A SOURCE OF PEACE IN UNCERTAIN TIMES

We live in uncertain times. Anxiousness is in the air as we all await a solution to our nations economic problems. The threat of terrorism still lurks around the corner. War continues to rage with the promise of more to come. Even as Americans prepare to elect new leaders in November there is still a sense that our problems are bigger than any administrations solutions. The world looks on and awaits stability, but the more we strive to eliminate the reverberating motion of our problems the more our hands shake in the attempt. We are unable to control completely what is happening around us, and it leads to increased fear, anxiety, and worry.

I am thankful in times like these for the promise of the gospel. When we understand that there is a loving, powerful God who is bigger than our fears, worries, and anxieties then freedom is available. Recently I started a discussion on the gospel and I was encouraged by the responses I have received to the question, "What is the gospel?". Here are some examples of responses:

"because we are enemies in our minds due to evil behavior, Christ has to reconcile us to God through his physical death on the cross and resurrection to present us "holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation" if we "continue in our faith, established and firm, not moved from the hope held out in the gospel". col 1:22-23a"

"God had an eternal, loving plan though - since the beginning of time. God chose out of the human race a holy people through which God Himself would enter the human race (through His Son) and make atonement for the sins of the people of the world. God's Son (God in the flesh) came to earth as the awaited Messiah within the Jewish race - Jesus the Christ. Jesus Christ was the perfect, sinless Son of God. Unlike us, it is well documented that He committed no sin. This allowed him to be our "sin bearer" (He would bear the consequences for the sins of the entire world) - the One that would allow Himself to be beaten, tortured and crucified on a cross whereupon God could pour out all of his vengeful, holy wrath upon this perfect sacrificial Lamb - His earthly Son. After receiving all of God's punishment that had been ear-marked for us, Jesus Christ died an earthly death. And then He did what no other earthly man could have done. He rose from the dead three days later. "

"In my own words, and another quote from Romans, the gospel is the fact that while man's free will was so fallen that he was incapable of seeking after God and pleasing Him that God sent His only Son to take on the sins of the elect and receive their judgement, which is death, so that "God would be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus." Rom. 3:26 "

"The salvation and reconciliation that God provided for mankind through his Son can only be received as a gift, by believing in his Son Jesus, not just intellectually accenting, but by acknowledging that Jesus died for my sins personally, and committing to a life of him as my Lord.Conversion then, is our “stake-in-the ground” if you will, but our journey does not end here. The Bible is clear that upon our conversion we have moved from the kingdom of this world, to the kingdom of heaven."

"Perhaps the “greatest” part of the good news is what being a kingdom citizen (or Christian) means for us! Not only are we saved from eternity apart from God, we are reconciled to God and to relationship with Him. We have the privilege of calling the infinite God of the universe “father,” or perhaps even more literally translated “daddy.” No other religion in the world has anything even remotely resembling the intimacy with which Christians have with their God. Benefits are manifold, and cannot all be expounded upon here, but include: comforting, being made complete (or whole), receiving mercy, seeing God, healing, purpose, empowerment to bear the fruit required of us, and a promise from God that “he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus” (Philippians 1:6)!"

Many place their hope in the things of this world. Government (9-11 showed to us how quickly that can be shaken) Money (Stocks dropped 700 points this week, is that a safe place to rest our security?) Friends/Family (our life is but a mist, we are here today and gone tomorrow. We don't know when we will die let alone those we depend on. Again there isn't much security in people). Leaders, (if we are honest we understand that all of us are capable of doing terrible things. Our actions may not prove it today, but our thoughts do), ourselves (do you really believe you are capable to sustain your own life?) What then can we trust in?

In Psalm 2 we read

Why are the nations in an uproar and the peoples devising a vain thing? The kings of the earth take their stand and the rulers take counsel together against the LORD and against His Anointed...He who sits in the heavens laughs, The Lord scoffs at them. Then He will speak to them in His anger and terrify them in his fury, saying, 'But as for Me, I have installed My king upon Zion, My holy Mountain'...How blessed are all who take refuge in Him!

We learn that God is not worried about the chaos we fear. He is not worried about those who doubt or hate him. In fact he laughs. Why? He knows what the outcome is. He has established His plan and nothing will interfere. We can have confidence that when our hope is in the Salvation of Jesus, God will finish what he has started. After all, it was God the Father who loved us enough to send His Son Jesus. When we accept the gift of the gospel we no longer need to fear our immediate future, because we belong to the one who knows the future. We can cling to this security in uncertain times. Wall Street may fail, our government may fail, but our loving, sovereign God does not fail. We can trust in his promise to complete the work of salvation that he began in us with the cross of Jesus Christ.

"he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus" Philippians 1:6

Removing the Obstacles to Lasting Joy

What is the gospel?

Christians claim that the message of the gospel is the most important message in history. Some of you reading this will agree with that statement. I certainly do. Yet I wonder do we have a clear understanding of the gospel? If this is the most essential message in history it is of utmost importance that we understand this message. I am afraid that most of us understand the basics but are not truly instructed in it's message. With that thought in mind I ask you to explore the depth of the gospel with me. Let's begin with a question. Please help me by taking a moment to answer no matter what your opinion is. What is the gospel?

BE MERCIFUL TO ME THE SINNER...

Grace is for sinners, a truth Christians can both abuse and misunderstand. How often have we heard the accusation "hypocrites"? This is a claim I cannot quickly reject. I am a hypocrite. The more I learn about God the more I am aware of my shortcomings. While I can acknowledge that grace is for sinners I cannot allow the claim of God's grace in my life to excuse my need to struggle with the sin in my heart.

I don't consider myself a critical or judgemental person, and that is my problem. This is an example of what Jerry Bridges calls a "refined" sin or "the sins of nice people". "Sins that we can regularly commit and still retain our positions as elders, deacons, Sunday school teachers, Bible study leaders, and yes, even full-time Christian workers."

For example, this weekend I visited a church I attended as a child. As I paid attention to the service I became aware that the reason I was listening so closely was my desire to find area's of disagreement so I could hold my doctrinal beliefs above theirs. I was pridefully thinking God was pleased with me and my religious opinions, while He was displeased with this church and their religious doctrines. The funny thing is I found little I disagreed with theologically. I was reminded that I needed to take seriously the warnings found in Matthew 7:3


"Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother's eye?"

My spirit is often critical. Bridges says, "A judgmental spirit is too often a vice of committed Christians. We need to recognize it as the sin it really is." What other refined sins do I struggle with? If I were honest my list would include the following: resentment, bitterness, an unforgiving spirit, impatience, irritability, hate, love of self, materialism, and a host of others. These are sins I am so quick to point out in others, but ignore to the point of suppression within my own heart. Perhaps I should wear the label hypocrite.


I have become too comfortable with these types of sin in my life. What I need is a stirring of the coals, a reminder of the seriousness of sin. Anselm of Canterbury believed the restoration of human beings to the position they were intended to enjoy required divine grace. In Cur Deus Homo (Why God Became A Human Being) Anselm attempts to show that the debt incurred by human sin could be forgiven, and the offense to God's dignity could be rectified, only if one who was both fully divine and fully human took it upon himself to offer his own life on our behalf. Our sin demanded a sacrifice. It is serious. This should lead us down the path toward humility!

But what about those Christians who don't struggle with sin? The ones who don't seem to care, and who believe their sin doesn't matter because God loves them unconditionally? Paul anticipated this behavior (see Romans 6:1, Gal. 5:13). Jude hinted that it was happening in the first century (see Jude 4). Bridges writes,

"We cannot allow some people's abuse of truth to deprive us of it's value."

The value is that we can now view ourselves as what we are in Christ (saints) and what we are in ourselves (sinners). The true believer will find that as they grow in God's grace, and knowledge of their sin they will desire to live a more disciplined life. Robert Jones in his book titled Uprooting Anger give us an accurate picture of such a person in the psalmist who wrote psalm 119.

How sweet are your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth! I gain understanding from your precepts; therefore I hate every wrong path. (vv.103-4).

"At the same time, this sense of hatred coexists, without contradiction, with a sense of sweet delight in God's word. The psalmist is not a raging bull; he is a lover of God's truth and a hater of anything that opposes it."

The Christian who is acutely aware of God's grace, and his own sin will develop a proper desire to obey God's word, and to distance himself from things that keep him from doing so. While in his present state he is still a sinner there is a change that is taking place (sanctifying work of the Spirit) which causes him to act more in line with God's word. This is the heart from which will flow all of the fruits of the Spirit. Those Christians who continue on a path of sin without such a struggle must at some point question their faith. A good tree is known by the good fruit it produces, if there is no good fruit, then we question if the tree is good. If there is no desire in you to walk according to God's word then perhaps the Spirit does not live within your heart. You must confess, repent, and believe that Christ will forgive you.

Christians must remember that even at their best our religious works are no more than filthy rags (Isaiah 64:6). God knows this, that's why He sent Jesus, to help us, to free us, to do what we could not do. The puritan theologian John Owen wrote,

"Believers know all their duties are weak, imperfect and unable to abide in God's presence. Therefore they look to Christ as the one who bears the iniquity of their holy things, who adds incense to their prayers, gathers out all the weeds from their duties and makes them acceptable to God."

John Owen understood the sinfulness of our good works. There is nothing we can do to please God apart from faith in Christ. We are back to grace. Grace is for sinners. It is not the sinners excuse to sin more. It is hope for a hopeless situation.