Emerging Church/Emerging Conversation

I won't pretend that I know all the distinctions/difference between the above terms, but I know there has been much going on in the blogosphere lately on the topic.

There are many leaders/speakers within this movement, but two of the folks in the conversation, Doug Pagitt and Brian McLaren, have made some suppositions/statements which I find somewhat disturbing.

To start, I have to say that the part of the movement which is probing what it means to be missional (however that is defined) is something that does interest me, insofar as it searches to find how the Gospel is to be practiced or lived out. It's when in trying to be missional that some folks redefine or reshape the Gospel that I have a HUGE problem.

You see, it's folks like Pagitt who state that John MacArthur preaches a perverted Gospel. Yes he said that--see this post.Pyromaniacs: Different Gospels

McLaren in a recent book, Everything Must Change casts the Gospel as a type of social gospel, where Christ came to establish His Kingdom here on earth, and the Gospel is meant to essentially cure social ills and the human condition. (see a great post by Tim Challies on McLaren's newest book here)

There's a sense in which they feel they have a new lease on the Gospel, that they are trying to invent a "new" way to be a Christian, but this social gospel has been preached before, and as Tim Challies mentions, it has been defeated.

McLaren and Pagitt want to leave behind "stuffy" Protestantism and orthodoxy, but if you do this in abandoning basic understandings of justification, atonement, etc, you have no Gospel at all. Jesus did not come to die so that we could have a better world--he died to save us from it and from the wrath of God!

Were the disciples preaching the Gospel to help create a better world? Did they die for that? Did Paul preach dying to oneself everyday because the people he was preaching to needed a better sense of community? NO! He preached to them because they were sinners, and they needed a savior! When Peter speaks in his letter about being prepared to give an answer for the hope that you have, he speaks of the hope in Christ that we have for our salvation, not some social interpretation of the gospel.

Helping and serving others should be a work that is an outflow of the grace that Christ has shown us--it should be a means, not an end of preaching the Gospel, and that's where I fear that the focus of this "conversation" is moving toward.

We have been told in the Gospel that there is one name by which we are saved, and that is through Christ--He said Himself that no one can come to the Father except through Him. If we begin to make the Gospel into a different focus other than the fact that each person needs to come to Christ for salvation, then the Gospel is not preached.

Suffering and Trusting in God

Now that I've posted something trivial about sports, I'll turn to the topic of suffering and the really great sermon that our elder Chris preached on this past Sunday.

The passage was from 1 Peter 4:12-19, which reads as follows:

12 Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. 13 But rejoice insofar as you share Christ's sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed. 14 If you are insulted for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you. 15 But let none of you suffer as a murderer or a thief or an evildoer or as a meddler. 16 Yet if anyone suffers as a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify God in that name. 17 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? 18 And

“If the righteous is scarcely saved,
what will become of the ungodly and the sinner?”

19 Therefore let those who suffer according to God's will entrust their souls to a faithful Creator while doing good.

Chris began by stating that Christians who suffer should trust the love of God for a joyful outcome, outlining three points:

1. Be Sure That Suffering Will Come (v. 12)

Suffering in this life, as a Christian, is not a matter of if, but when. Suffering is often utilized by God to test us, to burn away the impurities much like the person who burns away the dross off the gold. Christ told his disciples to count the cost in following Him, because he warned them that as He suffered, so they would suffer. The importance of trusting in the love of God is that we are taken by surprise when we suffer, to the point that we cry out to God, saying "Why is this happening to me? Have you forgotten me God?"

Now, honestly, how many of us have said that when we have come up to suffering or adversity? Many of us have because we forget how God is ALWAYS with us, and is ALWAYS faithful. But God is not only there, but He gives us the grace necessary to rejoice in our sufferings and to cause us to look to God and see His sovereign purpose in it--which is to glorify His name by it (see Rom. 8:18). Notice it is to HIS glory, not yours, that you suffer, so throwing a pity party does not proclaim Him or His gospel in your life.


2. Be Sure That Your Suffering Is For Worthy Reasons (v.15)

It is often that we are bold enough to ask God "Why me" when the suffering is a result of our own disobedience! Peter speaks of evil doing, murder, theft, and even of someone who is a busybody and meddles in another's business. We should not moan in our suffering if we have consciously sinned as Peter mentions. It should be a warning to examine ourselves to make sure that we suffer for worthy reasons.


3. Be Sure That God Has a Sovereign Purpose For Suffering (v. 17)

a. In judgment, God separates the dross from the gold by revealing His glory through the suffering of His Church--in judging His people first, He identifies them as His own, setting them apart for His glory and honor.

b. In producing faith through the suffering, God causes us to put our faith in Him rather than lean on our own understanding or righteousness or flesh. HE must be our portion--we must cling to Christ and in Him alone when we suffer.

c. In connection with the one above, we entrust our soul to God by practicing the faith that He has given to us--this comes in our being sanctified.


In conclusion, Chris reminded us that our motivation for doing good and trusting Him in suffering is that he loves us despite our level of obedience and faithfulness to Him. What a blessed thing indeed!

Cheerful Holiness

Spurgeon, as always, continues to amaze me with his words. In today's morning reading (which can be found here), in speaking about Psalm 92:4 he says:

Cheerful holiness is the most forcible of sermons, but the Lord must give it you.

We all acknowledge that the Lord must even give us the faith and grace to continue in this life, but look at the type of holiness that Spurgeon speaks of here. A cheerful holiness--not a prideful, boastful, solemn or dutiful holiness, but a cheerful one--makes the greatest testimony to the work that God has done in you.

Why? Because through your words and actions you display your gratefulness to God for the salvation He has given you. Your sanctification should be permeated by a thankfulness to the God of all things--this is why an overemphasis with what a man has done in the salvation he has attained through Christ (that man came to Christ on his own, etc. without any effectual drawing) can overshadow or deflect such gratefulness (in my opinion) and make the focus of their sanctification wholly one of duty rather than one of cheerfulness and thankfulness.

Glorify God in your sanctification, never forgetting that Christ has died for you--love others and express to others the love you have been shown!

Jesus as Guarantor of a BETTER Covenant

Pastor David continued into Hebrews 7 yesterday, covering verses 18-22:

18 For on the one hand, a former commandment is set aside because of its weakness and uselessness 19 (for the law made nothing perfect); but on the other hand, a better hope is introduced, through which we draw near to God. 20 And it was not without an oath. For those who formerly became priests were made such without an oath, 21 but this one was made a priest with an oath by the one who said to him:

“The Lord has sworn
and will not change his mind,
‘You are a priest forever.’”

22 This makes Jesus the guarantor of a better covenant.

Pastor David began by reminding us the definition of covenant, which is essentially a solemn promise between two parties. A guarantor is someone that assumes responsibilities for paying another's debt or fulfilling their responsibilities (for example, like a co-signer on a car loan).

Beginning in the text, the writer-preacher is quick to point out yet again the weak nature of the Old commandments in how they could not save and did not make anything perfect. The writer also again points to the uniqueness of Christ's priesthood, in that Christ was made priest with an oath (whereas Levitical priests were made priests simply by bloodline)--The LORD swore an oath that Christ would be priest forever. The permanence of such a promise likely had a profound effect on the hearers, yet they were still tempted to go back to what they knew!

The reason that the writer preacher is spending time on this is that the hearers of this message are under much persecution--homes are being destroyed and they are being thrown in prison. It was easy to follow Christ when times were easy and good, and the Romans tolerated their religion--but Pastor David pointed out that when the persecution began, the pressure was trying to push them back to the Old Covenant and all that came along with it.

But the writer's point in showing this "better hope" and Jesus being the guarantor of a better covenant is to show them that Jesus fulfilled the law and superseded the Old Covenant and brought the New Covenant. There is no Old Covenant to retreat to, and yet these hearers wanted to run back to it!

