Godly Sorrow and Repentance

2 Corinthians 7:10

"For godly sorrow produces a repentance that leads to salvation without regret, whereas worldly grief produces death."

Are you grieving, dear Christian? Has some sin in your life caused you much pain? Rejoice in the fact that this type of grief leads to salvation. If the Holy Spirit had not come and shown us our depravity, we would have never turned to the Savior. The work of the Holy Spirit in our lives is both the comforter and also the helper. We assume that to help someone is to always encourage their behavior, but to truly help someone does not mean to approve of everything that they do. To allow someone to continue in sin is to allow them to continue on a path towards death... that is not helpful in the least. Therefore, our Helper is more than one who brings us encouraging words. He is also the one who points out those areas in our lives that are still clinging to the decaying flesh of our evil nature, so that we can put it to death. This is a painful process. Somethings we are not so easily willing to give up, but it must be done. Godly grief is spurred on by a humble heart. Someone who is full of pride may not see the sin that needs to be done away with, but the one with a humble heart knows all too well the sin in his own life. This sin leads to grief, which leads to repentance, which leads to salvation. And this Salvation is not only a salvation, but one without regret! We have no need to look on past sins and continue to grieve over them. No, they are done away, through repentance and the salvation of Christ. This is one thing that Christians need to grasp a hold of, also. After repentance, the grief is over. Some feel that, after sin and repentance, there must be a mourning period. How long is this period of mourning supposed to last? One week? One day? One hour? One minute? The grief is prior to the repentance. Upon repentance, we are free from regret. Take a hold of this promise, friends. 

Renewed for Eternity

2 Corinthians 4:16-18

"So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal."

We find ourselves in a place. A place in which we will one day be perfected in the light of God's glory. Most would use this as an excuse to sit back and relax. I know that I will never be perfect on earth, and I know that God will make me new one day, so why bother at all with holiness and sanctification? The answer lies in the parables of Jesus. Do we not remember the parable of the groomsmen's oil? Or the servants left to their work? Do we not remember that there is preparation made. We tread so arrogantly in grace, sometimes. We have tried so fervently to make grace without works, that we have made Christianity about being saved from our sin bondage to live freely in it. We forget that grace is given, so that we may get up and try again. Grace is a gift, yes, but we must use it not to sin all the more! We have grace, so that we do not lose heart along the way. When I find myself so deep in sin that I feel God would not want anything to do with me, I know that I am secure in His hand, because of grace. I do not stay in the sin, however. This flesh that calls me to disobey God is fading, and it calls me to take pleasure in things that are passing away. I try so hard to avoid tribulation, but this tribulation that is momentary is preparing me for an eternity of glory. When I find that I will one day be perfected by God, this does not lead me to give up today; rather, it leads me into an eager anticipation that says, let us begin now. Like a child eager to begin work on the new swing set can not wait until Saturday morning to begin the work, but cries out to the father, "Let us build it now, even if we can not finish it before dark. We can at least start." Even if the work in me can not be finished before I die, please! May we begin it now? The heart of one truly filled with the Holy Spirit has this desire. Not the desire of things transient, but of things eternal. Our mind is set to be ready, when our Master returns, and when our bridegroom is ready. We will not be caught off gaurd or asleep. This is a process of renewal day by day. A process that only the Holy Spirit can do in us. It is a process that takes daily portions of grace to complete. May we set our minds on the things of eternal importance and allow the Holy Spirit to do His renewing work in our lives, daily.

Temptation

1 Corinthians 10:12-13

"Therefore let anyone who thinks that he stands take heed lest he fall. No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it."

James 1:13-15

"Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am being tempted by God,” for God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempts no one. But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death."

