I recently participated in an exercise that was very helpful. You may want to try this, too. Take a sheet of paper and make three columns. Title the three columns with the following titles: public self, private self, secret self.
Your public self is who people see in public. Describe how other people typically see you or how you would describe your public self.
Your private self is who the people you live with see. Describe how the people you live with typically see you or how you see yourself at home.
Your secret self is only who you see. Describe how you see yourself in secret.
Do you see three different people? Who is the real you?
Now, if people love your public self, yet that self is very different than your secret self, do they really love you? Do they love some person you’ve created that really isn’t who you see yourself as? Or if the person your family sees is very different than the public, then who is the true you?
Followers of Jesus are called to be authentic, vulnerable, above reproach, etc. We are called to be who we are and not try and hide behind some image we want to portray.
How are you doing in being who you are? Now there are two parts to who we are, aren’t there? We are clay jars – broken, fragile, ordinary, sinful, etc. But we also can be filled with treasure. And as that treasure dwells in our clay jar, our jar is changed. It becomes beautiful, not because of us, but because of what is inside of us. (It’s the child of Adam/child of God tension.)
Another question: Do you continue to feel shame and guilt over experiences and sin in your life that you believe you are forgiven for? Why does the shame and guilt remain if you believe you are forgiven? Is it because of a lack of belief?
Jesus says He wants us to be free. Freedom means freedom from shame and guilt.
So what’s the catch? Why is there this gap between what we believe and what we experience?
It takes us back to the public, private and secret self exercise.
Let me share from my own experience.
I am human, broken, and sinful. Because of this, I have trouble receiving what God offers in grace and forgiveness. I agree that I am forgiven because of the work of Jesus, but my experience of that grace and forgiveness is more challenging. I need the tangible evidence of this grace and forgiveness which rarely happens because of what I think in my head.
When I was in college, I was sexually active. As a result, I was burdened with shame and guilt for a long period of time. I was involved in ministry, loved Jesus, and was supposed to be a role model to others. Yet, in my secret self, I knew this was not true because of my sin, so I spent a lot of time beating myself up. I asked for forgiveness over and over again. I’m sure God was tired of me asking and wondered why I didn’t believe Him when He said I was forgiven.
Yet it wasn’t until Alisa and I began dating and moving toward marriage that something very significant took place. I told her about my past and I asked her for forgiveness. I was not giving her what she deserved. I went into that conversation with a great deal of fear and shame. Would she love me if she knew the whole truth?
Alisa forgave me. She loved (and still loves) me. In spite of my sin and who then I see myself as, she loves me. I experienced grace. I experienced the grace of Jesus Christ through Alisa.
My shame and guilt are gone. What once was in the secret place – where I could not imagine anyone knowing this about me – is now in the public place. And when I think about this part of my life, I no longer feel guilt or shame but grace.
That which we keep in the secret place often has power over us. It is often used by Satan to keep us feeling guilty and shameful. Did you hear that? It is Satan who wants you to continue to live in guilt and with shame. Jesus did not come to condemn the world but to free it. He did not come to bring a life filled with guilt and shame, but to set us free from our bondage to sin.
But we need each other in order to experience this grace and forgiveness. The person who led this exercise said this, “Vulnerability is the seedbed to personal transformation.”
Think about that for a moment. Jesus loves you for who you are – with all the wounds, junk, baggage, shame, etc. He loves you. There is nothing you can do that would make Jesus love you less. There is nothing you can do that will make Jesus love you more. His love for you is unconditional and unchanging.
When we allow ourselves to be known by another for who we are – it is a risk – but it is also an opportunity to allow Jesus (through this living, breathing person) to express the truth of His love for you.
I need that. I believe we all do. But it will not happen until we are willing to be who we are. This is not a call to bear your soul with everyone you meet, but I hope you will consider letting at least one person know everything about you. Don’t allow what is kept in secret to have power over you and keep you from experiencing the freedom Christ so desires you to have.
Christ’s vision for you is to live in grace, His grace.
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
12 Steps - Genuine Repentance?
How do you think the 12 steps of AA reflect the pathway (or not) to genuine repentance?
THE TWELVE STEPS OF ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS (my additions in italics)
1. We admitted we were powerless over alcohol (sin)—that our lives had become unmanageable.
2. Came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity.
3. Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood Him.
4. Made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves.
5. Admitted to God, to ourselves, and to another human being the exact nature of our wrongs.
6. Were entirely ready to have God remove all these defects of character.
7. Humbly asked Him to remove our shortcomings.
8. Made a list of all persons we had harmed, and became willing to make amends to them all.
9. Made direct amends to such people wherever possible, except when to do so would injure them or others.
10. Continued to take personal inventory and when we were wrong promptly admitted it.
11. Sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with God, as we understood Him, praying only for knowledge of His will for us and the power to carry that out.
12. Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these Steps, we tried to carry this message to alcoholics (sinners), and to practice these principles in all our affairs.
THE TWELVE STEPS OF ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS (my additions in italics)
1. We admitted we were powerless over alcohol (sin)—that our lives had become unmanageable.
2. Came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity.
3. Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood Him.
