2 Peter 1:16
For we did not follow cleverly devised tales when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, be we were eyewitnesses of His majesty.
As I have been really contemplating the Christian life and the message of the gospel I have to agree that what we believe are not cleverly devised tales by any means. Christianity is ridiculous! Think about it for a second, we believe in a Sovereign God who created everything and He wants to have a personal relationship with each and every man. But this relationship cannot happen because of our sin but when He created us He knew that we would sin so He came up with a plan that would make Him the object of suffering at His own hand! If I was to make up a religion of my own it would not be this! But I can and will attest to the power and coming of Jesus Christ. Christianity stands out in my mind because it is the only religion that is not centered on what we do. Salvation through works is a cornerstone belief of all other religious views. So man in his natural state will immediately pick up on the idea that if we do accept the free gift that is offered then we would be able to live a life of sin without our eternal destination being questioned. Once a person is saved they are sealed into the family and kingdom of God. But Paul addresses this very thing in Romans. We could but may it never be! God wants us to live the abundant life, a life that is focused on two things, God and others. How can we follow a God who was willing to sacrifice Himself on our behalf and not sacrifice ourselves for others? Do You not feel convicted? I know when I think about the truth, the ridiculous truth, I cannot help but be faced with my own horrible selfishness.
I have seen God’s power not only in my life but in the lives of others and I have to admit that part of my faith is based in pragmatism. True Christianity works, Living for God empowers us to be selfless. Our goal as Christians is not to make sense of life but to strive for people to know God in this life. People are always searching for purpose and reasons to exists. Even the atheists come up with some purpose to live. Paul says in Corinthians how foolish the word of God is to those who do not believe. We will be mocked for our standards of sexuality and morality. We will be mocked for opposing homosexuality and for waiting until marriage for sex. We challenge the natural! Challenging the natural can only been seen as absurd to those who do not believe in the supernatural. Why do we deny ourselves the pleasure of the natural? God made men and women to have sex! Why do we as Christians not engage in what feels so right and natural? It is because we have the supernatural in the word of God. I cannot remember what book C.S. Lewis talks about the idea of Christian absurdity but He basically used it as a proof for His faith. Mankind would not have mad this religion and it should not be popular! We are to sacrifice ourselves on this earth to glorify a God and our reward is God! Nirvana is an eternal escape, heaven in Islam is just the selfish pleasures of this earth, Mormonism lets you become God of your own world. Heaven for the Christian in eternity of perfect worship to the One Holy God. Even our heaven is not about us so stop making it out that way! God saves us for His own will! Nothing about being a Christian is about you it is all about God. And God is good. Do you want good in your life? Stop trying to escape the pain of this world, stop searching for comforts, stop living for the pleasures that are so natural and seek God.
I have seen the good that comes from living for God, The joy that is found in people seeing God in my life! That is life! Live in a way that people will know that you are an eyewitness to the power and coming of Jesus Christ our Lord! Stop looking for God and see Him!
Wednesday, October 29, 2008
Tuesday, October 28, 2008
2 Peter 1:15
2 Peter 1:15
And I will also be diligent that at any time after my departure you will be able to call these things to mind.
This verse flies in the face of modern outreach practices. We are so concerned as evangelists to go spread the gospel that we are not concerned with the earthly future of those who come to know Christ. Think about this for a second, the Bible tells us that prior to salvation we are all enemies of God (Rom. 5:11). But once we become Christians our enemy is Satan. So while we are in sin God is our enemy but He loved us enough to die for us. Now that we are saved our enemy is one who hates us with a passion and is seeking to devour us (1 Peter 5:8). So when we tell someone the gospel and they accept if we do not follow up with them then we are setting them up for failure. If we are not diligent to pursue the people we share God’s word with we are actually very selfish! How can I say that? We shared the greatest news with these people right? Yes and this is a good thing. I know many of you have heard this so many times but we are not called to make converts we are called to make disciples. It is true that there will always be a time when we will be called away from the people who have influenced our spiritual walks just as we will be called away from those we have influenced. The question we must ask ourselves is after our discipler leaves are we in good enough shape to live for God on our own? When it is time for you to leave your disciple have you been diligent, knowing that they can feed themselves? We do not want to make many shallow, empty, powerless converts but we want to develop strong, righteous, powerful disciples of Jesus Christ.
And I will also be diligent that at any time after my departure you will be able to call these things to mind.
