Category: Theology

The Bible is The Gospel.

Recently on Facebook, I was involved in a discussion with a friend who argued that the Gospel is different from the Bible. He defined the Bible as the books written by holy men under the guidance of the Holy Spirit so that what they wrote may be trusted and obeyed as God’s Word. On the other hand, the gospel is the news that God who created heavens and earth came into the world as human being in the person of Jesus of Nazareth to suffer full punishment and eternal death on behalf of sinners so that they can be forgiven and have eternal life and live in righteousness free from sin and its effects.

He then argued that the Church should focus more on the Gospel  because one can be saved without the Bible but not without the Gospel. I should say, here, that the debate involved lengthy writings which I am unable to include into this article but the above summary really sums up the main argument of my friend.

The Bible is the gospel and the gospel is the Bible. The terms “Gospel” and “Bible” are synonyms. At the center of the Bible or the gospel is Jesus or to borrow the words of Sinclair Ferguson, “Jesus is the heart of the entire Bible.” However, I have often noted that some easily see the gospel in the New Testament more than in the Old Testament.  In this article, therefore, I will endeavor to show the gospel in the Old Testament and by doing that  prove that the entire Bible is the gospel hence we cannot distinguish the gospel from the Bible.

 First, let’s turn to Christ himself who clearly taught that the Old Testament is the gospel.  In Luke 24, Jesus was speaking to his two unbelieving and fearful disciples, Cleopas and his friend, on the walk to Emmaus and the passage states that Christ used the Old Testament to explain the gospel to his disciples.  “And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself,” (Luke 24:27). Please note very well that “Scriptures” in the verse refer to the Old Testament since by this time the New Testament Canon was not yet complete.

 Later Jesus appeared to the eleven Apostles and rebuked them for their lack of faith and said to them: “These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you, that everything written about me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled,” (Luke 24:44). Then please note carefully again what Christ says regarding the Old Testament Scriptures in Luke 24:46-47: “Thus it is written that, the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead, and that repentance and forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. Pause for a moment! Is this not the gospel? And where is it found? Right there in the Old Testament. 

Jesus here is showing us that the “gospel” which my friend described as Christ’s  work of saving sinners and enabling them to live a life of righteousness is found from Genesis to Revelation (now that the New Testament Canon is complete). From the first book of the Bible to the sixty-sixth one, salvation from sin and eternal life of righteousness in Christ is the main teaching, especially, after the fall. 

Secondly, we have a first presentation of the gospel in Genesis 3:15.  God speaks to the Satan in the form of serpent that led our first parents into sin and says: “And I will put enmity between thee (serpent) and the woman (Eve), and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and though shall bruise his heel.” Theologians and Bible Scholars have called this passage “protovangelion” a Greek word for “the first proclamation of the gospel.” From this passage up to Revelation 22:21, the message of the Bible is the gospel that Christ will and has crushed the head of Satan and overcome death and  sin that once conquered our first parents in the Garden of Eden and the fallen man can now live abundant life  in Christ. Jonathan Edwards puts it better when he writes:  

Christ and his redemption are also the great subject of the history of the Old Testament from the beginning all along; and even the history of creation is brought in as an introduction to the history of redemption that immediately follows it. The whole book, both the Old Testament and New, is filled up with the gospel; only with this difference that the Old Testament contains the gospel under a veil, but the New contains it unveiled, so that we may see the glory of the Lord with open face. (The History of Redemption (Grand Rapids: Associated Publishers and Authors Inc.) 164-165).

Thirdly, the fact that the gospel runs throughout the Bible is further confirmed in the fact that the Old Testaments saints were saved through faith in Christ just as we are.  For instance, Abraham, way back in Genesis, was justified by faith in Christ (Romans 4) and in Galatians 3:15, Apostle Paul tells us that Abraham believed because the Gospel was preached to him. Where was the gospel preached to him? Right there in the Old Testament. John Calvin has expounded this truth better and said:

“The old covenant fathers, who were formerly regenerated, obtained this favor through Christ, so that we may say, that it was as it were transferred to them from another source. The power, then, to penetrate into the heart was not inherent in the law, but it was a benefit transferred to the law from the gospel. (John Calvin, Commentaries on the Book of the Prophet Jeremiah and the Lamentations (Grand Rapids, 1950), 4:131).

