Conspicuous Faith

First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for you all, that your faith is spoken of throughout the whole world. (Romans 01:08, NKJV).

When Jesus was arrested and interrogated by the Sanhedrin, the ancient Jewish ruling council, in one of His answers to their accusations, He declared that His message to the world was not spoken in dark corners or hidden, but that He always taught in the Synagogues or Temple where the Jews always met. He spoke in the open to all who would listen.

Nothing was said in secret.

This is important to understand for two reasons. The first is that the message of the gospel is a truth that has been made known to all the world. That is its purpose, so that every mouth may be stopped and all the world may become guilty before God so that they will seek His Savior.

Second, you may encounter in your life false doctrinal teaching that speaks of secret mysteries of the gospel, special knowledge that only special “Initiates” into the “Mysteries” can know; perhaps even supposedly encompassing “new revelation”. But that cannot be true, for all has been revealed that is necessary for godliness and salvation.

Jude, the half-brother of Jesus who wrote the very short, but important Book of Jude in the New Testament, tells us:

Beloved, while I was very diligent to write to you concerning our common salvation, I found it necessary to write to you exhorting you to contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints. (Jude 1:3, NKJV).

Note that key phrase: “once for all”. It is an ancient way of saying “once and done”, or “once and for all”, meaning that the subject or action in view is complete, with nothing missing.

This doesn't mean that we have complete or perfect understanding of everything the Bible contains, but it does mean that the truths that we believe as Christians are themselves complete and, as importantly, not hidden.

And neither should we be.

Our faith and life should be conspicuous, like the early Roman church Paul was writing to whose faith was spoken of throughout the whole world.

Now this certainly does not mean that we as individuals should be on parade, drawing attention to ourselves rather than to God, as if we are something. But it does mean that there is no such thing as a “closet Christian” or a “silent disciple”.

Nor does it mean that we should use our knowledge of the truth as a weapon or as a mark of our imagined and delusional superiority, though, in truth, some will accuse us of just that by our merely mentioning Christ or the Bible.

But again, it does mean, that we are to live our lives unashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for all those who believe.

Mockery and false accusation are guaranteed to follow, but that is no different than what happened to Jesus, Himself. And He has warned us in His word that if the world hates Him it will hate us who follow Him.

It is hard to go against the grain of the masses, hard to stand up to the majority and call out its evil and sin, but it is what we are kept alive on the earth to do: to speak the truth in love, and to let all who hear us know where our allegiance lies, with God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ.

Sometimes it may even be the hardest thing we ever do, and may cost us friends and family, and even our very life. But we are never alone. Jesus designed His church like He designed each of our bodies. He made Himself the head, with each of us playing our part in spreading the good news of salvation through Jesus Christ. And while some of us play a more obvious part than others, each is essential for the health and well-being and full-functioning of the entire body.

And even if we are physically isolated, He will never leave us nor forsake us.

People should know we are Christians and what we believe. But that is not to say that we should be preachy, or legalistic or obnoxious about it. We get enough bad press without deserving it, so let's make sure that our words are gracious salt and light, and not bitter and contemptuous pills that choke people on the way down. Again, we are to speak the truth, but always in love.

Now in some places in the world, becoming a Christian is an automatic death sentence, but in everyplace, Christians are targets of the enemy, especially when we do not keep silent.

Why? Because our words, our deeds, and our lives can be used by God to bring others into His Kingdom, and the enemy hates that, and us. Since he has already lost us as his possessions, the only things he has left is to discredit us, persecute us and mock us so that we are silenced.

Don't let that strategy succeed. Yes, by fighting against it, you may suffer and lose much, but in the end, you will gain more than you can ever imagine.

Love,

Dad

First Things

First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for you all, that your faith is spoken of throughout the whole world. (Romans 01:08, NKJV).

Here's a question, a tough question, which, when you think about it, may make you shudder and tremble when you understand the answer.

What is one of the first things a follower of Jesus is to do when faced with anything pleasant or painful, scary or safe, fun or sad, exciting or tedious? What is one of the first things a Christian is to do upon waking up or going to sleep, or walking or sitting down? What is one of the first things a believer is to do in response to whatever befalls him or her?

The answer entails (involves) more of an attitude or state of being than an action, though it is most often an attitude that precedes (comes before) an action. The answer is to be thankful.

So why would that make you tremble or shudder?

Because in some circumstances, like the tragedy of loss, or the pain of an injury or illness, or the terror of being under some kind of threat, thankfulness does not seem just hard, but impossible, and maybe more than a little crazy. It certainly seems this way to the world at times, but can often seem that way to us, as well.

But here's the thing, remember what it means to be the called of Jesus Christ? Remember what it means to have God as Abba, or Daddy?

It is not that we are thankful for the bad in and of itself, but that in the midst of the bad we are thankful for who we are and what we have in Christ, and that transcends (goes far beyond) anything and everything that happens to us in this life.

Paul says that we should be...

giving thanks always for all things to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, (Ephesians 5:20, NKJV).

and that...

in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. (1 Thessalonians 5:18, NKJV).

and we are to...

...let the peace of God rule in [our] hearts, to which also you were called in one body; and be thankful. (Colossians 3:15, NKJV).

and...

...supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks be made for all men, (1 Timothy 2:1, NKJV).

And these are just four of the places he exhorts (urges) us to give thanks and be thankful, and there are many more in both the Old and New Testaments. In fact, some form of thanks is mentioned 138 times in the Bible.

When something is mentioned once in Scripture it is important, for all Scripture is given by inspiration of God and is profitable. When it is repeated we should pay even more attention. When it is appears again and again and again, it is clear that it is vital that we take heed for our good and God's glory.

Even in just the four times I've cited the Apostle Paul in this regard, those verses leave nothing out; no circumstance, no person. We are to give thanks or be thankful for all things, in everything, and for everyone.

I don't know about you, but if I were the inventor of Christianity, instead of Jesus, I would not have even thought of such a thing, and if I had, I would have discarded the idea immediately as being impossible, nonsensical, and even a little offensive.

How could I possibly give thanks for someone hurting me or my family? How could I be thankful for all the evil doings and people in this world?

These are no small issues and go right to the heart of what it means to be adopted into the Family of God by faith.

I believe the answer lies in what we've already covered so far in Romans, and will be delving into repeatedly in Paul's brilliant letter to the early church.

If God is sovereign (has authority) over all of time and space and Creation (and He is), if He loves us and wants us to live forever in everlasting joy (and He does and has proven it by the Cross), and if all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purposes, then NOTHING happens to us outside of His control and goodness. NOTHING.

He is either the God who He says He is, or the Bible is a lie from the pit of Hell.

Since we believe Him and His word, then it only follows logically that one of our first responses to every aspect of life is an acknowledgement of His power and good purpose. How do we best acknowledge that? By being thankful and giving thanks.

Two final things to consider.

First, I do not believe that being thankful means having a fake, syrupy, and simpering passivity to life, or to hide behind some false and sick sense of happiness. I do not believe it means just accepting whatever happens without doing anything to relieve pain, or protect ourselves or our loved ones, or do nothing to fight the evil in this world, or grieve or mourn over loss. The Bible is full of exhortations to take Spirit-empowered actions in all those things, so thankfulness does NOT mean doing nothing or giving up.

Instead, it means that in the midst of all those bad things we are to always know and be thankful for His involvement in our lives, and to trust that He knows what He is doing, both when good things AND bad things happen to us.

Second, being thankful and giving thanks is something that gives us power in life, that strengthens us and enables us to endure, survive, and never surrender or lose hope, that puts the things of this life in their proper perspective and reminds us that this world is not our home. We are pilgrims and sojourners (travelers) here who look forward to where our true citizenship is: Heaven.

Our lives in this fallen world are meant to transform us into the image of Jesus. It is a training ground, a refining furnace that burns away all the dross (impurities), and prepares us for eternal life in the heavenly places.

And for that, above all, we are to be always thankful.

Love,

Dad