Reflections

But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord.  (2 Cor 3:18)

 March

  By David A. DePra                       

Mar 1

Two Effects of Being Under Law

For the hearers of the law are not just before God, but the doers of the law shall be justified.  (Rom. 2:13)

     Take this verse out of context and you have proof that we are justified by works.  But IN context, not so.  We must see that Paul is asking, “Do you want to be justified by your works?  If so, then realize that hearing the law is not enough.  You have to DO the law perfectly to be justified by works.”  That is impossible -- which is his whole point.

     If we are not justified SOLELY by faith in Christ, then we ARE trying to be justified by law -- whether we call it that or not.   If we continue to base God’s attitude towards us, and thus, our righteousness, upon our works, performance, condition, efforts, body of religious beliefs, church, or temperament, we are, “under a law.”  We are deceived.  For we are justified FULLY and SOLELY, “by grace through faith,” in Jesus Christ.

     There are basically two types of professing Christians who are under law.  The first type is the Pharisee.  They actually think that they are keeping themselves right with God through their works.  The second type are those who are trying to keep themselves righteous, but see that they are failing.  We are all a mixture of the two, but BOTH of these types are guilty of the same sin of unbelief.  They are both trying to do for themselves what is already done for them in Christ.

     To be under any law as the means of keeping myself right with God is unbelief, and as unbelief, it is sin.  It is also deception.  If I am under the law I am walking in error.  We would be hard pressed to find an issue that is addressed more in God’s Word.

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Mar 2

Rewards and Punishments

     It is an amazing contradiction that, on the one hand, most professing Christians rightly proclaim that we are saved, “by grace through faith.”  But then, on the other hand, many of the same people put much of their Christian life under law.  This is what the Galatians did.  Paul answered, “Are ye so foolish?  Having begun in the Spirit, are you now made perfect by the flesh?”  (Gal. 3:3)  Note that the issue here was NOT their salvation.  It was their means of living the Christian life.  They were living by law, and not by faith from out of the life of Christ.

     One subtle way Christians err on this matter is to try to earn a reward from God – either for now or the eternal ages.  But in Christ, all is based UPON Christ.  Thus, my works cannot earn.  Rather, I am either believing or not believing; I am abiding in Christ by faith, or I am not.  And if I am believing, my reward is Christ Himself – making me a joint-heir with Him.  If Christ is my life, what futher reward can God give me?  What could I earn to add to Christ?  God has freely given us all things in His Son.  (Rom. 8:32)  If we would grasp this it would transform our entire Christian life.

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Mar 3

Is Faith Our Contribution?

     Calvinism, which is heresy, teaches, “salvation precedes faith.”  This teaching states that a person must FIRST be regenerated or saved – solely by God’s election -- SO THAT they can believe.  Thus, this teaching denies that we must believe SO THAT we can be saved.  To a Calvinist, if we must believe in order to be saved, then our faith would be our, “contribution to our own salvation.” This they say, would deny that salvation is wholly a work of God.  But this notion is based on a misunderstanding of both faith and conversion.

     Faith is not our contribution to the work of Christ.  Rather, faith is the outcome of seeing that I have no contribution to make whatsoever.  So I fall to my knees and believe by placing full reliance solely upon Jesus Christ and what He has done.

     It is true that none of us can believe until God takes the initiative to reveal to us the Truth of Christ.  But that revelation, while it does not compel us to believe, does make it possible to believe.  It also opens the possibility to refuse to believe.  Once light is given, faith is possible – the light opens the eyes enough so that a person can choose light or darkness.  This ability to believe or refuse to believe – once God brings light – is a fundamental Truth that is taught all through the Bible.

      Faith does not contribute to what Christ has done.  Indeed, His finished work would still be finished if not a single person ever believed.  But faith is the result of seeing the Truth God brings – that I have nothing to contribute, but must receive all through Christ.

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Mar 4

Substance and Evidence

Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.  (Heb. 11:1)

     Note that faith is not merely belief IN what is hoped for, nor is faith merely belief IN what is not seen.  No.  Rather, faith IS the substance and evidence of those things.  And in a practical sense, faith is the substance and evidence IN ME of those realities.

      Paul wrote that ,”Faith comes by hearing the Word of God” (Rom. 10:17), i.e., faith comes TO BE IN ME by hearing the Word of God.  Combine that with Hebrews 11:1 above, and we see that the faith that comes to be in me is actually the living evidence and substance of that Word or revelation that God speaks -- if I will hear.

     What this tells us is that faith is not produced out of myself.  Faith is not the result of my speaking to God.  It is the result of my HEARING God.  God takes the initiative to reveal some dimension of Christ to me, and if I will hear, faith will come to be in me – because Christ will be formed in me.  And that Christ who is formed in me, and the faith that is based in Him, will be a living substance and evidence of the Truth of Him.

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Mar 5

By Grace Through Faith

For by grace are you saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:  Not of works, lest any man should boast.  For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God has before ordained that we should walk in them.  (Eph. 2:8-10)

     The relationship between grace, faith, and our works, is given in this passage.  In short, we are saved BY grace, THROUGH faith, UNTO good works.  If we alter this relationship we are in danger of creating a false gospel; a false Christianity.

      Unless grace is the basis of all that God does, faith would be needless.  Why?  Because if all is not of grace then we must merit or earn.  We would need to rely upon ourselves.  No.  God has given us all things soley by His grace in Christ because that is the only possible way He could redeem us.  Thus, it is because all is of grace that we can receive nothing except by faith.

      Unless our relationship with God is based on, “by grace through faith,” our works will not be good works. Works that are performed in order to keep right with God are not good works because they are out from unbelief.  They are, in fact, works that deny Christ.  “For if righteousness comes by the law, then Christ is dead in vain.”  (Gal. 2:21)

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Mar 6

The Galatian Error

Received you the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?  Are you so foolish?  Having begun in the Spirit, are you now made perfect by the flesh? (Gal. 3:2-3)

      What is the basis of the Christian life?  The basis is Christ – His life in us.  That not only means that we were saved by grace – by the free gift of His life – but it also means that we are to live FROM OUT OF Christ as our life.  His life is to be the source of all for us.  His life is to be the basis of our relationship with God.  This is not a matter of doctrine.  It is a matter of who is the object of our faith.  Is Chirst our life, or have we created a religious life out of our natural man, augmented by our own works?

     Paul’s rhetorical questions always reveal much Truth.  He asks, “Having begun in the Spirit, are you now made mature by the flesh?”  Begun what?  Clearly, life in Christ.  But now they were trying to bring life in Christ to a maturity through human effort and good works.  Paul’s answer was, “I travail until Christ be formed in you.”  (Gal. 4:19)  Again – this isn’t a matter of doctrine.  It is a matter of Christ in us AS our life.

     The issue in Galatians is the means of the Christian life.  Abiding in Christ, and living from Christ is always the result of Christ being formed in us.  Good works will be the outcome.  But trying to create in myself a religious life through works is another gospel.   

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Mar 7

Grace Always Abounds

Shall we continue in sin because grace abounds?  God forbid.  (Rom. 6:1)

     This rhetorical question from Paul actually reveals much Truth.  Paul would not be asking this question unless it was a fact that grace DOES abound when we sin.  Can we see that?  He is asking whether we should continue in sin BECAUSE grace abounds – a question that is based upon the Truth that grace always abounds -- even when we sin.

      Really, there are only two possibilities on this matter of grace and sin.  One:  Grace abounds EVEN when we sin.  Or, two:  Grace abounds EXCEPT when we sin.  But if grace merely abounds EXCEPT when we sin, then of what value is grace?  We need grace to abound when we sin!  That is the whole point.  The only answer is that the grace of God always abounds – is eternally in place for us – EVEN when we sin.

     Once we realize this, then Paul’s question makes sense:  Should we continue in sin because we know that grace abounds EVEN when we sin?  He answers, “God forbid.”  Then he goes on to tell us WHY we should not continue in sin even though grace abounds:  Because we are dead to sin.  Because we have been baptized into the death of Christ.  In short, if we are in Christ, we have repented of sin.  And as we grow to know Christ, we will see we don’t have to sin.

     Grace abounds EVEN when we sin.  The reason is that EVEN when we sin, Christ continues to dwell in us – HE is the source of grace.  Grace abounds because HE abounds – His presence in us is not based upon our works.

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Mar 8

The Finality of Forgiveness

      The finality of God’s forgiveness is as complete as the finality of the death that paid for it.  If Jesus is done dying, then God is done forgiving – that is, God has completely forgiven, and is finished forgiving, the entire human race for all sin.

     This means that saints are not merely people whose sins are forgiven.  Rather, saints are forgiven people.  You and I are as forgiven as we are ever going to be.  We cannot add to that, and we cannot subtract from that.  Our reponsibility, once God brings light, is to believe and rest upon the Christ who finished this work.

