“Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.” – Philippians 3:12-14
Has your day or your plans ever seemed to start to fall apart before they begin?
What do you do?
Check out this amazing video:
The video above is amazing. Aaron Gwin is a mountain biker in a competition and what you might think would be one of the worst things that could happen to him, he breaks the chain of his bike right out of the gate.
That can happen to us.
Right as we set off towards a great goal, something goes wrong and it seems everything is ruined.
In Philippians 3, Paul is talking about the righteousness and the hope that we have in Christ; how our righteousness comes from faith in Christ, not from our “religious works”. He is looking ahead to the resurrection he will have in Christ because of being made perfectly righteous through faith in Christ.
Yet, he also realizes that he isn’t perfect.
He sins. Indeed the sins of Paul’s past (persecuting the church) are great. However, he presses onward. He forgets what’s in his past, both the sin and even the “great works” he has done, and clings to faith in Christ no matter what, knowing the prize (eternal life) that lays ahead is worth it.
As we live our lives of faith, we will face those times when we falter and even fall.
We start off our day saying,
“God I’m going to live this day for you,”
and it seems just after those words come out of our mouths, something goes wrong. Maybe it’s something that happens to you (car breaks down, receive bad news, etc.) or something you do wrong and all a sudden the chain is off the bike. What do you do? Is the day ruined?
Press Onward The chain may have come off, but like Aaron in the video or Paul in our Bible passage, you press on in faith; not because of what you can do, but because Christ Jesus has made me his own. Keep pressing on. For Aaron Gwin, his victory was unsure. For you, however, Christ has already won and your victory in His is secure!
Heavenly Father,
I want to serve You, but things always seem to go wrong. Whether it’s bad things happening to me or even my own sin, the chain always seems to fall off. Help me to remember that all my peddling isn’t what will win the race in the end, but rather what You have done on the cross. Forgive me for my sins and help me press on trusting not in my own works, but in You.
“But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh.” – Galatians 5:16
Pentecost Sunday is coming up in a few weeks, when we celebrate God sending His Spirit to dwell among us and in us.
It is the Holy Spirit who opens our hearts and minds to hear and understand God’s Word.
It is the Holy Spirit who works in the hearts of people to create faith.
It is the Holy Spirit who then lives in us as redeemed followers of Jesus Christ.
As such, we are no longer slaves to our sinful flesh, rather we are alive in the Spirit.
In Galatians 5 the Scriptures warn us against the works of the flesh and tells us about the fruit of the Spirit. When we think about the sinful desires of our sinful flesh and how God warns us not to indulge in them, it can quickly turn our lives into a massive, unending effort to avoid those sins and produce the fruit of the Spirit. It creates a tiring life that often leads to despair as we continue to give in to our sinful desires.
Works vs Fruit However, it’s telling that the sinful desires are called “works” and the good things of the Spirit are called “fruit”. We don’t produce the fruit, the Spirit does. This changes how we understand these passages from Galatians. No longer are they about our efforts, but rather, the work of God.
Martin Luther wrote about this:
“When someone becomes aware of this battle of the flesh, he should not lose heart on this account; but by the Spirit he should fight back and say: ‘I am a sinner, and I am aware of my sin; for I have not yet put off my flesh, to which sin will cling as long as it lives. But I will obey the Spirit rather than the flesh. That is, by faith and hope I will take hold of Christ. I will fortify myself with His Word, and thus fortified I will refuse to gratify the desires of the flesh.”
In verse 16 the Scriptures put it this way,
“walk by the Spirit and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh.”
It is not by our efforts to avoid sin that we won’t gratify the desires of the flesh, it by turning to God by the power of the Holy Spirit and clinging to the wonderful promise we have in Jesus. Instead of a life of unending effort and despair, this is a life of peace and rest and hope.
Heavenly Father,
May Your Holy Spirit dwell in me richly that I might bear the fruit as one filled with the Spirit. Help me to walk in Your Spirit rather than the desires of my sinful flesh not by my own effort, but the work of Your Spirit living in me.
“For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age, waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works.” – Titus 2:11-14
Jesus came and died for us.
