What Did Jesus Do?
The elder to the elect lady and her children…
2 John 1
When we consider that Jesus came to raise up one family, God’s family, by repairing the breach between the Father and his children, isn’t it ironic how so many churches take such pains to separate themselves from other churches? Even more, isn’t it troubling? And this is to say nothing about the internal acrimony and division present in a lot of congregations. But, as the Second Letter of John makes clear, Church is all about family, family brought together and held together in and through Jesus, who raised up fathers, many sisters, and lots of children, in truth and in love, and made them one family, God’s family.
Though there is still some ongoing debate as to the authorship of 2 John, it seems pretty clear that it is the same person who penned 1 John (and 3 John), there are so many stylistic and thematic similarities. And there is almost no question at all that 1 John is the work of the author of the Gospel of the same name—John, the apostle, and as we see here, the elder. Elder (Greek presbuteros) is sometimes translated in English as overseer. In the New Testament it is a title which represents one with authority over one or more congregations or fellowship of believers in the First Century. It is quite a natural title for someone like John, who was literally an old man by the time of the canonical letters, and one who looked upon the members of the Church as his little children (1 John 2:1, 28; 3:7; 4:4). John not only understood that he had an apostolic responsibility for the Church, but also expressed a paternal love for her ( We often use the feminine personal pronoun when talking about the Church, for the Church is the Bride of Christ, she is, as John writes here, the elect lady.). They were one family, God’s family.
Those of Christianity’s first generation, John and the other apostles, were fathers whose proclamation of the word of life called, formed, and sustained the Church in intimate fellowship with the Father and the Son (1 John 1:1-3). John and the other apostles proclaimed the truth, and shared with the Church a life characterized by both knowledge of the truth, and loving relationships in the truth (2 John 1). They were one family, God’s family.
Even as the Church catholic (universal) was betrothed to Christ, she also existed and functioned in particular places, and for specific gatherings of believers, as the elect lady in a house, or in a city. The many particular churches were as daughters to the apostles, and sisters (2 John 13) to one another. They were one family, God’s family.
No family, not even God’s will be around for more than one generation, if there are no children. But the elect lady was not barren, she had children, lots of children. And for these children, these little children, John also had an abiding love. For the children, like John, and the elect lady, abided in the truth forever (2 John 2). They were one family, God’s family.
Today, when many churches are barely on speaking terms with one another, if the Church is one family, it is one broken and dysfunctional family. If the elect lady and her children in our day are going to abide in the same truth and love as John and the Church once did, it will only be through our common acknowledgment of the truth of Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord, and our submission to Jesus and to one another in love. It is this truth and this love alone which can make of us one family, God’s family.
S.D.G.
Jim
www.jimwilkenministries.org
Marion, NC
PS 37.4
Tuesday, January 31, 2012
Subscription Invitation
The majority of people who read What Did Jesus Do? receive them directly via email. Recently, we've contacted our "e-clock" inviting them to officially become subscribers. Not that we have lots of blog followers, but we would also like to invite those of you who are, to also become subscribers and receive the WDJDs directly in your inbox. Below is the text of our "Subscription" invitation.
We've emailed something over 400 What Did Jesus Do? devotions over the last two and a half years. Some of you have been receiving them pretty much from the beginning of our ministry, while others have only recently been added to the address book. Certainly, long-time or recent recipient, we hope you find the WDJDs more helpful than not, and take time to read them, well, more often than not.
Up to now we have not required any kind of subscription to receive WDJDs. Unfortunately, times being what they are, we are facing some real financial challenges. Therefore, commencing March 1st of this year, we are going to ask everyone to become a subscriber (Don't worry, you'll be amazed at how cheaply you can keep getting the WDJDs. Essentially, there are four subscription options, two of which don't cost a cent:
1. Simply acknowledge via return email that you would like to continue to receive
WDJD emails, and we'll keep sending them to you (If we don't hear from you by
March 1, however, we will take that as an indication of disinterest, and remove
you from the mailing list).
2. Indicate via return email that you would like to continue to receive WDJD
emails, and help grow this ministry by sending us the names and email addresses
of family and friends who you want to receive, well, a "gift" subscription.
(This still won't cost you a penny, but you will be helping us as you help
us to grow the audience for this ministry).
3. Become a paying subscriber for the super low price of $2 a month ($24.00
annually). What a bargain! Your subscription may be conveniently paid through
our website using PayPal.
4. Become a paying subscriber, and sustainer of this ministry as well, at the
level of $40 or more, and we will send you as a thank you a copy of I Just
Wanna Ride (One man's ride to real faith...), by Dr. Bob Kopp, a biker and
Presbyterian pastor, who challenges both those who mount chrome ponies and
those who sit in pews, or stand in a pulpit, to live authentically after the
example of Jesus.
Now, I have to be frank here, if everyone takes option 1 or 2, we may have to shut down the ministry because we simply won't have the money to keep even our shoestring operation going. Nonetheless, we trust that, ultimately, it is the Lord who provides for you, and for us, and for all.
We hope 2012 has begun well for you, and pray God will bless and highly favor you, and position you to prosper.
Christ IS All!
Jim
www.jimwilkenministries.org
Marion, NC
PS 37.3
We've emailed something over 400 What Did Jesus Do? devotions over the last two and a half years. Some of you have been receiving them pretty much from the beginning of our ministry, while others have only recently been added to the address book. Certainly, long-time or recent recipient, we hope you find the WDJDs more helpful than not, and take time to read them, well, more often than not.
Up to now we have not required any kind of subscription to receive WDJDs. Unfortunately, times being what they are, we are facing some real financial challenges. Therefore, commencing March 1st of this year, we are going to ask everyone to become a subscriber (Don't worry, you'll be amazed at how cheaply you can keep getting the WDJDs. Essentially, there are four subscription options, two of which don't cost a cent:
1. Simply acknowledge via return email that you would like to continue to receive
WDJD emails, and we'll keep sending them to you (If we don't hear from you by
March 1, however, we will take that as an indication of disinterest, and remove
you from the mailing list).
2. Indicate via return email that you would like to continue to receive WDJD
emails, and help grow this ministry by sending us the names and email addresses
of family and friends who you want to receive, well, a "gift" subscription.
(This still won't cost you a penny, but you will be helping us as you help
us to grow the audience for this ministry).
3. Become a paying subscriber for the super low price of $2 a month ($24.00
annually). What a bargain! Your subscription may be conveniently paid through
our website using PayPal.
4. Become a paying subscriber, and sustainer of this ministry as well, at the
level of $40 or more, and we will send you as a thank you a copy of I Just
Wanna Ride (One man's ride to real faith...), by Dr. Bob Kopp, a biker and
Presbyterian pastor, who challenges both those who mount chrome ponies and
those who sit in pews, or stand in a pulpit, to live authentically after the
example of Jesus.
Now, I have to be frank here, if everyone takes option 1 or 2, we may have to shut down the ministry because we simply won't have the money to keep even our shoestring operation going. Nonetheless, we trust that, ultimately, it is the Lord who provides for you, and for us, and for all.
We hope 2012 has begun well for you, and pray God will bless and highly favor you, and position you to prosper.
Christ IS All!
Jim
www.jimwilkenministries.org
Marion, NC
PS 37.3
Monday, January 30, 2012
Jesus Forgave Ceaselessly and Loved Exceedingly
What Did Jesus Do?
And Jesus said, “Father, forgive them…”
And Jesus said to the thief who was also being crucified,
“Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise.”
Luke 23:34, 43
Pain makes me angry. Really. Like some wild beast with a wound that drives it crazy, when I’m hurt I can lose it in an instant. Like when the hammer hits the wrong nail. Or the garage door with the old, weak, stretched out spring hangs down just far enough, and at just the right angle, to crack my head open. Hey, I’ve got scars on my head to prove that the door has it in for me. And, even though hammers and doors don’t have parents, I will bellow in pain a few choice phrases about the subject. Pain makes me angry. Like when some does me wrong. I don’t usually say the things to them that I say to hammers and garage doors, but I will develop and nurture a pernicious enmity towards them that is totally contrary to who I’m supposed to be in Jesus. When I’m hurt, when the pain penetrates deep, I forget that I am a follower of Jesus, who forgave ceaselessly and loved exceedingly.
Think, for just a moment, about His forgiveness and His love. In particular, think about them in the context of Christ hanging on the cross. Even as the onlookers scoffed and mocked him in his dying agonies, Jesus pleaded for forgiveness of the ones who hated him and hurt him so much worse than I have ever, or will ever, be hurt. And, if people don’t know what they do, how much less a hammer or a garage door? So, I’m going public with my confession and forgiveness, “Hammer, I forgive you for all the times you’ve smashed my thumb. And, garage door, though I will carry the scars on my scalp to my grave, I forgive you too.” Guess that sounds kind of silly, doesn’t it? So, here’s something a little more serious, I’m forgiving all those people who have, and those who no doubt will sometime down the road, hurt me (Whether they know they’re hurting me or not), whom I have been so angry with. If this includes any of you who are reading this, I ask you to please forgive me for being not only a jerk, but so un-Christian towards you. And, as not only the Lord, but you also, are my witnesses, hold me accountable and help me to be as ceaselessly forgiving as my Savior.
Now, unlike the way so many practice forgiving and “forgetting” (You know, they forgive and forget how they are to love others, especially those who hurt them), I need to move on to the practice of loving like Jesus, which is to say exceedingly, which it to say deeply, fully, visibly, vocally, and to the very end. I mean, there are so many examples of Jesus loving so many people in so many ways, but I can’t think of one more moving than when the Lord loved the thief who was hanging on the cross next to his own, and pledged in effect to love him forever, for death could not and would not part them. THAT’s some kind of love! Even “crazy” love, the love of Christ for those who broke his heart, love even for his far from perfect bride.
I’m not going to presume to say it’s what’s wrong with your life, or the life of the Church, but I know it’s been messing up my life for a long time, hurt and anger that lead to unforgiveness and anything but love. Not that I’m going to be able to keep from being hurt, and losing it at least a little. But from this time on I don’t want to ever cease forgiving, and I want my love today to exceed my love yesterday, and my love tomorrow to exceed my love today, and on and on without end. That’s what Jesus did.
S.D.G.
Jim
www.jimwilkenministries.org
Marion, NC
PS 37.4
And Jesus said, “Father, forgive them…”
And Jesus said to the thief who was also being crucified,
“Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise.”
Luke 23:34, 43
Pain makes me angry. Really. Like some wild beast with a wound that drives it crazy, when I’m hurt I can lose it in an instant. Like when the hammer hits the wrong nail. Or the garage door with the old, weak, stretched out spring hangs down just far enough, and at just the right angle, to crack my head open. Hey, I’ve got scars on my head to prove that the door has it in for me. And, even though hammers and doors don’t have parents, I will bellow in pain a few choice phrases about the subject. Pain makes me angry. Like when some does me wrong. I don’t usually say the things to them that I say to hammers and garage doors, but I will develop and nurture a pernicious enmity towards them that is totally contrary to who I’m supposed to be in Jesus. When I’m hurt, when the pain penetrates deep, I forget that I am a follower of Jesus, who forgave ceaselessly and loved exceedingly.
Think, for just a moment, about His forgiveness and His love. In particular, think about them in the context of Christ hanging on the cross. Even as the onlookers scoffed and mocked him in his dying agonies, Jesus pleaded for forgiveness of the ones who hated him and hurt him so much worse than I have ever, or will ever, be hurt. And, if people don’t know what they do, how much less a hammer or a garage door? So, I’m going public with my confession and forgiveness, “Hammer, I forgive you for all the times you’ve smashed my thumb. And, garage door, though I will carry the scars on my scalp to my grave, I forgive you too.” Guess that sounds kind of silly, doesn’t it? So, here’s something a little more serious, I’m forgiving all those people who have, and those who no doubt will sometime down the road, hurt me (Whether they know they’re hurting me or not), whom I have been so angry with. If this includes any of you who are reading this, I ask you to please forgive me for being not only a jerk, but so un-Christian towards you. And, as not only the Lord, but you also, are my witnesses, hold me accountable and help me to be as ceaselessly forgiving as my Savior.
Now, unlike the way so many practice forgiving and “forgetting” (You know, they forgive and forget how they are to love others, especially those who hurt them), I need to move on to the practice of loving like Jesus, which is to say exceedingly, which it to say deeply, fully, visibly, vocally, and to the very end. I mean, there are so many examples of Jesus loving so many people in so many ways, but I can’t think of one more moving than when the Lord loved the thief who was hanging on the cross next to his own, and pledged in effect to love him forever, for death could not and would not part them. THAT’s some kind of love! Even “crazy” love, the love of Christ for those who broke his heart, love even for his far from perfect bride.
I’m not going to presume to say it’s what’s wrong with your life, or the life of the Church, but I know it’s been messing up my life for a long time, hurt and anger that lead to unforgiveness and anything but love. Not that I’m going to be able to keep from being hurt, and losing it at least a little. But from this time on I don’t want to ever cease forgiving, and I want my love today to exceed my love yesterday, and my love tomorrow to exceed my love today, and on and on without end. That’s what Jesus did.
S.D.G.
Jim
www.jimwilkenministries.org
Marion, NC
PS 37.4
Sunday, January 29, 2012
Jesus Came And Crowned Creation With His Incarnation
What Did Jesus Do?
But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son,
born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law,
so that we might receive adoption as sons.
Galatians 4:4-5
When we finish a job, we like to rest and recreate. When we’ve done a good job, we are sure we’ve earned some “R & R.” And, if the work we have completed is very good, well, surely, there should be some extended rest and recreation. And why not, God established the rhythm of work and rest in the beginning, when he ceased from his labors on the seventh day, going so far as to make the seventh day holy (Genesis 2:2-3). The finished work of God in the beginning, which, it must be acknowledged, was “very good” (Genesis 1:31), was tragically broken, and God had to get right back to work to keep all creation from going to, well, hell. And it all but did (Check out Genesis 6-9, and the balance of the Old Testament to see how close a call it was). But, though God had to get back to work to clean up the spill, the Fall actually, in the middle of the Garden of Eden (And it would take more than Adam and Eve could have ever imagined to clean up the mess they made.), the ordinance establishing a regular time of rest and recreation has remained, all modern evidence and lifestyles to the contrary not withstanding. For God perseveres; he’s not a quitter you know. So, through call and covenant, through patriarchs and prophets, through kingdoms that crumbled, and exiles who exited, and remnants who returned, he was faithful, until, when the fullness of time had come, he sent forth his Son. And, from Bethlehem to Egypt, from Egypt to Nazareth, from Nazareth to Jerusalem, from Jerusalem to the Cross, from the Cross to the Grave, from the Grave to Glory, Jesus came and crowned creation with his incarnation.
In other words, knowing all along that it would be necessary for his work to be consummated in the passion and the glory of the Crucifixion and Resurrection of his Son, the Father created, so that Jesus would, in the absolute ripeness of the most Kairos of kairos moments, perform the work of re-creation, that would redeem, would transform and radically make over, humanity, in and through himself by the power of the Holy Spirit. In and through Jesus, the creation, which was very good from the beginning, becomes glorious through the Father's works of re-creation in and through the incarnation of the Son.
Now, here’s the thing, God is still glorified through the re-creative power of incarnational lives. That’s right, the work which Christ completed on the Cross continues, and shall continue, to re-create, to transform, to radically make-over those who are fallen and broken, as the Lord’s disciples live like Jesus by loving like Jesus. The power of the incarnation, the power to re-create, is nothing other than the power of God’s love manifest by the presence and power of the Holy Spirit. As it was the power of the Holy Spirit in the Son that enabled him to accomplish the work the Father sent him to do, so the Father gives the same Spirit to all who follow Jesus, that we would be enabled to live incarnationally.
