Why I’m not upgrading my cell phone, though I really want to – Shield of Faith, Preview

I recently received an email from my cell phone provider with an offer to upgrade my phone.  My current phone is three years old, and it is a base model.  The more advanced models have larger screens, better cameras and other features such as facial recognition.

The email tugged at my desires.

I desire a phone with a larger screen, a better camera and facial recognition.  But my current phone is working fine.  Maybe it’s showing signs of decreasing battery life, but barely.  My conclusion is that I don’t need a new phone, and I deleted the email.

Then a few days later I received a mailing from the car dealership where we’ve purchased our last three vehicles.  Mostly the mailer was offering specials on service.  But it got me thinking about our older vehicle.  Like my phone, my vehicle is working mostly fine, though with some signs of aging.  Of course I want a newer car, and I start to rationalize a variety of reasons why it might be a good idea to get a new one.  I’m especially enthralled by electric vehicles.  Or at least a hybrid.  But I throw the mailer in the trash.

I could go on and on, talking about the many times throughout the day I think about stuff that I want but don’t need.  Maybe you know the feeling.  I’m talking about the sometimes confusing battle we all struggle with, the complex mix of our desires, lusts, wants and needs.

Desires are not automatically evil.  Actually, desire is often neutral.  But desire can turn into something extremely selfish, evil and harmful.  There are so many desires.  Desire for money, power, sexuality, peace, security, ease, comfort, taste, position, prestige, reputation, relationship, family, friends, truth, revenge, happiness.  Think about all that you desire.

Where do desires come from? We contemporary Americans live in a culture filled with companies who intentionally target our desires, often in hopes that we will indulge our desires by purchasing their goods and services.  Also our bodies are created by God with natural desires.  Finally, I’m guessing it will come as no surprise that the enemy of God also targets our desires.  The Evil One is the great tempter.  As we continue to study the Armor of God, Paul writes in Ephesians 6:16 that the Devil shoots burning arrows at us.  That’s Paul’s way of describing Satan’s work of tempting us.

What tempts you?  How do you fight temptation?  Paul says that we fight temptation by taking up the Shield of Faith.  Wouldn’t it be great if we could actually have a device or piece of metal that would help us defeat temptation all the time?  Unfortunately there is no such thing.  Instead Paul is speaking figuratively about faith.  How does faith help us defeat temptation?  Join us on the blog next week as we talk about it.

Photo by Matteo Fusco on Unsplash

How deeply God desires us to experience peace – Boots of Peace, Part 5

As we conclude this week’s blog series about the Boots of Peace in the Armor of God, consider what Paul writes about peace in Ephesians 2, verses 11-22:

“For he himself is our peace, who has made the two one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility, by abolishing in his flesh the law with its commandments and regulations. His purpose was to create in himself one new man out of the two, thus making peace, and in this one body to reconcile both of them to God through the cross, by which he put to death their hostility. He came and preached peace to you who were far away and peace to those who were near. For through him we both have access to the Father by one Spirit. Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and aliens, but fellow citizens with God’s people and members of God’s household, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone. In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit.”

Do you see how expansive the peace is?  God has made it possible for us have peace with God and peace with others. Jesus’ victory over sin, death and the devil, makes it possible for us to have peace with God because where once we were separated from God because of sin, we now can be brought near to God, so near to God in fact that God the Spirit lives in us! 

Jesus’ victory also compels us to pursue peace with others.  In Paul’s day, there was a very difficult battle raging in many of the churches. It was a battle between Jews and non-Jews.  They came from different ethnicities and cultures, and that difference was like a huge wall between them.  Paul says that Jesus breaks down the wall and brings peace between them.  The two can become one, together citizens of the Kingdom of God. 

Peace, therefore, is more than “war is over.”  Peace is also what we experience as flourishing.  Peace is when things move toward rightness and wholeness in the world.  Jesus brings the opportunity for that kind of peace.  In John 10:10 he called it the abundant life.  It is what happens when God transforms us inwardly so that his Fruit of the Spirit flows out. It is what happens when our relationships are healed.  Our relationship with God and other people.  It is what happens when all forms of injustice in society and culture is eradicated.  When people have enough.  When there is equality, fairness, and flourishing for all. 

This is the expansive kind of peace that we proclaim. 

God also desires that all people experience deep inward peace.  In Philippians 4:6-7, Paul writes that we can experience peace that passes understanding. 

I’ve mentioned in the past that anxiety has been a part of my life, for many years. This part of the armor has special significance to me, as a reminder that we do truly have peace. Most importantly, we have peace with God, and he wants us to experience his peace.  I love how Paul describes it in the Philippians passage, because he says that we can be thankful in all situations as we pray to God, and that God promises his peace. 

No matter what kind of peace you are looking for, it can be found in God. 

When we find peace in God, we then share that peace widely and lavishly.  In other words, we are peacemakers.  We choose to be the people who bring peace in any situation.  We refuse to start drama or add to the drama.  In fact, peacemakers reduce drama.  Peacemakers are what some people call a non-anxious presence. Christians are people who other people want to be around because they do not add to the anxiety of our increasingly anxious world. 

When we are ready to share the Gospel of Peace, we also want people to experience the peace that passes understanding by getting to know the Prince of Peace. 

How are you living the Gospel of Peace?  Christians love others, running towards the goodness of God, guiding people toward reconciliation.

Christians are people who rest in the truth that we have peace with God, and peace in God.  He has won the victory.  He is for you.  No matter the crises or struggles or battles you are facing, look for his peace that passes understanding.

Photo by Priscilla Du Preez 🇨🇦 on Unsplash

Where peace is found – Boots of Peace, Part 4

How do we find peace?

In the story of the birth of Jesus, the shepherds just outside the town of Bethlehem had the shock of their lives when angels showed up in the sky above them, telling them that the Messiah had been born that evening right there in the town of Bethlehem.

What did the angels say about the birth of Jesus? In Luke chapter 2, and verse 14, the angels declare to the shepherds, “Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.”

Isaiah the ancient Hebrew prophet wrote this about the birth of Jesus, “For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and peace there will be no end.”

Isaiah also wrote about the Messiah’s death: “But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed.”

Jesus himself said on the night before his death, some of his last words to his disciples, “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.”

Through Jesus we have access to peace! 

Paul writes in Romans 5, verses 1-2: “Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God.”

Do you have peace with God? If you’re not sure, please comment below. Let’s talk about that.

Photo by Bekky Bekks on Unsplash

How armor, footwear, good news and peace go together – Boots of Peace, Part 3

What is peace?  It can be defined as “a set of favorable circumstances involving tranquility.”[1] 

In our study of the Armor of God in Ephesians 6:10-20, Paul writes that we should have our feet with the readiness of the Gospel of Peace. How is Paul connecting all these concepts together? Armor, footwear, Gospel, and Peace. Remember that Paul was a Jew.  In the Jews’ ancient Hebrew Bible, which we Christians call the Old Testament, there is a Hebrew word for peace that is rich in meaning.  It is the Hebrew word “Shalom.” 

It is quite possible that Paul, when he writes that we should have our, “feet fitted with the readiness of the Gospel of Peace,” likely has one of those Old Testament references to peace on his mind. 

The prophet Isaiah in Isaiah, in Isaiah chapter 52, verse 7, says something that sounds an awful lot like what Paul says about this part of the Armor of God in Ephesians 6:15.  Who was Isaiah? 

Isaiah’s ministry took place during an era of upheaval in the ancient near east.  Powerful foreign nations attacked and exiled some Jews away to those foreign nations.  But Isaiah prophesied that God would eventually restore the people to the land.  In chapter 52, Isaiah is talking about that restoration. In verse 7, Isaiah writes,

“How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of those who bring good news, who proclaim peace, who bring good tidings, who proclaim salvation, who say to Zion, ‘Your God reigns!’”

Isaiah is depicting a scene of incredible joy.  There are runners, perhaps military scouts whose job it is to run ahead and declare the good news that peace has come to the land because God is bringing the exiles back to Israel.  There is good news of peace.  No more war.  The good news of peace is that God reigns!  God has won the victory. 

Fast-forward to Paul writing about the armor of God in Ephesians, and it seems this passage from Isaiah was on Paul’s heart and mind.  Paul now knows that it is Jesus who is the fulfillment of Isaiah’s prophecy.  It is Jesus who has won the victory over sin, death and the devil.  Now you and I are like the scouts, fitted with our running shoes, so that we can swiftly, readily, declare the good news of peace.   War is over.  God reigns.  Shalom is possible.  Peace is available to all.

Interestingly, Paul would refer to this very passage from Isaiah in his letter to the Romans.  Turn to Romans 10.  In this section of Paul’s letter to the Romans, he is referring to the same situation that Isaiah was writing about.  Paul is answering a question: If God has a new covenant with the church in Christ, what about his old promises to Israel?  Is God not keeping his promises? 

Paul says, “Of course God will keep his promises,” because as he writes in Romans 10, verses 9 and 10, “If anyone confesses with their mouth that ‘Jesus is Lord’ and believes in their heart that God raised him from the dead, they will be saved.  And everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”  Paul is saying this with great joy.  Yes, Israel can be saved if they place their faith in Jesus the Messiah.  All people can be saved who place their faith in Jesus. 

In verses 14 and 15, Paul urges all Christians to be people who joyfully and readily share this good news.  He writes,

“How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? And how can they preach unless they are sent? As it is written, ‘How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!’”

There are plenty of people who have not heard this good news.  You and I are the people who put on our running shoes and run around proclaiming the good news story.  As Paul and Isaiah both said, what we proclaim is the good news story of peace.

In the next post we continue to look at how Scripture describes the kind of peace God wants all people to experience.

[1] Johannes P. Louw and Eugene Albert Nida, Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament: Based on Semantic Domains (New York: United Bible Societies, 1996), 246.

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When it comes to the Gospel are you ready or stuck? – Boots of Peace, Part 2

A few years ago I was playing disc golf with my oldest son, his wife, and my third son. On one hole, my third son threw his disc, and it landed in a muddy spot. We didn’t realize just how muddy it was. My son stepped in the mud to retrieve his disc, and his foot disappeared in the mud. He hadn’t tied his sneakers very tight, so when he pulled his foot upward, the mug held his sneaker under the surface, and out came my son’s foot with a sock and no shoe. That shoe was stuck. We had to reach down into the mud hole which was slowing closing and pull out the shoe.

In life we can get stuck in many ways.

What does Paul have in mind when he describes the footwear in the armor of God? He gives us a clue when he uses the word “readiness.”  Ready to move.  Flexible. Light on your feet.  Yes, we are standing firm, but that doesn’t mean we are stuck.  Our feet are not glued to the floor.  Our weight is not resting on our heels.  We are nimble.  Our weight is shifted forward to the front of our feet. 

But of course, as we’ve said all along, Paul is not writing a training manual for physical battle. He is talking about the habits and practices of Christians in spiritual battle.  Paul is speaking figuratively here.  What he is saying is that we need to be ready.  But what does he mean?  

Ready for what?  Ready to do what?  How do we get ready?  Remember, Paul is not talking about literal footwear.  Instead he is talking about something related to the Gospel of Peace in relationship with the battles we face in life.

The New International Version, translates Paul’s words as the “readiness that comes from the Gospel of Peace,” but the words “comes from” are not in the original.  Instead what Paul specifically says is “readiness of the Gospel of Peace.” 

That’s a bit vague, though.  What is readiness of the Gospel of Peace is Paul talking about? 

The noun that Paul used for “Gospel” is derived from the verb that means “to declare good news.”  In the New Testament writings, that is the good news about Jesus’ birth, life, death and resurrection, through which he won the victory over sin, death and the devil, thus making it possible for all people to have access the abundant flourishing life of God.  In English, we call that “The Gospel,” which is derived from the old Anglo-Saxon word “Good spell,” which is referring to a good story. The story of Jesus’ victory is the ultimate good story!

What Paul has in mind for this piece of the Armor of God is a Christian habit of readiness to tell that wonderful good news story of Jesus, and in particular Paul emphasizes the fact that it is a good news story of peace. 

But what does that mean, the “Gospel of peace”?  Christians, in my experience, don’t often call it the Gospel of Peace.  We call it the Gospel of Jesus.  Or the Gospel of Truth.  We might hear that phrase “the Gospel of Peace,” and think, “Peace is a good word for the things of God, so it fits, I guess.” But how does it fit?  What are some reasons why Paul would say that we Christians need to be ready to declare the story of Jesus as a good news story of peace? 

In the next post we take a look at that word, peace, and how it relates to a readiness to declare the good news story of Jesus. 

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The important lesson I learned from running – Boots of Peace, Part 1

I run for exercise, and so when I see other runners on the roads around my community, I look to see what kind of gear they wear, and in particular what kind of shoes they wear.  What shoes we wear is a big topic among runners.  Shoes make a huge difference.

When I was training for my first marathon in 2011, I started off using old cheapo sneakers I had for a few years.  As my training mileage increased to 8 or 9 miles, I started having pain in my ankles and knees.  I had never run that far in my life, and when the pain hit, I got concerned.  I was way far away from the 26 miles of a marathon.  If my ankles and knees were feeling like this at 8 or 9 miles, there’s no way I could do 26. 

I was talking it over with a friend of mine, and he asked me, “What kind of shoes are you wearing?”  I told him about my cheapo shoes, and he said, “You need new shoes, better shoes, long-distance running shoes.”  So I went to the running store, and they fitted me with some shoes that I thought were way too expensive.  But I had to admit, they felt amazing.  I started running on those shoes and within days the pain was gone, and I was increasing my miles.  The shoes made all the difference, and I completed the marathon with them.

In Ephesians 6:15, Paul describes the next piece of armor in our study of the Armor of God, and it relates to footwear.  The sentence in verse 15 actually begins in verse 14 with the words “Stand firm.”  When we put on the pieces of the armor of God, God’s armor will help us stand firm against the evil one.  So far we studied two pieces of armor.  We stand firm with the Belt of Truth buckled around our waist (six part blog series starting here).  We stand firm with the Breastplate of Righteousness in place (six part blog series starting here).  Now we read that we stand firm, “with our feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace.”

What armor is Paul talking about?  Let’s read it again.  See if you can figure out what piece of armor he is referring to.  “[Stand firm]…with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace.”

Very much like the Belt of Truth, in verse 14, in which Paul never actually mentions the word “belt,” so here in verse 15, when he mentions the Boots of Peace, he never actually mentions the word “boots.” Instead of boots, what does he mention?

He mentions an action: “Tie up underneath your feet.”  Or “Fit your feet with.”

It’s the image of a first century soldier putting on their footwear.  In our day, think of the boots that soldiers wear. 

They are like hiking sneaker boots.  The purpose of soldiers’ boots in the First Century as in our day is not to protect their feet.  In war, it is rare that feet are attacked.  In some professions people must wear steel-toed and steel-soled boots to protect feet from heavy equipment or material dropping on them or from stepping on a nail.  Instead the footwear of first century soldiers, like the footwear of contemporary soldiers, is designed for mobility.  Flexibility.  Movement.  Running. 

So like I said above, I pay attention to what shoes people are wearing when I see them running.  That’s why it amazes me that there is a guy who runs around our community barefoot!  Typically he runs in the evening.  If you google it, barefoot running is a thing.  Some claim it is better for you than wearing sneakers. 

In a way, I get it.  Not all sneakers are right for every foot.  For many years I wore Brooks Adrenaline GTS.  Then one year I tried Brooks Ghost because they were on sale.  Big mistake.  My feet and ankles hurt again. 

But then there is that barefoot guy. How does he do it?  Clearly, he must have developed serious thick callouses on the soles of his feet.  But is it possible that he never steps on a pebble, or glass, or metal?  My thought is that if we want to be ready, whether it is running, or if we do a lot of standing, or if we work outside, or whatever your station in life, it is imperative that we have the right footwear so that we can be mobile. That mobility seems to be what Paul has in mind when he describes the footwear in the armor of God.

We learn why in the next post.

Cover Photo by Malik Skydsgaard on Unsplash

Boots photo by Ryan Hoffman on Unsplash

Struggling with war and peace – Boots of Peace, Preview

With war raging in Ukraine, Israel, and Myanmar, I wondered how many wars are happening across the globe right now as I write in fall 2023.  One tracker I found lists 32 countries currently involved in war, and my country, the USA, is not one of them.  Of those wars, 18 are terrorist wars, 9 are civil wars, 2 are drug wars, 2 are regular wars, and 1 is due to ethnic violence.

Though the USA is not currently involved in a war, we spend the most money on war-making capabilities.  We have the most war-making equipment, technology and vehicles.  Our populace also own the most guns per capita of any country in the world by far, 120 guns per 100 people.  The next closest is Yemen with 52.8 per 100 people.  But Yemen’s population is one-tenth that of the US.  In fact, none of the other top ten most populous countries in the world (Russia, China, India, Brazil, Japan, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Indonesia, Nigeria) are on the top ten list for gun ownership. 

Why am I telling you this?  My point is that we live in a sometimes violent world.  Is it possible that our Anabaptist brothers and sisters in Christ are on to something?  If you’re not familiar with that term “Anabaptist,” think Mennonites, Amish, and Brethren.  As it pertains to this discussion, Anabaptists are famous for being pacifists.  They are for peace and not war.  They have varying degrees of commitment to nonviolence, of course. 

For me, I am what might be called an “almost pacifist.”  By that I mean that I hear Jesus’ teaching, especially in the Sermon on the Mount, to love our enemies, pray for those who persecute us, and turn the other cheek, and believe that when he says “blessed are the peacemakers” he means it.  But I also believe there are those rare, and I believe they should be extremely rare, situations in which one nation is just in going to war against another nation in order to stop evil.  World War 2 is perhaps the best case in point.  In every other situation, however, Christians are to be people of peace.

I know I am in messy territory here, as I could seem to be conflating Christianity with America. I do not believe they are one and the same. Not even close. The church should never, ever, take up arms. And I believe a secular nation, like America, should only take up arms in those rare cases in which it is just to stop evil.

How does a nation know when a situation satisfies the requirements of what is just? Obviously, just war theory is highly debated. I believe a just war should be exceedingly rare, to the point where I believe it is unlikely that the American Revolutionary War was not a just war. Yet, I think we can look back in our history, both nationally and culturally, and see quite easily that we often struggle with peace.  What does it mean to be people of peace?

In fact, the next part of the Armor of God that we will study this coming week is sometimes called the “Boots of Peace”.  I say, “sometimes” because the text, Ephesians 6:10-20, doesn’t mention boots.  There is, however, a clear mention of footwear and of peace.  Can you think how footwear might be related to peace?

Join us next as we talk about peace and why it is mentioned in the Armor of God.

Photo by Timon Studler on Unsplash

How turn away from false righteousness and live a life of true righteousness – Breastplate of Righteousness, Part 5

What kind of righteousness do you have?  A true righteousness or the false outward looking good kind of righteousness?

Instead of that outward law-keeping false righteousness, we need a change of heart.

We need a change in how we view our connection to God.  While performing religious rituals is not evil, we cannot depend on them as righteousness.  We need serious discipleship.

Is your spiritual growth stagnant?  Can you look back at your life and see it looking a bit more like Jesus than 5 years ago?  How about one year ago?

Or is Jesus the singular focus and passion of your life?  Are you asking for his help so that your life is resembling more of his ways, even his ways that seem difficult?

If not, what will it take for you to go deeper?

One practical application is to consider Jesus’ relationship with his disciples: life-to-life discipleship.

Who discipled you?  How did they disciple you?  Are you willing to regularly be vulnerable with someone to continue to grow deeper?

Attending worship services is not life-to-life discipleship. Attending Sunday school classes is not either.  Reading the the Daily Bread not enough.  These are all good activities, but they are not life-to-life discipleship.

How did Jesus disciple the disciples?  They did life together!  He taught them in the midst of regular life.  Not in a classroom for one hour per week.  He did give them assignments, which put them out of their comfort zone.  He sent them out on mission trips.

What about you?  We all do life with people.  But are we talking about our relationships with God with those people?  Or are we just complaining about things?  Are we spurring one another on to make choices that better follow the way of Jesus?  Not one of us has arrived at what could be called a truly righteous life.  We should all be striving to look more like Jesus.  Like his righteousness.

What will you commit to taking steps that go beyond where you are now?

Jesus is our only righteousness.  We need to cling to him, to weld our lives to him. When that happens, we are changed from the inside out, and his Spirit dwells within us.  He Spirit helps us become more righteous like Jesus.  We put off the old way of life, and we put on the new way of Jesus.  Our hearts, our desires, our thinking, our actions become more and more like his.

Righteousness means that the Fruit of the Spirit will be flowing from us.  We simply cannot underestimate the importance of allowing the Spirit of God to grow his heart within us.  

Jesus once taught, “By your fruits you will know them.”  That’s how we discern whether we or others are truly righteous.  By what we see produced from their lives. 

So as we deal with the battles we face in life, spiritual warfare, relationships, personal, professional, health, financial, we first live in the truth, the truth of who Jesus is and who we are.  We put on the Belt of Truth.

Then we put on the Breastplate of Righteousness, protecting our heart with the righteousness of Jesus, becoming more like him, depending on his strength.

Photo by Hannah Busing on Unsplash

The kind of faith that leads to true righteousness – Breastplate of Righteousness, Part 4

If God came to you and said, “I want you to uproot your family, leave your job, sell your house, move to a place where you know no one, have no support/friend network, and start over,” how would you feel?  I think many of us, me included, would think, “Uh…that voice I heard is not God.  I’m good here,” and ignore it. 

The Apostle Paul writes about this in Romans chapters 3 and 4, and what he says will help us understand how to have the true righteousness that Jesus refers to in Matthew 5, verse 20, which we learned about in the previous post. There Jesus says that if we want to enter God’s Kingdom, we need a true righteousness, not the false righteousness of the so-called righteous elite. Now in Romans 3 and 4, Paul gives us a very practical illustration about how to have that true righteousness.   

In Romans chapter 3, verses 9-18, Paul quotes numerous teachings from the Old Testament which basically all affirm the idea that no one is inherently righteous or right before God.  Because of that, he writes in verse 20, “Therefore no one will be declared righteous in God’s sight by the works of the law; rather, through the law we become conscious of our sin.”

So the law helps us know we are not righteous.  The law points out our sinfulness. That might sound grim, but there is hope!  As Paul writes in verses 21-26:

“But now apart from the law the righteousness of God has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. This righteousness is given through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference between Jew and Gentile, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. God presented Christ as a sacrifice of atonement, through the shedding of his blood—to be received by faith. He did this to demonstrate his righteousness, because in his forbearance he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished—he did it to demonstrate his righteousness at the present time, so as to be just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus.”

What Paul is saying here is so hopeful. Though we are not inherently righteous, we can have access to true righteousness. We can be made right with God because of what Jesus did through his perfect life, and through his death and resurrection.  Jesus was righteous for us, and we can receive his righteousness into our lives by faith. 

But what is the faith that receives Christ’s righteousness into our lives?  Paul helps us understand that faith when he describes Abraham’s faith in Romans 4:3, “What does Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.’”

Abraham believed God. Abraham had a kind of faith that gave him access to true righteousness. What kind of faith did Abraham have?  Remember Abraham’s story?  In Genesis 12, we read that God came to Abraham and basically said, “I know you and your wife are really old, way past childbearing years, but follow me to a new land, and there I will make your family into a great nation through whom all people in the world will be blessed.” 

Like I said above, if I heard a voice telling me to uproot my life, I don’t think I would believe it was God speaking. Not Abraham though.  He followed God.  In other words, Abraham shows his belief to be true belief by his actions.  Paul describes this starting in Romans 4, verses 18-22,

“Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed and so became the father of many nations, just as it had been said to him, ‘So shall your offspring be.’ Without weakening in his faith, he faced the fact that his body was as good as dead—since he was about a hundred years old—and that Sarah’s womb was also dead.  Yet he did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God, being fully persuaded that God had power to do what he had promised. This is why ‘it was credited to him as righteousness.’”

Abraham’s unwavering faith meant that he actually obeyed God, even when it seemed too difficult or even ridiculous.  That is true faith that demonstrates righteousness that goes beyond the Pharisees.  That is evidence of a genuine change deep within.

Jesus is saying that true righteousness is not aiming to fulfill religious duties outwardly, but instead true righteousness means our inner life, our hearts and mind will be changed so that we live the way Jesus calls us to live. Consider what Jesus calls us to.  He calls us to give sacrificial kindness to someone who hurt us.  He calls us to swallow our pride and help in an area of repetitive sin.  He calls us to acknowledge him in the pain even when we don’t understand what is going on. 

What do you do in those moments?  What do you do when he asks you to change something life to be more in line with his heart?

Evaluate your life. Do you have true righteousness?

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Jesus’ instructions for how to enter the Kingdom of God – Breastplate of Righteous, Part 3

For centuries, one of the primary questions that has been the concern of many, if not most, humans is: How do people enter the Kingdom of God?

In Matthew 5, verse 20, Jesus has a surprising answer to that question. Jesus says that we need a kind of righteousness that goes beyond the righteousness of the supposedly most righteous people. Jesus, in other words, is saying that there are two kinds of righteousness. There is a false righteousness and there is a true righteousness. The so-called most righteous people had a false righteousness, and they should not expect to enter the Kingdom of God. The goal, Jesus says, is a true righteousness that leads to the life that is really life, that is life in the Kingdom of Jesus which is abundant life now on earth and the hope of eternal life.

What is this true righteousness?  It is serious that we figure this out, Jesus says (as we learned in the previous post), because the false righteousness won’t cut it. Jesus describes the Pharisees and the teachers of the law as having the false righteousness. Those people were religious elites in Jesus’ day. They were considered to be people of supreme righteousness, people who were obviously going to enter the Kingdom of God.

Jesus’ shocking teaching is that the religious elite didn’t live with the true kind of righteousness!  They were too focused on keeping religious rituals and following religious law, most of which they made up.  Though they focused on the law, they missed the heart of God.  Jesus says that though they kept all these ritualistic laws on the outside, in their heart, their motivation, they were far from God.

Jesus was saying that we need a different kind of righteousness if we want to enter the kingdom of God. So let’s talk about that true righteousness.

Righteousness is the act of doing what God requires. What does God require?  The ancient Hebrew prophet, Micah, wrote in Micah 6:8, “He has showed you, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.”

Micah describes a vibrant, active faith. Faith that leads to righteous action. We see this in the life choices of Jesus.

For us, we have the vantage point of the cross, we know what would happen in a few short years after this sermon on the Mount, that Jesus would die for our sins. With that in mind, remember from the previous post when we read Matthew 5, verse 17, where Jesus taught that he came to fulfill the Law.  Think about how he lived his life.  What actions did Jesus do? He literally fulfilled the Law, because every action of his life was righteous. Jesus was the only one who acted justly, loved mercy and walked humbly with God every moment of his life. 

Jesus didn’t sin. Ever. He was righteous, so he didn’t have to die.  But he became our righteousness.  We don’t have righteousness without him. 

Having a righteous heart, starts with faith in Christ, trusting in his righteousness alone.  It means swallowing our pride, acknowledging our need for him and his way of life.  Then choosing to follow them in our daily lives. That’s how we have a righteousness that surpasses the so-called most righteous people, and thus how we can enter the Kingdom of God.

In the next post, we’ll learn what Paul has to say about how we can experience Christ’s righteousness in our lives.

Photo by Luke Porter on Unsplash