Category: Discipleship Foundations

3: The Nature of Salvation

Therefore they said to Him, "What shall we do, so that we may work the works of God?" 29 Jesus answered and said to them, "This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He has sent." John 6:28-29 (NASB)

Faith in Christ is a spiritual “work.” How is this so? Many conceive of faith as a blind leap into the unknown in hope that we might be right. Others think that belief in Christ is acknowledging key truths about him, such his suffering, death, and resurrection. But is that the version of belief to which Christ referred?

Perhaps the most important aspect of faith is our understanding through revelation who Jesus is, and this must result in something more, if our faith is genuine – our allegiance to him.

When we see him for who he is, it fundamentally changes us and inspires us want to serve him.

This is what my Father wants: that anyone who sees the Son and trusts who he is and what he does and then aligns with him will enter real life, eternal life. My part is to put them on their feet alive and whole at the completion of time." John 6:40 (MSG)

The more we know about Jesus and what he did, does, and will do for us, the more we love him and desire to be loyal to him.

True faith produces a life of adoration, surrender, and obedience, which results in spiritual transformation.

This will continue until we die or he returns. The final piece of the puzzle will be our glorification at the resurrection. We will discuss this more later.

Many people fundamentally misunderstand of the nature of salvation, which can easily lead to legalism, which is a man-made attempt to reach God or stay right with God. Some imagine Christ’s death and resurrection provided us with a clean slate from which to begin again. Their understanding is that God erased the list of things we did wrong (sins), but since then has been writing our new sins on the blackboard. We had a clean slate, but it is starting to fill up again. This kind of thinking led Constantine to delay his water baptism until his deathbed, hoping that the slate would be clean at death, giving him a sure entrance into heaven. This feeds into the Roman Catholic doctrine of Purgatory, which is the belief that after death we enter a place of suffering until our sins are purged and we attain the moral purity required for entrance into heaven.

What is wrong with this concept? Several things, but let’s concentrate on two right now. First, we need to understand that our problem is not so much “sins” as it is “sin”.

Yes, we will be held accountable for the individual sins we commit, but the far deeper problem is our inherited sin factory which propels us into sinful thinking and behavior.

We can erase our slates clean every day, but, by nightfall, it will have begun to fill it up again. This propensity is called the “flesh” by Paul.

I have discovered this principle of life—that when I want to do what is right, I inevitably do what is wrong. 22  I love God’s law with all my heart. 23  But there is another power within me that is at war with my mind. This power makes me a slave to the sin that is still within me. Romans 7:21-23 (NLT)

Thankfully, Jesus took my sins upon Himself on the cross, but my “sin” had to die, too.

My sin “nature” had to be crucified because there is no reforming it.

Like a leopard, it cannot remove its spots. This is why in the previous lesson I pointed out that we cannot actually know just how sinful we really are. Even if we are spiritually cleansed somehow, the “flesh” lurks under the surface, ever ready to rear its ugly head and do something despicable. Even our best attempts at righteous living need to be made righteous by God. (Isaiah 64:6)

Salvation then is not a mere erasing of the slate, but an execution. The old man, flesh, or sin nature had to die.

For when I tried to keep the law, I realized I could never earn God's approval. So I died to the law so that I might live for God. I have been crucified with Christ. 20 I myself no longer live, but Christ lives in me. So I live my life in this earthly body by trusting in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. 21 I am not one of those who treats the grace of God as meaningless. For if we could be saved by keeping the law, then there was no need for Christ to die. Galatians 2:19-21 (NLT)

There had to be a complete exchange of life for life. Jesus died in our place (substitution), putting to death our old man (identification), and placed in us His Holy Spirit.

The Bible calls this receiving a “new heart” or being “born again” in the spirit. Christians are indeed “little Christs” who carry about in themselves the life of Christ.

Salvation is an exchange of our sin for His life. It is not erasing a blackboard. It is smashing the blackboard because it is irrelevant now.

God does not mark iniquities any longer.

LORD, if you kept a record of our sins, who, O Lord, could ever survive? 4  But you offer forgiveness, that we might learn to fear you. Psalm 130:3-4 (NLT)

We have been released from the system of works that keeps track of every right and wrong for an impending day of reckoning. Jesus took the condemnation and punishment for all our failures and sins upon Himself, and instead we have been given the Christ life within. The “sin nature” still lurks, waiting for an opportunity, but it no longer has the right to control us.

We must engage in a continual battle of the spirit (Christ’s life within us) against flesh (the residual inclination toward sin that is somehow linked to our Adamic bodies) until the day of our resurrection, but our true identity now is the new life of Christ that indwells us.

Another aspect of our salvation pertains to family. For those of us who are born again, born of the Spirit, and born of the Father, what really matters is who is our Father now.

Our salvation depends on being born into the family of God.

For you have been born again. Your new life did not come from your earthly parents because the life they gave you will end in death. But this new life will last forever because it comes from the eternal, living word of God. 1 Peter 1:23 (NLT)

Rather than being weighed in the balances in a system of works in which we can never measure up, we are born into a family where our acceptance is based on our all having the same Father. Blood is thicker than water, they say, and when it comes to the Kingdom of God, I would rather be a beloved “son” than a frustrated “keeper of the rules.”

