Submitting to Imperfect Authority

All genuine believers experience the reality of living in a world filled with sin, selfishness, and corruption. For this reason, we are called to pick up our cross, die to ourselves, and follow Jesus daily so that we may escape from the corruption of this world. Many of us pray earnestly, as scripture commands, to keep ourselves unstained from the sin of this world and many of us have experienced personal victories in these areas. However, one of the most difficult situations that virtually all believers find themselves in is having to submit to authorities and leaders who are, at best, imperfect, and, at worst, carnal and hostile towards God. However, scripture is quite clear on the matter

Let every person be in subjection to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those which exist are established by God. Therefore, he who resists authority has opposed the ordinance of God; and they who have opposed will receive condemnation upon themselves. Romans 13:1

This scripture refers mainly to submission to civil government, but in regards to any work of service, whether we are in the position of servant or employee, Paul states our attitude towards earthly authorities quite clearly:

Urge bond servants to be submissive to their masters, to be pleasing and give satisfaction in every way. Warn them not to be argumentative or contradict, nor to steal by taking things of small value, but to prove themselves truly loyal and entirely reliable and faithful throughout, so that in everything they may be an ornament and do credit to the teaching which is from and about God our Savior. Titus 2:9

Servants, be obedient to those who are your masters according to the flesh, with fear and trembling, in the sincerity of your heart, as to Christ; not by way of eyeservice, as men-pleasers, but as servants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart. With good will render service, as to the Lord, and not to men, knowing that whatever good thing each one does, this he will receive back from the Lord, whether slave or free. Ephesians 6:5-8 (also cf. Colossians 3:22-24)

and finally

Servants, be submissive to your masters with all respect, not only to those who are good and gentle, but also to those who are unreasonable. For this finds favor, if for the sake of conscience toward God a man bears up under sorrows when suffered unjustly. For what credit is there if, when you sin and are harshly treated, you endure it with patience? But if when you do what is right and suffer for it you patiently endure it, this finds favor with God. 1 Peter 2:18-20

For most of us, the reality and testimony of the Christian life is not experienced as we spend time around fellow believers, but it is spent in our secular profession. After all, if we spend 40+ hours per week at a job, then our witness will be seen mainly by our fellow co-workers, and our greatest chance for evangelism and ministry comes in the simplicity of our daily work. This is not a coincidence, but it is God's specific plan that as believers, we become the light of the world (cf. Matthew 5:14). In a very practical way, the “world” that we engage in daily is our jobs and we are meant to be light there. For this reason, our character and behavior around earthly authorities reveals the true depth of our Christian walk and ultimately, the effectiveness of our witness to the world.

In my personal experience, no trial or tribulation that I have encountered in my life reveals more of my need for Christ and His Spirit than my interactions with the authorities that I've been called to submit under. As I've had to submit under earthly authority, I've realized that I lack two major elements in my Christian walk: a deep, unconditional love for others and a full repentance from dead works. John states that any person who does not love abides in death (cf. 1 John 3:14). This verse is usually applied to loving the brotherhood, but we, as believers, are called to love even our enemies. Therefore, this verse applies not only to brotherhood, but it applies to all who we come in contact with... even those who are unreasonable. If we say that we love God and lack in this area, then we are as those who walk in darkness and have no spiritual life in us. Secondly, I realized that repentance from dead works doesn't just apply to our devotion to God, but it applies to all areas of service to Him. This also includes the attitude of service towards our earthly authorities. If we merely pay lip service to those who are have authority over us or work in a half-hearted way just to appease our conscience, we are performing dead works to God, since our service to God-ordained authorities is really a service towards God. It is easy to state one's devotion and wholeheartedness to God in words, but it is a completely different matter to prove it through submission to imperfect authority. God does not desire for us to simply yield, acquiesce, and tolerate leaders in an apathetic way, but the challenge offered by Paul and Peter is to serve our earthly authorities earnestly, sincerely, and in a way that honors God. This attitude was exemplified by Jesus, who was under submission to the imperfect and godless Roman authorities. The words of the Sermon on the Mount illustrate this:

You have heard that it was said, 'An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth.' But I say to you, do not resist him who is evil; but whoever slaps you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also. And if anyone wants to sue you, and take your shirt, let him have your coat also. And whoever shall force you to go one mile, go with him two. Matthew 5:38-41

This passage does not encourage believers to be gullible and naïve, but it teaches us not to pursue personal retaliation against those who have acted unreasonably against us. This applies equally as well to earthly authorities who place irrational and unreasonable burdens over our lives. The response of the world is either to retaliate against them or to harbor bitterness toward them; however, Jesus emphasized that we should love and pray for them, knowing that our service to them is service towards Our Father. In the world around us, we see many of our co-workers exercising many of the characteristics that Jesus and the apostles urged us not to do. In our work places, we see hypocrisy, where co-workers smile in their employer's face and curse them behind their back. We see acts of rebellion, half-hearted work, gossiping, jealousy, self-promoting, divisiveness, and all other matters of wickedness among our co-workers. Usually, most of the cursing and criticism towards the leaders are very well-justified, but the real question is- will you conform to the world's standards or will you conform to Christ's standards? Will you patiently endure while being treated harshly or will you respond to the temptations of your flesh and retaliate against such treatment in your heart? Will you honor God with your service to imperfect authority or will you dishonor God by your rebellion to this authority?

A reasonable question that can be asked is what is God trying to produce in us through our submission to earthly authority. Peter sums this up nicely in the context of submission to elders

You younger men, likewise, be subject to your elders; and all of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, for God is opposed to the proud, but gives grace to the humble. Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God that He may exult you at the proper time, casting all your anxiety upon Him because He cares for you. 1 Peter 5:5-7

Ultimately, through our submission to these authorities, God continuously produces humility and endurance in our lives, and as this humility is produced in our lives, He gives us grace to continue to serve our earthly leaders with a sincere heart. This humility enables the marvelous grace of God to cover our weaknesses and sin; however, when we are prideful and rebellious, we expose ourselves and bring shame to ourselves and to God. Notice here that our anxiety is placed upon Christ after our initial submission to authorities. This means that the anxiety that we are casting on Christ is the anxiety and worry associated with humbling ourselves to these authorities. Our example is Christ who “while being reviled, He did not revile in return and while suffering, He uttered no threats, but kept entrusting Himself to Him who judges righteously.” When we humble ourselves to these authorities, we are entrusting Our Father to keep, guide, and protect us, while not attempting to preserve ourselves. The grace needed to be a witness in this area is more than abundant for us so that we may walk as Christ walks. I pray that we are convicted by this because there are few things in our lives that are as great of a witness as the privilege and opportunity demonstrating the love and power of God through submission to our earthly authorities. When our co-workers observe us consistently obeying the commands of the scripture by serving our employers or other authorities with joy and sincerity, our lifestyle serves as a dramatic distinction and witness to those around them and verifies to a dying world the reality and truth of the God that we serve.

