Tag: assent

Desires and truths of the faith

Dancing in the Kingdom- Table of Contents

Dancing In the Kingdom – Part 2 – The Kingdom Revealed – Chapter 12 – Launching the church

Desires and Fruits of Faith

[Bible references: Psalm 1:1-3; John 15:1-5; 1 Corinthians 13; Galatians 5:22-23; Ephesians 4:11-16; Colossians 1:10; James 2:14-26]

A part of faith is the mental assent to the truth of who Jesus is who we are, but that is just the beginning. If the assent is real, then faith should include a submission of the will which will then lead to a lifestyle that demonstrates trusting in Jesus and submitting to His Lordship. This faith should affect who we are and should show up in our behavior as Jesus starts the process of transforming our character. The fruits of the Spirit ought to be increasingly visible in our lives. Becoming a mature Christian ought to seen in the maturity of the fruits of the Spirit in our lives.

For us to grow and mature, and produce spiritual fruits, we need to think like a farmer; growing fruit requires feeding and nurturing. To this end, Jesus cautions us to remember that we are like branches on a vine, we need to stay connected to him to grow. Staying connected to God however is not an easy thing for us as we tend to be like sheep mindlessly wandering around. Thankfully, we have a God who has never stopped pursuing us.[1]

Our dance with God is a dance where He works on the process of transforming our lives to look more like Him. Our personalities will not all be the same, but there are certain characteristics that should become more evident in our lives. One concise list of those characteristics can be found in a short sentence within the letter to the Galatians, “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Against such things there is no law.” (Galatians 5:22-23). The first and most primary characteristic is that of love, a fuller expression of which can be found in 1 Corinthians 13. The epitome of love is described in John 15:13, “Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends.” God created us out of the outpouring of His love, and He has created us to be in His image. Love is the characteristic that permeates all of God’s other characteristics and it should be the driving force in all we do.

[1] Compelling Truth “Does God Pursue Us?” Compelling Truth www.compellingtruth.org/does-God-pursue-us.html

Reflect

Our lives should be increasingly marked by a love that has responded to the love of God. We should not be driven by fear or hatred or legalism. In what ways do we seem to be motivated by something other than love?

Observe

Read Psalm 1; John 15:1-5; 1 Corinthians 13. What should mark a life of faith?

Basics of the faith

Dancing in the Kingdom- Table of Contents

Dancing In the Kingdom – Part 2 – The Kingdom Revealed – Chapter 12 – Launching the church

Basics of the faith

[Bible references: Acts 1:12-26; 2:42-47; 4:32-37; 6:1-6; 8:14-17; 9:26-31; 11:1-18; 13:1-3; 15;1-29, 36-41; 1 Corinthians 1:10-17; 5:1-13; 6:1-11; 10:1-22; Galatians 2:1-14; 3:10-14. James 2:1-13; 3:1-12; 4:1-16; 2 Peter 2:1-22]

There are many aspects of the gospel, but it is nothing if it is not grounded in truth, about God and about us. But the truth is not the only thing, in fact, the whole truth of the gospel must be grounded in God’s character. The gospel is not just a set of facts that need an intellectual assent but good news that calls us to make an honest assessment of ourselves and to make a change of trust and allegiance.

The gospel is good news.

  • The gospel is the good news that God created us to pour his love into us.
  • The gospel is the good news that even though we are born in rebellion against God and are unable to keep doing things that separate us from him, that he has taken upon himself the punishment we deserve so that we don’t have to.
  • The gospel is the good news that when Jesus was resurrected and ascended into heaven, He went prepare a place for us there.
  • The gospel is the good news that if confess our sins then He is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
  • The gospel is the good news that once we begin our journey of trusting Jesus, then we begin the process of becoming more like Jesus.
  • The gospel is the good news that all of that and more is true.

There are various reasons that we sometimes don’t want to accept the good news. One of the biggest reasons is that we don’t want to acknowledge how bad we are and how deeply sin affects us. When we feel that way, we can start to imagine that we can balance out the good things we do with the bad things we do, and we’ll end up all right and God will be happy with that. But the gospel message is that,

  • the bad news is that our very nature is in rebellion against God and no amount of good works can make us unrebellious.
  • the bad news is that we can’t earn our way to a right relationship with God.
  • the bad news is that if we are not made right before God then we will suffer God’s judgement and wrath.
  • the good news is that Jesus paid the penalty for all our sins, past, present, and future.
  • the good news is that we can be made righteous through faith.
  • the good news is that it is by God’s grace that we are saved through faith. It is a gift – in fact, it can’t be something we earn.
  • the good news is that we only need to repent and confess our sins and receive His forgiveness.
  • the good news is that we can allow God to transform our lives and enable us to live lives that are pleasing to him.
  • the good news is that once God imparts his righteousness to us, we become his heirs.

Once we put our trust in Him, he does not automatically make us sinless. That won’t happen until he returns; and we all are resurrected with new, transformed bodies. It is through our untransformed bodies that we inherit the sin nature.

  • The good news is that the day of resurrection will happen.
  • The good news is that, between now and then, we can offer ourselves to God and He will, over time, begin the transformation process here in this life.
  • The bad news is that until then we will continue to rebel against God.
  • The good news is that in this in-between life that God can use our current struggles to strengthen us.
  • The bad news is that unbelievers will regard us as foolish.
  • The good news is that our apparent foolishness in committing our lives to Jesus is actually wisdom.

There is a lot of good news for us, and it’s based upon the truth of Jesus. Truth is important for Jesus, and in fact, he claims that He himself is the truth. The gospel is based on the truth, so it matters that we get the facts straight. That is why, one of the concerns expressed in the New Testament is the need to hold onto sound doctrine.

Read Galatians 3:1-12. What part of the gospel were the Galatians struggling with?