Category: Salvation by grace

Heart of Stone

“The embarrassment and the disgrace are too much to bear. What I did, what I said, what I thought and felt was just wrong. I’m disgusted with myself. I feel so ashamed and so dirty.

How did my heart ever get so hardened? Will my conscience ever again feel clear? Can my soul ever be cleansed?”

When we have fallen in a big, public way, and the ugliness and uncleanness of our horribly wrong choices are out there for everyone to see, we may feel as if we will never recover. Things will never be the same for us again.

In the process much more than our reputation may have gotten demolished. Perhaps our rebellion against the will of God has also destroyed our relationships, our home, our health, our savings, or even our faith.

Such was the case with the Old Testament people of God. After centuries of idolatry, selfishness, and greed — with few, feeble attempts to turn things around and repent — God had finally scattered his people to the nations as a discipline for their sins.

But God’s love for sinners would not allow him to leave it at that. God’s love for us will not allow him to live it at that, either. He has a way of taking our stone-cold hearts and turning them into warm hearts — beating once again with spiritual life.

Through the gospel he calls us and gathers us back to himself. Through baptism he cleanses us. Through faith in Jesus Christ he softens our hard hearts and restores our sin-shattered minds.

He gives us the gift of the Holy Spirit through word and sacrament. The Spirit motivates us through the message of Jesus’ love and forgiveness to return to God and willingly follow his laws.

And the end of all that grace, mercy and forgiveness is the gift of citizenship in heaven. We’ll be God’s people. God will be our God — and we’ll never be separated again!

Yes, maybe we’ve tumbled far and fallen hard. But by God’s grace, we will recover. In his forgiveness, we rise again.

“For I will take you out of the nations; I will gather you from all the countries and bring you back into your own land. I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your impurities and from all your idols. I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws. Then you will live in the land I gave your ancestors; you will be my people, and I will be your God. I will save you from all your uncleanness” (Ezekiel 36:24-29a, NIV).

Our Bible reading for Thursday, November 19, is Ezekiel 36:1 – 37:28, James 3:1-18 and Psalm 129:1-8.

Lord, thank you for your immense love and forgiveness. You have cleansed me from all my sins. By your blood you purified me of all transgression. By your Spirit you changed my heart and inspired me to follow your ways. Grant me the hope and peace of eternal life.

Header image based on "Ezekiel 11-19" by New Life Church Collingwood, CC By 2.0

Come Out of The Hole

Imagine solitary confinement in “The Hole,” the darkest of dark cells. You can’t see, because there is absolutely no light in your windowless cell. You are under a sentence of death. The prison warden and all the jailers clearly enjoy their work. They are brutal and violent.

There are no friends here, only enemies.

This is the picture that Isaiah uses to portray our natural condition under sin. But now, imagine that jail door opening and the light streaming in. God has sent his Holy Spirit. He enters our dark prison cell through the teaching of the gospel.

He removes our chains, opens the cell door, leads us out past all the jailers and the warden himself. He takes us past the main gate of the prison out into the full light of day.

We are amazed. And we feel so grateful to lift our faces up to that warm sun, to see the blue sky, to enjoy the sight of the trees and the grass, to pull in a deep breath of fresh air. It’s an utterly transforming moment.

Isaiah puts it this way: “He brought them out of darkness, the utter darkness, and broke away their chains. Let them give thanks to the Lord for his unfailing love and his wonderful deeds for mankind, for he breaks down gates of bronze and cuts through bars of iron” (Psalm 107:14-16, NIV).

Hundreds of years later, the apostle Paul personally experienced this transforming moment.

Paul knew the cell in which his wrong-headed Pharisee beliefs had once kept him. He knew the chains of trying live the “exemplary, perfect life” meant for humans to witness and praise. He knew the darkness of trying to earn and win his own way into God’s heart by being good and living righteously.

In fact, Paul even knew what it was like to be a collaborator with the prison officials and had at one time persecuted those who believed in Christ.

Then came his release from all that. Then came Jesus — on the road to Damascus — personally challenging him to walk out of that prison with him. Then came the Holy Spirit into his imprisoned heart to release him into the light.

“I was personally unknown to the churches of Judea that are in Christ. They only heard the report: ‘The man who formerly persecuted us is now preaching the faith he once tried to destroy.’ And they praised God because of me” (Galatians 1:22-24, NIV).

Are you prepared for the total change that the Holy Spirit wants to bring about in your heart? Are you ready to come entirely out of your dark cell and live a Spirit-transformed life?

What “gates of bronze” or “bars of iron” do you need your gracious God to break down for you?

As Isaiah promised, and as Paul experienced, God wants you out of that dark prison cell. He wants you fully walking in the light. He wants you to experience the joy of freedom, and the peace that comes from knowing — as Isaiah words it — “the Lord’s unfailing love and his wonderful deeds for mankind.”

Lord Jesus, lead me out of the dark prison cell of sin. Forgive me for the wrong I have done. Change my heart and my mind. Break down the gates of bronze and the bars of iron that limit me from being transformed into your image, so that you may be praised for the work of change done in me.

Our Bible reading for Monday, September 14, is Isaiah 33:1 – 35:10, Galatians 1:1-24 and Psalm 107:10-22.

Header image based on "the hole" by sean hobson, CC By 2.0

Two Things We All Need

The apostle Paul had some major culture-challenging to do in the city of Corinth. And he couldn’t be too concerned about social acceptance or political correctness. The Corinthians were a tough bunch.

A large part of the issue Paul was facing was that Corinthian culture, religion and morality had trained them to live in a way that was displeasing to God. But they didn’t know this until Paul arrived.

To them, their behavior was not sinful. It was normal and accepted. It was the way their family members and friends all lived. It was the way things were done in Corinth. So Paul had some educating to do if he wanted to teach the Corinthians to switch from what was socially and politically acceptable to what was acceptable in God’s sight.

And Paul knew that the only way his teaching could have a prayer of producing changed lives would be if he connected the Corinthians with the gospel. Yes, he had to be clear about what God considers right and wrong. But that was merely the beginning.

The real change would occur when the Corinthians understood that God accepted them while they were still wrong-doers. And then he washed them clean of their sins. He purified them of their wrong-doing, and the Holy Spirit led them onto a path of life change. Jesus had transferred his status of perfection to them. In God’s sight, because of the cross, their status was changed to perfect and holy.

And those are still the two things we need to have in our lives today. Truth and grace. Law and gospel.

First, we need people in our lives who will challenge the status quo, stand up against the social norm, and make it clear to us what God expects. And we need to hear that straight from God’s word, the Bible. When it comes to right and wrong, we need the truth, not the politically correct. And not the socially acceptable.

But second (and even more importantly!) we need God’s grace. We need to know that because of Jesus, our sins have been washed away. We are now forgiven children of God. Our lives are being transformed by God’s love for us, and our status has changed from sinner to saint.

Or do you not know that wrongdoers will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor men who have sex with men nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. And that is what some of you were. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God (1 Corinthians 6:9-11, NIV).

Our Bible reading for Monday, August 10, is 2 Chronicles 1:1-17, 1 Corinthians 6:1-20 and Psalm 94:1-11.

Lord, give me truth and grace. I need both. But most of all, I need your grace, and I need it every day. Thank you for sending your Son, Jesus, to be my Savior from sin.

Header image based on "Two" by Willi Heidelbach, CC0 1.0 Universal

Zeal Plus Knowledge

It can be easy to be led astray by people’s passion and sincerity. When we see people who have a lot of zeal for their faith and their religion, we naturally want to applaud that kind of heartfelt devotion.

Paul saw this heartfelt devotion when he looked at the Jews. In fact, he knew this zeal from the inside-out. Because Paul himself had been a zealous member of the Pharisees, the most passionate of the Jewish sects.

Paul loves these passionate people — as only a former insider could. He says in the first verse of Romans chapter 10, “Brothers and sisters, my heart’s desire and prayer to God for the Israelites is that they may be saved” (Romans 10:1, NIV).

But Paul also realizes how important it is for them to temper their zeal with knowledge. He knows that there are really only two approaches to a relationship with God. One works. The other does not. Paul wanted the Jews’ religious zeal to be mingled with the knowledge of which of the two approaches is the effective approach.

We see the same in our world today. The first approach says, “Lord, I believe I am a good person, certainly good enough to go to heaven. Let me show you how good I am. I have a good heart. A good mind. And even though my actions are not always perfect, I think I do enough right things to be acceptable to you. You’ll see that I’m your kind of person, God. Lovable, even if not perfect. Just the kind of person I know you would want to hang out with for eternity.”

The second approach says, “Lord, you are an amazing God. A good God — morally pure and upright in everything you do and say. Holy. And also an astoundingly kind God. Show me how good and kind, and especially merciful and gracious you are. Because my heart is dark. My mind is filled with ugly things. And my actions? They’re not even close to being consistent with what you ask of me. I could never in a million lifetimes come close to being the kind of person you want to hang out with — at least not by my own actions. In your grace, you sent your own Son, Jesus Christ, to be my righteousness. May his complete fulfillment of every right feeling, thought and act — his fulfillment of every law that reveals your holy will for me — be mine. Forgive my sins, and cover me with the righteousness of Christ.”

Paul is clear which approach is the correct approach, and which is not. The issue of “zeal without knowledge” stretches far beyond any single religion. Why? Because work-righteousness is the default “religion” of every human heart. And it is the religion the apostle Paul begs all of us to forsake for the faith that is singularly effective in producing a relationship with God.

And that is faith in Jesus Christ. Talk about passion and zeal… for all the right reasons, Jesus is someone we can truly get passionate about. Faith in Jesus as our Lord and Savior is zeal and knowledge, perfectly wedded!

“For I can testify about them that they are zealous for God, but their zeal is not based on knowledge. Since they did not know the righteousness of God and sought to establish their own, they did not submit to God’s righteousness. Christ is the culmination of the law so that there may be righteousness for everyone who believes” (Romans 10:2-4, NIV).

Our Bible reading for Sunday, July 26, is 1 Chronicles 1:1 – 2:17, Romans 9:22 – 10:4, and Psalm 89:14-18.

Jesus, grant me your righteousness. By faith alone, I want to have a right relationship with my Heavenly Father. Help me forsake  my heart’s natural religion, and no longer seek to establish a relationship with God by my own righteousness. Thank you for your grace and mercy that allows me to make such a request and be completely confident that you will fulfill it.

Header image based on "Freeway Choices" by sacks08, CC By 2.0