TRUSTING OUR FATHER (JANUARY 11)
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". . . for my people have committed two evils: they have forsaken me, the fountain of living waters, and hewed out cisterns for themselves, broken cisterns that can hold no water" (Jeremiah 2:13).
SIN IS THE RESULT OF FORSAKING THE TRUST WE WERE MEANT TO HAVE IN GOD. We see it first in the Garden of Eden, where as soon as Adam and Eve’s confidence in God’s goodness had been broken, they were willing to violate His will to get what they wanted (Genesis 3:1-6). Since then, the problem of sin has always been the same, and we’re all guilty of it. Failing to trust that God’s way is best, we’ve rebelled and committed treachery to get satisfactions we think are better than those God’s way would allow.
If a broken trust in God is the root of sin, it makes sense that for the problem of sin to be fixed, trust is going to have to be put back in its rightful place. That is why faith is so important in God’s plan for our restoration to His fellowship through Jesus Christ.
Faith begins with simple belief, an acceptance of the factual truth about God. But based on belief, faith also means trusting that God is good, His commands are always going to be better than our will, and in the end He is waiting for us in heaven if we will adhere to His plan for our redemption. When our immediate circumstances seem to cast doubt on these truths, it is only trust (based on the solid evidence of God’s trustworthiness, especially in Jesus’ resurrection) that will keep us faithful to our Father.
I love Adam Litmer’s definition of trust: “unwavering belief that God’s way is always the right way, without exception . . . and that our lives will always be best lived when lived for His glory.” If we reject the “obedience of faith” (Romans 1:5), there is no salvation for us. We must dispense with the doubts about God and His law that started us down the path of disobedience in the first place.
Abraham is the great example of trust. “By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to a place that he was to receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going” (Hebrews 11:8). Because he believed, Abraham obeyed. At God’s bidding, he risked everything he had in this world because he trusted God’s promise. And today, we can’t be God’s friends without banking on the promises of God as Abraham did.
"The pith, the essence of faith lies in this — a casting oneself on the promise" (Charles Haddon Spurgeon).
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COUNTING THE COST (JANUARY 10)
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"For which of you, desiring to build a tower, does not first sit down and count the cost, whether he has enough to complete it?" (Luke 14:28).
BEFORE EMBARKING ON A PROJECT, MOST PEOPLE THINK ABOUT WHETHER THEY ARE WILLING TO PAY THE PRICE. Halfway through the work is not a good time to start wrestling with whether the results are going to be worth the sacrifice. We should have already done that. So Jesus said those considering obedience to His gospel should “count the cost.” It is disastrous not to do so.
When it comes to following Christ, however, we don’t know what the cost is going to be, at least not specifically. We know that it may be very costly — in fact, it may cost everything that’s valuable to us in this life — but when we are baptized into Christ, we can’t see very far down the road. All we know is that Jesus requires a commitment that holds nothing back. “If anyone would come after me,” He said, “let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel’s will save it” (Mark 8:34,35).
So to “count the cost” would be to ask whether we’re willing to make that kind of commitment and then keep the promise even if it kills us. Are there limits to our submission to His authority? Are there any conditions or fine print in our contract with Him? Is there anything we wouldn’t do if following Him required us to do that? These are deep, heart-probing questions, and the serious disciple is one who answered them decisively before he made his commitment. Solomon said about promises in general, “It is better that you should not vow than that you should vow and not pay” (Ecclesiastes 5:5). If all we can say is “maybe,” we insult the God who is our Savior.
We shouldn’t be surprised that there is a cost to be counted. If rightful love for God is what the gospel calls for, that response will be costly. Love requires sacrifice, and the higher the love, the bigger the sacrifice. But what is the alternative? If we turn away from the gospel because of the costliness of the love it requires, there is nothing left but lesser loves — counterfeits that offer little more than disappointment, having cost us little more than what was convenient. So will we rise to the highest love, pay its price, and receive its joy? There is no more fundamental or far-reaching question in this world.
"True love is always costly" (Billy Graham).
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GRIEVING OUR SINS (JANUARY 9)
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"For godly sorrow produces repentance leading to salvation, not to be regretted; but the sorrow of the world produces death" (2 Corinthians 7:10 NKJV).
IN AN AGE WHEN “FEELING GOOD” OUTRANKS EVERY OTHER VALUE, IT IS HARD FOR MANY TO SEE THAT OUR FIRST RESPONSE TO THE GOSPEL MUST BE GRIEF. Yet if the gospel is about redemption from our sins, we are not ready for what the gospel offers until we see our sins for what they are and grieve them in a godly way.
Nowadays, the purpose of the gospel is often perverted. No longer do people understand it to be about the remission of sins and the restoration of a right relationship with God. It is no wonder, then, that godly sorrow and repentance are minimized in modern preaching. Nevertheless, the gospel is about sin. Godly sorrow grieves the treachery we have committed against God. And it alone produces the repentance that leads to salvation (2 Corinthians 7:10).
In the life of Christ, it is interesting to note who the people were whom Jesus welcomed. It was not the poor, the underprivileged, or the oppressed per se. These social statuses meant little to Jesus unless people in these conditions came penitently — seeking His forgiveness with godly sorrow. If they came with this attitude, they were welcomed, but no more than people from any other status who came with the same penitence. Jesus was looking for those who saw their need for His forgiveness, regardless of their external circumstances. So if we ask which people would be “blessed,” Jesus said it was “the poor in spirit . . . those who mourn . . . those who hunger and thirst for righteousness” (Matthew 5:3-6). To those whose hearts were not broken by sorrow for their own sins, Jesus had nothing to offer of any unique or lasting value.
But if the first thing the gospel produces is sorrow, doesn’t that “negative” message turn people away? For some, it certainly does. It did in Jesus’ day, and it does now. But let’s not misunderstand. The gospel is the most positive “good news” the world has ever heard. But it produces the joy of forgiveness only when a person has first gone through the process of godly sorrow. It gives us a new beginning, nothing short of a “new birth.” But the new life comes only after a conversion that is bathed in bitter tears.
"Repentance is not a fatal day when tears are shed, but a natal day when, as a result of tears, a new life begins" (Ilion T. Jones).
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HEARING THE TRUTH (JANUARY 8)
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"Take care then how you hear" (Luke 8:18).
IF THE GOSPEL HAS A PREREQUISITE, IT IS THAT WE MUST BE WILLING TO HEAR IT. The process that the gospel was meant to initiate can go no further if there is anything that filters it out of our thinking. Whatever else it may be, the gospel is a message, and like any message, the gospel requires not just a hearing but a fair hearing.
First, we must be open to being persuaded. No amount of evidence will be enough if, deep down, we are simply unpersuadable. The adage is true: there are none so deaf as those who will not hear. So we must be “easy to be entreated” (James 3:17 ASV) or “open to reason” (ESV). The gospel won’t have a chance if we don’t give it a chance. So how open are we? Will prejudicial filters block the gospel out of our hearts? Are there any up-front limits on how far we would follow Jesus if the gospel is true?
Truth demands from us two qualities of character: honesty and courage. The question “What is true?” has to do with the facts. Getting the right answer to that question requires honesty. But the more important question is “What are we going to do with the truth?” Responding to truth takes courage, and here is where we stumble. When the truth calls for a difficult response, we hide from it, as Adam and Eve did following their sin (Genesis 3:8-10).
There are two different truths we must hear: the sinful truth about ourselves (the gospel’s diagnosis of our malady) and the saving truth about God (the gospel’s plan for our restoration). The second will mean little to those who have rejected the first, and the first is extremely uncomfortable. Confronting our sinfulness is painful, but the truth can’t save us if we’re unwilling to face the problem. Without the bad news, the good news will not be good.
Above all, we must guard against defining truth in terms of what we want the truth to be. Without recognizing it or admitting it to ourselves, we often reject ideas as untrue when there is no objective reason to do so. We simply don’t prefer them to be true. But the truth is what it is — regardless of our preferences. And the more painful a truth may be to accept (at least in the short term), the more we must be adventurers — going wherever the truth leads us.
"The truth is not always what we want to hear" (Jewish Proverb).
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THE HOPE OF THE GOSPEL (JANUARY 7)
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". . . if indeed you continue in the faith, stable and steadfast, not shifting from the hope of the gospel that you heard, which has been proclaimed in all creation under heaven" (Colossians 1:23).
HOPE IS ONE OF THE MOST POWERFUL TRAITS WE CAN POSSESS. Without it, we languish, but with hope, almost no obstacle can keep us from our goal. And one reason the gospel of Christ is the greatest of all messages is that it offers the greatest of all hopes. In Christ there is the prospect of a perfect, eternal relationship with God when our lives right now have run their course.
Unfortunately, the hope of the gospel is often misrepresented in modern evangelism. Rather than the forgiveness of sins and the restoration of a right relationship with God, the point of the gospel is often said to be the diminishing of injustice and suffering in the world. Even worse, some say the gospel is about “health, wealth, and happiness” — as if God’s primary intent in the sacrifice of His Son was to provide us a path to prosperity and earthly comfort.
Make no mistake, the Christian will help anyone who is suffering, if he can. In the words of C. S. Lewis, “[The gospel] does not mean that we are to leave the present world as it is. If you read history, you will find that the Christians who did the most for the present world were those who thought most of the next.”
But the gospel is not about our secondary problems; it’s about our sin. Fixing that problem, the gospel offers the thing we need more than anything else: eternal fellowship with the God who made us.
In an age like ours, we need to grasp anew the grandeur of the gospel’s hope. We must cherish it for the treasure it is, maintain it at all costs, and reach forward to it every day. Our beloved brother Paul had his priorities straight: “forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 3:13,14). May heaven mean no less to us than it did to him.
"God speaks to the crowd, but his call comes to individuals, and through their personal obedience he acts. He does not promise them success, or even final victory in this life. The goal of the adventure to which he commits them is in heaven. God does not promise that he will protect them from trials, from material cares, from sickness, from physical or moral suffering. He promises only that he will be with them in all these trials, and that he will sustain them if they remain faithful to him" (Paul Tournier).
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CONTINUING TO OBEY THE GOSPEL (JANUARY 6)
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"You were running well. Who hindered you from obeying the truth?" (Galatians 5:7).
PAUL’S QUESTION “WHO HINDERED YOU FROM OBEYING THE TRUTH?” WAS ADDRESSED TO A GROUP OF CHRISTIANS. He was concerned about some in Galatia who, having been baptized into Christ, were turning away from the truth. They were no longer obeying the gospel, and Paul was worried about their salvation.
Beginning with the initial response to the gospel that brings one into a forgiven relationship with God, the Christian embarks on a lifetime of obedience. It is not too much to say that “obeying the gospel” defines everything the Christian does. Every obedient thought, word, and deed is a grateful response to the good news of what God has done in Christ to save us.
But if it is possible to obey the gospel, it is also possible to quit obeying it. Faithfulness to God and gratitude for His grace are not automatic; we have to choose to live this way. And the Scriptures are clear: if we quit living in obedience to the gospel, we will go back to being under condemnation for our sins. The Letter to the Hebrews, for example, is a powerful warning against apostasy and a plea to remain true to Christ. It was written to some in the first century who were becoming unfaithful and were in danger of losing their hope of heaven, just as many in Israel left Egypt in the Exodus but failed to reach Canaan because of unfaithfulness (Hebrews 3:12-4:11).
So becoming a Christian involves making a commitment. To “confess” Christ is not merely a statement that we believe the truth of the gospel — it is a promise of obedience to His will for the rest of our lives. That is a serious commitment, obviously, and Jesus urged us to “count the cost” (Luke 14:25-33) before we make it.
Reading the New Testament even briefly, we can see there are two phases or stages in obeying the gospel: first, we accept God’s forgiveness on His terms, and second, we live the rest of our lives under the lordship of Christ. To do the first but not the second is to deny Christ. Paul put it succinctly: “As you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him” (Colossians 2:6). So the question is not just whether we’ve accepted Christ at some point in the past — it’s also whether the gospel is what we’re obeying right now.
"There are two things to do about the gospel — believe it and behave it" (Susanna Wesley).
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OBEYING THE GOSPEL (JANUARY 5)
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". . . in flaming fire, inflicting vengeance on those who do not know God and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus" (2 Thessalonians 1:8).
THE GOSPEL OF JESUS CHRIST IS THE “GOOD NEWS” OF GOD’S SALVATION. But at this point, we encounter a misconception that is firmly lodged in the minds of many people: the notion that the gospel is unconditional and requires no response on our part.
Now certainly, anything we might do would be no more than a response to what God has done. Having cut ourselves off from God by our sins, there is absolutely nothing we could do to work our way back to Him. Paul says that “while we were still helpless, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly” (Romans 5:6 NASB).
That, however, does not mean the gospel requires no response. It is a message, but it is a message that must be responded to. In the absence of the response required by God, the benefits of the message should not be expected. As I remember hearing preachers say when I was a child, “The gospel contains facts which must be believed and commands which must be obeyed.” If we leave out either the facts or the commands, the gospel is no longer good news.
The expression “obey the gospel” should not be scoffed at or minimized. It is biblical language. More is involved than just our initial obedience (see tomorrow’s reading), but if we’re lost in sin, our initial obedience is our most urgent concern. We are wanting to enter the realm of God’s grace, so in the New Testament, what does the gospel say we must do? First, we must believe the truth that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God (John 8:24; 11:27). Then, we must repent of our sins (Acts 3:19), confess our faith (Romans 10:9,10), and be baptized in order to receive God’s forgiveness (Acts 22:16).
The gospel confronts us with a decision that is nothing less than life’s biggest decision. If we refuse God’s terms of pardon, we will have condemned ourselves by the stand we’ve taken. Jesus said, “The one who rejects me and does not receive my words has a judge; the word that I have spoken will judge him on the last day” (John 12:48). The gospel is a gracious invitation from God, and it is open to every person. But the invitation has to be accepted, and God has not left it to us to decide what the conditions of that acceptance will be.
"No one is excluded from the gospel. But many are excluded by the gospel" (Karl Barth).
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THE GOSPEL OF JESUS CHRIST (JANUARY 4)
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"The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God" (Mark 1:1).
WHEN THE TIME CAME AND GOD BROUGHT TO COMPLETION HIS PLAN TO PROVIDE SALVATION, THE PLAN WAS COMMUNICATED IN WORDS. In the Scriptures, this announcement of the deliverance from sin that God made possible is called the “gospel.”
It is an interesting fact that God chose to use the medium of human language as He did. Crucial to His rescue plan was its communication by means of words from one person to another. In 2 Corinthians 5:18,19, Paul refers to the work of the apostles as the “ministry of reconciliation,” and he calls the gospel the “message of reconciliation.” The NIrV aptly paraphrases this as “the message that people may be brought back” to God. And in Ephesians 1:13, Paul said the joys of salvation came to his readers only after they heard “the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation.” The gospel, then, is not a magical or mysterious feeling — it is a message.
But here is the important (and indispensable) point: the message is about Jesus Christ. It is in Jesus that God is offering salvation. In 2 Corinthians 5, we hear Paul affirming that “in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself” (v.19). And concerning Christ, God “made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God” (v.21).
The message that God has opened up the way for us to be forgiven — and that Jesus is the Messiah (or Christ) through whom this was accomplished — is “good news.” Indeed, it is the best news the world has ever heard. In the familiar story of Jesus’ birth in the Gospel of Luke, we hear the angel saying to the shepherds in the field, watching their flocks at night, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord” (2:10,11). These are wonderful words.
“Though you do not now see him, you believe in him,” Peter wrote, “and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory” (1 Peter 1:8). What could make our hearts sing with greater joy than knowing God has made it possible for us to come back to Him?
"Euangelion (which we call gospel) is a Greek word, and signifies good, merry, glad, and joyful tidings, that makes a man’s heart glad, and makes him sing, dance, and leap for joy" (William Tyndale).
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SALVATION (JANUARY 3)
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"I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel" (Genesis 3:15).
EVEN BEFORE SIN BROKE THE PERFECTION OF GOD’S CREATION, GOD HAD FORMULATED A RESCUE PLAN. A descendant of Adam and Eve would crush Satan, the one who had lied to them, enticing them to sin: “he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.” As it turned out, this One would live a perfect life and then die a sacrificial death. Not deserving death, He would die anyway, “that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil, and deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery” (Hebrews 2:14,15).
To hear that God has provided a way for us to be rescued is “good news” indeed. The New Testament uses the word “gospel” (“glad tidings”) to refer to this plan. But it will not seem like particularly good news until we have understood the seriousness of the problem it proposes to solve. Unless we see what it means to have rebelled against God, to be separated from Him, and to be under the penalty of death both now and forever, we will not be receptive to the message of salvation. The terribleness of the problem is what makes the solution so amazing. We must hear the fearful news of our doom before we can rejoice at the good news of our deliverance.
But once we face the eternal tragedy — and utter agony — of being lost, the fatherly love that moved God to provide for our deliverance will bring us tears of joy. He could have abandoned us to the consequences of our choice, but He was not willing to do so. “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16). We can’t fathom the kind of love that would prompt such a sacrifice — we can only respond to it thankfully.
But let us be clear: it is from sin that God proposes to save us. Sin is the root from which all the lesser problems in the world grow, and sin is what the gospel is about. In the gospel, salvation is not about the amelioration of social ills or earthly maladies. It’s about the forgiveness of our sins, and after that, learning to live again in reverence and gratitude toward the Creator who loves us.
"Salvation is bringing back to normal the Creator-creature relation" (A. W. Tozer).
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SIN (JANUARY 2)
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"And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, 'You may surely eat of every tree of the garden, but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die'" (Genesis 2:16,17).
ADAM AND EVE WERE FREE, BUT THEY USED THEIR FREEDOM TO REJECT GOD RATHER THAN HONOR HIM AS THEIR MAKER. We must not underestimate the seriousness of their decision to do what God had said they must not do. Their choice amounted to open rebellion. They wanted a knowledge they had been forbidden to have, and they refused to submit to their Creator’s authority in the matter.
Long ago, Augustine of Hippo said, “I enquired what iniquity was and found it to be no substance but the perversion of the will, turned aside from thee, O God.” More recently, Charles Colson put it this way, “Sin is essentially rebellion against the rule of God.” God, to whom we owe our existence, has the right to rule over us. He is absolutely sovereign. So disobedience should be seen for what it is: an act of defiance. When Adam and Eve grew discontent with God’s restrictions, they refused to obey Him, as if to say, “We know what the laws of Your love are, but we will do as we please.”
But as soon as they sinned, the promised penalty began to operate. They were alienated from God spiritually. Their face-to-face access to Him was revoked. Expelled from Eden, they were sent away to have their hearts broken in a difficult, unpredictable world now under the limitations of “futility” (Romans 8:20). They would live out their years in a world dreadfully unlike the one they were made for. In all of its terrible implications, the word "death" began to define human existence. The perfect world of Eden was gone.
And today, the law of sin and death still operates. Who among us can say we’ve never done what Adam and Eve did? Who can say he has never in his lifetime done anything he knew to be disobedient to God? If we’re honest, we have to plead guilty to the charge of sin. We know ourselves to be rebellious subjects who have committed treason against the King — our Father and our Sovereign.
Perhaps we think some of God’s laws are trivial. But God is not trivial, and disobedience is deadly. When we turn against the Creator of life, we die. It’s that simple. And in our rebellious condition, our conscience tells us this: we’re dead already, even while we live.
"No sin is small. No grain of sand is small in the mechanism of a watch" (Jeremy Taylor).
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IN THE BEGINNING (JANUARY 1)
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"In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth" (Genesis 1:1).
LONG AGO, GOD MADE THE WORLD, AND WHEN IT WAS NEWLY MADE, IT WAS PERFECT. In its original state, as yet unmarred by any rebellion on the part of its inhabitants, the world reflected the perfection and glory of its Creator, ideally and supremely.
God is the only uncreated being. As Meister Eckhart wrote, “Outside of God, there is nothing but nothing.” Yet God was moved by His wisdom and love to bring into being other entities, created things that would be external to Himself.
The heavens and the earth in Genesis 1:1 were created as the habitat for a special class of personal beings — spiritual souls clothed in physical bodies. At the climax of His creative work, the triune God (having three personalities within Himself) said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth” (Genesis 1:26). So, according to the earliest record, “God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them” (Genesis 1:27).
“Man is heaven’s masterpiece” (Francis Quarles). Each part of the earthly creation shows God’s glory, but it is only human beings that bear His image. Endowed with intellect, emotion, and a free will, Adam and Eve, our most ancient ancestors, had a relationship with God that the lower creatures were not capable of. We can only imagine God’s reasons. Did He deem the possibility of love — as a choice rather than a robotic response — worth the damage that would ensue if these creatures chose rebellion over love? Apparently so, especially if He could rescue some of them from the wreckage.
But Adam and Eve’s creation in God’s image meant they were subject to Him in unique ways. Brought into being by God, they had God as their King. He possessed the sovereign right to set the rules and bar them from any conduct He knew would harm them.
"Every soul belongs to God and exists by his pleasure. God being who and what he is, and we being who and what we are, the only thinkable relationship between us is one of full lordship on his part and complete submission on ours. We owe him every honor that it is in our power to give him" (A. W. Tozer).
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WHAT HINDERS YOU? (DECEMBER 31)
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"And now why do you wait? Rise and be baptized and wash away your sins, calling on his name" (Acts 22:16).
WHEN ANANIAS FOUND SAUL OF TARSUS, THE NOTORIOUS PERSECUTOR OF THE CHURCH, SAUL HAD BEEN FASTING AND PRAYING SORROWFULLY FOR THREE DAYS. “And now why do you wait?” Ananias asked. “Rise and be baptized and wash away your sins, calling on his name.” Saul did as he was instructed, received the forgiveness of his sins, and served Jesus Christ fervently for the rest of his life. We know him today as the apostle Paul.
“Why do you wait?” is a question that touches the conscience of us all. And it’s a question that is exceedingly hard to answer. Even searching our hearts deeply, we don’t always have the honesty to admit why we delay doing what we know we ought to do.
One thing, however, is certain: there is no good reason to wait. Once we see what we must do to be reconciled to God, waiting only worsens our problem. As Corrie ten Boom said, “An unrepented sin is a continued sin.” Whatever the reason, it is never worth the loss of our souls. Nothing is worth that. “For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what shall a man give in return for his soul?” (Matthew 16:26).
In the New Testament, as soon as people saw the seriousness of their sins and the joy of forgiveness that could be theirs in Christ, they wanted to be baptized immediately. In Acts 16:25-34, there is even the story of a group of people being baptized in the middle of the night. Waiting was not something they wanted to do.
Hindrances to the gospel come in many shapes and sizes. The world is full of obstacles, and some of them are fearful. God knows about all of these. He knows how hard it can be for us. But there is no hindrance He won’t help us overcome, if we’re willing.
So as we come to the end of our meditations on obeying the gospel, there is nothing left but the question of choice. What will we do — each of us — with the gospel? God has given His Son to save us from our sins, but He will not compel us. If we reject what our Father has done, we will have made the decision to be lost. So may we not wait. May we do exactly what Saul of Tarsus did: obey.
"He who created us without our help will not save us without our consent" (Augustine of Hippo).
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HAVE YOU OBEYED THE GOSPEL? (DECEMBER 30)
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"For it is time for judgment to begin at the household of God; and if it begins with us, what will be the outcome for those who do not obey the gospel of God?" (1 Peter 4:17).
WHEN PETER SPEAKS OF “JUDGMENT,” HE PRESENTS US WITH A SOBERING THOUGHT. The marvelous gift of the freedom of our will is accompanied by responsibility and accountability to our Creator. The time will come when we will be judged. In our conscience, we all know we are guilty of having rejected what we knew of God’s will on many occasions. If there can be no forgiveness, the consequences of our sin will fall upon us inexorably.
In the gospel (“good news”) of Jesus Christ, forgiveness is the very thing that is offered. But the offer must be responded to. The gospel must be obeyed. And Peter’s words offer no hope to those who, having heard the gospel message, refuse to obey it. “What will be the outcome for those who do not obey the gospel of God?”
The initial terms of obedience to the gospel have been looked at on many pages in this book, but let’s review them. Believing that Jesus is the Christ, we must make an open confession of our faith to others (Romans 10:9,10). Then we must do what Peter instructed the audience to do on Pentecost: “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins” (Acts 2:38). In the act of baptism, we die with Christ, receiving God’s forgiveness and also the strength and guidance He provides so that “we too might walk in newness of life” (Romans 6:4).
Have you obeyed the gospel? Whatever others may have done, have you responded rightly to the glad tidings of salvation in Jesus Christ? The gospel is the best news in the world, but the results of refusing it would be more tragic than we can imagine.
I know of no better way to view obedience than to see it in terms of God’s kingship. The problem of sin is the problem of rebellion against the rule of God. Surely there can be no reconciliation without an honest return to obedience, starting with the initial terms of God’s pardon and continuing for the rest of our lives. Are you willing to come back to the King and obey His gospel? If not, the only consequences you can expect are those of an outlaw.
"I cannot say 'Thine is the kingdom' if I do not give the King the disciplined obedience of a loyal subject" (Anonymous).
Gary Henry - WordPoints.com + AreYouaChristian.com
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HAVE YOU DIED WITH CHRIST? (DECEMBER 29)
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"Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life" (Romans 6:3,4).
IN THE GOSPEL, THERE IS AN INSEPARABLE LINK BETWEEN CHRIST’S DEATH AND OUR BAPTISM. The death of Christ is obviously important; it is by His death that the forgiveness of our sins was made possible (Matthew 26:28). But to whom is this forgiveness granted? And at what point is the gift received? Paul gives us a clear answer when he says that when we are baptized into Christ, we are baptized into His death. “We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death.” It is in baptism that we die with Christ, and it is when we submit to this command that God fulfills His promise to forgive us, based on Christ’s sacrifice on our behalf.
Baptism is the crucial turning point in our obedience to the gospel. Separating “before” from “after,” it is the point at which, dying with Christ, we are resurrected to our new life. Just “as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father,” it is now our duty and privilege to “walk in newness of life.”
How could there be a more radical turning point in a person’s life? As Paul described it in another letter: “I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me” (Galatians 2:20).
Baptism, then, is an act in which we become connected to Christ’s death, burial, and resurrection. There is nothing meritorious about it as far as we are concerned; it is purely an act of faith, commanded by the Lord. “Having been buried with him in baptism,” we are “raised with him through faith in the powerful working of God, who raised him from the dead” (Colossians 2:12).
In 2 Timothy 2:11, Paul spoke of the hope made possible by the gospel when he said, “If we have died with him, we will also live with him.” It is no exaggeration to say that whether we have died with Christ is the most important question we will ever ask.
Buried with Christ and raised with Him too,
What is there left for me to do?
Simply to cease from struggling and strife,
Simply to walk in newness of life.
(T. Ryder)
Gary Henry - WordPoints.com + AreYouaChristian.com
For more information, visit http://AreYouaChristian.com
EXAMINING OURSELVES (DECEMBER 28)
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"Examine yourselves as to whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Do you not know yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you? -- unless indeed you are disqualified" (2 Corinthians 13:5 NKJV).
GIVEN THE IMPORTANCE OF OUR RELATIONSHIP TO GOD, THERE IS NO HIGHER PRIORITY FOR US THAN SELF-EXAMINATION. Are we, or are we not, in a right relationship with Him? Do we, or do we not, have the hope of eternal life? And no less critical is this question: by what standard are we going to judge these matters? If we never question ourselves, we may spend our lives climbing the ladder and find that our ladder was leaning against the wrong wall.
Paul’s instruction to “examine yourselves as to whether you are in the faith” was written to a group of Christians. One of the worst things a Christian can do is take his salvation for granted. Without self-examination, we may find ourselves in the same situation as some of the Corinthians, with a confidence about being “in the faith” that goes beyond what is warranted by the facts.
But what is the application of this principle to non-Christians? If you are presently committed to some other path, is self-examination something you are willing to do? If the gospel of Christ is true, your salvation depends on letting go of your present position.
No matter where any of us may be in relation to Jesus Christ, there are two qualities of character required of us: honesty and courage. Without the honesty to see where we’ve been out of sync with God’s will, we won’t change. And without the courage to change, honesty will only make our conscience more painful. So “examine yourselves” is a serious challenge to us all. It tests our integrity at the deepest level. Are we willing to question whether our relationship to God is really what we’ve been thinking it was?
None of us gets to any significant destination without making many mid-course corrections. Even in the humdrum activities of daily life, we have to be willing to make adjustments. How much more, then, must we be “correctable” when it comes to life’s most important issue: the status of our relationship to God. While life lasts, there is no correction we cannot make — but making the changes that will lead us to God’s presence in eternity requires the honesty to admit we have been wrong and the courage to change for the better.
"Absolute candor is an indispensable requisite to salvation" (A. W. Tozer).
Gary Henry - WordPoints.com + AreYouaChristian.com
For more information, visit http://AreYouaChristian.com
FORGIVEN, SAVED, BORN AGAIN (DECEMBER 27)
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"For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his. We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin. For one who has died has been set free from sin. Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him" (Romans 6:5-8).
IT IS A POPULAR MISCONCEPTION THAT “BORN AGAIN” CHRISTIANS ARE DIFFERENT FROM ORDINARY CHRISTIANS. Let’s look today at three biblical descriptions of what happens when a person obeys the gospel of Christ, all of which point to the same experience. These descriptions emphasize the deep, inward nature of the change that takes place when a person turns to Jesus Christ.
