The Imperative of our calling from Acts 4:12

 Acts 4:12 - And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.

I absolutely love that verse.  It becomes even more beautiful when you open it up to its broader context and read the first 3 chapters of the book of Acts.  As you see Peter's boldness before the one group whom we would have expected to have intimidated him.  He proclaims to the Sanhedrin there that it is Jesus who is the truth and the life and the way.  In Him and Him alone is salvation.

With verse 12 (among others) Peter slams the door to the universalist thought that all paths lead to God.  There is no other Name under heaven by which anyone is ever saved.  Only through Christ!  And Christ is defined as the Stone that the builders rejected, that God has made Him the cornerstone.

In other words, God has built His true church upon the Cornerstone of Jesus Christ.  The Biblical Christ is the only Christ in whom lies salvation.  We do not get to define who Christ is to us, He is who He is and who He is is revealed in Scripture.

However, because this is such an amazing Scripture that declares the Sovereignty of the Lord Jesus Christ unto salvation... I think we may overlook the imperative that is contained there as well.  There is an imperative in verse 12 as well.  Jesus isn’t just the Name by which we can be saved… He isn’t just the Name by which we should be saved… He is FAR more than that…

No, Jesus is the Name by which we MUST be saved.  People MUST be saved and that salvation only comes through Jesus Christ!  Solus Christus!  Through Christ alone!

We need, desperately, to see the urgency and imperative nature of the need for salvation that Peter makes clear in our text.

People must be saved.  It is the basic need of all mankind that they be reconciled to the God whom they've sinned against.  It is as necessary as oxygen is to the lungs, but sadly many many are dying every day without even so much as having heard of the Jesus who has died to save filthy rotten wretched sinful people.  No one is too sinful to be saved by the blood of Christ.  We are called to go and preach the Gospel.  God has ordained that through the foolishness of preaching (1 Corinthians 1:18) He makes His Word known to the lost and dying world, dead in their trespasses.

Let us see the necessity of salvation and be diligent to preach the Gospel in boldness no matter what persecution may come.  Further, let us seek to make persecution a means by which our trust in Christ grows stronger and the message of the Gospel is spread to every corner of the world.

God's grace in saving a life...

I post a great deal of videos and other links and such to pro-life materials.  Trying to educate people and get the word out to them that God creates life and that abortion is most definitely murder.  As a result of course I receive, as many of you do who've taken up this mantle as well, many angry criticisms to my inbox complaining that I have no right to say such and that I am anti-women's rights and a bunch of other non-sense.

Well, as many of you know, there are times when you just feel like you absolutely want to just give up.  You feel like nothing you are doing is accomplishing anything and you are just spinning your wheels.

I've been there, then one day about 2 years ago I received an email from a young lady I had known several years prior but had since lost contact.  To give you some background, she was a teenager when I had last been around her, some of her friends attended youth group at the church where I was youth pastor and she didn't come there regularly (she had a different church home) but she had come to a few of the discipleship events we had done. So I knew her as an acquaintance.

Here is the email.

"I wanted to share something with you that really touched me. I recently found out i was pregnant and am only 19. I was not planning on having a baby or even making that a part of my life. I had college and to much fun on my hands or so i thought to be bringing a baby into the world. My parents have raised me in church and I know abortion is wrong but i also knew it was my choice. I thought very hard and actually considered abortion and cried many nights over what to do. Ive been noticing you publishing things on facebook about abortion here lately and watched the video you published today, i really believe that was meant for me from God..to show me what i need to do and follow him. God works wonders and i wanted to share what you and God have helped me with without you even knowing."

I haven't heard much from her in the last year or so, but I do know that she DID give birth to a happy, healthy baby boy and they are doing very well.

So the encouragement to you brethren is to keep fighting the good fight.  Keep proclaiming truth, keep proclaiming the Gospel, and keep doing so in love.

Every time I think about that child I can't help but be humbled at how God used what I thought was not accomplishing anything at all to save a life.  By God's grace, that child is alive and that mother avoided that sin and I am humbled and honored that God would use me and allow me to have any part of that at all.

If you are feeling that what you are doing is pointless... don't give up... press deeper into the grace of Christ and lean more upon His understanding.  His grace is sufficient.  His Word, His truth, will NOT return void without accomplishing what He sends it to do.

If you have a similar story, I'd love to hear it.  Feel free to post it in the comments section below!

Soli Deo Gloria,
j

Favorite Gospel Tract

I'm putting together this list to be of assistance to those who are just getting their feet wet in actively going out and sharing the Gospel.  

If you would assist me by doing the following: 

Post your favorite tract and a link to where it can be ordered from.  Please do not just put the source you prefer to get your tract supply from but specifically the tracts that you feel are most likely to be taken by the recipients.

I will send a copy of Mike Sarkissian's book "Before God: The Biblical Doctrine of Prayer" to the person whose favorite tract I purchase for an upcoming evangelism outreach.

Pastor's Bookshelf: It Is Well by Mark Dever & Michael Lawrence

Have you ever struggled to find the significance and beauty of the sacrifices in the Old Testament?  Most of us have at some point or another.  Mark Dever and Michael Lawrence set out to exegete crucial Old Testament texts that shadow what was accomplished by Christ on the cross.  

The truth that man MUST have a substitute for our sins in order to be spared from God's just wrath is at the very heart of the Gospel.  Dever and Lawrence bring this out in a totality from the Old Testament all the way to looking at the actual words and work of Christ in the New Testament.  From there they look at the depiction of Christ and His suffering from Isaiah 52 & 53.  Bringing it home by then looking at what God has revealed about the life, death, and resurrection of Christ.  They highlights the comprehensive and permanent nature of the salvation that God has provided by His grace.  Climaxing in the understanding that the beauty in the life of a Christian comes from understanding the Gospel more, so that we learn to enjoy God fully as our all-sufficient Savior and see the benefits of our having been redeemed as being far more precious than any mass of worldly treasures and pleasures.  In light of so great a salvation, how could we not trust Him more daily?  One last note, I definitely appreciated there thorough use of Scripture to make their points as well as their constant encouragement to unbelievers, who might be reading the book, to repent and for the believer to guard their heart against legalism and self-righteousness.

Five out of five stars!  Highly recommended!  Great for individual study or small group.

Pick it up from 9Marks Ministries or from Amazon.com

Video: The Gospel by Eric Ludy

Hey Ladies and Gentlemen!

Ladies, you cannot control the lustful thoughts of a man, BUT you can do your part to help protect him from stumbling.  When dressing, please consider the following things:

1.) Are you dressing to frame your face or your body?  An important question... one shows you respect yourself and care about the purity of others... the other could be sending some very wrong signals...

2.) Does your attire draw attention to you and your body or does it fit with the fact that you are a Christian young lady who is concerned chiefly with glorifying Christ and not self?

3.) Think forward to the day when you have children of your own... do want the young women who are around your son to be stumbling blocks to him by the way they dress?  The thoughts you are enticing from young men, would you want your son thinking them about young ladies?  Just a thought...

Men, you obviously cannot control what the ladies around you are wearing.  But please consider these questions for self-examination:  

1.) Are you, for your part, engaging in all out war against the sin of lust?  Are you pleading with God in prayer to lead you in paths of righteousness and not in the ways of the wicked?  

2.) Are you guarding your heart and seeking to honor God with your every action and taking every thought captive, or are you allowing Satan a foothold over you with lusts of the flesh?  Don't buy the lie, straight from Satan himself, that just because "all guys do it" that it's ok... it's not.

3.) Are you preparing yourself for the day you will marry and begin leading your family by loving and demonstrating for them Christ?

4.) Would you want a young man thinking the same lustful thoughts about your daughter that you are catching yourself thinking?

5.) Would you feel comfortable one day explaining to your wife, one day, about the things you thought about others without delay OR would it be better if you were able to be honest that it was a struggle but you loved her enough to fight against it even though you didn't know her at that time?

At the end of the day, both Christian men and Christian women must keep in mind that Christ died to pay for that sin as well as all the others we struggle with.  Purity rings, "Silver Ring Things", abstinence til marriage vows and all the like are no good if they aren't motivated a love for the Savior and a desire to live your life in a Christ-exalting way.  A list of rules and such about it aren't going to fix it, but focusing more and more on understanding that Christ stood in your place and took God's wrath for even that sin will most definitely move a Christian to pursue the mortification of any sin!

Fight the Good Fight! - Tribute to Rev. Gary McCaleb

Today I had the privilege to attend the retirement reception for a man who has been a mentor to me and who will always be a great friend.  Rev. Gary McCaleb retires this May after 20+ years of ministry at the same church.  Through three years serving under Rev. McCaleb as Youth Pastor and 5 years of friendship I have watched (and learned from) him what it means to be a faithful Shepherd. 

If I had to single out just one thing, amongst many, that he taught me it was what the heart of a Pastor who loves his flock looks like.  He didn't have to sit me down and explain it, he demonstrated it with the way he lead the church and loved the people there. 

Today as I was speaking with him at the reception, I asked him what came next for him.  I expected to hear of plans to travel or a hobby or project that he might want to take up.  None of that was even mentioned, instead he spoke very deeply of a new ministry that he will now have the opportunity to be a part of.  He will now be a part of a ministry that encourages and lifts up Pastors and teaches them how not to neglect the watch-care of their own soul while striving to Shepherd their people.

Once again I am encouraged by the work that our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ has done in Bro. Gary's heart.  I pray that his example will always be a reminder to me, I pray that God bless him and his wife in this new ministry venture as he seeks to remain faithful to the call to ministry, and I pray that God would continue to work mightily through him to bring the Good News of the Gospel to a lost and dying world.

2 Timothy 4:7-8 (NASB) - I have fought the good fight, I have finished the course, I have kept the faith;  8 in the future there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day; and not only to me, but also to all who have loved His appearing. 

Pastor's Bookshelf: A Call to Prayer by J.C. Ryle

Bishop of Liverpool, J.C. Ryle (1816-1900), had a way of putting things and a way of teaching the Scriptures that really just made them snap home.  He held nothing back in his preaching but always laid out plain Scriptural truth with deep application.

That same boldness and passion for the Lord Jesus Christ comes across plain and clear in his tract, "A Call to Prayer".

At only 33 pages in length, this is one of the most powerful works on prayer that I've ever read.  He opens it up simply with one question that drives the rest of his thoughts.  "Do you pray?"

A simple question, yet is there anything that is more intimate in the life of a believer than their prayer life?  You can pick this up from Amazon.com and it is inexpensive as well!  At the time of this post, the book only costs $2.99!

Never lose hope!

I want to write to all those who have prayed for your unbelieving family members, friends, and acquaintances and yet it seems to have been to no avail because that person has still not repented and trusted in Christ.  I want to share with you a story of a mother in our church.  Her name is Jannette.  Jannette was raised Jewish and had been a practicing Jew until 20 years ago when God graciously saved her and her husband Ray. 

Since coming to Christ, Jannette and Ray have prayed for Jannette's daughter Gaye, (Ray's step-daughter), that God would save her as well.  After God saved Jannette, Gaye had become somewhat disillusioned and confused.  Her mother had now abandoned the Jewish practices that she had once held dear and Gaye did not understand how such a change could happen so quickly.  It would be fair to say that she even held a certain amount of anger about the whole situation.  In any case, she remained a Jew in belief and stopped practicing.

For 20 years Jannette has prayed and pleaded with God to save Gaye.  She has shared the Gospel innumerable times with her in hopes that she would be broken over her sin and cling to Christ.  Twenty years of trying, twenty years with no results.

Two months ago, Gaye came to see me in my office.  She was asking questions about Christ.  Coming from a Jewish background, whom she had been taught Christ was is not who the Bible teaches Him to be.  So I answered them as best I could and after we'd finished talking she left and I gave her a couple of materials to look over. 

I  heard nothing for 2 months.  She called me yesterday and told me that the previous night (Tuesday), as she sat in her apartment thinking about what I'd shared with her.  Considering the Law and how that is God's standard and how we've broken it.  And then also the good news of the Gospel.  

She said that God finally brought her to the end of herself and that she had confessed her sin to Him and begged God to forgive her!  She had trusted in Jesus Christ and as she shared with me about it through the tears she spoke of a joy unexplainable that she now had and how she could tell that a burden had been lifted from her. 

I'm choking back tears myself even recounting the story.  A couple of things I want to share with you, brethren, to encourage you in your witnessing be it to family, friends, or strangers.

1.) Don't be discouraged!  God is still God!  He does things in His own time according to His own will and in His own way!  Your job is NOT to convert someone, it's to share the Gospel.  The power of God converts sinful souls.  Your job is to faithfully proclaim it.

2.) The lack of response from the person you witness to does not necessarily mean that you've failed or that you are unsuccessful.  Gaye had been prayed for by many many people for many many years before God broke her heart and saved her. 

3.) No matter how hard someone's heart may appear to be to us, no one can sin so far that they are outside the saving reach of God's grace.  Ours is not to determine who we think 'might' or 'might not' be saved one day, ours is to simply trust the One who gave us the message that we proclaim.

Keep praying for the lost, keep seeking them out, and keep sharing the whole Gospel with them!  And trust that God will do what is good and right.  You may never know the impact you have on others.  Then again, God may grant you the unique blessing of being used by Him to bring someone to repentance and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.

Soli Deo Gloria,

j

Family Bookshelf: The Prince's Poison Cup by R.C Sproul

As I said in my last post, recently a friend of mine had recommended a couple of great books to me that have aided my wife and I in teaching our children the Gospel in ways they can understand and at the same time don't water down deep truth.  That second book is "The Prince's Poison Cup" by Dr. R.C Sproul.  The Prince in the story represents Christ and the story centers around explaining to children that the work of Christ was to take the cup of God's wrath for our sin.  

It paints a beautiful picture of Christ's death and resurrection for the ungodly against the staggering backdrop of our sin.  You can pick this up from Ligonier Ministries or Amazon.  Our children loved it and it really helped them understand and hopefully this will continue to lead them to a deeper love for Jesus.  Of course our hope, as is the hope of every parent, is that one day God will redeem our children and cover them in Christ's blood.

Hope this is helpful to you!

Family Bookshelf: The Church History ABC's

In addition to Scripture, which should always be first and foremost in our family discipleship, it can also be helpful and valuable to teach your children about "heroes" and "heroines" of the faith.  Teach them about those who have come before them and have given their lives (even unto death in some cases) for the glory of God and the defense of the truth of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  One such book aid for our family has been "The Church History ABC's".  It has been helpful in a three fold way for us.  It has helped us teach both our children some key facts about Christians gone before, it is written simply enough that my 5 year old daughter, who is learning to read, is easily able to read most words, and the alphabet structure has been helpful for my 4 year old son in helping him learn his alphabet.

You can pick this up from Amazon fairly reasonably.

The Bottom Line: Lame Attempts At Relevance (Part 1)

This is a wonderful article written by my friend and brother in Christ, Cameron Buettel, addressing the foolishness that goes on in most "churches" these days in the name of relevance.

Enjoy!

Soli Deo Gloria,

j

The Bottom Line: Lame Attempts At Relevance (Part 1)

Family Bookshelf: Sammy and His Shepherd by Susan Hunt

If you are a parent who is trying to raise their child to love Jesus then you've no doubt faced the obstacles of communicating deep theological truths to your child in a way that will not only be understandable to them, but in a way that will be meaningful to them as they grow and have an impact on their choices in life.

Meg and I are ALWAYS on the lookout for tools and helps to assist us in communicating the truths of the Gospel to our children.  Recently my friend Brian recommended a couple of books to me that I would like to also recommend to you.  One of those books is "Sammy and His Shepherd" by Susan Hunt.  You can pick it up from Amazon.com or Ligonier.org.  This is a fantastic book to help your children understand how God cares for His children.  It is the story of Sammy, a sheep with a good Shepherd.  He meets a friend and throughout the story he is explaining to his friend how Christ redeems and loves us even though we do nothing to merit that love.

The whole story is an exposition of truths found in Psalm 23 and written in a way that young children can understand.  At the end of every chapter there is a discussion section that will help you lead your children in a discussion over the symbols in the book as they relate to Biblical truth.  Absolutely fantastic and absolutely something that every family should have on their bookshelf!

Is Forgiveness Possible? ER

A friend of mine posted this video to his blog as a challenge to a couple commenters on his blog to watch this video and post how they would respond in this or any similar situation...

So I thought on it and decided I would like to put this on my blog as a question/ challenge not to anyone specifically but to anyone who would like to rise to the challenge.  We live in a day where, sadly, the Gospel in many situations is reduced to something trite.  "Get saved and God will make your life wonderful." Phrases like that.  Phrases that just fail to give the full Gospel (as depicted in Scripture) in all its wonder and beauty.

But a message like "God has a wonderful plan for your life!", would hardly connect and do anything meaningful for a person in a terminal situation... so the challenge.

1.) Watch the video
2.) Put yourself in the woman's shoes and give your response to this man who is more or less asking what he must do to be saved.  What would you say?  Please be thorough as possible and please back up all points with Scripture.

Please don't shy away from this challenge.  Scripture emphatically commands us to be ready to give a reason for the hope that is within us (1 Peter 3:15)... to preach the Word in season and out of season (2 Timothy 4:2).  If you aren't sure how to go about sharing the Gospel Biblically then please email me and I would be more than happy to point you to what Scripture says about it.

Christo-centric Marriage - Part 3

Lastly, let’s look at God’s model for the roles in the marriage.

Ephesians 5:1-2 – Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children; 2 and walk in love, just as Christ also loved you and gave Himself up for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God as a fragrant aroma.

Ephesians 5:22-33 -  Wives, be subject to your own husbands, as to the Lord.  23 For the husband is the head of the wife, as Christ also is the head of the church, He Himself being the Savior of the body.  24 But as the church is subject to Christ, so also the wives ought to be to their husbands in everything.  25 Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself up for her,  26 so that He might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word,  27 that He might present to Himself the church in all her glory, having no spot or wrinkle or any such thing; but that she would be holy and blameless.  28 So husbands ought also to love their own wives as their own bodies. He who loves his own wife loves himself;  29 for no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ also does the church,  30 because we are members of His body.  31 For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and shall be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.  32 This mystery is great; but I am speaking with reference to Christ and the church.  33 Nevertheless, each individual among you also is to love his own wife even as himself, and the wife must see to it that she respects her husband.

Wives, you are to submit to your husband.  This doesn’t mean he is a slave driver to you.  It means that you submit to his leadership of the family so long as he isn’t leading your family to do anything that goes against the word of the Lord.  I understand that in our feminist society this is not an altogether popular idea, but it is the Godly model nonetheless.  Your submission to your husband is to model your submission to the Lordship of Christ in your life.  Think on that and read Matthew 6:33.

Husbands, love your wives.  Love them… how?  Just as Christ loved the church and GAVE Himself up for her.  That’s a lofty commitment that is called for from men.  Love the wife as Christ loved the church and gave Himself up for her.  He died for the salvation of the church, not just a local body of believers obviously but all those who are truly born again, they constitute the true church of God.  The word 'love' there in Ephesians 5:25 there, in Greek, ‘agapao’ (ag-ap-ah-o).  It doesn’t imply perfect love as only God can show, rather it implies a higher love than merely a romantic infatuation type of love.  This is not a casual love that we are called to.  This is an intense love that compared to the world is radical and crazy and absolutely unheard of.  It is a love that is committed regardless of any other factor.  Practically speaking, our love for our spouse should be such that we seek to model that type of devotion towards the brethren.  Men, we are to commit to love our wives period.  Scripture gives no allowance for withholding or reducing that love because they don't do something the way we want.

Then Paul goes on to say that He [Jesus] gave Himself so that He might present the church in all her glory… spotless… blameless… holy… We are to love them above ourselves.  Do whatever it takes to lead her towards Godliness (Matthew 6:33) and away from sin and temptation.  So that we keep her (in as much as it depends on us) spotless, blameless, holy… before the Lord.  That’s a tall order of love.  It involves sacrificing our desires and comforts to love them with all we are.  And again we do so because it is a living illustration of the Gospel.  And God who saved us did not withhold any good thing from us but loved us, adopted us as His children, redeemed and forgave us, sanctified us, and will one day bring us into His presence in Heaven and glorify our sin marred bodies so that they are perfect and we are perfect.

Again we go back to the principle for both the husband and the wife, if God so loved us that He gave Christ, how can we who are not innocent fail to ‘so love’ our spouses knowing that we too are every bit in as much need of God’s grace every moment of every day.

Again, none of this is to be taken in an accusatory way.  I don’t have all the details for your specific situation.  I can’t (nor would I try to) force you to do anything.  You have to decide for yourselves.  I am also not claiming that I am the expert with a perfect marriage.  Marriage (as you well know) is work.  It is a continual journey.  If not for our sin natures that still creep in and tempt us with selfishness, we’d all be able to love one another perfectly.  Then again, if we could do anything perfectly we wouldn’t need Christ.  Since we do need Him, we must also trust Him in all things.  I am absolutely 100% in love with my wife and it probably takes much more forgiveness on her part to love me than it does me to her because I know that I do not always love her as Christ loved the church.  I am selfish and I put myself first far too often.

As I said, I’m not perfect, nor do I claim to be the expert.  I can only relate what Scripture says and tell you that as I've seen these principles for marriage in His Word it has been a convicting time where He has revealed that I don’t always love my wife as I ought to either.

Prayerfully, as Christians, we all can walk together in this and hold one another up and help one another so that we, together, can edify one another in the Lord.  Spurring one another on to healthy marriages and healthy lives that all point back to the Gospel of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and His saving Grace that was displayed on the cross!  The life that is not lived in a Christocentric fashion is the life that is wasted and that applies to all areas of life.  Keep that in mind as you move forward.  Pray and seek the Lord’s strength and wisdom in all things.  Know that I am here for you if needed and will do whatever I can to help.

Christo-centric Marriage - Part 2

The second thing is that love is not an emotion.  Love is not attraction.  Emotion is attraction.  Physicalities are emotion based attraction.  Love… is a choice.  We have to choose to love someone.  You hear people say all the time that the reason they got a divorce was because they simply "fell out of love with that person any more".  At the risk of sounding rude can I just say one word to that?  Poppycock.  Love is not a feeling, it is a choice.  You don't fall out of love any more than you fall in love, you CHOOSE to love.  Again, we find our answer to “How much or how deep should I love?” by looking at Christ.

So let’s examine these things from Scripture.

We’ll begin with love being a choice.  In keeping with our understanding that marriage is a covenental picture of the Gospel we will go to Ephesians 2.

In Ephesians 2, Paul opens with a bleak picture of the human condition… but a true one nonetheless.  Ephesians 2:1-3 - And you were dead in your trespasses and sins,  2 in which you formerly walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience.  3 Among them we too all formerly lived in the lusts of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest.

So that’s us… dead in our sins.  Dead.  Our sins demanding God’s wrath and not deserving God’s mercy.  We are in that state unlovable in the sense that there is no merit in us what so ever that should cause God to set His redeeming love on us.

With that in mind, move on into verse 4 and beyond.

Ephesians 2:4-10 - But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us,  5 even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved),  6 and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus,  7 so that in the ages to come He might show the surpassing riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.  8 For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God;  9 not as a result of works, so that no one may boast.  10 For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.

WOW!  What a picture!  We are unlovable, we are dead, we are helpless to change it.  God is not obligated to help us in any way, yet He chooses to!  He chooses to not only forgive us but lavish His unconditional love on us!  And He does so out of His rich mercy, His great love!  The Greek word used for love when referring to how God loves His children is ‘agape’.  The closest English equivalent is the word ‘love’, but in reality it has no equivalent.  It was a word that the authors of the Bible created to describe the unconditional loving grace of God.  No human can perfectly love anyone in the ‘agape’ sense and so no one else can bear that title.

That’s quite a picture.  We don’t deserve regular love from God, let alone a love that is beyond description!  Yet, He chooses to love us.  There again we see that love is a choice.

As you are choosing whether or not you will proceed in your marriage or walk away, keep in mind.  God chose to love you even when you were unlovable and continues to love you even though you (like me and the rest of us) sin from time to time and do things that should merit His rejection of you, yet He doesn’t…  If our marriages are a picture of Christ and salvation, then we ought to strive to love one another in the same fashion.  Loving one another regardless.  Not because of merit in the other person, but because God so loved us that He gave His only Son… if the Holy perfect God can find it right with Himself to love the unlovable (us), how much more should we be willing to love one another keeping in mind that none of us are perfect and therefore don’t have the right to refuse or reject one another.  Jesus said let the one who is without sin cast the first stone.

We can apply that same exact principle to the issue of forgiveness in marriage.  Think for a moment about your own sins.  Not the sins necessarily that are causing the issues in your marriage.  Open the scope up more widely than that.  Need some help?  Flip over to Exodus 20 and run through the 10 Commandments and see how many of them you’ve broken… In summary, have you always honored God as first in your life?  Have you created an idol in your life, something you devote yourself to or worship more than God?  Have you ever taken God’s Name in vain? That is called blasphemy and God takes it very seriously.  Have you always set aside one day out of seven to honor and worship the Lord… to rest and reflect on His love shown towards you?  Did you always honor and obey your parents growing up?  What about murder?  Jesus said that God sees hate in your heart the same as murder.  Ever commit adultery?  Before you answer quickly, no that Jesus said if you look on someone with lust then you have committed adultery in your heart.  Whether you were married when the lust occurred is immaterial.  Ever stolen anything, even something small?  Ever lied?  Ever coveted or desired something that wasn’t yours?

How did you do?  Have you kept any one of them perfectly?  I hadn’t… I don’t… James 2:10 says that if you’ve broken even one of the commandments then you are guilty of breaking them all because there is a totality to the law.

In salvation, did God… through Christ… not forgive you of every one of your transgressions of His law past, present, and future?  If you are in Christ, then He has removed your sins so far as the East is from the West.  Again remembering that God is perfect and Christ was sinless.   Yet He became sin on your behalf so that you might be redeemed (2 Corinthians 5:21).

If you answer yes that Christ has forgiven you of all your sin.  And you answer yes that He was Himself sinless and you didn’t deserve His forgiveness… then when we withhold forgiveness from our spouses for their sin we are placing ourselves in a higher court that God.

Do you see what I’m saying?  God did not withhold forgiveness to you for your sins against Him and He rightly could have.  But He didn’t, even to the point of the slaughter of His own Son.  Yet we can’t pray and plead with God to help us forgive our spouses for their sins?  Maybe if we were perfect we could withhold forgiveness if we wanted, but we aren’t so we can’t…

Plus, think about the message you send when you give up or walk away or fail to forgive or whatever in your marriage.  You are saying to that other person, I expect you to put up with my sins, my quirks, my wants… but I am not going to put up with yours.  And this doesn’t just apply to the person who leaves the marriage but also to the one who was left.  Regardless of who started it took two people… two sinners… to cause any issue.

Let me just interject that if at this point your mind is dwelling on the sins and shortcomings of your spouse and not your own, you've just discovered one part of your problem...  Listen, you may be innocent in any given situation of any wrong doing that has led to marital conflict, I grant you that.  But you are not innocent of guilt of all situations... that's my point, so in withholding forgiveness or walking away you send a message.

You are sending the message that your sins were deserving of forgiveness from the sinless Son of God, but the other persons sins aren’t deserving of your forgiveness… Ouch, kind of a punch in the gut for me personally for sure.

Christo-centric Marriage - Part 3

Christo-centric Marriage - Part 1

So this blog series (which will probably be two parts) needs a disclaimer before it.  I am in no way contending that I am perfect.  I am in no way contending that Meg and I have marriage all figured out.  I sin daily,  against my children and against my wife whenever I fail to love them and lead them as God has called me to do.  So please know from the beginning of this article that it is intended only to help you.  From one person figuring this stuff out Biblically to another who is going through the same trials and joys.  Hope that sets a tone that keeps with the way this was all written.

With that in mind I would just like to put forth some things for you to consider as you choose what you will do pertaining to your marriage.

Problems arise in marriage.  That's a given.  Even Christian marriages are not without their issues from time to time.  We should expect no less quite frankly.  Anytime you put a man and a woman together and tell them to fight their sin nature that screams for them to put themselves first and instead to love the other person sacrificially, anytime you do that... you are going to eventually stumble and instead of loving sacrificially you will love yourself more and act on that self-love.

Determining who is "to blame" in each argument is of little to no value.  The blame game isn't going to get you where you need to be in your marriage.  Sometimes arguments and fights stem from or cause distrust.  Every situation is different and I am in no place to diagnose each individual problem, however where the distrust originates is neither here nor there.  

What is important is asking yourself the question:  Do you commit to working this out or do you walk away?  Sadly in our world many turn immediately to walking away without a second thought.  But Christians are called to something different as we'll see as we progress.

Jesus said, in Matthew 19:6, that when two people marry they become “one flesh”.  Regardless of what the local court house and state records may show, God sees marriage as permanent.  Divorce is not optional from His view point.  Not in any scenario. (See Permanence View link below)

Now many would point to the Bible and say that adultery makes it legitimate for divorce.  In reality, Jesus said that MOSES allowed people to divorce for infidelity but it never says that God condoned or approved.  But adultery and infidelity is not the thrust of this post, so let's move on.

Fill in the following sentence with your personal situation:  You are upset with one another because of ____________________.  Insert the issues there.  One issue or a hundred issues… doesn’t matter… fill it in for yourselves.  What I want to communicate will apply the same across the board.

A teaching that really gets neglected by and large in the churches of our day is the fact that marriage is not just the union of a man and woman in matrimony.  It’s a picture of the Gospel.  The reason that marriage is a binding union is because when God regenerates and saves a person (salvation) it is a binding union of that person to Him.  Romans 8:1 – there is therefore no condemnation for those who are in Christ.

We are eternally secure in Him.  Saved by Him.  Regenerated and forgiven by Him. 
Romans 8:28-35 - And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.  29 For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren;  30 and these whom He predestined, He also called; and these whom He called, He also justified; and these whom He justified, He also glorified.  31 What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who is against us?  32 He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him over for us all, how will He not also with Him freely give us all things?  33 Who will bring a charge against God’s elect? God is the one who justifies;  34 who is the one who condemns? Christ Jesus is He who died, yes, rather who was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who also intercedes for us.  35 Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?

We are secure in Him.  The meaning of that of course is securely forgiven.  No condemnation for our sins will come upon us.  That’s important because even though Christians are forgiven (saved) we still stumble into sin from time to time because our flesh is weak and none of us are perfect…

Knowing that even though I do sin, sometimes multiple times daily, still God will not reject the covenant of salvation that He has made with me in Jesus Christ.  He will not reject the promise that He made to me through the blood of Jesus Christ that purchased me.  He has adopted me as His child (and any other saved person) and therefore Christ paid the debt for the sins of my past, present, and future.

How does that relate to marriage?  Well, marriage then becomes more than just a union… more than just vows we take and aisles we walk on one day.  It becomes a life long journey.  Marriage is a covenant (another word that is largely lost these days in our teaching of marriage). 

Marriage is a covenant between two people and as we strive to understand how to make it work, we can find our answer.  Not simply by trying to work it out and get over the issue… but by looking first at Christ.  Loving out of the love with which He has loved us.  D. Martin Lloyd Jones said that the logic of our loving out of the love Christ showed us is “quite irresistible”.

Our marriages are a visible picture of the Gospel.  They are a living illustration of what Christ does for us in regeneration.

That’s the first thing I wanted to put out there.  


Christo-centric Marriage - Part 2

Some additional resources that may be helpful:

The Permanence View of Marriage - by Voddie Baucham

The Permanence View of Marriage - notes from the above

Staying Married is not about Staying in Love - by John Piper

Tithing - Part 2

So tithing is not a biblical practice or requirement for the New Testament church, why do we give?  Should we give at all?  And what did Jesus teach about giving and how much to give?

Matthew 6:19-21;24 - “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal.  20 “But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves do not break in or steal;  21 for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also… 24 “No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth.

He clearly teaches us that our value in this world is to be set on things above… not on money or possessions.  Children of God are to be a people of single-hearted devotion to God and God alone in all things.  So that is principle one in our effort to have a Biblical doctrine of giving.

Truthfully, if we were going to talk about Biblically following the word “tithing”, Old Covenant tithing, we would need to not only give 10th of our income but also of our land, crops, possessions, etc.  Tithing was a requirement for Jews under Moses in a theocracy.  As I said, most nations still practice a form of tithing today, only now it isn’t collected to show devotion to God, it is collected to run the nation.  We call it taxes.

Now, even though tithing is not a New Covenant requirement, it doesn’t mean that we toss out giving all together.  Not at all.  Tithing, like many other things in Christ, has been replaced with a new principle that we can most accurately define as Grace Giving.

2 Corinthians 9:6-7 - Now this I say, he who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully.  7 Each one must do just as he has purposed in his heart, not grudgingly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.

Paul had instructed them not to be captive to covetousness but to trust God in all things and give FREELY, not under compulsion of Law, but freely.  We are not to give 1.) under obligation nor 2.) under compulsion.  Rather we are to give cheerfully as we purpose in our own hearts.  Paul says that God loves a cheerful giver.

Instead of a legal requirement to tithe, under the New Covenant we have the privilege and opportunity to give to the work of the Lord.  Now, under this covenant God has instituted the local church as being the place you give.  But it is not given to the church even though the church receives it.

When you give, you give it to God.  Truly you give it BACK to God because EVERYTHING you have money and otherwise already belongs to Him to begin with.  Your money, status, talent, time, family.  The church, then, is charged with the duty of stewarding the money received wisely and in a Godly way.  It should all be given to further the work of the church and the furtherance of the Gospel.

How much should we give if 10% is not the mandate?  Ready for this… I don’t know.  That is between you and God.  Each person can determine for themselves what they are going to give.  You are not required to give 10%.  You are, in Christ, encouraged to give freely as you purpose in your heart.  Cheerfully giving to the Lord.

Maybe 10% is what you can give.  Maybe it isn’t.  Maybe you can give 15-20% or maybe 10% is pushing you to the max.  If you are giving and worried that whatever percentage you are giving is more than you can afford, you cannot out give God, so rest knowing that God will provide for your need.  As a Pastor, it doesn’t scare me to teach this because I know that God will provide for the needs of this church regardless.  Giving is not, however, a promise of financial prosperity for you.  Just because you give doesn’t mean God will increase your money.  Sometimes giving of any kind, be it financial or otherwise, should hurt.  How much sacrifice does it take for us to give our time or money or whatever to something that takes little to no effort to do or costs us nothing?

You need to approach your money and say this is all God’s.  All of it.  You need to approach your marriage, kids, job, property, etc… the same way.  This is all God’s.  And so God, how can I use it to BEST glorify you?

All money is God’s, so as you determine what you are to give, seek His will to be sure you are stewarding your money wisely.  If you see this as a way of escape from giving at all, you are being tempted sinfully… Grace frees us from Law so that whatever we do, we do for Christ because of Christ out of our gratitude and worship for Christ.

You should approach your finances this way not only in determining how much you give to the church but also in how you steward the money in other areas.  How big a house should you buy?  Well, how big of a house do you NEED?  What car should I drive?  Well, what needs does your car need to meet for you?  Clothing?  Same question.  All of which are run through the filter first of what best glorifies my Savior in this expense or action?

There is no moral requirement for you to tithe 10% of your income, but, as born again believers, we should DESIRE to show our gratitude by cheerfully giving, as Paul says, “whatever we purpose in our hearts.”

Whatever we work out with God is right for us to give.  Paul doesn’t say that we shouldn’t give at all, in fact he says we should.  But we are under no compulsion, but encouraged to do so cheerfully.  Because we want to, not because we have to.

Now, who should we “give to?

Galatians 6:6 - The one who is taught the word is to share all good things with the one who teaches him.

It directs us to financially meet the needs of and support those who are charged with feeding us spiritually.  That in this case would be the Pastor.  That includes also, this church’s ministries because it is your local church body, your local fellowship that is responsible for feeding you.

After you’ve given whatever you give to the church, I think it is good to give to any other source of feeding for us.  There are a couple of ministries that have been invaluable to me as tools of learning and training and Meg and I try to give when we can to them because they have been so beneficial to our feeding and spiritual growth through the years.  It should not take the place of giving to your local body, but it is good to do.

Your first priority in giving is to the local church.  This refers to financial giving.  Giving to the church in this sense does not include your time and service.  I’ve heard people say that they tithe their time to their church.  I think that’s dangerously close to a copout.  On the flip side, giving financially to the church is NOT the same as serving the church either.  Give your time to your church as you can and whatever financial support you can but don’t exchange one for the other.  Anytime your mindset in service or giving is to seek out whatever the bare minimum you can get away with is, you are really only cheating yourself…

Now, thirdly there are things like charitable giving.  That would include special offerings for something (Annie Armstrong, Lottie Moon, love offerings for guests)  Anything that you give over and above whatever you’ve purposes is the amount of your giving to the church but still is received by the church first is considered charitable giving.

Let’s make sure we are clear.  No where in the New Testament are we obligated to tithe.  If I told you that you were I would be not only lying to you but I would be putting a works yoke of legalism on you.  This is a dangerous thing to teach in a way, though it doesn’t scare me… because it could easily backfire on a church.  Some could say, well God directed me to no longer give the 10% that I thought I was obligated to give… God has told me to not give at all.

I can’t determine your number, but know that God knows and so I would encourage you to seek Him in the matter so that your conscience before Him is clear and you can testify before Him that what you are giving is what you can give.

Do I fear that giving will drop off as a result of saying this?  Nope.  I trust God more than that.  God will provide for the needs of this church through the giving of His Children, because true believers will not feel this an escape from giving but now hopefully prayerfully begin to see it as more of an offering of praise and cause for worship rather than a yoke.

God doesn’t bless the person that legalistically tithes.  He blesses the cheerful giver.  God blesses you for giving, not for going back to the old covenant system of tithing.  His blessings may or may not be financial, but He blesses.  And I believe that God will bless me and the ministry He has called me to, again not necessarily financial, because I am not shrinking away from my duty to preach the Word of God, the whole counsel of God, to you truthfully and clearly.

If you are a faithful giver to this church and have just been calling it a tithe because no one had taught you different, that’s ok.  God knew and knows your heart in it.  Your heart is what is important in the giving.  But I would just suggest that this may be one of those areas where our language needs to be cleaned up.

You don’t tithe, you give.  Giving is a gift.  Giving is of your own compulsion.  You don’t owe the church money.  If you owed the money, then it wouldn’t be a gift.   When I pay the bill collectors that I owe money to I never feel like I’m doing them a tremendous favor by paying them.  I feel obligated to pay because I am… I owe them.  And perhaps I even pay them a bit grudgingly, ha!

Show me a person who is thankful to God for saving them and I’ll show you a person who loves the church and desires to be involved in service and in giving what they can to the ministry of the church and the furtherance of the Gospel.

Tithing Revisited (or Tithing - Part 3)

Tithing - Part 1

Coming off of the time of year where Americans spend the most money and typically accrue the most unsecured debt, I thought I'd begin the year with a blog post about tithing... 

Thing that we need to note is that the tithe is NOT unique only to Israel or Christianity in general.  It was practiced by several ancient nations and in some forms most nations still practice it today.

Quite simply the tithe is the practice of giving 1/10th of your income or property as an offering to God.  As far as Biblical history goes, the practice of tithing predates even the Mosaic Law.  The first recorded tithe is found in Genesis 14.  Abraham had just returned from rescuing Lot and destroying the Mesopotamian Kings… when he came back he went to the “Valley of the Kings” where he met with Melchizedek, who was the King and High Priest at the time.  

Melchizedek greeted him and they began to celebrate the victory and worship God for the victory and it says that of their spoils, Abraham gave Melchizedek 1/10th. That’s the first mention we see of a tithe and it doesn’t seem to have been anything that required Abraham to give it.  He seems to have simply offered it as an act of worship.  

Later in Genesis 28:22, “This stone, which I have set up as a pillar, will be God’s house, and of all that You give me I will surely give a tenth to You.” – Here we see Jacob promising God 1/10th of all he received, money, animals, etc…  Still he was also doing this under no compulsion but simply out of gratitude to God.

Now, it isn’t until we get to Leviticus 27; that we see tithing prescribed in detail in the Law of Moses.

Under Mosaic Law, Israel was required to pay the following tithes.
- Tithe of the seed of the land – Leviticus 27:30-32
- Tithe of the fruit of the tree – Leviticus 27:30-32
- Every 10th animal of their herds and flocks to the Lord – Leviticus 27:30-32
- A tithe was to be given to the Levites because they did not receive a land inheritance like the other tribes had. The Levites, in turn, were to offer a heave offering to the Lord.  That accounted to their tithe and what was left was their payment for their work in the tabernacle.– Numbers 18:21-32
- A vegetable tithe was taken to Jerusalem – Deuteronomy 12:5-7, 11-12, 17-18
- A cattle tithe – 2 Chronicles 31:6

By the time of the Exodus, no tithe is mentioned, the closest reference to required giving we have there is found in Ezekiel 44:29-30 where a giving of the First Fruits is required.

The Prophet Malachi instructed Israel to bring their tithes into the storehouse in order to enjoy the Lord’s blessing.  Malachi 3:8-12 - “Will a man rob God? Yet you are robbing Me! But you say, ‘How have we robbed You?’ In tithes and offerings.  9 “You are cursed with a curse, for you are robbing Me, the whole nation of you!  10 “Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, so that there may be food in My house, and test Me now in this,” says the Lord of hosts, “if I will not open for you the windows of heaven and pour out for you a blessing until it overflows.  11 “Then I will rebuke the devourer for you, so that it will not destroy the fruits of the ground; nor will your vine in the field cast its grapes,” says the Lord of hosts.  12 “All the nations will call you blessed, for you shall be a delightful land,” says the Lord of hosts.

Regardless of the type of tithe being called for, they all were given for the purpose of running the Nation of Israel.  From governmental affairs to the Levites, caring for orphans and widows…

Deuteronomy 26:12-13 - “When you have finished paying all the tithe of your increase in the third year, the year of tithing, then you shall give it to the Levite, to the stranger, to the orphan and to the widow, that they may eat in your towns and be satisfied.  13 “You shall say before the Lord your God, ‘I have removed the sacred portion from my house, and also have given it to the Levite and the alien, the orphan and the widow, according to all Your commandments which You have commanded me; I have not transgressed or forgotten any of Your commandments.

All tithes were an acknowledgment of God’s ownership of all things.  It was an expression of gratitude to God by His people.

Now, in the New Testament the word tithe and tithing is only a few times.  
Matthew 23:23 - “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint and dill and cummin, and have neglected the weightier provisions of the law: justice and mercy and faithfulness; but these are the things you should have done without neglecting the others.

Luke 11:42 - “But woe to you Pharisees! For you pay tithe of mint and rue and every kind of garden herb, and yet disregard justice and the love of God; but these are the things you should have done without neglecting the others.

Luke 18:10-14 - “Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector.  11 “The Pharisee stood and was praying this to himself: ‘God, I thank You that I am not like other people: swindlers, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector.  12 ‘I fast twice a week; I pay tithes of all that I get.’  13 “But the tax collector, standing some distance away, was even unwilling to lift up his eyes to heaven, but was beating his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, the sinner!’  14 “I tell you, this man went to his house justified rather than the other; for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but he who humbles himself will be exalted.”

Hebrews 7:5-6 - And those indeed of the sons of Levi who receive the priest’s office have commandment in the Law to collect a tenth from the people, that is, from their brethren, although these are descended from Abraham.  6 But the one whose genealogy is not traced from them collected a tenth from Abraham and blessed the one who had the promises.

Hebrews 7:8-9 - In this case mortal men receive tithes, but in that case one receives them, of whom it is witnessed that he lives on.  9 And, so to speak, through Abraham even Levi, who received tithes, paid tithes,

Reading through them all they have one thing in common… The are all without fail referring to the Old Covenant system.  In Matthew and Luke Jesus is chastening the Jews because they are keeping the Law in letter… keeping it in a legalistic way… making it a works based system… but they are neglecting the Spirit of the Law.  Paying tithes but caring nothing for their spiritual condition or anyone else’s.  Further they completely neglected true worship of the One true God.  They worshiped their own self-righteousness.

Plus, here Christ is reinforcing the Law that was still in place at this time given that this all took place in a pre-Pentecost time.  So tithing would have still been a Law requirement even during Christ’s life.  Christ Himself paid the tithes.  It wasn’t until Pentecost that we see the implementation of the New Covenant of Grace through the blood of Christ.

Then in Hebrews it is explained that Christ fulfills the requirements for those tithes.  Not only is Christ the fulfillment of all the OT Laws but He is also the perfect Great High Priest and He lives forever, reigning forever!

Nowhere in the New Testament are we commanded to tithe.  Nowhere.  A tithe is something that is required.  We aren’t under the covenant of the Law any longer… we are under a covenant of Grace in Jesus Christ.  The key word there to remember as we proceed is grace.

Matthew 5:17 - Do not think that I came to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I did not come to abolish but to fulfill.

I came, Jesus said, not to abolish (in other words He didn’t come to contradict the Law by doing away with it) RATHER He came to fulfill it.  The Laws had been given to show that no one could completely be perfect and reach God’s standard, but Christ could and did.

Christ initiated the New Covenant at the Last Supper and it went into effect on the Day of Pentecost.  So when we are looking at Old Covenant requirements verses New Covenant requirements, we can’t distinctively look Old Testament to New but rather pre-Pentecost and post-Pentecost..

Part 2: New Testament Principles for giving

New Year's Resolutions

John Newton once said "I am not what I ought to be. Ah! how imperfect and deficient.  I am not what I might be, considering my privileges and opportunities.  I am not what I wish to be. God, who knows my heart--knows I wish to be like Him.  I am not what I hope to be. Before long, I will drop this clay tabernacle, to be like Him and see Him as He is! Yet, I am not what I once was--a child of sin, and slave of the devil! Though not all these--not what I ought to be, not what I might be, not what I wish or hope to be, and not what I once was--I think I can truly say with the apostle, "By the grace of God--I am what I am!(1 Corinthians 15:10)"


As 2010 draws to a close and we look towards the new year I have found myself dwelling more and more on this quote and the verse that inspired it.  As I look back on this year I hope to be able to find that I am growing more and more to be like Christ.  That I'm becoming less of what I used to be and more of what God has called me to be.  Of course it is easy for me to look across my own life and examine it only to find positive results.  "Self" is also a deceiver. 


Paul encouraged believers to "examine themselves" to see that they were in the faith.  2 Corinthians 13:5 - Test yourselves to see if you are in the faith; examine yourselves! Or do you not recognize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you—unless indeed you fail the test?


Examine ourselves by what?  By God's Word.  Obviously the entire Bible is a great source for examining one's heart.  If I had to pick a spot to begin in this pursuit, I would likely recommend 1 John.


Are you growing in Christ?  Are you abiding in His Word? Are you growing in love and compassion for others? Are you becoming more bold in your witness for Christ?  Etc... Etc...


Being that we are coming up on the new year many people will make resolutions.  Resolutions to lose weight, make more money, spend less money, save more money, workout more often, spend more time with friends, spend more time with family, quit smoking, drinking, etc...


While there is probably merit in those types of resolutions, some more than others, I wanted to encourage you to resolve this year to make it a practice of examining yourself DAILY by the Word of God. 


John 14:21-24 - “He who has My commandments and keeps them is the one who loves Me; and he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and will disclose Myself to him.”  22 Judas (not Iscariot) said to Him, “Lord, what then has happened that You are going to disclose Yourself to us and not to the world?”  23 Jesus answered and said to him, “If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our abode with him.  24 “He who does not love Me does not keep My words; and the word which you hear is not Mine, but the Father’s who sent Me.

Growth in Christ for a believer is not optional, it's a way of life.  It's the practice of our life to desire to be more and more like Christ.  The One who became sin for us so that we might become His righteousness.  So that God could forgive us and adopt us into His family.

Are you growing in Christ?  Just some thoughts.  I encourage you to examine yourself to be sure you are in the faith.  If you should find that you fail the test.  Repent and trust in Christ now.  Be reconciled to God.  Look unto the Lord and be saved! (Isaiah 45:22)

Jonathan Edwards believed than rather a New Year's Resolution, that would like be forgotten quickly in the new year, that a life reformation was far more beneficial.  So He penned this list of resolutions to keep himself reminded of the calling placed upon the life of a true disciple of Jesus Christ.  I thought, for your benefit and mine, I'd post the list in its fullness.  Below you'll find a list of the resolutions that Edwards read once every week to keep his mind on his duty before God.

The Resolutions of Jonathan Edwards (1722-1723)
 Resolutions 1 through 21 were written by in one sitting in New Haven in 1722.

Being sensible that I am unable to do anything without God's help, I do humbly entreat him by his grace to enable me to keep these Resolutions, so far as they are agreeable to his will, for Christ's sake.

Remember to read over these Resolutions once a week.

1. Resolved, that I will do whatsoever I think to be most to God's glory, and my own good, profit and pleasure, in the whole of my duration, without any consideration of the time, whether now, or never so many myriad's of ages hence. Resolved to do whatever I think to be my duty and most for the good and advantage of mankind in general. Resolved to do this, whatever difficulties I meet with, how many and how great soever.

2. Resolved, to be continually endeavoring to find out some new invention and contrivance to promote the aforementioned things.

3. Resolved, if ever I shall fall and grow dull, so as to neglect to keep any part of these Resolutions, to repent of all I can remember, when I come to myself again.

4. Resolved, never to do any manner of thing, whether in soul or body, less or more, but what tends to the glory of God; nor be, nor suffer it, if I can avoid it.

5. Resolved, never to lose one moment of time; but improve it the most profitable way I possibly can.

6. Resolved, to live with all my might, while I do live.

7. Resolved, never to do anything, which I should be afraid to do, if it were the last hour of my life.

8. Resolved, to act, in all respects, both speaking and doing, as if nobody had been so vile as I, and as if I had committed the same sins, or had the same infirmities or failings as others; and that I will let the knowledge of their failings promote nothing but shame in myself, and prove only an occasion of my confessing my own sins and misery to God.

9. Resolved, to think much on all occasions of my own dying, and of the common circumstances which attend death.

10. Resolved, when I feel pain, to think of the pains of martyrdom, and of hell.

11. Resolved, when I think of any theorem in divinity to be solved, immediately to do what I can towards solving it, if circumstances don't hinder.

12. Resolved, if I take delight in it as a gratification of pride, or vanity, or on any such account, immediately to throw it by.

13. Resolved, to be endeavoring to find out fit objects of charity and liberality.

14. Resolved, never to do anything out of revenge.

15. Resolved, never to suffer the least motions of anger to irrational beings.

16. Resolved, never to speak evil of anyone, so that it shall tend to his dishonor, more or less, upon no account except for some real good.

17. Resolved, that I will live so as I shall wish I had done when I come to die.

18. Resolved, to live so at all times, as I think is best in my devout frames, and when I have clearest notions of things of the gospel, and another world.

19. Resolved, never to do anything, which I should be afraid to do, if I expected it would not be above an hour, before I should hear the last trump.

20. Resolved, to maintain the strictest temperance in eating and drinking.

21. Resolved, never to do anything, which if I should see in another, I should count a just occasion to despise him for, or to think any way the more meanly of him.

22. Resolved, to endeavor to obtain for myself as much happiness, in the other world, as I possibly can, with all the power; might, vigor, and vehemence, yea violence, I am capable of, or can bring myself to exert, in any way that can be thought of.

23. Resolved, frequently to take some deliberate action, which seems most unlikely to be done, for the glory of God, and trace it back to the original intention, designs and ends of it; and if I find it not to be for God's glory, to repute it as a breach of the 4th Resolution.

24. Resolved, whenever I do any conspicuously evil action, to trace it back, till I come to the original cause; and then both carefully endeavor to do so no more, and to fight and pray with all my might against the original of it.

25. Resolved, to examine carefully, and constantly, what that one thing in me is, which causes me in the least to doubt of the love of God; and to direct all my forces against it.

26. Resolved, to cast away such things, as I find do abate my assurance.

27. Resolved, never willfully to omit anything, except the omission be for the glory of God; and frequently to examine my omissions.

28. Resolved, to study the Scriptures so steadily, constantly and frequently, as that I may find, and plainly perceive myself to grow in the knowledge of the same.

29. Resolved, never to count that a prayer, nor to let that pass as a prayer, nor that as a petition of a prayer, which is so made, that I cannot hope that God will answer it; nor that as a confession, which I cannot hope God will accept.

30. Resolved, to strive to my utmost every week to be brought higher in religion, and to a higher exercise of grace, than I was the week before.

31. Resolved, never to say anything at all against anybody, but when it is

perfectly agreeable to the highest degree of Christian honor, and of love to mankind, agreeable to the lowest humility, and sense of my own faults and failings, and agreeable to the golden rule; often, when I have said anything against anyone, to bring it to, and try it strictly by the test of this Resolution.

32. Resolved, to be strictly and firmly faithful to my trust, that that in Prov. 20:6, "A faithful man who can find?" may not be partly fulfilled in me.

33. Resolved, always to do what I can towards making, maintaining, establishing and preserving peace, when it can be without over-balancing detriment in other respects. Dec.26, 1722.

34. Resolved, in narration's never to speak anything but the pure and simple verity.

35. Resolved, whenever I so much question whether I have done my duty, as that my quiet and calm is thereby disturbed, to set it down, and also how the question was resolved. Dec. 18, 1722.

36. Resolved, never to speak evil of any, except I have some particular good call for it. Dec. 19, 1722.

37. Resolved, to inquire every night, as I am going to bed, wherein I have been negligent, what sin I have committed, and wherein I have denied myself: also at the end of every week, month and year. Dec.22 and 26, 1722.

38. Resolved, never to speak anything that is ridiculous, sportive, or matter of laughter on the Lord's day. Sabbath evening, Dec. 23, 1722.

39. Resolved, never to do anything that I so much question the lawfulness of, as that I intend, at the same time, to consider and examine afterwards, whether it be lawful or no; except I as much question the lawfulness of the omission.

40. Resolved, to inquire every night, before I go to bed, whether I have acted in the best way I possibly could, with respect to eating and drinking. Jan. 7, 1723.

41. Resolved, to ask myself at the end of every day, week, month and year, wherein I could possibly in any respect have done better. Jan. 11, 1723.

42. Resolved, frequently to renew the dedication of myself to God, which was made at my baptism; which I solemnly renewed, when I was received into the communion of the church; and which I have solemnly re-made this twelfth day of January, 1722-23.

43. Resolved, never henceforward, till I die, to act as if I were any way my own, but entirely and altogether God's, agreeable to what is to be found in Saturday, January 12. Jan.12, 1723.

44- Resolved, that no other end but religion, shall have any influence at all on any of my actions; and that no action shall be, in the least circumstance, any otherwise than the religious end will carry it. Jan.12, 1723.

45. Resolved, never to allow any pleasure or grief, joy or sorrow, nor any affection at all, nor any degree of affection, nor any circumstance relating to it, but what helps religion. Jan.12 and 13.1723.

46. Resolved, never to allow the least measure of any fretting uneasiness at my father or mother. Resolved to suffer no effects of it, so much as in the least alteration of speech, or motion of my eve: and to be especially careful of it, with respect to any of our family.

47. Resolved, to endeavor to my utmost to deny whatever is not most agreeable to a good, and universally sweet and benevolent, quiet, peace able, contented, easy, compassionate, generous, humble, meek, modest, submissive, obliging, diligent and industrious, charitable, even, patient, moderate, forgiving, sincere temper; and to do at all times what such a temper would lead me to. Examine strictly every week, whether I have done so. Sabbath morning. May 5,1723.

48. Resolved, constantly, with the utmost niceness and diligence, and the strictest scrutiny, to be looking into the state of my soul, that I may know whether I have truly an interest in Christ or no; that when I come to die, I may not have any negligence respecting this to repent of. May 26, 1723.

49. Resolved, that this never shall be, if I can help it.

50. Resolved, I will act so as I think I shall judge would have been best, and most prudent, when I come into the future world. July 5, 1723.

51. Resolved, that I will act so, in every respect, as I think I shall wish I had done, if I should at last be damned. July 8, 1723.

52. I frequently hear persons in old age say how they would live, if they were to live their lives over again: Resolved, that I will live just so as I can think I shall wish I had done, supposing I live to old age. July 8, 1723.

53. Resolved, to improve every opportunity, when I am in the best and happiest frame of mind, to cast and venture my soul on the Lord Jesus Christ, to trust and confide in him, and consecrate myself wholly to him; that from this I may have assurance of my safety, knowing that I confide in my Redeemer. July 8, 1723.

54. Whenever I hear anything spoken in conversation of any person, if I think it would be praiseworthy in me, Resolved to endeavor to imitate it. July 8, 1723.

55. Resolved, to endeavor to my utmost to act as I can think I should do, if I had already seen the happiness of heaven, and hell torments. July 8, 1723.

56. Resolved, never to give over, nor in the least to slacken my fight with my corruptions, however unsuccessful I may be.

57. Resolved, when I fear misfortunes and adversities, to examine whether ~ have done my duty, and resolve to do it; and let it be just as providence orders it, I will as far as I can, be concerned about nothing but my duty and my sin. June 9, and July 13 1723.

58. Resolved, not only to refrain from an air of dislike, fretfulness, and anger in conversation, but to exhibit an air of love, cheerfulness and benignity. May27, and July 13, 1723.

59. Resolved, when I am most conscious of provocations to ill nature and anger, that I will strive most to feel and act good-naturedly; yea, at such times, to manifest good nature, though I think that in other respects it would be disadvantageous, and so as would be imprudent at other times. May 12, July ii, and July 13.

60. Resolved, whenever my feelings begin to appear in the least out of order, when I am conscious of the least uneasiness within, or the least irregularity without, I will then subject myself to the strictest examination. July 4, and 13, 1723.

61. Resolved, that I will not give way to that listlessness which I find unbends and relaxes my mind from being fully and fixedly set on religion, whatever excuse I may have for it-that what my listlessness inclines me to do, is best to be done, etc. May 21, and July 13, 1723.

62. Resolved, never to do anything but duty; and then according to Eph. 6:6-8, do it willingly and cheerfully as unto the Lord, and not to man; "knowing that whatever good thing any man doth, the same shall he receive of the Lord." June 25 and July 13, 1723.

63. On the supposition, that there never was to be but one individual in the world, at any one time, who was properly a complete Christian, in all respects of a right stamp, having Christianity always shining in its true luster, and appearing excellent and lovely, from whatever part and under whatever character viewed: Resolved, to act just as I would do, if I strove with all my might to be that one, who should live in my time. Jan.14' and July '3' 1723.

64. Resolved, when I find those "groanings which cannot be uttered" (Rom. 8:26), of which the Apostle speaks, and those "breakings of soul for the longing it hath," of which the Psalmist speaks, Psalm 119:20, that I will promote them to the utmost of my power, and that I will not be wear', of earnestly endeavoring to vent my desires, nor of the repetitions of such earnestness. July 23, and August 10, 1723.

65. Resolved, very much to exercise myself in this all my life long, viz. with the greatest openness I am capable of, to declare my ways to God, and lay open my soul to him: all my sins, temptations, difficulties, sorrows, fears, hopes, desires, and every thing, and every circumstance; according to Dr. Manton's 27th Sermon on Psalm 119. July 26, and Aug.10 1723.

66. Resolved, that I will endeavor always to keep a benign aspect, and air of acting and speaking in all places, and in all companies, except it should so happen that duty requires otherwise.

67. Resolved, after afflictions, to inquire, what I am the better for them, what good I have got by them, and what I might have got by them.

68. Resolved, to confess frankly to myself all that which I find in myself, either infirmity or sin; and, if it be what concerns religion, also to confess the whole case to God, and implore needed help. July 23, and August 10, 1723.

69. Resolved, always to do that, which I shall wish I had done when I see others do it. Aug. 11, 1723.

70. Let there be something of benevolence, in all that I speak. Aug. 17, 1723