You Are Not Your Own – The Pursuit of Righteousness

“All things are lawful for me,” but not all things are helpful. “All things are lawful for me,” but I will not be dominated by anything. ¹³ “Food is meant for the stomach and the stomach for food”—and God will destroy both one and the other. The body is not meant for sexual immorality, but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body. ¹⁴ And God raised the Lord and will also raise us up by his power. ¹⁵ Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ? Shall I then take the members of Christ and make them members of a prostitute? Never!¹⁶ Or do you not know that he who is joined to a prostitute becomes one body with her? For, as it is written, “The two will become one flesh.” ¹⁷ But he who is joined to the Lord becomes one spirit with him. ¹⁸ Flee from sexual immorality. Every other sin a person commits is outside the body, but the sexually immoral person sins against his own body. ¹⁹ Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, ²⁰ for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body. “– 1 Corinthians 6:12-20 (ESV)

There are 2 main Biblical truths found in this passage of Scripture: “All things are lawful for me – but not all things are helpful” (v. 12) and “Your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit” (V. 19a). But you can’t just start with trying to apply these Biblical truths to your life without first recognizing what verses 19 & 20 teach. There we read, “You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.”

We are the Lord’s, both by creation and redemption. Jesus loved us and bore our sins on His body on the cross, therefore we no longer think of our lives as our own. When you submit your life to Jesus as Savior (one who brings salvation)… you must submit yourself to Him as Lord (ultimate authority). You cannot have Jesus as a Savior without Him being your Lord. The two cannot be separated.

We fight long and hard to have the rights we think we deserve. We want our way. We don’t like being told what we can or cannot do. This reveals the true nature of our sinful hearts. We care more about US than we do about CHRIST IN US. Because of the saving grace of Jesus, my life is no longer my own, so I am no longer able to live only thinking about what I want. The life of a believer must display the Gospel and its continual sanctification (the process of becoming more like Christ). In our greatest moments, we boast Christ. In our weaknesses, we boast Christ because our insufficiencies are hidden in the sacrifice of Jesus (through repentance, asking forgiveness, humility, etc.). (See Ephesians 2:8-10).

The amazing thing about the Gospel is GRACE. You see, we will never be perfect (Philippians 3:12-16). We will fail every day. But the grace of Jesus covers our failures and reminds us of our constant need of Jesus. If we only focus on “behaving” instead of obediently submitting to Christ, legalism and pride take the place of our efforts for sanctification. Sanctification is a progressive journey that lasts a lifetime. There is no place for guilt and shame for those who are in Christ… instead there is repentance and the opportunity to run to Jesus. Our natural tendency is to run to legalism because it is a tangible way to “save ourselves,” but that would nullify (void) the cross.

Verse 12 says, “All things are lawful for me – but not all things are helpful.” While there might be certain things which would be permissible for me to do, that doesn’t mean that it would be beneficial for me to do them. In other words, while an actual action might not be sinful, yet if someone saw me doing it and then stumbled by my action, there is an element of accountability that must be recognized (read 1 Corinthians 9:19-27 for more explanation). We must consider others in our decisions and actions for the sake of the Gospel.

Verse 12 continues with “I will not be mastered by anything.” When we are mastered by something it means that it controls us – this is called habitual sin. (i.e an addiction). Some examples of this are addictions to: pornography, alcohol, cigarettes, etc.). When we sin, we choose to submit to something other than God’s desire for us. Sin is us choosing to find fulfillment in something other than Christ. Habitual sin and addictions stem from us trying to find fulfillment in things that will not satisfy us. Food itself isn’t sinful, gluttony is (Prov. 23:20-21, Gal. 5:16-26, 1 Cor. 10:31). Sex itself isn’t sinful, sex outside of marriage is. Alcohol itself is not sinful, drunkenness is (Eph. 5:8, Rom. 13:13, Luke 21:34, 1 Cor. 6:10, Gal. 5:21, 1 Tim. 3:3). For example, alcohol in moderation (when you are of legal age) is completely permissible. What must then be considered is… is it beneficial? We must ask ourselves, will my having an alcoholic beverage (even in moderation – in this circumstance / situation) cause another to stumble or damage my ability to share the Gospel? Before you act, think about the possibility of your actions causing guilt, shame or regret.

