When And How Do We Receive the Holy Spirit?

Someone recently asked me a Bible question, and I thought it would be good to share the question and my answer in this blog in hopes of instructing others as well. It is a good question that many people have. It is one that I have had in the past.

My summary of the question is, “Do we receive the Holy Spirit when we are saved or does that happen after we are saved?” The person asking the question has been taught and believes that it happens at salvation but read some verses in Acts that seemed to indicate that it happens later. Here is my answer.

1 Corinthians 12:13 says, “For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body-whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free-and have all been made to drink into one Spirit.” The phrase, “we were all,” indicates that this is true of every Christian, which could only be possible if we receive the Spirit when we get saved.

Romans 8:9 says, “But you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His.” This verse tells us we are not saved if we don’t have the Holy Spirit.

1 Corinthians 6:19-20 says, “Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s.”

Galatians 3:2 says, “This only I want to learn from you: Did you receive the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?” This verse, especially in the context of Galatians 3, clearly connects receiving the Spirit to placing faith in Jesus.

Ephesians 1:13 says, “In Him you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise.” This verse shows us that we are sealed with the Holy Spirit when we believe.

Titus 3:5 says, “Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us, through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit.” This shows that the washing of the Holy Spirit is part of salvation.

1 John 4:13 says, “By this we know that we abide in Him, and He in us because He has given us of His Spirit.” Part of the proof that we are saved is being indwelled by the Spirit.

So to me, these verses are very clear. However, what does that mean in regard to the verses you were asking about and other similar verses in the book of Acts? This is my understanding. It is a common evangelical understanding of the book. On the Day of Pentecost as recorded in Acts 2, they were indwelled by the Holy Spirit with the outward proof of tongues, which gave them the ability to proclaim the gospel in a variety of languages to the crowd from many nations. After this, there were several “mini-Pentecosts” (chapter 8, Gentiles being saved in chapter 10, chapter 19) where people were saved and then received the Holy Spirit afterwards in some cases, often with the outward proof of speaking in tongues. The point was to give outward evidence that these people were really getting saved. The Jews would not have accepted the salvation of the Gentiles without some outward proof. I do not think this is my theological conjecture either. In Acts 15 at the Jerusalem council, the early church leaders were discussing the salvation of the Gentiles and the true nature of the gospel. Peter said (v. 8), “So God, who knows the heart, acknowledged them by giving them the Holy Spirit, just as He did to us.” The way they knew they received the Spirit was through the outward evidence of speaking in tongues. They did not have the completed canon of Scripture. Acts is a transitional book. I think the epistles show how things work for us today.

Practical Tips For Time Management

I wanted to follow up the message from Sunday with some practical tips for time management. I don’t claim to be an expert on this topic, but these are suggestions that have been helpful to me over the years. This is something that used to be a weakness for me that I have worked hard at over the years, although some of the things that I am mentioning are still a work in progress for me. I don’t think we can take living for Jesus seriously without taking time seriously. Here is a reminder of the two convictions we focused on during Sunday’s message:

1. Live every day to be ready for the final Day (Hebrews 9:27, Revelation 20:11-15, 1 Corinthians 3:10-15).
2. Time is life so what our life becomes is determined by how we spend our time (Ephesians 5:15-18).

To live out these convictions and invest (and we should view time as something not to be spent but to be invested as a steward of God) our time wisely, here are some practical suggestions:

1. Remember the Sabbath day. God has set up the rhythm of the world to be that we work six days and rest one day. I don’t think this is binding on us in a religious sense because we are New Testament Christians celebrating the resurrection on Sunday instead of Old Testament Jews observing the Sabbath on Saturday. However, it is a wisdom principle for us to live by. We need a day to relax, unwind, refocus, worship, and connect with our loved ones. I have always found when I have had pastoral emergencies, not managed my time well, and/or been in a busy season and not followed this that after 2 or 3 weeks that it has negative effects on me spiritually, physically, mentally, emotionally, and relationally. We just do not function the right way without some breaks.

2. Make it an appointment to begin the day spending time with God and let everything else flow out of that. Mark 1:35 says, “Now in the morning, having risen a long while before daylight, He [Jesus] went out and departed to a solitary place; and there He prayed.” After salvation, this may be the most life changing thing we can do.

3. Determine our God-given priorities, and as much as we can, schedule based on those priorities and not just out of circumstances. How do we do this? Look at Scripture and determine those things we know that God has called us to do and put them on the calendar first.

4. Say no to activities that do not line up with our God-given priorities as much as possible.

5. Plan a weekly and daily schedule. Set aside a little bit of time each week to sync schedules with your spouse if you are married. Many of us have to plan our time at work, but we should also plan for family time as well. God wants us to have fun too.

6. Combine activities together when possible. Here are some examples of what I mean. I either have lunch meetings or study during lunch and gain four hours a week by doing that. Involve your kids with you in ministry or in household projects and accomplish three things (the task, family time, and practical training) at once. Listen to the Bible, sermons, podcasts, etc. while driving or exercising and accomplish two things at once. There are lots of ways we can maximize our time in this manner.

7. Do the most important or hardest thing first each day.

8. Remember that we have to discipline ourselves to use our time well, which often means willing ourselves to do things instead of doing what we feel like doing.

9. Analyze how we are using our time so we can improve it. Look especially for the time wasters in our lives.

10. Schedule margin in our schedules because things always come and life doesn’t usually go as planned. The rule of thumb is that the more we are involved with people in our life the more margin we need in our schedule. !

11. Focus on results instead of activities. In other words, do not be busy just for the sake of being busy (which is the American way of life), but focus on doing on what we need to do to accomplish what God is calling us to accomplish with our lives.

“The Faith”

We are preparing to host the “Think Again” worldview conference next month. This blog post connects to why we are doing the conference. When we think of faith, we usually think of it (correctly, by the way) as a verb that refers to believing in something or someone. However, the New Testament also uses faith as a noun by using the phrase, “the faith.” It is used like this in two ways. The phrase is used to refer to someone who is a genuine believer, as in they are in “the faith.” The second usage (and the one I am focusing on in this blog) uses “the faith” in reference to the body of revealed Christian doctrine in the New Testament. So, there is a sense in which we are to have faith in Jesus and faith in “the faith,” of which Jesus stands at the center. Here is what Jude 3-4 says about this, “Beloved, while I was very diligent to write to you concerning our common salvation, I found it necessary to write to you exhorting you to contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints. For certain men have crept in unnoticed, who long ago were marked out for this condemnation, ungodly men, who turn the grace of our God into lewdness and deny the only Lord God and our Lord Jesus Christ.”

According to Jude 3-4, the nature of the faith is:
1. It is clearly defined. It is “the faith.” The faith is the basic core of Christian doctrine that is clearly revealed in the New Testament. We are not called to have faith in faith (as in we can believe whatever as long as we believe something) but faith in “the faith.” It is not what we choose to believe but what God tells us to believe through the Apostles (Acts 2:42). The basics of the faith are: God is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, three persons who are the one God, coequal and co-eternal; Jesus Christ is fully God and fully man, born of a virgin, lived a perfect and sinless life, died on the cross as the substitutionary sacrifice for our sins, was bodily raised from the dead, ascended to heaven, and is someday literally coming back to earth; the Bible is the Word of God, inspired, inerrant, and infallible; and salvation is by grace through faith alone. Really, it is the things that are connected to the gospel. Paul told the church at Philippi to “stand fast in one spirit, with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel” (Philippians 1:27). 1 Corinthians 15:3 teaches us that the gospel is of first priority. That is what we are to unite around. Jude 4 even strongly implies that false religions pervert the person and work of Jesus Christ and deny the grace of God.
2. It is totally exclusive. That is reflected in the fact that it is “the faith.” In fact, it is the one and only faith that is real and true. This is the faith while all competing belief systems are satanic deceptions.
3. It is permanently settled. It is “once for all” delivered to the saints. It does not change with the times but is the unchanging truth of God.
4. It is divinely revealed. It is “delivered to the saints.” By whom? By God the Holy Spirit. Man did not create or invent it, but it was given to him by God. Therefore, we are stewards who are to guard this treasure that was given to us by God. It is not to be tampered with.
5. It is subtly attacked. This is what verse 4 teaches us, and this is why we must contend for it. There is no need to defend something that is not being attacked.

