Is God Really Trying to Build Character into Us? (Part 2)

   Last week, I began to challenge the idea that God is trying to build character into us.  Why?  Because we are already perfect in our identity in Christ.

   How do we unpack this in an understandable way when we all know we do not live our lives with perfect character?  In fact, we may think that our character is very poor because of the mistakes we make and the sins we still commit.  That is why our identity in Christ is so important to understand, believe and live from.  While our behavior, thoughts and motives are not perfect, our identity in Christ is perfect, complete and full.  You see, we already have in us all of the character we will ever need.

   If that is accurate, and it is, then all of the remainder of our lives is an opportunity for that character to "come out of us".   You see,  Our Father is not trying to build his character into us.  He is working in our lives to get it out!  Yes, problems, challenges, daily life, these are all opportunities for the character He placed in us to come out.  As we trust Jesus Christ to live through us more consistently, not perfectly, we mature in our expression of that character.

   Isaiah prophesied in 61:3 that those who would believe in the Messiah would be called "oaks of righteousness".  Righteousness is the perfect character of God.  When He gives us His righteousness (2 Corinthians 5:21), He gives us His perfect character minus His deity.  We don't become little gods but we do become God's children.

   I have lots of oak trees at my home.  I have noticed that when an acorn from one of those trees sprouts up from the dirt, it is an oak tree, not a palm tree nor a pine tree.   Did you know that little seedling will never be any "oakier" than it is the day it pushes up from the ground?  The rest of its life, it will simply mature into what it already is, an oak tree.

   We are complete in Christ having all of the character we will ever need in our identity in Christ.  The remainder of our lives is one opportunity after another to mature into who we already are – sons and daughters of God!   He loves us!  

Is God Really Trying to Build Character in Us? (Part 1)

      If you are like me,  all of my life I have heard that when we experience trouble in our lives, God is trying to build character into us.   The premise behind this is that though we are Christians, we are incomplete and problems are God's way of getting his character into us.

     Let me say as clearly and as loudly as I can.  "That is NOT true!  It is a gross misunderstanding of the gospel!"  The real gospel is this.  Because we have Jesus Christ in us, our Father is working to bring the character we already have out of us!  We already have everything we will ever need to live the Christian life.   Peter wrote in his second letter in 1:3.  "...His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness..."  Do you see that?  We have everything we will ever need ALREADY.    Here is another compelling truth.  Paul wrote something similar in the second chapter of his letter to the Colossians in verse 10. "...in Him you have been made complete...".   Complete is sometimes translated with the word fullness.  In either case, the idea is the same.   In Christ, we are already complete or full.   If this is not enough for you, then let's look at Hebrews 10:14.  "For by one offering He has perfected for all time those who are sanctified."  

     The offering i.e. the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ has made us perfect in our new creation identity because we were set apart by God (sanctified) when he saved us.

This does not mean we will not sin.  We will.  This is speaking to the bigger issue of us being united with Jesus from the moment we believe.

     Until next time remember He loves us!

Did Jesus Have Live by Faith Like You and Me?

Did Jesus Have Live by Faith Like You and Me?

Dear Mark,    When on this earth, Jesus Christ was fully God and fully human.  Many believe Jesus performed miracles and obeyed His Father by simply doing it as God.  People will often say, "Sure Jesus was able to obey God the Father because Jesus was God!"  That is a serious misunderstanding. Jesus lived on this earth only as a human.  Though he never ceased being God, it was as if He "stuck His deity in His back pocket for 33 years." Jesus had to live like we are asked by God to live - by faith!  That is,  He daily lived completely dependent on His Father to meet all of His needs, especially for love, and to live through Him every moment.   In John 14:10, Jesus confirms this stating, "Don't you believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in me? The words I say to you are not just my own. Rather, it is the Father, living in me, who is doing his work." Each day we are to ask Jesus to live His life through us.  This does not mean we will live passive lives just as Jesus did not live a passive life.  It means we will be very active as go to work, relate to our family, friends and neighbors, talk with God, read God's Word, watch TV, drive our cars, fulfill our God-given purpose, obey God and more with Jesus living through us in each of these.  Why don't we decide now that we will ask Jesus to live through us every day even if we don't feel the reality of that?  He loves us and wants to live through us!   Be Free in Christ,  Mark Maulding President and Founder  Grace Life International

Does God Cause Karma?

A young couple with a very troubled marriage came to me for counseling. She had hurt her husband very deeply through her unfaithfulness.  She readily confessed her sin and was repentant.  The husband on the other hand made a statement which I have heard frequently.  He said, "I am a good person.  I do right.  Why did God allow this to happen to me?"   I gently replied, "That kind of thinking is not Christianity. It's karma."  Karma is the false belief that doing good will return good to me. 

I have found that many of us believe God operates in the realm of karma. Like this young husband, we believe doing good insures God will reward us with good circumstances.   If we believe that, then our view of who God is will disappoint us.  Obeying God is not a guarantee of good circumstances.  Don't get me wrong, there are blessings in obeying God but that does not guarantee good circumstances from God.  The gospel of grace promises us that God loves us when things are good AND when things are bad.  Roman 8:39 reminds us that nothing can separate us from God's love which is "in Christ Jesus." Where are we who believe in Jesus?  We are "in Christ Jesus". Therefore, we are always in the middle of God's love when life is good and when life is bad whether we feel it or not.  He loves us!  Would you by faith tell Him you believe that right now?
 Be Free in Christ,                                               
Mark Maulding
President and Founder
Grace Life International

Does God Punish Us for Our Sins?

Is the God we believe in truly the real God? Through the years, I have observed many people who leave their faith in God and the church they were a part of. Yet, in many cases they are not leaving the true God but a false god they have created in their mind. There are misperceptions of who God really is. One misperception is that God punishes His children when they sin. I have heard this one many times and I used to believe it myself! Yet, our punishment was taken in full by Jesus on the cross.

In 1 John 2:2, the word "propitiation" means the wrath of God the Father towards our sin was completely satisfied in the death of Christ on the cross. Since that is true, difficult circumstances are NOT God's punishment on us. We have been forgiven for all of our sins and will not be punished for them.

Those who do not have faith in Christ will be punished for their sins after their life on this earth is over. But we are focusing on believers right now.

That does not mean that believers in Christ do not have consequences when we sin. For example, if we are a believer in Christ and we rob a bank. Jesus died for our sin of stealing. So God will not punish us but we will go to jail! A friend of mine said it this way. God does not punish us for our sins but our sins sometimes punish us.

He does discipline His children according to Hebrew 12 but this is our Father's correction to get us back on track, not to punish us. In fact, His discipline is an act of His love for us. So the next time we begin to think that God is punishing us, we need to remember that the cross of Jesus debunks that misperception of God and how He treats us. He loves us!