Quick Note – Galatians 5:13 – Unfair Salvation

Galatians 5:13 – For you were called to freedom, brothers.  Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve on another.

I was having a discussion yesterday about salvation and how it seems unfair.  A person who sins all his or her life can technically die and not go to hell, as long as, they place their faith and trust in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior.  They can theoretically receive Christ into their hearts, believe Him to be the source of salvation when He died for our sins on the cross, an continue living in sin with no eternal consequence.  When I think about it, it is unfair. 

However, nothing about salvation is fair.  Jesus Christ dying on the cross for our sins although He did nothing wrong is unfair.  We as sinners deserving of death being given new life and salvation is unfair.  God showing His love to us who take Him for granted is unfair.  All of it is unfair.  Salvation is a gift.  It is God showing His kindness, grace, and mercy to us.  It is Him being unfair to Himself, so that we might live a new life with Him. 

But then what keeps us from continuing to sin?  Why shouldn’t we just abuse the grace of God and just live for our flesh?  Why shouldn’t we just keep sinning?  The answer to this question is found in understanding what Christ saved us from.  Yes, Jesus saved us from hell. Yes, Jesus saved us from the death that comes with sin.  Yes, Jesus saved us from eternal damnation.  But Jesus also saved us from sin itself.  When you choose to give your life to Jesus Christ, you aren’t asking Him to simply save you from the penalty of sin, but the power and presence of sin from your life as well.  You are asking Him to change you from a sinner into a saint.  You are asking Him to do a replacement of your old self and to place a new life into you.  That is what it means to receive Christ into your heart.  That is what it means to make Him your Lord and Savior.  That is why a Christian should not continue sinning. 

But can Christians still sin?  Of course.  We still live on this earth; we are still tempted every day; we still are burdened with our fleshly desires.  But we have God’s Spirit living in us, enabling us to follow and obey Him.  Galatians 5:13 tells us that Christ has called us to freedom.  When He saved us, He set us free from seeking salvation by following the law.  We no longer needed to be perfect or to do good to be saved, it was simply by accepting His gift of salvation for us.  We are free.  However, He also set us free from sin.  That means that we should no longer live for our flesh but should use our freedom to love and serve one another.  Paul goes so far as to state that if a person continues living in the flesh, continues doing what is sinful (i.e. sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, division, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these), he would not inherit the kingdom of God (Galatians 5:19-21). 

You may then ask, “Then isn’t salvation dependent on what you do then?  If sinning means you cannot inherit the kingdom of God, then how is salvation free?”  It is because of what Jesus Christ did on the cross.  Christianity is different from other religions in that, other religions require you to first do good works to obtain salvation, but in Christianity, you do good works because of your salvation.  Other religions require you to do it before you get saved, while Christianity saves first (with no regard for how bad you were before) then asks you to live that salvation out through your good works.  What you do doesn’t save you, what you do proves you have been saved.

I like to think of it like a tree.  All of us as human beings, as sinners, are rotten inside and have junk inside our tree.  If we are rotten inside, the only thing we will produce is bad fruit (sin).  That is not to say some good fruit (works) won’t show up because it can, but the inside is rotten, and the majority of fruit produced is bad.  Other religions tell us that you need to produce good fruit, which will change the inside, and lead to less rottenness.  But that is impossible to do, when the inside is rotten.  Good fruit can’t be produced if there are no healthy nutrients inside. 

But in Christianity, Christ comes and saves you by replacing the inside rot with good, healthy nutrients.  He doesn’t do the transplant because you did something deserving it, but simply, because He loves you and you asked for it (that is a representation of salvation).  Once the inside is changed, the tree cannot help but bear good fruit (good works).  The fruits didn’t transform the inside of the tree; Jesus transformed the inside, which then led to good fruit showing up outside.  The tree can still bear a few bad fruits at times, but overall, it produces good, because good is inside.  That is exactly how it is when a person is saved.  You aren’t saved because you bear good fruit.  You bear good fruit because you are saved. 

Paul makes clear that if bad fruit and desires of the flesh continue in your life even after you claim to be a Christian, then you will not inherit the kingdom of God.  He makes this statement,  because he knows that if you bear bad fruit, you prove that inside you are still rotten, and if rotten, then you could not have been saved by the grace of God.  A Christian is good inside and cannot help but produce good fruit. 

Let us be grateful to our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ for being unfair.  He provided salvation to us at no cost.  He gave us new life at no price.  He saved us from death and sin at His own loss.  He loved and gave Himself for us while we were yet sinners and enemies of His.  Is salvation unfair?  Yes.  Very much so.  But that is why we should be thankful and live no longer for our flesh but for Him who died and gave Himself for us.   

Quick Note – Psalm 30:6-7 – God’s Favor

Psalm 30:6-7 – As for me, I said in my prosperity, “I shall never be moved.”  By your favor, O LORD, you made my mountain stand strong; you hid your face; I was dismayed.

As I look back on the years when I was growing up, I can certainly say that God’s favor was on me.  He blessed me with a wonderful, loving family.  He put me in a well-to-do situation, where I could travel at least once a year on cruises to different parts of the world.  He gave me good memory and critical thinking skills, so that I became the top student in my school.  He gave me many friends who would encourage me.  He gave me a Christian home to learn and to accept the Gospel early.  He opened up doors of opportunity to expand my career constantly.  He blessed me in every way.  From when I was a child up until about ten years ago, He did not take His hand of favor away from me. 

