Paul's desire: "[T]hat I may know him and the power of his resurrection [Yes, He's still in the business of changing lives--the true resurrection business!]" (Philippians 3:10, ESV).
Remember the advertising campaign that asked you if you "got milk?" Jehovah's Witnesses ask us if we "got God." God is different things to different people and open to interpretation and confusion, but Jesus is "the way, the truth, and the life, and no one comes to the Father except through Him" (cf. John 14:6). Actually, this misses the point: There is only one Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, our Redeemer, and we should ask, "Got Jesus?" It isn't a matter of just having faith, but of having Jesus.
It isn't faith that saves us, nor faith in faith, nor misdirected zeal--"without knowledge" (cf. Prov. 19:2; Romans 10:2 says, "They have a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge"). It's not how many good deeds we accomplish, God wants our obedience, not our achievements. They may say: "Have faith, or keep the faith!" But I say: "Get Jesus, make Jesus yours!"
It is the object of faith that saves, not the faith; faith is the instrumental means of salvation and the gift of God, not salvation itself. This begs the ultimate question at the Judgment Seat of Christ: What did you accomplish or do with your faith; did you learn to love and trust Christ in a personal relationship and become obedient to the faith (cf. Rom. 1:5; 16:26; Acts 6:4). Obedience is the only true test and factor in faith to measure it by and there is no such thing as a disobedient believer, though they do disobey this is not a different category of Christian.
The proof and secret of a victorious life in Christ are knowing Jesus and having this vibrant, dynamic relationship with the Holy Spirit as our enabler, who gives us everything we need to have victory over evil, sin, and ourselves; for we are our own worst enemy!
Jesus clearly proclaimed in his priestly prayer of John 17 in verse 3 that eternal life is "to know Him." Our life is a continuous search for the face or presence of God and to grow in the knowledge of Him (cf. 2 Pet. 3:18). To know Him is to love Him and love the Lord is part of saving faith; we desire to obey the gospel and live it out or put it into practice. Paul said we must do something with our faith: Express it ("The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love" in Gal. 5:6, NIV).
We can say we have great faith but no deeds to match--we must turn our creeds into deeds. We can have great faith in the wrong person or thing and miss the boat, and a little faith in the right object (Christ) and get saved-- it isn't the amount but the object of faith that saves!
Christ saved us and is the only Savior--we don't get any glory or credit because of our "cooperating." If Christ hadn't chosen us and enabled us through the Spirit, none of us would have any inclination to come to Him in faith, because we are totally alienated and estranged from Him in our depravity--we couldn't be further from God, no matter what sin we commit. We don't naturally come to God the Father through Jesus the Son but must be wooed and led by the Spirit. We can bemoan another's sin or compare ourselves to them on a sliding scale or grade on a curve and believe we are saints in comparison, but we are all sinners in God's estimation--we just all sin differently. George Whitefield was asked what he made of a convict going to the gallows: "There but for the grace of God, go I."
I conclude with Habakkuk saying, "[Y]et I will rejoice in the LORD; I will take joy in the God of my salvation" (3:18, ESV). You really find out that all you need is Jesus, if you ever come to that point of only having Jesus. If we have Jesus, we have everything and will be granted everything we need, but without Jesus, we are needy, though we know it not and don't have what we need most and don't know it--that is the worst kind of neediness. Being the incarnation of the Great I Am, this means He is our everything, there is no predicate to His name because He is all-sufficient for everything and can be everything to everyone. It's like a name that's a blank check. Soli Deo Gloria!
Remember the advertising campaign that asked you if you "got milk?" Jehovah's Witnesses ask us if we "got God." God is different things to different people and open to interpretation and confusion, but Jesus is "the way, the truth, and the life, and no one comes to the Father except through Him" (cf. John 14:6). Actually, this misses the point: There is only one Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, our Redeemer, and we should ask, "Got Jesus?" It isn't a matter of just having faith, but of having Jesus.
It isn't faith that saves us, nor faith in faith, nor misdirected zeal--"without knowledge" (cf. Prov. 19:2; Romans 10:2 says, "They have a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge"). It's not how many good deeds we accomplish, God wants our obedience, not our achievements. They may say: "Have faith, or keep the faith!" But I say: "Get Jesus, make Jesus yours!"
It is the object of faith that saves, not the faith; faith is the instrumental means of salvation and the gift of God, not salvation itself. This begs the ultimate question at the Judgment Seat of Christ: What did you accomplish or do with your faith; did you learn to love and trust Christ in a personal relationship and become obedient to the faith (cf. Rom. 1:5; 16:26; Acts 6:4). Obedience is the only true test and factor in faith to measure it by and there is no such thing as a disobedient believer, though they do disobey this is not a different category of Christian.
The proof and secret of a victorious life in Christ are knowing Jesus and having this vibrant, dynamic relationship with the Holy Spirit as our enabler, who gives us everything we need to have victory over evil, sin, and ourselves; for we are our own worst enemy!
Jesus clearly proclaimed in his priestly prayer of John 17 in verse 3 that eternal life is "to know Him." Our life is a continuous search for the face or presence of God and to grow in the knowledge of Him (cf. 2 Pet. 3:18). To know Him is to love Him and love the Lord is part of saving faith; we desire to obey the gospel and live it out or put it into practice. Paul said we must do something with our faith: Express it ("The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love" in Gal. 5:6, NIV).
We can say we have great faith but no deeds to match--we must turn our creeds into deeds. We can have great faith in the wrong person or thing and miss the boat, and a little faith in the right object (Christ) and get saved-- it isn't the amount but the object of faith that saves!
Christ saved us and is the only Savior--we don't get any glory or credit because of our "cooperating." If Christ hadn't chosen us and enabled us through the Spirit, none of us would have any inclination to come to Him in faith, because we are totally alienated and estranged from Him in our depravity--we couldn't be further from God, no matter what sin we commit. We don't naturally come to God the Father through Jesus the Son but must be wooed and led by the Spirit. We can bemoan another's sin or compare ourselves to them on a sliding scale or grade on a curve and believe we are saints in comparison, but we are all sinners in God's estimation--we just all sin differently. George Whitefield was asked what he made of a convict going to the gallows: "There but for the grace of God, go I."
I conclude with Habakkuk saying, "[Y]et I will rejoice in the LORD; I will take joy in the God of my salvation" (3:18, ESV). You really find out that all you need is Jesus, if you ever come to that point of only having Jesus. If we have Jesus, we have everything and will be granted everything we need, but without Jesus, we are needy, though we know it not and don't have what we need most and don't know it--that is the worst kind of neediness. Being the incarnation of the Great I Am, this means He is our everything, there is no predicate to His name because He is all-sufficient for everything and can be everything to everyone. It's like a name that's a blank check. Soli Deo Gloria!
No comments:
Post a Comment