More than a Pardon

“But to him who does not work but believes on Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is accounted for righteousness.” ROMANS 4:5

 

PONDER THIS

What is justification? Justification is an act of God through which He declares those who’ve received Jesus Christ righteous. It doesn’t mean they’ve earned righteousness; Jesus is the only One who has earned righteousness. It means that righteousness has been given to God’s people, apart from anything that they have done to deserve it. Your faith is counted for righteousness.

Now justification is more than a pardon for your sins. Justification is more than an acquittal. If you went into a court and the courtroom said, “You’re guilty but we pardon you,” that wouldn’t be justification. Or if the courtroom said, “You are acquitted,” that means you never were guilty to begin with. Justification means that you are not only pardoned but that God now, by a forensic act of His love and divine righteousness, declares you righteous apart from works of any kind—not because you’ve been good, not because you’ve kept the Ten Commandments, not because you’ve gotten baptized but because you have trusted in the finished work of Jesus Christ on the cross. So many people endlessly endeavor to try to be good. They look to do good things so God will like them. God loves you—that is not the question. He sent His only Son because He loves you. The question is, do you trust that He can make you right with Him? Do you trust Him to make you whole again or are you trying to solve that problem yourself?

What are some good things people do to try to gain God’s favor? When have you done some of those things?

What happens when we try to do good for God’s favor? What is harmful about that?

PRACTICE THIS

Confess when you have tried to do good things for God’s pardon. Surrender and thank Him for justification through Jesus.

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers 

Glorify God by Giving Thanks

It is all for your sake, so that as grace extends to more and more people it may increase thanksgiving, to the glory of God. (2 Corinthians 4:15)

Gratitude to God is a joyful emotion. We have a sense of joyful indebtedness for his grace. So in a sense in the very emotion of gratitude, we are still the beneficiaries. But by its very nature, gratitude glorifies the giver. When we feel thankful, we acknowledge our need and God’s beneficence, God’s fullness, the riches of his glory.

Just like I humble myself and exalt the server in the restaurant when I say, “Thank you,” so I humble myself and exalt God when I feel gratitude to him. The difference, of course, is that I really am infinitely in debt to God for his grace, and everything he does for me is free and undeserved.

But the point is that gratitude glorifies the giver. It glorifies God. And this is Paul’s final goal in all his labors. Yes, his labors are for the sake of the church — the good of the church. But the church is not the highest goal. Listen again: “It is all for your sake, so that as grace extends to more and more people it may increase thanksgiving, to the glory of God.” All for your sake — for the glory of God!

The wonderful thing about the gospel is that the response it requires from us for God’s glory is also the response that is most natural and joyful; namely, thankfulness for grace. God’s all-supplying glory in giving and our humble gladness in receiving are not in competition. Joyful thankfulness glorifies God.

A life that gives glory to God for his grace and a life of deepest gladness are the same life. And what makes them one is thankfulness.

John Piper 

Are You Thankful at Heart?

BIBLE MEDITATION

“Every good and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights.” James 1:17

DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT

A Congressman told his pastor about a time he took his son to McDonald's for some father-son fellowship. He said,

My son ordered a large order of fries. As I sat there, the fries smelled so good, I reached out my hand to get a couple. But my son said, “Hey! Those are mine!” It flew all over me. I started thinking, “Doesn’t he know who bought those fries and gave them to him? Doesn’t he know I could go up there and order twenty orders of fries and bury him in French fries? And that I could take them away or go buy some for myself? Doesn’t he know that I’m just trying to have fellowship with him?”

Then God spoke to my heart. “My son, that’s the way you are with Me sometimes. I’ve given you blessings, and when I ask for a part of that blessing, you say, ‘Hey, that’s mine.’ Son, don’t you know I could take that whole thing from you if I wanted to? And don’t you know, if I wanted to, I could give you more? And don’t you know that I don’t need that? I am God. I have anything I want, for “the earth is the Lord’s, and all its fullness ” (Psalm 24:1). And don’t you know that I was wanting to have some fellowship with you?”

ACTION POINT

Oh, friend, may God have mercy upon the spirit of greed that’s in our hearts! May we understand that all that we have has come from God—and thank Him for all He has done for us.

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers 

Glorify God by Giving Thanks

It is all for your sake, so that as grace extends to more and more people it may increase thanksgiving, to the glory of God. (2 Corinthians 4:15)

Gratitude to God is a joyful emotion. We have a sense of joyful indebtedness for his grace. So in a sense in the very emotion of gratitude, we are still the beneficiaries. But by its very nature, gratitude glorifies the giver. When we feel thankful, we acknowledge our need and God’s beneficence, God’s fullness, the riches of his glory.

Just like I humble myself and exalt the server in the restaurant when I say, “Thank you,” so I humble myself and exalt God when I feel gratitude to him. The difference, of course, is that I really am infinitely in debt to God for his grace, and everything he does for me is free and undeserved.

But the point is that gratitude glorifies the giver. It glorifies God. And this is Paul’s final goal in all his labors. Yes, his labors are for the sake of the church — the good of the church. But the church is not the highest goal. Listen again: “It is all for your sake, so that as grace extends to more and more people it may increase thanksgiving, to the glory of God.” All for your sake — for the glory of God!

The wonderful thing about the gospel is that the response it requires from us for God’s glory is also the response that is most natural and joyful; namely, thankfulness for grace. God’s all-supplying glory in giving and our humble gladness in receiving are not in competition. Joyful thankfulness glorifies God.

A life that gives glory to God for his grace and a life of deepest gladness are the same life. And what makes them one is thankfulness.

John Piper 

Do you continually complain?

BIBLE MEDITATION:

Do all things without murmurings and disputings: That ye may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye shine as lights in the world. Philippians 2:14-15

DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT:

Do you know the problem with many of us when we obey God? We murmur about it while we are doing it! And God is taking notes, because halfhearted obedience isn’t obedience at all. Remember, God is looking at the heart, not the deed (see 1 Samuel 16:7).

Do you know why we murmur? Because we’ve taken our eyes off Calvary. Jesus didn’t murmur on the way to the cross. Do you thank God for the pains in life? Or only the gains?

ACTION POINT:

Ephesians 5:20 says, “Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers 

The Root of Ingratitude

Although they knew God, they did not glorify him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. (Romans 1:21)

When gratitude springs up in the human heart toward God, he is magnified as the wealthy source of our blessing. He is acknowledged as giver and benefactor and therefore as glorious.

But when gratitude does not spring up in our hearts at God’s great goodness to us, it probably means that we don’t want to pay him a compliment; we don’t want to magnify him as our benefactor.

And there is a very good reason that human beings by nature do not want to magnify God with thanksgiving or glorify him as their benefactor. The reason is that it detracts from our own glory, and all people by nature love their own glory more than the glory of God.

At the root of all ingratitude is the love of one’s own greatness. For genuine gratitude admits that we are beneficiaries of an unearned bequest. We are cripples leaning on the cross-shaped crutch of Jesus Christ. We are paralytics living minute by minute in the iron lung of God’s mercy. We are children asleep in heaven’s stroller.

The natural person, apart from saving grace, hates to think of himself in these images: unworthy beneficiary, cripple, paralytic, child. They rob him of his glory by giving it all to God.

Therefore, while a man loves his own glory, and prizes his self-sufficiency, and hates to think of himself as sin-sick and helpless, he will never feel genuine gratitude to the true God and so will never magnify God as he ought, but only himself.

Jesus said, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I came not to call the righteous, but sinners” (Mark 2:17).

Jesus did not come to minister to those who insist they are well. He demands something great: that we admit we are not great. This is bad news to the arrogant, but words of honey to those who have given up their charade of self-sufficiency and are seeking God.

John Piper 

Glorify God by Giving Thanks

It is all for your sake, so that as grace extends to more and more people it may increase thanksgiving, to the glory of God. (2 Corinthians 4:15)

Gratitude to God is a joyful emotion. We have a sense of joyful indebtedness for his grace. So in a sense in the very emotion of gratitude, we are still the beneficiaries. But by its very nature, gratitude glorifies the giver. When we feel thankful, we acknowledge our need and God’s beneficence, God’s fullness, the riches of his glory.

Just like I humble myself and exalt the server in the restaurant when I say, “Thank you,” so I humble myself and exalt God when I feel gratitude to him. The difference, of course, is that I really am infinitely in debt to God for his grace, and everything he does for me is free and undeserved.

But the point is that gratitude glorifies the giver. It glorifies God. And this is Paul’s final goal in all his labors. Yes, his labors are for the sake of the church — the good of the church. But the church is not the highest goal. Listen again: “It is all for your sake, so that as grace extends to more and more people it may increase thanksgiving, to the glory of God.” All for your sake — for the glory of God!

The wonderful thing about the gospel is that the response it requires from us for God’s glory is also the response that is most natural and joyful; namely, thankfulness for grace. God’s all-supplying glory in giving and our humble gladness in receiving are not in competition. Joyful thankfulness glorifies God.

A life that gives glory to God for his grace and a life of deepest gladness are the same life. And what makes them one is thankfulness.

John Piper 

The Gravity of Gratitude

But understand this, that in the last days there will come times of difficulty. For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful . . . (2 Timothy 3:1–2)

Notice how ingratitude goes with pride, abuse, and insubordination.

In another place Paul says, “Let there be no filthiness nor foolish talk nor crude joking . . . but instead let there be thanksgiving” (Ephesians 5:4). So, it seems that gratitude, thankfulness, is the opposite of ugliness and violence.

The reason this is so is that the feeling of gratitude is a humble feeling, not a proud one. It is other-exalting, not self-exalting. And it is glad-hearted, not angry or bitter. Bitter thankfulness is a contradiction in terms.

The key to unlocking a heart of thankfulness and overcoming bitterness and ugliness and disrespect and violence is a strong belief in God, the Creator and Sustainer and Provider and Hope-giver. If we do not believe we are deeply indebted to God for all we have and hope to have, then the very spring of gratitude has gone dry.

So, I conclude that the rise of violence and sacrilege and ugliness and insubordination in the last times is a God-issue. The basic issue is a failure to feel gratitude at the upper levels of our dependence.

When the high spring of gratitude to God fails at the top of the mountain, soon all the pools of thankfulness begin to dry up further down the mountain. And when gratitude goes, the sovereignty of the self condones more and more corruption for its pleasure.

Pray for a great awakening of humble gratitude.

John Piper 

Have you ever had a home appraised?

BIBLE MEDITATION:

“And whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by Him.” Colossians 3:17

DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT:

The sign over the church door where I attended as a boy read, “The Lord is in His holy temple. Let all the earth keep silent.” I mistakenly took that to mean that I had just entered the holy temple and had better start acting religious. We are the temple of God, not a building made of brick and mortar. Wherever we go, whatever we do, we are to be doing all in the name of Jesus. The secular is to be sanctified so that Jesus will be glorified in everything. Because He lives in you, every day is a holy day, not just Sundays. The spiritual life is 24 hours a day, 7 days a week for all eternity.

ACTION POINT:

Have you ever had a home appraised? Get a trusted friend or loved one to give you an appraisal of the home where the Holy Spirit dwells—you! Are there areas that need repair, restoration, or removal?

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers 

Do you stop to thank God for these?

BIBLE MEDITATION:

Give thanks unto the Lord, call upon His name, make known His deeds among the people. 1 Chronicles 16:8

DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT:

If you are a child of God, you ought to be able to thank God every moment of every day, no matter what happens to you.

Have you ever stopped to thank God for the water you drink? Did you know that in some countries the majority of the population doesn’t have reasonably pure drinking water? Millions of people die annually just from water-related diseases.

If you wear a hearing aid, do you ever thank God for that? Some people wish they had a hearing aid.

If you are a student in the midst of final exams, do you thank God that you have an exam to take? There are many who wish they could afford an education.

Do you thank God for your next breath?

ACTION POINT:

Whatever it is in your life today that looks like a trial, take it and thank God for it! Thank Him every time the thought enters your mind to grumble or complain.

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers 

Jesus has given you His promise ring…

BIBLE MEDITATION:

Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honor to Him; for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and His wife hath made herself ready. Revelation 19:7

DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT:

When I was in college, I took my childhood sweetheart to jewelry stores all over the city, looking for the perfect engagement ring. When we found it, I made payments until I could present it to her. I still remember opening and closing that box time after time as I waited to give it to her one Christmas Eve.

When you and I were saved, we became espoused to Christ, and an espousal is stronger than an engagement. An engagement is a promise to marry, but an espousal is a promise that you belong to this person even though the marriage has not yet been consummated.

Jesus gives us something better than an engagement ring. He gives us the Holy Spirit as His promise that we already belong to Him. The Holy Spirit is His guarantee of our future inheritance in Him.

Christ loves the church and gave Himself for it “that He might sanctify and cleanse it, that He might present it to Himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle” (Ephesians 5:26-27). As believers, we are to prepare for that blessed day, the marriage of the Lamb.

ACTION POINT:

Read Revelation chapter19, then spend a few moments worshiping and thanking Him. For “He brought me to the banqueting house, and His banner over me was love” (Song of Solomon 2:4).

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers 

7 Reasons Not to Worry, Part 1

Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?” (Matthew 6:25–26)

We are going to spend three days on this part of Jesus’s Sermon on the Mount. In Matthew 6:25–34, Jesus is dealing specifically with anxiety about food and clothing. But, in fact, it relates to all anxiety.

Even in America, with its extensive welfare system, anxiety over finances and housing and food and clothing can be intense. Not to mention Christians who live in situations where much greater poverty threatens life. But Jesus says in verse 30 that our anxiety comes from little faith in our Father’s promise of future grace: “O you of little faith.”

These verses (25–34) contain at least seven promises designed by Jesus to help us fight the good fight against unbelief and be free from anxiety. (Today we look at Promises 1 and 2 — then over the next two days at the rest.)

Promise #1: “Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing?” (Matthew 6:25)

Since your body and your life are vastly more complex and difficult to provide than food and clothing are, and yet God has, in fact, created and provided you with both, then surely he will be able and willing to provide you with food and clothing.

Moreover, no matter what happens, God will raise your body someday and preserve your life and body for his eternal fellowship.

Promise #2: “Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?” (Matthew 6:26)

If God is willing and able to feed such insignificant creatures as birds who cannot do anything to bring their food into being — as you can by farming — then he will certainly provide what you need, because you are worth a lot more than birds. You, unlike the birds, have the amazing capacity to glorify God by trusting, obeying, and thanking God.

John Piper 

What you should do, no matter what...

BIBLE MEDITATION:

Therefore I will give thanks unto Thee, O Lord, among the heathen, and I will sing praises unto Thy name. 2 Samuel 22:50

DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT:

If we get into an auto accident and come out alive, we typically thank God for sparing our lives. But do you ever just thank God for saving your life as you drove home from work and didn’t have an accident? Isn’t that even better?

I heard a story that poignantly illustrates this. One Sunday a husband and wife heard that a couple in their church whose son died on the battlefield gave a significant love offering in his memory. On the way home, the wife asked her husband, “Why don’t we give an offering for our son?” 

“Why?” he answered. “Our son wasn’t killed.” 

She said, “Don’t you think that’s a good reason?”

How blessed we are!

ACTION POINT:

What should you do in all things? Thank God in your circumstances, whether they be good or bad—because we do not know what God is doing behind the scenes even in the hard things to bring about the best for us in the long run. Read Ephesians 1:8-23 and see the plan God is working in your life.

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers 

Are you the woman on the train?

BIBLE MEDITATION:

“Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, and into His courts with praise: be thankful unto Him, and bless His name.” Psalm 100:4

DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT:

One day a preacher was riding on a train. He saw a well-dressed man and magnificently dressed woman with expensive jewelry. The woman was complaining about everything—the train ride, the weather, the news, the food, the service.

The preacher decided to engage this couple in a conversation. He asked the man what kind of business he was in and the man told him. Then he asked, “And what does your wife do?”

The man replied, “Oh, she’s in the manufacturing business. She manufactures her own unhappiness.”

You know, there are a lot of people like that today. They manufacture their own misery because they fail to be grateful. Only Christ can turn our lives around and stir up a grateful heart within us.

ACTION POINT:

Go through the alphabet. From A to Z, and you’ll find, starting with every letter, something to be thankful for. The attitude of gratitude is a choice. Choose to be grateful.

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers 

When I should have been grateful...

BIBLE MEDITATION:

Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. Philippians 4:6

DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT:

Sometimes we complain when we shouldn’t.

I remember one time driving across the country with a gentleman. At the time, my children were in private schools, and Joyce and I were “dying of mal-tuition.” I began complaining a little bit to him about the great cost of sending a son to college.

He looked at me and said, “I’d give anything in the world if my son would go to college.”

I thought, “Oh, what an ungrateful spirit I have!”

Do you ever complain about dirty dishes? There are lots of folks in Third World countries that would be grateful if they could  have some dirty dishes. We are to be thankful in all things.

ACTION POINT:

Rejoice in God’s blessings in your life. Nip that temptation in the bud to complain and grumble about your life today.

