The New Year and The Future - Don't Worry :)

It's New Year's Eve. 2011 starts tomorrow!

Christmas is over, the holiday hustle and bustle is over. People's thoughts are beginning to turn to New Year's Resolutions, weight loss after the seasonal delicacies, setting goals for the New Year, and exclaiming, “Where did the last year go?"

Or the last 5, or 20?

But wherever those years may have gone, the next year is upon us.

Here's my question: Are you worried about it? Are you worried about the next year, or the future in general?

Let me state it boldly up front.

There are two things that are infinitely foolish.

One is for a Christian to worry about the future. We all do it sometimes, but we at least need to recognize that it's foolish.

But the other thing that's foolish is for a non-Christian to NOT worry about the future. Someone who doesn't know Jesus as Lord and Savior should worry. In fact we should pray for those we know and love to worry, if they don't know Jesus.

There are lots of books written for unbelievers, which teach them not to worry. Psychology books, and self-help books, and positive thinking books, and success books. The book stores are filled with whole rows of shelves of books under the general heading of Self-Improvement. And almost all of these books contain some so-called wisdom in them which tell their readers not to worry.

Some will even quote the Scriptures, with hardly the slightest understanding of what they are really about. They will quote Phillipians 4:6, which says, “Be anxious for nothing.” But they might leave out the next part of the verse which says, “but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.” They don't really know what that means, do they?

Some will quote Jesus who says, “Do not worry for tomorrow, for tomorrow will care for itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.” - Matthew 6:34.

Of course, most unbelievers still worry. But many have learned to, as Romans 1 puts it, "suppress the truth in unrighteousness". In other words, they have more or less succeeded in “thinking positive thoughts”.

1800 years ago, a pagan philosopher who is still revered for his wisdom, spoke on this subject. His name was Marcus Aurelius. He was not only a Stoic Philosopher, but he had an interesting job. He was Emperor of Rome from 161 to 180 A.D. Marcus Aurelius Antoninus Augustus wrote, “Never let the future disturb you. You will meet it, if you have to, with the same weapons of reason which today arm you against the present.”

Nothing wrong with reason. Logic is a gift from God, but may I ask the same question Jesus asked? “What does it profit a man if he gains the whole world, but loses his soul?”

See, Marcus Aurelius had something he should have been anxious about. He should have been anxious about his soul. And in the years he lived, he would have had ready access to the Gospel. The Good News that Jesus Christ, just a few years before Marcus Aurelius was born, died on a Roman cross, to pay for our sins, and rose again from the grave. So that whoever would believe in Him would not perish under the wrath of God, but have eternal life.

But the Emperor chose “the gods” of Rome, instead of The God of creation, and the God-Man of the Cross. And so he had plenty to worry about. But he apparently did not.

The great actor Anthony Hopkins, in a recent interview with James Lipton on Inside the Actor's Studio, said, “Today is the tomorrow I was so worried about yesterday.”

We see that same attitude echoed here by Hopkins, who is in effect saying, “See? I worried about today, and it's okay. So I shouldn't have worried.”

I can't help thinking about the Scripture in 2 Peter 3, where Peter writes, “...mockers will come with their mocking, following after their own lusts, and saying, 'Where is the promise of His coming?” But as Peter says, it escapes their notice that God once destroyed the Earth with a flood, and “by His word the present heavens and earth are being reserved for fire, kept for the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men....with the Lord one day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years like one day....the day of the Lord will come like a thief, in which the heavens will pass away with a roar and the elements will be destroyed with intense heat, and the earth and its works will be burned up.”

Sir Anthony Hopkins has something to worry about, doesn't he? I pray the Lord might open his heart.

But how about you, Christian?

If you are a Christian, a born again believer in Jesus Christ, well that's a different story.

It is utterly foolish for you to worry.

You can use your reason, your logic, just as Marcus Aurelius did, but for you the logic is based on a good foundation.

Your logic goes like this: “He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him over for us all, how will He not also with Him freely give us all things?” Romans 8:31. See the logic there? That's what I call logic! If God the Father gave us God the Son, sacrificed on a cross for our sins, is it logical He will now desert us? Of course not.

“I will never leave you, nor forsake you,” He tells us. And that's reasonable, isn't it? With what He's already done, will He drop the ball, so to speak?

No. In fact, as the almighty, all-powerful, all-knowing, all-wise God, He can do whatever He wants, and He does.

And one of the things that He does is in that same 8th Chapter of Romans, verse 28. It goes like this, “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.”

And did you ever stop to consider how logical that is? We don't deserve His love, but He chose to love us. And He paid for our sins, forgave our sins, and gave us the gift of His righteousness, declaring us righteous.

And we love Him because He first loved us. And now all things work together for good to those who love Him. That's us. Would it be logical that He would work things together for bad to us who love Him? Of course not.

And so it makes perfect sense when the Scripture says in Philippians 4:6, “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.”

Now God knows that we are prone to worry, to be anxious. So He doesn't just say, “Don't.” He gives us a very practical alternative, in case we haven't fully absorbed the glory of His love for us yet. The better we know Him, and the wonder of His Grace, and the truth that He loves and accepts us fully in Christ, and that nothing we could do can diminish that love and Grace – the better we know that in our hearts and minds, the less we would be able to worry or be anxious.

But God knows we are learners. God knows we need our minds renewed. God knows that we are subject to the lies of the world, the flesh and the devil. And so He gives us some practical things to do, while we're learning the depths of His love.

He tells us not to be anxious for anything, but then He says to do something else instead.

First, He says, to let our requests be made known to God. Now obviously God isn't lacking in knowing anything. But He gives us the simple suggestion that we pray (that means talk to Him) with supplication (that means asking for something). Sometimes you'll hear pious preachers say, “Stop asking God for things. Just say, 'Thy will be done' and leave it to Him, you greedy little beggar.”

Well, the problem with that thinking is that it's just not Biblical.

