I don't really know why, but I've had the impression for some time that I should share with you some very negative experiences from my life of ministry. This might seem long, and you might question why I share it at all! But I want to be obedient to share these things with those of you who read my blog. I got a feeling it might be related to my recent studies of Pauline Theology, because Paul said he gloried and boasted in his weaknesses. (2 Cor. 11:30)
How our visit to Iona turned into a divine appointment
Back in July, my daughter, a U.S. Army captain, paid my way to come be with her, her husband, and my two grandsons in the UK. It was a wonderful experience, and we saw sights in England, Wales, Scotland, and Ireland. While in Scotland I had what I would call a “divine appointment,” an experience set up by God so His gospel could be shared with people who needed to hear it. I mentioned this experience on Facebook, but never gave details. The reason was because I witnessed to two people and gave them my website, so I didn’t want them going there and reading what I wrote about them. Now that some time is past, and because last week our pastor asked us to share something God had done recently, I thought I’d type it up. It really was an example of how God can use any situation for His glory and for the spread of the gospel. Continue reading “How our visit to Iona turned into a divine appointment”
Saved From What? #6 Union and Glorification!
Romans 5:1-11; Romans 8:18-32
This is the last in a series called “Saved From What?” We’ve been looking at what it means to be saved, and what Jesus saved us from: the guilt of sin, and thus, the fear of wrath and judgment, the condemnation and hell we deserve, the destiny of the wicked and unsaved. Related to this is the fact that we’re saved from the law and the curse of it, so that now, we’re not condemned because of missing the mark, but we’re made righteous by faith in what Christ has done for us. We have been saved from spiritual death as well. God has raised us from the dead! We’ve experienced a spiritual resurrection, and that is just a foretaste of the coming physical resurrection when Jesus returns. We’ve been delivered from the power of the devil, our archenemy, the tyrant who had such power over us. Now we no longer have to serve him. We’re in God’s Kingdom now, not Satan’s. Last week, we saw how we’ve also been saved from the power of sin, we’ve been healed of the sickness and given a solution for the weakness of it. So these are all things we have been saved from. Now let’s look at what we’ve been saved for, i.e., why God saved us, and what it’ll lead to. Continue reading “Saved From What? #6 Union and Glorification!”
Saved From What? #5 The Weakness of Sin
Beyond a crime or a disease, sin is also a weakness. Anselm of Canterbury, in the 12th century, had an interesting illustration he used to explain the effects of sin. He said imagine if a landowner told one of his laborers to go to a certain area of his farm or ranch, and do some work there, build fences, dig trenches, or whatever, and in sending him, he also warned him of a pit in that area to beware of. If the worker didn’t pay attention, he could easily fall into that pit, and then he wouldn’t be able to get out of it and do the work his boss wanted him to do. The worker goes his way, doesn’t heed the warning, and falls into that pit. So now he has failed his boss in two ways. He can’t do the work his boss wanted him to do, and, even though he was forewarned, he’s carelessly fallen into a trap from which he cannot escape! He’s doubly useless! Continue reading “Saved From What? #5 The Weakness of Sin”
Saved From What? #4 The Sickness of Sin
1 Pet. 2:24; 1 Cor. 11:30
Various parts of the Christian Church have focused on various aspects of salvation over the centuries. Various metaphors have been used to describe sin and its effects, and what God has done to save us from it. Last time, we looked at the most typical Western view, that sin is a crime against God, and we are all like criminals facing judgment. What we need desperately is to be saved in a forensic sense, to be freed from our guilt, forgiven of a crime we’ve committed. That’s important, but it’s not enough. Because if we just look at salvation as a forensic thing, then once our record is expunged, we think that’s all there is to it. But being a forgiven criminal doesn’t tend to make us feel we’re in a personal relationship with the Judge, does it? And it doesn’t do much in terms of changing our behavior, our attitudes, feelings, our relationships with others. No, forensic salvation is good, but it’s only one aspect, one phase of what God has for us. There’s more to it, more that we need to understand. Continue reading “Saved From What? #4 The Sickness of Sin”
Saved From What? #3 The Domination of the Devil
We’ve been looking at salvation, different aspects of it, different metaphors that express what it is, different ways parts of the church have looked at it over the centuries. We started off looking at the predominant Western view, that sin is a crime against God, and what we need is to be forgiven of our guilt before Him, we need to have our records expunged. This is the forensic view of sin, and it’s completely right and legitimate. But there’s another aspect of sin and salvation we need to explore and know about. I’m talking about the fact that we need to not only be saved from our sins, our guilt, our separation from God, but we also need to be freed from the domination, the bullying, the oppression of our archenemy, Satan! Continue reading “Saved From What? #3 The Domination of the Devil”
Saved From What? #2 Spiritual Death
We’ve been looking at salvation, different aspects of it, different metaphors that express what it is, different ways parts of the church have looked at it over the centuries. We’re asking the question, saved from what? Why do we need to be saved and what are we saved from anyway? Continue reading “Saved From What? #2 Spiritual Death”