by faith live - live by faith‏

At Cornerstone Church of Ames, we have been going through Romans and recently covered Romans 1:17. I am also listening to a sermon series from the Village Church going through the book of Galatians where they covered Galatians 3:11.

“The one who by faith is made righteous will live.“

This a Biblical theme captured and contended in several different places. It is both a plea to seek righteousness by faith and an encouragement to live by faith. In God’s righteousness granted, we anchor our hope by faith that it can be ours by asking. This verse’s clear connotation is to convey that we access righteousness by faith alone. 

Additionally, by faith we repent and believe our sins are forgiven. By grace we walk in a manner that demonstrates the fruit of a real, living and active faith brewing within us. Living by faith does not mean you are now sinless, it means you trust that God sees you as He sees the sinless Savior. In response, we actively, daily, and simultaneously pray for forgiveness and thank God for the forgiveness we ask. We live in joyful, obedient response. We bear fruit in keeping with repentance.

The one who by faith is made righteous will live (an eternal life by their faith).

The one who by faith is made righteous will live (an earthly life by their faith).

We live by faith because God is our life.

We live by faith because for now we live here.

We live by faith because by what else can we live?

i like big BUTS (because God cannot lie)

Titus 3:3-8

³ For we too were once foolish, disobedient, deceived, enslaved by various passions and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful, detesting one another.

⁴ But when the kindness of God our Savior and His love
for mankind appeared,
⁵ He saved us—
not by works of righteousness that we had done,
but according to His mercy,
through the washing of regeneration
and renewal by the Holy Spirit.
⁶ He poured out this Spirit on us abundantly
through Jesus Christ our Savior,
⁷ so that having been justified by His grace,
we may become heirs with the hope of eternal life.

⁸ This saying is trustworthy. I want you to insist on these things, so that those who have believed God might be careful to devote themselves to good works. These are good and profitable for everyone.

How big is the “but” in the above passage? It is the difference between darkness and light, helpless and helped, drowned and resuscitated. Paul’s major theme and charge to Titus is that the Christians over whom he has been placed shepherd need to devote themselves to good works. Paul is in no way making a theological statement regarding soteriology. He is not insisting that one must work to be saved. He is exhorting, however, that those who are saved must devote themselves to the hard work of a living faith.

I love that verses 4-7 appear to have been an early church creed or saying that was often repeated or used for purposes of catechizing new converts to Christianity. It is a simple, concise saying that Paul states is trustworthy. Here is a doctrine on which to lean. From this doctrine, Paul exhorts and encourages others to do good works. You start with the trustworthy saying and end in good deeds.

“He saved us.”

Does not that simple phrase say so much? He is the object. He is the Actor. Saved is the verb. Saving is what He did. He did it already. He did it for us. Us is the object of the sentence. We are the receivers. We are those being saved. He is talking to those who have placed faith in Christ. In forsaking their own efforts and by faith trusting Christ’s provision on their behalf, they/we have been saved. God has done it.

"He saved us."

I also love how this early creed bears witness to the triune LORD. The kindness of God our Savior appeared and renewed us by His Holy Spirit through the life, death, and resurrection work of Jesus Christ our Savior. Notice how all three are mentioned as conspirators in the effort to save us. All three of them equally god in essence and unique in Person and function.

Lastly, note this beautiful phrase, “justified by His grace.” We are not justified in the courtroom of God’s justice by making a solid argument. We are not justified by the failure of the Accuser to bring legitimate evidence against us. We are not justified because the Judge was corrupted, perverted, or indifferent. We are justified by His grace.

By grace He paid our debt.
By grace He credits us with righteousness.
By grace He seeks us.
By grace He rebirths us.
By grace He renews our hearts.
By grace He empowers us to walk in His ways.
By grace He found us.
By grace He keeps us.

We are justified by His grace.
Alleluia!

If you also like big BUTS and you cannot lie, you might enjoy these. But don’t have take my word for it.

Romans 6:23

Ephesians 2:3-5

Romans 3:20-22

Romans 5:7-9

Can you think of any other big ol’ BUTS in the Bible that should be included? 

Did I forget your favorite BUT?

telestai = Strong's Greek 5055, "It is finished!"

