Gospel, theology and story – Page 9

Category: Gospel, theology and story

Disputable Matters: Handle with Love

8 July 2022 blogpastor 2 Comments

In any Christian community there is bound to be strong differences in opinions and convictions about disputable matters. This can sometimes lead to heated arguments, strained relationships, arguments, fractures in families, cell groups and even congregations.

Some people cannot live without clear black and whites, laws and regulations, and fine lines. They take a position and insist that others follow suit. They want uniformity, not unity. They feel uncomfortable and want to impose their convictions on the rest.

This is not the way of Christ, according to St Paul. He expressed this in Romans 14, 15. It seems that the network of home churches in Rome were grappling with such arguments and disputes specifically about what could be eaten and drank, and what are special holy days. These strong opinions seem to stem from the diverse cultural religious backgrounds of converts from pagan religions as well as Judaism.

It is no different in today’s church. There are disputable matters that can overturn peace and harmony in the church. Matters like eating food offered to idols, consumption of alcohol, dressing and musical styles in church, yoga, acupuncture, tai chi, martial arts, tattoos, dancing, and in recent years, vaccination. What are the guidelines as to how we are to relate to people with different opinions about such matters? In short, they are:

WHAT NOT TO DO (how to un-love)

DO NOT QUARREL OR FIGHT OR SPLIT (IMPOSE ON OTHERS) – Rom 14:1

DO NOT DESPISE OR JUDGE OTHERS – Rom 14:3

DO NOT CAUSE OTHERS TO STUMBLE – Rom 14:13

WHAT TO DO (how to love)

BE FULLY CONVINCED IN YOUR MIND – Rom 14:5,23

ENJOY YOUR LIBERTY BUT BE WILLING TO RESTRICT IT – Rom 14:14,15,22

SEEK UNITY & EDIFICATION – Rom 14:19; 15:5,6

I dealt with this in a sermon that was part of a series of on Romans done by World Revival Prayer Fellowship pastoral staff. In this sermon I talked about what disputable matters are, who are the “strong” and “weak” Christians, and how we are to handle such hot potatoes and relate to people in love throughout. I also talk about why it is important for us to do this and what is important to the heart of God. Finally I summed up the book of Romans. You can listen to the sermon titled “DISPUTABLE MATTERS: HANDLE WITH LOVE” in the video below:

Christ’s Finished Work: Justified by Faith

27 June 2022 blogpastor 2 Comments

As a new believer in Christ, I was plagued by a scrupulous conscience. I would keep a pen and notebook in my pocket to list down the sins and transgressions that I become aware of in the course of the school day. At the end of the day, I would confess these specific sins to God one by one, asking forgiveness for each sin. This practice was discouraging as I became more conscious of my weaknesses and failings than of the presence and blessings and attributes of God.

I carried the heavy burden of unforgiven and repeated sins piled up one upon another. I felt condemned, guilty and discouraged. Peace fled, and darkness hovered over my head and took away the joy of my salvation. I was a poor advertisement of the love of God. How can I look so morose and glum when Jesus loved me so much?

On hindsight, I what I lacked was a proper understanding of Christ’s finished work. There was a missing element in the teachings we received from the pulpit. We had teachings about the repentance, regeneration, baptism, baptism of the Spirit, discipleship, the holy life, and getting ready for Jesus’ return, but none about justification by faith. This is a foundational doctrine that should buttress all others. It is an essential cornerstone of Christ’s finished work. If I had received understanding of this teaching, it would have set me free from condemnation and set me on the path of “righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit” (Rom 14:17).

Justified by grace through faith

Believers in Christ are justified by the grace of God. “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God; and they are now justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus” (Rom 3:23,24). It was not something we earned, deserved or could achieve on our own. Jesus’ death on the cross redeemed or purchased us from our slavery to sin. We now belong to Christ and he has changed our status before God from guilty, to someone who has been declared righteous, and acquitted of all wrong. This declaration of “NOT GUILTY” anticipates the verdict we will one day hear on the Day of Judgement. God lets us enjoy this status now. This means that when God sees us, he sees us as men and women cleared of all guilt of all sins (past, present and future). It is a gift, and we receive it by faith. “We have come to believe in Christ Jesus, so that we might be justified by faith in Christ, and not by works of the law” (Gal2:16).

Rags to riches

To what shall I liken this change in status? I think of a man hopelessly in debt to his creditors to the tune of $6 million. Someone paid up his debt out of sheer grace, and informs him that his debt has been cleared, and he does not owe his creditors any money anymore. What relief! What great joy! What wonder and gratitude fills this man’s soul. No more darkness and depression. Hope fills him. A new like beckons him. This is what has happened to the sinner who believes in Christ: the debt of sin is completely cleared. Zero. But this is only half of the good news of justification. There is much more. The story continues. That generous benefactor not only leaves the man cleared of all debt, he also added $10 million into his zeroed account. Now the man suddenly without deserving or earning or working for it is a multi-millionaire. It is the same with what Christ’s finished work did for us: he not only erased all our sins to zero; he also imputed and gave to us his generous gift of righteousness – his life of total obedience to the Father has been transferred into our once bankrupt account. Our debts of sin were put upon Jesus, and in a mind-boggling and gracious exchange, he put his perfect righteousness upon us. “For our sake he (God) made him (Christ) to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him (Christ) we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Cor 5:21).

This truth dawned on me and began to permeate my being after I read the book “Pastor Roland Buck: The Man Who Talked to Angels by Sharon White” a few years after I began my torturous journey as a new believer. It brought me great peace, stability and assurance before God. Joy returned and so did gratitude and confidence in God’s love.

Lord, thank you for Your finished work on the cross. For such a gracious and generous exchange. For the peace that passes all understanding and the great joy of Your salvation. Amen.

This is part of a planned series of writings on the topic of “The A to Z of Christ’s Finished Work”. I am writing it alphabet by alphabet. Thus far the others that I have written can be found HERE. Feel free to use it in personal or group discipleship discussions to establish the faith of believers. It can also be used to inspire ideas for pastors to use as a series of messages to strengthen the faith of the congregation.

Rising Cost of Living & the End Time

7 June 2022 blogpastor 2 Comments

I was seated at the Giant supermarket when my wife came to me and showed me some French beans. She said the price has doubled. Later she brought to me another two types of vegetable and told me the amount it increased. Yesterday, I also read in the news that some premium petrol has reached the SGD$4 per litre mark. Unheard of in all my thirty years of driving. It seems that prices have increased more than 50% in many cases. Electricity rates have gone up. Transportation costs have gone up. Food prices have gone up. My wife informs me about price increases. She does the grocery and pays the bills. She knows.

I sometimes tell her, “Can you quote Philippians 4: 19 “my God shall supply all your needs” at the end of every update of price increase?” God’s promises need to be mentioned alongside news of inflation. It is an antidote to worry and fear. Faith comes by hearing the word of God.

This inflation looks likely to be set in place for the long haul. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has affected the world. Pandemic lockdowns have caused disruptions of supply chain distribution and will continue to do so as long as China keeps its zero-covid policy. And not to forget: the GST increase the Singapore government had announced it would implement from 1 January 2023 onwards. It will keep its word.

We are living near the close of this age. The black horse and its rider (symbol of famine or food shortages) with the pair of scales in his hand in the Apocalypse (Rev 6:5,6) reminds us of what is to come. “A quart of wheat for a day’s wages, or three quarts of barley, but don’t lay a finger on the oil and wine”. What can feed only one person can only be bought with a whole day’s wage. Barley would be cheaper but still the amount would not be be enough to feed a whole family. The poor will suffer. Only the rich can afford what was once affordable for the middle income (oil and wine). Cost of living will skyrocket. So will lawlessness. Only the love of many will decrease, will grow cold (Matthew 24:13).

Where does this leave retirees living off the monthly amounts from their CPF retirement savings? If they receive a monthly payout of SGD$1,000 a month, it will be able to buy one half of what it used to be able to buy in goods and services. The current crisis invites us to trust God to be faithful in providing for us. He who feeds the sparrows knows our need. It invites us to live within our modest means and find contentment and joy in Him alone. It invites the well-off to look out for poor who are in need, and to share God’s abundance with them. The church has the opportunity to truly become the community of love Jesus envisioned. May the world see this and say, “How these Christians love one another!”