Religion and the Gospel

The basis for this post comes out of Tim Keller's book, The Reason for God. If you haven't read it, you need to. The first half of his book talks about people's issues and problems with faith and Christianity. The second half, where this chapter resides, speaks to the reasons and ways we can see God.

There are two types of sin for this argument, religion and irreligion. Irreligion is easy to see. It's the world as it is outwardly broken: wars, violence, theft, etc. Religion is the "nice" world. It's the world of the nice and virtuous people. It's where people try to earn their salvation.

Keller uses the example of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. Jekyll tried to seperate his evil and good self by means of a potion, hoping to supress his evil side. Eventually, the evil become more dispicable than he could ever imagine. Mr Hyde was a self-seeking, destructive beast that didn't care who he hurt as long as his desires are satisfied. Eventually, Dr. Jekyll decided to make up for the evil of Mr. Hyde by doing remarkable amounts of good works. He became prideful of this and eventually turned into Mr. Hyde without the potion.

The name Mr. Hyde is symbollic because, while Dr. Jekyll is a nice guy, Mr. Hyde is the evil within him, within all of us. Even the most respectable Dr. Jekyll has a hideous Mr. Hyde beneath the surface. Egotism, self-absorption, self-love, greed, pride. We all have it. And religion is when the nice people try to cover it up and make up for it. Their...my...salvation is based on how good I am on the outside, embarrassed by what's on the inside. What's worse, all my good works do not make up or shrink the evil inside me. All they do is grow my pride and ego, making the sitution worse. It's like trying to put out a fire by smothering it with gasoline. May look like water, but it's only making it worse.

For so long, I struggled with this, and still do. I see how a Christian is supposed to be and I try to act like that. "That, ironically, is a rejection of the gospel of Jesus" because I am basing my salvation and identity of my works instead of the grace of Christ. I'm trying to cover my evil deeds up but all it does it make my situation worse. "[I] cannot...deal with [my] hideousness and self-absorption...by trying to be a good person through an act of the will. [I] need a complete transformation of the very motives of [my] heart."

My religion tells me I need obey so I'll be accepted by God. However, Christ says I am already accepted. Therefore, I obey. My motivation, when understanding the grace offered through Christ, is that of gratitude, not fear. "The Christian gospel is tha tI am so flawed that Jesus had to die for me, yest I am so loved and valued and that Jesus was glad to die for me...A Christian's worth and value are not created by excluding anyone, but through the Lord who was excluded for me. His grace both humbles me more deeply than religion can (since I am too flawed to ever save myself through my own effort), yet it also affirms me more powerfully than religion can (since I can be absolutely certain of God's unconditional acceptance." I no longer have to be unsure of my salvation or work as if I have to earn it. I am a complete sinner but saved by complete grace so I operate out of gratitude of what I've been freely given, not out of fear of what I may get in the end.

This grace is incredibly troubling though. If I earned my salvation, I would have certian rights or there would be a limit to what Christ could ask of me. "But if I am a sinner saved by sheer grace--then there's nothing he cannot ask of me....From the outside that might sound coercive...[but] from the inside the motivation is joy." When you love someone, you do things for them that you know they will enjoy. There is no forced hands or guns to your head, you do it becuase you love them.

So Christ gives us freedom and in return we must give up our lives. "The most liberating act of free, unconditional grace demands that the recipient give up control of his or her life." Seems like a contradiction, but we are never really in control ourselves. We're always serving something. "It is only grace that frees us from the slavery of self that lurks even in the middle of morality and religion. Grace is only a threat to the illusion that we are free, autonomous selves, living life as we choose."

Boom.

Good book.

Do You Love Me?

John 21:15-19

15 When they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these?” He said to him, “Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.” He said to him, “Feed my lambs.” 16 He said to him a second time, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?” He said to him, “Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.” He said to him, “Tend my sheep.” 17 He said to him the third time, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?” Peter was grieved because he said to him the third time, “Do you love me?” and he said to him, “Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you.” Jesus said to him, “Feed my sheep. 18 Truly, truly, I say to you, when you were young, you used to dress yourself and walk wherever you wanted, but when you are old, you will stretch out your hands, and another will dress you and carry you where you do not want to go.” 19 (This he said to show by what kind of death he was to glorify God.) And after saying this he said to him, “Follow me.”

This passage has had a fairly profound effect on me during the past week or so. Three times, Jesus asked Peter if he loved him. Each time Peter responded with a yes. Each time, Jesus told Peter to tend to his sheep. Christ never asked if Peter loved the people around him. He never asked if Peter felt qualified in order to lead people. All he asked was if Peter loved him.

He did this because it is not our love for others or our inward qualifications that will sustain us and keep us striving when life gets tough and people are impossible to love. Instead, it is our love for Christ that will sustain us.

The other part that strikes me is simply the fact that when Christ asks Peter if he loves him and Peter affirms this, Christ doesn't say kneel before me. Christ tells him to care for those around him, Christ's flock. Our love for Christ is not something that stays just between Christ and me. Instead, it is something that goes beyond us and affects others. Our relationship with Christ, based in his grace and mercy and our love and gratitude, overflows so that others can experience, even if just in a small way, what we know with Christ.

So when I am tired, frustrated, and feel I cannot give anymore. I am right; but at the same time wrong. It is not my independence or strong will that will see me through to the end. It is Christ. So when I am weak, I must turn to Christ because he is the Savior of the world, not me.

The Surpassing Greatness of Knowing Christ

Sermon. Carlisle Evangelical Free Church. Shad Baker.

Philippians 3:7-11

7 But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. 8 Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ 9 and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith— 10 that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, 11 that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead.

1. From Profit to Loss
- Paul's resume (v4-6)
-- reason to be proud according to human standards
- v7
-- actually held him back; tried achieving salvation by his own means
-- where's my identity and is it valuable? or is it an anchor that keeps me from pursuing Christ?
---anchors are anything that I hope in besides Christ

2. Comparison - v8
- scale: knowing Christ vs everything else
- knowing Christ surpasses the worth of all else
- look at myself and what I hope in with the proper perspective
-- does it last? is it perfect, grace-filled, loving?
- "knowing" = relational term

3. Garbage to Gold - v8
- "rubbish" = vulgar word, not used anywhere else in Bible
-- dung, sewage, shit (his religious identity, money, friends, etc)
-- throws it all out in order to know Christ
-- knowing Christ is so significant and life changing that it isn't truly a sacrifice
--- sacrifice is giving up something valuable but when set next to the surpassing worth of knowing Christ, it doesn't seem so valuable
-- means Christ isn't simply an accessory to our life, he is life
--- can't follow Christ and money/pleasure/etc at the same time
---all of life for Christ and we worship that because nothing else is worthy

4. How do I know I am living all of life for Christ?
- worship
-- basing the whole of my life on him
- willing to give up everything in order to keep Christ
-- we might be sad to lose it but not devastated

Into the Hands of God

Sermon. Carlisle Evangelical Free Church. JC Hicks.

1 Chronicles 21:9-17

9 And the Lord spoke to Gad, David's seer, saying, 10 “Go and say to David, ‘Thus says the Lord, Three things I offer you; choose one of them, that I may do it to you.’” 11 So Gad came to David and said to him, “Thus says the Lord, ‘Choose what you will: 12 either three years of famine, or three months of devastation by your foes while the sword of your enemies overtakes you, or else three days of the sword of the Lord, pestilence on the land, with the angel of the Lord destroying throughout all the territory of Israel.’ Now decide what answer I shall return to him who sent me.” 13 Then David said to Gad, “I am in great distress. Let me fall into the hand of the Lord, for his mercy is very great, but do not let me fall into the hand of man.”

14 So the Lord sent a pestilence on Israel, and 70,000 men of Israel fell. 15 And God sent the angel to Jerusalem to destroy it, but as he was about to destroy it, the Lord saw, and he relented from the calamity. And he said to the angel who was working destruction, “It is enough; now stay your hand.” And the angel of the Lord was standing by the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite. 16 And David lifted his eyes and saw the angel of the Lord standing between earth and heaven, and in his hand a drawn sword stretched out over Jerusalem. Then David and the elders, clothed in sackcloth, fell upon their faces. 17 And David said to God, “Was it not I who gave command to number the people? It is I who have sinned and done great evil. But these sheep, what have they done? Please let your hand, O Lord my God, be against me and against my father's house. But do not let the plague be on your people.”

David is a man after God's own heart
- hard to see from some stories (murder, stealing, coveting, pride, etc)
- David counted troops to show how great he had become
--difficult to release control

Sin is like a fire out of control
- starts small and we think we can control it but grows till it is too big for any human control
- David is looking to number army to show his control

How do I turn from sin?
- acknowledge sin (v8)
- but not enough to just acknowledge it because the fire is still raging
--must deal with consequences and rectify situation that is still going on

What are the consequences?
- pick your switch (v11)
-- don't have complete free choice (just the illusion of it)

What if sentence seems harsh?
- fall before God (v16)
- already praying to God but fell before God even amidst the consequences

Who did it?
- own your own sin (v17)
- God is ready to show mercy, we must beseech him
- after we stumble, we run from God out of fear of taking responsibility and the penalty
--but can we out run God?
--God is ready to show mercy but we must turn to him and stop running
-- give him control and place our lives into the hands of God (v13)
---cling and stop wrestling
---he is in control at all times but how it is revealed depends on if we're running or trusting

Practical ways to put life into hnds of God
- acknowledge truth of Christ and where I have fallen short
- be apart of fellowship/discipleship that promotes accountability and deepness w Christ
- Show mercy to others

Double Confidence

Sermon. Pastor Shad Baker. Carlisle Evangelical Free Church.

1 John 5:13-21

13 I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God that you may know that you have eternal life. 14 And this is the confidence that we have toward him, that if we ask anything according to his will he hears us. 15 And if we know that he hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests that we have asked of him.

16 If anyone sees his brother committing a sin not leading to death, he shall ask, and God [1] will give him life—to those who commit sins that do not lead to death. There is sin that leads to death; I do not say that one should pray for that. 17 All wrongdoing is sin, but there is sin that does not lead to death.

18 We know that everyone who has been born of God does not keep on sinning, but he who was born of God protects him, and the evil one does not touch him.

19 We know that we are from God, and the whole world lies in the power of the evil one.

20 And we know that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding, so that we may know him who is true; and we are in him who is true, in his Son Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life. 21 Little children, keep yourselves from idols.

v13 So we know we have eternal life
- if we believe, then we have eternal life
-- not arrogant
-- God wrote/inspired this book
--- to not have confidence is to not trust God's word and to doubt God
- we know we have eternal life because we trust in God's judgment as he has told us

have eternal life now
- in the present!
- can be confident that I have eternal life IF I believe in Christ
-- confident is not frantic, worried, anxious
-- Holy Spirit and loving actions are proof I currently have eternal life

v14 confidence in prayer
- approaching the LORD in confidence
-- not arrogance or flippancy
- whatever we ask in his will will be done
- we're not randomly firing off prayers to whoever wants to listen but direction our prayers to God because we have confidence that he will hear and respond
- when we see someone sin, how do I respond?
-- pray in confidence for that person that God will give them life

Why doesn't some sin lead to death?
- because that person has eternal life
-- sin still affects that person's relationship with other and God
-- but it doesn't lead to death because they already have life
--- can't out sin God's grace
- sin that leads to death is sin by those who don't believe
-- can't pray in confidence that God will show them truth because we don't know that God will give them life

How do I have confidence in this life?
- God is holding us and keeping us from death
- Deuteronomy 33:27 "The eternal God is your dwelling place, / and underneath are the everlasting arms."
-- if we know that God was holding us and believe that God has overcome the world, then we can be confident because we know how the "ride" will end
-- we pray in his will (not ours) so that he hears and answers

Not Burdensome

Sermon. Pastor Shad Baker. Carlisle Evangelical Free Church.

1 John 5:1-12

Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God, and everyone who loves the Father loves whoever has been born of him. 2 By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and obey his commandments. 3 For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments. And his commandments are not burdensome. 4 For everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith. 5 Who is it that overcomes the world except the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?

6 This is he who came by water and blood—Jesus Christ; not by the water only but by the water and the blood. And the Spirit is the one who testifies, because the Spirit is the truth. 7 For there are three that testify: 8 the Spirit and the water and the blood; and these three agree. 9 If we receive the testimony of men, the testimony of God is greater, for this is the testimony of God that he has borne concerning his Son. 10 Whoever believes in the Son of God has the testimony in himself. Whoever does not believe God has made him a liar, because he has not believed in the testimony that God has borne concerning his Son. 11 And this is the testimony, that God gave us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. 12 Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life.

v3
- commands seems burdensome

- brief review of the history of God's commands
-- 1st command - don't eat from tree of knowledge of good and evil
---adam and eve break it; sin and death enters the world
---command is a burden because it brings death
-- 10 commandments
--- afraid of dying (Exodus 20:18-19)
--- penalty for breaking law = death
--- why the 10 commandments then? Deuteronomy 6
-- about 600 other commandments
--- seems burdensome

David loved them - Psalm 119:47-48
- still a burden
Pharisees with Christ
- to love is the greatest commandment
Paul
- Romans 7 - law is impossible to keep
- how then are the commands not burdensome?

God's commands are impossible to follow
- meant to drive us to Christ because by ourselves it is impossible
- law can't give us life because we earned death
- only through Christ's death (our penalty) and resurrection (our life) can this burden be removed
- if only way was the law, then they're a burden
-- we're set free by Christ from the burden
-- God's free gift offered only through Christ
--- what we cannot earn has been freely given

How does faith remove the burden?
- same job (to keep the law) is no longer a burden because we love God
-- love changes our approach (driving an hour to work vs driving an hour to see a girlfriend)
--- we do it out of love for God and it is desirable because it pleases him
--- when we do it out of fear of death, it is a burden
--- KEY: focus on God and not the command!

How do I see the law?
- when it feels like a burden, I am focusing on myself
-- I've lost sight of Christ and his loving sacrifice
--- I must confess and repent of this self-focus
--- recall God's generosity and Christ's sacrifice
---- "Thou shalt not covet" becomes "I don't want to covet"
- Love comes only from Christ and through our faith in him we gain this love
-- our faith sets us free from the burden of the penalty of not fulfilling the law and at the same time gives the love that lets us seek to abide by it in order to please God