I had sushi for dinner tonight. It was delicious. I was enjoying the nice atmosphere and food, when two women came in and sat nearby to order their meals.
They began to chat about life, and one of the women told her friend that she was filing for divorce from her husband. She then said that she had already found a good man, and she was in love with him. Her friend asked her where they had met, to which the first woman replied "We were friends in church before I decided to get a divorce. He is a really great guy who understands me and I just love him like I've never loved before."
After this remark, the second woman asked her friend where they had gone to church, and after learning where they went, she told her where she went, and they both laughed and ordered salads and a very interesting sushi roll that included jalapenos and egg.
I was reading James before I had gone to eat, and it was in my mind as I heard these women talking, both of whom would consider themselves faithful Christians.
James 2:14-26 offers a stern warning to us.
"What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him? If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, and one of you says to them 'Go in peace, be warmed and filled,' without giving them the things needed for the body, what good is that? So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.
But someone will say, 'You have faith and I have works.' Show me your faith apart from your works, and I will show you my faith by my works. You believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe-and shudder! Do you want to be shown, you foolish person, that faith apart from works is useless? Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered up his son Isaac on the altar? You see that faith was active along with his works, and faith was completed by his works; and the Scripture was fulfilled that says, 'Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness'-and he was called a friend of God.
You see that a person is justified by works and not by faith alone. And in the same way was not also Rahab the prostitute justified by works when she received the messengers and sent them out by another way? For as the body apart from the spirit is dead, so also faith apart from works is dead."
If you have never read this passage before, it might alarm you. After all, isn't the great sounding call of the Protestant "by faith alone?"
Many people have thought that Paul and James fought over this issue of justification by faith alone. Paul clearly states in Galatians 3:1-14 that only those who by faith accept Jesus will be counted righteous. And here, we have James saying that "... a person is justified by works and not by faith alone."
Read carefully my friends. Paul and James are not fighting each other; rather, they are complementing one another.
Paul uses Abraham's faith in following God away from his homeland into a foreign one to show that Abraham was saved and justified by God because of his faith in what God had told him.
James uses Abraham's faith in sacrificing his son to show that the Abraham's faith was "completed," or shown to be a genuine saving faith by his obedient actions towards God.
This passage goes on to say that "faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead." James uses the example of the "christian" who encounters someone with a physical need, and instead of supplying the need, the "christian" just says some cheap words and moves on.
Both Paul and James are echoing Jesus' teaching on those who call him Lord but do not obey what he says. Jesus says these people prove they are not true disciples because the storms and trials of life come, and they are not built up by a life of obeying Jesus' commands. The storms come, and the 'faith' of these people is totally destroyed and proven useless.(Luke 6:43-49)
Guys and gals, the Scriptures are not meant to be things we simply chew over in our heads a little bit, and then leave until we come home or get free on the weekend.
They are meant to be a measuring rod for our lives. We are expected to look into the Scriptures, and see how they tell us to live, and then go out and do that. If we look into the Scriptures and see an area or areas that do not line up, God is not content for us merely to be 'bummed out' about it. He expects us to meet him everyday and ask him to change our hearts until they love him and look like him in all areas of our lives. (Jeremiah 31:31-34)
I pray that God lets us see the wickedness in all our hearts, the wickedness that drives us back to our Father who is willing and loving to change us.
-Brett
Tuesday, April 13, 2010
Monday, April 12, 2010
The Four Soils: The Perilous Path
Mark 4:1-9
The parable of the sower is one we all know, and I’ll bet every time you read it, you think of the gospel. Am I right? Of course I am. And you should, this parable is very much about the gospel, but I think that there is something very beneficial in expanding our view on the “word” that is sown.
The word of God is, like I said, very much the gospel, but it also goes out in other ways. God whispers to you, “Go help that person.” or “Are you really loving your wife like I love the church?” Each time God speaks to us he is sowing his word, whether it be through scripture and the spirit, prayer, or other people. We can use the parable of sower to help us guard ourselves so that we can effectively respond to the word of God when he speaks to us. Not only in his saving call of repentance and belief, but also in his sanctifying call to live like Christ.
The first soil that Jesus mentions is the Path. This path is not a good place to be. The ground is so hard that he seed can not even penetrate it, let alone bear any fruit. The seed just sits there and the birds come by and snatch it away. The soil in this parable is referring to our hearts. Have you allowed your heart to become so hard and insensitive that you don’t even hear the word of God when he speaks to you? Is simply snatched away by the birds? In verse 15 of Chapter 4 Jesus shows us what’s really going on. He tells us that the bird is really Satan, and he snatches it away.
In our society, we play down the spiritual world. It’s seldom mentioned in church, and, at least for me, when I do hear it I don’t take it as seriously as I should. But it is constantly pointed to in scripture that we find ourselves in the middle a battle that is entirely spiritual. Paul says in 2 Corinthians 10:3-4, “For though we walk in the flesh, we are not waging war according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to demolish strongholds.” Not only is our spiritual battle very real, our enemy is very real. Peter says of Satan in 1 Peter 5:8, “Be sober minded; be watchful. Your adversary the Devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.” Listen to Peter’s warning. If we are walking on the perilous path Satan has us. We are blind and deaf to the words of God. 2 Timothy says we are “taken captive to do his [Satan] will. To add to the power of Peter’s warning lets look at what Jesus tells him in Luke 22:31-32, before he denies knowing Christ.
Jesus says, “Simon, Simon behold Satan demanded to have you that he might sift you like wheat, but I have prayed for you that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned again strengthen you brothers.” Peter knew what it meant to have the seed snatched away, and he is warning us so that we won’t find ourselves in the same situation. Satan wants to destroy you! And if you find yourself on the Perilous Path, he is succeeding. He is snatching up the word of God before you even hear it. But even if we find ourselves there, we are not without hope. Christ is the one who intercedes for us. He is our savior and just like he kept Peter, he will keep us, but we must get off the path. How do we do this? James 4:7 is our answer. “Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the Devil, and he will flee from you.” We must turn to God and submit to him to get off the path. He is our salvation. He is our hope. He is our savior. Submit to God, and resist the Devil.
-Mitchell
The parable of the sower is one we all know, and I’ll bet every time you read it, you think of the gospel. Am I right? Of course I am. And you should, this parable is very much about the gospel, but I think that there is something very beneficial in expanding our view on the “word” that is sown.
The word of God is, like I said, very much the gospel, but it also goes out in other ways. God whispers to you, “Go help that person.” or “Are you really loving your wife like I love the church?” Each time God speaks to us he is sowing his word, whether it be through scripture and the spirit, prayer, or other people. We can use the parable of sower to help us guard ourselves so that we can effectively respond to the word of God when he speaks to us. Not only in his saving call of repentance and belief, but also in his sanctifying call to live like Christ.
The first soil that Jesus mentions is the Path. This path is not a good place to be. The ground is so hard that he seed can not even penetrate it, let alone bear any fruit. The seed just sits there and the birds come by and snatch it away. The soil in this parable is referring to our hearts. Have you allowed your heart to become so hard and insensitive that you don’t even hear the word of God when he speaks to you? Is simply snatched away by the birds? In verse 15 of Chapter 4 Jesus shows us what’s really going on. He tells us that the bird is really Satan, and he snatches it away.
In our society, we play down the spiritual world. It’s seldom mentioned in church, and, at least for me, when I do hear it I don’t take it as seriously as I should. But it is constantly pointed to in scripture that we find ourselves in the middle a battle that is entirely spiritual. Paul says in 2 Corinthians 10:3-4, “For though we walk in the flesh, we are not waging war according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to demolish strongholds.” Not only is our spiritual battle very real, our enemy is very real. Peter says of Satan in 1 Peter 5:8, “Be sober minded; be watchful. Your adversary the Devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.” Listen to Peter’s warning. If we are walking on the perilous path Satan has us. We are blind and deaf to the words of God. 2 Timothy says we are “taken captive to do his [Satan] will. To add to the power of Peter’s warning lets look at what Jesus tells him in Luke 22:31-32, before he denies knowing Christ.
Jesus says, “Simon, Simon behold Satan demanded to have you that he might sift you like wheat, but I have prayed for you that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned again strengthen you brothers.” Peter knew what it meant to have the seed snatched away, and he is warning us so that we won’t find ourselves in the same situation. Satan wants to destroy you! And if you find yourself on the Perilous Path, he is succeeding. He is snatching up the word of God before you even hear it. But even if we find ourselves there, we are not without hope. Christ is the one who intercedes for us. He is our savior and just like he kept Peter, he will keep us, but we must get off the path. How do we do this? James 4:7 is our answer. “Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the Devil, and he will flee from you.” We must turn to God and submit to him to get off the path. He is our salvation. He is our hope. He is our savior. Submit to God, and resist the Devil.
-Mitchell
Saturday, April 3, 2010
Luke 6:43-46
"For no good tree bears bad fruit, nor again does a bad tree bear good fruit, for each tree is known by its own fruit. For figs are not gathered from thornbushes, nor are grapes picked from a bramble bush. The good person out of the good treasure of his heart produces good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure produces evil, for out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks. Why then do you call me 'Lord, Lord' and not do what I tell you?"
Our class name is going to be True Vine.
Are we bearing fruit as a class, and more importantly, are we bearing fruit in our everyday lives for Jesus?
Millions of people will attend church on Easter Sunday, confident that because they said a two minute prayer when they were 5, and they haven't missed more than 3 Easter services since then, Jesus counts them as one of his flock.
This is a tragedy.
Jesus never said "say a prayer like this, and I will save you." He said to repent, or turn away from the sin we were commiting, and follow him. He was very clear that the only people who he counted as his own were those who did what he told them.
In his sermon on the plain in Luke chapter 6, Jesus outlines what it means to be a follower of his. He tells us that we are to love our enemies (verses 27-36), and to judge ourselves before we judge others around us (verses 37-42). He closes out his sermon with the passage above about bearing good fruit. Why?
He is reinforcing the truth that the people who love him and truly follow him will LIVE as he lived, and not merely talk as he talk.
He expects us to "bear fruits in keeping with repentance." (Luke 3:8) If you are wondering what you are to look for in your life as evidence that you are saved, look for the fruit of the Spirit in your life, that is "love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control." (Galatians 5:22-23)
Don't rest on a prayer found nowhere in the Bible for your comfort. Don't think that since Jesus died for your sins, how you live now doesn't matter. Don't use the standards that the church uses to gauge spiritual maturity, i.e. age or the regularity of your tithe or the number of committees you've chaired or the number of solos you've sang in choir.
Instead, let us look to the Master for our confirmation. Do we look like Christ? Do we feel pain when we fail him? Do we want to become more like him?
I pray our class truly bears fruit worthy of the True Vine.
-Brett
Our class name is going to be True Vine.
Are we bearing fruit as a class, and more importantly, are we bearing fruit in our everyday lives for Jesus?
Millions of people will attend church on Easter Sunday, confident that because they said a two minute prayer when they were 5, and they haven't missed more than 3 Easter services since then, Jesus counts them as one of his flock.
This is a tragedy.
Jesus never said "say a prayer like this, and I will save you." He said to repent, or turn away from the sin we were commiting, and follow him. He was very clear that the only people who he counted as his own were those who did what he told them.
In his sermon on the plain in Luke chapter 6, Jesus outlines what it means to be a follower of his. He tells us that we are to love our enemies (verses 27-36), and to judge ourselves before we judge others around us (verses 37-42). He closes out his sermon with the passage above about bearing good fruit. Why?
He is reinforcing the truth that the people who love him and truly follow him will LIVE as he lived, and not merely talk as he talk.
He expects us to "bear fruits in keeping with repentance." (Luke 3:8) If you are wondering what you are to look for in your life as evidence that you are saved, look for the fruit of the Spirit in your life, that is "love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control." (Galatians 5:22-23)
Don't rest on a prayer found nowhere in the Bible for your comfort. Don't think that since Jesus died for your sins, how you live now doesn't matter. Don't use the standards that the church uses to gauge spiritual maturity, i.e. age or the regularity of your tithe or the number of committees you've chaired or the number of solos you've sang in choir.
Instead, let us look to the Master for our confirmation. Do we look like Christ? Do we feel pain when we fail him? Do we want to become more like him?
I pray our class truly bears fruit worthy of the True Vine.
-Brett