Sunday, October 19,
2014, 6:30 a.m. – the Lord Jesus put in mind the song, “Give God the Glory.” Speak, Lord, your words to my heart. I read Philippians 2:1–18 (NIV84).
United With Christ
If you have any encouragement
from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any fellowship
with the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, then make my joy complete by
being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and purpose. Do
nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider
others better than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own
interests, but also to the interests of others.
Being united with
Christ, by God’s grace, through faith, should bring us great encouragement. We
have been forgiven of our sins, set free from the control of sin over our
lives, set free to walk in Christ’s righteousness and holiness in the power and
working of His Spirit within us, set free from eternal punishment in hell, and we
have been given the hope of eternal life with God, both now and forevermore,
amen! We have his Holy Spirit living within us, daily encouraging, counseling,
instructing, comforting, nurturing, sustaining, strengthening, assuring, and
giving us courage, determination and perseverance in our faith, and in our
testimonies for Christ, even in the face of strong opposition.
Since we have
this hope, and since we have this encouragement, then, as followers of Christ,
we are to be like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and
purpose. So, how do we do that, since we are individual people with varied
thoughts and opinions? The key is in understanding what unites us, and whose
mind we are to be like. We are to be like Jesus in thought, word and deed. We
are to adopt his ways, attitudes, and values, etc. as our own. We are to follow
his teachings, and we are to submit to his will for our lives, and then to allow
his love to work his will in us and through us for his purposes and for his
glory. When we follow Jesus and his word, and we adopt his ways, and we make
them our ways by surrendering our lives over to him, and we are like-minded
with him in spirit and purpose, then we should also be like-minded with one
another in the same respect.
Yet, not all who
claim to be Christians are united with Christ in love and in purpose, but many
professors of Christ are rather uniting themselves with the philosophies and
values of humans, and of this world, and are thus asking us to unite with them.
May that never be! If we are to truly be like-minded with one another, having
the same love, being one in spirit and purpose, then we must first of all unite
ourselves with Christ, his word, his thoughts, his love and his purposes for
our lives. And, we must test everything we read, see and hear against the Word
of truth to make sure it does not contradict with Christ and his word, and to
make sure the mind we are adopting is not that of humans instead of Christ.
When we are
united with Christ in this way, we will consider the good of others over our
own comfort and security, and we will look not only to our own interests, but also
to the interests of others. I believe this is speaking here, not of us being
interested necessarily in others’ hobbies, activities and personal pursuits,
but rather this is speaking of us looking to the welfare of others, considering
what is in their best interest, i.e. to what will ultimately benefit them for
their good. This means that we care about other people enough to share with
them the gospel of salvation, for that is why Jesus Christ died. And, it means
that we care enough about them to tell them the truth of God’s Word, but it
also means we care about their sicknesses, pains, sorrows, and joys, with the
goal of bringing healing to them.
Our Attitude
Your attitude should be the
same as that of Christ Jesus:
Who, being in very nature God,
did not consider equality with
God something to be grasped,
but made himself nothing,
taking the very nature of a
servant,
being made in human likeness.
And being found in appearance
as a man,
he humbled himself
and became obedient to death—
even death on a cross!
Therefore God exalted him to
the highest place
and gave him the name that is
above every name,
that at the name of Jesus every
knee should bow,
in heaven and on earth and
under the earth,
and every tongue confess that
Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father.
Our attitude has
to do with our viewpoint on certain values, morals, and behaviors, or on others’
thoughts and opinions, or on the teachings of scripture, or about humanistic
teaching, or concerning how we are being treated, etc. It encompasses our
outlook on life, in general, our approach to particular situations, and/or our
feelings about certain matters.
We are to have
the same attitude as that of Jesus Christ with regard to our rights, and with
regard to putting others and their needs above our own. Jesus is God the Son.
He was in heaven, seated at the right hand of the Father, and yet he willingly
left all the glory of heaven to come to earth, to take on the appearance of a
human being, and to humble himself by being willing to die on a cross for our
sins so that we could go free. And, we should be willing, as well, to suffer disgrace,
to be hated, to be mistreated, to be falsely accused and even to die for our
testimony for Christ and for his gospel in order for us to share the only hope
of salvation with others so that they, too, can go free.
God Who Works
Therefore, my dear friends, as
you have always obeyed—not only in my presence, but now much more in my
absence—continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is
God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose.
For those of us who
are strong proponents of the gospel of grace, this passage of scripture may
cause confusion or concern, yet I believe, if understood in context, that it
should alleviate all those apprehensions.
We do not work to
earn or to deserve our salvation, but our salvation is not absent of works. We
generally like to quote Ephesians 2:8-9 as our proof text for the gospel of
grace, and that not of works, and yet how many go on to read verse 10 which
says:
For we are God’s handiwork,
created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us
to do.
When the Bible
describes our salvation, it speaks of it in terms of us having been saved, that
we are being saved, and that when Christ returns, and our salvation is
complete, that we will be saved. This may present theological issues for the
OSAS folks, but it shouldn’t, for our salvation is not just a one-time
experience which gets us a ticket into heaven when we die. Our salvation is a
life in Jesus Christ to be lived out by his grace through faith every day of
our lives. We are not saved merely to escape hell and so we can go to heaven
when we die with nothing in between. We are saved from the control of sin over
our lives on a day-to-day basis, and we are set free to now be under the
control of the Spirit within us, and to now be slaves of righteousness (See Ac.
26:16-18; Ro. 6-8; 2 Co. 5:15; Gal. 2:20; Eph. 4:17-24; Tit. 2:11-14 & 1
Jn. 1-5).
When we accept
God’s salvation, and we choose to put our trust in Jesus Christ for our lives,
we invite his Lordship over our lives. We submit to his will and to his
purposes, i.e. we choose to walk in obedience and surrender to his will for our
lives. We do not become puppets on a string and thus lose our free will to
choose right and wrong. We must daily take up our cross and follow Christ (See:
Lu. 9:23-25). Every day of my life I must choose to follow Christ or to go my
own way. I don’t lose my salvation every time I sin, but I also know that
salvation requires death with Christ to my sin, and that there will be those to
whom Christ will one day say, “I never knew you.” If we say we love God, and we
claim to be in fellowship with him, yet we continue to walk in sin, he says we
are liars, and that we don’t truly know him. So, our salvation is a daily walk
of faith, too, allowing and cooperating with God’s work within us “to will and to act according to his good
purpose.”
Shine Like Stars
Do everything without
complaining or arguing, so that you may become blameless and pure, children of
God without fault in a crooked and depraved generation, in which you shine like
stars in the universe as you hold out the word of life—in order that I may
boast on the day of Christ that I did not run or labor for nothing. But even if
I am being poured out like a drink offering on the sacrifice and service coming
from your faith, I am glad and rejoice with all of you. So you too should be
glad and rejoice with me.
Just as the stars
in heaven above show forth the wisdom of God and tell of his love, grace, and
mercy, and just as his created works declare the glory of God to all who live
on the earth, and just as they call us to worship the God of heaven above (See:
Ps. 19; cf. Ro. 1), so the Word of God speaks truth to our hearts and invites
us to faith in Jesus Christ, and so his saints are to shine like the stars in
the universe in holding out the Word of life to the people of this world. We
are the light of the world and the salt of the earth in spreading the truth of
the gospel of Jesus Christ throughout the earth by our lifestyles, our values,
our actions and by our words, and as we hold fast to the truth of the word and
we defend it against all opposing forces.
Yet, as we do
this, we are to avoid whining and quarreling with people. Certainly we are to
stand strong in our faith, we are to contend for the faith, and we are to stand
strong against the devil’s schemes by daily putting on the armor of God. As
well, we are to be strong, bold and courageous in sharing our faith, and we
should never agree to compromise our faith in order to make peace. And, yet we
must guard against senseless and foolish arguments which serve no valuable
purpose. We must know that we will be hated, that people are going to disagree
with us, that they will even accuse us of heart motivation that is not ours, and
that, when we stand on the word of truth, we will be accused of being hateful,
uncaring, unconcerned, intolerant and bigoted, yet we must continue to stand
strong, but in love.
Give God the Glory
/ An Original Work
Based off Psalm 19 /
March 10, 2014
All of creation now
proclaims:
“Give God the glory;
honor His name!”
Each day the stars in
heav’n above
Show forth His wisdom;
tell of His love.
They do not speak.
They have no voice.
Yet, they declare we
have a choice:
“Worship the God of
heav’n above;
Believe in Jesus;
trust in His love.”
God’s word is perfect,
just and good,
Refreshing souls who
trust in the Lord;
Makes wise the simple;
radiant -
Lighting our lives
with God’s righteousness.
Joy to the heart His
words now speak;
Pure and enduring, now
we seek.
They are more precious
than our gold;
Sweeter than honey; never
grow old.
Keeping the word
brings great reward.
By the word Jesus
speaks and He warns,
Convicting hearts of
all their sin;
Forgiving all who call
upon Him.
Praying You keep me,
Lord, from sins.
May they not rule my
life again.
Then will I walk in
all Your ways,
Following Jesus all of
my days.
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