Don’t Hold Back

Today’s readings contain a distinct message repeated in three different ways. Essentially the message is: “Don’t hold back.”

The Book of Esther is a dramatic story about a nobody from nowhere raised by a simple, godly man named Mordecai. In an extraordinary act, King Xerxes’ chooses Esther to be his queen.   She withholds her identity as a Jew in deference to her uncle Mordecai’s wishes.  With a history of persecution as long as the Jews’, no doubt Mordecai gives his advice to protect her.  In a short span of time, Esther receives extraordinary influence over Persia.  Yet this privilege does not come without cost.  It comes with the high price of responsibility.  She is responsible to her people and to her God. Within five years of her promotion, Esther’s people, the Jews, receive a death sentence.  It is an unfair, unjust ruling that threatens genocide.  And the sentence applies to Esther as well.  Maybe her title will save her, maybe not.  While she may be able to continue hiding her identity for awhile, then again she might be found out.  Her uncle Mordecai challenges her, “For if you remain silent at this time, relief and deliverance for the Jews will arise from another place, but you and your father’s family will perish. And who knows but that you have come to your royal position for such a time as this?” (Esther 4:14).

He’s telling her, “Don’t hold back, Esther!”

In Isaiah 12 we read about the Lord’s day of Salvation.

And you will say in that day, “I thank you, God. You were angry but your anger wasn’t forever. You withdrew your anger and moved in and comforted me. “Yes, indeed—God is my salvation.
I trust, I won’t be afraid. God—yes God!—is my strength and song, best of all, my salvation!”Joyfully you’ll pull up buckets of water from the wells of salvation. And as you do it, you’ll say, “Give thanks to God. Call out his name. Ask him anything! Shout to the nations, tell them what he’s done, spread the news of his great reputation!“Sing praise-songs to God. He’s done it all! Let the whole earth know what he’s done! Raise the roof! Sing your hearts out, O Zion! The Greatest lives among you: The Holy of Israel.”

Because of God’s great salvation, the people rejoice. Sing out! Shout out! Let the world know how great God is! Let your life be an out-loud life of gratitude.  Let go of your fears of what people will think. Make God famous in the world as He rightly deserves! In other words, “Don’t hold back!”

Lastly, in Hebrews 9 we see how God has changed the rules for how to access Him.  We see how much greater Jesus’ sacrifice is then the relentless cycle of animal sacrifices prescribed under the Old Testament. Instead of  earthly sin covering us and a temporary stay of judgment that the blood of animals provided, Jesus provides a heavenly and eternal cleansing that establishes a permanent amnesty for those who come to him. No more shadows and types, the real thing has come! Jesus did this through his sacrifice on the cross. He then entered into heaven to offer his blood to God as payment for sin. Since that time, it’s been a new day with God! There’s a new relationship with Him that’s available.  There’s nothing separating us from him anymore.  It’s possible because of the total sufficiency of what Jesus has done. Nothing can be added to it. Nothing more is needed. He gives us an access to God never before imagined.    In Christ, you’re forgiven and free to worship and love God with all your life. “Don’t hold back!”

How to live the Christian life

“It is for freedom that Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery.” (Galatians 5:1)

Why is it that it is so hard for people to wrap their heads around biblical grace?  It seems that, when it comes to grace, we  often fall into one of two errors.  On the one hand, some conclude that grace is permission to do what ever I want — whether sinful or not.  The reasoning seems to go something to the effect of: Now that I am no longer under the law, I am free (this is actually a true statement as far as it goes).  However, these folks then extend the definition of freedom to mean casting off all restraint.  This kind of view of grace leads to a form of licentiousness that gratifies the desires of the flesh (5:16).  But Paul tells us this is not God’s intention for grace.  He warns, “Do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh,” (5:13). Remember the flesh is synonymous with the sinful nature which still operates in the believer through the body and the senses.  Jesus did not endure the agony of  the cross to set you free from the penalty of sin in order to help you sin freely! That’s just preposterous.

The second mistake made with grace is to subtly (or overtly) flee from it.  This usually happens to the person who genuinely desires to follow God and wants to honor him with a holy lifestyle. For this person, the reality of the flesh within at war against the Spirit leads to a kind of religious straitjacket.  A way of seeking to assure, through outward moral and religious behavior, that we do not offend against God. And so this person does and does not do certain things in an effort to be holy and good.  This is just a form of religious flesh that turns away from freedom and finds new laws to govern them.

