One Day At A Time

In any Bible study, the topic of Christian living comes up quite often; that is, what lifestyle is expected of a person after they’re baptized into Christ. I hear two views on this subject that concern me, but one is particularly alarming. I know some people who teach that a new Christian is free to live any lifestyle they see fit and have no obligation to God to live better than they were before. Expressing this view just shows a lack of understanding of the Gospel. There’s one other prevalent view among people I know, and it goes something like this; Christian living is “all or nothing,” and I will never be able to do it all the time, so I’d rather not do it at all because I don’t want to be a hypocrite. When it comes down to it, I just don’t think I’m worthy.

Have you ever heard anyone express this view of Christian living? I can’t describe the pain I feel when I hear someone tell me they don’t think they can live the life God has called them to, so they’re just not going to try. I personally know many people who hold this same view. They know God has called them to live a better life than before, but they’re so scared of making a mistake and then being labeled as a failure that they don’t want to try at all. The ironic thing is, most of the people I know who think this way are actually living an all around better life than many people who have been a Christian for years. If you are stuck in this line of thought yourself, or if you know someone close to you who is, I’d like to share some passages of Scripture that I think will help.

One of the things that holds people back is the stronghold they have on their past, so we need to get a firm understanding of what God can do to our past. “Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us.” Romans 5:1-5 (NIV). Christians are “justified through faith,” which is a term that means “brought back, made right.” Some have defined it as “just as if I never sinned.” When we get rid of any notion that we have some power to atone for our sins without Jesus Christ, then we can accept Him as the one and only sin offering for our entire life. Not only does the blood of Christ wash our sins away, but Hebrews 10:17 tells us that God doesn’t even remember the sins of our past anymore!

Once we realize that God doesn’t even remember our past, it’s a little easier for us to let it go. When we can finally let go of our past, we can start to move forward and work on understanding how God wants us to live as new Christians. Whoever taught us that once we were baptized we would no longer make mistakes was a liar. 1 John 1:7-2:1 sheds a lot of light on God’s grace and His compassion for us as we try our hardest to live how He wants us to but still stumble along the way. As is explained in this passage, there is a clear difference between falling and getting back up and falling and staying on the ground. When we fall (sin) in our walk with God (which we will) it is crucial that we dust our self off, get back up, and keep walking forward. When we do this, we are living a Christian lifestyle. God sees our genuine efforts to avoid sin and most importantly to get back on track as soon as possible after we sin, and He is eager to forgive us when we live like this. Although this is a foreign concept to the world who tells us Christianity demands perfection, God really just wants us to do the best we can do to live each day a little better than the one before.

If you’re considering becoming a Christian, but you’re scared of messing up and not being “good enough” for God, please read and reread the passages I’ve noted here. The fact of the matter is, none of us are “good enough,” the only difference is found in whether we try our hardest or we don’t try at all. No matter how dark your past is, no matter how many skeletons are in your closet, God is ready and willing to not only forgive but to forget all of that, and the only condition is that you do your best each day to make progress. If you would like to study this topic further, please contact me through our website (www.fultoncoc.org/contact.php) and I would be happy to either correspond with you or find someone in your area who could study with you in person.

One destination, many routes?

If you have friends or ever sit down to watch a few minutes of television, you’ve probably heard someone’s opinion about religion and how a person receives salvation. As Americans, we pride ourselves in our opinions, and we just can’t wait to share them with other people. In this postmodern world we live in, we’re told to move past traditional thoughts on religion and think “out of the box.” In an attempt to be politically correct, we are expected to accept every religious opinion or teaching as equal with every other. You may already know how big of an oxymoron religious tolerance is, but there are many who truly believe it can and should be practiced. In a world full of so many conflicting answers to life’s questions about God and salvation, how can we say that there is one way and only one way? I hope you’ll give me a few more minutes of your time as I explore that question.

I recently read a news article about Oprah Winfrey and her religious views that she is now making public. She claims Christianity as her faith, but she did something recently that has many of her fans not only questioning that but also questioning their fan status. While taping a recent show, Oprah engaged in a debate with one fan sitting in her studio audience. Oprah made a statement similar to, “Jesus is not the only way to heaven,” and a very upset Christian fan stood firm on her faith and challenged that outrageous claim. The fact that Oprah’s statement was made in such a public way opened my eyes even more to the ugly fact that there are far more people teaching their opinions than there are teaching truth. After reading about that fan’s courage to stand and challenge “the most influential woman in America,” I know I need to do more in my circle of the world to spread God’s truth also.

