The reason has to do with their different audiences. Since Jesus mostly preached the law to those under law, it was necessary for him to be a hellfire preacher. Hence his references to the “fiery furnace” (Mt 13:42, 50), the “eternal fire” (Mt 18:9, 25:41) and the fire that “never goes out” (Mk 9:43). As we saw in the last post, the condemning ministry of the law reaches its ultimate expression in the eternal condemnation of hell.

What does that mean for you?

If you are seeking God’s approval through the law, then you need to know about hell. Hell is for “workers of lawlessness,” said Jesus to the law-conscious (Mat 13:42). If you’re going to choose the faithless path of self-justification and law-keeping, you’d better be prepared to do whatever it takes to avoid hell, even if it means chopping off sinning limbs.

Paul, in contrast, preached mainly to those under grace. Since the bad news of hell (getting what we deserve) is inconsistent with the good news of grace (getting what we don’t deserve), Paul never mentions it. Sure, he did say on one occasion that there would be everlasting destruction for those who don’t heed the gospel of our Lord Jesus (2 Th 1:8-9). But most of the time Paul simply preached the benefits of grace rather than the consequences of rejecting it.

Like Paul, you and I have been commissioned to preach the good news of heaven rather than the bad news of hell. But lately I find myself fielding questions on the latter because of what I call the sentimental view of hell. By “sentimental” I mean romanticized and unscriptural. This view of hell is not the one you grew up with but it may be one you’ve heard about via Facebook.

The sentimental view of hell basically looks like this:

1. Hell doesn’t exist

Then why does Jesus warn against it? There are 20-plus scriptures in the New Testament that refer to a fiery hell, a fiery furnace, or eternal fire. Some say, “Those fiery scriptures are actually referring to the burning destruction of Jerusalem. Since that happened already, those scriptures have no relevance for us today.”

Certainly the destruction of Jerusalem was hellish. The Romans killed a lot of people. But they didn’t destroy anyone’s soul. Yet Jesus said hell was a place where both body and soul would be destroyed together (Mat 10:28). Either Jesus was confused or hell is real.

In fact, hell has to exist. Hell is essential for the same reason the tree of knowledge of good and evil was necessary in the Garden of Eden. Without the opportunity to make choices contrary to God’s wishes, there is no freedom of choice and without freedom there is no love.

Think of it like this: One woman is forced into a loveless marriage while another marries her childhood sweetheart. Both women are married but each has a different view of marriage. The first woman sees marriage as a hellish prison; the second sees marriage as a blessing from heaven. I’m not making value judgments about singleness vs. marriage. I’m trying to show you that the value you place on marriage depends on whether or not you are free to marry.

We will never value our “marriage” to God unless we freely choose it. We are creatures of liberty. We do not respond well to coercion. If God were to force himself upon us, many would hate him.

Thankfully, Jesus is gracious and kind and a shot-gun wedding is the last thing he wants. He hasn’t come to our door with a battering ram but a gentle knock. The Lover of our souls woos and waits to see what we will do with his love. Of course, the smart thing to do is to respond and let him in! But if you resist him, he will not force his way in.

Those who claim hell cannot exist might as well argue that lies cannot exist or death cannot exist, yet they do – not because God wants them for us but because we reject the better gifts he showers upon us.

2. Hell is not that bad – it’s a place of purification/restoration

Jesus described hell as a place for the cursed, “an eternal fire which is prepared for the devil and his angels” (Mat 25:41). In the scriptures that describe hell, there is never the slightest hint that anything good happens there. Instead we find phrases like “raging fire that will consume the enemies of God” (Heb 10:27) and “weeping and gnashing of teeth” (Mat 13:42,50). That doesn’t sound blessed to me.

Although Peter spoke of our faith being tested by fire, he was referring to the fiery trials of life, not the consuming fire of hell (1 Pet 1:7). And Paul spoke of a metaphorical fire that tests our works (1 Cor 3:15). Hellfire, in contrast, tests nothing. It just devours and destroys.

3. Hell is neither hopeless nor permanent

Hell is typically described in the Bible as a place of destruction (see the scriptures listed in this Table). What will it be like?  Jesus said the destruction of hell would be like the destruction of Sodom, meaning complete and total (Lu 17:29-30).

In the Old Testament, the Lord said no one would ever live in Sodom again (Jer 49:18). And by the time the New Testament came around, Sodom had become a byword for total obliteration.

Go look for Sodom on a map and you won’t find it. Why not? God destroyed it. It’s gone for good. “No one will ever live there again,” (Jer 49:18). That’s what hell will be like, said Jesus. There is not one scripture that hints at exit doors for hell.

4. Hell is located within Jesus somewhere – so it’s all good

And yet Jesus referred to a place of “outer darkness” (Mt 8:12, 22:13, 25:30). Wherever hell is, it is not sequestered inside the kingdom. On the day of judgment Jesus will say to the sheep “come to me” and to the goats “depart from me.” In many of the parables Jesus taught, there was a clear distinction between those inside with him and those outside without him. Paul had a similar understanding:

Jesus will render vengeance to those who do not know God and do not heed the gospel of our Lord Jesus. They will suffer everlasting destruction and be shut out from the presence of the Lord and from the majesty of his power on the day he comes to be glorified in his holy people and to be marveled at among all those who have believed. (2 Th 1:8-9, my paraphrase)

As you can see, none of these four sentimental notions is based on scripture. Indeed, they are all 180 degrees opposed to scripture. So how is it that they have gained such wide appeal? Maybe it’s because no one reads the Bible any more. When you swap the Good Book for Facebook your theology is bound to be shaped by “Likes” and “Shares” rather than What Jesus actually said.

There are some loud voices on Facebook. I hear them whenever I say outrageous things like “Hell is completely unnecessary” or “The bad news of hell has no place in the good news of heaven.” Preach the gospel of grace on Facebook and you’ll encounter haters, critics, and stone-throwers. Try and engage with these folk and you will be met with the proverbial “weeping and gnashing of teeth.”

I’m not bagging Facebook. I’m just saying it’s a dumb place to learn about hell.

Although, now that I think about it…
—
Related post:
- Is Adam greater than Jesus?
- What about hell? 10 things to know
- Did all die with Christ? (And what does it matter?)

Hell is just not on my radar.

But I appreciate that hell has become something of a “hot” topic lately, another shibboleth if you like. On one side are those who say, “Hell is hell and you’re just going to have to accept it.” On the other side are those who find it inconceivable that a good God could cook his kids in an eternal roasting pan.

So what is hell? Is hell real? And how does hell fit into the gospel of grace?

To glean some answers I didn’t go to the internet (shock!). Neither did I fish around on Facebook (double-shock!). Instead, I read every scripture on the subject that I could find. This means you can check everything below in your Bible. Don’t take my word for it – see for yourself.

I should warn you upfront that the Bible doesn’t provide all of the answers to your questions about hell. But it surely provides some.

Here’s the first thing you need to know about hell:

1. The meaning of the English word “hell” has changed over the past few hundred years

Read the King James Bible and you may be confused by scriptures like these:

“And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire.” (Rev 20:14, KJV)

How can hell be thrown into hell? That doesn’t make sense. Well it does if you appreciate that the word hell in middle English meant “to hide or conceal.” Today, the word hell means something different:

KJV “hell” = sheol/hades, the abode of the dead
Modern “hell” = the lake of fire, the fiery furnace, “the eternal fire,” etc.

In Biblical times, no one thought the dead went to hell. They went down to sheol (Hebrew) or hades (Greek), which are two names for the same nether region. A more accurate translation of the verse above is: “Then death and hades were thrown into the lake of fire.” One day there will be no more death and no more grave. That’s good news.

So before we proceed, it will help to clarify what I mean by the word “hell.” I’m going to go part company with ye old KJV and go with the modern meaning. Based on my reading of scripture hell is the place of eternal condemnation which…

-    Jesus described as a fiery furnace (Mt 13:42,50)
-    Paul described as everlasting destruction when Jesus appears in blazing fire (2 Th 1:7-9)
-    Hebrews describes as a raging fire that devours the enemies of God (Heb 10:27)
-    James described as a place of fire (Jas 3:6)
-    Peter described as elemental destruction by fire (2 Pet 3:7,10)
-    Jude described as eternal fire (Ju 1:7)
-    John described as a lake of fire (Rev 20:14)

Whether hell is a literal furnace or lake, I can’t say. But the one adjective that most often appears with hell in the Bible is fire. In the New Testament alone the link between hell and fire appears in dozens of verses. Will the fire of hell prove to be real or a metaphor for something else? I don’t know. I don’t want to find out.

2. Hell is not sheol/hades

This point is worth repeating since many commentators think that sheol/hades consists of two compartments – smoking and non-smoking. You may have heard that the good guys go to “Abraham’s bosom” while the bad guys go to the other side. My problem with this is it suggests that Judgment Day has taken place already. Yet Jesus said the eternal fire or lake of fire or whatever-hell-is appears at the end of the age when he returns (Mt 25:41). Has Jesus returned? No. Then nobody is yet in hell.

The two-compartment view of hell is based on an over-literal interpretation of the parable of the rich man and Lazarus (Lu 16). It’s a mistake to treat a prophetic parable as a Wikipedia entry for hell, especially when sheol/hades is described nowhere else as a place of fiery torment.

3. Hell is not the devil’s home – it’s his prison or execution chamber

All those cartoons depicting demons running their business from hell give the false impression that they are happy to be there. They are not there yet (Rev 20:10) and they live in terror of the place (Mat 8:29).

4. The Jews had little understanding of hell

Why did Jesus talk about fiery-hell so much? Before Jesus, Jewish people weren’t mindful of hell. What terrified them was death and sheol, the place of the dead (see Ps 18:5-6, Hos 13:14). Just as the modern mind is hell-focused, the Jewish mind was sheol-focused. Read the words of Job and you get the impression that some of these guys even had a romanticized view of sheol (eg: Job 17:13).

Jesus came to put things in eternal perspective. “There are worse things than physical death – let me tell you about hell” (see Mat 10:28).

5. Jesus’ descriptions of hell cannot be dismissed as prophecies of Jerusalem’s fall

Rather, the destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans should be interpreted as a prophetic picture of ultimate and final judgment by God. I’ll talk more about this in a later post. For now, understand that the “Days of Vengeance” (past) ought not to be confused with the coming “Day of Wrath” (future).

6. Hell is the punch-line to the bad news of the law

Jesus typically preached on hell in the context of the law (Mt 5:22, 29, 30 18:9) and when rebuking the Pharisees and law-experts (Mt 23:15, 33). It’s like he was saying:

If you’re going to preach law, make sure you go the whole way and preach hell. If you’re going to preach carrots and sticks, make sure you’ve got the right Stick.

Hell is the cure for a watered-down law. Hell makes the law scary. The condemning ministry of the law reaches its ultimate expression in the eternal condemnation of hell.

Jesus also linked hell with Judgment Day (Mt 25:41, Lu 12:49, 17:29-30, Joh 16:6). Again, though, there was a strong link with the law. For instance, when explaining the parable of the weeds, those thrown into the fiery furnace are “those doing lawlessness” (Mt 13:42).

7. The lake of fire is the second death

What is the lake of fire? There are three interpretations: (1) it is a literal place of eternal, never-ending torment, (2) it is symbolic of the second death, meaning final destruction, (3) it’s a place of purification and rehabilitation.

I find the third interpretation at odds with the Biblical description of the lake of fire as a place of hurt (Rev 2:11) and weeping and gnashing of teeth (Mt 13:42,50). The Bible says nothing good about hell. (More on this in my next post.)

In my view, the Bible is being most clear when it describes the lake of fire as the second death (Rev 20:14). First death is physical death; only the body dies. But second death is the destruction of both body and soul (Mat 10:28).

I may be wrong about this, but I lean towards the view that second death is not eternal suffering but eternal destruction – meaning, those in it are destroyed or “diminished” in some way and that’s it forever. I appreciate there are scriptures that go either way on this point (click on the Table above if you’re interested), but when Hebrews 10 describes the raging fire of judgment “that will consume the enemies of God,” to me that suggests those who experience it are consumed, not tortured. God’s wrath is finite. You may disagree with me on this, and that’s fine. But I hope you agree that whatever hell is, it’s a place to avoid. Happily…

8. Hell is completely unnecessary

Nobody need go there and it is God’s will that nobody does! How do I know? I’ve seen the cross. I’ve seen the great lengths he has gone to make hell unnecessary. Hell is not for people but the devil and his angels (Mt 25:41). Those who choose to follow the devil are breaking their Father’s heart.

Like death in the Garden, hell is not what God wants. It’s something we choose against his most strenuous desires. I’ll talk more about this in my next post.

9. Hell should not be used as a tool in evangelism

As I mentioned, Jesus preached hell in connection with the law. And those who prefer the bad news of the law to the good news of grace certainly need to hear about hell for it is the baddest news of all.

But to place hell at the center of the gospel is to mischaracterize God as a vengeful punisher who sends people to hell when in truth he is a loving Father who saves his kids from the hell of their own choices.

God didn’t create us to save us from hell. He made us so that we could share his life and enjoy him and each other. The purpose of life is not “escape hell.” Eternal life is knowing and experiencing God’s love both now and for all eternity.

Threatening people with hell is no way to invite them into a relationship with their Father who loves them and yearns for them. When we make hell part of our message, we appeal to people’s worst fears and insecurities. Instead of returning to God like the Prodigal Son they will draw back in fear like the Israelites at Mt. Sinai. Jesus wants no shot-gun weddings.

10. The condemnation of hell has no place in the gospel of grace

Jesus’ gospel was not, “Come to God or you’ll burn in hell,” but “God’s kingdom is at hand and you can participate in it.” He was not interested in scaring the hell out of people but inviting all to enter the kingdom of heaven. His invitation still stands.

We haven’t been commissioned to preach the bad news of hell but the good news of the kingdom. As Darrin Hufford has said, “God never delights in people getting what they deserve. He is about saving us from what we deserve.” That’s grace. That’s the good news. And that’s the message the world most needs to hear.
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Related posts:
- What is the unforgiveable sin?
- 1 Peter 4:17 – It’s judgment time!
- Are you “hot” enough for God?

I never met Brennan Manning and I never heard him preach. Yet I would count myself as one of the millions who have been touched by his life.

Why? I’ve read The Ragamuffin Gospel, of course. Chances are, you have too.

I’ve also read some of his other books but for me Ragamuffin Gospel takes the cake. I consider it one of the grace standards. (You can read my review of it here.)

This week many who knew Brennan better than I did are writing obits better than I could. (I recommend this one by Ben Simpson.) I am not going pretend I knew him except through his stories. But, oh my, his stories were something else. They were like nothing I ever heard in church.

I was raised in a world where Christians were supposed to be shiny and victorious and overcoming-with-Jesus, but Manning was a bona fide ragamuffin – a raggedy believer barely keeping it together. As an alcoholic he had a raw and ravenous need for grace. As a Catholic priest who had a hard time keeping the rules, he met many who, like him, had been chewed up by life.

Manning tells the stories of real people and their great need for grace. Like the parables of Jesus, his stories are spin-free. “Here’s life, it’s dirty; now here’s grace, it’s amazing.” That sort of thing.

[If you have never read one of Manning’s stories, one of my favorites is “The Bishop and the Mystic.”]

Anyway, I suspect you want to go dust off your copy of Ragamuffin Gospel now (or download one from Kindle), so let me leave you with ten quickly-picked quotes that, insofar as quickly-picked quotes can, convey something of the man and his message:

1. How I treat a brother or sister from day to day, how I react to the sin-scarred wino on the street, how I respond to interruptions from people I dislike, how I deal with normal people in their normal confusion on a normal day may be a better indication of my reverence for life than the antiabortion sticker on the bumper of my car. ~Ragamuffin Gospel

2. Only reckless confidence in a Source greater than ourselves can empower us to forgive the wounds inflicted by others. ~Abba’s Child

3. When a man or woman is truly honest, it is virtually impossible to insult them personally.

4. We should be astonished at the goodness of God, stunned that he should bother to call us by name, our mouths wide open at his love, bewildered that at this very moment we are standing on holy ground. ~Ragamuffin Gospel

5. Define yourself radically as one beloved by God. This is the true self. Every other identity is illusion. ~Abba’s Child

6. The greatest single cause of atheism in the world today is Christians: who acknowledge Jesus with their lips, walk out the door, and deny him by their lifestyle. That is what an unbelieving world simply finds unbelievable.~popularized by the 1995 dc Talk track “What if I stumble?”

7. In Love’s service, only wounded soldiers can serve. ~Abba’s Child

8. The story goes that a public sinner was excommunicated and forbidden entry to the church. He took his woes to God. “They won’t let me in, Lord, because I am a sinner.” “What are you complaining about?” said God. “They won’t let me in either.” ~Ragamuffin Gospel

9. Because salvation is by grace through faith, I believe that among the countless number of people standing in front of the throne and in front of the Lamb, dressed in white robes and holding palms in their hands (see Revelation 7:9), I shall see the prostitute from the Kit-Kat Ranch in Carson City, Nevada, who tearfully told me that she could find no other employment to support her two-year-old son. I shall see the woman who had an abortion and is haunted by guilt and remorse but did the best she could faced with grueling alternatives; the businessman besieged with debt who sold his integrity in a series of desperate transactions; the insecure clergyman addicted to being liked, who never challenged his people from the pulpit and longed for unconditional love; the sexually abused teen molested by his father and now selling his body on the street, who, as he falls asleep each night after his last “trick”, whispers the name of the unknown God he learned about in Sunday school.

“But how?” we ask.

Then the voice says, “They have washed their robes and have made them white in the blood of the Lamb.” There they are. There we are – the multitude who so wanted to be faithful, who at times got defeated, soiled by life, and bested by trials, wearing the bloodied garments of life’s tribulations, but through it all clung to faith. My friends, if this is not good news to you, you have never understood the gospel of grace.” ~Ragamuffin Gospel

10. I have been seized by the power of a great affection. ~Ragamuffin Gospel

You can find more Brennan Manning quotes like these over on GraceQuotes.com.

This is the revelation that opened the door to grace for Bob George. He loved the Lord and was busy with ministry, but he was frustrated and miserable. Something was wrong. That’s what bondage looks like to a Christian; it’s joyless, misery no matter how hard you are working for the Lord.

Happily, Bob George was set free by grace and he then wrote a book called Classic Christianity. This book has since become a classic. Written in 1989, it has sold more than 600,000 copies in 27 languages. Why? Because it is contains the antidote to dead religion and churchianity. It proclaims the gospel of God’s grace and acceptance.

There’s a big difference between knowing what something says and knowing what it means. Millions of Christians know what the Bible says. But many do not know what it means because that can only be revealed by the Spirit… Man does not need the enlightening ministry of the Holy Spirit to understand the law; the law was given specifically for the natural man. We need the Holy Spirit to open our minds to the things having to do with the unfathomable riches of His love and grace, those things that “God has freely given us.” (p.39)

One of the main takeaways of Classic Christianity is how most have only heard half the gospel. They know that Jesus died for their sins but they don’t know that he rose so that they might walk in newness of life. Forgiveness of sins is wonderful, but there is more to this new life than forgiveness.

Jesus Christ laid down His life for us so that he could give His life to us so that He could live His life through us! (p.159)

(If that reminds you of something that W. Ian Thomas would say, I think there is a connection between these two: Thomas wrote the foreword to Classic Christianity.)

A half-heard gospel is the reason why some people are opposed to grace. They hear about God’s blanket forgiveness and immediately conclude that grace will give us a license to sin. (As if we needed one!)  Continuing in sin makes no sense for the Christian. It would be as though the restored and robed prodigal decided to leave his father’s banqueting table to feed with the pigs. Sure, he could do that if he wanted to – the father won’t stop him – but why would he want to?

A frequently asked question is, “Will some believers take the message of grace as a license to sin?” I answer it the same way: “If their understanding of the gospel goes no farther than the forgiveness of sins – probably yes. But when you understand that Christ not only died for the forgiveness of your sins, but also rose again to come and live in you – absolutely not!” (175)

The value of this book for those who are already acquainted with grace, is that it is very practical guide to living by faith. It shows how to walk in grace in your day-to-day life.

Bob George runs a radio tall-back program called People to People so he regularly hears from Christians who are struggling. If you are battling with something, chances are there’s a story about it in this book about it.

It is not enough to tell people what they should stop doing… We are not able to let go of things until we have something new to hang onto. It reminds me of a small child in a playpen, playing with his favorite teddy bear. How can you take that bear away without a commotion? It’s simple: get him a puppy… The way to break a habit or preoccupation is by developing a new habit or preoccupation. Then you will push out the old, just as light dispels darkness and truth dispels error. (184)

Sticking with the metaphor, Classic Christianity is about the fun of playing with a living puppy as opposed to the lifeless thrills to be had from a stuffed toy. It’s about the real life that flows from knowing you are a child of God and that Jesus, “the master pianist,” desires to produce the beautiful music of his life in and through you.

—
Related posts:
- Grace vs law: Top 12 Watchman Nee quotes
- “Practical holiness” – your fast-track to setting aside grace
- see all E2R’s book reviews here

But what about the saints who are misled? What happens to them?

The usual answer is, “They could lose their salvation and go to hell along with the lost.” The usual answer is wrong. Since a Christian, by definition, is one who has been united with Christ, the only way he can go to hell is if Christ goes – and Christ isn’t going!

In fact, the odds of a Christian being eternally condemned are the same as the odds that God will break his promises, because God will have to break his promises to do it. If you are worried about losing your salvation on account of poor performance, I encourage you to stop trusting in your own faithfulness and take your stand on his. Let the promises of your heavenly Father be a firm and secure anchor for your soul (Heb 6:19).

What do I mean by “go astray”?

I mean “stop trusting Jesus,” or “fail to continue in the faith,” or “neglect to hold fast.” We tend to think of backsliders (what an awful word) as skipping church and rejoining the world. But someone who goes astray may also fall into dead religious works. Someone who is not trusting Jesus may appear to be very religious indeed.

As we have seen elsewhere, walking after the flesh may involve good works just as easily as bad.

What happens to Christians who stray?

In Part 1, I listed seven tragic consequences of going astray. Here are seven more:

8. We miss out on all God has in store for us (2 John 1:8)

Jesus said those who went all out for the sake of the gospel would receive back in this life 100 times what they gave up (Mk 10:29-30). Live to reveal the good news of the kingdom and you’ll be rich in friends – people whose lives have blessed by your revelation of Jesus, people who will be your friends for eternity. In contrast, those who aren’t walking in the power of his grace won’t achieve anything of lasting significance.

9. We get bogged down in time-wasting, life-sapping discussions (1 Tim 1:6)

In his warning about men who were fascinated by myths, Paul did not say, “Some have turned aside unto damnation.” He said, “Some have turned aside to idle talk.” In other words, they’re wasting time in conversations that are going nowhere –  usually on Facebook. Haha!

An excessive interest in controversy is a sure sign one has wandered from the uncontroversial gospel (1 Tim 1:4, 6:4). It’s good to ask questions, but when it comes to the gospel, Jesus provides emphatic answers. At some point you have to stop asking and start believing.

10. We live lives of regret (1Tim 6:10)

Paul did not say, “Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and lost their salvation.” He said, “Some have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many sorrows.” Sorrow and regret is what you get when you run after inferior substitutes like money and reputation. Only Jesus satisfies the deepest longings of your soul.

11. We do not mature (Lk 8:14, Eph 4:14)

A lot of maturity teaching is based on the so-called spiritual disciplines. You need to do more of everything in order to grow. But growth is a perfectly natural process. You don’t need to do a thing – it just happens (Mk 4:27, 1 Cor 3:7). The only thing you can do is hinder the process by choking the seed of the gospel with the cares of this world or contrary teachings.

Do you desire good teaching? Do you crave good food? Then “grow in grace and the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ” (2 Pet 3:18). Jesus is the best teaching. Anything else is junk food.

12. We look less and less like Jesus (2 Tim 2:16-18)

Review this full list and you will see nothing that describes Jesus. Did Jesus lose sight of his Father’s love? Was Jesus enslaved to men’s expectations? Did he cast off his good conscience when the Pharisees pressed him with their traditions? Did he indulge time-wasters? No. Everything about Jesus speaks of life, freedom, and intentional living.

Paul said, “Those who indulge in godless chatter become more and more ungodly” (2 Tim 2:16). What you talk about reveals your treasure. Hopefully what you talk about reveals Jesus and his love, for there is no greater treasure.

13. We fear God’s punishment (1 John 4:17-18)

Those who are secure in their Father’s love can look forward to Judgment Day with confidence. Those who are insecure will be anxious. Have I done enough? Will God find fault with me? These are the questions asked by those who have wandered from the faith, who have fallen from grace, and who have left their first love. If this is you, read this now.

14. We’ll be ashamed (but not condemned) when Jesus comes (1 John 2:28)

I love how the Message Bible translates this verse:

And now, children, stay with Christ. Live deeply in Christ. Then we’ll be ready for him when he appears, ready to receive him with open arms, with no cause for red-faced guilt or lame excuses when he arrives. (1 John 2:28, MSG)

John doesn’t say, “Abide in Christ or you will lose your salvation.” He says, “Abide in Christ so you won’t feel like a fruitless schmuck when he returns.” Imagine the shame some are going to have when Christ shows up and all their futile attempts to impress him are burned up in the splendor of his glory. All our manmade programs, all our self-efforts – Woof! – gone in a puff of smoke. How embarrassing to arrive at the wedding feast with the smell of smoke in your hair (1 Cor 3:15)!

How do we avoid going astray?

We stray when we lose sight of God’s love for us. Get distracted from God’s grace and goodness and the odds are high that you will do most of the things listed here. And that is why the number one take-away in the New Testament writers is to abide, remain, dwell in God’s love:

I’ve loved you the way my Father has loved me. Make yourselves at home in my love. ~Jesus (John 15:9, MSG)

Make God’s loving embrace your permanent resting place and it will be impossible for anyone to lead you astray. When you allow yourself to be apprehended by the wild and relentless love of your mighty Father, no one will seduce you out of it.
—
Related posts:
- What if I disappoint God?
- Is God’s love unconditional?
- Watch out for the dogs of law

This is not a hard question to answer because it happened in the Bible. The consequences of going astray are well-documented.

Yet the question is worth asking because many don’t know the answer. Or, rather, they have the wrong answer, which is this:

What happens when Christians stray? Why, they fall from grace prompting a loving God to discipline them with punishment. If they don’t repent they’ll lose their salvation and be eternally condemned.

The bit about falling from grace is true but the rest is a big fat lie. Your heavenly Father’s discipline never takes the form of punishment – that’s old covenant thinking – and those who have been found by Jesus cannot be lost by Jesus (John 6:39).

Joseph Goebbels once said, “If you tell a lie big enough and keep repeating it, people will eventually come to believe it.”

The reason most Christians believe they can lose their salvation if they stray is because they have heard it over and over again. But it’s not actually in the Bible. It is an extra-Biblical fabrication parroted by those who would distract you from Christ and his perfect work of redemption. It is a lie that will cause you to trust yourself and your staying power instead of standing on Jesus and the eternally unshakeable foundation of his love and grace.

I’m sorry if this sounds harsh, but it’s not nearly as harsh as telling your brothers and sisters they are in danger of hellfire. And it’s not nearly as harsh as speaking guilt and condemnation over those whom Christ has justified.

As I said in my first post in this series on eternal security, reading scripture through hellfire-tinted lenses is a hallmark of the insecure believer. Such a person reveals their faith to be in themselves and their performance rather than in God and his unbreakable promises.

“So what will happen to me if I stray from the Lord?” Well, hopefully you won’t stray, but if you do, you won’t lose your salvation. It’s just not possible. But that doesn’t mean you won’t reap awful consequences.

The Bible identifies at least fourteen bad things that may happen to those who are distracted, seduced, deceived, or led astray. Each outcome is a tragedy. Each is something to avoid. I don’t want to rush through these tragic consequences so we’ll look at seven in today’s post and seven in the next.

Seven bad things that happen to Christians who stray

1. We lose sight of God’s love for us (Rev 2:4)

Jesus told the Ephesian Christians, “You have left your protos agape,” or your primary love. What is our protos agape? It is not our love for him; it is a revelation of his love for us:

• Love comes from God. (1 John 4:7)
• This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us… (1 John 4:10)
• We love because he first loved us. (1 John 4:19)

Why would Paul pray that we would know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge (Eph 4:18-19)? Because there is a danger we might not know – that we might forget it or leave it. And that’s the thin edge of a bad wedge. God’s love is like air for us. We can’t live without it. When we fall from the high place of his love…

2. Things become complicated – our minds become corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ (2 Cor 11:3)

The gospel is simple but lose sight of God’s love and everything becomes murky. I know God loves me but…

Suddenly the good news is not so good. It needs qualifying. We feel an unholy need to balance his grace needs with our works. We start thinking there’s more than one side to every scripture, the Bible is full of paradoxes, and God is a mystery.

