Choosing our friends wisely

I Cor. 15:33 Be not deceived evil communications corrupt good manners.
This verse of scripture is used often in our culture, but because of the way our language has evolved in the last few centuries it doesn't quite mean what it sounds like in our modern English. In order to understand this verse properly, we need to define a couple of words. The word "communications" here, is not referring directly to methods used to impart opinions to others through speech or words, as we often use it today. Instead it means the type of people we associate with, or who we make our companions. The second word that is a little confusing is the word manners, today when we say manners we are talking about customs or traditions that are considered polite in our culture. When the KJV was first translated in 1611 the word was most commonly used to speak of a way of life, which is the way Paul wrote it in the Greek. So then this verse's connotation is something along the lines of, Don't be deceived evil companions corrupt your life.
Proverbs tells us that he that walketh with wise men shall be wise; but a companion of fools will be destroyed, Paul is reiterating this passage. We live in a culture in which we are forced to deal with people every day from every sort of background, and I think that is a good thing. As Christians we are not called to come out of the world, but that we would walk differently in the world, and one of the key components of our life is who we choose to hang around with. I know many people who claim to be Christians and yet spend the majority of their free time around "The wrong crowd". I don't know about you but I have heard so many testimonies of someone that was "a good person" but got involved with the wrong crowd. Paul warns the Christians in I Corinthians that if they played with fire they were going to be burned, and even prefaces it with "be not deceived". I think one of the main reasons he said that is because it is so common for us to either trick ourselves or be tricked into thinking that we can hang out with people who are constantly in trouble and yet somehow avoid the trouble ourselves. The truth is whether it's simply guilt by association, or actually becoming tangled up in the trouble (which is more common), you will become part of that "wrong crowd". People don't get in the wrong crowd, they become the wrong crowd.
Let me encourage you to be very careful who you decide to hang out with, if they are the ones that are always pushing the legal limits or always hanging out at the clubs or simply always wasting their time, don't become part of that group. Look for friends that will encourage you to righteousness and wisdom; because if your friends are wise you will be too, but if your friends are fools not only will you become a fool, they will only lead you to destruction.

justification and sanctification

Titus 2:13-15 Looking for that blessed hope and, and glorious appearing of the great God and our Savior Jesus Christ; Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works. These things speak, and and exhort, and rebuke with all authority. Let no man despise thee.
In this passage of scripture, Paul is writing to a fellow minister in the faith, counseling him on how the church is to be run, and reminding and teaching him some fundamental doctrines. We must keep in mind that at this point, the church as we know it was in it's infancy and Satan was doing all in his power to corrupt the truth before it got spread too far. Paul starts out these verses telling Titus to be looking forward to that day when Jesus Christ, our great God and Savior, will appear. I'm thankful that he also took this opportunity to remind Titus of just why Jesus came to die the first time.
The first reason Paul gives is that Jesus came to redeem us from (that is pay for) our iniquities. We know that the scriptures plainly teach that sin pays out wages and those wages are death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. God cannot simply ignore our sins though, the only reason God can offer that free gift is because our debt has already been paid by a sinless one, Jesus Christ. We call this "Justification", basically it means that God as a judge looks at our record and sees that although we once owed a debt, it has been paid, and we are therefore free to enter heaven. Although we continue to sin on occasion as long as we are in this world, all of it has already been paid for if you have received salvation through faith in Jesus Christ.
Paul then gives Titus a second reason that Jesus came to die and that is to purify us and make us zealous to good works. This is called "Progressive Sanctification" and it is the doctrine that over a period of a lifetime God's children live holier and holier lives through the strength of the Holy Spirit. The reason Paul mentions this as a reason Christ died, is because before we are redeemed, we can do nothing but sin, we have no choice. When Christ saves us we now have freedom; not to live however we want to, but to choose the right. As we grow in grace and God teaches us through the guidance of the Holy Spirit and the scriptures, we begin to make the right choices with greater frequency. Satan hates this doctrine and has tried ever since Paul's time to eradicate it, but in God's word we have preserved for eternity that Christ came to die to purify us and make us zealous of good works. The one who denies this is saying the same thing that those who teach works salvation are saying, that Christ's blood can't really do all the scriptures say it can do. One crowd says it is not powerful enough in itself to justify you, the other says it is not strong enough in itself to sanctify you. Paul says it is strong enough to do both, and inevitably does both. You did not choose to be justified and you cannot choose whether you want to be sanctified or not, that's God's business!
Lastly in these verses, Paul tells Titus to speak these things with authority, and to let no man discourage him through despite. We cannot stop people from despising the truth, but we can go on, holding fast to the doctrines of Christ, speaking the truth in love. If you stand on God's word than you can be sure you are on the side of the truth, because God will be true and every man (that disagrees with Him) a liar. You may suffer for speaking the truth, but fight the good fight, keep the faith, that you may finish your course with joy. If you are one that has been redeemed, let me encourage you to be pure and zealous of good works, as a faithful servant of Christ.

Thou shalt not covet

Exo 20:17 Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that is thy neighbour's.
Out of all the ten commandments, this last one is probably the least thought of and most shrugged off. While we commonly agree that it is a heinous sin against God and man to commit idolatry, adultery, theft, murder and most of the other ten commandments, the idea of covetousness is not thought of as one of the "worst" sins a man could commit. On the contrary, we live in a culture that heavily promotes the idea of covetousness, one that floods all our senses with the idea that we don't have as much as we deserve. TV, billboards, radio, magazines and everywhere else an advertisement is found, a sense of ingratitude is being cultured, nine times out of ten. I don't mean to say all advertisements are bad, but I do mean to say that the way they are presented often are. This problem persists outside of advertising though, in the business world you are often told things like, "it's do-eat-dog world out there", "look out for number one first" and "trample on whoever necessary to get to the top", such sayings promote the idea that material possessions are more important that people.
While this is the only commandment that deals only with your thought life and not directly with an outward action, does not cheapen it's importance in God's eyes. Take a look at Eph. 5:5 "For this ye know, that no whoremonger, nor unclean person, nor covetous man, who is an idolater, hath any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God". This passage is very clear that those who are living in a constant, unrepentant state of covetousness are showing out what's inside, or rather the lack of it, the spirit of God obviously is not dwelling in them and they have no inheritance in the kingdom of Christ or of God. Notice he doesn't say they have a lesser or smaller inheritance, but that they have no inheritance. Covetousness does not make you lose your salvation, but is you are living with it and refusing to repent, you are proving that you never were saved to begin with. If God were to deal with you as a child he would help you defeat that spirit of covetousness (which the bible says is idolatry) whatever correction it took. If he is leaving you in slavery to your sin, than he is dealing with you as a bastard and not as a son. (Heb. 12:8)
Obviously than this sin of covetousness is a very abominable one before God, it is one that is easy to fall into in our culture, yet it must be avoided at all costs. Our souls are at stake here, steer clear of placing things as more important than God or even other people. A man's life consists not in the abundance of the things which he possesses. (Luke 12:15)

The necessaries of life

Job 23:12 Neither have I gone back at the commandment of his lips; I have esteemed the words of his mouth more than my necessary food.
Job is in the middle of some of the greatest trials ever endured by a mortal, he has lost his vast fortune, he has lost his position of authority, he has lost all of his children, he has lost the support of his wife, and he is in the middle of enduring rebuke and false accusations from his friends. To top it all off this had all come in the space of about two weeks from the best we can tell. Now Job opens his mouth and defends himself, telling his friends that he has not gone back on God's commands, in fact he said that he had made God's word the highest priority in his life. Chapter one tells us of his faithfulness in praying and offering sacrifice for his children on a continual basis.
We should learn a lesson from the example that he left for us in how important the word of God should be for us. In a day and age when we are so busy running to work, running to school, running errands, going to our social activities, we have laid aside the truly important things of life. How often do you get so busy that you let an entire twenty-four hours go by without eating? On the contrary when was the last time you let a day go by without reading a passage from the word of God? I know how easy it is to allow a day to slip away without going to God's word to either start it off or finish it out, but simply because it is common place or easy to do is not an excuse. It is not just the place of the preacher to be studying, it is the place of every christian. How many of us could honestly say that we have not gone back from the commandments of God? I know I'm still a work in progress. How many of us could say we miss meals more often than we miss our time alone with God? If you can, I commend you and encourage you to stay the course, but all too often we allow ourselves to be convinced that there are more important things than our walk with God.
Deut. 8:3 tells us " that He might make thee to know that man doth not live by bread only, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of the Lord doth man live." (Jesus quotes this passage in Matt. 4:4) Yet there is little to no practical application or even recognition of this among those of us that call ourselves christians. Bible reading and prayer time is one of the luxuries we allow ourselves if we have time, instead of being the most important thing in our life that causes us to change our schedule to accommodate. I would challenge you to take God's words and commandments more seriously, to make a habit of making sure you have fed your soul before you ever feed your body. We find a way to squeeze food into our busy schedules, if it were really important we could find a way to read the bible. Prioritize your life, if you honestly cannot read you bible daily because of you schedule then quit something. I am not over-simplifying, I am not preaching anything I don't practice, there have been many occasions where I have quit a job or social club membership because it was cutting into my time with God. It is not an impossibility, it just takes some determination and dedication. Seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you.

For all have sinned

Rom. 3:23 For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;
This verse is a very well known verse in scripture, it is one of the most commonly used verse in evangelism, used to show people that they are indeed sinners. While this is very important, since there is no need of salvation if you have not sinned, we often fall short in explaining just what sin is. We live in a culture that thinks nothing of sin, a culture that uses sin in advertisements, entertainment, and even every day life. You can no longer walk into the grocery store, much less turn on the television without being assaulted by the sight, sound, and feeling of sin. Immodesty, sexual innuendo, blasphemy and pride, are just a few of the sins that are so blatantly portrayed all around us all the time. We live in a culture that is no longer shamed by sin, my generation as a rule has forgotten how to blush.
So when we say that all have sinned, people do not feel horrified by the thought that they have offended a holy God, but instead they feel vindicated that they are not the only ones that are sinning, in fact every one is. To say that you have sinned basically means that you have broken a law, and on the outset that doesn't sound to bad, until you understand that it is God's law that you have broken. Even then this doesn't phase many people because they don't understand who God is, but when you understand how infinite God's goodness and mercy and love and holiness is, it brings the idea of sin to a whole other level. If we sin against a king, our punishment needs to be relative to how worthy the king was and consequently how offensive our crime was. When we sin against a God that is infinitely worthy, that means that we are guilty of an infinite crime and therefore worthy of infinite punishment.
Secondly, the verse says that we have all come short of God's glory. Once again the common response is "Well of course I have I'm just a man and he is God". What needs to be explained is that in order to get into heaven we are required to meet God's standard of glory. So then we have two options, either we must become a god and live a perfect life or else we must get in on the repute of another who is worthy. This is why Jesus Christ had to live and die as he did, had he lived a sinless life and then simply ascended into heaven we couldn't get in because no payment would have been give for our sin. Had he lived anyway short of Godly perfection his death would have meant nothing. So this verse provides the necessary preamble to any evangelistic message, but it means nothing unless the people see sin as heinous as it is, and the dire consequences for coming short of God's glory.
Any sin is nothing short of spitting in God's face, there is no excuse in the fact that everyone does it, coming short of his glory is a automatic exemption from heaven. As the hymn says " Turn your eyes upon Jesus, look full in his wonderful face, and the things of earth will grow strangely dim, in the light of his glory and grace." If you turn to Jesus for salvation he cannot not only pay your sin debt, but he can restore you positionally to God's glory.