When you and I open our Bibles, all we ought to see is Jesus because he is the center of the Bible. Jesus is the center of gospel. There is no way one can read the Bible or the Word of God without seeing Jesus on every page because Jesus is the Word (John 1:1-5). Therefore, the gospel and the Bible are not two different things but one. These two words are synonyms and it is impossible to distinguish them. The Old Testament is the Gospel pointing us towards Christ while the New Testament is the Gospel pointing us back to Christ. Both the Old and the New Testaments are the gospel.

Postscript: Heidelberg Catechism  Answer to  Question 19 also clarify that the gospel and the Bible are one thing:

God began to reveal the gospel already in Paradise (Gen. 3:15); later God proclaimed it by the holy patriarchs (Gen. 22:18; 49:10) and prophets (Isa. 53; Jer. 23:5-6; Mic. 7:18-20; Acts 10:43; Heb. 1:1-2)  and foreshadowed it by the sacrifices and other ceremonies of the law; (Lev. 1-7; John 5:46; Heb. 10:1-10) and finally God fulfilled it through his own beloved Son (Rom. 10:4; Gal. 4:4-5; Col. 2:17).

 


 

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Death Penalty From a Biblical Perspective

Lucius Banda, one of well known musicians in Malawi,  once sang in a song titled “Tisayana bwanji”:

Malemba amanena usaphe munthu

Sati boma lokha lingathe kupha…

Chigawenga ndichouma mtima

Koma ngati boma lichibwezera zasiyana pati.

Literal translation would render the verse as follows:

The Scriptures says “Thou shall not kill”

They don’t  say that only the human government can kill…

A murderer is a merciless person

But if government executes him too then where is the difference?

This is a popular opinion among those who reject the death penalty also known as the capital punishment.  There are so many Christians in Malawi and all over the world today who hold that the death penalty for murderers is unbiblical. But does Scripture really prohibit the observance of  death penalty by human governments? When human governments implement death penalty, are they committing murder thereby breaking the Sixth Commandment?  Doesn’t Jesus words in Matthew 5:38, 39 prohibiting  an eye for an eye principal (lex talionis) render capital punishment unbiblical? What should we say about those who are falsely accused of murder and are executed,  and how do we deal with those who commit murder but manipulate justice systems and get away with it? These are the questions I would like to address in this post. Please note that I am discussing death penalty as punishment for murder cases only.

First, we need to know the origin of death penalty. It all begun with God himself in Genesis Chapter Nine. But before we  dwell on  this chapter, I would like us to consider the first murder to occur in the history of the world as recorded in Genesis 4:8. Cain committed the first murder by killing his brother, Abel. God pronounced judgment on Cain and said: “And now you are cursed from the ground, which has opened its mouth to receive your brother’s blood from your hand. When you work the ground, it shall no longer yield to you its strength. You shall be a fugitive and a wanderer on the earth,” (Genesis 4:11, 12). Cain then complained to the Lord that his punishment was greater than he could bear and people who would  find him in his wandering would kill him. Then God said, “Not so! If anyone kills Cain, vengeance shall be taken on him sevenfold.” (Genesis 4:15).  The Lord then  put a mark on Cain so that no one should kill him.

In this passage, we see the Lord reserving the right of implementing capital punishment to himself. God does not execute Cain; instead,  God punishes Cain in a different way and declares that no one should put him to death. If this was the  only instance of God’s revelation  regarding murder and death penalty, those who advance that human governments should not implement capital punishment could have surely been right.

However, this incident is just the beginning of God’s revelation to us regarding murder and capital punishment. We need to progress to Genesis Chapter Nine where God reveals even more clear regarding murder and death penalty. In His covenant with Noah after the flood  which also applies to us even today, God makes this statement: “Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed, for God made man in his image” (Genesis 9:6). This is where the capital punishment is established by God.

Unlike in the case of Cain in Genesis Chapter Four where God reserved the right to implement death penalty for himself, in Genesis Chapter Nine God entrusts the responsibility of implementing death penalty to human government for he says, “Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed.” The man to shed the blood of the murderer is not just any man but the human government. Commenting on these two instances, O. Palmer Robertson in his book, Christ of the Covenants writes:”Earlier, God had reserved for himself alone the right to deal with the manslayer. In the case of Cain, God spoke judgment against the one who would dare touch him (Gen. 4:15). But now God deliberately places the responsibility for the execution of the wrongdoer on man himself (human government).” God requires that whosoever sheds human blood should have his own blood shed because man is created in the image of God hence Geerhardus Vos in his book, Biblical Theology: Old and New Testaments comments, “In life slain it is the image of God, i.e. the divine majesty that is assaulted.”

Therefore, when human governments (and all human governments are established by God as we read Romans 13:1-7; 1 Peter 2:13-17) implement capital punishment, they are not committing murder and thereby breaking the Sixth Commandment rather they are carrying out their God-given responsibility. God’s command for capital punishment was later repeated in Exodus 21:12, 28 and Numbers 35:16-21.

Secondly, I would like to address some questions or concerns that arise regarding the death penalty. Doesn’t  the capital punishment contradict the teaching of Jesus in Matthew 5:38, 39 in which He says: “You have heard that it was said, “An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth. But I say to you, Do not resist the one who is evil. But if anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also.” Is Jesus not prohibiting us from observing  the captial punishment in our societies in this passage? The answer is a resounding no.

Before I address what Christ is saying in the verses, I would like us to remember that Christ is God and it is God who established the capital punishment. Therefore, it means that it is Jesus who established the capital punishment. We should bear this in mind as we approach Matthew 5:38, 39.

Now, lets dive into the passage. Jesus words in these verses are based on the following passages of Old Testament: Exodus 21:24; Leviticus 24:20 and Deuteronomy 19:21. The main teaching in these passages is that punishment for any crime should be equitable and fit for the crime. In the case of murder, God already declared that the fitting punishment for murder is the capital punishment. The words of Jesus in passage prohibit exacting a greater punishment on a lesser crime. Jesus further teaches against personal vengeance because the responsibility of exacting the punishment on various crimes is entrusted to civil authorities. The passage has nothing to do with abolition of death penalty as some argue. John Calvin says it better in his Bible Commentary:

An eye for an eye. Here another error is corrected. God had enjoined, by his law, (Le 24:20) that judges and magistrates should punish those who had done injuries, by making them endure as much as they had inflicted. The consequence was, that every one seized on this as a pretext for taking private revenge. They thought that they did no wrong, provided they were not the first to make the attack, but only, when injured, returned like for like. Christ informs them, on the contrary, that, though judges were entrusted with the defense of the community, and were invested with authority to restrain the wicked and repress their violence, yet it is the duty of every man to bear patiently the injuries which he receives (http://www.sacred-texts.com/chr/calvin/cc31/cc31057.htm).

A fellow blogger has discussed Jesus’ teaching in Matthew 5:38, 39 at length on this link:  http://wittenberg-door.blogspot.com/2013/01/was-jesus-against-capital-punishment.html Please check it if you wish a further discussion on the passage.

Another concern that is usually raised is that sometimes innocent people (those who did not commit murder but are accused of murder) end up being executed for the crime they did not commit. It is true that some have been executed because they were falsely accused of murder. I don’t intend to underestimate the pain and the agony that this brings upon the individual that is falsely accused and also upon his or her family, relations and friends. However, we still need to realize that injustice occurs in this world because we are all fallen. We are not always able to know the truth regarding various allegations; nevertheless, this must not form a basis for abolition of the capital punishment. Where enough evidence has been given to prove that one committed murder, human governments should implement the capital punishment. In cases of  those who are falsely accused and later executed, our comfort should lie in the fact that God is sovereign and he knows all things. One day he will bring every secret thing into the open and he shall let truth and justice prevail (Ecclesiates 12:14).

Yet another concern is on those who commit murder and through their power and money and influence manipulate the justice system of human governments and get away with it. Shouldn’t this discourage Christians from advocating for the capital punishment since it only disfavors the poor. Again, I say not at all.  Regarding this matter, John Calvin in his Commentary of Genesis writes: “And we see some die in highways, some in stews, and many in wars. Therefore, however, magistrates may connive at the crime, God sends executioners from other quarters, who shall render unto sanguinary men their reward.” Calvin’s main point here is that although some might manipulate the justice system but God has his own ways of dealing with such individuals. We should always bear in mind that God is sovereign and all powerful.

In this post, I have labored to explain why death penalty for murderers is biblical and why human governments should implement it. I have also addressed some questions and concerns that seem to justify the abolition of capital punishments in human societies. Now, if we are to go back to Lucius Banda’s song I would respond and say: Human governments are established by God and God has entrusted them with the responsibility to carry out the capital punishment on murderers. Capital punishment is not the same as murder hence it doesn’t break the Sixth Commandment which orders, “Thou shall not kill.

Lucius Banda’s track,  “Tisiyana bwanji” below:

Jesus Christ is the Final Word

“In sum, great benefits come to God’s people if they are willing to take seriously the fact that the ‘final revelation’ has come in the Christ of Scriptures. Far from hindering enthusiasm and a sense of the immediacy of God’s presence in their midst, faith in the sufficiency of Scripture will move them to serve him with the full vigor of their beings. It must not be forgotten how the resurrected Christ stirred the hearts of his depressed disciples. The Gospel of Luke explains that Jesus enlivened his followers by opening to them the Scriptures. Beginning with Moses and all the prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the scriptures concerning himself (Luke 24:27). Why? Why did the resurrected Christ speak to them in this way? Why did he not simply give them a new revelation?

The resurrected Jesus opened the scriptures to them because that would be the way by which spiritual life would be sustained for them from this point on. As a consequence of his opening the Scriptures, their hearts burned within them (Luke 24:32). The same principle has continued through all the ages. As the resurrected Christ through his Spirit opens the Scriptures to his people, their hearts have burned within them. Much greater than depending on the stimulus of new revelations of the Spirit is living out the sufficiency of the final word as it is found in the Christ of the Scriptures.

And why not both? Why not the illumination of Scripture coupled with new revelations of the Spirit? Simply because if you declare a need for both, you have implied the insufficiency of the one. You have placed yourself back in the framework of the old covenant, in a time when new revelations were required because of the incompleteness of the old. But Christ is the final word. No further word for the  redemption of men in the present age in needed. In Scripture is found all the truth that is needed for life and godliness.

May the Lord grant his church today a full unleashing of its potential that comes from the full knowledge of the truth as it is found in Jesus. For he is the final word.”

Taken from: “The Final Word: A Biblical Response to the Case for Tongues and Prophecy Today” by Dr. O. Palmer Robertson.

Mock Weddings: A Mockery to The Institution of Marriage

Mock weddings are increasing getting trendy in Malawi today. These weddings are used mainly for fundraising activities, especially, charity. Perhaps because of the aim behind mock weddings, we tend to switch off our biblical and theological antennas hence we don’t detect that something is wrong with this trend. I will not mince words: mock weddings are unbiblical and dishonoring to God. Please hear me out.

It is important here that we differentiate a wedding anniversary from a mock wedding. There are some married couples who on their wedding anniversary, say a decade, silver jubilee or golden jubilee, go to church and thank God for keeping them together. They then renew their marriage vows and go out to celebrate with family members, friends and others.  I don’t have any problem with this and I don’t think it dishonors God.

However, I have a problem with those who on their wedding anniversary or any other day go to church and pretend as if they are not married and ask a pastor or a minister to officiate their wedding just as the pastor or the minister does with a fiancé (groom) and a fiancée (bride). After that the “newly-married couple” goes out to celebrate with family members, friends and others. This is what is called a mock wedding and indeed it is a mockery to God’s established institution of marriage. I don’t think God is pleased with this. Why am I saying so?

When we go back to creation, we find that God gave marriage (Genesis 2:21-24) as one of the three creation mandates. Others are labor (Genesis 2:15) and rest from labor (Genesis 2:1-3). This goes without saying, therefore, that marriage is very dear to God’s heart. That’s why God reminds us that he hates divorce (Malachi 2:16). In reference to marriage, God also says what he has put together let no one separate (Matthew 19:4- 6). The Bible goes on to liken marriage to the relationship between Christ and His Church (Ephesians 5:22-32). All these references drive home one point namely: God values marriage very highly and it is dear to His heart hence marriage is holy or sacred.

Now should we take what is holy or what God values very highly and play around with like a cheap toy? Should we really take what is sacred or very dear to God’s heart and use it as a cheap tool of fundraising? God forbid!

Of all the institutions, the Church ought to know how sacred marriage is in God’s eyes hence it should reject and refuse any plans by man to dilute and cheapen what God regards in high esteem. Yet the reality on the ground is otherwise. Churches open their doors to conduct mock weddings. May God forgive and have mercy on us. I believe that we need to repent of this malpractice because if the truth be told a mock wedding is really a mockery to God’s established institution of marriage.

