A Glorious Bondage

 “Do you not know that if you present yourselves to anyone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience, which leads to righteousness? But thanks be to God, that you who were once slaves of sin have become obedient from the heart to the standard of teaching to which you were committed, and, having been set free from sin, have become slaves of righteousness.” 

(Romans 6:16-18 ESV) 

The thought of being in bondage to anyone or anything is, for most of us, unthinkable. The thought of being under anyone’s control is intolerable. We detest being under anyone’s thumb. 

In short, we long for independence. We believe that we can and should serve only ourselves. We believe that we should decide for ourselves what we will and will not do. It's our feelings and desires alone which we believe ought to be satisfied. Anything less than this is slavery. Anything less is subjection and servitude. 

This is the issue that many of us have with the Christian faith. The faith, to us, is nothing more than a system of laws. It’s nothing more than a system of rules and regulations. It means being governed and controlled by someone other than us. 

What we fail to realize is that we can never possess freedom in the sense we desire. What we fail to realize is that we have never been independent, nor will we ever be. Regardless of how free we believe ourselves to be, we are always under the control of someone or something.  

As we see in the passage above, apart from God, we are in bondage to sin. Apart from God, we are enslaved by sin. So, although we believe ourselves to be free of his law, we are controlled and governed by sin. 

As we strive to satisfy the desires of the flesh, we are mastered by them. We are enslaved by them. It is not we that are in control of them, but they that are in control of us. 

The result of this, Paul says, is death. The consequence of this is death. We, in other words, remain in the wrath of God and subject to his judgment. 

But as we serve Christ, the opposite is true. When this is true of us, he is our Lord. And, in this case, we receive the blessing of righteousness. 

Righteousness means that we have been made right with God. It means that the just consequence of our sin has been satisfied. And it means that, as God looks upon us, he sees not a sinner, but one who is pure and holy. 

As he says this, Paul is not suggesting that the blessing of righteousness is something that we earn by our obedience. Nor is he suggesting that it’s something of which we become deserving. It is the gift of God that is received by faith. 

As we look at the context of these words, Paul calls us to offer ourselves to the Lord as instruments of righteousness. Our old life, that of sin and death, is now a thing of the past. And, having received the salvation of God, having been brought from death to life, we present ourselves to the Lord that he might use us for his glorious purpose.

Obedience, you see, results from our faith in the Lord. It’s the natural response of our belief. And it’s this that enables us to receive the blessing of righteousness, which has been provided to us by the death and resurrection of Jesus. 

We Give Thee But Thine Own

“The God who made the world and everything in it, being Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in temples made by man, nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all mankind life and breath and everything.”

‭‭Acts‬ ‭17‬:‭24‬-‭25‬ ‭ESV‬‬

Our natural tendency is to believe that we can earn God’s blessings. Our tendency is to believe that we can repay him for his lovingkindness. Our tendency is to believe that we can make ourselves worthy of all he has given us. And our tendency is to believe that we can please him.

We seek to do so in a variety of ways. We do so through our acts of worship. We do so through our acts of devotion. We do so by our efforts to keep his Commands. And we do so by our acts of service. 

The reality, however, is that we can do nothing to earn God’s blessings. There is nothing we can do to repay him for his blessings. And there is nothing we can do to please him. 

Because of our sinful nature, and because of our ongoing acts of sin, this is not possible. We can never do enough to make up for our wrongdoing. And we can never be good enough to satisfy the righteous requirements of God.

This, however, is untrue for yet another reason. And this reason is seen in the passage above. It’s untrue because there is nothing we can give to God that he needs.

God, after all, is eternal and all-powerful. He is the Creator of all things. He’s the Creator of things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible. 

We, however, are the creature. We are those who are created. And, for this reason, it’s we who are dependent upon God and not the other way around.

We need God. We are completely dependent upon him. Not only did he make us in the beginning. We are also dependent upon him every moment of every day.

Apart from God, apart from his blessings, we would not exist. Apart from God and his blessings, we would not remain. Apart from his power, we would cease to exist.

God’s existence, however, is in no way dependent upon us. It is not dependent upon what we do for him. And we can contribute nothing to his well-being. 

He needs nothing. And there is nothing we can offer God that he does not already possess. Everything in all creation belongs ultimately to him.

Why, then, do we serve? Why do we give? And why do we love our neighbor?

It benefits God in no way as we do so. Nor does it contribute to our salvation or blessing. But it does make a difference in the lives of others.

As it’s been said, God does not need our good works but our neighbor does. It’s our neighbor who needs our love and our good deeds. We, then, are used by God to bless our neighbor as we act in love for him.

A Reason to Mourn

 “And when he drew near and saw the city, he wept over it…”

(Luke 19:41 ESV)

As believers, we know that we’re to reach out to the lost. We know we’re to proclaim the gospel to the whole creation. And we know that we’re to make disciples of all nations.

This means, of course, that we’re to care about the lost. We’re to care about those who are in bondage to sin. We’re to care for those who are perishing.

Often, however, it seems that we do not care. We write them off because it seems that they just don’t get it. And we write them off believing they're only receiving what they have coming to them.

We heartlessly leave them to their fate. We leave them to God's judgment. And rather than pointing them to Jesus, we sit on our hands.

No care is seen. No concern is demonstrated. No tears are shed.

As we look to Luke 19, Jesus knew the fate of Jerusalem. He knew the fate of the people who lived there. He knew the judgement that was soon to befall them.

Yet, even with this knowledge, he wasn’t numb when it came to them. He didn’t simply move on, ignoring the reality of their situation. Their fate is something that caused him to grieve.

He wept over the city who had rejected him. He mourned the city who refused the salvation he came to bring. Tears were literally shed for those who hated him.

As believers, Jesus’ concern for the lost is something that brings us great comfort. It does so because, without Jesus’ concern for sinners, without his love for those who were perishing, we ourselves would be forever lost.

We must remember that we are those who were perishing. It was we who deserved the judgment of God. It was we who, apart from his intervention, would spend eternity in hell.

Realizing this, realizing what he has graciously done for us, we should share his heart for those who are perishing. We should grieve those who remain under his wrath. We should shed tears for those who’ve rejected him and the salvation he came to bring.

It should drive us to action. It should lead us to reach out with the good news of Jesus’ coming, and that of his death and resurrection. And even when this message is refused, we should mourn.

Never Enough

 “The Pharisees came and began to argue with him, seeking from him a sign from heaven to test him.”

‭‭Mark‬ ‭8‬:‭11‬ ‭ESV‬‬

A common objection people make, when it comes to faith in the Lord, is that he must prove himself. They want evidence for the claims that are made for him. And they want proof that he is who he says he is.

The simple fact of the matter is that there is ample evidence supporting the existence of God and the claims that he makes. Christianity is not a faith which expects us to take everything by blind faith without any evidence whatsoever. The truth it teaches is verifiable.

The problem is that, more often than not, nothing is enough. No matter what evidence we are supplied with, it isn’t enough. And regardless of what God has revealed about himself, it’s never enough.

We see an example of this attitude in Mark 8. Jesus had just performed a great miracle. He’d just fed a crowd of more than four thousand people with only seven loaves of bread and a few fish. This is a miracle that was both seen and experienced by so many, there’s no denying it.

Yet, immediately afterward, the Pharisees argued with Jesus asking for yet another sign from heaven. What he had just done was apparently not enough to convince them. And, in all reality, nothing would.

We can make excuses for their unwillingness to believe. Perhaps they weren’t there when Jesus did this great work. Perhaps they hadn’t eaten of the loaves. But the fact remains that many had. There was so much testimony regarding what Jesus had done, they could not simply dismiss it.

Not even the resurrection of Jesus was enough to convince them. The religious leaders of the Jews went as far as trying to cover this up. They would not believe and they would do whatever they could to prevent others from doing so.

This is an attitude that we regularly see in society today. And we cannot take upon ourselves the burden of proving the truth of the gospel to those who will not believe. We can only share the Word and allow the Spirit of God to do his work.

Hopefully, however, we are not one who refuses to be convinced. If we are, I pray that we’ll recognize it, and that we’ll ask the Lord to open our eyes to the truth. And I pray that we’ll take an honest look at all of the evidence that is before us.

The Value of Life

 “Then the three mighty men broke through the camp of the Philistines and drew water out of the well of Bethlehem that was by the gate and carried and brought it to David. But he would not drink of it. He poured it out to the Lord and said, “Far be it from me, O Lord, that I should do this. Shall I drink the blood of the men who went at the risk of their lives?” Therefore he would not drink it. These things the three mighty men did.”

‭‭2 Samuel‬ ‭23‬:‭16‬-‭17‬ ‭ESV‬‬

Life is greatly undervalued in the age in which we live. It’s something for which we have little regard. And this is seen in many different ways.

It’s seen, for example, in our support for unfettered abortion. It’s seen in our laws permitting euthanasia or physician assisted suicide. It’s seen in the actions of terrorists, who use civilians as human shields or who serve as suicide bombers in order to stoke fear in the masses.

That being said, it’s seen also in less obvious ways. It’s seen in the declining birthrate and in our increasing demand for birth control. It’s seen in our unwillingness to confront abuse. And it’s seen in the devaluing of members of another race or culture.

It’s additionally seen in the foolish chances we take with our own life. It’s seen in some of us as we drink and drive, or as we use substances which destroy our body and put us at risk of overdose. It’s seen as we push ourselves to the limit, failing to take adequate time for rest or to nourish ourselves. And it’s seen as we fail to make use of protections provided to us that we might not suffer harm.

As we see in the passage above, David had the opposite mentality. He greatly valued human life. And he could not tolerate it when it was taken lightly.

The above passage was speaking of David’s mighty men, his greatest and most loyal warriors. Speaking to them, he’d expressed his desire to drink from the well of his hometown, Bethlehem. This town, however, was held by their enemies, the Philistines.

We all wish for friends so loyal but, when they heard of this desire, three of his mighty men went into action. They went to Bethlehem, fought through the Philistines who were there, and drew some water from the well of which David spoke. And they, then, brought it to him.

When they did so, he refused to drink it. And it wasn’t due to a lack of gratitude on his part. He refused to drink it because of the high value he placed on human life.

He acknowledged that the men who brought this water to him did so at the risk of their lives. And their lives were not something to be taken lightly. They were worth far more than the satisfaction of his reminiscent desire.

He would have never asked his men to do such a thing for him. He would never have asked them to put their lives on the line for something as trivial as a drink of water from the well of his hometown. Although their love for David was commendable, they should never have risked themselves in this way.

We, in the same way, should value human life. This life, after all, is a gift of God. It’s he who created each one of us. And it’s he who sent his Son to die for us, that we might have life everlasting.

Spiritual Amnesia

 “And his disciples answered him, “How can one feed these people with bread here in this desolate place?””

‭‭Mark‬ ‭8‬:‭4‬ ‭ESV‬‬

We can easily become frustrated with the church. We can become frustrated with our fellow believers. And the reason we become frustrated is because they never seem to learn.

Even though they have read of God’s might and love in Scripture, they continue to doubt. Despite knowing how he’s worked throughout the course of history, they fail to believe. And even when they hear testimony from us, or other believers, of what God has done, they seem blind and deaf.

We fail to realize, however, that this is not unusual in the least. This was true also of the disciples in Mark 8. They had already seen Jesus miraculously feed the 5000 with only a small amount of food. But when Jesus expresses his desire to feed another crowd, this is their response.

They once again question how this can be done. They question it due to the lack of resources available to them. They do so even though Jesus is standing right there in their midst.

This leads us to ask if  they had forgotten what Jesus had done. It makes us wonder if they had suffered a head injury. Or perhaps they were suffering from amnesia.

It often seems this way. It seems this way as we read about them in the gospels. And it seems this way as we search our own heart.

We, you see, do the same. Even knowing how God has worked to save us, we doubt. Even seeing how he’s worked in our day to day lives, we fail to believe.

We never seem to learn. And, for this reason, we have to be reminded again and again. It has to be pounded into our head over and over.

I wonder if this is why Jesus performed the same miracle a second time. Despite what they’d seen, they still didn’t get it. And they needed to see it again.

This, you see, is the blessing of Scripture. It’s the blessing of reading it. And it’s the blessing of hearing it taught and preached time and again. 

We are continually reminded of who Christ is, what he has done, and the promises he’s given us. When doubt creeps in, we hear it again. And when it seems we’ve forgotten, we are reminded.

Loving Our Enemies

 “What shall we do for wives for those who are left, since we have sworn by the Lord that we will not give them any of our daughters for wives?””

‭‭Judges‬ ‭21‬:‭7‬ ‭ESV‬‬

We know that, according to Jesus, we’re to love our enemy and pray for those who persecute us (Matthew 5:44). Yet this is something we struggle to do. It’s not even something to which we give much thought.

Although we say that we love our enemies, we feel no compassion for them. Although we say that we desire their blessing, we are unwilling to provide for them. And although we say that we want them to share in the mercy of Christ, we will not go out of our way to minister to them.

Even if we aren’t actively hating them, we’re not actively loving them. Even if we’re not actively seeking their harm, we aren’t actively seeking their good. And even if we aren’t actively pursuing their judgment, we’re not actively pursuing their blessing.

As we look at Judges 21, we see the example of the people of Israel. The tribe of Benjamin had been in the wrong. They had made their brothers, of the remaining tribes of Israel, their enemies. And they had been on the receiving end of a great wrath.

Their tribe had been utterly decimated in battle. All that remained of Benjamin was six hundred men. And the rest of Israel had vowed that none of them would give their daughters in marriage to them.

In essence, the tribe of Benjamin would soon be no more. And the remaining tribes of Israel could have simply accepted that. They could have, in fact rejoiced in that.

Yet, despite the wrong committed by Benjamin, the rest of Israel felt compassion for them. And, despite their vow, they sought a way to provide for their need. They sought to love their enemies rather than hate them. And they sought to bless their enemy rather than harm them.

The way they did so may seem strange to us. It may sound questionable. It may even seem downright wrong. But the point remains.

They went out of their way to provide wives for the remaining men of Benjamin. They sought to do so in a way which would not mean violating the vow they'd taken. But they did all they could to ensure this tribe would not go the way of extinction.

The tribes of Israel felt compassion for their enemies. They loved their enemies. And they desired that their enemies would share in God's blessing.

This points us to Christ, who loved his enemies. It points us to Christ, who desired God’s blessing for those who hated him. And it points us to Christ, who sacrificed his life that those who caused his suffering might be saved.

We, you see, were his enemies. We are those who hated him. And we are those who caused his suffering.

As his people, then, we’re to share his heart. As his children, we’re to reflect his nature. And as recipients of his compassion, we’re to show it to others.