Jesus Saves: 101

By Pastor Vinnie MacIsaac

Related Podcast: 

Jesus Saves. Let’s Talk Process.

Christians of all types and shapes generally agree: Jesus saves. I understood that at baptism when I joined the church. However, a little bit tragically, it took me until I was a theology student, formally studying for the ministry, to fully understand how He saved me. It is great to know you are saved, but misunderstanding the process of saving often leads to theological confusion and unbalance.

The Bible declares;

“For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast.  For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” Ephesians 2:8-10

Here are the three stages of this process:

Justification:

Justification is a one-time event that occurs when a lost sinner asks for God’s forgiveness and God imputes the merits of Jesus Christ on the sinner declaring the sinner to be righteous.

Generally, most Christian traditions (especially evangelical traditions) refer to this step in the process as “being saved.”

“Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.” Romans 5:1

“So that being justified by his grace we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life.”  Titus 3:7

“For we hold that one is justified by faith apart from works of the law.” Romans 3:28

Justification, therefore, is a free gift of God’s grace and cannot be earned by being good, by keeping the Law, or by doing kind deeds for God or man.  It is literally God freeing us from the penalty of sin. It occurs only because a sinner, under the prevenient grace[i] of the Holy Spirit, comes to understand they are woefully lost, heading for destruction, and cannot change their fate no matter how hard they try – unless God Himself intervenes in their life. It is a cry in the darkness for a God of the light, to reach down and save us from our own sinful nature. It is an act of faith, in believing that God will save us because Jesus died in our place on the cross. When we are justified, we are surrendered to God in a willful repentance of sin and the ability to cure ourselves. It is as the classic hymn says, “to wholly lean on Jesus’ name.”[ii] It is literally God freeing us from the penalty of sin.

Sanctification:

Sanctification can be summed up as God’s continual freeing us from the power of sin in our lives. Sin, as a power, seeks to drag us back into the darkness that justification saved us from. God, through the indwelling power of His Holy Spirit, seeks to grow us up more daily. We are saved in a moment (justification) but we grow for a lifetime (sanctification).

“Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.” 1 Thessalonians 5:23

“According to the foreknowledge of God the Father, in the sanctification of the Spirit, for obedience to Jesus Christ and for sprinkling with his blood: May grace and peace be multiplied to you.” 1 Peter 1:2

“Moreover, I gave them my Sabbaths, as a sign between me and them, that they might know that I am the LORD who sanctifies them.” Ezekiel 20:12

Sanctification is often called holiness because it is the growth process into holiness. However, it is key to understand, just as Ezekiel says, it is “the LORD who sanctifies.” Some Christians mistakenly think that Justification (being saved) is what God does and that Sanctification (being made holy) is what we do. But the truth is, both Justification and Sanctification are both works that God does in you as you yield yourself to Him. We are saved by grace through faith, both in justification and sanctification. The Bible promises us that the same God who began a good work in us will also finish it (Philippians 1:6).

Glorification:

Glorification is the final development stage in the process, when God transforms our nature forever – taking away the “power of sin” forever. This happens at the second coming of Christ when our sinful natures are taken away and the struggle is finally over. We are no longer being declared holy, or made holy; we are holy, and therefore glorified with God, in Christ.

“It will happen in a moment, in the blink of an eye, when the last trumpet is blown. For when the trumpet sounds, those who have died will be raised to live forever. And we who are living will also be transformed.” 1 Corinthians 15:52

“But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body, by the power that enables him even to subject all things to himself.” Philippians 3:20-21

“And inasmuch as it is appointed for men to die once and after this comes judgment, so Christ also, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time for salvation without reference to sin, to those who eagerly await Him.” Hebrews 9:27-28

Finally, we will be free from the power of sin and this corrupted mortal body and be forever transformed by the very presence of God to forever live in the Kingdom with him. Gone will be sin, suffering, and best of all, temptation. We will have seen sin, struggled with sin, and have been delivered from sin, and will never go down that road again!

John Newton summed it up nicely for us when he put the salvation process this way,

“I am not what I ought to be, I am not what I want to be, I am not what I hope to be in another world; but still I am not what I once used to be, and by the grace of God I am what I am.”[iii]

God’s Amazing Grace takes us for eternity into glorification that is beyond what our human minds can even yet understand. We are saved in a moment, grow for a lifetime, and give glory forever, all because Jesus made atonement at the cross for us. We were sinners, deserving death. He was perfect, deserving eternity; yet he traded places with us in our death, to give us His life. “Christ was treated as we deserve, that we might be treated as He deserves.”[iv]  The theological term for this is subsidiary atonement (also in some traditions called vicarious atonement) and it is the idea that the perfect life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ replaces our broken, sinful life and needful death, for all of eternity, when we accept it at justification.