The other morning when reading My Utmost for His Highest I was delighted to encounter this:

Yield your members servants to righteousness unto holiness. —Romans 6:13-22

I cannot save and sanctify myself; I cannot atone for sin; I cannot redeem the world; I cannot make right what is wrong, pure what is impure, holy what is unholy. That is all the sovereign work of God. Have I faith in what Jesus Christ has done? He has made a perfect Atonement, am I in the habit of constantly realizing it? The great need is not to do things, but to believe things. The Redemption of Christ is not an experience, it is the great act of God which He has performed through Christ, and I have to build my faith upon it. If I construct my faith on my experience, I produce that most unscriptural type, an isolated life, my eyes fixed on my own whiteness. Beware of the piety that has no pre-supposition in the Atonement of the Lord. It is of no use for anything but a sequestered life; it is useless to God and a nuisance to man. Measure every type of experience by our Lord Himself. We cannot do anything pleasing to God unless we deliberately build on the pre-supposition of the Atonement.

The Atonement of Jesus has to work out in practical, unobtrusive ways in my life. Every time I obey, absolute Deity is on my side, so that the grace of God and natural obedience coincide. Obedience means that I have banked everything on the Atonement, and my obedience is met immediately by the delight of the supernatural grace of God.

Beware of the piety that denies the natural life, it is a fraud. Continually bring yourself to the bar of the Atonement – where is the discernment of the Atonement in this thing, and in that?

The Gospel is believed upon for eternal life and lived upon in earthly life.

The Gospel is not something you believed in once upon a time. You cannot make your ways or words holy now anymore than you could before you believed in Jesus. The Holy Spirit does not enable you now to make yourself holy. This is a work accomplished again by the grace of God.

2 things:

1)       Dear Christian, please enjoy the grace of God today in overcoming your weakness that in Him you might be strong to serve. The Gospel is not merely for your failures accrued before you believed. The Gospel was not a hope you embraced to release you only from your past. You are not now on your own to maintain and upkeep the whiteness that was given to you. The Gospel is your strength today and your hope for tomorrow. It is your perpetual whiteness because it is Christ’s whiteness which can never be stained. It is the main attraction, not simply your ticket to the big show of self preservation.

2)       Dear Christian, please make it your every effort to yield your members to righteousness today. Surrender your will and your rights in order to embrace the grace of relying on Another’s efforts on your behalf. We demonstrate daily our dependence on God alone and His righteousness for us by doing the good works prepared beforehand by Him. We are pleasing to Him because Christ is pleasing to Him and by faith we are found in Christ.

Working hard to please God is exhausting and useless in that it cannot accomplish its goals.

Working hard because God is pleased with you in Christ is energizing and useful in that it fully accomplishes God’s goals.

jack bauer billy bad apple‏

Seriously, how is it November already?

Daniel 3:16-18

¹⁶ Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego replied to the king, “Nebuchadnezzar,we don’t need to give you an answer to this question. ¹⁷ If the God we serve exists, then He can rescue us from the furnace of blazing fire, and He can rescue us from the power of you, the king.¹⁸ But even if He does not rescue us, we want you as king to know that we will not serve your gods or worship the gold statue you set up.”

What a senseless waste of three good Jewish boys, right? I mean, all they had to do was bow to the stupid idol Nebuchadnezzar erected. They did not have to mean it. God looks at the heart, not the behavior. God would have known that they did not really worship the idol. He would have understood the good works left to be done and the people depending on these three young men. He would certainly perhaps even advise them to acquiesce to the authorities in their lives, right?

WRONG!

While it is certainly true that in Christ God can forgive any and every sin – even that of betrayal as we observe in the life of Peter, it is wrong to make common sense and practical wisdom your barometer for following God. That is not to say that God is calling you to illogic or imprudence, but to say that the most logical thing one can do is agree with God on everything!

I adore these three young men (it is of note that I keep referring to them as “the three young men” because I do not want to have to type their three difficult names over and over). 

I love how Jack Bauer Billy Bad Apple they get with the king of the known universe at that time. A king who was arrogant and conceited and idolatrous. Most people worship themselves in a prideful way that is common, but coy. Nebuchadnezzar was brash and literally thought he was god on earth. So these three young Jewish boys approach a man with this opinion of himself with the power to enforce this opinion in the minds and mouths of others and say (essentially),

“I don’t have to answer to you. We don’t want to bow before your idol. We serve a God who created everything, even you, o King. And if our God is real, then He can do whatever He wants. He can even make it so that fire cannot hurt us. But even if He lets us burn in the furnace of your wrath I want you know something: I will NEVER worship you or the work of your hands, never! Not now, not later, not next November (?any Letter Factory fans en la casa?).”

(this introduces the very first installment of the VVCSV or Van Voorst Christian Standard Version which is essentially my paraphrase of Biblical texts.  look out "the Message," there's a new interprative dance in town.  this is the first installment, but it won't be the last.  stay sharp!)

I love their boldness in acknowledging unequivocally both the omnipotence and sovereignty of God. He can do whatever He wants and has the power to do it. So it is true that He can rescue you from the fire. It is also true that He may not decide to do that. Either way, He is still God. He is not proven to be God if He does what we tell Him to do. He is not Sovereign if He must do whatever we ask of Him.

Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego (why not this once) demonstrate a faith in God that goes beyond circumstances. God is who He has revealed Himself to be because He is, not because I wish. He is. And if He is to us, how could we ever turn to another?

The fire was hot. Very hot. Hotter than it had ever been as a result of Nebuchadnezzar’s anger. He was angry before three Jews cracked wise, imagine his contempt after the fact. In the furnace a Man appears in the fire with these three young men and saves them from the fire and fury of Nebuchadnezzar’s wrath. A man who looked like a god. He walks with them in the fire. They exit the furnace on their own feet without even a burn, without even the smell of smoke on them.

Back to the Future:  On a particular day over 2,000 years ago God became a man and lived a perfect life and died a sinless death. He was resurrected from the dead to verify that He held the power of life and death and sin and salvation in His hands. The fire of God’s wrath is extinguished. He walked in the fire we deserved and ushered us out unscathed, baring not even the smell of the smoke. We deserve to be burnt and we look and smell like fresh linen - white as snow. He is the perfect Sacrifice, Priest, Savior and Lord.

If He is, how could we ever turn to any other?

does grace hardly work?

Titus 2:11-14

¹¹ For the grace of God has appeared with salvation for all people, ¹² instructing us to deny godlessness and worldly lusts and to live in a sensible, righteous, and godly way in the present age,¹³ while we wait for the blessed hope and appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ. ¹⁴ He gave Himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to cleanse for Himself a people for His own possession, eager to do good works.

The grace of God is often used by some to excuse any and every thing they can think to do. The grace of God can and does cover all of our sin. But the one who through faith accepts this grace walks in the good works God has provided for them. In another one of Paul’s letters, he said it this way:

Ephesians 2:8-10

⁸ For you are saved by grace through faith, and this is not from yourselves; it is God’s gift— ⁹ not from works, so that no one can boast.¹⁰ For we are His creation, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared ahead of time so that we should walk in them.

 

See what Paul did there?

 

He reinforced emphatically that it is the grace of God alone through faith in Christ alone that saves. It is a gift. It cannot be earned. It is freely given by God to those who by His grace in faith call upon Him. No one can boast about what they did before God because no one appears safely before God because of what they have done.

 

But…

 

Paul also said we “should” walk in the good works God has prepared for us. We “ought” to do this. Whenever there is an ought, there is an implication of duty or demand. Paul did not say you “could” walk in them if you wanted or that you “would” if certain circumstances were in place. He said you "should.”

 

Back to Titus 2.

 

The motivation for all of this is what has already been done for us. The Gospel is always the motivator of our behavior as Christians following after Jesus. We do not revert to attempting to keep the Law to keep Jesus. We do, however, honor the Law and recognize that it displays the full glory and holiness of God. We respect the Law. We desire to uphold it inasmuch as any is able in response to Christ.  We are free only in Christ.  We are not free to do whatever we want.  We are freed from doing whatever we want and inspired to do what He commands  More than being free to be me, we are freed to be meek. We can imperfectly love our God and our neighbor knowing that in Jesus we are seen as having done so perfectly. This is not an excuse to “get out of jail free,” but a motivation to eagerly serve our gracious God.

 

Our two biggest problems are solved sufficiently in Christ.

 

(1) Our sin deserves perfect punishment: Jesus died. for us.

(2) Our God deserves perfect obedience: Jesus lived and now lives for us.

 

If these declarations are yours by grace and through faith, you will find yourself surprised to be responding in kind to that which you have so kindly had extended to you. 

 

God does not need your good works. But your neighbors do.

thoughts from "All I Am" on Phil Wickham's Singalong 2‏

I was listening to this song today as I went about my business.