Yeah!
He’s coming again.
Yeah!
So, what do we do in the meantime?
According to Titus 2:11-14, we renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age, waiting for our blessed hope. We could also add the Great Commission to make disciples of all people. These two things aren’t separate, though. It’s impossible to make disciples, baptizing and teaching all that God has commanded while living a godless life. Living a self-controlled, upright, and godly life is part of our witness.
“But it’s so hard, pastor!”
Thankfully, God doesn’t leave it just to us to do. Christ’s appearance and salvation “train[s] us to do it. Moreover, Jesus sends us His Spirit who wills and works this within us.
“for it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose.” – Philippians 2:13
“Yet, I still struggle with sin, pastor!”
Yes, so do I. Paul addresses that in Romans 7.
“So I find it to be a law that when I want to do right, evil lies close at hand. For I delight in the law of God, in my inner being, but I see in my members another law waging war against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members.” – Romans 7:21-23
Paul wants to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and live a self-controlled, upright, and godly life, but he keeps finding himself doing the opposite because his sinful nature still lives within Him.
So, where does that leave us?
It leaves us back where we started, Christ’s appearing and bringing salvation. We try to follow God’s will and commands and pray for Him to work in our lives. When we do, we praise the Lord for what He is doing in our lives. When we fall, we are reminded that our sinful nature is still at work in our bodies and we, once again, fall before the cross in repentance. However, we do not despair. Though it, at times, seems hopeless, it never is because our hope is always in Christ, alone…or as Paul sums up Romans 7…
“Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!“
Heavenly Father,
As I await Jesus’ return, work in my life to will and to do good works for Your purposes. When I fail, lead me back to the cross and remind me that whether I do good works or give in to sin, my hope is always in Jesus Christ, alone.
“When the time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under law, that we might receive the full rights of sons.“
Do you know your rights? How important are they to you?
In America, we consider our rights to be very important. These are rights like freedom of speech, freedom of worship, and freedom to defend oneself. We will claim our rights and fight for our rights.
New Rights In our passage, today, we are told that because of Jesus, we can receive the full rights of sons. This is adoption language. All those who receive faith in Jesus Christ are adopted by the Father and given the full rights as sons.
These are not our natural rights. These are rights of grace. Without Christ and His saving work, we would have no such rights. These are new rights, undeserved and amazing.
What are the rights of sons?
You are a child of God.
You have access to the Father and can come boldly before His throne.
You have received the Spirit of the Son who lives in You.
You will, with Christ, receive the inheritance of Christ, eternal life with God in the new heaven and earth.
Jesus Set Aside His Rights So You Could Have His Rights
These new rights we receive as adopted sons and daughters of God did not come without a cost. Jesus set aside heaven and became man. He didn’t become an earthly king, mighty warrior, or CEO. He was poor and afflicted and He was born under the Law.
He suffered harassment and ridicule. He perfectly fulfilled the Law, yet He was falsely accused and arrested. He was not afforded a fair trial. He set aside His right to defend Himself.Ultimately, He laid down His life, suffering the punishment we, as law-breakers, deserve.
Having taken our punishment, He then gave us His righteousness as though we had perfectly fulfilled the Law.
Jesus did all this so that you could be adopted as a son or daughter of God and receive the rights of sons.
So, now, you can enjoy the rights of sonship along with Christ for all eternity.
Heavenly Father,
Thank You for adopting me as Your child, for giving me Your Spirit, for allowing me to boldly come into Your presence in prayer, and for the inheritance I look forward to.
“Jesus then said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, it was not Moses who gave you the bread from heaven, but my Father gives you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is he who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.” They said to him, “Sir, give us this bread always. Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst.” – John 6:32-35
Have you ever felt like you were starving?
We all need to eat to survive. If you don’t eat, you will not only feel hungry, but you will suffer. You’ll feel weak. Your body will start to consume itself, such as fat stores and eventually muscle. Cognitive abilities begin to diminish. After a while, starvation can affect organ function and, of course, eventually, cause death.
Water is even more important since we have less water reserves than sources of energy in our bodies.
Physical Food and Spiritual Food When Israel was in the wilderness, God provided food called, manna. It, along with quail, sustained the Israelites. Jesus, however, points out that there is a more important food, spiritual food, which only comes from God.
That spiritual food is Jesus, Himself.
Just as food sustains our life, Jesus was given for us to give and sustain our spiritual life. Without Christ, we are spiritually dead. By receiving Christ through faith we are given life. He, then, continues to sustain our spiritual lives through Word and Sacrament.
The more we go without God’s Word and Sacraments the more we starve ourselves.
We become weak. Our spiritual thought processes begin to diminish. We could even become so estranged from God that we walk away from the faith and die, spiritually.
God Offers a Feast God is not stingy with our spiritual food. He offers a feast without end! He gives us His Word. He gives us the church. He even gives us His body and blood in the Lord’s Supper. And guess what? You can eat all the spiritual food you want without getting fat. 😉
So, fix yourself a heaping plate of God’s Word. Eat it every day, even several times a day. Go out to “eat” on Sundays at church and receive His body and blood.
And don’t worry, Jesus already paid the bill.
Dear Jesus,
My soul hungers and thirsts for You. Give me the life-sustaining nourishment I need for my body and my soul. For You alone can satisfy.
Amen.
In Christ’s Service,
Pastor Kurt
PS – As an interesting note…The Gospel of John is the only Gospel that does not record the part of the account of the Last Supper where Jesus institutes the Lord’s Supper. There are many who think that this section of John chapter six, verses 22-59, is referring to the Lord’s Supper which He would soon institute.
“My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have one who speaks to the Father in our defense — Jesus Christ the Righteous One.” – 1 John 2:1
What is the Primary Message of the Bible?
Depending on who you ask that question, you’ll get different answers. Of course, non-Christians will give answers like, ferry tails, myths, rules, etc. However, even in Christian circles you’ll get different answers. Some I’ve heard are:
God loves you
Basic Instructions Before Leaving Earth
God’s rule book
Love everyone
What other answers have you heard?
So, what is the primary message?
Some of the above overlap, but I think the end of the Gospel of John sums it up very well.
“…these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.” – John 20:31
Law and Gospel One of the ways you can break down the Bible is by Law and Gospel. The way Lutherans do this is by defining everything that tells us what God does for us as Gospel. Everything that tells us what we have to do is Law.
Legalism: When these two concepts get confused, the message that we are saved by grace not by our works gets confused and it usually ends up sounding like we are saved by our works. This is called legalism. You are saved by obeying God’s legal code, or…”I write this to you so that you will not sin.” However, that’s not the whole verse.
Antinomianism: That’s a big word. It basically means that since we are saved by grace we can do whatever we want. Sin all you want! It doesn’t matter. You don’t need to pay any attention to God’s Law. However, why, then, does God give us the Law and why would John write something so we wouldn’t sin?
Falling Off the Horse The truth is that neither legalism nor antinomianism is right. As they say,
“You can fall off a horse on either side.”
Our passage, today, rides the horse right in the middle. On the one hand, “Stop sinning!” [That’s Law] On the other hand, “When you do sin (and we both know you will), remember Jesus intercedes for you and saves you by His grace. [That’s Gospel]
The Law will never save us, but we don’t ignore it. We seek to obey God not to earn our salvation, but out of gratitude for the salvation we have already received, because we are now His children, and because we know His Law is good. However, as we learn His Law we also see our sin. So, we trust the Gospel for our salvation. After all, it is by believing that you have life in his name.
Dear Jesus,
Teach me Your ways, change my heart, and transform my mind that I would not sin. When I do, Lord, intercede for me. Lead me to repentance to receive Your forgiveness.
“For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” – 2 Corinthians 5:21
Have you ever been in a place you wished you didn’t have to be, facing something you wished you didn’t have to face?
I have. I remember once when I was a kid I was invited to go to the beach for a few days with a friend. While there we bought a big tub of bubble gum. On the last night, my friend and I thought it would be interesting to see what it would look like if blown up bubble gum were dropped out of our 3rd story window.
