Do you ever feel like you are living in between two realities — like there’s a tension in where you are and where you want to be?
In a sense, all of us are, especially if you are saved. There is the reality of what Jesus has done in dying for our sins and raising again (1 Corinthians 15:3-4). There’s the reality of when His Spirit convicted us of our sin and we turned — repented — from our sin and put our faith and trust in Jesus (John 16:8, Acts 2:38)….
Those who are saved know and understand that reality. They understand that confessing Jesus as Lord and believing He is risen is an eternal-life altering moment (Romans 10:9-10). And with that comes the assurance that Jesus is alive and reigning despite the way this world is going (Ephesians 1:20-21, Colossians 1:17-18). There is assurance that Jesus cannot be defeated. There is assurance that Jesus has promised to return for His Bride, the Church, in victory and bring her to be with Him forever and ever (John 14:3, Revelation 19:7-9). There is assurance that He who promised is faithful (Hebrews 10:23).
But living in between those bookends is tough. Salvation is already and, at the same time, not yet. There is a tension because we struggle with sin inside us and without us (Romans 7:21-25). There is a spiritual battle being waged (Ephesians 6:12), and with it comes pain and struggle and sorrow and danger and mourning and threat and…well, that list can go on and on, can’t it?
I’ve been thinking about that tension a lot this week, and, thankfully, the tension drove me to Jesus in His Word. Let’s look at the bookends of Romans 8 to see just how faithful and powerful our God is!
There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death.
God tells us here that, for those who are in Christ, there is NOW “no condemnation”. If Jesus has saved you, you are saved. He has paid the death penalty for your sin and given you His righteousness (2 Corinthians 5:21).
Before He saves us, we are captives of our own sin yet we have no idea. We had a sort of sad Stockholm syndrome with our sin and could not see that our captor — the sin that we so enjoyed and pursued — was actively trying to kill us. But Jesus comes in as a powerful warrior King and rescues us from our captivity. He rides in and paid the price to free us. As the old hymn says, He sought us and bought us with His redeeming blood. Death and sin no longer own those He saves. He bore our sin and paid our price by His death to set us free and give us His life.
This is a powerful bookend — a significant beginning where our lifeless corpse, killed by the wages of our sin, is filled with life better than anything we could even hope for. But the life we have is still in a world where death and sin is rampant. The Fall is everywhere and still falling. There are temporal dangers that bring fear and reminders of captivity. They breathe threats that we still deserve condemnation. And our physical bodies, despite our eternal life, are decaying and dying.
Here in the middle is a scary place to be sometimes.
What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare His own Son but gave Him up for us all, how will He not also with Him graciously give us all things? Who shall bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. Who is to condemn? Christ is the One who died — more than that, who was raised — who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or danger, or sword?
These rhetorical questions are helpful here in the tension of living eternal life in this fallen world.
The accuser can throw our sin in our faces all he wants to. Our past can testify against us as vehemently as it wants to. If God is for us, none can stand against us. He gave His Son to save us and will not withhold His grace. There is no condemnation because Jesus justifies those He saves — justifies in the present-tense because Jesus is alive and seated at the right-hand of His Father and actively interceding for us!
So, in the midst of fear — in the midst of those frightening things Paul listed in v. 36: tribulation, distress, persecution, famine, danger, death by the sword — the answer to the question of “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?” is a clear and definite NO ONE!
If Jesus has saved you, the world can throw its worst at you, and its greatest threat — death — is your greatest reward. Death brings those who are in Christ TO Christ (Philippians 1:21-23). I don’t know about you, but that comforts me. I don’t have to survive to thrive. Jesus has saved me, so I thrive in Him and eternally no matter what happens here (John 10:28-29, 1 Peter 1:3-5). The greatest threats in the midst of tension are merely part of a testimony of what Jesus is bringing me through, even and especially when I can’t see it right now (Romans 8:28)! I can know that because my Savior lives and reigns and intercedes for me even now (Hebrews 7:25, Romans 8:34)!
How about you?
Are you in Christ?
If not, I invite you to call out to Him to save you (Romans 10:13)! He is still that valiant warrior King — the God who saves! He delights in reconciling sinners to Him (Zephaniah 3:17, 2 Corinthians 5:18-19)! He has the power to bring you from dead in sin to alive in Him (Ephesians 2:4-5).
If you are in Him, I invite you to breathe a sigh of relief because God has got you no matter what (John 16:33, Psalm 46:1-2). One way or the other, He is bringing you to Him (2 Corinthians 4:16-18), so let the things of this earth pale in comparison to His light and glory (Colossians 3:1-4)!
I invite you all to gather with us tomorrow at Christ Community as we sing to and about Jesus, all He has done and is doing. John will open the Word and point us to Jesus, the living Word of God (John 1:1, 14).
I can hardly wait.
In the midst of the tension between salvation and eternal life, we are going to remind each other of what He has done and can do — get a glimpse of what it will be to stand around His throne and worship Him — the Lamb who was slain, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ — forever and ever (Revelation 5:5-6, Titus 2:13).
21But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it— 22the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction: 23for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, 25whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God’s righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins. 26It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.
9But we see him who for a little while was made lower than the angels, namely Jesus, crowned with glory and honor because of the suffering of death, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone. 10For it was fitting that he, for whom and by whom all things exist, in bringing many sons to glory, should make the founder of their salvation perfect through suffering. 11For he who sanctifies and those who are sanctified all have one source. That is why he is not ashamed to call them brothers, 12saying,
“I will tell of your name to my brothers; in the midst of the congregation I will sing your praise.”
13And again,
“I will put my trust in him.”
And again,
“Behold, I and the children God has given me.”
14Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood, he himself likewise partook of the same things, that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil, 15and deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery.
This week has been long and tough, and I am in need of time spent with my brothers and sisters in Christ in worship of Him — “our great God and Savior” (Titus 2:13).
While this week has been long and tough, that does not necessarily mean that it has been bad. This ain’t that kind of post. No, it’s been long and tough, ultimately, in a good way. I am as filled with joy as I am tired.
I have gotten to be back with my school kiddos from last semester, and it has been a joy to me. They have grown and matured over the summer and teaching them again fills my heart with joy (and makes my knees hurt, too). A part of me has switched back on that has been idle for a few months. A part of my heart has been opened, almost as if it were a room that has been vacant has been opened and its curtains pulled back to let in the light and the dust covers pulled free. My classroom is open for business.
I am relearning the balance of vocation and ministry as well as getting back into the swing of being husband and father through all of it. This is not complaining. Balance is tough, but it is good. To paraphrase Popeye, I am who I am, and who I am is just me — rough edges as well as smooth. It is a joy to balance because all of these areas are part of who God called me to be in Him, and as I am His, so I am in all of it.
In the midst of the joy, there has also been sorrowful joy. My friend and mentor — one who helped me learn how to rightly divide the Word of God and who instilled in me what it is to faithful break down the Word of God in preaching — passed away. Bro. David Miller was unique and special to many. He was a mentor and friend to hundreds of preachers over the years and wanted no fame or glory for it as he was a self-proclaimed Country Preacher At-Large. He fought battles for orthodox Christian belief and biblical teaching in Southern Baptist life that were of vital importance but found time to invest in young preachers (in experience not necessarily age) with study resources and education, of which I am the least. He gave example in his preaching of teaching the deep things of the Word with clarity and making sure that we take the time to break them down that they can be understood. His life was a testimony to the grace of Jesus.
I came across an interview he did with Todd Friel and Wretched Radio, and I would like to share with you the way he explained salvation (I am providing the biblical cross-references because I don’t want you to take Bro. David’s word for it but to see what God’s Word says):
“We have no ability of our own to repent and believe (John 6:44, Ephesians 2:8-9). However, we can avail ourselves — if you are not a Christian in this room today you can avail yourself of the means of grace (Isaiah 55:6-7, Acts 17:30). You can bend your knee, and you can bow your heart (Philippians 2:10-11). And you can call upon the Lord (Romans 10:13). And you can beseech the the Lord for mercy, confess your sins, and trust Him to do a work of regeneration in your heart (Ezekiel 36:26-27, Titus 3:5, 1 John 1:9) — to give you, to infuse into you an inclination to turn from sin with godly sorrow and to believe the the gospel (2 Corinthians 7:10, Mark 1:15).
“That’s salvation.
“That gets you started.
“That’s salvation in the past tense (2 Timothy 1:9). This repenting and believing results in justification (Galatians 2:16). The Lord will clear you of guilt, declare you to be innocent, and give to you the imputed righteousness of Jesus Christ (Romans 5:1, 2 Corinthians 5:21). He’ll take the practical — not the intrinsic — the practical righteousness of Christ, His having fulfilled the Law as a substitute for sinners (Matthew 5:17, Romans 8:3-4), God will write that down on your account (Philippians 3:9). This will provide positional sanctification for you (1 Corinthians 1:30, Hebrews 10:10). When God looks upon you thereafter, He’ll see you as being in Christ, in possession in the righteousness of Christ (1 Corinthians 5:17, Philippians 3:9). You’ll never have any righteousness of your own; your righteousness will come from Christ (Isaiah 61:10).”
What a beautiful picture of the gospel of Jesus Christ — that Jesus paid the price for our sins and made a way for us to be saved by grace through faith in Him! Jesus saves, not based on any ability to earn it, and that is good news as all we are able to earn is death and condemnation because of our sin.