4. Made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves.
5. Admitted to God, to ourselves, and to another human being the exact nature of our wrongs.
6. Were entirely ready to have God remove all these defects of character.
7. Humbly asked Him to remove our shortcomings.
8. Made a list of all persons we had harmed, and became willing to make amends to them all.
9. Made direct amends to such people wherever possible, except when to do so would injure them or others.
10. Continued to take personal inventory and when we were wrong promptly admitted it.
11. Sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with God, as we understood Him, praying only for knowledge of His will for us and the power to carry that out.
12. Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these Steps, we tried to carry this message to alcoholics (sinners), and to practice these principles in all our affairs.
Notes on the Beatitudes - Wilkins
The following excerpts are taken from Michael Wilkins commentary on Matthew in the NIV Application Commentary Series, pages 204 – 211.
Makarios (Greek for blessed) is a state of existence in relationship to God in which a person is “blessed” from God’s perspective even when he or she doesn’t feel happy or isn’t presently experiencing good fortune. . . Negative feelings, absence of feelings, or adverse conditions cannot take away the blessedness of those who exist in relationship with God. (204)
Blessed are the poor in spirit . . . (5:3). The “poor” are those who have encountered unfortunate circumstances from an economic point of view, but also persons who are spiritually and emotionally oppressed, disillusioned, and in need of God’s help. . . We hear this in the psalmist as he cries out in Psalm 40:7:
Yet I am poor and needy;
may the Lord think of me.
You are my help and my deliverer;
O my God, do not delay.
This attitude of humility in the harsh realities of life makes a person open to receive the blessings of the kingdom of heaven. (205-206)
. . . for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. . . The first beatitude undercuts the predominant worldview that assumes that material blessings are a sign of God’s approval in one’s life and that they automatically flow from one’s spiritual blessings. Instead, Jesus teaches that the norm of the kingdom of heaven is spiritual bankruptcy, unlike the spiritual self-sufficiency that was characteristic of religious leaders. (206)
Blessed are those who mourn . . . (5:4). . . The loss of anything that a person counts valuable will produce mourning, whether it’s one’s financial support, or loved ones, or status in society, or even one’s spiritual standing before God. . . Those who are self-satisfied are tempted to rejoice in themselves and their accomplishments, but those who have reached the bottom of the barrel, whether it is spiritual or emotional or financial, or those who see the bankruptcy of those around them, will mourn.
. . . for they will be comforted. . . The arrival of the kingdom of heaven in Jesus’ ministry brings the first taste of God’s comforting blessing. (206)
. . . But our mourning does not turn to the grief of those who have no hope (1 Thess. 4:13). We mourn oppression and persecution, but we do not despair, because we know the end of the story. We mourn over personal sin and social evil, because we mourn the things that God mourns. But as we mourn, we become instruments of the good news of the kingdom of heaven as we bring the comfort of God with which we ourselves have been comforted (2 Cor. 1:3-7). (206-207)
Blessed are the meek . . . (5:5). The domineering, the aggressive, the harsh, and the tyrannical are often those who attempt to dominate the earth and establish their own little kingdoms. But Jesus says that it is the “gentle” will inherit the earth, harking back to the psalmist who encourages those who have been treated harshly by evildoers (Ps. 37:9, 11). This shifts the focus from individual personal qualities (“poor in spirit,” “those who mourn” to interpersonal attributes (“the gentle”), to people who do not assert themselves over others in order to advance their own causes.
. . . for they will inherit the earth. . . Ultimately this points to the reign of Christ on this earth (25:35), but even now Jesus’ disciples have entered into their spiritual inheritance.
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness . . . (5:6). Persons who “hunger and thirst” are in dire need. They will perish if they are not filled. Such is the passion of those who desire righteousness. . . It (righteousness) includes “justice” for those who have been downtrodden or who have experienced injustice. It includes the idea of personal ethical righteousness for those who desire a life lived above the entanglements of sin. And as in 3:15, it includes the salvation-historical sense of God’s saving activity. Those who hunger and thirst for righteousness desire to see justice executed on earth, they long to experience a deeper ethical righteousness in their own lives, and most of all they crave God’s promised salvation come to the earth. (207)
. . . for they will be filled. The ultimate source of this kind of righteousness is God himself (cf. Ps. 42:1-2; 63:1). His enablement is the only satisfaction for those who long for his standard of righteousness written in his law. . . That divine satisfaction will come in a final sense in God’s future reign, but it will be experienced in the present by those who respond to Jesus’ invitation to kingdom life and enter into a relationship with him as he fills their deepest personal hunger and thirst for righteousness.
. . . As they continue to experience the transformation that accompanies life in the realm of the kingdom of heaven, their hunger and thirst for God’s righteousness remains real as they live in the already – not yet of the present age, experiencing a passionate concern for the right things in kingdom living. This passionate pursuit of righteousness flows from a transformed heart.
