Salvation Unrestrained

The simple answer is that the most effective lies are clothed in the elements of truth.  And the greatest truth is the Word of God.

From the beginning the greatest liar has distorted the Word of God to ensnare man.  Look at the approach satan took in Genesis 3:
“Now the serpent was more cunning that any beast of the field which the Lord God had made.  And he said to the woman, “Has God indeed said, ‘You shall not eat of every tree of the garden’?”

So satan distorted what was most powerful (the Word of God) to achieve a selfish goal.  That is what we do when we perpetrate any evil.  We attempt to satisfy a selfish want.

Jesus said that satan is the father of all lies:
“You are of your father the devil, and the desires of your father you want to do.  He was a murderer from the beginning and does not stand in the truth, because there is not truth in him.  When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources, for he is a liar and the father of it” John 8:44

So when we lie we recognize satan as our father, not God.

Now realize that it is not just evil people that are influenced by satan to lie.  In Acts 5:5 Peter said that satan filled the heart of Ananias to lie to the Holy Spirit for financial gain (selfish reasoning).

Why do people use the Bible for evil?  Because that have allowed themselves to be influenced by satan.  And satan knows the greatest way to deceive is to distort God’s word.

In light of the continuing violence and divisiveness in our country, I was pondering; that If (as so many of us say) we are saved through Christ and have the love of God, why does it seem our relationships as a nation continues to deteriorate?   What prevents us from loving with the love of Christ and growing together (as oppose to tearing ourselves apart).  As I was meditating, it occurred to me that we have self-imposed constraints on our salvation.   Let me be clear from the beginning that I am not saying anything can constraint God’s salvation.  But I am suggesting that maybe we have put constraints on the application of the gift of salvation that has been bestowed upon us.  God has done his part, but we fall short.  Maybe we can’t begin to really change ourselves, our families, our communities, and this world until we un-restrain our salvation.

 

Of course the first step in un-restraining something is to define what has it constrained.  What follows is a list (and in no way would I say this is a complete list, it is just what God gave me) of things that generate self-imposed constraints on our salvation and some corresponding Biblical principles that will lead to our salvation being unrestrained.   I will explore these in devotionals over the next few weeks/months/years……(whatever)

 

Constrained by prejudice…….unrestrained by Love

Constrained by church tradition……..unrestrained by true Theological Tradition

Constrained by fear……..unrestrained by Blessed Assurance

Constrained by hurt…….unrestrained by Forgiveness

Constrained by hopelessness…….unrestrained by Purpose

Constrained by my ability……….unrestrained by God’s Sovereignty

Constrained by a focus on me………unrestrained by a Focus on God

Again, I know this is not a complete list and I’ll probably add to it over the next few weeks.  In fact, if you have one you’d like to add (something that holds us back), please free to add to the list.  For today, let’s look at……..

Restrained by prejudice………unrestrained by LOVE

Does anyone besides me find it interesting that the first instances of prejudice in the Bible where perpetrated by the chosen people of God.  How we want salvation and deliverance for all God’s people…..as long as they look, or have the same lineage, or have had the same experiences as us.

Divisiveness in opposition to God’s plan is, unfortunately, not new to us imperfect creations.  Yet we talk of mission work and spreading the Gospels as if it is something “new under the sun”.  Abram was sent out and blessed so that he would be a blessing to others (those others would not have been Israelites as there were not Israelites at that time.  (Abram had a mission to serve others).  We argue who was the first to preach to the gentiles (Paul or Peter) forgetting that during the prophet Jonah’s life (circa 788-746 BCE) with all of his prejudicial baggage, he was called to preach to the gentiles (Jonah had a mission to preach salvation to others).  And when God used Cyrus as the instrument to free the Israelites from Babylonian bondage he did it with instructions that they were to be an impetus for all nations to know the power (and grace) of the only one God. (The people of God have always had a mission to proclaim the only true God to a lost world).  And yet, Sunday morning is still the most segregated time in America.  We use new code words to mask the same prejudices and racial divides that have plagued our nation and our world since the time of the Israelites saying that the only appropriate use for the Gentiles were to fuel the fires of hell.

