WHAT DOES IT TAKE FOR OUR CHARACTER TO BE CHANGED AT ITS DEEPEST LEVEL? Christianity has always held that radical change in human character is possible, but Christians themselves have not always kept their thinking clear about what is involved in this change. Certainly there must be a decision to cease from sin and to start doing God’s will. Reverent obedience to God’s requirements is by no means optional (1 John 1:6). But if real change is to take place, our compliance with God’s law must be enlivened and empowered by our gratitude for His grace.

In the New Testament, the Pharisees are a case study in what can happen when we try to conform to the precepts of God’s law without any devotion to God Himself or any honest appreciation of our need for His grace. The Pharisees emphasized obedience with a zeal that was legendary (Philippians 3:5,6), and yet Jesus said to His followers, “Unless your righteousness exceeds the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 5:20). What can this mean? If it merely means that we must be more careful or exert more effort than the Pharisees, then we have little hope, for they worked at commandment-keeping about as hard as anyone can. Instead, we must take a different APPROACH to righteousness. Our efforts must be of a different KIND (Romans 10:3; Philippians 3:8,9).

Beyond conformity, deep inner change requires an actual reliance upon God Himself. If all we do is conform to biblical precepts, that does not BY ITSELF guarantee that we’ll experience the richness and power of a transformed heart. In fact, if we don’t throw ourselves into an honest love affair with the God of real grace, our “obedience” will feed our pride and actually worsen the condition of our heart. The truth is, we can’t be more than imperfect instruments of God’s glory right now. The change we need is one more radical than we can undergo just yet, and we must be willing to wait for our perfection in Christ. In the meantime, being a “new creation” in Christ requires that we accept, however painfully to our pride, what grace really means.

“Grace is a certain beginning of glory in us” (Thomas Aquinas).

Gary Henry – WordPoints.com

THERE ARE THREE KEY CONCEPTS THAT SUMMARIZE OUR PRIVILEGES AND OUR RESPONSIBILITIES WITH RESPECT TO GOD: WE ARE TO LOVE HIM, OBEY HIM, AND WORSHIP HIM. Each of these is a powerful concept. But we must be careful about their power. Given our tendency to focus on some important things to the exclusion of other things that are equally important, we need to be warned against cutting any of these three off from the others. It is only when we pay healthy attention to all three that they move us toward the relationship with God that we desire.

LOVE. Here is the heart of the matter, as Jesus defined it (Matthew 22:34-40). It would be hard to overstate the importance of having love as our motive in dealing with God and with others. In language that is almost astonishing, the apostle Paul wrote, “And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, but have not love, it profits me nothing” (1 Corinthians 13:3). Such is the radical necessity of love.

OBEY. As important as love is, all the love that a person might have for God would be of little use without obedience. John encouraged his fellow Christians, “My little children, let us not love in word or in tongue, but in deed and in truth” (1 John 3:18). And Jesus said, “If you love Me, keep My commandments” (John 14:15). If our love does not show up in obedience, it can hardly be called love. We must always comply with our conscience and obey however much or little we may know of His will.

WORSHIP. Both love and obedience must come together in our worship of God. He is seeking those who will worship Him, as Jesus said, in “spirit” and in “truth” (John 4:23). We must offer our reverence to God from the heart, with genuine love, and we must also honor Him by obedient actions that are consistent with His truth. But when real love and real obedience come together in real worship, we get a taste of what real life would be for a creature made in God’s image.

“To worship is to quicken the conscience by the holiness of God, to feed the mind with the truth of God, to purge the imagination by the beauty of God, to open the heart to the love of God, to devote the will to the purpose of God” (William Temple).

Gary Henry – WordPoints.com

HUMAN BEINGS LONG TO SEE THE GLORY OF THEIR CREATOR. This longing may be buried beneath many layers of self-will and confusion, but it is there. To see the radiant face of our God would be the most profoundly fulfilling joy that our minds could imagine, or that our hearts could experience. To receive this glory from God and then reflect it back to Him in love and gratitude: these are the very purposes for which we were created.

But we live in a broken world where this joy is not fully possible. Even those who are willing to receive redemption from the sins that have cut them off from God can only enjoy in this world a fellowship that is a foretaste of heaven. The joy of this preliminary fellowship is great (1 John 1:1-4), but at best it is only a foretaste. We long for something more, and we long for it so intensely that we can be said to “groan” for it. Comparing our earthly bodies to a tent, the temporary dwelling of a nomad, Paul wrote to the Christians in Corinth, “For we know that if our earthly house, this tent, is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. For in this we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed with our habitation which is from heaven” (2 Corinthians 5:1,2). In this body, we groan, longing for God!

“Please show me Your glory,” Moses begged God. And while God knew that Moses in his present condition could not survive such an experience, He was sympathetic to Moses’ desire, for that is the desire of all who’ve been created in His image. To those who are willing to come to Him in His Son, those who are willing to trust and to obey, He is willing to grant as much of Himself as can be granted in our frailty. But we desire more. And much more will be possible, in His time. When we’ve been made able to see His glory, His face we shall behold. This is what will make heaven, heaven. We “rejoice in hope of the glory of God” (Romans 5:2).

“Come, Lord, when grace has made me meet, thy blessed face to see; for if thy work on earth be sweet, what will thy glory be! My knowledge of that life is small, the eye of faith is dim; but ’tis enough that Christ knows all, and I shall be with him” (Richard Baxter).

Gary Henry – WordPoints.com

THROUGH JESUS CHRIST, GOD IS MAKING IT POSSIBLE FOR HUMAN BEINGS TO HAVE AGAIN THE KNOWLEDGE OF HIM THAT WAS LOST IN THE FALL. Contrary to what the tempter had promised, Adam and Eve found that asserting their independence from God’s will did not gain them a knowledge equal to God’s. Instead, they found themselves driven from God’s presence and cut off from what knowledge they had previously enjoyed. Soon they and their descendants had lost all but a fading memory of the face-to-face knowledge of God that Eden had provided.

But although the Fall resulted in the plunging of the human race into spiritual and moral darkness, God began almost immediately to re-enlighten the world concerning Himself. Little by little, and in various ways, God began to reveal Himself. This process of progressive revelation stretched over many centuries, until finally it was time for God to take upon Himself the form of flesh and blood and reveal Himself to the world in the person of Jesus Christ (Galatians 4:4; Colossians 1:15).

The writer of Hebrews said, “God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets, has in these last days spoken to us by His Son” (Hebrews 1:1,2). As God Incarnate, Jesus Christ is “the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person” (Hebrews 1:3). The apostle John wrote, “No one has seen God at any time. The only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has declared Him” (John 1:18). And Jesus Himself said, “He who has seen Me has seen the Father” (John 14:9). Through Christ we can come to know God.

Yet even in Christ, it is still not possible for us right now to see and know God as Adam and Eve did. But Jesus said, “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God” (Matthew 5:8). The hope of Christianity is that, through Christ, what was lost in the Fall can actually be regained. The time comes when those who have truly sought God “shall see His face” (Revelation 22:4).

“Today I am one day nearer home than ever before. One day nearer the dawning when the fog will lift, mysteries clear, and all question marks straighten up into exclamation points! I shall see the King!” (Vance Havner).

Gary Henry – WordPoints.com

CONCEPTS HAVE CONSEQUENCES IN OUR LIVES, AND CONCEPTS OF GOD ARE THE MOST CONSEQUENTIAL OF ALL. False information about God will “mislead” us, whereas truthful information about Him is a “lamp” to our feet and a “light” to our path (Psalm 119:105). Christianity is a powerfully transforming force because it involves a deep renewal in our thinking (Romans 12:1,2), especially our thinking about God Himself (John 17:3). Yet long after the time when many of us should have experienced quantum improvements in the quality of our lives, we still struggle to maintain a minimum level of purity and holiness. We stumble as if we were walking in the dark. Could it be that our outward actions are being produced by inner thinking that is unworthy of God? Are we still being hindered by careless thinking about our Creator?

In Romans 6:17,18, Paul expressed gratitude that his readers had been “set free from sin.” This, he said, had followed from their having “obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine to which you were delivered.” Most people think of “doctrine” as nothing more than religious theory, and they spend little time with it because they feel it is not very practical. Doctrine, or “instruction,” is eminently practical, however. Without right thinking, there simply can be no right practice, at least none that will stand the test of time. The entire work of the devil is based on FALSEHOOD (John 8:44; Revelation 12:9), so it should come as no surprise that TRUTH is the means by which God undoes that work (John 18:37; Acts 26:18). To know God as He truly is, and to base our “practical” decisions on that truth, is to be “set free from sin.” There is no other way to make progress. Jesus said it with utter simplicity: “You shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free” (John 8:32).

To be careful, we should set ourselves the goal of improving our thinking about God a little bit each day. There is no question that our lives will be governed by SOME sort of thinking about God. The only question is what the QUALITY of that thinking will be.

“A thoughtless or uninformed theology grips and guides our life with just as great force as does a thoughtful and informed one” (Dallas Willard).

Gary Henry – WordPoints.com

IF WE DON’T DO AWAY WITH THE THINGS THAT KEEP OUR LOVE FROM ABOUNDING, WE CUT OURSELVES OFF FROM GOD’S GOODNESS. We need to work on purifying our hearts, so that they become ever-expanding receptacles for the gifts of God.

Consider the concept of “laziness” in regard to spiritual growth. Numerous texts in the Proverbs speak of the general undesirability of being a sluggard (Proverbs 6:6-11). But sluggishness is more than a minor character flaw. It can kill us spiritually. The writer of Hebrews said, “We desire that each one of you show the same diligence to the full assurance of hope until the end, that you do not become sluggish, but imitate those who through faith and patience inherit the promises” (Hebrews 6:11,12).

The church in Ephesus was praised for having been stalwart in their defense of the faith and tireless in their work for the Lord (Revelation 2:1-3). “Nevertheless,” Christ said, “I have this against you, that you have left your first love. Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent and do the first works, or else I will come to you quickly and remove your lampstand from its place; unless you repent” (Revelation 2:4,5). Having previously loved and served the Lord so fervently, a certain coldness had begun to restrict their relationship with Him. Unless they took decisive steps to correct this problem, it would destroy their fellowship with Christ. He would disavow them and disown them.

God has made it possible, through Jesus Christ, for us to have a truly rich relationship with Him. But the richness of this relationship can’t be enjoyed if our hearts are held back by indifference or inactivity. Loving God is a vigorous transaction indeed, and love’s rewards come to those who are reaching forward. May we leave behind anything that dilutes our love for God — and anything that limits our capacity to receive God’s love for us.

“Wake up, believers, from your lowly condition! Throw away your laziness, sluggishness, coldness, or whatever is interfering with your pure love for Christ” (Charles Haddon Spurgeon).

Gary Henry – WordPoints.com

IT TAKES REVERENCE, AS WELL AS TRUST, TO YIELD TO THE GREATER GOOD OF GOD’S WILL. Not only does His wisdom KNOW what is best, but His love DESIRES what is best. We can take it as a given that God will always do what is best in any set of circumstances. Unfortunately, the “circumstances” often involve decisions and requests on our part such that doing what is best requires God to chasten our demanding spirit, rather than give us blessings that He would otherwise be delighted to give.

There are two extremes in prayer. At one extreme, there is the person who sees God as an ill-tempered tyrant who begrudges every request. This person needs to be encouraged to think of God as a Father who is benevolently inclined toward His creatures (Matthew 7:11). But at the other extreme is the person who sees God as an indulgent deity who exists simply to grant our every wish. This person needs to be reminded to show reverence to God.

Traditionally, the prayer in Matthew 6:9-13 is referred to as “The Lord’s Prayer,” and it is certainly a prayer that reflects the Lord’s deepest desire with respect to His Father: “Your kingdom come. Your will be done.” There is, however, no prayer more characteristic of the Lord’s own heart than His anguished cry in Gethsemane: “O My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as You will” (Matthew 26:39,42). As God’s Son, He “learned obedience” (Hebrews 5:8).

Unlike the Lord, we not only fail to yield submissively to God’s will, but we often are so presumptuous as to ask for things that are in conflict with that will. We do not know how to pray as we ought. We need help even in knowing what to ask for. Here, then, is an opportunity for us to learn humility. We can defer to the Lord and pray for help in our praying. We can pray for Him to do whatever, in His wisdom, He sees best.

Not what we wish, but what we need,
Oh! let your grace supply,
The good unasked, in mercy grant;
The ill, though asked, deny.
(James Merrik)

Gary Henry – WordPoints.com

FROM GOD’S PERSPECTIVE, OUR EXPECTATIONS OF HIM MUST OFTEN SEEM QUITE CARELESS. We have no adequate idea of His grace or His eternal purposes, and so we make claims upon Him so casually that we come close to being flippant and disrespectful. God’s goodness is indeed a treasury of wonderful riches. But it was not set up to fund the removal of every little inconvenience from our lives in this world. We need to be careful what we ask for and why. God’s grace is not to be taken lightly.

Imagine that a loving, wise parent has made excruciating sacrifices for a son or a daughter to go to college. The parent is then disheartened to receive frivolous “Send more money!” messages when the student’s lifestyle indicates that there’s little appreciation for what had to take place for those funds to be made available. In a much more profound way, God must find it disturbing to receive casual “Help me with this problem!” messages from us, when it is obvious that we’re out of touch with the reality of what had to be sacrificed to make our prayers possible.

The more serious aspect of the problem is that we see the Cross as little more than our ticket to a trouble-free life. Not only do we underestimate the COST of God’s grace, we also fail to appreciate its PURPOSE. The Son of God did not go to the Cross merely to purchase our convenience, or even our happiness. No, what happened on that dark day was “that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself” (2 Corinthians 5:19). It is not too much to say that we should see even the blessing of FORGIVENESS in this light. We should not seek to be forgiven merely because it benefits us personally. We should seek it because our reconciliation is a part of God’s eternal purpose in Christ, the outworking of which purpose redounds to “the praise of His glory” (Ephesians 1:12-14). The kingdom of heaven is not about us. It is about God. We seek to be saved for God’s sake, not our own.

“God does not pass out packages of spiritual victory sent special delivery to the person who requests them. Your sin cost him the death of his Son; he is not about to hand out spiritual bandages. He uses your struggles to give you a thorough housecleaning, reorganize your priorities, and make you dependent on his grace. There are no cheap, easy miracles. You must want spiritual freedom, not merely for your own sake, but for God’s sake as well” (Erwin W. Lutzer).

Gary Henry – WordPoints.com

IF WE DEAL WITH GOD AT ALL, WE MUST DEAL WITH HIM IN GOOD FAITH. Our approach to Him must be sincere and straightforward. To the best of our ability, we must really and truly want from God what our approach to Him seems to say that we want.

Most people are aware that the strongest language in the Scriptures is directed against hypocrisy. We recall, for example, Jesus’ expose of the Pharisees: “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs which indeed appear beautiful outwardly, but inside are full of dead men’s bones and all uncleanness. Even so you also outwardly appear righteous to men, but inside you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness” (Matthew 23:27,28). Yet while we wince every time we read these words, we don’t normally see ourselves as being guilty of the sin they condemn. We’re not everything we should be, but we know we’re not guilty of such blatant deceit, at least not intentionally.

But hypocrisy itself wears many masks, and it can creep into our character quite subtly. If we say that we “seek” God and we engage in certain outward actions that appear to be those of a seeker, the implication of all this is that we desire GOD — for His own sake, as He truly is, and on whatever terms He stipulates. Unfortunately, we often have something less in mind. All we really want from God, much of the time, is just a little help adjusting our OUTWARD LIVES to the prevailing social standards of goodness. What He desires, however, is to adjust our INWARD LIVES to HIS eternal standards of truth, which is a very different thing. If we really have no intention of going where we know God is headed, what does that say about our “seeking” of Him?

God is not to be mocked. He cannot be manipulated. There is no possibility of deceiving Him about our intentions when we come before Him. As “the God of truth” (Isaiah 65:16), He requires that our actions truthfully reflect our desire and that our true desire be nothing less than conformity — body, soul, and spirit — to the realities of His truth.

“Sincerity is the prime requisite in every approach to the God who requires ‘truth in the inward parts’ and who hates all hypocrisy, falsehood, and deceit” (Geoffrey B. Wilson).

Gary Henry – WordPoints.com

WE ARE CONSTANTLY REMINDED IN THE SCRIPTURES TO KEEP OUR SEARCH FOR GOD CONNECTED TO OUR DAILY INTERACTION WITH THE PEOPLE AROUND US. Confident answers to our questions about God can’t always be found by philosophical inquiry alone. We have to take our meditations to work with us and weave them into our dealings with other human beings. It is in the giving and receiving of love that truth has its best chance to come to the surface and win our conviction.

In matters that relate to God, there is an interesting “back and forth” that takes place between our THINKING and our DOING. Proper thinking is necessary for proper doing, of course, and we must never forget the primacy of God’s word in determining right conduct. But there is also a sense in which proper doing is necessary for proper thinking. Our thinking and our doing need each other.

With lives that are a bit more concrete, common people seem to find God more easily than do those who’re more sophisticated (Mark 12:37; 1 Corinthians 1:26). For all their lack of philosophical acuity, down-to-earth people do know about one thing: they know about real, practical, everyday LOVE. They know how to love a God whom they’ve not seen because they know how to love other folks whom they HAVE seen. And this is consistent with John’s statement, “If someone says, ‘I love God,’ and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen, how can he love God whom he has not seen?” (1 John 4:20).

Suppose that I have been agonizing privately over some dark question concerning God. It is entirely appropriate — indeed it is ESSENTIAL — that I search the Scriptures carefully and that I spend much time meditating on the matter. But suppose that after long labor in the realm of study, thought, and even prayer, I am still perplexed. My neighbor cannot cut his grass because he is needed at the bedside of his wife who is dying of cancer. There is at least some likelihood that the answers that have eluded me in the library will come to me in the toolshed as I prepare to do for my neighbor what he needs me to do.

“He who desires to see the living God face to face should not seek Him in the empty firmament of his mind, but in human love” (Feodor Dostoevsky).

Gary Henry – WordPoints.com