Obedience

At its core, the problem with sin has much less to do with the act itself, and much more to do with the fact that any commission of sin is a rebellion against God’s authority. In our pragmatic world, that is an increasingly rare perspective. Every day we hear Christians attempting to justify, defend or vindicate “biblical commands” because “God’s ways are best for us” or because “doing things God’s way works.” The typical youth sermon, for instance, attempts to curry obedience to God’s command against fornication by extrapolating its advantages for one’s future marriage, or its guarantee against sexually transmitted diseases. Or consider the daily Christian talk shows which attempt to vindicate God’s prohibition regarding homosexuality by trying to articulate this as a safeguard for “traditional family” and society, or by attempting to demonstrate the benefit of two-gender parenting. But think back for a minute to the original sin. If pragmatism is the standard for obeying God’s unambiguous commands, then Satan presented a legitimate argument for disobedience (Genesis 3:2-6). The “forbidden fruit” was sinful, not because it was “bad”, but simply because it was “forbidden”. Sin isn’t wrong because it’s inherently bad for us (though it often is). Sin is bad because it is a direct act of rebellion against the God who has the authority and right to make the rules. So look beyond the pragmatic rationale for upholding God’s express commands. Recognize instead, that no matter what God has commanded, it matters little how advantageous it may or may not be to keep his commands, he is Lord and we are not, and one day we must all give an account for what we have done with his instructions (2 Corinthians 5:10-11).

For more sermons and devotionals on obedience, please go to the Focal Point Ministries website at www.focalpointministries.org.

Grace and Sanctification

Unfortunately, there are many these days who have come to believe that as it relates to our sanctification, God’s grace and personal effort are mutually exclusive. They unwittingly, and in some cases intentionally, conflate their understanding of justification with their practice in sanctification. In their misapplication of the doctrines of grace they end up replacing spiritual vigilance with apathy, urgency with passivity, contrition over sin with indifference, ambition to store up eternal reward with disinterest, and a determination to pursue holiness with a conspicuous lack of concern. But Paul told Timothy that to “be strengthened by grace” is to be ready and willing to suffer hardship as a solider, to run as a conscientious athlete intent on keeping the rules, and to expectantly anticipate the fruit of diligent labor as the hard-working farmer (2 Timothy 2:1-6). Sadly today’s misguided view of grace is turning Christian soldiers into philosophers, hard-working farmers into mystics, and slaves of righteousness into slaves of their fluctuating feelings and meandering contemplations. Yes, we must never cease to praise God for his unmerited favor, but we must also be careful to allow his grace to instruct us each day to actively “renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives” knowing that Christ’s redemption on the cross was not only to secure our place in God’s family, but was also intended to motivate us today to be “zealous for good works” (Titus 2:11-14).

For more sermons and devotionals on grace and sanctification, please go to the Focal Point Ministries website at www.focalpointministries.org. 

Reading for Enjoyment?

I recently read an article based on the stated premise that “the Bible should be read for one’s enjoyment.” With that objective, it was no surprise that the rest of the piece consisted of the author aggressively working to convince his readers to purposefully disregard and ignore any parts of the Bible that would make them feel uncomfortable or might impinge on their modern sensibilities. Of course, the author wanted his readers to affirm his premise and dutifully conform to his directives, regardless of “how difficult it might be to alter their traditional views” of the Bible. This was a classic example of how seriously we expect other people to take our words, even while we sit in judgment of God’s words. Sometimes we have difficulty seeing the irony in how vehemently we seek for our own ideas and thoughts be clearly heard and accurately understood, while seeking to devalue and emasculate God’s thoughts and ideas. No, the Bible was not given for our enjoyment. God has spoken through the apostles and prophets so that we might carefully understand him and dutifully obey his voice. He does not want us to sit in judgment on his inscribed truth, picking and choosing what we prefer. Instead God has promised, “to this one I will look: he who is humble and contrite in spirit and trembles at my word” (Isaiah 66:2).

For more sermons and devotionals on the Bible and Bible reading, please go to the Focal Point Ministries website at www.focalpointministries.org. 

Glorify Christ

It is amazing to me how little effort we Christians commonly put into our work and service for Christ. When the world puts on a dinner for a band of politicians, a red carpet premier for an ensemble of actors, or an awards banquet for a varied group of athletes, the world pulls out all the stops. They give attention to every detail of their programs, they tirelessly rehearse every aspect of their events, and they tenaciously promote and defend the importance of their causes. But in reality their causes mean next to nothing compared to the surpassing greatness of the Person we Christians claim to serve and promote. It is a shame that for much of the church “okay” is good enough. There was a time when Christians were expected to give Christ their best, whether it was their time, their effort, or their sacrifice. And it’s past time to bring that expectation back. So this week, give God your best. Go the extra mile, spend the extra dollar, and stay the extra hour to make your service to Jesus Christ the best it can possibly be.

For more sermons and devotionals on glorifying Christ, please go to the Focal Point Ministries website at www.focalpointministries.org.