Galatians 3-4: God Can Use the Bad Times

I spent the week of New Years in the emergency room and then confined to my house because I developed pneumonia. I have never been so sick in my life. As I have heard other people say, for a time I was so sick, I was afraid I was going to die. Then I was so sick, I was afraid I wouldn’t. I was miserable. 

To be honest, in times like that I wonder why on earth God let that happen. It messed up an opportunity I had to teach at another congregation. It certainly didn’t help my family finances. It hit while Marita’s dad was extremely sick and she had to leave to go be with him. 

Now that it is eight months behind me, I recognize it really wasn’t that bad. I can hardly imagine what it must be like for people to go through really, really difficult times–the loss of a job, break up of a family, sickness and death of a child. 

There is one passage in today’s reading that really struck me. It almost seems like a throw-away statement just tucked in there between the important stuff. But it really gave me some comfort.

“You know it was because of a bodily ailment that I preached the gospel to you at first, and though my condition was a trial to you, you did not scorn or despise me, but received me as an angel of God, as Christ Jesus…” (Galatians 4:13-14, ESV).

This passage doesn’t give a great number of details. However, it does claim the reason Paul ended up preaching in Galatia was because he got sick. Perhaps it was something with his eyes as the continuing verses suggest. However, I can imagine how I would have felt if I were Paul. Here I am traveling around, trying to do the will of God, spreading the Gospel and saving souls. Then God up and lets me get majorly sick. I’m so sick it messes up my travel and teaching plans.

In the moment of sickness, I might be pretty upset. However, from the perspective of the letter written later, we can see God’s bigger plan. I don’t know what Paul’s interrupted plans were. However, God apparently had plans for Paul to teach the Galatians. In addition to that, God had plans for Paul to eventually write this letter to them, which would be incorporated in Scripture to help all Christians of all time. None of that would have happened if God hadn’t let Paul get sick.

Therefore, I have to remember my God is powerful enough to use my bad times in a great and glorious way to accomplish His plans. It may mess up my plans, but His plans are better anyway. 

I’m not saying it will be easy to face tough times. I’m just saying this faith can get me through, knowing that God is with me and He will use whatever happens in a way that makes me better and accomplishes His glorious work.

Keep the faith and keep reading.

ELC

Galatians 1-2: Surrendering to Christ

I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. An the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.

—Galatians 2:20 (ESV)

Being a Christian does not just equal a moment of faith and then I get to do what I want. It doesn’t even equal being baptized and then trying to make it “to church” regularly. Really living as a Christian means living like Christ.

In this passage, it presents the picture of being crucified with Jesus. It calls to mind the teaching we read in Romans 12:1, which said we should be living sacrifices. This is about sacrifice. Jesus sacrificed Himself for us, we should sacrifice ourselves for Him.

This is a picture of total surrender. Instead of fighting against Jesus, trying to go our own way and do our own thing, we simply do what Jesus wants. We act as though He is the conquering King who has the right to tell us how to live.

Allow me to give another picture of surrendering to Christ and sacrificing ourselves for Him. Too often, we view this as trying to be obedient enough to go to heaven. We sometimes think we are trying to measure up and check off the list in enough ways to make the grade so we can get into heaven.

Let me share an illustration. Once, I went white water rafting. The first thing the guide said was that we had to listen to her absolutely. If she said paddle, we had to paddle. If she said lean right, we had to lean right. If she said get in the bottom of the boat, we needed to get into the bottom of the boat. Why did we do what she said? Did we do that because we were trying to measure up? Did we think if we obeyed her enough we would be good enough and therefore not fall in the water? No. We recognized that she knew what she was doing. Her way would work. Therefore, we surrendered our will to hers. Sometimes I was tired and didn’t want to paddle, but she said paddle, so we did. Sometimes it seemed to us that we needed to lean left, but she said lean right. So we leaned right. Sometimes, we wanted to ride high, but she said get down in the boat. We got down in the boat. Sometimes, we didn’t know which way to hit the rapids, so we just paddled the direction she said. She was the guide. We surrendered to her direction.

That is what Jesus wants us to do. He wants us to realize He is the guide and His way works. Even when we can’t see how or where His way is leading, we need to simply surrender to His direction. 

What is Jesus saying to us today through His word? Let’s just do it, surrendering to Him because His way really does work.

Keep the faith and keep reading.

ELC

Romans 13-14: It is not Enough to Love God; We Must Love Each Other Too

Obviously, the title of this post is a bit tricky. The reality is, if we really love God, we will love His other children. However, I know at times it I can get into this idea that it doesn’t really matter how I treat other people, what matters is getting the doctrine of Christ right. Certainly, we need to study, understand and apply the doctrines of Christ when it comes to the patterns and plans for worshipping God and organizing the local congregation.

However, before figuring out how the collective should look, we need to look at our own heart and make sure it is on the right path. Do we love the people around us?

Romans 13:8-10 says:

“Owe no one anything, except to love each other, for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law. For the commandments, ‘You shall not commit adultery, You shall not murder, You shall not steal, You shall not covet,’ and any other commandment are summed up in this word: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfilling of the law” (ESV).

It is not enough to “go to the right church.” It is not enough to have all the right answers about salvation, worship, miraculous gifts, Calvinism, Premillennialism, etc. We need to be working on our relationships with others. 

