Promised Faith

Promised Faith

FULFILLING THE LAW

Love is the fulfilling of the law.

(ROMANS 13:10)

The fundamental character of God's Law has not changed from Old Testament to New Testament. What has changed is our reason for obedience, our motive. Under a sense of legalism, obedience is done with a view to meriting salvation or God's blessing on our lives. Under grace, obedience is a loving response to salvation already provided in Christ and the assurance that, having provided salvation, God will also, through Christ, provide all else that we need.

There's no question that obedience to God's commands prompted by fear or merit-seeking is not true obedience. The only obedience acceptable to God is impelled by love because "love is the fulfilling of the law" (Romans 13:10). In a profound way, love and obedience are bound together: "If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him" (John 14:23).

God's Law as revealed in His Word prescribes our duty, but love provides the correct motive for obedience. We obey God's Law, not to be loved but because we are loved in Christ.

I readily acknowledge that it's indeed difficult to keep in our minds and hearts the commandment nature of God's will without falling into the trap of legalism. Samuel Bolton recognized this difficulty when he wrote, "It is a hard lesson to live above the law, and yet to walk according to the law. But this is the lesson a Christian has to learn, to walk in the law in respect of duty, but to live above it in respect of comfort, neither expecting favour from the law in respect of his obedience nor fearing harsh treatment from the law in respect of his failing."51

Transforming Grace

Week 27 / TUESDAY

THROUGH OPEN DOORS

The righteousness of the blameless keeps his way straight.

PROVERBS 11:5)

Martin Luther at first thought "the righteousness of God" which Paul mentioned in Romans 3:21 was the righteousness God required of us in perfectly fulfilling His Law. Because Luther realized more and more he could not possibly measure up to that impossible demand, he grew increasingly angry with God. At one time he had exclaimed, "Love God? I hate him."59 Eventually he came to realize that the righteousness of God was that which God provided for us. "Thereupon I felt myself reborn and to have gone through open doors into paradise."60

What then is this righteousness from God that Paul announced to us, and over which Martin Luther struggled? It's a righteousness that God both requires and provides for us. It's the righteousness that He requires because it must fully satisfy the utmost demands of His Law, both in its precepts and penalty. For although this righteousness is apart from Law as far as we're concerned, it is not apart from Law as far as God is concerned. Rather it must be a righteousness that both perfectly fulfills the righteous requirements of His Law and satisfies the demands of His justice toward those who have broken His Law.

This righteousness from God, then, is nothing less than the perfect righteousness of Jesus Christ, who, through His sinless life and His death in obedience to the Father's will, perfectly fulfilled the Law of God in both its precepts and its penalty. In other words, this righteousness that God both requires and provides embraces all the work of Christ - how He perfectly obeyed God's law, satisfied God's justice, exhausted God's wrath, removed our sins from God's presence, redeemed us from God's curse, and reconciled us to our Creator.

The Gospel for Real Life

Week 27 / WEDNESDAY

CHOOSING OUR MENTAL DIRECTION

On his law he meditates day and night.

(PSALM 1:2)

If we want to live under the influence of God's Word, our minds must be steeped in the Scriptures. We must constantly turn our minds to His Word, continually pondering the meaning and application of its truths to our lives. This may seem unrealistic and unattainable in our busy age when our minds need to be occupied with the various responsibilities we all have. How can we meditate on Scripture when we have to think about our work all day long?

We should not think of the concept of continually as meaning every moment, but rather consistently and habitually. When you can think about anything you want, what do you think about? Is it your problems or a mental argument with someone else? Do you allow your mind to drift into the wasteland of impure thoughts? Or do you begin to meditate on Scripture?

Thinking is our most constant activity. Our thoughts are our constant occupation. We're never without them. But we can choose the direction and content of those thoughts.

Meditation on Scripture is a discipline. We must commit ourselves to be proactive. We must memorize key passages (or carry them on cards) so we can think about them. We must be alert for those times during the day when we can turn our minds to the Word of God, and then we must do it. Even the practice of daily Bible reading is insufficient if we go the rest of the day without meditating on some truths of Scripture. We must choose to meditate instead of thinking about other things or listening to the radio or watching television. We simply have to decide what we want our minds to be influenced by, and take steps accordingly.

The Discipline of Grace

Week 27 / THURSDAY

OUR FAILURES AND GOD'S SOVEREIGNTY

It is the purpose of the LORD that will stand.

(PROVERBS 19:21)

God's sovereignty doesn't do away with our duty to act responsibly and prudently on all occasions. But does our failure to act as we should frustrate God's sovereign plan? The Scriptures never indicate that God is frustrated to any degree by our failures. In His infinite wisdom, God's sovereign plan includes even our sins.

When Mordecai asked Queen Esther to intercede with King Xerxes on behalf of the Jews, she demurred with the explanation that she could not enter the king's presence unbidden, under threat of death (Esther 4:10-11). Mordecai sent word back to her, "If you keep silent at this time, relief and deliverance will rise for the Jews from another place" (Esther 4:14). God was not limited to Esther's response. His options for bringing about deliverance for the Jews were as infinite as His wisdom and power. He literally did not need Esther's cooperation. But He chose to use her. Mordecai's closing argument to Esther - "And who knows whether you have not come to the kingdom for such a time as this?" - assumes that God uses people and means to accomplish His sovereign purpose. As subsequent events proved, God had indeed raised up Esther to accomplish His purpose. But He could just as easily have raised up someone else or used an altogether different means.

God usually works through ordinary events (as opposed to miracles) and the voluntary actions of people. But He always provides the necessary means and guides them by His unseen hand. He is sovereign, and He cannot be frustrated by our failure to act or by our actions, which in themselves are sinful. We must always remember, however, that God still holds us accountable for the very sins that He uses to accomplish His purpose.

Is God Really in Control?

Week 27 / FRIDAY

THE LAW IS FOR GRACE

I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.

(MATTHEW 9:13)

Ironically, the Law of God, viewed as commands to be obeyed, should actually promote living by grace. When we view God's commands as optional - or think that as God's children we are no longer under the law as a moral requirement-we subtly slip into a works mentality. If obedience to God's Law is optional, then in our minds we begin to accumulate merit or extra points. "After all, I don't have to obey, so I must gain some merit by voluntary obedience."

But the person who knows he's required to obey God's commands, even as a child of God, will see more and more how far short he comes in obedience. And if that person understands the biblical concept of grace, he'll be driven more and more into the arms of the Savior and His merit alone.

Evangelist D. L. Moody is reported to have said something to this effect: "You've got to get people lost before you can get them saved." He was saying that only those who recognize they are lost will turn to the Savior. The Lord Jesus stated the same principle: "For I came not to call the righteous, but sinners" (Matthew 9:13).

This principle applies to us even as believers living under grace. We need to be reminded that we are still sinners. The best way to do this is to take seriously the commands of God as a required rule of life. We'll be continually reminded that we really are spiritually bankrupt - even as believers. And as redeemed sinners in a perpetual state of bankruptcy, we'll come to appreciate more each day the superabounding grace of God.

Transforming Grace

Week 27 / WEEKEND

JUSTIFICATION

We hold that one is justified by faith apart from works of the law.

(ROMANS 3:28)

Justification is one of Paul's major themes in both Romans and Galatians. The word occurs (usually as the verb justify) about forty times in the New Testament, mostly in Paul's writings.

A helpful approach to understanding its meaning is to look at Romans 3:20, where Paul wrote, "By works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight." To justify is to declare righteous. Justification is God's declaration that we are righteous before Him.

For us, justification means that God has forgiven all our sins and accepts us as righteous in His sight. How can this be? How can God accept us as righteous when our very best deeds fall so far short of the righteous demands of His Law? The answer lies in our federal or legal union with Christ. Because we're united by faith to Him who is perfectly righteous, God accepts us as perfectly righteous. God does not resort to some kind of legal fiction, calling something righteous that is not. Rather, He declares us righteous on the basis of the real accomplished righteousness of Christ, imputed to us because of our union with Him.

The apostle Paul expressed it very succinctly in my favorite verse of Scripture, 2 Corinthians 5:21: "God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him [through union with him] we might become the righteousness of God" (Niv). That is, God took our sin and imputed (charged) it to Christ, and took His righteousness and imputed (credited) it to us. To put it in a very contemporary form, God treated Christ as we deserved to be treated so that He might treat us as Christ deserved to be treated.

The Gospel for Real Life

Week 28 / MONDAY

OUR COMPLETE AUTHORITY

Scripture cannot be broken.

(JOHN 10:35)

In thinking about Scripture and its application to our lives, we need to be sure we're thinking God's truth, not our own opinions. This means, first of all, that we must be absolutely convinced the Bible is God's Word - that what Scripture says, God says. We need to approach the Bible with the deep, settled conviction that it accurately expresses the mind of God and the will of God as to how we are to live.

Ambivalence on this point can be fatal to the pursuit of holiness, for, after all, only God is the final authority on what constitutes holy living. If the Bible is not the complete, authoritative Word of God, then there is no absolute moral truth, and we are left to our own opinions.

The Bible, however, consistently affirms that it is indeed the very Word of God. The apostle Paul said, "All Scripture is God-breathed" (2 Timothy 3:16, Niv). The apostle Peter said that "men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit" (2 Peter 1:21).

We may not understand how the Holy Spirit moved upon the minds of those who wrote the Scriptures or how He spoke through the mouths of such men as David so that what they wrote or said was exactly what He wanted them to say, but this is what the Bible consistently affirms. If this is a new thought to you, or if you have some doubts about this, I urge you to make this issue a matter of prayerful, humble study. Ask God to remove any doubts you might have and give you a settled conviction that the Bible is indeed God's Word, that it is complete and authoritative, and that it is absolute truth.

The Discipline of Grace

Week 28 / TUESDAY

LAW AND LOVE INDISTINGUISHABLE

The whole law is fulfilled in one word: "You shall love your neighbor as yourself."

(GALATIANS 5:14)

Some people maintain that the "law of love" has replaced even the moral commands of Jesus and that our only rule is to "love our neighbor as ourself." They quote Paul: "The one who loves another has fulfilled the law. For the commandments, `You shall not commit adultery, You shall not murder, You shall not steal, You shall not covet,' and any other commandment, are summed up in this word: `You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfilling of the law" (Romans 13:8-10).

Some people understand Paul to say that the New Testament principle of love has replaced the Old Testament principle of law. Whereas the Jewish nation in the Old Testament lived under a number of specific moral laws, the church in the New Testament has "come of age" and now lives by the higher principle of love. Since love must be voluntary and cannot be compelled, so the thinking goes, love and law are mutually exclusive.

But if we realize the moral law is a transcript - a written reproduction - of the moral character of God and that "God is love" (1 John 4:8), we see that we cannot distinguish between law and love. Both express the character of God. They're two sides of the same coin.

For example, Paul said in Romans 13:10, "Love does no wrong to its neighbor" (NIV). If we didn't also have the commandments (which Paul quoted in verse 9) against such things as adultery, stealing, and murder, how would we know what it means to harm one's neighbor?

Love provides the motive for obeying the commands of the Law, but the Law provides specific direction for exercising love.

Transforming Grace

Week 28 / WEDNESDAY

PAUL'S BONE

We have been justified by faith.

ROMANS 5:1)

Paul announced in Romans 3:22, "The righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe." It's through faith in Christ that we experience God's justifying act and enter into a right relationship with Him.

We're justified because of our union with Christ, and we're justified through faith - both statements are true because it's through faith that we're united to Christ so that His life becomes our life, His death our death, and His righteousness our righteousness. All the objective work of Christ for us is applied to us and received by us through faith in Him.

When it comes to justification through faith, Paul was like a dog with a bone. He wouldn't let go. He kept hammering away on the truth that justification is through faith, not works. "We hold that one is justified by faith apart from works of the law," he said in Romans 3:28, then went on to devote the entire fourth chapter of Romans to this truth.

Or consider Galatians 2:16: "We know that a person is not justified by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ, so we also have believed in Christ Jesus, in order to be justified by faith in Christ and not by works of the law, because by works of the law no one will be justified."

Notice Paul's repetition of the word justified. I often jokingly say that Paul's work wouldn't get past my editor because editors by nature are highly allergic to frequent use of the same word. But Paul wanted to be sure the Galatian believers didn't miss his point: We're justified by faith in Christ and not by observing the Law - the same message he developed more fully in Romans 3-4.

The Gospel for Real Life

Week 28 / THURSDAY

HEARING GOD WITH HUMILITY

Open my eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of your law.

(PSALM 119:18)

It isn't enough to believe that all Scripture is from God. We need to strive to understand it as best we can. We need to approach the Bible each day with a spirit of deep humility, recognizing that our understanding of spiritual truth is at best incomplete and to some extent inaccurate. No Christian or body of Christians has a corner on all of truth.

Jesus once said, "I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children" (Luke 10:21, Niv). However knowledgeable about Scripture we may be, we need to approach it each day as little children, asking the Holy Spirit to teach us. Regardless of how much we already understand, there's still an infinite storehouse of understanding of the mind of God waiting for us in Scripture. My own experience is that the more I learn and understand of Scripture, the more I see how little I understand of all that God has revealed to us in His Word. So as you read or study the Bible, don't do so just to buttress your own opinions or favorite doctrines. Rather, ask the Holy Spirit to teach you.

God may indeed confirm your convictions more deeply as you see them aligned with the teaching of Scripture. He'll also very likely make you aware of areas of your life where you aren't fully obedient to His revealed will, or He may cause you to see in a different light some doctrinal position you've assumed. So we should approach the Scriptures in humility and expect the Spirit to humble us even further as we continue being taught by Him from His Word.

The Discipline of Grace

Week 28 / FRIDAY

GRACE AND FREEDOM

For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery.

(GALATIANS 5:1)

It's difficult for us today to appreciate the struggle the newly emerging Gentile churches had with the Jewish "law-keepers" in Paul's day. We must seek to understand what Paul meant by freedom (in Galatians 5:1) in the context of the issue he was contending against. Otherwise, we may interpret Paul as saying more than he actually said.

In the history of the United States, a famous patriot cried out, "Give me liberty, or give me death!" Because we know he uttered this in the context of the American Revolution, we readily understand he was speaking specifically of liberty from the rule of the British monarch. He was not crying out for liberty from all civil law, but from what he considered the tyranny of unjust laws.

In the United States, we say we live in a "free country." We understand that freedom to be political freedom: the right to have a say in our government. But we all recognize we are not free to disobey the laws of our state or nation. We are not free, for example, to drive on the left side of the highway.

When we stop to think about it, there's no such thing as unqualified freedom. Such "freedom" would not be freedom; it would be anarchy. It would be everyone doing what is right in his own eyes; and given our sinful nature, it would be total chaos.

In the same manner, Paul did not call for freedom in an absolute sense, but freedom from the bondage of the Jewish law system, which was abolished by Christ in His death.

Transforming Grace

Week 28 / WEEKEND

FAITH EXPLORED

The righteous shall live by faith.

ROMANS 1:17)

Since faith is so essential to our being justified, we need to explore it more fully.

Note the four italicized verbs in Romans 10:13-15: "For `everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.' How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? And how are they to preach unless they are sent?" These four words, taken in reverse order, help us understand the nature of faith.

First, someone preaches a message. In light of Acts 8:4, we should understand preach to cover every instance of sharing the gospel, to an individual or an audience. What is preached? Romans 10:17 says, "The message is heard through the word of Christ" (Niv). The message is obviously the gospel of Christ.

As someone shares the gospel, a person hears it. Faith involves hearing and understanding the gospel. Faith must have content. It's not a leap in the dark, hoping all will turn out well.

Then the person must believe that the gospel message is true and applicable to his or her situation. Paul wrote of "believing in" the One of whom they've heard. Faith's object is not the mere content of the message, but the One the message is about.

Finally, as we believe in Jesus, we call on Him - embracing and trusting in Him alone for our salvation. Scripture uses several words for this, such as receive (John 1:12), believe in (John 3:16), and trust (Romans 4:5). The Puritans had a quaint expression for it. They spoke of closing with Christ, using that word the way we use it to refer to closing on a home.

The Gospel for Real Life

Week 29 / MONDAY

DILIGENCE IN RECEIVING GOD'S WORD

Be attentive, that you may gain insight.

(PROVERBS 4:1)

We need to approach the Scriptures with an attitude of mental discipline. We need both discipline and dependence in the pursuit of holiness, and the same is true in our study of the Scriptures.

There are many Bible study methods and approaches, but common to all of them is an attitude of dependent diligence that's well expressed in Proverbs 2:1-5: "If you receive my words and treasure up my commandments with you, making your ear attentive to wisdom and inclining your heart to understanding; yes, if you call out for insight and raise your voice for understanding, if you seek it like silver and search for it as for hidden treasures, then you will understand the fear of the LORD and find the knowledge of God." The thought of searching the Scriptures with the same intensity that one would search for hidden treasures suggests the value we should place on Scripture's teaching. We see this value expressed also in Proverbs 7:2: "Keep my teaching as the apple of your eye."

We also see in Proverbs 2:1 that there must be a spirit of humility in approaching Scripture, as expressed by the opening phrase "if you receive my words." This attitude is in contrast with the attitude of the foolish, who "would have none of my counsel and despised all my reproof" (Proverbs 1:30).

The question we must ask ourselves is this: What value do we place upon the Word of God? Do we search it as if we were seeking for hidden treasures, or do we read it and study it only because we know it is something we should do?

The Discipline of Grace

Week 29 / TUESDAY

MORAL SUPERIORITY

We have sinned against you. Even land my father's house have sinned.

(NEHEMIAH 1:6)

Of all our subtle, "acceptable" sins, the pride of moral superiority may be the most common, second only to the sin of ungodliness. Although it's so prevalent, it's difficult to recognize because we all practice it to some degree. In fact, we seem to get a perverse enjoyment out of discussing how awful society around us is becoming. When we do that, we're guilty of the pride of moral superiority.

How, then, can we guard against this sin of self-righteousness? First, by seeking an attitude of humility. If we're morally upright, it's only because God's grace has prevailed in us. No one is morally upright by nature. Rather, we all have to say with David, "Surely I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me" (Psalm 51:5, NIV). We ought to feel deeply grateful that God by His grace has kept us from, or perhaps rescued us from, the lifestyle of those who practice the flagrant sins we condemn.

We can also identify ourselves before God with the sinful society we live in. Ezra the scribe was a godly man who lived an exemplary life. Yet when he became aware of a deep sin among the people, he identified himself with it, though he himself was not guilty. Consider his prayer: "0 my God, I am ashamed and blush to lift my face to you, my God, for our iniquities have risen higher than our heads, and our guilt has mounted up to the heavens" (Ezra 9:6). He included himself in this confession of guilt. As we in our day see the increasing moral degradation of our society, we need to adopt Ezra's attitude.

Respectable Sins

Week 29 / WEDNESDAY

FREEDOM OR CHAOS?

The precepts of the LORD are right, rejoicing the heart.

(PSALM 19:8)

My son visited a country in which automobile drivers are undisciplined and "free spirited." He saw cars stopped at a railroad crossing for a passing train. Instead of lining up behind one another to cross in their proper turn, several cars lined up across the entire road. Each driver wanted to be first to cross when the crossing guard was raised. But when the train had passed, cars were also lined up completely across the road on the other side of the tracks. "Freedom" quickly turned to chaos!

That kind of thing happens in a much more serious way when we insist on unqualified freedom from God's Law. We have indeed been set free from the bondage and curse that results from breaking the law. And we've been called to freedom from works as a means of obtaining any merit with God. But we haven't been called to freedom from the Law as an expression of God's will for our daily living.

Paul said, "For I delight in the law of God, in my inner being," and "I myself serve the law of God with my mind" (Romans 7:22,25). A few verses earlier he had characterized God's Law as "holy and righteous and good" (verse 12). It seems inconceivable that Paul would want to be free, or urge others to be free, from what was holy, righteous, and good - that in which he himself delighted.

God's Law is not opposed to grace, nor is it an enemy of grace. Neither is the Law of God opposed to us as we seek to live by grace. Out of a grateful response to God's grace, we seek to understand His will and to obey Him, not to be blessed but because we have been blessed.

Transforming Grace

Week 29 / THURSDAY

RENUNCIATION AND RELIANCE

We also have believed in Christ Jesus, in order to be justified by faith in Christ and not by works of the law.

(GALATIANS 2:16)

I like to say that exercising faith involves renunciation and reliance. Trusting in Christ necessarily involves renouncing any trust in our own good works, whatever form they might take. (See, for example, Romans 4:4-5; 10:1-4; Galatians 2:15-16; Ephesians 2:8-9.) Then we must rely entirely on Christ's perfect righteousness. Paul spoke of "the man who does not work but trusts God who justifies the wicked" (Romans 4:5, N1v). There's an absolute antithesis between trusting, even to the smallest degree, in our own works of goodness and trusting or relying entirely on Christ's righteousness for our justification.

This complete renunciation of any confidence in our own goodness and total reliance upon Christ and His work for us is well expressed in Edward Mote's hymn "The Solid Rock": "My hope is built on nothing less than Jesus' blood and righteousness; no merit of my own I 61 but wholly lean on Jesus' name."

As we come empty-handed to Christ, claiming no merit of our own but clinging by faith to His blood and righteousness, we are justified. We pass immediately from a state of condemnation and spiritual death to a state of pardon, acceptance, and the sure hope of eternal life. Our sins are blotted out, and we are "clothed" with the righteousness of Jesus Christ. In our standing before God, we'll never be more righteous, even in heaven, than we were the day we trusted Christ, or than we are now. Obviously in our daily experience we fall far short of the perfect righteousness God requires. But because He has imputed to us the perfect righteousness of His Son, He now sees us as being just as righteous as Christ Himself.

The Gospel for Real Life

Week 29 / FRIDAY

DESPERATE FOR UNDERSTANDING

Blessed are you, 0 LORD; teach me your statutes!

(PSALM 119:12)

Along with an attitude of diligence in approaching God's Word, we also need an attitude of dependence, as is expressed in Proverbs 2:3: "Call out for insight and raise your voice for understanding." This is an almostdesperate sense of dependence, an attitude far different from a more usual perfunctory prayer for God to teach us as we begin our weekly Bible study.

Do we really believe we're dependent on the Holy Spirit to enlighten our understanding, or do we actually depend on our own intellectual ability in our study of Scripture? I suspect that many of us, while giving lip service to dependence on the Spirit, actually depend on our own intellect.

It's difficult to maintain an attitude of both diligence and dependence, but we must do this if we want to learn from the Holy Spirit. He does not reward either indolence or sinful self-confidence. He does bless diligence when it's pursued in a sincere attitude of dependence on Him. What we're talking about here is not just acquiring more knowledge of biblical truth, but rather developing Bible-based convictions by which we are to live.

Unfortunately, too many Christians seem to approach Bible study in the same way they would approach more academic subjects. When we do this, we're more apt to become proud over our "superior" knowledge of biblical truth than humbled over our lack of obedience to what Scripture teaches. We should pray for knowledge of truth that will change our lives rather than simply inform our minds. We need to pray with the psalmist, "Teach me, 0 LORD, the way of your statutes; and I will keep it to the end" (Psalm 119:33).

The Discipline of Grace

Week 29 / WEEKEND

IN CHRIST, NOT IN US

He who sanctifies and those who are sanctified all have one source.

(HEBREWS 2:11)

Arthur W. Pink has identified a key issue in living by grace: "The great mistake made by most of the Lord's people is in hoping to discover in themselves that which is to be found in Christ alone."62

All Christians recognize that we're justified - declared righteous - solely on the basis of the righteousness of Christ imputed to us by God through faith (Romans 3:21-25). But few of us fully recognize that we're also sanctified through faith in Christ. Sanctification, or holiness (the two words are virtually interchangeable), is essentially conformity to the moral character of God. We normally think of sanctification as progressive, as an inner change of our character whereby we are conformed more and more to the likeness of Christ. That's certainly a major part of sanctification, but not all of it.

Scripture speaks of both a holiness we already possess in Christ before God and a holiness in which we're to grow more and more. The first is the result of the work of Christ for us; the second is the result of the work of the Holy Spirit in us. The first is perfect and complete and is ours the moment we trust Christ; the second is progressive and incomplete as long as we're in this life.

The objective holiness we have in Christ and the subjective holiness produced by the Holy Spirit are both gifts of God's grace and are both appropriated by faith. And the perfect holiness we have in Christ is the reason we can appear daily before a perfectly holy God when even our best deeds are stained and polluted.

Transforming Grace

Week 30 / MONDAY

THAT POINT IN TIME

I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel. . . which you received, in which you stand.

(1 CORINTHIANS 15:1)

In Romans 5:1, Paul spoke of our justification in the past tense: "We have been justified." Justification is a point-in-time experience that occurs the moment we trust in Christ as Savior. I realize the precise moment is not identifiable to many people who grew up in Christian homes and whose faith in Christ was a growing experience. If such is your situation, I would ask: Are you trusting in Christ as your Savior today? If so, there was a time, known only to God, when you were declared righteous before Him. You can have confidence in this fact.

This point-in-time event has eternal ongoing benefit for us. In Romans 5:2, Paul wrote that through Christ "we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand." This grace is the grace of justification, and he says we stand in it - now, today. By His grace we've gained the standing of justification, and we will forever remain in that status. It can never change. For the remainder of our lives and throughout eternity we'll stand before God justified, declared righteous in His sight because He has given to us the righteousness of Christ.

There was a point in time when we trusted in Christ and were by faith united to Him so that His death became our death, His obedience our obedience, His righteousness our righteousness. If this is true of you, then you have an answer to the most important question you could ever ask: How can I, a sinful human being, come into a right relationship with a holy and just God? You stand before God today and are forevermore declared righteous by Him. You now possess that right relationship with God.

The Gospel for Real Life

Week 30 / TUESDAY

THE DISCIPLINE OF SCRIPTURE MEMORY

Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly.

(COLOSSIANS 3:16)

To influence our minds with the Word of God, there's simply no better way than through the discipline of Scripture memorization. I know it requires work and is sometimes discouraging when we can't recall accurately a verse we've worked hard to memorize. The truth is, however, all forms of discipline require work and are often discouraging. But the person who perseveres in any discipline, despite the hard work and discouraging times, reaps the reward the discipline is intended to produce.

The example of Jesus' use of Scripture when He was tempted by the Devil in the wilderness is often used as a challenge to us to memorize Scripture. Three times He was tempted, and three times He answered Satan's temptation by resorting to the Scriptures, saying, "It is written" (Matthew 4:1-11). It's obvious He had memorized these Old Testament commands that He effectively used to thwart Satan's assaults. But it should also be apparent to us that Jesus knew more than a few isolated verses of the Mosaic Law. Rather, His mind was steeped in the Scriptures. If you and I are going to be holy as He is holy, our minds must also be filled with Scripture.

Christ's use of specific Scriptures to thwart Satan's temptations should be instructive to us. He brought particular passages from the Old Testament to bear on the particular temptations He faced. So I encourage you to memorize Scriptures that deal with the particular temptations to which you are especially vulnerable. (I again encourage you to identify specific temptations to which you are vulnerable, list them on a private prayer page, and make specific commitments regarding these areas of vulnerability.) Then ask the Holy Spirit to bring these passages to your mind at times of temptation.

The Discipline of Grace

Week 30 / WEDNESDAY

CHRIST OUR HOLINESS

He has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified.

(HEBREWS 10:14)

Paul wrote, "And because of [God] you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption" (1 Corinthians 1:30). God Himself chose us to be in Christ - who has become our righteousness, sanctification, and redemption.

That Christ is our righteousness is an accepted and well-understood truth and the basis for our justification. But Christ is also our sanctification, or holiness. This fact is not as well understood. All Christians look to Christ alone for their justification, but not nearly as many also look to Him for their perfect holiness before God. The blessed truth, though, is that all believers are sanctified in Christ, even as we are justified in Christ.

Hebrews 10:10,14 help us see this objective aspect of sanctificationthe holiness we have in Christ alone. Verse 10 says that by the will of God "we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all." Note that "we have been sanctified" speaks of a completed work. The emphasis here is on the holiness we have in Christ through His once-for-all sacrifice.

Verse 14, on the other hand, says, "by a single offering [Christ] has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified." This verse mentions "being sanctified" - the continuing work of the Holy Spirit in progressive sanctification. This verse also refers to our completed, objective sanctification in Christ when it speaks of those He has "perfected for all time." So, in one aspect of sanctification you're already holy because Christ's holiness is imputed to you; you've been made perfect forever. In another aspect, you're being made holy day by day through the work of the Holy Spirit imparting Christ's life to you.

Transforming Grace

Week 30 / THURSDAY

A PRESENT REALITY

Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him.

ROMANS 6:8)

Unfortunately, many believers do not live as if justification is a permanent state. They've divorced their hope of eternal life from their relationship with God today. They expect to "put on" Christ's robe of righteousness only at death. Meanwhile, in this life they draw their sense of God's acceptance from their most recent performance of Christian duties or their avoidance of certain sins. Their "robe of righteousness" for daily living isn't from Christ, but one they've stitched together by their own performance.

By contrast, the apostle Paul lived in a continuous state of conscious justification. In Galatians 2:20 he wrote, "The life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me." In the context, Paul was speaking of his faith in Christ for justification. But this was not simply a past event. Rather, he was speaking of his present daily experience of living in a state of justification. As George Smeaton wrote, "Obviously, this is not the language of faith for attaining justification, but the language of a man already justified, and glorying in a sense of acceptance and the experience of grace."

For Paul, justification was not only a point-in-time event that occurred in the past, but a present reality in which he rejoiced every day. Paul did what we should do. He renounced any confidence in his own performance or, for that matter, any dismay over his lack of performance. Instead, by faith he looked to Jesus Christ and His righteousness for his sense of being in right standing with God today, tomorrow, and throughout eternity.

The Gospel for Real Life

Week 30 / FRIDAY

OBEDIENCE APPLIED

My mother and my brothers are those who hear the word of God and do it.

(LUKE 8:21)

Bringing ourselves under the transforming influence of the Word of God means much more than just acquiring knowledge about the contents of Scripture. In fact, the mere acquisition of Bible facts or doctrinal truth without application to one's life can lead to spiritual pride. As Paul said, "Knowledge puffs up, but love builds up" (1 Corinthians 8:1, NIV). By contrast Paul also spoke of "the knowledge of the truth that leads to godliness" (Titus 1:1, NIV).

What is the difference between these two concepts of Bible knowledge? In the first instance the Corinthians were using their knowledge in a selfish and prideful way. They were "looking down their noses" at people with different convictions from theirs. On the other hand, the knowledge leading to godliness is knowledge of the Scriptures that is being applied to one's life and results in godly behavior.

One of the banes of present-day evangelical Christianity is the way we sit every week under the teaching of God's Word, or even have private devotions and perhaps participate in a Bible study group, without a serious intent to obey the truth we learn. The indictment of the Jewish people God made to Ezekiel could well be said of us today: "My people come to you, as they usually do, and sit before you to listen to your words, but they do not put them into practice" (Ezekiel 33:31, NIV).

Our tendency seems to be to equate knowledge of the truth, and even agreement with it, with obedience to it. James said when we do this we deceive ourselves (James 1:22). This is especially true when we focus on the more scandalous sins "out there" in society to the neglect of the more "refined" sins we commit.

The Discipline of Grace

Week 30 / WEEKEND

DON'T INTERPRET; LEARN!

Remember the whole way that the LORD your God has led you ... that he might humble you.

(DEUTERONOMY 8:2)

Because God's wisdom is infinite and His ways inscrutable to us, we should also be very careful in seeking to interpret the ways of God in His providence, especially in particular events. Additionally, we need to be cautious of others who offer themselves as interpreters about the why and wherefore of all that is happening. Be wary of those who say, "God let this happen so you could learn such and such a lesson." The fact is, we don't know what God is doing through a particular set of circumstances or events.

This doesn't mean we shouldn't seek to learn from God's providence as well as His revealed will in Scripture. Quite the contrary. The psalmist learned God's decrees experientially through affliction (Psalm 119:71). The people of Israel also learned through God's adverse providence in their lives: "And he humbled you and let you hunger and fed you with manna, which you did not know, nor did your fathers know, that he might make you know that man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by every word that comes from the mouth of the LORD" (Deuteronomy 8:3). God taught the nation through His divine providence - through putting them in a situation where they could not simply go to the cupboard for their daily bread - that they were utterly dependent upon Him. God was leading the nation into a land where material provision would be "naturally" plentiful (Deuteronomy 8:7-9). He knew they would be tempted by the pride of their own hearts to say, "My power and the might of my hand have gotten me this wealth" (verse 17). So before they entered the land, God taught them about their dependence on His divine providence.

Is God Really in Control?

Week 31 / MONDAY

His HOLINESS IS OUR HOLINESS

God has not called us for impurity, but in holiness.

(1 THESSALONIANS 4:7)

Holiness should be an objective for your daily life. But to live by grace, you must never, never look to the work of the Holy Spirit in you as the basis for your relationship with God. You must always look outside of yourself to Christ. You will never be holy enough through your own efforts to come before God. You are holy only through Christ.

Two parallel passages in Paul's letters to the Ephesians and Colossians should encourage all of us: "He chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him" (Ephesians 1:4). "And you, who once were alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, he has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death, in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before him" (Colossians 1:21-22).

The common teaching in both passages is that we are holy and blameless in God's sight. It seems like a paradox to state that we are holy in God's sight. How can we who are not only guilty but morally filthy possibly be holy in the sight of One whose gaze penetrates our very hearts, who knows our every motive and thought as well as our words and actions? The answer is that because of our union with Christ, God sees His holiness as our holiness. Arthur Pink said, "In the person of Christ God beholds a holiness which abides His closest scrutiny, yea, which rejoices and satisfies His heart; and whatever Christ is before God, He is for His people."64

Transforming Grace

Week 31 / TUESDAY

THE WAR'S OVER

May the God of peace be with you.

(ROMANS 15:33)

Paul said, "Since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ" (Romans 5:1, NIV). This is an objective peace. The war is over. The alienation and divine displeasure toward us because of our sin have been removed. We're no longer objects of wrath. We have peace with God whether we realize it or not. However, to the extent that we understand and believe the truth regarding justification, we'll experience a subjective peace within our souls. We'll know that we've been brought from a state of condemnation and the prospect of eternal judgment into a state of forgiveness and favor with God.

I well remember the night I trusted Christ as an eighteen-year-old. Outwardly I was a model teenager but not a Christian, though I knew the gospel message. One night alone in my bed I asked Christ to be my Savior. Immediately I had peace in my soul, brought to me by the Holy Spirit. But that experiential peace was possible only because Christ had made peace with God for me through His death on the cross.

There's nothing you will ever do that makes you acceptable to God. You must be accepted for Christ's sake, not only when you believe but for all of your life.

Take some time to prayerfully ask yourself some questions: Do I have a right relationship with God based on the imputed righteousness of Christ? Am I trusting in Christ alone for my salvation, or am Ito some degree relying on my own morality and religious duties? If I know I'm justified through faith in Christ, do I enjoy the reality of it in my daily experience, or do I look to my own performance for acceptance with God?

The Gospel for Real Life

Week 31 / WEDNESDAY

REAL-LIFE APPLICATION

For the word of God is living and active.

HEBREWS 4:12)

We cannot develop Bible-based convictions merely by storing up Bible knowledge, or even by Bible study or Scripture memorization. We come closer as we meditate on Scripture consistently. But convictions are really developed when we begin applying Scripture's teachings to reallife situations.

My wife and I recently went shopping for a coffee table. We had agreed on the style we wanted and quickly found one at a price within our range. I'm the type of person who's ready to buy as soon as I find what I like, but my wife is a "shopper." She likes to look at everything in the store. Sure enough, she soon came upon her "dream" coffee table, a rather uncommon design that she'd dreamed about for years but never thought she would own. As you might guess, it was more expensive.

I started talking about being good stewards of the money God has given us, but God started "talking" to me (through His Spirit's convicting work) about husbands loving their wives as Christ loved the church (Ephesians 5:25). I realized one of the concrete ways I was to love my wife was to be more sensitive to her dreams and desires. In that situation God desired that I learn more about what it means for husbands to love their wives than about stewarding His resources. But the point of my story is this: I knew Ephesians 5:25. I believed it, had memorized it, and meditated on it. But through the application of it in a real-life situation, I deepened my conviction about it. Since that incident, I've found that I'm more sensitive to what it means practically to love my wife as Christ loved the church in a sacrificial, self-giving way.

The Discipline of Grace

Week 31 / THURSDAY

ACCEPTED IN THE BELOVED

I glorified you on earth, having accomplished the work that you gave me to do.

(JOHN 17:4)

Many Christians grew up in homes where parental acceptance was largely based on academic, athletic, musical, or perhaps some other standard of achievement. Often they never quite felt as if they measured up to expectations, regardless of how successful they were. Then they transfer that sense of inadequacy to their relationship with God. They continually wonder: Is God pleased with me? Is He smiling on me with Fatherly favor?

The answer to that question is an unqualified yes. God is smiling on you with Fatherly favor. He is pleased with you because He sees you as holy and without blemish in Christ. Do you want to talk about performance? Then consider that Jesus could say matter-of-factly and without any pretentiousness, "I always do the things that are pleasing to him" (John 8:29).

When our Father looks at us, He does not see our miserable performance. Instead, He sees the perfect performance of Jesus. And because of the perfect holiness of Jesus, He sees us as holy and without blemish.

I like the translation of Ephesians 1:6 in the King James Version: "To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved." Or to be more direct, God has made us acceptable to Himself through our union with Christ. You will never be accepted in yourself. You can never, to use a figure of speech, "scrub yourself clean."

We never reach the point where we can look inside ourselves to find the holiness we need to stand before a holy God. But God in His grace has provided a perfect holiness in the person of His Son. Through our union with Him we have been made holy.

Transforming Grace

Week 31 / FRIDAY

ONLY GARBAGE

I myself have reason for confidence in the flesh.

(PHILIPPIANS 3:4)

In Philippians 3:4-8, Paul spoke of the loss of his religious credentials as he'd earlier spoken of the loss of a ship's cargo (in Acts 27:10,22, the only other place in the New Testament where loss is used).

Paul had viewed all of his religious past as something to be grateful for and nothing to be ashamed of. Even in persecuting the church he thought he was working for God. Yet there came a time when he "threw it all overboard": "Whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord" (Philippians 3:7-8).

Paul learned that any confidence in one's own religious attainments in the issue of salvation is not only useless but downright dangerous, for those very things could keep him from eternal salvation.

Here, however, the analogy to losing a ship's cargo ends. A ship's crew (especially the captain) would throw the cargo overboard with deep regret because doing so meant great financial loss. For Paul, however, there was no regret whatsoever. In fact he spoke of his "cargo" of religious background and attainments as rubbish: "I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ" (Philippians 3:8). Probably a more accurate and descriptive word for rubbish here is garbage-table scraps or the kind of stuff you put down your garbage disposal.

Paul had come to the conclusion that his religious background was something to be deliberately dumped. Why? Because he'd discovered something far more valuable: the righteousness that comes from God through faith in Jesus Christ (Philippians 3:9).

The Gospel for Real Life

Week 31 / WEEKEND

THE GREAT EXCHANGE

Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes.

(ROMANS 10:4)

Like his fellow Jews, Paul sought to establish his own righteousness through keeping the Law (Romans 10:3-4). But there came a time, possibly during his three days of blindness and fasting in Damascus (Acts 9:7-9), when he realized his efforts to become righteous through lawkeeping were going nowhere. They kept him from the only means of salvation God has provided. As he realized more clearly the perfect righteousness God has provided through His Son, Jesus Christ, he saw his own efforts to be righteous as no more than garbage to be dumped overboard.

Paul made what I call his "great exchange" - his own righteousness for the perfect righteousness of Christ. He not only threw his own righteousness overboard, but he regarded it as mere garbage compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ as his Savior and being credited with His righteousness. He exchanged the garbage of his goodness for the unsearchable riches of Christ.

Of course, Paul could make his great exchange only because God had already made the great exchange described in 2 Corinthians 5:21: "God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him [that is, through union with Christ] we might become the righteousness of God." God laid our sin upon Christ that He might lay Christ's righteousness upon us.

Note the subtle wording. Paul exchanged his righteousness through keeping the Law for Christ's righteousness that comes by faith. Yet in 2 Corinthians 5:21, God exchanges our sin for Christ's righteousness. Our own efforts at righteousness are, at bottom, only sin because they fail to measure up to the perfect righteousness required by God's Law. They're only scraps to be thrown out as garbage.

The Gospel for Real Life

Week 32 / MONDAY

ANY ROOM FOR GRACE?

Grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

(2 PETER 3:18)

As we practice the disciplines necessary to develop Bible-based convictions - diligent but dependent Bible study, Scripture memorization, continual meditation, and applying Scripture to real-life situations - is there any room for grace? What happens if I stumble in Scripture memorization, for example?

First of all, God does not love us any less. His love for us is based solely on the fact that we're in union with His Son. Christ's righteousness has become our righteousness. Our sins were laid upon Him, and the penalty for them was fully paid by Him on the cross. Daily His blood cleanses us from all sin. God's grace, His unmerited favor, is never conditioned on our performance but always on the unchanging merit of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Our progress in the pursuit of holiness, however, is conditioned on our practice of the disciplines God has given us. It's true that we're transformed increasingly into the likeness of Christ by the Spirit. It's also true that one of the chief means - in fact, probably the chief means - He uses is the renewing of our minds. And Paul was quite emphatic in Romans 12:2 about submitting ourselves to the transforming influence of God's Word by which our minds are renewed.

Therefore, we may say that our acceptance by God the Father is based solely on His grace to us through Christ. His favor is never earned by what we do nor forfeited by what we don't do. But we may say with equal emphasis that our progress in pursuing holiness is significantly conditioned on our use of God-appointed disciplines. And they have been appointed by God and initiated by God.

The Discipline of Grace

Week 32 / TUESDAY

EXPERIENTIAL SANCTIFICATION

Jesus Christ ... gave himself for us ... to purify for himself a people for his own.

(TITUS 2:13-14)

Holiness or sanctification is an actual conformity within us to the likeness of Christ begun at the time of our salvation and completed when we're made perfect in His presence. This process of gradually conforming us to the likeness of Christ begins at the very moment of our salvation when the Holy Spirit comes to dwell within us and to actually give us a new life in Christ. We call this gradual process progressive sanctification, or growing in holiness, because it truly is a growth process.

The holiness we have in Christ is purely objective, outside of ourselves. It's Christ's perfect holiness imputed to us because of our union with Him, and it affects our standing before God. God is pleased with us because He is pleased with Christ. Progressive sanctification is subjective or experiential and is the work of the Holy Spirit within us imparting to us the life and power of Christ, enabling us to respond in obedience to Him.

Both aspects of sanctification are gifts of God's grace. We deserve neither our holy standing before God nor the Spirit's sanctifying work in our lives. Both come to us by His grace because of the merit of Jesus Christ.

Progressive sanctification begins in us with an instantaneous act of God at the time of our salvation. God always gives justification and this initial imparting of sanctification at the same time. The author of Hebrews described this truth in this way: "`This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, declares the Lord: I will put my laws on their hearts, and write them on their minds,' then he adds, `I will remember their sins and their lawless deeds no more"' (Hebrews 10:16-17).

Transforming Grace

Week 32 / WEDNESDAY

GARBAGE OR LEFTOVERS?

This is not your own doing; it is the gift of God.

(EPHESIANS 2:8)

I believe that human morality, rather than flagrant sin, is the greatest obstacle to the gospel today. If you ask the average law-abiding person why he expects to go to heaven, the answer will be some form of "because I've been good." And the more religious a person is, the more difficult it is to realize his or her need for the righteousness of Christ.

Have you renounced any confidence in your own religious experience and trusted solely in Christ's blood and righteousness? Perhaps you grew up in a highly moral and religious family. You've always been good and essentially blameless in the eyes of other people. That's nothing to be ashamed of. But if your hope of eternal life is based on that goodness, your religion has actually become dangerous to you. It will keep you from heaven.

Or you may think your sin is too great to be forgiven. But the blood of Christ can indeed cleanse us from all sin.

All of us have a natural drift toward a performance-based relationship with God. We know we're saved by grace through faith - not by works (Ephesians 2:8-9), but we somehow get the idea that we earn blessings by our works. After throwing overboard our works as a means to salvation, we want to drag them back on board as a means of maintaining favor with God. Instead of seeing our own righteousness as table scraps to be dumped, we see it as leftovers to be used later to earn answers to prayer.

We need to remind ourselves every day that God's blessings and answers to prayer come to us not on the basis of our works, but on the basis of the infinite merit of Jesus Christ.

The Gospel for Real Life

Week 32 / THURSDAY

SELFISH INTERESTS

Let each of us please his neighbor for his good, to build him up.

ROMANS 15:2)

Selfishness is so easy to see in someone else but so difficult to recognize in ourselves. Moreover, there are degrees of selfishness as well as degrees of subtlety in expressing it. One person's selfishness may be crass and obvious, while ours will likely be more delicate and refined.

Several areas of selfishness may be observed in believers. One of them is selfishness with our interests. Paul wrote in Philippians 2:4, "Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others." In using the word interests, Paul was undoubtedly referring to the concerns and needs of other people, but I'm going to use it in a narrow sense to mean subjects we're interested in.

What are our interests? At this stage of our lives, my wife and I are interested in our grandchildren. We like to talk about them and show pictures of them to our friends. The problem is that our friends like to do the same. So when we're with them, whose grandchildren will we talk about? The answer, of course, is both if we and our friends are sensitive to the interests of each other. But if one or both couples are not sensitive, the conversation is apt to be one-sided, or else we find ourselves waiting for our turn to share instead of showing a genuine interest in the other couple's grandchildren.

A good test of the degree of selfishness in our interests would be to reflect on the conversation after you've been with someone (or with another couple). Ask yourself how much time you spent talking about your interests compared to listening to the other person.

Respectable Sins

Week 32 / FRIDAY

PRESSING ON

My zeal consumes me.

(PSALM 119:139)

If God's favor comes to us only on the basis of Christ's merits, is there any place in the Christian life for the spiritual disciplines, obedience to God, and sacrificial service to Him?

Absolutely! There's no doubt Paul was just as diligent and zealous, probably more so, after he trusted Christ as he was before. We have only to read his own words: "One thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus" (Philippians 3:13-14).

Note the intense expressions Paul used: "straining forward" and "press on." The first is a graphic picture of a runner straining nerve and muscle to cross the finish line. The phrase "press on" has the idea of vigorous pursuit.

There's a direct correlation between faith in the righteousness of Christ and zeal in the cause of Christ. The more a person counts as loss his own righteousness and lays hold by faith of the righteousness of Christ, the more he'll be motivated to live and work for Christ.

Let me ask you two questions: Are you trusting in the righteousness of Christ alone as the basis of your right standing with God, or are you still depending on your religious performance, even to a small degree? And if you've clearly trusted in Christ alone for your salvation, are you still clinging to the idea that you must now earn God's favor in this life by your own performance?

May we clearly see that in the unsearchable riches of Christ and in right standing with God that comes from those riches, we have both the assurance of eternal life and God's favor in this life.

The Gospel for Real Life

Week 32 / WEEKEND

IGNORING GOD?

The word that you hear is not mine but the Father's who sent me.

(IoHN 14:24)

Everything I've taught about the disciplines of Bible study, Scripture memorization, continual meditation, and application of Scripture in daily life has been based on Scripture. I have not developed man-made theories about Christian growth. All I've done is point out what the Scriptures say about these disciplines. And what Scripture says, God says. If we ignore these disciplines, we're ignoring God.

We must always remember, though, that practicing these disciplines does not earn us any favor with God. It's helpful to distinguish between a meritorious cause of God's blessing and an instrumental cause. The meritorious cause is always the merit of Christ. We can never add to what He has already done to procure God's blessing on our lives. The instrumental cause, however, is the means or avenues God has ordained to use. God has clearly set forth certain disciplines for us to practice in pursuing holiness. As we practice them, God will use them in our lives, not because we've earned His blessing but because we've followed His ordained path of blessing.

We also need to keep in mind that the imperative in Romans 12:2 to be transformed immediately follows the imperative of verse 1- to offer our bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to Him. Both exhortations are based on the mercy of God. The discipline of developing Biblebased convictions, then, should be a response to God's mercy and grace to us through Christ. If we truly desire to live by grace, we'll want to respond to that grace by seeking to live lives that are pleasing to God. And we simply cannot do that if we do not practice the disciplines necessary to develop Bible-based convictions.

The Discipline of Grace

Week 33 / MONDAY

A COMPLETE SUIT

You were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ.

(1 CORINTHIANS 6:11)

Sanctification and justification are both gifts from God and expressions of His grace. Though they're each distinct aspects of salvation, they can never be separated. God never grants justification without also giving sanctification at the same time.

I think of justification and sanctification as being like the jacket and pants of a suit. They always come together. A friend once wanted to give me a suit. He took me to a clothing store, and I walked out with a jacket and matching pants - a complete suit. Neither the jacket nor the pants alone would have been sufficient. I needed both to have what my friend wanted to give me.

Sometimes we think of salvation as more like a sports coat and a pair of slacks. We think God gives us the sports coat of justification by His grace, but we must "buy" the slacks of sanctification by our own efforts. But salvation is like a suit. It always comes with the jacket of justification and the pants of sanctification. God never gives one without the other because both are necessary to have the complete suit of salvation.

Sanctification in us begins as an instantaneous act of the Holy Spirit and is carried forward by His continued action in our lives. This instantaneous act is described in a number of ways in Scripture. It is called the "renewal of the Holy Spirit" (Titus 3:5), making us alive with Christ when we were dead in transgressions and sins (Ephesians 2:1-5). It results in the new creation Paul referred to in 2 Corinthians 5:17: "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come."

Transforming Grace

Week 33 / TUESDAY

How Do WE GET FAITH?

And as many as were appointed to eternal life believed.

(ACTS 13:48)

If there's any one truth Paul seems to feel strongly about, it's the absolute antithesis between justification by faith and justification by keeping the Law. This is why faith must involve a complete renunciation of trust in one's own goodness (keeping the Law), as well as a total reliance on Jesus Christ and His righteousness.

The question then arises: How do we get faith? Does it come simply as an intellectual response to the gospel message? Or do those of us who share the gospel with others need to master the art of persuasion or learn the technique of "closing the sale"? How does one get faith?

The short answer is that faith is the gift of God. It has to be. There's an old adage that "a man convinced against his will is of the same opinion still." Have you ever tried to convince someone to change his mind when that person didn't want to change? You may marshal well-documented reasons and unassailable facts, but unless that person is receptive to you, he will not change. He just mentally "digs in his heels." Now if this is true in the ordinary affairs of life, how much more is it true in the spiritual realm?

God does not believe for us, but through His Spirit He creates spiritual life in us so that we can believe. Faith is a gift of God. It's part of the whole salvation package that God gives to us through the work of Christ for us and the work of the Holy Spirit in us. It's not our contribution, so to speak, to God's great plan of salvation. God does it all. Faith is part of the unsearchable riches of Christ.

The Gospel for Real Life

Week 33 / WEDNESDAY

GUIDING YOUR CONDUCT

Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.

(PSALM 119:105)

A defining moment in my life occurred very quietly one evening in the first Bible study group I attended. The leader of the study said to us, "The Bible wasn't given just to increase your knowledge but to guide your conduct." As obvious as that truth is to me now, at the time it was brand new. It was as if someone had turned on a light in my mind. I saw clearly what I'd been completely oblivious to before.

It wasn't that I was living what we would consider a sinful lifestyle. Quite the opposite was true. I'd grown up in a church setting, trusted Christ as my Savior, read the Bible every day, and even memorized a few Bible verses. But the idea of applying Scripture to specific situations in my daily life had never occurred to me. That night I prayed a simple prayer: "God, starting tonight I want You to use the Bible to guide my conduct." My whole approach to the Word of God changed overnight, and the Scriptures suddenly became very relevant. That was the beginning of my own personal "pursuit of holiness."

The Bible is indeed a very relevant book, giving instruction and guidance for our daily lives. In following this instruction, however, we're continually faced with a series of choices. Of course, life is a constant series of choices from the time we arise in the morning until we go to bed at night. Many of these choices have moral consequences. For example, although the route you choose to drive to work each morning is probably not morally significant, the thoughts you choose to think while you're driving are moral choices, as is the way you choose to drive.

The Discipline of Grace

Week 33 / THURSDAY

A NEW HEART

If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation.

(2 CORINTHIANS 5:17)

One of the best descriptions of this initial act of God in sanctification is found in Ezekiel 36:26-27 where God makes this gracious promise: "And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules."

Note the changes God brings about in our inner being when He saves us. He gives us a new heart and puts a new spirit within us - a spirit that loves righteousness and hates sin. He puts His own Spirit within us and causes us to follow His decrees and obey His law. God gives us a growing desire to obey Him. We no longer have an aversion to the commands of God, even though we may not always obey them. Instead of being irksome to us, they have now become agreeable to us.

David said in Psalm 40:8, "I delight to do your will, 0 my God." Why did David have this delight? It was because, as the remainder of the verse says, "Your law is within my heart." David found a law written in his own heart corresponding to the law written in God's Word. There was an agreeableness between the spiritual nature within him and the objective law of God external to him.

It's that way with a person who's a new creation in Christ. There's a basic though imperfect correspondence between the law written in a believer's heart and the law written in Scripture.

Transforming Grace

Week 33 / FRIDAY

OUR UNDERLYING HOSTILITY

No one understands.

(ROMANS 3:11)

It's difficult for decent, upright Americans to accept that they're by nature hostile to God, that we cannot please Him. This is because they've confused general American morality, plus a dose of church attendance, with obedience to God's Law. Most have never been seriously confronted with the exceedingly high standard of God's eternal Law. When they are, they typically reveal their underlying hostility to it.

Paul's writings are filled with dismal descriptions of our spiritual condition before we became believers. He said, for example, "You were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked" (Ephesians 2:1-2). He's speaking, of course, about spiritual death. We were totally unresponsive to the God of Scripture. We may have been religious, but we were still dead.

Spiritually dead people cannot receive and embrace the gospel. As Paul said in 1 Corinthians 2:14, "The man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned" (NIV). Does this mean unbelievers cannot understand the facts of the gospel? No - it means they cannot sense their own need of it and embrace it. As long as we were spiritually dead, we could not just "decide" to believe the gospel and trust in Jesus Christ.

In our spiritual deadness, we were "following the course of this world" (Ephesians 2:2). World is often used in the Bible for the sum total of human society in opposition to God. The world's attitude toward God varies from indifference to hostility, but the bottom line is, "No one seeks for God" (Romans 3:11). This is the world we followed. We were spiritually dead, enmeshed in a culture totally opposed to God.

The Gospel for Real Life

Week 33 / WEEKEND

ONE CHOICE AT A TIME

I have set before you life and death, blessing and curse. Therefore choose life.

(DEUTERONOMY 30:19)

The practice of putting off sinful attitudes and actions and putting on Christlike character involves a constant series of choices. We choose in every situation which direction we'll go. Through these choices we develop Christlike habits of living. Habits are developed by repetition, and it's in the arena of moral choices that we develop spiritual habit patterns.

We see this in Romans 6:19: "Just as you used to offer the parts of your body in slavery to impurity and to ever-increasing wickedness, so now offer them in slavery to righteousness leading to holiness" (NIV). The more the Roman believers sinned, the more they were inclined to sin. They were continually deepening their habit patterns of sin simply through their practice of making sinful choices.

What was true of them can be just as true of us today. Sin tends to cloud our reason, dull our consciences, stimulate our sinful desires, and weaken our wills. Because of this, each sin we commit reinforces the habit of sinning and makes it easier to give in to that temptation the next time.

Paul wanted the Roman believers, and us today, to turn in the other direction and develop habits of godly living: "So now offer [the parts of your body] in slavery to righteousness leading to holiness" (Romans 6:19, Niv). Righteousness in this passage refers to the ethical righteousness - the right conduct -we're to practice every day. Whereas righteousness in this verse refers to our conduct, holiness refers to our character. So it's through righteous actions that we develop holy character. Holiness of character is developed one choice at a time as we choose to act righteously in each and every situation and circumstance we encounter during the day.

The Discipline of Grace

Week 34 / MONDAY

THE HOSTILITY GONE

All this is from God.

(2 CORINTHIANS 5:18)

One reason we don't appreciate the grace of God more is that we either don't understand or don't appreciate the radical dimension of the instantaneous act of sanctification which God gives at salvation. If we had a moral lifestyle before conversion, we find it difficult to accept Paul's description of our attitude toward God: "The mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God's law; indeed, it cannot. Those who are in the flesh cannot please God" (Romans 8:7-8). We don't think of our former attitude as being hostile to God's Law.

But human morality and submission to God's Law are entirely different in principle, though they may appear similar in outward appearance. Human morality arises out of culture and family training and is based on what is proper and expected in society. It has nothing to do with God except to the extent that godly people have influenced that society. Submission to God's Law arises out of a love for God and a grateful response to His grace, and is based on a delight in His Law as revealed in Scripture. When society's standards vary from Scripture, we then see the true nature of human morality: It's just as hostile to God's Law as is the attitude of the most hardened sinner.

Sanctification changes our attitude. Instead of being hostile to God's Law, we begin to delight in it (Romans 7:22). We find that "his commandments are not burdensome" (1 John 5:3), but rather are "holy and righteous and good" (Romans 7:12). This radical and dramatic change in our attitude toward God's commands is a gift of His grace, brought about solely by the mighty working of His Spirit within us.

Transforming Grace

Week 34 / TUESDAY

GOD'S SOVEREIGNTY

Our God is in the heavens; he does all that he pleases.

(PSALM 115:3)

Confidence in God's sovereignty in all that affects us is crucial to our trusting Him. If there's a single event in all the universe that can occur outside of God's control, then we cannot trust Him. His love may be infinite, but if His power is limited and His purpose can be thwarted, we cannot trust Him. You may entrust to me your most valuable possessions; I may love you and my aim to honor your trust may be sincere. But if I don't have the power or ability to guard your valuables, you cannot truly entrust them to me.

Paul, however, said we can entrust our most valuable possession to the Lord: "I know whom I have believed, and am convinced that he is able to guard what I have entrusted to him for that day" (2 Timothy 1:12, NIV). "But," someone says, "Paul is speaking there of eternal life. It's our problems in this life that make me wonder about God's sovereignty."

It should be evident, however, that God's sovereignty does not begin at death. His sovereign direction in our lives even precedes our births. God rules as surely on earth as He does in heaven. He permits, for reasons known only to Himself, people to act contrary to and in defiance of His revealed will. But He never permits them to act contrary to His sovereign will.

Our plans can succeed only when they are consistent with God's purpose, and no plan can succeed against Him (Proverbs 16:9; 19:21; 21:30). No one can straighten what He makes crooked or make crooked what He has made straight (Ecclesiastes 7:13). No one can say, "I'll do this or that," and have it happen if it is not part of God's sovereign will (James 4:15).

Trusting God

Week 34 / WEDNESDAY

BLIND SLAVES

You ... were once slaves of sin.

ROMANS 6:17)

Before we became believers, Paul said we were "following the prince of the power of the air" (Ephesians 2:2). This "prince" is Satan, the Devil. We don't like to think we were followers of the Devil, but that's what the Bible says.

This doesn't mean we were as wicked as we could be; after all, as Paul said elsewhere, "Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light" (2 Corinthians 11:14). What it does mean is that Satan blinded us to the gospel: "The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God" (2 Corinthians 4:4). But God "rescued us from the dominion of darkness [Satan's kingdom] and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves" (Colossians 1:13).

Before God delivered us, we were Satan's captives. We could not see the light of the gospel. This inability was spiritual, not mental. We were spiritually blind, unable to recognize our need of the Savior or to see God's gracious provision of Him.

Paul also said that "we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath" (Ephesians 2:3). And more specifically: "The mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God's law; indeed, it cannot. Those who are in the flesh cannot please God" (Romans 8:7-8). Note the absolute negatives Paul used.

We were under the dominion of Satan, and slaves of our own sinful natures. And apart from a supernatural work of God in our lives, we were helpless to do anything about our condition.

The Gospel for Real Life

Week 34 / THURSDAY

OUT OF THE TOMB

Awake, 0 sleeper, and arise from the dead.

(EPHESIANS 5:14)

Paul was fond of painting an absolutely dismal picture of our condition, then saying, "But here's God's remedy." He did it in Ephesians 2:1-5, where he said that although we were dead in our transgressions and sins, God "made us alive together with Christ." It's God who gives us spiritual life. We couldn't make ourselves spiritually alive any more than a dead person can make himself alive.

When Lazarus lay dead in the tomb, he could not decide to come to life again. He could not even respond to Jesus' call, "Lazarus, come out," unless with that call Jesus gave him life (John 11:1-44). Lazarus's condition, as he lay dead in the tomb, is a picture of our spiritual predicament. We can hear the gospel a hundred times, but unless that call is accompanied by the life-giving power of the Holy Spirit, we can no more respond to it than Lazarus could respond to a vocal call from Jesus.

I know it's difficult for us to accept the fact that we could not just decide to trust Christ in much the same way we might decide to buy more life insurance. The truth is, we did decide to trust Christ, but the reason we made that decision is that God had first made us spiritually alive. This is part of the good news. God comes to us when we're spiritually dead, when we don't even realize our condition, and gives us the spiritual ability to see our plight and to see the solution in Christ. God comes all the way, not partway, to meet us in our need. When we were dead, He made us alive in Christ. And the first act of that new life is to turn in faith to Jesus.

The Gospel for Real Life

Week 34 / FRIDAY

BECOME HOLY BY OBEDIENCE

I have chosen the way of faithfulness.

(PSALM 119:30)

We do not become more holy by discipline, by dependence, by committing ourselves to God, or by developing Bible-based convictions. We become more holy by obeying the Word of God, choosing to obey His will as revealed in the Scriptures in all the various circumstances of our lives.

It's just as true, however, that the discipline, dependence, commitment, and convictions are absolutely necessary to our making the right choices. We don't make them in a vacuum. They're determined by convictions we've developed and commitments we've made. We can make the right choices only through the enabling power of the Holy Spirit. But all these principles and means of spiritual growth find ultimate fulfillment only when we obey God's commandments one choice at a time. As we do, our righteous actions lead to holy character.

I recently observed my wife making a quilt. She first made a number of one-foot "squares," each with a sewn design. The particular overall design she'd chosen, a mariner's compass, was rather intricate, with each square containing about forty narrow triangles. Each square was beautiful, a testimony to her sewing ability. But those individual squares, beautiful as they were, did not make a quilt. Only by being sewn together with a narrow strip of cloth between each row of squares did they become a quilt.

Pursuing holiness is like that. We have the quilt squares of discipline, dependence, commitment, convictions, and beholding the glory of Christ in the gospel. Each one is beautiful in and of itself. But if we just look at these principles and means of holiness individually, we still do not have the "quilt" of holiness. What joins them all together to form the "quilt of holiness" is obedience. And we obey one choice at a time.

The Discipline of Grace

Week 34 / WEEKEND

OLD WAY, NEW WAY

We serve in the new way of the Spirit and not in the old way of the written code.

ROMANS 7:6)

Far too many Christians still serve in the old way of the Law instead of in the new way of the Spirit:

1. Old Way: External Code - God's moral precepts are only an external code of conduct. New Way: Internal Desire - God's moral precepts are written on our hearts. The Spirit inclines our hearts and gives us a desire to obey.

2. Old Way: Commanding- The Law commands but gives no enabling power for obedience. New Way: Enabling- The Spirit enables us to obey the Law's commands.

3. Old Way: Hostility- Before our conversion, the commands of the Law actually provoked and incited us to sin. New Way: Delight- By removing our hostility and writing the Law on our hearts, the Spirit causes us to delight in God's Law.

4. Old Way: Fear- The Law produces a legalistic response to God. We try to obey because of fear of punishment for disobedience or to win favor with God. New Way: Gratitude-The Spirit, by showing us God's grace, produces a response of love and gratitude. We obey out of gratitude for favor already given.

5. Old Way: Working - We perform in order to be accepted by God. Since our performance is always imperfect, we never feel completely accepted by Him. We're always working from a position of weakness, feeling we never quite make it. New Way: Relying- The Spirit bears witness with our spirit that we're accepted by God through the merit of Christ. By relying solely on His perfect righteousness, we feel accepted by Him. We work from a position of strength because we've been accepted through Jesus, and through Him, we've "made it."

Transforming Grace

Week 35 / MONDAY

THE STARK CONTRAST

The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.

(2 CORINTHIANS 5:17)

Probably no other passage suggests more starkly the contrast between living by grace and living by works than Romans 7:6: "But now we are released from the law, having died to that which held us captive, so that we serve in the new way of the Spirit and not in the old way of the written code."

The new way of the Spirit is not a less rigorous ethic than the old way of the written code. The difference doesn't lie in the content of God's moral will. Since that's a reflection of the holy character of God, it cannot change. Rather, the difference lies in the reason for obeying and the ability to obey.

Are you seeking to build and maintain your relationship with God on the basis of "keeping the Law" - on the basis of your personal performance - or on the basis of the merit of Jesus Christ? Do you view God's moral precepts as a source of bondage and condemnation for failure to obey them, or do you sense the Spirit producing within you an inclination and desire to obey out of gratitude and love? Do you try to obey by your own sheer will and determination, or do you rely on the Spirit daily for His power to enable your obedience?

Do you feel God has set before you an impossible code of conduct you cannot keep, or do you view Him as your divine heavenly Father who has accepted you and loves you on the basis of the merit of Christ? For acceptance with God, are you willing to rely solely on the finished perfect work of Jesus instead of your own pitifully imperfect performance?

Transforming Grace

Week 35 / TUESDAY

AN OPENED HEART

God... has shone in our hearts.

(2 CORINTHIANS 4:6)

In Jesus' conversation with Nicodemus the Pharisee (John 3:1-21, NIV), we see the necessity of the Spirit's work to give us faith. Jesus said emphatically,65 "No one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again" (verse 3). He said, "No one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit" (verse 5). And He compared the Spirit's life-giving action with the sovereign and mysterious action of the wind (verses 7-8).

Notice that Jesus spoke not of permission to enter the kingdom but of inability to enter it apart from a new birth: "No one can. . . " We cannot- we don't have the ability to - enter the kingdom unless the Spirit of God gives us life through the new birth. We're born again, then, by a sovereign, monergistic (that is, the Spirit working alone) act of the Holy Spirit. Then, as a result of that new birth, we exercise the faith given to us and enter the kingdom of God.

In this light we better understand a Scripture such as Acts 16:14: "One who heard us was a woman named Lydia, from the city of Thyatira, a seller of purple goods, who was a worshiper of God. The Lord opened her heart to pay attention to what was said by Paul."

What does it mean that the Lord opened Lydia's heart? It means He made her spiritually alive, that she was born again. It means He removed the Satan-induced blindness from her mind so she could understand and embrace the gospel. It means He delivered her from the kingdom of darkness, where she'd been held captive, so she could respond in faith. Note the sequence: She could not respond to Paul's message until God first opened her heart.

The Gospel for Real Life

Week 35 / WEDNESDAY

TRAIN IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION

The mature ... have their powers of discernment trained by constant practice to distinguish good from evil.

HEBREWS 5:14)

Paul exhorted Timothy, "Train yourself for godliness" (1 Timothy 4:7). Though godliness is a broader concept than holiness, holiness is a major part of it, so training ourselves to be godly certainly includes training in holiness.

This training requires exercise. In fact, the King James Version translates this phrase, "Exercise thyself ... unto godliness." How do we exercise ourselves in the spiritual realm? Through the choices we make. When we make wrong choices, we train ourselves in the wrong direction - like the false teachers Peter described, who had "hearts trained in greed" (2 Peter 2:14).

God wants us to train ourselves in the right direction through making right choices. Frankly, this is where the going gets tough. We'll agree with Scripture's teaching about some particular sin and even make a commitment of sorts to put it out of our lives. Then the temptation to indulge that sin comes once again, and we're unwilling to make the tough choice. We would like to be rid of that sin, and even pray to God to take it away, but are we willing to say no to it?

Every day we're training ourselves in one direction or the other: toward lying or truthfulness; selfishness or unselfishness; anger or forgiveness; impurity or purity; irritability or patience; covetousness or generosity; pride or humility; materialism or simplicity.

Only through making the right choice to obey God's Word will we break the habits of sin and develop habits of holiness. This is where we desperately need the Holy Spirit's power to enable us to make the right choices. So cry out to God every day for His help; cry out each time you are confronted with the choice to sin or to obey.

The Discipline of Grace

Week 35 / THURSDAY

GROWING IN CHRISTLIKENESS

He has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified.

(HEBREWS 10:14)

Sanctification is the radical change God brings about in the heart of a person who trusts Jesus Christ as Savior. It's the passing from spiritual death to spiritual life, the beginning of a new creation in Christ, and the writing of God's Law in our hearts. It means a new relationship to the Law of God and a new attitude toward it. And all this is from God, a gift of His grace just as surely as is the gift of justification.

God doesn't bring us into His kingdom, then leave us on our own to grow. He continues to work in our lives to conform us more and more to the likeness of His Son. As Paul said, "He who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ" (Philippians 1:6). This continuing work of God is called "progressive sanctification." It differs from initial sanctification in two respects.

Initial sanctification occurs instantly at the moment of salvation when we're delivered from the kingdom of darkness and brought into the kingdom of Christ (Colossians 1:13). Progressive sanctification continues over time until we go to be with the Lord. Initial sanctification is entirely the work of God the Holy Spirit who imparts to us the very life of Christ. Progressive sanctification is also the work of the Holy Spirit, but it involves a response on our part so that we as believers are actively involved in the process.

The progressive nature of sanctification is implied throughout the New Testament epistles in all those instances where we are exhorted to grow, to change, to put off the deeds of the old man and put on Godlike character.

Transforming Grace

Week 35 / FRIDAY

NOT ANEW THOUGHT

To this he called you through our gospel, so that you may obtain the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.

(2 THESSALONIANS 2:14)

Though the notion that the regenerating work of the Holy Spirit (the new birth) precedes and results in our faith may be new to many of our day, it is in fact the historic teaching of the church since the sixteenthcentury Reformation. Consider these words of Charles Wesley, the famous Methodist hymn writer of the eighteenth century: "Long my imprisoned spirit lay fast-bound in sin and nature's night; Thine eye diffused a quick'ning ray; I woke, the dungeon flamed with light; my chains fell off, my heart was free; I rose, went forth, and followed thee."66

Note how Wesley saw his own heart imprisoned in sin, then the almighty work of the Spirit quickening (giving life to) him. Only then did he arise and follow Christ. What was true for Wesley is just as true for us today.

Obviously the Holy Spirit works through our human channels of evangelism. As Paul said, "Faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word of Christ" (Romans 10:17, Niv). But our message is impotent apart from the working of the Holy Spirit, who both empowers the messenger and opens the heart of the listener - as He did in the case of Lydia in Acts 16:14: "The Lord opened her heart."

Consider Paul's words to the Thessalonian believers: "Our gospel came to you not simply with words, but also with power, with the Holy Spirit and with deep conviction" (1 Thessalonians 1:5, NIV). What resulted when Paul's message was accompanied by the powerful working of the Holy Spirit? The Thessalonians "turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God" (1:9). The Thessalonians themselves believed. They exercised faith.

The Gospel for Real Life

Week 35 / WEEKEND

LIVING AS WE PLEASE

Every athlete exercises self-control in all things.

(1 CORINTHIANS 9:25)

We have boundaries from our Christian culture that tend to restrain us from obvious sins, but within those boundaries we pretty much live as we please. We seldom say no to our desires and emotions. A lack of selfcontrol may well be one of our more "respectable" sins. And because we tolerate it, we become more vulnerable to other "respectable" sins. A lack of control of our tongue, for example, opens the door to all manner of defiling speech, such as sarcasm, gossip, slander, and ridicule.

What is self-control? It's a governance or prudent control of one's desires, cravings, impulses, emotions, and passions. It's saying no when we should say no. It's moderation in legitimate desires and activities, and absolute restraint in areas that are clearly sinful. It would, for example, involve moderation in watching television and absolute restraint in viewing Internet pornography.

Biblical self-control is not a product of one's own natural willpower. Some unbelievers exercise self-control in specific areas to achieve some goal. But in other areas, they may live with little or no self-control. An athlete may be strict in his diet while totally lacking in control of his temper.

Biblical self-control, however, covers every area of life and requires an unceasing conflict with the passions of the flesh that wage war against our souls (1 Peter 2:11). This self-control depends on the Spirit's influence and enablement. It requires continual exposure of our mind to the words of God and continual prayer for the Holy Spirit to give us both the desire and power to exercise self-control. We might say that self-control is not control by oneself through one's own willpower but rather control of oneself through the power of the Holy Spirit.

Respectable Sins

Week 36 / MONDAY

THE DISCIPLINE OF MORTIFICATION

Put to death therefore what is earthly in you.

(COLOSSIANS 3:5)

Making the right choices to obey God rather than our sinful desires necessarily involves the discipline of mortification. What is mortification? And what does it have to do with holiness?

The apostle Paul gave us the answer: "For if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death [mortify] the deeds of the body, you will live" (Romans 8:13). To make the right choices it's necessary to mortify, or put to death, the misdeeds of the body -the sinful actions we commit in thought, word, or deed. Paul was more explicit about some of these in Colossians 3:5: "Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry."

As we look at Romans 8:13, one thing we clearly see is that mortification, or putting sin to death, is our responsibility. Paul said, "If you put to death. . ." It's our responsibility, something we must do, not something we turn over to God.

We should also note that Paul said, "For if you live according to the flesh you will die." Paul was talking about spiritual, not physical death. The opposite is also true. If we live according to the Spirit - that is, if by Him we "put to death the deeds of the body" - we shall live in the spiritual sense. Once again, as he did so frequently, Paul stressed the inextricable link between justification and sanctification. Paul clearly taught that we're saved by grace through faith (Ephesians 2:8), but he also stressed that we're to work out our salvation with fear and trembling (Philippians 2:12), that is, without presuming on the grace of God.

The Discipline of Grace

Week 36 / TUESDAY

BE TRANSFORMED

Be transformed by the renewal of your mind.

ROMANS 12:2)

The verb be transformed in Romans 12:2 is a command to do something. This indicates that we as believers are not passive in this transforming process. We're not like blocks of marble being transformed into a beautiful sculpture by a master sculptor. God has given us a mind and heart with which to respond to and cooperate with the Spirit as He does His work in us.

That thought leads naturally to a classic statement in Scripture of the working together of the believer and the Holy Spirit within: "Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure" (Philippians 2:12-13).

Paul urged the Philippian believers to apply themselves diligently to working out their salvation. He urged them to display the evidences of salvation in their daily lives through their obedience to God's commands and through putting on the godly character traits that Paul elsewhere called the fruit of the Spirit. And, according to William Hendriksen, the tense of the verb work out indicates "continuous, sustained, strenuous effort."' Here again we see that sanctification is a process, and a process in which we, as believers, are very actively involved.

But Paul's strong exhortation to the Philippians is based on the confidence that God's Spirit is working in them, working to enlighten their understanding of His will, to stimulate in their emotions a desire to do His will, and to turn their wills so they actually obey. He gives them the enabling power so that they're able to do His will.

Transforming Grace

Week 36 / WEDNESDAY

ENCOURAGEMENT TO PRAYER

For from him and through him and to him are all things.

(ROMANS 11:36)

The realization that faith is the gift of God should encourage us to pray with confidence for others' salvation. It means that no one, however hardened he or she may be, is beyond the regenerating, life-creating work of the Holy Spirit.

I think of some for whose salvation I pray regularly. One wants nothing to do with God. Another is happily indifferent, seeing no need of a Savior because he's a good, moral person. Others would be highly insulted to be told they need a Savior because, after all, they're both moral and religious.

What hope is there for these people? It lies only in the sovereign, mysterious work of the Holy Spirit. I pray regularly that He'll work in their hearts through the gospel message to create the faith they must have to believe in Christ.

Awareness that faith is the gift of God should also arouse a sense of profound gratitude and worship in our hearts. We could not even take advantage of God's gracious gift of salvation apart from His prior working in our hearts. But God gave us life when we were dead, gave us sight when we were blind, and gave us the faith to trust in Christ for our salvation. If we spent the rest of our lives doing nothing but saying thank-you to God, we could still never sufficiently express our gratitude for His gift of salvation, including the gift of faith by which we receive it.

Do you want to grow in your own worship of God? That growth will be directly related to your understanding of the gospel in all its fullness, including the fact that the faith by which you believed was a gift from God.

The Gospel for Real Life

Week 36 / THURSDAY

SIN FOR SIN

If by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.

(ROMANS 8:13)

We'll never reach the place where we don't have to contend against the flesh. But the life of a Christian should be characterized by an earnest desire and sincere effort to put to death (mortify) the sins of the body.

Although mortification is our responsibility, it can be done only through the enabling power of the Holy Spirit. Paul said, "But if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live" (Romans 8:13). John Owen wrote, "All other ways of discipline are in vain. All other helps leave us helpless. Mortification is accomplished only `through the Spirit' . . . No other power can accomplish it."68

Although the Scriptures emphasize both human discipline and dependence on the Holy Spirit, we tend to emphasize one to the neglect of the other. To some, it seems more spiritual to "just turn it all over to God" and trust Him to do the mortifying. Any mention of our responsibility is dismissed as being only "a work of the flesh."

To other people who stress discipline, it seems more responsible to "just do it." But mortification attempted only by human willpower always ends in self-righteousness or frustration. The more naturally disciplined person tends toward self-righteousness and wonders why everyone else can't be as successful in mortification as he or she is. But all that person has done is exchanged one sin for another. The problem of impure thoughts, for example, is exchanged for pride and self-righteousness. Another person who tries to mortify some particular sin by his or her own willpower fails and becomes frustrated and guilty. So pride or frustration is always the result of attempts to mortify sin that are carried on apart from utter dependence on the Spirit.

The Discipline of Grace

Week 36 / FRIDAY

DESPERATELY DEPENDENT

If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit.

(GALATIANS 5:25)

Progressive sanctification is not a partnership with the Spirit in the sense that we each - the believer and the Holy Spirit - do our respective tasks. Rather, we work as He enables us to work. His work lies behind all our work and makes our work possible.

The Holy Spirit can and does work within us apart from any conscious response on our part. We see this in the initial act of sanctification when He creates within us a new heart and a new disposition toward God and His will. He's not dependent on us to do this.

But we're dependent on Him to do our work; we cannot do anything apart from Him. In the process of sanctification there are certain things only the Spirit can do, and certain things He has given us to do. For example, only He can create in our hearts the desire to obey God, but He does not obey for us. We must do that, but we can do so only as He enables us.

So we must depend on the Spirit to do within us what only He can do. And we must equally depend on Him to enable us to do what He has given us to do. Whether His work or our work, we're dependent on Him.

We aren't just dependent on Him; we're desperately dependent. Because we so often equate Christlike character with ordinary morality, we fail to realize how impossible it is for us to attain any degree of conformity to Christ by ourselves. But if we take seriously the many Christlike character traits we're to put on, we see how impossible it is to grow in Christlikeness apart from the sanctifying influence and power of the Spirit.

Transforming Grace

Week 36 / WEEKEND

WE REALLY ARE HIS CHILDREN

Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God!

(1 JOHN 3:1, NKJV)

When used as an imperative verb, behold carries the strong idea of imploring someone's attention. This is how John used it in 1 John 3:1. He was saying, "Stop! Think of this! Consider this astonishing fact: God loves us so much that we're called His children!"

Think of it: If you've trusted in Christ as Savior, you're God's child, a son or daughter of the Creator, Sustainer, and Ruler of the universe - though our circumstances, or even our behavior, can often obscure that fact.

After John's exclamation about this, he added, "And so we are" (3:1). It's as if he was saying, "It's really true! We really are His children!" Why does John get so excited about a truth we often take for granted?

This truth is amazing, first of all, because of who we once were. Consider the fact that every sin you've committed was an act of rebellion against the sovereign authority of God, or, as someone has said, an act of cosmic treason. But instead of the death we deserve as punishment for such treason, we're made sons and daughters of the very King we've rebelled against! Instead of death, we get eternal life. Instead of wrath, we receive favor. Instead of eternal ruin, we're made heirs of God and coheirs with Christ. And all of this becomes ours without our doing a single thing to earn the King's favor or any attempt on our part to make restitution! His Son has done it all for us.

Do you believe that? Do you each day realize that you're a child of the heavenly King?

The Gospel for Real Life

Week 37 / MONDAY

HATING ALL SIN

By the Spirit... put to death the deeds of the body.

(ROMANS 8:13)

To mortify a sin means to subdue it, to deprive it of its power, to break the habit pattern we have developed of continually giving in to the temptation to that particular sin. The goal of mortification is to weaken the habits of sin so that we make the right choices.

Mortification involves dealing with all known sin in one's life. Without a purpose to obey all of God's Word, isolated attempts to mortify a particular sin are of no avail. An attitude of universal obedience in every area of life is essential. As Paul wrote to the Corinthians, "Let us cleanse ourselves from every defilement of body and spirit, bringing holiness to completion in the fear of God" (2 Corinthians 7:1). We cannot, for example, mortify impure hearts if we're unwilling to also put to death resentment. We cannot mortify a fiery temper if we aren't also seeking to put to death the pride that so often underlies it. Hating one particular sin is not enough. We must hate all sin for what it really is: an expression of rebellion against God.

A man came to me wanting help in dealing with sexual lust in his thoughts and habits. I knew, however, that he had a greater problem in interpersonal relationships. He was critical and judgmental and very vocal about it. His lust bothered him because it made him feel guilty and defeated. His judgmental spirit and critical words didn't bother him, so he was making no effort to deal with those sins. He needed to learn to mortify all sin, not just what made him feel bad about himself.

The Discipline of Grace

Week 37 / TUESDAY

DIFFERING OPINIONS

As for the one who is weak in faith, welcome him, but not to quarrel over opinions.

ROMANS 14:1)

The issue of differing opinions about certain practices has been around at least since the days of the apostle Paul. He devoted an entire chapter of the book Romans to this brand of legalism.

The crux of the problem is stated well by Paul in Romans 14:5: "One person esteems one day as better than another, while another esteems all days alike. Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind." People simply have different opinions about various issues. One person sees no problem in a certain practice; another person considers that practice to be sinful.

As Christians we can't seem to accept the clear biblical teaching in Romans 14 that God allows equally godly people to have differing opinions on certain matters. We universalize what we think is God's particular leading in our lives and apply it to everyone else.

When we think like that we are putting God in a box, so to speak. We're insisting that He must surely lead everyone as we believe He has led us. We refuse to allow God the freedom to deal with each of us as individuals. When we think like that, we are legalists.

We must not seek to bind the consciences of other believers with the private convictions that arise out of our personal walk with God. Even if you believe God has led you in developing those convictions, you still must not elevate them to the level of spiritual principles for everyone else to follow. The respected Puritan theologian John Owen taught that "only what God has commanded in his word should be regarded as binding; in all else there may be liberty of actions."69

Transforming Grace

Week 37 / WEDNESDAY

Now IN THE FAMILY

You ... become partakers of the divine nature.

(2 PETER 1:4)

We've come to see that justification is the legal act by which God forgives all our sins and accepts us as righteous in His sight because of the perfect righteousness of Christ imputed (or credited) to us by God and received by us through faith.

However, we need something more than a legal standing if we're to live in the presence of God for all eternity. We need to become members of His family- and this is what has happened. God has not only justified us; He has made us family members. In theological terms this is called adoption. However, it isn't adoption in the sense that we use that term today. It's much more.

A son or daughter in any human family is either born to or adopted by the parents. By definition, a child can't be both. But with God we're both born of Him and adopted by Him. The very idea of being reborn is staggering, but that's what the Bible says: We're born again by His Spirit through His Word, the gospel (see John 3:8; 1 Peter 1:23).

John used the expression "born of God" seven times in his first letter 70 and all seven refer to evidence of new life in Christ. To become a child of God, then, refers not only to a new relationship but also to a new life. Just as parents pass on certain physical and personality traits to their natural-born children, so traits of divine life are passed on to those born of God. Thus John could say that those born of God do what is right, love others, believe in Jesus, and cease to practice sin. These are all family traits that show up to some degree in everyone born of God.

The Gospel for Real Life

Week 37 / THURSDAY

His WISE, LOVING, SOVEREIGN PLAN

He does according to his will ... and none can stay his hand.

(DANIEL 4:35)

God does as He pleases, only as He pleases; He works out every event to bring about the accomplishment of His will. Such a bare unqualified statement of the sovereignty of God would terrify us if that were all we knew about God. But God is not only sovereign; He is perfect in love and infinite in wisdom. God exercises His sovereignty for His glory and the good of His people.

But how is this any more than merely an abstract statement about God to be debated by the theologians, a statement that has little relevance to our day-to-day lives? The answer is that God does have a purpose and a plan for you, and He has the power to carry out that plan. It's one thing to know that no person or circumstance can touch us outside of God's sovereign control; it's still another to realize that no person or circumstances can frustrate God's purpose for our lives.

God has an overarching purpose for all believers: to conform us to the likeness of His Son, Jesus Christ (Romans 8:29). He also has a specific purpose for each of us that is His unique, tailor-made plan for our individual life (Ephesians 2:10). And God will fulfill that purpose. As Psalm 138:8 says, "The LORD will fulfill his purpose for me." Because we know God is directing our lives to an ultimate end and because we know He is sovereignly able to orchestrate the events of our lives toward that end, we can trust Him. We can commit to Him not only the ultimate outcome of our lives, but also all the intermediate events and circumstances that will bring us to that outcome.

Trusting God

Week 37 / FRIDAY

A CONSTANT FIGHT

Keep yourself pure.

(i TIMOTHY 5:22)

Not only must there be a universal fight against sin; there must also be a constant fight against it. We must put sin to death continually, every day, as the flesh seeks to assert itself in various ways in our lives. No believer, regardless of how spiritually mature he or she may be, ever gets beyond the need to mortify the sinful deeds of the body.

John Owen wrote, "Even the choicest saints who seek to remain free from the condemning power of sin need to make it their business, as long as they live, to mortify the indwelling power of sin .1171

To mortify sin we must focus on its true nature. So often we are troubled with a persistent sin only because it disturbs our peace and makes us feel guilty. We need to focus on it as an act of rebellion against God. Our rebellion is, of course, against the sovereign authority of God. But it is also rebellion against our heavenly Father who loved us and sent His Son to die for us. God our Father is grieved by our sins.

Genesis 6:5-6 tells us, "The LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. And the LORD was sorry that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him to his heart." Your sin and my sin are not only acts of rebellion; they are acts that grieve God. Think of the persistent sin patterns in your life that you've identified and are hopefully praying daily over, and remember that these are grievous to your heavenly Father. And yet, He sent His Son to die for those very sins that fill His heart with pain.

The Discipline of Grace

Week 37 / WEEKEND

WHAT OTHERS THINK

Am I trying to please man?

(GALATIANS 1:10)

Often we don't enjoy our freedom in Christ because we're afraid of what others will think. We do or don't do certain things because of a fear that we'll be judged by others. But standing firm in our freedom in Christ means resisting that fear. In Galatians, Paul wrote, "Am I now seeking the approval of man, or of God? Or am I trying to please man? If I were still trying to please man, I would not be a servant of Christ" (Galatians 1:10).

I had to learn this lesson the hard way. Surprisingly soon after the death of my first wife, God brought into my life another godly lady - a single woman who had been a family friend for many years. As our friendship deepened into a romantic relationship, I became concerned about what people would think. I knew I would be violating the culturally accepted maxim of "don't make any major decisions the first year." I also sensed an inner compulsion in my spirit, which I felt was from God, to move ahead. My journal during those days records numerous times when I struggled with God over this issue. One day I wrote, "I wonder if God is pushing me along faster in this relationship than I want to go because of fear of what people will think."

I'd put God in the box of our culturally accepted norm. Surely He wouldn't do anything in my life that would be unacceptable to my friends. God was actually doing a wonderful thing, but instead of fully enjoying His work of grace, I was struggling with Him because of what people might think.

If you're going to experience the joy of your freedom in Christ, you have to decide whether you'll please God or people.

Transforming Grace

Week 38 / MONDAY

WHY SIN IS WRONG

How often they rebelled against him ... and grieved him!

(PSALM 78:40)

The verb mortify, or put to death, is used eleven times in the New Testament. In nine of those instances it refers to a literal putting to death of a person; each of those is in the context of an underlying hostility toward what that person stood for. For example, in Matthew 10:21: "Children will rebel against their parents and have them put to death" (Niv). The hostility is not only toward the parents but also toward their authority. Likewise Stephen, the first Christian martyr, was put to death because of his bold, uncompromising witness for Jesus Christ (Acts 7).

Now apply that sense of hostility toward the sin you wish to mortify. See your sin for what it is and what it stands for - a rebellion against God, a breaking of His law, a despising of His authority, a grieving of His heart. This is where mortification actually begins, with a right attitude toward sin. It begins with the realization that sin is wrong, not because of what it does to me or my spouse or child or neighbor, but because it is an act of rebellion against the infinitely holy and majestic God who sent His Son to be the propitiation for my sins.

Think of an unusually persistent sin in your life - perhaps some secret lust that lies in your heart that only you know about. You say you cannot overcome it. Why not? Is it because you exalt your secret desire above the will of God? If we are to succeed in putting sin to death, we must realize that the sin we are dealing with is none other than a continual exalting of our desire over God's known will.

The Discipline of Grace

Week 38 / TUESDAY

His FULL-GROWN CHILD

You have received the Spirit of adoption as sons.

ROMANS 8:15)

What does it mean to be adopted as sons by God? The adoption Paul refers to is not that of an infant or small child. In Jewish culture, it would refer to the status of those who had advanced from minors to full-grown sons. And in Roman culture, wealthy couples would adopt a worthy young man to be their heir and carry on the family name.

Even the brand-new believer comes into the family of God with the full rights of an adult son. Although this new believer is a spiritual babe and needs discipling from more mature Christians, he has all the rights and privileges of a full-grown son.

A good sense of this can be seen in the prodigal son's restoration after his return from the far country (Luke 15:22-24). The father orders the servants to quickly bring the best robe, a ring, and sandals. The robe would have been a status symbol, the ring probably an indication of family authority, and the sandals a sign of sonship. This once-rebellious son is immediately restored to a position of dignity, honor, and full acceptance, and even becomes the guest of honor at a feast of celebration.

We should never lose sight of the fact that we were rebels, objects of God's wrath, and on death row. The tremendous contrast between what we once were and what we have become by His grace makes our sonship so amazing. We have been redeemed from slavery to sin and Satan, clothed with the robe of Christ's perfect righteousness, and given status as sons in the royal household.

I hope you're encouraged to live as a full-grown child of God through Jesus Christ our Lord.

The Gospel for Real Life

Week 38 / WEDNESDAY

CONTROLLERS

Test everything; hold fast what is good.

(1 THESSALONIANS 5:21)

"Controllers" are people who aren't willing to let you live your life before God as you believe He's leading you. They have all the issues buttoned down and have cast-iron opinions about all of them. These people only know black and white. There are no gray areas to them.

They insist you live your Christian life according to their rules and their opinions. If you insist on being free to live as God wants you to live, they will try to intimidate you and manipulate you one way or another. Their primary weapons are guilt trips, rejection, or gossip.

These people must be resisted. We must not allow them to subvert the freedom we have in Christ. Paul treated the legalism in the Galatian church as heresy, and he called down a curse on its perpetrators. I'm not prepared to go that far with our present-day legalists/controllers, but I want to tell you their actions are no incidental matter. Their presence in our evangelical ranks is much more than a minor irritant, like a fly buzzing around our heads. There are spiritual casualties all over our nation today because of the effects of legalistic controllers in their lives.

Controllers have been around a long time. More than three hundred years ago, the Puritan Samuel Bolton wrote these instructive words: "Let us never surrender our judgments or our consciences to be at the disposal and opinions of others, and to be subjected to the sentences and determinations of men.... It is my exhortation therefore to all Christians to maintain their Christian freedom by constant watchfulness. You must not be tempted or threatened out of it; you must not be bribed or frightened from it; you must not let either force or fraud rob you of it."72

Transforming Grace

Week 38 / THURSDAY

GOD'S FATHERLY RESPONSIBILITIES

0 LORD, you are our Father.

(IsAIAH 64:8)

What does it mean in everyday life that God is our Father? Let me suggest five fatherly responsibilities that God has assumed toward His children.

God provides for us. "And my God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus" (Philippians 4:19, NIV).

God protects us. "Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from the will of your Father. And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. So don't be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows" (Matthew 10:29-31, NIV).

God encourages us. "You hear, 0 LORD, the desire of the afflicted; you encourage them, and you listen to their cry" (Psalm 10:17, NIV).

God comforts us. "Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God" (2 Corinthians 1:3-4, NIV).

God disciplines us. "Our fathers disciplined us for a little while as they thought best; but God disciplines us for our good, that we may share in his holiness" (Hebrews 12:10, NIV).

I realize, and can testify from my own experience, that there are times when it does not seem as if God is doing any of these things. There are times when it seems as if He has forsaken us. At such times we need to lay hold of such promises as "Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you" (Hebrews 13:5, NIV). God in His own inscrutable way is always at work to fulfill His role as our perfect heavenly Father.

The Gospel for Real Life

Week 38 / FRIDAY

MIGHTY, TENDERHEARTED FATHER

For in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith.

(GALATIANS 3:26)

For some the very word father brings up images of harshness, cruelty, abuse, unfaithfulness, or perhaps just plain indifference. I remember the words of one student: "If God is like my father, I want nothing to do with God." Happily, God is not like his father. God "is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and rich in love" (Psalm 145:8, NIV).

Whether we have a father whom we respect and cherish or one who is worthy to be despised, we should never form our view of God from any human pattern. Rather, we should go to the Bible to get a true picture of our heavenly Father.

Note the contrasting views of God in Psalm 147:3-4: "He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds. He determines the number of the stars and calls them each by name" (Niv). The same God who by His mighty power creates and sustains the stars in their courses is at the same time the tenderhearted God who heals the broken and binds up their wounds. The psalms are replete with such fatherly images of God.

As we think of this relationship to God as our heavenly Father, we must always bear one important truth in mind. We have this relationship only through Jesus Christ. It's only because of our union with Christ that we are God's children and He is our Father. That's why Paul wrote, "In him [that is, through our union with Christ] and through faith in him we may approach God with freedom and confidence" (Ephesians 3:12, Niv; see also Ephesians 2:18; Hebrews 10:19-22).

Our status as children of God is one more glorious aspect of our inexhaustible treasure in "the unsearchable riches of Christ" (Ephesians 3:8).

The Gospel for Real Life

Week 38 / WEEKEND

MORTIFY YOUR SINFUL DESIRES

Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.

(GALATIANS 5:24)

We must realize that in putting sin to death we're saying no to our own desires. Sin most often appeals to us through our desires, or what the older writers called our affections. Not all desires, of course, are sinful; we can desire to know God, to obey Him, and to serve Him. There are many good, positive desires.

The Scriptures, however, speak of "deceitful desires" (Ephesians 4:22), evil "passions" (1 Peter 1:14), and "passions of the flesh" (1 Peter 2:11). The apostle James told us, "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" (James 1:14-15).

It is evil desire that causes us to sin. All sin is desired, or perhaps the perceived benefits of the sin are desired, before the sin is acted upon. Satan appeals to us first of all through our desires. Eve saw "that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom" (Genesis 3:6). Note how the concept of desire is implied in "good for food" and "pleasing to the eye," as well as explicitly mentioned in "desirable for gaining wisdom."

John Owen was very perceptive on this subject: "Sin also carries on its war by entangling the affections [desires] and drawing them into an alliance against the mind [our reason]. Grace may be enthroned in the mind, but if sin controls the affections, it has seized a fort from which it will continually assault the soul. Hence, as we shall see, mortification is chiefly directed to take place upon the affections."73

The Discipline of Grace

Week 39 / MONDAY

THE LURE OF INDEPENDENCE

In his hand is the life of every living thing and the breath of all mankind.

(Jos 12:10)

God's grace assumes our sinfulness, guilt, and ill-deservedness- and it also assumes our weakness and inability. Just as grace is opposed to the pride of self-righteousness, so it is also opposed to the pride of selfsufficiency. The sin of self-sufficiency goes all the way back to the Fall in the Garden of Eden.

Satan's temptation of Eve was undoubtedly complex and many faceted. That is, it included what we would now consider a number of different temptations. But one of those facets was the temptation of selfsufficiency.

Satan said to Eve, "You will be like God, knowing good and evil" (Genesis 3:5). Mankind was created to be dependent upon God-physically: "In him we live and move and have our being" (Acts 17:28); and spiritually: Jesus said, "Apart from me you can do nothing" (John 15:5). God intended our dependence on Him to be conscious and continuous, just as it was for Jesus with the Father: "The Son can do nothing of his own accord, but only what he sees the Father doing.... I can do nothing on my own" (John 5:19,30).

But Satan tempted Eve to assert her autonomy and self-sufficiency. As G. Ch. Aalders said, "That ideal of sovereign independence, which had been presented to her by the serpent, lured her on, `and she took some [of the fruit] and ate it. "74

Ever since the Fall, God has continually worked to cause His people to realize their utter dependence on Him. He does this through bringing us to the point of human extremity where we have no place to turn but to Him.

Transforming Grace

Week 39 / TUESDAY

SEEING ANGERS CAUSE

The LORD said to Cain, "Why are you angry?"

(GENESIS 4:6)

In facing up to our anger, we need to realize that no one else causes us to be angry. Someone else's words or actions may become the occasion of our anger, but the cause lies deep within us - usually our pride, selfishness, or desire to control.

We can choose how we'll respond to the sinful actions of others toward us. Consider Peter's words to slaves in the first-century churches, who often served under cruel masters. We might think they would be justified in their anger, but Peter told them, "Be subject to your masters with all respect, not only to the good and gentle but also to the unjust. For this is a gracious thing, when, mindful of God, one endures sorrows while suffering unjustly.... If when you do good and suffer for it you endure, this is a gracious thing in the sight of God" (1 Peter 2:18-20).

Peter's instructions to slaves are a specific application of a broader scriptural principle: In responding to any unjust treatment, we're to be "mindful of God" - to think of His will and His glory. How would God have me respond in this situation? How can I best glorify God by my response? Do I believe this difficult situation or unjust treatment is under God's sovereign control, and that in His infinite wisdom and goodness He's using these difficult circumstances to conform me more to the likeness of Christ? (See Romans 8:28; Hebrews 12:4-11.) I'm realistic enough to know that in the emotional heat of a tense situation, we won't go through a checklist of questions such as these. But we can and should develop the habit of thinking this way.

Respectable Sins

Week 39 / WEDNESDAY

WITH No UNCERTAINTY

Be all the more diligent to make your calling and election sure.

(2 PETER 1:10)

Life is filled with uncertainties, some major, some minor. But whether the issue is significant or trivial - waiting for the results of a cancer biopsy or wondering if you'll make your connecting flight - no one likes uncertainty.

"How may we attain a right relationship with God?" is the most important question we can ever ask. That being true, it follows that uncertainty over whether that relationship is real has to be the greatest uncertainty of all. If a cancer biopsy rates an eight or nine on our stress scale, this question has to be off the chart.

God, however, doesn't want us to be uncertain about it. As the apostle John said, "I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life" (1 John 5:13). God wants us to know we have eternal life. To some people the claim to know such a thing sounds presumptuous and arrogant. But if God wants us to know it, we're only laying hold of what pleases Him when we affirm our assurance of eternal life.

How then can I know that I have eternal life - that I've indeed come into a right relationship with God? The Scriptures show us three means by which God assures us that we do have eternal life: (1) the promises of His Word, (2) the witness of the Spirit in our hearts, and (3) the transforming work of the Spirit in our lives.

The unsearchable riches of Christ are a treasure trove of blessings given to us. Part of that treasure is the assurance God gives that we do have eternal life. Don't stop short of availing yourself of His riches until you have that assurance.

The Gospel for Real Life

Week 39 / THURSDAY

NEVER SATISFIED

The eye is not satisfied with seeing, nor the ear filled with hearing.

(ECCLESIASTES 1:8)

Mortification involves a struggle between what we know to be right (our convictions) and what we desire to do. This is the struggle depicted by the apostle Paul when he wrote, "For the sinful nature desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the sinful nature. They are in conflict with each other, so that you do not do what you want" (Galatians 5:17, Niv). The person who tends to overindulge in sweets will struggle between a conviction about the importance of self-control and the desire to eat that delicious, tempting dessert. The man who has developed a habit of undisciplined and wandering eyes will struggle between a conviction regarding purity and the desire to indulge a lustful look. Whatever our particular areas of vulnerability to sin are, mortification is going to involve struggle - often intense struggle - in those areas.

The ceaselessness of this struggle is suggested to us in Proverbs 27:20: "Death and Destruction are never satisfied, and neither are the eyes of man" (Niv).

Our eyes, of course, are often the gateway to our desires. But whether the appeal to our desires comes through the eye or another avenue such as the memory, our desires are never satisfied. But it is these sinful desires that must be mortified, that is, subdued and weakened in their power to entice us into sin.

It is always emotionally painful to say no to those desires, especially when they represent recurring sin patterns, because those desires run deep and strong. They cry out for fulfillment. That is why Paul used such strong language: "Put to death therefore what is earthly in you" (Colossians 3:5).

The Discipline of Grace

Week 39 / FRIDAY

UTTER DEPENDENCE

Man lives by every word that comes from the mouth of the LORD.

(DEUTERONOMY 8:3)

On the first page of the notebook I use for morning devotions and prayer, I've written these words from J. A. Thompson's commentary on Deuteronomy 8:2-3: "Already during the forty years of wandering God had taught Israel utter dependence on Him for water and food. Hunger and thirst could not be satisfied by human aid but only by God. The need for such divine provision in the hour of their extremity could not but humiliate the people.... Without the divine word the food itself may not be available.... Nothing was possible without Him, and even to eat they had to await His pleasure."75

The fact is, I'm just as dependent on God for water and food as were the people of Israel in the desert. God provided for the Israelites through a continual daily miracle for forty years. He has provided for me and my family through His providential circumstances, also for many years. God wanted the Israelites to remember their utter dependence on Him, so He used an extremity of need and a miraculous provision to capture their attention. Still, they forgot. How much easier is it for us to forget when God is supplying our needs through ordinary, mundane ways.

It's even more difficult for us to learn our dependence on God in the spiritual realm. We can exist for months -going through the motions, perhaps even teaching Sunday school or serving as an elder or deacondepending on nothing more than mere natural human resources.

If I'm dependent in the physical realm, how much more in the spiritual realm, where our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against spiritual forces of evil (Ephesians 6:12)?

Transforming Grace

Week 39 / WEEKEND

PROMISED FAITH

Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.

(ROMANS 10:13)

We've seen that faith is the gift of God. Some may wonder whether God has truly given them this gift. But that's the wrong question. Instead we should focus on God's promises given without restriction.

Consider these gracious invitations: "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" (Isaiah 55:1). "The Spirit and the Bride say, `Come.' And let the one who hears say, `Come.' And let the one who is thirsty come; let the one who desires take the water of life without price" (Revelation 22:17).

Thirst is a metaphorical description here of those who realize their need of a Savior. And "he who has no money" is a picture of one who renounces any confidence in his own good works as the way to a right relationship with God. Does this describe you? Have you realized you have no spiritual "money" with which to "buy" eternal life? If so, have you responded to these gracious invitations, coming as one who longs for that right relationship with God? God has promised that you'll drink freely of the gift of the water of life.

Look also at the gracious words of Jesus in John 6:37: "All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out." If you've truly come to Him, sincerely asking Him to be your Savior, He will not drive you away.

Don't ask, "Do I have faith?" Ask rather, "Do I believe the promises of God?" If you do, it's because God has given you the gift of faith. Let God's promises drive away doubt.

The Gospel for Real Life

Week 40 / MONDAY

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