This hits different knowing that the “pasts tense salvation” Bro. David talked about is present tense for him now. His faith has been made sight. He spent decades confined to a wheel chair in a body that failed him gradually since he was sixteen, but now he has a new body. More than that, the surpassing worth of knowing Christ is paid in full as he knelt before his Savior face-to-face.
Tomorrow at Christ Community, Lord willing, we are going to gather in worship of our resurrected King, Jesus Christ. We are going to rejoice in the truth of His gospel — that He died for our sins, was buried, and rose again just as the Bible shows us (1 Corinthians 15:3-4). We are going to read His Word and hear His Word preached. We are going to lift our voices and sing to and about Him.
Jesus is the source of my joy, and I hope He is the source of yours as well. There is no pain He can not salve and no sinner He cannot save.
If you are not a Christian and reading this, seek Him while He may be found. Call upon Him to save you. Confess Him as Lord, believe He has risen, and He will save you. He promised He would for all who do so, and He who promised is faithful.
If you are a Christian and reading this, seek Him still. There is coming a day when all of the sad things of this earth will come untrue. The last tears will be dried by His nail-scarred hand, and there will be no more sorrow or mourning or pain because everything will be made new and we will dwell with our God forevermore.
Either way, YOU are INVITED to gather with us tomorrow and sing, read, and hear the gospel. YOU are INVITED to gather in worship of the King of kings. YOU are INVITED to celebrate the resurrection of Jesus.
1And you were dead in the trespasses and sins 2in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience — 3among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. 4But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which He loved us, 5even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ — by grace you have been saved — 6and raised us up with Him and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, 7so that in the coming ages He might show the immeasurable riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.
8For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, 9not a result of works, so that no one may boast. 10For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepares beforehand, that we should walk in them.
Actually, I’ve been excited all week because we have been having VBS at Christ Community Church! The theme of the week has been “Start the Party: Celebrate the Good News” and has been filled with celebrations of Jesus inviting people to follow Him — to come to Him! He’s STILL inviting people to come to Him to be saved, and that’s good news worth celebrating!
What does it mean to be saved?
Imagine someone swimming who has gone out over their head and is drowning. They can’t swim their way out, so they cry out for a lifeguard or someone to help them. If, thankfully, the lifeguard hears them and is able to rush to their rescue and pull them to safety on the shore, that person has been saved from drowning.
That same principle could also apply to someone who is stuck in a burning building and has fallen unconscious from smoke inhalation. Firefighters are called to the building and find them laying there. The firefighters pick up this totally helpless person, carry them out of the building, and get them the medical attention they need. The firefighters and paramedics have saved this person from danger and death.
In that same way, God provided Jesus to save or rescue sinners who put their trust in Him. That’s what being saved is: sinners putting their faith (trust/belief) in Jesus and asking Him to save them. No matter what we have done or who we are, Jesus can save us.
“For God so loved the world, that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life.”
Why do we need to be saved?
You might look at the illustration of the person drowning or trapped in a burning building and think that makes sense for them but not see yourself in any danger or in need of being saved. We need to be saved from the consequences of our sin, namely death (Romans 6:23). Sin is anything we think, say, or do that goes against God and what He has declared right.
The Bible teaches us that all of us have sinned (Romans 3:23), that “none is righteous, no not one” (Romans 3:10). The word used for sin in the Bible is an archery term that describes missing the bullseye, except it’s not quite that simple. God’s righteous standard is the bullseye, but we aren’t exactly aiming for the bullseye. In our sinfulness, we are aiming at whatever we want, thinking, saying, or doing whatever we want.
You see, sin is not an accidental miss of God’s bullseye because our aim is messed up with sin; no, our sin is us deciding we have a god-like ability to choose our own target or decide that what we want and the way we want to live is the bullseye. Imagine being at an archery tournament and, as the archers line up to take their shot, someone walks down the course, peels the target paper off of the designated holder, and walks over and just sticks it wherever they want. They could set it right in front of them a foot away or even tack it on to one of their competitors or simply take an arrow from their quiver and stick it straight through the middle. Would they win the competition? Absolutely not! You can’t have a moving target. And we do not get to decide what the standard is — what the bullseye is. God does.
That’s why the Bible describes all of us as sinners like this:
“…for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God….” (Romans 3:23).
The “glory of God” is His perfection, His holiness, and because of our sin, we miss the mark completely.
Romans 6:23 tells us that the “wages of sin is death”. This means that our sin earns us death and that there is nothing we can do to earn our way out of it. Thankfully, though, that is not the end of Romans 6:23! Check out the full verse:
“For the wages of sin is death, BUT the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
God has made a way for us! Just as we saw above in John 3:16, we see that Jesus paid the penalty for our sin by dying in our place and offers us life instead. That little word “but” in Romans 6:23 shows us that we do not have to get the death our sin earned us because we can trust in Jesus and confess Him as Lord and receive His free gift of eternal life instead! That’s good news!
How can you be saved?
The only way for us to be saved is to turn from our sins (and the punishment — death — we deserve because of it) to Jesus and put of faith and trust in Him. We turn from our sin because we realize we are in trouble and deserve death because of them. We turn to Jesus because we realize that, just like the illustration of the drowning person or the one trapped in the burning building, we cannot save ourselves. We need a Savior. The problem is, there aren’t people lined up to save sinners. Jesus is different. Look at the beautiful picture of God’s love in Jesus from Romans 5:8:
“God demonstrated His love for us in that, while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”
Jesus saves sinners.
To put or faith and trust in Him means that we believe that Jesus fully paid the penalty for our sins by dying on the cross and raising from the dead (1 Corinthians 15:3-4). It is trusting in what He has done for us, what He has earned. It is having faith that when He offers forgiveness, He means it and has paid the price to do it (Colossians 2:13-14)!
Here is how the Bible tells us we can be saved:
“if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved.” (Romans 10:9-10)
To be saved, one must confess Him as Lord, meaning we give our lives over to Him, trusting that He knows best and acknowledge He is God, asking Him to take charge of our lives. We tell Him that we believe He is who the Bible says He is: the Savior who died for our sins and rose again!
If we do this, not just saying the words but genuinely believing in Him and seeking Him, the Bible tells us that we are saved (Romans 10:13)!
That’s good news!
So, in the spirit of our celebration of that good news this week at VBS, I would like to offer you an invitation to come to Jesus — to look at your life and your sin and put your hope in Jesus. He is not a moving target but a loving and living Savior who wants to save. He is able to save.
That good news, really that “great God and Savior Jesus Christ” (Titus 2:13), is why we do what we do every Sunday at Christ Community. He is the subject and recipient of all we sing about. He through His Word is the substance of all of our preaching. We cannot offer social capital or monetary benefit, but we GET to point people to the God of the universe who is mighty to save!
Won’t you gather with us this Sunday?
And if you have read this and know you are not saved, I want to invite you to come and talk with us as we would love to introduce you to our great God and Savior!
24Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of His glory with great joy, 25to the only God, our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen.
15The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost. 16But I received mercy for this reason, that in me, as the foremost, Jesus Christ might display His perfect patience as an example to those who were to believe in Him for eternal life. 17To the King of the ages, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen.
17 And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him. — 20 Children, obey your parents in everything, for this pleases the Lord. 21 Fathers, do not provoke your children, lest they become discouraged.[1]
Christ Has Come – Week 3Episode Title: The Promised King & His Gift of JoyLuke 1:39–56In this Advent episode of Christ Has Come, Keith Harris turns to Luke 1 and invites us to slow down and listen to the joy that begins stirring before Bethlehem. Long before angels sing to shepherds, joy breaks the silence in the hill country of Judea—through a Spirit-filled confession, a leaping child, and the worshipful song of a young woman who trusts the promises of God.Together, we explore:What biblical joy is—and what it isn’t, distinguishing it from fleeting happiness or emotional highs.How joy appears before the word is even spoken, as John the Baptist leaps for joy in Elizabeth’s womb at the presence of the unborn Messiah.Why Mary’s joy is rooted not in circumstances but in God’s mercy, as she magnifies the Lord and rejoices in God her Savior.The meaning and message of the Magnificat, a Scripture-saturated song that celebrates God’s great reversal—lifting the lowly, filling the hungry, and humbling the proud.How Mary’s joy points beyond herself to Jesus, the promised King who fulfills God’s covenant promises and secures lasting joy through His saving work.This episode reminds us that joy is not something we manufacture—it’s something we receive, and it grows wherever Jesus is trusted. Advent teaches us that true joy is found not in having life figured out, but in the presence of Christ and the mercy He brings.If you would like to see a written version of this study, complete with footnotes and cross-references, you can find it here.
I have enjoyed hearing from many of you regarding how our last Bible study was helpful. When Jesus saves us by making us alive in Him (Ephesians 2:4-5), it really does impact our real, everyday lives (Ephesians 2:10), but it is helpful for us to realize that we are not the only ones struggling in our walk with Christ and trying to make it work. When Paul wrote to the Colossians (and us) that “whatever [we] do, in word or deed” – “everything” – is to be done “in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him”, he really meant everything, working from inside our homes and families outside to our vocations. Today, we are going to let God meddle in our homes once more.
