Get Outta the Flesh!

Today’s lesson is simple (not so easy?): Get outta the flesh!

The flesh, or sark,[1] is that part of our human makeup that is only able to live independent and contrary to God. The unregenerate person can only live in the flesh, while the born-again child of God[2] is now able to “put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires.”[3]

As I prayerfully meditate my way through Romans 7, I am overwhelmed with Paul’s descriptions of what we are like in our flesh, or sark. It is very clear that, in the sark, it is impossible to do the right thing. He is clear that the law is good, and that it is never the law that is the reason we sin. It is this grand conspiracy of the world, the flesh, and the devil, who use the law, and all our efforts to be good, to keep us in bondage to the flesh, and, therefore, in bondage to the world, the flesh, and the devil.

What strikes me so strongly is how necessary it is to know what life is like in the flesh, or in the sark. On one side, even though the law is good, we are to understand that the natural person in the flesh cannot keep the law. The law can only prove us guilty of sin, and sin constantly uses the propensities of the flesh to lure us to disobey God, even when we end up doing the very things we really do not want to do.

Here is a compilation of things Paul says about life in the flesh, along with the results of our living in the flesh. I share this in the hope that God’s children will see that our only option is to turn from the flesh, and seek God in the Spirit.

Description of Our Condition	Effects of our Condition
“while we were living in the flesh” (7:5)	“our sinful passions, aroused by the law, were at work in our members to bear fruit for death.” (7:5)
“the law… that which held us captive” (7:6)	“sin, seizing an opportunity through the commandment, produced in me all kinds of covetousness.” (7:8)
“when the commandment came” (7:9)	“sin came alive and I died.” (7:9)
“when the commandment came” (7:9)	“sin, seizing an opportunity through the commandment, deceived me and through it killed me.” (7:11)
“through the commandment” (7:13)	“sin… might become sinful beyond measure.” (7:13)
“I am of the flesh, sold under sin.” (7:14)	“For I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate.” (7:15)
“sin that dwells within me.” (7:17)	“I do what I do not want” (7:16)
“nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh.” (7:18)	“I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out.” (7:18)
“sin that dwells within me.” (7:20)	“For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing.” (7:19)
“I see in my members another law waging war against the law of my mind” (7:23)	“making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members.” (7:23)

I am absolutely convinced that Christians who give any room to the flesh will be the most unhappy people in the world. They will have the strongest desire to do what is right in God’s sight, and the greatest consciousness that they are failing to do so (since the flesh can only fail to do God’s will).

I should also note that, it is not deep and unresolved trauma that makes God’s children unhappy. It is our determination to handle those things in the flesh. And, if you are not sure if you are handling your inner hurts and heartaches in the flesh, just ask, “Am I doing this myself, or is it what God is doing in me?”

Practically, what do we do from whatever the state of our Soul-Condition to start doing things in the Spirit instead of the flesh?

PRAY! (Emphasis, not shouting!)

As soon as we start praying, we are handing things over to God. We might feel as sarky as ever, but the fact we are praying, instead of ruminating, puts things in God’s hands, and gives his Spirit room to work. It is not that things immediately feel better, but that they are now hopeful simply because the Spirit can do things our flesh cannot imagine.

I will be getting more into the Romans 8 picture of life in the Spirit, but I think there first needs to be the Beatitudinal Journey of accepting the poverty of our flesh, mourning all that we do in our flesh, meekly accepting our flesh cannot fix what is broken in us, and hungering and thirsting for life in the Spirit no matter how unfamiliar or unimaginable that life in the Spirit may be.[4]

As I said earlier, the true children of God are the only people who can “put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires.”[5]Let us deny our sarky selves, take up the cross of Jesus Christ as our only hope of righteousness, and follow Jesus wherever his Spirit leads.[6]

© 2015 Monte Vigh ~ Box 517, Merritt, BC, V1K 1B8 ~ in2freedom@gmail.com

Unless otherwise noted, Scriptures are from the English Standard Version (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers.)

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[1] The Greek word is “sarx”, translated “flesh”. We often refer to the flesh as the “sark”, and fleshly attitudes as “sarky”.

[2] John 1:11-13; John 3:1-8

[3] Romans 13:14 (I should also note that this is not automatic, hence all the exhortations to deal with the flesh and walk in the Spirit!)

