Yet to be honest, content is much too strong a word. For I have found little contentment in the those things which deterred me from beholding Christ, and I have found no rest for my soul in those fleeting things. And despite this, the Adversary had convinced me that the things of God were laborious and that there was little reward for chasing after them. And so he (being the slick devil that he is) convinced me, figuratively speaking, again and again, meal after meal, that it was better for me to drive across the street to eat off the Wendy’s value menu than to drive a few miles down the road to dine at the Ruth’s Chris.

And though my disposition toward the things of God has been so as of late, God has shown that which Martin Luther said so many years to be true, namely that the devil, as fierce and formidable as foe he is, is still God’s devil. And though he might try with all his might to devour one of God’s saints with the cares of this age, God is God, the devil is his creature, and his saint will not be consumed. And God, being the all-powerful and ever-reigning God that he is, will take his saint’s blundering and floundering steps and use to them for his good purposes.

And this past weekend is a testimony to that. For some reason, God had had enough of my diet of Junior Bacon Cheeseburgers and threw me in the back of his car and drove me to Ruth’s Chris. Whether it was at First Friday fellowshipping with his saints and hearing Christ magnified, painting walls all day Saturday while listening to sermon podcasts, or going to church on Sunday discussing, “In the beginning was the Word,” I dined at Ruth’s Chris for three days straight. And after having feasted upon the meat of Christ and his Gospel for these three days, the Junior Bacon Cheeseburgers of this age have all but lost their allure. I look back upon these several weeks and wonder how on earth I could have forgotten how much better Christ is than the overrated offerings of this world.

As this weekend closed, I could not help but recall the words of the psalmist– “Taste and see that the Lord is good!” It is almost like a dare. “I dare you to taste the goodness of the Lord; just try him.” And though in my case it was much more a being thrown to the dinner table than it was an invitation, the fact remains that for those who taste the goodness of God in Christ, everything else that claims to have taste becomes utterly bland. One claims to have taste and dangles itself beyond grasp, and the Other gives you a taste and dares you to compare. And, my friends, if you dare to taste, there is no comparison with Jesus Christ.

And it is not as though in this time I have become slothful and have ceased to work, but quite the contrary, I have been working as hard as I ever have. And that, it seems, has been my problem. I began our present journey with a righteous course–to free ourselves of debt for sake of the Kingdom–and yet have, through my labor, lost the chief goal of righteousness. I have forgotten in practice, “Seek first the Kingdom of God and his righteousness, and these things will be added to you,” and have adopted a “work now, ask questions later” attitude with regard to achieving that which I believe God has laid on our hearts to accomplish instead of waiting on him to provide as only he can provide. Therefore, since September of last year, I have been practically working seven days a week to fill the gaps in our needs, rather than seeking provision from God so that he, not I, would receive the glory.

And in this time, God has seen it fitting to reveal at least two things to me–one being my self-righteousness, and the second being my lack of faith. And like a loving father, rather than turning his back from me and leaving me to myself, he has let me be unrighteous to destroy my self-righteousness, and he has heaped burden upon burden upon my shoulders so that I would crumble under their weight. And thus, I have again been led back to cross to throw my unrighteousness upon Christ and to give my burdens to him alone who can bear them. And in this way, I have lost all cause for boasting, and Christ has gained all of it.

I shall not trouble you with the details of my Slough, but here I publicly repent from my self-righteousness and futile laboring. Here also I declare my need for Christ alone and that he alone is strong enough and worthy enough to bear my awful load. May God have mercy on me.

For this reason, we have erected unbiblical conclusions and teachings about biblical stories and characters. Thus we teach that Abraham wavered in faith when he took Hagar as his wife and through her bore a son, though Moses does not make that judgment of him, and though Paul writes later of Abraham, “No distrust made him waver concerning the Promise of God, but he grew strong in faith as he gave glory to God, fully convinced that God was able to do what he had promised” (Rm. 4:20,21), and though Paul teaches that the birth of Ishmael happened to demonstrate God’s sovereign choice in election (cf. Rm. 9:7-13). From the misinterpretation of biblical narrative we also have created other false teachings as “listening to small, still voice of God” from the narrative of Elijah in the storm (cf. 1Kngs. 19:12), and have falsely judged other characters such as Rahab and the Hebrew midwives who, out of fear of God, told untruths to save the lives of God’s people, who were then not condemned but commended by God for their actions (cf. Josh. 2; Ex. 1:15-22).