God wants us to ask Him for things. Why? Many reasons, actually, but a big one is that He wants us to be dependent on Him. Not independent. Dependent. God loves being our Father, our provider. Even people like to be needed. Sometimes I neglect to ask for the help of my wife, and she says, “I'm here. Stop acting like a bachelor.”

And God is saying, “Stop acting like a god.” He wants us to pray to Him and ask for things. Of course, He doesn't want us to ask with bad motives, just for pleasure's sake, James 4:3.

But we can now come boldly before His throne of grace, “so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.” - Hebrews 4:16.

So first He says in Philippians to let our requests be made known to God.

But secondly, He says that it should be “with thanksgiving”. What's the logic here? What's the process? Should I pray for something, and then when I get it, be thankful and give God thanks?

Well, there's nothing wrong with that kind of thanksgiving, but that's not what God is getting at here. He's talking about an attitude, as much as an action. Of course we should give thanks for specific things, and specific answers to prayer. But even higher than that, is a heart of gratitude. It's first the recognition for all the good that God has brought into our lives.

Now life is filled with bad things, isn't it? I mean, we live in a fallen world, and the bad stuff, like the poor, you will always have with you.

But most of the things in your life are good, in one way or another. Some of you will have trouble believing that, and I don't have the time right now to prove it. But if you actually, honestly believe that you have more bad things than good in your life, then you have a lot of meditation on the Scriptures to do. You are starting from scratch, you are starting from square one. That's okay. Start.

Absorb yourself in the Word of God and learn of Him until you understand that the blessings He has showered you with are abundant. In a very practical way, maybe write down, or list in your mind, all the blessings you can think of, one at a time. And thank Him for them. And do this over and over, until you have the simple basic truth down, that the blessings in your life far outweigh the bad things. Start with Jesus Christ Himself. Many of us can testify to the truth that if we have Christ, we truly lack nothing. The Lord is my Shepherd and I shall not lack for anything. Everything else is gravy, or frosting, if you prefer.

So first is the recognition for all the good that God has brought into our lives. Then comes our heart attitude about that. It starts with the knowledge that is expressed in 1 Corinthians 4:7, “What do you have that you did not receive? And if you did receive it, why do you boast as if you did not receive it?”

In other words, every good in your life is a gift from God. So after you recognize the good, be thankful to Him for it, and express that thankful heart with thanksgiving.

Now this process, like all of the Christian life, requires walking in the Spirit. That's why a pagan can't really live a life of thanksgiving. They may say in their psychology books, “Have an attitude of gratitude,” but what is sadder than having an attitude of thanksgiving and having no one to thank?

But we know who to thank, don't we?

And He is the one who has promised to meet all our needs, Philippians 4:9. We may not even know what our needs really are at a given time, but He does. And He will supply them as surely as He supplies the garment of the Lily of the Field.

And so we don't need to worry. We don't need to be anxious. We have a God, a Lord, a Friend who is closer than a brother. And with Him all things are possible. There is nothing He can't do.

And so I leave you with a final piece of logic. Not cold calculating logic, but the warm joyful logic of the Lord who loves you. Here it is:

“If God is for us, who is against us? He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him over for us all, how will He not also with Him freely give us all things? Who will bring a charge against God's elect? God is the one who justifies; who is the one who condemns? Christ Jesus is He who died, yes, rather who was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who also intercedes for us. Who will separate us from the love of Christ?” The wonderfully logical answer is...Nothing.

So don't worry. And have a Blessed New Year!

Remembering The Jesus Of Christmas

It is Christmas Eve as I write.

And we all know the Christian warnings about remembering Jesus. Jesus is the reason for the season. Keep Christ in Christmas. And these cliches have become cliches because they are valid.

Still, the baby in a manger was just the beginning.

It's good to celebrate the birth of Christ. But the Son of God didn't come to earth for the purpose of being a baby. As He grew in years, He grew in wisdom and stature, as a man. He was and is God, but now God with us, Emmanuel.

And He came to us, dwelt with us, tabernacled with us, in a human body, on Earth, that He might die to pay for our sins, so that we might be saved, forgiven. And then He rose again from the dead, and lives today, in a body at the right hand of the Father, but by His Spirit in us, who believe in Him.

Have you ever done Bible memorization? I have.

If you have, one verse you probably haven't memorized is 2 Tim. 2:8.

It's something important that Paul the Apostle told his spiritual son and protege, Timothy. He tells Timothy to remember something. It's something that you wouldn't think Timothy would need to be reminded of. But he did need to be reminded of it, and so do you, and I.

2 Tim. 2:8:

“Remember Jesus Christ, risen from the dead, descendant of David, according to my gospel.“

Why would Paul remind Timothy to remember Jesus?

1. To be strong in grace.

“You therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus.”

Strong in the Grace? Sounds like a contradiction.

But life is tough, isn’t it? Timothy had things to do. And so do you.

These things require the grace of God. Remember Paul’s thorn in the flesh?

We can’t be strong in grace if we don’t remember Jesus, that He is alive (risen from the dead). He's not just a dead Savior, He is a living Savior, and may I say it like Jesus did?...He calls us his friends.

Can you imagine? We are FOJ's. Friends of Jesus. The Creator of the Universe, the Lord of all Creation, the almighty God, calls us His friends.

And the Lord wants us to be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus.

Do you ever hear preachers, or other Christian folks, all they talk about is sin? Now if you're preaching through the Bible and you come to something about sin, preach it. But do you notice how some think the most important subject in the world is sin? I'm talking about Christian brothers and sisters. They think the most important subject in the world is sin.

Now sin is important. As Christians we're against it, aren't we? But we don't need a huge amount of teaching about it, because we are very familiar with it, aren't we? It's not something we need to be constantly reminded of, or to be constantly dwelling on.

What we do need to be constantly reminded of, and to be dwelling on is Jesus Christ, and His astounding grace. That's what honors Christ, and that's what gives us the light to walk by, the light to walk in the Spirit. And the Bible says that when we walk by the Spirit we won't fulfill the lust of the flesh.

See how that works? If we dwell on sin, we end up trying to defeat it in the flesh, which just compounds the mess. It's like trying to clean honey off of your hand with your other hand, and both hands end up sticky with nowhere to go.

But if we dwell on Jesus, who gives us the water of life, He by grace fills us with His Spirit, and we walk with clean hands. It's grace we need to obsess over, not the Law and sin. And the grace will minimize the sin, as we realize freshly that we are not under Law but under grace, and we are dead to sin and alive to God through Jesus Christ, Rom. 6:11.

"The Law came by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ." –John 1:17

2. Because of His past faithfulness.

Don’t you just love the Book of Psalms?

An entire Christian life could be spent meditating on the Psalms. Maybe no other book so exalts God as the powerful creator of the universe, and maybe no other book exalts God as the faithful provider of mercy for His children.

He is faithful.

And the Psalm-writers, mostly David, write over and over about remembering the Lord.

I want to mention some things the Psalmist says about the Lord, and just let them wash over you.

Take a few moments. Be still, and know He is God.

Remember Him for these things. His:

Loving-kindness
Mercy
Word
Salvation
Faithfulness
Deliverance
Justice
Compassion
Righteousness
Strength
Watchful eye
Blessing
Protection

We are so prone to forget these things, and partly because we are so prone to forget Him.

We live in a “now” world.

We have things to do, people to see, presents to buy, things to arrange, go go go!

And we've got problems, and we have them NOW.

And we know we will have more problems in the future.

And so we’re prone to worry.

But then we remember Jesus.
That He is born in Bethlehem.
That He died for us, for the forgiveness of our sins.
That He is risen.
That He is here.
And not just here, but in us (Christ in you, the hope of glory).

And we remember His faithfulness in the past.

How He rescued us from that storm of life (even a literal storm, maybe).
How He comforted us in that loss we had.
How we had this thorn in our flesh, but His grace was sufficient.
How we lost hope in a certain person and then God turned them around.
How we had that financial setback or lost that job, and He provided.
How we thought we just couldn’t get through that one thing, and He brought us through it.

And so we remember His past faithfulness to us.

We remember Him as we walk through the day, and we remember Him as we lie on our beds at night, like David did.

We remember Him as our Rock and our Fortress, and our Deliverer, and our Friend, and we long for Him like the deer who pants after the waterbrook.

And we love Him. We love Him.

And we remember that He loved us first. Even when we were unloveable. And maybe we don’t feel all that loveable even today. But He loves us anyway. And so we love Him.

I became a Christian in 1976.

Contemporary Christian Music was a brand new phenomenon.

Four years before I became a Christian, there was a man named John Fischer who wrote a song. And it’s a song I have never forgotten in 30 years. It’s simple, almost simplistic, but it sticks in your mind, and it blesses you, and then you realize how profound the simple little song is.

It’s called the “All Day Song”.

"Love Him in the morning when you see the sun arising,
Love Him in the evening ‘cause He took you through the day.
And in the in-between times when you feel the pressure coming,
Remember that He loves you and He promises to stay."

Have a blessed Christmas as we celebrate the birth of our Savior!

Merry Christmas.

Remembering The Jesus Of Christmas

This week's audio message:

Remembering The Jesus of Christmas

Grace For Life audio archives are here.

Baby Jesus - 3 Reasons To Reject Him (Transcript)

1. Virgins don’t have babies.

I mean, the whole idea is absurd. Remember the birds and the bees? Remember biology? Remember, the egg has to be fertilized by the seed, then grows until birth? How could a virgin have a baby without any seed to fertilize the egg?

2. Gods don’t humble themselves.

There has never been a humble God in history. From the beginnings of man in Mesopotamia, Gods aren’t humble. Gods can’t be humble. After all they’re gods. They are above men, they rule over men, they squash men at will, they fight with men, they dominate men.

To humble themselves would be to show weakness, to show that they’re really not gods. No god ever humbled himself and no god ever will.

3. Gods don’t make friends.

This goes along with number two. Gods don’t make friends because that would be to humble themselves. And they sure don’t make friends with man. What do they even have in common? Nothing. Gods are gods and men are men, and never the twain shall meet. The very idea of having a god as a friend is like a man having an amoeba for a friend. Not going to happen.

I didn’t actually see it, but I read about an episode of the TV show Thirtysomething. I never watched the show because by the time I even heard of it I was already Forty-something.

But this episode was about the character Hope, who was a Christian, arguing with her Jewish husband, Michael, about the holidays.

“Why do you even bother with Hanukkah?” she asks. “Do you really believe a handful of Jews held off a huge army by using a bunch of lamps that miraculously wouldn’t run out of oil?”

Michael shoots back, “Oh, and Christmas makes more sense? Do you really believe an angel appeared to some teenage girl who then got pregnant without ever having had sex and traveled on horseback to Bethlehem where she spent the night in a barn and had a baby who turned out to be the Savior of the world?”

Well, do you believe it, friend? I do.

Well, it wasn’t a horse that Mary rode to Bethlehem, it was a donkey. But the character Michael got it pretty accurate, otherwise, didn’t he?

And it’s got to be one of the most ridiculous-sounding stories ever to be written, that the writer actually expects you to believe. We’re not talking about some fiction writer telling of Hobbits or Jabba the Hutt, and hoping we’ll pretend to believe it just long enough to enjoy the story. We’re talking about serious theological guys who tell the story of the birth of Jesus without batting an eye, and expect us to believe it as true, down to the last bit.

Well, what about our three reasons to reject this baby Jesus?

Let’s take them one at a time.

1. Virgins don’t have babies.

It’s true they usually don’t. But think with me for a minute. Suppose God wanted to send a Savior to pay for the sins of men by sacrificing Himself on a cross, dying to take our sins on Him so that He could give us the free gift of His righteousness, so that we would be saved from Hell, and have eternal life, everlasting life eventually with God in heaven.

Well, there’s one little problem with that. After Adam sinned in the Garden, sin, or the sinful nature, was forever passed on to everyone who ever lived since, and that sin was passed on, the Bible says, through the seed of man.

But a Savior for man would have to be sinless. A sinner can’t pay the sacrifice for another sinner. To satisfy or appease God’s just wrath against sin, the sacrifice must be perfect, sinless, not only without having committed any sins, but without even a sinful nature. In other words, righteous.

And the sacrifice that God the Father sent, was God the Son. The perfect candidate for sacrifice. Pure, righteous, sinless, and with no sin nature.

But that brings up another problem. How does God the Son get to earth to get this done. After all, since it was by a man that we fell or inherited our sinful nature, it must be a man who sheds His blood in our place for our forgiveness and salvation.

But if Jesus were born as a man in the normal way, then sin would pass on from His earthly dad, through his earthly dad’s seed. Got that? The sinful nature always passes on through the seed of the man.

So God did a miracle, a small miracle for Him really, but one with a huge impact on history. He implanted, miraculously a seed into Mary, which the Bible then calls “the seed of the woman” (see, not the seed of a man). This miraculous seed joined with Mary’s egg, and you know the rest. A sinless baby boy was born. Not only sinless in not ever committing a sin, but sinless in not even having a sinful nature, like the rest of us.

So not only did this virgin have a baby, but it couldn’t have been any other way, or the baby could not have been sinless.

2. Gods don’t humble themselves.

It’s true in human history, that those called gods in verbal stories and written literature never humble themselves. But let me say a couple things about that.

First, they are not really gods, of course. The Bible clearly says there is only one God. There is only one true God who is the Creator of the heavens and the earth, and everything that is in the earth. The Bible says that this one God is in three persons, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. That’s what theologians have named the Trinity. But there is only one God.

And so all those so-called gods who never humbled themselves, are just made-up stories and superstitions of fictional gods, or in some cases, may be actual beings which we call fallen angels or demons. And anybody knows, no demon is going to humble himself.

But the true God of the Bible did humble Himself.

George Herbert, the poet and Anglican priest of the 1600’s put it poetically like this:

"The God of power, as he did ride
In his majestick robes of glorie
Resolv’d to light; and so one day
He did descend, undressing all the way."

This “undressing all the way” is nothing more than the humbling of the mighty Creator of the universe. This Creator God who spread trillions of galaxies into space, and made the atoms and neutrons and electrons and quasars and army ants and the aardvarks who would eat them; this almighty, all-knowing, all-wise Jehovah God, because He so loved us, humbled Himself.

And came to earth, Emmanuel, God with us. Came to earth as the most helpless creature there is, a baby.

A real baby, by the way. Don’t believe the Christmas carol that says “no crying he makes”. I’m sure He cried alright. And he kicked and cooed, and drooled, and He couldn’t have lived more than a few hours if He wasn’t cared for.

But He grew, and because He was a real baby, He grew to be a real man. He was really God, too. But He set aside the glory and rights that He had as God. Could we dare say, "like a man becoming an amoeba"? Probably not. But it was the most astounding humbling that the world has ever seen.

And it had to be that way, but He didn’t have to do it. The Bible says He did it because He loves us. And He loves us because He chose to love us, before the creation of the world. How’s that for a mystery? He didn’t love us because we’re so lovable, He loved us because He is love, and He chose to love us.


The Bible says He so loved the world that He gave His only begotten son, that whoever believes in Him would not perish, but have eternal life.

An explosion of glorious love as big as God, resulting in a baby away in a manger, no crib for his bed.

3. Gods don’t make friends.

Have you seen the bumper sticker, “The more I get to know people, the more I love my dog.”

It’s a sad point, really, but one that we can understand. People are fearfully and wonderfully made, the Bible says, but the same Bible says "Cursed is he who trusts in man.”

Or how about the cynical little verse, “To dwell above with saints we love, O that will be glory. But to dwell below with saints we know, well that’s a different story.”

What God in His right mind would want to be friends with us?

I would contend that the Bible teaches that God not only loved us when we weren’t lovable, but he chose to befriend us when we were his enemies.

Thankfully, Mary didn’t say to the angel, “Are you crazy?” O.K., she did say, “But I’ve never been with a man.” So she wasn’t gullible. But you know what she was? She was godly. And so she said, “I am the Lord’s servant. May it be to me as you have said.”

She wasn’t gullible and she wasn’t stupid. She had to have known instinctively what she was in for. The humiliation, the doubts even from loved ones, the shame for her betrothed, Joseph, the jeers and stares and tsk tsk’s. But she did what a godly girl should do. She said in effect, “Thy will be done.”

When we read what’s called the "Magnificat", Mary’s beautiful words in Luke Chapter 1 which begin with, “My soul magnifies the Lord”, we see that her language is filled with the Psalms. This tells us that she was probably raised in a Bible-believing home. And this too was part of God’s wonderful plan.

Malcolm Muggeridge, commenting on our modern Roe v. Wade society wrote,

“It is, in point of fact, extremely improbable, under existing conditions, that Jesus would have been permitted to be born at all. Mary’s pregnancy, in poor circumstances, and with the father unknown, would have been an obvious case for an abortion; and her talk of having conceived as a result of the intervention of the Holy Ghost would have pointed to the need for psychiatric treatment, and made the case for terminating her pregnancy even stronger. Thus our generation, needing a Savior more, perhaps, than any that has ever existed, would be too humane to allow one to be born.”

But God worked it out, didn’t He?

With a baby in a manger, who was Himself God, yet man.

And the man grew in wisdom and stature, and He suffered beyond imagination as He shed His blood and died. And by shedding His blood and dying, and rising again from the dead, this man who is also God, became a friend to those who had been His enemies.

This is His Kingdom, the Kingdom of God, a Kingdom of friends of God.

Friends of God are those who have been born again. They are those who believe in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. And they are those who have given up working and striving to earn God’s love and favor, but accepted the free gift of His love and forgiveness and salvation, by grace.

Jesus said, “No longer do I call you servants, for a servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all things that I heard from My Father I have made known to you.”

As of this message, it’s close to Christmas. The day we celebrate the birth of Jesus. And once again, we are reminded of three wonderful things.

A virgin did have a baby.

And our God did humble Himself.

And the one true almighty God has made us His friends.

Happy Birthday Jesus...and thanks.

Baby Jesus - 3 Reasons To Reject Him

This week's audio message:

Baby Jesus: 3 Reasons To Reject Him

Grace For Life audio archives are here.

Celebrating Halloween With Abraham, Martin and John (Transcript)

In America Halloween is celebrated on October 31st. I don’t particularly like Halloween, especially its occult aspects, but that’s a message for another time.

I want to tell you a brief story of God’s grace.

Reformation Day

You see, October 31st is also Reformation Day, when we celebrate the light that dawned when the so-called Reformers began to break out of the darkness of Roman Catholicism, and once again began to preach salvation by grace through faith.

It was more than 490 years ago [1517 A.D.] that Martin Luther nailed his 95 Theses to the big wooden door of the Wittenburg Church, denouncing the sale of indulgences by the Roman Catholic Church, in which the souls of dead people were supposedly purchased out of the mythical Purgatory, or their time in Purgatory was shortened.

It was an evil practice, which preyed on the fears and superstition of the people, and made them poorer as the so-called Church grew richer.

Abraham

But I want to begin our story much farther back in time, to a man called Abraham.

Abraham was called by God out of Ur of the Chaldees, a pagan land with a pagan superstitious culture. God called Abraham away from his people and his culture, to begin a whole new people and culture, which eventually culminated in the nation Israel, and eventually the promised Messiah of Israel, the Lord Jesus Christ.

And the reason I want to begin with Abraham is because of a covenant that God made with Abraham. And this covenant became the forerunner to what we now call the New Covenant.

God promised Abraham that he would become a mighty nation, that he would have millions of descendants, through which the world would be blessed. Now the whole story is too long to tell here, but there was one little problem.

Abraham’s wife Sarah was barren, childless. And the years had passed, and Abraham had assumed that his heir would be someone from his household staff. This was customary when there was no offspring.

Let’s read the promise of God from Genesis Chapter 15, verse 4 and following:

“Then behold, the word of the Lord came to him, saying, ‘This man will not be your heir; but one who shall come forth from your own body, he shall be your heir.’ And He took him outside and said, ‘Now look toward the heavens, and count the stars, if you are able to count them.’ And He said to him, ‘So shall your descendants be.’”

Now Abraham could either believe that or not. Did he believe it?

Well, let’s fast-forward to the book of Romans and see what Paul wrote to the Romans about it, and at the same time we’ll learn a very important Bible truth about salvation.

In Romans 4:3,5 we read,

“For what does the Scripture say? And Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness.” “...but to the one who does not work, but believes in Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is reckoned as righteousness.”

Through the story of Abraham we learn something that has always been true:

Salvation is a free gift from God, through believing God. Or as the Bible says, by grace (that’s the free gift), through faith (that’s believing God).

And this salvation was paid for by Jesus Christ on the cross when he paid for our sins. The Bible says He became sin for us, so that we could become the righteousness of God.

In other words, He paid the price, so that we could be declared or reckoned righteous by God, Who gave us the gift of His own righteousness, when we believed in Jesus Christ.

There is no other way, and there never has been.

Even the blood of bulls and goats could not take away sin, the Bible says in Hebrews 10:4. All the blood of the sacrifices of Israel did were to temporarily cover the sins of the people until the time that the Messiah could shed His blood to pay for and take away sins.

But salvation was always by grace (a free gift) through believing God.
Now let’s fast-forward a few hundred years beyond Paul and the other Apostles, who taught this beautiful Gospel, good news, that whoever believes in Jesus Christ would be saved by grace through faith.

The Roman Catholic Church

The organized Church became infected more and more with the world’s view of religion. What is the world’s view of religion? It’s simply this: we must DO something, some obedience, some ritual, some work to EARN the favor or love or salvation of God. Salvation couldn’t be a gift, so it must be earned in some way.

And every religion of the world, except true Christianity, has that in common. Some aspects of doing good works or rituals to attain heaven, or Nirvana, or eternal life, or whatever.

And although the Church has always had that evil Legalism influence knocking at its door, after around 400 A.D. it became more and more of an organized Legalism, built into the very documents and teachings of the Church.

And on into the rightly-called Dark Ages, and into the Middle Ages, it became the norm. The headquarters of the organized Church became Rome, with its Bishop known as the Pope, and the Roman Catholic Church held its grip on most of the then-known world.

And without going into great detail, the basic doctrine of the Roman Catholic Church was that of works plus "grace", or what they called "grace". It really wasn’t grace at all, because as the Scripture says,

“But if it is by grace, it is no longer on the basis of works, otherwise grace is no longer grace.” (Romans 11:6)

In other words, if you add works to grace, as a requirement for salvation, then it’s not really grace at all. Because grace means “free gift”, and if you have to add works to get a free gift it’s not a free gift.

That was the problem with the Galatians, and Paul minced no words when he told them that by mixing grace and works, they not only were corrupting grace, but they were believing in another gospel, which is not really a gospel at all, and those who taught such a thing were accursed.

This is still, by the way, the teaching of the Roman Catholic Church today. You will hear their leaders talk about salvation by grace, or salvation by faith, or talk about justification, or the merits of Christ, or the mercy of God, even the Bible and the authority of the Bible.

But despite the twisted terminology, the final result is a teaching that it’s not grace by itself or faith by itself by which we are saved, but grace plus works, faith plus works.

Martin

Well, we come in our story to a Roman Catholic monk named Martin.

By his own admission, there was never a monk who strived any harder than Martin to gain God’s favor. There was never a monk who worked any harder, drove himself any farther, punished himself any more than Martin Luther.

But no matter how he worked and strived and prayed and worked and strived and prayed, he had no peace. And the reason was that he understood how righteous and holy God was, and that man’s works can never gain favor from such a perfect and righteous and holy God.

He was somewhat awakened to the corruption of the Church when he saw the practice of indulgences being stepped up drastically to pay for the building of St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome. The building program was financed by indulgences being sold to the people. And the chief salesman was a man named Tetzel.

