Doctrines of the Faith: Saved From What?

I remember an evangelist who told the story of being in the Miami, Florida area to do a revival. He and the local pastor were driving around inviting people to the revival and witnessing to anyone who would listen. They found themselves in a very affluent neighborhood with massive houses and expensive cars. They spied a man out in his front yard and stopped to visit. After speaking to him of the need for salvation, the man spread his arms in a grand gesture of all he owned and said, “Saved from what?” Then he dismissed them with a laugh. That man was Jackie Gleason – famed radio, television, and movie star.
I am sure you know John 3:16. It reveals the heart of the gospel: God loves sinners. But Jesus also said: “Whoever does not believe [in Him] stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son” (v. 18). Here’s the rest of the story (nod to Paul Harvey). God sent His Son because all of mankind is condemned because of sin. Not because of our sinful actions, but because sin is the human condition since the fall. We’re not sinners because we sin – we sin because we’re sinners. It’s not just what we do – it’s who we are. The destiny of all people is eternal condemnation – the wrath of God. Unless we believe in Jesus – and then our destiny is eternal life. That is what Paul means when he says: “Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus” (Romans 8:1).
Hebrews continues the thought saying, “You have come . . . to the spirits of righteous men made perfect” – just as we will one day be. “You have come to Jesus . . .” Just stop right here and rest a moment in that statement. That changes everything. “You have come to Jesus – the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel” (v. 24). The new covenant is a covenant of mercy – of a love that saves through holy blood that was shed, not from jealousy and rage, but from divine providence. Abel’s blood brought about a curse on Cain. Jesus’ blood brings salvation from the curse of sin for everyone who believes.

Grace

Joy asks a thousand questions a day – that’s how she learns and so I try to be patient with the never-ending stream of “Why?” and “What?” and “How?” Yesterday she saw some honeybees in the ligustrum bush and started asking about what they were doing which became how do bees make honey. So after her bath, we surfed YouTube for videos about bees.  She loves to learn new things and I love to help her explore the world around her.

But sometimes she asks questions with a different motivation. We have rules in our house that have been in place all her life. They haven’t changed just because she isn’t here all the time anymore. She knows the rules well, but sometimes she will ask the question hoping to catch me off-guard and give her a different answer. I may be old and slow, but I’m no dummy. The rules are the rules.

God gave the Israelites the law – the commandments and regulations that must be strictly observed to maintain a relationship with Him. He is holy and righteous and His people must live holy and righteous lives. The law was given to instruct them in His ways and ensure their standing before Him. But the people failed to keep the law – “Everyone did as he saw fit” (Jud 21:25). Which meant they did not obey God’s law. Man was and is still sinful. Sin demands death. The Israelites relied on animals to die in their place, but that was not enough.

Then Jesus came on the scene. He said that He came to “fulfill” the law and the Prophets – but not to abolish them (Matt 5:17-20). What did He mean? The purpose and demands of the law had not changed. What changed was how one approached God. Under the law, all the rituals and rules – God’s “house rules” – must be followed to a T. But Jesus came “full of grace” (John 1:14). He lived the perfect life that man could not live. And He died to fulfill “every jot and tittle” of the law. Jesus – God in flesh – shed His divine blood to meet the demands of the law. All who receive Jesus’ work are under grace.

That means if you are a believer, you can breathe a sigh of relief because Jesus did all the hard work for you. And He sent His Holy Spirit to live in you and help you live out your holy standing. The rules haven’t changed, but how we obey them has. Beloved, you cannot; but Jesus did. Now you can live in grace.

Freedom in Christ

What is sin? It is “missing the mark” – “falling short of the glory of God” (Rom 3:23). It is rebellion and disobedience. It is faithlessness (Rom 14:23). It is the choices we make, the road we take, our words and actions. But it is still more. Jesus said sin is a slave master – “Everyone who sins is a slave to sin” (John 8:34). And Paul said that we are by nature sinful: “I know that nothing good lives in me, that is in my sinful nature” (Rom 7:18). That is why we are slaves to sin.
The Bible is clear: we are not sinners because we sin; we sin because we are sinners. We sin because it is our very nature and we have no choice but to obey our nature. When Adam and Eve obeyed the serpent instead of God they unleashed sin on the world and on every human born into the world. Every person comes into life as a slave to sin. Even my precious, slightly imperfect granddaughter. Trust me, I know this for certain.
We cry out with Paul, “What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death?” Is there any hope for us? Yes, there is! “Thanks be to God—through Jesus Christ our Lord!” (Rom 7:24-25).
Jesus had no trace of sin. He was perfect and holy. Yet He died because of sin. Your sin and my sin and the sin of every person who ever lived was heaped on Him at the cross and buried with Him in the grave. But when He rose from the dead, those sins stayed in the tomb. But not everyone will receive what He has done. When someone rejects the salvation Jesus bought with His blood, it is like they are marching into the tomb and taking their sins back. “These are MINE!”
I don’t want my sins back. I much prefer to run free in God’s forgiveness and mercy and grace. Jesus said, “If the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed” (John 8:36). That means that, in Christ, we are no longer slaves to sin. We no longer have to obey our sin nature – even though we sometimes do.
If you hear nothing else I say, hear this: If you have received what Jesus did for you, you are not who you once were. You are “a new creation” (2 Cor 5:17). Receive it. Believe it. Live in it. Beloved, freedom looks good on you.

Spiritual Ears

One of my favorite games with Joy when she was very little was “Where is Joy’s . . .” toes, eyes, fingers, nose . . .” “My nose is wright here” and she’d tap the end of her nose. Sometimes I would change it up and ask her “Where is Nana’s nose?” and she would giggle and tap my proboscis. One day I asked her, “Where is Nana’s ears,” and she touched them, then looked curiously at them, and said, “Nana, I know why you have ears. So you gwasses don’t fall down!” Then she noticed the frames resting on my nose and she was awestruck. I started to laugh until I noticed that she was serious. She had made a connection: Nana’s nose and ears are important for keeping her gwasses in place.
Jesus told the Parable of the Sower (Matt 13:1-23) and said, “He who has ears, let him hear.” Of course we all have physical ears – some of ours do double duty as Joy discovered – but Jesus was speaking of spiritual ears. Ears that will not just receive words like an adult talking in a Peanuts cartoon, but ears that hear – that attend to and consider what is said so that one might understand and perceive the purpose of the message. The purpose of hearing what Jesus said is obedience. God doesn’t just speak to be heard, He speaks to be obeyed.
Maybe that is why so many of us are not using our spiritual ears when we quickly run through our daily devotional. We know that if we hear and understand what the Bible is saying, we are obligated to respond. Jesus quoted Isaiah in saying: “You will be ever hearing but never understanding; you will be ever seeing but never perceiving” (v. 14; Is 6:9). We are looking for a nice word of encouragement to get through the day, but we don’t want something that is going to change our comfy lives.
But hear what the Psalmist said about the Scripture: “I run in the path of your commands, for you have set my heart free” (Ps 119:32). There is real freedom in the Words of God. There is real rest and peace in His truth. There is real Joy in obeying His Word.
Don’t just let the words bounce off your ears, but receive them into your heart so that you will abide in them (Jn 15:7). Beloved, Let the Word of God be your delight and obedience be your offering.

Take What God Has Given You

“Take possession of the land and settle in it, for I have given you the land to possess” (Numbers 33:53). This was God’s word to the Israelites when they came to the edge of the Promised Land after forty years of wandering in the wilderness. They were about to take possession of the territory that God had promised to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob long ago – land was already inhabited by powerful people who would not surrender without a fight. The Israelites would have to go in and take what God had given to them.
The Holy Spirit nudged my heart, “What has God given to you that you need to take possession of?” Let’s see what the Scripture says.
This past year has been full of turmoil and anxiety for me. But Jesus said, “Peace I leave with you; My peace I give to you” (Jn 14:27). That means I don’t have to search for His peace, He had already given it to me.
I confess that I have said, “I don’t think I can do what You expect of me. It’s too hard.” But His Word says, “His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness” (2 Pet 1:3). God has prepared us for life in His Son.
I have always tended to be melancholy – I don’t naturally “bubble over,” but Jesus has given me Joy – His Joy. He said, “My Joy may be in you . . . that your Joy may be complete” (Jn 15:11). And He told the Father that we have been given “the full measure of [His] Joy” (Jn 17:13).
“As the Father has loved me, so I have loved you” (Jn 15:9). From Genesis to Revelation the Bible speaks of God’s unfailing, abiding, lavish love which He freely gives to you and me.
“I have given them your word” (Jn 17:14). Jesus came to earth as the Word of God made flesh (Jn 1:14) so that we could know God’s heart.
“I have given them the glory that You gave me” (Jn 17:22). Read it again. This is incredible! Jesus has given you and me His very own glory. He has exalted us in Him before the Father.
And this is the greatest gift of all – “God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son” (1 Jn 5:11). Words fail me. It is too wonderful for my finite mind.
All of these are ours in Christ. Not just will be. Are. But we must lay hold of what has already been decreed for us as God’s children. Beloved, it’s time to take what belongs to you by God’s grace and favor.

Holy Light

“The lamp (light showing the way of truth) of the LORD searches (examines, tracks down) the spirit (breath, life) of a man; it searches out his inmost being (heart, chamber, bedroom, the most intimate part of the heart),” Proverbs 20:27.
When I am searching for something important – keys, wallet, phone – I turn on every available light and look throughout the room. I move things that might be covering up what I’m seeking. I may call for help in my search. I go back to where I’ve already looked, just in case I missed it the first time. I check every corner, hunt through drawers, closets, and shelves, and keep searching with a light in my hand until I find it. The presence of light makes it possible to see what might be hidden. (The older I get the more often I have to go through this routine.)
God has a holy light, a brilliant, powerful light that illumines every corner and crevice of our lives. When we read His Word, He shines that spotlight on you and me, searching our hearts and minds, our thoughts and intentions, our desires and passions, and our actions. At the same time, His Spirit moves everything we use to cover up our sin. He looks far deeper than we even know exists, to the most intimate levels of our being, to the place where He finds the truth about us. His purpose is to locate and root out everything in us that does not meet the perfect standard for His children. This is the sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit (1 Cor. 6:11).
I need this holy light of truth to examine my life, to track down everything in me that is not conforming to the image of Christ. I need God to search out every offensive way in me (Psalm 139:24). In the deepest part of my heart, there are passions and desires and fears and selfishness – that need to be crucified to Christ Jesus (Col. 3:5; Gal. 5:24) if I am to truly love Him and be a vessel for His glory. I want to be fully open to the Spirit’s examination. I want Him to freely roam throughout my heart, mind, and body and expose me to the core. That is frightening, but it will release me from the bonds of my flesh and the world. Beloved, will you let the Word and the Spirit do a sanctifying work in you?

Before and After

Some time ago I ran across some old photos of myself. I laid them out in the progression of ages from about 3 to my high school years, watching myself grow taller, with a variety of hairstyles and some very strange fashion sense. I saw something else. Somewhere between 10 and 18, the girl in those photos took on a dark demeanor and I remembered my past – things that had been done to me, and things I did to myself. Glancing up into the mirror on my dresser, I thought about how much I physically looked like the girl in the pictures, but I no longer recognized those dark eyes. I heard a whisper in my heart, “That is because that’s not who you are anymore. Then you were a victim and a rebel. Now you are Mine.”
In Ephesians 5:8, Paul wrote, “You were once darkness . . .” Then he gives the contrast: “. . . but now you are light in the Lord.” He was using words to paint a before and after portrait.
One of Satan’s favorite ploys is to assault us with our past, to tell us that we will always be who we were and there is no point in trying to resist those old familiar sins. “You know deep down, you still want it. You haven’t changed. You are bound to your past. You are bound to your sin.” But if you belong to Jesus Christ, you are free from your past. You are a child of light, purified from all your sins (1 John 1: 7). Where you were once held captive to sin, you are now bound up in God’s love. You have the power to say no to sin.
In Philippians 3:13, Paul gave the secret to walking in our new identity: “One thing I do: forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on…” We can forget what is behind us because “as far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us. (Ps 103:12)”
Beloved, I want so much for you to understand that because Jesus Christ has completely removed all your transgressions; you are a new creation in Christ, no longer bound to a painful, sinful past or those dark desires. You have light in your eyes, and God’s love shines on your face. Because you are not who you once were. Now you are His.

Covered in Grace

If I could go to heaven right now, besides seeing Jesus and so many others (that’s a post coming soon), I want to talk with one particular person – the woman caught in adultery and brought before Jesus. Her story is found in John 8:1-11*. Remember that the Pharisees hated Jesus and devised a plot to trap Him (v. 5-6).
When Jesus appeared in the temple courts, the religious leaders brought a woman who had been caught in adultery – but only the woman. They confronted Jesus with the Law of Moses that commanded her to be stoned to death. Then they asked Him, “Now, what do you say?” And Jesus said nothing at first. He stooped down and wrote in the dirt and finally said, “If any one of you is without sin, let him cast the first stone” (v. 7). And no one did. They all slowly walked away. Jesus asked the woman where her accusers were; “Has no one condemned you?” (v. 10). “No one, sir,” she answered. “Then neither do I . . .” he replied.
We have John’s perspective but I want to see this through the woman’s eyes. I have so many questions – starting with what Jesus wrote in the dirt. A Scripture about intentional sin or maybe judging others? Perhaps the names of everyone in the crowd who had slept with her? I suspect that whatever He wrote convicted them as much as what He said. I want to see the compassion she found in His eyes and the gentle conviction in His words to her: “Go now, and leave your life of sin” (v. 11).
And I want to know about her life after that encounter. Surely she took His words to heart and left her life of sin. She must have been a changed woman. Most of all, I want to know how she left all her shame and guilt over her past. How did she live out the rest of her days? I expect she would say something like: “Covered in God’s grace.”
Shame and guilt and regret are the biggest burdens many of us bear. But we don’t have to. God’s grace is sufficient to cover them all. Paul said, “Where sin abounds, grace abounds more” (Rom 5:20). That means you and I can hand that sack of shame over to Jesus. Beloved, you aren’t a pack-mule. You were made for grace.

