Tilling and Planting

Tag: Bible

  • Christmas Characters: Part 1

    Christmas Characters: Part 1

    Intro

    Hold up! It’s not even Thanksgiving, what am I doing talking about Christmas already? Compared to the retail stores, I’m actually behind (and now the Menards Christmas jingle is stuck in my head). And with only doing two posts a month, I’ve got to get started early if I want to cover multiple Christmas posts! This Christmas season, I wish to talk about several characters we find in the Christmas story. Who they were and their significance and contribution to the overall story. For this one, I’m focusing on Zechariah and Elizabeth. Let’s jump right in.

    Who Were They?

    So let’s get the obvious part of the answer out of the way. Zechariah and Elizabeth were the parents of John the Baptist. I think most people know that about them. That’s really all you hear about them in the Christmas season. When you read their part of the Christmas story it’s like, they were old and unable to have children and then an angel appeared to Zechariah and said “You shall have a son”, he doubted and became mute, and they had a son and he could speak again. That’s the cliff notes of the cliff notes version of the story. I’ll get into more detail later.

    Elizabeth

    Elizabeth was a woman from the tribe of Levi (a descendant of Aaron specifically) married to a priest named Zechariah. The Bible refers to her as “righteous” and “blameless” (Luke 1:6). That’s high praise. But that’s also an expectation of a priest and his wife. Sadly, however, Elizabeth was barren. This must’ve been very difficult since infertility was often looked at as a type of judgment from God. And yet, I already mentioned the Bible calling her out as “righteous” and “blameless”. So confusion must’ve set in as well as a degree of disappointment. After all, in those days one of the women’s primary roles was to raise the children of the household.

    However, she did not give up hope. Even in her old age when no one expects to have children, she prayed. She knew the story of Abram (Abraham) and Sarai (Sarah) and probably clung to that. After all, she likely hadn’t reached the age of 90 just yet!

    And when she heard of Zechariah’s encounter with the angel and her subsequent conception, she gave glory to God – testifying to her faith in a miracle-working God. Though she did choose to stay in seclusion for the next several months. Interesting, but given her age, there’s certainly a higher likelihood of losing the child – especially with the way they traveled in those days. So she probably wanted to take precautions. It was Mary’s visit that finally broke that seclusion. And that’s an interesting part of this story.

    Mary’s Visit

    Elizabeth and Mary are said to be related in the Bible. Their exact relationship is not known since the word sometimes translated as “cousin” in this passage (Luke 1) is better translated as “relative” – which you’ll see in some translations, including NIV which I tend to favor in my posts. But this brings up a problem. I already said that Elizabeth comes from the tribe of Levi. And we know Mary descends from King David, so that makes her from the tribe of Judah. So how can they be related? Fortunately, there’s a pretty simple explanation. In the Jewish culture, people came from the tribe from which their father came. So, through their respective fathers, Mary and Elizabeth most certainly would be from the tribes of Judah and Levi. However, their mothers could have been related to each other and been from either Judah or Levi.

    Back to the visit. As soon as Mary greeted Elizabeth, the unborn John the Baptist leapt in the womb. Elizabeth – knowing nothing of Mary’s pregnancy yet – exclaimed, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the child you will bear!” Filled with Holy Spirit in that moment, Elizabeth was granted special knowledge that Mary was pregnant. And not just with any child, but with the long-awaited Messiah. That’s pretty incredible.

    Birth of John

    When her son was born and she was questioned about his name, Elizabeth said his name was to be John. Family and friends were confused since there was no one in either her or Zechariah’s family by that name. But she insisted on that. And finally brought Zechariah to back her up. And when he did, something miraculous happened. But I’ll go into that when I talk about him.

    Takeaways

    So, what’s the key takeaways from Elizabeth’s story? That God can still use you when you are old. I say that slightly tongue in cheek, but it’s also a powerful truth. Many elderly feel that God can no longer use them because they lack energy, health, etc. Or they feel that they can’t relate to young people anymore, and that’s who needs Jesus the most, right?

    It’s certainly not easy getting old and can make it more difficult in some capacities to serve the Lord like you used to. However, that just means that God can use you in a different capacity. One that you may never have thought about. Keep praying and seeking guidance. Talk to your pastor and see if there’s any needs that you can fill. You might be surprised.

    Secondly, don’t give up hope. If there’s something you are praying for and believing God for, keep praying and keep believing. As long as you have breath in your lungs, no matter your age, God’s not done with you. He can and will still use you and if God laid this desire on your heart, then it will come to fruition.

    Zechariah

    Now on to Zechariah. Zechariah came from the tribe of Levi and was a descendant of Aaron. He had to be both since he was a priest serving in the temple. Furthermore, Luke states he came from the division of Abijah. What’s that, you ask? After King David crowned Solomon as his heir, he chose 24 descendants of Aaron to lead 24 divisions – or clans – of priests to perform priestly duties at the tabernacle and later the temple that Solomon built. Zechariah came from Abijah’s division. The divisions all came together at three major feasts to serve at the temple – Passover, Pentecost, and Tabernacles – and rotated their duties throughout the rest of the year.

    Twice a year each division would serve for one week on the same rotational schedule. And we actually know that Abijah’s division served sometime between mid-May and mid-June most years (I say most years because the Jewish calendar is lunar and our is solar so there are differences from year to year) and then again between mid-December and mid-January. The May-June timeframe coincides very nicely with a September-October birth for Jesus (which if you read my post from last year, you’ll know I favor). How so? Zechariah serves at the temple, comes home, Elizabeth gets pregnant in June. Six months later Mary visits as newly pregnant – now we’re in December. Count forward nine months and we’re now in September of the following year – which I believe to be 2 BC.

    Gabriel’s Visit

    Luke tells us that while Zechariah was in the temple performing his duties, an angel appeared to him.

    Then an angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing at the right side of the altar of incense. When Zechariah saw him, he was startled and was gripped with fear. But the angel said to him: “Do not be afraid, Zechariah; your prayer has been heard. Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you are to call him John. 

    Luke 1:11-13 (NIV)

    Zechariah’s first response mirrors the response many people throughout the Bible have when encountering an angel: fear. And like clockwork, the angel’s first words are “Do not be afraid”. But then the angel goes on to tell Zechariah that his prayers have been heard and will be answered. His wife, Elizabeth, will give birth to a son. However, rather than being joyful and praising God, notice how Zechariah responds.

    Zechariah asked the angel, “How can I be sure of this? I am an old man and my wife is well along in years.”

    Luke 1:18 (NIV)

    Zechariah, in his doubt, asks the angel for a sign (How can I be sure of this?) and then gives his reasoning for needing a sign (my wife and I are old). This reveals something about Zechariah. Despite the fact that he prayed for a son, he didn’t believe it would happen. He lost hope somewhere along the way. It’s hard to blame him after years and years of praying. But at the same time, a literal angel is standing in front of him declaring that he will have a son. What other sign do you need? As a priest he knows the intricacies of the Old Testament and would know all the stories of barren women conceiving – Sarah (even older), Hannah, and Rachel. If anyone should have had the faith, it would be a priest of the Lord.

    As a consequence of his doubt and his questioning, the angel rebukes Zechariah by declaring that he is the sign and that Zechariah would be unable to speak until John was born (ironically becoming a sign to everyone else).

    The angel said to him, “I am Gabriel. I stand in the presence of God, and I have been sent to speak to you and to tell you this good news. And now you will be silent and not able to speak until the day this happens, because you did not believe my words, which will come true at their appointed time.”

    Luke 1:19-20 (NIV)

    When he left, he had to use gestures and writing to communicate with Elizabeth to inform her of Gabriel’s message. She received it much better than he.

    The Birth of John

    After John’s birth, when Elizabeth was asked about a name, she said “John” in accordance with Gabriel’s message. Everyone thought that was weird and thus consulted with Zechariah. To his credit, somewhere in those 9 months he regained faith and was determined to play out Gabriel’s message, by naming his son John. After writing this down on a tablet, Zechariah’s mouth was opened and he immediately began praising God and then prophesied over his son. He declared that John would be a prophet of God, prepare the way for the Lord, and bring the knowledge of salvation to people.

    Unsurprisingly, all the neighbors and people in the area marveled at this and correctly suspected that this would be one important child.

    Takeaways

    So what are some takeaways from Zechariah’s story? I could say something similar about old age here like I did with Elizabeth, but that would be redundant. Instead, I want to comment on two things. First, don’t lose hope like Zechariah did. The fact that he kept praying without believing is the reason I think Elizabeth didn’t lose hope. She probably continued to urge him to pray. And to his credit, he did; but he didn’t believe it would do any good. Don’t fall into that. Don’t lose hope, keep believing and things will change.

    Secondly, if an angel appears to you and gives you a message, just accept it. Don’t be struck mute or blind (think of the angels at Sodom who struck people with blindness). But in all seriousness, this was an indicator that Zechariah’s heart was slowly hardening with doubt and despair. Luke declares him a righteous man, but his heart was on the decline. After all, an angel appeared to him to tell him he’s going to have a son – the very thing they’ve been praying about for years – and he immediately doubts and looks to the natural circumstances (we’re too old). Don’t let your heart get to that point. Keep holding on like Elizabeth.

    But don’t worry, if you do get rebuked for your doubt, take encouragement from the fact that Zechariah turned it all around and prophesied over his son. And God can do that with you in your circumstances and He can turn your doubt into faith and joy.

    Wrapping Up

    So this Christmas season as you reflect on the Christmas story, remember Zechariah and Elizabeth. And remember that God can use you in whatever season you’re in. No matter your age and no matter how much doubt or faith you have, He can still use you. And lastly, don’t give up hope for that thing you’re praying and believing for. Keep holding on, keep praying, keep believing and God will answer you. After all, Christmas is a season of hope and answered prayer.

    Merry Christmas!! Oh wait, Thanksgiving still needs to happen. Happy Thanksgiving!

    Outro

    If you enjoyed this post, please consider doing one or all of these things. First, subscribe if you haven’t. If you have, thank you! Second, spread the word. Send these to everyone you know and encourage them to read and subscribe. This blog is purely word of mouth right now. I rely on you, my readers, to help me get more readers. And third, please consider donating. It’ll enable me to continue to offer regular posts.

    Feel free to leave a comment with any questions about what I’ve written, any additional comments about the post, or if there’s a topic you’d like me to write about. Before doing that though, be sure to check out all my posts here and see if I’ve covered it already. And if you find I’ve done it already but aren’t satisfied or still have more questions, let me know!

    Thank you for reading this! I greatly appreciate each one of you. Until next time, God bless you all!

  • Degrees of Sin

    Degrees of Sin

    Intro

    I’ve been talking a lot about sin, what it is, how serious it is, and how God chooses to forget it when we receive His salvation and forgiveness. Today I wish to address another question about sin: are all sins equal, or are there different degrees – or levels – to sin? Is it truly worse to murder someone than it is to steal food? The laws of America says “yes”. But what does God say? What does He think? Because ultimately what God thinks is more important than what man thinks. Many churches preach that all sins are equal, and yet no one really lives that way. We shrug our shoulders at a little gossip and look judgmentally down on unmarried people sleeping together. So we have a dissonance going on here. And that’s why I want to address it; I think it’s important that we understand this topic.

    It’s all About Perspective

    I was recently posed with the idea that the Bible supports the notion that not all sins are equal. And in fact there are some sins that are worse than others. My gut reaction was to deny this. After all, I had heard much of my life that God sees all sin as the same. But after thinking about it and talking about it, I realized that there are two ways of looking at this. And which way you think about it determines whether you answer the question “Are all sins equal?” with a “yes” or a “no”.

