Your Behavior Tells Me What You Believe
What you really believe can be seen in what you actually do. I don’t know about you but that statement truly hurts me. I say I am a follower of Christ. Am I? Does my behavior match my actions? Do I love other people the way God would have me love them? Do I discipline my heart and mind to reflect the character of Christ? You know when I ask these kinds of heart penetrating questions I know that the man who is under conviction will feel the sting they provoke, but a man whose mind is given over to lustful pursuits of the flesh will simply brush them aside. Our stumbles hurt if we belong to Christ.
Take Abraham. Abraham did some sinful things – the Bible records them for us. But Abraham also believed that God was the God of all and he submitted to God’s authority. We see in Abraham the life of a sinner saved by grace – a grace procured by faith in God. Why are the Jewish people the Chosen People? Did Abraham earn that position for his descendants? Some might argue that he did because he was willing to sacrifice his son at God’s command. Willing to do something and doing that thing are two very different propositions. God was not looking for Abraham to kill Isaac, He was looking for the condition of Abraham’s heart. God would never have allowed Abraham to finish the deed. God stopped Abraham and provided the required sacrifice Himself.
Abraham’s heart was in the right place but he did not earn salvation for himself or anyone else. God chose to reveal Himself, yet again, to the world through the Jewish people, the descendants of Abraham, for His own purpose and not for the sake of paying Abraham for something he didn’t do. Abraham believed God was who He said He was and that he owed God trust and obedience. Because he truly believed this he left his home in Haran and wandered in a land that was not his own, Canaan. He trusted God when He said that He would make Abraham’s descendants more numerous than the sands so he acted in faith when God told him to sacrifice Isaac, his only remaining son. You see, what he truly believed he acted upon.
Today Paul mentions Abraham.
Romans 4:1-5
“What then shall we say was gained by Abraham, our forefather according to the flesh? For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God. For what does the Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness.” Now to the one who works, his wages are not counted as a gift but as his due. And to the one who does not work but believes in him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness”
It was Abraham’s faith, his belief, which counted as righteousness. Now you may think my point is that one cannot earn their salvation and while that fact is true it is not my point. My point is that what you truly believe will be reflected in your behavior. I have run in to a lot of people in my life who claim to be Christians but their behavior tells me that they do not believe God is righteous or that there will be a judgment. Their behavior shows that they love themselves more than they love God.
Now again, don’t get me wrong, we all stumble and I don’t wish to pile on the Christian who has stumbled and already feels convicted about his sin. I’m talking about the guy who can go around trying to have sex with any woman that will have him, drink until he is falling down drunk, treat other people despicably and have not one moment of discomfort over his bad behavior. I hear people say “you’ve got to have a little fun” as if abusing themselves and other people is fun and treating yourself and others with love and respect is a joy kill.
The thinking of these folks is just absolutely upside down. What they call fun is a disaster and what they reject is the joy and fullness of life God intended all of humanity to have. How can a person who behaves in such a sinful way think he is truly a Christian? He did not submit his life to Christ because his life has not been changed. Jesus Christ is not an insurance policy you hope you never need. You need Christ and you are either His or you are not.
If you behave in a way that is not consistent with what you say you believe then you don’t really believe it. If I believe that I am a sinner before a Holy God and that I will be held accountable for my sins, that I will spend eternity in a fiery pit, you bet your bottom dollar I will grab hold of salvation with both hands, and out of my love for my Savior I will do my best to serve Him, to be faithful to His desire for my life. My life will reflect His holiness.
Your behavior tells me what you really believe. If you try to be the man God created you to be I know something about what you believe. If you think obeying God is a kill joy, and fun is abusing yourself and others, I’ll know it by how you behave and I’ll know you are not a Christian. Your behavior tells me what you believe! So what do you believe?
Have a blessed day.
Your brother and servant in Christ,
Bill
Dying to self, living to serve!
Doctor, Doctor, It Hurts When I Go Like This
Yesterday when we read in the book of James we heard James say that faith without works is dead. We also know from the Bible that works cannot save you or give you life. To this day there is virulent disagreement about works and faith within the body of Christ. There are some who believe that one can lose their salvation if they don’t do enough good works. There are others who believe that you cannot lose your salvation even if you commit unspeakable sin. In my opinion both of these perspectives are a little off the mark. Before I get into that, however, let’s look at today’s reading and what Peter had to say on the subject.
Here in Acts we read of a debate among the first believers as to whether or not Gentiles needed to be circumcised and follow the Laws of Moses to be saved. After much deliberation Peter got up to speak and I love what he had to say.
Acts 15:7-11
“And after there had been much debate, Peter stood up and said to them, “Brothers, you know that in the early days God made a choice among you, that by my mouth the Gentiles should hear the word of the gospel and believe. And God, who knows the heart, bore witness to them, by giving them the Holy Spirit just as he did to us, and he made no distinction between us and them, having cleansed their hearts by faith. Now, therefore, why are you putting God to the test by placing a yoke on the neck of the disciples that neither our fathers nor we have been able to bear? But we believe that we will be saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus, just as they will.”
As I’ve mentioned many times before in this blog, the Law is a yoke, an implement of slavery, which no man is able to bear in his own strength and ability. Obedience to the Law of Moses can’t save you because you can’t obey it. You are saved through the grace of God. You cannot earn salvation; if you could it would be by your own effort and not by grace. You can’t have salvation by effort and grace; it must be one or the other and as we’ve seen it can’t be by effort.
This clearly means that you cannot earn your salvation by works nor keep it by works; if you could God’s grace would not be sufficient. But what about losing your salvation? Can you lose it?
John 10:27-30
“My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand. I and the Father are one.”
Does that sound like you can lose your salvation? Do you think you are powerful enough to pull yourself away from the hand of God once you have been placed firmly within it? I have a qualifier in that sentence. Did you catch it? These verses in John 10 make it clear that once we belong to Jesus we cannot be lost again. The qualifier is belonging to Jesus. There are many who think they have submitted their lives to Christ who have not. They may go to church, give to charity, read the Bible and pray and yet still not truly be a Christian. You are a Christian if you have turned your back on sin and made Jesus Christ the priority in your life. This means that what He wants is more important than what you want.
When you accepted Christ were you heartbroken for the sinful life you had led? Did you realize your need for a Savior? Did you ask for forgiveness through the shed blood of Jesus? Did you truly turn over all authority over your life to Christ? Have you confessed Him with your mouth? Have you been born again? If you have honestly answered yes to all of these questions then rest assured in your salvation. If you cannot honestly answer yes to these questions then be very afraid.
So the man who has submitted his life to Christ will do works because his heart compels him to do so; not out of a desire to earn or keep salvation but out of a desire to obey your Savior in great thankfulness and humility. If you say that sin is not sin and commit sin with no conviction of wrong from the Holy Spirit then you have never been saved; you only went through the motions without ever truly submitting your heart, and authority over your life, to Christ. You cannot lose what you did not have.
Now let me be clear, a person continues to stumble in sin even after they have submitted their lives to Christ. James made this clear in his book yesterday.
James 3:7
“For we all stumble in many ways. And if anyone does not stumble in what he says, he is a perfect man, able also to bridle his whole body.”
I need Jesus Christ because I am not a perfect man. I stumble, but when I do it hurts. It doesn’t only hurt in that there are natural consequences for what I’ve done. It also hurts my spirit, my soul, because God’s Holy Spirit is grieved within me. The man who hurts spiritually after having stumbled doesn’t worry me. God will continue to work on that man until he comes to perfection in Christ Jesus. The man I worry about is the one who is not bothered by his sinful acts – that man does not have Christ and will live eternity in spiritual death.
This may sound odd brothers, but it is my prayer that when you stumble it hurts a lot. I hope it hurts so much that you don’t want to stumble again. I pray that for you because it is by that pain that I know you are saved.
Have a blessed day!
Your brother and servant in Christ,
Bill
Dying to self, living to serve!
The Condition Of Your Heart
The last three verses of today’s reading gave me chills. They are spoken by Jesus and they speak to the rest, the peace we find in Him.
Matthew 11:28-30
“Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”
I need to point out something in these verses that may not be apparent to you. He says that those of us who are tired of the labor and heavy burden of this life should come to Him and take on His yoke to find rest for our souls. Okay, yes that part is apparent – except for His yoke. What is His yoke? His yoke is to do His Father’s will. Was doing His Father’s will easy? No. His Father’s will was hard work that ended in violence. The work He did is the work He has commanded you and me to do as well. We read those verses above and think that Jesus is promising us a permanent vacation. He is not.
No, like everything, God is always concerned with the condition of our hearts. We live in a perverted world. Man brought sin into the world and that cancer has eaten up the whole world. This blink of an eye we call life is full of toil and trouble. How can we have the rest Jesus promised if we must take on His yoke and be similarly persecuted by the world?
I think of the eleven disciples and recall that ten of them died violent deaths because of their faith in Christ. I think also of Paul who was constantly moving and working, stoned, shipwrecked, bitten by a poisonous snake, and imprisoned and yet he seemed to have a peace about him as did all the apostles. The thing is guys Jesus can give us peace and rest even when the entire world does violence around us and to us. Our expectations should not be a permanent vacation, but peace within the storm of life. This is the rest Jesus spoke of. This rest can only be found when one finally, completely submits the entirety of their life to Christ.
If your heart is in the right place His yoke is easy and His burden is light. It is the condition of your heart that makes it so. What is the condition of your heart?
Have a blessed day!
Your brother and servant in Christ,
Bill
Dying to self, living to serve!
Faith = Obedience
Hebrews 11-13
Faith; what is it? Paul starts today’s reading with a historical recap of faith in action. He describes the acts of faith of the early Old Testament faithful. In the middle of his recitation he says this:
Hebrews 11:13-16
“These all died in faith, not having received the things promised, but having seen them and greeted them from afar, and having acknowledged that they were strangers and exiles on the earth. For people who speak thus make it clear that they are seeking a homeland. If they had been thinking of that land from which they had gone out, they would have had opportunity to return. But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared for them a city.”
So many of us today pray to God as if our reward is due today in the here and now. “Oh God, gimme, gimme, gimme.” When we don’t get our way we can get angry with God or our belief in His existence and power can wane. My friends, that is not faith. All the acts of faith Paul mentions are also acts of obedience. Nelson’s New Illustrated Bible Dictionary defines faith as: “a belief in or confident attitude toward God, involving commitment to His will for one’s life.” “Commitment to His will for one’s life” is the long way of saying obedience.
Have you ever looked at faith in that way? So often we look at faith as some mindless exercise based on little or no solid evidence. That isn’t faith; that’s foolishness. No, God does not ask you to be mindless; He asks you to confidently believe the promises He has made to you through His Holy Word. You can have this confidence because you can look back through thousands of years of human history to see that He has always kept His promises; and they are many. But here’s the thing guys; if we really acknowledge God’s Lordship then the natural consequence of our faith is obedience.
I think it is extremely important to see this connection between faith and obedience. This concept runs throughout the Bible but here in Hebrews the connection is made clear. As the verses above tell us, the promise of God is not a trouble free, wealth imbued life. God’s promise is much bigger than that; it concerns eternity. Eternity is the promise and it ought to be more than enough.
Paul tells us how we ought to respond to the evidence of God’s promise keeping:
Hebrews 12:1-2
“Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.”
Brothers, run the race with endurance for God keeps His promises and He will perfect you in Christ and bring you to your eternal heavenly reward! Do you believe? If so, act like it; obey Him!
Have a faithful day brothers!
Your brother and servant in Christ,
Bill
Dying to self, living to serve!
Obedience of Faith
Romans 16 – 1 Corinthians 2
Well guys, Romans has been a gas! I’m sorry to see us move on but God has much more for us in the remaining books. We begin 1 Corinthians today so I will provide an outline but before I do I thought I would mention on little phrase that really caught my attention from today’s reading in Romans. That phrase is “the obedience of faith” and comes from Romans 16:26 and is part of the closing “doxology” of Romans. Here is that doxology:
Romans 16:25-27
“Now to him who is able to strengthen you according to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery that was kept secret for long ages but has now been disclosed and through the prophetic writings has been made known to all nations, according to the command of the eternal God, to bring about the obedience of faith— to the only wise God be glory forevermore through Jesus Christ! Amen.”
Obedience of faith. Have you ever thought of faith as something that is expressed as obedience? Wouldn’t this imply that disobedience demonstrates a lack of faith? Ouch! I have to admit I don’t often think of obedience and faith as being linked. Of course I don’t often think of obedience and love for Christ as being linked either but look at this:
John 14:15
“If you love me, you will obey what I command.” (NIV)
Do you love Christ? Do you have faith? Are you obedient? A yes to any one of those questions is a yes to all of them. If you love Christ you must obey Him. If you have faith you must obey Him. If you obey Him you love Him and have faith in Him. This is the obedience of faith; the obedience of love. If you don’t obey Him do you have faith; do you love Him? Ouch again!
Brothers, let us demonstrate our love of Christ. Let us demonstrate the power of our faith. Let us obey God that He will be glorified in us and through us!
OUTLINE
1 Corinthians
In the first century, Corinth was the finest city in Greece. A dynamic, cosmopolitan city of some 250,000 in Paul’s day, Corinth lay on a narrow isthmus of land and boasted ports on both the Aegean Sea and the Gulf of Corinth. Cargoes and even small vessels were transported over the five mile wide strip of land, enabling seamen to avoid a long and dangerous sea route around the Peloponnesian Peninsula.
Paul spent a year and a half in Corinth and founded a church there (Acts 18). In this first letter to that church, written about five years later, the apostle deals with a variety of disputes and problems. In fact problems give this letter its structure, and Paul deals with one flaw after another in the congregation’s life together.
Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians is one of the most helpful of the New Testament epistles for moderns. On the one hand, it reminds us not to idealize the early church. Living together as Christ’s people has always been a challenge, and even the most committed of God’s people have found it a difficult, continuing struggle. No church will be ideal, yet we are called to work toward the ideal of a people living and growing together in harmony. In fact it is because we all struggle that this letter is so valuable. In it Paul gives the Corinthians, and us, problem–solving principles that apply in any age, and in any congregation.
PROBLEMS IN CORINTH
A problem with unity (1–4. How do Christians preserve the unity of the church in spite of divisive issues and party spirit?
A problem with sin (5–6. How do Christians preserve the purity of the church when members choose to sin? How do we relate to sinning brothers and sisters? How do we relate to non–Christians whose lives are characterized by habitual sin?
A problem with divorce (7. Is it more spiritual to divorce than remain married? What if one’s spouse deserts him or her?
A problem with disputes over doctrine (8–10. How do we deal with doctrinal differences in the church? Is there a way to resolve them? Can we live in harmony with people who differ from us doctrinally?
Problems with women and worship (11. What is the place of women in church meetings? What is the significance of the Lord’s Supper?
Problems with spirituality (12–14. What is true spirituality? How does spirituality relate to spiritual gifts? What is the role of the gift of tongues in church meetings?
Problems with resurrection (15. How important is resurrection in Christianity? What will our resurrection be like?
Distinctive Contribution of 1 Corinthians
First Corinthians 15 contains the New Testament’s clearest exposition on the resurrection of Christ and of believers. It makes unmistakably clear the Bible’s promise of a literal, bodily resurrection for every Christian.
Yet the greatest contribution of this book is interpersonal. Paul tells us that the Corinthian congregation enjoyed a full complement of spiritual gifts, and yet this is the only church the apostle calls “worldly—mere infants in Christ” (3:1). A study of this great New Testament letter helps us see the way “mere men” approach divisive issues and then shows us the way that adopting God’s perspective can restore harmony and unity to a local body.
THEOLOGICAL OUTLINE OF 1 CORINTHIANS
I. PROBLEMS WITH UNITY 1–4
II. PROBLEMS WITH DISCIPLINE 5–6
III. PROBLEMS WITH DIVORCE 7
IV. PROBLEMS WITH DOCTRINE 8–10
V. PROBLEMS WITH WORSHIP 11
VI. PROBLEMS WITH TONGUES 12–14
VII. RESURRECTION REALITIES 15
VIII. ENCOURAGEMENT 16
CONTENT OUTLINE OF 1 CORINTHIANS
I. Introduction (1:1–9)
II. Division in the Body (1:10–4:21)
A. The Problem Stated (1:10–12)
B. Unity Affirmed (1:13–17)
C. Human Vs. God’s Wisdom Explained (1:18–2:16)
1. Illustrated in the Gospel (1:18–2:5)
2. Illumination required (2:6–16)
D. Applied to Divisions (3:1–4:21)
1. Immature and mature viewpoints (3:1–9)
2. The centrality of Christ (3:10–23)
3. The call to humility and obedience (4:1–21)
III. Dealing with Sin (5:1–6:20)
A. Discipline within the Church (5:1–8)
B. Don’t Judge Those Outside the Body (5:9–13)
C. Handle Disputes within the Body (6:1–11)
D. A Special Warning Against Sexual Immorality (6:12–20)
IV. Questions of Marriage and Divorce (7:1–40)
A. Marital Responsibilities (7:1–7)
B. Advice to the Unmarried (7:8–9)
C. Instructions to the Married (7:10–14)
D. Instructions Concerning Divorce (7:15–24)
E. Advice to the Unmarried Explained (7:25–40)
V. Dispute over Doctrine (8:1–11:1)
A. The Love Principle (8:1–3)
B. Love Applied to the Dispute over Meat Offered to Idols (8:4–13)
C. The Issue of One’s “Rights”: Are They to Be Insisted on, or Surrendered? (9:1–27)
D. The Dangers of Idolatry (10:1–13)
E. The Conflict between Feasts Dedicated to Idols and the Lord’s Supper (10:14–22)
F. The Appropriate Use of Christian Freedom (10:23–11:1)
VI. Problems in Public Worship (11:2–34)
A. An Affirmation of Women’s Rights As Women (11:2–16)
B. An Appeal to Rightly Conduct Communion (11:17–34)
VII. Misunderstanding Spirituality (12:1–14:40)
A. Spirituality and Spiritual Gifts (12:1–31)
1. Spirituality (12:1–3)
2. Spiritual gifts: their nature and function (12:4–11)
3. Spiritual gifts and the unity of the body (12:12–31)
B. The True Measure of Spirituality: Love (13:1–13)
C. An Analysis of the Gift of Tongues (14:1–25)
1. Its relative insignificance (14:1–5)
2. Its limited value (14:6–12)
3. Its regulation in church meetings (14:13–25)
D. A General Call for Order in Christian Worship (14:26–40)
1. An orderly service described (14:26–33)
2. A group of disorderly women rebuked (14:34–36)
3. Summary (14:37–40)
VIII. Doubts about Resurrection (15:1–58)
A. Jesus’ Resurrection (15:1–11)
B. Consequences If There Is No Resurrection (15:12–19)
C. Consequences Since Resurrection Is Real (15:20–34)
D. The Resurrection Body (15:35–49)
E. Ultimate Victory (15:50–58)
IX. Parting Words of Encouragement (16:1–24)
Richards, L. O. (1991). The Bible readers companion (electronic ed.). Wheaton: Victor Books.
Have an obedient day brothers!
Your brother and servant in Christ,
Bill
Dying to self, living to serve!
A Shared Ancestry
Romans 9-11
Guys, have you ever had one of those days where you just can’t seem to focus enough to make anything you write make sense? I’ve been having one of those days as I’ve tried to write today’s post. I keep rewriting but it just doesn’t seem to be coming together for me. I’m going to make one last stab at it here and hope it makes sense.
The point I am trying to make from today’s reading is that being a child of God is not determined by genetics but by faith. The promise of salvation and eternity was given to the descendants of Abraham. Some believe this refers to genetic descendants alone and others believe it refers to spiritual descendants alone. Paul affirms that the promise is based on spiritual descent.
Romans 9:6-8
“But it is not as though the word of God has failed. For not all who are descended from Israel belong to Israel, and not all are children of Abraham because they are his offspring, but “Through Isaac shall your offspring be named.” This means that it is not the children of the flesh who are the children of God, but the children of the promise are counted as offspring.”
Jews and Gentiles can share a common ancestry; a spiritual ancestry. The children of God are those that have accepted Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior. Let us never forget that you and I would not be children of God today if it hadn’t been for Jews like Paul, Peter, and the other apostles and disciples who brought the Gospel to the Gentile world. We are saved because others were willing to leave their comfort zones and share the Gospel with those that were different from themselves on many different levels.
Today, you and I have been commanded by our Heavenly Father to take the Gospel to the lost. For some of us this may mean telling people in a foreign land about Jesus, but for all of us it means sharing Christ with those we come in contact every day. Are you doing what your Father has asked of you? I hope so.
Have an obedient day!
Your brother and servant in Christ,
Bill
Dying to self, living to serve!