[4] The Beatitudinal Journey refers to the experience of God’s blessings in the Beatitudes (Matthew 5:1-12).

[5] Romans 13:14

[6] Matthew 16:24; Mark 8:34; Luke 9:23

Home Church Video ~ The Faith That Removes Distinctions

I don't always record my home church messages, but a ten year old girl was going to be away Sunday morning, and she specifically asked me to video the message so she could watch it later. I well remember my own interest in God at that young age, so it meant a lot to me to hear such a request. 

In this message we welcome the wonderful good news of the gospel as it applies to removing all distinctions among Christians. In Jesus Christ there are no grounds to think we are inferior to other believers, or that we are superior to them. What we receive as a free gift of God, by grace, through faith, makes us all sons of God with equal standing before him.

Whether you need to be lifted up from feelings of worthlessness, or humbled to see yourself as no better than any other believer, Romans 3:21-26 will give us all the help we need to find ourselves as we really are in the Lord Jesus Christ.

© 2015 Monte Vigh ~ Box 517, Merritt, BC, V1K 1B8 ~ in2freedom@gmail.com

Unless otherwise noted, Scriptures are from the English Standard Version (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers.)

No Law Against Getting it Right

One of the most beautiful phrases to touch my heart this past while has been this: “But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law” (Romans 3:21).

Why is this so important?

Because there is absolute certainty that every human being will one day stand before the righteousness of God our Creator. There are only two options for what that will be like.

Option one: “Now we know that whatever the law says it speaks to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be stopped, and the whole world may be held accountable to God. For by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin” (Romans 3:19-20).

What will that look like in the end? Sinners standing absolutely guilty before absolute righteousness. In one word: condemned.

Option two: “But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it— the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe” (Romans 3:21-22).

What will that look like in the end? Sons of God standing absolutely safe and secure before the glorious righteousness of their joyful and loving Father. In one word: glorified!

If all the world had was the righteousness of God manifested under the law, we would all remain condemned in our sin. However, into such a hopeless and dark picture, “the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law”. We can now relate to the righteousness of God without the condemnation of the law proving our guilt, promoting our shame, and securing our fear.

Not only that, but we do not come out from under the law to continue living in the ugliness of sin. We have “the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe”. In other words, sinners can now feel what it is like to be righteous. We can replace the guilt, shame, and fear, that accompanies our sin, with the best feeling in the world: being righteous!

Growing up with a driving need to find my worth by being good has brought me to feel intensely how the law proves me guilty of sin. This is one of the blessings of the apostle Paul’s testimony, that he was as good as good could be, but came to realize he was the “foremost” of sinners because he imagined his own righteousness could satisfy the righteousness of God (see I Timothy 1:12-17).

However, when Paul discovered that there is the righteousness of God manifested “apart from the law”, and that it was received “through faith”, and it was for “all who believe”, he not only realized that he was the foremost of sinners, but “whatever gain” he thought he had through all his law-abiding efforts, he “counted as loss for the sake of Christ”, counting “everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord” (Philippians 3:7-8).

God’s gift to me this past week has been to affirm, and assure, and remind me, that my standing in the righteousness of God is “apart from the law”, meaning, “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death” (Romans 8:1-2).

While I have long understood these precious truths from God’s book with my mind (at least in a primary school kind of way), it has taken longer for me to experience the rest that comes by knowing these things in my soul. God has patiently, and lovingly, and relentlessly, forced me to see the failings of all my efforts to be good, so that I could know something better: what it feels like to be righteous in his goodness.

I suspect that I’m not the only one who needs this calming, comforting, restfulness of soul that comes from seeing, and knowing, and experiencing, the righteousness of God apart from the law. Come to this “righteousness of God” that is “through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe” (Romans 3:22).

© 2015 Monte Vigh ~ Box 517, Merritt, BC, V1K 1B8 ~ in2freedom@gmail.com

Unless otherwise noted, Scriptures are from the English Standard Version (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers.)

The Cure for Inferiority and Superiority

Here are two reasons the gospel cures both the feeling of inferiority, and the feeling of superiority. They come out of this text from God’s book: 

But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it— the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe.[1] 

Reason One: “But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law.”