Eternal security

Rom. 8: 38, 39 For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
In last week's column, I wrote about the importance of examining ourselves to make sure that we are indeed new creatures, saved and changed by the spirit of God. Because I am afraid that there are many out there that have a wrong idea about what salvation is, and are going about with a false security. As much as Satan would love to tell a lost man he is saved, the flip side to that coin, is that he also tries to convince saved men they are lost. While this does not do quite so much damage as the former, it is a very real and very dangerous threat to Christianity. If the devil can convince a lost man he is saved until he dies, that man will forever be in eternal torment; but if he can convince a saved man he is lost, it will have no consequence on the soul, but it will make that saved man a much less effective servant for the kingdom of God.
With that in mind let us take a look at our two text verses, Paul lists every physical and spiritual resource you can imagine and diffuses any possibility, of any of them having the power to "unsave" a man. There are many denominations and religions that will tell you that there are ways to lose your salvation, ranging from something as small as missing a church service, to as great as committing suicide. There are also debates as to how you can become saved once again, or even if it is possible to be saved again once you have lost it. It is the doctrine of salvation by grace alone that sets true Christianity apart from every other religion in the world. Every religion outside of true Christianity teaches that you have to either do something to gain your salvation or do something to keep it, both are heresies. Paul says that there is nothing that can separate those who have been saved from God's love, no deed of their own, no power of hell, no act of another, is more powerful than God. When anyone claims that salvation can be lost, they are in essence claiming that there is something stronger than God. I can tell you this, if God can't keep me saved there is no hope for me; because if God isn't strong enough to secure my salvation, I'm certainly not stronger than God. If the perfect blood of Jesus Christ is not enough to pay my sin debt, what can I give that is worth more?
Do not give place to the devil, when he comes at you with accusations of your sinfulness and tries to convince you that you are not good enough to deserve salvation. You can rest assured in the fact that he is right you are not good enough to deserve salvation, that is what makes grace, grace, that is what is meant when the scriptures say that salvation is a gift of God, not of works lest any man should boast. Yes, we're saved unto good works, but not because of good works, we are saved because of God's love for us, and that is something that can never be changed.

A new creature

II Cor. 5:17 Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.
Isn't it amazing how almost every word we use for being saved carries with it the connotation of change. We say they have been converted, when you convert something (i.e. electricity) it goes in one end and comes out the other side something completely different. We say they have been regenerated, according to dictionary.com that means "to re-create, reconstitute, or make over, esp. in a better form or condition". We say they have been born again, once again implying that they are no longer the person they were under their first birth. All these terms are theologically accurate because there is indeed a change wrought in those that have believed, doesn't it sound almost ludicrous to suggest that God runs the universe and is sovereign in all matters including salvation, yet is incompetent to cleanse? Paul says that if any man is in Christ he is a new creature, old things are passed, all things have become new. Note the lack of variables, it is not that all things should be new, or he ought to act like a new creature, or we hope the old things have passed away, it is definitive.
That would then beg the question, what if someone has gone through the motions that the preacher told them to go through, they said the prayer, they knelt at the alter, they asked Jesus to come into their heart, and yet there is nothing new about them, what about them? That is a very relevant question, because there are so many people (especially here in the buckle of the bible belt) that could apply that very question to themselves. The preacher told them that if they would just understand "the five truths God wants you to know" or some other neatly packaged ticket to heaven they would be saved. Yet for all that they have never felt remorse for sin, they do not enjoy being around other Christians, they would much rather read the daily news then the Bible. There has been no evidence of a changed heart over the past fifteen years or so, since they did what the preacher said to do to get out of hell and into heaven. Whenever they approach someone about it though, they are told that's just the Devil trying to make you doubt, don't worry about it, while that may be true, it may also be true that they are not truly converted and it is the Holy Spirit convicting them and drawing them to salvation. You, my dear reader, may even be one of these very people that find no sense in this verse because nothing has become new to you. I cannot tell you with absolute certainty whether you are lost or saved, because God has not given me the authority or knowledge to say such things. What I do know is that the scriptures say if you are in Christ, you are a new creature, and if your thoughts and actions have remained exactly the same as they always were, the only logical conclusion I can see is that you are not in Christ. Not that you lost your salvation, for we know once a soul is put in Jesus' hand it can never be removed, but that perhaps He was never in you to start with. Like I said I cannot see your soul, but I can see the outside which is a reflection of what's on the inside.
May God bless you as you search yourself and the scriptures, that you may either be assured of your salvation or be converted, not by following some prepackaged "Romans Road" or any other work, but by the moving of God and the drawing of his Holy Spirit.

