RSS

Tag Archives: John the Baptist

Why Do I Need to Repent if Salvation is by Grace Through Faith?

03 Jul

For years I was confused about the call to repentance in the Bible. I knew that salvation was by grace through faith, and yet I wondered about the emphasis on repentance which I saw in the New Testament. This emphasis is certainly all over the place, and so it’s clear that to become a Christian, a person must repent and believe in Christ, but repentance seemed like a “work” and therefore a contradiction of the idea of grace by faith alone. Here’s what I came to understand:

I got it confused because I misunderstood the word repentance in the first place. Repentance is not changing the way we act. In fact, it is not an action at all, but instead is turning away from sin in your mind.  Now, don’t be mistaken, turning from sin in word and deed is what always happens when there is repentance, but repentance is not doing anything; instead it is changing your mind about sin.

When a preacher says, “Repent!”, what he is saying is, “Change your mind.”  The word for repentance is metanoeo.  Meta – means with.  Noeo – means, the mind, or thinking.

Literally, with the mind.

Therefore, repentance means…change the way you are thinking about sin. This makes perfect sense – if a person is going to call on the name of Jesus for salvation from their sin, wouldn’t they first have to think differently about sin? Of course.

It’s only when a drowning man realizes the water is killing him that he calls for help. To him, water is a big negative, and that’s an understatement. And it’s the same way with sin. 

Therefore, in order to call on Jesus for help, I have to realize that sin is a mega-negative. It has caused me pain and loss.It has severed relationships and broken me time and again.  Therefore I need a Savior, and to repent is to realize the harmful, negative nature of sin. The call to faith is also the call to see sin for what it is.

This idea gets clarified in Luke 3:8 when John the Baptist takes repentance to the next step and says,

Bear fruits in keeping with repentance. Luke 3:8a (ESV)

In this, John is saying to do something, but this is distinct from the call to salvation. If you have really repented, he is saying, then you will change.  Your deeds will be evidence that you have repented, but hear this – deeds are not necessary for salvation – they are only evidence that salvation has come, as in the case of Zacchaeus (Luke 19:1-10 ESV). If a Christian has really decided that a particular action is sinful, then by the power of the Holy Spirit Who reminds us of our sonship, that person will work to stop doing that particular action. But it will not be perfect work. There will be fits and starts. He will stumble and fight…all his life, but he will fight.  Because of what Christ has done for him, he will fight against sin and slowly, sometimes imperceptibly, bear fruit.

But we do not call people to salvation by saying, “You must do something and believe.”

Instead…we call them to repent.

For Monday, July 6th: Luke 4

 
1 Comment

Posted by on July 3, 2015 in Uncategorized

 

Tags: , , , , , ,

The One Thing John the Baptist Did With His Life

01 Jul

If you had to sum up the one thing that John the Baptist did, what would you say it was? There was one main thrust of his life, and the fascinating thing was that his father was told by the Angel Gabriel what it would be…before he was born:

“…For he will be great before the Lord. And he must not drink wine or strong drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit, even from his mother’s womb. And he will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God, and he will go before him in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just, to make ready for the Lord a people prepared.” Luke 1:15-17 (ESV)

There is a key idea in the life of this man they called “the Baptist.” Do you see it? He changes lives. Well…God does through him. He turns the hearts of men and women around, preparing Israel for the Lord Jesus.

Ultimately it’s about getting people ready for Christ, but the overall sense of things is that he does this by changing people through the power of the Holy Spirit. Fathers, for instance, will stop hanging out with their buddies at the city gate all night and start staying home and playing games with their kids. Through John the Baptist, you see, change comes. What a glorious calling, to help people change for the better.

And I was drawn to a particular description of how his happens: the disobedient are turned to the wisdom of the just or the righteous.The inherent idea here is that being disobedient to God is not wise. But a lot of times we already know that and yet are not empowered to change, and therefore, what people need is an encounter with God to see the truth of it afresh…and repent. And often times, that encounter happens through another person, sometimes a preacher like John, and sometimes a neighbor or co-worker or friend…like you.

God grant that each of us might be John the Baptist in the lives of others, and that He would send a few Spirit-empowered John the Baptists into our lives as well.

For tomorrow, Thursday, July 2: Luke 2

 

 
Leave a comment

Posted by on July 1, 2015 in Uncategorized

 

Tags: , , , , , ,

Dealing with Doubt

14 Jan

IMG_0347(Hey Inspired Readers – please note that I accidentally posted this a day early.  Click here to read the post on Matthew 10.)

Some number of years ago, like a tidal wave, the thought came over me that Jesus was perhaps not the Son of God. The idea seemed to come from nowhere, debilitating and strange in its suddenness. And I was unnerved. Of course, I had experienced other doubts before in the course of my Christian life, but this one came over me along with all the fear that the enemy can throw at one of God’s children.

I can only imagine what John the Baptist was feeling in the cold confines of Herod’s dungeon, and beginning to have…doubts.

Now when John heard in prison about the deeds of the Christ, he sent word by his disciples and said to him, “Are you the one who is to come, or shall we look for another?”

Matthew 11:2-3 (ESV)

This is a thunderbolt, and one of the many events/admissions in the New Testament that give it the air of authenticity. John the Baptist was supposed to be a hero, but this doesn’t leave him looking so heroic. No, I would say that weak is the better word. In fact, the only reason that Matthew would tell us about this (let alone future church leader Peter’s soon-to-come failure)…was because it really happened.

And I’m so glad it did. Aren’t you?

The story helps us because of Jesus’ reaction. In the midst of John’s incredible doubt about the very person of the Son of God, Jesus tells everyone who will listen that the Baptist is still…the greatest man ever born.

And now I don’t feel so bad.

Os Guinness has written a helpful book on this subject aptly titled, Doubt. In it, he distinguishes between doubt and unbelief. You see, Jesus always strongly condemns unbelief. He gives it no quarter. But doubt…doubt is something that wonderfully brings out the Lord’s compassion.

This is so helpful because we often condemn ourselves for doubt. For instance, when the man whose son had a deaf and mute spirit came to Jesus, the father famously condemns himself for his unbelief in the memorable words, “I do believe; help my unbelief.” But he’s really dealing with old fashioned doubt, for in compassion, Jesus graciously answers his prayer.

And yet we should not take doubt lightly. Guinness says, “Find out how seriously a believer takes his doubts and you have an index of how seriously he takes his faith.”

As for me, in the midst of my struggle, I remember simply turning to one of the gospels and immersing myself in the writings that were made for this sort of thing. As John said, “…these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.” (John 20:31 ESV) It’s foggy now, but more than likely my sweet Diane was helpful too, as well a faithful friend (Thanks Jeff).

And who knows, maybe this little episode makes me the second greatest man ever born? Let’s just say I’m not holding my breath for that award in heaven.

 

 

Tomorrow, Thursday January 15: Matthew 12

 

 
6 Comments

Posted by on January 14, 2015 in Uncategorized

 

Tags: , , , ,

Living the Perfect Life

05 Jan

Imagine living a life where you never messed up, where everything you did was right and true. Imagine living a life where you never sinned.

Such a life would be full of peace and joy. And we know why, right?  Because sin causes such pain, doesn’t it? Just think back to the Holidays that weren’t so long ago: That Thanksgiving meal which became so uncomfortable because of the shouting match between the two sisters…would have never happened, and the turkey would have tasted so much better. Or consider the dreaded credit card bill which is now on its way to so many homes because, among many other things, Mom and Dad felt such need to get little Suzy the latest and greatest dolly with all the clothes and houses. And the idolatry that led Suzy’s momentary joy has stolen away the lasting joy of her parents.

Without sin there would be none of this…just tasty turkey and stuffing…and blessed contentment.

And such was the life of our Lord Jesus, alluded to verse 15 of Matthew 3…

But Jesus answered him, “Let it be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.” Then he consented. (ESV)

The context is with the crowds on the banks at the Jordan River, when John balked at baptizing the Lord. And why did Jesus insist that John baptize Him? Because it was the right thing to do. Glorious. This was the every-moment life of our Lord, at every turn making the right move, saying the right thing.

Oh, there was pain in Jesus’s life, mind you, the pain of seeing others hurting, the overall pain of existence in a fallen world. But never any of the existential angst you and I deal with every day from our own folly and sin. What a life of peace and joy, always doing the Father’s will, always walking down the clear path and staying out of the ditch.

Never any emotional or physical pain from sin…that is, until Calvary. And then…it was complete and total, absolutely overwhelming pain. There on the cross He felt the pain of the broken relationships of a million turkey dinners, all at once. There on the cross, He experienced the shame and regret of a million bad financial decisions. And more, of course. There was physical pain too, but the worst of it was not the agony of the torturous cross. The worst of it was the agony of the Father’s face turning away from One now so completely…sin.

And all so that if we would place our faith in Him, we might receive His record of “fulfilling all righteousness”…and the glorious peace and joy that accompany it.

Tuesday, January 6: Matthew 4

 
5 Comments

Posted by on January 5, 2015 in Uncategorized

 

Tags: , , , , , , , ,

 
%d bloggers like this: