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Over the years I have used several translations and paraphrases in my study of God’s Word and its application to my life. From time to time, I am asked about why I use different translations and paraphrases when I teach God’s Word. Here’s my answer.

 

For one, no matter how wonderful a translation is, it has limitations. The Bible was originally written using 11,280 Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek words, but the typical English translation uses only around 6,000 words. Obviously, nuances and shades of meaning can be missed, so it is always helpful to compare translations.

 

Another reason, and even more important, is the fact that we often miss the full impact of familiar Bible verses, not because of poor translating, but simply because they have become so familiar! We think we know what a verse says because we have read it or heard it so many times. Therefore, I like to deliberately use paraphrases in order to help you see God’s truth in new, fresh ways. English-speaking people should thank God that we have so many different versions to use for devotional reading and the communication of God’s Word.

 

The translation I use most often and which is my primary study translation is the Holman Christian Standard Bible. I find it very accurate and reliable when it comes to the original languages.

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Proverbs 24:3-4 says, “A house is built by wisdom, and it is established by understanding; by knowledge the rooms are filled with every precious and beautiful treasure” (HCSB). To help us understand this truth let’s examine three key words: knowledge, understanding, and wisdom.

 

• “Knowledge” is data, information, facts, and observation.
• “Understanding” is taking that information and putting it into context. This context may be the person you are talking about, a certain situation or circumstance; it’s the background of the information that you are dealing with.
• “Wisdom” is knowing what to do with the information once you have considered the context.

 

Regi Campbell, in his book Mentor Like Jesus, illustrated this very well from an experience he had with his son.

 

\”When my son was a teenager, I was looking for something in his car and accidentally came across a pack of cigarettes. I exploded. I decided I would use the surprise tactic to get to the bottom of this smoking deal. I dashed to his room (it was ten o’clock at night, and he was already fast asleep). I swung open the door, ran to his bedside, stuck the cigarette pack right in his face, and said, “OK, buddy, what’s the story here?” He roused up, looked at me with disbelief and anger in his eyes, and said, “Those are my friend Brant’s. He left them in my car. I can’t believe that you were going through my car, and worse, I can’t believe you would think I’ve been smoking. Have you forgotten who I am?” I was humbled, stunned, and embarrassed.\”

 

He goes on to explained how he had taken knowledge (the cigarettes in his son’s car) and jumped to a conclusion. Then he had acted without thinking about whether his action was wise. He just wanted the truth so he could make sure his son wasn’t going to become a smoker.

 

If he had remembered the Proverbs verse and applied it, he’d have thought, OK, knowledge says that I’ve found cigarettes in my son’s car. Understanding says, “Wait a minute. My son hates smoke. He’s an athlete. I need to get the full story from him before I jump to a conclusion.” And then wisdom would have asked, “In what environment is he most likely to tell the truth about this?” Regi concludes that if he would have followed Proverbs 24 he would have come up with something more effective than his embarrassing “storm trooper/Gestapo” tactic.

 

We see Jesus using Scripture this way… for wisdom… guidance… never to attack people. Jesus used Scripture as a defense, not an attack.

 

Your Next Step:

 

• The next time one of your family members seems to have done something against your authority make sure you get the knowledge, understanding, and wisdom before acting.
• Have you recently acted on knowledge only towards someone at church, work, or school? What do you need to do to make it right?

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Everyone wants a stronger and healthier marriage. For that to happen, Christ has to been the Lord of your marriage. He must be the leader of your home. Ephesians 5:25 says, “Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave Himself up for her” (NIV 84). The example the husband is to follow in loving his wife is Jesus Christ. Then in Ephesians 5:22 the Bible says, “Wives, submit to your husbands as to the Lord” (NIV 84). The example of how a wife is to relate to her husband is based on her relationship with the Lord.

 

The implied point is the husband and the wife both has a relationship with the Lord. They know Jesus. They love Jesus. They have been born again and they are followers of Christ. Jesus is the Lord of their life.

Before Christ can control your marriage, He must control you.

If you want to have a marriage that God blesses it starts with having a relationship with Jesus Christ. It starts with you submitting your life to Him. How do you do that? You admit that you are a sinner. You are not perfect and you cannot save yourself. You ask Jesus Christ to forgive you of your sins and to help you turn away from them. You accept His Lordship and leadership over your life. When that happens He gives you His Spirit on the inside of you to help you be the person He created you to be and as a result you become more like the spouse God wants you to be. Before He can control your marriage, He must control you.

 

Homework: Sometime this week take the following questions/comments and discuss them with your spouse.

 

• Ask each other to share how you became a follower of Christ and what Jesus means to each of you now (if you or your spouse is not a Christian discuss why and why not).
• Talk about the phrase, “Before Christ can control your marriage, He must control you.”
• How do you know when a husband loves his wife as Christ loved the church?
• How do you know when a wife is submitting to her husband as to the Lord? What does it mean to submit and what does it not mean?

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From time to time I am asked to recommend commentaries for studying the Bible. This request comes from small group leaders, Sunday School teachers, or someone just wanting help to understand the Bible in greater detail. To help give you some direction, here is my recommended list of commentaries and the one’s I often find myself returning to again and again.

 

• The Bible Exposition Commentary by Warren W. Wiersbe. This is a comprising of his earlier work known as the “Be Series.” This is an easy to read explanation of the major aspect of each chapter of the Bible. Broad enough to keep moving through the Bible yet detailed enough to bring insight into the chapter. It is a chapter-by-chapter approach to the Bible. 

 

• The MacArthur New Testament Commentary series by Dr. John MacArthur Jr. The preface of the series describes it well when MacArthur writes, “This New Testament commentary series reflects this objective of explaining and applying Scripture. Some commentaries are primarily linguistic, others are mostly theological, and some are mainly homiletical. This one is basically explanatory, or expository. It is not linguistically technical, but deals with linguistics when this seems helpful to proper interpretation. It is not theologically expansive, but focuses on the major doctrines in each text and on how they relate to the whole of Scripture. It is not primarily homiletical, though each unit of thought is generally treated as one chapter, with a clear outline and logical flow of thought. Most truths are illustrated and applied with other Scripture. After establishing the context of a passage, I have tried to follow closely the writer’s development and reasoning.” This series is a combination of verse-by-verse and paragraph-by-paragraph approach to the explaining the Bible.

 

• Swindoll’s New Testament Insights by Charles R. Swindoll. This is a chapter-by-chapter approach to examining the Bible. Within its pages are helpful charts, graphs, maps, and key term sections. If you have read any of Swindoll’s books, then you will find the same manner of writing but in a commentary form. It’s an easy read. This is a new commentary series and only has released about a third of the set.

 

• The New American Commentary series edited by D. Michael Martin. This is a verse-by-verse approach. Emphasizes how each section of a book fits together so that the reader becomes aware of the theological unity of each book and of Scripture as a whole. Offers a careful syntactical analysis of the Greek text of the letters forms the foundation of the study, along with offering insight to the rhetorical strategies and social settings of each book. It is more of a technical read. Even though the main text is often scholarly itself, the authors often explore contemporary scholarship and technical points of grammar and syntax in further detail in the footnotes.

 

• The Pillar New Testament Commentary edited by D.A. Carson. This is a verse-by-verse approach. According to the series preface, “The scholars writing these volumes interact with the most important informed contemporary debate, but avoid getting mired in undue technical detail. Their ideal is a blend of rigorous exegesis and exposition, with an eye alert both to biblical theology and the contemporary relevance of the Bible, without confusing the commentary and the sermon.” This is an academic commentary examining the Greek language and first century culture and customs. It usually appeals more to the seminary student and Bible scholar.