     Jesus was the Lamb of God who took away all of the sin of the world -- except for ONE sin.  Jesus did not die for the sin of refusing His death.  God cannot forgive the refusal of His forgiveness.  That is impossible – it would render the death of Christ  meaningless.  But regardless of whether even one person believes, Jesus has died for all other sin.  Our salvation is therefore based upon whether we will believe and embrace the finality of His work for us.  The sin that has no forgiveness is that we will not embrace the free and final gift that God offers in His Son.

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Mar 9

Confession of Sin

If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.  (I John 1:9)

     Confession of our sin to God is essential because we must tell the Truth about ourselves and about our Savior.  “If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.”  (I John 1:10)  Thus, confession of sin is the confession of the Truth about ourselves, and about the One who has won our forgiveness.

     But never say that confession of sin GETS us forgiven.  No.  For if we must confess sin in order to GET forgiven, then until we confess sin, we are NOT forgiven.  That would mean that we pop in and out of God’s forgiveness and in and out of salvation, based on whether we confess.  What if we die before we confess?  Are we lost?

     Either the forgiveness of God is finished for us or it is not.  The fact that it IS finished is a foundational Truth of Christianity.  Thus, John is NOT telling us that we must confess to GET forgiven.  He is telling us that we will confess sin if we believe we ARE forgiven.  Confession is the result of light; of conviction of sin:  I confess the Truth about sin in the light of the Truth that I am forgiven.

     The Greek in this verse could be translated, “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to have forgiven our sins, and to have cleansed us from all unrighteousness.”  God’s forgiveness is already final and in place.  I John is describing what happens if we see and believe it:  We will say the same thing about our sin as God says – we have sinned, but we are eternally forgiven.

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Mar 10

The Unpardonable Sin

     Jesus Christ died for every sin ever committed by all.  We receive the fullness of this finished work by grace through faith.  But wait.  There is actually one sin that Jesus did NOT die for, and consequently, that cannot be forgiven.  Holiness demands this.  This sin is often referred to as, “the unpardonable sin.”  What is the unpardonable sin?

     “The unpardonable sin,” is the refusal of God’s forgiveness.  God cannot forgive the refusal of His forgiveness.  He cannot forgive the sin of refusing the death that paid for  sin.  If God did any of this, He Himself would be denying Jesus Christ.

     Calvinists do not believe that Jesus died for all, but only for the elect.  One of their arguments is what they call, “double jeopardy.”  They say that if Jesus died for all then He even died for those who refuse His death – so if God sends them to hell, they are condemned for the same sin for which Jesus died – double jeopardy.   But No.  Jesus never died for the refusal of His death.  The existence of, “the sin which has no forgiveness,” proves it.  It would not be mentioned as a possibility otherwise.

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Mar 11

The Sin Bearer

Behold the Lamb of God, which takes away the sin of the world.  (John 1:29)

     What did Jesus bear on the Cross?  Peter writes, “Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness. (I   Peter 2:24)  Jesus bore our sins on the Cross – in doing so, Jesus took away the sin of the world.  Contrast this over and against what many of us have believed:  That Jesus bore our punishment FOR sin, and thus, Jesus took away our punishment.

     Now, don’t misunderstand – Jesus did die as our substitute – and if He bore sin then He certainly bore the judgment FOR sin:  Death.  But this is much different than saying Jesus came to bear our punishment so that God could lift that punishment from us.  No.  Jesus came to bear our sin, so that God could deliver us from our sin.

     Jesus did not die for us so that death could be lifted from us and we could continue on, without change, as members of the Adam race.  If that were the case then there is no end to the Adam race, and thus, no new creation in Christ Jesus.

     No.  Jesus bore all the sin of the Adam race, indeed, He bore the Adam race – “the body of sin.”  And that Adam race died in Him.  This is why when we take our place in His death we are set free from the Adam race and born from above a new creation.  

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Mar 12

Saved By His Life

For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life.  (Rom. 5:10)

     Most Christian teaching states that we are saved by the death of Jesus Christ.  But His death alone saved no one, because, well, it was DEATH.  We are saved by His life – we are saved when Jesus Christ comes to dwell in us.  He IS the Life, and when we receive Him, He becomes our life.  Christ in us is our salvation.

