redemption and repentance / justice and righteousness

Zion shall be redeemed by justice,

and those in her who repent, by righteousness.

Isaiah 1:27

There is an interplay of God’s work and human obedience happening in this short verse that captures my imagination right now. The prophecies of Isaiah open up with God taking Israel “to court” so to speak, leveling charges (with irrefutable evidence) of disobedience, rebellion, infidelity, and willful covenant-breaking against them. And verse-by-verse, section by section, God reveals the depths of His people’s rejection of Him. God also emotes… telling thorough the prophet how He feels and how He will react to these constant and willful transgressions. He feels like a disrespected parent (Isaiah 1:2), a failing farmer (Isaiah 1:3), a rebelled-against ruler (Isaiah 1:19-20), and a rejected lover and spouse (Isaiah 1:21).

Yet God in grace, tempered with the reality of His justice judging all this evil, offers to redeem and restore. He will redeem His people when His justice becomes their passion. He will restore with His righteousness even their most whorish unfaithfulness IF they would only repent and return to Him as their only love, proving it with their actions.

God cares about injustice. So should His people. The amount of injustice in this world is staggering. There are massive injustices (oppressed people groups, war-torn countries, broken legal systems, disregard for life, crimes against children — born and unborn, power struggles, sexual exploitation, control and violence, economic inequalities that bring trauma, disease, and death — just to name a few!) There are also so many “little” injustices that add up to so much pain in any one person’s life. The collective impact of these injustices chipping away at a soul can be defeating and devastating, turning a person who should reflect the glory of God and the image of God into a broken shell of despair. Christians should long for the kingdom of Christ, for their own passion for righteousness, to address these with the gospel.

When we do so.. we repent! We turn from the evil we do and this world does AND we turn our focus away from the evil done to us that might control us. Instead we cling to the righteousness and transforming life of Christ so that in His righteousness we are passionately empowered to see our King’s justice rule our lives completely again! That’s what the gospel does… it is nothing less than an elimination of all that is wrong. Do we truly live with that vision as our focus?

only for the truth

For we cannot do anything against the truth, but only for the truth.

2 Corinthians 13:8

Facts are facts. And when Christians find themselves in a bad place with one another, we should just admit it. Sin has to play a part! Sin can make even the sweetest of relationships turn sour. Sin can make fellowship turn to fighting. When a situation turns bad, we should not run from this reality, but recognize it, search our hearts, and in love confront any wrong thoughts, attitudes, or actions with the truth of scripture.

This is what Paul had done with the church of Corinth. We have two letters in the New Testament where Paul took in this reality. Paul had devoted the closing segment of 2 Corinthians to again lovingly confront the pride and divisiveness that sin had brought into that congregation. He was powerless to personally change the truth of this situation. He could not be “against” the truth of a broken set of relationships. He had to recognize the reality that the Corinthian church had drifted from the gospel, from a caring relationship with him as an apostle of Christ, and from Christ Himself. They needed to repent, realign with the gospel, see God transform and change them and love so that their love for God, one another, and the apostolic doctrine taught by Paul could once again grow them.

Paul could only be “for the truth”. Truth will, when anchored on God’s Word, always prevail against all lies. Truth was unchangeable. It was the Corinthians who were pliable, willing to ignore the truth, and thus sin. But the facts stood. God wanted them holy and committed to Christ despite the way in which false doctrine and sensuality had twisted them into a broken and divisive people! Paul knew God’s truth would prevail. He did not need to prove it to be correct. It was the truth! His story of sacrifice and commitment served not to vindicate himself, but to point to the ageless power of the gospel to withstand all attacks and attempts to subvert the truth.

Lord,

Help Your church to live “for the truth”. Convict us if we live against it! Call us to lives proclaiming truth truthfully… living in Your truth. Amen

the price of ultimate adventure

…in toil and hardship, through many a sleepless night, in hunger and thirst, often without food, in cold and exposure.

2 Corinthians 11:27

Paul defended his ministry against false teachers all the time. He does so again in this letter to the Corinthian church. His profound dedication to the gospel brought an impressive résumé of suffering and a list of grand adventures:

• Ministry and great labor
• Multiple imprisonments
• Beaten many times, left for dead (2 Corinthians 11:23)
• Five times lashed with 39 whip lashes (2 Corinthians 11:24)
• Three times beaten by rods 
• Stoned and left for dead
• Shipwrecked three times
• A day and a half adrift on wreckage (2 Corinthians 11:25)
• Journey dangers
• - river crossing
• - robbers
• - Jewish threats on his life
• - Gentile threats on his life
• - city risks
• - wilderness risks
• - seafaring risks
• - heretic risks (2 Corinthians 11:26)
• Toiling work with hardship
• Sleepless nights
• Hunger and thirst
• Food shortages
• Bad weather
• Cold and exposure (2 Corinthians 11:27)

That’s a list of twenty-three ways Paul experienced life-threatening risks just to bring the gospel to others. This is an epic adventure. This is where faith will take those dedicated to delivering it.

Serving Jesus is a risk and an adventure. It is all worth the suffering. You wear yourself out, push your mind and body to the limit to stand on the mountaintop and see the view of things most people will not dare to work hard to see! That is what faith, dedication, and disciplined obedience can get you. If this is true in all of life’s best adventures, how much greater is it to experience these things while serving Jesus where the panoramic view lasts for eternity!

Lord,

Let the adventures continue! Even if it is hard, You are so very worth it! Fill my story with the rewards AND the risks. Danger is the thrill of faith. I will follow You on this journey. You make it epic!

Amen

overflow

For the ministry of this service is not only supplying the needs of the saints but is also overflowing in many thanksgivings to God.

2 Corinthians 9:12

I give of myself so the gospel will go

into my world

into others

changing a life

and God in abundant grace creates overflow

Multiplication of the seed I will sow

in His field

sprouting life

filling eternity

as a harvest always comes with overflow

Looking to Jesus by faith He will show

nations repenting

people believing

the gospel growing

as I stand overwhelmed in this vast overflow

My gifts go so much farther than I can know

into my family

into community

into this world

thanksgiving around God’s throne will be the overflow

In the grace of giving I wish always to grow

giving money

giving time

giving my life

it is worth all it costs for this immense overflow

Hearts, not money, create generosity.

We want you to know, brothers, about the grace of God that has been given among the churches of Macedonia, for in a severe test of affliction, their abundance of joy and their extreme poverty have overflowed in a wealth of generosity on their part.

2 Corinthians 8:1-2

It is wrong to believe that only the wealthiest people are truly generous. The truth is that generosity is a heart issue, not a cash-flow issue. If a person is truly generous, they give what they have gladly. They share life, resources, time, conversation, love, and yes… money. The motivation is to serve Christ, advance the gospel, and pour out God’s grace upon others with all the resources God has given them.

I grew up with the legalistic tithe being hammered into every Sunday morning offering. It might have filled the offering place with guilt-induced emptying of pockets, but I don’t believe it created biblical generosity. The New Testament NEVER once commands we give away exactly 10% of our cash. There is never a number. In fact, Jesus condemns the Pharisees for their nit-picking tithing right down to jars of spices in the kitchen cabinets (Matthew 23:23)! It is possible to tithe fastidiously from a sinful, pride-filled, judgmental heart (Luke 18:9-13). Tithing can be sin!

Generous giving however flows from the grace of God. We give generously because God graces us generously! We don’t wait until we have “too much” to give it away. We give from what we have, not what we don’t have. Even in affliction, in difficulty, in financial downturns, in (ahem) inflationary economies we give as much as we can! We should never hold back. Why? We have to give with hearts of joy (not mere duty) that puts these experiences in perspective (in the case of the Macedonians it was poverty that they looked beyond) to concentrate instead on thankfulness for all the grace God is doing in and among us. That unleashes true wealth to be shared as we advance the gospel and help the needy.

I pray consistently that my heart will generously love God, love others, and give generously the very best to His church, for my Savior, in love! I want to invest with love and generosity in my relationships, my family, my church, and my world! 

When Christ accepts you, I will accept you.

I rejoice, because I have complete confidence in you.

2 Corinthians 7:16

This is a very significant sentence. It shows us how far and how completely Christians MUST trust one another. In this one short, encouraging statement Paul models for us what life in Christ together should ALWAYS look like in His church. Christians should think the very best of one another. And joy should be the dominant emotion that comes from our interactions.

Consider just WHO Paul is saying this about… the Corinthian church. He was confident in the Corinthians, of all people! This was a group of people with whom Paul invested significant time and relational energy together. And they eventually treated him with disrespect. They got divisive as a congregation, some even bragging that Paul had personally not ministered to them or been their leader. They were prideful in themselves. They had tolerated gross immorality in the church, flaunting the nastiest incest and celebrating their “tolerance”… doing nothing to correct anyone. They had turned the Lord’s Table (a celebration of the gospel and love of Christ) into a mess of favoritism, gluttony, and disunity. They fought and quarreled among themselves. Paul had to send a painfully worded stern letter of correction to them (1 Corinthians) threatening to come in full apostolic authority if they did not repent of all this stuff.

Yet in his second letter Paul is confident in this church, accepting their repentance as godly and genuine (2 Corinthians 7:10-13). He is not judgmental. He is joyful! He accepts them, affirms them, and encourages them… not because they were perfect people (they weren’t), but because they genuinely submitted in clear repentance to the gospel. Without reservation we should affirm even the most struggling sinner… never holding their past over them in judgment… but instead celebrating enthusiastically the grace of the restorative work of Christ! That is complete confidence… in Jesus!

I am so saddened when I see Christians unable to do this. I regularly talk with walking wounded Christians. Many of them show up at my church. These are people who have been hurt by abusive church leaders who clubbed them with doctrinal bludgeons. They were treated like second or third class members of the Body of Christ because their beautiful redemptive stories had messy components of substance abuse, or confused sexuality, or a dissolved marriage. If Jesus completely accepts them as His brothers and sisters, why would the church ever sinfully subjugate them to some standard lower than a redeemed child of God, joint-heir with Christ, and new creation of grace? How dare we think we know better than God! 

O Lord, forgive Your people for our insolent presumptive judgmentalism! Humble our arrogance! May Your church be people who have complete confidence that in repentance and faith we are all remade into beautiful new creations displaying Your majestic salvation and useful in Your kingdom.

Amen

the light of His face

For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.

2 Corinthians 4:6

God made light shine out of darkness

His words made the light

in a world broken and heartless

His words still shine bright

as in mercy we look to His face

God spoke the words — exploding brightness

filled a void with a universe He created

and He can bring correction and righteousness

to what our sins have now frustrated

if in repentance we look to His grace

Our hearts now remade in new creations

His light flooding all our ways

we see clearly all His intentions

as Christ directs our steps and days

glory streaming from His face

All things new now in gracious light

we go forward boldly now exclaiming:

“Look to Jesus! Find a Savior! Be made right!”

the gospel we love we are proclaiming

“He died for us, lives for us, all wrong He will erase.”

Everywhere we look, knowing His glory and praise

we see the light dispelling night time

we rejoice at the kingdom He will raise

Jesus returns soon in exactly the right time

we will see the glory of God in His face!

Legalism kills. Grace gives life.

Not that we are sufficient in ourselves to claim anything as coming from us, but our sufficiency is from God, who has made us sufficient to be ministers of a new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit. For the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.

2 Corinthians 3:5-6

I’ve had my struggles with judgmental legalism and have sadly found that truly the “letter of the law” kills. It kills freedom. It kills grace. It kills love. It kills new life in Christ. It does not liberate, but binds hearts in a trap of thinking that self-effort is able to save and keep us. It unleashes unrestrained pride which inevitably lets loose the worst parts of a broken soul (at least it has done so in me in the past). 

I reject trying to manipulate God’s commands to demand self-effort from myself and others. My efforts are literally damn insufficient to please God, because they condemn me as a rebellious, pride-filled, selfish, spiritually impotent sinner. I need the new covenant. Only then does Christ do in me (through His death, resurrection, and new life) what I am woefully incapable of doing. And then I am set free!

God has blessed me with so much in Christ. I cannot claim to have achieved it. It is ALL God’s doing. I have a great family… a treasure to me as I live out the last adventures of this season of my life. God can call me home anytime. Am I pouring my love into following Jesus and others in grateful recognition of Him empowering me to do so? I look back now on true wealth in which Christ blessed me. I did not create it. Even though there were times I nearly let the letter of the law wreak havoc in my heart, in my marriage, in my family, and in my home, God graciously brought me back to repent of this pride… to let my family know that I am far from perfect. And I know we learned to love one another as God loves… to forgive as we are forgiven… to bless with grace, not curse with tight boundaries of violation of arbitrary self-created interpretations of commands.

And in my church family I have learned the same, now in a season where I lean into the flock God has called me to help shepherd. I need them as much, perhaps more, than they need me. They nurture me in ways I desperately feel with thanksgiving as decades of grace flow back into me… and I pour it back even in occasional graceless responses and needy situations of others. It gives life!

O God,

Thank You that mutual ministry gives life! Thank You that Your Spirit renews and strengthens as we look to and follow Jesus as Your people in a new covenant of GRACE! 

Amen

what godlessness gets you

They have neither knowledge nor understanding,

they walk about in darkness;

all the foundations of the earth are shaken.

Psalm 82:5

A lost world is truly lost. It is so sad. Those without Christ who live in a godless fashion in this world are not to be envied. In this psalm of lament which starts out complaining that it seems as if God does nothing to halt injustice and actually the world seems to favor the wicked (Psalm 82:2), we see a turn toward observing the real situation. It is the worldly system that is broken. We are observing what is warped and imperfect and we are frustrated by the brokenness. God is still quite in control. We can witness the godless reaping their own destruction in due time. They are doomed in four ways in this passage.

First, they have no knowledge. They have not even the remotest awareness of God, or that they are precariously held in judgment by God. They are not familiar with His ways or His Word. This is not just ignorance though. It is a willful rejection of what they can see and know, believing instead the lies of sin, self, and the world that Satan has imposed on the system to draw us from God.

Secondly, they have no understanding. They may have heard of God and His ways, but refuse to accept and personally apply themselves in submission to Him. They are then spiritually stupid, making unwise commitments to evil that dooms them. There is no way true wisdom can guide those who reject God.

Next, they have no light. They walk in darkness. Without the Word of God and the Spirit of God to guide us, we are all born in spiritual blindness. We do not know it until God draws us to see Him. And even then many will recoil from the light to again stumble into a dark, Christless life and eternity.

Finally, they have no stability. Selfish worldviews and sinful lifestyles will be shaken by God. He does this to get the attention of the wicked. It is an act of love to draw them to reconsider. Sands shift under the feet that do not stand on the Solid Rock. And the collapse of so many around us should compel us all to be moved to offer them the gospel so that in repentance and faith lives can be stabilized in the ever sure, ever solid, ever rebuilding grace of God in Christ!

abundant suffering… abundant comfort

For as we share abundantly in Christ's sufferings, so through Christ we share abundantly in comfort too.

2 Corinthians 1:5

Paul wrote these words with insight into suffering that no people would have today. He had a unique perspective. The primary suffering of the First Century Church was deadly intense persecution. And this persecution was meant to silence churches, imprison believers, and many Christians died for their faith. It was the dawn of the age of martyrs. Paul had been one who had led the early attacks against Christianity as a fierce opponent. Until Jesus arrested his heart as he headed to Damascus to arrest and seize church leaders. So Paul uniquely knew what it was like to cause suffering for Christ’s people. He knew the sinful motives of the Christ-hater who wanted suffering to be the ultimate weapon.

Paul also suffered as a believer… intensely. He very quickly became the persecuted. He was chased out of towns. He was thrown in jail. He was stoned and left for dead. He was beaten and unjustly accused. He was shipwrecked and deserted. He experienced the sufferings of Christ, so he could pen these words to others who had suffered as a fellow sufferer for Jesus.

I do not suffer with the pain of persecution, but I do know intense suffering… a sorrow Jesus also carried (Isaiah 53:3-4). Jesus was the Man of Sorrows upon the cross. He has borne my grief and carried my sorrow… especially the sorrow that has been in my life every moment since January 4th of this year. And though suffering has been abundant, so has the incredible, amazing comfort of Christ! He is my inexplicable peace! He is my abundant comfort. And He will surround my soul today.

5 relevant commands

Be watchful, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong. Let all that you do be done in love.

1 Corinthians 16:13-14

There are five commands from Paul to the Corinthian church that help to “summarize and seal” all that has been dealt with in the letter he sent to them. They also have powerful application for believers, and for me, today.

Be watchful. Literally this is a command to “stay awake”. The culture around us can lull us into spiritual apathy. It had done so in Corinth, creating divisiveness and intolerance to all sorts of immoral behavior. It fed immaturity. The counter to this is vigilant watchfulness, an awareness that we must hold to what scripture teaches, what Jesus calls us to follow, and what the devil would tempt us to surrender. Without become hypersensitive in legalism, I too must keep watch over my own soul, and the flock God has called me to help lead.

Stand firm in the faith. When we are vigilant, we center into the gospel, we know our biblical commitments that are essential, we live out our theology, and we won’t be knocked off balance theologically, morally, or culturally. To “stand firm” is to hold a position, to not move, to persist, to be stationary when the whole world shifts and shakes. This is a call for our times! May I know and show what I believe!

Act like men. Literally “make like men.” And yes, masculinity is the call, front and center, in this command. It isn’t a command to women. Men in the church are singularly called out to be men… to be brave, to act manly, to show some muscle, backbone, character, commitment, leadership, grit, fight, determination, and strength. In a culture where now masculinity is often criticized as “toxic”, may the church redeem biblical, bold, and unashamed manhood with strong and capable caring men who will sacrifice themselves for what we believe and be men! God, let me be known as that kind of man!

Be strong. Literally “be empowered”. The secret of the Christian’s strength is not personal, it is spiritual. The Word of God and the Holy Spirit of God must empower God’s people. Oh, Lord, may Your Spirit be the strength in my life!

Let all be done in love. This is the sacrificial “agape’” love that only Jesus brings. We are redeemed in a love that died for us. We give that same “I’ll die for you” love to one another in the church. Love isn’t just a feeling… it is a careful, powerful, deliberate, moving commitment to others. And every action in Christ flows from this great giving love. It does not hold back. It is a passionate, unrestrained care! Lord, help me pour all of me into those I am called to love in Christ Jesus!

It must be.

For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality.

1 Corinthians 15:53

It must be and it will be

that time bound bodies are exchanged

in eternity.

It must be and it will be

that from flesh my soul in Christ

will be set free.

This is what must be.

It must be and it shall be

that I too decline and perish

cursed with mortality.

It must be and will someday be

that I will slide safely home

putting on immortality.

This is what must be.

It must be and it will be

that my home here will crumble

but Jesus I shall see!

It must be and it will be

that earthly joys fade in brilliance

eclipsed by brighter eternity.

This is what must be

and

praise God!

This is what must be.

We always need the gospel.

Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand, and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you—unless you believed in vain. 

1 Corinthians 15:1-2

That gospel that saves us from sin, that makes us new creations in Christ, that transforms our present by redeeming our past and guaranteeing our future is the most important thing about Christians. It is not a teaching to be accepted once and then forgotten as we move on to something else. It isn’t just a story for the unbeliever to submit to, but it is THE STORY that is THE LIFE of the believer. We should daily dive into gospel glories, thankful for the way Jesus is working in our lives right now because of the gospel.

So what does the gospel do for us beyond our initial trust in it for salvation? These two verses provide several insights worth consistent reflection:

• The gospel is always received. Like a wonderful gift that is new… that keeps giving over and over again, we have received the best present ever in the saving work of Jesus. We treasure this gift, receive its impact again and again by remembering that Jesus saves sinners just like us.
• The gospel is the ground on which we stand. The gospel stabilizes us, lifts us up, gives us a strong foundation, and supports us completely. It is our core message, belief, and commitment. We fall without it under us. We stand in the gospel.
• We are being saved by the gospel. Not only are we saved at the moment of faith in Christ’s death and resurrection, but that work is always ongoing in us. The gospel saves me continuously, right now, in the moment… from my sins, my failures, my sorrows, and my weaknesses. This should never be forgotten and constantly celebrated in my personal and corporate worship experiences.
• We hold fast to the gospel. We never get over grace! We cling to Christ though everything else in our lives will falter and fail. Loved ones may let us down, the world can hate us, and death may take away what is dearest, but Jesus NEVER leaves us. We hold fast, have hope, are saved, are being saved, and will be saved in Him and by God’s great love in Christ forever!

I am a poor lover.

Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth.

I Corinthians 13:4-6

I am a very poor lover, at least by these standards. All my life I’ve been learning this love. And I want, in Christ, to love this way. The one thing the church, that Christians, SHOULD do well to get the attention of a love-lost world is to love just like this. I mean, we have scripture teaching us to do so, we have Christ’s perfect love to transform us, and we have the Holy Spirit to enable us to do so as God lives right within us! Why is it then such a challenge to love like this?

I know that I often get in the way of this love. My impatience selfishly demands recognition, often wanting to get from more than give to the people who care about me the most. I can get selfish and inconsiderately unkind when I feel I am not getting what I want. I can covet what other people have, jealous of their relationships. I can boast about what I can offer to another person in self-inflating pride. I have a problem with arrogance and superiority and judging others to see if they are “worthy” of my love. You push my buttons the wrong way and I will be very rude. I often want my own way, and can charm my way with sweet talk and promises in order to get it. I can hold onto mistakes of others with bitter resentment. Unlike all this “love character” I can sometimes be everything God says love is not. I’m sorry to those who have seen this in me.

So I need to surrender to Christ’s perfect love. I need to be one who readily, consistently repents of my selfish wants that corrupt Christ’s love and keep it from being made mature in me. I want to be a mature lover, equipped to be all these things to other people. And if by chance a few people see glimmers of these things in my life, it will be only because of God’s work and not mine. 

Yet I cannot gauge these things solo, which is hard right now. Only those who are loved by me, and who might still by chance also love me despite all my challenges to love them well can confirm this in me. So I need deeper commitments in the Body of Christ. I need to open up to others. I need to be close. I need to dive deep in vulnerable and accountable conversations and commitments with other Christians. And so I pray that by Jesus’ work in me I might truly love others with the character, conviction, and care of 1 Corinthians 13. And I pray for relationships that confirm where I do, and counter where I do not. God, make me one who loves in this love, for I am by nature a poor lover.

She is lovely.

All these are empowered by one and the same Spirit, who apportions to each one individually as he wills.

1 Corinthians 12:11

The church is beautiful in her diversity, made powerful by the work of the Holy Spirit among so many different people, and attractive to all those in need when she welcomes the neediest broken people into her community. God forms churches by amassing stories of diverse backgrounds and experiences. He then uses the one true gospel of Jesus Christ to save them and His one Spirit to enable them to be this kind of community with one another. The best churches celebrate how God fixes each unique broken heart. The best churches utilize each person’s contribution of time, ability, giftedness, and purpose. The best churches equip disciples not in cookie cutter programs, but in custom crafted cooperation with God’s unique signature written by the gospel transformation that is unique to each life.

For 35 years I have had the privilege of working in the local church exclusively, being used by God, directed by the Holy Spirit to do my little part to equip the saints for the work of the ministry. I’ve met thousands of people. I’ve been involved personally in hundreds of stories. And like fingerprints of gracious mercy, God has written no two stories alike! He gifts and places men and women where He wills, and each person is a beautiful part of a bigger, beautiful Bride of Christ. I am always amazed at the amazing people God transforms by His amazing grace! No story is ever a waste in His mercy!

