Should’s, Ought’s, and Must’s…and the the ever present…’Need To’s’

Posted on June 6, 2008 by theoldadam

Addendum to post:  While driving back from San Diego this morning ( I took my wife to the airport)  I was listening to a very well known preacher on the radio who used the phrase, “If only…”, quite often in his sermon.

So I’m adding it to my list of words to watch out for. Example: ” If only you would receive the Lord Jesus.”

When you hear these words in a sermon…watch out.

When you hear these words directed towards you and your relationship with the Living God…you’ve just been had.

We ‘should’…we ‘must’…we ‘ought’…we ‘need to’. All law words. All words that have no gospel in them. All words designed to get some sort of performance out of you, or us.

Is there a place for these words? Of course there is. These words are a part of our daily lives. We must hear them and do them and strive to do them for the sake of ourselves and those around us.

But as far as a relationship with God goes, these words are poison. They bring death, and not life.

The words that bring life are these…”I love you, I forgive you, I have died for you.”

“For you”.  “This is my body, given for you. This is my blood shed for you.” These words indicate something that has already happened. Is still happening… and will yet happen….for you.

The word of the law is ‘do’. The word of the gospel is ‘done’.

Be on the lookout for the ‘do’ words in a sermon and then ask, but have not all these things been ‘done’…for me?

Filed under: Assurance, Doing | 25 Comments »

In a Nutshell…

Posted on May 24, 2008 by theoldadam

My last post was probably a bit convoluted. The examples maybe were not the best.

What I was trying to get across is that so much of today’s pHMMMM, WALNUTS !reaching and teaching regarding the Christian faith is nothing more than ‘law’ . St. Paul  tells us that there in no life in the law…only death.

So when a person goes into a worship service and the law has had it’s way with them all week, at work , at home, and in society, the last thing that person needs is more law trying to get them to improve. It’s like pouring gasoline on the fire! That old, tired, sinful self needs to be killed off (not propped up!) and the new man or woman put in it’s place…by the gospel!

The problem is that so many churches have no idea of this. Their theologies are ‘man’ based to start with, and so they just naturally progress from there along the path of man’s efforts to become more Christlike. They don’t understand the objective nature of the sacraments and the comfort that they bring to real sinners. So the comfort they are seeking and that they need must come from themselves. It has to come from their feelings, their sincerity, their good fruits, as proof that they are really in Christ.

That we are Christians has nothing to do with what we say, think, feel, or do.  It has everything to do with what Christ has done, is doing, and will yet do…FOR US!

This is a real problem for folks in the law churches. For them, the whole enterprise is about what we say, think, feel, or do. According to St. Paul, this way of thinking about the Christian faith is very dangerous.

The question is how do we get them to realize this?

Filed under: Assurance, Doing, Dying to Self, Law and Gospel, Sacraments | 8 Comments »

It’s sooooo complex!

Posted on May 18, 2008 by theoldadam

As I read on many Christian blogs around the net, this Christian faith stuff is way too complicated for the average Joe and Mary on the street. How in the world would we ever figure it out if it weren’t for the plethora of books telling us everything that Day 194 (11/26/07)we need to do, think, or feel?

 Are some of those books helpful? Yes, they can be.

But many of them just muck up the clear waters of a crystal clear message…’Christ died for sinners.’

“At the right time, Christ died for the ungodly.” Are you ungodly?  I hope so…for then He died for you.

Personally, I have done much damage, and continue to do damage, not only in my own life but more painfully, in the lives of others.  I have not loved God with my whole heart and I have not loved my neighbor as myself.

But the Lord has had mercy on me, just has he has had on you. He forgives my sin and cleanses me daily, in the waters of my baptism (which I revisit daily) and in the sacrament of the altar, and in the hearing of His beautiful promises, spoken to me by the poor words of the preacher.

“Your sins are forgive for Jesus’ sake”!

Simple.

Powerful.

Life giving.

And it’s not very complicated. Not complicated at all.

Filed under: Assurance, The Gospel | 9 Comments »

Falling in Love

Posted on April 18, 2008 by theoldadam

Have you ever fallen in love with someone, but they didn’t love you?

You tried everything possible to get that person to fall in love with you. Yoa walk on the beachu told funny jokes, you gave them gifts, you complimented them, you adorned yourself as much as possible. All to no avail. The love you were seeking from the other person was just not there.

Sometimes third parties try and get two people to fall in love. Those attemps often fail, and sometimes they succeed. But when it does happen, can the matchmaker take the credit for them falling in love, or rather should they take credit only for making it possible that they meet?

I have in mind those that try earnestly to make other people fall in love with the Living God.

There are some that call for us to have a real passion for Jesus. They say we ought realize how awesome and wonderful and gracious Jesus is, then we can fully have the love and passion for Jesus that He truly desires from us. Some folks rattle off long flowing lists of Heavenly adjectives describing God in such a way as to make any person with a hint of common sense realize that they too ought be feeling the same way about God. And if they don’t, well, then they ought try a little harder, pray a little harder, attend more bible studies, be with and emulate those that do. They maybe some of it will rub off on them.

This is a normal attempt by normal people to try and do what is right and good as far as God is concerned. They want to tap into all the benefits of a wonderful love affair with Jesus. They desire all the blessings and all the praise of a supreme God that ought be worshiped and glorified above all other things in their life. They really want to be all that God expects them to be.

The trouble is that we don’t want a love affair with God. Not only do we not want to fall in love with Jesus, we take just about every opprotunity we can to spit directly in His face. (every time we sin…no matter how insignificant you think it might be)

The scriptures make it quite clear where we stand with regard to wanting and loving and seeking God.  We don’t. 

St. Paul lays it out quite clearly in Romans 1:18 – 3:20   If you think I’ve got the wrong take on it then I’d advise you to go and read it again. And again. And again, if necessary, until that word of law does it’s job on you. That’s you and I he’s speaking about you know. When Paul says, “No one seeks for God”,  well believe it or not , that includes little ol’ you.

So after getting a handle on our true condition and our true attitude concerning Jesus, we can then make an accurate assessment about our ability to whip up some kind of sticky-sweet emotional feeling for our Creator. Although, I must say, we can surely fake it when we don’t want to appear as we really are (to others that are probably faking it as well)

When He came for them 2,000 years ago…they didn’t want Him.  When He comes for us today… we don’t want Him.  That hurts, because I really want to believe that I do want Him.  I want to believe that I was serious when I made that decision for Christ.  I want to believe that somehow I’ve got something special within me that is really desirous of God.  “If others can do it, then so can I !”

The trouble is others can’t do it. Only Christ can get this love affair going and then it’s pretty much a one-sided affair. His giving to us and loving us and forgiving us… and our taking from Him and rejecting Him and ignoring Him. (for the most part)

But Jesus knows this about us. Look at how He treated Peter. Look at how He treated the others. Look at how He treats you and me.

He loves us. In our broken, fallen, selfish, God hating condition…He loves us and forgives us…now !  Not when you’ve cleaned up your act. You don’t even know how to clean up your act.

And He gives us new life and forgives us… daily. He gives us His Spirit, and works repentance in us, and molds us into what He wants us to be.  He gives of Himself in baptism and in His supper. Freely, with no strings attached. No expectation that we will have to add anything at all.

This is the supreme Glory of God as manifest in His Son Jesus and His Spirit. That He loved us so much that “He sent His only begotten Son to die for us, that whoever believes would have eternal life.”

Can we love Jesus at all from our side of the equation? Yes we can. But our love is tainted by sin, by self interest, by all of the distractions of a fallen creature. Our love is spotty and is not as it should be. We can and do love Him, but never on our own. “We love because He first loved us.”

So, if you can’t seem to really muster up all that much passion for Jesus, don’t worry about it so much. For “while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” And that includes you!

Filed under: Assurance, Motivation | 8 Comments »

‘Are you Born Again?’

Posted on April 8, 2008 by theoldadam

Yes!

And again…and again…and again…and agaibaptism1.jpgn…and again…and again…and again…

Until that day when I finally run out of ink(life). Then I will be born again for the last time and live in eternity with my heavenly Father and my Lord.

Thank you Lord, for your graciousness. Thank you for coming to me in water and in Word, in bread and wine.  Thank you for adopting me, before I could do anything myself.

Thank you…thank you…thank you…thank you…thank you…

Filed under: Assurance, Baptism, The Sovereignty of God | 5 Comments »

’68 People “Got Saved” yesterday…and today…and tomorrow…

Posted on April 7, 2008 by theoldadam

Yesterday was an awesome day at the Lutheran Church of the Master congregation in Corona del Mar, CA.  Somewhere in the neighborhood of 68-70 people accepted the Lord Jesus as their Lord and Savior. That was about the number of people in worship. Pretty good, huh?

Well, it really is exciting. This ‘born again’ experience happens all the time at LCM (as it does in congregations large and small all over the world)

In our congregation it’s usually the same people, more or less, that are being saved (as St. Paul puts it in 1st Corinthians 1:18).  But that does change now and then when we get a visitor or two, or when someone is brought to the font for baptism.  And, as always, we must remember that only God knows for sure who the believers are.

During the week we reject Jesus, but out of the goodness of His heart, the Holy Spirit leads us to repentance, and we are born again and again and again. On Sunday, the same thing happens. We are slain by God’s law and brought to repentance, where once again, we are raised by the promise of the forgiveness of sins through Jesus Christ.

On Sunday we were also invited with other baptised Christians to share in recieving the actual person of Christ in the Lord’s supper.  He accepts us and gives us life, the forgiveness of sins and salvation. In addition to His supper, we return to our baptisms, another place in our personal history where God has acted for us and made a decision for us, and where we can return with confidence and trust that His promise is true and is still in effect in our lives. So we don’t just remember our baptism and then move away from it, but rather we live in it.  “We are being saved.”

In goodness and mercy the Lord has called and chosen us to be His children. That we might not rely upon our own actions or feelings, He has given us His sacraments that we might have the blessed assurance of knowing that He will never leave us, nor forsake us, no matter what havoc is wrought by the world, the flesh, or the devil.

Filed under: Assurance, Sacraments, Theology of the Cross | Leave a comment »

‘Brother Martin Speaks…’

Posted on March 28, 2008 by theoldadam

Martin Luther said of the Anabaptists of his day:

“They view baptism the way a cow looks at a new gate.”

 They cannot imagine anything that  is beyond their His Blood Shed and Body Broken for Me!own nose. (I threw that last part in)

Martin Luther didn’t think too highly of those that would deny us the assurance that the good Lord Himself was trying to give us.

 Look at the way we are. One could surmise that it is precisely because of that old Adam and Eve who still lives within us, that our Lord instituted the sacraments. He knew exactly where we would want to go if left to our own devices.

Take a look at any mega-church (although the phenomenon can be seen anywhere…Lutheran churches not withstanding). That’s where we go when left to our own devices. Bigger, bigger, better, better, more entertainment, more of me, more of my “doing”, more of my comfort zone. The constant need to prove my worth, if not to God, then to others and to myself.

“This is my body…this is my blood…broken and shed for you.”

That is the only worthiness that I need. He alone is worthy. He gives His worthiness to me, totally apart from anything that I can do, say, think, or feel.

This is where I return to when I feel unworthy, day after day (I return to my baptism as Luther said). I return to the Lord’s supper. It is there that I am accepted. It is there that I am forgiven. It is there that I am declared worthy. It is there where the last will and testament is read, and lo and behold…I am included! It is there that I recieve a full share of the inheritance.

We also recieve these gifts in the preaching and teaching of His Word, and in the words of Christian encouragement spoken between the brethren.

But the sacraments are something tangible. Something that we can actually see, feel, touch, smell, and taste.

These things, along with God’s Word of Promise (we mustn’t forget that!) are not rabbit’s feet that we rub like some superstitious pagans. These things carry God’s Promises when we excercise faith in that  “what God promises to do, He will do.”

So I say, break down the ‘gates of your own making’, and imagine that God can, and will act for you, not because of you and your worthiness, but rather in spite of you and your worthiness. Believe that He can not only live inside your heart, but that accompanied by His Word, He can also be present in the life giving waters of baptism, and in the life giving bread and wine of communion. 

In His Holy, Loving, and Forgiving Name, Jesus Christ our Lord.

             – Steve M.

Filed under: Assurance, Sacraments | 3 Comments »

‘Break out the ol’ Hammer and Anvil’…

Posted on March 24, 2008 by theoldadam

It ‘s Easter Monday.

So now that we have been totally freed from sin by the Son of the Living God, who’s been raised for our justification, let’s start forging new chains that we may once again be enslaved by “what we do”.

One day of freedom is enough!

The first thing we’ll need are some well meaning preachers that haven’t got a clue as to what Jesus has just accomplished for us all, and a batch of ‘Biblical Principles’…otherwise known as… ‘the Law’.

Since we have subjectivized the gospel message and made it dependent on some sort of action that we take, or that we pray, or that we will, we must now get on with the project of showing our seriousness.

And since our seriousness is what’s at stake here we might as well dispense with the actions that God has decided to take to give to us a measure of His seriousness, namely the sacraments of Holy Baptism and Holy Communion. Actions on His part that give us the assurance that He wants us to have, apart from anything that we do.  We’ll just slide the sacraments over to our side of the ledger and relegate them to a virtual meaningless act of our faithfulness and a sign of our worthless commitment. Now we can get rid of that Altar and replace it with a nifty drum kit, and a Jumbo Tron.

So let us all start hammering and heating our metal!  Let us again, create the shackles of our seriousness and tie them to the chains of our faithfulness, that we might be able to prove to those around us and ourselves that we are worthy of the name of ‘Christian’!  And then we’ll let the preacher lock us all together with passages right out of the Bible! Now we can all march in lockstep, progressing, climbing, further and further up towards greater spirituality and fruitfulness.

Friend… are you sure that you are doing enough?   Your life isn’t really bearing very much fruit, is it? And you dare call yourself a Christian? Couldn’t you try a little bit harder?

Of course you can..of course you will! (won’t you?)

Now that’s the spirit! (which spirit?)

         – Steve

Filed under: Assurance, Doing | 2 Comments »

‘Thank you Lord, that I am not like other men.’

Posted on March 12, 2008 by theoldadam

A friend of mine recently told me that he was doing a lot better now at not sinning than he was doing before he became a Christian.

This struck me as an odd thing to say. What would possess a Christian, who’s been freed from sin by the blood of Christ, to say something along those lines?

It seems as though his personal performance is pregnant on his mind. I hear a lot of performance based preaching these days from the mega church preachers that seem to dominate the radio waves here in Southern California.

 Is there some correlation to the preaching of the law for betterment and the notion that one could actually be improving on the ‘sins‘ scorecard?

                             – Steve

Filed under: Assurance, Doing, Dying to Self, Motivation | 3 Comments »

‘Getting Busy’

Posted on March 11, 2008 by theoldadam

San Clemente PierWhy do Christians, ‘get busy’?

  Is it because they are told to do so? “It says so right heConstruction Workerre in 3rd Smithsonians that we ought do X,Y, and Z”

“Well, now that you’re a Christian ( did the deal , accepted Christ , made your decision, yada yada yada), you just can’t live any way you want!”

“You need to show the fruits of the Spirit!”

Is this ‘getting at it’, inspiration of the Spirit…or a response to the demand of the law?

Is there a difference, and how can you tell the difference if there is one?

   Thanks,

             – Steve

Filed under: Assurance, Doing | Leave a comment »

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