Tag: Gospel

Are You Prepared to Give a Defense?

On By Dr. Casey LewisIn Devotionals, Evangelism, Quotes2 Comments

In his first epistle, Peter writes,

“In your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect,” (1 Pe 3:15).

In his commentary on 1 Peter, Dr. R.C. Sproul writes:

Our preparation is to make us ready to give a defense and a reason for the hope that is in us…If your neighbor says, “I notice that you are a Christian. What is it that you believe?” are you ready to explain not only what you believe but why you believe it? Some Christians tell those who inquire that we simply take a leap of faith with no bother about the credibility or the rational character of the truth claims of the Bible, but that response goes against the teaching of the text. The only leap of faith we are to take is out of the darkness and into the light.

When we become Christians, we do not leave our mind in the parking lot.

We are called to think according to the Word of God, to seek the mind of Christ and an understanding of the things set forth in sacred Scripture.

Question for Reflection

  1. Are you prepared to talk to others about the hope within you?

Resources

Table Talk Magazine, With Gentleness and Respect, January, 2016, pg 2.

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How to Make Your Marriage Work

On By Dr. Casey LewisIn Devotionals, Family, QuotesLeave a comment

One of William Blake’s “Songs of Experience” shows in the most striking way that there are two ways to conduct a romantic relationship.

Love seeketh not itself to please,
Nor for itself hath any care,
But for another gives its ease,
And builds a heaven in hell’s despair.

Love seeketh only self to please,
To bind another to its delight,
Joys in another’s loss of ease,
And builds a hell in heaven’s despite.
(from “The Clod and the Pebble”)

It is possible to feel you are “madly in love” with someone when it is really just an attraction to someone who can meet your needs and address the insecurities and doubts you have about yourself. In that kind of relationship, you will demand and control rather than serve and give.

Turn to the Ultimate Lover of Your Soul

The only way to avoid sacrificing your partner’s joy and freedom on the altar of your need is to turn to the ultimate lover of your soul. He voluntarily sacrificed himself on the cross, taking what you deserved for your sins against God and others. On the cross, he was forsaken and experienced the lostness of hell, but he did it all for us. Because of the loving sacrifice of the Son, you can know the heaven of the Father’s love through the work of the Spirit. Jesus truly “built a heaven in hell’s despair.” And fortified with the love of God in your soul, you likewise can now give yourself in loving service to your spouse.

Question for Reflection

  1. How are you conducting a romantic relationship? Are you seeking the other’s good or your own?

Resources

Timothy Keller, The Meaning of Marriage, 75-76

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Are You a Church Consumer?

On By Dr. Casey LewisIn Church Life, Devotionals, Quotes1 Comment

One of the hallmarks of the modern mindset is individualism. We instinctively focus on the freedom and the rights of the individual to do or say whatever he or she chooses. This attitude has inevitably spread into Christian culture, where my commitment to God’s people has been replaced by the idea that a church should serve and fulfill me, providing the teaching, music, friendship and sub-culture that I desire.

Yet really, this is only an expression of our sinfulness, a way of putting ourselves at the centre of our own lives.

When God rescues people, however, He puts them together to live for the benefit of one another. This means that my greatest concern should not be how a church could serve me, but how I may best serve that church, using the gifts that God has given me.

Question for Reflection

  1. How can you best serve your church with the gifts God has given you?

Resources

Read/Mark/Learn Romans, 232

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What is Salvation?

On By Dr. Casey LewisIn Devotionals3 Comments

Salvation involves much more than being delivered from earthly ruin or loss. It involves deliverance from God’s Wrath and everlasting punishment.

Our Need

Deliverance is something we all need because we are all sinners who have rebelled against God. That’s our natural position because we are all born connected to Adam — the father of the human race. Adam’s rebellion against God — in what is known as the Fall of man — plunged this whole world into sin (1 Cor. 15:21). As a result, we deserve to be punished by God.

God’s Plan

God, however, had a plan to rescue and save us from punishment. His plan is Jesus. In 1 Corinthians 15:22, Paul says,

“For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all shall be made alive.” (1 Cor. 15:22)

Jesus Christ came, lived a perfect life, and even though He wasn’t deserving of death or punishment, He died on a cross. As terrible a death as the cross was, that wasn’t the only punishment He faced. In fact, He faced a punishment much more horrifying — the wrath of the Father. The reason the Father’s wrath was poured out on Him was so He could pay the penalty for our sin.

Our Response

All those who believe Jesus paid the penalty for their sin that day on Calvary by dying the death and facing the punishment they deserve, and all those who admit they are a sinner, repent of their sin, and believe Jesus is their Lord and Savior, will be saved from God’s wrath, and they will experience eternal life with Christ. As well as they are called into God’s mission. He uses us as His instruments to make more disciples, which is simple amazing, because we were once God’s enemies, who were bound to face His wrath, but we are now drawn into His mission.

Question for Reflection

  1. Do you believe Jesus is your Savior?

Resources

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Post adapted from my sermon: Only in Christ are our deepest longings fulfilled

Our Deepest Longings are Only Fulfilled in Jesus

On By Dr. Casey LewisIn DevotionalsLeave a comment

As soon as I was able to hold and swing a bat, my dad had me in the backyard hitting off the tee. As soon as I was old enough, I was playing coach pitch baseball on a city league team. I played baseball every year thereafter until high school, when I finally gave it up for soccer. 

Save

The two positions I played were shortstop and pitcher. As a pitcher, I mainly started the game, but sometimes I was brought in as a reliever. For relieving pitchers there is a statistic known as a “save.” A save, as you can guess, is earned when the reliever comes in and finishes out the game with his team still in the lead. 

Celebrate

If you watch the nightly ESPN highlight reel, you will notice saves are highlighted over the myriad of other statistics, and that’s because we love to hear and celebrate salvation stories. Stories where the relieving pitcher enters the game in the bottom of the 9th with the bases loaded, no outs, and strikes everyone out to win the game for his team. We love to hear and celebrate stories like that, because salvation is the natural longing of the human heart.

While it’s exciting to watch your favorite closer save the game, the excitement and joy we feel in that moment doesn’t last. It doesn’t last because we long for a greater salvation, a true and lasting salvation. Something we can put our faith, our trust in, knowing it will not let us down.

Lasting Fulfillment

The only One who can provide us with a true and lasting salvation is Jesus, because He is the only One who could pay the penalty for our sins, repairing our relationship with the Father (Col. 1:19-20). So the next time you celebrate your favorite pitchers save, remember that there is an even greater salvation available that will eternally fulfill the deepest longing of your heart, and that is the salvation Jesus provides through His cross.

Question for Reflection

  1. What are you trying to fulfill your God sized hole with?

Resources

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Post adapted from my sermon: Only in Christ are our deepest longings fulfilled 

 

Gospel Motivation for Gospel Living

On By Dr. Casey LewisIn Discipleship, PracticalLeave a comment

What should be our motivation to live for God? In Colossians 1:3-14 Paul provides a model.

Paul’s Model is the Gospel

Looking at this section, you should notice that Paul mentions the gospel right after he talks about the Corinthians faith and love. Then down in verses 12-14, you should also notice that Paul expounds on the gospel, right after he calls the Corinthians to live lives pleasing to God.

Paul’s focus on the gospel tells us that he wants us to be motivated to live gospel-centered lives out of the gospel.

What Paul Could Have Done, But Doesn’t

You see, Paul could have motivated the Colossians to live for God in a number of ways. He could have told them to live for God because God said so, or because that is what will win favor with God, or because that is how we will make it to heaven, or because this is what makes you a good person. Paul could have used any number of tactics to motivate the Colossians, but he didn’t. Instead he used the gospel.

Just as Paul wants the Colossians to find their motivation for Christian living through the gospel, he wants us to do the same.

Examples of Gospel Motivation

Looking at Colossians 1:3-14, we see that if we are struggling:

  • In our faith – we need to remember that if God provides His Son for our salvation and guarantees our future inheritance, He is able to provide for our daily needs.
  • With loving others – we need to remember the love of God in giving His only Son for our sins.
  • With doing good works – we need to remember that sin no longer masters us, but God is our Master, freeing us to live for Him and not for sin.
  • With growing in our relationship with God – we need to remember that God so desires a relationship with us that He sent His Son to pay the price for our sins, redeeming us from His wrath.
  • With enduring trials and tribulations patiently with joy – we need to remember that this world is not all there is. Jesus will return, defeat our enemies, and setup His perfect kingdom one day.
  • With worshipping God – we need to remember that He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son, qualifying us to share in the inheritance with the Saints.

You see, the gospel is not only given for our salvation, but it is also given as motivation for godly living. So the next time you are struggling in any of these areas, meditate on the gospel; allow it to motivate you to live lives pleasing to God.

Questions for Reflection

  1. How have you tried to motivate yourself, or others, to live for God in the past?
  2. How does a gospel motivation change the way you look at living for God?

Resources

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