 

Taking God’s Grace and Mercy for Granted

“Our tendency to take (God’s) grace for granted was driven home to me while teaching a freshman Old Testament course to 250 students at a Christian college. On the first day of class I went over the course assignments carefully. My experience taught me that the assignment of term papers required a special degree of explanation. This course required three short papers. I explained to the students that the first paper was due on my desk the noon of the last day of September. No extensions were to be given except for students who were physically confined to the infirmary or who had deaths in the immediate family. If the paper was not turned in on time, the student would receive an F for the assignment. The students acknowledged that they understood the requirements.

On the last day of September, 225 students dutifully handed in their term papers. Twenty-five students stood quaking in terror, full of remorse. They cried out, “Oh, Professor Sproul. We are sorry. We didn’t budget our time properly. We didn’t make the proper adjustment form high school to college. Please don’t give us an F. Please, oh, please give us an extension.”

I bowed to their pleas for mercy. “All right,” I said. “I’ll give you a break this time. But, remember, the next assignment is due the last day of October.”

The students were profuse in their gratitude and filled the air with solemn promises of being on time for the next assignment. Then came the last day of October. Two hundred students came with their papers. Fifty students came empty-handed. They were nervous, but not in panic. When I asked for their papers, again they were contrite. “Oh, Professor. It was Homecoming Week. Besides it is midterm and all of our assignments are due in other classes. Please give us on more chance. We promise it will never happen again.”

Once more I relented. I said, “OK, but this is the last time. If you are late for the next paper, it will be  an F. No excuses, no whining. F. Is that clear?” “Oh, yes, Professor. You are terrific.” Spontaneously the class began to sing, “We love you Prof Sproul. Oh, yes we do.” I was Mr. Popularity.

Can you guess what happened on the last day of November? Right. One hundred and fifty students came with their term papers. The other hundred strolled into the lecture hall utterly unconcerned. “Where are your term papers?” I asked. One student replied, “Oh, don’t worry, Prof, we’re working on them. We’ll have them for you in a couple of days, no sweat.”

I picked up my lethal black grade book and began taking down names. “Johnson! Do you have your paper?” “No sir,” came the reply. “F,” I said as I wrote the grade in the book….The students reacted with unmitigated fury. They howled in protest, screaming, “That’s not fair!”

The students had quickly taken my mercy for granted. They assumed it. When justice suddenly fell, they were unprepared for it. It came as a shock, and they were outraged. This is after only two doses of mercy in the space of two months.”

(Is this not the same way we treat God’s grace and mercy in our lives sometimes?)

Taken from “The Holiness of God” by R.C. Sproul

Beware of ‘Revelations’!

“Is the truth that which I imagine to be revealed to me by some private communication? Am I to fancy that I enjoy some special Revelation and am I to order my life by voices, dreams and impressions?

Brothers and Sisters, fall not into this common delusion! God’s Word to us is in Holy Scripture. All the Truth that sanctifies men is in God’s Word! Do not listen to those who cry, “Lo here!” and, “Lo there!”

I am plucked by the sleeve almost every day by crazy persons and pretenders who think that they have Revelations from God. One man tells me that God has sent a message to me by him—and I reply, “No, Sir, the Lord knows where I dwell and He is so near to me that He would not need to send to me by you.”

Another man announces, in God’s name, a dogma which, on the face of it, is a lie against the Holy Spirit. He says the Spirit of God told him so-and-so, but we know that the Holy Spirit never contradicts Himself. If your imaginary Revelation is not according to this Word of God, it has no weight with us! And if it is according to this Word, it is no new thing!

Brothers and Sisters, this Bible is enough if the Lord does but use it and quicken it by His Spirit in our hearts. Truth is neither your opinion, nor mine—your message, nor mine! Jesus says, “Your Word is truth.” That which sanctifies men is not only truth, but it is the particular Truth of God which is revealed in God’s Word—“Your Word is truth.” What a blessing it is that all the Truth that is necessary to sanctify us is revealed in the Word of God, so that we have not to expend our energies upon discovering the Truth of God, but may, to our far greater profit, use Revealed Truth for its Divine ends and purposes!

There will be no more Revelations—no more are needed! The Canon is fixed and complete—and he that adds to it shall have added to him the plagues that are written in this Book! What need of more when here is enough for every practical purpose? “Sanctify them through Your truth: Your Word is truth.” Charles Haddon Spurgeon

This Post has been copied from:  http://www.erictyoung.com

The First Step in Going Astray

“The first step astray is a lack of adequate faith in the divine inspiration of the sacred Scriptures. All the while a man bows to the authority of God’s Word, he will not entertain any sentiment contrary to its teaching. “To the law and to the testimony,” is his appeal concerning every doctrine.

He esteems that holy Book, concerning all things, to be right, and therefore he hates every false way. But let a man question, or entertain low views of the inspiration and authority of the Bible, and he is without chart to guide him, and without anchor to hold him.

In looking carefully over the history of the times, and the movement of the times, of which we have written briefly, this fact is apparent: that where ministers and Christian churches have held fast to the truth that the Holy Scriptures have been given by God as an authoritative and infallible rule of faith and practice, they have never wandered very seriously out of the right way.

But when, on the other hand, reason has been exalted above revelation, and made the exponent of revelation, all kinds of errors and mischief have been the result.” Robert Schindler

Robert Schindler was a baptist minister and close friend of Charles Haddon Spurgeon. The above quote is taken from a series of articles Schindler wrote titled The Down Grade, and published anonymously in 1887 in Spurgeon’s The Sword and Trowel.

This Post has been copied from: http://www.erictyoung.com

 

The Holiness of God and the Preacher

“No minister (pastor) is worthy of his calling.  Every preacher is vulnerable to the charge of hypocrisy. In fact, the more faithful a preacher is to the Word of God in his preaching,  the more liable he is to the charge of hypocrisy. Why? Because the more faithful a man is to the Word of God, the higher the message is that he will preach. The higher the message, the further he will be from obeying it himself.

I cringe inside when I speak in churches about the holiness of God. I can anticipate the response of the people. They leave the sanctuary convinced that they have just been in the presence of a holy man. Because they hear me preach about holiness, they assume I must be as holy as the message I preach. That’s when I want to cry, “Woe is me.”

It’s dangerous to assume that because a person is drawn to holiness in his study that he is thereby a holy man. There is irony here. I am sure that the reason I have deep hunger to learn of the holiness of God is precisely because I am not holy. I am a profane man – a man who spends more time out of the temple than in it. But I have had just enough  of a taste of the majesty of God to want more. I know what it means to be a forgiven man and what it means to be sent on a mission. My soul cries for more. My soul needs more.”

Taken from “The Holiness of God”   by R.C. Sproul

When Success Eludes God’s Children

“And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to [his] purpose,” boldly declares Romans 8:28 (KJV).

It is good that the verse clarifies that it is not for everyone that all things work together for the good. It is only those who love God and are called by him. Those who are called by God are his children. So, in other words, the verse says that all things work together for the good of Christians.

It is one thing to accept this verse as it is it appears on the pages of Scripture and it is quite another to accept it in real life experience. We are living in the world that exalts success. Everywhere we go, achievements are lifted high and rarely do we hear stories of failure. It is as if failure does not exist. Even in churches we share our victories in Christ and hardly do we share otherwise.

This has led many to believe that Christianity and success are synonyms; however, this is not true. Christians also face failure. However, what differs between Christian and non-Christians is that the former have a comfort that God in all things (including that failure) is working for their own good while the former regards it as a hindrance to their brighter future.

This is not to mean that Christians accept their failure and sit down. Not at all! They work hard to succeed yet at the same time they realize that failure is not out of God’s plan for their life. A very well known American theologian, A.W. Tozer, once wrote that Christians travel an appointed way.  This is true. Everything that happens in our life including failure was already ordained by God even before the foundations of the earth were laid.

Therefore, we should never regard failure as a weird thing in the plan of God for our lives.  Believe you me, God will allow failure to come our way as long as it is part of his plan for our lives.

Salvation and Good Works

The fifth and last trustworthy saying is found in Titus 3:8 and reads: “This is a trustworthy saying. And I want you to stress these things, so that those who have trusted in God may be careful to devote themselves to doing what is good. These things are excellent and profitable for everyone.”

Good works do not produce salvation but salvation produces good works. For sure, salvation is by the grace of God and there is nothing we do to earn it yet true salvation will always produce good works.  This is what Apostle Paul is stressing in this trustworthy saying.

The relationship between salvation and good works has sometimes caused confusion but I believe God’s Word clarifies the issue better in the saying. Every Christian is saved to do good works.

The only difference between good works of a Christian and a non-Christian is that a Christian does good as a result of the Holy Spirit who has come into his life. It is this Holy Spirit who motivates and gives the believer the grace and desires to please God by doing what is good.

A non-Christian, on the other hand, will do good works hoping to be accepted by God and usually driven by the natural guilt that is in all those who don’t have Christ due to original sin of our first parents which all of us are born with.