The Gospel Motivates Obedience

By Wendy Wood

Scripture is written in “indicative” and “imperative” format.  An indicative is defined as “showing, signifying, or pointing out”.  An indicative is used to show the cause behind a behavior.  We are sinners, so we sin.  The phrase “we are sinners” is indicative.  It states what has already happened and is a foregone conclusion.  “We sin” is what the indicative points out.  An imperative is a command.  “Go clean up your room” is an imperative statement.  Scripture uses these two types of writing to show what the gospel (the indicatives) should produce in us (the imperatives). 

Colosians 3:12-13 is a concise example:

“Put on then, as God's chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive.”

The indicative (the reasons behind the commands) are that we are already chosen by God.  We are holy and beloved.  We’ve been forgiven by the Lord.

Therefore (Scripture often uses “therefore” or “so that” to separate indicative from imperative)

The imperatives then state that we are to be compassionate, kind, humble, meek, patient, bear with one another, and forgive.

The only hope we have to live this way is what Christ has already done for us (the indicative).  Jesus came and endured every type of temptation and did not sin.  Jesus was mocked and beaten and hung on the cross without sin.  Jesus took all the sins of all believers of all time on himself and was crucified and forsaken by God satisfying the holy and just God’s wrath against sin.  He then arose, setting us free from death and sin, and ascended to heaven where He continues to be enthroned and is our Mediator before God.  He left the Holy Spirit to empower us so that we can be obedient to His commands to continue His work of glorifying God by the way we live. 

That’s why the gospel matters everyday.  What Jesus has accomplished and completed, allows us to put off our sinful ways through His Spirit, and put on Christlike desires, attitudes, words, and actions.

Look at Romans 6:5-14.

In Romans 6:5-10 Paul tells us what Christ has already accomplished.  Paul even “sandwiches” the rest of the passage by going back to indicatives in verses 12-14. Make a list of the “indicatives” about what Christ has done:

1. Vs 5 - we are united with Christ in death

2. Vs 5 - we are united with Christ in resurrection - raising from the dead

3. Vs 6 - our sinful self was crucified with him

4. Vs 6 - we are no longer slaves to sin

5. Vs 8 - we are raised from the dead and will not die again

6. Vs 9 - death has no dominion over Him

7. Vs 10 - He died to sin, once for all (only one time sacrifice was necessary)

8. Vs 10 - He lives for God

9. Vs 14 - Sin has no dominion over you

10. Vs - You are under grace, not law

As a result of the things listed above, what Christ has already accomplished for us, we are given “imperatives” or commands to be followed.  Make a list of what we are to do.

1. Vs 11 - So consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to Christ

2. Vs 12 - Let not sin therefore reign in your body

3. Vs 13 - Do not present your members to sin as instruments for unrighteousness

4. Vs 13 - Present yourselves to God as one brought from death to life

5. Vs 13 - Present your members to God for instruments of righteousness

These are only possible when we are saved by grace through faith in Christ for God’s glory.  All of what Christ accomplished is a gift (grace).  God opens our eyes to our need for Christ (faith) and we put our trust in Him.  It is only Christ, Son of God and Son of man, who could be the perfect sacrifice for our sin.  And our motive for being obedient, must be for God’s glory, that as we live God’s power and holiness is evident and others see it and give God praise.

Summary:

Indicatives are facts. They are realities. And in the Bible, they are firm and secure because the Bible is the unchanging Word of God.

The imperatives are commands or implications. They are statements of direction, made with authority, that have a direct and expected act of obedience expected to follow.

Your turn.  The book of Ephesians is written in this format (as is most of the bible!).  Read Ephesians chapters 1 - 3 and make a list of ALL that God has done through Christ (indicatives).  You should have at least 25 things that have been accomplished by Christ for your salvation.

Then, read Ephesians 4 - 6.  Because of what Christ has done, therefore, you are to live obediently to God.  Make a list of God’s commands (imperatives) in these chapters.

As you practice obedience this week and for the rest of your life, you must recall what Christ has done for you.  Be awed, amazed, thankful, and excited to love God for who He is and what He has done.  That is where God glorifying lives come from.

Other passages to consider:  Make lists for these passages over the next few weeks.

Colossians 3:1-17

Romans 1-11 (indicatives) and 12-16 (imperatives)

Philippians 2:1-17

Be on the lookout for this pattern in Scripture.  It is only through Christ that we can be obedient, to His praise, glory and honor!

Obeying God Will Make You Wise

Article by Abigail Dodds

When our children were small, our days consisted of almost constant instructions and routines.

Naptime came after lunch. Beds had to be made, and teeth had to be brushed, and hair had to meet with a comb before school. Snacks were for snack time, not for grazing. We prayed and sang our way through the days of getting things out and learning to put things away. We read books before bedtime and learned verses in the mornings. I can hardly think of a moment when instruction wasn’t on my tongue. “Put your boots in the closet, please!” “Markers are for paper, not for tables!” “Food stays on your plate!” “Go outside and ride your bikes until supper!”

“Through the folly of the cross, Christ became wisdom for us.”

Our rules and routines were not forever statutes — many of them have changed or the need for them has expired — but they were particularly helpful in the season of babies, toddlers, and early school years. As parents, the rules made perfect sense. They were for the good of our children, not for ill. We were not some dictatorial spoil sports; rather, we put up boundaries so that our children could flourish.