 

So when we are divided, when we are use to doing what we have always done, when we have been hurt by what has been and are fearful of what may be, when there is hopelessness all around us and we wonder what can we (insignificant creatures that we are) do.  How are we not constrained by the problems of the world, how can we live out the true purpose of our salvation?   I think 3 scriptures are key to us living an unrestrained salvation in the face of prejudice that would constrain us:

• For God so love the world that he gave….. (John 3:16)
• But God demonstrated His own love for us in this: while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us…. (Romans 5:8)
• Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment.  And the second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself.  All the law and the prophet hand on these two commandments. (Matt 22:37-39)

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr, correctly observed:

“Darkness cannot drive out darkness: only light can do that.  Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that”

Now let’s not be confused, the love I am talking about (and believe Dr. King was speaking of also) is not a passive, woe is me, masochistic, do to me as you will weakness.  But a God-like love in all it’s manifestations.  Yes, we have to have genuine love for those who hate and would harm us.  But like Jesus we must love righteousness, we must love justice, we must love the generation of opportunity for those less fortunate than us, we must love the call to service, we must love the call to forgiveness.   We must love our neighbors (and all humanity is our neighbor) with the same passion that we love our own lives.

 

We must follow the example of God himself in our love.

• We must be willing to sacrifice something dear to us (He gave His only Son).
• We must show (an active) love even when it’s not deserved or reciprocate (while we were yet sinners, He demonstrated his love for us).
• We must put the love of God first. If we truly love God, then we will follow his commandments.

If we do this, then we cannot help but; love, be concern for and actively seek to help our neighbors.  Outside of our love for Him, this is what our Savior said was His most important commandment.

 

And in doing this, our salvation will not longer be constrained by prejudice, but Unrestrained by Love.

“Jesus answered and said unto them, Go and shew John again, those things ye do hear and see”….  Matt. 11:4 (KJV)

 

This scripture bears the basis of my foundational belief of what Christian witnessing is.    There are three words that are in bold that I believe are the bedrock, but before they are addressed, I think it is important to look at the situation that precipitated this scripture.

The context of the scripture is that John the Baptist was in prison and about to be executed.   There was not doubt about his earthly fate.  I believe this was a valley experience for John.  I am amazed by how God chose to use one of his strongest warriors to present a human frailty that we all experience.  The question of “are we really walking this path for a reason?”.  John instructed his disciples to go see Jesus and to ask him if He was the savior or if they should “seek another”.   I can imagine that John was thinking, “as I walk this last mile of the way, I want to know my running has not been in vain” (to use the vernacular of our elders).  Here we find the first lessons on Christian witness.  First, witnessing takes place in the valley.  This is because, whether they know it or not, any one who does not know Christ or is struggling with their relationship with Christ is in the valley.  So it is when valley experiences are occurring that witnessing is so vital.  Second, even those strongest in faith sometimes need to be witnessed to.  Yes, a key component of witnessing is showing Christ to those who do not know him/have not accepted him as their savior, but there are also times when those who have been on the journey need the encouragement of a witness.

Now let’s look at Jesus’ instructions to the disciples of John as to how they should witness to him.   Those same instructions are valid for our Christian witness today.

 

GO
To often we wait for someone to cross our paths before we speak of the goodness of God. Yes, our lives should witness each and every day.  But the word GO is very instructional in Christian witness.  We cannot just sit in the pews of our local gathering place and if someone happens to visit we “say a word” about the goodness of God.   Jesus instructed John’s disciples to go back to where John was.  To witness to John where he was.  It is the same for us today.  To truly witness for Christ, we must go to the places where the witnessing is most needed.   We must go to the “valley of the shadow of death” where our brothers and sisters are walking aimlessly; and speak, through actions, of the goodness of God and salvation through Christ.  We cannot just wait for people to come to the gathering place (the church building) we must take the church to them.  Must must seek out those in need and provide, we must seek out those hurt and heal, we must seek out those discouraged and encourage, we must seek out those who hunger and feed, we must seek out those ignorant and educate, we must seek out those enslaved and liberate, we must seek out those transfixed and transform.   But we can’t do it sitting in our homes, our church buildings or the warm cocoons of our comfort, we must GO.

 

SHOW
I am admittedly a skeptic by nature.  You can say anything (a lot of people do) but when you show me something…that’s when I know where your heart is.  Jesus did not say to John’s disciples to go and tell anything, He told them to GO and SHOW.  I believe He was intentional in using those words.   It implies that witnessing has to be action oriented.  It is not enough to tell of the goodness of God.  We have to show it by how His love has affected out attitudes and actions.   In evangelism, I often say “we have to show people we care about them, before they will care what we say”.   We can quote scripture and talk Jesus all we want, but if our actions do not show what a glimmer of God’s love looks like, all that talking is for naught.

 

AGAIN
I, for one, am glad that we have a God of AGAIN.  Maybe I am slow, but I didn’t get it the first time.  God has had to show me grace and mercy time after time after time.  So how can I possibly think that sharing a witness is a one-time event.  Jesus instructed John’s disciples to go, Show, AGAIN.  We cannot get discourage if the seed of our witness does not produce a crop in the first sowing.  We have to cultivate those fields, plant those seeds and water diligently with the knowledge that it might even be future generations that will reap the harvest.   Our witnessing cannot be a “Hit It and Quit it” event.  That phrase is reference of an event where no love is present.  If there is an attitude of love in our witness, we must be diligent and faithful, even when the evidence of God working is not apparent to our eye.  God has blessed us again, and Again, and AGAIN.  Our witnessing must occur again, and Again, and AGAIN.

6 “Yet among the mature we do impart wisdom, although it is not a wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age, who are doomed to pass away.  7 But we impart a secret (mystery) and hidden wisdom of God, which God decreed before the ages for our glorification.  8 None of the rulers of this age understood this; for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.  9 But, as it is written, ‘What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man conceived, what God has prepared for those who love him.”  1 Cor. 2:6-9

The word translated as secret or more appropriately mystery, in the 7th verse of this passage is “musterion”, which means “something that is hidden from those who have not been initiated but crystal clear to those who have”.  I have always wondered, “why does God have to make things a mystery?”  I must admit, I have always been envious of some of the biblical figures.  I mean, give me a ‘burning bush’ with specific instructions, or words on a tablet, miraculously written.  Even if I was in the belly of a sea beast, at least there would be no ambiguity in my mind as to what God was speaking to me.

See, I am the type of persons that if I am reading a book or watching a movie, I pride myself on being able to figure out the mystery before the ending is revealed.  But God’s mysteries do not work that way.  I am a firm believer that some of God’s mysteries will not be reveal until the end of this age.  So there are some things we have to proceed with on faith.  Trusting that God is in control and knows best.  But still….., that burning bush or writings on a stone tablet would be nice.

The quintessential example of operating in faith in this arena of “musterion” is Job.  In my imagination I can hear Job asking the question, “God, what are you doing, I mean….really” (if you study the story of Job you find that God never answers Job’s question directly).  However Job was faithful enough to answer the accusations of his friends this way; “7 Can you find out the deep things of God?  Can you find out the limit of the Almighty.  8 It is higher than heaven…what can you do?  Deeper than Sheol (Hades)…what can you know?  9 Its measure is longer than the earth and broader than the sea.  10 If he passes through, an imprisons, and calls to judgment, who can hinder Him?” Job 11:7-10

A big part of the problem is, I like to listen to myself.  I think I am a reasonably logical and experienced person.  I think I am rational, and for the most part, of good moral character (I have my flaws like everyone else).  So I want to understand the mysteries of God, I want to know the secrets.  I often feel, if I could just understand what God is doing, I could participate more fully (and if we are honest here, what we are actually saying is “God if you’d just let me know where we are going, I could drive this thing myself”).

But, I am enlightened by a quote from St. Anselem of Canterbury.  He said “Do not seek to understand that you might believe, seek to believe that you might understand.”

And that brings us to this passage in Corinthians.  To put this passage in context know, first of all, that Paul is writing to “church folks”.  He is speaking to believers that are going through the tensions, argument, self-centeredness and divisiveness that us church folk are so familiar with.

Paul is saying that there are mysteries in Gods word,  And they are mysteries that the flesh world will never understand.  But among the mature, those growing in faith, God begins to manifest understanding more and more.  But as St. Anselem so aptly put it, understanding does not birth belief, belief births understanding.

So if we want to understand more of what God is doing, if we want to experience more of Him in our life, we have to start with the belief that God is always right.

“I don’t always know what you’re doing God, but I know it’s right”

“I don’t always know where you are taking me God, but I know that it is to the right place”

“I don’t always know why you place me here or there God, but I know that it is to do the right thing”

“I don’t always understand why a love one had to die God, but I know they are right with you”

“I don’t know why I am in the valley God, but I know that you are right beside me”

“I don’t know why my weeping has to tarry for a night God, but I know your righteous joy will come with the morning”

And I know that my eyes have not seen, nor has my ear heard, nor can I even conceive in my heart, the wondrous things you have in store for me.

I don’t always understand it……but I know it is always right.

Be Blessed……and be a Blessing