A Different Drum

"And I have other sheep that are not of this fold.  I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd"  (John 10:16, ESV).
"If a man doesn't keep pace with his companions, perhaps he hears a different drummer." --Henry David Thoreau 

On the last day Jesus will finally separate the sheep from the goats--we cannot do this ourselves--and their eternal destiny will finally be determined, though they grew together while in this world.

It has been said that rebels just march to the beat of a different drum.  Quakers believe in listening to the "inner light" and New Age believers listen to the "God within."  Jesus, however, said that there are two types of people:  Sheep and goats.  Sheep recognize their shepherd and are followers and easily get lost without him.  Goats are independently minded and recognize no leader or a particular owner as a rule.  Jesus said that His sheep know Him and hear His voice (cf. John 10:27).

Today we have the phenomenon of revolution, politically wise people who feel they have a leader for their social gospel, and yet they refuse to take his advice and be followers along with him.  Paul said to follow him as he follows Christ.  We are to imitate the faith of our spiritual leaders and not be spiritual Lone Rangers or lone wolves-there is no such thing!  The wise listen to advice and learn from other believers and the fool trusts in himself and his own wisdom.

We should never feel or think we know it all and don't have some lessons to learn from each other, no matter how mature we are.  The great danger in people not under authority is that they have a tendency to fall into heresy and even apostasy.  We all need to be under authority and no one is an island to himself.  Being subordinate is not inferiority (Christ became subordinate for our sake),  and we are meant to submit to one another in the Lord--there's no ruling class or elite per se in the church by and large.

The church itself is an organism and not an organization and everything is to be done decently and in an orderly manner and according to the leadership (not dictatorship) of the church elders, deacons, pastors, et cetera, who are not to lord it over the flock.  We all function best under the authority and don't have the right to exercise authority unless we have learned to submit to it and are under authority ourselves--there is no, Head of the church besides Christ Himself.  No one of us should speak ex-cathedra or pontificate.  Christ is our leader and He rules through the authority of the church body that we are to submit to.

We witness today that many believers are doing that which is right in their own eyes, just as Israel did in the book of Judges and people are beginning to question authority rather than submit to it.  The Bible is the highest authority (sola Scriptura) and we are to test the spirits and search the Scriptures to see if the teachings are kosher just like Bereans (cf. Acts 17:11).  Soli Deo Gloria!

Reciprocity

Confucius summarized his system of ethics with the so-called Silver Rule ("What you don't want others to do to you, don't do to them"). The prevalent ethic of America now is the Brazen Rule, that we do unto others as they do unto us.  To be specific, when someone does you evil, return the favor or do the deed in kind (insult for insult, etc.). The worse ethic is the Iron Rule, which is like the law of the jungle and believes in the survival of the fittest, saying that you should do unto others before they do unto you--mind your own business and take care of number one!   It is worse to return evil for good, which is contemptible, and some only return good for good and don't go the extra mile and put in any extra effort or turn the other cheek.

We believe in the Golden Rule that says we should treat others the way we prefer to be treated.  This is the most challenging ethic, the one Jesus proposed and revealed man's depraved heart is to return good for evil and overcome evil with good (cf. Rom. 12:21), much less to pray for those who persecute us and love our enemies.  This can only be done when the love of God has shed abroad in our hearts (cf. Rom. 5:5).  It always pays to take the high road of nobility:  "When they go low, you should go high!"

We don't want to lower ourselves by stooping to the level that our enemy does and not to raise the bar, as Jesus did, and realize sin is not just outward behavior, but in the attitude of the heart.  Love trumps hate and it never pays to engage in hate-speech or any type of bias, because we are to reach out to all in the name of Jesus and not judge "those outside" (Christians are only authorized to judge those inside the church per 1 Cor. 5:12, and will eventually judge angels). We are to realize that we should judge nothing before the time and to realize that God is on the throne and is only using us for His purposes by Providence. When I say that Jesus raised the bar, I mean that no one can meet His standards--the Christian life is not hard, it's impossible,  The standard is perfection, but the direction is the test!  The Bible makes it clear that you cannot say you love God and hate your brother, and, if you see a brother in need, and don't help, how can the love of God dwell in you (cf. 1 John 3:17).

Islam denies that God is love and uses hate to spread its message of submission, and that man is a mere slave of God and subject to blind kismet or fate, and will ultimately face a whimsical and capricious God that will decide their final fate at the judgment.  Philosopher and mathematician Bertrand Russell said that what the world needs is more Christian love.  Love is what Christianity has going for it and makes it unique, and the karma of Eastern religions keeps them from loving their neighbors and helping them in times of need because that's their karma and they are to be islands to themselves. We believe that God will reward us for all the goodwill He accomplishes through us as His vessels of honor.  We shall receive a reward for our good works if we do not faint or give up and continue faithfully in them as they are ordained for us (cf. Gal 6:9; Eph. 2:10).   Soli Deo Gloria!

The Everyday Do-Gooder...

But as it is written: WHAT NO EYE HAS SEEN AND NO EAR HAS HEARD, AND WHAT HAS NEVER COME INTO A MAN'S HEART, IS WHAT GOD HAS PREPARED FOR THOSE WHO LOVE HIM."  (1 Cor. 2:9, HCSB, boldface mine).

"[Who] has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace, which was given to us in Christ Jesus before time began"  (2 Tim. 1:9, HCSB, italics mine).

You might have heard someone say that his religion is the Golden Rule or the Sermon on the Mount. When you reduce Christianity to a formula, creed (you aren't saved by creeds, but by trusting in the person and work of Christ), or list of dos and don'ts (legalism), you make it a philosophy or religion (they all deny grace and are based on good works for merit), but Christianity is essentially a living, growing, vital relationship with the Savior Himself--knowing Him and making Him known! Two persons of different faiths can feel unity in that they have the same creed:  Do all the good you can! (borrowed from John Wesley).  But this is not salvation!

Many people actually believe that living a righteous life is living the good life, achieving the American dream--that blessing is a sign of God's approbation. However, some people's reward is in this life (cf. Psalm 17:15).  We are not saved by service but unto service.  Good deeds is a sign we are saved and have faith, not the substitute for it. We cannot merit or earn our way to heaven by self-reformation. The new life in Christ is not an improvement, but a transformation!   We are new creatures in Christ, behold, all things become new (cf. 2 Cor. 5:17).

Religion says, "Do!" Christianity says, "Done!"  We don't do good works because we "have to" but because we "want to."  There's a world of difference:  We don't say, "In order to..." but "therefore!" The believer's works are a byproduct of his faith and not the way to gain approval with God, however, he wants to please God and wonders, "What would Jesus do?" in the situations of life.   There's a big difference because we cannot reach out to God, He has to reach down and condescend to us and make the first move.  James and Paul said complimentary comments about their works: James would say, "I'll show you my works by my faith!"  

Paul would counter, "I'll show you my faith by my works."  James was dealing with people who were do-nothings and needed to realize that that kind of faith doesn't save ("Faith without works is dead," per James 2:17).  Paul dealt with the other end of the spectrum:  Those trying to earn their way in by obeying the law of Moses and legalism--they were doing too much and had no faith either--begun in the Spirit, but finishing in the flesh (cf. Gal. 3:3)! They were nullifying grace or as Paul says to the Galatians 5:4 (HCSB), "... [You] have fallen from grace."

The point is that if you have no good works, your faith is suspect and no fruit means no faith, because we are known by our fruits.  We will be judged by our deeds, not our faith (cf. Romans 2:6)!  We are not saved by works, however, but not without them either--they go hand-in-hand and can be distinguished, but not separated.   The Reformed formula of salvation was: "Saved by faith alone, but not by a faith that is alone." Works are the natural result of true faith just like apples from an apple tree. They prove the faith is genuine and not bogus.  There is a difference between a profession of faith and the reality of faith.

Faith is not something you have, but something you see and do, and it is abstract and must be demonstrated: "By faith Abraham obeyed...." We must put it into action, according to the measure of faith God has granted us (cf. Rom. 12:3).  The book of James, not the epistle of straw that Martin Luther thought it was before he saw the reconciliation, shows us that the faith you have is the faith you show!  We must not just talk the talk, but walk the talk and put it into action--faith is a verb and has feet!   It is well put that "only he who is obedient believes, and only he who believes is obedient," by Dietrich Bonhoeffer, et al.  We must bring forth the fruits of salvation and we can distinguish them but not separate them:  There's no such thing as faith without works, but there are works without faith (the kind that doesn't please God, for all our "righteousness, is as filthy rags," per Isaiah 64:6).


We are not saved by our service, but unto service, as we are vessels of honor being used by God for His glory.   Paul said in Romans 15:18 that he ventured not to speak, but of what Christ had accomplished through him!  God crowns His own work done through us by His Spirit and power.  It is a futile and vain hope to believe you can be good enough to merit salvation or do enough good deeds---God's requisite is perfection and the standard is Christ Himself.  Some people's creed is to do all the good they can, but no one does good according to Romans 3.  I'm not against good deeds and sincere works, but only those done in the energy of the flesh.  The problem with doing good deeds is that God sees the motive and most people just do them out of self-interest or to gain the applause of others or get attention or approval.