Grace Greater than Our Sin

Recently, a hymn has been on my mind:


Marvelous grace of our loving Lord,
Grace that exceeds our sin and our guilt!
Yonder on Calvary’s mount outpoured,
There where the blood of the Lamb was spilled.

Refrain:
Grace, grace, God’s grace,
Grace that will pardon and cleanse within;
Grace, grace, God’s grace,
Grace that is greater than all our sin!

Sin and despair, like the sea waves cold,
Threaten the soul with infinite loss;
Grace that is greater, yes, grace untold,
Points to the refuge, the mighty cross.

Dark is the stain that we cannot hide;
What can we do to wash it away?
Look! There is flowing a crimson tide,
Brighter than snow you may be today.

Marvelous, infinite, matchless grace,
Freely bestowed on all who believe!
You that are longing to see His face,
Will you this moment His grace receive?


As with many concepts of the New Testament, grace is an often used and often misinterpreted word. Most people understand grace in much of the same way that Old Testament individuals understood it- simply God's favor. Most people interpret it as God's forbearance of sin and use it as a reason to overlook various sins. Other Christians look at grace as a vague notion of forgiveness. However, scripture is quite clear: grace and truth only came through Christ Jesus. Look at the distinction that John made

For the Law was given through Moses; grace and truth were realized through Jesus Christ. John 1:17

As much as the Law was introduced by Moses, grace was introduced by Jesus. Therefore, this grace is understood primarily through the New Covenant introduced by Jesus. It is generally understood by many believers that the Law introduced by Moses is good because it reveals God's holiness and as a result, it produces the knowledge of sin in a believer, demonstrating their need for repentance. However, what many do not understand is that without the Law, this grace from Jesus is not understood. Paul explains this the connection:

And the Law came in that transgression might increase, but where sin increased, grace abounded all the more, that, as sin reigned in death, even so grace might reign through eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. Romans 5:20-21

The reality of the Christian life is that without a deep revelation of the power and nature of sin, there will not be a true understanding of the power and abundance of grace. Without understanding the nature of sin, a believer will live their life, declaring that God's grace is cheap and weak. However, the closer one comes to understanding the holiness of God and the more they see their own sinfulness, the more they will understand that the grace of God is costly and expensive. I do not believe that it is a coincidence that Paul considered himself "the chief of all sinners" (cf. 1 Tim. 1:15), yet understood the meaning of grace (cf. 1 Tim. 1:12-14). Personally, I struggled to truly grasp the concept of grace until God gripped me with Romans 5. It was in this passage that I understood the nature and power of sin.

Therefore, just as through one man, sin entered into the world and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned- Romans 5:12

This is a passage worth re-reading slowly. How powerful must sin be if it has such a strong residual effect! One act of disobedience by Adam so fundamentally changed his nature that he hid from God and one of his children became a murderer after his transgression. This sin is so powerful that it caused mankind, who was created in His image, to become so fundamentally corrupt that God repented in His heart for making man (cf. Genesis 6:6). One initial act of disobedience by Adam changed the nature of man to the point where "every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually". Sin affected mankind to the point where Jeremiah claimed that the human heart is "deceitful wicked" (cf. Jeremiah 17:9). Because of sin, David said that mankind lacks understanding and has no desire to seek God (cf. Psalm 14:2). All of this is the result of one act of disobedience. It's amazing to fully understand that sin has produced such effects.

In many ways, sin is the most deadly virus that has infected mankind and the Law introduced by Moses only excited the virus further. This virus destroyed everyone in its path; no virus in history has claimed as many lives as sin claimed, whether it was the Black Death of the 14th century that killed over 100 million or the current AIDS epidemic. This virus, sin, has destroyed everyone and death reigned over all of man. In reality, because of sin, every person on earth was born with a death sentence on their life because of its destructive effects. In current times, those who have contracted the AIDS virus understand that death is near and out of desperation, they desperately seek doctors who would offer them a glimpse of hope for a cure. However, sin is infinitely more damaging than AIDS, yet so few believers understand its seriousness and seek God for the cure with true earnestness. There was no cure for sin until Christ came and introduced this grace to us.

But the free gift is not like the transgression. For if by the transgression of the one, the many died, much more did the grace of God and the gift by the grace of the one Man, Jesus Christ abound to many. And the gift is no like that which came through the one who sinned; for on the one hand the judgment arose from one transgression resulting in condemnation, but on the other hand, the free gift arose from many transgressions resulting in justification. Romans 5:15-16

Despite the great power of our sin, look at what the grace of God has done through Christ! If sin is powerful enough to destroy mankind, how much more will the grace that comes through Christ produce? In our personal lives, we have seen how sin has ravaged our lives, past and present, but the grace of God not only cancels out sin... grace overwhelmingly conquers sin! The above passage states that while the power of one transgression produced death, the power of grace conquers a multitude of sins. So what is a practical definition of this grace? The following verse explains:

For if by the transgression of the one, death reigned through the one, much more those who receive the abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ. Romans 5:17

Grace is the power of God to overwhelming conquer the power of sin and death in our lives. We receive our introduction into this grace by faith in Christ(cf. Romans 5:2). So grace is not simply an act of God's forbearance or forgiveness- it is His power produced by the great sacrifice given by Christ. As much as sin produced death and ruled in our lives, grace produces life. Because grace overwhelmingly conquers the power of sin in our lives, sin does not have to be a master over our lives (cf. Romans 6:14). As mentioned in the above verse, because of Christ's sacrifice, this grace is abundant to all believers who will put their trust in Christ. So let us follow the exhortation in Hebrews 12:1; let us fix our eyes on Jesus and receive this grace so that we can lay aside every sin entangles us and causes us to stumble.

I ask the reader a simple question: have you received a deep understanding of God's holiness and sin in your life? Have you sought God to reveal this to you? If you haven't, then it is probably true that you haven't understood the meaning of God's grace and its abundance. When you read through the scripture about the holiness of God, I would ask for you to read it slowly that your eyes may be open to the seriousness of sin. Then, as you seek God for the cure for sin, the words of the popular hymn will ring true to you:

Grace, grace, God’s grace,
Grace that will pardon and cleanse within;
Grace, grace, God’s grace,
Grace that is greater than all our sin!

