2011-11-18
Hi There Dear Ones,
Last week, we reviewed Christ’s teaching on the taking of vows from MT 5: 33-37 and discussed the importance of taking such vows seriously. This should not be used as a reason to eschew making commitments, but mostly to consider which commitments to make and to take any commitment before God as a matter of life and death. Any real believer wants to gain eternal life, and not spiritual death. The partners to a covenant then enter into a covenant relationship with God and each other, just as all believers have done when they repented of their sins and came to faith in the Son, Jesus Christ. This Covenant of Grace is the greatest covenant of all. In a sense the human partners have made a two-way promise, representing walking between two pieces of flesh symbolically. They have asked God to administer the covenant with them with the understanding that death is the consequence if they don’t comply to the covenant.
Some people “talk the talk, but don’t walk the walk.” This is a colloquial way of expressing the problem encountered with non-compliance. In other words, these people’s deeds are not in line with their words. It is the reason why Christ said to people of this ilk, in MT 7: 21-23, “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the Kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of My Father Who is in heaven. Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?’ Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from Me, you evildoers!’” If this seems cruel, it is really not. We are told why, in RO 3: 25-26, why Christ is obeying the Father in making this judgment against such people. “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.” What this means is that if there had been no consequences for evildoers, then God would not be good to His promises. And we all know that God always keeps His promises [PS 111: 5; PS 138: 8].
The Lord Jesus reveals the destinies of those who do not and those who do break covenant promises, MT 7: 24-27. “Therefore everyone who hears these words of Mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on a Rock [capitalized here to suggest both the physical and spiritual meanings for this word]. The rain came down the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the Rock. But everyone who hears these words of Mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built His house on sand. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash.”
A Mormon friend and I have been having a very interesting exchange lately regarding the place of doing good deeds with regard to one’s salvation. Like the Catholic church, the Mormons believe in faith + works = salvation. Mainstream Protestants like myself reject this notion entirely, believing instead, FAITH + NOTHING = SALVATION. So, my friend’s quite understandable question was, “where do good deeds come in?” My answer comes straight from EPH 2: 8-10, “For it is by God’s grace that you have been saved through faith. It is not the result of your own efforts, but God’s gift, so that no one can boast about it. God has made us what we are, and in our union with Christ Jesus, He has created us for a life of good deeds, which He has already prepared for us to do.” This is one of the most important passages in the NT, because it shows us that it is by the grace [unmerited favor] of God that we are saved. That grace was expressed by the Atonement of Jesus Christ, Who alone is the Propitiation [satisfactory Substitute for our sins, satisfactory to the Lord God]. We did nothing to earn this salvation, except to repent and come to faith in Jesus Christ. As for good deeds, they are a natural outgrowth of being faithfully obedient to God’s teaching, and God has prepared us by giving us the talents we have and the opportunities to use them to join Him in His work.
Our “parent-apostle” [I call James this, because of his parent-like pronouncements] tells us, in JAS 2: 14-17, “What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but has not deeds? Can such faith save him? Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to him, ‘Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed,’ but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it? In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.” We must understand this: It isn’t okay to pick some things from Scripture to believe and not others. God’s entire word is meant for us, not just parts of it. It is also not okay to extract parts of God’s word and place them out of the context they were originally meant be in, placing them into some artificial, man-made context. God’s word is inerrant truth in total, not just in parts. We must remember what is said in 2 TIM 3: 16-17 and take it to heart. Remember, “All Scripture is God-breathed…”
PRAYER: O Lord, being faithfully obedient is not taking the road that is easy for us. We must first understand what it means by studying Your word, and then be willing to engage with You, in two-way communication in which You get to speak first. We must learn to settle down our spirit and listen quietly for Your wisdom and advice. It surely doesn’t hurt for us to recognize how blessed we are to have an open pipeline of communication with You through prayer and the opportunity for daily study of Your word. Some people complain that they can’t find the time, but that is an empty excuse. Even You took one day out of seven in creating the world [GN 2: 2-3], as a day of rest, contemplation-a day to focus on Himself and His actions. Then, You commanded us to do the same, only focus on You [EX 20: 8-11; EX 31: 12-17; LEV 23: 3; DT 5: 12-15]. This holy day is called the Sabbath. You love us enough to teach us lessons through the circumstances of our lives, always encouraging us to look for Your participation and intervention. We are grateful for Your generosity [PS 24: 1], Your loving intervention, and Your wonderful teaching. Moreover, we are supernaturally “transformed by the renewal of our mind”[RO 12: 2] –something only You have the power to do. It is because of Your gracious presence in our lives and Your Son’s Atonement on the cross, that we are not only saved, but taught how to cooperate with You in the process of sanctification [God’s efforts to perfect and purify us from sin]. You have made us “new creations in union with Christ” [2 COR 5: 17] and You “continually being renewed in the image of the Creator (Yourself) so that we can have a better knowledge of You” [COL 3: 10]. Your continuing action in our lives deserves our continuing action in living according to Your teaching, given to us by Your Son and others You inspired to write Your word. We praise and thank You for all You are and all You do for us in our lives. In the holy/mighty name of Jesus Christ, we pray. Amen.
NEXT WEEK: I’m led to begin writing another segment of this “Our Covenant” messages called “ God’s Terms Our Ours?” We must understand the nature of our relationship with the Lord God, our position in the covenant connection we have with Him. This is not bad news for us, but wonderful news! We are in the position not to have to try to do what is humanly impossible. This will come as a relief to those who understand it. It will be interesting to see what happened to an angel who was beloved by the Father but didn’t understand His relationship with God. God includes things in the Scriptures that help us to have a better understanding of our covenant relationship with Him. In the meanwhile, let’s focus on the love our God has for us, what He wants for us most of all. We can see these things in His and Christ’s mission statements [EPH 1: 4-5; JN 6: 39-40]. There is so much evidence of His love. Consider, PS 119: 93, “I will never forget Thy precepts: for with them Thou hast quickened me.” This KJV is saying that His word gives us life! We already have experienced the blessing of prayer. PS 86: 7, “In the day of my trouble I will call to You, for You will answer me.” And we mustn’t forget the forgiveness and outright love God has for each of us. PS 86: 5, “You are forgiving and good, O Lord, abounding in love to all who call to You.” When something or someone wonderful comes to our lives, we can be sure that God’s goodness is at the bottom of it. PS 16: 2, “I said to the Lord, ‘You are my Lord,’ apart from You I have not good thing.” Is there any doubt that our God deserves our eternal praise and thanks? I don’t think so.
Grace Be With You Always,
Lynn
JS 24: 15