Joel's Thoughts

Thankful

2009-11-26T21:19:00.004-06:00

Today, being Thanksgiving, has been a poignant reminder of how little I thank the Lord for his blessings and providence. Often I wish I had another gadget or toy not realizing how much God has blessed me with already. Many times I get frustrated with my job at Boeing and fail to thank the Lord for his blessings of a good salary and a challenging work environment. I often fail to thank God and serve the many friends he has given me because I am selfish and arrogant. My failure to thank God in every facet of my life reveals two things: I am horribly selfish and I really don't believe, deep down, that I am a steward of the many blessings I have.

My selfishness runs deep just like it does in all the people of the world. I manipulate friendships, seek my own gain, and protect myself because, ultimately, I set myself up as the "god" of my life. There are, truly, only two "gods" that we can have in our lives: the one, true, living God or the idol of ourselves. When I worship myself I desire other people to worship me and bow down to me, not in an overt but in a covert way. We always desire people to worship the object of our own worship because we are worshipful beings and believe the object of our worship is sublime in the full sense of the word.

This idolatry leads to a "mine" mentality. I see myself as an owner of many things as opposed to the true steward of God that I am. My money is not truly mine but God's. In failing to see this I spend copious amounts of money pursuing my own "happiness" (though these pleasures are fleeting and not fulfilling) while God calls me to use my abundant material blessings to usher in his kingdom and proclaim the good news to others through food and material compassion. For instance, did I buy my house to impress people or serve people? The first shows idolatry of myself but the second reveals a God-owned stewardship of my home. I cannot truly serve people when I am worshiping myself.

So how does this tie in to thankfulness? Simply put, the more thankful I am to God for his abundant blessings the more I worship God and understand my relationship to him rightly. How can I serve myself in idolatry by manipulating relationships if I am thanking God for giving them to me? A thankful heart puts the many blessings of God into their proper place in my life and helps me destroy idolatry of myself.

Thank you Lord for, once again, for revealing your truth to me. Please give me an ever-thankful heart toward the many blessings you have given me. Thank you that Jesus' blood washes away my sin and that the Spirit is continuing to renew me day by day. Amen.

The Joy of Knowing Christ

2009-07-27T09:24:00.001-05:00

Does it Matter
Joy. It's something that we don't give much consideration to when thinking of our relationship with God. We think in terms of duty or "being saved" from damnation but rarely do we consider joy, real, heart-felt, powerful joy, to be a significant reason to follow Christ. Why is that?

The media in our culture constantly shouts that if we had this toy or that look or this friend or that relationship we would experience real joy and satisfaction. It is all a lie though. The only truly satisfying and joy giving relationship is found in the person of Jesus Christ. When we regard him as most valuable, we begin to experience true joy not only in our relationship with him but also in regard to the many things that he has blessed us with.

The Kingdom of God: The Ultimate Joy
In my own life I, at times, approach God and my faith with a feeling of drudgery. I feel bogged down by all of the things that I have to do to be a "good Christian." Simply put, I lose sight of the reason for my faith and what my relationship with God brings.

Jesus speaks to the very issue that I am talking about. He does not talk about eternal consequences but he talks about something deeper, something that touches every sin-filled human to the core. Take a look at what he says:

"The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and covered up. Then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field. Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in search of fine pearls, who, on finding one pearl of great value,went and sold all that he had and bought it." --Matt 13:44-46

The key phrase in this passage can easily be overlooked when trying to understand the parable. The whole reason for this person's desire is captured in the four words "Then in his joy."

The joy of Christ was greater than all other things that these people had. Think about it for a second, they sold everything they had. That means all of their hopes, all of their aspirations, all of the security they previously had was flushed down the toilet because they saw this one thing and they desired it above all others.

But why did they give up their hopes, aspirations, and security for this thing that they had found? Because of joy! They found joy in having something of infinite value.

Knowing Christ
Paul of Tarsus felt that Christ was of infinite value. In his own words:

If anyone else thinks he has reason for confidence in the flesh, I have more: circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; as to the law, a Pharisee; as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to righteousness under the law, blameless. But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ.
Philippians 3:4-8

Paul had a lot going for him. He was on top of the world - at least the Jewish world - but he considered it all rubbish. Just like the men in the stories above, Paul found the "surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus" to be better than anything else in life. It was so worthwhile that he gave up status, position, and influence while subjecting himself to suffering, hardship, and torture to tell everyone of the value of Christ.

Confession and Prayer
I know that I constantly fail to hold Jesus as the most valuable person and relationship in my life. I constantly fail to love and trust him in every aspect of my life. I pray that God continues to give me the strength and passion to love Christ more and value him above every other aspect of my life. Infinite joy awaits us when we hold God and his kingdom as most valuable. I love C.S. Lewis' quote on the joy and infinite value of Christ:

"Indeed, if we consider the unblushing promises of reward and the staggering nature of the rewards promised in the Gospels, it would seem that Our Lord finds our desires, not too strong, but too weak. We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased."

Humbled

2009-04-08T16:33:00.009-05:00

The Problem
I struggle a lot with pride. Humility is not a natural outlook in my life and I am constantly focused on, thinking of, and helping myself. In many ways I set myself up as God of my own little world. The problem is this outlook is ridiculously false. The world does not spin around me nor does it hearken to my voice and desires. And, no offense, but I think all mankind, including everyone I know, is in the same boat.

Isaiah 2:10-22 clearly tells us that we are, in the grand scheme of things, tiny and weak. We might think the world revolves around us but we are sorely mistaken. God will come in splendor and majesty so we should humble ourselves and worship him.

The Word
Enter into the rock and hide in the dust from before the terror of the Lord, and from the splendor of his majesty. The haughty looks of man shall be brought low, and the lofty pride of men shall be humbled, and the Lord alone will be exalted in that day.

For the Lord of hosts has a day against all that is proud and lofty, against all that is lifted up—and it shall be brought low; against all the cedars of Lebanon, lofty and lifted up; and against all the oaks of Bashan; against all the lofty mountains, and against all the uplifted hills; against every high tower, and against every fortified wall; against all the ships of Tarshish, and against all the beautiful craft. And the haughtiness of man shall be humbled, and the lofty pride of men shall be brought low, and the Lord alone will be exalted in that day.

And the idols shall utterly pass away. And people shall enter the caves of the rocks and the holes of the ground, from before the terror of the Lord, and from the splendor of his majesty, when he rises to terrify the earth.

In that day mankind will cast away their idols of silver and their idols of gold, which they made for themselves to worship, to the moles and to the bats, to enter the caverns of the rocks and the clefts of the cliffs, from before the terror of the Lord, and from the splendor of his majesty, when he rises to terrify the earth. Stop regarding man in whose nostrils is breath, for of what account is he?
Isaiah 2:10-22

The Truth
God is powerful, mighty, majestic, and sovereign. He is the Lord of all peoples, the creator of all things, and the rightful ruler of all creation. Why don't we worship and humble ourselves before him as we should?

God will humble all people someday. He will come in wrath and power, humbling us by showing us how weak and utterly pitiful we truly are.

Why do we consistently put our hope in things other than God. The people of Lebanon trusted their cedars and the people of Bashan trusted their oaks for their lively-hood and thought they were special because these magnificent trees grew in their land. Yet God, not the trees of his creation, should be worshiped, loved, and pursued. So the Lord will humble these people when he comes by destroying everything they have put their hope in and become proud of.

God's power will come and destroy mighty mountains if we place our hope in them. The words "lofty" and "lifted up" suggest people were bragging about these mountains and hills but God was not impressed. He made them and will just as easily destroy them to tear down the pride of those who say, "Look where I live, isn't it amazing?" Pride in where we live will be destroyed for the Lord will tear down those things that we cherish more than him.

We also place our trust in the security of our country, the power of our military, and the strength of our weapons, but God is not impressed. We may brag about our "high towers" and "fortified walls" but God will destroy them when he comes since they are a place of pride. Anything that causes us to say "Look at me, I'm important" will be brought low for God will not share his rightful worship with anything or anyone.

"And the Idols shall utterly pass away." Everything that we worship, everything that we trust in, everything that we are proud of, will be brought low. Idols are things that take the place of God in our lives. Many people think idols are gold or silver statues that we bow down and reverence, but that is not totally true. Our culture is still rife with idols. The most powerful and insidious of which is ourselves.

We place ourselves on the throne of our lives thinking that we are important and worthy of praise. Whether because of our money, house, job, friends, acts of service, knowledge of the Bible, prayer life, grades, areas of leadership, hobbies, personality, and the list goes on, we think we are important and take pride in ourselves. But God, through Isaiah, promises that he will come in splendorous majesty bringing all things low so that our pride will be seen as foolishness.