First bubble gum, then ice, then who knows. After a several minutes of this there was a bang on the door. It was the police. We quick jumped into bed and pretended to be asleep. That didn’t work. Thankfully, we didn’t get arrested, but I was scared out of my wits. To make it worse, I knew I’d have to go home and tell my parents. I wished someone else could have taken my place.
Standing Before God In Sin The police and my parents were bad enough. The idea of standing before the Almighty, perfect God of the universe to answer for my ALL my sins…well, that’s an unbearable thought!
Thankfully, we do have someone who’s willing to stand in our place and already has, Jesus. He took all our sins upon Himself and stood before the Father. He took the blame and punishment.
As if that weren’t enough, He did something more. He then put His righteousness on us. Imagine not only taking the rap for someone but then letting them receive the reward for something you did? That’s what Jesus has done for us. Through faith, He not only removes your sins but gives you His righteousness.
Standing Before God In Christ The thought of standing before God in our sin is terrifying, but through faith we will not have to do that. Instead, we will stand before the Father not only sinless, but with t the glory of Christ’s righteousness. The thought of standing before God in Christ is unimaginably wonderful!!
Through faith in Jesus, that’s what you will get to do. It’s even how God sees you right now.
Dear Jesus,
Thank You for bearing my sins and making me holy and righteous. Hold me firm in the faith You have given me that I may stand in sinless and righteous before the Father on the last day.
Monday, I wrote about starting the day singing (or speaking) of the love and strength of the Lord. Go ahead and do that for a minute.
“O you who love the Lord, hate evil! He preserves the lives of his saints; he delivers them from the hand of the wicked.” – Psalm 97:10
Name some of the big issues or injustices in the world, today.
Some things that come to my mind are bullying, human trafficking, and the persecution of Christians.
As Christians, we love the Lord. We gather regularly to praise His name. We tell of all His wonderful works. The other half of the equation isn’t always as present in our lives.
Do you hate what is evil?
It’s much easier to ignore it. Fighting against injustice and evil is hard. It takes time. It requires emotional investment. However, we are called to do this as well.
Perhaps it’s because we, ourselves, aren’t directly impacted. We aren’t being harmed and don’t see those who are. The other day I was listening to someone on the radio talk about a group that fights human trafficking. One of the group members had said that when you see a young boy or girl freed and reunited with their family, it changes you forever. You never forget it.
Even if we don’t have that kind of experience, we can still act. We can fight for those who can’t fight for themselves.
What can you, individually, do to combat evil?
What can we, as a church, do?
What can we do together with other churches in the area?
Dear Jesus,
Open my eyes to what is evil in Your sight. Give me holy anger against that which is evil. Break my heart for those who are victimized by these evils. Help me to stand against evil and fight for those who are harmed by it.
Monday, I wrote about starting the day singing (or speaking) of the love and strength of the Lord. Go ahead and do that for a minute.
“Whoever pursues righteousness and kindness will find life, righteousness, and honor.” – Proverbs 21:21
Why would you say it is important for us to follow God’s commands?
If you said it’s because He’s God and we’re not, you’re right, but maybe there’s more.
If you said, it’s because God’s ways are holy and we should be holy, you’re also right, but maybe there’s more.
If you said, it’s because we love God and want to please Him, that’s good, too.
These are all really good reasons to obey God’, but it turns out that following God’s commands is also really good for us in a practical sense, too.
It’s interesting, for example, that while there are many factors that can go into what leads to people living in poverty, many of the primary causes are directly related to whether we make choices in line with God’s Word.
Things like working hard in school (1 Corinthians 10:31, Proverbs 4:13), waiting until marriage to have children (1 Thessalonians 4:3-5), not getting arrested (Romans 13:1-7), and not getting divorced (Matthew 5:31-32) are among the greatest influences.
Thousands of years ago when Proverbs 21:21 was written, they knew this. If you pursue righteousness and love others, you will do well in life.
Crazy, right? If we follow God’s commands, it’s good for us. Who knew?
What are some other ways following God’s commands is good for your life?
Heavenly Father,
Thank You for Your Law. It is good, holy, and good for me. Help me to love Your Law and follow it.