 

I would also like to mention the Holman New Testament Commentary series edited by Max Anders and the Twenty-First Century Biblical Commentary series edited by Mal Couch and Ed Hindson. Both are easy reads, verse-by-verse, and offer their own unique insight and explanations of the Scripture.

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Let’s take a look at some of the primary benefits of justification. What can you expect to receive from God when you are brought into a right standing before Him? When God declares you not guilty and righteous, what are some results?

 

First, your justification brings the peace of God into your life. Romans 5:1 says, “Since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ” (NIV 84). This is the kind of peace you experience when your enemy becomes your friend. When you are justified God becomes your friend. God is now your Friend because the reason for the hostility and the barrier between you and Him, the barrier of sin, has been removed by Christ.

 

Justification removes an unhealthy fear of God and replaces it with a healthy reverence for Him. You are no longer afraid of God as being afraid of an enemy who’s out to get you. You are not at war with Him anymore. I have a peace in my heart that comes from a clear conscience, a clean heart, a righteous standing before God.

 

Secondly it gives you access to God. Look at Romans 5:1 again, “Since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, (2) through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand” (NIV 84). Once you are at peace with God and the door blocking your way to Him has been opened, you are welcome to come into His presence anytime you want to come. God is ready to meet with you because you have gained access to Him through His Son.

 

The story is told of a man who sat crying on a bench outside the office of President Abraham Lincoln one day. He had a serious problem he wanted to see the President about, so he had come all the way to the White House hoping to see President Lincoln. But the guards wouldn’t let him in, so he sat there disappointed, discouraged and depressed.

 

A little boy came up to the man and asked him what was wrong. The man explained his dilemma, but the boy took him by the hand and led him past the guards straight into the President’s office. Nobody said anything to stop him because the boy was Lincoln’s son.

 

Through Jesus Christ you can walk into your heavenly Father’s presence. The writer of Hebrews said that since you have such a high priest, “draw near with confidence to the throne of grace” (Heb. 4:16). You have access to God because you have been justified by His grace.

 

Third, your justification gives you the hope of God. Look again at Romans 5:1 again, “Since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, (2) through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God” (NIV 84). Unsaved people have no hope, no future about which they can rejoice. When you trusted Christ as your Savior, God justified you and as a result your future is full of hope and because you know that God will work everything out for His glory in your life.

 

“Hope” in the Bible does not mean, “I hope this and this happens.” Hope in the Bible means confident, assured, and guaranteed. As a Christian, you have been justified before God and you have a hope that God’s glory will be worked out in your life. You are confident that He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion. You have a hope and are confident that all things work together for good to those who love God and are called according to His purpose.

 

Not only do you have a hope for God’s glory to fulfill in your life now, but also in the future. Romans 5:9, “Since we have now been justified [declared righteous] by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God’s wrath through Him!” (NIV 84). Because you have a right standing before God, because you are justified you can look forward to the day you die and meet God face to face because you have been saved from God’s wrath and are now God’s friend by the blood of Jesus.

 

Fourth, your justification gives you a new life by God. Romans 5:18 says, “Just as the result of one trespass was condemnation for all men [talking about Adam’s sin and you inherited that sin and its results], so also the result of one act of righteousness [that’s talking about Jesus dying on a cross for our sins] was justification that brings life for all men” (NIV 84).  Everyone who believes in Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior is justified by God and before God and that justification brings a new life. You now have a new life as a Christian. You now have the Holy Spirit living in you. You no longer need to be afraid to die. You now can begin living a life that God intended for you to live. Justification brings life… abundant life and eternal life.

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Offense can be described as “the act of provoking, annoying, irritating, or causing pain or injury.” It is also related to the feeling that an offense can create, such as, indignation, resentment, or anger. When someone offends us we usually want to strike back with a word or look that usually doesn’t honor God or ourselves.

 

God’s Word gives great wisdom on this subject in Proverbs.