Reflections and Ambition

This is my first blog of the year and as most people do, I spent a good deal of time for the past month reflecting on my life and my walk with Christ. In the past year, there have been a number of great victories given to me by the grace of God and a number of failures that God is still working on. In many ways, God has demonstrated His faithfulness to me over the past year and His faithfulness has caused me to remain continuously grateful to Him. His kindness towards me has radically changed my life from being an ungrateful Christian who lived on the basis of entitlement to a believer that honors God in all things and trusts in Him, despite life's difficulties. During this year, many scriptures that I've never experienced came alive like never before. There are two passages that come to my mind to describe last year:

The path of the righteous is like the light of dawn that shines brighter and brighter until the full day. Proverbs 4:19

Much of my Christian life in my earlier years were characterized by inconsistency. There were some days where I experienced God's glory in a very real and definite way, and then there are other days where I would spiral into old sins and old religious habits. This up-and-down relationship with Christ was something that I never questioned in my earlier Christian life because I never saw an example of a person who lived consistently in the face of God. However, last year, this scripture gripped me because its truth is inescapable. According to this passage, the righteous man (the man who lives by faith in Christ) should not have such an unstable life, but his life in Christ should grow greater and greater. The righteous man should not live his life, waiting to revive an old Christian experience, but should live his life, expecting a more glorious day in the future. Each day, his walk with Christ should grow brighter and become much more clearer. At the beginning of last year, my life was still very much up-and-down spiritually. The reality was that I was not secure in my foundation of Christ, and as a result, my Christian life flowed based on how my circumstances were. However, when I understood and grasped this scripture, I pursued God that this scripture may become real to me and by the end of the year, I could say that the Word proved itself to be true in my life. I could finally sing the popular refrain without lying: "Whatever my lot, Thou has taught me to say, It is well, it is well, with my soul." My Christian walk was truly growing brighter and brighter each day.

The second passage that came alive to me this past year is from Lamentations:

The Lord's lovingkindness indeed never cease, for His compassions never fail. They are new every morning; Great is Thy faithfulness. "The Lord is my portion" says my soul, "Therefore I have hope in Him." The Lord is good to those who wait for Him, to the person who seeks Him. It is good that he waits silently for the salvation of the Lord. It is good for a man that he should bear the yoke in his youth. Let him sit alone and be silent since He has laid it on him. Lamentations 3:22-28

The conviction of the passage comes with a question: Is Jeremiah exaggerating or is he describing his personal experience with God? How can a man who saw the devastation of his people declare that His lovingkindness never ceases and His compassion never fails? I was faced with this question in my life last year as I saw my mother, from a distance, go through various difficulties with her illness. I didn't understand why this was occurring and why I was in a position to do nothing, but this passage is nevertheless true: His faithfulness is great, His lovingkindness never ceases, and His compassions never fail. He changed my heart about the situation when I placed my trust in Him to have His perfect will in her life and I began to see gradual change in her, both spiritually and physically, as the year went on. Although the illness is not gone, the work that God produced in spiritually far outweighed the pain of the physical illness.

The second half of the passage came alive in my life when God placed the burden of building the Church in my heart. Honestly, this was not something that I personally wanted in my life because I knew the difficulties involved in building the Church, but when God told me that this is the purpose of my life, He gave me a great sense of peace about the matter. However, as I began to sit down and meditate on this, I realized that this calling is not a burden, but it is a privilege. It is a honor to serve God as a young man and I remain grateful to God that I have the health of my youth to serve Him and to build His Church. After yielding and rejoicing in His will for my life, He began to surround me with a body of believers who I love dearly and so we, as a body, rejoice in the privilege of serving God and building the Church. As the new year has begun, I have reflected on all of these matters and I can agree with Jeremiah: The Lord's faithfulness is great.

Entering this new year, the Holy Spirit asked me one question and told me to meditate on this before answering: What is my true ambition? Of course, the simple answer would have been to know Christ, but as I began to give an answer, I was stopped because I realized that I did not count the cost for such a statement. If knowing Christ is my true ambition, then every other ambition must be counted as insignificant compared to Him. This includes a great reputation among secular and religious leaders, a great outward ministry, a great professional career as a scientist, and a long list of other ambitions that I previous had. If knowing Christ is my true ambition, how is it reflected in my life? If God changes my life in such a way that none of my ambitions in life ever occur, will I be satisfied in Christ alone or will I harbor bitterness towards God? Will I pursue Him with a deeper fervor than I pursued my academic pursuits or is my response merely lip-service to God? Can I say truthfully as Jeremiah stated "The Lord is my portion"? I pondered these questions and gave God the same answer: to know Him. I will ask the reader the same question: What is your true ambition? In an honest assessment, what is the center of your life? Is it Christ alone or Christ + another ambition? If God strips your life down to the bare minimum so that your personal ambitions are never met, will you rejoice and be satisfied with Him or will you resent Him? Is Christ your portion and your expected hope or is your heart expecting another inheritance?

Let the answer to this question be the start of the new year for you.

Building the Body Through Love

In the previous blog, I discussed how important the body of Christ is and how building the Church should be the ambition of our heart. I discussed how we should reject the notion of living as isolated individuals as Christians and enter into the Church of God. Now, we must discuss how we must build the body. Ephesians 4:1-3 states:

I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, entreat you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, showing forbearance to one another in love, being diligent to preserve the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.

What is this unity of the Spirit that Paul speaks of in this passage? Colossians 3:14 describes love as the "perfect bond of unity". What manner of love unites the Church of God? From my experience, most believers exercise fraternal love or "philia" in Greek. The idea is of cherishing and refers to the union of the soul of one with that of the other. It is a love based usually on similarity of intellectual and emotional outlook. It means more than physical love but it can still be self-centered, for its satisfaction often comes from the feeling that one is wanted, or that one is a benefactor or a protector of that other needy person. This is the best type of love that man can exercise apart from the Holy Spirit and we see this love exercised in many fraternal societies and organizations. It is a tragedy that many of us accept this fraternal love as God's best and build our fellowship based on it. However, there is a deeper love that comes directly from God- agape. This is the love that defines the Church- it is the unique signature that distinguishes the Church from every other fraternal organization on this earth. This sort of love ultimately defines whether or not a person is truly a disciple and whether a local body is the true Church (cf. John 13:34-35). This is the love that God imparted to us by the Holy Spirit (Rom. 5:5) and refers to the union of the spirit of one with that of the other. It is a self-giving love - the love of Calvary's cross.

William Barclay in `More New Testament Words', says, "Agape is unconquerable benevolence, invincible goodwill. It is not simply a wave of emotion; it is a deliberate conviction of the mind issuing in a deliberate policy of the life; it is a deliberate achievement and conquest and victory of the will. It takes all of man to achieve this love; it takes not only his heart; it takes his mind and his will as well. It is impossible for a man to have this love unless the Spirit takes possession of him and sheds abroad the love of God in his heart." A Greek lexicon referring to agape says, "It chooses its object with decision and self-denying compassion. This is love in its fullest and highest form. It has its source in God. The verb-form stands for kindliness towards its object and has reference to the tendency of the will." Another definition of agape is: "It is slow to suspect but quick to trust; slow to condemn but quick to justify; slow to offend but quick to defend; slow to expose but quick to shield; slow to reprimand but quick to forbear; slow to belittle but quick to appreciate; slow to demand but quick to give; slow to provoke but quick to conciliate; slow to hinder but quick to help; and slow to resent but quick to forgive".

We are able to know this love only through our fellowship with Christ. Jesus is our forerunner and the love that He expressed is the love that we all should strive to emulate. 1 John 3:16 says:

We know love by this, that He laid down His life for us; and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren.

Jesus gave the definition of love through His sacrificial life and it is through this self-sacrificial love that the Church is built. Paul continues to describe how the Church is built up in Ephesians 4:11-16

And He gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ; until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ. As a result, we are no longer to be children, tossed here and there by waves, and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, by craftiness in deceitful scheming; but speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in all aspects into Him, who is the head even Christ, from whom the whole body being fitted and held together by that which ever joint supplies, according to the proper working of each individual part, causes the growth of the body for the building up of itself in love.

Here, Paul emphasizes how the gifts that God gives sovereignly to each individual member of the body is used to build up the Church. What is important to emphasize here is that love of the brethren precedes the operation of the gifts in the true Church. This theme is found in several passages (cf. 1 Cor. 12-13; Romans 12:4-10; 1 Peter 4:8-11) because love for the Church outranks the exercise of gifts in the Church. Unfortunately, we live in a day where the gifts are emphasized much more than love among the Body. Jesus mentioned that this is a sign of a church primed for deception. In Matthew 24, Jesus said that there would be two characteristics of the end-time world: the love of many will grow cold (Matthew 24:12) and false prophets will perform great signs and wonders (Matthew 24:24). Many people chase after gifts instead of love because gifts do not cost a person anything. It is in man's nature to offer God things that do not cost them much; however it is a godly man (and a godly Church) who refuses to offer God anything that cost them nothing (cf. 2 Samuel 24:24). To have the love of God in our lives and in our fellowship, it will cost us all of ourselves because this is the love that is selfless to its core. However, gifts are given by God in His sovereignty and require nothing of us except faith. This demonstrates that it is quite possible to have multiple gifts in operation in the church, yet still fail to be a true witness for Christ. Consider 1 Corinthians 13:1-3

If I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but do not have love, I have become a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. And if I have the gift of prophecy, and know all mysteries and all knowledge; and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. And if I give all my possessions to feed the poor, and if I deliver my body to be burned, but do not have love, it profits me nothing.

Consider a church with a testimony like this! Imagine a church where all members prophecy correctly, understand every mystery of God, and have unshakable faith. Yet, because love is not abundant among the members, this church is nothing. Furthermore, consider a church that gives all of its possessions to feed the poor, which is a appearance of self-sacrificial love. The description of this church appears to be no different than the Macedonian church that Paul commended (cf. 2 Cor. 8). What was the difference between the Macedonian church and this church? The answer is found in 2 Cor. 8:7

But just as you abound in everything, in faith and utterance and knowledge and in all earnestness, and in the love we inspired in you, see that you abound in this gracious work also

Paul is correcting the churches in Corinth by pointing the example of the abundance of love in the churches shown by the Macedonian churches. This is the type of Church that God honors and approves of. When God establishes His Church, He establishes it on the foundation of Christ and protects it through the love He pours out by His Spirit. Any other foundation will prove itself not to be the church that God establishes. Consider the warning given by John:

We know that we have passed out of death into life, because we love the brethren. He who does not love abides in death. 1 John 3:14

This is a clear and obvious warning that many, including myself, have ignored in times past. A church without the love of God among the brotherhood is a dead church. No number of gifts, wealth, or talents among members can resuscitate a church that is dead because of the lack of love. Emphasizing spiritual gifts over love is analogous to trying to convince someone that a dead person is alive by putting more clothes on him. When a person has been dead long enough, the stench from his body confirms that he is truly dead, no matter how much we attempt to resuscitate him. The same is true for the church. The stench, so to speak, from the church that everyone can detect is a result of the lack of love in the church. However, just as Jesus raised Lazarus after he was dead for three days, any local body can be raised back to life if God pours His Spirit of love on the church. The love of God among the Body is our protection. A church that has many gifts and ministries in operation without love is analogous to a large, magnificent city without any walls. Without protection, any city is subject to sieges from their enemies. The same is true for the church. Our great adversary, Satan, devises many schemes to make sure that the true Church is never built. However, when the love of God is abundant in the church, God Himself will be a "wall of fire in our midst" (Zechariah 2:5). The fire of God's love is our protection and we, as believers, should endeavor to protect it at all costs.

Finally, what is the result of building the body in love? As stated previously in Ephesians 4, "we are no longer children, tossed here and there by waves, and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, by craftiness in deceitful scheming". So, what distinguishes children from adults: stability and maturity. As the body begins to build up itself in love, the Church becomes more stable and more mature. The stability of the Church increases in the sense that we are not shaken by the many attacks that inevitably come to the Church. As love continues to grow among the Body, we become more rooted and established in Christ. The maturity of the Church increases in the sense that we are no longer gullible and easily deceived. One characteristic of a Church that is growing is its increasing ability to avoid various distractions. Many churches demonstrate their lack of maturity by following everything that has the appearance of godliness. In this way, churches lose their primary witness by chasing after secondary pursuits. However, a mature Church looks beyond the appearance and uses discernment to weigh the actual substance. This sort of Church avoids many distractions because it has built itself up based on what God desired for them.

Therefore, as Paul warns us, we should be careful on how we build upon the foundation of Christ. There are many good works that a church can do that will prove to be worthless, unless love is first established among the brotherhood. Let's remember the example of the church at Ephesus in Revelation 2. This church had outstanding ministries, but because they left their first love, they were in danger of losing their witness (cf. Rev. 2:1-7). Let us not fall into the same example of sin, but let us build the body of Christ through the love of God.

Leaving the Congregation and Entering the Body

Zechariah 12:10 states:

And I will pour out on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the Spirit of grace and of supplication, so that they will look on Me whom they have pierced; and they will mourn for Him, as one mourns for an only son, and they will weep bitterly over Him, like the bitter weeping over a first-born.

