But, thank God, there is a fourth great truth. This truth, unlike the first three, cannot be learned from nature or from our own consciences. This is a truth which was designed by God to be told to neighbors and preached in churches and carried by missionaries; namely, the glorious good news that God has decreed a way to satisfy the demands of his righteousness without condemning the whole human race. He has taken it upon himself, apart from any merit in us, to accomplish for us our salvation! The wisdom of God has ordained a way for the love of God to deliver us from the wrath of God without compromising the righteousness of God. And what is this wisdom?
Christ crucified, a stumbling block to the Jews and folly to the gentiles, but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God (1 Corinthians 1:23-24)
And again:
God put Christ forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God’s righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over our former sins; it was to prove at the present time that he himself is righteous and that he justifies him who has faith in Jesus.
How is it possible for the righteous Judge to exonerate sinners who have been ungrateful for his great goodness?
God made Christ to be sin who knew no sin so that in him we might become the righteousness of God (2 Corinthians 5:21).
And again:
Christ bore our sins in his body on the tree (1 Peter 2:24).
He died for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring us to God (1 Peter 3:18).
If the most terrifying news in all the world is that we are under the judicial condemnation of our Creator and that he is bound by his righteousness to pour out wrath on our ingratitude, then the greatest news in all the world is that God was willing to sentence his own Son in our place (Galatians 3:13) and thus demonstrate his righteous allegiance to his own glory, and still save sinners like you and like me!
But not all sinners. Everybody is not saved from God’s wrath just because Christ died for sinners. And this is the fifth great truth we need to hear: there is a condition you have to meet in order to be saved. “What must I do to be saved?” is probably the most important question any human can ask.
The answer in Acts 16:31 is, “Believe on the Lord Jesus and you will be saved.”
In John 1:12 it is that we must receive Christ: “To all who received him… he gave power to become children of God.”
In Acts 3:19 it is, Repent!; that is turn away from sin: “Repent therefore, and turn again that your sins may be blotted out.”
The answer in Hebrews 5:9 is obedience to Christ: “Jesus became the source of eternal salvation to all who obey him.”
Jesus himself answers the question in a variety of ways. In Matthew 18:3 he said that childlikeness is the condition for salvation: “Truly I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.”
In Mark 8:34-35 the condition is self-denial – the willingness to lose your earthly life for Christ: “If any man would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it; and whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel’s will save it.”
In Matthew 10:37 Jesus says the condition is loving him more than anybody else: “He who loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; and he who loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.” (See also 1 Corinthians 16:22; 2 Timothy 4:8)
And in Luke 14:33 the condition for salvation is that we be free from the love of our possessions: “Whoever does not renounce all that he has cannot be my disciple.”
These are some of the conditions that the New Testament says we must meet in order to benefit eternally from the death of Christ on the cross. We must believe on him, receive him, turn from our sin, obey him, humble ourselves like little children, love him more than our family, friends, possessions, and even our own life. This is what it means to be converted to Christ. And this alone is the way of life everlasting.
But what is it that holds all these various conditions together? Is there a truth which unites them all? I think the answer is given in the little parable we read at first:
The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and covered up; then from his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.
The person who is converted and brought into the kingdom of heaven has discovered a treasure – namely, Christ – and is impelled by joy to sell all he has to have this treasure. You are converted to Christ when Christ becomes for you a treasure chest of holy joy! We are converted when Christ becomes a treasure in whom we find so much delight that trusting and obeying him and turning from all that belittles him becomes our normal habit.
There is no evidence in the Bible that God will accept people who come to him out of any motive other than desire for joy in him. You cannot please God unless you come to him in search of reward. Hebrews 11:6 says,
Without faith it is impossible to please God. For whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.
When Peter focused on his sacrificial self-denial and said “we have left everything and followed you” (Matthew 19:27) Jesus pointed out his pride: “There is no one who has left anything for my sake who will not receive a hundredfold now and in the age to come eternal life.” Jesus was saying “Peter, if you don’t come to me because I am greater treasure than all those things you have left then you don’t come to me at all.” You think far too highly of yourself if you think you are anything more than a little baby branch sucking righteousness, peace and joy from Christ, the vine! The condition of salvation is that you come to Christ in search of reward, finding in him a treasure chest of holy joy.
