Never Feel Condemned
1/17/2008
Psalm 103:12 "...as far as the east is from the west, so far does he remove our transgressions from us."
Several years ago I took a trip with my family across the United States, starting in my hometown of Indiana, PA and ending up somewhere in the middle of Colorado. I learned several things on this trip. First, Kansas is the most boring state in the United States, hands down. If you are from Kansas, I'm deeply sorry. If I had to characterize Kansas in one word it would be "flat". If I was given a few other words I might add "mind-numbing", "more boring than watching C-SPAN", and "if I see one more wheat field I'm going to scream". The highlight of our trip through Kansas was when we came to a bend in the highway. You get my drift.
I also learned that the United States is a huge country (we could probably beat up Canada). It took us two days of all day driving just to get out to Colorado. We drove thousands of miles west to get from Pennsylvania to Colorado, and at that point we were only 2/3 of the way across the country. The distance between the east coast and the west coast is absolutely enormous.
I think this is a small picture of how far God removes our sins from us when we come to Him for salvation. Listen to the words of Jerry Bridges commenting on Psalm 103:
What is the significance of the expression "as far as the east is from the west"? Probably it was a cultural idiom signifying as great a distance as human vocabulary can express. Practically, it expresses an infinite distance. This is what God has done with our sin. Jesus not only bore our sins on the cross, He carried them away an infinite distance. He removed them from the presence of God and from us forever. The Gospel For Real Life
Do you feel the glorious truths of Psalm 103? God has taken all of our sins away from us, as far as the east is from the west. Think of the worst sin you have committed. That sin is completely and totally removed from you by the blood of Christ. Think of the great number of sins that you have committed in your life. All those sins are removed an infinite distance from you by the blood of Jesus Christ.
There is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. Why? Because Jesus has taken our sins upon his back and carried them away an infinite distance. If you have trusted in Christ then your sins are gone, completely, totally, and forever, never to be seen again. God doesn't remember them, because he took them away. And if God doesn't remember them, then neither should you.
I'm In Serious Trouble
1/07/2008
I've recently been reading the book The Gospel For Real Life by Jerry Bridges and have found my heart stirred with fresh love for God. Listen to this quote:
Have you ever thought about what it means to love God with all your heart, soul, and mind? I don't think any of us can fully plumb the depths of that commandment, but here are some obvious aspects:
_Your love for God transcends all other desires (see Exodus 20:3)
_Like David, you long to gaze upon His beauty and seek fellowship with Him (see Psalm 27:4)
_You rejoice in meditating on His Word, and like Jesus, you rise early to pray (see Psalm 119:97, Mark 1:35)
_You always delight to do His will, regardless of how difficult it may be (see Psalm 40:8)
_A regard for His glory governs and motivates everything you do - your eating and drinking, your working and playing, your buying and selling, your reading and speaking, and, dare I mention it, even your driving (see 1 Corinthians 10:31)
_You are never discouraged or frustrated by adverse circumstances because you are confident God is working all things together for your good (see Romans 8:28)
_You recognize His sovereignty in every event of your life and consequently receive both success and failure from His hand (see 1 Samuel 2:7, Psalm 75:6-7)
_You are always content because you know He will never leave you or forsake you (see Hebrews 13:5)
_The first petition in the Lord's prayer, "hallowed be your name," is the most important prayer you pray (see Matthew 6:9)
After reading this I was freshly made aware of one very serious fact: There's no way I could ever get to God based on my obedience. Have I ever obeyed the first and greatest command of God for even thirty seconds? Have I ever loved God with every ounce of energy and passion in my soul? I don't think so. Even my best spiritual moments are distracted and half-hearted at best. I've incurred a spiritual debt to God that I'll never be able to pay. I owe God perfect obedience, yet I've never even payed Him one cent of what I owe. I'm in desperate need of a savior.
How grateful I am for Jesus Christ, who paid every last bit of my spiritual debt! Today I'm free from this debt because Jesus did love God with all his heart, soul, and mind. He's my only hope, my only salvation. Which brings to mind the words:
All to Him I owe
Sin had left a crimson stain
He washed it white as snow
Me Versus Paul - Cage Match
8/22/2007
circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; as to the law, a Pharisee; as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to righteousness under the law, blameless."
Paul was a Pharisee of Pharisees. He tried to obey God's law with every fiber of His being. He killed people because he thought they were disrespecting and disobeying God's law. Paul made other Pharisees look like they were just playing at religion. I can almost hear him talking to me. "Stephen, you think you're impressive because you lead worship on a Sunday? You think God is impressed with you because you maintain a blog? You think you're pretty good because you read the Bible? Stephen, you've got nothing on me."
Then Paul says the most shocking words. He says, "But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ." Paul was willing to throw away all his works so that he might know Jesus Christ and be counted righteous in Him. Paul was willing to count all his hard work as garbage so that he might have the righteousness of Jesus Christ. Why? Because Paul knew that all of his good works were like putrid, stinking garbage compared to the glorious work of Jesus Christ. Paul knew that God was deeply pleased with obedience of Christ, not the obedience of Paul. And so Paul says, "I'll throw away everything I've ever done if I can have the righteousness of Jesus."
Friends, today let us join Paul. Let us throw aside any hope we have in ourselves, and cling to the righteous of Jesus Christ that was purchased for us on the cross. Paul knew that all his righteous deeds were filthy when laid side by side with perfect obedience of Christ. Do you feel the same way?
Paul Seriously Lacked Confidence
8/21/2007
This is part two of "The Work of Christ" series.
What would happen if you were in an accident and couldn't read your Bible, or attend church, or fellowship with the saints for two months? What would happen if you were bedridden for the rest of your life and could no longer participate in "your ministry". How would you feel if you couldn't write, or teach children's ministry, or sing on a worship team, or preach, or go on missions trips for the rest of your life? Would your confidence in God's love for you waver? Would you wonder if God was still pleased with you?
I recently read Philippians 3:3 and was forced to ask myself those same questions. It says, "For we are the circumcision, who worship by the Spirit of God and glory in Christ Jesus and put no confidence in the flesh..." I'm strongly tempted to put my confidence in the flesh, or in other words, in the things that I do. If I read my Bible every day during the week, and post some encouraging things on this blog, and don't waste too much time watching television, and encourage at least one person in my small group, and serve my wife, than I feel pretty confident that God approves of me. But if I fail to do these things my confidence in God's love and approval can waver.
As I read Philippians 3:3, I was forced to ask myself, "Where is my confidence? Is it in myself, or in the glorious, finished, complete work of Christ?" The Apostle Paul refused to put confidence in himself. Paul, the charismatic church planter, the author of large portions of the New Testament, refused to trust in anything he accomplished to bring him into the favor of God. Paul rejected his own works and trusted passionately, joyfully, and wholeheartedly in the work of Jesus Christ upon the cross. This was Paul's only hope for salvation and it is our only hope as well.
Friends, let us emulate Paul. Let us reject any hope we have in our good works and place our hope fully on the perfect work of Christ. Throw aside any hope you have in your works and cling to the cross of Christ. God isn't pleased with you because of your serving, or preaching, or blogging, or encouraging, or Bible reading. He is pleased with you because He is pleased with Christ.
I'm A Smuggler
8/20/2007
Okay, I've got a confession to make: I'm a smuggler. There, I said it. I got it off my chest. No, I'm not a drug smuggler, I don't smuggle illegal immigrants across the border, and I don't smuggle candy into movie theaters (at least not anymore). I'm not like my Star Wars hero, Han Solo, smuggling illegal contraband through Imperial blockades. But I am a smuggler, and on a daily basis for that matter. I'm a works smuggler.
What exactly am I talking about? Listen to the words of Sinclair Ferguson and see if you can relate: "Our greatest temptation and mistake is to try to smuggle character into God’s work of grace." This is a very accurate description of me. On a daily basis I'm tempted to "smuggle" my works into the justifying work of God. I'm tempted to try and add my works of righteousness to the finished, perfect work of Jesus Christ. I'm tempted to believe that I can make myself more righteous in God's eyes by my spiritual performance. This, my friends, is a temptation that each of us faces on a daily basis, and we must fight against it if we are to please Christ.
How can you tell if you are a works smuggler? Take a moment and answer these questions:
- Do you feel that God accepts and delights in you more if you perform spiritual acts, such as reading your Bible, memorizing scripture, or praying?
- When you are convicted of sin, do you include works as part of your repentance? For example, after sinning, do you feel that you must pray for at least an hour to get back in God's good graces? Or do you feel like you need to read your Bible to get "clean" again?
- Do you always feel like you're disappointing God, and that you can never make Him happy?
This week we are going to be taking time to meditate on the finished work of Christ for the purpose of defeating legalism. We are going to ponder all that Christ has done so that we might freshly experience the joy of our salvation. We are going to give up our career in works smuggling and fling ourselves wholly on the mercy of God.
