Missing the Point

When we read Scripture

If Christ doesn't become more beautiful,

If we do not see more of God's heart,

If the depth of the sin in our heart is not exposed,

If our souls aren't stirred to praise God,

If we seek merely to understand the meaning of Scripture apart from it's application,

If it doesn't drive us to prayer,

If we do not love God more,

If our love is not stirred for our neighbors, 

If our heart is lifted up in pride and we make a mental list of all the ways we are obeying,

If we focus on a list of to do's, and our goal is changed behavior rather than adoring and worshipping Christ,

If we study looking first for lessons to teach others seeing ourselves primarily as the one that needs to deliver God's word to people rather than one who needs to receive God's word,

If we are hearers and not doers,

If we seek knowledge over intimacy with God,

If we hide it in our heads and not our hearts for any purpose other than so that we might not sin against Him,

If we search Scripture to support our theological positions, 

If we half heartedly skim,

If we twist it to justify our sins,

If we look merely for "answers" rather than for questions to ask ourselves,

If we are fascinated with deep mysteries but don't look in the mirror,

If our Sword stays in the sheath when Satan attacks,

If we use the Bible like a harlot just to get what we want,

If our main focus is meeting our own emotional needs, 

If we search the Scriptures because we think that in them we have life,

If we do not imitate what we learn of Christ, 

If our feet do not follow the path to calvary, and we do not take up our cross and follow Him,

If Christ isn't what we seek when we read Scripture,

Our Bibles would benefit us more if we never opened them because when we read them in this way We get further from Christ and look to ourselves,

We condemn ourselves,

We claim to be wise but become fools,

We dishonor the Name of God before men,

We build false confidence that the act of reading the Word will transform our sinful desires without any effort on our part. The more we trust in our action of reading, the more we see our reading of Scriptrure as meritorious. The more we see our action as meritorious, the more we worship the idol of study. The more we worship the idol of study, the more we are blinded to the fact that we are actually not studying God; we are just working. 

We are working like a Pharisee who knows the Word in and out but who completely misses that Jesus is in our very presence. We are actually mad that He takes away our glory from our good work and we seek to rid ourselves of Him. Oh, what a tragedy to read the word of God and miss Christ! 

What a subtle lie that Satan would have us to believe! In fact, satan is twisting the very Book that should renew our minds to blind them. He is calling idolatry worship of the true God. He is making men twice a son of hell. Satan is not opposed to men reading the Bible and never has been. He even used Scripture when tempting Jesus. Satan's goal is not to destroy Scripture but to twist Scripture to become an instrument of destruction to men.

Our hope is not in the Bible, it is spoken of in the Bible. Our hope is in Christ! Salvation is by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone, for God's glory alone, and Scripture alone is our authority. Scripture is not our righteousness. The blood of Jesus, and the blood of Jesus alone can make atonement for our sin. May we cling to the grace of God and put no confidence in the flesh or our abilities to study the Bible. 

However, this message is not just to the lost pharisee. It is to the saved pharisee. What do I mean? Christians can miss the point when they study Scripture. They too can look to complete in the flesh what was begun by the Spirit ( Galatians 3:3). The Christian must cling to the Christ not only for justification but also sanctification. They must abide in the branch in order to produce the fruit of the Spirit (hence the name "the fruit of the Spirit" not "the fruit of study").

What can Christians do about this serious but subtle danger? First, they must pray that God would give them true understanding and true fear of Him. Second, they must continue in prayer as they read. Third, they must worship God truly in love (not in order to merit God's forgiveness). True worship is love to God which works obedience. 

"You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; it is these that testify about Me;" John 5:39

I say this from experience: If you miss Jesus, you've missed the point. For too long, I missed the point, but God has been gracious and shown me that HE is the glorious point! Seek Him! Don't trade him for a counterfeit hope of righteousness. Don't get lost in trying to understand all the mysteries in Scripture, just get lost trying to understand the mystery of union with Christ and obey what you do understand. Christ is the true treasure, and the purpose for studying Scripture is so that we might Him! 

"More than that, I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them but rubbish so that I may gain Christ," Philippians 3:8

Scopus Vitae Christus, 

Dallas

What is Self-Control?

Under Whose Control?

When the Bible mentions self-control as a fruit of the Spirit, what is it talking about? It seems that self-control would be to control one's self; however, this is not the correct definition here. In fact, to be controlled by one's self is not a challenge at all. We all do this by nature. We do what we want to do. It does not take the power of the Spirit to make us decide to take control of our lives. The original sin occurred when Adam and Eve decided to take control themselves. Clearly, Scripture is talking of something else when the term "self-control" is used.

Self control, is to have one's self under the control of the Holy Spirit. This means to have our thoughts, emotions, tongues, and actions submitted to the Holy Spirit. Self control is not just deciding to "behave". It is walking by the Spirit and having ourselves under His control. It is having the attitude of Christ who lived in perfect submission to the Father (John 5:19) and was led by the Spirit (Matt 4:1). Self-control is carried out through the power of the Spirit.

The Keys

Self-control is a fruit of the Spirit, not the self. Too often, I have tried to control myself rather than walking in the power of the spirit. In order to walk in the power of the Spirit, I've found that praying and seeking direction from the Spirit are helpful. Taking time to be alone with God, asking for a greater filling of the spirit, and then walking in the Spirit's guidance and power are the keys to being self-controlled.

"But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desires of the flesh (Galatians 5:16)."

Are you walking by the Spirit today? Are you being controlled by Him?

The Pursuit of Happiness

What's He Searching For?

What is man searching for?  He is pursuing happiness. Yes, this is what I see man searching for. He looks for something to fill the deep emptiness inside of himself. He is constantly consuming but is never able to satisfy his void.

What Does He Need?

Christians often try to address man's felt need for happiness and offer God as the solution to man's emptiness. Happiness is not man's true need though, salvation is.  Peace and joy are legitimate outcomes of salvation; however, Christians will have trials, tribulations, and persecution in this life. It's true that God fills the longing soul, but that is not why we need Him. We need him because we are sinners. We are separated from God because of our sin. We need a right standing with God. Man's greatest need is holiness not happiness! We are all going to die and face God on judgement day. It will not  matter how happy you were in your lifetime. All that will matter on judgement day is if you have been made righteous by the blood of Christ.

Why Should We Share the Gospel?

Sinners can be happy in their sin. They can find gratification from sinning. Eve was not forced to eat the forbidden fruit but did so for her own momentary pleasure. Adam and Eve were commanded not to eat the fruit because it would cause death and separation from God. It was not because it would be unpleasant and they wouldn't be happy. Man does not need God in order to be happy. Man needs God in order to be holy! We need to share the gospel with people because they have sinned and are unrighteous in God's sight. They are headed for hell and their only escape is Jesus Christ. This should be the reason we give a sinner for why they need salvation. The issue is not happiness but holiness and righteousness. It is not this moment but eternity. It is not their life but their death. We must share the gospel! (Originally posted on 1/7/13)

In The Image of God (Written 1/18/12)

Created in His Image
Genesis 1:27 "God created man in his own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them."

Did The Fall Change That?
God created man in his own image, but since the fall is man still a reflection of it? There is no unrighteousness in God. If we are unrighteous, (Romans 3;10-18) how can we reflect his image? Eph 4:22-24 says that "in reference to your former manner of life, you lay aside the old self, which is being corrupted in accordance with the lust of deceit, and that you be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and put on the new self, which in the likeness of God has been created in righteousness and holiness of the truth." (Emphasis added) The old self which being corrupted in accordance with the lust of deceit, is certainly not a reflection of God's character but is totally depraved, unable to even chose good (Eph 2: 1-2). Psalm 51:5 says "Surely I was sinful from birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me." We sin because we are sinners not vise versa. However, even though man no longer reflects God's character he is still made in God's image.

Image Bearers vs. Character Reflectors
Even though our nature is not a reflection of God's character, we still posses something distinctive that all other creation doesn't, and that is a soul. Even though our nature has changed, our substance (or being) hasn't. If a dog develops rabies he doesn't become another animal or thing; he just has an extremely aggressive nature. He is still a dog though. Despite the fact that our desires and impulses are naturally evil now, and we are totally depraved apart from God's saving grace; we are just a corrupted  form of what God designed us to be. We are still humans and posses a soul even after the fall. James 3:9 is one place where the New Testament mentions us being made in the image of God. So the fall did not nullify that fact. All humans bear God's image, but only Christians are a reflection of his character and are in the likeness of God. Isn't that interesting. In fact Satan told Adam and Eve that eating the forbidden fruit would make them like God, and doing so did just the opposite. He is the father of lies and cannot tell the truth.The new self "in the likeness of God has been created in righteousness and holiness of the truth." Those whom God saves are a reflection of his character. The unregenerate are not a representation of God's character, but they still bear his image.

Not Exactly
Ultimately Jesus is "the exact representation of His nature" (Hebrews 1:3). Even with our new nature, we are not the exact representation of his glory or nature because we are still putting to death the deeds of the flesh by the spirit and learning to walk by the spirit (Galatians 5:16,25). Ephesians 5:1 goes on to say we should be imitators of God. We should imitate God's love to those who don't reflect his character.


The Value of Human Life
The fact that humans posses a soul is an important fact. We aren't animals. If you are a human you have a soul and you've had one from the moment you became one. People argue over when a fetus becomes a human. I believe the moment they where created, just as it was from the beginning, that a man is human and has a soul. I believe abortion is murder and that it is a sin.  When we kill a fly or mosquito that is not a sin. Those insects do not posses a soul. It is the same as when we pull a weed out of our garden and kill it. That is not a sin. God does not say "thou shalt not kill", but "thou shalt not murder."
I have never heard of a man being executed for squishing an ant. However, many times it has happened for killing a human. For the same reason, I think killing an old person or dissabled person who no longer contributes to society, is wrong. I have compassion for those who have had abortions, and I know often the mothers are decieved into doing so. God's grace can cover any sin, even murder. God created man in his own image. That puts value on man. We should value man as well, reflecting God's character to a fallen world in need of God's saving grace.