Do you put your hope in your money, wealth, assets, or power? Does your work with the homeless, lonely, or dejected give you reason for pride? Do you constantly brag about where you live or how you live? Do you think that you're important because of your Biblical knowledge or spiritual life? Humble yourself and turn away from your pride. Put your hope in the Lord because he will bring you low when he returns.

Trust, worship, fear, and reverence God alone.

Crimson and Snow

2009-03-23T19:25:00.004-05:00

I've had a lot of time to digest the New Testament lately, mainly Romans, Philippians, and Acts, but I have, in many ways, neglected the Old Testament. I often struggle with seeing God as king over creation, sovereign with respect to time and space, and totally transcendent.

In an attempt to keep a clear tension between my understanding of God as transcendent (totally other, different, and supreme) and my understanding of God as immanent (close, real, and personal) I've decided to go back and study the prophecy revealed through Isaiah to the nation of Israel.

The power, beauty, and majesty of Isaiah's prophecy drew me to it while I was seeking a book in the Old Testament to study. The first chapter is rich in truth, speaking of Israel's infidelity and God's unsurpassed holiness and wrath toward iniquity.

Verse 18 sticks out to me. I'm currently preparing a sermon on the 51st Psalm and v18 reminds me of that Psalm. It also reminds me of the beautiful imagery in Revelation.

The Word
"Come now, let us reason together, says the Lord: though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall become like wool."
Isaiah 1:18

"Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow."
Psalm 51:7

"Then one of the elders addressed me, saying, 'Who are these, clothed in white robes, and from where have they come?' I said to him, 'Sir, you know.' And he said to me, 'These are the ones coming out of the great tribulation. They have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb."
Revelation 7:13,14

"Then I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse! The one sitting on it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he judges and makes war. His eyes are like a flame of fire, and on his head are many diadems, and he has a name written that no one knows but himself. He is clothed in a robe dipped in blood, and the name by which he is called is The Word of God."
Revelation 19:11-13

Significance
The imagery here is unmistakable. These two colors scarlet, crimson, blood red and pure, holy, white create a clear demarcation. We see sin and death being contrasted with holiness and life. God calls us to be reconciled, renewed, and restored by the blood of the Anointed One, by the sacrificial death and victorious resurrection of Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God.

God calls us back into an unbroken relationship with himself. He declares that our sins, though they are like striking, poignant crimson, will be as white as snow or the wool of a lamb.

Just as hyssop was used during the first Passover in Egypt to spread the blood of a sacrificed lamb on the doorpost of a Jewish home, so Christ's blood is spread over us causing God's wrath to pass over us.

When we are united fully, in glory, with Jesus, there will be two constant reminders before us; our robes will be white and pure because of the blood of the Lamb and he will be clothed in crimson robes because of our sins.

God has reasoned with us and cleansed us by the blood of the victorious Lamb. How can we do anything but praise him?

All glory to the one who is Faithful and True!

Humility

2009-01-06T19:12:00.007-06:00

I've been reading through Philippians a lot and I decided to take a close look at one of the verses in more detail. I may go through more in another post, but I may not.

The Word
Do nothing from rivalry or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
Phil 2:3-11

Exposition
3. Do nothing from rivalry or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves.

The entire point of this section is humility and the earnest desire for us to live humble lives. Paul gives the ultimate example of humility later when he speaks of Christ, but here he speaks of orthopraxy (right practice). He first tells his readers (and us) that they are to do nothing from "rivalry or conceit." I think the first step in understanding this verse is understanding what these two words mean.

Rivalry is competition between people based on a desire to show one's superiority over another. It consists of taking actions to prove that you are better than your rival in a certain skill, area of knowledge, or sphere of competency. Conceit means an overly zealous personal regard of one's abilities or position. If I seem conceited, it would be an air of self-superiority because I think I am better than you. Both of the words deal with a feeling of superiority over someone.

Paul says "do nothing from" these things. In essence he is saying "being competent in an area does not make you better than other people. Your worth is found in who you are in reality, a broken and sinful but dearly beloved child of God. This real worth does not make you superior to others."

The second half of the verse deals with the positive. If you are not supposed to do anything in rivalry and conceit you are supposed to do everything in humility. Humility is a word that is thrown around a lot but rarely gets defined. I would say humility is thinking of others first, not yourself. There is a false belief that humility is destroying, in your mind, the reality of how well you do things. For example, someone might think it is humble to say they know nothing of C.S. Lewis when, in reality, they have read a fair majority of his works. Purposely misleading people does not constitute humility no matter how "humble" it may make you look.

