Monthly Archives: March 2012

If you are a disciple of Christ, do you know what happened when you said “I believe”?  You were engrafted into the body of believers and immediately went from believing to belonging.  To be sure, you were saved as an individual, but you were saved to community.

This truth is troubling for many in a society that prizes independence and individualism.  We live in a culture where the demands and desires of the individual trump the demands and desires of the community, group, organization, or family.  It is not uncommon to hear new believers admit that they fear losing their independence to the church; they’ll say things like, “I love Jesus but not the church” and “I am spiritual but in no way religious.”  When people say such things, they are actually asserting that they have no interest in giving up their own personal rights, desires, wants, and preferences to anyone, including their family members in the church.  It is the clear and present evidence of a self-centeredness that has a stranglehold on them.

I’m a pastor, and I have heard a great many horror stories of believers who have been hurt by the church.  It has been said—all too often with complete justification—that the church shoots its wounded.  Christians can be mean and hurtful.  I know; I’m part of the church, and the church is made up of broken, fearful, hurting people just like me and you.  Yet the church is the body of Christ, and we simply cannot have the Head without His body.

Jesus intended our salvation to be worked out in the context of community.  Remember, our story ends with a wedding (Revelation 19:6-9), and I have never seen or officiated at a wedding with only one person present.  A wedding is a celebration of hearts being united to beat as one, and this is the environment God has created for His people in His church: to live, love, work, grow, serve, and suffer, each for the other.

For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ.  For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—Jews or Greeks, slaves or free—and all were made to drink of one Spirit.

For the body does not consist of one member but of many.  If the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body.  And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body.  If the whole body were an eye, where would be the sense of hearing? If the whole body were an ear, where would be the sense of smell?  But as it is, God arranged the members in the body, each one of them, as he chose.  If all were a single member, where would the body be?  As it is, there are many parts, yet one body.

The eye cannot say to the hand, “I have no need of you,” nor again the head to the feet, “I have no need of you.”  On the contrary, the parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable,  and on those parts of the body that we think less honorable we bestow the greater honor, and our unpresentable parts are treated with greater modesty, which our more presentable parts do not require. But God has so composed the body, giving greater honor to the part that lacked it, that there may be no division in the body, but that the members may have the same care for one another.  If one member suffers, all suffer together; if one member is honored, all rejoice together.  (1 Corinthians 12:12-26)

This really is good news!  You belong to something that transcends your own life; you are part of the family of God.  Yes, your family is a little messed up and a bit dysfunctional, but Jesus loves them and died for them—all of them—and you are to love them . . . yes, even lay down your life for them, just as Christ loved you and laid down His life for you.  Keep in mind that the church is the only organization in the world where membership is limited to those who are unqualified for membership.  We get in only because of the One who sought us, bought us, and brought us in.

One last important point: it is only as a member of the body that you will ever get to truly know your Savior.  You see more of Jesus the more you see, interact, and relate to the ones He came to save.  You also see more of yourself the more you see, interact, and relate to the ones He died to save.  As my friend Steve Brown likes to say, “Everybody who belongs to Jesus belongs to everybody who belongs to Jesus.”  Believe and belong; it’s worth the effort!

This is the Gospel.  This is grace for your race.  NEVER FORGET THAT . . . AMEN!

I know what you might be thinking: Pastor Tommy has lurched past the line of sanity in linking the words “privilege” with failure!  I mean, who in their right mind would consider it a privilege to fail at anything?!  I encourage you to read on.  I think you will find today’s message a great comfort—regardless of where this finds you.  There are countless places in Scripture to root this message, but I have chosen the point where Jesus foretells Peter’s denial.

“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 back, strengthen your brothers.”  Peter said to him, “Lord, I am ready to go with you both to prison and to death.”  Jesus said, “I tell you, Peter, the rooster will not crow this day, until you deny three times that you know me.”  (Luke 22:31-34)

In this passage we can clearly see that Peter was not only given the permission to fail, but it was a privilege to do so!  Now, I am not suggesting that we go out and do our best to fail in serving our Lord.  What I am suggesting is that when we do fail Jesus, we see it as a privilege.  Why?  Because of the One we are failing!  Jesus called Peter into service, knowing from all eternity that Peter would fail.  In this narrative we see both the permission and the privilege in our failure.  Permission means Jesus knows we are going to fall short of the mark at times . . . many times.  Privilege simply means Jesus is the One we are serving, and we should always see it as a privilege to serve Him, whether we are succeed or fail.

