Bottom Line Up Front: Ransomed from Futility

Text: Therefore, preparing your minds for action, and being sober-minded, set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. As obedient children, do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance, but as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, since it is written, “You shall be holy, for I am holy.” And if you call on him as Father who judges impartially according to each one’s deeds, conduct yourselves with fear throughout the time of your exile, knowing that you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot. (1 Pt 1:13-19)

Teaching: Peter gives multiple imperatives in his sentences above. First, he tells Christians to be prepared for action. That is, be spiritually equipped with the armor of God. We are not to battle in worldly ways. That is, we’re to be above that level of craftiness and guile. We’re to look reality in the face, recognize it for what it is (be that beautiful or wicked or some admixture) and simultaneously set our hope “fully on the grace that will be brought to [us] at the revelation of Jesus Christ” (1 Pt 1:13).

Second, he tells Christians what not to do. We are not to be conformed to the passions of [our] former ignorance” (1 Pt 1:14). That is, we are not to be partakers in deeds of darkness. Our lives should not fear investigation. We should be transparent and open. Why? Because it’s hard to argue against a Godly life. People see us. But what’s infinitely more important, God sees us (and all things). Therefore, we should live lives that glorify the Lord rather than ourselves. We’re to be a people characterized by giving and self-denial by living the crucified life.

Third, Peter tells us that we, if we are Christians, have been “ransomed” from lives and patterns of futility. We are now to keep the main thing the main thing. Jesus was innocent; yet, it was God’s plan for Him to be murdered anyway, so that God would be shown to be just and the justifier of all who look to Him in repentance and faith. God uses evil for His purposes of good. The religious establishment loathed Jesus because He called out their hypocrisy and partiality and lies. And the religious establishment murdered Him for it, after first humiliating Him publicly. And yet . . . Jesus endured it all.

Encouragement: God is bigger than our sufferings, dear ones. He knows them. God sees all. We should fear the Lord, trusting Him to work even and especially the evils of men for our ultimate good and His glory. If we are Christians, we have been ransomed/purchased/redeemed. Therefore, let us trust Him, even and especially during the trials.

Good morning, all. Below is today’s CDT #362: Wisdom from the Apostle Peter (Part 3)

Intro: Nativity scenes, sheep, shepherds, wise men, gold, frankincense, and myrrh, mangers, bucolic scenery, etc. Even as secular as most of contemporary culture is, we can all still see these scenes in houses of worship, on church properties, and on occasion, in other venues. But is it possible that we can run the risk of celebrating the incarnation of the Christ and miss and/or minimize that Christ came on a death march to Calvary? The point of Christianity is not the birth of ‘sweet baby Jesus’ but the execution of the God-man and His bodily resurrection three days later.

Text: Concerning this salvation, the prophets who prophesied about the grace that was to be yours searched and inquired carefully, inquiring what person or time the Spirit of Christ in them was indicating when he predicted the sufferings of Christ and the subsequent glories. It was revealed to them that they were serving not themselves but you, in the things that have now been announced to you through those who preached the good news to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven, things into which angels long to look (1 Pt 1:10-12).

Teaching: The point Peter is stressing to the elect exiles (Christians scattered across present-day Turkey, and by extension, believers throughout history), is that Christ would suffer for the sake of His people, be betrayed for 30 pieces of silver by Judas, be mocked, scourged, nailed to the tree atop Calvary, buried in a borrowed tomb, guarded (though a corpse), and raised three days later.

Encouragement: The prophets of the Old Testament era, in other words, wrote to encourage Christians throughout time. Peter says the prophets “were serving not themselves but you” (1 Pt 1:12). Folks, that’s encouraging. Christian ministry is not to be for ourselves, but we are to pour out and into other souls who likewise need the gospel. Why? Because it is indeed good news. If you’re in Christ, you’re part of that great cloud of witnesses of the greatness and goodness of God. And that is one more reason we should not say—but indeed demonstrate—Merry Christmas.

Chaplain Daily Touchpoint #361: Wisdom from the Apostle Peter (Part 2)

Bottom line up front: By the Numbers Theology

Introduction: “By the numbers” is a military phrase that essentially means, “step-by-step instructions.” It’s the method of proper sequencing applied to a task. If you want to break apart your weapon, there’s a protocol for that. Do it “by the numbers” and you’re golden. Go rogue, and you’ll end up in Malfunction Junction. When you want to reassemble a weapon after cleaning it, do it “by the numbers,” and you’ll be good to go for your Functions Check. Ignore the protocol at your own peril. That’s how folks get hurt. 