Romans 14 is not just some odd chapter thrown into the mix. It is a specific example of having relationships governed by love. When I love someone I don’t put them down because they are more restrictive than I am. I honor their conscience and work to protect it. At the same time, when I have enough doubts about an issue that I won’t be involved in it, I do not judge everyone who is comfortable with the issue as less spiritual than me. Instead, I work to have unity. Obviously, when someone is violating what I believe is the clear law of God, I can’t just get along and go along. At the same time, I do not make every single struggle a hill on which to die.

Love means trying to figure out a way to work together without compromising God’s will. 

We must learn not only to stand up for the truth, but to love each other while we do it. 

Keep the faith and keep reading.

ELC

Romans 1-2: It’s Not Enough to “Go to Church”, We Actually Have to Live It

“For it is not the hearers of the law who are righteous before God, but the doers of the law who will be justified” (Romans 2:13, ESV).

I recognize Paul is discoursing about the Old Law, but the principle applies across the board. In the context, he was saying that just because the Jews had heard the Law each Sabbath didn’t mean they were right with God. They actually had to obey it.

However, as we consider how the principle in this text applies to us right now in 2008, we need to understand that just listening to someone preach, even if they are preaching the truth, doesn’t cut the mustard. We actually have to live this stuff.

I’ve seen two kinds of people violate this principle in my years of preaching. There are those who love to come hear about God’s grace. They love to come hear that God loves them and Jesus died for them. They love to confess how awful and rotten they are and then rely on the blood of Jesus to simply cleanse them because salvation is by grace alone. But they missed the boat. It is not merely hearers of God’s word that have life, it is the doers.

But there is another kind of listener who violates this principle. This guy is at the opposite end of the spectrum. He doesn’t like to hear about God’s grace. He likes to hear hellfire and brimstone. He likes to hear about how bad he is. He likes to have mounds of guilt thrown on top of him. He likes to be beaten up with Bible. He thumps the preacher on the back and says, “You stomped all over my toes, Preacher.” Somehow, because he hears these hard messages all the time and agrees with them, he thinks it is okay if he doesn’t actually do what they say. As if it were some kind of baptism by fire, he loves to listen to hard preaching, he just won’t live it. He has also missed the boat. It is not merely the hearers of God’s word preached hard that have life, it is the doers.

James commented on this as well. I will end with his words.

“Therefore put away all filthiness and rampant wickedness and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls. But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror. For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like. But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing” (James 1:23-25, ESV).

Keep the faith and keep reading,

ELC

Acts 23-24: Christians are Troublemakers

Paul: The Rotten Scoundrel

Just listen to the non-Christian Jews in Acts 23-24 and you will learn the truth. Christians are just troublemakers. Just look at what these guys have to say about Paul to the Roman officials.

“We have found this man a plague, one who stirs up riots among all the Jews throughout the world and is a ringleader of the sect of the Nazarenes. He tried to profane the temple, but we seized him” (Acts 24:5-6, ESV)

The only problem is, none of it was true. The fact is, this kind of nonsense has been going on for 2000 years. If we can’t find a good reason to be mad at the Christians, let’s just make something up. Therefore, we should not get too upset when people today get mad at us for trying to force our views on the world when all we are doing is trying to persuade folks with logic, reason and, yes, even faith. Let’s not get too upset when they say we are judgmental because we suggest that folks might be wrong sometimes. Let’s not get too upset when they trump up charges that just aren’t true. And most of all, let’s not back off from getting the only message that will save souls out to the world just because people accuse us of being closed-minded and unloving.

The fact is, everyone who makes those judgments will at some point find out just how loving we are being by passing the message on. They will either learn that when their eyes are opened by God’s word to the truth of Jesus’ message. Or they will learn when it is too late. But all will learn on some day that we tried to bestow love.

Now, having said that. Let me hit the other side. Sadly, too often, those who claim to be Christians have given reason for others to make accusation. No doubt, the biggest one we hear is the Crusades. But if that stands out as the most extreme example that everyone highlights, there have sadly been a thousand seeming trifling examples of Christians living like the world, taking their revenge, seeking their selfish ways, condescending with arrogance.

We should not be upset when folks wrongfully accuse and malign us. It happened to Paul, we should expect it to happen to us. At the same time, we must not give cause to receive truthful accusation. When we have given that cause. We had better make amends quickly.

Keep the faith today and keep reading.
ELC

Acts 3-4: They Went to Their Friends

Why were Peter and John able to take such abysmal treatment from their Jewish opponents? How were they able to take threats and beatings but then keep on teaching? 

Obviously, they had amazing faith in Jesus. However, I want to comment on another benefit they had going for them. We can read it in Acts 4:23.

“When they were released, the went to their friends and reported what the chief priests and the elders had said to them” (ESV).

When Peter and John faced their enemies, they had friends upon whom they could rely. They could go back to others who would encourage them, praise them and lift them up. Sadly, all too often, the reason we back off from boldly proclaiming the Gospel is because the friends we most rely on for support are the very ones we are afraid will abandon us if we teach the Gospel.

Obviously, we have to make friends with those who aren’t Christians, salt does no good if it never comes in contact with the unsalted. However, the friends on whom we rely the most had better be friends that will encourage us in what is right when the times are tough. Otherwise, we might end up caving along with our friends. We must choose our best friends carefully. Our souls will depend on it.

ELC