The same pull or force that tempted them to desire the ways of the Old Covenant is the same force that drives us to fall back into old patterns when we come into suffering or strife that tests our faith. When we are stressed and the pressure is brought to bear on our life, we crave the "comfortable" (or at least what we think is comfort). Even as regenerated, new creations in Christ, we grab for the thing which does not satisfy when we are put under pressure, because we think that will satisfy and bring us comfort. But it is a lie! Christ, as the guarantor of a better covenant, is the only thing that will truly satisfy and sustain. We cannot turn to bad language, violence, pornography, gossip, or other vices to alleviate our suffering or make us feel better about ourselves. We must ask the Spirit to cleanse our minds and our thoughts and fight the temptation to revert to patterns which we must surrender to Him.

Lord help us to resist the temptation to fall back into old patterns and instead cling to the Cross, as you are the guarantor of a better covenant and a lasting hope!

God Made a Promise!

Continuing on in Hebrews 6, Pastor David (on July 15) finished that chapter by stressing the assurance that God provides.

To introduce the topic, he quoted Romans 15:4: For whatever was written in former days (the OT) was written for our instruction, that through endurance and through the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.

And now to the passage:

13 For when God made a promise to Abraham, since he had no one greater by whom to swear, he swore by himself, 14 saying, “Surely I will bless you and multiply you.” 15 And thus Abraham, [2] having patiently waited, obtained the promise. 16 For people swear by something greater than themselves, and in all their disputes an oath is final for confirmation. 17 So when God desired to show more convincingly to the heirs of the promise the unchangeable character of his purpose, he guaranteed it with an oath, 18 so that by two unchangeable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled for refuge might have strong encouragement to hold fast to the hope set before us. 19 We have this as a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul, a hope that enters into the inner place behind the curtain, 20 where Jesus has gone as a forerunner on our behalf, having become a high priest forever after the order of Melchizedek.

God uses the Scriptures to encourage His people, and what a better example to point back to than Abraham (vv. 13-15)! We are to patiently wait for the salvation of the Lord, just as Abraham did on the mountain as he was about to sacrifice Isaac. Why is this significant?

Notice in Genesis 22 that Abraham doesn't merely think that God will provide, but KNOWS he will since Abraham is willing to sacrifice his son: Abraham said, “God will provide for himself the lamb for a burnt offering, my son.”

Our pastor stated something, and I thought this was great: "Truth properly understood can give encouragement, and enable us to live our life." Focus on the first part of that: Truth PROPERLY understood. I can look outside and see that it's raining but if I don't have an understanding or make the connection that I will get soaked unless I wear a coat or grab an umbrella, the knowledge that it's raining will not help me.

Similarly, our faith grows by the power of the Holy Spirit helping us to understand the Word--our study of God's Word to us increases our understanding of who God is, and can follow this progression:

ASSURANCE--> PERSEVERANCE --> HOPE

Biblical instruction in the church is an instrument of God to lead to encouragement of the body of Christ. If we are strong in Scripture, we can be strong in hope.

So after describing this example, Pastor David then moves to how God brings about such assurance. God swears by His name and in doing so, He shows us two things:

1. That in swearing by His name, God gave His promise an especially solemn character.(v. 16)
I have been reading in Isaiah over the past month or so, and in the last 10 or so chapters that I have read (Ch. 40-50), I have been overwhelmed by the glory of God that is proclaimed by the LORD Himself:

Isaiah 42:8: I am the Lord; that is my name; my glory I give to no other,
nor my praise to carved idols.

Isaiah 43:25: I, I am he who blots out your transgressions for my own sake,
and I will not remember your sins.

There are many other examples--but note on the second verse I mentioned--he blotted out our transgressions for HIS OWN SAKE. Many other examples of Scripture point to the fact that God does things for Israel and His people for His name's sake, because His holiness, righteousness, and might are not to be trifled with and if He states that a people will be redeemed, they will BE redeemed, and there is nothing that ANYONE OR ANYTHING can do to undo that promise.

2. That as a result of this, in God swearing by His name, we are to be encouraged!(vv. 17-18)

We are to hold to this strong promise of God and know that He will accomplish the work that He began in us, and will bring it to its end.

