Salvation

When a saint goes home (2 Timothy 4:7)

POST OVERVIEW. Thoughts on the contrast between the death of a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ and the death of one who does not know Christ.

This morning seemed like every other morning. I had early coffee at Starbucks with a friend, then talked to another friend on the phone, and finally had a fairly long phone conversation with my brother. So, the morning was proceeding as Fridays do. But this Friday was different. This Friday, a dear saint, a member of our church went home to be with Jesus. Edye was 93 years old and had been a member of Oakhurst Baptist Church since the 1950’s. She was in church almost every Sunday and it was always encouraging for me to see her singing all the words to every song. I enjoyed being able to hear about her trust in the Lord developed over a lifetime of walking with Him, so I tried to talk to her almost every Sunday. I will miss her and will look forward to seeing her again in heaven.

As I think about life and death and the human condition, I again marvel at the wonder of Christ’s salvation. For the natural man is lost and in darkness and has a natural terror of death (Hebrews 2:14-15). While all of God’s creatures die, man is the only creature who is aware that he will surely die. And why does man die? Man dies because man sins. Ever since Adam sinned in the garden, man has been born guilty and bent toward sin and this sin has two immense consequences.

TWO CONSEQUENCES OF SIN

First, man’s own sinfulness is registered deep in his soul so that man is aware of his sin and guilt in his subconscious. He may vigorously ignore and deny his sin and declare his innocence with his mouth, but the guilt within remains, like a deep undressed wound, festering and growing more foul. The conscience will continue to convict regardless of how loudly the voice denies. So, the first consequence of sin is that the natural man feels within him a deep sense of guilt and shame.

But while the first consequence of sin is, indeed, miserable, the second is far more serious and threatening. The Bible declares that a man’s sin brings him under God’s wrath and condemnation. The Scripture testifies that God will pour out His wrath on our ungodliness and unrighteousness (Romans 1:18). When Ezekiel declares, “The soul that sins will die” (Ezekiel 18:4), the prophet is speaking of eternal death, of a destination in the lake of fire as a result of God’s judgment of our sin. Our sin separates us from God and hides His face from us (Isaiah 59:1-2) so that we forfeit His mercy and receive instead His displeasure and judgment. It is from this second consequence of sin, from God’s wrath and judgment, that we must be saved.

WHY ARE SOME NOT MISERABLE AND AFRAID?

Now we return to the wonder of Christ’s salvation. For while the natural man is miserable because of his deep, subconscious sense of guilt and shame for his sin and is, at the same time, terrified at the thought of his own death because he is subconsciously aware of God’s wrath and judgment, Edye, our recently deceased sister, evidenced neither of these in her life. Instead, she talked easily of her inevitable physical death and had no fear of that event whatsoever. Edye’s health was slowly fading as she journeyed through her low 90’s, but her joy was undiminished and she was optimistic about life and the future. She smiled and laughed easily and enjoyed being around her church family. How do we make sense of this paradox? Why is it that, when Edye was obviously so close to death, she continued to live with joy and not terror?

EDYE’S ANSWER

There is a one-word answer to this question: Jesus. Edye had met the Lord Jesus Christ and had long ago trusted Him for salvation and had walked with Him for more than six decades. When she trusted Christ, He had taken away her sin and had thus taken away her guilt and shame. “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus” (Romans 8:1). Edye’s Savior had given her forgiveness for all her sins and so she had peace with God through Jesus (Romans 5:1).

Edye believed that Jesus accomplished the work He was given to do (John 17:4), that He had faithfully lived a sinless life and had willingly given up His life as an atoning sacrifice on the cross. When He died, all the work of redemption was fully accomplished. Thus, Jesus could cry out, “It is finished” (John 19:30). By faith Edye trusted Christ for her salvation and thus her guilt was taken away.

Edye entered the hospital on Thursday afternoon and by Friday morning she had entered eternity. But for her there was no last minute struggle for a few more heartbeats, a few more breaths. When it was time for her to go to be with her Lord, Edye simply yielded her spirit and died. Why? Because she had accomplished her works the Lord had given her to do (Eph. 2:10) and there was nothing left for her to do. She had fought the good fight and finished the race (2 Tim. 4:7), and now the reward was hers (4:8). Christ had bought her with His blood and she had lived for Him and so now Edye joins the great cloud of witnesses (Hebrews 12:1). Yes, Edye will be missed, but we who believe in Jesus will see her again in heaven.

BUT FOR THE UNBELIEVER THERE IS NO PEACE

One final thought should be mentioned. For the believer, for the one who has trusted Christ as Lord and Savior, the end of this life presents no terror. It is a known fact that all must face death, but Christ has taken away from His disciples any fear. He has given me works to do and He determines when my work is done. He has risen from the dead and so I know that I will be raised with a glorified body on the last day. I know that the Lord delights in me, so I look forward to seeing Him face to face and receiving my crown of reward from Him. “For me to live is Christ and to die is gain” (Phil. 1:21), so I joyfully anticipate the day of my death. Work done, works accomplished, faith kept, I enter into the joy of my Master. On that day, I will be able to commit my spirit into His hands.

But for the unbeliever, death holds great dread. There is no peace with God, so there is no reason to assume that you are going to “a better place.” Without a God-given purpose for your life, there can be no end to your labors, because you can never know if you have done enough. Since you do not know what awaits beyond the grave, there is a desperate desire for life to continue, even when life has lost all purpose and pleasure. So is the prospect of death for the one without Christ.

But there is still time to embrace Christ. As long as you have breath, you can bow the knee to Jesus and receive His salvation. “Behold, today is the day of salvation” (2 Cor. 6:2). The Lord is mighty to save. “For whoever will call upon the name of the Lord will be saved” (Romans 10:13). Right now you can do what Edye did sixty years ago. Repent, and believe in Jesus.

SDG                 rmb                 12/02/2022                 #595

The need for a demanding definition of discipleship

POST OVERVIEW. This post points out the problems with a broad and shallow definition of discipleship and simultaneously argues for a demanding definition in which conscious, intentional effort produces growth in Christlikeness.

If the disciple is to progress in holiness, usefulness, and obedience in his walk with Christ, then his course of discipleship must be rigorous enough to produce these desired results. And the beginning of any course of discipleship is a clear understanding that discipleship is the means to bring about a desired end.

In Philippians 2:12, the apostle Paul commands believers to “work out your salvation with fear and trembling.” This is an excellent theme verse for your discipleship. “Work out your salvation with fear and trembling.” When? All the time. Where? Wherever you are. For how long? Till Christ returns or calls you home. To what end? To the end that you will be conformed to the holiness and usefulness and obedience of Christ. What falls under this idea of working out my salvation? As a disciple of Jesus, everything in your life is part of your discipleship. “Disciple” is your identity and discipleship is your activity. The disciple is consciously and intentionally and purposefully engaged in discipleship to the greatest of all ends, to be pleasing to Master, to be useful to the Master, to be holy like the Master, and to be obedient like the Master. I contend that a demanding definition of discipleship is necessary if we, as fallen and weak human beings, are going to use our limited days and our feeble energies to make serious progress in our journey toward Christlikeness.

THE PROBLEM IDENTIFIED

I have gone to some length already to set the bar high in terms of defining discipleship because my observation is that a vigorous definition of discipleship is hard to come by in American churches. My sense is that most American churches do not even have a concept of discipleship. The idea that all professing believers are expected to grow in Scriptural knowledge, in obedience to Scripture, in holiness, in usefulness to the church, and in their witness for Christ in the world is a foreign concept in most American churches. This is lamentable, but it is not about these churches that I am concerned right now.

There are other churches which do have a concept of discipleship, and which do desire to be engaged in it, but their definition of what constitutes “discipleship” is so weak that it will fail to produce any meaningful results in sanctification. An anemic definition will produce anemic results. One example I heard of recently had a course in the church that was named “Discipleship” but which was, in reality, simply a year-long Bible survey. While this might qualify as a basic component of a vigorous course in discipleship, to equate this Bible overview with discipleship falls well short of the mark. This situation is not good, and it is difficult to see how this attitude toward “discipleship” is going to produce any meaningful or lasting fruit. But I am not targeting this group of churches now, either.

Finally, there is a third group of churches that not only has a concept of discipleship, but their church leadership also intentionally seeks to lead the church into a culture of discipleship. But there is a common flaw even among these well-meaning, intentional churches, and it again comes down to the definition of discipleship. In a church that I have attended recently, the definition of discipleship was “doing spiritual good to another believer.” While this is not technically wrong, such a broad and benign definition brings with it the very real possibility that the disciples in your flock think they are engaged in discipleship when, in fact, they may be doing nothing more than fellowship. If the aim of discipleship is not clearly stated as persistently growing in Christlikeness in all aspects of the disciple’s life, then broad and shallow tactics and strategies will suffice, but you will find that the lives of the disciples in your flock will be little different from the world.

The following are some further comments on this theme:

  • Discipleship involves the EFFORT of the disciple himself. That is, each disciple’s spiritual growth in Christlikeness is his own responsibility. In Phil. 2:12, the apostle Paul commands every disciple to work out HIS OWN SALVATION with fear and trembling. So, discipleship is not a committee activity. Rather, I am personally responsible for working out my own salvation. Other disciples can certainly help me, but it is my responsibility before the Lord to grow in holiness, obedience, and usefulness. I can and should solicit the help of other disciples to help me with skills and knowledge, but the working out is up to me. In college, you could get assistance from professors or tutors or other classmates, but your grade in the class was your responsibility. It is the same principle with discipleship.
  • Discipleship is purposeful, meaning that the disciple pursues a particular course of action for the purpose of growing in a particular area of our walk with Christ. Examples might be attending an Equipping Class at your church on Evangelism to be a more effective witness for Jesus or memorizing a chapter of the Bible to hide the Word in your heart and to have that Scripture available for meditation at any time.
  • Discipleship implies there is a target or a reason for an action. Usually growing disciples will plan their discipleship activities and then be sure to execute those plans so that progress is sustained. Planning your goal-centered activities puts the theoretical on your calendar, but only execution of those plans allows you to reap the benefits of your planning. So, growth in Christlikeness occurs only where there is intentional effort in specific activities aimed at the desired end of spiritual growth.

Of course, this does not mean that there is no benefit or spiritual growth to be had in routine activities. It is certainly true that much is learned, and much growth can be obtained from small steps over a long period of time. The point I am emphasizing here is that true discipleship does not occur randomly or accidentally. A disciple does not accidentally memorize the book of Ephesians or randomly come to understand the doctrine of election.

  • Imagine that you desire to run a marathon and so you begin your training. If you are planning to run 26.2 miles, then you need a training plan strict enough and demanding enough to allow you to accomplish your desired goal. In that training plan, you do not consider walking from the parking lot into the grocery store to be a training activity. Why not? Well, there are several reasons why not, but one of the reasons would be that walking the short distance into the grocery store is not an activity done in order to run a marathon. It is not done with the marathon in mind and for the conscious purpose of completing the 26.2-mile marathon. A legitimate training activity is done with the goal of the training in mind. And so it is with discipleship. A disciple engages in discipleship activities because these, if executed diligently, will help me grow in Christlikeness. These activities will bring about spiritual growth in me and will enable me to accomplish my goal of being holy and useful and obedient.
  • A person who says they want to be a concert pianist, but whose only musical activity is thirty minutes a day on the guitar will not achieve their aim, no matter how convinced they are that their musical regimen is creating a pianist. And why not? It is because their regimen is too weak. Just so, if you desire to be useful to the Master, an effective ambassador for Christ, an example to other disciples, a person who passes on spiritual strength and encouragement to the succeeding generations, and holy as the Lord is holy, then you need a discipleship regimen that is capable of those desired results.
  • Discipleship requires the disciple to expend conscious effort. Paul commands each disciple to “WORK OUT your salvation with fear and trembling (Phil. 2:12). “Working out” anything requires effort. If you would “work out” your physical fitness with fear and trembling, you will be required to sweat and groan and endure some level of pain over a relatively long period of time. Your amount of progress is directly related to the degree of EFFORT. Just so discipleship requires conscious effort over a long period of time.

So, again, the main point I am trying to make here is that, if discipleship is going to be the grand adventure it is intended to be, the disciple must envision a grand end and must strive to reach that grand end via intentional, conscious, purposeful efforts. To be meaningful, your discipleship must be capable of bringing you to your desired destination.

SDG                 rmb                 11/20/2022                 #589

This Jesus is both Lord and Christ (Acts 2:22-36)

POST OVERVIEW. The second post of a two-post series which examines Peter’s sermon on the day of Pentecost. (See first post, #587 on November 16, 2022, which gave the background for the apostle’s message.) This second post will be a verse by verse exegesis of the sermon, showing how Peter brilliantly makes his meaning clear.

OVERVIEW OF THE SERMON

The last post (#587) gave important background information for the sermon Peter delivered on the day of Pentecost in Acts 2. In that post, we explored why Peter began his message by referring to Jesus as “the Nazarene” and we considered the two Davidic psalms which Peter quoted in his sermon, Psalm 16 and Psalm 110. Building on that foundation, we are now going to examine the sermon verse by verse to see how Peter crafts his message so that he brings his audience to a saving understanding of who Jesus is.

Before the exegesis, however, we need to see the structure of the sermon and understand specifically what Peter is intending to communicate. (The section of Scripture we will be exploring is Acts 2:22-36, which is the main body of the sermon and contains Peter’s most important points.)

In broad strokes, Peter’s message is that Jesus the Nazarene, whom “you nailed to a cross by the hands of godless men and put Him to death” (Acts 2:23), this Jesus whom God raised up again (2:24, 32), “this Jesus whom you crucified” is “both Lord and Christ” (2:36). Thus, Peter must demonstrate from the Scriptures that this Jesus is the Christ, Israel’s promised Messiah, and he must demonstrate from the Scriptures that this Jesus is Lord, the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob.

The structure of the sermon is as follows:

  • Acts 2:22-23. Opening. “You crucified Jesus the Nazarene.”
  • Acts 2:24-32. From Psalm 16 (of David), Jesus is the Christ.
  • Acts 2:33-35.  From Psalm 110 (of David), Jesus is Lord.
  • Acts 2:36. Closing. “You crucified Jesus, who is both Lord and Christ.”

Now that we see the direction of the sermon, we are ready to explore the details.

VERSE BY VERSE EXEGESIS

This exegesis assumes that the reader is following along in their Bible. I will be using the New American Standard Bible (1995 Edition).

OPENING

Acts 2:22. Peter introduces Jesus the Nazarene. Although He had been crucified almost two months before Pentecost, Jesus’ name was still known to this Jewish crowd. Jesus’ earthly ministry had made an impression on the region around Jerusalem and into Galilee and beyond, so Peter here reminds them of Jesus. As we have said, Jesus as “the Nazarene” emphasizes His humble humanity and His humiliation in His shameful death. But also, Peter reminds the crowd that Jesus was no ordinary man, for He performed miracles and wonders and signs which were attested to many people. In fact, God performed these miracles through Jesus.

Acts 2:23. The vileness of Jesus’ execution and their own corporate guilt is now hammered home. “This Man you nailed to a cross and put Him to death.” Notice that Peter places the responsibility for Jesus’ death not on the ones who carried it out, but on the ones who planned it and agreed to it and who desired it. “YOU nailed Him to a cross.” But the Jews already knew and accepted this. “Yes, we saw to it that Jesus the Nazarene was executed. We were told He was a heretic.” So far, Peter is simply telling them facts they already know.

NOTE: This verse also contains the immensely important phrase, “delivered over by the predetermined plan and foreknowledge of God.” This post will not explore this but will leave its explanation for another post at a later date.

JESUS IS THE CHRIST

Acts 2:24. This verse begins the section of the sermon (2:24-32) in which Peter will demonstrate from Psalm 16 that Jesus is the Christ. “But God raised Him up again.” Peter delivers a thunderclap to the crowd: “You crucified Jesus, BUT GOD RAISED HIM UP.” The crowd begins to understand the wickedness of their act. “We put Jesus to death, but God raised Him to life again. Whom we crucified God resurrected. We must have acted against God.”

The big news, however, is that, in Jesus, we have a resurrection. Peter has thus made the focus of the sermon to be the resurrection. Among the Hebrews at that time, whenever the subject of the resurrection would come up in a conversation, Psalm 16 would be the Scripture referenced. So, if this is a resurrection, then this is a fulfilment of Psalm 16:8-11, which Peter will quote in the next verses.

Acts 2:25. Peter states that, in Psalm 16:8-11, David is speaking of Jesus. (NOTE: Acts 2:25-28 is a direct quote of Psalm 16:8-11.) Remember that, among Hebrew scholars of the time, this section of Psalm 16 was acknowledged to be Messianic. Also, as we have already mentioned, this section of Psalm 16 was the “go to” passage in the Old Testament for the resurrection. Therefore, when Peter says, “For David says of Him (Jesus),” he is saying that, in Psalm 16, David is telling of the resurrection of Jesus.

Acts 2:26. Peter continues to quote Psalm 16 with verse 9.

Acts 2:27. This is the key verse in the passage, a quote of Psalm 16:10.

Because You will not abandon my soul to Hades,
Nor allow Your Holy One to undergo decay.

Before we dig deeper into this verse, we need to notice that Peter has established an important point. In Acts 2:25, Peter declared that, in Psalm 16:8-11, David was speaking about Jesus and here in a quote of Psalm 16:10, he refers to Your Holy One. Thus, Peter has established that “Your Holy One” is Jesus. Remember this when we get to Acts 2:31.

We had noted in post #587 that, at that time, the exact understanding of this verse remained a mystery. It was clear that the verse spoke about a resurrection (“Nor allow Your Holy One to undergo decay”) and it was acknowledged that “Your Holy One” referred to the Messiah, but how the pieces fit together was a puzzle. For Messiah to be resurrected and “not undergo decay,” it would seem that He would need to die, but that did not agree with their teaching which said, the Christ is not to die, but “the Christ is to remain forever” (John 12:34). But now, with what Peter has said so far in his sermon, we have all the information we need to solve the puzzle. Peter, like any good preacher, will now connect the dots for his hearers so that they can fully grasp the significance of what has occurred and what he has said so far.

Acts 2:28. Peter finishes quoting Psalm 16 with verse 11 of that psalm.

Acts 2:29. In this verse, the apostle Peter eliminates the possibility of someone saying that David is here speaking about himself. In fact, Peter proves that David cannot possibly be referring to himself because “David died and was buried, and his tomb is with us to this day.” Thus, David himself certainly underwent decay and was not resurrected. But if he is not speaking about himself, of whom was he speaking in Psalm 16:10?

Acts 2:30. Significantly, Peter reminds his audience that David was a prophet. This means that his writing is divinely inspired and, thus, absolutely true. (“The Scripture cannot be broken” – John 10:35; 2 Timothy 3:16; John 17:17). This leads into Acts 2:31.

Acts 2:31. The apostle Peter declares that David, as a prophet of God, spoke in Psalm 16:10 of the resurrection of the Christ. “He was neither abandoned to Hades, not did His flesh suffer decay.” Notice carefully what Peter has done. In quoting Psalm 16:10, he used the pronoun “His” in place of “Your Holy One.” But note that Peter has also said that this verse speaks of the resurrection of the Christ. Thus by simple logic, Peter has proved that “Your Holy One” is the Christ. But there is more. Remember from 2:27 that “Your Holy One” is Jesus. We again employ simple logic and discover that Peter has proven that Jesus is the Christ.

Acts 2:32. Peter again declares the resurrection of “this Jesus” (“God raised Him up again”) and adds that there are hundreds of witnesses to Jesus’ resurrection. Therefore, from the clear teaching of the Scriptures, from logic, and from the fact that Jesus has been raised up by God from the dead, this Jesus is the Christ. This concludes the first part of the sermon.

JESUS IS THE LORD

Acts 2:33a. The second, brief part of the sermon (2:33-35) is intended to demonstrate that this Jesus (whom you crucified) is the Lord, that is, He is God. Peter makes two declarations in Acts 2:33 that we will address separately. First, he declares that this Jesus has been exalted to the right hand of God. We know that, when God raised Him up again, He seated Jesus at His right hand (Mark 16:19; Eph. 1:20; Heb. 1:3). So, now Jesus is at God’s right hand. Hold that thought until we consider 2:34.

Acts 2:33b. Peter also declares that Jesus is the one who “poured forth” the promised Holy Spirit. Now, to understand what Peter is doing, we need to look back in Acts 2 to the quote from Joel 2:28-32a in Acts 2:17-21. There we read (Acts 2:17) “THAT I WILL POUR FORTH OF MY SPIRIT ON ALL MANKIND.” But we need to know who is speaking in Joel 2:28, 29/Acts 2:17, 18. Who is it that will “pour forth His Spirit?” To answer that question, we need only look back one verse to Joel 2:27, where we read, “I am the LORD your God, And there is no other.” The LORD your God is the one speaking in Acts 2:17, 18 and so “the LORD your God is the one who will “pour forth His Spirit.” But notice that Peter has declared that Jesus has poured forth the promised Holy Spirit. So, from the prophet Joel we can conclude that Jesus is the Lord.

Acts 2:34. Here, the apostle Peter first establishes that Jesus, not David, ascended into heaven, and then Peter quotes Psalm 110:1.

‘The Lord said to my Lord,
“Sit at My right hand,
Until I make Your enemies a footstool for Your feet.”’

The main point to notice in this passage is that, according to Psalm 110:1, the Lord is seated at the LORD’s right hand. But wait! Peter has already demonstrated, in 2:33a, that Jesus is at God’s right hand. What do we conclude? Again, we must conclude that Jesus is the Lord.

Acts 2:35. Peter simply finishes the rest of Psalm 110:1. He has made his second point, that Jesus is Lord, and so will conclude his message.

CLOSING

Acts 2:36. With this verse, Peter will put the final nail in the coffin. He has demonstrated from Scripture that this Jesus is the Christ (2:24-32). He has proven from Scripture that this Jesus is the Lord (2:33-35). Now Peter delivers all the guilt of crucifying the Messiah onto the heads of all the house of Israel as he proclaims, “This Jesus whom you crucified is both Lord and Christ!”

CONCLUSION

What we have discovered in this two-part series is that the apostle Peter, an untrained fisherman from Galilee, has, by the power of the Holy Spirit, masterfully proven from two Davidic psalms, Psalm 16 and Psalm 110, that Jesus the Nazarene is, in fact, the Lord of the universe and the promised Messiah, the Christ.

SDG                 rmb                 11/18/2022                 #588

This Jesus whom you crucified (Acts 2:22-36)

POST OVERVIEW. The first post of a two-post series which examines Peter’s sermon on the day of Pentecost. This first post will provide some background for the apostle’s message, revealing the Holy Spirit’s inspiration. The second post will be a verse by verse exegesis of the sermon, showing how Peter brilliantly makes his meaning clear.

PENTECOST

The importance of the events of Pentecost in Acts 2 can scarcely be overstated. The Holy Spirit comes like a mighty rushing wind, manifesting Himself as tongues of fire; Galileans spontaneously speak in many of the languages of the Mediterranean world; Peter preaches the first sermon of the church age; three thousand people hear the message, repent, and are baptized; and the New Testament church is born. In my most recent study of Acts, I have been struck by the brilliance of Peter’s sermon and how, by carefully expositing the Scripture, he leads his Jewish audience to the conclusion that Jesus the Nazarene (Acts 2:22) is, in fact, Jesus, both Lord and Christ (2:36). We will spend a couple of sessions looking at Peter’s sermon to understand what he is proclaiming and how he communicates his message.

The section of Scripture we will be exploring is Acts 2:22-36, which is the main body of the sermon and contains Peter’s most important points. I will cover this in two posts. This first post will consider the background issues of the label “Jesus the Nazarene” and the two Davidic psalms which Peter quotes in his sermon. Then the second post will build on the first post and explain the passage verse by verse.

JESUS THE NAZARENE

Peter begins the main body of his sermon by speaking of our Lord as “Jesus the Nazarene” (Acts 2:22). He begins here because this is where most of his audience is in their thinking about Jesus. To them, Jesus was a maverick prophet, an upstart who had been exposed by the religious leaders and executed by the Romans almost two months ago. For many, Jesus had probably been forgotten, just another renegade among a long line of heretics. “Yes, we remember that Jesus the Nazarene. So what?”

But there is a theological reason why Peter speaks first about Jesus the Nazarene. This label is a term of derision that speaks of Jesus’ humiliation, of His human childhood in the dusty streets of Nazareth, in an obscure backwater of Galilee of the Gentiles (Isaiah 9:1). In this description there is no hint that this Jesus is the Son of God, the King of kings and the Lord of lords, the Maker of all things visible and invisible. Instead, Peter starts with Jesus the Nazarene, “the carpenter, the son of Mary” (Mark 6:3), the one who was without honor in His hometown and who was almost killed after He gave His first public reading of Scripture (Luke 4:16-30).

Jesus the Nazarene “was despised and forsaken of men. He was despised, and we did not esteem Him” (Isaiah 53:3). After Philip tells Nathanael that they have found the Messiah, Jesus of Nazareth (John 1:45), Nathanael asks, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” (1:46). This is the message of the label “Jesus the Nazarene.”

Jesus the Nazarene speaks of the Man we see in Philippians 2:6-8. God the Son, equal in every way with God the Father, “emptied Himself and humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.” Jesus is first presented as the Nazarene because it is in His abject humiliation that the Lord of glory could be “nailed to a cross by the hands of godless men and put to death” (Acts 2:23). So Peter begins his message by talking about Jesus the Nazarene, Jesus in His lowly and inauspicious humanity.

THE DAVIDIC PSALMS 16 AND PSALM 110

The next background issue we will consider is the nature of the two Davidic psalms Peter quotes in his sermon, Psalm 16 and Psalm 110. It is important to note that both these passages were unsolved mysteries, even to the Hebrew scholars of the day. Psalm 16:8-11 and Psalm 110:1 were acknowledged to be Messianic, but the exact meaning of these Scriptures was unknown.

For example, what David meant in Psalm 16:10 when he wrote, “You will not allow Your Holy One to undergo decay” (quoted in Acts 2:27) was a mystery to both Sadducee and Pharisee. If the Pharisees (who believed in a resurrection) had seen this verse as telling of a resurrection, they probably would have adopted that view, but then they would immediately have been confronted with the question, “Resurrection of whom?” The most likely understanding of “Your Holy One” would be the Messiah, but that would mean that the Messiah would need to die and then be resurrected before He began to decay, and none of that made any sense before Christ. So, the meaning of Psalm 16:10 remained opaque until Pentecost.

The other psalm that Peter quotes is Psalm 110. Like Psalm 16, Psalm 110 was also regarded as Messianic and like Psalm 16, the meaning of this psalm was also a mystery. Especially opaque was the understanding of Psalm 110:1 – The Lord says to my Lord: “Sit at My right hand until I make Your enemies a footstool for Your feet.” The difficulties of interpreting this verse are perhaps even greater in the original Hebrew, which reads, “Yahweh says to my Adonai.” Here are some of the questions the interpreter needs to answer from this one verse:

  • How can God speak to God (Yahweh to Adonai)?
  • When does this conversation between Yahweh and Adonai take place? What is the context of this dialog?
  • Where had Adonai been that He was only now taking His seat at Yahweh’s right hand?
  • Although this psalm is obviously Messianic, where is the Messiah in this psalm?

