October 30, 2015

John 12:1-3

(All scripture is from the New King James Version unless otherwise indicated.)

The scripture we are examining is John 12:1 through 3.  In these three verses there is encapsulated three aspects of the Christian life – covering all of that life as we live it out before our Lord, Relating To Jesus.

      Then, six days before the Passover, Jesus, came to Bethany, where
      Lazarus was who had been dead, whom He had raised from the dead. 
      There they made Him a supper; and Martha served, but Lazarus was
      one of those who sat at the table with Him.  Then took Mary a pound
      of very costly oil of spikenard, anointed the feet of Jesus, and wiped
      His feet with her hair.  And the house was filled with the fragrance of
      the oil.

We saw in the last blog Martha, who served Jesus and His disciples as they partook of a meal at her house.  In attendance also were her brother Lazarus and her sister Mary.

•      Now we will look at John 12:2 – “…Lazarus was one of those who sat at the table with [Jesus].”  This is fellowship! And fellowship must be an important part of the Christian life – as important as serving!

Lazarus served the Lord also, just as did his sister Martha.  After all, in the male-dominated Jewish society of two millennia ago, he was the head of this wealthy family who called the little town of Bethany home.  Although the Bible portrays his two sisters as possessing strong personalities, it was Lazarus who most likely made the ultimate family decisions.  One of these decisions was to open their spacious home to the itinerant band of 13 – Jesus and His 12 disciples on past occasions.  It would involve extensive preparation for a large company of guests, and significant resources expended to properly care for their needs.  This was service to Jesus and the kingdom! And Lazarus, along with his sisters, served the Lord on a large scale!

But this evening, Lazarus, Martha and Mary were also guests – as was Jesus and His disciples. And Lazarus was fellowshipping with Jesus!  The idea of him as “…one of those who sat at the table with Him…” implies Relating To Jesus as an equal!  If that sounds sacrilegious – Relating To Jesus as an equal – consider what it says in Hebrews 2:11:  “For both He who sanctifies and those who are bing sanctified are all of one, for which reason He is not ashamed to call them brethren….”  We are one with Jesus Christ, made so by the Holy Spirit!  He humbled Himself to come all the way to earth so we might be raise up all the way to heaven with Him! (See II Corinthians 8:9; Ephesians 2:6; Philippians 2:6-8).  We are called brethren by Him!  Yes, He has preeminence, being the Elder Brother, but we are still His brothers and sisters! (See John 1:12).  And this implies an equality – counted as being equal with the Son of God!  Also, didn’t Jesus call His disciples friends in John 15:15?  “No longer do I call you servants…but I have called you friends, for all things that I heard from My Father I have made known to you.”  Lazarus was sitting with Jesus as His friend, as His brother, as an equal – in fellowship with the Lord!

Sometimes Jesus wants to interact with you as His brother or sister, to sit down with Him, and share as you would with a close friend!  This is just as important as serving Him!

But, remember, we are to have fellowship with one another as Christians.  Jesus is not physically on the earth as this time.  We are!  And we are His Body – the only physical representation of Jesus Christ now upon this earth!  So, in a sense, as we fellowship with one another, we are in fellowship with Jesus Christ!  Of the early Jerusalem Christians it is written in Acts 2:42, “And they continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in prayers.”  This is not just their record.  It is the standard for us!  John later wrote in I John 1:7, “…if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin.”

What is to happen as we fellowship together?  We are told in Hebrews 10:24 and 25:

      And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works,
      not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of
      some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the
      day approaching.

We are to stir up love and good works in each other.  The idea is to prod one another in an affectionate way, exhorting one another.  “Hey Joe, hey Susan, how are you doing with your Bible reading?  Are you still praying every night with your wife/husband?  Don’t forget next Sunday we have that missionary speaker.”  You get the idea.

Fellowship with the Lord and with one another is an important part of the Christian life!  In all of your service to God and His kingdom, don’t forget to sit down with Jesus as your Brother and Friend!  And don’t neglect fellowship with your other brothers and sisters!  It is a vital part of Relating To Jesus!

October 28, 2015

John 12:1-3

(All scripture is from the New King James Version unless otherwise indicated.)

Sometimes within a couple of verses of the Bible, the whole of the Christian life may be seen.  Such is the case in John 12:1 through 3:

      Then, six days before the Passover, Jesus, came to Bethany, where
      Lazarus was who had been dead, whom He had raised from the dead. 
      There they made Him a supper; and Martha served, but Lazarus was
      one of those who sat at the table with Him.  Then took Mary a pound
      of very costly oil of spikenard, anointed the feet of Jesus, and wiped
      His feet with her hair.  And the house was filled with the fragrance of
      the oil.

How does this show forth the whole of the Christian life? These three verses feature three individuals Relating To Jesus. Each one relates differently, and portrays the three ways we Relate To Jesus as Christians. These three were all of the same wealthy family, a brother and two sisters who lived in Bethany, about two and a half miles west and a bit south of Jerusalem. Jesus and His disciples had been guests in the home of Lazarus, Martha and Mary more than once. (In John 11 is the well-known account of how the Lord raised Lazarus from death after he had died four days earlier.) Here, the three siblings were also guests along with Jesus and His disciples in another Bethany home, that of Simon the leper (see Matthew 26:6; Mark 14:3). But let’s look at these three, Martha, Lazarus and Mary, and see how they portray for us Relating To Jesus.

•      The first is Martha in John 12:2 – “…they made Him a supper; and Martha served….”  We hear much about ‘serving the Lord.’  “Serve the LORD” is repeated 23 times in the Old Testament, and “serve the Lord Christ” is found in Colossians 3:24.  “Serve God ” is found twice in the Old Testament and three times in the New.  Twenty one times in the Bible “serve Him” refers to serving God.  So at least 50 times Scripture tells us to serve God!  A common signage I have seen at the entrance/exit doors of churches reads thus:  “Enter to worship, depart to serve.”  So we get the idea that serving the Lord is just about the most important thing we should do as Christians!

But is it?  Take heed to what is recorded in Luke 10:38 through 42:

      Now it happened as they went, that He [Jesus] entered a certain village;
      and a certain woman named Martha welcomed Him into her house.  And
      she had a sister called Mary, who also sat at Jesus’ feet and heard His
      word.  But Martha was distracted with much serving, and she approached
      Him and said, “Lord, do You not care that my sister has left me to serve
      alone?  Therefore tell her to help me.”  And Jesus answered and said to
      her, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and troubled about many things. 
      But one thing is needed, and Mary has chosen that good part, which will
      not be taken away from her.”

It says, “…Martha was distracted with much serving….”  From what was she distracted?  From the other important aspects a believer should be experiencing.  In this case, Martha’s sister Mary “…sat at Jesus’ feet and heard His word.”  And Martha was too focused on serving, and not enough on sitting quietly and listing to Jesus’ words!  You can get too wrapped up in various kinds of service – serving on boards and committees, taking care of buildings, equipment and grounds, helping at church dinners and other functions, ministering to those less fortunate, and a thousand other good service projects – and you can neglect the other parts of the Christian life (which are shown in the actions of Lazarus and Mary in our featured scripture).

Now service in the various aspects of the cause of Jesus Christ is important!  According to the brilliant work of Don and Katie Fortune in their book, Discover Your God-Given Gifts, there are seven Motivational Gifts – gifts, you might say, that are built into our DNA.  One of the seven is the gift of being a “Server, one who loves to serve others.”  But service can distract you from other, even better things – like it did Martha.  You must balance service with what we will discuss in our next two blogs – fellowship and worship.  By the way, I highly recommend Discover Your God-Given Gifts for use in a class setting or just self study.  It will help you discern which gift/gifts are prominently yours and how to best use them.

So “Serve the LORD with gladness…” (Psalm 100:2).  Do the best you can in service to Him and His kingdom.  But be sure to read the next two blogs – and balance service with fellowship and worship!

October 26, 2015

Matthew 7:1-5

(All scripture is from the New King James Version unless otherwise indicated.)

There is a game called Plank And Speck.  Ok, it is not a board game of Milton Bradley (Clue), Parker Brothers (Monopoly) or Selchow & Righter (Scrabble)!  But it is a game that has been around a lot longer – and with much more serious consequences!  Jesus talked about it in Matthew 7:1 through 5:

      Judge not, that you be not judged.  For with what judgment you judge, you
      will be judged; and with the same measure you use, it will be measured back
      to you.  And why do you look at the speck in your brother’s eye, but do not
      consider the plank in your own eye?  Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let
      me remove the speck out of your eye’; and, look, a plank is in your own eye? 
      Hypocrite!  First remove the plank from your own eye; and then you will see
      clearly to remove the speck out of your brother’s eye.

This is all based on the fact that no one is perfect!  We all know that already.  We all have faults because we are all sinners. (See Isaiah 64:6; Romans 3:10, 23).  In other words, we all have Specks in our eyes!  And some Specks are bigger than others!  Some reach the size of a Plank, according to the Lord.

The amazing fact is this:  No matter how big the Speck that is in our own eye – from a tiny piece of sawdust to a eight-foot-long 2 x 4! – we too often are not aware there is anything in our eye!  In other words, we too often don’t see anything wrong with us!  And if we are honest enough to see some of our faults, we can always find someone who is worse in their imperfections than we are – whose Plank is bigger!  But God again warns us against this practice.  Paul wrote in II Corinthians 10:12 (God’s Word to the Nations), “…when they measure themselves by themselves and compare themselves to themselves, they show how foolish they are.”

Another analogy Jesus used concerning clear vision is also found in the Sermon on the Mount, Matthew 6:22 and 23:

      The lamp of the body is the eye.  If therefore your eye is good, your whole
      body will be full of light.  But if your eye is bad, your whole body will be
      full of darkness.  If therefore the light that is in you is darkness, how great
      is that darkness!

The King James (and many other versions also) translate “…if your eye is bad…” as “…if thine eye be evil….”  An ‘evil eye’ is not some old witch casting a spell on you!  In the Greek it means an eye lens folded over – an extra layer or two, like a cataract – so proper light cannot get through and you can’t see clearly.  How are you going to remove a Speck from a brother’s eye if you can’t see clearly?!

So how do you remove what is in your own eye?  You first have to become aware that something is there, hindering your vision!  I can think of no better way to become so aware than by asking for God’s help in the matter.  And there is no better model prayer for such a request than that in Psalm 139:23 and 24:  “Search me, O God, and know my heart; try me, and know my anxieties; and see if thee is any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.”  If this is prayed sincerely, God is more than willing to show us our faults – and then to remove them!  Once the fault – the Plank – is removed “…from your own eye; and then you will see clearly to remove the speck out of your brother’s eye.”

All this is to be done in a non-judgmental way!  “Judge not, that you be not judged.”  But we have to be wise here.  As Jesus said in Matthew 10:16, “…be wise as serpents and harmless as doves.”  Calling out a brother or a sister who is engaging in obvious sin is not judging!  It is obvious because God has already judged and spoken out against it as sin!  If that is so – if whatever your brother of sister is engaged in is already addressed as sin in the Bible – then you are simply proclaiming what God has already judged.  You are not the one initiating the judgment!  I call it ‘the difference between judging and having judgment!’

We could do with a lot more of ‘having judgment’ among Christians!  The Bible says in Leviticus 19:17 (Modern King James Version), “You shall not hate your brother in your heart.  You shall always rebuke your neighbor, and not allow sin on him.”  And Paul tells us in Galatians 6:1 and 2:

      Brethren, if a man is overtaken in any trespass, you who are spiritual re-
      store such a one in a spirit of gentleness, considering yourself lest you also
      be tempted.  Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.

But remember, according to John 13:34 and 35, the law of Christ is to “…love one another as I have loved you.”

So we have here a warning:  Don’t be caught playing the game of Plank and Speck!  But be aware, of your own faults first, addressing them before God.  And then you are ready to help your brother or sister lovingly and carefully remove the Specks from their own eyes – and all of us will become more and more like Jesus!

October 23, 2015

Ephesians 5:15-17

(All scripture is from the New King James Version unless otherwise indicated.)

In the last blog, The Bank, we saw that we have credited to our account 86,400 seconds every day!  We are to use them for the glory of God!  But the idea of using our time for His glory brought another idea to my mind, one that is embodied in what Paul wrote in Ephesians 5:15 through 17:

      See then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools but as wise, redeeming
      the time, because the days are evil.  Therefore do not be unwise, but under-
      standing what the will of the Lord is.

Redeeming the time – what does that mean?  Considering we all have 86,400 seconds credited to our account every day, how do we Redeem that Time?  Well, what is Redemption?  Here are highlights of the article “Redeemer, Redemption” in Eerdmans The New Bible Dictionary:

      Redemption means deliverance from some evil by payment of a price….Paul…
      reminds the Romans…they had been ‘the slaves of sin’ (Rom. 7:17)…under the
      sentence of death on account of their sin (Romans 7:23)….Failing redemption,
      the slavery would continue, the sentence of death be carried out.  The cross of
      Christ…is the price paid to release the slaves, to let the condemned go free….
      the blood of Christ is clearly being regarded [in Ephesians 1:7] as the price
      of redemption.

So if redemption means to buy back, redeeming the time means to buy it back also – from being wasted on godless pursuits, to being used for His glory and man’s good!

What does it mean to waste time from God’s point of view?  Jesus illustrated the point in Luke 12:16 through 21:

      The ground of a certain rich man yielded plentifully.  And he thought…
      “What shall I do, since I have no room to store my crops?…I will do this: 
      I will pull down my barns and build greater, and there I will store all my
      crops and my goods.  And I will say to my soul, “Soul, you have many
      goods laid up for many years; take your ease; eat, drink, and be merry.”’ 
      But God said to him, ‘You fool!  This night your soul will be required of
      you; then whose will those things be…?  So is he who lays up treasure for
      himself, and is not rich toward God.

This godless person (for that is what fool means here – see Psalm 14:1) spent his time in selfish pursuits – and he lost it all, even his own eternal soul!  He did not redeem the time!

Paul warned the Corinthian Christians of a similar danger in I Corinthians 3:11-15. In verse 11, the “…foundation…is laid, which is Jesus Christ.”  So these ones to whom Paul is writing were definitely believers!  The apostle reminds them they will then build on that foundation using two kinds of materials, either “…gold, silver, precious stones [or] wood, hay, straw.”  The first three will go unscathed through what is known as the Bema Seat or Believers’ Judgment.  It is when the Lord Jesus reviews a person’s life – how he or she lived his or her life after that one is saved – and gives rewards for godly living, or holds back rewards for selfish living!  According to verse 15, even the selfish one who wasted resources on wood, hay and straw still gets into heaven, but with no rewards!  That one’s “…work is burned, [and] he will suffer loss; but he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire.”  You might say, the Christian who lives selfishly – who does not redeem the time to use it all for God’s glory – gets into heaven “by the skin of his teeth!”

In our featured scripture, Ephesians 5:15, Paul warns, “See then that you walk circumspectly….”  Another way of saying this is found in the Easy-To-Read version: “…be very careful how you live.”  Evangelical theologian and philosopher Francis A. Schaeffer wrote a book first published in 1976 – How Should We Then Live, challenging the lifestyle set by society and not by the dictates of the Bible.  While society will certainly influence how we live our lives, God – through His revealed will, the Bible – should be the ultimate guide of the Christian!  The carefulness Paul advocates is not to have us ‘walk on eggs’ in everyday living, but to take into constant consideration what God wants for us as opposed to what we want!  As Jesus prayed in the garden, recorded in Luke 22:42, “…nevertheless, not My will, but Yours, be done.”

This the apostle emphasizes in verse 17 of our scripture:  “Therefore do not be unwise, but understanding what the will of the Lord is.”  We cannot live to please God if we do not understand what His will is!  And – as just said above – His will, His mind is revealed in Scripture!

So if you want to be Redeeming The Time, spend time in the Word of God – reading it, studying it, meditating on it, even memorizing it!  Yes, the days are increasingly evil.  We do not want to be found fools – acting like godless people – before the Lord!  We should want to live aright before Him to receive His guidance through this life, and His maximum blessing both now and through eternity!

October 21, 2015

I Corinthians 10:31-33

(All scripture is from the New King James Version unless otherwise indicated.)

The Bank – there is a Bank into which is deposited on your behalf 86,400 ‘dollars’ every day!  Alright, they are not ‘dollars’, but they are seconds – more precious than dollars! And we are called to rightly use them – all of them – for the glory of God and the benefit of other people!  Paul wrote of the same idea in I Corinthians 10:31-33:

      …whether you eat or drink, or whatever ye do, do all to the glory of God. 
      Give no offense, either to the Jews or to the Greeks or to the church of
      God, just as I also please all men in all things, not seeking my own profit,
      but the profit of many, that they may be saved.

•      First, in verse 31, “…whether you eat or drink, or whatever ye do, do all to the glory of God.”  This should be the foremost guiding principle in every Christian’s life!  And how do we know what will bring glory to God?  It will be whatever pleases Him.

I have been married to my wonderful wife for almost 47 years.  I have learned over the years what pleases her and what does not.  How have I learned that?  By understanding how she thinks, her personality, her dreams, her goals, her favorite activities, how she relates to other people.  It all comes back to the first thing about understanding her that I mentioned – how she thinks.  Jesus said in Matthew 12:34, “…out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks.”  The heart, in ancient Jewish thinking, included the mind and the whole of the inner person.  Whatever comes out of the mouth has gone through the mind!  And you can substitute any action of life in place of the mouth!  “…out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks [the hands do, the feet walk, the emotions flow, and plans are made!]…”  So, in understanding how my wife thinks, I can then respond properly and please her!

Relate this to God.  How do we know what God thinks?  We know by studying the mind of God revealed in Jesus Christ who is shown forth in the Bible!  It says in Matthew 12:34, “…out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks.”  Remember that Jesus is called “The Word of God ” in Revelation 19:13.  Jesus Christ – being The Word of God shows forth the mind of God – the thoughts, the personality, the dreams, the goals, the activities of God, and how He relates to people!  And how do we get to know The Word of God – Jesus Christ ?  Through God’s Word, the Bible!  For God’s Word is the record of The Word of God !  When we get to know God and how He thinks, then we can “…do all to the glory of God.”

Do all – that is a tall order!  How do we accomplish that?  I firmly believe that we start by wanting God’s will and way in our lives.  We have discovered that our will and way do not work, do not produce the best results (and often the worst results) in our lives!  Then we come to the place with Jesus in the garden, where He prayed in Luke 22:42, “…nevertheless, not my will, but thine be done.” (See the blog from April 29, 2013 – The Most Important Prayer A Christian Can Pray).  We then have to let Him live out that prayer by the power of the Holy Spirit.  It is as Paul wrote in Galatians 2:20:

      I have been crucified with Christ; it is not longer I who live, but Christ lives
      in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of
      God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.

•      Second, we are to keep in mind Paul’s goal in verse 33 of our scripture:  “I also please all men in all things, not seeking my own profit, but the profit of many, that they may be saved.”  Paul made his overriding goal, as it applied to people, “…that they may be saved.”  And that should be our goal also – bringing people to eternal life and abundant life in Jesus Christ (see John 10:10; Galatians 5:22, 23).

Back to the idea of The Bank with which we started:  You have 86,400 seconds every day credited to our account!  What are you doing with all those seconds?  Are you using them for the glory of God and the benefit – the eternal benefit – of others?  If not, why not?

October 19, 2015

James 2:25

(All scripture is from the New King James Version unless otherwise indicated.)

We have come to the last of Four Examples Of Faith in James 2:19 through 25.  The fourth example is Rahab in James 2:25:  “Likewise, was not Rahab the harlot also justified by works when she received the messengers, and sent them out another way? ”

Rahab the harlot – How is it that a harlot was chosen to be an example of faith?  And more than just an example, according to Matthew 1:5, Rahab was a direct ancestor of Jesus Christ!  She was King David’s great-great-grandmother.  But it is God’s amazing grace that put her in that position.  She was a Canaanite living in Jericho, the first city the Israelites attacked after crossing the Jordan River into the Promised Land (see Joshua 6:1-27).  Rahab, in Joshua 2:9-11, told the spies Joshua had sent out to reconnoiter the city:

      I know that the LORD has given you the land, that the terror of you has
      fallen upon us, and that all the inhabitants of the land are fainthearted
      because of you.  For we have heard how the LORD dried up the water of
      the Red sea for you when you came out of Egypt, and what you did to the
      two kings of the Amorites, who were on the other side Jordan, Sihon and
      Og, whom you utterly destroyed.  And as soon as we heard these things,
      our hearts melted; neither did there remain any more courage in anyone
      because of you, for the LORD your God, He is God in heaven above, and
      on earth beneath.

Did you see Rahab’s strong statement of faith in verse 11?  “…the LORD your God, He is God in heaven above, and on earth beneath.”  This pagan Canaanite woman was rejecting the false Baal worship in which she was brought up, and she was embracing the God of Israel!  Then in Joshua 2:12 and 13 she extracted a promise from the Jewish spies:

      Now therefore, I beg you, swear to me by the LORD, since I have shown
      you kindness [by hiding the spies from the Jericho officials], that you also
      will show kindness to my father’s house, and give me a true token, and
      spare my father, my mother, my brothers, my sisters, and all that they have,
      and deliver our lives from death.

They did spare Rahab and her family.  When the walls of Jericho collapsed, her house – which was built into the city wall (see Joshua 2:15) still stood.  Rahab and all her relatives were assimilated into the nation of Israel, and she became a prominent figure in the Messiah’s lineage!

How did she show her faith?  Was it just by the statement – bold as it was – quoted before?  You might say, she put ‘legs to her faith’ when, as James said in our featured scripture, “…she received the messengers, and sent them out another way….”  Her actions give us something to see that shows her faith was real – the same as Abraham did (see the two previous blogs).  And so James boldly states, “…Rahab the harlot [was] also justified by works ….”

But Paul insists in Ephesians 2:8 and 9 (and in many other scriptures – see Romans 4:4, 5; 11:6; Galatians 2:16; Titus 3:5):  “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works lest anyone should boast.”  Paul and James seem greatly to contradict one another in this very important Scripture principle!  But someone has explained it this way:

•      Paul is describing justification from God’s point of view!  God knows the hearts and minds of all people (see Psalm 139:1-6; John 2:24, 25).  He does not need to see faith worked out in a life to know that faith is real.  So from God’s point of view, Ephesians 2:8 and 9 best describes justification!

•      James is describing man’s point of view!  We cannot see the mind and heart of a person.  Instead, we can only see the result of faith which is a life of works done for the glory of God.  As a matter of fact, Jesus told us to inspect the fruit of a life to see if that fruit comes from a justified heart or one that is not justified.  In Matthew 7:16 through 20 the Lord says:

      You will know them by their fruits.  Do men gather grapes from thorn-
      bushes or figs from thistles?  Even so, every good tree bears good fruit;
      but a bad tree bears bad fruit.  A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor
      can a bad tree bear good fruit.  Every tree that does not bear good fruit
      is cut down and thrown into the fire.  Therefore by their fruits you will
      know them.

So, according to James, from man’s perspective, works justifies a person because works proves their faith is real!

This leads to a final question concerning faith and the Four Examples Of Faith that we have seen:  Is your faith so real that it is proved by your works – by the life you live?

October 16, 2015

James 2:21-24

(All scripture is from the New King James Version unless otherwise indicated.)

Let’s continue to look at Abraham, the third of Four Examples Of Faith.  Here is our scripture, James 2:21 through 24:

      Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered Isaac
      his son on the altar?  Do you see that faith was working together with
      his works, and by works faith was made perfect?  And the Scripture was
      fulfilled which says, “Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to
      him for righteousness.”  And he was called the friend of God.  You see
      then that a man is justified by works, and not by faith only.

The point James is making here is that Abraham showed his faith was real – proved his faith was real – “…when he offered Isaac his son on the altar….”  You see, Isaac was the promised son, and had wrongly become the focus of his father’s faith – which faith only should have been centered on God!  The Lord had told the patriarch in Genesis 15:4 and 5, “…one who will come from your own body shall be your heir….count the stars if you are able to number them….So shall your descendants be…” from that one heir!  Abraham showed his initial faith in the next verse, Genesis 15:6:  “And he believed in the LORD, and He accounted it to him for righteousness.”  This is faith – believing God’s promises!  And such faith has always produced salvation – God’s righteousness “…imputed to us who believe in Him…” (Romans 4:24) through His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ!

Isaac was born when Abraham was 100 and Sarah was 90, according to Genesis 17:17.  In the last blog I pointed out what Paul wrote in Romans 4:19 through 21 – that Abraham…

      …not being weak in faith, he did not consider his own body, already dead
      (since he was about an hundred years old), and the deadness of Sara’s
      womb.  He did not waver at the promise of God through unbelief, but was
      strengthened in faith, giving glory to God, and being fully convinced that
      what He had promised He was able also to perform.

But, as mentioned earlier, Abraham, over the years, had gotten his faith too tied up in the son of his old age – and not in the fact that it was still the Lord who was accomplishing His promise.  That was when God gave the old man a hard command in Genesis 22:2:

      Take now your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land
      of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains
      of which I shall tell you.

It was a command that, if obeyed, would realign Abraham’s faith back where it should be – in God instead of in Isaac!

It must have been a terribly hard night of wrestling with this command in light of what God had plainly said in Genesis 21:12:  “…in Isaac shall your seed be called.”  How was Abraham supposed to produce seed – seed to be produced through Isaac as numerous as the stars of heaven (see Genesis 15:5) – if this promised boy was dead?!  But in the morning Abraham obeyed, as it says in Genesis 22:9 and 10:

      Then they came to the place of which God had told him.  And Abraham
      built and altar there and placed the wood in order; and he bound Isaac
      his son and laid him on the altar upon the wood.  And Abraham stretched
      out his hand and took the knife to slay his son.

Of course, in Genesis 22:11 and 12, God stopped him!

      But the angel of the LORD called to him from heaven and said, “Abra-
      ham, Abraham!  Do not lay your hand on the lad, or do anything to him;
      for now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your son,
      your only son, from Me.”

But the only explanation given of the patriarch’s willingness to sacrifice Isaac, and the faith that backed up what he was about to do, is found in Hebrews 11:17 through 19 – the faith chapter:

      By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac, and he who had
      received the promises offered up his only begotten son, of whom it was said,
      “In Isaac your seed shall be called,” accounting that God was able to raise
      him up, even from the dead, from which he also received him in a figurative
      sense.

So Abraham proved his faith by his actions!  No wonder James wrote in James 2:22, “…that faith was working together with his works, and by works faith was made perfect….”

Now couple this to the first verse of our scripture, James 2:21:  “Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered Isaac his son on the altar? ”  Is James saying it was works that saved him, and not faith?  No!  He was justified by faith in the promise of God!  Remember, he was “…accounted…righteous…” when he “…he believed in the LORD…” (Genesis 15:6), not when he offered Isaac!

October 14, 2015

James 2:21-24

(All scripture is from the New King James Version unless otherwise indicated.)

Today we are on to the third of Four Examples Of Faith.  This example is Abraham, and there is so much evidence for Abraham’s faith that it will take more than one blog to even briefly examine what the Scriptures say about the father of the Jewish nation as well as all believers.  As touching him being the father of all the faithful, it says in Romans 4:16 (Contemporary English Version):

      Everything depends on having faith in God, so that God’s promise is
      assured by his great kindness.  This promise isn’t only for Abraham’s
      descendants who have the Law [the Jews].  It is for all who are Abra-
      ham’s descendants because they have faith, just as he did.  Abraham
      is the ancestor of us all.

Let’s see what James writes about Abraham in James 2:21 through 24:

      Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered Isaac
      his son on the altar?  Do you see that faith was working together with
      his works, and by works faith was made perfect?  And the Scripture was
      fulfilled which says, “Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to
      him for righteousness.”  And he was called the friend of God.  You see
      then that a man is justified by works, and not by faith only.

The last sentence of this passage caused fits for the Martin Luther!  Luther came out of the medieval Roman Catholic Church whose clergy was too often corrupt, and that emphasized works as the basis of justification before God.  When this Catholic monk (and later, priest and theology professor) was studying for a lecture on Paul’s epistle to the Romans, he focused on Romans 1:17:  “…in…[the gospel] the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, ‘The just shall live by faith.’ ”  It is by faith, not by works that a person is justified before God!  So because James had written in verse 24 of our Scripture, “You see then that a man is justified by works, and not by faith only…”, Martin Luther wrote in his German translation preface to James:  “St. James’s epistle is really a right strawy epistle [an epistle of straw], compared to these others, for it has nothing of the nature of the gospel about it.”

But what does the Scripture say about Abraham’s justification?

•      In Genesis 15, verses 1-4, God promised Abraham – then probably at least 80 – a son, an heir, by his wife Sarah, who was 70 or so.  It was impossible by human standards!  Sarah had long before stopped having her monthly cycle, and had never borne children before that!  But it is stated in Genesis 15:5 and 6:

      Then He [God] brought him outside and said, “Look now toward heaven,
      and count the stars, if you be able to number them.”  And He said to him,
      “So shall your descendants be.”  And he believed in the LORD, and He
      accounted it to him for righteousness.

Abraham had faith in what God had promised him!  This was the basis of his being declared righteous before God!

•      Paul gives strong commentary on this in Romans 4:16 through 22:

      …Abraham…in the presence of…God, who gives life to the dead and calls
      those things which do not exist as though they did…contrary to hope, in
      hope believed, so that he became the father of many nations, according
      to that which was spoken, “So shall your descendants be.”  And not being
      weak in faith, he did not consider his own body, already dead (since he
      was about an hundred years old), and the deadness of Sara’s womb.  He
      did not waver at the promise of God through unbelief, but was strength-
      ened in faith, giving glory to God, and being fully convinced that what
      He had promised He was able also to perform.  And therefore “it was
      accounted to him for righteousness.”

Paul then applies this to us and our justification in Romans 4:23 through 25:

      Now it was not written for his sake alone that it was imputed to him, but
      also for us.  It shall be imputed to us who believe in Him who raised up
      Jesus our Lord from the dead, who was delivered up because of our of-
      fences, and was raised because of our justification.

These last three verses I consider to be the best Scriptural definition of salvation through justification by faith!  Abraham experienced this, and so do we when we come in faith to Jesus:  “…he believed in the LORD, and He accounted it to him for righteousness.”

More on Abraham as one of the Four Examples Of Faith in our next blog, especially what James mentions in verse 21 as the evidence of Abraham’s faith, “…he offered Isaac his son on the altar….”

October 12, 2015

James 2:20

(All scripture is from the New King James Version unless otherwise indicated.)

In James 2, the discussion James is bringing is about faith:

•      James 2:1-13 – showing forth your faith by treating all people equally, with love and respect.

•      James 2:19-26 – Four Examples Of Faith – that faith must show itself in righteous works in your life.  The four examples? – Demons (verse 19); the Foolish Man (verse 20); Abraham (verses 21-24); and Rahab, the harlot (verse 25).

We are on the second of Four Examples Of Faith – the Foolish Man, from James 2:20:  “But do you want to know, O foolish man, that faith without works is dead?”  What constitutes a Foolish Man?  According to Psalm 14:1, “The fool has said in his heart, ‘There is no God.’ ”  This is repeated in Psalm 53:1, and when something is repeated in Scripture, it is important!  So, biblically speaking, the atheist is a fool!  And one who does not even acknowledge there is a God is already under God’s condemnation, and headed for hell! (See John 3:36).

The seriousness of the matter is emphasized by Jesus in Matthew 5:22:

      But I say to you, that whoever is angry with his brother without a cause
      shall be in danger of the judgment.  And whoever says to his brother,
      “Raca,” shall be in danger of the council.  But whoever says, “You fool,”
      shall be in danger of hell fire.

Notice that this involves a brother, a fellow-believer!  Notice also that the charges lodged against the brother are progressive – anger first, then “Raca,” then “You fool!”  If you are a Christian, the only judgment of which you will be in danger is Christ’s judgment of believers (described in I Corinthians 3:11-15).  “Raca” means empty-headed or worthless – an insult of utter vilification.  The council refers technically to being called before the Jewish Sanhedrin.  But the implication is that the insulting one is to be brought before a tribunal to be judged and corrected – not a pleasant proposition!.  Calling out someone as “You fool,” is to suggest that a fellow-believer is godless and going to hell.  This puts the accuser in danger of the same, not because he or she loses his or her salvation, but because it indicates that one never had experienced salvation in the first place (see Matthew 12:22-37).

Also, Jesus, in Luke 12:16 through 21, gives us the Parable of the Rich Fool – a man who had so much at harvest time, he could not store it all.  So he planned to build bigger barns to hold his harvest, and then retire and live richly off his stored wealth.  But in verse 20, “…God said to him, ‘You fool! This night your soul will be required of you; then whose will those things be which you have provided?’ ”  This man left God out of the equation of his life!  He is justly called “You fool!” – a godless person who was without God in this life, and will be Godless for eternity!

Back to our scripture in James 2:20: “But do you want to know, O foolish man, that faith without works is dead?”  James is implying that a Christian ought to know that faith without works is dead.  This should be quite obvious – from life’s observation, and Scriptural examples!  If one does not know this, that one is acting like a godless fool!

