Understanding the attributes of God—His holiness, love, sovereignty, wisdom, grace, and power—is the greatest thing that can ever happen to us, because a dynamic Christian life begins with one's view of God. Everyone is influenced by their view of God. If I believe in the sovereignty of God, I am not upset when things go wrong. If I believe God works in the affairs of nations; if I believe he has a plan for man, then even when adversity, sorrow, and tragedy come, I can handle them, because I know that the God who rules my life will provide for me as he promised.
1) God is trustworthy. But if we don't understand who God is, we can't trust him. The Bible says, "The just shall live by faith" (Romans 1:17, KJV), that "whatsoever is not of faith is sin" (Romans 14:23, KJV), and "without faith it is impossible to please him" (Hebrews 11:6, KJV). I can't demonstrate faith if I don't know and understand the object of my faith, which is God, and His Holy Word.
2) Learn to understand God and love His Word. That knowledge cannot be superficial, shallow, and legalistic. In fact, many people who are given a list of dos and don'ts give up and say, "There's no way I can live the Christian life." In order to understand the keys to a dynamic Christian life, one needs to realize that the Christian life is a life of relationship—a supernatural relationship. Man cannot live the Christian life alone.
3) Understand: that the Christ of the Scriptures lives in us. Jesus Christ is God incarnate, perfect God, perfect man, the visible expression of the invisible God, the One in whom dwells all the fullness of the Godhead, the One who said, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me" (Matthew 28:18). And yet he, in his resurrection power, is closer to us than our hands, our feet, our very breath.
4) Everything about the Christian life involves relationship to Jesus, the incomparable, peerless, matchless Son of God; acknowledge Christ's presence within you and His lordship of your life. Ask him to think with your mind, love with your heart, speak with your lips, and to continue seeking and saving the lost through you. That's what Jesus wants to do in each of our lives.
5) Prayer is the lifeblood of a vital relationship with Christ. Through prayer we have been given the power of attorney. "I will do whatever you ask in my name" (John 14:13). One cannot possibly experience the dynamic Christian life apart from the power and privilege and exercise of prayer. Prayer is not just talking to God. It is communion. It's listening. One has to be careful, of course, because many people have said that God told them to do all kinds of weird things. When God speaks to us in our innermost beings, his voice is consistent with Scripture. "For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure" (Philippians 2:13, KJV). God never contradicts through impressions what he has written in his Word.
It is a sad fact that, despite the privilege of prayer, in spite of our knowledge of God and relationship with him, we often fail in our attempt to live the Christian life. The carnal Christian is a believer who has experienced the new birth but is living, as Paul describes it, as a baby Christian, sometimes acting as though he or she doesn't even know Jesus Christ at all.
Why do Christians experience this conflict? Why is there this failure to live what we know? I see three reasons: the world, the flesh, and the devil. As we read in 1 John 2, we're not to love the world or the things that are in the world. I like the Living Bible passage: "Stop loving this evil world and all that it offers you, for when you love these things you show that you do not really love God; for all these worldly things, these evil desires—the craze for sex, the ambition to buy everything that appeals to you, and the pride that comes from wealth and importance—these are not from God. They are from this evil world itself. And this world is fading away, and these evil, forbidden things will go with it, but whoever keeps doing the will of God will live forever" (1 John 2:15-17).
In Galatians 5:16, 17, we read: "Live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature. For the sinful nature desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the sinful nature. They are in conflict with each other, so that you do not do what you want." As long as we live, warfare with the flesh will go on. Paul speaks of this in Romans 7: "For what I do is not the good I want to do; no, the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing.... What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death?" (Romans 7:19, 24).
Along with the flesh, Satan is also a very real foe. Ephesians 6:12 says, "For we are not fighting against people made of flesh and blood, but against persons without bodies—the evil rulers of the unseen world, those mighty satanic beings and great evil princes of darkness who rule this world; and against huge numbers of wicked spirits in the spirit world" (TLB). There are demonic powers in the world. We need to recognize that apart from the strength and the enabling of our Lord, living within us through the Holy Spirit, we cannot possibly resist the attacks and the temptations of Satan. He is a formidable enemy. It is not possible to be a victorious Christian, to live the dynamic life, apart from the enabling of the Holy Spirit. Jesus said, "You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you" (Acts 1:8). The person who tries to serve God in the flesh without the Holy Spirit is doomed to failure.
The only one who can help us to live a Bible-obeying Christian life is Jesus Christ himself, through the enabling of the Holy Spirit. John 16 records what Jesus said to his disciples on the eve of his crucifixion: "It is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send him unto you. And when he is come, he will reprove the world of sin... he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself;... he shall glorify me" (verses 7, 8, 13, 14, KJV).
When we understand that the Holy Spirit dwells in us and draw upon his special power by faith, we can live victorious, dynamic Christian lives.
Through all of our lives, the old flesh (old mindset) wars against the new (mindset) nature. We have to decide whom we are going to serve—whether we are going to allow Satan through the old nature to influence our lives, or if we are going to draw upon God's strength through the new nature to live according to the Word of God. It is an act of the will—a decision that determines our destiny.
Wednesday, October 19, 2011
Wednesday, October 12, 2011
Those That Follow Are Free!
Study Text: John 8:30-36
8:30: As Jesus was saying this, many people believed in him.
Jesus’ words were so powerful and His miracles so compelling that many people were persuaded by His message. They were convinced that Jesus was truly the Son of Man, sent from the Father, the Lord God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. God had opened their eyes to see that Jesus was truly the Messiah, the one promised to Israel. To see the power and authority of Jesus as He spoke to them of things beyond the understanding of mortal men was to accept and embrace Him as their Savior. From God’s perspective, any other conclusion simply did not make sense.
8:31: So Jesus said to those Jews who believed in him, “If you live by what I say, you are truly my disciples.
Jesus knew that this response had occurred in the minds and hearts of many of the people. Just as He was able to discern the animosity of those that hated Him, He could also see the hearts of those that had been changed by His teaching. As He spoke to those whose hearts had been changed, He encouraged them to “live” in His word. Because their spiritual eyes had been opened, they understood the full impact of His words. His word was the means by which these new believers would remain steadfast in their faith (2 Timothy 3:14).
The word translated “live” comes from the Greek word μενος (meno), which is one of John’s favorite expressions. It implies that believers are firmly rooted in His Word. This provides a staying power to remain firmly committed to God’s Word, imparted to us through His Son and the indwelling of His Holy Spirit.
8:32: You will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”
What is the marvelous result of this discipleship? The result is found in the assurance of knowing the truth. This sentence explicitly answers the question of Pontius Pilate, “What is truth?" This verse is so deeply moving, to grasp the full import of Jesus’ promise we must understand the meaning of the word know. The Greek implies a knowledge gained through the rigors of one’s personal experience. This is not some vain intellectual pursuit or even a disciplined study of some worthwhile subject. Rather, it is the deeply personal knowledge that comes from the intimate experience of knowing Christ. Discipleship results in personal, intimate knowledge of the truth.
So then, what is this truth? Is this some mystical experience that gives some intangible hope to our earthly wanderings? Is it some philosophy that provides a degree of meaning to our otherwise meaningless existence?
Certainly not! The truth is the central core of Jesus’ teaching. In fact, it is His very essence. This is the truth He had been trying to share with the stiff-necked Pharisees for the past months of His ministry. It is the revealed truth that Jesus is exactly who He said He is; He is the bread of life, He is the Messiah, He is the Son of God, He is the Word, the Light of the world, the Lamb of God. This is the truth that every disciple embraces by virtue of his washing by the Holy Spirit, knowing that Jesus is his Savior. It is the same truth that sticks in the throats of those that do not believe and virtually chokes them to death—their eternal death.
Furthermore, this experienced knowledge of Jesus, the truth, sets His followers free. Not free from Rome. Not free from responsibilities or even from the temporary consequences of sin. It frees Christ’s own from the eternal consequences of their sin. For this reason, Jesus vigorously castigated the Pharisees for their unbelief because they “would die because of their sins” (John 8:24). They would never see the truth.
In a world so torn by contradictory philosophies, so desperately in search of some minute element of truth, Jesus’ words ring clearly throughout all the centuries of time and on into the halls of eternity. There is truth! There is truth that remains unchanged by the vain imaginations of the individual—the scholar, the intellectual, the religious, and the misguided seekers of the world.
