There are many things to say on this matter, but I want to finish on the wonderfulness, beauty, and freedom that comes for all Christians who know the exclusivity of Jesus Christ. Knowing that He is the only Way to God sets us free from the yoke of works. It sets us free to worship Him alone. It reveals to us that nothing can increase or decrease our standing with God, and we are free to worship Christ and Christ alone! We can finally rest that Jesus is the end of all things. It is no longer "Jesus plus anything." It is by His name we are saved; there is no other name - He is the end.
This is the good news of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Therefore, let no other "addition" to Him of any kind disturb your conscience. Look upon John 14:6. Meditate on it. Worship God through its Truth. Realize its implications. It will set you free both from living for man's praise and from man's yoke-filled additions to Christ. Lose yourself in the truth that when all of this world passes away and you fall asleep into eternity, the only Way to God will be through Jesus Christ.
Sunday, December 23, 2007
Friday, December 14, 2007
The Exclusivity of Christ, Part 2
One cannot believe in Jesus, or exalt Him in status, apart from the good news that He brings. What is that good news? Simply that He is the only Way to God - through faith in Him there is a restored relationship and eternity spent with God. If Jesus laying down His life for us in order to restore that relationship (as in Him doing all the work; and we simply accepting God's grace - a free gift through Him) is not the only Way to God, then what Jesus brings is no longer good news. Why? 1) Because we no longer have assurance of salvation; 2) He is not really the only way and is therefore a liar- and is therefore not good (I shutter writing such a lie!) ; 3) there is more to salvation than God's grace to us, more than His free gift to us, meaning that we again take on a yoke of earning our way to perfection (God), which we cannot do. I have only mentioned a few, but there are many more reasons why if Jesus is not the only Way to God, then there is no more good news. Paul states it well in Galatians when he says, "Are you so foolish? After beginning with the Spirit, are you now trying to attain your goal by human effort? Have you suffered so much for nothing- if it really was for nothing? Does God give you his Spirit and work miracles among you because you observe the law, or because you believe what you heard? Consider Abraham: ' He believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness' " (Galatians 3:3-6).
Therefore, let no false religions or false prophets lead you astray to any other doctrine apart from the exclusivity of Christ for eternal salvation. It is both beautiful and necessary. If there were many ways to God, or even one other way apart from Christ, then Christ is a liar, and we are all lost. Do not let any "religious system" exalt Christ in any way apart from that way which is due Him: the only way to God! If someone does not believe this truth which He said about Himself, then they call Him a liar, and therefore have no part with Him. Within that do we see the eternal implications in the exclusivity of Christ.
Therefore, let no false religions or false prophets lead you astray to any other doctrine apart from the exclusivity of Christ for eternal salvation. It is both beautiful and necessary. If there were many ways to God, or even one other way apart from Christ, then Christ is a liar, and we are all lost. Do not let any "religious system" exalt Christ in any way apart from that way which is due Him: the only way to God! If someone does not believe this truth which He said about Himself, then they call Him a liar, and therefore have no part with Him. Within that do we see the eternal implications in the exclusivity of Christ.
Monday, December 3, 2007
The Exclusivity Of Christ, Part 1
I want to speak about the wonderful exclusivity of Christ. O how wonderful it is! May the followers of Christ rest in it, and may those who do not follow Him be enlightened by the Spirit to its awesome truth.
Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me" (John 14:6).
"He who hates me hates my Father as well" (John 15:23).
"I tell you the truth, the man who does not enter the sheep pen by the gate, but climbs in by some other way, is a thief and a robber. The man who enters by the gate is the shepherd of his sheep. The watchman opens the gate for him, and the sheep listen to his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has brought out all his own, he goes on ahead of them, and his sheep follow him because they know his voice. But they will never follow a stranger; in fact, they will run away from him because they do not recognize a stranger's voice." Jesus used this figure of speech, but they did not understand what he was telling them. Therefore Jesus said again, "I tell you the truth, I am the gate for the sheep. All who ever came before me were thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them. I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved. He will come in and go out, and find pasture...I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep"(John 10:1-9, 11).
Some like to say, "Yes, but Jesus did not really say these things." Believe what you will, but know this: Men who wrote these words that Jesus spoke walked with Him, lived under His teaching, and died because they believed with all their heart that He had said them. How will you believe something about Jesus written by men who did not walk with Him, did not live under His teachings, and who died hundreds of years after His death and resurrection? Therefore, you may not believe Jesus was who He said He was, but you must realize that He did say He was the Son of God ("...The high priest said to him, 'I charge you under oath by the living God: Tell us if you are the Christ, the Son of God.' 'Yes, it is as you say,' Jesus replied." (Matthew 26:63b-64a) ), and He did say He was the only way to God.
Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me" (John 14:6).
"He who hates me hates my Father as well" (John 15:23).
"I tell you the truth, the man who does not enter the sheep pen by the gate, but climbs in by some other way, is a thief and a robber. The man who enters by the gate is the shepherd of his sheep. The watchman opens the gate for him, and the sheep listen to his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has brought out all his own, he goes on ahead of them, and his sheep follow him because they know his voice. But they will never follow a stranger; in fact, they will run away from him because they do not recognize a stranger's voice." Jesus used this figure of speech, but they did not understand what he was telling them. Therefore Jesus said again, "I tell you the truth, I am the gate for the sheep. All who ever came before me were thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them. I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved. He will come in and go out, and find pasture...I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep"(John 10:1-9, 11).
Some like to say, "Yes, but Jesus did not really say these things." Believe what you will, but know this: Men who wrote these words that Jesus spoke walked with Him, lived under His teaching, and died because they believed with all their heart that He had said them. How will you believe something about Jesus written by men who did not walk with Him, did not live under His teachings, and who died hundreds of years after His death and resurrection? Therefore, you may not believe Jesus was who He said He was, but you must realize that He did say He was the Son of God ("...The high priest said to him, 'I charge you under oath by the living God: Tell us if you are the Christ, the Son of God.' 'Yes, it is as you say,' Jesus replied." (Matthew 26:63b-64a) ), and He did say He was the only way to God.
Wednesday, November 21, 2007
Now where are your gods?
"He will say: ' Now where are their gods, the rock they took refuge in, the gods who ate the fat of thier sacrifices and drank the wine of their drink offerings? Let them rise up to help you! Let them give you shelter! See now that I myself am He! There is no god besides me" (Deuteronomy 32:37-39).
When I read this passage, I thought of how sin works in my life. I thought of anything I worship apart from God, which is sin. Once I worship this idol, for any period of time, I slowly fall into darkness. For sin brings death. Then I turn my eyes to the only One who can save me, and I hear His loving words of truth flow over me: "Now where are your gods, the rock you took refuge in, the gods who ate the fat of your sacrifices...Let them rise up to help you! Let them give you shelter! O Clay my son, see now that I myself am He! There is no god besides me." Then I cry back, "O God, now I see. Those things I took refuge in took from me, yet gave nothing back. There was simply an empty hole of death in their arms. In fact, they were incapable of giving life for there is no true refuge but You. They looked good but their heart was black! Let me not be deceived by their cunning lies. Let me not find refuge in them; their friendship ends in disloyalty!"
When I read this passage, I thought of how sin works in my life. I thought of anything I worship apart from God, which is sin. Once I worship this idol, for any period of time, I slowly fall into darkness. For sin brings death. Then I turn my eyes to the only One who can save me, and I hear His loving words of truth flow over me: "Now where are your gods, the rock you took refuge in, the gods who ate the fat of your sacrifices...Let them rise up to help you! Let them give you shelter! O Clay my son, see now that I myself am He! There is no god besides me." Then I cry back, "O God, now I see. Those things I took refuge in took from me, yet gave nothing back. There was simply an empty hole of death in their arms. In fact, they were incapable of giving life for there is no true refuge but You. They looked good but their heart was black! Let me not be deceived by their cunning lies. Let me not find refuge in them; their friendship ends in disloyalty!"
Thursday, November 8, 2007
All My Hope is in Christ, A Confession
If I am saved by any other means apart from grace, then I cannot be eternally saved. For I have found myself incapable of being perfect according to any standard. I believe that if one was to tell me that in order to be saved, all I must "do" is refrain from punching my hand into a brick wall, I would eventually seal my doom by smashing my hand into the wall regardless of the harm I would inflict upon myself. O how glorious the saving grace of God through what His Son did for me and you on the cross! Now I am not bound to smash my hand!
"Now then, why do you try to test God by putting on the necks of the disciples a yoke that neither we nor our fathers have been able to bear? No! We believe it is through the grace of our Lord Jesus that we are saved, just as they are."
- Peter, Acts 15:10-11
"Now then, why do you try to test God by putting on the necks of the disciples a yoke that neither we nor our fathers have been able to bear? No! We believe it is through the grace of our Lord Jesus that we are saved, just as they are."
- Peter, Acts 15:10-11
Friday, October 26, 2007
Resisting Defense and Trusting in God's Mighty Hand
It amazes me sometimes how quick I am to defend myself against "injustice" in light of Who is in charge of my life. I long to humble myself, and to trust God's defense for His child, not my own defense. I am not saying revenge, but defense. God will decide His means of defending me (as well as all of His children), but I believe that He will defend.
Numbers 12 is a great picture of what God's defense will be and what our response should be against persecution. "Miriam and Aaron began to talk against Moses..." A quick look in Exodus reminds us that Aaron and Miriam were a part of Moses' own family! Sometimes even the closest people to us can speak against us. I do not know if Aaron and Miriam were speaking these words publicly or in secret, but "...the Lord heard this." Perhaps a warning to us that God hears every word we speak, and a comfort that God hears every unjust word spoken against us.
Then comes verse three: "(Now Moses was a very humble man, more humble than anyone else on the face of the earth.)" Not that Moses was sinless, but it seems that of all men on the earth that deserved least to be "talked against," it was Moses. Just an opinion, but I can imagine that Aaron and Miriam's problems with Moses could have been solved if they simply would have gone and talked to him, for humble people are easy to approach. Either way, even if you are currently the "humblest man on the earth," men and women will speak against you in some way or another (and they may do so because they are jealous of your humility!). O that we may go to God with our heart cry and resist the urge to defend ourselves. May we let our loving, heavenly Father (Who is the God of the universe!) defend us.
Back within Numbers, God summons Moses, Miriam, and Aaron to the Tent of Meeting and defends Moses. In verses six through eight, God tells of Moses' special place in relation to Himself: "With him I speak face to face...Why then were you not afraid to speak against my servant Moses? The anger of the Lord burned against them...When the cloud lifted from above the Tent, there stood Miriam- leprous, like snow."
I do not know if Moses ever verbally defended himself against Aaron and Miriam's words "against" him. But I truly believe he didn't have to. For God heard the words and defended His beloved the way He knows best to, as He will us.
1 Peter 5:5b-7 concludes perfectly: "All of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, because 'God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.' Humble yourselves, therefore, under God's mighty hand, that He may lift you up in due time. Cast all your anxiety on Him because He cares for you."
Numbers 12 is a great picture of what God's defense will be and what our response should be against persecution. "Miriam and Aaron began to talk against Moses..." A quick look in Exodus reminds us that Aaron and Miriam were a part of Moses' own family! Sometimes even the closest people to us can speak against us. I do not know if Aaron and Miriam were speaking these words publicly or in secret, but "...the Lord heard this." Perhaps a warning to us that God hears every word we speak, and a comfort that God hears every unjust word spoken against us.
Then comes verse three: "(Now Moses was a very humble man, more humble than anyone else on the face of the earth.)" Not that Moses was sinless, but it seems that of all men on the earth that deserved least to be "talked against," it was Moses. Just an opinion, but I can imagine that Aaron and Miriam's problems with Moses could have been solved if they simply would have gone and talked to him, for humble people are easy to approach. Either way, even if you are currently the "humblest man on the earth," men and women will speak against you in some way or another (and they may do so because they are jealous of your humility!). O that we may go to God with our heart cry and resist the urge to defend ourselves. May we let our loving, heavenly Father (Who is the God of the universe!) defend us.
Back within Numbers, God summons Moses, Miriam, and Aaron to the Tent of Meeting and defends Moses. In verses six through eight, God tells of Moses' special place in relation to Himself: "With him I speak face to face...Why then were you not afraid to speak against my servant Moses? The anger of the Lord burned against them...When the cloud lifted from above the Tent, there stood Miriam- leprous, like snow."
