Monday, January 28, 2008

Losing Your Salvation

 “Therefore, my brothers, be all the more eager to make your calling and election sure.” – 2 Peter 1:10

Dear Friends,

If there is one issue that seems to rear its head most often, it is the issue of losing one’s salvation.  It seems that this concern has been around from the beginning, and the second letter of Peter addresses this concern.  He tells his readers to make their calling and election sure.

Before I get into a discussion of this issue, I want to start with Peter’s choice of words.  He doesn’t say, “Make your salvation sure,” but instead says, “Make your calling and election sure.”  Why is that?  I believe there are two answers to that question.

First, Peter understands that salvation is the exclusive work of God.  You don’t save yourself nor are you the one who initiates salvation.  Paul said in Romans “there is no one who seeks God.”  Instead, God seeks us.  As a matter of fact, God knew you and knew he was going to call you before the beginning of time.  You are saved because God had chosen you (or elected you) from the beginning.   For this reason, he called you to himself.  Therefore, since salvation is the exclusive work of God, you can be sure that if he started it, he will complete it.

Secondly, salvation is a process that ends in glorification – our eternal life with Christ.  The beginning of that process is the election and call.   So, as I have said above, if God starts this work in you, he will complete it.  And if your calling and election are sure, then you have nothing to worry about.  You are at the beginning of an unstoppable process that ends in your glorification.

So now we have the end points – election and calling at the beginning and glorification at the end.  So what happens in the middle?  That is much of the rest of Peter’s letter and something I will write about next week.

In Christ,

David

 
Posted by David at 09:08:47 | Permanent Link | Comments (0) |

Monday, January 21, 2008

Presuppositions

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God and the Word was God.” – John 1:1

 

Dear Friends,

One of the most important words that you will ever learn if you are to be effective in sharing the Good News of Jesus Christ is “presupposition.”

A presupposition is someone’s starting position.  It’s the basis from which the rest of their thought process flows and the importance of the presupposition is that the starting point will also determine the end point.

In the beginning of his Gospel, John lays out his presuppositions, that Christ is eternal, not created, that Christ and the Father are two distinct persons, yet they are the same entity.  This is of utmost importance in preaching the truth of Jesus Christ because if Jesus was not God incarnate, he could not have been the infinite sacrifice to cover the infinite sins of the human race.

But my presupposition in understanding John’s Gospel is that John is referencing Christ when he uses the term “Word”.  I can point to verse 1:14 that says “The Word became flesh…” and the rest of the context of Chapter one as added proof.

But Unitarians, Mormons and Jehovah’s Witnesses, would say my presupposition is incorrect.  They would say the Word means something else.  As Unitarians, they believe that God the Father is the only God and that Christ was a created being, not eternal – contrary to my understanding of John’s presupposition.  This belief will skew their entire understanding of John’s Gospel away from my understanding.

So how does this help us in evangelism?  Simply, if you want to bring someone to a right understanding of God, you need to bring them to the right starting point.  If they believe Jesus was a created being, help them to understand the eternal aspect of Christ.  If they believe the Bible is just a work of men and not inspired by God, help them to understand otherwise.  Whatever they believe that is off of the correct path, help them to understand the starting point of the right path.  It is getting to the root of the problem so to speak.

Of course, within this advice is a huge presupposition; that you are at the right starting point.  If you have said to yourself from the beginning that you prefer not to evangelize because you are afraid that you will not have the answers, you may not be sure of your own starting point.  If so, that’s OK, just get yourself under a good teacher and read your Bible to assure what he is telling you is correct and read other works to assure you understand why you believe what you believe.  Pray for the Holy Spirit’s understanding and remember that the best testimony is not full of theological mumbo-jumbo, but is a heartfelt explanation of how you personally came to know Jesus Christ, which is your ultimate starting point.

In Christ,

David

Posted by David at 09:17:26 | Permanent Link | Comments (0) |

Monday, January 14, 2008

“Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.” – James 1:4

Dear Friends,

When I was a member of the CHAMP Sports Ministry, our mission was to “take the initiative to help others take one step closer to Jesus Christ no matter where they are in their journey.”  The primary focus was on the lost and leading people to the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ was our evangelical mission.  But what about those who are now saved?  Once someone has repented and turned to Christ in faith, is that it?  Certainly not.

When we first become Christians, we are like new born babies, immature.  We need to grow and mature in our spirit to become perfect – a goal that is not reached until we are in heaven.  But we are to move one step “closer to Jesus Christ” every day.  And we do this through perseverance.

When I was first born-again, I thought that I would never sin again.  How wrong was I!  I’ve come to learn that after salvation comes sanctification, the ongoing process of becoming more like Christ.  In this process, we will at times fail.   But we are to continue moving forward.  Paul tells the Philippians to forget what is behind and keep pressing to the goal.  That end goal is glorification with Christ on the last day.

And this is my encouragement and appeal to you.   Each tine you fail, get up and keep going.  If you are truly born-again your place in heaven is assured.  But while on this earth, work toward becoming more like Christ and glorify Him in your efforts.  And for those who are more mature, help those who fall remembering that Christ first picked you up while you were still a sinner and the obstacles that your fellow believers are encountering are ones you yourself have probably tripped over.

In Christ,

David

Posted by David at 07:51:33 | Permanent Link | Comments (0) |

Monday, January 07, 2008

Prayer Walking

“For while bodily training is of some value, godliness is of value in every way, as it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come.” – 1 Timothy 4:8

Dear Friends,

As we kick off the New Year, many of us will be making New Year’s resolutions.  When we look at the top New Year’s resolutions that are made we always find losing weight and exercising more in the Top 10.  Unfortunately, we rarely find resolutions to pray or read the Bible more often.

In Paul’s encouraging letter to the young pastor, Timothy, he reminds him that building up his spiritual body is more important than building up his physical body.  Now, I do not think Paul was against physical training.  Paul often speaks in athletic metaphors and I think he appreciated the abilities of athletes and he understood the need for maintaining the physical body that God had provide to him.

But Paul and Timothy were both influenced by the Greek culture of their day.  Athletics had a great emphasis in the culture and it could have been easy to get caught up in the physical aspects and ignore the more important spiritual aspects of life.

The same holds true today.  There is a great emphasis on improving our physical bodies, but less importance on improving our spiritual bodies.  Since both are important, I am going to make a suggestion to you for your New Years resolution – Prayer Walking.

Prayer Walking is a simple concept.  Just go out for a walk and while you are doing so talk to God as if He were your best friend walking alongside of you – which He is.  If you walk just one mile, you’ll get in about 15-20 minutes of exercise and communion with God.  You’ll feel better physically and spiritually and as the year passes, I believe you will find yourself walking further and spending more time with the Lord.

In Christ,

David

 
Posted by David at 11:19:16 | Permanent Link | Comments (0) |