Merry Christmas And A Blessed New Year!

The Cradle is empty, because Jesus had to grow up a righteous man, fulfilling the prophecies of the Messiah, and take our sins on Himself, that we might be made the righteousness of God.

The Cross is empty, because when He said, "It is finished", it was. And He died.

The Tomb is empty, because death could not hold Jesus, and He is risen, and in some mysterious way is seated at the right hand of the Father in heaven, making intercession for us, and yet amazingly dwells in His children, "Christ in you, the hope of glory".

The Cradle, the Cross and the Tomb are all empty, that we might be filled with His Life.

Have A Blessed New Year, remembering that nothing can separate you from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

This Week On Grace Walk Radio

This week's message on Grace For Life is:

Taking Poison - Part 2

Grace For Life radio archives are here.

Glitch In Blog Comments - Sorry

Sorry for a technical glitch in a switchover from regular Blogger to "new and improved" [yeah, right] Beta Blogger:

The glitch caused comments to require moderating, but then didn't email them to me for moderating. So a bunch of comments on several older blog posts didn't get posted.

After discovering the glitch, I "released" all the comments at once, so if you wondered why your comment didn't appear at the time you wrote it, now you know.

They are all posted now, and from now on, Lord willing, your comments will be immediately published without requiring moderation.

And thanks for the comments!

Terry

This Week On Grace Walk Radio

This week's message on Grace For Life is:

Taking Poison - Part 1

Grace For Life radio archives are here.

Why The New Covenant Is Unilateral

As we read and study the Bible, one of the most important things we can do is to "rightly divide" the word of truth (2 Timothy 2:15). We need to rightly divide the Word, in seeing the divisions that God Himself has made as He progressively revealed Himself over many hundreds of years.

And one of the most important ways that we need to "rightly divide" the Word is regarding the difference between the Mosaic Covenant, or Old Covenant, and the New Covenant.

In Hebrews 8:7-13 we find three truths:

1. The Old Covenant is obsolete.

This doesn't mean that we can't learn anything from the Old Covenant. It is well worth studying. What we want to know is the heart of our Lord, don't we? There is much we can learn about Him from the Old Covenant.

But it is obsolete.

2. The Old Covenant has been replaced by the New Covenant.

Although the New Covenant was promised to Israel, the Gentiles have been grafted in, Romans Chapter 11 tells us. This is something to be exceedingly grateful to God for. And we Gentiles who believe in Jesus Christ are now included in this great New Covenant.

We see this in passages like 1 Corinthians 11:25, "In the same manner he also took the cup after supper, saying, 'This cup is the new covenant in My blood. This do, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me.'"

And 2 Corinthians 3:6, "...who also made us sufficient as ministers of the new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life."

3. There is a reason why the New Covenant replaced the Old, and why the New Covenant is a BETTER Covenant.

Hebrews 8:7,8 says, "For if that first covenant had been faultless, then no place would have been sought for a second. Because finding fault with them, He says: 'Behold, the days are coming, says the LORD, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah...'"

What does it mean, "finding fault with them"?

Well, it simply means this. The Old Covenant was a bi-lateral covenant. That means it had conditions for both sides. This was expressed many times in the Old Covenant laws, which said over and over this basic message:

"If you follow these laws, you will be blessed. If you don’t follow these laws, you will be cursed."

Now there are a couple of problems with that, to put it mildly.

First, it couldn’t save. There were over 600 laws under the Old Covenant, and the Bible makes it clear that if you broke one single law, one time, it was just as if you’d broken them all, and that would keep you from earning salvation. And obviously, no one could keep all the law, all the time. Most couldn’t keep any of the law all the time, and some could hardly keep any of the law any of the time. So the Law couldn’t save.

Secondly, the Law was a great burden. If you read through Exodus and Leviticus and Deuteronomy, you will literally thank God that you are not under the burden of the 600 laws prescribed there, many with a simple penalty: death.

But even if you made the attempt, of course you would fail over and over, at least regarding the perfection the Law required. And because you would fail, the sacrificial system itself was a burden. Actual rivers of blood flowed from the slain animals sacrificed to cover sins.

And that brings up a third problem. There could be no forgiveness of sins, only the covering of them. Only the temporary covering of sins, because "it is not possible that the blood of bulls and goats could take away sins". (Heb. 10:4)

And so the sacrifices had to be done over and over and over, with never any real assurance that it was enough. At times God Himself said something like, "your sacrifices make me sick, because your hearts aren’t right."

Ah, but then came Jesus. Then came the Lamb of God who became the final sacrifice, the once for all sacrifice, the One who gave His blood that truly could take away sins. In came the New Covenant.

The New Covenant is not a bi-lateral Covenant. The bi-lateral Old Covenant failed, in that man was unable to keep his end of the the Covenant. So a better Covenant was put in place. And the one sure defect was left out, namely, dependence on man doing his part.The New Covenant is UNI-lateral, that is, it was planned, instituted, carried out, fulfilled, and maintained by God. It is not a Covenant between God and man, with each having conditions to make the Covenant "work". It is not of the "letter", but of the "Spirit", and thus cannot fail.

It has His laws placed into the hearts and minds of His people, and He causes them to walk in His ways. It causes man to die to the Law (the very *principle* of Law), so that he is no longer under Law, but under Grace. And this very construct insures that the Law, all Law, is fulfilled, not by the [always shaky] performance of man, but by the [always sure] performance of God.

It will bless you to remember that next time you take communion.

"In the same manner He also took the cup after supper, saying, 'This cup is the New Covenant in my blood." (1 Corinthians 11:25)

Let others know that the conditions have been met by Christ. We are under Grace, beloved. Because Jesus paid it all. We love Him and follow Him now, not because of conditions placed on us, but because the conditions have been met in His wonderful New Covenant. Minister that to one another.

"Who also made us sufficient as ministers of the New Covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life." (2 Corinthians 3:6)

This Week On Grace Walk Radio

This week's message on Grace For Life is:

Why The New Covenant Is Unilateral.

Grace For Life radio archives are here.

Where Do You Go When You Sin?

Anyone who never sins, raise your hand.

I didn’t think so. Of course we do sin. Let’s get that out of the way first. 1 Jn. 1:8 says, "If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us." Two verses later it says, "If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us."

But wait a minute. In 1 Jn. 3:6 it says, "…Whoever sins has neither seen Him nor known Him [that is, Jesus]." And two verses later John writes, "He who sins is of the devil."

What’s going on here?

Well, that’s where English breaks down a little bit. The New Testament was of course written in Greek, the common Greek of the time. And when they wrote and spoke in that day, they would use different tenses of a verb that could make quite a drastic distinction in what they said. One tense might be a reference to a single action, and one tense might be a reference to a continuing action.

We do a similar thing in English, but we usually add other words, or forms of a word to get the point across. For example, if we were talking about a baseball player hitting a single home run, the announcer might say simply, "Wow, he hits a home run!" But if we were talking about a baseball player whose habit is always hitting home runs, we might say, "Wow, he sure hits home runs!" That’s his practice, that’s his norm. He’s always hitting home runs. He’s a home run champ.

So in 1 Jn., when it says, "Whoever sins has neither seen Him nor know Him," we find the Greek word for "sins" is in the present tense, which refers to continuous sinning. In other words, one who lives in sin, walks in sin, continues in sin, and never really repents of it, or turns away from it. This fits the context of 1 Jn. also, because as we’ve already said, if we deny that we sin at all, we’re calling God a liar.

O.K. I say all that to say this.

When you sin, where do you go? Do you run straight to God, or do you do what many of us have a habit of doing? We shy away from God. We don’t exactly mean to. But we do.

Some process goes through our mind, maybe not clearly, but something like, "Oh boy. There I go again. How can I face God after that? I mean, we’ve been through that sin so many times. I know God forgives me, but does He really? I mean, what kind of wretch am I that I would do that again? I think I’ll just sit it out and see how it goes. I can’t go to God yet. I’m not sure I even feel like going to God right now. What would He think? Even God has His limits. He must really be frowning on me right now, or even downright angry. And I can’t face His frown and anger. Lord knows I deserve it, though. Do you have any idea how many times I must have disappointed Him. And after all He’s done for me?"

We may not verbalize all that, but it’s a common feeling that I’ve heard many people express one way or another.

And of course, eventually, we do turn to Him, and our sweet fellowship with Him goes on. And even though we know on some level that the quicker we turn back to Him the better, yet we delay it for what can only be called crazy reasons of bad theology?