Laws of Love

Instructions and boundaries were genuine (and imperfect) expressions of our love for them. When we require children to do chores and study and practice instruments, we require the activities that make for faithful, wise adults. And so it is with God.

God’s commands are expressions of love. When God brought his people out of Egypt, for instance, he had a lot of instructions for them. After reminding them of these instructions, Moses told them,

See, I have taught you statutes and rules, as the Lord my God commanded me, that you should do them in the land that you are entering to take possession of it. Keep them and do them, for that will be your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the peoples. (Deuteronomy 4:5–6)

The obedience of the Israelites would be their wisdom and understanding. Obedience would set them apart as wise in the world, and over time it would teach them wisdom. And yet, all through the wilderness, God’s people refused to keep and do his commandments, often going their own way, because they believed they knew better than God what was in their best interest.

Who Knows Better Than God?

Believing ourselves wise apart from obedience to God is the great sin of the human heart. It is the essence of pride. When we declare that we are wiser than God by judging and weighing his commands to see if they suit us, or to gauge whether or not we think they are wise, we are hardening the wet cement of foolishness. But when we, by faith, receive and obey his commands, our hearts and minds are taught wisdom. His instructions become our wisdom and understanding. Consider Eve’s folly.

The serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate. Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked. And they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loincloths. (Genesis 3:4–7)

“Believing ourselves wise apart from obedience to God is the great sin of the human heart.”

Eve’s folly was in exercising her own judgment apart from obedience to God. She took it upon herself to evaluate the wisdom or folly of God’s rule. She assessed the tree’s fruit using her own wisdom: it was good for food, it was a delight to the eyes, and, in an irony, it was desired to make one wise. Eve, in her own wisdom, sought the path of wisdom through forbidden fruit, forsaking the instructions of her Creator — instructions that would have led her to true wisdom.

Because I Said So

If you’re anything like me, though, you might be wondering to yourself, “If Eve isn’t supposed to use her own judgment to judge the rightness of something, then what is the basis of her obeying someone else? Are you saying she should have just blindly obeyed others?” No, she should not have blindly obeyed others. With eyes beholding her Creator, she should have fully obeyed her Lord — the one who made the heavens and the earth, the one in whom is all wisdom and knowledge, the one who made her, knew her, and cared for her.

We see this dynamic in a godly Christian home. When children kick back against a bit of instruction coming from the mouth of their father or mother, saying, “Why should I do that?” the truest statement a loving parent can say back is, “Because I said so.” That doesn’t mean that they should say nothing else, or that the parent is perfect, or that every single thing a parent requires of his child is as good as it possibly could be. What it does mean is that children should obey because the source of the instruction is coming from a father or mother who loves them, is older and wiser than they are, and has their best interest in mind.

Children don’t obey because they fully understand all the reasons behind screen-time limits or bedtime routines — they obey because of who is requiring it. And the more they learn to obey their parents with gladness and trust, the more they come to see the wisdom of their instructions. So it is for us with God.

Obedience of Faith

The Christian life is one of supernaturally substituted discernment. Christians, by the work of the Holy Spirit, acknowledge that we, in ourselves, do not know what’s best for us.

When Jesus went to the cross, he became our substitute — he was punished for our sake and in our place. He who knew no sin became sin for us, “so that in him we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Corinthians 5:21). But that substitution goes further. Through the folly of the cross, Christ became wisdom for us (1 Corinthians 1:30). He endured the foolishness of the cross, so that God might destroy the wisdom of the wise, thwart the discernment of the discerning, and make us truly wise in Christ (1 Corinthians 1:19; 2:16).

Jesus commands, “Believe in God; believe also in me” (John 14:1). How do we obey such a command? How do we incline our ear to this instruction? How do we do differently than Eve did when she decided to use her own judgment in place of God’s? We do it by “the obedience of faith” (Romans 16:26). God gives the free gift of faith (John 3:7–8), the supernatural ability to believe, and that faith produces our obedience to his commands. John Piper says of the obedience of faith,

That is the ultimate goal of the gospel: the gospel awakens and strengthens faith that leads to conformity to Christ, which displays the glory of God. . . . If there is any people group on planet earth where faith in Jesus Christ is not producing conformity to Jesus Christ, God’s aim for the gospel is not complete. (“Command of God”)

Real faith produces real obedience, our conformity to Christ, and then, through that obedience, we grow in understanding and discernment. We see the loving wisdom in what he has commanded.

How Obedience Produces Wisdom

Faith-filled obedience beholds the Command-Giver in all his righteousness, goodness, sovereignty, and power, and trusts that the words coming from his mouth are better than any coming from ours — even if we don’t understand them. Through that faith-filled obedience, we learn to substitute the perfect judgment and instructions and wisdom of God for our own sickly sense of things.

“As we increase in our obedience to God, all that he commands increasingly makes sense to us.”

When I was growing up, my parents required us to clean up the kitchen after supper. If I started to complain about the jobs that needed to be done, my dad always said the same thing to me: “You don’t have to do the dishes, Abigail; you get to.” “You don’t have to wipe down the counters, Abigail; you get to. Aren’t you thankful that we have food to eat and a kitchen to clean?” So, I would groan a little inwardly and obey my dad.