This verse flies in the face of modern outreach practices. We are so concerned as evangelists to go spread the gospel that we are not concerned with the earthly future of those who come to know Christ. Think about this for a second, the Bible tells us that prior to salvation we are all enemies of God (Rom. 5:11). But once we become Christians our enemy is Satan. So while we are in sin God is our enemy but He loved us enough to die for us. Now that we are saved our enemy is one who hates us with a passion and is seeking to devour us (1 Peter 5:8). So when we tell someone the gospel and they accept if we do not follow up with them then we are setting them up for failure. If we are not diligent to pursue the people we share God’s word with we are actually very selfish! How can I say that? We shared the greatest news with these people right? Yes and this is a good thing. I know many of you have heard this so many times but we are not called to make converts we are called to make disciples. It is true that there will always be a time when we will be called away from the people who have influenced our spiritual walks just as we will be called away from those we have influenced. The question we must ask ourselves is after our discipler leaves are we in good enough shape to live for God on our own? When it is time for you to leave your disciple have you been diligent, knowing that they can feed themselves? We do not want to make many shallow, empty, powerless converts but we want to develop strong, righteous, powerful disciples of Jesus Christ.
Friday, October 24, 2008
2 Peter 1:13, 14
2 Peter 1:13, 14
I consider it right, as long as I am in this earthly dwelling, to stir you up by way of reminder, knowing that the laying aside of my earthly dwelling is imminent, as also our Lord Jesus Christ has made known to me.
How often do we forget that this life is so limited? Even after we see first hand so much death in this world we are still convinced that we will live out a full 85 years on this earth. Death and pain happen to other people. We will not get sick and we most certainly will not die! This is the natural thought process. We are called as believers in Christ to hold an eternal view. We should live our lives as Peter did. We should expect the imminent return of Christ or rather our imminent departure from this world. Our lives are but vapors in the timeline of eternity. Paul had this view when he declared that for him “to die is gain but to live is Christ.” I have prayer this very prayer myself. I was in the hospital earlier this year with MRSA. I was in so much pain I could not stand without tears welling up in my eyes. I have scars to this day from a deadly infection that cannot be killed. I have never been much of a healthy person and had I been born 100 years earlier I would never have lived to be 23 years old. If some bug starts to go around I will be the first to get it! I cannot wait to escape this corrupted flesh and be glorified! But since God has seen fit to place me in a time where modern medicine can keep me alive I must acknowledge that for me to live is Christ. Selfishly I would love to just go home to heaven. I mean think about it, heaven, we will no longer sin causing God grief, we will have perfect fellowship with the only being who truly matters!
I want to stir up a reminder in you. We must keep in mind that Jesus Christ is our Lord and savior. We must live this life in view of what God has done for us. If we try to live this life for ourselves we will simply be disappointed because there is nothing that satisfies outside of Christ. What other gods are worth living for? The world seems to think that sex is the greatest God. The thing is with sex you are never satisfied unless You are within the purpose of God. Why do you think the world thinks that quantity is better than quality? Sex is an empty action without God and it only leaves You desiring more. This is true for all sin I simply chose sex because it is what is pushed in our face constantly from our culture. Not only does worshiping a false god like sex destroy our relationship with God but it kills our relationship with others. All sin is focused on self. We must escape ourselves and consider other people better than us. By that I mean spend your time praying for your fellow believers. Anytime you find yourself caught up in temptation you are focusing more on yourself than anything else. It is natural for us to seek our own self gratification but it is supernatural for us to seek the gratification of others. We must pour our lives out for others.
Jesus Christ is life. This world is the closest thing to hell we Christians will ever experience and for the non-Christian this is the closest thing to heaven. The world thinks they own pleasure but God is the author of pleasure and all the world can do is push us to experience it in an improper way, at an improper time, or to an improper degree. Sex is a beautiful gift God has given as a picture of the intimacy He wants to have with us. All the world does is worship the picture instead of the painter! Pleasure without God just drives us to look for more and more pleasure. It would be better for us Christians to be taken to heaven at the moment of salvation but we know that God keeps us here to show the people of this world that there is something greater. A love and a truth that is greater than the natural. We will be ridiculed, made fun of, scoffed, but we must endure. I will gladly live through hell on this earth if it means just one person can enter into heaven through my testimony. Better for us to suffer on this hellish earth and end up in heaven than to let people enjoy the pleasures for a season but spend eternity in hell! Do we love the lost?
I consider it right, as long as I am in this earthly dwelling, to stir you up by way of reminder, knowing that the laying aside of my earthly dwelling is imminent, as also our Lord Jesus Christ has made known to me.