Lord,

How beautiful is Your work. And how beautiful is each story of each person You have redeemed and called to Your side to be Your bride. I am uniquely gifted and given ministry passions as You write my story… which in itself has taken new twists and widened in plot this year. And so is every believer’s story! We are like a painting that is constantly flowing into a clearer, bigger, more impressive masterpiece of Your redeeming grace. Thank You, Lord, for the life I live within Your beautiful church. She is loved! She is lovely!

Amen

learning from Israel’s examples

Therefore let anyone who thinks that he stands take heed lest he fall.

1 Corinthians 10:12

The detailed stories of the lives of people in scripture are meant to guide and warn Christians toward the proper way to follow Christ. Twice in six verses Israel’s story is called an “example” for Christians. First, so that we would not desire evil (1 Corinthians 10:6), and secondly, for our instruction (1 Corinthians 10:11). It’s worth contemplating from both viewpoints because failure is a very real outcome if we don’t do so!

An example not to desire evil (1 Corinthians 10:6-10). Paul pulls three instances of how Israel in the wilderness desired to do evil. These point to ways our own hearts can seriously falter.

• Do not be idolaters. This was an early pitfall for Israel. Even as God was giving the Ten Commandments, the first of which is “You shall have no other gods before me”, Israel was rebelling in the pagan worship rites of the golden calf! Christians may not be openly worshipping a carved image, but idolatry still abounds. We can worship wealth, prestige, power, relationships, or lifestyles above God. Calvin is right to observe that the human heart is an idol manufacturing factory. 
• We must not indulge in sexual immorality. In a culture of feel-good, anything goes, hedonistic, pleasure-fulfilling, sexual abandon, Christians must hold the God-designed sanctify of true sexual freedom as God has created it: Lovers devoted with joyful freedom to one another in monogamous, lifelong, heterosexual marriage, adoring that union in love with each other, celebrating both body and soul.
• We must not put Christ to the test. Israel grumbled and complained about God… the exact opposite of worship! And we must not doubt the goodness of our Savior in the midst of trials meant to sanctify us and draw us closer in communion to the God Who disciplines in love and provides in our adversity.

An example for our instruction (1 Corinthians 10:11). The Old Testament is so very useful and practical as a way to see the splendor of the gospel, our liberation in Christ, and the wisdom of God’s guidelines. Christians must look to ALL of scripture to trace the story of Jesus, the goodness of the grace of God, the love of our Father, and the perils of our own sinfulness. Let’s embrace the examples and rejoice in our Savior. Let’s take heed, lest we fall.

running

Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one receives the prize? So run that you may obtain it.

1 Corinthians 9:24

The race is it. / It’s life.

The pace is set. / Jesus ran it.

The course is clear. / I am proclaiming the gospel.

The finish is near. / Eternity is ahead.

All believers run to tell. / We speak and we live it.

But will we run it well? / Can the ones who need it see it?

A prize will be given. / The Master will reward.

The hope is heaven. / Our future is perfect in every way.

My feet wear His shoes. / The gospel of peace is upon me.

I must not lose. / This is all I really live for.

Spirit’s motion my breeze. / Refreshed in Him I run.

I am set at ease. / My heart is focused.

I must be running with heart. / Thankfulness drives me.

I get a good running start. / God’s power is behind me.

I’m ready to win this prize. / Souls gathered, we worship in glory.

My reward is in Jesus’ eyes. / Praises we sing at His throne!

nostalgia in perspective

Say not, “Why were the former days better than these?”

For it is not from wisdom that you ask this.

Ecclesiastes 7:10

I’m easily nostalgic. I love getting together with old friends, talking about the joys of past experiences, laughing and sharing in fun stories from the bonds of friendship that has spanned decades. It is one of the unique perspectives of being just a tick past middle age now. This is irreplaceable. Cue Springsteen singing “Glory Days”.

I don’t think there is anything wrong with this sort of reminiscing as long as we realize that the past gets pretty polished in our memories. There have been decades of life, hard choices, bad situations, and many losses since my youth. But the life lived in between then and now hasn’t been “bad”. The past is not really better than all that. In fact, if I really reflect on life in my teens and twenties, I was discontent then… longing to get on with life, ready for bigger challenges, wanting adventure (even the tough ones), longing to be married, to have a family, and to do all the things that frankly, I have done and I am currently doing.