     Contrary to some teaching, Jesus Christ died on the Cross for every sin ever committed by every human being.  (Except the sin of refusing His death.)  At that point, the slate is clean.  All sin is paid for.  This was a finished and final work regardless of whether even one person believed it.   Paul says, “…that if one died for all, then were all dead.”  The Adam race died in Jesus Christ.  All of us were included.

     But despite the fact that Christ did die for all, only those who by faith embrace His death and take their place in His Cross are united with Him in His death – and only those united with Him in death are those who are raised in Him to newness of life.  In short, Christ died for all, but only those who believe are saved – saved by being raised in Him; saved by being joined to Him through His Spirit in us; saved by HIS LIFE.  

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Mar 13

The Work of the Spirit of God

But when the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, which proceeds from the Father, shall testify of Me.  (John 15:26)

     What is the purpose and work of the Holy Spirit of God?  It is to testify of Christ, glorify Christ, and edify in Christ.  The purpose of the Spirit of God is to form Christ in us.  That word, “form,” means, “to inwardly realize and express.”  Thus, the Spirit of God is to reveal Jesus TO us, and IN us, and THROUGH us.  The result is that we will BE evidence of Him – we will BE His witnesses.

     The purpose for which God gave the Holy Spirit was not so that there could be a following or a movement centered around the Holy Spirit.  The Holy Spirit never brings attention to the Holy Spirit – but always glorifies the Person and work of Jesus Christ.

     This ought to tell us that there is going to be a clear evidence of where the Holy Spirit is freely at work – it is where Jesus Christ is predominant over all things.  In a personal life, the person is obsessed with Jesus Christ.  Christ is being formed in them.  In the church life, it is all about Jesus Christ – knowing Him and being built up in Him.  Ministry is about edification in Christ.  These impacts are not theories or merely possibilities.  They are what God does – and solely what He does -- through His Spirit.   Christ is the Rock and the foundation upon which all that is of God must be built.

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Mar 14

A Permanent Habitation

If I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send him unto you.  (John 16:7)

     The Holy Spirit dwelt IN no one before Acts 2.  Jesus clearly stated that the Comforter could not come until He ascended.  Of course not.  Jesus had to ascend before He could come back down through the Spirit and dwell within His people.  Acts 2 also began the New Covenant of Christ in us, and began the church.  All of these were the result of a permenant habitiation in people of Christ through His Spirit.

     How about John 20:22, where, after the resurrection, but BEFORE the ascension, it says, “(Jesus) breathed on them, and said unto them, Receive you the Holy Ghost.”?  Did they not receive if Jesus said to receive?  The meaning here is explained by an earlier statement of Jesus, “The Spirit of truth...dwells WITH you, and shall be IN you.”  Before Acts 2 the Spirit of God was only WITH people – this was a ongoing visitation, but not a permanent habitation within people.  In John 20:22, Jesus didn’t breathe IN them, but ON them – He was assuring them that the Spirit was still WITH them. 

     Again -- Jesus said that the Spirit could not yet been given until He ascended.  He had been with people, but would later be IN them.  This explains all else on the matter.

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Mar 15

The Spirit of Truth

And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that will abide with you for ever; even the Spirit of truth.  (John 14:16)

     The Spirit of God is the Spirit of Truth.  Jesus also said, “I am the Truth.”  But there is only ONE Truth.  Thus, here we see the work of the Spirit:  To reveal to us Jesus Christ.

     Jesus promised that the Spirit of God would guide us into all Truth.  (John 16:13)  But now we know what that means:  It means to reveal Jesus, who IS the Truth.  The Spirit does in accordance with who Jesus IS.  Jesus is to be revealed TO us, IN us, and through us.

     Truth is expressed in doctrine and teaching.  But Truth is a Person.  Thus, to be guided into all Truth really means to be conformed to the Christ who dwells in us – to be conformed to Him based on an inward realization of Him.  This is what scripture itself says that the Spirit of God does.  We do have a choice:  In the end, each of us are either going to be conformed to the Truth in Christ, or we are going to conform the Truth to fit ourselves.  Yet God’s goal will always remain the Truth in Christ.

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Mar 16

God With Us Always

I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you.  (John 14:18)   I am with you always.  (Matt. 28:20)

    These are not merely sentimental promises meant to stir emotions.  Rather, they are concrete promises of God based on the reality of Christ in us.  The idea that God is floating around, comes and goes, is with us one day, and far away the next, is contrary to the Truth.  We may FEEL like God is that way, but the Truth is not determined or apprehended by how we feel.  Indeed, even if we feel like God is with us, He is not with us because we feel like He is.  He is with us because Christ is forever IN US.

     If I am in despair and cannot seem to escape the sense, indeed, the fear, that Christ has abandoned me, or is indifferent to me, what I feel is contrary to the Truth.  If circumstances seem to lie about God, the circumstances may be real, but I am not interpreting them according to the Truth about God.  It is normal and expected that our flesh, emotions, and soul life will not behave in accordance with the Truth.  But if Christ is in us, HE is the Truth, and HE is faithful, no matter how our temperament reacts.  God wants to do a work that will enable us to put aside our reactions and rest in Him.

     The certainty that God is with us is sealed by fact that He has bought us with the price of the Blood of Christ.  If God were so much as indifferent to us, He would be indifferent to His Son.  God is always with us because Christ is permanently in us.

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Mar 17

Joy From Out of Pain

A woman when she is in travail has sorrow because her hour is come.  But as soon as she is delivered of the child, she remembers no more the anguish for joy that a man is born into the world.  And you now therefore have sorrow.  But I will see you again, and your heart shall rejoice, and your joy no man takes from you.  (John 16:21-22)

     Jesus said these things to His disciples right before He was arrested and crucified.  They had hoped for an immediate kingdom with Jesus as the Messiah, and it was all about to come crashing down.  But there is a principle in this for us – if what we had expected God was doing dies, there is something being birthed out of that pain.

     The pain of a woman in travail is all-consuming.  She cannot get past it in most cases.  Most pain and suffering is like that – we tend to focus upon what we are losing, or upon what we are suffering.  We want out.  We want relief.  Usually God is silent.  This passage tells us the usual reason WHY.  There is a birth taking place.  It may not be a literal birth, but it is a birth in type.  It requires that we lose our own life and our self-ownership.  Then the life of Christ will find a great release in us.  Christ will be formed in us.  If we lose our life, we will find Him as our life.

     This is necessary because of the nature of things – because of the place to which Adam brought the human race.  It is actually a Truth that is veiled in the judgment God pronounced upon Eve regarding the necessity of her pain in childbirth, and is repeated in the NT by Paul.  The way to life in Christ requires that we undergo an experience – as a woman in travail.  But once the purpose of God is birthed, we will see that the pain and suffering cannot be compared to the glory revealed in us.

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Mar 18

The Right Approach to Prophecy

And now I have told you before it come to pass, that, when it is come to pass, you might believe.  (John 14:29)

     People are sometimes obsessed with the foretelling of future events, especially to the extent that these affect them personally.  There are people that have constructed Bible prophecy charts and have practically cataloged the Bible into a list of future events that will take place in a definite order.  All we need to do is check off the chronological list of events as they happen and we will be ready for the next event on the list.  All that being said, history has proven that Christian people are rarely correct about these matters.  Remember Israel:  The prophesied Messiah for whom they were waiting stood right in front those who knew those prophecies and they called Him a devil.

     Jesus gives us the right approach to prophecy – hold your interpretation loosely and wait for God to bring it to pass, THEN you will know what God meant.  Thus, most prophecy is not given to benefit us BEFORE it is fulfilled, but will benefit us AFTER.

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Mar 19

The Journey to Galilee

Then the eleven disciples went away into Galilee into a mountain where Jesus had appointed them.  (Matt. 28:16)

     It is significant that Jesus told the disciples to meet Him on a mountain in Galilee after His death and resurrection.  Jesus had said, “But after I am risen again, I will go before you into Galilee.”  (Matt. 26:32)  He repeated this a number of times (Matt. 28:9), and they were even reminded of it by the angel at the tomb. (Matt. 28:7)  It was so important that even when they went into hiding instead of obeying this command, Jesus appeared to them and saw to it that they journeyed to Galilee.

     Why Galilee instead of Jerusalem?  Because Jerusalem represented all of their temporal expectations of an immediate kingdom with Jesus as Messiah.  It was at Jerusalem that this kingdom was to be seated, and it was at Jerusalem that all of these hopes were dashed to pieces when Jesus died on the Cross.  But Galilee was the place to which the disciples were to journey to see and begin to understand the Risen Christ -- the true kingdom of God that Jesus made possible through His resurrection.

     Galilee represents union with the risen Christ – we journey to Galilee once we are willing to LOSE all that Jerusalem held for us – our life.  We come out of that old life in abandonment.  We journey to Galilee where we find Truth and Life in the risen Christ.

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Mar 20

Life From Death

If thou be the Son of God, come down from the cross.  (Matt. 27:40}

     Natural thinking insists that in order to LIVE we must come down from our Cross.  But the Truth is, in order to LIVE we must die on the Cross and be raised.  Jesus said as much “Whoever would save His life will lose it.  But whoever would lose His life for My sake will find it.”  (Matt. 16:24) 

     Grasp this Truth and your entire Christian life will be changed.  You will stop asking God to help you save your life for yourself – you will stop trying to do what you think will get God to bless YOUR life.  No.  God is not going to bless the life He tells you to lose.  Instead, you will ask God to do whatever it takes to bring you into the Truth of these things.  You will eventually want to lose you life because you will know that death is the pathway to resurrection life in Christ.

     Of course, it is so easy to focus on LOSS.  It is easy to fear that some terrible thing is going to happen if you trust God.  But faith is never a mistake.  If we lose our lives for Jesus’ sake, it may not be enjoyable – death never is – but what we will find will vindicate God.  We will see that what we lost was good for nothing but the refuge heap.  Seeing Jesus will change our perspective on everything.

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Mar 21

Pressed Out of Measure

For we would not, brethren, have you ignorant of our trouble which came to us in Asia, that we were pressed out of measure, above strength, insomuch that we despaired even of life:  But we had the sentence of death in ourselves, that we should not trust in ourselves, but in God which raiseth the dead:  (II Cor. 1:8-9)

    Paul was pressed to where there was nothing left in himself by which he could deal with this situation – emotionally, spiritually, or in any other way -- he was absolutely without options, and completely at the mercy of God.

     This was, of course, a good thing, not a bad thing.  But it never seems like it when we are going through it.  Paul even admitted that he, “despaired even of life.”  In other words, there was a sense of purposelessness; of futility.  Left to himself – and for a time it did seem like he was left to himself – this was going to be the end.  There was no sense arguing about it.  He felt a sentence of death in himself.

      Paul was human.  Circumstances can press any of us to where we get caught up in them and begin to be greatly pressed by them.  This happened here with Paul.  But he came to see the Truth.  None of this despair and helplessness was a sign that God had deserted him.  Rather, it was God’s way of deepening Paul’s complete dependence upon God to be faithful.

      God shows us we are weak so that our faith might be built and strengthened IN HIM.  Paul had faith in God.  But through this great trial He discovered a deeper knowledge of Jesus Christ:  “That we should not trust in ourselves, but in God….”

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Mar 22

Perplexity Before God

Oh that I knew where I might find him! that I might come even to his seat!  I would order my cause before him, and fill my mouth with questions.  I would know the words which he would answer me, and understand what he would say unto me.  (Job 23:3-5)

     This is Job in the midst of his great trial.  He is seeking God for answers.  He desires to know the reason for his suffering.  But God is silent.

     In a trial, we think that if God simply explained Himself to us that we could believe.  Or if God would just tell us what He wants us to do.  Indeed, even if God would show us our sin -- that would be acceptable.  But as was the case with Job, there is usually no explanation, nothing God tells us to do, and not even conviction of sin.  Just silence.

     If we read the conclusion of Job’s trial we find out the reason for God’s silence:  Job did not need information or answers.  He need a revelation of God Himself.  Such is the case with us:  God wants to reveal Christ in us.  Information will never accomplish that.

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Mar 23

The Unseen God

Behold, I go forward, but he is not there; and backward, but I cannot perceive him:  On the left hand, where he does work, but I cannot behold him: he hides himself on the right hand, that I cannot see him:  But he knows the way that I take: when he has tried me, I shall come forth as gold.  (Job 23:8-10)

     The words of Job aptly describe what we can expect in any trial of faith.  We will not be able to see God.  We won’t be able to find Him.  We may appeal to God to show us how to find Him.  But God remains silent.  And it seems like this is evidence that somewhere along the line we have missed the boat:  God is not with us.

     In this passage, we see a turning point in the suffering of Job.  Despite his despair, he is honest.  Despite his admission that he cannot see God, he now realizes that he doesn’t need to see God – for God sees HIM.  And that is not only sufficient, but it is, in fact, the place God will bring every one of us so that we might have a more pure faith.

     When I cannot see God, I can rest in the fact that God sees me – that is a principle that stands under so very much.  When we were yet sinners, God loved us and Christ died for us.  When we are ignorant, God takes the initiative to guide us into the Truth.  When we don’t know to seek God, God seeks us. 

     Our faith must ultimately be based upon the faithfulness of God – it comes back to this everytime.  God can be trusted to act on our behalf even when we don’t know He needs to act.  We need not lean upon our own understanding or ability to see God.  God sees us and understands us and is faithful to do right by us in His Son.

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Mar 24

Seeing God

I have heard of thee by the hearing of the ear: but now mine eye sees You.  Wherefore I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes.  (Job 42:5-6)

     Here we find the reason for Job’s trial.  He had not sinned against God – God Himself had called him a good and upright man -- one who loved good and hated evil.  But no matter how much we are walking in the light, there is always more light.  There is always more of Jesus to see.  And suffering adjusts us so that we can do so. 

     Job had apparently known much TRUE teaching about the Lord – in fact, he taught others that true teaching.  But this is never the same as actually seeing the One about whom our teaching speaks.  Job did not know what he did not see – he never realized how blind he really was.  This is the same with us.  God puts us through suffering so that we might come to see Jesus Christ.  And when we do, we get some idea of just how blind we were.  Thus, we, “repent in dust and ashes,” as to how much we thought we knew!  “Now my eyes see YOU!”  What could be more liberating?

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Mar 25

Spiritual Blindness

I was blind, but now I see.  (John 9:25)

     Spiritual blindness is not primarily a blindness to doctrines or tenets of truth.  No.  That is secondary.  Spiritual blindness is a blindness to Jesus Christ.  He is the Light.  If we don’t see Him, and if we don’t know Him, we are blind.  But usually when that is the case, we don’t know we are blind.  We are actually blind to the fact that we are blind.

     Folks who are blind -- but do not know it -- are the truly blind.  There are millions of truly ignorant people in this world – those who have never received light.  They don’t even know that they need to see.  Thus, the first step to freedom for them is a realization that they ARE blind.  For even though a person who knows they are blind cannot give themselves sight, they at least can turn to God and cry out, “Lord, that I may see!”

     There is, of course, another  possibility:  A self-imposed blindness – which is the result of closing one’s eyes to the Truth a person has been given.  This is unbelief.  The solution for them is to open their eyes to the light they have already been given.  

     There are also many Christian people who are blind to Jesus Christ, but have been given false light – they are deceived.  They are blind but think they see.

     Unless we have a revelation of Jesus Christ in a growing inward way, we have no light.  And if that is the case, it doesn’t matter how smart we are, or how sincere we say we are, or how religious we are.  We will be blind.

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Mar 26

Spiritual Discernment

But strong meat belongs to them that are of full age, even those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.  (Heb 5:14)

     Discernment is not merely the ability to compare teaching against scripture, and from that, to determine whether it is the Truth.  That is not without value because all true teaching will agree with scripture.  But all cults and heretics and false teachers claim to do this.  The problem is a person’s heart – a heart that cannot see Jesus Christ.  Unless we see Jesus Christ and have a single eye to Him, we may be able to read what the Bible says, but we will not get far in seeing the what it means.

     All true discernment is the by-product of knowing and seeing Jesus Christ.  If Christ is being formed in me (Gal. 4;19) – which means I am inwardly realizing Him – I am going to grow to know what is OF Him and what is not of Him.  He is the LIGHT – and we can know nothing for what it is unless we are in the Light as He is in the Light.  He is the Truth and it is only by seeing Him that we can see what is of Him.

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Mar 27

Spiritual Counterfeits

     When the government trains people to spot counterfeit currency, they don’t spend all of their time studying the various counterfeits – although that is included as a secondary focus.  The primary tool for training is genuine currency.  If a person is thoroughly acquainted with genuine currency, they will be able to spot a counterfeit in a moment.

     The genuine article for a believer is the Person of Jesus Christ.  If we know HIM, we will know what is OF Him.  And we will recognize a counterfeit for what it is.  Indeed, if we know Him, this will even inable us to understand -- according to Him -- what the Bible means by what it says.  But if we do not know Jesus Christ in an inward way, then we are pretty much left to the futility of our own mind and wits to try to sort out Truth from error.

     It is possible for smart people to logically determine meanings of Bible verses, and to make some application of them.  It is also possible for highly intelligent people to be totally deceived.  Why?  Because brain power will not enable us to see.  If we remain blind to the person of Jesus Christ, we will, in one way or another, be subject to our own bias and weaknesses.  The key to seeing Christ is an eye that is single to Him.

