Asking Forgiveness

We live in a culture where people do not take responsibility for their actions. This is really nothing fundamentally new; it goes back to the garden of Eden (Genesis 3:12,13). One of the first results of sin entering the world was a tendency to blame other people. But we have carried this to a fine art. We have accepted a concept of psychological determinism that blames everything on our parents, society, the government, but not on ourselves. The problem with this is if I blame all my wrongdoing on others, how did the others go wrong, and where does this all start in the first place? Or we adopt a concept of relative morals and claim that right and wrong are just a matter of opinion. But we then turn around and blame others for their behavior as if they were really responsible for it. And the irony of this is that God offers forgiveness based on the death of His Son to all who will admit their sinfulness and come to Him (Ephesians 1:7; Colossians 1:14; Acts 26:18). Also, for those who have accepted this forgiveness, the main thing God requires of us is that we admit and repent of our sins rather than trying to deny them (Proverbs 28:13; 1 John 1:9; 2 Corinthians 7:10). So we can end up going to great lengths to excuse or hide our sins when there is total forgiveness available if we are willing to admit to those sins.  

But sometimes it is easier to ask forgiveness of God than to admit our sin and ask forgiveness of other people. We know that God is gracious and that He forgives. But of other people we cannot be so sure. Even though God commands forgiveness (Ephesians 4:32; Colossians 3:13; 2 Corinthians 2:7), they may not offer it. They may, in fact, not be believers in God at all and feel no obligation to forgive. But we still need to be willing to admit our sins to others and ask forgiveness (Matthew 5:23-26; James 5:16; Romans 12:18). If we know that God has forgiven us, it becomes a basis from which we can go and make things right with others. This can be difficult, but we need to be willing to do it, secure in the fact God forgives us no matter how they choose to react. There are a couple of errors to avoid here. We can try to make up excuses like Adam and Eve and try to find someone else to blame. Or we can apologize too easily and superficially without really meaning it. But the biggest error is to not take responsibility for our actions or apologize at all.

Place of Baptism

Why get wet? What is the point of baptism? Is it just some formality that we are forced to go through because God said so? Sometimes we can be more spiritual than God. We can feel that only the spiritual things are important and that the physical is irrelevant. This is not God’s perspective. God created the physical world (Genesis 1:1; John 1:1-3; Hebrews 11:3), and God plans to redeem and restore a physical creation (2 Corinthians 5:1-5; 1 Corinthians 15:20-28; Romans 8:18-23). So God cares about the physical world and physical actions. Therefore, what is the point of baptism?

Baptism in Scripture is the immediate response to saving faith (Acts 16:30-33; 10:43-48; 2:38-41). It is connected with the ultimate spiritual reality of being baptized into Christ and into His church (Galatians 3:27; Colossians 2:12; 1 Corinthians 12:13). Scripture says that circumcision was the sign and seal of faith (Romans 4:11). I am convinced the same thing applies to baptism. A seal involves stating we belong to God. A sign involves a declaration to those around of where we stand. By being baptized we are recognizing that we belong to Christ and are part of His body. This is important for us to recognize and understand.
There are various types of symbolism involved. It is connected to cleansing (Acts 22:16; 1 Peter 3:21; Titus 3:5,6). It also pictures being identified with Christ in His death, burial, and resurrection (Romans 6:3-11; Colossians 3:1-3; Galatians 2:20). But this does not seem to be the main point. Rather, it is an outward confession of our faith. Now it is faith that saves (Romans 4:4,5; Ephesians 2:8,9; Luke 23:39-43). But baptism is closely connected as the outward expression of that faith. Today we have tended to separate the point of faith from baptism. Interestingly enough, we have invented other physical acts: walking an aisle, raising a hand, saying a prayer, to replace it. We want someway to outwardly express our decision to put our faith in Christ.

We need to remember that we are physical creatures. It is what God originally made us to be. And that being so,  I do not believe the physical and spiritual can be totally pried apart. That is why God, right from the beginning, gave His people physical things as reminders of His truth (Exodus 12:14; Joshua 4:6,7; Genesis 9:12- 17). Therefore, we should recognize how God has created us. And we should accept God’s physical gestures to declare to us and to those around us who we are and Who we belong to. 

A Touch of Humor - Difference of Opinion

Can one person's crazy be another person's enthusiastic? What are the limits, if any?

Old Erich Proverb - Denial

Life with God involves both joy and sorrow, and neither should be totally denied.

A Voice from the Past - Zwingli

That Christ is our justice, from which follows that our works in so far as they are good, so far they are of  Christ, but in so far as they are ours, they are neither right nor good.

Huldrich Zwingli, 1484-1531, XXII, Sixty Seven Articles of Zwingli.(Online Library of Liberty: Selected Works of Huldrich Zwingli, edited by Samuel Macauley Jackson, 1901, p.83)

Are our works only good so far as they are of Christ? What makes our works of Christ?

Rushers Running

A young man wanted to know what he could do to serve the King. He was told that if he was serious, the best way to do this was to join the Rushers.

He showed up with a crowd of others to Rusher's Orientation. There was an older man with a polished appearance who took the podium and began to give a pep-talk to the group. "We as Rushers are here to accomplish the tasks assigned us," said the polished man. "It is urgent that the tasks be done. Your crew leaders are here to instruct and encourage you. But it depends on you to have the zeal and dedication to carry them out. You must let nothing stand in the way of the completion of the tasks."

The young man was assigned to a crew and given a list of tasks to perform. Some of them seemed obviously useful, like helping a little old lady by cleaning up her yard. Others were more puzzling, and it was difficult to figure out what the point of them was. Others seemed to be just make-work. When he asked his crew leader about this, he said not to ask questions but to do the tasks.

Now the young man noticed that as the Rushers went about completing their tasks, there were a number of people (far more than the Rushers) who sat about on lawn chairs and porches and watched them. Sometimes these people cheered the Rushers on and put a hand on their shoulder and told them that they were doing a good job. Others jeered and criticized and explained what the Rushers were doing wrong. Many times the Rushers had to work around them, which made their tasks more difficult.

"Who are those?" the young man asked his crew leader.

"They are the Sitters," returned the crew leader. "They are not really dedicated, or they would be Rushers. We hope to encourage them to become Rushers some day."

One day the young man ran into a very unusual man. He did not have the frenzied hurry of the Rushers. Nor was he sitting around and observing like the Sitters. He was walking with the calm, firm stride of someone who knew where he was going.

"What are you?" asked the young man. "You do not seem to be a Rusher or a Sitter."

"I am convinced we need to learn to know and trust the King and ask what He really wants us to do," said the strange man. "We need to do the things that are important and not just rush around doing dubious tasks."

"Can you teach me to do that?" asked the young man. And they walked off together.

One Way - John 14:6