Tag: God’s Faithfulness

Lent 2023 | Day 9: The Gospel’s Effectiveness

If God’s power to save and to keep us saved rested on our ability, consistency, and strength, there would be no hope for salvation. But our salvation does not rest on anything we bring to the situation.

One of the most common themes that Christians I have encountered struggle with is that of their salvation. Specifically, the issue of whether or not it can become lost again. There are various answers to this. Each theological system will argue that its point of view is internally consistent. That the reasons for their positions are valid even when the conclusions are difficult to understand. My goal is not to enter some extended argument against any particular system.

Why do Some Question their Salvation?

For me, I am not interested in getting into those debates. We all must study Scripture for ourselves and seek the counsel of trusted mentors. We all have to decide which theological traditions and what they argue make the most sense to us. What I want to do, what I am more interested in looking at the implications the Gospel offers to us in regard to the subject of salvation. More specifically, what is the Gospel’s effectiveness in saving a lost soul?

Many times, conversations about salvation revolve around whether or not a person believed the correct version of the Gospel on the one hand; or whether a person is growing sufficiently in spiritual matters on the other. Yes, these are generalizations and even over-simplifications. But, if we listen to what people are asking and how they are asking about it, we will find these are far more common points of origin. Many people do not have sophisticated views about doctrine in general, or salvation specifically. Most Christians are simply holding onto the part of the Gospel they understand. Even if it is only one or two aspects of it.

Thinking more deeply about Salvation

A greater reality is that because of the many facets of the Gospel, people struggle to see how they all work together. This is part of the reason for this series of reflections. Maybe, if we look at these varied realities of the Gospel in smaller portions, we can better appreciate the whole.

Today’s focus shifts the emphasis of salvation away from the recipient to the giver of the Gospel. The great promise of the Gospel is that God is at work. That God has prepared and provided a means of salvation. And, if we take God at his word, we can experience the fullness of what the Gospel points to.

The effectiveness of the Gospel does not depend on my ability. The effectiveness of the Gospel does not require my effort. The effectiveness of the Gospel rests solely, completely, entirely, and unquestionably in the hands of God.

What that means is that regardless of what goes wrong on our side of the relationship God will uphold his end of the promise. God cannot fail in saving us. God will not fail in keeping us.

The Gospel is a testament to God’s Character

If God’s power to save and to keep us saved rested on our ability, consistency, and strength, there would be no hope for salvation. But our salvation does not rest on anything we bring to the situation.

There is nothing that can keep us from receiving and being the beneficiaries of God’s grace once we have believed. Our vacillating nature was a part of the eternal calculus God did in drafting the Gospel message. God knew that we would struggle with holding on to his promises. God knew, from the foundations of the world, that faith would not come easily to so many. that’s why the Gospel is simple and clear. So that we could accept it even when we struggled to hold on to it.

But, God does not rely on our faithfulness to save us. God has declared that salvation is an eternal promise. Not a conditional one. And by virtue of the eternal nature of the Gospel, we can know that the Gospel will accomplish the mission for which it was created.

Yes, we can have a discussion about what it means that some believe and some will deny. We can consider what it means that some people never fully embrace the life of faith. We can even have our doubts about whether or not a person was ever really saved. But in the end, the question of the Gospel’s effectiveness is about God’s side of the salvation issue.

Too often people look at the people who don’t seem to be living up to what we think they should be and then turn and blame God for failing. This is not only a disingenuous form of argumentation, but it also betrays a self-righteous spirit within the person arguing in such a way.

Allow me to put this as simply as I can:

The Gospel is effective because God is God. That’s it. And if he says that the Gospel leads to eternal life, then I will take God at his word.

Lent 2023 Series

Lent 2022 | Day 25: New

And he who was seated on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.” Revelation 21:5

Revelation 21:5

In the closing book of the Bible, we find many interesting and mysterious events recorded. And while we can speculate as to when they will take place and even what they mean there are few things we know for certain. One of them is that in the culmination of what we call history God will re-create that which had been polluted by the effects of sin. The language of Scripture is that there will be a new heaven and a new earth. And what that fully means is yet to be seen.

In the verse quoted above, we see a statement that is really a promise. We are told that the one who sits on the throne of heaven has an objective to complete. That objective is to make all things new. I do not want to speculate as to what that means. The truth of the matter is my attempt at a description would be far less than the reality still to come. What I know for sure is when it happens it will be one of the greatest miracles God has ever performed. And I look forward to seeing that someday.

But looking a little closer to home I find great comfort in knowing God is able to make all things new. In spite of the struggles of life and the challenges of living according to God’s word, God is faithful to fulfilling his promises toward us.

The apostle Paul in his letter to the Philippians speaks of his confidence regarding what God has begun and how he will be completed. Philippians chapter 1:6 Paul says this:

Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ.

Philippians 1:6 (KJV)

The promise we see in Revelation and the promise Paul articulates in Philippians are connected. What Paul was saying to the Philippian church we see fulfilled by what God says in Revelation.

I wish I could tell you that I completely understand how this will work out. But I can’t. These are things reserved within God’s mind that he will reveal in his own time. What we must do is remain focused on the work placed in our hands. As we continue on this journey we will encounter moments and opportunities to see the progress God is making in us and toward the ultimate manifestation of his promises.

The season of Lent affords us the space we need to pause and look forward to the hope that is to come. We celebrate it, again and again, as a constant reminder of God’s faithfulness to his word and to his people.

Let us rejoice each day in the newness of the opportunities presented to us. I pray we would learn to take advantage of them. And that we would look forward to participating with God on this journey.

Lent 2022 | Day 13: Steadfast

22 The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases;
     his mercies never come to an end;
23 they are new every morning;
     great is your faithfulness.

Lamentations 3:22-23 ESV

The prophet Jeremiah said in his great lament that the steadfast love of the Lord and his mercies are new every morning.

This is an amazing thing to consider. What does this mean in light of the fact that God never changes? It certainly cannot mean that there is something different in God. So we must consider that whatever is new, is new for us.

It is a common mistake made by many followers of Jesus to believe they have “a grasp” of who God is. This is truly poor thinking on our part. But what do I mean? Only that when we assume we have an extensive understanding of Jesus or of God we are setting ourselves up to get something wrong.

So Jeremiah said that the love of the Lord and his mercies, they never cease, they never come to an end, and yet they are new every morning. I take this to mean that as we journey with God we discover new aspects of his mercy and love we had not seen or experienced before. Each of these discoveries reminds us of how great and mysterious God is.

When we assume we have an extensive understanding of Jesus or of God we are setting ourselves up to get something wrong.

As we continue to grow in our understanding of faith, we should always remember what God is doing in us, around us, and through us is going to expand our understanding of who he is. In a sense, we should be perpetually surprised about what God is able to do. Not because we have called into question his ability. But because we marvel at the fact God could do so much with so little.

This is not meant to diminish us in any way. It’s only to acknowledge the difference that exists between who God is and what we are. When we live our lives with a proper perspective of who God is we will not have to fight against our pride as much. We can lean into a posture of humility before God and with others. We won’t be so concerned with our failures or shortcomings. We will just try to trust God more. To get out of his way so that he could have his way.

The fact God is steadfast should be a source of comfort to us. But I think too often we find that discouraging. And I’m not sure why. It could just be we have a hard time accepting there is anything that is actually unchanging in our lives or in the world around us.

As we continue in this season of Lent I am reminded that I can find comfort in God’s steady and persistent character. May that be something we remember more intentionally in the coming days and weeks. Let us be thankful that God does not change.

Lent 2020 | Day 35: “Dawn”

If we are not careful, we can feel like we are enduring a night that will never end.

This could not be further from the truth. The beauty of our world is that for every night there is a morning. Some night may feel longer than we would like, but the world keeps right on turning.

The goodness of God protects us in days and times like these. He has order the universe to operate in such a way that we can trust in its constancy. Every cycle of evening and morning; every cycle of the change of seasons; even the cycle of life and death is a reminder that God is there, keeping everything in its place.

