"For the greatest, most profound, tenderest things in the world, we must wait. It happens not here in a storm but according to the divine laws of sprouting, growing, and becoming." (Dietrich Bonhoeffer)
Prior posts:
Day 11 | Day 10 | Day 9 | Day 8 | Day 7 | Day 6 | Day 5 | Day 4 | Day 3 | Day 2 | Day 1
Showing posts with label growth. Show all posts
Showing posts with label growth. Show all posts
Thursday, December 10, 2015
Tuesday, May 15, 2012
That you might grow up into Salvation
Like newborn infants, long for the pure spiritual milk, that by it you may grow up into salvation—if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is good. (1 Pt 2:2-3)
Each time I read 1 Peter 2, I need to re-read verse 2. I need to take that extra moment to ask what is Peter (and God) really saying? Its as if the authors (both human and divine) have used a linguistic trick to catch our attention in order to make a very important point.
You see, this verse is not saying we need to grow up in order to receive salvation. While that fits many of the world's religions, it is contrary to the gospel, to grace and to the words of Jesus himself. Additionally, this verse is not saying receive salvation so that you may grow up. While this thought may be prevalent in some of our churches, such a mindset was exactly what Paul battled in Galatia and we see in full flower with the Pharisees.
So what does this verse say? Three quick things: Salvation is dependent on an intimate connection with Christ. God's Word is essential to spiritual life and growth. And, salvation is not just an event. It is also something we enter into.
Much could be said about each of these points, but I want to focus just a couple of thoughts on our growing into the salvation that Christ himself provides. What would change in my Bible reading, praying, meditating and just plain living if I viewed my salvation, not as a static, past-tense event nor as a status that has been set nor as simply my name being recorded somewhere for God to check off on the day of my death? What would change if I began to see my salvation as something living and growing? What would change if I began to realize there is more to salvation than simple creedal affirmations and rote obedience? What if this relationship thing with Christ became real? What if this love affair really reached all the way into my heart?
Let me wrap this up by saying I am continually haunted by a question Jesus asked Nicodemus in John 3. Jesus asked "If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how can you believe if I tell you heavenly things?" (Jn 3:12) That question haunts me because it shows there is much more to salvation than what we know and see and perceive. And yet we don't even fully grasp the first lesson.
So today, let us taste and see that the Lord is good. Let us consume the pure spiritual milk of God's Word. And let us begin growing up into our salvation.
To God Alone be the Glory
Each time I read 1 Peter 2, I need to re-read verse 2. I need to take that extra moment to ask what is Peter (and God) really saying? Its as if the authors (both human and divine) have used a linguistic trick to catch our attention in order to make a very important point.
You see, this verse is not saying we need to grow up in order to receive salvation. While that fits many of the world's religions, it is contrary to the gospel, to grace and to the words of Jesus himself. Additionally, this verse is not saying receive salvation so that you may grow up. While this thought may be prevalent in some of our churches, such a mindset was exactly what Paul battled in Galatia and we see in full flower with the Pharisees.
So what does this verse say? Three quick things: Salvation is dependent on an intimate connection with Christ. God's Word is essential to spiritual life and growth. And, salvation is not just an event. It is also something we enter into.
Much could be said about each of these points, but I want to focus just a couple of thoughts on our growing into the salvation that Christ himself provides. What would change in my Bible reading, praying, meditating and just plain living if I viewed my salvation, not as a static, past-tense event nor as a status that has been set nor as simply my name being recorded somewhere for God to check off on the day of my death? What would change if I began to see my salvation as something living and growing? What would change if I began to realize there is more to salvation than simple creedal affirmations and rote obedience? What if this relationship thing with Christ became real? What if this love affair really reached all the way into my heart?
Let me wrap this up by saying I am continually haunted by a question Jesus asked Nicodemus in John 3. Jesus asked "If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how can you believe if I tell you heavenly things?" (Jn 3:12) That question haunts me because it shows there is much more to salvation than what we know and see and perceive. And yet we don't even fully grasp the first lesson.
So today, let us taste and see that the Lord is good. Let us consume the pure spiritual milk of God's Word. And let us begin growing up into our salvation.