 

• Proverbs 19:11, “A man’s wisdom gives him patience; it is to his glory to overlook an offense” (NIV 84). An intelligent person let’s a wrong pass by without responding sinfully. When you overlook an insult it reveals your maturity and gives you honor in the sight of others.

 

• Proverbs 16:32, “Better a patient man than a warrior, a man who controls his temper than one who takes a city” (NIV 84). It is better to be patient than warlike or contentious. It’s better to control yourself than to control others.

 

• Proverbs 18:19, “An offended brother is more unyielding than a fortified city, and disputes agree like the barred gates of citadel” (NIV 84). Once you have offended another person it is highly unlikely you will change their mind about you or your idea. Their mind becomes fortified, barred, and locked.

 

• Proverbs 15:1, “A gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger” (NIV 84). Often it is not so much what we say but the way we say it that prompts someone to accept or reject our statement.

 

• Proverbs 17:14, “Starting a quarrel is like breaching a dam; so drop the matter before a dispute breaks out” (NIV 84). When an argument flares up, the wise man quenches it with silence. A quarrel is like buttermilk, once it’s out of the churn; the more you shake it, the sourer it grows.

 

• Proverbs 21:23, “He who guards his mouth and his tongue keeps himself from calamity” (NIV 84). How often has a word left unchecked created disaster in a person’s life?

 

• Proverbs 22:24-25, “Do not make friends with a hot-tempered man, do not associate with one easily angered, or you may learn his ways and get yourself ensnared” (NIV 84). A bad temper is contagious, if you are not careful you can become like them. Choose your friends carefully.

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When we talk about justification we are talking about God declaring us righteous and seeing us as if we have never sinned, but how does that happen? How can God declare me righteous when I know I have sinned and will sin in the future?

 

We are justified by grace (Romans 3:24)

 

First of all, we are justified by grace. We are declared righteous by God simply by His grace. Romans 3:24 says, “They are justified freely by His grace.” We are declared righteous and seen as without sin by God as a gift. The word “freely” means “without reason.” There is no reason in ourselves for God to justify us. Justification is purely an act of God’s grace. We did not earn it. We do not deserve it. There is nothing we did that caused God to justify us. We weren’t well behaved sinners who deserved to be declared righteous. It was all Him. It was all Christ. It was all grace.

 

But now listen, this justification that we are given “freely” cost God the suffering and death of His own Son on the cross, so that, for the believer, there is nothing left to pay. Justification is a gift that Someone else paid for and gave to us.

 

We are justified by faith (Romans 3:28)

 

We are justified by grace… and secondly, we are justified by faith. Romans 3:28 says, “For we conclude that a man is justified by faith apart from works of law.” That “law” is referring to God’s law. In other words, you are not declared righteous before God because you do a lot of righteous things. You are not justified because you keep the Ten Commandments. You are not justified because you go to church, read your Bible, cleaned up your language, or started giving money to a church. You are not declared righteous because you start doing righteous things. You are justified and declared righteous by faith in Jesus Christ.

 

Let’s get it clear… we are justified by faith, faith in Jesus Christ. Ephesians 2:8-9 says, “For by grace you are saved through faith, and this is not from yourselves; it is God’s gift- (9) not from works, so that no one can boast.” It’s not faith in Jesus and works. It’s not faith in Jesus and going to church that justifies and saves you. It’s not believing in Jesus and getting your life in order that justifies you and saves you. It is by faith in Jesus alone. Whenever you place your trust on Jesus then Jesus places His righteousness on you.

 

We are justified by Christ’s blood (Romans 5:8-9)

 

We are justified (declared righteous) by grace and through faith. And third, we are justified by Christ’s blood. Remember, to be justified is to be declared righteous. Romans 5:8-9 says, “But God demonstrates His own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. (9) Since we have now been justified [declared righteous] by His blood, how much more shall we be saved from God’s wrath through Him!” (NIV).  Somebody has to pay the price for sin, because the price or wage of sin is death. Justification is not some sort of game pretending that God plays. He doesn’t simply say and pretend that you are righteous and pretend as though your sins are paid for. God in His holiness must deal with sin. In order for God to justify the ungodly, He has to deal with their ungodliness. In order for us to be justified by faith, there has to be a Justifier to believe in. That Justifier is Jesus Christ. We are justified by His blood.