Luther was appalled at the crass misuse of power and superstition, and nailed his complaint to the Church door as his 95 Theses.

But that was not Luther’s most important enlightenment. As a student of the Scriptures, he studied the books of Galatians and Romans intently. And he began to see something in the Scriptures, and finally the light dawned on him, as God opened his heart, just as he had opened the heart of Abraham, and millions of others since.

What Luther saw, what was revealed to Him by God through the Scriptures, was that salvation was not earned in any way, but was a free gift of God, through faith in Jesus Christ.

And it set Luther on fire.

In this modern day of gospel books and Bibles on every desk and shelf in America, we may take it for granted. But Luther was living in a day when the light of the gospel had almost been put out for hundreds of years. Darkness had settled in so deeply that when Luther began teaching salvation by grace alone through faith alone, HE was the one who was considered a heretic.

But by God’s grace, the Reformation had begun with gusto. Luther had meant to Reform the Roman Catholic Church, but they would have none of it. And thus the so-called Protestant Church became a whole new thing.

Through Martin Luther, and other Reformers, the Bible was widely spread in the language of the people. Formerly it had only been widely available in Latin, and many leaders had meant it to stay that way, so that doctrine could only be dispensed through them, twisted as they made it. But as people were able to read the clear teaching of Scripture, the good news spread.

John

One of the most influential of the Reformers was John Calvin, who headquartered in Geneva [Switzerland]. Another intense student of the Bible, by the time he was only 27 years old, he wrote The Institutes of the Christian Religion, and became one of the key streams for the spread of the grace message throughout Europe in this exciting time.

There were many others who caught fire with this light of the gospel that God blasted onto the earth in a new setting. Names like Zwingli, and Melanchton, and Knox. It was Knox who prayed, “Lord give me Scotland or I die.” And Scotland was revolutionized by the gospel.

Not to be thoroughly run out of town, the Roman Catholic Church lashed back with Inquisitions and persecutions designed to maintain its power and the false gospel of faith plus works. Many were tortured, burned at the stake, or otherwise martyred for the simple gospel of salvation by grace through faith. But the blood of these martyrs became the seed of the church, which grew rapidly.

And out of this storm survived some basic truths that we celebrate alongside Halloween, some 500 years later. Despite Halloween winning the popularity contest in our culture, I invite you to join me in celebrating what has become known as the Five Solas.

Five Solas

The first is Sola Gratia, by grace alone. Our salvation has to be a free gift of grace, because our own righteousnesses are as filthy rags, useless in securing our salvation in any way.

Another is Sola Fide, by faith alone. Faith will always be followed by works, but the works are never the requirement or instrument of our salvation.

Another is Solus Christus, by Christ alone. Only by the work of Christ, in shedding his blood and dying on the cross, may we be saved by grace through faith in Him. There is no other way to the Father except by Him, Jesus Himself said.

Another is Sola Scriptura, by Scripture alone. The Scriptures, the Bible, is the only authority we have from God for ultimate truth. Because it came by revelation from God, it is true, and He reveals to His children the truth of the Scriptures, and there is no other authority for doctrinal truth, including the Church itself.

And one more, Soli Deo Gloria, for the glory of God alone. That is the heart song of the redeemed, that He might be glorified in our lives. And He is.

One glimpse of the glory of the Lord makes the glory of the greatest Medieval Cathedral, or the glory of the splendor of the Vatican and its gold and fancy dress, fade by comparison.

Celebrate with me, and Abraham, and Martin and John, the Reformation, and the bright light of the gospel of grace through faith in our Lord Jesus Christ.

Celebrating Halloween With Abraham, Martin and John

This week's audio message:

Celebrating Halloween With Abraham, Martin and John

Grace For Life audio archives are here.

Reversing The Reformation - How Some So-Called Protestants Are Subtly Undermining Justification By Faith

Note: October 31 is Reformation Day, celebrating the Protestant Reformation, when the biblical gospel of grace was re-introduced to the Church at large.

The Roman Catholic Church held an almost monopolistic grip on the hearts of millions of people for hundreds of years.

Through the Dark Ages and Middle Ages, the awful legalistic system of "salvation by works" nearly choked out the light of the Gospel of the Grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. Only small pockets of true believers in Christ escaped the dark heavy blanket of Romanism.

Then around 500 years ago came what we call the Reformation.

Men like Luther and Zwingli and Calvin and Knox, intense students of the Scriptures, rose up and shined the light of the Gospel into the darkness of European Catholicism.

These brave men brought an end to the monopoly of the Popes. They boldly proclaimed that salvation was

by grace alone, not by merit;

by faith alone, not by works;

by faith in Christ alone, not in sacraments;

under the final authority of the Word of God alone, not the unscriptural teachings of the Bishops of Rome.

The Central Point of the Reformation

The central point of the Reformation is what we call Justification by Faith. This is the sublime and simple truth that when we believe in Jesus Christ we are “justified” or “declared righteous” by God. This means that we are fully in right standing with God, our sins forgiven and no longer held against us.

This is accomplished because God judged our sins in Christ on the Cross, and gave us the “gift of righteousness” (Romans 5:17) by imputing the righteousness of Christ to us, when we believe in Christ.

As 2 Corinthians 5:21 puts it, “He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.”

Romans Chapter 5:1,2 gives us the result of this wonderful act of the Lord:

“Therefore having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom also we have obtained our introduction by faith into this grace in which we stand; and we exult in hope of the glory of God.”

The Permanence of Justification

When we are justified, declared righteous by God, it is forever. It is permanent. And it occurs at the moment when we believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, when we believe the Gospel.

The "gift of righteousness" can never be taken away, because it is part of a package deal, to put it crudely. This righteousness is given to us by grace through faith, and that is “not of yourselves” and “not of works” (Ephesians 2:8,9). Even the very faith by which we believe in Jesus Christ is a gift given by God through the New Birth, regeneration.

