Category: Teaching

Ready for Some Theology?

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The other day I stood on my front porch with two Jehovah’s Witnesses. Many people turn out the lights, draw the curtains and ignore the knock on the door, but I like to engage them in conversation. It is only after these types of conversations that I can gain insight into their thoughts on biblical teaching. And besides, if they are on my porch, they are not down the street confusing my neighbors.

I countered with a declaration that I was a Jesus’ Witness, based on Acts 1:8 (Jesus speaking, not Jehovah). Any conversation with must get back to who Jesus is, because if we can’t agree on who Jesus is, it is a moot point on where the kingdom is going to be.

The main debate with the guys on my porch is that they believe the Trinity is a man-made doctrine. They believe that Jesus is the Son of God, and that Jesus is a god (their translation of John 1:1), that he is a created being. So, for them, Jesus is not the everlasting and eternal God. It is true that the word “Trinity” is not found in the Bible, but evidence for the reality of the Trinity is compelling.

Teaching on the Trinity:

The Trinity means the unity of three persons in one Godhead; Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. The Shema states that God is one (Deuteronomy 6:4) and the Bible ascribes divinity to Father, Son and Holy Spirit. My JW friends on the porch appear to be OK with polytheism (that Jesus was A god, but not THE God).

Outline of the Trinitarian Argument:

  1. God is one. Unity is ascribed to him.
  2. The Father is divine: a distinct person.
  3. The Son is divine: a distinct person.
  4. The Holy Spirit is divine: a distinct person.
  5. The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are classed together, separately from all other beings.

Details of the Trinitarian Argument:

  1. God is one: Exodus 20:3, Deuteronomy 4:35, 39, 6:4 1 Samuel 2:2, 2 Samuel 7:22, 1 Kings 8:60, 2 Kings 19:15, Nehemiah 9:6, Psalm 86:10, Isaiah 44:6-8, 45:22, Jeremiah 10:10, Joel 2:27, Zechariah 14:9, Mark 12:29, John 17:3, Romans 1:21-23, 1 Corinthians 8:4-6, Galatians 3:20, Ephesians 4:6, 1 Timothy 2:5.
  2. The Father is divine and a distinct person: The word “Father” is used in the Scriptures in a two-fold sense in relation to the Godhead: sometimes as equivalent to God, sometimes to the first person of the Trinity.
    1. Passages where “Father” is used as equivalent to God, not implying personal distinctions: Deuteronomy 32:6, 2 Samuel 7:14, 1 Chronicles 29:10, Psalm 89:26, Isaiah 63:16, Jeremiah 3:19, Malachi 2:10, Matthew 6:9, Mark 11:25, Luke 12:30, John 4:21, 23, 24, 2 Corinthians 6:18, Philippians 4:20, James 1:17, 1 John 2:15, 16.
    2. Passages applied to God in contrast with Christ, denoting a special relation to Christ as Son, in his office of Redeemer: Psalm 2:1-11, Matthew 11:27, 25:34, Mark 8:38, 14:36, John 5:18-23, 26, 27, 10:15, 30, 17:1, Acts 2:33, Romans 15:6, 1 Corinthians 8:6, 15:24, 2 Corinthians 11:31, Galatians 1:1-4, Ephesians 1:2, 3, 4:5, 6, Philippians 1:2, 1 Thessalonians 3:11, 13, 2 Thessalonians 2:16, 1 Timothy 1:2, 2 Timothy 1:2, Titus 1:4, Philemon 1:3, 1 Peter 1:2, 3, 2 Peter 1:17, 1 John 1:3, 4:14, Jude 1:1, Revelation 3:21.
  3. The Son is divine and a distinct person apart from the Father.
    1. Christ is pre-existent, the Son existed as a distinct person before he came into the world: Micah 5:2, John 8:56-58, 17:5, 1 Corinthians 15:47, Philippians 2:6, 7, Colossians 1:17, 1 John 1:1, Revelation 22:13, 16 (read these two together).
    2. Christ is not merely pre-existent, but the Son is pre-eminent, above all things except the Father, co-eternal with the Father: Matthew 11:27, 28:18, Luke 20:41-44, John 3:13, 31, Acts 10:36, Romans 14:9, Ephesians 1:20-22, Philippians 2:9, 10, Colossians 1:15, 17, 18, Hebrews 1:4-6, 1 Peter 3:22, Revelation 1:5 3:14.
    3. Christ is creator of the universe: John 1:3, Colossians 1:16, Hebrews 1:2, 10.
    4. Christ has divine attributes ascribed to him:
      1. Omnipotence: Isaiah 9:6, Matthew 28:18, John 10:17, 18, 11:25, 1 Corinthians 1:24, Philippians 3:21, Colossians 2:10, 2 Timothy 1:10, Hebrews 1:3, Revelation 1:8.
      2. Omnipresence (albeit suspended during the incarnation): Matthew 18:20, 28:20, Ephesians 1:23
      3. Eternity: Micah 5:2, John 1:1, Revelation 1:8.
      4. Omniscience: Matthew 11:27, Luke 10:22, John 2:24, 25, 21:17, Acts 1:24, Colossians 2:3, Revelation 2:23.
      5. The divine name is applied to him as to no other being except the Father, implying supreme divinity: Psalm 102:24, 25, Hebrews 1:8-10, Isaiah 7:14, 9:6, Malachi 3:1, Matthew 1:23, John 1:1, 20:28, Acts 20:28, Romans 9:5, Ephesians 5:5, Philippians 2:6, Colossians 2:9, Titus 1:3, 2:13, Hebrews 1:8-10, Psalm 102:24, 25, 2 Peter 1:1, 1 John 5:20, Revelation 17:14, 19:16.
      6. He is shown in the Scriptures as the object of religious worship: Matthew 2:11, 14:33, 15:25, 28:16, Luke 24:52, John 5:23, Acts 7:59, 60, 1 Corinthians 1:2, 2,Corinthians 12:8, 9, Galatians 1:5, Philippians 2:10, 1 Thessalonians 3:11, 12, 2 Timothy 4:18, Hebrews 1:6, Psalm 97:7, 2 Peter 3:18, Revelation 5:13.
  4. The Holy Spirit is divine and a distinct person from the Father and the Son.
    1. The Holy Spirit is divine, called the Spirit of the Father, the Spirit of the Son, the Holy Spirit, the
      Spirit of truth, the Spirit of life: Genesis 1:2, 6:3, Nehemiah 9:30, Isaiah 63:10, Ezekiel 36:27, 28, Acts 2:16, 17, Joel 2:28, Matthew 10:20, Luke 12:12, John 14:16, 17, 15:26, Acts 5:3, 4 28:25, Romans 8:14, 1 Corinthians 3:16, Galatians 4:6, Ephesians 1:13, 1 Thessalonians 4:8, Hebrews 2:4, 1 Peter 1:2,
    2. The Holy Spirit is distinct from Father and Son, and is personal, (the personal pronoun HE applied to him with personal acts ascribed to him): Matthew 3:16, 17, 28:19, Mark 1:10, 11, Luke 3:21, 22, John 14:26, 15:26, 16:13, Acts 13:2, 4, 15:28, Romans 8:26, 1 Corinthians 12:11.
    3. The Holy Spirit has converting and regenerating power ascribed to him: Nehemiah 9:20, Isaiah 44:3, Ezekiel 36:26, 27, 37:14, Joel 2:28, Matthew 3:11, John 3:5, 6, 14:26, Acts 9:31, Romans 8:9, 11, 14, 1 Corinthians 6:11, 2 Corinthians 1:22 5:5, Galatians 4:6, 5:22, Ephesians 1:13, 3:16, 1 Thessalonians 1:6, 2 Thessalonians 2:13, Titus 3:5, 1 Peter 1:2, 1 John 3:24, Revelation 22:17.
  5. The Father, Son, and Spirit are classed together, separately from all other beings, as divine: Matthew 28:19, Romans 8:9, 14-17, 2 Corinthians 13:14, 1 Peter 1:2, Jude 1:20, 21.
  6. Result of the biblical evidence in respect to the divinity of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
    1. That the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are personally distinguished from each other, yet there is recognized
      throughout the Bible a personal relationship of the Father and Son to each other, and with the Holy Spirit to both.
    2. They each have divine names and attributes.
    3. Yet there is only one God. Polytheism is rejected.

Devotion on the Trinity: A friend of mine wrote this (Joel Sutton)

“As soon as Jesus was baptized, he went up out of the water. At that moment heaven was opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and lighting on him. And a voice from heaven said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.” – Matthew 3:16-17

The baptism of Jesus is a well-choreographed portrayal of how the Trinity interacts with each other. The Almighty speaks from above, the Source of ultimate authority in the spiritual world. He speaks as the Father, showing He’s the one in charge. The Spirit then wings from the heavens down toward the earth. He symbolizes the transfer of power and authority to Jesus. The Spirit shows that he’s the means of empowerment. Then you have Jesus, dripping wet. He demonstrates beautifully the submissiveness of his role as Son.

This is how things always function with the three members of the Trinity. The Father wasn’t down on the earth. The Spirit didn’t send the Father. Jesus wasn’t speaking from heaven. The Father didn’t die on the cross; the Son did. The Spirit brings glory to the Son and not vice versa.

What does this set-up have to do with you? It’s how you experience the marvels of salvation. Jesus paid the price for your sins by submitting himself to a horrendous death by crucifixion. When you accept Jesus as your Savior, you have opened up yourself to the Spirit. He is the means by which you receive everything you need for the Christian life. The Father is ready to supply all the resources necessary for experiencing a victorious life.

The Father has His role, the Spirit knows what he’s to do, and Jesus is the one and only Savior. Each member of the Trinity is doing everything possible to rescue you from sin. Are you cooperating?

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Are All Sins Equally Bad?

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The question comes from skeptics and believers alike, “Are all sins really equal in God’s eyes?” It is common within evangelical circles to say that they are. The smallest white lie and the most brutal murder both nailed Jesus to the cross; he died for all sins. Most people may find this theological concept very appealing and accept it without doing much homework. I think this is true for two reasons:

  1. A reaction by Protestants against the Roman Catholic distinction between mortal sins (sins that are grievous) and venial sin (sins of a lesser nature).
  2. A tendency within our church culture to find a way to say that we are all equally in need of God’s grace and that all sin is extremely serious in God’s eyes (which is true).

After a little research, I don’t believe that all sin is equal in God’s sight. I also believe that telling people all sins are equal does damage to the character of God and the seriousness of certain sins. There are several reasons for this:

Think about it:

What if people lived according to this theology?

  1. If all sin is equal in the sight of God, then His anger will be equal for whatever sin we commit.
  2. How would it affect our relational disposition before God?
    1. If we suffer from the conviction of the Holy Spirit for all sins equally, our conscious getting weighed down by unrepentant sin will become confusing.
    2. This weighing down normally only comes from those sins that we perceive to be more severe. But if all sin is equal in the sight of God and one lived according to that theology, we would be just as troubled and just as repentant each time we exceeded the speed limit as when we commit adultery, steal the last loaf of bread from a starving family, or abuse children.
  3. But no one does this. We all see speeding down the road as a minor infraction because our conscious bears witness that it is not as bad as other things.

What Does the Bible Say?

I think that it is biblical and necessary to say that some sins are more grievous in the sight of God than others. This also translates into the assumption that some people are sinners to a greater degree than others. There are many instances in the Scriptures where degrees of sin are distinguished.

  1. Jesus tells Pilate that the Jewish leaders have committed a worse sin than him, saying “he who has handed me over to you has committed the greater sin” (John 19:11).
  2. Certain sins in the law are distinguished in a particular context as an abomination to God, implying that others are not as severe (as in Leviticus 18:22, Deuteronomy 7:25, 23:18, Isaiah 41:24).
  3. Blasphemy of the Holy Spirit is set apart as a more severe sin than blasphemy of the Son (Matthew 12:31).
  4. Proverbs 6:16-19 lists particular sins in such a way as to single them out because of their depraved nature, separating them from others.
  5. There are degrees of punishment in hell depending on the severity of the offense (Luke 12:47-48).
  6. Jesus says of the Pharisees, “You strain out a gnat while you swallow a camel” (Matthew 23:24). If all sins are equal, Christ’s rebuke does not make any sense.
  7. Jesus also talked about the “weightier things of the law” (Matthew 23:23). If all sins are equal, there is no law (or violation of that law) that is weightier than others. They are all the same weight.

Where Do We Get Our Theology?

So where does this faulty theology come from? Many people might refer to Christ’s comments in the Sermon on the Mount as justification for this way of thinking, or perhaps that verse in James.

“You have heard that it was said, ‘you shall not commit adultery;” but I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart (Matthew 5:27-28).

For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles in one point, he has become guilty of all. (James 2:10)

Is there a difference in the eyes of God between thinking about adultery and actually doing it? Absolutely. If we say anything other than this, we do damage to God’s character and encourage the act based upon the thought of it. The point Jesus makes in Matthew 5:28 is not that lust and the actual act are equal, but that they both violate the same commandment. He was telling all people (particularly the religious leaders of the day) who thought they were safe because they had fulfilled the letter of the law that the law runs much deeper. The spirit of the law is what matters.

  1. If you have ever lusted, you have broken the sixth commandment (Matthew 5:28).
  2. If you have ever hated your brother, you have broken the fifth commandment (Matthew 5:22).

James is telling us that whatever the sin, no matter how small a sinner you believe yourself to be, that tiny sin still put Jesus on the cross to pay the debt.

The breaking of the principles of the commandment is the issue, not the degree to which it is broken.

Absurdity in Action:

If we believe that adultery and lust are equal in the sight of God, then here are the logical results:

  1. Any man or woman can justify divorce based upon the fact that Christ condemns divorce except for marital infidelity (Matthew 5:32). All they need to do is make the assumption that their spouse has lusted to some degree during their marriage.
  2. If a man were to lust after a woman on the Internet, he might as well commit the actual act, since in God’s eyes he already has.
  3. If you have ever lusted after a girl, then you should marry her since in God’s eyes you are one with her (1 Corinthians 6:16).

I think that this way of thinking is not only wrong biblically, but it also has repercussions that lead to a distorted worldview and it discredits the integrity of God.

It is true that all people are sinners; all the way since birth. But not all sin is equal. I think that it is safe to say that while not all people sin to the same degree, we all share in an equally depraved nature.

People’s Hearts are Carnal

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When you take a look at the American church today, it appears that those inside the church have a lifestyle quite similar to those outside the church. The question arises about how to be in the world but not of it (John 18:36, 17:14, Philippians 3:20, James 4:14, 1 Peter 5:10).

So, the age old debate goes on, can a true Christian be carnal? We first define the term “carnal” which is translated from the Greek word sarkikos, which literally means “fleshly.” Check out this passage:

And I, brethren, could not speak to you as to spiritual men, but as to men of flesh, as to infants in Christ. I gave you milk to drink, not solid food; for you were not yet able to receive it. Indeed, even now you are not yet able, for you are still fleshly. For since there is jealousy and strife among you, are you not fleshly, and are you not walking like mere men? (1 Corinthians 3:1-3)

According to Paul, there are three classifications of believers:

  1. The Natural Man: has not received Christ.
  2. The Spiritual Man: is led and empowered by the Holy Spirit.
  3. The Carnal Man (or man of flesh): is supposedly saved, but shows no evidence of life transformation.

Notice Paul is addressing the readers as “brethren,” a term he uses almost exclusively to refer to other Christians (male or female). We can assume then that Christians can be carnal. The Bible is clear that no one is sinless (1 John 1:8), so every time we sin, we are acting carnally. The goal of the believer is to sin less this week than we did last week.

The key here is to understand that while a Christian can for a time, be carnal, a true Christian will not remain carnal for a lifetime. We are all sinners, no one is perfect. Think about how many church people today have abused the idea of a “carnal Christian” by saying that it is possible to be saved and then go on to live the rest of their lives in a completely carnal manner? They reason that since they have their “fire insurance” they can live as they please, after all, “once saved, always saved.” But how can there be no evidence of being born again or being a new creation (2 Corinthians 5:17)? Such a concept is completely unbiblical. We are to be changed, not living our lives the same old way we did before Christ.

  1. James 2:14, 26 make it clear that genuine faith will always result in good works.
  2. Ephesians 2:8-10 declares that while we are saved by grace alone through faith alone, that salvation will result in works.

So, can a Christian, in a time of failure or rebellion, appear to be carnal? Yes. Will a true Christian remain carnal? No (Hebrews 10:26).

Since eternal security is found Scripture, the carnal Christian is still saved. Salvation cannot be lost, because salvation is a gift of God that He will not take away (see John 10:28; Romans 8:37-39; 1 John 5:13). No one wakes in the morning wondering if he is saved or not, like salvation slipped away in the night. We can be secure and assured of our salvation. Paul reminds us that the even carnal Christian can be assured of salvation:

If anyone’s work is burned, he will suffer loss; but he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire. (1 Corinthians 3:15)

The question is not whether a person who claims to be a Christian and lives carnally has lost his salvation, but whether that person was truly saved in the first place (1 John 2:19). W. A. Crisswell once said that “the faith that fizzles at the finish was faulty at the first.” It makes sense.

Christians who become carnal in their behavior can expect God to discipline them (Hebrews 12:5-11) so they can be restored to close fellowship with Him. God’s desire in saving us is that we:

  1. Become progressively grow closer to the image of Christ (Romans 12:1-2, 8:29).
  2. Become increasingly spiritual and decreasingly carnal, which is a lifelong process known as sanctification.

What about bearing fruit? Beliefs determine actions. So, we can determine if someone is of the faith by looking at the results of faith in their lives (not just those who claim to have faith). What we have to ask ourselves when judging something is whether it bears good fruit or not. It’s not about how popular, socially acceptable or how politically correct the person is. Actions speak louder than words. These questions can be helpful when judging fruit. When properly applied, does it lead to:

  1. More good or more evil?
  2. More closeness or distance from Jesus Christ?
  3. More light or more darkness?
  4. More truth or more error?
  5. More peace or more confusion?
  6. More happiness or more misery?
  7. More friendship or more animosity?
  8. More love or more hate?

We live in a world that exchanges the truth for a lie and says evil is good and dark is light (Isaiah 5:20). Until we are delivered from our sinful flesh, there will be outbreaks of carnality. For a genuine believer in Christ, though, these outbreaks of carnality will be the exception, not the rule. We are not to judge others, but we can encourage others to move toward higher levels of commitment to Christ and his church.

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Application in Seeking God’s Will

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It is one thing to ask to know God’s will, it is another to seek it. Seeking requires work and effort. Many Christians would rather be told what to believe or what to do than labor in the discernment of God’s will. Sometimes we ask the wrong question. It is not, “what is God’s will for my life?” The more accurate question is, “What is God’s will?”

Discerning the Will of God:

  1. Here is a mental picture, a man lost in the woods.
    1. We do not decide whose fault it is that he is lost.
      1. Whether he is misdirected.
      2. Whether he is the victim of an accident.
    2. He asks, “Where do I go from here?”
      1. He feels there must be a path which is the path of God for him to follow in those circumstances.
      2. How do you know that you wont make a mistake?
      3. How do you know if it is God’s way or just my best guess?
    3. He will not know for certain until he gets to the end that he did not make a mistake.
      1. He will travel by faith, not by sight (2 Corinthians 5:7).
      2. He must be willing and able to read the signposts and follow.
      3. Remember that God always deals with us where we are.
  2. The greatest help: deepen our relationship with Him, because those who know Him are the quickest at discerning His will.

The Dangers:

  1. The tyranny of “should.”
    1. The question is asked, Should I do this or that?
    2. It implies that if you should, and don’t, that you are not in God’s will.
    3. This lays a burden of finding THE right answer (the center of God’s will).
    4. It is better to say the wiser choice, rather than saying the right choice.
  2. Confusion concerning the work of the Spirit.
    1. Some people neglect the Spirit’s power, believing they know what’s best and then ask God to bless it.
    2. Others overuse it: Like claiming that the Spirit led them to do something which is not part of the Spirit’s work.
      1. How to dress, eat, and other simple decisions.
      2. Usually this claim is based upon the “right feeling” at the time.
      3. When you claim that the Spirit led you, use criteria other than your feelings (Jeremiah 17:9)
  3. A job description for the Spirit:
    1. The Spirit always relates to Jesus (John 14:26; 15:26; 16:7-15).
    2. The Spirit enables people to know Christ (1 Corinthians 2:1-13).
    3. The Spirit brings people into the body (1 Corinthians 12:13).
    4. The Spirit gives people the mind of Christ (1 Corinthians 2:16) .
    5. The Spirit enables people to avoid sin and adopt a new way of life (1 Corinthians 6:11).
    6. The Spirit leads people to know that in Christ they call God “Abba, Father” (Galatians 4: 6) .
  4. The Spirit’s work points to Jesus.
    1. He does not make personal decisions for you.
    2. As you seek to be in union with Him, you will know what He wills and you make the wiser decision.

The Search for God’s Will:

  1. In the Bible, this is our only source for faith and practice, so let’s use it.
    1. Some people believe the Bible tells us what to do in all of life’s situations.
      1. Don’t randomly open the Bible to find an answer, it’s not a Ouija board.
      2. What if you make a serious blunder, like pointing to 1 Samuel 31:4?
    2. The Bible leads us to know Christ.
      1. The Bible provides us with basic principles for living (John 15:12-13, Romans 15: 1-2) .
      2. These principles influence our decisions as we struggle with life’s questions.
      3. Direct answers from the Bible…
        1. Are a way of avoiding the hard decision-making process. Jesus told me right in this verse what to do. Sometimes we are not willing to wrestle with seeking His answer.
        2. Do you want a surgeon to quote Scripture to decide whether or not to operate? NO, use his medical knowledge, judgment, experiences and principles regarding the sanctity of life.
  2. In the clouds.
    1. Many people look for signs above, like in the clouds.
    2. The problem with signs is interpreting what they really mean.
      1. Gideon’s advantage (Judges 6:36-40) he placed a sign and the interpretation with God in advance.
      2. We can interpret a sign to mean exactly what we desired anyway.
      3. On the farm, the clouds formed a “P.C.”
        1. The son said: Preach Christ, and go to seminary.
        2. The father said: plant corn.
    3. We have the ability to think, seek counsel, collect information, to make the best decision we can, and trust He will bless your efforts.
    4. Getting lost in trivia.
      1. If you worry too much about finding God’s will for your life, you will likely lose sight of God’s love.
      2. The key is to find God more than finding His will.
      3. Too many people love trivia (like the Pharisees) and get lost in it.
        1. Details were put on following God’s will to the letter.
        2. They lost sight on true worship and relationship.

Numerous signposts:

  1. Conscience.
    1. Men have done a lot of evil things believing that they were following their conscience.
    2. Slavery was uncondemned by the conscience of men.
    3. A psychopath has no moral compass.
  2. Common sense.
    1. I’ve heard it said, “I prayed, and nothing happened. So I used my common sense.”
    2. Who has given common sense? And why?
    3. Sometime the will of God is opposite to what common sense would dictate. It is sometimes called foolishness by the world (1 Corinthians 1:18; 3:18).
  3. Advice.
    1. “Where there is no guidance, the people fall, but in abundance of counselors there is victory” (Proverbs 11:14) .
    2. Without consultation plans are frustrated, but with many counselors they succeed.” (Proverbs 15:22).
  4. History and biography.
    1. There are few problems that we face that have not been faced by those before us.
    2. Read the Bible, and even secular literature.
  5. The voice of the Church.
    1. Jesus recommended that people consult the church (Matthew 18:17).
    2. Remember that a democracy (majority rules) does not always make it right.
  6. Pray.
    1. Praise Him, give thanks, and then lay things at His feet.
    2. God cares (even about your confusion), and will help you work through your decisions.
  7. Use a sound decision-making process.
    1. Make a list of pros and cons.
    2. Brainstorm options.
    3. Gather information.
  8. Live boldly.
    1. Be confident that your decision will turn out well (forget “What if?),
    2. God will not keep scores of your decisions (He sees the end from the beginning, Isaiah 46:9-11.).
    3. Ask, “What would Jesus do?” then do it.
    4. God will bless you here or there (Job change).
      1. His will is for you to love and serve Him (Matthew 22:36-40).
      2. He does not have this secret plan for which we must hunt.
      3. His secret is this: Christ is in you (Col 1:27).

God’s Will, at the Point we Need Help, can be Discerned:

  1. It is a mistake to try to discern His will years down the road.
    1. John Piper writes about future grace.
    2. How you will deal with something in the future is not God’s plan, He will meet you at the point of your need.
    3. He will give you His sufficient grace at the time you need it, not in preparation for the future.
  2. His Word is a lamp unto my feet, a light unto my path (Psalm 119:105).
  3. You can not be certain that you have not made a mistake until you get to the end. Hind-sight is always 20/20.
  4. We will not miss our “providential way” even if we make mistakes (in good faith): the result will not be our being lost.

Final Challenging Questions:

  1. Do I want to discern God’s will, or do I want Him to bless my own?
  2. Have I got the courage to do God’s will once I discern it?

We need more than discernment: we need strength, courage, faith, determination and perseverance to will God’s will and then to do God’s will.

Motivation for Doing God’s Will

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The first step after knowing God’s will is to discover our motivation for doing God’s will. Much of this outline comes from Thomas Merton’s classic, No Man is an Island, and then I have elaborated on his thoughts. *

Freedom:

  1. I have an instinct that tells me that I am less free when I am living for myself. Living for self is really a basic natural function. In a way, living for my self is not freedom, because I am a slave to the old selfish nature.
  2. My freedom is only freedom when it is brought into the right relation with the freedom of others. This is the essence of community, all members exercising freedom of self-sacrifice on behalf of others. If one fails to be in relation to others, we are not able to exercise the freedom to choose to follow a cause higher than our own natural instincts.
  3. I don’t find in myself the power to be happy merely by doing what I like. There is joy in being in relationship with others and seeking to look out for the interests of others (Philippians 2:3-4).
  4. To give my freedom blindly to an equal or inferior is to degrade myself and throw away my freedom, I can only become perfectly free by serving the will of God. God calls us to a higher purpose, which adds meaning to our existence. Serving ourselves is not freedom because it is evidence that we are slaves to instinct.
  5. Obedience to man has no meaning unless it is primarily obedience to God. As believers, we do all as unto the Lord (Colossians 3:17, 1 Corinthians 10:31). As we understand the Great Commandment (Matthew 22:36-40) we are to first love God and then love others.
  6. Conscience is the soul of freedom.
    1. A rational being who does not know what to do with himself finds the tedium of life unbearable. He is literally bored to death. Life outside of a relationship with Christ brings no purpose of higher meaning. Life is hard, and if there is no call toward a higher life, there is hopelessness and despair.
    2. I cannot make good choices unless I develop a mature conscience that gives me an accurate account of my motives, my intentions and my moral acts. It is not enough to just do the right stuff or believe the right stuff; the motivation behind our actions is of great interest to God and our true selves.
    3. We must have right purposes: conscience is the light by which we interpret the will of God in our own lives.

Pure Intention:

  1. Our happiness consists in doing the will of God. It makes sense that if we resists the will of God and we know it, we find ourselves feeling guilty that we knowingly disobeyed God’s will.
    1. The essence of this happiness does not lie in the agreement of wills, it consists in union with God.
    2. The union of wills which makes us happy in God must ultimately be something deeper than just an agreement. We must develop conviction.
  2. God’s will is more than a concept–it is a reality, a secret power which is given to us, from moment to moment to be the life of our life.
    1. It is not an abstraction.
    2. It is not a static center drawing our souls blindly to it
    3. We find ourselves in relationship with the Creator and His purpose and desire transcends our being.
  3. The will of God is the movement of His love and wisdom ordering and governing all free and necessary agents.
  4. Ponder this: Shall I be content to do God’s will for my own advantage? This is the essence of being obedient because of what I get out of it.
    1. Our intentions are pure when we identify our advantage with God’s glory. Receiving a blessing for obedience is different from doing something expecting a blessing.
    2. In order to make our intentions pure, we do not give up the idea of seeking our own good, we simply seek it where it can be found–in a good that is beyond ourselves.
  5. Question: what is an impure intention?
    1. One that yields to the will of God while retaining a preference for my own will. I still do this out of selfishness.
    2. This drives my will from His will, since I am not losing myself in the pure intention of following God alone because He deserves it and it is the right thing to do.
    3. It doubts in theory that God wills that which is generally best for me. Do we really believe that all God asks and wills is for my best interest? If we doubt it, we are not able to act on God’s will without reservation.
    4. To this man, the will of God becomes rich when it is pleasing to him, poorer when it offers less immediate satisfaction.
  6. Question: who is this man of impure intentions?
    1. Is hesitant and blind.
    2. Is always caught between two conflicting wills.
    3. Cannot make simple and clear-cut decisions.
    4. Has twice as much to think about: worrying about God’s will and his own at the same time.
    5. Is deceiving himself.
      1. Blinded by his own selfishness.
      2. Plunged into a confusion of doubtful choices, endless possibilities.
  7. Sanctity consists not in merely doing God’s will, but in willing God’s will. Obedience without pure intention is not attractive.
    1. It is not always necessary to find out what God’s will is in order to do it. Often times we know what His will is, the question is whether we embrace His will over our own.
    2. But if we are to will what He wills, we must begin to know something about what He wills. Study of God’s Word is helpful.
  8. How can I find out what is the will of God for my life?
    1. Before He wills me to do anything, He first wills me to be. This is a key concept in having a dynamic relationship with Christ. We are to be with him (Mark 3:14) before we are to do things for Him.
    2. What I do depends upon what I am (gifts of the Spirit).
    3. It is His will that we not only live as rational beings, but as new men regenerated by the Holy Spirit (Titus 3:5).
    4. Seek Him where He is to be found: His Church, His Word (john 14:26).
  9. When we speak of God’s will, usually we are speaking of some recognizable sign of His will.
    1. It is one thing to see a sign, it is another to interpret it correctly.
    2. The vision of the prophets: being alive to the divine light concealed in things and events, they saw glimpses of the light where other men saw nothing but ordinary happenings.
    3. Signs show us the road, but only a few paces, as a lamp lights only the steps in front of our feet.
    4. If I am to know God’s will, I must have the right attitude toward life, to know what my life is and to know the purpose for my existence. Many people are simply clueless about the purpose of life and the mission of God in the world.
    5. His will for me points to one thing: the realization, discovery and fulfillment of my true self in Christ (in order to save my life I must lose it, Matthew 16:25, Mark 8:35, Luke 9:24).
  10. I cannot work out God’s will for my life unless I am consciously helping other men find God’s will in theirs. Here again is the idea of community.
    1. His will is our sanctification (1 Thessalonians 4:3), our transformation in Christ (Romans 12:2), our deeper integration with other men (Hebrews 10:25).
    2. The book is called, No Man is an Island: we need others that God has also regenerated.
  11. Remember: we must will the will of God, not simply do it. This is a lot of work, it is easier to just do something than it is to make such an effort to be something or to will something.
    1. So, we must know what it is that He wills.
    2. We must will His will because we love it.
    3. It is better to say “no” and then go, than to say “yes” and not obey (Matthew 21:28-31, which did the will of his father?).
  12. Right vs. simple intention.
    1. Right intention is pure: attention is placed upon the work to be done, then we rest in the accomplishment and hope in reward.
    2. Simple intention: we are less occupied with the thing to be done, we are more aware of the One who works in us.
    3. The man of simple intention works in the atmosphere of prayer.
  13. Simple intention is a rare gift from God.
    1. Rare because it is poor.
    2. It seeks nothing but the supreme poverty of having nothing but God.
      1. With right intention, you risk losing the fruit of your work.
      2. With simple intention, you renounce the fruit before you begin and you don’t expect it.

* Thomas Merton was a contemplative monk, who on December 10th, 1941 entered the Abbey of Gethsemani, a community of monks belonging to the Order of Cistercians of the Strict Observance (Trappists), the most ascetic Roman Catholic monastic order. While on a trip to a monastic East-West dialogue conference in Thailand, Merton died in Bangkok on December 10, 1968, the victim of an accidental electrocution. The date marked the twenty-seventh anniversary of his entrance to Gethsemani. The monastery is located near Bardstown Kentucky, not far from Louisville, where I went to seminary.

Different Parts of God’s Will

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God’s will is much more complex once we begin to discern the meaning. I discovered a resource written by a liberal Christian theologian Leslie Weatherhead (1893-1976).* In his book, The Will of God, he explains the following.

God’s Intentional will:

  1. Take illness and death as an example. I must accept it, it is the will of God.
    1. Was the doctor all this time fighting against the will of God?
    2. Had she recovered, would we not say that was the will of God?
    3. Her death and her recovery cannot both be the will of God in the sense of it being His intention.
    4. Confusing thoughts: “I suppose I must accept it as the will of God, but if the doctor had come in time he might have been able to save her.”
    5. Suppose a missionary’s daughter dies of cholera.
      1. Many might say, “It’s the will of God, that’s all it is”
      2. But suppose someone crept into her room last night and deliberately put a cotton swab soaked with the cholera germ under your little girl’s mouth as she lay there?
      3. The reaction may be, “I would kill him, the snake, what do you mean by suggesting such a thing?”
      4. The argument is the same for God, “Isn’t that just exactly what you accused God of doing?”
      5. Call it mass ignorance, contaminated water, an accident, bad drains, but don’t call it the will of God.
      6. It is not the will of your Father in heaven that any of these little ones should perish (Matthew 18:14) .
  2. God’s will divided into three parts.
    1. The divisions.
      1. Intentional: God’s ideal plan for mankind.
      2. Circumstantial: God’s plan within certain circumstances.
      3. Ultimate: God’s final realization of His purposes.
      4. The trouble is that we use the phrase “The will of God” to cover all three.
    2. Biblical illustration.
      1. Jesus came with the intention that men would follow Him, not kill Him (Matthew 4:19).
      2. Then came the cross and the one whom the Father wanted men to follow was put to death; God’s intentional will was stopped.
      3. When the circumstances brought by evil put Christ into the dilemma of either running or dying, in those circumstances, the cross was the will of God.
      4. Problem: Jesus is the Lamb who was lain before the foundation of the world (Revelation 13:8, John 1:29, 1 Peter 1:19-20, 1 Corinthians 2:7).
    3. Practical illustration.
      1. In a nation that is at war, and a father says to his son, “I’m glad you are in the army.”
      2. This does not mean that the army was the father’s intention from the beginning: Perhaps his intention from the beginning was for his son to be a doctor.
      3. In those circumstances set up by evil, the army became the father’s will for his son.
  3. God’s ultimate goal in Christ: redemption of man.
    1. In spite of evil, the same goal would have been reached if God’s intentional will would have been carried through.
    2. God cannot be finally defeated: not everything that happens is His will, but nothing can ultimately defeat His will.
  4. Dissociate from the phrase, “The will of God” all that is evil, unpleasant or unhappy (this is covered in circumstancial will) .
    1. A father longs to give good gifts to his son (Luke 11:11).
    2. Can you picture a father sending mean things to his son, and the son with tearful, hurting eyes saying “Thy will be done?”
  5. Two difficulties:
    1. Do people really get comfort believing their tragedies are the will of God, their compassionate, loving Father?
      1. Tragedy is hard to bear if it all was just a ghastly mistake.
      2. But, there never is any real comfort in a lie.
    2. Some of the greatest qualities in people are brought by suffering, so is not suffering the will of God?
      1. So, warfare and persecution is the will of God?
      2. The war did not make courage, but revealed what was there all the time.
      3. Logically–Does God needs evil to produce good?
      4. NO, evil does not make good qualities, but reveals them and gives them exercise.
      5. God made everything good, evil can be defined as the absence of good. Evil take the good, and twists it.
  6. Catch these words of Jesus (Matthew 23: 37) “O Jerusalem, I longed to gather you… but you would not.”

God’s Circumstantial Will:

  1. Remember, the father’s circumstancial will for his son during wartime was to be in the army. His intention was medical school.
  2. Man’s free will created the circumstance of evil that cut across God’s plans: Basically a will within a will.
  3. There are two parts of God’s circumstancial will:
    1. The natural.
      1. There are the laws of the universe, which are an expression of God’s will, which were not set aside even for Jesus.
      2. The rain falls on the just and the unjust.
      3. The forces of nature carry out their function and are not deflected when they are used by the forces of evil.
      4. Jesus did not call to God saying, “It’s not fair!”
    2. The spiritual.
      1. Even in evil circumstances, we can react positively and creatively to find good out of evil.
      2. The cross is not just a symbol of capital punishment, it is a symbol of the triumphant use of evil in the holy purposes of God (the cross becomes a throne, a crown of thorns becomes one of glory) .
  4. Illustration: a baby fallen out of a high rise window: Is it the will of God? Yes and No.
    1. YES, His circumstantial will.
      1. His law of gravity should operate.
      2. His baby is made of flesh and bones.
      3. The body will be broken if it hits the pavement, or else the baby would have been made of something else (like rubber).
    1. NO, His intentional will.
      1. The baby’ s death is not the will of God.
      2. It was not His intention that the baby be allowed to fallout the window at all.
  5. Disease: is it the will of God?
    1. NO, God’s intentional will is health.
    2. Yet there is a will of God within evil circumstances.
      1. The ultimate will of God will be reached if we make the right reaction to these circumstances.
      2. Disease is an invasion of germs, a reminder that we live in Satan’s domain.
    3. How does one react to disease?
      1. Joni Erikson Tada  and her neck injury as a teenager.
      2. So many healthy people are spiritually asleep and not co-operating with Him at all.
      3. I am sure that the battle against disease is the will of God. Disease is not His intention: Jesus regarded it as part of the kingdom of evil (Luke 13:16)., yet He can work through evil circumstances.
  6. One could say, it’s a bit casual of God to allow these things to happen if they are not His intention.
    1. God’s ways are not often clear to men (1 Corinthians 13:12).
    2. Think of a little child who has hurt his knees.
      1. Will he say “It’s rather casual of you to allow me to hurt myself like this.”
      2. We do not say, “Look at my knees!” but rather, “Look at my frustration, disappointment and pain.”
      3. There is much that we do not understand, but I know that my Father loves and cares for me.
    3. Jesus did not say, “I have explained the world.” but “I have overcome the world” (John 16:33) .
      1. If we will only trust where we do not see.
      2. Walk in the light that we have (like holding a lantern rather than using a headlight).
      3. We will find peace in our hearts even before we see Him face to face.
      4. Suffering often brings us to our knees like nothing else will.

God’s Ultimate Will:

  1. I know you can do all things, and no purpose of yours can be restrained. (Job 42: 2).
  2. Picture a child damming up a stream:
    1. He never prevents the water from finally reaching the river.
    2. We may divert God’s plans for a while, but we will not finally defeat them.
  3. Omnipotence does not mean that God gets His way by an exhibition of His superior might;  then freedom is an illusion.
    1. It does not mean that nothing can happen unless it is His intention.
    2. It means that nothing can happen that finally defeats Him.
    3. He will reach His ultimate goal even if man diverts the stream.
  4. If God can use evil as well as good to reach His goals, then nothing we do really matters.
    1. No, Paul said to the Romans, Are we to continue to sin that grace may increase? (Romans 6:1).
    2. Here is a proper perspective:
      1. This evil has been done, how will I win good from it?
      2. NOT, I will deliberately do evil in order to win good from it.
      3. With evil intent, men crucified the Son of God. Within six weeks, other men were preaching about the cross as the instrument of salvation.

* Regarding Weatherhead being a liberal, I don’t throw the “liberal” handle around lightly, but it is documented that he dismissed the virgin birth, promoted Zachariah as the father of Jesus and Mary (a temple prostitute) and denied the atonement. Weatherhead’s theory that Jesus was the son of Zechariah later became part of the teachings of Sun Myung Moon’s Unification Church. Encountering this teaching in Weatherhead’s The Christian Agnostic, Young Oon Kim adopted it as the best explanation of the birth of Jesus in her work Unification Theology, a standard textbook of the movement. Ruth A. Tucker comments in her book Another Gospel: “Kim’s Christology is a prime example of liberal theology…. By diminishing the role of Jesus, Kim paves the way for the exaltation of Sun Myung Moon.”

Knowing the Will of God

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These are notes from a seminar I taught back in 1988; can’t believe I found these notes. I taught this to a local congregation while I was a part of Partners, Resort/Family Ministries at the oceanfront. The notes are in outline form so I hope to elaborate on each point.

Knowing the Sovereign Will of God:

Introduction:

  1. This present world system is an organized kingdom of evil. While God created everything and He said that it was good (Genesis 1:4, 10, 12, 18, 21, 25, 31), the evil one came and introduced evil, tempting the first humans to rebel and disobey God (Genesis 3:1, 2-3, 4-5).
  2. This present world is ruled and motivated by the will of Satan.
    1. The Prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience (Ephesians 2:1-3).
    2. But Satan’s power is limited (Job 1:12 for example).
  3. Only God has all power and all authority.
    1. Theological dualism
      1. Horizontal dualism: two beings of equal power battling, good and evil is a cosmic fight to see who will win.
      2. Vertical dualism: two beings at odds in a battle, but they are not equal, and God will always win, there is no doubt. They battle but God is always higher than the evil one.
    2. I am God and there is no other, I am God and there is none like Me, declaring the end from the beginning. My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure (Isaiah 46: 9-10).
    3. It is His pleasure to reveal His will to believers (Jeremiah 29:13, Philippians 2:13).
  4. Jesus told His disciples to get into the boat and cross the sea, did Jesus not know the storm was coming? Why did He not tell them to wait since the storm was coming? (Matthew 14:22-33).
    1. Being omniscient – He knew they would encounter a storm.
    2. Being omnipotent – He would save them from the storm.
    3. Their crossing the sea had to be God’s will; therefore they and the storm was God’s will:
      1. Into the storm they were sent (God’s will is often full of storms).
      2. In no danger, Jesus was praying the whole time (Hebrews 7:25).
      3. In darkness, yet no believer will remain there (John 12:46).
  5. When you seek God’s will.
    1. You may face contrary winds. as even Paul (2 Corinthians 11:24-29).
    2. But remember He will direct your path (Proverbs 3:5-6).

God’s Will is Sovereign (Isaiah 46:9-11):

  1. Only the true God can know (what we call) the future, and therefore bring it to pass.
    1. Consider the fact that God is always in the present.
    2. There is no past or future from God’s perspective.
    3. Does God know the future? There is no future since He is always in the present.
  2. No one can ultimately alter the purposes of God: My purpose will be established, I will accomplish all my good pleasure (Isaiah 46:10).
  3. His ultimate will is established in the fulfilling of prophecy.
    1. He declares the end from the beginning.
      1. He knows the end (because He is in it), yet we are not His puppets to blindly follow.
      2. He directs our path, He does not pull us down the path.
    2. The context of Isaiah 46:10.
      1. God is prophesying Israel’s future and He will bring it to pass.
      2. His ultimate will cannot be restrained (Daniel 4:35).
  4. God has a secret will, which is not revealed to us.
    1. We cannot know all of His sovereign will, but we can know the parts revealed in Scripture (Deuteronomy 29:29).
    2. We will not know this secret will until He reveals it.
  5. We can know God’s sovereign will as revealed in history.
    1. To Abraham, “I will make you a great nation.. .and all the nations of the earth will be blessed through you.” (Genesis 12:2-3)
      1. Israel was made a great nation.
      2. The nations are blessed through his seed, which is Christ (Galatians 3:6-9).
    2. To all who accept Christ as Savior (John 3:16,14:1-6).
  6. The cross is proof of the sovereign (ultimate) will of God.
    1. 1000 years before Christ: David prophesied the Messiah would be crucified (Psalm 22:14-18).
    2. 700 years before Christ, Isaiah prophesied the death of Christ (Isaiah 52:1-53:12).

God’s Ultimate Will is Immutable: (Malachi 3:6).

  1. For I am the Lord, and I do not change (Malachi 3:6).
  2. God is not man that He should lie, nor son of man that He should repent. He has said, and will He not do? Or has He spoken, and will He not make it good (Numbers 23:19, Balaam blessing Israel).
  3. The reason His will is immutable: God is unchanging (Hebrews 13:8).
  4. God’s will is immutable.
    1. What about the Flood, or Moses interceding for the people? The language indicates that God changed his mind. But think about it, the Bible is clear that God does not change, so the language used is more for us to understand in human terms.
    2. In salvation, the plan has not changed for sacrifices of animals to the sacrifice of Christ.
      1. We are saved by grace, through faith, not works (Ephesians 2:8-9).
      2. There is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among by which we must be saved (Acts 4:12, Romans 10:9-10).
    3. In judgment, For the Father judges no one, but has committed all Judgment to the Son (John 5:22).
    4. In morals, the Ten Commandments (Exodus 20:1-17).
  5. To know God’s will, we must read His Word which has been preserved for us.

God’s Will is Good, Acceptable and Perfect: (Romans 12:1-2). Paul’s challenge is to prove what the will of God is, that which is good, acceptable and perfect.

  1. God’s revealed will is Good:
    1. For the Lord God is a sun and shield, the Lord gives grace and glory, no good thing does He uphold from those who walk uprightly (Psalm 84:11).
    2. God is the giver of every perfect gift (James 1:17).
    3. This giver is a sun and shield.
      1. He is the Light of the world to guide our steps (John 8:12).
      2. He is our shield of protection (Psalm 3:2-3).
    4. He gives to us grace and glory.
      1. Grace brings eternal riches (2 Corinthians 8:9)  For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sake He became poor, that through His poverty you might become rich.
      2. Glory (Romans 8:17) If indeed we suffer with Him in order that we may also be glorified with Him.
  2. God’s revealed will is Acceptable:
    1. His will is the only acceptable will to Him.
    2. Man’s natural will is rebellious (Romans 8:6-8) For the mind set on the flesh is death…and those who are in the flesh cannot please God.
    3. Satan’s will is totally evil (Isaiah 14:13-14).
      1. Satan said five times, “I will” and never regarded God’s will.
      2. To what degree does your will conform to God’s will?
    4. You are either doing the:
      1. Will of Satan – which is totally evil.
      2. Will of man – which is carnal.
      3. Will of God – which is good, acceptable and perfect.
  3. God’s revealed will is Perfect (because He is perfect).
    1. He has revealed the mystery of His will (Ephesians 1:9).
    2. He wants us to know and understand His will (Ephesians 5:17).

God’s Will Can be Known: (Hebrews 13:20-21).

  1. Natural man is not capable of doing God’s will, for the things of God are foolishness to him (1 Corinthians 1:18; 2:14, Ephesians 5:17).
  2. The Christian must desire communion with God, then He will take control of your life and make you complete in every good work to do His will (Hebrews 13:21).
  3. God did not save you to let you go your own way and make decisions according to the old carnal nature (independence).
    1. He gives you a new nature to combat the old nature (1 Peter 1:4).
    2. It is impossible for a carnal Christian to please God (Romans 8:8).
  4. The Question is: How can I know the perfect will of God?
    1. Sincerely desire to do His will (Hebrews 10:38) The just shall live by faith.
    2. Search the Scriptures (Acts 17:11) The Bereans “received the word with readiness, and searched the Scriptures daily to find out whether these things were so.”
    3. Stand on the promise of the Holy Spirit.
      1. He communicates with your spirit, always in harmony with the Scriptures, assuring you that you are a child of God (Romans 8:16).
      2. He intercedes for the believer “according to the will of God” (Romans 8:27).
      3. He promised to guide us in all truth (John 16:13).
    4. See the signs of God’s providence.
      1. He may put before us an open door (Revelation 3:8, 2 Corinthians 2:12).
      2. You must be fully committed to Christ, and His will before He will show you an open door.
      3. Learn to wait on (trust in) the Lord (Proverbs 3:5-6, Isaiah 40:31).
      4. Seek counsel in godly people (Proverbs 11:14) Where there is no guidance the people fall, but in abundance of counselors there is victory.
  5. Realize that God is in charge even when He is not in control, meaning God being directly involved in doing hurtful actions to mankind. But because we live in a fallen world and bad things happen to good people, God can use those hurtful things in our lives to bring about positive changes: He will cause everything to work together for good for those who are called according to His purpose (Romans 8:28).

You and Me Against the World

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I know that living in this world is difficult for a believer. The “world” seeks to persecute and ridicule all that we embrace and into which we have put our faith and eternal destiny. I received a call before our Leadership Seminar last night from a woman in tears fearing that Jesus had left her. Her spirit was defeated and discouraged; her world had fallen apart. She had made some mistakes, had a recent breakup with her fiance, was actually involved in a lot of ministry and was quite familiar with the teachings of the Bible. After a while I found her to be a delightful woman who is truly seeking after God. Her story is one that should bring encouragement to the household of faith (Galatians 6:10). How passionate are we when it comes to seeking God? (Jeremiah 29:13, 42:1).

She seeks to follow the Great Commission (Matthew 28:19-20) and focuses on the command to obey all that I have commanded you. For her, all means all. I love her confident faith and sincerely desire to be an obedient follower of Jesus. Her passion is to be one of Jesus’ sheep, and not be brushed aside as a goat (Matthew 25:32-33). I challenge each of us to read a command of Christ and become obedient to it, and only then move on to another command.

Another issue discussed was the persecution that believers face in the world. There is an evil that seeks to bring the faithful down. I’m not one looking for demons under every rock or the devil behind every mishap, but the Bible is clear when it comes to our citizenship is not of this world (John 18:36, 17:14, Philippians 3:20, James 4:14, 1 Peter 5:10). My study takes aim at the world and how God and we relate to it.

Our relationship to this sinful world:

How we relate to the world:

  1. We are in it (John 17:15, 2 Corinthians 10:3)
  2. We are strangers in it (1 Peter 2:11)
  3. We are not of it (John 15:19, 17:14, 16, James 4:4)
  4. We must not adopt it’s standards (Romans 12:2, Titus 2:12, James 1:27)
  5. We must not love it (2 Timothy 4:10, 1 John 2:15-16)
  6. We must be crucified to it (Romans 6:6, Galatians 6:14)
  7. We must overcome it (John 16:33, 1 John 5:4-5)
  8. We must proclaim the gospel to it (Matthew 24:14, 28:19, Mark 16:15)
  9. We will one day judge it (1 Corinthians 6:2)

How the world relates to us:

  1. The world hates us (John 15:18, 17:14, 1 John 3:13)
  2. The world persecutes us (John 15:20-21, 2 Timothy 3:12)
  3. The world has false prophets (1 John 4:1, 3, 2 John 7)

God’s relationship to a sinful world:

The Father:

  1. He loves it (John 3:16
  2. He sent the Son to save it (John 3:16, 17, 17:18, 23)
  3. He reconciled it through Christ (2 Corinthians 5:19)
  4. He holds it accountable to him (Romans 3:19)
  5. He will judge it (Psalm 96:13, 98:9)

The Son:

  1. He is the light (John 3:19, 8:12, 9:5)
  2. He takes away it’s sin (John 1:29)
  3. He is it’s Savior (Luke 2:10-11, John 4:42, 1 Timothy 1:15, 1 John 4:14)
  4. He gave his life for it (John 6:33, 51)
  5. He has overcome it (John 16:33)
  6. He will judge it (Acts 17:31)

Application: We are truly to be in the world but not of the world. We are set apart, sanctified for a greater purpose.

  1. How have you embraced the mission of Christ as your own?
  2. What areas of temptation are aimed at derailing your life and witness?
  3. In what ways do you need to get the world out of your life?
  4. What is holding you back?
  5. How are you investing in another man, or is another man investing into you?
  6. In what ways have you been persecuted for the sake of the gospel?
  7. What worldly standards have you allowed to creep into your life, marriage or family?
  8. How will you combat this tendency and stand strong in your faith?

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How to be an Above Average Leader

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I sometimes wonder what it takes to be a truly great leader, and how many people would I fit into that category. I’ll address leaders in a moment, but when it comes to teachers, Josh Hunt uses the word TIGER to make a point, and he tells us that there are the five steps to doubling a group every two years or less:

Teach a halfway decent lesson each and every week; nothing less will do: You do not have to be Chuck Swindoll to grow a class. However, you must produce reasonably good lessons every single week. The better the teaching, the easier it is to grow a class.

Invite every member and every visitor to every fellowship every month: If we love them, they will come. We invite every member because it is good inreach. We invite every visitor, because it is good outreach. We do it every month because it is effective ministry. If we get them to the party, we will not keep them from class. If we get them to the party, they will come to love us, love our church and love our Lord.

Give Friday nights to Jesus: Give Friday nights to Jesus for an informal time of fellowship, games and Diet Coke. People who are opposed to the gospel are not opposed to ice cream. The Bible commands, “Offer hospitality to one another without grumbling.” (1 Peter 4:9) If we will simply be obedient to this one command, we can double our classes every two years or less and our churches every five years or less.

Encourage the group toward ministry: We do this by providing specific examples of ministry and personally enlisting people to join the team. I encourage people to pick from the following seven examples of ministry opportunities: Class teacher, Outreach leader, Inreach leader, Fellowship leader, Hospitality leader (gives Friday nights to Jesus), Prayer leader, and Class president.

Reproduce: Doubling a class every two years or less is not about going from 10 to 20. It is about going from one group to two. Reproduction is hard on any level. Still, The future of the church is the reproduction of groups. The key to creating a new group is leadership. The price of creating a new group is saying good-bye. We must be willing to say good-bye in order to be obedient to the great commission. Remember that only the mature can reproduce. Only mature disciples are willing to say good-bye. We must reproduce in order to insure the life of the next generation.

I included all this not just because it is a solid strategy for growing groups, but for the first point, teach a half-way decent lesson! We don’t have to be outstanding in order to teach or lead; can we shoot for above average? I recently discovered three tips to becoming above average:

  1. Do what others won’t: Have you ever heard someone say, “Oh I would never do that?” Often this is a sign that we are on the right track. To live and serve in an above average way means you are willing to do what others won’t. Don’t let this bother or intimidate you! Recognize that every leader faces the same challenge, starting with Jesus. He certainly could have settled for an average lifestyle, but He chose to lay down His life to fulfill His purpose.
  2. Create productive habits: Leaders choose what to do with their time, their health, their desires, their appetites, their words and their thoughts. Ephesians 5:15-16 tells us “Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the most of the time.” Our time and energy needs to be fruitful, not frivolous. We all have areas of life that are uncultivated and unfruitful. Often all it takes is for a seed to be planted and we can turn that around.
  3. Refuse to live an average lifestyle: Average leaders don’t stop to examine what they are doing. They live by their emotions and take the path of least resistance. To be above average, you may need to watch less TV, read more books, set goals, take care of your health, eat better, exercise more, forgive, encourage, and take more risks. Of course, this also means you get to see God do more in and through you than the “average” person might.

The reality is average, status-quo, ordinary living doesn’t inspire others to follow Christ more closely. Radical, above-average, extraordinary living does! This can be a challenge. Average seems so comfortable, appealing, safe. Not to mention, it’s what everyone else is doing, so it makes life easier (or so it seems).

Are you ready to be above average? I hope the answer is yes, because that means you will be able to reach more people with the love and encouragement of Christ, and lead them to grow and mature into His image. That is worth the inconvenience of letting go of the status quo.