Evangelize or Witness – What is the Difference?
Today, every born-again believer in Jesus Christ should be literate of the distinction between evangelizing and recounting their testimony (better known as witnessing) when speaking to an unbeliever.
The dictionary definition of witnessing is to testify to one’s religious convictions. This takes the form of explaining to someone what the Lord Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit, or the Father has done in one’s life or one’s circumstances. This is witnessing the goodness of the Lord or the deliverance one experienced from the hand of the Lord. It affirms the Lord in one’s life and how that has caused changes in one’s behaviors, attitudes, thoughts, etc. Witnessing acts as an “advertisement”, so to speak, to the one hearing the testimony. It stirs awe, amazement, hope, anticipation, and want in the hearer to seek the Lord for themselves. The hearer would say, “If He can do it for them, He will surely do it for me.”
The dictionary definition of evangelizing is to preach the gospel to. This pertains to telling someone specifically about Jesus Christ. It has nothing to do with you. Evangelizing speaks to mission and purpose, life and death, burial and resurrection, and provision of eternal salvation through Jesus Christ. The gospel message of Jesus Christ is what convicts: soften hearts, bring contrition and repentance into the life of an unbeliever. Through the gospel message, one learns and understands how to secure eternal forgiveness and eternal life.
Remember to ask yourself the next time you are discussing with an unbeliever about their relationship with God, am I witnessing or evangelizing? Both are beneficial and play an important role in the dynamic of a Christian’s life, but they are not synonymous. Remember that through Jesus Christ, one receives salvation; this does not happen through the account of your testimony.
You Need To Be Ashamed of Yourself
I have an admonishment to give to my professing Christian brothers and sisters who are struggling with not forgiving someone who has offended them.
Can you tell me what it is about forgiving someone that causes so much upheaval in your soul?
How come you wrestle and struggle so hard with having to let someone “off the hook” who has offended you?
What is there that is so valuable in getting “your pound of flesh?”
Is punishing someone because they have offended you really so satisfying?
Please, help me understand your pattern of thinking about this issue.
I mean, you tell me you are a professing Christian who has entrusted your life to Jesus Christ. You tell me you understand that when you gave your life to Christ, He forgave all of your sins and redeemed you back to the Father; rescued you from eternal damnation and separation, and gave you the gift of eternal life. You tell me you are “born again.”
Is this true?
If so, then tell me why you struggle with giving to someone that which you received so freely. Was not forgiveness given to you for all of your sins? Yet you say you cannot forgive someone for his or her sin against you?
Why is that?
Why do you think you are more worthy of receiving forgiveness over your brother or sister in Christ? Do you think you are better than they are? Have you not also been guilty of hurting others or doing wrong in the sight of God?
In 1 Corinthians 6:9-11, we are told – “Don’t you know that those who do wrong will have no share in the Kingdom of God? Don’t fool yourselves. Those who indulge in sexual sin, who are idol worshipers, adulterers, male prostitutes, homosexuals, thieves, greedy people, drunkards, abusers, and swindlers — none of these will have a share in the Kingdom of God. There was a time when some of you were just like that, but now your sins have been washed away, and you have been set apart for God. You have been made right with God because of what the Lord Jesus Christ and the Spirit of our God have done for you.”
Did you get that?
At one time in your life, you also were not worthy of the Kingdom of God, remember? Have you become so holy and sanctified until you believe you have the power and authority to dictate to the body of Christ who is and who is not worthy of receiving forgiveness? I hope you are not suffering from some form of dementia where you cannot remember that it is only a result of God’s divine forgiveness that you, yourself, are justified by faith in Jesus Christ.
Let me repeat to you what God has told you in Romans 3:21-26, “But now God has shown us a different way of being right in His sight — not by obeying the law but by the way promised in the Scriptures long ago. We are made right in God’s sight when we trust in Jesus Christ to take away our sins. And we all can be saved in this same way, no matter who we are or what we have done. For all have sinned; all fall short of God’s glorious standard. Yet now God, in His gracious kindness, declares us not guilty. He has done this through Christ Jesus, who has freed us by taking away our sins. For God sent Jesus to take the punishment for our sins and to satisfy God’s anger against us. We are made right with God when we believe that Jesus shed His blood, sacrificing His life for us. God was being entirely fair and just when He did not punish those who sinned in former times. And He is entirely fair and just in this present time when He declares sinners to be right in His sight because they believe in Jesus.”
From that explanation, I ask again, how can you think you have any power or authority to impute righteousness or justification on anyone? Are you God? How can you have the audacity to say to an offender that they are not worthy of forgiveness?
Who has deceived you into thinking you may refuse to give an offender forgiveness? Who told you that was the will of God for you as a believer? I know the Father didn’t say it; I know the Holy Spirit didn’t say it, and I certainly know Jesus didn’t say it.
Therefore, that could only mean it was the devil himself who darkened the counsel of God in your mind. Do not allow yourself to be duped into his lies. Do not get so puffed up with righteous indignation and resentment toward an offender that you fall out of God’s grace.
You know, there was a great English Poet by the name of Alexander Pope who penned the famous phrase: “To err is human, to forgive divine.” He had insight into God’s will concerning forgiveness that you need to assent to. Humans will err — all the time; it is their nature. But the nature of God is to forgive. God’s will is that you love one another and that you leave no debt outstanding between one another except the continuing debt of love, which you can never repay.
As a Christian, a born-again redeemed believer in Jesus Christ, this should be your pulse. Like your physical pulse reflects the rhythmic beating of your physical heart, love should reflect the rhythmic beating of your spirit. If you profess to be a Christian, your walk must be in accordance with God’s will, which exemplifies His divine character. That character is love.
You owe it to your Christian brothers and sisters, seventy times seven, to forgive them when they offend you. God demands it of you. He is so emphatic about the command that He reminds you in Matthew 6:14-15 that “if you forgive those who sin against you, your heavenly Father will forgive you. But if you refuse to forgive others, your Father will not forgive your sins.”
Therefore, stop struggling with granting forgiveness to someone who has offended you. Rise above your carnal desires and honor God in this situation. Let the fruit of your redemption be exemplified in the way you trust God and follow His righteous commands. Stop playing the part of a Christian and start being the Christian. Ask God to give you the grace to walk in His wisdom; ask God to search your heart for anything that is not clean and to purge it from you. Do not be a fool and despise the wisdom and instruction of God. Always remember this: Christians are forgiving people because they are forgiven.
Can You See the Signs?
During this time of the Coronavirus spreading all over the world, people from all walks of life should be taking an opportunity to reflect not only on the fact they need to comply with the protocols of health officials, but also need to reflect on the fact they are affected by the hand of God whenever He chooses to move. The geographical boundaries that separate us over the globe, and the cultural differences that divide us, are of no concern to God. HE is concerned about our being reconciled back to HIM before HE destroys this planet and the heavens that surround it.
We are told in Scripture that no one knows the hour or day when HE is going to do this, not even the angels or the Son of Man know. HE has given us an initial sign, though, of the truth that HE plans on bringing all of this to an end after HE takes those who have reconciled their lives to HIM. That initial sign is the birth, death, and resurrection of HIS SON JESUS CHRIST.
This is the only way humans can be reconciled back to the Father. They must repent, believe in Jesus Christ, and entrust their lives to HIM. According to Scripture, this grace gift is available to ALL HUMANKIND.
The second sign HE gives us is the disruption of the way of life here on earth. HE does this through earthquakes, famines, wars, diseases, plagues, etc. These individual occurrences are part of the collective whole of the signs HE gives us as precursors in the announcement of HIS second coming. A time when HE will rapture HIS CHURCH, the body of believers in Jesus Christ, from the destruction of the earth, so they will not taste death nor the tribulation.
So, I say to you, pay attention to following the protocols of our health officials so that you can stay healthy and free of the virus.
And I say to you, also pay attention to the signs the LORD is giving us, and follow the protocol HE has given to reconcile your life unto HIM, so you can stay eternally free from the destruction that awaits every person who has not reconciled their lives back to HIM.
Take this time of being homebound to talk with GOD about receiving Jesus Christ as your personal Lord and Savior. This is your best health insurance policy ever!
I Want to be Cleansed
Have you ever thought of yourself as being “unclean?”
Most people don’t. Most people see themselves as “good” people. Most people do not understand how God sees them.
If your life has not been reconciled back to God, then you are “unclean” and “impure” in His sight because of your sinful nature.
A nature where your behaviors, personal interactions with others, the language you use, your thoughts and desires, and what you worship and reverence, are not of God. Therefore, you do not understand God’s requirements for righteousness.
The Bible tells a person that to achieve God’s righteousness you must have faith in Jesus Christ, the Son of God.
If you believe in Jesus Christ, and the finished work He accomplished by dying on the cross at Calvary, and you receive Him in your heart as Lord and Savior of your life, then Christ’s righteousness will be imputed into your life, and you will be made right with God and will be able to partake of His divine nature. You will receive the gift of eternal life; you will be forgiven and cleansed of all your sins, and you will be born again as a child of God.
If one does not do this, then they remain in a state of “uncleanness” and “impurity.”
How would you feel if someone called you “unclean” or “impure” every time you were caught in a sin? How would that make you feel? What if the word “disobedient” was replaced with the word “unclean” in our vocabulary as it pertained to violating God’s moral standards? Would that facilitate a desire in you to refrain from continuing in sin? Would it move you to want to be “cleansed” from sin?
I am thankful for the blood of Jesus Christ that “cleanses” me from the guilt and shame of sin. I am thankful that I have accepted Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior.
How about you?
Lord, Can You Help Me, Please?
I wonder how people would feel or respond if the Lord’s answer to them was “no” concerning their request for His help. Would they turn away from Him? Argue with Him? Get mad at Him?
I mean, most born-again believers assume He will meet their every need, right? I mean even Scripture tells them this in Philippians 4:19 (NIV) –
And my God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus.
Then why is it that when they are offended by someone who has truly wounded them deeply, they refuse to ask, hesitate to ask, or simply choose not to ask the Lord to help them get through it and heal?