A.  Because we are talking about “the righteousness of God” we have a reality of righteousness that is outside the scope of man’s picking-and-choosing. It is not what one group thinks is good or bad. It is not what our families thought of us (for good or ill), nor what the bullies at school thought of us, or even the fans who thought we were wonderful. The same measure applies to all, so there is no grounds for any person to think better or worse of themselves than anyone else.

B.  Because the righteousness of God is manifested “apart from the law,” we cannot judge ourselves or others based on performance. Even the law, the most trustworthy measure of righteousness, is not the way we connect to the righteousness of God. Even the Law and the Prophets together did not give us the righteousness of God, but only bore witness to it. There is no collection of good works by which some people appear better or worse than others. The righteousness in question is apart from the law, removing any way to conceive of ourselves or others by a standard of performance.

Reason Two: “the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe.”

A.  The righteousness of God is “through faith in Jesus Christ”. On one side, this emphasizes that our connection to God’s righteousness is by faith, not by works, removing any performance-standard by which some could look inferior while others superior. On the other side, this is talking about a faith that is “in Jesus Christ,” emphasizing that there is only one place to get this righteousness. There are not many ways to God’s righteousness, by which some consider themselves better than others. There is one person who can connect us to God’s righteousness, and everyone has the same opportunity to come to him.

B.  The righteousness of God is “for all who believe,” not for all who behave. No matter what differences we see in believers’ behavior, our connection to the righteousness of God is that we believe. We have all heard the gospel that, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.”[2] Anyone who is part of the “whoever believes in him,” has “the righteousness of God” apart from the law, by faith in Jesus Christ.

Simply put, as is said throughout the New Testament, there are zero grounds for believers to feel inferior to other believers because we aren’t doing as well as them, or to feel superior to other believers because they are not doing as well as us. Everything we have in Jesus Christ, including the righteousness of God, is “by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.”[3]

For the side of me that feels inferior to people because of my own failures regarding sin, and judgmental rejections through the sins of others, there is this wonderful good news that my connection to the righteousness of God is apart from the law, by faith in Jesus Christ, for me because I believe. I cannot be less than any other believer in Jesus Christ.

For the side of me that feels superior to other believers, especially when I think they are doing wrong to me and I am doing right to them, if they are just as sincere in believing in Jesus as myself, then they are also connected to the righteousness of God apart from the law, and through their faith in Jesus Christ. Even when it seems like a brother in the Lord has wronged me in a worthlessness-confirming act of judgment and rejection, their righteousness is the righteousness of God, it is theirs apart from the law, it is the same as my righteousness (which is God’s, not my own), and so we are equal by faith in Jesus Christ.

And, another great equalizer before the cross of Christ is this: “I can do all things through him who strengthens me.”[4]

© 2015 Monte Vigh ~ Box 517, Merritt, BC, V1K 1B8 ~ in2freedom@gmail.com

Unless otherwise noted, Scriptures are from the English Standard Version (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers.)

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[1] Romans 3:21-22

[2] John 3:16

[3] Ephesians 2:8-9

[4] Philippians 4:13

When “No Distinction” Cuts Both Ways

When the tide comes in, it does not matter the size of the ships in the harbor, they all rise to the same level.

When the love of Christ comes into his church, it does not matter the condition of anyone’s soul, the life they have led, the sins they have confessed, the things that are still hidden, every child of God is loved the exact same amount. As someone has said, there is level ground at the foot of the cross.

Yesterday, God gave me great comfort by driving this point home into a part of my inner self that has long felt inferior to others. Life is a bully, and it has done its utmost to let me know I am worthless. However, God is a Father, and he has done far more to let me know my worth as his beloved son.

God’s work to minister worth to my true Soul-Condition has followed the familiar route of the Beatitudinal Valley.[1] He has shown me the poverty of my spirit in relation to knowing my worth. He has led me to mourn the things the world, the flesh, and the devil, have done to me to convince me of my worthlessness. He has brought me to the meekness that admits I cannot fix anything that is wrong with me, whether it be my sins against God, or other people’s sins against me. He has stirred up within me a hunger and thirst for the righteousness that is offered as a gift (including Jesus-like worth), to be received by faith.[2]

Yesterday’s ministry included a reminder of many Scriptures that identify that there is absolutely no distinction in the worth of any child of God compared to all the rest. There may be distinctions in what we are like as male or female, how we fit in to our local society, how we are gifted to serve others in love, but there is no distinction whatsoever in the identity, and standing, and worth, of each and every child of God.