Next thing you know, you need a divinity degree to be saved and you’re trusting the guy who can recognize Greek words and aorist verbs more than you’re trusting the Holy Spirit. Not good.

3. We start striving to keep the rules (Gal 3:3, Col 2:20)

We never call it legalism, for that would alert us to the danger. Instead, we call it “Christian responsibility” or duty or “doing our part.” God has done his part, now it’s up to me to finish what he started. I have to work out my salvation and prove my repentance.

We worry about cheap grace (there’s no such thing) and invest in a little works-insurance (there’s no such thing). We tell ourselves, I gotta pray more, fast more, attend more. I gotta witness to two people this week. I gotta be a good Christian for Jesus. This sort of thinking appeals to our religious flesh but it’s not long before…

4. We feel unworthy and unqualified (Col 2:18, AMP)

The New International Version says, “Do not let anyone… disqualify you for the prize,” as if anyone could disqualify those whom God qualifies (Col 1:12)!

The point is not that we can disqualify ourselves, but when we get distracted from Christ and his perfect work – when we begin to trust in our own performance, our self-denial, our rule-keeping – we start to feel disqualified. Although Christ makes us worthy, we feel unworthy. And when that happens…

5. Our consciences condemn us and shipwreck our faith (1 Tim 1:18-19)

As I have explained elsewhere, “shipwrecked faith” does not equal “Christian burning in hell.” But it’s still a bad idea to thrust aside your good conscience.

Paul repeatedly warns about the need to hold “onto faith and a good conscience” (1 Tim 3:9, Acts 24:16). He’s not saying, “Avoid sin to keep your conscience clear.” He’s saying, “Treasure what Christ has done for you. He has cleansed you 100%” (Heb 10:22). If we don’t value what Christ has done, it won’t be long before…

6. We lose our freedom (Gal 5:1, Col 2:8)

The Galatian Christians famously lost their liberty by enslaving themselves to law. The Colossian Christians were in danger of enslaving themselves to worldly philosophy. We repeat their mistakes whenever we take on the yokes of performance-based Christianity and manmade expectations. When that happens…

7. We fall from grace and cut ourselves off from Christ (Gal 5:2-4)

Falling from grace does not mean falling out of the kingdom. We fall from the high place of grace and favor when we try to merit what God has freely given us. This can happen when we put ourselves under the old law that says, “do good, get good; do bad, get bad.” If you think you have to work before God will bless you, you have made Christ of no value.

Christ died to set you free. But if you enslave yourself to religious expectations, then what was the point? Christ won’t cut you off – he’s utterly faithful – but you can cut yourself off from his love and grace.

Lessons from church history

Most of the Christians who went astray in the Bible did so with pure motives but misguided zeal. The Ephesians were working hard for the Lord, the Galatians honored the law, and the Colossians were very religious, yet all three groups needed correction. All of them went astray to one degree or another.

Perhaps you have strayed from the faith. If so, how do you get back on track? The best remedy is the one Jesus gave to the Ephesians:

Remember the height from which you’ve fallen! Repent, and do what you did at first. (Rev 2:5).

Remember! What a simple yet powerful solution. What did you do when you first came to Christ? Can you remember? You probably didn’t do much at all other than receive the love and favor of heaven. Jesus is saying, “Repent. Stop what you are doing now and do that! Keep receiving from me. Stop trying to impress me. Let me impress you!”

You may ask, “But Lord, am I not supposed to work for you as well?” And Jesus replies…

If you need the assurance of dead works then you are operating in unbelief. It’s faith in me from first to last. I am the Alpha and Omega, the Author and Finisher. Fix your eyes on me alone and walk in the sunlight of my love! Rest in me and stop worrying about what you’re doing or not doing. The ‘works’ will take care of themselves. Trust me, when you’re walking in the unforced rhythms of my grace, it won’t even feel like work. It’ll feel like fun.

It’s so simple, yet we can miss it and go astray. In the next post I will look at 7 more things that happen to Christians who stray.
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Related posts:
- What is the “whole” gospel
- 7 signs you might be living under law
- Forsaking your first love: What was the Ephesians’ problem?

Actually I think we need more preaching on Jesus, but hey, that’s just me.

The reason I mention John is because those of us who preach grace often get accused of not emphasizing repentance. My response: neither did John. Anyway, I’m not about to poke that hornet’s nest again. Perhaps it’s time to throw the angry folks a bone and swing the pendulum way back towards dead works. This ought to make them happy:

Jesus: If you love me, you will obey what I command. (Joh 14:15)
John: We know that we have come to know him if we obey his commands. (1 John 2:3)

“Aha!” says the angry man. “See? What did I tell you? You can’t wriggle your way out of this one. Stop preaching grace and start preaching obedience. John is clearly saying that you have to obey God’s commands if you want to be known by him.”

Actually, he says no such thing but I can see how one might jump to that awful and insecure conclusion: I had better obey God’s commands if I want to know him.

If this is how you read it, let me respond four ways:

(1) Your salvation is not based on what you do or don’t do for God. It’s based on whether he knows you. Jesus prophesied that in the end many will claim to have done good deeds in his name but he won’t know them (Mat 7:22-23). God wants you not your works.

(2) You cannot reduce the relationship that God desires to a set of rules to be kept. As we saw in Part 1 of this series, disobedience is a fruit of distrust and distrust has two faces. One way to walk in unbelief is to say, as the Israelites did, “Just tell me what to do and I’ll do it.” Many are looking for rules to keep and principles to follow and the result is faithless, lifeless churchianity.

(3) Genuine obedience follows trust, which is always based on love. (See Part 2.) If you are trying to obey God’s commands out of fear and insecurity – “I have to do this or else” – then you’ve missed grace and you’re wasting your time.

(4) If you trust Jesus but are still worried about this whole obedience thing, especially 1 John 2:3 above, then read the preceding verses where John lays a sure and secure foundation of God’s love for you. Understand that there’s a world of difference between saints who sin and sinners who sin. Since they are walking by sight and not faith, sinners sin naturally. They can’t help but sin (Rom 14:23). As a child of God you are able to resist sin. Yet even if you stumble, God won’t kick you out of his family. Instead, Jesus will speak to your defense because you are his.

All clear? Is your foundation firm? Good. Now let’s unpackage these words of John.

Jesus never threatens his bride

John, like Jesus before him, is not making threats but promises. The key difference between the two scriptures at the top of this post is their context:

Jesus: speaking to his beloved disciples
John: writing to the wider church

John is basically saying, “One way to tell if someone really knows Jesus is that they obey him.” John continues,

The man who says, “I know him,” but does not do what he commands is a liar, and the truth is not in him. (1 John 2:4)

The insecure believer reads this as a threat. I had better do what Jesus commands or else I’m not really a Christian. No, no, no! Christianity is not about impersonating Jesus. Christianity is Christ in us. It’s him living his supernatural life through us effortlessly (Gal 2:20). If you don’t have Christ you can’t reveal Christ – that’s what John is saying. In a world of phonies, a surefire way to recognize a genuine believer is that Christ lives through them. Without conscious effort, they do what he commands.

The axis of love

And what does Jesus command? Love, above all (John 13:35). Now I understand that some Christians get distracted to such a degree that they forget to receive and give love for a time, but that’s not what John is talking about here. He is referring to those who don’t have the love of God in them, period:

He who hates his brother is in darkness… (1 John 2:11, NKJV).

John is describing those who are following the way of Cain. As Brian Zahnd might say, John is talking about ungodly people who have not yet come into orbit around the axis of love:

But whoever keeps his word, truly the love of God is perfected in him. By this we know that we are in him. He who says he abides in him ought himself also to walk just as he walked. (1 John 2:5-6, NKJV)

Again, the insecure believer reads this as a conditional statement. I had better obey to earn my way into the kingdom. I have to walk as Jesus walked. But that’s not what John is saying. Read the passage again. John is saying that obedience is a fruit not a root. It’s a natural by-product of being connected to Jesus-the-Vine and allowing him to live his life through you.

Look closely at verse 5 and you will see two verbs or variables:

1.  our word-keeping (or obedience)
2.  God’s love perfecting

Which comes first? Answer: The love of God. John is saying, “This is how we know God’s love has done its perfect work in us – we keep his word.” Do you see it? God’s love always comes first. John hammers this nail again and again: “We love, and walk, and keep his commands, and do everything, because he first loved us” (see 1 John 4:14).

Receiving and abiding in God’s love is the foundation for everything in our walk. Who walks as Jesus walks? It is not the stressed out and fearful pretender. Jesus wasn’t stressed and fearful. Nor is it the one who is angry at those of us preaching grace and under-selling repentance. The one called Grace was never angry at grace!

So who walks as Jesus walks? It is the one who resting secure in his Father’s love.

The disciple Jesus loves

The apostle John had a revelation of God’s love that perhaps went further than the other disciples. He was, after all, the one who went around calling himself the disciple Jesus loved (see John 20:2, 21:7). I am sure that Jesus loved all his disciples, but John was transformed by that love. He loves me! I’m special. I’m the disciple Jesus loves!

You need to see yourself the same way. You need to see yourself as “the disciple Jesus loves” or “my Father’s beloved son.” This is not arrogance. This is Jesus getting what he came for – your heart!
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Related posts:
- How does God deal with our sin?
- John 14:15 – The commands of Jesus
- Is God’s love unconditional? 7 reasons to say ‘Yes!’

Although Jesus said “take this cup in remembrance of me,” often we drink it in remembrance of ourselves. This is a misplaced focus. Communion isn’t about you but him. As I have explained elsewhere, communion is a time for receiving the full benefits of what Jesus paid for.

Yet many churches have rules stipulating who can and cannot take communion. Never mind whether you are good enough for God, the real question is whether you are good enough to eat our crackers and drink our grape juice!

I’m not making light of communion. I understand where these rules come from. They come from these three verses:

Wherefore whosoever shall eat this bread, and drink this cup of the Lord, unworthily, shall be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord. But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of that bread, and drink of that cup. For he that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh damnation to himself, not discerning the Lord’s body. (1 Cor 11:27-29, KJV)

These are heavy-duty verses but you need to understand that Paul is not saying, “If you do communion wrong, God will damn you to hell. He’ll smite you with sickness and death.” No, when Paul tells the Corinthians, “your meetings do more harm than good” (1 Cor 11:17), he is simply saying:

Your meetings are a disgrace. You’re competing with each other (v.18), playing silly games of one-upmanship (v.19), and being incredibly selfish (v.21). Some of you are even getting drunk while others are missing out completely (v.21). By acting this way they you are despising the church and humiliating those who have nothing (v.22). ~My paraphrase

There’s no question the Corinthians were doing communion badly. But neither is there any hint that God was going to smite them for doing it badly.

So how do we account for these three judgmental verses above? What does Paul mean when he says those who participate in an unworthy manner will be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord?

Taking communion in an unworthy manner

In these three verses Paul is speaking in general terms. Note the word “whosoever” as in “Whosoever shall eat this bread…” Paul is not saying you guys are drinking unworthily and you guys are guilty. He is saying whosoever drinks unworthily will be guilty. He is making a general claim of the kind…

-    Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. (Rom 10:13)
-    Whosoever drinks of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst. (John 4:14)
-    Whosoever shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God, God abideth in him, and he in God. (1 John 4:15)

The proper question to ask is, who is Paul referring to? Who are the whosoever?

You might think it’s anyone and everyone but if that were so, then Paul would be wrong when he says there is no condemnation to those in Christ Jesus (Rom 8:1). Paul is not referring to anyone and everyone in general but anyone and everyone outside the kingdom. He is referring to those who don’t value the cross, namely, unbelievers who take communion without recognizing that Christ died for them. It’s not that they are unworthy – none of us is good enough – but that they are eating and drinking unworthily. They are not valuing what Christ has done for them.

But what does Paul mean when he says that such a person is guilty of the body and blood of the Lord?

Guilty of the body and blood

An unbeliever who takes communion can no longer claim ignorance of the gospel. He can’t say “I didn’t know Jesus died for me” because he’s eating and drinking in commemoration of that very death.

Someone who has never heard the gospel is ignorant and therefore capable of receiving mercy and grace. But someone who has heard the gospel and scorned it is guilty of the blood and body of Jesus. Although Judgment Day awaits every one of us, such a person has essentially brought judgment on themselves ahead of schedule. That is what Paul is saying in verse 29.

It’s not that God is reaching down from heaven and smiting the scornful with the damnation stamp. They are damning themselves. They’re actually in a worse place than when they were ignorant because now they know. They have heard the good news of God’s grace and have hardened their hearts to it.

Clearly, Paul is not referring to Christians in these three verses. A Christian, by definition, can no more eat and drink judgment on their heads than they can blaspheme the Holy Spirit. Paul is not describing those who have received God’s grace with thanksgiving. He is referring to those who have tasted of the goodness of God but rejected it (Heb 6:4-6). He is describing those who have received the knowledge of truth but are unchanged by it (Heb 10:26).

Being “guilty of the blood and body of Jesus” in 1 Corinthians 11 is analogous to “trampling the Son of God underfoot” and treating as unholy “the blood of the covenant that sanctified him” in Hebrews 10:29. Think of the Pharisees. Think of Judas. They had a taste, they had a glimpse, and they concluded this is not for me. By hardening their hearts to the things of God, they placed themselves beyond the reach of God’s grace and mercy. Clearly, this is serious stuff!

And this brings me back to the question I asked at the top of this post:

Can unbelievers take communion?

Many churches say, “No. It’s inappropriate.” When I published my earlier series on communion many wrote to tell me the same thing. “Since unbelievers don’t value the cross, they shouldn’t be allowed to drink judgment on themselves by taking communion.” But don’t you find it interesting that Paul never says this. He never says,

When you do communion, make sure you don’t give any to the unbelievers among you. But be nice about it. Say something like, “If you’re visiting with us today, please let the cup and plate go past. Communion is for Christians only.”

Paul never says this because it’s a ridiculous thing to say! It is not our job to play the Holy Spirit. Our part is to proclaim the finished work of the cross and one way we do that is through communion. Denying communion to unbelievers is like denying them the gospel. It’s like saying:

I am going to proclaim the good news. If you’re visiting with us today, have the freedom to jam your fingers in your ears. The good news is for Christians only.

Can you see how absurd this is?

Communion is a symbol of God’s grace. It represents the awesome price God paid to redeem you from the prison of sin. An appropriate response is to say Thank you Jesus for your death on the cross! An inappropriate response is to dismiss it as irrelevant. This is not for me. Maybe later. But no one will ever respond unless they get the opportunity to respond.

Paul never says, “Make sure unbelievers don’t take communion.” Instead, he says, “Let each man examine himself.” In other words, give everyone a chance to respond.

And what is the proper way to examine ourselves? Answer: In light of the cross. Jesus died for me! Wow! The world says I’m nobody special and I know I am a miserable sinner. But if Jesus did all this for me, then he must really love me. Thank you Jesus!

Taking communion in an unworthy manner is surely a big deal, but it’s no worse than rejecting the gospel. If we are indiscriminate with one, we should be equally generous with the other.

The next time you do communion, don’t worry about who’s saved and who’s not. That’s not your concern. Instead, proclaim the good news of God’s love and grace and let each one respond as the Holy Spirit leads them. Communion is a time for celebrating Jesus’ death. It is a time for proclaiming the awesomeness of his grace. It is not a time for playing judge and jury.
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Related posts:
- 1 Corinthians 11:26-32
- Who can take communion?
- 1 Peter 4:17: It’s judgment time

Like good Kiwi kids, they then instinctively looked to their left for the vehicle they knew must be coming, only they could see no car. It would’ve been funny if it hadn’t been dangerous. They were both straining so hard to look left that they were oblivious to the van approaching on their right.

Forgive the dramatization but at this point each of my girls faced a life-threatening choice: to walk by sight (I see no car) or by faith (but Daddy told me to stop). They were itching to get on to the playground but thankfully their trust in me kept them safe and still. Well, to be honest, the younger one needed a bit more encouraging, but you get my point. They obeyed me because they trust me. Do you see? Genuine obedience follows trust, which is based on love.

Hopefully that reminds you of something Jesus said:

If you love me, you will obey what I command. (Joh 14:15)

In Part 1 of this series on obedience – which is itself a subset of my ongoing study of eternal security – we saw that Adam disobeyed God because of his distrust. Disobedience follows distrust just as surely as obedience follows trust. If you love someone you will trust them and heed what they say. That’s what Jesus is saying here. It’s obvious, isn’t it? Here’s the flipside:

He who does not love me will not obey my teaching. (Joh 14:24)

If you don’t love someone, you won’t trust them and you won’t heed what they say. Again, this is obvious, right?

Only it’s not obvious at all for there are many who are trying to obey God out of fear instead of love. Why fear? Because they’ve been told that they have to prove their repentance with good deeds, they have to hold fast, endure to the end, avoid sin, and do everything else the Bible says. And what if they don’t? God will reject them. They will be cast aside with the weeds, told to depart with the goats, and burned with the unfruitful branches. It’s terrifying stuff!

Missed it by a hundred miles

Now holding fast and enduring is a very good idea, but if you think the Bible is encouraging fleshly persistence and that God will reward you for your stamina, you have missed the mark by a hundred miles.

I plan to take a closer look at the hold fast/endure/continue scriptures in later posts. (Make sure you don’t miss out by signing up for free updates today.) But for now I want to focus on obedience because too many of us have reduced the relationship that God desires to a set of rules. This can happen when we read, out of context, scriptures like this one:

If you obey my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have obeyed my Father’s commands and remain in his love. (Joh 15:10)

Ouch! That looks like Jesus is preaching conditional love. Only he isn’t. Read the preceding verse:

As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. (Joh 15:9)

How does the Father love the Son? Un-conditionally! Before Jesus had done a blessed thing God said, “This is my beloved Son” (Mat 3:17). See that? says Jesus. Do you see how my Father loves me? That’s how I love you. Jesus is preaching unconditional love. That’s good news! His love is a rock-solid fact you can build on. But you won’t have a rock-solid life unless you receive it. Hence the exhortation that follows:

Remain in my love. Abide, dwell, stay permanently in my love. Sink your roots deep and let nothing move you from my love. Don’t let the insecurity mob try and sell you my love. Look to the cross – you already have my love. Everything else will fail except my love for you. My love is the one constant that will hold your world together if you receive it, so receive it. Bask in it, bathe in it, swim in it, stay in it. (Joh 15:9, Paul’s paraphrase)

That’s good news, no? Come on – it’s great news! It’s the best, blessed news in the universe! It’s the news a loveless world most needs to hear. Perhaps you’ve heard it before but you need to preach this good news to yourself every single day. God loves me with the white-hot intensity of a thousand suns! The cross proves he would rather die than live without me. And now that my Beloved is mine and I am his, he will never let me go!

Then, when you are secure in the foundation of verse 9, you can read verse 10, which I paraphrase like this: “Trusting me to the point of heeding what I say is a sure-fire sign you are remaining in my love.”

Do you see the distinction? It’s not about obedience vs. disobedience, but trust vs. distrust. When you know the love of God you will trust and obey him naturally. But if you are not secure in his love any attempt to obey him will be unnatural and fruitless. Your relationship will have all the love and trust of a forced marriage.

Meanwhile, back at the waterfront…

Return with me to the esplanade. Do you see my girls standing obediently still and safe? Here is the $64,000 question: What holds them still when they want to run on? There is only one thing – my love for them.

Because my girls know how much I love them, they trust me to make decisions for them. I can see things they can’t see – like oncoming vans. It’s exactly the same with your heavenly Father. He loves you so much that you can trust him with your life.

But what if one of my girls is having a bad day? Perhaps she got out of bed on the wrong side. Perhaps she is hungry and irritable – whatever, the point is she is no longer remaining in my love. She might start thinking, Why do I have to stop? I don’t need anyone to tell me what to do. I’m not stopping. I’m going to run on to the playground.

So she runs out in front of the van. Not good! Her disobedience could get her killed. But I would not be the one killing her.

Again, this is obvious right? Only to many it’s not obvious.

Many people think that God smites us when we disobey him. The heavy van of life runs us over and as we lay bleeding we tell ourselves, “God is chastising me.” No he’s not. He didn’t give you cancer, make you redundant, or cause your spouse to run off with the kids. God is almighty but that doesn’t make him responsible for everything that happens to you. God is not sovereign in the way that word is usually used.

Let me bang the drum one more time: For Adam, it wasn’t about the tree and for us it’s not about the rules. God is not primarily interested in your ability to obey and he’s not judging you on your rule-keeping performance. You need to understand that he loves you when you’re obedient and he loves you when you’re disobedient. His love never changes.

If my daughter disobeys me she might get flattened by the van but I won’t kick her out of the family. Neither will God kick you out of his family when you disobey. His eternal love is greater than your momentary lapses of judgment.

“Paul, are you saying that my obedience doesn’t matter?”

Of course it matters! Obeying God will keep you from getting splattered by the proverbial truck. But we don’t obey to earn his love (we already have it) or his forgiveness (in Christ, it’s already ours). Rather, we obey our heavenly Father for the same reason my girls obeyed me the other evening: because we love and trust him and we know that he wants the very best for us.

The end of the matter

There are many rules and exhortations in the New Testament, but Jesus summarized them all in just eight words:

My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. (Joh 15:12)

Again, we don’t keep the command in order to merit God’s love – that’s back to front. Look again at the words of Jesus: “Love each other as I have loved you.”

In the old, we did to get. In the new, we do because we have already received. We love because he first loved us. We forgive others because he has forgiven us and when you receive his forgiveness it sets you free from hurt and unforgiveness.

When you know how much your heavenly Father loves you, it empowers you to live life to the fullest, to be generous with your heart, and to draw others into the orbit of his great love.

In this post we have look at what Jesus said about obedience. In the next post in this series I will look at the words of the one who wrote more about obedience than any other New Testament writer, namely, John. Stay tuned.
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Related posts
- The commands of Jesus
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Right there is your standard sermon on obedience. Have you heard it before?

If you have you may wonder, “How does the love of God figure into this?” The preacher of insecurity has a ready answer:

Heed the words of Jesus: “If you love me, you will obey what I command” (Joh 14:15). To love God means to obey his commands. God is to be feared and obeyed.

Gulp. That sounds scary. That sounds like the love of God hinges on my perfect obedience and, to be honest, I am not perfectly obedient. Does that means God won’t accept me? Does that mean I’m not truly saved?

Bingo.

Now the preacher of insecurity has you right where he wants you – sitting on the edge of your seat in mortal terror ready to swallow whatever list of instructions he has for you today. Using fiery rhetoric and chopped up scriptures he will whip you into an emotional frenzy of promising-making. “Lord, I’ll do everything the Bible says.”

What happens next? Well, if your flesh is strong, you may be singled out as a walking-talking Christian success story. But if your flesh is weak, you’ll be shackled with guilt and condemnation. Either way, pack your bags because we’re going on a flesh trip.

Such is the life of the insecure believer.

What you misdiagnose, you mistreat

Having read my little rant you may think that I am against obedience. I am not! What I am against is flesh-powered Christianity, which is what obedience usually smells like.

To get to the heart of this obedience issue we need to go back to the beginning, to the Garden of Eden. To get the right answer, we need to ask the right question, and here it is: How did Adam fall?

For many years, my answer to that question was: “Adam disobeyed.” That seems simple enough doesn’t it? God told Adam not to eat; Adam ate. End of story.

Only it’s not the end of the story. It’s not even the right story. Adam’s disobedience was not the problem but rather a symptom of a deeper problem, which is that he did not trust God. In eating the forbidden fruit, Adam declared God to be an untrustworthy liar. Through his actions he was saying, “God, I’m better off without you.” Big mistake.

Disobedience follows distrust

Like us, Adam lived in a world of uncertainty. Like us, he had questions he couldn’t answer. Here are Adam’s questions:

-    “Why did God forbid me to eat from this one particular tree?”
-    “What is this death he said would come if I eat from it?”

Adam was in the dark – and that was the whole point. God purposely set things up that way because he wanted Adam and Eve to trust him. By introducing uncertainty into their world, he was inviting them to a relationship of dependence on him. If they had trusted him they would have lived – indeed, they would’ve had abundant life – but they chose to distrust and so reaped the awful consequences of their choice.

People think that God rejected Adam in the Garden but it’s the other way around. Adam rejected God. By spurning God’s words of life he cut himself off from the Source of life and when you do that you die. And that is the real story of humanity.

The purpose of life

Life is a set-up and it has been so since the get-go. Life is an invitation to respond to the overtures of a God who loves us and desires to share his life with us. Think about it. There is far more to life than we can comprehend or manage. Try as we might we simply weren’t designed to cope with all that life throws at us. Rather, we were designed for a life of dependence on a good God who promises to supply all our needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus (Php 4:19).

The secret to life is not “obey or die” it’s “trust God or die trying.” (See John 5:24, 11:25 if you need to see this in the Bible.)

The bottom line is not whether you obey God but whether you trust him. It’s impossible to trust God and not obey him, but there are plenty of people who think they are obeying God yet they don’t trust him.

The two faces of unbelief

I will talk more about obedience in the coming posts but I want to finish here with a picture of distrust. What does it look like to distrust God? Distrust has two aspects:

(1)    It’s Adam doing the opposite of what God told him to do
(2)    It’s the Israelites at Sinai saying, “God, just tell us what to do and we’ll do it” (see Ex 19:8)

Don’t be fooled by the Israelites’ desire to obey – it was a flesh trip pure and simple. If they truly trusted God they would not have asked for rules. They would’ve said, “God remember your covenant with our father Abraham and bless us.” Instead they basically said, “God we don’t believe your promises to Abraham – tell us how we can bless ourselves.” And God gave them what they asked for – lots of rules for self-blessification.

(Like that word? I made it up to impress you with my theological jargon. Whew! That wore me out. Back to the simple stuff.)

Today there are folks who, like the Israelites, are searching for keys and principles and guidelines and strategies – anything but God himself. They are doing their level best to obey all the rules in the Bible but the sad fact is they don’t trust God. They are trusting in themselves by thinking…

-    I will be safe IF I keep the rules
-    I will be accepted, righteous, and good enough IF I keep the rules
-    God will bless me IF I keep the rules
-    God will be pleased with my IF I keep the rules

It’s as if Jesus never came! It’s as if we were still under the old law-keeping covenant. If you know your Bible history, you will know that rule-keeping is a recipe for disaster. Don’t you see? The Israelites couldn’t do it and neither can you. Indeed, no one can keep all the rules except God himself.

It’s not about the rules

Life isn’t about rules, it’s about relationship. This is so obviously true that people have trouble believing it.

• “Paul, are you saying God is not interested in my obedience?” He is, but probably not for the reasons you think. (See my next post.)
• “Are you saying God is not judging me according to my obedience?” He isn’t – if you are in Christ, then you have already been judged righteous, holy, and good, on account of his obedience. That’s the good news!
• “Are you saying we don’t need to keep the commands of the New Testament?” The fact that you have asked this question tells me you are still confused about the purpose of life. Go read everything above, again.

Here’s the punch-line:

An old covenant preacher will use carrots and sticks to motivate you to obey. Heed this sort of preaching and you will become an insecure, distrustful believer with an up and down lifestyle. Your walk with God will be a caricature of true Christianity and you’ll be a bad advertisement for the gospel.

A new covenant preacher, on the other hand, will seek to reveal God’s unconditional love to you and from this secure, rock-solid foundation, inspire you to walk confidently as a child of God. As you do this, you will find yourself obeying God effortlessly and you will be a stunning advertisement for the gospel!

I’ll dig deeper into these issues in Part 2, when we take a fresh look at the commands of Jesus.
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Related posts
- Shipwrecked faith
- Is Adam greater than Jesus?
- What happens to unfruitful branches?

I know I am far from perfect. I make mistakes.

So let me call a spade a spade and admit that, occasionally, I sin. And when I sin, God corrects me.

So what am I doing telling people God never convicts us of our sin? What am I? Some kind of two-faced hypocrite?

As I have explained elsewhere, there is a huge difference between conviction and correction. The word “convict” found in our English Bibles implies the declaration of guilt and God never does that to the guiltless. Don’t you see? You have been justified through faith in Christ and now have peace with God (Rom 5:1). Justification means just-as-if-I-had-never-done-it. Even if you have just done it. Just now.

You are one with the Lord and as he is, so are you in this world (1 Jn 4:17). In Christ, you are as righteous and holy as he is.

But from time to time we all make regrettable choices and when we do the Holy Spirit will seek to bring about a life-giving course correction. He doesn’t do that by applying the rod of correction or scourging us with sickness. Instead he seeks to steer us away from danger and back towards the way of life. Let me give you some examples showing how he does that:

Example 1: Ugly parenting

As a father of three small children I am regularly stretched beyond my coping abilities. I get tired and frustrated and when I do I become a grizzly bear – I grizzle and growl. I frighten my children and say things I regret. If you are a parent, you’ll know what I’m talking about.

How does God respond when I act this way?

First let me show you how grace doesn’t work. Grace doesn’t come and tell me, What a lousy father you were today! I already know that. I don’t even need the Accuser to tell me. No, grace doesn’t expose my ugliness but rather reveals his beauty within me. How does that happen?

For some grace might manifest as a mental picture of themselves parenting really well. Others might be reminded of a scripture that imparts life into a stressful moment. But for me, the most common experience is I find myself abounding in supernatural love.

This doesn’t happen automatically. And it certainly doesn’t happen when I am walking after the flesh and leaning on my own strength and understanding. But if I make the choice to ask my Father for help, grace comes. For me that typically means I begin to see my kids just as my heavenly Father see me – as dearly loved.

It’s hard to explain but in an instant everything changes. Suddenly their noise and energy no longer bothers me. It’s like my shoulders get widened. Instead of being flattened and overwhelmed I find myself wanting to stoke the fires of their youthful exuberance just to see what happens next. Do you understand? It’s a completely different me. It is literally Christ revealing his kid-loving character through me and it’s awesome! I am transformed from grizzly papa into the best dad in the world!

Example 2: Self-pity

Several years ago I was so overwhelmed by a problem that I sat down in a funk and began to indulge in self-pity. Self-pity is huge sin. It’s far more serious than some of the sins we warn teenagers about. Self-pity is the sin of unbelief in the goodness of God. It is saying, “God, I don’t believe you can handle this situation.” Never give into self-pity because it will sink your boat faster than the Titanic.

But on that dark day I gave into it. I began to feel sorry for my pathetic self. What did Jesus do in response to my sin? Did he stand before me like Nathan pointing the accusing finger? Did he warn me like Elijah of the imminent fire of heaven? Of course not! Jesus is not like that at all.

I remember it clear as day. I was sitting there in my little funk with my head in my hands and suddenly, in my mind, I could see Jesus sitting on the chair beside me in the exact same posture as me. Like me he had his head in his hands and he looked worried. As long as I live I’ll never forget what he said:

“You’re right Paul, this is a big problem. I don’t know what I’m going to do about it.”

Then he threw back his head and laughed and laughed at the absurdity of such a thought. Instantly, I was set free.

Do you see what he did there?

He took my problem in his massive hands and laughed at it. He showed me the utter ridiculousness of the lie that I had bought into. How foolish to think that Jesus hasn’t got this! By seeing Christ I was set free from the lie that had held me captive. I began laughing so hard I nearly fell off my chair.

When Jesus brought me back on course he employed neither guilt nor condemnation, just laughter and joy (Is 12:3).

Ask the right question

“Does God see our sins?” “How does God deal with us when we sin?” Frankly, these are the wrong sort of questions for they completely miss the Father’s heart.

God is simply not interested in recording your sins or assigning guilt and blame. Our sins surely grieve the Holy Spirit – they make him sad – but he doesn’t withdraw, condemn, or convict us in response.

In the example I just gave you. Jesus dealt with my sin of self pity without even mentioning it. Do you see? Your sin is not the issue. Your sin was dealt with 2000 years ago at the cross. What really matters to your Father is you and you are not your sin.

Those who worry, “Does God see my sin?” are living in the old covenant. In the new covenant a better question is, “How does the Good Shepherd deal with us when we go astray?” The answer is: gently (see Heb 5:2). When you stumble and make a hash of things, Jesus deals with you gently because he knows what it’s like to be human.

No doubt some serious folk will be offended by the idea of gentle Jesus. They will write to remind me of the Revelation churches. They will say, “Jesus wasn’t exactly gentle with the Thyatirans and the Laodiceans, was he?”

It’s true, those churches got stern rebukes. But don’t you find it interesting that before dealing with those churches Jesus reminded them that he “loves us, has cleansed us from our sins and has made us kings and priests unto God and his Father” (see Rev 1:5-6)? His correction is always motivated by love for us.

I’m not diminishing the seriousness of sin. Your sins can kill you. I’m saying God does not deal with us as our sins deserve (Ps 103:10). Rather, he deals with us on the basis of love. Again; your sin is not the issue. You are the issue and you are the apple of your Father’s eye.

It’s not about your sin

I know this is hard for some to process. We have been raised to beware sin, to resist sin, to run from sin, to overcome sin. With so much emphasis on sin, guilt, and shame, is it any wonder so many of us are sin-conscious instead of Christ-conscious? We need to be set free from this unhealthy obsession with sin!

I said at the start that I rarely think about my sin as sin. Yes, I make mistakes. It’s just that I don’t think about those mistakes in the language of sin and guilt. Paul said, “Reckon yourself dead to sin” (Rom 6:11). How can I engage with something and be dead to it at the same time?

Since I met Jesus I no longer speak the faithless language of sin and death. I choose to live by the law of the Spirit of life. My mistakes are not sins, per se. They are far more serious than that. Rather, they are death-dealing wounds I inflict on myself and others (Gal 6:8). They are missed opportunities to receive and impart life.

“Paul, are you saying you never repent and confess your sins?” I do but probably not in the manner you’re thinking.

True confession is not listing your sins like they did in the old covenant – it’s agreeing with God. And repentance is the same thing – it’s not looking down at your navel but up at Christ who is your life.

You can confess and repent in an old fashion if it helps, but understand that those things can actually deter you from the main thing which is getting back on course before you smash your boat on the rocks of life. When Jesus shows up to laugh at the folly of your distrust, you can either (a) put on ashes and sackcloth or (b) laugh along with him. When the Holy Spirit shows you how to be a better parent, you can spend the next hour either (a) repenting for being a bad parent or (b) being the better parent.

I say “Choose life!” Make the choice that releases his life into your situation. Typically this will mean lifting your eyes off your sin and onto him. It’ll mean praising him for his goodness instead of harping on about your badness.

Anyway, that’s just me. Perhaps you think my “sin” stories are unspectacular. There was no alcoholism, drug abuse, or pornography mentioned because those haven’t been issues for me. But most of our sins are little ones and it’s good to experience freedom even in the humdrum aspects of life.

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You’ve heard my stories; now I want to hear yours. How has God dealt with you when you stumbled? Do you have a story of Jesus gently bringing about a course correction in your life? If so, will you bless us by sharing it in few words below?

My three-year old son is a regular Michelangelo.

The other day he drew a purple-crayon masterpiece on the walls of his bedroom. Needless to say, I was furious. I told him he was a vandal and a crook and I belted him within an inch of his life. Then I said if he did it again I’d kick him out of the family.

Of course I did no such thing!

And yet this sort of ridiculous over-the-top reaction is exactly how some Christians imagine their loving Father responds when they sin. They say things like, “God convicted me, then he chastised me with scourging (see Hebrews). He’s so loving to do that. I know he’s just making sure I don’t get removed from the Lamb’s book of life.”

This kind of talk makes me nauseous. But I understand where it comes from. I understand that many folk imagine God to be more like Elijah than Jesus.

What you look through determines what you see. Read the Bible through the fractured lens of the human wisdom and you will think the secret to life is doing right and avoiding wrong. You’ll go to God with an attitude of, “Just tell me what to do and I’ll do it.” But you are eating from the wrong tree. You are trusting in your own understanding when God would rather you trust in him.

Eat from the life-giving tree

Life is not about doing right and avoiding wrong. Nor is it about sinning versus non-sinning. That’s carnal Christianity and it’s a language your Father doesn’t speak. The issue isn’t good vs evil but life vs death. And this issue is most clearly seen when we’re dealing with sin.

How does God respond when you sin?

In my last post I said the Holy Spirit never convicts us of our sins. Instead, the Holy Spirit brings about a life-saving correction.

“But Paul, isn’t that just two ways of saying the same thing? What’s the difference?”

The difference is this. If you think the Holy Spirit convicts you because of your sin or corrects you because of your sin, you’ve missed everything. You’re looking backwards instead of forwards and down instead of up.

The Holy Spirit isn’t your personal sin manager but your Helper, your Comforter, your Counselor. And in that role he will guide you (Joh 16:13), correct you (2 Tim 3:16), and, if necessary, rebuke or admonish you (Heb 12:5). He does none of this in reaction to your sin, per se. He does it because he loves you, he cares for you, and he doesn’t want you to wreck your life on some harebrained death-dealing decision.

A simple test

Here’s a simple test to see how well you understand this: What comes to mind when you hear the word correction?

Do you think of a mistake that needs to be punished? Do you think of the “rod of correction” and naughty boys in need of a good whipping? If you do, God bless you but your thinking is influenced by the old covenant (Pro 22:15).

In the Old Testament the word for “correct” can mean “to chastise with blows.” It means to apply the proverbial rod to the seat of learning. In grown-up terms it means plagues and punishment sent in response to sin. At least that’s how David understood it:

Remove your plague from me; I am consumed by the blow of your hand. When with rebukes you correct man for iniquity, you make his beauty melt away like a moth. Surely every man is vapor.  (Ps 39:10-11, NKJV)

Under the old covenant the chastisement of the Lord was sometimes fatal. If you got it wrong, you were toast. Thank God for the cross! Thank God that “the chastisement for our peace was upon him” (Is 53:5). Jesus died for our sins so that we don’t have to. This means we need a completely new definition of correction.

When I hear the word correction I think of a sailboat heading in a dangerous direction. A course correction needs to be made. The sailboat isn’t necessarily sinning or wrong. In fact, it may be completely innocent but misguided. The sailboat’s sin is not the point. You can curse the map and apply the rod of correction to the sat-nav but what will that accomplish? Far better to just get back on course.

All scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness… (2 Tim 3:16)

In the new covenant the word for correction means “a straightening up again.” Isn’t that wonderful? It’s not “straightening up for the first time” but “straightening up again.” This implies all is not lost. You are not toast.

You may be heading towards the shoals or you may have already hit the shoals and sunk your boat, but a Holy Spirit who raises the dead can still lead you back to the way of life. Your life is not over.

Case study #1: The Galatians

Need an example from the Bible? Then think of Paul correcting the Galatians:

You were doing so well until someone made you turn from the truth. (Gal 5:7, CEV)

The Galatians had started well but veered off course. They needed to be straightened up again and the Holy Spirit worked through Paul to bring about that course correction.

In the Bible correction (gentle warnings) and rebuking (big warnings) often go together, as we see from 2 Timothy 3:16 above. This is how a loving Father trains his sons – not through sickness or other so-called character-building tribulations and certainly not through blows! The word “discipline” means training and God does that primarily by giving us a revelation of his righteousness through the word.

Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season. Reprove (admonish), rebuke (announce those life-saving course corrections), exhort (invite, implore, beseech)… (2 Tim 4:2, NKJV)

Read the Bible through the lens of the cross and you will find that your loving Father is not really interested in fault-finding and sin-hunting. However, he loves you too much to stay silent as you sail towards the hidden shoals of life. If you are making poor choices, your Father will most definitely seek to bring a course correction and lead you in the life-giving way of righteousness.

Case study #2: Marriage

If I say or do something to hurt Camilla, here’s what the Holy Spirit doesn’t do:

-    he doesn’t chastise me with the blows of sickness to teach me a lesson
-    he doesn’t accuse me of wrong-doing (there is another who does that)
-    he doesn’t dump a bucket of guilt all over me (I’m capable of making my own guilt)
-    he doesn’t condemn me as a sinner and a wicked man (I am my Father’s beloved son!)

Instead, the Holy Spirit gently lets me know that I am sowing death into my marriage. Like a lighthouse-keeper he illuminates the dangerous shoals in front of me. When realization dawns it is natural for me to feel like a complete jerk. “I am a terrible husband and chief of sinners.” When that happens the Holy Spirit is right there to convince me that despite my poor behavior, I am still the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus (John 16:10).

Our problem is we often confuse behavior with identity. When we screw-up we tend to think “I’m a screw-up.” When we sin, we tend to think “I’m a sinner.”

“Not true!” declares the Holy Spirit. “Just as your righteous acts never made you righteous in the first place, your unrighteous acts don’t make you unrighteous. Even though you did something dumb and sowed death-seeds into your life, you are still righteous. Now let’s go and reveal the life of Jesus into that situation.”

When you act out of the false identity of who you used to be (independent and faithless), the Holy Spirit will always seek to remind you of your true identity in Christ. “You are holy and righteous, so act like it.”

Love greater than our messes

Look at how Jesus related to the disciples and you will find him doing all the things the Holy Spirit continues to do: guiding, correcting, and rebuking. Not once do you find Jesus saying, “Peter, you’re an idjit. Have some cancer. It’ll help you wise up.” And just look at how Jesus related to Judas. Did he call him sinner and traitor? No – he called him friend (Mt 26:50)!

I am so thankful for the gentle correction and occasional admonishment of the Holy Spirit. When I have gone astray he has consistently brought me back to the way of life. In my next post, I will give you some everyday examples of how he has does this. (After that I plan to return to my series on eternal security.)

But hand on heart I can tell you now that without the Holy Spirit’s help, I would’ve married the wrong woman, chosen the wrong career, and I’d still be preaching the wrong message. Walking by sight I would’ve sown death left and right. By the grace of God I am who I am because my Father love me, he is good, and he cares about the details of our lives.

And the good news is that if you do make a purple-crayon mess of your life, he still loves you, he still cares for you, and he will never kick you out of his family!
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Related posts:
- Is grace a license to sin?
- Who do you think you are?
- Do NIV readers have a sinful nature?

This issue of conviction of sins is fast becoming an unnecessary shibboleth among Christians. Sincere believers are dividing themselves along one of two lines:

1.    “God never convicts us and if you think he does you are sin-conscious and need to become Christ-conscious.”
2.    “God convicts me in a positive way as a loving father and if you say otherwise you need to read your Bible.”

This is a most unfortunate and unnecessary division! It is the result of two truths hammering the same nail – namely, how does God deal with our present sins and shortcomings? Does he convict us? Does he correct us? Is there a difference?

My son, do not despise the chastening of the Lord, nor be discouraged when you are rebuked by Him; (Heb 12:5 NKJV)

God both chastens and rebukes us but in this post I want to focus on the word rebuke. (Chastening simply means training. God trains us as a Father; he does not chastise us with punishment, sickness and definitely not scourging (see v.6). God trains us primarily through scripture and the revelation of his Holy Spirit (2 Tim 3:16-17, John 16:13).)

The word for “rebuke” in Hebrews 12:5, elegchō, is the same word which is translated “convict” in John 16:8.

And (the Helper), when he comes, will convict (elegchō) the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment; concerning sin, because they do not believe in Me; and concerning righteousness, because I go to the Father and you no longer see Me; and concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world has been judged. (John 16:8-11, NASB)

It is also closely related to word Jude uses when he quotes Enoch:

See, the Lord is coming with thousands upon thousands of his holy ones to judge everyone, and to convict (exelegchō) all the ungodly of all the ungodly acts they have done in the ungodly way, and of all the harsh words ungodly sinners have spoken against him. (Jud 1:14-15)

Put it altogether and you have a recipe for confusion: The ungodly are convicted and the sons of God are convicted! But the confusion may be all in our English-reading heads.

Lost in translation

Consider the meaning of the English word “convict”:

Verb: Declare someone to be guilty of a criminal offense by the verdict of a jury or the decision of a judge in a court of law.
Noun: A person found guilty of a criminal offense and serving a sentence of imprisonment.

Does the Holy Spirit ever declare the righteous guilty? Of course not. If he did, it would be like saying Christ’s redemptive work was an insufficient remedy for your sin. Since you have been justified by his grace (Rom 3:24), you cannot be convicted for your sin. Not now, not ever.

“But Paul, I’ve got some serious sin.” That may be, but he has some serious grace and his grace is greater than your sin (Rom 5:20).

When I talk like that, I am accused of diminishing sin. I am not. Sin is destructive. It has consequences. I am not diminishing sin. I am emphasizing the only thing that can deliver you from the power of sin: his grace.

What’s wrong with a little conviction?

The word convict has become so churchified that we sound like fools when we talk to outsiders.

I used to do prison ministry. If I told the inmates that the Holy Spirit had convicted me of sin they would think, “He busted you! You were caught red-handed you bad, bad sinner.” What a slanderous portrayal of the Holy Spirit’s life-giving ministry. I have made out that he is like the Law or worse, the Accuser. The Holy Spirit is nothing like that!

But it certainly doesn’t help when we have translations like the NIV adding words to scripture:

Joh 16:8 When he comes, he will convict the world of guilt in regard to sin… (NIV)

The word guilt is not in the original Greek. (Check it out in a literal translation.) It was added in the 1970s by translators working for the International Bible Society. Their other Bible, the 20-year old NIrV, is even worse:

Joh 16:8 When he comes, he will prove that the world’s people are guilty. (NIrV)

Sheesh. It makes you wonder why God wasted 14 centuries with the law-keeping covenant. If his plan was to condemn us with the Holy Spirit, what purpose does the law serve?

I hope you can see that “convict” and “guilt” are terrible words to associate with the Holy Spirit! The Holy Spirit and guilt go together like the devil and love. He’s the Spirit of grace, not the spirit of guilt (Heb 10:29).

As long as you’re rewriting the Bible, why not go the whole way and call Jesus the Condemner of the world?

What a dis-grace.

Conviction vs. correction

I hope you can see the Holy Spirit never, ever convicts (assigns guilt) you of your sin. In fact, he has gone on record saying, “Their sins and lawless acts I will remember no more” (Heb 10:17). How can he declare you guilty of sins he chooses not to remembers?

“But Paul, you are speaking of conviction in a negative sense. There is also such a thing as positive conviction and I have experienced it.”

No, you are confused about the meaning of words. There is no such thing as positive guilt or positive condemnation. That old line about the devil condemning and the Holy Spirit convicting is a big fat lie. Say it often enough and people will believe it but it’s not found anywhere in the Bible.

What you have actually experienced is a life-giving correction. And as we shall see in the next post, that is altogether a different thing.
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Acknowledgement: This post was inspired by a question raised by Dustin Horstmann in the comments section of this recent post, namely, are we who preach grace creating an unnecessary schism by insisting God doesn’t see our sin? I want to thank Dustin for framing the issue in such a clear and sensitive way. I also want to thank Felix, Jennie, John S. and Colleen G for their thoughtful responses to Dustin, some of which I have incorporated here.

I want to thank those of you who took the time to comment on my Michael Brown post over the weekend. That post evidently resonated with many. Within 48 hours of publication it had attracted 250 comments. To put that in perspective, that’s almost as many comments as the original CharismaNews article got in a week.

If you missed the hubbub, Michael Brown wrote an opinion piece confronting what he calls the error of hyper-grace, namely, that the notion that God sees us as holy and righteous. Michael disagrees. “God sees our sin,” says Michael. “Consequently, we need to purify ourselves from everything that contaminates.”

I took issue with this because it suggests that God relates to us on the basis of our behavior and that we have to clean ourselves up before God will accept us. To be fair, Michael never said this, but his message nonetheless amounts to putting a price-tag on God’s love and acceptance.

Where the Bible puts exclamation marks – “God loves you!” – Michael put question marks: “Really? Always? 24-7? God always loves what he sees when he looks at his people?”

Anyway, what followed was a stimulating discussion from people like you. I have now had a chance to read through all the comments several times and I have learned a lot. As I keep saying, E2R readers are a smart bunch! The wisdom some of you have amazes me. I am truly blessed to receive from you.

I also want to thank those of you who encouraged me on my Facebook page on Sunday. After reading one particularly nasty and personal comment (don’t look for it, you won’t find it), my countenance dropped. I get called names all the time and normally it doesn’t bother me. But on Sunday it did and I was gloomy for 10 minutes. Some of you picked up on that and you sought to lift my chin.

Thank you. You’re beautiful.

Jesus Camp

On Monday morning and with a clear head I sat down to distill some of the lessons I learned over the weekend. I’m not yet prepared to share those lessons except for one, and here it is:

As my friend Steve Hackman pointed out in his own response to Michael Brown, the “grace camp” label is horrible. When I went back and reread my article that phrase was the one thing I just had to change. (In the revised post I now refer to the grace movement. I know, it’s hardly an improvement. Got any better ideas?)

Why do I dislike “grace camp”? Because there is no grace camp. There’s just Jesus and we’re all one in Christ. If you trust in Jesus, you’re in the Jesus Camp and it’s the only camp.

Grace is meant to be inclusive. All are welcome in the House of Grace because Jesus died for all of us. The moment we allow ourselves to be defined as a special camp, we start swinging towards an unChristlike exclusivity, like we’re a country club or something.

Manmade religion draws lines between Us and Them but the grace of God tears down dividing walls. I know we’re not all going to see eye to eye, but I don’t want to contribute to a culture that perpetuates fracture lines within the body of Christ. If you see me talking about grace camps again, please remind me of Galatians 3:28.

What about hyper-grace?

Michael never called us a grace camp – that was my own stupid fault – but he does describe us with the label “hyper-grace.” What do you think about this? Personally, I’m in two minds. I think any label is demeaning. The moment we label people we diminish them, we reduce them to caricatures.

“You’re in the hyper-grace camp? So you’re one of those who says we can sin freely and God will still love us. I read about you turkeys on Charisma.”

Yeah, that’s real helpful. I am already paying the price for this cartoon-like rendition of the grace message in the form of time-wasting comments from misguided folks who think we advocate sin.

[Sidebar: You may be aware that this morning CharismaNews published a second piece from Michael. In this article he worries that the message of grace which we preach is unbalanced, as evidenced by the sinful fruit of those who have abused it. Michael seems to think that the abuse of the gospel Jesus revealed and Paul preached is a new thing. I have just one word to say in response to that: Corinthians.]

On the other hand, we may find ourselves stuck with the label hyper-grace much like the believers of Antioch were stuck with the label “Christian.” If that is the case – if you are about to be permanently branded by others as “hyper-grace” – how do you feel about that? Are you happy about it? Do you find it objectionable? Are you cool with it?

To get a conversation started, here are some thoughts from those who commented under the last post:

• Titus 2:11-12 says grace is a person called Jesus. Thus hyper-grace maybe also called hyper-Jesus. Does this mean there is such thing as “too much Jesus”? Or such a thing as “relying on Jesus too much”? … Hyper (also) means “abounds,” so I guess the name is appropriate because the Scripture says, “Grace super-abounds!” ~Joseph Librero
• The whole concept of “hyper-grace” being a bad thing is silly! The lengths to which God chose to go in Grace for us (to the death) is pretty “hyper,” is it not?! ~JGIG
• Wasn’t Paul accused of preaching hyper-grace? (see Romans 3:8, 5:20-6:2) ~John Long
• I am dead to sin. I have a righteousness conscience. I feel free. Free from sin. That’s hyper-grace. Thank you Jesus. ~ Phillip Waite

So far the vibe seems to be generally positive. But what do you think of this term hyper-grace?

Is it something to embrace, resist, or accept? Does it hinder the gospel by suggesting we’re an exclusive camp within the Body of Christ? Or does it promote the gospel by accurately conveying the way grace operates – energetically and actively? I’d love to hear your thoughts.

Although I would qualify the last point, Dr. Brown has done a fair job summarizing the gospel that we in the grace movement proclaim. (Some movement – it’s 2000 years old!) Those who are united with Christ are just as holy and righteous as he is (1 Cor 1:30); God dealt with our sins once and for all on the cross (Heb 10:12); and consequently the Holy Spirit remembers our sins no more (Heb 10:17).

As for repentance and confession, the Bible tells us that these words mean different things to different people. Repentance in the old covenant meant turning from sin but repentance in the new means turning to God. As the Pharisees showed, you can turn from sin until you’re dizzy but it won’t make you righteous. However, you cannot turn to God without leaving your old life behind.

Similarly, confession under the old covenant meant reviewing one’s sins, but confession in the new means agreeing with God. It’s a subtle difference with profound consequences. Reviewing your sins in the vain hope of earning forgiveness or fellowship will ultimately leave you guilty and sin-conscious. This sort of confessing-to-be-forgiven is a faithless work of the flesh. In contrast, healthy confession will always leave you focused on Jesus and his finished work.

Where Dr. Brown takes issue with the grace movement is in the claim that “when God looks at us, he loves what he sees.” Dr. Brown provides examples from scripture that seem to challenge this idea. Did Jesus love what he saw in the Revelation churches? Did Paul love what he saw in the Galatians? Obviously not for Jesus and Paul both rebuked what they saw.

The punch-line of Dr. Brown’s message is that we must purify ourselves from everything that contaminates. He concludes by describing self-purification and the pursuit of holiness as our “beautiful, lofty calling.”

There is a way that seems right to man…

I would argue that Dr. Brown’s conclusion leads to exactly the same sort of self-reliance that caused Jesus to get nauseous over the Laodiceans. It promotes the same sort of performance-based Christianity that caused the Ephesians to forget their first love and the Galatians to fall from grace.

Dr. Brown’s concerns regarding sin’s destructiveness are on the money. But the gospel Jesus revealed and Paul preached is first and foremost a declaration of God’s love. The gospel is the unqualified announcement that God loves us and will do whatever it takes to get us back, even if it means dying on a cross.

Dr. Brown surely knows this for the word “love” appears 13 times in his short article. But where Dr. Brown and many Christians get confused, is what we must do in response. Evidently, Dr. Brown thinks we must turn from sin. (The word “sin” appears 14 times in his article.) But this is old-covenant thinking. It is selling the love of God for the price of a little old fashioned repentance. It is not the gospel of unmerited grace.

One of the most stunning claims in the Bible comes from Romans 5:8: “But God demonstrates his own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” If God loved us while we were still sinners, he surely loves us now. We don’t repent and confess or do anything to merit God’s love but because we are loved. The love of God is the foundation of all we are and do.

This is why Jesus rebuked the Ephesians – not because they weren’t loving God enough, but because they had left their primary love. Like many Christians today they had got so caught up doing things for God that they forgot to do the most important thing of all, which is to receive and remain in their Father’s love.

“Remember the height from which you have fallen,” said Jesus. “Repent, and do what you did at first.” What had they done at first? Well what did you do when you first came to Christ? You probably did nothing other than receive his love. “Do that,” says Jesus. “Stay in the high place of my love and you won’t fall back into the old ways of trying to earn what I have freely given you.”

Dr. Brown asks an important question: “Does God always love what he sees when he looks at his people?” According to him, the answer is no. God doesn’t like what he sees when he looks at us. Our sins grieve him. But here’s the thing: we are not our sins.

The most important question

Defining people in terms of their behavior is old-covenant thinking. It is not how God relates to us. Children are defined by their parents. In his article Dr. Brown asks no less than 20 questions but he never asks the most important question of all: Who’s your Daddy? This is the question Jesus came to answer.

Want to know what your heavenly Father is like? Look to Jesus. Jesus is exactly like his Father (John 10:30). This is why we are told again and again to fix our eyes on Jesus.

And this is why I have a problem with any message that distracts us from Christ, even a religious message that frets over sin. You simply cannot focus on yourself and Jesus at the same time. You cannot attend to your shortcomings and behold his glorious perfections simultaneously. It’s one or the other. It’s you or him. Who are you going to trust?

Our calling is not to try and purify ourselves in the vain hope we might become pleasing and acceptable to God. Trust me – your best efforts will never be good enough.

Rather, our beautiful and lofty calling is to, “Be imitators of God, as beloved children” (Eph 5:1).  We don’t imitate God to become his children, but because we are his children, and dearly-loved.

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*Special note: For those looking for a more detailed response to Dr. Brown’s scriptural examples, check out the articles I have written on Jesus’ warnings to the churches in Ephesus, Sardis, and Laodicea. I have also written on what it means to be friends of the world and I have a forthcoming post on what it means to fall from grace. If you’re having trouble reconciling what I wrote above with what you have been taught, it will greatly help if you first understand what makes the new covenant new.

As you may know, I spent the summer studying some 300 scriptures pertaining to this issue of eternal security. I have to be honest and tell you my motives were mixed. The pure motive was that I simply enjoy studying scripture and I wanted to settle this issue once and for all in my heart. The “impure” motive was that I am fed up with those fear-mongers who try to unsettle the secure, condemn the guiltless, and otherwise spread a message of anxiety that contradicts the Lord’s own message of, “Fear not little flock” (Lk 12:32).

Uncertainty is a faith-killer. If you are uncertain about your eternal position how can you trust God? You won’t. If this issue isn’t settled in your heart you’ll lie awake at night wondering whether you are good enough or have done enough to impress him. And then you’ll set aside grace by taking out a little works insurance just to be safe.

Insecurity about the future is just one example of the prevailing winds of unbelief that assail the church. If you are insecure and in doubt, know that I write so that you might repent (change your doubting and unbelieving mind) and believe the good news. I write so that you might trust Jesus to finish what he started.

But first, you may need to change your glasses…

What you look through determines what you see

If you wear cracked glasses, everything you look at will appear cracked. If you are insecure, every scripture in the Bible will appear to support your prior notions of insecurity.

