Faith

“Salvation is not initiated by human choice”

Posted on by Bob Mathews

I read that statement recently. It was written by John MacArthur, a man with whom I agree quite often, and with whom I also sometimes disagree. Do statements ever strike you as being so outrageous they couldn’t possibly be true, but if you think about it a little they make you wonder if there is a sense in which they may be true?

Such was the case for me with this one. The more I thought about it, the more I agreed with it. Read on and I’ll tell you why…

What’s the first step toward salvation?

This post will not be a “step 1, do this; step 2, do this” type of post. Everything starts somewhere though. Such is the case with salvation, and certainly to see whether or not salvation is initiated by human choice, we need to see how it is initiated. So where does it begin?

We’re told that “faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word of Christ” (Romans 10:17). So hearing the Word is the first step toward salvation.

God prepared before creation the good works He has in store for me today.

If hearing the Word is the first step, how is that initiated other than by human choice?

That indeed is the question to answer. Could it be there are things taking place that lead to our salvation before we hear the Word? If so, then they are not actions we take, because that would be in conflict with the Word itself.

Consider:

For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. (Ephesians 2:10)

4For He chose us in Him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in His sight. In love 5He predestined us to be adopted as His sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with His pleasure and will—6to the praise of His glorious grace, which He has freely given us in the One He loves. (Ephesians 1:4-6)

No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him, and I will raise him up at the last day. (John 6:44)

So we are “created in Christ to do good works”. That’s a telling fact in itself, but what’s the source of these good works? “God prepared [them] in advance for us to do.” In advance of what? Certainly in advance of us doing the good works, but I believe it means more than that. The context of Ephesians 1, and on into chapter 2, is God’s eternal plan. Thus, God prepared before creation the good works He has in store for me today.

Predestined?

What about “He chose us” and “He predestined us”? So God chose before creation who would be good and who would be bad? Who would be saved and who would be condemned? No, that can’t be the proper meaning of this passage because if it is, it conflicts with several other things God told us, not the least of which is that He is “not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance” (2 Peter 3:9).

It’s easy to read “chose” and “predestined” in Ephesians 1, and miss the critical phrase. God “chose us in Him to be holy and blameless in His sight,” meaning He foreordained that those who come to Christ in obedient faith would be “holy and blameless in His sight”. So yes, we’re predestined, but not as individuals; we’re predestined as a class of people who trust in Him.

So you see, there are many things going on in “the heavenly realms” (Ephesians 1:3) that are directed to draw us to Christ — things that indeed initiate our process of salvation long before we ever hear the Word.

What other passages shed light on this subject? I’d love to hear your thoughts.

Whose armor are you wearing?

Posted on by Bob Mathews

38Then Saul dressed David in his own tunic. He put a coat of armor on him and a bronze helmet on his head. 39David fastened on his sword over the tunic and tried walking around, because he was not used to them. “I cannot go in these,” he said to Saul, “because I am not used to them.” So he took them off. 40Then he took his staff in his hand, chose five smooth stones from the stream, put them in the pouch of his shepherd’s bag and, with his sling in his hand, approached the Philistine. (1 Samuel 17:38-40)

You know the story — David’s minding his own business, tending his sheep, and next thing you know Jesse asks him to take some cheese and crackers to his brothers who are fighting the Philistines (1 Samuel 17:17-19). Israelites on one side of the Valley of Elah; Philistines on the other. Every day for 40 days, a 9-foot tall guy stepped out from the Philistine camp and dared an Israelite to come fight him. Any Israelite; didn’t much matter to Goliath which one.

Verses 20 and 21 just kill me: “[David] reached the camp as the army was going out to its battle positions, shouting the war cry. 21Israel and the Philistines were drawing up their lines facing each other.”

To receive God’s strength and care, all you need to do is ask (Matthew 7:7-8).

Who are we kidding here? I can just see them — Israelites shaking their fists, yelling “Our army is better”; Philistines responding “No, we’re better, I promise!” After a few rounds of this, Goliath shakes his head and steps into the valley to shout out his challenge, just as he had done every day for the past 6 weeks.

24When the Israelites saw the man, they all ran from him in great fear… 26David asked the men standing near him, “…Who is this uncircumcised Philistine that he should defy the armies of the living God?” (1 Samuel 17:24, 26)

Finally the voice of faith rather than the voice of fear. Evidently Eliab and the others didn’t know in Whose army they served.

Let’s cut to the chase — Saul got wind of David being there and what he was saying, and he sent for him. David told the king he’d go fight the giant, Saul offered his armor, David tried it on and couldn’t wear it, so chose 5 stones & a sling instead.

We know the rest. David’s stone found its mark. (Ever wonder why he took 5?) The giant was dead. Philistines ran; Israelites plundered their camp. (Just as an aside, I want you to notice verse 54: “David took the Philistine’s head and brought it to Jerusalem…”. Um, why? Seems a little weird to me, but I stray from the points of the lesson.)

Point #1: God didn’t refuse to provide victory to Saul and his army — they never asked for His help! He has promised never to leave you or forsake you (Hebrews 13:5), but you are free to leave at any time. To receive His strength and care, all you need to do is ask (Matthew 7:7-8).

Point #2: David didn’t defeat the giant; God did. He’ll defeat your giants too. He has promised to not let satan (intentionally not capitalized) tempt you beyond what you can bear. (1 Corinthians 10:13)

Point #3: We have armor just as strong as (and I’d argue even stronger than) the armor Saul offered David. We have the full armor of God (Ephesians 6:10-18). It is ours to use if we will just wear it.

So, whose armor are you wearing? Your own armor of pride, self-importance, and imperfection? Or the full armor of God?

Promises of God – Nothing is too hard for Him!

Posted on by Bob Mathews

“And the Lord said to Abraham, “Why did Sarah laugh, saying, ‘Shall I indeed bear a child, when I am so old?’ Is anything to difficult for the Lord? At the appointed time I will return to you, at this time next year, and Sarah will have a son.”” – Genesis 18:13, 14

When difficulties beset us, we tend to try and work our way out of them (on our own) until a situation comes along that we can’t handle or is too hard and we just give up and lose hope. Sarah is an example of this. They were promised a child and when that promise wasn’t being fulfilled quick enough she tried to take matter into her own hands by offering her maid Hagar as a way to obtain that child (Gen. 16:1-2). She couldn’t wait for the promise from God, putting trust in Him, and wanted to trust in what she could do.

To add a little more context, this promise was given when Abraham and Sarah, his wife, were both well on in years. Abraham was about 100 and Sarah about 90. Past the point of childbearing as is mentioned in Genesis 18:11. So, this would come across as a ridiculous promise to any normal person, which is what led to Sarah’s laughter.

Like Sarah, we look at what we understand about how the world works and go off of that knowledge. Sarah knew children were out of the question for her body at that age and all of us would agree that to be true. We are not here to deny how the world works. What we have to do is push past those things to the one who made the world! God created all things and governs all things. Just because something doesn’t work regularly for us, doesn’t mean that God can not dictate a change in that normal process.

Though some things in life seem too difficult for us, nothing is too hard for God. Sometimes He does His most amazing work when all hope seems gone. He gives hope when all seems hopeless. He fills us with peace when we’re in the middle of chaos. He saves the souls of people who deserve death. He makes the impossible possible. Think about the hard times; the last second, the darkest hour, the deepest hole. They are “mission impossible” for us. Trust Him with your hard times. Every one of them is “mission possible” for Him.

God has never promised that there wouldn’t be difficulties in our lives. However, He will be there for us, helping us through if we let Him. Sometimes we sing a song called Trust and Obey. In the song we sing, “trust and obey for there is no other way to be happy in Jesus, but to trust and obey.” God has promised and proven time and time again that nothing is too hard for Him! He now offers true happiness to all through His Son if we are willing to trust and obey.

Promises of God – A Promise that ALL will be Blessed

Posted on by Bob Mathews

Genesis 12:1-3 says, “1Now the Lord said to Abram, Go forth from your country, and from your relatives and from your father’s house, to the land which I will show you: 2And I will make you a great nation, and I will bless you, and make your name great; And so you shall be a blessing; 3And I will bless those who bless you, and the one who curses you I will curse. And in you all the families of the earth will be blessed.”

God had a plan for a man named Abram. God knew that Abram would believe Him, and that Abram would live out his faith through his actions. Because of His plan, God promised Abram that the world would be blessed because of him. God blessed the world through Abram in two ways.

First, Abraham (the name God gave Abram) became the prime example for everyone who would ever put their faith in God. His descendants were honored and proud to be called the “children of Abraham” (maybe too much so). However, Paul said that anyone who has Abraham’s kind of faith is a child of Abraham. “And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s descendants, heirs according to promise” (Gal. 3:29).

Second, is the greatest blessing God gave through Abraham. Jesus is what God was really getting at with the promise. Jesus was a descendent of Abraham. God redeemed all of the sin in our lives through Jesus, a descendant of the man whose greatest claim to fame was the simple fact that “he believed in the Lord” (Gen. 15:6).

Why is such a blessing needed? Romans 3:23 states the reason very simply and directly. “All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.” We all have done things that go against what God teaches. This sin separates us from Him. The blessing through Abraham is one that gives us all a chance to get back into a right relationship with God.

This promise was given to Abraham and through him to us, but as was said earlier, it was all part of God’s plan from the beginning because He knew we were going to need it. Ephesians 1:3-7 says, “3Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, 4just as He (God) chose us in Him (Jesus) before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and blameless before Him. In love 5He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will, 6to the praise of the glory of His grace, which He freely bestowed on us in the Beloved. 7In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace.”

Through Jesus and His sacrifice on the cross, God has given us the ability to come back to Him, to be His children. He made a promise and kept it so that each of us could be blessed, even at the cost of His own Son. Now it is our turn to choose whether to believe and follow Him like Abraham did or to continue living our lives however we want and remain lost to God. What side of the promise do you want to be on?

Unanswered prayer

Posted on by Bob Mathews

When I exercise, I like to listen to audiobooks. Some time back, I listened to Prayer, by Philip Yancey. Many times the author uses the phrase “unanswered prayer”. Granted, Yancey explains his use of the term, but I’ve always disliked calling a prayer “unanswered” just because it’s not answered according to our liking. To say that prayer is unanswered is to say God turns a deaf ear to requests to which He has said he would listen.

A Christian can literally do whatever he wants to do.

So how do we know God answers every prayer? Because he told us so.

If we ask according to His will, we know He hears us — 1 John 5:14.

God is attentive to the prayer of the righteous — 1 Peter 3:12.

Prayers of the righteous are powerful and effective — James 5:16.

“If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.” John 15:7

I see a few qualifiers there. These verses tell me God will answer my prayer if whatever I ask is according to His will, if I am righteous, and if I abide in Jesus and His words abide in me. I see no cause for confusion on the first 2 points. God said He will “hear us” and that He is “attentive to [our] prayer” if we are righteous. But will God really do anything for me if I just ask? Isn’t that what Jesus promised? In a word, no.

I once heard an elder say in a Bible class that a Christian can literally do whatever he wants to do. He didn’t just leave it at that; he explained his statement and I agree with him. If I truly abide in Christ, and His words abide in me (John 15:7), then the very things I want to do will be exactly what He wants me to do. Thus, I can literally do whatever I want. By extension, I can literally ask for whatever I want and it will be given to me (NIV) or done for me (NASV).

So, just like an attentive parent answers every request of his child, God answers every prayer of His child. Sometimes he says “yes, right now”, sometimes he says “yes, but later”, and sometimes he says “no”, but He listens attentively when I talk to Him, and He responds in accordance with His good and perfect will (Romans 12:1-2).

Response to the Gospel

Posted on by Bob Mathews

There you are, near the end of the worship service, when the congregation stands to sing the invitation song. Someone walks down the aisle to respond to the Gospel. What’s your response?

When you see the work of God, how should a Christian react?

I know we all respond differently, and no doubt we may even respond differently in this situation compared to how we responded the last time. On at least two occasions, I’ve been so affected that I couldn’t sing. I mean my voice just didn’t work! What was it that caused me to respond so emotionally when I wasn’t even the one walking down the aisle?

In both cases that I recall, it was a combination of factors. One, I knew the person well enough to know why she was responding. Two, I could see the power of God working in the lives of both of these individuals so undeniably that I could respond no other way.

In a way, I hesitated to write this post because I know a lot of people have difficulty seeing any response of ours to God as being anything but emotional. I don’t mean to imply that if you don’t feel something inside when you see God working, that there’s something wrong with you. But think about it. When you see the work of God, how should a Christian react? Should we act with an attitude of complacency, and that it’s “just God’s job” to work wonders through people? Or should we react in an attitude of praise, being thankful that God still moves the hearts of sinners? (Those are rhetorical questions, by the way.)

We know the word of God is living and active, and is sharper than any double-edged sword (Hebrews 4:12). We also know God’s word will not return to Him without effect (Isaiah 55:11).

Are you able to see Him working in others? Just as importantly, can others see Him working in you? (Matthew 5:16)

The faith of Jesus

Posted on by Bob Mathews

Not faith in Jesus. The faith of Jesus.

Did Jesus have faith? Did He need faith? How does the Spirit describe faith?

Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. (Hebrews 11:1)

That’s one of those types of statements that to me is like describing grace as “unmerited favor”. It sort of makes sense, but it’s hard to understand what that really means without seeing some examples.

First, let’s look at how faith is used in the New Testament…

There are two New Testament Greek words for faith — one a noun (pistis) and the other a verb (pisteuo). The verb form is generally translated believe.

Jesus turned and saw her. “Take heart, daughter,” he said, “your faith has healed you.” And the woman was healed from that moment. (Matthew 9:22)

“The time has come,” [Jesus] said. “The kingdom of God is near. Repent and believe the good news!” (Mark 1:15)

The word translated believe here is the verb form of faith (pisteuo) for which there is no English equivalent.

Jesus answered, “The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent.”(John 6:29)

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. (Galatians 5:22-23)

The word translated faithfulness here is the Greek pistis.

And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him. (Hebrews 11:6)

Everything Jesus did glorified the Father, and such action was living testimony of His own faith.

Several things are clear from these examples:

To have faith in someone means to put your confidence in him.

Faith is an action word, regardless of whether it’s used as a verb or a noun. In other words, there is no such thing as faith without action (James 2:14-26).

Jesus expected His followers to have faith.

In order to be pleasing to the Father, we must have faith.

Reading Hebrews 11:1 without context, one could easily draw the conclusion that Jesus did not have faith in the Father because he didn’t need faith in the Father.

“substance of things hoped for”. Jesus didn’t hope for eternal life with the Father, for “who hopes for what he already has?” (Romans 8:22-25)

“evidence of things not seen”. Jesus had already seen the Father. He didn’t need any further evidence.

Therefore, one might conclude Jesus didn’t need faith. Now I’d agree that Jesus didn’t need to hope for what he already had, and he didn’t need any evidence of God’s existence, but I also believe that drawing the conclusion from Hebrews 11:1 that Jesus had no faith is as faulty a conclusion as one could possibly draw. Jesus had confidence in His Father; He knew God would fulfill His promises — every one of them. Everything Jesus did glorified the Father, and such action was living testimony of His own faith.

Hebrews 11:1 is not intended to be a complete, final, last-word definition on faith. Like many sections of scripture, it is given to us, written in words that we can understand, to help guide our understanding of the concept of faith. Like the rest of scripture, it would also be a mistake to consider this verse in isolation. It only makes sense in the context of the whole scope of God’s revealed Word.

I’d love to hear your thoughts on this subject. If you’re so moved, write a comment below.

Empty Religion or Vibrant Faith?

Posted on by Bob Mathews

Malachi 1:1-14

The prophet Malachi wrote at a time when the nation of Israel faced a major problem. The people of God had grown complacent in their worship, falling into the trappings of religion rather than walking in a genuine relationship with God.

Do you prefer leftovers or a fresh cooked meal? Fresh cooked would probably be everyone’s answer. Imagine being invited to dinner but instead of sitting down to a fresh meal, you are served a bunch of leftovers. What message would that send to you?

The fact is that the people of Israel are giving God their leftovers and people today fall into that same snare.

God desires a genuine relationship.

In a book that is primarily a heavy rebuke, God still shows reminds of his love for the people in verse 2. In verse 6, He even compares the relationship to that of father and child. God desires a relationship over religion. Our lives should be a response to God’s great love for us. When God has shown us such an amazing love, our response should be to love him back and honor him with our lives. If He is our loving Father, then we should respect him as his children. If he is a loving master, then we should serve him with genuineness and reverence, rather than simply going through religious motions.

God is uninterested in empty religious motions.

Think of a time in your life when you had to do something, but your heart wasn’t in it. How difficult was it to continue what you were doing? This is were the people were in life. They were giving God their leftovers, (crippled and maimed animals) rather than giving their best. God is a relational God who desires sincere, heartfelt worship from his people. Israel was going through all the motion of worship – the people were going to the temple, they were offering sacrifices, and they were praying, but their hearts weren’t in it. They were focusing more on the acts rather than on loving and worshipping God. As a result, their worship had become mediocre and their lives had become hypocritical. God told them that he doesn’t accept halfhearted worship and that he doesn’t answer prayers coming from a hypocritical life.

God is great and worthy of great worship.

God reminds Israel of his greatness. God is a great king who is famous in all of the nations. God is seeking to be honored and worshipped by all people. Israel, however, was dropping the ball. Rather than honoring God with the best sacrifices they could offer, the people were content giving God the baseline minimum and their sloppy leftovers. The people had professed faith in God and worshipped him with their words, but their actions did not sync up. As a result, God did not accept their worship.

A Fresh Perspective

Posted on by Bob Mathews

We are coming to the end of 2020 and it is truly difficult to even know what to say. It has been a difficult year around the world. Unfortunately, the ramifications of this year are likely to continue to plague us. It would be nice if we could just hit the reboot button and get a fresh start. However, our very existence on this Earth means that we will have to deal with the happenings on it. None of us can fully avoid it no matter how much we might like to. So why is it, that even with all the turmoil this year has brought, some still hold their heads up high unfazed by the struggles? That question may not be answered the same way by all but let me tell why Christians have the ability to do this year after year.

In the book of James, he states early in the first chapter, “Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials,” (James 1:2). To many this is an insane concept. Why would you ever be happy or joyful to undergo trials in life? First, think about what it says. The word “consider” in this verse has a awesome notion built into the root of the word that means ‘lead’ or ‘leadership.’ This means that James is telling us to lead our minds in this way. Simply put, it means we have to decide to have this type of attitude in our lives. God does not promise us that our lives will be easy, in fact, there is plenty said throughout Scripture that would prove otherwise. What we are asked to do is to have the right perspective in life. Bad times will come and go but we are told what these trials can bring IF we have the right perspective.

Continue looking at James picking back up at verse three, “knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. And let that endurance have its perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing” (James 1:3-4). What we can see is that these trials or struggles that we deal with has value. Think of exercising, you put your body through difficult training so that your body will be strengthened. Your muscles may hurt and be sore but slowly you will see the benefit of that labor. From a spiritual standpoint this is what James is getting at. With the right perspective the struggles or trials that come are way can make us stronger rather than tear us down. This can lead to us becoming complete (mature) Christians that can endure what this world throws at us.

Maybe now it is easier to understand why, even when life is tough or the world seems to be falling apart around us, those who believe in God can continue pushing forward with a positive outlook. If you need a little more insight look at what James 1:12 says, “Blessed is a man who perseveres under trial; for once he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to those who love Him.” We can push forward with joy because of what we look ahead to, what we have been promised.

I wish I could promise that life would get easier or better just because a digit changes on the calendar. What can be promised is that struggles and trials will always be a part of life. What perspective will you choose to view them through? If you want to walk through life with hope and joy ever before you then align yourself with God. If your really have a desire for 2021 to be an amazing year, then I suggest that your prepare your mind with a fresh perspective. One that will hopefully lead you back to God’s open arms. May this new year bring peace and joy to all, but especially to those of the faith.

A True Man of God

Posted on by Bob Mathews

Many things can speak to the character of Daniel. From the beginning of the book to the end his traits can be seen. These characteristics show Daniel to be a true man of God.  Are we people that others can see as being true children of God? When others look at us, do our characteristics attest to this? If we examine ourselves honestly, how would we answer these questions?

Daniel is a man worth emulating when it comes right down to it. We can see that fact by just looking at a few of his traits. Daniel is a man that stands by God. Daniel was unwilling to waver from his convictions even though he faced death. Daniel is a man of prayer. We know that Daniel went to God in prayer at least three times a day. It would not be hard to believe that on some days he may have prayed more for special circumstances, as when he got a vision. He is a good leader of the people. When praying to God, Daniel spoke for the people, telling God of the sin that they had done. Daniel did not blame others like most would but took on that burden with them. These are just a few characteristics of many that Daniel has.

Going back to our self-examination, can we say that we have any of these traits? If we cannot say yes to these traits, then we have a lot of work to do to be true children of God. Therefore, here is our three-part challenge. First, we need to read through the book of Daniel. Second, we need to read through the book again, but this time, picking out and listing Daniel’s characteristics. Third, take that list of characteristics and work on making those our characteristics. May we always be the true children of God.   Jacob Saarloos