Sin is always selfish. We may find ways to justify it, rationalize it, and make excuses for it. But in the end, sin is always about serving the self; it puts self in the place of God by determining what is good, right, and true. When we indulge in fleshly cravings, we are foolishly pretending God doesn’t notice or care. In those moments, we are practical atheists.
“[The wicked] says to himself, ‘God will never notice; he covers his face and never sees’” (Psalm 10:11, NIV). The wicked do this because they lack a healthy and godly fear of the Lord. “The fear of the LORD is clean, enduring forever” (Psalm 19:9).
On the other hand, those who desire to please the Lord have run the numbers and realized that eternity lasts a lot longer than this brief life, and that one day they will have to give an account of how they lived.
The Christian trusts in Jesus for salvation, recognizing it is only God’s grace that can save his soul from destruction. But even the Christian will be called to give an account. This is why the ministry of the Holy Spirit is essential. He convicts us of sin, gives us a hunger for righteousness, and stirs us up with reminders that we were made for God, and we will spend eternity bathed in His awesome and holy presence.
The follower of Jesus should never shrink back at the thought of meeting God face to face. In fact, it is the thought of that Day drawing ever nearer that motivates our life and witness.
“Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when Christ appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. All who have this hope in him purify themselves, just as he is pure.” (1 John 3:2-3, NIV)
In light of our soon encounter with Jesus Christ—when we peer into His holy and merciful eyes—how ought we to live? What should consume our thoughts? What should we be pursuing each day?
Will we make our lives count?
Sin is always selfish, because it ultimately is not concerned with how it hurts, devalues, and betrays others. This is why watching pornography is so destructive. It lacks all concern for the eternal welfare of those who are flaunting their naked bodies before a camera. It erodes all trust in your real relationships with others, because your view of others is inevitably warped. Pornography objectifies others and treats them as commodities rather than immortal beings who are destined for either Heaven or Hell. Most egregiously, it adopts a mindset that devalues God by ignoring His design for human sexuality and flourishing.
Don’t play games with what you put before your eyes. Jesus said the eye is the lamp of the body, that letting darkness in through the eyes will fill your body with darkness. What passes through your eyes directly affects your mind, heart, and soul.
“But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh” (Galatians 5:16, ESV). If you have been caught in the spiraling trap of sexual sin, pornography, and adultery, your only hope is to come to Jesus Christ. Find new and abundant life in Him, be filled with His Holy Spirit, and as you do that, you will live in a new direction.
What you most need is for the Holy Spirit to take the lead in your life. “If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit” (Galatians 5:23, ESV).
We were made to love, not to sin. Whenever we shunt aside God’s Word and what He has called us to, we are acting in the flesh and resisting the work of the Holy Spirit. For a time, there may be the passing pleasure of sin, but in the end, it will gut you, leaving you spiritually empty and emotionally exhausted.
Yielding to the Holy Spirit takes practice. It’s not something tried once and then forgotten. It’s a daily attitude and practice of yielding to His lead, humbly confessing your inability to have victory without His power, and committing to keep in step with the Spirit by God’s grace.
And there is grace enough for you. Don’t imagine for one moment that there is no hope for you. God’s grace is deeper than the ocean, His Spirit more powerful than a whirlwind. None of us gets into Heaven on our own merits. None of us earns a right standing with God by our personal holiness or righteous deeds. We all enter the kingdom of God through humble trust and reliance on the completed work of Jesus Christ, when He was crucified in our place for the sins we committed.
When we put our flesh on the cross with Jesus, we begin to have victory.
“And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires” (Galatians 5:24).
Jesus didn’t stay dead. Because He left behind an empty tomb, we can leave behind our old, fleshly passions and desires.
Those who claim God’s grace so that they can go back to sinning freely don’t realize that it is the grace of God which cleanses us from our sin so that we can belong to Jesus Christ. Carefully consider the implication of these words:
“For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age, waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works.” (Titus 2:11-14, ESV)
This is the greatest news imaginable. The follower of Jesus has available to him the infinite power of a God who not only indwells him but is passionately committed to his holiness.
Jesus didn’t die as a quick-fix for your guilt problem so that you can go back to your old lifestyle. He gave Himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness so that we can now walk in the power of the Holy Spirit in newness of life. Don’t take this for granted. Don’t treat Jesus’ blood as something cheap.
How do I know I’m walking by the Spirit? Compare your life to the fruit of the Spirit.
“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.” (Galatians 5:22-23, ESV)
Do you see these traits increasingly showing up in your life? Have others noticed a change in your character and habits? Are you being formed in the image of Christ? Are you hungering for more of this in your life?
When we walk by the Spirit, we live a supernatural life of love. This is the kind of kingdom-oriented life every follower of Jesus is called to live. We are to open our hearts and minds to the Spirit’s leading, expecting Him to move into our innermost thoughts and cleanse us from that which dishonors and defiles.
Make this bold prayer the heartbeat of your life:
“Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.” (Psalm 139:24, NIV)
I pray this encourages you. If you have any thoughts or questions about any of this, I would love to hear from you!
“These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full.” (John 15:11, ESV)
Jesus wants us to experience joy. The Bible is all about finding joy from the true Fountain of Joy. It’s not about faking a smile so that everyone thinks you’re okay. The Bible emphasizes the kind of joy that wells up from deep within, because we have found the reason for our existence.
God did not make us to live as bored and miserable creatures. Every one of us longs to experience a meaningful life. Deep down, we know that we were not made for a dreary, barren existence. We were made for a bigger joy than anything this world can give us. Our hearts are deeper than we know. Only God Himself is big enough to fill them with lasting joy.
C. S. Lewis said, “Joy is the serious business of Heaven.”[1] Where you find joy says everything about you. In fact, I think it’s one of the clearest ways to know if you are a genuine follower of Jesus. Because if you are, then you have the Holy Spirit living inside you, and the Holy Spirit changes everything He touches. He brings warmth and life to what is otherwise cold and dead. He is the Source of true joy. Just like a branch draws sap from the trunk, we receive life-giving joy from the Spirit who dwells inside us.
Just think about this. Does it make sense to have the Fountain of everlasting joy live inside you, yet always be gloomy and miserable? Certainly, Christians get sad, too. But the true Christian still has the wellspring of everlasting joy living within, and that will buoy them when nothing else can.
Running on Empty
Our society today demonstrates that material possessions and economic wealth cannot make us happy. In the United States, we are one of the wealthiest countries in the world—not only today, but in all of history—and yet we are also one of the most anxious and depressed nations in the world. Advertisements today promise us happiness through purchasing a certain product, such as a car, or taking a vacation. And we have bought the lies that leave us empty.
Sociologists tell us that suicidal ideation is at an all-time high today—even higher than during the Great Depression of the 1930s. In the next hour, more than five Americans will take their own life. By the end of the day, that number will reach roughly 130 people. In the course of 2024, an estimated 47,000 people will have committed suicide. These numbers should astonish us, but it’s impossible to calculate the amount of pain caused by even a single suicide.
Many people today pay little attention to the Bible. Frankly, they don’t care what a bunch of Jews wrote two thousand years ago. And yet, this book claims to offer the joy that our world is desperately craving.
“These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full.” (John 15:11, ESV)
The same Holy Spirit that indwelled Jesus and indwelled the Apostles indwells His followers today. The Holy Spirit closes the gap so that everything in our Bibles is relevant to us today, because the deep truths they talked about 2,000 years ago remain true for us today. Jesus is just as relevant.
People were sinners in need of a Savior back then, and people are sinners in need of a Savior today. People were hurting, miserable, and lacking joy back then, and people today are hurting, miserable, and lost.
Why Do People Commit Suicide?
Dr. Matthew Sleeth is a medical doctor who saw countless patients in the emergency room who had attempted to take their own life. Dr. Sleeth is now a follower of Jesus, but for most of his medical career, he was an atheist. During that time, he observed the protective effect of belief in a personal God when it comes to suicide.
In his book Hope Always, Dr. Sleeth notes how suicide doesn’t really fit with the theory of evolution, a theory that teaches all of life owes its existence to the principle of survival of the fittest. In fact, in study after study, it’s been shown that suicide is unknown in the animal kingdom. So, the question is: Why do we commit suicide?
Dr. Sleeth writes:
“…for most of my medical career, I was an atheist. Nonetheless, in the course of seeing some thirty thousand patients, I couldn’t help but notice the positive role faith played in my patients’ ability to cope and recover from both mental and physical illness. In fact, faith seemed to be the crucial factor in most of those who successfully recovered from long-term addictions.”[2]
If we were made for God and joy really is the serious business of Heaven, then it makes sense that a wholesale rejection of God—as we are seeing in our culture today—will lead to tragic increases in anxiety, depression, and suicidal ideation.
He adds, “God helps when it comes to suicide. It’s a fact. Yet the current sixty-one-page report published by the CDC on suicide expunges God and faith from the discussion of suicide and depression.”[3]
Jesus alone can give you the joy your soul is craving.
His joy can be in you today, in 2024, because Jesus is alive today. That’s what the story of Easter is all about. He defeated all our enemies—sin, death, and the devil—so that we can be restored to union with Him that we were made for.
In other words, you can’t be united to Jesus by faith and not have joy. Joy is a fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22). That doesn’t mean every day is easy and filled with laughter for the follower of Christ. But it does mean that from the bottom of your soul, you can know that friendship with Jesus is the only way to true joy. And it means you can have the confidence that Jesus is greater and more satisfying than anything this world has to offer.
No career will give you this kind of joy. No house or car will give you this joy. No relationship or marriage—no matter how amazing it might be—can possibly give you what Jesus can give you. That’s because He offers a supernatural joy. Again, this was Jesus’ promise for His disciples, and that includes us today:
“These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full.” (John 15:11, ESV)
The Extraordinary Life of Following Jesus
As our friend, Jesus is giving us another motivation to follow Him. The life of discipleship is the context for the above statement. He is saying we’ll know deep joy if we abide (or make our home) in Him. This is not how the world thinks. The world thinks that if we turn from what the Bible calls “sin” and start following Christ, then our life will seem so dull and restrictive. But the truth is the very opposite: Living as Christ’s disciple is liberating and invigorating. I get to walk hand-in-hand with the Creator of the stars! He wants to talk with me from His Word, guide me by His ever-present Spirit, and hear from me. He treasures me more than the birds of the sky or the flowers of the field. And I am His. What could possibly be better than this?
“You have turned for me my mourning into dancing; You have loosed my sackcloth and clothed me with gladness.” (Psalm 30:11, ESV)
Living in sin might be pleasurable for a season, but it will actually choke out all sense of joy. In the end, sin is always a joy-killer, not a joy-giver. Because sin always disrupts good and right fellowship with our Lord. And He is the One that can fill us with joy.
I can say I used to think like the world about this. When I was in high school, I simply thought of obeying Jesus as “the right thing to do” and there were even times I resented the fact that, as a Christian, I didn’t get to have all the so-called “fun” that other teenagers were having. And though I wouldn’t have said it, I sometimes even felt a little deprived. But today I see things far better. I recognize how nothing can compete with the joy of knowing Jesus.
It’s not what you’d expect, but there is deep and profound joy in surrendering every part of your life to Christ.
Because when you consciously give yourself to Jesus, you experience more of His love, His goodness. There’s freedom in knowing your sins are forgiven, and you can gladly say, “Not my will, but Your will be done in my life.”
And what’s the alternative? Do you really want to look to yourself to be the one manufacturing all your joy? Do you really want to carry every burden in life on your own shoulders? How much better to let Jesus lift all your burdens and listen to Him. Because His Word has greater wisdom than this world can offer.
The Joy of Your Salvation
For a time, King David thought he could find joy outside of God. He looked for it in the arms of a beautiful woman named Bathsheba. But though he had pleasure for a night, that adultery led to the sin of lying, which led to the sin of murder. And then even more deception. And as his heart hardened into concrete, all the joy was sapped out of him. In Psalm 51, he talks about how he was a tormented soul; his own guilt was crushing him.
It took a prophet of God to confront him, just like the Word of God confronts us today. And then David, broken as he was, poured out his heart to God:
“Have mercy on me, O God, according to your steadfast love.” (Psalm 51:1-2, ESV)
God responded to his repentance by lifting his weight of guilt. And then David could pray:
“Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and uphold me with a willing spirit.” (Psalm 51:12, ESV)
Forgiveness was no longer an abstract idea for David. He had experienced it on a level he never knew possible. He was washed completely clean, and then he once again knew the sheer joy of being loved and known and cherished by God. What a gift! He didn’t deserve it. But God is abundantly merciful and loves to extend forgiveness to all who cry out to Him just like David did.
It took a humble surrender on David’s part before he experienced the “joy of salvation.” Such is always the case.
You want to know what can steal your joy? Thinking too highly of yourself (see Romans 12:3). Thinking everyone owes you. That you’re always in the right and that everyone else is in the wrong.
Some of the most miserable people in this world are those who have either forgotten or maybe never known how precious it is to walk in true humility. True humility means having no sense of entitlement, no sense of God owing you, but instead having an overwhelming sense of gratitude that God has given you so many extraordinary gifts you simply don’t deserve. True humility comes from learning to delight in God Himself.
Think often of how gracious God has been to you. God has loved you while knowing everything about you. And He loves you more than anyone else ever could or would.
Abiding in Jesus comes from humbly recognizing just how much we need Him in every part of our lives. It’s admitting that if we are in the driver’s seat of our lives, the car always ends up in the ditch. Life is far better when the true King and Captain of your soul is behind the wheel. Because He can give you fullness of joy.
If you have any questions or thoughts about any of this, I would love to hear from you!
[1] C. S. Lewis, Letters to Malcolm: Chiefly on Prayer, 93.
Throughout my life, I can think of several dates when the plans for my day were totally upended. The death of a relative. An unexpected phone call. 9/11. A co-worker tragedy. In most of these examples, when the plan for the day was totally canceled, someone died. Death has a way of intruding into our life, changing plans, and unexpectedly causing shock and grief.
In ancient Israel—as is true for many Jewish people today—the first thing the faithful do is recite the Shema, the confession found in the Torah: “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart…” (Deuteronomy 6:4-5, ESV). The one exception that put all prayers on hold is when your parent died. In that case, burying your father or mother takes precedence over everything, out of reverence for the one who raised you.
This helps us understand a passage in the Gospel of Matthew when a man pledges to follow Jesus after he first buries his father. We expect Jesus to say, “Of course, you must first give your father a proper burial. But then come follow Me!” Instead, Jesus gives this jarring response: “Follow Me, and leave the dead to bury the dead.”[1]
For those who have derived their image of Jesus from the culture, this statement is always puzzling. They picture Jesus as a nice guy who walks around with a lamb on His shoulders and a nice smile, hugging everyone He meets simply because He is so full of niceness (trust me, that’s a word).
Now, don’t get me wrong. Jesus was and is the most loving person to ever grace the planet. But quite often Jesus showed tough love—which is the kind of love that says things we don’t think we need to hear, but desperately do. In the words of 1 Corinthians 13:6, it’s a love that “rejoices in the truth.”
Jesus didn’t always say what sounds “nice” and affirming, but He did always tell us what we need to hear. And in this instance, He was teaching about the danger of delayed discipleship. His point was that no matter what else we may think is urgent and essential, nothing can take priority over following Him. In light of the Bible’s strong emphasis on caring for one’s family, Jesus’ statement here is all the more surprising.
Jesus knows that sometimes people will look for excuses for why they can’t follow Him today. Sometimes, people will use family as an excuse.
To such people, Jesus says:
“Anyone who loves their father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me; anyone who loves their son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me.”[2]
Stop and consider for a moment how insanely self-centered this would sound on the lips of anyone else. Do you still think Jesus was merely a good teacher of moral ideals?
Offensive? Maybe. But necessary for each of us to hear.
At another time, Jesus gave a parable (which is a story meant to illustrate the kingdom of God) about a man who decided to host a great banquet at his house. He sent out invitations to all his close family and friends. “But they all alike began to make excuses.”[3]
Some claimed they were too busy. They had purchased fields or oxen that demanded their care and attention. Another said, “I have married a wife, and therefore I cannot come.”[4] Each person seemed to have a good and reasonable excuse. It’s not as though they were all at home playing video games or binge watching Netflix. But they were excuses nonetheless.
Jesus said the master of the house became angry when people rejected his generous offer. After all, he was providing a sumptuous feast, free of charge. Because those who were supposedly closest to him rejected his offer, the master sent his servant to go and “bring in the poor and crippled and blind and lame.”[5] After all, those who had less in life would recognize the generosity of this invitation.
After his dining hall is filled with everyone from “the highways and hedges” far and wide, the great banquet can finally begin. Then, somewhat disdainfully, the master of the house says of those who turned down his invitation, “I tell you, not one of those who were invited will get a taste of my banquet.”[6]
The message is pretty clear. Those who put off Jesus and His invitation into life in the kingdom of God are missing out on the joy He is offering.
To say it again: Nothing is more urgent or important in your life right now than discipleship to Jesus.
We might imagine that while we can’t follow Jesus today, we will certainly square things up with Him later. We might even think it’s better to live for ourselves today so that we will better appreciate grace later. But here’s where people need to take care. Sin has a way of hardening the heart that puts Jesus off. How do you know you aren’t hardening your heart against Jesus today? If you don’t have time for Jesus today, what makes you think you will suddenly have time later in life?
The spiritual sage J. C. Ryle offered this warning:
“Habits of good or evil are daily strengthening in your heart. Every day you are either getting nearer to God, or further off. Every year that you continue unrepentant, the wall of division between you and heaven becomes higher and thicker, and the gulf to be crossed deeper and broader. Oh, dread the hardening effect of constant lingering sin! Now is the accepted time. See that your decision not be put off until the winter of your days.”[7]
In reality, no matter what excuse we might come up with for why we are delaying discipleship to Jesus, that very excuse might be the roadblock that keeps us from ever coming to the party. Beware of excuses in your own heart. Take warning from Jesus’ parable. What a tragedy it would be to miss out on the very thing that gives our lives meaning not only for this life, but for all eternity.
In the words of Jesus, “What good will it be for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul? Or what can anyone give in exchange for their soul?”[8]
If you have any questions about any of this, I would love to hear from you!
“As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, my God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When can I go and meet with God?” (Psalm 42:1-2, NIV)
Like most larger animals in the forest, deer need a lot of water. I was recently watching a nature video that discussed how regularly deer find streams of water throughout each day. During the summer, a 200-pound buck will drink close to 200 ounces of water per day.
I tend to drink a lot of water, but rarely do I drink even 100 ounces of water in one day!
If you have ever watched a deer drink water, you know how they will often step right into the water source, lower their head, and then, with their mouth submerged, begin lapping the water up with the long tongue God gave them. Deer need lots of water because they travel several miles each day.
Knowing how often deer get thirsty informs my reading of Psalm 42, one of my favorite passages in Scripture. Psalm 42 reminds us that when we are feeling empty or spiritually barren, our great need is to come back to the Fountain of Living Water and drink deeply of His loving presence.
As a deer longs for flowing streams, so I long for you, God. (Psalm 42:1, CSB)
Do you thirst for God like this? Do you long to experience more of His power and presence in your life? Do you hunger for greater knowledge of His goodness, holiness, and love?
Just as deer cannot survive without drinking copious amounts of water, our souls will shrivel up apart from drinking deeply from the living God. As a deer steps into the streams of water, so we need to be immersed in the Lord’s presence daily if we are to thrive spiritually.
God did not create us for natural self-sufficiency. We were made to long for God. And the fullness of joy we crave is only found in fellowship with our Creator.
Augustine famously said, “Thou hast made us for Thyself, and our hearts are restless until they find their rest in Thee.”
In his book Ten Questions to Diagnose Your Spiritual Health, Donald Whitney describes three kinds of thirsty souls: 1) the empty soul, which is devoid of God and seeking to satisfy his thirst with worldly pursuits; 2) the dry soul, which has known soul-satisfaction in God but is living through a dry spell with little fresh communion with God; and 3) the satisfied soul, which is marked by a continual satisfaction in all that God is for him in Jesus Christ. It’s worth noting that the satisfied soul is still thirsty for more of God. The difference is that the satisfied soul has a joyful longing for more of God, rather than a desperate ache from a place of emptiness or dryness.
I found these categories helpful in understanding my own walk with the Lord and why there have been seasons of spiritual aridness, even after knowing the Lord for many years, and other seasons of vibrant joy in the Lord that seemed impossible to surpass at the time.
The important thing to note is that every soul is thirsty. Again, this is what it means to be made in God’s image and likeness. If you don’t seek the soul-satisfaction that only God can give, you will still try to quench that deep longing, but you will chase after things like sports, entertainment, sex, money, power, and a million other worldly forms of pleasure, hoping that they will fill the void within. But these can never satisfy. Like drinking saltwater, these things will only leave your soul thirstier than ever.
Jesus said that “whoever drinks of the water I shall give him will never thirst” (John 4:14). Because God is an infinite well of joy, only life with Him can truly satisfy the human heart. Even more to the point, Jesus even stood up before a crowd of Jewish people at one of their festivals and said, “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink. The one who believes in me, as the Scripture has said, will have streams of living water flow from deep within him” (John 7:37-38, CSB).
Time and time again, I have found Jesus’ words to be absolutely true. In my own life, I have discovered that Jesus of Nazareth is everything He claimed to be, and that He deals gently with sinners and sufferers who come to Him and drink. I love to share my faith in Jesus because He has utterly changed my life and continues to change me. I know what it means to have my sins washed away and have “streams of living water flow from deep within.” The supernatural presence of Jesus is real and on offer to you today. Through personal trust in Him, you can know what life in His kingdom is like. All this is possible because Jesus is not dead. The Jesus I know and love is a living Jesus, and He makes the same offer to you today: “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink.”
So, here’s my encouragement for you. Stop going through the motions. Seek out Jesus through investigating the New Testament for yourself. Speak to Jesus as you would when a friend is in the room with you. Enter into the life Jesus offers today. Don’t think that Netflix, ESPN, or social media can supply you with something that can only be found through abiding in God’s love through Jesus the Messiah. Drink deeply from the water of life that He alone can give you and thank Him for making Himself available to you.
If you have any questions about any of this, I would love to hear from you!
Marriage is central to the storyline of the Bible. From its earliest chapters, we see that God created the man and the woman for each other and told them to “Be fruitful and multiply.” The marital union of two becoming one flesh has been there from the beginning, and it has a special purpose in God’s world.
The story of the Bible both begins and ends with wedding imagery (Genesis 2:22-25; Revelation 21:1-5). Marriage is God’s living illustration for His covenantal union with His people, which will one day be fully realized in a restored creation when Heaven and Earth unite.
So, no matter what pops into your mind when you hear the word “marriage,” the first thing to know is that God invented it.
“Then the Lord God made a woman... and he brought her to the man.” (Genesis 2:22, NIV)
This has some important implications. If marriage is God’s idea, then that means romantic love is His idea, too.
Every Good Gift
That first spark of interest a boy has for the cute girl that sits across the classroom. The feeling you get when your song comes on the radio. The dinner by candlelight in that perfect setting. The couple that has been married for 50 years taking a walk, hand in hand. The electricity of a first kiss. The love note that a wife puts in her husband’s lunchbox. All of that is part of God’s grand design. God is a romantic. If you doubt me, I encourage you to take up and read the biblical book Song of Solomon.
You may be thinking, “Okay, Jason. It seems like you’ve got rose-tinted glasses on. Don’t forget marriage can also be pretty hard.”
True. But it’s important to begin here when we think about romance, because all that is good about marriage, romantic affection, and sexual intimacy comes first and foremost from God.
Many today bemoan God’s restrictions on sex and marriage laid out in the Bible. But what they don’t realize is that everything that makes those romantic moments in life beautiful, good, and right comes from God.
Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows. (James 1:17, NIV)
Without God, all the joy and excitement of romance is reduced to random neurochemical reactions. Modern progressives like to claim that monogamy is drab and boring. Don’t buy that lie! You know what really takes the magic out of romance? Imagining there is no God behind it all.
Fit for One Another
If we’re going to get marriage right, we need to go back to the beginning when God first created man and woman.
Then the Lord God said, “It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper fit for him.” (Genesis 2:18, ESV)
Don’t think that this term “helper” is meant to be demeaning. This is not code for “man’s servant for cooking and cleaning.” The point here is that the man needs help. He can’t take care of God’s world without her. More than anyone else, this very word “helper” is used of God in Scripture. But the Bible says God created woman with the intention of finding the right fit for man.
In God’s design for marriage, one man and one woman complement each other perfectly. Men and women are equally valuable, but different. There is a fittedness between a man and a woman that you can’t find in any other combination.
After God parades all the animals before Adam, Adam recognizes nobody here is a good fit. Not that kangaroo. Not that horse. Definitely not that hippo! Nothing from the animal kingdom matches and complements him perfectly.
No matter how many times you’ve read this passage before, I encourage you to ponder what is said here:
So the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and while he slept took one of his ribs and closed up its place with flesh. And the rib that the Lord God had taken from the man he made into a woman and brought her to the man.
Then the man said, “This at last is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man.”
Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.And the man and his wife were both naked and were not ashamed. (Genesis 2:21-25, ESV)
Before there was any sin in the world, this is what marriage looked like. The perfect combination of trust, vulnerability, and intimacy. This was God’s design and intention. So, no matter what you think of marriage, you can’t fault the design. You cannot improve on God’s design.
Be Intoxicated with Her Love
So, when you think of God, think of Him as the One who invented the beauty of marriage and designed our bodies with the special fit of a man for a woman. The joy of a wedding ceremony is just a slice of the great joy God has over marriage itself.
Because marriage is something God thought up, we don’t get to change it. And because it is from Him, we can know it is an intrinsically good institution.
In our bizarro world, people (especially young people) often assume that getting married will take all the romance out of the relationship. As if, committing to one another in a one-flesh covenantal union will kill the embers of love. But in God’s economy, it is in marriage that the fire of romance should finally be stoked.
May your fountain be blessed, and may you rejoice in the wife of your youth. A loving doe, a graceful deer— may her breasts satisfy you always, may you ever be intoxicated with her love. (Proverbs 5:18-19, NIV)
According to the Bible, marriage is a covenant not merely between husband and wife, but one that includes God, too (Proverbs 2:17). It is God that joins the two together, and thus God blesses the marriage union. As if he was making a toast at a wedding, the author Solomon says to his son, “May you ever be intoxicated with her love.”
However—and this is important—only those who honor this covenant get to experience its greatest blessings. When people dishonor marriage, let me assure you, it will eventually come back around to bite them.
I cannot emphasize enough the importance of heeding these loving warnings from God:
“Why, my son, be intoxicated with another man’s wife? Why embrace the bosom of a wayward woman? For your ways are in full view of the Lord, and he examines all your paths. The evil deeds of the wicked ensnare them; the cords of their sins hold them fast. For lack of discipline they will die, led astray by their own great folly.” (Proverbs 5:20-23, NIV)
When people toy with their marriage vows, it is like taking a pile of burning wood on to your lap or walking across hot coals, hoping not to be burned (Proverbs 6:27).
People may say things like, “The Bible is an outmoded text. Marriage can be a relationship for any two people who truly love each other and are committed to one another.”
But why say only two people? And what about if those two people are already in the same family? And why say they must love each other? What if they have other reasons for getting married? And why does it matter that they are committed exclusively to one another?
As it turns out, everyone has restrictions on what they think marriage should be. Elton John jokingly drew the line at goats when someone pressed him.[1]
Honoring Your Spouse Is Honoring Marriage
Unless you get your definition of marriage from Genesis, marriage becomes this elastic thing that you can shape any way you want. And when we shake off God’s definition and trade it in for our own man-made definition, we cheapen and dishonor marriage. It is no longer the sacred thing God intended it to be.
Even secular psychologists understand marriage is worth protecting.
Marriage expert John Gottman writes, “One of the saddest reasons a marriage dies is that neither spouse recognizes its value until it is too late.”[2]
Gottman goes on to tell us all the incredible psychological and health benefits that come from taking your marriage seriously. And one of the most important ways to protect your marriage is to pursue your spouse romantically (husbands, I’m especially talking to you here).
Pay attention to her (or his) needs. Listen well. Make time for date night. Look for activities you can share together. Go out of your way to make sure your spouse feels valued simply for who she (or he) is.
You may have been told that Christians are just as likely to get divorced as non-Christians. However, that hasty conclusion was based on flawed research, because it was based on people just taking the label “Christian,” without any inquiry into whether subjects actually lived a life committed to Jesus Christ. New research done by Brad Wilcox found something very different. Wilcox discovered that committed Christian couples—which he defined as those who regularly attend worship together and read their Bibles regularly—are much less likely to get divorced.
Not only are committed Christians more likely to stay married, but they report greater satisfaction in their marriages. Wilcox concluded, “It turns out that the happiest of all wives in America are religious conservatives… Fully 73 percent of wives who hold conservative gender values and attend religious services regularly with their husbands have high-quality marriages.” Another study found that “When it comes to relationship quality in heterosexual relationships, highly religious couples enjoy higher-quality relationships and more sexual satisfaction, compared to less/mixed religious couples and secular couples.”[3]
Nancy Pearcey adds, “Churchgoing men are also less likely to cheat on their wives. Research has consistently shown that religious attendance is the most important predictor of marital stability.”
In other words, even sociological research shows that when men love Jesus, love the Bible, and take their families to church, the marriage tends to do better. And when marriages are stronger, families are stronger, children have better well-being, society flourishes, nations are stabilized, and God is honored.
So, no matter how you may feel on any given day about marriage, I encourage you to see the value of upholding the sacred beauty of the marriage covenant and of loving your spouse as the sacred image bearer he or she is.
Thoughts on this post? Feel free to comment below!
[1] In context, Elton John said, “There’s nothing wrong with going to bed with somebody of your own sex. Who cares! I just think people should be very free with sex… They should draw the line at goats.” Rolling Stone magazine ran this interview with Elton John as its cover story on October 7, 1976.
[2] John Gottman, 7 Principles for Making Your Marriage Work, 5.
[3] Brad Wilcox, Jason Carroll, and Laurie DeRose, “Religious Men Can Be Devoted Dads, Too,” New York Times, May 18, 2018; Jeffrey Dew and Brian Willoughby, “Are Religious Faith and Sexual Satisfaction Mutually Exclusive–or Surprisingly Mutual?,” Institute for Family Studies, May 16, 2019.
“Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of him who is the head, that is, Christ.” (Ephesians 4:15, NIV)
It’s not easy to talk about abortion. In our culture, merely expressing pro-life convictions can earn you the label “bigot,” “misogynist,” or “ignorant.” When I joined some college students for a prayer vigil outside a Planned Parenthood in Salem, Oregon, several years ago, one middle-aged woman pulled her car over just so she could scream, “How can you be so stupid and hateful!” Ironically, the only one showing hostility was her.
Thankfully, no one in our group responded in kind. Instead, the young woman next to me said, “We love you! We don’t hate you!” Still livid, the woman got back in her car and sped away. After she left, a middle-aged Christian woman participating in the prayer vigil turned to me and said, “That makes me sad.” She said it sincerely, without a hint of contempt. “I used to think like her. I had an abortion a long time ago, and the only reason I’m here today is because of Jesus.”
This dear woman was not there to express hatred and condemnation. She wanted to express the love of Jesus to the women pulling into the parking lot about to make an immensely important decision. She wasn’t there to name-call or retaliate with anger. But the one thing she couldn’t do was remain silent. Even by telling me her story, she was speaking the truth in love.
We Bear a Message of Life
My pro-life convictions rest on the basic recognition that every human life is a gift from God. Each one of us came into existence at a specific point in time in our mother’s womb. Scientists have learned that at the moment of conception, there is a flash of light in the womb.[1] Human beings have only recently discovered this, but our Creator has seen every time one of His image bearers came to life.
Take God and His Word out of the equation, and I really don’t have much to say on the issue. And I definitely wouldn’t be able to say anything in love. If you leave God and His gospel out of the conversation, someone can always make some kind of utilitarian argument for why abortion is a good idea in certain cases. It is because of the gospel of Jesus Christ, first and foremost, that Christians are called to speak the truth in love regarding the sanctity of every human life. It makes no sense to claim to follow the One who is Life and not be pro-life.
Many people, including pastors, would love to leave the topic of abortion alone. They point out that any time the word “abortion” is mentioned, sparks fly, and emotions run hot. In the minds of many Christians, we should just vote accordingly and otherwise avoid the subject altogether. But the gospel of Jesus Christ is a message of life, hope, and forgiveness. If we cannot speak about the hundreds of thousands of human lives taken every year by abortion,[2] then either our gospel is impotent (Paul calls the gospel “the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes,” Romans 1:16) or our belief in the gospel is.
If you are a Christian tempted to think that there is no real value in speaking the truth in love about abortion, I want to challenge your thinking. I say that not because I enjoy walking into a hornet’s nest, but simply because God calls us to represent Jesus, no matter what the circumstance.
In Scripture, there is the repeated theme that those who belong to God must speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves. The Jewish Queen Esther even risked her own life by speaking up for her own people when their lives were in danger of being snuffed out.
Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves, for the rights of all who are destitute. Speak up and judge fairly; defend the rights of the poor and needy. (Proverbs 31:8-9, NIV)
Who is more needy and vulnerable than the baby in her mother’s womb? Like Esther, we must accept the risk and speak up for those whose right to life is being trampled.
On the other hand, you may be a passionate pro-life advocate ready to defend the cause at the drop of a hat, but your tone tends to be derogatory, inflammatory, and harsh. In that case, I don’t want to quench your passion, but I do want to urge you to temper your language with gentleness and love. Jesus urged us to love God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength and to love our neighbor as ourselves. When you love God rightly, you will love your neighbor well. Scripture calls us to speak the truth about the crucial issues of life—even if they are controversial—but to do so out of love for others.
“A Patient Is a Person, No Matter How Small”
Dr. Bill Lile is a pro-life doctor who models speaking the truth with love and grace powerfully.[3] Borrowing from Dr. Seuss’s Horton Hears a Who, Dr. Lile’s trademark statement is, “A patient is a person, no matter how small. And patients have rights.”
I first heard Dr. Lile speak at the Options Pregnancy Resource Centers annual banquet in 2022. I was impressed with the way he confidently, yet graciously, shared some encouraging news about advances in fetal surgery. He even described an open-heart surgery at Cleveland Clinic for a baby at 27 weeks gestation. The surgeon successfully removed a teratoma—a rare type of tumor—that was on her heart. He pointed out that during the surgery both mom and baby needed their own anesthesiologist. He then showed a digital illustration of how this astonishing surgery took place.[4]
Dr. Lile told the captive audience, “If you can do open-heart surgery and have a separate pediatric anesthesiologist for the baby in the womb, is that a patient? Yeah, a patient is a person, no matter how small. And patients have rights.”
As an obstetrician who has even delivered quadruplets, Dr. Lile could speak with clarity and confidence about the humanity of the preborn baby. But he did so with kindness and humility, rather than sounding like someone with an axe to grind. Most importantly, he connected the issue of saving preborn babies to the message of ultimate salvation and forgiveness found in Christ.
Fear of Man Is a Snare
As Christians, we need to know how to address abortion because, whether we like it or not, it exists as a real issue that people in America face every day. We need to face it squarely, guided by the lens of Scripture and the character of Christ. Yes, we need to be careful how we speak about sensitive topics, and we need to be sure we are listening well to those that are hurting. But this doesn’t mean we need to permanently zip our lips.
Too often, I think Christians have avoided talking about abortion out of fear of being labeled “judgmental” or “too political.” It’s in those times of fear that we should recall what Jesus said:
“And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell.” (Matthew 10:28, ESV)
In the same way, do not fear those who try to kill your reputation or unfairly criticize you. Don’t fear those whose opinions will evaporate on the day of judgment. Fear the One whose opinion eternally matters. “The fear of man is a snare,” the Bible reminds us (Proverbs 29:25). May you and I avoid this snare!
At the same time, in principle, we should not relish controversy. In fact, if you love to just stir the pot whenever you get the chance, that’s not a great sign. There is a kind of fleshly craving to say things that will upset others. But we are called to be ambassadors for Christ and speak about real issues of life that confront us.
Dietrich Bonhoeffer was a Lutheran pastor who stood up to Hitler and the Third Reich. He spoke out against their horrible treatment of Jews. Nazi ideology held that the Jewish people were subhuman. At the time, Bonhoeffer was warned by many of his fellow pastors to keep silent about what the Nazis were doing if he wanted to avoid trouble. Bonhoeffer responded, “Silence in the face of evil is itself evil: God will not hold us guiltless. Not to speak is to speak. Not to act is to act.” In other words, there is no neutral approach when innocent lives are being taken. To be cowed into silence was to swear loyalty to Hitler. And that was something Bonhoeffer could not do.
God has given Christians guidance on how we are to live and speak in a world where lies and deception meet us at every turn.
“Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of him who is the head, that is, Christ.” (Ephesians 4:15, NIV)
Christians are followers of the risen King, and we have been appointed to speak the truth about His kingdom in love. Notice the conjunction here. We’re not merely to smash people with the hammer of truth and let God clean up the mess. We are to speak the truth in love.
Balance Grace and Truth
It’s not easy to balance truth and love. Early on in our dating relationship, my wife Whitney took me horseback riding. If you have ever ridden a horse, you know how important balance is. If you start to fall one way, you can’t overcompensate, or you’ll fall off the other side!
In a similar way, it’s very challenging, but we must try to balance truth and love. This is how the church grows into maturity. We build one another up with love and truth. Christians have often fallen off the horse on one side or the other, but we need both!
When we communicate truth to a lost world, we need to be careful that we are speaking from a place of love and understanding. It does no good to interrupt, tear down, and scream. We already have enough of that today.
Engage with Questions
That means we need to listen well to those with whom we strongly disagree. James 1:19-20 says, “Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, because human anger does not produce the righteousness that God desires.”
This is why perhaps the most effective way to begin a productive conversation with someone in favor of abortion is to pose some important questions. Ask them with the goal of understanding them, not so that you can pummel them or make them look foolish. The goal should be helping them see the error in their thinking with a spirit of gentleness.
Christian apologist Scott Klusendorf suggests the following questions when you are engaged in an abortion conversation:
“Do you believe that every innocent human life should be protected?”
“What is the unborn (preborn)?”
“What is your understanding of what happens in an abortion?”
“What’s wrong with a law that says you can’t kill innocent human beings and, if you do, there will be consequences?”
“Why is it legally okay for Laci Peterson to kill her unborn child, but if Scott does it, he’s convicted of murder?”
“When you say the Bible is silent, do you mean the word abortion is never mentioned or that we can’t draw any inferences from what’s taught there?”
If someone was to say, “The unborn are human, but they are not persons” some follow-up questions might include:
“What’s the difference? Do you mean there’s a group of humans whom we can set aside to be killed while others can’t be?”
“Have you considered what your view does to the concept of human equality?”
Become a student of the other side. Seek to understand them. Ask questions with gentleness and grace, always aspiring to leave the impression that Christ is loving this person through you. You don’t want to beat anyone up, but you do want to bring light into clouded thinking and help people see the truth of what is at stake.
But don’t be cowed into silence. Speak the truth in love as a faithful ambassador of our Lord.
Have thoughts on this post? Feel free to comment below!
*If you are interested, I encourage you to check out Options Pregnancy Resource Centers in Albany, OR at their website here: https://www.optionsprcfamily.org/ You can find out how to support this important organization and hear testimonies of women who found love and support when they walked through their doors.
I always want to encourage my fellow Christians that theology is not a stuffy subject reserved for uptight scholars to study in their ivory towers. Theology literally means “the study of God.” It is our extraordinary privilege to investigate the God-breathed text of the Bible and discover the truth about God and what He calls us to be. And if the goal is the knowledge and worship of God, there’s hardly anything more life-giving and thrilling to the soul than theology. On that note, I want to share four big reasons why the virgin conception matters for you today, and why there is no Christmas without it.
“How will this be,” Mary asked the angel, “since I am a virgin?” (Luke 1:34, NIV)
Why the Virgin Conception Matters:
1.The virgin conception shows that the coming of Jesus Christ is the sovereign work of God alone.
With every other birth that has taken place, both a mother and a father were needed to create new life in the mother’s womb. One modern embryology textbook explains:
“Human development begins at fertilization when a sperm fuses with an oocyte to from a single cell, the zygote. This highly specialized, totipotent cell (capable of giving rise to any cell type) marks the beginning of each of us as a unique individual.”[1]
This is the natural process that God has designed from the beginning. One of the reasons God created marriage to be for one man and one woman is that in God’s design, a baby can only be conceived through the sexual union of a man and a woman. But here in this one unique case, we see a baby growing in the womb of a woman who has never been with a man.
This proves that God is the One who sovereignly sent Jesus into this world. The fact that no human father was needed demonstrates that God didn’t need our help to bring Jesus into this world. He did it supernaturally to show that salvation could only be accomplished by Him.
Also, note that God didn’t come down and start asking several Jewish women who would be willing to carry His Son. He simply chose Mary for this task. He didn’t ask Mary whether she was willing or have her sign any papers. God sovereignly chose her alone to have this extraordinary responsibility of carrying and giving birth to His Son.
2. The virgin conception proves that Jesus has always been the eternal God.
If Jesus was merely a man, then there would be no need for a virgin conception. But because the Son of God existed from all eternity, it only makes sense for Him to be born apart from human means.
In the virgin conception, we have the most astonishing miracle in all of human history. This is God Himself coming to earth, becoming one of us.
There have been numerous heresies throughout history that have gotten Jesus wrong, and it all comes down to His nature. Was He truly God in human flesh? Some early heretics tried to say that Jesus was such a remarkable human being that God adopted Him as His Son and gave Him a godlike status. Others have tried to argue that Jesus was the first and greatest creation of God the Father. But Scripture is clear. Christmas is about God Himself becoming one of us.
Speaking of Jesus, John 1:1 says:
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. (John 1:1, ESV)
And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. (John 1:14, ESV)
This “becoming flesh” is what happened in Mary’s womb. This is not something we can analyze, dissect, or figure out scientifically. Satan loves it when people worship at the altar of scientific materialism. Those religiously devoted to scientific materialism have adopted a belief system that rules out God and miracles from the start. I can almost hear the devil cackling when I hear people say, “I only accept what science tells me.” Such an absolute statement exposes a deeply religious conviction and idolatrous form of worship, akin to saying, “I only accept what the priests of Baal tell me.”
The virgin conception is a supernatural work of God, meant to draw our attention to the truth about Jesus. Jesus has been divine from all eternity, and yet he took on a human nature that He inherited from His mother, Mary. So in Jesus, we have the only one in history who is somehow both fully God and fully man.
3.The virgin conception means that Jesus understands us completely.
Of course, as God, Jesus already had perfect knowledge about what it means to be human. He made us, after all. But because of Christmas, Jesus now knows experientially what it means to be human. He can relate to us and personally identify with all the struggles, temptations, and miseries that come with being human in a fallen world.
For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin.(Hebrews 4:15, ESV)
Think of this. Right now, in Heaven, at the Father’s right hand, you have an advocate, a high priest who knows exactly what it is like to be human. Have you lost your temper recently with someone in your family? Jesus understands. Have you been tempted to lust or to want to control everything? Jesus understands.
He understands you completely, and yet He is totally free of sin. Jesus knows what it means to live as a full-fledged human in this world.
4.The virgin conception ensures that Jesus would be the perfect and sinless sacrifice we need.
We all came into this world through a mom and a dad. And we inherited from them both their genetic traits that make us who we are and the corruption of original sin.[2] We all arrive stained with the corruption of Adam. So for Jesus to come as that perfect atoning sacrifice who could bear our sin and endure the penalty we deserved, He needed to come in a supernatural way.
“Therefore he had to be made like his brothers in every respect, so that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in the service of God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people.” (Hebrews 2:17, ESV)
That word “propitiation” is a very important word. Some translations render this verse to say “atonement” instead of “propitiation.” But propitiation has a very specific meaning: “a sacrifice that removes or satisfies wrath.” By dying in the place of sinners, the sinless Jesus absorbed the wrath of God that we deserved. By trusting in Jesus, we are trusting in His sacrifice in our place. The Bible teaches that we are naturally enemies of God and that the most urgent need for every man, woman, and child is to trust in the saving blood of Jesus Christ.
“Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God.” (Romans 5:9, ESV)
Baptist pastor Adrian Rogers summed it up:
“All Christianity is described in three sentences. 1) I deserve hell. 2) Jesus took my hell. 3) There’s nothing left for me but His heaven.”
Only through being born of a virgin could He be human in every way and yet utterly sinless, too. He never once failed His Father. Because of that, He could be our atoning sacrifice and represent us so that we could be reconciled to God.
The famous Heidelberg Catechism teaches the importance of Jesus being both truly divine and truly human:
Q.17. Why must he also be true God?
A. So that, by the power of his divinity, he might bear in his humanity the weight of God’s wrath, and earn for us and restore to us righteousness and life.
The virgin conception matters because we can’t understand the purpose of Christmas without it. The whole purpose of Christmas is that Jesus is the God-man who was born to live, die, and rise again to save us from the wrath of God and reconcile us to Himself.
Have thoughts on this post? Feel free to comment below!
[1] Keith L. Moore, T. V. N. Persaud, and Mark G. Torchia, The Developing Human: Clincially Oriented Embryology, 11th ed. (Philadelphia, PA: Elsevier, 2020), 11.
David Wilkerson was an evangelist who followed God’s call to preach the gospel to the inner-city gangs of New York City. When Wilkerson first arrived, he was troubled by what he saw. These gang members—most of them still practically youths—were immersed in drug addiction, orgies, and hate-filled violence. When he first began to preach the gospel, many rejected his message. He told them that what they were seeking in drugs and sex could only be found ultimately in Jesus Christ.
He would preach “Jesus loves you” from John 3:16 and many would sneer at him. There were others, however, who said “You’re coming through, Preach,” which meant his words were starting to pierce their hearts. He was getting through to them.
But Nicky Cruz, the notorious Puerto Rican leader of the Mau Maus (one of the gangs Wilkerson evangelized), got fed up with Wilkerson’s preaching. When Wilkerson urged Cruz to receive Jesus, he pulled out his switchblade and yelled, “You come near me and I’ll kill you!” Wilkerson replied, “Yeah, you could do that. You could cut me up into a thousand pieces and lay them in the street, and every piece will still love you.”[1]
Later, Nicky Cruz went forward at one of Wilkerson’s altar calls and surrendered his life to Jesus. Cruz would eventually become an evangelist alongside Wilkerson and later the director of Teen Challenge.
A Pharisee Sits Down with Jesus
What can explain the change in Cruz? According to the Bible, the answer is the new birth. The new birth can also be called regeneration; it speaks to the inward renewal of the spirit caused by the Spirit of God when someone comes to saving faith in Jesus. Regeneration is not something that only “varsity Christians” experience; it is the experience by which we become Christians. In other words, the commonly used phrase “born again Christian” is as redundant as “unmarried bachelor” or “unexpected surprise.”
The Apostle Peter tells his fellow believers, “[Y]ou have been born again, not of perishable seed but of imperishable, through the living and abiding word of God” (1 Peter 1:23, ESV). The Spirit of God takes the message about Jesus and His salvation and uses that to bring forth new life.
One night, a religious ruler of the Jews named Nicodemus came to see Jesus. He came at night because he didn’t really want his colleagues to know he was seeking an audience with Jesus. After all, what could the religious elite possibly learn from this upstart rabbi out of Nazareth? Nicodemus was a Pharisee, a teacher of the law, born of nobility, and a sage among his people.[2] Nevertheless, he recognized there is something unique about this Jesus.
This man came to Jesus by night and said to him, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher come from God, for no one can do these signs that you do unless God is with him.” (John 3:2, ESV)
Nicodemus was accustomed to being the man with all the answers. He went to seminary and law school. He was a “ruler of the Jews,” not a follower. He was a sitting member of the Sanhedrin, the governing body who ruled over Israel with the consent of the higher authority, Rome. Thus, Nicodemus wasn’t used to seeking wisdom from someone who lacked all the requisite credentials.
Seeing the Kingdom
Nicodemus says, “We know who you are Jesus. Your miracles indicate God’s blessing on your ministry. But we’ve got you figured out. You’re a teacher come from God.” Like many today, Nicodemus was happy to say Jesus was a great man or prophet, but not a Savior.
Nicodemus thought he had Jesus figured out, but it was actually Jesus that knew everything about Nicodemus. He knew what was in this Pharisee’s heart (2:25). He knew about the deep void within. And despite Nicodemus’s devout life, Jesus knew he still struggled to know if he could ever truly please God. He had no assurance of eternal life.
That explains why Jesus cuts right to the chase.
Jesus answered him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.” (John 3:3, ESV)
From the first day of His public ministry, Jesus had been announcing the arrival of God’s kingdom, and He made it clear that the people must respond with repentance and faith.
Jesus came into Galilee, proclaiming the gospel of God, and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.” (Mark 1:14-15, ESV)
But what did Jesus mean by saying “unless one is born again” he cannot even see the kingdom of God? Jesus was not talking about physical vision, but spiritual vision. Jesus was teaching that unless one experiences the new birth (regeneration), you will remain blinded by sin and trapped in spiritual darkness. Very often in Scripture, sight and blindness are ways of speaking about the condition of one’s heart.
“And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing. In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.” (2 Corinthians 4:3-4, ESV)
Here, unbelievers are described as blind to “the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.” The gospel is like a bright lantern carried into a darkened room. To see the kingdom is to see the King as the all-glorious One that He is. Writing to many who never saw Jesus on earth, John wrote, “No one who keeps on sinning has either seen Him or known Him” (1 John 3:6). This is the sight of faith that sees the glory of Jesus as the all-sufficient Savior that He is.
To Nicodemus’s ears, this all sounds impossible. He had lived a moral life, honored his parents, paid his taxes, and taught others the Law of God. What more could God ask of him? To be born again sounds like starting over, as if all his life had not moved him one inch closer to God.
Nicodemus said to him, “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother's womb and be born?” Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.” (John 3:4-6, ESV)
One cannot see nor enter the kingdom of God unless one is first “born of water and the Spirit.” The new birth is essential to entering the kingdom. This is language about conversion. It is about those who were once dead in sins being made alive to the glory of God (Ephesians 2:1-5). It’s about being delivered “from the domain of darkness and transferred… to the kingdom of His beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins” (Colossians 1:13-14, ESV).
You Must Be Born Again
But what does Jesus mean by “born of water and the Spirit”? Some have seen this as a reference to baptism. However, there are a few reasons why this cannot be.
First, baptism is nowhere mentioned in this passage. It would be odd to insert a statement about the need for baptism with the phrase “born of water,” a description never used to describe baptism elsewhere.
Second, when Nicodemus later asks how these things could be, Jesus rebukes him as a teacher who ought to know this. He can say that because the Old Testament compares the Spirit’s regenerating work to water that cleanses us (Ezekiel 36:25-27). So, Nicodemus really should know what “born of water and the Spirit” means as a teacher of God’s Word.
Third, Jesus is speaking about the supernatural work of God. That’s why He says, “That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.” In other words, flesh cannot accomplish the new birth. It is a work of the Spirit alone. Human effort, self-improvement, and works-based religion cannot do the work of the Spirit. Jesus compares the Spirit’s work to the wind.[3] The wind is something you cannot harness or control, but it clearly changes whatever it touches (3:8).
What Jesus says to Nicodemus, He says to all of us: “You must be born again” (v. 7).
Many imagine that Christianity is about cleaning ourselves up so that God will accept us, but nothing could be farther from the truth of the gospel. We could never scrub away our guilt before a holy God, but “the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin” (1 John 1:7, ESV). Our message is: “You must be made a new creation in Christ!” (2 Corinthians 5:17). At its heart, Christianity is not about turning over a new leaf; it’s about receiving new life. It’s not about forming new habits; it’s about receiving a new heart.
"And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh." (Ezekiel 36:26, ESV)
What gave David Wilkerson the Spirit-filled boldness to go preach the gospel to a bunch of thugs, runaways, and prostitutes was his firm conviction that when people truly encounter Jesus Christ, they are changed. Without that belief, he would have given up on guys like Nicky Cruz when he pulled a knife on him.
Have you been born again? While only the Holy Spirit can regenerate our spirits and make us new, we are called to repent and receive Jesus into our life. Yield to Him and ask the Lord to make you new on the inside. Once you do, you will not stay the same.
“No one born of God makes a practice of sinning, for God’s seed abides in him; and he cannot keep on sinning, because he has been born of God.” (1 John 3:9, ESV)
Have thoughts on this post? Feel free to comment below!
[1] This story is recounted in David Wilkerson’s book The Cross and the Switchblade.
[2]Nicodemus is a Greek name, not Aramaic. If you were born to an upper class Jewish family, it wasn’t uncommon for your parents to give you two names: a Jewish name and a Greek name. In such a family, you were well-educated in the Greek language and literature. Furthermore, the first century Jewish historian, Josephus, mentions one of his friends who was the son of a Jewish leader named Nicodemus, who quite possibly was the one we are reading about here. And Josephus says that he came from a long line of Jewish nobility. So, very likely, this Nicodemus was a well-educated, cultured, and wealthy man.
[3] The same word for “Spirit” (pneuma) is used for “wind.”
In his book, Christian Living in the Home, Christian psychologist Jay Adams describes a time a marriage counselor sat down with a couple. Throughout their discussion, the counselor noticed how the husband shifted uncomfortably in his seat. The wife, on the other hand, sat with arms crossed in defiance. She slapped down a sheet of paper on the counselor’s desk. “There is why I’m getting an ulcer.”
Listed on the sheet was every wrong the husband had committed in the last 13 years, complete with supporting details. The counselor was taken aback, and the husband seemed to shrink in his seat. The counselor’s eyes rose to meet the woman’s. “It’s been a long time,” he said, “since I have met anyone as resentful as you.” The wife was speechless, and the husband sat up a little.
The counselor continued, “This is not only a record of what your husband has done to you [incidentally, subsequent sessions showed that it was a very accurate record], it is also a record of what you have done about it. This is a record of your sin against him, your sin against God, and your sin against your own body.”
This woman was directly opposing what we read in 1 Corinthians 13:
“Love… keeps no record of wrongs.” (1 Corinthians 13:4-5, NIV)
Every relationship requires good communication to remain healthy, but in many cases, a husband and wife can’t communicate well because an icy wall of resentment has been built up between them. Until they deal with harbored resentment, the relationship will continue to suffer.
Every time you recount the wrongs of another, you are violating the principle of love.
We do this in various ways. We may not vocalize all the ways we’ve been wronged, but whenever a certain person pops into our mind, we silently rehearse all the ways they’ve let us down. We are experts at nursing grudges. We remind ourselves why we have the moral high ground and why certain people don’t deserve our kindness or affection.
God tells us to “not let the sun go down on your anger” (Ephesians 4:26), because He knows about the destructive tendency of being dominated by anger and resentment. And, yes, it can even cause ulcers when we allow rage to seethe beneath the surface.
Greeting with a Holy Kiss
Many have wondered about the contemporary significance of Paul’s plea to the churches to “Greet one another with a holy kiss” (1 Corinthians 16:20). In the first century context, it was a perfectly normal practice to plant a kiss on the cheek of a family member or close friend. Because the church is truly a family,[1] it only made sense for Christians to greet each other in this warm and accepting way. Many cultures still practice this today.
In my American context, a handshake or warm embrace conveys the same message: “You are welcome here.” If this was a normal practice, why did Paul have to urge the churches to do this? Because he knew how hostility can grow even between followers of Jesus, and he saw how out of place this was.
When you are holding a grudge against someone, it’s very hard to want to go up and hug them. The wall between two bitter people might be invisible, but you can sense the tension through their body language, physical distance, and avoidance of eye contact. The rift in the relationship makes physical contact—especially a warm embrace—seem impossible.
So, to urge believers to “Greet one another with a holy kiss” was a reminder to lay aside differences, forgive those who have wronged you, and reconcile when possible.
I have sometimes thought about the first time the letter to the Philippians was read aloud as the whole church gathered. In that letter, Paul suddenly calls out two women by name: “I plead with Euodia and I plead with Syntyche to be of the same mind in the Lord” (Philippians 4:2, NIV). This may have been a church of around 100 people where everyone knows each other. These two women apparently had a disagreement, and it was such a disagreement that even Paul heard about it while in jail over 600 miles away. I imagine them sheepishly looking up at each other as their names are mentioned.
Frankly, it’s a little comforting to know that Christians had disputes and disagreements even in Paul’s day. I don’t know if Euodia and Syntyche’s disagreement was over the color of the carpet or the size of the baptistry or the type of music that was sung. Who knows? Christians can get caught up in disagreements about all kinds of things! Paul, like a gentle father, reminds them both to work for the unity they share in the gospel.
Paul is not belittling them by calling them out here. More likely, these are a couple of very prominent women in the church who hold a lot of influence, and he wants them—in fact, he’s pleading with them—to not let their argument get blown out of proportion. He also mentions they are counted among those “whose names are in the book of life” (v. 3). He’s saying, “Remember, ladies, you are daughters of the King, and your names are written with permanent ink in the Book of Life.”
According to Revelation 21:7, the Book of Life is the massive book that will be opened for all to see on the Day of Judgment listing the names of everyone who will enter the Kingdom of Heaven. Seeing disagreements through the lens of eternity helps to put things in perspective. Never forget that the very Christian you are now resenting will be with you in Heaven, too.
Complacent about Conflict?
Have you ever been part of an argument that seemed to take on a life of its own? By the end of the debate, both you and whoever you were sparring with are left huffing and puffing and neither of you can remember why you were fighting in the first place. Sadly, many marriages end or are damaged over pointless arguments that get out of hand. God calls husbands and wives to reconcile when there is a difference. Again, Scripture says, “Don’t let the sun go down on your anger” (Eph. 4:26) because Satan will try to use any and every dispute to split Christians apart. And he especially comes after marriage because it’s the most intimate human relationship. Perhaps you’ve heard this old poem:
To live above with the saints we love, Oh, that will be glory, But to live below with the saints we know, Well, that’s another story.
We should not be complacent when we have conflict with other Christians. It’s not something to just “be okay” with or just ignore. Relational conflicts are like a slow leak in a dam that can drain the life out of you if you try to ignore them. God wants us to be honest with one another, and to reconcile and forgive when we have differences. I’ve spoken with some people who had a conflict with someone in a church, and because of that single conflict they’ve been bitterly holding a grudge for years. That’s not healthy for anyone—not for the church and not for yourself.
But the most important reason we must seek reconciliation is that it glorifies God. Bitterness should have no place among believers, because when we hold a grudge, our actions preach an anti-gospel. How can a church proclaim a message of reconciliation that would attract the world, if such a church is marred by bitterness, hostility, and division?
If you have a conflict with someone, don’t let it fester. Make every effort to reconcile with that person.
“If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all.” (Romans 12:18, ESV)
Paul knows that many times, we find ourselves in pointless arguments and disputes when we are under stress. If we are fretting and anxious about the future or things that aren’t going well, it doesn’t take much for us to snap. Even the branches of a mighty oak will snap under enough pressure.
So, Paul says what we need to do: “Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!” (Philippians 4:4). Now, we’ve got to remember where Paul was writing this . He wasn’t sitting in a Roman bath or sipping on an espresso at Café Roma. He was writing by candlelight in a dark jail cell in Rome. He was not writing this as someone unfamiliar with stressful and difficult situations. The best way to deal with relational conflict is to remember how Jesus dealt with our record of wrongs.
What Jesus Did with Our Record
For the follower of Christ, the gospel informs every relationship. We can’t understand love without considering how Jesus has loved us. We won’t be motivated to reconcile with others until we recognize that the gospel is a message of reconciliation. We can’t begin to forgive those who have wronged us until we remember how much we have been forgiven.
“Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.” (Colossians 3:12-14, NIV)
Every single one of us has wronged Jesus more times than we could possibly remember. As God, our sin is first and foremost against Him. But did Jesus hold our sin over us? Did He stand afar with arms crossed, or did He draw near with arms extended? Relish these words:
“He forgave us all our sins, having canceled the charge of our legal indebtedness, which stood against us and condemned us; he has taken it away, nailing it to the cross.” (Colossians 3:13-14, NIV)
Jesus held that record of wrongs and, instead of hitting us over the head with it, He lovingly allowed the nails to be driven through that record and into His hands. Let’s remember how much we have been forgiven. And then go and do likewise. Reconciliation between believers should be priority number one, because love keeps no record of wrongs.
Have thoughts on this post? Feel free to comment below!
[1] God is our Father, and we are called brothers and sisters.
“Go therefore and make disciples of all nations…” (Matthew 28:18, ESV)
Every major company in the world today has a mission statement. Mission statements tell us the company’s purpose, the reason they exist in the world, and what they seek to accomplish. For example, Amazon’s mission statement is “to be Earth’s most customer-centric company, where customers can find and discover anything they might want to buy online.”
When the Lord Jesus gave those first disciples the Great Commission, He was giving them a mission statement for the church. That mission is to multiply: to go and make disciples.
Just like every corporation has a CEO at the top calling the shots, King Jesus gets to call the shots for the church. He purchased her with His own precious blood. He is not just a shareholder; He has every right and authority over every aspect of the church’s life and mission.
And lest we forget the obvious: Jesus is alive! He’s not merely the founder from ages past. He is the alive and active Owner, Lord, and King of His church. You didn’t get to decide what the church’s mission is when you became a Christian, and neither did I. We receive our marching orders from our Lord. He tells us what the church is to be about. But the first thing we must recognize is that Jesus is reigning at the right hand of the Father and actively leading His church, even as you read this sentence.
Let’s consider the full context of Christ’s Great Commission.
Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them. And when they saw him they worshiped him, but some doubted. And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” (Matthew 28:16-20, ESV)
It’s essential for us to understand that this is the mission He gave to His whole church throughout history, not just a select few in the first century. We can know this because the mission is comprehensive. The command was to make disciples of “all nations” or people groups,[1] not just those in the Mediterranean world. This is the mission that every disciple of Jesus is called to and has been called to for the last 2,000 years.
This last week, I had the privilege of getting to know a missionary couple with three kids serving in Africa. It was encouraging to hear about their passion for reaching those who don’t yet know Christ, particularly among the Muslim population where they live. It is right for us to praise God for the miraculous work He is doing through them. At the same time, they reminded us that we are all called to this mission.
This calling will take different shapes and forms and require a variety of gifts, but the mission remains the same. As a follower of Jesus Christ, your mission is to go and make more followers of Jesus Christ.
Jesus is the Risen Lord of the Universe
And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.” (Matthew 28:18, ESV)
The resurrection gives Jesus the authority to make every demand of us that He wishes.[2] If You have just conquered death itself, then it’s only right that people sit up and listen to you. And here Jesus is speaking not only as the risen Messiah, but as the eternal Son of God. And God the Father has bestowed on Him all authority. Look at how comprehensive this claim is: “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Me.”
Who talks like that? Think of this from the perspective of someone who is investigating the claims of Christ for the first time. Wouldn’t this sound like the most egocentric claim you can possibly make? “All authority in the entire universe belongs to Me! I rule the entire cosmos! I am the resurrected King of all reality!” Wow. If you were one of the disciples, wouldn’t you be trembling before Him at this point? Wouldn’t you be in awe of Him? The only other option is to wholesale reject Him.
This is why C. S. Lewis made the case that no one intellectually honest can really conclude that the biblical Christ is just a good moral teacher. Why? Because “good moral teachers” don’t make claims like this. Socrates didn’t make a claim like this. Buddha never made a claim like this. Jesus says everything belongs to Him. We can either utterly reject Him and His claim, or we can fall on our faces and worship Him. Those are the only options for us.
This is the same Jesus who said, “Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away” (Matt. 24:35). The great irony with Jesus is that He makes claims that are so audacious that if uttered by anyone else would sound ridiculous. “All authority in heaven and on earth belongs to Me.” Have you ever heard your boss talk like that? What about a United States president? No, because in anyone else’s mouth, it sounds ridiculous. If Napoleon or Genghis Khan had said “All authority in the universe has been given to me,” we would immediately know they have a bloated sense of self-importance.
Yet, with Jesus, when He makes these claims, somehow we believe Him. Scripture says that’s because the Holy Spirit has opened our eyes to the truth that we would otherwise think ridiculous.[3] The great paradox with Jesus is that while His claims were immeasurably lofty, His character was equally humble and compassionate. This is what makes the truth that God has become a man so powerful.
One day every politician, religious leader, CEO, dictator, and citizen will have to give an account of their lives to Jesus. He will be their judge, and they will bow before Him (Philippians 2:9-11). As the risen Lord, Jesus has been given all authority to judge the world (John 5:22; Acts 17:31)
The Mission is to Make Disciples
“Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you.” (Matthew 28:19-20a, ESV)
Now that we know who is giving the mission, we come to the mission itself. Jesus says that this is what His church is to be about. This is the purpose for our existence, and this is how we bring glory to God the Father. It’s all about disciples making disciples. It’s about Spirit-empowered multiplication.
The original Greek can be translated, “Disciple as you go.” In other words, as you are going where God calls you—school, family, workplace, another country, etc.—disciple those you meet. But it’s implied that we will be going into the world, not hiding from it. It’s easy for us to want people to come to us. I sometimes think of how nice it would be if that person I’ve been wanting to share the gospel with came up to me and said, “Hey, can you tell me how to have a relationship with Jesus Christ?” Wouldn’t that be great if it worked that way? But here’s the thing. It usually doesn’t work like that. We must be willing to go.
The moment we surrender our lives to Him, Jesus recruits us for this Great Commission to reach the world for His name. We start where we are, but we’re always to be looking beyond where we are. This is a global mission that includes “all nations.”
Elsewhere Jesus tells His disciples, “And this gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come” (Matthew 24:14).
Jesus is saying something like this: “This good news of great joy that I’ve been telling you about… this news that there is forgiveness of sins in My name… you are going to proclaim this to the whole world, you and believers who come after you. Together, we are going to reach every dark corner of the world with the brilliant light of hope. Before I come back and bring a final end to Satan’s rule, I’m going to see to it that this good news of a Savior reaches every nation.”
This is how Christ’s kingdom will advance. Not by mighty armies that leave a trail of blood, but by mighty, Spirit-empowered proclaimers that leave a trail of love. Jesus said that the Kingdom would grow, not like a tank that levels everything in its path, but like a little mustard seed eventually blossoming into a beautiful and vibrant tree. It’s a kingdom that will grow out of love, sacrifice, and hope. And it’s a kingdom that will eventually outgrow every kingdom and empire that came before it.
Jesus said we are commissioned for a worldwide discipleship program. Again, we are to start where we are, but we are always to be looking beyond our tiny sphere, because God is up to something much bigger in the world than just what He’s doing in your hometown.
What Is a Disciple of Jesus Christ?
Jesus said to go and make disciples, but just what is a disciple of Jesus Christ? It’s a very Christian word, and by that I mean it’s not often used in other contexts outside of Christian circles. But it’s an important word, used over 260 times in the New Testament. The basic definition of the Greek term disciple (mathetes) is “learner.” A disciple is one who learns, but not just for the sake of learning but to follow in the steps of the master they are learning from.
And we can see this when Jesus says things like, “It is enough for the disciple to be like his teacher, and the servant like his master” (Matt. 10:25a).
So, the idea is that a disciple of Jesus is one who both learns from and follows after Jesus with the goal of becoming like Jesus. Therefore, when we talk about growing in discipleship, we’re talking about growing more and more like Jesus in your character, attitudes, and actions. And that’s the goal of the Christian life: to be molded and shaped by the Holy Spirit at work within you to become more and more like Jesus. To love like Him. To think like Him. To be pure like Him. To care about the things that Jesus cares about. This is all contained in that idea of being a disciple of Jesus Christ.
And Jesus says we disciples are to go and make disciples. We don’t just sit on our hands and wait for God to bring people to our doorstep. We are to go. Remember, Jesus didn’t stay in the comfort of heaven and wait for us to climb up to Him. He came down to us. And His going down to us set a pattern for us. We are to go out and engage with the lost world around us. We aren’t to shut them out, ignore them, and pretend they aren’t there. We aren’t called to be a holy huddle cloistered off from the big bad world. Jesus tells us we are to go and make disciples.
To become a follower of Jesus Christ is a spiritual transformation. It can only happen as one puts his faith in Jesus, asking Him to forgive him of all his sin. It’s at that point of conversion—or radical inward renewal—that one first becomes a disciple. From that point a life is transformed, but it’s not automatic. That’s just the beginning point.
“…baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit…” (Matthew 28:19)
Baptism is meant to be a public declaration that you have begun a life of following Jesus. You’re saying to the world, “I’m His. I belong to Him, and my new aim in life is to live for my Lord and Savior.”
Does baptism save? Going into the water is not what gives spiritual life, since there’s nothing we can do to save ourselves. Salvation is all by God’s grace through faith—not good works (Ephesians 2:8-9). It’s a gift we receive, not a reward we earn. But baptism is often used as a synecdoche—a term for our union with Christ and the public confession that accompanies faith. At a wedding, the bride may say, “With this ring, I thee wed,” but everyone understands the ring to be a symbol of the commitment to love “till death do us part.” If the ring slips off later that day, the marriage is not thereby annulled because the ring was always a symbol of the marriage itself.
Baptism is that first act of obedience where you affirm on the outside what has already taken place on the inside.
When an athlete is first signed by a team, it’s official when the contract is signed. He’s a member of the team from that point on, but to celebrate that, the athlete puts on the jersey and announces to the world, “I’m with this team now.” That’s what baptism is. What God has done with you in the private of your own heart, you are taking public. You’re telling the world what has already happened, “I’m with Jesus now.”
And we are baptized in the name of the triune God—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit—because all three persons of the one God had a part in our salvation. The Father elects and draws you. The Son redeems you with His blood. And the Holy Spirit gives you new life in Christ, sealing you as one of His own.
“…teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you…” (Matthew 28:20)
Since a disciple is a learner, the follower of Jesus needs to be taught. They need hear the words of God from Scripture. They need to be in the Word regularly so that they are encountering God on a consistent basis, knowing what God envisions them to be.
A follower of Jesus Christ is not a lone ranger. The best way to grow is by becoming a part of a community that lives together under the authority of the risen Lord. When Christ is confessed as the Head, the church functions as His body. That’s why it’s so important for Christians to read Scripture together, study it together, sing its truths together, and be shaped by Scripture in personal devotions. We need the Word of God to cleanse our mind of wrong thinking. We need God to speak into our situation and give us direction. This is what it means to be a disciple of Jesus Christ.
The Mission is Accomplished through the Power of Christ
This is such an important point. We need to see that the risen and reigning Lord of the universe has called us to be world changers. He has called us to make a difference in the lives around us. He wants us to engage the lost, love the unlovable, and be about a higher purpose than our own self-centered desires.
Jesus wants us to have a kingdom mindset, where we look at the world as something that needs to come under Christ’s reign and authority. To be merely concerned with our own personal welfare is to live in disobedience. But—and this is essential—all of this can only be accomplished through the power of Christ.
We can only accomplish the mission that God has given us as disciples of Jesus Christ if we are living in dependence on the Holy Spirit. That’s why I love the way Jesus ends the Gospel of Matthew. He says, “And behold [i.e., nowdon’t forget this] I am with you always, to the end of the age” (v. 20).
Let’s be honest. We need this reminder that Jesus is with us. We can’t see Him today. We don’t have Him physically on earth. He’s in Heaven right now. But at the same time, He is truly with us. In fact, He’s closer to us now than He ever was with those twelve disciples on earth.
Jesus told His disciples in the upper room, “I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you. But if I go, I will send Him to you” (John 16:7).
If I’m one of those disciples, I’d be thinking, “What? Jesus, how can it possibly be better that You go away? We want You here. We want You to stay with us. Don’t leave us.” Have you ever wondered why Jesus ascended into Heaven? Didn’t it seem kind of strange that just as His church was just about to really take off, Jesus, quite literally, takes off?
I can’t explain it all, but Scripture teaches us that in God’s plan, the Holy Spirit could only indwell us if Jesus first ascends to Heaven from where He could send Him. So how is Jesus with us to the end of the age? He’s with us through the Spirit. When the Holy Spirit comes inside, Jesus comes inside through Him. He’s present by the power of the Spirit. That’s why to depend on the Holy Spirit is to depend on Jesus. The two work in tandem.
As long as we are left on earth, our mission is to multiply. As followers of Jesus Christ, we are called to go and make disciples of Jesus Christ, and we can only do this through the power of the Spirit at work in us. That’s why we need to plead with Him to do a mighty work in us and through us. We need to plead for God to send out harvesters into the fields. So who is God calling you to pour into today? What part do you have to play in God’s global and local mission?
Have thoughts on this post? Feel free to comment below!
[1] The Greek term is best translated as “ethnicities” or “people groups,” but also generally means “Gentiles” (non-Jewish peoples).
[2] In the book of Acts, Peter says, “Let all the house of Israel therefore know for certain that God has made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified” (Acts 2:38).
[3] See 1 Corinthians 12:3 and 2 Corinthians 4:4-6.
Lamp and Light 