Acting like a godless fool in this context of which James is talking about can spring from two conditions:

•      One can be an immature believer who does not realize that scripture (as well as life) teaches that faith must have works.  According to Hebrews 6:1, faith and works ought to be taught as “…elementary principles of Christ….”  Such a one is said to be a babe, needing milk and not solid food, dull of hearing, not able to discern between good and evil, and needing to go on to perfection – to grow up into maturity in Christ! (Hebrews 5:11 through 6:3).

•      Or one can be an unbeliever either pretending to be a Christian, or self-deceived into thinking they are a Christian.  This one will be emphasizing works over true faith!  Such a one often exhibits legalism – that you have to do or not do this or that, or be or not be this or that – just like them! – or you cannot be a Christian!

So this is the second negative example of Four Examples of Faith – the first being Demons, and the second the Foolish Man (or acting like a Godless person).

Don’t be a foolish person!  Realize that your faith – if it is to be genuine Godly faith – must show in your life through good works!

October 9, 2015

James 2:19

(All scripture is from the New King James Version unless otherwise indicated.)

“Do you mean to tell me that demons are an example of what faith is all about?! ”  That question came when this teaching was presented in a church Bible study.  The answer?  “Yes, but don’t forget, there are positive examples and negative examples.  This is a negative example – what faith is not! ”

Here’s our scripture from James 2:19:  “You believe that there is one God, you do well.  Even the demons believe — and tremble! ”  Demons believe?  Have you ever heard someone say concerning ghosts or UFOs, “Of course I believe in them! I saw one, I really did! ”  It would make interesting studies on the subjects of ghosts or UFOs, but that’s for another time.  The point is, Satan and his demons believe that there is one God because they have seen Him and interacted with Him!  More than just believe, they know without a doubt that the One Mighty God exists!

But let’s start with who demons are.  While there are other theories, most Bible scholars agree that demons are the fallen angels – those who joined in Lucifer’s rebellion and fell from grace and goodness to become evil and malicious.  Lucifer was “…the anointed cherub who covers…,” so described in Ezekiel 28:14. (See Ezekiel 28:12-19).  Apparently, he was a mighty angel – perhaps the mightiest and highest angel ever created!  But he was not satisfied with his exalted position under God Almighty and set his sights on overthrowing the Triune God, and taking God’s place over all creation! (See Isaiah 14:12-15).

Lucifer may have been assigned to earth to oversee the Lord’s beautiful creation recorded in Genesis 1.  This would include His highest creation – “Let us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion…over all the earth….” (Genesis 1:26).  But instead of working to keep all creation upon the earth in tune with its Creator, Lucifer incarnated in the serpent and coerced Eve and Adam to bow to his allegiance instead of God’s! Ever since, he has been “…the god of this world…” (II Corinthians 4:4), pulling the strings of all societies on earth – of all mankind! (See Luke 4:5-7; John 8:44).

Demons – if they are the angels who joined in Lucifer’s rebellion – may be one third of all angels, according to Revelation 12:4 and 9.  When Jesus was arrested in the garden, and Peter tried to defend Him, the Lord said in Matthew 26:52 and 53:  “Put your sword in its place….do you think that I cannot now pray to My Father, and He will provide Me with more than twelve legions of angels?”  A Roman legion at full strength was 6,000 soldiers!  If Jesus could have called twelve legions of angels, that’s 72,000 angels!  If Satan has one third of the angels under his control, the 72,000 represents two thirds that did not rebel!  The other third – demons – would then number 36,000, at least!  I say, at least, because Jesus said he could call more than twelve legions of angels  That’s a lot of angels!  That’s a lot of demons!

And demons – having been angels, and in the direct presence of God – know that God is real!  Yes, they believe in God completely!  But the caveat of their “belief” is what Paul points out in II Corinthians 5:7:  “For we walk by faith, not by sight.”  Demonic belief is based on sight, not faith – so it is not saving faith!

Faith is defined this way in Hebrews 11:1 and 6:

      Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not
      seen….But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes
      to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who dil-
      igently seek Him.

And it is only by faith that we can be saved and reconciled back to God through our Lord Jesus Christ!

•      Romans 4:22, 24, 25 – “…righteousness…shall be imputed to us who believe in Him who raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead, who was delivered up because of our offenses, and was raised because of our justification.”

•      Galatians 2:16 – “Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law but by faith in Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Christ Jesus that we might be justified by faith in Christ, and not by the works of the law; for by the works of the law no flesh shall be justified.”

•      Galatians 3:6 (quoting Genesis 15:6) – “…Abraham ‘believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.’ ”

•      Ephesians 1:13 – “In Him you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise.”

•      Ephesians 2:8 and 9 – “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.”

C. I Scofield, has this summary note about faith connected to Hebrews 11:39:

      The essence of faith consists in believing and receiving what God has revealed,
      and may be defined as that trust in the God of the scriptures and in Jesus Christ
      whom He has sent, which receives Him as Lord and Savior and impels to loving
      obedience and good works.

So our first example of faith is demons – a negative example!  Live your Christian life as a positive example of faith!