God’s Voice

If someone asked me where to start reading the Bible, I’d recommend John’s gospel. It opens with the most informative prologue in the New Testament. “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was fully God. The Word was with God in the beginning. All things were created by Him, and apart from Him not one thing was created that has been created. In Him was life, and the life was the light of mankind. And the light shines on in the darkness, but the darkness has not mastered it“ (John 1:1-5).

John’s principal subject is Jesus so several fundamental truths about Him are revealed in these five verses. Being the Creator of everything, He is eternal. He’s always existed. He is part of the Trinity Godhead in that He’s with God. Yet He’s not to be considered anything less than God Almighty. He’s the God of Genesis 1:1. He is life itself. And He is, as He publicly announced, “the light of the world“ (John 8:12); the hope of our fallen planet that’s cursed because of sin’s darkness.

But He is foremost “the Word.” A.W. Tozer explained, “A word is a medium by which thoughts are expressed, and the application of the term to the Eternal Son leads us to believe self-expression is inherent in the Godhead, that God is forever seeking to speak Himself out to His creation. The whole Bible supports the idea. God is speaking. Not God spoke, but God is speaking. He is by His nature continuously articulate. He fills the world with His speaking voice. …He is the expression of the will of God spoken into the structure of all things.”

J.I. Packer wrote, “The Word is a person in fellowship with God, and the Word is Himself personally and eternally divine. He is, as John proceeds to tell us, the only Son of the Father. John sets this mystery of one God in two persons at the head of his gospel because he knows that nobody can make head or tail of the words and works of Jesus of Nazareth until they’ve grasped the fact that this Jesus is in truth God the Son.”

The Word has a voice that speaks to us clearly. R.C. Sproul wrote, “The zenith of God’s self-revelation is the person and work of Christ, the ‘Logos,’ who is also called ‘the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of His being, sustaining all things by His powerful word‘ (Hebrews 1:3). God’s supreme revelation of Himself was His incarnation, the Word becoming flesh and speaking to us at our level of understanding.”

I’m not downplaying the vital importance of the Bible. Heavens no. But God’s voice isn’t limited to pages of chapters and verses. Rather, it’s as alive and free as He is. Jesus said, “The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and are life“ (John 6:63). Tozer wrote, “God’s word in the Bible can have power only because it corresponds to God’s word in the universe. It’s the present Voice which makes the written Word all-powerful. Otherwise, it would lie locked in slumber within the covers of a book.”

Contemplate the immense power unleashed by that voice! “By the LORD’s decree the heavens were made; by a mere word from His mouth all the stars in the sky were created. …Let the whole earth fear the LORD! Let all who live in the world stand in awe of Him! For He spoke, and it came into existence. He issued the decree, and it stood firm“ (Psalm 33:6,8). Never forget that Christ, the omnipotent One who literally spoke the atoms we’re made of into existence, willingly came to earth to suffer and die a criminal’s death in our place. Our magnificent Savior loves us that much.

The tragedy is that “He was in the world, and the world was created by Him, but the world did not recognize Him. He came to what was His own, but His own people did not receive Him“ (John 1:10-11). The Israelites had been taught for centuries that the promised Messiah would be a fierce, supernatural warrior rather than the Prince of Peace Jesus was. They chose to ignore what the prophet Isaiah had heard from God:

“He had no stately form or majesty that might catch our attention, no special appearance that we should want to follow Him. He was despised and rejected by people, one who experienced pain and was acquainted with illness; people hid their faces from Him; He was despised, and we considered Him insignificant“ (Isaiah 53:2-3).

God spoke then and He still speaks now. Tozer wrote, “God is here and He’s speaking – these truths are back of all other Bible truths; without them there could be no revelation at all. God didn’t write a book and send it by messenger to be read at a distance by unaided minds. He spoke a book and lives in His spoken words, constantly speaking His words and causing the power of them to persist across the years.”

This doesn’t mean God has revealed “everything about everything” in the Bible. What He’s revealed is all we need to know. It is sufficient. Cornelius Van Til wrote, “The existence of all things in the world are what they are by the plan of God. The knowledge of anything is by way of understanding the connection one has with the plan. The sin of man is within the plan. Its removal is within the plan. The facts of redemption, the explanation of those facts, are together a part of the plan. And man’s acceptance is within this plan.”

Evidence that false teachings abound is obvious whenever one hears from a pulpit the phrase, “God told me….” The words God has already spoken remain relevant. He doesn’t change and neither do His utterances recorded in Scripture. The revelator warned, “If anyone adds to them, I’ll add to him the plagues described in this book“ (Revelation 22:18). Beware.

Restless Hearts

I’ve been a leader in our church’s Celebrate Recovery ministry for over a decade. A complaint I hear often is “I’ve surrendered all to Christ so why do I still sin? Remorse is killing me. Am I not saved?” I tell them their guilty conscience is proof positive they belong to Jesus, our gracious Lord who’s forgiven their every sin.

In other words, if they didn’t feel shame over their sinful ways (due to erroneously believing Christ’s sacrifice rendered sinning no big deal) they’d have reason to doubt their salvation. But, if their faith is real, the indwelling Holy Spirit never lets them off the hook when they fail to live up to our Savior’s standards. Their regret confirms their redemption and their acceptance by God. A.W. Tozer taught, “Thirsty hearts whose longings have been awakened by the touch of God within them need no reasoned proof. Their restless hearts furnish all the proof they need.”

Yet our hearts are restless because Adam & Eve’s sin erected a thick, heavy veil between us and God’s holy presence. When Jesus died on the cross that impenetrable curtain in the temple split from top to bottom, figuratively granting all who believe in Him access to our Heavenly Father. No rituals required. Only faith. Nevertheless, we still have fleshly desires to battle.

Tozer wrote, “God wills we should push on into His presence and live our whole life there. This is to be known to us in conscious experience. It’s more than a doctrine to be held; it’s a life to be enjoyed every moment of every day. At the heart of the Christian message is God Himself waiting for His redeemed children to push in to conscious awareness of His presence.”

Believers are free to bask in God’s light. But most don’t. Why? Because we’re so very unspiritual. Jesus said, “God is spirit, and the people who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth“ (John 4:24). Therefore, there’s nothing automatic about it. Like David, it must be our #1 goal in life to constantly yearn for God.

“As a deer longs for streams of water, so I long for you, O God! I thirst for God, for the living God. I say, ‘When will I be able to go and appear in God’s presence?’ …Why are you depressed, O my soul? Why are you upset? Wait for God! I will again give thanks to my God for His saving intervention“ (Psalm 42:1-2,5). Bear in mind David lived prior to the arrival of the promised Messiah, Jesus Christ, who opened the way for the elect to enjoy a personal relationship with the Father. The physical veil is gone.

So, what’s our problem? Tozer explained, “It’s none other than the presence of a veil in our hearts. A veil not taken away as the first veil was, but which remains there still, shutting out the light and hiding the face of God from us. It’s the veil of our fleshly fallen nature living on, unjudged within us, uncrucified and unrepudiated. It’s the close-woven veil of the self-life of which we’ve never truly acknowledged, of which we’ve been secretly ashamed, and which we’ve never brought to the judgment of the cross.”

As Voddie Baucham often says, “Can I get an amen or an ouch?“

For myself, it’s the latter. Previously I wrote about how our obsession with our “stuff” prevents us from treasuring as we should our merciful Father in Heaven, our glorious Savior and our infallible counselor, the Holy Spirit. I’m as wretched as they come. I’m too easily distracted by worldly things and selfish pursuits. Thank God, He forgives me of my weaknesses. Still, I have no excuse.

Tozer didn’t mince words, writing, “When we talk of the rending of the veil, we’re speaking in a figure, and the thought of it is poetical, almost pleasant; but in actuality there’s nothing pleasant about it. In human experience that veil is made of living spiritual tissue; it’s composed of the sentient, quivering stuff of which our whole beings consist, and to touch it is to touch us where we feel pain. To tear it away is to injure us, to hurt us and make us bleed.”

He continues, “To say otherwise is to make the cross no cross and death no death at all. It’s never fun to die. To rip through the dear and tender stuff of which life is made can never be anything but deeply painful. Yet that’s what the cross did to Jesus and it’s what the cross would do to every man to set him free. But let us beware of tinkering with our inner life, hoping we can rend the veil ourselves. God must do everything for us. Our part is to yield and trust.”

The reality everyone must accept is that we’re sinners. However, that status doesn’t disqualify us from gaining eternal life. J.I. Packer commented, “The sins of God’s children don’t destroy their justification or nullify their adoption, but they mar the children’s fellowship with their Father. “Be holy, for I am holy“ (1 Peter 1:16), is our Father’s word to us, and it’s no part of justifying faith to lose sight of the fact that God, the King, wants His royal children to live lives worthy of their paternity and position.”

We must endeavor to allow and welcome the change the Holy Spirit is working in us. R.C. Sproul wrote, “True transformation comes by gaining a new understanding of God, ourselves, and the world. What we’re after ultimately is to be conformed to the image of Christ. We’re to be like Jesus, though not in the sense that we can ever gain deity. We’re not god-men. But our humanity is to mirror and reflect the perfect humanity of Jesus. A tall order! It requires a serious level of sacrifice. That’s the call to excellence we’ve received.”

It’s normal for a Christian to have a restless heart. Heaven’s our home and we’re not there. Not yet, anyway.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

Yearning to See God

“In the beginning God…” (Genesis 1:1). That statement says volumes. Before time began only God existed. There was no universe. There were no atoms. Only God. He then created everything, including a man and a woman in His image. They lived in a beautiful garden called Eden. God personally walked with them as He “moved about in the orchard“ (Genesis 3:8) daily. He was visible. They could see and talk with Him one on one. It was paradise.

Atheists don’t agree with anything in that paragraph. They insist everything arose out of nothing, a scientific impossibility. Christians know better. R.C. Sproul wrote, “The God we worship is the God who’s always been. He alone can create beings, because He alone has the power of being. He isn’t nothing. He isn’t chance. He is pure Being, the One who has the power to be all by Himself. He alone is eternal. He alone has power over death. He alone can call worlds into being by fiat, by the power of His command. Such power is staggering, awesome. It’s deserving of respect, of humble adoration.”

But I digress. Getting back to the initial story line, humanity had it made. Then came the tragic fall that brought sin and God’s curse into our world. The devil (in the form of a snake) lied to the first couple about the forbidden tree standing in the middle of the garden, saying to them, “God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will open and you’ll be like divine beings who know good and evil“ (Genesis 3:5). They ate. What their eyes “saw” next was that they were naked “so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves“ (Genesis 3:7). We’ve been wearing “fig leaves” ever since.

It’s not that our bodies are necessarily ugly or shameful. The nakedness they noticed is symbolic of the sad condition we’ve all inherited.

Martyn Lloyd-Jones explained: “They were conscious at once that they were deprived of something they’d had before. Man, let us remember, was made in the image of God in every respect. He was not only upright with a righteousness that was spiritual, but there was a glory pertaining to the body. When Adam and Eve sinned, they lost that glory and were left with bodies as we now know them, and they were aware that they’d been deprived of something. There was immediately a consciousness of a nakedness, a loss, an incompleteness. Something had gone. A glory had departed.”

It occurs to me that humanity lost a blessing even more advantageous – the ability to see God. After the fall God expelled Adam and Eve from Eden and posted “angelic sentries who used the flame of a whirling sword to guard the way to the tree of life“ (Genesis 3:24). Included in God’s curse was that He figuratively “left the building.” Noah, Abraham, Issac and Jacob heard His voice and several of them were visited by one of His representatives, but they never saw God in His glory.

Moses once asked God, “Show me your glory.” God answered, “You cannot see my face, for no one can see me and live“ (Exodus 33:18,20). As a favor, God allowed Moses to view His backside after He passed by. But that was it. Significant, no? My point is, being so dependent upon sight, ever since Eden human beings of every color, race and ethnicity across the globe have yearned to see God.

God didn’t reveal His face to anyone until Jesus was born as a flesh-and-blood man and lived among us. Of course, Isaiah correctly prophesized that Christ would present “no stately form or majesty that might catch our attention, no special appearance that we should want to follow Him.“ Thus, because His visage was average, many hated Him for claiming to be God incarnate. “He was despised and rejected by people, one who experienced pain and was acquainted with illness; people hid their faces from Him; He was despised, and we considered Him insignificant“ (Isaiah 52:2-3).

Due to God’s invisibility, pagans worshiped objects/entities more intimidating and/or impressive than themselves. They dutifully worshiped the sun, moon, oceans, stars, mountains, rivers, animals, etc. They yearned to see the Creator God who’d hidden Himself from mankind. But our holy God refused to look upon our vile sinfulness. Therefore, folks worshiped visible things in God’s creation instead of God Himself. Billions still do.

Jesus told the Samaritan woman, “‘You people worship what you do not know. …But a time is coming – and now is here – when true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and in truth, for the Father seeks such people to be His worshipers.’ The woman said to Him, ‘I know Messiah is coming (the one called Christ); whenever He comes, He will tell us everything.’ Jesus said to her, ‘I, the one speaking to you, am He‘” (John 4:29).

Later on, our Savior openly announced: “The Father and I are one“ (John 10:30). God’s face was hidden no longer. The Creator came here in person to redeem us, to free us from the curse caused by Adam & Eve’s disobedience, to teach us how to establish and maintain a close relationship with God, and to know Him once again. Everything changed when Jesus came.

Sproul wrote, “How we understand the person and character of God the Father affects every aspect of our lives. It affects far more than what we normally call the ‘religious’ aspects of our lives. If God’s the Creator of the universe, then it must follow that He’s the Lord of the whole universe. No part of the world is outside of His lordship. That means no part of my life is outside of His lordship. His holy character has something to say about economics, politics, athletics, romance – everything with which we are involved.”

How do we go about seeing, knowing and better understanding God Almighty? The Bible tells us how: “Humble yourselves before the Lord, and He will lift you up“ (James 4:10).

Four Kinds of People

No two humans are exactly alike. Everyone’s a unique creation. However, when it comes to their relationship with God, they fit into, generally speaking, one of four categories at any given moment. Calvin explained:

“Either (1) they’re destitute of the knowledge of God, and immerged in idolatry; or, (2) having been initiated by the sacraments, they lead impure lives, denying God in their actions while they confess Him with their lips, belonging to Christ only in name; or (3) they’re hypocrites, concealing the iniquity of their hearts with vain disguises; or (4) being regenerated by the Holy Spirit, they devote themselves to true holiness.”

We’re all born “destitute of the knowledge of God.” Sadly, many stay that way. There are billions of folks who remain in the reprobate condition described in the Bible: “The human mind is more deceitful than anything else. It’s incurably bad. Who can understand it?“ (Jeremiah 17:9). “Peoples’ thoughts are morally bankrupt“ (Psalm 94:11). “Everyone rejects God… None of them does what’s right, not even one!“ (Psalm 14:3).

The Scriptures aren’t implying they’re all murderers, thieves, adulterers, etc. Most of these individuals are law-abiding citizens who want to live comfortably. R.C. Sproul wrote, “Sinners in their fallen condition are still capable of performing works of ‘civil virtue.’ They can refrain from stealing and perform acts of charity, yet deeds that outwardly conform to God’s law but proceed from a heart alienated from God isn’t deemed by God as a ‘good deed.'”

Reformed theologians call God’s merciful oversight “common grace.” John Murray wrote, “Every favor of whatever kind or degree, falling short of salvation, which this undeserving and sin-cursed world enjoys comes from the hand of God. Common grace involves God’s restraint of sin, divine wrath and evil.” In other words, God is gracious enough to prevent rebellious mankind from causing its own extinction.

Truthfully, for most of my life I belonged in the second category. I’d readily claim to be a Christian, but I behaved and thought like I’d never heard of Jesus. I did as I pleased. Calvin wrote of people like me, “They know their heart is full of impurity, yet if they perform any specious actions, they consider them too good to be despised by God. …While they acknowledge themselves to be unrighteous, because it can’t be denied, they still arrogate to themselves some degree of righteousness.”

Having been raised in church by wonderful parents, I was keenly aware that a high percentage of what I regularly indulged in was sinful, but I wasn’t about to let my bothersome conscience stop me from doing whatever I wanted. I had no excuse because I’d certainly “heard the message” but chose to ignore it. I was the kind of guy James warned:

“Put away all filth and evil excess and humbly welcome the message implanted within you, which is able to save your soul. Be sure to live out the message and don’t merely listen to it and so deceive yourself. For if someone merely listens to the message and doesn’t live it out, he’s like someone who gazes at his own face in a mirror and then goes out and immediately forgets what sort of person he was“ (James 1:21-24). What I didn’t do was call myself a faithful, devoted follower of Jesus Christ. I wasn’t fooling anybody because I at least knew better than to pretend I was “religious.”

The third category is where the “holier than thou” type sit. They’re spiritual phonies, of whom Jesus said, “Woe to you, experts in the law and you Pharisees, hypocrites! You clean the outside of the cup and the dish, but inside you’re full of greed and self-indulgence. Blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup, so that the outside may become clean, too!“ (Matthew 23:25-26).

It’s a tragedy that so many preachers have fallen into Satan’s trap of believing they’re no longer capable of sinning. They boldly stand before their congregation and use their God-given charisma to mislead those who look up to them as a role model, blatantly spouting false doctrines that increase their popularity and their bank account. Yet behind the scenes they commit some of the worst moral sins imaginable, convinced they’re immune from God’s wrath. They act like they’ve never been born again. Perhaps they haven’t.

Next is the fourth category – the elect. “God chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world that we may be holy and unblemished in His sight in love. He did this by predestining us to adoption as His sons through Jesus Christ, according to the pleasure of His will – to the praise of the glory of His grace that He’s freely bestowed upon us in His dearly loved Son“ (Ephesians 1:4-6).

Many people, even some Bible-thumping Christians, don’t accept the doctrine of election because they want to feel like they have a say in where they’ll spend eternity. Now, are God’s chosen already “holy and unblemished?” Hardly. Sproul wrote, “Even the regenerated person with a liberated will is still vulnerable to sin and temptation, and the residual power of sin is so strong that without the aid of grace the believer would, in all probability, fall away. But God’s decree is immutable. His sovereign purpose to save His elect from the foundation of the world isn’t frustrated by our weakness.”

I can’t tell who is or isn’t the elect. What I do know is we can’t save ourselves. God alone turns stony hearts into flesh. Those in the first 3 categories may yet be redeemed. That’s why the gospel is “Good News.”

Those blessed to be in category #4 know full well that “nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature“ (Romans 7:18). Thus, we still sin. Calvin wrote, “We’ve now ascertained that there’s not a single action performed by the saints, which, if judged according to its intrinsic merit, does not justly deserve to be rewarded with shame.”

Bottom line: We all need Jesus’ precious blood to cover our sins.

Justification Through Faith

Having faith in the Bible won’t save you. Only faith in Jesus will. But, since faith is what we must have for eternal life, it behooves us to search the Scriptures diligently to learn all we can concerning it. As we investigate faith, we quickly learn faith and justification go hand in hand. That’s vitally important because only those justified can enter heaven’s gate.

Regarding justification Calvin wrote, “He’s said to be justified in the sight of God who, in the Divine judgment, is reputed righteous, and accepted on account of it. For since iniquity is abominable to God, no sinner can find favor in His sight so long as he’s considered as such. Wherever sin is, it’s accompanied with the wrath and vengeance of God. He is justified who’s considered not a sinner, but a righteous person, and on that account stands in safety before the tribunal of God, where all sinners are confounded and ruined.”

God’s Holy Word states repeatedly that faith and justification are inseparable. For example, “The Scripture foresaw that God would justify the heathen through faith“ (Galatians 3:8) and that God “justifies the ungodly who believe in Jesus“ (Romans 3:26). On judgment day Jesus will defend His own. “Who’ll bring any charge against God’s elect? It’s God who justifies. Who’s the one who’ll condemn? Christ is the one who died (and more than that, He was raised), who is at the right hand of God, and who also is interceding for us“ (Romans 8:33-34).

Calvin wrote, “Since God, therefore, justifies us through the mediation of Christ, He acquits us, not by an admission of our personal innocence, but by an imputation of righteousness; so that we, who are unrighteous in ourselves, are considered righteous in Christ.” Really? Can this be true?

Yes, due to God’s covenantal vow. “We proclaim to you the good news about the promise to our ancestors, that this promise God has been fulfilled to us, their children, by raising Jesus…” (Acts 13:23-33). Why? “He did this by predestinating us to adoption as His sons through Jesus Christ, according to the pleasure of His will – to the praise of the glory of His grace that He’s freely bestowed on us in His dearly loved Son“ (Ephesians 1:5-6).

“If anyone is in Christ, he’s a new creation; what’s old has passed away – look, what’s new has come! All these things are from God who reconciled us to Himself through Christ, and who’s given us the ministry of reconciliation. In other words, in Christ God was reconciling the world to Himself, not counting people’s trespasses against them, and He’s given us the message of reconciliation” (2 Corinthians 5:17-19).

How incredibly gracious and merciful God is to make attaining redemption, justification and salvation so uncomplicated! “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness“ (1 John 1:9). Pause for a moment. Let that sink in. Jesus opened the door to paradise that we could never have opened. “We’re made righteous by the obedience of Christ“ (Romans 5:19).

Sin-wise, I’m no different from Paul. I humbly and shamefully admit that I “don’t do what I want – instead, I do what I hate… For I know nothing good lives in me, that is, in my flesh. For I want to do the good, but I can’t do it. For I don’t do the good I want, but I do the very evil I don’t want!“ (Romans 7:15,17-19). I’m so far from being righteous it’s disgraceful. I’m still a mess. What’s up with that?

Calvin wrote, “Since it’s sufficiently known from experience that some relics of sin always remain in the righteous, the manner of their justification must of necessity be very different from that of their renovation to newness of life. For the latter God commences in His elect, and as long as they live carries it on gradually, and sometimes slowly, so that they’re always obnoxious at His tribunal to the sentence of death. He justifies them, however, not in a partial manner, but so completely that they may boldly appear in heaven, as being invested with the purity of Christ.”

Amazing. In other words, it’s not my righteousness that justifies me before God, but the sublime, pristine righteousness of my Savior. Like Paul, “I now regard all things as liabilities compared to the far greater value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I’ve suffered the loss of all things – indeed, I regard them as dung! – that I may gain Christ, and be found in Him, not because I have my own righteousness derived from the law, but because I have the righteousness that comes by way of Christ’s faithfulness“ (Philippians 3:8-9).

Therefore, no Christian has anything whatsoever to brag about. We all fall woefully short of God’s glory. As Augustine wrote, “The righteousness of the saints, in this world, consists rather in the remission of their sins than in the perfection of their virtues.”

Spurgeon pleaded, “Get yourself firmly to believe that “the blood of Jesus Christ cleanses us from all sin“ (1 John 1:7); that His sacrifice is complete and fully accepted of God on man’s behalf, so that whoever believes on Jesus is not condemned. Believe these truths as you believe any other statements… Believe the witness of God just as you believe the testimony of your own father or friend.”

In the Celebrate Recovery ministry we never withhold the hard truth that developing patience is necessary as the Holy Spirit renovates one’s heart. He rarely heals instantly. Lewis B. Smedes wrote, “Half our struggle in growing up is coming to terms with the real reason we have (and often hide) for doing the things we do. The same is true in our spiritual growth. It takes time and it takes growth to uncover the real reason we have, even for the basics – being a believer, for instance. Our hearts have reasons our heads are too superficial to know – at first.”

R.C. Sproul summed up justification well: “God doesn’t declare the sinner just because the sinner, considered in himself, is just. No, God deems him just because of what’s added to his account, the merit of the righteousness of Christ.”

Faith Alone

The Bible is a “good news/bad news” book. The bad news arrives early when Adam & Eve default. We’re told, because they and everyone who came after inherited their sinful nature, nobody is worthy of eternal life. The good news is there’s hope for us yet. Our gracious Father sent His Son to atone for all our sins and save us from His wrath we merit receiving.

It sounds too good to be true. But nothing’s truer. Jesus, the second person of the Trinity, incarnated as a flesh-and-blood man. He now represents us. Matthew Barrett wrote, “As the God-man, He lived in perfect obedience to God’s law, something everyone since Adam has failed to do. Yet He not only fulfilled the law we failed to obey, He suffered the penalty of the law we violated and transgressed. Laying down His own life, He became a sacrifice, absorbing the wrath that should’ve been ours, the punishment our sin deserved.”

God sacrificed His beloved Son for sinners like you and me. Why would He do that? The only answer that even comes close to being rational is that His love for us must be light years beyond our capacity to fathom. It boils down to this – God has offered us His gift of redemption. It’s free. We don’t have to jump through legalistic hoops, perform elaborate ceremonies or grovel in the dirt before our Creator. On the contrary, we’re saved by sola fide – faith alone.

“Therefore, since we’ve been declared righteous by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we’ve also obtained access by faith into the grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in the hope of God’s glory. …For while we were still helpless, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. God demonstrates His own love for us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us“ (Romans 5:1-2,6-8). Spurgeon explained, “Jesus makes those just who are unjust, forgives those who deserve to be punished, and favors those who deserve no favor.”

You’d think this awesome news would’ve been broadcast constantly by the church from day one. But, sadly, for nearly a millennium and a half it wasn’t. The messengers God entrusted to preach His amazing grace exchanged it for a gospel that said folks had to rack up good works and thereby earn God’s mercy. Barrett wrote, “That which made the good news so good, namely, its announcement of free mercy and unmerited grace, was replaced by a message that required the individual to add their own contribution to the work of Jesus Christ.”

It wasn’t until courageous 16th century theologians like Martin Luther, John Wycliffe, William Tyndale and Myles Coverdale rediscovered the previously sequestered Holy Word and translated it into common languages so regular people could finally see for themselves that believing in Christ was sufficient for salvation.

As Bibles became available to read, preachers like Luther, John Calvin, Zwingli, Martin Bucer, William Farel and many others set out to simplify what the church in Rome had made so complicated for far too long. Calvin declared, “We define justification as follows: the sinner, received into communion with Christ, is reconciled to God by His grace, while, cleansed by Christ’s blood, he obtains forgiveness of sins, and clothed with Christ’s righteousness as if it were his own, he stands confident before the heavenly judgment seat.”

Not surprisingly, the pope and priests were belligerent, refusing to admit they’d done what Paul had warned not to do when he wrote to the elders of the Galatian church, “I’m astonished that you’re so quickly deserting the one who called you by the grace of Christ and are following a different gospel – not that there really is another gospel, but there are some who are disturbing you and wanting you to distort the gospel of Christ. But even if we (or an angel from heaven) should preach a gospel contrary to the one we preached to you, let him be condemned to hell!“ (1:6-8).

Stubbornly, the Roman catholic church doubled down. Their Council of Trent (1545-1563) issued the following statement of their official doctrine: “If anyone says justifying faith is nothing else but confidence in the divine mercy which remits sins for Christ’s sake; or that this confidence alone is that whereby we’re justified; let him be anathema (i.e., cursed).” In essence, they defiantly refused to heed Paul’s admonition.

They went even further, accusing the Reformers of inventing justification by faith alone to draw gullible believers into joining their radical movement; that they’d deliberately distorted Augustine’s and others’ writings. But, as Nate Pickowicz wrote, “The Reformers didn’t derive their understanding of justification primarily from reading the early church fathers, but from careful exposition of the Scriptures.” The church in Rome intentionally circulated what we now call disinformation. In other words, they spread lies. 

However, the Reformers weren’t deterred. They altered the direction of world history drastically, more than any other group of people ever has. They were bold enough to proclaim the Biblical truth that sinners can’t work (or buy) their way into heaven and that acquiring a righteousness they don’t possess is what Jesus can provide. Martin Luther wrote, “Sins remain in us, and God hates those sins very much. Because of them it’s necessary for us to have the imputation of righteousness, which comes to us on account of Christ, who is given to us and grasped by our faith.”

There are some who’ll argue that, since the phrase “faith alone” isn’t in the Bible, it’s a bogus term. Calvin, addressing the sola fide controversy, commented, “When Paul tells us we’re justified by faith because we can’t be justified by works, he takes for granted what’s true, that we can’t be justified through the righteousness of Christ unless we’re poor and destitute of our own righteousness. Consequently, we have to ascribe either nothing or everything to faith or to works.”

Works are certainly involved. But not our works. R.C. Sproul explained: “In our justification, faith is the means by which we are linked to Christ and receive the benefits of His saving work.” Jesus did what we could never do so we can receive what we’ll never deserve.

Our Dark Side

In his song, “Dark Side,” Eric Church sings: “Over there in the shadow/hanging out in the corner of my mind/stringing up the gallows/waiting on me to cross that line/that man’s dangerous as hell/a threat to himself…” Those lyrics apply to each human being, Christian or otherwise. Every soul was made by God but, because of the Fall, they’re all stained with a dark side.

Why’s it there? The answer’s found in Genesis 3. Martyn Lloyd-Jones said of that chapter, “It’s the most important key to history available. It explains the past, the present and the future. This is not allegory. It’s the account and description of the very thing that happens to us one by one. The astounding fact is that every one of us repeats the action of Adam and Eve.” We sin.

R.C. Sproul wrote, “To say that fallen man is unable not to sin means we’re able only to sin. We’re simply unable to live without sinning. We sin out of a kind of moral necessity because we act according to our fallen nature. We do corrupt things because we’re corrupt people. This is the essence of what it means to be fallen.”

The Bible says, “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?“ (Jeremiah 17:9). Yet billions of people don’t believe that verse. They tell themselves, “I’m no criminal, alcoholic or adulterer. Okay, I’m a sinner but not a bad one. Not like those folks are.” Calvin wrote, “The surest source of destruction for men is to obey themselves. Blindly we all rush in the direction of self-love where everyone thinks he has a good reason for exalting himself and despising all others in comparison.”

He added, “So long as we don’t look beyond the earth, we’re quite pleased with our own righteousness, wisdom and virtue; we address ourselves in the most flattering terms and seem only less than demigods.” Oh, how we can fool ourselves!

In the Celebrate Recovery ministry lesson #1 addresses denial. Dallas Willard explained, “It’s a capacity inseparable from the human will as we know it, and it has its greatest power when it operates without being recognized as such. In a world apart from God, the power of denial is absolutely essential if life is to proceed. The will or spirit cannot – psychologically cannot – sustain itself for any length of time in the face of what it clearly acknowledges to be the case. Therefore, it must deny, evade and delude itself.”

I know all about denial. For decades I was covertly obsessed with pornography, but I told myself it wasn’t a big deal because my habit wasn’t hurting anybody. That is, until my wife discovered my secret addiction, and I saw in her beautiful eyes the pain my blatant betrayal of her trust inflicted. That was 15 years ago, when I stepped out of denial and sought healing from the source of all healing – Jesus Christ.

Quotes about denial abound. “Denial is a psychological defense mechanism that helps a person avoid a potentially distressing truth.” Cesar Millan employed an acrostic: “Denial stands for ‘Don’t Even Notice I Am Lying.’ Human beings are the only animals who are happily lied to by our own minds about what’s actually happening around us.” Carl Alasko said: “Denial doesn’t work – long term. Reality always wins. And when it does, the next step in the process is blame, which shifts responsibility onto someone or something else.”

Denial and blame-shifting are imbedded in our DNA. In the Garden God asked Adam, “‘Did you eat from the tree I commanded you not to eat from?’ The man said, ‘The woman whom you gave me, she gave me some fruit from the tree, and I ate it.’ So, the LORD God said to the woman, ‘What is this you’ve done?’ And the woman replied, ‘The serpent tricked me, and I ate’“ (Genesis 3:11-13).

Our dark side wants us to believe there isn’t an all-knowing sovereign God. But deep down everybody instinctively knows there is and that we’ll appear in His courtroom someday to be judged. All should have a healthy fear of Him because “It’s a terrifying thing to fall into the hands of the living God“ (Hebrews 10:31).

Why? “The wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of people who suppress the truth, because what can be known about God is plain to them. For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes – His eternal power and divine nature – have been clearly seen, because they’re understood through what’s been made. So, people are without excuse. For although they knew God, they didn’t glorify Him as God or give Him thanks, but they became futile in their thoughts and their senseless hearts were darkened“ (Romans 1:18-21).

Willard commented, “Human beings have always known there’s a God and have had some degree of understanding of who He is and what He’s like. Actually, they still do. But they’re not pleased that He should have the place in the universe He has merely because He is who He is. This is essential to understanding humanity’s present condition. God being God offends human pride. If God’s running the universe and has first claim on our lives, guess who isn’t running the universe and doesn’t get to have things as they please.”

Thankfully, God is merciful. Jones wrote, “By nature you belong to the devil. That’s why the world’s living as it is. That’s why it laughs at the gospel and ridicules talk about the blood of Christ. It’s blinded by its god, its master. But if you believe God sent His own Son into this world to rescue you from that bondage, you have nothing to fear about the end of the world and the judgment of God. The devil can’t touch you because in Christ you’ve already passed from judgment to life.”

“Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you’ll be saved“ (Acts 16:31).

Christ Within

“God has chosen to make known among the Gentiles the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory“ (Colossians 1:27). A mystery? That’s an understatement. “If Christ is in you, then even though your body is subject to death because of sin, the Spirit gives life because of righteousness“ (Romans 8:10). So, Jesus lives in me? Amazing.

“God, who set me apart from my mother’s womb and called me by His grace, was pleased to reveal His Son in me…” (Galatians 1:15). Sadly, most of the time I don’t feel His presence. “I’ve been crucified with Christ, and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me“ (Galatians 2:20). There it is again. How’s that possible?

The Scriptures have strong words for Christians like me. “Do you not realize Christ Jesus is in you?“ (2 Corinthians 13:5). Evidently, I don’t realize it often enough. I know it’s true because God’s Word never lies. Yet when I inventory my sinful actions and thoughts, I’m stunned by the very idea that my Savior, the Creator of the universe, literally abides in me. I’m sure it’s not always a comfortable place for Him to dwell.

Yet it’s a blessed assurance knowing that despite my lustful, covetous and prideful human nature Jesus remains. Not just “close by” but within me and all who belong to Him. Therefore, we never go it alone. “Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I’ll fear no evil, for you are with me…” (Psalm 23:4). James Stewart wrote, “Whatever happens He’s quite certain to be there. This is the way to peace… For it’s no weak Christ with whom we have to do, but a Christ of power – stronger than the stress of life, stronger than the tyrant sins that seek to smash us, stronger in the end than death itself.”

You’d think with all the Biblical info and encouragement believers have at our disposal, our faith in His constant presence inside our very being would never flag for a nanosecond. I don’t think it’s that we doubt it. It’s more that we forget it. Stewart posed this question: “If the fact and face of Jesus have gradually faded from before our eyes, if the decisive personal relationship has been damaged by sin and carelessness and the march of inexorable years, how shall we recapture what’s been lost?”

A moment’s consideration will always reveal that we’ve neglected to stay focused on all that God has graciously provided for the nurturing of our faith and the furthering of our salvation. Jerry Bridges wrote, “We must behold Christ in the gospel, we must learn the proper relationship of dependence and personal discipline, we must make a commitment to holiness, and we must develop Bible-based convictions. Though we’re continually dependent on the enabling work of the Holy Spirit, we must fulfill our responsibilities. God doesn’t do that for us.”

Another contributing cause is our mostly subconscious tendency to shut Jesus out. Since our Lord lives in us He should be prominently situated front and center in everything we do. Stewart wrote, “For the giving of oneself to Christ is never finished, but always to be reaffirmed, with a new existential decision every morning and a fresh surrender every night, until one day death seals the offering and makes our commitment complete.”