    When thinking about this concept of differing degrees of sin, there are two main attributes of God that you can stack sin up against in order to answer this question. God’s Holiness and God’s Justice. And when I look at the Bible and think about these two different attributes of God, I come up with two different conclusions. I can confidently say “yes and no” when asked this question. Let me explain.

    God’s Holiness

    I don’t think there’s any argument that God is a holy God. And I mentioned in a previous post that sin cannot enter His presence because of His holiness. And this is why I can confidently say that all sin is equal in the sight of God. Because a single lie disqualifies you from God’s presence for all of eternity just as fast as murdering someone. When you stack sin up against a Holy God, they are all equal. They all sentence you to eternity in the Lake of Fire, separated from God’s Holy presence. Is this supported by Scripture? Let’s take a look.

    For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God

    Romans 3:23 (NIV)

    This statement by Paul is universal. Paul doesn’t make any distinction here of any “degrees” of sin. No one person is worse than another when compared to the glory and holiness of God Almighty.

    Perhaps even clearer is James 2:10.

    For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it. (NIV)

    Here James makes it clear that it doesn’t matter which law you break. Or which sin you commit. You might as well have broken every law and committed every sin. It’s all the same when stacked up against a Holy and Righteous God. A note about the context for James is that believers were showing favoritism based on wealth, status, and power. And James called them out as lawbreakers by doing so. Ouch. Ever been guilty of this? I know I have.

    So now that I’ve established that yes, all sins are indeed equal when stacked up against God’s Holiness and our eternal status, let’s switch gears and see how the Bible indicates that there are degrees of sin.

    God’s Justice

    You can’t go far in Leviticus without realizing that God – in His justice – requires different forms of payment – or consequences – for different sins. Murder carried the death penalty (Leviticus 24:17), while theft required restoration of what was stolen, plus a fifth of its value (Leviticus 6:1-5). I could go on, but I’m not going to. I think you get the idea.

    The severity of the consequence largely depended on the severity of the damage done to the lives of others. I’m going to emphasize that it depends on the lives of others. God wants all to live in harmony and when that harmony is damaged because of sin, there must be some consequence to deal with it. For minor sins – ones that cause short term discomfort or easily fixed problems – restoration in some form is required. For ones that cause irreversible damage – such as murder – a far more severe consequence is required.

    And these degrees of sin extends beyond the Old Testament. The church in Corinth dealt with pride and division, but the only person Paul required them to kick out of the fellowship was the man sleeping with his stepmother (1 Corinthians 5:1-5). In other places we read that for those who are in a place of authority (Pastors, Elders, Deacons, etc.) are held to a higher standard and thus the consequences for their sins – especially ones that harm others – should be more severe – including being removed from their position and even put out of the fellowship. And this makes sense, you want morally upright people in positions of authority. You want people you claim to represent the name of Jesus publicly to be able to honor Him by their actions. And that’s what God wants as well.

    Intentional vs Unintentional

    The degrees of sin goes beyond the type and the level of authority you might have. It even goes into whether you knew what you were doing or not. The Old Testament provides milder consequences and forms of restitution for those who did something unintentionally and then repented the moment the realized it, doing what they could to make amends.

    In the New Testament, Jesus was incredibly hard on the religious leaders. Why? Because in their positions of leadership they were already held to a higher standard and with their knowledge of the Scriptures, they really should have acknowledged their own shortcomings more readily than the common people. But instead they claimed to be effectively perfect and didn’t need God’s forgiveness. Because of this, Jesus called them out again and again. Notice that they fall in both the camp of being in positions of authority and are committing the intentional sin of lying to themselves and others. Doused in pride and judgmental attitudes, I might add.

    And it gets worse when we get to the plot to kill Jesus. They know Jesus is an innocent man. Nicodemus told Jesus that they knew He was sent by God. And yet they decided to kill Him anyway. So now the religious leaders are guilty of murder (they even told Pilate that Jesus’ blood be upon them and their children). And to top it off, because of their knowledge of Scripture, at least some of them recognized that Jesus was fulfilling some of the prophecies for the Messiah. Jesus called them out for this very thing – knowing the Scriptures and yet being willfully ignorant and denying the truth. So that’s why Jesus could tell Pilate “the one who handed me over to you is guilty of a greater sin” (John 19:11).

    The Unforgivable Sin

    I would be remiss if I didn’t mention the unforgivable sin in a post about differing degrees of sin. People have long debated what this mysterious sin is. Many have been worried that they’ve committed it and have disqualified themselves from Heaven. First of all, let me assure you that if you are worried about having committed it, I can guarantee you haven’t. But what is it?

    In Matthew 12 and Mark 3, Jesus declares that blasphemy of the Holy Spirit to be unpardonable. So what does it mean to blaspheme Holy Spirit? Blasphemy is defiant irreverence of something – or someone – Holy. Notice the word “defiant”. Blasphemy is active, not passive, and willful, not ignorant. Therefore you cannot accidentally commit blasphemy of Holy Spirit. The context in which Jesus said this was when the religious leaders claimed Jesus was demon-possessed and that’s why He could perform miracles. Remember my comments about the religious leaders having greater knowledge? Yeah, they watched Jesus perform miracles and knew He fulfilled Scripture right before their eyes. And yet, they still claimed that Jesus was possessed.

    In the immediate context, blasphemy of Holy Spirit looks to be having evidence of Holy Spirit working and yet willfully denying it and attributing it to something else. This also plays out today in continued unbelief in Jesus despite Holy Spirit calling out to someone and God giving them opportunity to repent and come to Him in faith. People who choose to deny God in spite of all the evidence around them and in spite of Holy Spirit working in their lives are the ones guilty of the unforgivable sin. Though you’ll never truly know if someone commits it until they die without having repented. Because up until their last breath, there’s a chance.

    Hardness of Heart

    Really what Jesus called out in the religious leaders was their hardness of heart. This wasn’t the first nor would be the last time He does this. And other New Testament writers give similar warnings about a hardness of heart and lack of repentance and forgiveness. A hard heart is the only thing that can keep God’s love away over and over again when Holy Spirit comes calling.

    Wrapping Up

    In this post I desired to make clear where our sin stands eternally before God and yet show that there are consequences – of varying degrees – to our sins. This is important to understand especially for anyone in leadership positions. And even for us who happily proclaim to be Christians and follow God. The more we declare our faith to the unbeliever, the more we need to be cognizant of our actions and speech. If we commit a sin in the sight of all these unbelievers who are well aware of our faith, that hurts our message. The weight of responsibility is greater the more vocal we are. And there’s little I need to say for those who are in high leadership positions – especially when they are megachurch pastors. I think we’ve all heard of a few scandals over the years.

    So be aware of your level of responsibility. God holds us believers to higher standards than the unbeliever. And our willful sin is serious indeed. God has already forgiven it and won’t punish it, but there are consequences to sin. And they are often worse for believers than for the unbeliever.

    Outro

    If you enjoyed this post, please consider doing one or all of these things. First, subscribe if you haven’t. If you have, thank you! Second, spread the word. Send these to everyone you know and encourage them to read and subscribe. This blog is purely word of mouth right now. I rely on you, my readers, to help me get more readers. And third, please consider donating. It’ll enable me to continue to offer regular posts.

    Feel free to leave a comment with any questions about what I’ve written, any additional comments about the post, or if there’s a topic you’d like me to write about. Before doing that though, be sure to check out all my posts here and see if I’ve covered it already. And if you find I’ve done it already but aren’t satisfied or still have more questions, let me know!

    Thank you for reading this! I greatly appreciate each one of you. Until next time, God bless you all!

  • Forgetful God?

    Forgetful God?

    Intro

    Is God capable of forgetting anything? The Bible says that God knows the beginning to end. He knows the number of hairs on my head. And He knows everything about everything. But the Bible also says that there is one area where God is forgetful. If this sounds ridiculous or impossible to you, then you’ve come to the right place. (Also if you haven’t heard this before and don’t know where I’m going, then you too have come to the right place.)

    Can God Actually Forget Anything?

    In all technicality, no, God can’t forget things in the same way we might forget to buy something or forget the name of that neighbor from 30 years ago. But it is still Biblically and dictionary accurate to say God is forgetful. No seriously. Like many words in the English language, to forget means more than just an accidental “Oops. I didn’t mean to forget about your birthday”. Think about a time when you’ve said something like, “Oh forget about it”. More often than not, in these situations you aren’t asking the person to accidentally forget that it happened, but rather intentionally overlook something. And this is the dictionary definition that we can apply to God’s forgetfulness. Intentionally overlooking something. The question now becomes, what does the Bible say God intentionally chooses to forget or overlook?

    Forgive and Forget

    Here’s a big clue: have you ever said or heard the phrase “forgive and forget”? If so, then you’ve got a handle on what it is that God is forgetful about. And that thing is sin. God chooses to forget the sins that He has forgiven. To be sure, those who do not turn to God and receive His forgiveness will still have their sins counted against them when they are cast into Hell and then the Lake of Fire at the final judgment. However, for those who turn to God and receive His forgiveness, God chooses to forget their sins.

    Here’s just a couple of verses to back this up.

    I, even I, am he who blots out your transgressions, for my own sake, and remembers your sins no more.

    Isaiah 43:25 (NIV)

    For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more.

    Jeremiah 31:34b (NIV)

    But wait, these are both from the Old Testament and the context is forgiving the Israelites and bring them back from captivity. Absolutely. But Malachi 3:6 says “I the Lord do not change” and Hebrews 13:8 says “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever”. So I see no problem in using these Old Testament verses to extract a piece of the nature of God – that is, how He forgives – to apply to us today. Besides take a look at Hebrews 8:12.

    For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more.

    Gee that looks familiar. The author actually quotes a big chunk of Jeremiah 31 here in Hebrews 8 when arguing the necessity of the new covenant and how the Old Testament actually refers to it. So that passage in Jeremiah applies to us as Christians today! God is forgetful of all of your sins and mine and everyone who comes to faith in Jesus. That’s incredible news! But in the words of all the informercial narrators, “But wait, there’s more!”

    Sea of Forgetfulness

    Ever here the concept of God’s sea of forgetfulness? And that’s where all of our sins go? And that He puts up a “No Fishing” sign? Is that actually Biblical? Well, yes and no. The idea of the sea of forgetfulness comes from Micah but it doesn’t actually use this phrase.

    You will again have compassion on us; you will tread our sins underfoot and hurl all our iniquities into the depths of the sea.

    Micah 7:19 (NIV)

    From this came Jewish traditions of throwing bread into the sea to represent God removing their sin. And from that the idea of a “sea of forgetfulness” comes down. But frankly, I kind of like the picture in Micah a little bit better. The picture is that our sins are thrown into the deepest parts of the sea from which we can’t retrieve them. They are gone forever. We cannot resurrect them and God chooses to leave them there. I really want to emphasize God’s choice in this. He is a holy God and cannot be touched by sin and sin cannot enter His presence. But because God is love and He loves us so much, He makes a conscious choice to cover over our sins and pretend like they don’t exist – when we accept His offer of forgiveness.

    This is mind blowing. That He would love us that much. And it gets better, I’ve got one more verse for you that I’m sure you’re familiar with.

    East is From the West

    As far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us.

    Psalm 103:12 (NIV)

    Many of you might be singing Casting Crowns right now, and I don’t blame you. It’s a good song. But I want to turn to the source here in Psalm 103. The Psalmist says that God removes our transgressions (also known as sins, see my last post) as far as the east is from the west. That’s an infinite distance. How is that infinite? Look at a globe and place your finger on it and start moving it west. At what point does it start moving east? Never. You can move that finger around and around in a circle going west and never reach a point where suddenly you are going east. And if you start going east, you get the same thing. Unlike north and south which meet at the poles, east and west don’t have such a restriction and thus there is infinite distance between them.

    This is incredible news for us because that means that God has cast our sins an infinite distance away so we literally can’t reach them anymore.

    Rabbit Trail

    My pastor says that rabbit trails are okay if you announce them in advance, so I’m announcing a rabbit trail here.

    This verse in Psalm 103 has far less impact if the earth were flat. Because in that model, there is a finite distance between east and west. You go so far east and hit the end. Turn around go west until you hit the other end. Take a measurement. Now you know just how far God will actually cast your sins. And that doesn’t jive very well with everything else the Bible has been saying (that I’ve quoted here – or not) about how God actively chooses to be forgetful about your sins. My pastor says that this verse alone is a very strong argument against the idea that the Bible teaches a flat earth model.

    “But the seas have a finite depth!” Yes they do. But they are also of the type of environment where anything you cast down there will more than likely be lost forever. Seriously, the bottoms of oceans, seas, and even lakes are nigh impossible to retrieve things from. The larger the body of water, the harder it is.

    Compared to the oceans, Lake Superior is pretty small in its depths and they are just now rediscovering shipwrecks from 200 years ago. People have searched for specific shipwrecks for decades in various lakes, rivers, etc. before finding it even though they knew roughly where it went down. The bottoms of the seas and oceans are the most unexplored places. Only God knows what’s all truly down there. And that’s the point. He knows all that we’ve done and He chooses to forget.

    But I still Sin

    But wait, if God has cast all our sins away so we can’t reach them anymore, then why do I still struggle with sin? Because the sin has become a habit. We all know what habits are and how hard it is to change them or break them. And the power of that sin has been broken and forgiven by Jesus and the Cross, but the daily (or weekly, or whatever) habit of performing the act is oftentimes still something we will have to work through with the power of Holy Spirit to strengthen us.

    It’s not easy and it’s not fun, but by the grace of God and our own perseverance, we will overcome. Hang in there.

    Wrapping Up

    Praise the Lord that He chooses to be a forgetful God when it comes to our sins! I hope this encourages you in those times when the enemy tells you that your sins are too great, too much for God to forgive. Or that He could never truly forget what you did 2 years ago and will remind you of that and punish you for it someday. Just remember these verses that I’ve shared today from Isaiah, Jeremiah, Micah, Hebrews, and Psalms. And also remember that “Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” (Romans 8:1).

    Outro

    If you enjoyed this post, please consider doing one or all of these things. First, subscribe if you haven’t. If you have, thank you! Second, spread the word. Send these to everyone you know and encourage them to read and subscribe. This blog is purely word of mouth right now. I rely on you, my readers, to help me get more readers. And third, please consider donating. It’ll enable me to continue to offer regular posts.

    Feel free to leave a comment with any questions about what I’ve written, any additional comments about the post, or if there’s a topic you’d like me to write about. Before doing that though, be sure to check out all my posts here and see if I’ve covered it already. And if you find I’ve done it already but aren’t satisfied or still have more questions, let me know!

    Thank you for reading this! I greatly appreciate each one of you. Until next time, God bless you all!

  • Sin: What’s the Big Deal?

    Sin: What’s the Big Deal?

    Intro

    Everyone knows what the church preaches against. Sin. Traditional churches especially have this reputation of talking more about the “don’ts” of the Bible than anything else. They make sin out to be this really big deal. And you know something, they’re right. It is a big deal. And while I don’t think the church should be known more for what it’s against than what it’s for, we also need to remind people that sin is sin and it really is a big deal to God.

    That being said, we probably need a good definition of what sin is and why it’s such a big deal.

    Sin Defined

    To understand why sin is such a big deal, we first need to have a good, working definition of sin. People will frivolously throw out a really simple, basic definition of “whatever the Bible says don’t do” or “bad things you’ve done” or “anything that displeases God” or even “disobeying the laws of the land”. And while these are all technically true, they still don’t tell you much. After all, what defines “bad things”? And different countries have different laws that might actually contradict each other, so that’s a problem. And how do you know what “displeases God”? Ultimately, we need to come back to the Bible’s definition of sin. So that’s where we’ll start.

    The Biblical Definition

    There are a couple of good passages that define sin as rebellion against God (see Deuteronomy 9:7) and lawlessness.

    Everyone who sins breaks the law; in fact, sin is lawlessness.

    1 John 3:4

    So, sin is equivalent to lawlessness. What is lawlessness? Lawlessness is continually breaking the law without any regard for it. However, this begs the question, who’s law? The answer is God’s law. For the Jews that meant the Mosaic law. And while we as Christians do not need to follow all the religious laws (the purity rituals and sacrifices to name a couple), there are plenty of moral laws found in the Mosaic law that we are still to follow, such as the Ten Commandments.

    So, yes, the definition of “whatever the Bible defines as sin” is true. But it’s a matter of knowing where to look. The letters of Paul are really good for calling out different kinds of sin and showing what parts of the Mosaic law are not necessary for the Christian. In addition, the Sermon on the Mount also contains teachings on the standard of living God calls us to (Matthew 5-7 can also read my posts all about these chapters here).

    To dig a little bit deeper, the Greek word for sin is “harmatia” and means “to miss the mark”, that mark being perfection. So, sin is breaking God’s law and not reaching His standards of perfection. That’s a pretty tall order. And in a later section I’ll discuss just how serious sin is in God’s eyes. But first – to clear up any potential confusion that might be out there – I want to address a couple of synonyms the Bible uses for sin and how they are similar, while also being distinct.

    Some Other Words

    The Bible doesn’t just use the word “sin” when talking about sin. You’ll also see words like “trespass”, “transgress”, and “iniquity” – along with different forms of these words. So to provide a bit of clarity, trespass and transgress are equivalent in their meaning. I think most of us know what it means to trespass (hint: ever see a “No Trespassing” sign?) and to transgress means the same thing. They’re crossing a boundary you are not supposed to cross. Iniquity is making a premeditated choice to sin and then continue in that sin without repentance. For this one you can think of a serial killer. Just over and over choosing to commit the same sin (murder in this case) without remorse and without repentance.

    Different for Different People

    Now all this is great, but doesn’t constitute a list of all possible sins. And it’s not supposed to. My intention is not to tell you what all possible sins are. Because frankly, that’s not possible for me to do (especially in a roughly 2,000 word blog!). I already mentioned the letters of Paul are really good for these since he constantly had to deal with sin in the Church. And to make it more interesting, James and Paul both have some fascinating things to say about what constitutes sin. And spoiler alert, it can be different for different people.

    If anyone, then, knows the good they ought to do and doesn’t do it, it is sin for them.

    James 4:17

    In this passage, James challenges believers that if they know they should be doing something good, and they don’t do it, then it is sin for them. I want to point out the phrase “sin for them”. This means that James is not talking about blanket “do good deeds” for all people. He’s referring to specific deeds that Christians feel called to do. He’s saying if God tells you (specifically you) to do this good deed, and you do not do it, that is sin. Because that is in direct disobedience to what God has told you to do. This passage comes at the tail end of rebuking people for arrogantly going about doing things without consulting the Lord and trying to live life on their own terms. James also calls this out as wrong. Now let’s turn to Paul’s statement in Romans.

    Eating Food?

    Accept the one whose faith is weak, without quarreling over disputable matters. One person’s faith allows them to eat anything, but another, whose faith is weak, eats only vegetables.

    One person considers one day more sacred than another; another considers every day alike. Each of them should be fully convinced in their own mind. Whoever regards one day as special does so to the Lord. Whoever eats meat does so to the Lord, for they give thanks to God; and whoever abstains does so to the Lord and gives thanks to God.

    Therefore let us stop passing judgment on one another. Instead, make up your mind not to put any stumbling block or obstacle in the way of a brother or sister. I am convinced, being fully persuaded in the Lord Jesus, that nothing is unclean in itself. But if anyone regards something as unclean, then for that person it is unclean. If your brother or sister is distressed because of what you eat, you are no longer acting in love. Do not by your eating destroy someone for whom Christ died.

    Do not destroy the work of God for the sake of food. All food is clean, but it is wrong for a person to eat anything that causes someone else to stumble. It is better not to eat meat or drink wine or to do anything else that will cause your brother or sister to fall.

    So whatever you believe about these things keep between yourself and God. Blessed is the one who does not condemn himself by what he approves. But whoever has doubts is condemned if they eat, because their eating is not from faith; and everything that does not come from faith is sin.

    Romans 14:1-2, 5-6, 13-15, 20-23

    Okay, there’s a lot to unpack here. First off, Paul is addressing Jewish believers who say that because of Christ, there is no unclean food and they can eat it all. And even Paul says that he is of that mindset. However, there were Jewish believers who still believed that they couldn’t (shouldn’t) eat unclean foods. And Paul tells those who are okay with eating anything that they should not condemn or judge those who refuse to eat them. Everyone is in a different place and Paul tells those that are okay with it that it would be sinful for those who aren’t to eat unclean food while they still struggle with the idea of eating it. Notice that it’s not sinful for those who think it’s okay, just for those who think it’s not okay.

    For us today, that would be like Christians drinking alcohol. Is it sinful? That depends on who you ask. I know plenty of Christians who have no problem with drinking a beer every now and again. They don’t get drunk, because the Bible explicitly calls that out as sinful. However, there are also Christians (myself included) who won’t touch it at all because for them it would be wrong.

    Notice what is wrong for those who are okay with it. I already referenced the judging and condemning – which are wrong – but Paul also says that being a stumbling block is wrong. To be a stumbling block would be to cause another believer to sin. In Paul’s day that would be pressuring others to eat unclean food, for today it would be pressuring someone into trying a beer when they are convicted that they shouldn’t.

    From Faith

    Paul also says that anything not done from faith is sin. What does that mean? Well without faith it is impossible to please God. And I’ve already defined sin as anything that breaks God’s law – which displeases him. So breaking God’s law is equivalent to doing anything not done from faith.

    Oof. That was a lot. Now let’s turn to the seriousness of sin and why it’s such a big deal.

    Seriousness of Sin

    So now that I’ve defined sin, what’s the big deal? Let me go back to my statement that sin breaks God’s law. As well as my statement that sin is missing the mark of perfection. Why is that a problem? Well, the only way to be in God’s presence is to be perfect. Sin cannot enter His presence. In fact, Jesus commands us to “Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect” (Matthew 5:48 NIV).

    Okay, so sin is big deal because we can’t live with God for all of eternity because of it. Well, yes, but it’s goes further in that we can’t even have a relationship with God because of sin. The Bible indicates that sin creates a barrier between God and humans (Isaiah 59:2). It’s kind of like when someone you trust lies to you and breaks that trust. It damages the relationship and can be difficult to mend it again. In a similar way, the sin of Adam and Eve broke the relationship between God and mankind. And all mankind has inherited that tendency toward sin ever since. Consequently, our sin dooms us to Hell and the Lake of Fire for all of eternity – totally separated from God. It’s pretty messed up. So what can be done?

    The Solution

    Hebrews 9:22 says that “without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness”. That’s why the animal sacrifices were instituted in the Old Testament. The shedding of the blood of animals temporarily covered and forgave the people’s sin. It was a brutal, bloody, way to receive forgiveness, but it was what God required of them. However, if you read through the entirety of Hebrews 9, you’ll see that while those could cover the sin temporarily, it could do nothing for the guilty conscience or give people the strength to overcome their natural tendencies to sin. And God knew that. That’s why the entire Old Testament points to a newer and better covenant where God would totally forgive all sins and cleanse people’s hearts and minds of sin.

    The Old Covenant was sealed in blood sacrifices. A lot of them. The New Covenant was also sealed in a blood sacrifice. Notice I made that singular? Because only one was needed. Because the one who sacrificed Himself was Jesus Christ – God in the flesh. Jesus never sinned and never inherited the sinful nature from Adam. Therefore, He had no sin of His own to die for. God actually took all the sins of all the people for all time (past, present, and future) and laid them upon Jesus when He hung on the cross. And Jesus bore the sins and then bore the wrath of God so that you and I don’t have to experience God’s judgment upon our sin (I cover this more in one of my Easter Posts).