Verse 19 says, “Your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit.” It is not up to us to take our bodies and use them the way we desire. We must use our bodies to glorify God, the One to whom it belongs. This Biblical truth points to discipline and obedience. It’s about so much more than alcohol, cigarettes, etc. Here are some areas that must be considered:

• How is your thought life? What would your thoughts display about your heart if they were projected for everyone to see? What do the words you speak reveal about your heart?

• Are you getting the rest you need on a regular basis? Are you eating healthy food? Are you exercising?

• Are you maintaining sexual purity?

Every structure, our bodies included, has to be maintained to sustain and fulfill the purpose it has been created for. Are you obediently maintaining your body (and ultimately your life) in a way that glorifies the Lord and displays the Gospel to others?

We consider all of this because after all, isn’t it ALL ABOUT THE GOSPEL?!

“For the love of Christ controls us, because we have concluded this: that one has died for all, therefore all have died; and he died for all, that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for him who for their sake died and was raised. From now on, therefore, we regard no one according to the flesh. Even though we once regarded Christ according to the flesh, we regard him thus no longer. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” – 2 Corinthians 5:14-21 (ESV)

2 Corinthians 5:14-21 tells us that because Christ has reconciled us to Himself (through His death and resurrection); we then become ambassadors of the Gospel. His followers have been given the Ministry of Reconciliation. We are to display the Gospel to the world through submitting our lives to Christ daily. A follower of Jesus no longer has the right to say, “This is my life.” We have been bought with a price, reconciled to God through Jesus, and have been given the responsibility of displaying/proclaiming the Gospel to the world.

It’s not about what I want. It’s about what Christ would have me do. Does your life / actions / words portray that a progressive sanctification is happening in you? Does your discipline / daily decisions display that you submit to a Lord and Savior?

These Biblical truths are not just for Christian leaders, they are every follower of Christ. Will you count the cost of being a disciple of Christ? Is He worth it to you?

a repost...

i read this post this morning and wanted to share it here.

You Can't Follow Jesus, A blog post by Steven Furtick

Simon Peter asked him, “Lord, where are you going?” Jesus replied, “Where I am going, you cannot follow now, but you will follow later.” Peter asked, “Lord, why can’t I follow you now? I will lay down my life for you.” Then Jesus answered, “Will you really lay down your life for me?
John 13:36-38

The propelling force behind Peter’s denial wasn’t his lack of faith. Otherwise he wouldn’t have made the claims he did. It was his overestimation of his faith. He believed he was ready to die for Jesus. But he wasn’t, and Jesus knew it.

So Jesus said the unthinkable: you can’t follow me.

That doesn’t sound like Jesus. After all, this is the Jesus who had told Peter to leave his family, profession, and home to follow Him. Now Jesus is telling Peter he can’t follow Him. Sounds schizophrenic.

But it wasn’t. Jesus knew exactly what He was doing because He knew the exact measure of Peter’s faith.

Peter had initially followed Jesus.
Peter had followed Him on the water.
But he wasn’t ready to follow Jesus to the cross.

Peter wasn’t ready to follow Jesus everywhere. Not at that moment.
You’re not ready to follow Jesus everywhere either. Not at this moment.

And here’s the truth: Jesus isn’t expecting you to. While we definitely often overestimate our own faith, I think we underestimate the grace and patience of Jesus for our lack of faith even more. Jesus expects you to exercise the faith that you have, not the faith that you still have to develop.

There are places in your life where your faith is still lacking. There are moments where you still struggle. The question for you in those places and in those moments is the same as it was for Peter: will you really lay down your life for Jesus?

And the answer is no.
But that is why He laid down His life for you.

That’s what He was leaving to do when He told Peter he couldn’t follow Him.
And that’s what He’s done for you when you can’t follow Him.

Practice the measure of faith that you have. Follow Jesus where you can.
But know that His grace covers you when you can’t and He is patient with you while you are developing the faith to follow Him where you can’t go right now.

lent... reposted.

last year i wrote a post about lent. with fat tuesday happening tomorrow, i figured it would be appropriate to repost it.

do you give something up for lent?

Lent, in some Christian denominations, is the forty-day-long liturgical season of fasting and prayer before Easter. the forty days represent the time Jesus spent in the desert, where according to the Bible He endured temptation by Satan (thanks wikipedia).

historically, it is during Lent that people give up something... in order to be reminded of spiritual things when "it" (whatever has been given up) crosses their mind. it is a forty day fast.

i can remember times when i would hear people say that they were giving up something that wasn't a daily part of their life. for example, i remember someone saying they were giving up beer for Lent. for some, this would be a sacrifice... for this person... they had never had a drink. how could that be considered a willing sacrifice made in order to glorify God? that seemed very hypocritical to me.

i am not good at giving things up. i struggle with commitment. for some reason, God continues to work on the lack of discipline that is what i call my life. so for the first time in my 28 years, i am going to give something up for Lent.

the Bible says to not 'broadcast' when you are fasting to people (that's the stephanie paraphrase)... so i have decided to keep this sacrifice to myself. i will reveal what i am giving up after the 40 days... in that same post, i will report to you if i stuck to it. stay tuned... and check back around Easter.

marriage does not exist to make you happy

tonight while driving to and from fort worth for a wedding rehearsal, i listened to this sermon (sanctification in marriage) by matt chandler... twice.

if you are married... engaged... dating... or single... you should, actually need to, listen to this.

click here to listen.

but by the grace of God...

as i seek to become who Christ is calling me to be, there are hard truths that i have to wrestle with. before i can begin the wrestling process, there are things that i must accept and admit about myself. the first, i am a sinful person, filled with pride, hate and selfishness.

as Christians, it seems like we've been programed to believe that we have to portray a certain "portrayal" of Christianity. i call this portrayal, "imperfect perfection." what i mean by this is that we might admit to people that we struggle, but we rarely admit and confess the actual sin in our lives... but we are great at pointing out the flaws in other people... in fact, i'd say we're quite perfect at pointing out the imperfections of others.

the moment that we think... "i'd never do that"... or "i'd never behave like they did"... is the moment that you should start to worry. you see, yes you could do "that" or what "they did," and it's only by the grace of God that you haven't. (1 Corinthians 15:10 - But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me was not in vain. On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them, though it was not I, but the grace of God that is with me.")

i've been spending a lot of time thinking through all of this and i came across a blog entry by anne jackson (author) that discusses this, so i decided to let you read it too.

(anne jackson's blog discusses having an affair... and that's not the purpose behind my post. the purpose is to remind you that apart from the grace of God, you're nothing but a sinful mess... and left to your own devices, you could do the unthinkable.)

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I Could Cheat on My Husband

JULY 13, 2007 |

The title of this post is true. 100%. I could cheat on my husband. I remember several years ago, hanging out at my old church talking with one of my friends. I don’t know how we got on the subject but we started talking about infidelity and how nobody is immune from it.

She said,

“I could cheat on my husband. no doubt. I totally could.”

Her initial candidness surprised me at first, but within moments, I realized how right she was. Four staff members had fallen into the trap of an affair in this church, and several of our key volunteers had as well – all within a couple years. I remember everyone’s reaction who learned of the affairs:

“Never in a million years would I have thought…”

Exactly.

And let me tell you, I keep in touch with some of these people who were involved in the affairs, and they say the exact same thing:

“Never in a million years would I have thought…”

I love my husband. I adore him. He is the most generous and patient person in the world. And never in a million years would I think I could cheat on him.

It’s that mindset and letting down your guard where the devil would love to throw you in the wrong place at the wrong time with the wrong person and then before you know it…

You are the one who is looking in the mirror wondering how in the world you could have done it.

You are the one whose heart is pounding in your throat because you know you have to confess to your beloved.

You are the one who has to look your children in their eyes and explain why you’re going to be away for a while.

You are the one who is crumpled on the floor like a big ball of goo, weaping your entire being out in a deluge of tears and pain.

It could happen to me.

It could happen to you.

What are you doing to make sure it doesn’t?

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so what are you doing to make sure it doesn't happen?

you can't make sure it doesn't happen alone. you see, we are called to pursue sanctification (the process of becoming more like Christ) and that only happens when you have people in your life, who continually point you back to the Cross of Christ.

earlier this week, i heard the following statement, "sanctification is a community project." amen. and yet, we hide our mess from those around us, we don't admit to our own sinfulness, and we wonder why we fall... and fall hard.

but by the Grace of God, i have not... and i pray i never do.

help me find this passage

i read a blog by a pastor at my church this morning and wanted to repost it here. almost daily i get phone calls, emails, facebook messages asking me where to find a certain passage... which i don't mind... but i do believe that we should put some effort into searching the Bible first before just asking someone else. there is value in the search.

the following is a blog posted by geoff ashley, from the village church:

Help me find this passage…

Geoff Ashley Writings 2010-01-12

“It is better to die in the desert than to live with a nagging wife.”

