People change. Societies change. Things change. But the facts of what Christ did for us do not change. Christ does not change. The widely-accepted historical facts are best explained by Christ’s Resurrection. This is the firm foundation of our faith. Because of God’s love and grace, we should respond with love and faithfulness.
The only kind of faith that works, is faith that works. “Faith” that does not produce godly works of mercy and obedience is dead. True, saving faith is active faith. Faith: it’s what we do.
What is “love”? What does love look like? True, crucial, Christ-like love has both a vertical component – joyful, loving obedience to God in Christ – and a horizontal component – self-sacrificially striving for another’s ultimate good.
What are we training for? Are we training ourselves to be worldly, or are we training ourselves to be godly. Are we training ourselves to resemble the culture, or are we training ourselves to resemble the Christ? Do we have a healthy spiritual diet and exercise routine? In short, are we Cross Training?
Research suggests that the modern conception of freedom — our most cherished virtue — is almost purely negative (i.e., freedom *from* constraints). The Truth of Jesus gives freedom *from* (negative freedom) our rebellious nature and freedom *to* (positive freedom) fulfill our original purpose — right relationship with God. Though our culture often co-opts His words, His is the Truth that truly “will set you free.”
In spite of what the world preaches, our ways are evaluated by the Way of the LORD. As Christians, we affirm that our way should be that of The Way, The Truth, and The Life. It is not us; Jesus is the standard for morality — not ourselves.
Peter tells us not to fear people, but to revere Christ. We are to always be ready to make a reasonable defense for our faith – a defense I believe is more convincing when supported not only with personally subjective reasons, but objectively evidential reasons. And we are to do this gently, out of reverence to God.
The following is the audio and text from a sermon preached on Father’s Day 2018 (6.17.18) at First Baptist Church of New Market in Piscataway, […]
Meditation: For what? To be a true fan of Jesus, fanatically imitating Christ. Meditation: Why? According to Psalm 1, we can use life as selected or life as directed. One way leads to self-destruction, the other leads to bliss. Meditation: How? By making meditation a priority concerning our time, by putting God’s word in our hearts using tools, knowing that we are in this together.
According to Psalm 1, there are basically two ways to live life: the way conforming to God’s character or the way contrary to God’s character. While the way of the LORD leads to true bliss, the way of the wicked (i.e., the way of the self) leads to self-destruction
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