Therefore, when we come to the matter of the wealth of American Christians, it is little surprise that some Christians run to certain Old Testament characters for justification of their use of it. For they look upon their own wealth and their heart’s desire for it, and then, instead of seeking for clear, biblical teaching on the matter, grasp for anything that they might use for justification of their materially licentious lifestyles. Thus, whenever one brings forth the charge of the Gospel not to love the world (cf. 1Jn. 2:15-17), not to store up for one’s self treasures on earth (cf. Mt. 6:19), to sell one’s possessions for the sake of the needy (cf. Lk. 12:32-34), and to love one’s neighbor as he loves himself (Mt. 22:39), defenses are raised behind certain Old Testament saints that in their minds thwart the demands of Christ. However, rather than dismissing such an act altogether (which I believe is an adequate response), let us look at some of these saints whom we use to justify our love of wealth.

The Wealth of King David and Solomon
King David–the man after God’s own heart. The one whom God chose from the last of Jesse’s sons to leave the life of humble shepherding to be the king of Israel. The one whom God chose to be a foreshadowing of his King who would reign forever over his people in truth and righteousness. If such a man possessed such great wealth and treasures, how can we not be justified in our own wealth if we too are a people after God’s own heart?

The first thing that is erroneous with such a question is a misunderstanding of our position when compared to David’s. First, David was the king of Israel. And being the king of a country, he by nature of the position was endowed with a certain wealth with which we who are not kings are not endowed. Wealth is part and parcel with earthly kingship, and we, no matter how highly we esteem ourselves, are not kings. Secondly, David’s kingship was a foreshadowing of the Kingship of King Jesus. David’s elevation to king by the choice of God was not for the purpose of making David materially wealthy, but it was to act as a picture of the future splendor in which the promised Messiah King would reign for all of eternity. And as such, it was a testimony to Israel and to the Nations that God would one Day raise up such a King who would rule the world in Majesty and Splendor. Therefore, the kingship and wealth of David existed not for David’s personal gain, but as a demonstration of God’s blessing upon his King–such a blessing we who are not kingly pictures of the Reigning Christ cannot claim.

Secondly, the comparison of our wealth to David’s is erroneous because it esteems David as infallible. For though David was indeed a picture of Christ in his kingship, he was still a man and still sinned against God. Therefore to conclude that David’s use of wealth was always honoring to God would be just as false as concluding that it is honoring to God to sleep with a man’s wife and then to send him to the frontlines of war to be killed so that he would not discover that the king had impregnated his wife. We cannot be so inconsistent with our hermeneutic so as to use it justify certain aspects our own failings by a man’s life and then use it to condemn that same man’s failings elsewhere. To do so would be dishonest to our own method of interpretation, and thus we would prove ourselves to be liars by it.

Likewise, the same can be said of King Solomon. Yes, Solomon was a king after David and was by nature of the position wealthy beyond comprehension, yet Solomon was a sinner as much as anyone of us is. To conclude that Solomon’s use of his wealth was always just and glorifying to God would demand one to conclude that it is just and glorifying to God to have a thousand wives and concubines and by them to have one’s heart turned away to foreign gods (cf. 1Kngs. 11:1-8). We cannot be so wicked as to pick and choose which sins we love, on the one hand, and justify those sins by the lives of others and then, on the other hand, use the same rule to condemn the sins of those same people because we do not love those sins.

The Wealth of Job
The story of Job and his wealth is indeed different from that of David and Solomon, for Job was not the king of Israel and, as such, he did not serve as a foreshadow of the coming King Jesus. As such, it would be easy for some to conclude that God blessed Job with great wealth just for the mere sake of his pleasure and that we therefore are free to follow the example of Job and to be wealthy ourselves.

And though such a conclusion can and has been reached by some, to conclude that the narrative of Job exists to justify the possession of great wealth would be to miss the point of the narrative altogether. For, first, the narrative exists to demonstrate the righteousness of Job and the true Love of his heart amid great loss and adversity. For how much power would the narrative lose if Job began the story a poverty-stricken man in poor health? If God were instead to have an impoverished Job lose what little he had and to have an deathly-ill Job taken a day closer to death, what impact would the words, “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return; the Lord gave, and the Lord has taken way; blessed be the name of the Lord” have upon reader? (Job 1:21). However, as it is, the testimony of Job is strengthened greatly by his great wealth and its loss.

Secondly, the loss of Job’s great wealth and good health is a testimony to the riches that are in God. For while Job might have lost all that the world counts as valuable, Job was able to endure because his hope was not in that which the world hopes for. For while his wife looked upon his plight and advised him to “curse God and die,” Job was able to respond, “You speak as one of the foolish women would speak. Shall we receive good from god, and shall we not receive evil?” (Job 2:10). Therefore, Job demonstrated by his loss and willingness to suffer that God is greater treasure than anything the world can offer.

The Wealth of Abraham
The strangest of all Old Testament justifications for Christian wealth is that of Abraham. For while it is indeed true that Abraham was a wealthy man and was made so by God, Abraham did not lavish his wealth upon himself. Contrarily, the apostle to the Hebrews declares that Abraham, though wealthy, lived as a foreigner in the promised land and thus lived in a tent, because he was waiting for the City whose builder is God (cf. Heb. 11:10). He did not erect for himself a palace to dwell in or fill his life with worldly treasures (though he had the means to do so), but he counted his wealth as fleeting and as trite compared to the bounty that is in God and his heavenly city. Thus, he used his wealth as a demonstration of the greatness of his Inheritance in God by living meagerly by faith in a passing world.

The apostle to the Hebrews tells us that Moses did likewise, writing:

By faith Moses, when he was grown up, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter, choosing rather to be mistreated with the people of God than to enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin. He considered the reproach of Christ greater wealth than the treasures of Egypt, for he was looking to the reward (Heb. 11:24-26).

Therefore, Moses, like Abraham, who spoke with God face to face, understood the greatness of the riches of glory of God, and as such, the treasures of Egypt (the same treasures by which many of us would be ensnared), became tasteless and worthless to him. Therefore, he forsook the life of a king and chose to live and to suffer with the people of God, because he knew of the greatness of the Reward.

It is in light of these examples that the author of Hebrews encourages us:

Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God (Heb. 12:1,2).

In essence, the apostle exhorts us that though we have many examples that bear witness to the greatness of our Inheritance in Christ, there is only One example to whom we are to look to run the race of our lives, and that example is Jesus Christ. We should be likewise encouraged, that, though there are these who by their lives testified to the greatness of Christ, our focus should be Singular and our Example should be One. For though David, Solomon, Job, Abraham, and Moses did live unto God, they are not worthy to be followed. Only Christ is worthy to be followed, and he, when he lived upon this world, did not store up for himself treasures upon this earth, but he gave up all and became poor for the sake of those whom he loves. Therefore the apostle Paul exhorts us:

Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross (Phil. 2:5-8).

Therefore, those of you who seek for justification for the way in which you live your lives, do you look for it in Christ alone or do you look for it in others? For there is only one Man to whom the Sprit conforms men, and that man is Jesus Christ. Do you then seek to live like Jesus Christ? Do you seek to become poor as he was poor so that you might minister to those to whom he ministered? Do you sacrifice as he sacrificed so that you might by his grace win some? Do you treasure what he treasured so that you might testify by your life that Christ is infinitely more valuable than anything that this world has to offer? I challenge you to think upon these things and not to seek conformity to anyone save Jesus Christ our Lord.

For Christ did not please himself, but as it is written, “The reproaches of those who reproached you fell on me” (Rm. 15:3).

When it comes to those to whom Christians are to look for guidance and inspiration to live their lives, their focus should be Singular. For there is only one Man who lived perfectly for the sake of God and his glory, and that man is Jesus Christ. And though there are others to whom we can look to as a godly examples, their example is only good insofar as it accords with the example of Jesus Christ. For while there have always been, by God’s grace, godly men on this earth, those men, at the end of day, were still men and being such were still sinners till the day they died.

It is for this reason that the apostle to the Hebrews, after bringing forth testimony after testimony of faithful witnesses who testified to greatness of the saints’ Inheritance in Christ in Hebrews 11, wrote, “Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right of the throne of God” (Heb. 12:1,2). For all the godly saints before us were not displayed by the apostle as examples to be followed, but they were brought forth as witnesses to the validity of the example of Christ. Therefore, Christ is to be our only Example, and as such, the examples of men are only good insofar as they accord with the example of Christ.

Therefore when it comes to the matter of dealing with the weak in the church, we who are deemed to be strong must follow the example of Christ. For this reason, we who are strong in the church must not look to please ourselves through our bearing of the weak, for Christ did not please himself, but he came to please others insofar as he was still able to please his Father. And since Christ bore the reproach of those who reproached God, we are also to do as he did and bear with love the weaknesses of the weak in the church.

For this reason, the apostle expresses the wish, “May the God of endurance and encouragement grant you to live in such harmony with one another, in accord with Christ Jesus (v. 15:5). For if all of us in the church sought to be in accord with Christ alone, then there would be harmony for we would be One in our goal. There would be no “I am of Apollos,” “I am of Paul,” “I am of Calvin,” or “I am of Arminius,” but there would be a singular, “I am of Christ,” and as such we would “with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ” (v. 15:6).

May we become a people who welcome all as Christ as welcomed us, for the sake of the glory of God (cf. v. 15:7). Amen.

The apostle Paul puts it this way: “In this hope [viz. the redemption of our bodies] we were saved” (Rm. 8:24). For the salvation of our Gospel is laid in store for us in Eternity, when we who bear the curse of Adam shall be ridden of our dead bodies and rise as Christ rose by the glory of the Father (cf. Rm. 6:4). This is the glorious Promise and Hope that our God has granted to us, and it is a Promise and Hope that transforms our lives here upon this planet.

For this reason, we are called to live as aliens in this world, as those who are merely passing through it to reach our Homeland. It is for this reason that the prosperous father of our Faith, Abraham, lived in tents rather than in a palace, for his hope was vested in the City whose designer and builder is God (cf. Heb. 11:10). It is for this reason that the faithful Macedonians forsook what little material goods they possessed and gave to the aid of the saints out of their poverty in an abundance of Joy (cf. 2Cor. 8:1-7). And it is for this reason that our Lord Jesus Christ forsook his rights as God and humbled himself to such an extent that he was born in innkeeper’s barn, labored as a carpenter, lived as a homeless man, preached the truth of God so that all despised him, and endured the shame and the agony of the Cross. All these lived thus because of the Promised Joy that was set before them–a joy to which no riches or sufferings in this world can compare (cf. Rm. 8:18).

And it is for this reason that the yoke of Christ is light. For when this life is placed in its proper context, all matters that the world regards as significant become trite to the Christian. For worldly riches are trite when compared to the bounty that is in Christ, fleeting pleasures become trite when compared to the pleasures that are in Christ, mortal life becomes trite when compared to the Life that is in Christ, and the esteem of men becomes trite when compared to the commendation of Christ. Therefore, the call of Christ, which the world regards as nonsensical, namely to lose one’s life so that he might gain it, is the only sensible call for those who have tasted and seen that the Lord is good (cf. Ps. 34:8).

However, many in this country who call themselves Christians bear false witness to the Salvation which they profess to have. For they declare that their hope is in Christ, and yet their lives reflect little upon the greatness of their Inheritance. For rather than losing their present life so that they might gain Eternal life, they believe that they can gain life here and also gain it in the Life to come. Therefore, there is little distinction between those who profess to be Christians and those who do not profess Christ at all. For they both pursue the same things–nice homes, new cars, better careers, prolonged life, bodily health, etc. and the only difference between the two is that one seeks these things bearing a Christian façade and the other seeks these things without that façade. And those who claim no allegiance to Christ have no interest in asking those who claim allegiance to Christ the reason for their hope, for their hope is no different than theirs.

It is for this reason that most Christians in our county cannot preach the Gospel. Though they may take courses on sharing the Gospel, and they may memorize certain Scriptures pertinent to the Gospel, they do not preach the Gospel with their lives. And thus when they make converts, they make converts by their false gospel. And though their gospel may not bear the heresy of Joel Osteen in its word (viz. live your best life now), it does bear it in deed. For anyone who would follow after Christ must not merely talked as he talked, but he must walk the same road he walked–a road of suffering, of poverty, of self-sacrifice, of love–and not to walk that road is to walk the road to destruction.

It is for this reason that our first priority as Christians in America must be the comprehension and the demonstration of the true Gospel by those who profess Christ here. For while it is indeed amiable and essential that we reach the Nations with the Gospel, how can we reach the Nations with that which we do not understand ourselves? As it stands now, we, by and large, hold to a defiled gospel here in the States, and we therefore preach a defiled gospel to the Nations. It is for this reason that other countries where the Gospel is not tainted send missionaries to American shores. For they have seen what we who have been blinded by tradition and culture cannot see, and they out of deep love for us wish to show us the errors of our ways. Now is the time, as the apostle writes, “To awake, O sleeper, and arise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you” (Eph. 5:14). And to “look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the best use of the time, because the days are evil” (Eph. 5:15). Therefore, live wisely, O Christian, for this life is but a breath, and pleasure in anything but the Gospel of the Hope of the revelation of Christ is vain and will be burned away.

He begins by writing, “Besides this you know the time, that the hour has come for you to wake from sleep. For salvation is nearer to us now than when we first believed” (v. 13:11). The picture that the apostle is giving is that of person who is lying in bed at dawn, and the light of the day is breaking over the horizon. The person, prior to the dawn, was ever asleep and his life was characterized by the darkness of night. But now, he has seen his salvation and has believed, and for him, “the night is far gone; the day is at hand” (v. 13:12a).

For those to whom the apostle is speaking, the darkness of their former existence is far gone, and the light of day is now their only existence. For this reason, the apostle exhorts them to throw off the works of darkness that formerly characterized their lives, and encourages them instead to put on the armor of light. And when the Christian wakes to God in this life, he wakes into enemy territory, and he therefore must do two things: one, cast off works of darkness, and, two, put on the armor of light.

First, the apostle exhorts his readers to cast off the works of darkness. Concerning their former lives lived in dead darkness, the apostle says that those days are in the past, and the Christian is now to “walk properly as in the daytime” (v. 13a). Just as their former existence was characterized by walking in the darkness, so now their new existence is to be characterized by walking in the light. Therefore the apostle continues, “[Walk] not in orgies and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and sensuality, not in quarreling and jealousy” (v. 13b). These things, among others, are the works of those who are in darkness, and they are, by no coincidence, thoroughly egocentric works. They are the same works practiced by those of whom the apostle speaks earlier in his letter, “[God] will render to each one according to works…. For those who are self-seeking and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, there will be wrath and fury” (v. 2:6, 8). However, those to whom the apostle is speaking have seen their salvation from afar, and they therefore have the power by the Spirit to cast off their former works.

Second, the apostle exhorts his readers to put on the armor of light. What is this armor of light? This can be seen in v. 13:14, where the apostle admonishes the Christian to “put on the Lord Jesus Christ.” What does it mean to put on the Lord Jesus Christ? It means to put on him, the Righteous One, who has forever lived in the Light of day. Christ is the salvation of whom the apostle speaks in v. 11, and his Return is nearer to us now than when we first believed. What then does putting on Christ accomplish? It accomplishes righteousness for those who are him here and now, and it gives to them the power of the indwelling Holy Spirit so that they are now able to walk in the light and not make provisions for the flesh, to gratify its desires.

Concerning this, the apostle writes earlier in length:

There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death. For God had done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do, by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit. For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace. For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God’s law; indeed, it cannot. Those who are in the flesh cannot please God.

You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him. But if Christ is in you, although the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is life because of righteousness. If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you.

So then, brothers, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh. For if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live (Rm. 8:1-13).

For those to whom Salvation is near, their lives are fundamentally different than those who walk in darkness. And it is not because of what they have done by their natural ability, but because of what God has done in them through the work of Christ by the Spirit. Therefore, if one has been awakened and has seen his Salvation from afar, he is not a self-seeker that incurs wrath and fury, but he as those of whom the apostle speaks earlier, who seek for glory and honor and immorality and gain eternal life (v. 2:7).

There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death. For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do, by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit (Rm. 8:1-4).

In some ways, the Roman Road basis of evangelism has been both a blessing and curse to American Christianity. For on the one hand, the Romans Road has taken verses that are fundamental to the Faith and has made them well known to many, and yet, on the other hand, it has taken those same verses and ripped them from their contexts and has in the process watered down the Gospel.

For while it is indeed true that, “The wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus” (v. 6:23), the verse taken from its context removes the very foundation of eternal life, namely regeneration and sanctification. For v. 6:23 is the apex of the apostle’s chain of salvific events that begins with identification with Christ in his crucifixion by baptism (v. 6:2), the freedom afforded by Christ’s death from the body of sin (v. 6:6; cf. v. 7:23) and thus from slavery to sin (v. 6:6; cf. v. 7:14, 25), and ends with the Christian’s being brought into slavery to obedience, to righteousness, and to sanctification, and sanctification’s end–eternal life (v. 6:16, 18, 19, 22). For the gift of God indeed is eternal life in Christ Jesus, however eternal life never comes apart from obedience, righteousness, and sanctification.

For the requirement of God for salvation has never changed–one must be obedient and righteous (cf. 1Pet. 1:13-16). And the great hindrance that exists is not the law (as Romans 7 expounds upon thoroughly), but it man’s inability to be righteous while a slave to sin and fleshly (v. 7:14, 18, 25). The fleshly speaker of Romans 7 puts it this way, “I have the desire to do what is right [so that I might have life (cf. 7:10)], but not the ability to carry it out” (v. 7:18; cf. 8:7). For even the Gentile who does not have the written code knows that he must be obedient and righteous to obtain life, and he will stand condemned for his rebellion against the law written upon his heart (cf. 2:12, 14-16). Therefore, for any man to obtain to eternal life, he must be set free from his natural slavery to sin and death, for apart from that freedom he will remain condemned in his body of death (cf. 6:6; 7:24).

Thus we find Romans 8:1, “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” Why? Because a prayer was uttered? Because a sacrament was taken? Because a gift was accepted? No. Because, “The law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death” (v. 8:2). The very basis of our condemnation’s removal is our freedom from our past slavemasters who kept us from obedience to God (cf. 7:18). How was this accomplished? “For God has done, what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do, by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh” (v. 8:3). God did it. God accomplished it. God fulfilled the righteous requirement of the law by sending his Son in the likeness of sinful flesh–the same flesh that was powerless to fulfill the righteous requirement of the law (cf. vv. 7:14-25)–and Christ did it, fully and perfectly. For what end? So that we could continue in sin that grace might abound? By no means! So that “the righteous requirement of the law might fulfilled in us who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit” (cf. 8:4).

Therefore, the end of the Gospel is that we who could not fulfill the righteous requirement of the law can now fulfill it through the emancipating work of Christ Jesus by the power of the Holy Spirit. For Christ has taken those who were dead and has made them alive (v. 6:13), and has made them a new creature so that they who were once unable to do what they desired to do so that they might live (cf. v. 7:18), can now do it. There is now no inability for those who are in Christ. There is no slavery (v. 8:2), there is no death, there is no body of sin that controls our lives (cf. 6:6, 7; 7:21), there is only the Spirit of life by whose power we put to death the deeds of the body (v. 8:13) and inherit eternal life. That is the Gospel, and that is what God has done.

In spite of this, there is great confusion concerning the Gospel. Evidence of this is seen in the disconnect between biblical uses of the Gospel and the Church�s use of the Gospel. For example, when Christ is said to be preaching the Gospel of Kingdom, “Repent for the Kingdom of God is at hand,” we are confused, because we certainly do not mention the Kingdom of God when we preach our gospel, and we scarcely preach repentance. Also, we know well that the first four books of the New Testament are labeled by Church history, “the Gospels,” but few in the Church could tell you why they are labeled this way save that they contain the Gospel events.

In the Gospels, we do indeed find the events on which the power of the Gospel is founded. We see the God of Creation humbling himself and becoming a man, living righteously and fulfilling the demands of the Law for his people, offering himself up on a cross for the sake of his people, and then being raised from the dead, having conquered death and sin, and ascending to the right hand of the Father in glory. We see the root of the power of the Gospel and preach that, but we do it neglecting the Gospel life that we find in the Gospel books. Christ while he was on this planet did not merely give power to the Gospel, but he lived the Gospel. In him, we find the demands of the Gospel fully satisfied, and we find our Leader who shows us how to fulfill the demands of the Gospel in our own lives.

Taking Up Our Crosses Daily
When the Gospel calls us to repentance, it never does it apart from the denial of ourselves. Indeed, this is the essence of repentance, namely that we turn away from loving ourselves and turn to loving God. Christ called this denial of ourselves, “taking up our crosses daily,” for everyday in the life of the unglorified son of God is an invitation to kill our selfish longings so that we would long for God and his will.

Christ not only commanded that we take up our crosses daily, but he himself perfectly took up his cross daily. His life here on earth was a constant denial of his humanly desires and a perfect submission to the will of the Father. Nowhere is this seen more clearly than at Gethsemane prior to his crucifixion:

Going a little farther he fell on his face and prayed, saying, “My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will” (Matt. 26:39).

Christ demonstrated his willingness to deny himself by taking up the cross for the sake of the Father’s will. We must be willing to do the same every day.

Selling All That We Have for the Sake of the Poor
There is this great misconception that Christ only demands the selling of possessions from the rich young man of Matthew 19, but this is clearly not true. Christ commands it of his disciples (cf. Luke 12:32-34), and he did it himself. In fact, Christ in the Incarnation had given up infinitely more than we can ever dream of giving up for the sake of the poor. His command to us to give up our worthless possessions and to follow him is incomparable to what he, the King of Glory, gave up to take on humanity. Many people are amazed that Christ was born in an animal stable and was placed in a feeding trough, but we fail to understand that even if Christ was born in the most luxurious and immaculate palace on the planet, it would still be as a stable and a feeding trough to the God of the Universe!

Yet Christ forsook all that was rightfully his, took upon his Divinity human flesh, and lived as the poorest man among men. Christ said of himself, “Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head” (Matt. 8:20), and this statement was made in the context of the price of following him. Rich men cannot follow Christ. Lovers of houses cannot follow Christ. Lovers of the world cannot follow Christ. Why? Because where Christ goes, no rich man, house-dweller, or world-lover can follow.

Why did Christ live this way, and why are we commanded to live this way? Christ lived this way because he regarded others as better than himself. In spite of his being the God of the Universe, Christ regarded others as better than himself. We are commanded by the Gospel to regard others as better than ourselves, and we cannot do that living in large houses, driving nice cars, and watching big televisions. Why? Because the moment you buy that unnecessarily luxurious house you are declaring to everyone that does not have a house as nice that you are better than them. It does not matter what you think your heart is toward the poor, if you are not poor yourself, you clearly demonstrate your feigned superiority. Christ gave up his throne and became poor, so must we give up our make-believe throne and become poor.

How is This the Gospel?
Matthew’s account of the Final Judgment should make every American Christian tremble. Of the condemned, Christ speaks:

When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne. Before him will be gathered all the nations, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. And he will place the sheep on his right, but the goats on the left. Then the King will say to those on his left, “Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me no drink, I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not clothe me, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.” Then they also will answer, saying, “Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to you?” Then he will answer them, saying, “Truly, I say to you, as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.” And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life (Matt. 25:31-32, 41-45).

Christ clearly draws the connection between salvation and the ministry to the lowly.

But you might say, “I give my ‘extra’ money to the poor; I give my ‘extra’ time to the lowly.” But what is your extra money? Is it that measly amount of money that you have left after you pay for your ridiculous mortgage payment, your expensive cable bill, your high car payment, your date-night dinners at fancy restaurants, your iPhone, your iPod, your DVDs, etc.? Is your extra time that time that you have left after you work sixty hours a week to pay for your ‘necessities’? You spit on the poor with your necessities! You spit on Jesus with your mortgages! You spit on Jesus with your cable and satellite television bills, your car payments, your nice dinners, you iPhones, iPods, and DVDs! We fill our churches with goats who do not give a rip about Jesus and the poor, and we say nothing while they drive to hell in their SUVs. It is time to wake up, Church, to the Gospel of Jesus Christ!

Merry Christmas.:)