This prophecy specifically addresses the siege of Jerusalem due to Israel's idolatrous acts towards God. However, if we meditate on this passage, we will find great meaning for us as New Covenant believers. The first question that should be addressed is why was Christ crucified for us? For what reasons was He pierced for us in the context of this passage? As believers, we all know that Christ was crucified for our sins, serving as a substitute for us on the cross. However, in this passage, the emphasis is not placed on individual justification, but the emphasis is placed on "the inhabitants of Jerusalem". Looking through the New Covenant, this is a picture of the Church. So, the question becomes in the context of the Church, why did Christ give Himself for us? Why was it necessary for Christ to be crucified on behalf of the Church? The answer of this question lies in John 14:12-14

Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go to the Father

In speaking to His disciples, Christ says that the person who believes in Him in the full conviction of faith will not only perform the same works as Christ (such as miracles, signs, and wonders), but they will also do works that are qualitatively different and greater than Christ's works on the earth. What works are greater than the works that Jesus did on earth? The answer is the unity and completion of the Church. When Jesus was on Earth, he healed the sick and raised the dead, but He could never make the apostles one. This became the ministry of the Holy Spirit. So on God's priority list, so to speak, the oneness of the Church on earth with Christ is of highest priority. This was so important that the last prayer in John before He went to the cross was a plea to the Father that we may become one:

"...they may all be one, even as You, Father, are in Me, and I in you, that they also may be in Us, that the world may believe that You did send me. And the glory which You have given Me I have given to them; that they may be one, just as We are one: I in them, and You in Me, that they may be perfected in unity, that the world may know that You did send Me, and did love them, even as You did love Me." John 17:21-23

This is the heart's desire of our Lord and Savior; He believed that the oneness of the Church is so important that it was worth giving up His life for and sending the Holy Spirit for. The same desire still exist; the Church is still the bride of Christ and Christ constantly repeats this prayer to our Father, pleading that we may become one. Our Father also seeks to find those who has the same passion for the Church as He does. Sadly, in today's church, we don't see an united Body of Christ growing together in love, power, and grace. What we see today is a congregation of isolated members- an Old Covenant representation of the church. We live in a Christianity today where it is perfectly acceptable to go to a church building and passively listen to a preacher preach, while the elders carry the majority of the burden for the Church. Today, it is perfectly acceptable to sit next to a person week after week in a church building and have no genuine concern for their spiritual well-being. Today, it is perfectly acceptable that there are cliques within the Church, wide-scale division, selfish ambition, and jealousy among the members, and these things are accepted. What has been troubling to me is that very few people see this as bondage and captivity. The reality is that although a person goes to church every Sunday and Wednesday, they are very much alone. They live their Christian life isolated from others and many pastors will justify their behavior by stating that true believers usually live their life isolated from other believers. They do not know that they are held in bondage and captivity because a person's spiritual development is intricately tied to their fellowship with others. 1 John 2:10 states that the one who loves his brother genuinely abides in the light and there is no cause for stumbling in him. However, to the one who is apathetic towards fellowship with their brothers, he walks in darkness and stumbles because his eyes have been blinded by darkness (1 John 2:11).

What we are seeing in modern times is the destruction of the Church; the question is whether or not anyone truly cares? Going back to Zechariah 12:10, is anyone weeping and mourning concerning the state of the Church? Is there anyone zealous for the house of God, which is the Church? I ask this question because this was my life experience for the first 5 years of my Christian development, until God convicted me concerning His Church. I lived my life, ignoring the true meaning of fellowship until I realized that my spiritual development came to an abrupt stop. I realized that I was living in captivity- in the same type of captivity that Israel experienced when they were exiled to Babylon. I realized that the enhancement and proof of my sanctification is done through the body of Christ and not through a congregation. The passages of scripture that I was led to was found in Nehemiah 1-4, Psalm 133, and Ephesians 4. Nehemiah was the answer of the prayers of several prophets before him who longed to see the restoration of Jerusalem following the Babylonian captivity. Nehemiah had a fairly comfortable life as cupbearer to the king and when he heard about the state of the remnant who had survived the captivity, he responded as follows:

"... I sat down and wept and mourned for days; and I was fasting and praying before the God of heaven. And I said, 'I beseech You, O Lord God of heaven... let Your ear now be attentive and Your eyes open to hear the prayer of Your servant which I am praying before You now, day and night, on behalf of the sons of Israel You servants, confessing the sins, which we have sinned against You; I and my father's house have sinned." (Nehemiah 1:4-6)

Here is a man who lived his life comfortably and when he heard about the distress of the captives, it convicted him to the point where he left the comforts of his life and dedicated himself to rebuilding Jerusalem. Moreover, his conviction prompted him not only to confess his own sin in causing the captivity, but he took responsibility for the sins of everyone around him- as a true intercessor does. What was in Nehemiah's heart that prompted him to do this? Ezekiel 6:8-9 describes the heart of the exiles who escaped:

"Then those of you who escape will remember Me among the nations to which they will be carried captive, how I have hurt by their adulterous hearts which turned away from Me, and by their eyes, which played the harlot after their idols; and they will loathe themselves in their own sight for the evils which they have committed, for all their abominations."

This was the position that Nehemiah took; after hearing about the distress of the exiles, he was brought to complete repentance because he realized his role in the matter. He realized that his sins not only hurt the heart of God so deeply that it caused Him to bring Israel into captivity. Where do we find individuals like this who understand the modern desolation of the Church literally breaks God's heart? Moreover, where do we find men and women like this who will leave their nice Christian life and dedicate their lives to the rebuilding of the Church? This is why the Holy Spirit needs to be poured out upon the Church; we will only devote our lives to building fellowship when we see how much our Father desires it and we will only become zealous about this matter when the Holy Spirit fills us. After the godly concern for the restoration of Jerusalem was in Nehemiah's heart, we see God's sovereignty at work. God stirs the heart of the king to the point where the king doesn't just give permission to Nehemiah to return to Jerusalem, but He completely financed the entire trip. This is the beauty of our God- when we are zealous for the Church to the point where we begin to labor for Her, our Father does whatever is necessary to restore the Church. Even in the midst of opposition, if our heart is towards the restoration of the Church, then our Father will be as "a wall of fire in our midst" (Zechariah 2:5). Nehemiah and his fellow builders faced great opposition from those around them to the point that the workers became discouraged and fear. However, when Nehemiah saw their fear, he arose and said:

"Do not be afraid of them; remember the Lord who is great and awesome, and fight for your brothers, your sons, your daughters, your wives, and your houses!"

The same is the case for us. There are many ways by which the Church can become divided, but it has already been promised that the gates of hell will not prevail against the Church. Therefore, with this faith, we must fight for our fellow brothers; we must constantly challenge, encourage, and comfort one another. This is how the Church prevails against any opposition: when the opposition comes, it must draw us together closer. Listen to the words of David

"Behold how good and how pleasant it is for brothers to dwell together in unity! It is like the precious oil upon the head, coming down upon the beard, even Aaron's beard, coming down upon the edge of his robes. It is like the dew of Hermon, coming down upon the mountains of Zion; for there the Lord commands the blessing- life forever." Psalm 133

It is only when dwell in unity together as a body that the Lord gives us life. When we are isolated and divided, only death and destruction can persist in us. In our divided state, we are very much like the dry bones in a valley described in Ezekiel 37- lifeless and powerless individually. Once again, in this passage, what enables the valley of dead and dry bones to become an exceedingly great army is the Holy Spirit. When God's breath came upon the bones, Ezekiel looked in amazement as the bones began to re-attach to one another with skin and flesh and then through God's breath, life entered into the bones and they became an exceedingly great army. What a marvelous picture of the Church! We see this concept in Ephesians 4

"And He gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ; until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature, which belongs to the fullness of Christ. As a result, we are no longer to be children, tossed here and there by waves, and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, by craftiness by deceitful scheming; but speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in all aspects into Him, who is the head even Christ, from whom the whole body being fitted and held together by that which every joint supplies, according to the proper working of each individual part, causes the growth of the body for the building up of itself in love."

This is our destination- growing to a mature man in the stature of the fullness of Christ as one body. When this occurs, we will see all of the deceptive powers of Satan and man put to nothing. When God breathes His life in us, He produces a zeal for the Church so that each individual part may fit together so that there is mutual edification and fellowship. However, as this passage states, this only occurs when there is the proper working of each individual part. For this reason, we must all participate in the building of the true Church of God. No gifting is insignificant for the Church, but every single gift is needed so that we can stand as the Church. In reading Nehemiah 3, we see that God takes the time to mention the name of every person who assisted in the rebuilding of Jerusalem. Much of the work was not grand, but it was the heart and passion that moved God to mention them. The same is for us today. To those whose heart is full of faith and conviction for the rebuilding of the Church, He records our name as being faithful to the calling by which He gives us. When we all complete our appointed task, then we will see God works miracles for the Church. It is only then when Satan will be crushed under our feet (Romans 16:20).

However, this process of building the body starts only when we leave the congregational-counterfeit of the Church and enter into the true body of Christ. Our oneness is not based on personality, socioeconomic status, hobbies, vision, or even doctrine; our oneness is based on the foundation of our faith which is Christ Himself. The Church exist for Him and as believers, our destination is to be conformed to His image. We must reject the belief that we can exist as believers on an island; the one who desires to walk the Christian walk is seeking his own desire and acting out of selfishness. It is this person who will never leave the Old Covenant church and will live in constant defeat of sin. To those who are desiring fellowship, I want to encourage you to remember God's sovereignty- because your heart is turned toward Him and His thoughts, He will not allow you to walk this path alone. He will bring others from unexpected places so that you can build fellowship. Remember the story of Elijah; after running from Jezebel, he believed that he was the only prophet zealous for the Lord. However, the Lord rebuked him, saying that I have 7000 who haven't bowed to Baal (1 Kings 19). So like the apostle Paul, I entreat all of you to walk with all humility and gentleness, with patience, showing forbearance to one another in love, being diligent to preserve the unity of the Spirit at all cost (Ephesians 4:2-3). Our union as a Body is proved when we refuse to allow any breaches in our fellowship due to unforgiveness, bitterness, jealousy, or selfish ambition. Let us be filled with His Spirit of grace because grace is the strength that enables us to forgive quickly, to become transparent with one another, to live humbly before one another, and most important, grace is strength that enables us to knit our hearts together as a body, even during the most difficult of circumstances.

I will end this on Psalm 126

"When the Lord brought back the captive ones of Zion, we were like those who dream. Then our mouth was filled with laughter, and our tongue with joyful shouting; then they among the nations, 'The Lord has done great things for them'. The Lord has done great things for us... Those who sow in tears shall reap with joyful shouting. He who goes to and fro weeping, carrying his bag of seed, shall indeed come again with a shout of joy, bringing his sheaves with him"

The context of this passage refers to the remnant who survived the captivity finally leaving Babylon, a picture of the counterfeit church, to enter Jerusalem, a picture of the Church. Imagine being an Israelite- for several generations, everyone you ever knew lived in captivity and eventually, after living in captivity so long, you begin to adjust and accept that it is the fact of life. Imagine the joy on the faces of Israelites, after being in harsh captivity for several generation, when they have the opportunity to leave. The moment is so surreal that it feels like a dream, until you realize that it is real. All of the prayers and crying to God has finally been answered as you pick up your belongings and leave captivity. Therefore, all of the tears turn into joyful shouting and all of the prayers that have been sown, so to speak, have now come to harvest.

This is a picture of the multitude of individuals who will escape from the congregation and come to the Body of Christ. Many have been living in a second-rate Christian experience of fellowship that they have begun to accept this as normal. However, there are some who look around them, observing the captivity, and refuse to accept this situation. They will leave the congregation and actively in faith pursue the rebuilding of the Church. They will give up their lives and comforts for this because they know how valuable our Father views the Church. All of the labors, tears, and hardships that will be faced will all be worth it because God will fulfill His promise. God promised that He will build and establish His Church and it will be as a blameless and spotless virgin for Christ. So, all of the tears that we shed for this to occur will be transformed into joyful shouting when we see the completion of this project. Moreover, all of the saints before us who labored in prayer, who were martyred for keeping the faith, and who left the professions for the gospel will all be made complete (remember that we are surrounded by a great cloud of witnesses). We all will rejoice together because God will complete, perfect, and establish His work through us! Therefore, let us stop pursuing other selfish ambitions, and let us leave the congregation of the weak church and begin the journey of entering into the Body of Christ.

Faith in God's Promise

In previous blogs, I have discussed the glory of the New Covenant life and how this is an inheritance of each believer if they desire it earnestly. However, for some, the failures of their past life and the current difficulties of their Christian life has caused them to see these promises as more of an abstraction than a present reality. The strong pull from the world has caused some to see this life as an impossibility and in other cases, the standard of fellow Christian brothers has caused some to accept a watered-down and defeated Christian life. I know this to be the case because this is something that I lived with for most of my Christian life. I realized that although I believed in my mind that God would complete His final purpose with me, I did not truthfully believe in my heart that the type of life preached about in the scripture is obtainable. In addressing this, the Holy Spirit spoke two different passages of scripture to me. James states:

What use is it, my brethren, if a man says he has faith, but he has no works? Can that faith save him?... Even so faith, if it has no works, is dead, being by itself. But someone may well say, "You have faith, and I have works; show me your faith without the works, and I will show you my faith by my works... But are you willing to recognize you foolish fellow, that faith without works is useless. James 2:14,17,18,20

As James states, what is the usefulness of having faith if it doesn't produce action in a believer? What is the purpose of having the testimonies of Paul, Peter, and John if it doesn't challenge me daily to pursue God's heart? More importantly, what is the purpose of the living testimony of Christ and the promises to those who believe in Him if it doesn't fundamentally change my life? When I came to Christ, I did not come to him hesitantly; I came to Him in the full assurance that Christ died for my sins and by His blood, completely cleansed me from them. I was so convinced of this that it caused me to repent of my sins and former life and turn to Him. If this is the condition by which I came to Him- in full assurance of His salvation- then why do I not have full assurance that He is able to send me into this New Covenant life that is also promised in scripture?

Moreover, James makes a strong statement: Can that sort of faith save him? If a partial belief in the promise of God for justification is not genuine enough to save a person, how much less can a half-hearted belief in the promise of God for sanctification cause him to walk in newness of life? James 1:5-7 states this as follows:

But let him ask in faith without any doubting, for the one who doubts is like the surf of the sea driven and tossed by the wind. For let not man expect that he will receive anything from the Lord, being a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.

The context of this scripture is referring to asking for Godly wisdom, but it still speaks of the spirit of faith. The truth of the matter is that a half-hearted, half-convinced, partial belief in God's promise comes down to doubt in God's word. A person with this sort of faith can fully expect to live an unstable Christian life: a Christian life that is beset with many weaknesses and enslaved with a number of sins. However, to the one that asks in genuine faith, God will give us His wisdom generously and liberally (James 1:5) so that we can live this life that the New Covenant speaks of. The reason that God generously gives His wisdom to all those who has genuine faith is because it is absolutely necessary in order for us to live this victorious life in Christ. Consider the testimony of our example Christ:

In the days of His flesh, He offered up both prayers and supplications with loud crying and tears to the One able to save Him from death, and He was heard because of His devotion. Although He was a Son, He learned obedience from the things which He suffered. And having been made perfect, He became to all those who obey the source of eternal salvation. Hebrews 5:7-9

In order for Jesus to live a victorious life over all matter of temptation (Hebrews 4:15), He was fully confident in His Father that He would deliver Him. This caused Him to pray night and day to Him, knowing that through faith and patience that He would obtain the promise. Jesus is our example and if we desire to live the life He lived, then we must have faith of the same nature as His.

The second passage that the Holy Spirit pointed me to was the story of Joshua and Caleb in Numbers 13. In this passage, Moses sends spies to Canaan, which is a symbol of the fullness of God, to assess the general condition of the land. When the spies returned, Moses heard report after report claiming how fortified the cities were and how strong the inhabitants were. As the children of Israel murmured before Moses, Caleb quieted the people and with the spirit of genuine faith said:

We should by all means go up and take possession of it, for we shall surely overcome. Numbers 13:30

The other spies continued to spread the bad report to all of Israel to the point that all of Israel desired to return back to the bondage of Egypt. However, in agreement with Caleb, Joshua pleaded with Israel, saying:

The land which we passed through to spy out is an exceedingly good land. If the Lord is pleased with us, then He will bring us into this land, and give it to us- a land which flows with milk and honey. Only do not rebel against the Lord and do not fear the people of the land, for they shall be our prey. Their protection has been removed from them, and the Lord is with us; do not fear them. Numbers 14:7-9

Much like Moses, all believers are faced with two different opinions: the voice of the overwhelming majority or the voice of God. How is that 2 young men can fully believe in the promise of God, over the voice of over a million dissenters? It is because both Joshua and Caleb had genuine faith. Their faith was not based on the difficulty of the obstacle, but was based on the power and promise of God's word fully. The other spies who sent bad reports only saw sure defeat as they crossed into Canaan because they only believed God's promise partially- they were not fully convinced that God was able to deliver them from this trial, despite the numerous victories that God gave to Israel previously. Much like the history of Israel, every trial revealed the fragile and unstable nature of their faith in God and it is only a matter of time before God gave them over to the dictates of their unbelieving heart, causing destruction of an entire generation. However, Caleb and Joshua had a different spirit that saw with eyes of faith, believing that there is nothing that can stop God's promise from coming to fruition apart from our unbelief.

This is the reality of the New Covenant life. It is a magnificent and glorious life that is fully impossible by human standards to obtain. Only those who live in the assurance of faith of God's promise will enter into this life. Much like Israel, many will strive with their own strength and discipline to obtain a measure of godliness and they will see defeat after defeat in their lives. For them, the only thing that they can see in front of them is the enormity of their sin and how it will constantly defeat them. Just like the children of Israel, it is only a matter of time before they develop an evil, unbelieving heart towards God, leading to their spiritual downfall. This is the life of the frustrated Christian and it is the very purpose of God to frustrate the plans of man so that God's plan may stand. Unfortunately, many Christians will have obtain the same testimony of Israel:

Surely all the men who have seen My glory and My signs, which I performed in Egypt and in the wilderness, yet have put Me to the test these ten times and have no listened to My voice, shall by no means see the land which I swore to their fathers, nor shall any of those who spurned Me see it

And again in Psalm 95:10-11

For forty years I loathed that generation, and said they are a people who err in their heart, and they do not know My ways. Therefore I swore in my anger, truly they shall not enter into My rest.

When I read this, I determined within myself that I will not leave this earth without experiencing the life in Christ that is available to those with genuine faith. The encouragement of this passage is that God fulfilled His promise for Caleb and Joshua. While every other person in the wilderness died only to see the land, two young men who simply believed God's word entered into this land. There were many battles that they had to fight and many lessons that they had to learn, but the greatest testimony given to Joshua's generation was that God would not allow them to fall since they had put their trust in Him. In the book of Joshua, God cut off the Jordan River (Joshua 3), brought down the most fortified city in Canaan (Joshua 4), and even made the sun stand still during a battle (Joshua 10:13)! This is the awesomeness of our God; when any person puts their faith in Him completely, He will not cause him to fall; He will do whatever is necessary for the believer to triumph. This is why we know that He always leads us in triumph in Christ (2 Cor. 2:14); this is how we know that all things work together for the good (Rom. 8:18); this is how we know that sin will not have dominion over us (Rom. 6:14); this is how we know that the God of peace will crush Satan under our feet (Rom. 16:20); and ultimately, we know that we will overcome the world by our faith (1 John 5:4). By His Spirit, all of these things are not only possible, but they are our birthright as children of God through faith. Even so, the New Covenant life of victory in the fullness of the Holy Spirit is obtainable; to those who have faith in His promise, He will do whatever is necessary to fulfill His word.

So, let us be diligent in pursuing this life in God on the basis of faith unless while a promise remains of entering in, we should fall short of it. Moreover, let us be very careful not to develop an unbelieving heart like the children of Israel and fall away from the promise that He gives us in His word. Our Father is faithful and He has given us everything needed to live a godly life. Once again, we are given two choices: we can live a life full of the life of God or we can live the life that the children of Israel lived and millions of Christians live today. Let us endeavor to choose the life that Christ died for and enter into the rest that is still open for believers today.

Living Stones

1 Peter 2:4-9 gives an analogy of the Christian life as a spiritual house fitted together by living stones:

And coming to Him as to a living stone, rejected by men, but choice and precious in the sight of God, you also, as living stones, are being built up as a spiritual house for a holy priesthood to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. For this is contained in Scripture: "Behold I lay in Zion a choice stone, a precious corner stone, and he who believes in Him shall not be disappointed." This precious value, then is for you who believe. But for those who disbelieve,"The stone which the builders rejected, this became the very corner stone," and, "A stone of stumbling and rock of offense", for they stumble because they are disobedient to the word and to this doom they were also appointed. But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God's own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light; 

The question that one must ask is what is a living stone and how does this analogy fit to describe the New Covenant life? From my meditations, I've come to understand this passage doesn't just speak of the body of Christ, but it also has deeper meaning for an individual's spiritual life. If we look at a house, the first aspect that most people focus on would be the superstructure of the house. Many will notice how large the house is, how large the property is, and other external things. Only skilled workers who construct homes will notice what foundation the house built on; furthermore, even the most skilled workers will only ask about the foundation if the house itself is defective. Otherwise, the assumption is that the foundation of the home is built well. Most people will learn about the strength of the foundation of the home only if the house collapses. The same is quite true for the lives of many believers. Most believers will evaluate the spiritual condition of another by looking at the external activities that a person does; only spiritual discerning people will ask the question of whether or not the person built the Christian walk on the foundation of Christ. As Matthew 7:24-28 describes, there are 2 general ways that a person can build their Christian life- they can build it based on hearing and obeying the Word of God or they can build it simply by hearing the word of God and acting on their own desire. To many people, this has an obvious outcome that is expressed through the motives for their actions. However, Paul looks at a deeper issue in 1 Corinthians 3

According to the grace of God which was given to me, as a wise master builder I laid a foundation, and another is building upon it. But let each man be careful how he builds upon it. For no man can lay a foundation other than the one which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. Now if any man builds upon the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, each man's work will become evident; for the day will show it because it is to be revealed with fire, and the fire itself will test the quality of each man's work. If any man's work which has built upon it remains, he shall receive a reward. If any man's work is burned up, he shall suffer loss; but he himself shall be saved, yet so as through fire.

Paul indicates here that it is one thing to build upon the foundation of Christ since no other foundation can be laid, but it's a deeper matter to build on the foundation of Christ with materials of the same strength and value as the foundation. After all, what is the purpose of spending lots of money building the foundation of a house if the superstructure of the house is made of cheap materials? However, this is the testimony of some; a believer may sincerely come to Christ and receive forgiveness of sins and justification through Him, but then after this process, he may begin to pursue his own personal ambitions that are not established in Christ. In this way, they have stunted their Christian development and in essence, they have put cheap, temporal materials over their foundation. Our Father knows that we are prone to this type of activity so in His grace, God presents us with circumstances and trials early on in our Christian walk to test the quality of these endeavors, knowing that these useless and dead works will be shown to be worthless. Consider how great of a grace this is! God doesn't wait for a long time until the near end of our lives to test the quality of our work, but He evaluates these works as soon as our hearts are open to Him. He does this because He knows that it's much better to endure the pain of removing dead works sooner rather than later. A warning should be given here- it's a dangerous thing to rebuild our lives with the same materials that God has judged as worthless and invaluable. There comes a time where God will stop evaluating these works that we cling to and will simply allow us to build a monument made of worthless materials. It will be a sad day for that person to invest his life with a spiritual house made of worthless materials.

So what should our life be built upon? Our life should be built upon with the same materials that our foundation is built upon: the life of Christ, faith in His life, and the fruit that come from His life. What separates an ordinary stone that is used for building any house and the living stones that build the Christian life is that living stone do not decay overtime. No matter how meticulous a person is in building a home and no matter how much money was spent on the home, an ordinary house will eventually decay and fall apart as the cumulative effects of weather and erosion takes its toll on the house. However, a house of living stones can never decay because the life within the stone, so to speak, keeps the house firm against the effects of weather and erosion. This is a picture of the Old Covenant life versus the New Covenant life. The Old Covenant life was built upon by dead stones, which were our righteousness and by extension, the righteousness of the high priests of the Old Covenant. No matter how much we try to meticulously control our behavior and to come to a pure life in God by our own strength, it's only a matter of time before the trials of life will destroy our life and defeat us. This is why Paul and Peter tells us to build our house with precious stones, just as Christ Himself is a precious stone.

Peter states that God purposely laid the precious cornerstone of Christ in the Church, not so that we can only establish our foundation, but so that we can understand how to build our lives. Our lives are built by our continuous growing faith in Him and in the grace that He freely gives us. The important emphasis is that it is through the power of the Holy Spirit and the continual filling of the Holy Spirit that we can be living stones- not a Christian life that is alive one day and dead the next day, but alive forever with Him. Understanding the precious value of Christ gives us this victory and enables us to withstand the snares of the enemy. Consider the words of apostle Peter

Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls about like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. But resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same experiences of suffering are being accomplished by your brethren who are in the world. And after you have suffered for a little while, the God of all grace, who called you to His eternal glory in Christ, will Himself perfect, confirm, strengthen, and establish you. 1 Peter 4:8-10

Notice that the emphasis is that our resistance here against Satan is through the God of all grace. He is the one the strengthens and establishes us as believers. His grace is greatly ab so that we continue to be living stones. As a final note to this topic, consider the words of the prophet Jeremiah:

Ho! Everyone who thirsts come to the waters; and you who have no money come, buy, and eat. Come, buy wine and milk without money and without cost. Why do you spend money for what is not bread, and your wages for what does not satisfy? Listen carefully to Me, and eat what is good, and delight yourself in abundance. Incline your ear and come to Me. Listen, that you may live... Isaiah 55:1-3

This passage gives the picture of a believer coming to the river of God and feasting on the abundance of His presence. Notice that Isaiah exhorts believers to drink from the only source that will satisfy you and give you strength, which is God Himself. Many people drink from "broken cisterns that cannot hold water" and as a result, they deal with perpetual frustration in their Christian life, as they fall in defeat time and time again. In times past, I use to read this passage without looking at the context and the audience. If we look back in the previous chapter, we see that the audience that this passage was intended to were those who were afflicted, storm-tossed and not comforted (Isaiah 54:11). Many can relate as they are afflicted by the attack of Satan, tossed around by the trials our life because their foundation is unsure, and deal with perpetuate anxiety because they haven't experienced the comfort of the Holy Spirit. To this audience, Isaiah says that

No weapon that is formed against you shall prosper; and every tongue that accuses you in judgment you will condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord... Isaiah 54:17

To the ones that are afflicted, storm-tossed, and not comforted, the Holy Spirit says that no weapon targeted towards you will prosper. This has the implication that a person sees the weapon formed against them, yet knows in faith that the weapon will not prosper. The picture that I have in my head is a large army of spiritual darkness who have all of their weapons at me. The question is: do I have the faith that these weapons by this formidable army, which is the temptations of sin, will prosper? The Holy Spirit says that this is our heritage- this is the inheritance that we are given as believers and the way that we practically enjoy this inheritance is by feasting on the grace and presence of God, which is the topic of Isaiah 55. What a promise from scripture this is! The temptations of this world can bombard me day in and day out and I do not have to yield to them at all... this is the promise of the New Covenant. We can come to the river of God and drink continuously. In my experience, this is the only way that we can continue to be living stones built up by the chief cornerstone of Christ. My prayer is that we live our lives in this way as living stones, knowing that we can live a life completely free to God continually.