How We Must Fight for Holiness

Strive for peace with everyone, and for the holiness without which no one will see the Lord. (Hebrews 12:14)

There is a practical holiness without which we will not see the Lord. Many live as if this were not so.

There are professing Christians who live such unholy lives that they will hear Jesus’s dreadful words, “I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness” (Matthew 7:23). Paul says to professing believers, “If you live according to the flesh you will die” (Romans 8:13).

So, there is a holiness without which no one will see the Lord. And learning to fight for holiness by faith in future grace is supremely important.

There is another way to pursue holiness that backfires and leads to death. Paul warns us against serving God any other way than by faith in his enabling grace. God is not “served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all mankind life and breath and everything” (Acts 17:25). Any effort to serve God that does not, in that very act, depend on him as the reward of our hearts and the power of our service, will dishonor him as a needy pagan god.

Peter describes the alternative to such self-reliant service of God, “Whoever serves, [let him do so] as one who serves by the strength that God supplies — in order that in everything God may be glorified through Jesus Christ” (1 Peter 4:11). And Paul says, “I will not venture to speak of anything except what Christ has accomplished through me” (Romans 15:18; see also 1 Corinthians 15:10).

Moment by moment, grace arrives to enable us to do “every good work” that God appoints for us. “God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that having all sufficiency in all things at all times, you may abound in every good work” (2 Corinthians 9:8).

The fight for good works is a fight to believe the promises of future grace.

John Piper 

 

A Casual Heart Toward Holy Matters

 

“The backslider in heart will be filled with his own ways, but a good man will be satisfied from above.” PROVERBS 14:14

 

PONDER THIS

In the beginning of 2 Samuel 11, David had become casual about the things of God. He had been blessed so much—God had been so good to him, and David had enjoyed victory after victory—that he no longer had to fight. He could just sit back, coast, and take it easy. David had put off the armor, but the Bible warns that we are to endure difficulties as good soldiers of the Lord.

Many of us gave our hearts to the Lord Jesus as children. We meant business and our heart belongs to Him. But I wonder if there are not some of us who need to say, “Lord Jesus, I have gotten casual about this thing. I have taken for granted what I did as a child or as a young person. But now today, Lord Jesus, I present the most precious thing I have—my life, my soul, my all—to you anew and afresh like I have never ever done it before.”

In what ways have grown casual about your relationship with the Lord?

How is He calling you to respond?

PRACTICE THIS

Consider your life and relationship with Christ. Respond to Him with renewed commitment today.

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers 

How to Serve a Bad Boss

Rendering service with a good will as to the Lord and not to man, knowing that whatever good anyone does, this he will receive back from the Lord, whether he is a bondservant or is free. (Ephesians 6:7–8)

Consider these five things from Ephesians 6:7–8 in connection to your job.

1) A call to radically Lord-centered living.

This is astonishing compared to the way we usually live. Paul says that all our work should be done as work for Christ, not for any human supervisor. With good will render service “as to the Lord and not to man.”

This means that we will think of the Lord in what we are doing at work. We will ask, Why would the Lord like this done? How would the Lord like this done? When would the Lord like this done? Will the Lord help me to do this? What effect will this have for the Lord’s honor? In other words, being a Christian means radically Lord-centered living and working.

2) A call to be a good person.

Lord-centered living means being a good person and doing good things. Paul says, “With a good will [render service] . . . whatever good anyone does.” Jesus said that when we let our light shine, men will see our “good works” and give glory to our Father in heaven (Matthew 5:16).

3) Power to do a good job for inconsiderate earthly employers.

Paul’s aim is to empower Christians, with Lord-centered motives, to go on doing good for supervisors who are not considerate. How do you keep on doing good in a job when your boss ignores you or even criticizes you? Paul’s answer is: stop thinking about your boss as your main supervisor, and start working for the Lord. Do this in the very duties given to you by your earthly supervisor.

4) Encouragement that nothing good is done in vain.

Perhaps the most amazing sentence of all is this: “Whatever good anyone does, this he will receive back from the Lord.” This is amazing. Everything! “Whatever good anyone does.” Every little thing you do that is good is seen and valued and rewarded by the Lord.

And he will pay you back for it. Not in the sense that you have earned anything — as if you could put him in your debt. He owns you, and everything in the universe. He owes us nothing. But he freely, graciously chooses to reward us for all the good things done in faith.

5) Encouragement that insignificant status on earth is no hindrance to great reward in heaven.

The Lord will reward every good thing you do — “whether he is a bondservant or is free.” Your supervisor may think you are a nobody — a mere bondservant, so to speak. Or he may not even know you exist. That doesn’t matter. The Lord knows you exist. And in the end no faithful service will be in vain.

John Piper 

How to Behave in a Cave

 “Then the men of David said to him, ‘This is the day of which the LORD said to you, “Behold, I will deliver your enemy into your hand, that you may do to him as it seems good to you.”’ And David arose and secretly cut off a corner of Saul’s robe. Now it happened afterward that David’s heart troubled him because he had cut Saul’s robe. And he said to his men, ‘The LORD forbid that I should do this thing to my master, the LORD’s anointed, to stretch out my hand against him, seeing he is the anointed of the LORD.’” 1 SAMUEL 24:4-6

 

PONDER THIS

Most today are after self-realization, but the Bible teaches self-surrender. In self-realization, all the answers are in you; but in self-surrender, all the answers are in Jesus. In self-realization, there is a preoccupation with us. The self may be dedicated, but it is dedicated to me.

This is a great contrast from what we learn from David. The greatest victory David won was not a victory over Saul. The greatest victory David won was over himself. David refused to take vengeance on Saul; he refused to do what he was able to do. He practiced what Romans 12:21 says, “Be not overcome with evil, but overcome evil with good.”

We all share that human nature to rebel, to make a statement, to fight for our way. We all have that selfishness in us. Be honest! David killed a bear, David killed a lion, David killed Goliath, but the greatest victory David ever had was that day in the cave where he decided, “I’m going to submit under those that God has put over me so I can be over those things God has put under me.”

Where do you see selfishness in yourself? What do you do when you have temptations toward selfishness?

What are some ways you have witnessed someone overcoming selfishness through God’s guidance? What was special about that?

PRACTICE THIS

Selflessly serve someone today.

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers 

Don’t Miss the Point

“. . . looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, who gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from every lawless deed and purify for Himself His own special people, zealous for good works.” TITUS 2:13-14

 

PONDER THIS

When we become Christians, we are purchased and purified. Grace does not mean God says, “Now that I've forgiven you your sins, you just live any way you want.” The grace that saves us begins to purify us from the inside. This passage says we're to be zealous of good works. What is the difference between the works of an unsaved man trying to be saved, and the works we do because we're saved? The major difference is a matter of the heart.

I received a letter that said, “Pastor, I enjoyed the message on grace. It was so good when you took the offering that you didn't mention tithing. I'm so glad you didn't mention that because that's Old Testament; that's law.” Unfortunately, that misses the whole point. Because I'm saved doesn't mean I don't want to tithe. It means I want to give more! We now live by a higher standard. We have the love of Jesus on the inside.

What are some ways your life in Christ has prompted you toward good works?

What are some ways you have seen God prompt good works in other people’s lives? What have you learned from them?

PRACTICE THIS

Consider the good works that God may be leading you toward. Then go do them!

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers 

Seek Your City’s Good

“Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, to all the exiles whom I have sent into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon: Build houses and live in them; plant gardens and eat their produce. . . . But seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the Lord on its behalf, for in its welfare you will find your welfare.” (Jeremiah 29:4–5, 7)

If that was true for God’s exiles in Babylon, it would seem to be even more true for Christian exiles in this very “Babylon-like” world. What, then, shall we do?

We should do the ordinary things that need to be done: build houses; live in them; plant gardens. This does not contaminate you if you do it all for the real King and not just for eye service as men-pleasers.

Seek the welfare of the place where God has sent you. Think of yourself as sent there by God for his glory. Because you are.

Pray to the Lord on behalf of your city. Ask for great and good things to happen for the city. Ask that they happen by God’s power and for his glory. Never lose sight of the ultimate good that the city needs a thousand times more than it needs material prosperity. Christians care about all suffering — especially eternal suffering. That’s the greatest danger every city faces.

But neither God nor his people are indifferent to the health and safety and prosperity and freedom of the city. We all want these things, and Jesus said, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself” (Matthew 22:39). In fact, the Lord says in Jeremiah that loving your city is a way of loving yourself: “In its welfare you will find your welfare.”

This does not mean we give up our exile orientation. Peter says that Christians are “sojourners and exiles” (1 Peter 2:11) and Paul says “our citizenship is in heaven” (Philippians 3:20). In fact, we will do most good for this world by keeping a steadfast freedom from its beguiling attractions. We will serve our city best by getting our values from “the city that is to come” (Hebrews 13:14). We will do our city most good by calling as many of its citizens as we can to be citizens of “the Jerusalem above” (Galatians 4:26).

So, let’s live — let’s do so much good (1 Peter 2:12) — that the natives will want to meet our King.

John Piper 

God Works Through Good Resolves

To this end we always pray for you, that our God may make you worthy of his calling and may fulfill every resolve for good and every work of faith by his power. (2 Thessalonians 1:11)

Seeking the power of God to fulfill our good resolves does not mean that we don’t really resolve, or that we don’t really use willpower.

The engagement of God’s power never takes the place of the engagement of our will! The power of God in sanctification never makes us passive! The power of God engages itself beneath or behind and within our will, not in place of our will.

The evidence of God’s power in our lives is not the absence of our willing, but the strength of our willing, the joy of our willing.

Anyone who says, “Well, I believe in the sovereignty of God and so I will just sit back and do nothing” does not really believe in the sovereignty of God. For why would someone who believes in God’s sovereignty so blatantly disobey him?

When you sit back to do nothing, you are not doing nothing. You are actively engaging your will in a decision to sit back. And if that is the way you handle sin or temptation in your life, it is blatant disobedience, because we are commanded to wage a good warfare (1 Timothy 1:18) and resist the devil (James 4:7) and strive for holiness (Hebrews 12:14) and put to death the sinful acts of the body (Romans 8:13).

Second Thessalonians 1:11 says that it is by the power of God that we will fulfill our good resolves and our works of faith. But this does not nullify the meaning of the word “resolve” and the word “work.” Part of the whole process of walking worthy of God’s call is the active engagement of our will in resolving to do righteousness.

If you have lingering sin in your life, or if you keep neglecting some good deed just because you have been waiting around to be saved without a fight, you are compounding your disobedience. God will never appear with power in your will in any other way than through your exercise of that will; that is, through your good resolves — your good intentions and plans and purposes.

So, people who believe in the sovereignty of God must not fear to engage their wills in the struggle for holiness. “Strive to enter through the narrow door. For many, I tell you, will seek to enter and will not be able” (Luke 13:24). Only strive in the faith that in and through your striving God is at work to will and to do his good pleasure (Philippians 2:13).

John Piper

You Can Choose How You Think

“Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy—meditate on these things.”

PHILIPPIANS 4:8

 

PONDER THIS

People use their ears as garbage cans. Some people love to hear gossip and negative news. If it’s bad, they want it. Then that news spreads negativity and rumors like wildfire. We need to put up as gates to our minds the refinement and respect test: Will this edify? Is this uplifting of others? When it fails the test, do not allow it to come in.

Paul says if there be any virtue, if there be any praise, think on these things. This is simple and wonderful. You can absolutely take back that conquered ground. You don’t have to think on anything you don’t want to.

But you will always be thinking something. You cannot control your thought life by keeping your mind in neutral. And if you’re not thinking something right, you’re going to think something wrong. If you’re not thinking something good, you’re going to think something bad. The way to avoid bad thoughts is not by focusing on bad thoughts. Try not to think of a submarine right now. Are you sure you’re not thinking about a submarine? The only way not to think about a submarine is to be thinking about something else. Let’s think on the things of God. We avoid bad by focusing on good.

What are some of the thoughts that dominate your mind every day?

How could you remind yourself to think on the virtuous, noble things Paul wrote about?

PRACTICE THIS

Make practical reminders to fill your mind with godly thoughts and put them in a place you will see them regularly.

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers 

Are You Missing Opportunities to Share Kindness?

PRAY OVER THIS

“Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all, especially to those who are of the household of faith.” Galatians 6:10

 

PONDER THIS

There are some of us who are afraid if we’re too kind, people are going to take advantage of us. Have you ever felt that way? Aren’t you glad that God keeps the score? Aren’t you glad that God knows? It doesn’t matter if somebody takes advantage of us if we’re acting like the Lord Jesus. People took advantage of Jesus. But He was and is kind.

Has the Holy Spirit ever impressed you to do an act of kindness to someone, but you delayed, and you got too busy, and then it was just too late, and you would have been embarrassed to do it? What often happens is we have an opportunity to do good, but we just let it pass by. Do you remember the story of the Good Samaritan who saw a man bruised and bleeding? He was on his journey, he stopped, and he helped the man right away. He didn’t make excuses. He didn’t say “I’m too busy,” “It’s too dangerous,” or “It’s none of my business.” He stopped and did what he could. All around us, people are bruised and bleeding. Some are bleeding financially. Some are bleeding emotionally. Some are bleeding spiritually. And they need you to say, “This is an opportunity to help, and I’m going to take it right now.”

When has someone influenced your life with a simple act of kindness?

What have been some of your excuses for not listening to the Holy Spirit about being kind to someone else?

PRACTICE THIS

Look for any opportunity you have to be kind today. Act without delay.

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers 

God Works Through Good Resolves

To this end we always pray for you, that our God may make you worthy of his calling and may fulfill every resolve for good and every work of faith by his power. (2 Thessalonians 1:11)

Seeking the power of God to fulfill our good resolves does not mean that we don’t really resolve, or that we don’t really use willpower.

The engagement of God’s power never takes the place of the engagement of our will! The power of God in sanctification never makes us passive! The power of God engages itself beneath or behind and within our will, not in place of our will.

The evidence of God’s power in our lives is not the absence of our willing, but the strength of our willing, the joy of our willing.

Anyone who says, “Well, I believe in the sovereignty of God and so I will just sit back and do nothing” does not really believe in the sovereignty of God. For why would someone who believes in God’s sovereignty so blatantly disobey him?

When you sit back to do nothing, you are not doing nothing. You are actively engaging your will in a decision to sit back. And if that is the way you handle sin or temptation in your life, it is blatant disobedience, because we are commanded to wage a good warfare (1 Timothy 1:18) and resist the devil (James 4:7) and strive for holiness (Hebrews 12:14) and put to death the sinful acts of the body (Romans 8:13).

Second Thessalonians 1:11 says that it is by the power of God that we will fulfill our good resolves and our works of faith. But this does not nullify the meaning of the word “resolve” and the word “work.” Part of the whole process of walking worthy of God’s call is the active engagement of our will in resolving to do righteousness.

If you have lingering sin in your life, or if you keep neglecting some good deed just because you have been waiting around to be saved without a fight, you are compounding your disobedience. God will never appear with power in your will in any other way than through your exercise of that will; that is, through your good resolves — your good intentions and plans and purposes.

So, people who believe in the sovereignty of God must not fear to engage their wills in the struggle for holiness. “Strive to enter through the narrow door. For many, I tell you, will seek to enter and will not be able” (Luke 13:24). Only strive in the faith that in and through your striving God is at work to will and to do his good pleasure (Philippians 2:13).

John Piper 

How to Serve a Bad Boss

Rendering service with a good will as to the Lord and not to man, knowing that whatever good anyone does, this he will receive back from the Lord, whether he is a bondservant or is free. (Ephesians 6:7–8)

Consider these five things from Ephesians 6:7–8 in connection to your job.

1) A call to radically Lord-centered living.

This is astonishing compared to the way we usually live. Paul says that all our work should be done as work for Christ, not for any human supervisor. With good will render service “as to the Lord and not to man.”

This means that we will think of the Lord in what we are doing at work. We will ask, Why would the Lord like this done? How would the Lord like this done? When would the Lord like this done? Will the Lord help me to do this? What effect will this have for the Lord’s honor? In other words, being a Christian means radically Lord-centered living and working.

2) A call to be a good person.

Lord-centered living means being a good person and doing good things. Paul says, “With a good will [render service] . . . whatever good anyone does.” Jesus said that when we let our light shine, men will see our “good works” and give glory to our Father in heaven (Matthew 5:16).