Because is it accurate to see God frowning or angry at us? Is it good biblical theology?  No, it’s not. It’s a view of God that is just plain incorrect. And to get a correct view of God, and how He relates to us when we sin, we can look at a story you may be quite familiar with, the Prodigal Son. But you may not be familiar with it from the vantage point, not of the wayward son (that’s us), but of the father in the story.

I can't tell you how many sermons I've heard through the years on the subject of "The Prodigal Son". What he did. How he treated his father. Where he went. How he worked with the pigs. How he squandered his inheritance. Finally, how he was restored. On and on about the son, with usually some contrasting comparisons about his elder brother. It's supposed to be a picture of us Christians when we sin or "backslide", and how we can return to God. And how there's always forgiveness, if we repent, turn 180 degrees, say our speeches to God, resolve to do better, etc., etc.

But is that really what it's about? The son? Well, sure, but only incidentally. I think it's really about the Father, and His heart toward us, his children. It's a picture of God. The son is almost just a prop, added in to make a point. So what's the point?

You may want to take a look at the story in Luke 15:11-24. Notice that the prodigal son had a little speech prepared. A little repentence speech. A groveling speech. Sort of, "Father, I'm a low-down miserable worm, not worthy to be your son, so let me be a hired servant of yours." Did the father listen to the speech, and judge the son's sincerity by it? No! Remember? He never even listened to the speech! He was too overjoyed by his son's return! It's as though he said, "Oh shut up, you big lug! Give your daddy a hug! Welcome home, son!"

And that's the point: God is not interested in the content of our little speeches. He isn't interested in our groveling, as if the more miserably we grovel, the more we "earn" His forgiveness. Why? Because He has already forgiven us, and paid for that forgiveness on the Cross. Well, what is He interested in, then? You. And me. He is interested in our fellowship!

If I may paraphrase the Father, he said: "Cut the speech! I get it. Go get the robe! Get the ring! Kill the fatted calf! My son has returned! That's all I want! I love you, son! I love you! Just abide in me. I'll produce the fruit. I know you've failed, and you'll fail again. But that doesn't change my love for you! And I'm at work in you both to will and to do my good pleasure!" (Phil. 2:13)

In our heart of hearts, as believers in Jesus Christ, we don’t want to sin, do we? But the world, the flesh and the devil deceive us, and we do sin. Where do we go? Let’s get in the habit of running to the Father. Don’t walk, run to Him. He will always, always, have His arms open to you, His child, to wrap those arms around you in love. Because our sins are already paid for, remembered no more, as far as the east is from the west, because of our Savior, Jesus Christ.

Oh, that we "may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge, that [we] may be filled up to all the fulness of God..." (Eph. 3:18,19a)

This Week On Grace Walk Radio

This week's message on Grace For Life is:

Meditation for Freedom.

Grace For Life radio archives are here.

This Week On Grace Walk Radio

This week's message on Grace For Life is:

Church Membership or Biblical Fellowship?

Grace For Life radio archives are here.

Politics And Guarding The Heart

I became politically active in 1964, when Barry Goldwater ran against Lyndon Johnson. I was only 14 years old.

I've campaigned, planted signs, made phone-bank calls, done door-to-door flyers, attended rallies, written speeches.

In the late 60's, while half the country was going Left and anarchic, I went Right and Republican. I attended anti-communist John Birch Society meetings, led by Fred and Ethel [not their real names], a husband and wife who became my good friends.

But politics can't satisfy the heart, and I was lost as lost could be, until 1976, when God reached down and opened my heart to Jesus Christ.

As a new believer, I still took an active interest in political happenings, but the rabid hand-wringing and fighting ceased. I began to see the sovereignty of God in everything. I saw that the history that was unfolding was God's history, and that He was raising up and bringing down men and nations at will.

I began attending a wonderful church in 1976, and lo and behold, there were my friends Fred and Ethel, Christians who had told me about the Lord, but not with the enthusiasm they had for fighting the Communist Conspiracy.We became friends again, but Fred was always distraught about "the state of the Government and the World".

I was now engaged in ministry, and politics took a seat way in the back by comparison. Fred would have none of it. He seemed to truly love the Lord, but his crusade was a political one, seeking to save the world by politics, and it drove him over the edge. In the early 80's, Ethel went home one day and found Fred dead, hanging from a rope.

Devoid of understanding the sovereignty of God in nations, and not understanding that the Kingdom of God is not of this world, Fred thought things had gotten out of God's hand.

He couldn't have been more wrong.

"Seek first the Kingdom of God, and His righteousness..." That's what's of primary importance to us. And that means that we not only witness of our Lord Jesus Christ, it means we rest in Him and His sovereignty, even while we support our candidates according to our consciences.

And it means that our faith should work itself out in love (Gal. 5:6) . . . Love for Republicans, and Democrats, and political opponents, and other ethnic groups, and immigrants (legal and otherwise), and Muslims, and even terrorists (though the Government doesn't bear the sword for nothing -- Rom. 13:4).

Otherwise, we're just clanging cymbals (1 Cor. 13:1), and our politics has become our God in practice.

This Week On Grace Walk Radio

This week's message on Grace For Life is:

Where Do You Go When You Sin?

Grace For Life radio archives are here.

If We're Under Grace, Why The Commands?

A reader calling herself "confused" asked the following question in a comment on Legalism Destroys Love:

"Might it not be true that those often labeled as "legalists" are actually those who already understand the Grace of God and who are trying to search the Scriptures for the voice of God on how they should live, how Jesus lived in the Gift of God's Word?"

This is a great question, and it actually points to what I believe is part of the real purpose for the commands in the New Covenant scriptures.

In other words, if we are no longer under law, but under grace (Rom. 6:14), then why do we have all the commands in the epistles at all?

I believe there are two main answers:

1. The commands show us the heart and mind of the One we love. Since we love the Lord, as believers in Him, doesn't it make sense that we want to know the things that He desires, the things that please Him? Of course. And these commands, although they bring us no condemnation, reveal to us the heart of the Lover of our souls.

2. The commands reveal to us when we are not walking by the Spirit, but are walking by the flesh. It shows us that we have been deceived by the world, the flesh, and the devil to be somehow "conformed to the world". This acts as a wonderful prompt to us to get back in communion with the Lord, to get back into the fulness of His Spirit, to get back in touch with our own new spirit, to again have our minds renewed by His Word, and to again walk by the Spirit.

Isn't that what we want in our heart of hearts? Isn't that what we crave as a New Creation?

It's not legalism to want to obey Him, when our obedience comes from our love for Him, or from His very Life living out through us.

This Week On Grace Walk Radio

This week's message on Grace For Life is:

Is Ted Haggard A Deceiver and A Liar?

Grace For Life radio archives are here.

This Week On Grace Walk Radio

This week's message on Grace For Life is:

The Spirit of Truth

Grace For Life radio archives are here.

It's Reformation Day!

It was in 1517 that Martin Luther posted his "95 Theses" to the big door of the church at Wittenburg, Germany. Ah, Luther, an early European Knight in the slaying of the dragon of Legalism.

This is often viewed as the beginning of what we call the Reformation. It was a giant blow against legalism, specifically the paying of money to the Roman Catholic Church for "indulgences" which were supposed to "buy off" years of purgatory. Purgatory is the Roman Catholic doctrine, totally unbiblical, that believers in Jesus Christ must undergo years of punishment for their own sins *after* death.

As awful as the legalistic doctrine is to begin with, even more awful was the teaching by church villains that one could buy their way into heaven faster (or that of Grandpa or Mom).

Thank God the light was shed on the great Gospel of Grace, showing that salvation is entirely of Grace, not of works, lest anyone should boast (Ephesians 2:8,9), and that we who believe in the Lord Jesus Christ are forgiven...past, present, and future, throught the sacrifice of our Lord.

Happy Reformation Day!

This Week On Grace Walk Radio

This week's message on Grace For Life is:

What Are The Desires of Your Heart?

Grace For Life Radio Archives are here.

This Week On Grace Walk Radio

This week's message on Grace For Life is:

"Is Obedience Not Important?"

Grace For Life Radio Archives are here.

Do You Prove Your Theology By Guru?

Often I see Christians, including well-known teachers, prove their theological views by quoting some famous "great" Christian of the past. Their thought seems to be, "If Charles Spurgeon, John Owen, and [solemn hush here] Jonathan Edwards said it, that proves it's true!" I just picked those names out of a hat. If you're offended by my hint that those "divines" may make mistakes, you are making my point.

This is Theology By Guru. That's what the scribes did in Jesus' day. They quoted learned Rabbis and used that as their "text".

We shouldn't ignore teachers from past (or present for that matter), but they are not the authority. They may have valuable insights, but understanding the Word of God is spiritual, and every teaching of every teacher needs to be examined according to the Scripture, preferably as we're filled with the Spirit.

God is the authority, and when we hear His words, we may actually be astonished. Matthew 7:28,29 reads,

"And so it was, when Jesus had ended these sayings, that the people were astonished at His teaching, for He taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes."

The Guru-ization of Christianity, in America at least, has dulled the blade of that astonishment. The "pure milk of the Word" re-sharpens that blade, and we can be astonished again.

There are no "great" Christians, just gifted ones who are sometimes right.

This Week On Grace Walk Radio

This week's message on Grace For Life is:

"Why God Owns You, And Why That's Good"

Grace For Life Radio Archives are here.

Lessons From the Amish Murders

"Shoot me and leave the other ones loose".

These were the reported words of 13-year-old Marian Fisher to the milk truck driver named Carl Roberts, who had entered the Amish schoolhouse a little over a week ago.

Emma Mae Zook, only twenty years of age herself, had already been the teacher for three years. She fled to call for help, along with some of the other students, mostly boys. Ten girls remained captive with the man we call "deranged". His intentions were not honorable.

Five of the girls died by his gun, before he "turned the gun on himself", as the all-too-frequent news report comment goes.

Anna Mae Stoltzfus, 12;
Naomi Rose Ebersole, 7;
Mary Liz and Lena Miller, sisters 8 and 7 years old;
Marian Fisher, the brave 13-year-old who understood sacrifice.

But if the sacrificial attitude of Marian touched the world, the attitude of her friends and family stunned them. The attitude was forgiveness. Of a magnitude that we don't see often, even in the "religious". Of a magnitude that didn't just forgive the murderer, but embraced the murderer's family.

What we learn from them, they learned from Jesus.

1. Simplicity
2. Sacrifice
3. Forgiveness
4. Community
5. Gelassenheit. This term they use means “surrenderedness” to God and to one another. “The goal of Gelassenheit is a subdued, humble person who discovers fulfillment in the community.” (Donald Kraybill, The Riddle of Amish Culture)

I haven't spoken favorably about the Amish view of Scripture. They have sometimes drastic tendencies toward legalism, and sometimes harsh dealings with their own in their "shunnings".

But I never stop being amazed at God's working through us flawed creatures. Even in a culture that I don't normally associate the word "Grace" with, there is God's Grace anyway, calling "Follow me, as I follow Christ."

This Week On Grace Walk Radio

This week's message on Grace For Life is:

"Are You Really A New Creation? - Pt. 2"

Grace For Life Radio Archives are here.

Three Things That Revolutionized My Christian Life

By Michele Rayburn

There are three things that have revolutionized my Christian life and walk: God’s unconditional love, God’s total forgiveness, and a Christ-centered life.

1. God’s Unconditional Love

“We love Him because He first loved us.” (1 John 4:19)

This one thing alone revolutionized my Christian walk…knowing that God loves me no matter what. I do not feel insecure in His love for me. I am not afraid that He will stop loving me. And because I believe that I am secure in His love for me, His love compels me to keep pressing on, and I am better able to experience the blessings that come with it, namely the fruit of the Spirit…the love, joy, peace.

2. God’s Total Forgiveness

When we understand God’s total forgiveness, then we will be set free to receive His love. I think it would be almost impossible to receive God’s love if we do not believe that we are totally forgiven of past, present and future sins.

The Lord said that He will “remember our sins no more”. He paid for our sins. He is not looking to condemn us over and over again when we sin for “there is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus…” (Romans 8:1). And “He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ.” (Philippians 1:6)

Our sins are not just temporarily covered, but we have been permanently redeemed by the blood of the Lamb. He will not hold our sins against us. So we should walk in the joy of His forgiveness.

3. A Christ-Centered Life

We need to realize our new standing in Christ, that we are new creations, righteous, holy, Saints, “no longer a slave but a son, and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ” (Gal. 4:7; see also Romans 6:6-23).

2 Corinthians 5:17, 21 says, “Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold all things have become new….For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.”

When we “fix our eyes on Jesus” rather than on our sin, when we reckon ourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord, sin will not reign in our mortal bodies (Romans 6:11-12).

A Christ-centered life, rather than a sin-centered life has given me the spiritual strength that I need to live for Christ.

Legalism Destroys Love

Remember that love is a fruit of the Spirit. When we walk by the Spirit, and are filled with the Spirit, we love. We can't help but love, just like we can't help but have the other fruits of the Spirit, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.

But we're talking about love. And because love is a fruit of the Spirit, it is killed by Legalism.

Why?

Because Legalism quenches the Spirit. Legalism denies the grace of God, it elevates self-righteousness, it makes us think that we can earn God's love and favor, and shows unbelief in His Word that He already loves us and has given us every spiritual blessing in Christ Jesus.

And when Legalism quenches the Spirit, the fruit of the Spirit is quenched, and love is the fruit of the Spirit.

So next time you see in yourself or others a lack of love...be reminded of Grace. You can abound in love if you remember that you are not under Law but under Grace (Rom. 6:14).

Bad Things Must Happen

As I write these words, there is war in the Middle East. America is at war with Islamic extremist terrorists, Israel has been bombing Lebanon, Hezbollah Arabs have been sending rockets into Israel. In other words, things aren’t that much different than for many years.

False religions grip many millions of people, even whole nations. False teachers abound in the visible Christian church world. Violence and other crimes rise and fall in the statistics, but they never go away.

I am big on the love and grace of God. He loves us unconditionally, he has forgiven us of our sins, past present and future. He has made us a new creation, dead to sin and alive to God. He has given us all spiritual blessings in Christ. He gives us the fruit of His Spirit, love, joy, peace, and so on. He even blesses the unbelievers in many ways, causing the rain to fall on the just and the unjust.

Life in Christ is so blessed in so many ways, we might be tempted to think that bad things shouldn’t happen. We might be tempted to pray, “Lord, why all these bad things? Why war? Why bloodshed? Why all this evil? Lord please take it all away. Don’t let any bad things happen any more, please.”

But we know that is not to be, don’t we?

I want to cite a series of verses, not for the specific content of the verses, but just to ask you to do one thing. As I read these verses, I’d like to ask you to look for the word "MUST". As you look for the word "MUST" in these verses, I hope some light is shed on our topic today, and I hope some light is shed on our amazing Lord, and His ways. Look for the word "MUST" in these verses:

Matthew 16:21 From that time Jesus began to show His disciples that He MUST go to Jerusalem, and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised up on the third day.

Matthew 24:6 "You will be hearing of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not frightened, for those things MUST take place, but that is not yet the end.

Matthew 26:54 "How then will the Scriptures be fulfilled, which say that it MUST happen this way?"

Mark 8:31 And He began to teach them that the Son of Man MUST suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and the chief priests and the scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again.

Luke 17:25 "But first He MUST suffer many things and be rejected by this generation.

Revelation 4:1 After these things I looked, and behold, a door standing open in heaven, and the first voice which I had heard, like the sound of a trumpet speaking with me, said, "Come up here, and I will show you what MUST take place after these things."

O.K., you may be asking, “What’s your point, Terry?”

Several points:

1. God’s ways are higher than our ways, and His thoughts are greater than our thoughts. We wouldn’t do things the way He does, necessarily.

Isaiah 55:9 "For as the heavens are higher than the earth, So are My ways higher than your ways And My thoughts than your thoughts.

2. God has a plan, and His plan is good, but... His plan includes bad. In a fallen world, there will be the evil results of fallen man, but God uses that evil for good. As Joseph said to his brothers in Gen. 50:20, “you meant it for evil, but God meant it for good”.

Few things will cause us to worship God in heaven for eternity, more than the full realization of how He turned bad to good.

These things MUST be.

3. God is sovereign in all things.
Psalms 115:3 But our God is in the heavens; He does whatever He pleases.

4. God works all things for good to His children.
Romans 8:28 And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.

What’s the application? As the question goes, “How shall we then live?”

1. If God puts on your heart to pray against some evil, by all means pray. I’m not advocating that we just not care. And sometimes, as James reminds us, we have not because we ask not.

2. We can have peace that passes understanding.
Peace is a fruit of the spirit. And after we've prayed, we need to leave the results to God, and not be anxious.
Phil 4:6,7, "Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus."

3. We can praise God for His great plan, and His awesome ability to take bad, and use it for good. We can honor the Lord for His sovereignty, instead of grumbling and complaining in it. Whether it’s the geo-politics of war, or some false teaching or apostasy, or even today’s weather report, let’s rejoice that God is in control. When we pray for our thorn in the flesh to be taken away, if it isn’t, His grace is still sufficient.

These things must be. But only for now.

Operation Freedom Life, Part 2

Luke wrote both the Gospel of Luke and the Book of Acts. He wrote them specifically to a man named Theophilus. At the beginning of Acts, Luke tells Theophilus that his first treatise (The Gospel of Luke) was about the things that Jesus BEGAN to do and teach, until He ascended to the right hand of the Father.

This indicated that the Book of Acts was a CONTINUATION of Jesus doing and teaching things, AFTER He had already ascended. And how did He continue his doing and teaching? Well, through His Body, the Church. In the days of the apostles, and today. We are His Body, and His life is being lived through us.

This means that His mission is our mission. If you want to know what the mission of the Church is, look for the mission of Jesus Christ. And Jesus gave us a capsule version of His mission in Luke, Chapter 4.

He went into the synagogue, as was His custom, took the scroll of the Book of Isaiah, and read a portion. When He was done, he said that the passage from Isaiah was fulfilled in Him. This was His mission.

Here are what we may say are the seven points of the mission of Jesus, and therefore the mission of you and me:

1. "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me"...

No spiritual mission is possible without the Spirit of God. And His Spirit is in us, ready to live through us. Jesus said, "Apart from me you can do nothing." This is especially true of spiritual things.

Gal. 2:20 teaches us that we were crucified with Christ, and that now Jesus is living through us. This is the foundation of our mission, "Christ in you, the hope of glory."

2. "To preach the gospel to the poor..."

This includes evangelism, witnessing and telling the gospel to the lost. This also includes telling the rest of the gospel to the saved, the good news that our sins are forgiven, past, present and future. The good news that we have been declared righteous in God, that God is for us, and nothing can separate us from the love of God.

3. "To heal the broken-hearted..."

There is a good chance that YOU are broken-hearted. If so, do you think you are alone? A famous preacher once taught his student preachers to always assume that the people you are preaching to are hurting. And healing is in Jesus. He is the balm of Gilead that is spread on the wounds and sores of His people.

Have your broken heart healed as you spend time with Him, in prayer and meditation, and His wonderful Word, the Bible. Then spread the word to others. Healing the broken hearted is your mission too.

4. "To preach deliverance to the captives..."

Again, this is regarding before salvation and after. Listen to Gal. 5:1 – "Stand fast therefore in the liberty by which Christ has made us free, and do not be entangled again with a yoke of bondage." It’s our mission too.

5. "And recovery of sight to the blind..."

I once was blind, but now I see. Again, before and after salvation. The church develops pockets of cultic thinking that cause blindness to our freedom in Christ. We need to help each other to “see” with spiritual eyes those things which are eternal, unseen with the physical eyes. It’s our mission too. Ironically, sometimes the most blind are those who walk by sight

6. "...To set at liberty the oppressed..."

This is opposing Legalism, whether for salvation (false "works" religion), or to keep salvation (earning God’s continued favor), or for fellowship (earning God’s love and friendship, trying to make ourselves "worthy").

Are you oppressed? Are you feeling like, "How could God love me and fellowship with me when I fall so short all the time?" Let me assure you that He has already taken care of that. When Jesus cried out on the cross, "It is finished", He meant it. The curtain between you and God is torn away. The wall between you and God has been blasted away by the cross, when Jesus became sin so that you might be made the righteousness of God.

"There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus." And if there is no condemnation, then there is nothing to keep you from the sweet communion with Him. And then pass it on. It’s your mission too. To tear legalism limb from limb. To set at liberty the oppressed.

7. "To preach the acceptable year of the Lord..."

Jesus caps His and our mission off with this reference to the Year of Jubilee, spoken of in Lev. 25:10, a year of universal release for person and property.

Jesus said, "I came that they might have life and life abundantly." And it’s all through Him. "He who has the Son has Life". We just need reminding sometimes of what we have.

What Jesus BEGAN to do and teach, is now being passed on to us.

This is our mission: Operation Freedom Life.

Operation Freedom Life, Part 1

I live in an Army town, Clarksville, TN. Our suburb is Ft. Campbell, KY, most of which is actually in TN. Ft Campbell is the home of the 101st Airborne Division, along with a large contingent of the Fifth Group Special Forces, and the 160th Nightstalker Special Forces.

So I rub shoulders with a lot of soldiers. I do business with them, make friends with them, and just naturally pay more attention to news about them than someone might who doesn’t see camouflage uniforms every day at McDonald’s or the Wal-Mart checkout line.

And I love these soldiers. I admire them. I respect their dedication to their mission, whatever it may be at the time. I watched the troops come and go during Operation Desert Storm in 1991, freeing Kuwait from Saddam Hussein, Operation Enduring Freedom in Oct. of 2001 invading Afghanistan, and Operation Iraqi Freedom in 2003, still ongoing.

I’ve prayed with families as they were ready to say goodbye to the dad or mom soldier in the family. We gathered with a crowd at Ft. Campbell to welcome home a Nightstalker who had been wounded, tortured and held captive in Somalia. We had a young boy and his homeschooler mom over for our son Michael’s birthday party. Not long after, that boy’s daddy lost his life in Afghanistan.

I say all that to say this: I’ve thought a lot about the concept of “mission”.

A good mission is simple. It may have a lot of complicated logistics, lots of details necessary to carry it out, but the mission itself is simple.

In Desert Storm, in 1991, the mission was “Free Kuwait from Saddam Hussein”. The mission in Afghanistan was “Capture or kill Al-Queda terrorists, bring down the corrupt terrorist-supporting Taliban, and establish an elected government.” In Operation Iraqi Freedom, the mission was “Oust Saddam Hussein and, again, establish a freely elected government.”

Huge operations, but simple in their missions.

What is our Mission as the Church of Jesus Christ? That’s the question I want to answer here. And for our purposes here, I’ll call it “Operation Freedom Life”.

(Continued in Part 2)

Thoughts On The Cross Of Christ

By Michele Rayburn

When I think about the cross, I think of what Christ's death on the cross accomplished. What Christ did on the cross is not "the end" or "an end in and of itself". But rather it is the beginning, and the means by which we are not only forgiven and our sins paid for, but we begin to experience eternal life right now, having received the Holy Spirit. And we are now able to "walk in the Spirit" and thereby grow and mature in our faith.

Without Christ’s crucifixion, we could not receive the Holy Spirit so as to experience His life and become ministers of the New Covenant, the gospel of our salvation to all that would believe. Because we have received the Holy Spirit, we glorify God in the earth and carry out His work as well.

When I think of Christ’s death on the cross, I think of Galatians 2:20, “I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.”

And Colossians 3:1-4 says, "If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ is sitting at the right hand of God...For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is our life appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory."

Hebrews 12:2-3 says, “...looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross...consider Him who endured such hostility from sinners against Himself, lest you become weary and discouraged in your souls.”

The author of Hebrews reminds us to look at how Jesus was able to endure such suffering because He was forward-looking, anticipating the joy that would follow, and encourages us to be like-minded...to not become weary and discouraged in our sufferings, but to look forward to the joy that is to come after this life.

Our church had to say goodbye to one of the members of our congregation a couple of Sundays ago. He came to church to see everyone one last time because he knew that he only had a few days left to live. He was a young man with inoperable brain cancer. I was so glad to see him just one more time, because I wanted to know how he was feeling spiritually...could he say, “It is well with my soul”.

Though he was very, very weak sitting in his wheelchair, barely able to speak or hear, and very frail, I was blessed by his countenance. He had an almost imperceptible smile on his face, and a glow about him. I could see that though outwardly he was perishing, inwardly he had the joy of the Lord. That’s what I needed to see.

I thought of how he must be looking forward to his new home in Heaven, that he was ready. He was looking forward to the joy that was to come. And that’s what the author of Hebrews is encouraging us to do in our sufferings. (This young man has since gone home to be with the Lord.)

When I think of Christ’s death on the cross, I think of the acceptance and unconditional love that we have in Him. Ephesians 1:4-7 says, “He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love, having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself...by which He has made us accepted in the Beloved.”

One Pastor/theologian wrote, “...other religions cannot tell us of a dying Savior.” I would have to say that other religions not only cannot tell us of a “dying Savior”, (though “many Christs will come”) but they cannot tell us of a risen Savior either.

I remember talking to my cousin about Jesus Christ years ago. She preferred to follow the teachings of Buddha. So, I finally said to her that all those other “prophets” from those other religions are dead, but Jesus Christ is alive...He has risen from the dead! I will never forget the look in her eyes. She was speechless. It was a moment I will never forget.

The gospel is not the cross, per se, as I sometimes hear people say. It is that Christ died on the cross for our sins, and that He was buried and that He rose again on the third day. (1 Cor.15:3-4)

Jesus said, “And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all peoples to Myself.” (John 12:32)

Listen to "Grace For Life" Radio Program.

Is The Book of James Against Grace?

I have seen much confusion caused among believers because of a misunderstanding of the message of James in the Epistle of James. Some have glossed over it and made it seem as if James didn’t really say what he said, others have twisted the words of James to mean what they want it to mean, and others have outright rejected the Book of James, teaching or implying that it shouldn’t even be in the Bible.

In Martin Luther's preface to the New Testament, he wrote the famous words, "St. James' Epistle is really an epistle of straw, compared to them; for it has nothing of the nature of the Gospel about it." (Actually that appeared only in the 1522 edition. In the 1545 revision it was taken out.)

Is the Book of James against grace?

After all, James uses the word “law” 12 times, and “grace” only twice. He uses the word “works” 13 times, but the name “Jesus” only twice.

He even says blatantly, in James 2:24, "You see that a man is justified by works and not by faith alone." And he gives an example in James 2:25, "In the same way, was not Rahab the harlot also justified by works when she received the messengers and sent them out by another way?"

Is the Book of James against grace?

In case you’re getting a little nervous, the answer is, “No, James is not against grace." Two things are important here.

First, we need to understand that James is not just writing to believers.

He is writing to “the twelve tribes who are dispersed abroad”. These were Jews who were scattered around the then-known world, some of whom were now Christians.

You can never understand James until you realize that he was addressing unbelievers as well as believers, some who professed to believe in Jesus, and some who truly did believe. And James, in some of his comments, sort of throws them all into a hopper and mixes them up, and then tells them what’s what. You may not like his method here. You may prefer a systematic Paul, who more logically progresses with his points and makes it clearer whom he is talking to. But God has used James to make some points that no other Bible writer has made.

Second, we need to see the purposes in James' writing.

He was not laying down a theological treatise on salvation, or what we call soteriology. He wasn’t, like Paul in Romans, detailing the makeup of man, the work of Christ on the Cross, and the election, calling and justification of men by grace through faith.

To see these purposes of James, let’s do a very brief review of the Book of James, and comment on some of the issues James was dealing with. There are 5 chapters, and we’ll give each one a title, reflecting the main theme of each chapter. These 5 titles will begin with letters which spell out the word Works. W-o-r-k-s.

Chapter 1 “With Trials Comes Growth”

Chapter 2 “Only Works Show Faith”

Chapter 3 “Rudder-Tongue Steers Ship”

Chapter 4 “Keep Humble, Get Grace”

Chapter 5 “Suffer Patiently, But Pray”

So James is not against grace. But he wants true grace to be in evidence. Not a false or spurious grace. He wants to emphasize that when you become a New Creation, there will be fruit that comes from that. When you are born again, something happens. You are given a new spirit, which is the true you, the essence of your being, your very nature…a new nature which loves Jesus and hates sin. And when that new true nature of yours expresses itself, there will be good works. And when we walk by the Spirit, some of those works will be seen. And it’s all by Grace!

If We Love, We Will Forgive

We need to understand that Love, as a fruit of the Spirit, has its own fruits.

Some of the fruits of Love are named or implied in the 13th Chapter of 1 Corinthians, the so-called "Love" chapter.

And one of these fruits of Love is "...does not take into account a wrong suffered." In other words, Forgiveness.

We must not fool ourselves by saying, "I am loving," when we aren't also forgiving. If we hold something against someone, we are merely manifesting the deeds of the flesh (Gal. 5:19-21). Unforgiveness and lack of Love go hand in hand.

How quickly should we forgive? The simple answer is, "Immediately as the offense occurs." But, of course, it's not that simple, is it? Why not?

Well, because forgiveness, like Love, is a fruit of the Spirit, and if we're not walking by the Spirit, to that degree we won't be loving, and we won't be forgiving.

So, as always, we need to be being filled with the Spirit, to commune closely with Jesus Christ, to live in surrender to Him and His will, to bask in His grace and love, reckoning ourselves dead to sin, and allowing Him to live His Life through us.

Then we will be loving, and forgiving. But we won't be one without the other, and we won't be either without Jesus.

Side Note: Acting loving or forgiving isn't enough, is it? That's not the fruit of the Spirit.

Listen to "Grace For Life" Radio Program.

Legalism In The News - Re-Baptism

Make no mistake about it. Men often love to make rules that are not in the Bible and call them Biblical.

The new President of the Southern Baptist Convention, Frank Page, "...affirmed that he believes re-baptism is necessary in the case of a person who was baptized by immersion following salvation in a church with 'incorrect theology,' including one which rejected eternal security of the believer."

Now I certainly believe in the eternal security of the believer, but the issue for baptism Biblically is not the fine points of theology, but the professed regeneration of the candidate. In other words, are you born again? Are you a believer in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior?

But in an echo of the Pharisees, man sometimes likes to make his own rules, call them Biblical, then parse them to the "enth" degree to cover all situations that might arise, forgetting that the Holy Spirit will be leading.

What's interesting is that President Page has a controversial background of promoting women Pastors, which he has since recanted as "incorrect theology".

Does that mean that those who were baptized in his church during those years when he held his former view should now be re-baptized? He would, of course, say, "Certainly not." There again, because one not only makes his extra-biblical rules, but then refines them according to his own sub-rules, legalism remains a slippery fish to get a hold on.

He also has written a book against Calvinism. Does that mean someone baptized in an SBC church that teaches what he would call the "incorrect doctrine" of Calvinism should be re-baptized. And on it goes.

Side Note: By the way, when Page says re-baptism is "necessary", necessary for what? Salvation? He would say, "Of course not." What then? Well, it's for putting your name on the rolls for "membership" (dare I say, another extra-biblical teaching?).

And that's "Legalism In The News" for today, folks.

Listen to "Grace For Life" Radio Program.

The Rest of the Gospel

I've found that to most Christians the Gospel is something that is told to unbelievers to get them to believe in Jesus Christ, so that they can be saved from Hell and go to Heaven.

If someone is more theology oriented, they may get into more details about how that unbeliever is saved, how God chose them before the foundation of the world, how Jesus died to pay the penalty for their sins, how Jesus imputed His righteousness to them in order to justify them, or declare them righteous, how He regenerates them so they're born again, how He seals them with His Holy Spirit, and how He keeps them in His hand until they die, so they can tell other unbelievers how to be saved from Hell and go to Heaven.

But whether a simple untrained Christian, or the most trained Theologian with several Theological Seminary degrees, there is a tendency to see the Gospel as related pretty much only to initial salvation. In fact the field of study is called Soteriology, the study of salvation.

But I want to call attention to what may be called "The Rest of the Gospel", or the Gospel for the Christian, or the Gospel for the Already Saved.

Now the phrase "the rest of the gospel" is kind of a play on words. It's the "rest" of the gospel, like there's more to come, or more to be understood, like the rest of the story. And then there's the "rest" of the gospel, like "resting", like we rest our heads on a pillow.

1. First, "rest" (as in pillow).

Matthew 11:28 says, "Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest." I find most Christians I meet either have no rest or rest on the wrong thing.

Hebrews 4:9 says, "There remains therefore a rest for the people of God. And Hebrews 4:10 says, "For he who has entered His rest has himself also ceased from his works as God did from His."

Have you entered that rest, where your relationship to Jesus Christ is based on His works, not yours? I'm not asking are you born again, are you saved? I'm talking about that "rest" where we don't have to earn God's love or favor anymore. That's the "rest" of the Gospel.

2. Second, "rest" as in the rest of the story.

Unbelievers are described in the Bible like this:

Condemned
Guilty
Enslaved to sin
Unrighteous
Confidence in myself (flesh)
A citizen of earth
Unholy
Blemished
Adamic
Proud
Self-centered
Defeated Sinner

Unfortunately, too many Christians think they are still that same person, only they've been forgiven. The bumper sticker that says, "Christians Are Not Perfect, Just Forgiven" is misleading.

Galatians 2:20 says, "I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me."

2 Cor 5:21 says, "For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him."

Christians are not JUST forgiven. A couple of things happened there that go way beyond just being saved from Hell and eventually going to Heaven, as wonderful as that is:

1. God fulfilled the long-promised New Covenant in which He would actually come to live inside His children and His life would be entwined with our life. 1 Cor. 6:17 says, "But he who is joined to the Lord is one spirit with Him." And so He is living His life through us. He is actually causing us to walk in His ways, as the promise of the New Covenant declared. He is actually working in us both to will and to do His good pleasure, Paul tells the Philippians.

2. While we're living this Christ life, we can be aware that there is nothing in the way of unrighteousness putting a wall between us. We have become the righteousness of Christ. He has made us a New Creation, and He has declared us to be righteous, or in right standing with Him. No barriers, no veils, no Wizard of Oz curtain to keep us from Him.

Remember that list of things about unbelievers, that some believers sometimes think are still true of them? It's now replaced with a new list:

Forgiven
Free in Christ
Righteous
Full confidence in Christ
A citizen of heaven
Heaven-seated
Holy
Unblemished
Christian
Humble
Christ-centered
Victorious
Saint

The more we have close fellowship with Him, the more we can see beyond the veil into the invisible Kingdom of God, and see the wonders that He is doing in our lives. We don't need to be conformed to the world, but transformed as our minds are renewed. We truly see things with wisdom. I don't mean we see with our eyes, we see with faith.

• We walk by faith, and not by sight.
• We see how to really live, and we walk by the Spirit.
• When we walk by the Spirit, we are filled with His Spirit, and we have the fruit of the Spirit, and now we can love and be loved.
• We can have joy in our lives, the joy of the Lord, and we know that the joy of the Lord is our strength.
• We can live our lives with peace in our hearts.
• We can have patience with the circumstances in our lives, and with the people in our lives.
• We can walk in kindness, and everyone around us will know the difference.
• Our goodness will be real, not put on to impress anybody.
• We reflect the faithfulness of God with our own faithfulness.
• We won't have to PROVE ourselves, but can have true biblical meekness, that doesn't have to have our rights always enforced.
• We will have true self-control, not the pull-up-your-bootstraps willpower, but the peaceable strength of "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me".

This is the rest of the gospel. This is the life in Christ, who is our life. This is the walk of the New Creation, the walk by faith in the unseen eternal things that have already been accomplished in us by our wonderful Lord and Savior. We're not just forgiven, friends. There is the rest of the Gospel to be proclaimed to the believer.

Listen to "Grace For Life" Radio Program.

The Real Antinomian

Scripture clearly teaches that the Christian is no longer under Law, but under Grace. (Rom. 6:14) And this is given as the reason why sin is no longer master over us.

As born again believers in Jesus Christ we may be certain that all our sins are forgiven, past, present and future. In fact the Scripture goes so far as to say that there is now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus. In fact the Scripture goes on to say that all things are lawful for us (though not all things are profitable, or expedient). In fact it makes the radical statement that where sin abounds, grace much more abounds! In fact it says that we are accepted fully by God in Christ, the Beloved. That there is nothing that could ever separate us from the love of God. Absolutely amazing, when you really think about it from our measuring-stick mentality.

This biblical truth is so radical that it shakes the legalists to their core, and they shout "Antinomian!" (Antinomian literally refers to "no law" or "anti-law"). Or they ask the reasonable question that Paul anticipated from his Roman readers, "Should we sin, so that grace will abound?"

And of course, Paul says "of course not", and explains the new creation, the new heart given us by God, in which we have died with Christ, been buried with Him, and risen again with Him to a new life. We have died to sin, and been made alive to Christ. "How can you," Paul asks, "who have died to sin, keep living in it?"

So Paul's radical teaching of the grace of God is not Antinomianism.

Is there then a true Antinomianism? A wrong heretical Antinomianism? Yes. I know biblically, and from my other readings that such creatures exist. Even though I have to admit I haven't actually met one.

I would take a stab at a definition of true Antinomianism this way:

An Antinomian is one who believes that because our sins are forgiven, past, present and future, there is no biblical call for good works or moral living. And therefore there is really no such thing as "sin".

That kind of Antinomian is justly criticized. And while I said I never met one who taught that way, I must admit I've seen a few who seem to live that way. These are what the Bible calls hypocrites. I don't mean the born-again believer who fails, sins, gets back up in repentance, and goes on. I mean the one who thinks there is nothing really "wrong". That's the true Antinomian.

Don't let someone label you that, just because you believe the Apostle Paul when he writes that sin shall no longer be master over you because you are no longer under Law but under Grace, or because you don't walk around in misery over your sin all the time. It is forgiven, after all. And you do love the Lord, after all. And He is working in you both to will and to do His good pleasure, after all. Rejoice, no matter what the legalists say.

Listen to "Grace For Life" Radio Program.

Is God Pleased With You?

Five times in the Bible the words are recorded which the Father said regarding Jesus, "This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased." (Matt. 3:17; 17:5; Mark 1:11; Luke 3:22; 2 Pet. 1:17)

But do you realize that your Father now has that same view of you?

"For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him. " (2 Cor. 5:21) Not only have we been given the righteousness of God, we ourselves have become sons and daughters of God. Amazing!

And so now, as stunning as it may sound, we are brethren of Jesus Christ! "...for which reason He is not ashamed to call them brethren..." (Hebrews 2:11b)

Don't squirm uncomfortably because you don't feel worthy. He has done it all. He has made you His child. He has made you a new creation, born of Him, not of corruptible seed, but incorruptible. And He has given you a new spirit, and made you one spirit with Him. And He delights in you, the apple of His eye.

And so now, you...

are also the Father's beloved son (or daughter), in whom He is well pleased.

Enjoy.

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The Name of Jesus

Jesus, Jesus, Jesus
There's just something about that name
Master, Savior, Jesus
Like the fragrance after the rain
Jesus, Jesus, Jesus
Let all heaven and earth proclaim
Kings and kingdoms will all pass away
But there's something about that name
(Bill Gaither)

"Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved." (Acts 4:12)

Listen to "Grace For Life" Radio Program.

Keep Yourselves In The Love Of God

I'll bet it's been awhile since you've read the book of Jude.

It's an interesting epistle, because Jude started out to write an encouraging letter about our salvation, and changed direction under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. He was led to write about "contending for the Faith", because of false teachers that were abounding.

And in the midst of this very serious letter about false teaching, Jude says something very important for us to remember as we are contending for the Faith.

In verse 21 (Jude is only one chapter), he writes, "...keep yourselves in the love of God."

Have you ever seen the optical illusion of the 3-dimensional box? If you focus your eyes one way, you see the outside surface of the box. If you focus your eyes another way, you see the inside surface of the box.

Jude 21 is like that. Does Jude refer to God's love for you...or your love for God? Well, it's both.

1. Keep yourself in His love for you.

This must come first. We love Him because He first loved us (1 Jn 4:19)

Doubting God's love comes from Law-based thinking. We know we can't measure up perfectly to our every duty, and so we think God loves us less. This is, of course, unbiblical, and Grace is the antidote. God loves us unconditionally, and we need to remember that. We need a crash course in Grace every day. Peter wrote in 2 Pet. 2:12,13,

"Therefore, I will always be ready to remind you of these things, even though you already know them, and have been established in the truth which is present with you. I consider it right, as long as I am in this earthly dwelling, to stir you up by way of reminder, "

We need to be reminded that we are His beloved.

Why is this important? Because if we’re not appropriating the love of God for us….if we’re not basking in His love and grace….then we will not be able to be filled with His Holy Spirit, and we won’t be able to walk by the Spirit….and that means we won’t have the fruit of the Spirit, and the primary fruit of the Spirit is love.

2. Keep yourself in your love for Him.

This requires walking by the Spirit. This requires being filled with the Spirit.

Jude precedes vs. 21 by saying in vs. 20, "But you, beloved, [see that word "beloved"? That’s us], but you beloved, building yourselves up on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit".
See how we can build ourselves up in the faith? We can do that, through reading the word of God, through meditation on Jesus, on God the Father and His word, through shutting out the world and it’s noises for a time, and listening to the Lord, through praying while we’re filled with the Spirit, through thirsting after God like the deer pants after the waterbrook.

We love Him because He first loved us. But we can’t let Religion choke out this love.

I love theology. I love the study of God in His word, in depth. I want to know all I can about Him and His ways. That’s theology at it’s best. And I even love a good debate. Jude even says in vs. 3 that we should contend earnestly for the faith. I love that.

But nothing, I repeat nothing, takes the place of keeping ourselves in the love of God.

Did you know there are two letters to the Ephesians in the New Testament? The first is the epistle we call the book of Ephesians, written by Paul the Apostle. The other is the letter of Jesus to the church at Ephesus, as recorded by John in Revelation 2:1-7.

Jesus commends the Ephesian church for doing something good. That good thing they did was to contend for the faith. They recognized and fought doctrinal error in the church. But then Jesus tells them something very sad.

The Ephesian church had left their first love.

Did they apostasize? Turn against Jesus, lose their salvation? No, of course not. They merely failed to do what Jude exhorts us to do: "Keep yourselves in the love of God."

Don’t underestimate this, beloved.

Don’t be like the church at Ephesus. "Keep yourselves in the love of God."

Listen to "Grace For Life" Radio Program.

The Unseen Truth of Perfection

How can the Bible say, "For momentary, light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison...?" (2 Cor. 4:17)

Your affliction may not seem momentary. It may seem to you like it's gone on forever. And your affliction may not seem light. It may seem to you to be almost more than you can bear sometimes.

How can the Bible say, "...Momentary, light affliction...?"

I think the answer is in the next verse:

...while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal. 2 Cor. 4:18

This means that there are realities on this earth which can be seen with our eyes, and these things are temporary. But there are realities beyond those visible realities. And sometimes God gives us a glimpse of these eternal realities, but they can't be seen with our eyes. They are true, but unseen.

Under the New Covenant, God has done many of these unseen things, which we can't see with our eyes, but which God has revealed to us. For example, God has given us a new spirit. 2 Cor. 5:17 says that we are a New Creation, but we can't see that with our eyes. He has given us eternal life, but we can't see that eternal life with our eyes, and so forth. (Though we can see the fruit of that New Creation, and the fruit of that eternal life.)

So with that in mind, let's look at a very profound verse of Scripture, and one that is very neglected by the church. The verse is Heb. 10:14, "For by one offering He has perfected for all time those who are sanctified."

Do you know that you have been perfected for all time? Let that sink in for just a moment.

Now we don't see that perfection, and that's exactly why we need to believe this eternal truth by faith. And I'm not talking about sinless perfection, as though we don't sin. That's where an understanding of the make-up of man comes in. We need to understand that we are made up of body, soul, and spirit.

Our body is that part of us which is physical of course. Our soul we may say is made up of our mind (thinker), our emotions (feeler), and our will (chooser). Finally, our spirit is the very essence of us. Made in the image of God, we are essentially spirit. Then we have a soul, and live in a body. And it's our spirit which has been made brand new by the new birth. It's our spirit into which the Spirit of God has come to dwell, having become one spirit with us (1 Cor. 6:17).

Before we're born again, our spirit is dead to God and alive to sin. When we're born again, our spirit is dead to sin and alive to God. We now have an inclination in our spirit to love God and hate sin.

It's in our spirit that we are "made perfect". (Heb. 10:14)

When's the last time you heard that preached? It's not likely. And the reason is that we tend to take eternal realities that we can't see and set them aside for temporary realities that we can see. And we walk by sight, instead of faith.

One of the main reasons for this is that we slip into the idea that our righteousness comes from what we do. And so we focus on what we do, to the exclusion of what has already been done in us. Paul writes to the Galatians, however, that this is "another Gospel". The truth is that we are given the gift of righteousness, we are declared righteous by faith in Jesus Christ, and made righteous in our spirits. And it's all by grace. Not something we earn.

Paul makes it clear that if our righteousness came from what we do, then Christ wouldn't have had to die. But, of course, that's not the case.

Have you ever heard someone say that we are "clothed in God's righteousness"? That sounds good, but that's not what the Bible teaches about the New Covenant. Even under the Old Covenant, believers in God were "clothed with God's righteousness". Look at Isaiah 61:10 --

I will rejoice greatly in the LORD, My soul will exult in my God; For He has clothed me with garments of salvation, He has wrapped me with a robe of righteousness...

But something greater has been done by God under the New Covenant. We have actually been made a New Creation, our spirits have been made perfect in Christ, and the righteousness of God has been given to us, and now it is ours. Look at 2 Cor. 5:21 --

For He made Him who knew no sin [to be] sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.

That's the eternal reality. And when we realize that we have a new spirit, made righteous by God through grace, and when we realize that Christ is in us, in our spirit, we will be more inclined to walk by that spirit, and not by our flesh. That's why Romans 6:11 tells us to "reckon ourselves" or "choose to believe by faith" that we are dead to sin and alive to God through Christ Jesus.

Or as Hebrews puts it, "For by one offering He has perfected for all time those who are sanctified." If you are a believer, he's talking about you, what God has done in you, by grace.

Walk in that unseen eternal truth. It will change your life. And the afflictions will seem a little more "temporary" and "light".

Listen to "Grace For Life" Radio Program.

Blogging With Love, Revisited

Following is the actual text of Steve Sensenig's terrific article "A Blogger's Version of 1 Corinthians 13" . Wouldn't want anybody to miss it:

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If I blog with words that impress greatly and have the most beautiful blog template, but have not love, I am only a bunch of meaningless pixels scattered across the screen. If I have large numbers of readers coming to my blog, and hundreds of comments on every post, but have not love, I am no better than the blogger who has no readers at all. If I can exegete Scripture impressively and convince others of my theological perspective but have not love, I gain nothing.

A loving blogger is patient and kind. Love does not envy other’s site statistics, it does not boast in its own viewpoints, it is not proud of what it writes. Love is not rude to those who comment, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered by disagreements, it keeps no record of wrongs. A loving blogger does not delight in speaking or reading evil but rejoices with speaking the truth. He always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

Love never fails. But where there are blog hosts, their servers will fail; where there is heavy blog traffic, it will be reduced to nothing; where there is impressive writing, it will all be deleted from the file system. For we know in part and we write blog posts in part, but when perfection comes, the imperfect disappears. When I was a beginning blogger, I wrote about trivial subjects, I jumped to conclusions about other viewpoints, I paid no attention to how I talked to others. When I became a mature blogger, I put beginners’ ways behind me.

Now we see but a basic representation of our words as on an old monochrome monitor; then we shall understand all of this theological truth in its fullest. Now I only understand a little bit about which I write; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.

And now these three remain: site statistics, creative writing and love. But the greatest of these is love.
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I love that. Thanks to Steve.

Turning Wisdom Into Laws

If you're a Legalist, everything looks like a law.

The Legalist can take the most encouraging passages of wisdom from Scripture and turn them into a law to clunk you over the head with. It's uncanny.

An example is Hebrews 10:25, "...not forsaking our own assembling together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another; and all the more, as you see the day drawing near."

What a wonderful verse. Reminding us to not isolate ourselves from the Body of Christ, but to encourage one another, and "...consider how to stimulate one another to love and good deeds." (Heb. 10:24).

It's a joyful verse, filled with hope!

But the Legalist makes it a law. A law that goes something like this:

Go to church! At least the worship service! And frankly, if you don't show up every time the door is open, I wonder about you. If you miss church, you are in sin. This is a command of God, one of His many laws. And laws are meant to be kept. Look at John over there. He comes to church every time the doors are opened. Now that's a godly man! I'm watching you.

(I kinda hate to even write the above diatribe as a Legalist would think, because I can feel some of you cringe with the old legalistic thinking. But if you recognize it, in all its horror, then you can reject it, repudiate it, replace it with Grace-filled thinking.)

Without regard to the heart, the Legalist looks at the actions. And having imposed his law-based twist on every scripture, he will heap condemnation on you in a New York minute if you don't see it his way.

Even if you LOVE the scripture in question, and your heart is devoted and grateful to Christ, who is our Wisdom, the Legalist will turn it into an opportunity to accuse you...IF you listen to him.

Don't listen to him.

Listen to the lover of your soul. Listen to the bridegroom. Listen to the Shepherd.

Listen to "Grace For Life" Radio Program.

The Tare Police

There is something disturbing that I’ve noticed more and more in the church in America. I hear it in person or on TV, I read it on internet blogs and websites, and I see articles on it in magazines.

More and more, Christians are declaring that other Christians are unsaved or unregenerate.

Some Calvinists think that Arminians aren’t saved. Some Arminians think that Calvinists aren’t saved. Some non-Charismatics think Charismatics aren’t saved and some Charismatics think non-Charismatics aren’t saved. Some fundamentalists think Reformed folks are unsaved, and some Reformed folks think fundamentalists are unsaved. Some think Emergent church folks are unsaved, and some think New Perspective folks are unsaved. Some think Southern Baptists are mostly unregenerate, and some think the Methodists are all unsaved liberals.

Need I go on to the Protestants and Catholics, the Covenant Theology guys, The Dispensationalists, the New Covenant Theology guys, the Auburn Theology guys, the Open Theism guys, or those who commit some horrible public sin?

And some will say that those who think they have all the truth and that everybody else is suspect in their salvation are the unsaved ones, because they don’t accept everybody.

Now if you are not even aware of these various distinctions and you just love everybody, God bless you. But some will think you are thereby just plain undiscerning and so you couldn’t be saved.

O.K., I know all this sounds a little sarcastic.

And I know that discernment is good. I know that being Bereans who read and study our Bibles is good. And seeking to have accurate doctrine is good. And admonishing and correcting one another is good. And desiring the truth is good. And opposing error is good.

And I know that there will be tares among the wheat, wolves among the sheep. But in the parable of the wheat and the tares, the servants ask the owner if they should separate the tares and gather them up. His answer?

"No, lest while you gather up the tares you also uproot the wheat with them. Let both grow together until the harvest, and at the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, 'First gather together the tares and bind them in bundles to burn them, but gather the wheat into my barn.'" -Matthew 13:29,30

What is Jesus getting at here? Why shouldn’t we search out the tares and pull the little rascals out?

Well, you probably know that tares were a plant that looked like wheat. In fact it looked so much like wheat that you couldn’t be sure which was which until the very end of its maturity. You might think you saw a tare, but then you couldn’t be too sure. Or you might think you saw wheat, but then it turned out to be a tare in the end.

Notice some things here that Jesus thinks are important:

1. It’s the Enemy that sows the seeds of the tares.

The Bible calls false teaching "doctrines of demons", but they can be very subtle. And sometimes real sheep, real wheat, can pass on bad teaching that they learned from other sheep passing on bad teaching. So there is definitely some evil going on with this tare thing, but that doesn’t mean it’s always detectable who the tares are.

2. If you attempt to tear up the tares, the wheat may be harmed.

Look at the care that Jesus has for His children. He would rather have the tares growing up in the visible church, than to cause harm to His brethren.

Don’t let that slide by. If you think you hate bad doctrine, God hates it worse. If you think you love truth, Jesus is the Truth. Yet He would prefer that hypocrites, unbelievers, unregenerate be left hiding in the church, than to do anything that would cause spiritual harm to His people.

This brings to my mind two verses:
1. Matthew 16:18, Jesus said, …"I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not prevail against it." We don't have to worry that God's plan will fail because we don't identify every tare that comes along.

2. Rom. 8:28, God causes all things to work together for good to those who love him, and are the called according to His purpose. This includes working together for good the presence of tares among the wheat. It's not that it's good...but God will work it for good.

So how shall we deal with the tares?

Didn’t Paul the Apostle and others declare some people unsaved? Didn’t they rout out the false teachers and declare curses of anathema on them?

Yes. But they also did miracles, healed the sick, raised the dead, and did other authenticating signs of their apostleship. The apostles at times had insights into the human heart that can only be seen as a spiritual gift. But this is not promised to all of us. When Peter tells a local prophet that he is in the gall of bitterness, referring to his lost state, or when Paul or Jude identify a false teacher as one destined for the lake of fire, they are exercising a gift of direct revelation from God. We can’t presume to have the same gift.

We may have an opinion that we keep to ourselves. We may even exercise church discipline on a church member who is unrepentant of some public ongoing sin, and "treat him as if he were an unbeliever", but even then we can’t declare him to be an unbeliever.

Let’s love the people Jesus loves, so much that we are unwilling to hurt them by trying to sort out the sheep and the goats. Let’s love the brethren so much that even in our correction, we give the benefit of the doubt.

We will make mistakes. But we need to err in the direction of love and acceptance for even the weak or misguided sheep. And we need to err in the direction of encouraging the sheep that we may even privately think are not sheep. And if they prove to be sheep after all, we will have done a great service to the Kingdom of God. And if they prove in the end to not be sheep, we will have honored our Lord who said not to tear up the tares. Leave that to the harvesters at the end of the age.

And finally, we may have encouraged or admonished or corrected one who was not yet a sheep. But through God’s grace, our love and encouragement and teaching, one day they truly believed on the Lord Jesus Christ.

Let’s not be tare police. Let’s not let the failings of church folks steal our fruit of the Spirit. Our love, or joy, or peace, or patience, or kindness, or goodness, or meekness, or faithfulness or self-control.

Listen to "Grace For Life" Radio Program.

Tithing Revisited

In January of 2006 I posted on the subject of tithing.

I have received numerous emails and comments that were favorable, and several that were not favorable, but were civil and kind.

I've also received several wild-eyed "You've GOT to be KIDDING!!!, you Anti-Christ Underminer of...of...didn't you ever read Malachi???!!!!" type of responses. I always write back to these folks, offering a kind word, and sometimes offering to calmly and Biblically discuss the matter. They never want to.

The latest, from a man I'll call "Andre" (because that's the name he used in his email with a fake email address) was written in giant, bold-type, accented wild-eyed type font. His accusations were entirely emotional, with accompanying Old Covenant Bible verses (typical). I felt sorry for him in his bondage, and athough my email was rejected because of his fake email address, I replied to him as follows:

Dear Andre,

Thank you for writing.

The verses you quote are all from Scriptures that were from under the Old Covenant. The quotes from the four Gospels were from Jesus who Himself was born under the Law, that is the Mosaic Law or Old Covenant, and lived under the Old Covenant.

He, of course, fully followed and obeyed the Law, which demonstrated that He was the perfect Lamb of God.

The Old Covenant was made obsolete by the New Covenant in the blood of Christ (Hebrews 8).

I dare say you didn't read my writings carefully at all.

1. I never said tithing was evil. If someone wants to give 10% of their income joyfully...great! Nothing wrong with that.

2. I said that *teaching* tithing [as a commandment] is evil, because under the New Covenant, no percentage of income is *ever* mentioned. And even under the Old Covenant, income was never tithed, only produce, and more than once per year, totaling over 20%.

3. If you could show *one* example of tithing commanded under the New Covenant (that is, after the Cross), I would happily teach tithing. But such an example doesn't exist, only the teaching of cheerful giving as determined by the God-guided heart of the individual, as God prospers him.

4. I strongly believe in giving to the Lord's work, but to teach tithing just puts people under the Law, and actually causes them to sin. Rom. 6:14 says that sin shall no longer be master over us because we are not under Law, but under Grace.

5. The grip of Legalism is so strong around your neck, that you can only shout (for that is what your giant bold print is in the online world) at me while you're being strangled.

I *love* the Word of God, but the Old Covenant is obsolete. You may as well shout at me to slay lambs on an altar, and then shout that "It's in the Word of God!!!!" But you would be as wrong in the lamb sacrifices as you are in the command to tithe one's income.

Blessings,
Terry

Listen to "Grace For Life" Radio Program.

Risen With Christ

Praise the Lord for the resurrection of Christ!

Consider this also. When Jesus died on the Cross on that Good Friday, and took the wrath of God on Himself...in some mysterious way...we were in Him.

We were crucified with Him, and we died. By the grace of God, our old self died, in Christ.

Then we, in Christ, went to the tomb. We were “buried with Him through baptism”...the baptism by the Holy Spirit into the body of Christ.

Then when He was raised from the dead, we too were raised from the dead. Made alive to God through Christ Jesus.

But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up together...--Eph. 2:4-6

In raising us up with Him, He gave us a whole new identity.

Where we were Sinners by nature, He made us Saints.

He made us His children, friends of Christ, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, in union with Him, adopted by Him, complete in Christ, free from condemnation, the righteousness of God in Christ, a branch of the Vine, chosen and appointed to bear fruit, the temple of the Holy Spirit, seated with Him in the heavenlies, God's workmanship, inseparable from the love of God, fully accepted in the Beloved.

We can assume no glory for it. All glory goes to the Lamb, who is worthy, who was slain from the foundation of the world.

We can know by faith that we are risen with Christ. And Easter, Resurrection Day, can have greater and greater meaning for us, when we see what God has accomplished in us.

Happy Resurrection Day!

Listen to "Grace For Life" Radio Program.