Over the course of my series, Removing the Roadblocks to Forgiveness, we have learned how abuse or trauma has left us broken. We have studied God's character so that we can imitate him. Yesterday, we looked into our own character and asked God to reveal our faults. Today, we take the next step on the road to forgiveness by asking God to forgive us.
The Lord's Prayer
All of us are guilty of sinning. Therefore, we need to go to God daily to ask him for forgiveness. When someone asked how we are supposed to pray, Jesus gave us the model for prayer known as The Lord's Prayer:
You should pray like this: Our Father in heaven, help us to honor your name. Come and set up your kingdom, so that everyone on earth will obey you, as you are obeyed in heaven. Give us our food for today. Forgive us for doing wrong, as we forgive others. Matthew 6:9-12 (CEV)
There are two types of forgiveness prayers.
We learned earlier that God's grace provides us with salvation from eternal punishment when we say that we believe in Jesus as our savior. When we arrive at the point of surrendering control of our lives to Christ, we pray for forgiveness so that we might be saved. We only need to pray for that type of forgiveness once. We need just one salvation, and we can never lose it unless we later denounce God the Father, Son, or Holy Spirit.
Let me simplify this concept for you. If we love someone and desire to marry them, we go to a person licensed by the state to join us as husband and wife. There is no need to return daily, weekly, or annually to that officiant to be married over and over. Once is enough. The same is true of our adoption into God's family. One prayer asking for forgiveness and surrendering control is adequate.
The second type of forgiveness prayer does need to occur daily. The Bible clearly tells us in the passage above that we need to talk to God daily. During our time with him, we need to ask him to forgive us for our daily sins so that we can also forgive others.
This type of forgiveness prayer is designed to help us restore our relationship with God each day. Because if we're all sinners, we're constantly breaking down that relationship.
To clarify this, we can think again of the marriage model. We don't need to find someone daily to re-marry us to our spouses. But we do need to tell our spouses daily that we love them. Imagine how difficult it would be to remain in a relationship with a spouse that you never talked to, never spent time with, never loved, or never apologized to. Such a marriage would be unbearable.
God loves us and wants to have a close, vital relationship with us every day. If we fail to go to him to confess our faults, we create a really strained and distant relationship with him that lacks the peace we are seeking.
Sometimes, we can't identify our sins.
There will be times when we can't identify any sin in ourselves. This does not mean that we are sin-free. It simply means that we need to spend more time reflecting on who we truly are. Scripture clearly tells us that we are liars if we claim to be without sin:
If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word has no place in our lives. (I John 1:8-10 NIV)
Even when we can't see any sin in ourselves, it is still present. By following the discipline of daily prayer, asking God to forgive us, we put ourselves into a closer relationship with him.
Our own forgiveness comes before we can forgive our enemies.
We must ask for our own forgiveness before we can fully forgive the person who has hurt us. Why? If we don't understand the process of our own forgiveness, we can't possibly understand what is expected of our enemies.
If we don't personally experience the forgiveness of our own sins, and we expect our enemies to apologize to us on our terms; all we're really looking for is control over the situation. Our pride demands that our enemy gives us back the power that we lost so that we can continue to feel superior toward him.
By fully recognizing God's righteousness and our own faults, we see that all people need forgiveness. We level the playing field so that we are no longer superior to anyone in need of forgiveness, including that person who has hurt us most deeply.
God showed me where I was wrong.
The image of my father being taken away in handcuffs will forever be imprinted in my mind. At that moment, I realized that all of us deserve punishment for our sins. God's angels could be taking me away in cuffs to spend eternity separated from God. The only difference between my father and me is that he committed a sin that also happened to break a law.
God has used my father's crimes and his sentencing to reveal to me my sin of pride. This new understanding of my own faults has drastically changed the way I look at myself and the process of forgiving. Until God revealed this flaw to me, I was stuck in the forgiveness process. What's holding you back from forgiving?
Today's ChallengeIf there is something keeping you from forgiving an enemy, ask God to reveal your own sin. When he does, admit it to God and ask for his forgiveness. As soon as you do, peace will flow into your life, as it has in mine.
Showing posts with label salvation. Show all posts
Showing posts with label salvation. Show all posts
Friday, March 18, 2011
Wednesday, March 16, 2011
Don't Become a Vampire Christian
We continue with our series, Removing the Roadblocks to Forgiveness. I believe that understanding God's character and looking closely at the nature of mankind's sin is helpful as we attempt to forgive. Yesterday, we identified sin in ourselves and in others. Today, we think about how sin impacts everyone's lives.
Sin is a waste of our time and energy.
God wants Christians to progress along a path of ever-increasing righteousness. If we think about trying to become more like God, we can compare it to walking up a mountain toward eternal life. When we sin, we do an about-face and head back down the slope we just climbed. Clearly, this is a waste of effort and destroys the Christ-like character we are seeking.
Sin hurts us and others.
Each time that we allow sin into our lives, we inevitably experience a loss of spiritual strength. We suffer as God disciplines us.
Sin also harms our effectiveness in doing the work of God's kingdom. So not only does our sin hurt us, it also hurts others who might benefit from our imitating God's character.
I believe God wants me to use my gift of writing to help survivors of abuse and trauma. If I harbor anger or hatred toward my enemies, I'm not going to be able to serve my readers very effectively. My own sin would hurt me, but it would also hurt others who need to hear about God's love and how we can forgive.
Our sin affects our heavenly rewards.
There are degrees of reward in heaven, as evidenced by the words of I Corinthians 3:12-15 (NIV):
If any man builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw, his work will be shown for what it is, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each man's work. If what he has built survives, he will receive his reward. If it is burned up, he will suffer loss; he himself will be saved, but only as one escaping through the flames.
This passage is telling us that our righteousness will be evaluated on Judgment Day. We will receive heavenly rewards that are in keeping with our efforts to imitate God. Even if the world tells us that our righteousness is like gold, God's fire may prove that it is only as valuable as straw.
Don't spend your life as a Vampire Christian.
As we learned yesterday, a Christian who professes faith in Christ and spends his life striving to obey God's laws will not lose his place in heaven if he sins. Believers who enter into a relationship of grace with God through baptism and then do their best to remain in God's grace through obedience are known as born-again Christians. They do not engage in a lifestyle of sinning, and it is evident by their behavior that they have surrendered their will to Christ.
We must become aware that it is possible for some so-called believers to be what I call Vampire Christians. They desire just a little taste of the blood of Christ, but they aren't willing to fully immerse themselves in that blood through total surrender of their lives.
Vampire Christians are people who profess to be Christians, based on the fact that they attend a church or exhibit behaviors that seem to conform to moral standards of living. They profess belief in Christ and get baptized, but their behavior from that point onward does not lead anyone to see that they are Christians.
The problem with Vampire Christians is that they often take on a consistent pattern of disobedience to Christ. For instance, they may attend church and show up for plenty of church functions; but they perpetually sin through alcoholism, compulsive gambling, pornography addictions, and so on. Some of their sins may be less obvious, such as resentment, bitterness, anger, or hatred.
Vampire Christians lack evidence of spiritual growth, and it is nearly impossible to see in them the fruit of the spirit, as described in Galatians 5:22 (NIV):
But the fruit of the spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness, and self-control.
Jesus warns Vampire Christians that they will not inherit eternal life in Matthew 7:21-23 (NIV):
Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?' Then I will tell them plainly, 'I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!'
These verses point out the importance of sanctifying grace, which comes through doing God's will throughout our lives--obeying his laws and commands to the best of our ability. Saving grace, which comes through baptism and profession of faith, is only a starting point. Sadly, Vampire Christians believe it is all that is necessary to achieve eternal life.
I was a Vampire Christian.
Before I met Joe, I was a Vampire Christian. I had been raised in a church that taught forgiveness through rote confession on Sunday mornings, regardless of the enormity of my sin throughout the week. Like all vampires, I lived a half-life, always hiding in darkness and never fully understanding how wonderful it felt to live fully in the light of Christ's love.
When Joe began teaching me about the importance of sanctifying grace, the Holy Spirit convicted me that I had been living a lie. I was not a true Christian, and if I wanted my reward of heaven, I needed to change my ways. Specifically, I needed to give up my sins of pride, anger, bitterness, and revenge toward people who had abused me. I began reading my Bible, studying Joe's books on theology, attending Bible studies, and meeting with more mature Christians.
The light dawned, and I realized all that I had been missing in my life as a Vampire Christian. Even though I had been baptized as an infant, I was baptized by immersion on my 40th birthday. When I came up out of the water, I knew that I had become a true Christian, never again to live that miserable half-life of the Vampire Christian.
Seeing our own sin takes us one step closer to forgiving others.
In summary, sin is the opposite of everything that God sees as right. While it is easy to point out our enemy's sins, we must be open to the possibility of our own sinful actions and thoughts.
If we are truly born-again Christians, our sin can never cause us to lose our salvation; but we may expect God to discipline us. Sin is a waste of time, hurts us and our witness to others, and affects our heavenly rewards.
Look inward to make sure that you aren't a Vampire Christian who is satisfied with mere belief in Christ but who lacks the ambition to become more like Him by obeying his laws. In order to forgive, survivors of abuse and trauma need to fully understand their own need for forgiveness, which comes through both saving grace and sanctifying grace from Jesus Christ.
Today's Challenge
How is your sin harming you? How is it affecting your ability to help others? Are you a born-again Christian, or are you guilty of living as a Vampire Christian? If you realize that you have been coasting through life on just your profession of faith, commit your life to Christ today by talking to a more mature Christian who can help you.
Sin is a waste of our time and energy.
God wants Christians to progress along a path of ever-increasing righteousness. If we think about trying to become more like God, we can compare it to walking up a mountain toward eternal life. When we sin, we do an about-face and head back down the slope we just climbed. Clearly, this is a waste of effort and destroys the Christ-like character we are seeking.
Sin hurts us and others.
Each time that we allow sin into our lives, we inevitably experience a loss of spiritual strength. We suffer as God disciplines us.
Sin also harms our effectiveness in doing the work of God's kingdom. So not only does our sin hurt us, it also hurts others who might benefit from our imitating God's character.
I believe God wants me to use my gift of writing to help survivors of abuse and trauma. If I harbor anger or hatred toward my enemies, I'm not going to be able to serve my readers very effectively. My own sin would hurt me, but it would also hurt others who need to hear about God's love and how we can forgive.
Our sin affects our heavenly rewards.
There are degrees of reward in heaven, as evidenced by the words of I Corinthians 3:12-15 (NIV):
If any man builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw, his work will be shown for what it is, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each man's work. If what he has built survives, he will receive his reward. If it is burned up, he will suffer loss; he himself will be saved, but only as one escaping through the flames.
This passage is telling us that our righteousness will be evaluated on Judgment Day. We will receive heavenly rewards that are in keeping with our efforts to imitate God. Even if the world tells us that our righteousness is like gold, God's fire may prove that it is only as valuable as straw.
Don't spend your life as a Vampire Christian.
As we learned yesterday, a Christian who professes faith in Christ and spends his life striving to obey God's laws will not lose his place in heaven if he sins. Believers who enter into a relationship of grace with God through baptism and then do their best to remain in God's grace through obedience are known as born-again Christians. They do not engage in a lifestyle of sinning, and it is evident by their behavior that they have surrendered their will to Christ.
We must become aware that it is possible for some so-called believers to be what I call Vampire Christians. They desire just a little taste of the blood of Christ, but they aren't willing to fully immerse themselves in that blood through total surrender of their lives.
Vampire Christians are people who profess to be Christians, based on the fact that they attend a church or exhibit behaviors that seem to conform to moral standards of living. They profess belief in Christ and get baptized, but their behavior from that point onward does not lead anyone to see that they are Christians.
The problem with Vampire Christians is that they often take on a consistent pattern of disobedience to Christ. For instance, they may attend church and show up for plenty of church functions; but they perpetually sin through alcoholism, compulsive gambling, pornography addictions, and so on. Some of their sins may be less obvious, such as resentment, bitterness, anger, or hatred.
Vampire Christians lack evidence of spiritual growth, and it is nearly impossible to see in them the fruit of the spirit, as described in Galatians 5:22 (NIV):
But the fruit of the spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness, and self-control.
Jesus warns Vampire Christians that they will not inherit eternal life in Matthew 7:21-23 (NIV):
Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?' Then I will tell them plainly, 'I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!'
These verses point out the importance of sanctifying grace, which comes through doing God's will throughout our lives--obeying his laws and commands to the best of our ability. Saving grace, which comes through baptism and profession of faith, is only a starting point. Sadly, Vampire Christians believe it is all that is necessary to achieve eternal life.
I was a Vampire Christian.
Before I met Joe, I was a Vampire Christian. I had been raised in a church that taught forgiveness through rote confession on Sunday mornings, regardless of the enormity of my sin throughout the week. Like all vampires, I lived a half-life, always hiding in darkness and never fully understanding how wonderful it felt to live fully in the light of Christ's love.
When Joe began teaching me about the importance of sanctifying grace, the Holy Spirit convicted me that I had been living a lie. I was not a true Christian, and if I wanted my reward of heaven, I needed to change my ways. Specifically, I needed to give up my sins of pride, anger, bitterness, and revenge toward people who had abused me. I began reading my Bible, studying Joe's books on theology, attending Bible studies, and meeting with more mature Christians.
The light dawned, and I realized all that I had been missing in my life as a Vampire Christian. Even though I had been baptized as an infant, I was baptized by immersion on my 40th birthday. When I came up out of the water, I knew that I had become a true Christian, never again to live that miserable half-life of the Vampire Christian.
Seeing our own sin takes us one step closer to forgiving others.
In summary, sin is the opposite of everything that God sees as right. While it is easy to point out our enemy's sins, we must be open to the possibility of our own sinful actions and thoughts.
If we are truly born-again Christians, our sin can never cause us to lose our salvation; but we may expect God to discipline us. Sin is a waste of time, hurts us and our witness to others, and affects our heavenly rewards.
Look inward to make sure that you aren't a Vampire Christian who is satisfied with mere belief in Christ but who lacks the ambition to become more like Him by obeying his laws. In order to forgive, survivors of abuse and trauma need to fully understand their own need for forgiveness, which comes through both saving grace and sanctifying grace from Jesus Christ.
Today's Challenge
How is your sin harming you? How is it affecting your ability to help others? Are you a born-again Christian, or are you guilty of living as a Vampire Christian? If you realize that you have been coasting through life on just your profession of faith, commit your life to Christ today by talking to a more mature Christian who can help you.
Wednesday, June 30, 2010
It Could Be Worse
As I prepare for knee surgery tomorrow, I am tempted to become agitated with the failings of our medical care here in America.
Because my doctor forgot to do an EKG on me during my pre-operative physical, I had to drive 90 minutes for a 3-minute test. With my knee in a brace. Leaning on a cane. Praying for relief from the pain.
I purchased post-operative pain killers at the pharmacy and discovered after I got home that the surgeon had prescribed something that I'm allergic to. I can't return the prescription drugs for a refund, and my insurance company has already been billed for their share.
Today, I must remind myself that it could be worse. At least I have health care. Many people in both third world countries and developed nations suffer with painful joints, poor eyesight, and countless diseases until they die. They have no hope for someone like my surgeon to cure them, either because it is unavailable or unaffordable.
I was once in Venezuela and watched a man collapse at my feet from an apparent heart attack. I couldn't speak Spanish, and shouting at passersby for help did no good. No one knew how to perform CPR. The inept ambulance drivers who sauntered upon the scene an hour later had no equipment for reviving him. Of course, the poor man died.
To make matters worse, there was no chaplain or minister to comfort this man's widow. I sat with her in a hotel room through the night, trying to console her. I have never felt so completely ill-equipped to deal with a crisis.
As I prepare for surgery in the morning, I have done everything in my power to make sure that things are taken care of for my husband. The laundry has been put away, the sheets have been changed, the bills have been paid for the next two weeks, and I've arranged for friends to drop by and help me. I even updated my will and wrote out directions for my funeral, just in case I don't come through the surgery as planned.
Setbacks such as a knee injury and surgery are annoyances we would all like to avoid. But as I get ready for this, I realize that God uses these challenges to show us that we are not in control of everything. He is.
For the past few days, I've been considering what I would say if I met Jesus tomorrow. Would I be able to tell him that I did everything he wanted me to do while I was here? Or would I hang my head in shame, knowing that I failed to listen to his directives?
I doubt that Jesus cares whether I have left behind clean sheets on my bed. Or that I have written out a menu for meals to be prepared while I am out of commission.
I'm sure that the Lord does care about the lives I have touched and the love I have shared with others. After all, haven't we been sent to earth to share his love? I have tried to be patient and kind; to forgive others when they have hurt me; to love everyone unconditionally; and to pray for my friends, as well as my enemies. As often as possible, I have given God the glory for my successes.
And at the same time, I realize how often I have failed God. I have behaved selfishly, held onto bitterness over old offenses, judged others who are different, and ignored my prayers. Worst of all, I have frequently taken the credit for something only God could have done.
I realize that in the end, no matter how kind I've been or how patient, if I don't know Jesus Christ as my Savior, I will be lost. I thank God for covering up my sins with the blood of Christ so that I can enjoy freedom from annoyances such as EKGs, allergic reactions, and pain when I get to Heaven.
Yes, things could be far worse. I could live with this knee pain forever, except for the excellent health care we have here in our country. I could spend eternity in hell without hope, if it weren't for the love and sacrifice of Jesus.
I am grateful that God uses all things--even the annoyances--for good in the lives of those who love him. He rattles us so that we are forced to look to him in faith, trusting completely that he will provide whatever he thinks is best.
"Faith like Job's cannot be shaken because it is the result of having been shaken." --Abraham Heschel
Because my doctor forgot to do an EKG on me during my pre-operative physical, I had to drive 90 minutes for a 3-minute test. With my knee in a brace. Leaning on a cane. Praying for relief from the pain.
I purchased post-operative pain killers at the pharmacy and discovered after I got home that the surgeon had prescribed something that I'm allergic to. I can't return the prescription drugs for a refund, and my insurance company has already been billed for their share.
Today, I must remind myself that it could be worse. At least I have health care. Many people in both third world countries and developed nations suffer with painful joints, poor eyesight, and countless diseases until they die. They have no hope for someone like my surgeon to cure them, either because it is unavailable or unaffordable.
I was once in Venezuela and watched a man collapse at my feet from an apparent heart attack. I couldn't speak Spanish, and shouting at passersby for help did no good. No one knew how to perform CPR. The inept ambulance drivers who sauntered upon the scene an hour later had no equipment for reviving him. Of course, the poor man died.
To make matters worse, there was no chaplain or minister to comfort this man's widow. I sat with her in a hotel room through the night, trying to console her. I have never felt so completely ill-equipped to deal with a crisis.
As I prepare for surgery in the morning, I have done everything in my power to make sure that things are taken care of for my husband. The laundry has been put away, the sheets have been changed, the bills have been paid for the next two weeks, and I've arranged for friends to drop by and help me. I even updated my will and wrote out directions for my funeral, just in case I don't come through the surgery as planned.
Setbacks such as a knee injury and surgery are annoyances we would all like to avoid. But as I get ready for this, I realize that God uses these challenges to show us that we are not in control of everything. He is.
For the past few days, I've been considering what I would say if I met Jesus tomorrow. Would I be able to tell him that I did everything he wanted me to do while I was here? Or would I hang my head in shame, knowing that I failed to listen to his directives?
I doubt that Jesus cares whether I have left behind clean sheets on my bed. Or that I have written out a menu for meals to be prepared while I am out of commission.
I'm sure that the Lord does care about the lives I have touched and the love I have shared with others. After all, haven't we been sent to earth to share his love? I have tried to be patient and kind; to forgive others when they have hurt me; to love everyone unconditionally; and to pray for my friends, as well as my enemies. As often as possible, I have given God the glory for my successes.
And at the same time, I realize how often I have failed God. I have behaved selfishly, held onto bitterness over old offenses, judged others who are different, and ignored my prayers. Worst of all, I have frequently taken the credit for something only God could have done.
I realize that in the end, no matter how kind I've been or how patient, if I don't know Jesus Christ as my Savior, I will be lost. I thank God for covering up my sins with the blood of Christ so that I can enjoy freedom from annoyances such as EKGs, allergic reactions, and pain when I get to Heaven.
Yes, things could be far worse. I could live with this knee pain forever, except for the excellent health care we have here in our country. I could spend eternity in hell without hope, if it weren't for the love and sacrifice of Jesus.
I am grateful that God uses all things--even the annoyances--for good in the lives of those who love him. He rattles us so that we are forced to look to him in faith, trusting completely that he will provide whatever he thinks is best.
"Faith like Job's cannot be shaken because it is the result of having been shaken." --Abraham Heschel
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