*Note: I acknowledge that some scholars doubt the authenticity of this passage as it is not found in the earliest manuscripts of John’s gospel. But it was accepted by the most influential early church fathers such as Jerome, Ambrose, and Augustine. The church has long held that it records an authentic episode from the life of Christ. And I trust that God has worked throughout the centuries to preserve His Holy, Sacred Word.

Do You Know the Rest of the Christmas Story?

There’s part of the Christmas story that we tend to ignore. The dark part with a paranoid king and some wise men from afar. Matthew reports that the Magi followed a star they had seen in the east (2:2) and when they arrived in Jerusalem (2:1) they raised quite a stir looking for “the one who has been born king of the Jews” (2:2). Herod got wind of this and called for the visitors who reported that ancient prophecies (likely passed down from Daniel) said the child would be born in Bethlehem (2:5). Herod ordered the wise men to report back to him after they found the child – saying he, too, wanted to “worship” him (2:7-8).
But that was a lie. He wanted to kill him. He had a reputation for violence and murdered members of his own family whom he viewed as a threat. A Jewish baby was no match for this king. But Herod was no match for this Baby’s Father. The Magi were warned in a dream not to return to Herod (2:12) and the Lord sent an angel to warn Joseph who took his family and fled to Egypt (2:13-14). The king, in a rage, ordered the murder of all baby boys in Bethlehem two years and under to secure his throne – another clue to the timing of the Magi’s’ visit. (2:16-18).
But who was really behind Herod’s actions? Who planted that paranoia in his mind and murder in his heart? Who would have wanted this child dead more than Herod? Satan. Satan was behind every threat God’s people faced because he knew his destroyer would come from the Jewish nation. Herod was reenacting Pharoah’s hatred when he ordered the death of all Hebrew baby boys born in Egypt. But the Lord called two midwives, a believing mother and even Pharoah’s daughter to save the day (Ex 1:15-22; 2:1-10) . Satan enticed Haman to order the -annihilation of the Jews in Persian, but God used Esther to rescue His people (Esther). You see satan’s evil presence over and over in Scripture – but you also see God’s mighty hand preserving His people and His promise.
Satan is also part of the Christmas story, for the Holy Child in the manger was born to break the curse of evil. He was born to set men free from their sins (Romans 6:18). He was born to bring light and life where death and darkness reigned (John 1:4-5). He was born to set right what had gone horribly wrong (Romans 8:22-24). This little baby was the fulfillment of God’s promise, the seed that would crush the head of the enemy (Genesis 3:15). When this newborn baby’s cry pierced the silent night, all of hell trembled.

This Baby Changed the World

“While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son” (Luke 2:6).

They say that having a baby will change your life completely, and every parent knows that is true. You give your whole self away to your child and you never get yourself back. Your time is no longer your own – your days are filled with feedings and diaper changes, and more of the same through the night. Your money is not yours anymore – whoever imagined someone so tiny would need so much stuff? Your priorities are different, your goals are reshaped, and your entire identity is redefined. And you wouldn’t have it any other way.

There is a Baby who will change your life in far greater ways. This Baby will give your life direction and purpose. This Baby will bring you peace in the midst of a storm. He will comfort you when you are weary and broken. He will lift you up when you fall. This Baby will bring you immeasurable Joy. He can wash away the stain of guilt and shame and make you new. This Baby brings hope where all hope is faded. He brings light into the darkest night. This Baby brings healing to body and mind and heart. This Baby will change the way you think and the way you live. He will transform your heart and cause you to love in ways you never expected. And if all that wasn’t enough, this Baby will change your life beyond this life.

This Baby left the glory of heaven to save the entire human race. He brought peace between God and man. He broke the chains of sin. He erased the curse of death. This Baby took on your sin and mine; He bore the punishment that you and I rightly deserved. He surrendered His body to the cross and the grave. He did it all so that you and I could have life – full and abundant and eternal. He gave Himself away so that you could get yourself back. This Baby – the Lord Jesus Christ – changes everything. Beloved, I pray you have received this Baby, this Man – the Son of God – as your Savior.