St. John Studies

“Can someone carry the filth of the world in their heart and still have a genuine relationship with God?”

This is Pastor John Bevere* asking the one question I knew he was going to ask. Did you not see it coming? He further brings up the idea of grace. “Does the grace of Jesus Christ eradicate the necessity of cleansing ourselves from the world’s filth?”

Here are the answers from 2nd Corinthians, answers that we often do not hear quoted from the pulpit. Scripture we don’t often study in Sunday school or Bible studies: “As God said, ‘I will live in them and walk among them and they will be my people. Therefore, come out from among unbelievers, and separate yourselves from them, says the Lord. Don’t touch their filthy things, and I will welcome you. And I will be your Father, and you will be my sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty. Because we have these promises, dear friends, let us cleanse ourselves from everything that can defile our body and spirit. And let us work toward complete holiness because we fear God’” [6:16–7:1].

People who are blessed enough to study the Bible know that it echoes. New Testament verses recall verses from the Old Testament. Old Testament verses foreshadow New Testament Scripture. That is the mighty power of God’s scripture: forty men of diverse backgrounds writing over a period of 1,500 years and yet you have echoes and foreshadowing.

Here Paul is quoting what God said to Moses when he came down from Mount Sinai or Mount Horeb [depending on the writings in Exodus or Deuteronomy].

In Old Testament times, very few men could muster enough desire for an authentic relationship with God. Bevere lists Moses, David, Daniel, Isaiah. These men purposefully rid themselves of worldly motives.

How many of us can do that today?

The world can be a horrible place, full of wars, famine, suffering, poverty, things that impact Christians and non-Christians alike. By remembering that we are “not of this world,” remembering that these things are just for a little while, we can see them in a different light and we should see them in a different light. The world can be a horrible place for us to fall into the temptation of sinning. Around every corner, we are cajoled into doing things that we know we should not do but we give in anyway. We think we can hide our motives, putting on a “Christian façade” when God knows what we are doing and He knows why we are doing it. Over and Over God warns that we should not worship idols and yet that is what we do, easily falling prey to various whims that society tells us we have to have, from the latest most flashy cars to the most wonderful over-the-top house.

I  just recently heard a familiar wail, that we should not bury our heads as Christians. We should defend ourselves when people try to take away our valued activities. We often hear that the Bible has been taken out of school, prayer has been taken out of school and we can’t say Christmas anymore. I have often wondered about Christians who have abdicated their rights like this. I taught school for thirty-six years and I never asked that a Bible be removed or saw any sign that it could not be carried. When I saw a student pray before a test, my heart was gladdened and I have never been told directly by anyone that I could not say Christmas. Christian faith is a lifestyle that you can live without anti-Christian people telling you that you have to cease and desist. If you truly believe, you will find a way to let it show. You practice your faith, despite what the world says.

I have had other Christians tell me that we should be involved in the political arena. In all my years, I have never seen that amount to much. Some pastors may advocate a certain politician and then he or she gets in office after pandering to Christians and they do what they want to do. Good Christians who try to politicize their faith wind up feeling disappointed and feeling used, relegated to “window dressing” on a politician’s evangelical panel.

We need to get what is going on in 2nd Corinthians. We are living in this world but we are not supposed to get involved in the filth of this world. Jesus says that His kingdom is “not of this world.” As His followers, Christians are members of His kingdom which is “not of this world.” By remembering that we are “not of this world,” remembering that these things are just for a little while, we can see them in a different light. We are still in this world but we are no longer of it. We are still surrounded by all the horrors and tragedy of this life, but this is not our life. The knowledge that we are not of this world gives Christians hope even in the darkest times; hope that this will pass and at the end of it we will be in heaven with our God, face to face forever. This cracked and broken place is not where we belong, and it is not where we will stay.**

Bevere says “To maintain the most beneficial internal GPS setting—toward a close relationship with God—it would seem that the word holiness is a key factor.” Holiness is not found in reacting to the stresses and strains of this world. Holiness is not found in complaining about the things that have supposedly been taken away from us. Holiness is certainly not found in the political arena.

The GPS Bevere is referring to is internal. It tells us the correct directions, avoiding the filth of this world.

My GPS is my Holy Spirit. God guides, I respond and no one can take it away from me.

*From the book Good or God?
**From the Gotquestions.org Website, 2017.

I don’t know if I have heard the words “delayed gratification” lately.

Some people don’t want to delay their gratification. They want what they want and they want it now. They are not willing to hold out for more.

Let’s skip the starter home. I want the dream home as my first home.

I don’t want to drive the old beater for a few years; I want the fancy new car right now.

Working at a fast food business as my first job is not going to cut it; I would rather not work at all if all I do all day is flip burgers.

John Bevere spends the better part of Chapter 6 in his book writing about the choices of a young man who was willing to wait for the best.

He writes about Moses.

As kids, most of us were introduced to Moses. We know the story of his adoption in Pharaoh’s home, his grooming as a prince. He had the best of everything, yet it was not what he really wanted.

He wanted to be in the presence of God and he was willing to hold out for it.

He had skipped the starter home, he had the fanciest chariot and he had a dream job: little work and people around him to take care of his every need, but he wanted more. In Hebrews it says “By faith, Moses, when grown, refused the privileges of the Egyptian royal house. He chose a hard life with God’s people rather than an opportunistic soft life…[11: 24-25 from The Message]. He was holding out for his great reward. He wanted to be in the presence of God.

To the people of his day, this seemed illogical. What better circumstances could a person have than living in the Egyptian royal court? To many this was utopia, yet he wanted to lead his people out of Egypt to face the times of wandering in the wilderness, “no beautiful valleys, streams, forests, fruit trees…no markets, shopping, new clothing…a strange bread that appears on the ground six days a week and periodically some quail for meat” [Bevere, 78-79]. The Israelites did not have the easy life of Moses; they were slaves used to build for their Egyptian masters, but now Moses has led them to a new life, a life of deprivation in a hard land [but at least they were not slaves].

They weren’t happy. The strange bread every day got boring and they did not see that they were headed to any better life situation. They began to grumble. Some even said that it would be best to return to slavery under Pharoah.

But there was a promise. God said that they would be rewarded by life in a land of promise, the land of Canaan [rich and fertile, overflowing with abundance]. There would even be a warrior angel who would protect them from all foes.

Can you imagine what the people were thinking? Wow, now we can have beautiful houses of our own. We can have our own culture and we will be able to pass on our inheritance to our children. Finally, we have hope, but there is one thing standing in our way: Moses.

God tells Moses to lead the people into the Promised Land but He is not going to go. Moses replies “If Your Presence does not go with us, do not bring us up from here.” He chooses the desert with God over the Promised Land without God. What was going on? He knows that having God’s presence was more valuable than any material thing that could be provided. His choice was not easy but it was right. He chose continued deprivation over a much easier life. He was willing to delay gratification.

How many would make his choice? Probably very few. He faced tremendous pressure from his people to get them to a better situation but he held out for more. He wanted the best. He wanted the promised land and he wanted God. He also believed that God would eventually get his people to the Land of Canaan and God did.

Have you ever heard the old expression “a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush?” If we can extend this metaphor, Moses would have had faith that the real blessing was in the bush. I know that Moses is not in this expression but if he was, he probably would believe that there were two birds in the bush. More than that, he had seen God in the burning bush and absolutely nothing topped that. He wanted the best. He wanted an authentic relationship with God.

He was willing to wait. He was willing to delay gratification. He knew the best life was a life with God.

*Good or God?

Late adopter: someone who is slow to use a new product, technology or idea.

I guess my wife and I are late adopters.

It took us a long time to purchase a GPS, long after the technology was being utilized by everyone else. After I got GPS, I was fascinated. Then after several trips with strange routes or slightly incorrect destinations, I began to wonder if there was something better.

A smart phone!

Now my wife has a smart phone with of course Google Map technology, and more accurate, up-to-date GPS technology.

Everyone else has been using these for years but here we are—the late adopters.

As we were getting closer to our destination yesterday, my wife admitted that she really likes a good old fashioned paper map but our smart phone got us to our destination without a hitch.

My point is, no matter what gets you to your destination, it is important for you to get there. Being lost is not fun if it is a permanent state. Along the way, it is important for you to make the correct decisions, the “right choices” so to speak.

Pastor John Bevere begins Chapter Six in his book Good or God? with the analogy of the GPS. I think it is a good analogy for the Christian life.

When one begins a journey, the destination has to be entered into the technology. Some people really don’t have a clear idea of where they want to go; they have a town to travel to but maybe they are not sure about the specific address of their location. What may happen as they travel? They will wind up at some vague location like a “city center” which may be far from where they want to go. Along the way, we have choices to make. We may see something that is interesting or even distracting so we decide we have to “veer off the path.” That is ok. We have freedom and sometimes taking a little adventure makes the trip enjoyable. I am reminded of the expression “we need to take time to smell the roses.” Veer off and have some fun.

The problem with some of us is we get distracted and never get back on the road.

That is an exaggeration of course; we want to get to our destination eventually, so we will get back on the road but let’s work with this analogy a while.

I once had a very good friend, a mentor who told me at a time when I was confused about my life, that all life is, is a series of choices. This mentor [who has passed on now] was a Christian. I would describe his life as a life of Christian action. Whenever he could, wherever he was, he would take time to help others who had a need. You see, he had what Bevere writes about in Chapter Six; he had an internal GPS, a clear destination and a clear way to get there. He knew that his choices mattered. He also knew that life is full of distractions that take you off course. He was a Methodist and at the time I met him, I was not really sure what I was. He explained that he lived by John Wesley’s motto: “Do all the good you can. By all the means you can. In all the ways you can. In all the places you can. At all the times you can. To all the people you can. As long as ever you can.”

As we look at people travel through life, we have to admit that we all have limited perspectives. We never see people at all the times of their life; we all have our struggles and none of us is perfect. He wasn’t flawless but he strived to be the best man he could be. He knew his Holy Spirit was his GPS and his destination was the best relationship he could have with his Lord and Savior. Thomas Merton, the monk writing in his book Thoughts in Solitude, used the following words in a special prayer he prayed and I think this is a wonderful time to share it. “I believe that the desire to please You does in fact please You. And I hope I have that desire in all that I am doing. I hope that I will never do anything apart from that desire. And I know that if I do this, You will lead me by the right road.” I would say my friend lived that prayer.

What is that desire he is speaking about? What is that destination that my mentor had in his life?

Let’s turn to the quote from St. Augustine of Hippo, at the beginning of Chapter 6: “To fall in love with God is the greatest romance; to seek Him, the greatest adventure; to find Him, the greatest human achievement.”

Don’t be a late adopter; use a GPS and have a specific destination.

Many of you have been there…leadership positions at your church where you have to participate in making financial decisions. I have been to many church council meetings where the largest chunk of meeting time was devoted to hand-wringing about church finances.

I have even been to intercessory prayer groups where discussion drifted to attendance and finances instead of prayer.

I guess it is bound to happen. People worry about how to keep the church doors open. It is a real world problem.

But think for a moment about Jesus’ response to the rich young ruler, the way he challenged him to “Go your way, sell whatever you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven, take up your cross, and follow me” [Mark 10:21].

The rich young ruler walked away in sorrow at this challenge.

I can hear it now, those money minded church trustees or council members “Pastor Jesus, Your church’s attendance will drop if You keep treating eager men and women like this, especially wealthy and influential ones. Go after him and soften the message; surely he will embrace the whole truth after a while!” [Bevere, 68].

Jesus did not do that. He did not run after him. He just let him go. He spoke the truth to him. The rich young ruler could not accept it and made his choice to leave.

What has happened to the truth in today’s world when we are more interested in putting people in the pews than telling them the truth? John Bevere* says “We’ve fallen into the trap of doing almost anything to get a convert and create a following. We employ accommodation techniques to build church attendance, gain followers of Twitter, increase our fan base on Facebook, or get people to read our blogs. This is nothing less than communicating to God that our wisdom is sounder than His. Again, it’s choosing the good over God” [69].

Ouch!

Maybe Jesus did not beg the rich young ruler to follow Him, but he could have employed another strategy.

I have seen so many television evangelists preaching about planting seeds. I think of one [who will remain nameless] who always talks about investing in his ministry and the rate of return on the investment. He could have approached the rich young ruler like that because I am sure he was a successful businessman. I can hear it now: “You can position yourself for a huge blessing, a harvest of financial success. If you would just plant a seed in my ministry, you will receive a harvest that is tenfold your initial pledge!”

The Word tells us that when we give, it will be given back to us. Look at the wonderful news in Mark 10: 28-30: what you give up will be returned to you a hundred times and in the world to come you will have eternal life.

Why did Jesus not pull out this investment enticement and use it on the rich young ruler?

The answer is simple: Jesus did not use the benefit and reward payoff to get people to follow Him. When He called His disciples, He said simply “follow Me.” Follow Me because I am Jesus, Your Creator, the Master, and King of the Universe.

That was enough for Peter, James, John and Andrew. They left their business even though on the day they left, Jesus had just told them how to bring in two overflowing boatloads of fish.

They left and Jesus accepted them because they would do anything for Him and He knew it.

Maybe, today we have calculated what people can stand to sacrifice to follow God and the honest answer is they won’t sacrifice much. Bevere says this “is the root of America’s failing spiritual condition.” We have so many in churches who think they are following Jesus when they are really not. “Let’s be honest, if this rich young man came to many of our cutting-edge churches today, he would have been ‘saved’ and before long he would be considered a prized member and perhaps asked to join the church board.”

Ouch ouch!

I have a friend who would be saying right now “Bevere has gone from preaching to pure meddling.”

But has he?
As he closes Chapter 5 of his book, he says “for the strength of the church, and for the sake of truly walking in the blessings of God, let’s forsake the inadequate, “good” gospel message and return to the tree of life [not the tree of the knowledge of good and evil] the biblical message of salvation.”

Is it good or God?

Choose God.

*author of Good or God?

During a political season a few years ago, I was having a discussion with one of my best friends. A man that was running for mayor in his community was considered “rich” and that subject was brought up repeatedly in the news media. Reporters questioned the man’s ability to speak for the common man since he had so much money.

I will never forget what my friend said when I questioned him about this criticism: “God does not say that we must be poor to follow Him.”

That is true.

Many misquote the Bible when they say “money is the root of all evil.” The correct reference is from Paul in 1 Timothy 6:10 when he says “For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.”

Notice the omission of “for the love of” in the misquoted “money is the root of all evil.”

I bring this up because Pastor John Bevere uses the story of the rich young ruler to make a point in the book of Mark. Bevere really drills into this scripture to mine as much meaning from it as possible. In the process, his focus is not on money as much as lifestyle. He quips that today’s rich young ruler would be “getting out of his Rolls-Royce chariot, wearing an Armani cloak, sporting a Rolex sundial. Several personal assistants would follow him as he saunters up to Jesus.”

That’s not how I read Mark. The rich young ruler is going down the road and runs up to Jesus, kneeling before him asking “Good Teacher, what shall I do that I may inherit eternal life.” Bevere said in all his years of ministry he has never had a seeker run up to him and kneel and ask that question, yet that was the attitude of this rich young man. I am not sure that the young ruler was expecting what he got from Jesus.

Jesus responds “Why do you call Me good? No one is good but One, that is God” [Mark 10:18].

The young man was possibly trying to curry favor; maybe that is why he called Jesus “Good Teacher.”

But his flattery did not affect Jesus. He was poised to tell the young ruler the truth.

Jesus quizzed him on the last six commandments. The young ruler said “I have kept all those commandments since my youth.” Jesus saved the first four, especially the one about other gods or idols before almighty God. Jesus discerned that this young man would have trouble with that one so he “cut to the chase.”

“One thing you lack: Go your way, sell whatever you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, take up your cross, and follow me” [Mark 10:21].

Jesus did not do this in a hateful way; he looked at him, “loved him” and then said what he said. He loved this young man enough to tell him the truth, which was “your money will cause you to not be obedient to Me or obedient to my Father”.

It was the “love of money” that would get in the way of his love for God and Jesus knew it.

What is the point? The young ruler had a passion for following Jesus; he just did not have the readiness of heart and mind to obey Jesus, no matter the cost. The young ruler must have known the truth also because here is how he responded: “at these words he was saddened, and he went away grieving, for he was one who owned much property” [Mark 10:22].

Like my friend said about the politician running for mayor in his community. God does not say that we must be poor to follow Him. But if God asks that we part ways with our possessions, what will we say? What is your stumbling block? Sports? Shopping? Education? Food? Power? Gossip?

Too often today when we are confronted with the truth, we compartmentalize it. We may say amen to the preacher who reminds us that we may have other gods and idols before almighty God. That sermon may not suit us so we will disregard it. We will put that in a compartment and we will not let it get us upset.

Jesus does not do that to the rich young ruler. He speaks truth and the young man responds like most of us would respond “he was saddened, and he went away grieving…”

Human relationships are our context. They have to be; they are all we know. I can hear my wife now; “I have a relationship with our kitty cats.” That is not the same as a relationship with another human. The reason I bring this up is that one of the most common sentences a new Christian will hear as they make their faith commitment is “you are starting your relationship with God.”

Naturally, we see the word relationship through human lens.

In relationships we think of sharing our deepest thoughts and feelings with another. We think of spending time with another. We think of being honest. We think of being trustworthy.

But what about a relationship with God?

Often this type of relationship is referred to as a covenant relationship and even though that term is tossed around a lot, what does it mean? “A covenant is a formal alliance or agreement made by God with a religious community or with humanity in general. It is central to the Abrahamic religions and derived from the biblical covenants, notably the Abrahamic covenant.” For the Christian we are under the “new covenant” which means “a new relationship between God and humans mediated by Jesus which necessarily includes all people, both Jews and Gentiles, upon sincere declaration that one believes in Jesus Christ as Lord and God.”*

This may sound a bit easy?

Just declare that you believe in Jesus and that is it. You probably will do this in church which means that you will go to the altar. If you are a brand new convert, you may be baptized.

You are saved, all your sins are wiped away and you are on the road to a “new relationship with Jesus Christ.”

Many say that is it. It stops right there, but does it? Does Jesus really require more?

Yes He does.

For some, they think like John Bevere** as he writes about human relationships: we “know it would be the right thing to do, and on some level, [we] desire it, but the reality is [we are too attracted to our lifestyle]. It is one thing to desire [a relationship with God]; it’s another thing to actually do [what God wants us to do]” [brackets indicate my editing]. . . . “To enter a covenant relationship with the most wonderful Person in the universe, you have to give yourself fully to Him, which includes all aspects of His leadership” [Bevere, 61].

Our churches are probably full of people who don’t know that Jesus wants more than just a declaration. Pastors will quickly point to several areas of Christian growth in the convert who wants more. One sign is a determination to read the Word of God. There are a thousand of reasons to not read the Bible but a growing Christian will find the time to do it and the reading will be a serious reading. Often a reader will pray for enlightenment about The Word because they know they are in the presence of God when they open the Book. Another indicator is the growing ability to forgive others and understand others and their conditions. Judgement decreases and empathy and love for others increases. Faith living is common among growing Christians. Times get tough and when they do, growing Christians can stand on their faith and trust God to get them through the hard times. Worldly temptations are easier to deal with because the growing Christian can dodge the traps of this world. Satan is all over the place; in the car we think we just have to have, the young woman or man we want to lust after when we are already committed in marriage or the food we overeat when we are really full and don’t need any more. You know the list of sins can be endless and we live in world that lures us to sin. The growing Christian has an honest concern for the spiritual welfare of others. When an opportunity arises, the growing Christian will talk about God [plant a seed]. They will allow God to work through them to grow His Kingdom.

In short, the growing Christian has a willingness to obey God.

They know the altar call is not the end.

They know that baptism is just the beginning.

God expects more of us and they know it. Bevere says that the church may be taking in converts under false pretenses. There is very little talk of what happens after the initial commitment. People don’t want to hear about changes to their lifestyle but that is what is called for in the Christian life. The message is “you are saved, your sins have been forgiven and you are on the road to heaven!” That my friends is a recipe for a stagnant Christian life.

What many think is that between the declaration of our love for Jesus and going to heaven, nothing is required.

We certainly do look through a human lens when we hear the word relationship, but when you go to any couple who has a long-term relationship and ask them what has allowed them to be committed to each other for so long, you won’t hear them say “nothing is required.”

They will probably say something like they have worked hard to make their relationship last.

With our relationship with God, it is work well worth it…

*definitions from Wikipedia
**author of Good or God?

“The golden rule of understanding spiritually is not intellect, but obedience”. (Oswald Chambers)

Like many Christian books, Good or God! has its share of what I call stories. It is just a way to catch attention and keep the reader interested and involved. Pastor Bevere could just have a theological discussion and take on the role of an apologist* but he chooses to use illustrations to make his point.

He begins Chapter 5 with the story of a young man who is proposing to a simply beautiful young woman, the type of woman who can do it all, except one thing: she admits that she can’t be totally faithful to him. She says that one day a week she would like to spend time with other boyfriends [the young man says NO!]. Then she bargains down for spending time with other boyfriends on one day a year, and after a resounding NO from the young man, she says “how about 20 minutes a year with another boyfriend?” The young man can’t believe his ears and after his last no she says “I just have to be honest; I think you are asking too much. I want to enjoy a full life.” They decide to go their separate ways.

In the context of this book, you know what this story means. Bevere is asking the reader how willing are you to give up your life to follow Jesus? Put yourselves in the shoes of the young man who wants the young woman dedicated only to him.

We are back to the “Whoever desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross” scripture from Mark that I wrote about in a previous posts.

Pastor Bevere won’t let it go: God doesn’t want part of us. He wants all of us.

In Ephesians 5: 31-32 Paul writes about the marriage relationship [appropriate with our opening story]. “A man leaves his father and mother to get married, and he becomes like one person with his wife. This is a great mystery, but I understand it to mean Christ and His church.” This commitment really is meant to illustrate the relationship we are supposed to have with Jesus.

Like the young man in the story, no one would want to begin a relationship with a woman knowing she was going to violate the marriage covenant with other men.

Yet this type of relationship happens a lot among Christians and their relationship with God.

We like our lifestyle so much we can’t give our lives to God. God wants a relationship with us, but He has demands that must be met. We have to obey Him.

Many of us want to be saved, we want to go to heaven but we don’t want it enough to change. Again Pastor Bevere includes a story about a young man who has it all and he wants to have a relationship with Jesus but he just can’t commit. He says to Pastor Bevere “I know there is a price to pay. I know that you have to give Jesus your life and submit to Him, and I’m not willing to give up my lifestyle.”

At least he is honest.

Too often we are not honest about our desire to be in this world. It may be extreme but when the young man who is honest reports to Pastor Bevere about another convert’s behavior, the other person’s behavior may just be too typical. He says that another young man has talked to many people about being a born again Christian but behind the scenes he is far from leading a disciplined life. He is a frequent drug user and has a “loose” sexual attitude [let’s leave it at that].

Being honest is better than being a hypocrite; the honest young man says “I’d rather enjoy my life…and the accompanying perks than put on a façade.”

This is hard news for many of us Christians but it is right in line with James 4:4: “You adulterers! Don’t you realize that friendship with the world makes you an enemy of God? I say it again: If you want to be a friend of the world, you make yourself an enemy of God.”

You may have seen this coming; Pastor Bevere won’t let it go. When people say I am born again but don’t change their lives to follow God, are they really a convert to Christianity?

Pastor Bevere won’t let it go…

In Matthew 7, Jesus declares “Depart from Me, I never knew you.”

Are they really a convert to Christianity?

You know the truth and it is a hard truth: the answer is no.

*apologists defend the faith…

In my adult Sunday school class yesterday, we had a pretty lively discussion of following the commandments and laws along with the ideas of legalism and grace. These ideas are difficult for Christians to parse out. Many strict religious laws can be off-putting and can lead to self-righteousness, especially man-made laws. Yet sin is an ever-present factor in life and we all need to repent of our sins. We depend on forgiveness and grace to feel that we have moved toward some sense of absolution. None of us can claim perfection. We all have that natural bent toward sinning [thanks to Adam and Eve].

We have discussed in previous posts on this blog our need for a Savior and even more, our need for a Lord.

But when we go beyond needing a Savior and admit that we need a Lord, Pastor John Bevere says we have to give up our will. Admitting that we need a Lord means that God begins to control us.

Bevere quotes Tim Keller, pastor, theologian and apologist who says “if you really have God in your life, you have to give up your own will, and that shows us the difference between someone who actually is trying to use God [to get to heaven] and someone who is trying to serve God.”

We did not discuss it much in class yesterday but the subject of “grace abuse” came up, the tendency we have to justify our sins with the idea that “Oh well, God will extend grace to me. He will forgive my sin” and then what do we do–we sin again. God never intended grace to be a license to sin; He wanted it to be a way to overcome sin.

In the Old Testament, the Israelites tried unsuccessfully to follow the strict guidelines that God provided. They failed over and over again. We needed Jesus to come and model for us how to operate as sinners in this imperfect world. God did not change between the Old and New Testaments. The same God who gave the law also gave us Jesus. His grace was demonstrated through the Law by providing the sacrificial system to cover sin. Jesus said “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to reveal them” [Matthew 5:17].

Here is the catch.

If we declare a love for the Lord, we must live as if He is our Lord. James says “Show me how anyone can have faith without actions. I will show you my faith by my actions” [James 2:18]. We can’t cherry pick the way we want to live. The Lord tells us what He expects of us.

If we get selective, we may be practicing “grace abuse.”

“When we obey God, we are sure that we know Him. But if we claim to know Him and don’t obey Him, we are lying and the truth isn’t in our hearts” [1 John 2:3-4].

As Pastor Bevere concludes Chapter 4, he summarizes his thoughts about the “foundation” of Christian good [remember his book’s title is Good or God]. God is clear. Jesus is clear. We are to deny ourselves, we are to take up our cross, we are to follow Him. He is our Lord. We need to be obedient to His words. He began his book with an explication of the Garden of Eden, the idea that Adam and Eve evaluated their life according to the tree of good and evil [the wrong tree]. They took the serpent’s words as more truthful that God’s.

“It’s sobering to think that the same folly still repeats itself, from the garden to the present day. It takes on a different form, but it’s the same root. Again it comes down to this: do we think we know best about how to live, or do we believe that God knows best” [Bevere, 58].

If we don’t get this straight, if we don’t have a strong foundation, there may come a day when we may have words similar to those Jesus spoke in Matthew “And then I declare to them,, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness” [7:23].

Wow, “I never knew you”… Words I don’t want to hear.