Thoughts on the First Presidential Debate

Earlier this week we witnessed the first of three presidential debates between the upcoming election’s two leading candidates, Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump. Thankfully, Monday’s event didn’t produce the chaotic stage many of us have come to expect during recent political debates. While there were plenty of attacks and interruptions during the 90-minute program, overall, the candidates were surprisingly respectful of one another. Personally, I would like to see a change in format for these debates, since the talking points of both Clinton and Trump didn't provide the public with any new information, and their answers lacked true substance; but that’s a discussion for another day. 

Today my concern is centered upon all the negative criticism I’ve observed regarding both of these candidates. Several weeks ago I wrote about the importance of examining ourselves amidst all the demeaning statements that are made in relation to these two individuals, and my concern still stands today. All of us, myself included, so quickly pass negative judgment upon political figures, without any thought as to how we would handle the pressure of the presidential debate stage. Yes, I have my reservations and doubts about each candidate, but I truly can’t imagine the pressure and anxiety one must feel while standing behind that debate podium in front of 80 million viewers, as Clinton and Trump did Monday evening. Yet, on social media sites, I've seen very little respect for our current leading presidential candidates. 

More than likely, one of these two individuals will be our next president, but I constantly hear statements such as, “If this is the best we have to offer, we are in trouble,” or “This is truly a case of the lesser of two evils” (as if any person in this world is good), or “I think I would be better off leaving the country than sticking around to see either of these candidates win.”

All the while, noticeably absent is the Christian voice that says, “No matter how much I differ with Clinton or with Trump, I’m going to pray for them both." 1 Timothy 2:1-2 reads, “First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayer, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, for kings and all in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way.” Did you catch all that? Let’s break it down:

• Supplications, prayer, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people,
• Supplications, prayer, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for kings and all in high positions,
• Lead a peaceful life,
• Lead a quiet life,
• Lead a godly life, and
• Lead a dignified life in every way.

When you think about your reactions during this political season, particularly the reactions that you vocalize, would you say this verse characterizes your response to these candidates? If you are a follower of Jesus Christ, I encourage you to pray for them. Pray that they would value life both in and out of the womb. Pray that they would humble themselves, rather than defend their every action as if they are sinless beings. And finally, pray that the Holy Spirit of God would transform these candidates by faith in the Son of God, Jesus Christ, the only name by which we must be saved (Acts 4:12). 

~Corey

Legalism or Holy Living?

Anyone who hangs around evangelical circles long enough will most likely hear the “dirty” word legalism.  There are three ways in which this term is typically defined: Some people use it to indicate works-based righteousness (meriting salvation), others use it to refer to the addition of extra-biblical commands, and still others use it to allude to any emphasis upon biblical commands whatsoever. Let’s examine more closely these three different uses for the word legalism. 

The first two ideas about legalism (as works-based righteousness or as the imposition of extra-biblical commands) are not taught in God’s Word, and these teachings should be rejected.  Many times in our day, however, the term legalism is used in the third way stated above: to refer to any emphasis upon God’s commands as expressed in the Bible. If someone is using the term in that way, he is either using it wrongly or he is potentially misunderstanding God’s grace. 

Jeffrey Greenman writes, “Divine grace is not opposed to human effort, but rather is opposed to earning divine favor.”  Simply put, we are not saved by holy living, but rather saved unto holy living.

There is a very fine line between legalism and holy living.  Legalism is sinful, while holy living is godly.  If we attempt to live rightly in order to earn divine favor, that is moralistic and self-righteous behavior; but if we attempt to live rightly because God has already shown us favor then we are simply living out our salvation. 

Titus 2:11-12 reads, “For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age.” These verses show us that grace has appeared in the face of Jesus Christ, achieving salvation for His people. And not only does grace bring about salvation, but it trains the people of God to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives. 

The grace of God is foundational for the Christian.  By God’s grace, salvation has been made known, and this salvation springs forth godly living within us.  Jesus Christ does not redeem a people for Himself so they can continue to live ungodly, worldly lives.  J.C. Ryle dealt with this exact issue when he preached on Hebrews 12:14, which reads: “Strive for peace with everyone and for the holiness without which no one will see the Lord.”  In Ryle’s sermon on this passage he said, "Suppose for a moment that you were allowed to enter heaven without holiness. What would you do there? What possible enjoyment could you feel there?"

Holiness matters. We see in Scripture that God calls His people to be holy; therefore, we as Christians must strive to be holy. The alternative is of the gravest consequence, for the only alternative to holy living is ungodly, worldly living.

You see, Jesus Christ gave Himself to redeem His people from lawlessness and to purify for Himself a people for His own possession who are zealous for good works (Titus 2:14). Nowhere in Scripture will you find Jesus dying on the cross just so we can trust in Him, escape Hell, and then live like pagans.  Jesus Christ did not give Himself for our redemption so that we can continue to walk in ungodliness and then be purified on the last day.  He gave Himself for us, to redeem us from lawlessness and to purify us to live for Him now.

So as we wait for our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ (Titus 2:13), we follow in His ways, and we strive to walk as He walked, for He is not only our example, but He is our Lord.  The Christian faith is not passive; it involves following hard after Jesus Christ, walking in His ways, and being zealous about the good works in which God has prepared for you to walk (Ephesians 2:10).  Therefore, when we reject that dirty word legalism, I hope we are rejecting the tendency some have to add laws and rules to the Scriptures, or the fatal belief that God’s grace can be merited.  For if we reject holy living, then we are rejecting the Gospel of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. 

~Corey

Heaven Without Christ?

If you knew, as a Christian, that when you died and went to heaven everything would be wonderful (no sickness, no death, no mourning, and no sin), but Christ wouldn't be there, would you be content with that?

This question was posed in a recent sermon I heard, and - wow! - did it cause me to think and examine myself. I'm sad to say there was definitely a time when I looked at salvation as my "Get Out of Hell Free" card, although I wouldn't have admitted it back then. During that season of my life Christ was not my treasure; I just knew hell was real, and I didn't want to go there. While, in this life, I will never fully adore the Lord Jesus with the passion and zeal he deserves, God has definitely grown me up in Christ and caused me to treasure Him more. It is no secret that heaven will be an amazing place without sin, death, or sadness, but it is the absence of those earthly struggles and cares that will allow us to finally do what we were created to do: worship Christ wholly and completely. The fact that our trials and afflictions will be gone is simply the side show to the main event! Christ will be there - our Savior and Lord, who lived a perfect life and died a criminal's death on a cross. He took our punishment and blame upon Himself and bore the full weight of our sin, experiencing God's wrath in a way none of us could imagine. Heaven without Christ wouldn't be heaven at all! 

So why do you desire heaven? Because of the streets of gold? The crystal sea? Because there'll be no more sadness, or because you'll see loved ones again? Or is it so you can see and worship Jesus Christ for all eternity? He is our treasure and the ultimate reward for those who have been called according to His purpose.

"And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying,'Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with him, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God.'" ~ Revelation 21:3

Love,

Kristen

Stop Asking Jesus Into Your Heart

Throughout the course of my childhood and teenage years I "asked Jesus into my heart" probably at least a thousand times. I know that may seem outrageous to you and, believe me, I desired more than anything for my soul to experience peace and rest in Christ. Instead, however, I lived with a terrible fear that I would one day die and go to hell. Over and over again I had prayed the "sinner's prayer" as I lay awake in bed each night, but had my prayer ever really been sincere? That question haunted me and choked out my spiritual growth for many years. 

As a child I was taught that in order to become a Christian, you simply needed to "ask Jesus into your heart." If you prayed a specific prayer and meant it in your heart at the time you said it, you were saved, which meant when you died you would spend eternity with God in heaven. Sunday school classes would end with the teacher asking his students to bow their heads and close their eyes. He would then ask anyone who did not know Jesus as Savior to raise their hands and, many times, would tell those people to repeat a prayer line-by-line after him in order to be saved. Youth gatherings and church services ended much in the same way. In addition, I sat under the teachings of many traveling evangelists who would essentially scare the entire congregation into reciting a certain "prayer of salvation" for fear of spending eternity in hell. I remember one specific youth camp I attended where the evangelist sent the crowd into a panic and cleared out nearly every pew in the church. People were kneeling at the altars and in the aisles with tear-filled eyes, trying to gain assurance that they were truly saved - even camp counselors who were faithful saints that had been walking with the Lord for years! Now, please don't get me wrong, while only God can judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart, looking back it truly seems that these teachers, preachers, and evangelists had good intentions and were simply carrying out what they had been taught to do. After all, the "sinner's prayer" is considered to be the "norm" in church-life today. But just because something is normal or traditional doesn't make it biblical. It is certainly true that God can use these prayer recitations and scare tactics as a means to prick a lost heart, but more times than not these good intentions only produce false converts who are persuaded that breathing a simple prayer is all they'll ever need to do to gain eternal security. 

For me, that type of teaching generated a life lived in fear and uncertainty. For years I would consistently question myself: Did I really mean that prayer when I said it back then? I would regularly think back to the time and place I had prayed that prayer and would try to reimagine the exact feeling I felt at that moment. Yes, my prayer was definitely genuine, I would sometimes decide, while other times I questioned my sincerity and wondered if I truly knew Jesus as my Savior. At that point I would think, Well, maybe I didn't mean it back then, but I'll pray it again right now and will really mean it this time. This battle ensued for years and years as I constantly questioned my salvation, wondering if on the day I died and stood before God Almighty He'd say, "I'm sorry, Kristen, but that prayer you prayed a thousand times was never sincere. I never knew you; depart from me." 

Then one day God revealed a beautiful truth to me. I was sitting in a church service and the preacher was giving the invitation at the end of his sermon. "It doesn't matter when you were saved," he said. "All that matters is that you're trusting in Christ now." Once again, doubt sprung up within me. Well yes, I'm trusting in Him now, but how can I know I'll still be trusting in him five years from now? Do I really have that kind of faith in myself? Can I really trust in my fickle, wandering heart that much to think that I'll still be believing in Him in the future? You see, the problem was I had been trusting in my prayer and not in my Lord. I was attempting to put all my confidence in a moment instead of in the Eternal God. And ultimately, I was hoping in my faith instead of in my Creator. At that moment it was as though God removed the scales from my eyes: Salvation did not involve me holding on to God. No, it was all about God holding on to me (John 10:27-29, Psalm 139:5). I cannot and will not trust in myself for eternal security. I cannot trust in a prayer or a feeling. God never said we would always feel saved. What He did say is that we must "run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith" (Hebrews 12:1b-2a). No, I can't trust in a prayer; I can only trust in God and press on, abiding in His unending grace.

Interestingly enough, the "sinner's prayer," as we know it today, didn't come about until the 19th century, and the phrase "ask Jesus into your heart" wasn't commonly used until the 1970s. Once I really dug in and began to see what God's Word actually said about conversion I discovered that the Christian life does involve praying to God, of course, but that there's no specific words anyone needs to pray in order to be saved. In fact, it is God Himself who brings our dead, hardened hearts to life and causes us to cry out to Him in faith! Ezekiel 36:26-27 says, "And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules." It is only after God has raised our lifeless souls from the dead that we are able to call out to Him in faith and repentance (Ephesians 2). 

The title of this blog post is attributed to a wonderful book I read by J.D. Greear entitled Stop Asking Jesus Into Your Heart: How to Know For Sure You are Saved. In it he says:

"Salvation is not a prayer you pray in a one-time ceremony and then move on from; salvation is a posture of repentance and faith that you begin in a moment and maintain for the rest of your life."

Salvation does involve prayer, but it's so much more than that - it's a posture of the heart. In Luke 18, the tax collector cried out with a broken and contrite heart, "God, be merciful to me, a sinner!" His words aren't what saved him; it was the posture of his heart. 

There are countless people all over the world who are convinced they are going to heaven one day because they recited a prayer line-by-line after a preacher ten years ago. Unfortunately, however, so many times these same people soon prove that their hearts were, in fact, never changed, as they quickly abandon a life of faith and return to a life completely contradictory to what God's Word tells us Christians will look like (Matthew 13:1-9). If not for God's marvelous grace, my soul, too, would be at enmity with God. I'm so thankful for the freedom and security I have in Christ, not because of a prayer I prayed, but because of His shed blood and the salvation He freely offers to all who believe. My heart has been made new in Christ, and for that I will praise Him.

"I fall asleep quietly confident that I will be a believer in the morning not because of my free will but God's free grace." 

~John Piper

Love,

Kristen