The Just Shall Live By Faith, #4

The Righteous Person Shall Live By Faith.

“But My righteous one shall live by faith; And if he shrinks back, My soul has no pleasure in him. But we are not of those who shrink back to destruction, but of those who have faith to the preserving of the soul.” (Hebrews 10:38–39, NASB95)   The Scripture is not inhabited by superhumans, but by ordinary folk who walk and talk like the rest of we mere mortals. I'm not denying the miraculous. You find that in scripture, but interwoven with the mind-boggling we find the mundane. The angel who caused Peter's chains to fall off of him, and enabled the Apostle to just walk by the guards, told him to put on his own robe and shoes. Jesus fed the 5,000 and the 4,000, but the Disciples had to gather the leftovers. That basic humanness is not only seen on the front side of the Bible, but when you look behind the screen at those to whom the various books are written, you see a motley crew, much like us. One of the similarities is the people wanted something that they could touch and see, and carry in their pocket. The tendency comes out in our first-cousin Thomas--good oldDoubting Thomas. It's a family trait, isn't it? “Unless I see in His hands the imprint of the nails, and put my finger into the place of the nails, and put my hand into His side, I will not believe” (John 20:25). Let's not be too hard on him. The other Apostles had seen the marks. Later Jesus pronounced a blessing on those who believe without seeing. This is a tension that comes through very clearly in the book of Hebrews. The writer of the book, again and again, makes known the superiority of Christianity over Judaism, yet it is clear that the people to whom he is writing were tempted to go back to the old ways, just as their ancestors had turned back to idolatry when they "threw [their gold] into the fire, and out came this calf" (Exodus 32:24). What is the way of life of the Christian? What do we hold on to? What do we look at? For the third time the New Testament quotes from the Prophet Habakkuk. "The just shall live by faith." (Habakkuk 2:4) The writer of Hebrews goes on to tell us a bit about faith.     “Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.” (Hebrews 11:1, NASB95)   I tend to think of faith as an act. There was a point in time when Ibelieved. Faith, though, needs to be a way of life. As I walk in faith, God gives assurance and conviction, but believe, I must. It's a bit like getting out of bed, some days it is harder than others, but it's worth the effort.   It's STTA (Something To Think About).

The Just Shall Live By Faith, #3

The Righteous Person Shall Live By Faith.

“Now that no one is justified by the Law before God is evident; for, “The righteous man shall live by faith.”  (Galatians 3:11) How does one lay hold of this righteousness of God, the only kind of goodness that will enable us to stand before God's holy standard? It is not a task to accomplish or a prize to earn, rather it is a gift to receive. The Apostle Paul confronted the works gospel that was being promoted by the heretics who were seeking to lead the Christians of Galatia astray, this way.   “I am amazed that you are so quickly deserting Him who called you by the grace of Christ, for a different gospel; which is really not another; only there are some who are disturbing you and want to distort the gospel of Christ. But even if we, or an angel from heaven, should preach to you a gospel contrary to what we have preached to you, he is to be accursed!” (Galatians 1:6–8, NASB95) The New Testament makes clear that the Gospel is a message of Good News. Yet there is a natural tendency for we people to make it a challenge to work hard. Make no mistake, there is much work to be done, but the labor is  labor of love. It is the Christians response to God's gift of grace, not the means by which salvation is earned.   It's STTA (Something To Think About), and to rejoice in..

THE JUST SHALL LIVE BY FAITH, #1

The Righteous Person Shall Live By Faith.

The words come out differently, depending on what translation you read. They are probably best known from the King James Version of Romans 1:17, "The just shall live by faith." Those words figure prominently in the life of Martin Luther. It was his interaction with those words and the truth they expressed, that led to the Protestant Reformation. This month marks the 500th anniversary of Luther nailing the ninty-five theses to the church door (it was OK to do that, by the way). The words, found three times in the New Testament, are take from the book of Habakkuk.    “Behold, as for the proud one, His soul is not right within him; But the righteous will live by his faith.” (Habakkuk 2:4, NASB95)   Ronald Blue comments, "The key clause “the righteous will live by his faith” sparkles like a diamond in a pile of soot. In the midst of God’s unrelenting condemnations of Babylon stands a bright revelation of God’s favor."* In our world we could use some truth that sparkles, couldn't we? When Luther came to truth of God granting righteousness from His grace, to all who trust Him, the theologian/monk was in a time of dark despair. He was acutely aware of his sin. When he came to the truth expressed in these words, he said he felt like he had been born again and entered paradise. When I look at the end of the little of book of Habakkuk, I see the same kind of Joy in the prophet.    “Yet I will exult in the Lord, I will rejoice in the God of my salvation. The Lord God is my strength, And He has made my feet like hinds’ feet, And makes me walk on my high places. For the choir director, on my stringed instruments.” (Habakkuk 3:18–19, NASB95) We tend to think of the Reformation as something for scholars, dull and dour. Nothing could be further from the truth. The Reformation is about looking to the scripture, and the Bible gives joy, even in hard times. I encourage you to stay tuned. We'll talk about this some more.   It's STTA (Something To Think About).  *Blue, J. R. (1985). Habakkuk. In J. F. Walvoord & R. B. Zuck (Eds.), The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures (Vol. 1, p. 1513). Wheaton, IL: Victor Books

Whosoever!

Something To Think About The Great Opportunity:

“For this is how God loved the world: He gave* his one and only Son, so that  [whosoever]  believes in him will not perish but have eternal life."  (John 3:16, New Living Translation) I put the old King James word, "whosoever," in the Bible quotation above.  The word has a bit of a lawyer-ly sound to it, doesn't it?  The word is found 183 times in the King James Translation.  The more recent translations often take the "so" out and simply translate the word "whoever."  I can hear someone looking disinterested, about now, and saying, "Whatever." Whosoever or whoever is not deserving of a verbal shrug.  The word expresses a marvelous and precious truth.  Actually the Greek word in John 3:16 is a different one than the one translated whoever in some other verses.  The particular word used here is translated every, oreveryone in other places.  I saw a couple of translations that attempted to capture that nuance.  The New Revised Standard Version is one:  "so that everyone who believes in him. . . ." In the the realm of Theology there are those who tend to emphasize God's control, Calvinists, and those who place greater emphasis on man's responsibility to do the right thing, Arminians.  Churches and families have split over the differences between the two.  My intention is to give you something to think about, not reason to fight, so let me see if I can put this in terms that both sides can agree on.  To be extra safe, I'll quote from the ultimate authority, the Lord Jesus Christ Himself.  ". . . the one who comes to Me I will certainly not cast out"  (John 6:47)  We'll leave the question as to why some believe and others do not for another time.  (Just reading the verse in its entiretywill help answer that.)  What is clear is that anyone who is inclined to believe--who feels the draw of the Holy Spirit in their heart toward faith in Jesus, the Savior of the world, can believe and the person who believes "will not perish but have eternal life." At the end of most every STTA you find a link to a page that has a whole bunch of material to let you know more about the application of the Good News to your heart and life.  Today is no exception.  Whosoever is interested will something worthwhile there.    It's Something to Think About. Merry Christmas. Find out more about this greatest of all gifts, here.  It's available to whosoever.

Slow to Learn . . .

"Don’t you understand even yet? Don’t you remember the 5,000 I fed with five loaves, and the baskets of leftovers you picked up? Or the 4,000 I fed with seven loaves, and the large baskets of leftovers you picked up? Why can’t you understand that I’m not talking about bread? So again I say, ‘Beware of the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees.’ ” (Jesus from Matthew 16:9–11, NLT)   I'll let you do your own work--and I hope you will--to get the context and flow of the words from our Lord quoted above.  It is clear, however, that there was a lesson from the past that these guys had failed to learn and/or apply.      Living in the past is not good.           Learning from the past is excellent. Let's look back today and ask, "What has the Lord taught me yesterday that will help me today, and lead to a better tomorrow?" As we walk with the Lord today, let's ask, what is the Lord teaching me, that I need to preserve, so I'll have it later. Don't look back unless you have good reason.  Learning from past reasons is one very good justification for checking the rear-view mirror.   It's STTA

Further Thoughts On My Out-Of-Control Life:

