Tag Archives: enemies

PARTNERS IN CRIME

Bible Study,

Philippians 3:17-19 NLT
[17] Dear brothers and sisters, pattern your lives after mine, and learn from those who follow our example. [18] For I have told you often before, and I say it again with tears in my eyes, that there are many whose conduct shows they are really enemies of the cross of Christ. [19] They are headed for destruction. Their god is their appetite, they brag about shameful things, and they think only about this life here on earth.”

In every work of God, there will always be a fly in the ointment, someone or some people whom Satan has placed in the body of Christ to disrupt and confuse.

Jesus spoke of weeds and wheat growing together. These two categories of people are often difficult to differentiate. They look and sound much alike. They are always together, busy with the Lord’s work, seemingly one, but…there are differences which identify their real nature.

Paul’s way to identify them is quite graphic. Watch what they do! “By their fruit you will know them.”

How can we tell the difference?

First, the true believer is one who identifies with and follows what Paul was teaching. This is much more than doing the right thing. This is also about attitude and motive, those inward evidences that reveal the nature of the kingdom in which they live.

They had an example to follow.

Paul was bold in calling people to follow him. We might think he was arrogant but…being an example was part of his calling as an apostle. He was mandated to “show and tell” what the gospel of Jesus was about. It was no use telling people how to live if he didn’t follow his own counsel. So, in all honesty, he could say,

1 Corinthians 11:1 NLT
[1] “And you should imitate me, just as I imitate Christ.”

That’s s a bold claim and dangerous if it were not true. Paul often wrote, “I have learned…” implying that he was not perfect but learning and following Jesus as closely as he could.

The atmosphere of the true believer is honesty, humility, and submissiveness. He is not a pushover but a willing participant in the life of God’s family. He chooses to cooperate, to work with and to foster a peaceful environment.

A counterfeit Christian is essentially selfish, talks about himself, promotes himself, and wants his own way at the expense of peace. He likes to be out front, even greedy in a subtle way.

Second, the behaviour of the counterfeit Christian reveals the nature of the kingdom in which he lives. Selfish desires dominate his life. He lives to satisfy himself.

These people have crept into the church but they bring with them a subtly different atmosphere. Watch their behaviour, listen to their talk.

Paul didn’t mince his words. He call a spade a spade. “They are hell-bound haters of the truth of the gospel, enemies of the cross. They are self-made people who worship their “creator”, indulging in all their fleshly appetites at the expense of others.”

Trouble is, the only way such people can be comfortable in the fellowship of the church is if the members of God’s family behave like them. The only way to rid the body of these intruders is to live godly lives and behave like God’s beloved family so that the aliens are shown up and will either believe or leave because it will be too uncomfortable to stay.

ONCE . . . BUT NOW

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ONCE . . . BUT NOW

Once you were alienated from God and enemies in your minds because of your evil behaviour. But now He has reconciled you by Christ’s physical body through death to present you holy in His sight, without blemish and free from accusation – if you continue in your faith, established and firm, and do not move from the hope held out in the gospel. This is the gospel that you heard and that has been proclaimed to every creature under heaven, and of which I, Paul, have become a servant. (Colossians 1: 21-23.

Even if Paul had not brought the gospel of Jesus Christ to the Colossians, he certainly intended that they get it loud and clear through this letter! He wanted to be sure that they had it straight, that there would be no doubt in their minds about who Jesus is and on what grounds they could be assured of their salvation.

The Gnostics had tried to lure them away with their airy-fairy ideas about emanations, demiurges and special knowledge only accessible to a select few. Paul’s message was good news for everyone without exception, even the inanimate world and the world of creatures, because Jesus came to set everything right by sacrificing Himself for all of creation.

Like the entire universe which was thrown off course by Adam’s disobedience, the Colossians were at enmity with God until they heard and believed the good news. Jesus’s message, which became Paul’s message when it was entrusted to him, was a message of reconciliation and hope; not hope as in ‘I hope it will happen,’ but hope as in ‘I know it will happen because God has said so, but not yet.’

What is the hope of the gospel? Holy, without blemish and free from accusation! But how can it possibly be that we, fallen and mortal beings, can ever hope to be perfect, like Jesus? Everything that Jesus is has been given to us as a free gift – His nature, His sinless perfection, His righteousness and His holiness are all ours now, and that’s how the Father sees us. Paul used a little two-word phrase to describe our standing before God – ‘in Christ’. Until we understand the significance of these two words, we will always be insecure, based on our unstable behaviour.

God does not judge us by our behaviour but by our standing – which Paul described as a ‘standing in grace’ (Romans 5: 2). We would never dream of rejecting our two-year-old child because of his immature behaviour. He is our son; he has a standing in the family which he can never lose. It is our responsibility as parents to bring him up to be a mature adult. With love and patience, we teach him, correct him and discipline him towards the goal of who he is – our son.

So it is with God and us. We are His sons and daughters. We have a standing in His family which has been secured by the death of His Son. Since He is God, He already sees the end result, perfect and complete in Christ, and He guides us towards the goal to become what we already are, replicas of Jesus, through discipline and training (Romans 8: 28-29).

There is a question which believers often ask and to which Paul gives a clue here, something to consider seriously. ‘Can I lose my salvation?’ He does not give a ‘yes’ or ‘no’ answer. The issues go much deeper than that. However, he does use the little conditional word ‘if’. He does not envisage believers skating as close to the edge as they can. Why would we want to do that?

We cannot be in Christ and in the world at the same time. If we are ‘in Christ’, it means that we have chosen to enter through the narrow gate and to make the day-by-day, moment-by-moment choices which keep us going in the right direction (Matthew 7:13-14). Wrong choices will take us off course and lead us to the wrong destination.

The solution to going the wrong way is to ‘continue in the faith, established and firm, and not move away from the hope held out in the gospel. (Col. 1:23)’ Jesus called us to follow Him. As long as we keep following, we will not be in danger of getting lost, but if we lag behind or wander off course, who knows where we will land?

Apostle John puts it even more clearly.

Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, love for the Father is not in him. For everything in the world – the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life – comes not from the Father but from the world. The world and its desires pass away, but whoever does the will of God lives forever (1 John 2: 15-17).

SCRIPTURE TAKEN FROM THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

THE GOSPEL OF LUKE – DAVID’S SON

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DAVID’S SON

“Then He put a question to them, ‘How is it that they say that the Messiah is David’s son? In the book of Psalms, David clearly says,

“God says to my Master,                                                                                                                                                   ‘Sit here at my right hand                                                                                                                      until I put your enemies under your feet.'”

“David designates the Messiah as ‘my Master’ – so how can the Messiah also be his son?'” Luke 20:41-44.

That got them!

This was no trick question. The one thing that stuck in the throats of His religious opponents was that Jesus, an obviously perfectly ordinary human being, whom they rejected because, to them He was only the son of Joseph and Mary, was claiming to be the Son of God. That was blasphemy, and blasphemy was punishable by death.

Had the claim come from anyone else, they would have had every reason to have him tried and executed, but from Jesus…that was another story. They had all the evidence they needed but they refused to examine it objectively. Jesus was a man; He was claiming to be God; He must die.

Their questions were designed to trick Him into incriminating Himself either by contradicting Moses or teaching something treasonable against Rome. Jesus was too smart to be outwitted by these religious ‘experts’ who were actually ignorant of the truths concealed in their ‘Law’.

So He asked them a question, one that would get them to the crux of their issue with Him. ‘Who are you?’ they kept asking.  Moses, David…these were the heroes of their religion. What they said went. What they failed to realise was that Moses and David wrote about Him and what they said accurately presented Him.

David’s statement, quoted from Psalm 110:1, highlights two of Jesus’ qualifications which they refused to believe and which, incidentally, are still rejected by some sects today. Two phrases are glaringly contradictory — ‘my (David’s) Master’ and ‘his (David’s) son.’ That was a teaser for the Pharisees and the Sadducees, and one which focuses on one of the central truths of our faith.

The Bible clearly teaches that Messiah was fully God and fully man. He is both David’s Master and his son. He is God and He is man of the lineage of David, Israel’s greatest king and the model of kingship in the Old Testament. Therefore Jesus is the rightful king of Israel even though the religious leaders refused to acknowledge Him.

In His own masterful question, Jesus’ answer to their persistent interrogation, ‘Who are you?’ was always the same. ‘The evidence is right in front of you. You decide.’

This is the question that everyone must answer for themselves. Our eternal destiny depends on it. ‘Who do you say that I am?’ Even if we ignore the question, we have still answered it. Whether willingly or reluctantly, this will be our final response:

“And being found in appearance as a man,

He humbled Himself                                                                                                                              and became obedient to death –                                                                                                          even death on a cross!                                                                                                                                                Therefore God exalted Him to the highest place                                                                            and gave Him the name that is above every name,                                                                      that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,                                                                          in heaven and on earth and under the earth,                                                                                  and every tongue confess that Jesus is Lord                                                                                      to the glory of God the Father.”                                                                                                          Philippians 2:8-11 (NIV).

Guess what! Even the devil himself will bow on that day, and that will seal his final doom and the doom of those who refused to acknowledge that Jesus is Lord! That was their choice.

What’s yours?

WATCH OUT!

THE GOSPEL OF LUKE – LET’S PUT AN END TO WAR

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LET’S PUT AN END TO WAR

“‘I tell you, love your enemies. Help and give without expecting a return. You’ll never – I promise – regret it. Live out this God-created identity the way our Father lives towards us, generously and graciously, even when we’re at our worst. Our Father is kind; you be kind.

“‘Don’t pick on people, jump on their failures, criticise their faults – unless, of course, you want the same treatment. Don’t condemn those who are down; that hardness can boomerang. Be easy on people; you’ll find life a lot easier. Give away your life; you’ll find life given back, but not merely given back – given back with bonus and blessing. Giving, not getting, is the way. Generosity begets generosity.'” Luke 6:37-38.

The world of nature has many lessons for us, if we are willing to learn them. Take the lesson of sowing and reaping, for example.

The same law that works in our gardens works in our lives. The kind of seed we put in the ground will determine the kind of fruit we reap, and not only in kind but in measure. We cannot plant one grain of wheat and expect to reap oats or a bumper crop from one seed.

It’s the same in life. We cannot sow stinginess and expect to reap generosity, or meanness and expect to reap kindness. Bottom line; we reap what we sow. But it’s about much more than reaping what we sow. It’s about what happens inside of us when we live generously and graciously. The guilt, shame and unhappiness that we feel when we are stingy and unkind gives way to peace and joy which are enough rewards without the rest of the harvest that will come to us.

That’s the way God created us to be from the beginning; in His image and one with Him in the way He thinks and acts. That’s the way Jesus lived as a man among us. Tit-for-tat living brings no joy or fulfilment; it only perpetuates and escalates evil. Does revenge ever stop with the first wrong? Never!

Judging, criticising, retaliating, all betray a deep-seated attitude that Jesus hates – the “I’m better than you” disposition, looking down on other people, either trying to show them up through judging or criticising, or trying to get even with them by retaliation and revenge.

The problem with these attitudes is that they reveal more about us than about the person we are gunning for. Not only do they expose our own hearts, but they also reap far more trouble than we expected. We only need to watch children in the playground. One child offends another; the other retaliates and before long there is war. Other children are drawn in and injuries happen, black eyes, scratches, skinned knees and possibly even worse. Where do the violence and killing that happen in schools today originate?

Jesus said that, by cutting off evil at its source, you can stop the flow. Change the seed you sow and see what happens. But He didn’t only tell us what to do; He did it Himself. He showed us what happens when we absorb evil instead of perpetuating it, loving instead of hating, having a generous attitude instead of being harsh and judgmental, making allowances for people instead of being rigid and unforgiving.

It came to an end in Him; He took it to death and then came back; He proved He could overcome and then gave us the power to conquer our own unkind dispositions so that we can live like Him.

 

Religion offers nothing but the vain hope that people can do enough to satisfy the deity. No god has ever done anything for mankind but perpetuate wickedness. There is only one God, the Creator of the universe and perfect representative of the Father, Jesus who did it all for us. He took our place, paid our debt and then gave us the righteousness He earned through His obedience in the face of suffering.

Have you received Him?

THE GOSPEL OF LUKE – HOW TO DESTROY YOUR ENEMY!

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HOW TO DESTROY YOUR ENEMY!

“‘To you who are ready for the truth, I say this: Love you enemies. Let them bring out the best in you, not the worst. When someone gives you a hard time, respond with the energies of prayer for that person. If someone slaps you in the face, stand there and take it. If someone grabs your shirt, gift-wrap your best coat and make a present of it. If someone takes unfair advantage of you, use the occasion to practice the servant life. No more tit-for-tat stuff. Live generously.'” Luke 6:27-30.

What are you saying, Jesus? You can’t be serious!

Oh, but He was. If you want to know what power is, this is real power. There is no true power in retaliation. It only takes a bit of physical or emotional energy to hit back when someone hurts or offends you. But what kind of power does it take to absorb the blows and respond with kindness and generosity? It takes power over one’s own self not to give back blow for blow.

But it takes far more than sheer will-power to stop oneself from hitting back. That is a perfectly natural reaction coming from a human point of view, but Jesus was talking about an attitude that is far more than what comes out of our fallen human nature. He was talking about a changed disposition that comes from a completely different perspective.

What will it take to change us from reacting to responding? Jesus told Nicodemus in John 3 that, to “see” and enter the kingdom of God will take the equivalent of going back to the beginning of our life and starting over again with a new nature. That is impossible in the natural, as Nicodemus discovered, but God can do it through His power at work in our spirits.

Paul speaks of this supernatural event as “being raised from the dead” – a spiritual resurrection that is like waking up to a new realm where we understand everything from God’s point of view.

God is not a tit-for-tat God. He treats us according to who He is, not according to the way we speak or behave. That’s the way His rule operates. Human parents would understand this. If your son misbehaves, he is still you son, no matter what. A good parent will address the behaviour, not bully or disown the child because he has behaved badly.

When we were born from above, God gave us the potential and the power to respond to situations out of who we are in Christ, not out of who we were in Adam. And He gives us opportunities to show the ones who offend us what He is like by absorbing the wrongdoing and not adding to it by retaliating.

But it’s even more than that. Jesus said that it’s not about non-retaliation. It’s about actively responding with generosity. That’s how God treats us. The best way to “destroy” your enemy is not to beat him up or kill him but to make him your friend. He will cease to exist as an enemy and come alongside you instead of standing against you.

What kind of perspective can change our attitude towards the ones we perceive as enemies? There are two things that have helped me see things from God’s point of view. Firstly, God wants us to treat everyone with dignity because we have all been created in His image. To dish out cruelty to another human being is to treat God with the same attitude. Who would want to do that?

Secondly, people’s words and behaviour reveal who they are, not who I am. I don’t have to mirror who they are by retaliating. I want to mirror who God is by offering kindness and generosity for unkindness and meanness. Absorbing the blows will stop them right there and offer your enemy the opportunity to change his mind as well.

Have you tried it? You can, with God’s grace.