Trusting God in Ministry (2 Corinthians 4)

©CreationSwap/Antonio Toney

The Dormitories Christian Fellowship tackles 2 Corinthians 4, drawing encouragement from Paul's understanding of God's ministry. It is a timely message of trust, dependence, hope and obedience to God in the midst of ministry challenges on campus.

Speaker: Frederick Paulo Tomacder

Language: English/Filipino

Transcript/Outline: soon. 

Notes: This happened in an open area during a typhoon so bear with the noise because of strong winds. :)

Solomon and Wisdom (1 Kings 3)

Pastor Bel Magalit talks about Solomon, his God-given wisdom and failings as Israel's king.. Using 1 Kings 3, he showed how the king exercised wise judgment to execute good among God's people. At the same time, Pastor Bel highlighted Solomon's fall-- his many wives who led him away from the Living God. May you be blessed while listening.

Jesus of History, God of Eternity

Did Jesus really exist in history? Do we have other sources showing that He walked on earth and interacted with people? And ultimately, can we prove from Scripture and extra-Biblical documents that He is indeed who He claims to be-- God in human flesh?

You can personalize this material as I did and use it also in your own Bible Studies. Download the documents in Word format here.

Pastor Bel on Matthew 28:16-20 (July 8, 2012)

Pastor Isabelo Magalit gives an exposition on one of the most popular passages in the Bible-- Matthew 28:16-20. This is also known as the GREAT COMMISSION Passage. May you blesses and encouraged by the preaching. god bless you!

Thoughts on Evangelism

Matthew 28:16-20

Before Jesus went back to heaven, He left us with what we now know as the Great Commission. This is a direct command from our Lord to proclaim the Good News of salvation by faith in Jesus Christ.

If there are motivations for doing evangelism, I believe this ranks among the top. God commanded us, and the most proper response must be joyful obedience. That is, we go and share the Gospel because it is our joy to fulfill our Master’s desire.

Only when we realize our standing before the Lord– that we are nothing and He is everything –will we appreciate this command. When we realize that He bought us with His own blood, that we are now slaves of the Righteous one, owned by the One True Lord, I believe we will not take the command lightly. Instead, out of pure gratitude, we willingly offer our all to fulfill it.

Philippians 3:7-9 is a wonderful reminder of dying to self for Jesus:

7 But whatever were gains to me I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. 8 What is more, I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them garbage, that I may gain Christ9 and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ—the righteousness that comes from God on the basis of faith.

Despite this wonderful encouragement, I know that a sizable number of Christians will still evade evangelism. I think the reason for this is a wrong understanding of our role in the process. Yes, the more I do evangelism, the more I am convinced that it is a process.

Let me explain why it is a process and what our role is using 1 Corinthians 3:5-9:

5 What, after all, is Apollos? And what is Paul? Only servants, through whom you came to believe—as the Lord has assigned to each his task. 6 I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God has been making it grow. 7 So neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow. 8 The one who plants and the one who waters have one purpose, and they will each be rewarded according to their own labor. 9 For we are co-workers in God’s service; you are God’s field, God’s building.

We can think of a person’s life as a faith journey. It is like a chain with several links leading to the cross of Christ. We can look at each link as any experience, person, message, literature, music, dream, vision among others which God uses to lead a person closer to Himself, until the day he or she crosses over from death to life by grace through faith.

In the 1 Corinthians passage and the Great Commission, we can see that the power for evangelism, comes from God alone. We rely on Jesus’ authority as we go and preach the Gospel. In fact, it is His Good News that we share so the message is not our own invention.

Furthermore, God alone can make the seeds sown in people’s hearts grow. Paul repeats it twice in the passage, emphasizing our utter dependence on God’s grace for the success of any evangelistic effort.

This is very important to remember so that we will not fall to pride the moment God blesses our ministry. The enemy will always be working to pull down God’s workers. He  does this effectively by using the deceitfulness, selfishness and self-centeredness of the human heart.  For this temptation, I recommend John the Baptist’s encouraging words, “He (Jesus) must become greater; I must become less.”

When we realize that God’s power and authority are our sources of strength in sharing Jesus, it becomes clearer that there’s nothing to fear. He will empower us and sustain us and give us the words  to make Jesus known.

What, then, is our part in this process? We are called to faithfully and completely proclaim the Good News of Jesus. How we do this can be in words, deeds or the whole of life. Instead of looking at evangelism as a break from our normal everyday routine, we must actually integrate it with our daily lives.

And because evangelism is partnering with God in adding links to people's faith journey towards Christ, we must seize every opportunity to help them move closer in their knowledge and relationship with Jesus.

We can do this in our everyday conversations with people. We can casually but intentionally lead the topic towards spiritual issues. For friends whom we meet everyday, we can take them through the Gospel one step at a time. We may discuss God's holiness today, man's sinfulness tomorrow and so on. We do this until they fully understand the Good News. For strangers whom we may never meet again, we can share a prepared Gospel message, or give out evangelistic tracts.

We can also do acts of service then point people to Jesus. We can visit a dormmate and just pray for him or her in the Name of Christ. We can build relationships with as many people as possible, and ask the Lord for Gospel opportunities. There are many ways to share Jesus. We can start with words, with actions, with an event, a relationship, a question, or a challenge. It’s limitless. We may have one method, a myriad of methods or no method at all– simply spontaneous.

We just have to bear in mind that our goal is to help a person move closer to Christ. When we understand this, we will always be on our toes, knowing that anytime a Gospel opportunity may arise.Or we may also be encouraged to intentionally start the Gospel opportunity with the end goal of adding a link to bring our friend closer to Jesus.

There will be people who will respond. There will also be people who will reject us or plainly ignore the message. When these things happen, we go back to God’s sovereignty and find peace in the truth that He knows what He’s doing.

Remember that we’re called to faithfully deliver the message. A person’s salvation is beyond us. This is God’s work now. So, let us not lose heart when people do not respond or they respond slowly. Trust that God is working in them and adding more links through several other means until they are ready to cross from death to life.

And even if we may never meet them again, let us trust in the unity of God’s Church. We have brothers and sisters who may not belong to our church or organization but God can use to continue watering the seeds we have planted until He makes them grow.

And when He does, we once more witness the miracle of new birth.

Christians on Homosexuality

That the Bible rejects homosexuality is clear, despite all arguments from proponents of gay theology. One can scan the Scriptures and find that God is consistent on this issue. He says no to gay sexual relationship of any kind.

Among the frequently used passages on homosexuality are Romans 1:26-27, 1 Corinthians 6:9-10, Jude 1:6-7, Genesis 19, Leviticus 18:22 and Leviticus 20:13. These have been carefully studied and interpreted by scholars on both sides.

Traditional Christian interpretations hold that the passages reject homosexuality altogether. However, "gay or revisionist theologians" offer alternative interpretations to show that these parts of Scripture have been grossly misinterpreted. Their stand, of course, is that the Bible accepts gay relationships.

The book, "The Bible, the Church and Homosexuality," is a good place to start if one wants to get oriented with the Bible debates on the issue.

~*~

I wrote this article, however, not primarily to defend the Christian stand on homosexuality. There are more credible scholars who did that already. Instead, I meant for this to be an encouragement and a challenge for Christians to reexamine how they deal with people struggling with homosexuality.

Christian apologist Ravi Zacharias repeatedly stressed that "behind every question is a questioner." And if I may add, "Behind every skepticism is a skeptic." The point here is that in dealing with homosexuality, we must not divorce the reality that we are also relating to human beings with both intellect and emotion.

Sometime ago I ran into a friend who wanted to hear my view on the LGBT topic. It was for a report in one of his social science classes. I quickly gave my standard answer on what the Bible says, but spent much more time discussing how our attitudes and hearts as Christians should be when answering the LGBT community's questions and concerns.  

I will always remember how he thanked me for highlighting the proper Christian response not only on this particular issue but in every controversial issue that stands in stark contrast to what we believe in. It was then that I realized the Christian tendency to take issues on dangerously intellectual realms, forgetting that they were commissioned to win souls not debates.

I am not anti-reason. Afterall, faith and reason have always journeyed together in Christianity. But I feel the need to warn everyone that aiming to answer all questions as an end in itself is counterproductive. We may be able to win the debate with outstanding arguments but lose the person in the process.

The questioner, more often than not, throws a throng of questions to try and mask the real issues and concerns that plague his or her soul. If we are not sensitive and are caught in this intricately woven protective web, we will never be able to deal with the core issues. We will just be left trying to defend and argue our faith in a plainly intellectual level, devoid of any context or human connection.

Ravi adds that there are two key realities in effective apologetics and in my experience even in effective evangelism: "how to relate to the questioner and how to make sure that the answers are couched in a relevant context."

People struggling with homosexuality often feel alienated, condemned even, by several sectors of society. Sadly, even the church is guilty. Thus, trying to put across the Gospel to them is extremely difficult because they sense duplicity and hypocrisy. We say one thing but act out another. We bring a message of God's justice and holiness, but we act as if we are the judge and that we are "holier" than they are. We proclaim a message of love and reconciliation, but we have never reflected on the condemnation and stigma we  have unjustly brought on them.

These are great barriers. Often, approaching them with the intellect alone will only reinforce their negative attitude towards us. Unless we build bridges and connect with them, we will never see past the barrier and the web of questions with the Gospel.

I learned that trust is a key word. When they know that you understand where they come from and do not take their right to ask and feel the way they do, then, doors begin to open. They will let you in and welcome your challenges, even give sincere ear to the hard Bible passages and ultimately to the Gospel of Christ because they trust you. They know that you are there not to force Bible truths but to journey with them without prejudice as they personally discover the Truth through the Holy Spirit.

When I first ministered to a friend with this struggle, I did not understand the process involved. I wanted to hasten things, forgetting that God not I could deliver him. The result was devastating to me and to him. He interpreted my care and concern as intrusion and distrust. I wanted to help, but I did not know that there were decisions that took time to process, and I forgot that these decisions could only be made with the grace and enabling of God.

1 Corinthians 9:19-22 is a wonderful passage we must all put to heart. Paul wrote,

Though I am free and belong to no one, I have made myself a slave to everyone, to win as many as possible. To the Jews I became like a Jew, to win the Jews. To those under the law I became like one under the law (though I myself am not under the law), so as to win those under the law. To those not having the law I became like one not having the law (though I am not free from God’s law but am under Christ’s law), so as to win those not having the law. To the weak I became weak, to win the weak. I have become all things to all people so that by all possible means I might save some. 

God's point here is that we need to begin where they are. We need to deal with the barriers one at a time until by God's grace we are welcomed to deal with the core issues. This works only if we are able to connect to them, gaining their trust with our sincere love, concern and care communicated properly at the right time.

Even if after everything they still remain hard to the Gospel, we must not lose heart, nor should we force Jesus on them. Instead, it is wise to retreat for a while, continue praying and asking God to make the seeds planted and watered in their hearts grow.

I learned these things the hard way. But God is amazing because at just the right time, He allowed me to minister once more to another friend with the same struggle. I was nervous at first because I feared a part two of my past failure. But this time, I learned to wait upon the Lord, to journey with the person and to give God room to work in his heart and my friend the opportunity to genuinely seek the Lord. I am at awe witnessing how God is working in his life now. 

It has nothing to do with me, but everything's because of God. I continue to pray for him as well as for my other friend that the God of Wonders will reveal Himself fully to them in the face of Jesus Christ.

"You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart." (Jeremiah 29:13)

Romans 15:14-22

14 I myself am convinced, my brothers and sisters, that you yourselves are full of goodness, filled with knowledge and competent to instruct one another. 15 Yet I have written you quite boldly on some points to remind you of them again, because of the grace God gave me 16 to be a minister of Christ Jesus to the Gentiles. He gave me the priestly duty of proclaiming the gospel of God, so that the Gentiles might become an offering acceptable to God, sanctified by the Holy Spirit.

17 Therefore I glory in Christ Jesus in my service to God. 18 I will not venture to speak of anything except what Christ has accomplished through me in leading the Gentiles to obey God by what I have said and done— 19 by the power of signs and wonders, through the power of the Spirit of God. So from Jerusalem all the way around to Illyricum, I have fully proclaimed the gospel of Christ. 20 It has always been my ambition to preach the gospel where Christ was not known, so that I would not be building on someone else’s foundation. 21 Rather, as it is written:

“Those who were not told about him will see,

    and those who have not heard will understand.”

22 This is why I have often been hindered from coming to you.

I am struck by the fact that Paul considered his ministry to the Gentiles a “duty.” This may sound legalistic to some, but he clarified in v. 15b that it was God’s grace that enabled him to discharge his duties.

I have been called by God to continue proclaiming Him on campus. Like Paul, I desire to continue walking on His grace and mercy as I struggle to serve in His ministry.

I may be changing strategies, but one thing I desire to continue doing is one-on-one, stranger evangelism. I just feel the need to sow seeds continuously. I haven’t been faithful in this area, but I continue to ask God to enable me and to sustain me, and to raise up more students who can help on campus.

I long to feel the burning passion and desire I once had earlier in the ministry. It’s not that I’m giving up on God’s call, no. I’m just going through a transition time, and I’m contemplating on many things, trying to discern God’s next move for me as I continue to serve Him.

I am also blessed by Paul’s humility in vv. 17-19. He is not claiming glory for himself but is bringing all glory back to God. Even if he accomplished so much, he clarified that he was just an instrument in the hands of the Living God. God alone can save people. He is the one who seeks them out and convicts them of sin. He is able to save inspite of our weaknesses as workers in His vineyard.

May I never forget this truth. I am practically no one before God. He doesn’t need me to save people, but in His grace He allowed me to take part in the joy of His ministry. He did this, despite my weaknesses and shortcomings. God is truly a wonderful, loving God. I will never regret giving my life to Him.

Finally, v. 20 rings true to me. I’ve been praying for several days now for an opportunity to minster in the colleges of UP. One specific college in my mind is Fine Arts. As early as now, I can sense God’s leading because of the key people He placed in FA. In fact, one of them already expressed the same desire to be used in her college.

I am praying that we will be able to discern God’s leading and heart on the matter. And I pray that we will be able to connect with the students as we allow God to use us in accompanying them in their journey of faith.

There are so many places in UP that need to hear the Gospel. We may have several Christian organizations on campus, but we are not strategically reaching out to all sectors and areas of our university. I hope that we will go not only to places where the soil is ready and good, but even in the hard and dry colleges so that Christ’s Gospel may take root, and His Kingdom advance.

I thank God for His wonderful encouragement:

“Those who were not told about Him will see

and those who have not heard will understand”

Let this come to pass, Lord! Amen.

Is He Master or Lord?

This is the first of a series taken from the book, "Jesus: One of Us." Taking the cue from Jesus Himself, we deal with the questions, "Who is a real disciple?" and "What does it mean to disciple?"

You can personalize this material as I did and use it also in your own Bible Studies. Download the documents in Word format here.

Romans 15:5-9

Romans 15:5-9

5May the God who gives endurance and encouragement give you the same attitude of mind toward each other that Christ Jesus had, 6 so that with one mind and one voice you may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.7 Accept one another, then, just as Christ accepted you, in order to bring praise to God.8 For I tell you that Christ has become a servant of the Jews on behalf of God’s truth, so that the promises made to the patriarchs might be confirmed 9 and, moreover, that the Gentiles might glorify God for his mercy. 

What is Jesus’ attitude towards us? Agape. God is telling me that despite my discouragements from people, I must look at them as Christ looked at us. This is extremely difficult especially now that I’m affected by their attitude towards God’s ministry. But again, God is reminding me that people are more important than events.

It may be draining at times to try and fill in for others, but this happens only when I lose sight of the more important things in God's ministry. What if I make the people the central project or program of my work? That is, I focus on them and consider their struggles, pains, failures, joys and achievements as my main ministry concerns?

I had had this realization before. The people are more important than the organization and the structure. When Christ walked on earth, He poured His energy on men and women, getting to know them, healing them and teaching them. I need to look at God’s people and love them individually as Christ loved us. I know this will give me encouragement as it did in the past. More than that, I know that when love reigns in the body, we glorify God together!

 I pray, Lord, that this be true as well in the hearts and minds of my brothers and sisters. May we desire to love one another. May our attitude be the same as Christ’s in Philippians 2:5-11 5. In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus:

6 Who, being in very nature God,did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage;7 rather, he made himself nothingby taking the very nature of a servant,being made in human likeness.8 And being found in appearance as a man,he humbled himselfby becoming obedient to death —even death on a cross!9 Therefore God exalted him to the highest placeand gave him the name that is above every name,10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,in heaven and on earth and under the earth,11 and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord,to the glory of God the Father. 

I am now living as a slave of Christ. I have surrendered all my rights freely to Him. I ask, Lord, that You teach me once more to look beyond events and consider the people. May I not be drowned by an insatiable desire to have a famous ministry. Instead, may You teach me to remain faithful with what I have and to work closely with my brothers and sisters in the faith.

May I be a source of encouragement for them. May I be willing to accept their failings and offer back to God whatever hurts and pains these may entail. Teach me humility and genuine patience, Lord. May I always remember Christ’s own struggles whenever I am tempted to assert myself. May I never let the “I” usurp power ever again from Christ. Help me to do this, Lord. In Jesus’ Name I pray. Amen.

Understanding James

Writer's note: I am supposed to post this on a Facebook thread, but it's beyond 8,000 characters so FB forbid me. But Because I do not want to waste all that I have written, I'm putting it on my blog and will just paste the link on the thread later. :)

~*~

James 2:14-26 is truly an interesting and controversial passage. In order to understand it more clearly, it's good to remember the historical context of the letter. It was written by James, the brother of Jesus and a leader of the Jerusalem council (Acts 15). He addressed it to the "twelve tribes scattered among the nations (v.1)." The "twelve tribes" obviously refer to the 12 Tribes of Israel, thus, James was writing to all the Jewish Christians who are scattered all over the known world at the time. We know that the recipients are Christians from James 2:1 and 5:7-8.

These two information are very telling: 1) The Letter is written for Jewish Christians and 2) the recipients are Christians already.

Being Jewish Christians, it is important to note that these people whom James is writing to came from a faith system that is entirely based on the Law or good works. Jews think that by observing the Law, they will be able to gain their salvation.

This belief is exactly what Paul was trying to answer in his letter to the Romans. Note in Romans 3:20, Paul categorically states: "Therefore no one will be declared righteous in his (God's) sight by observing the law; rather, through the law we become conscious of sin."

Paul clarified to Jewish Christians in Rome (the same category of people James is writing to) that they will not be declared righteous or holy or worthy of God's salvation by observing the Law or fulfilling all the good works or the do's and dont's of the written code.

Instead, the Law was put in effect by God so that "we become conscious of sin." That is, by having the Law, we are supposed to realize that we cannot reach God by our own merit. In a more practical level, we can ask, "If I can be saved by my good works, how much good works do I need to do in order to be counted worthy by God?"

Or if we can be more simplistic and assume that we only have the 10 Commandments to follow, can we honestly say that we are able to fulfill each and every commandment from the moment of our birth to the time of our death? This is to be the standard because James himself says in James 2:10, "For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it."

He pointed out that even if we are able to fulfill much of the Law or the 10 Commandments, even if we can do considerable amount of good works, if we fail in even just one or we sin even just once, it's as if we have broken each and every law.

This is the heavy burden on the shoulders of the Jews in the past. Each person who decides to attempt to reach God by way of good works, also puts on his/her shoulder the impossible task of fulfilling the entire Law using his/her own strength as a human being.

Actually, if we consult Isaiah 64:6, we will even be confronted by a more glaring truth. The verse states, "All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags" to God. Filthy rags here in the original Hebrew language refers to used sanitary napkins. That's how dirty our righteous acts are in the sight of God.

But why does He abhor our good works? Why does God see our righteous acts as filthy rags? The answer goes back to Genesis. The moment Adam and Eve disobeyed God, they took upon themselves a "sinful nature." From that moment on until this present time, "the Scripture declares that the whole world is a prisoner of sin... (Galatians 3:22)."

Because of this, all that we do, even the righteous acts in the sight of men, are being tainted or marred by our sinful nature. That's why when God looks at our good works, He cannot accept them because they are polluted by sin. This is His attitude because "God is light and in him there is no darkness at all (1 John 1:5)."

We can have this illustration. We compare our good works to a bottle of mineral water. Then, we compare ourselves with the sinful nature to a rusty pipe. The good works in themselves are good, perfect and clean. But when we, sinful men and women (rusty pipes) do the good works, that is, we pour the pure water through the rusty pipe, the once clean water or perfect good work becomes polluted. We can no longer drink the water because of the rust. In the same way, God can no longer accept the good work because it is contaminated by sin.

We see, then, that God does not want tons and tons of good works because all these will just be contaminated by our sinful nature. Instead, He desires that we, rusty pipes, be cleansed. He wants to get rid of our sinful nature so that the good works that we do can be acceptable to Him.

How can we be cleansed of this sinful nature? Or in the words of Paul in Romans 7:24, "What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death?"

Jesus has an answer. When He was talking to Nicodemus, a teacher of the law, Jesus categorically stated, "Very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again (or born from above) (John 3:3)." Jesus is not saying that unless we become members of a born-again group, we will not see His kingdom. Not at all.

Instead, He emphasized that we need to be reborn spiritually because this is the only way we can start all over. This is the only way for us to get rid of the sinful nature of the past and and acquire an new, clean and holy nature. This truth becomes clearer in Jesus' repetition in vv. 5-6, "“Very truly I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit. Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit."

To be born of water simply means to be cleansed and purified from sin as in Ezekiel 36:24-27. And to be born of the Spirit means to acquire a new spiritual nature/standing in God... to become righteous in God's sight. We need to be spiritually reborn to get rid of the sinful nature.

How can this be done? Paul continued on his discussion in Romans 3:21-22, "But now a righteousness from God, apart from law, has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe."

He is saying that the right way of gaining righteousness, the right way of acquiring a new spiritual nature, the right way of being reborn was finally revealed. Righteousness comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe.

Notice how Paul excluded works in his answer. He is echoing Ephesians 2:8-9 all over again. "For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith —and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast."

Now, you may be thinking, "So does this mean that even if I sit idly in my room, lie down in my bed all my life and do nothing, as long as I have faith in Jesus, I am saved?"

We have to continue with verse 10, "For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do." God has prepared good works for those who will be saved because these are the evidences of their new nature. But again, the good works are not the means to acquire the new nature. Instead, they are the results of the new nature. A person who possess saving faith in Jesus will prove his/her salvation by doing the good works which God has prepared in advance for him/her to do.

Jesus has this same point in mind when He warned people about false prophets: "Likewise, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Thus, by their fruit you will recognize them (Matthew 7:16-20)."

A truly saved person will bear good fruit. It is a contradiction to see claiming Christians drowning in a lifestyle of sin. All they have may be lip-service, a faith that's only skin deep, unable to save.

This is also the entire point of James 2. James is warning the Christians to examine if they really have saving faith in Jesus. If they do, this faith should lead to visible products like the fruit of the Spirit and good deeds.

I know that we all desire to please God through our works of kindness to the poor, compassion for the needy, love for the orphans, care for the sick among others. But bear in mind that Hebrews 11:6 says, "And without faith it is impossible to please God..."

This is so, because good works done by a person who is not yet saved by his/her faith in Jesus Christ are like filthy rags for they are marred by sin.

Finally, when we turn to the most famous passage in the Bible, we are also exhorted that salvation is by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone, "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes (puts their faith, trusts in, surrenders to) in him (Jesus) shall not perish but have eternal life."

I pray that these things will be of help to everyone. :)

Jesus is the Savior, but how can we be saved?

We know that Jesus Christ came down to earth to save sinners (1Timothy 1:15)*. However, many of us do not know how we can be saved.

This is what the Apostle Paul said,"You have been saved by grace, through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. And this not from yourselves not by works, so that no one can boast." (Ephesians 2: 8-9).


We are not saved because of our good works. If that were so, we could boast. We have nothing to be proud of in front of God because according to the prophet Isaiah, our good works are like dirty rags in the light of God’s holiness. (Isaiah 64:6)*.

We are saved because God is gracious. He is compassionate, loving and forgiving. He saves through grace, which he gives freely. But, to be saved, we have to believe in Christ. What does this mean?

~*~

First, we must know who Christ is. He is the Word which existed from the very beginning, even before the world was made. The Word was with God and the Word was God (John1:1)*. The Word became flesh and he lived with us (John 1:14)*. God who cannot be seen was seen through His Son (John 1:18; Colossians 1:15)*. To believe in Christ is to know who He is. This is the first part of faith


Second, to believe in Christ is to trust Him as the only Savior. We trust no one else to save us, only Jesus, who died on the cross to pay for our sins.  Not religion, not our church, not holy people, not our good works. Only Jesus.

Third, to believe in Jesus is to submit to Him. Jesus the Savior is Jesus the Lord. A big part of this belief is to turn away from sin and submit to Jesus as King or Lord of our lives. The root of sin is to live selfishly, according  to our desires. But to believe in Jesus is to tell Him: Your WILL shall reign in my life!

~*~

Have you responded to Jesus and placed your faith in Him? Right now, you can respond to Jesus and trust Him completely. Pray to Him like this:

“Lord Jesus, thank you for your 

great love for me that you paid for 

my sins at Calvary. I acknowledge 

you as my God who became man 

to save the world.  I believe that 

you are the Savior and Lord of   

my life.  I turn my back on my sin.   

Forgive me and come into my 

heart and life. Amen.” 

It is not the prayer that saves you but your faith in Jesus as personal Lord and Savior. If you are genuinely saved, you will see transformation in your life. As a new creation, you should bear fruit of good works for the glory of God.

But know that at that very moment you respond to Jesus-- putting your trust in Him and turning away from a life of sin-- you are given the assurance of eternal life with God. Nothing can separate you from God. If you are genuinely saved, you remain genuinely saved, a son or daughter of God. 

~*~

* Passages quoted from the Bible

1 Timothy 1:15  "Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners—of whom I am the worst."

Isaiah 64:6a "All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags..."

John 1:1 "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God."

John 1:14 "The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth."

John 1:18 "No one has ever seen God, but God the One and Only, who is at the Father’s side, has made him known."

Colossians 1:15 " He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation"

This article was originally written by Pastor Isabelo Magalit of the Diliman Campus Bible Church with additions by the owner of this blog.

Measuring Success in Ministry

In this day and age, success in Christian work is often equated with actual conversions. Many ministries, churches and mission organizations measure their success in terms of warm bodies or number of new believers. Often, they will ask, “How many accepted Christ?” “How many were added to the church membership?” “How many stood up during the altar call?”

The more members, the more professions of faith, the more successful the ministry.

 After more than a year in full-time Christian work, however, I believe this measurement of success doesn’t work for everyone. Worse, it can even lead to one of either two extremes—pride for those with outstanding figures to show, or discouragement and depression for those whose programs do not yield many new believers.

How, then, can we measure our progress if not through the number of new believers?

First, I want to point us back to a very telling passage from Scripture. Paul wrote to the Christians in Corinth saying, “Therefore, since through God’s mercy we have this ministry, we do not lose heart… But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us… (2 Cor. 4:1, 7)”

All true Christian ministry, church and organization ultimately belong to God. It is by His mercy that He allowed us, unworthy creatures, to become stewards of His work. And because He owns all ministries, God should always be the measure of worth of our Christian work.

That is, we have to rejoice in the ministries we have because of God. He should be the center of every plan and strategy. His glory should be the burning light we desire to spread. And there is nothing to fear in the struggles we face because God is our leader. He knows well enough what to do and how to do things. Our part is to trust in Him, to be sensitive to the Holy Spirit and to obey…never to lose heart.

At the same time, we have no right, whatsoever, to boast about any achievement because God owns them all. We cannot hold on to successful events, multitudes of conversion or overflowing membership as personal trophies. We are not entitled to such boastings because these things came to pass only because of God.

We are only jars of clay. We are nothing compared to God. No amount of scheming or planning, no special program or structure or anything brings about change in a person. They cross over from death to life not because of us but inspite of us. The miracle of salvation happens only because of God’s grace and mercy.

We cannot stand before our crucified Lord and say, “These people became Christians because I shared the Gospel to them using a very special style which I invented.” No. This is unacceptable. Before Christ on the cross, we can only say, “Thank you, Lord, for saving us.”

We may use a simple Christian tract or come up with an elaborate evangelism program, but the power ultimately comes from God. We are saved by God’s grace nothing more, nothing less.

Having said these things, how, then, do we measure success in ministry? This for me is a more fitting measurement:

We can say that a ministry is successful not based on the number of conversions or warm bodies but on the faithfulness of those whom God called to become stewards of His ministry. A Christian work is successful if it continues to preach Christ faithfully according to Scripture to as many people as possible in its mission field, even without the sought-after increase.

And if we still want to quantify this further, we can say that the measure of success also equals the number of people we have touched and served through the Gospel of Christ whether they are added to the body or not.  One of our former pastors at Diliman Campus Bible Church summarized this point in the word “impact.” He asks, “If your ministry disappears, will people who do not belong to that ministry care?” 

Thus, whenever we evaluate in the church or in our Christian organizations, we must put high up in the list the question of faithfulness. “Have we been faithful stewards of God’s ministry?” And it is also right to ask, “Do our programs and strategies lead people closer to Christ?”

I believe if we are faithful in proclaiming Christ in words, deeds and life, touching every person whom God brings us, we have successfully fulfilled our duty. For in doing so, we have planted the seed of the Gospel or watered a seed from long ago which will sprout and grow through God’s enabling.

“So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow (1 Cor. 3:7).”

Next time you are confronted with the question of success, it is best to measure it in terms of faithfulness and impact, not so on the number of converts.

Pastor Isabelo Magalit on Jn. 21:15-19

This audio podcast features Pastor Isabelo Magalit of the Diliman Campus Bible Church preaching from John 21:15-19 for the annual church planning.

Jan. 20, 2012

Memory Verse 3- Romans 8:35, 37-39

"Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? 

No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord."

Loving One Another

“A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another (John 13:34-35).”

Christianity is counter-cultural in many ways. When the world chooses the path of war, Christianity calls for peace. When popular opinion says resist, it takes the route of submission. When people say assert your rights, Christ commands, "Turn the other cheek."

Many shy away from this side of our faith, saying it only breeds weakness. At the same time, they accuse people who try to live out these tenets as vulnerable, helpless and even hopeless. "Why," they ask, "do you let other people trample on you?"

I say, they are missing the point of love. When Jesus called us to Himself, He also called us to imitate His humility. He who is everything made Himself nothing for our sake. In the same way, Jesus wants us to think not of ourselves or our own good, but to place Him first, others second and ourselves last in our hierarchy of concerns. This is love in action.

In fact, when we meditate on the original Greek word for love used in the verses above-- agape -- we will realize that Jesus demanded from His followers a kind of love that expects nothing in return. He is telling us, "Love one another unconditionally, giving your all to serve, help, encourage, train, teach, rebuke, and correct your brothers and sisters. This, afterall, is the example I gave you on the cross."

"Love one another..."-- so simple a command but extremely difficult to fully obey. How can we love the unlovable? Does this mean we always take the gracious and forgiving side, letting our abusive brothers and sisters to go on their ways?

We are called to bear with each other, to forgive and to love (Col. 3:13) and this goes out to every believer. In practice, however, the more mature ones tend to apply this first, and the younger in the faith follow suit after some time. And they do, more often than not, only after the more mature ones exercise loving rebuke and correction about the unloving actions of the brother or sister.

Love is not just about the good feeling or the grace or the forgiveness. At times, it calls for serious confrontation of sin but always within Biblical parameters with the brother's restoration-- not one's self-righteousness-- as prime motivation.

The challenge is for us to exercise grace and forgiveness while helping an erring brother realize his unloving actions or attitudes with the prayer that he'll take the highway of change.

This has never been easy because the pride in us automatically rears its head the moment it feels threatened. Without us noticing, we slip into selfish  argumentation. We claim to desire our brother's well-being when, in fact, our rebuke has become a struggle to prove our point and salvage our wounded pride. What a sad reality.

May we learn to truly love one another as Christ loved us. When we think of ourselves as nothing, we have no reason to protect our pride. Afterall, the humble attitude of Christ says, "I boast nothing about myself because I am but a worm... a slave... and my worth is only in my Savior, Jesus."

If this will be true to us, an inevitable revolution or revival even will sweep across our churches and fellowships. And the world will begin to see a marked difference in our circles, that we truly love one another.

If we open our mouths and say, "It is because Jesus loves us that we love one another," people will look at our Savior and realize His power to transform lives. And we never know, this can lead them to a saving relationship with Him.

Memory Verse 2: Romans 8:28

And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him,
who have been called according to his purpose.

Memory Verse 1: John 1:1-5

 

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and that life was the light of men The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it.

The Ten Commandments (Exodus 20:1-17)

Editor's note: This was written by Diana Andino, chairperson of the Dormitories Christian Fellowship, and delivered to the Centennial Christian Movement on the 6th of September, 2011. 

I.             Purpose of the Law

From the beginning of time, God created mankind to have a personal relationship with Him. Of all His creatures, man alone was created in His image and likeness (Genesis 1:26-27). 

In Genesis 2:16-17, God gave simple instructions about how Adam and Eve, the first man and woman, should live. Unfortunately, they ignored God and went their own way (Genesis 3). From then on, sin entered the world and as its grave consequence, death engulfed all mankind (Romans 5:12).

But even with the entry of sin, God’s purpose of calling people to Himself remained the same. Out of Abraham, God made a nation who would declare His marvelous works to the entire world. In Isaiah 43:21, God calls Israel “… my chosen, the people I formed for myself that they may proclaim my praise.”

A large portion of the book of Genesis is devoted to the life and biography of the four patriarchs of Israel, namely Abraham, his son Isaac, Jacob (Isaac’s son), and Joseph (one of the 12 sons of Jacob). The nation of Israel was named after Jacob, who was named Israel by God Himself in Genesis 32:28. 

Stephen’s speech to the Sanhedrin in Acts 7 gives us an excellent summary of Israel’s history. From a small family of only seventy five, God made Israel increased greatly in Egypt. When the Israelites were maltreated in Egypt, God raised Moses to lead them out of that country. Through a series of miracles never before seen, God delivered Israel out of the land of slavery (Exodus 5-15). In the third month after the Israelites left Egypt, God made a covenant with Israel at Mt. Sinai. In Exodus 20, God spoke to all people the covenant which is later known as the Ten Commandments (Exodus 34:28).

Originally, the Ten Commandments (also called the law) were given to teach the Israelites how to live rightly before God. As a new nation emerging out of Egypt, God gave them the law to set them apart from other nations. In Exodus 19:5-6, God stated both the condition and purpose of the law.

“Now if you obey me fully and keep my covenant, then out of all nations you will be my treasured possession. Although the whole earth is mine, you will be for me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.”

In the course of God’s progressive revelation, He revealed to us several purposes of the giving of the law particularly in the New Testament.  The Law reflects the character of God. It shows how holy and set apart He is from us. These commandments give us an idea of His standard, which is perfection. He demands perfection from us in our relationship with Him (1-4) and with our relationships with other people (5-10).

Another purpose is to make us conscious of sin. Romans 3:20 “Therefore no one will be declared righteous in his sight by observing the law; rather, through the law we become conscious of sin.” So here, it is clear that we cannot be saved by obeying the Ten Commandments. It was given for us to see the contrast between God’s holiness and our sinfulness. It allows us to realize that no matter how hard we try, we cannot fulfill the Law by ourselves because we are not perfect.

One more purpose is to lead us to Christ. Once the Holy Spirit convicts a person of sin, He would also lead that person to look for a Savior. Galatians 3:24 “So the law was put in charge to lead us to Christ that we might be justified by faith.”  This is why in days gone by, parents taught their children the Ten Commandments. The children should learn the Ten Commandments, not because they would be saved by keeping the commandments, but because the commandments would show them their need to be saved by the matchless grace of God. 

II.           How the Law should be obeyed

Since God is holy, he requires that we obey His commandments both externally and internally at all times. In His Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7), our Lord Jesus Christ corrected the wrong interpretation of the Pharisees concerning obedience. 

For example, in Matthew 5:27-28 Jesus gives an explanation and extension of the seventh commandment (adultery). The male Jews then thought that adultery can only be committed by having an affair with another woman. However, Christ said that while that is true, it is not limited to that. They also committed adultery even when “only” looking lustfully at a woman.

The same is true with verses 43-44. The Law tells us of loving our neighbors, but the Jews added that we should hate our enemies (Deut 23:6). So Christ was trying to correct their interpretation of God’s laws. He explains that loving a neighbor means loving all of them, whether they are your enemies or not.

So God requires that we obey His laws completely. Even before the giving of the Ten Commandments, God has always intended that His laws be fully obeyed and kept (Exodus 19:5).

We have already established earlier that God demands perfection in fulfilling these commandments. So now, the question is, “Is there any person capable of obeying the law?”  

Because of our sinful nature, we have become incapable of fully obeying the commands of God. He requires that we perfectly obey all His commands all the time; otherwise we are under a curse.

Galatians 3:10 “All who rely on observing the law are under a curse, for it is written: ‘Cursed is everyone who does not continue to do everything written in the Book of the Law.’” 

If you wanted to be right with God by obeying the law and by good works, do you know how good you would have to be? Jesus says in Matthew 5:48: “Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.”

III.        Should we still obey the Law?

Knowing that the Ten Commandments were originally given to the Israelites of the Old Testament, and that observing it cannot justify us, should we still obey the Ten Commandments?

Galatians 2:15-16 “We who are Jews by birth and not ‘Gentile sinners’ know that a man is not justified by observing the law, but by faith in Jesus Christ. So we, too, have put our faith in Christ Jesus that we may be justified by faith in Christ and not by observing the law, because by observing the law no one will be justified.”

Romans 7:12 “So then, the law is holy, and the commandment is holy, righteous and good.”

We know that Paul was not saying that the Law is bad, because in Romans, he said that it is holy. Instead, he was saying that the Law can never make us acceptable to God. However, the law has still an important role to play in the life of a Christian. It:

a.       guards  us from sin by giving us standards for behaviour

b.      convicts us of sin, leaving us the opportunity to ask for forgiveness from God

c.       drives us to trust in the sufficiency of Christ, because we can never keep the Ten Commandments perfectly.

The law cannot possibly save us. But after we have become Christians, it can guide us to live as God requires.

Summary of the Ten Commandments:

Mark 12:30-31 “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ 31The second is this: `Love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these.”  

Proper Heart and Motive in Prayer

Taken from corbis.com

In a previous post, we talked about persistence in prayer as the active seeking of God’s will in prayer, and having the heart of obedience to conform to His desires and purpose for us.

We persist in prayer not to annoy God so that He’ll give in to what we want. We also do not persist just to prove to Him our worthiness so that He’ll grant our request; afterall, no one is worthy enough to reach God’s standard of perfection apart from Christ.

Instead, we do not give up praying because by continuously seeking Him and His will, we are able to see through the mist and understand God’s purpose in our lives. Our wills, in effect, slowly bend down before the Greatest Will which belongs to God. This, however, is possible only with a heart of humility and obedience.

Most often than not, however, we look from the wrong vantage point. We think of ourselves and our need and our benefit above God. James 4:3-4 is a very telling passage:

“When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures. You adulterous people, don’t you know that friendship with the world means enmity against God? Therefore, anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God…”

We cannot treat God as a Coca-cola machine where we put in coins of prayer and faith, and demand the results we desire.  He is not our genie nor does He exist for our benefit and glory. It is dangerous to treat Him only as only the final resort, having the attitude that says, “When all human strength and schemes fail, turn to God.”

If we have this attitude, it is good to review 1 John 5:14-15, and note a single very important phrase. “This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. And if we know that he hears us--whatever we ask--we know that we have what we asked of him.”

“According to His will” is often overlooked. We can ask God anything but anything is bound by His will. This is the reason why I emphasized the need to persist in seeking God’s heart in prayer and meditation. Unless our requests are aligned with God’s will, He cannot give them to us. Or in the occasion that He does (I’m not sure if this happens), it is only to teach us something and ultimately redirect us to His will.

God gives what we ask of Him not because we have proven ourselves worthy but because through prayer (and study of the Word) we are able to understand God’s desires more and more, and so begin to ask for the things that He wills.

Sometimes we do not notice it, but an intimate understanding of His purpose yields to prayers that actually mirror God’s Word. When we begin to ask the very things God wants for us, we have the confidence that He hears us and will answer.

When we approach God in prayer, may it be that our utmost motive is God’s glory and the fulfillment of His will.

Listen to Christ when He prayed at Gethsemane, "Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done (Luke 22:42).” This is a rare opportunity that we witness His humanity asking for something that’s not in the Godhead’s salvation master plan. But look at Jesus’ words. He added the very humble phrase, “If you are willing,” and closed it with the words, “yet not my will, but yours be done.”

He knows the agony and pain that he is about to experience. He knows that physical and spiritual suffering that he’ll go through. So, in one moment, he was able to say his very request in Luke 22:42. But what’s amazing is that Christ knows God’s will and He followed it.

How many of us have this same attitude towards prayer? Do we think of God’s glory in all that we ask? Or are we confined to our own benefits and desires? May we consider these things as we seek God’s presence more in our lives.

Related Post

Persistence in Prayer

Persistence in Prayer

Taken from www.elshaddaicm.com

Luke 18:1-8 

¹ Then Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up. ² He said: “In a certain town there was a judge who neither feared God nor cared what people thought. ³ And there was a widow in that town who kept coming to him with the plea, ‘Grant me justice against my adversary.’
   ⁴ “For some time he refused. But finally he said to himself, ‘Even though I don’t fear God or care what people think, ⁵ yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will see that she gets justice, so that she won’t eventually come and attack me!’”
 ⁶ And the Lord said, “Listen to what the unjust judge says. ⁷ And will not God bring about justice for his chosen ones, who cry out to him day and night? Will he keep putting them off? ⁸ I tell you, he will see that they get justice, and quickly. However, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?”

In this passage, Jesus’ reason for teaching the parable is clear. He wants to impart persistence in prayer. He wants his disciples to “always pray and not give up” the wonderful privilege of talking to God, of being in personal fellowship communication with the King of the Universe.

Persistence is defined as “long continuance” in doing one activity or the “incessant or unrelenting” attitude towards the fulfillment of one action. In the case of Jesus’ parable, to be persistent in prayer means to continuously seek communion with God in good times or bad, whether to praise Him, intercede for others, seek something or simply to be in His presence.

Did the disciples learn the lesson? The answer is a resounding, “Yes!” One can browse through the Epistles to see how much they applied the principle in their exhortations of one another. Paul, for example, told the Philippian church, “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God (Philippians 4:6).”

Aside from this, in his letter to Timothy, Paul encouraged his young co-worker to pray for people first of all. “I urge, then, first of all, that requests, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for everyone (1 Timothy 2:1),” he said.

John also has this motivation for all believers, “This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us.  And if we know that he hears us--whatever we ask--we know that we have what we asked of him (1 John 5:14-15).”

And James, the Lord’s brother, emphasized prayer in all circumstances—in trouble, joy, sickness or sin (James 5:13-16).

These are but some examples of the apostles learning persistence in prayer. In their letters, they repeatedly exhorted believers to always commune with God as individuals and as a group. To talk to Him in prayer, putting at the foot of His cross all worries and all praises.

They do this not to "nag" God but to show Him their faith. God sees every person's heart and is well aware of their circumstances. Even before one asks, God already knows what he or she needs. This, however, is not a license for people to neglect their communion with God. Instead, this should inspire people to continue depending on the omniscient God who knows even the prayers people can only express in silence.

If persisting in prayer is not nagging God about what a person wants, what is it, then? When one persists in prayer, this doesn't mean spending long hours badgering God until He gives in to one's requests. Instead, this  implies actively seeking His will and praying for obedience to submit to His desires. It is having a heart that says, "Not my will Lord, but Yours be done."

Afterall, even prayer is not about us but all about Him and His glory.

Now the question for us believers is this: Have we also learned what it means to persist in prayer?

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Proper Heart and Motive in Prayer