Before we dive into today’s text, we need to be reminded that children are a blessing. This is not to say that we do not know this, but raising children is hard. From the terrible twos to the terrible teens, there are times when we forget the blessing children are and get caught up in the rigors of child rearing. This reminder also extends beyond parents. It does not matter if you are a grandparent, aunt or uncle, or someone God has put in a position to get to have a Christlike impact on a child; children are a blessing from the Lord – the Bible tells us so:
Genesis 33:5 (when Jacob returns and encounters his brother Esau for the first time after plundering his birthright) – And when Esau lifted up his eyes and saw the women and children, he said, “Who are these with you?” Jacob said, “The children whom God has graciously given your servant.”
Deuteronomy 7:13a – [The Lord] will love you, bless you, and multiply you. He will also bless the fruit of your womb and the fruit of the ground….
Psalm 127:3-5 – Behold, children are a heritage from the Lord, the fruit of the womb a reward. Like arrows in the hand of a warrior are the children of one’s youth. Blessed is the man who fills his quiver with them! He shall not be put to shame when he speaks with his enemies in the gate.
Psalm 128:3-4 – Your wife will be like a fruitful vine within your house; your children will be like olive shoots around your table. Behold, thus shall the man be blessed who fears the Lord.
Proverbs 17:6 – Grandchildren are the crown of the aged, and the glory of children is their fathers.
Matthew 18:1-5 – At that time the disciples came to Jesus, saying, “Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” And calling to Him a child, He put him in the midst of them and said, “Truly, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. “Whoever receives one such child in my name receives me, but whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to have a great millstone fastened around his neck and to be drowned in the sea.
Gracious gifts from God, blessings, arrows, olive shoots, crowns, and examples are how the Bible describes children so that we are reminded when sin sets in, so that we remember God’s design and not be left up to our own.
Now, just as Paul did not speak only to the parents in the Colossian church but also to the children, so we, despite the fact that I have fewer readers who are children, will not be silent in reminding the blessing of godly parents to children. They need to know that the parents holding them accountable and trying to help them grow up are a blessing, too:
Exodus 20:12 – “Honor your father and mother, that your days may be long in the land that the Lord your God is giving you.
Deuteronomy 5:16 – “’Honor your father and your mother, as the Lord your God commanded you, that your days may be long, and that it may go well with you in the land that the Lord your God is giving you.
Proverbs 1:8-9 – Hear, my son, your father’s instruction, and forsake not your mother’s teaching, for they are a graceful garland for your head and pendants for your neck.
Proverbs 6:20-22 – My son, keep your father’s commandment, and forsake not your mother’s teaching. Bind them on your heart always; tie them around your neck. When you walk, they will lead you; when you lie down, they will watch over you; and when you awake, they will talk with you.
Honor, graceful garlands, pendants, leaders, guardians, and companions are how the Bible describes godly parents and their instruction so that we are reminded when our own sin sets in and parental discipline becomes necessary that God’s design to grow us up in Him is better than getting our own way.
We have our work cut out for us today, Sojourners, and Lord willing, He will meddle in our families for His glory and our good by the power of His Spirit as we study His Word today. Let’s dive in and see what the Lord has for us and for our families today.
Children, Obey Your Parents in Everything, For This Pleases the Lord (v. 20)
This may come as a shock to you, but Paul is giving this command because children, who were believers or being raised in a way that pointed them to Christ, were being disobedient to their parents. I know that is shocking. It must have been widespread (like it is today), too, because Paul even listed “disobedient to…parents” as a sign of godlessness and difficulty in the last days in 2 Timothy 3:2. If you catch a bit of sarcasm here, it is because disobedient children – even those who have been saved – is not a shocking but normal, or at least worldly. That’s what kids, even the best ones, do. And, furthermore, no one had to teach them how to disobey because sinfulness is part of human nature after the Fall (Romans 5:12). Sin being part of our nature, though, does not excuse it. If we are saved – specifically here, if our children are saved or we are pointing them to Jesus as Savior, disobedience is not excused.
What This Does NOT Mean
Paul here (and in Ephesians 6:1) gives the command for children to “obey” their parents. The word translated “obey” here seems simply enough – for one to do what they are told, but the full understanding is, of course to listen and follow instructions but expands to include yielding “to a superior command or force (without necessarily being willing)”.[2] Like in the biblical design for marriage, there is supposed to be submission to the authority God has in place, in this case parents having authority over their children. But there are limits to that authority.
Just as we did in the last Bible study, we need to clarify here that the limit is within the boundaries of whether the commands of the parents conflict with the command of the Lord. The authority and command of God the Father trumps earthly fathers. So, if a parent (hopefully in rare occasions) gives instruction that contradicts the Bible, the child is to, respectfully, obey the Father “in a spirit of love, not of defiance, since the law of Christ is the law of love”.[3] Being a child of God is to influence being a child of one’s parent, meaning when our earthly parents go astray in their instruction and point us in a way other than toward Christ the conduct and example of the child can help the parent see the error in their ways and be granted repentance (2 Timothy 2:25-26).
Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. “Honor your father and mother” (this is the first commandment with a promise), “that it may go well with you and that you may live long in the land.”
The additional content given to the church at Ephesus was not new content but much older, from the Ten Commandments. This fifth commandment is instructional and instrumental as it is the first commandment dealing with earthly or the “horizontal” relationships.[4] Paul instructs them, also, that this commandment was the first “with a promise” – that “it may go well with you and that you may live long in the land”. Under OT Law, there were instances of disobedience like hitting or cursing a parent that could warrant a death penalty (Exodus 21:15, 17), so living long in the land meant coloring inside the lines of acceptable behavior. For things to “go well” meant to make sure that one’s behavior in the familial context was acting within the rules laid out. Thankfully, under the grace we see in Christ Jesus, He paid the death penalty for us and offers us mercy (Colossians 2:14-15, Titus 3:4-5). But what does that look like?
First, as with all sin, Jesus paying the price for our sin, redeeming us, by no means gives us license to continue in sin (Romans 6:1-4). That’s how sin works in children, though; where there once was a tough punishment (OT Law), leniency can sometimes give way to license. The old saying, give an inch and they will take a mile, comes to mind. This ain’t that. This is God giving guidance for children to receive the discipleship that belongs in the biblical parent-child relationship. Part of parents fulfilling the Great Commission in their homes and teaching all that Jesus has commanded (Matthew 28:20) is the child receiving the information, yielding to parental authority (without necessarily being willing), and following in the prescribed way.
This obedience is right and pleases the Lord. It is also very difficult because they are children. I remember working on something with my father in his shop with Xander there “helping” us. Xander was around four years old, so there was a certain amount of correction involved. After one particularly frustrating exchange, Daddy (well, clearly Poppy in this instance) was frustrated, too. I remember being surprised that he wasn’t necessarily on my side or at least more in solidarity, but what he said stuck with me: “I am fifty[whatever] years old, and I don’t like being corrected any more now than I did when I was his age.” Xander did not like the instruction because he did not understand that there were things there that could hurt him. Poppy understood my instruction as well as Xander’s frustration. We have a good example here because clearly Poppy takes instruction from his Father better at fifty-something or now sixty-something than he did then despite any dislike or frustration. Why? Children grow up. And, as we will see in the next section, growing up in the “discipline and instruction of the Lord” (Ephesians 6:4) bears fruit when children are grown.
Fathers, Do Not Provoke Your Children, Lest They Become Discouraged (v. 21)
Continuing as we have, and considering the volume of what can and needs to be said here, let’s go on and look to Ephesians 6:4 to help us:
Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.
That last phrase concerning bringing “them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord” (or “nurture and admonition” in some translations) gets to the heart of the command.
What This Does NOT Mean
While this command is straightforward, it will do us good here as we have wives, husbands, and children, to discuss what the command for fathers (and mothers) not to “provoke” their children to anger does not mean. Plain and simple, this does not mean children should not be disciplined. The Bible is clear that part of good, and especially godly parenting, means giving appropriate instruction (Deuteronomy 6:6-7; Proverbs 1:8-9, 6:20-23; 22:6) and discipline (Proverbs 13:24, 19:18, 22:15, 23:13-14, 29:15; Hebrews 12:11). It should also go without saying that the prescribed biblical discipline is not condoning abuse. For example, one can look at passages like Exodus 21:20-21 that teach it to be unlawful for one to beat a slave or servant as guidance for what is also unacceptable for parents. Disciplining is one thing, but cruelty is another. God disciplines His children (Proverbs 3:11-12, Hebrews 12:5-13) but clearly treats His children better than the best earthly fathers (Luke 11:11-13).
What Does it Mean to Parent in a Way That Brings Children Up in the Discipline and Instruction of the Lord While Not Provoking to Anger and Causing Discouragement?
As I said above, the goal of Paul’s instruction to the Colossians, Ephesians, and us today is that children be brought up in the “discipline and instruction of the Lord” (Ephesians 6:4). The key to seeing this is in the words translated “provoke”.
English is less precise sometimes than the original languages, so taking a brief look can give us correct context. The word translated “provoke” in Colossians 3:21 can have more than one meaning. Like many words we use today, the context tells us whether it is meant positively or negatively. The positive meaning of that word would be “to incite or stimulate to action” as used in 2 Corinthians 9:2 to describe their zeal being stirred up, but the negative meaning “to excite, anger, provoke, irritate”.[5] Taken with the word translated as “provoke” in Ephesians 6:4 (“implying movement toward a certain point” like “anger” or “resentment”[6]) gives us the full picture: the goal of biblical parenting is raising them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord rather than raising them to resent their parents and the Lord. The Amplified Bible rightly sees such provoking as breaking their spirits, leaving them feeling inferior and frustrated. The words translated “provoke” give us two pictures of parenting, one godly and the other worldly – one righteous and the other sinful. One points children to Christ as Savior and is built out of saved parents’ own relationship with Christ. The other seeks to beat down the child’s resolve and determination to get desired behaviors and is built out of fear and control. One provokes and encourages children turning to Christ and having hope in Him, but the other beats children down, breaking theirs spirits and leaving them hopeless. How can we make sure we are in one and not the other?