Last, Pastor David closed with a wonderful illustration that shows how God is a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul (vv. 19-20):

Cargo ships coming into the bay would oftentimes have to wait for the high tide because there were often sandbars that would prevent them from coming all the way into the bay and making them unable to set anchor. However, over time, smaller boats were made to come out to the cargo ships to bring them into the harbor and help set their anchor. Similarly, Christ comes out to us, anchoring us with the Word and His Spirit as we live this life--He does so through His person and His life lived on this earth in spreading His Gospel.

Go forth and be encouraged in the certainty of salvation which has been vested in the Lord Jesus Christ and we are all beneficiaries of His work!

Inheriting the Promises of God

Pastor David explored verses 9-12 of Hebrews 6 (which you can read in last week's post), and began the sermon by using a diagram. At one end of the spectrum, there are Principle/Truth/God-focused people and at the other, there are People/Love/People-focused people.

John 17:17 shows the commitment of the Principle folks: Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth. 1 John 4:8 shows the passion of those who are people-oriented: Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love.

But with any spectrum and in dealing with extremes, there must be balance. 1 Corinthians 13, a chapter that speaks on love and speaks that love is patient and endures all things, states in verse 6 that at the same time, "it does not rejoice in wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth."

This relates to Hebrews 6 in that the inheritance of the promise and the assurance of that promise is gained by the service to the saints (here on Earth) that is a part of our sanctification.

Pastor David made the point first that God's Word is not divided--the same God that passed judgment on the many different nations that persecuted Israel (as well as Israel itself) is the same God that became a man and walked the earth, dying for our sins. God is both Love and Truth. We are called to balance both.

If we are too principle-driven (I don't want to say too God-focused, that doesn't come out right!), we can be wanting in how we love people. I can throw right theology in the face of an unbelieving person who just lost a loved one and while I would be correct, would I be showing him or her love? Truth and Love should be a marriage of concepts, not something divorced from the other, hence the idea of speaking the truth in love. Our speech has the power to heal but also to very quickly and just as easily hurt.

On the other hand, if we are too people-oriented, we can compromise truth to continue pleasing people. To maintain relationships, we rationalize or we bend things so that the people we are trying to please will still remain with us. We need only look to Jesus to refute that--He showed the greatest love through giving His life and in His teaching and His miracles, but not once did He change His methods or His message. He did not tell people what they wanted to hear to appease them--he told them hard truths and some people stopped listening (see John 6), and he said that His Gospel would turn relatives against one another (see Matt. 10) Truth has a place; love has a place. We must show both.

Pastor David then gave his theme: "Assurance of salvation is an intimate, intertwined relationship between the faithfulness of God and the work and love of believers."

Many Protestants may bristle when they see a relation between assurance and works, since we know that anything that we would do does not bring about our justification--but it does assist in having an assurance of that saving work. God through his free grace declares us righteous in calling us to salvation by justifying us, but it does not stop there. The natural outflow of that calling is a prompting to respond not only by accepting the Gospel but to bear fruit! This is what the writer-preacher of Hebrews is talking about when he mentions that the Lord will not overlook the "work" that the hearers have done in serving the saints--the preacher knows that they would not do such works of love for their fellow believers (and non-believers) unless they truly loved the Lord.

This is why the author of Hebrews encourages them to show an earnestness in service to others because it demonstrates not only the love that we were shown through salvation but trusting in God and who He is. We are to imitate those of the faith that have come before us and who have inherited the promises.

Think of it as being laborers in a great company, going down the hall and seeing Noah, Moses, David, Isaiah, Peter, Paul, Augustine, Luther, Calvin, and other Christians through the generations. But it's not just their responsibility to work in the company--we are all called to be a part of it in the body of Christ. As they labored, so are we called to labor--and in that labor we take hold of an assurance of our faith--that the outflow of our faith is the production of fruit which is glorifying to the Father.

Imitate the heroes of the faith today!

He Loves Me, He Loves Me Not?

When Christians talk about the love of God, most will agree that he is very loving to His children--however, there are dear brothers and sisters in Christ that, when reading Hebrews 6, Christians can fall so far as to fall out of the love of God and out of His saving grace.

Our Wesleyan/Arminian brethren would read Hebrews 6 as stating that one who is in the faith can in fact lose their salvation. A simple illustration of humor might sum it up best:

He Loves Me, He Loves Me Not. Like plucking the daisy here, so goes our faith and our standing in Christ (and the differing viewpoints between Arminians and Reformed folks on justification and sanctification has much to bear on this discussion but I will not expand it here--I have written on it before). Some might laugh this off, but in reality it is no laughing matter--this viewpoint may paralyze Christians from realizing assurance of faith in this life. So you have to ask yourself: does God provide a permanent and lasting salvation which is not able to be lost, and is guaranteed? Or can one truly come to Christ and then wholly lose that salvation?

Pastor David explored the first 12 verses of Hebrews 6, which are as follows:

Therefore let us leave the elementary doctrine of Christ and go on to maturity, not laying again a foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God, 2 and of instruction about washings, [1] the laying on of hands, the resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment. 3 And this we will do if God permits. 4 For it is impossible, in the case of those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, and have shared in the Holy Spirit, 5 and have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the age to come, 6 and then have fallen away, to restore them again to repentance, since they are crucifying once again the Son of God to their own harm and holding him up to contempt. 7 For land that has drunk the rain that often falls on it, and produces a crop useful to those for whose sake it is cultivated, receives a blessing from God. 8 But if it bears thorns and thistles, it is worthless and near to being cursed, and its end is to be burned.

9 Though we speak in this way, yet in your case, beloved, we feel sure of better things—things that belong to salvation. 10 For God is not unjust so as to overlook your work and the love that you have shown for his name in serving the saints, as you still do. 11 And we desire each one of you to show the same earnestness to have the full assurance of hope until the end, 12 so that you may not be sluggish, but imitators of those who through faith and patience inherit the promises.

Now, there's a lot in there, and a lot which can be taken to mean different things if it is not read together and in context. Pastor David made a great point in focusing on the pronouns of verses 1-3 and then 4-8. Notice this! It's quite important as to the audience who he is speaking to, and the group he is speaking of--in verse 1 and 3, he says, "let us leave the elementary doctrine..." then verse 3, "and this we will do..." What does he do in verse 4 when speaking of the impossibility of coming back to the faith and the group that is falling away? He says those who have been enlightened, have tasted, etc. He's not talking about his audience, but another group of people. This is evidenced by his switch in verse 9 back to "in your case..."--the writer-preacher knows he is not speaking about them, he expects better for them, "things which belong to salvation."

Now, either he's talking out of two sides of his mouth and trying very hard to confuse his listeners, or he's warning his audience of another group.

Pastor David then made some observations about the writer's discussion of the group that had fallen away: the enlightenment that the writer spoke of could be the common grace that they had experienced being among Christians or even a common grace that is allowed by God on the earth. The word "enlighten" is the same word used in John 1:9-10 in describing Jesus being the light that came into the world and yet did not know him. The writer goes on to say that these people tasted in the heavenly gift and shared in the Holy Spirit, which Pastor David indicated could very well be allusions to their participation in Communion and even baptism. Further, they may have sat under the preaching of the Word, tasting the goodness of it.

What do we take from all of this? If we conclude that the writer is speaking of one group of people, who are faithful on one side yet able to take in all the benefits and yet fall, then we would all need to be a bit more worried about our salvation than we are. But other texts argue against that:

John 10:28-29: I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father's hand.

There is definite purpose in what Jesus said, in that there is nothing that can happen which would snatch us out of the Father's hand, let alone us ourselves! Romans 8:38-40 has Paul exclaiming that there is NO POWER or anything else in all creation which can separate us from the love of God!

