Tag: Salvation

What are the advantages afforded those who continue to follow Christ?

On By Dr. Casey LewisIn Devotionals1 Comment

We are all looking for advantages in life. Those things that can help us as we seek to move through life. We seek these advantages in many areas – work, play, and school. At times, they help us as we attempt to navigate the ever changing world.

Experience tells us, however, that these advantages don’t last and they are ever changing. But there is One who does not change. Jesus is the same yesterday, today, and tomorrow. The advantages He offers are real and unchanging.

What are the advantages afforded those who continue to follow Christ?

(1) You don’t have to live under a standard you can’t meet (13a)

We know the Judaizers expected the Galatians to live according to the law because they taught that they were to accept circumcision. But while following the demands of the law is what the Judaizers wanted the Gentiles to do, we learn in verse 13, that they themselves weren’t living by the law. In the first half of the verse we read,

“For even those who are circumcised do not themselves keep the law,…” (Ga 6:13a)

What does this mean?

On the one hand, the Judaizers lived according to the law. They were circumcised, they observed the dietary laws, and they lived according to Jewish customs — Observing feasts and other things. While they did those things, they still failed to keep the law perfectly so as to earn salvation. Remember what Paul revealed in chapter 3.

“For all who rely on the works of the law are under a curse, for it is written, ‘Cursed be everyone who does not abide by all things written in the Book of the Law, and do them.” (Ga 3:10)

The key phrase in that verse is “abide by all things.” If we add anything to the gospel, any work, then we nullify the gospel and we are forced to keep the whole law in order to experience salvation. But no one is perfect. We all make mistakes. We all sin. We all break the Law, the Judaizers included.

That is why the gospel is good news. It reveals we don’t have to live under a standard we can’t keep. All who trust in Christ are freed from the condemnation of the law. We are freed because Christ paid the penalty for us. He became a curse on our behalf. That is the paradox of the gospel and the advantage in continuing to follow Jesus.

Remember, Jesus + something = nothing. But Jesus + nothing = everything. That is exactly what Paul wants the Galatians to see. In Christ, we don’t have to live according to a standard we can’t meet. Jesus has met the standard for us.

Transition: Another advantage of following Christ is that:

(2) We are free from having to follow the world’s system (14)

In verse 14 the text says,

“But far be it from me to boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.” (Ga 6:14)

We will get to the first part of the verse in a moment, but look at the second half. Essentially, Paul tells us the world’s system doesn’t have a hold on him. The idea that the world doesn’t have a hold on him has massive implications for how he lives. It means he no longer looks to the world for hope and salvation. He no longer needs the approval of others. He’s no longer enslaved by sin and Satan. All that makes it possible for him to live in the world for God. He can be counter-cultural without having to worry about what others think or what others can do to him. He can seek to please God and expand his kingdom. He can be a real force for the gospel. As well as, he can enjoy the things that the world has to offer because he’s not finding hope or salvation, ultimate joy or peace in any of the things of the world. They are what they are and he can enjoy them for that.

In Christ, we are freed from having to follow the world system, and we are able to live in the world in the way God has designed for us to live. We don’t have to fear the world. We don’t have to try to gain meaning from a meaningless world. We can enjoy the world in the way God has designed for us to enjoy it instead of making it an idol.

Transition: Another advantage of following Christ is that:

(3) We are a new creation and we have a new creation for which to look forward (15)

Look at verse 15,

“For neither circumcision counts for anything, nor uncircumcision, but a new creation.” (Ga 6:15)

When we believe in Jesus, we are made anew. Essentially we are changed from the inside out as our desires and will are brought inline with God’s. As Christians, we are a new creation. As those who are created a new, we look forward to a time when the world in which we live is created a new as well. This world is not all there is or all there will ever be. When Jesus returns, He will change the world. It will become a new creation free from the affects of sin and Satan. All those who are blessed to live in the new world will be new creations as well.

How do you experience this change?

This present change and future hope is only for those who follow Jesus. Those who don’t follow Jesus have an eternity in hell to which to look forward. Instead of living in God’s perfect, new creation. But if you believe in Jesus as your Lord and as your Savior, you can be made into a new creation. You can experience the New World to come. You can experience the kingdom to come, Jesus‘s kingdom. A kingdom that is completely and absolutely perfect.

If you are willing to humble yourself and admit that you cannot save yourself, and that Jesus is the only one who can save you. That He has provided a way for salvation to take place by dying on the cross for your sins. If you are willing to turn from, to repent of, your rebellion against God, then you too can be made into a new creation. You can experience the salvation Jesus offers.

Transition: The last advantage in this text to following Christ is that:

(4) We will experience true peace and mercy (16)

Look at verse 16,

“And as for all who walk by this rule, peace and mercy be upon them, and upon the Israel of God.” (Ga 6:16)

The rule to which Paul refers is living according to the gospel. With the gospel as our foundation for life, we will experience true peace and mercy. As well as we will be a part of the Israel of God.

If you long for peace and mercy, if you long to experience true salvation, don’t move on from the gospel. Don’t move on from faith alone, in Christ alone. That is the way we receive the mercy of God and experience a peace that’s beyond all comprehension.

How Can You Experience True Freedom?

On By Dr. Casey LewisIn DevotionalsLeave a comment

We live in a post-modern society. Post-modernism casts off any and all meta-narratives as power plays by authoritarian systems. In an attempt to escape oppression and experience freedom, meta-narrative are traded for individual narratives that allow one to construct their own truth. In this way there is no absolute truth, just that truth you derive from yourself and your own experiences. We see this transition in phraseology such as “You be you”; “Be your authentic self”; etc. These ideas are why we are currently experiencing so much transition in every area of life.

The Promise of Different Gospels

Different gospels that promise salvation have been preached for centuries. Post-modernism is another gospel in a long list of gospels hoping to cast off the restrictions of a Judeo-Christian worldview to provide freedom without submission.

But does a disregard for the Christian meta-narrative provide true freedom? Does creating our own individual narratives divorced from any overarching narrative, especially a Judeo-Christian narrative, provide an escape from bondage?

The Galatians were not confronted with Post-modernism, but they were confronted with a worldly gospel. Paul, the author of the letter to the Galatians, addresses their fall away from the biblical gospel when he writes in Galatians 4:8-9

“Formerly, when you did not know God, you were enslaved to those that by nature are not gods. But now that you have come to know God, or rather to be known by God, how can you turn back again to the weak and worthless elementary principles of the world, whose slaves you want to be once more?” (Gal. 4:8-9)

Different Gospels Don’t Provide Freedom

The elementary principles of the world represent those ideas that are fundamental. They serve as the building blocks for a particular system of beliefs. Everyone operates according to closely held building block beliefs. They are those beliefs that drive our worldview and the actions that follow.

Worldly religions and philosophies, those things we build our life on a part from the biblical worldview, do not provide us with freedom. Instead, they enslave us. They entrap us in a cycle of performance, worry, and anxiety. We are left to wonder if we have done enough in order to experience that religion’s or philosophy’s form of salvation. In the case of our modern movement, we might wonder if we gone far enough in divorcing ourselves from a Judeo-Christian worldview. In other words, are we properly secular? Are we championing secular causes well enough?

Cancel Culture as an Example of Bondage

It is here that cancel culture enters the picture. All those who are not in the main are seen as being on the wrong side of history. They are not able to represent modern day culture. They shouldn’t be applauded or championed. Instead, they should be punished for their lack of adherence to the current cultural movement, which results in them being “cancelled”.

Those who believe themselves to be on the right side of history today feel liberation, they feel as if they have been saved from oppressive structures. But “today” is not “always”. Tomorrow always comes. Tomorrow brings change in one’s ideas and thoughts. In modern day vernacular, we might say people “evolve” over time.

Tomorrow, and the evolution it brings, is why cancel culture exists. Cancel culture doesn’t care what side of history you were on in the past. It only cares about what side you are on today, which is why many past cultural champions find themselves forced to change or be cancelled.

The irony is that cancel culture requires truth and an overarching narrative to work. The very thing Post-modernism denies it uses. The truth claims made by those of cancel culture are seen as dominate and ones that should be embraced by all people. If one doesn’t embrace the current cultural meta-narrative truth claim, they are oppressed. In an attempt to create freedom from bondage, Post-modern thought has actually created bondage and oppression. There can be no dissenting voices only those who agree or cancel culture comes for you.

True Freedom Does Exist

There is no freedom in the elementary principles of the world. There is only slavery. You can, however, experience freedom in Christ. He has come to set you free.

“For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery.” (Gal 5:1)

How can you experience freedom? Jesus has come, He has died, paying the penalty you deserve. He took your sentence of eternal death for you. He sat in the cell of hell, He experienced God’s wrath in your place. Jesus has done your time. You have been pardoned. He has also freed you from the need for self-salvation, releasing you from the bondage of performance culture.

The good news is that His provision is open to all who would humble themselves and submit to Him as Lord and Savior. If you want freedom, don’t turn to the elementary principles of the world. Instead, turn to Jesus! Allow Him to be your King, your Savior, your all in all. Allow Him to guide and direct your life.

The Glorious Gospel Brings Us Together

On By Dr. Casey LewisIn DevotionalsLeave a comment

Ephesians, at least the first several chapters, highlights the glories of the gospel.

The Glorious Gospel

Paul desires the Ephesians and, in turn, God desires we see the greatness of the gospel as well. Indeed the good news that we are saved by God Himself through Jesus’ sacrifice on our behalf is amazing. It is unfathomable. God experiences a condemnation He doesn’t deserve so that we might escape the condemnation we do deserve.

The gospel didn’t just happen. It wasn’t an afterthought. We are told it was God’s plan from before time began (Eph 1:3-14). How amazing it is thatGod thought of us before the world even began and purposed to provide us with salvation!

Breaks Down Hostility Bringing us Together

While the gospel redeems us from God’s wrath, which is no light activity, it does more, much more. It redeems all of life, including our relationships with one another. In Ephesians 2 beginning in verse 14 we read,

[14] For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility [15] by abolishing the law of commandments expressed in ordinances, that he might create in himself one new man in place of the two, so making peace, [16] and might reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross, thereby killing the hostility.

Ephesians 2:14-16

In these verses, Paul is referring to the Jew / Gentile relationship. He reveals that Jesus makes peace between the two people’s. He does what nothing else in the world could, he breaks down walls of hostility that spans millennia.

Not only does Christ break down walls of hostility, but He brings the two together so that they no longer exist as two separate people but as one. In Christ, their is no longer a Jew / Gentile divide. In Christ, there is one new man. A singular people of God who are able to live together with one another in love and care.

The gospel does what no political message or law could. The gospel breaks down hostility between people of different races and nationalities. It is the gospel that creates unity. It is the gospel that brings us all together.

Several points of application:

(1) The gospel is what will heal our country, which means we need to preach Christ to our communities.

(2) The gospel is what will heal our churches, which means we need to focus on preaching the gospel to one another in the body of Christ.

(3) The gospel is what brings us together in community with one another.

Not that affinities aren’t important. They are important. But it is ultimately the saving grace of God and our desire to understand, apply, and share it that brings us together as a people. Yes, we want all want to be a part of community with which we connect. But are affinity connects the end all be all?

While we might not have everything in common with those in the local church to which we belong, we do have the one thing in common that matters and that brings us together — we have the gospel in common. We have the hope of Christ in common. We should have the desire to understand and apply God’s Word in common. The gospel is what brings us together.

When you are looking for a church with which to join, find one that preaches the gospel, that seeks to apply the gospel, and share the gospel with the community. Find one that is faithful to God’s Word and wants to see you grow in the understanding and application of God’s grace. Don’t look for the one that can meet all your needs or checks all your affinity boxes.

Jesus is the Plan

On By Dr. Casey LewisIn DevotionalsLeave a comment

With the grand sweep of biblical history stretching from before the beginning of world all the way to recreation, it is easy to miss the overarching plan of God. The Bible is thousands of pages and covers thousands of years. A lot happens between creation and the coming of Jesus. It is easy to mistake Jesus’ coming as a second try, a do-over of sorts. But is that the case? Is Jesus’ ministry, His sacrifice, His resurrection, the salvation He provides a do-over? Is it plan b?

Peter clears this up for us in one of his first speeches in the book Acts. During Pentecost, the Spirit of God was poured out on Jesus’ disciples (Acts 2:1-13). Some were amazed that they could hear what the disciples were saying in their native language, while others chalked it up to them being drunk. Peter responds with a message that links back to the book of Joel, explaining that the event was a fulfillment of prophecy and everyone should take note. He also issues a warning about the coming day of the Lord (Acts 2:19-20). The warning is followed up by an offer of salvation. All people’s everywhere who call on the name of Jesus will be saved. Salvation is not just for the Jews, it is for all people’s everywhere (Acts 2:21).

How does salvation come to all people’s? Peter reveals it is through Jesus. His crucifixion at the hands of lawless men provide salvation, as well as His resurrection (Acts 2:22-24). It is in this section that our question is answered.

Peter writes in Acts 2:22-24

“Men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus of Nazareth, a man attested to you by God with mighty works and wonders and signs that God did through him in your midst, as you yourselves know—this Jesus, delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men. God raised him up, loosing the pangs of death, because it was not possible for him to be held by it.”

Do you see it? In verse 23, we are told Jesus was delivered over to wicked men who would kill Him as part of God’s definite plan. It wasn’t a plan concocted on the spot, instead it was foreknown by the Lord. He knew it would happen. He planned for it to happen all so that you and I could experience salvation in Jesus?

How amazing is our God? He gives Himself for us not by accident but according to plan.

Praise and worship God today! He is a promise keeping, grace extending, good and loving God who desires we experience salvation so that we might bring Him glory and enjoy Him forever!

God’s Speech is purposeful and brings results

On By Dr. Casey LewisIn DevotionalsLeave a comment

““For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven and do not return there but water the earth, making it bring forth and sprout, giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater, so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it.” (Is 55:10–11)

Talking is not a bad thing, but when you talk just to hear yourself talk, what’s the point. I am sure you know people like that – they love the sound of their own voice. Instead of talking with you in conversation, they talk at you.

God is not one to talk at us. He doesn’t just talk to talk. His speech is purposeful. It brings about results.

In Isaiah 52-55, God speaks in regard to salvation. He promises redemption through a suffering Servant. We know that servant to be Jesus. The One who was led to the slaughter like a lamb. The One who gave Himself on our behalf. The One who is our Redeemer.

The redemption Jesus provides didn’t just happen. Nothing took place in regard to Jesus’ sacrifice on our behalf by happenstance. Rather, Jesus’ death on the cross, His giving His life on our behalf was purposeful and a part of God’s plan. He died in accordance with the Scriptures, as well as He resurrected in accordance with the Scriptures. His death on our behalf actually accomplished something. It accomplished exactly what the Father had purposed – redemption and vindication for His people.

God does not talk to hear the sound of His voice. His speech is purposeful and accomplishes that which He purposes. Praise God for His purposeful speech. Praise God He has the power and will to bring about that which He proclaims.

Do not harden yourself against the Lord, He is God almighty. Instead submit your life and purposes to Him and Him alone.

On By Dr. Casey LewisIn DevotionalsLeave a comment

“The Egyptians shall know that I am the LORD, when I stretch out my hand against Egypt and bring out the people of Israel from among them.” (Exodus 7:5)

The Exodus event is a rich biblical motif of God’s power over all. Through the plagues God shows both Egypt and the world He is Lord of all. There are no other gods greater, stronger, and mightier. The God of Israel, YAHWEH, is the one true God who rules the world. 

To be sure there are a host of counterfeit gods. God’s that are not real but seem to be so for they operate under the control and power of dark forces. They are a part of the Satan’s deception. They lure man in through copy cat practices but are no match for the Lord. In several instances through the plague narrative, Pharaoh’s magicians are able to work the same miracles as Moses and Aaron, but in the end their power is shown to be no match for the Lord as they are not able to continue to go toe to toe with Moses and Aaron. 

In their first encounter with Pharaoh, Aaron throws down his staff and it becomes a serpent (Exodus 7:10). The wise men and sorcerers of Pharaoh’s kingdom where able to do the same (Exodus 7:11-12). However, God shows Himself dominate when Aaron’s staff swallows up the other staffs (Exodus 7:12b). Throughout the narrative, similar instances occur. The wise men’s and sorcerers are able to produce the same miracles. Eventually, however, their power runs dry. Man can only compete with God’s power for so long until He triumphs over them. Our power is no match for the Lord. He is the all-sovereign Creator, Sustainer, and Ruler of the universe.

Pharaoh is not able to see God’s position. Pharaoh’s servants do. They see they are no match for the Lord. But Pharaoh doesn’t. He allows his pride to get the best of him. Even at the counsel of his people, pharaoh does not give in and let the Israelites go (Exodus 10:7). He continues in steadfast opposition to the Lord, even though those around him are telling him otherwise (see also Exodus 8:19).

You would think Pharaoh would eventually relent. He would recognize his place in God’s creation and turn from his sinful rebellion to obey the Lord, but Pharaoh doesn’t. He doesn’t because Pharaoh’s heart was hardened. While there is dispute as to who hardened whom’s heart first — did Pharaoh harden his own heart and then God seeing Pharaoh would not relent harden it so he could not relent, or had God hardened Pharaoh’s heart from the first. I believe the narrative makes it clear the latter is true. Whichever way you lean, it is evident the Lord is using Pharaoh to prove a point — He is the all-sovereign Lord of the universe. No man is more powerful than He. It is our duty to submit our lives to the Lord, allowing Him to call the shots. Shot caller, like Pharaoh, do not win in the end. Instead they pay a hefty price. Pharaoh not only lost his nation but, as we will see next time, he also lost his life. 

Do not harden yourself against the Lord, He is God almighty. Instead submit your life and purposes to Him and Him alone.