It can be VERY hard to rid ourselves of the baggage of minds programmed to think selfishly. Grace seems too good to be true, after all, NOBODY gets something valuable without working for it, right? Wrong. 2 Corinthians 5:9 Therefore we also have as our ambition, whether at home or absent, to be pleasing to Him. Contextually "at home" in verse 9 is talking about Heaven, the place where we will have shed our earthly "tent" for a permanent dwelling with God.
Once in Heaven, is it our ambition to please Him while there in Heaven in order to keep staying there? No! Therefore this shows, CLEARLY, that our ambition to please Him on earth, also, has nothing to do with earning our way or what's in it for us.
His decision to save us through His forgiveness is all about His love and mercy towards us. It is unmerited, unearned favor for which the understanding and honest sinner feels COMPELLED to answer in honest, obedient and reverent love and adoration.
Thursday, December 2, 2010
Thursday, April 1, 2010
Job and the Prosperity Gospel
The story of Job is one which has troubled many people through the ages. How could God give such a good man into the ravages of the roaring lion Satan?
What I've come to see through this story is that a better question should be asked. How can our Holy God NOT punish sinful men?
Job is noted for the incredible amount of integrity that he had among his fellow men. Along with his spiritual integrity and love for God, he was also extraordinarily blessed in material ways.
Job was loved and appreciated by God for these marks of love and respect towards Himself given by Job. God indicated this pleasure He had in Job to Satan. Satan thought it was all a quid pro quo, since God had so blessed Job, Job was serving God because of the stuff, NOT out of any real love or reverence. God could not allow this insult to Job and to Himself to stand. Faithfulness to God is its own reward and far more precious than the material blessings of this world. Thus, God allowed Satan to take away all the things that Satan said were the SOLE reason for Job's fidelity to God.
As Job is in misery, he makes the mistake of thinking that he had deserved good things from God, that he was owed. In his suffering he blames God for mistreating him and accuses God of unfairness and injustice.
When his friends come along, they are horrible comforters. They all tell him basically, "You are a terribly wicked sinner who has had all this come upon you because you have not admitted your sin. If you were truly good, none of these bad things would have happened in the first place." Later on, a young man who has been listening to the whole thing accuses Job in the same way.
All of them were wrong! Job was wrong to think that he had all of his blessings because he deserved them. What did he really deserve? Job deserved horrible things because as a man, while he was better than others, he was not NEARLY as good as God. He was a sinner, condemned apart from God's mercy and patience. Job accused God of giving him evil in return for Job's good deeds when things got bad. But Job had failed to see that the exact opposite had been occurring prior to this. God had been giving him wonderful good things that he did not deserve due to the fact that he was not NEARLY good enough to merit any of these great blessings. Should God be blamed when He takes things away from us that we never deserved in the first place?
Job's friends and the young man who stomped on him when he was down in the dirt were wrong also. Job was not in the state he was in because he was not good enough, he never had been. Ironically, he was in the shape he was in because he was BETTER than they were. He deserved more than they to be tested, tried, and have a Bible book named after him later. If he were as good as they thought he should be, YET, he would not be good enough to be worthy of God's blessings. He would have still been worthy of the rubbish heap.
Job thought he deserved better because of his good deeds and righteousness, he was wrong. He deserved what he got. His friends thought that he was getting what he deserved because he was wicked, supposing themselves good. They were wrong. Job was the best of a bad lot.
The main point that can be learned is that in the bad times we are being treated as we should and that in our good times, we are being treated better than we deserve. God is JUST and the justifier of men, PERIOD.
The story of Job is a story which teaches the incredible importance of falling upon God's mercy, loving and admiring Him ALONE. We MUST not think we are something we are not. If Job, the best of men, deserved the horrors of what he went through, what of the worst among us? This teaches that there can be NO earning of salvation, that there are NO pretty good folks deserving to get to heaven on their merits. There is NO other way to God than through falling upon His mercy through His Son Jesus.
Prosperity comes when God, through His mercy gives us what He desires us to have in ways that bring Him pleasure and glory. A teaching that says prosperity comes because we are servants of God makes the same mistake that Satan did. God's blessings to us are not and have NEVER BEEN a quid quo pro for our goodness. They have only ever been a reflection of our EXTREMELY generous God.
What I've come to see through this story is that a better question should be asked. How can our Holy God NOT punish sinful men?
Job is noted for the incredible amount of integrity that he had among his fellow men. Along with his spiritual integrity and love for God, he was also extraordinarily blessed in material ways.
Job was loved and appreciated by God for these marks of love and respect towards Himself given by Job. God indicated this pleasure He had in Job to Satan. Satan thought it was all a quid pro quo, since God had so blessed Job, Job was serving God because of the stuff, NOT out of any real love or reverence. God could not allow this insult to Job and to Himself to stand. Faithfulness to God is its own reward and far more precious than the material blessings of this world. Thus, God allowed Satan to take away all the things that Satan said were the SOLE reason for Job's fidelity to God.
As Job is in misery, he makes the mistake of thinking that he had deserved good things from God, that he was owed. In his suffering he blames God for mistreating him and accuses God of unfairness and injustice.
When his friends come along, they are horrible comforters. They all tell him basically, "You are a terribly wicked sinner who has had all this come upon you because you have not admitted your sin. If you were truly good, none of these bad things would have happened in the first place." Later on, a young man who has been listening to the whole thing accuses Job in the same way.
All of them were wrong! Job was wrong to think that he had all of his blessings because he deserved them. What did he really deserve? Job deserved horrible things because as a man, while he was better than others, he was not NEARLY as good as God. He was a sinner, condemned apart from God's mercy and patience. Job accused God of giving him evil in return for Job's good deeds when things got bad. But Job had failed to see that the exact opposite had been occurring prior to this. God had been giving him wonderful good things that he did not deserve due to the fact that he was not NEARLY good enough to merit any of these great blessings. Should God be blamed when He takes things away from us that we never deserved in the first place?
Job's friends and the young man who stomped on him when he was down in the dirt were wrong also. Job was not in the state he was in because he was not good enough, he never had been. Ironically, he was in the shape he was in because he was BETTER than they were. He deserved more than they to be tested, tried, and have a Bible book named after him later. If he were as good as they thought he should be, YET, he would not be good enough to be worthy of God's blessings. He would have still been worthy of the rubbish heap.
Job thought he deserved better because of his good deeds and righteousness, he was wrong. He deserved what he got. His friends thought that he was getting what he deserved because he was wicked, supposing themselves good. They were wrong. Job was the best of a bad lot.
The main point that can be learned is that in the bad times we are being treated as we should and that in our good times, we are being treated better than we deserve. God is JUST and the justifier of men, PERIOD.
The story of Job is a story which teaches the incredible importance of falling upon God's mercy, loving and admiring Him ALONE. We MUST not think we are something we are not. If Job, the best of men, deserved the horrors of what he went through, what of the worst among us? This teaches that there can be NO earning of salvation, that there are NO pretty good folks deserving to get to heaven on their merits. There is NO other way to God than through falling upon His mercy through His Son Jesus.
Prosperity comes when God, through His mercy gives us what He desires us to have in ways that bring Him pleasure and glory. A teaching that says prosperity comes because we are servants of God makes the same mistake that Satan did. God's blessings to us are not and have NEVER BEEN a quid quo pro for our goodness. They have only ever been a reflection of our EXTREMELY generous God.
Thursday, February 4, 2010
God, Our Judge
God must punish wrong because He's good and fair. If someone murdered your child would the judge be good if he let the guy go without punishment? No. God ALWAYS pays back to sinners and law-breakers what justice demands, and according to Romans 6:23 sin demands death. Jesus death made a difference to us because He was perfect and without any sin of His own. Therefore He could take our place. God, the judge who HAD to punish our sin, in Jesus, took off His judge robes and came down and carried out His own sentence of justice against Himself.
Salvation is by accepting this wonderful sacrificial gift in faith and being loyal to Him for life. Our works are done to honor Him and spread His fame in all the land. They are based upon our existing relationship with our loving Father, NOT, as some suppose, to secure our relationship. When men try to get to God via good works they are not doing their works for God but for themselves. This is idolatry, worship and service to self, an idol made of flesh and blood. God said that the wages of sin is death (Romans 6:23). Try to be made good by law, ANY law, and you can ONLY get death. The penalty of death, which we have all earned, was paid when Jesus VOLUNTARILY gave himself up so we can be with God in paradise. He paid the price in full. ALL we give to Him is to prove our gratitude and love to Him for the gift He has given.
Salvation is by accepting this wonderful sacrificial gift in faith and being loyal to Him for life. Our works are done to honor Him and spread His fame in all the land. They are based upon our existing relationship with our loving Father, NOT, as some suppose, to secure our relationship. When men try to get to God via good works they are not doing their works for God but for themselves. This is idolatry, worship and service to self, an idol made of flesh and blood. God said that the wages of sin is death (Romans 6:23). Try to be made good by law, ANY law, and you can ONLY get death. The penalty of death, which we have all earned, was paid when Jesus VOLUNTARILY gave himself up so we can be with God in paradise. He paid the price in full. ALL we give to Him is to prove our gratitude and love to Him for the gift He has given.
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