Segue: “By the numbers” sometimes can be even uglier when it comes to spiritual matters. Things can get so sin-saturated, so morally corrupt, so self-centered instead of God-centered, that we sinners can arrive at Malfunction Junction quickly and make shipwreck of our faith if and when the proper protocol is ignored. 

This is why Peter writes to believers scattered across present-day Turkey in his first letter–namely, to tell them that suffering comes to them because wicked rulers are in place, and yet God has them (believers) placed where they are to bear true faith and allegiance to the truth.

In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, so that the tested genuineness of your faith–more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire–may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ. Though you have not seen him, you love him. Though you do not now see him, you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory, obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls. (1 Pt 1:6-9). 

Encouragement: I don’t know where you are today spiritually. Perhaps you’re in a place where you see evil winning–at least temporarily. Perhaps you see truth, goodness, and beauty being eclipsed. Perhaps you’re witnessing morally rotten people dupe undiscerning sheeple. Be of good courage. God is not surprised. We should not be either. 

Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice insofar as you share Christ’s sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed (1 Pt 4:12-13). 

Fight the trials by the numbers. Trust the Lord. Keep short accounts with God, knowing that God sees all, and works even the evils of men for the ultimate good of His people and the sake of His name.

Bottom line up front: Virtue is its own reward.

Introduction: When I enlisted for active-duty Army in the 1990s, sundry phrases were drilled into my heart and mind in those days and months in Fort Knox, KY. One of those phrases was this: “Right place, right time, right uniform!” Do those fundamental things day in and day out, and that’s a good first step to success in military life. Well, that’s tried-and-true wisdom. Yes, and amen to fundamental principles like that.

But there are other principles which need to be inculcated for all who care to live lives of honor. Why do I say that? Well, lots of folks can show up in the right place, at the right time, and in the right uniform, but they can still be morally rotten people. Good character, or what we might call “honor,” is inextricable from true success. Otherwise, the emperor has no clothes. If someone is a mere shell of leader, discerning people see through the façade.

When I think upon many with whom I have served and continue to serve, certain men invariably rise to the top in my esteem. Were they the strongest in the gym? No. Were they the fastest on the track? No. Were they the coolest? No. But what they all were was men of character, men of honor.

Teaching: That’s what Cicero was driving at when he wrote in one of his aphorisms, “Virtue is its own reward.” It’s a way of saying, “Do the right thing because it’s the right thing. Don’t worry if someone sees you do it. Do it anyway because it’s right.”

Encouragement: The concepts of virtue and honor hinge upon a transcendent principle/law and Lawgiver; otherwise, both concepts are reduced to human sinful opinions where every man does what is right in his own eyes. Moral relativism, in other words. But because God does exist and has revealed Himself in Scripture, we have that transcendent principle/law and Lawgiver. “For I the LORD do not change” (Malachi 3:6a). The half-brother of the Lord Jesus wrote in his epistle that “there is no variation or shadow due to change” with God (James 1:17). God is constant, steadfast, and 100% honor in and of Himself. His very nature is that of holiness and consummate honor.

Takeaway: I learned many wise principles all those many years ago in the beautiful hills of Kentucky, but I learned this one, too, from my wise grandparents: What a man does when he thinks no one’s looking, that reveals his character. Why? Because God’s always looking. Virtue and honor are their own reward. May we be people who cultivate both because we will give an account.

Currently I am teaching the saints from one of my favorite men in the early church: Peter. Peter’s two New Testament letters are short epistles that are dense with wisdom. Why are Peter’s letters so important for us? For at least three reasons, they are crucial:

• They speak to the reality of suffering as a Christian
• They speak to the issue of maintaining an eternal perspective amidst temporal trials
• They speak to the issue of the meaning/purpose of trials

This week, we are focusing on verses 3-5 from chapter 1. Those three verses read as follows:

“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, who by God’s power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time” (1 Pt 1:3-5).

Context, Context, Context: You remember the historical context out of which Peter’s writing, don’t you? It is A.D. 62-63 and Peter’s writing from Rome, Italy (called “Babylon” in Peter’s letters because of its moral rottenness and corruption). As just one example, “She who is at Babylon, who is likewise chosen, sends you greetings, and so does Mark, my son” (1 Pt 5:13).

In the immediate context, Peter writes to “elect exiles” (1 Pt 1:1) who are scattered across what is modern-day Turkey. In the larger context, Peter writes to believers of each generation who are likewise elect exiles in a hostile culture. His purpose is straightforward: to encourage the saints to endure because God’s mission will triumph, but that mission entails suffering.

That’s where verses 3-5 of chapter one are so foundational. Peter reminds Christians/elect exiles of important doctrines that undergird the gospel’s triumph:

• God is the first cause. That is, God “caused us to be born again to a living hope” (1 Pt 1:3). This is not some man-made decision; it’s God monergistic work.
• The resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead is the proof of Jesus’ identity and the ultimate reason for the hope Christians have (1 Pt 1:3-4).
• God does not lose any of those who are truly Christians (1 Pt 1:5). We are safe because “by God’s power” we “are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time” (1 Pt 1:5).

Encouragement: In church history, Peter is known as the apostle of hope. I hope that you find encouragement in the truths Peter unfolds in his two New Testament epistles. I hope you will find encouragement in this and the following installments. And I hope you’ll experience the transforming gospel for which Peter laid down his life.

Introduction: Probably like many military service members through the ages, I was fascinated by larger-than-life military figures as a child. When I was a high school boy in Atlanta, my A.P. sophomore English teacher introduced me to a love affair with reading–especially narratives about soldiers and Marines in the Vietnam War. When I read Going After Cacciato as a sixteen-year-old boy, that launched me into all things soldierish. I read the novels and memoirs of Philip Caputo and Tim O’Brien and other writers.

I devoured the movies, too, typical of boys fascinated by war and military things. I viewed Apocalypse Now, The Bridge On the River Kwai, Full Metal Jacket, The Deer Hunter, Deliverance, Platoon, etc. more times than I should have. Then I of course watched all the Rambo films, too; I loved the stories of what war can do to certain men, what the men’s larger contexts were regarding why they served, where they came from, what their childhoods were like, etc. I was consumed by it all. I served in our high school’s R.O.T.C. program and the rifle team, etc. I have always been a good shot, so I excelled in marksmanship. (Now that I’m a chaplain, it’s difficult not to be envious of the other guys when they’re shooting on the ranges, and I am officially a non-combatant, and not allowed to bear arms as clergy. But that’s a discussion for another time.)

My point so far is straightforward: I have been drawn to soldiers’ stories for as long as I can remember. And one of the characteristics that often came through all (or at least most) of the novels, memoirs, and movies was that soldiers must deal with fear. They are to be brave. We call it intestinal fortitude, courage, resolve, grit, and any number of other titles. But we all understand what the message is: soldiering hinges upon courage and bravery.

Connection: This morning I was meditating upon Proverbs 10:27. It reads as follows: “The fear of the LORD prolongs life, but the years of the wicked will be short.” I was wrestling Jacob-like in my mind over the issues involved in the relationship of courage and what I call wise fear. There is, in my view, a type of fear that is wise to inculcate.

We are, according to Scripture, to fear the Lord. The Bible teaches the “fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom” (Pr 9:10a). The beginning of wisdom. The genesis. The starting point. In other words, we must put first things, well, first. We must get our theology (our doctrine of God) correct. We must know God accurately and in accordance with how He’s revealed Himself.

Encouragement/takeaway: So what does wise fear of God have to do with soldiering, bravery, and courage? Everything. When I look at the shelves of books I have read over these many years, rows upon rows of those volumes are stories of men who encountered staggering obstacles. Sometimes those men were crushed by them. Sometimes they adopted postures of bravado and other innocent men died due to fools being in charge. Sometimes the men pressed on step-by-step and overcame formidable odds. And sometimes God quickened soldiers and showed them Himself in ways that taught them that He was their rock and redeemer. The wise soldier–whether in the jungles of Vietnam or on the mission fields of today–is to fear the Lord.

“For secularism, all life, every human value, every human activity must be understood in light of this present time. . . . What matters is now and only now. All access to the above and the beyond is blocked. There is no exit from the confines of this present world” (R.C. Sproul). 

That is truly a sad reality. You came from nothing; you’re a cosmic accident; you’ve no transcendent purpose; solipsism is your worldview; and extinction is your destiny. But that’s what secularism rests upon. Christianity, on the other hand, reveals the emptiness of secularism, and explains origins, meaning, morality, and destiny. That’s what Sproul and Boice spent their ministries doing, namely, trying to shine the light of truth on the utter emptiness, contradictions, and sadness that are inextricable from secularism in contrast to the redemptive, transcendent, coherent worldview of biblical Christianity.

I was reading a book recently by James Montgomery Boice. The title was Renewing Your Mind In a Mindless World. Like Boice’s other books, it was a rock-solid read. The issue Boice explored in this particular volume were the first two verses of Romans 12. They read as follows:

I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect. (Rom 12:1-2, ESV)

In my circles, those verses are so familiar I don’t think I could ever forget them. I have read them and heard them so often, they’re ingrained in my intellectual DNA.

In the atheist Richard Dawkins’ book River Out of Eden: A Darwinian View of Life, the author writes:

The total amount of suffering per year in the natural world is beyond all decent contemplation. During the minute that it takes me to compose this sentence, thousands of animals are being eaten alive, many others are running for their lives, whimpering with fear, others are slowly being devoured from within by rasping parasites, thousands of all kinds are dying of starvation, thirst, and disease. It must be so. If there ever is a time of plenty, this very fact will automatically lead to an increase in the population until the natural state of starvation and misery is restored. In a universe of electrons and selfish genes, blind physical forces and genetic replication, some people are going to get hurt, other people are going to get lucky, and you won’t find any rhyme or reason in it, nor any justice. The universe that we observe has precisely the properties we should expect if there is, at bottom, no design, no purpose, no evil, no good, nothing but pitiless indifference.

Questions: No design? No purpose? No evil? No good? Nothing but pitiless indifference? Think about that, will you. Do you honestly look at anything and think to yourself, “Yup, no design to that BMW. Those gears just happened to be assembled like that”? or “I sure do love my children, but I know they’re actually just cosmic accidents, just grown-up pond scum in sneakers”?

No sane person thinks that way. Why write a book trying to convince others of truth claims in a worldview where there’s only pitiless indifference? On what basis should we esteem Dawkins’ thoughts? After all, thoughts are just molecules in motion, physical brain fizz bubbling on the surface. Effluvia.

Encouragement/takeaway: In the biblical worldview, however, man is not a cosmic accident. He is the creation of the infinite-personal Creator God who forms all people in their mothers’ wombs (Psalm 139:13). We were made for God. God “put eternity into man’s heart” (Ecclesiastes 3:11). Why? So that we would go to God. As a contemporary Christian hymn expresses it, “You were made for more.” He who has ears to hear, let him hear.

Introduction: This is a second segue into Galatians, Paul’s letter defending his apostleship, and the absolute imperative of heralding the true gospel and not some false gospel (which is no gospel at all). 

In verses 11-17 of chapter 1 of Galatians, Paul spells out just a bit of his intellectual pedigree prior to God’s converting him. Paul writes that he “was advancing in Judaism beyond many of [his] own age among [his] people, so extremely zealous was [he] . . .” (Gal 1:14). 

In 2 Corinthians, Paul revealed a little more of his background:

Are they Hebrews? So am I. Are they Israelites? So am I. Are they offspring of Abraham? So am I. Are they servants of Christ? I am a better one—I am talking like a madman—with far greater labors, far more imprisonments, with countless beatings, and often near death. Five times I received at the hands of the Jews the forty lashes less one. Three times I was beaten with rods. Once I was stoned. Three times I was shipwrecked; a night and a day I was adrift at sea; on frequent journeys, in danger from rivers, danger from robbers, danger from my own people, danger from Gentiles, danger in the city, danger in the wilderness, danger at sea, danger from false brothers; in toil and hardship, through many a sleepless night, in hunger and thirst, often without food, in cold and exposure. And, apart from other things, there is the daily pressure on me of my anxiety for all the churches. Who is weak, and I am not weak? Who is made to fall, and I am not indignant? (2 Cor 11:22-29)

Paul’s point was not to exalt himself but to make much of Jesus. “[F]or the sake of his (Jesus’) name,” is the way Paul phrased it in Romans 1:5. Paul was not impressed with Paul. He knew his own sin. “Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?” (Rom 7:24). 

Paul was by all historical accounts an intellectual giant among men. He wrote and spoke multiple languages; he studied philosophy, religion, and poetry; he knew literature and the history of thought, etc. But after God saved him, his boast was only  in the gospel of Christ: “But far be it from me to boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world” (Gal 6:14). 

The Issue: Why did Paul have to defend his apostleship so vehemently? Because it defies human explanation how such a zealous persecutor of Christians was transformed from a murderous Pharisee into an evangelist, pastor, church planter, and unparalleled defender of Christianity, that’s why. 

He writes in Galatians, “And I was still unknown in person to the churches of Judea that are in Christ. They only were hearing it said, “He who used to persecute us is now preaching the faith he once tried to destroy.” And they glorified God because of me” (Gal 1:22-24). 

From persecutor to pastor; from murderer to missionary; from hater to herald . . . that’s the apostle Paul. 

Encouragement/takeaway: I have no idea who reads these, but I bet that if you’re a believer, you have at least one person on your heart and mind often, a person you long to reach with the saving gospel. Don’t give up. Press on in the faith and labor to be faithful. Why? Because if we were wagering, I bet we would not have put our money on Paul ever being converted. We would likely have said, “Not that guy. He’s beyond saving.” 

But God, dear ones. But God. Don’t underestimate God. He takes our rags and turns them into riches, out of his sheer grace. Our duty is just to be faithful with the message.