Uncertainty can cause us to waver and fret. But God never changes. God never wavers. God never forgets what he has promised.

The nigh may feel long, but we can hope in the fact that each nigh is followed by a glorious dawn.

What if?

“What if?” is a phrase that has been said time and time again. This phrase can create a number of emotions within a person. This phrase can also create a number of scenarios or fantasies inside the mind of a person. But more often than not these fantasies never occur. Other times “what if” can refer to the past and the wanting to change the circumstances of events that have occurred throughout a person’s life. I think every person is guilty of using this phrase. We so often use this phrase out of a discontentment and dissatisfaction for our lives or even more so the desire and want to change parts of our lives that we do not like or are even disappointed with. We become so discontent with our lives we can catch ourselves saying things like, “Well, what if I had,” or, “What if I did,” or, “What if this happened?” This happens very often for people but in reality, there is not much that we can actually do to control life’s everyday circumstances and events. But don’t we so often try?

As followers of Christ, when we say “what if?” what does this say about us and our faith? It’s so easy to lose sight of the intentions that God has for our lives. The world will often bring us to a point in which it tells us we need to be more, or we need to be different than what we currently are. But “what if” I told you that exactly where you are now and exactly what is going on in your life right now is what God intended? What often times will surprise us has never once surprised God. When we want more for ourselves than what we have been given we are saying, “God, you haven’t done enough.” Can you imagine that? Looking at God and telling Him that even though He has done so much for us, we just need a little bit more, or telling Him that something should have worked out differently than what He planned.

Contentment in Christ is where we should strive to be. Content in the timing that God has for our lives. His timing is so perfect that it cannot be understood nor fathomed. Every breath we have is perfectly timed, every step we take is perfectly timed. The people that come in and out of our lives are perfectly timed. All of this timing working toward the plan God has envisioned for the lives of His children. God knows our heart’s desires. He knows our wants and, more importantly, He knows and understands our needs. When life is chaotic or maybe you are at times confused with what is going on, find peace knowing that God has never had to ask “What if?”

Our God is not a God of “What ifs?”. Our God is a God of “I know.” He is a God that you can trust. He is a God that has a plan. He is a God that has perfect timing. He is a God that continues to give and work in our lives even as we doubt Him. Peace comes in knowing that God has always had a plan that is for your good. So, I leave you with this…

“What if” you let it all go and just trusted the plan and timing of such a great Father and God that we have?

The Penetrating Sight of God

In 1 John 1:5-10 we are confronted with a rather alarming reality. John tells his readers that if they claim to be in the light there should be a distinct difference in them from the world. There are three characteristics in a person who declares a relationship with God.

First, if we have a genuine relationship with God we will walk in the light. The metaphor of light and dark in John’s writings point to a new knowledge about who God truly is. The implication is that when the darkness of our lives encounters the light of God’s being we are, possibly for the first time, confronted with what is truly wrong with us. And as a result we live according to the truth we have been exposed to.

Second, if we have a genuine relationship with God we will not live in self-deception. John articulates this by saying, “If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves.” When the light of God’s character and God’s words is shown on us we have two choices. We can deny what we see or we can accept what has been revealed. If we choose the former we begin living in denial and self-deception. If we choose this path, John makes it clear that we not only have made ourselves a victim of a lie, we cannot claim to have any truth within us.

Third, if we have a genuine relationship with we accept that our brokenness can only be healed by the Gospel. In verse 10 John takes the idea of sin one step further. Before, John was saying that if we deny sin at all we are deluding ourselves but, if we take it a step forward and assert that we have not sinned, in other words, if we say that there is no brokenness in us, we are making the testimony of God regarding our sinful natures out to be a farce. Our sin, our brokenness, is the clearest evidence that God’s efforts for redemption are essential for us to experience any healing whatsoever.

As my pastor was preaching through this passage this past Sunday he said something that, on the surface, sounds obvious. However, when we consider it for fully it sparked a deeper love for God and a greater appreciation for God’s grace. This is what he said.

“God is light. Therefore, God hides nothing and nothing is hidden from God.”

Until we acknowledge and accept the range and scope of God’s ability to see all things, the longer it will take for us to know that God is not surprised by our sin. There is nothing past, present, or future that God does not already know about you and me. There is nothing that escapes God’s perception or awareness.

God not only knows all things, he has seen all things. This means that if God, with this knowledge, still decided to send Jesus to earth on a mission of salvation, there is no reason for us to run from God when he calls. We may be ashamed of our sin. We may regret the choices we have made. We may find it hard to escape the weight of the consequences of what we have said and done. But none of these things are severe enough to separate us from the love of God.

God has seen it and he still loves us. The truth that John points to–that God is light–is both terrible and terrific. I cannot hide from God. And, he does not want me to hide from him. Nothing is beyond the penetrating sight of God.

King David said it best when he said,

7 Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? 8 If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there. 9 If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, 10 even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast. 11 If I say, “Surely the darkness will hide me and the light become night around me,” 12 even the darkness will not be dark to you; the night will shine like the day, for darkness is as light to you. (Psalm 139:7-12 NIV)

Stop running from God. There is no place to escape from him. Run to him and experience the fullness of joy he has promised to all who seek him. Begin today to see that he desires to be found.

Excited about I don’t know what…

Have you ever had one of those experiences where you don’t know what is about to happen, and you can’t shake the feeling that it is going to be something, not just good, but indescribable? Right now, right where I am, I know–in that way of knowing that can’t be explained, but you’re confident in–that God is up to something that only he can do. I am not trying to explain it. I am not even trying to describe it. I am just waiting. Waiting for a faithful and good God to do whatever he wants to do. Waiting to see a return to an unshakable, unquenchable faith in a God that can and will do things that simply don’t make sense. I am waiting. Waiting. Waiting for a promise to be fulfilled; a hope to be renewed; a joy to be restored; a faith to be made sight in spite of the dark night of a self-centered heart.

O God, your life is what infuses every other life with meaning. Even that life that has failed to comply to your sovereign grace is brought into proper submission to your purposes. There is nothing that escapes your sight. Nothing that is beyond your insight. Nothing that can be undone due to your foresight. You are majestic, not merely because of some attribution of the human tongue. No, your very being is majesty. It is worthy of all that can be ascribed to it. And when we frail image bearers have reached the end of our ingenuity, it is in your uniqueness that our plain-ness is seen against the relief of your unchanging beauty.

If beauty is in the eye of the beholder, only in you will all eyes agree!

Father, may my soul and faith; joy and life; passion and prayer; sorrows and pains reach the peaceful shores of your kingdom.

Word to the Wise | “God’s Goodness”

How would you feel if God responded to us according to the measurement of our faithfulness?  How could He do this?  Well, let’s assume that God has a “Human Motives Meter” that was able to measure our faithfulness.  For every sincere and heartfelt prayer, you get a half-day’s supply of oxygen.  For every two prayers, you will get a day of oxygen.  If attended church on Sunday, that’s a week’s supply of oxygen.  If you miss Sunday worship, you will get only three days of oxygen and if you wanted to finish the week, you had to pray twice a day for the rest of the week.

Imagine God actually having this “Human Motives Meter” and on Wednesday morning you received an e-mail that says: “You only have 24 hours of oxygen.  Unless you make two sincere and heartfelt prayers today, you will be out of luck tomorrow morning at this hour.”  This is kind of scary.

We have no idea how good God is.  He provides the oxygen regardless of our faithfulness.  He is faithful even when we are unfaithful.  You see, God’s goodness is not something God does.  It is what He is.  He is good.  I pray that each one of us would learn to recognize, and appreciate, God’s goodness in our lives.  We should consider living as if God actually had the “Human Motives Meter” because even though God does use it, He really knows how to measure our faithfulness.

Pastor Luis Scott
Ambassadors of Christ Fellowship
(02/26/09)

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