To Declare, To Claim, To Own

"I once was lost in sin
But Jesus took me in.
And then a little light from Heaven filled my soul.
It bathed my heart in love
And wrote my name above.
And just a little talk with Jesus makes me whole."

Cleavant Derricks1

Today's text is Romans 10:8-13 (NET)

8 But what does it {faith - - see v. 6} say? “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart” (that is, the word of faith that we preach), 9 because if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For with the heart one believes and thus has righteousness and with the mouth one confesses and thus has salvation. 11 For the scripture says, “Everyone who believes in him will not be put to shame.”12 For there is no distinction between the Jew and the Greek, for the same Lord is Lord of all, who richly blesses all who call on him. 13 For everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.

Sometimes, Y'all, the most foundational passages are the most difficult.  I've been thinking about this one for days.  This morning, lying on my bed in prayer, the Lord brought this 20th c. gospel song to mind.  It reminds me of Romans 10:9.  

Then, I was trying to think of what "confess" means.  In our modern day, it is most often used to describe admitting to doing something wrong.  But, that is just one of the word's meanings.  At its most basic meaning, "confess" means: to declare (speak forcefully), to claim, to own.  Within the context of Romans 10:8-13, it is used to describe how a person becomes a Christian.

Confessing Jesus Christ means to speak with one's mouth and claim and own that He is being embraced as the only path to God, the only avenue of salvation.  Confession must be married to heart belief (not just intellectual belief) in order for the transformation called "salvation" to occur.  After all, we can "say anything" and not truly believe it.  Or, we can say we believe something and have only an intellectual belief.  The Bible testifies, after all, that the demons of Hell have an intellectual belief in Jesus Christ, and they shudder because they don't claim or own Him as their Savior (James 2:19).

Note that confession which saves eternally involves (vs. 9) speaking truth...the truth that Jesus is LORD because He was raised from the dead by God the Father.  The accepting of Jesus Christ as Savior also involves accepting His right to then rule over your life, for the rest of your life.  There is surrender in this confession.  There is repentance and submission, bowing to the King of Kings.  If that surrender does not underlie the confession, then there is no true belief (faith) present.

There is something other-worldly powerful about the words we speak.  Quantum physicists have discovered that the very building blocks of matter react positively and excitedly to positive words being spoken.  When negative words are spoken, they slow down and eventually become irresponsive.  (Wow, there is an entire blog post, right there!)  It's little wonder the Bible says that we must speak and declare our "owning", our accepting of Christ Jesus.  Those spoken words will "matter" for all eternity!  (Couldn't resist the pun! ;)  )

You might say, "Well, you don't have to actually admit your faith to anyone.  There's no need to tell others about it, like admitting it in church or anything..."  Watch out, now!  What does the Bible say? Look at this:

32 “Whoever, then, acknowledges me before people, I will acknowledge before my Father in heaven. 33 But whoever denies me before people, I will deny him also before my Father in heaven.

Matthew 10:32-33 (NET)

Pretty clear, isn't it?  If you meant it, you will declare it.  It's got to be both "in your mouth and in your heart" (vs. 8)

Like peas and carrots, peanut butter and jelly, confession and belief go inextricably together.  You can't have salvation without righteousness (vs. 9-10), because you can't have belief without confession.  And, this is how you become a Christian.  This describes faith; this deconstructs the concept of salvation.  Admit your sin and your need for a Savior. Believe in your heart that He is the only one who can save, because He is the LORD whom God raised from the dead.  Receive Him into your heart forever.  Confess - - declare it to be so.

It's really as simple as that.

"Just a Little Talk With Jesus" was a popular song in mid 20th c. gospel music.  You can hear the late Rev. Derricks sing his composition here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=br-qMVfJhLw

This is his confession.

Have you made yours?

Father, I'm so thankful and grateful that you have made a way, one and only one way, for the salvation of our souls and that Your way is through Your Son, Jesus Christ.  Thank you for saving my soul, so many years ago.  I pray that anyone reading this post will search his or her own heart, to see if true belief in Jesus is there, if eternal salvation has been secured.  And, if not, Lord, I pray that a confession as described above will be made, so that no reader will go away from this post an unbeliever.  In Jesus' name, amen.

Source:

1     https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cleavant_Derricks_(songwriter)

Godly Passion, God's Will, Our Mistakes

Well, my ministry has taken an unexpected turn.  I was approached a few weeks ago by a web developer, who volunteered to "run" videos of my blog posts if I would make them.  I had been praying that the Lord would give this blog ministry more exposure, and after much prayer and seeking counsel from trusted friends, this seemed to be a valid opportunity.  So, taking a deep breath, I went for it.

Now, I surely to hate to hear and see myself on camera.  The first time that happened was in graduate school, when I had to watch a video of myself conducting a choir.  Appalling, truly.

Another quirky thing about this new phase of ministry is that I was discussing this type of ministry (in theoretical terms) with a good friend, about two weeks before this opportunity came up.  Given my loathing of seeing myself on camera, I vehemently declared that I "could never do that!"

God has a sense of humor.

Today's verse is Romans 10:1-4 (NET)

Brothers and sisters, my heart’s desire and prayer to God on behalf of my fellow Israelites is for their salvation. 2 For I can testify that they are zealous for God, but their zeal is not in line with the truth. 3 For ignoring the righteousness that comes from God, and seeking instead to establish their own righteousness, they did not submit to God’s righteousness. 4 For Christ is the end of the law, with the result that there is righteousness for everyone who believes.

Paul used the example of the 1st century Jews to illustrate this point.  The Jews were very, very zealous (passionate) about following the O.T. Law, prophetic writings AND their own man-made, rabbinical traditions.  In so doing, they believed that this would earn for them righteousness.  But, although zealous, their fervor, their heart-fire was not aligned with the truth revealed in Jesus Christ. By ignoring Christ's way and seeking instead to earn their own way to God, they were zealous, yes, but in the wrong direction!

As Christians, we need to call on the Holy Spirit's wisdom and discernment as we exercise our zeal for Christ.  "All that glitters is not gold."  In other words, just because something looks good or sounds good or seems good doesn't guarantee that it IS good.  We do not want our zeal, our passion to please Jesus, to become misdirected.

"It seemed like a good idea at the time" points out the importance of prayer, studying the Bible and seeking wise counsel.  In the same vein, "following one's heart" is a perilous path, because we know the Scripture teaches that the human heart is "deceitful above all things and desperately wicked" (Jeremiah 17:9).  Our hearts are generally not to be trusted.

This reminds me of the pastor who told the story of the adulterous man who came to him for counseling.  "God told me it's His will for me to leave my wife and marry this woman", the man said. Well, God told him no such thing!  God does not lead us down paths that are contrary to His revelation of Himself in His written word.  That man was "following his heart", and it was going to lead him down a path to ruin.  When we choose to act in opposition to God's word, we always are the worse for it.

Now, there are times that we make "bad decisions", in spite of doing all the right prep-work.  We sincerely pray, study the Bible, seek wise counsel and then step out in faith toward God's will. Growing in grace always involves exercising our faith.  This is why the dreams God gives us are always "bigger than ourselves".  He wants to show His mighty power through us, as opposed to us trying to do "big things for Him" through our own, paltry "strength".

But, sometimes, things don't work out the way we thought they would.  We end up saying to God, "What in the world is going on here?!"  I believe that is okay!  If we sincerely sought God's will in a matter, and did our very best to be obedient, He will use those situations to grow our faith and to bring Himself glory.

I am rather old.  Looking back over the course of my life I have made what some would call "bone-headed" choices, even though they were made with a pure heart - - a heart that desperately wanted to please God.  I could spend my time beating myself up over the fact that things didn't always "work out".  What good would that do?  No good.  Instead, the biblical response is to trust God with all our outcomes, to trust that He is working out his kingdom plan through us and that He is going to use all our "uh-ohs" to bring Himself even more glory.

Fixing our gaze on the past will only limit our godly zeal in the present.  The Devil loves to trip us up with our past "mistakes" (deliberately disobedient ones, unintentional ones or ones that only look like mistakes from our limited human vantage point).  If we have confessed our past sins and sincerely repented, we must not continue to perseverate on them.  They limit our effectiveness for God in the present!

So, I'm zealously walking through ministry doors the Lord seems to have opened and praying that my life offering will be blessed, used for His glory.  Exercising that faith....whew!  This is why some call the resplendent walk "the Great Adventure".  Saddle up, Beloved!  Saddle up!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hVFPjIp6nkk

Father God, thank you for the privilege of serving You.  It IS a life like no other!  We know that Your plans are perfect.  Teach us how to listen for Your voice in our souls as we study Your word, as we seek Your face in prayer.  May our zeal never, ever be out of line with Your desires.  "Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done, on earth as it is in Heaven!"  In Jesus' name, amen.

Sources:

If you are so inclined you may view my videos here:
http://patriotjournalist.com/VideoChat/RedMeat/
They play in rotation with others' videos.   Or, they are in a cache under the tweets at the top of that page.  Just click on the small YouTube icon below the bank of tweets.
Or, you can view them on my YouTube channel:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC2-cqwblgSV9AZxM0pv32yQ
(They're in rougher form on YouTube.  If you use YouTube yourself, I'd love for you to subscribe to my channel.)
I'm also in the process of going back and embedding these vids in the Summer 2014 blog posts from which they were made.  But, that's a slow process.  This summer I hope to begin making the vids right after I write the blog posts and embedding them that very day.
Your prayer support of this ministry is so very appreciated!

Mobile, Mardi Gras and God's Mercy

I was thinking the other day about an experience I had in high school marching band.  The band was invited to march in a Mardi Gras parade in Mobile, AL.  We were so excited!  It was "the big time". Marching in the parade was a hullaballoo.  This little country girl had never seen anything like it.  I have two enduring memories from that night at the parade.  The first is that we were marching behind a group of horses, and the inevitable happened.  The other is that I was marching on the right-hand side, near the curb, closest to the cray-cray.  Band members play while marching and then rest from playing - - you've seen the drill.  In a music-less moment, I saw a boy my age in the crowd, and my heart stopped.  Our eyes met, and that teenage craziness called "love at first sight" hit me like a hammer.  I thought about that encounter for days after, but soon came to realize (sensibly, yet sorrowfully) that I'd never see that handsome, young swain ever again.  You know, today, I can't even remember what he looked like...although the memory persists.

Salvation is sort of like that, except the longing for our Savior never leaves.  Our hearts are changed, forever.  Because of that, we long more and more for Him and for Home.  It is this love nugget in our souls, this longing which makes us eager to study the Scriptures, because we learn more about Him within the Bible's pages.

In Scripture, Christ is often referred to as the bridegroom of the Church, and the Church, the bride. The bride and bridegroom analogy is pertinent here.  A new bride wants to figure her husband out, to please him.  Most men don't want to be "figured out".

As for God, He promises that if we seek Him, He will allow us to find Him.  But, He doesn't promise to explain everything, tell everything, reveal everything.  Many doctrines are paradoxical. Today's passage is an example of that.

14 What shall we say then? Is there injustice with God? Absolutely not! 15 For he says to Moses: “I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.” 16 So then, it does not depend on human desire or exertion, but on God who shows mercy. 17 For the scripture says to Pharaoh: “For this very purpose I have raised you up, that I may demonstrate my power in you, and that my name may be proclaimed in all the earth.” 18 So then, God has mercy on whom he chooses to have mercy, and he hardens whom he chooses to harden.

19 You will say to me then, “Why does he still find fault? For who has ever resisted his will?” 20 But who indeed are you—a mere human being—to talk back to God?Does what is molded say to the molder, “Why have you made me like this?”21 Has the potter no right to make from the same lump of clay one vessel for special use and another for ordinary use?

Romans 9:14-21

The "doctrine of election/predestination" (which flows from the characteristic of God's sovereignty) is one of the most controversial doctrines in Scripture.  Why?  Because taken by itself, Romans 9 seems to indicate that human beings have no choice as to Heaven or Hell.  Romans 9 seems to say that God is going to send to Heaven ("have mercy/compassion") whomever He wants, and He is going to send to Hell ("to harden") whomever He wants.  Romans 9 is a perfect example of why we must take the Scriptures as a whole in order to have a chance at "figuring out" God, fully realizing we cannot fully know here on Earth our magnificent God.

Just as Romans 9 enraptures adherents to "Calvinism", there are also many other passages which drive home the doctrine of free will ("Aminianism").  If you want to delve into this conundrum more deeply, much theological writing has been done on the subject. (See authors under Sources:).  It is not my purpose here to get into the high weeds in trying to convince you, one way or the other.  I don't think we will ever fully understand the paradox between God's sovereignty and His mercy of saving grace.

I will, however, share this perspective: salvation is the gift of God.  It is not produced by any sort of "good work" of ours.  That being said, salvation faith comes by our receiving God's gift.  The Holy Spirit calls, and we either respond, or we don't.  God knows all - - - always has and always will.  He knows who will choose Him and who won't.  I believe there is room in the sovereignty of God for both His foreknowledge and our free will.  For me, the biggest argument for this balanced view is evangelism: if each person has no choice whether to choose Christ or not, then why did Jesus command us to go into all the world and preach the gospel?

Well, I'm just a Christian woman who loves the Lord Jesus; I'm not some exalted theologian.  I've probably made some of you mad with this post.  That was not my intention.  I wasn't going to shy away from the controversy of chapter 9 while moving with you through the book of Romans. Conversely, I will not argue with you over this point.  The devil loves to paralyze us, to keep us from evangelizing the lost and discipling the faithful, by tangling us up in theological arguments.

Verse 14 hammers home the characteristic of God's justice.  We can be confident and calmed in the knowledge that He is completely fair and totally just in His dealings with mankind.  That's enough for me.  Let's praise our perfectly just, sovereign God, once more affirming that He is God, and we are not!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mv5eZbwuBx0

Father, I thank you that you love us and that Your love is absolute, as is your justice.  Furthermore, I thank you that I don't fully understand You, nor do I need to.  In Jesus' name, amen.

Sources:

Notable Arminians - -
A.W. Tozer

Andrew Murray

John Wesley

Watchman Nee

R.A. Torrey

David Pawson

Leonard Ravenhill

David Wilkerson

John R. Rice

Billy Graham

C.S. Lewis

Notable Calvinists - - 

Martin Luther

John Calvin (of course...)

John Knox

George Whitefield

William Wilberforce

Charles Spurgeon

R.C. Sproul

John MacArthur

John Piper

Francis Schaeffer

Tim Keller

Privileged Children

The parents left the house early in the morning, telling the children they could not say when they would return.  Before leaving, however, they gave the children a list of jobs to complete in their absence.  The list included tasks that would care for the family, but also a list of tasks to reach out to those outside the family.  After some time, the parents returned.  They found that the children had completed pretty well the items on the list most closely affecting their comfort and well-being. Unfortunately, the items designed to bring others relief and comfort were left undone.  The children had chosen to bless themselves instead of blessing others.

25 As he also says in Hosea:

“I will call those who were not my people, ‘My people,’ and I will call her who was unloved, ‘My beloved.’”
26 “And in the very place where it was said to them, ‘You are not my people,’
there they will be called ‘sons of the living God.’”

Romans 9:25-26

"Not my people!"  Isn't that what we, the Church, often say?  Although we have been commanded by our Lord to take the gospel to the ends of the Earth ("to every creature" - - Matt. 28:19-20), we often wallow in our largesse, turning a blind eye to those who have not heard.  American Christians are like the children in the story, choosing to spend our time and energy on our own "happiness".

Let me make a polarizing, yet thoroughly scriptural statement:  every Christian is a missionary, in some capacity.   Last week, my church held a powerful missions conference.  Many missionaries from the Far East, from Russia, from South America, from other U.S. states, and from "across town" came to be loved on, to tell us about their ministries, to encourage us to support the spreading of Jesus Christ's gospel.  My family was very blessed to meet new, dear friends and to be challenged to do the following:

1.  Love More
This is the basis for being an obedient missionary (that is, an obedient Christian!).  When we love God supremely, we will be supremely obedient to His mandate to spread the gospel.
When we love Him madly, we also love people to an equally insane level.  The two cannot be separated.  This is why, when asked what God's greatest commandment is, Jesus gave two new ones which supersede, overarch The 10:  "Love God with all that is in you, and then love your neighbor as much as you love yourself." (Mark 12:29-31)  The love we have received through Jesus Christ compels us... (2 Cor. 5:14)

2.  Look More
This means forming the habit of looking for opportunities to spread the gospel in your everyday life. There are opportunities all around us.  As we shower God's love on other people, doors will open to tell them of His amazing grace.  God honors our obedience.  If we are an unloving people, a close-handed people, stingy with our love, our time, our money, our hearts, we will not see many opportunities to witness to others.  The opportunities will still be there; we will just not see them.
If we sincerely pray that God will open our hearts and eyes, He will.  And then, if we pray for additional opportunities, He will reveal them to us.

3.  Obey More
It is not enough to merely see; we must then obey.  When God opens a door, we must walk through it.  Now listen, Christian friend: God does not call every one of us to the foreign mission field. However, He places each one of us IN a mission field - - this field called our "circle of influence". Here is how it works:  as we work diligently, obediently in our current field, He will enlarge it.  He will give us more opportunities to spread His good news of salvation.

Let's not live our Christian lives in disobedience, as privileged children.  You can bet that the parents in my story disciplined their children when they returned home.   God has entrusted to us life-changing news and a love that knows no measure.  Let's "let it shine"!

Father, I thought of Hebrews 11:38 at the women's brunch with the lady missionaries last week, as they told of illnesses and threats on their lives and other horrors, as they told of souls saved and lives transformed.  "People of whom this world was not worthy".  Oh Lord!  Please move our bowels to compassion!  May we all become those people, a Body that is always ready to, in exercising our spiritual gifts, "go and tell".  In Jesus' name, amen.

Children of God

There's a popular phrase, passed around the secular world.  It goes something like this:  "We are all children of God."  Applying that name to everyone indiscriminately is a lie, according to the Bible.
Although the human race was created by God "in His image", we are all born with a sin taint that, uncorrected, will forever separate us from Him.

The text for this morning is Romans 9:8.

8 This means it is not the children of the flesh who are the children of God; rather, the children of promise are counted as descendants.

Paul was speaking to the 1st century Jews of Rome, emphasizing to them that no one is a child of God, by birth.  The reason he was emphasizing this point was that the Jews believed that merely because they were born Jews they had an automatic path to Heaven, whereas Gentiles (non-Jews) were simply "out-of-luck" in the spiritual lottery.

Unfortunately, people tend to do this today.  If we were to conduct a "Jimmy Kimmel"-style people-on-the-street interview to ask this question: "Who are the children of God?", we'd get a plethora of answers.  Some would say that all human beings are "children of God." Others would say, "those who were born into a Christian family, or were baptized as babies or "raised in church". But, I'll bet you that most people would answer "those people who live upright and moral lives, treating others with tolerance and respect".

Those qualities are certainly desirable and admirable in a person.  However, according to the Bible's definition, they do not make a person a "child of God".  The lineage of grace does not flow through a person's human bloodline.  Paul makes clear (and John makes even more clear in 1 John) that children of God are those who have become children through God's promise.  In other words, it is the "children of promise" who are God's true descendants.

What in the world does that mean?

In the Scriptures, God the Father and God the Son made many promises.  However, in Romans 9:4 and 8, Paul was primarily referring to the promises of the Old Testament.  This is because he was writing to Jews, who did not at that time possess the complete New Testament.  In the O.T., God's promises are anchored by 5 major covenants.  But, the scarlet thread that runs throughout all of God's promises, beginning with Genesis 3:15 (the protoevangelium), is the promise to send a Messiah, a Redeemer - - - one who would purchase back mankind for God.  This One would be He who would enable people to become children of God.  That One was, and is, Jesus Christ.

John, one of the 12 apostles, said it more beautifully and succinctly in John 1:12.

But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the children of God, even to them that believe on his name:

KJV 2000

To become a child of God, a person must believe God (take Him at His word revealed in the Bible) and make a personal, intentional decision to receive Jesus Christ as Savior.   When that occurs, a person is then "a Christian", God's child through spiritual re-birth.  We grab hold of God's promises and then He keeps His promises to us.  He "keeps hold of us".

If you are or have been a parent of small children, you realize that they are yours by birth.  At times, you are embarrassed by their behavior, even though your love for them remains constant.  Many times, they do not act like members of your family should act.  However, despite their foibles and flops, they remain your child.  And, hopefully, through much prayer and God's grace, they will grow up to act like it.

This process is analogous to the Christian walk.  In our spiritual infancy and toddler and youth phases, we will make many mistakes as we "grow up" into our relationship with Christ.  Although we became children of God through God's grace and through our faith decision for Jesus, we may not always act like God's children.  That does not negate his promises to us.  He is faithful, even though we are at times wayward in our obedience.  I thank God for that.  His promises are not dependent on my perfection (which is non-existent).

We are not finished with Romans 9.  I'll return to it in my next post.

Father, thank you for extending Your mercy to me, so that I could become Your child.  I am so grateful to be forever Yours.  Please mold me more and more into the image of Your Son, Jesus, my Savior.  In His name, I pray, amen.

No Back-Talking

When I was a child, living under my parents' authority, I was mouthy.  (Surprise!  Surprise!)  I had an objection or a ready retort to just about any parental direction.  My parents' response was: "No back-talking!"  Believe me, I heard that a lot, and I knew at that point to "hush it".

The overall theme of chapter 9 is God's sovereignty, and it is crystallized in verses 20 and 21:

20 But who indeed are you—a mere human being—to talk back to God?

Does what is molded say to the molder, “Why have you made me like this?”

21 Has the potter no right to make from the same lump of clay one vessel for special use and another for ordinary use?

(NET)

In this chapter Paul is anguished because it appears that God is leaving behind the back-talking, unrepentant, blind and Law-stumbling Jews, and taking to salvation only a remnant of the Jewish people (vs. 27 and 32) as well as to the Gentiles.  He makes the heart-breaking point that the Jews were entrusted with His message, His spiritual favor.  Listen.

To them belong the adoption as sons, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the temple worship, and the promises. 5 To them belong the patriarchs, and from them, by human descent, came the Christ, who is God over all, blessed forever! Amen.

Romans 9:4b-5 (NET)

Recently, I gave a loved one a 3-pack gift of 1-hour massage sessions, from a reputable vendor here in town.  This dear one is "wound tight as a spring", you might say, and frankly, I was sort of at a loss for what to gift in this situation.  I was dismayed to realize that this loved one will in all likelihood reject this wonderful gift... will not use it.

It was like this with the Jews of Jesus' day.  The Israelites had all the spiritual advantages.  Yet, the Law had become a stumbling block to them, a boulder over which they tripped and fell headlong into theological error.  They were so entrenched in their man-made traditions and wrong-headed expectations that they were, by-and-large, unable to see or embrace the truth of God, revealed in Jesus Christ who, as Paul stated in verse 5, is "God over all".
They were so cemented in "children of God by Jewish birth" that they missed the truth of "children of God by promise".

In essence, they were spiritually "back-talking God".

Both Isaiah and Hosea saw and prophesied this, centuries before it occurred.  The first century Jews thought that they had God locked up in a box, all neat and tidy.  In reality, they had created and were worshipping a god of their own imagining, a god of their own creation, an idol.

It is easy for us to look at Romans 9 and wag our heads at these Jews of Jesus' day, isn't it?  The truth is that we are prone to do the same.

Paul makes the point to his first century converts and also to us that God is sovereign.  He bestows His mercy on whom He wants.  Furthermore, in all things He is free to do anything He wants, in accordance with His holy character.

There are American Christians today who are railing against God over the presidential primaries, for instance.  "Why is God allowing this?", they cry.  "We worked so hard!  We prayed so hard!"  And, they tear themselves up over it.  It is important to obediently engage our culture for righteousness' sake; but then, God will do as He pleases.  He is not a "genie God" or a "vending machine God".  He will accomplish His purposes and His plan in the earth (vs. 17).  Of this we can be sure.

What, then, should our response be, to Romans 9?  My personal take-away is found in verse 17:

“For this very purpose I have raised you up, that I may demonstrate my power in you, and that my name may be proclaimed in all the earth.” 

I was created for these purposes and, if you are a Christian, so were you.  If His purposes don't line up with my purposes, then mine had better "get in line".  Our job is to allow His Holy Spirit to demonstrate His power in us and through us.  Our mission is to proclaim His name in all the earth. His purposes becoming our purposes...with no back-talking!

Did you realize that the Latin root for "listening" and "obedience" is the same?  We tend to "back-talk" because we have not first listened to God, through stillness and silence, through prayer, through His Word.

Father, I've been convicted this morning that I am a poor, poor listener, and an excellent back-talker to you.  I am ashamed.  Please forgive me my headstrong, willful spirit.  Not my will, Lord, but Yours be done.  In Jesus' name, amen.

Judged: Not Guilty

I remember the first time I felt condemned.  By comparison with others who have lived traumatic childhood, it was "nothing".  As the firstborn child and the firstborn grandchild on both sides of my parents' families, however, I was a "golden child".  I had grown up for approximately 10 years being told how excellent I was.  Even though by the time of this incident I had accepted Christ as Savior, I was a new believer.  I knew I was a sinner, saved by grace.  But, still, in comparison to others of my age and circumstances, I thought I was something special.

Well, one day on the playground I experienced a major "condemnation."  For whatever the reason, the rest of my class had gone on in, and some upperclassmen girls (7th graders) were left on the playground with me.  About 3 of them came up to me and commented on how pretty I was.  This, of course, made my heart soar - - - to be praised by such exalted older girls.  Their "compliment" was quickly followed by the "2" of their 1-2 punch: "she's pretty ugly"!  At this point, they collapsed into peals of laughter over the play-on-words they had made.  Playground, indeed!  If I said anything in return, I don't remember it.  But, I vividly remember their faces and their words that day.  I was condemned as "ugly" by the pretty girls.

When we measure ourselves against others, we are almost always sure to find someone "better".  It's a self-defeating process.  Against whom or what, then, should we measure ourselves?

Against God's standard in the word of God.

Although our species was originally created in God's image, because of mankind's fall into sin, we are all born into sin.  Therefore, we have a stain on our souls that is seemingly inescapable. This truth is reaffirmed by many writers in the Bible, but let's look at the example of David, for one:

Look, I was guilty of sin from birth, a sinner the moment my mother conceived me. 

Psalm 51:5 (NET)

All people innately know this to be true.  The problem is that most deny it.  The way of the world is to run from God's condemnation of sin, to deny it, to hide from it, to shake our fists against it.  This only leads to more enslavement, more despair, more condemnation.  Mankind's rejection of God's answer to our condemnation only leads to greater guilt.

Amid such darkness, Romans 8:1 bursts onto the scene as a ray of brilliant light.

There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.

What does that mean "no condemnation"?  Those who are "in Christ Jesus" - - who are they?  How do they get rid of their sin curse?  (I wrote expansively about this in a blog post from July 4, 2014, "The Main Thing".)  The only remedy for our sin is Christ's finished work on our behalf: His birth, life, death, burial and triumphant resurrection from the dead.  The blood He spilled out, the life sacrifice He made, satisfied the requirements of God the Father.  Jesus bought our righteousness and gave it to those who take Him as Savior.

He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we may cease from sinning and live for righteousness. By his wounds you were healed.

1 Peter 2:24 (NET)

13For He rescued us from the domain of darkness, and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son, 14in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.

Colossians 1:13-14 (NET)

Jesus purchased this invaluable gift for all people, but not all will receive it.  Many, the greatest majority, in fact, will not.  Why not?  Many reasons.  Here are a couple:
1.  Sin is seductive and pleasurable.  Most do not want to leave behind their sins and turn to Christ.
2.  Satan's deceptive powers have blinded many to the truth of their condition.  Most somehow believe that, in the end, God will judge their puny efforts to be "good enough".  Although prevalent in our fallen world, this belief is resoundingly refuted, time and time again, in Scripture.

There is only one way to escape God's condemnation of our sin: Jesus Christ, who declared Himself "the way, the truth and the life" (John 14:16).  Notice: He did not say "A way, A truth..." No. One way, THE way.

So, for the believer in Jesus Christ - - for that person who has not only believed intellectually with his or her head but also with a heart belief that involves surrender and repentance - - there is forever NO condemnation for sins.  All are forgiven, past, present and future.  Positionally, God the Father then sees Christ's own as righteous, with all condemnation removed.  Positionally, Christ's followers are then granted status as sons and daughters of God, co-heirs with Jesus Christ in the riches of God's grace and mercy.

Listen to this:  when Christ's blood is applied to our souls, it is the same to God as "just as if she had never sinned".  We may have trouble forgiving ourselves and forgetting our sins, but God does not have that problem.  When we are "justified", made right, with God, He then banishes our former fallen, sin-ridden state as far away from Himself as "the east is from the west" (Psalm 103:12).

I'll never forget that day, that day when He washed all my sins away.  The incredible, incomparable realization: "Judged: Not Guilty".  I can still see in my mind's eye that little nine-year old girl dancing and twirling around the parking lot in the balmy, August evening, arms flung wide, head uplifted - - total freedom and joy.

Does it sound too good to be true?  Too simple?  It's the best thing this earthly life has to offer, the best decision a person can ever make, the most consequential choice of a lifetime, because its implications last forever.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PBqUwpCvCL8

Dear Father,  no condemnation!  Thank you for making one way and only one way for me to be reconciled to You, my Father, my Creator, my Savior.  Thank you for removing all my sin, forever. Such love, mercy and grace compel me to serve You with my whole heart, to walk .... resplendent!
In Jesus' name, amen.