BE STRONG! Part III: What has God done to my sin?

Have you given your life to Christ, but sometimes feel overburdened by the weight of sin? As in, "I know I am a born again believer, but someday I have a lot to answer for when I stand before God."

Why is it that many Christians still seem to feel condemned? Satan is called the accuser of the brethren (Revelation 12:10). Who is Satan accusing? God’s people! And sadly, too many of God’s people listen to the accusations of who Satan says we are, and do not listen to the declaration of who God says we are.

That’s why Christians say things like, “I am just a sinner.” Wrong! You are a pronounced-holy-by-the-blood-of-Christ child of the living God! But when we dwell on the bondage of our sin, we aren’t dwelling on the freedom of our imputed righteousness. This holds us back from serving God with confidence!

The first way the grace of God strengthens you is by releasing you from your sin. This isn’t the end of the story, it is really only the first half. But before we look at the rest of it, let’s make sure we have this part down: Your forgiveness from sin in Christ is thorough.

WHAT GOD’S GRACE HAS DONE TO MY SIN

1. My sin is cleansed (Isaiah 1:18) - Do you know a shirt can get “permanent stink”? Gross, Pastor Jeff, right? Well, I just recently had to throw a shirt away that I used to love to work out in, but even after several washings, Tide couldn’t even do the job. After some mourning, the shirt and I parted. My wife rejoiced. We are “dirty” in sin before we receive Christ, but the washing He gives doesn’t just fade a stain, it removes it. Whiter than snow. Not even “as white as snow” - but whiter! Cleaner than new. That’s what God says about your sin being cleansed.
    
2. My sin is removed (Psalm 103:12) - Here is another way God describes our sin. Removed. Far removed. Infinitely far removed. As far as East is from West. How far is that? Infinite. Grab a globe. You do have a globe laying around, I hope. Notice God doesn’t say “as far as North is from the South”, because if you go South far enough, eventually you are heading North. Trace it with your finger. But if you go East, you will never head West. Catch that? Your sin is gone. That’s what God says about your sin being removed.
    
3. My sin is lost (Micah 7:19) - Imagine I am on a cruise ship in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. I am leaning on the rail, overlooking the water, and I am foolishly tossing my wedding ring up and down, catching it until… whoops, I dropped it! And it fell into the ocean! What are my chances of ever seeing that ring again? Zero. Even if I got back to shore and hired the best divers in the world, they are never going to find that ring. And if some sneaky fish grabs it, takes it to the ocean floor and it… it is loster than lost. That’s where God has put my sin - lost forever. No chance of it coming back. Cleansed and removed and lost. That’s what God says about your sin being lost.
    
4. My sin is forgotten (Jeremiah 31:34, Hebrews 8:12) - Since He says it again in Hebrews 10:17, God must really want to make a point here. A friend of mine once told me he believes when he dies, God will show him a movie of his life and point out all the times he, my friend, blew it. This doesn’t line up with what God already pronounced. He is willing to forget. Forget. As in, “God, don’t you remember the time I really let you down? The time I really dishonored you?” And God’s reply, “No, I don’t remember that at all.” That’s what God says about your sin being forgotten.
    
5. My sin is pardoned (Romans 8:1) - This is courtroom language. We are guilty of sin. When we receive Christ, we are pronounced not guilty. Is someone going to run into the courtroom and try to overturn the Judge’s decision? Not this Judge. He has all knowledge, all power, and all grace. And He says, “Not condemned” and slams the gavel down. Case over. That’s what God says about your sin being pardoned.

Christians, go forward with God in confidence. Your sin is cleansed, removed, lost, forgotten, and pardoned. If it isn’t an issue with God, why is it an issue with you? God’s grace makes us strong. Be strong.

p.s. - amazed at the depths of grace!

BE STRONG! Part II: Am I saved?

Many times, people ask me for prayer, but don't seem sure exactly what to pray for. So they end up saying, "Just pray for strength." That is not a last ditch effort - that is a great prayer, and one that God wants to answer, can answer, and will answer. 

Picking up from the last blog, where we saw that strength only comes from God’s grace. We can’t will it, think it, or feel it enough so we have strength - it only comes as we are branches attached to the vine of Jesus Christ.

But a lot of Christians are not strong because they don’t understand grace. When it comes to salvation, too many don’t realize what really happened through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

Here are 4 common responses people give when asked if they are saved, or if asked if they are going to heaven. See if any of these fit you.

“We’ll see.” - As in, “I guess I’ll find out when I die.” Bad idea. The Bible says you can know now! Yes, now! God doesn’t want us living in the uncertainty of where we stand with Him. If we have received Christ as Savior and Lord, it’s a done deal. If you aren’t sure, you need to seek the Lord on this now! You don’t have anything more important to do.

“Hope so.” - First cousin to “We’ll see” is this guy. The problem is we use the word “hope” in a different way than the Bible does. The Bible uses hope in the sense of “we are sure this promise is going to be kept and we are looking forward to it.” But we often use hope like this: “I hope it doesn’t rain. I hope the dog isn’t sick. I hope I get that Aluma Wallet for Father’s Day.” This is just stating how we are wishing for our preferences, but we’ll see what happens. Catch the difference? Our hope is in Jesus, and we have the hope of heaven, but for God’s children, that does mean, “I am wishing to get to heaven. That is my preference. We’ll see.”

“I tried.” - This one is, “Well, I think I did what I needed to”, but with a hint of, “but I am not sure if it is enough.” I didn’t kill too may people, I tried to obey the speed limit, I was nice to my neighbor. I did my best. Salvation is never achieved by human effort. It is only attained through faith in the Person and Work of Jesus Christ.

“It depends.” - As in, “Whether or not I go to heaven depends on how good I am on the day that I die.” Some people believe that you can receive salvation, and then by sinning, lose your salvation until you confess and repent and get saved again. This is completely false on a thousand fronts, but here are just three reasons:

1. We are children of God. Even as fallen people, when our children disobey, we don’t kick them out of the family until they repent! Nothing will ever make my sons stop being my sons. God adopts you in Christ, He does not un-adopt (John 1:12).
    
2. We have been made alive in Christ. The Bible says spiritually we have crossed from death to life (Ephesians 2:5), but nowhere does the Bible say we can die again spiritually.
    
3. All of our sins are forgiven. “But Jeff, I know I am saved now, but what if I commit some sin in the future?” When Christ was on the cross, of your sins were yet future, right?  

How forgiven are we, anyways? The next blog will cover that topic.

p.s. - embracing the Biblical “hope” of Jesus

BE STRONG!

I've always wanted to be strong. My heros growing up always were! He-Man, Hulk Hogan, Spider-Man... strong guys, for sure. Now that I am a lot older and a little more mature, I still want to be strong, but a different kind of strong. I want to be strong in the Lord. 

How about you? If I asked you how you want your Christian walk, how would you answer? Probably not something like, “I really don’t want to experience too much of the Holy Spirit at work in me. Just want to struggle with anxiety, temptation, and doubt the rest of my days here on the earth…” Of course not! You and I would say we want to be strong!

But then what if I asked, how is your walk? Are you walking strong? If you are, thank the Lord! If you are not, thank the Lord, because He has what you need!

There is a monumental task ahead of us at Harvest Bible Chapel Pittsburgh. As the church is referred to as a body, each of us must be doing what the Holy Spirit empowers us to do. Our goal is not to squeak by, barely get the job done. We want to hit our launch strong. Each of us strong in the Lord, all of us strong in the Lord together. But how do I get strong?

God’s word has the answer! 2 Timothy 2:1 says, “You then, my child, be strengthened by the grace that is in Christ Jesus…”

This was written by the apostle Paul to young pastor Timothy. Timothy was to "be strong". The Greek verb endunamo[ma]o, which is stated as a present passive imperative, could be translated "keep on being empowered." Timothy was not to be strong in his own strength but in God's. He was to receive God's power and allow it to flow through him.

Feeling like you need strength? You can’t muster it up on your own, God is the source of strength! Jesus stated the same in John 15:5 when He said, “apart from me you can do nothing.”

It's the grace of God that empowers believers. What is grace? Grace is God giving to us what He requires from us. Let that sink in. God requires holiness from us. We don’t have it. So in His grace, through the finished work of Jesus Christ, He gives it to us! He requires righteousness, obedience, perfection… we don’t have it, so God gives it to us! And strength is the same. We are all weak, but the Lord wants us to be strong. So in His grace, He gives us strength.

It's God's grace that enables us to serve God. God's will is accomplished "'not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit,' says the Lord of hosts" (Zech. 4:6). That's the kind of grace Paul spoke of here in 2 Timothy 2:1.

But Paul doesn’t leave it undefined. He illustrates what strength in the believer looks like using 4 pictures: the teacher, the soldier, the athlete, and the farmer (verses 2--6).

We are going to be looking at these 4 pictures over our next several Core Group meetings, and we would love to have you join us! We will be giving an update as to when and where these will be held in July, so be watching this site! You can also e-mail me at jmiller@harvestpittsburghnorth.org for more info. I would love to talk with you about the exciting things ahead.

Need strength? God has it all, and He gives it out! Join us! 

p.s. - by himself = not strong

Give to the Church? That's Hilarious!

The great thing about a church plant is we are starting with nothing! But the hard thing about a church plant is that we are starting with nothing.

It’s great to start with nothing!

We are going to set the culture from day 1, and we will never hear, “We can’t do it that way, we have always done it this way!” We have a clean slate! But by far the greatest thing about starting with nothing: We are going to see the Lord build things from the ground up. Where are the people going to come from? Where are we going to meet? How will, where will, what if…? The Lord is working these things out right now! This time next year, we will be looking back to where we sit today, fondly reminiscing, “Remember when we were wondering how this was going to happen and God made amazing provision?”

Let’s not think too far ahead… let’s enjoy where the Lord has us right now. And where He has us is in a position of faith. Thank you, Lord, for putting us in a position where we have to trust you! Thank you for putting us in a place where, if you don’t show up, we won’t succeed, because we cannot do this in our own power. The glory rightly goes to God, to whom it is due. 

It's hard to start with nothing!

No building, no bank account, no... people! It is hard to start with nothing! And one of the “obstacles” that stand before us is money. Obviously, starting a church plant requires some start up funds. How does God provide this? He provides it through His people. From provision for the tabernacle in Exodus to provision of the church in the New Testament and beyond, God’s people give to support the work of God.

So how should we give?

In 2 Corinthians 8 and 9, Paul talks about collecting an offering from the churches to take to the church in Jerusalem, which was in pretty severe need. This occasion prompted some great teaching about giving. Here are 4 things you and I need to keep in mind when we give.

1. Give generously (2 Corinthians 8:2).
   
   Here’s a little math from verse 2: Joy + Sacrifice = Generosity.
   
   I never met anyone who referred to themselves as a Scrooge: “I hate giving to worthy causes”. We would all like to be thought of as being generous. But generosity is measured by 2 things: joy AND sacrifice (or as the text says, giving out of poverty). You have to have both to fall into the generous category. If you joyfully give $10 when you are a multi-billionaire, that is very nice and appreciated but it isn’t technically generous. Or if you only make $20 a year and reluctantly give 10 of them, while grumbling and complaining about it, that’s not generous either! It’s joyfully and sacrificially giving! We are calling on you to be generous: giving sacrificially out of a joyful heart. How can you foster that attitude? Keep in mind you aren’t giving to an organization or a person or even a charity - you are giving to God. And when you know you are giving directly to Him, you can’t help but want to give and give joyfully!
    
2. Give according to your means (2 Corinthians 8:3, 12).
   
   Always of our own free will, and certainly at times beyond our means, but giving is according to your means. I would love to give 100 trillion dollars to the church. Believe it or not, I don’t even have half of that in my bank account. So what can I give? Well, like the commercial asks, “What‘s in your wallet?” I am not told to give according to Bill Gates’ means, or give what is in Lebron James’ wallet, or looting my neighbor’s house. I am told to give according to my means. How has God given to me? “The need is great, but all I can give is _______.” You be faithful to God with what He has entrusted to you, and by His grace, I will do the same.
    
3. Give according to the law of the harvest (2 Corinthians 9:6, 10).
   
   It doesn’t get any more straightforward than this. Sow a little, reap a little; sow a lot, reap a lot. This is true for the farmer, and this also works for the faithful giver. Proverbs 11:24 teaches the same. You will never out-give God. Ever.
    
4. Give hilariously (2 Corinthians 9:7).
   
   I hope when you started reading, and saw the subject was money, you didn’t roll your eyes and prepare for a guilt trip to give. The last thing I want to do is give a guilt trip, because “God loves a cheerful giver”. You make up your mind, you give generously according to your means… but it has to be given with joy. The Greek word for cheerful could also be translated hilarious. When I think of the word hilarious, several people come to mind. My wife is one of those people. She just says things sometimes that make me laugh and laugh. For days. And then a week later, I will remember it suddenly and laugh all over again! It is that kind of unrestrained joy that we are to make a part of our giving. This brings us back full circle to the joy in 2 Corinthians 8:2. It’s all God’s anyways, and we are giving back to Him what is His and He will use it to do His work and give us more to give back to Him to do more work and… the whole thing really is hilarious!

p.s. - a big fan of hilarity