Category Archives: grace

The Scripture as a means of grace

Hebrews 13:9  Do not be carried away by varied and strange teachings; for it is good for the heart to be strengthened by grace, not by foods, through which those who were so occupied were not benefited.

If we are not to be carried away by varied and strange teachings it is reasonable to conclude that we should be grounded in singular and familiar teaching.  Singular in that there is one source.  Familiar in that we should be well acquainted with that source.  For Christians the singular and familiar source is the Bible – the Word of God.  In Reformed settings we often talk of the ordinances of the church (baptism and the Lord’s Supper) as means of grace  in that they spiritually strengthen those who participate in them.  Here we read the author of Hebrews considering the Word of God itself a means of grace.  We are strengthened and sustained by the Word (Deut. 8:3; Mat. 4:4).  Remember that as you consider the great gift God has given us in His Word.

The Deception of New Years Resolutions

Psalm 5:3 O LORD, in the morning I hear your voice…

Psalm 145:2  Every day I will bless Thee, And I will praise Thy name forever and ever.

January 1st probably leads every other day of the year in promises and good intentions.  Lose weight, quit smoking, exercise more, go back to college, repair broken relationship etc. etc. etc.  The new year doesn’t progress very far before these resolutions are broken.  Some individuals stick with it longer than others, and there is always a few who accomplish their goal; but for the majority of us, we ditch those New Years resolutions somewhere between January and March.

Christians are not immune to resolutions.  Maybe we promised ourselves that we will read the bible more often, pray diligently, and make a real attempt to display brotherly love towards those in the church.  Halfway through the year we look back and find that we weren’t completely faithful in doing these things.  Our own broken promises to ourselves come back to haunt us.  We fall prey to the deception of New Years resolutions.

The truth is that we don’t need to wait until the beginning of a New Year to get serious about our spiritual life.  There is no better time than now to pray more (Colossians 4:2).  There is no better time than now to read the Word of God (Psalm 119:11).  There is no better time than now to do good works (Ephesians 2:10).  There is no better time than now to love the brethren (1 John 4:11).  There is no better time than now to confess our sins, repent, and obey God (James 5:16; Galatians 5:16; Colossians 3:24).  As Christians, we are called to walk in a manner worthy of our calling (Ephesians 4:1).  The Christian life doesn’t begin on January 1st, it’s a 24/7/365 reality.  It’s a continual journey that exists outside of a calendar.  The truth is that we will often fail and fall short. The good news is that we’re not alone on this journey.  We have been set on the path by God Himself, and He has given us the Holy Spirit to bring us safely to our destination (John 14:16).  When we fail we need to remember that all our sin, all short comings, have been laid upon Christ.  He has forgiven us for our sins and clothed us with His righteousness.  We don’t have to wait until the beginning of the week, month, or new year in order to have a fresh start.  We continually have a fresh start in Christ.

Colossians 3:3  For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God.

Happy New Year!

Contemplating God’s Goodness

I’m sitting in my car next to a reservoir in Howard County. I stopped for a time of prayer. It’s been a miserable sales week. I know God is good and gives good things to His children. I joyfully concur that times like these are used for our growth. As I type this a flock of geese just flew overhead, honking for all to hear. Geese honk as a way of keeping in formation. They depend on the honks of the other geese. It helps keep them from being drawn off course or becoming confused with nearby flocks. Likewise, God has provided His flock, His sheep, with the clarion call of His Word. No matter what may befall us, God’s Word never changes. Through prayer, meditation, and obedience to the Word, we keep ourselves from sin and find comfort for our souls in any circumstance.

We serve a great God who considers His sheep to be of infintely more value than a sparrow, or even geese. He is with us in times of joy and times of sorrow; even in the middle of something as trivial as a bad sales week.

Blessed be the name of the Lord.

What is the Sabbath and should we keep it? Part I

Most Baptists consider themselves to be under grace, and not the Law.  They are not obligated to follow the Law of Moses, because it has been fulfilled in Christ.  There is some truth to this statement.  The ceremonial part of the Law has, indeed, been fulfilled in Christ.  The need for animal sacrifice and elaborate temple rituals have been made obsolete.  More than that, they are now considered pagan worship.  But there is another aspect of the Law that continues to this day – the moral law.  The moral law of God is found in the Decalogue; commonly referred to as the Ten Commandments.  Exodus 20 lists these commandments.

Exodus 20:1-17  And God spoke all these words, saying,  2 “I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.  3 “You shall have no other gods before me.  4 “You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth.  5 You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I the LORD your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and the fourth generation of those who hate me,  6 but showing steadfast love to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments.  7 “You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain, for the LORD will not hold him guiltless who takes his name in vain.  8 “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.  9 Six days you shall labor, and do all your work,  10 but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God. On it you shall not do any work, you, or your son, or your daughter, your male servant, or your female servant, or your livestock, or the sojourner who is within your gates.  11 For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.  12 “Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long in the land that the LORD your God is giving you.  13 “You shall not murder.  14 “You shall not commit adultery.  15 “You shall not steal.  16 “You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.  17 “You shall not covet your neighbor’s house; you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or his male servant, or his female servant, or his ox, or his donkey, or anything that is your neighbor’s.”

The fourth commandment refers to the Sabbath.  The Sabbath was set apart as a day of rest that was to be treated as holy by the entire nation of Israel.  It was observed on Saturday, the seventh day of the week.  On the Sabbath, the people of Israel were not to work as they did the other six days of the week.  But, was the Sabbath first introduced in Exodus 20?  Was the nation of Israel the first intended audience for this commandment?  Consider this passage:

Genesis 2:1-3  Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them.  2 And on the seventh day God finished his work that he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all his work that he had done.  3 So God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it God rested from all his work that he had done in creation.

Genesis 2 completes the creation narrative, the biblical account of God creating the heavens and the earth (Gen. 1:1).  God chose six days in which to create, and in Genesis 2:2 we read that He rested on the seventh day.  This rest is not similar to our rest.  When we are tired we sleep.  Our mind and our body is disengaged from the world as our body recuperates.  God cannot rest in a similar fashion, for He keeps the universe, indeed all of creation, from oblivion by His powerful hand.  God’s rest was His ceasing from the work of creation.  His work of creation is a marvelous and holy thing.  He commanded the seventh day as holy, because on it He completed His creation.  The account of Genesis 2 takes place long before Moses was given the Ten Commandments by God; long before the Sabbath became part of the Mosaic Law.

There is another passage that deserves our attention.

Exodus 16:23-30  23 he said to them, “This is what the LORD has commanded: ‘Tomorrow is a day of solemn rest, a holy Sabbath to the LORD; bake what you will bake and boil what you will boil, and all that is left over lay aside to be kept till the morning.'”  24 So they laid it aside till the morning, as Moses commanded them, and it did not stink, and there were no worms in it.  25 Moses said, “Eat it today, for today is a Sabbath to the LORD; today you will not find it in the field.  26 Six days you shall gather it, but on the seventh day, which is a Sabbath, there will be none.”  27 On the seventh day some of the people went out to gather, but they found none.  28 And the LORD said to Moses, “How long will you refuse to keep my commandments and my laws?  29 See! The LORD has given you the Sabbath; therefore on the sixth day he gives you bread for two days. Remain each of you in his place; let no one go out of his place on the seventh day.”  30 So the people rested on the seventh day.

The account of Exodus 16 also takes place before the LORD gave Moses the Ten Commandments.  The LORD gave Israel manna in the morning and quail in the evening.  It was an act of His grace.  They did not need to toil or work for it.  The manna was collected from the ground and quail just walked up in the camp.  On the seventh day, the LORD provided rest for Israel from all her labors.  The Sabbath was not mean to punish Israel, or do prevent them from enjoyment.  Instead it was a day for them to rest in the LORD.  They were to reflect upon the goodness of God, and rejoice in Him.  All of this was commanded before the Law was given in Exodus 20.  That is interesting to note because it will bear on our further study as to the disposition of the Sabbath after Christ’s death and resurrection.

What are you rights?

You don’t have to listen closely to society in order to hear people demand “their rights.”  We have animal rights, abortion rights, health care rights, voting rights etc.  The Constitution of the United States has ten amendments that are called the “Bill of Rights.”  Those who have rights get upset when their rights are infringed upon.  Even criminals have rights.  The Civil War was fought over the issue of rights.  Considering that we have all these rights, I have a simple question.  What rights do we possess at birth?  What are our rights as a newborn infant coming into this world?  I’ll wait for your answer.

The bible tells us, “Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, And in sin my mother conceived me.” (Psalm 51:5)  From birth we are at emnity with God.  Considering that God created the heavens and the earth (Genesis 1:1), and that he holds our very breath in His hands (Isaiah 42:5); it is a fearful thing to be an enemy of God.  As enemies of God, we have no rights.  Our very life is borrowed time.  God would be justified in judging all His enemies and condemning them to h*ell without any right to appeal.  All the rights we have in this world, granted by human government, amount to nothing in the sight of God.  Those rights will not carry into eternity.

If we have no rights in the sight of God, then how can any be saved?  The Apostle Paul wrote:

Romans 5:8-10 But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from the wrath of God through Him. For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life.

What is this about?  While were yet sinners, Christ died for us?  The path to reconciliation of God has been made possible to those who have no hope, no rights.  How can this be?

Ephesians 2:4-9  But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus,  so that in the ages to come He might show the surpassing riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast.

God saved us by His marvelous grace.  While we were yet dead in our sins, enemies of God, He made us alive together with Christ.  He did this for sinners who had no portion in Him, who had no rights.  We could not demand God’s forgiveness or take Him to task for being so unfair as to condemn us to h*ell.  We were once mute in the sight of God, but now, because of His marvelous grace, He has brought us near to Him through Christ.

And now, things have changed.  Once we who had no rights now have them.  They are rights given to us as sons.  What rights?  The right to adoption as sons (Romans 8:15), every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places (Ephesians 1:3), and the right to reign with Christ for eternity (Revelation 20:6).  All these “rights” are gifts of God’s grace.  They were not earned or deserved, but given to us as loving gifts by our heavenly Father.

If you are in Christian, praise God for the rights that are yours in Christ.  They will last forever.