A lack of peace is a dangerous thing. The human body was not designed to withstand prolonged periods of anxiety or fear. Nor was it created for bitterness. But what is one to do when circumstances propel your thoughts to the point of obsession and extreme emotions rampage violently through your heart, wreaking havoc on your physical, mental and spiritual health? The answer: you need to post a guard (Phil 4:7).
Anxiety and fear were not to be your default settings. Instead, peace should guard your heart and mind in order to prevent these terrorists from staging a revolution. And I’m not talking about any kind of peace – it is the peace of God that I have in mind. This is a peace that prevails when there is no earthly or logical reason to feel at peace.
The Philippian church was suffering persecution for the sake of Christ (Phil. 1:27-30). Just as Paul had been beaten, imprisoned and tortured in Philippi, the Philippians were experiencing the same things. The threat of torture and imprisonment is not conducive to peace, yet that is what the Philippians so desperately needed, a peace that went beyond all comprehension - a peace to guard their hearts and minds. And this is what God had in mind for them. In fact, He has it in mind for you too - whatever your circumstances. But how can you post the guard of God’s peace at the doors of your heart and mind?
Here’s a good place to start: “Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!” (v4). You are to take pleasure in God every day and in every circumstance. Paul did it by singing hymns at midnight, turning his dungeon into a cathedral. When you rejoice in a new car, you take pleasure in its features and capabilities – you rave to anyone who will listen. “This car can pull my boat and you wouldn’t know it was there. It’s so quiet – I can hear every muttered complaint of my back-seat driver. It has cruise control.” With infinitely greater reason, we should delight in God, His attributes and the things He has done. That is why we encourage people to share testimonies in church. That is why it is good to turn your daily commute into a praise session so that your soul does not shrivel under a barrage of complaints, curses and criticism.
Then Paul mentions the matter of gentleness (v5). It would have been so easy for the Philippians to shipwreck their faith in bitter missions of revenge. But Paul says “let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near”. The Bible is clear that we should live every day as though Christ is about to return. Let us leave justice to Jesus. You are to forgive – Jesus will avenge your injustice when He returns to judge the living and the dead. And even if you have not been offended recently, still be gentle, especially when stress is increasing and patience is dropping!
Lastly, invest more time praying, asking and thanking than you do worrying (v6). We all know this but seldom DO IT. I challenge you to sit down in the midst of your greatest anxieties and make a list of 50 things you can thank God for. Or perhaps you should indulge in some “rejoicing” prayer as you meditate on God’s greatness and His faithfulness to you, your friends, your family and your church.
If, for example, you are battling to pay school fees, set aside your worry by seeking God for help every time anxiety surfaces. You may ask, but should I do anything to help myself? S.D. Gordon said:
“The greatest thing anyone can do for God and for man is to pray. You can do more than pray after you have prayed, but you cannot do more than pray until you have prayed. Prayer is striking the winning blow ... service (i.e. doing stuff) is gathering up the results.”
Prayer is underpinned by the theological truth that God is powerful and in control. When we pray we remind ourselves that God is sovereign, and this encourages us to trust Him. And without trust it is impossible to experience peace. In the words of Isaiah: “You will keep in perfect peace him whose mind is steadfast, because he trusts in you” (Is. 26:3).
It is evident, therefore, that there is much you can do to build and then maintain peace in your life. Perhaps Paul’s assumption is that bitterness, anxiety or fear grow little by little. What begins as something we can control ends in something we feel powerless to change. If that is where you are, be encouraged to dismantle your predicament one step at a time, struggling to forge peace in the furnace of your circumstances. Take steps to post the guard of peace, and I am sure that you will be surprised by the results. Remember that whatever you do to obey God in this regard will be far outweighed by what He does for you.
Cheers for now - Ian
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Wednesday, January 25, 2012
Friday, January 20, 2012
Don't blame it on your nature
Have you ever wondered whether you have a sinful nature? Many Christians would say that they do. In fact, the terms human nature and sinful nature are often used interchangeably. It is quite common, for example, to hear a Christian admitting to a sin and then minimising it with the claim “I’m only human” or “I’m just a sinner”. By this they mean that they sinned because they are human and have a sinful nature. The implication of this assumption is that they are powerless to overcome sin.
I have a question. Did your human nature change at conversion? Before conversion, you had a “fallen” human nature, a nature corrupted from birth as a result of Adam’s revolt. You were a sinner and enemy of God in a state of rebellion, condemnation and spiritual death. And if you think these are strong terms, please note that they are not mine - they come from the Bible (Romans 5 and Eph 2)!
After conversion, however, your nature was changed. The Bible uses many metaphors to describe this conversion. Here are some examples:
1) Resurrection from death (by crucifixion) – your “old self was crucified with [Christ]” (Rom. 6:6) and you were “buried with [Christ] through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, [you] too may live a new life” (Rom 6:4).
2) Release from slavery or a change of ownership – “you have been set free from sin and have become slaves to God” (Rom 6:22).
3) Rebirth – “no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again” and “no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit” (John 3:3&5).
4) Recreation – “If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!” (2Co 5:17).
Based on this evidence, if you have been converted by God (the theologians us the word regenerated), you no longer have a fallen human nature. You have a new nature. And it was for this reason, that Paul never addressed Christians as sinners but as saints.
Where, then, does the idea that Christians have a sinful nature come from? My guess is that it comes from an attempt to explain why Christians continue to be tempted and also to sin. Paul, however, attributed this weakness to something he called the sarx. Depending on the context, Paul used sarx to mean six different things. In Romans 8:1-17 and Galatians 5:16-26, though, Paul used sarx to denote the evil desires within a Christian.
Sadly, some translations of the Bible, for example the NIV, translate sarx in Romans 8 and Galatians 5 as “sinful nature”. Using “sinful nature”, however, implies that though we have been converted and given a new nature, our sinful nature persists making us somewhat schizophrenic! Significantly, the most recent (2011) revision of the NIV Bible has dropped the term “sinful nature” as a translation of the Greek sarx, using the word flesh instead. Yes, “flesh” is not a word we use often in the English, unless it refers to the living material that makes up plants and animals. But I think we should treat it at one of those words that has been given a unique theological meaning that is quite different to its normal usage.
So Christians struggle with the “flesh”, a tendency to find sin attractive. It is not that we have a sinful nature, for we have been changed, but we still have evil desires. Though Paul doesn’t give any explanation, I would imagine that the sarx is a leftover from the old life, perhaps in the form of bad habits and untrue thinking or beliefs. Fortunatley our new nature will endure for eternity but the sarx will disappear when we die.
Dave Edden helped me with my musings by providing a good illustration. When a man gets married, he is fundamentally changed. He is no longer single, having entered into a marriage contract with his beloved. Further, he and his beloved have become one through the consummation of their marriage. However, a newly married man will still feel single, and he will have to change his single habits and thought patterns.
In conclusion then, because you have been converted, you no longer have a fallen human, sinful nature. You have been recreated, reborn and released. Your old person has died and you have been raised to new life in Christ. For these reasons, sin has no power over you. Sin will only have power over you if you give it permission. And that is why you must not allow the sinful desires of the flesh to control you. Instead, be controlled by the Holy Spirit, for those who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God (Romans 8:14).
Cheers for now - Ian
I have a question. Did your human nature change at conversion? Before conversion, you had a “fallen” human nature, a nature corrupted from birth as a result of Adam’s revolt. You were a sinner and enemy of God in a state of rebellion, condemnation and spiritual death. And if you think these are strong terms, please note that they are not mine - they come from the Bible (Romans 5 and Eph 2)!
After conversion, however, your nature was changed. The Bible uses many metaphors to describe this conversion. Here are some examples:
1) Resurrection from death (by crucifixion) – your “old self was crucified with [Christ]” (Rom. 6:6) and you were “buried with [Christ] through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, [you] too may live a new life” (Rom 6:4).
2) Release from slavery or a change of ownership – “you have been set free from sin and have become slaves to God” (Rom 6:22).
3) Rebirth – “no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again” and “no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit” (John 3:3&5).
4) Recreation – “If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!” (2Co 5:17).
Based on this evidence, if you have been converted by God (the theologians us the word regenerated), you no longer have a fallen human nature. You have a new nature. And it was for this reason, that Paul never addressed Christians as sinners but as saints.
Where, then, does the idea that Christians have a sinful nature come from? My guess is that it comes from an attempt to explain why Christians continue to be tempted and also to sin. Paul, however, attributed this weakness to something he called the sarx. Depending on the context, Paul used sarx to mean six different things. In Romans 8:1-17 and Galatians 5:16-26, though, Paul used sarx to denote the evil desires within a Christian.
Sadly, some translations of the Bible, for example the NIV, translate sarx in Romans 8 and Galatians 5 as “sinful nature”. Using “sinful nature”, however, implies that though we have been converted and given a new nature, our sinful nature persists making us somewhat schizophrenic! Significantly, the most recent (2011) revision of the NIV Bible has dropped the term “sinful nature” as a translation of the Greek sarx, using the word flesh instead. Yes, “flesh” is not a word we use often in the English, unless it refers to the living material that makes up plants and animals. But I think we should treat it at one of those words that has been given a unique theological meaning that is quite different to its normal usage.
So Christians struggle with the “flesh”, a tendency to find sin attractive. It is not that we have a sinful nature, for we have been changed, but we still have evil desires. Though Paul doesn’t give any explanation, I would imagine that the sarx is a leftover from the old life, perhaps in the form of bad habits and untrue thinking or beliefs. Fortunatley our new nature will endure for eternity but the sarx will disappear when we die.
Dave Edden helped me with my musings by providing a good illustration. When a man gets married, he is fundamentally changed. He is no longer single, having entered into a marriage contract with his beloved. Further, he and his beloved have become one through the consummation of their marriage. However, a newly married man will still feel single, and he will have to change his single habits and thought patterns.
In conclusion then, because you have been converted, you no longer have a fallen human, sinful nature. You have been recreated, reborn and released. Your old person has died and you have been raised to new life in Christ. For these reasons, sin has no power over you. Sin will only have power over you if you give it permission. And that is why you must not allow the sinful desires of the flesh to control you. Instead, be controlled by the Holy Spirit, for those who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God (Romans 8:14).
Cheers for now - Ian
Thursday, January 12, 2012
Don't Waste Your Life
How would your life be different if you had inherited a vast fortune at the age of 18? Suppose that you had earned a Masters Degree from Cambridge University, been elected as a Member of the British Parliament at age 21, and that you were the Prime Minister’s closest friend. Imagine being labelled by a famous writer as the “wittiest man in England” and that your speaking ability in the House of Commons was described as follows: “I saw what seemed a mere shrimp mount upon the table; but as I listened, he grew and grew, until the shrimp became a whale.”
Given the above, what would your life look like today? What would be possible in the future?
There was once a man who fitted this description, but his life was squandered in gambling and late night drinking. Inheritances and natural abilities are not one’s right nor are they earned or deserved. Yet left to their own devices, humans declare, “It is my life, and I will do with it as I please”. And William Wilberforce was no exception. He was living life exactly as he pleased.
But fortunately for us all, God did not leave Wilberforce to his own devices. At the age of 26, the Glorious Intruder turned William’s life upside down. William Wilberforce was converted by God, and he began waking early to pray, study the Bible and write in a private journal. Overwhelmed by the futility and waste of his past life, Wilberforce resolved to commit his future life and work to the service of God. As a result, the world is a different place today. Slavery is illegal, so is cruelty to animals and child labour – to name but a few of the fruits of Wilberforce’s life-work.
You might say my resources and talents are meagre compared to those of Wilberforce; how could my life make a difference to anything? It is not the quantity or quality of what you have to invest that counts but whether you invested it or not. The man who earned a return on the two talents he had received from his master got the same complement as the man who had received and invested five: “Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master's happiness!” (Mat. 25:14-30).
What has been given varies from person to person but the purpose is the same. Your life and talents are a divine bequest and God expects you to invest them in the work He has planned for you. And your life’s-work will make an eternal difference. I don’t know about you, but I look forward to hearing my Dad saying, “Well done, good and faithful servant... come and share your master’s happiness!”
Cheers for now - Ian
Given the above, what would your life look like today? What would be possible in the future?
There was once a man who fitted this description, but his life was squandered in gambling and late night drinking. Inheritances and natural abilities are not one’s right nor are they earned or deserved. Yet left to their own devices, humans declare, “It is my life, and I will do with it as I please”. And William Wilberforce was no exception. He was living life exactly as he pleased.
But fortunately for us all, God did not leave Wilberforce to his own devices. At the age of 26, the Glorious Intruder turned William’s life upside down. William Wilberforce was converted by God, and he began waking early to pray, study the Bible and write in a private journal. Overwhelmed by the futility and waste of his past life, Wilberforce resolved to commit his future life and work to the service of God. As a result, the world is a different place today. Slavery is illegal, so is cruelty to animals and child labour – to name but a few of the fruits of Wilberforce’s life-work.
You might say my resources and talents are meagre compared to those of Wilberforce; how could my life make a difference to anything? It is not the quantity or quality of what you have to invest that counts but whether you invested it or not. The man who earned a return on the two talents he had received from his master got the same complement as the man who had received and invested five: “Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master's happiness!” (Mat. 25:14-30).
What has been given varies from person to person but the purpose is the same. Your life and talents are a divine bequest and God expects you to invest them in the work He has planned for you. And your life’s-work will make an eternal difference. I don’t know about you, but I look forward to hearing my Dad saying, “Well done, good and faithful servant... come and share your master’s happiness!”
Cheers for now - Ian
Thursday, January 5, 2012
The ultimate New Year's Resolution
Is there one New Year’s resolution against which every other should be evaluated, one that eclipses all in importance?
The Bible instructs you to consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus your Lord, for whose sake you should lose all things (Phil 3:8). To get to know Christ Jesus your Lord – how does that fit as a New Year’s Resolution? It certainly seems to be important, for we are urged to consider everything else a loss in comparison. But what does getting to know Jesus your Lord mean?
A few verses further along (v10), we read: “I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death”. This reveals two dimensions to knowing Christ Jesus your Lord. The first dimension involves knowing the power of His resurrection. Before you can know Jesus as your Lord, you must first know Him as your Saviour. If you believe that Jesus died to take the punishment for your sin and was raised to life by God, then you will experience the power of His resurrection. Your old sinful person will die with Christ and you will be raised with Christ as a new creation. By faith you will receive a righteousness that is from God rather than a righteousness of your own (v9).
So by faith, you can know Jesus as your saviour, experiencing the power of His resurrection as you are raised to new life as a son or daughter of God. But the second part of verse 10 talks about knowing Jesus as your Lord. And to be honest, we are not very good at knowing Jesus as Lord. Many know Jesus as Saviour, but few strive to know Him as Lord. Let us see why by unpacking the statement: “I want to know Christ... and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death”.
Throughout the Apostle Paul’s letters a parallel is drawn between Paul’s sufferings for the sake of the Gentiles and Christ’s sufferings on behalf of mankind. Paul’s sufferings for others identified Him with Christ who did the same thing. By suffering, Paul was acting like Jesus in His death. This was because every sacrifice that Paul made for the sake of others was like a small death.
Therefore, to know Jesus your Lord, you must be prepared to die to self for the sake of others and obedience to Jesus. Jesus put it this way: "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will save it” (Luke 9:23&24).
Knowing Jesus as your Lord means crucifying your own selfish sinfulness and tendency to self-rule for the sake of others and obedience to Christ. There is ample evidence in Philippians to show that this is what Paul had in mind. Here is a sample: “In humility, value others above yourselves... look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others (Phil 2:3&4)”. Follow the example of Jesus who “became obedient to the point of death - even death on a cross” (Phil 2:8). “I have no one else like [Timothy], who takes a genuine interest in your welfare” (Phil 2:20).
So may you determine to endure many “small deaths” in 2012 as you crucify your evil desires, sacrifice your own comfort, and turn away from self-rule in order to submit to Christ’s rule. And may you consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus your Lord, for whose sake you should lose all things (Phil 3:8).
Cheers for now - Ian
The Bible instructs you to consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus your Lord, for whose sake you should lose all things (Phil 3:8). To get to know Christ Jesus your Lord – how does that fit as a New Year’s Resolution? It certainly seems to be important, for we are urged to consider everything else a loss in comparison. But what does getting to know Jesus your Lord mean?
A few verses further along (v10), we read: “I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death”. This reveals two dimensions to knowing Christ Jesus your Lord. The first dimension involves knowing the power of His resurrection. Before you can know Jesus as your Lord, you must first know Him as your Saviour. If you believe that Jesus died to take the punishment for your sin and was raised to life by God, then you will experience the power of His resurrection. Your old sinful person will die with Christ and you will be raised with Christ as a new creation. By faith you will receive a righteousness that is from God rather than a righteousness of your own (v9).
So by faith, you can know Jesus as your saviour, experiencing the power of His resurrection as you are raised to new life as a son or daughter of God. But the second part of verse 10 talks about knowing Jesus as your Lord. And to be honest, we are not very good at knowing Jesus as Lord. Many know Jesus as Saviour, but few strive to know Him as Lord. Let us see why by unpacking the statement: “I want to know Christ... and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death”.
Throughout the Apostle Paul’s letters a parallel is drawn between Paul’s sufferings for the sake of the Gentiles and Christ’s sufferings on behalf of mankind. Paul’s sufferings for others identified Him with Christ who did the same thing. By suffering, Paul was acting like Jesus in His death. This was because every sacrifice that Paul made for the sake of others was like a small death.
Therefore, to know Jesus your Lord, you must be prepared to die to self for the sake of others and obedience to Jesus. Jesus put it this way: "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will save it” (Luke 9:23&24).
Knowing Jesus as your Lord means crucifying your own selfish sinfulness and tendency to self-rule for the sake of others and obedience to Christ. There is ample evidence in Philippians to show that this is what Paul had in mind. Here is a sample: “In humility, value others above yourselves... look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others (Phil 2:3&4)”. Follow the example of Jesus who “became obedient to the point of death - even death on a cross” (Phil 2:8). “I have no one else like [Timothy], who takes a genuine interest in your welfare” (Phil 2:20).
So may you determine to endure many “small deaths” in 2012 as you crucify your evil desires, sacrifice your own comfort, and turn away from self-rule in order to submit to Christ’s rule. And may you consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus your Lord, for whose sake you should lose all things (Phil 3:8).
Cheers for now - Ian
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