Finishing Strong Part 1

My all time favorite chapter in the Bible is Romans 8. This chapter has been a great means of grace from God in my understanding of salvation and the glory of God. Although I find it hard to choose one verse that has had the greatest impact in my life, Romans 8:30 is one of those finalists. Romans 8:30 says, “And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified” (ESV). The reason I love this verse so much is the assurance of salvation it gives to me that I will make it to glorification. There is no doubt in my mind that I will persevere to the end in my walk with Christ. My confidence comes not from arrogance or “kingdom greatness” but from verses like Romans 8:30. I believe full heartedly in the doctrine of Eternal Security. I believe “once truly saved, always saved.” Look at what that verse in Romans says. “And those whom he predestined he also called…” Ephesians 1:4-6 says that we were chosen in Christ before the foundations of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. That is, justified. God chose those whom he would save and made an effectual (different from general) calling on their lives. The reason I believe there are two different types of calling, general and effectual is because of Romans 8:30. It says, those he called he justified. I know of many people who have listened and even responded to the general calling of pastors and evangelists who are not justified. I believe that the specific or effectual calling is from the Holy Spirit and we respond, typically, to the general calling of friends and pastors and evangelist. John 6:44 says, “No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him...” The general call goes out of the mouths of those talking about Christ and the effectual calling, or prompting, of the Holy Spirit inclines our hearts to the Gospels message. The next part of verse 30 says, “…and those whom he called he also justified…” Those who are called by the effectual calling of the Holy Spirit, and thus are justified, are indeed true converts and children God and no longer children of wrath. It does not say that some that are called are justified or that only certain people are justified. It says, “those whom he called he also justified.” This is finished. If you are a true convert you are justified and you are now seen through the lens of the death and resurrection of Christ. So where does my confidence come from that I will make it to eternity? The last part of verse 30 says, “…and those whom he justified he also glorified.” Those who were chosen (predestined to salvation) were called (effectual, Holy Spirit calling), those who were called were justified (have a right legal standing before God), and those whom he justified he glorified (are now experiencing the manifest presence of God now and for all eternity).

Is Christianity then mechanical? Is it simply a prayer that you pray that saves you and allows you to live like Hell here on earth and then enter eternity with God? By no means! Those who are truly converted and now live under the blood covering of Christ sacrifice will make it to eternity with God because God has given us means in which to keep ourselves in the love of God. I commend everyone to read or listen to John Piper’s sermon on “Learning to Pray in the Spirit and the Word” (both parts 1 & 2 - http://www.desiringgod.org/ResourceLibrary/Sermons/ByScripture/16/). He rightly says that we are kept for, or by, Jesus Christ in Jude 1:1 and again in Jude 1:24 we learn that we are being kept for Jesus by God or Christ. If we stop there Christianity does sound mechanical. It sounds like Jesus is doing the work and we have no part in the equation. This is the main reason why it is important not to just read and learn one verse but to study and learn the context in which it was said. Packed in between verses 1 and 24 is verse 21 that says, “keep yourselves in the love of God…” This is something that we do. We keep ourselves in the love of God. But do not think for one moment that we do this on our own strength. Thank God we do not do this on our own feeble strength. We keep ourselves in the love of God by praying in the Holy Spirit. God has given us means in order to keep ourselves in the love of God. Salvation belongs to God alone and is his through and through, but he has enabled us keep ourselves. Prayer is one of the means or methods that God uses to allow his people to keep themselves in the love of God.

Let us encourage each other to press on in the faith by praying in the Holy Spirit. Call, email, write your fellow believers in Christ encouraging them to spend time at the Throne of Grace. Run to Jesus every moment of every day pleading for the lost and pleading for grace to be shed in your life. May we all be conduits of the grace of God.

John Bunyan on prayer: “Prayer is a sincere, sensible, affectionate pouring out of the heart or soul to God, through Christ, in the strength and assistance of the Holy Spirit, for such things as God has promised, or according to his Word, for the good of the church, with submission in faith to the will of God.” (http://www.mountzion.org/fgb/Summer95/FgbS1-95.html)

the·ol·o·gy [thee-ol-uh-jee]

I have heard people say, "Why is theology important?" or "Why are you so passionate about theology?" or "I'm just not into theology" to which my response is a broken heart. My first response is anger (righteous I hope) that boils up and come out of me in the form of a blank stare or a frown. It breaks my heart that Christians, believers in Christ, pastors, would say these things. So I want to take a moment to highlight what theology is and why it is important for every Christian and in doing so, I pray God is glorified and we are filled with joy in Him.

What is theology? Answer: theology is the study of God. That is the simple, one sentence, definition. Theology is the study of God. Maybe now you are beginning to see why those questions/statements break my heart. What I hear is "Why is studying God important?" or "Why are you so passionate about studying God?" or, and this one breaks my heart the most, "I'm just not into studying God." These are true sentences that have come out the mouths of believers and I have even heard the last one from a worship pastor before. Can you image saying to your wife, "I'm just not into studying you." "I really don't care to learn about you." No way! Not in a million years would a husband say to his wife, "I do not care about getting to know you." There should be a longing and a desire for all those married to learn and study their spouses. But more than that, there should be a longing and a desire to know who made you and who it is you say you serve. You should be far more passionate about learning God than learning your wife! So it brings us to question two.

Why is theology, the study of God, important for every Christian? Answer: theology is important for every Christian for many reasons. Maybe hundreds of reasons. But the reason I am going to focus on here is a Christian's response to the sweet and bitter providence of God. To say it another way, theology is important because the world will be watching as you go down a bitter road of suffering (the death of a loved one, news of cancer, tsunamis and hurricanes, bridge collapses and the like) and your response will speak volumes of where your treasure is and whether or not you are indeed a Christian.

When you get a call, like I did a couple weeks ago, that your best friends dad (which I will add has been an important father figure in my life in a spiritual sense in addition to living in his house for three years or so) has colon and liver cancer and the liver is inoperable, how are you going to respond? All of the sudden, theology matters. How you think about God really does make a difference. Is your response going to be anger? Or fear? Or resentment toward God? Your response will tell volumes about how you view God and how you view yourself. If your response has "ME" in the center, God is not glorified. But if your response is centered around Jesus Christ and has Jesus running through the entire response, then you make much of God and he is then glorified in your response.

Jonathan Edwards, a preacher, theologian, and missionary to Native Americans, said the following in his "Miscellanies":

God is glorified within Himself these two ways: 1. By appearing... to Himself in His own perfect idea [of Himself], or in His Son, who is the brightness of His glory. 2. By enjoying and delighting in Himself, by flowing forth in infinite . . . delight towards Himself, or in his Holy Spirit...So God glorifies Himself toward the creatures also in two ways: 1. By appearing to... their understanding. 2. In communicating Himself to their hearts, and in their rejoicing and delighting in, and enjoying, the manifestations which He makes of Himself...God is glorified not only by His glory's being seen, but by its being rejoiced in. When those that see it delight in it, God is more glorified than if they only see it. His glory is then received by the whole soul, both by the understanding and by the heart. God made the world that He might communicate, and the creature receive, His glory; and that it might [be] received both by the mind and heart. He that testifies his idea of God's glory [doesn't] glorify God so much as he that testifies also his approbation of it and his delight in it.

Many people will, I hope, see the glory, or intrinsic worth and radiance of Christ, during these times of uncertainty. But my prayer for those reading this, is that those that see the glory will rejoice in the glory of Christ even when staring cancer in the face.

Let us remember the words of the Apostle Paul who said, "But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ" Philippians 3:8-9. This health I have, I count it as loss. This job, I count it as loss. My family, I count it as loss….that I might gain Christ! If you are not there, wrestle with God; Plead with God; Oh God I pray I might go there and stay - treasuring Christ all the way to my deathbed!

Why call this blog Conduit of Grace?

The reason I call this blog, "Conduit of Grace," is because that is what we are called to be as followers of Christ (Matt 5:16, Matt 10:8, Matt 28:19). We are the main means that God uses to share the gospel and to be blessings to others. I think the mental picture of a conduit of grace helps me and maybe it may be of help to you. We have received grace from above and are commissioned to channel that grace to others and share with them the good news of the Gospel so that when Christ has revealed himself, our words of grace will land on the heart of flesh, the Spirit will convict and souls will be saved, and not one ounce of glory will be our but Christ's alone, because he is the author of salvation! All we are is the channel for this grace. That is our only position in the conversion process. We speak right things of God to others and God uses it for whatever purpose he sent it and we sit back and watch the Spirit do the work. We simply allow God to grace others using our hands and feet and mouths.