I’d like to know when a person is offended, what is it that makes them so insensitive to the Word of God to the point where they see the Bible as just a book with a lot of words that bring no relief into their situation?
What is it that makes an offended person PUSH the Lord away and WELCOME the sinful desires of a broken heart? You know what I mean — the desire to pay someone back, to get revenge, to hurt them, to slander their name, or to become malicious and aggressive toward them.
Many counselors will answer this question by saying it’s their “pride” that makes them do this, but I think there’s another reason. I know there is, and so do you, but you choose not to come clean with yourself, so you hide behind a mask.
You know you, better than any counselor would. What do you say is the reason you entertain sinful desires, instead of asking the Lord to help you heal and get through the ordeal? Are you willing to come from behind your mask and say why you have such a hard time relying on your faith when you are offended?
The reality is that forgiveness is hard to give out when you are hurting emotionally. The Lord knows this all too well, that is why the Father has anointed Jesus with the power to heal the brokenhearted (Isa.61:1).
We are told in Psalm 55:22a (NIV) to cast our cares on the Lord and He will sustain us…
So, why don’t you do this?
I believe emotional hurt brings a person to a point of numbness, numbness of the Spirit’s presence in their life. A time when the adversary can activate the desires of their flesh, a time of vulnerability to disobedience.
I believe hurt people ought to ask: Lord, can you help me, please?
I believe hurt people ought to pay close attention and guard themselves against their vulnerabilities to the adversary.
I believe hurt people ought to faithfully rely on the promise of their Father to let Jesus heal their broken hearts.
Do you believe this also?
You see, the work of forgiveness begins in “broken hearts,” and ends in “healed hearts” that stand ready to give forgiveness to the one who offended them.
The Mind Is A Valuable Commodity
The most powerful faculty given to a human being is his capacity to reason. God created humans with the ability to think and generate thought, and placed this faculty inside the anatomical structure called the “brain.”
The “mind” is where all the invisible activity of the “brain” occurs. It is where we make sense of our surroundings, our environments, our relationships, and our existence.
The “mind” is described in the following ways:
- The reasoning faculty, which thinks, judges, understands, and directs in humans, is capable of great complexity because of the development of the human brain.
- The human consciousness originates in the brain and is manifested especially in thought, perception, emotion, will, memory and imagination.
- The mind is the home of our conscience which is the human faculty that enables one to decide between right and wrong acts of behavior, especially regarding one’s conduct.
What is interesting and intriguing is that God wants us to become wise in the knowledge of how the faculty of the mind works. He places much importance on this that he tells us to protect it by putting it under a helmet; to rid it of old sinful tapes through constant and vigilant renewal, and he tells us to upgrade it with a newness of attitude.
Scripture tells us that God is the stronghold of our lives and therefore we should not be afraid of anyone. The word stronghold refers to a fortified place; a strongly defended place; a fortress. It is an encampment in the field of battle; a place of security and refuge. It protects us from outside or unwanted intrusion from an enemy or foe.
This is the vanguard God wants in our lives. From the vantage point of his stronghold, we can defend ourselves from attack. We are especially capable of defending our minds from the attack of the devil. Scripture tells us that we are in a battle, a war, and a struggle against our former slave master the devil. He wishes to destroy us and he uses our minds as his battlefield.
The devil is no stranger to the effectiveness of a stronghold. He had each one of us in his stronghold before we converted to Christianity, and for many of us, some areas of our minds are still not renewed from his influence. We manifest residuals of the devil’s stronghold in undelivered behaviors and patterns of thought that we struggle against and feel plagued by. Because our conversion, or salvation, is a one-time act of God in our lives, we do not have to do anything else in this area. But because our sanctification is an ongoing continuing process, we have much work to do in this area of “cleaning out” our minds from the influence of the devil’s stronghold for us to grow and mature as Christians.
God tells us to be mindful of our thoughts, our mental attitudes, and our emotions. He knows that through the channel of our mind the devil will wage his war and try to render God’s stronghold ineffective in our lives. He is soberly aware of the fact that he must assault the stronghold of God; that these assaults must be continuous. And he knows that the assaults must be aimed at our mind because it is our mind that is the doorway to our heart and our heart undergirds our faith.
The greatest commandment is to love God with all your heart, mind, and soul. God doesn’t tell us to use our brains to love him, he says to use our minds. Remember, this is where we have a conscience, consciousness, and reasoning concerning God’s truths. If our minds are operating under the influence of lies, then our behaviors and patterns of thought will not be reflective of God, they will be reflective of the devil and we will find ourselves living a life of defeat instead of a life of victory.
God provides us with a foolproof process for not only combating but for defeating the devil’s assaults on our minds. Pay attention to what he says:
2 Corinthians 10:3-5 (NIV) – “For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.”
We must demolish, not tolerate, not coexist with, but demolish every thought that is against the knowledge of God. What an exhausting process that could be if God was not our stronghold. It is he who provides us with divine power to demolish any opposing stronghold. This being true, tell me then why so many Christians are defeated in their thought lives. In my tenure as a biblical counselor, I have seen numerous people struggle with various circumstances of life and personal trials all because of incorrect “mind management.” The thoughts that were operating in their minds were not those of God but of the devil with much confusion, anxiety, hopelessness, poor decision-making, and destructive behaviors as a consequence.
