Rescue 3: sanctification 2 – am being saved –

One of the objections I hear to the gospel, is that if salvation is free, then you can do what you like. But if there is no intention to change, then you have to doubt the sincerity of the conversion. After all it does require repentance (Mark 1:7?). But in any case, you cannot fool or mock God, since as the Scriptures say, we reap what we sow (Galatians 6:7). If we plant potatoes, we don’t get carrots, and I often tell the men in our prison ministry “What you get out of this, is directly proportional to what you put into it.”

In fact, God takes a great risk in offering salvation as a gift. And I have to admit, that at least in the outward appearance, a large part of Christianity in the West can at best be described as mediocre. And as if to confirm this possibility, two verses after the above Galatians reference, Paul instructs us do not grow weary in well doing. Likely we have all been there, I know I have! I mean the battle is strong betimes, and in our own strength we are weak. There are however, resources which when tapped into, enable us to become partakers of the divine nature, and to experience life in all its fullness (2 Peter 1:4; John 10:10b).

In order not to miss out on this, Paul tells us we are to work out our own salvation (sanctification) with fear and trembling. In other words, we need to give it our all (Romans 12:1, 2), and to be aware (to fear) how easily we can be deceived (Jeremiah 17:9). When we do this, the promise is that God will work both in our desires, to make them right, and to give us the wherewithal to do His will. In this way we can more fully to enter into His life in the here and now (Philippians 2:12, 13).

Father, You have told us that if we delight ourselves and You, then You will give us the desires of our heart (Psalm 37:4). For when we delight in You, our desires are holy. Lord we are all week, I am. But with Paul I can say “When I am weak, then I am strong” (2 Corinthians 12:9?). I can say this because when I admit my need of You and turn to You, You fulfill in me what is lacking. I praise and thank You this morning Lord that You will bring to completion Your work in me (Philippians 1:6). In Jesus Name Amen

Rescued 2 – am being saved – sanctification

I always used to wonder why the halt and the blind and the lame, emotionally speaking, were drawn to me like flies to a paper. You know who I mean, those deeply, deeply wounded by life, who act out of of that woundednes, and who are or have been stuck in that acting out. I knew that part of it was that they somehow knew that if they came to me, they would not be judged, but the bigger thing I think, is that I have come to realize that I am one of you!

And it is here, that we begin to see depth of the the love, mercy and compassion of the Lord. In particular, because the struggle to escape addictive tendencies can be intense, we need to know that we will be forgiven seventy times seven and beyond (Matthew 18:22). And to know that it is not of works (Ephesians 2:9) is liberating. But it is work to get free, hard work, often very hard work! And it’s not just about getting free of our addictions, it’s about dealing with the things that causes us to take up the addictions in the first place. This is the real work of sanctification, in other words it’s not just about getting rid of our bad habits! And it is here that in some strange way those of us who have been deeply, deeply wounded, have an advantage.

And the advantage is this, the deeper the hole we and others have dug for us, the greater the potential we have to enter into fullness of the abundant life that He has promised (John 10:10). We catch a glimpse of this for example in the spectacular testimonies of those who have come out of the occult and other destructive lifestyles. But again, none of this is automatic. Salvation is free, but sanctification, the hard work of dealing with the issues that we all have, will cost us everything. More to come on sanctification.

Father, though I have far from arrived, I thank You that You have brought me out of the way of operating where I was getting my self-worth from what I was doing for You. Thank You too that You brought me out on denial that my obsessive thinking was an addiction. Thank You that I can now testify that as I continue in Your word, I progressively know the truth, and the truth progressively sets me free. And I give You all the honour, glory and praise this morning in Jesus Name Amen

Rescued 1 (of 5) – was saved – assurance

The story is told of the salvation army girl who asked the Anglican Bishop if he was saved. His response was to ask “Do you mean was I saved, am I being saved, or will I be saved?” Indeed there are three aspects to our salvation and we will be looking at them briefly over the next few days. So this morning, “was saved.”

It never ceases to amaze me, how few people really understand the gospel. At a recent Memorial service for a friend who died I was hearing “I hope she is in heaven.” Ruth knew she would go to heaven when she died, not because she was good, not one of us is that good deserving of heaven! No, she knew because she had received God’s salvation as a gift. In the words of Paul “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast” (Ephesians 2:8, 9).

There are many things to say about this, let me mention a couple. Since a holy God has to be just, He can be both just and merciful by sending Jesus to pay the penalty for our sin by dying on the cross (1 Peter 3:18). One of the reasons He does this is to set us free from the fear of death (Hebrews 2:15), and to set us free to do our very best (see tomorrow's post). It seems worth mentioning that many of us are in denial about our fear of death, but I digress!

In order to be set free from this fear, we need assurance. John tells us that many of the things which are written in the Scriptures are written so that we may know that we have (present possession) eternal life (1 John 5:13; John 20:31). The one who has received Christ has in effect, already passed from death to life (John 1:12; 5:24). Part of what this means is that even in the here and now, we can begin to experience His life within us. But of course, this “was saved” is just the beginning. And in order to enter into the experience of His life in the here and now, we have a part to play. It is not automatic! Stay tuned.

Father, I thank You for reminding me again of these foundational truths. When life gets hard, remind me again and again that my name is written in the Lamb’s book of life (Luke 10:20), and also that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us (Romans 8: 18). Lord, I too often lose this perspective, but thank You that You bring me back to it again and again in Jesus Name Amen

To continue in atheism, I would need to believe…

Make no mistake about it, the atheist needs every bit as much, if not more, faith than the theist. I can state this no more clearly than by quoting journalist and former atheist Lee Strobel who tweeted "To continue in atheism, I would need to believe that nothing produces everything, non-life produces life, randomness produces fine-tuning, chaos produces information, unconsciousness produces consciousness and non-reason produces reason." He wrote "I simply didn't have that much faith.”

But it’s not enough, it’s not enough to know that He is up there and I’m down here and never the twain shall meet. What was needed was a rescue mission. In particular I needed me to be rescued from me, you to be rescued from me, me to be rescued from you and the whole world to be rescued from it’s self-centred, hell-bent path of destruction. And that’s what Christmas is all about. As Paul puts it “This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save (rescue) sinners, of whom I am chief” (1 Timothy 1:15). And the Judeo-Christian God has not left Himself without a witness as to the truth, reality and the effectiveness of this rescue mission.

Unfortunately, it can be said of a great deal of Christianity in the West, that it has “a form of godliness, but denying its power” (2 Timothy 3:5). This was me for the first 20 plus years of my Christian walk. Like many others, though I had glimpses of freedom, I relied largely on my own strength to live the Christian life. And this made me no different from anyone else trying to be good! However, through a major crisis I had come to the end of myself, to a place of desperation, a place where if God did not come into my life in a powerful way I would not have survived. And I see so much of Christianity on the wrong side of this turning point, and having experiences so much more, it breaks my heart as I believe it breaks His!

Father, though I would never have chosen to go through the trials, difficulties and temptations that brought me to my breaking point, I have come to the place where I can actually thank You for them. For if I never had problems I would not know that You could solve them. And Lord You have shown me that there is always so much more. Help me Lord more and more to tap into Your incredible love, joy, peace and intimacy so that I may show the way to this wicked and hurting World. In Jesus Name Amen

in humility receive the implanted Word

Paul tells us in 2 Timothy 3:16 that the Scriptures are profitable for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness. Rick Warren says about this that the Scriptures show us the path, they show us how we got off the path, how to get back on the path and how to stay on the path. But as implied by the above extract from James 1:21, it is not automatic, the Word has to be implanted, and it has to be received with humility.

James, the (half) brother of Jesus, gives many subtle references to His teachings. Here the “word implanted” has echoes of the parable of the sower, where when the word is sown in good soil, it produces much fruit. In fact when the soil is good, the increase is automatic, because “the earth yields crops by itself” (Mark 4:28). In other words, the Word is living, active, powerful and transformative. It cuts through the lies and the propaganda of the world, and brings life and discernment (Hebrews 4:12).

Our part, has to do with receiving the Word, and receiving it with humility. Of course, the Word will not be transformative, if we are not feeding on it regularly. One man who ministered to me in my early Christian days used to say “Get your nose into God’s feedbag Phil.” And part of what James means by his admonition comes in the very next verse where he says “Be doers of the Word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.” So then we need to allow it to correct us, to admit it when we are wrong, and to confess to God and to those we have wronged. In other words we need to be real!

Father, thank You for Your word this morning, thank You that when we do our part you are more than ready willing and able to complete what is lacking in us. Thank You Lord that my part is doable, and that it brings life and health and peace and joy, and I give You all the honour and glory and praise for this, this morning in Jesus Name Amen

If you abide in Me and My Words abide in you, you will bear much fruit

I was reminded in the last few days, of how difficult Christmas is for many, many people. For some, it’s the first Christmas without a loved one, for others it’s family drunkenness and the anxiety and tension that accompanies that. For others, even without these things or the like, there is tension in the family get-togethers which always seems worse because it is supposed to be the season of goodwill. And even if this is not you, it is likely true of someone you know and love, and so you grieve for them.

So with some of these things on my heart as I came to the Lord this morning, He reminded me of His promise at the head of this post from John 15. And without in any way dismissing the power of my prayers (see yesterday’s post), I am also reminded that I am the only one I can change!

And with this promise I realize again, that the very best thing I can do for those I love is for me to show them the way by being changed by abiding in Him and His Word. And for me over the last few months, my aid in doing this has been to ask Him morning by morning for a Word first and foremost for myself, but also for others. And I need to write it down, since then it cements it more firmly into my heart and mind.

Father, the aspects of the fruit of Your Spirit that I need most this morning, are love, joy and peace. And I find these in Your presence as I come to You and Your word morning by morning. Thank You Lord for these things in Jesus Name Amen

My prayers are powerful, and so are yours, or at least they can be!

Around the time we were transitioning from the old to the new year last night, I was informed of an answer to prayer that I had prayed to be honest, without a lot of hope. And the Lord reminded me this morning, that my prayers are powerful. I say this, not because I feel that my prayers are powerful, but because of a Biblical principal. And the principal is “The fervent prayers of the righteous are powerful and effective” (James 5:16).

Now most of us (including me at times) will disqualify ourselves from this principle for two reasons. First of all we disqualify ourselves because we tell ourselves “I am not righteous.” Of course we do not have a righteousness of our own, but the Christian has a righteousness imputed to him or her from God by faith (Philippians 3: 9). So God sees me as righteous, because he sees me in Christ. And His opinion is more important than mine!

The second reason we disqualify ourselves, is that we tell ourselves that our prayers are anything but fervent, meaning with a sense of urgency, or of desperation but filled with hope. And there is a kind of Catch-22 operating here. Our prayers are not fervent, because we don’t believe they are powerful, and we don’t believe that they are powerful, because we either don't know this powerful Biblical principle, or if we do, we disqualify ourselves from it because we do not embrace our righteousness in Christ.

Father, thank You for taking me deeper into these things this morning. Lord I repent of my unbelief, I choose to believe that I am righteous in You, and that my prayers are powerful. I believe, help my unbelief! Lord please help to remember to tell myself these things over and over until I truly believe them, and then to tell myself these things because I believe them in Jesus Name Amen