Galatians 4:9-11 1/30/2024*

“But now that you have come to know God, or rather to be known by God, how is it that you turn back again to the weak and worthless elementary principles, to which you want to be enslaved all over again? You meticulously observe days and months and seasons and years. I fear for you, that perhaps I have labored over you in vain.”

After being saved by grace, the Galatians were slipping back into the lie of trying to earn their salvation. Why do I find myself living out this passage?  Have I fallen for the enemy’s sleight of hand?  Do I read my bible and go to church so I can earn my place? Paul says to the Galatians (and me) that if that is the case… We’ve missed the target. 

So, what’s the attraction of giving up freedom - in favor of works?  Why is this such a slippery slope? It’s simple. It boils down to pride:

- Working “SO” I will be saved, is about me… 

- Working  “BECAUSE” I have been saved, is about my Father … 

Works promote me. Grace promotes God. Works produces a burden; grace produces freedom.  Discipline is important, but it has nothing to do with my salvation, and nothing to do with how much my Father loves me. That’s all grace. 

Grace gives me the freedom to become a slave.  That sounds strange -  but grace changes me, from the inside… It makes me love and serve others… I can focus on the lost, because all my needs have been met. I’m free to rescue others from drowning because I have been provided an unsinkable life vest. 

Earning my salvation is a moot argument anyway - because if there were any way I could attain righteousness through works, there would have never been a Cross.  There is no way God allows His Son to die for me if all I must do is work harder. To imply we could earn our salvation diminishes the cross as though it was unnecessary.  

My eternity is determined by my faith, in the grace God has given me through the cross. There is no other way to attain it.  Period… Hard Stop.  There are some negotiable subjects in scripture… but this is not one of them. 

“You contribute nothing to your salvation except the sin that made it necessary.” ― Jonathan Edwards

2 Corinthians 2:7-8 1/23/2024*

“… on the other hand, you should rather forgive and comfort him, otherwise such a person might be overwhelmed by excessive sorrow. Therefore, I urge you to reaffirm your love for him.” 

Last week we talked about love. This morning let’s examine a tough characteristic of love - forgiveness. Buckle up because this is “graduate level” love, and it’ll be challenging. 

The person Paul’s probably discussing forgiving in this passage, had committed incestuous sins, publicly known, and referenced in Paul’s first letter.  So, we’re not talking about minor indiscretions, but vile immorality, no doubt wounding others, and giving the church in Corinth a blackeye.  Paul did not ignore his sin, but instead demanded church discipline, which led to repentance, … So, what now?

What do I do when someone repents, and needs my forgiveness? Apparently, I am to not only forgive, but restore them. I am supposed to comfort the one who made me so uncomfortable, joyfully reaffirming my love for them to prevent them from having excessive sorrow. 

That’s a problem. When I forgive, I tend to strut around, puffed up at my own spiritual maturity. I expect the “forgiven” to be amazed at my graciousness. I’m willing to pardon those who hurt me, but I want them to have a scar… I want them to limp, so they will remember my grace toward them. But Paul wants them to run faster than they did before. He insists on restoration and reinstatement. 

That level of forgiveness seems alien to me. That’s a product of the kind of love described in 1 Corinthians 13 that always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres, and never fails.

Come on Boyd, be realistic. Surely God doesn’t expect me to completely forgive others like He forgave me? (Ephesians 4:32).  Surely, I am not expected to forget the pain this person caused me (Hebrews 8:12)… If I forgive and forget, I could get hurt again… 

Yep, sort of like we hurt Christ with our repeated sin.

Limited forgiveness is not forgiveness. So, choose your path. Hold a grudge… or set yourself, and the offender free, with full blown forgiveness. The kind that values them and comforts them as though they were more important to you, than you are…  

It’s hard, but it’s not complicated.

“Forgive, forget. Bear with the faults of others as you would have them bear with yours.” -  Phillips Brooks

1 CORINTHIANS 13:13 1/16/2024*

“But now faith, hope, and love remain, these three; but the greatest of these is love.”

The “love chapter” ends with Paul circling back and doubling down on the main point. He acknowledges the “big three”, FAITH, HOPE, AND LOVE - but says the greatest of these is LOVE. Understanding this is essential if you desire to be an effective Christian.  

Faith that moves mountains, but has no love, is nothing. Working miracles is inconsequential if the motivation is wrong. If the source is not love – the work is unauthentic.  Likewise, Hope, without love is futile.  That combination produces self-centered egomaniacs convinced they can manipulate things with their mindset. They are dreamers with positive attitudes that have no foundation. 

Love is the game changer.  Love empowers my “faith and hope” and enables me to glorify God. Since I was created for that purpose, that changes everything. Christ has given me FAITH, and that provides HOPE. But the gift that is eternal, the gift that all others are measured by, is  LOVE.  

So, the question today is, do we have it backwards, are we chasing the wrong things?

Are we pursuing positivity and FAITH - with the HOPE that it will make others LOVE us?  Do we add love to our routine to justify our self-promotion, doing what we want and throwing a little love in to make it palatable? 

Love must be more than that. It must overwhelm us. Not the sappy Hallmark depiction of love, but the powerful, compelling love displayed by Christ on the Cross.  Sacrificial and overpowering, it is the strongest motivation on earth. If love does not consume you, then it isn’t love. 

You can act without love, but you cannot love without action. Don’t just agree with the statement, be changed by it. Love demands action, so do something. Call today and forgive that person who hurt you so deeply… give some money to that family struggling with finances… spend time with your friend who is lonely. Abandon your egocentric plans and chase after the heart of God. God gives many gifts, but “The greatest of these is love”. And the only thing of lasting importance you will do today is to love God so much that it motivates you to love His children. 

“Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.”
- God (1 John 4:8)

1 CORINTHIANS 9:24 1/9/2024*

“Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but only one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may win.” 

Paul describes the difference between being a participant and a fan.  We all have things in our lives we’ve invested our heart in… A sport, a hobby, career, politics. Something that easily captures our full attention.

The differences in me watching football and baseball are many.  I am at best a passive observer of baseball, because frankly I don’t know much about the sport. But football is different. I have spent much of my life playing and coaching the game. This “familiarity” produces a passion that draws me into a game at a much deeper level.  A football game can result in me yelling at the television, and stomping around in anger, or jumping in joy... I am passionately motivated because I have deemed the sport valuable and have invested time and energy into it.

That being said, it convicts me that I don’t stand up and yell at the preacher during the Sunday morning services (in my head of course) or leap for joy at a great point in the sermon… Instead, at times I listen to the sermon, sing, and worship as though I was watching a soccer game… It’s nice and all, but I’m not really invested. 

This passage advises me to be so devoted to the gospel that everything else diminishes. It implies that after a 40-minute sermon I should feel like I do after a 4-hour football game… wishing there was one more quarter. I should be so passionate that every day is “training” for me to be a better disciple.

Am I running in the pack, or running to win?  Am I just checking a box with my prayer and Bible studies or am I a committed player, devoted to the mission? 

The difference is night and day, and it is not a minor issue in God’s eyes.  Revelation says it makes God sick for me to nonchalantly participate. The Cross demands passion.  God prefers I be either hot or cold… be a player, not a fan… Run to win, or don’t run at all. 

“If Christ be anything he must be everything. O rest not till love and faith in Jesus be the master passions of your soul!” - Charles Spurgeon

 

Romans 12:1-2 1/2/2024*

"Therefore I urge you, brothers and sisters, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship.  And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.”

“THEREFORE”, is often the most neglected word in this passage. We tend to read all the phenomenal theology in Romans prior to this verse, all the breathtakingly powerful thoughts on the love of God, and then just go about our day as though nothing happened. We ignore what the teachings in this passage are “There For”.  We agree with them , we support them, we even repeat them… but they were written to change us.

Atheist have said “Christianity might be a good thing; someone should try it.” That is an accusatory statement directed at the church.  And yet, I cannot argue that sometimes my morning bible study is followed by a day that appears to ignore what I have read. Theology matters, but altered behavior, is the indicator of a changed life. So, as believers, do our lives look like those of a person who has been transformed by the love of our King? Are we living, holy sacrifices acceptable to God?  

As soon as were born into this world it begins the process of killing us… We owe it nothing. Yet we search for fulfillment pursuing its trinkets.  Instead, we should pursue God’s path of life with a mind renewed, obedient, and following His will.  If we did that, we would be living as we were designed to live. But do you?... Do I?  Do we love others?  Do we bless those who persecute us? We say we believe and that’s good, but even demons believe.  

So, the real question is, does our belief change us? Does it result in us obediently following God?  Are we transformed by the renewing of our minds, proving the will of God is good and acceptable and perfect? 

Those are the marching orders. Talk is cheap, so renew your mind this morning and start living out scripture. Because at the end of the day… that’s what it’s “there for.”

“One act of obedience is better than one hundred sermons.”
- Dietrich Bonhoeffer