The Sin of Self-Reproach

At times we can see self-reproach as a spiritual virtue. It appears to be in the category of agreeing with God that I am a sinner.” Which is a true statement. However, self-reproach is applied in such a way that “I am chief among sinners” becomes “God must hate me” rather than “God must love me.” This interpretation leads to all kinds of corrosive beliefs. A self-examined life becomes a search for some hidden or unconscious sin, rather than a celebration of the grace we find in Christ.  

The Stumbling of Unbelief, Hope For Believers, and Prayer for Our Time

 Romans 9:33 CSB

As it is written, Look, I am putting a stone in Zion to stumble over and a rock to trip over, and the one who believes on him will not be put to shame.

At the end of Chapter 9 we see Paul quote two passages from Isaiah 8:14 and Isaiah 28:16.

In Isaiah 8 we see that the people of Judah have rejected God and are about to go into captivity (Isaiah 8:6-8). At this point the northern part (Israel) is divided from Judah. It is interesting to note some of the parallels between this time and Romans 9. Israel has rejected Christ just as Israel and Judah had rejected God at the during of the period of kings. The temple in Jerusalem was destroyed in 587 BC and the rebuilt temple in Jerusalem was destroyed in 70 AD.

This is a Prophetic word that contrasts believing Jews from unbelieving Jews. The unbelieving Jews are caught up in fear and conspiracy theories (Isaiah 8:12). Believing Jews are not to fear what unbelieving Jews fear. Rather they are to hold God in awe (Isaiah 8:13). For the believing Jews God is a sanctuary, but for the unbelieving Jews (Israel and Judah) God is a “stumbling stone,” “snare,” and “trap” (Isaiah 8:14-15).

This is important on two levels. First it helps us to understand exactly what Paul is talking about in Romans 9. The “stumbling stone” quote is clearly referencing unbelieving Jews. If we take that in the context of what Paul has already said then it seems pretty clear that Paul was addressing the issue of unbelieving Jews of his day (Romans 9:2-5).

The second important truth is related to our current cultural moment. We live in a time of great anxiety. We see many parallels with the end of the time of the kings of Israel and Judah. Everyone is doing their own thing; unrighteousness seems to be the norm. The leaders vacillate between following God and following their own sinful and selfish ends. Nearly all the time leaders follow unrighteousness. People are given to conspiracy and fear. People try to make plans for how things ought to be and will be which do not turn out.

What is God’s admonition to the believing Jews of Isaiah’s time and to believers of our time? Recognize God’s judgment is coming and is unavoidable (Isaiah 8:6-9) (Though it might be delayed if we repent 1 Kings 21:27-29). Don’t become caught up in conspiracy (Isaiah 8:12). Fear God and not the world (Isaiah 8:13). Enter the sanctuary of God (Isaiah 8:14). Tie yourself to the Word of God and teach the word of God to fellow believers (Isaiah 8:16). Wait upon the Lord while it would appear that He is hiding himself (Isaiah 8:17). Wait upon the Lord!

We must be the light of hope to a world that is tearing itself apart. We cannot pollute ourselves with the ungodly fear, conspiracy, and terror that characterizes our current times. We need to turn from sin and selfish desires. We must fear God not the world. We need to become so familiar with the Bible that it is tied to our thoughts and conscience daily. We must love those that hate us.  We must build up and not tear down our brothers and sisters in Christ. We must wait and rest upon the security we find in Christ.

Dear Heavenly Father. We have sinned against You and Your Holy Word. We have trusted in men when we ought to have trusted in You. We have been given to fear and faithlessness. We have polluted our minds with all manner of filth and vile things. We have neglected your word. We have hated those we ought to have loved. We have created division where we ought to have been peacemakers. We bite and devour each other to pursue self-righteous ends. Oh God You are Justified to Judge us with the full weight of Your wrath. We are dust. Forgive us Oh Lord. We cannot endure the full weight of your fury. We will be swept up and destroyed by the brightness of Your Glory. We appeal Lord to Your Grace. We call upon Your Mercy. We confess to You that we have polluted our garments. Help us Lord by the power of Your Holy Spirit to turn back to right living. Help us Lord in our fear and lack of faith to be restored in the confidence of our Lord. Bring unity and not division to your people. Help us to live out the building of each other up in Love. Oh God hide us in the Sanctuary of Your presence. In this moment Lord, the moment that you have called us to, empower us to live as your people even as the world seems to tear itself down around us. Be our hope, be our joy, be our love.

In Jesus Name

AMEN

 

Repent, Remove, Refresh

Image by seanmcgrath via Flickr

I have heard it said that nobody wants to hear about repentance.  I even seemed believe that a bit myself.  This morning I am not to sure that is true.  Perhaps it is not the word so much as the way that the word is handled.  Repentance is a beautiful, marvelous, and glorious thing.  Lets consider some verses

Therefore repent and turn back, so that your sins may be wiped out, that seasons of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, and that He may send Jesus, who has been appointed for you as the Messiah.
Acts 3:19-20 (HCSB)

"So that you sins may be wiped out."   If there was a reason that people do not like to hear about repentance it is probably because it goes hand in hand with the other word "sin."  Again I think this is in part due to the way the word "sin" is handling.  The word sin seems to have been relegated to the most gross offences and immorality.  But the word is really simply missing the mark.  Remember that harsh word you spoke toward your spouse?  Sin.  Remember that coworker you gossiped about with your friends?  Sin.  Remember that time you got away with it by letting the other person believe something that was not true?  Sin.  Recall the time when you questioned everything including God?  Sin.  Remember the time that it was on your heart to do some nice act of kindness and you simply ignored it or forgot?  Sin.  I could go on, but I think you get the point.  Simply put sin is any time that we fail to meet the standard.  You simply do not measure up.  Something is missing.  What is interesting about the concept of sin is that I do not even have to include God in the discussion to create an awareness of sin.  Each of us is keenly aware of our own shortcomings long before we reach the place of turning to God. 

Note it is that you sins may be wiped out!  Not overcome, not worked through, not coped with, not reframed, not embraced, but wiped out.  Think of it wiped out.  Think of other things that could be wiped out.  Usually it is a horrible thing to have something wiped out.  For example a hard drive that is wiped out means that the data is irretrievable (gone).  If your house is wiped out, then it is destroyed and cannot be repaired.  Now jump back to sin.  What if your every mistake, short coming, slip up, doubt, could be wiped out.  It seems to me that would be a very good thing.  Some people are prone to say I wish I could go back and redo that.  I have something even better, "wiped out." 

As if that was not good enough then we add to this seasons of refreshing.  It is a strange thing that a person would trade the putrid waste water of sin to indulge some momentary gratification of the flesh over the refreshing that comes from the Lord.  Yet we have all been there.  I do not know what sin you have indulged.  Nor do I have the taste of the pleasures these sins may have brought.  I do know that all this world has to offer cannot compare to the overwhelming glory and refreshing that God has in store for us.  Indulgence or refreshing that is the choice that is set before us.  That is the route that we choose.  I for one am tired of indulgence are you ready for refreshing? 

When we turn Jesus is there waiting for us.  His very presence in our lives is what we are choosing when we turn.  He has been appointed our Messiah.  A deliverer in whom we can trust.  This is no fantasy flight.  It is no trick of the imagination or some chimera of the mind.  This is the very spiritual food that keeps you out of hell!  I have seen it in my own life and in the lives of others whom God has given me the grace to fellowship with.  God has a deliverance, that deliverance is a person, that person is the very Son of God, the Son of God is Jesus Christ.   

I think this through and I cannot but wonder why I or anyone else would not choose the fruits of repentance over the fruits of sin.  Sin give us heart ache, broken relationships, fear, anxiety, food that tastes good for a moment but turn our guts to wretch, and leaves us with no hope and no deliverance.  Repentance on the other hand gives us a clean slate, a new start, no condemnation, freedom, refreshing of the the Lord, and a savior that will carry us into the way everlasting, and fill us with love and hope.  To me the choice is obvious.  Will you Join me?

God Bless You

Meditation: Put Off the Old

Passage
Colossians 3:5-11

Context
Paul is discussing the new order of things when a Christian has given their life to Christ. 

Key Words
Put to death, Worldly, Once walked, put away, put off, put on

Message
Putting to death the things of the flesh seems like a perfectly natural thing for a Christian to do.  However, there is nothing natural about it what so ever.  It is a spiritual discipline through and through.  If you attempt to do as some sort of works based religion you will not succeed (See Romans 7).  With that being said there is work to be done.  Putting these things to death requires your active participation.  The Spirit of God does not merely wipe this away in one sweep.  Though I believe at times we would prefer that He did.  No there is a active putting to death, putting away, and putting off of the ungodly.  This list is a good starting place of things that we ought to put off.  It is time to take the old off and put the new on.  It also seems that this is a process rather than an event.  Interestingly the old self is referred to in the past tense (perhaps Paul is helping us how to see to it that we are putting these off).  However in verse 10 he writes "You are being renewed in knowledge according to the image of your Creator."  It seems to me that this process is on going to accomplish it's purpose of being renewed into the image of God.

Two Barriers to Sexual Intimacy

There are many areas that I believe that need to be addressed in the context of healthy sexual intimacy.  The first two have to do with sexual brokenness and false intimacy which I will cover in this post.  These two form a barrier to intimacy. 

There are so many people that struggle with sexual brokenness.  I would define sexual brokenness as a state of sexual sin with an intense self-hatred.  You can have sexual brokenness with just about any object live or inanimate.  Some can even have sexual brokenness in sexual behavior with his/her spouse.  The most common sexual brokenness looking lustfully at someone other than your spouse.  It seems that pornography is one of the most common forms of this type of brokenness. There are many other forms of brokenness which I do not have a desire to list out here, but I think that a good definition is some type of sexual arousal/gratification outside the marriage that leads to self-hatred. 

Most that struggle with sexual brokenness feel trapped.  For many it has been a life long struggle.  In case you don't believe there is a serious problem with this then I suggest that you take a look at the statistics from Safe Families.  They have compiled a list of statistics that should open your eyes to the sexual brokenness epidemic.  There are some that refer to sexual brokenness as addiction and others whom argue that addiction is not possible with a natural biological function.  Those that believe it is not an addiction describe these behaviors as obsessive-compulsive or just sinful.  Whether sexual brokenness is rooted in addiction, obsession, or just plain ol' sin people that struggle with it will often experience a feeling of loss of control. 

Sexual brokenness in a marriage is a barrier to sexual intimacy and radical action must be taken for full intimacy to occur.  There are many resources available to help you if you are stuck in this.  Here are some suggested things to review:  Focus on the Family, Pure Intimacy, Setting Captives Free, Every Man's Battle, X3Church (For the younger edgy crowd), and filtering software: Safe Eyes, Covenant Eyes, Bsecure (my recommendation), As well as recommend these post from my Blog: Battle of two natures and Setting your mind on the Spirit.

False intimacy is similar to sexual brokenness in that it is a barrier to sexual intimacy.  In false intimacy your sexuality is bonded with something other than your spouse as fellow companion.  Pornography is a struggle for some with sexual brokenness, but can also be a problem for those who do not.  The false intimacy of porn (whether the soft type that passes for prime time TV or the hard-core found on the internet) is sexual gratification without commitment.  I remember some crass comments when I used to work construction from married men saying, "I can window shop."  This is a false intimacy of the eyes.  It also is a type of gratification without commitment.  Affairs are based on false intimacy.  You can have adultery in affairs, but true sexual intimacy is not possible.  Affairs always are rooted in deception, broken promises, and infidelity.  There can never be true intimacy in such a situation.  Any perceived intimacy in the midst of adultery is false.  There can be false intimacy within the marital relationship as well.  The behavioral repertoire of a couple replaces a true sense of connection.  Emotional, spiritual, and physical intimacy are often diminished or absent in these cases. The behavior surrounding sex can take precedence over the relationship as well in this way sex becomes a form of false intimacy. 

One of the things that drives brokenness and false intimacy is sexual bonding in my estimation.  The brain is a powerful sexual organ.  When people are involved in sexual situations (arousal, or the act itself)  the brain is releasing powerful substances which if came in pill form would either be outlawed or considered a controlled substance.  Some of the Neuro-Chemicals associated with sex are:

epinephrine (adrenaline), testosterone (Male hormone), endorphins (feeling of well being and absence of pain), oxytocin (important substance in feelings of love and bonding), dopamine (reward seeking), serotonin (good mood), phenylethylamine (Endogenous amphetamine) and others

In the process of arousal the sexual image becomes an object of desire.  This occurs whether the image is real, inanimate, or imagined.  With repetition the image becomes more and more imbedded in the brain.  In some ways the image becomes a personal sexual ideal (a sexual idol).  The behaviors associated with this idol become fixed and in many cases automatic (like riding a bike or driving a car).  I will sometimes use the analogy of a well worn rut that when ever the wheels fall into they take you to the same place again.  From a spiritual stand point you begin to worship the idol.  From a neuro-chemical stand point the powerful reward chemicals in your brain released by this activity reinforce the behavior making it more likely that you will engage in this behavior in the future (kind of like a hit from drugs).  The bonding chemicals make you feel connected to the object and/or behavior associated with the object.  It is this bonding that I believe forms the biological basis for false intimacy (and sexual brokenness). 

To combat false intimacy one must first acknowledge it is false.  This is difficult because you have acknowledge something that contradicts what you feel.  Overcoming biology is one of the most difficult things that we can do in life.  The Bible refers to this as "dying to self" and putting to death the deeds of the flesh."  You acknowledge that it is false and determine to starve that sexual idol and refuse to worship it any longer.  Nothing short of a full break will do.  There also must be a reconnection to genuine intimacy.  Making a break without reengaging true intimacy will leave you vulnerable to falling back into false intimacy.  From a spiritual stand point you must turn to God and trust in him.  Turning to your spouse without turning to God puts you at risk of making your spouse an idol and worshiping your spouse as a sexual object and not treating them as a true person. 

You must be on guard against sexual brokenness and false intimacy if you are to have hope of developing true sexual intimacy with your spouse.  There needs to be an acknowledgement of the problem and a clean break from it (repentance).  If you need help along the way talk with a pastor, Christian therapist, or trusted friend.  Seek accountability and more importantly seek the Lord. 

Battle of Two Natures?

There is a danger when committing to be a slave of righteousness that you can fall back into being a slave to the law.  That is why Paul addresses this issue in Romans chapter 7.  Being a slave to the law is not the same as being a slave to righteousness.  In Romans 7 and 8 we learn that there are three laws: The Law of God, The Law of sin and Spirit's Law of life in Christ Jesus

I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, with my mind I myself am a slave to the law of God, but with my flesh, to the law of sin.
Romans 7:25 (HCSB)

because the Spirit's law of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death.
Romans 8:2 (HCSB)

For the Christian we are called to die to the Law of sin, be released from the requirements of God's Law, and live according to the Spirit's Law of life. 

Therefore, my brothers, you also were put to death in relation to the law through the [crucified] body of the Messiah, so that you may belong to another-to Him who was raised from the dead-that we may bear fruit for God. For when we were in the flesh, the sinful passions operated through the law in every part of us and bore fruit for death. But now we have been released from the law, since we have died to what held us, so that we may serve in the new way of the Spirit and not in the old letter of the law.
Romans 7:4-6 (HCSB)

Until we are with our Lord in heaven we live in this in between state where the Law of God and the Law of sin continue to operate in our lives and the Spirit's Law of life is not yet fully realized.  The Law of God is useful in pointing out sin.  It lets us know what God's expectations are for us.  However, it is powerless to change our lives.  The Law of sin continues to operate in our flesh leading to unholy desires.  If we do not die to this then sin is closer to our lives than is righteousness.

I used to believe that Romans 7 was the normal Christian life.  In this Chapter especially verses 13-25 Paul is describing a struggle.  On a casual reading it seems like the classic battle between good and evil with the desire to do good, but evil winning out in some way.    I would read this passage and say something like, "Wow that describes my experience.  I want to please God, but sin is always right there with me."  Then one day I was reading a commentary that said that Paul was not describing normal Christian experience, but was either describing a carnal Christian or his preconversion experience.  I reread Roman's 7 and my understanding and my spiritual walk where radically changed. 

Let me walk you through what I have learned about Romans 7. I grew up being taught from the pulpit that there is a perpetual struggle between the old nature and the new nature that continues in the Christian life. The primary text supporting that belief was Romans 7. There are others no doubt Hebrews 12:4 comes to mind. My point is not to debate that Christians struggle clearly we do. I am also not suggesting that somehow I have become perfect. I do fall, but I get up and press on as I am sure many who read this post do.

Back to Romans 7. I looked through the context, word by word, and then back at the passage as a whole. I compared it to other passages that talk about our victory in Christ. I discovered that the reason I was struggling was that I was holding onto a belief that it was normal or that it was God's plan for me to struggle. Delving in deeper I discovered that Paul in fact does not describe two natures in Chapter 7, but rather a battle between the mind (or will, wanting to do good) and the body(flesh under sin's power).  Verse 14 "For I understand what I am doing is wrong (mind)" "I do not practice (body)" "What I want to do (will)" "I agree the law is good (Mind)" "So I no longer am doing (Mind/wills inability to overcome sin)" Skiping to v 21 "I want to do good (will)" "My inner self or man I joyfully agree with God's law (The inner self is soul which is the seat of the will)"

Verse 24 now makes the profound statement "What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me?" Why is he wretched? Because no matter how much he wants it, his will/mind/soul cannot save him! "Thanks be Jesus Christ our Lord" he then makes this statement "with my mind(soul/will) I am a slave to the law of God, but with my body to the law of sin" That the body is a slave to the law of sin we agree on or at least most would agree. But the statement that the mind is a Slave to the Law of God is confusing especially since Paul says earlier In verse 6 "But now we have been released from the law."

How can I be both released from the Law and a slave to the law? Well the answer is you are not. Finish reading verse 6 "since we have died to what held us, so that we may serve in the new way of the Spirit and not in the old letter of the law." Notice that the new nature is Spirit and not mind, will, nor soul. In Romans 7 Paul does not talk about a Spiritual struggle other than to say the Law is Spiritual and he is not.

So how does this apply to Spirit Mindedness? 

In a previous post I have described mindlessness.  Roman's 7 is Spirit Mindlessness.  In this state your mind is either set on the desire to to good (legalism) or you mind is set on gratifying the flesh (carnal mind).  Neither of these mental states are Spirit Minded.  Sometimes in our walk with God we get stuck in this state of double mindedness between the desire to do good and the power of sin to overwhelm the flesh and ensure that we do not.  We become grieved to the point of breaking and wonder if there is really any hope at all.  It is at this point that we can earnestly agree with Paul, "What at wretched man I am."  I think the point is that we have to recognize this Spiritual Mindlessness so that we can get out of this state. 

The first step in getting out of this state is to repent.  Repentance has two parts.  First dying to sin which I have covered in the previous two posts ("Dying to Sin", "Whose your master?").  The second part is turning to Christ.

Who will rescue me from this dying body? I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord! 
Romans 7:24b-25a (HCSB)

Once you turn to Christ there is another step to staying on the path to Spirit Mindedness.  You have to meditate on this truth until it becomes the very essence of your thought life.

Therefore, no condemnation now exists for those in Christ Jesus, because the Spirit's law of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death.
Romans 8:1-2 (HCSB)

If you can hold this truth as a light to your daily life then you will be well on your way to Spirit Mindedness.  We have to recognize that when we die to sin and live for Christ that we are free from condemnation.  When we return to condemnation then we are slipping back into Romans Chapter 7.  We have to choose to live where there is no condemnation.  If we choose instead to live in the battle of will versus flesh then there is only one conclusion "what a wretched man I am."  It is only when we recognize the Spiritual truth that "no condemnation now exists for those in Christ Jesus" that we are truly free!  To continue in this state we have to be persistent in setting our mind on the Spirit of God (Spirit Mindedness).  There are many more aspects to Spirit Mindedness in Romans 8 that I will cover in future posts.  But for now will you consider dying to sin and turn your mind to the "Spirit's Law of life in Christ Jesus"? 

Whose Your Master?

We are all slaves to something.  Whether you like to admit it or not we do submit to something in this life.  For some it is a person, others an ideal or principle, some a religion, and others a deity.  Regardless we all submit to something.  Even anarchists submit to a principle that the state is undesirable and become slaves to that principle.  The problem is that humanity with all it philosophies and practices is subject to sin.  Sin is missing the mark as far as God is concerned.  That means that the highest ideal that humanity can come up with the highest ethics that we can imagine still fall short of God's measure.  In this way all ways of men are subject to sin.  Humanity is in bondage to sin.  Being in bondage is synonymous with being a slave.  Being a slave to sin is the same as serving the devil. 

There is something that masters your heart.  What is it?  In Romans 6:15-23 Paul describes how we are to be slaves to righteousness.  When we come to Christ we have the freedom to choose what will be our master.  If we choose sin then we are telling God that we do not want Him to be Lord of our life.  We are rejecting the freedom that is found in him.  Instead we are choosing sin and the implications that come from choosing sin. 

For the wages of sin is death. Romans 6:23a (HCSB)

It is a strange thing to talk of wages in the context of slavery. Yet if we choose sin then we are choosing death.  What is more a person that continually chooses sin (without repentance) provides evidence that they are not saved. 

Little children, make sure no one deceives you; the one who practices righteousness is righteous, just as He is righteous; the one who practices sin is of the devil; for the devil has sinned from the beginning. The Son of God appeared for this purpose, to destroy the works of the devil. No one who is born of God practices sin, because His seed abides in him; and he cannot sin, because he is born of God. By this the children of God and the children of the devil are obvious: anyone who does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor the one who does not love his brother.
1 John 3:7-10 (NASB)

Making sin a practice of your life proves who is your master (the devil).  The end result is death.  God want to give life.  His Spirit is life to the Believer that His Spirit dwells in.  However, God must be Lord of your life and you must commit to being a slave of righteousness if you are to have hope of life free from sin.   In other words it is not enough to merely live your life avoiding sin, one must determine to allow God's Spirit to have hold of and direct your every day.  Otherwise you have the deception of being in control of your life, but in reality you are still a slave to sin.  More on this in my next post. 

 Text of poem here

God Bless You.

Dying to Sin

Spirit Mindedness begins with a fundamental change in the way that you live life or rather die to life.  It seems that the paradox within the Christian tradition is that one lives when one dies.  Romans 6 summarizes this kind of living (dying). 

What should we say then? Should we continue in sin so that grace may multiply? Absolutely not! How can we who died to sin still live in it? Or are you unaware that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? Therefore we were buried with Him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, so we too may walk in a new way of life.
Romans 6:1-4 (HCSB)

There is a problem of sin within the Church.  We like the idea of being saved in spite of our sins, but we do not take the next step of being saved out of our sin.  Jesus did not come so that we could continue to live the same sinful life with the assurance that we could make it to heaven.  One has to wonder if living in this way is even remotely close to a genuine faith and relationship with Jesus Christ.  You see living for Christ involves dying to the former way of life.  Which is what this passage deals with.  When we come to Christ we are "baptized into his death."  But more than that we are raised to a new life.  It is a life that is dependent on the Holy Spirit of God. 

For we know that our old self was crucified with Him in order that sin's dominion over the body may be abolished, so that we may no longer be enslaved to sin, since a person who has died is freed from sin's claims.
Romans 6:6-7 (HCSB)

One of the reasons that dying to the old self is so important is that it releases us from being enslaved to sin.  Sin is missing the mark that God has given us.  When we miss the mark then the Holy Spirit is grieved.  Sin hinders the Holy Spirit from working in your life.  In fact sin produces bad fruit in your life.  When sin is present then it is evidence that God is not in control of your life.  We have to die to sin.  

Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with Him, because we know that Christ, having been raised from the dead, will not die again. Death no longer rules over Him. For in light of the fact that He died, He died to sin once for all; but in light of the fact that He lives, He lives to God.
Romans 6:8-10 (HCSB)

Not only do we die to sin, but we are raised to live to God.  We are called to live our lives every moment to God and His righteousness.  When we live to God then we have hope of freedom from falling back into sin. 

How to die to Sin

Step 1:

So, you too consider yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus.
Romans 6:11 (HCSB)

Step 2:

Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body, so that you obey its desires. And do not offer any parts of it to sin as weapons for unrighteousness. Romans 6:12-13 (HCSB)

Step 3:

But as those who are alive from the dead, offer yourselves to God, and all the parts of yourselves to God as weapons for righteousness.
Romans 6:13 (HCSB)

Step 4:  Meditate upon this truth until it becomes embedded in your mind:

For sin will not rule over you, because you are not under law but under grace.
Romans 6:14 (HCSB)

A word of warning.  It is easy to consider this as a act of religious devotion or exercise of commitment.  This is not the case.  It is a work of the Holy Spirit in you.  It is trusting the Holy Spirit to accomplish this work in you.  The point is that you have to be willing to do it ("Consider yourselves...").  We will explore this further in the next few posts. 

Have a Blessed Day!

The Devil's Grammar Lesson

1 Now the serpent was the most cunning of all the wild animals that the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, "Did God really say, 'You can't eat from any tree in the garden'?"

2 The woman said to the serpent, "We may eat the fruit from the trees in the garden. 3 But about the fruit of the tree in the middle of the garden, God said, 'You must not eat it or touch it, or you will die.' "

4 "No! You will not die," the serpent said to the woman. 5 "In fact, God knows that when you eat it your eyes will be opened and you will be like God, knowing good and evil." 6 Then the woman saw that the tree was good for food and delightful to look at, and that it was desirable for obtaining wisdom. So she took some of its fruit and ate [it] ; she also gave [some] to her husband, [who was] with her, and he ate [it] . 7 Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made loincloths for themselves.

The title of my sermon this morning is "The Devil's Grammar Lesson." As I have already mentioned this morning's sermon is going to be a bit technical so if it feels more like a lecture than a sermon than forgive me. I do have a purpose in tackling this passage in this way though. You see our biggest barrier to personal holiness is sin. I believe that looking at the original sin that we can learn something about the nature of temptation and falling that we then can apply to our own lives and work on the sanctification (that is personal holiness) that God desires from his children.

This is of course the dialog between Eve and Satan in the garden of Eden. This conversation though only a few verses in length has had a profound affect on the whole of creation and the lives that we live today. At this point in the account of God's creation of the world we have seen that God has created everything and that it was good. Sometimes that word good seems so plain. I think that in the age of super, fantastic, perfect, outrageously fun, hot, excitement, wonderful, superb, blowout, greatest things competing for our attention and for the money in our pocketbook, we miss out on the good that God has to offer. Frankly God's goodness is incomparable to the wealth and wonderment that this world has to offer, and blessed are those that find it. So His creation was good. We also have seen that God has created a woman to be with man and that they have a perfect bond of love with no shame. Then enters the serpent into this land of God's goodness.

Here is an aside. Isn't interesting that the Devil and the angels that follow him seem to insert himself into our lives when we are experiencing God's goodness. Have you ever noticed that. The scriptures rightly call him a thief. He does in fact come to rob, kill, and destroy. His target is God's goodness.

So we have the devil enter this scene. I am going to use a word for word translation from Greek to aid in our discussion. Word for word translations are useful when looking at the grammar in Greek since English translations do not always capture the nuances of the original languages. The draw back of word for word translations is that they sound very choppy since we are not accustom to the grammatical structure of Greek.

The devil starts out by saying, "Indeed! that He Elohim said.." There was no formal introduction, no building up to the presentation. No chance to warm up. He right out of the gate begins his criticism of God's word. Indeed. "Af" in the original language. My interpretation would "Aw, Did God really say..." His criticism was not really from a place of understanding what God had said, but rather the intent was to call into question what God had said. We have this happening with regularity in our modern times. Every where we look we find people actively criticizing the Bible and what it says, not because they want to understand it better, but rather because they want to call it into question. There is a process of understanding the Bible called textual criticism which the primary goal is to challenge the text and press to see if the text is really saying what we think that it says. Don't get me wrong. I believe that we should wrestle with God's word until though His Holy Spirit we arrive at a deeper and more meaningful understanding, but when we call into question the things that are plainly understood in the Bible then it is not a new understanding, it is the old rebellion that was initiated by the devil himself.

He says next, "Not you shall eat from any tree in the Garden." I would like to compare this to what God said and note how the Devil works in distorting the word of God. Remember the power of Satan is not is some magnificent awesome forcefulness to inflict pain and suffering, but rather deception. Deception is the most powerful tool that the devil uses against people. What God really said was "From any tree in the garden to eat you shall eat." Notice that the serpent states God's provision in the negative. I believe that the serpent is trying to get Eve to look away from the generous provision that God has given. God said that from any tree to eat you shall eat. This double eat is a statement of abundance and blessing. God's goodness was an abundant blessing, but that is not what the serpent wanted Eve to focus on, so he starts out by saying God's provision in the negative. If she were facing some uncertain medical crisis he might say, "Surely God didn't say he would heal you?" If she were facing some finical crisis he would say, "Come on, God couldn't have said that he would give you abundant life." If a person was facing a relationship crisis he might say, "Surely God does not intend for you to love him?" The devil loves to state God's provisions and commandments in the negative. He causes Eve (and us when we buy into his lie) to question our own understanding of what God has said.

Notice Eve's response. "From the fruit of the trees of the garden we are eating." She nailed it. Her understanding of what God had provided was right on target. Notice she said "we are eating." This makes me believe that Adam is right there with her. Often times much is made of the woman being the first to sin, but Adam actually made the first mistake by not protecting his bride from this deceiver. Anyway, if she got it right then what happened? For starters she did not state the double provision that God had given them. That is to say she missed that God was not only fulfilling her need, but he was doing it abundantly. But her straying from what God has said goes further.

Notice what she says next, "but from the tree which in the midst of (literally center) the garden he said Elohim not you shall eat from it. Let's compare that to what God really said. "and the tree of the lives in the midst of (center) the garden." Notice how by introducing the thought of what God was withholding from her by stating his provision in the negative, how the devil has replaced the center of attention from the tree of life. God says that the tree of life is at the center of the garden and mention the tree of the knowledge of good and evil as being there. Eve now refers to to the tree of knowledge of good and evil as being the center of the garden and does not mention the tree of life.

How often we focus on the one thing that God has not given to us. We are unaware of the wonderful blessings that He has poured out in our lives and we choose instead to center our attention on the one thing we do not have, or that God has told us in not for us. Every tree was available and the tree of life was at the center, but now the center of her universe was the forbidden tree. Sad really to think about how much of our joy is robbed from us when we choose to focus on the forbidden. In short the devil's deception has worked. Eve is no longer has a clear understanding of what God has said; instead it has been replaced with a distorted understanding of who God is, namely He is withholding something from you.

Continuing on she says, "and not you shall touch it." No where did God say that Adam and Eve were not to touch this tree. Eve is adding on to what God said. You see adding on to what God has said can be as dangerous as taking away from what He has said. In some respects we see the roots of legalism in this statement. Legalism is a set of rules designed to keep a person from offending God by preventing unholy action. It sounds like a good idea at first, but the reality is that Legalism does not produce holiness. The only thing it accomplishes is a sense of self-reliance in that it creates a false belief that we through our actions independent of God can please Him.

Next she says "lest you shall die." When we compare what she is saying to what God has said we find the other mistake of taking away from God's word. God said "in the day of to eat of you it to die you shall die." The difference is subtle but it is very important. God states the certainty of death by saying "to die you shall die." Eve on the other hand state the likelihood or possibility of dying. I mentioned last week that we do not fear the God of the New Testament and that in fact God is the God of both Testaments. He has not changed. Like Eve I think we toy with the possibility of judgment rather than the certainty of it. Let me make this clear unless you repent of your sin you will face God's judgment! That is a certainty not a possibility. Parable?

Next the devil says, "Not to die you shall die." This is a direct contradiction of God's words. He goes on to say that if she eats of the fruit that her eyes will be opened. Open your eyes. This reminds me of the arguments that people give in protecting our children. You might hear things like, "You can't shelter them forever." or "That is old-fashioned." Don't get me wrong opening your eyes is a good thing, but what is it that you are allowing into your soul? Luke 11:24-36 says

34 Your eye is the lamp of the body. When your eye is good, your whole body is also full of light. But when it is bad, your body is also full of darkness. 35 Take care then, that the light in you is not darkness. 36 If therefore your whole body is full of light, with no part of it in darkness, the whole body will be full of light, as when a lamp shines its light on you."

That phase take care then that the light in you is not darkness. This tells me that there is false light. In this case there is false openness that leads to your whole body, your whole life being filled with darkness. The devil was not lying when he said your eyes will be opened, but he was deceiving her by making is sound like a good thing.

Satan goes on "that one knowing Elohim that in day of to eat of you from it and they are unclosed eyes of you and you become as Elohim ones knowing of good and evil." Interestingly the devil is not lying here technically, but he most certainly is deceiving. The serpent is hinting at omnipotence (that is knowing all things). They will become like God knowing all things. In fact what was the truth is that they were already made in the image of God. They were already like God. However they had not yet experienced evil.

The difficulty of this passage arises from the issue of God's sovereignty versus man's free will. God placed in us an ability to chose for ourselves moral right and moral wrong. It was not until Adam and Eve chose the moral wrong that a full understanding of good and evil really comes into awareness. Think about opposites for a moment. Let's say you are from a desert where it is always hot. If you only know hot and never experience cold then your awareness of cold being the opposite of hot is not full. You might know something of warm and hot. In this case warm would be your idea of cold.

Up to this point Adam and Eve only experienced good. God's creation was good, His provision was good, His fellowship was good, His word was good. There was only an understanding of good. That is to say an knowledge of good. By choosing that which God had prohibited using their free will they awaken a conscious awareness of evil that was not understood before. The possibility of evil existed in man's ability to chose something that God did not want them to have, but the awareness was not. Using the hot cold example; we have the ability to feel extreme cold, but until we experienced it then we do not have an awareness of cold. Interestingly this awakening aroused a moral sense of right and wrong that they instantly reacted to. The shame of evil can be quite profound.

I think that if we could have full awareness (and then not be distracted) of the consequences and destructive nature of sin before we acted I think that we would not choose it. Distracted by what? The belief that sin holds something better than what we already have in Christ, the belief that we are missing out on something when we choose not to sin, the desire for the flesh, the desire of the eyes, the desire to be great.

These last three are seen in the text. Back to the word for word translation it says "She is seeing, the woman that good the tree for food (lust of the flesh), and that yearning it to the eyes (desire of the eyes) and being coveted the tree to make intelligent of (Coveting greatness)." When we move beyond God's word, when we are unrestrained by His truth, When we cast off the desire of right living when we become a slave to lust of the flesh, desires of the eyes, and a coveting greatness. Eve had reached a point were her focus was no longer on God's provision, life, or His word, but rather on the forbidden, lust of the flesh, desire of the eyes, and coveting forbidden wisdom. Sin had a death grip on her and so she ate. I could continue on about the consequences of sin, but I do not need to. We live it every day. Sin is the most destructive force in our lives today.

So how can we apply this lesson to our lives today? First we must recognize the power of Sin rests squarely in the deception that God is not really good, nor does he have our best interests at heart. The reality is that God is abundantly good. Secondly there is a danger in adding to or taking away from God's word. I believe that the best prevention for this is regular and intentional Bible study. If you are not reading your Bible then start, if you are occasionally reading your Bible then make and effort to start reading it every day. If you are in the word everyday then continue with consistency. Understand the Word of God like prayer is essential to the Christian walk. Third, the tree of life (Christ) should be the center of our garden. True the forbidden fruit is available in our lives, but when the forbidden becomes our focus over Christ then we are more likely to fall into sin. On the other hand when Christ is the center of our life we are protected from sin. Forth, we need to have a healthy fear of and respect for God's judgment. We presume too much on His longsuffering. Fifth we need to be very careful what we allow into our lives especially through our eyes. God's word says, "Take care then that the light in you is not darkness." If we do not protect then our lives will be filled with darkness. Finally if we are waiting until it becomes and issue were we are fighting against the lust of the flesh, desires of the eyes or the coveting greatness, then we will lose to sin every time. If you are at the point of wrestling with desires this morning there is only one cure. Repent and turn fully and purposefully to Christ. If you have never given your life to Christ and are wrestling with the possibility then in a moment while I stand up front, come forward and I will share with you how you can enter into this relationship. If you need to commit to reading the Bible and Praying daily please do not wait another day start now. If you find yourself caught up in sin's grip, then please seek God.

The Lord of the Harvest

I would like to talk with you this morning about something that deeply stirs the heart of Jesus Christ. I pray that we are ready to be moved by what moves our savior. I hope that we can share in his compassion that he feels for a lost and dying world. I pray that if you don't have a relationship with Christ that you would consider today whether Christ may be holding open arms ready to receive you and heal your physical, emotional, and spiritual brokenness. Lets read from Matthew 9 verses 32-38

32 Just as they were going out, a demon-possessed man who was unable to speak was brought to Him. 33 When the demon had been driven out, the man spoke. And the crowds were amazed, saying, "Nothing like this has ever been seen in Israel!"

34 But the Pharisees said, "He drives out demons by the ruler of the demons!"

35 Then Jesus went to all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the good news of the kingdom, and healing every disease and every sickness. 36 When He saw the crowds, He felt compassion for them, because they were weary and worn out, like sheep without a shepherd. 37 Then He said to His disciples, "The harvest is abundant, but the workers are few. 38 Therefore, pray to the Lord of the harvest to send out workers into His harvest." Matt 9:32-38 (HCSB)

I was moved as I learned what moved the heart of our Savior. Looking at verse 36 we can see into the heart of Jesus. He say that he was moved with compassion. Compassion is a wonderful emotion that we do not often experience. We are not moved nor do we typically see it as a quality in others. There is something deeply spiritual about compassion. There is a strong connection between the person feeling the compassion and the object that compassion is felt for. Jesus looked out at the people as he was traveling from village to village town to town city to city and was moved with compassion.

Jesus saw how they were weary, worn out, and like sheep without a shepherd.

Weariness is a hard place to be. The Greek paints the word picture of being flayed, troubled, or harassed. Life is filled with conflicts that lead a person to feel weary. At times it may feel like you are being cut up by the world around you. Maybe some other person is tearing you apart. There is trouble in this life. We all face difficulties (some more than others), but I think that we all can understand trouble. Harassment is weary when it does not stop. The devil likes to harass. He continues on and on and on. He gets a foothold in your life and mounts a harassing attack that is difficult to recover from. Sometimes other people can harass. They keep on bugging you with distractions, interruptions, or with words you do not want to hear. We all can relate to the weariness. I have good news for you Jesus sees your weariness.

As if weariness is not enough then we can become worn out. There are some here this morning that are worn out by life. It has become "too much" You are cast down, flung out, and tossed about in this life.

Jesus looked out and saw that they were like sheep without a shepherd. I know this is not going to sound pleasant, but I become more and more convinced that people are like sheep. We need a shepherd to guide us through life. Give us freedom and we certainly make the worst of it and get ourselves into all kinds of trouble. The people were starving for Spiritual truths with no one to guide them to green pastures. They were lost without hope. And this moved the heart of our savior. He did not say pitiful creature. He was moved with compassion. Pity and compassion are similar. However pity is the sorrow and regret that is felt toward another's misfortune. It is possible to feel pity and not be moved. It is possible to feel pity and keep on walking by. It is possible to feel pity and do nothing. Compassion is different in this way. Compassion is an awareness of another's suffering with a deep desire to relieve the suffering. You are moved with compassion. It is not possible for compassion to walk on by. It is not possible to feel compassion and do nothing.

Jesus felt compassion for these that were weary, worn out, and like sheep without a shepherd. This morning Jesus feels compassion for those that are weary worn out, and like sheep without a shepherd.

Jesus does three things when he is moved with compassion in this passage. First he heals. There was a man possessed by a demon. This demon caused the man to be mute. When the man was brought to Jesus he cast out the demon and the man talked. The ailment was cured. Jesus also would heal various sickness and diseases. His compassion led him to act and bring healing to those people. I have recently come to understand that miraculous healings are given to us as a sign of authority of Christ. These healing were no doubt amazing to behold, but they were not an end to themselves. They were a sign to give audience to what he was saying.

Jesus taught. Everyday Jesus was teaching the Word of God. He was enlightening the people with wonderful and uplifting teachings. He also was confronting error and sin with his teaching as well. Jesus brought hard teachings as well as explaining that His yoke was easy. At first this might seem a contradiction. It has to be received by faith. You see everything that Jesus taught was hard if it was not received by faith. But if it was believed then it becomes the most glorious truth that one can experience. It brings peace and comfort to the weary, worn, and lost soul. The whole of this book the Bible is filled with the wonder of God and if we receive it by faith then we ourselves will certainly be blessed.

Jesus preached the Good News. The good news is the Gospel. It is the message. It is the path from this life into eternity with God. Good news is the path of peace. Good news is the power of spiritual victory and life. Good news is to all, but only some will receive it. Like Jesus' teachings it also must be received by faith. It is Good news to those that receive it. Jesus preached the Kingdom of heaven when he shared the good news. John 3:16 is the good news summed up.

For God loved the world in this way: He gave His One and Only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life.

John 3:16 (HCSB)

God loves you so much that he sent his son (Jesus) to die for you. Why did Jesus have to die? Sin. Your sin, my sin, the world's sin. Sin means that we miss the mark. Let's face it we all miss the mark. We cannot even live up to our own standards let alone God's standards for life. We fall short. When we fall short then we are helpless without any hope of entering into a relationship with God. That is until God sent His Son Jesus Christ. It is not enough that He sent Him though. There has to be a response. We have to believe in Christ to be saved. When we believe in God's son Jesus then we have eternal life. We will live on with God in Heaven in His Kingdom. What must one do to believe in Christ. We have to turn our lives over to Him. We are sheep without a shepherd at best, but we are sheep with doubting, hateful, hurtful shepherds at worst. We need a shepherd. You may not want to admit it, but we need to be shepherded in this life. Believing in Jesus is allowing Him to be the Shepherd of our live. If you have never submitted your life to Christ as the shepherd of your life would you be willing to do that today. He is moved with compassion for you and is willing to bring you peace. Are you willing to receive it? Jesus preaches the good news.

So how did the people respond? Some by faith! The people that witness the miraculous healing of the mute man were amazed. The recognized that nothing like this had ever been done before. I have to say that in my work as a counselor I have the opportunity to be amazed. Jesus now works through the Holy Spirit of God to bring healing into people's lives. I see it every day where God is working to bring some kind of healing. Unfortunately not everyone was amazed. The Pharisees doubted. Some respond by faith others by doubt. The Pharisees took their doubt to the next level. They accused Jesus of casting out demons by the ruler of demons. Their doubt was not a lack of faith, but rather an out and out rejection of the person of Jesus Christ as well as profaning the power of the Holy Spirit to bring about these miracles of God. They were rejecting the sign of Jesus' authority given by the Holy Spirit's Power!

Jesus asked the disciples to pray. He was a man and could only be in one place at a time. As he looked out at the people he saw a task that was greater than his humanity. While on earth Jesus limited himself to dwell in the flesh as we are in the flesh. Imagine a God sized compassion bound to live with the limit of the flesh. The sheer agony that he must have felt as he looked upon those people. So he asked the disciples to pray that the Lord of the Harvest would send out workers. So they prayed.  Consider this story.

One Sunday morning after preaching, I was standing at the exit of our Church shaking hands and thanking people for coming. A young man who was a first time visitor began to exit with tears in his eyes. He paused as if to ponder something over deeply and then walked in my direction. He extended his hand towards mine and with a firm handshake began to tell me that he had made a decision to take a different course for his life. "I know that I will be all right now," he said, "I have carried this too long and now I have made up my mind to live." He did not want to speak more . . . just thanked me and shook my hand once more as he left.

I have often received things in a hand shake. People have "palmed" me money for special needs within the church. But, I have never received anything like what that young man gave me as he shook my hand and left the church. Inside a folded up one dollar bill was a live round from a 38 caliber hand gun. The young man had been pondering committing suicide and with the encouragement found in God's word -- had changed his mind.

Every now and then, I take out this little "treasure" that I keep in a drawer of my desk. It helps me to focus on how important the work of the Lord is. My prayer is that each Christian could realize the impact that they can have -- and treat each day as if it might just be -- somebody's last. (My Little Treasure, Rev Shelton Cole, http://www.sermon.org)

Is it possible for us to be moved, filled with the compassion of Christ to make a difference in somebody's life?

Some responded with faith, Some responded with doubt and some looked on with compassion and awareness of the size of the task before them.

We have the same choices this morning as the people present before Christ did on that day.

Are you weary this morning? Have you been flayed by the circumstances of your life? Good news Jesus sees and is moved with compassion!

Are you worn out, cast down? Have you been flung out like trash? Do you feel tossed about? Good news Jesus sees and is moved with compassion.

Do you feel lost? Has your life lost direction and purpose? Are you looking for something someone to believe in? Have you become hardened by the lies and deceit of the politicians and grieved by the infidelity, lack of morals, absent integrity of our leaders? Good news Jesus sees and is moved with compassion.

So how will you respond? Please do not harden your heart as the Pharisees did. Jesus wants to bring healing and hope into your life, but he cannot do this unless you receive him by faith. You need to turn your life around! Why not make today the day you turn around and received the gift of salvation that God is providing right now. Don't wait. We don't have any guarantees of how long we might live. Tonight your soul may be required of you. Can you meet Jesus knowing that you have trusted in him? Please do not wait until it is too late.

The workers continue to be few. As I look at the task of rescuing souls I am personally overwhelmed at the task. One of the reasons I feel it is so important to teach faith evangelism class is because I see a harvest of souls that is way beyond anything I could hope to reach in a billion life times. And I only get one. We need workers. We need them now. We are nearing one of the saddest times in the life of the Body of Christ. If we continue the path we are on now there will be a tipping of Christians here on this earth. That is to say more people will be going to meet Jesus in heaven than those who are being reborn by faith. This is a desperate time. Every generation of the churches has experienced growth in the Body of Believers. Ours is a time of decline. In the last decade in the United States there was a 9% decline in church membership. There was an 11% growth in the population over that same period. Taken together that would a 20% total swing in just the last ten years. Could it be that we now stand at one of the most infamous moments in church history a decline in the Body of Christ? I say no! I say we take our stand here! I say no more walking though life with pity and no compassion! I say no more lost souls never hearing the Gospel on our watch. Will you stand with me. Will you look on the people with the eyes of Christ. Will you dare to be moved with compassion to reach the weary, worn out, lost souls. The harvest is ripe! Pray that the Lord of the harvest would send out workers to bring in the harvest. Pray that God would fill your heart with compassion, that he would move you, that you would take action to bring light to a lost and dying world. The time is now, the harvest is ripe. Let's pray!

The Dark Side of Agape (Agapao)

I would like to share with you something that could potentially be controversial. For many years I had believed that Agape was a pure, holy, and Godly love. If you have ever done any study on the word love you will see this repeated through nearly every commentary on the subject of love. Now there is a love that is pure, holy, and godly, but the word is not Agape. Yes you heard me right it is not Agape. I was surprised by the few instances of agape and Agapao that were negative. I had been taught that agape was God's love it turns out that only God's Agape is God's love. Man's Agape (or Agapao) can be polluted by sin (like everything else that is given by God's goodness).  I know some of you are saying, but BJ you just said Agape was "a higher standard in love." Really Christ challenges us to a higher standard; the words Christ used describe this challenge (including the word agape). Stated a different way Christ is the standard and not the word itself; regardless of what the actual word we use (love in English, agape or Agapao in Greek) it is the fullness of God's love represented in the person of Christ that is the ultimate guide for love.   In the New Testament there are 12 instances that paint the ugly side of Agape. I think that it is important for us to understand these so that we can contrast them with God's perfect love!

It has helped me to understand the few times that Agape (or Agapao) is mentioned in the negative, because it explains how otherwise caring and compassionate Christian men and women can have a heart turn cold. How is it that we can so easily turn our hearts toward idols? I think that it is because we have missed the exclusive love (Agape) that God has for us and failed to return that love (Agapao or Agape) toward God or others.  Let's look at the passages:

Passage	What they say about love (agape/Agapao)	Agape/ Agapao
Matthew 5:46 Luke 6:32	Even sinners those that love them back	Agapao
Matthew 6:24 Luke 16:13	The people of the world love money, hate God	Agapao
Luke 11:42-43	Religious pride neglects love (agape)  for God and breeds desire (Agapao) for recognition	Agape and Agapao
John 3:19	The people of the world love darkness, hate "The Light (Jesus)"	Agapao
John 12:43	Worldly religion desires (Agapao) praise from men over praise from God	Agapao
2 Timothy 4:10	Loving the world leads to desertion of a brother in need	Agapao
2 Peter 2:15	False prophets love the wages of unrighteousness	Agapao
1 John 2:15	Loving (Agapao) the world or the things of the world means God's love (Agape) is absent	Agapao
1 John 3:18	Showing love with words only is not fulfilling the command to love.	Agapao
Matthew 24:12	Persecution, false prophets, and lawlessness will cause love (agape) to fade	Agape
Jude 1:12	False prophets use the Lord's Supper as an opportunity for irreverent self-indulgence	Agape
Revelation 2:4	Love is abandoned	Agape

Agape for good or for bad is exclusive. There is no room for double mindedness when agape is present. Loving the world excludes God and loving God excludes the world. Agape then is the love that holds it's object in higher honor, higher esteem, higher value than any other object. It is the object of our affection that makes agape Christian or moves agape down a destructive path. In Christian Agape the object is God First, and others second (Mark 12:29-31). Worldly agape can be money, praise, self-preservation, lawlessness, possession of the world, self-indulgence, darkness, or any other idol of our heart which we place above our love for God or love for people. Worldly agape and Christian agape cannot coexist according to the word of God.

Sin means that we miss the mark. To me this is most obvious in the things that we esteem the most when they are other than God. The fact that we can agape things that are not of God should shock us to attention. Lead us to self-examination. Force us into the challenging request for God to "Test me, Lord, and try me; examine my heart and mind (Psalms 26:2; HCSB)." Only then can we honestly (without double mindedness) conclude, "For Your faithful love is before my eyes, and I live by Your truth (Psalms 26:3; HCSB)."

Someone pointed out that Agape is not the same word as Agapao.  Agapao is the verb form of Agape (a noun). In English we use the same word love as a noun and a verb. In this respect I do not see Agapao as different type of love from Agape. Agapao is the action of Agape in my understanding.  Here is a verse that helps to define the connection of the words Agape (noun), Agapao (verb), and agapetos (adj). It also gives me a clearer picture of how love is supposed to "work" in our lives.

10 Love (Agape) consists in this: not that we loved (Agapao) God, but that He loved (Agapao)us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. 11 Dear friends (agapetos), if God loved (Agapao) us in this way, we also must love (Agapao) one another.
1 John 4:10-11

Lord we long to live by Your truth. Our hearts are sick with objects of affection that have replaced You. Examine our hearts and see if there is any evil way within us. Give us courage to face the difficult examination, wisdom to discern, strength to repent, and Your agape love to fill our hearts. In Jesus Name Amen

Introduction to the Christian Walk: Salvation

Image by arti47 via Flickr

John 3:16 is arguably the most popular Bible verse in the whole Bible. A recent sample taken on Bible Gateway John 3:16 was at the top of the list (The 100 most-read Bible verses at BibleGateway.com, May 15, 2009). It was actually that blog that got me started thinking about a study on the "Introduction to the Christian Walk." So the question is "what does John 3:16 mean?"

To start with we have to understand that we fall short. You probably did not need me to tell you that, but it is true. Think about your own standards of a good moral person. What are the core values of morality? Honesty? Kindness? Generosity? Friendly? Not Stealing? Not Lying? The list goes on and on. Now think about those things that you hold dear. Do you measure up? For most of us (if we are honest) it is impossible to measure up to our own standards let alone God's standards. That is a problem! When we miss the mark the Bible calls that Sin. Sin is missing the mark. The Bible says "For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23; HCSB)" You see we all have missed the mark in some way. Now we tend to look at a person that has missed the mark more than ourselves and say "I am not as bad as that person over there!"
Consider this Story:

With 15 minutes to spare, he ran through the confusing terminals of JFK, sprinting from the gate his delayed flight had left him to the gate of his connecting flight. Out of breath, he reached the counter of his international flight and seeing the giant plane through the window, he breathed a sigh of relief. Unfortunately, it was a sigh prematurely taken. Complications were explained politely, though he ceased hearing much of anything after "too late to board" hit him like the 250-ton airplane at which he was staring. Frustrated beyond belief, he watched his 17-hour flight take off without him.

Needless to say, my husband's first bout with international travel did not set well with either of us. I was on the other end of that flight waiting for his arrival, and like him found myself maddened with helplessness. Being that close to making a flight, and yet missing it, left a sickening twinge in both of our stomachs.

Those who have heard his dramatic telling of Murphy's Law in action have responded similarly. In fact, everyone seems to cringe on cue, particularly at the part where he watches his plane sit for several long minutes until taking off, all from the vantage point of the airport window. Missing the flight seems incredibly intensified by the reality of being oh-so-close. And yet, it was missing the flight at all that was the problem. Whether he missed the plane by five or fifty minutes, he still missed the flight.
(From The Wrong Side of the Window)

Sin is like missing that flight. No matter how close we thing we are to meeting God's moral standards we still have missed the flight. Why is that important? When we miss the mark with God then we cannot have his favor. Sin separates us from God. What is more we cannot make it up. Missing means missing. What can we do then? That is where John 3:16 comes in. Let's take a look...

"For God loved the world in this way..."

God loves each one of us. His passion and desire (the type of love He has for us) cannot be measured. He is the very essence of love. His Compassion for our state is great. He desires that none would perish in sin.

"...He gave is one and only Son..."

Jesus Christ is the Son of God. He is the one that spoke the words of this verse. He came to the earth and lived a perfect life. He suffered and died so that we could have the forgiveness of sin. When we miss the mark then it creates a gulf between us and God. Jesus bridges that gulf. His death allows for the possibility of a restored relationship with God. His death was a sacrifice. He laid down His life because he loved us. God (the Father in Heaven) sent Jesus for this mission. He gave Jesus to the world for this purpose. Jesus also rose up from the dead. He died for three days and appeared to many. After 40 days He ascended into heaven. His victory over death into life allows us to move out from under sin's curse of death into a new life.

"...so that everyone that believes in Him..."

Believing in Jesus is an act of faith. It means that you turn your life away from sin and selfishness and wholly rely on Him. When you do this then you enter into a relationship with Him. His power over the the grave allows for you to have peace as well as victory in this life.

"...will not perish, but have eternal life."

We all will die someday. This verse is not saying that we avoid death. There is a second death which forever separates us from God. I pointed out that our sin creates a gulf between us and God. We have missed the plane and there are no other flights to make it to eternity with God. This eternal separation from God is called hell. It is a place of torment with no hope for relief. Eternal life on the other hand is called heaven. To be in heaven is to be with God. Everyone that believes in Jesus will spend eternity in this blessed life.
I remember when I received Jesus Christ. Someone asked me, "Do you want to go to heaven with God?" I said, "yes" And then they asked me to pray a prayer similar to this:

"Dear God, I know that You love me. I confess my sin and need of salvation. I believe that Jesus died on the cross for my sins and arose from the grave. I turn away from sin and place my faith in Jesus as my Savior and Lord. I want to follow you with my life. Amen"

If you have never received the forgiveness of sin that God offers through faith in Jesus perhaps you might pray that prayer right now. If you do please let me know by leaving a comment at the bottom of this page (I would like to pray over your new commitment). If you are already in a relationship with Jesus Christ then perhaps you would take a moment to write a few words of encouragement to someone that is considering the faith, by sharing what Jesus has done in your life.

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