Matt mentioned this weekend that the book of Proverbs makes the above statement and yet if I were to search that phrase online, I would come up empty. Not a single translation includes this passage. Nowhere do I find these exact words as I search my ESV, NASB, NKJV, or even NIV.

Was Matt lying? Was he quoting some apocryphal Proverbs to which only pastors are privy? Was he just kidding?

Of course not. Rather, he was merely alluding to and summarizing an actual passage to give the idea and meaning which it conveys. Such allusion is a common tool of the preacher or teacher to communicate God’s truth without always turning to each and every passage and reading verbatim.

This habit of mentioning Scripture without quoting it directly can easily frustrate the efforts of those who desire to be like the Bereans (Acts 17:11) and search out the exact text for themselves. Oftentimes, I will get e-mails from members or attendees who are looking for a particular passage which was referenced by Matt or another pastor from the stage—thinking I will have better success in my search.

In order to help equip in this area, I thought it might be helpful to gather my own thoughts on the process by which I would go about this type of search if I was not a pastor with fancy Bible software (shout out forLogos). Here is how I would conduct my search:

• I would first search for the phrase exactly as I remembered it.
• I would next search for only the key terms in the phrase (for example: desert, nagging, wife) with no conjunctions, prepositions, interrogatives, articles, pronouns, etc. I would try various combinations of those key terms.
• I would then think of or consult a thesaurus for as many of the synonyms or overlapping terms as I could find for all the major words:
  • wife: woman, bride, companion, partner, mate, helpmate, spouse, etc.
  • nagging: annoying, quarrelsome, fussing, pestering, berating, etc.
  • desert: wilderness, uninhabited places, wasteland, etc.
  • As I came upon new synonyms or related words, I would initiate a new search in a concordance or online site for each of those terms in the book of Proverbs and see if any qualify.
  • Honestly, if that did not work, I would probably just take my time and read the entire book of Proverbs. Even if I did not find what I was looking for, I would still benefit greatly from the process.
  • I would next ask my Home Group leader or a close friend if I still could not find it.
  • If all of that failed, I would then shoot an e-mail to a pastor for his help.

All of this could make it a long and somewhat laborious task, but the joys of discovery along the way should certainly make every effort well worth the time and energy which you invest.

Having familiarity with the text of Scripture (especially one particular version) is probably the biggest help in our searches. For example, when I received an e-mail about this passage, I immediately knew that the word “nagging” was not going to be helpful because I have not seen that word in the text of the ESV. At the same time, I remembered that there are a number of passages that speak of a “quarrelsome” wife. Therefore, I simply had to search for the word “quarrelsome” and immediately found there were only five options from Proverbs. The more you read the Scriptures, the more you should be growing in your ability to narrow down future searches.

Here are a couple of searchable online Bibles to consider as resources:

www.esvstudybible.org

http://www.biblegateway.com/

http://www.blueletterbible.org/

http://net.bible.org/bible.php

By the way, Proverbs 21:19 (ESV) says, “It is better to live in a desert land than with a quarrelsome and fretful woman.”

a followup to a previous repost.

yesterday i reposted a blog that i'd read by steven furtick about the significance of the life and ministry of john the baptist. here's part two:

John the Baptist and Chip the Methodist

Building on yesterday’s post, what does it look like to be faithful in your ministry and trust God for significant impact when you can’t see any tangible miraculous signs? How can you be more like John the Baptist?

I’ll answer by way of personal reflection. Let me tell you a little about a guy who’s a lot like John the Baptist. We’ll call him Chip the Methodist.

I can think of so many examples of people who made a dramatic impact on me even though I’m sure they couldn’t see it at the time. Chip was easily in the top five. He took time to meet with me for coffee every Wednesday night at Alex’s Restaurant before I went to choir practice at Moncks Corner United Methodist Church, where we were both members. Chip was about 20 years older than me, and he had roughly half of the New Testament memorized. Literally.

I was only 16 years old, had freshly trusted Christ as my Savior, and was reading through the Gospels for the first time at a rapid pace. I was hungry for truth, full of zeal, and in great need of wisdom, knowledge, instruction and insight. I would come armed with a notepad full of questions I had collected during my reading. Chip helped me master some basic hermeneutical concepts, and nurtured a deep love and respect for the authority of God’s Word.

You’ve never heard Chip the Methodist speak at a major church growth conference. That’s not his gig. You’ll never see his name on the cover of a New York Times Bestseller. He has no aspirations to be an author.

But Chip’s ministry is present in every word I write, every sermon I preach, and every accomplishment God brings about through my life.

I’ll bet there’s someone you could invest in like Chip the Methodist invested in me. You don’t have to have half the New Testament memorized. Just a willing heart and a passion for Jesus.

Who knows what miraculous signs your faithful ministry will ultimately produce?

a great reminder

this is a repost of a blog i read this morning by pastor steven furtick:

Miraculous Signs & Faithful Ministry

December 21st, 2009

John 10:41-42
They said, “Though John never performed a miraculous sign, all that John said about this man was true.” And in that place many believed in Jesus.

I want to drop a word of encouragement for those of you who don’t feel very successful, noticed, important or appreciated.

Just because you’re not performing miraculous signs doesn’t mean you’re not making a significant impact.

John the Baptist died by decapitation in prison, wondering whether anything he had ever dreamed, declared or done made any difference in the end.
(See Matthew 11:2-3).

Apparently, John’s ministry made more of a difference than he would ever know on earth. By the time you get to John 10:41, the Bible says “manypeople” are coming to Jesus and placing their faith in Him- all because of John the Baptist’s faithful ministry.

Maybe God will allow you to do miraculous signs in the name of Jesus. Or maybe He’ll simply call you to a faithful ministry that will prepare the way for someone else to make a significant impact through miraculous signs.

I have a feeling that when we get to heaven, we’ll discover that much of the heavy lifting for the advance of the Gospel was done by those who never performed a miraculous sign, but through years of faithful ministry, had a miraculous impact.

NEW THRU 30 - day 1

day 1 (12/17) - matt. 1:1-12:50

here is an email i just sent to my UNT BSM leadership team after reading the above mentioned section of Scripture.

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As I mentioned before, I am reading through the New Testament in 30 days, today is day one. Tonight I read through Matt. 1:1-12:50. It's amazing how much sticks out to you when you read huge sections of Scripture at once. The section tonight covered: the birth of Jesus, calling of the disciples, the Beatitudes, the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus' miracles, the sending out of the twelve, etc.

While there is so much that I could write about (believe me, you should see my journal)... I want to focus on one thing, Matthew 4:18-22, the Calling of the Disciples.

Here's the text:

¹⁸As Jesus was walking beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon called Peter and his brother Andrew. They were casting a net into the lake, for they were fishermen. ¹⁹"Come, follow me," Jesus said, "and I will make you fishers of men." ²⁰At once they left their nets and followed him.

²¹Going on from there, he saw two other brothers, James son of Zebedee and his brother John. They were in a boat with their father Zebedee, preparing their nets. Jesus called them, ²²and immediately they left the boat and their father and followed him.

Here's what stood out to me tonight:

1. At once they dropped their nets and followed Him.
2. Immediately they left behind careers and families to follow Him.
3. There was an instant following. They didn't question Jesus. They didn't stop to "pray about it." The heard & obeyed.

Let me repeat that, they HEARD and OBEYED. Instant obedience.

Their responsibility was to follow Christ. His responsibility was to make them success fishermen. Their following of Christ involved more than physical nearness. It included their imitation of the character of Christ. Theirs was to be a ministry of character. What they were was more important than what they said or did.

In following Christ, the disciple learns:

• To go where the fish are swimming (Where are the lost people around you? Take out a piece of paper and all the people who don't love Jesus yet in your life. If you can't list anyone, you have a problem!)
• To use the proper lure (How do you communicate the Gospel to each person you interact with? The message stays the same, sometimes the method is different.)
• To endure discomfort and inconvenience (It's gonna be awkward and hard and you will have to rearrange your schedule to be obedient.)
• To be patient (Be intentional, persistent and filled with grace... and pray.)
• And to keep out of sight (It's not about you and me... it's about Him.)

In true faith, they responded immediately. In true commitment and devotion they followed Him. They acknowledged the priority of Jesus over all earthly ties.

They recognized who Jesus was... and by responding to His call they became key figures in the evangelization of the world. You see, recognition of the lordship of Christ makes all the difference in the world.

Ask yourself, how's your obedience to the call of Christ?

Praying for growth in each of our lives,

Stephanie