Tag Archives: Holy

Lord, Teach Us To Pray

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Bad Prayer Habits Abound

I want to begin this series of posts on the subject of prayer by sharing with you the results of a survey titled “Top Ten Bad Prayer Habits.” Here they are: #10 — “My prayers are just a grocery list!” #9 — “I make my grocery list during my prayer time!” #8 — “I only pray by myself!” #7 — “I see prayer only as my personal wish list!” #6 — “I always pray the same thing and get bored!” #5 — “I only pray when I’m in a crisis!” #4 — “I do all the talking while I pray!” #3 — “I can’t stay focused while I pray!” #2 — “I’m just too busy to start my day with prayer!” #1 — “I don’t pray at all!” Can you identify with any of that? I can! I’m guessing we’ve all had—or still do have—some bad prayer habits. Now, if you claim to be a Christian, a follower of Jesus Christ, you can see how that would be a bit problematic if you don’t pray at all, right?

Praying Like Jesus

There’s an amazing New Testament text about prayer in Matthew’s Gospel. Jesus was praying, and when He finished, one of His disciples said to Him, “Lord, teach us to pray!” Now, let me share my take on that scenario. I see it kind of like one of our typical church prayer meetings. Jesus and His disciples are all gathered in a circle praying, and the disciples have their little prayer lists: “God, keep us safe from the Romans… Help Zebedee catch lots of fish today… Help us not to get leprosy! That’s been going around… Oh, and bless the missionaries!” And when they finish, they look up—and Jesus is still praying! Minutes pass by. Maybe an hour. We don’t know. The text doesn’t tell us. But I get the idea that things begin to feel a bit awkward as the inadequacy of their own prayer lives becomes evident. Maybe they start whispering among themselves, as they often did:  “Hey, ask Him how to pray!” “I’m not gonna ask Him—that would be embarrassing! It’d be like admitting I don’t know how to pray!” However it actually worked out, one of them wrenches up the courage to ask Him: “Lord, teach us how to pray!” Not “me,” but “us”! So Jesus tells them how to pray. We need to pay attention here, church! To summarize, He tells them never to pray like they’re counseling God.

When You Pray

He told them: “…you should pray like this: Our Father in heaven, Your name be honored as holy. Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us today our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And do not bring us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one…” —Matthew 6:9–13 If you were to underline or highlight any of Jesus’ words here, I’d go back to: v.5: “…whenever you pray…” v.6: “…when you pray…” v.7: “…when you pray…” v.9: “…pray like this…” Over the next couple of posts, we’ll dig deeper into Jesus’ instruction about prayer. And—spoiler alert—Jesus makes it clear that God doesn’t need us to tell Him what to do. That’s not prayer! Don’t hang out a shingle and try to be “God’s counselor.” Jesus tells them that prayer is how we align ourselves with God’s sovereign plans.
 

A Distinctly Christ-Centered Home (Part II)

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It’s Counter-Intuitive To The Majority Culture

In so many ways, keeping step with Jesus and Scripture is counterintuitive to the majority culture. The culture will often tell a woman to divorce her husband if they don’t share the same values. But the Apostle Peter’s Holy Spirit-inspired words tell us that a husband who is disobedient to the Lord “…may be won over without a message by the way their wives live…” (1 Peter 3:1). She doesn’t need to nag! It’s possible that the Spirit can use her life in such a dramatic way that her husband may be “won over without a message.” She doesn’t need to preach at him!

Internal Adornment & Beauty

Peter builds on that point in the verses that follow: “…when they observe your pure, reverent lives. Your beauty should not consist of outward things like elaborate hairstyles and the wearing of gold ornaments or fine clothes. Instead, it should consist of what is inside the heart, with the imperishable quality of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is very valuable in God’s eyes” (1 Peter 3:2–4). If you’re a wife who’s a follower of Jesus, your life should be marked by internal adornment and beauty. And let’s be clear—Peter is not teaching that women should refrain from makeup and jewelry. What he’s saying is that your life should consist of more than the “paint” and “bling” on the outside. How shallow! “Live pure and reverent lives,” he says.

Have A Beautiful Heart

Focus on making your heart beautiful by yielding to God’s Word and His Spirit. Just because you can say something doesn’t mean you should! Don’t give your husband a piece of your mind that you can’t afford to lose. My girls are familiar with a verse of Scripture that I often quoted to them: “A beautiful woman without discretion is like a gold ring in a pig’s snout” (Proverbs 11:22). Your hope ought to be placed in God’s sovereignty—“…in the past, holy women like Sarah put their hope in God as they submitted…” (1 Peter 3:5–6). Go back and read the Genesis account of Abraham and Sarah’s life. It’s interesting that she was never present when God gave Abraham His instruction, but she submitted to Abraham by putting her hope in God’s sovereign control of the situation. She let God work out the kinks in her husband’s head. She didn’t nag!

Husband: Know Your Wife

Let me finish by drawing your attention to Peter’s words to the Christian husband: “Husbands, in the same way, live with your wives with an understanding of their weaker nature, yet showing them honor as coheirs of the grace of life, so that your prayers will not be hindered” (1 Peter 3:7). Your life, as a husband who follows Jesus, will be marked by an understanding of your wife. Now, I know that some of you men reading this are laughing inside—“You really think we can ever understand a woman?” No, I don’t! And this is a subject I have a really hard time preaching on because I personally stink at it so badly. But what it seems Peter is saying, in part, is that “…as you live with your wife, gain an understanding of her…” Study your wife! What causes her tension and frustration? Serve her in those areas. Be a help to her!

God’s Glory Over Our Justification

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He Alone Gets Glory For Our Faith

When the Apostle Paul wrote his letter to the church of Ephesus, he made it clear from the start that God alone must receive the glory for anyone’s salvation! From the beginning of salvation, through our justification, until its completion at our glorification, and everything in between during our sanctification in the present—all of it is God’s work, for which He is to receive glory! “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,” Paul began, “who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavens. For He chose us in Him, before the foundation of the world, to be holy and blameless in His sight. In love, He predestined us to be adopted through Jesus Christ for Himself, according to His favor and will, to the praise of His glorious grace that He favored us with in the Beloved” (Ephesians 1:3–6). 

To The Praise Of His Glorious Grace

That phrase, “…to the praise of His glorious grace…” is actually translated, “…to the praise of the glory of His grace…” in the NKJV. In other words, God is glorified through our justification. He is glorified as He justifies us! It isn’t anything that we do— He justifies us! He saves us from the penalty of our sin! That’s what it means to be justified in God’s sight. Our sin legally condemns us to death, but when Jesus became the substitutionary atonement on our behalf, God could legally remove the death penalty we deserved because Jesus died in our place. And clearly, Paul intends for us to understand that our justification was God’s work alone. 

God Chose Us Before Creation

No doubt drawing from Jesus’ words—“…You did not choose Me, but I chose you…”—Paul confirmed that “…He chose us before the foundation of the world…” (v.4). Think of that! Let those words sink in. Feel the weight of that statement! Before the world was created, before you were created, God had already chosen you if you’re a believer! “He predestined us to be adopted…” (v.5). It’s because He chose us & He predestined us to be saved before we were created that all boasting or credit we might take for our faith is removed. One of the most significant aspects of marriage is that, from that day, a woman is called by a new name— her name changed because the groom loves her!  

Called By A New Name

The groom loves her and invites her to take on a new identity as his wife. One of the most significant aspects of accepting Jesus as Savior is the fact that, from that day on, we’re called by a new name! Jesus loves us and invites us to take on a new identity. We’re no longer called a “sinner” but a “saint,” His “bride,” His “church.” Throughout Scripture, there are many examples where God changed the names of His people—He changed Abram, meaning “high father,” to Abraham, meaning “father of a multitude of nations.” He changed Sarai, meaning “argumentative,” to Sarah, meaning “princess.” He changed Simon, meaning “he has heard,” to Peter, meaning “the rock.” There are many more if you look into it! When God justifies us, He gives us a new name to signify a changed life, and He does it all for His glory.

Worship Rejects All Competing Loves

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A Living Sacrifice

According to the Apostle Paul’s urging to the Church of Rome, when your worship is genuine, it will impact your life in such a dynamic way that God will use it to produce perpetual change in you: “…I urge you to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God. This is your spiritual worship…” (Romans 12:1). As we worship God, He is redeeming our lives—as we intentionally present them to Him—to “remake” them into the image for which we were created before sin ruined it all!