Belief in Christ

Acts 2:36 Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly, that God hath made that same Jesus, whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ.
Last week's column was on the critical issue of belief, however belief in and of itself means nothing unless you understand what it is that we are believing in. You can believe in George Washington, you can believe in a light switch to bring you light, we can even believe in our belief, but none of those things will save us. What is really critical is what we are believing in, if you have true belief, but it is in works to save you, then your belief means nothing, our belief must be in the Lord Jesus Christ. Unfortunately, very few people who think they know who Jesus is, actually know the Jesus of the scriptures, they want to take Jesus on their own terms instead of going to the Bible to find out who it says He is. It is my desire to show you the Jesus of the Bible, (if such a thing is possible in such few words as I have at my disposal here.)
The first thing we need to address is just which Jesus we are talking about, Jesus was and still is a very common name among Jews. In Hebrew it is the same name as Joshua, and it is not enough for us to believe in just any of the many Jesus' of today or history. Peter specifies it when he says "that same Jesus", the Jesus that Peter is talking about is the one that was born of a virgin, lived a sinless life, died as an innocent man, and raised himself the third day. If you disagree with any of those facts, you are not believing in "that same Jesus" that I am believing in, and that Peter was preaching, if you deny any of that about Jesus you are putting your trust in a Jesus that is never mentioned in scripture.
The second thing that Peter preached about this Jesus is that He was the Christ. It is not enough for you to believe in Jesus the good man, or in Jesus the prophet, or Jesus the miracle worker. Believing in the Jesus of the Bible means that you believe He was the Christ, the Messiah, the chosen one of God, and in fact God Himself. The scriptures use the phrase "Jesus Christ" standing alone, without any other words describing Him, 93 times. How can anyone claim to believe in the Jesus of the Bible and yet deny the fact that He was the Christ? You can't, saving belief includes believing that He was and is the Christ.
The third and final description that Peter said was so intrinsically intertwined into who Jesus is that there is no salvation outside of it, is that this same Jesus is also Lord. This is a doctrine that is bucked by many and yet there can be no more escaping this fact then the truth that he is Christ, because the name Jesus is proceeded by the title "Lord" 115 times in the New Testament. To say that you believe in Jesus and yet refuse to submit to his authority as Lord, you would have to tear 115 verses out of the Bible. To believe in the Jesus of the Bible it is expedient that you believe that He is Lord, and if He is Lord then we need to be obeying His commandments, and that is where so many people get hung up. They want to believe that they have been saved from hell, but when the rubber meets the road they don't want it bad enough to except it on God's terms, they want to get it on their own terms. They want to be saved from hell but not from their sins, until God has brought you to a point where you are willing to believe on the Jesus of the Bible, the Jesus of Peter, Paul, and Silas, then there can be no salvation.
Belief is the critical doctrine of Christendom, but it is all a bunch of rot if you are not believing in the right person, I would challenge you to examine your own life and see just who you have believed in. Was it the Lord Jesus Christ? Have you ever believed at all? Believe in the Jesus of the scriptures and be saved.

True belief

John 3:36 He that believeth on the son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the son shall not see life: but the wrath of God abideth on him.
The doctrine of belief in Jesus is the single most important issue in all of Christendom. According to the gospel of John (as well as the rest of the scriptures) it is the only way that salvation can come, without belief the wrath of God abides on every person. If this is all so, than it is expedient for us to understand what it is to truly believe. Even in the New Testament, error was not only sneaking into the church but some of it was storming in. In order to lay down a clear and concise statement of what Christians should believe and how they should interpret difficult portions of scripture, christian leaders would gather together in councils and write a creed articulating a doctrine. One such doctrine that was being disputed was this issue of belief, what did it mean to believe in the Son? Is there a difference between believing in many secular things and believing in Christ? This is what was decided hundreds of years ago by these giants of the faith, and has been held by orthodox Christianity ever since.
The first kind of belief was given the Latin term notitia, notitia is the word that we derive our verb "to note" from. This type of belief means simply to understand what is being said, I say to you that a chair will hold you up, and you understand what a chair is, you understand what it means to sit, and you understand what it means to hold up. You notitia what I'm saying, you understand it. However, notitia is not saving belief, there are many atheists that notitia the gospel, they understand what is being said, but that does not save them.
The second kind of belief is another Latin word, assensus. You can probably tell that this is where we get our word "assent" from, it means that you agree that what I'm saying is true. To assensus the gospel means that you leave the realm of pure intellectualism and take a small step of faith. Not only do you understand what I mean when I say the chair will hold you up, but you actually agree that the chair has the ability to hold you up. Unfortunately, there are many filling the pews of our churches who assensus the gospel, but it means no more to them than the fact that Napoleon lost the battle of Waterloo. Assensus by itself is not saving belief either, I know a man that agrees with everything I say about the gospel, but will have nothing to do with it personally. By his own admission he is heading to hell, yet he refuses to believe in the gospel.
The last part of saving belief is known as fiducia, the English word fidelity springs from this term. This is the belief that is spoken of in John 3:36, while it is not possible to have it without the first two, it is the essential, final piece to saving belief. To fiducia the gospel it becomes personal, you actually sit in the chair that you have already said you believed would hold you up. A person that has this kind of belief in the gospel is eternally secure in Christ, there is no if, ands, or buts, for a person that fiducias the gospel. If you are trusting in anything else outside of Christ for your conversion, (i.e. baptism, church membership, good works, Communion) you do not fiducia the gospel. While all of those things are critical components for someone who is already saved, they have no bearing on your whether God saves you or not. I pray that your belief goes beyond that of notitia and assensus and that you have put complete fiducia in the Son, so that you may escape the wrath of God and have everlasting life.

The Lord is my shepherd

Psa. 23:1 The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.
Probably one of the best known verses in scripture, this first verse of the twenty-third psalm has many truths in it that we do injustice to when we simply skim over the verse and don't take much time to meditate on it. First off we see who it is that is doing the shepherding, it is the Lord. What we need to remember is that "the Lord" is not God's name it is his title, when we say that the Lord is our shepherd we are in essence saying that we admit that God is the Lord of our life. It is not simply God as our Father, or Savior, although both of those are true descriptions of him, it is God as our King, Captain, and Lord. Secondly, David admits that God is his shepherd. While this statement probably causes us to conjure up images of a very feminine and European looking Jesus, carefully watching over some sheep in a green pastures; anyone that has ever had sheep or goats knows that those animals are rarely content to stay in that green pasture. It would almost seem as if they were bent on their own destruction, they are forever wandering close to cliffs and precipices and places that can mean nothing but danger. The shepherd has to lead them away from those places time and time again, always patient and loving. I am so much like those sheep so often, I wander into a place in my life that will lead me into nothing but trouble, and God in all his mercy and long suffering leads me back to the paths of safety. I think of the hymn "Come thou fount", I can always relate to the last verse where it says "Prone to wander, Lord I feel it, prone to leave the God I love". The christian life isn't always those peaceful green pastures, many times we ignore the shepherd's call and then expect him to bail us out when we fall over that cliff. Every time he leaves the ninety-nine to find the one that has gone astray. Admitting that the Lord is our shepherd means acknowledging that there will be times when we don't want to go where he wants to lead us, it is those times that we must remind ourselves that we are but sheep, and we can do nothing but listen to the shepherd's voice and follow where he leads. Because many time he will lead us through rocky canyons in order to bring us to the greenest pastures.
Lastly note that the psalmist says he will never want, that word want does not mean he will never desire anything, it means he will never be without the things he really needs. The New Testament tells us that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose. The grass often looks greener on the other side of the fence, but the good shepherd always knows which grass is best for us. Sometimes what we think we need God knows we don't, and once again we have to learn to give in to the shepherd's will and rest in the fact that he will always give us what we need, which is often the opposite of what we want. The Lord is our shepherd, and we will never lack, but don't think that means he'll give you everything you want, when you want it. Imagine if sheep were simply given everything they ever wanted, it would ultimately lead to their demise. So we too, would destroy ourselves if left to our own devices.
Trust in the good shepherd, even when the hardest thing to do is trust, especially when the hardest thing to do is trust, and you will never lack.