Desperate Need for Grace

[desperateneedforgrace]

Singleness and Marriage

Dear friends and family,

It has been awhile since I’ve written a blog post, and I’m afraid this is a hard one for me to write because it hits close to home, and I fear is much closer to our own hearts than we would like to admit: our view of singleness and marriage. I’m afraid because we never address the heart of either of these things, at least in my experience, in the church setting outside of the picture  of marriage as one man and one woman showing us the eternal reality of Christ and His Church. Don’t get me wrong, that is a wonderful and beautiful thing, but if we don’t talk about singleness and even the pursuit of marriage we are left to our own experiences and vices, which usually means that the world influences us more than we let the Word of God shape our lives. I’m afraid that because of that we are dealing with a heart idolatry in the church that never goes addressed, and that is why I’m writing today.

"So, is there anyone in your life?” Those of us who are single are well aware of this question or some variation of it from grandma whenever we go home for the holidays or when we are on the phone with our parents. Now obviously this is not limited to our families. Our friends and our co-workers are constantly asking us if we are in a relationship, and if the answer is no, then they ask why not or if they can set us up with their friends. In the last week my brother probed me on this issue, one of my co-workers did as well, and a dear friend of mine spoke on the issue of relationships for a long time. It all came up in this week and I wanted to know why it matters so much in their eyes. Why do I engage in those types of conversations and walk away like maybe I’m making a mistake or I should care about it more than I currently do?

I’ll come clean and say that I desire to be married and to have a family someday. I am single right now, and I’m okay with that, but as I’m writing this and working through these ideas I am looking at my own heart. My prayer is that God will search my heart, and if there is anything there that is wicked to lead me in the way everlasting (Ps 139:23-24). I hope that same will be for you. That He may redeem my (and if necessary, your) view of marriage and singleness.

My bible study is getting ready to start a series on our heart’s motivation in two weeks which I’m excited about because it is time for us to evaluate why we do the things that we do, and repent if we are in sin (unapologetic plug  for if you are in the Des Moines area and looking for a bible study community or have questions about Christianity, my group of imperfect people trying to follow Jesus meet Monday nights at 8pm so email me). Don’t let us be like the people that Jesus rebuked (the Pharisees) in Matthew 15 quoting the prophet Isaiah: “These people draw near to Me with their mouth, and honor Me with their lips, but their heart is far from Me.”  I’d say then that this blog comes at the right time for getting prepared for that series. But, we must look at marriage and singleness separately first, so that we can appreciate them, then end with the call to let the gospel drive the way we view both of these positions.

Marriage is a good gift. But it is temporary. It is a picture of a eternal reality, but it is not the eternal reality itself. Jesus tells us that in the resurrection there is no marriage. So, that means that in this life marriages may last 20, 40, or 60 years, but eternity will be well eternity. We see the picture in Revelation 19 and the marriage supper of the lamb where the groom (the Lamb, being Jesus) waits as the Bride (being the Church) as she comes for the union with the groom for eternity. Marriage in this life displays, imperfectly, the way that Christ loves His Church. That’s why husbands are called to love their wives as Christ loved the church and gave Himself for her (Ephesians 5:25-27) and wives are to be subject to their husbands as the church is subject to Christ (Ephesians 5:22-24). I don’t have enough time to unpack this so all I will say is that this does NOT mean there is no discussion, this does NOT mean that men have more importance or value, this does NOT give men the authority to abuse women (emotionally, spiritually, or physically) but is driven by submission to one another in fear of God verse 21 of Ephesians 5. These are men and women transformed by the saving grace of God knowing that they were dead in their sins and trespasses but were made alive by God through faith (Ephesians 2:1-10), which is the driving force for this picture of marriage. The truth is that in a culture that disregards marriage and promotes individualism, it’s no wonder that hook up culture and divorce rates are. When life is about me, then I live my life accordingly. But if it is a covenant, then there is a commitment there to the individual and an intimacy that can exist because it is about sacrificing for each other. Christian, you are called be a light in the world. And we desperately need men and women that will see Christ, carry their crosses, and reflect Him in their marriages through sacrificial love, forgiveness, grace, and patience just as he was patient (and remains patient with us in our current short comings) with us. 

Singleness is a gift as well. Many of us don’t treat it that way. Rather we treat it as a curse, as our family and friends often make it sound that way when we are being bombarded with questions. But the reality is that singleness is a gift from God. Relationships were so important in times of the bible because that was how you protected your possessions and continued your family name. So, to be barren or single was to be an outcast and a curse. Then Jesus walks on the scene and destroys many social norms that did not display God’s heart for people (treatment of women, religious activity, treatment of the outcasts, etc.). As far back as I can find historically, Christianity was the first to really celebrate singleness. Jesus Himself was single, along with the likes of John the Baptist and the apostle Paul, and He states in Matthew 19:12 that there are people who are eunuchs that were born that way, people that were made eunuchs, and people who chose to be eunuch for the kingdom of heaven’s sake. Jesus, in a culture that would have viewed being able to extend the family name, uses eunuchs who weren’t able to have children to lift up singleness. What can we learn from that? That there is something more important than being married or having children. Isaiah 54 and 56 uses the barren and eunuchs similarly, although the language is unique if we follow it. Isaiah 54 tells the barren to sing (vs 1) and continues to say that the descendants of the barren person will inherit the nations (verse 3). Isaiah 56 God will give a name to the eunuchs, an everlasting name that will not be cut off (vs 3-5). I would suggest that God is communicating to Israel something that we must understand, that while we may be unable to have physical descendants there is a spiritual descendant that is much more important. God is inviting you and me into making spiritual descendants of the family of God. Jesus’ call to make disciples of all the nations applies to us. Singleness displays the gospel because it reminds us and displays to others that our sufficiency is in Christ and we do not need a man or a woman to complete us.

Men and women, I ask you to check your heart with me. Have we idolized marriage? Do we need to repent? My purpose for this blog is to start the discussion and let God’s Spirit probe our hearts. I’m afraid that we may be a people putting on a good faces and doing “religious” activity in an attempt to force God’s hand to give us a spouse or a significant other. There are two outcomes that I see may arise from that situation. First, we may not find a spouse, and then we become bitter at God because He didn’t give us what we wanted. We used Him as a means to an end rather than Him being an end in of Himself (which He should be and is worthy of). Secondly, if you do get this man or woman that you think is going to complete you, you will find out pretty quickly that he/she cannot live up to that standard that you set. She/He will fail you. And you will fail him/her. Your expectations will crush him or her. And if that is true, to not talk about this issue or to address our hearts will allow us to hide in the darkness in a self-righteous attempt to force God’s hand. He is enough. So, if you are married, take advantage of your marriage to make disciples. If you are single, take advantage of your singleness to make disciples. Both are good and necessary and the gospel is displayed to the world in both. There is hope found in Jesus, and He is inviting us into His redemptive plan for this broken world. Remember that while we were still sinners Christ died for us, because any change will be driven by God’s displayed love for us on the cross. There is no quick fix check list. If you are a Christian, change is going to come from an overflow of the realization that God saved you in spite of you. Your sin separated you from Him, and He made a way for you. Grace will drive us towards God, rather than from Him. 

