Author: admin

Posted on

Can You Be a Christian and Not a Disciple?

A disciple knows that God is jealous

disciple

For all who seek to Know God and His Ways, it is essential to understand one thing well: he requires first place in your life.

We see this in the Old Covenant in the 10 Commandments (see Exodus 20). God begins the 10 Commandments by insisting that Israel not have any other gods. He explains, “You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I the LORD your God am a jealous God” (Exodus 20:5).

In fact, elsewhere God says his very name is Jealous: “You shall worship no other god, for the LORD, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God” (Exodus 34:14 ESV).

So, this is fundamental to God’s relationship with human beings and with you; he requires primacy of place, he requires that he be first in your life without any competitors (such as family members, money, possessions, the world in general, and so on).

Is Jesus Jealous?

We see Jesus has the same jealousy when he insists on being first in our lives and that we be fully surrendered to him as true disciples.

Jesus said, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.” (Matthew 16:24–25)

And, “Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.” (Matthew 10:37)

Most people who call themselves Christians in America do not understand this. I was speaking recently with a woman whom I had just met while doing sidewalk outreach, and I asked her if she was a Christian. She answered yes. Then I asked, Are you a disciple of Jesus? She answered no.

Notice her assumption. She believed someone could be a Christian without being a disciple of Jesus. She knew she was not obeying Jesus, and she knew she was not truly following him. She believed in him, she gave assent to truths about Jesus such as that he is the son of God, that he died for our sins and rose from the dead. But she knew well she was following the world instead of Jesus. Nevertheless, she felt she could be a real Christian on the way to heaven.

A Christian but not a disciple?

That clearly is not true. Jesus makes numerous statements that should destroy the hope of anyone who claims to be a Christian but is not living as a true disciple of the Lord.

For example, Jesus said:

“Why do you call me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and not do what I tell you?

“Everyone who comes to me and hears my words and does them, I will show you what he is like: he is like a man building a house, who dug deep and laid the foundation on the rock. And when a flood arose, the stream broke against that house and could not shake it, because it had been well built.

“But the one who hears and does not do them is like a man who built a house on the ground without a foundation. When the stream broke against it, immediately it fell, and the ruin of that house was great.” (Luke 6:46–49 ESV)

Notice the common feature of the two people in this parable. They both listen to the words of Jesus. They both hear his words. However, one person hears the Lord’s words and does them, and the other person hears them and does not do them.

The flood

There is another common element in the story for both people. That is the flood that rises and breaks against their houses. This is where the common features end. When the stream breaks against the one man’s house his house stands because it was built on heeding the words of Jesus. The other man’s house collapses when the stream strikes it because though he listened to the words of Jesus he ignored them.

Notice how the result is described in the disobedient man’s life: his house “fell, and the ruin of that house was great.” That is a description that Jesus would never use to describe someone whose soul is saved. No true Christian ends up with the collapse of her life. No true Christian ends up with his house in great ruin.

The house, of course, represents one’s life. Everyone is building a house. Your house is made of beliefs, values, behaviors, thoughts, priorities, habits, actions, words, relationships, goals, accomplishments, failures, sins, good works.

The flood and stream that sooner or later break against it is Judgement Day, when every person must stand before God and give an account.

Your foundation

How well are you building? Are you digging deep and building on the Rock? Or are you building on the ground without a foundation—the world system which is indifferent to Christ and rebels against him?

So, this is God’s nature, and these are his ways. He must have first place in your life, and if he has that place then there will be obedience in you. You will be a true disciple of Jesus Christ. If you have never settled that with the Lord, do it now. And then write me about your decision.

Posted on

Knowing God as Your Gracious Father

A transformational spiritual exercise to help you sense that God is your gracious Father

I want to share a helpful devotional practice I have been using in recent months. It has been spiritually rich for me, and it transforms my understanding of God and my feelings about him.

Normally I use this devotional practice first thing in the morning. I commonly wake up in the morning with the sense that I am unworthy, and that God does not feel good about me, probably stemming from the notion that I must earn my way with him and deserve his love. A few months ago I began intentionally focusing at these times on God as my gracious Father, and I meditate one by one on the qualities that constitute his gracious fatherhood.

Depending on how much time I have, I might do this for 10 minutes, or for an hour. But there is a sweetness to it always, and by the end of this meditation the negative feelings are gone.

Example

Here is what I typically say:

Gracious Father, your favor toward me is my treasure and delight.

Gracious Father, your benevolence [goodwill] toward me is my treasure and delight.

Gracious Father, your beneficence [good works] in my life is my treasure and delight.

Gracious Father, your generosity toward me is my treasure and delight.

Gracious Father, your love for me is my treasure and delight.

Gracious Father, your kindness toward me is my treasure and delight.

Gracious Father, your gentleness with me is my treasure and delight.

Gracious Father, your goodness toward me is my treasure and delight.

Gracious Father, your listening to my prayers and answering them is my treasure and delight.

Gracious Father, your forgiveness toward me is my treasure and delight.

Gracious Father, your mercy toward me is my treasure and delight.

Gracious Father, your adoption of me as your son is my treasure and delight.

Meditation

With each line I pause and meditate on that reality, letting the words sink in and do their work, giving the Holy Spirit room to reveal the truth of it. He does that time and again. The exercise is repetitive but has never been rote.

At the heart of what it means to know God is to know him as gracious Father. This devotional practice has transformed not just my mornings, but my experiential knowledge of God.

Posted on

The Strength of Christ’s Meekness

It is harder for a strong person to be meek in spirit than powerful in the flesh

“I, Paul, myself entreat you, by the meekness and gentleness of Christ….” (2 Corinthians 10:1, ESV)

The apostle Paul writes here of the meekness [Greek, prautes] of Christ. What does it mean that Christ is meek?

Most people, even Christians, do not want to be meek. And so meekness is probably not a quality in Christ people naturally admire and revere him for.

But we should worship Jesus for his meekness. It was through his meekness that he, though innocent in every way, allowed himself to be taken prisoner, and then for our sins undergo abuse, injustice, and torture at the hands of his enemies. He had the strength and authority to end all that oppression in a moment, but he did not end it. He endured it in infinite power and meekness.

As he stood before Pilate or Herod, he could have snapped his fingers and with a word caused the earth to open beneath them and swallow them up alive, as happened to Korah, Dathan, and Abiram in the Old Testament when they challenged Moses (Numbers 16:1–33). But in his perfect self-control and restraint, he let Pilate, Herod, the religious leaders of the Sanhedrin, and Roman soldiers mock, spit upon, beat, scourge, and crucify him. That is strength. That is greatness.

As Proverbs 16:32 says, “Whoever is slow to anger is better than the mighty, and he who rules his spirit than he who takes a city.”

Jesus said that if he wanted he could have in a moment had some 12,000 angels at his side to defend him. (Matthew 26:53) But he chose meekness in obedience to his Father’s will.

Christ’s triumphant entry

We see the meekness of Christ in another way in his triumphal entrance into Jerusalem just days before his crucifixion: “Say to the daughter of Zion, ‘Behold, your king is coming to you, humble [Greek praus, which could be translated meek, as it is in the King James version], and mounted on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a beast of burden.’” (Matthew 21:5, ESV)

In this triumphal entry into Jerusalem, Jesus did not come riding a mighty white horse or bearing the weapons and wearing an impressive military uniform. Rather he came dressed in common clothes and riding a common donkey. He did not come commanding attention in human power. Rather he came in humility.

Meekness in the Sermon on the Mount

We see the meaning of Christ’s meekness from how he taught his disciples to be meek. In the opening of the Sermon on the Mount, which we call the Beatitudes, Jesus said, “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth” (Matthew 5:5).

Many of the specific rules of Jesus that follow in the Sermon on the Mount are examples of meekness. Jesus said:

“You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.’ But I say to you, Do not resist the one who is evil. But if anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also. And if anyone would sue you and take your tunic, let him have your cloak as well. And if anyone forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles….

“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven. For he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. (Matthew 5:38–41, 43–45, ESV)

The word describing all these behaviors is meekness. Meekness turns the other cheek, goes the second mile, and so on.

Definitions

The English word meekness translates the Greek words prautes and praotes, meaning “mildness of disposition, gentleness of spirit, and meekness,” and by implication, humility (according to Strong’s Concordance).

In the “Online Bible,” Larry Pierce writes, “Meekness toward God is that disposition of spirit in which we accept His dealings with us as good, and therefore without disputing or resisting. In the OT, the meek are those wholly relying on God rather than their own strength to defend against injustice. Thus, meekness toward evil people means knowing God is permitting the injuries they inflict, that He is using them to purify His elect, and that He will deliver His elect in His time (Isaiah 41:17, Luke 18:1–8). Gentleness or meekness is the opposite to self-assertiveness and self-interest. It stems from trust in God’s goodness and control over the situation. The gentle person is not occupied with self at all. This is a work of the Holy Spirit, not of the human will (Galatians 5:23).” (BlueLetterBible.org)

Moses

Meekness was a notable virtue of Moses: “Now the man Moses was very meek, more than all people who were on the face of the earth.” (Numbers 12:3, ESV)

Jesus certainly surpassed Moses in meekness many times over. Truly meekness is a strength for which we should bow before the Son of God—who now rules and judges the universe—and worship him with humility of heart.

Moreover, we are privileged to walk in his ways: “The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness [or meekness; Greek prautes], self-control” (Galatians 5:22–23).

Posted on

The Savior Gentle with Sinners

We do not have to be on guard with Jesus

When I was a boy, my family went to a dentist I learned to fear. He was a thickly built man, with meaty, strong hands. When he worked in my mouth filling cavities or on one or two occasions pulling a tooth, he worked with the sort of force you might imagine a car mechanic uses when turning a stubborn bolt. He pushed that needle into my gums, he pressed that drill into my tooth, or he wielded dental pliers on a stubborn molar and twisted and pulled till it gave way. His work was done forcefully and effectively; and if pain happened to me in the process, well that’s just the way it is. He got things done in my mouth with directness and dispatch. He was a healer—but a rough healer.

When you have experiences with a dentist like that, you learn to appreciate gentleness. My next dentist was the opposite of the first. He was as gentle and kind a man as you will ever know. And he redeemed dentistry in my eyes. He spoke gently. He was aware of what I was feeling. And he was clearly concerned to make the experience of healing as painless as possible.

Gentle Savior

It is good news when Jesus tells us he is gentle. He says, “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light” (Matthew 11:28–30 ESV).

Gentle means not rough, harsh, or violent. Gentle means aware of the pain others might experience and trying to relieve or minimize it. When a gentle doctor must inflict pain, he seeks also to bring comfort.

Matthew 12:20 says of Jesus, “A bruised reed he will not break, and a smoldering wick he will not quench.”

Where my family lived as I was growing up, our house was one lot away from a small wetland full of reeds and cattails. The reeds grew three to five feet in length. We played with those reeds. They had a natural stiffness to them that enabled them to grow tall and sway in the breeze without breaking, but if you bent them hard enough they could certainly break and fold over, as we discovered when we used them as whips or swords. They could also be bruised or slightly bent or dented, and weakened as a result. A bruised reed could be broken more easily. You could look out over the wetland and see the tops of thousands of reeds standing tall and elegantly curved, while others were bruised and slightly bent over, while still others were broken and fully bent over upon themselves.

Jesus was not one to walk through the wetland and take strong hold of the top of a bruised, weakened, bowed reed and snap it so that it would fully break.