If you would call yourself a Christian and believe what the Bible teaches, the answer to this question should be easy. Jesus said in John 14:6 that, through a relationship with Him, is the only way to receive salvation. That leaves no room for doubt! Those of us who call ourselves Christians have no choice in believing that statement or not. One requirement for becoming a Christian in the first place is believing the good news message of Jesus Christ. We can’t pick and chose what to believe or reject. Most non-Christians don’t understand that, so they may justify asking this question by claiming that we can’t trust what the Bible says is true. If that describes you, I would simply ask you to study and research with an open mind the Bible’s historical reliability and accuracy.

As you may already notice, this topic is a little more complex than the simple question about only one way to receive salvation. I don’t have room to write all that would be necessary, and you might not like to read all of those pages if I did. To study this topic further, please follow the link below to download an audio file of a sermon I preached recently on this very topic. The sermon is titled "Salvation...God's Way." Whether you are a Christian or not, I strongly encourage you to listen to this lesson as it is a message that is seldom taught. Feel free to post your comments on this page.

Audio Sermon Archive

Waiting On God

I was reminded recently of a story I enjoyed when I first heard it, and it’s taken on even more meaning for me today. A flood threatens a town, and everyone is forced to evacuate. One resident, who views himself as a “devout man,” decides to stay because he knows God will save him. As the water rises in the town, a small family in a row boat passes by and offers the man a ride to safety. The man replies, “No thanks. I know God will save me.” The water continues to rise, and the man is forced to seek higher ground and eventually finds himself on his rooftop. About that time, a search and rescue boat comes by and tries desperately to convince the man to leave. “I don’t need your help, I know God will save me,” he replied. The water continued to rise, more rapidly now, and it would soon wash the man off his roof to a certain death. A rescue helicopter hovering above dropped a rope ladder to the man in one last attempt, but the man stood firm on his decision to wait for God. Just as the rescue workers knew would happen, the man was soon swept away to his death in the turbulent, debris-filled water. When he reached heaven and stood before God, he asked, “God, where were you? Why didn’t you save me?” God replied, “I sent three different groups of people to you, but you just wouldn’t let them help.”

Like I said, I enjoyed this story very much the first time I heard it, but it has even more meaning in my life today. The moral of the story is simple. Real faith is not just belief, it’s obedient and it leads to action. As Christians, we believe God will provide for us and take care of us, but that alone is not faith. Faith leads us to accept God’s help in its many forms, most of which are unknown to us at the time. This may seem easy to understand now, but it often proves difficult to remember when we face struggles in life.

When we face difficult situations in life, three things are always the same. God knew beforehand it would happen, He knows how to get us through it, and He already has a plan to help us. Most of us accept these things about God, but we struggle with one major thing. Sometimes we expect God to do all the work, including the parts that we can do for ourselves.

If you’ve ever had to move to a new place, you know how stressful and difficult that process can be. If you’re a Christian, you probably prayed for God to help you as you looked for a new home. If you were to use the same logic as the man in the story, you would have prayed and then done nothing but wait for God to move you Himself. Of course, we know that’s not the way God really works. God may open many doors for us, or He may open just one, but the fact remains we have to walk through the door to get on the other side.

In 1 Corinthians 10:13, Paul writes the following, “No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it.” No matter what the situation, God promises us a safe path through it. Our belief leads us to accept that as truth, and our faith leads us to act on that belief by looking for the opportunities God has made available and doing whatever we can to make use of them. When you pray, do you expect God to do all the work, or are you willing to meet Him halfway?

Reclaiming What's Been Lost

As you may have noticed from some of my other articles on this site, I spend a lot of time thinking about the differences between the Christians of the 1st Century and us today. One of the differences that comes to my mind first is the way we look at “going to church.” I think we’ve lost something that was clearly present among the early Christians, but it doesn’t have to be lost forever. I’d like to explore some of the attitudes about “going to church” that those early Christians had, because I really do think we’ve lost something great that we need to reclaim.

In Acts 2:42-47, Luke describes something great that would probably seem a little strange to us today. Not only did the early Christians meet together on the first day of the week, but every moment of their lives were fully devoted to following the teachings of Christ given to them by the apostles. They lived their lives with Christ as their absolute top priority as they devoted themselves to prayer in every situation they faced. They chose to be together with other Christians every single day of the week so they could eat, praise, and worship God…together.

We can see from that passage in Acts a little about the early Christians’ attitude toward each other, but I like how Paul elaborates on that even further. When Paul wrote his letters to the churches, he always started the same way. He began by thanking God for them and their faith. With great sincerity and eloquence he reaffirmed his Christian love for all his brothers and sisters who would be reading that letter. He even included the new converts that he hadn’t yet been able to meet but had heard about and rejoiced with. Another common theme in all of Paul’s letters was his strong desire to be reunited with those he loved so much. It hurt him that he couldn’t be with them all the time, and he wanted nothing more than to be joined with them again.

Just take those examples for now. You should already be able to see some differences in our attitude toward “going to church” and that of the 1st Century followers. For one reason or another, getting together with other Christians has become somewhat routine for us. We seem to have lost the spark that Luke and Paul write about. Maybe it’s because you work long hours at a hard job, and the weekend is your time to retreat from everything and crash. Maybe it’s because you see church attendance as just another obligation, and you know if you don’t show up somebody will call and ask where you were. Maybe your reason is different, but the fact remains that our attitude toward being with other Christians just isn’t what it could be, and our lives are not as joyful because of it.

It’s true that many things compete for our time today, and the main portion of our time is spent just trying to put food on the table for our family. After working hard all week, we do need a time of rest; but our idea of rest may need a little adjusting. Unless you work around nothing but Christians all week long, you’re bound to feel a little disconnected by the end of the week. That’s just how we were made; humans need contact with other humans to survive, and Christians need contact with other Christians to survive spiritually. You see, “church” was never intended to be an obligation.

We have the privilege of being able to gather together with other Christians at least once each week, and we need to view it as a privilege. The early Christians had to be secretive about their meetings for fear of persecution, but we don’t have that worry today. How often do we think about that? The early Christians gathered together every day to recharge their batteries and renew their spirits. If you’re feeling drained by the end of the week, are you looking forward to your time to get together with other Christians, or do you see it as a routine? My point is simple; in the 1st Century, thousands of new Christians were being added to Christ’s church every day as a result of dedicated, sincere, and joyful spirits. Just imagine what we could do for God’s kingdom today if we had the same attitudes they did!

Piecemeal Theology

Despite Paul's plea for Christian unity in 1 Corinthians 1:10, the universal church (worldwide body of all Christians) has been divided beyond belief. There are many theological areas on which these denominations differ, and maybe I'll write about some of those at a later date, but there is one area of disagreement that must be discussed first and foremost. You see, among the many differences in denominations, some of them are no more than personal preferences rather than Biblical teachings, but God's plan for salvation is the most important and applicable subject in the entire Bible. Since this is such an important part of Scripture, we would like to think it's the one subject all believers can agree on. Unfortunately, our 21st Century piecemeal approach to studying and understanding Scripture has divided the church even on this most important subject.

Our modern-day culture tells us that we should do whatever it is that makes us happy. In the context of studying God's Word, that means we should take a piecemeal approach by picking apart verses and passages until we create answers that make us comfortable and happy. This couldn't be further from the way God intended us to study Scripture! Not only does this approach cause even more division, but instead of actually learning about God and His teachings, we separate ourselves further from the truth. God's inspired teachings, which have been preserved at great cost throughout history, were given to us as a package. This package was not meant to be taken apart and to have us use only the pieces we like the best. To better illustrate this point, let's look at how detrimental this approach is when applying it to understanding God's teaching on salvation.

I'm going to do my best to accurately represent two different interpretations of the Bible's teachings on salvation. Although there may be variations to these, or even more than two major interpretations, I'm going to focus on the two that I see as the main ones. There are some (I would say most0 believers who interpret the Bible in a way that teaches salvation is given to anyone who simply believes in God and "accepts" Him into their heart. (Romans 10:9) The other interpretation of Scripture teaches that a person must submit to God in an obedient faith and be baptized for the forgiveness of their sins. (Acts 2:38, 8:26-40)

It is true that Romans 10:9 says anyone who believes in God and confesses that belief with their lips will be saved. However, is that the only verse in the whole Bible that discusses salvation? Absolutely not. In Acts 2, we read about Peter and the other Apostles preaching to a crowd gathered in Jerusalem on the day of Pentecost. The crowd consisted of many of the people who did not believe Jesus was who He said He was and put him to death. After hearing what Peter and the other Apostles said, the people in the crowd finally believed the things Jesus said and realized what they had done. They were sorrowful for what they had done, and they asked Peter what to do to obtain salvation (forgiveness for their sins). "Peter replied, repent and be baptized every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit." (Acts 2:38)

It is clear that the people in the crowd did in fact believe in God and Jesus as the Son of God simply by their sorrow and desire to be forgiven. If belief alone was how one obtained salvation, why did Peter tell them to be baptized for the forgiveness of their sins? You see, if we take a piecemeal approach to understanding God's plan for salvation, we could easily be led to a false teaching. However, if we take ALL of God's teachings about salvation and combine them to get the entire package, we see a much different picture. When we do this, we see that a person is saved when they 1) believe 2) repent 3) confess their belief 4) obey God's command to be baptized. Although belief and an oral confession of that belief is part of how a person enters a saved state, by itself it is only a part of the whole equation.

I usually like to write articles that challenge or encourage us in our daily walk with God, but sometimes we need to get back to the basics and get a firm understanding of the fundamental principles of Christianity. There are many, many people in the world today who are teaching piecemeal theology. I urge you, I plead with you, I beg you to read God's Word for yourself. Never should you trust what someone says about the Bible simply because they say they know what they're talking about. God used simple people to write His teachings in a simple language so that all of us could easily understand them. The only thing we have to do is read the entire package.

The Holes in the Post

Do you ever think back to when you were a child, to a time when you first learned a very valuable lesson about life? We all learned many lessons while we were growing up, but we'll always have memories of those lessons that had a huge impact on our life. Something I struggled with while I was growing up was keeping control of my mouth, mostly because I simply didn't understand how big of an impact my words had on other people. My mom shared with me an illustration to help me understand just that, and it actually has some new meaning for me today. She told me a story of a young boy who was helping someone paint a fence. Each time the boy would get angry, he would go back to a part that was nicely painted and hammer nails into the wood. After the boy realized what he had done was wrong, he pulled out the nails. When he did this several times, he realized that even though he tried to correct what he did wrong, there were still visible holes in the new paint where his nails had been.

I was able to eventually learn the lesson that words have a lasting effect on people's hearts, but that was only part of the lesson. Most often, when we think about someone being hurt, we think about physical bodily injury. In reality, some of the greatest pain we could ever experience can be the result of mere words. Aside from hurtful words, I don't know many things that can affect us just as severely thirty years from now as they did today.

Although my first lesson with this did not come from the Bible, it is a subject that many New Testament writers devoted a great deal of time to. We all know how hurtful words can be, but something we may not understand completely is how much effort we must put into controlling our mouth. We may not think of our tongue as a very powerful weapon, but James 3:3-18 shows us just how dangerous it can be. Psalm 140:3 says, "They make their tongues as sharp as a serpent's; the poison of vipers is on their lips."

I have in no way mastered the skill of keeping every possibly hurtful thought to myself instead of sharing it, but what I find throughout Scripture are more reasons for me to try even harder. It doesn't matter if we struggle with casual gossip or malicious slander, it can all hurt the same and the pain can be long lasting. Paul had a solution to this problem that he shared with the people at Ephesus. In Ephesians 4:29, he instructs them to use their mouths only for the building up of others. I know this is a foreign idea and almost anti-culture to the people who love to share all of their opinions with others, but maybe anti-culture is exactly what we need.

It's no secret that Christian living is something we need help with from other people around us, and this particular subject is no exception. I'm always grateful when I find myself in company that doesn't let me gossip or slander someone without kindly and lovingly helping me notice what I did. It's amazing the difference I see in my actions simply because of what someone else had the courage to point out.

Hidden Cost or Hidden Treasure?

"Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world , but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is — his good, pleasing and perfect will." Romans 12:2 (NIV)

From the time that I became a Christian and started studying God's Word I have wrestled with my understanding of Romans 12 and the implications it has for my life, especially the second verse. Christians are faced with many difficult tasks, but one of the most difficult is taking teachings given to people of a 1st Century Eastern culture and attempting to reconcile them with the 21st Century Western culture we live in today. Most of the time, when we go through this process, we unknowingly and unintentionally dismiss core Biblical teachings when they contradict or oppose the culture we live in. In fact, we allow our culture and society's standards to influence our interpretation of Scripture more than we may realize.

I don't think it's an understatement to say that our society has turned just about as far as it can away from God's intended design for life. As Christians, we are privileged to be able to live a different life; one of peace and true happiness that comes only from Christ. We are privileged, but it doesn't stop there. We have a duty, a responsibility, to live a life that shows who we belong to; the world or God. We just cannot sit by any longer and allow our culture to impact the way we live as Christians.

I don't enjoy being different just for the sake of being different, because I don't like the unnecessary attention. However, sometimes you just have to take a stand for the things that matter most. At the end of many days I often think about what other people saw in me that day. I wonder if I blended in or if there was at least one person who stopped for a moment to think about what's different in me. There's nothing especially great about me and that's not where I'm going, but in each and every Christian lives the very Spirit of God.

Sure, you could say there are some "hidden costs" involved in living a Christian life the way God intended, but they pale in comparison to the indescribable treasures we find when we disregard the worldly things and fully submit to God's desires for us. I'll ask you to reflect on that same question I often think about. Through the way you live your life, would anyone who came into contact with you today have been able to tell you are a Christian?