The Reminder

Posted on March 8, 2011 by Pete

It’s not that you don’t know it . . . it’s just that you need to hear it again. It’s not so much about doubt . . . it’s just that you have a need for some reassurance. It’s those times when perhaps you feel a bit distant, that you seek to know that still small voice drawing you near. There are just times when you need “the reminder” . . . and that, is one of the ministries of the Holy Spirit of God.

For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!” The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God.” (Romans 8:14-17 ESV)

These first 17 verses of Romans 8 are absolutely glorious! Talk about your primer on the Spirit-filled life . . . and you’re talking about Romans 8! There is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus . . . and there is freedom and life and peace for those in who Christ Jesus resides . . . through His Spirit. The living Spirit of Him who raised Christ from the dead dwells in each of us who have believed in Christ for our salvation. Think about it! God in me . . . resurrection power in me . . . Christ in me . . . all through the mysterious agency of the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. Do I fully understand it? No. Do I fully believe it? Yes. Do I fully experience it? I’m trying . . .

And, what’s grabbed me this morning is the Spirit’s ministry to “bear witness” to my adoption . . . to testify of the reality of my sonship . . . to confirm who I really am in Christ Jesus — that I am a child of God.

He is the “Spirit of adoption” by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!” He testifies to my inner man of the truth of the “no condemnation”. He speaks into my spirit of the reality that my sin has been removed as far as the east is from the west and that there is no barrier to fellowship with God because of the blood shed by Christ on my behalf. He encourages me toward intimacy with God . . . giving me permission to address Holy, Almighty God as “Abba” . . . as Father . . . to cry out to Him as would a child to their Father in times of need . . . to “snuggle up”, as it were, within His arms when I’m in dire need of comfort and protection. It’s the Spirit who provides “the reminder.”

Oh, how I need that reminder every so often. How I need to step back from the “reality” of every day life and consider afresh the “reality” of being a child of God. How I need the Spirit’s calming testimony that God has adopted me “for life” . . . actually for “eternal life”. The reminder that I’m not in God’s family on a trial basis . . . but I’m here for good . . . not because of my good . . . but because of the finished work of redemption through Christ on the cross. How I need, sometimes, to know again that the work He has begun in me, He is committed to completing in me (Phil. 1:6) . . . determined and able to conform me, as a child of God, into the image of the Son of God (Rom. 8:29). How I need the blessed assurance that Jesus is mine . . . and I am His . . . and that nothing can separate this child of God from the love of his Abba Father (Rom. 8:38-39).

Again, not that I doubt it . . . I just like to hear it. Sweet words spoken by God’s sweet Holy Spirit . . . “You are a child of God!”

Yes I am! By His grace . . . for His glory . . . Yes I am!

Thank you, Lord.

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Under New Management

Posted on March 7, 2011 by Pete

I guess sometimes you can’t really appreciate how good it is until you remember how bad it was. Funny how the desperation of going through what once was can be forgotten while enjoying the blessing of what now is. As I’m reading the latter part of Romans 7 this morning . . . and once again identifying with the conflict portrayed by Paul . . . I realize that the “Thanks be to God” takes on a revitalized meaning when I recall the “Wretched man that I am!”

Romans 7:13-25 portrays the classic battle between the things of the flesh and the things of God. Paul recalls a time when “the things of God” were bound up in the law. Being the law of God, it was spiritual in nature (7:14) . . . and Paul desiring to be a godly man, and a spiritual man, delighted in the law in his inner being (7:22). But while he could “serve the law of God with my mind” (7:25b), he found another reality playing out in his body, in his flesh.

Paul couldn’t understand his own actions, “For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate . . . for I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out . . . for I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing” (7:15, 18b-19). His mind said, “I know I should go right “. . . but somehow, he again and again ended up going left. His inner man sought to faithfully live according to the law and tried to program his internal GPS with the right destination, but way too often he found himself going around in circles and ending up in a place so far from his desire. And the reason? “For we know the law is spiritual, but I am of the flesh, sold under sin” (7:14). The sin that dwelt within him became the sin that controlled him . . . “so now it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me” (7:17, 20).

Ok, so how frustrating is that? To want to do the right thing, but again and again find yourself crashing and burning as you do the wrong thing. To want, in the inner man, to be godly, but to keep failing in the flesh. Oh, the wear and tear on the conscience . . . oh, the burden of guilt borne on the shoulders . . . oh, the hopelessness of ever getting on top of things . . . oh, the constant failure . . . oh, the repeated shame before a holy God . . . “O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?” (7:24 NKJV)

I can relate . . . been there . . .

But it’s in the recollection of the “wretched man” that the “thanks be to God” (7:25) becomes so much sweeter . . . and so, I “read ahead” of my reading plan a few verses . . .

There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death. For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, He condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. (Romans 8:1-4 ESV)

There it is! Deliverance! No longer walking according to the flesh in it’s continual frustrating failure . . . instead walking in and according to the Spirit of the living God who now resides within me. Rejoicing in the sin-freeing work of the Son of God . . . “I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me” (Gal. 2:20). Not that it’s a perfect walk . . . slips and trips along the way . . . but I have been freed from the captivity of the “sin that dwells in my members” (7:23b). I’m now “under new management” . . . able to do all things through Christ . . . my spiritual DNA re-wired to realize in my flesh the desire I have in my heart to be more like God’s blessed Son through the renewing and transforming work of God’s Holy Spirit.

O’, thanks be to God . . . O’, praise be to God . . . under new management . . . for His glory . . . amen?

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The Right Kind of Slavery

Posted on March 4, 2011 by Pete

Never was much of a Bob Dylan fan . . . not sure I could rattle off a lot of his songs . . . but one has come to mind over the last couple of mornings as I’ve read through, and hovered over my readings in the book of Romans. “You Gotta Serve Somebody,” that’s what Dylan sang back in 1979. Not exactly a sentiment that aligns with the “land of the free.” We value freedom . . . we pursue that which removes restraints . . . we want to be our own person . . . free to choose . . . at liberty to pursue happiness as we see fit. Not much place for a “you gotta serve somebody” mentality. According to Wikipedia, in response to Dylan’s song, John Lennon recorded another song, “Serve Yourself.” Is that the definition of freedom . . . to serve yourself? Nope! Romans reminds me that perfect freedom is found in slavery to a perfect master.

“But now we are released from the law, having died to that which held us captive, so that we serve in the new way of the Spirit and not in the old way of the written code.” (Romans 7:6 ESV)

Kind of struck me as I read this . . . we died to that which held us captive . . . aka were set free . . . why? . . . for what purpose? . . . so that we may serve, literally, “so that we might be a slave” . . . so that we may serve in the new way of the Spirit. Isn’t that going from one kind of bondage to another? Seems so.

Yesterday morning I hovered over Romans 6 where Paul gives thanks to God that, though these believers were once slaves of sin, they had been set free from sin and had become slaves of righteousness . . . that they had been set free from sin and become slaves of God . . . and so, Paul urges them to present their members (i.e. the parts of your body) as slaves to righteousness leading to sanctification . . . sanctification then leading to its end, eternal life. (6:17-18, 22).

Slavery . . . servitude . . . under the yoke. Not terms we naturally embrace. Oh, but terms which we, as believers, should supernaturally celebrate!

It’s true that “my chains are gone . . . I’ve been set free . . . my God, my Savior has ransomed me . . . and like a flood, His mercy reigns . . . unending love, Amazing grace!” (Chris Tomlin). But that freedom . .. that release . . . those broken chains . . . they’re not intended to provide the way for me to serve myself . . . or anything else of my choosing . . . but, I have been set free that I might be brought again into captivity . . . glorious, Spirit-filled, Spirit-led captivity. The Master who I now serve is the God of creation and the King of Glory . . . the work I do now is of eternal value . . . the wages I will receive are treasures laid up in heaven (1Tim. 6:18-19) . . . and the “retirement bonus” I so desire to receive is to hear, “Well done, good and faithful servant . . . enter into the joy of your Master” (Matt. 25:21).

I am not my own . . . I have been purchased with a price . . . the precious blood of Jesus (2Cor. 6:19-20). I have been released from the cruel and destructive mastery of sin so that I might “belong to another, to Him who has been raised from the dead, in order that we may bear fruit for God” (Rom. 6:4).