3) Power to do a good job for inconsiderate earthly employers.

Paul’s aim is to empower Christians, with Lord-centered motives, to go on doing good for supervisors who are not considerate. How do you keep on doing good in a job when your boss ignores you or even criticizes you? Paul’s answer is: stop thinking about your boss as your main supervisor, and start working for the Lord. Do this in the very duties given to you by your earthly supervisor.

4) Encouragement that nothing good is done in vain.

Perhaps the most amazing sentence of all is this: “Whatever good anyone does, this he will receive back from the Lord.” This is amazing. Everything! “Whatever good anyone does.” Every little thing you do that is good is seen and valued and rewarded by the Lord.

And he will pay you back for it. Not in the sense that you have earned anything — as if you could put him in your debt. He owns you, and everything in the universe. He owes us nothing. But he freely, graciously chooses to reward us for all the good things done in faith.

5) Encouragement that insignificant status on earth is no hindrance to great reward in heaven.

The Lord will reward every good thing you do — “whether he is a bondservant or is free.” Your supervisor may think you are a nobody — a mere bondservant, so to speak. Or he may not even know you exist. That doesn’t matter. The Lord knows you exist. And in the end no faithful service will be in vain.

John Piper 

God Works Through Good Resolves

To this end we always pray for you, that our God may make you worthy of his calling and may fulfill every resolve for good and every work of faith by his power. (2 Thessalonians 1:11)

Seeking the power of God to fulfill our good resolves does not mean that we don’t really resolve, or that we don’t really use willpower.

The engagement of God’s power never takes the place of the engagement of our will! The power of God in sanctification never makes us passive! The power of God engages itself beneath or behind and within our will, not in place of our will.

The evidence of God’s power in our lives is not the absence of our willing, but the strength of our willing, the joy of our willing.

Anyone who says, “Well, I believe in the sovereignty of God and so I will just sit back and do nothing” does not really believe in the sovereignty of God. For why would someone who believes in God’s sovereignty so blatantly disobey him?

When you sit back to do nothing, you are not doing nothing. You are actively engaging your will in a decision to sit back. And if that is the way you handle sin or temptation in your life, it is blatant disobedience, because we are commanded to wage a good warfare (1 Timothy 1:18) and resist the devil (James 4:7) and strive for holiness (Hebrews 12:14) and put to death the sinful acts of the body (Romans 8:13).

Second Thessalonians 1:11 says that it is by the power of God that we will fulfill our good resolves and our works of faith. But this does not nullify the meaning of the word “resolve” and the word “work.” Part of the whole process of walking worthy of God’s call is the active engagement of our will in resolving to do righteousness.

If you have lingering sin in your life, or if you keep neglecting some good deed just because you have been waiting around to be saved without a fight, you are compounding your disobedience. God will never appear with power in your will in any other way than through your exercise of that will; that is, through your good resolves — your good intentions and plans and purposes.

So, people who believe in the sovereignty of God must not fear to engage their wills in the struggle for holiness. “Strive to enter through the narrow door. For many, I tell you, will seek to enter and will not be able” (Luke 13:24). Only strive in the faith that in and through your striving God is at work to will and to do his good pleasure (Philippians 2:13).

John Piper 

Carry These Five Principles into the Voting Booth

BIBLE MEDITATION

“When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice. But when a wicked man rules, the people groan.” Proverbs 29:2

 

DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT

Today in the US is an important election day. I trust every one of you will vote. Are you praying over your vote? Dr. Francis Schaeffer, a brilliant man, one of the foremost Christian thinkers of our time, gave us 5 principles to keep in mind when we vote. These have nothing to do with personalities or political parties. The principles guiding our vote should be:

The dignity of human life

The importance of the traditional family

Religious freedom of speech in schools, both public and private

Human rights and the need for justice in our world

The compassionate use of accumulated wealth

These five ought to be in the heart and mind of every child of God. Pray over these. Then, based on God’s Word, make your determination. God will give you wisdom.

ACTION POINT

Pray it from your heart, “God, bless America, and God, give us space to repent. And may the ones of Your choosing be elected to lead us.” Remember, “…to him who knows to do good and does not do it, to him it is sin” (James 4:17).

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers