Sunday, October 05,
2014, 12:30 a.m. – the Lord Jesus put in mind the song, “Unless You Are Born Again.” Speak,
Lord, your words to my heart. I read 2
Corinthians 12:11-13:10 (NASB).
I Want You
I
have become foolish; you yourselves compelled me. Actually I should have been
commended by you, for in no respect was I inferior to the most eminent
apostles, even though I am a nobody. The signs of a true apostle were performed
among you with all perseverance, by signs and wonders and miracles. For in what
respect were you treated as inferior to the rest of the churches, except that I
myself did not become a burden to you? Forgive me this wrong!
Here
for this third time I am ready to come to you, and I will not be a burden to
you; for I do not seek what is yours, but you; for children are not responsible
to save up for their parents, but parents for their children. I will most gladly
spend and be expended for your souls. If I love you more, am I to be loved
less? But be that as it may, I did not burden you myself; nevertheless, crafty
fellow that I am, I took you in by deceit. Certainly I have not taken advantage
of you through any of those whom I have sent to you, have I? I urged Titus to
go, and I sent the brother with him. Titus did not take any advantage of you,
did he? Did we not conduct ourselves in the same spirit and walk in the same
steps?
The Apostle Paul had come under attack from those who were
false apostles. Evidently there was serious concern on his part that the
Corinthian believers, who were his children in the Lord, were being (or might
be) persuaded by these false teachers to believe these charges against Paul.
Yet, Paul’s concern was not for himself, but for the believers, that they might
be led astray from their pure devotion to Jesus Christ. If the false teachers
could convince the believers in Corinth that Paul had false motives for what he
was doing, then perhaps they could discredit Paul and could thus get these
believers in Christ to follow them and their false teaching instead. So, it was
essential that Paul defend himself in order to protect the believers in Christ
from being led astray to a false gospel.
So, in some cases here, he utilized the figure of speech
called “irony” (or sarcasm) to make his points, frequently making mention of
the charges of these false teachers against him.
Paul worked hard among the believers in Christ, sacrificing
his own time and energies, and not working for financial profit, although he
had a right to earn his living from the gospel. Yet, he did not claim that
right. He was not slack in fulfilling the call God/Jesus had placed upon his
life, but he persevered in the ministry to which he was called, proving himself
to be a true apostle of Jesus Christ. He didn’t work among them so that he
would get rich. He was not interested in their possessions. His desire was for
them and for them to walk holy lives pleasing to Jesus. He wanted them for
Jesus, and for no other reason, and because he knew that walking in daily
fellowship with their Lord, and in his will, was what was best for them. So, he
gladly gave of all he had, and of his life, as well, for them because he loved
them.
They should have commended him for all that he did for them,
but the implication is that they did not show their appreciation. I don’t
believe Paul was looking for the praise of humans. He didn’t work to get
praise. Yet, their lack of recognition of his apostleship was a serious issue
in that it set them up for the potential of falling prey to false teaching, and
thus he mentioned this slighting of him perhaps to shame them into the reality
that he was indeed who he said he was, so that they would not be caught off
guard and be led astray.
I believe a similar situation exists today, only the one
needing to be defended here is Jesus Christ. There are many false teachers
within the church today who give off a false image of Christ, only not usually
in a disparaging way, but rather in a complimentary way, yet false all the
same. Their purpose is to give off this false understanding of who Jesus Christ
is so that they may lead people away from the truth of the gospel of Jesus
Christ to a false gospel. They will often present Jesus as someone who just
went around doing good all the time and who said nice things to make people
feel good about themselves. Yet, he was not hung on a cross to die for being
nice. They hated him because he told them the truth about their sin. Jesus didn’t
mince words. He was a straight shooter. He told it like it was.
Not Repented
All
this time you have been thinking that we are defending ourselves to you.
Actually, it is in the sight of God that we have been speaking in Christ; and
all for your upbuilding, beloved. For I am afraid that perhaps when I come I
may find you to be not what I wish and may be found by you to be not what you
wish; that perhaps there will be strife, jealousy, angry tempers, disputes,
slanders, gossip, arrogance, disturbances; I am afraid that when I come again
my God may humiliate me before you, and I may mourn over many of those who have
sinned in the past and not repented of the impurity, immorality and sensuality
which they have practiced.
This
is the third time I am coming to you. Every fact is to be confirmed by the
testimony of two or three witnesses. I have previously said when present the
second time, and though now absent I say in advance to those who have sinned in
the past and to all the rest as well, that if I come again I will not spare
anyone, since you are seeking for proof of the Christ who speaks in me, and who
is not weak toward you, but mighty in you. For indeed He was crucified because
of weakness, yet He lives because of the power of God. For we also are weak in
Him, yet we will live with Him because of the power of God directed toward you.
Jesus Christ died for our sins, not just so we could escape
hell and gain heaven, but so we would die with him to our sins and live with
him and for him by daily walking in his righteousness and holiness – all in the
power and working of the Holy Spirit, who now lives within us (See: Lu.
9:23-25; Ac. 26:16-18; Ro. 6-8; Gal. 2:20; Eph. 4:17-24 & 1 Jn. 1-5). He
died so we would no longer live for ourselves but for him who gave himself up
for us (See: 2 Co. 5:15). In fact, his grace teaches us to say “No” to
ungodliness and worldly passions and to live self-controlled and upright lives
in this present age while we wait for his return (See: Tit. 2:11-14). And, yet
so many preachers today do not even mention the need to repent of our sin and
to walk in Christ’s holiness, because that would not be “nice.”
Jesus Christ is not weak in dealing with us, but is powerful
among us. He doesn’t wink at sin. He died to free us from the control of sin,
so how can we live in it any longer? Coming to faith in Jesus Christ is not
about cleaning up our old lives a little at a time as suits us. It is about
death to sin and self, and it is about being alive to Christ, walking daily
with him, living holy lives pleasing to him, obeying his teachings, listening
to him, following him wherever he leads us, and inquiring of him daily, etc. He
died to eradicate our old fleshly lives and to give us completely new lives in
Christ, free from slavery to sin, and free to live for him. He wants for us to
repent of (turn from) our sins and to walk in obedience and surrender to him
and to his will for our lives.
Test Yourselves
Test
yourselves to see if you are in the faith; examine yourselves! Or do you not
recognize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you—unless indeed you fail the test? But I
trust that you will realize that we ourselves do not fail the test. Now we pray
to God that you do no wrong; not that we ourselves may appear approved, but
that you may do what is right, even though we may appear unapproved. For we can
do nothing against the truth, but only for the truth. For we rejoice when we
ourselves are weak but you are strong; this we also pray for, that you be made
complete. For this reason I am writing these things while absent, so that when
present I need not use severity, in accordance with the authority which the
Lord gave me for building up and not for tearing down.
So, we should test ourselves to see if we are truly in the
faith. Did we accept a false grace gospel which teaches us that turning from
our sin and following Christ in obedience are not necessary components of
genuine faith in Christ? Have we believed this false image of Christ that so
many are presenting of him today, which pictures him as just a “nice guy” who
just “loved on” everyone and didn’t make anyone feel bad about their sin? Did
we accept that all we had to do was “believe” in Christ, and yet “believe” was
never explained to us in terms of death to sin and of being born of the Spirit
of God in transformation away from sin to a walk of faith in his holiness?
Remember, he died so we would no longer live for ourselves but
for him, and his grace teaches us to say “No” to ungodliness and worldly
passions and to live self-controlled and upright lives. His grace is not a free
license to continue in sin and to still have the hope of eternity with God in
heaven. Don’t believe that false image of Christ and of his grace.
God the Father gave his Son Jesus Christ to die on the cross
for our sins. Whoever believes in him will not perish, but will have eternal
life. “Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe
is condemned already.” And, this is the verdict of the trial in God’s heavenly
court: Jesus Christ, the Light, came into the world to save sinners, but people
loved darkness instead of the Light because their deeds were evil. Those who
practice evil hate the Light, and will not come into the Light for fear that
their evil deeds will be exposed. But, whoever lives by the truth comes to the
Light, “so that it may be clearly seen that his works have been carried out by
God.” [Ref: John 3]
Unless You Are Born
Again
An Original Work / November 3, 2013
Based off John 3:1-21
Nicodemus came to
Jesus.
He acknowledged God
was with Him.
Jesus said, “You can’t
see heaven
Unless you are born
again.”
“How can a man be born
when he’s old?
Can he enter into his
mother’s womb?”
Jesus answered, “Flesh
is flesh,
So of the Spirit, you
must be.”
Jesus said to
Nicodemus,
“You’re a teacher, and
yet you don’t
Understand of what I
tell you,
Because you will not believe.
“For God so loved the
world that He gave
His one and His only
Son for your sin.
So, whoever believes
in Him
Has eternal life in
heav’n.
“Light has come into
the world,
But human beings love
the darkness,
Because their deeds
are so evil,
So in truth, they
stand condemned.
“Everyone who
practices evil
Fears that the Light
will expose his sin.
Yet, whoever lives his
life by the Light
Does so through his
God.”
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