Category Archives: Regeneration

We’re Gifted For His Glory

Posted on by
Reply

Why Does God Seek Glory?

I find that the subject of “God’s Glory” tends to provoke more questions than it does answers. How do we bring glory to God? And, why does God seek glory? Why is it okay for God to bring glory to Himself, but it’s condemned as pride if we seek personal glory? The wrong answers to those questions could prove deadly! The life and death of a king named Herod Agrippa provide a shocking illustration for us. One day, as he was dressed in his royal robes and seated on his throne, he began to speak; and, “The assembled people began to shout, ‘It’s the voice of a god and not of a man!’ At once an angel of the Lord struck him because he did not give the glory to God, and he became infected with worms and died.”

He Did Not Give God The Glory

Herod Agrippa died, it says, “…because he did not give God the glory…” He did not redirect the praise to God, and it cost him his life!  God hates pride because it’s man’s attempt to steal glory from Him! Pride credits self for our accomplishments and discredits God, who actually gave us everything we have, including our gifts and talents! Perhaps, like me, you were required to read Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales in school, or at least parts of it! One story included a vain rooster named Chanticleer, who prided himself on all his accomplishments. He was most proud of the fact that his crowing caused the sun to rise each morning—every morning he crowed, and every morning the sun rose, making him quite proud!

What Have You Been Crowing About?

One morning, however, Chanticleer overslept, and when he awoke, he was shocked to find that the sun was already up, and it happened without any help from him! When he realized that he could no longer take credit for the rising of the sun, he declared, ‘If by my crowing I cannot bring in the dawn, then by my crowing I can celebrate its coming.’ This begs the question—’What accomplishments in your life have you been crowing about?’ The moral of Chanticleer’s story is that his pride-filled ‘crowing’ wasn’t accomplishing what he thought it was. He had deceived himself! But there’s a second moral to the story—when faced with the truth, he humbled himself & celebrated the sunrise though he had nothing to do with it.

We Take Too Much Credit

There’s much we can learn from Chanticleer’s story, isn’t there? We’re tempted to take way too much credit or glory for our own accomplishments, aren’t we? But it’s God who created us! It’s God who’s given us our intellect, our talents, and our gifts! It’s God who gives us life and the ability to make decisions! It’s God who regenerates us and raises us up from our spiritual death and gives us life in Christ. We can share in the process! But we’d better not crow about it like we’ve done the work! God brings glory to Himself for our spiritual growth—or sanctification—because He’s the One who does it! “…work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. For it is God who is working in you, enabling you both to desire and to work out His good purpose” (Philippians 2:12). God does the work in us! He enables us! Give Him the glory for it!

God Makes You New, Part II

Posted on by
Reply

No Condemnation Now Exists

One of the most powerful Scriptures for a believer to hold onto is this:  “Therefore, no condemnation now exists for those in Christ Jesus” (Romans 8:1).  God no longer condemns you if you’ve placed faith, for your salvation, in Jesus’ work on the cross! So, we need to quit condemning ourselves! When you mess up & sin, CONFESS it— that means you AGREE with God that what you did was sin! (1 John 1:8-10) But after you confess it, thank Him for forgiveness; and, get back into fellowship with Him! God has adopted you into His family; and, no one is going to overpower Him and rip you away! You belong to Him!

It’s Who You Are

That’s your “identity”— it’s WHO you are! Until you live by faith, knowing who you are in Christ, you will struggle to experience spiritual growth! Unlike “JUSTIFICATION”— which is an instantaneous judicious act of pardon by God; and, a passing from death to life— ”SANCTIFICATION” is a process that God begins IN YOU the moment you’ve been JUSTIFIED! God frees us from the power of sin as He SANCTIFIES us! But it’s a progressive work of God in our lives. Little by little, with each new day, God gives us the grace we need to overcome sin.

We Were Chained To Sin

The Apostle Paul, in Romans, speaks of our sin as DOMINATING us BEFORE “JUSTIFICATION”— i.e. we were chained to sin; and, we couldn’t help but sin! But, at the moment of our “JUSTIFICATION”, the Holy Spirit indwells us; and, empowers us in a battle to “mortify”— or, “put to death”— the deeds of our flesh; or, the “old man” Paul calls it! So, at “JUSTIFICATION” we WERE saved; and, “regenerated” or made alive! In our “SANCTIFICATION,” we are BEING saved! Don’t be concerned by that! It’s a good thing! Theologically, we mean that God’s “SANCTIFICATION” work, in us, is ACTIVE!

The Capacity To Overcome Sin

The Holy Spirit is not passive about purging sin from our lives! He’s aggressive! In the Spirit, we now have the power or the capacity to overcome sin; and, at the same time, a growing DESIRE to be rid of it! That is one of my greatest PASSIONS— to BEAT SIN! If you have no desire to overcome sin, your “salvation” is in question! Perhaps you’ve been deceived! It’s in the “SANCTIFICATION” process that you are progressively becoming MORE like Jesus; and, LESS like you! It’s a work that only God can do in you!  So ask for His help regularly to overcome sin! 

Trying Harder Doesn’t Work

Unfortunately, it’s pretty typical for believers to try hard, do good & FAIL. That didn’t work; so, try HARDER, do BETTER & FAIL again! Until they stop trying so hard; and, just give in and FAKE IT. Can you relate to that? I know I can!  Listen, God’s “SANCTIFICATION” process tells us to take off the masks & quit pretending we’ve reached perfection! We’re all broken! We all need to be made complete in Christ! So, make yourselves accountable to each other to strengthen the Spirit’s effort to crucify your flesh! And, finally, one day we will all become who we already are “positionally” in Christ—we’ll be “GLORIFIED”; and, set FREE from the very PRESENCE of sin! We’ll be like Jesus, Amen! No more corruption! No more sin! So live with that hope!

You Can’t Do Anything Without Jesus

Posted on by
Reply

A Regular Rhythm Of Your Life

The beauty of Christ’s Commission, to us, is in its simplicity— “Go…make disciples of all the nations.” As you “go” through life, be “making disciples.” Making disciples needs to be a regular rhythm of your life. That’s what Jesus was getting at! It’s hard to imagine how that could be misunderstood. As a teenage convert, to Jesus, the hard part was not understanding it; but, doing it! I understood the command perfectly well; but, carrying it out terrified me! I’d nearly go into a cold sweat every time I thought about sharing my faith with my high school friends. How could I ratchet up the strength and courage to do it? How would I know the right things to say?

It’s Not About My Ingenuity

It wasn’t until many years later when someone finally shared with me, from Scripture, that I didn’t have to depend on my ingenuity to convince people they needed Jesus! I couldn’t arm-wrestle anyone into the Kingdom if I tried! In John 15, Jesus tells us that plan will never work! No one has ever come to Christ because of a big beautiful church building; or, a “professional” Worship Band; or, a multi-media experience! The work, of regeneration, is God’s work ALONE! We cannot do the work of God in our own strength— “I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing” John 15:5.  This is at the end of Jesus’ earthly ministry; and, He’s preparing His disciples for His departure.  “I will build My Church,” He told them, “And, I’m going to use YOU.”

You Can’t Do It Without Me

But, they had to get one thing straight— “You can’t do it without ME! I am the Vine, you’re just the branches,” He taught them.  All the LIFE & all the POWER & all the RESOURCES to fulfill His Great Commission came from Him! And, the key to being a branch that produces fruit,  Jesus said, was to be connected to Him, the Vine! If we’re not abiding in Him we’ll shrivel up and die, Jesus says in v.6.  We can’t make disciples in our own strength— by reading books about making disciples; or, witnessing to 5 people a week; or, memorizing Scripture; or, making ourselves accountable to someone else. That’s NOT where we find the POWER to do Jesus’ work! He alone is the source! This is one of the most devastating mistakes any Church ministry can make— doing God’s work “in the flesh.” Man’s effort won’t get it done!

God Is Glorified When We Ask Him To Do It

The work of God gets done; and, He is glorified when we ASK Him to do it! Back to John 15, vs. 7-8 “If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you. By this My Father is glorified,” Jesus says, “that you bear much fruit; so you will be My disciples.” Jesus does the work, of God, for us & through us! Making disciples is HIS WORK! Every spiritual work is a supernatural work & only Jesus can do the supernatural! We’re just a branch; but, when we’re tapped into Jesus Christ, the Vine, He does great things through us; and God is glorified! “Ask what you desire,” He says. God is pleased when we pray for things according to His will! “And it shall be done for you,” Jesus says. The work of God can only be done by God! God answers when we ask Him for leading to & wisdom in communicating with unbelievers! It’s God who draws those to Himself who will be saved!

What Good News Can Do For You

Posted on by
Reply

The Gospel Is An Announcement

The word “Gospel” literally means “good news.” In the original Greek language, it’s often translated as “Herald” or “Evangelist.” When a Greek king won a battle, he would send a “Gospel Herald” all over the kingdom to announce the “good news” of his victory! So, in its purest sense, the Gospel is an “announcement”— the Biblical writers used the word “Gospel” to announce that Jesus has won the battle for our salvation by His atoning death on the cross! The Gospel is the good news, about God’s forgiveness, by Christ’s substitutionary work in our place— “…He became sin for us, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him” 2 Cor. 5:21.

Commissioned To Share The Good News

Once we’ve heard & accepted the good news— about Jesus’ payment for sin— we’re commissioned, by Him, to share the good news everywhere we go & to make disciples of Christ from all nations! When we get Jesus’ Gospel right, it’s a message that saves us from our “good works”— “For you are saved by grace through faith, and this is not from yourselves; it is God’s gift—not from works, so that no one can boast” Eph 2:8,9.  And, Titus 3:5 says, “He saved us— not by works of righteousness that we had done, but according to His mercy, through the washing of regeneration and renewal by the Holy Spirit.” From my earliest recollections of myself, as a young boy, I remember trying to impress God with my good deeds.

Not From Yourselves

But, Scripture clearly says here that salvation “…is NOT from YOURSELVES…”; it’s “…NOT by (our) works of righteousness…” We can never change our ways enough to sway God! We can never justify ourselves before Him! We’re DEAD in our SIN! That’s why Jesus went to the cross— to pay the price we should have paid! It’s the “good news” of the Gospel that saves us from thinking that our good deeds can save us. When we get Jesus’ Gospel right, it’s a message that saves us from our “guilt”— “And I will forgive their wickedness, and I will never again remember their sins” God says in Hebrews 8:12. 

Saved From Our Guilt

The Psalmist wrote, “…then I confessed my sins to you and didn’t hide my guilt. I said, ‘I will confess my sins to the Lord,’ and You forgave my guilt.” Psalm 32:1-5.  The same Gospel that saves us from our good works, saves us from our guilt— when guilt is our motivator, we can never do enough! That’s the unbearable burden of a “performance-driven faith”— when have you done enough? How can you ever know if what you’ve done has met with God’s approval? But the Gospel, of Christ, says we’re saved by GRACE! When we accept this “good news” by faith, He saves us by His grace!

The Gospel Saves Us To Do Good Works

The Holy Spirit inspired the Apostle Paul to write: “For we are His creation, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared ahead of time so that we should walk in them” Eph. 2:10.  Did you see that? Paul says, “…we are HIS creation”; and, it’s in our conversion to Christ that we are “…created…FOR good works”; and, it is God Who prepares us for those good works! His Holy Spirit takes up residence in our hearts & begins to “rearrange the furniture” of our lives in a way that honors God, and in a way, we could never accomplish by ourselves. These good works don’t save us! They’re the RESULT of our salvation— the RESULT of God’s sanctifying work IN US! When we truly see the beauty & glory of God’s grace in our lives, we will want to do good works out of love for Jesus Christ, our Savior!

We’re Gifted For His Glory!

Posted on by
Reply

-But, How Do We Bring Him Glory?

I find that the subject of “God’s Glory” tends to provoke more questions than it does answers. How do WE bring glory to God?  And, WHY does God seek glory? Why is it OK for God to bring glory to Himself; but, it’s condemned, as pride, if we seek personal glory? The wrong answers to those questions could prove deadly! The life & death of a King, named Herod Agrippa, provides a shocking illustration for us. One day, as he was dressed in his royal robes & seated on his throne, he began to speak; and,  “The assembled people began to shout,  ‘It’s the voice of a god and not of a man!’ At once an angel of the Lord struck him because he did not give the glory to God, and he became infected with worms and died.” Herod Agrippa died, it says, “…because he DID NOT GIVE GOD the GLORY…” He did not REDIRECT the praise to GOD & it cost him his life!

-Why God Hates Pride!

God HATES pride because it’s man’s attempt to steal glory from HIM! Pride credits SELF for our accomplishments & DISCREDITS God who actually gave us everything we have, including our gifts & talents! Perhaps, like me, you were required to read Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales in school; or, at least parts of it! One story included a vain rooster, named Chanticleer, who prided himself on all his accomplishments. He was most proud of the fact that his crowing caused the sun to rise each morning—every morning he crowed; and, every morning the sun rose making him quite proud! One morning, however, Chanticleer overslept; and, when he awoke, he was shocked to find that the sun was already up & it happened without any help from him!

-What Are You Crowing About?

When he realized that he could no longer take credit for the rising of the sun, he declared that, “IF by my CROWING I cannot bring in the dawn, then by my CROWING I can celebrate it’s coming.” Which begs the question—“What accomplishments, in your life, have you been CROWING about?” The moral to Chanticleer’s story is that his pride-filled “crowing” wasn’t accomplishing what he thought it was. He had deceived himself! But, there’s a 2nd moral to the story—when faced with the truth, he humbled himself & celebrated the sunrise though he had nothing to do with it!

-We Take Too Much Credit!

There’s much we can learn from Chanticleer’s story, isn’t there? We’re tempted to take way too much credit or glory for our own accomplishments, aren’t we? But, it’s God who created us! It’s God who’s given us our intellect, our talents, and, our gifts! It’s God who gives us life & the ability to make decisions! It’s God who regenerates us & raises us up from our spiritual death & gives us life in Christ. We can share in the process! But, we’d better not crow about it like we’ve done the work! God brings glory to Himself for our spiritual growth—or, sanctification—because He’s the One who does it! “…work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. For it is God who is working in you, enabling you both to desire and to work out His good purpose” Philippians 2:12. God does the work in us! He enables us! Give Him the Glory for it!

 

God Makes You New (Part II)

Posted on by
Reply

-He Doesn’t Condemn You Anymore!

One of the most powerful Scriptures for a believer to hold onto is this:  “Therefore, no condemnation now exists for those in Christ Jesus” (Romans 8:1).  God no longer condemns you if you’ve placed faith, for your salvation, in Jesus’ work on the cross! So, we need to quit condemning ourselves! When you mess up & sin, CONFESS it—that means you AGREE with God that what you did was sin! (1 John 1:8-10) But, after you confess it, thank Him for forgiveness; and, get back into fellowship with Him!

-You’re Part Of The Family!

God has adopted you into His family; and, no one is going to overpower Him and rip you away! You belong to Him! That’s your “identity”—it’s WHO you are! Until you live by faith, knowing who you are in Christ, you will struggle to experience spiritual growth! Unlike “JUSTIFICATION”—which is an instantaneous judicious act of pardon by God; and, a passing from death to life—”SANCTIFICATION” is a process that God begins IN YOU the moment you’ve been JUSTIFIED! God frees us from the power of sin as He SANCTIFIES us! The Apostle Paul, in Romans, speaks of our sin as DOMINATING us BEFORE “JUSTIFICATION”—i.e. we were chained to sin; and, we couldn’t help but sin! But, at the moment of our “JUSTIFICATION”, the Holy Spirit indwells us; and, empowers us in a battle to “mortify”—or, “put to death”—the deeds of our flesh; or, the “old man” Paul calls it!

-We’re Saved! And, Being Saved!

