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.
Tag: grace
We Can Get Along — Really!
Instructions for Christian Households. This is the heading in my Bible for Ephesians 5:21-6:9. It is way too generic or vanilla for my liking. And it certainly doesn’t motivate me to read further. I mean, who wants a bunch of boring instructions?
Let’s face it, simple instructions just won’t do when it comes to handling the complex and often complicated dynamics of relationships. As we all know, family life can be tough, painful and sometimes too much to bear, even for those families who know Christ and are in Christ.
Household is another word I’m not crazy about. Again, it reeks of everything plain, common and domestic. It misses the “wow factor” of the passage. This section of Scripture is about people – husbands and wives, moms and dads, brothers and sisters, and sometimes, other folks as well – who are sharing life together in a very intimate setting.
The point that Paul is making is that families can experience powerful and genuine relationships. The home does not have to be a place of tension and stress and angst. Living together under one roof, we can get along.
But how?
Paul begins this section with these words: “Submit to one another out of reverence to Christ.” Yes, he is specifically writing to Christians, Christians who know after reading his letter that they
- have been given every spiritual blessing in Christ (Ephesians 1:3),
- have been adopted to sonship in Christ (Ephesians 1:5),
- have redemption through the blood of Jesus, and the forgiveness of sins (Ephesians 1:7),
- have been marked with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who guarantees their inheritance (Ephesians 1:13, 14),
- have been given God’s incomparably great power, the same power that raised Jesus from the dead (Ephesians 1:19)
- have been made alive together with Christ (Ephesians 2:5),
- have been saved by grace through faith (Ephesians 2:8),
- have been created anew in Christ Jesus for good works (Ephesians 2:10),
- have access to the Father through the Spirit (Ephesians 2:18),
- have the freedom and confidence to approach God through faith in Christ (Ephesians 3:12),
- have Jesus Christ dwelling in their hearts through faith (Ephesians 3:17),
- have the power to know and experience the love of God (Ephesians 3:18),
- have been added to the body of Christ (Ephesians 4:16) and
- are light in the Lord (Ephesians 5:8).
The entire book of Ephesians provides the context for Paul’s vision for family relationships. This vision is moored to the wealth of riches that are ours in Christ Jesus, and it is animated by the incomparable power God has given us through His Spirit.
Submission one to another, wives submitting to their husbands, husbands loving their wives as Christ loved the Church is the fruit of God’s grace and power. Otherwise this section can be reduced to a set of instructions that are impossible to carry out.
As children of God, we are alive in Jesus Christ, empowered by His Spirit, and blessed with all the treasures of God’s grace. Perhaps we should give this section a new heading – Grace Filled, Spirit Led Relationships. This tells us that yes, we can get along, really!
Skateboarding, the Law and Relationships
The doorbell rang. Jeanna opened the door and there stood a police officer. A neighbor had registered a complaint against us. According to the officer, Coleman and his friends were making too much noise on his skateboard ramp.
We knew the ramp was loud. We had spoken to our neighbor several times about the noise issue. He asked that Coleman limit his skateboarding on the ramp to 45 minutes and only skateboard during the day. Coleman was willing to make this concession, so these terms were agreed upon.
Our neighbor held to a strict interpretation of the agreement. 45 minutes meant 45 minutes. At the first sound of Coleman zooming down the ramp, our neighbor would appear at his back door with watch in hand.
But soon even the 45 minutes was too much to bear. He was retired, and dealing with noisy neighbors was not part of his retirement plan.
He went to City Hall to research the noise ordinances. He pored over the documents, highlighting all the possible violations on our part. He then met with the police officer, shared his findings and asked that he issue a citation to us. The officer did not agree with our neighbor’s interpretation of the code, but he was obligated to meet with us to discuss the problem.
Soon the problem took care of itself. Coleman lost interest in skateboarding and the ramp began to rot. The interesting aspect of the story is that when our neighbor brought the city ordinances into the picture, a code that he believed stood against us, he stopped talking with us. The law had placed a barrier between us. Any vestiges of a relationship were gone.
We eventually took the ramp down. Our neighbor watched from his window as we did, but he never ventured out to speak with us. That was sad to me. We wanted to be good neighbors, and I know in his heart of hearts he wanted that as well.
This story reminds me of Peter’s actions in Antioch. Paul told the story in his letter to the Galatians. Under pressure from the Judaizers, Peter decided to rebuild the Jewish law in his life regarding the Gentile converts, which meant they had to follow Jewish customs, including circumcision, in order to be embraced by Jewish believers. This became a barrier that stood between Peter and the Gentile believers. As a result, Peter withdrew from them and ended all relationships. Law does that. It is not the foundation on which to build relationships.
Jesus is the One who brings us together. As Paul wrote, “for he himself is our peace, who has made the two groups one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility, by setting aside in his flesh the law with its commands and regulations” (Ephesians 2:14, 15). The law divides and causes hostility. But all that changes when relationships are built in Christ. He is the foundation for strong, healthy relationships.
