As I continue to read and study this topic, I am finding that there is some reference that applies to this topic in every book of the New Testament, and in some books it's on almost every page. I have had a hard time deciding which scriptures to include and which to leave out of this post. At the end of this post will be a list of scriptures that apply that have been left out, it is by no means an exhaustive list, but enough for you to do some further reading on your own if you'd like.
We've covered what sanctification is, it's importance, God's reason for doing it, and how God does it.
Before I get into this, I think I need to make sure that this comes first. As soon as we give our lives to Jesus Christ and commit to follow Him, receiving the forgiveness that He bought for us on the cross with His own blood, God sees us as being "in Christ". From heaven's point of view, we are clothed in the righteousness of Jesus Himself. God sees the end from the beginning and whenever there is sin in our lives, He looks to the sacrifice of His Son as the justice that has already been done on our behalf. He sees us as we will be when the Holy Spirit has completed this work of sanctification in our lives. That is the only way we could even hope to approach God to get help to deal with our sin. (scripture verses for the above will be in the list at the end of this post)
Now it's time to look at the human side of the equation. What are we responsible for in this journey?
1. Repentance
Repentance literally means "a change of mind". It happens when we decide to turn from our own ways and agree with God's Word. The sin we once thought was perfectly fine (sex outside of marriage, swearing, lying, cheating on our taxes, etc), we now agree with God that it is wrong. Someone who has truly repented will start to live their life differently than they did before.
Matthew 3:8 "Therefore bring forth fruit in keeping with repentance"
Luke 5:32 "I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance."
Matthew 4:17 "From that time Jesus began to preach and say, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand."
Repentance is linked to baptism in the scripture. Now if someone on their deathbed had no chance to get baptized before they died, God is a righteous and fair Judge and I do not believe that that person would go to hell. However, we are commanded by scripture to be baptized and we need to take that step of obedience to Christ. (see Acts 2:38, Matthew 3:11, Romans 6:1-11)
2. Confession of sin
Confession is closely related to repentance, it's part of the process of repentance. Repentance and confession is not just something that happens once, it's something that continues throughout our lives as God shows us the sins in our lives that we need to get rid of.
1 John 1:6-10 "If we say that we have fellowship with Him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth; but if we walk in the light as He Himself is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin. If we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us."
3. Believe, have faith
John 1:12 "But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name."
John 3:16-18 "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have eternal life. For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world should be saved through Him. He who believes in Him is not judged; he who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God."
Hebrews 11:6 "And without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him."
4. Love God, love people
Matthew 22:37-40 And He said to him, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the great and foremost commandment. The second is like it, You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these tho commandments depend the whole Law and the Prophets."
1 John 3:23 "And this is His commandment, that we believe in the name of His Son Jesus Christ, and love one another, just as He commanded us."
5. Submit our lives to God's Word
God's Word is the #1 tool He uses to separate us from sin. We must not hide from it, we should be running to it, letting His Word be the authority in our lives.
Colossians 3:16 "Let the word of Christ richly dwell within you, with all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with thankfulness in your hearts to God."
John 8:31-32 "If you abide in My word, then you are truly disciples of Mine; and you shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free."
6. Fix our attention and devotion on Jesus Christ alone
Hebrews 12:2 "fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God."
Colossians 3:1-4 "If then you have been raised up with Christ, keep seeking the things above, where Christ is, seated at the right had of God. Set your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on earth. For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is our life, is revealed, then you also will be revealed with Him in glory."
Our job is to repent, change our minds about sin and agree with God, confess our sins, believe in Jesus Christ, love Him with all of our hearts and love other people (even the ones that are hard to love), submit our lives to His Word and be willing to forsake sin that God reveals to us, and to fix our eyes and our affection on Jesus Christ.
There is one thing I would like to add. Those who teach people to pray for riches in this live (God wants us to pray for our needs, I'm talking extravagant luxuries, not needs), and to seek fancy cars, big houses, airplanes, etc, and to use faith to mentally picture things that they want in this life and make them "manifest" are in disobedience to Colossians 3:2. We are to set our minds on things above (in heaven) not things that are on the earth.
In conclusion, I must add that most of what I was taught regarding sanctification has only been confirmed through this study. The only thing that I would change is that it's importance needs to be stressed far more than it currently is in the church circles I have moved in.
And here we are. We have arrived at the end of this journey. Here are some references for further study and consideration:
Matthew 5-7, 10:24-39
John 8, 10, 14:16-27, 15, 16, 17:13-26
Romans 3-15
1 Corinthians 3:11-17, 6, 8, 13
2 Corinthians 2:14-16, 3:17-18, 4:7-18, 5, 10:3-6, 13:4-5
Galatians 2:19-21, 3-6
Ephesians (whole book)
Philippians (whole book)
Colossians (whole book)
1 Thessalonians 4-5
2 Thessalonians 2:13-3:16
1 Timothy 1:5, 1:12-19, 2:1-8, 6
2 Timothy 2
Titus 2-3
James (whole book)
1-3 John (all 3 books)
Sunday, May 24, 2009
Sunday, May 17, 2009
Sanctification (Part 2b)
Sanctification is a process that takes time. How long? Well as long as we have left on this earth. Philippians 1:6 "For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus."
We need to trust that Jesus will perfect His work in us in however long we have left until the day we face Him. We also need to not judge and look down on others who might not be as far along in this process as we are. We need to trust that God is doing His work in our lives and we need to trust Him to work in the lives of those we love without our meddling (unless the Holy Spirit tells us to go talk to them about something, or if they are in blatant sin, in which case we have a scriptural command to confront them in love.)
Philippians 2:12-13 "So then, my beloved, just as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure."
This is something that takes work. We are instructed to work out our own salvation (not someone else's, by the way). Another translation says it this way "Keep on working to complete your salvation with fear and trembling, because God is working in you to help you want to do and be able to do what pleases Him."
God is the one who give us the desire to please Him and the ability to do what pleases Him, but it is still our decision whether or not we do those things, or run off into the darkness after our old lovers again.
Ephesians 5:26 "that He might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word..."
Jesus Christ sanctifies us with His blood (verse already quoted earlier), and cleanses us and washes us with the water of His word. This is how He sanctifies us. He buys us out of slavery with His own blood, the absolutely biggest act of love anyone can do. Then He takes His Word and uses it like water to wash us clean outwardly, and He takes His Word and uses it like a sword that is sharper than any surgeon's scalpel to open up our hearts and change our hearts.
John 17:17 "Sanctify them in the truth; Thy word is truth."
Hebrews 4:12 "For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart."
Ezekiel 36:26-27 "Moreover, I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; and I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will be careful to observe My ordinances."
It is very common for someone who has just come to faith in Christ to be occupied in cleaning up his/her outer life. The first things to go are usually drugs, drunkenness, sexual immorality, lying, cheating, stealing, swearing, etc. Then God starts doing the deep work that takes longer... rooting out greed, pride, rebellion, lust, etc. These are the sins that live in the heart and motivate the external sins.
Anyone who has been reading my blog will know that greed and pride are 2 biggies that the Lord has been working on in my heart lately.
Now we know that God does this because He loves us. It's usually hard and involves time in the wilderness. He bought us back from slavery with His own blood and He uses His Word to wash us clean and do surgery on our hearts. So what do we have to do in this process, how do we work out our salvation?
That's part 3, coming your way sometime in the next week.
We need to trust that Jesus will perfect His work in us in however long we have left until the day we face Him. We also need to not judge and look down on others who might not be as far along in this process as we are. We need to trust that God is doing His work in our lives and we need to trust Him to work in the lives of those we love without our meddling (unless the Holy Spirit tells us to go talk to them about something, or if they are in blatant sin, in which case we have a scriptural command to confront them in love.)
Philippians 2:12-13 "So then, my beloved, just as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure."
This is something that takes work. We are instructed to work out our own salvation (not someone else's, by the way). Another translation says it this way "Keep on working to complete your salvation with fear and trembling, because God is working in you to help you want to do and be able to do what pleases Him."
God is the one who give us the desire to please Him and the ability to do what pleases Him, but it is still our decision whether or not we do those things, or run off into the darkness after our old lovers again.
Ephesians 5:26 "that He might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word..."
Jesus Christ sanctifies us with His blood (verse already quoted earlier), and cleanses us and washes us with the water of His word. This is how He sanctifies us. He buys us out of slavery with His own blood, the absolutely biggest act of love anyone can do. Then He takes His Word and uses it like water to wash us clean outwardly, and He takes His Word and uses it like a sword that is sharper than any surgeon's scalpel to open up our hearts and change our hearts.