Come, everyone who thirsts, come to the waters; and he who has no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without price. Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread, and your labor for that which does not satisfy? Listen diligently to me, and eat what is good, and delight yourselves in rich food. Incline your ear, and come to me; hear, that your soul may live. (Isaiah 55:1-3)
Saturday, August 26, 2006
Wednesday, August 23, 2006
Conversion to Christ (continued)
The first truth we must face is that God is the Creator and we owe him profound gratitude for all we have. Your own experience in life is powerful evidence for this. Have you ever done something for someone only to have them fail to respond in gratitude? How did that make you feel? (Angry, like they were inconsiderate, etc.) Why do you think our hearts jump so quickly to judgment when someone fails to show gratitude when they have been the recipient of great kindness? The real reason is because we were created in the image of God. Your judicial sentiment which automatically holds me guilty if I ignore you after you’ve just snatched my child from in front of a speeding car is the voice of God in you. We involuntarily hold people accountable for ingratitude because we were created in God’s image. Therefore, you know in your heart that there is a God to whom we owe genuine gratitude.
The second truth we must deal with is connected to the first: we have not felt, nor do we now, nor will we tomorrow feel the depth and consistency of gratitude to God which we owe him as Creator. Our own consciences are sufficient to convict us in this regard. We know that we do not render to God the very gratitude which we demand for ourselves from our neighbor. The judicial sentiment in our heart which holds other people guilty for ingratitude bears vivid witness to the truth that God holds us guilty for our astonishing ingratitude to him. And if we try to suppress this witness in our own hearts, the Bible makes it plain:
the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and wickedness of men who by their wickedness suppress the truth… For though they knew God they did not glorify him as God or give thanks to him but they became futile in their thinking and their senseless minds were darkened.
(Romans 1:18-21)
Is it clear to you that everything you have is a gift from God, and that as a creature you are dependent on him for life and breath and everything? Has your life been filled with the joy of gratitude to God which is proportionate to his infinite kindness to you?
Built on these first two great truths is the third: we must face the truth that God’s wrath abides upon us even this moment if we are outside of Christ, and it does so because of our ingratitude. You know that your own judicial sentiment will not allow indignities against you to be ignored. How much more so is this true of God’s own dignity! God is righteous and that means that he must uphold the worth of his own glory! When we, by our own ingratitude, belittle the worth of God’s glory it demands wrath and justice from God. God alone is infinitely worthy and therefore our defamation of his character in our utter ingratitude brings down upon us righteous eternal destruction. The wages of sin is eternal death (Romans 6:23), and this is the most terrifying truth in the world.
(To be continued...)
The second truth we must deal with is connected to the first: we have not felt, nor do we now, nor will we tomorrow feel the depth and consistency of gratitude to God which we owe him as Creator. Our own consciences are sufficient to convict us in this regard. We know that we do not render to God the very gratitude which we demand for ourselves from our neighbor. The judicial sentiment in our heart which holds other people guilty for ingratitude bears vivid witness to the truth that God holds us guilty for our astonishing ingratitude to him. And if we try to suppress this witness in our own hearts, the Bible makes it plain:
the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and wickedness of men who by their wickedness suppress the truth… For though they knew God they did not glorify him as God or give thanks to him but they became futile in their thinking and their senseless minds were darkened.
(Romans 1:18-21)
Is it clear to you that everything you have is a gift from God, and that as a creature you are dependent on him for life and breath and everything? Has your life been filled with the joy of gratitude to God which is proportionate to his infinite kindness to you?
Built on these first two great truths is the third: we must face the truth that God’s wrath abides upon us even this moment if we are outside of Christ, and it does so because of our ingratitude. You know that your own judicial sentiment will not allow indignities against you to be ignored. How much more so is this true of God’s own dignity! God is righteous and that means that he must uphold the worth of his own glory! When we, by our own ingratitude, belittle the worth of God’s glory it demands wrath and justice from God. God alone is infinitely worthy and therefore our defamation of his character in our utter ingratitude brings down upon us righteous eternal destruction. The wages of sin is eternal death (Romans 6:23), and this is the most terrifying truth in the world.
(To be continued...)
Saturday, August 19, 2006
Conversion to Christ
44"The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and covered up. Then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field. 45"Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in search of fine pearls, 46who, on finding one pearl of great value, went and sold all that he had and bought it.
Matthew 13:44-46
Not everyone will share eternally in God’s joy. Is that true? WHY? Why is it that not everyone will share in God’s joy forever? This is true because there is a condition which must be met in order for you to live in him and enjoy him forever. WHAT is that condition? What is the condition which must be met in order for you to live in him and enjoy him forever? What is the condition which must be met before you can be a part of the kingdom of God?
The condition is that you obey the command of Psalm 37:4 : Delight yourself in the Lord. But many people take more delight in money or sex or recreation than they do in God, and so they have no share in God’s saving mercy. They are lost. What they need is conversion to Christ. Lest we move on too fast from this statement, consider: What is the case with you today? Do you take your greatest delight in Christ? Do your habits prove that you delight in the Lord? Does your conversation? What about your thinking?
We live in a superficially Christian society where thousands of lost people think they do believe in Jesus. As we consider conversion to Christ, I want to challenge you to think about the times in which we live and examine yourself carefully. The phrase “Believe on the Lord Jesus and you shall be saved” is virtually meaningless in our society. Drunks on the street say they do. Unmarried couples sleeping together say they do. People who haven’t sought worship or fellowship for 10 years say they do. Every stripe of world-loving church attendees say they do.
My responsibility as a teacher is not just to repeat precious biblical sentences, but to speak the truth of those sentences in such a way that it will prick the conscience of the hearer, helping you feel your need for Christ. I hope to take this sweet truth in Matthew 13:44-46 and make it as sharp as I can in the hope that some hearts will be stabbed broad awake. You may be sitting there thinking “I’m already converted. I don’t need to hear this.”, but before you tune me out let me caution you. The gospel truths I am going to talk about here are the gospel truths that believers themselves go on believing by. So now let’s go on to consider some great truths about reality that make conversion necessary. (To be continued...)
Matthew 13:44-46
Not everyone will share eternally in God’s joy. Is that true? WHY? Why is it that not everyone will share in God’s joy forever? This is true because there is a condition which must be met in order for you to live in him and enjoy him forever. WHAT is that condition? What is the condition which must be met in order for you to live in him and enjoy him forever? What is the condition which must be met before you can be a part of the kingdom of God?
The condition is that you obey the command of Psalm 37:4 : Delight yourself in the Lord. But many people take more delight in money or sex or recreation than they do in God, and so they have no share in God’s saving mercy. They are lost. What they need is conversion to Christ. Lest we move on too fast from this statement, consider: What is the case with you today? Do you take your greatest delight in Christ? Do your habits prove that you delight in the Lord? Does your conversation? What about your thinking?
We live in a superficially Christian society where thousands of lost people think they do believe in Jesus. As we consider conversion to Christ, I want to challenge you to think about the times in which we live and examine yourself carefully. The phrase “Believe on the Lord Jesus and you shall be saved” is virtually meaningless in our society. Drunks on the street say they do. Unmarried couples sleeping together say they do. People who haven’t sought worship or fellowship for 10 years say they do. Every stripe of world-loving church attendees say they do.
My responsibility as a teacher is not just to repeat precious biblical sentences, but to speak the truth of those sentences in such a way that it will prick the conscience of the hearer, helping you feel your need for Christ. I hope to take this sweet truth in Matthew 13:44-46 and make it as sharp as I can in the hope that some hearts will be stabbed broad awake. You may be sitting there thinking “I’m already converted. I don’t need to hear this.”, but before you tune me out let me caution you. The gospel truths I am going to talk about here are the gospel truths that believers themselves go on believing by. So now let’s go on to consider some great truths about reality that make conversion necessary. (To be continued...)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)