You cannot tell an unbeliever to "do good," because he is incapable (Paul declares that no one does good in Romans 3:12); only believers can do the works of God, which is to believe in Jesus (cf. John 6:29).  The best motto or creed would be to determine to be used by God and submit to His will and be obedient and willing to do it--God doesn't want works, He wants us!  Submit and see what He can accomplish through you in the power of the Spirit!

Don't ever let someone add something to grace, such as merit, because (the Reformed formula says) we are saved by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone, God alone be the glory, and on the authority of Scripture alone. You are saved through Jesus alone; not Jesus plus works, which would be moralism; nor Jesus plus feeling, which is emotionalism or sentimentality; nor Jesus plus knowledge, which is intellectualism or the cult of Gnosticism.  Remember this:  A motto to do all the good you can is a good and rewarding philosophy, but it won't bring salvation.  Soli Deo Gloria!

Ready For Heaven

"So it is with the resurrection of the dead:  Sown in corruption, raised in incorruption; sown in dishonor, raised in glory; sown in weakness, raised in power; sown a natural body, raised a spiritual body.  If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body"  (1 Cor. 15:42, HCSB).

I want to dispel the common notion that people have that they want to go to heaven, but are in no hurry to get there!  WE ARE JUST PILGRIMS WITH SPIRITUAL GREEN CARDS; DON'T GET TOO COMFORTABLE OR AT HOME IN THIS WORLD.  

As Matthew Henry said:  "It ought to be the business of every day to prepare for our final day." We are to live each day as if it were our last and prepare daily to meet the Lord in the air, and we can do this with gusto if we are looking forward to heaven, which means we must have some idea what it is like--through our knowledge is really speculation based on Scripture.  "No eye has seen...."  Yet we do know some facts and can cast away some common fallacies and misconceptions.  For instance, we won't be sitting on clouds playing harps all day.  We won't have to go to church (yes and no!).  We are the church and we shall worship in all our activities, whether work, leisure, or play, but the Lord will be present to have a Spirit of worship.

There will be work in heaven, but perfectly suited for us and our talents, gifts, and desires--what we enjoy doing!  Work will have meaning and not drudgery or be menial and boring, and there will be no physical exhaustion involved because the curse will be removed which made us work by the sweat of our brow.  Since Adam worked the Garden of Eden before the curse we know that we are not made for idleness, but in God's image and He is always at work.  We express God's image in our work and find fulfillment and satisfaction and meaning in it.  If we are faithful in little, we shall be faithful in much and God gives all of us opportunity to express our faithfulness.  Many of the tedious chores like hygiene will no longer be necessary, as we know them because we will have spiritual and not physical bodies--sown physical, but reaped spiritual.

We will be recognizable and have none of our physical flaws in our appearance that make us unattractive to others or ourselves--we will appreciate beauty in others and return our identity as men or women but not be given in marriage or be involved in procreation.  The most important element of heaven will be our authority over angels and be rulers with Christ--we shall all reign, some of us just have more authority or responsibility due to temporal faithfulness.  The key is that we are really servants of the Lord in heaven and be glad we are subordinate to Him.  Our bodies are not just improved from this one, but transformed into a new fashion that defies gravity, has no weakness, such as gaining weight, or getting out of shape, and can pass through walls at will, yet eat to prove we really have bodies.

When we realize the wonders and excitement of heaven, then we want to go there and live in light of eternity!  Paul said that to die was gain, but to live was Christ (cf. Philippians 1:21)--live or die he was content!  You can only really live after you are ready to meet your Maker and have prepared for your final day--you don't want to go unprepared but ready.  "... Prepare to meet your God, O Israel," says Amos 4:12 (ESV).  Every day when we rise we should announce that we are ready to meet God and ask Jesus if this is the day we will finally see Him face-to-face and be satisfied with the beatific vision.   We shall all be changed when we see Him as He is and be fulfilled and completely sanctified or holy and glorified.

Preparing for that day does not mean making funeral arrangements or writing a will, but making your peace with God and being faithful in the calling He has given you.  We want to receive a full reward and not just enter by the skin of our teeth, as if by fire (cf. 1 Cor. 3:15).   It is sadly said, that man lives like he's not going to die, and dies as if he never lived--may this not be the case with us, but that we lived to bring glory to God. ("The chief end of man is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever," as the Westminster Divines proclaimed.   Soli Deo Gloria!