Instruction, Theology and a Promise

Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations,

baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit,

teaching them to observe all that I commanded you;

and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.

Matthew 28:19-20

This is a great passage to start the year out with - it's got instruction, theology and a promise all neatly wrapped up in two verses. Matthew closes his account of Jesus' life with these final words and they are not an afterthought or a post script, but a gift of direction and power for the believer.  So let's dissect these verses for a few minutes:

INSTRUCTION - Go, Make, Baptize, Teach

Go - get out there, leave your comfort zone, be active not passive. You have a message and it needs to be heard, so get going!  There is urgency in this word - is "urgency" a word that describes your life?  We are ambassadors of Christ (II Cor. 5:20) as well as imitators of Christ (Eph. 5:1) and there's a big, dying world who needs the remedy we hold.  That word "therefore" basically means this - Jesus is saying because of everything I have done - my life, death and resurrection - because of this, you need to respond by "going." The gospel always produces a response - either rejection or action.  So what are you going to do?

Make - discipleship is the consequence of salvation, your discipleship by Christ and the discipleship of others by you.  Who are you following, Satan or Jesus?  If you are a follower of Jesus, then your life is a pursuit of Him - run after Him, chase after Him and those around you will get a picture of what a Christ-follower looks like.  The call to make disciples is the call to spread the gospel of Jesus - show the world that Jesus is alive and well!  But this call to "make" is another active word - it takes work, effort, strategy, pursuit - urgency.

Baptize - identify with and immerse.  Yes, the church is in the business of baptizing and baptism is an act of obedience by believers. But there is another calling here - baptism is not just getting in the tank but it is the act of identifying with something and the complete immersion with that something - so identifying with God and immersing yourself in Him.  We are called to not only give the gospel to the lost but to be a part of that immersion process - in the tank and in life in general.  Marinate on that for while...(this is a blog and I don't have enough space to explain that one)

Teach - instruct, example, study and pass along - live it out.  Teaching those around us to observe the commandments of Christ implies we know them, are living them out and then teaching others.  You can't teach what you don't know. You can't lead where you haven't gone. You can't give what you don't possess.  Again, this is an active command from Christ - it will take effort and it will cost something.

THEOLOGY - the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit

There it is.

If you've ever looked for the Trinity in scripture, it's right here.  God is One - He is One in Three.  Three persons, One God. Notice it doesn't say the "names" of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit but "name" - singular, one.   In these two verses, Jesus instructs that we are to point the world to the truth that there is only one option for life and that option is found in the Holy Trinity.  God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit - One God in Three Persons.  There's a bit of theology to chew on...

In baptizing the nations in the Trinity, we are called to identify with and immerse ourselves in the truth of the Godhead.  We do not serve three gods, but One - this is a really hard theological truth but it is truth nonetheless.  No One Person of the Godhead is less than Another, and therefore None should be ignored, underemphasized or minimized.  So how are you at understanding the Person and Work of each One in the Trinity?  Confused yet?  Or do you have some study to do?

PROMISE - I am with you ALWAYS

This is the best news EVER!  Here's my thought process:

• God is not a liar
• He is a God of covenants
• When He makes a promise He will keep it
• If He says He will be with us ALWAYS - He's allowed to use 100% words because He means it
• So guess what?  I am NEVER alone because He is ALWAYS with me

In ladies study next week, we are going to see that the promise of God's presence is the best promise to get from God.  If He is with us and will never leave us, then what do we have to fear?  Do you battle loneliness?  Cling to the promise!  Are you in a storm? Cling to the promise!  Do you feel abandoned, lost, confused or depressed? Cling to the promise!  Do you feel that God is far away? Cling to the promise - stop living by your feelings and KNOW THE TRUTH!  

The promise of Jesus' presence in our lives is not priceless, by the way.  His presence was pricey - the highest price ever was paid so that He could be with us ALWAYS.  

Doesn't this fact change your life?

Lots of truth in two verses - things to do, things to believe, promises to cling to - May the Word of God dwell richly in you this year and may you grow in your faith as you cling to His promises!

Happy New Year!

Straight Up Gospel

Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body

so that you obey its lusts,

and do not go on presenting the members of your body to sin

as instruments of unrighteousness;

but present yourselves to God as those alive from the dead,

and your members as instruments of righteousness to God.

Romans 6:12-13

Take a good look at the picture above.  If you are in Christ, this is a portrait of you.  

Dead, then alive.

What I love about these verses is it reveals the motivation behind call to chase after Jesus.  At first glance, it looks like another religious baseball bat - stop doing this and quit doing that because one day you'll have to account for yourself before a holy God.  But is that what it's really saying?  

Let's make some observations:

• these verses are written to believers (this is a given)
• therefore, Christians CAN let sin reign in their bodies after salvation
• Christians CAN obey sin by acting on its lusts
• Christians also CAN offer their bodies in a way that makes them partners with sin - we can be the instrument sin uses to accomplish its evil
• But we also HAVE THE ABILITY to offer to God the truth of our condition - we are alive from the dead
• Just in case you missed this - we are ALIVE FROM THE DEAD
• therefore, we CAN offer our bodies in a way that we are partners with God for righteousness
• Bottom line - in Christ, we have some choices and we are not accountability-free

Can you see it?  We are called to battle against sin because we have been given new life.  Notice it doesn't associate the works with salvation in a way that implies the works make or keep us alive - we've already been made alive from the dead and in response to that truth, Paul urges us to battle sin as an offering to our life-giving Savior.

Let's put it this way:  Once dead, now living.  Now living, instruments of either righteousness or unrighteousness - either way, we will present ourselves to God.  

Our motivation is not the accountability - that's a works salvation mentality.  Our motivation is what He has done in us - dead to alive.  The accountability is still there, but the motivation is now out of love, not fear.  

Does this make sense? 

This week we have a wonderful opportunity to worship and offer ourselves as instruments of righteousness to our Lord and Savior. So what exactly does that look like in your life?  How can you partner with Him as an "instrument" for righteousness?  What sin are you clutching in your hand that you can release for His glory?  Is it anxiety or worry?  Is it lust or addiction?  Is it unforgiveness or bitterness?  

All of these sins produce unrighteousness in our lives.  As you sit with your family, sharing gifts and creating memories, decide to stop presenting your body as an instrument for unrighteousness and because you are alive in Christ, start acting like it!

Merry Christmas and may you all be captured by the grace and mercy extended to us two thousand years ago...

Abide

I am the vine, you are the branches;

he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit,

for apart from Me you can do nothing.

John 15:5

I have a garden on my property but I'm not a gardener.  I have a friend who is a gardener and technically, it's his garden and I get to cheer him on.  And he's a really, really good gardener.  So my gardening knowledge is pretty limited but I feel like I've tagged along on his journey, so let me tell you about our grape vines.

It's a rather large lot, so my friend has large strawberry patches and an area for the raspberry bushes.  We have boxes for the vegetables (everything from beans to tomatoes to lettuces to onions, etc.) and a large corner for asparagus - that stuff grows like crazy!  And another couple of spots for zucchini, patapan, pumpkins and watermelons - all which need space to spread itself out.  

And then there are the grape vines - one long fence with six posts.  We planted a vine at the base of the four inside posts and then waited for them to do their magic.  Grape vines are grabbers and crawlers, so as the plants grew, they went up the posts and then began to turn to their left and right and spread out along the wire fence.

Now, my friend told me not to expect any fruit the first year or two. The plants were too young and needed time to mature.  After the first year, he pruned the plant all the way back to the original size - the base of the vine was thickening but all the branches were cut away.  So during the second summer, as the plants were starting to grow, we were spraying for weeds and got a little too close to the vine and killed it.  

Back to step one.  It was about then that another friend gave me some vines as a gift and these vines were a success.  So in their second year, they started to produce fruit.  As I watched the fruits begin to grow, I was pretty excited - little clusters of grapes hanging all over the branches - this was going to be a great harvest!  Then, one night, just as the grapes were about ready to be harvested, a raccoon visited my garden.  It might have been a herd of raccoons, because the devastation to that harvest that occurred in one night was amazing.  That raccoon apparently pulled off each grape, one by one, squeezed the skin off each grape, ate the innards, and dropped the skin on the ground.  THOUSANDS of grapes eaten in one night.

Ugh.

So we pruned the branches back to the original vine and the next year we cranked up the electricity in the outer fence line before the grapes were ready to be harvested.  The outcome? Success! A bountiful harvest!

