Trial, Cont'd

 

September 23, 2011 [Friday],

Dear Fellow Travelers,

          When You Encounter Various Trials (cont’d)

Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. And let endurance have its perfect result, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all men generously and without reproach, and it will be given to him. But let him ask in faith without doubting, for the one who doubts is like the surf of the sea driven and tossed by the wind. For let not that man expect that he will receive anything from the Lord, being a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways (James 1:2-8).

        Now, based on what the rest of the Scriptures teach us regarding the doctrine of soteriology (salvation), I must assume that the “perfect and complete” to which James refers has nothing to do with the finished work of Jesus, by which He justified us and sanctified us, thereby, making us perfect and complete before God. Surely, endurance cannot accomplish what it took the vicarious death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus to accomplish! This assumption, however, leaves us with this obvious question: If James’ reference to our being “perfect and complete” has nothing to do with our standing before God, then to what is he referring?

        In my opinion, James is referring to our becoming mature as Christians; however, this maturity has nothing to do with how often we have a quiet time, or how quickly we forgive, or how quickly we turn the other cheek, or how generously we give, or how infrequently we curse, or how much better we are this year than we were last year. Much to the contrary, this maturity has to do with our ability to exercise the measure of faith that God has so graciously entrusted to us, a measure of faith that is evidenced by our trusting Him (resting in His finished work) when we are traveling through the worst of trials. In the end, this makes it quite clear that not one of us is fully mature, not even close; consequently, we can expect the “various trials” to continue until we perfectly and completely trust Him in every situation and circumstance.

This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He has sent" (John 6:29 NASB).

When You Encounter Various Trials

       
 

Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. And let endurance have its perfect result, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all men generously and without reproach, and it will be given to him. But let him ask in faith without doubting, for the one who doubts is like the surf of the sea driven and tossed by the wind. For let not that man expect that he will receive anything from the Lord, being a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways (James 1:2-8).

        Typically, when we encounter various trials, what we want is relief—quick relief; however, James tells us to consider it all joy, when we encounter various trials. His reason is as follows: the various trials are God’s way of testing our faith and, thereby, producing the quality of endurance. 

        As I contemplate this, it becomes obvious to me that God deems it very important that He develops the quality of endurance within our lives.  It is, however, just as obvious that He knows that we will never develop it on our own because our desire for relief is so much greater than our desire for developing endurance. He is well-aware that we will do anything to avoid adversity, even the slightest adversity; consequently, He intervenes by placing various trials into our lives, trials from which we cannot escape until our faith has been proven and the fruit of endurance blossoms forth, the fruit that, according to James, somehow enables us to be perfect and complete, lacking nothing. 

This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He has sent" (John 6:29 NASB).

The Boastful Pride of Life

 

September 14, 2011 [Monday],

Dear Fellow Travelers,

          According to my computer, I wrote this in September of 2006, long enough ago to run it through again. It is simply a few examples of the boastful pride of life that have been incorporated into the theological belief system of many Christians. 

1.    PRIDE: Man is basically, inherently, good and, therefore, left to himself, he will only improve.

HUMILITY: Man is basically, inherently, depraved and, therefore, as evil as evil can be. [See Romans 3:9-18]

2.    PRIDE: God’s prescience (foreknowledge) determined His choice in election, i.e. God saw who would choose Him and He, therefore, chose them (obviously because He saw something good in them—the fact that they chose Him).

HUMILITY: God could see nothing good in man; therefore, He chose some before they had done anything (good or bad), in order that His purpose according to His choice might stand, not because of works but because of Him who calls. [See Romans 9:9-13]

3.    PRIDE: Jesus died for everyone, thereby, providing the offer of salvation to everyone; otherwise, God is unfair and unloving.

HUMILITY: Jesus died for only God’s elect [“. . . and as many as had been appointed to eternal life believed” (Acts 13:48)] and thankfully God chose to be just and NOT fair; otherwise, we all would find ourselves eternally damned.

4.    PRIDE: God gave a call for salvation to everyone (not willing that any should perish) but it is man’s decision as to whether or not he will accept the call.

HUMILITY: God did, indeed, issue a call for salvation but His call was only to His elect, as is evidenced by the fact that He justified and glorified those He called [“. . . and whom He predestined, these He also called; and whom He called, these He also justified; and whom He justified, these He also glorified” (Romans 8:30)].

5.    PRIDE: Jesus shed His blood for everyone but man must decide to accept or reject its effectiveness.

HUMILITY: Jesus shed His blood for only God’s elect and its effectiveness (efficaciousness) is in the blood itself, not in man’s choice. [“Much more then, having been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from the wrath of God through Him. For if while we were enemies, we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life” (Romans 5:9-10; emphasis, mine)].

6.    PRIDE: Salvation is by grace alone through faith alone because of Jesus alone BUT we must also do our part; after all, God helps those who help themselves.

HUMILITY: Salvation is by grace alone through faith alone because of Jesus alone—PERIOD. [But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), . . . For grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, that no one should boast” (Ephesians 2:4, 5, 8)].

7.    PRIDE: The doctrine of predestination is an unacceptable doctrine because it implies that God not only predestined that some go to heaven but it also implies that He predestined some to go to Hell.