To God Alone be the Glory
Sunday, May 15, 2011
Pure Spiritual Milk
"Like newborn infants, long for the pure spiritual milk, that by it you may grow up into salvation" - 1 Pt 2:2
How much of my life is spent longing for and craving something other than pure spiritual milk? I pray today that God, by his grace, works in each of us a craving, a desire, a longing for pure spiritual milk. And I pray we will pursue that desire, that craving, that insatiable hunger to the end of our days. Only as we pursue this pure spiritual milk with Spirit-driven abandon will we be able to grow up into our salvation.
To God Alone be the Glory
How much of my life is spent longing for and craving something other than pure spiritual milk? I pray today that God, by his grace, works in each of us a craving, a desire, a longing for pure spiritual milk. And I pray we will pursue that desire, that craving, that insatiable hunger to the end of our days. Only as we pursue this pure spiritual milk with Spirit-driven abandon will we be able to grow up into our salvation.
To God Alone be the Glory
Thursday, February 17, 2011
No Other Foundation
"For no one can lay a foundation other than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ." 1 Cor 3:11
1 Corinthians 3 always captivates me. Each time I read it I am reminded (sometimes forcefully) of a few gospel-driven, Christ-exalting truths. The first truth is found in verses 1-4 and reiterated in Heb 5. We, as Christians, are quite capable of neglecting the gift that we have been given in Christ. And this is to our detriment and to the detriment of those around us. Listen to the tenor of Paul's argument. He is not saying that you need to graduate to an advanced Christianity or that you are is o.k.,. but there is something better ahead. No, his point is that our faith can degrade into a childish (not childlike) faith and this affects ourselves as well as others and deserves a godly rebuke.
1 Corinthians 3 always captivates me. Each time I read it I am reminded (sometimes forcefully) of a few gospel-driven, Christ-exalting truths. The first truth is found in verses 1-4 and reiterated in Heb 5. We, as Christians, are quite capable of neglecting the gift that we have been given in Christ. And this is to our detriment and to the detriment of those around us. Listen to the tenor of Paul's argument. He is not saying that you need to graduate to an advanced Christianity or that you are is o.k.,. but there is something better ahead. No, his point is that our faith can degrade into a childish (not childlike) faith and this affects ourselves as well as others and deserves a godly rebuke.
Another truth the sings in this chapter is that everything happening in the progression of the gospel, both personally and globally is in the hand of God. Look at verses 5-9. Are people involved? Absolutely. But it is God who brings the growth. I have planted many flowers (seeds and bulbs) in various gardens over the years and I have watered and fertilized them all. In all that time, I have not yet made one of them bloom (or whither). All my yearning, all my coaxing, all my TLC doesn't really make them bloom or not bloom and it certainly doesn't make a marigold into a rose. And don't get me started on the wild flowers in the field across the street! The same is true with the gospel. God brings the growth.
A third truth found in 1 Cor 3 is laid out in verses 10-15. Whatever service we do, whatever ministry we participate in, whatever Bible study we lead, they all are built (or should be) on the foundation of Jesus Christ. This means who Christ is, what he accomplished on the Cross, the reality of His incarnation, His diety, His intercession, His imminent return and so much more must all inform and constrain and empower everything we do. And if it doesn't? Paul is clear: the quality of our work will be revealed. Verse 15 is both a comforting and a scary verse. It is comforting in that we, who trust Christ alone for our salvation will be saved. But it is scary in that everything that we've done, if not built on the foundation of Jesus Christ, could prove to be a waste. In my mind that is similar to graduating high school with a D- average. Do you have a diploma? Yes. Did you even come close to maximizing your high school years? No.
So what's the big idea? The years (perhaps decades) between the Spirit opening our eyes to the truth of the gospel and His bringing us home do not belong to us. They belong to Christ. And when we grow and serve and depend upon Christ and seek to rely on the Spirit, God is glorified, Christ is exalting and His kingdom breaks through. And, in the end, our lives will be judged worthy of the gospel that we have received.
To God Alone be the Glory
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