How often we are like Peter!  We resolve to win the day for Christ, no matter what hardship or opposition may come, but along the way we stub our toes and collapse in hopeless defeat.  We set out to walk on water, but all too quickly we take our eyes off the Lord and quickly sink into defeat and despair.  Our falls do not catch Jesus by surprise.  He told Peter exactly what was going to happen before it happened.  He is telling us the same thing today.  There will be times when we fail.  Failure is a part of daily living for broken people living in a broken world.  But our failure is never final.  Satan asked for Peter but Jesus said no.  Final, complete failure is not an option for those who are in Christ.  And that is what makes it a privilege to risk for Jesus, regardless of the outcome.

You see, the privilege to fail brings with it the grace of forgiveness and permission to try again and again and again.  We serve the God of second chances . . . and third chances . . . and so on.  The unconditional and eternal love of God removes any dread we might feel about a mistake or a failure.  Permission to fail frees to reach and risk—to advance the cause of Christ without constantly looking over our shoulder to see if God is coming after us for past errors.

Remember, after Peter’s abject failure—calling down curses on himself in an attempt to convince a servant girl that “I do not know the man”—Jesus restored him to fruitful service . . . but not perfect service!  Scripture relates the occasion when Paul rebuked Peter for refusing to eat with Gentile believers because of the disapproving scowls from certain Jews (Galatians 2:11-14).  Jesus was not angry with Peter’s failure at that time either, and He did not send Peter away.  He urged him and encouraged him to continue to strengthen his brothers. Jesus loved Peter and died for Peter’s sins—all of Peter’s sins, just as He loves you and me and died for all the sins you and I did, do, and will commit.

Scripture doesn’t explain why, when Jesus appeared to Peter after His resurrection, He asked Peter three times if he loved Him.  Many scholars believe it was because Peter had denied Jesus three times, and Jesus was sending this message: “Regardless of the number of times you fail me, I want you to remember that you are never disqualified from serving me and feeding my sheep.”

Now that is a comfort we need to be reminded of daily: we don’t only have permission, but the privilege to fail the One who has forgiven every failure.

This is the Gospel.  This is grace for your race.  NEVER FORGET THAT . . . AMEN!

That’s a funny combination isn’t it?  Yet that’s exactly what we are—both unworthy and invaluable.  This is the truth the Bible teaches, and no one made this point more clearly than did the apostle Paul.

I am the least of the apostles and do not even deserve to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God.  (1 Corinthians 15:9)

Although I am less than the least of all God’s people, this grace was given me: to preach to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ.  (Ephesians 3:8)

The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost. But I received mercy for this reason, that in me, as the foremost, Jesus Christ might display his perfect patience as an example to those who were to believe in him for eternal life.  (1 Timothy 1:15-16)

Paul says he was both unworthy and undeserving to receive his place of service in God’s kingdom, yet Scripture assures us that he was invaluable to the advancement of it.  Guess what?  So are you!  Now, I am not suggesting that you will be used by God to pen some special revelation.  The Cannon of Scripture is closed.  What I am suggesting is that God has a perfect plan—a plan for you to be used to further His purposes in this world.  Even though you, like me, are unworthy, you are still invaluable.

You may not be preaching the Gospel from the pulpit, but you are preaching it with your life every day.  People are watching you closely, checking to see if your walk matches your talk.

Please don’t think for a second that I am suggesting you or I can achieve a life of perfect living.  Spend one day with me, and you will know I am not suggesting that!  Sin no longer reigns in the life of the believer, but it still remains, as Romans 7 so eloquently reminds us.  What I am suggesting is that the believer desires, more than anything else, to live a life that is pleasing to God.  And the more we see just how unworthy we truly are, the more we consider the unimaginable price Jesus paid for our salvation, we see just how invaluable we are to Him.

Think about this: we are not needed, but we are wanted.  In the eyes of the world, you could be needed but not wanted.  But in your life with Christ, you are not needed yet still wanted.  Now, if that thought doesn’t light the fire of your faith, your wood’s wet!  In Romans 12:6 Paul writes, “We have different gifts according to the grace given to us.”  Note three things contained in this verse:

1. Everyone in the body of Christ has been given a spiritual gift.

2. This gift is different and unique to us.

3. The gift was given according to grace, not good works . . . mercy not merit.

Have you ever received a gift and left it unopened?  How would you feel if you found out a gift you gave to a friend remained in the box unopened and unused?  Would you be hurt? Perhaps even highly offended?

So . . . what have you been doing with the gifts God has given to you?  Peter instructed that “Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God’s grace in its various forms” (1 Peter 4:10).  Though unworthy, you are invaluable simply because you are Christ’s.  Jesus paid an unimaginable price for you, one that you could never have paid for yourself, simply because He wanted you to be His.

The Gospel teaches us these truths: undeserved favor was lavished on unworthy people at an unimaginable cost simply because of God’s incomprehensible, unconditional love.  Like Paul, we are to acknowledge our unworthiness . . . but in the same breath we receive the truth that we are invaluable to Him and to the advancement of the cause of His kingdom.

Jesus has given you everything you need to do everything He has called you to do.  Don’t wait for the perfect time—it never comes . . . or for the perfect opportunity—it never knocks.  Just trust in the One who has called you and equipped you for that calling.  What He began in you He will finish (Philippians 1:6), and He is not finished with you yet.  If He was, He would have called you home.

Unworthy and invaluable—what a wonderful combination!

This is the Gospel.  This is grace for your race.  NEVER FORGET THAT . . . AMEN!

My years in Men’s Ministry prior to planting Cross Community Church made it painfully clear that there is great confusion within the Body of Christ regarding biblical headship.  Today I would like to make a few distinctions to begin to dispel that uncertainty.

Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her.  (Ephesians 5:25)

First, let me make it crystal clear what headship is not: it is not justification for men to control, demean, and enslave their wives in the name of religion.  Sadly, many men in the church mistakenly believe this to be true and yank countless Scriptures roughly out of context to support their misguided thinking.  Kent Hughes has something to say about this.

God’s Word in the hands of a religious fool can do immense harm.  I have seen “couch potatoes” who order their wives and children around like the grand sultan of Morocco—adulterous misogynists with the domestic ethics of “Jabba the Hut” who cow their wives around with Bible verses about submission—insecure men whose wives do not dare go to the grocery without permission, who even tell their wives how to dress.  But the fact that evil, disordered men have perverted God’s word is no reason to throw it out.

Now to you men who thought you were off the hook because you have not tried to control, demean, or enslave your wife, listen up!  A life of passivity is not the sacrificial living you are called to as the head of your home.  Expecting your wife to take the lead, to be responsible for the upbringing of your children, and to be the model of Christian commitment in the home is a gutless abandonment of the biblical responsibility set forth in Scripture.  Many wives have shared with me in great distress that their husbands are in no way demanding or demeaning; they are simply disconnected.  They refuse to take on the responsibility biblical manhood requires.  Rarely will they make decisions, provide direction, or even be open to discuss the matter.  They live more for the weekend and themselves than they do for their Savior and their families.

What they fail to see is the true Head and how He demonstrated headship.  He is forever to be our model.  Jesus gave Himself to make the church holy, radiant, and blameless (Ephesians 5:25-27), to the point of sacrificing Himself on the cross for her.  The man who is living a self-centered, self-focused, and self-absorbed life is not living the life he has been called to and the life Jesus lived for him.  Jesus made it clear that “holy headship” was more about the body than it was about the Head.  Sacrificial living is the foundation upon which holy headship is to be built.

To be the head is to be in authority.  Yet the right to exercise that authority exists to the degree that it reflects the King and the advancement of His kingdom.  Headship authority exists to further the agenda of Christ, not our own, and it is demonstrated in the way we lay down our lives for the good of our home and everyone in it.  With authority comes the issue of submission.  To understand headship we must understand that everyone is to submit to Christ first and foremost.

When it comes to the submission of the wife, this is to be done only as the Word of God instructs and approves.

Headship is holy when it demonstrates the character of Christ to encourage and equip everyone in the home to love, honor, and glorify God, love each other, and experience the blessings that naturally flow inside of this kind of environment.

This is the Gospel.  This is grace for your race.  NEVER FORGET THAT . . . AMEN!

When you said, “I believe,” what did you expect would happen next?  Did you expect that by faith in Christ you would live a life free from pain and suffering?  Did you think Jesus saved you so that you could be happy, healthy, and wealthy?  If you did, you heard it from someone who was not teaching the whole counsel of God.  To be sure, once we have been saved, we are happy (happiness is a by-product of our freedom), healthy (we have been raised from death to life), and wealthy (we are now is possession of the riches of Christ).  But along with this “good news” comes some pretty bad news too!

I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us.  For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God.  For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God.  For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now.  And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. (Romans 8:18-23)

For it has been granted to you that for the sake of Christ you should not only believe in him but also suffer for his sake . . .  (Philippians 1:29)

Clearly, if you were expecting a life without pain and suffering you had the wrong expectation!  And wrong expectations can lead to a life of frustration and fear, guilt and grief, disappointment and disillusionment, anxiety and anger.  That is why the Bible tells us that only the truth will set us free; and the truth is that we are broken and messed up people living in a broken and messed up world.  Sure, Jesus came to set the captives free, and when He returns He will make all that is crooked straight.  But our freedom is not fully realized; the crooked is not yet straight; and these things won’t occur until we get beyond the grave or until He returns.  On this side of heaven, Jesus made it clear that “You will have tribulation,” no matter how hard we try to avoid it.

Because of this truth, it is best for us approach pain and suffering like the apostle Paul, who considered the sufferings he was going through in this world not worth comparing with the glory that would be revealed to him in the next.  When we ignore the reality of pain and suffering in this life we ignore it to our own peril.

What is remarkable in reading the writings of Paul is that he considered suffering for Christ as much a grace and gift from God as it was to serve Christ.  Paul even boasted in his suffering because it more closely identified him with the One who had called to Him on the road to Damascus and saved him.

Those who tell us to expect a crown of glory when our Lord received a crown of thorns are not telling us the whole truth.  Now, I am not minimizing pain and suffering, but I want to make it clear that trials in this life are an incontrovertible and unpleasant reality—one that is better to receive than from which to try and escape.

So . . . what did you expect?  God promises in His Word that He will always give us the grace to handle anything that comes our way, telling us that His grace is sufficient to meet our every need (2 Corinthians 12:9; Philippians 4:13).  Remember, nothing—nothing—happens to you that doesn’t first pass through His nailed-scarred hands.  Your Savior is with you in your storm.  Your Prince is with you in your pain.  What more could you ask or hope for during the little time you have in this life compared to the glory you will experience forever in the next?

This is the Gospel.  This is grace for your race.  NEVER FORGET THAT . . . AMEN!

Today we will take a brief look at some of the idols of the heart, what I like to call the “odd gods” that work to crowd Jesus out from our lives.  Before we embark: I know the words idol and idolatry often conjure up pictures of primitive people worshipping all sorts of things except the One to whom they should be bowing.  But make no mistake, in our contemporary and prosperous society we bow down to a great many things smaller than God.  We Americans find ourselves living out the truth pronounced about us by Alexis de Tocqueville: “There is a strange melancholy that haunts the inhabitants in the midst of abundance.”  There will always be a “strange melancholy” that haunts those who look to, chase after, and attempt to find satisfaction, meaning, and purpose in anything smaller than God.

So . . . have you made anything in your own life more important than Jesus?  If you have you have bowed down to an idol—if you have mentally or spiritually given yourself over to an “odd god”—that idol will not only rule your heart, it will shape your life.  It will enslave you to it and have you live for it.

We all know about the power contained in these odd gods from personal experience, because whenever we failed to attain them (or lost them after we had attained them), life simply did not seem worth living.  And remember, as I have written before regarding idols, they can be good things, really good things that God gives to us as blessings—family, the marriage bed, relationships, children, work, finances, health, recreation, hobbies, church service, etc.—but they have become ultimate things . . . which makes them bad things.

Throughout years of pastoral counseling, it is not uncommon to meet people who were in mad pursuit of really good things that turned into supreme things.  Sure, there were those who were chasing after some bad stuff.  But, for the most part, the greater the good that was found in the “thing,” the more passionately they pursued it.  Why?  They falsely assumed that it would meet them in their place of deepest need, satisfying their drive for meaning, purpose, and significance.  God will tolerate no rival, nor should He, and He will always take us to the place where these idols leave us wanting, wishing, and often wailing.

Where are the gods you have made for yourselves?  Let them come and save you when you are in trouble.  (Jeremiah 2:28)

That passage puts our odd gods in their proper perspective, doesn’t it?  Every promise our idols make leaves us wanting.  They simply cannot deliver and never were meant to deliver on their promises.  They promise happiness and deliver despair.  They promise contentment and deliver restlessness.  They promise freedom and deliver shackles.  They promise fulfillment and deliver emptiness.  They promise love and deliver loneliness.  Only Jesus can deliver—and does deliver—every single time on every single promise.  Only Jesus can save us from ourselves and our natural tendency to run toward things smaller than Him, and He does it day after day . . . week after week . . . month after month . . . and year after year.

Whatever captures your heart controls your hope, and whatever controls your hope is your functional savior.  If you are hoping to be accepted by the “in” crowd, your station in life has become your functional savior and you will sacrifice everything in order to attain it.  If you are hoping for the body you had at 20, your self-image is your functional savior and you will sacrifice everything in order to attain it.  In Out of the Saltshaker, Rebecca Pippert writes, “Whatever controls us is our lord.  The person who seeks power is controlled by power.  The person who seeks acceptance is controlled by the people he or she wants to please.  We do not control ourselves.  We are controlled by the lord of our lives.”

So . . . let me ask you again: who or what is the Lord of your life?

The One True God, who came down from heaven and went up on a cross for you, is the only God worth bowing to.

I am the Lord your God . . . you shall have no other gods before me.  (Exodus 20:3)

This is the Gospel.  This is grace for your race.  NEVER FORGET THAT . . . AMEN!

Everything we have we have been given (1 Corinthians 4:7); and the more we have, the more we are in debt to the One who has given it to us.  So how is it possible that there is something we do not owe God?

Jesus, knowing that all was now finished, said (to fulfill the Scripture), “I thirst.”  A jar full of sour wine stood there, so they put a sponge full of the sour wine on a hyssop branch and held it to his mouth.  When Jesus had received the sour wine, he said, “It is finished,” and he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.  (John 19:28-30)

All men are debtors to the justice of God.  All men, having transgressed the law, are under its condemnation and deserve the wrath of Almighty God.  However, for the Christian, the debt to God’s justice has been paid in full by the Lamb of God and is now no longer owed.  The Christian will never again be a debtor to the justice of God and will never be called upon to pay the penalty for his or her sins.  All those sins were paid for in full on the cross by Jesus, and God will not collect twice for a debt that was paid once for all.

To be sure, there are consequences for our sinful behavior.  But those consequences are never punitive.  God is not exacting His “pound of flesh” from us because we have sinned and fallen short of the mark set before us by sacred Scripture.  He exacted more than His pound of flesh once for all on the cross through the sacrificial death of His precious Son.  Charles Spurgeon beautifully captured this truth in a way like few can:

Of the Christian it can be said that he does not owe God’s justice anything, for Christ has paid the debt His people owed; for this reason the believer owes the more to love.  I am a debtor to God’s grace and forgiving mercy; but I am no debtor to His justice, for He will never accuse me of a debt already paid.  Christ said, “It is finished!” and by that He meant, that whatever His people owed was wiped away forever from the book of remembrance.   Christ, to the uttermost, has satisfied divine justice; the account is settled; the handwriting is nailed to the cross; the receipt is given, and we are debtors to God’s justice no longer.

How freeing it is to never have to look over your shoulder, fearing that God may angrily smite you because of your sin!  How liberating it is to know that there is no frown on the face of God or clenched teeth when He is looking at you.  God is not angry with you, regardless of what you do.  You are forever accepted in the beloved . . . you are forever loved in the beloved . . . you are forever forgiven in the beloved.  Nothing can change your standing before a holy and just God when you are standing in Christ, covered by His blood poured out for you on the Hill Golgotha.

What freedom we find in this truth!  We are no longer under the penalty of your sin, but rather we are under the promise of the finished work of Christ.  Jesus did for us what we could never do for ourselves, and what He has done no one can undo.  No one can open a door Jesus shuts or close a door He opens.

So if we are no longer in debt to God’s justice, how should we live?  We should live in debt to His grace.  His grace sought us.  His grace caught us.  His grace bought us.  The debt we owe is not to justice but to grace.  Those who understand this truth live with a joy unspeakable, because all we need we already have in Christ, and all we need to do has already been done by Christ.  Give freely of yourself, making yourself a living sacrifice—not because of what you might get from God, but because of what you already have in Jesus.

This is the Gospel.  This is grace for your race.  NEVER FORGET THAT . . . AMEN!

Some think of God as being gracious after Adam and Eve fell into sin, especially in light of the promise of the Savior.  But we should never forget that God was not only gracious after the fall, He was gracious before the fall.

The Bible says, “In the beginning, God created”—not because He needed something external to Himself to find fulfillment.  He was completely fulfilled within the Godhead: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit—self-sufficient, self-contained, in need of nothing.  Creation was rooted solely and wholly in God’s grace.  He was gracious to create a world of beauty and wonder that is a source of unimaginable wonder and joy.

The Lord God made all kinds of trees grow out of the ground—trees that were pleasing to the eye and good for food.  (Genesis 2:9)

We have a tendency to see only one tree in the Garden as pleasing to the eye and good for food: the one that tempted Adam and Eve.  But Scripture makes it clear that God made all kinds of trees grow out of the ground that would be a source of pleasure and profit for His people.  And if that isn’t enough to convince us of God’s gracious nature, consider that He gave Adam a helper.

It is not good for the man to be alone.  I will make a helper suitable for Him. (Genesis 2:18)

No need would be left unmet.  God gave Adam a world of beauty and provision and a helper suitable to share it with.  He met Adam in his every place of need—not because Adam earned it, but simply because God is gracious!  And God’s grace did not end there.  After Adam and Eve turned their backs on God, God refused to turn His back on them.  Instead, God came to the two cosmic traitors and graciously provided for their every need once again, this time with the promise of sending a Savior.  Let’s camp out here for a moment.

God had already been gracious to His people, giving them everything they could want or need—not because of any merit on their part but simply because of His gracious mercy.  Now, with every reason to withdraw His grace from the ones who willfully rebelled against Him, God still responded graciously. First there is the promise of the redemption that would come through the seed of the woman. In assuring Satan that his vicious dream of eternally destroying those who were made in the image of God would never be realized, the Sovereign Lord made this promise:

“I will put enmity between you and the woman,

and between your offspring and her offspring;

he shall bruise your head,

and you shall bruise his heel.”

(Genesis 3:15)

You would think that God might have stopped with that word of incredible hope. But no, once again He looked to Adam and Eve’s physical needs, as well.

The Lord God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife and clothed them.  (Genesis 3:21)

Here we find the Judge of all the earth assuming the role of a tailor and meeting Adam and Eve in their deepest place of need.  As they stood before Him, naked and shivering with fear, God clothed them, figuratively covering their terrible sin.

Perhaps we can understand God’s grace prior to the fall, but how are we to comprehend it after the fall?  The answer, of course, is that we are to understand it the very same way.  God’s gracious response to us is never dependent upon our response to Him.  Our merits never earn God’s grace, and our demerits never remove God’s grace.  By His eternal nature God is gracious, and it is His nature to respond graciously to those who don’t deserve it and have in no way earned it.

God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. (Romans 5:8)

Regardless of where this finds you, God is gracious to you from beginning to end.  God is gracious to you at the very beginning of your walk with Him, and His steadfast love remains with you in your triumphs and trials . . . in your witness and your wandering.  God was gracious to Adam and Eve before they sinned and after they sinned, and that should make it clear that His grace is never earned.  It is freely given by the One who is gracious from beginning to end.

This is the Gospel.  This is grace for your race.  NEVER FORGET THAT . . . AMEN!

Ever wonder why some in the body of Christ seem to stop moving forward while others just keep going and going, regardless of the circumstances they are facing?  They move onward and upward, not only when the road is easy and their burden light, but also when the road is rocky and their burden is weighty.  The key to understanding the difference between the two is found in the following maxim:

The degree of forward movement you experience in life will always be

in direct proportion to the placement of your hope!

When your hope is in Jesus there is no obstacle too great to overcome . . . no mountain too high . . . no valley too low . . . no river too wide.  However, when you build your hope on anything smaller than Jesus, obstacles and opposition can and will overwhelm you and cause you to stop moving onward.

Be of good courage, and He shall strengthen your heart, all who hope in the Lord.  (Psalm 31:24)

Hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us.  (Romans 5:5)

May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.  (Romans 15:13)

The only hope that will never disappoint is Jesus.  If your hope is in your physical abilities, one day they will abandon you.  If your hope is in your intellect, one day it will disappoint you.  If your hope is in your money, one day it will sprout wings and fly off to the sky (Proverbs 23:5).  If your hope is in another person, one day he or she will let you down.  Your physical abilities are not capable of carrying your hope.  Your intellect is not capable of carrying your hope.  Your money is not capable of carrying your hope.  Your relationships are not capable of carrying your hope.  When your reason for continuing onward into the life God is calling you to live is built on anything other than Jesus, eventually the foundation will crack and the walls will come crashing down.

All horizontal hope disappoints.  It was designed by God to do just that.  Only vertical hope can keep you going when you would rather not.  Adam and Eve learned this lesson the hard way, as did many men and women in the Bible.  Because everything on this side of the grave is damaged by the brokenness of the fall, everything you hope in other than Jesus is broken . . . and broken things are designed to disappoint.

If this finds you in a place where you are struggling to move onward, take some time to check what you have placed your hope in.  Are you hoping for your spouse to get romantic?  Are you hoping for your job to get fulfilling?  Are you hoping for your station in life to get better?  Stop hoping in anything that is smaller than Jesus.  Sure, in the short run the promise of these false gods can be powerful and pleasing.  But in the end, they leave you wanting; they simply cannot deliver on their promises.

When your hope is in the God of hope, you can even have hope in a seemingly hopeless situation.  When your hope is in the God of hope, there is nothing that can stand in the way of your onward progress.  Your safety is in the hands of Omnipotence . . . your security is in the hands of Omnipresence . . . your success is in the hands of Omniscience!

No weapon that is fashioned against you shall succeed, and you shall refute every tongue that rises against you in judgment.  This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord and their vindication from me, declares the Lord.  (Isaiah 54:17)

The only place to find the kind of hope you need to keep moving forward is found in the One who died for you, so that you could live for Him.  Onward Christian; onward, for He is with you every step of the way!

This is the Gospel.  This is grace for your race.  NEVER FORGET THAT . . . AMEN!

The Gospel is the good news of the birth, sinless life, sacrificial death, glorious resurrection, and triumphant ascension of our Lord Jesus Christ.  Jesus Christ took our place on the cross, received God’s judgment and wrath, and paid our sin debt fully and completely, placing us under the banner of His finished work.  When this truth is accepted by faith, the person believing it is saved.  But the Gospel doesn’t end there.  The Gospel is not only the truth that unbelievers need to believe to be saved; the Gospel is the truth that Christians need to believe in order to experience being saved daily.  The Gospel is the gift that keeps on giving!

Far too many in the church today see the Gospel only as the door leading into the Christian life.  They correctly see the Gospel as necessary in the life of the unbelieving sinner in order to get them saved; but they fail to recognize the need for the Gospel in the life of the believing sinner in order to get them sanctified.  The Gospel is not only the door leading into the life of faith, it is the floor upon which that life is to be built.  The good news of the Gospel not only saves the unbeliever from the penalty of sin (justification), it saves the believer from the power of sin (sanctification).  The Gospel is the gift that keeps on giving!

Those who only see the Gospel as the means of salvation inevitably look to their good works as the evidence of their continued right standing before God.  They are forever running on the performance treadmill, trying to gain God’s favor and blessing (and trying to avoid His displeasure) by their own spiritual sweat.  But this is not for you!

My observation of Christendom is that most of us tend to base our personal relationship with God on our performance instead of on His grace.  If we’ve performed well—whatever “well” is in our opinion—then we expect God to bless us.  If we haven’t done so well, our expectations are reduced accordingly.  In this sense, we live by works rather than by grace.  We are saved by grace, but we are living by the “sweat” of our own performance.

Moreover, we are always challenging ourselves and one another to “try harder.”  We seem to believe success in the Christian life (however we define success) is basically up to us: our commitment, our discipline, and our zeal, with some help from God along the way.  We give lip service to the attitude of the apostle Paul, “But by the grace of God I am what I am” (1 Corinthians 15:10), but our unspoken motto is, “God helps those who help themselves.”

The realization that my daily relationship with God is based on the infinite merit of Christ instead of on my own performance is a very freeing and joyous experience.  —  Jerry Bridges, Transforming Grace

The gift that keeps on giving—the Gospel—is the only way to living a life of freedom and joy.  And that is because we live in the truth and knowledge of the finished work of Jesus.  When Jesus said, “It is finished!” He meant what He said!  Each day we need to be reminded of this transforming and liberating power.  We are not accepted because of our behavior; we are accepted because of His behavior, and for those who truly understand just how prone we are to wander, that is good news that keeps on giving!

This is the Gospel.  This is grace for your race.  NEVER FORGET THAT . . . AMEN!