Rescue

Isaiah 56:1-8

Good news! God is coming back to rescue His people and display His righteousness. Better news! God will rescue others besides His people, the outcasts of Israel.

When I read this passage I couldn’t help thinking of the current nation of Israel and its struggles to survive. I know there are different views among Christians about Israel, but I know God isn’t done with the Jews yet. I first became aware of the suffering of the Jews throughout history in high school when I read The Source by James Michener. I was horrified that a whole race of people had been persecuted because they set themselves apart, just as God commanded them to.

It’s ironic that they also suffered because they didn’t set themselves apart. The Old Testament is filled with stories of the rebellion of God’s people, His punishment, their repentance and His rescue. Over and over. The Israelites weren’t the only ones to rebel against Him, of course, and they are not the only ones He has rescued. That’s also the story of my salvation. 

Which makes this passage much more personal than just a promise to the Israelites. Just who does God say He will He rescue?

His people who honor His Sabbath days of rest and keep themselves from doing wrong. 

These are the ones who have always known Him, who set themselves apart for Him. They don’t live like the world does, filling up their days with work and other activities, ignoring His standards. These are His people who are just and fair to all, who do right and good. Whatever their circumstances, they know they will be blessed. They’re going to be rescued from the world they’ve already turned away from. 

Foreigners who commit themselves to the Lord.

These were not originally His people, but they’ve come to know Him. They have committed themselves to Him and serve Him and love His name. They worship Him and they also set themselves apart. They hold fast to His covenant, by which He has grafted them into the House of Israel. He brings them into His house of prayer and fills them with joy in His presence.

Eunuchs who choose to do what pleases Him and commit their lives to Him.

This is an interesting category of people. Eunuchs are men who are childless because of the physical injury that has been done to them. They have no family, but more importantly, they have no children to honor their memory when they are gone. Essentially, they are mortal and their lives are short. Yet God promises to give them a better memorial than children give their parents. He promises to give them an everlasting name. These people suffer in this life, but will receive eternal life filled with blessings.

The one thing all three of these categories of people have in common is that they honor God’s Sabbath days of rest. They set aside time for Him and only Him. They don’t do wrong, they do what pleases Him, they hold fast to His covenant. In other words they set themselves apart from the world and live God’s way.

Whichever of these categories each of us belongs to, we can live in the hope that He’s coming back to rescue us. Good news indeed.

The Purpose of the Law

Matthew 5:17-18

Sometimes the scripture raises more questions than answers. When a question jumps out at me it turns me into a detective and I pull out my concordance and the cross references in my Bible get a workout. I love that because it helps me to look past the immediate verse to the whole scripture.

This verse started one of those searches and I’m not sure I’ve found a correct answer. But it’s a start.

Jesus said the law of Moses won’t disappear until its purpose is accomplished. So what is its purpose?

In Galatians 3:19, Paul writes that the law was given to show us our sin. Okay, I get that. I know I’m a sinner because I know the law, which gives me something to measure my actions against. The better I know the law, the more clear it is that I break it.

But Jesus also said the purpose of the law won’t be accomplished until heaven and earth disappear. So until Jesus returns, the law will go on showing people their sin. Here’s where it gets confusing. Paul said the law was designed to last only until the coming of Jesus. In Galatians 3:25, Paul says that we no longer need the law.

Obviously I need to do more research. What he actually says is that we no longer need the law to be our guardian. 

It’s not the purpose of the law to make us right with God. It can’t because we can’t keep it perfectly. But it is part of the Good News. The law and the promise of a savior go hand in hand. The law shows us our sin; the promise frees us from it. 

In Galatians 3:23 Paul says that the law put us in protective custody before Jesus came. It put a guard on our actions to restrain us. Now that Jesus has come we no longer need the restraint because He has freed us from sin. 

So why did Jesus say the law won’t pass away until He comes back? 

This is where I might be stretching my understanding, but I think that the law helps us to live the way God wants us to. In Galatians5:13-14 Paul tells us not to use our freedom to live however we want. Instead we are to serve each other with love. That’s the royal law we read about in James2:8. Jesus said that all of the law and prophets hang on this commandment and the about loving God with all our being. (Matthew 22:38-40) 

So . . .

Because I’ve been saved, I’m no longer slave to the law. But the law is still there to show me how God has intended me to live. It shows me how to love God and my neighbor. 

God wants me to use my freedom to live the intention of the law.

Religion vs. Godliness

2 Timothy 3:1-5

I believe we’re living in the last days. At least today is the last day I’ve lived. It might even be the last day. Jesus might come back today. But in the meantime, I can look around and see the signs. One of the signs is that people act religious but aren’t godly. That’s probably been a problem in the church since the beginning, but I know it’s a problem now. There are people who claim to be Christians but don’t “walk the walk.” I really want to be godly, but I wonder how much of my life is just religious.

In this passage, Paul makes it easy for us to tell the difference. He gives Timothy a list of behaviors of faux religious people and a list of godly behaviors. Here’s my summary.

Faux Religious People:

love only themselves and their money

boastful and proud

scoffing at God

disobedient to their parents

ungrateful.

consider nothing sacred

unloving and unforgiving

slander others

have no self-control

cruel

hate what is good

betray their friends

be reckless

be puffed up with pride

love pleasure rather than God

Godly People:

Accept the power that can make them godly

Okay, that was a trick list, but it simplifies the Christian life in a lot of ways. In order to live a godly life, all I have to do is accept the power of the Holy Spirit. In other words, let Him do it in me.

The problem is that there are some behaviors in the religious list that sound awfully familiar. I spend a lot of time acting religious instead of godly. Or to be more accurate, I spend a lot of time trying not to be a hypocrite – fighting those behaviors because I know they’re not pleasing to God.

It’s a losing battle.

The only way to win is to accept the power that can make me godly.

The only way to win is to submit to the power of the Holy Spirit.

The difference between acting religious and being godly is God. Duh.

Stay True

2 Peter 3:15-18 

Hal Lindsey published The Late Great Planet Earth when I was in college. It was an exciting book and my friends and I ate it up. We went to hear him, and others like him, speak whenever we got the chance. We were convinced Jesus was coming back very soon. Well, here I am forty years later and He hasn’t come back yet. In truth, my understanding of the scriptures about the end times has changed since then.

One of the things I get now that I didn’t then is that the scriptural teaching about the end times is hard to understand because they are things we can’t grasp without God’s help. That makes it easy for people to twist what is written and make it mean things God didn’t intend. (By the way, I’m not saying Hal Lindsey did that. I just don’t agree with his interpretation anymore.)

Now, while Peter is talking about the end times in this passage, he says people twist other parts of scripture too. So how can I know what the truth is? How do I know that I understand it correctly? How do I know what someone else says is true? How do I know my pastor, Bible teacher, favorite Christian writer, theologian, or apologist are right?

I know the Holy Spirit guides me and gives me discernment when I read the scripture. But am I hearing what He’s saying? I also trust the giants of the faith that have gone before me, but they don’t all agree with each other. 

If I get it wrong or follow someone who gets it wrong, it will end in destruction. Peter’s not talking about small disagreements. Twisting the scripture is wicked.

Thankfully, Peter gives us some guidelines to avoid being carried away by the errors of wicked teachers. 

Be on guard. Question new teachings; don’t accept everything I hear and read. Read the scripture for myself, pray about it and ask God to show me the truth.

Grow in the grace of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Grace comes from God so I must spend time with Him to receive it. Grace is undeserved forgiveness for my sins; I must repent and confess my sins regularly.

Grow in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. I must learn as much about Him as I can and the best way to do that is to spend time with Him. Read my Bible a lot and pray a lot. Walk with Him by my side all day.

Acknowledge that He is Lord. Submit myself to Him in every area of my life.

Remember He is my Savior. He died in my place, took my punishment and freed me from sin.

Remember He is Christ – Messiah, the promised one from God. When He does come back it will be in triumphant victory as the conquering King. 

Stay true by staying focused on Jesus. And that is always the core truth. Stay focused on Jesus.

What to Tell Unbelievers

Acts 17:16-31 

I was saved when I was five, raised in a Christian home and attended Christians schools. I have truly lived a blessed life, but when it comes to witnessing to non-believers, I have a definite disadvantage. I don’t really know how to approach them because I don’t understand how they think (or not think) about God.

Paul should have had that problem too, but he knew exactly what to say. This passage can be a text for me to learn how to explain God to unbelievers.

He’s the creator of everything in the world. That means He’s not part of it. We won’t find Him in each of us, or living in nature. He’s something other than anything in the world. 

He owns it all. Because He made everything, it all belongs to Him. He’s the ruler of it all and He decides how to use it for His ends.

He is everywhere. We can’t point to a particular place and say that is where God is. 

He is self-sufficient. He doesn’t need anything and there is nothing we can do for Him that He can’t do for Himself.

He is the source of life. That means He not only made the world, but He made living beings and gave us life. Every breath we take comes from Him, so He sustains our lives. Our entire lives and all we do are dependent on Him.

He created societies and nations and rules them. He decides their fates and His purpose for them is that they look for Him and find Him.  

He is not an idol and we can’t make an image and say that is Him. He is not an idea or a philosophy or a spirit made by people. 

He is going to judge the world soon, but He’s waiting for us to repent of the evil things we do.

Jesus is God Himself, come to earth to bring us to repentance before He returns to judge the world. His resurrection is the proof that He is God.

These are the things that I should share with non-believers.

Study War No More

Micah 4:1-5 

Close your eyes, pretend it’s snowing, and think about Christmas for a minute. (Okay, I know you don’t need snow for that – after all, I live in South Carolina.) Anyway, now think about shepherds on the hillside, listening in awe to the angels singing about peace on earth. It’s a wonderful message, but we all know they didn’t mean that moment was the end of war.

To borrow a cliché, war is ugly. Recently Wayne and I visited Fort Sumter in Charleston. We saw the big metal guns and the thick walls. We toured the museum where we were walked through the battles for control of the fort during the Civil War. We heard statistics about injuries and deaths. But the most powerful lesson was the American flag which had flown over the fort. It was spread out for us to see with frayed edges and numerous bullet holes. The day before, we had visited a plantation and walked down the slave street where we heard a story teller describe the oppressive life of slavery. I had no doubt the Civil war was necessary. But that doesn’t diminish the horror of it.

On a more hopeful note, this scripture promises that in the end, God will bring peace.

He’ll mediate between nations. There will be no more war.

Weapons will be turned into farm tools. People will enjoy their own vineyards and fig trees without fear. They’ll live everyday lives without conflict and they’ll be happy.

The mountain where He dwells will be higher than all the others; the most important place on earth. People from everywhere will stream there to worship Him and learn His ways and they will walk in His paths.

In the meantime, we can follow Him with that hope, even though the nations around us follow idols.