God is a Rewarder

Human nature craves recognition and rewards. We Christians wonder what difference our lives have made; what might we deserve as a result of walking by faith and serving God.

Our biblical relatives, some of whom are listed in Hebrews 11, were approved by God because of their faith (vss. 2,5,16,39). The chapter clearly indicates their eternal reward (vss. 13-16, 26, 39-40). God is a rewarder. We draw near to Him because we believe that He is (real) and that He rewards us who diligently seek Him (vs. 6). Does this include earthly rewards as well?

The chapter lists some results of those who lived by faith. They “conquered kingdoms, administered justice, obtained promises, shut the mouths of lions, quenched the raging of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, gained strength after being weak, became mighty in battle, and put foreign armies to flight. Women received their dead raised to life again.” So far so good. But the list continues. “Some men were tortured, not accepting release,…and others experienced mockings and scourgings, as well as bonds and imprisonment. They were stoned, they were sawed in two, they died by the sword, they wandered about in sheepskins, in goatskins, destitute, afflicted, and mistreated…They wandered in deserts, mountains, caves, and holes in the ground” (vss. 33-38).

Such was the reward of walking by faith and thus pleasing God. Some had their loved ones brought back to life; some watched their loved ones tortured to death.

Living by faith can lead to totally opposite outcomes in this life. Faith does not guarantee earthly credentials, credits, or kudos. These “heroes of faith” believed God’s promises even though they never came to pass in their lifetimes (vs. 39). They concentrated on pleasing God, not on being “successful” or effective (vs. 5-6). They endured whatever came their way and remained faithful to the end because their eyes were set on the invisible, eternal reward of a “heavenly city” whose architect and builder is God (vs. 10).

Too often, I have expected temporal perks for living right, serving God, and enduring trials. I have measured my success (and that of others) by visible, countable results. Instead, I need to live for eternity and God’s approval there, not for earth and human affirmation here. God looks for my usefulness, not my effectiveness. And I can only be useful when I’m dependent on Him, abiding in His fellowship (John 15:5).

Even though God does bless and reward us in this life, I must not expect that or set my hopes on it. To do so will cause arrogance (over what I have) or anger (over what I don’t have.) My motive for pleasing God cannot be what I will get out of it. I live by faith, not to gain God’s favor, but because I have God’s favor. I endure to the end, not to get what I want, but to give God what He deserves.

Walking by faith means trusting God with the results as He and I labor together. I plant and/or water; He gives (or does not give) the increase (I Corinthians 3:7-9). I should concentrate on my responsibility, not His.

Someday, when faith becomes sight, I will bow before Him, utterly unworthy of His promised rewards.

All biblical quotes are from the Christian Standard Bible (Holman Publishers).

Q & A Re: God's Promises

            Question: What is the best promise in the Bible?

            Answer: Jesus’ promise of eternal life to everyone who believes. He provided eternal life (salvation) when He paid the penalty for our sins by dying on the cross and rising again. When we simply believe that is true, it means we have trusted in Jesus, and nothing else, to take care of our eternal destiny.

            Question: What then is the best promise for believers? As we live the Christian life with its various sorrows and joys, what is the most encouraging promise to keep in mind?

            Answer: Let me start by disallowing some promises many Christians misunderstand.

            I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me (Philippians 4:13). This is not a paramount promise, because that verse in context refers to learning contentment. While it does apply to living the way God wants, it does not mean Christ strengthens me to run a marathon or pass up dessert.

            God won’t give us more than we can bear but will provide a way of escape (1 Corinthians 10:13). That verse does not apply to trials, but to temptations. Yes, these two words have the same Greek root, but the context determines which is meant. We always have a way of escape from temptations—just say no—but not so with trials. In fact Paul said he had trials beyond his ability to endure, so that he even despaired of life (2 Corinthians 1:8-9. He gives the reason as well—God was teaching Him dependence instead of self-reliance. God does at times give us more than we can bear so we will rely on Him more.

            God knows the plans He has for you—plans to prosper not harm you and to give you a future and a hope (Jeremiah 29:11). Yes, this is a great promise, but not for you! Have you heard the maxim that all the Bible was written FOR us, but not all was written TO us? Jeremiah 29 promised a prosperous future to the exiled Israelites after their 70 years of captivity was completed (vs. 10). We cannot claim verse 11 for ourselves, unless we also claim verses 10 through 14---that God will take all of us from various nations and carry us back to Israel after 70 years.

            Question: So what is the best promise for Christians today?

            Answer: The same promise He has given to His people from Genesis on—“I will be with you.” First made to Ishmael (yes, Ishmael—Abram’s son by his second wife Hagar) in Gen. 21:20, and then said about each of the patriarchs. The cloud by day and pillar of fire by night, as well as the Tabernacle were visible reminders that God was with His people. The psalms are filled with statements about God’s presence. Best of all, God Himself took on flesh and dwelled (tabernacled) on earth (John 1:14). Immanuel: “God WITH us.”

            Thus, right before Jesus was raptured to heaven, He gave the best promise possible: Lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the age (Matthew 28:20).

            Hebrews 13:5-6 expresses it best: Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you. So we say with confidence, “The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?”

            Resurrection Treasures by Dr. William McCarrell tells about "David Livingston, weary from 16 years of African service, including 27 attacks of African fever, with one arm hanging helpless because of the bite of a lion, when honored with a degree by the University of Glasgow, said, 'Shall I tell you what supported me through all these years among a people whose language I could not understand and whose attitude toward me was uncertain and often hostile? It was, Lo, A am with you always, even unto the end of the age.'"

            If Jesus never leaves me, what can any kind of adversity do to me? If Jesus never forsakes me, He will be sufficient for all my needs. He is with me always—in this life and the next. That’s a promise I can live with, and die with.

  

Should I listen for God's voice?

In Amazon’s search box, if you enter “Hearing God’s Voice,” you will see a plethora of books on the subject of receiving present-day revelations from God, although, of course, no author calls it that. They call it “God spoke to my heart,” “I received a word from the Lord,” or “God whispered to me.” What is this but present-day revelations? And this is exactly how Joseph Smith started Mormonism—a revelation while he was praying! 

Many Christian authors and speakers today advocate that God will speak to us like He did to the prophets Samuel and Elijah and Ezekiel. If so, then Joseph Smith was a true prophet of God, and the Bible was incomplete in 1830, because Smith claimed he had a vision and heard God’s voice speak to him. 

Maybe my resistance to this comes from living in Utah, where Mormons determine what God wants by a feeling they get in their “bosom.” But don’t some born again Christians do the same thing? 

“If you want to hear God speak—read the Bible. If you want to hear God’s voice, read the Bible aloud!” (Justin Peters). Yes, the voice you hear will be your own, but you won’t be tempted to sinful pride in telling others that you received “a special word from the Lord.” 

Our minds are the vehicle for praying—talking to God. Often during prayer we receive insights for our problems. We may attribute this to God speaking to us, but God speaks to us through His Word, whether that comes from reading the Bible, recalling Scriptures, hearing it taught or sung, etc. But prayer is not a two-way conversation with God. I realize that God may use extraordinary means to communicate where His written word is not available, but that is not part of the normal Christian walk with Christ. 

Think about this—incredible and surprising and inspiring things pop into the minds of everyone—believers and unbelievers, even atheists, because that is how God made us. God has given us brains with the ability to figure things out, solve problems, evaluate, create, categorize, remember and recall, and much more. 

However, in times of extreme duress, it seems that God may do something special to meet our emotional needs. I’ve experienced it too, but it does not contradict anything in the Bible, and it does not foretell the future. Therefore, I always thank God for insights I receive and decisions that turn out good results, because “all things are from Him and through Him and to Him.” But I prefer to see “all things” not as special personal divine revelations, but as the abilities and circumstances and relationships He gives me, as well as Scriptural insights that come from studying His Word in context. 

For excellent help regarding this topic, please visit www.str.org, and in the search box type “Hearing God’s Voice” or “Does God Speak Today.” Read the articles that interest you there. 

“Professing” Christians—a Misnomer? (Meditation for Easter)

Many people think that if someone is not living like a Christian, perhaps they never were one. Even if they claimed to be a believer in the past, even if they used to display Christian virtues and disciplines, even if they talked about Christ to unbelievers. Some well-known Christian leaders try to tell us people who fall away only professed but did not possess Christ. And yet the Bible teaches that becoming a Christian is permanent! So which is it?

The key lies with the doctrines of justification and sanctification. Let me explain these big Bible words, which are important Bible themes.

Justification means God declaring a sinner righteous. Not because we deserve it, earn it, become worthy of it, or attempt to pay God back. But because of God’s Grace and Christ’s provision. Jesus was our sinless substitute, who paid our debt; took the penalty for our sins, which was death; and defeated spiritual and physical death by rising again. Because of this, we remember Good Friday and celebrate Easter.

Sanctification means holy living—being set apart from sin to God. Christians sometimes do well at this and sometimes fail. It depends on our choices. We can give in to temptation or resist it. We can yield to the desires of our flesh and mind or yield to the Spirit and conquer our thoughts. This is an ongoing battle, and we will never reach perfection in this life. Long ago I realized that the only sinless Christian is a dead one (because then we are with the Lord)! Nevertheless, God’s resources are available to us through the life of Christ, but we must appropriate them.

Therefore, justification is God’s gracious work. The only requirement for us is to believe it by faith. When we do this, God declares us righteous. However, sanctification is both God’s work and ours. According to Romans 8 and Galatians 5:16-26, the Holy Spirit leads willing Christians to resist sins and practice righteousness.[1] There is no limit to how long we are declared righteous, nor how completely, but we do limit ourselves in regard to living righteously. I hope you see the difference. Consider the following illustration.

Once we have our human parents’ DNA we never lose it, even if we disown them, change our name and refuse all contact. Admittedly that rarely happens, but it can. What happens quite often, however, is that children disobey their parents and experience guilt. They hide in their rooms and want to avoid contact. When their sin is revealed and confessed, and perhaps punished, fellowship is restored.

Likewise, once we are God’s child, we can never end the relationship even if we end our fellowship with Him by persistent sin or by denying God. (For excellent commentary on 2 Timothy 2:11-13, see soniclight.org, Study Notes, 2 Timothy, pages 22-23.) However we often sabotage our fellowship with God by disobedience, even for long periods of time. We are still justified, but we are not sanctified (holy) until we admit our sin (1 John 1:9), at which time God cleanses and restores us to fellowship.

In conclusion, there are two categories of believers. All who have believed in Christ for eternal life do possess eternal life, whether they "profess" it or not. The two categories of Christians are those who are in fellowship with Christ and those who are not in fellowship because of sin or carnality.

For a better and clearer explanation of these truths, see gracelife.org, Resources, GraceNotes, numbers 64, 28, 19, 9.

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[1] Notice the context of the two NT verses that exhort us to be led by the Spirit. The context is not trying to discern God’s will re our daily decisions and future. Rather, the Spirit leads us to deny the flesh and engage in righteous behavior.

Happy LOVE Day

     For February, the month devoted to LOVE, Sheldon and Davy Vanauken’s marriage principles are prescriptive. The biography of their 17-year-long marriage, A Severe Mercy (1977), not only chronicled their commitment to each other but their journey from agnosticism to Christianity, influenced largely by C. S. Lewis.

     They called their marriage principles “The Shining Barrier,” which purposed to keep their in-loveness from being breached.

     1 – Avoid things that divide or divert attention away from the “Appeal to Love” (p. 41). Consider everything from the angle of what would be best for our love? Even possessions could be a burdensome distraction, which they avoided.

     2 – No secrets, even trivial ones (p. 33). “Total sharing, we felt, was the ultimate secret of a love that would last.”

     3 – Share everything; do everything together. “This is the central secret of enduring love” (p. 35). They determined to have the same interests, friends, and pursuits, in order to tie themselves so closely together that nothing could ever separate them.

     4 – Guard your love from creeping separateness (p. 37). Don’t find separate interests where “we” turns into “I.” This is the cause of failing love, because the results are boredom, declining courtesy, and unfaithfulness.

     5 – Total trust (p. 38). This includes spontaneity: if one has an impulse, the other goes along with it; Affirmation: if one has a belief, the other agrees unless and until it can be disproved; Courtesy: do whatever the other asks because you assume they have weighed the consequences and have pure, not selfish, motives.

     6 – Achieve union. Conflicts are always between self and Love. In decision making, appeal to Love (p. 42). One person does not exercise authority over the other. Sheldon says this kind of Love is more than affection and sexual attraction. It is devotion and commitment.

     We all lose the happiness of youthful love. Therefore, love must pass through a difficult death and rebirth to achieve happiness into old age. It must be crucified and resurrected. If it misses the re-birth, it does not survive. 

     Some of these principles seem extreme and may not be practical for couples who must make a living and raise children. (It helped that Sheldon could live on his inheritance, although he did become a professor, but he and Davy agreed not to have children as that might interfere with their marriage relationship.)

     Nonetheless, every marriage can improve. Incorporating some of the above practices may be exactly what will do the job.