Something To Think About, Control, 2

A couple of weeks ago I woke up after surgery--well half of me woke up.  Because of the type of anesthesia I had received, from the waist down absolutely no one was home. "Wiggle your toes."  Nobody home. "Can you feel this?"  Feel what? If my life had depended on doing something with my lower-limbs there is no doubt I would have died.  I had no control over them. Thinking back on my 50/50 body, I ask myself, "Which end of my body best illustrates my day-to-day life?" I'd like to think it is the waist up portion.  I go where I want to go, do what I want to do.  My destiny is in my own hands.  I think, especially, we guys all felt our spines stiffen when we first heard the words of Invictus by William Ernest Henley. We want to think we are the "masters of our fates" and "captains of our souls." If we keep thinking that, though, we are simply whistling in the "night that covers" us. It doesn't take a great deal of thought to realize that my true condition is more like my waist-down post-op self.  I live in a world that is held together by God's power.  Were he to remove hissuperintending control for a nano-second, all that is, including both ends of me would fly into I-don't-even-know-what. I live in this strange matrix known as time, yet I have no ability make even a second of the stuff.   As Robert Burns mused to a rodent, "The best laid plans of mice and men aft gang agley."  Like me, you probably don't speak the Scott dialect of the poet, but you know what it means. I am out of control because that which I need to control in order to control my life is beyond my control.  To live my life thinking, "I can handle it." is to lay a foundation on the sand of falsehood.  My house won't stand.  My life is not built on the sand of my ability--so called--to maintain control.  My life is built on trust in the One Who transcends, and Who created all that is, and maintains it down to the falling sparrow.  That's as solid as it gets. It's Something To Think About. At CBC, we continue a series on prayer, this Sunday morning. In CBC Sunday Night, What would Hosea say to 21st Century Christians?   covingtonbiblechurch.com

What do you know? Goats really can climb trees!

SOMETHING  TO THINK ABOUT I continue to be amazed, and when I think about the fact that I'm amazed, I'm amazed again.   Let me explain. In yesterday's STTA, I mentioned going out on a limb--a metaphor for making a prediction for which I really don't have sufficient data, or authority.   I did a quick web search to look for a picture that illustrated the point, and found this shot of a goat on a tree branch. Don't ask. I have no idea! It looks so impossible--the branch is so small, and who ever heard of a goat climbing a tree--that I figured it was a really skillful photoshop job.  It illustrated my point, though, so, with the disclaimer caption, I included it. Dave Barry used to talk about "Alert readers."  I have them too.  One of those alert readers, wrote back and let me know that my picture of a goat in a tree--and again I quote D.B., "I'm not making this up."--really is a picture of a goat in a tree. 16 Goats In A Tree Here is a video of these marvelous creatures doing their limb walking and hopping.  And both the websitewhere the video is found, and another one here show not only their acrobatics, but tell about their place in the economy and ecology of Morocco.   Why should I be surprised at a tree-climbing goat?  God's world is full of wonders.  Why should I think that because I haven't seen or experienced it, it is therefore unusual?  God and His creation are certainly bigger than me, or my thinking, or even my imagination.   Last weekend Covington Bible Church was privileged to host a three day event for our community--the live Nativity.  I began the weekend with a box of expectations and limitations.  Some of the key people who have been involved in supporting and staffing the event in the past have made choices that prevented them from being involved this year. There is almost always at least one night that is too cold, too wet, too windy, too something for the event. I had watched the event for years.  I had calculated that X number of people was absolute capacity.   My box lies flat.  All four sides splayed out on the ground; the lid lying in splinters from crashing onto my hard head.  Again I ask, "Why am I surprised?  Is God limited by the limits of my expectations?" We asked for suitable weather.  God chose to give us three perfect evenings.  We needed adequate personnel.  The CBC family rose to the occasion.  We ended up handling more than 50% more people than I thought possible, and did so well. I wonder why God makes goats that climb trees, or why He chooses to bless the modest efforts of a group of people so abundantly?  My tentative conclusion is that He does such things, at least in part, to show His surpassing greatness.  For more on that hypothesis, see here, here, and here   Anyhow, It's Something to Think About--knowing you won't figure it out.