"In the same way then, there has also come to be at the present time a remnant according to God's gracious choice. But if it is by grace, it is no longer on the basis of works, otherwise grace is no longer grace."
Insidious. adj. "operating or proceeding in an inconspicuous or seemingly harmless way but actually with grave effect"-- Random House Dictionary, 2010.
Insidious comes to mind whenever considering systems of theology that speak of grace in terms other than the biblical usage, characterizing it as a means of meriting favor (salvation). Various cults, such as Christian Science, Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, Jehovah's Witnesses, etc. teach such heterodoxy, a "gospel" which is not good news at all.
These groups' popularity speaks to the natural tendency in lost folk to believe that surely some good works will help earn a spot in heaven. Still, these cults' influence is not as insidious, nor as pervasive, as the consummate organized "works-'grace' " theological system today: Roman Catholicism.
With its sacramental system inherently works-based, the entire theological structure is skewed, because the foundation is faulty. What is this foundational fault which 'proceeds in an inconspicuous or seemingly harmless way but actually (has) grave effect'?
AUTHORITY. By asserting that its authority (Church Tradition) is on an equal plane (superior, actually) with Scripture, the Roman Catholic theology of "salvation-by-sacramental-obedience" subverts the true biblical meaning of grace.
For, to add any effort whatsoever to the freeness of the genuine Gospel's grace of Scripture is to invite such questions as, "How much effort is enough? How many good works does it take to know you have salvation? Where is the joy of salvation's assurance, especially at death, if one is depending on works for acceptance?"
The implications are enormous, important, and of eternal consequence. Why? People act on what they believe. And those who teach them are promised by God a stricter judgment (James 3:1). Those who teach the systems of works-salvation in all their insidious forms will have much to answer for, when before the King (Romans 14:12).
Monday, May 17, 2010
Monday, May 3, 2010
Hebrews 12:11
"All discipline for the moment seems not to be joyful but sorrowful; yet to those who have been trained by it, afterwards it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness."
Recently, in a Bible class, someone raised the question of whether or not the Father punishes His children. I see in Scripture that we are disciplined by the Father, but are discipline and punishment the same thing?
Random House Dictionary defines punishment thus:
–noun
1. the act of punishing.
2. the fact of being punished, as for an offense or fault.
3. a penalty inflicted for an offense, fault, etc.
4. severe handling or treatment.
For discipline, more is involved, according to the same source:
–noun
1. training to act in accordance with rules; drill: military discipline.
2. activity, exercise, or a regimen that develops or improves a skill; training: A daily stint at the typewriter is excellent discipline for a writer.
3. punishment inflicted by way of correction and training.
4. the rigor or training effect of experience, adversity, etc.: the harsh discipline of poverty.
5. behavior in accord with rules of conduct; behavior and order maintained by training and control: good discipline in an army.
6. a set or system of rules and regulations.
7. Ecclesiastical. the system of government regulating the practice of a church as distinguished from its doctrine.
8. an instrument of punishment, esp. a whip or scourge, used in the practice of self-mortification or as an instrument of chastisement in certain religious communities.
9. a branch of instruction or learning: the disciplines of history and economics.
Although the terms are here used interchangeably, there is in Scripture distinction made. Punishment is seen most graphically displayed in judgment against the wicked, although God also dealt with His people Israel severely for their idolatrous ways throughout the Old Testament. Yet even amid His wrathful pronouncements and harsh measures, there remained covenantal commitment, not given any of the other nations. Only to His chosen people was His holy outrage an expression of zealous love, whereas toward Israel's enemies His judgment was purely punitive.
At the cross the Lord Jesus took upon Himself the complete wrath and judgment of God against the sin of His own, so that we are no longer under condemnation with its fear of punishment. Yes, we experience His discipline (which can certainly feel like punishment, true), but its eventual peaceful fruit of righteousness is unknown to a punished world.
Recently, in a Bible class, someone raised the question of whether or not the Father punishes His children. I see in Scripture that we are disciplined by the Father, but are discipline and punishment the same thing?
Random House Dictionary defines punishment thus:
–noun
1. the act of punishing.
2. the fact of being punished, as for an offense or fault.
3. a penalty inflicted for an offense, fault, etc.
4. severe handling or treatment.
For discipline, more is involved, according to the same source:
–noun
1. training to act in accordance with rules; drill: military discipline.
2. activity, exercise, or a regimen that develops or improves a skill; training: A daily stint at the typewriter is excellent discipline for a writer.
3. punishment inflicted by way of correction and training.
4. the rigor or training effect of experience, adversity, etc.: the harsh discipline of poverty.
5. behavior in accord with rules of conduct; behavior and order maintained by training and control: good discipline in an army.
6. a set or system of rules and regulations.
7. Ecclesiastical. the system of government regulating the practice of a church as distinguished from its doctrine.
8. an instrument of punishment, esp. a whip or scourge, used in the practice of self-mortification or as an instrument of chastisement in certain religious communities.
9. a branch of instruction or learning: the disciplines of history and economics.
Although the terms are here used interchangeably, there is in Scripture distinction made. Punishment is seen most graphically displayed in judgment against the wicked, although God also dealt with His people Israel severely for their idolatrous ways throughout the Old Testament. Yet even amid His wrathful pronouncements and harsh measures, there remained covenantal commitment, not given any of the other nations. Only to His chosen people was His holy outrage an expression of zealous love, whereas toward Israel's enemies His judgment was purely punitive.
At the cross the Lord Jesus took upon Himself the complete wrath and judgment of God against the sin of His own, so that we are no longer under condemnation with its fear of punishment. Yes, we experience His discipline (which can certainly feel like punishment, true), but its eventual peaceful fruit of righteousness is unknown to a punished world.
Tuesday, April 20, 2010
Romans 13:1--4
"Father,
I plea for those who serve in positions and places of danger this day... especially in our nation's military and law enforcement. Grant enhanced alertness and awareness of the enemy, whether law-breaker or one sworn to destroy our nation. Speak to the heart of our soldiers and peace officers, whether a word of warning, instruction, assurance, urgency, strengthening, or calming, as the immediate situation requires for the right to prevail.
Speak peace to the hearts of believing families, encouraging them by Your Spirit's use of promises in Your Word, that they may sense Your nearness when needed most. I plea Your perfect will to be accomplished in the lives of those who do not know You as Lord and Savior, Jesus, that You would sovereignly use the dangers and difficulties to draw Your own to Yourself.
May Your name be magnified and glorified through the lives and experiences of those who serve in these self-sacrificing ways, Father, that we may live in peace in this land.
In Your blessed Son's Name,
Amen."
I plea for those who serve in positions and places of danger this day... especially in our nation's military and law enforcement. Grant enhanced alertness and awareness of the enemy, whether law-breaker or one sworn to destroy our nation. Speak to the heart of our soldiers and peace officers, whether a word of warning, instruction, assurance, urgency, strengthening, or calming, as the immediate situation requires for the right to prevail.
Speak peace to the hearts of believing families, encouraging them by Your Spirit's use of promises in Your Word, that they may sense Your nearness when needed most. I plea Your perfect will to be accomplished in the lives of those who do not know You as Lord and Savior, Jesus, that You would sovereignly use the dangers and difficulties to draw Your own to Yourself.
May Your name be magnified and glorified through the lives and experiences of those who serve in these self-sacrificing ways, Father, that we may live in peace in this land.
In Your blessed Son's Name,
Amen."
Monday, March 8, 2010
Matthew 11:28--30
"Thank You, Father, for drawing my thoughts from myself (where they dwell far too long and often) and wooing them to Yourself. Your softening Spirit soothes as He brings to my remembrance refreshing words of the Lord Jesus... "Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and YOU WILL FIND REST FOR YOUR SOULS. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light."
How refreshing is Your rest, restoring my soul with Your peace that passes all understanding... taking the fretting that so easily entangles my heart, the worries that encumber my walk, and the fearings that drain my days of joy... these are replaced with tranquil confidence in Your sovereign control, the assurance that You know, and that is enough.
How refreshing is Your rest, restoring my soul with Your peace that passes all understanding... taking the fretting that so easily entangles my heart, the worries that encumber my walk, and the fearings that drain my days of joy... these are replaced with tranquil confidence in Your sovereign control, the assurance that You know, and that is enough.
Thank You for calling me again to come to You, and for forgiving my foolishness in staying away... for the flesh's yoke is unrelenting, and sin's burden is brutal. Only in You, blessed Lord, does my soul find rest."
Friday, February 19, 2010
John 21:20--22
"Peter, turning around, saw the disciple whom Jesus loved following them; the one who also had leaned back on His bosom at the supper and said, 'Lord, who is the one who betrays You?' So Peter seeing him said to Jesus, 'Lord, and what about this man?' Jesus said to him, 'If I want him to remain until I come, what is that to you? You follow Me!' "
Peter was indulging in many Christians' favorite indoor sport: comparison. Having been given a hard word from the Lord concerning the kind of death he would face, Peter immediately wanted to know about John's future. "After all", many would say, "it's only natural that he would want to know that while he had the Lord there to ask."
Our Lord, however, knows far better than we the dangerous distraction that fleshly comparison causes, the subtle pride that motivates it, and the havoc it can wreak among His children. Self-pity, envy, bitterness, and arrogance are but a few of the fruit the seed of comparison produces.
Like Peter, we must be sternly reminded that our Lord's plan for others is not for our eyes to see nor evaluate, but hidden within His sovereignty. There will come a time when there will be no one around with whom to compare (Romans 14:12), so we need now to fix our eyes on Jesus (Hebrews 12:2), eagerly seeking His will and way!
Like Peter, we must be sternly reminded that our Lord's plan for others is not for our eyes to see nor evaluate, but hidden within His sovereignty. There will come a time when there will be no one around with whom to compare (Romans 14:12), so we need now to fix our eyes on Jesus (Hebrews 12:2), eagerly seeking His will and way!
Friday, February 5, 2010
Luke 16:24--26
"And he cried out and said, 'Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus so that he may dip the tip of his finger in water and cool off my tongue, for I am in agony in this flame.' But Abraham said, 'Child, remember that during your life you received your good things, and likewise Lazarus bad things; but now he is being comforted here, and you are in agony. And besides all this, between us and you there is a great chasm fixed, so that those who wish to come over from here to you will not be able, and that none may cross over from there to us.' "
As flippantly as the world tries to trivialize the biblical portrayal of hell, its reality resonates deeply, still. The horrific images refuse dismissal, and mankind knows instinctively the words don't begin to fully describe the unceasing, unspeakable torture there.
In the present story, the Lord Jesus recounts three miseries of hell: (a) an unstoppable flame which produces unquenchable thirst [v. 24]; (b) everlasting memories of lost opportunities feed a guilty conscience [v. 25]; and (c) a fixed, unchangeable chasm separates the soul from God and everything good [v. 26].
The first, the physical agony, elicits a cry for mercy from the rich man's lips. Even but a drop of water would be infinitely better than the choking thirst the flame continuously causes. Surely father Abraham would heed his plea, and provide a moment's respite. But no. For, as a man on the rack will confess to anything, so in such terrible pain the rich man could seem piteous, when actually he is unrepentant still. Hell is totally punitive, never remedial. No one improves there.
There is mental anguish as well, with memories and conscience accusing the hell-enslaved one, reminding him of all the days filled with lost moments, lost to eternity, never to be given again for repentance and salvation. This indeed is a worm that never dies, a guilt that never relents, a yearning for the escape of sleep or unconsciousness, but there is none.... ever.
Finally there is emotional angst, unutterable despair, as the great chasm is revealed. The lost one sees and senses the separation from God, and feels it intensely. Impassable, irreversible, the great gulf is an unending reminder of the lost soul's confinement for eternity. Though within earshot and eyesight, the rich man could not move one inch toward heaven, to somehow improve his situation. The chasm removed any hope of help he might have had.
May the Lord burn this passage into the hearts of believers, adding urgency for seeing opportunities to share the gospel with lost folk; and should one who reads here be unsaved, may you look to Jesus, and live!
In the present story, the Lord Jesus recounts three miseries of hell: (a) an unstoppable flame which produces unquenchable thirst [v. 24]; (b) everlasting memories of lost opportunities feed a guilty conscience [v. 25]; and (c) a fixed, unchangeable chasm separates the soul from God and everything good [v. 26].
The first, the physical agony, elicits a cry for mercy from the rich man's lips. Even but a drop of water would be infinitely better than the choking thirst the flame continuously causes. Surely father Abraham would heed his plea, and provide a moment's respite. But no. For, as a man on the rack will confess to anything, so in such terrible pain the rich man could seem piteous, when actually he is unrepentant still. Hell is totally punitive, never remedial. No one improves there.
There is mental anguish as well, with memories and conscience accusing the hell-enslaved one, reminding him of all the days filled with lost moments, lost to eternity, never to be given again for repentance and salvation. This indeed is a worm that never dies, a guilt that never relents, a yearning for the escape of sleep or unconsciousness, but there is none.... ever.
Finally there is emotional angst, unutterable despair, as the great chasm is revealed. The lost one sees and senses the separation from God, and feels it intensely. Impassable, irreversible, the great gulf is an unending reminder of the lost soul's confinement for eternity. Though within earshot and eyesight, the rich man could not move one inch toward heaven, to somehow improve his situation. The chasm removed any hope of help he might have had.
May the Lord burn this passage into the hearts of believers, adding urgency for seeing opportunities to share the gospel with lost folk; and should one who reads here be unsaved, may you look to Jesus, and live!
Thursday, November 26, 2009
John 21:15
"So when they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, 'Simon, son of John, do you love Me more than these?'..."
What a moment. The Master Teacher asking a seemingly-simple question, in order to gently but convictingly reveal Peter's heart to himself.
[The world urges that each one of us should 'know thyself.' However, the Scriptures are clear that the heart is more deceitful than all else, and is desperately sick (Jeremiah 17:9). Taking God seriously, then, involves distrusting our heart's inclinations in living by feelings, and instead acting on His Word by faith.]
The Lord was testing Peter's commitment, his depth of love for fishing compared to the love he professed to have for his Master. Repeating the probing grieved Peter, for it seemed to reflect dissatisfaction with his response. Memories of his recent denials of the Lord were still fresh, adding to his insecurity. Nervous or not, Peter's faith once declared so boldly (Mt. 16:16) needed to be regained, motivated at its core by the self-denying love the Lord Jesus gives and requires.
What a moment. The Master Teacher asking a seemingly-simple question, in order to gently but convictingly reveal Peter's heart to himself.
[The world urges that each one of us should 'know thyself.' However, the Scriptures are clear that the heart is more deceitful than all else, and is desperately sick (Jeremiah 17:9). Taking God seriously, then, involves distrusting our heart's inclinations in living by feelings, and instead acting on His Word by faith.]
The Lord was testing Peter's commitment, his depth of love for fishing compared to the love he professed to have for his Master. Repeating the probing grieved Peter, for it seemed to reflect dissatisfaction with his response. Memories of his recent denials of the Lord were still fresh, adding to his insecurity. Nervous or not, Peter's faith once declared so boldly (Mt. 16:16) needed to be regained, motivated at its core by the self-denying love the Lord Jesus gives and requires.
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