Parenting is hard. What is not hard is making children angry when they are corrected. This is seen from when babies are first able to communicate. A simple “no” can bring tears and tantrums (Proverbs 22:15). Does this mean that children can never be made angry? Of course, not. Just as we get angry when corrected, so do our children. We want to commit sin (Romans 7:15-20). If trespasses are when we deviate from God’s path (Isaiah 53:6) and sin is missing the bullseye of His righteous standard (Romans 3:23), too often our sin is purposefully veering off course or shooting our shot at what we want rather than where He has us aimed (James 1:14-15). It is no different with our children. Paul is clarifying that our intent is not to provoke or incite them to anger but to stir them up to “love and good works” (Hebrews 10:24) just as we are with our faith family because we are “bound together ‘in the Lord’ as well as by ties of natural kinship”.[7]
Wrapping Up
So, what does that look like? Here’s a simple list for a difficult task. This list is not exhaustive and, as there are many books written on the subject, this next brief section will not suffice to elaborate on all aspects but to help you see what God has for us and to help us course-correct if change is needed. I will include a footnote here[8] to point you to some good resources if you would like to look further, but this list will point you to Christ and have His Spirit help you on your journey:
Teach your children the gospel. In Deuteronomy 6:6-7, Moses lays out some principals to Israelite parents in the wilderness before they pass over the Jordan into the promised land. It is known as the shema, meaning “hear” or “listen” for the purpose of doing and carrying out. So, listen up, Sojourners, and see what the Lord would have us hear and do. First, Moses told them to love God above all else and with all they had: heart, soul, and strength. Second, he tells them that the words he was commanding they should be constantly on their hearts. Finally, he told them that the words should also be on their lips and taught “diligently to [their] children” in all of life, while they were sitting at home and walking and lying down and getting up – that they should be at the forefront of their thoughts as clearly as signs on their hands or written on their doorposts. For Israel, this was to tell their children and children’s children what God had done for them in rescuing them from slavery in Egypt and sustaining them throughout the wilderness despite their sinfulness. You see, the home is where God designed this to be best taught. For us today, it is teaching our children that God put on flesh and dwelt among us to save us from our sin by dying on the cross in our place, raising on the third day, and telling us that all who confess Him as Lord and believe in Him shall be saved. Moses told Israel that this should be done as often as children ask or are able to talk about it (Deuteronomy 6:20). Godly parenting means making sure this comes up and comes up often – talking on it when you sit at home or ride in the car or play catch or ____.
Teach your children how God designed life to work best. I find it easier to talk to my kids about behavior than I do the gospel, which is sad. This part is acknowledging and encouraging you that teaching your kids how to behave is in the job description (Proverbs 22:6). And as we saw in the previous point, home is where God designed for this aspect of discipleship to be taught. Children need to be taught right and wrong because our sin nature pulls us toward wrong like magnetic north to a compass needle (Romans 7:18-19). Your children will need specific guidance that only you can give (Proverbs 1:8-9). You are not alone in this, however; God has given grandparents, aunts, uncles, pastors, church family, and that village that folks are always saying it takes to raise a child (Titus 2:1-4). Just make sure that the Bible sets the course here and not just in the gospel (2 Timothy 3:16-17). The world is vying for a place in your children’s minds and lives, make sure the village or church family you are planted in has the Bible in the place of authority and not as a coaster for worldly living and teaching (Colossians 2:8).
Discipline your children as our Father does us.Hebrews 12:6 (quoting Proverbs 3:12) is the key here as “the Lord disciplines the one he loves”. Love is the key to godly discipline. This is the dividing line between the provoking to anger and the discouragement that can be produced in Colossians 3:21. The difference between disciplining out of love is keeping what the child needs and what God has called you to as a parent at the forefront, rather than letting onlookers and expectations set the pace. Children need to be corrected. Wrong behavior can have all manner of consequences, and the consequences of sin are often much more far-reaching and dangerous than we understand, much less children. But unloving discipline has more in common with abuse than with discipleship. People often quote Proverbs 22:6 as part of this: “Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old, he will not depart from it”. This is true and good to know, but part of that means that discipline keeps them in the right lane, in the Way – there are a lot of detours and off-ramps before “when he is old” arrives.
Show your children grace and mercy as your Father has for you. I said it above, but it bears saying again: children are going to mess up. Sometimes it will be small. Others it will be big. Teaching school has taught me a lot about this. I have learned not to say that my children will never ____. That often precedes them nevering like they have never nevered before! No, my children are capable of whatever sin they desire, just as I am capable of whatever sin I desire. There are consequences to my sin (Galatians 6:7), and I am responsible for doling out and enforcing consequences for my children (Proverbs 19:18). Despite the consequences of my sin, however, I have received a lot of grace and mercy from my Father (Ephesians 2:4-5). He does not lessen the punishment, but He also does not lessen His love for me. There is nothing I can do that can separate me from His love (Romans 8:38-39). Children need to know that. I have never been more ashamed than in times when I have confessed sin to my children so that they can learn from my mistakes rather than trying to make the mistakes on their own, but the beauty of the gospel is that I also teach them the good news of a great and powerful Savior who loves me despite my sin and gives me strength so that I am no longer a slave to sin (Romans 6:6). There are times to levy heavy discipline. There are times to withhold (mercy) and give grace instead (James 2:13). This is not religion but relationship – and based off the relationship we have with our Father (Galatians 4:4-7).
Make disciples. The goal of parenting is not to get them in the best colleges or set them up in trades or careers that can help them be set up better financially than you were or your parents before you. The goal is not to get them grown and out of the house. No, the goal is to see them in Christ (3 John 4). This is not a class, nor is it religion. It is a relationship (John 15:4-5).
That list is a good start, but we need to note a very important distinction here: you cannot and do not save your child. You point them to Christ (John 14:6). You teach them His gospel (Mark 16:15). You teach them His ways (Deuteronomy 6:6-7). You instruct them in how He designed life to work best and discipline them when they stray (Proverbs 16:25). But saving them is God’s job (John 6:44). Don’t fret though. He’s good at it! He delights in saving people (1 Timothy 2:3-4)! Having said that, though, this is not something than can be faked. If you are not walking with Christ, your kids already know that. At the same time, kiddos reading this need to know that even if you can fool your parents, the truth will become clear. There is simply no substitute for God saving us because, unless He saves us, we are still dead in our trespasses and sins (Ephesians 2:1-2), and there’s really no way to fake being alive. It’s the genuine article or a corpse.
So, if you find yourself reading this, Sojourner, whether you are a child or a parent, know that there is opportunity for salvation. The same God who gives these directives and instruction on how being a child or parent works best desires to bring people into His family. Those who confess Him as Lord and believe in their hearts that God raised Him from the dead, He saves by grace through faith. He adopts them into His family and loves them as His own because they are His own. If this is you, I would love to talk with you and pray with you.
If you are reading this and are saved, I would love to talk with you and pray with you, too. Parenting is not easy, but God is good, and His grace and strength is enough.
May He grant us the grace and strength to walk with Him in our families – to have our homes adorned with Christ. Hallelujah, and amen!
All of this thinking about marriage has had me thinking a lot about the gospel. Paul, in Ephesians 5:32, says that marriage (which He refers to here as a “mystery” or symbol) “refers to Christ and the church”. Marriage, the love of a husband for His wife/a wife to her husband, is meant to be a picture of the gospel.
Why?
Well, the gospel is a picture of love, grace, mercy, forgiveness, and reconciliation. The gospel is a picture of the King of kings leaving His throne, coming to earth in pursuit of His bride — to redeem her from her sin and death, bringing her home with Him.
This can be seen in the Bible through the marriage of a prophet named Hosea and his wife, Gomer. Now, the gospel gives us imagery for the Love Story of all love stories, but it is not necessarily nice and neat nor is it always fitting for the Hallmark channel. There’s death and blood and gore and sacrifice. There’s sadness and heartbreak. There’s…well, let’s look at Hosea and Gomer’s love story, or at least the PG-est version I can give you.
God told Hosea that his marriage would be a picture of the way that Israel had committed adultery against Him. So, Hosea was told to go and take a wife like Israel — a wife who would no doubt forsake Hosea and commit adultery against Him like Israel had forsaken the Lord (Hosea 1:2). And that’s exactly what Hosea did, and that’s the beginning of his story with Gomer (Hosea 1:3). They had a rough go at it, but God had a plan in the midst of what looks like a terrible calling.
Hosea and Gomer had a baby. God told him to name the child Jezreel so that when people heard the name of the child Hosea could tell them that the Lord was going to punish Israel for the bloodshed by the hands of Jehu (2 Kings 10:11 will give you the context). Imagine someone coming up to you and asking the name of your child. What would normally be a happy or at least a generically positive conversation would be: meet my son Jezreel; we named him that because God is angry over our nation’s sin and is about to lay down judgment for it.
Hosea and Gomer had two more children, although the language in Hosea 1:6 and 1:8 differ from the birth announcement of Jezreel (Hosea 1:3), meaning that Gomer was doing exactly what was prophesied of her — she had conceived their other two children outside of their marriage. These two kiddos had interesting names, too, as well as messages for Israel (Hosea 1:6-9). The first was a daughter named Lo-ruhama (No Mercy). The second was a son named Lo-ammi (Not My People). When people learned those names, they were to be told that, because Israel had forsaken the Lord — in the same manner in which Gomer had forsaken Hosea — that they were no longer to receive God’s mercy, no longer to be called God’s people, and that God would no longer be their God.
This is a truly terrifying message.
Mercy is God withholding the punishment deserved in favor of grace. Now, it was time for judgment. At face value, it appears that hope was lost for Israel because they had forsaken their hope — their Husband (Hosea 2:16) — all because their own desires were greater than their love for Him. This coincided with the fact that Gomer had left Hosea and had been sold into another man’s harem (Hosea 3:1-2). Hosea and Gomer’s marriage was to be a picture of God’s relationship with Israel, so if things are taken on the face of the terrible news, Hosea should just unmercifully cast Gomer aside and gave her a good riddance and so on. That’s what we would do today. Moses even allowed for such an instance (Deuteronomy 24:1-4, Matthew 19:7-9).
14“Therefore, behold, I will allure her, and bring her into the wilderness, and speak tenderly to her. 15And there I will give her vineyards and make the Valley of Achor a door of hope. And there she shall answer as in the days of her youth, as at the time when she came out of the land of Egypt.
God would pursue His people and woo (“allure”, “speak tenderly”) them back to Him. There would be times of trouble (“wilderness”) and it would take time, but His people would repent and turn back to Him. He would no longer call them Lo-ruhama (No Mercy) or Lo-ammi (Not My People) because He would once again show them mercy and gather them to Himself as His people.
What about Hosea? God told him to go and get his wife, even though she was “loved by another man” (Hosea 3:1). Hosea went to that man and BOUGHT (literally, redeemed) his wife for “fifteen shekels of silver” and some barley (Hosea 3:2). In the same way, God has sought us out in the midst of our unfaithfulness to Him (James 4:4) and “demonstrates His love in that while we were still sinners Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8). Hosea paid a little money and grain, but Jesus paid for His Bride “not with perishable things such as silver or gold”, but with His “precious blood”, “like that of a lamb without blemish or spot” (1 Peter 1:18-19). He loves us despite our sin and death and offers us love and life in Him alone. Knowing full well the depth of our sin, Jesus came to earth and, again, BOUGHT (literally, redeemed) us from slavery to sin and makes us His own forevermore.
What a love!
What a Love Story! And it is not over yet.
Revelation 21 gives us a window into heaven when Jesus’s Bride, the Church, will finally come home to Him. Look at the language here and how it fits with Hosea’s story. From the throne of God we hear these words:
“Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be His people, and God Himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes….” (Revelation 21:3-4)
Oh, what a day that will be when we stand before our King and with nail-scarred hand He reaches up to wipe away the last tear His bride will ever cry. The pinnacle of His mercy will be reached when His Bride comes home and dwells with Him in His house forever!
Now, I know that this is pretty heavy for a “Songs for Sunday”, but oh, how beautiful it is! It would be so easy to look at this and say, woe is Hosea, but we have all been Gomer. Yet the King of kings left His throne, “took on flesh, and dwelt among us, and we have seen His glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth” (John 1:14). Jesus, “emptied Himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men”, was “found in human form”, and “humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross” (Philippians 2:7-8).
And that is what we are singing about this Sunday.
It doesn’t matter whether you deem yourself far off from God or close to Him, it is good for us to get to gather and make much of Him — to sing His praises and know that He is in the business of saving and His love casts out all fear and can cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
It is good for us to get to gather and point each other to Him. It is all we have to offer at Christ Community because for many of us, we remember what it is like to be loved like Gomer.
What about you?
If you are in or around Grenada, MS this Sunday, we would love to invite you to gather with us. It’s Father’s Day — bring dad, too.
4But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, 5He saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to His own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, 6whom He poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, 7so that being justified by His grace we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life.
Song | Washed Clean — Scripture Inspiration: 2 Corinthians 4:4, Ephesians 1:17-18, Matthew 11:28-30, Romans 8:2, John 8:34-36, Psalm 51:2, Psalm 51:7, Jeremiah 33:8, 1 John 1:9, Titus 3:4-5, Proverbs 16:18, Proverbs 3:34, Ephesians 2:1-2, Acts 26:18-19
3He was despised and rejected by men, a Man of Sorrows and acquainted with grief; and as one from whom men hide their faces He was despised, and we esteemed him not.
4Surely He has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed Him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. 5But He was pierced for our transgressions; He was crushed for our iniquities; upon Him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with His wounds we are healed.
Song | Man of Sorrows — Scripture Inspiration: cf. Isaiah 53 and John 1:11, 29; also Galatians 3:13, 21; 1 Peter 2:24; Mark 14:16-62; Matthew 26:39-44, 26:67-68, 27:26-30; John 3:16; Romans 5:6-10; Psalm 145:3; Revelation 4:11; Philippians 2:5-8; Matthew 20:28; Titus 2:13-14; Colossians 2:13-15; Romans 6:23; John 8:36; John 20:1-7; Matthew 28:1-20; 1 Corinthians 15:3-8
Song | Jesus Paid It All (O Praise the One) — Scripture Inspiration: Matthew 11:28-30, John 19:30, Colossians 2:13-14, 2 Corinthians 4:15, Hebrews 12:28-29, Isaiah 1:18, Jeremiah 13:23, 2 Corinthians 5:17, Ezekiel 11:19, Revelation 4:10-11, Romans 6:4, Revelation 5:9-10
8For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, 9not a result of works, so that no one may boast. 10For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.
Song | I Got Saved — Scripture Inspiration: Psalm 46:1-4, Zechariah 13:1, Isaiah 7:14, Matthew 1:23, Psalm 36:9, Isaiah 1:18, Isaiah 61:10, Matthew 26:28, Ephesians 2:4-5, 1 John 1:5-10, Psalm 103:12, Psalm 51:9, Psalm 32:5, Psalm 107:10-16, Nahum 1:13, Isaiah 6:5, James 2:13, Zechariah 7:9, Hebrews 9:5, 1 Peter 2:10, Psalm 25:7, Psalm 31:19, Psalm 85:4, Acts 3:21, Galatians 2:16-17, Romans 5:8-9, 1 Peter 2:1-3, Hebrews 6:5, Colossians 2:13-15, Psalm 25:11, Numbers 4:19, Romans 8:28-30, Philippians 3:20-21, Colossians 3:10-13
Invitation | What He’s Done — Scripture Inspiration: Matthew 7:33, Mark 15:22, Luke 23:33, John 19:7, Matthew 26:26, Colossians 1:19-20, 1 Peter 1:19, John 8:36, Isaiah 53, Psalm 147:3, John 3:16, John 15:13, Romans 8:5-8, 1 John 1:9-2:2, Acts 4:12, 1 Corinthians 15:21-22, Hebrews 2:14, Philippians 2:5-11, 1 Corinthians 15:50-57, Revelation 4:1-11, 1 John 5:4, Revelation 17:14, Revelation 5:12, Philippians 4:8
Offertory | Good, Good Father — Scripture Inspiration: John 5:25, Revelation 3:20, Matthew 25:23, Hebrews 13:5, 1 Chronicles 16:34, Psalm 119:68, Nahum 1:7, Psalm 68:5, Psalm 36:5-7, John 3:16, John 15:13, Romans 5:6-8, Ephesians 2:4-5, Colossians 2:6-8, 2 Timothy 3:16-17, Psalm 139:4, Matthew 5:48, Romans 11:33, Ephesians 3:8, 1 John 4:7-11
I can remember times in my life when what I thought and felt about Sundays varied. If you’ll indulge me, I’d like to share a bit of my testimony.
As a kid, I can remember being excited about church coming up and a lazy afternoon afterward. I loved Sunday School where we would get equal amounts of Bible story time and puzzles, coloring, crafts, or playdough. The singing was a big hit for me — go figure. I remember getting excited when the preacher got excited. I remember the excitement of being home in the afternoon with no work to do or chores to accomplish — just time together playing or relaxing, just togetherness. And once I got saved, all of that just multiplied more and more because I had a gratitude and awe to Jesus that wasn’t there before.
As a teenager and young adult things shifted a bit as I started to serve and lead more, especially after being called into ministry. There were times when the joy I felt conflicted with my work ethic and desire to accomplish something or check off boxes. Sunday hit different with a job description, and when ministry became my bread-winning vocation, it shifted to something sad. In my foolishness and latent adolescent zealousness, my weeks culminated in Sundays meaning all of the work Monday-Saturday produced the worship gathering on Sunday morning and night. I found myself mired in a spiral of fearful work rather than worship in the fear of God. I feared committees and potential of lost pay rather and lost the joy of gathering with my faith family I had when I was a kid.
Then…I quit.
I found myself burned out and empty. I had long since put my hope in my work ethic and abilities and lost sight of what I was doing — WHO I was serving. Thankfully, I had a teaching license and our house had not sold when we had moved away, so I tucked tail, moved back home, and tried to start anew.