I have defined in past blogs what the true nature of sin is - to disobey God's command. Temptation is what leads us to sin. It is the dialogoue that occurs just before we decide to indulge in the flesh and turn from God's way. Most people assume that the enemy is always behind this temptation, but they forget the all important fact that before Christ, we were at war with God of our own accord, and "following the desires of our flesh, and following the prince of the power of the air." Our own evil heart is enough to lead us into sinful rebelion against God. I used to teach on 1 Corinthians 10:12 and say that it was talking about being careful to understand that you are never beyond being tempted. We always need to be on our guard; however, after a carfeul reading of it in context--focussing on the "therefore" and looking back a few verses--we find that this is referring to those who assume that they are secure, even though they are living in sin. It is saying that we must not put Christ to the test. Sin is serious. As James writes, temptation tells us that it won't hurt that bad, the sin tells us that we won't be punished, and inevitably it leads to death and separation from God. We must therefore remind ourselves of this fact, when we allow our desires to go unchecked. When we allow a fleeting thought to turn into a gaze--as David did with Bathsheeba. Temptation is our own desires unchecked. We can not play innocent and say, "The devil made me do it." Nor can we throw a pity party when we have sinned, as if we were tricked. The truth is that we must battle sin in our lives with the same ferocious ruthlessness that it uses to try to kill us. If we allow it to continue, it will lead to death, if not in this world, in the world to come. When we do sin, and rebel against God, we need to take responsibility for our actions. We are told to confess our sin, not blame the enemy for it--just as Adam blamed Eve, and Eve blamed the serpant. I wish that I knew the secret weapon for battle against temptation, but as 1 Corinthians 10 tells us, it is a way of escape, and I am not certain that it is a formula for each circumstance. I know that when Jesus was tempted, He turned to Scripture that he had memorized. I think that many could do well against the war against their flesh, if they spent more time memorizing helpful Scripture and reading God's word more. David wrote that he made a covenant with his eyes not to look where he ought not to look. If the struggle is with lust, the temptation is that one look is ok, but it is a lie. If the temptation is greed, whether with money or with food, we must train ourselves in contentedness and selfcontrol. Whatever the temptation may be, God has made a way of escape. There is never "no way out."

Judging Others

1 Corinthians 5:12-13 

"For what have I to do with judging outsiders? Is it not those inside the church whom you are to judge? God judges those outside. 'Purge the evil person from among you.'"

Matthew 7:1-6

"Judge not, that you be not judged.  For with the judgment you pronounce you will be judged, and with the measure you use it will be measured to you.  Why do you see the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye?  Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when there is the log in your own eye?  You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother’s eye. Do not give dogs what is holy, and do not throw your pearls before pigs, lest they trample them underfoot and turn to attack you."

1 Corinthians 4:3-5 

"But with me it is a very small thing that I should be judged by you or by any human court. In fact, I do not even judge myself. For I am not aware of anything against myself, but I am not thereby acquitted. It is the Lord who judges me. Therefore do not pronounce judgment before the time, before the Lord comes, who will bring to light the things now hidden in darkness and will disclose the purposes of the heart. Then each one will receive his commendation from God."

I believe many believers have heard the phrase, "Do not judge, lest you be judged" about a hundred times in their time as a follower of Christ. Usually from someone who has begun a discussion on holy things, but then feels uncomfortable when the topic of sin and accountability is brought up. There has always been a big misunderstanding with the word judge. Jesus did tell us not to judge, but did He mean that we are to completely separate ourselves from others help in our walk with God? This is where it is important to note that there are two scenariso for judging and also two types of judging. Firstly, the two types of  judgment. We have judging someones rightness with God and we have judging a brothers walk with God. When Jesus tells us not to judge, we sometimes assume he means that we are not to look on someone else's life and find things in it that do not line up with Scripture and nudge them closer to God. This is not the type of judging that He is refering to, however. The judging that Jesus is referring to is the first type of judging. I can never look into someone's heart and know that they are right with God. To be honest, I can not even look into my own. I am not the Judge of my rightness with God. I can have confidence in my rightness through my reassurance in the promises of God's word, but I am not the Judge. This is the type of condemning judgment that we are forbidden to make. We can not look upon someone and state that they are right or not right in the eyes of God. This is what Paul wrote abput in 1 Corinthians 4:3-5. The second type of judgment, Jesus actually teaches us how to do directly- following the infamous phrase, "Do not Judge lest you be judged!" He goes on to tell the story of these two guys with a plank and a speck, and the one guy has to pull the plank or the speck out the other guys eye.... And then there is this bit about throwing jewelry at pigs... Nobody really cares to read into this because they are stuck on the do not judge and assume that the story just goes with that. However, these two parables after the "Do not judge" phrase actaully clarify the appropriate way in which we are to judge. If we find that a brother has sin in their life (the speck), and we in love want to remove it, because we know that sin separates from God, we must first deal with the sin in our own life (the pile of fire wood). We must lay it down, and then we are better able to help our sinning brother. In reality this would look like if I had a gaming addiction and my friend had movie watching addiction. I go up to him and say, "I think that you watch too many movies, and it takes time away from your relationshipp with God, and may even take the place of it. The Bible says that we should not allow anything to lord over us, and I think that this does over you." And he simply remarks, "Who are you to judge me? You play video games all day long. You even missed your final exam, because you stayed up all night playing that new game and slept through your alarm!" When we have sin so prevalent in our own lives, no matter how lovingly we come to our brother or sister in Christ, they will not accept it. The pearls before swine is discussing the judgment (or discernment as it is better known) of where and when and with whom we share the gospel. We assume that we are supposed to just tell every single person we meet about Jesus. But there were many people with whom Jesus even refused to discuss holy things. When the Pharisees would ask Him a question, simply to trick Him, he would not answer it directly. When they would ask for a sign, He would send them away empty handed. There are certain people who are our enemies, who only ask questions because they want to waste our time. And we are told to use our judgement and not share with them the pearls of God's great wisdom. These are the two types of judgments that Jesus said were acceptable. Now for the two scenarios of judgment. As stated in 1 Corinthians 5:12-13, we do not judge those who are outside of the faith (this being the judgment of the logs and speck). How could we come to them and explain about sin in their life, that we would like to help them extract with the word of God, if they have never experienced Jesus as their ultimate Savior from all their sin? We should never expect a person who does not have the Holy Spirit to behave as if they do. This is an old thought that basically means, before someone can change they need Jesus. We should not tell the drunkard to stop drinking and come to church; we should tell the drunkard come to church, and then the Holy Spirit will deal with his soul. After this, he is able to stop drinking. In the passage in 1 Corinthians, Paul is addressing the fact that a brother in Christ has committed a gross sexual sin, and must be dealt with accordingly; however, there is sexual sin happening all around us. But we only deal with it inside the body of Christ. If I walked up to a man looking at a dirty magazine and said, you should not look at that. He would obviously ask why, and I would explain that God states that it is adultery to even look upon a woman with lust, and we are to be pure. He would laugh in my face. He knows not the Scripture or the urge to follow God's commandments that lead to life. No, this type of judgment, the type that sees a brother or sister in sin and longs to help them in love and with the Word of God, is reserved for those inside the church.

God's Wisdom; World's Foolishness

1 Corinthians 1:18, 20-21, 27, 31 

"For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God."
  

"Where is the one who is wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, it pleased God through the folly of what we preach to save those who believe."

"But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong;"

"so that, as it is written, 'Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.'"

The Bible is both the source of power for the believer and also the stumbling block for humanity. In this day and age, it is very unpopular to make the claim to believe in the Bible. Even some who proclaim Christ as savior avoid portions of Scripture. It is as if they are ashamed of what God has to say on certain topics, but this it to our great folly. God's word is our source of wisdom. It has never lined up with earthly wisdom, why should it now? We attempt to do away with Scripture that makes us uncomfortable by claiming that it only applied during the time period it was written. Which is folly due to the fact that it's authors were in a historical context, but directed by the Holy Spirit--who is in fact outside of time. Although our understanding of Scripture can be aided by understanding the historical context, we should never explain away Scripture by stating, "That was for them, and it does not apply to us anymore." We do this in another way, with the Old Testament. Because we do not understand the Old Testament, sometimes we claim that with the New Covenant the Old Testament is irrelevant. This could not be any further from the truth, for Jesus said that He came not to do away with the Law but to fulfill it. This means that to better understand Christ (and God) we must study and understand the Old Testament. I state all of this to say that our wisdom comes from one source--God. We come to know God's wisdom through His word--and that means all of it. If we do not understand some portion of Scripture, we should not be quick to explain it away, especially if it contradicts what society and the world state is correct. The wisdom of the Lord should contradict the world. Our lives should be radically different than those who have not experienced the wisdom found in God's word through the Holy Spirit. If we strive to find God through some intelectual prowess, we will fail. God reveals himself, through His holy spirit, to those whom choose to believe in faith that His way is the better way--nay, it is the only way to find true life. I live my life God's way, as explained in His word, because I have seen and tasted that it is the only way to live. When I try to do things my way, I feel the pain of disappoint and consequence, just as the G.I. action figure does when the child ignores the instructions not to place in extreme heat. It sounds silly, but it really is a great illustration for how we can use or not use God's word. We can disregard it, but it is our instructional manual. It is the wisdom. To those who are outside of understanding, it is darkened and seems foolish, but to we who are being saved it is the power of God.

Liberty and Stumbling Block

Romans 15:1-2

"We who are strong have an obligation to bear with the failings of the weak, and not to please ourselves. Let each of us please his neighbor for his good, to build him up."

1 Corinthians 8:1-13

"Now concerning food offered to idols: we know that “all of us possess knowledge.” This “knowledge” puffs up, but love builds up. If anyone imagines that he knows something, he does not yet know as he ought to know. But if anyone loves God, he is known by God.  Therefore, as to the eating of food offered to idols, we know that “an idol has no real existence,” and that “there is no God but one.” For although there may be so-called gods in heaven or on earth—as indeed there are many “gods” and many “lords”— yet for us there is one God, the Father, from whom are all things and for whom we exist, and one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom are all things and through whom we exist.  However, not all possess this knowledge. But some, through former association with idols, eat food as really offered to an idol, and their conscience, being weak, is defiled. Food will not commend us to God. We are no worse off if we do not eat, and no better off if we do. But take care that this right of yours does not somehow become a stumbling block to the weak. For if anyone sees you who have knowledge eating in an idol’s temple, will he not be encouraged, if his conscience is weak, to eat food offered to idols? And so by your knowledge this weak person is destroyed, the brother for whom Christ died. Thus, sinning against your brothers and wounding their conscience when it is weak, you sin against Christ. Therefore, if food makes my brother stumble, I will never eat meat, lest I make my brother stumble."

I once had a discussion with a pastor who was just beginning a church. He was explaining his philosophy on drinking alcohol and stated that he would feel comfortable having a beer with some men from his congregation. I remember being very off put by this, in my youth, because of two reasons: one, I had been raised to believe that those in leadership should abstain from alcohol, and two, because I have seen the destructive tole alcohol has on people. I remember something that he said during our discussion, after I asked him his thoughts on being a stumbling block for those that might struggle with alcoholism in his congregation. He said that those that are weak should be raised up to the standard of everyone else. That we in leadership should not give up our liberty in Christ and go down to the weaker, but that we should raise the weaker up to our standard. In some ways, what he said made sense, but this verse immediately jumped into my head. Does not this verse teach us otherwise? I believe that this verse can teach us a very important lesson on our liberty in Christ. 

Firstly, the context is quiet interesting, since in the previous chapter, Paul addressed that we as Christians should not judge one another for the liberty that we each have in Christ. Therefore, if this pastor friend of mine would like to drink, I am in no place to judge him. God calls us each to different things, and just because my conviction says not to drink alcohol does not mean that this is the rule. God has said that we are not to get drunk, and one beer is not going to make anyone drunk. Even so, I have always been intrigued by something Paul said in 1 Corinthians 8:13 - "Therefore, if food makes my brother stumble, I will never eat meat, lest I make my brother stumble." I have always substituted the meat sacrificed to idols in this passage (something that does not really apply to my life) with alcohol. Although I have the knowledge that drinking alcohol is not a sin (but rather becoming drunk), I refrain from it. I do this because of two reasons: one, I have dear friends who with great conviction are against drinking even a drop of the stuff, and two, I am in a place of influence with a group of young men that I disciple and some men who struggle with alcoholism. If one of them saw me drinking, and decided that it was ok, and then  was snatched up by the enemy in bondage, I would feel so much shame that my liberty is what caused it. But causing my brother to stumble does not only mean to fall into alcoholism, for judging one another is also a sin, and so my friends who are against drinking would be in grave danger of falling into the snares of the enemy also. Some people would say that it is not my reponsibility to worry about what my actions will do to those around me. Well, they don't say it like that, because that sounds selfish. They say things like, "I can't help that the things I do cause someone else to stumble. Why should I be responsible for others?" I would say, because Jesus said so. It is not about me. It is not about what is best for me. It has always been about others. I lay down my life for others. This does not just mean that I jump in front of bullets, but rather on a daily basis, I lay down my rights for the sake of others. I say rights, because sometimes we feel like it is our right to do this or have that. We think that these rights give us freedom to do whatever we wish with no thought of anyone else. My question would be, what about Jesus' rights? Didn't you say you wanted to be like Jesus? He never thought of Himself, but laid down His life for the sake of everyone else. And as a follower of Christ, I strive to do the same. As I have said previously, I do not judge others on their decision about whether to drink or not to drink, and this idea of laying down our liberty for the sake of those weaker members goes far beyond the topic of alcohol. I would ask that we all pray and ask God to reveal the selfishness in our lives, and that He would do the work to help us become more like Jesus.