church

The Church and Temptation

/ Neal Embry / Leave a comment

Tonight wraps up the November blog series on temptation and the tools God has given us to fight back against it.  We close by examining the importance of the church and Christian friendship in our fight for godliness.

Being a part of a local church and having godly friends is something that we can easily take for granted.  Having people in your life who trust Christ and are committed to Him is a wonderful gift from God, and one of the reasons God gives this gift is for our holiness.

While Jesus and Jesus alone saves me, I wouldn’t be anywhere close to the man I am today if it weren’t for the influence of Godly men and women in my life.  There’s something about being around God’s people that helps us trust, love and reflect God more.

So how does having friendships/relationships within the local church practically make us more like Jesus, and help us fight against sin?  First, we understand that in order to fight sin and follow Christ, we need each other.  You will not make it in the Christian life alone.  God’s plan for your Christian life was never just you and Him.  Does a father adopt a child and tell him to stay as far away from His other children as possible?  Of course not!  That would be awful, and that child wouldn’t experience as much joy and love as he or she could if they were part of the rest of the family.

Paul lays out part of what it looks like to follow Jesus in Colossians 3:12-16: “Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other, as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive.  And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony.  And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body.  And be thankful.  Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God.”

Paul is not here commanding just individual Christians to be more like Jesus.  Paul is writing to the church as a whole.  Obviously, the church is made up of individual Christians, who should absolutely learn to walk out Christ’s righteousness.  But in addressing the church as a whole, Paul has united the church around a common goal: Grow in Christ and glorify God TOGETHER.  Your growth in godliness is never a solo project.  We are all in the same fight, trusting the same Savior, following the same Lord.  This binds us together.

Sanctification happens in the church.  How could we say that we’re learning to love and listen to others more if we aren’t involved in their lives?  How can we be patient and humble if we don’t have Christian friends, the church, to be patient and humble towards?  According to God’s Word, we are very involved in each other’s growth in Christlikeness.

Paul makes this clear in verse 16: “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom.”  We are to help each other.  We do this in three major ways:

1) Teaching: This isn’t necessarily talking about the spiritual gift of teaching, as in small group/Sunday School leaders or people who have an actual job in the teaching field, but about the task we all have of teaching God’s Word to each other in the context of relationships.  Example: You’re at lunch with a friend, and your friend is showing a tremendous amount of anxiety about his or her future.  As a believer, we have the promise of Matt. 6:25, where Jesus tell us to not worry about tomorrow, but to trust God.  You have that opportunity to “teach” your brother or sister in Christ.  No deep discussion of doctrine or $8 theological terms, but simply reminding each other of the promises of our God and the truth of His Word.  While we certainly need teachers in the church, and that role is a part of teaching one another, every Christian has the responsibility to remind other Christians of God’s Word.  This gives us opportunities to help each other know and believe God’s Word and use it in fighting sin, whether it be anxiety, lust, anger, idolatry, etc. 

2) Admonishment: We hold each other accountable and lovingly rebuke each other when necessary.  Christian love does not equal “not judging someone,” at least not in the way the world defines it.  We absolutely judge those who claim the name of Christ (1 Cor. 5:12-13).  We judge each other, not in prideful bashing or gossip, but in lovingly calling each other out when we see sin in our friend’s lives and when our friend seemingly fails to see it.  We judge each other because we love each other and want to help each other be more like Jesus.  There is no room in God’s church for bashing one another, because we all need Jesus.  There is no room for gossip, for that is worldly and divisive.  There is room, and lots of it, for judgment that pronounces condemnation on sin and grace for sinners who repent and trust Christ.  Proverbs 27:6 says, “Faithful are the wounds of a friend; profuse are the kisses of an enemy.”  I’m grateful for friends that lovingly show me where I fail and where I need to repent.  As we lovingly correct each other, we help each other fight sin and grow to be more like Jesus.

3) Modeling godliness: We learn by listening and hearing from others, but we also learn much from watching them.  Example: I’ve grown up around my grandfather.  For 23 years, I’ve watched him fix things, pick people up when needed, help others financially, give advice when requested, and love and encourage others consistently, especially within his own family.  I’ve watched him be faithful to his wife and to his church.  We haven’t had a tremendous amount of discussion about these things, though we have had some, but he models what it means to be a godly man.  As we live our Christian lives in the presence of others, we are showing others, especially those that are younger in the faith, what it looks like to be a Christian.  Proverbs 27:17 says, “Iron sharpens iron, and one man sharpens another.”  As a man, when I spend time around godly men, I learn, just from being in relationship with them, what it looks like to be a godly man.  And as I’m influenced by them, I start to look more and more like Jesus.

A note here: Being influenced by Christians and hanging around them does not make you a Christian.  Submitting to Jesus as the authority in your life and trusting His salvation makes you a Christian.  But after we do that, as we spend time with others who have been saved by Jesus, we learn to be more like Him.

