Feel the Love

In John 14:21, Jesus says – Whoever has my commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves me. And he who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and manifest myself to him. This makes it clear that love-motivated obedience does result in greater revelations and experiences of God’s love. This is not a change in God’s love for you, but a change in your experience of God’s love for you. And this manifestation Jesus speaks of doesn’t mean visions and powers and such. It means you experience a more profound sweetness, intimacy, and intensity in your walk with God.  

I’m about to repeat two very famous sayings. They go together, and they have been said many times over many years by many people, and they are both true. The first one is this: If you are a Christian, there is nothing you can do to make God love you less. Hallelujah. The second one is this: If you are a Christian, there is nothing you can do to make God love you more. Amen.

If you are a Christian, there is nothing you can do to make God love you less, and there is nothing you can do to make God love you more. These are powerful and profound truths. I need to know that God loves me just the same when I fail him. Because I often fail him. And I need to know that I cannot earn more love from God. Because I often try to earn his love. 

These are truths that all Christians need. They help you combat your fear and your pride. But I think people often take these truths and misapply them to their lives. They take these truths about God’s love for his children, and think it means that it doesn’t matter what you do. But it does. And let me tell you how.

Yes, if you are a Christian, you can’t stop God from loving you. But you can stop experiencing the love of God. God is pouring out his love on you like rain. But Christians can put up an umbrella. God will continually feed you, but you can get out of the lunch line. The father never stopped loving the Prodigal Son, but until that son came back home, he didn’t experience the blessing of being with his father. You cannot change your union with Christ. But you can have an effect on your communion with Christ. 

When you’re stubborn, defiant, rebellious and willfully resisting God, there is a price to pay. You may not think it is happening, but it is. You may just shrug it all off because you feel good and things are going well. But you are settling for a lesser experience with God. Unless your god is your comfort, that is.

Yes, following Jesus will cost you. The gift of salvation is free, but the cost of discipleship is high. If you want to move forward with God, you don’t get to walk back the other way. And it can hurt when you have to lose in order to win. But the pain of changing is far less than the price of not changing. And the results are far better.

If you want to feel the love, then show the love. Start by going to God in prayer. Take responsibility and repent of your sins. Ask God to forgive you for grieving the Holy Spirit. Give thanks because you know that Jesus wants you to have a renewed experience his love. And then, act on it all by faith. And here is how. Galatians 5:13 says – For you were called to freedom, brothers. Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another. You have the freedom to choose. So, the next time you feel like indulging in sin, find some way to serve someone else instead of serving your flesh. Yes, it may hurt, but it will also help. And it is the way of hope. It is walking with God. And the closer your walk, the greater your experience.   

“Living For Today With An Eye For Tomorrow”©

Building Code (Radio / Podcast)

However, let each one of you love his wife as himself, and let the wife see that she respects her husband.
(Ephesians 5:33 – ESV)

When counseling engaged couples, some are starting out strong and have the capacity and potential to have a powerhouse marriage, and others need a lot of work, but the truth is any and every marriage needs a lot of work. It isn’t some start at the top experience; it is a long climb up, together. Some couples have the look of a team that will be a real winner, but I always tell them all, you cannot bank on potential, you must try and fill the capacity. You must be more than willing you must be intentional. It is not about “doing stuff” or going somewhere but being willing to learn together and trusting each other. That is a building process.

A good marriage is a building process, not a finished product. That is the main problem, obstacle, and failure I see within marriages of all sorts; they thought they would get by on love alone, but they didn’t understand what married love is. Married love must grow, from a “we are so in love with each other, we will always work together, and we never fight, so it will always be this way”, to a more mature, growing in grace with God union that sails through the incidental and inevitable rough seas of married life.

God allows couples to go through trials to show them, if they are willing and intentional, how strong the marriage bond can be. Steady in the midst of the storm, just like He does with all Christians as individuals in their relationship with Him (Matthew 7:24-27). This is the way of God, to show you He is there with you even when it seems like you are surrounded by opposing forces, and even death, and indeed you are. The truth is that you will be experiencing things that are unexpected because they will be unique to you as a couple, and we cannot give you a cookie cutter answer considering the dynamic, etc. However, we can teach you with the Word of God.

The devil is so into destroying marriage relationships because the marriage union is a picture of the love that God has in Himself, between the persons of the Trinity. And so when you enter a marriage covenant, you are entering into a spiritual war zone, and if you do not intend to grow spiritually, you will suffer massive loss, and perhaps even a marriage casualty. True godliness is the key to a lasting, wholesome, growing, successful, spiritual, happy marriage. One that not only lasts but also becomes more and more lovely as the years go by.

A good marriage is not one without struggles; God’s plan is for there to be struggles. God wants you to struggle, because He wants you to grow, and that takes growing pains. You can’t be knit together without having to be twisted and turned and united. Your marriage will go one of two ways. You will struggle as a team together, against some difficulty, and grow closer and stronger because of it, or you will struggle against each other and those other things will become “issues”, etc. Ask any married couple worth their salt, and they will confirm what I say is true.

You could have an individual life that is like a beautiful quilt, but if you are not being woven together then each of you will just be different cloth, and eventually one cloth will be jealous of the other, and the split will happen because their was no common fabric in the first place.

This wisdom from God is not only for couples about to be married, those already married, those who may some day want to be married, but even for those who have gone through the pain of a divorce. We need to continually make ourselves ready to be what God calls us to be, we must be ready to have a godly marriage by being submitted to godly principles before we can be ready, and if we are, we will be okay even if we don’t get married. That is the building code.

“Living For Today With An Eye For Tomorrow”©

Sandpaper People (Radio / Podcast)

…and the rough places shall become level ways
(Luke 3:5 – ESV)

Sandpaper people. You know, those folks that seem to always rub you the wrong way. We may not understand, but they are there for a reason. And guess what; you are a sandpaper person for someone else. We are all sandpaper people. We are all rough around the edges. So why do we need or have so much scraping going on? Lets try and shed some light on this subject.

Consider first how an oyster makes a pearl. The formation of a pearl begins when a foreign substance slips into the oyster between the mantle and the shell, which irritates the mantle. It's kind of like the oyster getting a splinter. Something gets under its skin, as it were. The mantle covers the irritant with layers of the same nacre substance that is used to create its own shell. This eventually forms a pearl. So a pearl is a foreign substance covered with layers of nacre.

Spiritually speaking, we can relate the nacre to our love for one another. When someone is an irritation, when someone gets under your skin, cover them with the mantle of love. Above all, keep loving one another earnestly, since love covers a multitude of sins (1 Peter 4:8 – ESV).

Some people may seem like nothing but a thorn in your side. Remember what Paul said about his thorn, For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong (2 Corinthians 12:10 – ESV). Sandpaper people help you develop the pearl of patience.

Now think about diamonds. The transformation of a lump of coal into a diamond also involves a mantle. Diamonds are formed deep in the Earth, most likely in the upper mantle, and far below the level at which coal is found. Coal is never turned directly into diamonds. Diamonds are found only when brought up through volcanic action.

You see it takes some fiery trials to turn your lumps of coal into multifaceted, sparkling diamonds. We may believe that some people have nothing to offer us but heartache, headache, and bellyache. However, the poorest of the poor (even in attitude) have something of value for you to receive; it is our pride that hinders us. In his epistles, when Paul says he is praying “for you all” he means even sandpaper people have value.

Spiritually speaking, the mantle that fires those lumps of coal, the mantle that covers those irritants, and turns them into diamonds and pearls is the mantle of God’s love. For the whole law is fulfilled in one word: "You shall love your neighbor as yourself" (Galatians 5:14).

The environment of believers will always be imperfect, but their rough edges will help to smooth out your wrinkles. As iron sharpens iron, so a man sharpens the countenance of his friend (Proverbs 27:17). People are like “mirrors” in which we can see ourselves as we really are. Through others we can see attitudes and characteristics of our own immaturity – weaknesses in us that need to be perfected. If there is bitterness or a lack of love, it will become exposed. This is why some people run from church to church – because it exposes their bad side. But when you hide from church, you are exposed.

Sandpaper people are there to help us shine up, and for us to see our own rough spots. If a person remains an “island” to themselves they will never have to face up to the spiritual immaturity within them. But exposing themselves to the sandpaper people will cause them to face conflicts that must be overcome in order to grow up. A sign of a spiritually mature person is that they can be loving and patient with anyone (1 John 2:10 / Galatians 5:22-23). Sandpaper people may not even realize it, but God has them doing you a favor.

“Living For Today With An Eye For Tomorrow”©

To the Letter (Radio / Podcast)

But he, willing to justify himself, said unto Jesus, And who is my neighbor?
(Luke 10:29)

The parable of the Good Samaritan has been taught on countless times, and it has much to show us with regards to the presumption of faith. There are several things that we need to point out here. First, the lawyer obviously had the wrong motive for asking Jesus this question anyway, as it says he tempted him and that he wished to justify himself.

Don’t be too quick to dismiss yourself from this aspect of the passage, however. Many times we presume upon what God means by the law, pouring our own righteousness into it. We also may at times question the rightness of what God seems to be saying, or twist the text to mean something it doesn’t by trying to read into it, like this lawyer was doing. This lawyer, in trying to justify himself, sought an exact meaning of “neighbor”, so as to have a formula for righteousness.

Imagine him at the judgment: “But I loved my neighbor, just like you said to; I followed your commands to the letter”. Of course, this shows that what he was really trying to do was get a license to be able to love only those he must in order to inherit eternal life, and to necessarily exclude all others, at his personal discretion. Again, we see the results of trying to develop an exact method using the scriptures in an overly literal, all encompassing way.

Think about the child whose mother tells her that she cannot ride her bike to the park; she goes anyway, and when her mother scolds her, she cries, “I didn’t ride my bike, I walked”. Can you see how childish and utterly ridiculous this lawyer is being in this passage now?

Still, we see that today many have not taken this lesson from Jesus. They will take one or a few verses, and then dogmatically assert that this is the prescription for righteousness, instead of comparing these verses with others, using the clear, overall teaching of the Bible as a guide. All this is doing is the same thing the lawyer (and all religions apart from true Christianity) was attempting: to bring a measure of works to the kingdom of God. Christians have been deceived into jumping through spiritual hoops. Place your faith in Christ alone as your hope, not only of salvation, but also of sanctification. Only a justified sinner can battle effectively against sin. Overcoming sin comes from a relationship not for a relationship.

Salvation is not a process, where we do this, then achieve that type of deal. There is no must do order of salvation, it is of grace alone. This does not mean that we will not do these things that are evident in a true Christian life. Yes, we repent, get baptized in water, read our Bibles, pray, and pursue sanctification. But these are measures of obedience, not means of saving grace. These things are a result of salvation, not a requirement for it.

This fact points beautifully to the next aspect of Christ’s teaching here in this parable: the idea of duty. By showing us the priest and the Levite specifically, Christ was definitely trying to convey something even more than the fact that being a neighbor means more than your own kind.

Imagine the priest; he was on his way to the service; he had no time to help; he was already going to go help his parishioners, and there were hundreds of them, not just one man. Besides, how can he be expected to care for everyone he came across that needed help, he had his own flock to care for, and God put him in charge of these people, so God would want him to take care of his own? He had a prior commitment: there will always be people that need help; his job was to help those already entrusted into his care. Christ is putting his second commandment above prior duty. Those parishioners will still be there; this man may have died, and he needed help immediately.

Imagine the Levite; he was heading to the temple; no way could he touch this man, he had consecrated himself. The temple service he was going to happened only once a year; God would be furious if he defiled his hands just to help one soul, he was sacrificing for the sins of a whole community. Again, obedience is better than sacrifice (1 Samuel 15:22), and Jesus destroys the self-righteous lawyer’s, and many believers’ attitude.

Never are we to presume that we have the right way; we must continue to seek God, not trust in our own inventions, justified by our own pathetic knowledge of God gained by scripture twisting. Duty and prior commitment, even about church matters, can be no excuse to ignore the calling by God to demonstrate Christ-likeness.

“Living For Today With An Eye For Tomorrow”©

Building Code (with audio)

USE THE PLAYER ABOVE TO LISTEN TO THIS POST

However, let each one of you love his wife as himself, and let the wife see that she respects her husband.
(Ephesians 5:33 – ESV)

When counseling engaged couples, some are starting out strong and have the capacity and potential to have a powerhouse marriage, and others need a lot of work, but the truth is any and every marriage needs a lot of work. It isn’t some start at the top experience; it is a long climb up, together. Some couples have the look of a team that will be a real winner, but I always tell them all, you cannot bank on potential, you must try and fill the capacity. You must be more than willing you must be intentional. It is not about “doing stuff” or going somewhere but being willing to learn together and trusting each other. That is a building process.

A good marriage is a building process, not a finished product. That is the main problem, obstacle, and failure I see within marriages of all sorts; they thought they would get by on love alone, but they didn’t understand what married love is. Married love must grow, from a “we are so in love with each other, we will always work together, and we never fight, so it will always be this way”, to a more mature, growing in grace with God union that sails through the incidental and inevitable rough seas of married life.

God allows couples to go through trials to show them, if they are willing and intentional, how strong the marriage bond can be. Steady in the midst of the storm, just like He does with all Christians as individuals in their relationship with Him (Matthew 7:24-27). This is the way of God, to show you He is there with you even when it seems like you are surrounded by opposing forces, and even death, and indeed you are. The truth is that you will be experiencing things that are unexpected because they will be unique to you as a couple, and we cannot give you a cookie cutter answer considering the dynamic, etc. However, we can teach you with the Word of God.