What happens when people deny the faith?

1. It sometimes leads to legalism (1 Timothy 4:1-5).
2. Or, it leads to licentiousness (where people use a confused notion of love and grace to live however they want to live) [Jude 4, Titus 1:10-16].

What should we do with this teaching?

1. Make sure we know Jesus.
2. Make sure our doctrine is sound.
3. Be willing to die for “the faith,” but know which hills to die on and where to agree to disagree.
4. Separate from those who profess to be Christians and deny the faith (Romans 16:17-18). Share Jesus with those who do not know Him.

“Turning The World Upside Down”

When I started blogging earlier this year, I said that I would only do it if I was going to be consistent with it. I started out that way, but it has gone by the wayside over the last few months. I have been so busy that I have just not had time. God has been blessing and doing a lot of great things, and I am just trying to keep up with it. One of the things I am working on right now is getting prepared to go to Honduras next week. Keith Rickard and I are going down for a week, and we would really appreciate your prayers. I am preaching six times at Communion Baptist Church next weekend for their Missions Conference and anniversary celebration, and I am really honored and excited to have that opportunity. They gather all of their church plants together for this. We are also ordaining three of our church planters as pastors, working on February’s trip, and visiting the church plants (Keith will be preaching there). This is one of the messages for the conference, and I thought I would share it with you as well.

In Acts 17:6 the opponents of Christianity accused the early Christians of turning the world upside down. In reality, they were setting this sinful world right side up when they did this. The United States needs to be turned upside down. Only the Church of Jesus Christ operating in the power of the Holy Spirit and the power of the gospel can have that kind of impact on this sinsickened world. What will it look like for us to turn the world upside down? How can we accomplish this?

What does it look like for the church to turn the world upside down?

1. Lots of people will become followers of Jesus. Three thousand people got saved in Jerusalem in Acts 2. Thousands more get saved in chapter 4. Chapter 6 says “the number of the disciples multiplied greatly in Jerusalem.” In chapter 8, multitudes got saved in Samaria, and the Ethiopian eunuch got saved in the desert. Saul, whose name became Paul, met Jesus in chapter 9. Cornelius and a group of Gentiles became Christians in Acts 10. In chapter 11, “a great number believed and turned to the Lord” in Antioch. I could keep going, but I think that you get the picture. Changed lives are the point of it all. As individual lives are changed; families, communities, and even cities are changed.

2. Cities Are Changed. Examples of this are Samaria in Acts 8 and Ephesus in Acts 19.

3. People are healed (3:1-10, 8:7, 9:32-43). God does not always heal people physically, but sometimes He does, and the church is to pray for healing (James 5:13-18). God is a miracleworking God who does supernatural things.

4. Churches are planted. We see this in Acts 11 when the disciples were scattered by persecution. As they went, they shared Jesus with people. Many people were saved at Antioch so the church in Jerusalem dispatched Barnabas, who also took Paul, and they taught the people for a year. They developed into a church because Acts 11:26 and 13:1 call them a “church. Then, the leaders of this new church, under the leadership of the Holy Spirit, sent Paul and Barnabas out on the 1st Misisonary Journey where they proclaimed the gospel, discipled the converts, established leaders, and ultimately, planted churches in cities including Lystra, Iconium, Antioch (14:21-23), Galatia (16:6), Philippi (16:9-15), Thessalonica (17:1-4), Corinth (18:1-11), and Ephesus (19:1-10).

How can the church be used by God to turn the world upside down?

1. Have a genuine encounter with the risen Lord Jesus (1:1-3). This is how they went from cowards to world-changers.

2. Be filled with the Holy Spirit (1:8, 4:31). It can only happen in God’s power and not in ours.

3. Pray in faith and with passion (4:23-31). God works through the prayers of His people. He wants us to depend on His power instead of our own. Prayer puts us in touch with heaven’s resources.

4. They talked about Jesus wherever they went. Just look at the example in number one above. They preached to large crowds and talked to people one on one.

5. Courageous obedience that involves the surrender of our lives (see chapters 4, 5, 7, and 16, among other examples). They were willing to die for Jesus. Many, such as Stephen, did die for Him. They had courage and were obedient, even when it cost them greatly. We cannot change the world without paying a price.

Are you willing to do what it takes to be used by God in turning the world upside down or are you just going to sit around and complain about everything that is wrong in the world?

Leftovers From Sunday

I mentioned during the message in both services yesterday that I would attempt to answer your questions and share in writing some of the material I used yesterday that was not included in your notes. This is that attempt plus a few additional thoughts of mine.

Additional Thoughts

-I would encourage you to listen to the messages from Ephesians on thetruelifechurch.com if you missed any or all of them. They seem to have been helpful to people.

-I think yesterday’s message was challenging for both men and women. My job as a preacher of God’s Word is to make His truth clear and call us to trust Jesus to enable us to live it out. I think I should be real and say that I have been convicted in preparing the messages and expressed sorrow to Robin for the many times over the years that I have failed to lead and love her like I should. It is important that we not try to lower God’s standards but that we repent of our sinful shortcomings and seek Jesus for the grace to become more of who He is calling us to be.

-I wanted to clarify one statement just to make sure there was no confusion. When I was talking about women being confusing to men near the end of the message, I did not mean that in any negative way toward women but was referring to the fact that men have trouble understanding women (like women have trouble understanding men) just because we are so different, which is why John Gray made a boatload of money off of “Men Are From Mars, Women Are From Venus.”

Materials For Men

As we looked at Ephesians 5:22-33, we spelled out the husband’s role as leading like Jesus through loving His wife like Jesus. Here are the nine statements I made to amplify his leadership role and quotes from Bryan Chappell and James Dobson about it.

Most of these statements are adapted from a chapter by John Piper in the book, “Recovering Biblical Manhood and Womanhood.” Godly, loving leadership by a husband:

1. Answers God’s call to provide for, protect (physically, spiritually, and emotionally), and be a priest to his family.

2. Serves instead of demanding to be served.

3. Points to Jesus instead of himself.

4. Leads a team instead of acting as the superior.

5. Does not initiate every action but provides a pattern and develops a culture.

6. Accepts the burden of the final say in disagreements.

7. Pursues his wife romantically and sexually.

8. Leads in disciplining the children when both are present.

9. Recognizes leadership as a call to humility and repentance.

Bryan Chappell-“The example the husband sets has eternal consequences. This means headship is more about controlling one’s character than controlling one’s wife. The man who is more concerned with how his wife should obey him than with how he should obey God fails the kindergarten of biblical headship.”

James Dobson-“A Christian man is obligated to lead his family to the best of his ability…If his family has purchased too many items on credit, then the financial crunch is ultimately his fault. If the family never reads the Bible or seldom goes to church on Sunday, God holds the man to blame. If the children are disrespectful and disobedient, the primary responsibility lies with the father…not his wife…In my view, America’s greatest need is for husbands to begin guiding their families, rather than pouring every physical and emotional resource into the mere acquisition of money.”

Materials For Women

Nancy De Moss-“We simply can’t have our cake and eat it, too. We can’t insist on running the show and then expect men to be proactive, take initiative, and be ‘spiritual leaders’…You must be willing to let him fail-believing that ultimately, your security is not in your husband but in a sovereign God who is not going to fail you.”

How To Show Respect To Your Husband from Shaunti Feldhahn’s book, “For Women Only”

1. Why is respect and affirmation so important to a man? Mrs. Feldman writes, “Finally, the lightbulb came on: If a man feels disrespected, he is going to feel unloved. And what that translates to is this: If you want to love your man in the way he needs to be loved, then you need to ensure that he feels your respect most of all.” A marriage counselor said to her, “Affirmation is everything. When a man is affirmed, he can conquer the world. When he’s not, he is sapped of his confidence and even his feeling of manhood. And believe me, he will, consciously or unconsciously, seek out places where he receives affirmation.” Why is this the case?

A. Insecurity

B. Difficulty with openness (“The only time a guy’s guard is completely down is with the woman he loves. So she can pierce his heart like no one else can.”)

2. Affirmation

A. Verbally (example of Proverbs 7)

B. Sexually. She writes, “For your husband, sex is more than just a physical need. Lack of sex is as emotionally serious to him as, say, his sudden silence would be to you, were he simply to stop communicating with you. Making love with you assures him that you find him desirable, salves a deep sense of loneliness, and gives him the strength and well-being necessary to face the world with confidence. And, of course, sex also makes him feel loved. At the most basic level, your man wants to be wanted.”

C. In difficult times

3. Respect

A. His judgment

B. His abilities

C. In communication

D. In public

E. In assumptions (give the benefit of the doubt)

Questions And Answers

These are the questions that were submitted yesterday with my attempts at answering them. They are good and practical questions. My answers aren’t the final answers but hopefully give some guidance.

1. What do wives do if husbands won’t or don’t lead? This is a question that is difficult to answer in a vacuum without knowing the specifics of a given situation, but this is what I would say generally about it. First of all, remember that submission is an attitude that expresses itself in action. If your attitude and desire is to submit, you are in the right place. If he is not leading, you are not working against his leadership. I would encourage you to pray for him, encourage him, and show him unconditional love. I would encourage you to try to avoid filling his role as much as possible and leave a hole with the hope of him stepping it to fill it instead of you making it easy for him. However, if it is harming your children in some way, I think at that point you have to do what is needed for them even if it means taking some responsibility that should belong to him. For example, if a man who professes to be a Christian is not giving his children any spiritual training, at some point, I think a mother should step up and fill that gap to some degree.

2. How do wives help husbands want to lead and become Christ-like in nature and mind?

Pray for him and expect God to develop him into this kind of man. Encourage him. Let him know that you believe in him. Affirm the progress you see in him. Be willing to give up some time for him to spend in pursuing God and doing ministry. Unless it is excessively out of balance, encourage him in spending his time in this way. Realize you will have to make some sacrifices too for him to become everything the Lord wants him to be. Be willing to obey and follow the Lord’s leading together with him. In other words, don’t encourage this in him until it starts to make you uncomfortable or require some sacrifices from you. Sometimes a wife’s vision of what this should look like can end up being different than God’s vision. Resist the trap of comparing him to other men or comparing your relationship to other relationships.

3. How do wives become submissive when they have been independent prior to married status? Marrying a man that you trust and are confident in his leadership is helpful. However, submission is ultimately to the Lord so see this as an act of obedience to God first and foremost and seek Him for the grace, strength, and wisdom to be able to follow your husband’s leadership.

What A Man Is Called To

I have been writing about the prosperity gospel on this blog, and I plan on continuing with that theme, but I wanted to share something for and about men in advance of Father’s Day. I personally believe the greatest need in America is for godly men because that is so foundational to everything else. I am tired of men being so disparaged in our culture today. However, it is a great challenge to be the kind of man God calls us to be. I feel like I fall so far short in rising to that challenge. We have a lot of balls to juggle. Here are the foundational roles God calls us to as men:

1. A Relationship With God (1:26-27, 2:7, 3:8): This is what we were created for. This is where life truly comes from. Men tend to have a problem with pride and self-sufficiency. We often want to do things our own way. However, God wants us to live in dependence upon Him. He wants us to live like we are the creature and He is the Creator, like He is the Lord and we are the servants. Adam had everything, but he fell when he disobeyed God. Our sin has also separated us from God so the first step spiritually is for us to give our lives to Christ so we can have a relationship with God. We desperately need the grace of God. We then need to discipline ourselves to grow in grace and walk in fellowship with the Lord. 1 Timothy 4:7 tells us to discipline ourselves for the purpose of godliness. 2 Peter 3:18 says, “But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.”

2. A Relationship With His Wife (1:26-27, 2:18-25): Adam lived in paradise but something was missing without Eve. We need our wives. Marriage is designed to be a relationship where we complete and compliment one another. It is a total union defined by complete commitment. We are called to honor our wives (1 Peter 3:7) and to love and lead them (Ephesians 5:22-33).

3. Fatherhood (1:28): We are told to be fruitful and multiply. Malachi 2:15 teaches us that part of the purpose of marriage is raising godly offspring. We are called to train our children (see Deuteronomy 6 and Ephesians 6).

4. Work (1:26-31, 2:15): God created us to work-even before the fall. Sin has made it more difficult, but it is still something that God created us for. There is fulfillment in doing what God wants us to do in the way that He wants us to do it. Colossians 3:23-24 says, “And whatever you do, do it heartily, as to the Lord and not to men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance; for you serve the Lord Christ.”
A. We are to provide for our families (1 Timothy 5:4, 8).
B. We are to do our work as unto the Lord.
C. We are to be witnesses for Christ through our work.
D. We are to keep our work in perspective though and not make it a higher priority than family.

5. Being God’s Agents in the World (1:28): God has given us dominion over His creation. He has called us to be stewards of His world. Before the Fall, that was primarily expressed through tending the garden. Today, it is about building God’s Kingdom. The vehicle that God uses primarily today as far as building His Kingdom is the Church. He wants men to serve others, evangelize, be leaders, etc. God has gifted us to be His ministers, and truly serving Him is crucial for our fulfillment and satisfaction. He wants us to invest our lives in things of eternal value.

I have taught in the past that we are supposed to put God first, wife second, kids third, church fourth, work fifth, etc. However, something that Dr. Robertson McQuilkin wrote in an article that I referenced in church on Sunday really spoke to me. This is my paraphrase, but he basically said that we are to put God first, but when we do that, instead of ranking other priorities, we should view everything that God has called us to do as a first priority as well because it is a matter of obedience to Him. How do we make all of these things a first priority? Well, I feel like I don’t do that very well a lot of the time, but that drives me back to Jesus in confession and repentance, to seek His wisdom and guidance, and to ask to be filled with and empowered by the Holy Spirit. That is really how the Christian life is designed to be lived. As men, we are to depend on the God-Man, who is the only One who can empower us to be the men that God has created us to be. Galatians 2:20 says, “I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.”

Jesus Is My Treasure

Is Christianity about what we can get out of it?

I hope the preceding question is thought provoking for you. It is for me. Gospel presentations often focus on God blessing us, giving us an abundant life, helping our marriage, taking care of our problems, making our life better, etc. The prosperity “gospel” takes this to an entirely different level by making the gospel the means to divine health, wealth, being able to write your own ticket in life, etc. Is this what the gospel is? Is this what Christianity is about? My answer would be a qualified no. None of these things are the gospel. Some of them can be by-products of the gospel. God is a good God. He is gracious and does bless us. However, a gospel presentation that only focuses on what we can get out of being saved is not a true gospel presentation. There is a lot more to Christianity than what we can get out of it. The gospel is that we have rebelled against our Creator, who is a holy God. Despite our sin, He still loves us unconditionally and came to die for us in the person of His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus lived the perfect life we failed to live and died the death we deserve to die. He paid the price for our sins on the cross in order to satisfy the righteous wrath of God. He rose again three days later to give us new life. When we repent of sin and trust Jesus, the great exchange of our sin for Jesus’ righteousness takes place and God justifies us and makes us His children. That is the gospel.

The Good News is the person and work of Jesus. He is so much better than outward blessings. He gives things that money cannot buy. Outward things do not last, but Jesus is always there for us.

Philippians 3:7-10 says, “7 But what things were gain to me, these I have counted loss for Christ. 8 Yet indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ 9 and be found in Him, not having my own righteousness, which is from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith; 10 that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death.” Louie Giglio’s Passion ministry has written something called the 268 Declaration that is basically a vision statement for the ministry. The first declaration is, “Because I was created by God and for His glory, I will magnify Him as I respond to His great love. My desire is to make knowing and enjoying God the passionate pursuit of my life.”

I reject the prosperity gospel, but I (and probably all of us) need to focus more consistently on simply enjoying Jesus instead of trying to do something for Him or getting something from Him. He is enough. He is my great treasure, and I need to live like it.

Already/Not Yet

We are talking about the prosperity gospel, which is the belief system that says that health, wealth, and prosperity are included in salvation as divine rights for us in this world. God may give us those things right now, but He may not. He will give them to us in heaven though. Whether He does or He does not, that is not the point of salvation. The point of salvation is ultimately the glory of God through the grace of Jesus forgiving us of sin and adopting us as His children. The purpose of salvation is not using God to fulfill the American Dream. Ephesians 1:3 says, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ.” Notice that he says “spiritual blessing(s)” and these blessings are “in the heavenly places in Christ.”

This is where a proper understanding of a Christian worldview is very useful and where the title of this blog comes into play. We already possess all of God’s blessings in Christ, but we do not yet fully experience them. We will not fully experience them until we get to heaven. The kingdom of God is in our hearts now, but we will not literally be in the Kingdom until Jesus comes back. It is important to understand that we no longer live in a Genesis 1-2 world (which was paradise before sin), and we do not yet live in a Revelation 21-22 world (which is a new heaven and a new earth, restored to paradise and perfection), but we currently live in a Genesis 3 fallen world (this world is under a curse, everything is decaying, and nothing is as it should be). We must keep this reality in our minds in order to correctly understand the world and our lives. I am redeemed, but I live in a fallen world, which creates difficulties. Christ has removed my curse spiritually, but I still live in a world that is under the curse. I am spiritually restored, but my body is decaying because I am a fallen creature living in a fallen world. Sure, I should take care of my body, and God certainly gives physical healing (I will blog about this later in the series, but I have witnessed God do miracles of physical healing), but my guarantee in this world is not perfect, divine health. Instead, I am guaranteed death unless I am alive when Jesus returns for His bride. That does not mean something is wrong with me (or you) spiritually, but it is the reality of life in a fallen world. At some point in the future, I will have perpetually perfect health, but that will not happen until I am in heaven. Every Christian has every spiritual blessing in Christ, but God blesses us differently when it comes to material blessings. Ultimately, He wants us to love Him, trust Him, thank Him, and be content with what we have (or don’t have). A relationship with the Lord is about the Giver more than it is about the gifts.

Romans 8:18-30 says,
18 “For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. 19 For the earnest expectation of the creation eagerly waits for the revealing of the sons of God. 20 For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it in hope; 21 because the creation itself also will be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. 22 For we know that the whole creation groans and labors with birth pangs together until now. 23 Not only that, but we also who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, eagerly waiting for the adoption, the redemption of our body. 24 For we were saved in this hope, but hope that is seen is not hope; for why does one still hope for what he sees? 25 But if we hope for what we do not see, we eagerly wait for it with perseverance.
26 Likewise the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us[a] with groanings which cannot be uttered. 27 Now He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He makes intercession for the saints according to the will of God.
28 And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose. 29 For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren. 30 Moreover whom He predestined, these He also called; whom He called, these He also justified; and whom He justified, these He also glorified.”

In closing, let me give you three observations from this text that directly apply to the subject at hand:
1. Suffering is a reality in this present age, but it will pale in comparison to the glory we experience in the age to come when we transition from a Genesis 3 world to a Revelation 21-22 world (v. 18).
2. The creation itself is waiting for God to redeem it (v. 19-22). That fact shows that creation is not what it was intended to be. However, it also demonstrates that God will someday remake it into what He designed it to be.
3. Those who have a relationship with God can take comfort not only in this future hope but also in the fact that God is working all things together for good for us even in the midst of this fallen, crazy world (v. 28). That truth gives real hope!

“It’s Not About Me”

I am going to be doing a series of blogs, starting with this one, dealing with the health, wealth, and prosperity gospel that I touched on in the last message of “The Cross” series when we talked about Jesus’ example in suffering. I intended to do this sooner and have had some delays, but I intend to crank these out over the next week or two.

The title of this blog, “It’s Not About Me,” is the starting point for any discussion on the prosperity gospel. By the prosperity gospel, I mean the theology that teaches that health, wealth, prosperity, and power are included in salvation as divine rights for us in this world. I think the prosperity gospel is guilty of missing the forest for the trees, so to speak. There is some truth in it, but the over aching premise seems to be that God exists to fulfill our needs while the actual premise of the Bible is that we exist to bring God glory. God does bless us, but that is not the main point of everything. Isaiah 43:7 says, “Everyone who is called by My name, whom I have created for My glory; I have formed him, yes, I have made him.” Therefore, be cautious with any teaching that focuses on:

1. Our glory instead of the glory of God.
2. Getting from God instead of giving our lives to God because of His worthiness.
3. Trying to get God to accomplish our desires instead of surrendering our wills to Him so we can receive His best.
4. The fulfillment of human potential instead of the cross of Jesus Christ.

“It’s Okay To Not Be Okay, But It’s Not Okay To Stay That Way”

Robin and I celebrated our 24th anniversary on Monday. We saw the movie, “Mom’s Night Out” (and I know you are not reading this for the second coming of Siskel and Ebert but we think that if you are a parent you will relate to and enjoy this film), and the idea for this blog hit me while watching the closing credits. The title is similar to a sermon title from a few years ago, and it really expresses the heart of our ministry at True Life. It is another way of stating our mission statement, “Meeting people where they are and helping them become fully devoted followers of Christ.” Real ministry is meeting people where they are and being used by God to help people become who He wants them to be in Christ. We are all messed up, and True Life is a place where it is okay to be honest about that. However, it is also a place to be transformed by the grace of God instead of staying where we are and just being authentic about our dysfunction. I want to apply this to our current series, “Modern Family.”

This series will be a challenging series, as I think was evident from the first message. It will be challenging for some people because of sin that will be called out. It will be challenging for some of us though because we know what the Bible teaches about these things, and we are tempted to adopt an us vs. them mentality and condemn everybody who is wrong.

Here is the key, and His name is Jesus. John 1:14 says, “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.” I used to teach that this means that Jesus perfectly balanced grace and truth, which is true but does not tell the whole story. He perfectly balances grace and truth because He is 100% grace and 100% truth. We are called to follow His example. Our tendency is to focus on one of these areas to the exclusion of the other. When we do that, we end up with neither of them because you cannot separate grace and truth from each other. It would be dividing Jesus. Some people tend toward a misunderstanding of grace that allows people to do just about anything. They think we are being unloving when we call out sin. Others go to the opposite extreme and are black and white about the truth but have little room for grace and forgiveness. Some also make the mistake of expecting non-Christians to act like Christians before they actually trust Jesus.

Jesus always told the truth and confronted sin, but He always loved people and offered them grace. He met people where they were and brought them to where they needed to be. That is what we are called to do. We are called to extend His grace by proclaiming His truth. That is what we are going to do in this series. We are going to share God’s truth about family and offer His grace to those who will receive the truth, repent of sin, and trust Jesus. Grace cannot be received without repentance. If you and/or your family are not okay, it is okay to be honest about it, and we will do whatever we can to help you by the grace of God so you don’t stay that way. As a church, we will continue to strive to meet people wherever they are with the life-transforming grace and truth of Jesus.