In my last post I identified four cracks in the lens of insecure theology. To save time I could have just pasted this little gem from Andrew Farley:

Every Christian I’ve met who believes they can lose their salvation has always given a reason that involves them. What if I commit suicide? What if I get a divorce? What if I stop believing? What if I…? You fill in the blank there, but it’s all the same. Every hypothetical scenario puts ourselves at the center of the equation. But our faithfulness to God is an old-covenant problem that is solved by the new. ~God Without Religion, pp:30-31

Bingo. Drew has nailed it. The reason we are even having this discussion is because so many Christians don’t know what makes the new covenant new. They read the Bible through the old covenant mindset that says “Do to be.” If this is you, let me tell you about Jesus! That old covenant is obsolete. We no longer stand on our promises to him but on his promises to us.

Bet your life on his word, not yours

If I could show you just one promise from the Lord that guaranteed your eternal security, would you quit fretting? Would you stop listening to the lies of the confused and trust instead in the truth of God’s word? Would one promise from the Faithful One be good enough for you? Well, here’s one:

He will keep you strong to the end, so that you will be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. God, who has called you into fellowship with his Son Jesus Christ our Lord, is faithful. (1 Cor 1:8-9)

Wow! This scripture is the atom bomb that obliterates the doubts of the insecure. If you struggle with doubt and anxiety, you should frame this verse. It will remind you that salvation is not about your faithfulness but his and God is faithful.

And don’t forget who Paul was writing to either. This scripture was addressed to Christians many today would write off as reprobates. The Corinthians weren’t what you call “good Christians.” Yet Paul looks at these clowns, sees God’s fingerprints all over them, and speaks confidently of their future. “Our hope for you is firm” (2 Cor 1:7).

Who called you into fellowship with Christ? God! Who will keep you strong to the end so that you will be blameless on that Day? God! Who is faithful? God! It’s not about you but him. Do you see it yet? If not, here’s another promise you can stand on:

Now it is God who makes both us and you stand firm in Christ. He anointed us, set his seal of ownership on us, and put his Spirit in our hearts as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come. (2 Cor 1:21-22)

The word “guarantee” means a down-payment or pledge, “i.e. part of the purchase-money or property given in advance as security for the rest.” So either God has nothing but more good stuff planned for you – guaranteed! – or he is a liar.

Are you getting this yet?

I said one promise from the Lord should be enough and I’ve given you two. Just to settle matters once and for all, here are seven more promises from your heavenly Father that speak directly to your eternal security. Write them on your heart and take them to the bank because they are gold! If you are a Christian, the chances of you losing your salvation are exactly the same as the likelihood God will violate his promises. Since God is utterly faithful, you can be utterly secure.

Seven golden promises about your future

For a Christian to lose their salvation and be expelled from the kingdom…

1. God would have to forsake us, when he said he wouldn’t (Heb 13:5)

2. God would have to cast us out, when he said he wouldn’t (John 6:37)

3. God would have to condemn us, when he said he wouldn’t (Rom 8:1,34)

4. God would have to withdraw his Spirit, when he said he wouldn’t (John 14:16-17)

5. God would have to remember our sins, when he said he wouldn’t (Jer 31:34, Heb 10:17)

6. God would have to forget that we are his children, when he said he wouldn’t (Is 49:15)

7. God would have to blot our names out of the book of life, when he said he wouldn’t (Rev 3:5)

Good news, no?

“But Paul, what about all those scriptures that say we have to hold fast, continue, and endure to the end?”

I’ll to get to some of those scriptures in the coming weeks but let me put your mind at rest right now. Do you have a need to hold fast? Do you have a need to continue and endure? Do you have a need to overcome, obey, avoid sin, be holy, and persevere? Yes, we all have these needs. But look at this…

My God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus. (Php 4:19)

How many of your needs will God meet? All of them! How many of your needs must you supply to stay qualified for the kingdom? None of them! The only thing to do is receive what God has already provided in Christ Jesus. The only thing to do is say, “Thank you Jesus!” and abide in that place of restful trust.

Anything and everything that needs to be done to see you safe to the end, will be done by him. Trust him! The one who “began a good work in you will carry it on to completion” (Php 1:6). (See what I did there? I just slipped in another promise.) Salvation is not from yourself it is the gift of God (Eph 2:8), and his gifts are irrevocable (Rom 11:29). (Two more promises!)

No doubt there will be some who will write to tell me I am presenting an unbalanced view, that I have left out important bits of the Bible. What they really mean, though, is God is a mealy-mouthed mincer of words who doesn’t say what he means or mean what he says. I disagree. Through the death and resurrection of his Son, God shouts to the human race, I am for you and I will do whatever it takes to win you back to myself! I believe him. I choose to stand on his promises to us. I encourage you to do likewise.

Saint, you are one with the Lord. His future is your future. Since Jesus isn’t going to lose his salvation and go to hell, it can’t happen to you. You may fall asleep on the job, but the one who watches over you never slumbers (Ps 121:3-4). Be confident. Be secure. Be at peace.

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Related posts:
- Shipwrecked faith
- Does God use correction fluid?
- Top 12 verses of the new covenant

Shaving is a tricky business. You need to hold fast when you shave. You have to work out your shaving with fear and trembling because only he who stands firm to the end will be shaved.

I’m grinning as I write this. Why? Because apparently being shaved and being saved have much in common. You have to work hard at both of them. At least that’s what some people think. I know this because I spent the month of January doing a massive study on the subject of eternal security.

(I know what you’re thinking, What a great way to spend a month. It was! I love to study.)

My goal was to study every single New Testament scripture that speaks to the issue of our eternal security. All told, I found 300 scriptures that are used either to support or attack the idea of “once saved, always saved.” I then filtered every scripture through the lens of Jesus and his finished work to see what I might learn. And what did I find?

Lay down your razors because once shaved, always shaved. Haha!

Seriously, in my heart I have always known that I am secure in my Father’s love – he holds me, he keeps me, and he will never let me go. But many people are not secure. They’ve been told they have to abide, continue, hold fast to end, overcome, obey, endure, and otherwise do things to stay saved. Naturally, this unsettles them. What if I don’t do what God expects of me? What if I stumble at the last hurdle? What then?

If this is you, this series ought to help. I’m going to look at some of the toughest scriptures I can find. And after we unpackage these scriptures in light of who Christ is and what he has done for us, you’re going to be so blessed. You’re going to want to shout and thank Jesus from the roof-tops.

But before we jump in to this Bible study, let’s take a moment to polish our spectacles and check for cracks in the lenses.

Get your glasses checked here

What you look through determines what you see. If you look at the world through a cracked lens, everything will appear to be fuzzy and distorted. Similarly, if you have a distorted view of God, everything you read will be filtered through your distortion.

The Bible was written in such a way to confound the wisdom of the so-called wise. It contains scriptures that appear to contradict one another making it impossible to be used as a rule-book. The only way to get life out of the written word is to filter all you read through the Living Word – who Jesus is and what he has done. That’s what I am going to try and do in this study.

However, I am well aware that I am stepping into an ancient minefield of divisive and ugly Christianity.

Consumer health warning

In my study I visited countless websites and online ministries devoted exclusively to one side of the issue or the other. In many cases, what I saw was not a pretty sight. Mocking rhetoric, ad hominem arguments, and provocative metaphors like the shaving one I sent up above.

Of course I am going to try and rise above all this and stay on the high ground. But to be honest, I’m not confident that I can. If you have followed E2R long enough you may have seen me responding to critics in all my stinking flesh. There have been occasions when I have put winning ahead of loving and I am not proud of that.

The problem is, God made me a debater and I’m good at it! I’m good at arguing. Problem is, I sometimes use my superpowers for carnal, unloving purposes and there’s a fair chance that will happen again. Please forgive me when I do.

Four blind spots in the theology of the insecure

Now that I have confessed my weaknesses to you, I want to humbly suggest that those who preach insecurity (i.e., your salvation is not assured and you must work to stay saved), have four blind spots. (Don’t be threatened. We all have blind spots. The sooner you see yours, the better.)

These four blind spots, or cracks in the lens, if you like, are as follows:

1. The cross changed nothing

Since they don’t know what makes the new covenant new, insecurity preachers typically interpret conditional statements in the New Testament as threats, rather than promises. They read them just as they would in the old covenant:

“You have to (insert activity here) in order to receive (insert reward here) or to avoid (insert punishment here).”

Since their theology of mixture affects all they say, they argue that your eternal security hinges on you and what you do rather than Christ and what he has done. A classic example is the commands of Jesus which are interpreted as instructions you must obey or you will lose your salvation. I will return to this issue of obedience in the new covenant in a forthcoming post.

2. Hell is for under-performing Christians

Insecurity preachers wear hellfire-tinted lenses, meaning, they see one consequence for everything we can get wrong: eternal condemnation. I’m not diminishing the seriousness of hell but I want to tell you there is no condemnation for those who are one with the Lord. You may think that God will kick you out but he promised he wouldn’t. As we will see in the next post, the chances of a saint losing their salvation are the same as the chances God will break his promises, i.e., zero.

I don’t doubt for a second that there are serious consequences to wandering, going astray, falling from grace, etc. But the consequences are clearly spelled out in scripture and for the saint none of them is hell. I’ll list 14 consequences in a forthcoming post.

3. Salvation comes in a box

Insecurity preachers seem to think that the gift of salvation comes in a box, meaning, it’s something you have to hold on to or lose. You might think, then, that such folk would be preoccupied minding and not losing their own salvation boxes, but they are not. Instead, they are busy attacking other people’s boxes with doubt and strife. They seem to derive security by making others feel less secure. It works too. Fearful, insecure Christians lap it up revealing their distrust in God’s awesome grace. This is the tragedy of our age.

Happily, salvation is not a box. It is the miracle of new life. It is Christ himself living in you. Paul said, “Christ is your life” (Col 3:4). Whether you hold onto him strongly or weakly, he holds on to you, and the good news is he will never let you go (Joh 6:37). If you were to wander and go off track, Christ won’t kick you out for he’s a good shepherd who knows his sheep and won’t lose any (John 6:29, 10:14). And he won’t come after you with a rod to break your leg either, for he’s our compassionate high priest who deals gently with those going astray (Heb 5:1-2).

4. Some sin is excusable

Those in the insecurity camp think there are different classes of sin, that they are capable of avoiding willful sin, and that God is not troubled by their unintentional sins. This would be laughable if it wasn’t so widely believed.

Sin is sin. If God kept a record of sin, who could stand (Psa 130:3)? The good news is not that God has forgiven only some of your sins – the ones you did by accident – but that he has forgiven all your sin for all time! Am I promoting grace as a license to sin? Of course not! I’m saying be Christ-conscious instead of sin-conscious. Since God keeps no records of your sins, neither should you.

I have been brief here but in this new series I plan to go slow. I want you to see clearly from scripture how secure you are in the Lord. “But, Paul, what about this scripture and that scripture?” Patience, my young Padawan. We’ll get there. (If you want to see the scriptures I plan to address in this series, check out this page.)

Just for fun we’ll start at the ending. In my next post I want to put my best cards on the table and show you 12 promises from the Lord that you can take to the bank. Stay tuned!

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Related posts:
- The test of your gospel
- Is forgiveness something God does or gives?
- What keeps Christians weak and unproductive?

And if you don’t believe me when I say many are hearing about grace for the first time, you should see my in-tray. It has been swamped with emails, messages, and questions, questions, questions!

This is wonderful for it means people are thinking and checking things out for themselves. They want to know more about the undiluted gospel of grace.

The downside, however, is there is no chance I’ll be able to answer even half the questions that are now coming my way. If you write to me, the odds are high and rising that you’re not going to get a response. I’m truly sorry about that. I would love to sit down with you and just chat. But it’s not going to happen. There’s only one of me and rather a lot of you.

But your questions are good! And since they may speak to deep shifts in understanding that the Holy Spirit is working out in your life they deserve good answers.

So how can you get the answers you are seeking since I’m increasingly useless to you? Here are 8 suggestions:

1. Ask the Holy Spirit. I am serious about this. We have a teacher-centric culture in the modern church that promotes an unhealthy dependence on men. I can say that because I am a teacher. That’s my thing. But understand that the Holy Spirit is the Teacher of all teachers (John 16:13). He really is the highest authority on every subject, every problem, and every question.

I can’t tell you the number of times I’ve been puzzled by something, asked the Lord for wisdom and understanding, and he’s given me revelation, often immediately. Perhaps this is easier for some people than others, I don’t know. What I do know is that the sooner we all learn to rely on the Holy Spirit rather than men, the better we will all be. So I strongly encourage you to take your questions directly to the Lord and put James 1:5 into practice.

Of course, the Holy Spirit works through people. But if you take your question to someone with a mixed-up theology, you’ll likely get an answer tainted with an unhealthy mixture of old and new covenant theology. In view of that, I also recommend the following approaches to asking questions.

2. Search the archives. Want to know my least favorite kind of message to receive? It’s the one that begins, “Paul, have you written anything on…” Use the search box at the top-right corner of this website. That’s where you’ll find your answer.

3. Join an ongoing discussion here on E2R. How do you do that? Search the E2R archives, find a post on the subject you are interested in, and ask your question as a comment in the discussion thread underneath that post. That way you will attract responses from others with an interest in the same subject. I personally have learned much from the discussion threads under posts. It’s like the original post starts a conversation that often goes places I could not have imagined. The journey is frequently rewarding.

4. Post your question on E2R’s Facebook page. Don’t send me a private message – I often forget to check my messages and they back up big time. Instead, put your question on E2R’s Facebook page for all to see. Here are two steps you can take to increase your chances of getting a response:

(i) Keep your question short, like 2-3 sentences max.

(ii) Phrase your question like this: “Does anyone have any insight into….” Invite people to contribute to your question.

I have learned that E2R readers are an amazing bunch of people who love to help others. Many have far more wisdom than I.

5. Put your question on someone else’s FB page. E2R is hardly the only grace-based page on Facebook. I recommend the following pages because they all, (1) preach the undiluted gospel of grace, (2) get a lot of traffic, and (3) have a high level of reader engagement (thus increasing your chances of getting a response):

- Charisma Ministries
- New Covenant Grace
- Revival or Riots

(No doubt I have forgotten/missed some pages. If you know any that meet the above criteria, let me know and I will add them.)

6. Write about it. This may surprise you, but many of the posts here on E2R were written because I was puzzled about something. Writing helps me organize my thoughts and as I write the Holy Spirit guides me. I know this doesn’t work for everyone but it may work for you. Give it a go.

7. Send me a message, but do so knowing that I probably won’t be able to reply. How can you increase the chances of getting a reply from me?

(i) Keep it short. (Unless you’re writing to encourage me, in which case lengthy essays I can frame and show Camilla are preferred!)

(ii) Don’t think of me as The Answer Guy. If I am able to answer your question, don’t hit me with five follow-up questions. Milked cows need a break.

(iii) To avoid disappointment, don’t ask me to join your online group, Skype you, phone you, or weigh in on some argument you’re having on Facebook. Do feel free to invite me to lunch though!

(iv) Understand that my goal is to reveal Jesus and help you experience the Father’s love. So don’t ask me about politics or obscure Bible passages pertaining to the Nephilim or what-have-you. Neither of us has time to waste on controversies or godless chatter (2 Tim 2:16).

(v) Don’t expect me to have an opinion on everything. I am quite comfortable saying, “I don’t know.”

(vi) Don’t ask me what I think about another man’s ministry or the latest post from Cornel (as someone did recently). I love my brothers and sisters and I’m not interested in creating fracture lines in the body of Christ.

8. Submit a question for what I’m going to call The Question Poll (for lack of a better name). Each month or so I will post a poll like the one below consisting of questions sent in by readers. You can vote for which question you would most like answered and I will tackle the question that gets the most votes. If I can’t answer the question I will circulate it among my grace buddies and see if they can.

Consistent with E2R’s gospel aims, I will only post questions pertaining to the new covenant.

I’ve seen sick people healed by the grace of God. I’ve seen deaf ears and blind eyes opened. But everyone still dies. Why is that? If Christ’s sacrifice undid Adam’s sin, why do people still die? If last Adam is greater than first Adam, why does death still take us all?

It’s a good question, but understand that it is an earthly question. It is shaped by our earthly point of view. Jesus had a different point of view:

Whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned; he has crossed over from death to life. (Joh 5:24)

Has crossed over. Past tense. It’s already happened. In Adam, we lived on death row. We were born into a dying race. But whoever believes in Jesus has crossed over from death row to new life in him.

Yet we still die. Since Jesus doesn’t lie, how do we reconcile his words of life with our bodies of death?

Some explain it by saying your spirit is saved but your body is not yet saved. I don’t see it that way. I don’t believe in partial salvations. When you were saved, you were made into a new person and the old has gone (2 Cor 5:17). The gift of salvation doesn’t come to us on the installment plan. Paul said, “The new has come.” Whatever salvation is, it has arrived. You are either saved or you need to be. You are either in the kingdom or out of it. You are either one with the Lord or separated from him.

Others say we die out of ignorance, that we’re actually supposed to be immortal here and now. “Christians aren’t ever supposed to die.” Well if that were true, where are the first century evangelists and apostles? Why aren’t we hearing from the apostles who weren’t martyred, like John?

(By the way, wouldn’t that be cool? “Hey guys, we have this 2000-year-old dude speaking at the Men’s Breakfast this Friday. Interested?”)

So if salvation doesn’t come in installments, and if we have already received every spiritual blessing in Christ (Eph 1:3), why do we still die?

A tent, not a home

Think about what happened when you were born again. You repented and believed the good news with your whole heart. With the aid of the Holy Spirit, you came to see Jesus as he really is and you changed your unbelieving mind. This was no small miracle! One moment you were in the dark; the next you were in his wonderful light. One moment you were alienated from the Source of Life; the next your spirit became fused with his. This was a radical change and the implications are huge, as Jesus said. You crossed over. You became a new person. You changed.

But your body did not change.

Here’s the point: You are not your body. Your body is an earthsuit which you wear for a time but which wears out and will eventually need replacing.

If you have ever been camping, you will know the difference between a tent and a home. A tent is a temporary dwelling place while your home is your permanent dwelling place. Your physical body is a tent. It is a temporary habitation useful for this brief camping trip called earthly life. However, it is not your permanent home.

While he walked this earth, Jesus wore an earthsuit like everybody else, but he’s not wearing one now. He doesn’t need one. He has something better. When he returns we shall see him as he really is. And wonder of wonders, we shall be like him (1 John 3:2).

In a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality. (1 Cor 15:52-53)

The New Testament writers all understood that our physical bodies are temporary while we are eternal beings who live forever. Like garments that wear out, our bodies will one day need to be replaced and Paul says the change will happen instantly, in the twinkling of an eye. The older and more worn out my body gets, the more I look forward to that sudden change!

Two kings, two bodies

Thanks to King Adam’s regrettable choice, nearly everything in this world operates under the law of sin and death (Rom 5:12). That includes your body but it does not include you (see Rom 8:2). Remember, you are not your body and, like Christ, you are not of this world (John 8:23, Php 3:20):

But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, who, by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body. (Php 3:20-21)

The Greek word for “lowly” stems from a word that means to depress or humiliate. Paul is saying, our earthly bodies are depressing. They’re humiliating. (If you don’t believe this, just wait!) But our new bodies will be as glorious as Christ’s body – they will be strikingly beautiful. That sounds good to me!

Don’t think for one minute that I’m one of those people trying to escape this rotten planet. I’m not. I love it here and I’ve got a fulfilling job to do (the Great Commission, remember?). The Good News is not “we’ve got a ticket on the heavenly-bound life-boat,” but that Christ is our life. Eternal life is knowing him and I am escaping to that reality, which is here and now.

So, two take-aways:

(i)    We have a glorious new body to look forward to, one that will never wear out or suffer arthritis or get fat, wrinkled, and decrepit.
(ii)    Thanks to King Jesus, we have already left death row. Death no longer has the last word.

Don’t fear Marvell’s chariot

Andrew Marvell may be conscious of “time’s winged chariot hurrying near,” coming to take him to the beauty-less deserts of eternity, but we need not fear what he fears. For those who are in Christ, death is but a changing room where we shrug off the mortal coil and are clothed in incorruptible glory.

When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: “Death has been swallowed up in victory. Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?” (1 Cor 15:54-55)

If you are in Christ, then Jesus has already made you new. But understand that the Great King is in the business of making all things new (Rev 21:5).

Healings are wonderful – they give us a taste of heaven-on-earth – but they are little more than repair jobs for tents. Eventually, your tent is going to reach the point where it can’t be fixed or stitched back together. That’s natural and not to be feared. Some things in this world can’t be mended.

But the good news is that Jesus is the Great Redeemer who is making everything new. This is why we can look forward to a new heavenly earth, the home of righteousness (2 Pet 3:13), and a new body in which to enjoy it.
—
Related posts:
- Your glorious new past
- Who do you think you are?
- Do NIV readers have a sinful nature?

This is a limited time offer so get yours now from: http://bit.ly/GITW_Kindle

“But, Paul, I don’t own a Kindle.”

You can download the free Kindle Reading App which will enable you to read any Kindle book on your computer, smartphone, or tablet.

“What is The Gospel in Ten Words about?”

Well, it’s about the good news. In ten words. Ten awesome words that describe who you are in Christ. It’s a book that will blow apart mixed mindsets liberating you to see Jesus as he truly is. But don’t take my word for it. Here is what some Amazon reviewers are saying about The Gospel in Ten Words:

• “A must read if you want to live truly free.”
• “A book full of love and power.”
• “Makes the gospel plain and easy to understand.”
• “I cannot recommend this book enough, especially if you are tired of the platitudes, rules and obligations thrust upon you every Sunday.”
• “You will feel the weight of religion and performance lift off your shoulders with every page.”
• “It is never too late to read a book like this but I wish I could have had this book 50 years ago.”
• “Happy! Happy! Happy! That’s all I have to say after reading The Gospel in Ten Words.”
• “I wish every Christian had this book. If I had the money, I’d buy 100’s of them at a time and give them away.”
• “Next to the Bible, this is the best book I’ve ever read.”
• “By far, one of the best books I’ve read on grace.”

You can read what others are saying about the book here.

If you already own a copy of The Gospel in Ten Words, let your friends, small group, neighbors, workmates know they can get a copy for themselves too. Why? Because everyone needs to hear the good news. But hurry – this free book offer expires this Thursday.

Help spread the word by clicking the share button below or passing on this download link today: http://bit.ly/GITW_Kindle

And thanks for sharing the journey. The first three years have been great, but the best is yet to come!

What does it mean to shipwreck your faith? Paul said this had happened to at least two people so I guess it can happen to you. But how does it happen and what are the consequences? Most people have no idea but fear the worst: “Shipwrecked faith means you’ve lost your salvation. It means you’re going to hell.”

As we will see in this note, it means no such thing.

What causes faith to become shipwrecked?

Look again at the passage above and note how Paul defines fighting the good fight as “holding on to faith and a good conscience.” These two things are connected. If you reject or cast away a good conscience your faith will be shipwrecked:

Holding fast to faith (that leaning of the entire human personality on God in absolute trust and confidence) and having a good (clear) conscience. By rejecting and thrusting from them [their conscience], some individuals have made shipwreck of their faith. (1 Tim 1:19, AMP)

This is not about ignoring your conscience; it’s about thrusting away your good and clear conscience. In other words, if your conscience condemns you, you will have trouble believing what God says is true about you.

Dear friends, if our hearts do not condemn us, we have confidence before God and receive from him anything we ask… (1 John 3:21-22)

Condemnation is a faith-killer. Condemnation will cause you to be timid before God making it hard for you to receive from the abundance of his grace. If your conscience is constantly telling you that you’re unworthy, you’re a hopeless Christian, and you don’t deserve to be in the kingdom, you will be in danger of shipwrecking your faith.

What is shipwrecked faith?

Paul spent a fair bit of time at sea and he liked nautical metaphors. He described spiritual infants as those “tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching” (Eph 4:14). If you are not secure in your Father’s love – which you won’t be if your conscience condemns you – you’ll make a wreck of your faith. Like a ship that fails to reach its destination, you’ll fall short of all that God has in store for you.

And no, that doesn’t mean you’ll lose your salvation and go to hell. It means you won’t mature in the faith (Lk 8:14). It means you’ll lose the freedom that is yours in Christ (Gal 5:1), you’ll become unstable (2 Pet 3:17), and you’ll fear punishment that isn’t coming (1 John 4:18). The New Testament writers list many bad things that can happen when we fail to trust God in our daily lives, but the thing many Christians fear most – Christ writing them off – is the one thing that absolutely cannot happen.

If you are one with the Lord be at peace, for the one who took hold of you will never let you go. If the Holy Spirit dwells in you rest assured he will never leave (John 14:16).

What does it mean to shipwreck your faith? It means moving from the secure foundation of Jesus Christ. It means diluting your faith in God with faith in self, faith in effort, faith in your ability to perform. It’s trying instead of trusting. It’s striving instead of resting.

What Paul never said

“If you shipwreck your faith, you’ll lose your salvation.” Preachers of insecurity love to quote this verse as support for their evil idea that we can undo what we never wrought – as though we could unfuse the Holy Spirit from our spirits and tear ourselves from God’s mighty grip. Don’t you think if that could actually happen, Paul would’ve mentioned it? Yet he says nothing of the kind.

What Paul does say is that a group of “certain men” had shipwrecked their faith and of that group two men had been handed over to Satan so that they might be taught not to blaspheme. I don’t exactly know what Paul had in mind with this handing over business but note that (a) he did it, not Jesus, (b) he did it with the intention of teaching them, not condemning them.

I know it is common to hear the New Testament preached in such a way to instill fear and insecurity among the children of God. To settle this issue in my own heart, I spent the summer examining nearly 200 scriptures that are used by some for this nefarious purpose. And do you know how many scriptures I found that said those who are saved might yet become unsaved? None. Not one.

In the coming weeks I plan to look at some of the scriptures that have been misused to preach insecurity to the secure, but for now I hope you will agree that there is nothing in 1 Timothy 1 that hints at eternal condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. Agreed? Got your boat back in the water? Good. Let’s press on.Hymenaeus and Alexander

Among them are Hymenaeus and Alexander, whom I have handed over to Satan to be taught not to blaspheme. (1 Tim 1:20)

What do we know about these two guys Paul handed over to Satan? We know they were part of a group of false teachers (i) who were promoting controversies rather than God’s work – which is by faith (v.4) and (ii) they saw themselves as teachers of the law (v.7).

Ask the right questions and you will begin to understand what happened.

-    How do we preach law? By telling people they need to work for salvation/sanctification, etc.
-    What is the purpose of the law? Its purpose is to condemn us.
-    What had happened to these law-teachers? Their consciences became condemned.
-    What was the result of their ministry? God’s finished work was not being preached and faith was being shipwrecked.

Here’s the story as I see it. After Paul, the apostle of grace, left Ephesus, false teachers arose from among their own number and began preaching law. They might have been Judaizers with circumcision knives or they might’ve preached the Ten Commandments or they might even have preached the commands of Jesus.

The point is not what sort of law they were preaching, but their improper application of it. Paul said “the law is good if one uses it properly (but) they do not know what they are talking about or what they so confidently affirm” (vv.7-8).

In any case, the outcome was they were distracting themselves and their hearers from “God’s work – which is by faith” (v.4).

Paul said Hymenaeus and Alexander were blasphemers. To blaspheme is to slander or speak falsely of someone. It’s saying, “The blood of Jesus doesn’t avail for me.” (It does!) It’s saying, “Jesus needs my help.” (He doesn’t!) “The Holy Spirit is convicting me of sin.” (He isn’t!) “God will not finish what he begun.” (He will!) “I can sin my way out of his grace.” (You can’t.) This sort of teaching promotes controversy and distracts people from trusting in God’s finished work.

Fight the good fight

I hope you understand that when it comes to saving you and making you acceptable to God, Jesus did it all and his perfect work cannot be improved upon. This is the gospel truth and it is worth fighting for! I am not talking about fighting people but demolishing arguments and taking captive every thought that is opposed to Christ. Usually this is a battle waged inside our own minds.

Here, then, is how you fight the good fight.

If your conscience condemns you as a sinner (Christ died for sinners!) or unworthy of grace (grace is for the unworthy!), the remedy is not to try and clean yourself and make yourself acceptable. That way lies disaster and shipwreck. The only cure for a guilty conscience is the cleansing blood of Jesus (Heb 10:22). So look to Jesus, see the cross and the empty tomb, and believe the good news. Jesus has done it all!

If someone uses the mirror of the law to point out your imperfections, don’t cast off your good conscience but fix your eyes on Jesus and his glorious perfections. You are one with the Lord and as he is so are you in this world (1 Jn 4:17)!

And the next time someone says, “You’re not good enough for God and you need to work to improve yourself,” tell them, “I am one with Christ and he is good enough for God, his work is finished, and in him I have found my eternal rest!”

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Related posts:
- Fear and trembling
- John 15:6 – Abiding in the vine
- Forsaking your first love: What was the Ephesian’s problem?

This is an important question. You need to have a good answer to this question. Why? Because your answer reveals much about your faith and security. It reveals whether you are walking in grace or under condemnation.

For instance, if you think God is judging your behavior to see whether you merit his unmerited favor, you’re basically saying, “I don’t trust Jesus to finish what he started. Sure, I thank God for grace, but now I have to prove that I was a worthy investment.” Those who think like this fear God’s displeasure, and rightly so. After all, why would God be pleased with anyone who says, “I don’t trust Jesus”?

I’ve had people tell me, “I walk in the love and the fear of God,” by which they mean, “God is scary and will only accept me if I endure and overcome and obey and do all the other things the Bible says.” Or they say, “God qualifies me, but I can disqualify myself through sin, doubt, or insufficient repentance. A holy fear of a bookkeeping God keeps me on the straight and narrow.”

Statements like these sound pious but they’re faithless. They belie a confidence in the flesh that insults the spirit of grace.

This is not the time to get into all those great scriptures about abiding, endurance, and obedience – I’ll get to those later. For now, let me echo something John said: fear and love don’t mix:

There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love. (1 John 4:18)

If you fear the punishment or chastisement of God, then love has not had it’s perfect work in you. Look again to the cross. See the finished work. If God loved you and did all that for you while you were a sinner, what won’t he do for you now that you have come home? God is for you, not against you.

Of course, not every Christian is afraid of God. If you count yourself among the fearless, let me ask you this question: What is the fear of the Lord?

If you are like me, you’ll probably say, “To fear God is to worship him. It’s to give him the reverence and honor due his name.” This sort of fear has nothing to do with pain and punishment but is a proper response to a God who is holy, righteous, awesome, and good.

I’m not saying that God isn’t scary and that his enemies shouldn’t be afraid. But if you’re not his enemy then you have nothing to fear. (See Luke 12:32, Rom 8:15, and Rev 1:17 if you need proof.) If you know God as your heavenly father, then understand that the fear of Lord is not cowering before his smiting hand; it’s trembling before his eternal goodness.

Demonic fear would have you flee and beg the mountains to fall on top of you. But true, Biblical fear is where you fall in breathless adoration, marveling at God’s goodness and love.

“To fear God is to worship him”

Perhaps you’ve heard people say this, but do you know where this idea comes from? It comes from Jesus. Remember how he quoted scripture to silence the devil in the wilderness? Well let’s compare what Jesus said with the actual scripture he quoted. See if you can spot the difference:

What Jesus said: “It is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only.” (Mat 4:10)
The original text: “Fear the Lord your God and serve him only.” (Deu 6:13)

Did you spot the difference? Moses said, “Fear God,” which Jesus interpreted as, “Worship him.” (I am grateful to Joseph Prince for pointing this out in his book, Unmerited Favor.) Whenever you read an exhortation to “fear the Lord” in the Bible, you can rightly interpret it as “worship the Lord.” Jesus gives you permission.

“But Paul, ‘through the fear of the Lord, men depart from evil.’ It’s only the fear of punishment that stops people from sinning.”

Hey, that’s great advice when dealing with three-year olds – or stubborn Israelites. The fear of punishment can be a great motivator. It was used during the old covenant to keep people in line. Back then, if you didn’t keep the rules, you got whacked. This is why that covenant is known as a death-dealing ministry (2 Cor 3:7). Its purpose is to kill you – or at least kill your confidence in your own abilities so that you might see your need for Jesus (Gal 3:24).

But the good news is that in Christ you have died (Col 3:3). You don’t need to be killed any more. Your old self is in the grave. (Thank God for that!) Now that you have been raised with Christ you are free to live loved and live fearlessly.

Fear and love don’t mix

Fear has no place in a healthy, loving relationship. It’s important that you get this. You can’t balance fear and love. They are like light and dark. You cannot have a part of your heart shouting, “I love you Lord” while another part whispers, “but I’m afraid of you.” Why not? Because you will never give yourself wholly to someone you’re afraid of.

Your heavenly Father loves you more than you know. It grieves him when you hold back because you are uncertain of his love. And it breaks his heart when you shrink back because you think he’s going to hit you. Maybe your natural father did that but your heavenly Father never will. He loves you so much he died for you and now he lives for you. He longs for you to receive his undiluted love.

Fear not

If you ever hear a sermon or a message that leaves you fearful and uncertain of the Father’s love, reject it! The words may be from the Bible, but the spirit behind it is not from the Lord. God has not given us a spirit of fear and intimidation (2 Tim 1:7). Rather, he has poured his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit (Rom 5:5). The Holy Spirit will always seek to remind you that you are God’s dearly loved child.

“Sure, Paul, I get that. I know God loves everyone.”

Not just everyone; He loves you. You need to make this personal. You need to see yourself as the apple of your Father’s eye.

I encourage you to get into the habit of agreeing with the Holy Spirit. Tell yourself every day, “God loves me and there’s nothing I can do to make him love me any more or any less.” And as the love of God roots and buds in your heart, it will drive out fear. The oft-repeated phrase “Fear not” will become real to you. You won’t fear failure, you won’t fear men, you won’t fear death, and you certainly won’t fear your loving Father.

Unbelievers fear, but the sons of God are fearless. The wicked flee when none pursue but the righteous are as bold as a lion.

But from everlasting to everlasting the Lord’s love is with those who fear him. (Psa 103:17)

Only those who are secure in the everlasting love of the Lord know what it is to truly fear the Lord. It is to see him as he truly is and respond with awe-struck adoration. It is to tremble in his presence knowing he is surely good, he is surely supreme, and he surely loves me.

—
Related links:
- What if I disappoint God?
- 10 myths about the ministry of the Holy Spirit
- Is God’s love unconditional? 7 reasons to say “Yes!”

“Look, honey, the odometer’s about to roll over to 100,000.0!”
“Sweetie, I really think you should keep your eyes on the road.”
“Look! Look! There! Oh, you missed it.”
“And you barely missed a kid in a wheelchair.”

I don’t know if a million page views means anything. No doubt some of those hits were from Google bots and travel agents. (Apparently, “Escape to Reality” is a phrase that comes up a lot in the travel industry.) But this does seem an opportune moment to reflect and say three things.

1. Thank you!

Thanks for reading what I write. Writers love to have their words read, so thank you, from the bottom of my feet!

I might say that when I started this blog, I never dreamed we’d get to a million hits, but that’s not true. I had very big dreams back then. I remember sitting down to pray and feeling impressed to pray for a target. A big number came to my mind, something I thought impossible to attain, and that’s what I prayed for. We haven’t hit that target yet, but we’re well on our way.

I also prayed that God would use this message of grace to set many people free and he has. Some of you have told me that you would literally be dead if you had not encountered the good news of God’s love on these pages, and that just blows me away. The gospel is literally a life-saving message!

One thing I didn’t see coming was the large number of senior citizens who have responded to grace. I regularly hear from people in their 70s and 80s telling me how their feet are now dancing to the joyful rhythms of grace. This so blesses me because for ten years in Hong Kong we prayed for old folks to come in to the church and none did. But now they’re running in to the House of Grace. How cool is that! You’re never too old to have a joyful childhood.

2. E2R Facelift

You may have noticed the website has had a bit of a make-over recently. This was my Christmas project and it’s nearly complete.

One change that I am super-pleased with is the Search box in the top-right corner of the website. It actually works! For instance, if you enter 1 John 1:9 into the search box and click “Search,” you’ll get links to the 13 posts where that verse is discussed. Type “Spurgeon” and you’ll get a list of 14 posts where the Prince of Preachers is mentioned.

Readers have been telling me for ages that the archives are hard to navigate. No more! If you can’t find what you’re looking for in the subject index or the archives, try the search box. It works! It works! It works!

3. How to get more out of E2R

A week ago I published a post entitled “Is God Sovereign?” Underneath this post you will now find 100+ comments consisting of questions, observations, and outright disagreements. Readers often tell me they value these discussion threads as much as the posts themselves and I can understand why. They are full of life – hurts and hopes, joy and pain, revelation and incredulity. So keep those comments coming. They help keep it real.

However, I am aware that as E2R gains visibility it will attract more attention from critics and stone-throwers. I am not referring to people with a different point of view but those with an agenda to manipulate, condemn, and bind people.

I’m a believer in free speech, but I’m increasingly having to delete comments that are inappropriate. This past week I received about 150 comments for moderation and I had to delete about five for being inflammatory (some folks get outraged when you tell them God doesn’t make people sick) and another five or so because they were otherwise against the rules (eg: shameless advertising, rants that had nothing to do with the post being discussed, etc.).

I know it’s the pits to submit a comment or a question and hear nothing back. It makes you feel unimportant and you’re not. Christ died for you! You’re a treasure in his eyes and mine (2 Cor 5:16).

So to help make the ride more fun for you, I want to take you behind the scenes and give you an inside look at the world I inhabit. Ooooh, this should be fun…

A glimpse behind the magic of E2R

• I love hearing from readers but I receive more comments, emails, messages, questions, etc., than I can possibly respond to. If you send me a message, know that I will read it and I will try to respond if I can. But if I don’t respond it doesn’t mean you or your message are unimportant. It probably means I’m swamped or I’m playing with my kids. Family comes first and this year I plan to spend even more time with my children. (They grow so fast!)

• If you get a short response from me, it doesn’t mean I am being short with you. Just brief. It’s a coping mechanism. (Most of my phone-calls are less than 30 seconds long. I’m not joking.) Of course this is not ideal when we are talking about weighty issues, so please have grace for me. Know that I would love to sit and have coffee with you and would if I could.

• I tend not to read long messages all the way through. This has got me in trouble in the past and will no doubt get me in trouble again. In the interests of avoiding trouble, please only send me short messages.

• When I respond to your problem with, “Ask your Father,” or “Ask the Holy Spirit,” I am not being dismissive. I genuinely believe the Holy Spirit is the greatest teacher in the universe. I will do everything I can to encourage you to lean on him instead of me. I am always happy to help but I am not The Answer Guy. I will disappoint you eventually; he never will.

• If you put something I write on your Facebook wall or send it to your pastor and it attracts a lot of criticism, don’t ask me to weigh in for you. I will not join your thread, write to your pastor, or attempt to explain things to your friends. I’m sorry to be blunt, but I’ve got more than enough battles of my own – and most of those I don’t fight anyway.

• I sometimes write posts in response to reader’s questions but I do not take requests. So please don’t ask me to write a post on tithing or gay Christians or the meaning of the candlesticks in the tabernacle. I think most of your questions are brilliant and valid but I cannot afford to live in reaction to the requests of men. It’ll suck the life right out of me.

• Finally, and just so there’s no confusion, I love questions! Questions are healthy so feel free to ask them either in discussion threads under the relevant post or on E2R’s Facebook page – just don’t direct them to me personally.

Don’t say: “Paul, what do you think…” as this excludes others from responding.
Do say: “Does anyone have any insight into…” as this invites others to contribute.

Understand that E2R readers are an amazing bunch of people who love to help others and many of them have far more wisdom than I.

Thanks again for sharing this journey with me. Some call it a grace walk but these past few years have felt like a fun run, a grace race if you like. Look how far we’ve come!

May the amazing grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the extravagant love of the Father, and the intimate friendship of the Holy Spirit, be with you all!

Paul

Some time ago I wrote that God loves us unconditionally, that contrary to what some scriptures say, God is not a jealous God. How dare I contradict the written word? Well, I’ve met the Living Word and I can tell you that Jesus is the very picture of love and grace.

However, the concept of a jealous God is hard to shake. We’ve heard so many times that he loves us with a jealous love that it begins to sound true, even though it’s not. In fact, jealous, clinging love is about as far from agape-love that you can get.

Recently, a reader suggested I take a look at this verse in James:

Or do you think Scripture says without reason that the spirit he caused to live in us envies intensely? (Jas 4:5)

This verse seems to suggest that the Holy Spirit within us envies us, that he doesn’t like it when we become friends with the world. In fact, he considers that to be adulterous behavior. So watch yourself, says James, because “friendship with the world is hatred toward God” (Jas 4:4a).

That sounds bad. But wait, it gets worse!

“Anyone who becomes a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God” (Jas 4:4b).

I’ll admit, if you don’t know what makes the new covenant new, then this passage in James 4 will paint a scary scripture. But it’s actually good news – fantastically, wonderfully good news! – as we shall see.

The trouble with James 4:5

In fairness, James 4:5 is one of the strangest scriptures in the Bible. For starters, James says he is quoting scripture, but which one? Nobody knows. It’s a mystery theologians have been debating for centuries. But that’s not important right now.

What is important is that many people conclude from this verse that God watches us with the intense envy of an insecure lover. He watches to make sure we stay faithful and true. This is why we must not become friendly with the world. Love the world and you become God’s enemy. He will smite you.

Or so the argument goes.

Let’s leave aside for the moment the meaning of the words friend (it has to do with covenantal unity) and world (it has to do with that part of the world under Satan’s influence) and focus on the word envy. Is it true that God envies intensely? And if so, what does that say about God?

What is envy?

Envy is when you want what someone else has and you resent them for having it. It sounds bad and it is. Don’t let anyone tell you there is any such thing as “godly envy.” That’s ridiculous. Since envy is one of the so-called seven deadly sins, we might just as well speak about “godly gluttony.”

[Insert Homer Simpson voice here: “Mmmm… gluttony.”]

Even so, I know there are people reading this who are itching to correct me. They want to tell me that envy only seems wrong from our sinful human perspective, that when God does it, it’s alright. They’ll say, “Godly envy is okay.”

Oh really?

Then I guess we can talk about godly fornication, godly witchcraft, godly idolatry, and godly murder for these are all works of the flesh along with envy (see Gal 5:19-21). Paul says that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.

Hmm. Does that mean an envious God is excluded from his own kingdom?

This is really not a difficult scripture. God does not have an envy problem. How do I know? Because God is love and “love does not envy” (1 Cor 13:4).

So why does James say the Holy Spirit envies intensely?

He doesn’t! James is not talking about the Holy Spirit at all. He’s talking about the spirit within man. You are a spiritual being. You have a spirit. If your spirit is not one with the Holy Spirit – if you are alienated from God – then you have a big problem. And one symptom of that problem is envy.

Try and live apart from God and you will die. We’re not designed for independence but relationship. We were made to receive and give love. This is why those who aren’t satisfied by the love of God tend to be dissatisfied in life – they are inclined to envy. Remember, envy is when you want what you don’t have.

This is how James describes the problem:

You want something but don’t get it. You kill and covet, but you cannot have what you want. You quarrel and fight. You do not have, because you do not ask God. (Jas 4:2)

Some people are too proud to ask God for anything. They’d rather do it all themselves. Or they ask but with wrong motives. “If you do this for me God, I’ll do that for you. Deal?” Such pride is a recipe for disaster for “God opposes the proud” (Jas 4:6).

Envy is a symptom that something is wrong.

James is basically saying, if you’re not resting in God, you’ll be restless. If you’re not content with God, you’ll be discontented with man. You will fight and quarrel and covet and want what you don’t have.

I appreciate that many theologians would disagree with me – they would argue that James is referring to the Holy Spirit – so let me give you seven quick reasons why he’s not.

7 reasons why James 4:5 is not describing the character of God

1.    In the preceding 4 verses, James is listing humanity’s problems: “You kill, you covet, you quarrel, you fight.” He’s not talking about God but people.
2.    James uses the word “spirit” twice in his letter. In James 2:26 he refers to the spirit of man. Same here.
3.    God, by nature, cannot envy (see 1 Cor 13:4).
4.    Envy is a work of fallen flesh (Gal 5:19-21).
5.    Envy (phthonos) is mentioned 9 other times in the New Testament. On every other occasion envy is considered evil, something to be rid of (2 Pet 2:1). God has no evil traits that he needs to be rid of.
6.    James, like Paul, is an apostle of grace. Since grace can only be received by the needy, James is pointing out our need, not God’s insecurities (he doesn’t have any).
7.    Spurgeon says so.

Of James 4:5, Spurgeon has said:

There is a spirit, resident in the natural man, the human nature of man, which is always inclined toward hate and envy, always wanting to get somewhat from other men, and always grieved if other men seem to be or to have more than the person himself has.

Spurgeon goes on to ask: “How is this spirit to be met?” James supplies the answer in the next verse.

But he gives us more grace. (Jas 4:6)

Pow! And now we come to the good bit.

The cure for what ails you

There is only one cure for fallen humanity and it is not fear and intimidation dished out by the guilt-shovelers. It is the supernatural, transforming grace of God. What can turn a sinner into a saint? Grace alone. What can settle a restless heart? Grace alone. What is the remedy for hate and strife and discord and envy? Grace alone.

“But James, I’m terrified that God is not pleased with me, that I’m not doing enough.”
“You need more grace!” says James.

“But James, I’m so restless, I’m so hungry, I’m so thirsty.”
“You need more grace!” says James.

“But James, there’s a lot of politics at church right now. Everyone’s bickering and taking sides.”
“You all need more grace!” says James.

God is not sitting in heaven doling out big green dollops of envy juice! He is sitting on the throne of grace lavishing the riches of his grace upon all who need it. Receive it! When you receive his grace, it’ll free you from discontentment, rivalry, insecurity, resentment, and all the other symptoms of lonely, loveless existence. God’s grace is the cure for a sick and envying world.
—
Related posts:
- God doesn’t change: we do
- God is good but how good is he?
- Forsaking your first love: What was the Ephesians’ problem?

When I heard this I was too stunned to speak, but my friend was just getting warmed up. “I guess I’m a lot like Job who suffered at God’s hand. At least I can say, ‘God gives and God takes away, blessed be the name of the Lord.’”

Well, isn’t that just swell?

As I have explained elsewhere, Job was wrong about God being a thief and a killer. Judging by the reaction that post stirred you’d think I was a heretic, but I was merely repeating something Jesus said (John 10:10) and Paul said (Rom 11:29).

Today I want to go a little further and address three lies or half-truths that may need to be rooted out of your belief-set.

Lie #1: “God is in control”

There is perhaps no more damaging lie than the belief that God is in control of everything and that he is the reason everything happens. You hear stuff like this all time:

“I got cancer but God is sovereign. He permitted this to happen to teach me something.”
“God took my baby. I guess he needed another angel in heaven.”
“I lost my job. Perhaps God took it because I was enjoying it too much.”

Statements like these are ignorant. How many people did Jesus give cancer to? How many people did he rob or kill? Jesus did none of these things yet some think his Father does them on a regular basis. Jesus went around healing the sick, raising the dead, and preaching good news to the poor. If God were making people poor, sick, or dead, then the Father and the Son are a house divided. But he isn’t and they’re not.

If God was in control of everything, then he would be responsible for all the evil in our world – all the wars, killings, disease and destruction. But contrary to what some misguided souls in the Old Testament might claim, God is not the author of evil. In him there is no shadow at all.

The Bible never says God is in control. Instead, it says stuff like this:

We know that we are children of God, and that the whole world is under the control of the evil one. (1 Jn 5:19)

Much of the world is under the influence of evil. It remains captive to what the New Testament writers called “the power of darkness.” Yes, Satan was defeated and disarmed at the cross, but his influence persists wherever the light of the gospel is not seen.

The problem with thinking “God is in control” is it makes us passive spectators in the ride of life. We’ll just sit there and take whatever life hands us saying, “C’est la vie. God is in control. It’ll work out.” Can you imagine how short the New Testament would be if Jesus and the apostles believed that?

The truth is that God is not in control of everything. The good news is that his sphere of influence increases as we, his children, shine in a dark world. He has given us his authority to resist the devil and his evil influence. We have been empowered to heal the sick, raise the dead, drive out demons and otherwise reveal the gospel of his kingdom in dark places.

Lie #2: “God is sovereign”

My bankrupt friend wrote off his loss saying, “God is sovereign.” In other words, it was God’s divine and mysterious will for him to lose all his money. He was not saying “God is king” – no argument there. He was saying, “Everything that happens is God’s will.” Again, this is simply not true. Consider the following:

-    It was not God’s will for Adam to eat from the forbidden tree (Gen 2:17), but Adam ate
-    God is not willing that any perish (2 Pet 3:9), yet people perish
-    God commands all people everywhere to repent (Acts 17:30), yet many don’t

You don’t have to read more than three chapters into the Bible to realize that Almighty God, the Supreme Ruler of all, does not always get what he wants. How is this possible? This verse explains it:

The highest heavens belong to the Lord, but the earth he has given to man.  (Psalms 115:16)

God is Lord of the universe but we are little lords of our own little worlds. This is God’s gift to us – the freedom to choose how we live. The problem is, we often make choices contrary to God’s will.

Why do you think Jesus taught us to pray “Let your will be done on earth as it is in heaven”?

The “God is sovereign” mantra is trotted out nearly every time something bad happens but it’s just not true. The word “sovereign” is not even in the Bible! (If you don’t believe me, read this article by Andrew Wommack.)

The truth is that God is not sovereign in the sense that he always gets what he wants. Fact is, his will is not always done. The good news is that he will write the final chapter of human history and for those who trust him all things will work out for good. And the really good news is that we can walk in the will of God here and now with the aid of the Holy Spirit. It’s the best way to live.

Lie #3: “God could’ve stopped this from happening but he didn’t”

A boy takes a loaded gun to school and God doesn’t stop him. An earthquake flattens a city and God apparently does nothing. What kind of God is this?!

The “God could’ve stopped this but didn’t” chestnut is another way of saying, “This bad thing is God’s fault. He allowed it to happen.”

Like all the lies on this page, there’s a measure of truth behind this. Everything that happens happens because God gave us the freedom to do what we like, even the freedom to hate him, kill our brothers, and then blame him for what we did. Of course, we look like fools when we do this. We look like Adam who blamed God for giving him a woman who led him into sin (Gen 3:12).

Most of us are masters at assigning blame. When something bad happens we blame our genes, our parents, our spouses, or our kids. We blame the government, the system, immigrants, Communists, so we might as well go the whole hog and blame God. “I got sick. God allowed this to happen. God is at fault.”

Jesus, on the other hand, never blamed anyone. He just took responsibility for other people’s messes and fixed them.

Believe that lie that God is behind everything that happens and you’ll end up in the ash heap of life licking your wounds and examining your navel like a perplexed Job. You’ll bend over whenever the devil wants to kick you. Who wants to live like that?

The truth is God doesn’t always stop bad things from happening. The good news is that sometimes you can. You can bring the weight of his purposes to bear on your circumstances simply by trusting in him. You can walk through the valley of the shadow of death without fear knowing that he is with you. Life doesn’t have the last word when you’re walking in the spirit.

A simple test

To see how well you are getting this, ask yourself this question: Which of the following two Jesuses is found the Bible?

•    Jesus #1 sat around powerless, making excuses and doing nothing to help those who had been made sick by God
•    Jesus #2 went around in the power of the Spirit doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil

Hopefully you know the second Jesus is true (see Acts 10:38). Yet many of us look more like the first Jesus. We’re not walking in the power of the spirit, we’re not doing good, and we’re not healing the sick. But that’s okay because we have a long list of reasons justifying our uselessness. Chief among these reasons is, “God is in control. It’s his fault, not ours.”

I don’t write this to condemn you – we’re all learning here – but to make you angry at Satan’s lies. James said “resist the devil and he will flee from you.” It really is that simple. We resist, he flees. But we won’t resist if we think God is doing the devil’s work and making us sick, killing our kids, and robbing us blind.

God is not making you sick and poor! He is not the reason you lost your money, your job, your marriage, or your kids. These are the tragedies of a life cursed by Adam’s sin. But the good news is that one greater than Adam has come and he has given you authority to proclaim the good news of his kingship to all creation.

•    Are you sick? Talk to your sickness about Jesus by whose stripes you are healed (1 Pet 2:24).
•    Are you poor? Talk to your bank account about your rich King who became poor so that through his poverty you might become rich (2 Cor 8:9).
•    Have you been robbed, discouraged, and beaten by life? Then be like David and strengthen yourself in the Lord your mighty God (1 Sam 30:6).

Why did Jesus come? Did he come to help us understand why God never lifts a finger to help? No! Jesus came to destroy the works of the devil (1 John 3:8). In his name go and do likewise.

—
Related posts:
- Which Jesus are you trusting?
- Where was God in the Connecticut school shooting?
- The Christchurch earthquake: 4 questions Christians can answer

I keep bumping into people who had a horrible year. They say things like, “2012 was my annus horribilis. I’ll be glad when it’s over.” I feel for such people because, for me, 2012 was a ripper of a year. I had a baby. Or rather, I wrote a book.

If you’re a writer you’ll understand me when I say that that book had to come out. It was burning within me and if I didn’t get it out, I would’ve burst.

But it’s out now, and I feel fine. Thanks for asking.

In these fading moments of 2012, I’d like to take a look back at some of the posts I wrote here on E2R and pick a few of my favorites. The posts below are not necessarily the most popular, the best or the prettiest. But for reasons I will explain, I liked them the most.

Paul’s top 12 of 2012

The other reason for the season: This was my Christmas post from last year and I like it a lot. It’s the best post I’ve written on the subject of donkeys and eagles, oxen and doves! To say Jesus is the reason for the season is only half the story. Why did Jesus come? The answer to that is the true reason for the season. It makes me blush to think that I am the pearl of great price in Jesus’ eyes. So are you.

Five ways Jesus revealed grace: This is definitely an area where I plan to dig deeper in the coming year. We say, “Jesus came full of grace and truth” and he certainly showed that when he died for our sins. But Jesus revealed grace many other ways as well.

Is Adam greater than Jesus? For about a month I was distracted by those who preach the historical reconciliation of humanity with God. I felt I needed to examine the scriptures and see if there was any merit to their claims. I found nothing but half-verses stitched together to create a picture far less grand than the one Paul gave us in Romans 5. I wrote a whole series and you’re interested, start with this post.

The top 12 verses on the new covenant: I love lists but had relatively few this year. This was my favorite.

What is holiness? (It’s better than you think!) Another word redeemed from the distorted dictionary of performance-based Christianity.

Is forgiveness something God does or gives? One of the most important scriptures in the new covenant is Luke 24:46-47. Back from the dead, the first thing Jesus says is this: forgiveness is a gift. When I saw this, I was floored. After the resurrection, Jesus changed his message. He no longer preached forgiveness as something to be earned because the old covenant had just ended. From now on, he said, forgiveness is a gift. And he should know – he paid for it with his blood.

The end of the slave trade: The world is run like a slave market – you sell your labor or skills for money. You no play, you no eat. Such thinking inevitably taints our view of the kingdom. You sometimes see it in the way the church honors those who perform well and crucifies those who don’t. It’s appalling and I hate it. It doesn’t have to be this way. Let me tell you about the gospel of acceptance.

What if I disappoint God? Don’t worry. You can’t.

Is Christ the end of the law for you? I’m a frustrated artist but occasionally I am able to convey a big thought in a simple picture. This was one of the rare occasions. (Don’t get your hopes up. It’s just a box. But what a box!)

The Cure (book review): I read a lot of good books this year, but The Cure was the most surprising, the most refreshing, and one of the most original. I highly recommend it.

An open-letter to hot-blooded young men: Boy, did this one start a fire, or rather a flood – of emails and private messages mostly from hot-blooded young men. If I thought writing one open letter for all of them would reduce my correspondence, I was wrong.

Where was God in the Connecticut school shooting? I didn’t want to write this post, I really didn’t. But someone asked me what I thought about the shooting and I often don’t know what I think until I see it written down. Even then I didn’t want to post what I had written because I don’t like to write in reaction to things. I’d rather live in reaction to the Holy Spirit. But then I thought, “This might help someone,” and evidently it did so, hey, as long as my Father comes out looking good I’m happy.

So those are my top posts of the year. Which one was your favorite?

About 2000 Christmasses ago, an angel delivered an important message:

“I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people.” (Luke 2:10)

What is this good news that will bring great joy for all people? Most people have no idea. As a result they are joyless and restless. Instead of drawing with joy from the wells of salvation, they are baking bricks in the pits of D.I.Y. religion.

The gospel is not the first four books in the New Testament. It’s not the red letters of Jesus, nor is it God’s holy law. And it certainly isn’t the exhortation to turn or burn.

So what is the gospel?

I answer that question in my new ebook, Out of the Jungle: Why the Good News May Be the Best News you Never Heard! In this short book I contrast the liberating gospel of Jesus Christ with the death-dealing counterfeits of manmade religion. I compare the short and sweet gospels of the apostles with the condemning ministry of rules and tradition.

If you are not 100% certain why the good news is good, you need read this book.

Paul, did you just write another book?

No – Out of the Jungle is the 5000 word prologue from my book The Gospel in Ten Words. If you have read that book, then you’ve already read this book. But if you haven’t read The Gospel in Ten Words and want some good news this Christmas, then get yourself a copy of Out of the Jungle.

It’s completely free!

Between now and Christmas you can download Out of the Jungle on Kindle for free. So get yourself a free copy and tell all your friends.

But I don’t own a Kindle!

No problem! You can download a free Kindle reading app for your PC, Mac, tablet, iPhone or Blackberry from here.

Don’t forget – the free Kindle offer runs out at Christmas. So download Out of the Jungle today.

Happy Christmas!

For a grieving parent, these are normal questions. When you have suffered the greatest loss any human can suffer it is perfectly understandable to scream, Why??? Death is awful. It is an enemy. I hate it and God hates it.

I hesitate to write this because many are using this latest tragedy as an opportunity to grandstand and advance their particular causes. We need fewer guns. We need more prayer. We need to turn back to God and stop abortions.

Causes have their place but in a week when families are burying their children, this is not the time. But the questions aren’t going away.  Loud men with agendas are shouting at us. God is judging America! We need to repent! We need to legislate the kingdom of God into existence!

So how should we respond to these loud men?

Well I usually respond to foolishness by ignoring it. But this morning someone “new to grace teaching” wrote to me and asked for my opinion. So here it is:

1. Is God judging America?

No.

Anyone who tells you otherwise is unacquainted with the gospel. The sins of America, along with the sins of every other nation, were judged at the cross. If Christ’s death was a sufficient sacrifice for our sins – and it was (see Heb. 10:12) – then God cannot judge America for her sins. It would be unjust for God to judge the same sin twice.

(What of Judgment Day? That’s when we’ll reap the eternal consequences of our choice to trust or reject Christ and his perfect sacrifice.)

When an earthquake flattened my hometown last year, some said God was judging Christchurch for its sins. Well by that logic God should have wiped America off the face of the map because the sins of a city are few in comparison to the sins of a superpower. I’ll say now what I said then: The cross – not earthquakes (or massacres) – is God’s remedy for sin.

The sins of America were forgiven or done away with long before the Mayflower Pilgrims landed at Plymouth Rock (see Heb 9:26). Sin certainly has destructive consequences, as we have just seen in Connecticut, but divine judgment is not one of them (see Is. 54:9-10). Jesus is the Prince of Peace.

2. Whose fault was it?

Not God’s.

The highest heavens belong to the Lord, but the earth he has given to man. (Psa 115:16)

God gave us this planet and we are responsible for much of what happens. Who first sinned and opened the door to death? It wasn’t God and it wasn’t Satan. It was one of us (Rom 5:12).

Some are now saying that we let Satan into our schools when we took the prayer out. Actually, Satan’s been messing with us a lot longer than that. His evil influence goes all the way back to the Garden. But Satan could not have influenced us if we had not listened to his lies.

The blame game isn’t helpful, but if you must point the finger, blame Adam, whose decision to reject God brought death to us all, or blame his offspring, who built a civilization on violence (Gen 6:13).

3. What did we do to deserve this?

Nothing.

When bad things happen we tend to wonder, What did I do to deserve this? Understand that this is the flesh talking. It’s Job sitting in the ashes examining his navel for unconfessed sin. I’m pretty sure I’ve been good, yet I’ve lost everything so maybe I wasn’t. But I’m sure I was. I don’t know what to think!

The flesh is a score-keeper. When good things happen, it’s because we’ve been good. So when bad things happen, we must’ve been bad. Some call it karma but like all manmade religion it is fruit from the tree of knowledge of good and evil.

Two-thousand years ago a tower collapsed killing eighteen people. This tragedy led Jesus to pose a question to the religious-minded folk of his day, “Do you think those who died were more guilty than all the others living in Jerusalem? I tell you, no!” (Luk 13:4-5).

Sometimes people die because they are in the wrong place at the wrong time. Had those 20 children done anything deserving of death? Of course not. There is no lesson here. No moral. No “avoid this next time.” All we can take from this, said Jesus, is that death comes to us all. So repent, and come to him for new life!

4.  Why didn’t God stop this from happening?

He couldn’t – not without violating us.

I know this will come as something of a shock, but God doesn’t always get what he wants. He is not willing that any perish, yet people perish. God could intervene but he restrains himself on account of love.

Consider: The greatest massacre in history happened when Adam ate from the forbidden tree. Adam’s act condemned the human race to death and God did nothing to stop it. Was it God’s will for Adam to eat? No. Yet Adam ate.  Was it God’s will for Adam Lanza to go to that school? No. Yet Adam went.

Free will is a powerful thing! With it we can choose life or death and Almighty God won’t stop us. In giving us the freedom to choose knowing that he would have to come and die to remedy our choices, God was saying that he would rather die than live without us.

At funerals this week mourners may hear that God gives and takes away but it’s just not true. God gives without ever changing his mind (Rom 11:29).

5. Has God left the building?

No.

The question, “Where was God?” implies that God is not here. He skipped town when we stopped prayer in schools or when the Supreme Court decided Roe vs. Wade. “We’re sinners and God doesn’t want anything to do with us.” Such thinking usually leads to a long list of things we must do to fix the problem.

What a deception! God did not leave us; we left him. “Adam, where are you?” (Gen 3:9).

God didn’t reject Adam; Adam rejected God. Even after Adam and Eve were evicted from the Garden God went with them – he didn’t abandon them. We know this because their kids were familiar with God’s voice.

The story of our species is one of unrequited love. God made us for love but we spurned him. Since then he has waited for the prodigal to come to his senses and return home.

6. How should we respond?

With love and grace.

This tragedy in Connecticut did not happen because God stopped loving us or caring for us. Neither did it happen because our religious performance is not what it could be. It happened because a certain individual made an awful choice.

What should we do in response? This week we should weep with those who weep and mourn with those who mourn. We should ache and hurt and cry because the world is a place where children die from bullets and poverty. We should pray for the families of Charlotte Bacon, Daniel Barden, Rachel D’Avino, Olivia Engel, Josephine Gay, Dylan Hockley, Dawn Lafferty Hochsprung, Madeleine Hsu, Catherine Hubbard, Chase Kowalski, Nancy Lanza, Jesse Lewis, Ana Marquez-Greene, James Mattioli, Grace McDonnell, Anne Marie Murphy, Emilie Parker, Jack Pinto, Noah Pozner, Caroline Previdi, Jessica Rekos, Avielle Richman, Lauren Rousseau, Mary Sherlach, Victoria Soto, Benjamin Wheeler, and Allison Wyatt. Pray that in this dark night they might somehow know the comfort of God.

And when the time of mourning has passed we should get up and carry on with the one and only task Jesus has given us – that of proclaiming the good news of his kingdom. We should provide a broken world with a prophetic picture of the age to come – the age where justice reigns and heaven and earth are one. Darkness only persists because the light does not shine, so shine.

The answer to violence is not to stick the Ten Commandments back in the courthouses or build higher walls. For the children of God, these are inferior choices. What this sick and dying world needs most is a revelation of God with us.

God is not opposed to us. He loves us warts and all. While we were sinners he died for us and he now lives for us. What America and every other nation needs is a revelation of God’s limitless love. They need to see Jesus.

—
Related posts:
- Does God use correction fluid?
- 1 Peter 4:17 – It’s judgment time!
- Forsaking your first love: What was the Ephesian’s problem?

Slavery is evil. There will be no slavery in the age to come and if we are to be a prophetic people, our job is to make what is true there, true here.

I’ve just finished reading Brian Zahnd’s book Beauty Will Save the World. In this gem of a book Zahnd says many things that’ll make you think, including this:

We need to seriously discuss among ourselves what the world will look like when the end of the age arrives and Jesus “hands over the kingdom to God the father, after he has destroyed every ruler and every authority and power.”… What we are to do is anticipate the future by living that way now! To do this we need to ask ourselves things like: What will be abolished? What will be maintained? What will be restored? p.141

Zahnd makes the point that the church today should be a preview of what is to come. Society should be able to look at us to get an idea of where we are headed. I totally agree. There is no slavery in the age to come so there should be no slavery in the church. One hundred and fifty years ago this wasn’t obvious to some Christians but hopefully it is obvious to you.

Poverty = slavery

There is no slavery where I live – at least none that I know about – but I do live in a world where 17,000 children die every day of hunger. As a father, a Christian, and a human being, this grieves me. It angers me. Does it trouble you? Do you think that in the age to come any child will die of hunger? Of course not. Therefore, if we are to be a prophetic people, we should be troubled that they are dying now.

But what can we do about it? It’s a big world and poverty enslaves millions. You may be thinking, “This is a huge problem. I can’t change the world.” Maybe not, but you can change the world for one person.

Don’t panic. I’m not about to use guilt to emotionally manipulate you towards sponsoring a poor kid in World Vision or anything like that. That’s not how we roll.

But I do want to tell you a little story.

About 15 years ago I started sponsoring my first child through the Compassion program. The young man that I sponsored has not only managed to survive the hardships of being a poor kid in a poor country, but he’s got himself an education and now he is on the verge of becoming an engineer! And if there’s one thing developing countries need, it’s talented engineers.

Can you imagine the satisfaction I get from knowing I played a small role in this young man’s life? I helped train an engineer!

Paul’s secret wish

I’m going to let you in on a little secret. I often remind God that he has promised to bless the work of the hands. I want to be as rich as Abraham because there are a lot of kids out there I want to sponsor. I agree with John Wesley who said, “Make all you can, save all you can, give all you can.” And there’s no group I want to support more than hungry kids.

You can sponsor a kid or not sponsor a kid – it’s totally up to you. No pressure. But since this is the season for giving, I want to do something for hungry kids and you may want to join me.

Here’s what I have in mind:

If you buy a box of my books between now and Christmas, I will donate 100% of the profits towards combating child poverty. (I’ll probably give the money to Compassion.)

So if you have been thinking about getting a few copies of The Gospel in Ten Words to give away, now is definitely the time. Not only will you be blessing your friends and family with the undiluted gospel of grace but you will be participating in the sort of justice program that Isaiah spoke of…

Learn to live right. See that justice is done. Defend widows and orphans and help those in need. (Is 1:17, CEV)

Not only that, but you will also be eligible for all the freebies and prizes mentioned here.

A box of books starts at about $120. It sounds like a lot but right there you’ve got Christmas presents for ten people AND you’ll feed a hungry kid for two whole months! If just six people decide to participate that’s a year’s worth of food right there.

So what are you waiting for? Forget the mall. Forget the traffic and car-park hassles and queues of sweaty shoppers. Go to this page, order a box of books, and help change the world for a child.

Go on. You know you want to. And while you’re at it, why not share this post so others can get on board too.

-    Is it the baby Jesus who appears each Christmas?
-    Is it the tolerant teacher who was friendly to sinners?
-    Is it Jesus on the cross dying for the sins of the world?

Hopefully, it is none of the above. This may shock you but none of these Jesuses is particularly good news. There is only one Jesus that saves, delivers, heals, rescues, and gives new life, and that is the risen Jesus, seated at the right hand of God.

The resurrection is not simply an Easter sermon. It is the reason the good news is good.

-    Baby Jesus is good news but it is not good enough.
-    Jesus the friend of sinners is good news but it is not good enough.
-    Jesus dying on the cross is certainly very good news but it is not good enough. A dead Jesus saves no one.

If Jesus had not been raised to new life, then everything he did was for nought. Consider the evangelist who tells sinners, “Jesus died on the cross for your sins.” That’s wonderful but how do we know Jesus’ death was a sufficient sacrifice? How do we know that all our sins – past, present, and future – have been eternally forgiven?

Answer: Because Jesus was raised from the dead.

He was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification. (Rom 4:25)

It is because Jesus has been raised from the dead that you have been justified and made wholly righteous by God. This is the good news. Selah.The resurrection’s the thing

It’s important that you get this. A gospel which proclaims the cross but not the resurrection is not the whole gospel. A gospel which proclaims a dead Jesus but not a living, all-conquering, ruling and reigning King Jesus, is not the whole gospel. If you would preach the whole gospel, then tell the whole story, not the one that ends at Calvary.

Why am I telling you this?

I recently heard a story about a man called Stan who battled with alcoholism for more than 40 years. (The story is told by Bob George in his book Classic Christianity.) Stan had given his life to Jesus but nothing changed. The drinking continued as before. One night the man came home in such a state that his wife called Bob George. “Please come and talk to him.” Bob went around and was inspired to ask the following question:

“Stan, when you accepted Christ, which Jesus did you believe in? Did you have in mind an honorable man who lived 2000 years ago before and died on a cross? Stan, did you accept Jesus the man? Or did you accept Jesus Christ the God who became a man and was raised from the dead? The Lord Jesus who is alive today and offers his life to you?”

Stan replied that he had put his faith in Jesus the man. Bob asked if he was willing to put his trust in Jesus the living God. Stan was and he was completely delivered from alcoholism that night.

What you believe determines what you see

If you don’t believe that Jesus heals today, guess what, you won’t get healed. If you don’t believe that Jesus conquered death in order that we might enjoy new life here and now, guess what. You won’t experience new life here and now. Your life will be no different from your unsaved neighbor’s, except that you dress up and go to church on Sundays.

The outcome of the gospel is not merely the forgiveness of sins, as wonderful as that is. It is literally new life – his life. What does this new life look like? It looks like freedom. It is the prisoner freed from her captivity and the alcoholic liberated from his dependency.

This doesn’t mean that if you are sick or struggling with addiction, you are not fully saved. If you believe Jesus is Lord and that God raised him from the dead, then you are saved! One-hundred percent saved. Rest in God’s promise and let nothing move you. But at the same time, don’t make friends with your enemies. If you’re battling with illness, work out in your experience that awesome gift of salvation that you have already received. Talk to your problems about your mighty God and what he has done for you.

My point is this: many Christians settle at the cross. They are so grateful for grace and forgiveness that they camp at Calvary and miss the point of the resurrection. They lead others to the cross and no further and the result is powerless, fruitless Christianity.

God saved us so that we might live, really live here and now. Eternal life is knowing God in your present circumstances and trials (John 17:3). It’s a whole new reality.

Which Jesus?

The gospel of grace reveals a certain Jesus and it is this one:

This good news is about his Son, our Lord Jesus Christ! As a human, he was from the family of David. But the Holy Spirit proved that Jesus is the powerful Son of God, because he was raised from death. (Rom 1:3-4, CEV)

Confess Jesus as Lord and you shall be saved, but do you know what the word “Lord” means? It means Jesus has power and authority. It means he is the living king (not a dead martyr); he is on the throne (not on the cross).

When you proclaim the Lord Jesus over your addictions and failings, you are making a bold declaration of faith. You’re saying:

Addiction (or illness), you have a strong grip on me but the Lord Jesus is stronger still. I cannot defeat you in my strength, but let me tell you about Jesus my God at whose name every knee shall bow, including yours.

What does James say? Does he say, “Submit yourselves to Jesus the tolerant teacher”? “Submit yourselves to Jesus the dead Messiah”? No!

Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. (James 4:7)

As Stan’s story illustrates, the devil doesn’t flee from those who know Jesus as man. But those who know their God shall be strong and do exploits. They shall walk through the fires of life and not be burned (Is 43:2).
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Related links
- Not by sight
- Does God give and take away?
- Life doesn’t have the last word (when you’re walking in the spirit)

Your answer to that question says a lot about your views on the finished work of the cross. For instance, whenever I proclaim the good news of God’s unconditional love as revealed in Jesus, I can just about guarantee that some serious person will pull me up for not preaching the whole gospel.

What they say: “We’ve got to preach the whole counsel of God, brother.”
What they mean: “You should tell people they need to do stuff – repent, confess, turn from sin, work, etc. – to earn the free gifts of grace.”

Earn the free gifts of grace?! What an absurd thing to say. It’s like saying, “Now children, pull out your piggy banks because Mommy and Daddy expect you to reimburse us for your Christmas presents.” This is just so ridiculous I’m speechless. How can you compensate God for his priceless gifts?

I am a big fan of repentance, but repentance may not be what you think it is.

I’m also a big fan of confession, but confession may not be what you think it is either.

And turning from sin? Well any time you turn to Jesus you automatically turn from sin. It’s inevitable. The issue is not what you are turning from but Who you are turning to. The Pharisees turned from sin every day but they never turned to Jesus. Turning from sin doesn’t make you righteous, just religious.

What is the “whole counsel” of God?

Paul told the Ephesians “I have not hesitated to proclaim to you the whole counsel of God” (Acts 20:27). Some translations say, the whole “will” of God. The whole counsel and the whole gospel are the same thing because God’s will is always good news. He is not willing that any perish. He doesn’t want anyone to be lost but desires all of us to come to him to receive new life.

So what is the whole counsel of God that Paul proclaimed? He tells us just three verses earlier:

I consider my life worth nothing to me, if only I may finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me—the task of testifying to the gospel of God’s grace. (Acts 20:24)

The whole counsel of God is the unmixed gospel of his grace. Period.

“Just grace?!” says the serious man. Yes, grace and nothing but. Not grace-plus-your-confession, nor grace-plus-your-repentance – just grace.

“I can’t accept that,” says the serious man. Well, you wouldn’t be the first religious person to have a problem with grace:

The Pharisees and lawyers rejected the counsel of God… (Luk 7:30, KJV)

Isn’t that interesting. Those who loved the law rejected God’s counsel. Who else did the Pharisees and law-teachers reject? Jesus (see Mark 8:31)! Indeed, Jesus is the whole counsel of God. If you would preach the counsel, the whole counsel, and nothing but the counsel of God, then preach Jesus and nothing else. He is both the will of God made flesh and the means by which God’s will comes to pass. Jesus is the Good News!

How not to preach the gospel

In my next post I want to give you some practical handles on how to proclaim the whole gospel, but let me finish here by showing you how not to preach the gospel:

Add stuff to it.

If you take all the blessings of God – his love, favor, forgiveness, acceptance, healing, provision, deliverance, etc. – and tell people they must do stuff to merit them, then you are diluting the gospel of grace. You’re preaching a mixed gospel of grace-plus. Grace is no longer the whole gospel; it’s only part of the gospel.

Whenever we add things to the gospel of grace we dilute its strength and empty the cross of its saving power.

What do these gospel additives look like? I am sure you know them. They are called prayer and fasting, Bible study, the spiritual disciplines, tithes and offerings, Christian duty, the virtues, works of service, ministry, self-sacrifice, helps, missions, outreach, submission, sowing, etc. In the hands of graceless religion these good things become death-dealing burdens. If you think you must do them before God will bless you, you have fallen from grace as hard as any Galatian.

Religion is cruel

Imagine a man crawls out of the desert in desperate thirst and you say to him, “Drink this, it is pure spring water.” That’s good news for the thirsty man. He doesn’t need to do anything except receive what you are offering. But if you ask that man to do something before you give him the drink, then it’s no longer good news. It’s cruel torture.

Telling a thirsty man he must pray for an hour before he can drink is not good news. Nor is telling him that he must keep the rules, play the game, and do what he’s told. This isn’t good news; it’s bad news. It’s the religion of this world that derailed the Galatians, the Ephesians, the Laodiceans and thousands of other churches since.

And telling him that the drink is free now but he must pay later is no different. In fact it’s worse because you given him a taste of real freedom before binding him with cords of obligation.

The good news is that grace is always free and if we drink it daily it’ll change us from the inside-out. You want to see change in your own life and the lives of others? Then follow Paul’s lead and preach the whole gospel of grace adding nothing to it.

This emphasis on what we must do before God will bless us is a doctrine of demons. It’s poison in the water. The true gospel is additive-free and it’s grace from start to finish.

Look to the cross – God has blessed us already! Look to the empty tomb – the work of saving you is finished! Believe it! Reach out and receive by faith the gift God has already given.

If you would preach the whole gospel then preach Christ alone. Trust me, He is all you need.
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Related links
- The end of the slave trade
- Is God’s love unconditional? 7 reasons to say “Yes!”
- By which gospel are you saved? The gospel of grace!

At a lodging place on the way, the LORD met Moses and was about to kill him. But Zipporah took a flint knife, cut off her son’s foreskin and touched Moses’ feet with it. “Surely you are a bridegroom of blood to me,” she said. (Exo 4:24-25)

This is a stunning interruption to the narrative. One moment God is calling Moses towards his destiny as Israel’s deliverer; the next moment God is trying to kill him because he neglected to “snip the tip”! It’s stories like this that give God a reputation as a bipolar deity, all happy and loving one moment but furious and smiting the next.

So what is going on here? Why did the Lord try to kill Moses?

This is a good question that has attracted plenty of wrong answers:

Wrong answer 1: Moses broke the law. The law hadn’t yet been given. Sinai was still in the future.
Wrong answer 2: Moses was sinning. So were plenty of others yet God didn’t try to kill them.
Wrong answer 3: It was a test – Moses had to prove himself faithful with his own house before he could be entrusted with the house of Israel. In that case, why didn’t God just say, “Circumcise your son”? Why go all-Rambo on him? God had great plans for Moses. What could he gain by killing him?

Remember that Israel, at that time, was living under the grace-based covenant of Abraham. God had chosen to bless Israel for no reason other than they were Abraham’s descendents (see Gen 12:1-3). All the rules and conditions of the law-based covenant came later.

And yet, circumcision was an important part of that grace-based covenant. Here’s God talking to Abraham about it:

Any uncircumcised male, who has not been circumcised in the flesh, will be cut off from his people; he has broken my covenant. (Gen 17:14)

These are strong words. To be “cut off” doesn’t mean excommunicated; it means rubbed out, knocked off, eliminated. So circumcision was a serious business long before Mt. Sinai and this wayside event with Moses seems to confirm that.

Excess baggage checked here

Before we try and make sense of this passage, it will help if we remove some of the baggage that often comes with this story. Just to clarify:

1.    There is no evidence that Moses was confronted by an angel with a sword. This is how Wesley reads it but it is unsupported by scripture. It’s possible that Moses simply got very sick and concluded that this was a sign of the Lord’s displeasure. Remember, Moses wrote the book of Exodus. This is his version of the events and we need to distinguish the facts (“I nearly died”) from his interpretation of those facts (“God tried to kill me”).

2.    God didn’t try to kill Moses. Trust me, if God wanted to kill you, he’d just kill you. There’s nothing you could do to stop him. But as Jesus and the New Testament writers revealed, God is not a killer (John 10:10, 2 Pet 3:9). Those who lived before Christ were often confused about this which is why guys like Samuel would have us believe that God kills babies, even though he doesn’t. If God had acted to kill Moses, he would be contradicting his earlier promise to be with him in Egypt. God doesn’t call you then kill you.

So the facts are these: Moses neglected to circumcise one of his sons, he began to die as a result, and death was only averted when the circumcision finally took place. So this isn’t about sin, obedience, or a double-minded-God-with-a-sword; it’s about the significance of circumcision.

The real question

The real question is this: Why did Moses nearly die when he neglected to circumcise his son?

Here’s my take on this passage: It’s a prophetic picture. It’s an Old Testament shadow of a New Testament reality. It’s a role play that shows what happens to all who refuse the Lord’s circumcision.

This has nothing to do with foreskins and everything to do with faith. But don’t take my word for it; here’s Paul writing to the Colossian Christians:

In Him you were also circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, by putting off the body of the sins of the flesh, by the circumcision of Christ, buried with Him in baptism, in which you also were raised with Him through faith in the working of God, who raised Him from the dead. And you, being dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He has made alive together with Him, having forgiven you all trespasses (Col 2:11-13, NKJV)

The Israelites of old distinguished the circumcised from the uncircumcised but this was just a shadow. The reality is found in Christ. At the end of the day there will only ever be two kinds of people:

1.    those “dead in their trespasses and the uncircumcision of their flesh” (Col 2:13)
2.    those who are the “circumcision of Christ” (Col 2:11)

Paul is saying, “At one time you were in the first group, uncircumcised and as good as dead. But when you put your faith in Jesus you crossed over from death row to new life and now you’re in the second group.”

A smiting Lord?

Does God go around killing uncircumcised people (i.e., unbelievers)? No. They kill themselves through their unbelief.

When God told Abraham that those who refused circumcision would be cut off, he wasn’t making a threat but stating a fact. If you cut yourself off from the Tree of Life, you will die. This isn’t God’s punishment; it’s cause and effect, choice and consequence. “Eat from the wrong tree, Adam, and you will surely die.”

The worst way to read the Exodus passage is to think if we don’t circumcise ourselves, God will be angry with us and kill us. Don’t you see? You can’t circumcise yourself. Circumcision is not something you ever do to yourself; it’s something that’s done to you. Israelite boys were always circumcised on the eighth day. They weren’t circumcised in their teenage years, like boys in other cultures, but when they were helpless infants incapable of wielding the knife. This is significant for us: circumcision happens at birth.

Two healthy takeaways

The right way to read Exodus 4:24-25 is through Pauline eyes. Paul emphasizes two things: (1) Abraham was blessed before he was circumcised (Rom 4:10) and (2) our circumcision is not done at the hands of man. This leads to two takeaways:

1.    We have been blessed by God through Jesus Christ. These blessings were poured out on us 2000 years ago, long before we were saved. There is nothing we can do today to cause God to bless us tomorrow; he has already blessed us. All we can do is receive his blessings by faith, as Abraham did, or reject them through unbelief. To reject the gift of life that Jesus offers is to cut yourself off from the only hope we have – not a good idea.

2.    There is no imperative other than the one Jesus preaches: Believe the good news. Don’t go around trying to cut off the sinful nature – you just can’t do it. In the history of the world no eight-day-old boy ever managed to circumcise himself and no sinner ever managed to save himself. Trust Jesus. In Him you are circumcised. It’s a done deal – the old has gone, the new has come. How did this happen? You don’t need to know how; you just need to believe that it has happened and that Christ has done it all.

Read the Old Testament without a revelation of Jesus and you’ll come away with a bunch of scary stories that seem to reveal a scary God who smites people while they’re traveling with small children. But read the written word through the lens of the Living Word and you will find these amazing prophetic pictures and dramas that are all fulfilled in Christ.

Exodus 4:24-25 was a bad day for Moses, but it is foreshadowed a good day for those who trust in Jesus.
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Related posts:
- Exodus 4:11
- God doesn’t change; we do
- Does God give and take away?

The Chocolate Wars is Deborah Cadbury’s history of her family’s involvement in the chocolate business. It’s a fascinating story. As the subtitle says, it’s a tale of “200 years of sweet success and bitter rivalry.” You will no doubt recognize some of the players in this contest, namely, the English-Quaker firms of Cadbury, Fry, and Rowntree; the talented European wizards of Peter-Kohler, Lindt, and Nestle; and the powerful American firms of Hershey, Mars, and Kraft. This is about more than diary milk chocolate and Mars Bars. This is an epic tale of how cocoa, the industrial revolution, and a group of forward-thinking Quakers changed the world. This is one of the best business histories I’ve read.

I reviewed the first book in Cliff Graham’s Lion of War series, Day of War, back in March. That one is the beginning of a riveting account of David’s ascendency to the throne of Israel. Judging by the relatively small number of likes that review got, most of you aren’t interested in dramatized Bible stories, but I love them. The latest book in the series, Covenant of War, picks up the story seven years later. David has just been made king and the Philistines are on the march. It’s a ripper of a story and the best bits are the battle scenes. The scene where David deals with cowardly commanders is a stunner as is the one where Eleazar’s hand freezes to the sword while fighting in the barley field. Warning: these stories, like the Bible ones on which they are based, are extremely violent. However, unlike the Biblical accounts of Israel’s warfare Mr. Graham’s versions are graphically explicit. Don’t give these books to your young sons and nephews for Christmas. You have been warned.

I like to run and this year I read a couple of bestselling running books. The first was Ultramarathon Man: Confessions of an All-Night Runner by Dean Karnazes. Ultramarathon Man appealed to my running flesh – and my appetite for pizza. It’s a story about a man who knocks off work and goes running through the night. He takes his phone and around midnight orders pizza, which he then eats on the run. I have never run through the night but after reading this book I’m tempted to try. Just a little. Since writing Ultramarathon Man Dean Karnazes has become famous. He subsequently ran 50 marathons in 50 days in 50 states so you’ve probably heard of him…

…but you may not have heard of the incredible Tarahumara Indian runners of Mexico. Born to Run: A Hidden Tribe, Superathletes, and the Greatest Race the World Has Never Seen is their story and it’s also the story of a mysterious white man who lived among them. The white man organizes a 50 mile race between the Indians and the best ultra runners from the States. The race is set in the torturous Copper Canyons of northern Mexico. Who will win? The barefoot locals or the high-flying Americans? Christopher McDougall’s account of the race is exciting enough but the book is about much more than that. Read it and you’ll learn how the Bushmen of the Kalahari are able to run down gazelles through persistence hunting and you’ll also learn why barefoot running has become such a big thing.

I read No Surrender: My Thirty-Year War by Hiroo Onada in preparation for writing my own book. Lt. Onada is the soldier who refused to come out of the jungle after WWII. At the beginning you think, “How could anyone not know the war was over for 30 years?” But at the end you think, “Boy, those three decades went by quick.” Time flies when you’re laying low, stealing food and trying not to get shot. Lt. Onada and three others refused to believe what they thought was American propaganda announcing the end of the Pacific War. They were utterly convinced about this and dismissed not just leaflets and food parcels but even messages by family members who had come looking for them! When he eventually did come in from the jungle, Lt. Onada became something of a Japanese hero, a living link to a defiant past. An amazing story of survival and stubbornness.

