13 minute read
Christian Living
The Abiding Life is the True Christian Life
By Jim Elliff
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The abiding life is the true Christian life. Jesus said, “If anyone does not abide in Me, he is thrown away as a branch, and dries up; and they gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned.” (John 15:6) (John 15) gives us the pattern for spiritual growth and effectiveness as believers. In the passage, we are called branches, Christ is the vine, and the Father is the vinedresser. What are the characteristics of authentic branches?
They bear the fruit of Christ’s character and power. Fruit is the life of Christ through the believer. It is excess life. The life of the Christian is to be one of daily dependence on Christ, rather than himself. Do people see Christ in you?
Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit, He takes away. Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you, unless you abide in Me. I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me, and I in him, he bears much fruit; for apart from Me you can do nothing. (vv.2a,4-5)
They are pruned by God. God cuts off the diseased and the nonessential aspects of the believer’s life. It is up to the vinedresser to determine what is and is not useful. Pruning is painful but necessary. Is this your experience?
Every branch that bears fruit, He primes it, that it may bear more fruit. (v. 2b)
They know the joy of living by God’s Word and prayer. God will entrust much in prayer to those whose minds are being renewed through His Word, for they pray according to His will. Have you learned to live by God’s Word and prayer?
If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it shall be done for you. (v. 7)
They keep God’s commandments. Do you obey Him?
If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love; just as I have kept My Father’s commandments and abide in His love. (v. 10)
They love those who are in Christ. Christ taught us love by sacrifice. While loving all men, abiding Christians have a special affection for believers and eagerly express this love in the local church. Is love the prominent feature of your life?
This is My commandment, that you love one another, just as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends. (vv. 12-13)
They are often misunderstood. Does the world love you or hate you?
If the world hates you, you know that it has hated Me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. Remember the word that I said to you, ‘A slave is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you; if they kept My word, they will keep yours also.
(vv. 18-20)
They speak openly of Christ and what He has done. That which is in the heart comes out of the mouth. Do you speak of Christ?
When the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, that is the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father, He will bear witness of Me, and you will bear witness also, because you have been with me from the beginning. (vv. 26-27)
The abiding life is the ONLY true Christian life.
Is it the life you lead? By this is My Father glorified, that you bear much fruit, and so prove to be My disciples. (v. 8) >
JIM ELLIFF Copyright 1993 Jim Elliff (revised 2022) © 2022 CCW – Christian Communicators Worldwide.>
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We Are Both Ambassadors and Peacemakers
By Ben Sciacca
In (2 Corinthians 5:20), Paul tells us that we are “ambassadors for Christ.” In (Matthew 5:9), Jesus says we are “peacemakers.” In both cases, God tells us about our identity.
There are other identities we receive from God in Scripture, but few rival these two. The Bible’s narrative reinforces the invitation and necessity of living in these two roles.
Too often throughout church history, though, one of these identities has been emphasized to the neglect of the other.
Ambassadors for Christ
As ambassadors for Christ, we both receive and proclaim the grace of God. We receive the full and unbelievable gift of forgiveness through the death of Jesus on our behalf. Christ’s grace cancels our sin debt and gives us his imputed righteousness. Grace alone reconciles us to God.
Some believe the chief aim of any Christian is to proclaim the gospel to an unbelieving world and to see lost sinners saved. But while rightly focusing on the eternal state of individuals, such believers can end up neglecting injustice, racism, oppression, and abuse. Sin, in their minds, is simply about personal guilt. In this case, grace’s sole entailment is to produce shalom between fallen sinners and an angry God.
In this case we must ask: is a gospel that focuses solely on reconciling fallen individuals to God really the good news of the Bible? If being Christ’s ambassador is merely about propagating a message for a brighter tomorrow, we are offering a deferred hope and representing a God who appears indifferent to the woes and suffering of today.
Peacemakers in Christ
Like grace, peace is multifaceted. For many it has become synonymous with comfort, but the biblical definition is far more robust. Peace (or “shalom”) is not the absence of pain and oppression. According to Nicholas Wolterstorff, peace is the living and embodied presence of “harmony and delight in all of one’s relationships.” These relationships include those with God, others, various cultures, creation, and ourselves. In a world rife with sin, dysfunction, tribalism, and brokenness, it’s wondrous to imagine what the presence of “harmony and delight” in these various relationships could look like.
And yet some are so fixated on pursuing justice and shalom on earth that they become solely focused on redeeming broken systems. Much of their work is bereft of a direct connection to Jesus or to concerns about eternal souls. They focus on how sin corrupts systems and affects communities, but never on individual guilt.
Much of their movement is anchored in the redemption and liberation of marginalized groups from oppressive structures, and not as concerned with the spiritual salvation of individuals. Shalom, in this case, is untethered from grace and Christ. It is a rogue virtue with no logical precursor or origin.
There is no catalyst for change as potent as the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit that comes with salvation. Further, only one institution is guaranteed victory over evil and injustice, and that is the body of Christ. For this reason, all groups that pursue justice and systemic solutions apart from the power and person of Jesus can’t produce lasting and significant change.
The social-gospel movement in the 19th century promoted peace. It labored to eradicate poverty and oppression while producing justice and shalom. Proponents were more proximate to suffering. Unlike those invested solely in evangelism, they became far more concerned with producing peace in the here and now.
So many of their endeavors, however, became detached from the person and power of Jesus Christ and the inerrancy of his Word. Their investment in Christ like work became estranged from any personal connection to him.
There are historical movements centered on eschatology that Christ’s return is imminent and, therefore, the status of this present creation is not as crucial as saving lost sinners. At a grotesque level we witnessed this approach propagated during the era of American chattel slavery. Renowned theologians and evangelists like George Whitefield and Cotton Mather emphasized the salvation and liberation of slaves from their sins but justified the chains and barbarity of their slavery.
Today, some “social-justice warriors” perpetuate a social gospel of their own. For some, their quest for justice has become a new Jesus. Is there lasting good news and peace for this broken world if direct affiliation with the Prince of Peace doesn’t exist? A peace without Christ is a shiny tin man without a heart—attractive but lacking life.
A peace without Christ is a shiny tin man without a heart—attractive but lacking life.
John the Baptist, incarcerated in Herod’s prison, sent his disciples to determine whether Jesus was in fact the Messiah. He was having doubts of his own. He needed Jesus to clarify if he really was the longawaited hope of the world. In response, Jesus could have given countless reasons to validate who he was. Instead, he made an incisive statement:
Go and tell John what you have seen and heard: the blind receives their sight, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, the poor have good news preached to them. And blessed is the one who is not offended by me. (Luke 7:22–23)
Jesus knew we would read these words 2,000 years later. His statement focuses on how much good news he was producing in the here and now by providing people with hope and peace amid their trials and brokenness. Of course, these kingdom realities would only come through a bloody cross and empty tomb.
And it’s here that we see the fusion of grace and peace in harmony with both present and future entailments. May the body of Christ today be on mission to proclaim grace and spread peace. > BEN SCIACCA Copyright© 2022 The Gospel Coalition, Inc. All Rights Reserved >
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STAND WITH US
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If you are concerned about the social issues of poverty, suffering, pressing needs, the right to life, marriage, family, and basic moral values, you must also become concerned about addressing current economic challenges. Bad fiscal practices contribute to these very real problems and make it more difficult to effectively assist those in need.
If you want to alleviate suffering, practice charity, support meaningful outreaches, express compassion, provide for the needy, keep your job, and create opportunity while having protection and security, you must get prayerfully involved and demand fiscal accountability and necessary adjustments. Without immediate corrective measures, our national economy will not only continue to weaken, but will ultimately collapse.
Without the restoration of sound economic principles, none of us will have the wherewithal to help anyone with their needs, because we will not be able to deal with our own. We cannot share what we do not have. The same principles of freedom making it possible to be guilty of excess are the same ones enabling success.
Active participation is both a privilege and responsibility to choose wise leaders who will support sound policy and legislation in order for good government to become a reality. Now is the time to fall on our knees before God and then stand on our feet before men.
We must demonstrate the power of God’s transforming grace. All legitimate concerns and painful issues must be addressed with prayer, love and compassion. When we stand tall for His truth, we will see the transformation of people leading to the restoration of sound principles.
It is time to pray, then take action with boldness and love as we call all Christians to return to the rock-solid foundation of God’s truth. Keep in mind, our economic challenges will not be corrected until we address moral decay. We should remember what President Reagan said: ‘If America ceases to be a nation under God, we will be a nation gone under.”
We invite you to stand with us as One Nation Under God. For, Together We Stand but Divided We Fall.
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How Can I Have God's Peace?
By Charles F. Stanley
e key element in true, lasting peace is the presence of God. Isaiah says to God, “ e steadfast of mind You will keep in perfect peace, because he trusts in You” (26:3). Christ is our peace—His presence is the presence of peace within us (Eph. 2:14). And so, Jesus declares, “In Me you may have peace” (John 16:33). What is this peace? It is an inner sense of contentment and quietness, regardless of life’s circumstances. It is steadfast con dence in our ever-faithful, immutable heavenly Father. It is the presence of joy during unhappiness. True peace does not merely dull our pain. A person who has genuine, godly peace can endure an avalanche of hardship and di culty and still enjoy an inner peace that surpasses all human understanding. Why? Because it does not come from pleasant circumstances, nice events, or good things others may do for us. Instead, it is since the Spirit of our holy, omnipotent, and never- changing God lives within us. Does enjoying God’s perfect peace mean that you’ll never feel the effects of the storms raging around you? Hardly. But His peace is complete, adequate, and su cient for anything you face. Keep in mind three keys to experiencing sustained peace: • Focus on God. Perfect peace comes when you x your mind on God. You must discipline yourself to meditate on God’s presence and work. When you spend time concentrating on a problem, does it not seem to grow bigger? In the same way, you will have a greater sense of God’s presence and provision as you x your mind on Him. • Trust Him. You never have to worry about God acting too late or providing insu cient help. His timing and purposes are perfect; in fact, He uses your tribulations to reveal more of Himself to you. His Word is full of rock-solid promises, many of which involve granting you peace. Know that He will always honor them! • Meditate on His Word. (Psalm 119:165) emphasizes that those who love God’s Word have great peace. Your most precious material possession is your Bible. Every believer should love God’s Word and feast on it daily. If you love it, you’re going to believe what it says— and then it will guide and anchor your life. >
Adapted from e Charles F. Stanley’s Life Principles Bible, 2008. oChristian >
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