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Church Division: A Problem of FOCUS

Division_Focus

What can we do to help the church thrive? I’ve read lots of articles and blog posts in the recent past about how the Lord’s church is on the decline. I’ve talked with preachers and church leaders about the problems in congregations all across the country. As the new you, you have been added to the Lord’s church (Acts 2:47). You are a part of the church – you are the church!

So, again I ask, what can you do to help the church thrive? When we read 1 Corinthians in the New Testament, we see that the church in Corinth wasn’t thriving. They had lost sight of their common bond in Jesus, and therefore had lost their focus.

They focused on the messenger more than the message.

“Preacher-itis” is a terrible disease. In Corinth, some Christians were dividing under different preachers like Paul, Apollos, and Cephas (1 Cor. 1:12-17). Paul told them that they were actually trying to divide Christ! In chapter three, he said that such division is carnal (3:4).

They focused on immaturity more than increase.

In 1 Corinthians three, Paul said that he “could not speak to them as spiritual people but as to carnal, as to babes in Christ” (3:1). They hadn’t grown as Christians. Notice that God expected them to grow. They didn’t have the option not to grow. Paul says, “where there are envy, strife, and divisions among you, are you not carnal and behaving like mere men?” (3:3).

They focused on self more than service.

The Corinthian Christians were “puffed up on behalf of one against the other” (1 Cor. 4:6). Arrogance is toxic to any relationship. If you want to tear apart the congregation of God’s people and ruin the influence of that congregation upon the community, then just start acting like you’re better than someone else. That’s all it takes.

Let’s wrap it up: The division in the Corinth church of Christ was a problem of focus. They focused on the messenger more than the message, on immaturity more than increase, and on self more than service.

Skewed focus will cause today’s church to be divided, too. Instead, focus on Jesus and on living life His way. In 1 Corinthians chapter one, Paul mentions Jesus in every verse of the first ten verses. Do you think the Holy Spirit is using Paul to impress something upon us as readers? I do. Set your focus on Christ. Realize that the church belongs to Him – not to you – and you will help the church not only survive, but thrive in our culture.

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Redeemed

Redeemed

Redemption is an important concept in the Bible. In fact, you can find the theme of man’s salvation – sometimes called “the scheme of redemption” – throughout the entire Bible. As you read throughout both Old and New Testaments, it’s a healthy exercise to look for passages that show God’s plan for man’s redemption through Christ.

To redeem is to release (or liberate) by paying a ransom price. The Bible says that with God is abundant redemption (Psa. 130:7), and that our redemption “is costly” (Psa. 49:8). That’s why Peter says,

… you were not redeemed with corruptible things, like silver or gold, from your aimless conduct received by tradition from your fathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot (1 Pet. 1:18-19).

So Jesus paid the ransom price by shedding His blood on the cross. In so doing, He liberated us, breaking us free from the bondage of sin (Rom. 6:18). Jesus paid the price that brought about our redemption. Now, we can take hold of eternal life through our obedience to the gospel call.

Redemption changes my outlook on life. It causes me to look differently at life’s circumstances. In Romans chapter eight, Paul fleshes out that idea. Addressing a group of redeemed Christians (Rom. 3:24), he admonishes the Christians in Rome to focus on their redemption.

Because of redemption…

… I can bear today’s burdens.

Paul says, “the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us” (Rom. 8:18).

… I long for something better.

We realize that we live in a sinful world. At best, this physical realm is temporary. James says that life here is like “a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away” (James 4:14). To that point, Paul says that the whole creation yearns for something better than what we have here (Rom. 8:19-23). It’s not that redemption has caused me to be discontent. Instead, redemption has helped me to focus my life in preparation for eternity.

[W]e also who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, eagerly waiting for the adoption, the redemption of our body (Rom. 8:23).

… I endure.

Paul wrote, “If we hope for what we do not see, we eagerly wait for it with perseverance” (Rom. 8:25). We can endure whatever life throws at us because of the hope that we have before us.

… I know everything will be ok.

That familiar passage, Romans 8:28, assures us that “all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.” Redemption liberates us from the shackles of sin, making it possible for us to take hold of eternal life. When we cross life’s finish line, we can know that everything will be great. Things will work out. We may suffer here, but we will rest in the hereafter.

Let’s wrap it up: Isn’t redemption beautiful? I’m thankful for a friend who helped me to recognize again the beauty of redemption. That friend recently passed from this life. His glory awaits him, he knew eternity would hold something better, he endured, and he knew everything would be ok as long as he walked God’s way. What about you? What about me? Will we live the life of the redeemed?

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Children of God

ChildrenOfGod

What an amazing privilege to be a child of God! Because of Jesus, we can be adopted into God’s family (Eph. 1:5). As such, we are “heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him” (Rom. 8:17).

In 1 John, the Holy Spirit has a lot to say about the blessings of being a child of God. Here are four lessons about being God’s child from 1 John 3:1-2.

1. God’s grace makes it possible for me to be a child of God!

John says, “Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God!” (1 John 3:1). The word “behold” is designed to fix our attention, to cause us to take a long, penetrating look so that we are impressed with God’s great love. We should be amazed and in awe that God permits us to be His people, to be called by His name. He has “bestowed,” or given us this wonderful privilege.

2. The world does not know me because I am a child of God.

Not everyone appreciates God’s people. We shouldn’t take it personally, because the world “did not know Him,” either, according to the end of 1 John 3:1. In other words, Christians will be rejected today for similar reasons that Jesus was rejected during His earthly ministry. R. C. H. Lenski, in his commentary, stated it this way:

The names of God’s greatest saints are not engraved on the tablets of the world’s temple of fame. This cannot be otherwise; if it were, the world would not be the world, and we should not be God’s children (page 450).

3. I can know that I am a child of God.

The early gnosticism that permeated the culture during the time that John wrote this epistle was attempting to degrade the faith of the faithful Christians. John assures them, “Beloved, now we are children of God” (1 John 3:2). We can know that we are God’s children, and we can know that we are God’s children right now!

4. I will see Jesus because I am a child of God.

John continues, “We know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is” (1 John 3:2). Paul put it this way over in Philippians 3:20-21:

For our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body that it may be conformed to His glorious body, according to the working by which He is able even to subdue all things to Himself.

Let’s wrap it up: What an amazing blessing it is to be a child of God! It is by God’s grace that I am His child. The world may reject me, but I know that I am His. One day, I will see Jesus and be with Jesus forever. You’re a New Testament Christian! You’re a child of God! That’s a great reason to have some pep in your step today.

By the way, if you are not a New Testament Christian, I want to encourage you to become one. I’d love for you to contact me so that we can discuss this further.

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TheNewYou1400 This is a partial transcript from my weekday podcast, The New You, where we focus on maintaining and accentuating the new that Christ created in each of us as Christians. A new episode is available each Monday through Friday on The Light Network. Click here to see all of the episodes.

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Ten Thousand Talents

UnmercifulServant

In the beatitudes, Jesus taught that the merciful are blessed. Jesus had a lot to teach us about mercy. Some of it He taught by example, while other lessons He taught directly through what He said. Today, let’s look at an interesting story Jesus told in Matthew 18, and note two important lessons from it.

Lesson 1: Mercy feels so good to receive.

Jesus told a touching story of a servant who owed his master a lot of money. The master had been away for a while, but had returned to settle accounts. The servant, however, couldn’t pay his debt. He owed ten thousand talents.

A talent was a measurement of weight. Therefore, the value of a talent depends upon what you are weighing. If these were ten thousand talents of gold, then this servant owed his master $11.9 billion by today’s standards (according to Wolfram Alpha). If the talents were of silver, then ten thousand talents would convert to around $161 million today.

The master commanded that the servant be sold, along with his wife and children and all that he had, so that payment might be made. But the servant fell to his knees and begged his master to have mercy. The master was “moved with compassion” (Mat. 18:27), and forgave him of his debt.

Stop for a minute and think about how good that must have felt for this servant. One minute he owes millions or billions of dollars, and the next minute he’s forgiven of that debt. Imagine the weight that was lifted from his shoulders! Imagine the stress that was suddenly relieved!

I wish the story ended there, but it doesn’t. There’s another lesson we need to learn.

Lesson 2: Mercy is so hard to give.

The forgiven servant goes and finds one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred denarii. A denarius was one day’s wages (Mat. 20:2). If you take today’s minimum wage – $7.25 per hour – and multiply that by twelve hours, you come to $87 per day. One hundred denarii would equal $8700 by today’s standards. Is that a lot of money? Absolutely! But is it possible that this servant could have paid what he owed? It is.

The servant who had just been forgiven demands his fellow servant to cough up the hundred denarii. The servant begged him to be patient, but this guy wouldn’t hear it. He threw him into prison until he could pay.

The other servants had seen everything. They went back to the master and told him what happened. The master called the first servant to him. He was angry. He delivered him to the torturers until he could pay all that was due to him.

Then Jesus says these chilling words: “So My heavenly Father also will do to you if each of you, from his heart, does not forgive his brother his trespasses” (Mat. 18:35).

Let’s wrap it up: Mercy is great to receive, but it can be really difficult to give. However, Jesus says that the merciful are blessed. They are the ones who will obtain mercy from God. Everyone needs mercy. Including you and me. But you can’t give it if you don’t have it. And if you have it, but withhold it, you aren’t going to be shown mercy anymore. Let’s be merciful.

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TheNewYou1400 This is a partial transcript from my weekday podcast, The New You, where we focus on maintaining and accentuating the new that Christ created in each of us as Christians. A new episode is available each Monday through Friday on The Light Network. Click here to see all of the episodes.

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God is Love

GodIsLove

Long ago, in the eleventh century, a Jewish man lived in a place called the City of Worms (modern-day Germany). He was a poet. Just after the turn of the century this poet put his quill to the parchment and wrote what is now called the Hadamut. One passage of this poem is so profound that it has lasted until today.

Years later, in the late 1800s, a man in an insane asylum passed away. As his former room was being made ready for the next occupant, the staff found some very interesting scribblings on his walls; it was the passage from the Hadamut, written centuries before.

Frederick Lehman heard the story of the man’s words on the wall. He was so impressed with the passage that it stuck in his mind for years. In 1917, Lehman took the passage, adapted it, and added two verses in front of it to create a hymn. Here’s that original third verse:

Could we with ink the ocean fill, and were the skies of parchment made, were every stalk on earth a quill, and every man a scribe by trade, to write the love of God above would drain the ocean dry. Nor could the scroll contain the whole, tho’ stretched from sky to sky.

The love of God is amazing. In 1 John, the Holy Spirit uses the apostle of love to make us more acquainted with God’s amazing love. He informs us that love is part of God’s essential nature, because God is love (1 John 4:7). He shows us that love in a physical manifestation – the Son of God dying on the cross for the sins of the world (1 John 4:10). What are we to do with this kind of love? How do we respond to it?

The Holy Spirit shows us exactly what the love of God should mean to us when He, through John’s pen writes, “Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another” (1 John 4:11).

No one, having experienced the love of God, can keep that love bottled up. It is designed to be shared. True love is expressive; it expresses itself in service to others. We show the love of God to others by the love that we share with them (1 John 4:12). We prove that we have a relationship with God by the love that we have within us (1 John 4:16). The late Guy N. Woods wrote, “Love is the one characteristic of the Christian religion which it is impossible to counterfeit.” So true!

Let’s wrap it up: Tomorrow, Valentine’s Day, there will be a lot of attention placed on love. It’s a nice time to think about the people you love and to focus on that love that you share. But let’s use this opportunity to remind ourselves that love is more than boxes of candy and flowers. It’s more than date nights at great restaurants. Love is of God. When we show love to others, we are showing them a part of the godliness that dwells within us. That love you show someone else just might bring them closer to God in heaven. May others see our love and know that we’re Jesus’ disciples.

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TheNewYou1400 This is a partial transcript from my weekday podcast, The New You, where we focus on maintaining and accentuating the new that Christ created in each of us as Christians. A new episode is available each Monday through Friday on The Light Network. Click here to see all of the episodes.

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Entertainment?

MovieTheater

By February 13, 2015, Fifty Shades of Grey will officially hit movie theaters practically worldwide. This is a film adaptation of a wildly popular novel by the same title. The novel was written by E. L. James, a British author, who self published the book in 2011. It is the first installment in a trilogy. According to Wikipedia, the series has sold over 100 million copies worldwide and been translated into 52 languages, and set a record in the United Kingdom as the fastest-selling paperback of all time.

I haven’t read Fifty Shades of Grey, but I have done a little research so I can learn about this cultural phenomenon. The novel is classified as an erotic romance. Do I really even need to go further? Clearly, this isn’t something that is appropriate for Christians to read or to watch. It’s pages are filled with – well, let’s just call it what it is – fornication. On top of that, it is so explicitly erotic and sick that some activists of domestic violence are speaking out against the book and the film.

Here’s the point: you don’t need me to police what you should and shouldn’t watch. I’m not trying to do that. I have enough policing to do with myself! I just want to caution us to be sure that our entertainment is consistent with the Christianity that we profess.

In James 4:8-9, James says that we better be careful with the things that we find entertaining and enjoyable:

Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Lament and mourn and weep! Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom.

There are three important concepts in these two verses. Beginning at the bottom and working our way backwards, we first see the way our attitude toward sin is to be. James says that we shouldn’t laugh at things that are worth mourning over. Sin is toxic. It costs us eternity with our Father and sends us to Hell. So think about how you view sin. Are we finding enjoyment in that which sent our Lord to the cross?

Second, we see our actions against sin. James says, “Cleanse your hands … purify your hearts.” We are going to have to be proactive in guarding our souls against sin’s stains. Going to see a movie like Fifty Shades of Grey will hardly produce clean hands and pure hearts.

Finally, James speaks to our atonement for sin. He says that it is possible for us to draw near to God. That’s amazing! And it’s only possible because of the blood of Jesus that reconciles us to God. Jesus assured us that those who seek God will find Him, but you won’t find Him among wickedness.

Let’s wrap it up: Let’s be consistent with who we are – Christians – and Whose we are – God’s. Make your entertainment choices consistent with that just like you seek to make everything else consistent with your Christian values. That’s the essence of being the new you.

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TheNewYou1400 This is a partial transcript from my weekday podcast, The New You, where we focus on maintaining and accentuating the new that Christ created in each of us as Christians. A new episode is available each Monday through Friday on The Light Network. Click here to see all of the episodes.

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How Does Purity Cause Me to See God?

Binoculars

Jesus said that the pure in heart will see God (Mat. 5:8). What exactly does He mean that we will “see God”? Yesterday, we examined Exodus 33. At the end of that chapter, Moses asks to see God’s glory. God permits Moses to see His “back” (Exo. 33:23), but says to Moses, “My face shall not be seen.” Earlier, God had told Moses, “You cannot see My face; for no man shall see Me, and live” (Exo. 33:20). So Moses was permitted to see some manifestation of God, but he didn’t see God’s face.

John, among others in the Bible, reminds us that “No one has seen God at any time” (John 1:18; 1 John 4:12). So how will we “see God” when we purify our hearts? Here are three things the Bible tells us about those whose hearts are pure.

1. God promises that the pure in heart will see Him.

1 John 3:2 says that, while we do not currently know what we’ll be like in eternity, we know that, when Jesus appears, we shall be like Him and we shall see Him as He is. Hebrews 12:14 reminds us that those who pursue peace and holiness will see the Lord.

2. Purity of heart singularizes our focus.

James wrote,

Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded (James 4:8).

It’s interesting that he likens unrighteousness – those with impure hands – to double-mindedness. That’s why Jesus said that we can’t serve two masters (Mat. 6:24). Our allegiance can’t be divided. We have to choose: God or whatever else.

3. Purity of heart helps me to see God’s hand in my life.

Because of his righteousness, Joseph was blessed by God. Remember toward the end of Genesis, when Joseph has revealed himself to his brothers? He says, “you meant evil against me; but God meant it for good, in order to bring it about as it is this day, to save many people alive” (Gen. 50:20). Joseph was able to see God’s hand working in his life. One who does not have a pure heart that is seeking God will not see this.

In Romans chapter eight, Paul says that his hope in God helped him to maintain a proper perspective on life’s difficulties. He says that “the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us” (verse 18), and “all things work together for good to those who love God” (verse 28).

Let’s wrap it up: When your heart is pure, you’ll look at life – and death – differently. Everything is about God. I labor now so I can see Him then, and, as I labor, I see His hand with me all the way. The pure in heart will truly see God.

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TheNewYou1400 This is a partial transcript from my weekday podcast, The New You, where we focus on maintaining and accentuating the new that Christ created in each of us as Christians. A new episode is available each Monday through Friday on The Light Network. Click here to see all of the episodes.

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The Pure in Heart Will See God

SeeGod

Go up to a land flowing with milk and honey; for I will not go up in your midst, lest I consume you on the way, for you are a stiff-necked people (Exo. 33:3).

Moses has spent the last forty years doing something that he didn’t want to do. In Exodus chapters three and four, God selects Moses as the leader of the Israelites. He would bring them out of Egyptian bondage and lead them to the promised land. Moses resisted at first, offering one excuse after another. Ultimately, he went.

Forty years later, Moses is still leading these people. Moses has been up on Mount Sinai, per God’s request, receiving the Ten Commandments. While he’s up on the mountain, the Israelites, down below, begin to wonder whether Moses will ever return. They melt their jewelry and fashion a golden calf that they worship. When Moses returns and sees what they’ve done, he’s infuriated. How could they have abandoned God so quickly?! What happens next is absolutely chilling.

God tells Moses that He will keep His promise to give the promised land to the Israelites. He will drive out the enemies – all exactly as He promised Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. However, God said that He would not go with them. He would send His angel, but He wouldn’t go Himself.

This news greatly troubled Moses. Longing to be close to God, Moses moves his tent outside the camp. If the people were stubborn to God’s ways, then Moses would distance himself from them. Moses wants God, not just God’s blessings. So Moses moves to God. The Bible says that “the LORD spoke to Mose face to face, as a man speaks to his friend” (Exo. 33:11). This is figurative language that communicates to us that Moses had an intimate relationship with God.

Then, Moses said something incredible. He said to God, “If Your Presence does not go with us, do not bring us up from here” (Exo. 33:15). Moses says that he would rather stay in the wilderness homeless with God than to go into the promised land without God. Amazing!

Let’s wrap it up: Yesterday, we noted that the pure in heart will see God. How badly do you want to see God? What are you willing to give up or to do in order to be sure that you will one day see Him?

Sometimes I look at the Israelites and I wonder how they could be so foolish to worship an idol that they had crafted right before their eyes. Yet, sometimes I allow things to become improperly prioritized ahead of God’s kingdom and His righteousness. God doesn’t live among wickedness. Am I willing to move to Him? Am I willing to be different, to stand out, for the sake of being pure in heart and in life?

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TheNewYou1400 This is a partial transcript from my weekday podcast, The New You, where we focus on maintaining and accentuating the new that Christ created in each of us as Christians. A new episode is available each Monday through Friday on The Light Network. Click here to see all of the episodes.

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Blessed Are the Pure in Heart

Heart-Pure

In the late 1800’s, Davison and Fillmore penned the words to an old song that we sometimes sing in worship:

Purer in heart, O God, Help me to be;
May I devote my life Wholly to Thee;
Watch Thou my wayward feet,
Guide me with counsel sweet;
Purer in heart, Help me to be.

During His teaching, Jesus placed great significance upon the heart. In the Beatitudes, the fundamental tenants of discipleship, He said that the pure in heart will see God (Mat. 5:8). That is HUGE!

Perhaps the best way to define what it means to be pure in heart is to offer what it does not mean. Purity is the absence of filth. The Bible says that sin stains our souls like scarlet (Isa. 1:18). When sin is in my heart – when I think sinful thoughts – then my heart is impure.

The problem is, I know my heart. I know that my heart isn’t always as pure as it should be. Certainly there’s room for improvement in my life. Can you relate? If only those with pure hearts will see God, then I have to figure out how I can transform my heart.

You can transform your heart when you remember two important Biblical truths.

1. You must be willing to pay the price.

Paul said that we are to be a living sacrifice (Rom. 12:1-2) that is not conformed to this world, but transformed. He shared with us how we can transform our hearts in that very text. First, he says that God’s mercy plays a part in our heart transformation. Then, he states that, as a living sacrifice, we are to be holy and acceptable to God (this is what we have been called to do). Finally, he says there that we will be transformed when our minds are renewed. That word “renew” means to renovate. When I think about a renovation, I think about gutting what used to be there to make way for all of the new things that are going to replace the old things. That’s what we are to do with our hearts.

2. You must realize that no one can change their hearts by themselves.

Look carefully at Psalm 51. In verses seven and ten, David, as he longs for forgiveness and cleansing, states that he can’t do it on his own. It’s going to require God’s help. He says, “Purge me … and I shall be clean … Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me.” He’s saying, “I can’t do it alone. I need God’s help.”

David is absolutely right. I can’t do it on my own. No matter how hard I may try, I can’t cleanse myself of my sins. That’s why Paul says that we are saved by God’s grace (Eph. 2).

Let’s wrap it up: Do you want to see God? Then you have to work towards purifying your heart. Surrender yourself as a sacrifice to God – both in body and in mind – and let God cleanse you and change you as you apply His Word to your life.

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TheNewYou1400 This is a partial transcript from my weekday podcast, The New You, where we focus on maintaining and accentuating the new that Christ created in each of us as Christians. A new episode is available each Monday through Friday on The Light Network. Click here to see all of the episodes.

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Just Be a Good, Moral Person?

GoodMoralPerson

Somehow, someway, people got this notion that all one needs to do to go to heaven is to be a good, moral person. Maybe it’s because of the “feel good” type preaching that so many people are hearing these days. Don’t get me wrong, preaching should make us feel good, but gospel preaching can also challenge us to do God’s will.

I’m afraid this mentality might also exist in the Lord’s church. Some people may rationalize: “I don’t have to be at every worship service to go to heaven, I just need to be a good, moral person.” Sometimes, whether we really come out and say it or not, our actions reflect this type of thinking. Apparently some Christians think that they don’t need to tell others about Jesus in order to go to heaven as long as they’re “good, moral people.” Still others may reason that they aren’t required to stand up and be different in the world in order to go to heaven as long as they’re “good, moral people.”

Ultimately, it comes down to our definition of being good and moral, doesn’t it? I think we understand how our culture views these terms. To our society, the idea of being good and moral would include avoiding things that might put us into prison or that might single us out for something that everyone else would find distasteful. Basically, it’s all about keeping up appearances and maintaining the status quo.

The problem is, that’s not true Christianity.

Jesus makes it clear that He wants us to be good (in the sense that our society uses the term), but He wants us to be more than that. We are to be servants who are anxiously watching for the time when our Master will return (Luke 12:43). When He returns, we are to be found doing what He has asked us to do.

Jesus said that only those who do the will of the Father will be permitted into heaven (Mat. 7:21). He proceeded to describe good, decent, moral people who would be shocked that they weren’t allowed entrance (verses 22 and 23). They were good by society’s standards, but they hadn’t obeyed.

Let’s wrap it up: The Lord asked, “Why do you call me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and not do the things which I say?” (Luke 6:46). Christianity is about goodness, love, hope, joy, and, yes, feeling good about our souls. But it’s also about obedience. In fact, our reception to and obedience of God’s grace (Titus 2:11-12) is the very reason why we can feel so great about being a Christian. We have God’s promises that those who are faithful will receive the crown of life (Rev. 2:10).

Be a good person – by God’s standards, and look forward to heaven.

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TheNewYou1400 This is a partial transcript from my weekday podcast, The New You, where we focus on maintaining and accentuating the new that Christ created in each of us as Christians. A new episode is available each Monday through Friday on The Light Network. Click here to see all of the episodes.