Blessed are the merciful . . . (5:7). . . Likewise, the merciful are those who demonstrate forgiveness toward the guilty and kindness for the hurting and needy. The religious leadership in Jesus’ day tended toward being merciless because of their demand for rigorous observance of the law. Their motive was commendable in that it was driven by a desire for the people of Israel to be pure, but it was inexcusable because their unbending demands produced harshness and condemnation toward those who did not meet their standards. (208)
. . . for they will be shown mercy. Without sacrificing God’s standard of holiness, Jesus commends those who demonstrate mercy toward the needy, because the mercy that they show others will be shown toward them. . . The religious leaders cannot receive God’s mercy because they have become so self-satisfied with their own religious attainments that they don’t believe they need mercy. (208-209)
. . . The true disciple has experienced God’s merciful forgiveness toward an undeserving sinner, which in turn will produce such overwhelming gratitude and deep understanding of forgiveness that he or she will in turn demonstrate that same mercy toward other undeserving sinners.
Blessed are the pure in heart . . . (5:8). . . Observing all the Old Testament laws of being clean could bypass the most important purity of all, purity of the heart. Jesus declares here that a pure heart is what produces external purity, not vice versa. . . a pure heart describes a person whose single-minded loyalty to God affects every area of life.
. . . for they will see God. . . But Jesus pronouncement of this beatitude to those of his day also has an immediate fulfillment of their hopes. Jesus is Immanuel, “God with us” (1:23). For those who have set their heart on God and not simply religious ritualism and who respond to Jesus’ message of the gospel of the kingdom, they are invited to enter into a fellowship with him in which they will experience the unthinkable; they will se God in Jesus. (209)
Blessed are the peacemakers . . (5:9) . . . (Peace) indicates completeness and wholeness in every area of life, including one’s relationship with God, neighbors, and nations. . . But the real peacemakers are those who bring the good news that “your God reigns,” who brings ultimate harmony between all peoples (cf. Isa. 52:7). Making peace, therefore, has messianic overtones, and the true peacemakers are those who wait and work for God, who makes whole the division created by humans. (209-210)
. . . for they will be called sons of God. . . Those who have waited for God’s messianic peace can now respond to Jesus’ invitation, and they will receive the ultimate reward: to be called “sons of God,” fulfilling the role that Israel has assumed but taken for granted. Those who respond to Jesus’ ministry are heirs of the kingdom and reflect the character of their heavenly Father as they carry Jesus’ mission of peacemaking to the world. (210)
Makarios (Greek for blessed) is a state of existence in relationship to God in which a person is “blessed” from God’s perspective even when he or she doesn’t feel happy or isn’t presently experiencing good fortune. . . Negative feelings, absence of feelings, or adverse conditions cannot take away the blessedness of those who exist in relationship with God. (204)
Blessed are the poor in spirit . . . (5:3). The “poor” are those who have encountered unfortunate circumstances from an economic point of view, but also persons who are spiritually and emotionally oppressed, disillusioned, and in need of God’s help. . . We hear this in the psalmist as he cries out in Psalm 40:7:
Yet I am poor and needy;
may the Lord think of me.
You are my help and my deliverer;
O my God, do not delay.
This attitude of humility in the harsh realities of life makes a person open to receive the blessings of the kingdom of heaven. (205-206)
. . . for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. . . The first beatitude undercuts the predominant worldview that assumes that material blessings are a sign of God’s approval in one’s life and that they automatically flow from one’s spiritual blessings. Instead, Jesus teaches that the norm of the kingdom of heaven is spiritual bankruptcy, unlike the spiritual self-sufficiency that was characteristic of religious leaders. (206)
Blessed are those who mourn . . . (5:4). . . The loss of anything that a person counts valuable will produce mourning, whether it’s one’s financial support, or loved ones, or status in society, or even one’s spiritual standing before God. . . Those who are self-satisfied are tempted to rejoice in themselves and their accomplishments, but those who have reached the bottom of the barrel, whether it is spiritual or emotional or financial, or those who see the bankruptcy of those around them, will mourn.
. . . for they will be comforted. . . The arrival of the kingdom of heaven in Jesus’ ministry brings the first taste of God’s comforting blessing. (206)
. . . But our mourning does not turn to the grief of those who have no hope (1 Thess. 4:13). We mourn oppression and persecution, but we do not despair, because we know the end of the story. We mourn over personal sin and social evil, because we mourn the things that God mourns. But as we mourn, we become instruments of the good news of the kingdom of heaven as we bring the comfort of God with which we ourselves have been comforted (2 Cor. 1:3-7). (206-207)
Blessed are the meek . . . (5:5). The domineering, the aggressive, the harsh, and the tyrannical are often those who attempt to dominate the earth and establish their own little kingdoms. But Jesus says that it is the “gentle” will inherit the earth, harking back to the psalmist who encourages those who have been treated harshly by evildoers (Ps. 37:9, 11). This shifts the focus from individual personal qualities (“poor in spirit,” “those who mourn” to interpersonal attributes (“the gentle”), to people who do not assert themselves over others in order to advance their own causes.
. . . for they will inherit the earth. . . Ultimately this points to the reign of Christ on this earth (25:35), but even now Jesus’ disciples have entered into their spiritual inheritance.
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness . . . (5:6). Persons who “hunger and thirst” are in dire need. They will perish if they are not filled. Such is the passion of those who desire righteousness. . . It (righteousness) includes “justice” for those who have been downtrodden or who have experienced injustice. It includes the idea of personal ethical righteousness for those who desire a life lived above the entanglements of sin. And as in 3:15, it includes the salvation-historical sense of God’s saving activity. Those who hunger and thirst for righteousness desire to see justice executed on earth, they long to experience a deeper ethical righteousness in their own lives, and most of all they crave God’s promised salvation come to the earth. (207)
. . . for they will be filled. The ultimate source of this kind of righteousness is God himself (cf. Ps. 42:1-2; 63:1). His enablement is the only satisfaction for those who long for his standard of righteousness written in his law. . . That divine satisfaction will come in a final sense in God’s future reign, but it will be experienced in the present by those who respond to Jesus’ invitation to kingdom life and enter into a relationship with him as he fills their deepest personal hunger and thirst for righteousness.
. . . As they continue to experience the transformation that accompanies life in the realm of the kingdom of heaven, their hunger and thirst for God’s righteousness remains real as they live in the already – not yet of the present age, experiencing a passionate concern for the right things in kingdom living. This passionate pursuit of righteousness flows from a transformed heart.
Blessed are the merciful . . . (5:7). . . Likewise, the merciful are those who demonstrate forgiveness toward the guilty and kindness for the hurting and needy. The religious leadership in Jesus’ day tended toward being merciless because of their demand for rigorous observance of the law. Their motive was commendable in that it was driven by a desire for the people of Israel to be pure, but it was inexcusable because their unbending demands produced harshness and condemnation toward those who did not meet their standards. (208)
. . . for they will be shown mercy. Without sacrificing God’s standard of holiness, Jesus commends those who demonstrate mercy toward the needy, because the mercy that they show others will be shown toward them. . . The religious leaders cannot receive God’s mercy because they have become so self-satisfied with their own religious attainments that they don’t believe they need mercy. (208-209)
. . . The true disciple has experienced God’s merciful forgiveness toward an undeserving sinner, which in turn will produce such overwhelming gratitude and deep understanding of forgiveness that he or she will in turn demonstrate that same mercy toward other undeserving sinners.
Blessed are the pure in heart . . . (5:8). . . Observing all the Old Testament laws of being clean could bypass the most important purity of all, purity of the heart. Jesus declares here that a pure heart is what produces external purity, not vice versa. . . a pure heart describes a person whose single-minded loyalty to God affects every area of life.
. . . for they will see God. . . But Jesus pronouncement of this beatitude to those of his day also has an immediate fulfillment of their hopes. Jesus is Immanuel, “God with us” (1:23). For those who have set their heart on God and not simply religious ritualism and who respond to Jesus’ message of the gospel of the kingdom, they are invited to enter into a fellowship with him in which they will experience the unthinkable; they will se God in Jesus. (209)
Blessed are the peacemakers . . (5:9) . . . (Peace) indicates completeness and wholeness in every area of life, including one’s relationship with God, neighbors, and nations. . . But the real peacemakers are those who bring the good news that “your God reigns,” who brings ultimate harmony between all peoples (cf. Isa. 52:7). Making peace, therefore, has messianic overtones, and the true peacemakers are those who wait and work for God, who makes whole the division created by humans. (209-210)
. . . for they will be called sons of God. . . Those who have waited for God’s messianic peace can now respond to Jesus’ invitation, and they will receive the ultimate reward: to be called “sons of God,” fulfilling the role that Israel has assumed but taken for granted. Those who respond to Jesus’ ministry are heirs of the kingdom and reflect the character of their heavenly Father as they carry Jesus’ mission of peacemaking to the world. (210)
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
Grace-based Giving
I really appreciated Scott Hafeman’s help as I studied 2 Corinthians 8:1-15. Here are a few quotes from his commentary on the book of 2 Corinthians in the NIV Application Commentary Series that were especially helpful:
The grace of God received by the Macedonians was their ability to “well up” with a “wealth of generosity” toward others in the midst of their own afflictions (v. 2b). Only the grace of God can account for such generosity springing from the soil of their “extreme poverty” on the one hand, while at the same time issuing forth from their “overflowing joy” on the other! (332)
Such giving in the midst of adversity with joy (!) confirms that one’s faith is real . . . Joyful giving to others and joy in one’s good fortune, even in the midst of one’s own poverty and suffering, is the sign of having received God’s grace. (332)
The greatest expression of God’s grace in a person’s life is not its demonstration toward others, but its response to God and his cause. The most important thing for Paul is not that the Macedonians gave their money to others, but that they gave their lives to God. . . (333)
Genuine obedience is an act of delight-driven duty. The greatest way to honor the one who commands is not to obey because one must, but to do what is required with joy, having willingly given oneself to his authority. . . (337)
Jesus’ incarnation illustrates that the “grace” expressed in love is the willingness to give up one’s own rights for the sake of meeting the needs of others. (337-338)
By comparing the Corinthians to the Macedonians, who were less well off and yet gave beyond their means, . . . Paul is not trying to manipulate the believers in Corinth to do likewise. Rather, Paul’s qualification that the amount given need not exceed one’s ability (in contrast to the Macedonians) serves to emphasize the fundamental point that where the heart is, the will must follow. It is the condition of one’s heart and the circumstances of one’s life, not the attempt to measure up to the practices of others, that should determine how much a person will give. As Paul makes clear in this passage, genuine desire acts. The issue is not the amount given (but cf. 9:5-11), but the expression of willingness. Action without the right attitude is of no avail, but a genuine attitude inevitably results in action. (339-340)
For Paul, the basis for giving to others is not what they have done or will do for us, but what God has already done for us in Christ. The foundation of giving is God’s grace. (342)
Paul stresses that the Macedonians’ generosity derived from their joy; their joy did not derive from their generosity. The progression of thought in 8:2 is from grace to joy to giving, not the other way around. Their giving was an expression of God’s grace, not their own moral or spiritual virtue; they gave to others because they were already experiencing an “overflowing joy” from God. Since God’s grace is the springboard for our giving, even our gifts rebound to God’s glory. The only real giver is God. (343)
Giving is not a way of showing God how much we can do for him, but a way of illustrating how much God has done for us. (343)
Paul sees no conflict between God’s grace and his commands. God’s commands express how the experience of his grace will manifest itself in everyday life. Every command of God is a promise of God in disguise. God commands what he commands because he promises what he promises. Obedience to his commands is made possible by trusting in his promises. (344)
Giving is not merely an expression of compassion for the needy. Nor is it simply a reflection of our own concern. Rather, the spiritual gift of giving to others is to be the reflex of our own joy in the grandeur of God’s gift to us in Christ. As we have seen, the Macedonians’ joy led to giving, not the other way around. (350)
How we spend our money is no innocent matter . .
(Hafeman now goes on to quote William Law who published A Serious Call to a Devout and Holy Life in 1728.)
Now this is truly the case of riches spent upon ourselves in vain and needless expenses; in trying to use them where they have no real use, nor we any real want, we only use them to our great hurt, in creating unreasonable desires, in nourishing ill tempers, in indulging our passions, and supporting a worldly, vain turn of mind.
. . . So that money thus spent is not merely wasted, or lost, but it is spent to bad purposes, and miserable effects, to the corruption and disorder of our hearts, and to the making us less able to live up to the sublime doctrines of the Gospel. It is but like keeping money from the poor to buy poison for ourselves. (ch. vi, 52-53)
As there is no foundation for comfort in the enjoyments of this life, but in the assurance that a wise and good God governeth the world, so that the more we find out God in every thing, the more we apply to Him in every place, the more we look up to Him in all our actions, the more we conform to His will, the more we act according to His wisdom, and imitate His goodness, by so much the more do we enjoy God, partake of the divine nature, and heighten and increase all that is happy and comfortable in human life. (ch. xi, 102)
Understood in this way, the Christian faith teaches believers how to use everything God has granted them, so that they “may have always the pleasure of receiving a right benefit from them” (ch. xi, 110). Specifically,
. . . it shows [a person] what is strictly right in meat, drink, and clothes; and that he has nothing else to expect from the things of this world but to satisfy such wants of his own, and then to extend his assistance to all his brethren, that, as far as he is able, he may help all his fellow-creatures to the same benefit from the world that he hath.
[Conversely] it tells him that this world is incapable of giving him any other happiness, and that all endeavors to be happy in heaps of money, or acres of land, in fine clothes, rich beds, stately equipage, and show and splendour, are only vain endeavours, ignorant attempts after impossibilities; these things being nor more able to give the least degree of happiness than dust in the eyes can cure thirst, or gravel in the mouth can satisfy hunger; but like dust and gravel misapplied, will only serve to render him more unhappy by such an ignorant misuse of them. (ch. xi, 110)
(355-356)
The grace of God received by the Macedonians was their ability to “well up” with a “wealth of generosity” toward others in the midst of their own afflictions (v. 2b). Only the grace of God can account for such generosity springing from the soil of their “extreme poverty” on the one hand, while at the same time issuing forth from their “overflowing joy” on the other! (332)
Such giving in the midst of adversity with joy (!) confirms that one’s faith is real . . . Joyful giving to others and joy in one’s good fortune, even in the midst of one’s own poverty and suffering, is the sign of having received God’s grace. (332)
The greatest expression of God’s grace in a person’s life is not its demonstration toward others, but its response to God and his cause. The most important thing for Paul is not that the Macedonians gave their money to others, but that they gave their lives to God. . . (333)
Genuine obedience is an act of delight-driven duty. The greatest way to honor the one who commands is not to obey because one must, but to do what is required with joy, having willingly given oneself to his authority. . . (337)
Jesus’ incarnation illustrates that the “grace” expressed in love is the willingness to give up one’s own rights for the sake of meeting the needs of others. (337-338)
By comparing the Corinthians to the Macedonians, who were less well off and yet gave beyond their means, . . . Paul is not trying to manipulate the believers in Corinth to do likewise. Rather, Paul’s qualification that the amount given need not exceed one’s ability (in contrast to the Macedonians) serves to emphasize the fundamental point that where the heart is, the will must follow. It is the condition of one’s heart and the circumstances of one’s life, not the attempt to measure up to the practices of others, that should determine how much a person will give. As Paul makes clear in this passage, genuine desire acts. The issue is not the amount given (but cf. 9:5-11), but the expression of willingness. Action without the right attitude is of no avail, but a genuine attitude inevitably results in action. (339-340)
For Paul, the basis for giving to others is not what they have done or will do for us, but what God has already done for us in Christ. The foundation of giving is God’s grace. (342)
Paul stresses that the Macedonians’ generosity derived from their joy; their joy did not derive from their generosity. The progression of thought in 8:2 is from grace to joy to giving, not the other way around. Their giving was an expression of God’s grace, not their own moral or spiritual virtue; they gave to others because they were already experiencing an “overflowing joy” from God. Since God’s grace is the springboard for our giving, even our gifts rebound to God’s glory. The only real giver is God. (343)
Giving is not a way of showing God how much we can do for him, but a way of illustrating how much God has done for us. (343)
Paul sees no conflict between God’s grace and his commands. God’s commands express how the experience of his grace will manifest itself in everyday life. Every command of God is a promise of God in disguise. God commands what he commands because he promises what he promises. Obedience to his commands is made possible by trusting in his promises. (344)
Giving is not merely an expression of compassion for the needy. Nor is it simply a reflection of our own concern. Rather, the spiritual gift of giving to others is to be the reflex of our own joy in the grandeur of God’s gift to us in Christ. As we have seen, the Macedonians’ joy led to giving, not the other way around. (350)
How we spend our money is no innocent matter . .
(Hafeman now goes on to quote William Law who published A Serious Call to a Devout and Holy Life in 1728.)
Now this is truly the case of riches spent upon ourselves in vain and needless expenses; in trying to use them where they have no real use, nor we any real want, we only use them to our great hurt, in creating unreasonable desires, in nourishing ill tempers, in indulging our passions, and supporting a worldly, vain turn of mind.
. . . So that money thus spent is not merely wasted, or lost, but it is spent to bad purposes, and miserable effects, to the corruption and disorder of our hearts, and to the making us less able to live up to the sublime doctrines of the Gospel. It is but like keeping money from the poor to buy poison for ourselves. (ch. vi, 52-53)
As there is no foundation for comfort in the enjoyments of this life, but in the assurance that a wise and good God governeth the world, so that the more we find out God in every thing, the more we apply to Him in every place, the more we look up to Him in all our actions, the more we conform to His will, the more we act according to His wisdom, and imitate His goodness, by so much the more do we enjoy God, partake of the divine nature, and heighten and increase all that is happy and comfortable in human life. (ch. xi, 102)
Understood in this way, the Christian faith teaches believers how to use everything God has granted them, so that they “may have always the pleasure of receiving a right benefit from them” (ch. xi, 110). Specifically,
. . . it shows [a person] what is strictly right in meat, drink, and clothes; and that he has nothing else to expect from the things of this world but to satisfy such wants of his own, and then to extend his assistance to all his brethren, that, as far as he is able, he may help all his fellow-creatures to the same benefit from the world that he hath.
[Conversely] it tells him that this world is incapable of giving him any other happiness, and that all endeavors to be happy in heaps of money, or acres of land, in fine clothes, rich beds, stately equipage, and show and splendour, are only vain endeavours, ignorant attempts after impossibilities; these things being nor more able to give the least degree of happiness than dust in the eyes can cure thirst, or gravel in the mouth can satisfy hunger; but like dust and gravel misapplied, will only serve to render him more unhappy by such an ignorant misuse of them. (ch. xi, 110)
(355-356)
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
Amazing Grace
My chains are gone
I've been set free
My God, my Savior has ransomed me
And like a flood His mercy rains
Unending love, Amazing grace
(Chris Tomlin)
The grace offered by Jesus Christ through His death sets us FREE!
Our guilt is covered in grace.
Our shame is covered in grace.
Our imperfect works are covered in grace.
We are free from debilitating guilt.
We are free from crippling shame.
We are free from trying to earn God’s love.
Amazing grace how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me.
I once was lost but now I’m found, was blind but now I see.
When we judge, we forget who we are.
When we seek the praise of men, we forget who we are.
When we love money and what it gets us, we forget who we are.
When we die to the one who seeks to live apart from grace, we truly live.
When I survey the wondrous cross
On which the Prince of Glory died
My richest gain I count but loss
And pour contempt on all my pride
Oh, the wonderful cross
Oh, the wonderful cross
Bids me come and die
And find that I may truly live
(The Wonderful Cross, Philips, Craig and Dean)
When we live as a receiver of grace, we become a conduit of grace. Other people experience grace when we are with them. We see them in grace as we are seen by Jesus in grace.
Yes, everything is for your sake, so that grace, as it extends to more and more people, may increase thanksgiving, to the glory of God. 2 Corinthians 4:15
Isn’t that amazing? Where there is grace, there is thanksgiving. Where there is thanksgiving, God is glorified.
Live by grace. Live in thanksgiving. Glorify God.
I've been set free
My God, my Savior has ransomed me
And like a flood His mercy rains
Unending love, Amazing grace
(Chris Tomlin)
The grace offered by Jesus Christ through His death sets us FREE!
Our guilt is covered in grace.
Our shame is covered in grace.
Our imperfect works are covered in grace.
We are free from debilitating guilt.
We are free from crippling shame.
We are free from trying to earn God’s love.
Amazing grace how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me.
I once was lost but now I’m found, was blind but now I see.
When we judge, we forget who we are.
When we seek the praise of men, we forget who we are.
When we love money and what it gets us, we forget who we are.
When we die to the one who seeks to live apart from grace, we truly live.
When I survey the wondrous cross
On which the Prince of Glory died
My richest gain I count but loss
And pour contempt on all my pride
Oh, the wonderful cross
Oh, the wonderful cross
Bids me come and die
And find that I may truly live
(The Wonderful Cross, Philips, Craig and Dean)
When we live as a receiver of grace, we become a conduit of grace. Other people experience grace when we are with them. We see them in grace as we are seen by Jesus in grace.
Yes, everything is for your sake, so that grace, as it extends to more and more people, may increase thanksgiving, to the glory of God. 2 Corinthians 4:15
Isn’t that amazing? Where there is grace, there is thanksgiving. Where there is thanksgiving, God is glorified.
Live by grace. Live in thanksgiving. Glorify God.
Crazy Love - Francis Chan
I just finished Francis Chan’s book, Crazy Love, and thought you might benefit from some of his words.
This book is written for those who want more Jesus. It is for those who are bored with what American Christianity offers. It is for those who don’t want to plateau, those who would rather die before their convictions do. (21)
The core problem isn’t the fact that we’re lukewarm, halfhearted, or stagnant Christians. The crux of it all is why we are this way, and it is because we have an inaccurate view of God. We see Him as a benevolent Being who is satisfied when people manage to fit Him into their lives in some small way. We forget that God never had an identity crisis. He knows that He’s great and deserves to be the center of our lives. Jesus came humbly as a servant, but He never begs us to give Him some small part of ourselves. He commands everything from His followers. (22)
R.C. Sproul writes, “Men are never duly touched and impressed with a conviction of their insignificance, until they have contrasted themselves with the majesty of God.” (26)
Isn’t it a comfort to worship a God we cannot exaggerate? (31)
. . . it is ridiculous for us to think we have the right to limit God to something we are capable of comprehending. What a stunted, insignificant god that would be. (31-32)
Can you worship a God who isn’t obligated to explain His actions to you? Could it be your arrogance that makes you think God owes you an explanation? (33)
. . . But to put it bluntly, when you get your own universe, you can make your own standards. When we disagree, let’s not assume it’s His reasoning that needs correction. (34)
Worry implies that we don’t quite trust that God is big enough, powerful enough, or loving enough to take care of what’s happening in our lives.
Stress says that the things we are involved in are important enough to merit our impatience, our lack of grace toward others, or our tight grip of control.
Basically, these two behaviors communicate that it’s okay to sin and not trust God because the stuff in my life is somehow exceptional. Both worry and stress reek of arrogance. They declare our tendency to forget that we’ve been forgiven, that our lives here are brief, that we are headed to a place where we won’t be lonely, afraid, or hurt ever again, and that in the context of God’s strength, our problems are small, indeed. (42)
The very fact that a holy, eternal, all-knowing, all-powerful, merciful, fair, and just God loves you and me is nothing short of astonishing.
The wildest part is that Jesus doesn’t have to love us. His being is utterly complete and perfect, apart from humanity. He doesn’t need me or you. Yet He wants us, chooses us, even considers us His inheritance (Eph. 1:18). The greatest knowledge we can ever have is knowing God treasures us.
That really is amazing beyond description. The holy Creator sees you as His “glorious inheritance.”
The irony is that while God doesn’t need us but still wants us, we desperately need God but don’t really want Him most of the time. He treasures us and anticipates our departure from this earth to be with Him – and we wonder, indifferently, how much we have to do for Him to get by. (61)
It is not scientific doubt, not atheism, not pantheism, not agnosticism, that in our day and in this land is likely to quench the light of the gospel. It is a proud, sensuous, selfish, luxurious, church-going, hollow-hearted prosperity.
(Frederic D. Huntington, Forum magazine, 1890)
The thought of a person calling himself a “Christian” without being a devoted follower of Christ is absurd. . . Is this idea of the non-fruit-bearing Christian something that we have concocted in order to make Christianity “easier”?
Let’s face it. We’re willing to make changes in our lives only if we think it affects our salvation. This is why I have so many people ask me questions like, Can I divorce my wife and still go to heaven? Do I have to be baptized to be saved? Am I a Christian even though I’m having sex with my girlfriend? If I commit suicide, can I still go to heaven? If I’m ashamed to talk about Christ, is He really going to deny knowing me?
To me, these questions are tragic because they reveal much about the state of our hearts. They demonstrate that our concern is more about going to heaven than loving the King. Jesus said, “If you love me, you will obey what I command” (John 14:15). And our question quickly becomes even more unthinkable: Can I go to heaven without truly and faithfully following Jesus? (86)
Robert Murray M’Cheyne was a Scottish pastor who died at the age of twenty-nine. Although he lived in the early part of the nineteenth century, his words are astoundingly appropriate for today:
I am concerned for the poor but more for you. I know not what Christ will say to you in the great day . . . I fear there are many hearing me who may know well that they are not Christians because they do not love to give. To give largely and liberally, not grudgingly at all, requires a new heart; an old heart would rather part with its life-blood than its money. Oh my friends! Enjoy your money; make the most of it; give none of it away; enjoy it quickly for I can tell you, you will be beggars for eternity. (90)
If life is a river, then pursuing Christ requires swimming upstream. When we stop swimming, or actively following Him, we automatically begin to be swept downstream. (95)
Are you willing to say to God that He can have whatever He wants? Do you believe that wholehearted commitment to Him is more important than any other thing or person in your life? Do you know that nothing you do in this life will ever matter, unless it is about loving God and loving the people He has made?
If the answer is yes, then let your bet match your talk. True faith means holding nothing back; it bets everything on the hope of eternity. (97)
This book is written for those who want more Jesus. It is for those who are bored with what American Christianity offers. It is for those who don’t want to plateau, those who would rather die before their convictions do. (21)
The core problem isn’t the fact that we’re lukewarm, halfhearted, or stagnant Christians. The crux of it all is why we are this way, and it is because we have an inaccurate view of God. We see Him as a benevolent Being who is satisfied when people manage to fit Him into their lives in some small way. We forget that God never had an identity crisis. He knows that He’s great and deserves to be the center of our lives. Jesus came humbly as a servant, but He never begs us to give Him some small part of ourselves. He commands everything from His followers. (22)
R.C. Sproul writes, “Men are never duly touched and impressed with a conviction of their insignificance, until they have contrasted themselves with the majesty of God.” (26)
Isn’t it a comfort to worship a God we cannot exaggerate? (31)
. . . it is ridiculous for us to think we have the right to limit God to something we are capable of comprehending. What a stunted, insignificant god that would be. (31-32)
Can you worship a God who isn’t obligated to explain His actions to you? Could it be your arrogance that makes you think God owes you an explanation? (33)
. . . But to put it bluntly, when you get your own universe, you can make your own standards. When we disagree, let’s not assume it’s His reasoning that needs correction. (34)
Worry implies that we don’t quite trust that God is big enough, powerful enough, or loving enough to take care of what’s happening in our lives.
Stress says that the things we are involved in are important enough to merit our impatience, our lack of grace toward others, or our tight grip of control.
Basically, these two behaviors communicate that it’s okay to sin and not trust God because the stuff in my life is somehow exceptional. Both worry and stress reek of arrogance. They declare our tendency to forget that we’ve been forgiven, that our lives here are brief, that we are headed to a place where we won’t be lonely, afraid, or hurt ever again, and that in the context of God’s strength, our problems are small, indeed. (42)
The very fact that a holy, eternal, all-knowing, all-powerful, merciful, fair, and just God loves you and me is nothing short of astonishing.
The wildest part is that Jesus doesn’t have to love us. His being is utterly complete and perfect, apart from humanity. He doesn’t need me or you. Yet He wants us, chooses us, even considers us His inheritance (Eph. 1:18). The greatest knowledge we can ever have is knowing God treasures us.
That really is amazing beyond description. The holy Creator sees you as His “glorious inheritance.”
The irony is that while God doesn’t need us but still wants us, we desperately need God but don’t really want Him most of the time. He treasures us and anticipates our departure from this earth to be with Him – and we wonder, indifferently, how much we have to do for Him to get by. (61)
It is not scientific doubt, not atheism, not pantheism, not agnosticism, that in our day and in this land is likely to quench the light of the gospel. It is a proud, sensuous, selfish, luxurious, church-going, hollow-hearted prosperity.
(Frederic D. Huntington, Forum magazine, 1890)
The thought of a person calling himself a “Christian” without being a devoted follower of Christ is absurd. . . Is this idea of the non-fruit-bearing Christian something that we have concocted in order to make Christianity “easier”?
Let’s face it. We’re willing to make changes in our lives only if we think it affects our salvation. This is why I have so many people ask me questions like, Can I divorce my wife and still go to heaven? Do I have to be baptized to be saved? Am I a Christian even though I’m having sex with my girlfriend? If I commit suicide, can I still go to heaven? If I’m ashamed to talk about Christ, is He really going to deny knowing me?
To me, these questions are tragic because they reveal much about the state of our hearts. They demonstrate that our concern is more about going to heaven than loving the King. Jesus said, “If you love me, you will obey what I command” (John 14:15). And our question quickly becomes even more unthinkable: Can I go to heaven without truly and faithfully following Jesus? (86)
Robert Murray M’Cheyne was a Scottish pastor who died at the age of twenty-nine. Although he lived in the early part of the nineteenth century, his words are astoundingly appropriate for today:
I am concerned for the poor but more for you. I know not what Christ will say to you in the great day . . . I fear there are many hearing me who may know well that they are not Christians because they do not love to give. To give largely and liberally, not grudgingly at all, requires a new heart; an old heart would rather part with its life-blood than its money. Oh my friends! Enjoy your money; make the most of it; give none of it away; enjoy it quickly for I can tell you, you will be beggars for eternity. (90)
If life is a river, then pursuing Christ requires swimming upstream. When we stop swimming, or actively following Him, we automatically begin to be swept downstream. (95)
Are you willing to say to God that He can have whatever He wants? Do you believe that wholehearted commitment to Him is more important than any other thing or person in your life? Do you know that nothing you do in this life will ever matter, unless it is about loving God and loving the people He has made?
If the answer is yes, then let your bet match your talk. True faith means holding nothing back; it bets everything on the hope of eternity. (97)
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