The contrast here is amazing. Rivalry and conceit puff me up and make me self-focused and self-centered while humility makes me realize who I truly am and turns my focus away from myself to other people.

It seems really easy to spot people of both breeds. If someone is arrogant, self-centered, and conceited, you can easily sniff them out miles away because they are repugnant. On the other hand, people who are humble constantly attract others because they care for others and truly want the best for those they meet and spend time with.

In my own life I know that I, in many ways, live in rivalry with others or act conceited. When I do this, I defame the name of Christ because I bear his name and claim to live for him. When I become self-focused, I have to humble myself by falling on my knees and asking the Holy Spirit to grow me in the areas where pride and arrogance abound. The only way to do this is by looking to Christ, giving over areas of pride to the Holy Spirit, and constantly praying for a true outlook on life (where I see myself as saved by the grace of God not through my own, self-perceived worth).

Praise God that, while I don't measure up to this verse in many regards, he is still growing me, changing me, and showing me how to take my eyes off of myself and place them on others so I can truly care for those around me with Christ-like love.

How are People "Saved" in the Old Testament

2008-12-07T22:52:00.005-06:00

Background
Something that I've always wondered about is how people were made right before God in the Old Testament. In the New Testament, the answer is clearly that Jesus makes us right before God but it often seems as if the sacrificial system was set up to make people right before God. Here is a quick look at how people were saved from their sins and God's wrath in the Old Testament.

A Good Starting Point
The best place to start, when looking at this issue biblically, is our condition as human beings.

"For there is no distinction: for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God."
-Rom 3:22a,23

Everyone has sinned, no matter who they are (exception Jesus, but that is a whole other ball game). Therefore we are not inherently righteous and we, unlike God, cannot justify our actions because they are not right or good.

"For all who have sinned without the law will also perish without the law, and all who have sinned under the law will be judged by the law."
-Rom 2:12

"For the wages of sin is death"
-Rom 6:23a

Our sins, and therefore our guilt and unrighteousness before God, call for our death. Death is eternal separation from God because he is the source of life.

So the people in the OT, and we today, are in dire straights. Our sins, our actions that are against God's will, condemn us as unrighteous. Therefore we are to be eternally separated from God because he is perfectly righteous. We know that Jesus' death and resurrection declares us righteous before God because he took our penalty (eternal separation) upon himself (on the cross Mark 15:34), but what does this mean for people in the OT?

Sacrifices?
Well, God established a sacrificial system that made the Jews right before him, right?

"For it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins."
-Heb 10:4

I think this verse is pretty self explanatory. God's sacrificial system did not, by sacrificing animals, make people right before God. In the OT, David says:

"For you will not delight in sacrifice, or I would give it; you will not be pleased with a burnt offering. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite hear, O God, you will not despise."
-Psalm 51:16-17

David is admitting that animal sacrifices before God will not make him righteous. He does say that admitting his sin to God and agreeing with God about his unrighteousness will repair their relationship. Earlier in the Psalm David asks God to:

"Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow."
-v.7

David was trusting in God to make him righteous, not his own efforts or his animal sacrifices.

God Redeems
The truth is that God is the redeemer, he is the one that repairs our broken relationship, even in the OT. The people were continually looking to God to save them and, as more and more was revealed to them, they began to see this redemption coming in the form of a savior, a messiah.

"For I know that my Redeemer lives, and at the last he will stand upon the earth. And after my skin has been thus destroyed, yet in my flesh I shall see God, whom I shall see for myself, and my eyes shall behold, and not another. My heart faints within me!"
-Job 20:25-27

Job earnestly trusts that there will be a redeemer, God himself, that will justify him. He trusted that God will make him right. In Isaiah, we see the picture of the one that people, throughout the ages are putting their hope in:

"Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. But he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned - every one - to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all."
-Isaiah 53:4-6

God's Plan
The beauty of this is it was God's plan to have people look to him for salvation from sin and death all along.

"But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it - the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction: for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God's righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins. It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus."
-Romans 3:21-26

God passed over the sins of people in the OT because they were trusting God to redeem them (save them). God's wrathful gaze was fixed on the coming Christ who would bear the burden and consequences of the sins of those who believed.

