An EXTREME act of love

For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard. Yet God, in his grace, freely makes us right in his sight. He did this through Christ Jesus when he freed us from the penalty for our sins. (Romans 3:23-24)

All really doesn't mean there are any exclusions - it means ALL have sinned, no one is exempt. That may be hard for some to palette, but it is an inescapable fact. God set a standard - we fall short of it each and every time we attempt to even approach it, so we needed his Son to do it for us. Grace has been and is still being extended to all who would trust him for this great gift of redemption. Redemption is a big word that really means we are made right with a holy God by trusting in the finished work of Jesus. He bridged the gap between our imperfection and God's perfect holiness. We are able to come boldly into his presence now because we have received his grace. The standard was met in Christ - we just need to meet Christ in order to receive grace! It might be hard to believe but this unmerited favor we receive from God is a manifestation of his love toward the unworthiness in each of us. He doesn't 'discount' us because of our unworthiness but rather makes a way for us to be part of his glorious family.

Too many times, we 'discount' our need for a Savior. We justify ourselves by saying we 'aren't all that bad', that we 'do good things', and we aren't 'all that unkind' to others. The truth is that ALL have fallen short - the target may be hit some of the time, but we aren't hitting the bullseye! We need grace in order to do that. The enemy of our soul is Satan, and he has done all he can from the very beginning of time to convince us that 'not all that bad' is really okay. The fact of the matter is that it is ALL or nothing with God. We are ALL the way a sinner, or we are ALL the way a redeemed (made holy through Christ) child in his family. The Greek word for 'redeemed' is 'apoluo' - meaning to experience a release effected by the payment of a ransom. It means to be set free - because sin has held us bound for way too long! The payment was Christ's life, death, burial and resurrection. The EXTREME act of love that would go to that extent in order to bring us freedom from our sinfulness shouldn't ever be taken for granted.

Here is the crux of it - we ALL have a sin nature. We ALL have absolutely no way of approaching the holiness of God on our own. Sin cannot abide with holiness. We ALL need a Savior. We ALL need to experience the EXTREME love of God and the only way to do that is through Christ Jesus. Just sayin!

Not our heart to change

Anyone who rebukes a mocker will get an insult in return. Anyone who corrects the wicked will get hurt. So don’t bother correcting mockers; they will only hate you. But correct the wise, and they will love you. Instruct the wise, and they will be even wiser. Teach the righteous, and they will learn even more. (Proverbs 9:7-9)

We might disapprove of many things we see or hear these days, making it almost hard to stay quiet, but does our 'disapproval' or 'condemnation' of those things fall upon deaf ears and wayward hearts intent on not changing their course? If so, we are probably rebuking one given over to making very foolish decisions based upon the wickedness they have embraced in their own hearts. It is almost impossible to correct the wicked - we can stand against wickedness, but it is impossible for us to change their hearts. That is a job for God alone!

A mocker is really a scoffer or scorner as used in this passage. One that makes light of things that are of a higher moral standing than what they pursue. They treat someone with high morals with contempt and scoff at their choices to live as they do. They don't see the value in the moral stand someone might take because it differs from what they believe or have chosen to make their lifestyle. They criticize what they don't really understand, all the while refusing to see any other view than their own.

With that understanding of a mocker, you might see how it can be a bigger than life challenge to actually change the way they see things. They just won't be convinced that their ways are wrong - at least not when we are the ones trying to do the convincing. They will need to have a 'face-to-face' with God himself in order to realize the error of their choices. Our response should be to pray for them, not to argue with them, or attempt to convince them of the error of their ways. We can 'unleash' the full force of heaven through prayer - a much more formidable force for the mocker to encounter, wouldn't you say? 

The wise will receive correction willingly. Although it may hurt to hear it, they will know it is true. They will step back, reconsider their choices, and will listen to what God has to say to them. The more we embrace the wisdom God gives, the better we will listen when he brings us that wisdom. Just sayin!

Does baptism make me stop sinning?

So do you think we should continue sinning so that God will give us more and more grace? Of course not! Our old sinful life ended. It’s dead. So how can we continue living in sin? Did you forget that all of us became part of Christ Jesus when we were baptized? In our baptism we shared in his death. So when we were baptized, we were buried with Christ and took part in his death. And just as Christ was raised from death by the wonderful power of the Father, so we can now live a new life. (Romans 6:1-4)

If you haven't realized it yet, we do 'continue to sin' even after we say yes to Jesus. There is still a struggle with temptation. We don't just magically 'stop sinning' - we must deal with the urges to do what is wrong when we know what is right. Good news is that we don't do it alone! We have Christ in us to help us with that very real struggle.

Did you ever wonder what purpose water baptism plays in a person's life? If we are honest, some of us may have 'got dunked' without really understanding the real meaning of that action. When we say yes to Jesus, we welcome him into our hearts and ask him to take control of our lives. When we are baptized in water, we are attesting to the fact we have chosen to follow Jesus, wish to live our lives as 'dead to sin' and 'alive to right living'. 

The whole thing about 'taking part in Christ's death' can be a little hard for some to understand. The purpose of baptism is to show we are committed to this walk with Jesus, are reliant upon him to help us live renewed lives, and that we are aware we now live 'new lives'. We are attesting to being 'dead to sin', but we don't always make 'right choices', do we? Does that mean that the action of baptism 'didn't work'? Not at all. Baptism is a testimonial of our faith in Christ to renew our lives - to help us make better choices and walk in all the wisdom he gives.

What changes then? We don't get pulled into sin as easily. It might not happen immediately, but our priorities change. Our choices change. We find ourselves desiring the presence of God. We are easily convicted of our 'sinful deeds' and find ourselves desiring God's restoration quickly. We aren't perfect yet, but we have changed hearts that lead to changed actions, and that is moving us toward God's presence and not away from it. Baptism isn't magical - it is a trusting act that shows we desire more of Christ's activity in our lives until we one day find ourselves aligned with all he desires. Just sayin!

Yup, NOT perfect!

There are always going to be people in our lives who poke fun or find fault with something we do or don't do in life. We might not dress the way they feel we should, with perhaps a little bit of a 'square' look to our style, but if it is modest and it is clean, is there anything wrong with it? We might not believe in zombies and a zombie apocalypse, but we do believe in the second coming of Christ and the Tribulation times, and that difference might just get us some ribbing. Perhaps we don't cuss at the drop of hat and find it a little more than offensive to be around those that do, but is our lack of 'free speech' really all that bad? The more we find ourselves 'fitting into' the pattern Christ gave to us on how it is we should treat ourselves and others, the more others might just find opportunity to 'poke holes' in that lifestyle. Why? It may just be they are a little 'threatened' by the true freedom we have in this life!

Have some of you noticed that we are not yet perfect? (No great surprise, right?) And are you ready to make the accusation that since people like me, who go through Christ in order to get things right with God, aren’t perfectly virtuous, Christ must therefore be an accessory to sin? The accusation is frivolous. If I was “trying to be good,” I would be rebuilding the same old barn that I tore down. I would be acting as a charlatan. What actually took place is this: I tried keeping rules and working my head off to please God, and it didn’t work. So I quit being a “law man” so that I could be God’s man. Christ’s life showed me how, and enabled me to do it. I identified myself completely with him. (Galatians 2:17-18 MSG)

The most powerful testimony we can give of Christ's grace is to live in such a way that others see that grace lived out in our lives, not just the ones who see us in church, but all those we come into contact with each day of our lives. Grace doesn't mean we are perfect - it means we are learning to walk by a different 'standard' - the standard of the Word. We are learning to hold our tongue when we'd like to respond curtly - but we don't always remember to do that when the moment hits us. We are learning to look the other way when an offense is directed at us - but we don't always avoid a full-on display of our disappointment or frustration with that other individual. What should come across to those who observe us in these situations is that we don't just 'act out' and then walk away from those actions like they didn't matter. We take the opportunity of our failure as another moment we may turn to Christ for his grace to show us how to do things differently the next time we are faced with one of those moments.

Too many times we equate the present 'bad' behavior with the idea that Christ made no difference in the life of the one exhibiting that behavior, but nothing could be further from the truth. You and I don't really know what is going on 'inside' that other individual, nor how God will take that moment and turn it into a moment of conviction and teaching for that individual (and maybe even for us, too). It is unfair for us to judge that individual because of their actions - there might just be more going on under the surface than is being revealed in those actions. The best thing for us to do is to allow each other the opportunity to be real or genuine - even if that means we mess up from time to time and have to go through the process of a lot more 'do-overs' than we'd really like. God doesn't want us to live behind some mask of 'rule-keeping' - because that charade doesn't bring us or others any closer to the grace of God. Showing another how God's grace actually brings us to the place of acknowledging out short-comings and then learning to live 'differently' through his grace is what others really need to see.

There is no shame in being 'real' - but there is a little bit of shame in living behind a mask. After all, the purpose of the mask is to 'cover over' what you didn't (or weren't) wanting to reveal! The mask might just look or sound a whole lot like 'religion' for many people, but there is no reality in religion - only a whole lot of 'white-wash'. What others need more than anything is the revelation of God's grace in and through us. When we sin, admit it. When we fall, get up and brush off, then start walking again. Others will see that we aren't perfect - but that our imperfections don't need to be hidden because God's grace makes a way for us to move beyond the sin and to walk straight again. None of us is without sin - and none of us is without the need for more grace in our lives. We can try to hide behind our 'religion', but as long as we wear that mask, we aren't going to really be free from that sin. We are just going to dance around it time and time again! Grace is the only thing that will deal with it and grace is only available to those who recognize it is not their own effort that changes a man, but the power of God within that brings that change. Just sayin!