Someone On the Inside

Posted on September 2, 2015 by Pete

Sitting in Bend Oregon this morning . . . we’re on final countdown to my middle daughter’s wedding this weekend. Thinking about what I’ve read this morning in the latter part of Hebrews 6. That God made a promise to Abraham to bless him and multiply him. A promise established upon the highest of all authorities, God Himself. A promise founded on “the unchangeable character of His purpose.” A promise guaranteed with an oath by the One who, because of His very nature, cannot lie. A trustworthy promise. A sure hope. “A sure and steadfast anchor of the soul.”

And this anchor for the soul enters into an inner place . . .

We have this as a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul, a hope that enters into the inner place behind the curtain, where Jesus has gone as a forerunner on our behalf, having become a High Priest forever after the order of Melchizedek. (Hebrews 6:19-20 ESV)

Our anchor is intended to provide access. It’s not just something we are tethered to that keeps us from being swept away by the turbulent seas of life . . . though it does that. It’s not just a lifeline tied to our ankle that prevents us from straying too far away . . . though it can have that benefit from time to time. But it seems the anchor of our soul, the hope founded on the promises of an immutable God, is intended to draw us in. And that, into “the inner place behind the curtain.”

But how often do I feel like I am everywhere but within the veil? That’s when I need to be reminded that there’s Someone on the inside.

He is the Forerunner. One sent out in advance, scouting out the territory, that others might follow. Having a place on the inside, He is able to lead others there as well. Thus to follow the Forerunner is to find my way behind the curtain. To abide with the High Priest is to find refuge in the holy of holies. To seek Jesus, is to enter into the presence of God.

Sometimes I can feel so on the outside. It’s then that I need to remember that Someone’s on the inside. Interceding . . . advocating . . . inviting me, through His Spirit, to come to Him and find rest. It’s then that I need to leverage the anchor and remember the hope, allowing it to draw me to the safe harbor of His abiding presence. It’s then that I need to remember the promise . . . that solely because of Him, and not due to anything of myself, I have a place before the glorious throne of our holy, holy, holy God.  That I have been saved by grace and made alive together with Christ, the Forerunner.  The Father having “raised us up with Him and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus” (Eph. 2:6).

Oh, to rest in the One who has gone before as a forerunner on our behalf . . . to know that anchor which is secured in the inner place . . . to find rest behind the curtain, because He is there as our forever High Priest.

All because of grace . . . all for His glory.

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Stayed on Him

Posted on August 31, 2015 by Pete

I think if you asked anyone who knew me they’d say that, on the continuum defined by “single thread” on one end and “multitasker” on the other, I probably fall somewhere on the multitasking side. I’d guess that it’s both a nature and nurture thing. I’m probably wired, to some extent, for juggling, but I’ve also been directed to developing that “skill” through my experience in the corporate world. As such, even post corporate world, I find myself usually with a number of things on the go.

Not saying that multitasking is better then single-threading . . just different . . . and how I think I’m put together. In fact, not surprisingly, it comes with its own set of challenges. One of those is the accumulative affect on the stress chart of having multiple things on the go. The greater the number of things going on, the greater the number of things to plan for . . . keep track of . . . and worry about. This last couple of weeks, I feel like I’ve been max’ing out. Appreciated God’s word this morning in helping to steady the ship and, by His Spirit, perhaps reduce some of the stress.

You keep him in perfect peace
  whose mind is stayed on You,
  because he trusts in You.
Trust in the LORD forever,
  for the LORD GOD is an everlasting Rock.    (Isaiah 26:3-4 ESV)

Perfect peace. Sounds pretty good. In fact it’s doubly good. Looking behind the English, the literal translation for “perfect peace” is “peace peace” or shalom shalom. It is a double measure of soundness of mind . . . a double portion of tranquility of soul. It is an extra-strength sense of completeness and welfare. I’m thinking it’s what Paul refers to in Philippians when he talks about the availability of a “peace of God, which surpasses all understanding” that guards hearts and minds in Christ Jesus (Php. 4:7). Shalom, shalom . . . thinking it’s just what the doctor orders for a multitasker who’s feeling the pressure of keeping everything going. So how does Mr. MT go about availing himself of some peace peace?

Sourced in God’s abundant grace, and dispensed by the Holy Spirit, it’s available to those “whose mind is stayed on You.” Those whose purposes are “leaned upon” the LORD GOD, the “everlasting Rock.” Peace that passes understanding accessible to those whose every multitask is laid against a desire to trust Him in all that is undertaken. Shalom shalom promised to those who support everything they do with a desire for God’s will and God’s glory.

As I was reminded a couple of weeks ago when a brother preached on priorities, every “to do” on my list subjugated to the one great desire “that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the LORD and to inquire in His temple” (Ps. 27:4). I’m thinking having that mind might be a pretty good way of having a mind stayed on Him.

I know that us multitaskers need to be aware of how much gets added to the list. But more importantly, I need to, by God’s grace and in His power, have my mind stayed on Him. Trusting in Him with all my heart . . . leaning not to my own understanding . . . acknowledging Him in all my ways (and tasks) . . . confident that, when my heart, mind, and will are leaned up against my everlasting Rock, He will direct my paths (Prov. 3:5-6).

Stayed on Him . . . by His grace . . . for His glory.

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Feet People

Posted on August 28, 2015 by Pete

If I have the picture right in my mind, they were feet people. The scenario Jesus speaks about in my reading this morning is one in which there are some reclining at a banquet table and others who are serving at the banquet table. The “recliners” are on their sides at the table, heads in and feet out. And those who minister to those at the table, well they’re feet people. That’s where they operate from . . . at the feet of the “recliners.” That’s where they serve the meal from . . . that’s where they pick up the dishes from. If they do any interacting with those at the table, it’s talking to them from their feet. That’s who Jesus exalts. Feet people.

It started with a dispute. The disciples were jockeying for position in the kingdom. Who would be regarded as the greatest? I imagine they were comparing credentials or accomplishments. Perhaps bragging about IQ or exemplary character traits. And Jesus interrupts their little debate:

And He said to them, “The kings of the Gentiles exercise lordship over them, and those in authority over them are called benefactors. But not so with you. Rather, let the greatest among you become as the youngest, and the leader as one who serves. For who is the greater, one who reclines at table or one who serves? Is it not the one who reclines at table? But I am among you as the One who serves.”
(Luke 22:25-27 ESV)

Stop it! That’s kind of what Jesus says, Stop it!

You’re not getting the nature of the kingdom. You’re thinking like the world. It’s not about who lords over who . . . it won’t be about the perks one gets from being in authority. Instead, if you want to imagine “greatness” in the kingdom, think about how great a rookie is in a room full of experts . . . think about a servant in a room full of leaders. In the kingdom I’m talking about, says Jesus, the least is the greatest. The servant in the kingdom is the one who rules . . . even though he doesn’t.

And then Jesus focuses them on a more concrete example . . . Himself.

For who is the greater, one who reclines at table or one who serves? Is it not the one who reclines at table? But I am among you as the One who serves.

Look at Me, says Jesus. I am King of the kingdom and yet I am serving you “recliners” at the table. I am feet people.

I’m guessing this encounter in Luke is in the context of Jesus washing the disciples feet found in John 13. That this debate of who would be the greatest, carried on before the One who created all things and sustains all things, happened shortly after the Creator had taken up a towel to clean His creation’s feet. And Jesus says, Stop it! You want to be great? Be great like Me. Be feet people.

Christ humbled Himself and took upon Himself the form of a servant. So should His followers. The Son of God thought not His glory something to be held on to, but divested Himself of His heavenly glory in order to become flesh and serve others. His followers need to let go of their perceived standing and do likewise. Jesus served at the feet of others. Shouldn’t we, as well?

Feet people . . . may that be us . . .

All because of grace . . . all for God’s glory.

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Not Really the Last Supper

Posted on August 27, 2015 by Pete

The scene has been immortalized. That classic rendering of Jesus and His disciples reclining at the table partaking of that final Passover before He would be taken and crucified. Every time we as believers remember Jesus in the Lord’s Supper, we think back to that night when He told His disciples to take the bread and drink the cup and “Do this in remembrance of Me.” We often refer to it as “The Last Supper.” But this morning I’m reminded this morning that it really isn’t.

And when the hour came, He reclined at table, and the apostles with Him. And He said to them, “I have earnestly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer. For I tell you I will not eat it until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God.” And He took a cup, and when He had given thanks he said, “Take this, and divide it among yourselves. For I tell you that from now on I will not drink of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes.”    (Luke 22:14-18 ESV)

The world was about to change . . . literally. Not only for the disciples but for all mankind.

For the disciples the need to annually sacrifice a lamb without blemish was about to cease. Jesus, the Lamb of God, was soon to be offered as the final once-for-all sacrifice for the iniquities of mankind. The shedding of blood by the Son of God for the forgiveness of sin would remove the need for any other sin offering.

What’s more, the commandment to remember the exodus from Egypt, along with the mighty acts of God and the deliverance from the bondage of slavery, was to be supplanted by an invitation to participate in a new exodus. A deliverance entered into by faith in God’s mighty work upon the cross. An exodus participated in by looking to God’s Son lifted up and receiving the forgiveness offered through His finished work. Thus being delivered from darkness and death and freed from the slavery of sin.

No more need for the Passover. And so Jesus says, “I will not eat . . . I will not drink . . .” But what’s grabbed this morning is the word “until.”

“I will not eat it until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God . . . I will not drink of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes.”

Whether Jesus is referring to a new Passover in a future millennial kingdom which looks back to His finished work on the cross and the freedom it secured for countless souls (Ezek 45:21) or, whether it looks forward to the consummating feast when Christ’s Bride is presented to Him in all her glory at the marriage supper of the Lamb (Rev. 19:7-9), Jesus seems to be indicating there will be time when the kingdom of God comes and He again breaks bread and drinks with His disciples.

So, in a sense, it wasn’t really the Last Supper. Perhaps I’d be better to consider it the “Looking Forward Supper.” The feast that reminds me of a future celebration when the kingdom is come. The meal that, in our remembrance of it, proclaims the Lord’s death “until He comes” (1Cor. 11:26).

There’s that word again . . . until. It’s the “Until Supper.”

Until He comes . . . until He eats and drinks again in the kingdom of God . . . until faith gives way to sight.

Even so, Lord Jesus come.

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Guard Your Heart

Posted on August 26, 2015 by Pete

Kind of a one two punch this morning. Set up with the “left hand” in Hebrews 4 . . . the “right hook” coming in Proverbs 21. Less about intense conviction, more about a sober reminder. Don’t think I have any significant things to do but some serious stuff to think about. Noodling this morning on how important it is to guard your heart.

There is a rest for the people of God . . . so says the writer to the Hebrews (Heb. 4:9). It is a rest established on a creation principle. When the work is done, it is time to rest. God rested on the seventh day after six days of giving the world form, inhabiting it, and giving life to those who would bear His image. The work was finished, it was good and very good, and so, God rested.

And this same rest is available to those who hear, receive, and believe the good news of a another great work. The work of the Son of God when, by Himself, He made purification for sin upon a cross. The One who is greater than Moses, greater than angels, in fact, the One who is the express image of God, undertook to deal with the sin and death problem once for all. And, as He declared on the cross, and as was corroborated by the empty tomb, that work is finished. What’s left to enter that rest is to believe. And to that end, the writer quotes God’s words spoken long before through David in Psalm 95:

Today, if you hear His voice,
do not harden your hearts.      (Hebrews 4:7b ESV)

Do not harden your hearts. That’s the third time I’ve read this warning in this letter (Heb. 3:7, 15; 4:7). And this morning it rang out like a bell. Watch your heart. Don’t allow it to become hardened, insensitive, or obstinate. As much as lies in you, and by the Spirit who works in you, seek to maintain a soft, supple, heart.

And then I read this in Proverbs . . .

Every way of a man is right in his own eyes,
but the LORD weighs the heart.       (Proverbs 21:2 ESV)

The LORD weighs the heart. It’s not so much about what we do, as why we do it. Piety without passion . . . obedience without surrender . . . service without humility. There’s so much “good stuff” we can do and yet do it with a wanting heart . . . a hardened heart . . . a deceitful heart — maybe not even deceitful but a disengaged heart. Going through the motions . . . driven not by what we believe but who we think we need to impress. Acting not for an Audience of One but out of fear of what the many might think.

The LORD weighs the heart. Do not harden your heart. Guard your heart.

Guard it by not allowing sin to linger . . . saying, “Go away” to the flesh by confessing, repenting and returning to the leading of the Spirit. Guard your heart by feeding often on His word . . .not just reading it to check it off on your reading plan, but receiving it as the very word of life from God Himself. Guard your heart by abiding with the Savior . . . determining to want nothing more than to communion with Him even though your prayer life might feel kind of feeble. Guard your heart as, by faith, you seek first the King and His kingdom.

Oh, that by God’s grace I might be such a person. A person who maintains a soft heart, one whose heart, when weighed by the LORD, is found to reflect something of nature of His Son.

By God’s grace . . . for God’s glory.

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Wells of Salvation

Posted on August 25, 2015 by Pete

Isaiah foresaw a day when the Lord God would “extend His hand yet a second time to recover the remnant that remains of His people” (Isa. 11:11). A day when those who had largely missed the first coming of Messiah would now recognize the “Shoot from the stump of Jesse,” a Branch from Jesse’s roots that would “bear fruit” (11:1). And in that day, says the prophet, they would give thanks . . . they would know the God of their salvation . . . they would believe to the driving out of all fear . . . and they would have access to wells of salvation.

You will say in that day: “I will give thanks to You, O LORD, for though You were angry with me, Your anger turned away, that You might comfort me. Behold, God is my salvation; I will trust, and will not be afraid; for the LORD GOD is my strength and my song, and He has become my salvation.” With joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation.   (Isaiah 12:1-3 ESV)

And as I noodle on the truth of this revelation concerning a day to come, I can’t help but be reminded that, as the church, we’re the prototype. “That day” for this future gathered remnant, is reflective, or should be, of “this day” for the present day household of God.

We should be giving thanks as we are reminded that, at one time, we were enemies (Rom. 5:10; 8:7) of God, enslaved by sin and thus, objects of wrath (Eph. 2:1-3), but now God’s anger was been turned away.

Only God can avert God’s anger. Nothing I could ever do would have demanded a holy and just God to “turn back” His anger. That’s what the word literally means, God turned back His anger. Not just deflected it from falling upon me, but turned it back on Himself as He Himself, through the finished work of His blessed Son on the cross, took upon Himself the anger that was due to me. Jesus bore the penalty of my sin . . . He took upon Himself the wrath of a holy God which my transgression deserved . . . and, in doing so, the angry was turned away. And so, “I will give thanks to You, O LORD!”

God having become our salvation . . . knowing the LORD God as our strength . . . having Him as the song upon our lips . . . also leads us to do something that Isaiah says will be true of that future remnant of Jacob’s tribes. The people of God should be drawing water from the wells of salvation.

Salvation isn’t just a prayer to be prayed so that you can “check the box” and reserve your ticket for heaven. Salvation isn’t something that happened in our past and now we get on with “real life.” Rather salvation is a living water to be drawn upon from fountains that never run dry, from springs that always run fresh. The wells of salvation gush forth the living water Jesus spoke of with the Samaritan woman (John 4:10). “Whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty forever. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life” (John 4:14). Water welling up to eternal life, that’s eternal life now . . .  sufficient for the day . . . with renewing power for tomorrow.

And I fear that so often the reason we fail to dip our cups frequently into the wells of salvation is that we have come to rely on other sources of “water.” Cisterns, Jeremiah says, that we have hewed out for ourselves (Jer. 2:13). Broken cisterns which “can hold no water” but only some cheap substitute that can never satisfy our thirst or rejuvenate our inner spirit.

The other thing that grabs me as I hover over this verse, is that I am to draw from the wells of salvation with joy. O’ the tragedy of joyless saints. It is the enemy’s victory . . . it is the old nature waging war with the Spirit . . . when our salvation becomes but a secondary endurance rather than our primary source of joy. Instead, as we reflect on the grace and glory of our salvation it should evoke depths of inner joy . . . and that joy should, in turn, compel us to go back to the well and draw afresh of salvation’s living water . . . which will then fuel our joy . . . which then draws us again to the well . . . thus creating this eternal perpetual cycle.

Oh, that we as God’s people would know the rhythm of joyfully drawing water from the wells of salvation. That, when the rhythm is disrupted by the cares of this life, His Spirit would so increase our thirst for real living water that we would be drawn again into the rhythm.

A rhythm of joy made possible by grace . . . a rhythm of drinking deep for God’s glory.

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A Chuppah

Posted on August 21, 2015 by Pete

Sometimes I feel like reading through Isaiah is like trying to follow what’s happening on a television controlled by somebody who’s engaged in extreme channel surfing with a remote. In one passage the prophet’s words seem to deal with immediate events and in the next passage with future events. You’re “watching one channel” and tracking with prophecies that have already been fulfilled and then, bam, the remote is clicked and you’re pretty sure you are reading about something that is yet to occur. For me at least, it can be a bit mind-boggling. But as I read Isaiah 4 I’m pretty sure I’m on the “future channel.” And I read of something there that I can relate to here and now. A chuppah.

In that day the Branch of the LORD shall be beautiful and glorious, and the fruit of the land shall be the pride and honor of the survivors of Israel. And he who is left in Zion and remains in Jerusalem will be called holy, everyone who has been recorded for life in Jerusalem, when the Lord shall have washed away the filth of the daughters of Zion and cleansed the bloodstains of Jerusalem from its midst by a spirit of judgment and by a spirit of burning. Then the LORD will create over the whole site of Mount Zion and over her assemblies a cloud by day, and smoke and the shining of a flaming fire by night; for over all the glory there will be a canopy. There will be a booth for shade by day from the heat, and for a refuge and a shelter from the storm and rain.    (Isaiah 4:2-6 ESV)

In the midst of the Israel’s current sin and imminent judgment, the prophet “fast forwards” and sees a day when Messiah, the promised Branch beautiful and glorious, shall rule over the people of a future Jerusalem. Those ordained of God to occupy the city will be called holy, their filth washed away and the bloodstains of their rebellion cleansed. And the glory of God, through the Branch, will be restored–the cloud by day and fire by night–just as it had been known by Moses and those delivered from slavery (Ex. 13:21-22). And over that glory, the glory of a people taken as His own, “there will be a canopy” . . . there will be a chuppah.

I’ve become kind of familiar with the chuppah (pronounced either hoo-paw or khoo-paw) over the past few months. Literally the Hebrew word chuppah means canopy or covering. And in a couple of weeks, Lord willing, my daughter and her fiance will be married under a chuppah in honor his Jewish heritage and tradition. What’s more, according to the word of God’s prophet, in a future time God’s people on God’s holy hill will be under the chuppah of God’s divine protection and leading. There because God has called them, because God has cleansed them, and because God has determined to make His glory shine upon them. And, as such, I can kind of relate, in the here and now, to being under a chuppah.

I was called by grace to respond through faith to the good news that Jesus, God’s blessed Son and promised Messiah, died to redeem my soul. The filth of my sin having been washed away through the cleansing power of Jesus’ blood shed on the cross as payment for my rebellion against God. The guilt of my transgressions, the blood on my hands, having been removed because the price was paid by Another. And in that, I am counted, along with all who believe, among the people of God . . . the Body of believers . . . the Bride of Christ. A Bride over whose redeemed glory there is a canopy, a chuppah.

Covered with a robe of righteousness, the righteousness of the Bridegroom, the Son of God Himself. Protected with the canopy of His Spirit who indwells me and seals me until the day the Bridegroom receives His Bride. Knowing the over-shadowing presence of God, day and night, as I abide under the glory of His promises and protection.

Praise God that “over all the glory there will be a canopy” . . . that there will be a chuppah.

I will greatly rejoice in the LORD; my soul shall exult in my God, for He has clothed me with the garments of salvation; He has covered me with the robe of righteousness . . .   (Isaiah 61:10a ESV)

All because of grace . . . all for His glory.

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He Sat Down

Posted on August 20, 2015 by Pete

Started in on two new books this morning in my reading plan, Isaiah and Hebrews. And while I’m looking forward to working through the prophecy of Isaiah, I’m pretty sure it will pale in comparison against the grand subject of Hebrews, for “long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days He has spoken to us by His Son” (Heb. 1:1). His Son. To be sure He will be spoken of and foreshadowed within the prophet’s oracle, but in the letter to the Hebrews He is exalted front and center. Right off the bat He is introduced with a bio that is jaw dropping. And as I again meditate on who He is and what He’s done what moves my soul is when He sat down.

Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days He has spoken to us by His Son, whom He appointed the heir of all things, through whom also He created the world. He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of His nature, and He upholds the universe by the word of His power. After making purification for sins, He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, having become as much superior to angels as the name He has inherited is more excellent than theirs.    (Hebrews 1:1-4 ESV)

Who Christ is, though beyond human comprehension, is clearly stated. He is God’s Son. He is the One appointed to be heir of all things, “it will all belong to the Son at the end” (MSG). He is the radiance, the reflected brightness, the shining forth, the “out-raying” of God’s glory. Want to see the glory of God? Look upon Jesus. He is also the exact imprint of the nature of God.  The express image, an exact representation, of the substance and reality of God. Want to know how God thinks, how God feels, how God will react? Get to know the mind, the heart, and the responses of Jesus. Watch His every move, as it were, as recorded in Scriptures and then you will glean insight as to the nature of God. That’s who my Lord is.

But then you read of what He has done and it crushes the awe-o-meter. It was through the pre-incarnate Christ that God created the world. “He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him was not any thing made that was made” (John 1:2-3). But after creation, He didn’t sit down.

And it is Jesus who upholds the universe by the word of His power. Want to know the secret of the atom? It’s Jesus. Want to understand the mystery of the galaxies? Jesus, again. Want an answer as to how it all hangs together and is so discoverable? You guessed it, Jesus. But even as the bearer of all things, He doesn’t sit down.

But then we read of another work of the Son of God. He made purification for sins . . . by Himself, He purged our sins (NKJV) . . . He made cleansing for all our iniquity. And then, says the Scriptures, He sat down.

Creating all things, amazing! Upholding all things, mind-boggling! Making, by Himself, the way to redeem all things, facedown time.

For the wages of sin is death (Rom. 6:23) and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins (Heb. 9:22). And so, for Jesus to, by Himself, make purification for sins He had to suffer and die as the once for all sacrifice for mankind’s transgression. He had to bear the wrath of a holy and just God in the place of those who deserved it. He had to have His blood spilled that sin might be atoned for. He had to know death so that death might be defeated. And, having done all this on the cross, and having then been raised again on the third day and then ascending into heaven, He sat down. It is finished!!!

Sat down for this was His greatest work. What’s more He is sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, the position of honor and exaltation. Sat down at the position of power (Matt. 26:64). Sat down at the place of the Father’s delight (Ps. 16:11). God having highly exalted Him in heaven, and soon to be, on earth. Sat down for a time while He waits to return. Behold our Savior!

And, as with faith’s eye, I look up and see Him sat down, I can’t help but be humbled and to worship. I reflect on the stuff in my own life for which He made purification.  I anticipate that day when He stands to receive me home (Acts 7:56).  And I declare, “O what a Savior!”

All because of grace . . . All for His eternal glory.

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Every Good Thing That Is In Me

Posted on August 19, 2015 by Pete

To hear some Christians talk, you’d think the blood really doesn’t have all that much power and that the Spirit isn’t really all that able to sanctify. These people often declare they are still wretched . . . they are still filled with hearts that are wicked and deceitful . . . they remain in competition for Paul as the chief of sinners . . . in them, still, is no good thing. Now, to be sure, we are not there yet. Every morning we wake to civil war within us — the flesh vs. the Spirit (Gal. 5:16:17). But, as believers, should we really be declaring that there’s nothing good in us? I’m thinking not.

Paul, a prisoner for Christ Jesus, and Timothy our brother, To Philemon our beloved fellow worker and Apphia our sister and Archippus our fellow soldier, and the church in your house: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. I thank my God always when I remember you in my prayers, because I hear of your love and of the faith that you have toward the Lord Jesus and all the saints, and I pray that the sharing of your faith may become effective for the full knowledge of every good thing that is in us for the sake of Christ.
(Philemon 1-6 ESV)

Philemon’s an inspiration. He’s an unsung hero. One of those guys who, while you can never remember his name, you’re glad is on your team. He was a man of means as he had slaves and a home big enough to house a church. More importantly, he was a man of love and faith. Not just an “I know what I believe and I’ll keep it to myself” type of faith, but a faith that was so impactful that Paul heard about it even in Rome. The type of love which manifested itself in such hospitality that “the hearts of the saints” had been “refreshed” by Philemon and his wife through their home (Philemon 7).

What’s more, Paul was confident that these good deeds were not birthed in a self-serving desire to impress men but were, in fact, a manifestation of a man who had been saved and transformed by the glorious gospel. Acts of grace and generosity sourced in Philemon’s own personal encounter with the grace of God and the generosity of the cross. Paul being so confident that this was a man with his heart and soul so set on things above that Paul would ask him to do the unimaginable — receive back a runaway slave without judgment. In fact, Paul asks Philemon not only to give this rogue bondservant a second chance, but to welcome him as Philemon would welcome Paul, regarding him not as an AWOL bondservant but as a brother in Christ.

Big ask! But Paul was confident. How come? Because of “every good thing” that was in Philemon.

Receiving this runaway slave back into his home as an equal in the Lord was but a sharing of Philemon’s faith . . . a living out of what he knew to be true concerning kingdom dynamics . . . an exercising of “every good thing” that was in him through Christ and for the sake of Christ.

And I’m reminded this morning that, while it’s true that “nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh” (Rom. 7:18), I am no longer a creature in subjection to the flesh. But, in Christ, I am a new creation in subjection to the Spirit of God and “it is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me” (Gal. 2:20). And in that, there should be a lot of “good things” in me. Good things that should be manifest in good deeds for the sake of Christ. Good things that are to be shared such that the love and faith I have, for the Lord Jesus and all the saints, is evident. Good things that witness to the power of the gospel to take wretched people and redeem them. That testify to the power of the gospel to replace wicked and deceitful hearts with hearts that seek to worship God in truth and spirit. That powerfully communicates the power of the gospel to take a chief of sinners and conform him or her into the image of the Son of God. All by the power of Christ . . . all for the sake of Christ.

Might God’s people be like Philemon . . . that the sharing of your faith may become effective for the full knowledge of every good thing that is in us for the sake of Christ.

Because of grace . . . for God’s glory.

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Devoted to Good Works

Posted on August 18, 2015 by Pete

Over the past few years, a new term has surfaced in the circles I engage with. Gospel-centered. Though I would consider myself to have always been “gospel centered” . . . . though the gospel has always been the power for those being saved . . . this relatively new resurgence has brought a keen focus and reminder that the gospel is not designed for just a “once and done” application.

Certainly the good news of the finished work of the cross on my behalf is the power for having been saved from the penalty of my sin in the past. But the gospel is also the ocean of grace in which I currently swim as I am now being saved, through the sanctifying work of the Spirit of God, from the power of the sin in my present. What’s more, ’tis grace that will lead us home. The grace of the gospel also reminding us that Jesus not only died to set us free, but that He rose again and ascended that we might one day be with Him. Grace alone, not how well we performed as Christians, will be the sole reason that, one day in the future, I am going to be saved from the very presence of sin when the Bride, the church, is received by the Bridegroom.

Thus, there is no boasting in anything we have done, or are doing, or will do, as far as meriting salvation, whether past, present, or future. We are saved by grace alone through faith alone. Not of works . . . it is the gift of God.

But I as reminded by Paul’s letter to Titus that to think that being gospel-centered is mutually exclusive of good works would be a mistake. In fact, says the inspired Word of God, we should be devoted to good works.

. . . He saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to His own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, whom He poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that being justified by His grace we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life. The saying is trustworthy, and I want you to insist on these things, so that those who have believed in God may be careful to devote themselves to good works. These things are excellent and profitable for people.    (Titus 3:5-8 ESV)

Four times in this letter Paul talks about “good works.” Titus was to be “a model of good works” (2:7). Jesus redeemed and purified us so that we might be a people “zealous for good works” (2:14). As such, Titus was to encourage “our people” to “learn to devote themselves to good works” (3:14). Thus, because we, as God’s people, have been saved not by our own works, but by Another’s . . . because we have known regeneration and renewal through the richly given gift of the Spirit . . . because we have been justified by grace alone . . . because we have freely been made heirs of the hope of eternal life . . . in light of all this, because of the gospel, God’s people are to be “careful to devote themselves to good works” (3:8).

There should be no one working harder at good works than those who are gospel-centered. No one running the race more purposefully . . . no one fighting the good fight more courageously . . . no one laboring to harvest in the field more determinedly . . . no one working harder than those who know that their works could never save them.

Yet, they are those who are devoted to good works.

That’s the type of people that grace grows. Those who labor IN RESPONSE to all they have been freely given. Those who labor AS A REFLECTION of the image of the Son of God being formed in them. Those who labor in light of THE REWARD when, one day, standing before Jesus face to face they hear, “Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master” (Matt 25:23).

Far from being mutually exclusive, when God’s people are truly gospel-centered then God’s people will be truly devoted to good works.

All because of grace . . . All for God’s glory.

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