June 24 Esight, 2007

For with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation.—Romans 10:10Here at Renewed Heart Ministries we have recently received many inquiries concerning Faith. “What is it?” “How do I exercise it?” There are a few Biblical principles that teaches what one needs understand in order to comprehend exactly what Faith is and what it isn’t.

First what is Faith? There are three passages that give us a clue.

For with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness . . . (Romans 10:10)

And He said to them, “O foolish men and slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken! (Luke 24:25)

And Philip said, “If you believe with all your heart, you may.” (Acts 8:37)

What all three of these passages tell us is that Faith is something that a person experiences on a heart level. This is not to say that Faith does not involve a person’s intellect, but that it goes deeper than a mere intellectual response to the gospel. It touches and engages the heart, not just the head. This must be held in the forefront in order to understand the words of James.

You believe that God is one. You do well; the demons also believe, and shudder.

(James 2:19)

James is referring to a mental assent to God. Again, Faith is much more than simply believing something in your mind, it’s a belief that engages your heart as well.

So how does one experience Faith? Three more verses make it simple enough for a child to understand.

So Faith comes from hearing . . . the word [or message] of Christ. (Romans 10:17)

What was Christ’s message? ” . . . God is love.”(1 John 4:8)

What Paul is simply trying to have us understand is that Faith, being a heart level response, is the heartfelt reaction that we experience in response to the message of God’s love for us.

For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision means anything, but faith which works by love. (Galatians 5:6)

Or as William Tyndale’s New Testament reads:

“. . . faith, which by love is mighty in operation.”(Galatians 5:6)

Faith is the heartfelt response in each of us, the gratitude and appreciation activated by the realization of God’s great love for us that also awakens in us the desire to love God back.

For the love of Christ controls us, having concluded this, that one died for all, therefore all died; and He died for all, so that they who live might no longer live for themselves, but for Him who died and rose again on their behalf. (2 Corinthians 5:14-15)

This means that Faith is more than what some call “Trust.” Trust is all about me! It’s egocentric. I trust that God will save me, but I’m still concerned only about myself. (This is the problem with most of traditional Christianity’s focus.) Biblical faith, on the other hand, is believing in God’s love for me, with my heart not just my head, which leads me to want to no longer live for myself but only for Him and others. This is “Faith which works by love.”

“As we behold the glory of Christ, we become changed into His image. We have that faith which works by love, and purifies the soul. Our hearts are renewed, and we are made willing to obey God in all things.” (Review and Herald, Dec. 15, 1896)

Yes, Faith is not feeling. We choose to believe God loves us regardless of how we feel, but once that belief has been decided, God’s love does touch our heart and awakens in us the desire to love Him back.

Faith is more than mental assent to a list of doctrines. (Even the demons do this and tremble.)

Faith is more than mere trust that Jesus will save me. (This is primarily egocentric)

Faith is the heart level response we experience to the truth of God’s character of Love and His love for us! (Awakening in us the desire to love Him back!)

Do you want to experience deeper Faith, my friend? As odd as this may sound, stop trying so hard to believe this week and instead start focusing on God’s great love for you. Let God’s love for you activate or rather awaken a deeper Faith within you. “God has allotted to each a measure of faith.” (Romans 12:3) He has given it to you. It is a sleeping giant deep within you, waiting to be awakened by the realization of God’s great love for you, for “by love is love awakened.”

June 1 Esight, 2007

A.T. Jones”I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.”

It may not be amiss to emphasize what this scripture does say, by noting what it does not say.

It does not say, I want to be crucified with Christ. It does not say, I wish I were crucified with Christ, that He might live in me. It does say, “I am crucified with Christ.”

Again, it does not say, Paul was crucified with Christ; Christ lived in Paul, and the Son of God loved Paul and gave Himself for Paul. All that is true, but that is not what the scripture says nor is that what it means, for it means just what it says. And it does say, “I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live, yet not I, but Christ liveth in me, and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.”

Thus this verse is a beautiful and solid foundation of Christian faith for every soul in the world. Thus it is made possible for every soul to say, in full assurance of Christian faith, “He loved me.” “He gave himself for me.” “I am crucified with Christ.” “Christ liveth in me.” Read also 1 John 4:15.

For any soul to say, “I am crucified with Christ,” is not speaking at a venture. It is not believing something on a guess. It is not saying a thing of which there is no certainty. Every soul in this world can say in all truth and all sincerity, “I am crucified with Christ.” It is but the acceptance of a fact, the acceptance of a thing that is already done, for this word is the statement of a fact.

It is a fact that Jesus Christ was crucified. And when He was crucified we also were crucified, for He was one of us. His name is Immanuel, which is “God with us”–not God with Him, but “God with us.” When His name is not God with Him, but “God with us,” then who was He but “us”? He had to be “us” in order that God with Him could be not God with Him but “God with us.” And when He was crucified, then who was it but “us” that was crucified?

This is the mighty truth announced in this text. Jesus Christ was “us.” He was of the same flesh and blood with us. He was of our very nature. He was in all points like us. “It behooved him to be made in all points like unto his brethren.” He emptied Himself, and was made in the likeness of men. He was “the last Adam.” and precisely as the first Adam was ourselves, so Christ, the last Adam, was ourselves. When the first Adam died, we, being involved in him, died with him. And when the last Adam died, we, being involved in Him, died with Him. And when the last Adam was crucified, He being ourselves and we being involved n Him, we were crucified with Him. As the first Adam was in himself the whole human race, so the last Adam was in himself the whole human race, and so when the last Adam was crucified, the whole human race–the old, sinful human nature–was crucified with Him. And so it is written, “Knowing this, that our old man IS CRUCIFIED WITH HIM, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin.”

Thus every soul in this world can truly say, in the perfect triumph of Christian faith, “I am crucified with Christ”; my old sinful human nature is crucified with Him that this body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth I should not serve sin. Rom. 6:6. Nevertheless I live, yet not I but Christ liveth in me. Always bearing about in my body the dying of the Lord Jesus–the crucifixion of the Lord Jesus, for I am crucified with Him–that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in my body. For I who live am always delivered unto death, for Jesus’ sake, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in my mortal flesh. 2 Cor. 4:10, 11. And therefore the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.

In this blessed fact of the crucifixion of the Lord Jesus, which was accomplished for every human soul, there is not only laid the foundation of faith for every soul, but in it there is given the gift of faith to every soul. And thus the cross of Christ is not only the wisdom of God displayed from God to us, but it is the very power of God manifested to deliver us from all sin and bring us to God.

O sinner, brother, sister, believe it. Oh, receive it. Surrender to this mighty truth. Say it; say it in full assurance of faith and say it forever. “I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me, and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.” Say it, for it is the truth, the very truth and wisdom and power of God, which saves the soul from all sin.

May 31 Esight, 2007

A.T. Jones”Unto every one of us is given grace according to the measure of the gift of Christ.” Eph. 4:7. The measure of the gift of Christ is “all the fulness of the Godhead bodily.” This is true whether viewed as the measure of the gift which God made in giving Christ or as the measure of the gift which Christ Himself gave. For the gift that God gave is His only begotten Son, and in “him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily.” Therefore, from this standpoint the measure of the gift of Christ being only the measure of the fulness of the Godhead bodily and this being only the measure of the grace that is given to every one of us, it follows that unto every one of us is given grace without measure, simply boundless grace.

Viewed from the measure of the gift in which Christ Himself gives to us, it is the same, because “he gave himself for us.” He gave Himself for our sins, and in this He gave Himself to us. And as in Him dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily, and as He gave Himself, then the measure of the gift of Christ on His own part is also only the measure of the fullness of the Godhead bodily. It therefore follows that from this standpoint also the measure of grace that is given to every one of us is only the measure of the fullness of the Godhead; that is, simply immeasurable.

Thus in whatever way it is viewed, the plain word of the Lord is that unto every one of us He has given grace to the measure of the fullness of the Godhead bodily; that is, boundless, immeasurable grace–all the grace He has. This is good. But it is just the Lord; it is just like the Lord to do that, for He is good.

And this boundless grace is all given, given freely, to “every one of us.” To us it is. To you and me, just as we are. And that is good. We need just that much grace to make us what the Lord wants us to be. And He is just so kind as to give it all to us freely that we may be indeed just what He wants us to be.

The Lord wants every one of us to be saved, and that with the very fullness of salvation. And therefore He has given to every one of us the very fullness of grace, because it is grace that brings the salvation. For it is written, “The grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men.” Titus 2:11. Thus the Lord wants all to be saved and therefore He gave all of His grace, bringing salvation to all. The marginal reading of this text tells it that way, and it is just as true as the reading in the verse itself. Here it is: “The grace of God that bringeth salvation to all men, hath appeared.” All the grace of God is given freely to every one, bringing salvation to all. Whether all or any one will receive it, that is another question. What we are studying now is the truth and the fact that God has given it. Having given it all, He is clear, even though men may reject it.

The Lord wants us to be perfect, and so it is written: “Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.” Desiring that we shall be perfect, He has given us, every one , all the grace that He has, bringing the fullness of His salvation, that every man may be presented perfect in Christ Jesus. The very purpose of this gift of His boundless grace is that we may be made like Jesus, Who is the image of God. Even so it is written: “Unto every one of us is given grace according to the measure of the gift of Christ. . . . for the perfecting of the saints. . . . till we all come in the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.”

Do you want to be like Jesus? Then receive the grace that He has so fully and so freely given. Receive it in the measure in which He has given it, not in the measure in which you think you deserve it. Yield yourself to it, that it may work in you and for you the wondrous purpose for which it is given, and it will do it. It will make you like Jesus. It will accomplish the purpose and the wish of Him who has given it. “Yield yourselves unto God.” “I beseech you also that ye receive not the grace of God in vain.”

Review and Herald 1894/04/17

May 27 Esight, 2007

“For their sakes I sanctify Myself, that they themselves also may be sanctified in truth.” John 17:19

The Greek word for “sanctify” here is hagiazo. It means, “To set apart for a holy purpose.” Did you catch that? It says a “holy” purpose. What is holiness? Holiness is godliness or God-like-ness. What is Godlike? God is love; therefore the foundation of holiness is love. And this being true, the Apostle John is here stating that Jesus was setting Himself apart for a purpose whose root principle was love!

What was that purpose? This setting Himself apart, fixing His gaze on Calvary, was “to the end that thoughts from many hearts may be revealed” (Luke 2:35). Jesus’ desire was that we might see the heart of God, that we might encounter the love that surges in His heart and the Father’s for each of us. That we might see the complete self-abandonment, the immense selflessness, the disinterested benevolence, and sheer concern for only our well-being and salvation with no thought or concern for Themselves. This is the Father’s heart toward you, dear friend. You are the most important thing to Him. You are the “apple of His eye” (Zechariah 2:8). He will risk and has risked all for you.

What is His hope in all this? Notice, not His motive, but His hope. That you might see “the truth” of what His inmost thoughts toward you are, and that this would awaken and inspire in you, His beloved, this same love; that by His love for you, love would be awakened. That the setting of Himself apart for you would cause you to also set yourself apart for Him. Seeing all He has given to us, without thought of Himself, His hope is that we, too, will take this life that He has given us with deep appreciation, and give this life back to Him in love. Do you want to be more deeply devoted to Him, dear Christian? Take time this week to notice how deeply devoted He is to you. May God bless your week. You are truly in my prayers.

May 20 Esight, 2007

Therefore, Jesus answered and was saying to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of Himself, unless it is something He sees the Father doing; for whatever the Father does, these things the Son also does in like manner.” — John 5:19Even for Jesus, His doing was dependent on His seeing. Here Jesus gives us an insightful glance into a universal law of human behavior. No matter who we are, we only do as we see. Especially in matters of spirituality, a person will reflect in their life only the type of person he or she perceives their God to be. We truly can do nothing of ourselves unless it something we see God doing.

Why? It’s quite simple. How we see determines how we think. How we think determines how we feel. And how we think and feel together determine how we ultimately behave. This adds special importance to the picture one possesses of the character of God. To see God differently and correctly will set in motion a most incredible chain of events in our lives. A change in how one pictures God will produce a change in their thinking, feeling, and behavior, toward God.

Have you been trying, dear friend, to fix areas of your behavior without first giving attention to the picture of God you hold in your heart? Don’t give up hope. Try putting first things first. Do you long to live differently? Are you tired of feeling imprisoned to the same self-destructive behaviors? Jesus stated, “…you will know the truth [about God], and the truth will make you free.” (John 8:32) This week try focusing your attention and emphasis, not on fixing you behavior, but on seeing the truth concerning God and His unfathomable love for you. May it set in motion a world of change.

May 13 Esight, 2007

“As I passed by again, I saw that the time had come for you to fall in love. I promised to love you. Yes, I made a marriage covenant with you, and you became mine.” This is what the Sovereign Lord says.—Ezekiel 16:8, TEV

Even if He gets nothing in return, nothing back from His love, my dear friend, He has promised to love you! Period. God is not a man that He should lie. He never breaks a promise.

“Whether men receive or reject Him, He works earnestly for them. He grants them life and light, striving by His Spirit to win them from Satan’s service.” (Ellen G. White; Review and Herald, March 12, 1901 par. 5) 

In Luke 17:12-19, Luke tells us of ten lepers.  All where healed, but only one returned to say, “thank you.”  What happens next is remarkable.  What about those lepers who never came back to thank Him?  The blessing, then healing, is theirs to keep.  Jesus did not heal them in order to receive anything back.  Jesus simply healed them, because He loved them.  Is this truly what God is like?  Jesus stated that he who had seen Him had seen the Father.

Ponder this thought throughout your week.  Is your picture of God one who awakens in you love for Him, even if there is nothing in it for you? Of course, God has lovingly ordained that there are many blessings we receive from loving Him. But is God’s love strong enough to awaken love within us, even if there’s nothing in it for ourselves? By love is love awakened. And to love like this, with no interest in what’s in it for us, is the very fulfillment of the law Jesus came to write on our hearts.  This is the image of Himself that he wants to restore in you. But it can only take place if, right now, you will choose to believe that He loves you unreservedly, unconditionally, disinterestedly, unselfishly, and benevolently.  “Whether we serve Him or not…”

This is the love that changes lives. This week, may it change yours too. 

“The earth was dark through misapprehension of God. That the gloomy shadows might be lightened, that the world might be brought back to God, Satan’s deceptive power was to be broken. This could not be done by force. The exercise of force is contrary to the principles of God’s government; He desires only the service of love; and love cannot be commanded; it cannot be won by force or authority. Only by love is love awakened. To know God is to love Him; His character must be manifested in contrast to the character of Satan. This work only one Being in all the universe could do. Only He who knew the height and depth of the love of God could make it known. Upon the world’s dark night the Sun of Righteousness must rise, ‘with healing in His wings.’” Mal. 4:2.  (Ellen G. White, Desire of Ages pg. 22)