Because a cohesive interpretation eluded even the wisest scholar, Psalm 110:1 remained an unsolved puzzle, shrouded in mystery until Pentecost.

But the main point here is that Peter’s sermon at Pentecost did not introduce some new heretical interpretations of well-known passages of Scripture. Rather, we see that Peter’s sermon simultaneously revealed the true meaning of two well-known but mysterious Davidic psalms and clearly demonstrated from these psalms that this Jesus is both Lord and Christ. Astonishingly, Peter, an untrained fisherman from Galilee, had suddenly emerged as an expert in Scriptural interpretation and as a powerful orator. The only explanation was that he had been filled with the Holy Spirit (Acts 1:8). And also, wasn’t he one of those who had been with Jesus (Acts 4:13)?

With this understanding of the label “Jesus the Nazarene” and given some background on Psalm 16 and Psalm 110, we are ready to begin going carefully through Peter’s sermon and exegeting it verse by verse. We will do that in our next post.

SDG                 rmb                 11/16/2022                 #587

A race against time (Ephesians 5:15-16)

POST OVERVIEW. A meditation on the use of our time as a disciple of Jesus.

From the time the disciple is called to faith, from the moment he begins following Jesus, the disciple is in a race against time. What do I mean by this? After a person comes to faith in Christ, the believer gains a new awareness of the brevity of life and of its fleeting nature. Having passed from death to life (John 5:24), the follower of Jesus begins to understand that “childhood and the prime of life are fleeting” (Ecclesiastes 11:10), and that “now” is the only time he has. With the new eyes of faith, the believer sees that life can only be spent and that life is to be given away in service to the Lord and to others (2 Cor. 12:15).

The new believer also has a sense of duty that did not exist before, a desire to glorify the Lord with his life. There is now a God-given purpose to the disciple’s life that replaces the previous selfish ambitions. “To live is Christ and to die is gain” (Phil. 1:21) and with this compelling purpose comes a greater awareness of the finish line. “We must work the works of [the Lord] as long as it is day; night is coming when no one can work” (John 9:4). The disciple is increasingly aware that, unless the Lord returns first, night is coming. There is coming a day when his race will have been run (2 Tim. 4:7), and the question will be, “Have I fought the good fight, have I kept the faith?” So, before that day, the disciple is eager to “walk not as unwise men but as wise, making the most of the time for the days are evil” (Eph. 5:15-16). In this sense, then, the disciple is in a race against time.

RACING AGAINST TIME TO DO WHAT?

With the unknown finish line coming irresistibly closer, what is it that the disciple is racing against time to do? Here are some of my own ideas.

Every disciple has been called to Christ to accomplish the good works which God prepared beforehand for him to do (Eph. 2:10) and so I desire to complete these good works before I am taken away by death or the Lord’s return.

There is a race against time to leave a legacy, to accomplish “a great work” that the Lord has given only me to do. Nehemiah was called to leave his job as a cupbearer to the king and rebuild the wall in Jerusalem. He said to his two nemeses, Sanballat and Tobiah, “I am doing a great work” and I cannot be distracted (Neh. 6:3). Gideon was chosen to defeat the Midianites (Judges 6-8). Joshua led the nation of Israel into the Promised Land. Solomon built the temple in Jerusalem. Noah built an ark. Perhaps God will be gracious to give me a great work as well. So, there is a race to leave my legacy.

In Matthew 13:3, we read, “The sower went out to sow.” The Lord has given me a sack of gospel seeds to scatter and I want my sack to be empty before I am called home. So, there is a race against time to scatter gospel seeds.

There are so many who do not know about Jesus and His finished work on the cross and the salvation that He offers to lost sinners. But I do know Jesus, and it is a race against time to tell as many as I can about my great King.

From time to time, my fellow disciples can become discouraged by the trials and pressures of the world and by the evil in the world, and I am racing against time to encourage as many as I can, “to spur them on to love and good deeds” (Hebrews 10:24). Also, I have been given gifts of teaching and so I am in a race against time to edify others with power from the Word.

When I came to Christ more than thirty years ago, I was morally polluted and had developed ungodly habits of life and thought and had a foul mouth. But God has been changing me day by day over these thirty years so that I have made progress in my sanctification. Now I want to display this ransomed life to the world to show God’s power to transform anyone into His useful instrument.

Finally, the Lord has entrusted me with significant financial resources and I am in a race against time to wisely spend the money entrusted to me so that I do not die with a lot of unused funds. The man in Luke 12 was a fool for building bigger barns and not being rich toward God. In the same way, I want to be generous in wise investments of the Lord’s money as a good steward.

So, I am racing against time to accomplish these things with my remaining years.

SDG                 rmb                 11/15/2022                 #586

A definition of discipleship

OVERVIEW. Over the past several months, I have been gathering ideas and writing about the broad topic of discipleship for the purpose of organizing these thoughts and ideas into a book on the subject. This post is my attempt at a comprehensive definition of discipleship to be used in that book. In this post, the definition is stated and then explained word by word. In all this work on discipleship, the key verse is Philippians 2:12, where Paul commands us, “Work out your salvation with fear and trembling.”

So then, my beloved, just as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your salvation with fear and trembling. – Philippians 2:12

The purpose of this article is to state and explain the definition of discipleship I will be using in all my writing and my work on the subject of discipleship. My definition is based on Paul’s words in Philippians 2:12, where the apostle commands every disciple of Jesus to “work out your salvation with fear and trembling.” This “working out” is the task of discipleship, but what does this mean to the 21st century disciple? Answering that question begins with defining what we mean when we use the word “discipleship.”

Another comment is probably in order here. The definition that I am proposing for discipleship is demanding, but I think this is the challenging task to which we are called as followers of the Lord Jesus. It is the most glorious calling imaginable for any mortal, to be called to live in fellowship with the living God and to display His glory through this jar of clay. Therefore, the lifelong task of “working out my salvation” such that my life conforms more and more to the perfect righteousness of Christ imputed to me through faith should be likewise demanding.

DEFINITION OF DISCIPLESHIP

Discipleship is the lifelong process of conscious, intentional, purposeful actions taken by the disciple aimed at progressively conforming the disciple into the likeness of Jesus Christ in thought, word, and deed in all areas of the disciple’s life.

Lifelong – The process of discipleship is begun as soon after justification (conversion) as possible and then continues until the disciple’s last breath. This process lasts the rest of life because there is always more to learn and more “conforming” that needs to take place to move the fallen and redeemed man into the image of Christ. Thus, in discipleship there is no retirement, because the phase that follows discipleship is to be without sin, either in heaven with Christ as disembodied souls awaiting the resurrection or in eternity as glorified saints.