This isn’t to say that in fighting sin, we just need to spend all of our time around other believers.  Being in relationship with other believers helps us fight sin because we’re sharpening each other, we’re helping each other grow, and as we do that, we’re more and more able to say no to sin.  But this should drive us outward to others who don’t believe so that they can believe the gospel and start fighting their sin, too.

As we grow individually, we see the church grow, ultimately reaching the goal laid out in Philippians 1:9-11: “And it is my prayer that your love may abound more and more, with knowledge and all discernment, so that you may approve what is excellent, and so be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God.”

All of the growth that we have ultimately comes from Jesus.  As we set out to fight sin, we need to remember that our righteousness is in Christ.  We are in the business of bearing the fruit of that righteousness.  So let us remember the cross, read the Word, walk by the Spirit and help each other as we fight sin and follow Jesus.

Lord, may we remember all that you have given us in the fight against sin.  May we remember that you are Lord, that we have trusted you, that we have been forgiven, and that you lead us now to be more like you.  May we continue to help each other grow.  May your church be united in this goal.

God bless,

Neal E.

Life of Church in and from Christ–Philippians 2:1-11

/ Neal Embry / 10 Comments

So far in Philippians, we’ve seen how Paul sees every situation as an opportunity to advance the gospel.  We’ve seen how he maintains and shows joy in every situation including persecution, by treasuring Christ.  We’ve examined Paul’s radical statement “to live is Christ and to die is gain.”  And we’ve seen how our primary goal for our brothers and sisters in Christ is for their love for Christ to increase as they grow in sanctification.

Today, we’ll begin looking at chapter 2.  Paul starts the second chapter with a hymn, a hymn that for us lays out qualities of a biblical church, qualities that we receive from Christ and see in Christ.

Let’s take a look.

“So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy, complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind.  Do nothing from rivalry or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves.  Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others.”–Verses 1-4.

These are to characterize our lives and our churches.  It’s important to note that these aren’t qualities that are just to be seen in individual Christians, but in the church as a whole.  Being encouraging, loving, driven by the Spirit and joyful isn’t just the pastor’s job.  It’s the job and description of everyone, from the senior pastor to the smallest child.

Building off of Philippians 1, it’s also clear that these are qualities seen in churches that treasure Christ.  For churches that truly believe that to “live is Christ and die is gain,” and for churches that treasure Christ above the things of this world, these qualities and fruits are being shown day in and day out.  It is impossible to show this kind of humility and character if we are focused on our needs and the things of this world–that, in itself, is against humility.  Worldly churches that focus and treasure on worldly things will never fulfill the call of Philippians 2.  We must first forsake all else and cling to Jesus as everything.

It’s also important to note that Paul doesn’t say these things because Christ is lacking them.  The “if” used in verse one is there to drive the Philippians to examine whether or not they are present in their church.  There is indeed encouragement in Christ, comfort from love and, in Christ, participation in the Spirit.  But is it present in the church?  If we are “in Christ,” we have these attributes.  They are a part of our new nature.  But are we walking in them?  Does becoming this kind of church member take priority over our job?  Do we actively seek to do these things as we “work out our salvation with fear and trembling?”  We know that God works in and through us, to bring us to completion.  Does His faithfulness drive us to holiness?  If you are a Christian, there is nothing stopping you from fulfilling Philippians 2.  God is faithful.  Do it.

Let’s examine some of these phrases individually.  We can clearly understand, I hope, what Paul means when he says “encouragement in Christ, comfort from love” and “affection and sympathy.”  These are not just surface level emotions that sway with the wind, but deep, God-given affections that flow from our hearts, filled with God’s love for us in Christ, out to our brothers and sisters in Christ. 

But what does Paul mean when he says “complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind?”  Why would his joy be dependent on the church having the same mind and love and being in full accord?  It seems that Paul is expressing his, and God’s, desire that the church be united, not divided.  Jesus prayed that the church would be one, and Paul does as well. 

United, not uniform

So what about denominations?  Are they biblical?  I could write a entirely separate post on this issue.  For now, let me offer this.  The theology of Christ’s church should be the same in its primary essentials, that is, issues such as justification by faith alone, the full atonement of Christ, the incarnation and resurrection of Christ, the Trinity (God in three persons), the inerrancy of Scripture, the return of Christ, and the Lordship of Christ. That is by no means exhaustive, but hopefully provides clarity on what I mean by primary essentials….issues that would make the difference between being a Christian and not being a Christian.  But there are secondary issues that are important, but not essential to being a Christian.  Things like how you baptize, church structure and the role of women in the church are most certainly important, but there are different ways of seeing these issues, and there are Christians on both sides.

The methodology of the Church is also united, yet different.  We have the same “mind.”  We all are concerned with the glory of God through the spreading of the gospel of Christ.  We have the same mission–make disciples to the glory of God.  We have the same “love.”  We love Christ, we love His church.  But we won’t all do it the same way.  There are many things to be done for the kingdom of God, and God has sovereignly gifted and directed many churches to do specific tasks.  Don’t envy other churches because God has given them a different specific task.  He knows what He’s doing.

Paul is telling the church at Philippi to be one.  Churches shouldn’t be splitting and losing members over things that don’t eternally matter.  His vision is of a church that is united in thought, doctrine and love, using everyone’s individual, different gifts and personalities to build up the body.  We are united under Christ, but we are not uniform.  We don’t all look the same.  We have different gifts, talents, personalities, backgrounds, jobs, etc…and all these things should be used to build up the body of Christ.

We’re called to be humble, as well.  We don’t envy or rival other Christians…we support and pray for them.  We put others first, thinking nothing of ourselves.  That’s challenging for me to think about, much less do.  But in Christ, we can and must do it.  Think about how you can do that this week.

We have the ability to do this because we are in Christ.  We also have Christ as our model, someone to look to and follow.  Obviously, for us, Jesus isn’t just a role model…He’s our Lord and Savior.  I don’t want to diminish Jesus to a good role model.  In fact, if we seriously looked at Christ’s life, I doubt anyone in the world would call Him a good role model.  He made a lot of people angry, claimed to be God, told people to drop everything they had and follow Him, and then died on a cross.  Not exactly what Forbes is looking for on their cover of “Forbes Top 100.”  But for us who surrender to Jesus as Lord, the model of His life is one to embrace, love and mimic as we grow in Christlikeness.

We think humility is being nice and sweet to those around us and not tweeting too much about ourselves and keeping ourselves from bragging.  While humility certainly isn’t less than that, and those are all good things, it comes nowhere close to Christlike humility.  Check out verses 6-8:

“Who, though he (Jesus) was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men.  And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.”

Humility goes to the cross.  Humility leaves eternal glory and a rightful throne over all the universe to come and serve and save sinners who hate Him.  Humility isn’t the attitude you have at the checkout line at the grocery store.  Humility is Jesus. 

And in Christ, we are expected and able to exhibit this humility.  We’ll never go to the cross to save people, because we can’t.  We can’t leave eternal glory or give up a heavenly throne to come be born as a baby. 

But we can leave our houses to go help someone with their groceries.  We can leave our desks to go comfort a coworker.  We can leave our country to go to a dangerous part of the world and share the gospel.  We can die to ourselves and say “Today, it doesn’t matter what happens to me or if I’m treated fairly…other people’s eternal salvation is more important.”  We don’t work just for other people’s welfare…doing good deeds for anything other than the spread of the gospel is eternally worthless.  But we do those good deeds to open up doors for the spread of the gospel.  We give up our lives, comforts, money, time, possessions and worldly status for the sake of others, for the sake of the gospel.

And in doing so, we become great.  Not popular.  Not wealthy.  But great, in the kingdom of God.  Jesus says if we want to be first in the kingdom of God, we must be last.  I want to be great.  Not popular, not wealthy, not the guy with the most Twitter followers, but great in the sense of being effective and faithful for God and His kingdom.  I want to hear “Well done, good and faithful servant.”  And in Christ, I can be.  It will never be a substitute for Christ’s righteousness, for I will fail, numerous times.  I will always need Him to stand for me.  But as I progress, and as you progress, I hope that this is your desire…to see Christ glorified by your humility and love for Him and others.

I confess I don’t know where to start showing the kind of humility Christ showed.  But God can and will show me.  And He’ll do the same for you.  Start looking at your life in Christ as an opportunity not to live for you, but as an opportunity each day to live for Christ and make Him known.

Lastly, verses 9-11 tell us that Jesus, the ultimate servant, receives His reward.  While we don’t earn this kind of reward by our imitation of His humility, we get to hear God say “Well done, good and faithful servant.”  And we get to praise the One who showed us the way.  Our imitation is imperfect, but His humility was perfect, and for that, He receives this:

“Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”

Jesus is Lord.  He’s not just your personal Lord.  He is Lord of all the universe, whether you submit to Him or not.  Better to surrender to Him now and know the joy of life in Him then fearfully confess on the last day, knowing you rejected Him here.  Christ’s humility and sacrifice for us make Him eternally worthy of our praise.  You won’t be praised here for your humility.  But God notices.  And God is pleased and glorified when His church walks in the ways set out in Philippians 2.  Christ is pleased and glorified when His bride walks worthy of her groom.  Let’s do it.

Lord Jesus, may we praise you for your humility and sacrifice.  May we not forget what you did to purchase our salvation.  May we always trust in you alone, not our works or our imperfect obedience.  May we thank you that we do have obedience, however imperfect it may be.  The ability to follow you at all is a gift from God.  May we walk worthy of the gospel, not so that we may gain salvation, but to show the world where salvation comes from.  May you be glorified in all we do.  Amen.

God bless,

Neal E.