For many Christians, the reality of spiritual warfare is foreign to them. I believe this to be true because of a lack of understanding on their part about their salvation. The component of God’s forgiveness is all they know. They are unlearned about authority; therefore they do not comprehend the fact that the devil had authority over their minds and lives before they were converted to Christianity. They are unlearned about the enmity that exists between the flesh and the Spirit; that when they were under the authority of the devil, they weren’t a threat to him because they belonged to him. But now that they are under the authority of the Lord, they are the devil’s enemy and he wants to destroy them.
Here’s a concept to meditate on:
- The devil hates God and all that belongs to him.
- When you were an unbeliever, you belonged to him and were an enemy of God.
- You were under God’s wrath and condemnation and were headed for the same eternal destination as the devil – the second death – the lake of fire.
- The devil didn’t need to try to destroy you because you were already destroyed.
- But when you became a believer you then became the devil’s enemy because you were “saved” from God’s condemnation. You became his child. You were adopted into his family.
- The devil now wants to destroy you because of that fact.
If every Christian could get this truth embedded deep within their heart, mind, and soul then I believe they would be more sensitive to the fact that they are in spiritual warfare with the devil and he assaults them in the only way he has at his disposal; their mind.
Though God is our stronghold, he commands us to fortify our thinking by growing in the knowledge of Christ. We can do this most effectively through knowing the Word of Truth – that’s the Bible. By studying the Bible, not memorizing the Bible, we will be given revelation from God concerning all of his truths. They will be part of our fiber because we will have “eaten his truth.” It will be nourishment to our souls. Only then will we know the truth of God and will be able to demolish every lie of the devil that he throws our way.
I conclude with this exhortation by the Apostle Paul to the church at Philippi…
Philippians 4:8 (NIV) – “Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable – if anything is excellent or praiseworthy – think about such things.”
Follow the Directions
When an inventor creates something, he usually has some kind of blueprint that lays out the product and gives direction on how it is to be put together. He gives insight into how it is to work properly.
Every aspect of the invention is designed by the inventor, therefore, if something is not in proper working order, you must go to the inventor to get a replacement. Using a part that does not meet the original specifications will not work.
The same is true when you purchase a product that has to be manually assembled. You are working with parts that have been designed by a manufacturer, and that have specific instructions on how they are to be put together. There is usually an illustration on the package cover that shows you what the finished product is to look like.
How many times have you ever tried putting something together without following the directions supplied? How many times have you been unsuccessful at doing this? I am sure most of us can identify with this scenario. It is as though we believe we can just take a look at the finished product and “instinctively” know how to correctly put the pieces together. Boy, how do we deceive ourselves when we think this way? Only the one who has designed the product knows how it is to be put together. After all, it was his/her design, not ours.
Surprisingly, this is how many Christians situate themselves with God. They try to put their lives together without following His directions. They believe they know “instinctively” how He has designed their lives to be, how they are to look and operate but fail. Many lead defeated, disappointed lives because they have left something out of their self-construction. Many Christians fail to truly understand that God is the one who drew up their blueprint.
Jeremiah 1:5a (NIV) says: Before I formed you in the womb I knew you.
Psalm 139:13 (NIV) says: For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb.
Many Christians also try to “order their steps” without considering the Word of God. They believe they have control and charge throughout their lives, but are in error of the designer’s sovereignty.
Proverbs 20:24 (NIV) says: A man’s steps are directed by the Lord. How then can anyone understand his way?
For the born-again believer in Jesus Christ, this way of thinking, that I can order my way in life, is analogous to the finished product resembling the picture on the package, but not working at all the way it was intended to work. Pieces are missing or put in the wrong place, and the believer turns out to be always struggling in life, not growing in their faith, having no peace, not being blessed, and not being a blessing to anyone.
God wants you to know how He has “ordered your steps.” He wants you to be knowledgeable about how the pieces of your life are to be arranged to reflect the picture on the package who is Jesus Christ.
God’s instructions are found in His Word. The Bible. His Words are:
Basic Instructions Before Leaving Earth
Well, you might be asking, what exactly does the Bible instruct? It instructs us on how to piece our lives together and grow to look like Christ. It instructs us on how to get connected to God through a spiritual rebirth. How to identify our special endowment gifts. How to learn our purpose in the body of Christ. How to grow in our faith. How to grow in our knowledge of Jesus Christ. How to love our neighbor. How to worship. How to become more Christlike in our behaviors and patterns of thinking. These are but a few examples of what the Bible instructs.
The problem with many Christians is their lack of utilization of this manual in the things concerning their lives. Most are inclined to follow the directions of the “world” than to follow the directions of the Bible. What I mean by that is, they may read the Bible, but not follow the directions for their given circumstance. When that happens, the result is failure to function properly. Something is not in its proper place or something has been left out.
Christians are exhorted to study the Word of God. They are to know how God wants His body of believers to fit together, and how He has made us. Then He expects us to do those things He has instructed us to do, so they become a “rule of conduct” for our lives.