Your Body Is A Sanctuary

That’s why Paul wrote to the Church of Corinth, “Don’t you know that your body is a sanctuary of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought at a price. Therefore, glorify God in your body” (1 Corinthians 6:19-20).  “Don’t you know,” Paul asked, “that if you’ve accepted Jesus as your Savior, you’re NOT your own! He BOUGHT you—that word carries the idea of redemption. He redeemed you! He reclaimed you! He’s in the process of restoring you by sanctification! So, we must intentionally present our bodies to Him as a living sacrifice to glorify God with our bodies. But there’s a second point that Paul ties to our worship in the next verse: ‘Do not be conformed to this age’; or, ‘this world’ as some translations render it! (Romans 12:2)

Don’t Get Squeezed

I like how the Phillips Translation puts it: ‘Don’t let the world around you squeeze you into its own mold…'” In other words, worshiping God involves an intentional rejection of the world’s demand to conform! There are really only two worldviews or philosophies. There is the philosophy of the world that is self-centered, self-pleasing, and self-indulgent. It’s promoted in advertising, books, movies, video games, and most social media. It’s constantly pinching us and squeezing us into its mold—“If you don’t conform, you’re out of touch,” the world says! The opposing worldview submits to Creator God and His Word! Paul continues, “…be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may discern what is the good, pleasing, and perfect will of God.” Worship transforms and renews your mind!

Intentional Transformation

Genuine worship includes an intentional transformation of the mind to think like God thinks—those thoughts that are “good, pleasing, and perfect” and align with God’s will. What a contrast Paul presents between being conformed and pressed into the world’s mold, or being transformed with a renewed mind—all within the context of worship! Worship is much bigger than singing songs to Jesus for 20 minutes on a Sunday morning. This passage paints a picture of worship that’s all about God doing a work in us. As we humble ourselves in brokenness before Him and intentionally offer our bodies back to Him, He begins to change us in ways that make us more and more usable for His Kingdom’s purposes. He is re-making us to be what we were meant to be, and His Spirit works with our spirit by transforming our minds. 
 
 

Worship Is Giving Your All

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Worship Changes Us

When it’s genuine, worship CHANGES us! It seems to me that when Paul defines our “spiritual worship” as presenting “…your bodies as a living sacrifice…”, he interprets worship as a personal meeting with God that has such a redemptive and sanctifying impact on us that it CHANGES us (Romans 12:1-2). That’s what genuine worship does to us! Worship is not an exchange where we check it off of our spiritual “TO DO” list so God becomes obligated to give us something in return!

An Encounter With The Living God

Worship is nothing short of an encounter with the living, active, covenant-keeping God! It’s seeing how He humbled Himself and came to the planet that He created as a vulnerable baby, and gave His all on the cross for us so that He might gain our redemption! Worship is being so moved by His action that, in brokenness and humility, we seek nothing more in return; but, in the likeness of our Savior, we give our all back to Him—a living sacrifice! We’re undone! All of life becomes worship!  The Latin phrase “coram Deo” means “before the face of God,” and it’s used in the context of our worship because genuine worship is lived out everywhere and anywhere we find ourselves! Whether it’s our work, leisure, or family time, there is nothing “secular” that is outside “the face of God” or outside His authority or realm. All of life is sacred!

Don’t Compartmentalize Your Life

We cannot compartmentalize any sector of our life and claim it as ours or as something out of God’s reach. Paul tells the Church of Rome that spiritual worship is an intentional presentation of our bodies to God—“…present your bodies as a living sacrifice…” To what is Paul referring? The most obvious answer is the Old Testament sacrificial system, where a lamb was slaughtered in faith, believing that God would pass over the sin of the one sacrificing. But I think Paul intends for us to go deeper in our meditation on this passage and see the Lamb of God who became the ultimate sacrifice for our sin. Jesus was the final answer— “…once for all…” God said! “It is finished,” Jesus said. There would be no more dead sacrifices! 

The Mercies Of God

In these two verses, Paul says that it’s because of “…the mercies of God…” that we become “…holy and pleasing to God…” when we offer ourselves as a “living sacrifice” to Him! Worship has everything to do with our redemption. To “redeem” something means to restore it or to reclaim it so it can once again be used as it was intended. When Jesus made atonement for our sin on the cross, He “redeemed” us. It means He “reclaimed” us from the sin that had owned us since Adam’s fall, and He began a “restoration” process in us to make us what He originally meant for us to be. And He’ll complete that process on the day of our glorification when we see Him. Paul seems to infer that “worship” will become our “default setting” when we truly grasp all that Jesus gave for us, and we’ll want to do nothing less but give our all to Him!

Don’t Worship God Empty-Handed

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Worship God With An Offering

So, my last few posts have focused on King David’s communication to Israel, in 1 Chronicles 16, about the proper way to worship God. It’s never acceptable to worship God according to our own homespun rules! We must worship Him in the way that He demands to be worshiped! One way that David commanded the congregation to worship God was with an offering! “Ascribe to Yahweh the glory of His name; bring an offering and come before Him. Worship the Lord in the splendor of His holiness” (v.29). In other words, do not come to worship God empty-handed!

Stewards Of God’s Stuff

Remember that we’re stewards of God’s stuff. Nothing we have actually belongs to us! We’re not really owners of anything! We’re managers of a portion of God’s estate! God owns it all, and proper worship includes a return of a portion of His blessings to us in the form of an offering! He’s the Creator! He’s created all the wealth in the universe, and He lends it to us! So, worship God because He’s the Creator! That’s how David continues his admonition to the people of Israel: “…the world is firmly established; it cannot be shaken. Let the heavens be glad and the earth rejoice, and let them say among the nations, ‘The Lord is King!’ Let the sea and everything in it resound; let the fields and all that is in them exult. Then the trees of the forest will shout for joy before the Lord, for He is coming to judge the earth” (vv. 30-33).

All Creation Worships Him

All of creation— the heavens, the earth, the sea and everything in it; the fields and all that is in it; the trees of the forest— all creation worships Him! Finally, David concludes with a charge to worship God now because it’s what we’ll do for all eternity: “Give thanks to the Lord,” he says, “for He is good; His faithful love endures forever. And say: ‘Save us, God of our salvation; gather us and rescue us from the nations so that we may give thanks to Your holy name and rejoice in Your praise. May Yahweh, the God of Israel, be praised from everlasting to everlasting’” (v. 34). Clearly, it’s a sign that a believer has not spent a lot of time in prayer and the Word when they express a fear that heaven may be boring!

We Can Only Imagine

After a billion years in heaven, we’ll still not know God entirely! No amount of intimacy with Him will close the gap in our knowledge and understanding of an eternal, infinite God! I’m certain that I’ll find Him more fascinating than all the Super Bowls and Star Trek reruns I’ve ever watched! Then all the people said “Amen” and “Praise the Lord” (v. 36). And there was great joy as God dwelt with His people as His Glory descended on the Ark of His Covenant with His people! One day, the Book of Revelation says, “God will dwell among us”; literally, “He will pitch a tent among us.” Joy flows from worship! If we’re genuine God worshippers, we won’t be able to hide it! It’ll show on our faces! Grumpy Christians just aren’t worshipping God as they should! So, worship God! It’ll change your life! It’ll change everything!

Worship God Rightly

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An Example of Biblical Worship

It’s been my experience that many, who claim to be followers of Jesus, do not worship God rightly. I’ve found many who claim to be worshipers, but their worship fails to resemble what God commands worship to look like in Scripture. A great example of biblical worship can be found in King David’s Holy Spirit-inspired message to Israel about proper worship. Just open your Bibles to 1 Chronicles 16 and you’ll see what I mean. Among other things, David commands the congregation to worship God with their offerings: “…ascribe to Yahweh the glory of His name; bring an offering and come before Him. Worship the Lord in the splendor of His holiness” (v.29). Don’t come to worship God empty-handed!

Stewards! Not Owners!

Remember that we are stewards and managers of God’s stuff, not OWNERS! God owns all of our stuff! We’ve been given the responsibility to manage a portion of God’s estate. God is the owner of it all! And worship has always included an offering! David also led Israel to worship God for His creation— “…the world is firmly established; it cannot be shaken. Let the heavens be glad and the earth rejoice, and let them say among the nations, ‘The Lord is King!’ Let the sea and everything in it resound; let the fields and all that is in them exult. Then the trees of the forest will shout for joy before the Lord, for He is coming to judge the earth” (vv. 30-33). All of creation— the heavens, the earth, the sea and everything in it; the fields and all that is in them; the trees of the forest— all worship Yahweh, David says!

The Very Rocks Would Cry Out

At Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem, when the Pharisees told Him to rebuke His disciples for giving Him honor as Messiah, Jesus told them that “…if they kept silent, the very rocks would cry out…” We are called to worship God for the wonder of His creation and for the wonder that all creation worships Him! And then, David instructs Israel to worship God now because they’ll be worshiping God for all eternity— “Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good; His faithful love endures forever. And say: ‘Save us, God of our salvation; gather us and rescue us from the nations so that we may give thanks to Your holy name and rejoice in Your praise. May Yahweh, the God of Israel, be praised from everlasting to everlasting” (v.34). We don’t know a lot about heaven, but worship will be part of it!

Worship Beyond Imagination

It’s a clear sign that a believer hasn’t spent a lot of time in prayer and the Word— seeking after God— when they express fear that an eternity in heaven may get boring! After a billion years, we’ll still not know our God completely! But I’m certain I will find Him more fascinating than all the Super Bowls and Star Trek reruns I’ve ever watched! As David finished his sermon, the text says that all the people said “Amen” and “Praise the Lord” (v.36).  And there was great joy as God dwelt with His people. The disciples also had great joy as God, the Messiah, dwelt with them during his three-and-a-half-year ministry leading up to the cross. In heaven, Revelation reveals that “God will dwell among us”; forever we’ll worship Him!

What Fruit Is Your Life Producing?

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How Happy Is The Man

Many Christians don’t realize it, but their happiness is contingent on the kind of “fruit” that their life produces! That’s what the writer of Psalm 1 tells us. In vs. 1-2, he says, “How happy is the man who does not follow the advice of the wicked or take the path of sinners or join a group of mockers! Instead, his delight is in the Lord’s instruction, and he meditates on it day and night.” Don’t be surprised that God wants you to be HAPPY! But, He qualifies what it means to be “HAPPY”!

The True Meaning Of Happiness

He defines the true meaning of genuine “happiness” for us in that Scripture. It’s not the so-called “happiness” of this world, that’s generally tangled up in sinful conduct; and, while it may provide momentary pleasure, leaves you empty and facing lingering painful consequences! The happiness that results from delighting “…in the Lord’s instruction…” leaves no “bad aftertaste”; and, culminates in a fruitful life that is eternal in duration! In v.3, the writer says that the person who rejects the advice of the world & delights in God’s Word & meditates on it day and night, “…is like a tree planted beside streams of water that bears its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither. Whatever he does prospers.”

2 Totally Different Types Of Life Fruit

Every life bears fruit! Your life bears fruit! My life bears fruit! The Psalmist points to 2 different kinds of people who live their lives in 2 different ways; and, who bear 2 totally different types of fruit. The Apostle Paul uses similar language in his letter to the Church of Galatia, when he says that the life lived in Christ produces the “fruit of the Spirit” like “…love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness & self-control”; but, the fruit produced by “the flesh” is “… sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies and things like these.” (Galatians 5) So, choose wisely who you listen to!

Contrasting World Views

The writer, of this Psalm, concludes, in v.5-6, with the FINAL END of the contrasting world views— “… the wicked will not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous; for the LORD knows the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked will perish.” In this life, the way of the righteous & the way of the wicked may appear to run parallel. In fact, the way of the wicked often looks pleasant & fun! But, a Day of Judgment is coming, the writer says!

A Day Of Reckoning

There is coming a day of reckoning; when those who took their advice & counsel from God’s Word; and, delighted in it; and meditated on it, will be gathered into a glorious congregation around the throne of God in eternal HAPPINESS! While the wicked will face the Great Judge of all the earth, who will give them exactly what they always wanted— an eternity without God! The Lord promises to watch over you if the advice you follow & the things you take delight in & the content of your meditation bear the fruit of God’s Holy Spirit! Are these the things you delight in? If not, you need help! You need to pray for the Holy Spirit’s help, and you need to make yourself accountable to someone; or, a group who will encourage you! Only in the truth, of God’s Word, will you find real, genuine, eternal HAPPINESS; and, a relationship with God!

Daniel: Spiritual Insanity

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(Note: This is the 15th in a series of posts on Daniel’s life)

There Are Consequences

“Don’t ever tempt the Lord God,” Jesus warned Satan! And, Babylon’s King Nebuchadnezzar learned the consequences, of stepping over that line, according to his own testimony in the book of Daniel, chapter 4.  God caused Nebuchadnezzar to dream about a great tree that stood taller than any other tree on the earth. It provided shelter for the birds; and, produced fruit that fed every living creature. In his dream the King saw a “Holy One” come down from heaven & cut the great tree down to a stump. So, he went to Daniel & asked him to interpret the meaning of the dream; and, just as God had done—back in chapter 1—He gave Daniel the meaning (see vs. 24-27). 

Pride Is The Issue

“You’ve got a pride issue, oh King,” Daniel warned him, “You think YOU’RE Sovereign over the Kingdom of Babylon! That it’s great because YOU’RE great! But, God is going to show you how insane your pride really is!” Unfortunately, for Nebuchadnezzar, when you’re full of pride, you’re not in your right mind! The verses, that follow, tell us that “At the end of 12 months, as he was walking on the roof of the royal palace in Babylon, the king exclaimed, ‘Is this not Babylon the Great that I have built by my vast power to be a royal residence and to display my majestic glory?’ While the words were still in the king’s mouth, a voice came from heaven: ‘King Nebuchadnezzar, to you it is declared that the kingdom has departed from you.  You will be driven away from people to live with the wild animals, and you will feed on grass like cattle for seven periods of time, until you acknowledge that the Most High is ruler over the kingdom of men, and He gives it to anyone He wants.”

It’s Insanity

For 12 months God patiently waited for the King to repent of his pride; and, for 12 months the King tested God’s resolve to follow through on His Word! Clearly, it’s a form of insanity to think you can overpower the OMNIPOTENT God! It’s a form of insanity to think you can outwit an OMNISCIENT God! It’s a form of insanity to think you can hide your sin from an OMNIPRESENT God! Nebuchadnezzar’s sin was claiming credit, for himself,  what belonged to God alone! “Insanity” happens when a person loses touch with reality!   

He Was Out Of His Mind

Nebuchadnezzar lived in a “make-believe” world that he had created in his own mind—an unreal world! That’s where everyone lives who takes personal credit for anything! It’s spiritual insanity! And, for 7 years, Nebuchadnezzar was “out of his mind”, living like a wild animal until he acknowledged that everything he had—including his kingdom—was the gift of a gracious, benevolent God! That required “humility”; or, yielding to God’s Sovereignty! Only repentance—literally, the “changing of one’s mind”—would bring the king restoration! Pride is all about “control.” Humility is all about “giving up control.” Pride is an unwillingness to acknowledge that it’s God who gives us all the stuff we take pride in! Humbled, by God’s grace, the King acknowledged that it was God who made him great; and, his sanity returned to him!

God’s Radical Gospel

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Good Works or Bad Works?

The whole concept of “good works” has confused and divided people & churches since the original sin in the garden! Just a casual reading of Scripture uncovers this tension between some “good works” that are BAD & some “good works” that are GOOD— so, how do we know if our “good works” are GOOD or BAD? Do we need “good works”? What is the purpose of “good works”? 

Defining God’s Gospel

The Apostle Paul brings some clarity to this tension by defining the Gospel for us in his letter to the Church of Corinth:  “Moreover, brethren, I declare to you the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received and in which you stand, by which also you are saved, if you hold fast that word which I preached to you–unless you believed in vain. For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures” 1 Cor. 15:1-4.  So, let me define the gospel, Paul says— Christ died for our “sin.” Sin is a “missing of the mark.” To “sin” was a word that was originally used by hunters when they missed the target they were aiming at— “I have sinned.”

Missing The Mark

Applied in the spiritual sense, it means to “miss the mark” of God’s Law.  To fail to keep it! Now, where there is a LAW, there is a LAW GIVER; and, God, the Creator, is that Law Giver. He is Holy, Just & Righteous in all His ways, Scripture informs us! And, as Creator, He has the ultimate authority to demand obedience from us, His creation! But, in Adam, we disobeyed Him; and, our sin separated us from our Holy Creator. So, Jesus came to die for our sins! That’s the Doctrine of Imputation— our sin was “imputed”; or, placed on Jesus; and, His righteousness is “imputed”; or, credited to our account when we repent of our sin & trust Jesus for our salvation.

The Good News Of The Resurrection

At the moment we trust Him, God “justifies” us— that means He declares us righteous! Paul also includes the good news of the Resurrection in his definition of the Gospel— Jesus was buried in a tomb & He rose bodily, from the dead, in power over sin on the 3rd day! That’s the Gospel; and, it’s not just something we preach! The Gospel impacts the rest of our life— it’s about “reconciliation”! The Gospel reconciles our hostile relationship with God, because of our sin; and, it reconciles ALL our relationships! The Gospel is also about “redemption”— it makes all things NEW! Jesus’ Gospel has the power to redeem every situation and every relationship!

So, What About Good Works?

In his letter to the Church of Ephesus, the Apostle Paul clears this up for us— “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. 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 2:8-10. So, first, he makes a very clear statement that our salvation is an act of God’s grace! It’s only effective as we place our faith in His grace; not in our own works. It’s NOT from yourselves, he says. Then, he contrasts our “good works” that cannot save us; with, the “good works” that God creates us to do after we’ve been “reconciled” & “redeemed” in Christ!  Our “good works” are BAD if we think they will save us! They produce false hope! God’s “good works”— in us— are simply evidence of true faith! Those “good works” are GOOD; because they are produced by God in us!