Our access to the throne and heart of our heavenly Father, our Abba, is based on our being identified with His beloved Son, the Righteous One, Jesus. Our relationship with Abba is the same as Jesus’ because it is His Spirit within us who cries out, “Abba, Father”.

God sent him [Jesus] to buy freedom for us who were slaves to the law, so that he could adopt us as his very own children. 6 And because you Gentiles have become his children, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, and now you can call God your dear Father. 7 Now you are no longer a slave but God's own child. And since you are his child, everything he has belongs to you. Galatians 4:5-7 (NLT)

To conclude, we must see salvation not as a second chance to “get it right” but as a life exchange and an adoption because we had no possibility of ever “getting it right”.

God knew we were hopelessly flawed; so, He provided a salvation that is not dependent on us but on Christ. If we are going to be good disciples, we must cast aside our vain attempts to measure up by keeping the Law and accept the marvelous provision of Christ’s life within as our only source of righteousness and acceptance and our key to obedience and victory. This is truly Good News!

The key for us, then, is faith. The way we do the works of God is by believing on Christ and His promises, declaring allegiance to him, and trusting in His Spirit to live the Christ life through us.

Questions for Further Study and Discussion

  • How would describe faith or belief in Christ?
  • Why does our salvation demand an execution?
  • Why do some people call Christianity an “exchanged life”?
  • Why does our salvation depend on being born again into God’s family?
  • What would you tell someone who struggles with trying to be “good enough”?
  • What do you see are the most fundamental differences between the Old and New Covenants?

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2: The Condition of Man

As the Scriptures say, "No one is good— not even one. 11 No one has real understanding; no one is seeking God. 12 All have turned away from God; all have gone wrong. No one does good, not even one." Romans 3:10-12 (NLT)

The first thing we need to know is that human beings are in desperate need of a Savior. We are not just a little off track: we are totally lost. If we think we have a pretty good idea of how bad we are (without Christ), we have not yet seen ourselves as God sees us. We are rotten to the core and so skewed by sin so that we cannot save ourselves. Knowing this up front makes it easier later to appreciate God’s grace and to avoid the pitfalls of legalism. If you find this assessment of our condition offensive, you do not yet understand the nature of sin.

Sin is the attempt to live independently from God.

It started in the Garden of Eden, and today it takes many forms, from defiant atheism to moral attempts to live a “godly” or religious life without surrendering everything to God first. Murderers and self-righteous hypocrites all share the same basic problem – a determination to live without a humble reliance upon God. In fact, the most religious people in Israel, the Sanhedrin, Pharisees, priests, lawyers, and scribes, banded together to murder the Messiah. It was not the “criminal element” that put the Lord of Life to death.

Sometimes those of us who have been brought up from childhood in the church don’t know our own sinfulness as well as those of us who had a B.C. (before Christ) existence.

A danger for any long time Christian is losing touch with our need for mercy and grace.

We sometimes imagine that we are “beyond” all that because the Lord has helped us overcome some sins that formerly defeated us. There is nothing worse than a self-righteous Christian who looks down on others who are struggling with sin. Jesus had little tolerance for those with such an attitude.

When Jesus heard this, he said, “Healthy people don’t need a doctor—sick people do.” 13  Then he added, “Now go and learn the meaning of this Scripture: ‘I want you to show mercy, not offer sacrifices.’ For I have come to call not those who think they are righteous, but those who know they are sinners.” Matthew 9:12-13 (NLT)

The good news is that God understands our hopeless condition and sent His Son to die for our sins. In addition, He sent His Holy Spirit to live a new kind of life through us.

One of the biggest secrets of the New Covenant is that God never expected us to live in a way that brings God glory all by ourselves. He sent his Spirit to live through us.

The gospel confirms our need for salvation, forgiveness and reconciliation to God accompanied by a complete overhaul from the inside out. It comes through repentance and faith in Christ. When we come to realize how much we need a Savior and the Holy Spirit’s help, we learn to be humble, which is a mark of a true disciple, as is a love and an appreciation for mercy.

How about us? Have we yet come to terms with our own sinfulness? Are we disillusioned with ourselves when we fail once again, imagining we are better than that? Are we prone to judge others whom we see as inferior to us, or do we extend to them the same mercy God has shown to us? Real Christians are not perfect, just forgiven.

Questions for Further Study and Discussion

  • Did you have a B.C. stage of your life in which you were very much aware of your own sinfulness?
  • Did you come to Christ to be forgiven or for some other reason?
  • When did you first begin to realize that you are not a “good person”?
  • Do you still get discouraged when you see another example of your sinfulness? What does that say about you?

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1: The Call to Discipleship

Jesus called out to them, “Come, follow me, and I will show you how to fish for people!” Matthew 4:19 (NLT)

The Great Commission prioritizes making disciples. Discipleship is the process whereby the Lord trains and shapes his followers to be like Him in the way we think, speak, and act.

For God knew his people in advance, and he chose them to become like his Son, so that his Son would be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters. Romans 8:29 (NLT)

God is conforming his people into the image of His beloved Son. He uses the various pressures and challenges of life to teach us about Himself and about love. He is shaping us into bold witnesses He can use to spread the good news of salvation throughout the world. He is preparing us to rule and reign with Him for all eternity, and He is making us into a people who will bring glory to His name.

Those who are victorious will sit with me on my throne, just as I was victorious and sat with my Father on his throne. Revelation 3:21 (NLT)

God is working everywhere to draw men, women, and children to Himself. Some have said that there are many believers but few who are true disciples. If this is true, it is a product of “easy believism” and a watered-down gospel that does not call for our surrender to Jesus’ lordship. Every Christian is supposed to be on a pathway to total commitment to Jesus and the Kingdom of God. Unfortunately, many of us are still trying to decide if we would rather be comfortable or committed.

We cannot straddle the fence with one foot in the world and one in God’s Kingdom. Such a position makes us unfit for both. (Luke 9:62)

God is looking for people whom He can shape into a world conquering force.

You are the salt of the earth. But what good is salt if it has lost its flavor? Can you make it useful again? It will be thrown out and trampled underfoot as worthless. Matthew 5:13 (NLT)

If we will count the cost and make the commitment, Jesus will show us the secrets of His Kingdom and reveal Himself to us as our Everything.

If we give ourselves to Christ as an investment, he will provide a return that far outweighs the sacrifice.

But don't begin until you count the cost. For who would begin construction of a building without first getting estimates and then checking to see if there is enough money to pay the bills? Luke 14:28 (NLT)

As we go through this study, it is important that we apply the principles to our lives. God is after doers, not eternal considerers.

But don’t just listen to God’s word. You must do what it says. Otherwise, you are only fooling yourselves. James 1:22 (NLT)

If we are among those who long to grow in our knowledge and obedience to our Lord, we should make it our practice to read, meditate, and obey what the Bible says, relying on God’s Spirit and grace to help. This is not a “works” or performance thing, however.

Whenever we seek to obey God’s Word by depending on His grace and Holy Spirit, He will always do His part. But only real disciples will do theirs.

Questions for Further Study and Discussion

• Why is being conformed to Christ’s image usually not comfortable?
• Have you ever thought much about how our lives here on earth are preparing us for our destiny to rule and reign alongside our Lord?
• Can you think of areas of your life that that need to be more fully under the Lord’s rule?
• Why does the Lord tell us to count the cost? Is he encouraging some to give up the pursuit of discipleship?

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Discipleship Foundations: Introduction

After over fifty years of following Christ, much of that time serving as a pastor and Bible teacher in a local church, I have put together in this book what I consider to be some essential teachings that are foundational for a follower of Christ, otherwise known as a disciple. This collection does not cover everything since that would be impossible. The Holy Spirit is our on-the-job instructor who continues to teach and train us for the rest of our days. My hope is that these chapters will assist you on your spiritual journey and transformation into Christ’s image. May our Lord enable us all to faithfully love and serve him as a true disciple, which he deserves. (John 8:31-32)

This series assumes that the reader has confidence in the reliability of the Bible as our source of truth and revelation about God. As the psalmist wrote:

Your word is a lamp to guide my feet and a light for my path. Psalm 119:105 (NLT)

It is commonly believed and accepted by those who follow Christ that the Bible, as it was originally written under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, is the actual Word of God, is infallibly true, and has authority in our lives.

All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It corrects us when we are wrong and teaches us to do what is right. 17 God uses it to prepare and equip his people to do every good work. 2 Timothy 3:16-17 (NLT)

Jesus believed this to be the case, and so should we. In John 10:35, our Lord said that the scriptures cannot be broken or altered. He said in other places that every word of God is true. (Matthew 5:17-18) He told his followers that the Word of God controlled his destiny and had to be fulfilled. (Matthew 26:54, Luke 24:25-27, 46) The apostles preached that Jesus suffered, died, and rose again to fulfill the Scriptures. (1 Corinthians 15:3-4)

Nothing can be added or subtracted from the Scriptures. They are perfect as given to us by God.

Every word of God is purified; he is like a shield for those who take refuge in him. 6 Do not add to his words, lest he reprove you, and prove you to be a liar. Proverbs 30:5-6 (NET1)

Openness to authority and power of God’s Word will greatly influence the benefit we gain from these teachings.

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Why Am I Having Such a Hard Time Trusting God?

 

 

 

 

 

And it is impossible to please God without faith. Anyone who wants to come to him must believe that God exists and that he rewards those who sincerely seek him. Hebrews 11:6 (NLT)

The Bible clearly teaches that God is looking for faith. Faith is closely allied with trust and is rooted in God. Boiled down to its basic components faith is the conviction that God’s character is impeccable, his promises sure, his power unlimited, his love beyond comprehension, and his wisdom boundless. Faith produces faithfulness, which can also be described as loyalty or allegiance.

People who are full of faith trust God and obey him through the most difficult and confusing situations because they are completely convinced that God is trustworthy. They trust God from the heart, even if the mind cannot comprehend the “why” of their situation.

I don’t often quote the Message Bible, but in this case I think it is very good.

Trust GOD from the bottom of your heart; don't try to figure out everything on your own. Proverbs 3:5 (MSG)

Unbelief is the polar opposite of faith. Unbelief and its twin, doubt, have great difficulty trusting God because there is no assurance that God is deserves to be trusted. Will he keep his word and show love to us, or is he capricious? Does he even have the power and ability to keep his promises? Perhaps he is impotent.