FORGIVEN. At the very least, accepting salvation in Christ means being forgiven of our past sins. But it also means having the comfort and hope that come from continual access to God’s grace. “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9).
SAVED. This aspect of our conversion to Christ is probably not emphasized enough these days, but we dare not forget that if we are in Christ, we are among those who have been rescued. “Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God” (Romans 5:9).
BORN AGAIN. In Christ, our “before” and “after” are so radically different that it can be said that a new person has come to life. We died to our old self, and a new self has been born. And this is not just for some Christians; it is for all of us. Jesus said, “Unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God” (John 3:3).
As you can see, to be forgiven/saved/born again is no small experience. When Peter said, “Repent therefore and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, so that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord” (Acts 3:19,20 NKJV), he was imploring his hearers to do nothing less than turn from death to life. No greater — or more decisive — change is possible for us in this world.
"Have you made the following decision about sin -- that it must be completely killed in you? It takes a long time to come to the point of making this complete and effective decision about sin. It is, however, the greatest moment in your life once you decide that sin must die in you -- not simply be restrained, suppressed, or counteracted, but crucified -- just as Jesus Christ died for the sin of the world" (Oswald Chambers).
Gary Henry - WordPoints.com + AreYouaChristian.com
For more information, visit http://AreYouaChristian.com
HAVE YOU ACCEPTED CHRIST? (DECEMBER 26)
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"Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him, rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving" (Colossians 2:6,7).
PAUL’S COUNSEL TO THE COLOSSIANS IS ONE THAT APPLIES TO ALL OF US WHO HAVE OBEYED THE GOSPEL. He said, “As you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him.” Having accepted Christ, we need to live like persons who have actually done that.
We often hear people talk about having “accepted Jesus as their Lord” when a quick look at their lives makes us wonder if they even know the definition of the word “lord.” Jesus said, “Why do you call me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and not do what I tell you?” (Luke 6:46). Jesus Christ is not truly our Lord if it is not His will that governs us.
In Colossians 2:7, Paul used the analogy of a plant. Those who have received Christ must be “rooted and built up in him and established in the faith.” This echoes Jesus’ teaching about the kinds of soil into which the seed of God’s word is sown. The seed must not only germinate; it must send down roots deep enough that the plant grows to maturity and produces fruit (Matthew 13:1-9,18-23). So we must not only accept Christ initially; we must accept Him for the rest of our lives — in our hearts and our deeds.
But let’s make it personal. What would your next step be if you wished to accept Christ? If you still stand outside of God’s forgiveness, not having obeyed even the initial terms of the gospel, you need to turn your heart toward God in godly sorrow and come before Him with the humble question, “What must I do?” And the answer of the gospel will be that you need to confess that you believe Jesus is the Christ (Romans 10:9,10), repent of your sins (Luke 13:3), and be baptized into Christ’s death (Romans 6:3,4), trusting in God’s promise to wash away your sins (Acts 22:16).
But if you have done these things in the past, what now? If you honestly have to admit that you haven’t kept the commitment you made to Christ, then you need to repent of that and come back to Him with a deeper love (Revelation 2:4,5). Your “acceptance” of Christ needs to be more “accepting.” And frankly, who among us (even those who have been Christians the longest) can say we don’t need to open the doors of our heart more widely to Jesus Christ?
"We get no deeper into Christ than we allow him to get into us" (John Henry Jowett).
Gary Henry - WordPoints.com + AreYouaChristian.com
For more information, visit http://AreYouaChristian.com
ARE YOU A CHRISTIAN? (DECEMBER 25)
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"Then Agrippa said to Paul, 'You almost persuade me to become a Christian'" (Acts 26:28 NKJV).
THE QUESTION “ARE YOU A CHRISTIAN?” IS PERHAPS MORE CONFUSING TO PEOPLE TODAY THAN IT WOULD HAVE BEEN IN THE FIRST CENTURY. But when Agrippa said, “You almost persuade me to become a Christian,” he knew what a Christian was. He understood the word “Christian” in its original sense: a disciple of Jesus Christ.
Sadly, there is no evidence that Agrippa ever became a Christian, but he was certainly on the right track when he said that to be a Christian he would have to become one. No one has ever been a Christian (at least in the original sense) without having chosen to obey the gospel of Christ. Discipleship to Jesus is not a condition one stumbles into inadvertently (and it is certainly not a status one acquires by being born into a certain nation or family). To the contrary, it is a relationship to God one chooses to accept — and then it is a way of life one decides to pursue.
As we have seen, the gospel of Christ is the message of salvation from our sins (Luke 24:46,47). It is for the penitent (Matthew 4:17), those who have come to see the seriousness of their betrayal of their Father and who “mourn” (Matthew 5:4) and “hunger and thirst for righteousness” (Matthew 5:6). In their sorrow, they embrace the good news of the forgiveness that is offered in Christ. Believing that He is indeed the Savior, they are willing to openly confess what they believe about Him (Romans 10:9,10), and they are eager to be baptized into Christ so that their sins might be forgiven (Acts 2:38). And for the rest of their lives, they live “in newness of life” (Romans 6:4), looking forward to Christ’s return and their life in eternity with God (2 Peter 3:10-13; 1 John 3:2,3).
And so, my friend, I ask you, “Where are you in regard to this process?” If you haven’t already said an unalterable “No” to it, I hope you will give the gospel of Christ a chance to convince you of its truth. I hope the day will soon come when someone will ask and you’ll be able to say enthusiastically, “Yes, I am a Christian!”
To the dead he sayeth: Arise!
To the living: Follow me!
And that voice still soundeth on
From the centuries that are gone,
To the centuries that shall be!
(Henry Wadsworth Longfellow)
Gary Henry - WordPoints.com + AreYouaChristian.com
For more information, visit http://AreYouaChristian.com
WHEN YOU RETURN, EXPECT A CELEBRATION (DECEMBER 24)
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"But the father said to his servants, 'Bring quickly the best robe, and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet. And bring the fattened calf and kill it, and let us eat and celebrate. For this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found.' And they began to celebrate" (Luke 15:22-24).
IT SHOULD GIVE US COURAGE TO READ THE WORDS “AND THEY BEGAN TO CELEBRATE.” Among those old enough to discern right from wrong, there is not a one of us who has not “left home.” We have broken our Father’s heart, insisting on the freedom to go into a “far country” where His will would not restrict us and we could indulge our own desires. Coming to our senses, we’ve seen the tragedy of our decision, but perhaps we are reluctant to accept the invitation of the gospel to come back home to God. Perhaps we wonder what kind of reception we would receive if we did so.
A PROBLEM WE ALL HAVE. When we commit sin, we do something that everybody around us has also done. None of us is innocent. Deep in our hearts, we know Paul was right when he said that “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23).
THE NECESSITY OF REPENTANCE. The gospel of God’s forgiveness is a message that requires repentance. “From that time Jesus began to preach, saying, ‘Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand’” (Matthew 4:17). So there are two terrible mistakes we need to avoid: (1) presuming that God’s grace will bless us whether we repent or not, and (2) presuming that if we don’t repent today, there will be other days in the future when we can take care of that.
THE JOY OF FORGIVENESS. Moved by love to end our rebellion against God, we must summon our courage and do what the Prodigal Son did: go back home and offer our repentance to our Father. What a day that will be! If there is a joy any deeper than forgiveness, it is the joy of living in a right relationship with the Father who has given us back what we so foolishly threw away.
When we have wandered away from home, our Father fervently desires for us to come back to Him (Luke 15:20). It is not just that He will allow us to return — He wants us to return. And when we do, we can expect that, by His grace, there will be a banquet at which He will show us how much He has always loved us.
"When prodigals return, great things are done" (A. A. Dowty).
Gary Henry - WordPoints.com + AreYouaChristian.com
For more information, visit http://AreYouaChristian.com
COME TO JESUS, DO NOT TARRY (DECEMBER 23)
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"You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness about me, yet you refuse to come to me that you may have life" (John 5:39,40).
WHEN JESUS INVITES US TO COME TO HIM, IT IS POSSIBLE TO REFUSE. Tragic as such a refusal is, many do refuse. But many others simply delay, thinking an easier time will come later.
It is always important for us to see the seriousness of our plight as those who have departed from God. Sin is no trivial matter. Its punishment cannot be small. As our Creator, God is our rightful Sovereign, and to rebel against His will, as we have all done, is to put ourselves under the penalty of death. There can be no question about the justice of God’s decree. Eternal death is the right consequence for rebellion against our Creator (Romans 6:23).
Remember what we said way back in January about our attitude in coming to Jesus? We come willing to commit ourselves to His lordship. Disobedience having gotten us into trouble, we are now ready to change from disobedience to obedience. But before our discipleship can begin, we must seek the forgiveness of our sins. This we are willing to do on whatever terms God has set, grateful for His grace. And we seek His forgiveness for no other reason than godly sorrow — grief that we have sinned against the One who loves us.
The word for "lost" is the saddest word in any language. And when the word applies to our eternal condition, that is a sadness beyond description, all the more sad in view of what God has sacrificed to save us. If we persist in our refusal of His grace and die in our rebellious state, the worst part of hell will be knowing that we chose it. It could have been otherwise, but we refused to be rescued. It just wasn’t important enough for us to act.
Most of us know what it is to damage our lives by delaying our duty. Knowing what is right, we have procrastinated and done much harm. By God’s grace, let’s stop the damage right now. He gave His Son to make our forgiveness possible. More life than we can imagine is waiting for us, but we must accept His pardon on His terms and we must come back to Him . . . before it is too late.
Come to Jesus! do not tarry,
Enter in at mercy's gate;
O delay not till the morrow,
Lest thy coming be too late.
(E. R. Latta)
Gary Henry - WordPoints.com + AreYouaChristian.com
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