It’s Too Costly

~ It Would Cost Me Too Much ~

note:  This is one in a series of Biblical answers to objections some individuals raise when presented with the Good News of salvation through Jesus Christ. 

 “I will not bother to personally conduct a serious investigation of Jesus Christ because it might not be worth it.” 

This is like saying, “Don’t confuse me with facts.” Such a response doesn’t stand up to the test of logic or what your Creator says. Consider logic and consider what God says…  

Just about everything in life involves tradeoffs. When you purchase food, gasoline, or other items in a store, you have decided the trade is worth it. Likewise when you fall in love and decide to marry the man or woman of your dreams, you have decided the change in your life is worth it. The reality is that gains are associated with losses. The question is whether or not the tradeoff is worth it. 

Your Life Is All About Tradeoffs  ~  The martyred missionary Jim Elliot wrote in his private journals, “He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose” (28 October 1949). Jim had saturated his mind with the Word of God—and this sentiment echoed a New Testament passage where Jesus said, “What will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul? For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him the Son of Man also will be ashamed when He comes in the glory of His Father with the holy angels” (Mark 8:36-38).

Paradox: Saving Your Lifestyle Will Be Loss  ~  Just prior to that previous passage Jesus had said, “Whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake and the gospel's will save it” (Mark 8:35).

[Jesus said] “Everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or wife or children or lands, for My name's sake, shall receive a hundredfold, and inherit eternal life” (Matthew 19:29). “So He [Jesus] said to them, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or parents or brothers or wife or children, for the sake of the kingdom of God, who shall not receive many times more in this present time, and in the age to come eternal life’” (Luke 18:29-30). 

Paradox: Humility Leads to Honor  ~  “And He [Jesus] sat down, called the twelve, and said to them, ‘If anyone desires to be first, he shall be last of all and servant of all’” (Mark 9:35).

Paradox: Life Comes From Death  ~  Jesus said, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it produces much grain” (John 12:24).

Paradox: Giving Is Gain  ~  “Jesus said to him, ‘If you want to be perfect, go, sell what you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me” (Matthew 19:21).

The Son of God Loves You  ~  “Who Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live for righteousness—by whose stripes you were healed” (1 Peter 2:24).

“What shall I render to the Lord for all His benefits toward me?” (Psalm 116:12).

Is Trading the Temporary For the Eternal Worth It?  ~  The last verse of the hymn “Amazing Grace” states, “When we’ve been there ten thousand years bright shining as the sun—we’ve no less days to sing God’s praise than when we first begun.”  Think about it! A 100-year life compared to eternity is similar to less than a drop of water in the vast oceans of the world.

The Testimony of the Apostle Paul  ~  “Yet indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ” (Philippians 3:8).

additional thoughts:

“At the root of all the miseries of mankind is a miscalculation of the value of things” (Benjamin Franklin, 1706-1790).

“It matters not what you lose if you save your soul; it matters not what you save if you lose it.”

“Don’t sacrifice the permanent on the altar of the immediate.”

“The greatest use of life is to spend it on something that outlasts it.” 

“Do not let the good things of life rob you of the best things” (Buster Kothman). 

“Things which matter most must never be at the mercy of things which matter least” (Goethe, 1749-1832). 

“Only one life twill soon be past, only what's done for Christ will last” (C.T. Studd, 1860-1931).

“I'd rather lose in a cause that will ultimately succeed, than succeed in one that will ultimately fail” (Abraham Lincoln, 1809-1865).

the key question:  What about you? How are your tradeoffs? How are your investments?

summary: “The basic reality of God is plain enough. Open your eyes and there it is! By taking a long and thoughtful look at what God has created, people have always been able to see what their eyes as such can't see: eternal power, for instance, and the mystery of His divine being.

So nobody has a good excuse.

What happened was this: People knew God perfectly well, but when they didn't treat him like God, refusing to worship him, they trivialized themselves into silliness and confusion so that there was neither sense nor direction left in their lives. They pretended to know it all, but were illiterate regarding life” (Romans 1:19-22, The Message).

~ Robert Lloyd Russell, ABUNDANT LIFE NOW

Law vs. Grace, 6of12

~ Slave vs. Adopted Son ~

introduction:  The Apostle Paul wrote the Book of Galatians to the believers of this local church at a time when they were beginning to reject the gospel of grace and were instead moving backward toward obedience of the Mosaic Law as the means of winning favor with God. Paul’s purpose in writing was to point out the dramatic differences between Law and Grace. 

Slave vs. Adopted Son

LAW  ~  “Therefore you are no longer a slave but a son, and if a son, then an heir of

 God through Christ” (Galatians 4:7). 

GRACE  ~  “And because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying out, ‘Abba, Father!’ Therefore you are no longer a slave but a son, and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ” (Galatians 4:6-7).   

summary:  The bottom line of understanding Law vs. Grace is a theology of “DO or DONE!” Are you still trying to DO things to earn your salvation, or do you understand that it was DONE for you on the Cross of Calvary by Jesus Christ—you only need to accept/trust His provision on your behalf?

“Being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus” (Romans 3:24). “Not by works of righteousness which we do, but according to His mercy He saves us” (Titus 3:5a).

notes:  (1) The fourth Tuesday of each month during 2013 ALN will look at one aspect of “Law vs. Grace” as seen in the Book of Galatians.

(2) In addition to this series of 12 posts on Law vs. Grace, you might take a look at two previous ALN posts.  Law vs. Grace (July 6, 2010) and Law vs. Grace, 2 (July 5, 2011), as well as The Core Message of the Bible #2 (February 1, 2011).

~ Robert Lloyd Russell, ABUNDANT LIFE NOW

Christ’s Presence

~ The Effect of His Presence ~

His Presence Is Intolerable to the Sinner  ~  “And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden” (Genesis 3:8).  “Then Cain went out from the presence of the Lord and dwelt in the land of Nod on the east of Eden” (Genesis 4:16 ).

His Presence Is Salvation to the Saint  ~  “And have not shut me up into the hand of the enemy; You have set my feet in a wide place” (Psalm 31:8).  “Why are you cast down, O my soul?  And why are you disquieted within me?  Hope in God, for I shall yet praise Him for the help of His countenance” (Psalm 42:5).

His Presence Is Rest to the Servant  ~  “And He said, ‘My Presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.’  Then he said to Him, ‘If Your Presence does not go with us, do not bring us up from here’” (Exodus 33:14-15).  “Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.  Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.  For My yoke is easy and My burden is light” (Matthew 11:28-30).

the key question: “Who do you say that I am?” (Matthew 16:15). This is the most important question you will ever answer. If you do not answer it, or answer it incorrectly, you have made the biggest mistake anyone can make!

~ Robert Lloyd Russell, ABUNDANT LIFE NOW

Messiah, 102

~ Messiah’s Betrayer Would Be Replaced ~

“Search the Scriptures—they testify of Me.”

— Jesus Christ (John 5:39)

The Scripture

“Set a wicked man over Him, and let an accuser stand at his right hand. When he is judged, let him be found guilty, and let his prayer become sin. Let his days be few, and let another take his office. Let his children be fatherless, and his wife a widow” (Psalm 109:6-9).

    

The Messiah  

“And in those days Peter stood up in the midst of the disciples (altogether the number of names was about a hundred and twenty), and said, ‘Men and brethren, this Scripture had to be fulfilled, which the Holy Spirit spoke before by the mouth of David concerning Judas, who became a guide to those who arrested Jesus; for he was numbered with us and obtained a part in this ministry.’ (Now this man purchased a field with the wages of iniquity; and falling headlong, he burst open in the middle and all his entrails gushed out. And it became known to all those dwelling in Jerusalem; so that field is called in their own language, Akel Dama, that is, Field of Blood.) ‘For it is written in the Book of Psalms: “Let his dwelling place be desolate, and let no one live in it;” and, “Let another take his office. Therefore, of these men who have accompanied us all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us, beginning from the baptism of John to that day when He was taken up from us, one of these must become a witness with us of His resurrection.” And they proposed two: Joseph called Barsabas, who was surnamed Justus, and Matthias. And they prayed and said, “You, O Lord, who know the hearts of all, show which of these two You have chosen to take part in this ministry and apostleship from which Judas by transgression fell, that he might go to his own place.” And they cast their lots, and the lot fell on Matthias. And he was numbered with the eleven apostles.’”  (Acts 1:15-26). 

~~~ EXPLANATORY “MESSIAH” NOTES ~~~   

(1)  Each Saturday ALN posts an example of a Hebrew Scriptures prophecy (or foreshadowing) related to the coming Messiah which was fulfilled in the birth, life, death, or resurrection of Jesus Christ.

(2)  While extensive it will not be a complete list—there are hundreds of prophecies of the coming Messiah which have been fulfilled by one man—Jesus Christ at His First Coming.

(3)  It is important that there are many more prophecies of the Messiah, yet unfulfilled, which Christians believe will be fulfilled at the time of His Second Coming.  A particularly relevant Scripture verse in this regard is: “Do not despise prophesies” (1 Thessalonians 5:20).

(4)  These posts will typically consist only of Scripture—which speaks for itself.  Sometimes italicized or bold font will be used by ALN for emphasis.

(5)  The numbering of these fulfilled prophecies of the Messiah is used to differentiate individual posts. It is not chronological (either by time of the prophecy or by sequence in the life of the Messiah).  The posting sequence will, for the most part, be in the order that the prophecies appear in Scripture.

(6)  Because of the chosen methodology (#5 above) we will find many specific prophecies repeated multiple times throughout the Scriptures.

(7)  These serial posts are in addition to our regular Tuesday ALN postings on random topics.

(8)  Subscription to ABUNDANT LIFE NOW blog is simple—just use the link on the left sidebar.  Once subscribed you will not miss future posts.

~ Robert Lloyd Russell, ABUNDANT LIFE NOW

Is That In The Bible? 2

~ “Cleanliness Is Next To Godliness” ~

This posting is a response to a blog entitled “7 Things You Won’t Find in the Bible… I Dare You to Look.” I am taking that challenge! The second listed phrase was “Cleanliness is next to Godliness.” I would agree that the phrase is not found in our English Bible—but what about the principle behind the phrase?

Words by themselves are meaningless—it is only when we attach meaning to the words that communication occurs. The principle behind this phrase can be found in the Bible, but the phrase can be heresy when different meanings are behind the words and the phrase. 

“Cleanliness is next to godliness”  ~  The author of that piece provides the following verses. His citations actually support the principle!

(1) “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9).
(2) “You are already clean because of the Word which I have spoken to you” (John 15:3).
(3) “Therefore, having these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all defilement of flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God” (2 Corinthians 7:1). 
(4) “Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded” (James 4:8).
(5) “So that He might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the Word, that He might present to Himself the church in all her glory, having no spot or wrinkle or any such thing; but that she would be holy and blameless” (Ephesians 5:26-27).

Is “cleanliness next to Godliness”? Based upon the whole Scripture it is clear that God wants His children to be clean—particularly morally and spiritually.

~ Robert Lloyd Russell, ABUNDANT LIFE NOW