God Forgives and Is Still Just

Nathan the prophet comes to David after his adultery and murder and says, “The Lord also has put away your sin; you shall not die. Nevertheless, because by this deed you have utterly scorned the Lord, the child who is born to you shall die.” (2 Samuel 12:13–14)

This is outrageous. Uriah is dead. Bathsheba is raped. The baby will die. And Nathan says, “The Lord has put away your sin.”

Just like that? David committed adultery. He ordered murder. He lied. He “despised the word of the Lord” (2 Samuel 12:9). He scorned God. And the Lord simply “put away [his] sin”?!

What kind of a righteous Judge is God? You don’t just pass over rape and murder and lying. Righteous judges don’t do that.

This was one of Paul’s greatest theological problems — very different from the ones people struggle with today: How can God forgive sin and still be righteous? Here is what Paul said in Romans 3:25–26:

God put [Christ] forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God’s righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins. It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.

In other words, the outrage that we feel when God seems to simply pass over David’s sin would be good outrage if God were simply sweeping David’s sin under the rug. He is not.

God sees, from the time of David, down the centuries to the death of his Son, Jesus Christ, who would die in David’s place, so that David’s faith in God’s mercy and God’s future redeeming work unites David with Christ. And in God’s all-knowing mind, David’s sins are counted as Christ’s sins and Christ’s righteousness is counted as his righteousness, and God justly passes over David’s sin for Christ’s sake.

The death of the Son of God is outrageous enough, and the glory of God that it upholds is great enough, that God is vindicated in passing over David’s adultery and murder and lying. And ours.

And so God maintains his perfect righteousness and justice while at the same time showing mercy to those who have faith in Jesus, no matter how many or how monstrous their sins. This is unspeakably good news.

John Piper

Are you just gathering facts?

BIBLE MEDITATION:

For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor, that you through His poverty might be rich. 2 Corinthians 8:9

DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT:

Years ago my wife gave me a little card to carry in my billfold. On it she had written her dress size, shoe size, glove size and more. That was nice to have so I could know all about her when I went to do some shopping. But it didn’t provide much companionship or encouragement when I was away from her.

It’s one thing to have the facts about Jesus, it’s another thing to have a relationship with Jesus.

ACTION POINT:

Do you know Jesus...really know Him? Or are you just gathering facts about Him?

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers 

Three Examples of How Faith Fulfills 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)

When Paul says that God fulfills our good resolves by his power through faith (he calls our acts “works of faith”), he means that we defeat sin and we do righteousness by faith, that is, by being satisfied with all that God promises to be for us in Christ in the next five minutes, five months, five decades, and into eternity.

Here are three examples of how this might look in your life:

If you set your heart to give sacrificially and generously, the power of God to fulfill this resolve will come to you as you trust his future grace in the promise, “My God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:19). And the promise, “Whoever sows bountifully will also reap bountifully” (2 Corinthians 9:6). And the promise, “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).

If you set your heart to renounce pornography, the power of God to fulfill this resolve will come to you as you trust his future grace in the promise, “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God” (Matthew 5:8). “It is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body be thrown into hell” (Matthew 5:29). Much better. Wonderfully better. All-satisfyingly better.

And if you set your heart to speak out for Christ when the opportunity comes, the power of God to fulfill this resolve will come to you as you trust his future grace in the promise, “Do not be anxious how you are to speak or what you are to say, for what you are to say will be given to you in that hour” (Matthew 10:19).

May God increase our daily faith in the precious promises of God — promises of his inexhaustible, blood-bought, Christ-exalting future grace.

John Piper 

Can you pick and choose what parts of Jesus you want?

BIBLE MEDITATION:

That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised Him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. Romans 10:9

DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT:

Have you ever assumed salvation was like a cafeteria where you can pick and choose the aspects of Jesus you want? “I’ll have a little Savior hood, but no Lordship today, please.” If Jesus is not your Lord, Jesus is not your Savior. What’s the difference?

Well, suppose I perform a wedding ceremony and say to the young man, “Would you take Susan to be your lawfully wedded wife?” And he responds, “Well, I’ll take Susan as housekeeper.” Then I ask her, “Would you take John to be your lawfully wedded husband?” And she says, “Well, I’ll take him as provider.” No, you see, you don't take him as anything, you take him. You take her and all that comes with her.

I want to tell you dear friend, one of the things that comes with Jesus is His Lordship. You don't just take Him as “something.” Now, He happens to be Savior, He is indeed Savior, but the Bible says “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved.” See Jesus for who He is, and you’ll discover that as Savior He is also Lord. What does it mean when I take Jesus Christ as Lord? It means entire submission to Him.

ACTION POINT:

We can’t pick and choose what we want from Jesus. We take Jesus as Lord over all! Is Jesus Christ the Lord of every area of your life? Examine your life—your finances, your relationships, your hopes and dreams. Have you turned everything over to Jesus Christ?

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers 

My Soul Thirsts for God

As a deer pants for flowing streams, so pants my soul for you, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When shall I come and appear before God? (Psalm 42:1–2)

What makes this so beautiful and so crucial for us is that he is not thirsting mainly for relief from his threatening circumstances. He is not thirsting mainly for escape from his enemies or for their destruction.