    How Serious?

    So how serious is sin to God? Serious enough to send His only Son, Jesus, down to die the most brutal type of death found in human history and bear the weight of all sins from all time and bear the entirety of God’s wrath and judgment upon sin – all so you and I can have a relationship with God. Wow. That’s intense. So, yes, sin is a very big deal to God. However, if you are saved and have a relationship with Him, He no longer sees your sin, He sees the righteousness of Jesus which covers your sin. Now that’s incredible. God transferred your sin to Jesus, in order to transfer Jesus’ righteousness to you.

    Wrapping Up

    I hope this post gave you a bit of clarity when it comes to sin and what it is. As well as why God sees it as such a big deal. God longs for us to be in relationship with Him and He fought for us to be able to have the opportunity to be in right standing with Him. And He still fights for us today. Let us praise and worship our God who loves us so unconditionally even when we mess up. All He asks is for us to come to Him and repent and He will restore our relationship with Him.

    Outro

    If you enjoyed this post, please consider doing one or all of these things. First, subscribe if you haven’t. If you have, thank you! Second, spread the word. Send these to everyone you know and encourage them to read and subscribe. This blog is purely word of mouth right now. I rely on you, my readers, to help me get more readers. And third, please consider donating. It’ll enable me to continue to offer regular posts.

    Feel free to leave a comment with any questions about what I’ve written, any additional comments about the post, or if there’s a topic you’d like me to write about. Before doing that though, be sure to check out all my posts here and see if I’ve covered it already. And if you find I’ve done it already but aren’t satisfied or still have more questions, let me know!

    Thank you for reading this! I greatly appreciate each one of you. Until next time, God bless you all!

  • Real and Fake

    Real and Fake

    Intro

    Wrapping up the Sermon on the Mount, we enter into a list of real and fake Christians and how to identify them. I think these passages are all pretty familiar to us (as has been most of this sermon), but I hope to not only refresh your memories, but also bring new perspective on each of them.

    Spotting the Fakes

    Real quick before delving into each of the individual sections, I want to tie this to my post about judging rightly. In that post, I explain that Jesus wants us to judge, but to do so with humility, love, and kindness. Not with condemnation or a holier-than-thou attitude. And these sections very quickly destroy the claim that Christians can’t judge people period. After all, how in the world can we spot the fakes if we don’t discern (judge) their actions? And how can we then warn others about them if we haven’t determined (judged) that they are fakes? Food for thought as well as additional arguments for judging rightly. This allows us to not only steer people back onto the narrow path, but also help to spot the real from the fake Christians.

    Real and Fake Prophets

    “Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves. By their fruit you will recognize them. Do people pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? Likewise, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Thus, by their fruit you will recognize them.”

    Matthew 7:15-20 (NIV)

    This first warning Jesus issues about “real and fake” deals with false prophets. I think a lot of times when we read this, we think about people outside the church either intentionally trying to deceive people to get money or self-proclaimed prophets like Joseph Smith (founder of Mormonism) who added onto the Bible with his Book of Mormon. And while that certainly could fit, the passage also says they are wolves in sheep’s clothing. We as Jesus’ followers are called sheep. Therefore, this passage also refers to people within the church who claim to be Christians and yet are not living for God. And it doesn’t necessarily have to be the leaders. Could be anyone.

    Jesus says we know them by their fruit. In other words, we can identify them by their actions, their lifestyles. Are they producing fruit consistent with the Fruit of Holy Spirit? Do their lifestyles match the lifestyle that Jesus tells us to live? If they aren’t producing fruit watch out! They may be hanging around church to deceive, disrupt, or distract the body. And we must be able to discern that and reject anything they say that does not line up with the Word of God. We should do the loving thing and try and correct them (gently) but if they reject us, then it would be better to interact little with them. If they aren’t seeking God and they find their message is being ignored, they’ll move on.

    If you find that the false prophet is in leadership, approach someone else who’s in leadership there. Because it could be that person has also deceived the others on the leadership team. But you may also find that the entire leadership team falls into this camp of false prophets. At that point just leave.

    Real and Fake Disciples

    “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?’ Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’”

    Matthew 7:21-23 (NIV)

    The next warning Jesus issues about “real and fake” are disciples. Unlike the previous one where there’s much more intent of deception and a focus on people gathering a following, this one is more broad and more introspective. Jesus is warning us about self-deception. His desire is for all His disciples (that’s us) to be genuine and seek His will and do His will for the glory of God the Father. However, many so-called Christians deceive themselves into doing lots “for God” but not for His glory. They’re doing it either for the praise of man, or their doing it because they’ve deceived themselves into believing in a works-based salvation rather than trusting in Jesus’ sacrifice on the Cross.

    This one is scary because so many people will go their whole lives believing that they are going to Heaven because the did such-and-such for the Lord. But they’re going to get there and get a rude awakening. And Jesus lists out some pretty impressive things including prophesying and miracles. Honestly it’s hard for me to imagine anyone being able to perform miracles in Jesus name and not be saved. But Jesus seems to say it’s possible. But how?

    There’s really two possibilities here and both could fit the overall context of the Bible. And some people might fall into one category or the other on the day of judgment. But one thing they have in common, they never came to true faith in Jesus and thus will not spend eternity in Heaven with God.

    The Options

    The first possibility on how unsaved can perform miracles is the deception of Satan. The magicians of Egypt were able to mimic a few of the plagues as well as the staff-to-serpent sign. Now it is possible that these magicians used sleight of hand and similar things. But it’s also possible there was some demonic activity going on. The New Testament also warns about false signs and wonders designed to deceive people. Again, some of these are going to be fake and not miracles at all, but some could be demonic. Then there’s the example of the psychic girl that Paul rebuked. These types of “miracles” are likely the most common for the demonic – after all they can communicate with each other and spread information around to make psychics appear genuine. And as my pastor says, they can also “predict” the future by causing the future they just predicted.