How often do we forget that this life is so limited? Even after we see first hand so much death in this world we are still convinced that we will live out a full 85 years on this earth. Death and pain happen to other people. We will not get sick and we most certainly will not die! This is the natural thought process. We are called as believers in Christ to hold an eternal view. We should live our lives as Peter did. We should expect the imminent return of Christ or rather our imminent departure from this world. Our lives are but vapors in the timeline of eternity. Paul had this view when he declared that for him “to die is gain but to live is Christ.” I have prayer this very prayer myself. I was in the hospital earlier this year with MRSA. I was in so much pain I could not stand without tears welling up in my eyes. I have scars to this day from a deadly infection that cannot be killed. I have never been much of a healthy person and had I been born 100 years earlier I would never have lived to be 23 years old. If some bug starts to go around I will be the first to get it! I cannot wait to escape this corrupted flesh and be glorified! But since God has seen fit to place me in a time where modern medicine can keep me alive I must acknowledge that for me to live is Christ. Selfishly I would love to just go home to heaven. I mean think about it, heaven, we will no longer sin causing God grief, we will have perfect fellowship with the only being who truly matters!
I want to stir up a reminder in you. We must keep in mind that Jesus Christ is our Lord and savior. We must live this life in view of what God has done for us. If we try to live this life for ourselves we will simply be disappointed because there is nothing that satisfies outside of Christ. What other gods are worth living for? The world seems to think that sex is the greatest God. The thing is with sex you are never satisfied unless You are within the purpose of God. Why do you think the world thinks that quantity is better than quality? Sex is an empty action without God and it only leaves You desiring more. This is true for all sin I simply chose sex because it is what is pushed in our face constantly from our culture. Not only does worshiping a false god like sex destroy our relationship with God but it kills our relationship with others. All sin is focused on self. We must escape ourselves and consider other people better than us. By that I mean spend your time praying for your fellow believers. Anytime you find yourself caught up in temptation you are focusing more on yourself than anything else. It is natural for us to seek our own self gratification but it is supernatural for us to seek the gratification of others. We must pour our lives out for others.
Jesus Christ is life. This world is the closest thing to hell we Christians will ever experience and for the non-Christian this is the closest thing to heaven. The world thinks they own pleasure but God is the author of pleasure and all the world can do is push us to experience it in an improper way, at an improper time, or to an improper degree. Sex is a beautiful gift God has given as a picture of the intimacy He wants to have with us. All the world does is worship the picture instead of the painter! Pleasure without God just drives us to look for more and more pleasure. It would be better for us Christians to be taken to heaven at the moment of salvation but we know that God keeps us here to show the people of this world that there is something greater. A love and a truth that is greater than the natural. We will be ridiculed, made fun of, scoffed, but we must endure. I will gladly live through hell on this earth if it means just one person can enter into heaven through my testimony. Better for us to suffer on this hellish earth and end up in heaven than to let people enjoy the pleasures for a season but spend eternity in hell! Do we love the lost?
Wednesday, October 22, 2008
2 Peter 1:12
2 Peter 1:12
Therefore, I will always be ready to remind you of these things, even though you already know them, and have been established in the truth which is present with you.
One of the greatest mistakes we can make as Christians is to fail to remember. It is natural for humans to want to ignore or shrug of reminders. Part of justifying our sin is to know what God has to say but to simply push it to the back of our minds. We are in a dangerous state when we find ourselves saying, “I know, I know.” I will be perfectly honest by telling You that this is a huge area for me at times. God has really worked on my heart, He has humbled me, it took pain and confusion to get here because I did not heed reminders. So, let me take up the charge and pass it on to you. Peter acknowledges what his readers know but he knows that we simply put what we know on hold for what we feel. We live in an impulse driven society. A is over and he is going through your music and suddenly he gives you a weird look, “What?” you ask. Then he simply shows you a CD you bought and all you can tell him is, “impulse buy.” Impulse buys are never good buys and we know this but we still make them! We are driven by our emotions but it is our knowledge of God that keeps us on track. The mistake we make as Christians is that we forget what lese we are supposed to view God through. We stop viewing Him based on His word and we start looking at Him through our emotions. The God of our emotions is very, very skewed.
Another reason we do not like reminders is because of our human pride. “I know, I know” is such a prideful statement. James tells us in chapter 1:19, “This you know, my beloved brethren. But everyone must be quick to hear. Slow to speak and slow to anger.” It is a humbling experience when You have to be reminded of the things you already know. What does James exhort us to do? We must put aside our pride and listen! If you find yourself quick to speak you are struggling with pride. We must be humble and this ties directly into what the Christian life should be! Our lives as Christians should be outwardly focused. Do we value our friend’s advice who are praying for us daily? Are we praying for our friend’s? It is our job as fellow Christians to point each other towards Christ. We all have blind spots in our lives, some intentional, some we are completely unaware that they exist.