“God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” (2 Corinthians 5:21)

And that is the point of all three stages of the salvation process as outlined in the Bible. God is making us, who accept the atonement of Jesus in faith,  to be restored into the very Glory of the righteousness of God, for which fallen humankind will take on learning and embracing into eternity.

“When we’ve been there ten thousand years

Bright shining as the sun,

We’ve no less days to sing God’s praise

Than when we’ve first begun.”[v]

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Footnotes:

[i] Prevenient Grace: https://youtu.be/nG-AUaFgFbM

[ii] My Hope Is Built On Nothing Less

[iii] John Newton was an English Anglican clergyman and abolitionist. He wrote the famed hymn Amazing Grace.

[iv] Desire Of Ages; Ellen G. White, Pg 25

[v] “Amazing Grace” written by John Newton

The post Jesus Saves: 101 appeared first on Simply Vinnie - Unpacking The Complicated.

What Is Victory?

by Pastor Vinnie

Don’t sin! Don’t do it. Stop. Sin kills. Sin kills you. Sin kills others. Sin will even kill God. It put Jesus on the cross. Why would you want to keep doing that?

“…To their loss they are crucifying the Son of God all over again and subjecting him to public disgrace.” Hebrews 6:6b NIV

What is that you say? Is stopping easier said than done?

I know you think that. I know you, maybe indirectly, have been taught that. I also know you are wrong. I am not saying you can gain instant perfection. Let’s leave perfection to Christ and His translation of you at His return.

“In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.” KJV

However, the fact that you’re not perfect, always growing, forever seeking to become more like the Savior is no excuse to be stalled, stuck, and living in defeat. Victory is not perfection. Victory is not sinlessness. Winning is not the absence of failure. Instead, it is the embracing of the success that Christ produces in you like fruit, growing in your spiritual life as you gradually keep walking with him.

“ The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,  gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.” Galatians 5:22-23 NIV

Keep walking. Keep getting up. Keep refusing to stay down. Keep seeking His Spirit. Keep asking, pleading, and chasing after His Spirit no matter how badly you mess up and He will gradually, yet consistently, produce His Spirit’s fruit in you. Here is the thing to keep in mind, you likely won’t even see or notice it. This, too, is by design, so that your rising up out of the ashes of defeat will not be tripped up by your very typical, earth-bound, human pride. However, those around you will see it! Those who have daily and random contact with you will notice that there is something different about you. They will notice your joy, your inner sense of peace in crisis; they will see a gentleness inside you. They will be struck by your spirit of kindness, inner selfless goodness. They will be inspired by your off-the-charts self-control, not to mention your faithfulness both to doing right and to caring about them. They will see your love.  You, however, will only see how much further you still have to go to be as beautiful as your Savior.

“Those who become new creatures in Christ Jesus will bring forth the fruits of the Spirit… They will no longer fashion themselves according to the former lusts, but by the faith of the Son of God they will follow in His steps, reflect His character, and purify themselves even as He is pure. The things they once hated, they now love, and the things they once loved they hate. The proud and self-assertive become meek and lowly in heart. The vain and supercilious become serious and unobtrusive. The drunken become sober, and the profligate pure. The vain customs and fashions of the world are laid aside…The loveliness of the character of Christ will be seen in His followers. Love beautified and ennobled all His actions. Love is of God…The closer you come to Jesus, the more faulty you will appear in your own eyes; for your vision will be clearer, and your imperfections will be seen in broad and distinct contrast to His perfect nature. This is evidence that Satan’s delusions have lost their power; that the vivifying influence of the Spirit of God is arousing you.”[i]

You see it is easy to say, don’t sin. It is harder to do that. But you know what is easier than both of those things and works? Love works! It is true! Love works! Don’t think about how hard it is to stop sinning. Think about how sweet, and how joy-filled, how powerful, and how transforming LOVE IS! Don’t sin… Just love each other! It really is that simple. The act of not sinning merely is showing love, respect, and value to each other and the creator. LOVE is VICTORY!

“Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?” Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment.  And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.” Matthew 22:36-40 NIV

Dear Friends have Victory. Dear Friends, Love God and Love each other. Do this, and your Victory is being lived out in you and growing deeper and deeper all the more to the day of our Lord’s arrival and appearing in the clouds. You will seek out his Holy Spirit to teach you how to love.  Then, love, not perfectionism, will rise in your heart to be your new target. It will become less and less about how you will get to Heaven and more and more about how you can love others into the Kingdom. Slow and steady, is the race into eternity. Run it, one foot in front of the other, all the way to that glorious finish-line ahead of us all!

Reflect on these words (video below)

Resurrecting:

The head that once was crowned with thorns
Is crowned with glory now
The Savior knelt to wash our feet
Now at His feet, we bow.

The One who wore our sin and shame
Now robed in majesty
The radiance of perfect love
Now shines for all to see.

Your name, Your name
Is Victory
All praise will rise
To Christ, our king.

The fear that held us now gives way
To Him who is our peace
His final breath upon the cross
Is now alive in me.

Your name, Your name
Is Victory
All praise will rise
To Christ, our king.

By Your spirit, I will rise
From the ashes of defeat
The resurrected King is resurrecting me
In Your name, I come alive
To declare Your victory
The resurrected King is resurrecting me
By Your spirit, I will rise
From the ashes of defeat
The resurrected King is resurrecting me
In Your name, I come alive
To declare Your victory
The resurrected King is resurrecting me
By Your spirit, I will rise
From the ashes of defeat
The resurrected King is resurrecting me
In Your name, I come alive
To declare Your victory
The resurrected king is resurrecting me

He’s resurrecting me
Our God is good.

The tomb where soldiers watched in vain
Was borrowed for three days
His body there would not remain
Our God has robbed the grave
Our God has robbed the grave (yes He has, yes He has)

Your name, Your name
Is Victory
All praise will rise
To Christ, our king.

By Your spirit, I will rise
From the ashes of defeat
The resurrected King is resurrecting me
In Your name, I come alive
To declare Your victory
The resurrected King is resurrecting me
By Your spirit, I will rise
From the ashes of defeat
The resurrected King is resurrecting me
In Your name, I come alive[ii]

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Footnotes:

[i] Collected thoughts from the book Steps to Christ, Chapter 7, “The Test of Discipleship,” by Ellen White.

[ii] Resurrecting: Elevation Worship. Songwriters: Christopher Brown / Wade Joye / Steven Furtick / Matthews Thabo Ntele / Mack Brock

Resurrecting lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC

The post What Is Victory? appeared first on Simply Vinnie - Unpacking The Complicated.

From Harlot to Holy

Faith Like A Prostitute 

 by Vinnie MacIsaac

Related PODCAST Below

Everyone in ministry rightfully wonders at times, am I qualified? Do I really have what it takes? Would God really accept someone like me to work for Someone like Him? Being a prayer warrior, a local church deacon or elder, or children’s coordinator, worship leader, or even a Pastor is not only hard work, but it is a sure fire way to discover your defective nature and brokenness. If you are unaware of your imperfections, people will surely educate you the second you step up into ministry

I have often wondered how Rahab knew those spies visiting her den of iniquity were really “good” Jewish boys, but answering that would be a blog of another kind for another time. The truth, regardless, is Rahab was a pagan prostitute who likely practiced prostitution solely to support herself and her family economically. According to Jewish tradition found in the rabbinic writings of the Midrash, she was so beautiful that she was considered to be among the four most beautiful women ever^[1]. Her sensuality was so intense according to the rabbis that to even say her name created lust that needed repentance^[2]. As an Amorite, she would and been polytheistic but the “Ra” of her name likely points to her being originally a worshiper of the Egyptian Sun God Ra^[3]. Which is very interesting as her story in Joshua points to her having followed the news of the God of Israel having defeated the gods of her own namesake.

In some cases, prostitution in the ancient world was not only a noble profession but within certain cultures a holy profession. It was an expression of ritual pagan beliefs, and its acts were a fulfilling of those licentious sexual rites. The temple prostitute was seen as a living sacrifice to the local goddesses of fertility ensuring the cycle of life to the community by her ritual service, but such was not likely the case with Rahab. The Hebrew word used to describe her probably rules that out. The זָנָה Zonah means common every day prostitute as opposed to the word קדשה qedesha meaning consecrated or set apart prostitute^[4]. I say this to simply make sure we understand Rahab was the bottom of the Cannonite social barrel. Her actions, even in her own culture, were low and without societal sanction. She was an outcast, a sinner, and the dregs of even pagan morality.

Unfortunately, sometimes in all religions, even Christianity, we tend to write off what we consider to be the dregs of society. We tend to label people reprobate or past redemption. Perhaps we assume they are not interested or would not want to hear what we have to say about God’s love and mercy; but not so for Rahab! Those good Jewish boys had other things on their mind than testifying for God, but that did not stop Rehab from telling them all she had heard about their God!

“For we had heard how the Lord dried up the water of the Red Sea before you when you came out of Egypt and what you did to the two kings of the Amorites who were beyond the Jordan, to Sihon and Og, whom you devoted to destruction. And as soon as we heard it, our hearts melted, and there was no spirit left in any man because of you, for the Lord your God, he is God in the heavens above and on the earth beneath.” (Joshua 2:10-11)

This lowly, pagan, outcast and sinner in the arts of sensuality, was paying attention to the newsfeed of what God was doing among the nations! Even more impressive was her heart was melted by what she heard of how the God of the Hebrews had made waste of the gods of her own namesake. She was already starting to believe in power the God of Israel. How often do we judge the down and out? How often do we pass a homeless person, a troubled youth, a common city streetwalker and turn our head in shame of who we think they are? I wonder, could they not be someone who has heard rumors of our God? Might they get up, put away their sins and follow, if only there is a witness to be found, and the slightest hint of an invitation?

Please remember, these good Jewish boys would have left her to die in that city, but it was Rahab and not them, who took the first steps towards her own salvation when she hid the spies when they were being sought out by city officials to be captured and killed. It is Rahab who knowing God was both powerful enough to take her city down and merciful enough to care about her who pleaded to her Jewish guests. “Now then, please swear to me by the Lord that, as I have dealt kindly with you, you also will deal kindly with my father’s house.” Look at the faith on this girl! She pleads not just for herself, but for her father and mother, my brothers and sisters and even her whole extended family. She is a woman who is not self-focused and just looking out for herself. She is, in fact, a harlot who has hope in the Holiness of God.

It was because of the faithfulness of a common harlot that her whole family was saved.

“Behold, when we come into the land, you shall tie this scarlet cord in the window through which you let us down, and you shall gather into your house your father and mother, your brothers, and all your father’s household.” (Joshua 2:18)

And good to their word those good Jewish spies ensured Rahab and her whole family were saved when the walls of Jericho came down. The scarlet cord, a mere symbol of faith in the scarlet blood that would flow one day on the cross over Calvary, was the symbol of her redemption. Her faith not only saved herself and her whole family but it actually landed her a mention in the Hall of Fame of Faith in Hebrews 11; “By faith Rahab, the prostitute did not perish with those who were disobedient, because she had given a friendly welcome to the spies.” (Hebrews 11:31)

Moreover, it is likely her faith had a hand in saving even you. Matthew, it seems, records her as being in King David’s genealogy and thus in the lineage of Jesus himself. “Salmon the father of Boaz, whose mother was Rahab, Boaz the father of Obed, whose mother was Ruth, Obed the father of Jesse, and Jesse the father of King David.” (Matthew 1:5-6)^[5].

Stop and think of it! If God would use a harlot like Rahab and even embed her into the genealogical claim of Jesus being the rightful ruler of the throne of David, from whom would come the very Messiah, then why can’t He use you? You may be imperfect. You may be flawed. You may be broken. You may just be exactly what God needs to show many others in the masses His grace extends even to them!

Rahab was a woman, sadly used by many men. She was often used for a burning moment of passion and then forgotten for life. But she was also a woman used once by God, with an everlasting passion that will never be forgotten. When we let people use us, they degrade and destroy us, for that is the will of fallen humanity but when we let God use us He acts in love rather than lust, and he uplifts us, cherishes us, and restores us past our ever imagined true worth! There can be no romance greater than one with Jesus. The is no greater love story than a God who knows your past but can only see your future with Him.

 Do you at least have the faith or sun worshiping prostitute? If so, Jesus can wash you. Jesus can renew you. And best of all, Jesus can use you to bring the Messiah not only into the world but into the lives of all the people around you.