HUMILITY: The doctrine of predestination is the essential doctrine concerning soteriology; otherwise, man would be eternally lost! As to God’s having predestined some to Hell: man is a sinner because of the fall, not because of God’s choice, and all sinners deserve Hell, even worse. (See Romans 5:12-21 and Romans 9:6-24).

8.    PRIDE: God has given to every believer the responsibility and the power to “win the world” for Him.

HUMILITY: The gospel is the power of God for salvation; consequently, it is Jesus’ responsibility to draw God’s elect unto Himself and our privilege to preach the gospel. [“For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek” (Romans 1:16); “Father, the hour has come; glorify Thy Son, that the Son may glorify Thee even as Thou gavest Him authority over all mankind, that to all whom Thou has given Him, He may give eternal life” (John 17:1-2)]. We do not “win”; instead, we “witness” to what we have seen!

9.    PRIDE: The obvious question is this: how could a loving God could ever send anyone to an eternal, blazing hell?

HUMILITY: The obvious question is this: how could a loving God ever send the likes of us to Heaven? Well, He cannot, which is why He sent Jesus in our behalf. [See John 3:16-17]

10. PRIDE: A believer can lose fellowship with God as the result of sinning willfully and God uses this “loss of fellowship” to motivate us to holy living.

HUMILITY: A believer cannot lose fellowship with God because God through Jesus has perfectly and permanently dwelt with his sin problem; consequently, He motivates us to holy living through His grace and mercy, not by distancing Himself from us. (See Hebrews 10)

11. PRIDE: A believer can lose his salvation if, after losing fellowship with God, he continues to willfully sin.

HUMILITY: A believer cannot lose his salvation, regardless of how often he “sins” because he is born again by the imperishable seed of the word of God. [“. . . for you have been born again not of seed which is perishable but imperishable, that is, through the living and abiding word of God” (1 Peter 1:23)].

12. PRIDE: A believer’s broken fellowship and relationship with God can be restored through genuine, heart-felt, confession, repentance, and the seeking of forgiveness.

HUMILITY: A believer’s fellowship and/or relationship with God never needs to be restored because he has been eternally sanctified and made perfect through the blood of Jesus—eternally righteous. [See Hebrews 10:8-14]

13. PRIDE: Christians are forgiven sinners.

HUMILITY: Christians are forgiven saints, not forgiven sinners. Notice how Paul addressed the various churches to which he wrote: “. . . to the church of God which is at Corinth, to those who have been sanctified in Christ Jesus, saints by calling . . .” (1 Corinthians 1:2).  

14. PRIDE: God’s attitude towards me is determined by my behavior.

HUMILITY: God’s finished work in Jesus determines His attitude towards me. “Therefore if any man is in Christ, he is a new creature; behold, the old things passed away, new things have come” (2 Corinthians 5:17); “. . . namely that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them . . .” (2 Corinthians 5:19). 

15. PRIDE: God’s acceptance of me is determined by my behavior.

HUMILITY: God’s acceptance of me is determined by the work He accomplished in Jesus in my behalf. I am accepted in Christ; therefore, His behavior determines God’s acceptance of me. “For you have died and your lie is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is our life, is revealed, then you also will be revealed with Him in glory” (Colossians 3:3-4); “Wherefore, accept one another, just as Christ also accepted us to the glory of God” (Romans 15:7).

16. PRIDE: Man’s will is free, i.e. man can choose anything he would like, irrespective of God’s sovereignty, even to his receiving or rejecting God’s offer of salvation.

HUMILITY: Man’s will is free but only within the parameters of God’s providence (his guidance and care), i.e. man can choose only those things that God in His providence allows and/or provides for—nothing more; nothing less; consequently, every person to whom God offers salvation has but one choice—to accept His offer. (See Psalm 139!)

This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He has sent" (John 6:29 NASB).

Are We Really His Disciples?

Dear Fellow Travelers,

    What does it really mean to be a disciple of Jesus? There are countless people who wear the label “Christian,” but I wonder just how many of them are truly His disciples.
     If a disciple is one who submits his/her life to a mentor, one who has given his/her life to learning from one much wiser, then what does it mean to be a disciple of Jesus? 

     Mere casual observation tells me that very few Christians are really disciples of Jesus. Oh, there are many Christians who are disciples of other men, other teachers, but few are really His disciples.

      To be sure, Jesus had some pretty drastic things to say to those who would be His disciples; for example, consider this: “If anyone comes to Me, and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be My disciple. Whoever does not carry his own cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple. For which one of you, when he wants to build a tower, does not first sit down and calculate the cost, to see if he has enough to complete it” (Luke 14:26-28 NASB)?

     The typical response to this text is this: He didn’t really mean that the way He said it, He was speaking metaphorically.

      We respond that way because the price is more than we want to pay, which is why He went on to mention the importance of calculating the cost before joining the ranks.

      I wonder: are you His disciple, or do you merely wear the label “Christian?” I am of the opinion that is much safer to simply wear the label than it is to join the ranks of those who follow hard after Him.

This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He has sent" (John 6:29 NASB).