Here are a few things that ministered to me to remind me of my worth, especially in relation to the most recent discoveries of my true Soul-Condition in this regard:

·         “For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God.”^[3] Since all of us are sons through the leading of the Spirit, there is no distinction between any of us. All our sons,^[4] and all enjoy the exact same status and privileges of sonship.[5]

·         “And we impart this in words not taught by human wisdom but taught by the Spirit, interpreting spiritual truths to those who are spiritual.”^[6] Again, Paul cuts ties with all that he had attained through “human wisdom”, and presents what is taught to all believers “by the Spirit”. We do not understand spiritual truths because some of us are better than others, but because the Spirit interprets spiritual truth to all God’s children because all God’s children “are spiritual”.

·         “In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit.” ^[7] When Paul says, “you also,” he means that the Gentile believers, along with the Jewish believers, are being built together into the one and only dwelling place for God on earth, which is the church. This all happens “by the Spirit,” not by any of our own good works, so there is no distinction between believers based on anything we do.

·         “For we are the circumcision, who worship by the Spirit of God and glory in Christ Jesus and put no confidence in the flesh…”^[8] There was a time when Paul saw himself as distinct and superior because of how perfectly he had kept the law, including the rite of circumcision. When he was born-again, he saw that there was no human basis for distinction, and that the true identity of God’s people was those who worship God by the Spirit,[9] not through the law, or any level of good works. We are a people who glory in Christ Jesus, not in ourselves. We are those who “put no confidence in the flesh,” meaning that we have no personal basis for thinking of ourselves more highly (or lowly) than other believers.

There seemed to be a kazillion more thoughts woven into these things, overwhelming my soul with the undeniable word and will of God, that there is no distinction of worth among the children of God. NONE!

This led to something I didn’t see yesterday, but was obvious when I saw it today. If there is no distinction of worth among the children of God, meaning that I am not the worthless piece of garbage I was led to believe, it also means that there is no distinction in worth between me and the children of God who have hurt me. In other words, while I obviously need the ministry of God to help me see that I am not inferior in my worth in relation to other believers, I also need to see that there are no believers in Jesus Christ who are inferior in their worth in relation to me.[10]

In other words, the same tide of God’s love, and grace, and mercy, that brings my lil’ ol’ dingy up to the same level place of worth as the great soul-winning ship of the apostle Paul, also leads me to see that all the believers in Jesus Christ who have hurt me, and reinforced my worthlessness worldview with their not-so-much-like-Jesus behaviors, have the exact same worth to God as every other believer, including myself.

This two-sides of the same coin, or two-edged sword of the Spirit,[11] may be difficult to bear on both counts, but is absolutely essential for what Paul refers to as “the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace”.[12] The unity in the church is based on the Spirit, not the qualifications of the people, and all the people have come into this unity in the same way, through the “bond of peace”, the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ.

As Paul said earlier, 

14 For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility 15 by abolishing the law of commandments expressed in ordinances, that he might create in himself one new man in place of the two, so making peace, 16 and might reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross, thereby killing the hostility.[13] 

The bond of peace is that all believers, including the great divide between Jew and Gentile, have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, not through anything distinctive about us. The hostility between Jews and Gentiles has been killed, and any other hostility in the church needs to be put to death in the same way. The bond of peace is the same for all believers, and the Holy Spirit is the same for all believers, so there is to be unity in the Spirit as we all relate to God with equal standing, and worth, and identity.

The message to me, even as I easily recall so many ways God’s people have wronged me, is that they still have the same worth as me, and we all have the same worth as Paul, and we are all loved by God in the same way as he loves Jesus. All issues of justice against every believer in Jesus Christ have been dealt with on the cross, so God will not mete out a vengeful kind of justice on his sons who have hurt me, while showing only mercy towards me.

God does not show favoritism towards me because I have been hurt, and he does not show partiality against them because they have hurt me. The same mercy that makes it safe for me to be in fellowship with God makes it safe for them to be in fellowship with God. The same mercy that overlooks my sins (because they were all punished on Jesus at the cross) overlooks their sins (for the same reason).

If I want a God who still judges sin in the people for whom Christ died, he will need to constantly judge my sins in the same way (which he cannot do because it would be unjust). If I am drawn to God for his saving mercies that are “new every morning,”[14] I must delight to know that the same mercies (withholding the judgment we deserve) are shown to brothers who have wronged me.

What do I expect to happen now? I expect that, as God is leading me through the Beatitudinal Valley to hunger and thirst for the righteousness of my true identity in Jesus Christ, he is going to make me one of “the merciful,” who delight to show the same mercy to people who have wronged me, as God has shown to me who has wronged him (and who knows whom else!).  This growth in mercy will lead into the pure-heartedness that loves God and his will so much that everything in me will be love, and grace, and mercy, in Christ, and to all others. This pure-heartedness will stir up a single-minded desire to bring people to have peace with God through faith in Jesus Christ, and this single-minded peacemaking will help me appreciate the blessing of being persecuted for the sake of the righteousness that is by grace through faith.[15]

In practical terms, I expect God to give me the freedom to meet people who have wronged me and feel no inferiority to them, no difference of true worth than them, and a genuine feeling of mercy towards them, longing more for the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace than I could ever wish them harm when I’m feeling sorry for myself in the flesh.

Everything is different in the Spirit, and I expect God to put me in difficult relationship situations so that he can, finally, make all the difference in the world.

© 2015 Monte Vigh ~ Box 517, Merritt, BC, V1K 1B8 ~ in2freedom@gmail.com

Unless otherwise noted, Scriptures are from the English Standard Version (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers.)

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[1] Based on Jesus’ presentation of the Beatitudes in Matthew 5:3-12.

[2] All this is in the context that he deals very fully with my own sin in so many ways. I am only identifying how God has used the Beatitudinal Valley to also deal with this issue of deep and crippling worthlessness.

[3] Romans 8:14

[4] Galatians 3:23-29 makes this abundantly clear.

[5] I would LOVE to explain why the “sons and daughters” of some of the modern translations are not only fraudulent translations, but they create two forms of citizenship in God’s kingdom (some are sons, and others are daughters), and put in place a distinction that exists nowhere in the New Testament. God’s book does NOT say “sons and daughters” in the original, and it does not mean “sons and daughters” in the context, so there is no grounds for reading-in contemporary preferences to the breathed-out words of God. There is a reason that God calls all his children “sons,” and presents all of us with the same adoption as sons (Romans 8:15; Galatians 4:5; Ephesians 1:5). We need to know why our Father prefers to have all his children think of ourselves as sons (as Galatians 3:23-29 also makes very clear).

[6] I Corinthians 2:13

[7] Ephesians 2:22

[8] Philippians 3:3

[9] This is exactly what Jesus told the Samaritan woman when he said that God wanted worshippers who worship in spirit and in truth (John 4:23-24).

[10] This is true even if I think they have acted more poorly than myself. It doesn’t look that way to God!

[11] Hebrews 4:12; Ephesians 6:17

[12] Ephesians 4:3

[13] Ephesians 2:14-16

[14] Lamentations 3:22-23

[15] This is primarily a focus on the second half of the Beatitudes given in Matthew 5:3-12

Bringing to Light the Plan of God

This morning I was especially touched by this expression from God’s book, “and to bring to light for everyone what is the plan of the mystery hidden for ages in God who created all things.”[1]

Thoughts:

“the plan” = the central consideration of this verse

“and to bring to light” = we are dealing with something that is not known, hidden by our darkness, hence it must be brought to light.

“for everyone” = it is such an all-encompassing plan, that everyone needs to know what it is so they can know if they are working with the plan, or against the plan.

“what is the plan” = what God’s book brings to light as “the plan” is what the plan is, no exceptions, no exclusions, no doctor’s note allowed. The book tells what is the plan.

“of the mystery” = something that cannot be known by man, hence the need for God to write it out in his book.

“hidden for ages in God” = ages of history did not know the plan because it was hidden in God. The plan was not hidden in man, or in creation, but in God, hence the need to come to God’s book to know the plan.

“who created all things” = there is only one God who created all things, and all things he created indeed. The Creator’s plan is not hidden in creation, hence the failure of atheism, and evolution to know the plan, for they deny both the created nature of creation, and the Creator who “created all things.” The Creator’s plan is not hidden in religion, hence the failure of religion to discover his plan.

What is “the mystery hidden for ages in God who created all things”?