So here's what I've learned:

• the vine is the source of life (poisoning the vine killed everything)
• the branches need pruning for good fruit production
• the fruit comes from maturing branches and are evidence of a healthy plant
• raccoons are bad 

Jesus tells us that He is the vine - we must abide IN Him to bear fruit.  He says that apart from Him we can do nothing.  This reminds me of my favorite verse, Gal. 2:20 - I am crucified with Christ, nevertheless I live. Yet not I, but Christ lives IN me!  The life of a believer is to be completely absorbed by Christ - we are in Him, He is in us. It is no longer I who live but Christ who lives in me.  If this is the reality of your life, then fruit production will be natural.  Joy will flow, self-control will dominate, love will rule the day, peace will be evident, patience will come naturally, you'll be one of the kindest people you know, goodness and gentleness will go hand in hand and your faithfulness to the Lord and His Word will be easily identified in your words, expressions and actions.

So what is the key to a life like this?  How do we bear fruit?  Abide.  We have to abide in Christ.  We have to live in Him.  We have to immerse ourself in His Word, talk to Him all day, think upon the things that are important to Him, watch TV with Him, take Him to the grocery store with you, place Him at the dinner table with your family and ask Him if that outfit makes you look fat.  Don't be alarmed at the pruning process either - it's for your own good and for better fruit production.  

Abiding means to be with on a regular basis.

The gospel is Jesus in my place - Jesus took my punishment and gave me His righteousness. But the gospel is not just a one time event - it doesn't end on the cross.  The gospel is for every day - Jesus now lives through us and abiding simply means choosing to let Jesus be in your place on a day by day, moment by moment basis.  

For apart from Him, we really can do nothing.

Are you a Self-Deluder?

But prove yourselves doers of the word, 

and not merely hearers who delude themselves.

James 1:22

We are master deluders - we can smile and shake the hand of someone we can't stand rather easily.  We say we're fine when we have a pounding headache.  We laugh at jokes that aren't funny.  And we swipe our credit card when there aren't funds to cover the charge.

We can fool those on the outside, but it's hard to fool yourself, right?  Apparently the answer is "wrong," according to our verse in James.  Apparently we can delude ourselves, as well.

Scary verse, wouldn't you say?  Looking at the context we see that James uses a mirror illustration to prove his point.  He says that those who hear God's word but don't act on it are like those who look in a mirror to start their day but then forget what they look like as the day wears on.  We envision ourselves fatter or thinner, prettier or uglier, cleaner or dirtier than we actually are, but when we look in the mirror, it reveals the truth. 

James warns his readers not to live deluded - thinking they are something they are not.  When you know what God's Word says but do not act on it then are you a true follower of Jesus?  When you know what He says but make excuses why you can't do it, are you deluding yourself into believing you are a Christian when really you are not?  

Let me clarify something first by answering this question - what makes you a Christian?  We know it is not by our works of righteousness that we have done, but solely by the mercy of God that we are saved.  Jesus exchanged places with us on the cross and paid the penalty for our sin - it's what He has done, not what we can do in regards to salvation.  

But salvation has a response; it has a transforming power. The faith God gives us to believe the gospel also transforms us into the image of our Savior.  So from a human perspective, we are called to respond - intellectually (repent of our sin and confess with our mouths that Jesus is Lord), emotionally (worship Him in spirit and in truth) and physically (take up our cross and follow Him).  Our response will indicate our loyalty.  So the response is not what saves but it reveals our salvation.

I don't want to overlook an important word in our verse above - "prove."  If you prove something, you are showing - you are revealing.  Your actions speak louder than your words and this proving is not for Jesus and it's not for the world - it's for you.  In Philippians 2 Paul warns us to work out our salvation with fear and trembling - he's not scaring us into saving ourselves.  Jesus alone saves, but he is trying to sober us up about the intellectual, emotional and physical response to the gospel.  

If the gospel hasn't changed you, then it hasn't saved you.  

So are you changed?  Do you hear the Word of God and respond in obedience?  Or do you have an initial response but then as life goes on, that response gets choked out by the busyness or troubles of life?  James tells us that the proof is in the activity - your actions prove where your heart is.

Be a doer of the Word, don't just hear it and think that hearing alone is evidence of salvation.  Herod heard the truth preached and even enjoyed it, but it didn't transform his life. (Mark 6:20)  Don't delude yourself...