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Mar 28

A Single Eye

The light of the body is the eye: if therefore thine eye be single, your whole body shall be full of light.  But if your eye be evil, thy whole body shall be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in thee be darkness, how great is that darkness!  (Mat 6:22-23)

     In Greek, the word, “single,” means, “free of folds or creases.”  So we can see what Jesus is picturing if we compare, “the body,” He mentions, to a piece of paper.  If we hold a piece of paper up to a light, the light will hit every part of that paper if it has no folds.  But if we fold the paper, it will shut out the light, and part of it will be in darkness.

    Jesus is saying that if your heart – your focus in life – is single to God, that your whole life will be filled with light and Truth.  This will enable us to discern all things in the Light of Jesus Christ.  A single eye will ask God to do, “whatever it takes,” to bring us into the Truth.

     Jesus also tells us that it is possible to shut out God the point where your life is filled with darkness.  If that is the case, you will be walking in darkness and make many choices that are out of the will of God.  In fact, you could become so deceived that you actuallly think that the darkness in you is light.

     The cause is not a lack of brains, or only a lack of teaching.  The cause is that you did not keep your eye single to God.  The cure is clear:  Turn to God NOW with a single eye.  If you do, He will bring light. 

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Mar 29

Spiritual Enlightenment

Cease not to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers; that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him: that the eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that you may know…. (Eph 1:16-18)

     In this epistle to the Ephesians, Paul states many wonderful Truths.  The epistle is filled with teaching, doctrine, and exhortation.  Yet Paul didn’t say that he prayed that the Ephesians would memorize his teaching.  He didn’t pray that they would merely know doctrine.  Rather, he prays that God would open their eyes – to a revelation of JESUS CHRIST.  Why?  Because only then could they understand his teaching.  The fact that Paul prayed for them along this line ought to tell us our need:  That we need to have our eyes opened to see Jesus Christ.  Mental understanding of teaching, or an emotional reaction to it, is NOT spiritual sight. 

     Notice what Paul is actually praying for:  That God may give them, “the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Jesus Christ.”  This is Paul’s great prayer, along with his travail that, “Christ be formed,” in believers.  (Gal. 4:19)  The question for us is therefore:  Is this our great prayer and travail?  Is this our ministry today?

     There are many people today who have brought things like contemplative prayer, extra-biblical revelation, and eastern mysticism, into the church.  And in reaction to these errors, there are many others who suggest that the only revelation God gives today is through the reading of the Bible.  Both are wrong.  Paul wrote part of the Bible.  And yet He is telling us IN THAT BIBLE that his prayer is that we might receive from God, “the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him.”

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Mar 30

Light is Judgment

And Jesus said, “For judgment I am come into this world, that they which see not might see; and that they which see might be made blind.”  (John 9:39)

     Light is judgment.  That is because when God brings light all is revealed and exposed – God is dealing with things.  Things can never be the same again.

    Jesus is pointing out that once a person sees, he will either be changed to fit the Truth, or he will change the Truth to fit him.  He will ultimately do one or the other.  There cannot be neutrality because though he try to be neutral, he HAS seen.

    If I love light rather than darkness, I will be set free.  But if I love darkness rather than the light God has given me, I will close my eyes to the light and live in a self-created darkness.  My blindness will no longer be because I could not see.  It will be because I refused to see.

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Mar 31

Ignorance vs. Unbelief

Take heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief, in departing from the living God.  (Heb 3:12)

     True ignorance is an inability to believe because I have not been given light.  I cannot see because I was born blind.  For this I am NOT to blame. 

     Unbelief, on the other hand, is not the inability to believe.  It is the refusal to believe.  Unbelief is the result of having received light, but of loving darkness rather than light – because it satisfies something in my heart.  We might say that unbelief happens once I receive light, but close my eyes.  My darkness is therefore self-created.  I am not blind.  I have simply shut out the light.

     God’s will never changes – He wants all men to be saved and to come into the knowledge of the Truth.  He wants all men to see.  Thus, it is always possible once God brings light to embrace the Truth.  (I Tim. 2:5)  If I have been truly ignorant, I can embrace the light when God brings it.  And if I have been guilty of unbelief, I can always repent and open my eyes to the light God has given.  I sin when I won’t.

     Christians are capable of unbelief – not in the sense of losing salvation – but along the lines of our inheritance.  It is possible to stop short of God’s purpose and forfeit some of what He has freely given us in Christ.

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