Tag: life together

What God Does in Our Lives

Romans 8:28-29

And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters (NIV).

One day by grace, we heard Christ call us to follow him. Since that time, we have been on a spiritual journey in which God develops his purpose in us. He acts in us according to his will and good pleasure. Perhaps we don’t think often enough that he is active inside us by the Spirit and the word. He forms new thoughts, ideas, and attitudes; for example, the calmness of depending on him, as we walk through circumstances in which we can do little else. When you’re on the operating table right before emergency surgery, he teaches this quickly.

God is active in our lives, but what is he actively working for? Our text quoted above tells us that God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. We need to listen carefully at this point, because we all want to define what the good is. However, let’s walk away from our own desires (a.k.a. self-denial) and embrace what the Lord desires for his people. The Spirit tells us two aspects of his purpose.

First, God acts in all things that we will be conformed to the image of his Son. God wants Christ to be formed in us (Galatians 4:19). The Spirit forms us by the gospel and making the presence of Christ real to us, so that we have “Christ-structured” lives. For example, as you read the Gospels, you see Christ’s patience with people, both his disciples and his opponents. People failed to grasp what he said, and so he had to repeat, repeat, and repeat. The Spirit wants that same kind of character in us; therefore, he directs us in situations which require great patience from us. Will we fail? Yes, many times, and the Lord knows that we will fail. But the goal is Christ-likeness, not what we call perfect behavior. God does not seek a group of perfect little Pharisees, but people being formed into Christ-likeness.

Second, God acts in all things that we will be part of many brothers and sisters of whom Christ is the firstborn. In other words, God’s purpose is for each follower of Jesus to be part of his spiritual family. The goal for an individual follower of Christ cannot be detached from the whole family of believers. You see, holiness is not an individual matter; it is a family matter. Consecration to God is what happens when we walk in love together toward God. In Pilgrim’s Progress, Bunyan paints a scene where Christian vaingloriously runs ahead of Faithful, and then in his pride falls. Christian cannot get up to continue the journey until Faithful comes and helps him to stand. In the same way, God has ordered that our destiny involves a spiritual journey with our brothers and sisters in Christ. So then, we must become Christ-like together.

Have you been attempting your spiritual journey toward glory by your own definition of good and in isolation from close fellowship with others? If so, please let this text redefine your journey. Submit to God’s purpose and seek partnership with other followers of Christ.

Grace and peace, David

A Forgotten Responsibility

IMG_3993Hebrews 10:24

Observe the progression in this passage (Hebrews 10:19-25). The writer moves from the way we live before God to the way we live before people outside the church to the way we live before one another in the church. Sharing life together in the church used to be overlooked almost completely. For example, Jerry Bridges said that his least popular book was True Fellowship. They even tried to increase sales by giving it a new title, The Crisis of Caring, but it didn’t work. Now thankfully, more attention is given to life as a body of believers. Yet there is a long way to go. To paraphrase a comment by the seventeenth century writer John Owen, the Christians of old used to live as spoken of in this text. But now the principles of building one another up have been lost as if the New Testament Scriptures had never presented them. Surely our life before God is crucial and primary. And we must never forget our responsibility to live as a light in the world. However, the restoration of biblical practice in a culture of “me first” needs to be a constant emphasis.  And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds… (NIV).

Believers are capable to serve another. This might seem obvious, but too many have the wrong opinion that such matters are better left to the professionals, since they have more skill and time. In contrast, the Spirit says through the writer, “Let us consider…” This means that each of us are to pay thoughtful attention to the ways that we can help one another. (The same verb is used in Hebrews 3:1.)

A right approach begins with the correction of a mistaken idea. We can call this the “professional minister” view: the church has a pastor or pastors so that the members can release themselves from any duty to one another. The roots of this view are such concepts as a wrong view of church authority, an idolization of institutional education, a practical lack of spiritual maturity among God’s people, and self-centeredness. The essence of the idea can be stated this way: “We’ve got the pastors; let them do it!” But notice carefully that this text lends no support to such a mistaken idea. The Holy Spirit does not say, “Let the pastor (or the pastors or the church staff) consider how they may….”

In the Bible the Lord stresses the responsibility of each member of every local assembly to help each other spiritually (Romans 14:19; 15:14; Colossians 3:16; 1 Thessalonians 5:11,14-15; Hebrews 3:13). Since the Holy Spirit has been given by Christ to help us (Romans 8:26), and since we have the sufficient Scriptures (2 Timothy 3:16), we should never plead incompetence in this manner. The Spirit of God loves to help the ordinary follower of Jesus to build up and strengthen and encourage and care for other believers.

To continue a correct approach, we must launch a new attitude. Our starting point is the reality of all that we are and have by God’s grace. We are right with God and have the position of an adult son in the Father’s family. You have the Holy Spirit as your leader, the Bible, and in many cases years of Biblical training. Since these things are so, each of us need to see ourselves as fellow workers in the job of building up the body of Christ (Ephesians 4:12). Brothers and sisters, our time cards are in the rack by the time clock; it’s time to punch in and get to work helping each other. Don’t wait for tomorrow. How much can we do today for the cause of God and truth?

This involves the application of what God has taught us. Certainly first to ourselves and then to others in God’s family. How fervently we ought to pray, “Lord, help me demonstrate the reality of your truth in my life, my family and my church.” But then, we need to stir ourselves to act. This requires more than merely agreeing, “Yes, I need to do something… sometime.” We need to be alert to opportunities to help one another. Find ways to act!

Grace and peace, David