    The second possibility is that God will empower unbelievers for His glory. The best Biblical example of this is Judas Iscariot. He followed Jesus for His entire ministry and performed miraculous signs and wonders like the other eleven. However, his heart did not belong to the Lord. And he ultimately betrayed Jesus and then hung himself in shame. God saw fit to use Judas alongside the other disciples for His glory despite the condition of Judas’s heart. And God might continue to do that today and in the future. Why? I don’t know. But Paul said that there were people preaching the name of Jesus out of envy and rivalry (Philippians 1:15-18) and he rejoiced! Why? Because the gospel was still being preached. So if these miracles are genuine, then praise the Lord and give Him glory.

    What do We do?

    So what do we do if we suspect that someone performing these miracles are not true disciples? Two things: determine if their message lines up with Scripture, and determine if their fruit lines up with Scripture. If either of these is “no”, talk to them in love and gentleness and try to steer them onto the narrow path. If they refuse to listen, then they are probably in the “false prophet” camp and we should avoid them and warn others about them.

    But as I opened this section with, we must beware that we are not deceiving ourselves into falling into this camp of false disciples. And we may have the right message to boot! But don’t live in fear about whether you’re actually saved or not; if you’re questioning it, there’s actually a good chance you are saved. If you need assurance, pray. Pray hard and read your Bible. Talk to someone who’s more mature in the faith. Search your own life for fruit. If you find you are living in sin and have no desire to change, that’s a red flag. If you find that over time since your point of salvation you have been making progress in overcoming sin and are producing more fruit of the Spirit, then those are indicators that you are truly saved.

    Real and Fake Builders

    “Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash.”

    Matthew 7:24-27 (NIV)

    This is a story I first learned through song format. Which is kind of funny when you think about it. “What would make a good children’s song?” “How about the story of a couple of guys building houses and the one guy’s house comes crashing down.” “Perfect!” I titled this section “Real and Fake Builders” because only a fake builder would build on a foundation of sand. So be sure to check that guy’s credentials before you hire him!

    All joking aside, this store contains powerful truths and warnings. Again, this one is more introspective. Jesus warns His followers against merely hearing His words and then doing nothing with them. He compares such people with a foolish person who builds his house on a sandy foundation. Sand is very unstable and pretty much guarantees that something is going to go wrong. And this isn’t a warning about ignorance. The foolish person is not stupid or ignorant. The foolish person already heard the truth. But the foolish person chose deliberate action to not do what they know to be the correct way of doing something.

    In contrast, the wise person hears the words of Jesus and puts them into practice. As a result, he can weather anything that life throws at him because he has Jesus’ teaching and Jesus Himself to fall back on. Jesus and all of His teaching forms a foundation that is rock solid.

    Sidenote

    An interesting tidbit about this parable is that it echoes many Proverbs that contrasts wise and foolish people. So His listeners hearing the initial part of “a wise man” probably expected to hear the contrasting actions of the foolish man. This was a common style of teaching for the Jews and was very familiar to His listeners. This wasn’t the first time Jesus used a familiar style of teaching, nor would it be His last. Though in many of Jesus’ familiar styles of teaching, He often subverted expectations in some way. Does Jesus do that here? I say yes. After all Jesus opens this parable with “everyone who hears these words of mine”. That’s bold. Jesus is putting His words on par with Scripture and on par with the very words of God. That definitely ruffled some feathers amongst the religious leaders. Which actually leads to my final point.

    True Authority

    When Jesus had finished saying these things, the crowds were amazed at his teaching, because he taught as one who had authority, and not as their teachers of the law.

    Matthew 7:28-29 (NIV)

    In the end, we see that the crowds were amazed. Because Jesus taught with authority, unlike the religious leaders of the day. Honestly, given how much the religious leaders puffed themselves up, it’s almost weird to hear such a statement. They lorded themselves over the common people, so how could Matthew write that the teachers of the law didn’t teach as if they had authority?

    Well, what I found out when I asked this question is that the religious leaders actually would have always appealed to the highest authority. In rabbinic tradition, it often meant referring to the which “line” of rabbis a particular teacher came from. In more genuine cases, the teachers might have appealed to the authority of Scripture and the author – either the human author or God Himself. But when Jesus taught, the authority He appealed to was Himself. No other teacher, no rabbit, etc. For Jesus was and is, the ultimate authority.

    And at the end of the day, we can identify real and fake people by whether they accept the ultimate authority of Jesus Christ (1 John 4:1-3).

    Wrapping Up

    We all need to be able to discern those who are real followers of Christ and those who are fake. The ones that are fake are dangerous since they often sound good, but underneath are not living for Him. These people can deceive many others into believing false doctrines. So we must be alert to not fall into that and to help guide people out of it.

    That’s the end of my series on the Sermon on the Mount. In many ways it feels like it went too fast. I didn’t go into real depth on most of the topics, so if there is one that you you want me to go into greater depth, please leave a comment on this post or on the post where I touched on that topic! I don’t want this blog to only be what comes to my mind, but also what you, my readers, want to understand better. So please leave a comment or reach out to me through the contact form.

    Outro

    If you enjoyed this post, please consider doing one or all of these things. First, subscribe if you haven’t. If you have, thank you! Second, spread the word. Send these to everyone you know and encourage them to read and subscribe. This blog is purely word of mouth right now. I rely on you, my readers, to help me get more readers. And third, please consider donating. It’ll enable me to continue to offer regular posts.

    Feel free to leave a comment with any questions about what I’ve written, any additional comments about the post, or if there’s a topic you’d like me to write about. Before doing that though, be sure to check out all my posts here and see if I’ve covered it already. And if you find I’ve done it already but aren’t satisfied or still have more questions, let me know!

    Thank you for reading this! I greatly appreciate each one of you. Until next time, God bless you all!