What Jesus Makes Possible

I love conversion stories! In my Christian tradition we often call this a person’s “Testimony.”  When a person tells the story of an experience of the grace of God, I’m moved. What joy it is to hear about - violent people who become peacemakers,
hopeless people who find new life,
addicts who learn to live in sobriety,
loveless people who discover the transformative love of the Father.

All of those stories illustrate the key principle of a passage in 2 Corinthians 5:17. “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation:  that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men’s sins against them.”

When God’s Spirit touches the human heart and there is a response of faith, something real and wonderful happens. A whole new way of life becomes possible. The assurance of eternity with God in Heaven is written on the heart of that one who comes to Christ Jesus.

Have you been ‘saved?’ 

Paul, in his letter to the Romans, writes of the predicament of humanity in chapters 1 to 3.

Sin came into the world, separating us from God. As a result of sin, death, both spiritual and physical, was the lot of Adam’s children, including you and me. The famed verse says that "All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God." (Romans 3:23, NIV) 

But, through faith, we can receive a gift that changes everything. Romans uses three words to describe what it means to be ‘saved.’

We are justified. (Romans 3:24 “We are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.”) 

In the court of Heaven, we were indicted and bound to be condemned at the Judgment. But, when we believe and receive Christ, God declares us ‘not guilty,’ not because we are deserving, but because Jesus extends grace to us. It’s more than a pardon. We are released from all guilt!

We are redeemed. (Romans 3:24 “We are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.”) 

In the world in which Paul lived people were sold into servitude to settle debts! It was a terrible thing. However, there could be redemption! If family and/or friends put together enough resources to pay off the debt, the person enslaved was redeemed, set free. You and I, in our natural state, are slaves of sin, but there is a Redeemer, Jesus, God’s own Son. Jesus tells us of His mission to pay the ransom for our freedom. (Mark 10:45) “For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

Our love for Him is such that we become servants of God, living to please Him. As Paul says “You were bought with a price. So, glorify God in your body.” (1 Corinthians 6:20)

We are given the gift of righteousness.  "Now a righteousness from God, apart from law, has been made known, … God presented him (Jesus) as a sacrifice of atonement, through faith in his blood.” (Romans 3:25, NIV) 

Paul has in mind here the Jewish rituals of the ancient Temple in Jerusalem. In the Holiest of Holy places, the Ark of the Covenant was kept. the mercy seat that was the lid of that box that contained the 10 Commandments. On the Day of Atonement, the high priest carried blood for an offering on behalf of the people that satisfied the holy demands of God.

A system of sacrifices turned away God’s wrath from the sinner. Shocked at that language?

Perhaps that is because our concept of God is so impoverished. He is a loving Father, the glorious Creator, and the Judge of all the earth. We are, “by nature objects of wrath,’ except that God, mysteriously and wondrously, offered His own Son as the final sacrifice for sin, once for all time.            

Yes, those are hard concepts for us, but we must go beyond a superficial and emotion-based grasp of the amazing gift of God. When our minds are filled with the wonder of salvation – that we are justified, that we are redeemed, that God has made us right at great cost – there is an unshakeable assurance that fills our mind and heart, compelling us to joy and faithful love.

Have you been ‘saved?’  Trust Christ Jesus with your life and accept the offer of forgiveness and renewal … and salvation is the gift He gives.

Here is a word from the Word. Oh, may the promise of God that saves us from the human predicament cause us to sing today.

"And you also were included in Christ when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. Having believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession—to the praise of his glory. For this reason, ever since I heard about your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints, I have not stopped giving thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers. I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better." (Ephesians 1:13-17, NIV) Amen

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Video at https://www.youtube.com/@JerScott55

 

Being “good”

Our news has been awash in the sordid story of sexual assault at a fraternity house at Cornell University. The details are too ugly for this blog but suffice to say – the behaviors recounted all around sicken me with sadness. Young adults degraded themselves while turning another person into an object for their own gratification.

Terrible behavior is nothing new. History is replete with examples of depravity and cruelty. Yet, I believe it is time for Americans to take a long look at the results of our culture in which music and entertainment for the last generation has regularly mocked what is good all the while celebrating sensuality and unrestrained sexual pleasure as a virtual right and something quite sophisticated. We have redefined our most basic understanding of what it means to be human.

    Pornography has become a $100 billion business with digital content available anywhere at any time.

        A majority of babies are now born outside of the covenant of marriage.

    Protection for those who are homosexual has morphed into gross parades of depravity on our city streets.

     We demonize those who are different, speaking words that show no regard for humanity at large.

§          The discussion of ending the lives of the elderly or disabled no longer brings revulsion.
    And the list could go on …

Christian, let’s reclaim ‘goodness’ as something beautiful, to be celebrated and taught to our children.

Jesus says – “Let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.”  (Matthew 5) The word He uses, “tob” -is packed with meaning - “good; favorable; festive; pleasing; pleasant; well; better; right; best.”

The wisdom of Scripture tells us not to surrender to the baser things of the world which we live thinking that ‘is just the way things are.’  Instead, we who belong to Christ are told - "Don’t let evil get the best of you but conquer evil by doing good." (Romans 12:21, NLT)

At one time we praised people who were careful to be kind, to pursue excellence in character, who trained themselves to avoid coarse and profane speech, who honored their parents, who did not even allow a hint the ugliness of sin to be tolerated. Were we always perfect? Of course not! I am not naïve. Hypocrisy has always been a part of humanity and many times our professed ‘good’ did not match our private reality. Never the less, we are fools to abandon God’s call to goodness, thinking that being able to ‘tolerate’ sin is a mark of sophistication or maturity.

Another passage tells us that the key to knowing peace with God is our commitment to true ‘goodness.’ The passage is often quoted but truly lived much less often. Take a look. "And now, dear brothers and sisters, let me say one more thing as I close this letter. “Fix your thoughts on what is true and honorable and right. Think about things that are pure and lovely and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise. Keep putting into practice all you learned from me and heard from me and saw me doing, and the God of peace will be with you." (Philippians 4:8-9, NLT)

Join me in praying that the Holy Spirit will lead us to a kind of life that marked by “tob,” a commitment to that which is pure, worthy of the Light, that causes us to keep the royal law in our thoughts, words, and actions. What is that law? James defines it for us: “Love your neighbor as yourself.”   

Jesus taught us that there are just two rules for life that will create true goodness in us-
“You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment.
A second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’
All the other commandments and all the demands of the prophets are based on these two commandments.” (Matthew 22:37-40, NLT)

How about it, friend? Shall we recapture the good for the glory of God?

Amen.

Give Me Patience … Now!

Patience is not one of my strongest traits, and that is an understatement. When I’m stuck in heavy traffic, I grow impatient. When I sit in an office waiting for my appointment to begin, I have to do some mental exercises to stay calm. When the circumstances of life are frustrating me, I want things fixed and orderly – right now!

To me, God speaks this wisdom. "Wait for the LORD; be strong and take heart and wait for the LORD." (Psalm 27:14, NIV) He does not always work at the speed at which I desire. He does not always reveal His plans. Yet I am told to ‘wait.’

Sometimes in those seasons when I am waiting, I confess that other issues enter my life.
My prayers grow colder and more formal.
Scripture is harder to understand.
Worship does not flow from a glad heart, offered more from duty than delight.
As I grow more restless, distractions draw me in many directions.

Thankfully, there is this promise that helps me press through the difficult time. "He gives power to those who are tired and worn out; he offers strength to the weak. Even youths will become exhausted, and young men will give up. But those who wait on the Lord will find new strength. They will fly high on wings like eagles. They will run and not grow weary. They will walk and not faint." (Isaiah 40:29-31, NLT) What a paradox. In our anxious desire to see something happen, the answer is not “try harder.” Rather, it is trust Him with patience.

What does it mean to ‘wait on the Lord?’ 

A key part is the willingness to surrender to His will. The Psalm illustrates the concept - "Behold, as the eyes of servants look unto the hand of their masters, and as the eyes of a maiden unto the hand of her mistress; so, our eyes wait upon the LORD our God, until that he have mercy upon us." (Psalm 123:2, KJV) Those who worked in a household as servants stood by, patiently. They were not focused on their own agenda but were attentive to the desires of another. “So, we wait upon the LORD, our God.” 

Waiting on the Lord requires deep faith.
Others may see the choice as laziness or lack of enthusiasm.
Some may claim to have a vision for you, urging you to act now.

Even the first disciples, who had an urgent mission to ‘go in all the world and preach the Good News’ were told first to wait. There was work to be done in them before they were ready to serve. It may be that the Spirit desires to do something IN YOU, building faith, changing your heart.

Here is what Jesus said to those first disciples about expectantly and patiently waiting for the Spirit.
"Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father promised, which you have heard me speak about." (Acts 1:4, NIV) “Wait,” He said, “don't rush off, trying to force something to happen while you are only half-prepared.” 

In God's time, the Spirit moved on them. "Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting." (Acts 2:2, NIV) "All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them." (Acts 2:4, NIV) Those men and women left that Upper Room, filled with the Spirit, empowered to go and become the foundation of the Church. Prepared, ready, and effective - changing the world! Let God do what He needs to do as you wait patiently on Him.

Our word from the Word is a Psalmist's prayer. If you are in a time of waiting – make it your plea. "I wait for the LORD, my soul waits, and in his word I put my hope. My soul waits for the Lord more than watchmen wait for the morning, more than watchmen wait for the morning. O Israel (people of God), put your hope in the LORD, for with the LORD is unfailing love and with him is full redemption."  (Psalm 130:5-7, NIV)

I will wait on the Lord. Will you?

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Video at https://www.youtube.com/@JerScott55