This “imputed righteousness” contrasts starkly with the unbiblical Roman Catholic teaching that one is actually “made righteous” (“infused righteousness”) through the sacraments like Baptism, and the Eucharistic Mass, and through meritorious good works -- and that this so-called righteousness leaks out through sinning, and therefore can be lost, thereby damning the soul of the one who fails to maintain his “righteousness” by his works and attendance to the sacraments.

In Come the Neo-Legalists

The Reformation did not, of course, abolish Roman Catholicism. This cult of works salvation has continued these many years, and still thrives today.

But until recently one could more or less count on Protestant Bible teachers to uphold Justification by Faith Alone. One could more or less count on Protestant Bible teachers to oppose the so-called Justification of Rome, where grace and works are mixed, making it “no longer grace” (Romans 11:6).

But back in the 1960’s and 1970’s there was a professor at Westminster Seminary named Norman Shepherd. In 1975 some of his former students were being questioned for ordination, and when the question “How is a sinner justified?” was asked, they answered, “By faith and works.” Shocked questioners traced their answer back to their professor, Norman Shepherd.

Shepherd was allowed to teach for six more years, a disgrace in itself, but was finally released in 1981, the proverbial dung having hit the fan hard enough. Even then, several professors who then agreed with Shepherd were allowed to remain, teaching hundreds of students who spread the cancer yet today.

The big foot of undermining Justification by Faith had been stuck in the door, and the result has mushroomed into several full-blown ministries and movements, some directly from Westminster, and some relatively independent.

Allow me to name some names and then I will attempt to capsulize the kernel of the heresy.

Pioneering writers include E.P. Sanders, N.T. Wright, Steve Schlissel, Steve Wilkins, Douglas Wilson, and Peter Leithart.

They have been joined by a multitude of Pastors, bloggers and other writers, and teachers in Seminaries. Many in the Emerging/Emergent Church movement have gravitated toward these men, particularly N.T. Wright. And they have infiltrated otherwise orthodox places, including well-known mainstream Evangelical and Reformed magazines.

They operate under names and ministries you may have heard: Shepherdism, Auburn Avenue Theology, Federal Vision, or the New Perspective on Paul. And they lead churches in virtually every Reformed denomination.

What They Have In Common

I won’t pretend the issues and sub-doctrines are not varied and even complicated, but they have one important thing in common – a rejection of the biblical Justification by Faith (even while sometimes saying they support it).

Like most false teachers, their terminology is often the same as orthodox terminology. But the expression of their error can mostly be bunched under an important term: Covenant Nomism (sometimes called Covenantal Nomism). “Nomism” refers to “Law”.

Though their implementation of the doctrine varies (for example, some teach that one enters the “covenant” through water baptism, others through so-called “faith alone”), the basics are as follows:

1.One enters into a “covenant” of the “people of God”, through “faith” and/or baptism. This is a real covenant which makes one a real Christian.

2.Once in the “covenant” of the family of God, it is now one’s responsibility to stay in the covenant, and follow Jesus as Lord all the days of one’s life…or else (more on the “or else” in a moment). This is blatant Legalism.

3.IF one remains in the “covenant”, by assembling together and obeying the Law sufficiently, THEN, at the end of one’s life, or the end of the age, one will be truly “Justified”, or “declared righteous” ON THE BASIS OF THEIR LIFE AND WORKS.

4.Here’s the “or else”: If one departs from sufficient obedience to the Law, or (in some cases) stops fellowshiping in the local assembly, they are deemed “out of the covenant”, will never be “justified”, even though they truly believed on the Lord Jesus Christ, and were in His “covenant” and were a true Christian. Their works, or lack of them, have ultimately damned them.

What Can Be Done?

Admittedly, this is an extremely brief introduction to Neo-Legalism, or Covenant Nomism.

The men teaching these things are not ignorant, and they’re not stupid. They are biblically classic false teachers.

What would I recommend?

1.I don’t recommend studying these men, except by the most discerning and biblically knowledgeable.

2.I do recommend studying the biblical doctrine of Justification by Faith, just as the FBI reputedly studies real money, in order to quickly identify the counterfeit.

There are many good books on the subject. A thorough classic is by James Buchanan, The Doctrine of Justification.  Another good one, perhaps easier to read, is James White’s The God Who Justifies.

An excellent sermon by Charles Spurgeon can be read at:
www.spurgeon.org/sermons/3392.htm

Scriptural support for Justification by Faith can be found at:
www.carm.org/doctrine/justification_verses.htm

3.If you accept true biblical Justification by Faith, have courage to say so. And don’t be afraid to mention names.

Too many Protestant believers and teachers have been "returning" to Roman Catholicism. While for some there may be an inherent attraction to the ancient religious trappings of Romanism, in many cases it’s simply an abandonment of the great truth that God justifies us, declares us righteous, forever, when we believe in His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. To Him be all the glory.

My Late Mother's 80th Birthday

Today would be my dear Mother's 80th birthday.  The following is a post from October 2004, the month we began the Grace For Life blog. 

At the end, in her honor, I've added a video, picked by Michele, that my Mom would have really enjoyed when she was on this Earth (she probably now considers it rather mild, being face-to-face in the presence of Jesus Himself!).  Hope you enjoy it too.

From October 26, 2004:
==========================================
Her name is Mary Ann [B. 26 Oct 1930, D. 16 Sep 1994].

Today, October 26, 2004, my mom would have been 74 years old. She went to be with her Lord about 10 years ago Complications from leukemia.

She was an amazing testimony to God's grace. Full of love for the Lord. Full of love for His people. And always praying for the lost to come to Jesus Christ. She was a selfless person, who readily would sacrifice to help someone in need. Her thousands of pages of journals are a passionate work of art.

This isn't the place to go into great detail, but I'm reminded of two lessons from her life.

1. The power of God to change a heart, even in the midst of a mostly pagan upbringing. He shall save His people from their sins.

2. The importance of a newborn sheep being fed with the truth of Jesus Christ. I say this because although my mom came to Christ in 1950, the year I was born, my dad did not. And so we seldom ever darkened the door of a church. My mom was left to rely on bits and pieces of good teaching here and there, mixed with quasi-Christian bad literature influences.

Without a strong biblical foundation, she was tossed by winds of doctrine (as we all can be at times) for 26 years. But she always loved the Lord, as best she knew Him, and she always prayed for me and my sister Jan to be saved.

In 1976, I was saved, as was my sister shortly thereafter. When I told my mom, she wept with joy. I began picking her up for church every Sunday. We attended a precious bible-teaching church, and she, and I, and my sister grew like weeds.

Regrets are a waste of time, but I sometimes think, "If only she had been grounded in a good knowledge of biblical truth and life in Christ from the beginning . . ."

Yet God "restored the years the locusts had eaten", and there is no Christian lady I admired more than my new mom. If you knew her, you would agree, and you would glorify the Lord for what He did.

The Subtleties of Legalism - A Case Study From Oswald Chambers

I'm not writing this to pick on Oswald Chambers, author of the famous and beloved My Utmost For His Highest.

He was by every account a wonderful Christian man, greatly appreciated by those who knew him and learned from him.

But because of his apparent close walk with the Lord, and the multitudes of readers of his teachings who have been challenged and touched by them, it makes a perfect case study for how legalism can creep into the teaching of even the most trusted teachers.

Chambers was Scottish and lived from 1874 to 1917.  For what it's worth, he actually only wrote one book himself.  His other 20 or 30 books, including the devotional My Utmost For His Highest, were actually put together by his wife, Biddy.  She outlived his 43 years by another 30.

Although Mrs. Chambers was a skilled stenographer who captured Oswald's teachings on paper, I think it would be fair to say that it is possible that some of what is recorded in his books might not fully represent the content and context of what he originally taught.

Regardless, for this case study I will put here word-for-word excerpts from the original October 10 devotional entry from My Utmost For His Highest, and then make comments on it relating to the subject of legalism.

Here is the opening of the October 10 devotional, entitled "Whereby Shall I Know?":

"I thank Thee, O Father...because Thou has hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes." Matthew 11:25

In spiritual relationship we do not grow step by step; we are either there or we are not.  God does not cleanse us more and more from sin, but when we are in the light, walking in the light, we are cleansed from all sin.  It is a question of obedience, and instantly the relationship is perfected.  Turn away for one second out of obedience, and darkness and death are at work at once.


Here's the problem.  Is Chambers talking about a Christian or a non-Christian?  If a Christian, then how can he say that we don't "grow step by step"?  If we don't grow step by step, then we don't grow at all!  Yet that's not true, is it?  We DO grow ("...long for the pure milk of the word, so that by it you may grow..." 1 Pet. 2:2 -- "...but grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ..." 2 Pet. 3:18).

On the other hand, if he's talking about a non-Christian, then he can't rightly talk about "walking in the light".  And if he's talking about a non-Christian, what sense does it make that "it is a question of obedience"?  Obedience is certainly not a requirement for salvation.

But going back to the other hand, if he's talking about a Christian, can he seriously say that turning from obedience for one second ushers in darkness and death?  If a Christian is completely forgiven of his sins (and he is), if "it is finished" (and it is), and if God is causing all things to work together for good to the Christian (and He is), what warrant is there to declare that a Christian who sins is (1) no longer in relationship to Christ, (2) not being cleansed from all sin, and (3) with "darkness and death" at work in him?

This is virtually a total denial of the New Covenant, having moved from the ground of grace to the ground of law!

Chambers goes on to say:

All God's revelations are sealed until they are opened to us by obedience.  You will never get them open by philosophy or thinking.  Immediately you obey, a flash of light comes.

This is almost opposite the truth!  With a base of legalism.

The obedience is not the CAUSE of the revelations.  On the contrary, obedience comes FROM the revelations of God to the spirit and mind of the believer.

As we learn of Him, and learn His truth, and respond to the wondrous things He has done for us, and grow in understanding the height and depth and breadth of His love for us, "the love of Christ constrains us" (2 Cor. 5:14) to walk in obedience to Him.

As He lives His life in us (Gal. 2:20), He works in us both to will and to do for His good pleasure (Phil. 2:13).  He does so by His truth and His Spirit.  He doesn't require the doing first and then give the truth!

And while Chambers says that you will never get God's revelations by "thinking", the Bible on the contrary says to "think" or "meditate" on His Word, specifically that we may understand it and renew our minds.

Then Chambers, whom we may begin to think is indeed talking about Christians, surprises us by saying,

The only way you can get to know is to stop trying to find out and BY BEING BORN AGAIN.  [Terry's emphasis]  Obey God in the thing He shows you, and instantly the next thing is opened up.

So to add to the confusion, he seems to be saying that the one who is not born again should get born again by obedience?!

But wait, maybe he is talking about Christians after all:

You can understand them now.  It is not study that does it, but obedience....God will never reveal more truth about Himself until you have obeyed what you know already.

This kind of legalistic thinking always prompts the question, "How much obedience?  Perfect obedience?  80% obedience?  90%? Obedience for an hour?  A day?  Obedience in everything always?  In everything most of the time?  Or most things all of the time?"

Absurd!

And the thinking believer is confused on how much he has to measure up to really be in God's favor.  And he sees the Christian life as primarily an hourly and daily tally on how well he is scoring.

He becomes self-centered, trying to earn God's love and favor, instead of fellowshipping with Jesus, resting in what He has already done, thankful and cheerful that God is not holding His truth hostage to one's obedience, but encouraging obedience through the "grace and truth" that He is full of (John 1:14).

He has "fallen from grace" (Galatians 5:4), because he has set obedience first and grace second, thereby demeaning the Gospel.

Again, I'm not intending to pick on Chambers.

But legalism is subtle.

And the Gospel, the New Covenant itself, is far more radical in the Grace of "it is finished" than to put "obedience" as some kind of Golden Key to open the truths of God.

"For the law was given through Moses.  Grace and truth were realized through Jesus Christ." - John 1:17

"Sanctify them in the truth.  Your Word is truth." - John 17:17

"Are you so foolish?  Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh?" - Galatians 3:3