John 17:17 "Sanctify them in the truth; Thy word is truth."
Hebrews 4:12 "For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart."
Ezekiel 36:26-27 "Moreover, I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; and I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will be careful to observe My ordinances."
It is very common for someone who has just come to faith in Christ to be occupied in cleaning up his/her outer life. The first things to go are usually drugs, drunkenness, sexual immorality, lying, cheating, stealing, swearing, etc. Then God starts doing the deep work that takes longer... rooting out greed, pride, rebellion, lust, etc. These are the sins that live in the heart and motivate the external sins.
Anyone who has been reading my blog will know that greed and pride are 2 biggies that the Lord has been working on in my heart lately.
Now we know that God does this because He loves us. It's usually hard and involves time in the wilderness. He bought us back from slavery with His own blood and He uses His Word to wash us clean and do surgery on our hearts. So what do we have to do in this process, how do we work out our salvation?
That's part 3, coming your way sometime in the next week.
Sanctification (Part 2a)
Now that we know what sanctification is and that it's important enough to God that He said that no one will see Him without it (Heb. 12:14), why? Why is this so important to Him?
Ephesians 5:25-27 "Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave Himself up for her; that He might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, that He might present to Himself the church in all her glory, having no spot of wrinkle or any such thing; but that she should be holy and blameless."
2 Corinthians 11:2 "For I am jealous for you with a godly jealousy; for I betrothed you to one husband, that to Christ I might present you as a pure virgin."
He wants to sanctify you so that He can marry you. He wants to pick us up from the mud and mire of sin and clean us up completely, inside and out, so that He can make us His glorious bride! That's the motive in the heart of Jesus Christ for wanting us to turn away from sin and turn to Him. It is totally based in His fierce, jealous love for us. A love that the only human thing He could compare it to to make us understand is the love a husband has for his bride.
We must understand that He wants to sanctify us because He loves us. If we don't get this, we have a tendency to end up legalistic, just obeying outwardly but resenting God's commands in our hearts.
Let's look at this love in a beautiful prophetic picture of it in the book of Hosea. I'm not going to list alot of references here or quote it much, but just tell you the story. I thoroughly recommend that you grab a Bible and read it for yourself if you are not familiar with it.
The Lord told Hosea, one of His prophets, to marry a harlot (prostitute) named Gomer. Naturally, simply taking a prostitute away from the streets does not change her habits and her beliefs about who she is, at first it's only a change in geography. She keeps running off on him and sleeping with her old lovers, and he keeps taking her back. Eventually, she gets herself into serious trouble and one of her lovers sells her into slavery.
Hosea had every right according to the law of Moses to have her stoned. But he didn't. He went to her slave master and bought her back. Then he lead her out to the wilderness to speak kindly to her, to give her love and joy. Hosea's desire is that she would no longer call him her master, but her husband. He led Gomer to a remote place, far from the comforts she usually ran to, so that she would have no choice but to learn to trust in the love her husband had for her and learn to return that love. The wilderness is the place where she was sanctified, separated from her adulterous ways and her heart was changed by the love of her husband. We know that this applies to God's relationship with His people because the Lord tells Hosea that what he is doing is a prophetic picture of God's relationship with His people.
When we first decide to follow Jesus, we are alot like Gomer when she first married Hosea. Just as Hosea bought her back from slavery, Jesus Christ paid our debt by dying for us on a cross. The very next thing He wants to do is lead us out to the wilderness, where it's hard and it's tough and we can't seem to find anywhere to turn for relief except to Him. There He changes our hearts and we learn to trust in His love and return it with all of our hearts.
We are saved the moment we decide to go with Him and abandon our sin. We are sanctified as we stay with Him and allow Him to change our hearts. Let's look at some more scriptures.
1 Corinthians 1:30 "But by His doing you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification, and redemption."
Hebrews 13:12 "Therefore Jesus also, that He might sanctify the people through His own blood, suffered outside the gate."
1 Corinthians 6:19-20 "Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own? For you have been bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body."
Ephesians 5:25-27 "Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave Himself up for her; that He might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, that He might present to Himself the church in all her glory, having no spot of wrinkle or any such thing; but that she should be holy and blameless."