The devil is so into destroying marriage relationships because the marriage union is a picture of the love that God has in Himself, between the persons of the Trinity. And so when you enter a marriage covenant, you are entering into a spiritual war zone, and if you do not intend to grow spiritually, you will suffer massive loss, and perhaps even a marriage casualty. True godliness is the key to a lasting, wholesome, growing, successful, spiritual, happy marriage. One that not only lasts but also becomes more and more lovely as the years go by.

A good marriage is not one without struggles; God’s plan is for there to be struggles. God wants you to struggle, because He wants you to grow, and that takes growing pains. You can’t be knit together without having to be twisted and turned and united. Your marriage will go one of two ways. You will struggle as a team together, against some difficulty, and grow closer and stronger because of it, or you will struggle against each other and those other things will become “issues”, etc. Ask any married couple worth their salt, and they will confirm what I say is true.

You could have an individual life that is like a beautiful quilt, but if you are not being woven together then each of you will just be different cloth, and eventually one cloth will be jealous of the other, and the split will happen because their was no common fabric in the first place.

This wisdom from God is not only for couples about to be married, those already married, those who may some day want to be married, but even for those who have gone through the pain of a divorce. We need to continually make ourselves ready to be what God calls us to be, we must be ready to have a godly marriage by being submitted to godly principles before we can be ready, and if we are, we will be okay even if we don’t get married. That is the building code.

“Living For Today With An Eye For Tomorrow”©

Sandpaper People (with audio)

USE THE PLAYER ABOVE TO LISTEN TO THIS POST

…and the rough places shall become level ways
(Luke 3:5 – ESV)

Sandpaper people. You know, those folks that seem to always rub you the wrong way. We may not understand, but they are there for a reason. And guess what; you are a sandpaper person for someone else. We are all sandpaper people. We are all rough around the edges. So why do we need or have so much scraping going on? Lets try and shed some light on this subject.

Consider first how an oyster makes a pearl. The formation of a pearl begins when a foreign substance slips into the oyster between the mantle and the shell, which irritates the mantle. It's kind of like the oyster getting a splinter. Something gets under its skin, as it were. The mantle covers the irritant with layers of the same nacre substance that is used to create its own shell. This eventually forms a pearl. So a pearl is a foreign substance covered with layers of nacre.

Spiritually speaking, we can relate the nacre to our love for one another. When someone is an irritation, when someone gets under your skin, cover them with the mantle of love. Above all, keep loving one another earnestly, since love covers a multitude of sins (1 Peter 4:8 – ESV).

Some people may seem like nothing but a thorn in your side. Remember what Paul said about his thorn, For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong (2 Corinthians 12:10 – ESV). Sandpaper people help you develop the pearl of patience.

Now think about diamonds. The transformation of a lump of coal into a diamond also involves a mantle. Diamonds are formed deep in the Earth, most likely in the upper mantle, and far below the level at which coal is found. Coal is never turned directly into diamonds. Diamonds are found only when brought up through volcanic action.

You see it takes some fiery trials to turn your lumps of coal into multifaceted, sparkling diamonds. We may believe that some people have nothing to offer us but heartache, headache, and bellyache. However, the poorest of the poor (even in attitude) have something of value for you to receive; it is our pride that hinders us. In his epistles, when Paul says he is praying “for you all” he means even sandpaper people have value.

Spiritually speaking, the mantle that fires those lumps of coal, the mantle that covers those irritants, and turns them into diamonds and pearls is the mantle of God’s love. For the whole law is fulfilled in one word: "You shall love your neighbor as yourself" (Galatians 5:14).

The environment of believers will always be imperfect, but their rough edges will help to smooth out your wrinkles. As iron sharpens iron, so a man sharpens the countenance of his friend (Proverbs 27:17). People are like “mirrors” in which we can see ourselves as we really are. Through others we can see attitudes and characteristics of our own immaturity – weaknesses in us that need to be perfected. If there is bitterness or a lack of love, it will become exposed. This is why some people run from church to church – because it exposes their bad side. But when you hide from church, you are exposed.

Sandpaper people are there to help us shine up, and for us to see our own rough spots. If a person remains an “island” to themselves they will never have to face up to the spiritual immaturity within them. But exposing themselves to the sandpaper people will cause them to face conflicts that must be overcome in order to grow up. A sign of a spiritually mature person is that they can be loving and patient with anyone (1 John 2:10 / Galatians 5:22-23). Sandpaper people may not even realize it, but God has them doing you a favor.

“Living For Today With An Eye For Tomorrow”©

To the Letter (with audio)

USE THE PLAYER ABOVE TO LISTEN TO THIS POST

But he, willing to justify himself, said unto Jesus, And who is my neighbor?
(Luke 10:29)

The parable of the Good Samaritan has been taught on countless times, and it has much to show us with regards to the presumption of faith. There are several things that we need to point out here. First, the lawyer obviously had the wrong motive for asking Jesus this question anyway, as it says he tempted him and that he wished to justify himself.

Don’t be too quick to dismiss yourself from this aspect of the passage, however. Many times we presume upon what God means by the law, pouring our own righteousness into it. We also may at times question the rightness of what God seems to be saying, or twist the text to mean something it doesn’t by trying to read into it, like this lawyer was doing. This lawyer, in trying to justify himself, sought an exact meaning of “neighbor”, so as to have a formula for righteousness.

Imagine him at the judgment: “But I loved my neighbor, just like you said to; I followed your commands to the letter”. Of course, this shows that what he was really trying to do was get a license to be able to love only those he must in order to inherit eternal life, and to necessarily exclude all others, at his personal discretion. Again, we see the results of trying to develop an exact method using the scriptures in an overly literal, all encompassing way.

Think about the child whose mother tells her that she cannot ride her bike to the park; she goes anyway, and when her mother scolds her, she cries, “I didn’t ride my bike, I walked”. Can you see how childish and utterly ridiculous this lawyer is being in this passage now?

Still, we see that today many have not taken this lesson from Jesus. They will take one or a few verses, and then dogmatically assert that this is the prescription for righteousness, instead of comparing these verses with others, using the clear, overall teaching of the Bible as a guide. All this is doing is the same thing the lawyer (and all religions apart from true Christianity) was attempting: to bring a measure of works to the kingdom of God. Christians have been deceived into jumping through spiritual hoops. Place your faith in Christ alone as your hope, not only of salvation, but also of sanctification. Only a justified sinner can battle effectively against sin. Overcoming sin comes from a relationship not for a relationship.

Salvation is not a process, where we do this, then achieve that type of deal. There is no must do order of salvation, it is of grace alone. This does not mean that we will not do these things that are evident in a true Christian life. Yes, we repent, get baptized in water, read our Bibles, pray, and pursue sanctification. But these are measures of obedience, not means of saving grace. These things are a result of salvation, not a requirement for it.

This fact points beautifully to the next aspect of Christ’s teaching here in this parable: the idea of duty. By showing us the priest and the Levite specifically, Christ was definitely trying to convey something even more than the fact that being a neighbor means more than your own kind.

Imagine the priest; he was on his way to the service; he had no time to help; he was already going to go help his parishioners, and there were hundreds of them, not just one man. Besides, how can he be expected to care for everyone he came across that needed help, he had his own flock to care for, and God put him in charge of these people, so God would want him to take care of his own? He had a prior commitment: there will always be people that need help; his job was to help those already entrusted into his care. Christ is putting his second commandment above prior duty. Those parishioners will still be there; this man may have died, and he needed help immediately.

Imagine the Levite; he was heading to the temple; no way could he touch this man, he had consecrated himself. The temple service he was going to happened only once a year; God would be furious if he defiled his hands just to help one soul, he was sacrificing for the sins of a whole community. Again, obedience is better than sacrifice (1 Samuel 15:22), and Jesus destroys the self-righteous lawyer’s, and many believers’ attitude.

Never are we to presume that we have the right way; we must continue to seek God, not trust in our own inventions, justified by our own pathetic knowledge of God gained by scripture twisting. Duty and prior commitment, even about church matters, can be no excuse to ignore the calling by God to demonstrate Christ-likeness.

“Living For Today With An Eye For Tomorrow”©

All Washed Up

If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another's feet. For I have given you an example, that you also should do just as I have done to you.
(John 13:14-15 – ESV)

When Christ was presenting and performing the idea of washing one another’s feet, He was not saying we are to do this to everyone, everywhere, all the time. Obviously that is impossible and is evasive of His point. It is not about the physical washing of people’s feet, but about humility and service to one another.

However, this foot washing idea goes further than that. It is more than general humility and service, it is to surrender to a group of people whom you give yourself to in extraordinary service, beyond normal Christian charity. This is not simply to everyone at all times, although we are to be a humble servant to all. Again that would be evasive of the point by making this only a general principle when Jesus really means this for a specific group.

The action of Christ here is indicative of a humble serving spirit, but it is more specific than just that. This is Jesus telling us that we are to be about the giving of ourselves to a specific set of individuals. You give yourself to all of Christ’s body, but you wash the feet of those whom you are in intimate fellowship with. Of course this means that to be able to do that you have to have intimate fellowship with a group of believers.

This was not only about submission and service, but also about surrender. You can humbly serve the whole body and specially as you encounter them, but washing feet as seen by Jesus here is about getting dirty, and removing the dirt from the worn and weary feet of those you are in the trenches with. That isn’t everybody; that is about your local set of people whom you get muddy with on a regular basis, as Jesus did with His disciples. You give yourself to a group of people and those people are whose feet you wash.

A proof of this is found in Paul’s first letter to Timothy. This was what Paul was instructing Timothy about in 1 Timothy 5:9-10. The true widow, who Paul described in detail, and who had humbled herself and served the local congregation of saints, was to be considered for being on the church’s benevolence list or given a paying job of some kind to help support her as she supported those in the church. If she had shown care for others they were to take care of her. This shows us the application of the “washing of feet” means to a local fellowship, not just a general principle only. Although we are to be humble to all and serve all, this is not just about humility and service in general, but in specific terms to specific people sets.

To truly wash the saints feet, you must be a part of a local body of believers to whom you give yourself. If you don’t have a set of saints you are submitted to you are upsetting the biblical balance in your life. Church is God’s idea: giving yourself to a group of others is what Jesus is commanding us to do here in this text. The disciples had been arguing for some time about who among them was greatest, and Jesus here shows them that if they will not serve the group but want to stand out, or think that they can, that they are sorely mistaken. If you think that you are some super saint and that you don’t have to be a vital part of a local church, if you haven’t surrendered your role as the final arbiter in your life, your discipleship is all dried up. You’ve thrown in the towel against the church instead of girding yourself with it.

“Living For Today With An Eye For Tomorrow”©

Discerning Demons

And it is my prayer that your love may abound more and more, with knowledge and all discernment,
(Philippians 1:9 – ESV)

Generally speaking, no one wants to do things the wrong way. As Christians we want to do what is right and do it in the right way. The problem can be pragmatism, however, when we want to do what works thinking that this automatically makes it the right way, and so therefore the right thing to do. Conversely, we can have all our doctrinal ducks lined up in a row and still not apply them to our lives properly, and nothing works at all.

The key is to be found where the flaw is. Is the teaching based upon a flaw in application or a flaw in the foundation?

In learning to discern these things, we can fall off the righteous road and into one of either two ditches to the side. The first is where we are too careless in our acceptance of things that claim the name of God, but are fundamentally flawed. We look at the beautiful building and all the people it has helped, but we don’t realize it is just a house of cards.

Now the other side of the ditch is where we are too critical about things that claim the name of God, and look for cracks by picking with our axe. Many seem to think grinding their axe is the same thing as wielding the sword of the Spirit. We use it to cut down others but we are really just committing spiritual suicide.

I don’t want to demonize people or programs but I do want to discern what is truly biblical and what is not, and to develop a truly biblical model and method to all that I do. I don’t want to just swallow everything that looks good and think I can eat the meat and spit out the bones, but I also don’t want to fall into the other side of the ditch, inflating and exaggerating every little problem and making it to be part of some conspiracy theory.

I believe that there are many people who are wrapped up in heretical teachings that are nonetheless truly saved. This would also be true of other movements that have some troubling theology, though not all errors can be reconciled. What we want is to be discerning, but we never want to turn ourselves into the “only discerning remnant” that has all truth by isolating the mind from rational thought and logical, biblical analysis of facts and texts.

We want to truly understand other positions and not simply make characterizations and mischaracterizations about them because this is intellectually lazy and biblically dishonest. We don’t need paranoia and feelings as if we are some persecuted remnant to turn us into some “us four and no more” type of cult. It is not about “us” and “them” but about what the text truly teaches, and we should be ever learning and discerning to that end.

No, we will never find any comprehensive teaching with absolutely no error, but yes, when we find teachings and discipleship models that are fundamentally flawed, we should go to other resources instead. There can be differing opinions on secondary issues, and different ideas about the implementation of biblical knowledge into our lives. I don’t want to discredit someone or something just because it isn’t done my way. However, it does discredit someone if they will not endeavor to do it the biblical way.

The biblical way is having an overflowing love, guided by knowledge and discernment.

“Living For Today With An Eye For Tomorrow”©

God So Loved

For this is the way God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.
(John 3:16 – NET)

Many bible versions render the opening words of John 3:16 as “For God so loved the world”. Of course this is true, but the way that this is worded can confuse the primary meaning for some folks. When the bible says, “God so loved the world”, it is primarily speaking of the manner in which God loved the world. It is not simply that He loved the world “so much” as in the degree, but also the manner of that love, that He loved it in this way, that He gave His Son. John is emphasizing the manner in which He chose to express His love to the world, through the giving of His Son, which itself portrays the degree to which God loved the world as well.

Hebrews 11:17-18 uses the same Greek word for “only son” – Isaac wasn’t Abraham’s only son, but he was one of a kind, the heir. The Apostle John uses this word to differentiate Jesus from the other children of God (John 1:12). We are sons (children) of God by faith, but Jesus remains unique. 1 John 4:10 – In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.

You see, you can love someone so very much but still not be able to help them overcome that problem they may have. Our love may be absolutely pure and sincere, and we may muster all the power we can, but it still not be enough to save someone from their situation. Yet God loves us so much and was and is able to overcome our greatest problem, our only problem in being reconciled to Him, our sin. And so in this way, through the giving of His Son Jesus Christ, God loves the world and whoever believes in Christ will be reconciled, redeemed, in right standing before God. They will not perish in eternity but have everlasting life. His love is enough.

“Living For Today With An Eye For Tomorrow”©

Truth and Love

Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love.
(Ephesians 4:15-16 – ESV)

Truth in love – this is not so much a balance here as it is a package. We must have both. Of course, the “truth” part can be easier than the “in love” part to ascertain. Too often people want to define the “in love” part so as to mean non-offensive or non-confrontational but if that were the case this “speaking”, for correction, wouldn’t need to happen (cf. Galatians 2:11-14 / 2 Timothy 2:2, 25-26 / Titus 1:9-16, Titus 2). Of course some people will tell you that you are being hurtful even when you are doing it right (Galatians 4:16). In love doesn’t mean weakly it means real concern for real connection, for true spiritual growth. To speak the truth in love you must be in love with the truth.

People think that the love here means humility. Yes, real, biblical humility is an integral part of holiness, which is true love. As we become more holy, practically speaking, we should be becoming more humble and loving (Philippians 2:1-15). However, humility doesn’t make something more or less true, it only tends to makes the connection better, but a false humility can lead to serious danger (Colossians 2:18-19). If we are centered on and around Christ and learning the truth we will be growing up and each part will be equipped for its role, knowing its role and the whole body functioning properly.

The context of all this is spiritually gifted people helping us to become of one mind towards Christ and so therefore growing up together as a unit in Him. All of our gifts should help protect us from being swept away by every wind of doctrine. This happens when we are forgiving one another yet holding each other accountable, not to punish but to grow, and we need everyone on board for that to happen to its full capacity. This is also why it is so clearly evident in the New Testament that there are no such things as maverick Christians who aren’t a vital part of a local body or those who think they can just jump around, because they have no real accountability and they have no real growth, not in the way Paul is describing it here. It doesn’t work that way; that would be you believing a lie about your spiritual growth. When you are away from this truth you are stunting your growth and the growth of others. It isn’t just “oh yeah, I can grow all by myself”, what about the others you are supposed to be connected with? We are to grow up into Christ, He is the head, and in the revelation of Him, the bible, that is where the truth is. The bible teaches that committed, connected fellowship is vital for the believer.

“Living For Today With An Eye For Tomorrow”©

The Bridge

Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ,
(Ephesians 4:15 – ESV)

We are all on a bridge and we are traveling one way or the other, toward the truth or toward a lie, toward maturity or toward apostasy. We reach maturity by allowing more and more truth to connect into and with our lives. The problem comes when we know the truth but it hasn’t connected with us yet. We have the conception but it has not made the connection into our life. This is a real concern because we can correctly identify something but then fail to apply it correctly. Perhaps we know some bible but not enough of it, just enough to be deadly to ourselves and to others who we poison. Also, a big reason why we misapply scripture is because we are only looking for a way out of sacrifice when Jesus is the way in. We are looking for scripture to perform for us, for God to perform for us, instead of us performing to the dictates of scripture regardless of what happens.

When teaching truth or in receiving truth, we must bridge the gap between conception and connection. Here in this passage of scripture from Ephesians, and especially in this verse, is a true key for our understanding. The bridge between conception and connection is compassion. We need to teach with compassion and we need to see that God is compassionate in giving His truth to us, even when it seems hard. However, we must emphasize the truth that true compassion is not some wishy-washy, feel good, no confrontation so we always compromise thing. True compassion must be undergirded by true, real conviction, and this will help people make the connection with real truth for their lives.

Conviction with compassion brings conception into connection for people. You can see all of that demonstrated here in this 15th verse. We are supposed to speak the truth (conception) in a loving way (compassion) so that we may grow up (connection) into the likeness of Christ (conviction). Passion for Christ is passion for truth is compassion for people. You have to know the truth, live it, and be convinced of it, you have to want the other person to grow up, and that isn’t real unless you are growing up too.

You can have the truth (conception) but it still not make you grow up (mature, connection). Looking at Ephesians 4:22 we see that sin is deceitful. One of the dangers of sin is the deceitfulness of sin; every sin ruins a bit of your mind. As this text progresses we see the pattern, the danger of sin, deceitfulness of sin, and the disobedience of sin. It is like our bridge but backwards, in a sense. The bridge between conception (danger of sin) and connection (disobedience of sin) is compassion (deceitfulness of sin, we love it, we have passion for it), which is held together by conviction (hard heart). When someone’s heart is hardened they want to believe a lie and so they will follow teachers who will only tickle their ears (2 Timothy 4:3-4 / 2 Thessalonians 2:9-13). You are going either one way or the other on the believer’s bridge.

“Living For Today With An Eye For Tomorrow”©

Two Sides of the Story

submitting to one another out of reverence for Christ.
(Ephesians 5:21 – ESV)

There are two basic principles, one, that wives must submit to their husbands, being both willing and intentional in that. Two, that husbands must be willing and intentional to give their own lives for their wives. Not just defending them if attacked by someone, but giving up their lives daily, considering her needs as more important than your own. Looking to provide what is best, growing in the knowledge and grace of Our Lord to be able to do that, to actually know what is best, so that what is wanted can be denied unless it is what is best in that moment, which you must be willing to give no matter the cost to you.

This is the pattern of Christ, submission and love. He showed us perfectly with His life on earth, and it is the pattern for marriage that He instructs us to live in. We submit ourselves to God and to one another by submitting to our God given roles (Ephesians 5:21ff.). It takes a man full of wisdom and grace to be able to give his whole life in service to his wife, and also to be able at the same time to say no, and to say it lovingly, and to say it with accuracy, and to know when to say it, when it is right to do so. It takes a woman full of mercy and grace to be able to submit even when their husband doesn’t have it all right yet.

For the woman the question isn’t, “Is he worthy?” the question is “Are you willing?” Not, “Is he right?” but “Are you ready?” For the man the question isn’t “Is she asking?” it is “Am I intentional?” Not, “Is she submitted?” but “Am I serving?” The man must serve his wife even when she isn’t submitted, and the wife must submit to the man even when he isn’t serving.

The opposite of this is when both man and woman are both just looking to say no to each other. She isn’t willing and he isn’t intentional. She is looking for excuses not to submit, and he is looking to avoid giving himself completely to her service. They don’t respect each other, they don’t respect their God given roles, and they don’t actually respect God’s Word. That isn’t a marriage where Christ is the center and you are a couple at war with the devil; that is a miserable existence where Christ is only a figurehead and you at war with each other.

It takes a marriage full of the Spirit of God to have a man and a woman submitting to one another within their God given roles. The man full of the Spirit is able to listen to his wife and cherish her and trust her and allow her input and realize when she is right and do what is right. The woman full of the Spirit is able to allow her husband to make mistakes, to not struggle to rule over her husband, to not try and get her way when he has said otherwise, to cherish him, and trust him, and trust God that Christ will make her husband right more often than not, and that she will abide nonetheless.

It isn’t just about leading it is about listening, about learning, and about loving. To put these principles in practice will glorify God, and enable the communication element, which is so vital to a marriage or any relationship, it will allow it to develop and to become more clear, and the other issues to become centered in a godly relationship built on trust, trust in each other, trust in God’s Word, and trust in God Himself.

We submit ourselves to God and to one another by submitting to our God given roles. Do you want a better marriage or a bitter marriage? Is Christ the figurehead for your union or the life of it? Repent, and know Him today as a couple, not simply a couple of individuals, but a union in Christ, with Jesus as the power in your marriage.

“Living For Today With An Eye For Tomorrow”©

Building Code

However, let each one of you love his wife as himself, and let the wife see that she respects her husband.
(Ephesians 5:33 – ESV)

When counseling engaged couples, some are starting out strong and have the capacity and potential to have a powerhouse marriage, and others need a lot of work, but the truth is any and every marriage needs a lot of work. It isn’t some start at the top experience; it is a long climb up, together. Some couples have the look of a team that will be a real winner, but I always tell them all, you cannot bank on potential, you must try and fill the capacity. You must be more than willing you must be intentional. It is not about “doing stuff” or going somewhere but being willing to learn together and trusting each other. That is a building process.

A good marriage is a building process, not a finished product. That is the main problem, obstacle, and failure I see within marriages of all sorts; they thought they would get by on love alone, but they didn’t understand what married love is. Married love must grow, from a “we are so in love with each other, we will always work together, and we never fight, so it will always be this way”, to a more mature, growing in grace with God union that sails through the incidental and inevitable rough seas of married life.

God allows couples to go through trials to show them, if they are willing and intentional, how strong the marriage bond can be. Steady in the midst of the storm, just like He does with all Christians as individuals in their relationship with Him (Matthew 7:24-27). This is the way of God, to show you He is there with you even when it seems like you are surrounded by opposing forces, and even death, and indeed you are. The truth is that you will be experiencing things that are unexpected because they will be unique to you as a couple, and we cannot give you a cookie cutter answer considering the dynamic, etc. However, we can teach you with the Word of God.

The devil is so into destroying marriage relationships because the marriage union is a picture of the love that God has in Himself, between the persons of the Trinity. And so when you enter a marriage covenant, you are entering into a spiritual war zone, and if you do not intend to grow spiritually, you will suffer massive loss, and perhaps even a marriage casualty. True godliness is the key to a lasting, wholesome, growing, successful, spiritual, happy marriage. One that not only lasts but also becomes more and more lovely as the years go by.

A good marriage is not one without struggles; God’s plan is for there to be struggles. God wants you to struggle, because He wants you to grow, and that takes growing pains. You can’t be knit together without having to be twisted and turned and united. Your marriage will go one of two ways. You will struggle as a team together, against some difficulty, and grow closer and stronger because of it, or you will struggle against each other and those other things will become “issues”, etc. Ask any married couple worth their salt, and they will confirm what I say is true.

You could have an individual life that is like a beautiful quilt, but if you are not being woven together then each of you will just be different cloth, and eventually one cloth will be jealous of the other, and the split will happen because their was no common fabric in the first place.

This wisdom from God is not only for couples about to be married, those already married, those who may some day want to be married, but even for those who have gone through the pain of a divorce. We need to continually make ourselves ready to be what God calls us to be, we must be ready to have a godly marriage by being submitted to godly principles before we can be ready, and if we are, we will be okay even if we don’t get married. That is the building code.

“Living For Today With An Eye For Tomorrow”©

No Church No Disciple

By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another."
(John 13:35 – ESV)

The world cannot get along, but we in the church are called to get along, even in difficulty, and especially in difficulty. We cannot just run away or practice avoidance or do those things those in the world do. We have to show ourselves as truly changed by Christ because now we can get along and cooperate when situations and people make it difficult. That is one main way we show the power of Christ. Being a Christian means being involved with His Body, and it is expressed locally as church assemblies. We must show that we are different, not just as individuals but also as local units. Where other people cannot get along, we must show that Christ has given us the power where we can. This is how we show the world we are true disciples of Jesus Christ, by loving one another even when some of us are unlovable at times.

You cannot avoid this Word from Christ, to avoid it is to avoid Him and His power in your life, and to deny His Lordship, and to prove that you are not a true disciple. You cannot be some part time lover of Jesus; you know that don’t you? Well, you cannot be some part time lover of His people, and that is what you are trying to do if you won’t commit to a local church. You just want to play nice when you see someone out, or keep a few friends who you talk about God with. That isn’t what Jesus was talking about. He doesn’t think part time lovers are true disciples.

If you aren’t involved in a local community of believers then you cannot be having the love for one another that Jesus was talking about. You would just be having friends with a common interest, but no covenant bond that requires sacrifice, sweat, and sanctification, as you had to deal with the ups and downs of relationships. If you are not doing that you are doing no better than the world, those who just take up and leave whenever it gets uncomfortable.

You must be willing and intentional in your devotion to Christ by becoming involved with an imperfect church made up of imperfect people like yourself. You must be learning to live the redeemed life in community, showing the love of Christ, the love that loves despite what has happened to us, the love that loves the unlovable, the love we must show the world we have for one another or we deny Christ.

If the world cannot see us getting along in situations that they wouldn’t be able to, then why would they want to join a local church, even if they wanted Jesus? Oh I see; you agree with them, you don’t want to be at a local church either. I guess you just don’t really want to be a disciple either. If you are not learning to love people more you are not learning to love God more. That is what Jesus would say to you.

“Living For Today With An Eye For Tomorrow”©

Loving Doctrine

The aim of our charge is love that issues from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith
(1 Timothy 1:5 – ESV)

Right teaching MUST be under-girded by right goals. The love Paul is speaking to Timothy of is a love that issues from the right source. We aren’t all the way there yet, but this is where we are to be going toward, and those other things, the myths and endless genealogies (1 Timothy 1:4) and the different doctrine (1 Timothy 1:3) lead us the wrong way, bad doctrine makes for bad practice. These things must be in the proper order; it is not that being good in practice means we necessarily have good doctrine (it can be a shadow for a while) but that right doctrine held rightly will lead to right practice.

We need to see clearly what Paul is saying to Timothy here. He starts in verse 3 by charging him to focus on good doctrine, and tells Timothy in verse 4 to stay away from those myths and such that aren’t a good stewardship of the faith. Then here in verse 5 he says that love is the target, but that it issues from certain things, and these things are the result of good doctrine.

The foundation is faith (vs.4) and the end result is love. Correct stewardship of the faith, correct doctrine (vs.3), will lead to correct and true love. Those qualities, a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith, are the wellspring of the love Paul speaks of, and they issue from a correct understanding and faith in true doctrine. And what Paul had taught Timothy was correct doctrine, which is what we need, and we don’t need new things Paul didn’t teach.

The charge is good doctrine, that is the first thing, not that if we find our way to these qualities, or that if we come to these ends, that our doctrine is okay, but that we need our doctrine to line up rightly and these qualities will be okay. Paul tells Timothy why he needs to be concerned with correct doctrine, so that these other qualities will be right. True doctrine will result in a pure heart, good conscience and sincere faith that will make for true love. If someone or something looks like true love, but it doesn’t come from true doctrine, if they don’t have true doctrine they don’t have true love, no matter how it looks or works.

The aim of the charge is love, but not any old type of love, but love that issues from these qualities and that love is made by doctrine. If someone seemingly has these qualities, but not true doctrine, it isn’t true love that issues forth. The charge is about right doctrine, and the aim of having right doctrine is having the right love, which issues from these qualities, which have been formed by the stewardship of faith, correct doctrine.

Again lets get the order right, so that we can have discernment, and so we don’t fall for a counterfeit. Good doctrine, the doctrine of the Apostles, the doctrines Paul taught in his epistles, it leads to a truthful state, one that has a pure heart, etc. and from this comes true love. Paul makes the connection between doctrine and godly love clear in this passage. We can see people do all sorts of good things, and they are good as far as helping humanity, but if these people organizations, religions etc. do not have the right doctrine then that love is only born out of common grace, not out of godly love, and not out of the stewardship of true, saving faith.

A Muslim or a Mormon can have a pure heart toward their god, a good conscience, and be sincere and love out of those things, but it still wouldn’t be a true, godly love because it isn’t done from true doctrine. Paul is saying to stick to true doctrine, as he has taught, and then you will be loving out of a pure heart, a good conscience, and a sincere faith.

“Living For Today With An Eye For Tomorrow”©

Frozen Chosen?

You have not chosen me, but I have chosen you…
(John 15:16)

Some things to think about…

Whose choice is it? Is it God’s choice or man’s choice who is going to be saved?

If Jesus died for all the sins of all the people ever, doesn’t this include unbelief?

Why, then, aren't all people going to heaven?

Is it God who ensures or man who secures? Is it more loving for God to let everyone of fallen man try and secure his own salvation making it dependent on his own choice, or is it more loving that God ensures that some will be saved, making sure they make the choice?

Did God send His Son to die, so that He could be loved, or did God send His Son to die because He loved?

Does God rescue people that do not love Him, or does He wait till they love Him to rescue them?

Is it “I’m so glad I chose you”, or “I’m so humbled you chose me?” Was it something in me that caused Him to choose me, no, or something in me that caused me to choose Him, no…does it ultimately have to do with us, or was it God’s plan all along? If you believe in Christ, that is wonderful, now give God the glory He is due, for He saved you…

Charles Spurgeon, 19th century preacher, spoke of the gospel call being universal, but the atonement being definite, and it was in an article over at Pyromaniacs the other day, and it is worth looking at if you want some more understanding on this issue…also check out this recent post by our friend Craver VII...

“Living For Today With An Eye For Tomorrow”©

Out Of Focus

And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.
(2 Corinthians 3:18 – ESV)

This verse tells us the truth of the matter, that if we are beholding Christ in truth we are becoming like Him. From one degree of glory to another reveals that as our image of Him sharpens so does our spiritual life. The more clearly we see Him, the more He will change us, as by the Spirit of God.

In pictures, sometimes the ones we love don’t appear to us as clear as they do at other times. Yet when we see them we still see the one we love, even if the camera was a little out of focus, it doesn’t change our love for them. Just because we took a bad picture, or we didn’t have enough light that day, or the flash didn’t work, or whatever the reason, our wife would still be as lovely to us as ever, wouldn’t she? Others may see a distorted image, but we would see our beloved.

Friends, this is the way it is in our relationship with Christ. When things seem bad, it isn’t that He has become something else, but that our picture of Him isn’t sharp enough yet. It isn’t that He has changed, but that our scenario has changed, and we need to capture Him according to our new venue. We need to see Him as beautiful as He is in every situation, that is our job, and like a cameraman, taking good pictures of our model is what makes us look good.

A good model captured by a good cameraman can make even normal everyday scenery look wonderful. We need to be presenting the radiant beauty of Christ to everyone we see. We need more light, or better focus. If Christ seems out of focus, remember He is still more beautiful than anything else you could be given. Adjust you lens.

“Living For Today With An Eye For Tomorrow”©

Saturday Sermon: God Is Love

Romans 3:25-26 / 1 John 4:7-11

People say all sorts of things about love today, and there are all sorts of notions about what love really is. But how does God define it? What does God say it is, and where does it come from, how can we see and know it, in truth? People quote this verse, 1 John 4:8, and then try and make it say whatever they want it to, and use it as an excuse to do or believe just about anything, but that isn’t what the Bible is teaching here. Only what God means is what counts. So what does the Bible teach? God is love, yes, but God further defines that in the following verses, as we see propitiation declared here once again (1 John 4:10). We have gone into detail about that already.

You cannot change it around here; John does not say that love is God, but that God is love. In the Greek, the two terms are not interchangeable. This same book declares God is light (1 John 1:5), and John writes in his gospel that Jesus said God is Spirit (John 4:24). Yes we want to declare His love, but it is even better understood in its proper perspective, it is an unfailing love because it is grounded in His unfailing character, not in everyone else’s ideas.

Now we can see that God defines His love here through Christ on the cross, and we can relate that back to many passages, including our main text, Romans 3:25-26. God’s righteousness flows from His holiness, His love flows from His holiness; it isn’t that God’s holiness is greater than His love, His mercy and His justice, but that holiness is the character that encompasses all the other attributes of God. His love is defined by His holiness. His justice, His mercy, His grace, they are all defined by His holiness. Perhaps we can make it clearer by saying that holiness is godliness, or God-likeness.

His justice is equal to His love and so He had to do it this way to satisfy both. God’s mercy did not nullify His justice; He had to be propitiated as our text plainly declares. If you redefine the atonement to remove the idea that Christ suffered the judgment for sin in our place, you destroy the heart of the gospel (1 John 4:10 / Romans 1:17 / 1 John 1:9). If that payment had not been made, there would never have been any forgiveness whatsoever (Hebrews 9:22).

One of the truths of the gospel is that God saved us in a way that upheld His justice. Justice was neither compromised nor set aside; it was completely satisfied. One of the great mysteries not revealed in the Old Testament but fully revealed in the gospel is how forgiveness is possible without compromising the justice of God. The bloody mercy seat showed the truth that sins must be paid for because of the holiness of God. His love requires justice to be done, but animal blood cannot pay for human sin, and human blood alone cannot pay for offense against God. Only Jesus was worthy enough to pay. Christ offered a full atonement that included payment in full for all the sins of every sinner who would ever believe (2 Corinthians 5:21 / Romans 3:25 / 1 John 2:2). Our salvation is therefore grounded in the justice of God as well as His mercy, which is in perfect proportion because of His holiness. In other words, the gospel is not only a message about the love of God. It is that; but it is more. The true gospel magnifies His justice as much as it magnifies His love, because in doing that it magnifies His holiness.

Why do we need to understand this, why do we need to discover and develop our thinking this way? In order to become better grounded in Christ (Colossians 2:7 / Ephesians 3:16-19); this is greater than simple understanding but not simply a feeling. Rooted and grounded in love, which we see more clearly as we have been discovering in 1 John 4:7-10 and Romans 3:25-26, etc. The breadth and length and height and depth, in other words, the encompassing nature of His love, which is most clearly understood through His holiness.

You want a faith that is getting richer, deeper, and stronger, and we find this in the Bible, it is not merely an intellectual pursuit, as this passage says, it is a knowledge but it goes beyond knowledge, it is sight beyond sight (Ephesians 1:16-20). We cannot naturally envision holiness, but when we endeavor to rightly understand God, He grants us the power to do just that. This is why you can receive a word, and want it for your life and love it, but if you don’t dig deep enough, there is no root and it will wither away. The seed gets planted but you must be working on your soil. What I am trying to do is to get you to understand the love of Christ more fully.

Convince yourself and deepen your faith, Coach others and develop their faith, Contend for and defend the faith. 2 Peter 12:1-2, 3:18 – This is what knowing and understanding Jesus is, becoming more and more familiar with just how righteous He is and beautiful and holy and that is worship and looking at Him and that is how we are changed (2 Corinthians 3:18).

When it says God is love that includes all aspects of His love including justice. Love without justice isn’t love it is favoritism. Simple pardon is simply preference. God’s love is much deeper than that, His love satisfies justice and upholds His character. His own holy being demands that payment be made, or justice would not be served, and He would not be a holy God. He is a holy God, and He Himself makes the payment to satisfy justice. He doesn’t just find a way to get you out of it; He makes a way that can never be taken back (Romans 8:33).

The power of God is to be able to take something broken and make it better than before, a new thing, a redeemed thing, bought with a price, infused with the Spirit of God, made lovely, given grace, given value, given God. Made holy. From the holiness of God springs our justification, but it also leads us to a moral change from darkness to light. "To sinners God says, "Ye must be born again," to the saved, "Be ye holy, for I am holy" (1 Peter 1:16).

We think love is His most beautiful thing, but it is holiness; the Bible says we are to worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness (1 Chronicles 16:29 / Psalm 29:2, 96:9), to praise the beauty of holiness (2 Chronicles 20:21), we are to give thanks at the remembrance of His holiness (Psalm 30:4), walk on the highway of holiness (Isaiah 35:8), and be working to bring our holiness to a more complete place (2 Corinthians 7:1). God’s all-encompassing attribute, the one from which all others flow, and flow perfectly, is His holiness (Isaiah 6 / Revelation 4:8). It is what makes everything else in perfect proportion. That is why we can trust His justice, His goodness, His mercy, His love, and so on, because He is holy.

The New Testament is centered on Christ, and its exhortations on the holiness of believers. This is not a simple call to obedience, but to holiness. Holiness is not righteousness, righteousness flows from holiness. Holiness isn’t simply obedience; it is being set apart for God and depending on God by drawing your boundaries as God would have them. Obedience flows from holiness, and holiness is cultivated by a right understanding of God and what He has done for us in Christ. To understand Christ more fully is to be made more holy in practice. That is why we are studying this as intensely as we are. This is the highest privilege that we can experience this side of heaven, and it should be the center of our preaching and goal of living. If you understand what we have been teaching for several weeks now about God, His own righteousness, the gospel, and justification by faith, then you will come to understand this. We are already made holy (Hebrews 10:10), we do not work for it; we work from it.

This is the difference between being God entranced and self-entranced. The self-entranced person says I want God to help me, so I will be more obedient. He tries to make it happen. He tries to be righteous. The God entranced person says I want to be more like Christ, and therefore he is more obedient. God makes it happen. Don’t put God on your agenda, get on God’s agenda and you will see the results He wants for you. Listen, He paid the ultimate price for you to be redeemed, to place value in you, the value of Himself. No, you weren’t worth it, He was, but He incorporates us into Him. Now don’t you think He wants great things for you (Romans 8:32)? Romans 8:29 – all things are from Him, and you can trust Him, because He is holy.

“Living For Today With An Eye For Tomorrow”©

Love and Holiness

In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him.
(1 John 4:9 – ESV)

The power of God is to be able to take something broken and make it better than before, a new thing, a redeemed thing, bought with a price, infused with the Spirit of God, made lovely, given grace, given value, given God. Made holy. From the holiness of God springs our justification, but it also leads us to a moral change from darkness to light. To sinners God says, "Ye must be born again," to the saved, "Be ye holy, for I am holy" (1 Peter 1:16).

We think love is His most beautiful thing, but it is holiness; the Bible says we are to worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness (1 Chronicles 16:29 / Psalm 29:2, 96:9), to praise the beauty of holiness (2 Chronicles 20:21), we are to give thanks at the remembrance of His holiness (Psalm 30:4), walk on the highway of holiness (Isaiah 35:8), and be working to bring our holiness to a more complete place (2 Corinthians 7:1). God’s all-encompassing attribute, the one from which all the others flow, and flow perfectly, is His holiness (Isaiah 6 / Revelation 4:8). It is what makes everything else in perfect proportion. That is why we can trust His justice, His goodness, His mercy, His love, and so on, because He is holy.

The New Testament is centered on Christ, and its exhortations on the holiness of believers. This is not a simple call to obedience, but to holiness. Holiness is not righteousness, righteousness flows from holiness. Holiness isn’t simply obedience; it is being set apart for God and depending on God by drawing your boundaries, as God would have them. Obedience flows from holiness, and holiness is cultivated by a right understanding of God and what He has done for us in Christ. To understand Christ more fully is to be made more holy in practice. That is why we are studying this as intensely as we are. This is the highest privilege that we can experience this side of heaven, to know Christ, and it should be the center of our preaching and goal of living. If you understand what we have been teaching now about God, His own righteousness, the gospel, and justification by faith, then you will come to understand this. We are already made holy (Hebrews 10:10), we do not work for it; we work from it.

This is the difference between being God entranced and self-entranced. The self-entranced person says I want God to help me, so I will be more obedient. He tries to make it happen. He tries to be righteous. The God entranced person says I want to be more like Christ, and therefore he is more obedient. God makes it happen. Don’t put God on your agenda, get on God’s agenda and you will see the results He wants for you. Listen, He paid the ultimate price for you to be redeemed, to place value in you, the value of Himself. No, you weren’t worth it, He was, but He incorporates us into Him. Now don’t you think He wants great things for you (Romans 8:28-29)? Romans 8:32 – all things are from Him, and you can trust Him, because He is holy.

“Living For Today With An Eye For Tomorrow”©