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers 

Truly Living The Christian Life

BIBLE MEDITATION:

“And whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by Him.” Colossians 3:17

DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT:

The sign over the church door where I attended as a boy read, “The Lord is in His holy temple. Let all the earth keep silent.” I mistakenly took that to mean that I had just entered the holy temple and had better start acting religious. We are the temple of God, not a building made of brick and mortar. Wherever we go, whatever we do, we are to be doing all in the name of Jesus. The secular is to be sanctified so that Jesus will be glorified in everything. Because He lives in you, every day is a holy day, not just Sundays. The spiritual life is 24 hours a day, 7 days a week for all eternity.

ACTION POINT:

Have you ever had a home appraised? Get a trusted friend or loved one to give you an appraisal of the home where the Holy Spirit dwells—you! Are there areas that need repair, restoration, or removal?

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers 

Thanksgiving: The Highest Expression of Faith

BIBLE MEDIATION:

“Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, and into His courts with praise: be thankful unto Him, and bless His name.” Psalm 100:4. “And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to the which also ye are called in one body; and be ye thankful.” Colossians 3:15

DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT:

If worry is the opposite of faith, then thanksgiving is the expression of faith—in fact, the highest expression. You say, “I don’t know if I have as much to thank God for as some other people.” Well, the apostle Paul was in a filthy Philippian jail waiting possible beheading when he wrote, “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God.” 

I’ve noticed that unthankful people are never happy people. They’re filled with bitterness, fear, negativism, selfishness and self-pity.

You see, God has blessed you. You may not think so because you’re measuring blessings by the barometer of health, wealth, and happiness. 

My friend, let me tell you what blessings we have. “Blessed be the Lord who daily loadeth us with benefits…” (Psalm 68:19). God has loaded your wagon. How often? Every day! “It is of the LORD’S mercies we’re not consumed, because his compassions fail not. They are new every morning…” (Lamentations 3:22-23). Every day you wake up to blessings. 

ACTION POINT:

Thank Him for spiritual blessings and thank Him for simple blessings: good, clean water. Enough food. Shelter. The simple things. We are so blessed. Refuse to worry, but carry everything to God in prayer. Rejoice in the presence of the Lord. Rely upon the power of the Lord. Reflect on the provision of the Lord. Rest in the peace of the Lord. Do everything with thanksgiving. 

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers

Giving Thanks Always

BIBLE MEDITATION:
“Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.” Ephesians 5:20
DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT:
There are four types of people. There are those who are constantly complaining and grumbling. Have you met any of these folks? I mean, they can brighten up a room just by leaving it. That’s the lowest level. Then there are others who live lives of ingratitude. They don’t complain, but they never thank God for His obvious blessings. That’s a little better, but not much better. Then there are people who thank God for obvious blessings. When something good happens, they’re grateful. That’s a better level. But the highest level is to be grateful for all things at all times. That is the secret of a happy and productive life.

ACTION POINT:
On the basis of our Scripture today, go before the Lord and begin to think about difficult circumstances you’re facing. Now, thank Him for each one.

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers 

Thankful in Trials

BIBLE MEDITATION:

“Give thanks unto the Lord, call upon His name, make known His deeds among the people.” 1 Chronicles 16:8

DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT:

If you are a child of God, you ought to be able to thank God every moment of every day no matter what happens to you. 

Have you ever stopped to thank God for the water that you drink? Did you know that in some countries in the world, the majority of the population doesn’t have reasonably pure drinking water? Millions of people die annually just from water-related diseases. 

If you wear a hearing aid, do you ever thank God for that? Some people wish they had a hearing aid.

If you are a student in the midst of final exams, do you thank God that you have an exam to take? There are many who wish they could afford college. 

Do you thank God for your next breath?

ACTION POINT:

Take whatever it is that looks like a trial in your life today and thank God for it! Thank Him every time the thought enters your mind to grumble or complain.

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers 

Grumbling or Grateful?

BIBLE MEDITATION:

“Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, and into His courts with praise: be thankful unto Him, and bless His name.” Psalm 100:4

DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT:

One day a preacher was riding on a train. He saw a well-dressed man and magnificently dressed woman with expensive jewelry. The woman was complaining about everything—the train ride, the weather, the news, the food, the service. 

The preacher decided to engage this couple in a conversation. He asked the man what kind of business he was in and the man told him. Then he asked, “And what does your wife do?” 

The man replied, “Oh, she’s in the manufacturing business. She manufactures her own unhappiness.” 

You know, there are a lot of people like that today. They manufacture their own misery because they fail to be grateful. Only Christ can turn our lives around and stir up a grateful heart within us.

ACTION POINT:

Go through the alphabet and thank the Lord for something beginning with each letter and choose to be grateful. 

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers