Does Jesus Know You Love Him?

        What would you do if you were worth $3.2 billion? When media mogul Ted Turner found out in    late September 1997 his wealth had grown from a paltry $2.2 billion to $3.2 billion in a year, he decided to give away a billion. On September 25, 1977, Turner electrified an audience in New York City when he announced he would give away one billion dollars to the good works program of the Nations — a hundred million dollars a year for the next 10 years. A Newsweek article entitled “Why Ted Gave It Away” (September 29, 2997, pp 29-32) referred to his gift as “... the largest pledge in philanthropic history.” The article went on to describe the audience as “stunned.” Why did Ted give it away? No one but he and God knows for sure. Maybe he sincerely wanted to help people. The article pointed out he would get tax benefits and that after the gift he would still be a billionaire two times over. 

        Turner’s gift was a stunning one by any measure. But be sure to know — his $1,000,000,000 gift was neither the largest nor most stunning one in history, not even close. That trophy was claimed 2,000 years ago when God, “when the fulness of the time had come, sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, that we might receive the adoption as sons” (Galatians 4:4-5). In the most familiar verse in the 31,102 verses of the King James Version of the Holy Bible, John 3:16 still says, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” The cross of Christ is the place where the greatest, largest, most stunning gift in the history of man was given. There God’s sinless Son suffered and died for sinners, giving us what can only be described, in the words of 2 Corinthians 9:15, as an “unspeakable” or indescribable gift! Now, if it is not clear what moved Ted Turner and what moves other fabulously rich people like him (Bill Gates, Mark Zuckerberg, and Warren Buffet have given away multiple billions), the Bible leaves no doubt as to why Jesus died on a cross. Romans 5:8 says God “demonstrates His love toward, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” First John 3:16a declares, “By this we know love, because He laid down His life for us. And we also ought to lay down our lives for the brethren.”                                                                           

        Another verse about the love of Christ is Galatians 2:20 — “I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.” That verse is often used to call us to deny ourselves and take up the cross of self-denial as Jesus taught (e.g., Luke 9:23). Appropriately so. Romans 6:1-7 is clear before sinners can “raised to newness of life” and "freed from sin” they must first “die to sin” (in repentance) and then be “baptized into Christ Jesus ... buried with Him through baptism into death.” So, it is Galatians 2:20 teaches us the what behind Paul’s intense devotion to Jesus – Paul had died to self and Christ lived His life out through Paul. But don’t miss the last dozen words of that verse — “the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.” Those 12 words reveal the why behind Paul’s love for Jesus and ceaseless efforts to bring others to Him! Paul knew Jesus loved him because Jesus gave Himself for Paul. Jesus knew Paul loved Him because Paul gave himself for Jesus. You know Jesus loves you, but does Jesus know you love Him? 

       by: Dan Gulley, Smithville, TN

An Apostle Called on the Carpet!

A guy said, “I once had a goldfish that could break-dance on a carpet. But only for like 20 seconds.” My apologies to goldfish and those who love them. This little article is about a Bible passage in Galatians 2:11-21 where the apostle Peter is doing a little dancing of his own. Not on a carpet, mind you, but around the truth of the Gospel. To use the words of the apostle Paul’s inspired indictment at verse 13, Peter “played the hypocrite”! Incredible thought — one apostle accusing another of being, for the moment, a hypocrite! And so Paul, as we say, “calls Peter on the carpet.”

Back to that passage in a few moments. According to website @ grammarist.com, to “call on the carpet” is an idiom meaning “to reprimand someone, to be criticized, scolded or blamed for some sort of mistake or infraction.” Early on the idiom was “walk the carpet” and came to describe a servant being called before his mistress or master in order to be scolded or blamed for a mistake. The idea is that the servant has been called out of the kitchen with a flagstone floor, or the servants’ quarters with wooden floors, into the quarters of the master of the house where the floors are carpeted. Today the phrase “call on the carpet” may be used to describe a reprimand to anyone, from anyone, but it is often a superior who calls a subordinate on the carpet.

The passage mentioned above in Galatians chapter 2 records an incident between two equals. Two apostles of Christ, that is. Peter was one of the original 12 apostles chosen by the Lord and Paul’s call by Christ came later in dramatic fashion (see Acts 9, 22, and 26) “as one born out of due time” (1 Corinthians 15:8b). Both Paul and Peter had preached the same gospel — salvation and justification through faith in Christ, not by keeping the Law of Moses or circumcision, Paul preached mostly to Gentiles and Peter mostly to Jews (Galatians 2:6-8), and the two were in full fellowship (2:9). But alas, Galatians 2:11ff relates a sad day in Antioch (of Syria, some 300 miles north of Jerusalem) when Peter began to backtrack and “play the hypocrite.” Read carefully – when no other Jews were around, or at least when leading, influential ones were not, Peter did as the Gentiles did, having table fellowship with them (vs 12a). But when influential Jews (that is, Jewish Christians who still preached circumcision) showed up, he gave in to peer-pressure and did as the Jews did. He “withdrew [from the Gentiles] and separated himself from them, fearing those who were of the circumcision” (vs 12). It was then that Paul “called Peter on the carpet” and charged him with hypocrisy (vs 13). Paul “withstood him to his face [note, not on Facebook!], because he was to be blamed.” He challenged Peter’s conduct “before them all” (vs 14), not behind Peter’s back or in a tweet.

Here’s the point — while the apostles’ message was inspired, their manner of life was not. To quote Edward C. Wharton in his commentary on GALATIANS, “The apostles were not super-human beings. They had to fight sin and self.” Peter lost one battle but not the war. No doubt Paul and Peter cared for each other as brothers and fellow soldiers in and for Christ. But Paul and Peter also knew their Hebrew Scriptures said in Psalm 141:5 – “Let the righteous strike me; It shall be a kindness. And let him rebuke me; It shall be as excellent oil; Let my head not refuse it.” Consider: do we fear people too much to “call them on the carpet” when the need arises? God help us always be sensitive and kind but have a stiff spine to stand for the truth.

by: Dan Gulley, Smithville, TN

The Sure Way To Forfeit Forgiveness!

        A grudge was apparently held by Mark Twain when he wrote about someone who died: “I did not attend the funeral, but I wrote a nice note saying I approved of it.” Twain’s words remind us it is easy to “nurse a grudge.” But nursing a grudge is never easy on us. As Ken Kesey said, “The man [or woman] who seeks revenge digs two graves.” English poet Alexander Pope [died 1744], in his “Essay On Criticism” (1711), reminds us there is a better way with the familiar saying, “To err is human; to forgive is divine.” The saying echoes the Bible’s teaching that all accountable human beings sin (even Christians – Romans 3:23; 1 John 1:8-10), and that God forgives when people meet the conditions He laid out in the Gospel (Acts 2:37-38; Colossians 2:10-13). Pope’s saying hints at something Jesus taught clearly and forcefully – if we want forgiveness, we must work at having a forgiving spirit. The Lord said in Matthew 6:14-15, “For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will forgive you. But if you do not  forgive men their trespasses, neither will your heavenly Father forgive you.” That’s blunt stuff.  Jesus didn't qualify what kind of trespasses. He didn’t say, “You have to forgive other people of the easy and lightweight stuff or the stuff that’s easy to get over.” Instead, He jars us with one the toughest demands He ever laid out for those who would genuinely follow Him – if we forgive, God forgives us. If we don’t forgive, God won’t forgive us. That’s how you forfeit forgiveness. And before you decide God will let you off the hook for being unwilling to forgive, recall the cross where God’s beaten, bloodied, battered, blasphemed Son, with not a single sustainable charge of sin against His pure and innocent soul, prays, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do” (Luke 23:34). A few weeks later the Father did forgive many of them who complied with Gospel conditions (see Acts 2:36-41). Does what you see at the cross suggest to you there was anything easy as God, through His Son, brought to completion His ages-long plan to be able to righteously and justly forgive your sins and my sins and everyone else’s sins? I think not.

         Elizabeth O’ Connor reminds us, “Forgiveness is a whole lot harder than any sermon ever made it out to be.” One clear message from the cross is that forgiveness is horribly difficult and costly. To forgive us cost God His Son, and cost the Son excruciating physical torment and agony, let alone the unimaginable spiritual pain and torture He suffered there in His soul. If it proved that costly to God and His Son to forgive our sins, why would we expect it to be easy to forgive others who have trespassed against us? By the way, before I forget to say this, can you imagine how costly it would have turned out for us if God and His Son had been unwilling to pay the price to forgive us? Yes, to forgive is sometimes very, very difficult. As some sage noted, “To err is human, to forgive is unusual.” It may be unusual for those who don’t know Christ to offer forgiveness. But the call for those who claim to follow Jesus could not be more plain or direct – “And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you” (Ephesians 4:32). Burton Coffman’s commentary on this verse provides a succinct if sobering summary of the New Testament’s teaching on God’s demand that we be forgiving – “The watchword for Christians, and for all people, is, ‘Forgive or forfeit forgiveness.’” The sure way to forfeit forgiveness is to refuse forgive.

       by: Dan Gulley, Smithville, TN 

A Church of Velvet and Steel!

A very unusual tribute was paid to Abraham Lincoln by American poet and biographer Carl Sandburg. He wrote, “Not often in the story of mankind does a man arrive on earth who is both steel and velvet, who is as hard as rock and soft as drifting fog, who holds in his heart and mind the paradox of terrible storm and peace unspeakable and perfect.” You may or may not agree with that assessment of Lincoln. But one thing is sure — the kind of character Sandburg describes is all too scarce in human beings. And, may I add, rarer in the church than we should hope.

 Jesus Christ was a man of velvet and steel. He was tough and He was tender, depending upon what different people and different occasions might call for. To those who had been done in by the devil but who were open to His teaching, guidance, and forgiveness, Jesus was tender as a loving mother and / or father. In John 4 He encountered a woman at Jacob’s well who had been married five different times to five different husbands, and Jesus reminds her the man she is currently living with is not her husband John 4:18). And yet, and yet — He didn’t write her off.  He didn’t castigate or scald or scorch her for living in sin.” He deftly and directly but gently spoke to her about “living water” and His desire to provide it for her (verses 10-14). Read the whole account and you will see how tenderly Jesus dealt with her as He sought to lead her to faith in Himself as the long-awaited Messiah. Another example of Jesus’ tenderness is found in John 8:1ff where the Pharisees sought to trap the Lord. They brought Jesus  “a woman caught in the act of adultery.” They urged Him to be hard as steel and tough in dealing with her, reminding Jesus, “Moses, in the law, commanded us that such should be stoned. But what do you say? You can read His response in John 8:6-9. With skill He turned the tables on these religious hypocrites, and His tender response to the woman is, “Woman, where are those accusers of yours? Has no one condemned you?” She answered, “No one, Lord.” And Jesus said to her, “Neither do I condemn you” — but then tough words followed as He urged her, “Go, and sin no more” (John 8:10-11). Even a casual reading of the Gospel accounts of Jesus’ life shows Him to be a man of velvet softness when dealing with hurting people and suffering sinners, but hard as steel when it came to truth.

 The apostle Paul gives more than advice or a suggestion with his directive in Ephesians 4:15 that Christians be “speaking the truth in love.” Any Bible student knows the apostle Paul was anything but soft on the truth. At great personal cost to himself he preached it up and down the first century Roman Empire. He had an iron will when it came to preaching God’s truth. In Galatians 2:5 (we don’t have space to get into the context), Paul made this unbending statement about some people who attempted to change the teaching of the gospel: “to whom we did not yield submission even for an hour, that the truth of the gospel might remain with you.” But before that book ends, we hear the apostle calling for tenderness between Christians — “... through love serve one another. For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ But if you bite and devour one another, beware lest you be consumed by one another” (Galatians 5:13b-15)!” Let every Christian take notice — God        wants a church characterized by velvet and steel. Velvet when it comes to dealing with people and their problems and sins. But a will of steel when it comes to holding fast to the truth of the gospel. 

  Dan Gulley, Smithville TN