You see, redemption is so much more than restoration, so much more than being made as good as new. If in Christ we are made no better than good as new, we would be no better than Adam. Praise God that, in and through Jesus by the power of God’s love and the work of the Holy Spirit, what was very good in the beginning is made perfect unto the end of time, and forever and ever. Creation is crowned by the Incarnate One who lives in those who believe in and bear his name!
S.D.G.
Jim
www.jimwilkenministries.org
Marion, NC
PS 37.4
But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son,
born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law,
so that we might receive adoption as sons.
Galatians 4:4-5
When we finish a job, we like to rest and recreate. When we’ve done a good job, we are sure we’ve earned some “R & R.” And, if the work we have completed is very good, well, surely, there should be some extended rest and recreation. And why not, God established the rhythm of work and rest in the beginning, when he ceased from his labors on the seventh day, going so far as to make the seventh day holy (Genesis 2:2-3). The finished work of God in the beginning, which, it must be acknowledged, was “very good” (Genesis 1:31), was tragically broken, and God had to get right back to work to keep all creation from going to, well, hell. And it all but did (Check out Genesis 6-9, and the balance of the Old Testament to see how close a call it was). But, though God had to get back to work to clean up the spill, the Fall actually, in the middle of the Garden of Eden (And it would take more than Adam and Eve could have ever imagined to clean up the mess they made.), the ordinance establishing a regular time of rest and recreation has remained, all modern evidence and lifestyles to the contrary not withstanding. For God perseveres; he’s not a quitter you know. So, through call and covenant, through patriarchs and prophets, through kingdoms that crumbled, and exiles who exited, and remnants who returned, he was faithful, until, when the fullness of time had come, he sent forth his Son. And, from Bethlehem to Egypt, from Egypt to Nazareth, from Nazareth to Jerusalem, from Jerusalem to the Cross, from the Cross to the Grave, from the Grave to Glory, Jesus came and crowned creation with his incarnation.
In other words, knowing all along that it would be necessary for his work to be consummated in the passion and the glory of the Crucifixion and Resurrection of his Son, the Father created, so that Jesus would, in the absolute ripeness of the most Kairos of kairos moments, perform the work of re-creation, that would redeem, would transform and radically make over, humanity, in and through himself by the power of the Holy Spirit. In and through Jesus, the creation, which was very good from the beginning, becomes glorious through the Father's works of re-creation in and through the incarnation of the Son.
Now, here’s the thing, God is still glorified through the re-creative power of incarnational lives. That’s right, the work which Christ completed on the Cross continues, and shall continue, to re-create, to transform, to radically make-over those who are fallen and broken, as the Lord’s disciples live like Jesus by loving like Jesus. The power of the incarnation, the power to re-create, is nothing other than the power of God’s love manifest by the presence and power of the Holy Spirit. As it was the power of the Holy Spirit in the Son that enabled him to accomplish the work the Father sent him to do, so the Father gives the same Spirit to all who follow Jesus, that we would be enabled to live incarnationally.
You see, redemption is so much more than restoration, so much more than being made as good as new. If in Christ we are made no better than good as new, we would be no better than Adam. Praise God that, in and through Jesus by the power of God’s love and the work of the Holy Spirit, what was very good in the beginning is made perfect unto the end of time, and forever and ever. Creation is crowned by the Incarnate One who lives in those who believe in and bear his name!
S.D.G.
Jim
www.jimwilkenministries.org
Marion, NC
PS 37.4
Wednesday, January 25, 2012
Jesus Came to Give Us True Understanding of God
What Did Jesus Do?
And we know that the Son of God has come and have given us understanding…
1 John 5:20
In the words of Hitch (Will Smith), “You wouldn’t know the truth if it kicked you in the head.” While the truth didn’t exactly kick him in the head, it, or, more accurately, He, looked Pilate right in the face, and Pilate was clueless (John 18.38). But maybe it/He doesn’t matter all that much—the truth, I mean. Or, perhaps, the truth matters, but not as much as a lot of other things? Should we, like Agent Mulder on the X Files, make knowing the truth a crusade?
Ask someone who should know, say, a Christian. More to the point, ask them, “Why did Jesus come?” We might expect to hear, “To save us” or “To free us” or “To give us eternal life” or perhaps even “To repair the breach between us and God.” But I believe that what Jesus had to say on the subject is of more value than any of our thoughts or opinions. And, not just what Jesus said to his disciples as he traveled from village to village, but the Lord’s actual testimony given to Pontius Pilate at his trial. Do you know the Lord’s testimony on the night before he was crucified? Jesus said, “For this purpose I was born and for this purpose I have come into the world—to bear witness to the truth.” (John 18.37) Kind of makes truth a big deal, doesn’t it? The Lord completed his testimony with these words, “Everyone who is of the truth listens to my voice.” What did Jesus come to do? Jesus came to give us true understanding of God.
Here’s the thing about the truth that Christians know, or should know, it is not an intellectual construct, doctrinal supposition, or abstract philosophical proposition. For Christians, the truth is ultimately not a thing at all, but a who, more specifically a him, and, most specifically, “him who is true”(1 John 5:20). All truth is grounded in, and emanates from, the one true living God, who has made himself known to us in a most intimate and personal way through his Son. Is God knowable, then, only in and through the Son? No. The apostle Paul tells us that God may be known, may be “clearly perceived…in the things he has made.” (Romans 1:20) But the general knowledge of God which is plain to see in his creation does not of itself keep anyone from making a fool of themselves by exchanging the glory of God for images and idols of “mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things.” (Romans 1:23) How, then, do we keep from becoming fools; how can anyone truly know God?
The only way to move from knowing about God, to knowing God, that is to say, to have a fellowship, a personal relationship, with him, is through his Son, Jesus Christ. The Son came to give us understanding in order that we could know the Father (God who is true), and be in the Father (who is true) by being in the Son (Jesus Christ, who came to bear witness to the truth.) The end result of the knowledge of the truth, of knowing God the Father in and through God the Son by power and work of the Holy Spirit is eternal life. To know and abide in the truth is to live in the love of God now and forever, which is the theme of John’s letter to his little children (the Church).
Finally, knowledge of the truth must be guarded, if it is to remain pure and unadulterated. And, any “truth” that is not pure and unadulterated in fact ceases to be true in any meaningful sense. So John closes his letter admonishing his little children to avoid making fools of themselves by turning from the truth to idols (1 John 5:21). There is, at the last, a call to constant vigilance in defense of the truth. John calls the Church, which exists in a world that has little use, and even less love, for truth, to preserve that for which Jesus came into the world—the revelation of true knowledge of the true God.
S.D.G.
Jim
www.jimwilkenministries.org
Marion, NC
Ps 37.4
And we know that the Son of God has come and have given us understanding…
1 John 5:20
In the words of Hitch (Will Smith), “You wouldn’t know the truth if it kicked you in the head.” While the truth didn’t exactly kick him in the head, it, or, more accurately, He, looked Pilate right in the face, and Pilate was clueless (John 18.38). But maybe it/He doesn’t matter all that much—the truth, I mean. Or, perhaps, the truth matters, but not as much as a lot of other things? Should we, like Agent Mulder on the X Files, make knowing the truth a crusade?
Ask someone who should know, say, a Christian. More to the point, ask them, “Why did Jesus come?” We might expect to hear, “To save us” or “To free us” or “To give us eternal life” or perhaps even “To repair the breach between us and God.” But I believe that what Jesus had to say on the subject is of more value than any of our thoughts or opinions. And, not just what Jesus said to his disciples as he traveled from village to village, but the Lord’s actual testimony given to Pontius Pilate at his trial. Do you know the Lord’s testimony on the night before he was crucified? Jesus said, “For this purpose I was born and for this purpose I have come into the world—to bear witness to the truth.” (John 18.37) Kind of makes truth a big deal, doesn’t it? The Lord completed his testimony with these words, “Everyone who is of the truth listens to my voice.” What did Jesus come to do? Jesus came to give us true understanding of God.
Here’s the thing about the truth that Christians know, or should know, it is not an intellectual construct, doctrinal supposition, or abstract philosophical proposition. For Christians, the truth is ultimately not a thing at all, but a who, more specifically a him, and, most specifically, “him who is true”(1 John 5:20). All truth is grounded in, and emanates from, the one true living God, who has made himself known to us in a most intimate and personal way through his Son. Is God knowable, then, only in and through the Son? No. The apostle Paul tells us that God may be known, may be “clearly perceived…in the things he has made.” (Romans 1:20) But the general knowledge of God which is plain to see in his creation does not of itself keep anyone from making a fool of themselves by exchanging the glory of God for images and idols of “mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things.” (Romans 1:23) How, then, do we keep from becoming fools; how can anyone truly know God?
The only way to move from knowing about God, to knowing God, that is to say, to have a fellowship, a personal relationship, with him, is through his Son, Jesus Christ. The Son came to give us understanding in order that we could know the Father (God who is true), and be in the Father (who is true) by being in the Son (Jesus Christ, who came to bear witness to the truth.) The end result of the knowledge of the truth, of knowing God the Father in and through God the Son by power and work of the Holy Spirit is eternal life. To know and abide in the truth is to live in the love of God now and forever, which is the theme of John’s letter to his little children (the Church).
Finally, knowledge of the truth must be guarded, if it is to remain pure and unadulterated. And, any “truth” that is not pure and unadulterated in fact ceases to be true in any meaningful sense. So John closes his letter admonishing his little children to avoid making fools of themselves by turning from the truth to idols (1 John 5:21). There is, at the last, a call to constant vigilance in defense of the truth. John calls the Church, which exists in a world that has little use, and even less love, for truth, to preserve that for which Jesus came into the world—the revelation of true knowledge of the true God.
S.D.G.
Jim
www.jimwilkenministries.org
Marion, NC
Ps 37.4
Tuesday, January 24, 2012
Jesus Made Every Day CHRISTmas
What Did Jesus Do?
“And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
Matthew 28:20
It has been bugging me for a good month now, and, thanks to an article I read in The Week magazine from December 2011, I have come to a conclusion—with Christmas we should either be all in, or we should drop it all together. You see, for the last month I have been posting on Facebook about keeping CHRISTmas every day. Every year we all hear, and many of us say to one another, “Gee, I wish it could be Christmas throughout the year.” But then we all take Christmas and box it up and shove it in the attic, or the basement, or the garage for eleven months or so and forget about it. I’m sorry, but that’s just wrong. Why? Because when he came, Jesus made every day CHRISTmas.
Did you know that the Puritans, you know those folks who brought us Thanksgiving, were strongly, almost violently, opposed to the observance of Christmas? And, did you know, that opposition to Christmas lasted through the colonial era and the birth of this nation, right on into the 19th Century? What? Were the Puritans a bunch of Scrooges? Were we a nation of Grinches? Not at all. Let me explain briefly.
You see, the Puritans were really big on the Bible, particularly its authority. And the Bible, specifically the New Testament, instructs us to put no stock at all in special feast days, new moons, and holy days (Colossians 2:16), even as it never says one word about Christmas or Easter. What’s going on? I think the confusion is largely the result of our not getting Christmas. Christmas, or, if you will, CHRISTmas, is all about the birth of Emmanuel, God with us. And this is a big deal, a VERY BIG deal. Oh sure, Zeus supposedly liked to come and masquerade on the earth, but that was for the purpose of trying to hide his many adulteries. When God, the one true living God, became flesh, it was for a very different purpose. He came to die for us, in order that, by believing in and through him, we should live, and live for ever with him.
Even more, when God, in the person of the Son, Jesus Christ came, it was with the sovereign intention of never again leaving. God, in the person of the Son, and the Holy Spirit, came to stay, even to the end of the age. Again, Jesus came, and promised to never leave or forsake us (Hebrews 13:5). What does all this have to do with the Puritans aversion to the observance of Christmas? Well, because they, unlike most of us, truly believed what the Bible says, they understood every day to be a holy day (holiday) because they truly believed that God was with them, literally, in spirit and in truth, not merely as some kind of intellectual or philosophical construct. Though they didn’t actually come out and say it, I believe the Puritans felt that the observance of Christmas belittled the Incarnation, because, for the sake of one day of celebration the other 364 were lived in tacit denial of the abiding presence and power of Christ.
Again, though they didn’t say it, the Puritans sought to live each and every day as Christmas, or CHRISTmas, believing that the Lord, Emmanuel, was and is among us 24/7/365. Our trouble is, we either don’t believe that Jesus is truly here to stay, or we prefer to live most of our lives as if he isn’t here. Maybe we’ll put the spotlight on Jesus for an hour or so most Sundays. And perhaps we’ll make kind of a big show of Jesus being Lord and Savior on a few special days of the year (Christmas and Easter). But, truly acknowledge and live each day affirming Christ’s active presence in us and in the world, well, don’t you think that’s a bit much? The Puritans didn’t.
So, I am going to keep posting on Facebook about keeping CHRISTmas every day. And, I am going to offer a “Merry Christmas” or two each day in affirmation that every day is CHRISTmas. In and through Jesus, in the power of the Holy Spirit, I am going to live each day in celebration, service, and worship of God, the Father. I invite you to join the observance of CHRISTmas, of God with us, every day. That’s what Jesus did.
S.D.G.
Jim
www.jimwilkenmiistries.org
Marion, NC
PS 37.4
“And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
Matthew 28:20
It has been bugging me for a good month now, and, thanks to an article I read in The Week magazine from December 2011, I have come to a conclusion—with Christmas we should either be all in, or we should drop it all together. You see, for the last month I have been posting on Facebook about keeping CHRISTmas every day. Every year we all hear, and many of us say to one another, “Gee, I wish it could be Christmas throughout the year.” But then we all take Christmas and box it up and shove it in the attic, or the basement, or the garage for eleven months or so and forget about it. I’m sorry, but that’s just wrong. Why? Because when he came, Jesus made every day CHRISTmas.
Did you know that the Puritans, you know those folks who brought us Thanksgiving, were strongly, almost violently, opposed to the observance of Christmas? And, did you know, that opposition to Christmas lasted through the colonial era and the birth of this nation, right on into the 19th Century? What? Were the Puritans a bunch of Scrooges? Were we a nation of Grinches? Not at all. Let me explain briefly.
You see, the Puritans were really big on the Bible, particularly its authority. And the Bible, specifically the New Testament, instructs us to put no stock at all in special feast days, new moons, and holy days (Colossians 2:16), even as it never says one word about Christmas or Easter. What’s going on? I think the confusion is largely the result of our not getting Christmas. Christmas, or, if you will, CHRISTmas, is all about the birth of Emmanuel, God with us. And this is a big deal, a VERY BIG deal. Oh sure, Zeus supposedly liked to come and masquerade on the earth, but that was for the purpose of trying to hide his many adulteries. When God, the one true living God, became flesh, it was for a very different purpose. He came to die for us, in order that, by believing in and through him, we should live, and live for ever with him.
Even more, when God, in the person of the Son, Jesus Christ came, it was with the sovereign intention of never again leaving. God, in the person of the Son, and the Holy Spirit, came to stay, even to the end of the age. Again, Jesus came, and promised to never leave or forsake us (Hebrews 13:5). What does all this have to do with the Puritans aversion to the observance of Christmas? Well, because they, unlike most of us, truly believed what the Bible says, they understood every day to be a holy day (holiday) because they truly believed that God was with them, literally, in spirit and in truth, not merely as some kind of intellectual or philosophical construct. Though they didn’t actually come out and say it, I believe the Puritans felt that the observance of Christmas belittled the Incarnation, because, for the sake of one day of celebration the other 364 were lived in tacit denial of the abiding presence and power of Christ.
Again, though they didn’t say it, the Puritans sought to live each and every day as Christmas, or CHRISTmas, believing that the Lord, Emmanuel, was and is among us 24/7/365. Our trouble is, we either don’t believe that Jesus is truly here to stay, or we prefer to live most of our lives as if he isn’t here. Maybe we’ll put the spotlight on Jesus for an hour or so most Sundays. And perhaps we’ll make kind of a big show of Jesus being Lord and Savior on a few special days of the year (Christmas and Easter). But, truly acknowledge and live each day affirming Christ’s active presence in us and in the world, well, don’t you think that’s a bit much? The Puritans didn’t.
So, I am going to keep posting on Facebook about keeping CHRISTmas every day. And, I am going to offer a “Merry Christmas” or two each day in affirmation that every day is CHRISTmas. In and through Jesus, in the power of the Holy Spirit, I am going to live each day in celebration, service, and worship of God, the Father. I invite you to join the observance of CHRISTmas, of God with us, every day. That’s what Jesus did.
S.D.G.
Jim
www.jimwilkenmiistries.org
Marion, NC
PS 37.4
Monday, January 23, 2012
Jesus Adjusted Our Attitude Towards the World
What Did Jesus Do?
We know that we are from God, and the whole world lies in the power of the evil one.
1 John 5:19
It is a shame that so much of the Church has ignored most of what Jesus said and did, while embracing his rebuke of Peter at Caesarea Philippi (Matthew 16:23). Too many Christians, both individually and corporately in many congregations, are so determined to be heavenly minded that they are of no earthly good to anyone. Forgetting that Jesus came to save, and not to condemn, the world, a lot of folks who claim to follow Jesus imagine they do so by hating and shunning the world. But how can condemning, hating, and shunning ever be the way to follow a Savior who came to love and to redeem? They can’t. The truth is, we cannot follow Christ if our attitude towards the world is 180 degrees opposite of his. Remember, the Father sent the Son because of his great love for the world (John 3:16). So Jesus adjusted our attitude towards the world, in order that we may indeed follow him.
Our problem is, without Jesus, without being born again, we are not of God. And, if we are not of God, we can only be one thing, in the power of the evil one. Yet, John could say to his little children in the First Century, and to the Church in the Twenty-first Century, “We know that we are OF God.” How can we know? When we have a new attitude toward the world.
When we are not of God our attitude toward the world is love of the world, and the things of the world. Apart from God, the way of the world is selfish, slavish, short-sighted—in sum, rebellious and sinful. The way of the world is to pursue pleasure and self-satisfaction; to strive, to seize, to do whatever it takes to have more of the world for ourselves, though, no matter how much of the world we ever experience or own, it is never enough. This is the trap Satan has set for all of us. The more we have of the world, the more we want of the world, even as more of the world ultimately leaves us more and more enslaved to the world, which, apart from Christ, is under the devil’s power.
But when Jesus adjusts our attitude toward the world, our love of the world becomes love for the world. Love for others supplants love of self. Giving to takes the place of taking from. Love for sacrifices, where love of once seized. Love for goes into the world as the Lord commands (Matthew 28:19), it does not turn sanctuaries into safe houses from which to watch the world and the lost as they perish without Jesus.
Knowing that he was from God, Jesus manifested the Father’s love for the world. Knowing that we are from God, we are, in and through the Son who adjusts our attitude toward the world, to also manifest our heavenly Father’s love for the world, by being salt and light in the world and for the world.
S.D.G.
Jim
www.jimwilkenministries.org
Marion, NC
PS 37.4
We know that we are from God, and the whole world lies in the power of the evil one.
1 John 5:19
It is a shame that so much of the Church has ignored most of what Jesus said and did, while embracing his rebuke of Peter at Caesarea Philippi (Matthew 16:23). Too many Christians, both individually and corporately in many congregations, are so determined to be heavenly minded that they are of no earthly good to anyone. Forgetting that Jesus came to save, and not to condemn, the world, a lot of folks who claim to follow Jesus imagine they do so by hating and shunning the world. But how can condemning, hating, and shunning ever be the way to follow a Savior who came to love and to redeem? They can’t. The truth is, we cannot follow Christ if our attitude towards the world is 180 degrees opposite of his. Remember, the Father sent the Son because of his great love for the world (John 3:16). So Jesus adjusted our attitude towards the world, in order that we may indeed follow him.
Our problem is, without Jesus, without being born again, we are not of God. And, if we are not of God, we can only be one thing, in the power of the evil one. Yet, John could say to his little children in the First Century, and to the Church in the Twenty-first Century, “We know that we are OF God.” How can we know? When we have a new attitude toward the world.
When we are not of God our attitude toward the world is love of the world, and the things of the world. Apart from God, the way of the world is selfish, slavish, short-sighted—in sum, rebellious and sinful. The way of the world is to pursue pleasure and self-satisfaction; to strive, to seize, to do whatever it takes to have more of the world for ourselves, though, no matter how much of the world we ever experience or own, it is never enough. This is the trap Satan has set for all of us. The more we have of the world, the more we want of the world, even as more of the world ultimately leaves us more and more enslaved to the world, which, apart from Christ, is under the devil’s power.
But when Jesus adjusts our attitude toward the world, our love of the world becomes love for the world. Love for others supplants love of self. Giving to takes the place of taking from. Love for sacrifices, where love of once seized. Love for goes into the world as the Lord commands (Matthew 28:19), it does not turn sanctuaries into safe houses from which to watch the world and the lost as they perish without Jesus.
Knowing that he was from God, Jesus manifested the Father’s love for the world. Knowing that we are from God, we are, in and through the Son who adjusts our attitude toward the world, to also manifest our heavenly Father’s love for the world, by being salt and light in the world and for the world.
S.D.G.
Jim
www.jimwilkenministries.org
Marion, NC
PS 37.4
Sunday, January 22, 2012
Jesus Enforced God's Limits
What Did Jesus Do?
‘You have heard…But I say to you…”
Matthew 5:21ff
I believe one of the surest signs of the fallen human condition is our obsession with pushing, stretching, and testing limits. Don’t get me wrong, I am very thankful that four years ago doctors were able to take one of my kidneys and put it in my son. Wasn’t all that long ago when such a thing would have been way beyond the limits of medicine. But, for every beneficial advance that has come about as a result of someone pushing, stretching, and testing the limits, there are countless stories of suffering, tragedy, and death brought about by disregard for limits that are in place for our own good. We drink and eat so much more than is good for us that it ruins our health. We so obsess and pursue sexual pleasure that we destroy families, ruin lives, and contract all kinds of nasty STDs. We strive to make ourselves stronger, but kill ourselves with steroids for the sake of building muscle. We note the speed limit, and then consistently drive 5-10 over it even though speeding is one of the top contributing factors of accidents. Why? I truly don’t get it. Here’s the thing, in case you didn’t know this, God is a god of limits. God sets boundaries, draws lines, erects signs that say “Do not go past this point.” The Bible pretty much tells the story of what happens when people obsessively push, stretch, and test God’s limits. Our flaunting of God’s limits began long ago in the Garden of Eden, when we couldn’t help adding to the menu God had given us, and then quickly spread to just about every aspect of our lives. Were God into issuing citations for violation of his limits, all of us would have more summonses to appear before the Judge than we could count. It was so bad, our pushing, stretching, and testing of God’s limits, that the Father had to send the Son. That’s right, Jesus enforced God’s limits.
Not that any of us should try and live by Law, the Old Testament version of God’s limits. No, we’ve been set free from the law of sin and death by the law of the spirit of life to live in Christ Jesus (Romans 8:2). But the free life in Jesus is life within the limits.
Jesus in fact set even stricter limits than those that had been in place for hundreds of years. Sure, people had for generations heard that it was wrong to murder, though they kept right on murdering (Matthew 5:21), but Jesus came to enforce the old limit by setting a new and stricter one (Matthew 5:22). Adultery was never accepted (Well, at least not until recently), that people had long heard that they were to be faithful to the marriage vow (Matthew 5:27), but Jesus came to enforce the old limit by putting a far tighter control on the heart and mind, and eyes of those who are married (Matthew 5:28). Everyone was familiar with the exception God had granted for divorce (Matthew 5:31), but Jesus came to enforce the original limit by establishing a narrower understanding of what was acceptable (Matthew 5:32). False promises, commitments and oaths taken with no intention of ever honoring them, had always been forbidden (Matthew 5:33), but Jesus came to enforce the law prohibiting false oaths by teaching that one should not take an oath at all (Matthew 5:34-37). Retribution had been limited to that which was proportionate to an offense (Matthew 5:38), but Jesus set a whole new limit by instructing that it is wrong to even take offense (Matthew 5:39-42). Jesus even changed the limits of love. Where the limit of love had for years precluded any need, or even possibility, of loving an enemy (Matthew 5:43), Jesus put a much stricter love requirement in place which charges us with loving our friends and our enemies (Matthew 5:44).
Of course, you have probably seen the absurdity in setting stricter limits for people who habitually pushed, stretched, tested the old limits. How could we ever hope to observe the new limits when we have already proven incapable of honoring the old ones? Well, the good news is, the Father didn’t just send an enforcer, he sent the Fulfiller—Jesus Christ. In and of ourselves, we will eat too much and drive too fast. We will cheat, hate, lie, lust, and, well, you name it and we’ll do it. It is only in and through Jesus that we can understand, respect, and observe the totally life giving limits the Father has set.
S.D.G.
Jim
www.jimwilkenministries.org
Marion, NC
PS 37.4
‘You have heard…But I say to you…”
Matthew 5:21ff
I believe one of the surest signs of the fallen human condition is our obsession with pushing, stretching, and testing limits. Don’t get me wrong, I am very thankful that four years ago doctors were able to take one of my kidneys and put it in my son. Wasn’t all that long ago when such a thing would have been way beyond the limits of medicine. But, for every beneficial advance that has come about as a result of someone pushing, stretching, and testing the limits, there are countless stories of suffering, tragedy, and death brought about by disregard for limits that are in place for our own good. We drink and eat so much more than is good for us that it ruins our health. We so obsess and pursue sexual pleasure that we destroy families, ruin lives, and contract all kinds of nasty STDs. We strive to make ourselves stronger, but kill ourselves with steroids for the sake of building muscle. We note the speed limit, and then consistently drive 5-10 over it even though speeding is one of the top contributing factors of accidents. Why? I truly don’t get it. Here’s the thing, in case you didn’t know this, God is a god of limits. God sets boundaries, draws lines, erects signs that say “Do not go past this point.” The Bible pretty much tells the story of what happens when people obsessively push, stretch, and test God’s limits. Our flaunting of God’s limits began long ago in the Garden of Eden, when we couldn’t help adding to the menu God had given us, and then quickly spread to just about every aspect of our lives. Were God into issuing citations for violation of his limits, all of us would have more summonses to appear before the Judge than we could count. It was so bad, our pushing, stretching, and testing of God’s limits, that the Father had to send the Son. That’s right, Jesus enforced God’s limits.
Not that any of us should try and live by Law, the Old Testament version of God’s limits. No, we’ve been set free from the law of sin and death by the law of the spirit of life to live in Christ Jesus (Romans 8:2). But the free life in Jesus is life within the limits.
Jesus in fact set even stricter limits than those that had been in place for hundreds of years. Sure, people had for generations heard that it was wrong to murder, though they kept right on murdering (Matthew 5:21), but Jesus came to enforce the old limit by setting a new and stricter one (Matthew 5:22). Adultery was never accepted (Well, at least not until recently), that people had long heard that they were to be faithful to the marriage vow (Matthew 5:27), but Jesus came to enforce the old limit by putting a far tighter control on the heart and mind, and eyes of those who are married (Matthew 5:28). Everyone was familiar with the exception God had granted for divorce (Matthew 5:31), but Jesus came to enforce the original limit by establishing a narrower understanding of what was acceptable (Matthew 5:32). False promises, commitments and oaths taken with no intention of ever honoring them, had always been forbidden (Matthew 5:33), but Jesus came to enforce the law prohibiting false oaths by teaching that one should not take an oath at all (Matthew 5:34-37). Retribution had been limited to that which was proportionate to an offense (Matthew 5:38), but Jesus set a whole new limit by instructing that it is wrong to even take offense (Matthew 5:39-42). Jesus even changed the limits of love. Where the limit of love had for years precluded any need, or even possibility, of loving an enemy (Matthew 5:43), Jesus put a much stricter love requirement in place which charges us with loving our friends and our enemies (Matthew 5:44).
Of course, you have probably seen the absurdity in setting stricter limits for people who habitually pushed, stretched, tested the old limits. How could we ever hope to observe the new limits when we have already proven incapable of honoring the old ones? Well, the good news is, the Father didn’t just send an enforcer, he sent the Fulfiller—Jesus Christ. In and of ourselves, we will eat too much and drive too fast. We will cheat, hate, lie, lust, and, well, you name it and we’ll do it. It is only in and through Jesus that we can understand, respect, and observe the totally life giving limits the Father has set.
S.D.G.
Jim
www.jimwilkenministries.org
Marion, NC
PS 37.4
Saturday, January 21, 2012
Jesus Altered Our Appetite for Sin
What Did Jesus Do?
…he who was born of God protects the one who believes…
1 John 5:18
I was a weird kid. I know this comes as no surprise to those who know me now, I guess I’m still pretty weird. But when I was a kid…well, let me just say that I had some peculiar appetites. I wouldn’t eat mashed potatoes without catsup on them. You could not have gotten me to eat a bologna sandwich, and I LOVED bologna, if it didn’t have Miracle Whip on it. I wouldn’t touch tomato sauce with a ten foot pole, my spaghetti had to have butter and parsley on it or no go! And I liked canned asparagus (Ugh!). Nowadays I don’t think I could even swallow a forkful of mashed potatoes if they had catsup on them. I still eat bologna, but don’t really care for Miracle Whip. And, while I love pretty much any kind of pasta with tomato sauce on it, I will still eat spaghetti with melted butter, as long as there’s plenty of minced garlic on it. As for canned asparagus, don’t make me gag! The point is something changed my appetite since I was a boy, and, I believe, for the better. Even more certain than the vagaries of our appetite for food, is the change in our appetite for sin once we receive Jesus.
Oh, there has never been a Christian who hasn’t backslid, stumbled, SINNED, after their conversion. But, the thing is, once we’ve been born again, sin leaves a very different taste in our mouth than before, and we simply can’t go on sinning as we once did (1 John 5:18a). It’s not that sin changes, sin is sin. But Christ changes us. Yes, we may still be too weak in our flesh to resist the appeal of what we once loved and could not get enough of, but we are not left alone to struggle with our flesh. For “he who was born of God” (that is Jesus, the eternally begotten Son), is with us, is within us, and the Holy Spirit of the risen Lord in us makes us stronger and stronger, so that we find the pull of sin lessening, sin’s sweetness grows more and more bitter. (1 John 5:18b) Over time, our appetite for sin diminishes as our desire for righteousness increases. And, though he would dearly love to get his hands on us, the devil can’t get a hold of those who belong to Jesus; it’s as if we have a new non-stick coating which frustrates Satan’s grasping for us (1 John 5:18c).
Even as Jesus and the Holy Spirit vigilantly protect us from the designs of the evil one, so too all who have been born of God are to be vigilant in prayer and encouragement for our brothers and sisters in the Lord (1 John 5:16). As Christ is one with every believer in altering our appetite for sin, and turning us to new ways of living, so all believers are one with each other, and we all have our part to play in cultivating the appetite for God and the things of God, and strengthening one another in faith. Mutual personal accountability of believers before the Lord is an important part of reinforcing our new appetite and resisting our old ones, protecting one another from the devil. That’s what Jesus did.
S.D.G.
Jim
www.jimwilkenministries.org
Marion, NC
PS 37.4
…he who was born of God protects the one who believes…
1 John 5:18
I was a weird kid. I know this comes as no surprise to those who know me now, I guess I’m still pretty weird. But when I was a kid…well, let me just say that I had some peculiar appetites. I wouldn’t eat mashed potatoes without catsup on them. You could not have gotten me to eat a bologna sandwich, and I LOVED bologna, if it didn’t have Miracle Whip on it. I wouldn’t touch tomato sauce with a ten foot pole, my spaghetti had to have butter and parsley on it or no go! And I liked canned asparagus (Ugh!). Nowadays I don’t think I could even swallow a forkful of mashed potatoes if they had catsup on them. I still eat bologna, but don’t really care for Miracle Whip. And, while I love pretty much any kind of pasta with tomato sauce on it, I will still eat spaghetti with melted butter, as long as there’s plenty of minced garlic on it. As for canned asparagus, don’t make me gag! The point is something changed my appetite since I was a boy, and, I believe, for the better. Even more certain than the vagaries of our appetite for food, is the change in our appetite for sin once we receive Jesus.
Oh, there has never been a Christian who hasn’t backslid, stumbled, SINNED, after their conversion. But, the thing is, once we’ve been born again, sin leaves a very different taste in our mouth than before, and we simply can’t go on sinning as we once did (1 John 5:18a). It’s not that sin changes, sin is sin. But Christ changes us. Yes, we may still be too weak in our flesh to resist the appeal of what we once loved and could not get enough of, but we are not left alone to struggle with our flesh. For “he who was born of God” (that is Jesus, the eternally begotten Son), is with us, is within us, and the Holy Spirit of the risen Lord in us makes us stronger and stronger, so that we find the pull of sin lessening, sin’s sweetness grows more and more bitter. (1 John 5:18b) Over time, our appetite for sin diminishes as our desire for righteousness increases. And, though he would dearly love to get his hands on us, the devil can’t get a hold of those who belong to Jesus; it’s as if we have a new non-stick coating which frustrates Satan’s grasping for us (1 John 5:18c).
Even as Jesus and the Holy Spirit vigilantly protect us from the designs of the evil one, so too all who have been born of God are to be vigilant in prayer and encouragement for our brothers and sisters in the Lord (1 John 5:16). As Christ is one with every believer in altering our appetite for sin, and turning us to new ways of living, so all believers are one with each other, and we all have our part to play in cultivating the appetite for God and the things of God, and strengthening one another in faith. Mutual personal accountability of believers before the Lord is an important part of reinforcing our new appetite and resisting our old ones, protecting one another from the devil. That’s what Jesus did.
S.D.G.
Jim
www.jimwilkenministries.org
Marion, NC
PS 37.4
Wednesday, January 18, 2012
Jesus Drew A Line
What Did Jesus Do?
All wrongdoing is sin, but there is sin that does not lead to death.
1 John 5:17
How do you keep a sinner in fear? Well, if you are God, your goal is not to keep sinners in fear, but to cast out all fear by means of your perfect love. The Father did not send the Son in order to frighten us to death, but to love us to life. But this is not to say that sin in any way could or can be overlooked. Sin, wrongdoing, has real consequences, and it ultimately pays but one wage to the sinner—death (Romans 6:23). Jesus came to love us to life by collecting, if you will, the wages for our sin, in order that, by believing in him, we would receive a totally different currency from the Father—eternal life. All humanity may be separated into one of two groups. Oh, we’re all of us sinners. But some have been, or will yet be, in and through Christ, forgiven, while others, rejecting Christ, are not, nor will ever be, forgiven. So, in a way, Jesus came and drew a line to separate the forgiven from the un-forgiven. In truth, Jesus is the line that divides all humanity.
John’s little children (the Church) were those who had heard and accepted the message about Jesus Christ, his life and atoning death on the cross, and who, believing in Jesus, had repented of sin, received forgiveness, and crossed over the line from death to life. But false teachers, antichrists had come among them denying the truth of the Father and the Son (1 John 2:22). So John wrote to remind the Church about the line that Jesus drew. While the wages of sin, all sin, is death, there is sin that does not lead to death. Huh? It’s not as confusing as it may sound. Think about it. Are there any of us who have never sinned? Of course not. Yet, for those of us who have been, or who some day by the grace of God will be, convicted of our sin, and repented, and received Christ, our sin does not lead to death, though it required the death of Jesus (Never forget that, though grace is free, it came at a very high price!). Okay, but what, then, is “sin that leads to death?”
I mean, should believers, even though we have received salvation by grace through faith in Jesus, be afraid of committing some ill-defined, but absolutely deadly, unpardonable sin? I bet there are no few believers who in fact go about day to day carrying a pretty heavy burden of fear of stepping over the line from life to death. What could this sin that leads to death which John talked about be? Let’s think again about the context of the letter. John wrote it to warn and to arm his little children against the false teaching of the antichrists, those who denied the truth about the Incarnation, who denied the true deity and true humanity, along with the death and bodily resurrection, of Jesus. In short, John seems to be warning the Church about the sin of apostasy, of having heard and received the truth, and then denying and forsaking it. Forsaking Jesus, having once received him, leaves one in essentially the same place as one who has never accepted Christ at all.
So there is sin, no use in any of us denying it, especially in our own lives. But we can take our sins to the cross, be forgiven of those sins of which we repent, and be secure and free of fear, because of the love of the Father in and through the Son, who is the promise of eternal life for all who believe. We also need to be committed to prayer for any brother or sister who commits a sin not leading to death (1 John 5:16). This means we all should be praying for one another pretty much all the time, because, though we are being renewed in the Spirit, our flesh, still falls short of the glory of God regularly. “Pray for the brother/sister who sins—those sins that do not lead to death—and God will given him/her life.” As for those who, like the false teachers of the First Century, and the many sects that have risen and fallen in the years since the time of John, reject and turn from the truth about Jesus, who fall into apostasy, committing sin that leads to death, John does not instruct us to pray for them (Though he does not actually say not to pray for them either.).
Our job then, according to John, having in Jesus crossed from death to life, is to stay on the Christ affirming side of the line, and to pray for our brothers and sisters who sin, who should be praying for us. The Father’s one big family united in prayer in and through the Son. This is the very work and prayer of Jesus (John 17).
S.D.G.
Jim
www.jimwilkenministries.org
Marion, NC
PS 37.4
All wrongdoing is sin, but there is sin that does not lead to death.
1 John 5:17
How do you keep a sinner in fear? Well, if you are God, your goal is not to keep sinners in fear, but to cast out all fear by means of your perfect love. The Father did not send the Son in order to frighten us to death, but to love us to life. But this is not to say that sin in any way could or can be overlooked. Sin, wrongdoing, has real consequences, and it ultimately pays but one wage to the sinner—death (Romans 6:23). Jesus came to love us to life by collecting, if you will, the wages for our sin, in order that, by believing in him, we would receive a totally different currency from the Father—eternal life. All humanity may be separated into one of two groups. Oh, we’re all of us sinners. But some have been, or will yet be, in and through Christ, forgiven, while others, rejecting Christ, are not, nor will ever be, forgiven. So, in a way, Jesus came and drew a line to separate the forgiven from the un-forgiven. In truth, Jesus is the line that divides all humanity.
John’s little children (the Church) were those who had heard and accepted the message about Jesus Christ, his life and atoning death on the cross, and who, believing in Jesus, had repented of sin, received forgiveness, and crossed over the line from death to life. But false teachers, antichrists had come among them denying the truth of the Father and the Son (1 John 2:22). So John wrote to remind the Church about the line that Jesus drew. While the wages of sin, all sin, is death, there is sin that does not lead to death. Huh? It’s not as confusing as it may sound. Think about it. Are there any of us who have never sinned? Of course not. Yet, for those of us who have been, or who some day by the grace of God will be, convicted of our sin, and repented, and received Christ, our sin does not lead to death, though it required the death of Jesus (Never forget that, though grace is free, it came at a very high price!). Okay, but what, then, is “sin that leads to death?”
I mean, should believers, even though we have received salvation by grace through faith in Jesus, be afraid of committing some ill-defined, but absolutely deadly, unpardonable sin? I bet there are no few believers who in fact go about day to day carrying a pretty heavy burden of fear of stepping over the line from life to death. What could this sin that leads to death which John talked about be? Let’s think again about the context of the letter. John wrote it to warn and to arm his little children against the false teaching of the antichrists, those who denied the truth about the Incarnation, who denied the true deity and true humanity, along with the death and bodily resurrection, of Jesus. In short, John seems to be warning the Church about the sin of apostasy, of having heard and received the truth, and then denying and forsaking it. Forsaking Jesus, having once received him, leaves one in essentially the same place as one who has never accepted Christ at all.
So there is sin, no use in any of us denying it, especially in our own lives. But we can take our sins to the cross, be forgiven of those sins of which we repent, and be secure and free of fear, because of the love of the Father in and through the Son, who is the promise of eternal life for all who believe. We also need to be committed to prayer for any brother or sister who commits a sin not leading to death (1 John 5:16). This means we all should be praying for one another pretty much all the time, because, though we are being renewed in the Spirit, our flesh, still falls short of the glory of God regularly. “Pray for the brother/sister who sins—those sins that do not lead to death—and God will given him/her life.” As for those who, like the false teachers of the First Century, and the many sects that have risen and fallen in the years since the time of John, reject and turn from the truth about Jesus, who fall into apostasy, committing sin that leads to death, John does not instruct us to pray for them (Though he does not actually say not to pray for them either.).
Our job then, according to John, having in Jesus crossed from death to life, is to stay on the Christ affirming side of the line, and to pray for our brothers and sisters who sin, who should be praying for us. The Father’s one big family united in prayer in and through the Son. This is the very work and prayer of Jesus (John 17).
S.D.G.
Jim
www.jimwilkenministries.org
Marion, NC
PS 37.4
Monday, January 16, 2012
Jesus Provided Assurance By Cutting Out All Add-Ons
What Did Jesus Do?
I write to you who believe in the name of the Son of God
that you may know that you have eternal life.
1 John 5:13
Have you ever found a bargain on the internet, perhaps on Amazon or eBay, only to be frustrated by the “+”? You know, when the bargain item you found for $8 requires $15 in “Shipping & Handling” to get it to you. There are all kinds of things where add-ons and hidden charges complicate, threaten, and sometimes simply put out of reach, our obtaining what we are after. Fortunately, this is not at all the case with salvation and eternal life, and prayer, because Jesus provided assurance by cutting out all add-ons.
You see, it is never Jesus+ __________=Eternal life. John was compelled to write to the Church (his little children; 2:1, 28; 3:7, 18; 4:4; 5:21) because false teachers had come among them and tried to sell them add-ons, ups, and extras. John’s response in this letter was to say that our assurance is Jesus, the Son, and him alone. We are certain, secure, and sure in the name of the Son—in Jesus we know we have eternal life. But that’s not all we have in Jesus. John also tell us that we have a new sureness, a confidence in prayer in and through the Lord (1 John 5:14).
You see, our prayer will be diluted, diminished, distracted, and devoid of power if we are forever seeking after something to make it better, more acceptable to the Father, than simply coming to him in and through the Son. Our confidence in prayer, our boldness (Hebrews 4:16), is grounded in the great high priest who is in heaven interceding for us (Hebrews 4:14). And this confidence rests upon our knowledge of the perfection of the Son’s sympathizing with us, for he was tempted as we are, yet without sin (Hebrews 4:15). So, we know he not only hears our prayers, when they are prayers of faith, prayers in accord with and submitting to his will, but we also have the assurance that he answers every prayer asked of him according to his will (1 John 5:15). In exhorting the Church to pray in and for the will of God, John passed on what he and the other apostles had learned from the Lord about prayer (Matthew 6:9-13), and followed the example of Jesus himself in prayer (Matthew 26:39).
One important aspect of prayer according to his will which I must not fail to mention is that, even though we have the immediate assurance that we have the requests that we have asked of him, there may yet be a delay in our experience of them due to the fact that part of our submission to God’s will includes his sovereign authority to act at the time he himself appoints. While we might, and often will in our flesh, chafe at any delay, we may be certain that God’s timing will result in more glory to his name, greater advancement of his kingdom, and more benefit to us than we can presently imagine.
Finally, John’s pointing to our assurance in prayer in and through Jesus should free us from fretting when we pray. Yes, we should feel a burden for prayer in our hearts, but our hearts need never be burdened by worry when we pray, because the Lord is our assurance in prayer, and there is no need to add anything, even worry, to prayer that is confident in Christ Jesus.
Commit your way to the LORD [in prayer];
trust in him, and he will act.
Psalm 37:5
S.D.G.
Jim
www.jimwilkenministries.org
Marion, NC
PS 37.4
I write to you who believe in the name of the Son of God
that you may know that you have eternal life.
1 John 5:13
Have you ever found a bargain on the internet, perhaps on Amazon or eBay, only to be frustrated by the “+”? You know, when the bargain item you found for $8 requires $15 in “Shipping & Handling” to get it to you. There are all kinds of things where add-ons and hidden charges complicate, threaten, and sometimes simply put out of reach, our obtaining what we are after. Fortunately, this is not at all the case with salvation and eternal life, and prayer, because Jesus provided assurance by cutting out all add-ons.
You see, it is never Jesus+ __________=Eternal life. John was compelled to write to the Church (his little children; 2:1, 28; 3:7, 18; 4:4; 5:21) because false teachers had come among them and tried to sell them add-ons, ups, and extras. John’s response in this letter was to say that our assurance is Jesus, the Son, and him alone. We are certain, secure, and sure in the name of the Son—in Jesus we know we have eternal life. But that’s not all we have in Jesus. John also tell us that we have a new sureness, a confidence in prayer in and through the Lord (1 John 5:14).
You see, our prayer will be diluted, diminished, distracted, and devoid of power if we are forever seeking after something to make it better, more acceptable to the Father, than simply coming to him in and through the Son. Our confidence in prayer, our boldness (Hebrews 4:16), is grounded in the great high priest who is in heaven interceding for us (Hebrews 4:14). And this confidence rests upon our knowledge of the perfection of the Son’s sympathizing with us, for he was tempted as we are, yet without sin (Hebrews 4:15). So, we know he not only hears our prayers, when they are prayers of faith, prayers in accord with and submitting to his will, but we also have the assurance that he answers every prayer asked of him according to his will (1 John 5:15). In exhorting the Church to pray in and for the will of God, John passed on what he and the other apostles had learned from the Lord about prayer (Matthew 6:9-13), and followed the example of Jesus himself in prayer (Matthew 26:39).
One important aspect of prayer according to his will which I must not fail to mention is that, even though we have the immediate assurance that we have the requests that we have asked of him, there may yet be a delay in our experience of them due to the fact that part of our submission to God’s will includes his sovereign authority to act at the time he himself appoints. While we might, and often will in our flesh, chafe at any delay, we may be certain that God’s timing will result in more glory to his name, greater advancement of his kingdom, and more benefit to us than we can presently imagine.
Finally, John’s pointing to our assurance in prayer in and through Jesus should free us from fretting when we pray. Yes, we should feel a burden for prayer in our hearts, but our hearts need never be burdened by worry when we pray, because the Lord is our assurance in prayer, and there is no need to add anything, even worry, to prayer that is confident in Christ Jesus.
Commit your way to the LORD [in prayer];
trust in him, and he will act.
Psalm 37:5
S.D.G.
Jim
www.jimwilkenministries.org
Marion, NC
PS 37.4
Sunday, January 15, 2012
Jesus Supplied the Evidence for Faith's Witnesses
What Did Jesus Do?
Whoever believes in the Son of God has the testimony in himself.
1 John 5:10
We have observed that victory comes via the “winning play” Jesus designed for us—our faith (1 John 5:4; see WDJD for 1/13/12)—without faith that Jesus is the Son of God (1 John 5:5), our defeat is certain. But what of faith? What can make our faith so certain and secure that victory is assured? John knew that his little children (the Church) would be wondering, so he went ahead and told them/us the key to faith—evidence. If anyone should ever try to dismiss us by saying our faith is a dream, an unsubstantiated hope, we can come back by declaring that our faith has a firm foundation, that we have the testimony of witnesses, which supports our belief in Jesus as God’s Son and our Savior. And Jesus supplied the evidence for faith’s witnesses.
John tells us that there are three witnesses who testify to the person and work of Jesus Christ: the water, the blood, and the Spirit (1 John 5:7-8). Water alludes to Christ’s baptism in the Jordan, a baptism like ours. Jesus came by water in that his public ministry commenced after the Lord came through the water of baptism. Jesus came by water, yes, but he also came by blood—the blood of the cross. The identity and work of Jesus were revealed and commenced in the water of his baptism. The completion and fulfillment of his ministry came by the blood Christ shed on the cross. We must appreciate and understand the importance of both the Lord’s baptism and his death if we are to have the faith whereby victory is achieved. But the witness of the water and the blood by which Jesus came are not of themselves sufficient unto victorious faith, we also need the third witness, the witness of the Spirit. It is the function, the work, the mission of the Spirit, the Holy Spirit, who is truth, to testify to the truth in and of Jesus Christ. The Lord himself promised us as much of the Spirit (John 15:26-27), guaranteeing as well that the Spirit would take us and guide us into all truth (John 16:13). The three-fold witness of the water, the blood, and the Spirit together gives us so firm a foundation of truth for our faith as to make it certain and unshakable.
John, along with the other apostles, could bear witness based on their having heard, seen, and touched the word of life, manifest in Jesus. Yet, John conceded that the apostolic witness, and the witness of all men, is eclipsed by a greater testimony. It is the testimony of God, for it was the Father himself who testified that Jesus was his beloved Son when Jesus was baptized (Mark 1:11), that far surpasses any and all other testimony (1 John 5:9).
There is a fourth witness, which is also essential to faith. This testimony is internal, is it in everyone who believes in the Son of God (1 John 5:10). The best thing about the testimony that inhabits every believer is that by it we have God’s gift of eternal life (1 John 5:11). Nothing could be more compelling and stark than the utter contrast between those who have the testimony of the Son in them and those who do not, for it is this testimony alone which separates from death to life, and that life forever, in and through Jesus Christ (1 John 5:12).
The water of his baptism, the blood he shed on the cross, the testimony of the Spirit to us, and in us, this is the evidence Jesus supplies that witnesses unto faith, faith that give us life, now and forever. Whenever anyone asks us about our faith this is the testimony we must give them.
S.D.G.
Jim
www.jimwilkenministries.org
Marion, NC
PS 37.4
Whoever believes in the Son of God has the testimony in himself.
1 John 5:10
We have observed that victory comes via the “winning play” Jesus designed for us—our faith (1 John 5:4; see WDJD for 1/13/12)—without faith that Jesus is the Son of God (1 John 5:5), our defeat is certain. But what of faith? What can make our faith so certain and secure that victory is assured? John knew that his little children (the Church) would be wondering, so he went ahead and told them/us the key to faith—evidence. If anyone should ever try to dismiss us by saying our faith is a dream, an unsubstantiated hope, we can come back by declaring that our faith has a firm foundation, that we have the testimony of witnesses, which supports our belief in Jesus as God’s Son and our Savior. And Jesus supplied the evidence for faith’s witnesses.
John tells us that there are three witnesses who testify to the person and work of Jesus Christ: the water, the blood, and the Spirit (1 John 5:7-8). Water alludes to Christ’s baptism in the Jordan, a baptism like ours. Jesus came by water in that his public ministry commenced after the Lord came through the water of baptism. Jesus came by water, yes, but he also came by blood—the blood of the cross. The identity and work of Jesus were revealed and commenced in the water of his baptism. The completion and fulfillment of his ministry came by the blood Christ shed on the cross. We must appreciate and understand the importance of both the Lord’s baptism and his death if we are to have the faith whereby victory is achieved. But the witness of the water and the blood by which Jesus came are not of themselves sufficient unto victorious faith, we also need the third witness, the witness of the Spirit. It is the function, the work, the mission of the Spirit, the Holy Spirit, who is truth, to testify to the truth in and of Jesus Christ. The Lord himself promised us as much of the Spirit (John 15:26-27), guaranteeing as well that the Spirit would take us and guide us into all truth (John 16:13). The three-fold witness of the water, the blood, and the Spirit together gives us so firm a foundation of truth for our faith as to make it certain and unshakable.
John, along with the other apostles, could bear witness based on their having heard, seen, and touched the word of life, manifest in Jesus. Yet, John conceded that the apostolic witness, and the witness of all men, is eclipsed by a greater testimony. It is the testimony of God, for it was the Father himself who testified that Jesus was his beloved Son when Jesus was baptized (Mark 1:11), that far surpasses any and all other testimony (1 John 5:9).
There is a fourth witness, which is also essential to faith. This testimony is internal, is it in everyone who believes in the Son of God (1 John 5:10). The best thing about the testimony that inhabits every believer is that by it we have God’s gift of eternal life (1 John 5:11). Nothing could be more compelling and stark than the utter contrast between those who have the testimony of the Son in them and those who do not, for it is this testimony alone which separates from death to life, and that life forever, in and through Jesus Christ (1 John 5:12).
The water of his baptism, the blood he shed on the cross, the testimony of the Spirit to us, and in us, this is the evidence Jesus supplies that witnesses unto faith, faith that give us life, now and forever. Whenever anyone asks us about our faith this is the testimony we must give them.
S.D.G.
Jim
www.jimwilkenministries.org
Marion, NC
PS 37.4
Friday, January 13, 2012
Jesus Designed the Winning Play
What Did Jesus Do?
And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith.
1 John 5:4
It is NFL playoff time, and that means this Sunday there will be more people attending the games, listening to them on radio, and watching on television (live or streaming) than there will be in worship. Actually, for most NFL fans I guess the games are worship. Except, perhaps when they are busier hating someone than cheering for someone. When New England hosts Denver in a Divisional match-up, Patriots quarterback Tom Brady will have a much simpler game-plan than his opponent. All Brady has to do is beat the Broncos. Denver quarterback Tim Tebow has to overcome the world, because the world, and lots and lots of people, are bitterly opposed to him. Fortunately for Tebow, and for all God’s children, Jesus designed the winning play.
Actually, while some NFL snob-types like to tear down Tebow because he is far from the classic drop-back quarterback, many more boil with murderous rage against him because of his faith. Well, while I regularly root for just about anybody who faces the Patriots, and have a long-standing affection for the Giants, I have a confession to make—I don’t really care all that much about the NFL. Or the NBA, or MLB, or the NHL, or college football, or even college hoops (Last year I even went cold turkey and did not watch a second of March Madness, only learning that UConn won a couple of days after the fact on the internet). So it won’t really matter much to me who wins this weekend. But I do care about Tim Tebow, love him even. That’s why, even before the game’s played, I know that Tebow will come out on top. In fact, I guarantee that Tebow will be a winner this weekend. How can I make such a guarantee? Like I said, Jesus designed the winning play, and Tim Tebow has already shown that he knows how to execute it perfectly.
What’s the play? It’s no secret, at least in Tebow’s case, though there are way too many Christians who like to keep it under wraps. No, Bill Belichick won’t have to deploy any spies or try and intercept any signals from the sidelines this time. Tebow has a simple game-plan that he follows, and when he comes at you, well, he’s pretty much a straight ahead runner. Not a lot of deception, faking, or feinting for Tebow, he’s just aimed toward the goal line. So, here’s the play that ensures victory for Tim Tebow, and for every believer—faith. Jesus designed, he pioneered and perfected, faith (Hebrews 12:2). Yes, I admit, faith might not overcome the Pats, but I know, as Tim Tebow does, that faith has overcome our biggest opponents—the world and its ruler. Faith has even defeated sin and death!
So, while there may be some closely fought games this weekend, the outcome for Tim Tebow is already settled because he believes that Jesus is the Son of God (1 John 5:5). And he has let the whole world know it, which isn’t an easy thing to do when you are in his position because it means that every time Tim Tebow takes the field he faces more opposition than any other quarterback in the league.
I don’t know who or what you might be facing this week. You might have been tackled by a job loss. Maybe the clock is running out and foreclosure looms. You may feel defeated because of a divorce. It’s very possible that you, or someone you love, has heard a doctor say, in effect, “game over.” But all these can and have been overcome by Jesus, and we are victorious through faith in him.
None of us, not even Tim Tebow, may ever hold the Lombardi Trophy, or be enshrined in a Hall of Fame. But every one of us can wear a crown, and have a room in the Father’s house. Just run the play that Jesus designed, and we’ll all be eternal winners.
S.D.G.
Jim
www.jimwilkenministries.org
Marion, NC
PS 37.4
And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith.
1 John 5:4
It is NFL playoff time, and that means this Sunday there will be more people attending the games, listening to them on radio, and watching on television (live or streaming) than there will be in worship. Actually, for most NFL fans I guess the games are worship. Except, perhaps when they are busier hating someone than cheering for someone. When New England hosts Denver in a Divisional match-up, Patriots quarterback Tom Brady will have a much simpler game-plan than his opponent. All Brady has to do is beat the Broncos. Denver quarterback Tim Tebow has to overcome the world, because the world, and lots and lots of people, are bitterly opposed to him. Fortunately for Tebow, and for all God’s children, Jesus designed the winning play.
Actually, while some NFL snob-types like to tear down Tebow because he is far from the classic drop-back quarterback, many more boil with murderous rage against him because of his faith. Well, while I regularly root for just about anybody who faces the Patriots, and have a long-standing affection for the Giants, I have a confession to make—I don’t really care all that much about the NFL. Or the NBA, or MLB, or the NHL, or college football, or even college hoops (Last year I even went cold turkey and did not watch a second of March Madness, only learning that UConn won a couple of days after the fact on the internet). So it won’t really matter much to me who wins this weekend. But I do care about Tim Tebow, love him even. That’s why, even before the game’s played, I know that Tebow will come out on top. In fact, I guarantee that Tebow will be a winner this weekend. How can I make such a guarantee? Like I said, Jesus designed the winning play, and Tim Tebow has already shown that he knows how to execute it perfectly.
What’s the play? It’s no secret, at least in Tebow’s case, though there are way too many Christians who like to keep it under wraps. No, Bill Belichick won’t have to deploy any spies or try and intercept any signals from the sidelines this time. Tebow has a simple game-plan that he follows, and when he comes at you, well, he’s pretty much a straight ahead runner. Not a lot of deception, faking, or feinting for Tebow, he’s just aimed toward the goal line. So, here’s the play that ensures victory for Tim Tebow, and for every believer—faith. Jesus designed, he pioneered and perfected, faith (Hebrews 12:2). Yes, I admit, faith might not overcome the Pats, but I know, as Tim Tebow does, that faith has overcome our biggest opponents—the world and its ruler. Faith has even defeated sin and death!
So, while there may be some closely fought games this weekend, the outcome for Tim Tebow is already settled because he believes that Jesus is the Son of God (1 John 5:5). And he has let the whole world know it, which isn’t an easy thing to do when you are in his position because it means that every time Tim Tebow takes the field he faces more opposition than any other quarterback in the league.
I don’t know who or what you might be facing this week. You might have been tackled by a job loss. Maybe the clock is running out and foreclosure looms. You may feel defeated because of a divorce. It’s very possible that you, or someone you love, has heard a doctor say, in effect, “game over.” But all these can and have been overcome by Jesus, and we are victorious through faith in him.
None of us, not even Tim Tebow, may ever hold the Lombardi Trophy, or be enshrined in a Hall of Fame. But every one of us can wear a crown, and have a room in the Father’s house. Just run the play that Jesus designed, and we’ll all be eternal winners.
S.D.G.
Jim
www.jimwilkenministries.org
Marion, NC
PS 37.4
Thursday, January 12, 2012
Jesus Supplied Certitude
What Did Jesus Do?
So we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us.
1 John 4:16
The great George Bernard Shaw was fascinated by the English language. If you are a fan of the film Patton you may recall the scene where George C. Scott, excuse me, where George S. Patton, quoting Shaw, observed that Americans and Englishmen are “Two people separated by a common language.” Shaw once noted on a radio program that there are two words in the English language that begin with the sh sound, but are not spelled with sh. A woman wrote, challenging Shaw, and asserting that sugar was the only word that makes the sh sound without sh. Shaw wrote back, “Madam, are you sure?” Sometimes, it seems, we shouldn’t be so sure of what we know. But, when it comes to faith and hope, Jesus supplied certitude; we can be sure of what we know and believe in and through Jesus.
Though there are folks who will tell you that certainty is the enemy of faith, don’t listen to them. John wanted his little children (the Church) to know and believe, to have a faith, they could be certain of. So, in the middle of his letter to the Church, John wrote about several things that believers receive in and through Jesus, which make our faith something we can be sure of.
At the top of the list is the Holy Spirit, who assures us that we abide in God, and he in us (1 John 4:13). Secondly, we have the witness of the testimony of John himself, along with all the other apostles (1 John 4:14). Next, there is our own affirmation that Jesus is the Son of God, sent by the Father to be the Savior (1 John 4:15). Then there is the certain hope we have in the love of God—which we know and believe, which is being perfected in us, in which we have boldness (“no fear”)—love which we now give because it was first given to us (1 John 4:16-19). Finally, there is the love we have for all other believers, a love God confidently can command his children to express because, through all the ways he has gifted us with his love, we are now able in Christ Jesus to love (1 John 4:20-21). As God is love, so his children receive his love and reflect that love to others. Of this we can be certain, because—that’s what Jesus did!
S.D.G.
Jim
www.jimwilkenministries.org
Marion, NC
PS 37.4
So we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us.
1 John 4:16
The great George Bernard Shaw was fascinated by the English language. If you are a fan of the film Patton you may recall the scene where George C. Scott, excuse me, where George S. Patton, quoting Shaw, observed that Americans and Englishmen are “Two people separated by a common language.” Shaw once noted on a radio program that there are two words in the English language that begin with the sh sound, but are not spelled with sh. A woman wrote, challenging Shaw, and asserting that sugar was the only word that makes the sh sound without sh. Shaw wrote back, “Madam, are you sure?” Sometimes, it seems, we shouldn’t be so sure of what we know. But, when it comes to faith and hope, Jesus supplied certitude; we can be sure of what we know and believe in and through Jesus.
Though there are folks who will tell you that certainty is the enemy of faith, don’t listen to them. John wanted his little children (the Church) to know and believe, to have a faith, they could be certain of. So, in the middle of his letter to the Church, John wrote about several things that believers receive in and through Jesus, which make our faith something we can be sure of.
At the top of the list is the Holy Spirit, who assures us that we abide in God, and he in us (1 John 4:13). Secondly, we have the witness of the testimony of John himself, along with all the other apostles (1 John 4:14). Next, there is our own affirmation that Jesus is the Son of God, sent by the Father to be the Savior (1 John 4:15). Then there is the certain hope we have in the love of God—which we know and believe, which is being perfected in us, in which we have boldness (“no fear”)—love which we now give because it was first given to us (1 John 4:16-19). Finally, there is the love we have for all other believers, a love God confidently can command his children to express because, through all the ways he has gifted us with his love, we are now able in Christ Jesus to love (1 John 4:20-21). As God is love, so his children receive his love and reflect that love to others. Of this we can be certain, because—that’s what Jesus did!
S.D.G.
Jim
www.jimwilkenministries.org
Marion, NC
PS 37.4
Wednesday, January 11, 2012
Jesus Loved Us to Death
What Did Jesus Do?
In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us
and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.
1 John 4:10
If you have ever taught a class for more than ten minutes there is a good chance that you have heard a student say in response to a question, “I know the answer, I just don’t know how to say it.” Uh-huh, right! If they can’t say it, they don’t know it. Similarly, John, whose intent in his first letter was to instruct the Church how it was to live in the love of God, came to a place where, in so many words, he said, “If we don’t show it, then we don’t know it.” Or, more precisely, we don’t know Him. The “it” is love, the “Him” is God, who is love (1 John 4:8). Having just explained to the Church how it was to “test the spirits” (1 John 4.1-6; see WDJD for 1/10/12), John immediately gave a simple way to test those who claim to be Christians, “Anyone who does not love does not know God.” Of course, surveying our world where there is precious little love in evidence, but much hatred and hostility, one could ask, “Where are we to look for, and how are we to know, God and his love?” John’s answer to the Church, then and now, was to look to the cross, and to Jesus who loved us to death.
The search for love anywhere but in the person and nature of God is ultimately a fruitless search, a quest that must ultimately end in disappointment. Oh, the world offers no few definitions and examples of “love.” But only in God is love to be found that is totally, sacrificially, committed to others. Incredibly, the totally committed love of God was given to those who were, and to we who are, totally unlovable. You see, the Father did not send his Son to love those who had been showing any kind of love to God, but to those who had been in rebellion, who had been rejecting God, and chasing endlessly after idols. It is utter foolishness for the world and for us to look for love amongst ourselves, love is not to be found there! True love was only manifest in the Father’s sending of his one and only Son for the sole purpose of offering himself as the one acceptable payment and sacrifice for the sins of the world by his death on the cross. It is the deepest mystery of the divine will that grace and mercy are expressed in the Father’s love through the death of his pure and sinless Son, the result of which is life for those sinners for whom the Son died (1 John 4:9).
For John there is but one possible response to the all but unimaginable love of God manifest in Jesus, and that is to love one another in the same way that he has loved us (1 John 4:11). In this John echoes the very command which he and the other apostles had received from the Lord himself (John 13:34). John had heard, had seen, had touched and been touched by the very love of God manifest in the life of Jesus the Son (1 John 1:1). And having been “so loved” by God, John in turn loved his “little children” (the Church) with that very same love. This is the very heart of the letter. The Church was called forth and formed out of the love of God manifest in Jesus Christ, and manifest most sublimely on the cross. Having been so loved by God, the church is called to live in that love and to manifest, to show it, in and through the love of believers for one another. In this way, the world, more particularly lost sinners, may see God in and through those in whom his love abides and is perfected (1 John 4:12).
The one place where the love of God has abided eternally is the Trinity itself, in the mutual love of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit for one another. Now, God having sent his only Son, that love abides in the Church as its members love one another, and, amazingly, as we love one another, the love of God is made perfect in us. Like some PowerPoint presentation to the world, God has chosen his Church to exhibit his love to the world through the fellowship and love of believers. Jesus loved us to death, so that we might have life. As God pours his love into the life of every believer, so the Church should be filled and overflow with love for God, and for all those God so loved.
S.D.G.
Jim
www.jimwilkenministries.org
Marion, NC
PS 37.4
In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us
and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.
1 John 4:10
If you have ever taught a class for more than ten minutes there is a good chance that you have heard a student say in response to a question, “I know the answer, I just don’t know how to say it.” Uh-huh, right! If they can’t say it, they don’t know it. Similarly, John, whose intent in his first letter was to instruct the Church how it was to live in the love of God, came to a place where, in so many words, he said, “If we don’t show it, then we don’t know it.” Or, more precisely, we don’t know Him. The “it” is love, the “Him” is God, who is love (1 John 4:8). Having just explained to the Church how it was to “test the spirits” (1 John 4.1-6; see WDJD for 1/10/12), John immediately gave a simple way to test those who claim to be Christians, “Anyone who does not love does not know God.” Of course, surveying our world where there is precious little love in evidence, but much hatred and hostility, one could ask, “Where are we to look for, and how are we to know, God and his love?” John’s answer to the Church, then and now, was to look to the cross, and to Jesus who loved us to death.
The search for love anywhere but in the person and nature of God is ultimately a fruitless search, a quest that must ultimately end in disappointment. Oh, the world offers no few definitions and examples of “love.” But only in God is love to be found that is totally, sacrificially, committed to others. Incredibly, the totally committed love of God was given to those who were, and to we who are, totally unlovable. You see, the Father did not send his Son to love those who had been showing any kind of love to God, but to those who had been in rebellion, who had been rejecting God, and chasing endlessly after idols. It is utter foolishness for the world and for us to look for love amongst ourselves, love is not to be found there! True love was only manifest in the Father’s sending of his one and only Son for the sole purpose of offering himself as the one acceptable payment and sacrifice for the sins of the world by his death on the cross. It is the deepest mystery of the divine will that grace and mercy are expressed in the Father’s love through the death of his pure and sinless Son, the result of which is life for those sinners for whom the Son died (1 John 4:9).
For John there is but one possible response to the all but unimaginable love of God manifest in Jesus, and that is to love one another in the same way that he has loved us (1 John 4:11). In this John echoes the very command which he and the other apostles had received from the Lord himself (John 13:34). John had heard, had seen, had touched and been touched by the very love of God manifest in the life of Jesus the Son (1 John 1:1). And having been “so loved” by God, John in turn loved his “little children” (the Church) with that very same love. This is the very heart of the letter. The Church was called forth and formed out of the love of God manifest in Jesus Christ, and manifest most sublimely on the cross. Having been so loved by God, the church is called to live in that love and to manifest, to show it, in and through the love of believers for one another. In this way, the world, more particularly lost sinners, may see God in and through those in whom his love abides and is perfected (1 John 4:12).
The one place where the love of God has abided eternally is the Trinity itself, in the mutual love of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit for one another. Now, God having sent his only Son, that love abides in the Church as its members love one another, and, amazingly, as we love one another, the love of God is made perfect in us. Like some PowerPoint presentation to the world, God has chosen his Church to exhibit his love to the world through the fellowship and love of believers. Jesus loved us to death, so that we might have life. As God pours his love into the life of every believer, so the Church should be filled and overflow with love for God, and for all those God so loved.
S.D.G.
Jim
www.jimwilkenministries.org
Marion, NC
PS 37.4
Tuesday, January 10, 2012
Jesus "Fleshed Out" the Truth
What Did Jesus Do?
Test the spirits to see whether they are from God,
for many false prophets have gone out into the world.
1 John 4:1
Well, it’s a Presidential Election year, and that means we will be deluged by a sea of campaign ads, bumper stickers and buttons, debates and denials, platforms and platitudes, stump speeches, and probably a scandal or two. And we can of course count on it all being absolutely, scrupulously true. Okay, you can stop laughing. I don’t know what is more disturbing, that we all know we are going to hear a lot of lies during the upcoming campaign, or the sad fact that so few Americans are in anyway equipped to actually sift out the truth and separate it from all the deceiving that will be going on. Of course, we are not the first people to have trouble separating truth from lies. Even though God is truth eternal, and even though he gave his Word to his people Israel, very few were able to grasp and hold onto the truth of the Word, or recognize when someone was corrupting it and twisting it into falsehoods. Knowing this, the Father sent the Son, Jesus, to “flesh out” the truth of his Word by making the Word, well, flesh.
Having personally heard, seen, and touched the Father’s word of life made manifest in the Son (1 John 1:1-2), the Apostle John faithfully proclaimed to his “little children” (the Church) so that they should share in the fellowship of all believers with the Father and the Son, and receive eternal life (1 John 1:3; 2:24-25). But, with the Son returned to the Father in Heaven, there was no longer any opportunity to “see, hear, and touch” Jesus in the flesh, but only in the Spirit. So John charged the Church with testing the spirits, and then supplied the means for testing spirits, so that the Spirit of Truth might be rightly separated from all false spirits. The test itself was, and is, simple: What do people believe and say about the incarnation? Was Jesus the Son of God come down to become one of us? Did Jesus really put on flesh and walk among us “full of grace and truth” (John 1:14), or was the Lord more like a really good hologram, a very good likeness of a man, but in actuality no more than appearing to have come in the flesh. Any spirit not confessing Christ’s coming in the flesh is not from God, is in fact the spirit of the antichrist (1 John 4:3). So, the first thing we must do is listen carefully to what is being said about Jesus. If we hear any denial of Christ’s coming in the flesh, or of his being the divine Son of God, we should quickly turn a deaf ear to what is being said.
But the spirit testing John exhorts us to do involves more than just listening, John also wants us to look. Look at behavior, as well as listen to teaching, because behavior betrays teaching (Or, if there is consonance between one’s words and one’s actions, then behavior confirms belief). False prophets and lying spirits will always, sooner or later, be exposed by their actions, even if their words have a ring of truth. The great gulf separating the true from the false is all about the one’s origin. All who originate in God, who is eternal truth, are true. All who originate in the world, which is corrupt, full of deceit, and passing away, are and will always be revealed as false (1 John 4:4-5).
There is a third, final, aspect to the testing of spirits. We listen and we look for the truth, but it is also essential for us to speak the truth. We can discern who is of God and who isn’t by how they react when we proclaim his Word, his Truth. John put it plainly enough, “Whoever knows God listens to us; whoever is not from God does not listen to us. By this we know the Spirit of truth and the spirit of error.” (1 John 4:6)
The Father sent Jesus so that the truth could be heard, seen, touched (1:1-2). The truth of Jesus Christ which we receive via the testimony of the Spirit of Truth in us, give us ears to hear truth, eyes to see truth, and a tongue to proclaim truth. It is not enough to know truth when we hear it and see it, we must live it and proclaim it, we must flesh out the truth, even as Jesus did. If we do not, we are not being true to the Lord, and it is very likely that the Spirit of Truth is not in us.
S.D.G.
Jim
www.jimwilkenministries.org
Marion, NC
PS 37.4
Test the spirits to see whether they are from God,
for many false prophets have gone out into the world.
1 John 4:1
Well, it’s a Presidential Election year, and that means we will be deluged by a sea of campaign ads, bumper stickers and buttons, debates and denials, platforms and platitudes, stump speeches, and probably a scandal or two. And we can of course count on it all being absolutely, scrupulously true. Okay, you can stop laughing. I don’t know what is more disturbing, that we all know we are going to hear a lot of lies during the upcoming campaign, or the sad fact that so few Americans are in anyway equipped to actually sift out the truth and separate it from all the deceiving that will be going on. Of course, we are not the first people to have trouble separating truth from lies. Even though God is truth eternal, and even though he gave his Word to his people Israel, very few were able to grasp and hold onto the truth of the Word, or recognize when someone was corrupting it and twisting it into falsehoods. Knowing this, the Father sent the Son, Jesus, to “flesh out” the truth of his Word by making the Word, well, flesh.
Having personally heard, seen, and touched the Father’s word of life made manifest in the Son (1 John 1:1-2), the Apostle John faithfully proclaimed to his “little children” (the Church) so that they should share in the fellowship of all believers with the Father and the Son, and receive eternal life (1 John 1:3; 2:24-25). But, with the Son returned to the Father in Heaven, there was no longer any opportunity to “see, hear, and touch” Jesus in the flesh, but only in the Spirit. So John charged the Church with testing the spirits, and then supplied the means for testing spirits, so that the Spirit of Truth might be rightly separated from all false spirits. The test itself was, and is, simple: What do people believe and say about the incarnation? Was Jesus the Son of God come down to become one of us? Did Jesus really put on flesh and walk among us “full of grace and truth” (John 1:14), or was the Lord more like a really good hologram, a very good likeness of a man, but in actuality no more than appearing to have come in the flesh. Any spirit not confessing Christ’s coming in the flesh is not from God, is in fact the spirit of the antichrist (1 John 4:3). So, the first thing we must do is listen carefully to what is being said about Jesus. If we hear any denial of Christ’s coming in the flesh, or of his being the divine Son of God, we should quickly turn a deaf ear to what is being said.
But the spirit testing John exhorts us to do involves more than just listening, John also wants us to look. Look at behavior, as well as listen to teaching, because behavior betrays teaching (Or, if there is consonance between one’s words and one’s actions, then behavior confirms belief). False prophets and lying spirits will always, sooner or later, be exposed by their actions, even if their words have a ring of truth. The great gulf separating the true from the false is all about the one’s origin. All who originate in God, who is eternal truth, are true. All who originate in the world, which is corrupt, full of deceit, and passing away, are and will always be revealed as false (1 John 4:4-5).
There is a third, final, aspect to the testing of spirits. We listen and we look for the truth, but it is also essential for us to speak the truth. We can discern who is of God and who isn’t by how they react when we proclaim his Word, his Truth. John put it plainly enough, “Whoever knows God listens to us; whoever is not from God does not listen to us. By this we know the Spirit of truth and the spirit of error.” (1 John 4:6)
The Father sent Jesus so that the truth could be heard, seen, touched (1:1-2). The truth of Jesus Christ which we receive via the testimony of the Spirit of Truth in us, give us ears to hear truth, eyes to see truth, and a tongue to proclaim truth. It is not enough to know truth when we hear it and see it, we must live it and proclaim it, we must flesh out the truth, even as Jesus did. If we do not, we are not being true to the Lord, and it is very likely that the Spirit of Truth is not in us.
S.D.G.
Jim
www.jimwilkenministries.org
Marion, NC
PS 37.4
Monday, January 9, 2012
Jesus Caused BIG Things to Happen When Those Who Believed Even a Little Cried Out
What Did Jesus Do?
“All things are possible for one who believes.”
Mark 9:23
Unless you are at least as ancient as I am, or you are a devoted Frank Sinatra fan, it is likely you have never heard of the song “High Hopes.”
While it is a secular song from a Hollywood movie, it teaches a lesson about faith. Without going into details, I’ll just say that it illustrates how hope (faith) can accomplish some mighty difficult tasks, and overcome some seemingly impossible obstacles. When Jesus causes those who believe, who have faith, to cry out, some pretty amazing things have happened.
Take the time the blind son of Timaeus heard that Jesus was passing by him as he sat begging for alms at the side of the road. Bartimaeus cried out! And, you know what happened, don’t you? Bartimaeus asked the Lord to restore his sight, and the Lord did! (Mark 10:46-52) How about when Peter, out for a stroll on the Sea of Galilee, suffered a real “sinking” feeling, and cried out to Jesus? Jesus helped the apostle, who was notorious for leaping before looking, to leap back into the boat. (Matthew 14:28-33) Of course, you may recall that, though Peter believed, his doubting just about ended up dunking him. Still, good things happen when Jesus causes those who believe to cry out.
My favorite illustration of this, because the father’s belief was so much like mine is, encumbered and imperfect, is found in the Ninth Chapter of Mark. One day there was a big commotion going on, and the Lord’s disciples were right in the middle of it. It seems that a man had come and sought out Christ’s followers hoping they might be able to do something to help his son, who was terribly afflicted. Alas, the disciples had been unable to do anything, except become embroiled in a public shouting match with some scribes. Though it had been faith which had led the man to come and seek the Lord in the first place, the father spoke out of his very real doubt when he responded to the questioning of Jesus by saying that he hoped Jesus might help his son, “if he could.” That Jesus replied with some mild indignation, “If I can! ALL things are possible for one who believes.” may seem somewhat out of character for the Lord, but it moved the man to cry out, “I believe!” I have to say that this father was more honest about his faith than most of us, for he immediately added, “Help my unbelief!” The end result was that the boy was set free, and the father, we may assume, went away with at least a little more belief and a little less unbelief than he came with. (Mark 9:14-29)
Do you know what unbelievers cry out when they encounter Jesus? Nothing, for they have no faith at all. And, like the disbelieving neighbors of Jesus in Nazareth, the Lord can do nothing for them. (Mark 6:1-6) But, when we cry out to Jesus, even with our pitiful little and imperfect faith, why, mountains can be moved. (Matthew 17:20-21) All this should encourage those of us who have a habit of chastising ourselves for our little faith. It turns out that the works of the Father are more about magnifying the person and power of the Son, than they are about our faith. Don’t get me wrong, faith is absolutely essential, and it is important for us to seek to grow in faith. But let us not get ourselves discouraged, or let the world discourage us, because Jesus causes big things to happen when those who believe, even a little, cry out.
S.D.G.
Jim
www.jimwilkenministries.org
Marion, NC
PS 37.4
“All things are possible for one who believes.”
Mark 9:23
Unless you are at least as ancient as I am, or you are a devoted Frank Sinatra fan, it is likely you have never heard of the song “High Hopes.”
While it is a secular song from a Hollywood movie, it teaches a lesson about faith. Without going into details, I’ll just say that it illustrates how hope (faith) can accomplish some mighty difficult tasks, and overcome some seemingly impossible obstacles. When Jesus causes those who believe, who have faith, to cry out, some pretty amazing things have happened.
Take the time the blind son of Timaeus heard that Jesus was passing by him as he sat begging for alms at the side of the road. Bartimaeus cried out! And, you know what happened, don’t you? Bartimaeus asked the Lord to restore his sight, and the Lord did! (Mark 10:46-52) How about when Peter, out for a stroll on the Sea of Galilee, suffered a real “sinking” feeling, and cried out to Jesus? Jesus helped the apostle, who was notorious for leaping before looking, to leap back into the boat. (Matthew 14:28-33) Of course, you may recall that, though Peter believed, his doubting just about ended up dunking him. Still, good things happen when Jesus causes those who believe to cry out.
My favorite illustration of this, because the father’s belief was so much like mine is, encumbered and imperfect, is found in the Ninth Chapter of Mark. One day there was a big commotion going on, and the Lord’s disciples were right in the middle of it. It seems that a man had come and sought out Christ’s followers hoping they might be able to do something to help his son, who was terribly afflicted. Alas, the disciples had been unable to do anything, except become embroiled in a public shouting match with some scribes. Though it had been faith which had led the man to come and seek the Lord in the first place, the father spoke out of his very real doubt when he responded to the questioning of Jesus by saying that he hoped Jesus might help his son, “if he could.” That Jesus replied with some mild indignation, “If I can! ALL things are possible for one who believes.” may seem somewhat out of character for the Lord, but it moved the man to cry out, “I believe!” I have to say that this father was more honest about his faith than most of us, for he immediately added, “Help my unbelief!” The end result was that the boy was set free, and the father, we may assume, went away with at least a little more belief and a little less unbelief than he came with. (Mark 9:14-29)
Do you know what unbelievers cry out when they encounter Jesus? Nothing, for they have no faith at all. And, like the disbelieving neighbors of Jesus in Nazareth, the Lord can do nothing for them. (Mark 6:1-6) But, when we cry out to Jesus, even with our pitiful little and imperfect faith, why, mountains can be moved. (Matthew 17:20-21) All this should encourage those of us who have a habit of chastising ourselves for our little faith. It turns out that the works of the Father are more about magnifying the person and power of the Son, than they are about our faith. Don’t get me wrong, faith is absolutely essential, and it is important for us to seek to grow in faith. But let us not get ourselves discouraged, or let the world discourage us, because Jesus causes big things to happen when those who believe, even a little, cry out.
S.D.G.
Jim
www.jimwilkenministries.org
Marion, NC
PS 37.4
Sunday, January 8, 2012
Jesus Bore Perfect Witness to the Truth, and Supplied Assurance to, Those Who Would Otherwise Be Uncertain
What Did Jesus Do?
By this we shall know that we are of the truth and reassure our heart before him...
1 John 3:19
Poor Pontius Pilate, he was about twenty centuries ahead of his time. Think about it. Would not Pilate, who, with the Truth (Jesus) staring him in the face, asked “What is truth?” (John 18:38), have loved this age when the questioning of any and all truths has become the dominant worldview? Actually, I suppose Pilate was pretty comfortable in his own time. The questioning of truth and the shaking of assurance already threatened the Church, and the security of believers, in Pilate’s First Century. Fortunately, Jesus bore perfect witness to the truth, and supplied assurance to those who, without it, would be uncertain.
It is critical, as we read John’s letter, that we understand that John was not writing to, or about, Christians whose faith is unassailable, who never doubt, who never ask questions. John knew that there are times of doubt and questioning in the life of every Christian. Even more, there are many times when our hearts condemn us (1 John 3:20a). We all know, better than almost anyone, how frequently we fail to love brothers or sisters in the Lord. Even more, we know when we have little or no love at all for a particular brother or sister, and this knowledge convicts and condemns us in our own heart. Most of us have laid awake a night or two fretting over our glaring imperfections, our many shortcomings, our persistent weaknesses after many years of professing Jesus as our Lord. Our heart simply will not let us get away with the pretensions by which we attempt to put on a good face to others. But, here’s the thing John wanted believers in the First Century, and the Twenty-first, to never forget—“God is greater than our heart” (1 John 3:20a). More precisely, God’s forgiveness, his grace, and his mercy are greater than our heart. No matter how much our heart condemns us, the Father’s justification of us in and through Jesus Christ is infinitely greater. And, get this, the Father justifies us even though he knows “everything” there is to know about us (1 John 3:20b), which is more than our deceitful hearts reveal, even to ourselves. THIS is the truth that galled Pilate and the world the most, because they didn’t get it. Pilate, folks like him, and the world, have no trouble sleeping at night, do not feel the same condemnation in their hearts that believers feel, because, well, they don’t believe. If anything, John tells us, the condemnation and conviction that believers experience is affirmation that we do know the truth of the Father’s great and sacrificial love for us in and through the Son, otherwise we would sleep as peacefully in denial or ignorance of our sin as the rest of the unbelieving world. The truth is, regardless of whatever words of self-condemnation we may hear from our own heart, that nothing “is able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 8:39).
Yet, we still wonder about the efficacy of our prayers to God because our obedience, our “keeping his commandments” and our doing “what pleases him” (1 John 3:22), is imperfect. Though we know that God commands us to believe in the name of the Son, and to love one another (1 John 3:23), the testimony of our own heart confirms that we fall short both in faith and in love. The thing about prayer is, God answers the prayers, not of those who believe and who love perfectly, but of those who believe enough to pray, and who love God enough to know that we don’t love him, well, enough. The truth is, it is only those in whom God abides who believe and love at all as he has commanded (1 John 3:24a).
Christ’s own perfect witness to the truth, and the assurance of Jesus’ matchless love for the Father and for all, are ours according to the grace of God. As believers, we need to learn to ignore our heart, for it is deceitful above all things (Jeremiah 17:9), and listen instead to the Holy Spirit. For it is by the Holy Spirit, whom God has given us, and who is at work building us up in faith and in love, that we receive and accept the perfect witness of Jesus, and the assurance of the Father’s love for us in and through the Son. (1 John 3:24b).
S.D.G.
Jim
www.jimwilkenministries.org
Marion, NC
Ps 37.4
By this we shall know that we are of the truth and reassure our heart before him...
1 John 3:19
Poor Pontius Pilate, he was about twenty centuries ahead of his time. Think about it. Would not Pilate, who, with the Truth (Jesus) staring him in the face, asked “What is truth?” (John 18:38), have loved this age when the questioning of any and all truths has become the dominant worldview? Actually, I suppose Pilate was pretty comfortable in his own time. The questioning of truth and the shaking of assurance already threatened the Church, and the security of believers, in Pilate’s First Century. Fortunately, Jesus bore perfect witness to the truth, and supplied assurance to those who, without it, would be uncertain.
It is critical, as we read John’s letter, that we understand that John was not writing to, or about, Christians whose faith is unassailable, who never doubt, who never ask questions. John knew that there are times of doubt and questioning in the life of every Christian. Even more, there are many times when our hearts condemn us (1 John 3:20a). We all know, better than almost anyone, how frequently we fail to love brothers or sisters in the Lord. Even more, we know when we have little or no love at all for a particular brother or sister, and this knowledge convicts and condemns us in our own heart. Most of us have laid awake a night or two fretting over our glaring imperfections, our many shortcomings, our persistent weaknesses after many years of professing Jesus as our Lord. Our heart simply will not let us get away with the pretensions by which we attempt to put on a good face to others. But, here’s the thing John wanted believers in the First Century, and the Twenty-first, to never forget—“God is greater than our heart” (1 John 3:20a). More precisely, God’s forgiveness, his grace, and his mercy are greater than our heart. No matter how much our heart condemns us, the Father’s justification of us in and through Jesus Christ is infinitely greater. And, get this, the Father justifies us even though he knows “everything” there is to know about us (1 John 3:20b), which is more than our deceitful hearts reveal, even to ourselves. THIS is the truth that galled Pilate and the world the most, because they didn’t get it. Pilate, folks like him, and the world, have no trouble sleeping at night, do not feel the same condemnation in their hearts that believers feel, because, well, they don’t believe. If anything, John tells us, the condemnation and conviction that believers experience is affirmation that we do know the truth of the Father’s great and sacrificial love for us in and through the Son, otherwise we would sleep as peacefully in denial or ignorance of our sin as the rest of the unbelieving world. The truth is, regardless of whatever words of self-condemnation we may hear from our own heart, that nothing “is able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 8:39).
Yet, we still wonder about the efficacy of our prayers to God because our obedience, our “keeping his commandments” and our doing “what pleases him” (1 John 3:22), is imperfect. Though we know that God commands us to believe in the name of the Son, and to love one another (1 John 3:23), the testimony of our own heart confirms that we fall short both in faith and in love. The thing about prayer is, God answers the prayers, not of those who believe and who love perfectly, but of those who believe enough to pray, and who love God enough to know that we don’t love him, well, enough. The truth is, it is only those in whom God abides who believe and love at all as he has commanded (1 John 3:24a).
Christ’s own perfect witness to the truth, and the assurance of Jesus’ matchless love for the Father and for all, are ours according to the grace of God. As believers, we need to learn to ignore our heart, for it is deceitful above all things (Jeremiah 17:9), and listen instead to the Holy Spirit. For it is by the Holy Spirit, whom God has given us, and who is at work building us up in faith and in love, that we receive and accept the perfect witness of Jesus, and the assurance of the Father’s love for us in and through the Son. (1 John 3:24b).
S.D.G.
Jim
www.jimwilkenministries.org
Marion, NC
Ps 37.4
Friday, January 6, 2012
Jesus Illustrated Love, and Faith, That Is Real (Jesus Lived the Real Life)
What Did Jesus Do?
By this we know love, that he laid down his life for us,
and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers.
1 John 3:16
From the beginning, love has been the core of God’s’ Word, it is the essence of his message to us. The Old Testament can even be summed up in the two great commandments of the Law to love God with all one’s heart, soul, and might, and to love one’s neighbor as one’s self (Deuteronomy 6:5, Leviticus 19:18; see Matthew 22:34-39). Yet it was painfully evident, pretty much from the beginning, that God’s people didn’t get it. God spoke love to his people through the Law and the Prophets, through Psalm and through Proverb, yet the people’s lives cried out, in effect, “Show us the love!” And show the love the Father ultimately did, in the person of the Son. To and for a people who were anything but loving and faithful, Jesus illustrated love, and faith, that is real.
John emphasized to the Church, his “little children,” that love was the content of the apostolic proclamation, it was “the message you have heard from the beginning” (1 John 3:11). The Church, every believer, had a choice to make. They could go the way of Cain, who murdered his brother Abel (1 John 3:12), or they could follow the example of Christ, who laid down his life for his brothers (1 John 3:16). Nothing could be clearer. One can take the life of one’s brothers, or one can preserve the life of the brothers. One can choose death, or pass from death to life (1 John 3:14). Cain was the slayer of his brother. Jesus was the lover of his brothers. Which are we?
Just as it was necessary for God to “show the love,” so too must God’s children, if our claim to faith be genuine. Talk is, after all, cheap. No one can say that God short-changed anyone with respect to love, for Jesus did not offer mere words for the salvation of God’s people, but gave his very life for ours. Even so, John exhorts believers in every time and in every place to demonstrate true love and true faith by more than “word or talk.” Real love and real faith is illustrated by how one lives “in deed and in truth.” For love and faith to be really real, they have to be, well, really lived. Jesus lived the real life. What kind of life are we living?
John wrote to the Church at a time when a lot of powerfully charismatic posers threatened to lead Christians away from real love for other believers, and away from real faith in a real Savior who really lived and died, and rose again. Following the posers would only lead from life back to death. The same kind of posers threaten the Church today, so John’s letter is just as timely as ever. Our only hope, today as it was in John’s day, is to love, to believe, to live as Jesus did.
S.D.G.
Jim
www.jimwilkenministries.org
Marion, NC
PS 37.4
By this we know love, that he laid down his life for us,
and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers.
1 John 3:16
From the beginning, love has been the core of God’s’ Word, it is the essence of his message to us. The Old Testament can even be summed up in the two great commandments of the Law to love God with all one’s heart, soul, and might, and to love one’s neighbor as one’s self (Deuteronomy 6:5, Leviticus 19:18; see Matthew 22:34-39). Yet it was painfully evident, pretty much from the beginning, that God’s people didn’t get it. God spoke love to his people through the Law and the Prophets, through Psalm and through Proverb, yet the people’s lives cried out, in effect, “Show us the love!” And show the love the Father ultimately did, in the person of the Son. To and for a people who were anything but loving and faithful, Jesus illustrated love, and faith, that is real.
John emphasized to the Church, his “little children,” that love was the content of the apostolic proclamation, it was “the message you have heard from the beginning” (1 John 3:11). The Church, every believer, had a choice to make. They could go the way of Cain, who murdered his brother Abel (1 John 3:12), or they could follow the example of Christ, who laid down his life for his brothers (1 John 3:16). Nothing could be clearer. One can take the life of one’s brothers, or one can preserve the life of the brothers. One can choose death, or pass from death to life (1 John 3:14). Cain was the slayer of his brother. Jesus was the lover of his brothers. Which are we?
Just as it was necessary for God to “show the love,” so too must God’s children, if our claim to faith be genuine. Talk is, after all, cheap. No one can say that God short-changed anyone with respect to love, for Jesus did not offer mere words for the salvation of God’s people, but gave his very life for ours. Even so, John exhorts believers in every time and in every place to demonstrate true love and true faith by more than “word or talk.” Real love and real faith is illustrated by how one lives “in deed and in truth.” For love and faith to be really real, they have to be, well, really lived. Jesus lived the real life. What kind of life are we living?
John wrote to the Church at a time when a lot of powerfully charismatic posers threatened to lead Christians away from real love for other believers, and away from real faith in a real Savior who really lived and died, and rose again. Following the posers would only lead from life back to death. The same kind of posers threaten the Church today, so John’s letter is just as timely as ever. Our only hope, today as it was in John’s day, is to love, to believe, to live as Jesus did.
S.D.G.
Jim
www.jimwilkenministries.org
Marion, NC
PS 37.4
Wednesday, January 4, 2012
Jesus Showed Because Jesus Is
What Did Jesus Do?
Whoever practices righteousness is righteous, as he is righteous.
1 John 3:7
Putting a gorilla into a tuxedo might dress him up a bit, but it in no way alters the fact that he is an ape. The gorilla’s behavior, his “lifestyle” will go on just as before when he wasn’t all decked out in Armani. In the same way, just because someone sits in a pew Sunday after Sunday does not necessarily or of itself mean that person is a believer. How pewsitters live, their lifestyle, the other 167 hours of the week, says a lot more about what family they belong to, than the mere act of their attending worship. The life of a child of God is, or should be, evidently different from the life of a child of the devil. Jesus showed the way to the Father because Jesus is the way to the Father and, therefore, because of Jesus, who our father is, well, it shows.
While there should be a resemblance between God and the members of his family, appearances can be deceiving. So John, who was much concerned that his “little children,” the members of God’s Church whom he so loved, were being led astray, sent them a warning, “let no one deceive you” (1 John 3:7a). Even more, John wanted the Church to know the how and why of living as children of God.
First of all, there is a particular practice, or principle that should distinguish whose family we belong to, God’s or the devil’s. We might call it the righteousness principle. The righteousness principle is based on the fact that there is only one who was truly righteous—Jesus Christ, the Son of God. God’s children, adopted in and through the Son, who is righteous, live according to the righteousness principle, which is to say that they practice righteousness in their own lives. The children of God seek to live like Jesus, who not only showed the way to the Father, but is the way to the Father (John 16.6). In sharp and utter contrast, the children of the devil practice sin. It is impossible for a child of God to make a practice of sin (1 John 3:9). This is not to say that is impossible for any of us who believe to sin, we all stumble and fall short (Romans 3:23). But there is a difference between stumbling, being convicted, and repenting when one stumbles, and making a practice of sin, and doing so without any remorse. Only a child of the devil practices sin, and the practice of sin is also evidence that one has no love for one’s brother (1 John 3:10).
Besides there being a principle that directs what believers practice, there is also a power at work in the children of God—the power of the risen Lord to destroy the works of the devil in all who are born again in Jesus. The reason for the Son’s appearing, and for his rising from the grave, is to disarm the devil and destroy all his works in us (1 John 3:8b). the children of God are those who are able to practice righteousness because Jesus has broken the power of sin and death (the works of the devil) in them. To claim to be a believer, a child of God, while continuing to practice sin is to deny the power and the victory of Christ. Rather, the presence of Christ shows in the lives of believers because the Lord is alive in them—Jesus shows because Jesus is. As God’s children, practice righteousness, and show love for one another, that’s what Jesus did to prove he is the Son of God.
S.D.G.
Jim
www.jimwilkenministries.org
Marion, NC
PS 37.4
Whoever practices righteousness is righteous, as he is righteous.
1 John 3:7
Putting a gorilla into a tuxedo might dress him up a bit, but it in no way alters the fact that he is an ape. The gorilla’s behavior, his “lifestyle” will go on just as before when he wasn’t all decked out in Armani. In the same way, just because someone sits in a pew Sunday after Sunday does not necessarily or of itself mean that person is a believer. How pewsitters live, their lifestyle, the other 167 hours of the week, says a lot more about what family they belong to, than the mere act of their attending worship. The life of a child of God is, or should be, evidently different from the life of a child of the devil. Jesus showed the way to the Father because Jesus is the way to the Father and, therefore, because of Jesus, who our father is, well, it shows.
While there should be a resemblance between God and the members of his family, appearances can be deceiving. So John, who was much concerned that his “little children,” the members of God’s Church whom he so loved, were being led astray, sent them a warning, “let no one deceive you” (1 John 3:7a). Even more, John wanted the Church to know the how and why of living as children of God.
First of all, there is a particular practice, or principle that should distinguish whose family we belong to, God’s or the devil’s. We might call it the righteousness principle. The righteousness principle is based on the fact that there is only one who was truly righteous—Jesus Christ, the Son of God. God’s children, adopted in and through the Son, who is righteous, live according to the righteousness principle, which is to say that they practice righteousness in their own lives. The children of God seek to live like Jesus, who not only showed the way to the Father, but is the way to the Father (John 16.6). In sharp and utter contrast, the children of the devil practice sin. It is impossible for a child of God to make a practice of sin (1 John 3:9). This is not to say that is impossible for any of us who believe to sin, we all stumble and fall short (Romans 3:23). But there is a difference between stumbling, being convicted, and repenting when one stumbles, and making a practice of sin, and doing so without any remorse. Only a child of the devil practices sin, and the practice of sin is also evidence that one has no love for one’s brother (1 John 3:10).
Besides there being a principle that directs what believers practice, there is also a power at work in the children of God—the power of the risen Lord to destroy the works of the devil in all who are born again in Jesus. The reason for the Son’s appearing, and for his rising from the grave, is to disarm the devil and destroy all his works in us (1 John 3:8b). the children of God are those who are able to practice righteousness because Jesus has broken the power of sin and death (the works of the devil) in them. To claim to be a believer, a child of God, while continuing to practice sin is to deny the power and the victory of Christ. Rather, the presence of Christ shows in the lives of believers because the Lord is alive in them—Jesus shows because Jesus is. As God’s children, practice righteousness, and show love for one another, that’s what Jesus did to prove he is the Son of God.
S.D.G.
Jim
www.jimwilkenministries.org
Marion, NC
PS 37.4
Tuesday, January 3, 2012
Jesus Showed Up So that Sin Could Be given Up
What Did Jesus Do?
You know that he appeared to take away sin.
I John 3:5
Patient (Moving painfully): “Gee, doctor, it always hurts when I do this. What do you think?”
Doctor (Sighing out of frustration): “I think you should stop doing that.”
If we are told that our recurring headaches result from caffeine intake, maybe we should try cutting out the coffee and the cokes, you think? If our practice of jogging five miles every day leaves our knees so sore we can hardly walk afterwards, it might be time to substitute swimming in our exercise routine. If we wonder why God seems so far away from us, the reason is almost certainly sin. Might it be possible that sin is getting in the way between us and a relationship with the Father? Hmmm.
It’s like this, the Father hates sin, cannot abide the presence of sin. His moral code (the Law) is absolutely opposed to sin; sin is, in a word, lawlessness (1 John 3:4). Fortunately, Jesus showed up so that sin could be given up. Don’t get me wrong, there hasn’t been a single Christian, nor will there ever be one, other than the Lord himself, who never sins. The question is, what do we do with the reality of our sin? Do we deny it? That’s not going to fool anyone, least of all God. Do we struggle to overcome it on our own? Epic fail ahead! Or do we just go ahead and keep on sinning, while pointing to the Cross and saying, “See, I’ve been forgiven”? It is impossible to do this while claiming to truly know the Lord.
If we truly know Jesus, know the reason why he came into the world, know of his perfect obedience to the Law and of his love for the Father, and know the brutal facts of why and how he died, then our sin should be absolutely repugnant to us. If we truly know Jesus, then we realize that for each of our sins a drop of his precious blood was shed for us on the cross. How could we just go on doing that which we know hurts the One who loved us so much that he died in our place? John spells it out plainly enough, “No one who abides in Jesus keeps on sinning; no one who keeps on sinning has either seen Jesus or known Jesus.” (1 John 3:6) Again, it’s not that Christians don’t sin, it’s that Christians are forgiven. And, knowing the price of our forgiveness, we bring the sin in our life, which we now hate for love of Jesus, regardless of how much pleasure our sin may give us for a season, to the Cross, where we give it to the Lord.
In writing to the Church, John was/is addressing those who know, or who should know, better than to think that a relationship with Jesus is possible while continuing to sin, to disobey the Law of God. The Church in John’s time had fallen prey to false teachers who so spiritualized the work of Christ that they argued that sin didn’t matter any more. We must remember that Jesus died to free us from sin, not to free us to sin. If we are truly a part of God’s family, are the Father’s children, and abide now and forever in a relationship with the Father and the Son, than our lives should become more and more a reflection of the Father’s righteousness in and through the Son, and less and less the evidence of our unrighteousness apart from Jesus.
In just a couple of days (January 6) the Church celebrates the Epiphany of the Lord (epiphany means “appearing”). What better time could there be to give our sins to Jesus, who “appeared to take away sins”?
Christian (Confessing painfully): “Gee, Lord, it always hurts [you], when I sin. What do you think?”
Jesus (Sobbing out of compassion): “I think you should give your sins to me.”
S.D.G.
Jim
www.jimwilkenministries.org
Marion, NC
PS 37.4
You know that he appeared to take away sin.
I John 3:5
Patient (Moving painfully): “Gee, doctor, it always hurts when I do this. What do you think?”
Doctor (Sighing out of frustration): “I think you should stop doing that.”
If we are told that our recurring headaches result from caffeine intake, maybe we should try cutting out the coffee and the cokes, you think? If our practice of jogging five miles every day leaves our knees so sore we can hardly walk afterwards, it might be time to substitute swimming in our exercise routine. If we wonder why God seems so far away from us, the reason is almost certainly sin. Might it be possible that sin is getting in the way between us and a relationship with the Father? Hmmm.
It’s like this, the Father hates sin, cannot abide the presence of sin. His moral code (the Law) is absolutely opposed to sin; sin is, in a word, lawlessness (1 John 3:4). Fortunately, Jesus showed up so that sin could be given up. Don’t get me wrong, there hasn’t been a single Christian, nor will there ever be one, other than the Lord himself, who never sins. The question is, what do we do with the reality of our sin? Do we deny it? That’s not going to fool anyone, least of all God. Do we struggle to overcome it on our own? Epic fail ahead! Or do we just go ahead and keep on sinning, while pointing to the Cross and saying, “See, I’ve been forgiven”? It is impossible to do this while claiming to truly know the Lord.
If we truly know Jesus, know the reason why he came into the world, know of his perfect obedience to the Law and of his love for the Father, and know the brutal facts of why and how he died, then our sin should be absolutely repugnant to us. If we truly know Jesus, then we realize that for each of our sins a drop of his precious blood was shed for us on the cross. How could we just go on doing that which we know hurts the One who loved us so much that he died in our place? John spells it out plainly enough, “No one who abides in Jesus keeps on sinning; no one who keeps on sinning has either seen Jesus or known Jesus.” (1 John 3:6) Again, it’s not that Christians don’t sin, it’s that Christians are forgiven. And, knowing the price of our forgiveness, we bring the sin in our life, which we now hate for love of Jesus, regardless of how much pleasure our sin may give us for a season, to the Cross, where we give it to the Lord.
In writing to the Church, John was/is addressing those who know, or who should know, better than to think that a relationship with Jesus is possible while continuing to sin, to disobey the Law of God. The Church in John’s time had fallen prey to false teachers who so spiritualized the work of Christ that they argued that sin didn’t matter any more. We must remember that Jesus died to free us from sin, not to free us to sin. If we are truly a part of God’s family, are the Father’s children, and abide now and forever in a relationship with the Father and the Son, than our lives should become more and more a reflection of the Father’s righteousness in and through the Son, and less and less the evidence of our unrighteousness apart from Jesus.
In just a couple of days (January 6) the Church celebrates the Epiphany of the Lord (epiphany means “appearing”). What better time could there be to give our sins to Jesus, who “appeared to take away sins”?
Christian (Confessing painfully): “Gee, Lord, it always hurts [you], when I sin. What do you think?”
Jesus (Sobbing out of compassion): “I think you should give your sins to me.”
S.D.G.
Jim
www.jimwilkenministries.org
Marion, NC
PS 37.4
Monday, January 2, 2012
Jesus Provided Purification for Everyone Whose Hope is in Him
What Did Jesus Do?
Everyone who hopes in him purifies himself as he is pure.
1 John 3:3
While the pot may find pleasure in calling the kettle “black,” the truth is, pot or kettle, neither vessel can do anything to clean itself up. The only hope of dirty pots and pans is in the dishwasher. Because of sin, Christians are like blackened pots and kettles in that there is nothing we can do to make ourselves clean and pure. So where does a believer’s security and hope come from? First of all, every believer needs to know that, here and now, we are children of God (1 John 3:2a). THAT is eternal security. Every believer should also know that, though it is not now entirely clear what we will be, when Christ returns we shall be like him (1 John 3:2b). THAT is eternal hope. Both our security and our hope are based on the relationship that we have with the Father through the Son.
In the present, our hope motivates us to follow Jesus, and to follow him as closely as we can, desiring to become more and more like him in every way, including his purity. The net effect of our desiring is the day in day out process of purifying ourselves. This is not to say that any of us can purify ourselves by trying. But we can certainly see to it that we remain totally impure by not trying. Though it is not by force of will or dint of effort that we are purified, as our hope in Jesus motivates us, and as our desire to know the Lord and to live more and more by his example grows, sin, and all other lifestyles grow less and less appealing. The Christian life, or, I should say the life of Christ, becomes more attractive to us, even as we come to understand that it is a life of humility, obedience, and sacrifice. By the action of the Holy Spirit within us, by our becoming a little bit more like Jesus every day, a believer becomes a little more pure each day. Is it our personal piety and purity? No, it is, now and forever, Christ’s own purity, his love for and obedience to the Father’s law, that is imparted to us by grace through faith, through our hope, in him.
A Christian whose chief occupation is finding fault with, and pointing out the sins of, other believers, is like a soot stained and blackened pot that not only ridicules its neighbor the kettle, but gets blacker and blacker doing so, and never recognizes its own need to be cleaned. This is hardly the kind of life together in Jesus that John imagined for the Body of Christ. And so John wrote to the Church to encourage her (us) to abide in the love of God, even as we come to learn more of the life Jesus, the Son, who lived completely in the love of the Father.
A lot of people are making a lot of “New Year’s Resolutions” right about now. If we are believers, our chief resolution this, and every year, ought to be to be more pure by the end of next December, by clinging to Christ our hope, and trying in the Holy Spirit to be more like Jesus, even as we encourage and help all our brother “pots” and sister “kettles.”
S.D.G.
Jim
www.jimwilkenministries.org
Marion, NC
PS 37.4
Everyone who hopes in him purifies himself as he is pure.
1 John 3:3
While the pot may find pleasure in calling the kettle “black,” the truth is, pot or kettle, neither vessel can do anything to clean itself up. The only hope of dirty pots and pans is in the dishwasher. Because of sin, Christians are like blackened pots and kettles in that there is nothing we can do to make ourselves clean and pure. So where does a believer’s security and hope come from? First of all, every believer needs to know that, here and now, we are children of God (1 John 3:2a). THAT is eternal security. Every believer should also know that, though it is not now entirely clear what we will be, when Christ returns we shall be like him (1 John 3:2b). THAT is eternal hope. Both our security and our hope are based on the relationship that we have with the Father through the Son.
In the present, our hope motivates us to follow Jesus, and to follow him as closely as we can, desiring to become more and more like him in every way, including his purity. The net effect of our desiring is the day in day out process of purifying ourselves. This is not to say that any of us can purify ourselves by trying. But we can certainly see to it that we remain totally impure by not trying. Though it is not by force of will or dint of effort that we are purified, as our hope in Jesus motivates us, and as our desire to know the Lord and to live more and more by his example grows, sin, and all other lifestyles grow less and less appealing. The Christian life, or, I should say the life of Christ, becomes more attractive to us, even as we come to understand that it is a life of humility, obedience, and sacrifice. By the action of the Holy Spirit within us, by our becoming a little bit more like Jesus every day, a believer becomes a little more pure each day. Is it our personal piety and purity? No, it is, now and forever, Christ’s own purity, his love for and obedience to the Father’s law, that is imparted to us by grace through faith, through our hope, in him.
A Christian whose chief occupation is finding fault with, and pointing out the sins of, other believers, is like a soot stained and blackened pot that not only ridicules its neighbor the kettle, but gets blacker and blacker doing so, and never recognizes its own need to be cleaned. This is hardly the kind of life together in Jesus that John imagined for the Body of Christ. And so John wrote to the Church to encourage her (us) to abide in the love of God, even as we come to learn more of the life Jesus, the Son, who lived completely in the love of the Father.
A lot of people are making a lot of “New Year’s Resolutions” right about now. If we are believers, our chief resolution this, and every year, ought to be to be more pure by the end of next December, by clinging to Christ our hope, and trying in the Holy Spirit to be more like Jesus, even as we encourage and help all our brother “pots” and sister “kettles.”
S.D.G.
Jim
www.jimwilkenministries.org
Marion, NC
PS 37.4
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