Because He loves,

Jacob

[email protected]

[desperateneedforgrace]

The Need for the Body to Function as it was Designed

It has been quite some time since I have written a blog, but I'm trying to get back into the habit of writing my thoughts and sharing them as the Lord continues to teach me. I'm in the process of starting a blog series of the seven most influential books on my Christian faith over the next (tentatively) 14 weeks. I'm re-reading the books and then writing the blog, starting with the Pursuit of God by A.W. Tozer. However, I wanted to write a blog as an appetizer. My topic: Christian Community.

Some of you have had this conversation with me over the past few months. But in the fall, my bible study did a study of the body and spiritual gifts, with the intention of getting us to 1) See that each individual has something to offer the community that no one else does and 2) Let each person see that other people are different from them, yet equally important. Since then I have been on this community kick, because it's important.

We looked at three different passages that Paul uses to highlight the beauty of community and the different members of one body functioning together. In Ephesians 4 he starts by imploring the saints to walk worthy of the calling, with love, patience, and gentleness. Then he states this: "endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit of the Spirit in the bond of peace" (vs 3). Woah. So, you're telling me that it's going to take work? Yes! It doesn't come easy so we must strive for this unity in the body. Then he turns to the different giftings in church structure. I'll take one quick moment to call out any of you who are leaders who are reading this. It is your job to equip the saints for ministry (vs 12). Essentially, you must be striving to not only teach and feed your flock but also let them see and feel that they are the hands and feet of Jesus to reach the world. Equip them and send them out. Lift them up and let them know that they are of utmost importance to your community and without them the community wouldn't function properly. Paul even shows us what it looks like when healthy community is practiced in verse 16. The body, when connected and growing in Him (Jesus), the natural response is that the whole body (you and me!) are knit and joined together by what every joint (all those in your community) supply. This only happens as each part does it's share, but it causes growth of the WHOLE body for edifying itself. 

Did you catch that? As the joints provide for the rest of the body, the body grows. Or as individuals use their gifts to build up the body, then the body as a whole growths and as a result the individuals continue to thrive further causing the body to grow. So, leaders encourage your people. And dear brother or sister, let me just remind you how precious you are in the sight of God. Fearfully and wonderfully designed by the creator. You are important, and by failing to recognize that and walk as God has designed you to love and serve, then you are actually hindering your community from thriving. Walk worthy of your calling. I don't want you to be a clone of me (although it's true I want you to follow me as I follow Christ), but rather I want you to live as God designed you, for the glory of His name. 

I'll leave you with this reminder from Paul in 1 Corinthians 12:4-7

4 There are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit. 5 There are differences of ministries, but the same Lord. 6 And there are diversities of activities, but it is the same God who works all in all. 7 But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to each one for the profit of all

Different gifts. Different ministries. Different activities. It doesn't look like we are all going to look the same does it? But, it's by design. God is at work redeeming all things to Himself through Jesus Christ. Praise God for how He has wired you, and how He has made the people in your community. Encourage their gifts. There is not a single individual that is more important than another, but rather each part is dependent on the others for survival. Essentially that is what Paul concludes in the rest of 1 Corinthians 12 (read it!). And what happens when we imperfectly strive for this type of community? Well, Jesus tells us in John 17 in verses 20-21 "I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who will believe in Me through their word; that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us, that the world may know that You have sent Me."

When we live in gospel centered communities and love one another, we show the world Christ, but also we get a glimpse of that unity. We ourselves see God , not only the world. Christian unity is as much for the people of the church as it is for non-believers. So, let us strive for unity in our communities that is based on Jesus Christ, that we may be one as He is one with the Father. This unity goes beyond common interests, ethnicity, social-economic status, and gender. Rather there is one man (Ephesians 2), and this should confuse the heck out of the world. We are different, so let us embrace it and run after Christ together encouraging one another along the way. We need you, by the Spirit's power, to strive for unity. You are important, and your community needs you to know that and to respond accordingly.

Love you,

Jacob

[desperateneedforgrace]

Sin, Confession, and the Cross

So, I haven't written anything in awhile. And the truth is that I'm still all over the place in terms of my thoughts, especially with my frustrations and burdens. Long story short, I'm a mess. If you are like me, keep reading and maybe you will find some encouragement, or at least be comforted that you are not alone.

Have you ever felt alone? The hardest is when you are in the midst of friends and family. Because you aren't alone at least physically, but you are emotionally. And sometimes it even feels spiritually. Part of the reason that I even started this blog was because of a frustration that I noticed in the church today that we were not honest. Too often we were walking around like everything was okay. We were afraid to admit that we had doubts or that we were struggling with different areas of sin. And since no one was honest about that, when we had to confront those issues where were we to turn to? So and so has everything together, so that is what I'm supposed to be like. My first couple years of college was such a struggle for me because I had all kinds of questions, doubts, and sin that I was wrestling with. But, it seemed like I was the only one. If I ever brought anything up, I felt (rightly or wrongly) that I was condemned and judged. I was left to myself thinking that I was a failure because I was the only one who struggled.

Over the last few years I have decided that I was just going to be me. All the emotions, struggles, and quirkiness that comes with it (and yes that was a nice way of calling me weird). To my surprise, I found that there were many like me. Struggling to live free. Struggling to find the joy that was promised by our Savior while we abide in Him. The Proverbs in chapter 14 became real to me "The heart knows its own bitterness, and a stranger does not share its joy (vs 10)" and "Even in laughter the heart may sorrow, and the end of mirth may be grief (vs 13)". Nobody is going to know what's going on in my life, unless I'm honest with them. As I was honest, people became honest with me. We cried, we prayed, and we praised our God for redeeming us in the midst of our imperfection. Heck the second chapter of Ephesians and the fifth chapter of Romans are the best pictures of God's generous love, mercy, and grace to us in spite of ourselves.The truth is that I'm not going to fit into some nice perfect box with a bow on it. Equally true is that I'm a proud man that knows I'm a mess, but I don't want people to know that I'm a mess.

What does that have to do with being alone? Well, if you don't know I'm prone to wander from the God that I love. Actually, Jesus pretty much hit it on the nail when He refers to us as sheep. That's me. A stupid sheep that wanders far from the God I love, chasing after fleeting pleasures that don't even come close to the "excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my LORD" (Philippians 3:8). In the past couple months I've seen the wickedness of my own heart more than in the past. There are two men in my Bible Study in which I have made it a priority to confess my sin to when it occurs. So these past couple months I've just said "Hey, here's what is going on." Little by little the Eagles started to capture parts of my heart. I was being influenced by how they performed on a week to week basis. I started to care more than I should. I also found a nice hidden idol of my desire for a relationship and it was exposed. At the same time I noticed the Pharisee in me. "Look at me. I'm better than that person. I'm more righteous than this person." Weeping I had to repent. I hate my sin. Godly sorrow leads to repentance, and that is what I'm pursuing. The pursuit of my God in all of my struggles.

Yet, my sin sometimes shames me. I feel like I can't come to Him, because I'm not good enough. The truth? I'm not. But the blood of Jesus bought me at a price, and allows me to come boldly to the throne of grace (Heb 4), while Jesus sits on the right hand of God and says, "He's ours. I died for Him." Therefore, He who knew no sin, became sin for us that we may become the righteousness of God in Him (2 Cor 5:21). There it is. I'm righteous and made worthy. It just wasn't done because of anything I've done, but by what He has done. Too easily I let lies hinder me from drawing near to my God. Even now, I'm struggling to believe the gospel. 

The beauty of the gospel as I see it is that all things should be pointing us back to our Savior. Something simple as a perfectly cooked steak, should lead to rejoicing, as our God gave us that good gift and the ability to enjoy it. The steak is not the end goal. But the means to an end, being the adoration of our Creator. A spouse? Well, again makes the revelation of the gospel real, and lets us see a picture of Christ and His Church (Eph 5). Enjoy a nice cold beer or a glass of a nice wine? Same thing. While I enjoy both, I don't want to get drunk, which baffles some people. The reason? The basic answer is that the Bible calls me not to. And because I was bought at a price by the Most High, I do not want to intentionally sin against Him. His grace is NOT a license to sin more and more (see Rom 5-6). But the more expounded reason is that the world says these gifts (marriage, food, beer, etc.) are the end or at least a means for happiness. So we should enjoy them and get the most out of them now. But as a Christian, I believe that these things should be leading us to the ultimate enjoyment which is a relationship with the Father Himself, who is giving us all good gifts that we may be drawn to Him. And why? So that we may know Him intimately. I want to be more like Jesus and daily that is a struggle, but the journey is a long one and God is in the process of changing me little by little (sometimes it seems slower than I would like). Sanctification is a process.

I challenge you to confess your sin to your brothers and sisters and to repent from it. You don't need to be perfect, but press into our Savior and He will change us from the inside out through the Holy Spirit. Where the gospel is real, confession and repentance runs rampant among the church, because as imperfect people we begin to hate our sin and we glory in the fact that God has saved us and is changing us. Come to the cross, there is enough room for all of us. God sees us how we are anyways, so we might as well acknowledge it to ourselves and to others. As Matt Chandler constantly says, "God is not in love with some future version of you." Draw near to Him. "There is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus" (Rom 8:1). Let's stop striving to be good enough, because we can't be. We need His grace. In fact, the Bible says it's His kindness that leads us to repentance. This is an exhortation to me as well.

Sincerely,

A man in desperate need of God's grace

[desperateneedforgrace]

Waiting in the Unknown

Well, the truth is that I don't know where you are at as you read this blog post. You may be struggling in your attempt to find God in the midst of chaos, or maybe you have just come out of a time of chaos and for the moment there is peace. Maybe you aren't spiritual, but there seems to be something missing, so you're searching for what that is and by chance you stumbled (or tumbled haha!) upon this post. Regardless of how you got here, I'd like to invite you into my life and what God has been teaching me in a hectic year, on the subject of waiting and trusting.

It's funny as I get older, I realize just how much I don't know. I also see my inability to follow my God; quickly I am prone to wander from Him whom I love. C.S. Lewis probably said it best when he wrote 

"It would seem that our Lord finds our desires not too,strong, but too weak. We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased"

We are easily swayed and easily pleased, when we were created for much more. We were created to be in relationship with the One who created us, and when we aren't, we are missing out on the joy that was intended for us. For those of you that know me, you probably know that I am kind of a nerd and that I am passionate about my God. But, what probably would shock you is that it was not until a few weeks ago that I really concluded that I love my God. Say what?! Don't get me wrong, I have always been passionate, but as my dear brother Sam and I began to start to meet with my new Mormon friends and started discussing the differences between our beliefs each week that I was like "Wow. The way that we talk about Jesus is way different." That's not even the differences of who Jesus is. I also realized how much I hate my sin in my own life, and how glorious it was to have "godly sorrow that leads to repentance" in the belief that God was in the process of sanctifying me, and that "He who began a good work in my, while see it to completion." (Philippians 1) That means that I am not who I once was, nor am I who I am going to be when "are like Him for we shall see him as He is" (1 John 3). Yet, I am called to be holy as He is holy, so I should take my sin because of the nature of my God, and because of the price that was paid for me to stand blameless before Him. I am not my own, for I was bought with a price; the precious blood of Jesus Christ.

Even as I write this I am reminded of two passages of Scripture. First there is Galatians 4:9 "But now after you have known God, or rather are known by God, how is it that you turn again to the weak and beggarly elements, to which you desire again to be in bondage" and then there is Luke 7:47 "Therefore I say to you, her sins, which are many, are forgiven, for she loved much. But to whom little is forgiven, the same loves little." Because He loved and gave Himself up for us, should stir the hearts of any believers, while we were still sinners (Rom 5:8). Did you hear that? You do not deserve it. That is the scandal of grace! For those who trust Christ as Lord and Savior, their hearts should be captivated! Yet, too often we talk and sing "praises" as if we were saying the Pledge of Allegiance. Routine, rehearsed, and lacking passion. Oh that we, as the Church, would worship in spirit and truth!

Now, let's get to what I am learning about waiting. It is funny that even as I discuss this topic, I cannot get away from the gospel. Why? Because I believe that it is central for all things. Pain, suffering, and doubt are no exceptions to this. Jesus and the cross prove, I believe, that God does care and that He does relate to us in all suffering. Everything that I have read about the injustice of the trial that Jesus went through, and the excruciating pain that was crucifixion shows that God understands our pain and injustice. That actually is extremely important, especially when it comes to pain and chaos in our own lives. In the past year, I had the honor of being a bible study leader. Jesus gives us the example that leaders are actually to be servants to their followers. That means giving of yourself for their well-being, rather than what you can gain from them. That also means that you naturally become invested in them for the good, the bad, and the ugly. During that school year, we had I think six deaths in our families in like a two week period that was devastating. More ironically, was that we were doing a worship series for bible study. How can I exhort my people to worship, especially right now, with all this pain? I cried many nights for my people and pleaded with the Lord for direction. How did He lead us? "Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest" (Matt 11:28). Essentially He said "I am enough. Come to Me, and cast your cares upon Me for I care for you." Just like all things He is calling us to come to Him.

In the past five months. I have dealt with some of my own idolatry and sin, a friend of mine's dad was diagnosed with cancer, another dear friend struggle with homosexuality yet refuse to sin against our God, and another close friend have some absolutely evil things happen yet the evidence was inconclusive so justice is not going to be done. Add to these things the daily struggles of life, the major decisions on jobs, moving, and relationships, and there are days when I literally am exhausted. "Where are You God?" I find myself asking. It is times like these that I am comforted by David's psalms asking the same question. And Matthew 28, although not the great commission but rather the verse before it! Verse 17 says, "When they saw Him, they worshiped Him; but some doubted" Did you catch that? The apostles saw the risen Christ, yet it says that some of them doubted while they worshiped Him. I don't know why, but that comforts me greatly when I doubt the goodness or the presence of my God.

David understood the Lord much better than I do now. My final thought shall be quoting the end of probably my favorite psalm. Psalm 27. Verses 7-14:

Hear, O LORD, when I cry with my voice! Have mercy also upon me, and answer me. When You said, "Seek My face," my heart said to You, "Your face, LORD, I will seek." Do not hide Your face from me; do not turn Your servant away in anger; You have been my help; do not leave me nor forsake me, O God of my salvation. When my father and my mother forsake me, then the LORD will take care of me. Teach me Your way, O LORD, and lead me in a smooth path, because of my enemies. Do not deliver me to the will of my adversaries; for false witnesses have risen against me, and such as breathe out violence.I would have lost heart, unless I had believed that I would see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living. Wait on the LORD; be of good courage, and He shall strengthen your heart; wait, I say,on the LORD!

What was it that kept David going during times of trial? His belief that he was going to see the goodness of God in this life, because he knew God intimately. Unless he believed that, he would have lost heart. How often are we like this? The christian life is not easy by any means, in fact, we are promised tribulations. But how are we going to respond? Will we lose heart? Will we run to other gods, which are not gods, for comfort? Or will we delight in the character of God, who spared not even His own Son for us. His character is never changing. He will be the same tomorrow as He is today, and was yesterday. In the midst of pain, will we acknowledge the hurt and the chaos and then cling to our immovable anchor? Wait, on Him. Wait does not mean lack of action, but it does mean radically trusting in God while we move forward. He will strengthen us, David was convinced of this fact, and as I have grown in the LORD, I have concluded the same. We will see the goodness of God here, in this life, if we would just wait and look. May the LORD strengthen your heart wherever you are at. This is just the beginning of my journey, I still have much more to learn on the subject.

[desperateneedforgrace]

Delight in the Law and Prayer

Dear brothers and sisters,

I sit down to begin to write to you on a subject matter that has become dear to me over the past few months, and my assumption is that you have struggled with as well. Prayer. And the Law. Now, there seems to be two extremes on these areas in my opinion (because I've been on both ends). There is the camp that is all about doing: "Read, pray, obey. That is the Christian life." This camp tends towards obedience as a way to measure just how "Christian" they are, and guess what they have the evidence or fruit to back up their claim, because we all know that Jesus said that we will know a tree by its fruit. On the complete other side of the spectrum there is the grace camp. This side of the spectrum emphasizes grace. "We are saved by grace alone, and there is nothing that we can do to earn our salvation. Jesus' life,death and, resurrection were sufficient and it was finished when He said on the Cross 'It is finished.' I will not add to the gospel." That attitude seems to align with Paul's first epistle that he wrote to the Galatians. 

Both camps have faults. The doing camp will emphasize work, and be prone to legalism, while the grace camp will throw off works and say that all we need is grace (we actually just throw that word around). This is true I believe, yet Jesus said Himself that if we are to abide in His love we must obey His commandments in John 15, so we do have some obligation to obey. Oh no! That's works based! No, not at all, but we will get to that in a moment. This camp tends to be prone to license, although Romans 5 and 6 would rebuke those that fall into that if we would listen and let the word of God speak. Now, those who know me know that I'm a grace guy, heck just look at the title of my blog and the first blog post I wrote! But, in my thinking and studying of the word of God I have come to a difficult conclusion.

There Must be a Better Way

I was missing the point. Remember that I've been in both of these camps. My senior year of college I began to learn about grace, and how living my life on the "Do" camp the previous three years was exhausting and lacking joy. I found that living by grace led to peace and freedom. Yet, for that year I was prone to shrug my shoulders when it came to sin and say, "Well, Jesus paid it all anyways," without any remorse or hatred for sin. God hates sin, how dare I undermine the significance of the cross by taking sin lightly. Looking back, I was a fool. This last year I was trying to find out why it was hard for me to pray, because in my entire Christian life, I have never had consistent time in prayer, so I began asking why, since faithfully getting into the word of God was easy for me. So I decided to look at my studying of the word to find out what was "going for me" so that I could mimic it, almost as a copy and paste, into my prayer life. What I actually found was that my time in the word, although wonderful, was missing the point and in the process not experiencing the full blessing of the living and active word of God. What I mean by missing the point, I should probably clarify. I understood that there was an importance of reading the word of God, because it can transform me and that it also revealed the character of the One that I worship. Yet, somehow I still came to the word for what it could offer me (insight, a way to live, etc.). Although these were admirable goals it wasn't for what it was designed for.

Maybe you have been in my position, where you knew the good that a discipline brought to your spiritual life and you desired that. Or it just was a chore to you. Regardless, any fruit that you were seeing didn't seem to be the abundant life that Jesus spoke about in John 10 or the joy that would come when we abide in His love through obedience to His commandments in John 15. The question that I had to ask (and you should ask) is why?

Worship the End Result

I'll just go out and say it. Read, pray, obey, and repeat isn't the answer...entirely. Those things are good things, and as Christians we should be practicing the disciplines of prayer, personal and group bible study, fasting, evangelism, and service. Yet, if we are not doing it out of a heart desiring to worship our God the only alternative is some man exalting desire. It's not about you. It's not about me. It's about Him. Always. Period. The law, besides showing us that we are messed up and need a Savior, is designed to bring us closer to God and not farther from Him. The same is true of prayer, fasting, and service. Just look at Psalm 119. The psalmist throughout the psalm writes statements such as "I hope in Your word", "I delight in Your law", and "I longed for Your commandments." He even goes as far as to say that "So shall I keep Your law continually, forever and ever. And I will walk at liberty, for I seek Your precepts" (vs 44-45). The word of God should bring us great delight. Why? Because it reveals to us the heart of God and His faithfulness. Isn't this why in the same psalm the psalmist says "Your testimonies are my delight and my counselors" (vs 24)? His word was given to us so that we can know Him (by the way that is eternal life according to John 17). So, the promise is that if we draw near to Him He will draw near to us, and if we search for Him wholeheartedly we will find Him. Come to Him. He wants to reveal Himself so come to His word for Him. Come with an expectation that He will reveal Himself to you, and that He delights in doing so.

Prayer is the same way. Come to the throne of grace boldly. Why? Because the gospel demonstrates God's great love for us and delight in us. It is Christ's blood that allows us to come boldly to the throne. Remember how I said that I never had consistent time in prayer earlier for all of my Christian life? It is with great joy that I can say that, by God's grace, I have had faithful, consistent, fervent, and intimate times with the LORD, both by myself and with people, since May. What changed? I saw prayer as an opportunity to meet God, and my eyes were opened to the fact that He hears us when we pray, something we may say, but realistically I would say we don't really believe. I began praying for people, for my own growth, and for my desires and burdens. Why? Because He cares. "Cast your cares upon Him for He cares for you" became a very real thing. I also saw the promises of prayer, specifically in John chapters 13-17 about asking and receiving was convicted because I didn't live as if those passages were true. I then said that I was going to take the word of God at face value and take those promises and cling to them. Now, I did understand that it didn't mean that I was able to twist God's arm and make Him my own personal Genie, and that those promises had stipulations to them (read them and you will find them) but I was going to come boldly cling to those promises, hoping that He would give me His heart. I was able to delight in communion with Him and He gave me Himself in the process and began to change the things that were on my heart.

And as I asked for things and plead for others, I finally was able to say "Your will be done" because I actually believed that He is sovereign and that He knew better than I did. His character was real to me. Ultimately, prayer is a way to worship and to grow closer to the God of the universe. Read, pray, and obey is correct when the reason for doing those things for the purpose of worshiping the Father and drawing close to Him. The abundant life is found with that heart. I pray that God will convict you, and challenge you to find Him in every discipline, and that You will come in awe, adoration, and expectation that you will hear from Him.

Matt Chandler did a message on prayer earlier this year that was wonderful and completely changed my view of prayer, so here is the link if you want to listen to it.

http://www.thevillagechurch.net/sermon/a-call-to-pray-2013/

[desperateneedforgrace]

My Best Friends' Wedding

So, last weekend my best friends, Joshua and Abby, got married. It was one of the most beautiful events that I have ever been to and experienced in my life. As I was trying to take everything in I wept. Now that isn't anything new for me by any means. If you know me then you know that I'm pretty emotional. And what a blessing it is for me, because God has used that characteristic to reveal Himself to me in many ways, and this wedding was no exception.

The phenomenon actually began even before the wedding. The love that was displayed by everyone in preparation for the wedding was amazing. It was so evident that each person there genuinely loved Joshua and Abby, and they willingly laid down their lives to make the wedding go smoothly. I just remember my dear friends Tiffany, Rebecca, Ellie, and Meredith running from place to place and just serving in whatever capacity they could for the bridal party. What a testament of love. It probably was inconvenient at times, and I know for a fact that at least during the photos it was extremely hot and uncomfortable (96 degrees), yet there was not one complaint. They just enjoyed the privilege to able to serve. As I watched I thought of two verses: "A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; just as I loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another." (John 13:34-35). The example that Jesus gave was service and here these young women (and many more!) were demonstrating the heart of our Savior selflessly. Thank you for the encouragement to all of you that made the wedding possible!

Now, truth be told because I was in the wedding party I already saw Abby's dress before the wedding. However, there is something completely different about seeing the bride in her dress and watching her walk down the aisle in that same dress, radiating with majesty, coming to her expectant groom. Literally my jaw wanted to drop. Right before she headed down the aisle I caught a glimpse of her and whispered over to Joshua, "There is your bride," although I doubt he heard me, because he caught the same glimpse and was star-struck. Then it happened. The music played and Abby walked down the aisle, in such an eloquence and splendor that I did not know how to respond. My emotions were out of control at that point, as I did not know if I wanted to smile or cry. I ended up doing both.

The truth is that I wasn't crying or filled with joy first and foremost because my best friends were getting married (although that was a part of it). Instead, this was the first time that I had the opportunity to stand up on the stage with the groom and watch him as he waited expectantly for his bride, and then see it come to fruition from her walking down the aisle to him, to the vows, and finally the proclamation that the bride and the groom are now man and wife. This new perspective showed me such a new insight to the excitement of Christ and His church. When that day comes and the Church has been made perfect, that beautiful bride is going to be us. And Jesus will be standing at the end of the aisle so love-struck and waiting in expectation for his us to be with Him. It was such blessing from God that led me to tears. A gem really, to get a small glimpse into how great of a love He has for us, and the end beauty that we shall be when He is done perfecting us. A vague image of that final wedding, and the crazy thing is that although Joshua and Abby are gorgeous and the wedding itself was amazing. It will not even come close in comparison to the wedding day of Christ and His Church. I was given such a small glimpse, yet I will forever be thankful.

[desperateneedforgrace]

Rules, Regulations, and the Sufficiency of Christ Pt 2

I'm really excited about this blog post, and I hope you are, too. This post has the potential, I think, to release you from the bondage of works based Christianity. Why do I say that? Well, first off I assume you are just like me, by which I mean that I want to look good and pretend that I have everything together (although that is far from true). I'm also assuming that, just like me, you are prone to try to add to the finished work of the cross and earn the love and favor of God. Secondly, I believe the LORD has led me to a deeper revelation of His goodness and His grace. He also has taught me, just over the past couple weeks, how big He is and how vast His grace is for His children (and how small of a view on these areas I have). So, with that being said, I'm going to let Him speak to you through my writing, which will cover the second half of Colossians chapter two and the beginning of chapter three. I hope that God will bless you with the journey He is taking me on. Enjoy!

The Victory Found in Christ

If you read the last blog we finished with the idea that we are complete in Jesus. Paul begins the next sentence expounding on that idea using circumcision, which was the main item that the Judiazers used as a custom that must be followed for salvation. So, Paul uses is to make an example, essentially saying, "Hey, you are right you must be circumcised, but I'm talking about the circumcision of the heart, which Christ accomplished on the cross allowing you to deny sin, not the physical act itself."  Then Paul so graciously reminds the Colossians of the gospel and how Christ fulfilled the law and "wiped out the handwriting requirements against us" (vs 14). Do you understand that? Do I? The law leads us to see our need for a savior, so it therefore leads us to Jesus. But, on its own if we try to obtain some sort of righteousness or to earn God's love it will do nothing but lead us to bondage. In verse 15 Paul reminds us that Jesus has triumphed over the requirements of the law. What a relieving statement! It is at this time that I am reminded of Galatians 5:1 when Paul writes and says that it is for freedom that we have been set free.

Legalism has no Power

Legalism is the most destructive thing I believe to a Christian. I don't know anyone who will openly state "I love legalism", but if I'm honest that's what I want to say, only using other words with better connotation. Woah! Did I just write that? Well, welcome to my life, and this blog is going to be me being honest with you. I naturally am prone to works based Christianity, because it's a way for me to measure my  "success" so I can know how I'm doing. What is this walking by faith thing? Maybe you're like me and ask questions like "How do I know I'm walking by faith?" or "How can I get better at (insert obstacle in life)?" I would much rather prefer to have a five step checklist to every aspect of the Christian life and that is how I naturally function. How can I overcome lust? Read my bible. Check. Prayed. Check. I want to literally make my relationship with my LORD about the things I do, rather than using those same things as a means to an end, which is knowing Him. How sad...

Legalism takes the focus off of our Savior and puts it upon man, and that is a destructive formula for everybody. Good luck experiencing the abundant life that Jesus said that He came to give you in John 10. It won't happen that way. We even see that in verse 19 "and not holding fast to the Head, from whom all the body, nourished and knit together by joints and ligaments, grows with the increase that is from God." Remember John 15? Abide in Me and you will bear much fruit. That is the same principal here. Hold fast to Christ and remain in Him and He will nourish you and God will make you increase in personal holiness. It takes work, but it only works in a proper context of who Jesus is and what He has done. Put another way, without seeing the gospel play out on a day to day basis by coming to the cross and who we are apart from what was accomplished on Calvary, our work is nothing but self-righteousness with the appearance of holiness. Conviction must stem from the gospel. Otherwise, abstaining from seeing something, avoiding coming in contact with something, or refusal to do something will appear as wise and humble, but it never deals with real issue which is the heart. Paul in verse 23 says these regulations look wise but are "self-imposed religion", "false humility", and "neglect of the body".  He then says but it has no power against the indulgences of the flesh.

Wow! So, everything I try to do has no power if it is not rooted in the gospel. Convictions are necessary and we all need to have them to protect us, but they only work if Christ captures our heart with His great love for us. Think about it this way, my age group idolizes relationships. The way to overcome this is not be avoiding the opposite sex, to get in a relationship, or even necessarily taking wise steps to prepare yourself for one. Rather, the formula is to come to the cross and let Jesus Christ captivate your heart in such a way that no relationship will be ever to satisfy you. Then any relationship will be able to have Christ as the center and glorify Him. It's true. He is more than enough for me, yet I'm a stupid sheep that wanders to things that don't last or satisfy. It hasn't been until the past week where I've been able to relate to Jesus being the Good Shepherd or Psalm 23, yet, now the LORD has so graciously led me to place in which I can have a glimpse of much of a stupid sheep that wanders and also how His hand is continuously leading me besides still waters and making me lay in green pastures.

Christ Changes Everything

Chapter three begins in the same way that Paul began in vs 11 of chapter two: the reminder of the gospel. Maybe you have noticed that Paul always starts with the work of Christ in his letters before he ever gets to the practicals, and I think it would be a good habit for us to do as well. Be reminded of Calvary and God's great love for us demonstrated in this that while we were still sinners Christ died for us (Romans 5). This love demands a response and the practicals and convictions will lead to joy and peace in following Christ. Why? Because it isn't an obligation, but rather gratitude that leads to worship. Remember our God is after our hearts, not our lip service or actions. So, I shall end by saying we have been raised with Christ so let us set our minds on the things above rather than on the things of this earth because our life is hidden in Christ. In light of that let us flee from sin, because we are a new creation and sin is the reason that Christ had to die. We are called to be holy just as He is holy. The wrath of God was paid for those who believe and is still coming for the sons of disobedience (3:5-6) so let us rejoice on being redeemed. Christ changes everything, and since we are a new creation that must be apparent in our lives. Renew the man just as Paul says in verse 10 by the knowledge of Him who created him. My final exhortation is to know your God, who created you, in such an intimate way that it transforms you. Brothers and sisters, let us freely worship. Eternal life starts now, let us live as if that is true. We are the salt and the light of the world.

[desperateneedforgrace]

Rules, Regulations, and the Sufficiency of Christ Pt 1

So, it got to the point that this was too broad of a topic that I had to break this up in two parts. I prefer to read and teach exegetical, so these next few blogs will be the same way over chapters two and three of Colossians. This first part is going to cover Colossians 2:4-10

4 Now this I say lest anyone should deceive you with persuasive words. 5 For though I am absent in the flesh, yet I am with you in spirit, rejoicing to see your good order and the steadfastness of your faith in Christ.

6 As you therefore have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him, 7 rooted and built up in Him and established in the faith, as you have been taught, abounding in it[b] with thanksgiving.

8 Beware lest anyone cheat you through philosophy and empty deceit, according to the tradition of men, according to the basic principles of the world, and not according to Christ.9 For in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily; 10 and you are complete in Him, who is the head of all principality and power.

Beware lest you be persuaded from the gospel

 Paul in vs 1-3 refers to the believers that he has never met, longing that they would grow in love for one another and their understanding of the gospel. He states that the "knowledge of the mystery of God, both of the Father and of Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge", reminding the believers that the gospel is the source of the knowledge and wisdom, which appear to the be riches that were meant to be attained in verse two.

Paul then in verse four tells them why he just wrote the previous three verses, which is that they would not be tempted to believe another gospel or become dependent on any other means of salvation. There will always be people who are trying to add to the gospel, which actually is not a gospel at all (see Galatians 1:6-10). Verses five through seven are key verses in this passage. Why? We see that steadfast faith in Christ demands action. Faith is not some passive thing. It requires action, but does that mean that faith is works? Absolutely not. Genuine faith will move you to action. Is that not what Paul continues to write? Descriptive words such as rooted and built up indicate how these works are going to come about. They are built up in Him, showing us that a relationship with Jesus Christ will transform you in every area of your life.   That is exactly what sanctification is.The key component is the ending of verse seven when he writes abounding in thankfulness. Any response of faith must come from gratitude of the gospel. Which states that you cannot save yourself, but Jesus made a way back so that we may be reconciled with God, by grace through faith. Brothers and sisters we live in a world that denies this truth, even in our churches. Do not let anyone add to the gospel of grace.

The righteousness standards of Christ and the world cannot coexist (vs 8)

This is easy enough. Simply stated, the world and Christ's standards are not the same and they cannot exist together in the same way that the flesh and the spirit are in opposition. If we are running after the standards of the world then we are, by nature, denying the sufficiency of Christ since His righteousness is well beyond the righteousness of the world (which is not righteousness at all). When we see ourselves before a holy God we see our brokenness and our sinfulness, in the same way that the prophet Isaiah did in Isaiah chapter 6. In fact, later in the book of Isaiah we see that our best deeds are like filthy rags before the holy God (Is 64:6). If our best deeds are that way, then we can only wonder what are our worst deeds or our "hidden" sins that no one but God knows about like before this righteous God. The world says work harder and be a good person and that will suffice, and the gospel says you can never work enough to earn redemption, so God in His great mercy and grace has to intervene because of His great love for sinners. Do not be deceived by people trying to add to the finished work of Christ brethren, because it is not good enough. Instead, fall before the LORD when you see your sin and say as Isaiah did, "Woe is to me, a man of unclean lips" or as the apostle Paul said "What a wretched man am I! Who will rescue me from this body of death? Praise be to God, who delivers me through Jesus Christ our LORD!" We must see ourselves in light of the righteousness of God, which will then in turn lead to a conviction of sin and repentance. Finally, repentance will lead to gratitude in our Savior for what He has done.This response will lead us to love and good works, but love and good works in of themselves will not necessarily bring us to redemption or to the Savior.

We have our all in all in Him (Vs 9-10)

Jesus is the physical manifestation of the fullness of God and we are found complete and perfect in Him. According to 2 Peter 1:3 we are given everything we need for life and godliness through His divine power and through the knowledge of Him. What does that mean in relation to being made complete in Him? That means that there is nothing of ourselves that we can do on our own power to change ourselves, for we are broken people in desperate need of grace. We are made perfect by Him, rather than what we can do. Do I believe that? Do I live like that? Those are questions that we should be asking ourselves, because the truth of the statement that we are made complete in Him is a joy-bearing and freeing statement that many miss out on. It is only by the power of Jesus' death and resurrection through the Holy Spirit that we are able to overcome our own brokenness and sin. Although we try, there is not a five step process to fixing ourselves, and this method only leads to self-righteous, self-effort, self-help actions that hurt us rather than help us. Instead, we need to fall to our knees and pray, with fear and trembling, asking for the gracious Father to help us overcome ourselves, for we are unable to do it on our own will power. The last thing that the church needs is a bunch of self-righteous Pharisees. Rather it needs men and women, who are children of God, to be open and honest about their brokenness and their daily need for their Savior.

[desperateneedforgrace]

Scandal of Grace

The Scandal of Grace

     My name is Jacob Repp and I’m only 23 years old, but I have met my Savior and He is captivating my heart with His love.  I’m not perfect that is for sure, but I am redeemed. Someday I aspire to be a pastor, but if the LORD wills otherwise I will be perfectly content loving people and drawing nearer to Him each and every day. I hope that you are blessed by this blog, because it is this topic of grace that I am passionate about.  It is so much more than salvation but a daily experience of the blessing of God, both for the righteous and for the wicked. It teaches us how to live godly, how to hope for the coming of Christ, how to deny ungodliness, and obviously salvation (Titus 2:11-14). Grace is something that I think we need to spend considerable amount of time on because without constantly doing that we will turn grace away and put ourselves under the burden of the law and self-righteousness will replace it. It is for freedom that we have been set free. Freedom of what? Freedom of the bondage of sin and the burden of the law. Just read Galatians and Romans! I am not an expert on grace; I am a weak man that had to learn about grace through different trials in my life that gave me an insight into the character of my God, which led me to repentance, love, and forgiveness. I’m writing today to you, to my fellowship, to my church, to the Church, and most importantly to the wickedness that dwells in my own heart and denies His grace. Praise God that He uses insignificant people like me.

     As I have spent time with people over the years and have watched how people conduct themselves on a day to day basis in the church, I have come to a couple conclusions. These are not new conclusions by any means. What are these conclusions? The first is that the one thing that we as human beings need and long for in this broken world is grace. Now, I’m sure there are some out there that are screaming in your heads right now, “Jacob that is not true! The one thing that we need is God! Only He can fill that void in our hearts.” I completely agree, but for that to happen we need grace. This grace, which is needed so that we can have relationship with the God of the universe, is a scandal. I will expand on that aspect here in a little bit.

     The second conclusion is that people in the church preach grace, but practically do not live it. Brennan Manning in his book The Ragamuffin Gospel, writes “The American church today accepts grace in theory but denies it in practice. We say that we believe that that fundamental structure of reality is grace, not works-but our lives refute our faith. By and large, the gospel of grace is neither proclaimed, understood, nor lived.”  Now do I believe that the gospel message is not being proclaimed? Absolutely not!  I have many friends who are laboring for the gospel. Yet, among us (yes that includes me!) we don’t understand the gospel. And that is evident by the way that we live. It’s along those same lines of “If you want to understand a man, don’t just listen to what he says but watch what he does.” 

     The truth is while we may say that grace is all that  we need or that it is by grace that we are saved the question must be raised, does the way that I live my life reflect that? Brothers and sisters, are we in theory living by grace but when it comes to our own lives and the lives of those that we are discipling  adding to the cross a list of do’s and don’ts? Are we adding burdens to people that they can never live up to, and when they don’t do we shun them? Have we become such hypocrites that should be exhorted just like the Galatians by Paul, “O foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you that you should not obey the truth, before whose eyes Jesus Christ was clearly portrayed among you as crucified? This only I want to learn from you: Did you receive the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith? Are you so foolish? Having begun in the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh?” (Gal 3:1-3).

Why do we hate grace?

     This question is one on which we should dwell. On the surface it doesn’t seem like it would be very important, but it actually has immense ramifications. I will argue that we as people hate grace, while we always preach grace. What do I mean? This concept of grace is so counter cultural. Undeserved favor in a culture and society which stresses performance raises red flags in our minds.  Something that I cannot earn is a foreign concept to us. School teaches us that if we perform to this percentage I can have this grade. Work teaches us that if we perform to this qualification then we will obtain this promotion. The Law itself is something that is measureable. I am this righteous because I have upheld this standard. I will be the first to admit that I am prone to put myself under the Law to obtain righteousness and in gray areas in the Scriptures I would much rather have a list of 10 things to do or not to do when it comes to areas such as drinking, dating, and looking for a job.

      The law was designed to point us to Jesus. Why? Look at just the 10 commandments. There is no way that anyone can uphold those commands. Even if we could say that we obeyed just those commands, the first command to love God with all of us, is not practical because of our wanton hearts.  I can honestly say that I have never once loved God to the degree that He deserves to be loved. That means I have already failed. We may try to claim our own righteousness like the rich man when Jesus told him what commands he must obey to obtain eternal life. Yet, if we look deeper we see that the command that Jesus left out was to love God with all of your heart, mind, strength, and soul. Then He subtly points to the heart of the man to the thing that was his functional god, his wealth. “Go, sell all what you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me.” (Matthew 19:16-22).

     The truth is that we fall more into this than we would like to believe. Maybe our functional god is not our riches, like this man, but it could be our “righteousness” and adherence to the law perfectly like the Pharisees.  The Pharisees couldn’t stand grace, just like we hate grace. The people that were drawn to Jesus were the broken people that society hated and shunned, and He ate with them symbolizing acceptance. In many cases, this could have been the only form of acceptance that they had received. Grace. They experienced grace! And what was the response of the self-righteous? The same response that the older brother in the parable of the prodigal son.  “Lo, these many years I have been serving you; I never transgressed your commandment at any time; and yet you never gave me a young goat, that I might make merry with my friends. But as soon as this son of yours came, who has devoured your livelihood with harlots, you killed the fatted calf for him” (Luke 15:29-30). We hate grace because it takes what we have done out of the equation, and we are prone to be success oriented, so that means we cannot measure our righteousness based on something tangible, but on grace and the accomplishment of the cross.

     I do feel like I need to make a note here, because there has to be somebody at this point that is saying that grace is not everything, but we have to obey. This is a valid point, and one the Pharisee sect brought up at council in Acts 15, and the Judaizers taught to the churches, after Paul had left trying to add works to the finished work of the cross. Paul answers them in Galatians, and also in the book of Romans at the end of chapter 5 and chapter 6. Read it, but essentially he says, “If you think grace is going to lead to more sin, you don’t understand grace. Grace leads to submission and repentance.” Obedience is good. In fact, it is commanded. But there are two ways to obedience. The first is the Pharisee way and looks to adherence as a way to measure their righteousness. Then there is the response to grace and redemption. This obedience is because of the cross, because of grace, and because of His great love for me, I will follow You. I will obey, because it is the only logical thing I can do because I have been redeemed. This redemption is exactly why we need grace. And it is exactly why it is a scandal.

The Scandal of Grace and the Redemptive Power of the Gospel

     Why do we need grace? Don’t we need God? Isn’t He the only thing that can fill the void in our lives? Yes, of course.  There are very few Christians that I know who would even consider arguing with that. Then why would I say that it is grace that we need? Don’t miss this, because it is important. It is the key component to the message of the gospel, yet something that is easily forgotten. We are sinners. Romans 5:6-8 says it best: “For when we were still without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. For scarcely for a righteous man will one die; yet perhaps for a good man someone would dare to die. But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”  What does that mean? Someone might die for a good man, but we can’t even claim to be good. In fact, we were in active rebellion against our God with our backs turned against Him.  What does He do? Does He smite us? No, He shows just how much He loves us by sending Christ to live, die, and overcome death so that He may redeem us to Himself. 

     He does not love us because we are lovely, but rather makes us lovely because He loves us. That is the power of the gospel. For those who turn to Christ and repent, these are the ones who God meets with compassion and while we are still far away He puts a ring on our finger, sandals on our feet, the best robe on our back, and prepares the fattened calf (Luke 15:20-23).  Grace is what God demonstrates to us, so that while we are far from Him, He pursues us.  The restored relationship that God has working out for His glory is brought to light at the cross. The cross is the place where His righteous wrath, His righteous love, His righteous mercy, and His righteous justice all meet. Without the cross, and without the demonstration of the Father’s great love for us, we could not have relationship with Him. Without grace, that “God sized hole in our heart” cannot be filled.

      It is only by grace that we can come to Him.  It is only by grace that we can have any hope for the longing of love, acceptance ,and forgiveness that we long for (Love, Acceptance, and Forgiveness is the title of a book by Jerry Cook that I would highly recommend as well!) and that God offers us through Jesus Christ. To those that are broken, wounded, unworthy, and unlovable the God of the universe who created all things and created you in His image is madly in love with you. He is pursuing you and He wants you to follow Him and to trust Him.  To the rich and the poor, the self-righteous and the humble, the popular and the shunned, the pastor and harlot the message of the cross says this: “You cannot get to Me on your own.  Come to the cross, where I proved how much you are worth. The life of My Son has the power to redeem you, and to adopt you into My family. Believe and repent, for my hand is outstretched to you still.”

     The gospel and grace is a scandal; a beautiful scandal which leads to redemption.   Grace is seen at the cross, where we see the love, the mercy, the grace, the holiness, and the justice of God meet. Here at Calvary is the place where He “presented His righteousness, that He might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus” (Rom 3:26).  For those who have faith in Jesus, what happened on Calvary washes you clean. From the murderer that Jesus said would see Him in paradise to the Pharisee Nicodemus, God is in the business of redeeming those who will repent and put their faith in Him. To those who do, Jesus becomes sin for us so that we may have the righteousness of God (1 Corinthians5:21). Let that sink in for a moment. Your sin and my sin, Jesus bore so that we may be righteous before a holy God.  He can be justified to count those who have put their faith in Jesus because He not only bore their sin, but because He also bore the wrath and punishment of God for the sin. Since the punishment has been paid for those who have faith, God can be just and justified in counting sinners as righteous. Men and women, look to the cross! It proves that God is crazy about you. By His grace we are saved, and by this same grace we are restored, redeemed, and made children of God. You cannot earn it. Yet, in spite of who you are naturally, He pursues us and makes us righteous, holy, and blameless. That my friends, is a scandal. And it changes lives.

The example of our Savior

      Now to understand grace, should we not look our Savior the one who made the grace of God appear visibly before men? The way that Jesus lived was radical for His time, but if we are honest it would be radical for our time as well. We use the same words of Paul and of Jesus, yet when they spoke people repented. Now don’t get me wrong. I believe that God is still active today and people are being saved.  But as I look to the people that were drawn to Jesus and the people who are drawn to the church today, I come to the same conclusion that Timothy Keller comes to in his book “The Prodigal God.” That is that the message of the gospel is for broken people.  Jesus Himself said “I did not come for the righteous but for those who know they are sick.” In that interaction He was not condoning the Pharisees and the religious leaders, because of all the people Jesus was harshest on them, trying to get them to see their own self-dependence and self-righteousness so that they would repent. The people that were drawn to Jesus though were the prostitutes, the tax collectors, the lepers, and the blind. These people were the social outcasts of society. Yet, Jesus spoke and accepted them and called them to repentance. Jesus did more than call people to repentance. He restored people, unconditionally. Yet, these same people are not, for the most part, the ones drawn to the church than that means of two things. Either the message has changed, or the church is full of self-righteous older brothers.

    One of my favorite passages which I will use to show the grace of our Savior is found in Luke chapter 17. In verses 11-19, we find 10 lepers in Jerusalem. They cry out to Jesus, which by the way isn’t necessarily saying anything because throughout His ministry people came to Him to be healed and fed, yet walked away unchanged. Men and women of our time do the exact same thing with our Savior today that they did back then. They came for the grace and the blessing, while in turn missing out on the true blessing of redemption that God has in store for us. Our God will bless us, but don’t miss the ultimate blessing of the restored relationship with Him. Don’t settle for the minor blessings! Now, back on track! The lepers call out and ask for mercy.  Jesus tells them to go to the temple to the priests. These lepers respond by listening to what He had said. These people would be social outcasts, but also would not be allowed in the temple to worship because of their disease, so when they are healed they would be able to come to the temple for worship going forward, and also they would have the opportunity to be accepted in society because their leprosy was gone. But that wasn’t Jesus’ end goal. The goal has always remained the same, for people to be drawn into relationship with Him. Yet, only one man who had been cleansed came back to worship God. This man was a Samaritan!

     The Jews and the Samaritans hated one another (see John 4 for some insight to this). Jesus healed Him not because of this ethnicity. Jesus healed him regardless of his worth or his ability to make an impact for the kingdom due to his social influence. In fact, from these people to his disciples it looks like He healed in spite of all these things so that they can learn grace and mercy, dependence on Him, and see the invite to come into relationship with Him. “Your faith has made you well,” was Jesus’ response. My challenge for all of us is that we can see the words of Jesus and listen to them. But, let us also see how He used those words to draw people to Himself, and meditate on that. Jesus spent time with people and healed them, regardless if they ever came to repentance (think of the crowds, the disciples that left in John 6, and also Judas). But, He blessed them, and loved them, and like always held out His hand with an invitation for relationship and repentance. In John’s first epistle he goes on to write “He who says he abides in Him ought to walk as He walked” (1 Jn 2:6). 

     Let us be transformed by our Savior. Let the Holy Spirit teach and convict each of us, conforming us to His image through sanctification, and let the Church be a light in this dark world. Let us be gracious, while not forsaking truth. Remember the people that God uses are the ones who are weak and humble. This is so that His strength can be made perfect, and that we cannot take any credit. Too often I have judged peopled based on what they had to offer to “the kingdom.” These people have more influence or some other physical attribute. Our God calls all people, and uses all people, in spite of their gifting for His glory. LORD, give me compassion for people in the same way that You have compassion on people. Give me Your eyes and Your heart.