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Footnotes

^[1] Along with Sarah, Abigail, and Esther

^[2] Megillah 15a

^[3] https://www.biblegateway.com/resources/all-women-bible/Rahab

^[4] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sacred_prostitution

^[5] Because of the abhorrence of her sin as a Harlot many of Jewish and Christian apologists have tried to discredit her as being the same Rahab however there is no real evidence past that of embarrassment for such claims.

The post From Harlot to Holy appeared first on Simply Vinnie - Unpacking The Complicated.

Unkept Promises

By Vinnie MacIsaac

We all make promises but do we keep them?

Have you ever watched the movie “Stand By Me”? It is my favorite movie of all time¹ and it is basically a feel-good movie about growing up with your best friends. The irony is it is based on a short story by Stephen King, of all people, who is not really known for his charming heartwarming novellas about growing up with your pals and the eventual and hurtful loss of your old school age chums that you just grow up from, move away from, or lose touch with over the years. Still, this movie remains my favorite for a reason.   When I was 14 years old and my family was breaking up, it was hard for me to face the reality that I was going to lose my best friends, forever. I had known them all my life.  I am not great at making friends, and I already had way too much loss in my life. I needed to feel some control, some ability to forge my own reality. So, on our last fishing outing together, I promised my friends I’d be back after lunch. But I knew I was moving away, literally, that day. I knew I would go home, get in a truck, and drive away forever. And I did just exactly that.  I never went back. They waited for me,  for who knows how long, but I never showed up.

Have you ever made a promise you have not kept?   We all have, it’s human nature. God’s people are no different.  Israel made a promise.  It was a  promise there was no way they could keep!  It was a promise made at the base of Mount Sinai

It is found in Exodus 24:7 “All that the Lord as spoken we will do and be obedient.”

The problem is, they promised the impossible. Does God really expect us to keep a promise we had no business making to him in the first place? Our forefathers promised a 100% obedience to the law of Sinai but they promised something that was beyond their ability; they promised something that would only lead to full fledge legalism, and ergo they would miss the whole point of the Law.

The whole story of the Old Testament is a testament to the fact that man cannot keep the commandments of God in man’s own might. Yes, God wants the law to be kept, it is after all His express will for the whole universe, yet God unlike us humans is not deluded about the abilities of fallen human nature. God knows that if this job is going to be finished, it is going to be with an ability that surpasses humanity.

But I want you to understand this, the first covenant with all its laws, ceremonies, and the sacrificial system was God’s way of seeking to help Israel keep the impossible. Since God knew they could not keep their promise on their own, He sought every way possible to aide them. Perhaps they were like another movie in that they were on to the “Mission Impossible!” The more God tried to help the more they in action said, “Thank you for the ritual, but we got this!”

In fact, that whole system was to lead the whole nation of Israel to the TRUE LAMB OF GOD; the true source of victory, and the true power of God yet all they saw was ritual, deed, action, and self-cleaning.

You see it is by JESUS, alone, that we will have victory.

Is there victory over Sin? Yes! But that victory is only found in the Cross, and only found because of Jesus and the things He did;  not us and the things we do.

They promised at the base of Mount Sinai, but God wanted to live in the hearts of His people.  But they thought they could do it alone.  They went on a solo mission that was not God’s intention.

The whole sanctuary service and system with all its services, rituals, and festivals, was set up to lead Israel to Jesus!

• Jesus – Who is our Promise

• Jesus– Who is our Power

• Jesus – Who is the Answer

• Jesus – Who is the Might of God

• Jesus– Who is the  Way

• Jesus– Who is the Truth

• Jesus– Who is Life.

• Jesus- Who is better than all their Human effort!

But Israel missed the boat!  They missed the meaning because they missed Jesus! Understand that missing Jesus is always –Disaster! The story of the Old Testament is Israel failing, going it alone, while God is calling them to get on board. Throughout the old covenant, God kept calling, calling, and calling, them to Jesus.  Jesus is better, Jesus is better, come to Jesus…   The reality is, you can’t keep going it alone and making it work. Israel would not enter into the rest of Jesus (Hebrews 4) and thus they rejected the Messiah.

Look at the way the author of Hebrews puts it:

But as it is, Christ has obtained a ministry that is as much more excellent than the old as the covenant he mediates is better, since it is enacted on better promises. For if that first covenant had been faultless, there would have been no occasion to look for a second.²

What is his point?

Jesus is better!