Imitating Jesus is the most spiritually beneficial activity I can engage in. And in order to imitate Him it’s vital I study my Bible daily, contemplating again and again everything He said and did while He was here. In other words, the more familiar I become with His profound Sermon on the Mount, His parables, His graciousness, etc. the easier it is to know how to display His perfect countenance in any circumstance I find myself in. Does doing that render me perfect? Hardly. But it does make me better.

J.I. Packer wrote, “Life means relationships: with God, men, and things. Get your relationships right, and life’s a joy, but it’s a burden otherwise. It’s natural to love life, and against nature to want it to stop; yet today, as when Christianity was born, many experience life as such a meaningless misery their thoughts turn seriously to suicide. What’s gone wrong? Probably relationships. True joy comes only through meaningful relations with God, in tasting His love and walking Christ’s way. This is the real dolce vita, the life that’s genuinely sweet and good.”

Getting saved is easy. “Believe in the Lord Jesus“ (Acts 16:31). Behaving/thinking like Him is anything but. We’ve got our work cut out for us. “Don’t conform to the pattern of this world but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you’ll be able to test and approve what God’s will is – His good, pleasing and perfect will“ (Romans 12:2).

R.C. Sproul wrote, “True transformation comes by gaining a new understanding of God, ourselves, and the world. What we’re after ultimately is to be conformed to the image of Christ. We’re to be like Jesus, though not in the sense we can ever gain deity. We’re not god-men. But our humanity is to mirror and reflect the perfect humanity of Jesus. That can’t happen without a mastery of His Word. The key to spiritual growth is in-depth Christian education that requires a serious level of sacrifice. That’s the call to excellence we’ve received. We’re not to be like the rest of the world, content to live our lives with a superficial understanding of God. We’re to grow dissatisfied with spiritual milk and hunger after spiritual meat.”

It’s important we bear in mind that our generously forgiving Healer who lives within us changes us according to His plan, not ours. Making slow progress can be frustrating. We yearn to become holy. Still, we’re blessed beyond measure. Spurgeon preached, “We aren’t what we ought to be! We’re not where we want to be or what we will be! But we’re something very different from what we used to be.” To that I say Amen!

Questions

The Bible teaches Christians to “Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and don’t rely on your own understanding“ (Proverbs 3:5). Most believers adhere to that sage advice. Yet, because we’re human, we do have questions that continually confound us. I.e., “Since God is sovereign, why can’t we who follow and obey Him establish peace on earth?” as well as “What’s God waiting on?”

On a personal level, “Why do I so easily succumb to sin’s temptations?” and “Why can’t there be one united church that’s fervent with faith, free from petty divisions, and brimming over with a determined worldwide congregation whose sole aim is to ‘Go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit‘ (Matthew 28:19)?”

It’s not that Christians don’t trust in God’s promises. We’ve seen Him work genuine miracles in our own lives and in the lives of others. Yet when we read passages such as “God is able to make all grace overflow to you so that because you have enough of everything in every way at all times, you’ll overflow in every good work“ (2 Corinthians 9:8) we wonder why we don’t see more people in the pews, eager to hear more about our precious Savior.

There’s certainly no lack of secularists telling us what we’re doing wrong. I often come across headlines that spout things like “12 things Christianity needs to change in order to appeal to Millennials.” That’s the devil talking. Sadly, many denominations listen to him. In response, they downplay preaching sound doctrine in favor of being less “closed-minded” and more “entertaining.” But that never works for long.

Some churches go to the opposite extreme by making Christianity overly complicated. That doesn’t work, either. James Stewart commented, “It’s by no means an unknown phenomenon – a theological intellectualism which is spiritually sterile.” The Gospel message is incredibly simple – believe. Even an adolescent can comprehend it. Jesus told His disciples, “I tell you the truth, whoever doesn’t receive the kingdom of God like a child will never enter it“ (Mark 10:15).

So, what are we not emphasizing enough? Well, the answer hasn’t changed in 2,000 years. We must tell lost souls that being a Christian consists of nothing less than actively engaging in a liberating, life-enriching relationship with the gracious, glorious and very forgiving Son of God. Stewart wrote, “The indispensable center of Christianity is Christ. We ruin our religion if we center it anywhere else.”

The Bible’s instructions to believers haven’t changed. “Stay alert, stand firm in the faith, show courage, be strong. Everything you do should be done in love“ (1 Corinthians 16:13-14). We don’t have to be degreed theologians or charismatic preachers to be effective evangelists. We’re to sow seeds of truth. God takes over from there. The great British evangelist Charles Spurgeon’s conversion serves as an excellent example:

Burdened with doubts and despair one snowy Sunday morning, he stumbled into a tiny church. Treacherous weather conditions prevented the minister from arriving, so a local farmer stood up and read from Isaiah 45:22, “Look unto me and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth.” He then said, “Now lookin’ don’t take a deal of pains. It ain’t even liftin’ your foot or your finger; it’s just ‘Look.’ Well, a man needn’t go to college to learn to look. You may be the biggest fool, and yet you can look. Anyone can look; even a child can look. But the text says, ‘Look unto Me.’ Ay! Many of ye are lookin’ to yourselves, but it’s no use lookin’ there. Jesus Christ says, ‘Look unto Me.'”

Spurgeon recalled, “I saw at once the way of salvation. I know not what else he said – I didn’t take much notice of it – I was so possessed with that one thought.” The point is we don’t know what word or phrase uttered from Scripture could be the one that transforms a sinner’s stony heart into flesh. For Spurgeon it was “Look.” For the person we witness to it may be just as innocuous in our estimation, yet it may be exactly what they need to hear most.

If the Holy Spirit should “quicken” our listener, we must be prepared to lead them further into the truth. “Set Christ apart as Lord in your hearts and always be ready to give an answer to anyone who asks about the hope you possess“ (1 Peter 3:15). However, we must be careful not to toss them into the deep end. Be loving, concise and patient.

Dallas Willard wrote, “What has to be done, instead of trying to drive people to do what we think they’re supposed to, is to be honest about what we and others really believe. Then, by inquiry, teaching, example, prayer, and reliance upon the Spirit of God, we can work to change the beliefs that are contrary to the way of Jesus. We can open the way for others, Christians or not, to heartily choose apprenticeship in the kingdom of God.”

Returning to the theme of this piece, there are going to be nagging questions that both old and new Christians will seek answers for. I’m an avid fan of R.C. Sproul and one of the things I most admire about him is that he was never hesitant to humbly confess, “I don’t know.” He accepted unequivocally God’s right to withhold truths we’re not equipped to handle. He relied heavily on Abraham’s statement, “Will not the judge of the whole earth do what’s right?“ (Genesis 18:25).

Brennan Manning cited the true story of a man who sought out Mother Teresa in the slums of Calcutta. He wanted her to pray that he’d gain spiritual clarity. She firmly replied, “No, I won’t do that.” Stunned, he asked her why. She smiled and said, “Clarity’s the last thing you’re clinging to and must let go of. I’ve never had clarity, what I have is trust. So, I’ll pray you’ll trust God.” We should do likewise.

Our Willing Savior

Previously I wrote that religion, politics and mankind in general wanted Jesus executed. Yet nothing could’ve forced Christ to the cross. When the armed mob came to arrest Him, He told them, “Do you think that I cannot call on my Father, and that He would send Me more than twelve legions of angels right now?“ (Matthew 26:53). Those angels could’ve decimated His foes instantly. But He didn’t want to be rescued. He’d complete His divine mission as a flesh and blood man voluntarily.

Earlier He announced, “This is why the Father loves Me – because I lay down My life, so that I may take it back again. No one takes it away from Me, but I lay it down of my own free will. I have the authority to lay it down, and I have the authority to take it back again“ (John 10:17-18). Our Lord chose to go to the Cross and suffer the punishment each one of us deserves. Jesus was willing to remain obedient to His Father.

Calvin wrote, “He came forth to meet the soldiers. In the presence of Pilate, instead of defending Himself, He stood to receive judgment. This He did not without a struggle, for He’d assumed our infirmities also. In this way it behooved Him to prove He was yielding obedience to His Father. It was no ordinary example of incomparable love toward us to struggle with dire terrors, and amid fearful tortures to cast away all care of Himself that He might provide for us. …Our acquittal is this – the guilt which made us liable to punishment was transferred to the Son of God.”

James S. Stewart commented, “By His entrance into the world Jesus was brought into contact with, and in some measure made subject to, the invisible rulers of this world, and to one of these in particular, namely, “the one who holds the power of death“ (Hebrews 2:14). It was only by meeting those forces on their own ground, only by getting into history where they were entrenched, that He could break their power.”

And break it He did. Satan underestimated Jesus’ power and has regretted it ever since. “We speak of the wisdom of God, hidden in a mystery, that God determined before the ages for our glory. None of the rulers of this age understood it. If they’d known it, they wouldn’t have crucified the Lord of glory“ (1 Corinthians 2:7-8).

P.T. Forsyth wrote, “The holiness of Christ was the one thing damnable to the Satanic power. It was His death, therefore, which consummated that holiness. His death was Satan’s final doom.” The devil and his horde of demons are a vanquished adversary. “Disarming the rulers and authorities, He’s made a public disgrace of them, triumphing over them by the cross“ (Colossians 2:15).

In other words, the devil’s been tried, pronounced guilty and sentenced to eternal punishment. However, he still stalks the earth “like a roaring lion on the prowl looking for someone to devour“ (1 Peter 5:8) while his conviction is on appeal. Forsyth opined, “The wickedness of the world is, after all, ‘a bull in a net,’ a chained beast kicking himself to death.”

Stewart wrote, “Men still have to die; yet in the Cross and Resurrection of Jesus, death – this most omnipotent of the principalities and powers – has been finally conquered; so that of those who are united with Christ and His victory it’s true to say they “have passed out of death into life“ (1 John 3:14).

Unbelievers (and even some Christians) consider the cross paradoxical. They ask, “Where was God that day? Why didn’t He prevent the crucifixion from happening?” But that’s a question Jesus’ disciples never posed. On the contrary, they openly preached that Christ “was handed over by the predetermined plan and foreknowledge of God“ (Acts 2:23). Stewart wrote, “This is the Gospel whose divine dramatic paradox is too startling for the wisdom of men.”

Paul, perhaps better than anyone, understood that “the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it’s the power of God“ (1 Corinthians 1:18). Along with the other apostles, he grasped the profound truth that Jesus wasn’t just another symbolic lamb to be sacrificed on an altar. He was the Second Person of the Trinity, the physical incarnation of God, who willingly paid the exorbitant price of our sins.

For most of history the majority of the world’s pagan cultures and tribes had believed in dualism; that there were two gods in charge of the universe – one good, one bad – and that they were equally powerful. Jesus, by defeating death, demonstrated the falsehood of that idea.

R.C. Sproul wrote, “Christianity isn’t dualism. We don’t believe in two equal powers locked in an eternal struggle for supremacy. If Satan were equal to God, we’d have no confidence, no hope of good triumphing over evil. We’d be destined to an eternal standoff between two equal and opposing forces. Satan’s a creature. He’s evil to be sure, but even his evil is subject to the sovereignty of God, as is our own evil. God’s authority is ultimate; His power is omnipotent. He is sovereign.”

Jesus didn’t drag His heavy cross up Calvary Hill because He had to. He did it willingly because He’s our gracious Savior who dearly loves His own. Stewart wrote, “The Suffering Servant who deals with evil by taking its full effect upon Himself is the express image of the person of God. That’s to say, the inexorable terrible consequences of the divine judgment upon sin are not abrogated but borne by God Himself.”

No doubt many find God’s way of doing things incomprehensible. I sometimes do, too. But thank heaven, Jesus requires only a childlike faith to be saved. If we think we could’ve come up with a better plan we’re ignoring our sinful nature. Stewart wryly commented, “God pity the facile imagination which assumes our own policies are blameless and our own hands clean.” Trust God.