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He Went About Doing Good

When someone says ‘good enough,’ he’s referring to a minimum standard he hopes he has met.  Many around us often express that they hope the good they have done will be ‘good enough’ to get them into heaven–as if God is weighing deeds with some great cosmic scale.

In addition to believing that God has a minimum standard for entrance into heaven, another problem with this view is that it eliminates Jesus and His work on the cross and in the tomb entirely from the solution for sin.

I.  Acts 10:1-48.  If there was such a cosmic scale, Cornelius had tipped it heavily towards the good.  He had good deeds as well as having a good character … but God said that all that was not ‘good enough’ and sent Peter to preach the gospel to him.  It was after Cornelius obeyed the gospel that he had salvation.

II.  Hebrews 5:7-9.  Once God had taken on flesh in the person of Jesus and went about doing good works as Peter described Him to Cornelius (Acts 10:38), wasn’t that ‘good enough’ to get Him into heaven?  After all, Jesus was sinless (2 Corinthians 5:21).  No, He needed to learn obedience from what He suffered and with loud tears cry out to God who was able to save Him.

III.  Ephesians 2:8-9.  Having been saved through Jesus’ obedience, we must not think that we can ever be ‘good enough’ to somehow work our way to heaven.  Rather, we, who are in Christ, do good works out of obedience to the One who saved us through His obedience.  We walk as Jesus did (1 John 2:1-6).

We must examine why we do good things.  Are we doing them to earn our way to heaven (working) or are we doing them as acts of obedience (walking)?  ‘Good enough’ is never ‘good enough’ with God.  He holds us to the maximum standard that His Son has met, so that in Him we can meet it too.  This is why the gospel truly is good news!

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The Evil Slippery Slope

The gospel brings salvation for mankind,
The only power to save the maimed and blind;
O Lord, keep me from ever feeling shame,
But always offer to all the blessed Name.

For saving grace obedient faith’s required;
By Christ confessed is righteousness acquired.
In him, O God, resides my glorious hope —
Preserve me from the evil slippery slope.

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With You I Am Well Pleased

A humorous series of pictures on social media shows dogs’ expressions before and after being told that they are “good dogs.”  We, too, want to hear from God one day, “Well done, good and faithful servant,” but are we willing to make it our goal to please Him and walk in obedience?

I.  John 12:42-43.  Ever donate to some cause just to get a trinket in return?  Though our motives are often selfish, we often tell ourselves that we attend church and do good deeds because we love God and others.  But, it is with ourselves mostly that we are pleased.  Fear of many things keep us from obeying God’s commands and pleasing Him.  We must be careful not to be at home in this world (2 Corinthians 5:1-5).

II.  Mark 1:9-11.  The life of Jesus is a good study in how to live to be pleasing to God.  When He was baptized, we see His Father expressing this.  We also see this at His transfiguration in Matthew 17:5.  We understand that Jesus pleased God because He was even obedient to death (Philippians 2:5-8), but the great thing is that through His obedience, He gave us the opportunity to please God (Hebrews 5:7-9).

III.  1 Corinthians 10:1-6.  God is not a soccer mom who has an over-inflated view of His child.  Nor does He lavish fake praise when He knows how separated from Him because of sin we are.  Heaven is not a participation trophy!  Instead, we are warned not to repeat the sins of those who have gone before us because God was not pleased with them.  By living by faith, we are able to please Him (2 Corinthians 5:6-10).

No, we don’t earn our way into heaven by good works, but we must be an obedient child to one day hear God say, “Well done, good and faithful servant!”  That would not be possible for us to hear if Jesus had not gone before us and obeyed perfectly to the cross.

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Will Not Lead to Your Glory

When we look at the time of Judges as God’s people seeking to live for Him in an evil world all around them without compromise or complacency, the parallels to today are evident.

One of the greatest struggles is having the courage to do what God asks when it is so easy to shrink back.

I.  Judges 4:1-10.  Barak had already been told by God to free His people in battle.  This is what the prophet, Deborah, told him when she summoned him.  Yes, Barak was reluctant to obey.  Lacking the courage to do what God had asked of him, he put his trust in Deborah rather than God.  If she would go with him, he would obey.  This road, she told him, would not lead to his glory.

II.  James 4:17.  We often read this account and teach about headship.  Because a man wouldn’t obey, his glory was given to a woman.  But there’s more going on here.  Barak’s sin was one of omission.  He knew the good he ought to do, but he chose to do nothing.  This was Adam’s sin as well.  While his wife was being tempted by the serpent, Adam, who was with her (Genesis 3:6) did and said nothing.  The saddest struggle God’s people have today in an evil culture is our inaction in the face of opportunities for the Kingdom that God gives us each and every day.

III.  2 Peter 1:3-4.  Jesus, however, seized the opportunity to die in our place, so we might share in His glory.  Because He obeyed, He became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey Him (Hebrews 5:7-10).  Therefore, the road that leads to our glory is one of obedience to God’s commands.  We must NOT do what we should NOT do, and do what we should do.

This means, unlike Barak, living out what the pages of Scripture tell us to do or don’t do while surrounded by an immoral culture that calls for you to compromise or be complacent.

Do you have the courage to obey though you may be the only one around you to do so?

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But He Could Not

A man went to his neighbor to borrow a shovel but was told that he couldn’t because the neighbor had to take his wife to the doctor next Tuesday.  “What’s that got to do with me borrowing your shovel?” the man asked.  “When you don’t want to do something,” the neighbor answered, “any excuse will do.”

We make excuses to not trust and obey God all the time: no one’s interested in the gospel!  I’m too busy to read my Bible!  I’m too exhausted to go to church this morning!  We placate ourselves with these, but does God accept any of our excuses?

I.  Judges 1:1-18.  God’s people had just lost a great leader in Joshua, but God had promised to be with them in conquering the land if they would just trust and obey.  As long as everything was going well, they did not struggle to do what God asked of them.

II.  Judges 1:19-36.  It did not take long, however, for their faith to meet resistance.  As soon as the going got tough, those who thought themselves tough could not or did not do what God asked of them.  They began to make excuses instead and just accept that that was how things were.

III.  Luke 14:16-24.  Oh, how that sounds like God’s people today!  God has given us the same promise today that He will be with us (Matthew 28:18-20).  He has even said He will give us the same power (Romans 8:31-32) today that He gave His people all those centuries ago.  God was not pleased that they did not trust and obey Him (Judges 2:1-5).

Will we trust and obey (1 John 2:3-6) or make excuses?

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The difference in this world

Psalm 1.2

O God, help me to find pleasure in obedience. Let my thoughts be taken up day and night with your blessed word. Keep me from the wicked way.

I want to please you. I want to know you better. I want to live in your light.

Make me the difference in this world that shows where love and peace and hope abide.

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Cats & Minnows, Dogs & Sows

Just before bed, I sanded the second coat of joint compound on some bedrooms now that we’re empty-nesters.  To keep dust from billowing throughout the house, I stapled a plastic sheet between the dining room and the hallway.  It also had a second purpose: to keep our cat out of the dust.

That was not to be.  When we got out of bed the next morning, we found a very distressed pet covered in white powder meowing on the wrong side of the plastic.  Curious, she had nosed her way under the sheet and then found herself unable to exit–much like a minnow would enter a trap.

We were unhappy with her, but because we love her, we got her out and dusted her off.  Within minutes of setting her down, though, we were dismayed to find her once again on the other side of the plastic!

As I often do, I saw this as a spiritual illustration.  God tries to protect us by giving us clear limits for living our lives, but we rail against the translucent sheet, believing that He is keeping us from worldly ‘fun’ we could be having.  Sometimes, we’re just curious.  Often we believe that we can just nose under the plastic a little, but a little turns into more until we’re trapped.  We cry out for help, and God rescues us, dusts us off, and sets us back to safety.  He’s perhaps a bit disappointed that we went past the limits He has set up for us, but He loves us.

But then we do the unimaginable.  We return to the very sin that we’ve been saved from.  We once more go beyond the plastic and find ourselves covered in white powder.  Sometimes we curse ourselves for once more being deceived and think ourselves unloved or incapable of obedience.  Often we turn against God, believing Him incapable of keeping us from our situation.

Eventually, we can find ourselves in the situation of those spoken of in 2 Peter 2:19-22:

“… a man is a slave to whatever has mastered him. If they have escaped the corruption of the world by knowing our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and are again entangled in it and overcome, they are worse off at the end than they were at the beginning. It would have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than to have known it and then to turn their backs on the sacred command that was passed on to them. Of them the proverbs are true: “A dog returns to its vomit,” and, “A sow that is washed goes back to her wallowing in the mud.”

We must not be a washed sow wallowing once again in the mud or a dog returning to its vomit.  Rather, we must submit to our good Father’s limits, knowing they are there for our good.  Then we won’t be a minnow caught in a trap — or a dust-covered cat beyond the plastic.

 

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Obedience in 1 Peter 1

Obedience is mentioned three times in 1 Peter 1, each time revealing precious information about its meaning and importance in God’s plan.

  1. The purpose of obedience: cleansing by the blood of Jesus Christ, v. 2.
  2. The relationship of obedience: as obedient children, v. 14.
  3. The focus of obedience: truth, v. 22.
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As Holy Branches

God, let your Word not condemn us,
We hear and do, we love and know,
Believe, obey, in grace we grow;
As holy branches, let it trim us.

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We have no excuse

We have no excuse, O Lord who knows our hearts. You have revealed yourself to us in Jesus Christ and made that revelation available in Scripture. You have provided the way back to yourself. You freely give your Spirit to enable us in our faith.  We can pray to you at any time for our needs. You have left nothing to chance, with every purpose fulfilled, and every plan brought to fruition. Continue reading “We have no excuse”