Blog Archives - WELCOME TO THE JOY OF TROY

June 10, 2018

6/10/2018

Obedience by Faith                        OBEDIENCE FROM WITHIN

        For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith. Rom. 1:17.

    Obedience comes only by faith. Obedience is by faith alone. Those who have been counted just shall live by faith as well. One of the reasons that obedience can come only by faith, and by faith only (and if you don't think I'm trying to say that more than once, you've missed the point), is found in the Sermon on the Mount. There Jesus teaches that you don't have to commit adultery to commit adultery. And you don't have to kill someone to be guilty of murder. If you have lust or anger in your heart, you are guilty already.

    If this is true, then much of what we would like to call obedience is actually sin. If I want to cheat on my income tax, but I don't do it, I am still a cheat. If I find the idea of robbing a bank appealing, even if I have never stolen a dime in my life, I'm still a thief. In fact, if I crave unhealthful foods, even if I am strong-willed enough to refuse to eat them, I can still be a glutton! Notice this comment in Councils on Diet and Foods, page 35: "Men will never be truly temperate until the grace of Christ is an abiding principle in the heart. All the pledges in the world will not make you or your wife health reformers. No mere restriction of your diet will cure your diseased appetite....Christianity proposes a reformation in the heart. What Christ works within will be worked out under the dictation of converted intellect. The plan of beginning outside and trying to work inwardly has always failed, and always will fail. God's plan with you is to begin at the very seat of all difficulties, the heart, and then from out of the heart will issue the principles of righteousness."

    Let me ask you a question. If God has wrought His work in your heart so that you have begun to see sin as He sees it; so that your tastes, inclinations, ambitions, and passions are brought under His control (Selected Messages, book 1, p. 336); so that your feelings, thoughts, purposes, and actions are in harmony with God's will (Steps to Christ, p. 61)--if that has happened, will you have to try hard to obey? Why, you'd have to try hard not to! Through the ongoing faith relationship with Jesus, we can be changed into His image, so that we are obedient--from the inside out.

June 9, 2018

6/9/2018

Obedience by Faith                        OBEDIENCE COMES FROM PEACE

        Great peace have they which love thy law: and nothing shall offend them. Ps. 119:165.

    It is an amazing fact that it is God's forgiveness, His mercy, and His peace that changes our lives. Peace was purchased at the cross. Because of the cross, the good news is out again today: "Him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out" (John 6:37).

    If you are looking for victory and longing for true obedience, the very first prerequisite is that you understand the unconditional love and acceptance of God for you. We don't get peace by getting victory, we get victory by getting peace. The only person who can ever obey is the one who already has the peace of acceptance with God.

    When we consider the subject of obedience, and try to learn how obedience fits in with the subject of salvation by faith alone, there are two dangers. The first is that we will focus only on the obedience. We will consider obedience only in terms of outward actions, behavior, morality. When this happens, we begin to try to make ourselves obey in order to find favor with God. If we are strong-willed and succeeds, we become proud of our success and more self-centered than ever. If we are weak, we do not succeed even outwardly, and we give up in discouragement.

    The second danger is that we will conclude that obedience is neither necessary nor possible. We forget that obedience or disobedience is the great issue to be decided at the very end of the great controversy (see The Desire of Ages, p. 763). We forget that whether or not obedience was possible, or necessary, was the initial issue in the great controversy, when Satan fell from heaven and accused God before the universe of creating laws that were impossible to obey. The great controversy is not yet finally settled, and the question of whether or not obedience is possible is still being debated. God says it is essential. Satan says it is impossible. And each of us must decide whom we are going to believe.

    As we come to God, admitting our helplessness to save ourselves or to make ourselves obey God's law, He gives us peace. And peace brings release. Peace brings victory. Peace brings obedience--the only kind of true obedience that there is.

June 8, 2018

6/8/2018

Obedience by Faith                        CHRIST'S OBEDIENCE IN US

        I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me. Gal. 2:20.

    Since we are sinners by birth and by nature, and because there is no such thing as righteousness apart from Jesus, we can come to only one conclusion. In order to be trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, we must have accepted of His grace and forgiveness initially, and we must continue the relationship and communion with Him. "Sinful man can find hope and righteousness only in God; and no human being is righteous any longer than he has faith in God and maintains a vital connection with Him."--Testimonies to Ministers, p. 367.

    The real issue in sin is not in doing bad things, but rather in living our lives, good or bad, apart from Christ. All our deeds, whether outwardly good or bad, are done for selfish reasons if we are not in dependence upon Christ and abiding in Him.

    Since we are sinners by nature, we of ourselves are never going to be able to produce any obedience. If we are the ones doing the living in the Christian life, we can produce only thorns and thistles. If we are the ones who are working the works, what we produce will always be imperfect.

    Which brings us to a crucial question. In the Christian life, do we do the living, or does Christ do the living in us? The Bible teaches plainly that Christ wants to live in us, to work in us, "to will and to do of his good pleasure" (Phil. 2:13). It is possible for Christ to dwell in our hearts by faith (see Eph. 3:17).

    If we are depending on our own obedience we can never hope for anything but imperfect obedience. But if Christ is living in us, His work in us will not be imperfect. Through His indwelling presence and control, we can obey perfectly. We obey, yet it is not us, but Christ living in us.

    The just shall live by faith. If those who have been pardoned and justified through the righteousness of Christ are living by faith, they can obey. As we live the daily Christian life by faith in Jesus only, and with Him dwelling in us, we can have obedience that is real.

June 7, 2018

6/7/2018

Obedience by Faith                        BAD GOODNESS

        But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousness are as filthy rags. Isa. 64:6.

    Because we are born separated from God when we come into this world, we are all partakers of the common problem of self-centeredness. Sometimes people look at a newborn baby and ponder, How could such a tiny person be a sinner? He has never had a chance to break the commandments. How could he be a sinner? But if you recognize that sin's number-one manifestation is self-centeredness, it is a little easier to understand. Newborn babies are certainly self-centered! They're the most openly self-centered people around! Never mind if mother is sleeping or eating or trying to do something else. When baby wants something, he wants it now!

    Another problem people sometimes face is how they can be sinning by continuing to live their life on their own, apart from God, so long as they are good, moral people. We have tended to define sin in terms of doing bad things, and if we are strong-willed enough to refrain from doing bad things, we think that we have righteousness.

    The apostle Paul admitted that he was the chief of sinners. Did that mean that his life was immoral, that he was the chief of criminals? No, it meant that he had come close enough to the Lord Jesus to recognize his true condition. He recognized that the only righteousness he had came from Jesus, and that apart from Him he had none at all.

    It is a hard thing to realize that even our good deeds can be sin if we are living apart from the faith relationship with Christ. It is difficult to admit that "all our righteousness are as filthy rags." The text doesn't say that all our filthy rags are as filthy rags, or that all our iniquities are as filthy rags. That we could accept more easily. No, all our righteousness, all our rightdoing, all our so-called obedience, that is done apart from Christ, is still filthy rags, is still sin.

    It is the motives and desires on the inside that God looks at, not our outward appearance. We may mow the widow's lawn, in itself a good deed, but apart from Christ it is sin, because our motive will inevitably be a selfish one. True obedience is always from the heart, and comes only through relationship with Christ.

June 6, 2018

6/6/2018

Obedience by Faith                        TREES OF RIGHTEOUSNESS

        That they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that he might be glorified. Isa. 61:3.

    We are born sinners, and we sin because we are sinners. We are not sinners because we sin! One of the evidences that we are all sinners is that we all die. You can't argue with that, can you?

    I was speaking about this subject one time and a university professor spoke up from the back, "Birds die! Are they sinners? Cats die. Are they sinners?" Yes, they are! And I heard a couple of sinners fighting in the woods behind my house just last night! They had four legs and fur. But what was their problem? They were self-centered. The taint of sin has permeated every level of creation. We live in a world that carries the burden of sin, and so do we.

    If this is our condition, if our hearts are self-centered and if we are sinners by birth and by nature, how can we ever hope to obey? Jesus talked about it in Matthew 7:16-18: "Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles? Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit." If a good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, and a corrupt tree cannot bring forth good fruit, then how can we ever hope to obey?

    There is a beautiful text on this found in Isaiah 61:3: "To appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that he might be glorified."

    So the Bible speaks of trees of righteousness that the Lord Himself plants for His own glory. This gives us hope. There is a possibility for bad trees to bring forth good fruit if the miracle of what Jesus is suggesting in these words of Scripture is a reality. Because of another tree, the tree on which Jesus offered up His life for our sins, we are given the offer of becoming trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord. And as we unite ourselves to Him, we are enabled to do the deeds of righteousness as well, and to bring forth good fruit--fruit to His glory.

June 5, 2018

6/5/2018

Obedience by Faith                        SINFUL BY BIRTH

        If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. 1 John 1:8.

    All of us who are born into this world are born separated from God. Jesus provided a way by which we can be brought back into the relationship with God that was severed when Adam sinned.

    The first symptom of being born separated from God is that we are born self-centered. That's the problem. We are all self-centered. From this self-centeredness springs everything that we call sin. And apart from God this condition will continue. Perhaps it would be well to remind ourselves of this premise: "None of the apostles and prophets ever claimed to be without sin. Men who have lived the nearest to God, men who would sacrifice life itself rather than knowingly commit a wrong act, men whom God has honored with divine light and power, have confessed to the sinfulness of their nature."--The Acts of the Apostles, p. 561. We are sinners by nature, and will remain so until Jesus comes again.

    Please notice that we are sinners by birth, and that we will continue to be sinners by nature, until Jesus comes again, whether we're sinning or not. When the apostles and prophets admitted and confessed the sinfulness of their nature, they weren't saying that they were continuing to sin. When Paul said that he was the chief of sinners, he didn't mean that he was sinning all the time. Even before Paul was converted on the Damascus road, his behavior was above reproach. He was one of the best livers around. His conversion didn't result in a sudden moral decline. But he drew closer to Jesus, he realized more and more the sinfulness of his nature. "The closer you come to Jesus, the more faulty you will appear in your own eyes; for your wisdom will be clearer, and your imperfections will be seen in broad and distinct contrast to His perfect nature. This is evidence that Satan's delusions have lost their power."--Steps to Christ, pp. 64, 65.

    It is only through union with Christ, through relationship with Him, and dependence upon Him moment by moment, that we are enabled to be truly obedient, in spite of the sinfulness of our natures.

June 4, 2018

6/4/2018

Obedience by Faith                        WE CAN'T OBEY

        For as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous. Rom. 5:19.

    The method by which we live the Christian life is the same method by which we began it--by faith alone. Our justification is by faith alone--our acceptance with God is based totally on our receiving the merits of Jesus in our behalf. And we are to live by faith, as well.

    One of the first reasons why obedience has to come by faith only is because of the nature of sin and sinners. We are all sinners, whether we have ever done anything "wrong" or not. It is not sinning that makes us sinners. It is getting born that makes us sinners. "For as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous" (Rom. 5:19). We are sinners because we are born in this world of sin, and whether we ever sin or not is beside the point. We are sinners. "Our hearts are evil, and we cannot change them."--Steps to Christ, p. 18.

    There are many texts that remind us of this fact. "There is none righteous, no, not one" (Chap. 3:10). "If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves" (1 John 1:18). We are "by nature the children of wrath" (Eph. 2:3). "I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing" (Rom. 7:18). We are all sinners, and were all born sinners.

    Perhaps the clearest passage on this subject is found in John 3. Christ tells us that in order even to see the kingdom of God, we must be born again. If this is true, then there had to be something wrong with our first birth. All of us who are born into this world are born with a problem--we are born sinners. We would remain so forever had it not been for the cross. But because of the cross, we do not have to remain separated from God. God gives every person the option of being born again.

    The reason for studying this point in connection with the subject of obedience is this: If our hearts are evil and we cannot change them, then how could we ever obey? If in our flesh dwells no good thing, then how could we ever obey? We can't! It is only as we come to Jesus, admitting our helplessness, and accepting Him by faith, that we are put right with God.

June 3, 2018

6/3/2018

Obedience by Faith                        THE METHOD OF OBEDIENCE

        As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him. Col. 2:6.

    When we come to Jesus for pardon, because of the sacrifice He made for us at Calvary He is able to accept us just as we are. And each day, as we come to Him anew, He continues to accept us and assure us of salvation. Once we have come and accepted His salvation, we must recognize that the method by which we stay with Christ and grow in grace is the same method by which we received Him at first--that the just shall live by faith.

    What does it mean to live by faith? In order to understand this, we have to remember what is involved in genuine faith. Faith is something far deeper than a mere mental assent to truth. It involves trust in a Person, in someone we have come to know personally and discovered to be completely trustworthy. Faith is always spontaneous, and is the natural result of a relationship with Christ.

    That is not to say that obedience is not necessary. Obedience is required. It is important. It is essential. In the life of the Christian both faith and works will exist. But we must understand how this is to be accomplished. We need to consider what is meant by the word by. When we are talking about living by faith, what do we mean? The usual understanding in the English language of the word by refers to methods. I travel to New York by plane. I make my living by working.

    The Bible truth is that those who have been justified by faith shall live by faith, as well. Living the Christian life is accomplished through the same means by which the Christian life was begun. "As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him." It is only through faith that we are able to keep God's commandments. Obedience by faith is the only kind of true obedience that there is. "When we know God as it is our privilege to know Him, our life will be a life of continual obedience."--The Desire of Ages, p. 668. Notice the condition--when we know God.

    It is not our trying hard to make ourselves acceptable to God that makes us acceptable. Nor is it our trying hard to obey that makes us obedient. Both acceptance and obedience come as a gift from God, and are received only by faith, through the continued relationship with Him.

June 2, 2018

6/2/2018

Obedience by Faith                        THE JUST SHALL LIVE BY FAITH

        Now the just shall live by faith: but if any man draw back, my soul shall have no pleasure in him. Heb. 10:38.

    The group of God's people who live just before Jesus comes are gong to be known by two characteristics, according to Revelation 14:12. They are going to keep the commandments of God, and have the faith of Jesus. What is meant by "keeping" the commandments? It would have to mean something more than believing in the commandments of God. It would have to include more than thinking that the commandments of God are nice. It isn't just to be in favor of the commandments.

    Perhaps you have heard that it is true you will be keeping the commandments but that you won't be keeping them perfectly. Let's read it that way: "Here are they that keep the commandments of God, but not perfectly." Do you want that added? That isn't what it says. I would like to take the position that if you don't keep the commandments of God perfectly, you don't keep them at all. Either you do or you don't.

    The final issue in the great controversy is not going to be over whether Jesus died or not, or over whether or not His blood is sufficient. The last great issue, just before Jesus come, is whether we can obey or whether we continue to disobey. That's the final conflict. (See The Desire of Ages, p. 763.)

    Can we obey? Or can we not obey? Does this subject seem incompatible with the theme of salvation by faith in Jesus? Does it sound as though we're headed straight for legalism? Or is it possible that the subjects of obedience and of salvation by faith alone can be found to harmonize?

    When we accept as the foundation of our hope of salvation that we can come to Jesus just as we are, and are accepted because of what He did for us at the cross, we are then able to understand obedience correctly. Paul says, "For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that beleiveth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek. For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith" (Rom. 1:16, 17).

    Perhaps it is a new thought to some that we live by faith, as well as come to God by faith initially. Obedience is by faith, plus or minus nothing else. Obedience is by faith alone.

June 1, 2018

6/1/2018

Obedience by Faith                        ACCEPTED BECAUSE OF JESUS

        But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Rom. 5:8.

    One time, at an airport, I ordered a sandwich between flights, and made the mistake of going off and leaving it sitting there on the counter. I had other things on my mind, so had to go back to get my sandwich. But suppose I went to a dealer to buy a Mercedes. There's little chance I would go off and leave that. The more we pay for something, the more we value it.

    The infinite, priceless gift of God in Jesus Christ makes it certain that we are accepted, because Jesus' sacrifice has been accepted. God will not forget us or leave us alone after having paid such a price for our salvation. We can praise God anew for that today.

    According to Romans 4:5, God justifies the ungodly. God accepts sinners when they come to Him just as they are. This is one of the most important and significant truths as we begin to understand the theme of salvation by faith. We do not wait for some point when we have become good enough for God to accept us. He loves to accept us just as we are when we come to Him. This is true when we come to Him initially, and the promise is good for today, as well. We can come to Him again today, just as we are, and He accepts us.

    It is only people who understand that they have already been accepted by God who can safely talk about obedience. If I am not sure of my acceptance, it is extremely hazardous for me to study the subject of obedience, because it will be nothing but discouraging.

    When a sinner responds to the convicting power of the Holy Spirit, he comes to God just as he is, and because of Jesus he is put right with God.

    Nothing that man can do can possibly add to this salvation. No work of man has merit or value in itself. Our obedience is not what makes us right with God; it is not what causes our salvation. But for the Christian who understands this clearly, who is looking to the merits of Christ for his assurance and pardon, rather than to his own works, the subject of obedience is still extremely important. Once we have our foundation for salvation clearly understood, then we are ready to begin to build walls on that foundation.