It is this: “This mystery is that the Gentiles are fellow heirs, members of the same body, and partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel.”[2]

The mystery that God had kept hidden until the “fullness of time,”[3] is that the Gentiles, the non-Jewish peoples of the world, “are fellow heirs.” The first “heirs” of the promises of God were the Jewish people, receiving all that God had given to them through Abraham, through Moses, through the law and the prophets, and through the Messiah who came into the world as God’s promised Son of David.[4]

In a sense, we could say that the Messiah coming for the Jewish descendants of Abraham was no mystery hidden away from the generations. However, at the same time as the world watched God leading the people of Israel towards that fulfillment of his word, there was also a “mystery hidden for ages in God,” some mystery no one could have guessed.

So, the plan that must be brought into the light for all people to hear, is that all people, from both Jewish and non-Jewish backgrounds, can become “heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ.”[5] This means that we can become those who have an inheritance from God as our Father, an inheritance we share with his Son, our Lord Jesus Christ.[6]

This does not mean that non-Jewish people must convert to the Jewish religion. Rather, God calls both Jews and non-Jews out of every culture and religion in which they are found, to become the “one new man in place of the two.”[7] The “one new man” is the true Christian church,[8] and, “in place of the two,” means in place of Judaism on one side, and every Gentile (or non-Jewish) religion and culture on the other side.

God, our Creator, wants everyone to hear this good news. One day we will see around the throne of God, 

“a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands, and crying out with a loud voice, ‘Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!’”[9]

Part of the reason all those people will be around the throne of God is because someone took to heart the calling, “to bring to light for everyone what is the plan of the mystery hidden for ages in God who created all things.” Now that you see this for yourself, look into the word of God that brings this plan of God to light for you, so you can be part of that great, numberless, multitude rejoicing in our Creator and Savior forever.

© 2015 Monte Vigh ~ Box 517, Merritt, BC, V1K 1B8 ~ in2freedom@gmail.com

Unless otherwise noted, Scriptures are from the English Standard Version (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers.)

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[1] Ephesians 3:9

[2] Ephesians 3:6

[3] Galatians 4:4

[4] Paul speaks of Israel’s first opportunity in Romans 9:1-5.

[5] Romans 8:17

[6] I Peter 1:3-9 speaks about how our new birth includes “an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you.”

[7] Ephesians 2:15 (2:11-22 gives the context so beautifully)

[8] Meaning, the worldwide collection of all true Christians, but not necessarily including any particular group or individual who claims to be part of Jesus’ church.

[9] Revelation 7:9-10

How God Speaks

There are many questions people ask that require a “that depends” for an answer. It depends what people mean by their question before we can answer yes, no, or maybe so.

For example, when someone asks, does God still speak to his people today, that answer depends in which version of God speaking to his people they are talking about. Extreme left (a direction, not political preference) believes that God speaks in all kinds of ways, often in contradiction of his revealed word. Extreme right believes that God has spoken in the past to give us his book, and now he no longer speaks at all. In-between the two extremes is the belief that God speaks through his word just as personally now as he did when he first presented those words to his church.

So, does God speak all kinds of ways, even in contradiction of his word? No.

Did God speak in the past until we have what is recorded in his book, but he no longer speaks at all? No.

Does God continue to speak to his people through the book he has given, and through the Holy Spirit who abides in his people? Yes.[1]

For me, my whole view of relating to God’s book changed in 1992 when I went from treating the Bible like a book I had to study to see what I could learn, to God’s word through which he actively speaks to his people every time we meet with him to hear what he has to say.

Instead of trying to explain this in more depth at the moment, here is an example of what I mean when I say that God speaks to his people through his word and prayer.[2] Perhaps it will encourage those who did not know that spending time with God in his word and prayer is much more personal than they knew, and calm any concerns that I agree with those who treat their personal experiences as authoritative over the written words of God. Between the extremes, God is still speaking.

God’s word says:

For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named, that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.

Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen.”[3]

Here is the essence of how God spoke to me through this part of his word (not that I heard him use these words, but it is how I apply his word to my heart as God speaking to me):

         Monte,

·  when you bow your knees before the Father,

·  and you pray according to the riches of his glory,

·  and you ask that he would grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner man,

·  and that, through his Spirit in your inner man, Christ may dwell in your heart through faith,

·  and that you would fully experience what it means to be rooted and grounded in love,

·  so that, by the indwelling Spirit of Jesus Christ in your heart, you would have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth of the love of Jesus Christ,

·  and that you would know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge,

·  so that, in the reality of the Spirit of Jesus Christ dwelling in your heart, you would experience the church being filled with all the fullness of God,[4]

·  you would discover that God is able to do far more abundantly than all that you ask or think,

·  your prayer that he would work according to the riches of his glory will be answered according to the power at work within us because the Spirit of Jesus Christ dwells and abides in your inner man,

·  and so God will be glorified in you, and in the church, and in Christ Jesus. Amen!

For those who get squirmy with any suggestion that God speaks through his word (all those excesses and exaggerations out there), consider this as an expression of how the wise man hears Jesus’ words and puts them into practice,[5] or how we are told to “hear what the Spirit says to the churches”[6]or how “faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.”[7]

The point is that, “the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.”[8] What I get out of the word of God is not because I am alive and active (it is morning after all), but because God’s word is living and active in me.

This simply means that, by the time I have finished meditating on God’s word (in the biblical way, I mean),[9] I should know what the living and active word of God was doing in me. As Paul stated it, we are to “work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.”[10]

Because God has sent his Spirit into our hearts to teach us all things, and remind us of things we have been taught,[11] and to testify to our spirits that we are the children of God,[12] and to cry out within us, “Abba! Father!”[13] our time with God in his word ought to feel just as personal as if he had just sat down and spoken those words for the first time this morning.

Yes, I reject all the claims that God speaks outside of his word and contrary to his word. However, there is a way that God speaks through his word, and by his Spirit, so that we are able to feel like little children spending time listening to our Father telling us what is on his heart for us. Each morning should feel like such a personal time with God that we simply know that the living God has made himself known to us in a deeply personal way.

Which just happens to be what God’s word tells me to pray for as stated above. And so, I set out to bow my knees before the Father, asking for the fullest possible experience of what his word reveals to me as is possible this side of heaven. And, since he is able to do far more than I could ask, or even think to ask, I will not limit my prayers to what I imagine God could do with someone like me, but will raise my prayers as high as I can possibly consider, knowing that his word already tells me what to expect him to do for his glory, and for my complete joy.

At the end of our time with God in his word we will either believe that we got something out of God’s book because we studied it, or that God gave us something out of his word because he was personally ministering it into our hearts. I simply believe that it is God’s word that teaches us the personal nature of him teaching us by his Spirit, so any fellowship with him should feel like he just spoke, and we are those who hear and put into practice what we have heard.

“He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.”

© 2015 Monte Vigh ~ Box 517, Merritt, BC, V1K 1B8 ~ in2freedom@gmail.com

Unless otherwise noted, Scriptures are from the English Standard Version (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers.) 

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[1] I say this meaning that the word and the Spirit are always in agreement, so neither will ever contradict each other.

[2] I speak of God’s word and prayer together because they describe two sides of one relationship. We cannot separate the two as though God would speak to us through his word even though we are not approaching him in prayer (turning God’s book into a horoscope or Ouija board), nor that he would speak to us through prayer without any submission to the word of God. As we meet with God in both the word and prayer, God speaks to us through his word, and by his Spirit, usually so we know quite clearly how we ought to pray.

[3] Ephesians 3:14-21

[4] While I see how God’s word applies this to me personally, I believe the primary fulfillment of Paul’s prayer is seen in what God does in his church. Paul spoke of the church as a holy temple in which God lives by his Spirit (Ephesians 2:19-22). As we pray the way Paul exemplified, and as God does the things Paul and the church have prayed about, the church as this holy temple will be “filled with all the fullness of God,” just as we are designed to experience.

[5] Matthew 7:24-27

[6] Stated 7 times in Revelation 2-3 at the end of each of the seven letters to the churches (Revelation 2:7, 2:11, 2:17, 2:29, 3:6, 3:13, 3:22)

[7] Romans 10:17

[8] Hebrews 4:12

[9] https://www.biblegateway.com/quicksearch/?qs_version=ESV&quicksearch=meditate&begin=23&end=23

[10] Philippians 2:12-13

[11] John 14:26

[12] Romans 8:16

[13] Romans 8:15