This verse warns us that to be stuck in an overly-nostalgic view of the past is unwise. The “good old days” had their bad side too! “Glory Days” could be gory days, carrying with them trauma and pain we may bury deep. We should remember the pains, not just the pleasures, of our youth. A wise person should celebrate the memories, learn from the mistakes, accept the consequences, rejoice in the blessings, and praise the God Who makes our past redeemed in grace (despite the trauma done to us and the bad choices we may have made) through Jesus Christ!

A wise person anchors in God’s gracious work in the past. Wisdom applies that work to all present situations, whether they be smooth or rough. The past interprets the present well when by faith we celebrate where God has taken us to accept life AS IT IS NOW! And a proper God-saturated view of a past (embracing difficulties, losses, loves, gains… all of it!) helps even the challenges of an uncertain future (physical pains, changes, future goals, desires, and hopes of joy yet to come) frame for us an excited anticipation of what God will do in us and for us. Wisdom knows that it all ends in the glorious freedom of the children of God! The journey there (right now) is better than our past and is good in our present experiences because God is always good and will always be good to those He loves!

seven principles from 1 Corinthians 7

So, brothers, in whatever condition each was called, there let him remain with God.

1 Corinthians 7:24

I’m wrestling through 1 Corinthians 7 right now and have been for a few months. I’m not sure I’m going to park here much longer, but I do want to continue to spend time understanding what Paul is telling the Corinthian church so that I can determine how much of it applies directly to Christian experiences today. I particularly want to understand it in the light of my recent plunge into widowhood.

The chapter opens with Paul answering a question. The problem in the text is this: We don’t exactly have the wording of the original question that the Corinthian church sent in a letter to Paul. It is clear from the context of the chapter that the question had to do with sex and marriage, and that it affected single people, both those never married, and those that had been widowed. Given the casual sexual attitudes of the Corinthian culture, and the sexual sin the church there had tolerated, Paul may have been and probably was addressing some exceptionally unique situations with his “answers”. In other words, some of it may have been only meant for that one church at that one time. For that reason, I lean toward thinking of the passage with application of very broad principles as the best way to understand it.

Here is my initial attempt of summarizing it with seven principles:

1. God designed sex as very good. It can be twisted (and often is) by our sinful natures. Marriage however is also very good and the only place for sexual exploration (1 Corinthians 7:1-5).

2. Singleness (those never married, widowed, abandoned, or divorced) is not a “bad” state. In other words, creating a distinction in the church of “married people are better than single people” is wrong. A person who remains single AND sexually self-controlled is doing a good thing. Any strong desire for sexual expression however MUST be met in monogamous heterosexual marriage. Any form of sexual gratification as a single person with another person is wrong (1 Corinthians 7:6-9).

3. Marriage is a serious, lifelong commitment. Divorce (though possible and sometimes allowable) is never a great option for anybody (1 Corinthians 7:10-11).

4. Even Christian belief differences should not separate a husband and wife. As much as possible, a believing spouse should love, respect, affirm, and enjoy a marriage to a non-believing spouse for the sake of family and the gospel (1 Corinthians 7:12-16).

5. When a single person contemplates entering marriage they should seriously seek God’s reasons. It is entirely possible that God might want them to stay single (1 Corinthians 7:17-24).

6. Singleness and marriage each have their pros and cons and a wise person realizes the trade offs (1 Corinthians 7:25-38).

7. The widowed particularly are encouraged to explore solo living first, but are free to consider and celebrate remarriage (1 Corinthians 7:39-40).

All these principles are important. I find it interesting that the majority of the seven principles address singleness. I am in a season where these apply to me. If I want to obey God’s Word, I must think through just how principles 2, 5, 6 & 7 are going to affect my present and direct my future. It is a good thing that God’s Word directly addresses this for me. And it is good thing for me to especially contemplate whether my current situation is a temporary condition, or a calling I should surrender to by faith. Thankfully, God’s Word and Spirit will help me confidently settle this… I am certain.