Pastor David concluded by saying that this passage is ultimately an encouragement to those who are true believers in Christ and yet it is a warning to anyone who would want to "play church" or trifle with such spiritual matters. Jesus is not something you "try" or be apart of like you would the rotary club--this is spiritual life or death. Today is the day of salvation and do not delay, or you may be spoke of in this way:

"They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us. But they went out, that it might become plain that they all are not of us. (John 2:19)

God through His Son Christ will lose NONE in the end, and there is nothing, for those who truly believe, that will change that fact, even our own will. Would so great a God provide so amazing a grace that He would save us from drowning only to allow us to jump back in the water and drown ourselves? Some would say yes because God is so loving that he would allow us the choice to turn our backs on Him and do just that. But that's a whole other post.

His Works, Not Our Works

Our pastor finished out the passage on Hebrews 5 this week dealing with Christ as our mediator, with this last segment dealing with the perfect nature of Christ.

The sermon focused on verses 8-10:

8 Although he was a son, he learned obedience through what he suffered. 9 And being made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation to all who obey him, 10 being designated by God a high priest after the order of Melchizedek.

Pastor David first pointed out in earlier verses in how Christ was heard in His prayers to God because of His reverence--and this is not a manner of prayer so much as it is His status before God as co-equal since the beginning. Jesus was, is and is to come. We cannot have such a status before God or even a manner of reverence as Christ had--we must rely on His reverence.

Moving on to verse 8, some readers may be struck by the fact that Christ learned through obedience. Some may say, "hey, I thought Christ was perfect!" This learning may imply that he made "mistakes" or fell short somehow so that he had to learn, but we have to remember that Christ was sent to suffer and die for us--that was His calling, to proclaim His Gospel and die for our sins. He "learned" obedience by submitting His will to the Father in His suffering--in the Garden of Gethsemene, what does He say? And going a little farther he fell on his face and prayed, saying, “My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will.” (see Matt. 26:39)

He learned obedience in His suffering, learning submission through the experience--Pastor David rightly pointed out that there are even instances that we as Christians learn in a similar way in our suffering which does not result from sin but is the bitter providence that God has ordained for us. And this suffering that Christ endured, in his full humanity, was necessary for Him to be our "sympathetic" high priest.

In all this, verse 9 emphasizes the consequence of this--that Christ being made perfect, without blemish, is the source for eternal salvation for all who believe. Why? Because He is sacrificed on the Cross once and for all for the sins of those who would believe--His righteousness is imputed, credited to us; while all of our sin was bore by him. He hung on the Cross and endured the wrath of God that was poured out for the sins that believers committed and ever will commit.

The Cross signifies the last sacrifice needed--because Christ was both the priest offering the sacrifice and the sacrifice itself! He is prophet, priest, King and Savior!

He lowered Himself in coming to Earth and dying for us, denying Himself, His glory, His crown and power, to give us life and life everlasting. And in the end, the Father glorified Him, with Christ victorious over death.

And this is why it is not improper to say we are saved by works--but it is Christ's works, not our works. It is the same to say that God in no way lessened His demand for perfection under His law--but in sending His Son, He provided a way to uphold His holiness and power and yet guarantee salvation for His elect. Praise God!

I will close with an excerpt from Charles Spurgeon that was my daily reading this morning:

Jesus, the Redeemer, is altogether ours and ours for ever. All the offices of Christ are held on our behalf. He is king for us, priest for us, and prophet for us. Whenever we read a new title of the Redeemer, let us appropriate him as ours under that name as much as under any other. The shepherd's staff, the father's rod, the captain's sword, the priest's mitre, the prince's sceptre, the prophet's mantle, all are ours. Jesus hath no dignity which he will not employ for our exaltation, and no prerogative which he will not exercise for our defence. His fulness of Godhead is our unfailing, inexhaustible treasure-house.

His manhood also, which he took upon him for us, is ours in all its perfection.
To us our gracious Lord communicates the spotless virtue of a stainless character; to us he gives the meritorious efficacy of a devoted life; on us he bestows the reward procured by obedient submission and incessant service. He makes the unsullied garment of his life our covering beauty; the glittering virtues of his character our ornaments and jewels; and the superhuman meekness of his death our boast and glory. He bequeaths us his manger, from which to learn how God came down to man; and his Cross to teach us how man may go up to God. All his thoughts, emotions, actions, utterances, miracles, and intercessions, were for us. He trod the road of sorrow on our behalf, and hath made over to us as his heavenly legacy the full results of all the labours of his life. He is now as much ours as heretofore; and he blushes not to acknowledge himself "our Lord Jesus Christ," though he is the blessed and only Potentate, the King of kings, and Lord of lords. Christ everywhere and every way is our Christ, for ever and ever most richly to enjoy. O my soul, by the power of the Holy Spirit! call him this morning, "thy Redeemer. "

Glory today in your Redeemer!

Being Prepared for Every Good Work

Last night I was reading in Titus 3, where Paul was giving Titus instructions on dealing with certain issues in the church. When I ran across the statement, "be prepared for every good work," I got to thinking, how are we to prepare?

For starters, we have to be in the Word daily and praying to the Lord. Joshua 1:8 states that we shall "meditate on it day and night, so that you are careful to do all that is written in it." Psalm 119:48 says, "I will lift my hands up toward your commandments, which I love and I will meditate on your statutes." To love God's commandments to us, we have to ask to Spirit to change our attitudes towards others. Have you not been in a certain mood when you get up that if you were confronted by someone that needed compassion, you would say, "not today! I don't have time for it." Even with worship on Sunday mornings we must fight against an attitude which says, "well, I've been pretty good about going, I'm tired today, I think I'll skip today--I'll be there next Sunday."

From the moment that our feet hit the ground in the morning, we have to pray to God that He will help us to serve others (a certain song comes to mind from Audio Adrenline, called This Day). Even as Christians, we must fight against our flesh that is self-centered and self-serving. My former pastor once told me that the opposite of this is finding your happiness in someone else's happiness, and this is most applicable in marriage--if both people in a marriage do this, their bond will grow stronger.

Now an objection will be raised, "hey, I'm saved by grace--you make it sound like these works are a requirement." The answer to both questions is yes and yes--God did call us by His grace to faith in Christ, justifying us by Christ's blood. But the next question is what did He call us to? A life that is closed off from others, a life that is comfortable where we only interact with other Christians? In James 2 and 3 where James, the brother of Jesus, writes about a hypothetical person showing him (James) that he has faith, but James has works, James is NOT saying that works are more important than faith but rather they are an outflow of the saving grace of Christ. This is why he indicated that faith without works is dead--a faith that has no desire to do such things, to share the grace that Christ has given, is not alive and perhaps not faith at all. In being born again, we are transformed in our innermost desires--we go from wanting to SIN all the time, to wanting to serve God (though the action can sometimes be long in following--Paul mentions this in Romans 7:15-19).

The natural consequence of true, genuine faith is a desire to do the works that Titus 3 is talking about--having a spirit of readiness to do good works that proclaim the grace and glory of God is all that is needed. (This means that once this post is read, it does not mean we are to instantly run out and DO as much good as we can--we pray that the Spirit would work on our hearts) There is no special skill set that the Bible speaks of that enables someone to do these works, but it only calls us to rely on Him. Please don't misunderstand--this does mean a requirement of serving on every committee at church as a matter of Christian duty. Overcommitting yourself for the cause of Christ to the detriment of your relationships, even to your personal time with God does not serve Him well at all.

I work in a building across from a shopping center, and I was going to get a bite to eat at a KFC in that center this past week, and God in His providence had me delay until a certain time, and I was able to help an elderly couple get their son, a 6 foot 6 war veteran who was quite disabled, back into their car. Did it take a little time out of my day? Sure it did. But these are the kind of opportunities that are out there that God can use to share His gospel--as fallen as the world is, even non-Christians can be surprised when someone does something good for them. When they ask why you did it, you state that Christ first showed you love and grace, and that He is the reason for your act.

So, read the Word, meditate on it, and pray that God will help you to be prepared for good works when the opportunity arises, giving you a humble and compassionate attitude. You may be the means of grace God intends to use in someone's life today. These acts in and of themselves do not save--but they are apart of our sanctification. God is gracious in giving us these opportunities by removing selfish attitudes and tendencies through these good works towards others.

Lord, help us to be more aware of the those who have needs around us.