We may conclude with absolute assurance that the truth of which Jesus spoke was not some vague concept. It is the very person of the Lord Jesus Christ. Later Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one goes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6). The message that Jesus faithfully declared during His earthly sojourn could not be clearer. Jesus, in the essence of His eternal being, is the eternal truth. This truth is eternal and unchanging.
In a world that seeks truth, Jesus provides the answer in the absolute, indisputable reality of His person. Here we find an anchor, a foundation that crushes all worldly philosophies that compete for our lives, our hopes, and our dreams. Any other message is doomed to failure and condemnation because it does not exalt the person and work of the living Christ.
8:30: As Jesus was saying this, many people believed in him.
Jesus’ words were so powerful and His miracles so compelling that many people were persuaded by His message. They were convinced that Jesus was truly the Son of Man, sent from the Father, the Lord God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. God had opened their eyes to see that Jesus was truly the Messiah, the one promised to Israel. To see the power and authority of Jesus as He spoke to them of things beyond the understanding of mortal men was to accept and embrace Him as their Savior. From God’s perspective, any other conclusion simply did not make sense.
8:31: So Jesus said to those Jews who believed in him, “If you live by what I say, you are truly my disciples.
Jesus knew that this response had occurred in the minds and hearts of many of the people. Just as He was able to discern the animosity of those that hated Him, He could also see the hearts of those that had been changed by His teaching. As He spoke to those whose hearts had been changed, He encouraged them to “live” in His word. Because their spiritual eyes had been opened, they understood the full impact of His words. His word was the means by which these new believers would remain steadfast in their faith (2 Timothy 3:14).
The word translated “live” comes from the Greek word μενος (meno), which is one of John’s favorite expressions. It implies that believers are firmly rooted in His Word. This provides a staying power to remain firmly committed to God’s Word, imparted to us through His Son and the indwelling of His Holy Spirit.
8:32: You will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”
What is the marvelous result of this discipleship? The result is found in the assurance of knowing the truth. This sentence explicitly answers the question of Pontius Pilate, “What is truth?" This verse is so deeply moving, to grasp the full import of Jesus’ promise we must understand the meaning of the word know. The Greek implies a knowledge gained through the rigors of one’s personal experience. This is not some vain intellectual pursuit or even a disciplined study of some worthwhile subject. Rather, it is the deeply personal knowledge that comes from the intimate experience of knowing Christ. Discipleship results in personal, intimate knowledge of the truth.
So then, what is this truth? Is this some mystical experience that gives some intangible hope to our earthly wanderings? Is it some philosophy that provides a degree of meaning to our otherwise meaningless existence?
Certainly not! The truth is the central core of Jesus’ teaching. In fact, it is His very essence. This is the truth He had been trying to share with the stiff-necked Pharisees for the past months of His ministry. It is the revealed truth that Jesus is exactly who He said He is; He is the bread of life, He is the Messiah, He is the Son of God, He is the Word, the Light of the world, the Lamb of God. This is the truth that every disciple embraces by virtue of his washing by the Holy Spirit, knowing that Jesus is his Savior. It is the same truth that sticks in the throats of those that do not believe and virtually chokes them to death—their eternal death.
Furthermore, this experienced knowledge of Jesus, the truth, sets His followers free. Not free from Rome. Not free from responsibilities or even from the temporary consequences of sin. It frees Christ’s own from the eternal consequences of their sin. For this reason, Jesus vigorously castigated the Pharisees for their unbelief because they “would die because of their sins” (John 8:24). They would never see the truth.
In a world so torn by contradictory philosophies, so desperately in search of some minute element of truth, Jesus’ words ring clearly throughout all the centuries of time and on into the halls of eternity. There is truth! There is truth that remains unchanged by the vain imaginations of the individual—the scholar, the intellectual, the religious, and the misguided seekers of the world.
We may conclude with absolute assurance that the truth of which Jesus spoke was not some vague concept. It is the very person of the Lord Jesus Christ. Later Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one goes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6). The message that Jesus faithfully declared during His earthly sojourn could not be clearer. Jesus, in the essence of His eternal being, is the eternal truth. This truth is eternal and unchanging.
In a world that seeks truth, Jesus provides the answer in the absolute, indisputable reality of His person. Here we find an anchor, a foundation that crushes all worldly philosophies that compete for our lives, our hopes, and our dreams. Any other message is doomed to failure and condemnation because it does not exalt the person and work of the living Christ.
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