It’s not wrong to want relief, and to pray for it. It is sometimes right to pray for the defeat of enemies. But more important than any of that is God himself.

When we think and feel with God in the Psalms, this is the main result: We come to love God, and we want to see God and be with God and be satisfied in admiring and exulting in God.

A likely translation of the end of verse 2 is: “When will I come and see the face of God?” The final answer to that question was given in John 14:9 and 2 Corinthians 4:4. Jesus said, “Whoever has seen me has seen the Father.” And Paul said that when we are converted to Christ we see “the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.”

When we see the face of Christ, we see the face of God. And we see the glory of the face of Christ, Paul says in 2 Corinthians 4:4 and 6, when we hear the story of the gospel of his death and resurrection. He calls it “the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.” Or (verse 6): “the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.”

May the Lord increase your hunger and your thirst to see the face of God. And may he grant your desire, even today, through the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.

John Piper 

Stuck On A Dead End Street

Is It Possible To Know God and Be Far Away From Him?

We all are subject to drifting away due to sin.

You began to settle on the wrong things.

You stop living by faith and just exist.

Listen to this story, sound familiar?

Sometimes you just have to let the prodigal son go!!

11 And he said, "There was a man who had two sons.

12 And the younger of them said to his father, 'Father, give me the share of property that is coming to me.' And he divided his property between them.

13 Not many days later, the younger son gathered all he had and took a journey into a far country, and there he squandered his property in reckless living.

14 And when he had spent everything, a severe famine arose in that country, and he began to be in need.

15 So he went and hired himself out to one of the citizens of that country, who sent him into his fields to feed pigs.

16 And he was longing to be fed with the pods that the pigs ate, and no one gave him anything.

17 "But when he came to himself, he said, 'How many of my father's hired servants have more than enough bread, but I perish here with hunger!

18 I will arise and go to my father, and I will say to him, "Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you.

19 I am no longer worthy to be called your son. Treat me as one of your hired servants."'

20 And he arose and came to his father. But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and felt compassion, and ran and embraced him and kissed him.

21 And the son said to him, 'Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.'

22 But the father said to his servants, 'Bring quickly the best robe, and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet.

23 And bring the fattened calf and kill it, and let us eat and celebrate.

24 For this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found.' And they began to celebrate.

25 "Now his older son was in the field, and as he came and drew near to the house, he heard music and dancing.

26 And he called one of the servants and asked what these things meant.

27 And he said to him, 'Your brother has come, and your father has killed the fattened calf, because he has received him back safe and sound.'

28 But he was angry and refused to go in. His father came out and entreated him,

29 but he answered his father, 'Look, these many years I have served you, and I never disobeyed your command, yet you never gave me a young goat, that I might celebrate with my friends.

30 But when this son of yours came, who has devoured your property with prostitutes, you killed the fattened calf for him!'

31 And he said to him, 'Son, you are always with me, and all that is mine is yours.

32 It was fitting to celebrate and be glad, for this your brother was dead, and is alive; he was lost, and is found.'" - Luke 15:11-32

Five steps to the pigpen.

You can misstep one step and become far away from God!

Whenever you leave God, you will feel empty!

1. Selfish in your mindset

2. Act hastily in your decisions

3. Wasting everything

4. Separated, becoming isolated

5. Bad decisions

You might lie. Then another lie comes out to cover the first one. Sin leads to more sin!

Confess and repent!

Find your way back home!

Don't make deals with God!

Be ready for that sweet reunion!

Ways to return home to God!

1. You have an awakening of your soul, you come to your senses 

2. Repentance from your sin

3. Honesty, you admit your sin

4. Humility, admit that you are unworthy 

5. Resolution, get up, don't wait, take that step in faith

Moses at the Red Sea took that step of faith and the sea parted.

Joshua took that step of faith and the walls of Jericho fell.

In that fiery furnace, the three took steps of faith and came out unscathed.

Daniel in the lions den took that step of faith and he came out whole.

Peter came out of the boat and walked on water.

The thief on the cross took that step of faith in knowing Christ as his Lord and Jesus told him "today you will be with me in paradise."

What about Christ? 

He knew what was expected of Him, to die on the cross. 

He died for sinful man, satisfying the wrath due man.

But He also knew the God was going to raise Him up!

Your forgiveness is immediate when you confess and repent.

You are clothed in honor.

You are covered by the authority of God.

You are free in Christ.

You are joyfully welcomed home!

Thank you Pastor Mark!!

Make sense of your puzzle

BIBLE MEDITATION:

Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts. Psalm 139:23

DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT:

A little boy had a jigsaw puzzle. On one side it had a map of the world. On the other, a picture of a man. His mother asked him to try to work it. Before long the little fellow had put the puzzle together. The mother was surprised to find her little son knew so much about geography. “How on earth did you do that?” she asked. 

“Oh,” he said, “I worked the other side first. When I got the man right, the world was right.”

How true that is! Let me tell you something, friend—you will never understand this world, you will never understand the universe, until you get the man right, the man Christ Jesus. You must see who Jesus is—that Jesus is Lord. We will never fix this world until we get the man right, the man Jesus Christ.

ACTION POINT:

Are things in your world confusing you these days? Turn to Jesus and trust Him to make sense of what you don’t understand.

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers