Change of Scene, or Change of Self?

Two thousand years ago the apostle Paul wrote these words from a prison cell: "Not that I speak in regard to need, for I have learned in whatever state I am, to be content. I know how to be abased, and I know how to abound. Everywhere and in all things I have learned both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need" (Philippians 4:10-11). We can be sure Paul was no more happy about being in prison than we would be. But he was there, and the only control he could exercise in the matter was whether or not he would allow prison to be in him! The book of Philippians reveals his choice loud and clear. Earlier in the letter at Philippians 4:4 the apostle had written what have turned out to be some of his most famous words – "Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I will say, rejoice!" Even earlier at Philippians 2:14-15 he urged his Christian friends at Philippi – "Do all things without complaining and disputing, that you may become blameless and harmless, children of God without fault in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world." That’s amazing stuff, considering the scene Paul found himself in. In prison, but also in Christ. Confident God was with him where he was, he chose to be content, not complain. He chose to rejoice about what he had in the Lord, not waste time and energy on regret. He chose to use his pen to write and encourage others, not drown himself in a pool of self-pity, wishful-thinking, blame-placing, or obsessing about how unfair life can be.

Paul’s words challenge me. And I’ve got a feeling they challenge you, too. It’s not that we all live a life of ease and have a constant "hot tub" kind of life, all warm and cozy and comfy. Most of us face stresses and strains and pressures and problems of different kinds on a regular basis, some of them very serious ones. We live in a fast-paced, rat-race kind of world where we have to get up each day and get after it or we get left behind. Paul’s words are challenging because most of us, like him, quite often find ourselves facing difficult circumstances and / or people over whom we have little or no control. We may have comfortable homes and drive comfortable cars and have nice clothes and eat good food, but all of us sometimes face painful, prison-like circumstances in our lives beyond our ability to control or change. When that happens, the questions for those of us who claim to follow Christ are precisely the same as they were for Paul so long ago – will we allow prison-like pains and pressures (and in some cases people who cause them) to define us and control our attitude? Or will we, like Paul, hold on to our faith and joy? Will we be content, or will we complain? I know what we end up doing more often than we find comfortable to admit! Advice from a man named Christopher Benson fits very well here. He said, "Very often a change of self is needed more than a change of scene." That may be tough advice, but it puts me in charge of my attitude instead of things and people I can’t control. You may be in a prison today, but it doesn’t have to be in you. With God’s help, you can change yourself even if you can’t change the scene.

                          "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me" – Philippians 4:13

Dan Gulley, Smithville, TN 

I Don’t Deserve This!

You may have heard it before, but upon receiving an award, the late Jack Benny remarked, "I really don’t deserve this, but I have arthritis and I don’t deserve that either." Who can view all Christ suffered for us on the cross and still say, "I deserve this – God owes me this – I have earned this?" Who merits what Christ did on the cross? Here’s a question to chew on – if we can earn salvation and gain a right- standing with God on the basis of our own good deeds and behavior, why in the world did Jesus die on the cross? After showing "all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God" (Romans 3:23), Paul goes on to expound how God saves us by grace through faith in Christ. He employs a complex but clear argument to prove that no matter how good we are, we can’t be perfect enough to earn and merit right-standing with God; and conversely, no matter how badly we’ve sinned or how often or long, God has provided a way we can be "justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus" (Romans 3:24)! Verse 25 brings the cross where Christ died for our sins squarely into view when Paul declares that God "set [Jesus] forth as a propitiation by His blood through faith." Then in verse 26 the apostle goes on to declare that through this gospel scheme of redemption that required Christ dying on the cross as a substitute for sinners, God is both "just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus." Paul’s explanation of the gospel plan goes on into Romans 4 where he sets forth the Old Testament patriarch Abraham as the prototype of how we are saved by grace through faith. Jews in Paul’s day prided them- selves on being Abraham’s physical descendants and placed great stock in having his blood in their veins. But in Romans 4:3 Paul quotes Genesis 15:16 to show that God declared Abraham righteous on the basis of his faith in God long before he was circumcised in Genesis 17! In Romans 4 Paul proves what matters is not having Abraham’s blood in our veins but Abraham’s faith in our hearts!

Now my friends, let us say what the apostle said. He argues that God declared Abraham righteous. On what basis? Because he deserved or merited it? Because he was circumcised? No! On the basis of faith! That’s what Paul said, so let us be unafraid to say it, too. But please exercise caution – we must not say more than the apostle said. Search carefully – the words "faith alone" are not found anywhere in the text as Paul argues how Abraham was declared righteous, no matter how many preachers seek to put them there. The fact of the matter is the only place in the entire New Testament where the words "faith alone" are found is James 2:24 where it is explicitly stated, in a discussion about Abraham’s faith, "You see then that a man is justified by works, and not by faith alone" (English Standard Version). Abraham had a dynamic, obedient faith (James 2:21-23), not merely a mental one. Read the text in James – it compliments, not contradicts, Paul’s exposition in Romans 4. The faith that justified Abraham before God was an obedient faith. That’s the kind of faith that justifies today. As He did for Abraham, God will account us as righteous when we trust Christ enough to obey what He commands us to do (Ephesians 2:8-9; Hebrews 5:9; Romans 1:5; Romans 6:3-4, 17-18). Pray tell, how is that earning salvation? 

Dan Gulley, Smithville, TN