View on Website -- https://wordpoints.com/what-lordship-christ-means-august-30/

"Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven" (Matthew 7:21).

IF WE THINK THAT OBEDIENCE HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH OUR CITIZENSHIP IN GOD’S KINGDOM, WE ARE MISTAKEN. For Jesus Christ to be our Savior, He must be our Lord. And the lordship of Christ involves more than just saying He is our Lord. “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.”

The first hearers of the gospel two thousand years ago would have been more familiar with the word “lord” than we are. It simply meant “one who is in authority.” But used in reference to Jesus Christ it had a special meaning. In Matthew 28:18-20, He claimed that all authority in heaven and on earth had been given to Him. He was the “King of kings and Lord of lords” (Revelation 19:16).

Remember that we have defined the problem of sin as the problem of rebellion against God. If that’s what our trouble is, it makes obvious sense that for our sins to be forgiven we are going to have to lay down our rebellion, come back to the rightful King, and once again submit ourselves to His rule. Wonder of all wonders, He is willing to forgive us of our treason, but His grace requires that we begin doing what we have not been doing: obey His will. He must be our Master, our Ruler . . . our Lord.

But how do we know if Jesus is our Lord? We know by taking a look at whether we’re actually obeying Him or not. Whatever we may say, He is not our Lord if we are not obeying Him.

Perhaps we could not do better than to end these thoughts with Jesus’ vivid conclusion to the Sermon on the Mount: “Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock. And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it” (Matthew 7:24-27).

"What gets me into the kingdom, from Christ's own statement, is not saying, 'Lord, Lord,' but acting 'Lord, Lord'" (Jim Elliot).

Gary Henry - WordPoints.com + AreYouaChristian.com

For more information, visit http://AreYouaChristian.com

View on Website -- https://wordpoints.com/seeking-kingdom-god-first-august-29

"But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you" (Matthew 6:33).

A FIRM DECISION MUST BE MADE TO “SEEK FIRST THE KINGDOM OF GOD.” Very few people are willing to do this, even among those who profess allegiance to Christ. “Everyone wants the kingdom of God, but few want it first. Everyone wants high achievement, but few want to pay the price. Everyone wants God, but few want to put him first” (Charles L. Venable). Especially in the modern culture of so-called “Christian nations,” very few do anything more than add a little “Christianity” to their busy lifestyles.

But Jesus was clear: we cannot serve two masters (Matthew 6:24). He said, “Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters” (Luke 11:23). When it comes to our discipleship, a radical choice has to be made. Will Jesus get all of my heart or will He get nothing? There is no middle ground.

But did you notice the last part of Jesus’ statement in Matthew 6:33? If we put the kingdom first, “all these things will be added to you.” Whatever other needs we have, these will be supplied — but we have to be willing to do without them, if need be, in order to maintain the priority of the kingdom. And, of course, the very worst thing we could do is to serve God for selfish or utilitarian reasons: looking at religion simply as the best way to get “all these things.”

Whether to put God’s kingdom first in our hearts is a hard decision, hard because of the sacrifice required and also the carefulness demanded by the decision. Consequently, we often dither about it and procrastinate. (I love the American Heritage Dictionary’s definition of “dither”: “to be nervously irresolute in acting or doing.”)

We need to hear Joshua’s challenge: “If it is evil in your eyes to serve the Lord, choose this day whom you will serve” (Joshua 24:15). Or Elijah’s exhortation: “How long will you go limping between two different opinions? If the Lord is God, follow him; but if Baal, then follow him” (1 Kings 18:21). Or Moses’ plea: “I have set before you life and death, blessing and curse. Therefore choose life, that you and your offspring may live” (Deuteronomy 30:19). In this life, it pays to be careful what we grasp and what we give up.

"If you have not chosen the kingdom of God first, it will in the end make no difference what you have chosen instead" (William Law).

Gary Henry - WordPoints.com + AreYouaChristian.com

For more information, visit http://AreYouaChristian.com

View on Website -- https://wordpoints.com/confessing-our-sins-august-28/

"If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness" (1 John 1:9).

GOD’S GRACE IS A SOURCE OF JOY TO US. Where would we be if He were not “faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness”? But God’s forgiveness requires honesty on our part. Writing to Christians, John said, “If we confess our sins,” God will accept our honesty and forgive us.

What does it mean to “confess” our sins? It means acknowledging what the sins are that we need to be forgiven of. This is far more than a generic statement that we “haven’t done as well as we should.” In confession, we specifically name the sins we are guilty of, acknowledging the full, unvarnished truth about our disobedience. Rather than pleading extenuating circumstances that might diminish our guilt, we confess the aggravating circumstances that make our guilt even worse than it might have been otherwise. In our own “trial,” so to speak, we accuse ourselves more thoroughly than any of the witnesses — saying exactly what the sin was and why it was so wrong, sparing no detail and offering no excuse.

Anyone who has ever done this knows how painful it is. It comes from “a broken and contrite heart” (Psalm 51:17), and it hurts. But the joy of forgiveness is on the other side of this sorrow, and the process of confessing our sins and properly grieving them should not be rushed through. One reason many Christians have so little joy is that they have paid too little attention to the process of confession and grief for their sins. Eager to be happy, they have avoided the very thing that could have made them truly rejoice.

But in addition to God, is there anyone else to whom we should confess our sins? In some cases, yes. If anyone else has suffered loss or damage by our sin, we must acknowledge how we have hurt them and seek to make whatever restitution is possible. In addition, there may be others we will want to confess our sins to because they love us and will be a great help to us as we learn to repent and live differently. Hard though it is, confession is one of the best parts of God’s plan for our redemption. It is a blessing because it is a courageous step in the direction of truth.

"Confession, which means to agree with God regarding our sin, restores our fellowship. It is a form of discipline which God requires" (Erwin W. Lutzer).

Gary Henry - WordPoints.com + AreYouaChristian.com

For more information, visit http://AreYouaChristian.com

View on Website -- https://wordpoints.com/what-trust-moves-us-to-do-august-27/

"For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts" (Isaiah 55:8,9).

ONE OF LIFE’S GREATEST CHALLENGES IS TO TRUST GOD ENOUGH TO ACCEPT HIS MEANS AND HIS METHODS. Many are those who say they love God and trust Him, but in an age when human feelings are the ultimate source of authority, most people are willing to disregard anything in the Scriptures that does not seem reasonable to them. We say we believe God is non-negotiable, but when it comes to “means and methods,” we often see those as flexible.

Few of us would have set up the gospel plan of salvation as God did. Even in the apostolic age, the gospel met with resistance from many who saw it as either ineffective or unsophisticated. Speaking as one who knew what it was like to reject the gospel as being unreasonable, Paul said, “For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. For it is written, ‘I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and the discernment of the discerning I will thwart.’ Where is the one who is wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, it pleased God through the folly of what we preach to save those who believe” (1 Corinthians 1:18-21).

But what about us today? Are we willing to accept God in general matters like love and faith, but when it comes to His instructions in the Scriptures about how these principles are to be carried out, do we balk? The unavoidable fact is, if we do not trust God’s revealed instructions, we do not trust God Himself.

We see no better example of someone yielding to God’s plan than Jesus yielding in the matter of His crucifixion (John 12:27,28). He went to the cross not because it was easy or because it was His preference, but simply because He trusted His Father’s plan. He trusted the plan because He trusted His Father. And make no mistake: it was His obedience that showed that He trusted Him.

"Faith reposes on the character of God, and if we believe that God is perfect, we must conclude that his ways are perfect also" (A. W. Tozer).

Gary Henry - WordPoints.com + AreYouaChristian.com

For more information, visit http://AreYouaChristian.com

View on Website -- https://wordpoints.com/when-reach-gods-goal-august-26/

"And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit" (2 Corinthians 3:18).

IF WE ARE IN CHRIST, WE ARE BEING TRANSFORMED. Beginning with our initial obedience to the gospel and the forgiveness of our past sins, we are being renovated and rehabilitated. When we reach the place that Christ has gone to prepare for us (John 14:1-4), we will enjoy an absolutely perfect relationship with God forever. The damage of our sins will have been totally repaired, the flaws in our character removed, and even our innermost thoughts and motives completely conformed to our Father’s holiness.

The apostle John envisioned the completion of this process of character growth when he said, “Beloved, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is. And everyone who thus hopes in him purifies himself as he is pure” (1 John 3:2,3). What a glorious vision of what we can be!

At present, however, we are still in “rehab.” We ought to be powerfully pulled toward God by the vision of what we will be when the process is finished, but the fact is, we’re not there yet. Paul put it in the present tense when he said that we “are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another.” As long as this life lasts, we’ll always be works in progress.

But it is critically important to keep one thing in mind: God will not be content until He has finished doing what He has begun to do with us. Although His scheme of redemption obviously benefits us personally, the plan is primarily about God and His intention to redeem His creation from the ravages of sin. In Christ, He is transforming us into the sons and daughters that human beings were meant to be. He is, in effect, restoring our humanity to us.

Sin marred God’s creation, taking creatures made in His image and defacing that image. As a result, we have never experienced what it is to be a human being — not fully and perfectly. At best, we have been stumbling along with lives that are only a faint echo of real life. But God does not plan to leave His masterpiece broken. In Christ, He proposes to bring us all the way back to life.

"The glory of God is man fully alive" (Irenaeus).

Gary Henry - WordPoints.com + AreYouaChristian.com

For more information, visit http://AreYouaChristian.com

View on Website -- https://wordpoints.com/refreshment-in-lord-august-25/

"Yes, brother, I want some benefit from you in the Lord. Refresh my heart in Christ" (Philemon 20).

IN THE SHORT LETTER OF PAUL TO PHILEMON, PAUL MADE A BROTHER-TO-BROTHER REQUEST OF HIS FELLOW CHRISTIAN. Hoping the request would be favorably considered, Paul said, “Refresh my heart in Christ.” Today, let’s meditate on this aspect of becoming a Christian. Not only do we assume new responsibilities to the Lord, but we acquire a new connection to others who, like us, have obeyed the gospel. As we see with Paul and Philemon, we have the opportunity to “refresh” our brothers and sisters in Christ.

The concept of “refreshing” another person is helpful. Perhaps it goes without saying that we all need to be refreshed from time to time, but most of us probably underestimate the extent to which we can have this effect on others. By our words and deeds, we can energize those around us, breathing new life into them.

But Paul hoped that Philemon would refresh his heart “in Christ,” i.e., as a Christian. It is certainly possible for anyone, whether a Christian or not, to have a refreshing effect on other people, but in Jesus Christ this effect is deepened in significant ways. It is only in Christ that we have the ability to be refreshing in the ways that people most seriously need refreshment. But here is the point that all of us who are Christians need to ponder: we need to see being a Christian not only in terms of what we can get (being refreshed) but also in terms of what we can give (refreshing others).

When all is said and done, we will act in rightful love toward others only when we have a right relationship with God and think about His nature as we should. As someone has said, our “sociology” flows out of our “theology.” If we think there is no God at all, that will have an obvious impact on our relationships with other human beings. But even if we are believers, if our view of God is in conflict with God’s revelation of Himself in the Scriptures as a whole — for example, if it is skewed in the direction of either His judgment or His forgiveness — our relationships will be hampered by that imbalance. So here is a very practical reason for learning about God as He truly is: it is the truth about God that will enable us to be genuinely “refreshing” as Christians.

"There is no brotherhood of man without the fatherhood of God" (Henry Martyn Field).

Gary Henry - WordPoints.com + AreYouaChristian.com

For more information, visit http://AreYouaChristian.com

View on Website -- https://wordpoints.com/willful-refusal-obey-august-24/

"For rebellion is as the sin of divination, and presumption is as iniquity and idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the Lord, he has also rejected you from being king" (1 Samuel 15:23).

IN DESCRIBING SIN, ONE OF THE MAIN ILLUSTRATIONS USED IN THE BIBLE IS “REBELLION.” This gives us the picture of a subject who commits treason against his rightful king. Rather than submit to the laws of the kingdom, he rebels. Willfully and treacherously, he declares independence from the kingdom with an attitude that says, “I don’t care what the king says; I’ll do my own will.”

After all our rationalizations have been refuted by the facts, this is what sin always amounts to. It is rebellion. When we sin, we willfully refuse to obey God. Paul cuts through all the nonsense of our excuses in Romans 2:5 when he says “Because of your hard and impenitent heart you are storing up wrath for yourself on the day of wrath when God’s righteous judgment will be revealed.”

On the judgment day, there will only be two classes of people: “to those who by patience in well-doing seek for glory and honor and immortality, [God] will give eternal life; but for those who are self-seeking and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, there will be wrath and fury” (Romans 2:7,8). If we are lost, it will not be a miscarriage of justice. “Sin is not weakness, it is not disease; it is red-handed rebellion against God” (Oswald Chambers).

Even in what we know of God’s will, there is often an element of rebellion in our ignorance. As Eric Hoffer said, “Far more crucial than what we know or do not know is what we do not want to know.” So when the Scriptures speak of “ignorance,” it is often a reference to the moral blindness that comes from refusing the light that was available to us (Romans 1:28-32; Ephesians 4:17-19). 

It marks a huge step in our return to God when we acknowledge that our sins against Him have been deliberate. If all we can say is, “What I did was perhaps inadvisable, but I couldn’t have done otherwise,” we’re a long way from seeing our need for forgiveness. It is only when we acknowledge that we have chosen to disobey God that we’re ready to begin thinking about repentance.

"That is the inner nature of sin always, willful refusal to obey God. But still men go on trying to get conviction upon sinners by telling them they sinned because they could not help it" (A. W. Tozer).

Gary Henry - WordPoints.com + AreYouaChristian.com

For more information, visit http://AreYouaChristian.com

View on Website -- https://wordpoints.com/christs-weapons-not-fleshly-august-23/

"For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds. We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ" (2 Corinthians 10:4,5).

THE STRONGHOLDS DESTROYED BY JESUS CHRIST ARE NOT MILITARY OR GOVERNMENTAL. It is true that Jesus was victorious over the Roman Empire, but His victory was not gained on 28 October 312 (when Constantine won the Battle of the Milvian Bridge) or on 24 August 410 (when the Visigoths sacked Rome). No, in fulfillment of Daniel 2:44, Jesus broke in pieces the Roman Empire (and every other earthly empire) on the morning of His resurrection — and a few weeks later on the Day of Pentecost, when the truth about salvation in His name began to transform the hearts of human beings.

As Paul put it so clearly, the purpose of the gospel is not to tear down earthly tyrannies or take over the halls of worldly power. It is to “destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God.” And if any captives are to be taken, the gospel will “take every thought captive to obey Christ.”

We do not diminish the seriousness of the struggle when we say that the war between good and evil is an ideological warfare. Ideas are powerful, and you cannot think of a serious problem in the world that is not the result of some untruth that somebody has bought into. The devil’s main weapon is the lie, and Christ’s victory over His adversary consists of putting the truth back in its rightful place. Perhaps we may put it this way: Christ does not waste time hacking at the leaves of the tree; He goes to the very root of the trouble and cuts it off. In other words, as the Great Physician, He is not primarily concerned with symptoms; He is going for the cure.

This being the victory Christ came to win, He did not resort to any of the means that are needed to win a political contest. The kingdom that resulted from His victory can’t be measured by any of the criteria the world uses to judge how powerful something is. And because it is spiritual, Christ’s kingdom is not vulnerable to any of the threats that earthly kingdoms have to worry about. This kingdom doesn’t need weapons. It’s a different kind of kingdom.

Girded for war, humility his mighty dress,
He moves into the battle wholly weaponless.
(Madeleine L'Engle)

Gary Henry - WordPoints.com + AreYouaChristian.com

For more information, visit http://AreYouaChristian.com

View on Website -- https://wordpoints.com/every-knee-bow-every-tongue-confess-august-22/

"Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father" (Philippians 2:9-11).

CHRIST’S HUMILIATION WAS FOLLOWED A FEW WEEKS LATER BY HIS EXALTATION. The writer of Hebrews pointed his brethren to the example of Jesus, “who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God” (Hebrews 12:2). This is a reference to the prophecy of David in Psalm 110:1, a prophecy alluded to several times in the New Testament and always linked to the ascension of Jesus back to heaven following His resurrection: “So then the Lord Jesus, after he had spoken to them, was taken up into heaven and sat down at the right hand of God” (Mark 16:19).

In Philippians 2:9, Paul said that “God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name.” The majestic rule of Jesus as God’s Son exceeds that of any other power or authority “in heaven and on earth and under the earth.” As Jesus Himself said on the occasion when He commissioned His apostles to preach the gospel of God’s forgiveness in His name, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age” (Matthew 28:18-20).

Paul said that God has given this authority to His Son so that “every knee should bow . . . and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord.” The gospel now invites us to accept our Lord’s rule voluntarily and lovingly. If we refuse to do so, the time will come when He will return and bring the history of this world to a close. At that time, the reality of His rule will be unavoidable and there will be none who do not confess the truth. But if we have not done so before that day of judgment, it will be too late for our acknowledgement to save us. In reality, Christ is the Lord. But will we accept His lordship? That is what the gospel asks us to decide.

"If Shakespeare should come into this room, we would all rise; but if Jesus Christ should come in, we would all kneel" (Charles Lamb).

Gary Henry - WordPoints.com + AreYouaChristian.com

For more information, visit http://AreYouaChristian.com

View on Website -- https://wordpoints.com/humbling-himself-became-obedient-august-21/

"And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross" (Philippians 2:8).

GOD COULD NOT HAVE DIED AN ATONING DEATH FOR OUR SINS WITHOUT BECOMING A HUMAN BEING. There was only one sacrifice that could save us, and He had to take upon Himself human form in order to make that sacrifice. From our limited viewpoint, we have no idea what it cost Him to humble Himself in this way.

The word “humility” is the only word that can describe it, of course, but what we know of humility in our human relationships hardly seems sufficient. When God “humbled himself” by diving into the cesspool of the human race and allowing Himself to be killed on our behalf, He engaged in an act of sacrificial service that should make any of us reluctant to say that we’ve ever really given up anything for anyone. In eternally unfathomable ways, He “emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant” (Philippians 2:7).

But it was not merely by being humble that Jesus procured our salvation — it was “by becoming obedient.” We have learned nothing of Jesus Christ and His gospel if we have not learned the necessity of obedience. Our ears are deaf if we can’t hear the courage of His submission to His Father’s will on the eve of His execution: “Abba, Father, all things are possible for you. Remove this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what you will” (Mark 14:36). But oh, how thankful we are for His obedience. We would be lost without it, would we not? “Although he was a son, he learned obedience through what he suffered. And being made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation to all who obey him” (Hebrews 5:8,9).

In the Roman Empire, there was no more humiliating death than crucifixion. Jesus was not the only person executed by Rome in this way, but the uniqueness of His crucifixion was that the most humiliating form of death was meted out to the most powerful Being in the universe: God Himself. And if God would submit to such a thing, what are the implications for us? At the very least, it means we cannot “follow” Christ or “accept” Him without emulating His example of obedience — even when it is costly.

"To be like Christ. That is our goal, plain and simple. It sounds like a peaceful, relaxing, easy objective. But stop and think. He learned obedience by the things he suffered. So must we" (Charles R. Swindoll).

Gary Henry - WordPoints.com + AreYouaChristian.com

For more information, visit http://AreYouaChristian.com

View on Website -- https://wordpoints.com/humbly-receiving-word-august-20/

". . . take into your souls without pride the word which, being planted there, is able to give you salvation" (James 1:21 Bible in Basic English).

GOD’S WORD, COMMUNICATED TO US IN THE SCRIPTURES, IS EXTREMELY POWERFUL. But in addition to His word, God has also given us freedom. Depending on the choices we make as we respond to the Scriptures, we will become either more receptive or more resistant. So in regard to our dealings with God’s word, James uses the word “receive” — or as some other translations render it, “take into your souls” (BBE), “welcome” (NET), “accept” (NIV), etc. The NIrV aptly paraphrases the entire sentence, “Don’t be too proud to accept the word that is planted in you. It can save you.”

In our approach to God, all of us are hindered by pride. It comes in such subtle shapes and sizes, we may not see it for what it is, but none of us can truthfully say we don’t have any problem with pride. And pride never presents any worse problem for us than when it hinders us from “receiving” God’s word obediently. When we study the Scriptures, if we reject what the text clearly teaches, put up our defenses, or make excuses to convince ourselves that it’s not applicable to us, then the devil need not expend any more effort trying to claim our souls. He has got us already.

As we’ve already seen, whether or not we’re receptive hearers is a matter of choice. If pride is hindering our hearing, we can change that. Doing so will be hard, even with God’s help, but the first step must be our decision to heed James’ advice: “take into your souls without pride the word which, being planted there, is able to give you salvation.” God’s word does not automatically save anyone — it is “able” (that’s the word James uses) to save those willing to receive it. And ultimately, it is by our deeds that we show how receptive we’ve been. As James says, “Be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves” (1:22).

In these days when Bibles are so plentiful, many of us know a good many things about the Scriptures. Indeed, some of us have studied the Scriptures our whole lives. But frankly, out of all we have learned, only a fraction of that has truly been “received.” Today, let’s determine that we will not let pride keep God’s word from pricking our conscience and moving us to greater obedience.

"The Bible was not given for our information but for our transformation" (Dwight L. Moody).

Gary Henry - WordPoints.com + AreYouaChristian.com

For more information, visit http://AreYouaChristian.com

View on Website -- https://wordpoints.com/none-has-anybody-we-can-look-down-on-august-19/

"The Pharisee, standing by himself, prayed thus: 'God, I thank you that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector'" (Luke 18:11).

OUR “FORGETTER” IS A BLESSING, BUT IT CAN ALSO BE A CURSE. Some things it is best not to forget. In the above text, for example, the Pharisee felt good when he compared himself to the tax collector. But his good feelings were ill-founded. Having forgotten the seriousness of his own sins, he had a false self-image.

THE SINS WE WERE FORGIVEN OF. Gratitude for God’s grace means that we rejoice in our salvation. We do not allow our past to drown us in despair. But even so, we must not forget how indebted to God’s grace we really are. Our gratitude (and hence our joy) will always be in proportion to our remembrance of the debt that was erased (Luke 7:40-47). If we forget the sins we were forgiven of, our joy will dry up and turn into the boredom of self-satisfaction.

THE SINS THAT REMAIN IN OUR LIVES. Most of us are out of touch with the amount of sin that still resides in our hearts. It may have been many years ago that we obeyed the gospel and began walking with the Lord, and we may have grown a good bit in the meantime. When we compare ourselves to others, it may seem that we are doing pretty well, but compared to the Lord, it’s obvious that we still have a long way to go. We need to be humbled by the recognition of how sinful our motives often are, even when our outward behavior meets the standards of Christian conduct.

There is nothing about any of us that is not known to God. “The word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart. And no creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account” (Hebrews 4:12,13). What if God made known to the public everything He knows about us, even the “thoughts and intentions” of our hearts? Who among us would not be disgraced and ashamed?

Thanks be to God for His offer of mercy in Jesus Christ! But if we have obeyed the gospel and received that mercy, let’s be careful in our thinking. None of us has anybody we can look down on.

"The best of us are but poor wretches just saved from shipwreck" (George Eliot).

Gary Henry - WordPoints.com + AreYouaChristian.com

For more information, visit http://AreYouaChristian.com

View on Website -- https://wordpoints.com/possible-drift-away-from-christ-august-18/

"Therefore we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, lest we drift away from it. For since the message declared by angels proved to be reliable, and every transgression or disobedience received a just retribution, how shall we escape if we neglect such a great salvation?" (Hebrews 2:1-3).

IN CHRIST, WE ARE SECURE IN HIS LOVE AND PROTECTION, BUT OUR VERY GRATITUDE FOR GOD’S GRACE CAUSES US TO BE ALL THE MORE CAREFUL TO MAINTAIN OUR SALVATION. After affirming that God’s “divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness,” Peter wrote, “Therefore, brothers, be all the more diligent to confirm your calling and election, for if you practice these qualities you will never fall” (2 Peter 1:3-11). Both of these points of emphasis are needed. Each makes the other more meaningful.

But think carefully. After obeying the gospel, we may cease being faithful to Christ and end up being rejected by Him. But under what circumstances might that happen? Is it only open defiance and rebellion that would cause Christ to turn away from us?

Most of us would say we’re “doing our best” and any problems we have are only those of “weakness.” So if we believe that a deliberate, premeditated choice to leave Christ is the only way we can be lost, most of us will overestimate our security (Revelation 3:17).

But even a quick look at the Scriptures shows that there are other ways we might turn away from Christ, short of outright rebellion. One is the problem of “drift.” As Hebrews 2:1-3 warns, we will lose our salvation if we “neglect” it. The writer hoped his readers would not be “sluggish, but imitators of those who through faith and patience inherit the promises” (Hebrews 6:12). Since the way is hard (Matthew 7:14), sluggishness can be deadly.

In Christ’s letters to the churches of Asia, there were warnings against a lack of love (Revelation 2:4,5), doctrinal error (2:14-16), lukewarmness (3:16), etc. If they didn’t repent, these Christians were going to be disowned by Christ. Today, we need the same message of caution. Rebellion is a temptation for all of us, no doubt, but it is not the only way we may depart from Christ. In a dangerous world, our confidence needs to be balanced with carefulness — so don’t let the devil tell you that “drift” won’t ever be a problem for you.

"The condition upon which God hath given liberty to man is eternal vigilance" (John Philpot Curran).

Gary Henry - WordPoints.com + AreYouaChristian.com

For more information, visit http://AreYouaChristian.com

View on Website -- https://wordpoints.com/reverence-vs-pick-choose-august-17/

"But if you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law but a judge" (James 4:11).

CONFRONTED BY GOD’S LAW, THERE IS A CHOICE WE MUST MAKE BETWEEN TWO ATTITUDES. Will we submit to it (and be “under” the law) or will we pick and choose which commandments to obey (and be “above” the law)? Most people obey God’s law occasionally, if and when it suits them, but very few are willing to make an unconditional commitment to obedience and submit to the Father with a simple “not my will, but yours, be done” (Luke 22:42).

Those of us who live in the United States are heirs to several historical traditions, and we are often influenced by these even in our attitude toward God’s law. First, we are heirs of the democratic tradition, which today has morphed into the egalitarian idea that hierarchies (and their requirement of submission) are never anything more than a necessary evil. Rulers only rule with the consent of the governed, and only the people have the right to say what the laws are going to be. Second, we are heirs of the Enlightenment, in which human reason became the test of all knowledge. And third, we have inherited the theory of capitalism, with its modern concept of consumerism, in which the customer is always right and the market makes its money by giving him what he wants.

Having breathed this atmosphere all our lives, it is hard for any of us to come to the Scriptures with a completely submissive attitude. Trained by egalitarianism, we are suspicious of the very idea of authority, and as children of the Enlightenment, we view human reason as the final judge of what is true and good. As capitalistic consumers, we simply shop the religious “marketplace” for doctrines, duties, and worship styles that please us. If there are any that don’t, we pass them by just as conveniently as we would pass by a product at Trader Joe’s that didn’t fit our lifestyle.

These days, “reverence” has come to be a meaningless word. The idea that God is the sovereign Ruler of the universe — and that He has the right to govern everything about us — is hard for us to swallow. But we must rise above our culture. If God is indeed our Creator, we are not free to sit in judgment on His laws. The truth must be embraced and acted upon. Not just some of it, but all of it.

"If you believe what you like in the gospel, and reject what you don’t like, it is not the gospel you believe, but yourself" (Augustine of Hippo).

Gary Henry - WordPoints.com + AreYouaChristian.com

For more information, visit http://AreYouaChristian.com

View on Website -- https://wordpoints.com/essential-truth-about-gods-son-august-16/

"Everyone who goes on ahead and does not abide in the teaching of Christ, does not have God. Whoever abides in the teaching has both the Father and the Son" (2 John 9).

THE GNOSTICS IN THE FIRST CENTURY, WHO DENIED THAT JESUS WAS GOD IN THE FLESH, PRESENTED THEIR TEACHING AS BEING MORE ADVANCED. But John was emphatic: if we leave the teaching of Christ, we do not go forward; we go backward. In fact, we separate ourselves from God. As John worded it, we do “not have God.”

The “teaching of Christ” is a teaching we must “abide in” if we hope to be saved from our sins. And whatever else the teaching of Christ may include, it certainly includes the fact that He was God in the flesh. This was the principal point of dispute between the Gnostics and the apostles of Christ. The apostles were the authoritative bearers of Christ’s teaching (John 14:25,26; 15:26,27; 16:12-15), and as one of those apostles, John did not back down. Either we adhere to the teaching of Christ and His apostles concerning the miracle of His Incarnation or we have departed from God.

If there is one constant in human history it is that human beings always make things more complex as time goes along. So with regard to the gospel, it should be no surprise that very soon after it began to be preached, it began to be corrupted by those who wanted to make it more advanced — supplementing it with layers of increased complexity and making it more appealing to those who would be turned off by its original message. In this world, nothing stays in its original condition for very long. The tendency to “go beyond” seems almost irresistible. But to return to our point, John, along with all of the apostles, warned that to go beyond the teaching of Christ is not to improve the gospel; it is to degrade it.

“Everyone who goes on ahead and does not abide in the teaching of Christ, does not have God.” That is one of the starkest warnings in the Scriptures. Elsewhere, John wrote, “If we reject the Son, we reject the Father” (1 John 2:23 CEV). But on the other side of this warning is a hope that is the very heart of the gospel. If we have Christ, and hold on to the truth about Him, then God is not only His Father but ours as well. It is amazing what doors truth opens.

Whoever stumbles upon Christ (who is a granite stone)
Lies shattered; but grasp him and be led securely home.
(Angelus Silesius)

Gary Henry - WordPoints.com + AreYouaChristian.com

For more information, visit http://AreYouaChristian.com

View on Website -- https://wordpoints.com/what-if-deny-incarnation-august-15/

"For many deceivers have gone out into the world, those who do not confess the coming of Jesus Christ in the flesh. Such a one is the deceiver and the antichrist" (2 John 7).

WE CANNOT ACCEPT THE GOSPEL WITHOUT EMBRACING WHAT JESUS TAUGHT ABOUT HIS BEING GOD. This may go against the modern mindset, in which there is no proposition that is not negotiable, but when it comes to the salvation of our souls, the truth about Jesus Christ is necessary. There are some facts such that if we leave them out, what we have left is not the gospel of Christ.

When John wrote, probably toward the end of the first century, what would later be called Gnosticism was beginning to influence Christians. Central to this teaching was a denial of the Incarnation: God actually taking upon Himself human form in the person of Jesus (John 1:14; 5:18; 10:30; 14:7-9; 19:7). To deny this, John says, is to be a “deceiver.” That is a strong term, obviously, and John does not use it lightly. There may have been some who were sincere in their denial that Jesus was God in the flesh, but sincere or not, the effect of such teaching is always the same. If Jesus was (and is) the Son of God, to deny that fact is to be deceived — and to teach such a denial to others is to deceive people concerning the way of salvation. The consequences of doing that are frightening indeed.

It is interesting how John describes this denial. He says it is a failure to “confess” the coming of Jesus Christ in the flesh. Here, then, is a truth that must be acknowledged — at whatever cost. It is not an optional truth; it is what it is, and our choice is simply whether to confess it or not. If we deny it, it still remains true.

It would be impossible to overestimate the importance of believing in the Incarnation. The entire gospel depends on it. God could not have died an atoning death for our sins if He had not become a human being who was capable of being killed. So to leave this out of our “gospel” is to drain the gospel of its main meaning.

Admittedly, the idea of the Incarnation is unpopular today. It is viewed as anachronistic and unsophisticated. As were people in the first century, we might easily be drawn to a more philosophical rendition of the gospel. But an idea is not false simply because its appearance seems ungainly. Appearances can be misleading.

"The handsomest flower is not always the sweetest" (Old Adage).

Gary Henry - WordPoints.com + AreYouaChristian.com

For more information, visit http://AreYouaChristian.com

View on Website -- https://wordpoints.com/which-sins-preach-against-most-august-14/

"For all that is in the world -- the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life -- is not from the Father but is from the world" (1 John 2:16).

SOME SINS OPENLY FLY THE FLAG OF CORRUPTION AND REBELLION, WHILE OTHERS DO THEIR DAMAGE MORE PRIVATELY. Sins like pride and greed, for example, are every bit as destructive as sexual immorality (if not more so), but those of us who preach don’t preach against them nearly as often. We ought to ponder why this is so.

Sins come in all shapes and sizes. They are all equal in that they will separate us from God, and that fact should make us treat every sin, even the “least” of them, as a deadly serious matter. But in other ways, sins may be different. Some are oriented toward God while others are more in the direction of other people. Some we confine to our hearts while others erupt into outward action. Some have greater temporal consequences attached to them than others.

Admit it or not, all of us prioritize sins. If you’re a parent, there are some sins you would be more greatly concerned about if you saw them beginning to take root in your children’s lives. Such a prioritization of sins can hardly be avoided, I think. My concern is not that we view some sins as more serious — it’s that we get our priorities from the popular culture. Our “righteous indignation” is determined not by the scale of values in the Scriptures but by the ever-changing dictums of social stigma, political correctness, and modern psychology. So the problem is not that we have a list but that our ranking of the most dangerous sins didn’t come from Jesus.

Looking into our own hearts, what do we see? Whatever mistakes we might make in our concern for others, we certainly don’t want to underestimate the danger of the sins that beset us personally. So what would alarm you most if you took an honest look inside and saw different kinds of sin in your heart?

In heaven there will be no marriage and in hell, no fornication. But in heaven there certainly will be love and in hell, hatred. Even now, hatred will take you closer to hell than fornication will. Sexual sin is an abomination and it will damn your soul, but if things like pride, anger, and selfishness are in your heart, you are already farther down the road to hell than if lasciviousness was your only problem.

"The sins of the bedroom are not the only ones. The sins of the boardroom should be just as much a matter of concern" (Richard Harries).

Gary Henry - WordPoints.com + AreYouaChristian.com

For more information, visit http://AreYouaChristian.com

View on Website -- https://wordpoints.com/gods-wrath-character-august-13/

"Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God" (Romans 5:9).

HAVING BEEN JUSTIFIED BY CHRIST’S BLOOD IN THE PRESENT, WE SHALL BE SAVED FROM THE WRATH OF GOD IN THE FUTURE. It’s true that salvation in Christ is a present reality (Ephesians 2:8), but Paul is speaking  in Romans 5:9 of a future event: our being spared from the judgment that is coming upon the world. In 2 Thessalonians 1:7-9, Paul wrote of the time when Christ will be “revealed from heaven with his mighty angels in flaming fire, inflicting vengeance on those who do not know God and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. They will suffer the punishment of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his might.” Until that time, we wait “for [God’s] Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, Jesus who delivers us from the wrath to come” (1 Thessalonians 1:10).

Paul is clear in Romans 5:9 that it is “by him [Jesus Christ]” that we shall be saved. In Christ, we are assured of being protected from the wrath that will be poured out on the rebellious and disobedient. But even in Christ, we must not fail to take God’s wrath seriously. There are none among us who don’t need to be warned.

It is a mistake to think of God’s wrath as something that needs to be apologized for — and it is hazardous to hurry past the many Scriptures that speak of this. The devil would love for us to forget the foundational truth that Solomon learned the hard way: “Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man. For God will bring every deed into judgment, with every secret thing, whether good or evil” (Ecclesiastes 12:13,14).

Let us remember, then, that wrath is a part of God’s character. If He treated evil as a trifle to be overlooked, God would not be the perfectly good God the Scriptures reveal Him to be. I would even suggest that God’s wrath is a part of His love. Very likely, it is nothing more than our immature concept of love that sees a conflict between the punishment of evil and the blessing of righteousness.

"God is love, not, God is loving. God and love are synonymous. Love is not an attribute of God, it IS God; whatever God is, love is. If your conception of love does not agree with justice and judgment and purity and holiness, then your idea of love is wrong" (Oswald Chambers).

Gary Henry - WordPoints.com + AreYouaChristian.com

For more information, visit http://AreYouaChristian.com

View on Website -- https://wordpoints.com/value-gospel-resurrection-august-12/

"If in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied" (1 Corinthians 15:19).

IT’S AN AGE-OLD QUESTION WHETHER THE MAIN PURPOSE OF THE GOSPEL HAS TO DO WITH THIS LIFE OR THE LIFE TO COME. In our age, the emphasis is so lopsided in favor of the here and now, one hardly ever hears from the pulpit about eternity, and there are many who say that if the gospel gives us a happier life right now, the question of the afterlife doesn’t really matter that much. Paul tackled this issue in 1 Corinthians 15, and he maintained, with all the other apostles, that the resurrection of Christ, and consequently our own resurrection, is the heart of the gospel. Leave out the preaching of the resurrection, and whatever it is that you have left, it is not the gospel of Jesus Christ. And Paul didn’t duck the implications of this. If it turns out that there is no resurrection, Christians are pathetic to have believed such a lie. “If in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied.”

Make no mistake: there are many earthly (or “temporal”) blessings that may accompany life in Christ. Yet none of these is guaranteed to every Christian. Some of us, for example, enjoy three meals a day, but many Christians, equally faithful to the Lord, do not. The fact is, the only blessing promised by Christ to all of His faithful people is reconciliation to God — leading to eternal fellowship with Him when our earthly tribulations have been left behind.

In this life, the Lord may deliver us from some of our earthly problems. He certainly is capable of doing so. But sometimes it is His wisdom to allow us to suffer hardship, as He did with Paul’s “thorn in the flesh” (2 Corinthians 12:7-10). When we are called upon to endure, we do so with the promise that He will help us.

So if we are Christians, our hopes should not be pinned on deliverance from earthly hardships. The value of the gospel does not lie in its power to remove the pains and difficulties of this life; its power is the promise of resurrection to eternal life when Christ returns (1 Peter 1:3-5,13). May God help us, against the spirit of our age, to put the emphasis where the apostles put it. May we not destroy Christianity in the process of making it “relevant.”

"Christianity is in its very essence a resurrection religion. The concept of resurrection lies at its heart. If you remove it, Christianity is destroyed" (John R. W. Stott).

Gary Henry - WordPoints.com + AreYouaChristian.com

For more information, visit http://AreYouaChristian.com

View on Website -- https://wordpoints.com/god-commands-we-can-be-courageous-august-11/

"Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go" (Joshua 1:9).

FACING THE FEARS THAT LAY AHEAD OF HIM, JOSHUA WAS TOLD TO BE “STRONG AND COURAGEOUS.” I can hardly read this text without thinking of my son Brock, whose favorite song as a child was “Dare to Stand Like Joshua.” And I suppose there are few admonitions in the Bible of more practical value than what God said to Joshua. “Be strong and courageous” is extremely good advice.

But today, what I want you to pay attention to is God’s question to Joshua. Just before telling him to take courage, God said, “Have I not commanded you?” This might mean that God was commanding Joshua to be courageous, but it might have another meaning as well. The situations in which Joshua would need courage were those that he would be in as a result of carrying out God’s commands. And I believe God was saying, “Joshua, as long as you are doing what I expect of you, you need not fear. I will always give you the help you need to do what I have commanded you to do.”

In one of his books, C. S. Lewis had an entire chapter called “Is Christianity Hard or Easy?” And in typical Lewis style, his answer was: it is both hard and easy, depending on how you look at it and how you go about it. But Lewis would have been the first to admit that even when it is approached in the right way, Christianity still requires some very hard things. There is no way around this fact, and ironically, we only make the Lord’s commands harder when we try to take the hardship out of them.

But if doing the Lord’s will is hard, so what? If He has commanded it, then we need to be brave. There is no such thing as a command of God that is doomed to fail due to a lack of resources. He is God, and He will help us do whatever He requires us to do.

So as you consider obeying the gospel, many of the what ifs will be frightful. I won’t insult you by saying that your path will be easy. But what I will do is share my own experience: if God commands it, it can be done. Our prayer is not for ease but for boldness.

I do not ask to walk smooth paths
Nor bear an easy load,
I pray for strength and fortitude
To climb the rock-strewn road.
(Gail Brook Burket)

Gary Henry - WordPoints.com + AreYouaChristian.com

For more information, visit http://AreYouaChristian.com

View on Website -- https://wordpoints.com/faith-what-end-meant-to-have-august-10/

". . . obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls" (1 Peter 1:9).

FAITH IS A PRINCIPLE OF SUCH IMPORTANCE, WE MIGHT HOPE THAT EVERYBODY WOULD UNDERSTAND IT. But many people do not. And one of the most misunderstood things about it is what Peter here calls the “outcome” of faith. Before we go any further, surely we can see that this point is important. If we fail to grasp what the outcome of our faith is supposed to be, we are bound to have trouble.

In 1 Peter 1:9, the word translated as “outcome” by the ESV is telos, a common Greek noun which usually meant something like goal or purpose. The corresponding verb meant to set out for a particular destination or goal. Even in English, however, these words are very flexible and can have different connotations; within a single usage, they can carry more than one meaning at the same time.

When Peter wrote that the “salvation of your souls” is the telos of our faith, he may have meant that heaven is the end point of our journey. Our salvation will be the culmination of our earthly sojourn. Also, he may have meant that salvation is the consequence of our faith. For some other result to be produced, a person would have to do something besides follow Christ. And lastly, he may have meant that salvation is the meaning of our faith. When we say that history is “going somewhere,” we’re stating that it has a meaning and is not purposeless. Similarly, the faith of the Christian is not random or absurd; it will have a meaningful outcome.

But if you’ve read the New Testament, you know something else about heaven: it is the reason why people become Christians. At least, that is what life in Christ was about in the apostolic age. Its purpose or intended goal was not a better world in the here-and-now; it was, as Peter saw clearly, “the salvation of your souls.”

Stephen R. Covey said we should “begin with the end in mind.” And the New Testament leaves absolutely no doubt: the “end” we’re trying to get to is heaven. That’s the meaning of my life, and I hope it’s yours. Any other outcome will not have been worth the journey.

My life, as his,
slips through death's
mesh,
time's bars,
joins hands with heaven,
speaks with stars.
(Luci Shaw)

Gary Henry - WordPoints.com + AreYouaChristian.com

For more information, visit http://AreYouaChristian.com

View on Website -- https://wordpoints.com/what-about-churches-of-christ-august-9/

"Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, To the saints who are in Ephesus, and are faithful in Christ Jesus" (Ephesians 1:1).

WE HAVE LOOKED AT THE IMPORTANCE OF THE “TOGETHER” PART OF CHRISTIANITY. Now let’s tackle another, more specific, question: if a new convert to Christ is searching for a faithful congregation (as we talked about yesterday), one that works together and worships God in the manner revealed in the New Testament, what about the groups that call themselves “churches of Christ”? Is it, more or less, among the “churches of Christ” that a person is most likely to find the individuals who are the people of the Lord?

First of all, if there is such a thing as the “churches of Christ” denomination (and unfortunately, there is), that is something I would steer you away from. The concept of denominational Christianity is foreign to the New Testament, and I share no more spiritual DNA with members of the “churches of Christ” denomination than I do with people in any other denomination (and in some cases less).

But, as you may know, I worship with a group that calls itself a “church of Christ,” so let me explain. When Paul said, “All the churches of Christ greet you” (Romans 16:16), he was merely saying that those churches belonged to Christ, which the CEV makes clear: “All of Christ’s churches greet you.” Any church that follows the Lord obediently is “of” Him, but how it identifies itself to the public is a question of expediency, as long as the identification is scriptural.

That said, I must be transparent. Of the congregations that I know of personally, many, if not most, of those that are faithfully following the Lord (at least in the United States) do wear the name “church of Christ,” not as a denominational label but as a generic descriptor. They just want to be congregations that are “of Christ.”

So yes, by all means investigate the “churches of Christ.” But when you visit, you’ll need to look deeper than the name and ask lots of questions. Sad to say, most of the “churches of Christ” departed from the gospel long ago. That designation expresses a noble idea, but a congregation is not “of Christ” just because it says it is. As at Sardis long ago, the Lord would say to some today, “You have the reputation of being alive, but you are dead” (Revelation 3:1).

"The people of God wear the name of Christ because they are His people; they are not His people because they wear His name" (Robert F. Turner).

Gary Henry - WordPoints.com + AreYouaChristian.com

For more information, visit http://AreYouaChristian.com

View on Website -- https://wordpoints.com/wanting-associate-faithful-disciples-august-8/

"And when [Saul] had come to Jerusalem, he attempted to join the disciples" (Acts 9:26).

IN TODAY’S READING AND TOMORROW’S, I WANT TO RAISE TWO IMPORTANT QUESTIONS, BOTH OF WHICH HAVE TO DO WITH THE IDEA OF “CHURCH.” The first is this: when a person obeys the gospel, is it necessary to associate oneself with a congregation of Christians?

I’d be less than honest if I didn’t tell you that the answer is “Yes.” As far as the New Testament goes, there is no connection to Christ available to us that does not involve responsibilities to Christ’s people (1 Corinthians 1:2; 1 John 4:20-5:2; etc.). For one thing, we will need to partake of the Lord’s Supper every first day of the week, and in the New Testament, the Lord’s Supper was a congregational activity (Acts 20:7; 1 Corinthians 11:17-34).

But I must be honest with you on another point. The brief days in the New Testament when all congregations were holding to the truth of the gospel are long gone. Most churches now professing Christianity are practicing a religion that is not even a forty-second cousin to the first-century faith. So today, you will need to look carefully for a group that takes the lordship of Christ seriously.

Please know that I’m willing to help you. Wherever you live, I can put you in touch with brothers and sisters who are committed to the simple, unadulterated gospel found in the New Testament. Feel free to contact me, and I will do everything I can to assist you.

If you’re a new Christian looking for a faithful congregation, you may feel as if you’re looking for a needle in a haystack. It is sad but true that most churches claiming to follow Christ are not doing that — they’re following their own preferences about what “seems right” (Proverbs 14:12). But don’t give up. It took you a while to find the true Messiah, and in a confused world, it may take you a while to find the Messiah’s faithful people. Don’t be misled by the attractions of modern entertainment masquerading as religion. You are searching for the Lord’s people, so “examine everything carefully; hold fast to that which is good” (1 Thessalonians 5:21 NASB).

"It is scarcely possible in most places to get anyone to attend a meeting where the only attraction is God. One can only conclude that God’s professed children are bored with him, for they must be wooed to meeting with a stick of striped candy in the form of religious movies, games, and refreshments" (A. W. Tozer).

Gary Henry - WordPoints.com + AreYouaChristian.com

For more information, visit http://AreYouaChristian.com

View on Website -- https://wordpoints.com/christ-to-his-people-congregate-august-7/

"For a whole year they met with the church and taught a great many people. And in Antioch the disciples were first called Christians" (Acts 11:26).

MANY THINGS ARE NOW SEEN AS UNNECESSARY (AND EVEN HARMFUL) THAT USED TO BE VIEWED AS ESSENTIAL. One of these is marriage. Chelsea Sullivan, a friend who used to manage a Starbucks in Vermont, said that when customers would hear that she was married, they would express shock and disbelief. “Yes, a committed relationship is okay, but at this date why in the world would a seemingly normal person like you want to be married?”

Another now-seen-as-unnecessary concept is “church.” When “organized religion” is spoken of today, it is usually not with admiration. As with marriage, many argue that the benefits can be enjoyed without the traditional obligations. “Yes, be a believer if you wish, but why would a spiritual person want to go to church? Nowadays, being spiritual doesn’t require you to be religious.”

First of all, I agree that the “institutional” concept of salvation is wrong. The church does not stand between us and God or dispense salvation on His behalf. But on the other side of the road is an equally dangerous ditch: the notion that there is no collective or “together” aspect of Christianity at all. Our vertical relationship with God is primary, but that doesn’t mean that a horizontal relationship with other Christians is merely optional. So let’s break this issue into two questions, the answer to both of which is “Yes.”

(1) DOES IT MATTER IF I “GO TO CHURCH” AT ALL? You can’t read what happened in Antioch in Acts 11:19-26 and imagine those people downplaying their duties to the Lord’s church in their locality. And this is not an isolated text. The entire New Testament assumes that Christians will be members of local groups of disciples.

(2) IF I GO, DOES IT MATTER WHERE I GO? In the first century, it wasn’t long before people began departing from the apostles’ teaching (1 John 2:18,19; 2 John 7-11). Today, the problem is even worse. So we need to be careful. Not every church we might check out is one the Lord would recognize as being true to Him. And studying the Scriptures is the only way to know what markers we ought to be looking for.

"The New Testament does not envisage solitary religion; some kind of regular assembly for worship and instruction is everywhere taken for granted in the Epistles" (C. S. Lewis).

Gary Henry - WordPoints.com + AreYouaChristian.com

For more information, visit http://AreYouaChristian.com

View on Website -- https://wordpoints.com/will-build-my-church-august-6/

"And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it" (Matthew 16:18).

PETER HAD JUST CONFESSED THAT HE BELIEVED JESUS WAS THE MESSIAH. When Jesus had asked His disciples, “Who do you say that I am?” (v.15), Peter had spoken up and said, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God” (v.16). Following Peter’s confession, Jesus said He would build His church on this “rock” — not Peter himself, but the truth confessed by Peter. This truth, that Jesus is the Son of God, is the secure foundation on which the church is built.

In the New Testament, the word “church” is a translation of the Greek ekklesia, which meant an assembly or gathering. Literally, it meant a “called-out” group, a convening of people who left whatever they were doing to answer the call to come together. So in Matthew 16:18, the Lord said that He would have a group of people who would be His church, His assembly — they would be separated from the world in order to belong to Him. We read in the Book of Acts about the fulfillment of this, where after the gospel was first preached following Jesus’ resurrection, many people were baptized and began living as members of the Lord’s church (Acts 2:1-47).

So the Lord did just what He promised He would do: He built His church. The very word “build” signifies solidity and permanence. The church’s foundation is the truth about Jesus — the truth that He loved us and died to forgive us so that we could become His people. And because this truth is indestructible, the church built upon it is indestructible. The gates of hell shall not prevail against it. Satan could not prevent God’s Son from accomplishing His mission, and he cannot destroy the church which the Son has built.

We err tragically when we minimize the church and fail to appreciate it. Shame on us if we think the church is nothing more than a topic that unbalanced preachers of a bygone era felt they needed to stress. If Christ built His church, it deserves our awe. Let us not “damn with faint praise” (to use Alexander Pope’s expression) that which ought to be gloriously and joyously exalted.

I love thy church, O God!
Her walls before thee stand,
Dear as the apple of thine eye,
And graven on thy hand.
(Timothy Dwight)

Gary Henry - WordPoints.com + AreYouaChristian.com

For more information, visit http://AreYouaChristian.com

View on Website -- https://wordpoints.com/household-of-god-august-5/

". . . the household of God, which is the church of the living God, a pillar and buttress of the truth" (1 Timothy 3:15).

THIS MEANINGFUL PASSAGE POINTS TO THE IDENTITY OF THOSE WHO ARE CHRISTIANS. Let’s look at it phrase by phrase:

HOUSEHOLD OF GOD. It is not the church building but the members of the family who make up God’s “house,” as made clear by the translation “household” in the ESV. This marvelous household is referred to elsewhere as “the household of faith” (Galatians 6:10).

CHURCH OF THE LIVING GOD. The church is God’s. It belongs to Him and can rightly be called “the church of God, which he obtained with his own blood” (Acts 20:28). The “church of God” is not a denominational name; it is simply a description of ownership.

PILLAR AND BUTTRESS OF THE TRUTH. In a building, both a pillar and a buttress (“ground” in the KJV, or “support” in the NASB) serve a foundational purpose. But how does this relate to the church? It does not mean that the church is the source of the truth, for the authority of God’s truth is derived not from God’s people but from God Himself (John 17:17; James 4:12). The idea in 1 Timothy 3:15 is that the people of God exhibit the truth in a tangible way, demonstrating its power observably. The truth is not produced by the church, but the church is produced by the truth, in order “that through the church the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known” (Ephesians 3:10). As the product of God’s truth, the church shows just how true — and powerful — God’s wisdom is.

Doing this is the privilege of the church, the people who, like Israel, have been redeemed from slavery (not to Pharaoh but to sin). Paul urged his brethren to live consistently with the gospel in the midst of those who are still rejecting God, “among whom you shine as lights in the world” (Philippians 2:15). And not just by their example, it is by their words that members of the “household of God” are to be “a pillar and buttress of the truth.” Paul said to the Thessalonians that “the word of the Lord sounded forth from you” (1 Thessalonians 1:8). This, then, is how God’s family “supports” the truth — by living it truly and speaking it clearly.

"No other organization on the face of the earth is charged with the high calling to which the church is summoned: to confront men with Jesus Christ" (J. W. Hyde).

Gary Henry - WordPoints.com + AreYouaChristian.com

For more information, visit http://AreYouaChristian.com

View on Website -- https://wordpoints.com/grace-help-time-need-august-4/

"Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need" (Hebrews 4:16).

FOR THOSE WHO HAVE OBEYED THE GOSPEL, THE THRONE OF GOD SHOULD ALWAYS BE THOUGHT OF AS “THE THRONE OF GRACE.” Needing help in so many ways and wanting our obedience to Christ to be steadfast, we can’t do without the confidence of which the Hebrew writer speaks. In order to keep from faltering in our faith, we’ll need to stay close to the throne of God’s grace.

It is a marvelous thing that we may have this confidence, but in Christ, that is the good news. As a gracious God, He wanted to save us from our sins, and to do so, He made a sacrifice of unimaginable love. Having done that, there is nothing else He wouldn’t do to help us, in whatever way we need Him. “He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things?” (Romans 8:32).

The character of God, then, is the key to the assurance of our salvation. God being who He is, we do not doubt that He desires for us to overcome every discouragement thrown at us by the enemy (1 Peter 5:8). God will give us the help we need — abundantly.

The prayer at the end of Jude’s letter to his embattled brethren is appropriate to our point: “Now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy, to the only God, our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen” (Jude 24,25).

“A Mighty Fortress Is Our God” is one of the greatest hymns ever written. In it Martin Luther powerfully captured the essence of the Christian’s faith: “Did we in our own strength confide, our striving would be losing; were not the right Man on our side, the Man of God’s own choosing: Dost ask who that may be? Christ Jesus, it is He; Lord Sabaoth His Name, from age to age the same, and He must win the battle.” It is, after all, a battle. But we do not doubt that we will “receive mercy and find grace to help.”

Beneath the shadow of Thy throne,
Thy people are by faith secure;
Sufficient is Thine arm alone
To make the soul's defenses sure.
(Isaac Watts)

Gary Henry - WordPoints.com + AreYouaChristian.com

For more information, visit http://AreYouaChristian.com

View on Website -- https://wordpoints.com/after-becoming-christian-then-what-august-3/

"Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love" (Ephesians 4:15,16).

THE MOMENT A PERSON PASSES FROM SPIRITUAL DEATH TO LIFE IS A GREAT MOMENT. No small part of the new Christian’s rejoicing is a sense of relief. He has escaped, by God’s grace, the greatest of enemies, and it is right to celebrate, just as it was right for Israel to celebrate when God brought them through the Red Sea and destroyed the armies of Pharaoh (Exodus 15:1-21). But after the singing died down, Israel’s question would have been, “What happens now?” It was great to be alive, but there was work to be done and a wilderness to be crossed before Canaan could be their possession. And so it is with the new Christian. The joy of deliverance is appropriately followed by the question, “What do I do now?”

The new Christian needs to understand that he has embarked on a process of spiritual growth. Yes, baptism marks the end of a person’s old life, but it is the beginning of the work God intends to do to remake that person’s character and restore it to the perfect image of His Son. Many texts speak of this, but none more clearly than Ephesians 4:15,16 where Paul says that “we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ.”

But Paul also emphasizes the importance of the church in the Christian’s life and growth. The body of Christ needs — and is needed by — every Christian. It is “joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love.”

So to the new Christian, I say this: your relationship to God is your primary concern, and your relationship to the church is secondary. But don’t underestimate either of these parts of God’s plan. (1) Your contribution to the church won’t be what it ought to be if your individual, private walk with God isn’t rich and vibrant, but (2) your relationship to God won’t be what it ought to be if you don’t participate in the mutual strengthening that takes place in the church. There is no way around it: congregations are given for our good. They are part of God’s means of producing mature, heaven-ready individuals.

"Churches: Soulariums" (P. K. Thomajan).

Gary Henry - WordPoints.com + AreYouaChristian.com

For more information, visit http://AreYouaChristian.com

View on Website -- https://wordpoints.com/church-manifests-gods-wisdom-august-2/

". . . so that through the church the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places" (Ephesians 3:10).

IF GOD’S GLORY IS SEEN IN THE HEAVENS, HIS WISDOM IS SEEN IN THE CHURCH. And as Paul points out, it is not just to human beings that the church reveals God’s wisdom; it is also “to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places.” To every being God ever created, even in the heavenly realms, the church stands as an exhibition of just how wise the Creator (and Redeemer) truly is.

THE PLAN OF SALVATION. When we see how God worked out His plan to save us, we stand amazed at the wisdom of it all. None of it happened by accident. Every bit of it was “according to the eternal purpose that he has realized in Christ Jesus our Lord” (v.11).

THE LOCAL CHURCH. The design of the local church reflects God’s wisdom. The very idea that there needed to be such a thing as the local church was so wise that only God could have thought of it.

Incidentally, one of the most striking things about the church in the New Testament is its simplicity. Universally, it consisted of all of God’s saved people, with Christ as their head (Ephesians 1:22,23). And locally, it was simply the saints in a particular area, led by bishops and served by deacons (Philippians 1:1). There was no ecclesiastical hierarchy that stood between Christ and the local church: no pope, no collegium of cardinals, no denominational structure — in fact, nothing like the complex religious machinery of today.

The wisdom manifested in the church as God created it will not always seem wise to the world. As Joe Fitch observed one time, God created the buzzard as well as the bald eagle, and neither reflects the glory and wisdom of God any more than the other. It is only the wisdom of the world that would turn all buzzards into eagles. And so it is with the church. There are some things about God’s plan for the church that to our “common sense” seem unworkable, but those things reflect the “manifold wisdom of God” just as much, if not more so, than the parts we happen to like. Let us beware of trying to create the church along the lines of our own wisdom. It was meant to reflect God’s wisdom, not ours.

"The whole history of the world is discovered to be but a contest between the wisdom of God and the cunning of Satan and fallen men. The outcome of the contest is not in doubt" (A. W. Tozer).

Gary Henry - WordPoints.com + AreYouaChristian.com

For more information, visit http://AreYouaChristian.com

View on Website -- https://wordpoints.com/christs-ambassadors-august-1/

"Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God" (2 Corinthians 5:20).

SPEAKING AS ONE OF THE APOSTLES, PAUL SAID, “WE ARE AMBASSADORS FOR CHRIST.” This is a statement worth contemplating.

An ambassador is an authoritative spokesman for a government. When he speaks for the government that is behind him, his words carry the full weight of the government itself. In this way, the apostles were Christ’s ambassadors, commissioned to speak with His full authority as the foundation of the church was being laid (Ephesians 2:20). If you had heard an apostle present the gospel, there would have been no need to worry whether he got it exactly right. When the apostles spoke, it was as if Christ Himself were speaking, and they had the credentials to prove their ambassadorship: the “signs of a true apostle” (2 Corinthians 12:12).

So where does that leave us today? The apostles are dead, and Christ never said anything about a chain of apostolic succession. In the most important sense, however, we still have the apostles — we have their teaching in the New Testament. And that teaching is what everything must be measured against (Galatians 1:8,9).

But, someone says, aren’t all Christians ambassadors for Christ? Perhaps we could say so in a very general sense (just as we could say that every American is an “ambassador” of the United States when he travels, expected to represent his country well). But in an age when people tend to think there is nothing to the gospel except each person’s individual opinion, we need to keep the emphasis on the authoritative statement of the gospel by those who were, in the truest sense, the ambassadors of Christ.

Today, we would not be able to know anything definitive about salvation from sin if Christ had not made arrangements for there to be an authoritative deposit of the gospel in the writings of the apostles. So if someone tries to teach you and he says he’s an “ambassador” of Christ, be sure to test the conclusions his study has led him to against the teaching of Christ’s emissaries, the apostles. But if you are satisfied that what you have heard is, in fact, the gospel, then by all means obey it. Accept God’s offer. Do not turn it down!

"The gospel is not so much a demand as it is an offer, an offer of new life to man by the grace of God" (E. Stanley Jones).

Gary Henry - WordPoints.com + AreYouaChristian.com

For more information, visit http://AreYouaChristian.com

View on Website -- https://wordpoints.com/israels-day-atonement-july-31/

"Now on the tenth day of this seventh month is the Day of Atonement" (Leviticus 23:27).

ONCE A YEAR, THE PEOPLE OF ISRAEL WERE TO OBSERVE A “DAY OF ATONEMENT.” The Lord required them to make special sacrifices for sin on this day, and on this day only, once a year, the High Priest entered the Most Holy Place in the tabernacle with the blood of the sacrifices. All of the observances on this most special day of the year were detailed in Leviticus 16:1-34 and 23:26-32.

On this day, a day when Israel was vividly reminded of the seriousness of sin, the Lord said, “you shall afflict yourselves” (Leviticus 23:27 ESV). The Hebrew word translated “afflict” denotes various forms of self-denial. The NIV renders it “deny yourselves” and the NASB, “humble yourselves.” (See its use also in texts like Psalm 35:13 and Isaiah 58:3.) The most usual form of this self-denial would be fasting, of course, but it might involve other forms of abstinence that would reflect a deeply humble and penitent frame of mind. However much Israel might rejoice in the Lord’s salvation and be grateful for His blessings, on this day each year they were to ponder the seriousness of sin and afflict their souls.

The blood of the animals that were sacrificed on the Day of Atonement could not by themselves provide the forgiveness of sins. That would require nothing less than the perfect sacrifice of God’s own Son, a sacrifice that would reach back to provide their forgiveness just as it reaches forward to provide ours today.

The writer of Hebrews says, “For Christ has entered, not into holy places made with hands, which are copies of the true things, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God on our behalf. Nor was it to offer himself repeatedly, as the high priest enters the holy places every year with blood not his own, for then he would have had to suffer repeatedly since the foundation of the world. But as it is, he has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself” (Hebrews 9:24-26).

Israel was fortunate to have such a stark reminder of the price of sin’s atonement. And today, we lose much of the depth that should characterize our godliness if we never think of sin except to say, “Sin? It’s no big deal. God’s grace has got me covered.”

"One reason sin flourishes is that it is treated like a cream puff instead of a rattlesnake" (Billy Sunday).

Gary Henry - WordPoints.com + AreYouaChristian.com

For more information, visit http://AreYouaChristian.com