I do not know if Moses ever verbally defended himself against Aaron and Miriam's words "against" him. But I truly believe he didn't have to. For God heard the words and defended His beloved the way He knows best to, as He will us.
1 Peter 5:5b-7 concludes perfectly: "All of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, because 'God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.' Humble yourselves, therefore, under God's mighty hand, that He may lift you up in due time. Cast all your anxiety on Him because He cares for you."
Friday, October 19, 2007
give thanks in all circumstances.. 1 Thess. 5:18
In the last few years I've gone through a lot of circumstances: "Why me?" circumstances; "I can't believe this is happening." circumstances; "God, is this a cruel joke?" circumstances; "I can't take much more of this, God!" circumstances.
How do you give thanks in those circumstances? An even better question might be, why in the world would you give thanks in those circumstances? Both the how and the why of giving thanks find an answer when we turn our focus off of the circumstances and on to God. God never changes, so regardless of what is happening in our life, if God was ever good he is still good, and giving thanks is simply choosing to believe God is who He says He is, even when everything else in our life says He's not.
This seems to be the problem that Job faced. Job had served God faithfully throughout his life, and throughout his life God had given Job prosperity and blessing. Job knew God was good and he knew God was loving, and up until that point in Job's life, his life and his circumstances had confirmed what he knew was true about God. Then Job's world turned upside down. Everything that Job loved and valued in this world turned to dust. Everything that had given visible, tangible confirmation that God was good and that God was love, disappeared.
At this point, Job had to make a conscious choice-whether to interpret things according to his own understanding or to take God at His word, no matter how horrible the circumstances.
In your life and my life will come times when we have to make this same choice. Circumstances will come that say that God is not good and that He is unworthy of our praise, and like Job's wife we can agree with the circumstances and say to ourselves, "Curse God and die!" Job 2:9, or we can look at the horror and the madness that seem to be burying us alive and, like Job, say "Though he slay me, yet will I hope in him." Job 13:15. Job knew that no matter what happened to him, God was sovereign over his life, and no matter how things appeared, God's ways were higher than his ways(Isa. 55:9).
When we give thanks in every circumstance, we proclaim before all creation that God is sovereign in our lives, and no tragedy or harm, from man or nature or angel, can touch us without his allowance. When hate surrounds us, we can thank God that He is love. When doom surrounds us, we can thank God that He is victorious. When death comes for us, we can thank God that He is life. No matter what happens in this world, thank God, because He has overcome the world! Jn. 16:33.
How do you give thanks in those circumstances? An even better question might be, why in the world would you give thanks in those circumstances? Both the how and the why of giving thanks find an answer when we turn our focus off of the circumstances and on to God. God never changes, so regardless of what is happening in our life, if God was ever good he is still good, and giving thanks is simply choosing to believe God is who He says He is, even when everything else in our life says He's not.
This seems to be the problem that Job faced. Job had served God faithfully throughout his life, and throughout his life God had given Job prosperity and blessing. Job knew God was good and he knew God was loving, and up until that point in Job's life, his life and his circumstances had confirmed what he knew was true about God. Then Job's world turned upside down. Everything that Job loved and valued in this world turned to dust. Everything that had given visible, tangible confirmation that God was good and that God was love, disappeared.
At this point, Job had to make a conscious choice-whether to interpret things according to his own understanding or to take God at His word, no matter how horrible the circumstances.
In your life and my life will come times when we have to make this same choice. Circumstances will come that say that God is not good and that He is unworthy of our praise, and like Job's wife we can agree with the circumstances and say to ourselves, "Curse God and die!" Job 2:9, or we can look at the horror and the madness that seem to be burying us alive and, like Job, say "Though he slay me, yet will I hope in him." Job 13:15. Job knew that no matter what happened to him, God was sovereign over his life, and no matter how things appeared, God's ways were higher than his ways(Isa. 55:9).
When we give thanks in every circumstance, we proclaim before all creation that God is sovereign in our lives, and no tragedy or harm, from man or nature or angel, can touch us without his allowance. When hate surrounds us, we can thank God that He is love. When doom surrounds us, we can thank God that He is victorious. When death comes for us, we can thank God that He is life. No matter what happens in this world, thank God, because He has overcome the world! Jn. 16:33.
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