Tag Archives: new life

A Line In The Sand

Bible Study, , ,

A LINE IN THE SAND

“What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? By no means! We are those who have died to sin; how can we live in it any longer? Or don’t you know that all of us who were baptised into Christ Jesus were baptised into His death? We were therefore buried with Him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.” Romans 6:1-4.

Paul did not let the grass grow under his feet. As ridiculous as the counter-arguments may sound, he anticipated and responded to each one before they were even thought of.

 

If the sinfulness of man resulted in the revelation of God’s grace, and the greater the sin, the greater the grace, why not just go on sinning so that God’s grace may be even more evident? What a crazy argument! It’s like saying, “Let me live as recklessly as I can and do as much damage to myself as I can so that the skill of the doctor who attends to me can be made known!”

We would never reason like that when it comes to our own physical bodies and yet there are people who actually think that it’s okay to carry on sinning because God will forgive them. Like the Israelites of old, who happily disobeyed God’s commands because they offered sacrifices for their sin, there are people who think that God’s forgiveness is the reason for carrying on with their old sinful lifestyle.

 

This way of thinking completely misses the reason why the Lord Jesus Christ gave Himself as a sacrifice for the sin of the world. His broken body and shed blood dealt with the guilt of our past, paying our debt and striking all our sins from the record. But there is much more to it than that. Sin is not only debited to our account, it also pollutes us, making us unclean, like the leper who was excluded from society because he was infectious and his putrefying sores made him look unsightly and smell offensive

We know that a decaying body produces a terrible stench. Can you imagine how bad a dead spirit must smell? And we were dead in our trespasses and sins before God, through the Holy Spirit raised us up in Christ, washed us clean through His blood and made us sweet-smelling and acceptable to the Father. Why would we even think of living in sin again and smelling like a pig sty all over again?

Imagine your little daughter playing in the mud just before she is due to attend a birthday party. You pick her up, put her in the bath and wash her from top to toe. Then you rub her dry, powder her and dress her in her party finery. Would she want to go back into the mud just so that she could be bathed again? Of course not!

But Jesus’ sacrifice not only remedied the past – it also transforms our present. When He died on the cross, since we are now “in Him”, we also died with Him. We made a public declaration of our identity with Him through our baptism, symbolised by our going down into a watery “grave” and rising with Him to a new life. There is nothing magical about baptism itself; the physical act of being dunked under the water does nothing, but it is a powerful witness and declaration of what has happened in the spirit.

Something happens in the spirit realm when we declare, through a public action that we have died with Christ and been raised to a new life. It is a kind of “cut-off” point between our past and present. It speaks to the people who witness it as well as to the unseen realm of angels, good and evil, that we have become new creatures in Christ. It is a declaration of war against those who hate God, both people and devils but, at the same time it brings all the power of heaven to our assistance.

We now have a new Master, a new identity and a new destiny, based on the gift of Jesus Christ’s righteousness which has been credited to us through God’s grace. Would we not then, in keeping with who we now are, embrace the grace of God to live up to our new identity? Our baptism, identifying us as children of God and followers of Jesus, is like drawing a line in the sand.

On which side of the line do you stand?

Acknowledgement

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Explosion in a Paint Tin

Christian Life, , ,

EXPLOSION IN A PAINT TIN

“Those who had been scattered by the persecution triggered by Stephen’s death travelled as far as Phoenicia, Cyprus and Antioch, but they were still only speaking and dealing with their fellow Jews. Then some of the men from Cyprus and Cyrene who had come to Antioch started talking to Greeks, giving them the Message of the Master Jesus. God was pleased with what they were doing and put His stamp of approval on it — quite a number of the Greeks believed and turned to the Master.” Acts 11:19-21 (The Message).

Persecution spread the church like an explosion in a tin of paint. Wherever the believers went, they coloured their environment with the good news of Jesus. In less than one generation, the church had spread north, south, east and west. Blowing like a fresh breeze through communities which were stale and stagnant with old religions, the Holy Spirit brought new life to people of every colour and culture.

Although some had not yet broken out of their old inhibitions, others boldly proclaimed new life in Jesus across racial barriers and found, to their surprise and joy that God was approving their initiative by giving life to non-Jews in Jesus’ name. Believers from as far afield as Cyrene in Africa and Crete in the Mediterranean Sea, congregated in Syrian Antioch and shared the good news with Greeks living there.

“When the church in Jerusalem got wind of this, they sent Barnabas to Antioch to check on things. As soon as he arrived, he saw that God was behind and in it all. He threw himself in with them, got behind them, urging them to stay with it the rest of their lives. He was a good man that way, enthusiastic and confident in the Holy Spirit’s ways. The community grew large and strong in the Master.” Acts 11:22-24 (The Message).

Syrian Antioch was coming alive in Christ and becoming a centre of Christian faith and worship. Once again the church in Jerusalem took the initiative to check on the authenticity of this new outbreak. Barnabas, a trusted man though not an apostle, was sent to find out what was happening. He was an outgoing man and an optimist. He had stood by Saul when the church in Jerusalem was suspicious of his “conversion” and kept him at arm’s length until Barnabas vouched for him.

Barnabas was excited and enthusiastic about what he saw and heard. The Holy Spirit had done a work in the hearts of Greeks and he was quick to recognise and acknowledge them as fellow-believers. In his customary positive way, he urged them to stay with their new-found faith in Jesus. Once again the power of this new life resonated in many hearts and the church continued to flourish in non-Jewish soil.

Jesus had once assured His disciples, in full view of the most disgusting public display of pagan religious orgies at Caesarea Philippi, Israel’s “red light district”, that His church would be planted and grow right in the heart of environments like the one they were witnessing. “On this rock,” He had said, “I will build my church and not even the Gate of Hell, (the supposed entrance into the demonic underworld); will be able to hold it back.” True to His word, the church was growing and flourishing right in the environment of hostile Jewish religious legalism and wicked and promiscuous pagan religions.

What was the key to this phenomenal growth? Through the power and under the direction of the Holy Spirit, the church was a family held together by love and unity. Wherever the Holy Spirit ruled, the church remained pure and people were attracted to something they had never seen or experienced before. It had to be God; these groups of people doing life together was a supernatural thing.

Every life rescued from sin and self and reconnected to Jesus, became connected to every other life in Jesus. The result was families of people of different languages and cultures sharing and caring for each other like they were blood brothers and sisters. When God’s love holds sway, the world does not have an answer for the power that attracts broken people and draws them into the love and unity of this Body.

Free from the guilt and shame of their past lives, they experienced the forgiveness of sins and a new peace and joy that lifted them above petty differences and brought them into fellowship with Jesus and with one another. This was nothing short of the power of God!

Why Can’t I Be Baptized?

Christian Life, , ,

WHY CAN’T I BE BAPTIZED?

“As they continued down the road, they came to a stream of water. The eunuch said, ‘Here’s water. Why can’t I be baptized?’ He ordered the chariot to stop. They both went down to the water and Philip baptized him on the spot. When they came up out of the water, the Spirit of God suddenly took Philip off, and that was the last the eunuch saw of him. He had what he’d come for and went off down the road as happy as he could be.

“Philip showed up in Azotus and continued north, preaching the Message in all the villages along that route until he arrived at Caesarea.” Acts 8:36-40 (The Message).

Mission accomplished! The seed of God’s word was sown in the heart of an African man who came to Jerusalem seeking the Lord. He was on his way home, with his feet firmly planted on “The Way” and the joy of the Lord spilling out of him.

Although Philip did not mention baptism, why did the eunuch seem to know what to do to seal his new-found faith in the Lord Jesus? If he was one of people the Book of Acts called “God-fearers”, he would have understood the ritual of baptism in the Jewish faith.

Baptism was a common practice in Judaism. It was a ritual washing (mikvah) in running or “living” water to initiate someone into a new office, e.g., into the priestly office, or into a new phase of his life or identity with a new leader, e.g., the baptism of John. Both John the Baptist and Jesus’ disciples baptized people regularly, according to John 4:1. No doubt this man, being a Gentile, had been baptized into Judaism at some time in his life as a sign that he had embraced the Jewish faith.

Just as He had done with the Passover meal, i.e. revealed its fulfilment in Himself as the Passover Lamb, so Jesus had also infused baptism with a new meaning – His resurrection. When we eat the bread and drink the wine which symbolize His broken body and shed blood, we are expressing our faith in His sacrifice which redeemed us from slavery in “Egypt”.

Likewise, when we are “baptized”, we are immersed in a watery grave as a symbol of our identity with Him in His death and we “rise” to a new life with and in Him. This is a clear and visible statement that we have died to our old way and have risen to a new life of identity with Jesus.

“We died to sin; how can we live in it any longer? Or don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? We were therefore buried with Him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.” Romans 6:2-4 (NIV)

The implication of baptism is much more than a ritual initiation into Christianity. It is a public confession of our identity with Jesus in His death and resurrection and a symbol of our cleansing from sin and embracing our new life in him.

“Since then you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. For you died and your life is now hidden with Christ in God.” Colossians 3:1-3 (NIV).

Perhaps at this stage the eunuch did not understand all the implications of his baptism, but at least he knew that his life had changed direction. He was now on course to follow Jesus and be identified with Him and with all those who had become a part of “The Way”.

Stick To The Point

Christian Life, , ,

STICK TO THE POINT

“Bringing them back. they stood them before the High Council. The Chief Priest said, ‘Didn’t we give you strict orders not to teach in Jesus’ name? And here you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching and are trying you best to blame us for the death of this man,’

“Peter and the apostles answered,’ It’s necessary to obey God rather than men. The God of our ancestors raised up Jesus, the One you killed by hanging Him on a cross. God set Him on high at His side, Prince and Saviour, to give Israel the gift of a changed life and sins forgiven And we are witnesses to these things. The Holy Spirit, whom God gives to those who obey Him, corroborates every detail.'” Acts 5:27-32 (The Message).

Aha! So that’s the reason for all this antagonism! The High Priest and his cronies have guilty consciences but they won’t admit it.

How blatant their refusal to acknowledge responsibility for killing Jesus! Who had Him arrested and condemned to death? Who led the frenzied demand for Him to be crucified and Barabbas released? Who mercilessly taunted Him while He hung on the cross? Little did they think that their actions would turn around and bite them!

The tragedy for them was that their guilt was shouting so loudly inside them that they were not hearing Peter’s message. Had they only listened, they would have heard God’s offer of unconditional forgiveness for them as well. Peter was not trying to nail blame on them. They already knew they were guilty. He was trying to show them the extent of God’s mercy towards them as well.

This was not an exercise in “naming and shaming” anyone. That’s not how God works to alert people to His offer of forgiveness. No, He does not wink at sin. He dealt with it by nailing it all on Jesus at the cross. He allows the conscience to do its work without rubbing people’s faces in their guilt. It is the Holy Spirit’s work to convince us of sin so that He can point us to the Saviour.

Until we acknowledge our guilt and take responsibility for our rebellion against God, we will be on the run like the religious hierarchy who were trying to shrug off their responsibility by compounding it! Peter and his fellow apostles stuck to the point. Why didn’t they? They were a heartbeat away from forgiveness, even for killing Jesus, and a new life of joy and freedom, but they refused to stick to the point.

Once again Satan was locked in combat for the lives of these men, but so obsessed were they about being in control that they missed their golden moment for handing over the reins to the true Master of their lives. They did not realise that the command centre was not in their hands but in the hands of their enemy, the devil. He was not interested in their wellbeing — only in their demise at their own hands because of their stubborn resistance to the One who could rescue them from themselves.

How tragic that people should be so suspicious of God, in spite of what He did for us at the cross, that they would rather run from Him than run to Him. Even some of those who claim to be followers of Jesus run from Him when guilt is exposed.

The true message of the cross is often obscured by the humanistic trend that makes the gospel a man-centred message. Peter stuck to the point. Jesus was crucified, yes, but God raised him from the grave and exalted Him to the highest place. He is both Lord and Christ and to Him every knee shall bow. Those who bow now will be absolved from guilt and the penalty of their sin, and will enjoy the benefits of being united to their Saviour both now and in the life to come.

Those who refuse to acknowledge guilt will carry in into the life to come and the unthinkable penalty of separation from God, the place where the master they served in this life will serve out his sentence for eternity.

The choice is mine and yours…