• Better ministry

• Better Covenant

• Better Promises

• No fault or no blame

The old had been replaced? Why, because the Law was bad? No, the problem was not the Law but rather that the people sought to misuse it. They did not keep their promise.  Because like me, at age 14, when my family was in shambles, they simply did not have the ability to keep their promise. How dare I promise my friends I’d be back when no matter how much i wanted it to be true, I knew it was beyond my ability for I would no longer live there! Israel could no more go back to Sinai and keep the Law perfectly than I could return to a fishing pond years after the fact when all were no longer there.

Jesus Paid It All!

The purpose of God’s law, God’s instruction, God’s sanctuary system is not to perfect us … but to lead us to perfection (Jesus). I like to tell people new to the faith, and we spell things differently at the foot of the cross!

• Do you know how to spell Perfection? J.E.S.U.S

• Do you know how to spell Victory?  J.E.S.U.S

• Do you know how to spell Overcomer? J.E.S.U.S

• Do you know how to spell Forgiven?  J.E.S.U.S

• Do you know how to spell Character? J.E.S.U.S

• Are you getting the point yet? Jesus is better!

“For he finds fault with them when he says:

“Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord,
when I will establish a new covenant with the house of Israel
and with the house of Judah,
not like the covenant that I made with their fathers
on the day when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt.
For they did not continue in my covenant,
and so I showed no concern for them, declares the Lord.
For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel
after those days, declares the Lord:
I will put my laws into their minds,
and write them on their hearts,
and I will be their God,
and they shall be my people.”³

Jesus brings victory on a whole new level. Jesus changes the name of the game. Jesus makes a New Promise, a new deal, a new way, that does not in the least undo the Law, but rather, changes the doer of the Law and on whom he/she depends. It is no longer me trying to keep a promise I just can’t keep, it is  Jesus in me healing me, and building me into a more whole and holy being; even down to my very “desire” level!

I want to tell you, and I want to affirm to you that I  believe in Victory over sin. I believe in having my character changed. I believe in transformation. I believe in being a new creature in Christ.  Oh, the joy! Yes, the sweet, sweet joy, of knowing, I believe, I don’t have to stay in my sins! Oh, the power, and confidence I find in knowing I don’t have to lay and play victim to my own sin. It does not hold me, because it cannot hold me captive, for it is not me it now faces, but Jesus, in my heart, and Jesus in my mind! Oh yes, once it could defeat me, but it can’t even get close to Him!

In contrast, I remember once I was visiting a former church of mine with a group of students I was mentoring, when to my horror, an older lady got up in front of the Sabbath School, and told the people with all sincerity and self- deluded belief, “I am 6 days without sin! I mean it. I have no sin, in any way at all, in the past 6 days, and I stand before you to testify, it is possible to stand before a Holy God without sin and you, too, can do it.  You really can if you just try hard like I did, you can be perfect!” But here is the problem with perfectionism it is easy to tear down. Suddenly a hand went up from a young person I was mentoring and he simply said, “Dear sister, six days without sin is massive. I am impressed but I am sorry that you had to stand up and brag about your perfection because you were a shoo-in for the 7^th day until you did!”

Legalism is a funny thing, in that we always want us to go home to it. Legalism for most of us is the faith of our immature years. We can’t go back to legalism anymore then we can go back to preferring diapers and baby bottles over toilets and solid food. Our intent may have been good when we once practiced it but we look just plain silly now when we do it.  Legalism is like that old friend from your childhood you never really said goodbye to. There is just that nagging feeling of unfinished business that sends you back for a quick visit every now and then. It is like we want to go back and keep our childhood promise to legalism to fulfill our commitment to be its friend forever.

Jesus keeps all our promises.

At the end of my favorite movie, Stand By Me, Richard Dreyfuss types on the screen, “I never had any friends like the ones I had when I was twelve, does anyone?”⁴

So, is that our problem, “I never had any friends like the one called legalism, does anyone?” My answer is “Yes, Jesus is a better friend than Legalism.” Some promises are best unkept.  Break your friendship off with your childhood immature faith, Ol’ buddy, Legalism and make a new one with Jesus today! He is that best friend of all ages! We don’t need childish things, we need Jesus. I’ll break my promise to be good, but only because Jesus, kept it for me, and declares me good already. How can I do, what was already done?  The New Covenant is a matter of heart and mind, let your heart and mind be fixed on Jesus, and stop being so immature as thinking you can keep promises of ignorance. When Jesus keeps the law in you, He keeps to His expectations, not yours, and He is what matters. Let Jesus be your new promise, and new best friend, don’t keep Him waiting as you run away to move. Jesus is better!—

Related Articles:

Breaking Up With Nostalgia

The LIE Christians Tell About The Gospel

Direct Talk On Doubt

Footnotes 

1. Disclaimer! Watch the TV version because the original version is rated R for a reason! Wow, talk about bad language!
2. Hebrews 8:6-7 ESV
3.  Hebrews 8:8-10
4. I paraphrased to avoid an inappropriate expression.

The post Unkept Promises appeared first on Simply Vinnie - Unpacking The Complicated.

Love Letters In The Sand

Go And Sin No More

By Vinnie MacIsaac

There was a crash. The door broke in. Light shone into the broken doorway, flooding the darkness of the room. Men poured in the room… They were yelling, screaming, shouting, “Get her,” “Drag her out,” Don’t let her get away.”

Awakened from her sleep and blinded by the shining light in the room, she cried out to her lover looking for help, security, and protection.  He leaped from the bed, pushed her away from himself and said, “Get her; just don’t take me.”

Half- naked, she was dragged from her room, from her darkness, into the light; cast at the feet of Jesus. Broken, shamed, dirty, guilty, without dignity nor humility she appeared, caught in her sins…before the very Son of God.

The Story is recorded in John 8.

The Woman

…Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. Early in the morning he came again to the temple. All the people came to him, and he sat down and taught them. The scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in adultery, and placing her in the midst they said to him, “Teacher, this woman has been caught in the act of adultery. John 8: 1-4

Who was this woman?

Some have suggested this is Mary Magdalene but the Bible does not say. Some have said it is the woman whom Jesus cast out seven demons but the Bible does not say. Some have told me she must have been a woman whom Jesus had redeemed or was a follower of Jesus, and the reason they picked her was to mock Jesus and rub his face in this failed follower, but the Bible does not say. All the Bible tells us is that she had no name given. Not one. In fact, the only thing we know is she is a Woman; a woman caught in adultery.

She could be any of us.  Let that sink in. She could be any of us.

Wait you say, “Come on, Pastor I have never committed adultery… how dare you say such a thing as that to me?”

This woman is like us: Like us all. She is defined by her SIN.  Think about it. The only name we have for her is her sin. Who is she? –The Woman caught in adultery.

The Lost: The real truth is we are all called the lost. 

The real truth is we are all called: The lost. It is important –that no matter who we are that we all understand when we stand before the living Son of God, who is God… we are naked in our sins. He sees all.

• 

  Just because you have never cheated or been caught does not mean you have no sin. Your sin may be different, but it is just as real. It makes you Naked before God.

  You may be a woman caught in adultery or…

• Man caught in anger

• A mother caught in selfishness

• A father caught in provoking you children to wrath

• A daughter caught in rebellion

• A son caught in hopelessness

• A brother caught in covertness

  A sister caught in lying

• No matter what we have fallen short in… God sees it all.

When you stand before the mighty SON of GOD …There is no hiding your condition. Just as that day, on those steps to the temple this woman could not hide her Identity –A woman caught in adultery.

The Law

Now in the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women. So what do you say? John 8:5

What did the Law Demand? Simply death. Death to whom? This woman who had been caught in her sin.

“Moses said to stone such woman.”

How ironic. Did the law not condemn Men who committed adultery too? Where was the man?  What! Did this woman commit adultery all by herself? –I think not!

And yet, It is sadly not strange to me to see the man left out of the blame. A legalist always on applies only the part of the law they want, they believe, they seek, they up hold… and they ignore the rest. They were not concerned with the Law; they wanted to trap Jesus!

What would He do?

The Judgment

This they said to test him, that they might have some charge to bring against him. Jesus bent down and wrote with his finger on the ground. And as they continued to ask him, he stood up and said to them, “Let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone at her.” And once more he bent down and wrote on the ground. But when they heard it, they went away one by one, beginning with the older ones, and Jesus was left alone with the woman standing before him.  John 8:6-9

He did not judge – But He could have. He did not judge though He was worthy to Judge. He did not judge, but He would have judged rightly had He judged. Notice – JESUS never let anyone back him in a corner.  You could not force His hand. He would not pick the lesser of two evils.

Jesus scooped and wrote in the sand. What did he write? Some say he wrote their sins; others say he did not write anything He was just giving time to for them to consider their own sinfulness. Others still say perhaps he just wrote the word forgiven.

I have given it lots of thought, and my own opinion is that He simply wrote the Ten Commandments and each saw their own sin in the breaking of the law. Think about it for a second time the finger of God wrote the law of God for man.

V7 “Let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone at her.”

Oh, that we would learn this lesson! But how had she heard those words I wonder?

She was guilty… She stood before all the holy men of Israel…

• The Pharisees

• The Rabbis

• Jesus.

Where they not all more Holy than she? Was she not guilty? I can only imagine she thought her accusers were indeed without sin next to her!!!

“The woman had stood before Jesus, cowering with fear.  His words, “He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone,” had come to her as a death sentence. She dared not lift her eyes to the Saviour’s face, but silently awaited her doom. In astonishment she saw her accusers depart speechless and confounded…” Desire of Ages p. 462

Reflecting on this paragraph in the classic work on the life of Jesus, Desire of the Ages, I have come to understand that too often we see his actions as condemning us when really he is acting to redeem us!

• Was she guilty? Yes.

• Was Jesus holy? Yes.

• Was Jesus in his right to condemn her? Yes.

Jesus chooses mercy. Jesus chooses redemption. Jesus chooses Forgiveness. Yet, she could not see what He was in the act of doing, while He was doing it!

It is a worthy endeavor to stop and consider why this is. Why do we only see gloom and doom when Jesus only offers love, mercy, and a chance at full and complete redemption?

The conclusion I keep coming back to is Sin (the condition) closes off to us what God is really up too. Sin produces an unfair, tainted, skewed picture of God. She saw His words as declaring damnation. But they declared salvation!

How is it for you?  Is it getting hard to see the goodness of God? – He may be in the act of restoring you too.

The Gospel Order

Jesus stood up and said to her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?” She said, “No one, Lord.” And Jesus said, “Neither do I condemn you; go, and from now on sin no more.” John 8: 10-11

Don’t let people trap you in your shame.

Listen, if you learn anything from this blog, learn this…When Jesus declares you righteous no one can stand to accuse you!

1. Neither do I condemn you

2. Go and sin no more.

Don’t get it out of order.

1. Neither do I condemn you

2. Go and sin no more.

For years in the church I thought that if I could not sin any more God would not condemn me — this is Backwards! I was trying to win his love by good behavior. The problem is good behavior, without being inspired by His love, is in fact in short supply!

The world may call you all sorts of names but the name Jesus wants to call you is FREE!

I would work hard not to sin so I could be forgiven… then I would fall and give up… defeated by my own sin.

Thank God for John 8 and the lessons I learned from it. I must first understand God’s grace (“neither do I condemn you”) then I can have God’s victory (“Go and Sin no more”).

THIS IS THE GOSPEL ORDER – GRACE Produces SUSTAINING FAITH!

Alexander Whyte, the great Scottish preacher and famous New Testament  professor, once stood up in his pulpit in Edinburgh and said: I have discovered the most wicked man in Edinburgh … ” Then he paused, while the congregation eagerly awaited the name; whereupon the preacher continued—”that person is Alexander Whyte.”

Look to Jesus and he will set you free.

Stop trying to hide your sin and rather deal with it. Deal with it by keeping the Gospel order, accepting God’s love and letting him change you by His love. The problem with hiding your sin in a dark room is quite simply you don’t know when the Pharisees, and Scribes, will break into your room mid-sin and drag you out on the temple steps before God Himself. God knows everything about you and still desires to save you.

The truth is that at times we all feel like Romans 7:

So I find it to be a law that when I want to do right, evil lies close at hand. For I delight in the law of God, in my inner being, but I see in my members another law waging war against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members. Wretched man (person/human) that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?
(Romans 7:21-24 ESV)

But today we must stop and remember: Jesus is writing you love letters in the sand… and what really matter is if you are you reading them? Follow the Gospel order to Jesus!

Roman’s 8:1 reminds us There is no Condemnation for those who are “in Christ.”

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.
(Romans 8:1-2 ESV)

And I say to you today …Be those in Christ!

*This edition of my Blog is lovingly dedicated to Pastor John Gibson who suffered from depression and allowed the “stones” around him to cast him into actions of despair. Rest in Peace and may God still in his endless grace find you in His resurrection. May in that day Jesus present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy, to the Father. 

Related Articles:

Unkept Promises

The LIE Christians Tell About The Gospel

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The post Love Letters In The Sand appeared first on Simply Vinnie - Unpacking The Complicated.