As someone who writes for a living – or do I live to write? It’s one of the two, or maybe both – I enjoy reading about other writers. One of my all-time favorites is Dr. Seuss, the children’s story-teller. Dr. Seuss was an undisputed master of his craft. Some say he even saved a generation of American children from illiteracy. After World War Two, children’s books tended to be preachy, moralizing tales where kids did what they were told and had no fun. Who wants to read books like that? Then along came Theodor Seuss Geisel with classics like If I Ran the Zoo, (1950) and Horton Hears a Who! (1955). Then in 1957, two home runs: The Cat in the Hat and How the Grinch Stole Christmas. These weren’t just clever tales of whimsy; they were brilliant little gems of learning. Given a list of 300 words that every six year old should know, Seuss spent 9 painstaking months crafting a story about a mischievous hat-wearing cat. Kids loved it – and they learned 223 words on that list. Then given a challenge to write a story using just 50 different words, he came up with Green Eggs and Ham (1960). What you may not know about Dr. Seuss is that he had no children of his own and he wrote in a tower in his sea-view home in La Jolla, California. I know all this because I have just finished reading Dr. Seuss & Mr. Geisel, by Judith and Neil Morgan. It’s an inspiring biography (if you’re a writer) but now I have tower-envy.

So that’s my list; what’s on your’s? I’m going on vacation next week. What do you suggest I read?
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Related Links:
- 4 books for Christmas (2011)
- 6 books for Christmas (2010)
- see all E2R’s book reviews here

Is it too much of a stretch to say that Lewis was the most influential Christian writer of the 20th century?

Many Christian books are peppered with his quotes. Artists and movie-makers are inspired by his fiction. Just yesterday I came across a musician who has named every song on his latest album after the works of C.S. Lewis.

If you’re a Lewis fan you may know that today is the 49th anniversary of his death. He passed away on 22 November 1963. There are few people whose deaths I remember each year, but Lewis’s is one of them. And one of the best ways to remember him is to read something he wrote. If you don’t have a copy of Perelandra or Screwtape handy, then my list of favorite C.S. Lewis quotes below may be the next best thing. Enjoy!

1. God cannot give us a happiness and peace apart from Himself, because it is not there. There is no such thing.

2. Christianity, if false, is of no importance, and if true, of infinite importance. The only thing it cannot be is moderately important.

3. Miracles are a retelling in small letters of the very same story which is written across the whole world in letters too large for some of us to see.

4. Aim at heaven and you will get earth thrown in. Aim at earth and you get neither.

5. To enter heaven is to become more human than you ever succeeded in being on earth; to enter hell, is to be banished from humanity.

6. If you look for truth, you may find comfort in the end; if you look for comfort you will not get either comfort or truth, only soft soap and wishful thinking to begin, and in the end, despair.

7. I believe in Christianity as I believe that the sun has risen: not only because I see it, but because by it I see everything else.

8. Can a mortal ask questions which God finds unanswerable? Quite easily, I should think. All nonsense questions are unanswerable.

9. Of all tyrannies a tyranny sincerely exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive.

10. Let’s pray that the human race never escapes from Earth to spread its iniquity elsewhere.

11. Don’t use words too big for the subject. Don’t say “infinitely” when you mean “very”; otherwise you’ll have no word left when you want to talk about something really infinite.

12. Even in literature and art, no man who bothers about originality will ever be original: whereas if you simply try to tell the truth (without caring twopence how often it has been told before) you will, nine times out of ten, become original without ever having noticed it.

13. It’s so much easier to pray for a bore than to go and see one.

14. There are two kinds of people: those who say to God, “Thy will be done,” and those to whom God says, “All right, then, have it your way.”

15. If the whole universe has no meaning, we should never have found out that it has no meaning: just as, if there were no light in the universe and therefore no creatures with eyes, we should never know it was dark. Dark would be without meaning.

16. If you are on the wrong road, progress means doing an about-turn and walking back to the right road; and in that case the man who turns back soonest is the most progressive man.

17. You can’t get a cup of tea big enough or a book long enough to suit me.

18. No book is really worth reading at the age of ten which is not equally – and often far more – worth reading at the age of fifty and beyond.

19. Whatever is not eternal is eternally out of date.

20. We may ignore, but we can nowhere evade the presence of God. The whole world is crowded with Him.

Do you have a favorite C.S. Lewis quote? Write and tell us below. And don’t forget to check out the generally longer quotes found on the C.S. Lewis page on GraceQuotes.com.

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Related posts:
- Grace and law in the Chronicles of Narnia
- “That Hideous Strength,” by C.S. Lewis
- Your one big truth and the wisdom of Puddleglum

If you have been burning the candle at both ends trying to get ahead, a revelation of God’s acceptance will bring you to a place of rest. It will get you off the merry-go-round and sit you down in pastures green.

But that doesn’t mean you will be idle. Those who wait upon the Lord renew their strength (Isaiah 40:31). Paradoxically, those who have been freed from the need to produce are often the most productive people around. This happens because the loving acceptance of another brings out the best in us, particularly if the Other is someone special.

Perhaps you have had the pleasant experience of being accepted by the most beautiful girl in the room or the best man in the house. It is the thrill of being elevated to a higher level. “Really?! You choose me? But you’re way out of my league.” As nice as that is, it pales in comparison to the lift that comes from being accepted by the Maker of heaven and earth. To the glory of his grace you have been lifted out of the miry clay and seated with him in heavenly places. Talk about your upward mobility.

With God on our side like this, how can we lose? (Romans 8:31b, MSG)

When you realize that God is for you, it gives you boldness. You begin to strut, not out of arrogance but confidence. “God is on my side. How can I lose?” You’ll walk into the lion’s den with a holy swagger and face the furnace without fear. “God is with me. I will not be burned” (see Isaiah 43:2).

Situations that intimidate the socks off your coworkers won’t bother you in the slightest. You’ll go in front of performance reviews and interview panels with complete peace and without any desperate need to impress. “My promotion comes from the Lord. If these guys see that, great, if they don’t, that’s their problem.” Secure in your Father’s approval, you won’t be bothered whether your ministry flourishes or founders. “It’s his church anyway. I’m just pleased to play a part.”

But the good news is you won’t fail. How can you? When you are confident of your Father’s absolute delight in you,

You’ll be on your way up!
You’ll be seeing great sights!
You’ll join the high fliers who soar to high heights.

With all respect to Dr. Seuss, this not about the empowerment that comes from self-belief but the divine and uplifting influence of God’s mighty grace.

Sons and daughters who are supercharged by their Father’s favor shine like stars (Philippians 2:15). Elevated by his love they mount up with wings like eagles. They race against horses and walk on the water, living testimonies of the energizing power of his divine acceptance.

[Excerpted from The Gospel in Ten Words, pp.77-78]
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Related posts:
- What if I disappoint God?
- The end of the slave trade
- What happens to unfruitful branches?

Grace is the good news that a sick and dying world needs to hear.

Grace is what God’s love looks like from our side. Grace is love come down.

I am addicted to grace. I can honestly say I would rather not live if I can’t have it and I would be dead without it. It is God’s grace that has brought me (and you) safe thus far and grace will lead us all the way home.

I collect quotes on grace. Here are 12 of the best. Enjoy!

1. “Grace is not a theology. It is not a subject matter. It is not a doctrine. It is a person, and his name is Jesus. That’s the reason the Lord wants you to receive the abundance of grace, for to have the abundance of grace is to have the abundance of Jesus.” ~ Joseph Prince, Destined to Reign, p.24

2. “Grace means that God does something for me; law means that I do something for God. God has certain holy and righteous demands which he places upon me: that is law. Now if law means that God requires something of me for their fulfillment, then deliverance from law means he no longer requires that from me, but himself provides it.” ~ Watchman Nee, The Normal Christian Life, p.155-6.

3. “Grace is the voice that calls us to change and gives us the power to pull it off.” ~ Max Lucado, Grace, p.8

4. “The gospel of grace nullifies our adulation of televangelists, charismatic superstars, and local church heroes. It obliterates the two-class citizenship theory operative in many American churches. For grace proclaims the awesome truth that all is a gift. All that is good is ours not by right but by the sheer bounty of a gracious God. While there is much we may have earned – our degree and our salary, our home and garden, a Miller Lite and a good night’s sleep – all this is possible only because we have been given so much: life itself, eyes to see and hands to touch, a mind to shape ideas, and a heart to beat with love. We have been given God in our souls and Christ in our flesh. We have the power to believe where others deny, to hope where others despair, to love where others hurt. This and so much more is sheer gift; it is not reward for our faithfulness, our generous disposition, or our heroic life of prayer. Even our fidelity is a gift.”~ Brennan Manning, The Ragamuffin Gospel, pp.26-7.

5. “Grace is a system of living whereby God blesses us because we are in Jesus Christ, and for no other reason at all.” ~Steve McVey, Grace Rules, p.147.

6. “If heaven were by merit, it would never be heaven to me, for if I were in it I should say, ‘I am sure I am here by mistake; I am sure this is not my place; I have no claim to it.’ But if it be of grace and not of works, then we may walk into heaven with boldness.” ~ Charles Spurgeon

7. “The ministry of the law, which rightly condemned me, brought out my failures, but the ministry of the Spirit brings out His success.” ~ Ralph Harris, God’s Astounding Opinion of You, p.77.

8. “If a drunk comes to a service… (it’s) ‘Brother, God loves you.’… But woe to that drunk if he comes back drunk after being saved. God loved him when he was a sinner and drunk, but if he’s born again and he’s still drunk – God forbid! Most Christians would not offer the same kind of unconditional love. Doesn’t something seem inconsistent about that? Grace is not just for the lost. Christians must live by grace too.” ~Andrew Wommack, The True Nature of God, p.78

9. “Grace is a message of unconditional love from the Father of the universe. It’s the free offer of the eternal life. And we can experience it all in the gritty now as well as in the sweet by and by.” – Dudley Hall, Grace Works, p.11.

10. “It is grace at the beginning, and grace at the end. So that when you and I come to lie upon our death beds, the one thing that should comfort and help and strengthen us there is the thing that helped us in the beginning. Not what we have been, not what we have done, but the Grace of God in Jesus Christ our Lord. The Christian life starts with grace, it must continue with grace, it ends with grace. Grace wondrous grace. By the grace of God I am what I am. Yet not I, but the Grace of God which was with me.”~ D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones (1899-1981)

11. “Amazing grace! How sweet the sound, That saved a wretch like me! I once was lost but now am found, Was blind but now I see… Through many dangers, toils and snares, I have already come; ‘Tis grace has brought me safe thus far, and grace will lead me home.”~ John Newton (1725-1807)

12. “By entering through faith into what God has always wanted to do for us – set us right with him, make us fit for him – we have it all together with God because of our Master Jesus. And that’s not all: We throw open our doors to God and discover at the same moment that he has already thrown open his door to us. We find ourselves standing where we always hoped we might stand – out in the wide open spaces of God’s grace and glory, standing tall and shouting our praise.” ~ Paul of Tarsus, Romans 5:1-2, MSG

I promised you 12 quotes on grace and I gave you 12. But since grace is about getting what we don’t deserve, here’s a bonus quote. I saved the best for last. This is my all-time favorite quote on the subject of grace:

“Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you’ll recover your life. I’ll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me – watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly.” ~ Jesus Christ, Matthew 11:28-30, MSG

Whew! That is awesome. When Jesus preaches on grace and you receive it, it’s the sweetest thing.

If you enjoyed these quotes, you can find hundreds more just like them at GraceQuotes.com.

And if you have a favorite quote on the subject of grace, let us know below.

Seriously, I love books and especially free books. Don’t you?

I have been so inspired by those of you who have given away copies of The Gospel in Ten Words to friends and family, that I have set up the best E2R competition ever. Unlike the last competition, where only the winners went home with prizes, this time everyone who plays gets something.

You play, you win. How good is that!

Here’s the deal, if you plan to give away The Gospel in Ten Words this Christmas, use the comment box below to let us know how many copies you intend to give and you will automatically qualify for one of the following awesome prizes:

•    Give 1 book away to someone who needs to hear the good news and you will get my sincere thanks for your partnership in the gospel. I will fall asleep at night thinking of you and thanking God that he put you here on this planet.

•    Buy 5 books to give away and I will give you a bear hug of thanks, the next time I see you.

•    Buy 10 books to give away and you will get a bonus copy of The Gospel in Ten Words absolutely free. Plus you get the hug.

•    Buy 15 books to give away and you will get the free book, the hug, and a personal thank you post card featuring a rare New Zealand stamp (Hobbit stamps, if I can get them). By the way, it’s a limited edition E2R postcard too, not for sale anywhere in the world.

•    Buy 20 books to give away and you will get the hug, the post card, and two free books.

•    Buy 25 books to give away and you will get two free books, the post card, the hug, plus lunch at our place (if you can make it to Auckland).

•    Buy 30 books and you will get all the other goodies (hug, postcard, etc.) and three free books.

Now here’s the best for last: In addition to whatever prizes they already have coming above, the two people who give away the most books by Christmas 2012 will get:

-    a personally signed copy of The Gospel in Ten Words
-    one of the last super-limited edition GraceQuotes.com pens (there’s only two left in the world!)
-    a guaranteed pre-advance copy of my next book (whenever that gets written)

Sound good? Are you inspired to give?

Okay, some ground rules.

1. As usual, this competition only applies to the paperback version of The Gospel in Ten Words (no ebooks).
2. The bonus book offers only apply to bulk orders placed directly through KingsPress between 1 November and 24 December 2012. Bonus books will be automatically included with your orders.
3. We’re counting the books you give away, not books bought for personal use or re-sale.

Christmas is only 40-odd shopping days away. So beat the rush, place your Christmas orders now, and you could win some cool stuff!

It’s true that confession has been abused for two thousand years. Confessing to be forgiven is probably the number one work of the flesh. Yet I maintain that confession can be good for you. And as I explained in my last post, there is a world of difference between healthy and unhealthy confession.

In this final post in the series, I want to leave you with six examples of a good confession from the Bible. But first, let me give you a test that you can use to determine whether any confession is good or bad:

True Biblical confession is declaring faith in God; bad confession is giving voice to unbelief.

It is important that you understand this distinction. True confession is agreeing with God but bad confession is doubting him (eg: asking him to do what he’s already done, begging him to give what he’s already given). True confession always leaves you Christ-conscious but bad confession leaves you self-conscious.

Do you see the difference? Okay, here’s the first of our six examples of good confession.

1. Confession unto salvation

But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, ‘God, have mercy on me, a sinner.’ I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God. (Luke 18:13-14)

These seven words from the tax collector – “God, have mercy on me, a sinner” – are the difference between life and death, between justification and condemnation. The tax collector is confessing his need for mercy and he’s looking to God to get it. You don’t need to beat your chest to get saved, but you do need to put your faith in God and this man does. So even though this prayer comes before the cross, Jesus says the man went home justified. In other words, he went home a new man and a sinner no longer. The tax collector’s prayer passes the test. It is a good, life-saving confession. It is Romans 10:9 in action.

2. Confession of sonship

For you did not receive a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear, but you received the Spirit of sonship. And by him we cry, “Abba, Father” (Rms 8:15).

Perhaps you have made the same confession as the tax collector. If so, don’t make it again. Once is enough. Don’t go around telling people you are a “miserable sinner” or a “sinner saved by grace.” If you’ve been born again, you are a sinner no more – you are a child of God. It’s smart for sinners to confess like the tax collector and ask God for mercy and grace. But you do not need to ask for what you have already received. To do so is to operate in unbelief and doubt.

The Holy Spirit in you cries out “Papa! Father!” (Gal 4:6, MSG). Since true confession is agreeing with God, we too cry out “Abba, Father.” We don’t stand at a distance beating our chests like the unsaved tax collector. We draw near as beloved children addressing the Almighty One as “Papa,” “Abba,” and “Father.” True confession means seeing yourself as God sees you and he sees you as a dearly loved child.

3. Confession of sins

Have mercy upon me, O God, according to your lovingkindness; according to the multitude of Your tender mercies, blot out my transgressions. (Psalm 51:1, NKJV)

David had sinned and he knew it, yet he barely mentions his sin in this Psalm of repentance. Instead he makes 24 statements about the goodness of God. This is significant. Under the law of the day, David deserved to die yet here he in Psalm 51 appealing to God’s gracious nature – his lovingkindness and mercy. This is a Psalm full of faith in the goodness of God, thus it passes the confession test.

When you sin, don’t stare at your navel but lift your eyes to heaven. Take your cue from David and praise God for his goodness and mercy. Thank him that all your sins were taken away at the cross and that because of Jesus you are a sinner no more. You are righteous indeed. It takes no faith to confess your guilt and shame when you sin; it takes faith to look to the cross and declare, “Because of his grace I am still forgiven, I am still righteous, I am still a child of God. Thank you Jesus!”

4. Confession in times of suffering

He said to them, “I am so sad that I feel as if I am dying. Stay here and keep awake with me.” Jesus walked on a little way. Then he knelt with his face to the ground and prayed, “My Father, if it is possible, don’t make me suffer by having me drink from this cup. But do what you want, and not what I want.” (Mat 26:38-39, CEV)

Confession is not just for sin; it’s for our sufferings as well. Jesus’ greatest need was experienced in the Garden of Gethsemane. His soul was crushed with the weight of the world. Did Jesus put on a mask and pretend he had it altogether? No. He opened his mouth and confessed with honest transparency.

If you’re going through a rough patch, be encouraged by Jesus. He was so stressed, he sweated blood! Everyone gets stressed; it’s what you do when you’re stressed that makes the difference. What did Jesus do? He presented his requests to God – “don’t make me suffer” – but he did so in a way that expressed his faith in God’s goodness. It’s like he was saying, “I don’t know if I can go through with this Lord, but I trust you.” Do you see it? Honesty (“I’m dying here!”) plus faith (“your will be done”) equals grace to help us through our hour of need.

If you’re in an environment that places a big emphasis on walking in victory every day, you need to hear this: unless you are honest and open about your needs, you will never receive the grace propels us through life’s trials. Grace is for the needy and we are all needy. We’re just not all honest about it. Only the humble receive grace.

5. Confession and sickness

As Jesus went on from there, two blind men followed him, calling out, “Have mercy on us, Son of David!” When he had gone indoors, the blind men came to him, and he asked them, “Do you believe that I am able to do this?” “Yes, Lord,” they replied. Then he touched their eyes and said, “According to your faith will it be done to you”; and their sight was restored. (Mat 9:27-30)

I guess there were many blind men in Israel but these two opened their mouths and confessed their great need to Jesus. Look what Jesus asked them. Do you believe? It’s like Jesus was on a faith-hunt. I’m sure Jesus could sense the faith in their hearts but he wanted them to speak it out. It’s as if they needed to hear their own good confession. Yes, Lord, we believe. Any time you say “Yes” to Jesus, that’s a good confession. It’s giving voice to the faith in our hearts.

I speak to sicknesses all the time. I tell them about Jesus by whose stripes we are healed. I command them to bow to King Jesus and they often do. To paraphrase Bill Johnson, not everyone I pray for gets healed, but more people get healed when I proclaim the name of Jesus than when I stay silent.

So far we have seen that a confession can be helpful when dealing with salvation, sonship, sin, suffering, and sickness. There is one more occasion when confession is good.

6. Confession as a sacrifice

Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise—the fruit of lips that confess his name. (Heb 13:15)

The word for confess here is exactly the same as the word for confess in 1 John 1:9 and elsewhere. It is homologeo, meaning, to agree with God. Every time we praise God for his goodness and mercy, we are making a good confession.

The writer of Hebrews says this is to be our continual habit. You may be locked up in prison like Paul and Silas – praise him anyway, for he is good. Your life may be going down the toilet. Guess what – God is still good. Instead of giving voice to the trials of your life, speak to your storms about the goodness of your good God. Rebuke your problems, resist the devil, bless those who curse you, pray for your enemies and fight the good fight.

Gratitude is the language of faith. Anytime you give thanks to God, you are making a good confession. Want to be a good confessor? Then learn to give thanks in all circumstances (1 Th 5:18).

True confession = “Jesus!”

True confession is basically proclaiming “Jesus” over our lives. It is declaring the good news of his kingdom. It is proclaiming the gospel of his grace and saying “Thank you, Jesus!”

The devil would love for you to say No to Jesus but since you’re not going to do that, he will be content if you just say nothing at all. Don’t dismiss confession as an empty religious work. True confession is one of the ways we reveal the good news of God’s grace to a world that desperately needs to hear it:

Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word of Christ. But I ask: Did they not hear? Of course they did: “Their voice has gone out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world.” (Romans 10:17-18)

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Related posts:
- Son, servant, or friend of God?
- Seven signs you might be living under law
- Why do people need to receive forgiveness if the whole world is already forgiven?

“Don’t do that again,” I told him. And why not? Two words: Shipping costs.

For those of you living in North America, Amazon is a wonderful bookseller. You can get most titles delivered to your door in just 2-3 days. But for those of us living elsewhere, Amazon is a temptress, a ruiner of bookworms.

“Look at this great book – it’s only $14.95. But shipping is how much? And to get here it will take how long? You gotta be kidding me.”

It’s not uncommon for me to buy books from Amazon and pay more for shipping than for the book. I hate that!

This is why I am pleased to announce a few improvements to your shopping experience – at least as far as my book is concerned. As of today, The Gospel in Ten Words is being printed in four separate countries. (India will soon be the 5th country.) This means lower costs for you.

So if you want one or ten copies of The Gospel in Ten Words, where’s the best place to get it?

-    if you live in the US and you just want one copy, your best bet remains Amazon or Barnes & Noble
-    if you live outside the US, you may find retailers in your country listed here
-    if there are no retailers in your country, try the Book Depository
-    if you want to buy books in bulk for friends or family, then the best prices anywhere in the world are found here

Speaking of bulk orders, I would like to congratulate Jennie who won the first GITW competition. She bought 30 books to give away to friends and family! Those of you who are buying books to give away – you guys amaze and humble me. Thank you.

I plan to announce another competition next week.

Grace is God’s response to our messes. If you don’t acknowledge your messes, you’ll never receive his grace. In the last post we saw that confession is one way to receive grace and break the power of sin.

However, confession is a word that is poorly understood. Like the word repentance, confession has been mangled through the machinery of man-made religion. Instead of bringing freedom to the bound and life to the dead, confession is seen as the cost of admission into the House of Grace. “You wanna clear your conscience? Then start talking you miserable sinner!”

Confession is good for you, but only when it’s done right. We might say there’s good confession and bad confession (see 1 Tim 6:12). So what is good confession? Very simply, it is the articulation of faith; it is agreeing with God and acknowledging your total dependence on him. And what is bad confession? It is verbalizing unbelief in the goodness of God and the finished work of the cross. The picture below illustrates the difference.

To help you grasp this distinction, I want to draw twelve lines between healthy and unhealthy confession.

1.    Unhealthy confession is an admission of my badness, but healthy confession is a declaration of my trust in God’s goodness (Ps 145:4-7).

2.    Unhealthy confession emphasizes leaves me focused on my needs, my weaknesses, and my shortcomings; healthy confession connects my need with God’s grace, his strength and his limitless provision (Php 4:19, 2 Cor 12:9).

3.    Unhealthy confession puts the focus on me and what I have or haven’t done, but healthy confession puts the focus on Christ and what he has done for me (Rom 10:9-13).

4.    Unhealthy confession requires no faith at all and so doesn’t please the Lord (Heb 11:6), but healthy confession is an expression of the faith in my heart (Rom 10:8). Indeed, healthy confession stirs my faith (Rom 10:17).

5.    Unhealthy confession is based on the hope that I can convince God to do something or give me something to make things better; healthy confession is based on the good news that God has already given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us (2 Pet 1:3).

6.    Unhealthy confession is begging God to forgive me; healthy confession is only possible when I know he already has (2 Pet 1:5-9).

7.    Unhealthy confession is begging God to bless me; healthy confession is thanking God that in Christ I am already the beneficiary of every blessing there is (Eph 1:3).

8.    Unhealthy confession perpetuates a cycle of Adamic self-reliance and death (Gal 6:7-8); healthy confession empowers me to walk in newness of life (Acts 13:46).

9.    Unhealthy confession is hedged with excuses, finger-pointing, and blame (see Gen 3:12); healthy confession is an honest admission of failure or need underwritten by a radical reliance on God’s grace (see Ps 51:1).

10.    Unhealthy confession is motivated by a perceived need to restore relationship with God; healthy confession is only possible when I am secure in his promise that he will never leave nor forsake me (Heb 13:5).

11.    Unhealthy confession always follows sin but healthy confession often preempts it. By being honest about my weaknesses and vulnerabilities I position myself to receive the grace that empowers me to say “No” to ungodliness (Jas 4:6).

12.    Unhealthy confession is agreeing with the Accuser that I am still a miserable sinner (“look at what you did!”); healthy confession is agreeing with the Holy Spirit that I am still a saint despite what I did (Joh 16:10).

In this life you will make many messes. Confessing-to-be-forgiven or to otherwise manage the sin in your life is like trying to clean house with a filthy mop. You’ll be busy but you won’t make any difference. If anything, you’ll make things worse by adding self-righteous unbelief to your pile of sins.

True confession is freely acknowledging your total dependence on God’s grace – grace for salvation, sanctification, and every other thing. True confession is faith put into words. True confession is relying on the One who cleanses you from all unrighteousness.

Bad confession, such as religion teaches it, seems right to man but ultimately leads to death. Good confession leads to life and godliness.

In the third and final post in the series, I’m going to look at some examples of good and healthy confession from the Bible. Stay tuned!
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Related posts:
- What if I disappoint God?
- Is forgiveness something God does or gives?
- 12 reasons why Christians don’t need to confess to be forgiven

Since I bang this drum loudly and often, some have concluded that I am opposed to confession. Nothing could be further from the truth. As I have said from the beginning, confession is good for you.

Or rather, confession can be good for you – if it’s done properly.

In the pursuit of self-righteousness, confession is a hideous thing. It is introspective navel-gazing that promotes sin- and self-consciousness. Among Catholics and Protestants alike, confession of sins is often sold as the price you must pay to receive the gift of forgiveness. To enjoy God’s grace and fellowship, we’re told to admit to all our crimes, no matter how small. To the natural mind this seems like a good deal; you talk, you walk. But it is an abomination, a prostitution of a great and priceless love.

Let’s be clear – either the love of God is unconditional or it’s not love. Unless you receive his love and forgiveness as a free gift, you won’t receive it at all.

There is no doubt that the practice of confession has been abused on all sides. But as a friend of mine likes to say, the correct response to abuse is not non-use but proper use. So what is the proper use of confession and why should we do it? Let me suggest two good reasons for confession:

1. Confession helps us to receive grace

Grace is not for everyone, only the needy. If you don’t see yourself as needy, you’ll never receive grace. This is the essence of 1 John 1:9. While I personally think John was addressing unbelievers in this passage, the lesson is for all of us: To receive God’s grace, we must first acknowledge our need for grace. Paul said, “My God shall supply all your need…” (Php 4:19). If you don’t acknowledge your need, you won’t receive his supply.

This point is often lost among those of us who proclaim grace. We preach that “you are as righteous, holy, and perfect as Jesus” – and we are right to do so. In Christ you are all those things.

But what if there is a disconnect between your identity and experience? You may say, “I know I am righteous but I don’t feel righteous. I’m battling with unrighteous thoughts.” Well you’ve got two choices. You can pretend that there’s no problem or you can come to the throne of grace to receive grace in your hour of need.

Let me give you an example. A few years ago the face of a beautiful woman entered my head and got stuck there. It just wouldn’t leave. She wasn’t my wife so I had a problem. I didn’t want to dwell on this woman’s looks so I battled valiantly against the temptation. But nothing I did would make her face leave my mind. At this point I hadn’t sinned but I was vulnerable. I was heading in a bad direction and felt powerless to stop.

So what did I do? I confessed. I prayed the best prayer a needy man can pray: “God, help!” I cast my anxieties upon him and he helped me. Within a day the stronghold was broken and her face was gone from my mind. I was completely free. That’s how grace works. God gives grace to the humble, to those who are honest and open about their needs and weaknesses.

In this case I confessed and was set free by his grace. But what if things had gotten worse and I had fallen into sin? What then? What if you have sinned? Again, confession can help but not for the reasons usually taught. Remember, confession doesn’t manipulate God into forgiving us. So what good is confession when we sin?

2. Confession breaks the power of sin

God designed humans to be intolerant of sin. We may enjoy the pleasures of sin for a time, but sin is always followed by guilt and other unpleasant reactions. Guilt is a sign that something is wrong, that something needs to be addressed, and confession is a good way to address it.

When I kept silent, my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long… my strength was sapped as in the heat of summer. Then I acknowledged my sin to you and did not cover up my iniquity. I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the LORD.” (Ps 32:3-5)

I hear from people all the time who are torn up inside on account of some past sin. They may have some understanding of God’s grace and they may even accept that they are forgiven, yet they still battle with guilt. It’s like there’s this sin parasite inside them, eating them alive. Like David, their bones are wasting away and their strength is sapped.

If this is you, drag that dark thing into the light! Talk to your heavenly Father. Or find a trusted friend and talk to them about it. Sin thrives in darkness and we are called to be children of the light (1 Th 5:5). Note that David suffered because he “kept silent.” Here’s the equation:

Sin + silence = suffering

This is the maths of Adam that leads us to hide behind bushes of blame and facades of self-righteousness. Now let me show you the new math of Jesus:

Sin + confession = healing

And here’s the scripture reference:

Make this your common practice: Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you can live together whole and healed. (James 5:16, MSG)

Sin is utterly destructive and we must not be passive with it. If my temptation had led to lust and sin, it would’ve brought a harvest of death in my life and marriage. It didn’t get that far but if it had I was fully prepared to talk about it to a trusted friend or my wife. Just as sunshine kills germs, the light of God’s grace breaks the power of sin and darkness.

As a church leader, James knew this. He understood that one of the ways we receive God’s grace is through our grace-giving brothers and sisters. James was not trying to shackle you with an accountability partner; he was giving you a key for living free and whole. Confession – acknowledging your need for grace – is that key.

(Incidentally, the epistle of James is a great guide for those of us learning to walk in grace. But if you don’t see grace, don’t read James – it’ll kill you!)

Quit pretending and ‘fess up

Sin has power over us whenever we try to resist it in our own strength. If you’re thinking, “I’m okay – I can handle this. I’ve got it altogether. I can’t let anyone know I’m struggling,” then beware the slippery slope! God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble. Want to practice humility? Then stop pretending and honestly admit your need for grace.

In my next post I will contrast healthy and unhealthy confession, but to recap: Confessing our sins does NOT compel God to forgive us. (He already did.) Neither does confession restore fellowship with an offended Father. (He promised to never leave nor forsake us.) Confession – freely acknowledging our needs and total dependency on God – is our faith-filled response to God our Helper. Confession helps us walk in the supernatural power of his grace.
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Related posts:
- Son or sinner: what are you confessing?
- What keeps Christians weak and unproductive?
- 6 examples of confession in the Bible

This is the choice each of us faces every day. Perhaps you think it’s a mad choice – like choosing between your heart and your lungs – but it’s not. It is the choice between life and death, between sacrifice and mercy, between the manmade religion of good intentions and the divine realm of God’s grace.

If you think of life primarily in terms of “pleasing God,” then you may have bought into a carnal Christianity that promotes mask-wearing and sin-management. Chances are you’ll be a miserable phony incapable of truly loving and being loved. And you may need to read The Cure, by John Lynch, Bruce McNicol and Bill Thrall.

The Cure is a brilliant little book. It’s the story of man who must choose between the Room of Good Intentions and the Room of Grace. These two rooms represent two ways of living – living from a desire to please God versus living by faith in God’s love and grace.

After a false start the man in the story makes the right choice but soon finds grace too much to bear. He returns to the wrong room. Yup, he decides he would rather be with the phonies that with the Real People in the Church of Grace.

This, for me, is what makes The Cure an intriguing and insightful read. Why would he do that?! Why would anyone walk away from grace?

Why do some reject grace?

Many of us within the grace community think that if people just saw the undiluted goodness of God – if they just heard the true gospel – they would all come flooding out of dead religion. And many do. But some don’t stay. They leave the open fields of grace and return to the hamster-wheel of huffing, puffing piety. Think of the Galatians. They heard the gospel from none other than the apostle of grace himself, yet were seduced into carnal religion.

Why does this happen? It can happen because of the false stories we tell ourselves. As Lynch et al. explain:

The stories we tell ourselves can run deep. It’s one thing to have a profound experience, and it’s quite another to kill a lie that’s served you a long time. Especially a lie you’ve used to cope. Until you see God right you’ll keep going back (to the Room of Good Intentions)… There are two gods: the one we see through our shame, and the One who actually is. (p.42)

Shame is a killer. It can really mess up your understanding of grace. If your shame causes you to hide in the bushes when grace comes calling, you may miss it. Tragically, if you are more conscious of your badness than God’s goodness you won’t receive the grace he offers you. This is a strength of The Cure. It reveals how sin and shame interact to keep us in the dark. In contrast to the sin-managing gimmicks offered by flesh-powered religion, this book exposes some of the distortions we have about God that hinder us from receiving grace.

Lest you get the wrong idea, this book is not about changing who I was into who I should be. You were changed once and for all when you were made new, when you were born again. This book is about maturing into who I already am. It’s about growing into your Christ-given identity and working out the salvation that is already within you.

Okay, so how do we do that?

According to the authors of The Cure, it begins by recognizing who we are in Christ – we are saints, righteous and forgiven. But that’s just the start. To grow we need to look for opportunities to receive and give the Father’s love.

The knowledge we are loved will never peel away our masks or heal our wounds. “Knowing about love” and “experiencing love” are not the same (p. 90). It’s one thing to read 1 Corinthians 13; it’s another to live it and enjoy it and share it with others.

This is why we need the church. It is only in real relationships with real people that we have the opportunity to live real lives – the kinds of lives Christ came to give us:

God wants us to live authentically – fragile believers, learning to trust him and each other in relationships intent on love. He wants us out of hiding, acknowledging each other without performance or quotas. He wants us to experience his power healing us as he releases us into a life worth living. This is the Church. This is the Church in the Room of grace! (p.89)

As Ralph Harris writes about in his book God’s Astounding Opinion of You, there is a nobility to the authentic Christian life that makes the pursuit of lesser worldly pleasures trivial in comparison. We were born for this. We were born to receive and share our Father’s divine love. Our needs aren’t weaknesses; they’re opportunities to receive the love of God.

The nobility of real life

Looking back on my own four decades as a Christian, I can say that the periods where I have grown the fastest have been those where I found myself among a small circle of trusted friends whose love for me gave me the confidence to step out from behind the masks I wore. They didn’t try to change me but as a result of the grace I received from them, I changed. I began to enjoy the freedom that had been mine from the moment I said Yes to Jesus.

Together, my friends and I ran hard after the life that is only found in Christ and looked for creative ways to express that life to others. Dare I say, we began to live out our destiny, and it was exhilarating. It still is.

If this sort of life sounds good to you and you want to know how to get a handle on it, then I recommend The Cure along with Ralph’s book. They are both excellent. Two other good books which also come to mind are The Birthright and So You Don’t Want to Go to Church Anymore? In fairness, none of these books will change the world. But they all have the potential to change the church. And this is what a loveless and shame-ridden world desperately needs to see – a changed church.

The world doesn’t need a church characterized by judgment and hatred. What creation longs for is a revelation of the mature, full-grown sons of God. What the world needs to see is the light of the gospel shining through a church of authentic saints – people like you and me who are walking in radical love and fulfilling their God-given destiny. Can you imagine that? Can you imagine a future where a sick and dying world receives the love and healing of Jesus through the church – where the church is so effective at revealing the gospel of God’s grace that entire nations are saved in a day? (Why not?) I’m not exactly sure what that might look like but I know it is the immediate future I long for.

And that’s why The Cure is such an important book. It’ll change you… and then you’ll change the world.

—
Related links:
- Son, servant, or friend of God?
- Son or sinner – what are you confessing?
- see all E2R’s book reviews here

Lucado is probably the most successful Christian writer on the planet. With a hundred million books and related products in the market you know that what Max says gets heard by a wide audience. Which is why I am delighted to recommend his latest book, Grace: More Than We Deserve, Greater Than We Imagine.

What’s it about?

In this book Max argues that “grace is God’s best idea.” Yet it is an idea barely appreciated by a worn-out society. In the church we hear, “Serve more, pray more, attend more” and we comply because we want to be good Christians and do our bit for the Lord. The problem is, there’s no end in sight. No matter how much we do, more remains to be done.

Don’t you find it strange that we are driven to do good and be good yet no one can answer the fundamental question, How good is good enough? Lucado finds this…

Bizarre. At stake is our eternal destination, yet we are more confident about lasagna recipes than the entrance requirements for heaven. God has a better idea: “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God” (Eph 2:8). We contribute nothing. Zilch… Our merits merit nothing. God’s work merits everything. (p.47)

In this book Lucado takes a word that has been ruined by religion and brings it to life. What is grace?

Grace is simply another word for God’s tumbling, rumbling reservoir of strength and protection. It comes at us not occasionally or miserly but constantly and aggressively, wave upon wave. We’ve barely regained our balance from one breaker, and then, bam, here comes another. “Grace upon grace” (John 1:16)… We never exhaust his supply. “Stop asking so much! My grace reservoir is running dry.” Heaven knows no such words. God has enough grace to solve every dilemma you face, wipe every tear you cry, and answer every question you ask. (p.99)

This is a book I would recommend for all who are in need of grace, saint and sinner alike. It is a crystal clear proclamation of the good news of God’s grace. Its message will fill the sails of your soul with the fresh breezes of heaven.

However, one could argue that for those of us in the grace community, the message of this book is nothing new. It’s just one of many good books on grace. Even so, I recommend this book for another reason.

As a grace preacher, what I valued most about this book is Lucado himself. No one writes like Max. He is a master of economical writing, a virtuoso of prose. What Yo-Yo Ma is to cellos, Max is to words. He tells stories that resonate and fire the imagination.

As I was reading this book, my daughter recognized the author’s name and said “Punchinello.” She was referring to the lead character of one of the best stories of grace ever written, namely, Lucado’s children’s book You Are Special. (Parents, want to know how to reveal grace to your kids? Get this book!)

Why is this significant? Why does it matter that Max is good with words? Because we who dare to preach the gospel need to rediscover the lost art of story-telling.

The story-teller’s gospel

Jesus was a story-teller who told stories to prepare hearts for the gospel. “There was a man who had two sons…” “A man of noble birth went to a distant country to have himself appointed king…” Do you see? People love stories. Stories prepare the soil of the soul for the seed of God’s word. The best stories reveal the true nature of God and his redemptive purposes for humanity.

Max is a gifted story-teller and his gift is evident in this book. For instance, you’ve probably heard the story of the women caught in adultery many times, but you’ve never heard it the way Max tells it. There’s Jesus, stooping and running his fingers through the dirt, the same dirt he used to make man, as if he is reminding himself from whence we came. “I made them out of dirt. Earthly people do earthly things.”

Then there’s story of the Red Sea which God opened “like a curtain” and closed “like a shark’s jaws” turning “Pharaoh’s army into fish bait.”

I love these word pictures. Here’s another: “If hurts were hairs, we’d all look like grizzlies.” Classic!

You may have the best gospel in the word but if no one’s listening to you, your gospel won’t change a thing. People listened to Jesus and they are most definitely listening to Max Lucado.
___
Related posts:
- It’s not about me
- “God’s Grammar” by Mick Mooney
- see all E2R’s book reviews here

We are accepted “in the Beloved.” Some take this to mean we are only in the kingdom because we have a friend in high places. This is misleading. It’s like saying, “God can’t stand you personally but as a special favor to Jesus he’ll pretend he can’t see you.” I know, it’s silly. Yet some Christians are worried sick that if God knew the secrets of their hearts he would kick them out in a heartbeat. In order to avoid detection they maintain such a low profile you could mistake them for pancakes.

Others wear masks because they fear rejection. “If you knew who I really am, you wouldn’t love me.” Well guess what. God knows you better than you know yourself and he still loves you.

Genuine acceptance is based on knowledge. You can’t truly accept someone unless you know them and God knows you. He knows everything you have ever done and everything you will ever do. He knows your darkest secrets and every skeleton in your closest. He knows what you did last summer and what you’re going to do next winter. And despite knowing all this, your heavenly Father still loves you like crazy.

You may be worried that you will disappoint God. It’s not going to happen. It is literally impossible to disappoint an all-knowing God. When you make a mistake you may surprise yourself—“I can’t believe I did that”—but God is never surprised. Since nothing you do ever catches God off guard, rest assured that you can never disappoint him. When you stumble he responds with unaffected grace: “I knew you were going to do that, but don’t worry, I still love you.”

Jesus knew ahead of time that Peter was going to deny him and yet Jesus didn’t reject Peter. Instead he loved him and prayed for him. Jesus knew ahead of time that Judas would betray him and yet Jesus didn’t reject Judas. In the very act of betrayal Jesus called him “friend” signaling that even in that dark moment the door of acceptance remained wide open.

We don’t deserve any of this. We have done nothing to merit his favor. If anything, we have done plenty to warrant his displeasure. Yet Jesus reaches out to a sinful world and says, “Open the door and invite me in for dinner.”

Jesus’ acceptance is mind-boggling. It’s like nothing on earth.

[Excerpted from The Gospel in Ten Words, pp.74-75]

Before the official release of my book, The Gospel in Ten Words, I gave away 50 free copies to E2R readers just like you. Then I gave away 50 more. Then, because I was having so much fun, I gave away 50 more. I got such a thrill from hearing back from delighted recipients.

Giving is fun!

I wish I could give away every single copy of the book but there’s this lady down at the grocery store who insists I pay for food with money. Apparently my million-dollar smile isn’t good enough. So my giving has been curtailed by the harsh realities of life.

But that shouldn’t stop you from giving. If you are in a position to give away copies of the book, I want to encourage you to go for it. I can’t tell you how thrilled we are to get emails like this: “Thank you for writing such a good book. I’ve just bought copies for my friends and family.”

Yes! That’s the thing with the good news – it wants to be shared. And there are hungry and hurting people out there who need us to share it.

You certainly don’t need my book to tell someone the good news and there are plenty of free resources here on E2R to equip you for that great commission. But if you do want to purchase copies of The Gospel in Ten Words for friends, family, and entire congregations, then I say “go for it!”

And in the spirit of giving to the givers, we have decided to run a friendly competition.

If you have been generous with The Gospel in Ten Words, use the comment box below to let us know how many copies you have given or plan to give away. At the end of this month (October) the person who has given away the most copies will receive the following bundle of prizes:

-    a signed copy of The Gospel in Ten Words with a special message of thanks mailed anywhere in the world
-    a limited edition Escape to Reality pen (there are only three left!)
-    lunch at our place (if you can make it to Auckland)
-    a guaranteed pre-advance copy of my next book (whenever that gets written)

Sound good? Are you inspired to give?

Okay, some ground rules.

(1)    This applies to the paperback version of the book only. So no burning your Kindle copy onto disks.
(2)    You don’t need to show us your Amazon proof of purchase unless you win (so keep that email)
(3)    We’re counting the books you give away, not books bought for personal use or re-sale

Christmas is only sixty-odd shopping days away. So beat the rush, place your Christmas orders now, and you could win a nifty pile of prizes.

And I have to tell you, nobody does lunch like Camilla!

UPDATE (24 Oct): Bulk discounts are now available here.

“I’m dying on the burning sand. If only someone could throw me in the cool, cool ocean.”

“I’ve got good news for you little starfish. No one dies on the burning sand,” said the universalist. “Everyone ends up in the ocean. Chill out.”

The universalist walked on leaving the starfish to sizzle on the hot sand.

After a while, an inclusionist walked by. “What’s up little starfish?”

“I’m dying on the burning sand. It’s hellishly hot down here and I can’t save myself.”

“I’ve got good news for you little starfish. The burning sand is not real. You are already in the ocean – you just need to wake up and believe it.”

Before the starfish could object, the inclusionist walked on leaving the starfish to sizzle on the hot sand.

The sun rose higher and the sand got hotter. The starfish began to lose all hope. Then Jesus walked by.

“Help me, Jesus,” cried the little starfish.

“What do you want me to do for you?” said Jesus.

“I’m burning up on the hot sand and I have no way of getting back into the cool ocean…”

“I am the way,” said Jesus.

“These two guys came along with contradictory truths and I don’t know who to believe…”

“I am the truth.”

“…but since neither of them would lift a finger to help me, I’m dying here.”

“I am the life,” said Jesus as he gently picked up the little starfish. “He who believes in me will never die. Do you trust me little starfish?”

“Oh goodness yes. You’re the only one around here with something good to say. You’re the only one lifting a finger to help. I’m with you Jesus!”

And Jesus laughed and walked into the cool, cool ocean holding the starfish gently in his hand.

—

Why did I write this story? There is a debating raging among my friends regarding the question of whether all people are in Christ or only Christians are in Christ. Regardless of which side you take in this issue, I trust you will agree that not all have new life. Jesus said, “Whoever believes in me has crossed over from death to life” (see John 3:16,36, 5:24, 6:40,47, 11:25). Not all believe so not all live.

The gospel is not two contradictory truths held in tension. The gospel is a revelation of Jesus who came that we might have life.

Telling unbelievers they are “in Christ” makes as much sense as telling sick people they are in good health. Such a message promotes pride among the self-righteous and conveys a false sense of all is well to the lost. Fact is, the unbeliever is worse than sick; he’s as good as dead (Joh 3:18). And when you are dead it makes no difference where you live.

On the cross the grace of God was revealed to all people. God’s love is unconditional and universal and freely available to all the Mother Teresas and Hitlers of this world. But not everyone receives his love. Some prefer to keep God at arm’s length. They prefer the independence of the hot sand to the cool touch of his loving embrace.

The good news is not “Jesus will violate your will and force his love upon you.” There’s a word for that sort of behavior and such a word cannot be used to describe a God of love.

The good news is that the Lover of your soul stands outside the door knocking and waiting to be invited in.

—
Related posts:
- Is Jesus the Savior of the world?
- Is Adam greater than Jesus?
- What was Last Adam’s greater work?

If this scandalizes you then you may want to avert your eyes from the One called the Friend of Sinners. Jesus didn’t wait for sinners to come to Him; He literally went into their homes and got Himself invited to their parties. That’s because grace is for sinners. It is not for those who think they are basically good and decent people. As Jesus said, “I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners” (Mt 9:13).

So I suppose I should be thrilled that I get a lot of correspondence from sinners – and I am. What is less thrilling is the correspondence I get from saints who think they are sinners and who want me to validate their choice to act like sinners.

Why do saints act like sinners?

Some may do it out of ignorance (“I am holy? I didn’t know!”) or out of a fatal belief that they can live by law and call it grace (“I’m just trying to live by the red letters of Jesus”). But a saint who acts like a sinner is a hypocrite – they are acting like someone they are not.

In a recent post I dealt with five questions I typically hear from hot-blooded young men. But today I want to answer the biggest question of all…

Is grace a license to sin?

No. It is true that grace brings freedom and that includes the freedom to make poor choices, but if you use your freedom to enslave yourself to sin, then you have missed the point of grace:

It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery. (Gal 5:1)

The purpose of grace is to liberate the prisoner and give life to the dead. Grace is also good news for the poor (Lk 4:18-19). So if you use grace to enslave or impoverish yourself by making dumb decisions and indulging the flesh, then you are setting aside grace. You are not using it for its intended purpose. Grace liberates, but if you use your freedom to discard your freedom, then what was the point? You are no better off than when you started.

Moreover the law entered, that the offence might abound. But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound. (Rom 5:20)

Don’t ever fall for the lie that says “I can go on sinning so that grace may abound.” True, your sinning won’t affect God’s love for you, but it will surely affect you. It will enslave you and ultimately kill you. This is not God’s will for your life.

What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? God forbid. (Rom 6:1)

Grace is no more a license to sin than electricity is a license to electrocute yourself. True, you can use electricity to electrocute yourself but God forbid that you would! That’s not what it’s for. God created electricity so you could enjoy light and warmth and ESPN’s SportsCenter. Grace, like electricity is meant to bring life not death and there is no life in sin.

We need to see sin for what it really is. It is not some benign activity like making coffee or hitting free-throws down the stretch. As God warned Cain, Sin is a crouching beast that desires to master you. Running after Sin is about as smart as poking a pit-bull with a stick.

They may take our lives, but they’ll never take our freedom!

The apostle of grace wrote much about how sin enslaves and he wasn’t just talking about sinners: “You are slaves to the one whom you obey” (Rom 6:16). Now please understand I am drawing a big fat line between a saint who occasionally sins and a saint who runs after sin. There is a big difference. The former finds himself doing what he doesn’t want to do; the latter is doing exactly what he wants to do. If you are troubled when you sin, relax – your discomfort is actually a sign of the new nature and new desires within you. Your heart is to please the Lord. But if you are untroubled when you sin – perhaps because you think grace is a license to sin – then wake up and smell the coffee. Something is very wrong.

For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men. It teaches us to say “No” to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age. (Tit 2:11-12)

I am aware that some use this scripture to promote behavior modification thus condemning those who are struggling to overcome sin. (If you are trying to overcome sin, check out the excellent links at the end of this post.) The point I want to make here is this: The grace of God that brings salvation teaches us to say “No” to ungodliness. So any grace that isn’t teaching you to say “No” is counterfeit grace. Is grace a license to sin? Only if it is fake grace.

So why do I still sin?

I suspect there are two reasons. Either you don’t know who you really are and you are still running on the operating system you had when you followed the way of the world. Or you are an unbeliever. The grace that teaches us to say no only comes through faith. If you don’t believe you can say no then, guess what, you won’t. This is why it is imperative to declare what the Bible says is true about you.

If you are a Christian you are a new creation. The new has come and the old has gone. When you came to Christ you did not sign up for a program of life-long reform and self-improvement. That way lies disaster and disappointment. Christ is your life. Learn to allow Him to express His flawless, sinless life through your earthen vessel.

When you get up in the morning, look at yourself in the mirror and declare “I am the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus. I am His dearly loved child.” When you’re about to click on a link that you should not click or when reaching for some substance that is killing you, say it again: “I am the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus. I am His dearly loved child.” This is not the power of positive thinking. This is a frail human being tapping into the inexhaustible riches of His transforming grace through faith.

Have faith in God – His grace is powerful! It is the only thing on this earth that can give us freedom from sin and sinning. Live under the fountain of His grace and sin shall not be your master (Rom 6:14).
—
Related posts:
- Your glorious new past
- Taking communion in an unworthy manner
- The test of your gospel

-    It’s about the good news most of us still haven’t heard.
-    It’s about the good news that was supposed to bring great joy to all people but hasn’t.
-    It’s about the good news that is almost never preached in church or on Christian TV or in the marketplace.

In short, it’s the good news that Jesus revealed and the apostles proclaimed. It’s the good news that set the first-century world on fire. It’s the good news that declares God’s audacious plan for your life, the universe and everything!

Here’s an excerpt from the book:

The gospel is the glad and merry news that God is good, he loves you, and he will happily give up everything he has so he can have you. Contrary to popular belief, God is not mad at you. He is not even in a bad mood. The good news declares that God is happy, he is for you, and he wants to share his life with you forever.

Jesus is proof of this. The veracity of the gospel is evidenced in his death and resurrection. On the cross God showed that he loved us while we were sinners and that he would rather die than live with-out us. And through the resurrection he proved that nothing—not even death—can separate us from the love that is ours in Jesus Christ.

Through our representative Jesus our heavenly Father has joined himself to us, promising never to leave nor forsake us. We stand secure, not on our feeble promises to him, but on his unconditional and unbreakable promises to us.

And that’s it: God loves you and wants to be with you. It’s simple but it’s the biggest truth in the universe. We will spend eternity discovering in a billion different ways the limitless expressions of his unending love. Indeed, this is what we were made for—to receive and respond to his divine love. This is the fundamental law of our existence and the reason for our being. This is the best news you ever heard.

Many people associate the good news with conditions and qualifications but true love hides no hooks. Jesus is Love made flesh and he is beautiful, attractive, dare I say, even irresistible. But only if you see him as he really is.

The blessings of the gospel are many but in The Gospel in Ten Words I look at just ten. These ten blessings are not levels or steps or anything like that. Think of them as pearls on a necklace or pictures at an exhibition. They are riffs on the theme of Jesus. They are ten revelations of grace that describe the life of every believer, no exceptions. In union with Christ you are loved, forgiven, saved, accepted, holy, righteous, dead to sin, new, and royal.

To learn more and to find out what others are saying about The Gospel in Ten Words, check out the book website: www.tenwordgospel.com

Live like this and your legitimate need for acceptance will dictate what you do, where you live, how you talk, even what you eat, drink, and wear. Your life will be defined by other people’s expectations.

As social creatures we were created with the need to be accepted. God put these needs and desires within us so that we might look to him to fulfill those needs. When we don’t—when we seek to get our need for acceptance met outside of him—we can literally hand our lives away. In our desire for acceptance we sign up for courses we’re not really interested in, we take on jobs that suck the life out of us, and we get cozy with those who don’t love us.

The desire to ascend to the high places of acceptance and avoid the valleys of rejection is one of the strongest reasons we do the things we do.

The unholy market for performance-based acceptance

Every manmade religion trades in the market for performance-based acceptance. For Christians this unholy trade is based on the lie that says you have to work to make yourself acceptable and pleasing to God. You’ve got to toe the line, do what you’re told, and make whatever sacrifices are currently in vogue with those up the front. Some churches prescribe codes of conduct and assign people to accountability groups to make sure they keep them. Others, who may scoff at this Old Testamenty idea of writing down rules, don’t hesitate to impose with equal fervor their own unwritten expectations defining “acceptable” behavior. In either case, newcomers quickly learn what one must do to be considered “a good Christian” or “one of us.” Those who conform are welcomed (Acceptance! Hooray for me!), while those who don’t are marginalized (Rejection! Dear God no!).

Performance-based acceptance is a diabolical game with no winners and plenty of losers. Those who fail to perform are made to feel like nobodies while those who get the gold stars can end up further from grace than when they started. This happens when the applause of men deafens them to the voice of the Father that says, “You don’t need to do any of this to please me.”

Life’s winners can be its biggest losers if they become addicted to the feeling of being special that comes from accomplishment. “You love me, you really love me.” In the pursuit of that high they sacrifice themselves and their families on the altar of achievement. They may even come to define themselves in terms of their results or, in Christianese, their “fruit.” They become number-worshippers, their conversations littered with references to how many people God is touching through their ministry. “God is really using me. I must be a Somebody.”

When things turn sour and their success evaporates, they no longer know who they are. “I thought I was a minister but my ministry’s gone. Who am I?” What began as a legitimate quest for acceptance and approval ultimately robs them of their identity.

The gospel of acceptance

The market for acceptance and affirmation is a slave market. It perpetuates a system of human sacrifice based on envy and selfish ambition. It dehumanizes all who trade in it and fosters a distorted image of our heavenly Father as a loveless, scorekeeping judge. To end this unholy trade it is essential that we preach the gospel of acceptance, and here it is: The love of the Lord is not for sale. Like everything with grace, his acceptance and approval is a free gift that comes to us through Christ alone:

To the praise of the glory of his grace, by which he made us accepted in the Beloved. (Ephesians 1:6, NKJV)

This verse is fantastically good news for those who want no part in the acceptance game. Look at the first part of that verse. Does it say, “To the praise of the glory of your service?” It does not. His acceptance of you is to the praise of the glory of his grace. Isn’t that wonderful?

But wait, it gets better. Look at the middle part of that verse. “He made us accepted.” His acceptance is not something you ever need strive for; you already have it. What relief! What freedom!

But wait, there’s more. Look at the final part of the verse: “in the Beloved.” This is referring to Jesus. God’s acceptance comes to you on account of his Son. So if you want to know just how acceptable you are to God, you only have to look at the One called Beloved.

As pleasing to God as Jesus is

On the day Jesus was baptized, a voice from heaven declared, “This is my Beloved Son in whom I am well pleased” (Matthew 3:17, NKJV). Do you know how much ministry success Jesus had accomplished before God spoke those words? None. According to the gospel writers, Jesus had not done a blessed thing. He had preached no sermons, healed no sick, and raised no dead. And yet God said, “I am well pleased with him.” That’s acceptance such as the world does not know. That is the unconditional affirmation of heaven.

[Excerpted from The Gospel in Ten Words, pp.70-71]

UPDATE: Wow – you guys are fast! All 50 free books were claimed within 30 minutes. If you got your name in, we will send you your book within the next 4 hours. Please check your inbox. If you didn’t please do not send further emails as no one will be checking that account.

My new book, The Gospel in Ten Words, is less than two weeks away from release (17th Sept). The proofs have been checked, the printing machines are humming, the FedEx trucks are rolling, and the DHL planes are flying.

It’s time to give some books away!

If you would like to help with the launch of my new book, drop me an email right now and I will send you a free review copy of The Gospel in Ten Words.

What’s the catch?

I want to give books away to people who will help spread the good word. Convince me that you’ll do something positive with your free book (eg: write a review on your blog, FB page, or Amazon) and you’ll get a digital copy in your in-tray today. That’s right – today. Not next week, not at Christmas, but today. The sooner you write, the sooner you’ll get it.

If you enjoy my writing and want to be involved in the book launch, send an email to freetenwordgospel@gmail.com with something like this:

Subject: Free book please!
Message: I’d love a free copy of The Gospel in Ten Words and I promise to review/tweet/blog/chatter about it to all my friends.

The first 50 people to respond will get a free book. Go on, you know you want one! Send me an email now.