Question: What does it take to restore fellowship with God after sin?

Posted on June 11, 2013 by shepherdbryan

What does it take to restore fellowship with God after sin?

Every person sins in life. It is a reality of life that unbelievers live in sin. Paul writes regarding the condition of the unbeliever,

· And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins,

· ² in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience,

· ³ among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, just as the others. (Eph. 2:1-3)

Paul describes the unbeliever, who walks “according to the course of this world, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind.” In other words, the unbeliever does nothing but sin, because he is independent from God and does not trust God for anything.

A believer also sins, because he still has a sin nature. Every believer inherits a sin nature at birth passed down from his father (Rom. 5:12). The believer, like Paul, wants to do the right thing, but doesn’t, and the things he doesn’t want to do, he does anyway (Rom. 7:15). Even after salvation, the sin nature within still seeks to control the believer. He will have that sin nature until he dies. Therefore, he will continue to sin in time. When he does, what does he do? Let us be specific in the mechanics of restoring fellowship.

First, awareness of sin will come from the conviction of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit convicts the world of sin, righteousness and judgment (John 16:8-11). The whole world has guilt because of sin.¹ Paul writes, “Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law, that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God.” (Rom. 3:19) The world may not respond to its guilt, but it is guilty. The world suppresses the truth in unrighteousness (Rom. 1:18). The world of unbelievers rejects the truth and becomes callused before the Holy Spirit’s convicting ministry because their foolish hearts were darkened (Rom. 1:21-22).God is holy and sin makes us guilty before holy God regardless of how we feel.

The same is true for the believer.The Holy Spirit convicts the believer of sin. That conviction produces guilt in the heart of the believer. For example, Paul writes, “Therefore whoever eats this bread or drinks this cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord.” (1 Cor. 11:27) The “whoever” includes any believer who approaches the communion table with sin in his life and he does not deal with it in a godly way. That person is guilty. In fact, James records for us the standard of life and the horrendous predicament of what sin does to his relationship with the Lord. James writes, “For whoever shall keep the whole law, and yet stumble in one point, he is guilty of all.” (Jam. 2:10) James is writing to believers who did not take sin seriously. He clearly states that even if a believer keeps all of God’s Word and he sins in one way, it is as if he is guilty of the whole thing. He still has eternal life (John 17:3). He is still God’s child (John 1:12), but he has objective guilt and fellowship with God is broken.

Secondly, the believer will turn to God in repentance from His sin (cf. 1 Thes. 1:9). That turning is called repentance. Paul writes,

⁹ Now I rejoice, not that you were made sorry, but that your sorrow led to repentance. For you were made sorry in a godly manner, that you might suffer loss from us in nothing.
¹⁰ For godly sorrow produces repentance leading to salvation, not to be regretted; but the sorrow of the world produces death.
¹¹ For observe this very thing, that you sorrowed in a godly manner: What diligence it produced in you, what clearing of yourselves, what indignation, what fear, what vehement desire, what zeal, what vindication! In all things you proved yourselves to be clear in this matter. (2 Cor. 7:9-11)

The godly sorrow is from the objective guilt. It is God’s real reason He designed feelings in humanity. God designed the feelings to draw us closer to Himself. Feelings are like the red lights on the car dashboard. The light tells you something is urgently wrong and you need to act quickly before more trouble develops. Those feelings cause godly sorrow, which God designed to produce repentance.

Repentance comes from a word (metanoia) meaning “change of thinking.” Repentance means you change your thinking about God and begin to pursue Him, instead of the independence of sin. Note the clear actions in 2 Corinthians 7:11 (above) that result from true repentance in life.²

Thirdly, restoration of fellowship requires confession. John tells the believer to confess his sins to the Father. John writes, “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” (1 Jn. 1:9) We would not know our sin, unless the Holy Spirit convicted us. We would not confess if we did not change our thinking through repentance. God wants us to confess the sin. The word for confess (homologeo) means “say the same thing.” God wants us to say the same thing He says about sin. He wants us to agree with Him that we did not live by faith, that we did not depend on Him and that we did not humbly submit to His will. We do that by acknowledging that what we did (like get angry or cheat on a test) is sin against God.

When we confess (acknowledge that we sinned), then He promises to forgive us from the sin and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. The “all unrighteousness” is the reality that we are not even aware of all of our sin, but God, in His mercy, does not overload us with guilt. He merely makes us aware of sin that we have learned about at our point of spiritual growth in life. When we confess, He forgives and cleanses.

Fourthly, depend on His control of your life. Paul writes, “And do not be drunk with wine, in which is dissipation; but be filled with the Spirit.” (Eph. 5:18) Although, the believer is always indwelt by the Holy Spirit (Rom. 8:9), the only way a believer is filled with the Spirit is when he has confessed his sins and he is humbly choosing to be dependent on the Holy Spirit’s control of his life and he does what is pleasing to the Father. Jesus said, “”For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me. (John 6:38) Paul writes, “Therefore we make it our aim, whether present or absent, to be well pleasing to Him. (2 Cor. 5:9)

Fifthly, press on in His power. God wants every believer to live in the same resurrection power that Jesus lives in now. That can only be done in a pure and holy life dependent on the power of the Holy Spirit under the rulership of Jesus Christ. Paul states it well,

¹⁸ the eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that you may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints,
¹⁹ and what is the exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe, according to the working of His mighty power
²⁰ which He worked in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places, (Eph. 1:18-20)

This may seem complicated, but it all can happen simultaneously through confession of sin. I have broken it down, just like teaching a person how to get behind the steering wheel of a car and the steps of learning how to drive. In the beginning, it seems like a lot of steps, but eventually, it becomes natural. Sometimes everything is complicated to children and children only want things simple.

Growing believers want to learn the spiritual life and will think through Scripture until they can clearly understand. They will wrestle with the text, but not wrangle with believers. They will humbly learn, rather than get huffy that someone had a different view from them. May you be blessed as you grow in grace and the knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ!

¹There is a difference between objective and subjective guilt. Objective guilt is that awareness of doing wrong before God. It is true guilt. It comes from the conviction of the Holy Spirit of sin against holy God. Subjective guilt is the feelings that something is wrong, but there is not awareness of what it is. It may be feeling bad because of being caught doing wrong (caught with the hand in the cookie jar). This is the subjective guilt that Judas felt after betraying the Lord Jesus. He “felt” guilty (which included the fact of objective guilt), and his feelings overcame him and he took his life rather than repent before the Lord (Matt. 27:3-5). There is also the assembly of feelings, because of lost opportunity. This is what Esau felt when he realized his lost opportunity for the blessing that would have been his (Heb. 12:16-17). Objective guilt is dealt with through repentance, confession and dependency on the Lord.

²There will be an article on the “Results of Repentance” in a few short days on this blog.

Question: Can a Christian not sin?

Posted on June 8, 2013 by shepherdbryan

Can a Christian not sin?

Jesus did not sin. John writes, “ And you know that He was manifested to take away our sins, and in Him there is no sin.” (1 Jn. 3:5) Peter is more specific,

²¹ For to this you were called, because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that you should follow His steps:
²² “Who committed no sin, Nor was deceit found in His mouth”; (1 Pet 2:21-22)

The Lord Jesus Christ did not sin in His humanity, or any other time, but what about you and me? Can a Christian not sin?

An interesting passage is the second account of sin. Abel and Cain made offerings to God and God accepted Abel’s offering, but not Cain’s. The purpose of this article is not to analyze why God did not accept Cain’s offering, but to note that He did not accept it and to look at the Lord’s counsel to Cain.

⁶ So the LORD said to Cain, “Why are you angry? And why has your countenance fallen?
⁷ “If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin lies at the door. And its desire is for you, but you should rule over it.” (Gen. 4:6-7)

Notice that God does not rebuke Cain on the specifics of the offering, but challenges him to reflect on what he should now do.

Cain had not repented or realized he was thinking independently from God. So God asks Cain the questions, “Why are you angry? And why has your countenance fallen?” not because God does not know the answers, but to help Cain consider his actions. God did not accept his offering, but Cain also did not approach God and ask God why he did not accept the offering. Cain was acting independently from God and God’s questions were designed to reveal to Cain his failure to humble himself and submit to the Lord.

Then God changes the course of the questions. God asks, “If you do well…” That is the key in life – to do well. To do well is to please God. It doesn’t matter what we do or not in our own eyes, but doing well in God’s eyes does matter. Then God explains what must happen for Cain to do well – to be accepted by God. In order to do well, you must recognize there is an enemy. God says, “Sin lies at the door.” The door is Cain’s heart. Sin is personified as having a desire to control Cain. That is always the desire of sin. It wants to control and not just a little or in just a few areas, but all the time and in every area.

Sin has one focus – it wants to control you. It will look for your weaknesses and start out small. It will often gain a foothold in your life in small things, for example in doubt or worry, or about whether you will be accepted or rejected. It may start in small secret areas of life like pornography or material lusts in desiring more clothes or maybe in seeking the status of having a boyfriend. It starts small and then seeks to gain ground. Sin is like a fire, it is never satisfied, until it controls every area. Sin is like a grave that is always looking for its next victim. Sin is like a parched desert that never gets enough water. It’s stated best in Proverbs,

¹⁵ The leech has two daughters– Give and Give! There are three things that are never satisfied, Four never say, “Enough!”:
¹⁶ The grave, The barren womb, The earth that is not satisfied with water– And the fire never says, “Enough!” (Pro. 30:15-16)

Sin desires to control, so God clarifies to Cain, “…but you must rule over it.” With that admonishment and challenge, Cain leaves the presence of the Lord. The question is, “Will he rule over his sin, so that sin does not control him?” What does the next verse say? “Now Cain talked with Abel his brother; and it came to pass, when they were in the field, that Cain rose up against Abel his brother and killed him.” (Gen. 4:8) Can you believe it? In the very next verse, God shows that Cain does not control sin. In the very next verse, Cain is not just tempted, but he falls headlong into sin and murders his brother. Maybe Cain thinks he needs to remove the competition, so that God would “have” to accept what Cain did.

Cain cannot control sin, because he was not completely dependent on the Lord. Cain does not control sin, because God never intended that we could control sin apart from His presence in our lives. Cain does not control sin, because only God’s work in our lives through His power, the Holy Spirit, can a believer successfully rule over sin.

Can a believer not sin? NO and YES. A believer cannot control sin in his own power. He will succumb to temptation every time and reveal the ineptness of his flesh to function in dependency upon the Lord. He will fail just as Cain failed. Yet, the believer can control sin, when he is dependent on the Lord and filled with the Holy Spirit.

Is that important to understand? Absolutely, because it reveals that a believer will be fleshly, except when he is dependent on the Lord.

Question: Does a Christian have to persevere in order to be saved?

Posted on June 7, 2013 by shepherdbryan

Does a Christian have to persevere in order to be saved?

This is a great question from an astute student of God’s Word. It comes from one who has heard of the acrostic attributed to Calvin called TULIP. Each of the letters is descriptive of an aspect of what a person believes, who says he is a Calvinist.

The letters describe a person’s theology. Do not, however, judge a person who says he holds to the TULIP principle until you fully understand what he personally means. Some believe in the acrostic TULIP, but have different understandings than what Calvin taught or many modern day theologians who hold to Calvinistic theology.

Allow me to give a brief explanation of each of the letters, without digging below the surface. The “T” stands for Total Depravity. Man is totally depraved and can do nothing that merits any recognition or reward from God. The “U” stands for Unconditional Election and defines God’s sovereign choice in electing believers in Jesus Christ. The “L” stands for Limited Atonement and implies that Jesus’ death was only applicable to those who are elect (An article will appear very soon to explain how this one is clearly not Scriptural). The “I” stands for the Irresistible Grace of God that a person cannot refuse when it is his time to be saved. The “P” stands for Perseverance of the Saints and implies that once a believer is saved, he must continue in the faith, or he really was not saved. I am only addressing the last letter, the “P” of TULIP.

Does a person have to persevere to be saved? There are certainly different understandings of people who hold to this theology, so I do not want to categorize everyone in a particular way. The gist of the principle is that God elects a person to be saved. At salvation, God gives eternal life and the person enters into a relationship with God. Based on Scriptures like John 15, the person who abides in Jesus will bear fruit and if the person is not bearing fruit, then “the person was not really saved,” according to this view. Jesus said, “I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.” (John 15:5) In other words, “they” will say, if you are not bearing fruit, you are not abiding in Jesus and you are therefore not a believer. Consequently, if you are not bearing fruit, you are not persevering and you must not be a believer. “They” will normally not define what “bearing fruit” is, but they will not allow a person to act carnally and be considered a believer (see the article posted on June 4, 2013).

Hence, “they” will say a person must persevere in life and not fall into life dominating sin patterns. For example, a good example of one who was a believer, but chose life dominating sin patterns was King Saul. There are clear indications that King Saul was a believer according to 1 Samuel 10. Yet how was it that he fell away from the Lord and pursued killing David? He acted according to his flesh, rather than humbly submitting to the sovereign will of God.