That first Sunday back was one of the most terrifying and convicting of my life. I had never been a visitor to a church other than coming in view of a call or visiting preacher. Now, I found myself in a new church where nearly everyone there knew I had been a pastor and had questions as to why I was coming to sit a pew and fade into the background. Through the whispers and the questions, I wanted to sink through the floor and disappear. I had hoped that some of the feelings from my childhood would return — that being able to be more of a part of the congregation would awaken something in me, but that is not how things work. The idolatry of work over worship took years to accomplish and would not be undone by an awkward day in a pew.
Eventually, something happened in me. The desire for God that I felt in the beginning began to return. I can’t tell you how many mornings I spent in the Word (at least a year and a half) hoping for some spark or feeling to return. I can’t tell you the number of prayers prayed where I found myself hoping He would listen to a shameful quitter, or worse one who had made a vocation of serving Him all about what I could do or accomplish. Just like it was in my marriage, laziness in a relationship would not be undone by a few sincere acts or gestures. BUT GOD.
In the seeking and searching, He was there. He had never moved. It was me who had moved. I think David described it better than I can in Psalm 40:1-3:
1I waited patiently for the LORD; He inclined to me and heard my cry. 2He drew me up from the pit of destruction, out of the miry bog, and set my feet upon a rock, making my steps secure. 3He put a new song in my mouth, a song of praise to our God. Many will see and fear, and put their trust in the LORD.
I was mired down in the swamp of my sinful idolatry and foolishness and could not get out under my own strength. My legs had pumped and climbed and were spent in exhaustion. The solidity of the shore was too far away, BUT GOD reached out, plucked me from the clay, and moved me all the way to the solid foundation of the ROCK, Jesus. Just like one would a toddler who had fallen, He held me and made sure I had my feet under me and on Him. The voice I could barely lift to Him in prayer began to croak out a new song, voice crackling out of unuse but the melody, the “song of praise”, began in my heart and eventually made it out of my lips.
Sunday regained its significance. It is the day we celebrate Jesus’s resurrection. He died for our sins, yes, but more than that, He rose! He is in the business of making dead things live. He is in the business of protecting His children, His sheep, from danger, even if that danger is their own stupidity and wandering. Those He has made alive will never die.
I look forward to Sunday because when “I waited patiently for the LORD”, He answered me and “heard my cry”.
I look forward to Sunday because when I was through with His work, He was not through with me.
I look forward to Sunday because it is not about my feelings but about His faithfulness (even though God has given me more joy now than in worshiping Him and serving Him than ever before).
I look forward to Sunday not because of vocation or religious devotion. I look forward to Sunday because of what Jesus accomplished on the cross and the magnificent truth that He walked out of the grave I deserve.
What about you?
Is Sunday a religious experience for you? Does it tick some kind of box on your righteous-living or to-do list? Has it been a while since you have gathered? Are you afraid that He knows your heart and might somehow abandon you?
HE hasn’t moved.
This Sunday at Christ Community, we will point you to the One who hears your cry and can pluck you out of whatever is miring you — whether it be the grave or the swampy ground of your sin. The songs will point to the finished work of Jesus on the cross and the vacancy in His borrowed tomb all the way to when His people will dwell with Him in heaven. The preaching will point you to Jesus by His Spirit and through His Word.
Maybe today is a good day to quit the exhausting clamber out of of the mire and reach your hands out to the One who has already reached out for you.
Peter, one whose testimony includes betraying and abandoning Jesus, said it well: “Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time He may exalt you, casting all your anxieties on Him, because He cares for you” (1 Peter 5:6-7). His mighty hand is reached out to you. Grab hold of Him because He cares for you.
Sunday is coming.
I look forward to gathering with my brothers and sisters — all of which have a testimony of hopelessness and helplessness BUT GOD.
22“Men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus of Nazareth, a man attested to you by God with mighty works and wonders and signs that God did through him in your midst, as you yourselves know— 23this Jesus, delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men. 24God raised him up, loosing the pangs of death, because it was not possible for him to be held by it.
13And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, 14by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross.
11Then I looked, and I heard around the throne and the living creatures and the elders the voice of many angels, numbering myriads of myriads and thousands of thousands, 12saying with a loud voice, “Worthy is the Lamb who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing!” 13And I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and in the sea, and all that is in them, saying, “To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be blessing and honor and glory and might forever and ever!”
17 And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him. 18 Wives, submit to your husbands, as is fitting in the Lord. 19 Husbands, love your wives, and do not be harsh with them.[1]
Colossians 3:17-19
Greetings Sojourners!
We are moving into the last leg of our journey through Colossians, and I am praying that, just as these Bible studies have been impacting my own life as I have studied, written, and taught, they will have an impact on your life as well. The impact on my own life has largely come from meditating on the question I asked you to consider in last week’s Bible study: what if all of what Paul told the Colossian church about setting our minds on Christ (Colossians 3:1-4), taking off sin (Colossians 3:5-11), and putting on Christ (Colossians 3:12-17) mattered for real life?
I told you that it is meant to affect every aspect of our lives. Now, we allow God’s Spirit through His Word to meddle in our lives – specifically today, in our marriages.
Before I begin in earnest, I want to clarify something: marriage is not for everyone (check out 1 Corinthians 7 as an example). The primary relationship concern for those who are in Christ is to the Lord. To use the language Paul used there, unmarried men and women are “anxious about the things of the Lord, how to please the Lord” and “be holy in body and spirit” (1 Corinthians 7:32, 34), but married men and women are “anxious about worldly things”, how to please their spouse (1 Corinthians 7:33-34). Marriage is a good thing that should “be held in honor among all” (Hebrews 13:4), but Paul’s word to the unmarried in 1 Corinthians 7:38 is that “he who marries his betrothed does well, and he who refrains from marriage will do even better” in regard to devotion to Christ.
This does a lot to illustrate how whatever we do, “everything [is to be done] in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him” (Colossians 3:17). For centuries and even to an extent today, the culture has placed a stigma on remaining unmarried – more harshly on women than on men. The standard is not whether or not we have achieved some level of earthly relationship but on whether or not we have a relationship with Christ, so much so that Paul’s second letter to the church at Corinth told them to “regard no one according to the flesh” because those who are “in Christ” are “a new creation” after being reconciled to God by grace through faith in Jesus (2 Corinthians 5:15-19).
So, if you are reading this and God has called you to, for either the time being or for life, singleness, rejoice in your calling, take what can be applied to your life and relationships and leave what cannot. Everything in Colossians 3:1-17 is to be applied for all believers in all of life. Furthermore, everything in Colossians 3:1-17 matters in the everyday lives of believers in all of life. It needs to be said as we are about to enter today’s Bible study that this is more than just knowledge – it is to be applied and learned. This means that for some – really most of us – there will be some repentance involved. John MacArthur summed it up well in his preface to the commentary on our passage today:
“Genuine Christianity consists of both doctrine and holy living. The New Testament reminds us in many places that an intellectual knowledge of our faith must be accompanied by a life that proves faith’s reality. And such a life can only be lived by vital contact with God in Christ. It is difficult to see how Christianity can have any positive effect on society if it cannot transform its own homes.”[2]
If God has really saved us, change will occur – not us changing for Him to save us but Him changing us. There is no way that Him moving sinners from dead in sin to alive in Him (Ephesians 2:1-5, 4:17-24) does not produce change – produce fruit (Galatians 5:22-23).
So, if you are reading this and are saved by grace through faith in Jesus alone and married, take heed as we see what God has for you. This Bible study will not be exhaustive, meaning that it cannot cover the scope of every aspect of marriage. The goal will be to take the specific teaching Paul gave to the Colossian church and supplement it from the longer teaching Paul gave the Ephesian church so that we have a picture of what it is like in real, everyday marriage to be a husband or wife adorned in Christ.
Wives, Submit to Your Husbands, as is Fitting in the Lord (v. 18)
That one sentence encompasses Paul’s message to the wives in the Colossian congregation, but we need to put in some work to understand how to apply these teachings in our real lives.
What This Does NOT Mean
Simply put: the Scriptural command for wives to “submit” to their husbands does not mean abuse. This is not a call to subservience. Those who have used this to demean or put down their wives or to control them have sinned, plain and simple. Paul told the church at Ephesus that marriage was a picture of the gospel, Christ being the husband and the Church being His bride (Ephesians 5:32), so a marriage that is characterized by a husband demeaning his wife and putting her in the position of servitude does not reflect the husband of the Church who “came not to be served but to serve, and to give His live as a ransom for many” (Matthew 20:28).
This submission is not absolute or all-encompassing nor is it obedience. Obedience in the context of Colossians 3-4 is relegated to children and servants, not wives.[3] For a Christian wife, her obedience and submission is to Christ above her husband. If a husband’s desires deviate from God’s Word, the wife should not submit. It also does not mean that women are inferior. Both males and females are created in God’s “own image” (Genesis 1:27). The New Testament reiterates it and clarifies that in Christ, “there is no male and female” (Galatians 3:28). Now, this is not to say that there are not differences, but those differences do not make one better and the other inferior.
What Does Submit Mean, Then?
