Sola Gratia

October 22, 2012 — Craig T. Owens

Another great thought that the Reformation brought us is sola gratia—salvation is by grace alone.

If you are a Christian you have probably said something like, “I thank God that I’m saved!” This is a wonderful thing, but it’s also an incomplete statement. In order to fully appreciate God’s grace, and in order to have a full testimony for others, we need to work on completing this statement.

We’re saved FROM the punishment of justice.

We’re saved TO eternal life.

We’re saved FOR God’s glory.

But because of His great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved. And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with Him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, in order that in the coming ages He might show the incomparable riches of His grace, expressed in His kindness to us in Christ Jesus. (Ephesians 2:4-7)

—Saved From Death— …it is by grace you have been saved…

—Saved To Eternal Life—…God raised us up with Christ and seated us with Him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus…

—Saved For God’s Glory— …in order that in the coming ages He might show the incomparable riches of His grace…

You can fully appreciate the incomparable riches of God’s grace when you understand all that your salvation includes: from, to, and for. Look at the incredible testimony of grace that the Apostle Paul had in the from, to, and for thoughts in his statement in 1 Timothy 1:12-17.

That’s the same type of testimony we can all have! Don’t just tell people, “I’m saved!” Tell them how God’s grace saved you from the penalty of your sins, to eternal life in Christ, and for the glory of God.

If you have missed any of the messages in this series, you can find them all here.

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Attaboy!

October 19, 2012 — Craig T. Owens

October has been designated as Clergy Appreciation Month. Some pastors live from “Attaboy!” to “Attaboy!” from their congregation, so October is like a feast for them!

But the apostle Paul has a slightly different perspective on this. More than getting an “Attaboy!” from a church congregation, he is joyful over the “Attaboy!” he hears from God.

For what is our hope, our joy, or the crown in which we will glory in the presence of our Lord Jesus when He comes? Is it not you? Indeed, you are our glory and joy.

For now we really live, since you are standing firm in the Lord. How can we thank God enough for you in return for all the joy we have in the presence of our God because of you? (1 Thessalonians 2:19-20; 3:8-9)

Paul’s goal is seeing people who have been changed because of their relationship with Jesus. And these changed lives are all the reward he desires!

YOU ARE OUR GLORY AND JOY! 

Pastor, it’s nice when you get the “Attaboys!” from your congregation. But what’s even better is to help your congregation enter into a deeper relationship with Christ, and then hear the “Attaboy!” from God Himself!

What an amazing joy that we get to play a small role in helping people stand firm in the Lord!

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Thursdays With Oswald—Not A Saint, But Many Saints

October 18, 2012 — Craig T. Owens

Listen to the podcast of this post by clicking on the player below, and you can also subscribe on Apple, Spotify, or Audible.

This is a weekly series with things I’m reading and pondering from Oswald Chambers. You can read the original seed thought here, or type “Thursdays With Oswald” in the search box to read more entries.

Not A Saint, But Many Saints 

     The Book of God is insistent on this: we cannot develop a holy life alone, it would be a selfish life, without God in it and wrong. …

     Beware of isolation; beware of the idea that you have to develop a holy life alone. It is impossible to develop a holy life alone, you will develop into an oddity and a peculiarism, into something utterly unlike what God wants you to be. The only way to develop spiritually is to go into the society of God’s own children, and you will soon find how God alters your set. God does not contradict our social instincts, He alters them. 

From Biblical Psychology 

I’ve got news for you: It’s not about you as an individual.

If you have asked God to forgive you of your sins because you believed that Jesus paid the price for your salvation on the Cross, you haven’t just been saved from death; you’ve also been saved to a fuller life. A key component of this fuller life is your interaction with other Christians.

Search through the New Testament and you will find that the word saint never appears in the singular form—it’s always plural: saintS.

I need other Christians to help form Christlike character in me, and other Christians need me to do the same for them. Don’t ever buy into the lie that you can be a Christian and live an isolated life.

You are a part of the Body of Christ. Don’t rob the Body of your vital role! Together we saintS are so much stronger and more effective than a solitary, isolated saint.

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Democracy, Immoral Laws, And A Christian’s Responsibility

October 17, 2012 — Craig T. Owens

We know the law is good if one uses it properly. (1 Timothy 1:8)

Whether laws are labeled spiritual or civil, the IF in that verse is very important. Law is intended to restrain unbecoming or immoral activities. Laws are aimed at lawbreakers. But in order for any law to carry weight, it has to be backed up by something more solid than a man’s opinion of what is “right” or “wrong.”

According to Scripture, a law must…

  • …be supported by sound doctrine (1 Timothy 1:10). What defines “sound doctrine” is the word of God, not man-made opinion. Jesus said about the Pharisees, “They worship Me in vain; their teachings are but rules taught by men” (Matthew 15:9). The New Living Translation renders this verse: “Their worship is a farce, for they teach man-made ideas as the commands of God.”
  • …conform to the gospel (1 Timothy 1:11). Literally this means filtered through Scripture. Any law that does not have its foundation set on a biblical principle is, by definition, an immoral, man-made law.

So what is the Christian’s role in the legislative process? I see four responsibilities for Christians:

1. Pray for our elected officials that they would have a God-fearing, biblically-sound perspective in their legislative activities (see 1 Timothy 2:1-2).

2. Stay informed on the law-making activities on both the local, state, and national levels (see Acts 17:11; 1 Chronicles 12:32).

3. Speak out against unbiblical, immoral laws (see Esther 4; 1 Peter 2:17).

4. Disobey immoral laws. The Bible commands us to “give to Caesar what is Caesar’s, and to God what is God’s” (Luke 20:25). We must never give to Caesar what is God’s (see Acts 5:29)!

I love Martin Luther King Jr’s Letter From Birmingham Jail where he addresses Christian pastors about the rightness of peacefully disobeying immoral laws. If you haven’t read this masterpiece, please take time to do so. In this letter, Dr. King wrote:

Over the last few years I have consistently preached that nonviolence demands that the means we use must be as pure as the ends we seek. So I have tried to make it clear that it is wrong to use immoral means to attain moral ends. But now I must affirm that it is just as wrong, or even more, to use moral means to preserve immoral ends.

Christian, you have a responsibility. Pray, be informed, respectfully speak out against immoral laws, and then peacefully disobey when it is necessary.

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Hope For The Despairing

October 16, 2012 — Craig T. Owens

“There are two things that kill the soul: despair and false hope.” —Augustine

Have you ever been around those who are despairing? They only see darkness; they only feel heaviness; they cannot perceive a way out.

How about those with false hope? They may see a light, but they’re not sure it’s real; the relief they feel is only temporary; nothing seems lasting or sure.

Despair and false hope crush the soul to death.

The word encourage means to inspire with courage … to give someone reason to hope … to breathe true life into their soul.

Political unrest doesn’t disturb the one grounded in real Hope. Economic turmoil doesn’t shake the one who knows the Provider. Social instability doesn’t cause anxiety for the one who knows the Prince of Peace. Death doesn’t crush the one who knows the Resurrected Lord.

Brothers, we do not want you to be ignorant about those who fall asleep, or to grieve like the rest of men, who have no hope. We believe that Jesus died and rose again and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in Him. … Therefore encourage each other with these words.

…But since we belong to the day, let us be self-controlled, putting on faith and love as a breastplate, and the hope of salvation as a helmet. … Christ died for us so that, whether we are dead or alive when He returns, we can live with Him forever. So encourage each other and build each other up, just as you are already doing. (1 Thessalonians 4:13-14, 18; 5:8, 10-11)

The good news—the hope-filled news—is Jesus is alive!

A relationship with Him is life!

A life full of hope!

A life full of promise!

A life full of Him that’s unending throughout eternity!

Do you know this hope? Are you sharing this hope with others?

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Sola Fide

October 15, 2012 — Craig T. Owens

Out of the Reformation came five sola statements—five statements that tried to bring people back to the purity of the gospel message. This week as I studied to prepare my message on sola fide (justification with God by faith alone), I was struck by how in need of another reformation we are today!

That shouldn’t be surprising, because satan is always trying to so sneakily get us off track. So he gets people believing that they don’t need faith in God, that God is a myth, or if He does exist, He’s really not that involved in our individual lives. For these people, satan tries to get them to buy into this lie:

Works > Faith

In other words, what you can do for yourself is more important than the faith you can place in anyone (or in The One).

Some people might accept that the approach to God is through faith, but then they feel they have to add something to their faith in order to stay in God’s good graces. These people have bought into the lie:

Faith + Works 

And then there are some that go to the far extreme of thought that faith means utter inactivity on their part. They have received forgiveness from God, so now they can just sit back and enjoy the ride to Heaven. They’ve bought into satan’s lie:

Works ⊈ Faith

In other words, now that I have faith, I don’t have to work anymore. Or even, the more faith I have the less work I have to do. (The mathematical symbol ⊈means faith is not a part of work, nor is work a part of faith.)

The Scripture is clear that you cannot buy your justification by working for it, nor can you keep it by adding works to your faith; however, faith does indeed require work for it to grow and mature. 

The Westminster Confession says it this way:

Faith, thus receiving and resting on Christ and His righteousness, is the alone instrument of justification: yet is it not alone in the person justified, but is ever accompanied with all other saving graces, and is no dead faith, but worketh by love.

The bottom line:

Sola Fide = Faith Works

Faith works in justification. Faith works in the atonement. Faith works in sanctification. Faith works in love.

If you have missed any of the messages in this series, you can find them all here.

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Know Your Theological Terms

October 14, 2012 — Craig T. Owens

I shared these helpful memory devices this morning, and perhaps they will be helpful to you as well. Some of the terms theologians use can be somewhat confusing, perhaps just because the words look so big! But the nice thing about the big words, they come from much smaller root words.

In these instances, these are just a different way of stating the big words, to help you remember the importance of their definitions.

Justification = just-as-if I had never sinned. When your sins have been forgiven, you appear to God just as if you had never sinned, so you have been justified by your faith (see Romans 3:22-24).

Atonement = at one-ment with Jesus. Christ said that He was the way, the truth, and the life, and that no one could come into the Father’s presence except through Jesus. So atonement makes at one-ment with Jesus, which allows us to enter into God’s presence (see Romans 3:25).

Sanctification = saint-ification. The Holy Spirit begins a process in our lives where He is forming us into saints. Whereas justification and atonement are one-time events, sanctification is an ongoing process that is conforming us more and more into the image of Jesus (see 2 Thessalonians 2:13).

I hope this helps you understand and apply these terms.

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Worthy Of Imitation

October 12, 2012 — Craig T. Owens

I pray that my life is worthy of imitation. And, pastor, I pray yours is too!

Here’s how to make sure it is an imitable life: I can’t just talk a good life. Paul wrote, “Our gospel came to you not simply with words….” Words are important, but they shouldn’t be a replacement for a life that backs up those words. Paul continues his thought:

Our gospel came to you not simply with words, but also with power, with the Holy Spirit and with deep conviction…. (1 Thessalonians 1:5)

Their sermons were backed up by the help of the Holy Spirit, and the deep conviction that Paul, Silas, and Timothy lived by. This was all outwardly focused toward others. Look how Paul concludes this verse, “…you know how we lived among you for your sake.”

They never attempted to use the gospel or their calling to benefit themselves, but always for the benefit of others and for the glory of God.

The result (v. 6):

You became imitators of us and of the Lord. 

I pray that all of us can say this about our congregations!

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“Whatever It Takes”

October 11, 2012 — Craig T. Owens

As a pastor, I have no greater joy than receiving notes like this! This is from a teenager in our church—

Dear Church,

Since I have been here I have thought about how my life was before Christ came into my life for good. He has made some of my prayers come true. Like when my friend let God into her life, so she will no longer feel the way that she felt before that day that she came to church with me.

I love what God has done for me and my friend, and for everybody in the world. For the people that don’t know, I will do whatever it takes to let them know what God has done for the world.

Amen!

May we all do whatever it takes to tell the world about the love of our Savior Jesus Christ!

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Thursdays With Oswald—I Hope I Am Insane!

October 11, 2012 — Craig T. Owens

This is a weekly series with things I’m reading and pondering from Oswald Chambers. You can read the original seed thought here, or type “Thursdays With Oswald” in the search box to read more entries.

I Hope I Am Insane!

     Insanity simply means that a man is differently related to affairs from the majority of other men and is sometimes dangerous. Paul was charged with madness (Acts 26:24-25), and the same charge was brought against Jesus Christ—“For they said, He is beside Himself.” 

     Have you ever noticed the wisdom of the charge? Both Jesus Christ and Paul were unquestionably mad, according to the standard of the wisdom of this world; they were related to affairs differently from the majority of other men, consequently, for the sake of self-preservation, they must be got rid of. Our Lord was crucified, and Paul was beheaded. When we are imbued with Jesus Christ’s Spirit and are related to life as He was, we shall find that we are considered just as mad according to the standard of this world. 

From Biblical Psychology (emphasis added)

The teachings of Jesus are not only counter-cultural, but they are also are 180-degrees out-of-sync with worldly wisdom. I don’t want to be worldly wise; I want to be called insane by the “wise” men of this world!

Later in this same chapter Oswald Chambers writes:

Read the expositions of the Sermon on the Mount today and you will find some of the cleverest dialectics that have ever been written. The writers try to prove that Jesus is not mad according to the standards of this world; but He is mad, absolutely mad, and there is no apology needed for saying it. Either the modern attitude to things must alter, or it must pronounce Jesus Christ mad. 

Holy Spirit, may I never live my life by the “sane” beliefs and practices of this world’s culture, but may I be imbued with Jesus Christ’s Spirit and related to life as He was.

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