David himself is a good example of a believer, who fell into life dominating sin patterns. While David is called a man after God’s own heart, he committed adultery and murdered Bathsheba’s husband Uriah the Hittite. Then he continued for nine months of independence from God until Nathan the prophet came and rebuked him of his sin. David was living in life dominating sin until Nathan rebuked him. David repented, but he bore the consequences of his sin.

Lot is another example of a believer, who lived in life dominating sin patterns. Lot was the nephew of Abraham and allowed himself to slowly acclimate to the culture and darkness of Sodom and Gomorrah. While he lost his sons-in-law in the city destruction, his wife who turned into a pillar of salt and he committed incest with his two daughters, God still called him “righteous Lot.” Peter records,

· ⁶ and turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah into ashes, condemned them to destruction, making them an example to those who afterward would live ungodly;

· ⁷ and delivered righteous Lot, who was oppressed by the filthy conduct of the wicked

· ⁸ (for that righteous man, dwelling among them, tormented his righteous soulfrom day to day by seeing and hearing their lawless deeds)–

· ⁹ then the Lord knows how to deliver the godly out of temptations and to reserve the unjust under punishment for the day of judgment, (2 Pet. 2:6-9)

Lot foolishly stayed in that filthy, degenerate environment and tormented his “righteous soul” in the process. Yet, in all of Lot’s sins, he was a believer. Lot was saved, not because he persevered, but because God persevered. God perseveres in His mercy, so that anyone who trusts in God’s provision of salvation, God will deliver them into eternity as His child.

Have you accepted Jesus as your Savior? If you do, you become a child of God. John writes, “But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name.” (John 1:12) If you not only know that Jesus died for your sins and you agree that Jesus alone is, and could be, your substitute to pay the penalty for sin, then your trusting faith accepts Jesus as the gift of God and you are given the right to become a child of God. You do nothing but accept the gift. Once you become a child of God, you can never not be a child of God. That is not a license to sin, because God will discipline the disobedient child. That is not freedom to live any way you want, because you will lose out on all the blessings and rewards God intends for you. That is not a reason to choose what you want to do in life apart from God, but an opportunity to pursue the holiness of God and mirror that holiness to the world around you. That is not a reason for you to become indifferent and check out from God, but a reason to respond with grateful, humble obedience to do His will in life.

We all have life dominating sin patterns. Some get into drunkenness and immorality. Some are more refined and suffer in life dominating sins of worry and doubt. Some choose life dominating sins of complacency or indifference to witness their faith to others and disciple them to Jesus Christ. Often, people who argue for perseverance of the saints as the measure of their Christianity have the big sins under control and struggle with more acceptable sins of personal agenda control and hidden anger that no one normally sees. May God grant us all mercy as we seek His righteousness and His understanding.

Question: Does a Christian have to endure to be saved?

Posted on June 5, 2013 by shepherdbryan

Does a Christian have to endure to be saved?

This is a basic question that many Christians struggle through in their Christian walk. It comes from a passage in Matthew which says, “But he who endures to the end shall be saved.” (Matt. 24:13) Does this mean that if a Christian does not endure, in some way, he will not make it into heaven? This is an example of Christians who may know considerable Scripture, but do not know how God divided Scripture into dispensations.

What is a dispensation? A dispensation is a period of time, from God’s perspective, where God shows that man, no matter how much truth or blessing is given from God, will choose to rebel and be separated from God’s presence, unless he humbles himself to God’s will. There is no way you can rightly divide God’s truth and harmonize it from Genesis to Revelation without an understanding of dispensations. Most Christians are dispensational, but many do not admit it.

Matthew 24 is called the Olivet Discourse. Jesus had taken the disciples out of the city of Jerusalem to the Mount of Olives and was describing what would happen during a specific period of time.

Then Jesus went out and departed from the temple, and His disciples came up to show Him the buildings of the temple.
² And Jesus said to them, “Do you not see all these things? Assuredly, I say to you, not one stone shall be left here upon another, that shall not be thrown down.”
³ Now as He sat on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to Him privately, saying, “Tell us, when will these things be? And what will be the sign of Your coming, and of the end of the age?”
⁴ And Jesus answered and said to them: “Take heed that no one deceives you. (Matt. 24:1-4)

Note several things about this passage. First, it is right after Jesus’ rebuke of the Pharisees (Matt. 23). Secondly, Jesus prophesied that the stones of the city, in fact, the temple, would be thrown down (Matt. 24:2) For this reason some have attempted to define this chapter to the destruction of the temple in 70 A.D., but that is a misunderstanding of Scripture. Thirdly, the disciples want to know what will happen at the “end of the age.” (Matt. 24:3) The disciples did not fully understand the ages as they reveal their lack of understanding as recorded in Acts 1:6. The end of the Age will be the last segment of the Jewish Age in which they were living. This will be described in a future article related to Daniel 9:24-27 and the seventy weeks that Daniel describes. Fourthly, Jesus tells them to listen and be alert, because there will be many who will try to deceive them. In fact, the enemy, Satan himself, wants nothing more than to deceive, confuse, divide and destroy those who are pursuing the Lord Jesus Christ.

Then Jesus begins to describe what the end of the Age will be like. Jesus said,

⁷ “For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. And there will be famines, pestilences, and earthquakes in various places.
⁸ “All these are the beginning of sorrows.
⁹ “Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and kill you, and you will be hated by all nations for My name’s sake.
¹⁰ “And then many will be offended, will betray one another, and will hate one another.
¹¹ “Then many false prophets will rise up and deceive many.
¹² “And because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold. (Matt. 24:7-12)

The end of the age will be filled with nations warring against nation, with famines, with earthquakes and tribulation. Notice that Israel, “you,” will be the target of the enemy in the tribulation. Notice there will be many false prophets, that is, there will be great confusion and deception. And notice that the love of God will grow cold, because people will not remain faithful to God.

That is a description of the last seven years of Israel’s history. That period of history is so destructive, because it is the last opportunity for the enemy, Satan, to destroy the Jews. He wants to destroy the Jews, because if he can destroy the Jews, then God cannot fulfill His covenants He made to Abraham and David. Those will be fulfilled at the Second Advent when Jesus returns. If there were no Jews, then the covenants could not be fulfilled.

We are experiencing troubled times today, but it will intensify during that period. So, in the middle of describing that tribulational time, Jesus made the statement, “But he who endures to the end shall be saved.” (Matt. 24:13) Every word has meaning.

The basic meaning of the word “saved” is “delivered.” When a person is saved at salvation, he is delivered from condemnation. When a person is “saved” in the Tribulation, it means that he is delivered from the coming wrath of the Lord Jesus Christ and subsequent torments when he returns at the Second Advent and delivered into the new age called the Millennium. Hence, the verse means that the person who endures, that is, he holds onto his faith in life, he will be delivered into the Millennium.

It is not talking about “saved from eternal condemnation.” Once a person genuinely trusts in Jesus Christ as his Savior, he has eternal life. He is eternally secure. He did nothing for salvation. He can do nothing to lose his salvation. His salvation did not depend on him. His eternal security does not depend on him. It all depends on the mercy and sovereign will of God.

Question: Can a Christian be a carnal Christian?

Posted on June 4, 2013 by shepherdbryan

Can a Christian be a carnal Christian?

Recently, I had a discussion with a fellow-believer, who said that Christians cannot be carnal Christians. Said in another way, a Christian cannot be considered carnal or act carnal, because he is spiritual. He said that a carnal person is really just an unbeliever. A Christian is one who may sin, but would not live in carnality. Is he right?

Unfortunately, while this believer knows the Scriptures well, he doesn’t interpret them well. He imposes his theology on the Scripture and interprets it according to his theology rather than according to correct rules of interpretation. If you approach Scripture with presuppositions (statements that imply a truth taken for granted), you will tend to read meaning into the Scripture. For example, if I say, “I no longer drive Chevy trucks.” The presupposition is that I used to drive Chevy trucks. That is a true statement. If I approach Scripture with presuppositions, I will work the Scriptures to mean what I want them to mean.

When someone says that a Christian cannot be carnal, they try to explain away a very easy-to-understand passage of Scripture. The passage is 1 Corinthians 3:1-3 where Paul writes,

· And I, brethren, could not speak to you as to spiritual people but as to carnal, as to babes in Christ.

· ² I fed you with milk and not with solid food; for until now you were not able to receive it, and even now you are still not able;

· ³ for you are still carnal. For where there are envy, strife, and divisions among you, are you not carnal and behaving like mere men? (1 Cor. 3:1-3)

Some try to explain this away by taking the culture of the church today and inserting that back into the culture of the church in Corinth. That is called eisegesis, which means to “read the interpretation into Scripture.” Today, there are unbelievers who attend church. In Paul’s day, those who were not believers did not identify or attend church. What does Paul say in his letter to Corinth?

· To the church of God which is at Corinth, to those who are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints, with all who in every place call on the name of Jesus Christ our Lord, both theirs and ours: (1 Cor. 1:2)

Paul is writing to the believers in Corinth and they were saints. The culture in Paul’s day was far different than today. Churches were house churches, because Christians were not welcomed. They were hated because they did not give allegiance to Caesar. They were used by Nero as torches for his garden parties. They eventually hid and met in catacombs, because they were so despised. Those who were not believers did not identify or attend church. Christians didn’t invite friends to church to hear the gospel. They gave the gospel to their friends and those who believed looked for a church family to identify with for nurture and growth. Paul’s letter was intended to be delivered to those were “sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints” and therefore believers.

Then notice in the first passage of 1 Corinthians 3 how Paul describes them. What does he say? He calls them “brethren.” In other words, they were believers. Now in that context, what follows describes Paul’s audience of believers.

Paul writes he could not speak to them as spiritual people. That phrase does not define a Christian, but rather one who is filled or controlled by the Holy Spirit. Paul uses similar phraseology in Galatians 6:1,

· Brethren, if a man is overtaken in any trespass, you who are spiritual restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness, considering yourself lest you also be tempted. (Gal. 6:1)

Paul is writing to those who are “spiritual” that is those who are controlled by the Holy Spirit, not merely Christians. If you are not controlled by the Holy Spirit, you will create more division in your admonishment and correction, because you will not examine yourself. In 1 Corinthians 3, Paul describes them as not “spiritual,” but rather “carnal.” Both words, “spiritual” and “carnal” are adjectives. The word for “carnal” means one who is characterized by the flesh. He is a fleshly-like person. At that moment, he is living according to the flesh instead of the Spirit. He is a carnal person.

Paul continues by writing, they are babes in Christ. This is a common expression for someone who is a new Christian and has not grown up. A spiritual baby does not know how to fulfill God’s plan and is concerned more for self, than for others. He is a Christian, but he acts very fleshly or carnal. He has not learned spiritual disciplines. He is not very concerned about others. He is focused on himself. God doesn’t condemn spiritual babes for being fleshly. They just need to be discipled so they can grow up to be a spiritual child, a spiritual young adult and then a spiritual parent.

Can a Christian be carnal? Of course, he can act very fleshly. He can and is carnal, that is, he acts according to the flesh, rather than according to the Spirit. He is fleshly, because he has a sin nature inside of him, which he acquired at birth from his father (Rom. 5:12). That sin nature stays with the believer until it is removed at death. Paul says it best,

· ²³ But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members.

· ²⁴ O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? (Rom. 7:23-24)

Paul is describing the sin nature that still can control him, if he chooses to let it. As long as he remains filled, or controlled by the Holy Spirit, He will not be acting according to the sin nature. The challenge is that in this lifetime, it is impossible apart from humble submission to the sovereign will of God.

Always take the natural interpretation and develop your theology from that, rather than choose a theology and then interpret Scripture. That can easily result in spiritual pride.

Question: Are rewards in heaven based on "works" in life?

Posted on May 17, 2013 by shepherdbryan

Are rewards in heaven based on “works” in life?

It is interesting that rewards are already “on the eternal shelf” and waiting for us to secure them. Paul states in Ephesians 1:3, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ.” The phrase, “has blessed us” grammatically occurs before the action of the main verb, which is found in Ephesians 1:4, “just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world.” The main verb occurred in eternity past as God’s sovereign choice of the believer. Therefore, the blessings were set aside on the eternal shelf BEFORE God chose the person. Those blessings are just waiting to be given to the believer who accomplishes divine works.

There are two kinds of works. There are human and divine works. Human works may be good for humanity, but are worthless for eternity sake. Divine works are always good for earthly and eternal value. What is the difference between human and divine works and how do these relate to eternal rewards?

Paul makes it clear that we are not saved by works, but after salvation, God designed us for works,

⁸ For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God,

⁹ not of works, lest anyone should boast.

¹⁰ For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them. (Eph. 2:8-10)

Paul clearly states that salvation is a gift from God (Eph. 2:8), which is not based on works or what man can become related to goodness or character. On the one hand, because of the sin nature inherited at physical birth (Rom. 5:12), man can never be good enough to be accepted by God on his own merits. On the other hand, man can never do enough good works in order to please God. There are not enough good works a man can do to offset the sin he inherits at physical birth and the sins which are seen in his experience. God will allow no boasting in heaven. Only Jesus is righteous before God.

There are only two kinds of religions in the world. One that is based on “do,” that is, what man must “do.” All the religions of the world fit into this category from Islam, Hinduism, Shintoism, Animism, etc. The other religion is based on “done,” that is, what Jesus has “done” for us on the cross. Salvation is a gift received by faith alone in Christ alone. God accepts no human works for salvation – only faith.

Yet, after salvation God designed believers for good works. Paul uses the word “workmanship,” which literally is a word from which we get “poem.” God wrote the poem of our lives such that we are prepared from eternity past to walk in good works.

Paul makes the distinction between human and divine works in Scripture. He writes,

¹¹ For no other foundation can anyone lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ.

¹² Now if anyone builds on this foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw,

¹³ each one’s work will become clear; for the Day will declare it, because it will be revealed by fire; and the fire will test each one’s work, of what sort it is.

¹⁴ If anyone’s work which he has built on it endures, he will receive a reward.

¹⁵ If anyone’s work is burned, he will suffer loss; but he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire.

¹⁶ Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? (1 Cor. 3:11-16)

The foundation is the basis upon what a believer builds for the sake of the kingdom. The foundation is Jesus Christ. Then Paul distinguishes between two kinds of works. One category is “gold, silver, precious stones”and the other is “wood, hay, straw.” Both are produced in man. What is the difference? Paul explains that in the passage. They will be “revealed by fire.” How does fire distinguish between the two types of works? The first category is purified and remains through the fire, while the second category burns up and results in ashes. The first category is divine works, while the second category is human works. What is the difference?

The first category of divine works is work that God works through the believer by means of the Holy Spirit. Just like there is intrinsic value in gold and silver, there is intrinsic value of the work, because it is done by the Holy Spirit. The second category is work that the believer does on his own power, independent of the Holy Spirit. There is no intrinsic value. In fact, Scripture calls this kind of work “filthy rags” as in Isaiah 64:6, “And all our righteousnesses are like filthy rags.” The best of what we can do, on our own, is filthy rags, or literally “menstrual rags,” which means there is a deadness to the works.

The divine work has intrinsic value because it is work done by the power of the Holy Spirit under the direction of the Lord Jesus Christ. Paul states, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” (Phil. 4:13) Paul further states this power is unleashed in the Christian under the direction of Jesus and empowered by the Holy Spirit, “and what is the exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe, according to the working of His mighty power.” (Eph. 1:19) His mighty power is unleashed by means of the Holy Spirit.

Paul uses the description of the Holy Spirit’s power in the spiritual consequences of trusting the Lord in hope, “Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. (Rom. 15:13) Titus (Titus 2:7, 14; 3:8, 14) exhorts believers to good works and the word for good is kalos, which means “good of intrinsic value.” That can only be accomplished by the Holy Spirit.

Works of the Holy Spirit are rewarded as blessing in time and rewards in eternity. Time on earth is the only time to establish rewards for eternity. Let us depend on the Holy Spirit and let Him move through us to accomplish His good work!

MSG: Mothers Predict the Future

Posted on May 13, 2013 by shepherdbryan

This message was delivered May 12, 2013 on Mother’s Day. There were seven child dedications and two baptisms.

Mothers Predict the Future

2 Timothy 1:3-5

Happy Mothers’ Day! Every one of us had a mother and a father, for there is no other combination that produces children. Let me make several statements: Continue reading →

Question: If not me, who?

Posted on April 30, 2013 by shepherdbryan

If not me, who?

I remember some of the sermons growing up and one of the significant ones was from Isaiah 6. My pastor, Pastor Johnson, gave a message from Isaiah 6:1-8. It reads,

In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and lifted up, and the train of His robe filled the temple.

² Above it stood seraphim; each one had six wings: with two he covered his face, with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew.

³ And one cried to another and said: “Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of hosts; The whole earth is full of His glory!”

⁴ And the posts of the door were shaken by the voice of him who cried out, and the house was filled with smoke.

⁵ So I said: “Woe is me, for I am undone! Because I am a man of unclean lips, And I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; For my eyes have seen the King, The LORD of hosts.”

⁶ Then one of the seraphim flew to me, having in his hand a live coal which he had taken with the tongs from the altar.

⁷ And he touched my mouth with it, and said: “Behold, this has touched your lips; Your iniquity is taken away, And your sin purged.”

⁸ Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying: “Whom shall I send, And who will go for Us?” Then I said, “Here am I! Send me.” (Is. 6:1-8)

It is interesting that only one attribute of God is ever mentioned three times in a row and that is God’s holiness. It is mentioned here in Isaiah 6:3 and also Revelation 4:8. God is holy! And therefore He is worthy for my response to please Him in any and every way. However, I didn’t learn that until only recently.

When I heard the sermon on this passage, maybe 42 years ago, it was the last verse that caught my attention and the Holy Spirit used that verse and message to persuade me commit my life to the Lord Jesus Christ. I asked myself the question, “Would I be willing to say, ‘Here I am! Send me!’” to the Lord? I had no idea what that might mean, yet I knew I really had no choice. He is God.

Then I had to ask myself, “If not me, who?” Furthermore, I needed to ask the question, “At what point would I be willing to go?” Or, “If not now, when?”

What about you? Are you willing to say, “If not me, who?” and “If not now, when?” We Christians don’t mind connectingwith other people in a home group or church service. We don’t mind serving the Lord in a variety of ways. We don’t mind being equipped for service and helping out either at church or another Christian brother or sister in need. We don’t mind learning more Scripture or practical application in service. That is all relatively easy. Here is the real question, “Where is your fruit of multiplication?”

These three words compose the vision statement I developed for our church last year: Connect, Equip, Multiply:

Connecting together to worship God 1 Cor. 12:19-25
Equipping together in grace to be more like Christ Eph. 4:11-14
Multiplying together with the gospel to reach the world Matt 28:18-20

Here is the question you need to ask yourself, “Who is following you so that you are investing in them?” Your investment in them will multiply and influence future generations for the kingdom. What is your fruit? Jesus said, “I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.” (John 15:5) Is there multiplying fruit in your life? Jesus also said,

¹⁹ “Go therefore¹and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,

²⁰ “teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen (Matt. 28:19-20)

Are you living a safe life of connecting and being equipped? I praise the Lord that you are connecting and being equipped! The real Christian life is in multiplying yourself! Multiplication is essential, so that many others will transition into future generations just like a maple tree sends out thousands of seeds to plant hundreds of trees. Seek to become equipped to disciple others to multiply your influence in the future generations.

Ask yourself, “If not me, who?” And “If not now, when?”

Mortify

Posted on July 27, 2012 by shepherdbryan

How do you “mortify” the flesh? It’s the word we looked at last Sunday and means “put to death.” This phrase is extremely important in the sanctification process of becoming more like Christ. It is life and death for the Christian, because without this process, he/she cannot grow.

How do you mortify the flesh? First, 1) Identify what the outward or inward sin is. You can identify it yourself or ask another trusted friend or discipler to help you. Scripture is your best guide as the Holy Spirit convicts us when we live apart from faith. Paul describes the things he does that he doesn’t want to do, “For what I am doing, I do not understand. For what I will to do, that I do not practice; but what I hate, that I do.” (Rom 7:15) Hatred is a good word because it leads to the next course of action.

Next, 2) Choose to put that sin pattern off. Sometimes, translations use the word “consider”, but that seems very weak. This is something you have to strongly desire to do. Do you hate sin? God does (Hab. 1:13). The flesh is too strong, sneaky, deceitful, subtle, did I say deceitful? It will pull the strongest Christian down who does not remain on alert to its ways. Paul writes, “O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?” (Rom 7:24)

Then, 3) Put on the righteous action that honors God (Col. 3:10). You must have a corresponding godly behavior that Scripture mandates for biblical living and freedom in Christ. A great spiral-bound handbook called “Transformed Into His Likeness” can give you biblical put ons that will transform your thinking and life. But don’t stop there.

Finally, 4) write up a plan of action that brings your thoughts, words and actions into captivity to Christ (2 Cor. 10:4-5). The more specific you can be the better your plan will result in life-changing transformation. If you write down, “Pray every day,” that is good, but it’s not very specific. You should write down and practice, “Pray twice a day at devotions in the morning and before going to bed for God to supernaturally take the Scriptures you are meditating on and memorizing and make them real and practical in your life.” Then keep a journal of how God is answering your prayer, so you personally know how the plan is working. The journal will also be a measurement that you can check to see if you are actually following your plan.

Friends, if you plan, you’ll have a chance against the flesh. Above all, make Christ your all in all. He is the only solution. The plan is nothing if it is not centered on Jesus Christ!

Shepherding Truth

Renewing Truth, Rightly Divided

Category Archives: Discipleship