Does Daddy Really Love Me?

This is the essential question behind our struggles with sin. 

But I'll return to that issue in just a moment. 

As a father of three children, two who are old enough to be into everything, I am often giving commands. "Don't jump off that. "Don't put that in your mouth." "Read some pages in your book before playing on the iPad." "Eat more of your dinner." "Take your medicine." And the list could go on.

All of these commands have one thing at their core: I love and care for my kids. 

I love my kids. And my love for them is why I give them commands. I don't want them to get injured or sick. I want them to be able to read competently, not just play video games. I want them to grow strong and be healthy. All of the commands I give them are fueled by my love and affection for them. I want the best for them. 

But you have kids. And you know that while my reasoning for the commands is the love I have for them, they only see it from a perspective of rules. Their young minds only perceive daddy as a rule-giver. However, these potential perspectives from my kids doesn't stop me from giving and upholding those rules. Why? Because I love them enough not to give them over to irresponsible, destructive behaviors. I'm not going to let them jump from things that will injure them or let them only eat Hershey Kisses or neglect homework for games. This is not me being the Big Ole Meany Butt, it is demonstrating Fatherly love and care for my beloved children.

Now back to my opening statement about "Does Daddy Really Love Me?" as the essential question behind our struggles with sin.

When we ask the question, we are not speaking of earthly fathers, but our Heavenly Father. Whether it is having sex outside the confines of God's decree of a marriage covenant between a man and a woman or our unhealthy clinging to material possessions, we have commands from God that we are expected to obey. Be it stealing, lying, drunkenness, gossip, or any number of sins, we have boundaries God has given for us to live in. 

However, like young children with their parents, we do not like rules. We do not always understand the wisdom of why we cannot do something. We do not always grasp the benefits we will experience if we will submit to our Father's will. I believe the question we must remind ourselves to ask, which empowers obedience is, "Does daddy really love me?" 

The answer to that question is an emphatic and unquestionable: yes! He loves you more than anyone else ever has. The Bible makes clear God's love for us, namely in sending His Son to atone for our sins (Romans 5:8; John 3:16; 1 John 4:10). God has affections for you and delights in you, which is why He does not want you to engage in actions, behaviors, and attitudes that are destructive to you. He wants you to thrive and live a life of joy. 

The issue is many of us reason like children and believe the Hershey Kisses for dinner (or sex outside of heterosexual marriage) or neglecting homework for video games (or clinging to material possessions) are the most desirable things, but meany-butt daddy won't let us. The list could go on, but the issue remains the same. If we trust daddy is wise, then we can submit to his ways, because we believe he has our best interest at heart, and he loves us.

Daddy does love us. Rather than rallying together the siblings to reason with ourselves about how "out-of-touch" dad is or to overthrow him so our wisdom will prevail, we should submit to the loving commands of our Father. Even when we do not understand "why" He commands what He does, perhaps our advice to our children, heard from the lips of God, would be apropos, "Because I said so, and I love you."

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Are You Saved? A Vital Examination

Exams are important. An exam is defined as an exercise designed to measure progress or test qualifications.

Everyone has taken exams. From youth to adulthood we take exams. However, there is one exam in life that everyone should take. It is a pass/fail exam. What you make on the exam is of eternal consequence. This examination is to determine whether you are saved. By "saved," I mean whether you are forgiven of your sins and justified before God, thereby in a relationship with Him.

The basis for taking this exam is found in the Bible.

2 Corinthians 13:5 (ESV) - Examine yourselves, to see whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Or do you not realize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you? - unless indeed you fail to meet the test.

Paul writes to the church in Corinth to examine themselves. He wants them to examine themselves for the purpose of seeing whether they are in the faith. This is a crucial exam. The goal is to determine whether Jesus Christ is in you. If not, you fail to meet the test.

As a pastor, I hesitate to tell people they are saved. It is not because I'm skeptical of other people's salvation, I just don't want to be someone's assurance. I never want someone to be lost in their sins, yet think they are saved because at some point I told them so. Assurance of salvation comes when we pass the exam. It is imperative for everyone to examine themselves to see if they are in the faith. The role of the pastor is not to assure people of their salvation, but to exhort them to exam themselves.

So that is my argument for why we should examine ourselves. Let's look at how to examine ourselves.

1. Have I put my complete trust and faith in the finished work of Jesus?

The question demands that we look at where our hope for salvation lies. If we believe that God will forgive us of our sins through any other means than Jesus' death and resurrection, we fail to answer this question correctly. Salvation comes to those who wholly submit to what Jesus has done for us. We do not try to save ourselves via some behavior, action, work, or deed. We push all the chips forward and declare we are "all in" with Jesus. Has this taken place with you?

2. Do I submit my life to God and the authority of His Word?

This second question demands we look at what authority governs our lives, our thoughts, our beliefs, and our actions. True believers do not go on living their lives according to their own opinions. Real Christians come under the authority of the Word of God and align their lives accordingly. This means that what we determine to be true, moral, good, and so on is informed by the Bible. If you have not submitted to the Bible's authority, you fail the test. Is the Bible your authority?

3. Do I treasure and love Jesus?

This question gets to the heart of what salvation means. So many people wrongly believe salvation to be about believing all the right facts about the Christian claims. Instead, salvation is about a new love. We begin to love Jesus. True believers go beyond simply believing in Jesus, and begin to treasure him. Treasuring Jesus is about our yearnings to be with him. Treasuring Christ is about our affections for who is and all he has done. Many people believe in Jesus, but no everyone who believes in Jesus treasures him. What about you?

4. Are confession of sins and repentance regular aspects of my life?

The Christian life is one continuous pattern of confessing sin and repenting from it. Believers are called to be striving continuously for holiness. We do not want to continue in our former ways, but instead, we want to live holy lives. We want to be dedicated to God. This requires a constant turning away from worldliness and passions of the flesh. True believers do not live in habitual sin. They turn from it. This confession of sin takes place in private prayer, but also in a community of believers (James 5:16). Repentance is a turning away from sinful habits and turning to Christ. Do these things mark your life?

5. What Who do I live my life for?

This last question gets to the core of who we are living for each day. What characterizes your life? Does your faith in God mark your life? Does your allegiance to Christ and Kingdom show in how you live? There are many professing beleivers whose lives do not match their profession. Do not be decieved, friends. God will not be mocked. He does not desire for people who claim to know Him, but live for themselves. Those who are in Christ live their lives for Christ. We do not continue on living for our own dreams, wants, plans, and goals. We recognize that we were bought at an incredibly high price - Jesus' life - and we lay down our own lives for His glory. So what about you? Who do you live for - Christ or yourself?

Conclusion

After answering these questions, one final question is in order: am I being honest? You must answer the questions honestly in order to know if you pass the exam. If you are truly a believer, you should be able to answer "yes," to the first four questions and "Christ and his kingdom" should be how the last question is answered. Paul tells us in Romans 8 that the Spirit of God testifies to our spirit that we are indeed children of God. The Spirit of God will affirm in our hearts if we have answered these questions accurately. 

There is not a more important exam we will ever take. Passing or failing is of eternal significance. My challenge for you is this: if you pass the exam, then praise God for the gift of salvation that you have received. If you failed the exam, plead for God to save you, to forgive your sins, and to turn your life around. Turn to Christ and find life. Believe and you will be saved. 

Question: what additional questions would you add to this exam? I would love to hear your thoughts below.

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To Pastors & Those They Preach To

In a culture increasingly slipping away from biblical truth, pastors must be voices in the wilderness crying out the gospel. But many have slipped into being just another voice in the crowd, another voice that echoes the culture's fall from truth. Christians need to learn how to discern those voices, and understand which are speaking God's truth. Not every person who stands on a stage and mentions Jesus is preaching the gospel. Not every person who reads from their Bible is properly teaching from it. Listen with discernment.

My encouragement to pastors, as you prepare your sermons each week, is make sure that the gospel is so prevalent in your messages, that your congregation is immediately alarmed in instances when they do not hear it. Be sure to saturate your folks with gospel-rich and Christ-centered preaching, so when they encounter false teachers and false teaching, they can spot it. The taste buds and palate of their hearts should be so used to hearing the gospel in sermons, that when they hear sermons missing the gospel or distorting the gospel, it does not sit right with them. It should immediately be a sour and bitter taste in their mouths. They should be instantly asking, "Where is Jesus?! Where is the Gospel?!"

I want desperately for my congregation to have this ability. I want TJC folks to be excellent at discerning a sermon that has the gospel and one that does not. 

My question for us pastors: is our preaching so saturated with the gospel and with Christ exalting truths that our congregations are being taught subconsciously to spot a fraud when they hear it?  

My encouragement to those who listen to sermons is simple: tune in to those who truly preach the gospel and tune out those who do not. Listen for the gospel. Listen for Christ as the centerpiece of the sermon, not a later add-on. Listen and ask yourself, "Is he sticking to the Bible and teaching from it or is he simply spouting off opinion as the Bible goes largely untouched?"

My questions to those who listen to preaching: are you able to discern biblical preaching from false teaching? Can you spot a gospel-less sermon? 

As the cultural war over truth rages on, Christians should be regularly arming themselves with the truth. If we are to stand in our society where truth is attacked, then we must continue to be engaged with the truth. This is why pastors must commit to preaching gospel-centered sermons. And it is why believers must place themselves under gospel-centered teaching. Anything less is compromise of the most destructive kind.