Some six months after we tore down the skateboard ramp , my neighbor saw me mowing the yard and stopped to speak. He shook my hand and said, “We got off on the wrong foot, can we start over?” The barrier was gone. And now we’re on the road to becoming good neighbors.
How about you? Has the law become a wall of hostility in any of your relationships?
The Three Characteristics of a People Pleaser and How to Avoid Them
Please people or please God. This was the issue that prompted Paul’s letter to the Galatians. Peter, the one who boldly delivered the first gospel sermon and the one who ended the heated debate at the Jerusalem Council with a stunning claim that Gentiles were saved by grace just like the Jews, had become a people pleaser.
The believers in Antioch witnessed Peter’s lapse in judgment. When he first arrived in there he enjoyed fellowship with all of the believers, Jews and Gentiles alike. He ate with the Gentiles regularly. However, once the men sent from James showed up, Peter’s actions began to change.
At first Peter drew back. But soon he separated himself from the Gentiles altogether. The other Jews joined him in his hypocrisy, and even Barnabas was led astray.
Paul could not let this gross misrepresentation of the gospel go unchallenged. He confronted Peter to his face. This was not a private meeting between the two leaders. No, Paul admonished Peter in front of all the believers in Antioch. You can imagine the tension that filled the assembly, but it had to be done. The truth of the gospel was at stake.
Why did Peter cave? What provoked this blatant display of legalism on his part?
Galatians 1:10 answers clearly: “Am I now trying to win the approval of human beings, or of God? Or am I trying to please people? If I were still trying to please people, I would not be a servant of Christ.” Plain and simple, Peter had decided it was more important to please people at that time than it was to be a servant of Christ.
Shockingly, Peter at that moment had become a legalist. He placed on his neck the yoke of the law that he had already concluded neither he nor his forefathers could bear (Acts 15:10). We’ve all been there. We conducted ourselves as “grace Pharisees”, or reverted back to our old legalistic tendencies. The question is this: How do we recognize when people pleasing is more important to us than being led by God’s Spirit? Paul points to three signs.
- Fear — Peter separated himself from the Gentiles because he was afraid of those men that had come from James. If you are afraid of others and are living to please them you are on the fast track to becoming a legalist.
- You do not act in line with the truth of the Gospel – Peter knew separating from the Gentiles was wrong. The Gentiles had heard the Gospel message from his lips. He saw that God added them to the church and that He does not show favoritism. Yet his fear of the Jewish leaders that had come to Antioch caused him to play the hypocrite. Trying to please others will cause you to act in a way that does not line with the truth of the Gospel.
- You lead others astray – Peter’s actions influenced others. All the Jews, and even Barnabas, joined Peter in his hypocrisy. The old adage, misery loves company, applies here. To help justify your decision to give in to the legalistic demands of others, you will encourage others to follow suit.
These are the tell-tale signs that you are on the road to becoming a legalist. But you don’t have to go down that road. You don’t have to live as a people pleaser. Here is how to avoid that trap.
- Recognize that you have been justified by faith in Jesus Christ. You are already right in God’s sight (Galatians 2:16).
- Die to the law so that you can live for God (Galatians 2:19).
- Since Christ lives in you, live by faith in him, the one who loves you and gave himself for you (Galatians 2:20).
- Fully embrace the grace of God (Galatians 2:21).
In Antioch, Peter caved to the pressure of those he deemed important. God, however, never intended for our beliefs, attitudes or actions to be shaped by the opinions of others. We have been rescued from that realm and have been placed in Christ. We are to live by his indwelling presence, being shaped by his death, burial and resurrection. This will keep you from becoming a people pleaser and will help you avoid the snare of legalism.
Forgiveness
God remembers your sins no more. I don’t know about you, but when the lights came on concerning this truth, my life changed.
For the longest time, it seemed everywhere I went, or whatever I tried to do, guilt was right there with me, haunting me and toying with my mind. My sins weren’t the stuff of legend, but they were sins just the same and they (I) deserved to be punished. But when, how? I didn’t have the answer, only the sobering thought that some day God was going to punish me.
Even though I knew of Christ’s sacrifice on the cross, forgiveness was not a reality. I wasn’t even convinced that it was a possibility. I wondered if God was willing to forgive me at all. I pleaded with Him, asked Him into my life countless times, but still guilt kept hanging around, until…
Hebrews 10. There, I found out exactly what Jesus’ sacrifice did for me. His work on the cross cleansed me, took away my sins, made me holy and perfect in God’s sight, and fulfilled the old covenant on my behalf. And this just blows my mind: Jesus’ death erased my sins from God’s memory.
Oh, the relief I felt knowing that my sins had been forgiven once and for all, and then to be unshackled from the guilt and shame. They kept telling me I could never go into the throne of grace, even though the door was wide open. But no more, forgiveness is mine. I’ve entered in. How about you?