What a lie that freedom is to do as I please. What a false promise that I can be all I’m meant to be by living for me and being true to me. What a myth that freedom is the absence of slavery . . . freedom is the right kind of slavery.

Oh, to submit to the yoke of Christ (Matt. 11:28-29) . . . to embrace the Master’s service . . . to be set free indeed (John 8:36) by becoming slaves of righteousness . . . serving in the new way of the Spirit! To God be glory . . . amen.

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Bottled Water

Posted on March 3, 2011 by Pete

“Recycling” last years thoughts on Psalm 56 this morning . . .

There’s something about being known that brings comfort. Something about having not to “hide it” or “pretend everything’s fine” that takes off a lot of pressure. Not that we necessarily want everyone to know everything about our struggles . . . but just to know that someone’s familiar with what we’re going through . . . that can be such a balm for the soul. Not that they can necessarily fix it . . . but just that they know . . . and they care . . . what a source of strength that can be. And even more so when that someone is the Father . . . who not only knows and cares . . . but, should it be in His will, can fix it too.

It’s Psalm 56, this morning, that has me considering the comfort which comes from knowing God knows. It says that this song was written by David when the Philistines captured him in Gath. David certainly had no lack of enemies during his life . . . from Goliath . . . to the Philistine armies . . . to Saul . . . to even his own son, Absalom, it seems that for a good portion of his life someone was pursuing him. Here it’s the Philistines. And here David pens with confidence, “When I am afraid, I will put my trust in You. In God, whose word I praise, in God I trust; I shall not be afraid. What can flesh do to me.” (Ps. 56:3-4,11 ESV).

Although it isn’t too surprising, I don’t immediately think of David as someone who was afraid. Somehow we think of mighty men enduring tough times by setting their jaw, leaning into the wind, and allowing their red cape to flap behind them as they sport a big “S” logo on their chest. But David knew what it was to be afraid, to be gripped by fear and uncertainty . . . and when he did, he trusted God . . . and the fear was diminished . . . the anxiety reduced. And his basis for trusting God? Bottled water.

“You have kept count of my tossings; put my tears in your bottle. Are they not in your book?” (Psalm 56:8 ESV)

David believed there wasn’t a path he took, that God didn’t know about . . . that God hadn’t kept track of it. David believed there wasn’t a tear He shed that God was not aware of and hadn’t collected and placed in a container. And that belief, which allowed David to envision each tear shed being collected by Almighty God and placed in a bottle, resulted in trusting God with every situation . . . it increased his confidence that “God is for me” (56:9b). And this morning it’s got me thinking too about the beauty of bottled water.

My tears are known by the God of creation. Counted drop by drop. None shed without His knowing the reason behind it. He is aware of them all. Some are of my own making . . . some are according to His will . . . all can be collected and put in a bottle because none pass His attention.

And as I think about tears, I think about the picture of those in Revelation who have come out of the tribulation . . . having washed their robes in the blood of the Lamb . . . they neither hunger nor thirst anymore . . . and they are before the throne of God . . . and the Lamb is in the midst of the throne . . . and the Lamb shepherds them, leading them to living waters . . . and, it says, “God will wipe away every tear from their eye” (Rev. 7:14-17). The bottle emptied . . . the weeping over . . . the hand of God Himself having cleared away every drop of sorrow. He knows. He is able to deliver. “In God I have put my trust, I will not be afraid . . . “.

And, then I think about the bottle . . . and my mind goes to that sinful woman who anointed Jesus feet with her tears and a flask of fragrant oil. She “stood at His feet behind Him weeping; and she began to wash His feet with her tears, and wiped them with the hair of her head; and she kissed His feet and anointed them with the fragrant oil” (Luke 7:38). And I think how appropriate a use for that bottled water . . . to take those tears, known and collected by the One who made me, and use them as an offering of thanksgiving and praise at the feet of the One who saved me. Even held captive by his enemies, David declares, “I will render praises to You” (56:12b NKJV).

Praise God for bottled water . . . praise God with bottled water . . . to Him be all glory . . . amen!

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Minor Disobedience?

Posted on March 2, 2011 by Pete

I encountered rebellion again this morning in the book of Numbers. Yesterday (Numbers 16) it involved Korah & Co. who made a play for the priesthood, standing up against Moses and Aaron. Didn’t end very well . . . the ring leaders were swallowed up by the earth . . . the 250 who partnered with them were consumed by fire from heaven . . . and, before the insurrection could be completely quelled and atonement made, 14,700 had died from a God sent plague. The punishment was extreme . . . but so was the nature of the pride-fueled rebellion against God’s anointed. This morning, the rebellion seems far less serious . . . but the consequences are just as severe . . . and, it involves God’s anointed . . . and some “minor disobedience.”

“And the LORD said to Moses and Aaron, ‘Because you did not believe in me, to uphold me as holy in the eyes of the people of Israel, therefore you shall not bring this assembly into the land that I have given them . . . Let Aaron be gathered to his people, for he shall not enter the land that I have given to the people of Israel, because you rebelled against my command at the waters of Meribah.’ . . . And Aaron died there on the top of the mountain.” (Numbers 20:12, 24, 28 ESV)

The rebellion occurred at Meribah. There was no water for the congregation . . . they were thirsty . . . and so, as they were so prone to do, they “assembled against Moses and against Aaron” . . . and whined . . . and complained . . . and quarreled . . . “why have you made us come up out of Egypt to bring us to this evil place . . . there’s no water to drink!” (20:2-5). Good grief! . . . . again and again with the “life was better in Egypt, Moses” stuff . . . and so Moses and Aaron go to the tent of the meeting, fall on their faces and cry out to God. And the glory of God appears to them . . . and God speaks to them . . . “Take your staff, assemble the people before the great rock and tell the rock before their eyes to yield its water. And then watch the water flow from the rock . . . enough water for them and their livestock” (20:6-9 paraphrased).

Moses takes the staff . . . gathers the people . . . and rebukes them, “Shall we bring water for you out of this rock?” Wait a minute! Back up the bus! Moses, who’s going to bring the water out of the rock? And then, Moses lifts up his hand and strikes the rock twice with the staff . . . and water comes flowing forth in abundance (20:10-13). Mission accomplished? Yup. Damage done? Yup, again. There it was . . . that’s the rebellion of Numbers 20 . . . instead of speaking to the rock as God commanded, Moses, in his frustration, whacks the rock . . . and God says, “For such rebellion, you will not lead this people into the land I’ve promised them.”

That’s it? Hitting the rock versus speaking to the rock? After all Moses and Aaron had endured with these people . . . after all they had done for God . . . That’s the big rebellion? That’s enough to be excluded from setting foot in the promised land? Yeah . . . that’s it . . . “Because you did not believe in Me, to uphold me as holy in the eyes of the people of Israel, therefore you shall not bring this assembly into the land” (20:12). That was the rebellion of Moses and Aaron at the waters of Meribah . . . they did not trust God enough to demonstrate His holiness to the people (NLT).

Not that the people noticed . . . the water gushed forth — still a miracle of epic proportions . . . the Lord showed Himself holy (20:13) . . . but Moses and Aaron improvised with the command of God . . . for whatever reason, they did what they thought would work, what had worked in the past (Ex. 17:6) . . . and God called it for what is was, they rebelled . . . through unbelief they acted in a manner which compromised the glory of God . . . and for it, there was a consequence. Ouch!!!

Let me read about Korah and I can easily distance myself from that kind of rebellion. But let me read about Moses and Aaron . . .unbelief failing to uphold the holiness of God . . . “minor disobedience” equated with rebellion . . . and I can relate way too much with stepping on to this “unholy ground.” My God is holy . . . and those who are His are to be holy . . . and uphold His holiness . . . in faith and obedience . . . that His glory might be known. Oh, that by His grace and for His glory, I would be faithful . . .

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Blinding Ambition

Posted on March 1, 2011 by Pete

“You have gone too far!” That was the charge they made against Moses. “We’re all God’s people . . . all holy . . . all set apart . . . the Lord is with us all. So how come you exalt yourself above the assembly of the LORD?” (Numbers 16:3 ESV). “And besides,” they would go on, “is it a small thing that you have brought us up out of a land flowing with milk and honey, to kill us in the wilderness, that you must also make yourself a prince over us? Moreover, you have not brought us into a land flowing with milk and honey, nor given us an inheritance of fields and vineyards” (16:13-14 ESV). They were done . . . they were starting a movement . . . my Bible subtitles it “Korah’s Rebellion” (Num. 16:1-35) . . . I’m thinking it was blinding ambition.

What was going through their head? . . . or, as the case may be, what wasn’t going through their head? What was it that had caused them to revise recent history? Blaming Moses for bringing them out of the land of milk and honey . . . are they talking about Egypt? . . . really? . . . that was paradise? . . . that was the promised land? Had the forgotten the straw? . . . the bricks? . . . the back-breaking labor? . . . the bondage? . . . really, that was what Abraham had left his home for? . . . sign me up! . . . not so much!

And yeah! . . . they had seen Moses lead them out of the land. So, how had they forgotten the plagues? . . . how had they let slip from their mind that night of Passover? . . . what had caused them to not recall walking out of Egypt and through the Red Sea? And, had they not been there when Moses came down from Mt. Sinai, face aglow? Had they forgotten how Moses would enter the cloud of the glory of God and enter the tabernacle and have One-on-one briefings with the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob? . . . I’m guessin’! So, what caused them to forget everything that pointed to Moses as God’s man for God’s purposes in delivering God’s people? Blinding ambition . . . ambition which makes one blind.

Moses saw it and called them out . . . ““Hear now, you sons of Levi: is it too small a thing for you that the God of Israel has separated you from the congregation of Israel, to bring you near to Himself, to do service in the tabernacle of the LORD and to stand before the congregation to minister to them, and that He has brought you near Him, and all your brothers the sons of Levi with you? And would you seek the priesthood also? Therefore it is against the LORD that you and all your company have gathered together.” (Num. 16:8-11 ESV)

They wanted the priesthood . . . they wanted the top spots . . . they wanted the recognition . . . they wanted the power . . . they wanted what God had not called them to, but had appointed for others. And, in their ambition, they went stupid . . . the old synapses in the brain started misfiring . . . they had forgotten, or ignored, everything they had known and witnessed of God’s call on Moses’ life and his role in their deliverance from slavery. They failed to appreciate their calling as Levites . . . specially selected to minister in things of the tabernacle . . . called to among the few that could draw near to the presence of Jehovah . . . invited to participate in making welcome the glory of God in their midst. Instead, they wanted to offer the fire . . . they wanted to burn the incense. And, why not? . . . “We’re all holy?” . . . so they reasoned . . .

You just kind of cringe when you think of this arrogant guy . . . and his buddies, Dathan and Abiram . . . and 250 of their closest, influential friends (16:1-2) . . . deciding to go toe-to-toe with Moses. How dumb can pride make you? . . . pretty!!! And the consequences were severe . . . not just for them, but for their wives, their sons, and their little ones (16:27). The rebellion leaders, were literally swallowed up as the earth split apart beneath them and they “went down alive to Sheol” (16:33). And the other 250 who joined them in pretentiously offering fire to heaven, were all consumed with fire from heaven (16:35).

And I can’t help but ask myself, “Self, what are you going to learn from this?” Oh, to be careful of despising the call of God and wanting someone else’s call. Oh, to not grumble about the role in the Body of Christ He has asked me to play. Oh, to beware of pride-fueled ambition! To know that it can happen to me . . . confused thinking birthed from a prideful and rebellious heart. Oh, that I might be faithful to that which God has called me to . . . for His glory . . . amen.

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Glory Giving & Faith Filling

Posted on February 28, 2011 by Pete

This morning I read two accounts concerning faith, or lack thereof. One a huge disaster . . . the other precedent setting. One opportunity to exercise faith ended in abject failure . . . a promise missed . . . and resulted in forty years of wilderness wandering. The other call to believe resulted in a child . . . and a promise realized . . . and became the means for blessing to generations upon generations. And it seems that the key to both stories . . . the factor upon which faith failed or faith triumphed . . . the turning point for victory of defeat, hinged on how people responded to the glory of God.

“No distrust made [Abraham] waver concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong in faith as he gave glory to God, fully convinced that God was able to do what he had promised. That is why his faith was ‘counted to him as righteousness.'” (Romans 4:20-22 ESV)

The ESV reads a little differently here than the other translations in that it says “he grew strong in faith as he gave glory to God” . . . that little word “as” emphasizing a “cause and effect” dynamic between the active agency of faith and the response to God’s mighty deeds. Where glory is given to God faith increases . . . where that which should testify of the glory of God is ignored and unrecognized, faith fails. Two cases in point . . .

Numbers 13 & 14 . . . the nation of Israel on the border of the promised land . . . the territories which God had pledged to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob . . . the blessing for which God had delivered them from Egypt . . . “a land that flows with milk and honey” (Num. 14:8). There they were . . . it was theirs for the taking. Sure, there would be battles to be fought, but not alone . . . God promising to go before them . . . to deliver to them that which He had said He would make theirs. But they refused . . . concluding the battles could not be won . . . that the inhabitants of their promised land were too big to displace . . . in effect concluding that their God was too small to make it happen. How come? Because despite all that they had seen . . . from the ten plagues that led to their freedom . . . to walking out of Egypt . . . to walking through the Red Sea . . . to being fed manna from heaven . . . despite all they had been through with God, they refused to give him glory . . . and thus, their faith wavered.

And the LORD said to Moses, “How long will this people despise me? And how long will they not believe in me, in spite of all the signs that I have done among them? . . . truly, as I live, and as all the earth shall be filled with the glory of the LORD, none of the men who have seen my glory and my signs that I did in Egypt and in the wilderness, and yet have put me to the test these ten times and have not obeyed my voice, shall see the land that I swore to give to their fathers.” (Num. 14:11, 21-23 ESV)

They had seen the glory of the Lord, but refused to give the Lord the glory . . . and so they would die in the wilderness coming up short of the promise. How tragic. Contrast that with Abraham . . . the other “story” I read this morning.

In Romans 4 Abraham is the precedent setter . . . “Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness” (Rom. 4:3). Unlike the desert dwellers of Moses’ day, Abraham fully entered into the promise . . . through faith . . . “in order that the promise may rest on grace” (4:16). Abraham being fully convinced that what God had said He would, He could do . . . growing strong in his faith as he gave glory to God . . . responding to past blessings and the previous evidences of God’s hand at work, and ascribing to God the glory. And it seems, as he recognized God in the call to leave his homeland for a destination unknown . . . as he saw God’s protecting hand upon him and his wife, even as they sometimes stumbled and faltered . . . that, as he gave glory to God, his faith grew stronger . . . becoming fully convinced that God was able to do what God had promised to do . . . Glory giving leading to faith filling

O’ that I might see Him in His awesome creation . . . that I might know Him and His hand in the details of my life . . . and that I might give Him the glory due His name and wondrous works. That I too, might grow in faith . . . fully convinced He is able . . . for my blessing . . . and for His glory . . . amen.

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A Full Course Meal

Posted on February 25, 2011 by Pete

Romans 3 is the perfect set up for Psalm 51 . . . the doctrine of Paul’s letter being the perfect back drop for entering into the desperation and deliverance recorded in David’s song. In Romans 3 we understand the problem of sin . . . in Psalm 51 we experience the pain of sin. In Romans 3 we are taught that there is a righteousness to be received by faith . . . in Psalm 51 we see modeled the manner in which such faith is exercised. In Romans 3 we have explained the salvation which results in justification . . . in Psalm 51, we see the dynamics of this salvation which results in joy. One is the foundation . . . the other is the realization. One is tell’t . . . the other, felt. One is the main dish . . . the other, the dessert. And together they are a full course meal.

“None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks for God . . . no one does good, not even one . . . for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Rom. 3:10-12, 23). There it is . . . the problem . . . a big, big, problem! Sin is part of the human DNA . . . and sin separates. David knew it . . . up close and personal . . . “For I know my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me. Against You, You only, have I sinned and done what is evil in Your sight . . . Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me” (Ps. 51:3-5).

Sin is not just some doctrine to be understood . . . but a desperation to be experienced. It is the problem that drives one to seek the solution. “Have mercy on me, O God . . . blot out my transgressions . . . wash me thoroughly from my iniquity . . . cleanse me from my sin . . . create in me a clean heart . . . deliver me from bloodguiltiness, O God!” (Ps. 51:1-2, 9-10). Spend any time lingering over David’s song, written after his adultery with Bathsheba was exposed, and you can just sense the oppression of sin . . . the anguish of separation . . . and the desperation to know again the joy of salvation. If you were to put music to these lyrics it would be in minor chords . . . a dirge . . . slow and pensive . . . blues to the nth degree. There is no sacrifice to offer for such failure save “a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, You will not despise” (Ps. 51:16-17).

“But now” . . . O’ glorious word, “But”!!! . . . “But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law . . . the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe . . . justified by His grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus . . . so that He might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus” (Rom. 3:21-26). Yes!!! The ground upon which God hears the sinner’s plea . . . the work upon which God bridges the gap and makes way for the sinner to enter His sanctuary. Christ was put forward as a propitiation, or atoning sacrifice, by His blood, to be received by faith (Rom. 3:25) . . . and for those who have faith in Jesus, there is forgiveness, and justification — declared righteous in Christ.

This is the basis upon which David might presume to know cleansing for such terrible transgression. It is the work that opens heaven’s ears to David’s cry, “Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me. Cast me not away from Your presence, and take not Your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of Your salvation, and uphold me with a willing spirit” (Ps. 51:11-12).

And the grand doctrine of justification through faith becomes the song of the redeemed . . . “my tongue will sing aloud of Your righteousness. O Lord, open my lips, and my mouth will declare Your praise” (Ps. 51:14b,-15). It’s not just some theology to noodle over, it is a reality to enter into . . . not to be sliced and diced and debated ad nauseam, but to be experienced . . . the cleansing to be known . . . the guilt to be gone . . . the praises to be sung.

Yup, read these two passages of Scripture together and it’s a pretty powerful one-two punch . . . Romans 3, the sufficiency of the blood of Jesus to declare the sinner righteous . . . and Psalm 51, the work of the cross in action . . . the blood applied through confession and repentance . . . cleansing realized through contriteness . . . joy restored because of justification . . . together, they really are a full course meal. Amen?

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A Matter of the Heart

Posted on February 24, 2011 by Pete

Circumcision . . . not exactly a word used a lot today . . . not really a procedure talked about at social gatherings . . . but, in the economy of God, it’s kind of a big deal . . . even today. Paul brings it up this morning, as I continue in Romans, as he calls out those who claim to be God’s chosen people but whose lives don’t bear it out . . . “For it is not the hearers of the law who are righteous before God, but the doers of the law who will be justified” (Rom. 2:13). It’s not heritage . . . it’s not who was given the law . . . it’s not who has the physical sign of covenant relationship . . . it’s not a matter of anything done in the flesh . . . instead, it’s a matter of the heart.

For no one is a Jew who is merely one outwardly, nor is circumcision outward and physical. But a Jew is one inwardly, and circumcision is a matter of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the letter. His praise is not from man but from God. (Romans 2:28-29 ESV)

“Cutting around” . . . that’s the literal meaning of the word . . . and it was commanded of God to Abraham and established as a national ordinance for his descendants. It was the sign of covenant (Gen. 17:10-11) . . . it symbolized consecration . . . it was the mark of those chosen . . . it was an outward sign that was private. And, it had become a matter of boasting for the Jew . . . it had become the “proof” by which they claimed sole possession of being God’s people . . . regardless of the degree to which they sought (or didn’t) to live like God’s people.

And so, Paul calls them out . . . “circumcision indeed is of value if you obey the law, but if you break the law, your circumcision becomes uncircumcision” (2:25). God delights in obedience over sacrifice (1Sam 15:22) . . . He seeks walk over talk . . . He desires righteousness above ritual. The issue was not about what they had cut away or given up, but what they had embraced and were determined to pursue. And this pursuit could not be sourced in the external and physical, but was internal and of the heart.

A matter of the heart, not the flesh . . . a work of the Spirit, not the letter of the law . . . performed by God, not by men . . . that, says Paul, is the true mark of the people of God. “In Him also you were circumcised with a circumcision made without hands, by putting off the body of the flesh, by the circumcision of Christ, having been buried with Him in baptism, in which you were also raised with Him through faith in the powerful working of God, who raised him from the dead.” (Col. 2:11-12).

Oh, to know the reality of a circumcised heart . . . the things of the flesh cut away . . . the seal of the covenant embedded on my inner man . . . the essence of consecration wired into my DNA . . . the reality of “the procedure” evident through the life that is led. Oh, to submit to God’s on-going work of cementing such a mark upon my heart . . . recognizing that some things may have to go . . . understanding that it can sometimes be painful . . . believing and knowing that, always, it will be worth it all . . . as a friend says, “For my goodness, and for His glory.”

It’s a matter of the heart . . .

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Mutually Encouraged

Posted on February 23, 2011 by Pete

Talk about your holy ground . . . talk about entering into the deep things of God . . . talk about the gospel, the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes . . . and, you’re talking about Paul’s letter to the Romans. And while I anticipate a “refresher course” in things concerning the sin of all men . . . justification by faith . . . reconciliation through faith . . . putting off the old man and becoming slaves of righteousness . . . new life in the Spirit . . . God’s never ending love . . . His absolute Sovereignty in matters of our free-to-chose salvation . . . and the host of practical implications which result from such truth . . . while there’s going to be a lot of “schooling” over the next few weeks, it’s something in Paul’s introduction to this letter that grabbed me this morning. The thought of mutual encouragement . . .

“For I long to see you, that I may impart to you some spiritual gift to strengthen you–that is, that we may be mutually encouraged by each other’s faith, both yours and mine.” (Romans 1:11-12 ESV)

Paul wanted to go to Rome. Not to see the city . . . not to visit the place where “it was happening”, the home of the emperor and the seat of power founded in the senate . . . not to take in it’s cutting edge architecture, the fine buildings, the arts, the riches, grandeur . . . not the city’s glory . . . but he wanted to go to Rome to see the believers, those “called to belong to Jesus Christ . . . loved by God and called to be saints” (1:6,7). They were the prize of Rome . . . God’s people . . . and Paul so wanted to do some face to face time with them.

He wanted to impart to them some spiritual gift. While some would say the “gift” was some extraordinary signs and wonders type of gift, my thinking would align more with those who’d say it was the gift of teaching and exhortation . . . passing on to them some of the spiritual insight he had received from the Lord and from racking up a few miles in spreading the gospel throughout Asia minor. Stories? Paul had stories to tell. Lessons learned? He had a few of those as well. Theology? Yup, he could spend a few hours laying out, precept by precept, the deep things of God. Application? You bet . . . there would be a few “therefore’s” as he preached among their gathering or as they conversed over the dining room table. Paul wanted to be with them to strengthen them in their faith.

But get this . . . for Paul it wasn’t just about imparting . . . but he knew that, to be with them, would be to receive as well. He had hung out with God’s people enough to know the reality of the “iron sharpening iron” (Prov. 27:17) dynamic of quality fellowship. Sure, these Roman believers hadn’t been schooled in the Old Testament as Paul had been in his Pharisee days . . . and they certainly couldn’t have imagined the crash course Paul took at THU (Third Heaven University, 2Cor. 12:2-4) where he was tutored one-on-one by the risen Lord Himself (Gal. 1:11-12) . . . but, there’s something about hanging out with people who keep on keepin’ on for Jesus that has a way fueling the tank.

There’s a dynamic that should exist when God’s people get together . . . whether to “do church” on Sunday . . . or during the week for home study . . . or over the kitchen table, playing games or just talking through life together . . . a dynamic of mutual encouragement. Each giving . . . each receiving . . . each being comforted as they share the faith together. It’s the dynamic spoken of by Paul in Ephesians where he says that we are a 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” (Eph. 4:16). A body whose head is Christ . . . a body which, when it comes together, whether as whole or just a couple of members, has the ingredients for a mini-revival meeting . . . each imparting spiritual gifts born out of walking with Jesus . . . and each receiving encouragement as they work through together what it means to walk by faith.

Oh . . . to know such sweet fellowship! How you gotta love God’s people . . . hangin’ with them . . . being encouraged by them . . . perhaps, by God’s grace, being a bit of encouragement to them. Now, that’s holy ground! Amen?

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