God's Will: Your Sanctification

For this is the will of God: your sanctification…

-Thessalonians 4:3a

One of the more comforting and assuring truths that I have been shown is that it is God’s will that we be sanctified. The believer is commanded to put to death that which does not please the Lord (Col. 3:5) and to work out his salvation with fear and trembling (Phil. 2:12); but how much more courage, determination, and bravery should we have for this task knowing that our heavenly Father “predestined us to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers” (Rom 8:29)?

To put it in simple terms: God wants us to win in the battle against sin in our daily lives! It is part of His will for us that we grow in Christ-likeness. Should these thoughts not stir up our confidence in God, believing that he will complete this good work that He has begun in us? (Phil 1:6)

Many days the children of God are weary in the battle against sin and temptation. The verses from Romans 7 can be so true to our lives, where the evil that we don’t want to do, we keep on doing (Rom 7:19). This is a difficult truth knowing that the battles against indwelling sin will last till His return or our death. Yet we are told that our great high priest Jesus is not unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, as he has been tempted in every respect as we have been, yet without sin. Therefore, we are told to run to our Father’s throne of grace with confidence, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need (Hebrews 4:14-16). With humble, dependent confidence we fall before our Father for help! The God who redeemed us from the curse is now eager to conform us to the image of Jesus. He is now working in us for His good pleasure (Phil 2:13).

Our God is a God that saves; but He is also a God who is in the business of transforming sinners into the image of His glorious Son!

Christ himself intercedes for us that we might be sanctified in truth: God’s Word (John 17:17).

So then, let all of us who are weary, discouraged, or fearful in the battle take heart! For if God is for us who can be against us? (Rom 8:3) May our souls be encouraged to take strength and joy in the Lord as we seek to pursue God’s beautiful plan for His children. We are not a hopeless people, but rather our hope has been ignited by the light of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ that has shone in our hearts.

May our hearts be filled with hope as we see that God’s will for us is sanctification.

Too Late to Apologize?

apol•o•get•ic \ə-pä-lə-ˈje-tik\ adj: offered in defense or vindication〈the apologetic writings of the early Christians〉

"...in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect..." (1 Peter 3:15)

I am not an apologist nor do I want to pretend to be. However, I have had a few opportunities to answer questions and give a defense for the gospel in my evangelistic efforts. Because I have had some experience and have learned a lot from that (as well as from studying the subject) I want to offer you some tips in a new series of posts. I will probably interrupt the series some weeks for other kinds of posts but in an attempt to offer as much help as I can I think it will be good not to limit myself by trying to fit everything into a single post.

Presuppositions exist, don't ignore them.

This is one of the foundational truths of the brand of apologetics known as Presuppositionalism. It isn't important at this level to go into a textbook style summary of what that means. What you should remember is that you cannot prove the existence of the God of the Bible without acknowledging that you are assuming the truth of His Scripture.

This is one of the great problems I have with many respectable men in the field of apologetics. They make great arguments based on real evidence for the existence of God but in order to avoid the charge of assuming the truth of the Bible they have to say things like "the great preponderance of the evidence points to the likelihood of the existence of a god." Which may be convincing enough to bring some people to faith in "a god" but the assumption behind that kind of argument is that we just need to convince people to become theists and hopefully they will throw themselves into the Christian camp as well.

Instead, I suggest that you simply acknowledge that you are entering the debate with a heart and mind that has been changed by God and, therefore, you assume His existence from the beginning.

You also must remember that because all of mankind has been radically affected by the Fall they are doing the same thing. In Romans Paul says, "no one seeks after God" (Romans 3:11) and in Ephesians 2 man is further described as "following the Prince of the power of the air" and described as "the sons of disobedience" (Ephesians 2:2).

So biblically speaking you are entering the "debate" with a bias for the God of the Bible and they enter it with a bias against Him. Ignoring that doesn't make the debate go smoother, but it can lead to arguments that are meant to be for God's existence but end up blasphemous.

More to come...

Grace and Peace,
Stephen

Judging (Part 2)

Dave Swavely writes in Who Are You to Judge? : "In his case of judging in 1 Corinthians 4:3-5, the apostle Paul has called two witnesses so far- The incompleteness of man's judgment (it is seriously limited) and the insubordination of man's judgment (it is a sin of disobedience to God). In verse 5 he call another witness- the inappropriateness of judging."

1 Corinthians 4:5 - "Therefore do not pronounce judgment before the time, before the Lord comes, who will bring to light the things now hidden in darkness and will disclose the purposes of the heart. Then each one will receive his commendation from God."

Here we see that the Lord is the only qualified Judge. Romans 14:4 - "Who are you to pass judgment on the servant of another? It is before his own master that he stands or falls. And he will be upheld, for the Lord is able to make him stand."

He is also the only capable Judge. Hebrews 4:12 - "For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart."

How can one judge another if they do not know the motives behind a persons actions? It is wrong to assume that you know their motives and that is exactly what sinful judging is. Too often we as humans jump to conclusions about everything, before we know anything that happened. We assume that we know everything that goes on in someone's head, but in reality all we see is the action.

Paul writes that God will "bring to light the things now hidden in darkness." That is our heart motives for every action we have ever done. He knows why we do what we do. And He says that on the Judgment Day, God will bring them to light. He will make them known and "each one will receive commendation from God." God alone will judge our hearts.

Dave Swavely gives an example of what could happen to someone who judges falsely and then stands before the Lord:

"I don't want to stand under the fiery glare of our holy God, and hear Him say to me, 'Did you think that this child of mine was wrong in what he did, and criticize him to other?'

'Y-y-yes, Lord,' I will have to answer, with a gulp.

'Well, I did not think he was wrong at all! Nothing in My Bible said what he did was wrong, and I happen to know that his heart was right, which makes Me quite pleased with him. So the only person who was wrong in that situation was you!'"

Do you want to be known as a judgmental person? Someone who tries to blame others of false motives? God will judge those who judge. Do you think He will be please that we think that we can accurately do His job? I don't want to be known as someone who thinks that He can take God's place as the true Judge. You may not think you are when you judge, but in your heart you think that you know what only God knows.

Lord, humble us. Put us in our place as servants willingly submitting, and not constantly trying to ineffectively overthrow You. Give us strength to fight against this sin of Judging. Thank you for Christ and His work that has abolished sin for Your glory!

Rolls? wait roles.

I ended last week with Genesis 1:27 " So God created man in His own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them" and so questions. The first question that i believe is essential to this whole topic of biblical womanhood and feminism goes back to...(gasp) roles. So why are roles so important, what are roles anyways? Is it simply chores that a man and woman can do best like mowing the grass or doing dishes, or does it go a little further? So 1, 2, 3, go

It doesn't take much to realize that God created two genders...male and female, thus two different roles. With the creation of roles God is able to show his image in three ways 1) the beauty and importance of interpersonal relationships 2) equality in both person hood and importance 3) difference in role and authority. This week Ill discuss the first way God is able to show his image with the importance of interpersonal relationships as it relates to roles.

God didn't create us to be alone. As humans we are best when we are around other humans that we can connect with and grow with. There is something special about interpersonal relationships and we see them everywhere... in families, friends, but this relationship is best expressed in marriage. In marriage you have two coming together as one, it is a unity of body, mind, and soul. It is cool to see how God uses marriage in all its beauty and mystery to show unity between a man and a woman. There is another relationship that somewhat mirrors this unity...the Trinity. Father, Son, and Spirit. This "Trinity" was shown to us in Genesis 1:26 when God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. Within the trinity there is love, communication, fellowship, a sharing of glory, and mutual giving of honor. These things, hopefully, also show up in marriage.

Now i have a good group of Godly women friends that i am so extremely thankful for. I can relate to these women, express myself in a way that they understand (which basically means i can ramble and think out loud and they know that im not looking for an answer or trying to make a point), they are tender, and can relate to hardships that i go through. I love my girl friends, but i didn't leave my parents to form a new family with them, nor can i be united body soul and mind to them...but i can to my sweet husband. With Jonathan there is this unique relationship where he is my protector and i am his helper, he has the ultimate decision making power, but he wants to know my thoughts and wisdom. We each bring something different to the table that wouldn't be much fun at all if it was two me's or two Jonathan's. With the creation of male and female, you get these two completely different puzzle pieces that fit together beautifully and work best together, just like the trinity.

To sum up roles are important because they show us that we need each other and are interdependent on each other (its best seen in marriage), just like the Father, Son, and Spirit need each other and are interdependent on each other.

I have a feeling that this is going to be a long topic, but its a good one.
Grace and peace.
sarah b.

Ministry Spot Light

Over the weekend my wife sarah and I got to go to a “Weekend to Remember” conference put on by Family Life(www.familylife.com). Conference was great and very encouraging but it was a very different experience. I have lived in Little Rock Arkansas my whole life and for a good portion of my friends have been children of Family Life Missionaries. Because I've always been around the ministry it has been very easy to over look what God is doing.
At the conference couples of all ages and backgrounds, christians and non christians, all for the sake of strengthening, preparing, or even saving their marriages. Seeing how these couples all had a weekend to simply focus on each other while being saturated by the gospel was a very encouraging thing for me to see since I've known people who run these conferences for years. We happened to know the guy who was the coordinator for the conference, so we heard many great stories from past weekends and how God uses these weekends to save marriages and bring people to Himself. I hope that you don't do what I tend to do and let the work of local missionaries go without being notice, and especially prayed for. Check out your local ministries that you might typically forget to join me in praying for them today.

JB

A Psalm of Praise and Thanksgiving

I give you thanks, O LORD with my whole heart;
before the gods I sing your praise;
I bow down toward your holy temple and give thanks to your name for your steadfast love and your faithfulness,
for you have exalted above all things your name and your word.


On the day I called, you answered me;
my strength of soul you increased.


All the kings of the earth shall give you thanks, O LORD,
for they have heard the words of your mouth,
and they shall sing of the ways of the LORD,
for great is the glory of the LORD.


For though the LORD is high, he regards the lowly,
but the haughty he knows from afar.


Though I walk in the midst of trouble, you preserve my life;
you stretch out your hand against the wrath of my enemies,
and your right hand delivers me.


The LORD will fulfill his purpose for me;
your steadfast love, O LORD, endures forever.
Do not forsake the work of your hands.
-Psalm 138

The Purpose and Centrality of the Local Church Part 6

This is the final part of a series on the centrality of the local church in God's redemptive purposes in the world. It has not been attempt to bring us back to a Rome-like view of the church or salvation but, rather, an attempt to do away with our Western individualism and help you to get a vision of and passion for the local assembly that God has given you. I hope it has been helpful.

The centrality of the church can be seen in that the responsibility for missions is given to the church.

This point is very relevant for me because I have seen first-hand both the lack of passion for missions in the local church and the lack of passion for the church in missions organizations. That is all besides the fact that most churches misapply their mission, turning church services into productions that are meant to draw in lost people with everything but the biblical gospel.

And Jesus came and said to them, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age." Matthew 28:18-20

This is the probably the main text that comes to most Christian minds when thinking about missions. Often called "the great commission" this text makes it clear that the gospel was meant to be effectively preached in all nations.

There is, however, much debate over what Jesus intended to be the eternal result of his words. Was this only a commission for the original disciples to fulfill? Does this obligate every person to serve a term of some length as a missionary?

Without going into a long exegetical study of the passage I will tell you my own conclusions. Just by knowing the rest of the New Testament we can know that this commission is meant to drive Christians during the entire church-age; that is, until Jesus comes back. The grammar of the commission tells us that the emphasis is not on "go" but on "make disciples." Therefore, every Christian is called to be a part of the fulfillment of this commission, but not every Christian is called to go on a "missions term." However, this commission clearly has global aspirations. Therefore, global missions is necessary to obey Jesus' commission.

So what we should really be asking is how Jesus intended this commission to be fulfilled and how the early church obeyed him. So let's see what we can learn from the book of Acts about these two things.

1. How did Jesus intend for this to be done?

In Acts 1 Jesus tells the disciples to wait for the Holy Spirit to come upon them and then gives a statement similar to the great commission cited above (Acts 1:8). He wasn't urgent for the disciples to start on a missionary journey as soon as he ascended. Instead, it seems that Jesus wanted the church to officially be started. He wanted things to go in their proper order and the Holy Spirit to empower their evangelism, which would happen in an incredible way in Acts 2.

2. How did the apostles work to fulfill the great commission?

The reason I use the "apostles" rather than "the church" in the title for this point is simply to avoid circular reasoning. The fact is 1st century Christian missions was church-centered to the core. The best example I can give for this is Acts 13-14 where we see how Paul and Barnabas went about their missionary journey.

In Acts 13:1-3 we see Paul (Saul) and Barnabas being set apart as missionaries in the context of the local church at Antioch. The congregation fasted and prayed about it and then layed hands on them and sent them.

The rest of Acts 13 and into 14 describes the missionary journey. To summarize, the fruit of the journey was church plants (Acts 14:21-25). They made many disciples of Christ and encouraged them, appointing elders for the new local churches.

After all this what did they do? Return to Antioch to let their sending church share in the joy of their labors (Acts 14:26-27). They then did something that we don't see much nowadays with missionaries, "And they stayed there a long time with the disciples." (Acts 14:28).

So we see three things: (1) the local church sent the missionaries, (2) the missionaries planted local churches, and (3) the missionaries returned to the local church to report and commit themselves to their own congregation once again.

We could look at a lot more but I think this gets the point across. Love your church, love the gospel, and love the lost enough to preach the gospel to them. I don't think para-church organizations are the God-ordained means for this task, they are only helpful inasmuch as they seek to work alongside God's church. Sending a para-church orginization to fulfill the great commission without the church is like sending the Boy Scouts to war...they may be entheusiastic about it but they lack the power and authority to win.

Grace, Peace, and much love,
Stephen