So, at “JUSTIFICATION” we WERE saved; and, “regenerated” or made alive! In our “SANCTIFICATION” we are BEING saved! Don’t be concerned by that! It’s a good thing! Theologically, we mean that God’s “SANCTIFICATION” work, in us, is PROGRESSIVE & ACTIVE! The Holy Spirit is not passive about purging sin from our lives! He’s aggressive! In the Spirit, we now have the power or the capacity to overcome sin; and, at the same time, a growing DESIRE to be rid of it! That is one of my greatest PASSIONS—to BEAT SIN! If you have no desire to overcome sin, your “salvation” is in question! Perhaps you’ve been deceived! It’s in the “SANCTIFICATION” process that you are progressively becoming MORE like Jesus; and, LESS like you! It’s a work that only God can do in you!

-Trying Harder Doesn’t Work!

Unfortunately, it’s pretty typical for believers to try hard, do good & FAIL. That didn’t work; so, try HARDER, do BETTER & FAIL again! Until they stop trying so hard; and, just give in and FAKE IT. Can you relate to that? I know I can!  Listen, God’s “SANCTIFICATION” process tells us to take off the masks & quit pretending we’ve reached perfection! We’re all broken! We all need to be made complete in Christ! So, make yourselves accountable to each other to strengthen the Spirit’s effort to crucify your flesh! And, finally one day we will all become who we already are “positionally” in Christ—we’ll be “GLORIFIED”; and, set FREE from the very PRESENCE of sin! We’ll be like Jesus, Amen! No more corruption! No more sin!

 

Sustaining Spiritual Momentum Part II

Posted on by
Reply

-It’s Not By Human Effort!

Let’s say you’re part of a church that’s bucking that trend we’re seeing, in America, where 9 out of 10 churches are experiencing decline! God has blessed you with a core of leaders who are faithful disciple makers! How do you sustain that spiritual momentum? This post is “Part II” in my attempt to answer that question! And, let me be clear that it’s NOT something that can be sustained by human effort! The salvation of souls is a work that is exclusively God’s work—“No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him…” Jesus said. I concede that regeneration is a supernatural act of God on a human life!

-We’re God’s Ambassadors!

But, I also understand that God enables us to be His ambassadors in reconciling unconverted individuals to Himself! So, what’s our part in sustaining spiritual momentum? In my last post, we opened up our Bibles to Hebrews 10:24,25—“And let us be concerned about one another in order to promote love and good works, not staying away from our worship meetings, as some habitually do, but encouraging each other, and all the more as you see the day drawing near.” The 1st thing that stands out, to me, is the writers admonition, as inspired by God’s Holy Spirit, to “…be CONCERNED about ONE ANOTHER…” This is one of the most attractive; but, often overlooked behaviors of a sanctified local church community of faith! Do not underestimate how enticing that kind of behavior appears when set side by side with the rest of our narcissistic, self-absorbed world. Any group or community that shows genuine concern, for others, will stand out!

-Focus On Others!

So, if we are to sustain the spiritual momentum necessary to make disciples who make disciples we have to continue to focus on others more than ourselves. God calls us to look after one another; to, think about one another; to, be occupied with one another! But, notice that the writer says to “…be concerned about one another in order to promote love…” The command here is NOT to love one another—although there are plenty of Scriptures that tell us to love one another—but, to PROMOTE love! Some translations say, “…to stimulate one another to love…”; or, to “…stir up one another to love…” In other words, we’re accountable—NOT just to love each other—but, to promote love within the body!

-That’s Not Natural!

That implies that THAT kind of love doesn’t come natural to us! We have to work at it with the Spirit’s help. Notice, also, that the writer is concerned that the church promote “…good works…” Just like his command to promote love, the writer is not telling the church to DO good works—though Scripture commands us many times to do good works—but, to PROMOTE good works! To stimulate each other; and, to stir up one another to good works! Again, it’s about keeping each other accountable; to, look for every opportunity to do good works wherever you find yourself! For others! For relationships! Get the focus off of ourselves! That’s, in part, how we sustain the spiritual momentum to make disciples who make disciples! (NEXT Week… Part III)