Unbelief is a loud slap to the face of the Creator.

Faithless (disloyal) people have great difficulty when trials and tests come because they have no anchor. They are what the Bible calls “double minded,” wavering between two opinions. James says that such people are unstable in all their ways and cannot receive anything from God. (James 1:8)

The New Testament teaches us that no one is good enough, holy enough, or righteous enough to earn God’s favor and acceptance.

The only way we can please God, according to the Bible, is to trust him with all our hearts.

Specifically, we are invited to trust in the gospel, the good news that Jesus earned for us a right standing with God through his perfect life, death, and resurrection. God accepts the most imperfect people into his family when they decide to put their faith in Jesus. Conversely, when people refuse to trust him or believe the gospel, they throw away the one possibility of being accepted and blessed by God.

Unbelief is an extremely serious heart condition, which imperils our eternity.

Multitudes are afflicted with it. In fact, without the Holy Spirit’s intervention, it is the default condition of humanity. We were created to believe and depend on God. Everyone believes something, even if it is the conviction that there is nothing worth believing in. Without the Spirit’s help, however, we are programmed by sin to resist trusting in our Creator – Sustainer – Redeemer. What is the root of this condition of the heart? Is there a way out?

The Root of Unbelief

Unbelief is a plant that can only grow in the soil of a hardened heart.

Unbelief and doubt may seem to be rooted in the  mind, but the Bible teaches us that they really reside in the heart, which is the seat of our affections and being. When Jesus encountered unbelief in his disciples, this is what he said.

At this they began to argue with each other because they hadn’t brought any bread. 17  Jesus knew what they were saying, so he said, “Why are you arguing about having no bread? Don’t you know or understand even yet? Are your hearts too hard to take it in? 18  ‘You have eyes—can’t you see? You have ears—can’t you hear?’ Don’t you remember anything at all? Mark 8:16-18 (NLT)

Jesus, the one who created us, knows that the root of unbelief is a heart that has grown hard against God.

People call unbelief by nicer sounding names – realism, cynicism, science… but the underlying reality is that unbelief reveals a heart that is hard and easily repels the entrance of truth, revelation, and faith.

The Greek adjective in this verse is translated “hardened” or “calloused.” When we build up callouses on our feet or hands, we lose feeling in those areas. Calloused hearts have severe difficulty feeling proper emotions relating to God and detecting the gentle nudging of the Spirit.

Whatever the reason for our hardened heart – disappointment, disillusionment, traumatic pain, bitterness… – it is the poisonous ground that grows the one thing that is able to block God’s grace to us – unbelief.

He returned to Nazareth, his hometown. When he taught there in the synagogue, everyone was amazed and said, “Where does he get this wisdom and the power to do miracles?” 55  Then they scoffed, “He’s just the carpenter’s son, and we know Mary, his mother, and his brothers—James, Joseph, Simon, and Judas. 56  All his sisters live right here among us. Where did he learn all these things?” 57  And they were deeply offended and refused to believe in him. Then Jesus told them, “A prophet is honored everywhere except in his own hometown and among his own family.” 58  And so he did only a few miracles there because of their unbelief. Matthew 13:54-58 (NLT)

The reason that those people were deeply offended at Jesus is the same reason humans in general are deeply offended at God – pride. They thought Jesus had no right to assume such high and mighty notions about himself as being a distinguished prophet and teacher and, dare we say, Messiah. Imagine: they refused to acknowledge the Creator come in the flesh! Our unbelief is just as stark and offensive to God.

The one who is the true light, who gives light to everyone, was coming into the world. 10  He came into the very world he created, but the world didn’t recognize him. 11  He came to his own people, and even they rejected him. 12  But to all who believed him and accepted him, he gave the right to become children of God. John 1:9-12 (NLT)

Rather than being drawn toward Jesus by the Spirit, they chose to reject him. This is what happens to people with a hard heart.

Pride robs us of being able to believe. It is offended by the requirement of acknowledging Christ’s lordship.

It takes humility to admit that we are created beings who only exist through the continuous sustaining power of God.

The Son radiates God’s own glory and expresses the very character of God, and he sustains everything by the mighty power of his command. When he had cleansed us from our sins, he sat down in the place of honor at the right hand of the majestic God in heaven. Hebrews 1:3 (NLT)

The hardened heart will not – cannot – bow to the Lord Jesus.

The Antidote

Jesus warned those with hardened hearts in his audience that their heart condition was blocking them from life.

This fulfills the prophecy of Isaiah that says, ‘When you hear what I say, you will not understand. When you see what I do, you will not comprehend. 15  For the hearts of these people are hardened, and their ears cannot hear, and they have closed their eyes— so their eyes cannot see, and their ears cannot hear, and their hearts cannot understand, and they cannot turn to me and let me heal them.’ Matthew 13:14-15 (NLT)

The only antidote to a hardened heart is to turn to Jesus through a combination of the inner working of God’s Spirit coupled with our choice to surrender our offenses and pride to God.