So what is the remedy? What does biblical grace look like? How do you keep from licentiousness on the one hand and law on the other?  The answer is to, “live by the Spirit,” (5:25) to “walk by the Spirit,” (5:16) and to be, “led by the Spirit'” (5:18).  In other words we have to learn to live our lives cooperating with the Holy Spirit who lives in us by virtue of our faith in Jesus Christ.  The Gospel is not simply that you believe in Christ and get to go to heaven when you die.  (As though it were something external to us). The Gospel is that you believe in Christ and he comes to live in you by the Holy Spirit (and you get to go to heaven when you die). The Gospel is that Christ takes up residence in your spirit to live the Christian life through you.  He teaches you how to love God and your neighbor [For the whole law is fulfilled in one word: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself,” (5:14)]. The good news is that, “Christ is being formed in you!” (4:19).  His Spirit teaches you how to say no to your flesh — both the licentious kind (see the list of flesh works, verses 19-21) and also the law-based and religious-kind (verse 2-6). As we read in the book of Titus, “ For the grace of God has appeared that offers salvation to all people. It teaches us to say “No” to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age,” (Titus 2:11-12).

What is required to live life by the Spirit?  Simply put: Trust.  We learn to trust the Holy Spirit who is living in us.  We learn to listen to his voice. We allow him to use the Scriptures to train us up in godliness — convicting us when we sin and cleansing us anew through the blood of Christ as we confess and repent. We learn to allow him to grow the characteristics of Christ in our lives — and what are these characteristics?  They are the fruit of the Spirit (verse 22-24). We learn that freedom is not freedom from restraint nor is it an external system of moral and religious checks and balances, but instead is an increasing freedom to love and trust God in all of our life.

 

Leapfrogging Moses

“Now the promises were made to Abraham and to his offspring. It does not say, “And to offsprings,” referring to many, but referring to one, “And to your offspring,” who is Christ. This is what I mean: the law, which came 430 years afterward, does not annul a covenant previously ratified by God, so as to make the promise void. For if the inheritance comes by the law, it no longer comes by promise; but God gave it to Abraham by a promise.” (Galatians 3:16-18)

Long ago, God made a promise to Abraham and Abraham received that promise by faith (taking God at his word and believing what He said). The biblical term for a promise from God is covenant (this kind of promise is an unbreakable agreement based upon the character of God).  God promised or covenanted LIFE.  Life in its fullness; life in union with God; life that could never be stolen or lost; everlasting life in fellowship with God.  When God made this promise he made it not only with Abraham, but also with Abraham’s OFFSPRING (the original word is actually SEED and it is singular).  Notice it doesn’t say offsprings/seeds (plural).  Who is Abraham’s offspring/seed?  Paul tells us it is Jesus.  Had it said, “offsprings/seeds” then God’s covenant would have included all of Abraham’s lineage (the patriarchs, Moses, the prophets, etc.) and finally Christ. But God didn’t say that, He said the promise was made to Abraham and his offspring/seed who is Jesus.

What’s Paul’s point? When you jump from Abraham to Christ, you are jumping a couple of thousand years. In so doing, you leapfrog right over Moses.  He is passed over entirely. The one through whom the law was given is not mentioned at all when it comes to the promise.  Paul is telling us that God’s promise of LIFE came to Abraham and found its fulfillment in Jesus Christ.  Moses has nothing to do with it … he is skipped entirely.

What does this mean? It means there’s no place for the law when it comes to receiving the inheritance from God. It’s either grace or law — they are mutually exclusive.  To have God’s life, you cannot achieve it by virtue of your behavior.  You receive God’s life or you don’t.  You accept it freely as a gift or you reject it… And there are two ways to reject it.  One is to disbelieve it entirely — thinking it is unreal or made up or impossible (that it doesn’t exist). The other is to try to earn it through being “good” and avoiding being “bad.”  That’s right, attempting to earn God’s promise of life is actually a form of unbelief.  Putting yourself under the law as a way to be right before God will never work (because no one can keep the law in its totality).. So why not simply receive the life of God.  Receive the promise of LIFE. And where you’ve been trying to earn his favor through your actions, repent — turn away — and return to his grace and mercy.  Remember, all who call upon the Lord Jesus Christ will be saved.

Written on the heart

“Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is there is freedom” (2 Corinthians 3:17)

In Corinth there was a faction that said Paul was not a true apostle because he did not have letters of commendation from the church at Jerusalem. It seems that some teachers had arrived at Corinth with such letters and this lack of “exterior” credentials appeared to discredit Paul.  However, the apostle used this accusation to contrast the Gospel of grace with the Law of Moses.

Paul said, “I don’t need letters of recommendation because you Christians at Corinth are my letters written not on stone, but on hearts!”  As Jesus said, “It is by their fruits that you will know them,” (Matthew 7:20).  The fact is that a person’s life, ministry, and core beliefs may be seen in his or her work. What we do matters, not as a means of salvation, but as a demonstration that salvation has come to us and is in us. As Warren Wiersbe says, “Paul pictures himself as God’s secretary, writing the Word into the lives of God’s people. What an amazing truth: every Christian is an epistle of Christ being read by all men!”

Moses wrote God’s Law on stones, but in this age, God writes his Word on our hearts (Hebrews 10:16-17). The Law was external; whereas grace is an internal matter. The Law worked on the outside of a person but could never fully penetrate the heart. Grace works in the heart and finds its expression externally. The Spirit of God writes upon the human heart in a permanent manner. The Law, written on stone, held in a man’s hand, could never change a life. It simply did not have the power to do so. But through grace, the Spirit makes permanent etchings on the heart. The difference between the Old Testament ministry and the New Testament ministry is this: the OT ministry of Law could never bring life; it was a ministry of sin and death. No one was ever saved through the Law. However, the New Testament ministry is a ministry of grace as the Holy Spirit writes the Word of God into people’s hearts and lives. This is accomplished as we trust in the Lord Jesus Christ. Then the Holy Spirit begins working in our lives to set us free from spiritual bondage of all kinds and to increasingly transform us into the image of Christ. “And we all with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit,” (2 Cor 3:18).

The New Way of the Spirit

“But now, by dying to what once bound us, we have been released from the law so that we serve in the new way of the Spirit, and not in the old way of the written code.” (Romans 7:6)

I am indebted to the theologian John Stott for my understanding of Romans 7. In Romans 7, Paul struggles with the place of the law in God’s purpose. Paul addresses three approaches to God’s law:

• Legalism – you have to obey the law. Legalists fear the law and are enslaved to it.
• Antinomianism – you just ignore the law completely. Antinomianists hate the law and renounce it.
• Law-fulfilling freedom – you don’t count on keeping the law to make you right with God, but you love God’s law and enjoy following it because you love God.

The problem that we have in this life is not God’s law. God’s law is good. God’s law shows us what sin is. God’s law shows us what holiness looks like.  However, our problem is that sin within us, because of its depravity, is aroused and provoked by the law.  The law cannot save us because we cannot keep the law. And we cannot keep the law because of indwelling sin.

Does the law have any place for Christians?  No and yes. No, in that the law cannot empower us to live a holy life. Yes in that Christian freedom is freedom to serve, not freedom to sin.  As Christians, we are still slaves. But our slavery is to God and righteousness. We serve because of love not fear. We do not serve the law that says, “You must!” Instead we serve Christ who is called our husband.  We want to serve. We get to serve. We serve not because obedience leads to salvation but because salvation leads to obedience. “We serve in the new way of the Spirit,” (verse 6). It is the indwelling Holy Spirit that is the primary and distinguishing characteristic of the new age, and therefore also, of the new life in Christ.

Which of the three approaches to God’s law best describes you? If you answered either 1 or 2, perhaps it’s time for a change.

Second Law

Deuteronomy means “second law. ” The book is a series of sermons given by Moses prior to his death and the Israelites’ entry into the Promised Land. Deuteronomy contains a summary of the wilderness wanderings as well as a repetition of the Law (thus the name “second law”). Moses did this to remind the people what God had done for them and what they were to do to serve Him when they reached the Promised Land.

Deuteronomy lays out the blessings associated with obedience to God and the curses associated with disobedience.   Ultimately, when it comes to God, everything depends on obedience and that is what Deuteronomy seeks to reveal. Life, possession of the promised land, victory over foes, prosperity and happiness — all depend on faithful obedience to God and his commands.

Interestingly, Deuteronomy was a favorite book of Jesus’. It was from this book that Jesus quoted when he dealt with Satan’s temptations in the wilderness (Deut. 8:3; 6:16; 6:13; 10:20). Clearly, Jesus knew that obedience to God required a careful and serious understanding of the Law as well as the intention to keep it (Luke 4:4, 8, 12).

Thankfully, Jesus faithfully kept the law — thus the blessings associated with obedience to God are his. And he gives these blessings to those who come to him in faith (see Ephesians 1:3). While we do live in grace (unmerited favor) and recognize our inability to keep the law to obtain righteousness (thus our need for a Savior), we who claim to love Christ are also called by him to obey his commands (John 14:15). However, obedience to Christ  is no slavish adherence to a set of laws, but the day-by-day, moment-by-moment learning to trust him and respond to his promptings through reliance on his Spirit’s power. It’s relationship not religion! And as we live intimately relying upon him, all spiritual blessings are ours!