A bruised reed

Luke 7 tells the story of a woman who was a bruised reed. She was bruised because of her own sin, and no doubt the sins of others against her. Luke describes her as “a woman of the city” and “a sinner.” Somehow she heard the teaching and works of Jesus and became a believer. And when she heard that Jesus had come to the home of a Pharisee in her city, it triggered in her a desire to express her love and appreciation to the one who had changed her life.

She quickly grabbed a jar of expensive ointment and went to the home of the Pharisee. The event was apparently held in something like what we might call today an open-house format, so she was able to get in and come right to the place where Jesus reclined at the table for the meal. There with overflowing emotion she wept tears that dripped on the feet of Jesus, and she wiped the tears with her hair and anointed the feet of Jesus with the ointment.

For Jesus this must have been an awkward situation. Yet he did not put an end to it, but let it go on for 5, 10, maybe 15 minutes. I base that on the words of Jesus when he admonished the Pharisee, saying, “from the time I came in she has not ceased to kiss my feet” (Luke 7:45), and on the fact that Jesus told his parable to the Pharisee as she went on with her display of gratitude. This means Jesus let her actions continue, rather than chastising her, or telling her to stop and go away.

No, he was gentle with this broken reed. He let her be and let her do. Finally after concluding his instruction of the Pharisee, he turned to the woman and said, “Your sins are forgiven…. Your faith has saved you; go in peace” (Luke 7:48, 50).

So Jesus was gentle with an irreligious sinner, and if you come to him as this woman did, in humility, faith, and repentance, he will be gentle with you.

Posted on

The Fundamental Test of Your Soul

God’s glory is your glory

fundamental test

In recent weeks we have explored God’s jealousy for his glory.

When you understand the importance the Lord places on glory, you will not be surprised when tested concerning this.

You will see it as the context for Jesus’ demanding teachings that test the ultimate devotion of your heart: “Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me” (Mat. 10:37). “No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other.” (Mat. 6:24).

It is the rightful glory of God that people love, prize, and delight in him above all, for “every good and every perfect gift is from above” (James 1:17). Therefore he will not abide your giving glory instead to his creation.

The idol factory

The test of exclusive worship may be the fundamental test. It is continual, for as one theologian said, the human heart is an idol factory. But it is a trial you can pass, because the Lord enables willing souls to do what he commands: “Whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God” (1 Cor. 10:31).

Nothing will bring you greater fulfillment, because for this you were designed. This is both God’s glory and your glory. This is a marriage made in heaven. This is how you prove true.

Posted on

Reflecting God’s Glory

Our glory is to reflect God’s glory

Reflecting God’s Glory

Last week we saw that God supremely delights to express his glory for his own joy and the admiration and pleasure of his creation.

Glory is divine, and someday it will also be fully human. Jesus, the unique Son, has unimaginable glory, and he is the firstfruit of glorified humanity. God the Father has unimaginable glory, as does the Holy Spirit.

Glory sums up God’s nature, and therefore it will similarly sum up our redeemed nature. At creation God gave humanity the priceless gift of bearing his image and displaying his glory.

God plans to restore the glory lost in the Fall and to add more for good measure. Jesus said, “The righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father” (Mat. 13:43). John said, “When he appears we will be like him” (1 John 3:3). Paul said there will be “glory and honor and peace for everyone who does good” (Rom. 2:10).

The apostle Paul also writes, “I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us” (Rom. 8:18). The NIV, similar to the KJV, translates the end of that verse, “the glory that will be revealed in us.”

Ultimate worship

In God’s plans, glory is not incidental, not a side benefit of salvation, not a secondary goal. It is ultimate.

Therefore when God established his covenant with Israel, he began the Ten Commandments by stressing exclusive worship. Centuries later he rebuked Israel for breaking these commands by their stubborn idolatry and said, “My glory I will not give to another” (Isa. 48:11). In this matter of exclusive worship, God means business. He is jealous for his glory.

Posted on

The Ultimate Importance of God’s Glory

Since God is jealous for his glory, we likewise must be jealous for his glory

Importance of God’s Glory

Last week we saw that God originally created humanity for glory, and that glory is good.

We are not the only ones who express our glory for the sake of our own joy and others’ admiration. God supremely delights to express his glory for his own joy and the admiration and pleasure of his creation.

In the book The End for Which God Created the World, theologian Jonathan Edwards argues that God’s ultimate purpose in all his works is to display his infinite glory—preeminently his redeeming love and grace in Jesus Christ—and receive the worship this glory deserves.

Glory is divine. Glory is the hinge of God’s purposes in creation. It is the hub of the wheel, the fulcrum of the lever, the axis of the globe, the prize of the race.

Triumphing over Satan

Glory is why Satan was playing his best card when he offered Jesus the kingdoms of the world. It is why Satan, who lost more glory through his fall than anyone ever has, craved worship.

And it was Jesus’ glory flatly to refuse him. “Be gone, Satan! For it is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God and him only shall you serve’” (Mat. 4:10). The glory of Jesus Christ is he did not fall as Adam and Israel fell. Jesus—the Second Adam and the true Israel—believed and obeyed his Father’s words. This was his glory. In both his divinity and humanity he “loved righteousness and hated wickedness” (Heb. 1:9).

He would not give God’s glory to another. (God told Israel, “My glory I will not give to another” [Isa. 48:11]). This was Jesus’ great glory. He proved to be true. He is worthy to be God’s unique Son and our only Savior, for above all else he sought the glory of his Father.

As Jesus wrestled with the thought of suffering for our sins, he said, “Now is my soul troubled. And what shall I say? ‘Father, save me from this hour’? But for this purpose I have come to this hour. Father, glorify your name” (John 12:27–28). What happened next is important. “Then a voice came from heaven: ‘I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again’” (John 12:28).

Mighty in battle

David prophesied about the glory of Jesus, and that glory includes his victory in battle against God’s enemies:

“Lift up your heads, O gates! And be lifted up, O ancient doors, that the King of glory may come in. Who is this King of glory? The LORD, strong and mighty, the LORD, mighty in battle! Lift up your heads, O gates! And lift them up, O ancient doors, that the King of glory may come in. Who is this King of glory? The LORD of hosts, he is the King of glory!” (Psa. 24:7–10, italics added)

When Jesus overcame Satan’s temptations, he showed himself mighty in battle. The ancient doors were lifted for the King of glory.

Posted on

The Goodness of Glory

The glory that comes from God and reflects God is good

Goodness of Glory

Last week we saw that Satan tempted the human nature of Jesus with the offer of glory. I said that humans will do almost anything for glory.

Glory takes many forms. Proverbs 29:21 says, “The glory of young men is their strength,” and that explains why some spend agonizing hours in the gym pumping iron. Strength is glory. But there are other ways of finding glory. The glory of working for a company is to be promoted, to become a department head, vice president, or CEO, because authority is glory.

In various instances, wisdom is glory, riches are glory, talent is glory, education is glory, achievement is glory.

Glory is whatever makes us special, however we excel. The glory of a zebra is its stripes. The glory of a company is its brand. The glory of the sky is its sunset. Even if no one sees our glory, we enjoy it.

Glory is good

We enjoy it because glory is good. It is good because it came from God, whose glory is infinite: “Great is the glory of the Lord” (Psalm 138:5). “From him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever” (Rom. 11:36).

“There are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; and there are varieties of service, but the same Lord; and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who empowers them all in everyone” (1 Cor. 12:4–6).

“God said, ‘Let us make man in our image, after our likeness’” (Gen. 1:26).

Falling short of God’s glory

In the familiar verse that describes mankind’s brokenness, notice what quality we lack: “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Rom. 3:23). At creation God infused his glory into mankind and afterward pronounced us “very good,” but sin marred that glory. We fall short of our glorious purpose of reflecting God’s likeness.

Nevertheless God originally created humanity for glory, and that glory is good.