You can listen to it HERE.

There is a vanity often attached to one’s acknowledgement of their own depravity. It usually manifests itself in some permutation similar to one saying, “How could God use me? I am so broken. Who am I?”

The problem is that these are all true. Who are you to accomplish godly work? No one. You are broken.  How can you be used to fix anything? You can’t.

I had this state of mind for a long time. I denied God’s ability to use me for His glory because I believed I was beyond His ability to do so. This I framed as doubting myself, when in actuality I was doubting God. I also doubted the power of the Gospel to present me as blameless in Christ (as He is, not as I am). I misunderstood the Good News to be OK News that proclaimed God was no longer going to spank me, but was still rather disappointed in me and was going to reluctantly let me into His Kingdom. This is the NOT the Gospel or Good News. It is Nice News that God is not filing for divorce, but discouraging that I will be living in a house with a husband bound by vow and not by love.

I love the way Phil Wickham fleshes this out in these lyrics. It is not about us having anything in our hands. Our empty hands are actually the prerequisite for being used by God (as opposed to our disqualification as I had once suspected). 

Our stumbling is not that which provides evidence against our inclusion into His mercy, it is the proof that we need His mercy.

God has never used someone that did not need God in order to be useful.

Take these hands
I know they're empty
But with You they can
Be used for beauty
In Your perfect plan
All I am is Yours

Take these feet
I know they stumble
But You use the weak
You use the humble
So please use meAll I am is Yours

I give You all my life
I'm letting it go
A living sacrifice
No longer my own
All I am is Yours
All I am is Yours

I lift my hands up
God I surrender
All that I am for Your glory, Your honor, Your fame

double imputation

Happy 2 1/2 Birthday today to my little girl!  I love you so much sissy. May you one day become my sister in addition to my daughter.  May God in His mercy grant you admission by adoption to a new family, one better than the one I tried so hard to provide for you.  A home built not by my human hands, but one whose Author and Builder is Jesus.

While reading My Utmost for His Highest the past two mornings I have read:

If Jesus Christ is to regenerate me, what is the problem He is up against? I have a heredity I had no say in; I am not holy, nor likely to be; and if all Jesus Christ can do is to tell me I must be holy, His teaching plants despair.

&

For He hath made Him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him. — 2 Corinthians 5:21

Sin is a fundamental relationship; it is not wrong doing, it is wrong being, deliberate and emphatic independence of God. The Christian religion bases everything on the positive, radical nature of sin. Other religions deal with sins; the Bible alone deals with sin. The first thing Jesus Christ faced in men was the heredity of sin, and it is because we have ignored this in our presentation of the Gospel that the message of the Gospel has lost its sting and its blasting power. ...All through the Bible it is revealed that Our Lord bore the sin of the world by identification, not by sympathy. He deliberately took upon His own shoulders, and bore in His own Person, the whole massed sin of the human race.

God is Holy.
You are not.

Those two things are very bad news for you and I.

Jesus is perfect.
He commands you to be perfect.

Again, two things that are the super bad news. Jesus' perfection is bad news for you and I. Now we can't say that, "it can't be done." He did it (perfectly). Crap!

However, by faith, God is willing to make what Martin Luther called, "the great exchange." This is where our word, "impute" becomes so important

im·pute, transitive verb \im-ˈpyüt\

1: to lay the responsibility or blame for often falsely or unjustly

2: to credit to a person or a cause : attribute

God imputes to Christ our sin on the cross. Jesus takes on sins that were not His and becomes them. He is not playing the part of sin as in a play. He is not pretending to be us. He literally takes our place and becomes us and our sin and is nailed to a cross.

God imputes to us Christ's righteouness. Jesus lives a perfect life. He never does the wrong thing and He always does the right thing. Never was there a right thing He ignored and never was there a wrong thing into which He indulged. We are not pretending to be perfect. We are literally seen as perfect by grace through our faith in Jesus.

Double imputation takes place: We receive something that was not ours and Christ receives something that was not His. We get a perfect life by which to be seen and Christ gets our sin by which He is crucified and dies.

It is only in this that we can become righteous. Only by faith in what God has done can we be made right with Him. Not by how badly we feel. Not by how robust our resume. Only by what Jesus did and if that is ours. Only by what we did being taken by Him. We cannot pay off the debt or earn the trophy. We are double damned without God. 

We are double blessed by grace through faith in the Gospel of God.