theology | Mike's Place on the Web

Posts Tagged 'theology'

REDEMPTION, PART 5

Published September 12, 2012 Uncategorized Leave a Comment
Tags: living sacrifice, renewed mind, Romans, romans 12, theology

BETTER LIVING THROUGH BETTER THINKING

Perhaps the most important aspect of spiritual renewal involves our mind. When we think about our redemption and the scope of our salvation, we naturally think of the spiritual aspects. Most naturally we think of ourselves in light of eternity. When we accept Christ as our Lord and Savior, our eternal destination changes from Hell to Heaven. Rarely do we think of our redemption in terms of our thinking process. But we should because the way we live starts as a thought.

Spiritual transformation comes through continually submitting to the Lordship of Jesus Christ, and that submission begins in the mind.

For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he… (Proverbs 23:7, KJV)

1. Renew your mind, Romans 12:1—3

a. A living sacrifice, vs. 1

Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship.

There is no distinction between “doctrine” and “life” as far as the Christian is concerned. Even though many Christians cringe at the word “doctrine,” the simple fact is “doctrine” determines how you “live.” The word “therefore” links what Paul is about discuss with what he just finished discussing. Up till now in Romans, Paul had been discussing some heavy duty spiritual doctrines, including all that was accomplished on the Cross by Christ on our behalf. The fundamental idea of the first 11 chapters of Romans is that of the sacrifice offered by God for the sins and transgression of the world—

God presented him as a sacrifice of atonement, through faith in his blood. He did this to demonstrate his justice, because in his forbearance he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished — he did it to demonstrate his justice at the present time, so as to be just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus. (Romans 3:25, 26)

In light of this fundamental Christian “doctrine,” Paul is about tell the Romans, and us, how Christians should live, hence his use of the word, “therefore.” His appeal is based on “God’s mercy.” Because God did all this (the doctrines of chapters 1—11) out of mercy, Christians ought to live a certain way out of gratitude. But how do you do that? The Old Testament’s elaborate sacrificial system was one way, but it is not the Christian way. When an Israelite wanted to show his love and commitment to God, he would personally offer his best animal or bird at the tabernacle as a sacrifice. That offering was “holy” to the Lord in that it wholly His, the priest and the offerer got no part of it. This, however, wouldn’t work for the Christian. For the Christian, God demands his whole person as an offering—no animal or bird is adequate. The Christian is urged to present his body once for all for the service of God. The idea of a “living sacrifice” suggests that it is an ongoing thing to be expressed in our activity. Though we present our whole being one time—we are saved only one time—that offering goes on and on. John Chrysostom ponders how this can happen:

How can the body become a sacrifice? Let the eye look upon nothing evil, and it has become a sacrifice. Let the tongue speak nothing shameful, and it has become an offering. Let the hand do nothing unlawful, and it has become a burnt offering.

In other words, Christians must make conscious decisions to render to God acts of acceptable worship every day in how they live and act in and react to the world around them.

b. A renewed mind, vs. 2

Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is —his good, pleasing and perfect will.

The core of the Christian life is the complete abandonment of our bodies to God’s service. Verse 2 tells us how we are able to do this: it will be the natural result of changing our way of thinking. Remember, all our actions begin as thoughts, therefore if we want act righteously, we must think righteously. From henceforth, we must not think like the world thinks. Our attitudes must be markedly different from those of the world. J.B. Phillips’ classic translation captures Paul’s thoughts excellently:

Don’t let the world around you squeeze you into its own mould, but let God re-mould your minds from within...

Remember, this admonition comes on the heels of some heavy-duty doctrinal teaching. Doctrine is not separate from practical Christianity; it is, in reality, the force behind it. The great doctrines of Scripture should be the motivation behind how we think and how we live. Only when we change our habitual (read: sinful) way of thinking, can we grasp what God’s will is.

The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. (2 Corinthians 4:4)

Living sacrificially, which comes from right thinking, will lead a Christian to find his place in the Body of Christ.

c. A measure of faith, vs. 3

For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the measure of faith God has given you.

With authority from Christ Himself, Paul tells his Roman friends that they are all part of the Body of Christ, none has a special status. Living sacrifices all have something special from God, however: a measure of faith. As Paul has received “grace” from God, so all believers have received this faith. This brings mind something Peter wrote:

Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God’s grace in its various forms. (1 Peter 4:10)

2. Put on the new self, Ephesians 4:17—24

a. Remembering the old self, vs. 17—19

Here again, like in Romans, Paul deals with how believers ought to conduct their lives and he begins this teaching by reminding his readers of how they used to live. They used to live like Gentiles—like unredeemed people—but now, through their new birth in Christ, they are different. As we read what the life of sin consists of, we realize that that that old life is light years away from our new life. The idea Paul wants to impress upon his readers is that they must make a clean break from their old lifestyle. Even as they are surrounded by it, they must not be part of it.

b. Becoming the new self, vs. 20—24

The believers in the Ephesian church, like believers today, are not to be like the unredeemed Gentiles just described by Paul, who lived only to satisfy their base nature. This was not how the converts in Ephesus came to know Christ!

You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires… (verse 22)

This was how the Ephesian believers came to know Christ: He could be known only by taking off the costume of the “old self.” In other words, their previous lifestyle was to be disposed of completely; they were no longer to live like they used to. And Christians should rush to do this because the old way of life is totally destructive!

…to be made new in the attitude of your minds… (verse 23)

Here is the key to Paul’s teaching of the new life: it begins in the mind. By receiving Christ, the Christian is expected to exhibit Christ-likeness. We are made new by taking on new attitudes. This is our obligation; God won’t do our thinking for us. It is true that elsewhere in Scripture Paul taught that Christ did all the work for us on the Cross—

For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form, and you have been given fullness in Christ, who is the head over every power and authority. (Colossians 2:9, 10)

This is a finished, spiritual fact. In Ephesians, however, Paul explains the importance of the public, practical demonstration of this spiritual fact.

3. Strive to know Christ fully, Philippians 3:7—16

a. Live to win Christ, vs. 7, 18

But whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ…

Paul was an amazing, successful Jewish man. Yet he considered all of his accomplishments and his pedigree as nothing compared to the privilege of knowing Jesus. In spite of Paul’s acknowledged abilities as a rabbi and Jewish scholar, when He found Christ and his new life, he knew he had to surrender the old life; he had to let it all go. He gave it all up, all of its benefits, for the sake of knowing Jesus Christ.

b. Knowing Christ, vs. 9—11

I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead. (vs. 10, 11)

What does it mean, “to know Christ?” It goes back to the thought began in verse 8, that everything Paul once knew and had was nothing compared to knowing Christ. When a sinner, like Paul, comes to Christ, he appropriates by faith a “righteousness that is from God.” But when that born again sinner begins to think about Christ and what God did for him, there is produced in that person a yearning to get to know Christ more, in a deeper way, and this means knowing all about Christ and all facets of His great work.

Paul wanted to know, not only the mind of Christ, but also His heart. Paul knew that with knowledge comes power, and what Paul wanted was to have a complete knowledge of Christ, thus possessing the power Christ had, even resurrection power. In knowing Christ, we become like Him in all ways.

c. Pursuing Christ, vs. 12—16

In spite of Paul’s dedication to Christ, he makes it clear he hasn’t “arrived yet.” He had not yet achieved perfection nor had he completely “figured out” Christ. Paul was work in progress and he was determined to fulfill one, single, three pronged goal:

He wanted to somehow forget his past. Naturally, the human mind forgets some things very easily over time, but Paul wanted to ensure that his past, his old life, would never affect his present or his future. He never wanted his former way of life or way of living to keep him from fulfilling God’s will in his life.
Paul was determined to always look and reach forward. He was wholly committed to living a life that pleased God.
Finally, Paul pressed—worked determinedly—to achieve his new life’s goal, “the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.”

That final point could never be fully realized here on earth. This goal was an eternal one that would find its ultimate fulfillment in Heaven.

As we see, the quality of our new life in Christ is in our hands, or more accurately in our minds. It is up to individual believers to take charge of their thought-life, to bring it in line with the Word of God. Only then will our lives reflect Christ.

THE CROSS OF CHRIST, PART 5

Published July 7, 2012 Uncategorized 1 Comment
Tags: crucifixion of jesus, roman centurion, theology, victory of the cross

The Victories of the Cross

To some, the Cross of Christ is a symbol of ultimate defeat. After all, to be strung up and nailed to a cross was punishment and a death reserved only for the worst of criminals. So awful was the cross, we read this:

“Cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree.” (Deuteronomy 21:23, see also Galatians 3:13)

But the Cross of Christ was different. His Cross, a symbol of defeat to some, became the symbol of everlasting victory to others. The very first one to experience the victory of the Cross was the penitent sinner, crucified next to Jesus. The next one was that Roman centurion who had no choice to but confess:

“Surely this man was the Son of God!” (Mark 15:39)

The death of Christ was the greatest achievement ever accomplished by any man on earth. The influence of Christ has reached every nook and cranny of the world, influencing in one way or another every human being. The influence of the Cross reached the highest heaven and the lowest hell.

The height of man’s sin and his complete failure is seen at the Cross in the crucifixion of Jesus, and at the same time Christ’s greatest victory has come by His Cross. The victory of the Cross is made up of a number of things:

1. A victory over the Law

When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your sinful nature, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins, having canceled the written code, with its regulations, that was against us and that stood opposed to us; he took it away, nailing it to the cross. (Colossians 2:13—14)

In God’s great mercy, He took pity on every sinner—Gentiles and Jews alike—and made a way to forgive them. Those living without Christ are literally morally and spiritually dead, not only because they have transgressed God’s perfect law but because that is their state before God: guilty and dead. A person in that state has no hope; they are utterly impotent, unable to help themselves.

However, whatever was nailed to the Cross was identified with Him in His death. So our sins: nailed to His Cross, died on that Cross. Our sinful nature: nailed to His Cross, died on that Cross. The Law, with its righteousness and burdensome requirements, in force against us because of our sins: nailed to the Cross, died on the Cross. Christ has done away with the Law with its rules and regulations because He Himself had made reconciliation possible between sinful man and his holy God. Christ did the work; He did the obeying. As the perfect Man, He represented us on the Cross; when He died on the Cross, our sinful natures died on the Cross. Because He fulfilled every single demand of the Law on the Cross, we don’t have to.

All that is left for man to do is simply believe in what Christ did on the Cross and claim His victory over the Law and its demands. There is no other way to God; no matter of obedience to any law or doctrine will get a single soul through the pearly gates.

Therefore no one will be declared righteous in his sight by observing the law; rather, through the law we become conscious of sin. (Romans 3:20)

The death of Christ gives US victory over the Law.

2. A victory over sin

Then Christ would have had to suffer many times since the creation of the world. But now he has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to do away with sin by the sacrifice of himself. (Hebrews 9:26)

Not only was the Law nailed to the Cross, so was sin: our sins and the sins of the world. Sin had to be done away with once and for all in order to do away with the inevitable result of sin:

The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. (1 Corinthians 15:56, 57)

Because sin lurks in the darkest recesses of the human heart, and because there is nothing we can do about our sinful condition, we are necessarily unfit to have fellowship with our holy God. That’s why our sins had to be nailed to His Cross and why our sinful natures—our dark human hearts—also had to be nailed to the Cross. Jesus did for us what we could not do for ourselves. That’s our victory over sin! He died for our sins so that we might daily have victory over them.

3. A victory over death

Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might destroy him who holds the power of death—that is, the devil — and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death. (Hebrews 2:14, 15)

The wages of sin is death and the fear of death stalks all people. Fear of death is the one thing every human being has common with every other human being. Fear of death chains a man; it robs him of his liberty. Fear of death makes a man afraid to live. Death itself always means separation: separation from loved ones, from the world we love, and, for the sinner, separation from God. Spiritual death, though, is the worst kind of death because it is to be dead while alive: it is to be separated from God.

But the death of Jesus Christ meant the death of fear to all who trust and have faith in Him. The apostle Paul wrote this:

…but it has now been revealed through the appearing of our Savior, Christ Jesus, who has destroyed death and has brought life and immortality to light through the gospel. (2 Timothy 1:10)

Those who have found Jesus Christ to their Lord and Savior have also learned that they will never, ever experience death. The body may die, but thanks to the Cross, we have NO fear of death because we will never experience so much as a moment of separation from our Heavenly Father!

Sin was nailed to Cross; done away with forever. For those of us who live this truth every day of our lives, we know exactly what Isaiah meant when he wrote these stirring words:

On this mountain he will destroy the shroud that enfolds all peoples, the sheet that covers all nations; he will swallow up death forever. The Sovereign Lord will wipe away the tears from all faces; he will remove the disgrace of his people from all the earth. The Lord has spoken. (Isaiah 28:7, 8)

4. Victory over the devil’s work

He who does what is sinful is of the devil, because the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil’s work. (1 John 3:8)

The question naturally is, What is devil’s work? The Bible tells us that the Devil is a deceiver and a liar what he is he does. The Devil’s main task is to deceive man and blind him to the things of God. The work of Christ, though, is to undo what the Devil has done. The work of Christ is to shine the truth of God into man’s life. Simply put, the Cross of Christ is undoing the persistent lie that began in the garden of Eden:

“You will not surely die,” the serpent said to the woman. (Genesis 3:4)

The truth is, the wages of sin is death, and our Lord suffered in order to put away sin and end the devil’s work. God will never punish sin in his children because He did so in Christ. The devil’s work as far as the believer is concerned is over. All who have trusted in Christ and in the efficacy of His redeeming Blood, have been set free from the delusion perpetrated by the devil.

The work of the devil has been cut short in the case of those who glory in the Cross.

5. Victory over all!

And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross. (Colossians 2:15)

Everything associated with the devil was disarmed—cast off—and put to shame by the Cross of Christ. The power of the Prince of Darkness was crushed when he was trampled on by the Son of God, one infinitely more powerful than he. The death and resurrection of Christ resulted in the frustration of all the devil’s plans.

In John 12, we read about Jesus’ thoughts on this matter:

“Now my heart is troubled, and what shall I say? ‘Father, save me from this hour’?” (John 12:27a)

Our Lord knew what was to come; it was only natural that He was apprehensive. However, Jesus didn’t stay apprehensive; He knew what He had to do and why He had to do it:

“No, it was for this very reason I came to this hour. Father, glorify your name!” (John 12:27b, 28a)

Jesus submitted to His Father’s will:

Now is the time for judgment on this world; now the prince of this world will be driven out. But I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to myself.” He said this to show the kind of death he was going to die.(John 12:31—33)

This “kind of death” would be unlike any other death. Jesus’ death was completely unique in every sense of the word. It was not only unique, but it was powerful; so powerful it has touched, in one way or another, all people, angles, and demons. Note what the Jesus said: all men will be drawn to Him, either by grace or for judgment. Because of the Cross of Christ, our Savior has been appointed judge of all:

For he has set a day when he will judge the world with justice by the man he has appointed. He has given proof of this to all men by raising him from the dead. (Acts 17:31)

Yes, all people will eventually stand before Christ, either at the Throne of Reward (2 Corinthians 5:10) or at the Great White Throne of judgment (Revelation 20:11—15). We will all stand before Christ, either as sinners saved by His blood, or as sinners who have willfully rejected His sacrifice. “All men” will be drawn to Christ, but not all will be saved. Jesus Christ died for the salvation of all men, but all men must respond to God’s call.

The Cross of Christ symbolizes His great victory over all; all things that have ever stood between God and man. Sin, death, hell, the grave, and Satan have all been destroyed by the risen Christ.

IT’S ALL ABOUT INTEGRITY!

Published July 3, 2012 Uncategorized Leave a Comment
Tags: moral purity, spirituality, theology

It’s so hard to find nowadays, you need a sign to help you find integrity.

1 Thessalonians 4:1—12

You hear a lot about “integrity,” especially during an election cycle. We often think of integrity in terms of one’s character and reputation. We think of a Christian with integrity as one who is dedicated and committed to Christ regardless of his environment. The test of his integrity comes when he finds himself in a difficult situation where living his faith doesn’t come easy. How he faces that demonstrates his integrity.

Living a life of integrity isn’t always easy, especially when we try to do it under our own steam. However, the Christian has help: he has the Holy Spirit. The Spirit will help us live right and make right decisions. Maintaining our integrity in a world where integrity is rare is a solid witness for Christ.

1. Live in Moral Purity, 4:1—8

a. The Christian Life. vs. 1, 2

Finally, brothers, we instructed you how to live in order to please God, as in fact you are living. Now we ask you and urge you in the Lord Jesus to do this more and more. For you know what instructions we gave you by the authority of the Lord Jesus.

The NIV’s “ask…and…urge” and the KJV’s “beseech…and exhort” are phrases that indicate the seriousness of what is to follow. Paul doesn’t threaten or warn his friends, but he wants them to know how serious his next admonition is going to be. He had just written about being “blameless and holy” in God’s presence when He returns:

May he strengthen your hearts so that you will be blameless and holy in the presence of our God and Father when our Lord Jesus comes with all his holy ones. (3:13)

With verse 1 of chapter 4, Paul continues this thought. As far as he was concerned, purity in living is the goal of Christian character. Holiness isn’t so much an additional, separate grace as it is the end result of maturity in the faith. One writer has observed:

What the heart is to the body that the soul is to the man; and what health is to the heart holiness is to the soul.

At the end of chapter 3, Paul prayed that God would fill the Thessalonians with love in order to achieve holiness of life. While Paul understands that a holy life cannot be achieved apart from God’s help, he also knows that the believer bears a responsibility in its development; they must attain it. Human effort is not done away with by the Divine.

From what Paul wrote, the Thessalonians were well on their way in holy living. The phrase “as you are living” is Paul’s way of praising them. But his emphasis here, as it always in his writing, is on achieving, moving ever forward, making greater progress.

Paul and his friends had taught the Thessalonians about holy living “by the authority of the Lord Jesus.” In other words, holy living isn’t Paul’s idea, it’s God’s will for His people. He taught them how God wanted them to live, not how he wanted them to live. Paul didn’t teach opinions, he taught God’s Word. Like much in the Christian life, holy living doesn’t come naturally even to the most dedicated believer. We must be taught how to live right. Obedience should always be in direct proportion to knowledge; knowledge and practice go hand-in-hand.

b. Sexual Purity, vs. 3—8

The first phrase of verse 3 should be memorized by every serious Christian:

It is God’s will that you should be sanctified…

There is no doubt that it is God’s will for believers to be holy. Holiness is not an option. But holiness takes many forms, just like sin. So, from a general statement about what God wants, Paul gives his readers a practical example:

…that you should avoid sexual immorality…

J.B. Phillips translates verse 3 in a way that makes Paul’s intention a little clearer:

God’s plan is to make you holy, and that entails first of all a clean cut with sexual immorality.

God makes us holy—He sanctifies us—but we play a part in the process. In the case of the Thessalonians, they needed to make a clean break from sexual immorality. We get a glimpse, perhaps, of the true state of the believers in Thessalonica. While Paul praised them for their attempts at holy living, it seems as though more work was needed. The Christians in this church were converts from paganism; from very sensuous religions that practiced sexual rituals in their worship. Many of the members of this large church had been raised in an environment where polygamy, homosexuality, and other sexual deviances were commonplace and accepted. To grow in their new-found faith they needed to completely do away with their old attitudes toward matters of sexuality.

...each of you should learn to control his own body in a way that is holy and honorable… (verse 4)

This verse puts to bed the abominable notion that we can’t control our urges, or that “the devil made me do it.” In fact, we are able to “control our bodies” so as to live in obedience to God’s will that we be holy people.

But there is another way to interpret verse 4, and this is reflected in the GNT:

Each of you should know how to live with your wife in a holy and honorable way…

In other words, as this interpretation suggests, sexual satisfaction is to be found within the confines of a healthy marriage.

Regardless of the precise meaning of the difficult verse 4, the sense of this paragraph is clear. The Thessalonians and all Christians are to abstain from any form of sexual immorality in their efforts to cultivate a life of purity and holiness.

2. Increase in Christian Love, 4:9, 10

Now about brotherly love we do not need to write to you, for you yourselves have been taught by God to love each other. And in fact, you do love all the brothers throughout Macedonia. Yet we urge you, brothers, to do so more and more.

In his letters, Paul almost always stressed love and unity within the church ahead of any teachings on morality. Here, though, the order is reversed. After dealing with the area of morality, Paul turns to the topic of love. Specifically, brotherly love between Christians. Brotherly love (philadelphias) is a translation of two words meaning, “love” and “brother.” Outside of the Bible, Greek and Jewish writers used “brotherly love” of the kind of love that exists within the family unit. The New Testament writers all glommed onto the word as a way to describe the love that ought to exist within the Church. Clearly, God wants Christians to view their relationship to each other as familial in nature.

Paul’s only directive is: “we urge you.” Paul’s teaching on “brotherly love” reveals something important as to its nature. The great apostle simply “urges” his readers to love each other as they have been “taught by God.” When it comes to “brotherly love,” it is implanted in every believer at their new birth. All they have to do is let that implanted love manifest itself.

The Christian church of Paul’s day was a true anomaly in a cold, heartless, pagan world. In a world were hatred, jealousy, and contempt reigned supreme, members of this new Christian church actually loved each other! It should be this way, today. Love for our fellows is clear evidence of the new birth; it is something unrepentant sinners don’t have.

This kind of philadelphia needs to increase in the Church.

3. A Life of Industry: Work Hard!, 4:11, 12

Make it your ambition to lead a quiet life, to mind your own business and to work with your hands, just as we told you… (verse 11)

Paul moves quite naturally from relationships within the Church to the Christian’s relationship with his community. How should the Christian be seen by the community at large? According to Paul, hard working, above reproach, living and working in such a way as to bring respect from a community of sinners.

Make it your aim to live a quiet life, to mind your own business, and to earn your own living, just as we told you before. (GNT)

Ambition (one’s “aim”) is not a bad thing, in fact, Paul encourages ambition in the right direction. To lead “a quite life” is to be distinguished from the kind of life full of busyness that leads nowhere. One can be busy doing the wrong things; things that lead away from God, and that kind of ambition is wrong. A “quiet life” means a peacefulness of the mind. When selfish ambitions are one’s aim, there can only be unrest. But when Christ is the end desire of all we do, then He will be in control and rest will follow.

This kind of attitude will lead to two things. First, believers will mind their own business. It’s tempting to be like Mrs. Kravitz on the old “Bewitched” TV show. It’s tempting to be a nosy, meddlesome neighbor. Christians are to be mindful of each other within the Church, making sure our fellow members are doing well both in the Lord and in the world, but we should never cross the line (within or without the Church) of concern into being the kind of person who has an inordinate curiosity into the private affairs of others.

Second, believers are to work hard. Christians should never be lazy; they should never become a burden to their families or to society if they can help it. In the Thessalonian church, it seems that some of the believers were not working, and becoming restless because they believed the Lord was going to return at any moment. They were, in effect, lazy and sponging off the generosity of others. That way of life is not at all glorifying to God.

…so that your daily life may win the respect of outsiders and so that you will not be dependent on anybody. (vs. 12)

So, when Christians are busy working and minding their own business, they will “win the respect of outsiders,” that is, people not part of the Church will respect them. The other benefit is that they will “not be dependent on anybody.” Another way to look at the phrase is like this:

…that ye may have lack of nothing. (KJV)

God will supply all our needs, but we are expected to our part! Hard work has its rewards, and one of them is that NEEDS are met.

Of course, our world today is vastly different from the world of the New Testament. Our economy is totally different from that of first century Thessalonica. But Paul’s advice to the Thessalonians is still relevant to the church today. Maintaining an honorable independence is essential in maintaining a good testimony to unbelievers. The work of the kingdom is always moving forward, as it was in the first century, through the lives of believers who go quietly, dutifully, and respectfully about their everyday chores.

JAMES: A MAN OF PRAYER

Published June 26, 2012 Uncategorized Leave a Comment
Tags: James, james wisdom, joseph judas, Prayer, spirituality, theology

The inspiring story of a man of prayer, Angus Buchan.

There are several men in the New Testament named James. The James we are looking at now is James, the brother of Jesus. Technically James would be the half-brother of Jesus.

Isn’t this the carpenter? Isn’t this Mary’s son and the brother of James, Joseph, Judas and Simon? Aren’t his sisters here with us?” And they took offense at him. (Mark 6:3)

This is the same man who wrote the letter that bears his name, which opens like this:

James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ… (James 1:1a)

It’s very telling that James never mentions his familial relationship to Jesus, referring to himself instead as “a servant…of the Lord Jesus Christ.” During the early years, James had no idea who his brother really was; it took him a long time to clue in that his brother Jesus was really the Messiah. No wonder our Lord said this:

“Only in his hometown, among his relatives and in his own house is a prophet without honor.” (Mark 6:4)

It may have taken James a while to come on-board, but when he finally did, he was all in for the cause! James was one who believed that Christianity was not just a series of doctrines and beliefs, but a life to be lived. James was a man of tremendous faith and his letter is all about Christian ethics: how we are to live out our faith.

He was immensely practical—maybe the most practical of all the New Testament writers—and James was also a man of prayer, and we can learn a lot about the practical side of prayer by looking at his prayers.

1. Wisdom and prayer

James has a lot to say about “wisdom” in his letter, but when he writes about wisdom he’s not writing about “knowledge” or education or philosophy. James’ wisdom relates to how we deal with the trials and tribulations of life. Specifically, James wants his readers to see how wisdom is necessary for discerning God’s will for our lives when the way is unclear:

Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. (James 1:2—4)

This piece of advice can at first seem like a huge pill to swallow. Who likes trials? As Christians, we need to understand that difficult times come along for a purpose: to make us mature. The thing is, knowing this fact and accepting it are two different things. We may intellectually be able to say, “Everything happens for a purpose,” when a bad thing happens to us, but accepting it means we need to know God’s will—the “why” it happened in the first place. Then we need to know how to react in the face of that difficult time. James makes the assumption that believers undergoing hard times will have a difficult time knowing God’s will, so he goes on to say in verse 5:

If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him.

Here is where so many Christians get lost. They are able to see and understand God’s will in the big issues of life; things like death, for example. But they lose sight of God’s will when the “little things” start nibbling at their faith. Bit by bit, piece by piece their faith gets eaten up with worry, anxiety, anger, and that leads to decisions and actions that may be completely out of God’s will. This is where wisdom from above is needed.

A lot of Christians earnestly desire to live in God’s will, and most of them start out well. They read their Bibles, go to church, they fellowship with other believers, and they do all things a Christian ought to do. But then something comes along—a difficultly at work, a family problem, or maybe a financial crisis—and the wind goes out of their sails. This Christian is now faced with a decision or decisions; they stand at an intersection, wondering whether to turn right, left, or proceed straight ahead. They want to remain in God’s, but which direction keeps them in God’s will? This is the kind of wisdom James says we need. This is the kind of wisdom we need to be asking God for.

Very rarely in life are there cosmic billboards telling us which direction to take. A lot of times God’s will may be difficult to see. This is probably by design. If there were “signs” all over pointing us in the right direction, we’d spend our time looking for signs instead of looking at God. If staying in God’s will was easy, it wouldn’t take any faith.

No, we need wisdom, and if we ask for it, God is not stingy! He will give us all the wisdom we need to make the right decisions at the right times to remain in His will. Now, it’s entirely possible we may make the wrong choice. We’re only human, and God understands this. Paul knew what felt like to make the wrong choice.

Paul and his companions traveled throughout the region of Phrygia and Galatia, having been kept by the Holy Spirit from preaching the word in the province of Asia. (Acts 16:6)

Paul had made the decision to go one way, but it wasn’t God’s will, so the Holy Spirit prevented them from going too far astray. Eventually Paul would venture into the province of Asia and he had great success preaching the Word there, but this was not the right time. However, Paul was a persistent man. In the very next verse, we read this:

When they came to the border of Mysia, they tried to enter Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus would not allow them to.

Do you see what the great apostle did when God prevented him from going in a certain direction? He persisted and tried another direction. But, it still wasn’t in God’s will, so again Paul was prevented from making the wrong decision. This may not happen all the time with us, but we can be sure that God will do His level best to gently prod us in the right direction if our hearts are right. But He lets us make the decisions.

But it all comes down to wisdom. Paul needed it, and so do we.

2. Worldliness and prayer

We hear a lot about “worldliness” and how important it is that Christians avoid it. The problem is, most of us don’t know what “worldliness” is. Some Christians think “worldliness” is listening to all that “rock and roll” music on the radio. Others think it’s going to see a movie, or wearing a skirt too short or wearing fishnet stockings and sling back shoes. James, though, knew precisely what “worldliness” was, and it has little to do with how we spend our days off or what we wear:

What causes fights and quarrels among you? Don’t they come from your desires that battle within you? You want something but don’t get it. You kill and covet, but you cannot have what you want. You quarrel and fight. You do not have, because you do not ask God. (James 4:1—2)

This is what real worldliness look like. When Christians start behaving like that, they are behaving like people in the world. Getting what you want no matter what you have to do to get it…this is worldliness, and this is what concerned James.

Paul understood the wickedness of this worldly attitude because it had infested one of his churches:

Brothers, I could not address you as spiritual but as worldly —mere infants in Christ. I gave you milk, not solid food, for you were not yet ready for it. Indeed, you are still not ready. You are still worldly. For since there is jealousy and quarreling among you, are you not worldly? Are you not acting like mere men? (1 Corinthians 3:1—3)

Worldliness makes the life of the Christian miserable in so many ways. Like the alcoholic who can never get enough, so the Christian, once he has tasted of worldliness, can never get enough. What’s worse is what James wrote:

When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures. (James 4:3)

When we are worldly, our vision blurs. When our focus is off of God, we cannot pray correctly; we pray for what we want, not for what God wants for us. James’ advice is to take a careful look at what we are praying for, why we are praying for it, and how we are praying. Do we simply have a grocery list of things we want? Or do pray to have God’s will be done?

Prayer always works; prayer never fails, but we must pray as redeemed people. Selfish or self-centered prayers get nowhere. Worldliness will stop your prayers quicker than anything else.

3. Wellness and prayer

We all want to be well, both in mind and body. In fact, judging by the number of pharmacies and clinics in even the smallest of towns, it’s probably safe to say that health and wellness are things Americans are borderline obsessed about.

In New Testament times, people wanted to be healthy, too. James knew this. But James also knew that being healthy was linked to being in God’s will. Remember, James is Mr. Practical, and here is his advice on wellness. Even though this was his prescription for first century Christians, it works just as well today:

Is any one of you sick? He should call the elders of the church to pray over him and anoint him with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise him up. If he has sinned, he will be forgiven. (James 5:14, 15)

This is an interesting prescription that the average Christian completely misunderstands. James isn’t really asking a question. Just like when James wrote, “if any of you lacks wisdom,” he was assuming they were lacking wisdom, so here James is assuming there is a sick person among his readers. So, if somebody you know is sick, what do you do?

One of things James says is to “anoint him with oil.” The question is naturally, “What good will that do?” Well, in all honesty, the oil does nothing. There is more than one word translated “anoint” in the New Testament. Most of time, the word is chrio, which refers to “sacred anointing oil,” the kind used in religious ceremonies. The other word is aleipho, which refers, not to “sacred anointing oil,” but to medicine. This is the word James used, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. Essentially, James is telling his readers that when there is a sick person in their midst, pray for them but make sure they take their medicine.

Remember what James is known for? James is known for being practical. What’s more practical than telling a sick person to take his medicine? James 5:14 is not referring to anointing oil, but to medicine.

But, remember, James was also a man of prayer, and that’s why he told his readers that the sick person ought to call the elders to come and pray for him. Praying for the sick is absolutely essential: the prayer of faith will make the sick person well. Does that mean the sick person will be healed instantaneously? Not necessarily. If it is God’s will, the sick person will be healed. If it’s not God’s will for that sick person to jump up, completely restored to health, then that sick person will be “raised up.” What does that mean? It means he will be made well, eventually, one way or the other. The sick person will be given the strength to face the difficult situation he is in. It all goes back to wisdom and being able to discern, understand, and most of all, accept God’s will.

How are you doing at that?

(c) 2012 WitzEnd

« Previous Page — Next Page »

Mike's Place on the Web

Posts Tagged 'theology'

REDEMPTION, PART 5

THE CROSS OF CHRIST, PART 5

IT’S ALL ABOUT INTEGRITY!

JAMES: A MAN OF PRAYER

(c) 2012 WitzEnd

Recent Posts

Another great day!

Meta

Blog Stats

Jump To…

Never miss a new post again.

Archives

Email Subscription

Top Studies

Places I find interesting

Who’d have guessed?

My Conservative Identity: