"The unfolding of your words gives light ..." (Psalm 119:130a)
Several years ago after my first book, Embracing Authority, was released I was asked to participate in a one hour, prime time, call-in radio program called Open Line heard nationwide on the Moody Broadcasting Network stations. Wayne Shepherd (pictured here) was the host and interacted with me and the various callers on this vital issue of authority.
I am posting the audio files from that evening here. I’ve broken the one hour program into four files for sake of size. Enjoy!
“We have heard with our ears, O God; our father’s have told us what you did in their days, days long ago.” (Psalm 44:1)
For more see here.
Do you have trouble steering conversations toward the things of God? Would you like a simple way to get to the root of spiritual issues at work in a person’s life? I suggest these four questions as a helpful way to transition from the a person’s natural view of things to God’s view of things.
1. On a scale of 1 to 10 how happy are you with your life? This begins where virtually every person is thinking — Am I happy? People love to talk about themselves!
2. What would it take to make your life a perfect ten? This continues the conversation by inviting the person to share their dreams and hopes for life. After they have shared their answer, transition by asking: Can I ask you the same two questions but with just one word changed?
3. On a scale of 1 to 10 how happy is God with your life? This transitions the person from their natural, self-oriented view of life to the reality that they are standing before a holy God, who knows all things and it is His pleasure that is paramount!
4. What would it take to make your life a perfect ten for God? This takes the conversation to the core of how such a God can ever be pleased with us.
People will offer one of two answers to the final question …
1. They will give some kind of a works-righteousness answer, naming something they must do to make God happier with them.
2. They will say, “God doesn’t expect me to be perfect.”
Every person needs to see that they lack perfect righteousness before a perfectly righteous God.
Share these verses with them …
“Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.” (Matthew 5:48)
“I tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven.” (Matthew 5:20)
We need to see that there is nothing WE CAN DO to make our life a perfect ten before a perfectly righteous God!
But what then is the answer? The answer is that GOD DID SOMETHING for us …
“Therefore no one will be declared righteous in his sight by observing the law [doing good things]; rather, through the law we become conscious of sin [only there do we see our own failures to keep God’s law perfectly]. 21 But now a righteousness from God [coming from God to us, not from us to God], apart from law [apart from doing good things to earn His favor], has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify [even the Old Testament tells us this]. 22 This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference, 23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 and are justified freely by his grace [as a gift, not by our works] through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.” (Romans 3:20-24)
“But whatever was to my profit [all the Apostle Paul’s good works] I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. 8 What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ 9 and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law [not by my doing good things], but that which is through faith in Christ– the righteousness that comes from God and is by faith.” (Philippians 3:7-9)
“For it is by grace [as a gift] you have been saved, through faith– and this not from yourselves [not by something you accomplish], it is the gift of God– 9 not by works [your religious efforts], so that no one can boast.” (Ephesians 2:8-9)
Jesus the perfectly righteous One died for us, taking our sins upon Himself and paying their penalty. When we place our trust in Him, God the Father declares the righteousness of Christ to be placed on our account in heaven. We are free, for the Father forever promises to see us through the righteousness of His Son!
Jesus took our sin. The Father declares Jesus’ righteousness to be ours.
We rely completely on the substitutionary death of Christ and upon the righteousness of Christ (His perfect life) credited to our account by God!
REST! BE AT PEACE!
What is the essence of evangelism?
When you have removed all the different methods of doing evangelism, what is left?
What common denominator can be found among all the different legitimate ways of doing evangelism?
Try this on for size:
Evangelism is the process of intentionally moving into relationship with those God has sovereignly placed around me for the purpose of showing and telling them the love of Christ in such a way that they will be compelled toward personal faith in Jesus Christ.
These then are the essential elements of evangelism:
1. Evangelism is both a process and an event.
2. Evangelism is intentional!
3. Evangelism is relational.
4. Evangelism involves looking at how God has sovereignly placed people in my life.
5. Evangelism’s purpose is to spread the love of Christ in word and deed.
6. Evangelism is inherently persuasive!
7. Evangelism is aimed at both the event of conversion and the life of discipleship.
“Children, be obedient to your parents in all things, for this is well-pleasing to the Lord.” (Colossians 3:20)
With the introduction of “Children” the Apostle begins a new couplet. He singles out “Fathers” (v.21) to be paired with “Children,” but makes no mention of mothers and their role. In beginning with the “Children” he again (cf. vv.18-19, 3:22-4:1) initiates the pair by mention of the deferential one in the relationship. The noun translated “Children” refers to offspring without regard to their sex, but simply designates them according to their origin. There is no hint here of the age of the one under consideration though it would seem that it is children still under the protection and provision of their parents that are in view.
The duty laid upon the children is to “be obedient.” The word means simply “to obey,” “to follow” and “to be subject to.”[1] The present imperative demands this become an ongoing disposition of life (cf. Eph. 6:1). The same imperative will be laid upon slaves in verse 22. With regard to children the command is limited in its application: “to your parents.” Paul only uses this noun five times in his writings, but two of those describe disobedience to parents as characteristic of the last days (Rom. 1:30; 2 Tim. 3:2). While only the father is instructed in verse 21, both parents are under consideration here. This clearly implies that both mother and father are expected to be giving directives to the children.
The extent of the child’s obligation to obedience is cast in the broadest possible terms: “in all things.” The preposition translated “in” is used here to denote relationship to something and should be rendered as “with respect to” or “in relation to.” Thus here with the neuter plural adjective (“all things”) it has the connotation of “in all respects.”[2] In a day and age when abuse is so prevalent wisdom urges us to clarify that this does not remove all limitations. A child is not being obligated to carrying out a parent’s sinful wishes. But, having said that, it should be noted that the first place a child learns to relate to authority is in the home. If the parents fail to teach the lessons of submission to and appreciation of legitimate authorities, the society as a whole will never be able to right the ship. Such a child will meet with difficulty at every turn.
The reason for such obedience is “for this is well-pleasing to the Lord.” The justification for the child’s obedience is cast similarly to that of the wife’s submission to her husband (“as is fitting in the Lord,” v.18). The use of the conjunction (“for”) signals the foundational rationale for the directive just given. By “this” Paul means the broad ranging obedience just called for. The adjective translated “well-pleasing” is used by Paul eight of its nine times in the NT (Rom. 12:1, 2; 14:18; 2 Cor. 5:9; Eph. 5:10; Phil. 4:18; Col. 3:20; Titus 2:9; Heb. 13:21). The word describes that which is acceptable or pleasing and always in reference to God (except perhaps Tit. 2:9). Here that divine orientation is signaled by the expression “to the Lord.” The use of the preposition with the dative form of the noun indicates “a close personal relationship with Christ.[3] The believer’s union with Christ, so richly spoken of in this chapter and throughout this book, is the foundation upon which the actions are seen to rest and thus “the expression is equivalent in meaning to by virtue of spiritual fellowship or union with Christ.”[4]
What are we to make of the fact that the Apostle grounds the motive for the obedience of children to their parents in the intimacy of their relationship to Christ and their longing to please him rather than the intimacy of their relationship to their father or mother and the innate desire to please them? At least this much: a child’s feelings of love may vary from moment to moment and their desire to please their parents may flee when a difficult directive is given, but their love for Christ should remain a steady constant in their hearts at all times. Then also it is a sad fact that some parents are never pleased, no matter how well the child performs. A parent’s affirmation may be an unattainable goal, while the Lord’s is not. Even if a parent is not pleased with a child, God may be. The authority of a parent is a delegated authority, handed down in measured form by God Himself. It is a good and wonderful thing when a parent is pleased with their child’s obedience and affirms them in it. But that is a secondary standard. The primary standard lies with God Himself from whom the authority to exercise parental authority arose in the first place.
[2] Ibid., 407.
[3] Ibid., 260.
[4] Thayer, 211.
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