Have A Blessed Christmas!

The Real Meaning Of Christmas:





The Rest Of The Real Meaning Of Christmas:



Romans 8:1 - There is therefore no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.

Romans 8:2 - For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death.

Romans 8:3 - For what the Law could not do, weak as it was through the flesh, God did sending His own son in the likeness of sinful flesh and as an offering for sin, He condemned sin in the flesh,

Romans 8:4 - in order that the requirement of the Law might be fulfilled in us, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit.

Have A Very Merry Christmas!

Why The New Covenant Is Unilateral (Notes)

The Bible is what we call the Word of God. The Scripture itself says that it is “god-breathed” or “inspired” by God. Working through ordinary men, God spoke in a miraculous and mysterious way, through the writing of these men, so that we have a record of the actual thoughts, the very heart, of God. In what we call the Holy Bible.

And as we read and study this Bible, this Word of God, one of the most important things we can do is to “rightly divide” the word of truth.

2 Timothy 2:15, "Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth."

Cutting Straight The Word of God

That phrase “rightly dividing” literally means “cutting straight”. We need to cut straight or rightly divide the Word, in the sense that we see the divisions that God Himself has made as He progressively revealed Himself over many hundreds of years.

In one sense, it’s absolutely stunning that so many men over so many hundreds of years could write something that fits together in a way that makes sense. At least it makes sense if we “rightly divide” it. If we don’t rightly divide it, then some things don’t make sense.

God at various times and various places, with various peoples, sometimes had different plans, different commands, different expectations, and different ways of dealing with those people.

The Old Covenant And The New

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.

Let’s read from the book of Hebrews something about the New Covenant, and then we’ll look at some comparisons with the Old Covenant.

For if that first covenant had been faultless, there would have been no occasion sought for a second.

For finding fault with them, He says, "Behold, days are coming, says the Lord, when I will effect a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah;

"Not like the covenant which I made with their fathers on the day when I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt; for they did not continue in my covenant, and I did not care for them, says the Lord.

"For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those day, says the Lord: I will put my laws into their minds, and I will write them on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people.

...."For I will be merciful to their iniquities, and I will remember their sins no more."

When He said, "A new covenant" He has made the first obsolete. (Heb. 8:7-13, selections)

I’d like you to notice three things from this passage:

1. The Old Covenant is obsolete.

--doesn’t mean we can’t learn anything from it
--well worth studying
--what we want to know is the heart of our Lord, don’t we?
--there is much about Him that we can learn even from the Old Covenant
--but it is obsolete, even for the Jew (it was never meant for the Gentile)
--vs 13, “becoming obsolete” refers to 70 A.D. destruction of the temple

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

"When He said, 'A new covenant' He has made the first obsolete...." (Heb. 8:13)

--although promised to Israel, the Gentiles have been grafted in, as Rom. Chapter 11 tells us, and we Gentiles who believe in Jesus Christ, are now included in this great New Covenant.

We see this in such passages as:

1 Cor. 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.'"

2 Cor. 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.

Heb. 8:6, “But now He has obtained a more excellent ministry, inasmuch as He is also Mediator of a better covenant, which was established on better promises."

So what is the reason why the New Covenant replaced the Old, and why it’s a better covenant?

Hebrews 8:7,8, "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 He 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 problems with that, to put it mildly.

The Problems With The Old Covenant

1. 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.

2. 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 proscribed 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.

3. 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, your sacrifices make me sick, because your hearts aren’t right.

Then Came Jesus

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 Unilateral New Covenant

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.

1 Cor 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.'"

2 Cor 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."

Why The New Covenant Is Unilateral

This week's audio message:

Why The New Covenant Is Unilateral

Grace For Life audio archives are here.

Meditation For Freedom (Transcript)

I’d like to begin by quoting a great verse of Scripture from Philippians 4:8. Some of you may have memorized this verse. It goes like this:

"Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy -- meditate on these things."

In connection with this passage on what we should be thinking about, what we should be meditating on, I’d like to read also the verse from John 8:31,32 which says this:

"If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed. And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free."

Much of what we decide to do or not do in life is decided by how we FEEL about it. And this is not automatically bad. Emotions certainly are a gift from God. To be able to feel often means to be able to enjoy. To be able to feel often means that we don’t just live as robots, but that we live with zest and passion and COM-passion and focus and fun.

Of course our emotions also may allow us to feel grief, despair, depression, rage, and misery.

But how do we take these wild mustangs of emotion and drive them into the corral, and train them to do what’s best for them? To be able to value them, and not dread them? To get them to help us in making decisions in life that are wise decisions? Without becoming robots?

It has to do with what we think about, meditate about.

When we think about things that are bad, we tend to feel bad. When we think about things that are good, we tend to feel good.

Now this is actually good news, for three reasons:

1. We can limit the bad that we take into our minds.

We can’t eliminate it, because it assaults us through our eyes, our ears, and even internally from repetition of past bad things. But we can limit it. We can stay away from input that we know contains great amounts of bad, whether it be books, TV shows, or a particularly destructive person.

2. We can fill our minds with good.

The most obvious source of this truth, this good, for the Christian is the Word of God. Secondary sources may be trusted teachers of the Word, including books, spoken messages, and so forth. But filling our minds with good things tends to set us free.

3. Our emotions are the result of our thoughts.

Now the reason this is good news, is that if you can limit the bad you take in, and if you can fill your mind with good, and if your emotions will respond to that good, then you can be made free. Free in your thinking, free in your feeling, and free in your decision-making.

Now I’ve heard teachers say, don’t let your feelings make your decisions for you, use wise thinking. But they’re in a sense denying a normal thing, and that is the simple reality that SOMETIMES our feelings decide for us. And it’s important for those feelings to be directed by the true, the noble, the just, the pure, the lovely, that which is of good report, that which is virtuous and praiseworthy. As our verse for today tells us.

Another word about what is true: The Bible is big book, and some truth is just plain more important that others. The geneologies are good. But some truth affects our emotions in a good way.

So there’s a lot of truth in that wonderful book. Now the Bible itself says, in 2 Tim. 3:16, that "ALL scripture is inspired by God and profitable." And I sure believe that. There is no scripture that should be left untouched or unread, from the genealogies of Genesis, to the obscure symbolism of Revelation.

But, having said that, we have to realize that when it comes to our daily lives, and truth that brings right thinking, which leads to right emotions, and good decisions, in other words, what we meditate on, there are some scriptures which are just plain more important than others.

There are some rich gems in the genealogies, and digging them out is a wonderful thing. But lets’ face it, there are some truths of the Bible that if we don’t have a good solid handle on, we are just plain messed up. And by “messed up”, I mean “in bondage” of one kind or another. We’re not free in our thinking and in our feeling.

So let’s just look at a couple examples of these foundational truths that tend to set us free. These things that are more important to meditate on than perhaps some other more obscure parts of the Scripture.

Some Extra-Important Things To Meditate On

1. Jesus said, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except by me.” -- John 14:6

Whenever we talk about truth, primary in our minds should always be Jesus Christ Himself. Jesus Christ was the Truth and is the Truth upon which all other truth is based. Just meditating on that fact, even just meditating on that passage that “Jesus said, ‘I am the way, and the truth, and the life’”...that has so much in it that can change our thinking, and therefore our feeling, that just to meditate on that truth alone is a valuable thing.

It reminds me of that Scripture which says, “Be still and know that I am God”. Such a simple thing on the surface, and yet the truth of that small passage is so incredible.

2. Secondly, let’s look at the idea of Righteousness.

Romans 3:21 says, “But now apart from the Law the righteousness of God has been manifested, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets, even the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all those who believe; for there is no distinction."

Meditating on righteousness is a great and valuable thing, too. One of the things about the Gospel is that it reveals the righteousness of God, to those who otherwise never would have understood righteousness at all.

You see, because as the Scripture teaches, our righteousnesses are as filthy rags, that when we’re born into this world and inherit the sinful nature from Adam, our forefather, we have no righteousness within ourselves.

If we’re to be righteous at all, if we’re to gain any kind of righteousness, it has to be given to us from elsewhere, as a gift. And that’s exactly what God did.

He said that Jesus became sin for us so that we might become the righteousness of God. And when we meditate on that truth, that we have been declared righteous by God, that He has given us His righteousness, and now it’s ours...when we meditate on that, it can turn our thinking around. And cause great joy and feelings of gratitude and enlightenment, that nothing else can do. So that’s a great one.

3. The third one is we need to understand and meditate on the fact that we died too, when Jesus died on the cross. Those of us who are believers in Jesus Christ...when He died, we died – in a way that, while mysterious, is very clear in the Scripture.

We look at Galatians 2:20: “I have been crucified with Christ and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me, and the life I now live I live by faith in the Son of God, who delivered himself up for me.”

Romans 6:11: “Reckon yourselves dead to sin and alive to god.”

See, when we died, we died to sin, and became alive to God in Christ by this miracle.

Romans 7:6: "But now we have been released from the Law, having died
to that by which we were bound."

See, when we died in Christ, we also died to the Law. We were released from the Law, so that the Scripture says that we’re no longer under law but under grace.

Galatians 2:19 "For through the Law I died to the Law, so that I might live to God."

So something amazing has happened here, and worth meditating on. Talk about that which is noble and of good repute! This is an amazing thing that God has taken us with Him in Christ, and allowed us to die, our old self to die, and be made new, a "new creation". "Old things have passed away, behold all things have become new" (2 Cor. 5:17).

4. O.K., fourthly, is our Unconditional Love and Acceptance.

Romans 8:1 says, “There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus...”

Boy, is that worth meditating on.

And Romans 8 goes on to say that “NOTHING can separate us from the love of Christ, the love of God”. He accepts us in the Beloved, and there is nothing we can do to make Him accept us more, and nothing we can do to make Him accept us less.

He accepts us in Christ.

He loves us in Christ.

That alone is a worthy cause for meditation.

5. Fifthly, the Sovereignty of God.

This is one of the most important ones, to understand simply that things are not out of control. That God has control over ALL things.

Philippians 4:11 says, “Not that I speak in regard to need, for I have learned in whatever state I am, to be content”.

Paul says that he has learned to be content in any circumstances. Why? Because he understands that God is sovereign. That no circumstances come into his life that God has not planned and allowed, for good. And that even things that are bad are being worked together for good.

Romans 8:28, “God causes all things to work together for good to those who love Him, and are the called according to His purpose.”

When we can meditate on that, and really get a grip on that, we have no cause for [undue] sadness. We have no cause for despair or depression, because all things are being worked together for good.

And if we can meditate on that, get a hold of it, it can revolutionize our lives.

Contentment comes from understanding that God is good, and that God is in control. That’s the sovereignty of God.

6. And then lastly, the fruit of the Spirit and being filled with the Spirit.

What a wonderful thing to meditate on. This leads to surrender.

This is the wonderful fruit of the Spirit that comes into us as we meditate, commune with Christ, surrender to Him, are filled with His Spirit, are walking in truth.

And this only comes from the Word of God and the Spirit of God, as we look upon Him. As we meditate on Him and His Word. As we move our eyes from ourselves, and onto Him. As we surrender to grace, and get off the ground of law.

In comes this fruit of the Spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, meekness, faithfulness, and self-control.

Those things alone are great to meditate on.

As we meditate on good things, we are filled with the truth of Christ, and the truth of Grace, and the truth of who we are in Christ, and the truth of His great love and acceptance of us, and we naturally tend to respond in our feelings, and with that comes a freedom we may have never known before.

Well, let’s close by reading that great verse again, Philipp 4:8:

“Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy -- meditate on these things.”

And you know, God has made us fearfully and wonderfully in a particular way, and that is that our minds can only think or meditate on one thing at a time.

So as we set our minds on these things that are good, on these things that are true, it actually crowds out of our minds those things that are bad, and untrue, and that cause bondage.

Meditation For Freedom

This week's audio message:

Meditation For Freedom

Grace For Life audio archives are here.

Church Membership or Biblical Fellowship? (Notes)

Over the years the question of Church Membership swirls around the Christian world, and is debated and discussed, sometimes fought over, and sometimes just taken for granted.

Now by “Church Membership” here, I mean it in the commonly used sense of the phrase, referring to formally joining a particular local church, in a formal way, maybe agreeing to some doctrinal statement, or agreeing to some written covenant, and actually being put on a list of “Members”.

Is that Biblical? Is it O.K.? Is it demanded? Is it optional? And so forth.

Today I want to open a discussion in what I think is a new direction regarding Church Membership, especially as it relates to Fellowship.

See, I believe that the discussion of Church Membership is in one sense missing the real point of what the Church is to be about.

Is Membership Fellowship?

There’s a big elephant in the room that no one mentions. This elephant is ignored, walked around, or maybe mentioned only in passing. The big elephant in the room is Fellowship.

Now I’ve read many extensive studies which attempt to prove from Scripture that Membership Lists are taught in the Bible. And I will admit some of them SEEM logical, and SEEM to make sense in a certain way.

But the truth is, there are no commands for Church Membership Lists in the Bible. There are no examples of Church Membership Lists in the Bible. And there are no examples of formal joining of the local church in the Bible.

Because of this, and in relation to Biblical Fellowship, I have come to believe that Church Membership Lists, and the formal joining of a local church, is a man-made result of a lack of true Biblical Fellowship, or what the Bible in Greek calls Koinonia.

No let me make a disclaimer, before I go any further. If you attend a local church that practices Membership Lists, I’m not saying you shouldn’t join, or formally become a member. Because the Bible also does not PROHIBIT the making of Membership Lists. So I want to be clear on that. The Membership List itself is not the problem.

Three Aspects

With that, I want to look at three aspects of this question of Church Membership:

1. What does the Bible teach about membership in general?
2. What made one a member of a local church?
3. What does Fellowship have to do with it?

1. What does the Bible teach about membership in general?

Romans 12:4,5, "For as we have many MEMBERS in one body, but all the MEMBERS do not have the same function, so we, being many, are one body in Christ, and individually MEMBERS of one another."

1 Cor 6:15, "Do you not know that your bodies are MEMBERS of Christ? Shall I then take the MEMBERS of Christ and make them MEMBERS of a harlot? Certainly not!"

1 Cor 12:12, "For as the body is one and has many MEMBERS, but all the MEMBERS of that one body, being many, are one body, so also is Christ."

1 Cor 12:18, "But now God has set the MEMBERS, each one of them, in the body just as He pleased."

1 Cor 12:20, "But now indeed there are many members, yet one body."

1 Cor 12:25, "...that there should be no schism in the body, but that the MEMBERS should have the same care for one another."

1 Cor 12:26, "And if one MEMBER suffers, all the MEMBERS suffer with it; or if one MEMBER is honored, all the MEMBERS rejoice with it."

1 Cor 12:27, "Now you are the body of Christ, and MEMBERS individually."

Ephesians 2:19, "Now, therefore, you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and MEMBERS of the household of God."

Ephesians 4:25, "Therefore, putting away lying, let each one of you speak truth with his neighbor, for we are MEMBERS of one another."

Ephesians 5:30, "For we are MEMBERS of His body, of His flesh and of His bones."

Acts 2:47, "...praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved."

2. What made one a member of the local church?

Acts 15:41, "And he went through Syria and Cilicia, strengthening the churches."

Acts 16:5, "So the churches were strengthened in the faith, and increased in number daily."

“The Church” vs. “the churches”

Belief in Jesus Christ, baptism, and then practicing “church”.

Acts 2:42, "And they continued steadfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in prayers."

3. What does fellowship have to do with it?

Fellowship = "koinonia", "commonality", as in "koine" greek.

1 John 1:3, "...that which we have seen and heard we declare to you, that you also may have FELLOWSHIP with us; and truly our FELLOWSHIP is with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ."

1 John 1:6, "If we say that we have FELLOWSHIP with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth."

1 John 1:7, "But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin."

Now we get back to Membership Lists, regarding church discipline and dis-fellowshiping a member.

Biblical "membership" involves "fellowship" --- a commonality of spiritual Life in prayer, teaching, breaking of bread, drinking of cup, knowing one another, bearing one another's burdens, sharing in one another's financial needs, fervently loving one another, recognizing the hurt in one another and applying the balm of Jesus with warmth, stirring one another up to good works, exhorting, encouraging, blessing, hugging, welcoming, caring about, feeding with the true Bread, Who is Christ.

In other words, church discipline which may lead to dis-fellowshiping someone presupposes there is something to be dis-fellowshiped *from*. Something infinitely valuable, something one doesn't want to miss, if they are a believer.

The modern American "church service", where everyone files in at 11 and files out at Noon, with a, "How you doing?", "I'm gr-r-r-eat!, how about you?" to a few people, followed by going home for another week apart from everyone else (or maybe till Wednesday for the truly "spiritual") --- doesn't know what fellowship is. So it substitutes Membership Lists.

Then it either never dis-fellowships anyone, because "who cares?", or it practices the church discipline of taking the unrepentent publicly sinful "off the Membership List", whereupon the unrepentent publicly sinful either goes to the next church, or is "shamed" back onto the Membership List, not because they really miss the so-called "fellowship", but because they are humiliated (too often they remain humiliated, with a red letter on their back...marked as a lesser being, not ike "us" who are incapable of falling so low..."How are you doing, Lesser Being?...O.K.?...go-o-o-d...see you next week...Ciao!").

This is not meant to be a cynical comment at all, but a mere observation of many churches over many years, and a heart's cry for a continual renewal of Biblical Fellowship.

"Church Membership Lists" is not primarily an exegetical question, it's a spiritual one.

May God work His Fellowship in the churches.

Church Membership or Biblical Fellowship?

This week's audio message:

Church Membership or Biblical Fellowship?

Grace For Life audio archives are here.

Where Do You Go When You Sin? (Transcript)

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 John 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?

A Christian's Sinning vs. Unrepentant Lifestyle Sinning

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 John, 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 John also, because as we’ve already said that if we deny that we sin at all, we’re calling God a liar.

Where Do You Go?

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 a 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 we can only call crazy reasons of bad theology?

Is God Angry At You, A Believer?

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.

The Prodigal Son's Father

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?

[read Lk. 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!"

What's God Interested In?

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 deceives us, and we do sin.

So Again, Where Do We Go?

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 the 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)

Where Do You Go When You Sin?

This week's audio message:

Where Do You Go When You Sin?

Grace For Life audio archives are here.

Tomorrow's Election and The Holocaust of the Unborn

I would like to make one last plea for believers in Christ to vote tomorrow to block the Presidency of Barack Obama.

I have heard too many Christians invoke the Sovereignty of God in a way that I think is unbiblical. Sort of an attitude of "God will decide the election, so it doesn't really matter how I vote, or even if I vote".

Here are my comments from another blog:
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Using the Sovereignty of God to dismiss an election as some divine "six of one, half-a-dozen of another" is not only foolish in the extreme, it's unbiblical in itself.

Thank God men like Moses, David and Paul (not to mention the Son of Man) did their duty and left the results to God.

They didn't say, "Oh well, God's in control". They did what they thought was right, and THEN rested in the Sovereignty of God.

Obama's election, apart from anything else, would surely continue the Holocaust of the Unborn for three reasons:

1. He would reinforce the Party of Death (that's the Democrats, in case you haven't compared the Party platfoms), which will have a majority in the House and Senate;

2. He will actively support abortion rights himself, which he has made clear, even to the horrors of partial-birth murder, and out-of-the womb infanticide;

3. He will likely nominate 2 or 3 Supreme Court Justices who will be pro-Holocaust of the Unborn, Liberal radical judicial activists who will undermine the Constitution because they think it is "a living breathing document".

Obama's "Court" would likely last at least the next 30 to 40 years! Another generation!

Now, if it was Obama vs. Satan, I'd vote for Obama. But how in God's name (literally) could anyone who loves Christ vote for Obama, or fail to vote for his opponent?

Our vote is our voice.

"Where was YOUR voice during the Holocaust of the Unborn?"

Exalting in the Sovereignty of God, but fighting for, and voting for Obama's opponent,

Terry
www.DangerousObama.com

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Please use the freedom we have to vote, and vote to block Obama, by voting for John McCain. McCain is not the Messiah any more than Obama is. But he is Pro-Life, and so is his running mate, Sarah Palin.

"Lord, with love in our hearts for Barack Obama, we pray you spare us from his becoming President. Even in these final hours, may you lead your people to see the importance of this contest, and have the courage to tell others, even in this late hour."