By Dan Franklin, Pastor of Teaching
I once heard someone comment that the Trinity of evangelical Christianity is the Father, the Son, and the Holy Scripture. Their point was that, while we may have correct beliefs concerning a number of things from God’s Word, we tend to forget about a very
important person: The Holy Spirit. If we’re honest, many of us would admit that He scares us a little. He seems unpredictable, and people who emphasize the Holy Spirit sometimes have practices that seem strange to us. It seems easier just to acknowledge the existence of the Holy Spirit, but to leave it at that.
As we have walked through Galatians, however, ignoring the Holy Spirit has seemed like less and less of an option.
Paul says that it is the Holy Spirit who leads us to freedom and victory when it comes to our battle against our destructive impulses. We are told to “walk by the Spirit” (5:16), to be “led by the Spirit” (5:18), to “live by the Spirit” (5:24), to “keep in step with the Spirit” (5:25), and to “sow to please the Spirit” (6:8). When Paul gets
practical about freedom, the Holy Spirit takes center stage.
According to Paul, if we walk by the Spirit then we will stop gratifying our destructive and deceitful impulses. Most of us want to take Paul up on this offer, but the command to walk by the Spirit seems vague and unattainable. In order to help with this, I want to talk briefly about three practical ways that we can walk by the Spirit.
The Sword of the Spirit. In Ephesians 6:17 the Apostle Paul calls the Word of God the “sword of the Spirit.” The Holy Spirit is seen as the voice behind all of Scripture and all prophecies
(2 Peter 1:20-21). There is a strong connection between the Spirit of God and the Word of God. If we want to hear the voice of the Spirit, we should pay close attention to what the Spirit has said through Scripture.
Reading the Bible is a vital part of the life of believers. When you read, don’t do so simply to say that you did. Read to listen to the voice of God. Scripture
exposes us to God and the world as God has presented it. It brings us teaching, reproof, correction, and instruction. Read, learn, listen, reflect. If you want to hear the voice of the Spirit, dive into God’s Word.
Pray in the Spirit. In Ephesians 6:18 Paul says, “And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests.” If we want to sow to the Spirit, we must pray. We must be engaged. We must bring our hearts to Him and allow Him to lead us. We must confess our sins and weaknesses, and plead with Him to bring us power and victory. We must ask Him to
remind us of Jesus’ words and help
us to understand them.
When we approach the Spirit, it is for the purpose of being empowered and led. In order to be led, we must humble ourselves. There is no activity that is more humbling than prayer. It is our conscious admission of absolute dependence. We open ourselves up to the leading of the Spirit when we yield to Him and pray.
Be Faithful with the Little. Jesus said in Luke 16:10, “Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much, and whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with much.” When we think of the Spirit empowering us, we often mistakenly think of the big things in life. We think of the Spirit leading us to the mission field or empowering us to perform a miracle or emboldening us to evangelize an entire campus. It is wonderful if we want to see the Spirit work through us in such big ways.
But walking by the Spirit is not simply made up of following His lead in the big decisions. It is made up of following His lead in the “little” decisions of life. If we are faithful to follow the lead of the Holy Spirit in the little decisions of life, we will be faithful to follow His lead in the big decisions of life. We must follow the lead of the Spirit when we sense Him calling us to pause and
pray with someone, when He calls us to turn off the television and pick up our Bible, when He calls us to say a kind and encouraging word (or a bold word of reproof) to someone, or when He calls us to give some of our money to someone in need. If we listen in the “little” decisions of life, we are likely to be more attuned to the voice and leading of the Spirit, and we will be entrusted with greater tasks in the
work of God.
The Holy Spirit is an amazing gift from God. He is God’s very presence living within us. He endows us with power and boldness in order that we can be free to follow Christ in new and powerful ways. The Spirit is leading believers forward. Let’s keep in step with Him and follow His lead.
Check out the video from our Deeper event on August 4, 2013 that talked more in-depth about the Holy Spirit. You can download the notes and bonus Spiritual Gifts resource here as well.
Showing posts with label Deeper. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Deeper. Show all posts
Thursday, August 29, 2013
Thursday, June 6, 2013
Two Testaments: Two Gods?
By Dan Franklin, Pastor of Teaching
One of the most common questions from both Christians and non-Christians concerns the connection between how God is presented in the Old Testament and the New Testament. We associate the Old Testament with God’s wrath and judgment: the earth swallows people up, armies wipe each other out, and God’s fire consumes sinners. We associate the New Testament with God’s grace and kindness: Jesus dies for sinners, the thief on the cross is forgiven, and all who come to Jesus are promised eternal life. We may find ourselves asking, “Is this really the same story?”
On May 5 we held a Deeper event in order to explore this question. I encourage you to listen to the whole session in order to gain perspective on this question.* Here, however, I just wanted to answer it in short order. Below are two key reasons why we should not conclude that the Old and New Testaments present a different picture of God.
God consistently reveals Himself to be full of both grace and wrath. God’s wrath is not limited to the Old Testament. Jesus spoke more about hell than any other character or author in the Bible (Matthew 5:29-30). We see Ananias and Sapphira struck dead for lying to God’s people (Acts 5:1-11). Paul speaks of Jesus saving us from God’s wrath (Romans 5:9-11). Revelation contains the outpouring of God’s wrath and judgment against humanity. In both testaments we encounter a God who takes sin so seriously that He judges it fiercely. We don’t eliminate God’s wrath by ignoring the Old Testament. Just as God’s wrath is not limited to the Old Testament, His grace and kindness is not limited to the New Testament. God reveals Himself to be slow to anger, abounding in love, and overflowing with forgiveness (Exodus 34:6-7). He is a God concerned with saving His people (Isaiah 45:22), whom He chose out of the overflow of His own great love (Deuteronomy 7:7-9). Both the Old and the New Testament present a God who is overflowing with both grace and wrath. We cannot solve our problem with His wrath by ignoring the Old Testament, and we miss out on His powerful grace when we limit ourselves only to the New Testament.
God’s people consistently respond to God with both fear and love. Sometimes we read the Old Testament and think that God is not very loving. Whether or not this is our conclusion, it certainly was not the conclusion of the Israelites who lived under the Old Covenant. The Psalms overflow with Israelites who see God as their gracious and compassionate Savior (36:5, 59:16, 145:8, etc.). He is their fortress, their only hope, and their source of life. It is certainly true that they responded to God with appropriate fear. But it is equally true that they saw God as the ultimate source of grace, kindness, and forgiveness. On the flipside, the fear of God is not absent from the New Testament. Jesus talks about it (Matthew 10:28), as do Peter (1 Peter 1:17), Paul (2 Corinthians 5:11), and the author of Hebrews (10:30-31). It is true that John says that perfect love drives out fear (1 John 4:17-18), but he is not saying that we don’t fear God at all. In the context it simply means that we don’t fear final judgment and condemnation from God. There is a powerful consistency about how God’s people relate to Him. There is always love, and there is always appropriate fear.
There will always be passages in the Bible that confuse us. There will always be passages that will rub us the wrong way. As this happens, I want to encourage you to be willing to engage with God’s Word instead of ignoring or disregarding it. God has spoken to us. We shouldn’t assume that we will always instantly agree with Him. After all, shouldn’t God have the ability to correct and instruct us? The key is not that we should instantly understand and agree with God immediately. The key is that, when we disagree with Him, we adjust to Him, instead of demanding that He adjusts to us.
*You can find the video recording of the Deeper event on May 5 on our website: lbfchurch.com
One of the most common questions from both Christians and non-Christians concerns the connection between how God is presented in the Old Testament and the New Testament. We associate the Old Testament with God’s wrath and judgment: the earth swallows people up, armies wipe each other out, and God’s fire consumes sinners. We associate the New Testament with God’s grace and kindness: Jesus dies for sinners, the thief on the cross is forgiven, and all who come to Jesus are promised eternal life. We may find ourselves asking, “Is this really the same story?”
On May 5 we held a Deeper event in order to explore this question. I encourage you to listen to the whole session in order to gain perspective on this question.* Here, however, I just wanted to answer it in short order. Below are two key reasons why we should not conclude that the Old and New Testaments present a different picture of God.
God consistently reveals Himself to be full of both grace and wrath. God’s wrath is not limited to the Old Testament. Jesus spoke more about hell than any other character or author in the Bible (Matthew 5:29-30). We see Ananias and Sapphira struck dead for lying to God’s people (Acts 5:1-11). Paul speaks of Jesus saving us from God’s wrath (Romans 5:9-11). Revelation contains the outpouring of God’s wrath and judgment against humanity. In both testaments we encounter a God who takes sin so seriously that He judges it fiercely. We don’t eliminate God’s wrath by ignoring the Old Testament. Just as God’s wrath is not limited to the Old Testament, His grace and kindness is not limited to the New Testament. God reveals Himself to be slow to anger, abounding in love, and overflowing with forgiveness (Exodus 34:6-7). He is a God concerned with saving His people (Isaiah 45:22), whom He chose out of the overflow of His own great love (Deuteronomy 7:7-9). Both the Old and the New Testament present a God who is overflowing with both grace and wrath. We cannot solve our problem with His wrath by ignoring the Old Testament, and we miss out on His powerful grace when we limit ourselves only to the New Testament.
God’s people consistently respond to God with both fear and love. Sometimes we read the Old Testament and think that God is not very loving. Whether or not this is our conclusion, it certainly was not the conclusion of the Israelites who lived under the Old Covenant. The Psalms overflow with Israelites who see God as their gracious and compassionate Savior (36:5, 59:16, 145:8, etc.). He is their fortress, their only hope, and their source of life. It is certainly true that they responded to God with appropriate fear. But it is equally true that they saw God as the ultimate source of grace, kindness, and forgiveness. On the flipside, the fear of God is not absent from the New Testament. Jesus talks about it (Matthew 10:28), as do Peter (1 Peter 1:17), Paul (2 Corinthians 5:11), and the author of Hebrews (10:30-31). It is true that John says that perfect love drives out fear (1 John 4:17-18), but he is not saying that we don’t fear God at all. In the context it simply means that we don’t fear final judgment and condemnation from God. There is a powerful consistency about how God’s people relate to Him. There is always love, and there is always appropriate fear.
There will always be passages in the Bible that confuse us. There will always be passages that will rub us the wrong way. As this happens, I want to encourage you to be willing to engage with God’s Word instead of ignoring or disregarding it. God has spoken to us. We shouldn’t assume that we will always instantly agree with Him. After all, shouldn’t God have the ability to correct and instruct us? The key is not that we should instantly understand and agree with God immediately. The key is that, when we disagree with Him, we adjust to Him, instead of demanding that He adjusts to us.
*You can find the video recording of the Deeper event on May 5 on our website: lbfchurch.com
Thursday, October 4, 2012
Politics and the Kingdom of God
By Dan Franklin, Pastor of Teaching
Whenever politics come up in a Christian context, a discussion of the kingdom of God is sure to follow. Is it the job of Christians to usher in the kingdom of God? Is the United States somehow related to the kingdom of God? If we’re citizens of the kingdom of God, does this mean that we shy away from our citizenship of the United States?
Since a discussion of the kingdom of God normally follows a discussion on politics, we are going to follow this trend at Life Bible Fellowship Church. This fall finds us in a series called American Christian or Christian American?, a series dealing with a Christian perspective on politics and political issues. So, on Sunday, October 21 we are going to dig deep into the topic of the kingdom of God.
If you were at Mission & Vision Sunday on August 26, you may remember me mentioning that Phil Shahbaz and I are launching a new semi-regular event. About six times over this next year we will host a Sunday night event called Deeper. The purpose of the event is to dive deeper into biblical truths than we are able to do in an hour-long church service or small group setting. The event will involve two hours of deep Bible teaching and also a Q&A time. The topic for our first Deeper event, on Sunday, October 21, will be “The Kingdom of God.” All are welcome (and we hope all will come). It will be a significant time for all of us who want to know God and his Word more deeply.
As a preview of the event, here are three things to know about the kingdom of God:
1. The kingdom has come, and the kingdom will come.
Upon his arrival on earth, Jesus proclaimed the arrival of the kingdom of God. At one point he even said that the kingdom “is in your midst.” It was present, and it is present. At the same time, the Bible talks about the kingdom of God as a future reality for which all believers hope. We are even called to pray for God’s kingdom to come. This is what many theologians call the “Already” and “Not Yet” aspects of the kingdom of God. It is here in one sense, but its full manifestation is still to come.
2. No amount of moral or political reform will usher in the kingdom of God.
Believers are never called to usher in God’s kingdom. In fact, we are not even called to “build” God’s kingdom (despite the fact that this has become normal Christian terminology). Only Jesus will usher in his kingdom. And it is not helpful to think of the kingdom as something that we build. It is better to think of ourselves as ambassadors of the kingdom, announcing its arrival, spreading its impact, and putting it on display. The kingdom is sure to come. Nothing can stop what Jesus will do. Efforts by believers to influence moral and political reform should be from a motivation to display Jesus’ kingdom values, not to usher in Jesus’ future kingdom.
3. The kingdom is glimpsed wherever Jesus is treated like the king.
The kingdom is present today inasmuch as believers display Jesus’ kingdom values. When we live in light of Jesus’ kingdom, we show what his kingdom looks like.
And it looks beautiful. The true God is worshiped and adored. People are treated with dignity and honor. Peace and joy abound. When Jesus is king, there is joy for everyone.
When he returns, we will experience this to the fullest. Until then, we are invited to live in light of his already certain kingship. He has brought new life. Let’s live in it!
Deeper will take place on Sunday, October 21 at LBF, from 6-8 p.m.
Whenever politics come up in a Christian context, a discussion of the kingdom of God is sure to follow. Is it the job of Christians to usher in the kingdom of God? Is the United States somehow related to the kingdom of God? If we’re citizens of the kingdom of God, does this mean that we shy away from our citizenship of the United States?
Since a discussion of the kingdom of God normally follows a discussion on politics, we are going to follow this trend at Life Bible Fellowship Church. This fall finds us in a series called American Christian or Christian American?, a series dealing with a Christian perspective on politics and political issues. So, on Sunday, October 21 we are going to dig deep into the topic of the kingdom of God.
If you were at Mission & Vision Sunday on August 26, you may remember me mentioning that Phil Shahbaz and I are launching a new semi-regular event. About six times over this next year we will host a Sunday night event called Deeper. The purpose of the event is to dive deeper into biblical truths than we are able to do in an hour-long church service or small group setting. The event will involve two hours of deep Bible teaching and also a Q&A time. The topic for our first Deeper event, on Sunday, October 21, will be “The Kingdom of God.” All are welcome (and we hope all will come). It will be a significant time for all of us who want to know God and his Word more deeply.
As a preview of the event, here are three things to know about the kingdom of God:
1. The kingdom has come, and the kingdom will come.
Upon his arrival on earth, Jesus proclaimed the arrival of the kingdom of God. At one point he even said that the kingdom “is in your midst.” It was present, and it is present. At the same time, the Bible talks about the kingdom of God as a future reality for which all believers hope. We are even called to pray for God’s kingdom to come. This is what many theologians call the “Already” and “Not Yet” aspects of the kingdom of God. It is here in one sense, but its full manifestation is still to come.
2. No amount of moral or political reform will usher in the kingdom of God.
Believers are never called to usher in God’s kingdom. In fact, we are not even called to “build” God’s kingdom (despite the fact that this has become normal Christian terminology). Only Jesus will usher in his kingdom. And it is not helpful to think of the kingdom as something that we build. It is better to think of ourselves as ambassadors of the kingdom, announcing its arrival, spreading its impact, and putting it on display. The kingdom is sure to come. Nothing can stop what Jesus will do. Efforts by believers to influence moral and political reform should be from a motivation to display Jesus’ kingdom values, not to usher in Jesus’ future kingdom.
3. The kingdom is glimpsed wherever Jesus is treated like the king.
The kingdom is present today inasmuch as believers display Jesus’ kingdom values. When we live in light of Jesus’ kingdom, we show what his kingdom looks like.
And it looks beautiful. The true God is worshiped and adored. People are treated with dignity and honor. Peace and joy abound. When Jesus is king, there is joy for everyone.
When he returns, we will experience this to the fullest. Until then, we are invited to live in light of his already certain kingship. He has brought new life. Let’s live in it!
Deeper will take place on Sunday, October 21 at LBF, from 6-8 p.m.
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