Traveling Light in 2011

For many people Christmas has come and gone.  There are some people however that will have their family Christmas around New Years. Our family is in the latter category.  I will be flying out midweek to Colorado for a few days of vacation to have Christmas and see the family.  Since it’s such a short time, I’ll be flying instead of driving.  As I’m deciding what to pack, I realize that I can travel light, since I won’t be gone long.  Now, normally I travel light to begin with.  I’m not one of those people who need two pieces of luggage to check in, and another as my carry on.  Normally I can get by with one carry on, and one checked bag.  But this time I’m traveling with even less.  Traveling light got me thinking about a book by the same title, “Traveling Light” by Max Lucado.  I’ve read it numerous times, and I just finished it in two sittings.  Since we are on the brink of a new year, it got me thinking of how I can travel light in 2011.

The book is based on the 23^rd Psalm, and its premise is that we all have baggage that we carry with us that was never meant for us to deal with.  We chuckle or we smile when we see someone in the airport struggling with trying to carry four or five bags, and we realize that if he would ask an attendant for help the burden would be lessened.  Yet in the Psalm, David points out that we have many burdens that we should not be trying to carry.  In Max’s book, there are seventeen bags of burdens he makes mention of, but I’ll only touch on a few here.  To contemplate the rest, you’ll have to read the book and the Psalm. 

The first burden shows up right away in verse one.  “The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want.”  We carry around the baggage of a lesser God, when all we need is right there in verse one.  The rest of the Psalm tells us what the Lord wants to do for us if we don’t settle for a lesser God.  I believe David wrote this Psalm to remind us of who God is and to build our trust in Him.  What kind of God have we manufactured in our mind?  Is He a genie in a bottle, or is He a grandfather, or is He a busy dad?  In Psalm 23, David uses the term “Yahweh”, because that IS his name. In other words He is “I am”.  God needs no descriptive word because he never changes.  God is what He is.  He is what He has always been.  Yahweh is an unchanging God.  He is also ungoverned.  You and I are governed.  The weather determines what we wear.  Gravity dictates our speed, and health determines our strength.  We may challenge these forces and alter them slightly, but we never remove them.  Just as a piano has a middle C, and a tuning fork plays a middle C, we need a middle C in our life.  Relationships change. Health changes.  The weather changes.  But the Yahweh who ruled the earth last night is the same Yahweh who rules it today.  Same convictions, same plan, same mood, same love.  He never changes.  Friends can sit by your deathbed, but you need a Yahweh who has defeated the grave.  Philosophers have debated the meaning of life, but you need a Lord who can declare the meaning of life.  I don’t need to carry the burden of a lesser god…a god on a shelf, a god in a box, or a god in a bottle.  I need a God who, while so mind-numbingly mighty, can come in the still of night and touch me gently like a spring rain.

My plane leaves in a couple of days, and I can’t wait to get home to see my parents, my brother in law and sister, and my three nieces.  I am homesick.  You could say I have the burden of homesickness.  This burden is not a bad burden.  As Believers, we all have a burden of homesickness.  Just as I’m preparing for a trip to Colorado, each day we are preparing for our Master’s house.  Even though I don’t know my departure date and flight number for God’s trip, I can guarantee you that it will happen someday.  Isn’t this the concluding promise of Psalm 23 in verse six?  “And I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.” 

The twists and turns of life have a way of reminding us – we aren’t home here.  This is not our homeland.  We aren’t fluent in the languages of disease and death.  The culture of death through abortion and euthanasia discourages us, the noise of postmodernism disrupts our thought, and we feel far from home.  And you know what?  That’s OK.  Please here me; I’m not saying that we shouldn’t fight to stem the tide of those things, but the byproduct of those things that culture condone are what makes up the burden of homesickness that God doesn’t mind us carrying.  We can’t lower our duffel bag and breathe a sigh of relief that “I’m home”, because we are not.  The greatest calamity is not to feel far from home when you are, but to feel right at home when you are not.  Don’t quench the desire, but stir the desire for heaven by engaging culture to think about where our culture is going. 

Just as plant lovers know that when a bulb weakens and starts to die off, that the point of blossom is about to come and it won’t be long until you see a beautiful flower.  Maybe the angels up in heaven do the same with us.  As they see our bodies weaken, they see us about ready to blossom in heaven. 

When I go home, I know that my folks will have at least one party for me to go to.  Everyone will be glad to see me and we’ll renew acquaintances.  When we get to heaven, each one of us will have a party thrown in our honor, with people who we’ve not seen for a while who have gone to heaven before us.  At that moment, only one bag will remain.  Not guilt, it was dropped at Calvary.  Not the fear of death, it was left in the grave.  The only lingering luggage will be this God-given longing for home.  And when you see Him, you’ll set it down and you’ll drop your longing when you see your Father.  Those who love you will shout, and those who know you will applaud.  But all the noise will cease when God says, “Welcome home!!”  

Happy New Year, we’ll see you all in 2011!!

Kurt

While you were sleeping....

It’s Christmas Eve.  Looks like another silent night.  All is quiet around the house.  Finally!  Everyone is asleep, and all activity has ceased for the night.   The kids finally went to bed under the threat that the presents from Santa wouldn’t be there because they weren’t asleep. At long last all the Christmas presents have been wrapped and are under the tree waiting to be ripped open on Christmas morning.  While you were sleeping, Santa brought the Xbox game that you wanted, and the “My Littlest Pet Shop” that Sarah wanted.  While you were sleeping, Santa brought oodles and oodles of gifts that you requested and now have all Christmas day and all Christmas break to play with them. It’s great being a kid this time of year.  All the new things that you get (at least until your sister breaks them!) make this the best time of the year!!  No kid would ever forget Christmas.

It’s Christmas Eve in Bethlehem, over 2000 years ago.  Looks like another silent night.  However, no one knows it’s Christmas Eve, because Mary hasn’t gone in to labor yet and had Jesus, our Savior.  However, while you were sleeping Bethlehem, the Son of God entered your world.  Oh Bethlehem, what you have missed while you were sleeping!  If you had only known what was happening in one of your farm stables, would you have acted any differently?  He was wrapped in dirty rags because there was no room for him in a motel.  You will go down in history as a city with no room for a King.HeHH

What Bethlehem failed to discover some 2000 years ago is that yes, God was born in a box; however He did not stay that way.  It’s interesting that so many people today inside the church and outside the church love to talk about the baby Jesus, and they are very content to leave Him in that box.  God came in a box, and so we are going to keep Him in that box.  That cute baby Jesus grew to be a man who many chose to follow, risking ridicule for following a “lunatic” who was claiming to be the son of God.  However, those who had an open mind and considered Christ for who He was, realized that He was who He said He was.  They dared to take the baby Jesus out of the box and realized that this man truly was the son of God.  In the 52^nd chapter of the book of Isaiah, the prophet prophesied that the fully grown baby Jesus would suffer a humiliating death at the hands of His enemies, and that we would hardly recognize Him because of the punishment that He would suffer.  He would die for claiming to be a King.  However, after three days, that man who came into the world as a sweet and innocent Jewish baby would rise again as our King, conquering sin and death for us.

It’s Christmas Eve in the USA.  Looks like another silent night.  However, we are sound asleep by philosophies that save the whales and the trees, but yet kill our children.  While we are sleeping, there’s a shout heard across the Eastern sky – the Bridegroom has returned and has carried His bride away in the night.  The Christmas Eve I’m talking about is not the conventional Christmas Eve, this one could happen at any time.  Will we learn anything from Bethlehem, or will we still go down in history as a nation with no room for a King?  Will Jesus come and leave us slumbering where we lay?  It’s not too late to wake up.

Merry Christmas and God bless you,

Kurt

Christmas through Narnia's Eyes

The latest film in the Chronicles of Narnia series has come to movie theaters.  I have not seen it yet, but it got me thinking back to the Chronicles of Narnia series by C.S. Lewis and how the book, The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe have many parallels to the Christmas season.   For those of you who haven’t read it, or maybe haven’t read it recently, I’ll give you a quick refresher. In this story, four children find a wardrobe door to hide inside in the house they are staying in. It is not an ordinary wardrobe with an ordinary inside. Beyond the long fur coats, the smell of mothballs, beyond the place where the back of the wardrobe should be is a land of destiny for Peter, Susan, Edmund and Lucy.  They had come to live at the odd old house to escape the Nazi bombing of London.  Unexpectedly, through the back of the wardrobe, they enter another world, a world bewitched, where winter never stops and Christmas never comes; a world where animals talk and plot, where nymphs and fauns live oppressed under the power of an evil witch turned Queen who turns her enemies into stone statues, and where redemption eventually may come for all from The Lion, Aslan, who is a kind and fierce Lion, and who isn’t tame at all.  There are horrors and hags, wars and betrayals, dangers and honors. It is a world whose future is balanced on the lives of these four unsuspecting, bewildered children, who must find inside himself or herself courage and, through faith in The Lion Aslan, the will to succeed, for should they fail, they will die. Should they fail, that entire world will remain in the icy fingers of the coldhearted Queen, a land in winter, forever.  This is the world of Narnia, a land created hundreds of years before by Aslan the Lion.

Narnia, as we enter it, in book and film, is a land of bad news, of endless cold and endless snow. Spies are everywhere. It is hard for the honest people of Narnia and for their visitors to know whom to trust, and not to trust, even among members in their own families. The self-proclaimed Queen, who wickedly rules the land, knows of the ancient prophecy about four human children — two sons of Adam, and two daughters of Eve who will come into Narnia to free the land forever from her icy grip, and who will then sit upon the thrones of the abandoned castle by the sea.  It is terrifying and horrible to be oppressed by the White Queen and to be living in Narnia where goodness is denigrated, and evil elevated. The good and captive people of Narnia, who live in justifiable fear of the White Witch and of her spies and multitude of minions, hope for the prophesied day when Aslan is again abroad in the land and when the two kings and two queens will come. The faithful people of Narnia hope for Aslan’s expected gift, the long promised liberation from evil and anticipate the gladness liberation will bring.  “Always winter and never Christmas; think of that!” says Mr. Tumnus, one of the characters in the book.

In Narnia, the evil White Witch had made it always winter in Narnia, but never Christmas... However, there is a rumor of hope in the midst of the cold and evil land. The rumor is that Aslan is on the move. The mere mention of the name of Aslan the great lion and true King of Narnia causes joy to well up in the hearts of many, and invokes fear in the hearts of those loyal to the queen. Aslan is on the move.

The good news Aslan brought was, first of all, was that the prophecy has been fulfilled: Aslan has come back. There were joyous rumors that he was amongst his people again in the land.  Aslan comes and the people rejoice, and willingly do battle, sacrificing themselves for the liberty of others, and are set free from their captivity.  If you read “The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe” you will see that although Aslan was in the land and was appearing here and there and giving help as needed, folks didn’t understand him. He was a mystery to them; especially to the sons of Adam and daughters of Eve.  In The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, one of the children asks Mr. and Mrs. Beaver about Aslan the Lion: “Is Aslan quite safe? I shall feel rather nervous about meeting a lion.”

“That you will, dear, and no mistake,” said Mrs. Beaver. “If there’s anyone who can appear before Aslan without their knees knocking, they’re either braver than most or just plain silly.”

“Then he isn’t safe?” said Lucy.

“Safe?” said Mr. Beaver, “Don’t you hear what Mrs. Beaver tells you? Who said anything about safe?

Of course he isn’t safe. But he’s good. He’s the King, I tell you.”

Jesus isn’t safe: He challenges us to be different, take risks, and think dangerously. But oh, He’s good!  We too live in a land that is often hard and unloving. We too feel down and out and get depressed. We too see a town that needs something more in their lives. The people are hurting, they have no direction, their marriages are hurting the people don’t have goodness in their lives and have forgotten that we have a King who is on the move. You see, God is on the move!  

Merry Christmas!!

Lordship Salvation or Free Grace?

One of my classes during my time at Grace U. was on Doctrine.  It was a survey class, but at the end we had to do a paper on different doctrinal topics.  Mine was on Lordship Salvation versus Free Grace.   It was in the form of a point/counterpoint paper.  These are my conclusions.

Lordship Salvation

The first side in this debate that I will look at is on the side of those who believe in salvation by faith along with making Christ the Lord of your life.  This view is better known as Lordship Salvation. 

Faith by means of which we are justified is the kind or quality of faith that produces obedience and the fruit of the Spirit.  In the absence of obedience, in the absence of fruit, in the absence of submission to the Lordship of Christ, there is doubt whether the faith is saving.  The faith that is the product of regeneration, the faith that embraces the atoning sacrifice of Jesus on the cross energizes a life of love and obedience and worship.  The Lordship of Christ is not something one discovers and yields to only once, but thousands of times over the course of our Christian experience.

  Lordship salvation does not teach that Christians can’t sin.  It does teach that Christians can’t live complacently in it.  Lordship salvation does not say that Christians will be sinless.  But it does insist that Christians will sin less.  Christians do sin, but they don’t practice it.  In 1 John 3:6 it states, “No one who lives in him keeps on sinning. No one who continues to sin has either seen him or known him.”   All Christians sin, sometimes seriously.  But if they are Christians, they will suffer for it.  Complacency and contentment in sin are the hallmark of the unregenerate soul.  Conviction is the sign of the saved one.  In other words, the Christian will sin, but it will make him miserable. 

Lordship salvation recognizes a distinction between the acknowledgement by the new convert of the principle of Christ’s rightful authority over his life, and the practice of progressive submission to the Christ who is Lord.  Receiving Christ as Savior and Lord does not mean the new convert is wholly committed.  It does mean that he is committed to being holy.  The Christian life is one that begins with accepting and bowing to Jesus as Sovereign Lord with a progressive degree of experiential submission as one matures.  The Lordship of Christ is not something one discovers and yields to only once, but thousands of times over the course of our Christian experience. 

Lordship salvation insists that repentance is essential to the Gospel message.  In Luke 24:47 it says, “And repentance and forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem.”  It is impossible to suggest that a person can accept Christ without also coming to grips with how serious his sin is and not want to turn from it.  In Scripture, those who met God were confronted with a sense of their own sinfulness.  In Luke 5:8 we read of Peter, seeing Jesus for who He was, saying "go away from me, Lord; I am a sinful man.”  In 1 Timothy 1:15, Paul writes, “Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners—of whom I am the worst!"  Job, whom God Himself identified as a righteous man said after seeing God face to face, said in Job 42:6, “Therefore I despise myself and repent in dust and ashes.”  Isaiah, seeing God, stated in 6:5, "Woe to me!" I cried. "I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the Lord Almighty."  There are many other examples of people in Scripture, who having seen God, feared for their own lives – always because they realized the extent of their sin.  Jesus came to expose us all as sinners.  That’s why His message is so forceful.  It breaks down our self-righteousness, and exposes our evil hearts.

The assurance of salvation is also part of this controversy as well.  The one who is in the Lordship salvation camp will hold this belief on assurance of salvation.  The promises of God’s Word, while necessary for assurance of salvation, are not sufficient.  One must also look to his works.  Genuine assurance of salvation comes from seeing the Holy Spirit’s transforming work in one’s life, not holding on to the memory of an experience that you had where you said a prayer of salvation.  It is impossible to have firm assurance of salvation and yet walk in sin.  Sin will weaken your assurance.  The key to assurance is not to reduce the commands of Christ from requirements to options.  Rather, it is meant to magnify grace as a power to obey as well as a pardon for sin. 

These are the main views held by those in the Lordship salvation camp.  Those holding to this view are many within the Christian community.  They include: John MacArthur, Jr., J.I. Packer and James Montgomery Boice, among others.

Free Grace

Free Grace is the other side of this debate.  There are strongly held beliefs on this side of the argument, and I will sift through these issues.  There are major points that I will look at on this side of the issue.

According to Free Grace, the sole condition of eternal life is trusting in Christ as one’s Savior.  None of the following are conditions for eternal life: turning from sins, being willing to turn from sins, committing one’s life to Christ, baptism, doing good works, or persevering in the faith. 

Free Grace teaches that we receive eternal life the moment we believe in Jesus Christ as our personal Savior and Lord. The term Lord refers to our belief that He is the Son of God and therefore, able to be our Savior. Faith is viewed as a simple and uncomplicated response to the truth God has revealed about His Son, and the Gift which He offers. When Jesus says in John 6:47 "Truly, Truly I say unto you, he who believes in me has eternal life", believe means to be convinced and assured that what He says is true.

Free Grace stresses the believer’s assurance of salvation. It teaches that we can know we have eternal life and are going to Heaven based on the very promise inherent in the offer itself (John 3:16; 5:24; 6:47).  The Word of God becomes the basis of our assurance of salvation.  The promises of God’s Word are sufficient for assurance.  While one’s works can have a confirming value, they are not essential for assurance.  Any believer can have 100% certainty of his salvation if he looks to the promises in God’s Word.  One can have firm assurance of salvation yet walk in sin.  Sin, while grievous, does not necessarily weaken assurance.  Only if sin results in a person taking his eyes off God’s promises can sin weaken assurance.

Free Grace teaches that real Christians can fall away, slide into serious sin, and utterly fail.  Conceivably, Christians could even end up denying the Lord, if they continue forsaking the truth and hardening themselves to the work of the Spirit of God in their lives. Nevertheless, God does not forsake His children, but patiently disciplines them (1 Corinthians 10:30-32; Hebrews 6:1-12).

Free Grace sees the serious warnings and exhortations of the New Testament (from Jesus, Paul, the author of the book of Hebrews, James, and Peter) as encouragement to Christians to persevere in the faith and be faithful in doing good works. Christians soon realize in their walk with God, that to ignore these warnings and exhortations and persist in willful sin incites Him to discipline His children. On the other hand, a mark of a maturing Christian is joy in doing what the Father asks, knowing that He delights in richly rewarding His children (Matthew 5:1-15; 1 Corinthians 3:10-15; Hebrews 10:32 ff.).

Free Grace emphasizes the importance of persevering in doing good works for the Lord’s approval and reward (Matthew 5:1-12; 1 Corinthians 3:11-15; 2 Corinthians 5:9-11).  In addition to crowns of approval and appreciation, the reward will involve reigning with Christ and inheriting the kingdom.

Free Grace sees a distinction between the New Testament expressions entering the kingdom and inheriting the kingdom. Entering the kingdom means just that; to enter the kingdom of God.  We enter the kingdom by a simple and uncomplicated faith in Jesus Christ as our Savior.  Inheriting the kingdom means just that; to inherit, own or possess the kingdom. Believers who have been faithful servants of Christ, enduring hardships, and persevering in good works are joint heirs with Christ.  What that means is that they will reign with Christ, being given authority and power to share in the administration, leadership, and rule of His kingdom forever (Romans 8:17, 2 timothy 2:11-13; Revelation 2-3; 20 -22).

These are the main views held by those in the Free Grace camp.  Those holding to this view are many within the Christian community.  They include:  Zane Hodges and Charles C. Ryrie, among others.

My View

Both sides of this debate have points made that make me take a hard look at what side I believe to be the right way.  I am prone to believe that the Lordship Salvation side of this argument has the most persuasion in its defense.   

I believe that a Christian is saved by faith in Christ, turning from his sins and allowing Christ to become the Lord of his life.  It’s imperative for a person to make that turn from sin so that there is a definite break from the sin nature to the new nature that was given to them by Christ at conversion.  This doesn’t mean that a Christian will never sin again.  What it means is that a Christian will be living a lifestyle that reflects a Christ-like nature.  Sin has its consequences for a believer, and he will feel the effects of his sin until he turns from his sin in repentance. 

There will be outward signs of an inward change for all believers.  If a believer has truly changed, then the fruit that his life produces will be an outward sign for others to see that there has been a change from a past way of living.  The works that produce the fruit have no saving value.  Salvation is not dependant on the works that one does. 

I have friends on both sides of this debate, and I do believe that those on the opposite side of my belief are saved and that I will see them in Heaven one day.  I do believe, however that there are people in the church today who believe that they are saved, but their works don’t show the faith that they proclaim.  Unfortunately for them on judgment day they will hear God say to them what He said in Matthew 7:21-23 which states, "Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?’  Then I will tell them plainly, 'I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!'

Think about it,

Kurt