Process – While justification is an event that occurs at a point in time, discipleship is process of many incremental steps over a long period of time.

Conscious – The actions the disciple takes aimed at his own growth in Christlikeness are taken consciously. The disciple is aware that he is taking these actions and is aware why he is taking these actions. The actions are thus clearly volitional.

Intentional – The actions the disciple takes are selected based on the fact that these actions bring about the desired result. The actions are selected based on wisdom and are executed after planning.

Purposeful – In the ideal, each action is taken to achieve a specific purpose or objective. There is a target in mind, a reason for the action. The goal is not to merely generate activity but is to move one step closer to the perfection of Jesus Christ in some area of discipleship. Paul did not box as a man beating the air (1 Cor. 9:26). Metaphorically, Paul boxed in order to knock out his opponent. Therefore, he “exercised self-control in all things” (9:25).He “bruised his body to make it his slave” (9:27). These are discipleship words which speak of vigorous effort aimed toward a conscious purpose.

Actions (or activities) – The result of a discipleship plan is visible, intentional action. The disciple sees areas in his walk with Christ that need to grow and then moves confidently into those areas to work out that growth. Like the salmon that will jump up the waterfall until it gains the higher stream, so the disciple continues to act until he gains the desired spiritual growth. The disciple manifests his desire for spiritual growth by intentional actions.

Aimed at (see “Purposeful”)

Progressively conforming – The aim of each conscious, intentional action is to produce change in the disciple such that the flesh is weakened and opposed and that holiness and obedience to Christ are strengthened and are more evident in the disciple’s life.

In thought, word, and deed – Our thoughts are open before God (Hebrews 4:13) and will be manifested in our words (“out of the heart, the mouth speaks”) and evidenced in our deeds. “The LORD desires truth in the innermost part” (Psalm 51:6) and His disciple “hungers and thirsts for righteousness” (Matt. 5:6), so the goal of discipleship is for the disciple always to be growing in Christlikeness in all areas of life.

SDG                 rmb                 11/9/2022                   #585

The disciple’s justification (Phil. 2:12-13)

POST OVERVIEW. This post begins a short series of articles on Philippians 2:12-13, exploring how the disciple of Jesus can work out their salvation with fear and trembling. The first post examines the doctrine of justification as background for study of sanctification.

The New Testament introduces us to the incarnate Son of God, the Lord Jesus Christ, and has as its central theme the gospel of salvation. This gospel states that, for anyone who will place their faith in Jesus and confess Jesus Christ as Lord, God will forgive their sins and will save them from His wrath and give them eternal life. After this salvation event, the believer commits to walk with Christ for the rest of their life in obedience to His commands. One of the words the New Testament uses for the event of salvation is justification, and the believer’s subsequent walk of increasing holiness is called sanctification. This short series is mostly on sanctification, but we first need to understand justification in order to fully understand sanctification.

JUSTIFICATION

We have already spoken about the salvation event as justification, but we need to be a little more precise. Justification is the event whereby a sinner is declared fully and forever righteous in the sight of God because of the sinner’s professed faith in Jesus Christ as Lord.

Three things should be noted about this definition. First, this justification is an event, not a process. Although the journey to the point of salvation may take years, justification itself occurs at a point in time. It is a one-time, once-for-all event that has eternal results. This is the moment when the sinner passes from death to life (John 5:24). This is the moment of spiritual birth when one is born again (John 3:3, 5). God justifies the sinner when he initially professes his faith in Jesus. So, event, not process.

But second, in justification, the sinner is declared righteous on the basis of their profession of faith in the Lord Jesus. God declares as righteous the one who confesses Jesus as Lord. Thus the believer, having been declared righteous upon their initial faith in Jesus, is forever viewed as righteous. This also means that all true followers of Jesus are equally justified and equally righteous, even though there may be great differences in terms of the disciples’ actual progress in practical holiness. Justification is God’s declaration of righteousness, not a reward for the disciple’s own efforts.

Third, justification is based solely on the repentant sinner’s initial profession of faith in Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior. That is, “having heard the message of truth, the gospel of salvation” (Ephesians 1:13) and having understood that Jesus has come from heaven to die on the cross as a “ransom for many” (Mark 10:45), the sinner believes in Jesus and publicly professes Jesus Christ as their own Lord and Savior.

JUSTIFICATION IS ENTIRELY THE WORK OF GOD

Notice that, in justification, God is the only actor. The Bible presents justification as entirely the work of God. God is the One who justifies (Romans 8:33). God is just and the Justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus (Romans 3:26 in the powerful verses of 3:21-26). God is the One who justifies the circumcised (Jewish people) by faith and the uncircumcised (Gentiles) through faith (Romans 3:29-30). All this attests to the fact that our God is the One who does the work of justification. In justification, God is active and the believer is passive. God declares righteous and the believer receives righteousness. God is the actor and the believer is the object. It is God alone who “delivers us from the domain of darkness and transfers us into the kingdom of His beloved Son” (Colossians 1:13).

Having gotten a good handle on justification, in the next post in this series we will turn our attention to the corresponding subject of sanctification.

SDG                 rmb                 10/5/2022                   #579

“Did Adam have a belly button?”

POST OVERVIEW. How to turn a silly question into an opportunity for extolling the glories of our crucified Savior.

Imagine you are trying to engage someone in a meaningful spiritual conversation, either for the purpose of introducing them to the gospel or because you wish to help them go deeper in their walk with Christ or simply because you are hungry for some spiritual meat in a cultural sea of baby food and pork rinds. Just as you attempt to turn the discussion Christ-ward, the other person asks, with a smirk on their face, “What do you think? Did Adam have a belly button?” The question is intentionally silly and irreverent, a meaningless query of utter insignificance, and your irritation burns. But before you turn and walk away, realize that the conversation does not need to end here. Your friend has brought up Adam’s belly button.

LET’S TALK ABOUT ADAM

“You bring up an interesting question. I am assuming you are referring to the first man, who was created by God, right?” Maybe. “Well, that means that you think that Adam really existed, and that God created him.” Hmmm. “And while the Bible gives no information about Adam’s belly button, either pro or con, the Bible is very clear that the second Adam, Jesus Christ, the Son of God, definitely had a belly button.” And now the direction of the conversation has changed for the better.