 

Now listen to Romans 4:25, which says, “Jesus was delivered up for our trespasses and raised for our justification.” Jesus was delivered up to the cross and died on that cross for our sins, but He was placed in that tomb and resurrected from the dead for our justification. So that when we place our faith in Jesus Christ God can give us His righteousness and declare us not guilty, without sin, justified… because our sins have been paid for and dealt with.

 

The devil will come and say, “How in the world can you declare Jeff Stott righteous?” God says, “By the blood of My Son Jesus Christ?” But what about Jeff Stott’s sins? God says, “Jesus Christ died for those sins, and they have been taken care of.” We are justified by grace, not by earning it. We are justified by faith, not by being and doing good. We are justified by His blood because Christ died for us.

 

We are justified by grace through faith in Christ blood!

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A basic definition of justification is “a legal act by which God declares righteous those who believe in Jesus Christ.” This is a divine verdict given by God to those who believe in Jesus Christ. I say “verdict” because “justify” means to announce a favorable verdict or to declare righteous. It is a legal term taken from the courtroom. Romans 5: says “we have been declared righteous” (HCSB). We have been justified. In God’s divine courtroom He has declared all Christians as righteous (not guilty before His court). He declares us as one who has never broken any of His laws. He sees us as someone who has NOT fallen short of His glory. He sees us as someone who has conformed to the holy and perfect character of God. He has declared us righteous because of our relationship with Christ.

 

Now let’s get this straight… justification is where God pronounces that the believing sinner has been credited with all the virtues of Jesus Christ. To understand justification we need to compare it to some other Biblical concepts.

 

Let’s compare it to forgiveness. Forgiveness is the subtraction of sin. When  you are forgiven of your sin God removes the sin from you as far as the east is from the west. But justification is the addition of divine righteousness. Forgiveness takes away sin, justification adds righteousness.

 

Let’s compare it to being pardoned. The Bible teaches we are pardoned from our sins. That means you are not held guilty for your sins. A pardoned criminal is still considered a criminal, he is still guilty but he has been pardoned, released from the penalty of those crimes. But justification removes the guilt completely. A pardoned criminal still has a record of his crimes somewhere, but when you are justified the record is removed. When God declares you justified He sees you as if you have never sinned. He sees you as if you have never broken any of His divine laws.

 

Let’s compare it to the word condemnation. To condemn someone is to declare that person guilty. The opposite of condemnation is justification which means to declare someone not guilty. This is why Romans 8:1 says, “There is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” Why is there no condemnation, why is there no guilt for believers? Because through Christ they have been justified by God. They have been declared righteous.

 

So, justification is the legal act in which God the Judge declares the believing sinner righteous (Rom 5:1). The way to recall this is to remember the word justified means “I am declared righteous and I stand before God just-as-if-I’d (justified) never sinned”

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What are the consequences of our sin? God’s Word is very clear about the cost of sin. Romans 6:23 says, “The wages of sin is death.” Death in the Bible never means the end of existence. Death means separation, and the Bible talks about three kinds of death, all of which have come about as a consequence of sin.

 

First, there is spiritual death (Eph. 2:1-2). You are born this way. You are born spiritually dead. Spiritual death refers to being separated from God. In other words, your birth certificate is also your death certificate. We all start out physically alive, but spiritually dead.

 

Second, there is physical death (Rom. 5:12). Physical death is the separation of the soul and spirit from the body. The proof that we are all sinners is the fact that we all die. Every time you go to a funeral and see the body lying in the casket, that dead body is a reminder that sin causes death.

 

Third, there is eternal death (Matt. 25:46). Eternal death is separation from God for eternity in a place of punishment and suffering called hell. The horror of eternal death is total separation from God forever. The only escape from eternal death is receiving eternal life from Jesus Christ.

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How has sin affected you? How has it corrupted you? To understand how you have been affected and corrupted by sin you need to know the word depravity. Depravity means that every facet of human nature has been polluted, defiled and contaminated by sin. God’s Word says in Jeremiah 17:9, “The heart is more deceitful than anything else and desperately sick- who can understand it?” He’s referring to the depravity of man. Listen to what Paul says about this in Romans 7:18, “I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my flesh. For the desire to do what is good is with me, but there is no ability to do it. (19) For I do not do the good that I want to do, but I practice the evil that I do not want to do. (20) Now if I do what I do not want, I am no longer the one doing it, but it is the sin that lives in me.” He is talking about his sin nature and the depravity of himself.

 

Every part of you is affected by this sin nature, this depravity and inherited sin. It has affected you in many ways. Let me give you five ways sin has corrupted you and everyone else.

 

• Sin has corrupted people mentally (2 Cor. 4:4). It has messed up our minds and thinking. Sin causes us to think wrongly about people, God, Jesus, life, money, and ourselves. That’s why we are told as Christians to renew our minds and to take captive every thought. The sin we inherited has damaged our thinking.

 

• Sin has corrupted people physically (Rom. 7:24). The reason people are born with a deformed armed, blind, internal problems, get cancer, have physical problems and get sick is because of the sin nature we inherited from Adam. This sin nature causes physical deformities and illness. That’s why we have to eat right, drink right and exercise to take care of our bodies. However, Christians will get their glorified bodies when the Lord returns.

 

• Sin has corrupted people emotionally (James 1:14). Depression, anger, loneliness, fear, rejection, lust are all a result of this sinful nature. Our emotions and desires have been contaminated by sin. This sin nature causes emotional deformities.

 

• Sin has corrupted people spiritually (Isaiah 59:2). Being separated from God is a result of this sinful nature. Because we have a sinful nature and because we sin we are separated from a holy God who is sinless. Our sin has put up a wall between us and God.

 

• Sin has corrupted people socially (James 4:1). This is why you argue with your spouse, with your kids and with others. This is why you and others get easily offended. This is why people don’t forgive, hold grudges, want revenge, use and abuse people. This is why you manipulate people and people manipulate you. This is why people lie and deceive one another. Sin has messed up relationships. It started with Adam and Eve, Cain and Able and has moved all the way down to us.

 

This sin has affected everything about us. We are totally depraved. This does not mean we are as bad as we could be. But it does mean that we have the potential within us to do anything when it comes to sin.

 

This is why we do not have to teach our children how to sin. No child ever needed a class on how to be selfish or disobedient. We have to teach children how to love, share, be kind to one another, and to stop fighting. The bad stuff is automatic. The capacity for sin is present as soon as that child is conceived in the womb. All that’s lacking is information and opportunity for sin to express itself.

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Where did sin originate? We find the answer in Ezekiel 28. Ezekiel 28 describes the beauty and greatness of Lucifer and how he began his incredible fall away from God. After describing the wonder of Lucifer for several verses Ezekiel 28:15 says, “From the day you were created you were blameless in your ways until wickedness was found in you.” The Bible only tells us that sin was found in Lucifer, who eventually becomes Satan. The Bible does not tell us how sin got there. It only tells us that it was found in him. This sin found in Satan began to spread to some of the other angels and Satan was able to lead a third of the angels to oppose God. After God created man, Satan approached Adam and Eve and led them to disobey God. When that happened, man became “infected” with sin as well.

 

Now when Adam ate of the forbidden fruit and sinned against God, something very important happened. His sin was imputed, or charged, to the whole human race. Romans 5:12 says, “Just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, in this way death spread to all men, because all sinned.” This is what Bible scholars call the imputation of sin, which simply means to post a charge against someone’s account.

 

All of us understand how a charge account works. You accumulate a debt on your account, which must be paid for in full in order to clear your account. That’s the basic idea here. When Adam sinned, God posted a debt of sin to the account of every person who would ever be born.

 

The reason for that is, Adam was acting as a representative of the human race. Adam was given a position of headship by God, so his sin affected all who would come after him.

 

Adam sinned as the head of the human race, so his sin was imputed or charged to mankind’s account. When this happened, Adam and Eve’s sin was inherited by their children and their children and their children all the way down to us. We inherited a sin nature from Adam and Eve, and that nature is passed on to every generation. We call this original sin, the nature that was transferred from Adam to every human being. That’s why David said in Psalm 51:5, “I was guilty when I was born; I was sinful when my mother conceived me.” Adam and Eve passed on their spiritual “genes” of the sinful nature to all their children.

 

You look the way you do because you are a combination of the DNA you inherited from your father and mother. Every physical feature you have was passed on to you by your parents.

 

But your mom and dad passed something else on to you that they inherited from their parents, a spiritual “gene” called the sin nature. That is, they passed on to you a capacity and a bent to rebel against God. Given time, your sinful nature eventually expressed itself through various acts of sin like selfishness and pride.

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What is sin? Let’s look at a definition, “Sin is anything that fails to conform to the holy and perfect character of God.” In other words, sin is anything that does not glorify God. Romans 3:23 says, “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” Sin means to miss the mark, to fall short of the target. The target is the glory of God. Anytime we think something, do something, and say something that does not glorify God we sin. Our thought life falls short of the glory of God. Our actions fall short of the glory of God. Our attitudes fall short of the glory of God. All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. When any part of us fails to glorify God it is sin. He is the standard. For all have failed to conform to the holy and perfect character of God.

 

We may come off looking pretty good when we compare ourselves to other people. But when God is the standard, we all come so far short of measuring up that it’s a waste of time to compare ourselves to each other.

 

I lived in Kansas City, Missouri for awhile and like most large cities it has some tall buildings. We could compare one building to another and say, for instance, that building A is thirty stories taller than building B. That’s a big difference from our perspective. But if we’re talking about the distance from these two buildings to the moon, our comparison means nothing because the moon is so far away that a few hundred feet of difference means nothing.

 

That’s the problem with using the wrong standard of measurement. You may be a nicer person than your neighbor, but when God is the standard, we all come up short. All of us have sinned, whereas in God there is no sin at all. First John 3:4-5 says, “Everyone who commits sin [everyone who fails to conform to the holy and prefect character of God] also breaks the law; sin is the breaking of law. (5) You know that He was revealed so that He might take away sins, and there is no sin in Him.” We all break God’s law, we all fall short of God’s glory by breaking His spiritual laws with our thoughts, actions or attitudes. Sin is anything that fails to conform to the holy and perfect character of God. Anything we do that does not glorify God is sin.

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By “church change movement” I mean an intentional and strategic approach to changing the methods and ministries of the church to be more culturally relevant and effective in reaching and discipling this generation to become more like Christ. This often means changing music, dress, facilities, programming, terminology, and scheduling for existing churches. What are the reasons for joining a church change movement in your local church?

 

1. It will help the church communicate the gospel of Jesus Christ to this generation.
2.  It will keep the church from becoming a museum of yesterday’s ministries.
3. It will give the church new life and energy as they minister.
4. It will help Christians learn to minister outside their comfort zone.
5. It will challenge the leadership to be relevant in their planning and praying.
6. It will encourage others to give of their time, money, and talents for something bigger than themselves.
7. It will allow the church to learn to walk by faith in new ways.
8. It will create an environment for God to work in new ways.
9. It will help the church prepare for its future ministry.

10.  It will help you and the church stay on mission with God.

 

I realize there could be many more reasons, but as someone once said, “If I’m not changing, I’m not growing.”

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