2 Corinthians 11:2 "For I am jealous for you with a godly jealousy; for I betrothed you to one husband, that to Christ I might present you as a pure virgin."
He wants to sanctify you so that He can marry you. He wants to pick us up from the mud and mire of sin and clean us up completely, inside and out, so that He can make us His glorious bride! That's the motive in the heart of Jesus Christ for wanting us to turn away from sin and turn to Him. It is totally based in His fierce, jealous love for us. A love that the only human thing He could compare it to to make us understand is the love a husband has for his bride.
We must understand that He wants to sanctify us because He loves us. If we don't get this, we have a tendency to end up legalistic, just obeying outwardly but resenting God's commands in our hearts.
Let's look at this love in a beautiful prophetic picture of it in the book of Hosea. I'm not going to list alot of references here or quote it much, but just tell you the story. I thoroughly recommend that you grab a Bible and read it for yourself if you are not familiar with it.
The Lord told Hosea, one of His prophets, to marry a harlot (prostitute) named Gomer. Naturally, simply taking a prostitute away from the streets does not change her habits and her beliefs about who she is, at first it's only a change in geography. She keeps running off on him and sleeping with her old lovers, and he keeps taking her back. Eventually, she gets herself into serious trouble and one of her lovers sells her into slavery.
Hosea had every right according to the law of Moses to have her stoned. But he didn't. He went to her slave master and bought her back. Then he lead her out to the wilderness to speak kindly to her, to give her love and joy. Hosea's desire is that she would no longer call him her master, but her husband. He led Gomer to a remote place, far from the comforts she usually ran to, so that she would have no choice but to learn to trust in the love her husband had for her and learn to return that love. The wilderness is the place where she was sanctified, separated from her adulterous ways and her heart was changed by the love of her husband. We know that this applies to God's relationship with His people because the Lord tells Hosea that what he is doing is a prophetic picture of God's relationship with His people.
When we first decide to follow Jesus, we are alot like Gomer when she first married Hosea. Just as Hosea bought her back from slavery, Jesus Christ paid our debt by dying for us on a cross. The very next thing He wants to do is lead us out to the wilderness, where it's hard and it's tough and we can't seem to find anywhere to turn for relief except to Him. There He changes our hearts and we learn to trust in His love and return it with all of our hearts.
We are saved the moment we decide to go with Him and abandon our sin. We are sanctified as we stay with Him and allow Him to change our hearts. Let's look at some more scriptures.
1 Corinthians 1:30 "But by His doing you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification, and redemption."
Hebrews 13:12 "Therefore Jesus also, that He might sanctify the people through His own blood, suffered outside the gate."
1 Corinthians 6:19-20 "Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own? For you have been bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body."
Saturday, May 16, 2009
Sanctification (Part 1)
In my regular Bible reading last week, I came upon this verse:
Hebrews 12:14 "Pursue peace with all men, and the sanctification without which no one will see the Lord."
I knew what I was taught about sanctification, but I was never taught that without it, I won't get to see God, which means I won't be in heaven, which means that I could end up in hell without it. So this is much more serious business than alot of preachers/teachers make it out to be. The way it was taught to me made sanctification sound optional. So I threw out what I was taught and launched into a Bible study to find out the whole truth.
I realize that sanctification is one of those big Bible words that most people, especially those who haven't gone to church all their lives, have no clue about. It doesn't make any sense to most people these days. Sanctify means "to separate from profane things and dedicate to God." Sanctification means "consecration and purification." To consecrate something is to renew or remake it, and to purify something is to cleanse it from all impurities. To sum all of that up, sancitifcation in the Bible sense is the process of cleansing from sin, being renewed and reformed into the image of Jesus Christ, separating our lives from sin, and being dedicated to God.
2 Thessalonians 2:13 says "But we should always give thanks to God for you, brethren beloved by the Lord, because God has chosen you from the beginning for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and faith in the truth." (emphasis added by me)
So, how does that work together with Ephesians 2:8-9, which says that salvation is by grace through faith? So which one is it? Is it by God's grace, or through separating ourselves from sin and being dedicated to God?
There are 2 keys to figuring this out. The first is in the verse above, sancitfication is by the Spirit, which means that this is not something we have to do on our own, in fact, if left on our own it would be impossible for us to separate ourselves from our sin. It is "by the Spirit". The Holy Spirit gives us the power to obey God and dedicate ourselves to Him.
The second key is found in Titus 2:11-14 which says, "For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all men, instructing us to deny ungodliness and worldly desires and to live sensibly, righteously and godly in the present age, looking for the blessed hope and the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Christ Jesus, who gave Himself for us to redeem us from every lawless deed, and to purify for Himself a people for His own possession, zealous for good deeds."
The grace of God inscruts us to deny sin, it purifies us, is teaches us to live righteously and godly, so really God's grace produces sanctification in our lives. There is also a warning here. If we say we have God's grace, but we are not learning to deny ungodliness and worldly desires (lust, greed, pride, etc) and if the Lord is not teaching us to live for Him, it is very likely that the Christianity we claim to have is a counterfeit and not the real thing.
In part 2 we will look at how God sanctifies us, it is by His Spirit so He's the one that the bulk of the responsibiliry rests on. Then in part 3 we will look at what our part to play in this process is, although God is the one who is going to do it, there are responsibilities that we need to step up to the plate and take care of.
Hebrews 12:14 "Pursue peace with all men, and the sanctification without which no one will see the Lord."
I knew what I was taught about sanctification, but I was never taught that without it, I won't get to see God, which means I won't be in heaven, which means that I could end up in hell without it. So this is much more serious business than alot of preachers/teachers make it out to be. The way it was taught to me made sanctification sound optional. So I threw out what I was taught and launched into a Bible study to find out the whole truth.
I realize that sanctification is one of those big Bible words that most people, especially those who haven't gone to church all their lives, have no clue about. It doesn't make any sense to most people these days. Sanctify means "to separate from profane things and dedicate to God." Sanctification means "consecration and purification." To consecrate something is to renew or remake it, and to purify something is to cleanse it from all impurities. To sum all of that up, sancitifcation in the Bible sense is the process of cleansing from sin, being renewed and reformed into the image of Jesus Christ, separating our lives from sin, and being dedicated to God.
2 Thessalonians 2:13 says "But we should always give thanks to God for you, brethren beloved by the Lord, because God has chosen you from the beginning for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and faith in the truth." (emphasis added by me)
So, how does that work together with Ephesians 2:8-9, which says that salvation is by grace through faith? So which one is it? Is it by God's grace, or through separating ourselves from sin and being dedicated to God?
There are 2 keys to figuring this out. The first is in the verse above, sancitfication is by the Spirit, which means that this is not something we have to do on our own, in fact, if left on our own it would be impossible for us to separate ourselves from our sin. It is "by the Spirit". The Holy Spirit gives us the power to obey God and dedicate ourselves to Him.
The second key is found in Titus 2:11-14 which says, "For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all men, instructing us to deny ungodliness and worldly desires and to live sensibly, righteously and godly in the present age, looking for the blessed hope and the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Christ Jesus, who gave Himself for us to redeem us from every lawless deed, and to purify for Himself a people for His own possession, zealous for good deeds."
The grace of God inscruts us to deny sin, it purifies us, is teaches us to live righteously and godly, so really God's grace produces sanctification in our lives. There is also a warning here. If we say we have God's grace, but we are not learning to deny ungodliness and worldly desires (lust, greed, pride, etc) and if the Lord is not teaching us to live for Him, it is very likely that the Christianity we claim to have is a counterfeit and not the real thing.
In part 2 we will look at how God sanctifies us, it is by His Spirit so He's the one that the bulk of the responsibiliry rests on. Then in part 3 we will look at what our part to play in this process is, although God is the one who is going to do it, there are responsibilities that we need to step up to the plate and take care of.
Wednesday, May 6, 2009
Dead Men Walking
Dead men do not get discouraged. They feel no disappointment. They have no dreams to risk, they have no pride to defend. They have no concern for their own well-being, no ambition to promote their cause, and no concern for their reputation. No one can offend a dead man, no one can cause him to fear or worry, and no sudden catastrophe could ever shake his faith.
To assume that we will be resurrected with Christ without first dying to sin and to our own will shows that at best we are deceived and at worst we are hypocrites and false brethren. (see Romans 6:5, Philippians 3:10-11) The Apostle Paul ran toward suffering, not shrinking back even when shipwrecked, beaten, tortured, and put in prison.Even Jesus had to choose God's will over His own in the Garden. We can't assume that God loves us too much to let us suffer. That kind of thinking sets us up for discouragement and makes us easy targets for the enemy to take out, all he has to do is bring some kind of catastrophe in our lives, and our faith crumbles because it was not based on the truth of God's Word, but on our pride. Do we think we are better than our Master? He was crucified, and He called us to take up our cross and follow Him up that hill considering our lives to be nothing but garbage compared to the eternal value of knowing Christ and the fellowship of His sufferings and the power of His resurrection.
To assume that we will be resurrected with Christ without first dying to sin and to our own will shows that at best we are deceived and at worst we are hypocrites and false brethren. (see Romans 6:5, Philippians 3:10-11) The Apostle Paul ran toward suffering, not shrinking back even when shipwrecked, beaten, tortured, and put in prison.Even Jesus had to choose God's will over His own in the Garden. We can't assume that God loves us too much to let us suffer. That kind of thinking sets us up for discouragement and makes us easy targets for the enemy to take out, all he has to do is bring some kind of catastrophe in our lives, and our faith crumbles because it was not based on the truth of God's Word, but on our pride. Do we think we are better than our Master? He was crucified, and He called us to take up our cross and follow Him up that hill considering our lives to be nothing but garbage compared to the eternal value of knowing Christ and the fellowship of His sufferings and the power of His resurrection.
It's so much easier to talk about than to actually do, this dying to self. It hurts, it's hard, it's dark and lonely sometimes, often we feel like God has abandoned us. But we have a promise that if we do not grow weary in the middle of it, if we do not faint and give up, there is a great reward.
Galatians 2:20 "I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and delivered Himself up for me."
2 Corinthians 4:16-18 "Therefore we do not lose heart, but though our outer man is decaying, yet our inner man is being renewed day by day. For momentary, light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison, while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal."
Galatians 2:20 "I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and delivered Himself up for me."
2 Corinthians 4:16-18 "Therefore we do not lose heart, but though our outer man is decaying, yet our inner man is being renewed day by day. For momentary, light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison, while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal."
One of my Heroes
I have great respect for Mother Theresa. A small woman who simply devoted her life to obeying the command of Jesus Christ to feed and clothe the least of His people. (see Matthew 25)
She once said, "Don't give in to discouragement. No more must you do so when you try to settle a marriage crisis or convert a sinner and don't succeed. If you are discouraged, it is a sign of pride because it shows you trust in your own powers. Never bother about people's opinion. Be humble and you will never be disturbed. It is very difficult to practice because we all want to see the result of our work. Leave it to Jesus."
I very recently saw the connection between discouragement and pride. I love the way Mother Theresa expresses it. However, far more important is what the Bible has to say about it.
Philippians 2:1-8
If you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any fellowship with the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion,then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and purpose.
Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves.Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others.Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus:
Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped,
but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness.
And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death
Jesus did not get discouraged, even in the face of betrayal and fickle crowds that one day praised Him and about a week later screamed "Crucify Him!" He did not value their opinions of Him... He did not even value His own opinion of Himself. He loved them, but He knew the wickedness in the heart of mankind. The only opinion He was concerned with was that of his Father in heaven. May we have that same attitude.
She once said, "Don't give in to discouragement. No more must you do so when you try to settle a marriage crisis or convert a sinner and don't succeed. If you are discouraged, it is a sign of pride because it shows you trust in your own powers. Never bother about people's opinion. Be humble and you will never be disturbed. It is very difficult to practice because we all want to see the result of our work. Leave it to Jesus."
I very recently saw the connection between discouragement and pride. I love the way Mother Theresa expresses it. However, far more important is what the Bible has to say about it.
Philippians 2:1-8
If you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any fellowship with the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion,then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and purpose.
Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves.Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others.Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus:
Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped,
but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness.
And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death
Jesus did not get discouraged, even in the face of betrayal and fickle crowds that one day praised Him and about a week later screamed "Crucify Him!" He did not value their opinions of Him... He did not even value His own opinion of Himself. He loved them, but He knew the wickedness in the heart of mankind. The only opinion He was concerned with was that of his Father in heaven. May we have that same attitude.
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