As I grew older and continued to (imperfectly) obey and do what he required, I noticed that his attitude of “get to” rather than “have to” extended to every area of his life. On Thursday evenings, he would pay bills. I remember one evening asking him if he disliked getting so many bills in the mail, since it seemed like it was the only mail we got. He said to me, “No. I’m so thankful that I get to pay the bills.” He said the same thing when paying taxes. And getting up in the middle of the night as an on-call doctor. And cleaning out his workbench in the deep recesses of our cellar.

Even as a teenager, my eyes were opened to the wisdom of my parents requiring me to clean up after supper. Through obedience, I came to know the wisdom of a “get to” attitude over a begrudging “have to” attitude. It was made clear not merely through the commands themselves, but through witnessing and experiencing wisdom through obedience.

As we increase in our obedience to God — in whom all the riches of wisdom and knowledge reside — God is pleased to grow our wisdom and understanding, so that all that he commands increasingly makes sense to us. As that happens, not only will he be beautiful to us, but so will all his ways.

Abigail Dodds (@abigaildodds) is a wife, mother of five, and graduate of Bethlehem College & Seminary. She is author of (A)Typical Woman: Free, Whole, and Called in Christ (2019).

Posted at: https://www.desiringgod.org/articles/obeying-god-will-make-you-wise

Unanswered Prayer?

Our Obedience Impacts Whether or Not God Answers Our Prayers

 Paul Tautges

Here is a condition to answered prayer that should get our attention. That condition is our obedience, which serves as proof of our love for God: “Whatever you ask in my name, this I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask me anything in my name, I will do it. If you love me, you will keep my commandments” (John 14:13-15). Love between the disciple and the Lord Jesus is proved by obedience to his commands (E.g. John 14:21-23; 15:14; 1 John 5:3). If we adhere to his Word it proves we love him and walk according to his name, which then means God will answer. If we do not walk in obedience then our self-proclaimed love for Christ may not be genuine. At the very least, it is immature, incomplete, and we need the purifying power of God’s chastening through unanswered prayer. This same John counsels us in his first letter to believers,

Beloved, if our heart does not condemn us, we have confidence before God; and whatever we ask we receive from him, because we keep his commandments and do what pleases him. And this is his commandment, that we believe in the name of his Son Jesus Christ and love one another, just as he has commanded us. Whoever keeps his commandments abides in him, and he in them. And by this we know that he abides in us, by the Spirit whom he has given us. (1 John 3:21-24)

When we walk in obedience to God’s Word then there is no legitimate reason for our heart to condemn us. This does not mean; however, we will never struggle with the internal assurance of our salvation. The weakness of our humanity sometimes produces doubt (on numerous occasions, Jesus addressed his disciples “O, you of little faith”) and the devil works overtime accusing us “before our God day and night” (Revelation 12:10).

When our heart rightly condemns us because of disobedience, and our spirit grieves along with the Holy Spirit (Ephesians 4:30), we must repent and confess those sins to God and receive his forgiveness (1 John 1:9). However, we must also return to the original commandment we obeyed when we were initially saved, “this is his commandment, that we believe in the name of his Son Jesus Christ.” If we are trusting in Christ then God has dealt rightly with our sins and, therefore, we can be assured that we are in right standing with him. Returning to this gospel truth brings to our heart the assurance that only God’s Word can provide.

And this is the testimony, that God gave us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life. I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God that you may know that you have eternal life. And this is the confidence that we have toward him, that if we ask anything according to his will he hears us. And if we know that he hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests that we have asked of him (1 John 5:11-15).

If we have the Son of God then we have assurance that we have eternal life. If we know Jesus then we know the Father and when we pray “according to his will,” which is equivalent to praying in his Name, then “he hears us. And if we know that he hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests that we have asked of him.” This promise should not only compel us to never give up on prayer, but to deal readily with our sins so that God’s restorative discipline does not need to be longer, or harder, than it needs to be.

[Excerpted from the book, Brass Heavens: Six Reasons for Unanswered Prayer.]

Posted at: https://counselingoneanother.com/2020/06/12/our-obedience-impacts-our-prayers/

The Cure for a Lack of Fruit in Our Christian Lives

Derek Thomas 

The Westminster Confession of Faith insists that Christians may be “certainly assured that they are in the state of grace” (18:1) and goes on to assert that this “infallible assurance of faith” is “founded upon” three considerations:

1. “the divine truth of the promises of salvation”

2. “the inward evidence of those graces unto which these promises are made”

3. “the testimony of the Spirit of adoption witnessing with our spirits that we are children of God” (18:2).

The possibility of “certain” and “infallible” assurance is set against the backdrop of medieval and post-Reformation Roman Catholic views that paralyzed the church with an “assurance” that was at best “conjectural” (wishful thinking), based as it was on rigorous participation in a sacramental treadmill. Few epitomized the contrast more starkly than Cardinal Bellarmine (1542–1621), the personal theologian to Pope Clement VIII and ablest leader of the Counter-Reformation, who called the Protestant doctrine of assurance “the greatest of all heresies.” What, after all, could be more offensive to a works-based and priest-imparted system of salvation than the possibility that assurance could be attained without either? If Christians can attain an assurance of eternal life apart from participation in the church’s rituals, what possible outcome could there be other than rampant antinomianism (the belief that God’s commandments are optional)?

But what exactly did the Westminster divines mean when they implied that our assurance is “founded upon” inward evidence? Behind this statement lies a practical syllogism:

(major premise) True believers demonstrate the fruit of the Spirit.
(minor premise) The fruit of the Spirit is present in me.
(conclusion) I am a true believer.

It should be obvious that the subjectivity of this argument is fraught with difficulty. While the certainty of salvation is grounded upon the (objective) work of Christ, the certainty of assurance is grounded upon the (objective) promises God gives us and the (subjective) discovery of those promises at work in us. And it is this latter consideration that gives rise to one or two problems.

Theologians have made a distinction between the direct and reflexive acts of faith. It is one thing to believe that Christ can save me (direct act of faith). It is another thing to believe that I have believed (reflexive act of faith). Apart from the first consideration (that Christ is both willing and able to save) there can be no assurance of faith. Indeed, it is pointless to move forward with the discussion about assurance apart from a conviction of the truthfulness of this statement: “Christ is able to save those who believe.”

Assuming, then, that there is no doubt as to the ability and willingness of Christ to save those who believe, how may I be assured that I have this belief? The answer of the New Testament at this point is clear: there is an “obedience of faith” (Rom. 1:5; 16:26). True faith manifests itself in outward, tangible ways. In other words, the New Testament draws a connection between faithfulness and the enjoyment of assurance. True believers demonstrate the fruit of the Spirit, and this fruit is observable and measurable.

Four Ways of Knowing

The Apostle John addresses this very issue in his first epistle: “I write these things 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). Apart from belief “in the name of the Son of God,” there is no point in furthering the discussion about assurance. The question at hand is, “How can I know if my belief is genuine?” And John’s answer emphasizes four moral characteristics of the Christian life.

First, there is obedience to the commandments of God. “By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and obey his commandments. For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments” (1 John 5:2–3). True faith is not and can never be antinomian.

Second, there is practicing righteousness: “You may be sure that everyone who practices righteousness has been born of him” (1 John 2:29). Those who have a genuine faith will display a life of faith, a life molded and shaped by the obedience of faith. They demonstrate a desire for godliness.

Third, there is a radical breach with one’s former life. John expresses it radically (by employing a relative contrast in absolute terms): “We know that everyone who has been born of God does not keep on sinning” (1 John 5:18; cf. 3:6, 9). The explanation of this admittedly difficult language requires more space than is allotted here, but it is clear enough that a true and genuine faith is incompatible with a continuation in the pattern of sinful behavior that characterizes the life lived in unbelief.

Fourth, there is walking in love: “We know that we have passed out of death into life, because we love the brothers. Whoever does not love abides in death … whoever loves has been born of God and knows God” (1 John 3:14; 4:7). Loving our brothers and sisters is something dear to the Apostle John’s heart. After all, according to tradition, the elderly Apostle in Ephesus, carried by the arms of his disciples, was heard to repeat, “Little children, love one another.” And when asked why he kept repeating it, he answered: “It is the Lord’s command. And if this be done, it is enough.”

These four marks then collectively contribute to an assurance that our faith in Christ is genuine. But what if I cannot discern these outward evidences in myself and wonder if they are lacking? Should I then conclude that my faith is hypocritical or insincere? Yes, that is a possible conclusion. But it is not necessarily the correct conclusion, because our assessment of the evidence of outward faith in these four marks may be faulty. We may be too hard on ourselves. We may doubt what others can clearly see. Satan may cloud our thinking. The lack of consistency may lead us to conclude that no evidence at all is present. And personality and disposition may lead us to negative assessments when a more objective scrutiny deduces a different conclusion. But the possibility exists that our faith may be insincere. What then?

Faith in Evidence or Faith in Christ?

And it is here that differences of counsel appear. A predictable counsel might be, “Try harder.” It is a comment I most remember from annual school reports—“Could do better.” A person who doubts the genuineness of his faith due to inconsistency of behavior would then be urged to “be more consistent.” Read more Scripture, pray with greater fervency, love with greater altruism, and so on. But what would such counsel achieve? First of all, it is doubtful that someone predisposed to read the presence of fruit negatively would fare any better in his evaluation simply by increasing effort. But more importantly, such counsel is predisposed to commit the fatal error of viewing the fruit of the faith as the root of faith. It is fundamentally predisposed to appeal to self-justification—something for which we are all hardwired.

The counsel to “do more” in the belief that works provide the ground of assurance rather than the evidence of assurance is the path to legalism—and legalism in its proper sense. In his book The Whole Christ, Sinclair B. Ferguson urges a “gospel logic” to the effect that “there is no assurance of faith that can be experienced apart from faith.”

And it is here that one perceives a counterintuitive counsel that must be given to the one lacking assurance. To look to works (and the counsel to “do more works”) as a means of gaining assurance is essentially counterproductive and pastorally deadly. Only Christ can save us, and assurance, when lacking, must be found by looking to Him. Apart from faith in Christ, no work on our part will assure us of anything except Pharisaism.

Far from being a counsel to laxity, what this counsel intends to secure is an understanding that faith gives rise to obedience rather than obedience’s giving rise to faith. And the difference is crucial. One gives rise to legalism; the other to evidentiary, evangelical (gospel-based) works.

Abiding in Christ

Is not this counsel (to look first to Christ) precisely what Jesus said in His final word to the disciples in the Upper Room?

Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. (John 15:4–5) Bearing fruit, something that Jesus identifies as keeping His commandments (15:10), is intimately related to abiding in Him. It is in the sphere of abiding in Christ and not apart from it that fruit emerges.

There is only one cure for a lack of fruit in our Christian lives. It is to go back to Christ and enjoy (yes, enjoy) our union with Him. The “love of Christ controls us” (2 Cor. 5:14). The Greek verb translated here as “controls” is elsewhere rendered as “surrounds” and “hems in” (Luke 8:45; 19:43). That’s what the experience of abiding in Christ does—it hems us in to obedience. From such gracious love, compliance with His commands emerges. Disobedience drives Him away. But when we enjoy His presence, we also desire to “please him” (2 Cor. 5:9). And as we bear the fruit of this union, assurance grows.

This post was originally published in Tabletalk magazine.

Posted at: https://www.ligonier.org/blog/cure-lack-fruit-our-christian-lives/

Knowing What to Do But Not Doing It Is a Problem

by Rick Thomas

God’s mercy comes to us without conditions but does not proceed without our cooperation. So too our aid must begin freely, regardless of the recipient’s merits. But our mercy must increasingly demand change, or it is not really love. – Timothy J. Keller

Discipleship Is a Cooperative Effort

So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin (James 4:17).

In the divine wisdom of God, He has put part of the “change responsibility” on you to make the necessary adjustments so you can glorify Him. For transformation to take place, you must be willing to change.

Recently I met with a couple, and we began addressing some deep-seated problems that have been troubling their marriage for many years. After an hour of digging into their marriage with x-ray type questions, we got to some of the core issues.

Their heads were down as they wrestled with the disappointments that had characterized their marriage for so long. After a while, the wife lifted her head and said, “This is nothing new. I have been saying this for years.”

What was interesting about her comment was that I did not tell them one thing in over sixty minutes of examination that they did not already know. But her statement did not surprise me. That comment is the norm in counseling.

It is rare to tell a counselee something about their thinking or behavior that they do not already know. Discipleship is not rocket science. Though “we are fearfully and wonderfully made,” we are not over-complicated (Psalm 139:14).

Mercy Increasingly Demands Change

Once the cat came out of the proverbial bag in my counseling office, it was decision time. Did they want to deal with what they already knew? Though I did not tell this couple anything new, the next step that they should make confronted them. The success of their marriage depended on how they would respond. Were they going to take the personal, practical, and necessary steps to change?

God is a gracious and merciful God. He is long-suffering and kind to His children. His patience and kindness come to us not because we have earned it, but because He is good and He enjoys showing favor on us. But we are not allowed to take that grace for granted.

Keep back your servant also from presumptuous sins; let them not have dominion over me (Psalm 19:13).

Just because God is gracious to you, it would be foolish to presume on it. You have a responsibility before God to change. My friends came to counseling and heard me tell them what they already knew about themselves. Now they needed to decide if they were going to respond to the things they heard.

Tim Keller got it right. “Mercy must increasingly demand change, or it is not love.” Mercy requires a response. It is not freely given just for us to enjoy temporarily. Mercy is extended as kindness from God so we can progressively change into the image of Christ.

There was nothing else for this couple to do. The husband and wife knew the truth. By their admission, it was redundant to them. Now it was time for them to change.

And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you (Ephesians 4:30-32).

Call to Action

1. What is one thing that God has identified in your life that you need to cooperate with Him by changing?

2. List at least two other specific things in your life that you need to work on regarding your sanctification.

3. Ask a friend to help you apply God’s empowering grace in your life so you can change.

Posted at: https://rickthomas.net/knowing-what-to-do-but-not-doing-it-is-a-problem/

Be Good for God's Sake

Article by Jen Wilken

“Be good.”

How many times did I say it as I walked out the door, leaving my kids in the care of another? Spoken in that context, it expressed a parting wish that the little one to whom it is spoken would, at bare minimum, not do anything bad, and at best, be a source of help and joy to the caregiver in charge.

When the kids were small, it was hard to find sitters brave enough to take on all four of them. It was harder still to find money to make it worth the sitter’s time and still be able to afford dinner out. When I told the kids to be good, I needed them to be. It was code for “Please don’t drive off this teenager, whom I really need to have a positive experience.”

You know the rules. They are for your good. For our sake, please abide by them. Until your parents return, be good.

Jesus spoke a similar word to his disciples on a mountainside:

You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven. (Matt. 5:14–16)

Be good. Others will see it. You’ll be a light causing others to glorify the Father of lights.

GOOD AS HE IS GOOD

But what does it mean to be good as his children? As those who are the recipients of the good and perfect gifts of God, goodness toward others means generosity. It means we recognize that God gives us good things not so that they might terminate on us, but so that we might steward them on behalf of others.

The tenth commandment forbids coveting because doing so denies the goodness of God. Jesus speaks against hoarding because doing so denies the goodness of God. Coveting implies a lack in God’s present provision and hoarding anticipates a lack in God’s good provision in the future. Neither mindset will translate into generosity. Generosity flourishes only when we do not fear loss.

Possessing the good and perfect gift of Christ, we can count all generosity as affordable loss. God gives good things to us generously, risking no loss in doing so. We, too, should give good things to others generously, recognizing that we, too, risk no loss in doing so. We can be generous with our possessions, our talents, and our time on behalf of others because we see these good gifts as a means to bring glory to their Giver instead of to us.

AN EARTHLY PICTURE OF HEAVENLY GOODNESS

Generosity is not strictly for those who have material abundance. Because Oseola McCarty recognized this truth, the world is a better place. Born in 1908 in rural Mississippi, she quit school after sixth grade to support her ailing aunt, spending the rest of her life as a washerwoman. She never married, lived quietly in her community, and attended church regularly with a Bible held together with Scotch tape.

Throughout the years, the people of Hattiesburg paid her in coins and dollar bills to keep them looking freshly pressed. She found immense dignity in her work, noting that hard work gives life meaning. “I start each day on my knees, saying the Lord’s Prayer. Then I get busy about my work.”[1]

In 1995, at the age of eighty-six, she contacted the University of Southern Mississippi to let them know she would be donating a portion of her life savings to fund scholarships for African- American students to receive the education she had missed—a sum of $150,000. “More than I could ever use. I know it won’t be too many years before I pass on,” she said, “and I just figured the money would do them a lot more good than it would me.”[2]

Oseola McCarty, child of poverty and child of God, wanted to do good, and generously so. Praise God. Those who know good awaits them in heaven can afford to be generous on earth. They lose nothing in the giving of what has been given to them.

Generosity is the hallmark of those who are determined to be lights in the darkness as children of their heavenly Father. It is the calling card of all who are recipients of the generous good news of salvation through Christ.

BE GOOD FOR GOD’S SAKE

Be good. Be the person who seeks the welfare of others. Be the person who gives without counting the cost. Be the person who serves joyfully with no expectation of thanks or recognition. Be good employees, good next-door neighbors, good parents, good children, good musicians and public servants and artists and volunteers and caregivers and bankers. If you are, you’ll draw attention like a city on a hill at midnight in the desert.

But don’t expect that others will necessarily flock to your light in glad acceptance. The somewhat surprising thing about doing good is how often it meets with a negative reaction. Others may see your good deeds and give glory to God, but they may not. Cynics call the chronically benevolent “do-gooders.” Their exceeding goodness is indeed a light, and to those who love darkness, it’s also exceedingly unwelcome. It has a similar effect to that of sunlight hitting the crawly critters exposed under an overturned rock in the garden. Exposing the goodness deficit of others, the do-gooder meets with reviling.

Take, for example, the ultimate do-gooder, Jesus himself.

DON’T GROW WEARY OF DOING GOOD

“He went about doing good. . . . They put him to death by hanging him on a tree” (Acts 10:38–39). Peter’s words to the Gentiles about how evil responds to good instruct us. If we are to walk in the light as he is in the light, we will strive to be good and do good, and we should prepare to be treated as he was treated. There is no room among the children of God for any goodness aimed at securing favor with God or others.

Only a goodness aimed at expressing our gratitude to a good God will do. Only a goodness seeking to reflect him will suffice. Only a goodness bent on loving our neighbor will store up treasure in heaven. If our neighbor rejects us, so be it. We have done as Christ would have done. If our neighbor accepts us and glorifies God, we rejoice with the angels.

It will not do to “be good for goodness’ sake”—we must be good for Goodness’s sake—for God’s sake, whose goodness we daily enjoy. And we must persist in being good. Paul encourages us that goodness may be wearying, but that it yields a harvest: “And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up” (Gal. 6:9).

The fight for goodness is one that will take time and effort. We may grow weary of our own internal resistance to growing in goodness, or we may grow weary of the resistance of others to our goodness lived out. But steadfastness in doing good will yield fruit in season. As it ripens, it will mark us out increasingly as the sons and daughters of the Father of Lights.

[1] Karl Zinsmeister, “Oseola McCarty,” The Philanthropy Roundtable, “The Philanthropy Hall of Fame,” accessed June 27, 2017, http://www .philanthropyroundtable.org/almanac/hall_of_fame/oseola_mccarty/.

[2] Rick Bragg, “All She Has, $150,000, Is Going to a University,” The New York Times online, August 12, 1995, http://www.nytimes.com /1995/08/13/us/all-she-has-150000-is-going-to-a-university.html.

Content taken from In His Image: 10 Ways God Calls Us to Reflect His Character by Jen Wilkin, ©2018. Used by permission of Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers, Wheaton, Il 60187, www.crossway.org.

Jen Wilkin is a speaker, writer, and teacher of women’s Bible studies. During her seventeen years of teaching, she has organized and led studies for women in home, church, and parachurch contexts. Jen and her family are members of the Village Church in Flower Mound, Texas.

Posted at: http://gcdiscipleship.com/2019/01/10/be-good-for-gods-sake/

Burn Your Boats: A Warning About FOMO

Article by Aimee Joseph

Columba was a sixth-century abbot who left his native Ireland with 12 men to bring the good news to the Picts, a pagan people in Scotland. The missionaries founded an abbey on Iona, which would become a vibrant center of literacy and faith for centuries to come.

But shortly after reaching Scotland in an animal-hide-wrapped wicker boat, Columba did something drastic. He knew he and his companions might be tempted to leave when life became uncomfortable or dangerous. And so, the story goes, Columba burned the boat.

After reading about this single-minded commitment, I’ve began noticing how, by contrast, I like to keep my options open, just in case.

One of the hallmarks of my generation is an aversion to commitment. We suffer perpetual FOMO (fear of missing out) and, more seriously, struggle to commit to a marriage or a career. In a world full of potential paths, we have a hard time picking one and remaining on it.

Let Me First Bury My Dad

But while the fear of commitment is trendy, it’s nothing new. Jesus himself engaged would-be disciples with similar struggles:

He said, “Follow me.” But [the man] said, “Lord, let me first go and bury my father.” . . . Yet another said, “I will follow you, Lord, but let me first say farewell to those at my home.” (Luke 9:59, 61).

While these requests may sound understandable, it’s helpful to know that the first man’s father may not have been dead—or even close to dead. In the culture of the day, “Let me bury my father” was often used in an idiomatic way to express, “Let me get my family and personal life in order.” Put in 21st-century terms, it might sound something like, “I’m interested in following Jesus more seriously, but first I want to find a spouse and get some traction in my career.”

One of the most common phrases I hear from would-be disciples on college campuses carries a hint of that first-century hesitation: “When I have children of my own, I’ll make Christianity a bigger part of my life.”

When called to Christ, we sometimes want to hedge our bets, to buy ourselves a little more time. But such responses—even when expressed warmly and kindly—reveal a heart not captured by the wonder that the God of the universe is personally inviting us to himself.

Don’t Look Back

Both men in Luke 9 have a desire to follow but a reluctance to commit. Jesus’s respective responses bear particular poignancy in our FOMO culture:

Leave the dead to bury their own dead. But as for you, go and proclaim the kingdom of God. (Luke 9:60)

No one who puts his hands to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God. (Luke 9:62)

Jesus didn’t mince words, nor did he lessen the cost of discipleship. He didn’t lower the bar or paint a rosy picture of a life spent following and proclaiming him. He didn’t alter the truth to expand his audience or make a hard pill more palatable to swallow.

Jesus was in the business of full disclosure. But he also knew the sweetness and rewards of a life centered on him would far exceed the inconvenience and discomfort.

In essence, when we decide to follow Jesus, we must burn—and keep burning!—the boat. Tensions and temptations will meet us on this path. We’ll be tempted to look back, and turn back, to an easier way of life. But from the outset, Jesus summons us to commit to him.

Burn the Boats

Columba and his crew had to burn the vessels that might have tempted them to escape back to the familiarity of kin and country. Likewise, each new disciple of Christ has a boat (or fleet of boats) that might lead back to a life more lucrative, more culturally celebrated, or simply more comfortable.

For some, a former relationship that trumped Christ is the boat that beckons backward. For others, the approval of unbelieving family continually whispers, Don’t be a religious fanatic. Loosen your grip on Christ, just a bit. Often in our money-minded culture, the boats that demand burning would drift us back to a more padded retirement fund or some financial frivolity.

Whatever their shape or style, any boats that lead us away from following Christ must be burned as often as they’re built. While this sounds overwhelming and almost impossible, remember that the One who asks for a commitment to himself, his Word, and his ways has also fully committed himself to us.

Committed to Us

Before we were born, before time was wound, the Son of God was committed. He knew he would leave it all so we could have it all in him. Even now, he gives us his Spirit to work within us, coaching, convicting, and comforting.

When we have Christ, we have not missed out on anything. We have gained everything.

By his grace and his power, may we burn the boats that might take us back to a comfortable and cross-less life. May we fix our eyes on him who has gone before us (Heb. 12:1–2). And may we find courage in his constant commitment to us: “Behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age” (Matt. 28:20).

Related:

• Why Christmas Is the Antidote to FOMO (Sam Allberry)

Aimee Joseph works alongside her husband, G’Joe, who directs Campus Outreach San Diego. They love watching college students brought from lost to leaders through Christ in the church for the world. Parenting three little boys keeps her busy; writing on her blogand studying the Word keep her sane. She has a passion to see women trained to love God and his Word.

Posted at: https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/burn-boats-warning-fomo/

Momentary Obedience, Forever Honor

Article by Tim Challies

We have looked at the sweet blessings God promises to those who heed the fifth commandment and we have looked at the terrible judgments he promises to those who do not. We have seen that children have a lifelong duty of honor toward their parents. But while we have learned why we ought to honor our parents, we have not yet considered how. Our question for today is this: How do we show honor to our parents, especially when we are adults? Today we will arrive at an early answer sufficient to begin to direct us. In a future article we will look for help from others to find specific, concrete ways we can extend honor.

Honor and Obey

In both descriptions of the Ten Commandments—those found in Exodus and Deuteronomy—, God commands children to “honor your father and your mother.” There is not a word about obedience. Yet when we read the applications of the commandment scattered throughout the Bible, we see obedience as a key component of the honor children owe their parents. This raises a question: Is obedience to parents permanent or is it temporary? Does honor always require obedience? If I want to honor my parents do I need to continue obeying them throughout my life? To answer these questions we need to examine honor and obedience, looking for what makes them similar and what distinguishes them.

Obey

What the fifth commandment does not require is as important as what it does require. The fifth commandment is not “Obey your father and your mother.” Rather, it is “Honor your father and your mother.” Still, it is clear the Bible places a great deal of emphasis on children obeying parents. We encounter the language of obedience in many of the interpretations and applications of the fifth commandment. Yet as we dig deeper, we find something interesting: the language of obedience tends to come in passages speaking to young children who are still dependent upon their parents. When we come to passages speaking to adult children, we find a subtle switch to language of respect and provision. Thus obedience is a particular form of honor—a form of honor for young children.

Do it now, do it right, and do it with a happy heart

All children are to honor their parents at all times. But when children are young, honor most often takes the form of obedience. This is why when Paul interprets the fifth commandment to young children (Ephesians 6:1-3 and Colossians 3:20) he says, “Children, obey your parents.” To obey is to submit to the will of a person who rightfully holds a position of authority, to comply with their demands or their requests. It is, as we teach our children, to “do it now, do it right, and do it with a happy heart.” Obedience is a child’s display of honor.

Parents are right to expect and demand obedience of their children and children are right to show honor to their parents through that obedience. It is obedience to parents that trains children to be submissive to every other authority, including God himself. It is under the training and discipline of parents that children are prepared to live orderly lives in this world. John MacArthur says it well: “Children who respect and obey their parents will build a society that is ordered, harmonious, and productive. A generation of undisciplined, disobedient children will produce a society that is chaotic and destructive.”

As it pertains to parents and their young children, obedience is meant to be a temporary measure that lasts as long as children are under the authority of their parents. Childhood is a period of training under the tutelage of parents. Parents force their children to obey so children will learn honor and then spend the rest of their lives honoring parents, teachers, bosses, and governments. A parent’s training in obedience is returned in lifelong honor.

Honor

But what is honor? Biblically, the word honor refers to weight or significance. To honor our parents we are to attach great worth to them and great value to our relationship with them. John Currid explains, “The point is that a child must not take his or her parents lightly, or think lightly of them. They must be regarded with great seriousness and value.” We can learn what honor looks like by examining the passages that describe the judgments befalling those who dishonor their parents. These are the passages from the civil law and wisdom literature we looked at last time: Leviticus 20:9, Proverbs 30:17, and so on.

What do we find? Children who dishonor their parents are rebellious and stubbornly resistant to the discipline that would lead them out of that rebellion. They may be verbally abusive, mocking and cursing their parents. They may even be physically violent toward them. If we turn to the New Testament we find that their dishonor may take the form of refusing to care for their parents or provide for their physical and monetary needs (Mark 7:8-13, 1 Timothy 5:8).

Thus to honor our parents we are to respect and revere them, to speak well of them and to treat them with kindness, gentleness, dignity, and esteem. We are to ensure they are cared for and even to make provision for them when necessary. Dennis Rainey says, “Honor is an attitude accompanied by actions that say to your parents, ‘You are worthy. You have value. You are the person God sovereignly placed in my life.” All of that and much more is bound up in this little word.

Obey Today, Honor Forever

We need to consider why the basic requirement of the fifth commandment is not obedience but honor. I am convinced there are at least two reasons: Eventually we are no longer obligated to obey our parents and, even before then, there are times we cannot or must not obey them. To say it another way, there are times we can disobey our parents while still honoring them.

There comes a time when obeying parents is no longer appropriate.

The end of obedience. There comes a time when obeying parents is no longer appropriate. The task of parents is to raise their children to become independent, to function outside of parental authority. In most cases, the parent-child relationship will be permanently altered at the moment of marriage when “a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife” (Genesis 2:24). As a child becomes independent of his parents he leaves their oversight and authority. He no longer owes obedience in the same way or to the same degree.

The sin of obedience. There may also be occasions when obedience is sinful, such as when parents command their children to sin or when they command their children to disobey God or government. When this happens a child must disobey mom and dad in order to obey a higher authority. Another occasion for acceptable disobedience is when parents demand obedience of their adult children or when their demands for obedience become overbearing or abusive. In such cases the child is under no God-given obligation to obey.

God’s basic command to humanity is not “obey your father and mother” because obedience ends and at times can even be sinful. Instead, God’s command is “honor your father and mother” because honor never ends and is never wrong.

Perfect Honor, Perfect Obedience

We are not without a biblical model of honor and obedience. We see them both perfectly displayed in Jesus. Though he was God, he was born to earthly parents and he willingly, joyfully, perfectly honored and obeyed them both. We see his childhood obedience in Luke 2:51 “And he went down with them and came to Nazareth and was submissive to them.” We see his honor when, in the moments before his death, he ensured provision for his mother: “When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple whom he loved standing nearby, he said to his mother, ‘Woman, behold, your son!’ Then he said to the disciple, ‘Behold, your mother!’ And from that hour the disciple took her to his own home” (John 19:26-27).

And just as Jesus honored and obeyed his earthly mother and father, he honored and obeyed his heavenly Father. In all he did he spoke well of his Father, he directed glory to him, he carried out his will. And, of course, he obeyed his Father: “And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross” (Philippians 2:8).

If we want our children to honor and obey us, we must teach them about Jesus.

Without losing a trace of autonomy or dignity, Jesus honored and obeyed. If we want to honor and obey our parents we must learn about Jesus. If we want our children to honor and obey us, we must teach them about Jesus. He, as always, is the example of how to perfectly obey God’s perfect law.

Conclusion

In our next article we will look at matters related to culture to see how culture changes our understanding of honor. Later we will look at some of the hard cases in which giving honor is especially difficult. We will also dig up some practical helps to show even more clearly how we can honor our parents. And, of course, we will need to consider how we, as parents, can ensure we are worthy of honor.

Let’s end on a happy note. We know there are two great blessings wrapped up in honoring our parents: A long life and a good life. If we dig a little deeper into the New Testament we find there is one more great blessing. “Children, obey your parents in everything, for this pleases the Lord” (Colossians 3:20). Our honor makes God happy. Why? Because in honoring our parents we are honoring the God who gave us our parents. So why not take some time today to consider how you can honor your parents. After all, your honor toward your parents pleases and glorifies God.

Posted at: https://www.challies.com/articles/momentary-obedience-forever-honor/