Now that we have discussed the idea of receiving reminders we must be quick to look at the other side. When we are the ones giving the reminder how do we approach the situation? If a reminder must be accepted in all humility I think it must be given in greater humility! So how can we point out the speak in our brother’s eye when we know there is a plank in ours? We must examine our motives. Motives are such a messy area of life because we are ultimately selfish people. I know we all have had moments where we think we are acting selflessly but when it boils down we realize that even our selfless behavior is selfishly motivated! We humans are funny creatures. But this is the reminder I must offer you go back and reread verse four. We are selfish in our human nature but we posses the divine nature! God is able to purify our motives. I have found that my prayer life has been greatly improved by praying for other people. My motives in those prayers are pure and objective because I am not involved. It is when I pray for myself that I have trouble discerning my motives. So when you feel you must remind someone of what they already know get someone outside the situation to pray for both of you. You do not have to tell them what is going on just seek their prayer. We are to live in community and to consider others better than ourselves.
Next time you catch yourself saying, “I know, I know” stop immediately and seek forgiveness from God for your pride! Pray with the person who is reminding you for a humble spirit and be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to anger.
Therefore, I will always be ready to remind you of these things, even though you already know them, and have been established in the truth which is present with you.
One of the greatest mistakes we can make as Christians is to fail to remember. It is natural for humans to want to ignore or shrug of reminders. Part of justifying our sin is to know what God has to say but to simply push it to the back of our minds. We are in a dangerous state when we find ourselves saying, “I know, I know.” I will be perfectly honest by telling You that this is a huge area for me at times. God has really worked on my heart, He has humbled me, it took pain and confusion to get here because I did not heed reminders. So, let me take up the charge and pass it on to you. Peter acknowledges what his readers know but he knows that we simply put what we know on hold for what we feel. We live in an impulse driven society. A is over and he is going through your music and suddenly he gives you a weird look, “What?” you ask. Then he simply shows you a CD you bought and all you can tell him is, “impulse buy.” Impulse buys are never good buys and we know this but we still make them! We are driven by our emotions but it is our knowledge of God that keeps us on track. The mistake we make as Christians is that we forget what lese we are supposed to view God through. We stop viewing Him based on His word and we start looking at Him through our emotions. The God of our emotions is very, very skewed.
Another reason we do not like reminders is because of our human pride. “I know, I know” is such a prideful statement. James tells us in chapter 1:19, “This you know, my beloved brethren. But everyone must be quick to hear. Slow to speak and slow to anger.” It is a humbling experience when You have to be reminded of the things you already know. What does James exhort us to do? We must put aside our pride and listen! If you find yourself quick to speak you are struggling with pride. We must be humble and this ties directly into what the Christian life should be! Our lives as Christians should be outwardly focused. Do we value our friend’s advice who are praying for us daily? Are we praying for our friend’s? It is our job as fellow Christians to point each other towards Christ. We all have blind spots in our lives, some intentional, some we are completely unaware that they exist.
Now that we have discussed the idea of receiving reminders we must be quick to look at the other side. When we are the ones giving the reminder how do we approach the situation? If a reminder must be accepted in all humility I think it must be given in greater humility! So how can we point out the speak in our brother’s eye when we know there is a plank in ours? We must examine our motives. Motives are such a messy area of life because we are ultimately selfish people. I know we all have had moments where we think we are acting selflessly but when it boils down we realize that even our selfless behavior is selfishly motivated! We humans are funny creatures. But this is the reminder I must offer you go back and reread verse four. We are selfish in our human nature but we posses the divine nature! God is able to purify our motives. I have found that my prayer life has been greatly improved by praying for other people. My motives in those prayers are pure and objective because I am not involved. It is when I pray for myself that I have trouble discerning my motives. So when you feel you must remind someone of what they already know get someone outside the situation to pray for both of you. You do not have to tell them what is going on just seek their prayer. We are to live in community and to consider others better than ourselves.
Next time you catch yourself saying, “I know, I know” stop immediately and seek forgiveness from God for your pride! Pray with the person who is reminding you for a humble spirit and be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to anger.
Sunday, October 19, 2008
2 Peter 1:11
2 Peter 1:11
for in this way the entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ will be abundantly supplied to you.
When do we enter into the kingdom of God and why is it important to us that it be abundantly supplied to us? I have to think that Peter is talking about entrance upon salvation in this verse because of the context. Everything he has said thus far has been in regards to our salvation and Christian life here on earth. We enter into the kingdom of God the moment of salvation. At salvation we are declared righteous (justified), we start becoming more like Jesus (sanctification), we are now coheirs with Jesus (adoption), all of these things happen at the moment of salvation! So it is a great thing that our entrance into His kingdom is abundantly supplied to us. Jesus does not start us out with just a little and give us more as we follow Him. I believe that going back to what Peter said in verse 3 is true that we have everything at the beginning. We lack nothing once we are saved we have everything we need to be successful in Christ. How easy it is to look at people we consider to be great Christians and wish we could be like them or we are intimidated by their relationship with God but we need to realize that we have the fullness they have supplied to us already! Partake of what God has given You! When I was an intern in Virginia Beach I used to tell some of my students that they need to remember that they have the same Holy Spirit that I have they just have to let Him work in their lives. If I speak and the words that leave my mouth happen to impact their lives it is simply the Holy Spirit at work. This is the same Holy Spirit that indwells all believers!
The Christian life is a struggle to put down the flesh and to let the Spirit fills us. There is pain in Christianity because we are not where we should be. God has to open doors in our lives that we want to keep closed, He has to peel back layers and layers of sinful habits. I love C.S. Lewis and in The Voyage of the Dawn Treader there is a scene where Eustace who had been turned into a dragon is told to bathe in a pool by Aslan to ease the pain in his arm. But before he can bathe Aslan tells him to undress from his dragon form. No matter how many layers of snakelike skin he shed he still remained in his dragon form. Finally he gave up and turned to Aslan for help. Aslan ripped into his flesh with his claws and the process was described as the most painful yet most enjoyable experience of Eustace’s life. Aslan pulled back the layers of dragon skin to reveal the true Eustace but it took great pain to get there. This is how it is for us as we attempt to live in the abundant life Christ has given to us upon entrance into His kingdom. There will be great pain as He pulls back the dragon skin of our old natures and reveals the true us underneath. While it is hard and painful it is more that worth it in the end.
(if you have not read Lewis you need to stop reading this blog and pick up one of his books! I recommend you start with The Screwtape Letters or Mere Christianity.)
for in this way the entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ will be abundantly supplied to you.
When do we enter into the kingdom of God and why is it important to us that it be abundantly supplied to us? I have to think that Peter is talking about entrance upon salvation in this verse because of the context. Everything he has said thus far has been in regards to our salvation and Christian life here on earth. We enter into the kingdom of God the moment of salvation. At salvation we are declared righteous (justified), we start becoming more like Jesus (sanctification), we are now coheirs with Jesus (adoption), all of these things happen at the moment of salvation! So it is a great thing that our entrance into His kingdom is abundantly supplied to us. Jesus does not start us out with just a little and give us more as we follow Him. I believe that going back to what Peter said in verse 3 is true that we have everything at the beginning. We lack nothing once we are saved we have everything we need to be successful in Christ. How easy it is to look at people we consider to be great Christians and wish we could be like them or we are intimidated by their relationship with God but we need to realize that we have the fullness they have supplied to us already! Partake of what God has given You! When I was an intern in Virginia Beach I used to tell some of my students that they need to remember that they have the same Holy Spirit that I have they just have to let Him work in their lives. If I speak and the words that leave my mouth happen to impact their lives it is simply the Holy Spirit at work. This is the same Holy Spirit that indwells all believers!
The Christian life is a struggle to put down the flesh and to let the Spirit fills us. There is pain in Christianity because we are not where we should be. God has to open doors in our lives that we want to keep closed, He has to peel back layers and layers of sinful habits. I love C.S. Lewis and in The Voyage of the Dawn Treader there is a scene where Eustace who had been turned into a dragon is told to bathe in a pool by Aslan to ease the pain in his arm. But before he can bathe Aslan tells him to undress from his dragon form. No matter how many layers of snakelike skin he shed he still remained in his dragon form. Finally he gave up and turned to Aslan for help. Aslan ripped into his flesh with his claws and the process was described as the most painful yet most enjoyable experience of Eustace’s life. Aslan pulled back the layers of dragon skin to reveal the true Eustace but it took great pain to get there. This is how it is for us as we attempt to live in the abundant life Christ has given to us upon entrance into His kingdom. There will be great pain as He pulls back the dragon skin of our old natures and reveals the true us underneath. While it is hard and painful it is more that worth it in the end.
(if you have not read Lewis you need to stop reading this blog and pick up one of his books! I recommend you start with The Screwtape Letters or Mere Christianity.)
Saturday, October 18, 2008
2 Peter 1:10
2 Peter 1:10
Therefore, brethren, be all the more diligent to make certain about His calling and choosing you; for as long as you practice these things, you will never stumble;
In light of everything that Peter has said we are to be diligent to make sure about God’s calling and choosing of us. When we discuss callings as Christians we are normally talking about God’s specific will for us. We look to the example of the Old Testament prophets and how God called them and lead them in His specific will. We may also even look to the calling of the apostles for examples of how we should seek God’s calling on our lives. But is God’s calling on our lives specific or general? There are many Christians who will say that God’s will is specific and He created you as an individual to do a specific work that only You can do. While there are others who say that God has appointed specific tasks and wants Christians in general to fill them. In all honesty I am not sure where I fall on this spectrum. On one hand I feel called to ministry but I am not sure of a specific calling to one area of ministry. Also my call to ministry was not audible or specific it was more of a conviction. I was convicted that I was not truly giving God my entire life and once I turned it over to Him I felt that I should be in ministry. Well this is all a rabbit trail away from the real calling Peter is talking about here. I do not believe he is addressing the issue of calling to works but of calling to grace.
We are to be diligent to seek out our salvation, to verify that we are saved. All of us struggle with doubts and many of us are terrified by the comment Jesus makes in Matthew 7:23 “I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me you evildoers!’” This is why Peter has presented us with this little self-examination. We will always struggle with doubts about our salvation or the reality of God because no matter how much we may want to we cannot prove that He does exist! We have great evidence and experience but there will still be room for doubt. This is why we must be diligent to seek what the Bible says. I tend to be very pragmatic about Christianity at first, I tell people it is hard but it works. This reasoning could apply to any lifestyle but Christianity stands apart from all the rest. Our faith is not based on what we do but what has been done for us. That alone sets us apart from every other religion man has ever conceived. If you look back at Matthew 7 you will see that the men Jesus is talking about are appealing to their works for salvation. Our salvation is accomplished by the work of Christ and given to us as a free gift (Ephesians 2:8-9). We have no right to brag in our salvation because we did not save ourselves! It is so easy to forget what Christ did for us because we get caught up in doing for God. We naturally want to turn our gifted salvation into earned salvation this is why we must be diligent to make certain about HIS calling and HIS choosing. God is the one who has done everything and our works are a reaction of praise and thanksgiving! James talks about faith and works because how can people tell that we have faith unless our actions back it up? Yay Jesus, I am saved now I am going to do whatever I want! Does that sound like the Christian life? NO! Look at what Peter says next.
For as long as you practice these things, you will never stumble;
We are to keep in mind everything that God has done for us and in response we supply the qualities mentioned in the prior verses. I still think that the sanctified Christian life must be primarily focused on others. The Bible tells us to pray with righteous motives and I have found something out, it is so easy to pray with righteous motives when you are praying for other people! If you are not praying for your fellow believers then you are robbing yourself of such a simple joy. When we pray for each other we can see God work because we are praying with right motives. I do not have to worry about praying for myself because I know I have other people praying for me! People who are praying for God’s will above all else. I have also found it is much easier to live a more sinless life when I am actively pray for others. Sin is ultimately about selfishness and when we pray selflessly for others the appeal of sin decreases in our lives. I wish I could say that I was better at being selfless and I pray that I would put others ahead of myself. We must fill our lives with prayer for other people. If we are focused on others we will not sin! I wish we could achieve sinless perfection this side of Heaven but we are too selfish to ever truly strive for it here on Earth. I am convinced of this, if you want to be more sanctified in this life stop praying for yourself and pray for others. We must be focused on God first and other second. If you are afraid that your personal prayer requests will not be lifted up remember that Christ Himself is praying for us in Heaven! Let your friends know your requests so that they can pray for you. This is the Christian life, we get to take joy in watching each other grow in love and faith in the One who died and gave Himself up for us!
I would love to pray for you so please feel free to leave your requests in the comments. I only ask if you see other people prayer requests posted there then before you post pray for those needs. We must be a community if believers who lift one another up in prayer!
Therefore, brethren, be all the more diligent to make certain about His calling and choosing you; for as long as you practice these things, you will never stumble;
In light of everything that Peter has said we are to be diligent to make sure about God’s calling and choosing of us. When we discuss callings as Christians we are normally talking about God’s specific will for us. We look to the example of the Old Testament prophets and how God called them and lead them in His specific will. We may also even look to the calling of the apostles for examples of how we should seek God’s calling on our lives. But is God’s calling on our lives specific or general? There are many Christians who will say that God’s will is specific and He created you as an individual to do a specific work that only You can do. While there are others who say that God has appointed specific tasks and wants Christians in general to fill them. In all honesty I am not sure where I fall on this spectrum. On one hand I feel called to ministry but I am not sure of a specific calling to one area of ministry. Also my call to ministry was not audible or specific it was more of a conviction. I was convicted that I was not truly giving God my entire life and once I turned it over to Him I felt that I should be in ministry. Well this is all a rabbit trail away from the real calling Peter is talking about here. I do not believe he is addressing the issue of calling to works but of calling to grace.
We are to be diligent to seek out our salvation, to verify that we are saved. All of us struggle with doubts and many of us are terrified by the comment Jesus makes in Matthew 7:23 “I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me you evildoers!’” This is why Peter has presented us with this little self-examination. We will always struggle with doubts about our salvation or the reality of God because no matter how much we may want to we cannot prove that He does exist! We have great evidence and experience but there will still be room for doubt. This is why we must be diligent to seek what the Bible says. I tend to be very pragmatic about Christianity at first, I tell people it is hard but it works. This reasoning could apply to any lifestyle but Christianity stands apart from all the rest. Our faith is not based on what we do but what has been done for us. That alone sets us apart from every other religion man has ever conceived. If you look back at Matthew 7 you will see that the men Jesus is talking about are appealing to their works for salvation. Our salvation is accomplished by the work of Christ and given to us as a free gift (Ephesians 2:8-9). We have no right to brag in our salvation because we did not save ourselves! It is so easy to forget what Christ did for us because we get caught up in doing for God. We naturally want to turn our gifted salvation into earned salvation this is why we must be diligent to make certain about HIS calling and HIS choosing. God is the one who has done everything and our works are a reaction of praise and thanksgiving! James talks about faith and works because how can people tell that we have faith unless our actions back it up? Yay Jesus, I am saved now I am going to do whatever I want! Does that sound like the Christian life? NO! Look at what Peter says next.
For as long as you practice these things, you will never stumble;
We are to keep in mind everything that God has done for us and in response we supply the qualities mentioned in the prior verses. I still think that the sanctified Christian life must be primarily focused on others. The Bible tells us to pray with righteous motives and I have found something out, it is so easy to pray with righteous motives when you are praying for other people! If you are not praying for your fellow believers then you are robbing yourself of such a simple joy. When we pray for each other we can see God work because we are praying with right motives. I do not have to worry about praying for myself because I know I have other people praying for me! People who are praying for God’s will above all else. I have also found it is much easier to live a more sinless life when I am actively pray for others. Sin is ultimately about selfishness and when we pray selflessly for others the appeal of sin decreases in our lives. I wish I could say that I was better at being selfless and I pray that I would put others ahead of myself. We must fill our lives with prayer for other people. If we are focused on others we will not sin! I wish we could achieve sinless perfection this side of Heaven but we are too selfish to ever truly strive for it here on Earth. I am convinced of this, if you want to be more sanctified in this life stop praying for yourself and pray for others. We must be focused on God first and other second. If you are afraid that your personal prayer requests will not be lifted up remember that Christ Himself is praying for us in Heaven! Let your friends know your requests so that they can pray for you. This is the Christian life, we get to take joy in watching each other grow in love and faith in the One who died and gave Himself up for us!
I would love to pray for you so please feel free to leave your requests in the comments. I only ask if you see other people prayer requests posted there then before you post pray for those needs. We must be a community if believers who lift one another up in prayer!
Thursday, October 16, 2008
2 Peter 1:9
2 Peter 1:9
For he who lacks these qualities is blind or shortsighted having forgotten his purification from his former sins.
Yesterday we looked at what it means if we posses the qualities that have been discussed over the past week. Today we must examine what it means if we do not posses them. There are advocates in Christianity of the loss of salvation and I would have to imagine that they would believe that if you do not posses any of the qualities mentioned before than you might have lost your salvation. There are still others who may claim since you do not posses them that you were never truly saved in the first place but I believe that Peter is sending a different message. His message is so comforting and encouraging. Before I go on I must state that I believe once one becomes a believer in Christ they cannot be removed from that position. I believe that God did not only forgive the us for the sins that we have committed but he has forgiven us for all sins. We have been forgiven of rape and genocide but most of us (hopefully all of us) will never actually engage in those sins but our status in light of those sins is forgiven. This is why Paul is so quick in Romans to shout to us, “What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin so that grace may increase? May it never be! How shall we how died to sin still live in it? Sin can no longer rend us from the hand of God because on the cross sin died. This idea is so important to Christian forgiveness because we are called to forgive as we have been forgiven or to the extent of what we have been forgiven for. We are called to forgive all sins because we have been forgiven for all sins! I have been forgiven for genocide a sin that I have never committed and I am to forgive those who have committed it. If Hitler or Stalin on their deaths beds turned to Christ and asked for His forgiveness He would grant it to them. Christ has already paid the price of sin and while this truly is a hard concept to grasp it is amazing! It is license to engage in more sin or sin we have never committed? Absolutely not! Sin was nailed to a cross 2000 years ago and while Jesus rose victorious from the grave sin did not!
So what then if we are lacking the qualities that show us to be useful and fruitful of God? Peter does not tell us we have lost our salvation but he tells us to get our vision checked. If we are lacking we must be blind or shortsighted. Peter does not doubt the salvation of his readers and he does not condemn them here but her reminds them of what God has already done. Some Christians believe that Christ never really got off the cross but He is continually being nailed to the cross as new sins are committed but this simply is not taught in Scripture. Jesus is victorious and all we must do is open our eyes or put on our glasses! How do we do this? How can we fix our spiritual eyesight? We must remember what was done for us and put aside what we have done. “Do not call to mind the former things, or ponder the past. Behold, I will do something new, now it will spring forth; will you not be aware of it? I will even make a roadway in the wilderness, rivers in the desert.” Isaiah 44:18, 19 Do not focus on the past and do not look to the future but focus on Jesus Christ right now. Jesus died for your sins and you have been declared by God as righteous in His sight. If you could lose your salvation then God would be a liar. You have been freed from all sins and there is no double jeopardy. So I urge you brothers and sisters in Christ be diligent and do not forget what has been done for you! Do not be paralyzed by past mistakes or scared to face the future but right now, this very moment, turn to God. Seek God in the present and your future will be filled with Him. Fill your days with prayer for other people and do not stop! 1 Thessalonians 5:17. It is never too late to turn back to Jesus! It is so easy to get caught up in this life and to forget the gospel. We cannot forget the gospel and we must continue to preach it to ourselves even though we are already saved it is easy to forget and to get so focused on our own works. Do not forget your purification from former sins!
For he who lacks these qualities is blind or shortsighted having forgotten his purification from his former sins.
Yesterday we looked at what it means if we posses the qualities that have been discussed over the past week. Today we must examine what it means if we do not posses them. There are advocates in Christianity of the loss of salvation and I would have to imagine that they would believe that if you do not posses any of the qualities mentioned before than you might have lost your salvation. There are still others who may claim since you do not posses them that you were never truly saved in the first place but I believe that Peter is sending a different message. His message is so comforting and encouraging. Before I go on I must state that I believe once one becomes a believer in Christ they cannot be removed from that position. I believe that God did not only forgive the us for the sins that we have committed but he has forgiven us for all sins. We have been forgiven of rape and genocide but most of us (hopefully all of us) will never actually engage in those sins but our status in light of those sins is forgiven. This is why Paul is so quick in Romans to shout to us, “What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin so that grace may increase? May it never be! How shall we how died to sin still live in it? Sin can no longer rend us from the hand of God because on the cross sin died. This idea is so important to Christian forgiveness because we are called to forgive as we have been forgiven or to the extent of what we have been forgiven for. We are called to forgive all sins because we have been forgiven for all sins! I have been forgiven for genocide a sin that I have never committed and I am to forgive those who have committed it. If Hitler or Stalin on their deaths beds turned to Christ and asked for His forgiveness He would grant it to them. Christ has already paid the price of sin and while this truly is a hard concept to grasp it is amazing! It is license to engage in more sin or sin we have never committed? Absolutely not! Sin was nailed to a cross 2000 years ago and while Jesus rose victorious from the grave sin did not!
So what then if we are lacking the qualities that show us to be useful and fruitful of God? Peter does not tell us we have lost our salvation but he tells us to get our vision checked. If we are lacking we must be blind or shortsighted. Peter does not doubt the salvation of his readers and he does not condemn them here but her reminds them of what God has already done. Some Christians believe that Christ never really got off the cross but He is continually being nailed to the cross as new sins are committed but this simply is not taught in Scripture. Jesus is victorious and all we must do is open our eyes or put on our glasses! How do we do this? How can we fix our spiritual eyesight? We must remember what was done for us and put aside what we have done. “Do not call to mind the former things, or ponder the past. Behold, I will do something new, now it will spring forth; will you not be aware of it? I will even make a roadway in the wilderness, rivers in the desert.” Isaiah 44:18, 19 Do not focus on the past and do not look to the future but focus on Jesus Christ right now. Jesus died for your sins and you have been declared by God as righteous in His sight. If you could lose your salvation then God would be a liar. You have been freed from all sins and there is no double jeopardy. So I urge you brothers and sisters in Christ be diligent and do not forget what has been done for you! Do not be paralyzed by past mistakes or scared to face the future but right now, this very moment, turn to God. Seek God in the present and your future will be filled with Him. Fill your days with prayer for other people and do not stop! 1 Thessalonians 5:17. It is never too late to turn back to Jesus! It is so easy to get caught up in this life and to forget the gospel. We cannot forget the gospel and we must continue to preach it to ourselves even though we are already saved it is easy to forget and to get so focused on our own works. Do not forget your purification from former sins!
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)