Greetings in Christ Jesus, Fellow Soldiers.
During a deployment, it is easy to settle into a lifestyle where we seek merely to survive rather than thrive. But if you believe that God orders our affairs, then you must believe He has you here for a purpose. And if He has your here for a purpose, then you should have a goal beyond simply getting through this deployment.
Not only is it logical to do so, but it is helpful for getting you through this time. When you have goals and benchmarks for reaching those goals, then you have something greater than this deployment that you're aiming for, enriching your days with added incentives and meaning.
So what goals could you form? My wife and I have set up spiritual, marital, parental, physical, and financial goals. And by planning these things together, God has enriched our marriage.
In the days to come, I will suggest how you might go about discussing and implementing some of these goals and give yourself, by God's grace, a more meaningful deployment.
Your Servant in Christ,
CH Roberts
Wednesday, July 31, 2013
Monday, July 29, 2013
Slave, Saint, and Saved (Ph. 1:1-2, Part 2)
You must find yourself in Christ if you are to find your way in life. So who are you? You are a slave of Christ, a saint in Christ, and saved by Christ.
1) You are a slave of Christ. (Paul and Timothy, servants/slaves of Christ Jesus)
What this means: This is not like the dark history of human trafficking that is so firmly embedded in our minds. Man has no right to take another man, strip him on his dignity, and claim ownership of him. God, on the other hand, has that exclusive right: He created you and rules over this world.
The reality is, as much as we talk about freedom and even fight for freedom, we are all slaves. You either live in the blessed service of God or you are slave to your sinful, selfish nature and impulses. Everytime you do what you want to do, with no regard to God, you are showing your slavery to self. This is a cruel slavery, as nothing you do has eternal worth or lasting meaning. There are none who do good--not even one (Rom. 3). Your only freedom is the freedom to sin, which is bondage to self.
The good news: Jesus Christ did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but emptied himself, taking on the form of a servant, made in human likeness (Ph. 2). He traded the crown of glory for the crown of thorns. He rendered to God the service that all of us owe God ("I came to serve, not to be served"), then died to purchase from our state of sin and death. He became slave so that we might be free to serve the living God and live in that blessed relationship for eternity.
2) You are a saint in Christ. (To all the saints who are in Christ Jesus)
What this means: That you don't have to be Mother Theresa to be a saint. A saint is not someone who is being holy, but is all those who have been made holy in Christ. And to be made holy is to be separated from sin and for God. That doesn't mean that you no longer struggle with sin, or that you perfectly follow God. Rather, it means that you are now free from sin's tyranny and guilt (the wages of sin is death!) and free to serve the living God.
You are a saint because Jesus Christ made you a saint. In our sin, we were set apart only for destruction. But Christ lived the life we couldn't--set apart from sin and for God--and that perfect life was made ours through faith in Him. He became sin who knew no sin, so we might be the righteousness of God (2 Cor. 5). Now in union with Christ through faith, we are hidden with Christ in God (Cot. 3) until the day when His name will be on our foreheads and we are forever identified as belonging to God (Rev. 22).
Practical application: This news naturally comes with a point of conviction and comfort. First, you can no longer excuse your sin with the line, "Well, I'm not saint." Yes, you are. You were bought at a price and now are in the King's service. So stop it. Second, there is no condemnation for those in Christ Jesus (Rom. 8). You have no excuse for sin, but there is also no condemnation for you in your sin, which is nailed to the cross (Col. 2). Your life is untouchable.
3) You are saved by Christ. (Grace and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ)
What this does not mean: This is not a bumper sticker, not is it a box you check off by declaring yourself or others "saved." This term has become one of the most abused in Christian terminology and has become an excuse to shirk Christian living, spiritual disciplines, regular worship with God's people, self-sacrificial evangelism, and discipleship. The term "saved" means nothing if you do not know what you're saved from and what you're saved to.
Being saved does not mean being saved from your struggles. The popular testimonies today revolve around celebrities who talk about how they used to be crack addicts, playing the field, etc. until they were saved, at which point they were free from the addictions and vices. But the reality is that a life saved by Christ is one where you pick up your cross and follow in the suffering footsteps of Your Savior.
I had to come to terms with this reality coming from a broken home. I was not simply a victim. I was in the crowd shouting "Crucify Him" as my Savior was falsely condemned. I am a transgressor and need a Savior from sin. This is where we meet the matter of grace. Grace is not God's favor toward good people who need a little help, or fence-sitters who need to fall to one side. It is God's demerited favor. In other words, it's not just that we've fallen short of His glory. We've earned His wrath.
Grace thus reconciles rebels to their King and grants them peace. You are no longer an enemy of God and He no longer sits in judgment over you, if you are saved by grace through faith in Christ. Rather, you have peace. You need not approach His throne in prayer with fear and trembling, but boldness and confidence. You're even entitled and privilege to call the all-powerful God, "Father," and approach Him with the confidence of a child looking for care and security from his father.
In conclusion, if you are not saved by Christ, then you are still a slave to your sin and bear the identity of a rebel, due His just judgment and wrath. Why not make today the day where you bow your knee and embrace the grace, peace, holy identity, and blessed servitude of God that comes with being a Christian? It is this fundamental change that will give hope in this world and the next.
If you are a believer, today is the day to re-embrace your salvation and your identity in Christ. Especially on a deployment, it is easy to get caught in the hamster wheel and find yourself trying to persevere without remembering the grace of the God who saved you and who you are in Him. You should remember those things each morning, for you must find yourself in Christ if you are to find your way in this life. God's grace and peace be with you all in Christ Jesus!
1) You are a slave of Christ. (Paul and Timothy, servants/slaves of Christ Jesus)
What this means: This is not like the dark history of human trafficking that is so firmly embedded in our minds. Man has no right to take another man, strip him on his dignity, and claim ownership of him. God, on the other hand, has that exclusive right: He created you and rules over this world.
The reality is, as much as we talk about freedom and even fight for freedom, we are all slaves. You either live in the blessed service of God or you are slave to your sinful, selfish nature and impulses. Everytime you do what you want to do, with no regard to God, you are showing your slavery to self. This is a cruel slavery, as nothing you do has eternal worth or lasting meaning. There are none who do good--not even one (Rom. 3). Your only freedom is the freedom to sin, which is bondage to self.
The good news: Jesus Christ did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but emptied himself, taking on the form of a servant, made in human likeness (Ph. 2). He traded the crown of glory for the crown of thorns. He rendered to God the service that all of us owe God ("I came to serve, not to be served"), then died to purchase from our state of sin and death. He became slave so that we might be free to serve the living God and live in that blessed relationship for eternity.
2) You are a saint in Christ. (To all the saints who are in Christ Jesus)
What this means: That you don't have to be Mother Theresa to be a saint. A saint is not someone who is being holy, but is all those who have been made holy in Christ. And to be made holy is to be separated from sin and for God. That doesn't mean that you no longer struggle with sin, or that you perfectly follow God. Rather, it means that you are now free from sin's tyranny and guilt (the wages of sin is death!) and free to serve the living God.
You are a saint because Jesus Christ made you a saint. In our sin, we were set apart only for destruction. But Christ lived the life we couldn't--set apart from sin and for God--and that perfect life was made ours through faith in Him. He became sin who knew no sin, so we might be the righteousness of God (2 Cor. 5). Now in union with Christ through faith, we are hidden with Christ in God (Cot. 3) until the day when His name will be on our foreheads and we are forever identified as belonging to God (Rev. 22).
Practical application: This news naturally comes with a point of conviction and comfort. First, you can no longer excuse your sin with the line, "Well, I'm not saint." Yes, you are. You were bought at a price and now are in the King's service. So stop it. Second, there is no condemnation for those in Christ Jesus (Rom. 8). You have no excuse for sin, but there is also no condemnation for you in your sin, which is nailed to the cross (Col. 2). Your life is untouchable.
3) You are saved by Christ. (Grace and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ)
What this does not mean: This is not a bumper sticker, not is it a box you check off by declaring yourself or others "saved." This term has become one of the most abused in Christian terminology and has become an excuse to shirk Christian living, spiritual disciplines, regular worship with God's people, self-sacrificial evangelism, and discipleship. The term "saved" means nothing if you do not know what you're saved from and what you're saved to.
Being saved does not mean being saved from your struggles. The popular testimonies today revolve around celebrities who talk about how they used to be crack addicts, playing the field, etc. until they were saved, at which point they were free from the addictions and vices. But the reality is that a life saved by Christ is one where you pick up your cross and follow in the suffering footsteps of Your Savior.
I had to come to terms with this reality coming from a broken home. I was not simply a victim. I was in the crowd shouting "Crucify Him" as my Savior was falsely condemned. I am a transgressor and need a Savior from sin. This is where we meet the matter of grace. Grace is not God's favor toward good people who need a little help, or fence-sitters who need to fall to one side. It is God's demerited favor. In other words, it's not just that we've fallen short of His glory. We've earned His wrath.
Grace thus reconciles rebels to their King and grants them peace. You are no longer an enemy of God and He no longer sits in judgment over you, if you are saved by grace through faith in Christ. Rather, you have peace. You need not approach His throne in prayer with fear and trembling, but boldness and confidence. You're even entitled and privilege to call the all-powerful God, "Father," and approach Him with the confidence of a child looking for care and security from his father.
In conclusion, if you are not saved by Christ, then you are still a slave to your sin and bear the identity of a rebel, due His just judgment and wrath. Why not make today the day where you bow your knee and embrace the grace, peace, holy identity, and blessed servitude of God that comes with being a Christian? It is this fundamental change that will give hope in this world and the next.
If you are a believer, today is the day to re-embrace your salvation and your identity in Christ. Especially on a deployment, it is easy to get caught in the hamster wheel and find yourself trying to persevere without remembering the grace of the God who saved you and who you are in Him. You should remember those things each morning, for you must find yourself in Christ if you are to find your way in this life. God's grace and peace be with you all in Christ Jesus!
You Must Find Yourself in Christ if You Are to Find Your Way in Life (Ph. 1:1-2)
Greetings in Christ Jesus, Fellow Soldiers.
Suppose you took a vacation to Europe--perhaps to get the bad taste of your vacation to Afghanistan out of your mouth. And suppose that one of your key stopping points in Europe was the city of Phillipi. It would not be surprising that you would want to go there. It was the site of titanic clashes between those who wanted to rule the Roman Empire. It was at a key point on the trade routes that brought together the Western and Eastern worlds. It was also where military legends--whether your officer, NCO, or lower enlisted--went to retire and bask in the glory of their success.
But as you walk through the city, considering the great powers that swept through there, you might stumble upon the ruins of an ancient prison. In the present day, there is only one wall left of these ruins, so I would imagine that you would want to step a bit closer to examine what is left of this remarkable place. As you near the remaining wall, certain words, scrawled upon the wall, will come into focus. These words, when translated into English, read "To live is Christ, to die is gain."
Some of the greatest worldly powers passed through the city of Philippi and left their mark, but all of those powers have passed away. The greatest power to sweep through that city, represented by the scrawl of some poor, pitiful prisoner, has stood the test of time: The power of Jesus Christ by His Word and His Spirit, working in and through His church. The greatest battle is not faught by flesh and blood, and that is what sustains the forgotten prisoner and makes him untouchable.
The words on that wall come from Philippians 1:21. The book of Philippians was not written by Paul under God's guidance to address the perversion of the Gospel (Galatians) or exploitation of the Gospel (Corinthians), but to praise, encourage, and strengthen a church that was already standing upon the grace of God. Paul knew the perils of sin and the deceptions of Satan. He knew of the downfall of Samson, who believed his strength was in his hair and not in the Lord. He knew the tragic story of David, who after receiving grace upon grace in his life, committed adultery, murdered a man, and lived for a time in unrepentant sin. And so, from his own prison cell in Rome, Paul (under God's supernatural inspiration) wrote another portion of God's Word to keep the Philippian church, along with us today, focused heavenward.
In a book filled with rich theology and vivid portraits of grace, you might be tempted to pass over the greeting (verses 1-2). That would be a mistake. All of God's Word is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting, and training in righteousness (2 Tim. 3:15). A greeting may seem to you to be too simple and human, but that is part of its beauty. If God spoke to us in His majestic tongue, we would never comprehend a word of His speech. But, in the words of Calvin, God speaks to us in "baby-talk," so that our infantile minds can grasp His truth by His grace. So Paul's greeting is God's grace to us.
But God's grace in such human language is mirrored by the divine power of these human words. Ancient greetings would often go something like this: Paul from Tarsus to the Philippian church: Greetings. But God's inspired Word here is much deeper and penetrating: Paul and Timothy, servants (slaves) of Christ Jesus, to all the saints in Christ Jesus in Philippi, along with the overseers and deacons: Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ (1:1-2).
These two verses are crucial to the entire letter. Before the Philippians--or you--can survive and even thrive in a world broken by sin with hearts broken by sin, they--and you--need to be reminded of who you are. In other words, you must find yourself in Christ if you are to find your way in life. That was the secret of the prisoner in the jail cell, whose name is now known only to God. And in this greeting, Paul reminds you of three fundamental features of who you are in Christ: You are a slave of Christ; You area saint in Christ; You are saved by Christ. These will be unpacked in the next post...
Suppose you took a vacation to Europe--perhaps to get the bad taste of your vacation to Afghanistan out of your mouth. And suppose that one of your key stopping points in Europe was the city of Phillipi. It would not be surprising that you would want to go there. It was the site of titanic clashes between those who wanted to rule the Roman Empire. It was at a key point on the trade routes that brought together the Western and Eastern worlds. It was also where military legends--whether your officer, NCO, or lower enlisted--went to retire and bask in the glory of their success.
But as you walk through the city, considering the great powers that swept through there, you might stumble upon the ruins of an ancient prison. In the present day, there is only one wall left of these ruins, so I would imagine that you would want to step a bit closer to examine what is left of this remarkable place. As you near the remaining wall, certain words, scrawled upon the wall, will come into focus. These words, when translated into English, read "To live is Christ, to die is gain."
Some of the greatest worldly powers passed through the city of Philippi and left their mark, but all of those powers have passed away. The greatest power to sweep through that city, represented by the scrawl of some poor, pitiful prisoner, has stood the test of time: The power of Jesus Christ by His Word and His Spirit, working in and through His church. The greatest battle is not faught by flesh and blood, and that is what sustains the forgotten prisoner and makes him untouchable.
The words on that wall come from Philippians 1:21. The book of Philippians was not written by Paul under God's guidance to address the perversion of the Gospel (Galatians) or exploitation of the Gospel (Corinthians), but to praise, encourage, and strengthen a church that was already standing upon the grace of God. Paul knew the perils of sin and the deceptions of Satan. He knew of the downfall of Samson, who believed his strength was in his hair and not in the Lord. He knew the tragic story of David, who after receiving grace upon grace in his life, committed adultery, murdered a man, and lived for a time in unrepentant sin. And so, from his own prison cell in Rome, Paul (under God's supernatural inspiration) wrote another portion of God's Word to keep the Philippian church, along with us today, focused heavenward.
In a book filled with rich theology and vivid portraits of grace, you might be tempted to pass over the greeting (verses 1-2). That would be a mistake. All of God's Word is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting, and training in righteousness (2 Tim. 3:15). A greeting may seem to you to be too simple and human, but that is part of its beauty. If God spoke to us in His majestic tongue, we would never comprehend a word of His speech. But, in the words of Calvin, God speaks to us in "baby-talk," so that our infantile minds can grasp His truth by His grace. So Paul's greeting is God's grace to us.
But God's grace in such human language is mirrored by the divine power of these human words. Ancient greetings would often go something like this: Paul from Tarsus to the Philippian church: Greetings. But God's inspired Word here is much deeper and penetrating: Paul and Timothy, servants (slaves) of Christ Jesus, to all the saints in Christ Jesus in Philippi, along with the overseers and deacons: Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ (1:1-2).
These two verses are crucial to the entire letter. Before the Philippians--or you--can survive and even thrive in a world broken by sin with hearts broken by sin, they--and you--need to be reminded of who you are. In other words, you must find yourself in Christ if you are to find your way in life. That was the secret of the prisoner in the jail cell, whose name is now known only to God. And in this greeting, Paul reminds you of three fundamental features of who you are in Christ: You are a slave of Christ; You area saint in Christ; You are saved by Christ. These will be unpacked in the next post...
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