So, if you are not used to reading your Bible for direction in your life, get comfortable doing so. Remember, only God knows how He put you together, so it is He you should be going to to find out how you should be operating. And you do this by understanding the Bible He left for us to refer to, and then to follow its directions.
April Reminds Us of Our Spiritual Deficiency in God
If a person is born without physical sight, he/she doesn’t know their condition to be abnormal. They do not know they are to see things through their eyes. The appreciation of the world around them is through their faculties of feeling, hearing, and smell. What they perceive from these inputs of sensations is what they understand to be the normal way someone appreciates the world around them. Only when someone tells them they are supposed to be able to see with their eyes to appreciate the world around them, do they become aware of this “physical deficiency” they have, and denial and disbelief usually follow the introduction of that truth.
Mankind is like this blind person. Many believe their life is normal. They believe because they are a good person, they are on their way to heaven when they die. They believe everything is fine between themselves and God because this is primarily what they have been told from childhood.
Well, this is not true. Mankind has a “spiritual deficiency.” Mankind is under the condemnation of God and has been sentenced to eternal separation and punishment, because of the sin of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. Many people hearing this truth for the first time go into a state of denial, and do not believe it; much like the blind person.
Though God is just and must carry out the sentence of punishment, He loves what He created and therefore provides a way of rescue for mankind to be saved from this condemnation. The provision is in the person of Jesus Christ, who came to earth to take upon himself God’s condemnation and the sentence of eternal punishment and separation.
This is what Passion Week is all about, from April 14th to April 21st. We should recollect how Jesus suffered mankind’s punishment and died as a substitutionary sacrifice of atonement on the cross, thereby bringing forgiveness and restoration between God and mankind.
God provides through Jesus’ death and resurrection, a gift of eternal salvation for anyone who professes an abiding faith in Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord. Anyone who calls on the name of the Lord is saved or brought out from under God’s condemnation. They are adopted into His eternal family as a son or daughter, all because of what Jesus Christ suffered during Passion Week.
Just like how the blind person would rejoice if he/she received sight, so everyone who has received Jesus to be their personal Savior and Lord should rejoice, because of what Jesus Christ has given to them; restoration and eternal life with God the Father, because of dying on the cross at Calvary and shedding His blood.
Passion Week is our reminder of the punishment that awaits anyone who is not reconciled back to the Father, through faith in Jesus Christ, when the Day of Judgment comes because their name is not written in the Lamb’s Book of Life. A result of receiving Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior.
The death of Jesus Christ on Good Friday, and the resurrection of Jesus Christ on Easter Sunday, are reminders of the gift of mercy and grace for those who come out of denial and believe the truth about mankind’s “spiritual deficiency” in God.
The Challenge of Paradigm
The situation most people of faith find themselves entangled with is the paradigm of a godly lifestyle vs. the paradigm of an ungodly lifestyle. It is the age-old struggle between good and evil, right and wrong, light and darkness, Almighty God and satan.
The challenge to the person of faith is how not to conform to ungodly standards of morality, by watering down or redefining what Almighty God says are His moral standards they ought to follow in living a godly lifestyle.
Know that the motivation of any person is key in their following any paradigm or model, and in the case of a person of faith, the defining drive of their motivation is their relationship with Almighty God because they have received Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior. Therefore, one must know, the motivation of the person of faith is to live a godly lifestyle based on their reverence for God.
When the motivation of the person of faith to live a godly lifestyle begins to focus on participating in ungodly moral standards, then there is conformity to a different paradigm or model. It is conformity to an ungodly paradigm. A paradigm not of God.
People of faith must always ask themselves, what is the ungodly world telling me the components of a wholesome lifestyle are? How does the ungodly world define wholesome? Do the components they speak about line up with God’s components? How much “alikeness” is there between them? How have they defined moral values, integrity, virtue, truth, and righteousness?
People of faith should understand their relationship with Almighty God is to be their primary relationship. No other relationship is to trump that, and therein lies the challenge for so many people of faith, against the backdrop of this ungodly world. How significant and/or important is having your relationship with Almighty God the most important relationship you have in your life? This should be easy for a believer in Jesus Christ to understand, but for many, it is not.
Remember that participating in an ungodly life on this earth will blot out your sensitivity to God. It will rob you of your quiet time with God. It will steal your time put aside to meditate on God and His word. Participating in an ungodly lifestyle will destroy both your quality of time and your quantity of time with the Lord.
So, take heed and pay attention to all the ungodly paradigms that surround you, and do not let yourself get enticed and dragged into them. Ask the Lord to graciously keep you aware of those things that will erode the components of love, goodness, truth, and righteousness that undergird the morality of God.
Teach Me About God’s Grace
“Grace” is traditionally understood by many born-again believers to mean God’s unmerited favor. Ironically, this traditional definition has been so used and abused to where it has lost relevance in the lives of so many born-again believers. Many cannot comprehend how pervasive this attitude of God is in their lives, and many cannot understand how they can be a recipient of it or walk in it. In short, many born-again believers do not appreciate the depth or breadth of this unmerited favor.
Merriam-Webster’s Dictionary defines “grace” in a way that reflects its deepest implication. It defines “grace” as unmerited divine assistance given to humans for their regeneration and sanctification.
Well, the implication here is that both the unbeliever and the believer as human beings are beneficiaries of unmerited divine assistance. This means, it is an assistance that is given to them, not because of anything they did that qualified them to receive it, but it was given to them because of the character of the giver.
Now regeneration is the born-again experience and this pertains to sinful man. You see, sinful man needs divine assistance from God to be saved; to convert from an unbeliever to a believer in God. A sinful man cannot do this on his merit.
Sanctification is the process of growing and maturing in God, that a believer experiences once they have received Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior. It means transformation occurs in every aspect of their life, in a way that allows Christ to live through them, bringing glory to the Father through the multiplicity of good works God calls them to perform. Now the believer cannot do this on his merit, he too needs divine assistance to accomplish it.
So what caused mankind to need divine assistance?
The answer is in the Garden of Eden. It is the place where God put Adam and Eve to dwell and have dominion over all He had created. It is where they had intimate fellowship with Him. All was well. Life was good. Then something happened. Sin entered the picture. The sin of disobedience to the command God gave, not to eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
God told Adam and Eve if they ate the fruit from the tree they would die the moment they did. God was referring to eternal spiritual death; eternal separation from His presence, His kingdom, and His intimacy. This separation brought the curse of physical death, the toil, and the change of their nature from godly to sinful with a loss of dominion and authority over the earth. The result is; man and God are separated. Eternally separated.
Well, it is at this point the concept of assistance comes into play. God did something to bring about a reuniting of man to Himself because man could not bring himself to God due to his sinful nature. You see, sin cannot stand in the presence of God.
Therefore, man can do nothing to change his separation condition because he cannot be in God’s presence due to his sinful nature. Man is doomed to eternal separation from God.
ENTER GRACE:
John 3: 16-17 (NIV): 16For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life. 17For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through Him.
This is God’s divine assistance for man’s regeneration. God, through His Son Jesus Christ, provides rescue from eternal separation.
Scripture tells us no one can come to Jesus unless the Father draws him, and those who do come will be raised in the last days. Many people are under the assumption they have the power to approach God for their salvation. Well, this is not true. God calls you to Himself because of His lovingkindness toward you. You must make a decision when this call comes, either to accept or reject the invitation.
Jesus tells us that He stands at the door and knocks. If anyone hears His voice and opens the door, He will come in and eat with them and they with Him. You see, God is reaching out to mankind and asking you to accept His provision of regeneration. This is the dimension of “grace” that is of the greatest importance to God. His assistance in reuniting, reconciling, and forgiving fallen mankind for the sin of Adam.
Then there is the other dimension of “grace” that provides us with the assistance to live the Christian life while in our physical body. God helps us to do this in the person of the Holy Spirit. He is our paraclete; someone who walks with us until we are taken home with Christ.
Scripture tells us the work of the Holy Spirit is to teach us all things and remind us of what Jesus has taught us. The Holy Spirit will guide us into all truth and will tell us what is yet to come, and will take from the Father what is Christ’s and make it known to us.
This awesome disposition of God, this “grace,” is rooted in an attitude of God, to want to extend a favor to mankind because of His love for mankind. It is unmerited because man is not worthy of such a favor. Because of what Adam and Eve did in the Garden of Eden, mankind deserves to be punished. It is only through the mercy extended toward us from God that we are recipients of this unmerited favor or divine assistance.
God sees to it that not only does the assistance reunite, forgive, and reconcile us back to Himself, but it also covers us until the Day of Redemption when we will be taken out of our physical body and placed in a heavenly body that carries no corruption with it for eternity.
So as a born-again believer in Jesus Christ, walk continuously in the knowledge of the “grace” of the Father, and be ever mindful that His “grace” is sufficient for you until you are taken home to eternity. Always be encouraged that God is faithful when He tells you He will never leave you nor forsake you.
I Need Rescue, I Cannot Escape
Many people cannot spiritually understand or comprehend what happens to them when they ask Jesus Christ to come into their hearts and become the Lord and Savior of their life. They cannot fully understand what changed in their lives. Many are looking for an outward change that shows something is different.
Scripture tells us a spiritual relocation takes place in the lives of all who accept Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior.
We are told in Colossians 1:13:
“For He has rescued us from the one who rules in the kingdom of darkness, and He has brought us into the Kingdom of His dear Son.”
Many people do not know this truth. They believe they come into the Kingdom of God by good works. They do not know they have been “rescued” from their former lives in the kingdom of Satan and have been relocated to a new spiritual home in the Kingdom of Jesus Christ.
You must understand, there are only a few life-threatening situations you can “escape” from; the rest require some form of “rescue.” Why?
Because in some situations you do not possess the power to overcome those forces that are life-threatening on your own effort.
It is like a person trapped in a burning room who is unable to overcome the power and effects of the flames, heat, and smoke, that are consuming every breath of oxygen. Unable to safely make it to an exit, this person dies of suffocation and burns.
In effect, this person was not able to “escape” from the burning room on their own effort or merit. They needed some form of external help such as a firefighter, or Good Samaritan, to come to their assistance. They needed someone who had the power to overcome the effects of the burning room.
If that had happened, we would say that person was “rescued” from the burning room by such and such; we would not say they “escaped.”
The person who is trapped in the burning room has a final destiny that awaits them if they are not removed – the loss of their life – and they can do nothing on their own to stop it. Make no mistake about it, they are going to die from suffocation and burning. Their self-efforts are of no avail because they cannot overcome their physical condition.
This is the situation with mankind and God. Man cannot “escape” the sentence of eternal death God has pronounced on them as a result of the sin of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden.
It is a fact; man is destined to be thrown into the Lake of Fire, to be eternally separated from God, and eternally tormented.
The devil wants you to think you can “escape” from this sentence of death and separation. He makes you think you are not in any danger with God. He makes you think all you have to do is be good throughout your life and you will be able to “escape” this sentence. That goodness alone will give you eternal fellowship with God.
God tells us something different. He tells us we cannot “escape” His sentence of eternal damnation and wrath on our own merits or efforts.
He tells us the only way to have eternal fellowship and union with Him is through faith in Jesus Christ.
He tells us when we believe in His Son for what He did for us by taking our punishment and dying on the cross, shedding His blood to provide the forgiveness of our sins, and entrusting our entire lives over to His care – only then will we be “rescued” by Jesus Christ from the sentence of eternal judgment and condemnation.
Escape Is A Deception Of Satan
Don’t let Satan continue to deceive you with his lie that you can “escape” the eternal judgment of God by your good works. It is only by believing and having faith in Jesus Christ that you can be “rescued” from God’s eternal judgment and condemnation.
The Mirror Of Rebuke
The blog message for today deals with something that all Christians find themselves struggling with at some point in their lives – confronting another person because of their actions toward you.
Usually, when people are confronted with something they have done, they become indignant. They may say things like “Who do you think you are?” or “Why are you coming up in my face with that?”
Well, listen to a response you could give back to them.
“I’m in your face because I love you as a brother or sister in Christ, and I want you to know the conduct you are demonstrating is not becoming of you. You say you are a child of God, well, therefore, you should know better.”
“Stop using those curse words when you speak to me. Stop getting drunk every time you want to have some fun. Stop trying to go to bed with every woman or man who comes your way. Stop using people to get what you want. Stop telling lies to cover up your mistakes. Stop cheating on your wife or husband, stop abusing your kids and start being who you say you are — a born-again believer in Jesus Christ.”
Well, this type of confrontation is rare between people of faith. We have come to a point where we think this kind of interaction is not Christian.
But let me remind you that confrontation is necessary for the life of a Christian. Without confrontation, spiritual growth and maturation will not happen in one’s life.
Confrontation defined is the state of being confronted. As a face-to-face meeting; the clashing of forces or ideas or comparisons.
It is not defined as a negative or positive process. It is just a process where ideas may clash, comparisons may clash, or opposing forces may clash. It’s just a face-to-face meeting.
People have come to understand confrontation only from the outcome they take away from that face-to-face meeting. Since many Christians do not like having someone tell them of their shortcomings or their faults or their idiosyncrasies, it’s difficult for them to see the process of confrontation as anything else but negative or not Christian. Their reactions are usually defensive and counteracting. Very rarely do they come away with edification or a new insight into themselves.
As born-again believers in Jesus Christ, you are mandated in Scripture to confront your brother or sister to facilitate spiritual growth and maturation when they’ve offended you. So, be thankful you find me up in your face. I love you with the love of Christ and want you to grow to maturity.
In the Scriptures, the word “rebuke” is the biblical word used instead of “confront.”
When someone offends you, according to Matthew 18:15, it is your responsibility to have a face-to-face meeting with them. A “rebuke” in other words.
Listen to the scriptural reasoning for the necessity of this rebuke:
15If your brother sins against you, go and show him his fault just between the two of you. If he listens to you, you have won your brother over. Matthew 18:15 (NIV)
You see, even though you have been offended by them, you are still responsible to go to them and show them their fault. Something very difficult for many Christians to do.
But you go to them because you love them as a believer in Christ. You go to them because you have faith in Christ they will be convicted of their fault and confess their transgression. And you go to them because it’s your duty in Christ.
We are told in Proverbs 28:23 (NIV) that:
23He who rebukes a man will, in the end, gain more favor than he who has a flattering tongue.
Also in Proverbs 27:5 (NIV), we are told:
5Better is open rebuke than hidden love.
Therefore, you do not rebuke them with your desire to avenge yourself, or your desire to get payback. You rebuke them to win them over, to help them grow, to help restore the breach that they’ve made with you, and to show them the mercy of God.
Now there’s one last thing I want to add. If you ever truly want to understand what it means to crucify your flesh, being offended is a good place to start.
Following an offense, your flesh will rise and take over every emotion you have to justify itself or avenge itself. Your flesh will present very convincing arguments to win you over to resentment, bitterness, anger, rage, etc. if you do not crucify it.
Since it is the proclivity of man to sin against his brother, it is then from the crucible of offense that you learn to be truly merciful to your offender. You learn what it truly means to rely on your faith in Christ to crucify your flesh and heal you from your hurt.
Wisdom Nugget – It is in the crucible of offense where you learn what the true meaning of forgiveness is.
As it is in the natural – so it is in the spiritual
“As it is in the natural, so it is in the spiritual.” I am sure you have heard this expression before if you are a born-again believer in Jesus Christ. Somewhere during your Christian walk, someone has tried to help you gain an understanding of a natural circumstance you were involved in, by relating it to a spiritual truth or perspective. Though you were able to follow their comparative analogy with your intellect, you may have had difficulty appreciating its truth with your spirit. One reason for this difficulty could be you are not familiar with the spiritual realm in which you exist; a condition I like to call spiritual illiteracy.
Consider this: The past is what shapes us. The way we handled experiences in our past will dictate how we will perform in the present. Another way of saying this is: The past is experiential; the present is predictable because of our past, and the future is experientially unknown.
Therefore, salvation (being born again), is a present experience that presents problems to our comprehension because there are no past experiences in our memory banks that support its reality.
The same is true of our natural birthing process. Once we come out of the birth canal we are in what you could call a “present” experience, with no memory to support this new physical reality. There isn’t one of us who has the memory of a womb experience. We leave behind one realm of existence and enter into a new realm of existence.
And therein lies the parallel of the natural to the spiritual. The point is, you cannot live in the physical world using the dynamics you lived by in the womb; neither can you live in the spiritual world using the dynamics you lived by in the physical world.
Experiences in “new realms” bring “new experiences” as the order of the day, with no past experiences to fall back onto. The womb world has passed away, behold all things are new in the natural realm at the moment of birth, and the natural world has passed away, behold all things are new in the spiritual realm at the moment of conversion.
This parallel continues with the development of behaviors. Parental and societal influences in a person’s life are the essential ingredients to the success of this process.
In the natural realm, a person’s behavioral habits are formed as a result of the interactions they experience with family and the society that surround them. This is a development that begins at birth and continues throughout their formative years. Likewise, the person who has been born again forms spiritual behavioral habits through the interactions they have with other born-again believers.
Our natures undergird our proclivities. Our proclivities give rise to our habits, and our habits dictate our behaviors.
Here is an acronym: H.A.B.I.T. = How All Behavior Is Taught
Therefore, we can say carnal behaviors and Christlike behaviors are taught.
Born-again believers have a spiritual nature and a spiritual existence. Their essence is spiritual, that’s who they are. They are not carnal.
Here is a critical observation many to most believers are not able to identify with, make a connection with, acknowledge, or take confidence in their spiritual nature because they have no memory recall of that nature to fall back onto. Their memory recall is only from their carnal existence and therefore, they suffer conflict. There are not enough accumulated spiritual experiences in their present life to draw upon.
Behavioral growth in the natural is dependent upon the influence of parents and the social environment that surrounds the baby. The same is true with spiritual behavioral growth. The spiritual parent of the believer is the Godhead (the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost). The societal environment that surrounds the believer is the body of Christ (the church).
The born-again believer comes into the spiritual kingdom of God as the baby comes into the natural world; innocent, immature, and undeveloped. Both must go through a growth development that will mold their behaviors and attitudes.
As a child can be disobedient to the natural parent, so can the believer be disobedient to the Godhead. As punishment follows disobedience in the natural, so does punishment follow in the spiritual. As direction and guidance are given by the natural parent, so are direction and guidance given by the spiritual parent through the Word of God.
In my tenure as a biblical counselor, I have concluded one of the major hindrances undergirding Christian people who are struggling with issues of life, is their ignorance of who they are spiritually. They have not developed strong habits of spiritual behaviors. I have found many “born again,” “saved,” and “redeemed” persons, do not understand they exist in a spiritual realm once they give their life to Jesus Christ. This truth is foreign to their understanding. Many believe the only thing that happens to them when they give their life to Jesus Christ is that their “sins” have been forgiven, and they have received the gift of eternal life. Though this is true, they have no understanding of the “rebirth” they experienced.
Though many will tell me their lives have changed drastically, I have concluded they are referencing only the tangible things in their physical lives. They are blinded by all the tangible elements of the physical world. They are indoctrinated by all the philosophies of the physical world. They are motivated by all the aspirations of the physical world, and they set life goals according to the paradigms of the physical world. They have not learned their spiritual realm of existence is a reality of their “present” state of existence, so their behaviors and attitudes remain immature and undeveloped.
As it is in the natural, so it is in the spiritual, is an expression of the truth that needs to be a reminder to us of the aspect of the world we live in, but are not a part of. A reminder that we are to concentrate our efforts on understanding the spiritual realm of existence we are a part of, and not the carnal realm we came from.
And to always understand the combined integrated influences we experience from our spiritual parents and the surrounding spiritual social environment we live in, are what is needed for us to come to the fullness of behavioral growth and maturation in the Lord.
As it is in the natural – so it is in the spiritual.