Walk In Love

The Bible calls us to “walk in love” by following the example of the Lord Jesus (Ephesians 5:2).  Walking in love is not about doing what feels good to me, but about doing what is best for the other person. In the face of danger, loving action may even seem harsh in the moment, such as when I remind my children to look both ways at intersections to avoid getting hit by a car while riding their bikes. 

Many would like us to believe that the only way to love an individual is to allow them to do whatever makes them happy for the moment, but God would have us understand that there are actions that are “unfruitful works of darkness” (Ephesians 5:11).  There are actions that feel good for the moment (like riding a bicycle at high speed through an intersection), but in the end they lead to only to pain and destruction (like being hit by a car).  The Bible calls these destructive actions “sin” because they violate God’s holy law for how we as people were designed to live. Therefore, we find true love, life, and fulfillment by “finding out what is acceptable to God” (Ephesians 5:10) and avoid the things that are unacceptable to God.  This passage in Ephesians lists some actions that are unacceptable to God, such as, fornication (i.e. all sexual sin outside the bounds of Holy Matrimony between a man and woman), covetousness (greed for money and possessions), and mouths that cannot be controlled.

But wait! Isn’t listing sins judgmental and unloving?!  Certainly it is if we put ourselves in the position of the Judge – God himself. There is, however, a solemn responsible for us to loving warn others about the consequences of their self-destruction actions. We are not the judges, but God is the judge, and he will both judge and punish sin (Ephesians 5:6).

Part of loving others must include warning them of sin and its painful consequences.  Loving others means showing the way of safety and salvation. In the Lord Jesus Christ, we have the only remedy for sin and he is the only one who can reconcile us with God and bring us into eternal life, joy, and peace.

So yes, as people who believe in the Bible, we will continue “walk in love” warning people of sin and sharing the wonderful good news about the Lord Jesus.

Karma or Harvest?

I seldom go through a week without someone seeing or hearing someone use the term “karma.”   “He got his karma.,” “Karma is a pain!,” “I’ll give him his karma.” or “Your karma is coming.”  In these contexts, it is nearly always dealing with someone getting back in kind for their wrong actions.  Some of the time, it is an excuse for revenge.  These ideas are derived uses of the term which comes out of Buddhism and Hinduism, though the meaning has been changed to some degree.

My concern is that this attitude seems to be prevalent in many who would claim to be Christians.  Karma is not a biblical concept.  The biblical concept is harvest.  If I go and plant a corn seed in my garden, I expect to pick corn when the plant matures.  The same is true for beans, tomatoes, or whatever I plant.  I expect to harvest in the same kind as the type of seed that I have planted.

God in His word tells us in Galatians 6:7–9 (ESV) “⁷Do not be deceived: God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap. ⁸For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life. ⁹And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up.”

All through scripture we see people receiving the consequences of their actions.  He reaffirms that here in this passage.  The things we sow, or plant will come back to us.  We see it in the lives of individuals in scripture.  How many can you name?  Do we see it in the lives of nations? Do you remember them?

Some think it is their responsibility to pay back for the wrong people have done to them.  This violates Romans 12:17 where we are commanded, “Repay no one evil for evil.” And vs. 19 “Do not avenge yourselves.”   Why does God tell us this? Verse 19 continues, “Vengeance, is Mine, I will repay.”  When we try to pay back individuals for wrongs that they have done to us we are trying to take the place of God.  We need to let God work in His way in His time.   He sees, He knows, He cares, and He has promised.  If we take vengeance upon ourselves, then we are wrong, and will bring consequences upon ourselves.  Our part is to “repay evil with good.” (Rom. 12:21)

The greatest challenge today as you read this is to evaluate what you are sowing or planting with your life.  Have you trusted Christ as Savior so that you can sow to the spirit?  If you have not, you are simply sowing to the flesh.  The final harvest then will be corruption; eternal punishment in the lake of fire.  Put your faith in Christ today, and begin to serve Him, then you will know a blessed harvest!  

Accept All or Separate and Expose?

This status from Joel Osteen Ministries was recently shared with me.  “Galatians 5 says, “Don’t think that your group is the only one that’s right.” We’re all missing it somewhere. The main thing is that we agree that Jesus is the Son of God, He rose from the dead, and now He’s our Savior. Let your love for others be bigger than what church they belong to.”

At first glance it seems to be a neat statement that would bring peace to many a situation, yet as I considered it I felt I needed to respond to it.  Here is my response.

Joel,

Yes, we are thankful for those who minister the gospel of Jesus Christ, and for those who have Jesus Christ as their Savior.  Unfortunately it is not as simple as this quote makes it sound.

I do not want to come across as proud, in fact, I humbly realize that those who teach will receive a stricter judgment (James 3:1) yet this is where God has lead me.  As a teacher of scripture I have a great responsibility and do not want to hear what Christ told the Pharisees in that they were making their followers “twice children of hell.”  (Mt. 23:15)  So if I am missing it somewhere I want someone to come along and show me the scripture I am violating and help me to understand it because I do not want to lead anyone astray.

Yet, Jesus (Mt. 7:15) and Paul (Acts 20:29) both warned of wolves who would come in sheep’s clothing.  Paul warned twice in two consecutive verses in Galatians 1:8-9 about those who would preach a different gospel.  You see there are churches that teach that because Jesus died on the cross all are going to heaven.  This is universalism and it is contrary to the truth of John 3:16 and many other passages.  Christ’s blood is sufficient for those who have put their faith in Christ for salvation but not for those who do not. (Rom. 5:1ff)   There are also those churches that teach that you must have works on top of your salvation so they are not trusting in Christ alone but Christ and works too!  This seems to be the entire theme of Galatians.

There are churches that do not believe that Jesus was born of a virgin. If He was not born of a virgin then he too is a sinner and therefore was not the perfect sacrifice for us.  Rom. 5:12ff.

There are churches also that do not believe that Jesus is God (John 1:1).  If he is not God he is a liar and therefore would once again not be able to be our sacrifice.

You see, we are encouraged by the Bereans of Acts 17:11 who searched the scriptures to see if what the preachers were preaching was consistent with what the prophets had written.  We too need to search the scriptures to make sure that the preachers today are preaching truth as well.  Yet, there are many pastors who seldom refer to scripture and many professing believers who do not even take their Bible to church open it or open it when they get home to see if the preacher is really speaking the truth of scripture.  In regards to this I just read through ten different translations/paraphrases of Galatians 5 (NKJV, AV, NEB, NAB ESV, NET, LEB, HCSB, NLT, NRSB) .  The point of the passage is not to accept anyone else’s view of how to get to heaven, rather Paul is rebuking the Galatians for being lead away from the truth and is challenging to come back to the gospel.  The fruit of their lives would reveal whether they were walking in the flesh or in the spirit and we are challenged to walk in the spirit!

So in closing we are grateful for those who teach the whole counsel of God faithfully proclaiming the gospel of Jesus Christ and challenging those who repent to live lives that bring glory to God because of their separation from the world.  But regarding those who twist the truth and preach another gospel we have to separate from them and expose them.

Sincerely,

Larry, a country preacher.

The Story of a Train

Recently, while walking through town, I saw Bill and some other young men walking on what I thought were train tracks.  I said to Him, “Bill, if you keep walking on there you will get hit by a train.”    Later Tom, the father of one of the boys said to me, “There is no such thing as a train.  Why do you bother the boys with such ridiculous ideas?”  Another Father , Sam, said, “I don’t know if there are trains or not I’ve never seen one so I think it would be loving if you just let the boys alone and let them decide if they think there is a train or not.  Then you can have your beliefs about trains and Tom can have his belief about trains and we can just love each other and get along.” 

Well, I had never seen a train before either, but I had heard from others that had seen one, some who had even ridden on one, and one that was nearly run over by one.  I heard others talk of some who were less fortunate and they were destroyed by a train.  I had also seen houses from Sears that I was told were delivered by the train.  I had seen piles of coal that came off of a train, as well as piles of sand and grain.  So my faith that there were trains was not a blind faith rather it was a faith built upon observations and testimony!  Because I so strongly believe that there are trains I have to encourage Bill and his friends to stay off the tracks.  If I am wrong I will have “bothered” them and cost them a few extra steps.  Yet, if Tom and Sam continue with their attitude and influence and they are wrong there is a good possibility that Bill and/or his friends will be run down by a train.

In a similar way my faith in God is not a blind faith, therefore I have to be faithful to share my belief with others that they too might avoid His just punishment of sin…

Christmas Communication

How do you communicate with friends and family at Christmas? Cards, letters (we prepared 200 this year), phone, Skype, and the best is a visit.  God also has communicated to us in different ways through different generations through the prophets (Heb. 1:1).  Much of this came through their preaching and writing of the Bible.  Yet, we are told in verse 2 that he spoke to us through His Son.  Jesus Christ came to earth to visit not for His benefit but for ours. 

This communication from God was not happenstance. It came just when God had planned it.  Gal. 4:4-5a says, “But when the fullness of time had come God sent forth his Son, born of a woman, born under the law to redeem them who were under the law.”  We, because of our sinfulness, needed a redeemer.  Someone to pay the price of our sin.  Jesus Christ was born of a virgin and lived a sinless life so that he might be the perfect sacrifice!

God’s communication seemed like it was shortened.  His followers were expecting him to give them victory and freedom from Roman control.  Their hopes were dashed as Jesus hung on the cross and proclaimed “it is finished” (Jn. 19:30).  What they did not yet understand is that Jesus was going to rise from the dead three days later.  Jesus Christ had come not to give them freedom from the Romans, but rather freedom from sin and death.  I Cor. 15:56-57 say, “⁵⁶The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. ⁵⁷But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.”

When we get our letters and Christmas cards many of us respond in various ways. Some are quickly thrown in the trash while others are cherished and looked at again and again.  Some are ignored while others are looked at sometimes for months or years.  I ask you today, “How do you respond to God’s Christmas communication, Jesus Christ?”  Do you cherish Him and His word?  Or do you ignore Him and basically discard Him from your thinking?  I challenge you to put your faith in Jesus Christ for salvation and cherish Him.

A Secure Foundation

In Matthew 7:24-27, Jesus in concluding His “Sermon on the Mount” speaks of the wise man and the foolish man.  Both of them have built their houses and there is no distinction in the houses.  Outwardly we may not see any difference.  Both of them would face a storm but the consequences of that storm would be drastically different.  The wise man’s house stood firm but the foolish man’s house fell with a great fall!  Why the difference?  Because the wise man built on the rock and the foolish man built on the sand.  The passage is also clear regarding the rock, it is the fact that he has heard and obeyed the sayings of Jesus Christ.

Though there may be many applications to individuals enduring the “storms of life” because of their obedience of Christ that is not to be the primary understanding of this passage.  The storm in this passage would be God’s final judgment.  We learn this from the context of the passage.  Backing up to verses 13-14, we learn that there are two paths in life the narrow way that leads to life and the broad way that leads to destruction.  Verses 15-20 tell us of the differences in the fruit of individuals. The following section then tells of those who seemingly have done all the right things even “serving” the Lord, yet He says “depart from me I never knew you.” 

I challenge you, “Have you put your faith in Jesus Christ for salvation?”  God’s judgment is coming and the results of that judgment all depend upon our response to Christ.  Are you ready to face Him? Is your foundation secure?  We can be assured that the storm of His Wrath is coming. Will your house stand?