and fill our mouths with faithful words.

If you’re aware today that you don’t take your own truthfulness seriously, don’t despair! The thing that motivates us in holy living is not guilt, but grace. So instead of being stuck in guilt or hopelessness, here are three steps to take with any area of holy living:

1. Be real with God. Name your sin honestly before him – in this case, lying.

2. Rest in the gospel of Jesus. God has saved you by his amazing grace, and the power to love and obey him comes from his Spirit, not your inner goodness.

3. Resolve to live in devotion to God, by his grace and power.

Practise those steps now, and decide how your words will be different from here on.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Stephen is our senior minister.