Paul wrote these famous words: “Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word of Christ” (Romans 10:17).
Note the importance Paul places on “hearing the message.”
The message is Jesus Christ. He is God’s good news to man.
Yet, often times, the message regarding Jesus is not the message that is heard.
For the longest time, I thought Christianity was nothing more than a self-improvement plan. I could improve if I followed the rules and regulations.
But I never improved.
Here is the reason. I didn’t hear the message correctly. I listened with legalistic ears. I wanted to know what I was supposed to do for God.
My own sin and pride turned the good news about Jesus into a message about me and all the things I was supposed to do and be. Turns out, that isn’t very good news at all.
But life has a way of humbling us. I thought I had what it took to become a better person, with God’s help of course. Years of trying proved otherwise. I reached a point where something had to change.
Something did – my hearing. Being humbled by life tuned my ears to the truth.
I attended a Bible study and I actually heard the message of Christ. I heard and understood that His death took away my sins. I heard and understood that He would make me new through His resurrected life.
That is when faith came for me and everything changed.
Perhaps, the fix for some of the problems within the church is a spiritual hearing test.
How was your hearing when you first were told the good news about Jesus? What did you hear?
Tag: Faith
Seven Reasons to Fully Embrace the New Covenant
To the fence sitters, here are seven reasons to get off the fence and boldly declare that you are a New Covenant believer.
Paul stated the reasons plainly in his letter to the Corinthians. The passage is 2 Corinthians 3. Read through it. I think you will find the seven reasons to be compelling.
- Life — As Paul wrote, “the law kills, but the Spirit gives life.” The end of the law is death. That is the wages of sin. In the New Covenant, you receive life, Christ’s life.
- Righteousness — The law is a ministry of condemnation. No way to feel close to God or even know that He truly loves you when you keep failing to live up to His commands. In the New, God makes you righteous in Jesus. You are accepted.
- Eternal Security — The Old Covenant was temporary. It had a limited purpose – to show us our need for Christ. The New is eternal. Jesus’ promises and provisions last forever, which means that you are saved completely and eternally.
- Hope — The weight of the law squeezes out all measure of hope. As the writer of Hebrews stated, apart from Christ, you live in the fearful expectation of God’s punishment. In this New Covenant, your sins have been taken away once and for all. You are forgiven. You have Jesus and He is your hope of glory.
- Freedom — Under the law, you were in bondage to sin and death. Sin was your master, as Paul wrote. But in this New Covenant, the Spirit of Life sets you free from the law of sin and death. Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.
- Transformation — Self-effort keeps you stuck in the Romans 7 trap: the things I want to do, I don’t, and the things I don’t want to do, I do. But in the New Covenant you are transformed into the likeness of Christ, from glory to glory.
- Jesus — Under law, it is all about you and your ability to live up to the standards. In the New, Jesus lives His life through you. He was the One who was revealed when the curtain in the temple was torn. He is God’s gift to you.
It is time to get off the fence. Make the declaration: “I am a New Covenant believer!”
What Commandments Do We Keep?
Jesus said this; “Whoever has my commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves me…” (John 14:21).
This is very clear. Obeying Jesus’ commands is proof that we love Him.
What commands?
Is Jesus referring to the Ten Commandments or the 613 other commands that are listed in the Mosaic Covenant? Or did He have different commands in mind?
The writer of Hebrews stated, “For when there is a change of the priesthood, there must also be a change of the law.” This verse will help us answer this last question.
The New Covenant is a changing of the guard. The Levites were the stewards of the Old Covenant. They had specific duties and responsibilities all anchored to the Law of Moses. Jesus’ death on the cross ended those duties. He was the once for all sacrifice for sin. He fulfilled the Old Covenant in its entirety.
Today, we live in the New Covenant. Jesus Christ is our high priest, appointed to be so by God the Father. With this change in the priesthood, there was a change of the law.
The new commands are these.
- Believe in Jesus Christ (I John 3:23)
- Hope in God’s promises (1 John 3:1-3)
- Love God and people. (John 13:33-34, Romans 5:5)
Faith, hope and love constitute the law of the New Covenant.
God writes these laws on our hearts and in our minds. This is the first promise of the New Covenant. God empowers us to live out faith, hope and love through His Spirit.
The laws of the Old Covenant were the responsibility of the people to Israel to keep. They didn’t have it in them to do so. Neither do we.
In this New Covenant, God gives us a new heart and His Spirit to mark our lives with the laws that are most important to God – faith, hope and love.
What Questions Are Christians Asking?
What are the subjects that are of most interest to believers? Here is our top 20 list based on 2,355 calls to the People to People radio broadcast over the last three years.
1. Salvation 124 Calls
2. Forgiveness 105 Calls
3. Marriage 70 Calls
4. Prayer 62 Calls
5. Christian Living 56 Calls
6. Baptism 52 Calls
7. Sin 48 Calls
8. Faith 47 Calls
9. The Church 46 Calls
10. Divorce/Remarriage 45 Calls
11. Death 43 Calls
12. Doctrine/Truth 38 Calls
13. The Holy Spirit 37 Calls
14. Tithing/Giving 34 Calls
15. New Covenant 32 Calls
16. Revelation 32 Calls
17. Jesus 31 Calls
18. Grace 31 Calls
19. Assurance 30 Calls
20. Rapture 25 Calls
Which of these subjects hold the most interest for you? In future posts, I will write about these subjects matters and offer up questions to spark interaction. Concerning future posts, I will be uploading those on Tuesdays and Thursdays.
I look forward to hearing about the subjects you want to know more about.
My Favorite Bible Passages — #5
Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus. 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 (NIV)
Thankfulness matters. Personally, I think it is the one attitude that should characterize every believer. We are the ones who know the truth–everything we have, all that we are and will be has been given to us by God.
As James wrote, “Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows” (James 1:17).
Interestingly, the Greek word for thanks is eucharisteo. The root word is charis, which means grace. Thankfulness is the fruit of God’s grace in your life.
This gives substance to Paul’s command that we give thanks in all circumstances. This is not a magic formula, or a mantra to be repeated. Genuine thankfulness reflects a heart rooted and growing in God’s grace. It means that in the circumstances of life you trust the One who works all things together for good. This is the will of God.
Spontaneous Combustion
Today is Caitlin’s 20th birthday. If you don’t know, Caitlin is my oldest child. During our recent vacation, she posted this hilarious article to her personal blog. I will say, this is the first time I’ve ever been called a “free-spirited hippie.” Flexible, yes. Spontaneous, yes. But never a “free-spirited hippie.” In the context of her story, it fits.
I know you will enjoy Caitlin’s humor. She keeps our family in stitches most of the time. She also delivers keen insights about life. As you read, do so with our monthly theme of faith and freedom in mind. Caitlin hits on several major issues we all struggle with, issues that can be obstacles to faith.
Read and enjoy, and then join the conversation by sharing times in your life when you’ve experienced “spontaneous combustion.”
Planning. A beautiful art that ensures events and activities go the way the “planner” intended, without any spontaneous interruptions. Spontaneity is the enemy. To enable my maximum enjoyment of a night out on the town, or a summer vacation, detailed planning must take place prior to the night before departure. With that being said, I categorize myself as one of those psycho women who have everything worked out…down to the second.
With my mother being a Southwest Airlines employee, our family is privileged with free flights all over the country. Being a college student in my early twenties on summer vacation, I took advantage of her benefits and made my way to Siesta Key beach. Of course, I had all the details of my trip worked out three days before my plane took off.
Just when I thought I was about to enjoy a nice relaxing week with my backside molded to a beach chair, I get a call from my mom explaining that after Florida, we’d be taking a trip through New England and eventually make our way up to New York! That was it. That one sentence was as far as they got. The flight and hotel information seemed to be obscure to them. “We’re just going to wing it”, she said.
Now, I’m not sure of my parents’ motives. I came to the conclusion that raising my anxiety levels to an 11 on a scale of 10 would be more fun for them to watch than actually going on a sight seeing vacay through New England. My brother and sister were all in. They were excited to embark on a spontaneous adventure. They all boarded the plane and left me hyperventilating into a brown paper bag in front of our gate.
I reluctantly got onto the aircraft and tried to get myself to relax. My breathing techniques were useless because the fear of not knowing what the next few days consisted of was taking over my brain.
We spent a day in Baltimore. Not expected. Then we traveled to Newport Rhode Island. Definitely not expected. When it finally came time make our way up to New York, the one part of the trip I allowed myself to be excited about, all the flights were booked. This is the karma that all these free spirited-non planning hippies deserve.
Of course, my mom is planning our next move at the airport. I have my brown paper bag handy. My brother saw a plane about to leave for Denver, Colorado at the gate right next to us and suggested we hop on and see what that city has to offer us. My worst nightmare. Once again, I’m convinced my parents agreed to it for the sole enjoyment of seeing the look of fear on my face. We boarded the plane exactly two minutes before it was supposed to take off.
So where are we now you might ask? Still on this four hour flight to Denver, with no plans. I’m squished between an elderly couple who keep asking me questions about my life. Can’t they see I’m in the middle of a huge crisis? The answer is no, they can’t because I’m sure they know where they are sleeping tonight, which is more than I can say for myself.
On the way to the bathroom I was informed that white water rafting and horse back riding are on the agenda while we are in Denver. Excuse me? How is this anywhere close to our classy New England tour? Normal people, like my brother and sister, would be excited about this news. Not me.
I sound crazy, I know. You’re probably thinking I need to suck up my controlling attitude and have a good time. You are right. I need to overcome my boring, detailed ways. This “vacation” is perfect practice. By the time I make my way home back to sweet Texas, I expect to be more like the hippies who, as my mom would say, “wing it”.
The captain just announced were landing in Denver. Wish me luck.
The Star Spangled Banner
Last week I visited Fort McHenry in Baltimore Maryland. This fort is best known for the role it played in the war of 1812. The soldiers who occupied this fort successfully defended the Baltimore Harbor from attack by the British Navy.
Francis Scott Key was aboard a British ship anchored in the Baltimore Harbor to negotiate the release of prisoners. While on board, he learned of the British Navy’s plan to attack Fort McHenry. He was not allowed to leave the ship until the battle ended. As he penned, he watched “the rockets’ red glare and the bombs bursting in air” throughout the night.
The dawn of September 14, 1814, Key saw the American flag, 30′ by 42′ in size, waving over Fort McHenry. The sight of “old glory” inspired him to write the famous words of The Star-Spangled Banner.
This powerful poem captured the essence of the indomitable American spirit. Some 100 years later, by decree of Pres. Woodrow Wilson, it was adopted as our national anthem. Once adopted, the Star-Spangled Banner was inextricably linked to the American flag as symbols of our freedom.
We cherish these symbols and the American way of life they represent. The very act of singing the national anthem as we fix our eyes on a flag waving in the distance invokes a sense of patriotism and thankfulness in each of us.
We are privileged as American citizens to have freedom of religion, free speech and the right to pursue happiness, just to name a few. These are the qualities of freedom that these wonderful symbols point us to. They also issue a warning that these freedoms could be taken away or lost. We should never take them for granted.
What we have in America speaks of a greater and more enduring freedom, one whose symbols are a wooden cross and an empty. These symbols point us to the newness of life we have in Jesus Christ, a life marked by freedom from sin and death, freedom from legalism and freedom from the fear of death. These are freedoms that Christ purchased for us and they can never be taken away.
When you think of the cross and empty tomb, what aspects of your new life in Christ are you most thankful for? For me, it’s the truth that I’ve crossed over from death to life. What about you? I would love to hear your thoughts.
Faith and Freedom
Our theme for the People to People radio broadcast this month is “Faith and Freedom.” Richard and I introduced the theme last Tuesday. Our staff thought the on-air discussion was worthy enough to be the call of the week.
You can listen to that discussion here.
Here is the main point; faith in Jesus Christ leads to spiritual freedom. In the spirit of this blog, First Life Then Change, Richard coined the phrase, First Faith, Then Freedom.
The quest for freedom is one of the strong themes within the human story. We all long to be free. That longing is satisfied within the Gospel story. Jesus died to set us free. He was raised so that we could experience that freedom in His resurrected life. Walk by faith in Him and you will be free.
Once you listen to the call of the week, join the conversation. Others will be blessed to read your story of freedom.
A note of information. We send the call of the week each Friday to our e-mail list and we post it to our call of the week blog. If you would like it be delivered to your e-mail inbox, visit realanswers.net and click the subscribe to newsletter link. Or you can access the blog by clicking the blog tab on our website. I encourage you to share these real-life calls with your family and friends. It’s a great way to share the message.
How You Can Have a Vibrant Faith in 2012
If you want to experience a vibrant faith, then ask and answer this question.
Jesus first posed this question to His disciples at Caesarea Philippi. The curiosity of the people of Israel concerning the identity of Jesus had the nation abuzz. Who was He? Jesus asked His disciples for feedback. Then He asked them, “Who do you say that I am?”
Most of us think of this question in terms of apologetics, defending the faith. Yes, Jesus’ identity is central to Christianity, and we as believers must be well versed in sharing the truth of His claims to be God.
The question, however, is much broader in scope. The answer has continuing effects in our day-to-day lives. It relates to our faith as individual believers.
“Who do you say that I am?” is not a question to be asked and answered merely once in a lifetime. We should circle back to it time and time again.
Our faith, to have value and substance, must be tied to an object. Without an object, faith is a meaningless word. For Christians, the object of our faith is Jesus Christ Himself. As our knowledge of Christ grows, our faith in Him expands within our souls.
This far exceeds the facts the question initially invokes. Peter answered the question correctly when Jesus asked it. He boldly delivered the answer that had been revealed to him, “You are the Christ, the Son of God.” Yet, when Jesus, in response to Peter’s answer, shared His ultimate mission, Peter recoiled. Jesus rebuked him saying, “You are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of men.” The fact of Jesus’ identity was clear in Peter’s mind, but fact had not yet blossomed into full faith.
Faith is a dynamic word that is lived out in trials and tribulations. Sometimes, in trials, we carry on as if we had never come to terms with the truth of Jesus. We act as if He is irrelevant to our life issues. However, it is in those times, we need to come back to this most significant question: Who do I say that He is? When we come back to the truth that Jesus is God and is living in us, then we can release our burdens to Him and confidently trust that He is capable of working the situation together for our good.
In 2012, make a point to circle back to the most compelling question ever asked time and time again. If you do, you can count on experiencing a vibrant faith in the New Year.
One in Ten: A Story of Gratitude
It was just the one who walked away totally healed. Nine others had been healed of leprosy. These nine could now be welcomed back into society and begin living a normal life. Maybe that’s all they wanted, but still they could have at least thanked the One who made their healing possible. But, it was just one of the ten who came back to Jesus to say thank you, and this one a Samaritan. To him Jesus said, “Rise and go your way; your faith has made you well.”
Is Jesus concerned about our illnesses and infirmities? As this story indicates, the answer is a resounding yes. But His concern for us goes much deeper. He wants to bring healing and wellness to our souls. Our salvation is Jesus’ top priority. It was the Samaritan that understood this, and his heart overflowed with thanksgiving.
We see the polar opposite in Romans 1 where Paul takes us inside of those who stand in rebellion towards God living ungodly and unrighteous lives. Here is what he wrote: “For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened (Romans 1:21 ESV).
According to Jeremiah, it is the heart that “is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick” (Jer 17:9 ESV). It is our hearts that need cured, that need to be changed. This healing is found in the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ. The sign that our souls have been made well is a heart overflowing with gratitude.
One out of the ten said thank you to Jesus, for what He did. That one was made well. What about you? What does your heart say?