The word translated “submit” here means “to place in order”, specifically in the context “a willing personal subjection”.[4] Let us look at a few passages in the New Testament where this word is used to help us get a picture of what the Holy Spirit through Paul was talking about. The best place in the context would be Ephesians 5:21 where Paul tells the church at Ephesus (and thereby us today) that part of doing everything out of thanksgiving to and in the name of Jesus (Ephesians 5:20, Colossians 3:17) means that members of the church are supposed to be “submittingto one another out of reverence to Christ”. The submission for a wife to her husband is to be similar in nature to how members of the Church are to submit. This can be further illustrated in the life of Jesus. In Luke 2:51 after Mary and Joseph had lost Jesus and found Him teaching as a child in the temple, it came time for the family to return home to Nazareth, and Jesus was “submissive” to His parents. Jesus is God, but He submitted to His earthly parents when He “became flesh and dwelt among us” (John 1:14). It can also be illustrated by the way Paul told the church at Rome that they were to be “subject” and therefore live in “subjection” to the authority of the government (Romans 13:1, 5). Obviously, their “citizenship…in heaven” (Philippians 3:20) trumped their Roman citizenry and the law of God superseded the laws of Rome, but in the instances where they did not, God called them to be submissive to the power He had allowed to be in authority.
Looking at that context and the definition, it is clear that Christian wives are to willingly subject themselves to the authority of their husbands. God designed the home and family to work a certain way and this submission is to God’s way as opposed to what the world presents as options. Women, knowing full well that they are equal to their husbands (if not surpassing them, as is the case with my wife), willfully submit themselves to God’s design, trusting that He knows best. The husband is to be the spiritual leader of the home with the wife backing him up. The wife is to help her husband to lead well, meaning that her strengths complement and strengthen his so that the family survives. You cannot have two sources of authority. Think about the tension that exists between Christians trying to be submissive to God but also the government. When government authority begins to outweigh God’s authority, one’s walk with Christ suffers. God’s authority wins out. When a wife leads or finds herself having to lead because of a sinful husband, the family suffers.
When Paul told the Colossian church that this submission of wife to husband was “fitting in the Lord”, he was acknowledging that God’s ways are best – that God, the Creator and inventor of human beings, knows His design and what works best (and what does not). So, Christian wives, I urge you to sit down with your husband and y’all strategize as to how to implement this in your homes. We joke in my house about how my wife, Candice, got sidetracked during our wedding when we were exchanging vows. Her father, who was officiating, asked her to repeat after him that she would submit to me, but Candice did not hear. Her response had everyone in the congregation rolling with laughter: “Wait. What did you say?” Yet, her patient submission and help are what makes me able to lead our family. She holds me accountable. She withdraws her submission when I try to lead in the wrong direction. She holds me to a higher standard than any human being on earth can or wants to, ensuring that I am the husband and father God calls me to be.
Husbands, Love Your Wives, and Do Not Be Harsh with Them (v. 19)
It should be noted here that there is a role for husbands and standards for them as well. In fact, the call for husbands in Ephesians 5 is substantially longer than the call to wives. Look at Ephesians 5:25-31:
25 Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, 26 that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, 27 so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish. 28 In the same way husbands should love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. 29 For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ does the church, 30 because we are members of his body. 31 “Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.”
Whereas it seems as if the world places little to no expectation on the part of husbands other than to work and provide and allows men to be functional boys, only with more expensive toys, God has a higher calling for husbands than has been tolerated. He holds them to the standard of Christ for love, care, and leadership.
What This Does NOT Mean
First, this is not meant to belittle or demean men. There are times like Father’s Day when men who are seldom seen darkening the doors of a worship gathering show up only to be heavily rebuked, chastised, and told just how worthless they are and have been. This is meant, just as we did above with God’s call to wives, to show what it looks like for God’s call to impact the real lives and marriages of husbands who have been saved by grace through faith in Jesus.
Second, we need to revisit something we talked about above when we clarified what a wife’s submission is not. The authority of a husband is not absolute nor is he the master of his wife. Too often throughout history, men have tried to rule over their wives like tyrannical dictators, terrible fathers, or terrifying masters. This ain’t that. The example of husbanding is Jesus. Period. Before we get into what that looks like, if you are a saved husband and lording over your wife, trying to punish her for stepping out of your lines, or commanding them to serve or service you, you need to repent. There is no Christ in that. Paul rightly and plainly told the Colossian husbands not to be “harsh” with their wives. The word translated “harsh” here means “to be harsh, angry” with the connotation of making someone else “sharp” or to “embitter” them. Love does not create bitterness. Harshness has no part in love.
What Does it Mean for Husbands to Love Your Wives?
I think that the Ephesians 5 passage on husbands is especially helpful here as both Colossians 3:18 and Ephesians 5:22-24 are both brief in their calls to wives, the only difference being Ephesians 5 clarifies the comparison between wives and the Church. This is something that needs to be elaborated on because Scripture elaborates on it (and most worldly expectations for husbands have woefully fallen short of for centuries in many cultures). We will take Ephesians 5:25-31 sentence by sentence, and sometimes phrase by phrase to help us understand – and by understanding give opportunity for application and/or repentance for saved husbands.
“Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the Church and gave Himself up for her….” This love is special and sacrificial. It tells the Story of a King who left His throne and became a lowly peasant that He might redeem His beloved and rescue her from execution. What King would leave His throne to do such, and not only that but to take the place of His beloved in the execution? Husbands are to love their wives in such a way that their own life is of no account to them when it comes to caring for their wife. What is there that a godly husband would not give up for his bride? The answer should be nothing. This is romantic for sure, but more than that, it is a love that is known and demonstrated (John 3:16, Romans 5:8). It communicates counting the other more significant than one’s own self (Philippians 2:5).
“Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the Church…that He might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the Word….” If a husband’s love were only wrapped up in being willing to die for his wife, it would be an unfortunate thing for sure. Jesus died for His bride but lives again (Revelation 1:18). That illustrates the nature of earthly husbandly love, too – to be characterized by living for his wife rather than willing to show that love in a one-time event. This is a love that sanctifies one’s wife, sets her apart and gives her to the Lord to be saved and cleansed (Ephesians 5:25-27). The love of a husband does not save, but a godly husband, as spiritual leader of his household, consistently and constantly points his family (beginning with his wife) to the Lord that they may find cleansing according to His Word. This means that the Word is present in the marriage relationship, not being the preacher and interpreter but the one who ensures his wife is thriving in her relationship with God as a fellow believer (Ephesians 5:20-21, Colossians 3:16-17).
“Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the Church…so that He might present the Church to Himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she may be holy and without blemish [or blameless]….” Building on the last point, this carries it to completion. Marriage vows rightly say, “till death do we part.” This verse longs to see one’s wife with Christ when death parts. This means consistently continuing in the spiritual leadership role of husband “so long as both shall live” (Ephesians 5:28-29). The wife is not a trophy of conquest possessing a mark of long-remembered beauty. No, she is to be set apart and rejoiced in, ensuring that God keep her not only on earth but all the way to heaven when she no longer be her earthly husband’s bride but part of the Bride of Christ forever with Him in heaven (Revelation 19:7-9). This is a love of safeguarding, protecting, and discipling for all the days of one’s marriage (1 Peter 3:7).
“In the same way, husbands should love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves Himself. For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes it and cherishes it, just as Christ does the church, because we are members of His body.” In recent years with the rise of mental illness and the sad effects of the Fall on the human body (especially the mind), this might puzzle some (Romans 8:20-22). People (like the one writing this Bible study) have gone long years without caring for their body (1 Corinthians 6:19-20). People desire to end their lives. We recognize that mental illness exists and that depressing and thoroughly tragic circumstances exist. We should begin to recognize that believers who are husbands who do not love their wives as Christ loves the Church is an aberration as well. Christian husbands should notoriously be more loving and caring when it comes to their wives because Christ has been loving and caring to them (1 John 4:19). A wife is to be cherished and cared for as one’s own body should be cared for (Ephesians 5:28-29). There is no diet version of a godly marriage. There is either healthy or unhealthy (Matthew 7:17-18).
“’Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.’” The marriage relationship is to trump all other earthly relationships. Rightly here, Paul puts the responsibility of the man to leave the home of his adolescence and take his wife to their own home. This relationship is marked by the “one flesh” union produced by physical intimacy. It is a direct quote back to Genesis 2:24 when God Himself performed the first marriage. This is a call for the 1st century church at Ephesus (and Colossae) to return to the design God had for marriage, and it is a call for the 21st century church to do the same (Ephesians 5:32-33, Colossians 3:18-19). Adam and Eve deviated from the plan when they traded God’s plan for their marriage and humankind when Eve ate of the fruit the Serpent offered and Adam stood by without intervening before eating of the fruit himself (Genesis 3:6). The church at Ephesus was marred by the worship of false gods by having relations with cult prostitutes (Acts 19:24-27). The church today must separate from the culture around us where marriage is no longer held in esteem (Hebrews 13:4). And it is the husband, led by the Spirit following the Word of the Lord, who is responsible for correcting the course rather than following the course of this world (Romans 12:2).
Wrapping Up
Ephesians 5:32 says: “This mystery is profound, and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the Church.”
This.
Really.
Matters.
It cannot be faked (Romans 12:9). As I said above, there is no diet version of this – only original formula will do.
This is not a time of being shamed or chewed out for our inability to do marriage right (Romans 8:1). No, that is not what it means by referring marriage back to Jesus and His Bride. The Church can do nothing in her own strength but is made perfect in her weakness because Christ’s strength does and accomplishes everything (2 Corinthians 12:9)!
If you are a believer and a husband to a wife or wife to a husband, this is not a call to give up but a call to hit your knees with one another and seek the husband of the Church to grant repentance and grace in your marriage. This will not be an immediate relief or fix but the beginning of some difficult months or years that will lead to Jesus producing the marriage He gave us in His Word. There will be tears of pain and sorrow, but they can lead to tears of joy and celebration, ultimately to be wiped away in heaven when Jesus’s Bride finally makes it to Him.
It is my prayer for those who will read this to desire a godly marriage – not because of some bit of rule-following or obligation, but because it is worth it. As I have written this, I have found myself conferring increasingly with my bride and asking tough questions. These were not questions of how great I am or how good we have it. No, dear Sojourner, these have been questions of how and why she put up with me when I was a terrible husband – questions of how she could still love me despite laziness and foolishness – questions of how she exemplified Christ’s love when her husband did not. You see, I can testify first-hand that God can produce what He shows us of marriage in His Word. This is not to say that Candice and I have arrived because we have not. But we can testify that by the grace of God we survived my stupidity and have seen God move and work and change us over the past 8-9 years. We can testify of God’s grace in granting repentance and producing forgiveness. We can testify that God’s way works best and that the time and love put into changing is worth more than words can express.
3 But sexual immorality and all impurity or covetousness must not even be named among you, as is proper among saints. 4 Let there be no filthiness nor foolish talk nor crude joking, which are out of place, but instead let there be thanksgiving. 5 For you may be sure of this, that everyone who is sexually immoral or impure, or who is covetous (that is, an idolater), has no inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God. 6 Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience. 7 Therefore do not become partners with them; 8 for at one time you were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light9(for the fruit of light is found in all that is good and right and true), 10 and try to discern what is pleasing to the Lord. 11 Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them. 12 For it is shameful even to speak of the things that they do in secret. 13 But when anything is exposed by the light, it becomes visible, 14 for anything that becomes visible is light. Therefore it says, “Awake, O sleeper, and arise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.”
Ephesians 5:3-14
Today’s passage is heavy, and it builds on the idea of our walk with Jesus being a part of our real, everyday lives. It also makes it a bit tougher because we see that He made us to stand out rather than blend in.
When I was a kid, we were poor, and the marker of a school kid living below the poverty line was their shoes. Walmart shoes came in two colors: brown hiking shoes or brilliant white tennis shoes. I ended up with the latter. Those brilliant white shoes gleamed and stood out to all who were waiting to make fun of the poor kid and show off their new Nikes or whatever. It was like my shoes were glowing and putting a spotlight on me.
You may not want to be in the light, but if you are saved, you are called to walk as a child of light – to visibly be a part of the “fruit of light”, “all that is good and right and true” (Ephesians 5:8-9). The world is dark. All the things that are cool or popular or, in the present day, considered to be normal in the eyes of the world are dark. But we are not to be a part of such. Just as Paul told the Ephesian church, the works of darkness are still “unfruitful” today. You see, dead plants do not bear fruit. If we have been made alive in Christ, He bears fruit in our lives. And that fruit makes us stand out.
Another analogy in today’s passage is the issue of inheritance. You can probably gather with the shoe story that an inheritance is not looming in my future. Those who walk in darkness and are still walking in the death due to their trespasses and sins will have “no inheritance in the Kingdom of Christ and God” (Ephesians 5:5). No, those who walk in darkness have no lot in the light. Darkness cannot exist in the light, and Jesus is the Light (John 8:12) and “in Him is no darkness at all” (1 John 1:5). This is just the way things are. If one flips on a lightswitch, darkness has no choice but to leave. A single flame from a small match is enough to beat back the darkness around it.
If you are saved, you are called to walk in the light – to live a life that is “pleasing to the Lord” not the world (Ephesians 5:10). You will not be perfect, but you will not participate in the darkness. You will stand out. When God saves you, He lights you up! So, this light that you have been shining this week on mission is not something that is easily put out. I urge you to live your life in such a way – let the light of Christ shine in you in such a way – that when people want to know what’s wrong with you, the only answer is Jesus!
Application:
Think about the story of the brilliant white shoes and the call to walk as children of light in Ephesians 5:8-9. Why do you think you (or we) are so afraid to stand out for Jesus?
Consider the challenge of living a life pleasing to the Lord rather than conforming to the world (Ephesians 5:10). How does this reflect the transformative work of Jesus in our lives, and how does it impact the way we live our lives?
17 Now this I say and testify in the Lord, that you must no longer walk as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their minds. 18 They are darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, due to their hardness of heart. 19 They have become callous and have given themselves up to sensuality, greedy to practice every kind of impurity. 20 But that is not the way you learned Christ!— 21 assuming that you have heard about him and were taught in him, as the truth is in Jesus, 22 to put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, 23 and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, 24 and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.
Ephesians 4:17-24
Today is our “fun” day, but hopefully, meditating on this passage can lead to some good gospel conversations along the way. Note that meditating here is not the criss-cross-applesauce-hummmmm sort of meditation you see on TV. It is a Bible term that means to think on or occupy one’s attention with something. This passage is good for us to occupy our attention with and think about.
Ephesians 4:17-24 builds on our first passage, Ephesians 2:1-10. We know what it means to be made alive in Christ after being dead in our trespasses and sins, but it is important that we know what it means to live the life that Jesus gave us.
First, it means that we are different than the world – not just outside differences that can be seen or sometimes faked, really different from the inside out. We do not get to do whatever we want to do in ignorance anymore. We are no longer alienated (or separated from God) like we were before and given up practicing whatever kind of sin we enjoy and get away with it willy-nilly. If that is our life, we are dead. Paul makes it clear: “that is not the way you learned Christ! – assuming that you have heard about Him and were taught in Him, as the truth is in Jesus” (Ephesians 4:20-21).
That leads us to the second part. We must take off the old, dead self and put on “the new self” that Jesus is making us into being (Ephesians 4:24). We are not strong enough to just stop sinning and be like Jesus. We are strong enough to sin – enough to earn us death. Only Jesus is strong enough to give us strength for the “good works” He has prepared for us (2 Corinthians 12:9-10, Ephesians 2:10). When He makes us alive in Him, the old, dead life does not satisfy. Little by little, as the “spirit of [our] minds” get “renewed” (Ephesians 4:23), we become more like Jesus. More and more the “once walked” (Ephesians 2:2, 4:17) becomes less still struggling.
How does this happen? Jesus works through His Word and His Spirit, like He is doing right now during this quiet time. That’s good news!
Application:
Meditate on what it means to be different from the world as in Ephesians 4:17-24. How does being made alive in Christ produce a change in us that goes beyond what can be seen to change us from the inside out?
Think about the illustration Paul gives about taking off the old self and putting on the new (see also Colossians 3:5-17). What does this mean, and how do we do it?
Reflect on the significance of having our mind renewed by the Holy Spirit. What does this mean? How does our mind being renewed contribute to our being transformed to be more like Jesus?
We are glad to get to offer free water, but we want to share something much better that will last much longer. We offer the good news that Jesus saves!
This might produce a few questions. Why Jesus? Saves from what? These are good, valid questions.
What It Means to Be Saved
Imagine someone swimming who has gone out over their head and is drowning. They cry out for a lifeguard to help. Thankfully, the lifeguard hears them and is able to rush to their rescue, pulling them to safety on the shore. That person has been saved from drowning.
This could also apply to someone who has been stuck in a burning building and fallen unconscious from inhaling all the smoke. Firefighters are called to the building and discover them. The firefighter picks up this totally helpless individual, carries them out of the building, and gets them to the paramedics. The firefighter and paramedics have saved this person from certain death.
In the same way, God provided Jesus to save or rescue every sinner who puts their trust in Him. No matter what we have done or who we are, Jesus can save us. Through Jesus, we find salvation by and eternal life by putting our faith and trust in Him.
The Bible describes this in John 3:16 –
“For God so loved the world, that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life.”
Why We NEED to Be Saved
You might be thinking: well, it makes sense for someone drowning or trapped in a burning building to need to be saved, but what about me?
The Bible teaches us that all of us have sinned. Sin is an archery term that describes missing the bullseye. The bullseye is perfection and goodness. We might try to do right and good, but we fail at that. God is right and good, and our missing the mark or failing in this way separates us from Him.
Romans 6:23 tells us that the “wages of sin is death”. This means that our sin has earned us death and that there is nothing we can do to earn our way out of it. Thankfully, that is not the end of Romans 6:23; check out the full verse: “For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” God has made a way for us! Just as John 3:16 tells us above, Jesus paid the penalty for our sin. He died in our place and offers us life instead. That’s good news!
How You Can Be Saved
The only way for us to be saved is to turn from our sins (and the punishment we deserve because of them) to Jesus and put our faith and trust in Him. We turn from our sin because we realize that we are in trouble and deserve death because of them. We turn to Jesus because we realize that, just like the person who was drowning or trapped in the burning building, we cannot save ourselves.
To put our faith and trust in Him means that we believe that Jesus fully paid the penalty for our sins and offers us forgiveness. The Bible teaches us that Jesus “Himself bore our sins in His body on the tree (the cross)” (1 Peter 2:24). Here is how the Bible tells us we can be saved:
“if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved.” (Romans 10:9-10)
This is what it means when we say put our faith and trust in Jesus; we confess Him as Lord and give our lives over to Him, trusting that He knows best and acknowledge He is God, asking Him to take charge of our lives. We tell Him that we believe He is who the Bible says He is: the Savior who died for our sins and rose again. If we do this, not just saying some magic words but genuinely believing and seeking Him, the Bible tells us that we are saved!
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