However, in recent years, it has felt different.  Although I haven’t suffered from any health problems, although I am not less fortunate, and although I am not in dire straits, it still feels as if His hand of blessing has been removed.  It has felt like I have struggled more than I used to.  Which has caused me to ask, “Why?”  When I think about one of the reasons why, I think it might have been because of my pride.  Like David, in Psalm 30, I said in my prosperity, “I shall never be moved.”  When things were going well, when life was great, I became prideful and thought that I would never fall.  I forgot about the LORD and how all good things came from Him.  I began to think that it was my skills, my effort, and my hard work that brought about the good, and I forgot that it was actually because God had blessed me. 

It was only after God took away His favor from David, that he realized that he was nothing without God.  Without God’s face shining on Him, without God’s hand of protection, without God’s blessing, David was nothing.  In his pride, David asked Joab to take a census of the people of Israel.  He wanted to know how many people were under his rule.  He wanted to stroke his ego.  But God disappointed with David punished him and the people by sending a plague that would kill 70,000 citizens (1 Chronicles 21).  It was only after this event occurred, that David realized that he was wrong to take pride in himself and remembered that it was God who had blessed him.  When God hid His face from David, David was dismayed, downtrodden, depressed, and brought down.  But when God’s favor shone on Him, then He was blessed and could stand strong.   

When we are blessed, when life is going well, when things are going our way, let us remember that it is not because of what we did, but because of God’s love, grace, and favor toward us.  Let us never forget that it is God who blesses us.  Let us not exalt ourselves, but bring thanksgiving and praise to the One who gives all to us. 

Quick Note – Psalm 42:2 – Appearance before God

Psalm 42:1-2 – As a deer pants for flowing streams, so pants my soul for you, O God. ² My soul thirsts for God, for the living God.
When shall I come and appear before God?

Have you ever been scared to appear before your boss? Scared to let him know what you have been doing? I know I have been. I’ve been afraid that he might scold me for the uncontrolled experiments that I’ve run or the unplanned next moves. I am afraid because I have usually done something wrong or not reached a goal and don’t want to be scolded.

If I am afraid of my boss, how much more God? Sometimes we are afraid to appear before God’s presence because we have sinned. We are afraid of the shame and disappointment we are bringing before Him. Sometimes we are afraid because we haven’t done our job and feel like we have nothing to bring before His presence. Sometimes we are just scared because He is so big, and we are so small.

But take a look at our passage today. David said, “When shall I come and appear before God?” David longed to be in God’s presence. He craved it as a deer pants for water. He longed to appear before God. He was not waiting for God to call him to show up. He wanted to appear before Him. Like an employee that has good news for his boss wants to bring it to him right away, David wanted to be before God.

We don’t need to be afraid to be in His presence. Our God loves and cares for us, and we should never feel like He doesn’t want to see us. However, we should be living in a way that brings Him honor and glory. If we live and act in that manner we need not be ashamed to come before Him but can come with joy and gladness. Are you ready to appear before your King?

Quick Note – Psalm 12 – The Trustworthy Words of God

Psalm 12 – Save, O Lord, for the godly one is gone; for the faithful have vanished from among the children of man.  2 Everyone utters lies to his neighbor; with flattering lips and a double heart they speak.  3 May the Lord cut off all flattering lips, the tongue that makes great boasts, 4 those who say, “With our tongue we will prevail, our lips are with us; who is master over us?” 5 “Because the poor are plundered, because the needy groan, I will now arise,” says the Lord; “I will place him in the safety for which he longs.” 6 The words of the Lord are pure words, like silver refined in a furnace on the ground, purified seven times. 7 You, O Lord, will keep them; you will guard us from this generation forever. 8 On every side the wicked prowl, as vileness is exalted among the children of man.

It is believed that David wrote this psalm after Absalom his son attempted a coup for the throne.  Absalom rallied a bunch of people, including one of David’s close advisors Ahitophel, to take over and make him king in place of his father.  Because of the momentum of the rebellion, David, his family, and those who followed him had to flee from the palace in Jerusalem and cross the Jordan River.  It is likely in this situation that David wrote this psalm.  So it is very likely that when he mentions “flattering lips,” “a double heart,” and the “tongue that makes great boasts,” he is likely referring to Ahitophel or other members of his kingdom that betrayed him. 

What is interesting about this passage though is how David contrasts the deception of these people with the pure and trustworthy words of the LORD.  Unlike these deceivers that used their lips to take advantage and betray, “the words of the Lord are pure words, like silver refined in a furnace on the ground, purified seven times.”  David could trust God’s words of safety, deliverance, and protection. 

Unlike with words of the world, we can trust the Word of the LORD.  The promises that He gives us in the Bible can be relied upon.  Whether He tells us that He will never leave us or forsake us (Hebrews 13:5), whether He tells us that whoever calls upon His name shall be saved (Romans 10:13), whether He tells us that all things work together for good for those who love Him (Romans 8:28), we can trust God to keep His Word.  His words are pure, trustworthy, and good.  There are no lies in His mouth.  There is no deceit.  There is no trickery.  God is reliable and faithful, and we can trust in Him.