The Bible uses the word “repentance” to describe this surrender. In the New Testament, it literally means to “change the mind.” Repentance takes place when we admit to ourselves and to God that we have been wrong and that God is right. It means we stop leaning on our own understanding of things and start accepting what God says in the Bible. It means we lay down our offense against God and admit we need him desperately. It acknowledges that we are spiritual paupers who have nothing to offer God except to trust him completely.

Maintaining a heart that is “soft” toward God is a lifelong challenge. We must learn to forgive readily and freely; otherwise, our hearts begin to grow hard. We must learn to obey God swiftly and completely, lest our hearts start to harden. It takes the Spirit of God’s assistance to get started on this discipleship journey, and it takes his continual help to complete it. But take heart, that is what Jesus sent him to be and to do. He is our Helper!

"I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may be with you forever; 17  that is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it does not see Him or know Him, but you know Him because He abides with you and will be in you. John 14:16-17 (NASB)

If we are having a hard time believing and trusting in God, we should acknowledge that we have a hard heart and ask forgiveness. We should ask the Holy Spirit to show us where we need to repent and to work in us to restore us to a place of trusting God from the heart.

Prayer

Jesus, I now understand that my doubt and unbelief come from a heart that has a problem with trusting and submitting to you. Please forgive me. Holy Spirit, show me any particular areas for which I need to repent. (Anything that comes to mind should now be confessed to God.) Work in me a deep seated ability to fully trust and surrender my life to Jesus. I depend on you. Amen.

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Faith Waits During Dark Days

 

 

 

 

 

Darkness often descends upon those who are waiting to receive a promise from God. God allows our faith to be tested to prove its genuineness. (1 Peter 1:6-7) Persevering faith brings great glory to God. King David spent years waiting for Samuel’s prophecy of his coming kingship to be fulfilled. Even though he was anointed king as a young boy, he had to wait for God’s timing. So did Abraham and countless others. Joseph was also a great example. The scriptures say the following about his wait.

Until the time that his word came to pass, The word of the LORD tested him. Psalm 105:19 (NASB)

How discouraging and dark were those years of captivity in Egypt? How distant and unreal did those boyhood dreams of having authority over his brothers and parents seem? Was he tempted to cast away his confidence? There is no indication that he ever wavered.

The Letter to the Hebrews encourages us to likewise remain strong during our dark days of waiting on God to fulfill his promises to us.

Therefore, do not throw away your confidence, which has a great reward. 36  For you have need of endurance, so that when you have done the will of God, you may receive what was promised. Hebrews 10:35-36 (NASB)

Jesus told his disciples before he ever went to the cross that he would be crucified, but would rise again after three days. They were not able to grasp or believe his words. As he hung dying on that instrument of torture, the altar upon which he freely gave away his life as payment for our sins, he announced, “It is finished.” (John 19:30) He announced to the world, heaven, the angels, demons, Satan, and his Father that his mighty work of redemption was complete. Nothing more needed to be done on his part. All that remained was to wait for God the Father to do his part – the resurrection.

How do you suppose the disciples felt during that Sabbath between the crucifixion and the resurrection? Were they able to rest in and rejoice that, just as in the creation, God had finished his work? Or did they wallow in despair, confusion, and self-pity? What would you have done? What have you done when God has required you to wait for him to fulfill a very specific promise to you? Maybe you are in just such a time right now. How is your faith doing? Is it getting stronger? That is what God wants. That is what happened to Abraham when he had to wait twenty-five years for a promise to be fulfilled.

Even when there was no reason for hope, Abraham kept hoping—believing that he would become the father of many nations. For God had said to him, “That’s how many descendants you will have!” 19  And Abraham’s faith did not weaken, even though, at about 100 years of age, he figured his body was as good as dead—and so was Sarah’s womb. 20  Abraham never wavered in believing God’s promise. In fact, his faith grew stronger, and in this he brought glory to God. 21  He was fully convinced that God is able to do whatever he promises. Romans 4:18-21 (NLT)

Faith is able to wait during dark days because it is focused on God’s faithfulness and it is upheld by God himself. He is the Author and Completer of our faith. (Hebrews 12:2)

However, Jesus is compassionate when we waver. This is shown in the resurrection account of his appearance to the two disciples who were walking to Emmaus. They had lost hope, but Jesus chose to appear to them before he ever visited his main disciples. How remarkable! In fact, his chief band of disciples still did not believe! If you are struggling to keep the faith during your wait for God to fulfill his word, know that God is there for you. Hang in there, just as King David wrote so long ago.

Yet I am confident I will see the LORD’s goodness while I am here in the land of the living. 14  Wait patiently for the LORD. Be brave and courageous. Yes, wait patiently for the LORD. Psalm 27:13-14 (NLT)
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Basic Doctrines of Christ: The Resurrection from the Dead in Everyday Life

 

 

 

 

 

One of the dangers with any doctrine is postponing it until the indefinite future. This is what Martha did regarding the resurrection just before Jesus restored life to her brother Lazarus. Jesus told her that he is the resurrection and was able to raise Lazarus immediately, but her thinking restricted the matter until the end of time.

Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise again.” 24  Martha said to him, “I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day.” 25  Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, 26  and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?” 27  She said to him, “Yes, Lord; I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, who is coming into the world.” John 11:23-27 (ESV)

When Jesus returns in glory, he will indeed raise us from the dead, but even now we can experience resurrection life on a daily basis. There is only one problem associated with this process, however: to experience resurrection there must first be a death.

Imagine the horror Jesus felt as he hung on the cross as he experienced separation from his Father as the sins of the world fell upon him! You and I were born into this world separated from God because of Adam’s sin, but this was the first time for Jesus who had experienced glorious unity with his heavenly Father for all eternity.

For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. 2 Corinthians 5:21 (ESV) 

And about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, “Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?” that is, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” Matthew 27:46 (ESV)

Abraham also experienced a version of this in what the Bible calls a “terror of great darkness” (Genesis 15:12), at which time God confirmed to him an everlasting covenant. God’s eternal unconditional promise to Abraham was based on what Christ accomplished millennia later. God is not bound by time as we are. The benefits of Christ’s death and resurrection reverberate through time backward and forward for all eternity. Jesus experienced completely the horror of darkness that Abraham felt in part. Nevertheless, God required Abraham to go through it.

Later in Abraham’s story, the death-resurrection principle played out again. God asked Abraham to sacrifice Isaac, the son of promise for whom he had patiently waited for 25 years! Amazingly Abraham immediately obeyed without questioning God and was ready to complete the act when an angel stopped him. This, of course, foreshadowed Father God’s actual sacrifice of his Son upon the cross. In writing about this act of obedience by Abraham, the author of Hebrews states that our faith forefather trusted in God’s ability to raise the dead.

It was by faith that Abraham offered Isaac as a sacrifice when God was testing him. Abraham, who had received God’s promises, was ready to sacrifice his only son, Isaac, 18  even though God had told him, “Isaac is the son through whom your descendants will be counted.” 19  Abraham reasoned that if Isaac died, God was able to bring him back to life again. And in a sense, Abraham did receive his son back from the dead. Hebrews 11:17-19 (NLT)

What Abraham did revealed his faith that God will fulfill his promises, even if he requires us temporarily to let go of them. Some call this “death of a vision.”  When we are willing to let something apparently die that is a precious promise to us, in the hope that God will yet restore it in his way and his time, we participate in the resurrection principle.

Paul wrote about this to the church in Corinth.

For we do not want you to be unaware, brethren, of our affliction which came to us in Asia, that we were burdened excessively, beyond our strength, so that we despaired even of life; 9  indeed, we had the sentence of death within ourselves so that we would not trust in ourselves, but in God who raises the dead; 10  who delivered us from so great a peril of death, and will deliver us, He on whom we have set our hope. And He will yet deliver us, 11  you also joining in helping us through your prayers, so that thanks may be given by many persons on our behalf for the favor bestowed on us through the prayers of many. 2 Corinthians 1:8-11 (NASB)

The resurrection principle requires that we cease to try to keep ourselves and our promises alive through our own strength, but instead abandon ourselves to the faithfulness of God.

This is what Jesus did on the cross. As he descended into the abyss of death and experienced complete weakness and relinquished all attempts to save himself, he abandoned himself to his Father, the great Promise Keeper.

And Jesus, crying out with a loud voice, said, "Father, INTO YOUR HANDS I COMMIT MY SPIRIT." Having said this, He breathed His last. Luke 23:46 (NASB)

This was the culmination of Jesus’ faith walk, but he professed his faith in God’s resurrection power often prior to his crucifixion. He repeatedly told his disciples that he would die on a cross and be raised three days later. For us to properly experience God’s resurrection power, we must have faith in his ability to pull it off.

To experience resurrection, it is important that we understand and embrace the process. Jesus knew he had to die first in order to be raised. The same is true for us.

What has God promised to you that seems hopeless at this point? Have you released it into God’s hands? Are you able to trust him to give it back to you, if you give it to him? That is how we experience the resurrection in everyday life.

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Basic Doctrines of Christ: The Resurrection from the Dead – Beyond Imagination

 

 

 

 

 

That is what the Scriptures mean when they say, “No eye has seen, no ear has heard, and no mind has imagined what God has prepared for those who love him.” 1 Corinthians 2:9 (NLT)

Imagination can be used in a good way to go beyond our previous experience. Many great advances have been made by those whose imagination fueled innovation.

When it comes to the resurrection and what lies ahead for those who trust in Christ after our earthly lives comes to an end, even our imagination is insufficient. What God has in store for us is far more wonderful than anything we can conceive. Imagine that!

A common conception of heaven pictures angels floating on clouds playing harps. How boring does that sound? The glimpses of heaven provided in Scripture are anything but boring. Those who claim to have died and seen heaven tell of sights, sounds, and experiences that are beyond description. The apostle Paul was among that group.

I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago was caught up to the third heaven—whether in the body or out of the body I do not know, God knows. 3  And I know that this man was caught up into paradise—whether in the body or out of the body I do not know, God knows— 4  and he heard things that cannot be told, which man may not utter. 2 Corinthians 12:2-4 (ESV)

When our Lord rose from the dead, he was sometimes not immediately recognized. Something had happened to him that made him different from before. At other times, he was clearly recognized by those to whom he appeared. He was able to appear and disappear. Walls were not a barrier to him. He had a real body that could be touched. He was able to eat food. What kind of body did he have in his resurrected state?

Paul said that we really cannot imagine what the resurrected “spiritual” body will be like.

But someone will ask, “How are the dead raised? With what kind of body do they come?” 36  You foolish person! What you sow does not come to life unless it dies. 37  And what you sow is not the body that is to be, but a bare kernel, perhaps of wheat or of some other grain. 38  But God gives it a body as he has chosen, and to each kind of seed its own body. 39  For not all flesh is the same, but there is one kind for humans, another for animals, another for birds, and another for fish. 40  There are heavenly bodies and earthly bodies, but the glory of the heavenly is of one kind, and the glory of the earthly is of another. 41  There is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars; for star differs from star in glory. 42  So is it with the resurrection of the dead. What is sown is perishable; what is raised is imperishable. 43  It is sown in dishonor; it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness; it is raised in power. 44  It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body. 45  Thus it is written, “The first man Adam became a living being”; the last Adam became a life-giving spirit. 46  But it is not the spiritual that is first but the natural, and then the spiritual. 47  The first man was from the earth, a man of dust; the second man is from heaven. 48  As was the man of dust, so also are those who are of the dust, and as is the man of heaven, so also are those who are of heaven. 49  Just as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we shall also bear the image of the man of heaven. 1 Corinthians 15:35-49 (ESV)

When we plant a seed, we get something very different when it sprouts. We see a complete plant that is able to produce more seeds! The seed we plant must “die” before it can “resurrect” as a plant. The seed goes into the ground where moisture causes it to “decompose” in order to be re-composed as a brand new plant. This is a picture from nature that gives us some idea of the resurrection process.

Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. 25  Whoever loves his life loses it, and whoever hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. John 12:24-25 (ESV)

One thing we learn from what the Bible says about the resurrection is that our bodies are important to God, important enough for him to eternally save them, too.

He created our bodies to house our spirits, making us unique creatures who are able to interface with both the physical and spiritual worlds. How extraordinary!

God will eventually re-create heaven and earth (2 Peter 3:13), making a suitable place for resurrected people to inhabit. Imagine that, if you can.

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Basic Doctrines of Christ: The Resurrection from the Dead – Two Resurrections

 

 

 

 

 

As with most things God created, the resurrection is more “complicated” than it first appears. Creation has  fantastic complexity, depth, precision, and variety. After centuries of scientific inquiry, we have yet to fully comprehend the “fearfully and wonderfully made” bodies God created for his people. In an effort to deflect honor and glory from God, man created the lie of evolution to try to explain away God, but it is a futile exercise in foolishness. Any right thinking person knows instinctively that precision and complexity does not randomly appear out of chaos. In a similar fashion, the resurrection from the dead is not as simple as God making our bodies alive again. God is much more creative than that.

Just as God’s great salvation applies uniquely to each part of us, spirit, soul, and body, the resurrection does, as well. In fact, there is a resurrection “principle” at work in every aspect of God’s salvation.

The First Resurrection

When Jesus died on the cross and three days later rose again, the Bible says those who believe in him were spiritually included in that death and rising.

But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, 5  even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), 6  and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, 7  so that in the ages to come He might show the surpassing riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. Ephesians 2:4-7 (NASB)

God saves us on the inside before we see the results on the outside.

Spiritually those who believe in Jesus have already received and are learning to experience his complete victory. We died and rose with him and now are seated with him in heavenly places at God’s right hand. Nevertheless, since we still have an earthly existence in the body, we also live here on planet earth in a fallen world inhabiting a body still under sin’s curse and death. The incongruity is staggering. This is why we find ourselves often frustrated. We are divided in our experience. The spirit is “in sync” with God, or as Jesus said, willing, but the “flesh” is not. Every believer knows what this feels like. Paul wrote about it.

I find then the principle that evil is present in me, the one who wants to do good. 22  For I joyfully concur with the law of God in the inner man, 23  but I see a different law in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin which is in my members. 24  Wretched man that I am! Who will set me free from the body of this death? 25  Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, on the one hand I myself with my mind am serving the law of God, but on the other, with my flesh the law of sin. Romans 7:21-25 (NASB)

During our remaining days on earth, trapped in a pre-resurrected body, we must learn to live in the spiritual reality of Christ’s resurrection. This is called “walking in the Spirit.”

We already live in the Spirit, spiritually, but we must learn to “walk it out” on a day to day basis.

If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit. Galatians 5:25 (NASB)

This corresponds to what I previously wrote concerning transformation or sanctification, which is the daily outworking of grace in our lives to make us more like Jesus. We might call this a daily experience of the first resurrection, which is spiritual. This is the resurrection principle at work.

The Second Resurrection

The second resurrection will be that of the body.

When Jesus returns, he will raise all the dead, including the wicked.

"Do not marvel at this; for an hour is coming, in which all who are in the tombs will hear His voice, 29  and will come forth; those who did the good deeds to a resurrection of life, those who committed the evil deeds to a resurrection of judgment. John 5:28-29 (NASB)

In our resurrected state, we will all stand before God at the judgment seat. This is the point at which the Bible says that every knee will bow and every tongue confess that Jesus is Lord. (Romans 14:11) Those who pass the test at that great judgment will experience God’s glory in their new bodies in the context of a new heaven and earth. I will write more about this in the future.

Only those who have experienced the first resurrection, or new birth, will be able to enjoy the glories of the second resurrection.

The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were ended. This is the first resurrection. 6  Blessed and holy is the one who shares in the first resurrection! Over such the second death has no power, but they will be priests of God and of Christ, and they will reign with him for a thousand years. Revelation 20:5-6 (ESV)

Now we are getting into what theologians call eschatology or the doctrine of the end times. There are various ways to interpret Revelation, but let me share my take on the above passage. Rather than believe in a future “millennium” or literal 1000 year reign of Christ on the earth, I believe Revelation is speaking of the current church age in which those who believe in Christ have been spiritually raised from the dead and are seated with him in heavenly places sharing his authority even now.

If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. 2  Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. 3  For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. 4  When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory. Colossians 3:1-4 (ESV)

To me this makes sense of the passage in Revelation, but, even if you do not accept my interpretation, you must deal with the concept of two resurrections, the spiritual one and the bodily one.

Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. 22  But even now I know that whatever you ask from God, God will give you.” 23  Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise again.” 24  Martha said to him, “I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day.” 25  Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, 26  and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?” 27  She said to him, “Yes, Lord; I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, who is coming into the world.” John 11:21-27 (ESV)

Martha knew Jesus personally, believed in him, and had a pretty good doctrine of the end times, but she did not understand at that time the spiritual side of things. She thought the resurrection only applied to the very end of time, but Jesus, who is the Resurrection, was and is able to raise anyone from the dead at any moment. In addition, he promised Martha that those who put their faith in him “will never die.” This can only mean that the “second death” has no power over them. (Revelation 20:6)

In other words, faith in Christ makes us one with the risen Christ. We are part of Christ’s first resurrection and we never need fear the second death. We now belong to God.

Prayer

Jesus, I want to escape the second death. I believe that when you rose from the dead, you provided life for all who believe and receive you. I receive you into my heart and declare my allegiance to you. Thank you for eternal life now and the resurrection of the body later. Now, come Holy Spirit. Help me to live for Jesus. Amen.

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Basic Doctrines of Christ: The Resurrection from the Dead – Glorification

 

 

 

 

 

As I wrote in another series of articles, we are composed of spirit, soul, and body. (1 Thessalonians 5:23)  You can click on the links to read about each one in detail, if you wish.) Followers of Christ are instructed to properly “divide” or “cut straight” God’s Word (1 Timothy 2:15). This means we are to properly interpret and handle God’s message to us.

It is necessary to distinguish between how God’s great salvation applies uniquely to each part of us, or we will become confused.

For example, the Bible tells us that we can know that we have eternal life (1 John 5:13), but also reminds us that we are saved “in hope” (Romans 8:24-25). So which is it? Are we already saved, or are we waiting to be saved? The answer is both: we are already justified in the spirit, but we are waiting (hoping) for the last installment of our great salvation, the resurrection from the dead.

For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us. 19  For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God. 20  For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it, in hope 21  that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God. 22  For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now. 23  And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. 24  For in this hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he sees? 25  But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience. Romans 8:18-25 (ESV)

We were created as living souls, which come to being when God breathes spirit into a lifeless body. (Genesis 2:7 KJV) In quick summary, at the new birth, our inner spirits are instantly transformed into a new creation (2 Corinthians 5:17) and integrally joined with the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 6:17). We are “born again” and become one with Christ. This is a “once for all” completed work accomplished on our behalf in the past when Christ died and rose again, which I and many others call justification, even though it contains within it all five pillars of what Christ accomplished on our behalf in the New Covenant – propitiation, redemption, justification, reconciliation, and sonship. This is why the Bible tells us that those who believe already have eternal life. (John 5:24)

The salvation of the soul is an ongoing, daily process whereby we are being gradually transformed in our personalities and behavior to think, act, and speak as Christ. In this sense, our salvation is very much “in process.” I call this transformation, even though some prefer the term sanctification. It is a working out in our daily lives what God has already done in our spirits. (Philippians 2:12-13) How we obey God and allow his Spirit to inwardly conform us to Christ will have a great impact upon our heavenly reward. We need a fresh impartation of God’s grace everyday for strength to participate with the Spirit of God in this process.

Finally, we are waiting for the glorious day when our bodies, which are still under Adam’s curse of death, will be gloriously resurrected and renewed so that we finally are completely free from every vestige of the destructive power of sin and death. Our bodies will experience glorification.

For our citizenship is in heaven, from which also we eagerly wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ; 21  who will transform the body of our humble state into conformity with the body of His glory, by the exertion of the power that He has even to subject all things to Himself. Philippians 3:20-21 (NASB) 

Now I say this, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. 51  Behold, I tell you a mystery; we will not all sleep, but we will all be changed, 52  in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet; for the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. 53  For this perishable must put on the imperishable, and this mortal must put on immortality. 1 Corinthians 15:50-53 (NASB)

This is our hope and expectation in Christ, who promised to raise from the dead each of us who believe.

"For this is the will of My Father, that everyone who beholds the Son and believes in Him will have eternal life, and I Myself will raise him up on the last day." John 6:40 (NASB)
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