Praise God that his plan to redeem us and save us from our just penalty has come to fruition in Jesus Christ. People in the OT trusted God to save them from their sins and, even though they did not know that salvation would come through Jesus Christ specifically, God still followed the same plan of redemption.

If you want to study this more I suggest reading through Romans 1-6 and Hebrews 9-10.

The Church

2008-11-07T20:22:00.004-06:00

As I was reading for class last week I came upon an interesting section and I was unsure as to whether I buy what this gentleman says in totality because of what I see as major theological flaws to his argument. That being said, I was hoping to get some other thoughts on it because my own perception may be off. So, by all means, please leave an extended comment on your thoughts in regard to this excerpt.

"The danger of misuse and misappropriation of church doctrines faces the church in every age. A teaching, right and proper in itself, becomes institutionalized. Baptism and the Lord's supper are examples from church life in the Middle Ages. But current examples are not lacking. The love of God is being emphasized, as it ought to be. Yet in some circles little is heard about the demands of God and the possibility of his judgement on sin. The teaching about the eternal security of the believer, while a teaching of Scripture, has been emphasized in some circles to the virtual neglect of the call to discipleship and holiness. Scripture, to cite yet another example, is defined as God-breathed and inspired, and even inerrant in its historical and scientific statements. Yet while there is commotion about holding to the correct formulation of Scripture obedience to Scripture seems a more optional matter. In any event the Scripture as an item of theological orthodoxy, quite like the temple in ancient Israel, comes to be of primary concern. And that concern, though largely legitimate, serves to shield believers from an immediate and direct confrontation of God. The result both for Israel and for moderns is a limited awareness of God's call upon his people to be a righteous and just community.

The privilege of being in a covenant relationship with God is a a high privilege. But election to covenant, even for King David, includes more than election to privilege. Election is to responsibility as well as privilege. Just as the prophets insisted upon responsibility within covenant, upon right and just dealing by the rich with the poor, upon compassion and mercy, so must church leaders insist upon obligation by the Christian community to act with moral uprightness, integrity, and compassion within its society.

Jeremiah charged that the house of God, though crowded with worshipers, was infested with robbers. Jesus likewise accused those within temple walls of making the place a den of thieves. Today's minister is not called to perpetuate a cozy club of Christians. He or she must remain clear about covenant prerogatives, but also be perceptive and outspoken about covenant responsibilities."
-E.A. Martens God's Design: A Focus on Old Testament Theology

Approaching God In Reverent Fear

2008-10-20T21:09:00.003-05:00

I am amazed as I read through the Old Testament and see the response that various people have when they meet God. My amazement stems from the vastly different response that they have as opposed to my general response to God today. If I had to choose one word that encapsulates the response people in the OT have when they experience God's presence it would be 'reverence.'

In seeing, hearing, or experiencing God, the same response is shown time and again. Take these few examples into account:

Then Job answered the LORD and said:
"I know that you can do all things,
and that no purpose of yours can be thwarted.
'Who is this that hides counsel without knowledge?'Therefore I have uttered what I did not understand,
things too wonderful for me, which I did not know.
'Hear, and I will speak;
I will question you, and you make it known to me.'
I had heard of you by the hearing of the ear,
but now my eye sees you;
therefore I despise myself,
and repent in dust and ashes."
-Job 42:1-6

In this verse Job experiences God and despises himself.

In the year that King Uzziah died I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up; and the train of his robe filled the temple. Above him stood the seraphim. Each had six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. And one called to another and said:

"Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory!"

And the foundations of the thresholds shook at the voice of him who called, and the house was filled with smoke. And I said: "Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts!"
-Isaiah 6:1-5

Here Isaiah experiences the Lord and he realizes his position before God; his response is reverent fear.

O Lord, let your ear be attentive to the prayer of your servant, and to the prayer of your servants who delight to fear your name, and give success to your servant today, and grant him mercy in the sight of this man.
-Nehemiah 1:11

Nehemiah specifically says that he fear's God's name, i.e. he holds God's name in reverence.

Like I wrote before, there are more examples but I feel like this is a fair assortment. So the logical question that follows is, "So what?"

The entire reason I'm writing this is because I see a fault in my own life. I continuously fail to approach God in reverent fear. I fail to give him the honor and glory due his name. I have no problem seeking him as a friend and confidant but I quickly lose sight of his majesty, glory, sovereignty, and power. In essence I make God more like fallible humans than the supremely worthy 'I AM' that he is. Please pray for me so that I can approach God with an attitude of reverent fear.

Faith: Our Choice

2008-08-19T19:37:00.006-05:00

Previous Thoughts
My last post talked about God as being the source of our faith. He, very literally, enables us to have faith because of who he is. So our faith in Christ is not a random, hope-against-hopes but a true enablement from God because of his character. God is perfectly faithful and therefore we are able to place our faith in him. Consider, once again, God's word where Paul writes to Timothy and says

"If we are faithless, he remains faithful - for he cannot deny himself."
- 2 Tim 2:13

Our faith in Jesus' blood only comes from the revelation of God's unchanging character, scandalous love, and omnipotence. So, the question people naturally ask, as I do myself, is whether we have a choice to place our trust in Christ. While this is the basic dividing point in the classic Calvin - Arminian debate, I'm not going to talk about either. I'm just going to present what I see biblically and experientially.

Choice (This blog chose me, I chose this blog)
First off, let me make a blanket statement, "We do have a choice." Anyone who staunchly believes in predestination and irresistible grace is probably throwing up their fist in anger right now denouncing how unbiblical my view is and how no one in their right mind would read this page. Now that those people are gone, we can have an intelligent discussion. (Honestly, no offense to any Calvinists out there. I just dislike extremely dogmatic people in this debate. They, many times, reject Christ's clear call to "love your neighbor as yourself.")

Our lives are riddled with choices. Anyone who denies this elementary fact of life has never had to choose a college, or a job, or whether to get married, or what car to buy, or whether they really wanted ketchup and mustard on that hamburger, or whether they should hold out on buying gas in hopes that it will drop 20 cents by tomorrow. Any logical human being will see that we are riddled with choices. The entire reason why we are plagued with a wealth of choices is we are finite beings. We don't see the future; we don't know all of the outcomes of our actions. So we make do with the wisdom and knowledge we have when making a choice.

Granted some choices are easier than others. You might even label them non-choices because of their simplicity. Take for instance, the choice to wear your underwear for two days in a row when you have a clean pair sitting in your drawer. (I apologize for the negative light I have placed any two day, inside out underwear wearers if you are offended.) The choice in this case is still real and has a very efficacious effect. Taking this into the spiritual realm we see that we do make a very real choice to accept Christ or reject him because we, once again being finite and not seeing all paths, make a decision. Now, if you are a Calvinist hold on to your pants because I'm going to agree with you very soon, but first we need to tackle an issue that is very important to our understanding of faith.

Look at this passage:

"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

Look at what happens, belief -> mercy -> grace, i.e. you belive and, therefore, you are saved from hell and given eternal life. The key point is that this hinges on faith.

"But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God."
-John 1:12,13

Once again we have belief -> grace. You believe and you are adopted into Gods family. (Notice the will of God in this statement. We'll touch on this soon.)

"Then he brought them out and said, 'Sirs, what must I do to be saved?' And they said, 'Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household.'"
-Acts 16:30,31

And to end my exploits, we once again have belief -> salvation. While there are many more statements like this, it would be erroneous to believe that salvation precedes faith. If Paul really believed this he would have said, in the above verse, "You're already saved. You can now believe." Instead he says "Believe and then you will be saved."

Now, I'll come clean. I haven't thought too far ahead as to what this might mean to my whole theological framework. But think about this for a moment, if we have to translate whatever the Bible says into some sort of "Reformed" theological framework, we're not conducting sound biblical hermeneutics. (If you have no idea what I'm saying, don't worry.)

The Human Point of View
So, we've seen that, from our limited point of view, we make very real choices. And one of these contingent choices we make is to accept or reject Christ. My next post will discuss the same topic from God's view. (Breathe easier Calvinists. You'll enjoy the next post.)

The Start of Faith

2008-08-04T21:03:00.011-05:00

The Setting
You sit on the dusty floor, prepared to write as Paul paces in front of you pondering his thoughts to the steady rhythm of his sandals' plop-plop. The lamp on the table in front of you flickers throwing shadows on the walls as he turns to you suddenly and begins dictating his letter to your brothers and sisters in the city of Ephesus. His dark eyes bore into you as he speaks firmly of those in Ephesus and the blessings of God. You marvel at the power and wisdom poured out through this humble man before you. Then in a heightening crescendo, Paul, to your astonishment, with fire in his eyes and passion on his lips, nearly yells

"For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them."

You gape at your mentor. Never before have you heard so clearly the words of God uttered from the lips of Paul. A chill runs down your spine as he continues to speak...

The Foundation of Salvation
I am amazed every time I read those words from the apostle Paul. The power and truth of God rests in those three verses (Eph 2:8-10). I love how Paul uses redundant wording to emphasize a very clear point. Most people, as I normally do, link grace (a free, undeserved gift) with the phrase "not your own doing" and rightly so. Yet Paul uses three redundant terms here to emphasize the importance of this concept. He says we are saved by God, not by our own actions, and that this right standing comes by God's grace through faith.

The grace God is talking about is the enabling gift of Christ. Jesus died on the cross for you and I. He took our filth, that baggage that we keep behind closed doors in hopes that no one will ever see it, and laid it on his own shoulders so that God would punish him. Do you remember the words that Jesus cried on the cross? "Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?" (My God, My God, why have you foresaken me?) He was crying out to God because Jesus' father had removed his presence from Jesus. Jesus became separated from God because of our sin and allowed us to be seen as righteous and pure before God. This is the gracious gift of God through Christ that Paul is speaking of here in his letter to the Church in Ephesus.

Paul clearly and admantly says we are saved by Jesus' sacrifice, by God's unmerited favor, and not by our own works. To even say that we have a part in our salvation is to spit in the face of Christ and say, "Your perfect life wasn't good enough. Your grueling death was of little consequence because my own actions have saved me." We are saved by Jesus' sacrifice alone, not by our own works. Paul says that this gracious gift comes to us, is given to us, through faith.

Learning Through Redundancy
So Paul clearly states that we are saved by grace (unmeritous favor given as a gift, i.e. not our own doing) and not our own actions (i.e. not our own doing). This grace comes through faith which is also not our own doing. The Greek here lends itself to the understanding that both grace and faith are freely given by God (the "that" refers to the previous phrase as a whole, specifically salvation). Wow, we don't have faith because of our own ability to trust but because God gives us the ability to trust. Faith is a gift from God.

Now, this might sound odd to some people because we always think that faith in something is a willful choice to trust. While this is true to some extent it can easily warp faith into a meritorious act where we save ourselves. Think about it, if you are able to choose Christ as your savior, then you have obviously done a good work and deserve to be commended. Paul guards us against this type of thought when he says that our salvation rests on God's grace, extended to us through Christ because of the gift of faith that he has given us. This is a very theologically deep concept and, while I love theology, it has little usefulness if it is not tied to the practicality of life.

The Beginnings of Faith
Faith is an important part of life. Think about it. When we sit down on a chair we have faith that it will not fall apart as we put our weight on it. We've come to trust chairs because we know what they are made out of, we know a bit about how they are built, and we know that they've held us in the past. Therefore, every time we sit down we have faith in the chair we are sitting in. Now, I don't know about you, but I neither receive commendation when I sit down nor feel like I should be rewarded because I chose to sit. If someone jumped up and down, thrashed in agony, and nearly went crazy every time they were faced with putting their faith in a chair and sitting in it, we would call them insane. We simply trust a chair because of its qualities. Now lets take these thoughts and apply them to faith.

Our trust in God is the facet by which God's redemptive grace is poured into our lives. The key to faith in God, like our faith in a chair, rests in God's attributes and promises, not our own ability to trust. We have faith in God because we know him to be unchanging. Look for one moment at any of the prophets in the Old Testament and you will see God's faithfulness and his immutability; He continues to love Israel even after she abandons him like an adulteress. So we know that God doesn't change. Because of this, we trust God.

Think about it for a minute, Jesus said to Nicodemus:
"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

This promise stands for everyone, all people. It says very clearly that whoever believes (the word here for believe is a form of the greek word for faith (pistis)) will be saved. Our faith in God rests on his promises because we know him to be faithful and unchanging, always upholding his word.

So, our faith stands not because of our ability to hold trust in something but because the nature of the object of our faith allows us to trust it. We trust God, have faith in him, because he is faithful. All of this means that faith is not from us, it is from God because he, in his nature and his promises, is the perfect being for us to trust.

Not of Us
So our faith is not our own doing. Remember Paul's original words? "For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast." The beauty of this verse is how, in 3 separate ways, we are told that our salvation is not our own doing. Thank you, Jesus for your sweat, blood, and love that redeemed us because we could never be made right by our own sinful, broken actions.

The Start of Prayer

2008-07-27T21:00:00.001-05:00

Recognizing Grace
After reading Romans 11:11-24 I realize how amazingly blessed I am to be part of God's people. I'm not a Jew and I really am not part of God's chosen people. Yet I have been called and saved through the power of God's love and the gracious sacrifice of Jesus. I have been "grafted onto the tree" of Israel and become one of God's chosen people. All of the blessings which were reserved for Jacob have become my own. All of the inheritance, the promises and blessings, of the sons of Abraham have become my own. What an amazing and beautiful picture of God's grace and our gentile adoption into the family of God.

The Starting Place of Prayer
This is such an important picture of God's grace, but also the starting place of prayer. Prayer rests solely on the basis that God is listening and desiring to move in our lives. Without this basis for prayer we would never bring our requests to the Lord. The very subtle truth that I fail to keep at the forefront of my mind during prayer is my adoption, since I am a gentile, into the people of God. God hears me because I have been "grafted in" to his people by Christ's sacrifice and my subsequent adoption. This is why he hears me.

Viewing Prayer
This beautiful picture of God's grace is how I need to approach him in prayer. When I realize that I am grafted into the promises of Israel, I approach prayer from a totally different point of view. I approach it knowing that even my ability to pray is a gift; I approach prayer in thanks and praise. Too often I jump into prayer desiring for God to work without realizing the gift sitting in front of me as I am praying.

The Gospel in Prayer
As my original post explained, the Gospel is the blazing center of all aspects of God's grace and my life in Christ. Without the redemptive power of the Cross, I would never be part of God's people and I would not care about praying. Without Christ, the blessing promised to Abraham by God in Genesis 12:3, that all the nations would be blessed through Abraham, would not have been achieved. The cross, Jesus' blood and love, are at the center of prayer and our adoption into God's family. With this in mind, I can approach God rightly, meet with him, and lift up my heart, prayers, and love.

The Importance of the Gospel

2008-07-22T21:45:00.001-05:00

Common Thoughts
Intimacy with God is the most fulfilling, joyful part of life for me. He not only brings blessings but character-growing hardships as I continue to grow closer to him. The problem with my life, and the lives of so many Christians who are honest with themselves, is our inability to keep the Cross at the center of our lives. We quickly jump into arguments that have to do with theology or politics, but we rarely take time to remember for ourselves, let alone remind others, of the Gospel and Christ's saving work. Without this constant outlook we are utterly consumed by our sinful selfishness and we fail to experience all that a relationship with God holds.

The Gospel
The term Gospel literally means "Good News" and refers to Jesus' death and resurrection on the cross. (For those of you who like etymology, Gospel actually comes from the old-English word God-spell meaning "good tidings" and is a direct translation of the Greek word euangelion which means eu-good and angelion-message.) It is Good News because we are declared not guilty in the face of our overwhelming mistakes. This comes because Jesus died our death and experienced our separation from God. His sacrifice allows us to be in an eternal relationship with God. This is truly Good News because God brings true joy, fulfillment, and peace to our lives.

My Previous Misconceptions
I used to be under the impression that we put too much emphasis on the Gospel and not enough emphasis on living out our faith. While this thought may seem to have some practical truth to it, I can honestly say that it is not true. I held this misconception because I believed the Gospel was relevant only for salvation but I have come to realize that the Gospel is the cornerstone of every aspect of the Christian life from salvation, to sanctification, to eventual glorification.

"He is the source of your life in Christ Jesus, whom God made our wisdom and our righteousness and sanctification and redemption. Therefore, as it is written, 'Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.'" --1 Cor 1:30,31

Jesus Christ, because of his sacrifice, brings us wisdom and righteousness, sanctification and redemption. The Gospel is active in every part of our lives. When we claim that it only has special relevance for salvation, we lose sight of the cross and fail to allow God to transform us into the image of Christ. This was an important revelation for my walk with the Lord.

Parting Shot
While this is a short post, it is possibly the most important truth out of anything that I will ever write. If Jesus' sacrifice on the cross is not the central focus in our lives, then we have moved past Christianity because we have moved past Christ. My final thought in writing this brought me to a paragraph from C.J. Mahaney's book, The Cross Centered Life. It reads:

"David Prior said it best in one of my favorite quotes: 'We never move on from the cross, only into a more profound understanding of the cross.' A lot has changed since I first trusted in Christ, but a lot has stayed the same. I'm grateful to say that what matters the most has remained the same. The cross is still at the center."