The Bible teaches that our Savior, Jesus, was born of a woman (Gal. 4:4) in the likeness of sinful flesh (Romans 8:3), in the same way that all of Adam’s fallen posterity were born. Jesus, the second Adam, was given a body with flesh and blood so that His flesh could be broken and His blood could be shed. He was given a physical body so that He, the eternal Son of God, could die as a sacrifice for sin. [ASIDE: Consider the “dilemma” confronting God before Jesus’ incarnation. The Law demanded a blood sacrifice for the forgiveness of sin but, because of the magnitude of the sin that needed to be forgiven, only the death of God would be sufficient to pay for the sins of God’s people. But how would it be possible for God, who lives eternally and can never die, to die for His people? The gospel declares that Jesus, God the Son, was given a physical flesh and blood body that could die (see Hebrews 2:14-15) so that He could lay His physical life down (John 10:11-18) as a sacrifice for the sins of His people. END ASIDE]

Adam left this world fundamentally different from the world that he entered. Adam rebelled against God and so brought sin and death into the world. Adam’s sin ruined God’s perfect creation and brought all mankind into a state of sin, ushering the seeds of chaos and rebellion and destruction into the whole creation. This was the work of the first Adam.

Jesus, the second Adam, also left the world fundamentally different from the world that He entered. Jesus perfectly fulfilled the entire Law by His active obedience of all the Law’s demands and commandments. Thus, Jesus vanquished sin by His obedience (He never sinned) and by His sacrificial death on the cross (He atoned for the sins of His people by His own blood sacrifice). Jesus also conquered death when He was raised from the dead, never to die again (Romans 6:9). Jesus’ resurrection guaranteed that the groaning creation will one day be redeemed into the freedom of the glory of the children of God (Romans 8:21.)

The atonement of all the sins of all His people. The promise to all His people of a future resurrection. The redemption of the whole fallen creation. The fulfillment of the Law so that His perfect righteousness is imputed to all His people. This was the work of the second Adam.

A comparison of the work of Adam with the work of the second Adam, Jesus, is presented below. Paul’s inspired comparison is contained in Romans 5:12-21.

First AdamSecond Adam (Jesus)
• Rebelled against the one command he received in paradise.• Perfectly obeyed all the commandments of the Law.
•  Brought sin and condemnation into the world.•  Atoned for the sins of His people and removed condemnation.
•  Brought death into the world.•  Vanquished death for all His people.
•  Ruined man’s fellowship with God by his sin.•  Reconciled man with God by the blood of His cross (Colossians 1:20).

So when a spiritual conversation turns to the question of belly buttons, let’s use it as an opportunity to extol the glories of our crucified Savior and the work He accomplished. He is the One who willingly left the praises of myriads of angels (Rev. 5:11) to receive a human body, with a belly button, so that He could be crucified for the sins of His people.

SDG                 rmb                 9/14/2022                   #572

All the advantages which do not save (Israel in Romans)

INTRODUCTION. A TECHNICAL, TEACHING POST. An article based on the book of Romans considering why all the advantages given to Israel did not result in their salvation. The Scripture passages are from Romans 2, 3, and 9-11. My musings on these passages will someday result in a completed work, perhaps a short book that carefully works through Romans 9-11 and shows the beauty of Paul’s argument in that section of Scripture.

One of the underlying themes of the book of Romans, especially in Romans 9-11, is the question of why Israel, with so many apparent advantages given to her, remained a religious but faithless nation with only a remnant coming to faith. So, let’s think about this together.

ROMANS 3 GIVES A BRIEF FORETASTE OF ROMANS 9-11

Paul states that the Jews did have a tremendous advantage over the other nations (Gentiles) in being “entrusted with the oracles of God” (Romans 3:1-2). That is, the Jews were the only people who had access to the Scriptures, to the word of the living God. Having the word of God not only was a demonstration of God’s special grace to the nation of Israel, but it also allowed the Jews to be aware of their sin. “Through the Law comes the knowledge of sin” (Romans 3:20; see also 7:7). To paraphrase 2 Corinthians 4:7, the Jews had this treasure in dusty scrolls.

But while Paul admits that the Jews had an advantage in being entrusted with the Scriptures (3:1-2), he also makes clear that merely having and hearing the Scriptures accomplishes nothing with regard to salvation.

For example, in Romans 2:12, we read that the Gentile who does not have the Law and the Jew who does have the Law will both be condemned because of their sin. Thus, merely having the Law is of no consequence regarding salvation.

In Romans 2:13, we read, “It is not the hearers of the Law who are just before God, but the doers of the Law will be justified” (2:13). That means that a Jew who hears the Law and does not do the Law is no better off than the Gentile who does not hear the Law and does not do the Law, since doing the Law is what is required to be justified.

To summarize this brief discussion of Romans 2-3, we would say that, while it was a huge privilege to be entrusted with the oracles of God (3:2), this gave the Jews no advantage with regard to salvation. So, this “advantage” is really not an advantage.

ADVANTAGES FOR THE JEWS IN ROMANS 9-11?

Now I want to jump over to Romans 9-11 and consider what is going on in some of the verses here. In 9:4-5, Paul lists eight apparent advantages that the Jews had under the old covenant. To the Jews “belongs the adoption as sons, and the glory and the covenants and the giving of the Law and the temple service and the promises, whose are the fathers, and from whom is the Christ according to the flesh.” An examination of this list will reveal that these gifts from the Lord were fuel for religious pride, but they were unrelated to salvation. In other words, when we look at this list with a new covenant lens, it becomes plain that they provide no advantage to the Jew. Under the new covenant, faith is necessary for the sinner to be declared righteous. Ceremonial laws and fulfilled covenants and patriarchs were things of the past. Christ has come and the old covenant is obsolete. Therefore, clinging to the religious past is actually a disadvantage.

So, as we begin Romans 9-11, we are aware that despite all these apparent advantages, most Jews did not believe. They had heard the Word, as stated in Romans 10:18. Paul rhetorically asks, “Surely, Israel did not know, did they?” (10:19), and then twice answers it in the affirmative (“O yes, they did know”) by a quote from Moses in the Law and by a quote from Isaiah. Israel heard but did not believe. Israel knew the truth but did not believe the truth.

FROM HEARING TO CALLING ON THE LORD

We need to take a brief aside here to explore Romans 10:14-15. Here Paul declares that calling on the Lord, which results in being saved (10:13), requires believing in the Lord, and believing requires hearing the gospel, and hearing the gospel requires a preacher, and a preacher must be sent. This means that, for the ultimate end of calling on the Lord and being saved, it is necessary that a person hear a herald proclaim the good news. Paul makes clear that, if you do not hear the good news, there is no way to believe the good news, and if you do not believe the good news, you will never call on the Lord and be saved. So, to be saved, it is necessary that you hear the good news about Christ and His salvation. Paul states this truth in Romans 10:17, where he says, “So, [saving] faith comes from hearing and hearing by the word of Christ.” So far, so good.

NECESSARY BUT NOT SUFFICIENT

But now things get much more interesting, for while it is necessary to hear the good news to be saved, it is apparently not sufficient. To be saved, a person must not only hear the gospel, but they must heed the gospel. Notice that in Romans 10:16, Paul says, “However, they did not all heed the good news; for Isaiah says, ‘LORD, WHO HAS BELIEVED OUR REPORT?’” (Isaiah 53:1). Paul says it is possible to hear and not to heed.

And this leads us back to the difficulty about Israel (the Jews). Under the old covenant, Israel had the Law but did not obey the Law. Under the new covenant, Israel heard the gospel but did not heed the gospel. Notice again that faith (salvation) comes from hearing (10:17), but the Jews had heard (10:18) and yet did not believe. Israel knew the truth (10:19) but did not believe the truth. Instead, with full access to the saving word of God, Israel remained “a disobedient and obstinate people” (10:21).

Meanwhile, after Pentecost, the Gentiles, who previously had been denied access to the Word, and who had been “separate from Christ, excluded from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers to the covenants of promise” (Eph. 2:12), began coming to faith in large numbers. These, “who did not pursue righteousness, attained righteousness, even the righteousness which is by faith, but Israel (the Jews) did not” (Romans 9:30-31).

WHY DO THE GENTILES BELIEVE AND ISRAEL DOES NOT?

But if Israel, with full access to God and to the oracles of God, did not believe, and the Gentiles, who for centuries were denied access to the Word and who were excluded from the worship of the Lord, began coming to Christ in large numbers, we must ask the question, “Why? Why is it that Israel, with all the advantages, who knew and who possessed and who heard the Word, did not believe, but the Gentiles simply heard the good news and believed?”

We could take another approach with this difficulty. We have seen that both Israel and the Gentiles had met the necessary requirement of hearing the good news, but that only the Gentiles had what was sufficient for them to believe. With this approach, then, the question would be, “What did the Gentiles have that allowed them to heed the good news that Israel lacked?” What is the mysterious ingredient that moves a person from merely hearing the good news to believing the good news? What supplies the sufficiency?

Paul write Romans 9-11 to answer precisely these questions, and the simple statement of Paul’s answer is, “The reason some are saved and others are not saved is entirely dependent on God’s sovereign election.” God is the One who decides who will and who will not believe the gospel. Whether you are steeped in all the teaching of rabbinical Judaism, like Paul and the Pharisees, or you come from a pagan culture, like those in Lystra (Acts 14), God is the One who decides who will and who won’t believe. The overarching message of Romans 9-11 is that God is sovereign in salvation.

SDG                 rmb                 7/22/2022                   #554

But does the Lord know you? (Matthew 7:21-23)

INTRODUCTION. While it is vitally important that a person come to that place where he knows the Lord, it is of much greater significance that the Lord knows him. This post considers the chilling situation where people found out on the last day that Jesus did not know them, despite their best efforts and impressive works.

21 “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter. 22 Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?’ 23 And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness.’ – Matthew 7:21-23

This study is considering Matthew 7:21-23. In these verses, the question is not whether these people “know the Lord,” for it is apparent that they think they know Him. They call to the Lord in familiar tones. They assume they have a satisfactory acquaintance with Him to gain a favorable reply. These people even have impressive religious deeds that they present to the Lord as proof of their relationship. “Look, Lord, here’s all our work!” (7:22). But again, the question is not whether these people know the Lord. The question is, ”Does the sovereign Lord Jesus know them?  And on that day the Lord gives the terrifying reply,

“I never knew you.”

You may profess to know the Lord, but does the Lord know you? That’s the question we must answer. Notice that many will come to Him on that day claiming to know Him (7:22). Apparently, it is common for people to assume they know Jesus savingly, but to be wrong in their assumption. Then, on that awesome last day, when the Son of Man sits on His glorious throne and separates the sheep from the goats, many who anticipated entering into the joy of the Master will be thrown out into the outer darkness.

“I never knew you. Depart from Me!” (Matt. 7:23).

“Depart from Me, accursed ones, into the eternal fire” (Matt. 25:41).

O, there are no more devastating words imaginable. “I never knew you. Depart from Me.” These are words of ultimate judgment from the highest Judge. The sentence has been passed, a sentence that cannot be altered and that brings eternal ruin.

HOW CAN WE AVOID THEIR ERROR?

How could these people have been so disastrously mistaken about their own eternal destiny? More importantly, how can we make sure that we do not make the same catastrophic error? I believe that we can have confidence about our relationship with the Lord by remembering that the Lord is asking questions of His own about our relationship with Him.

QUESTIONS THE LORD MIGHT BE ASKING

The Lord might say, “Those whom I know come to Me in prayer for sweet times of fellowship. But how often have you come to Me simply to enjoy My presence? Do you delight in My company?” If you delight in the Lord’s company, then you can be certain He delights in you. “For the LORD takes pleasure in His people” (Psalm 149:4). If you fear the LORD, then you can be sure He knows you and favors you. “The LORD favors those who fear Him” (Psalm 147:11).

He may ask, “When you are afraid, do you come to Me and cry out for deliverance from your fears or rescue from the things that are making you fearful?” “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble” (Psalm 46:1). Jesus may be saying, “Those who know Me ‘cry aloud with their voice to Me. They make supplication with their voice to Me’ (Psalm 142:1), but I have not heard your voice calling to Me when you were afraid.” If you cry out to the LORD when you are afraid and trust Him to deliver you, you can be certain He knows you.

DO YOU TELL OTHERS ABOUT YOUR FRIEND, JESUS?

Jesus may ask, “When have you talked about Me with other people? Have you ‘been My witness even to the remotest part of the earth’ (Acts 1:8), or have you more often been silent about knowing Me, almost as if you were ‘ashamed of Me and My words’ (Luke 9:26)?” Know that the bold witness for the Lord is certainly known by the Lord.

We may hear Jesus say, “When have you told other people about My work of creation or about My finished work of salvation? Have you boasted of Me to friend and stranger alike, ‘that you understand and know  Me, that I am the Lord who exercises lovingkindness, justice, and righteousness on earth’ (Jeremiah 9:24)?

THE VOICE OF THE LORD

In the gospel of John, there is an emphasis on the voice of the Lord. In John 10, Jesus talks about the shepherd of the sheep, saying, “the sheep hear his voice and the sheep follow him because they know his voice” (John 10:3-4). It is obvious that the Lord is speaking about Himself as the good shepherd (10:11) and the sheep as being those who truly know Him as their Shepherd. But as Jesus culminates His teaching, He says, “My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me” (John 10:27). Have you heard Jesus’? Do you know what He sounds like? For Jesus knows His sheep, and His sheep know Him.

In John 20, after Jesus’ resurrection, Mary Magdalene is at the tomb weeping because the body of Jesus is gone (20:11, 13). The risen Jesus speaks to her (20:15), but in her grief and confusion, she does not recognize His voice. But notice that Jesus does recognize Mary and He does recognize her voice because Jesus knows His sheep (10:27). My point is Jesus knows her and knows her voice. But does the Savior know your voice? Is He familiar with your voice because the halls of heaven frequently ring with the sound of your voice? If you call to Him continually, you can be certain that He knows you.

SUMMARY

We can be confident on that day that the Lord knows us if today we are delighting in Him and trusting Him when we are afraid and calling out to Him so that He knows our voice.

SDG                 rmb                 7/7/2022                     #552