Today’s Scripture: John 15:14

“You are my friends if you do what I command you.”

Under the reign of grace, is the moral will of God (considered as a whole) a request or a command? The word request connotes desire; whereas the word command connotes authority to require. Response to a desire is optional; response to a command is not.

So when Jesus said we love him by obeying his commands, was he using the word command as we ordinarily understand it, or was he using it as an expression of God’s desire? In the realm of grace, does the moral will of God express the desire of God as to how he would like us to live, or does it express the requirement of God as to how we are to live?

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Today’s Scripture: 2 Timothy 1:7

“God gave us a spirit . . . of power and love and self-control.”

Self-control is the governing of one’s desires. D. G. Kehl described it as “the ability to avoid excesses, to stay within reasonable bounds.” George Bethune called it “the healthful regulation of our desires and appetites, preventing their excess.”

But self-control involves a wider range of watchfulness than merely control of bodily appetites and desires. We also must exercise self-control of thoughts, emotions, and speech. Self-control says yes to what we should do as well as no to what we shouldn’t. For example, I seldom want to study the Bible when I first begin. There are too many other things that are mentally much easier, such as reading the newspaper, a magazine, or a good Christian book. A necessary expression of self-control, then, is to set myself down with Bible and notebook and tell myself, “Get with it!” This may not sound very spiritual, but neither does Paul’s exclamation, “I beat my body and make it my slave” (1 Corinthians 9:27).

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Today’s Scripture: John 14:15

“If you love me, you will keep my commandments.”

A loving obedience to the commands of God is one clear evidence that we’re living by grace. Anyone who thinks, since God’s love is not conditioned on my obedience, I’m free to live as I please, is not living by grace, nor does he understand grace. What he perceives as grace is really a caricature.

Jesus said that if we love him, we’ll obey his commands. The term command suggests clear direction. We’re told what to do or not do. We are not left in doubt how we’re to live. The commands in the Bible provide a clear set of moral standards.

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Today’s Scripture: Titus 3:5

“He saved us . . . according to his own mercy.”

It was in view of God’s mercy that Paul urged us to commit our bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God (Romans 12:1). Undoubtedly Paul had in mind the mercy of God as he had displayed it in the preceding chapters of Romans. He could have been thinking of the righteousness of God that comes to us by faith, of justification freely by his grace through the redemption that’s in Christ Jesus, or of God presenting Jesus as a propitiation for our sins that turns aside God’s just and holy wrath from us.

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Today’s Scripture: Psalm 11:5

“The Lord tests the righteous, but his soul hates the wicked.”

Reconciliation by definition assumes a previous state of alienation and hostility caused by the offensive actions of one or both parties. Our sin has separated us from God (Isaiah 59:2) and caused us to be “God’s enemies” (Romans 5:10, NIV), those hated by God. Does God actually hate people? Yes, the psalmist wrote, “you hate all who do wrong” (Psalm 5:5, NIV). So when Paul described us as God’s enemies, he was describing not our sinful hatred of God but rather his righteous hatred of us because of our sin.

It’s difficult for us to conceive of God’s holy hatred toward people. But this is simply his just and holy revulsion against sin and his holy antagonism toward those who rebel against him.

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Today’s Scripture: 2 Corinthians 5:14

“The love of Christ controls us.”

One issue believers frequently struggle with is the relationship between living by grace and obedience to God’s commands. When I state that nothing you ever do or don’t do will make God love you any more or any less, and that he accepts you strictly by his grace through the merit of Jesus Christ alone, such unqualified statements sound exceedingly dangerous—leaving me open to the charge of saying in effect that God doesn’t care whether or not you sin.

But consider the alternative: “God loves you if you’re obedient and doesn’t love you if you’re disobedient. Since God’s love is conditioned on obedience, and you’re never perfectly obedient, God never loves you perfectly or accepts you completely.” Such a bald description puts the issue into focus.

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Today’s Scripture: Romans 12:1

“By the mercies of God . . . present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God.”

Some may ask, “Who can possibly keep a commitment to pursue holiness without exception for even some ‘small’ sins? If there are no exceptions, is there any place for grace? Is God really this strict?”

Yes, God really is this strict because he cannot compromise his holiness the least bit. His goal is to conform us to the likeness of his Son, and Jesus was completely without sin, though tempted in every way that we are (Hebrews 4:15). No, we cannot, or perhaps will not, keep our commitments to God perfectly, but that should at least be our aim. In a battle, some soldiers will always be hit, but each one makes it his aim not to be hit. A lesser aim would be the height of folly for the soldier, and it’s just as dangerous for us in our battle with sin.

Continue reading The Navigators – Jerry Bridges – Holiness Day by Day Devotional – Any Room for Grace? →

Today’s Scripture: Ephesians 2:1

“You were dead.”

In the story of redemption, deliverance from the penal curse of the law is the major part of the story, but not the whole story. Peter told us, “you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers” (1 Peter 1:18). Without Christ we lived in futility and emptiness. Regardless of whether it was a decent life or a wicked life judged on a human scale of morality, it was a vain, futile, empty life.

We find a good description of this emptiness in Ephesians 2:1-3, where Paul described us as having followed the ways of the world and of Satan, and of having continually gratified the cravings of our sinful natures. Christ’s ransom, then, secured for us redemption not only from the law’s curse but also from bondage to sin. These two aspects of redemption always go together: redemption from the curse infallibly secures redemption from the bondage.

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Today’s Scripture: Matthew 11:29

“Learn from me, for I am gentle.”

A profile of gentleness as it should appear in our lives will first include actively seeking to make others feel at ease, or “restful,” in our presence. We should not be so strongly opinionated or dogmatic that others are afraid to express their opinions in our presence. Instead, we should be sensitive to others’ opinions and ideas. We should also avoid displaying our commitment to Christian discipleship in such a way as to make others feel guilty, taking care not to break the bruised reed of the hurting Christian or snuff out the smoldering wick of the immature Christian.

Second, gentleness will demonstrate respect for the personal dignity of the other person. Where necessary, it will seek to change a wrong opinion or attitude by persuasion and kindness, not by domination or intimidation. It will studiously avoid coercion by threatening, either directly or indirectly (as Paul, for example, avoided it in his appeal to the Corinthians).

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Today’s Scripture: 2 Peter 3:18

“But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.”

The term growing in grace is most often used to indicate growth in Christian character. While I think that usage has merit, a more accurate meaning is to continually grow in our understanding of God’s grace, especially as it applies to us personally, to become progressively more aware of our own continued spiritual bankruptcy and the unmerited, unearned, and undeserved favor of God. May we all grow in grace in this sense.

As we grow in grace this way, we will grow in our motivation to obey God out of a sense of gratitude and reverence to him. Our obedience will always be imperfect in performance in this life. We will never perfectly obey him until we are made perfect by him. In the same way, our motives will never be consistently pure; there will frequently be some “merit points” mentality mixed in with our genuine love and reverence for God.

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Today’s Scripture: Daniel 1:8

“Daniel resolved that he would not defile himself.”

In addition to an overall commitment to pursue holiness in every area of life, I find it helpful to make specific commitments in areas where we’re particularly vulnerable to sin. There’s great value in identifying those areas—either in what we do (for example, gossip) or in what we fail to do (such as loving our wives as Christ loved the church)—and then making specific commitments of obedience to God in those areas.

I urge you to list any areas of temptation wherein you need to make this specific commitment. Do you need to make a covenant with your eyes about what you look at (Job 31:1), or with your mouth about what you say, or with your mind about what you think? Is there a particular temptation or sinful practice that arises in your work environment that needs a commitment to fortify you against it? Write these commitments down on paper, for your eyes only, so you can review them and pray over them daily.

Perhaps there’s a particular area in your marriage or in your relationship with your children, your parents, a friend, or an associate at work where you aren’t demonstrating the Spirit’s fruit of love, patience, or kindness. Do you need to make a commitment that, in dependence on the Holy Spirit to enable you, you’ll seek to display that particular “fruit” toward that individual? If so, I urge you to make such a commitment. You may find the need to make several commitments—sins to put off or avoid and Christ-like traits to put on. If you don’t commit yourself to the pursuit of holiness in these specific areas of your life, you’ll find a tendency to vacillate in the face of these temptations.

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Today’s Scripture: Romans 8:15

“You have received the Spirit of adoption as sons.”

Paul told us that God sent his Son “to redeem those under law, that we might receive the full rights of sons” (Galatians 4:4-5, NIV).

This “full rights of sons” is a reference to the status of sons who have become full-grown young adults. We’ve not only been redeemed from a cell on death row but also brought into God’s family as fully adopted sons, with all the privileges included in that status.

All this is set against the dark background of the curse of the law for any disobedience, which, of course, affects us all. Just as the diamonds on a jeweler’s counter shine more brilliantly when set upon a dark velvet pad, so Christ’s redemptive work shines more brilliantly when contrasted with our sin and the consequent curse that was upon us.

Continue reading The Navigators – Jerry Bridges – Holiness Day by Day Devotional – Our Only Safe Response →

Today’s Scripture: Psalm 19:9

“The fear of the Lord is clean.”

I find myself motivated to obedience by a deep sense of reverence for God. When Joseph was tempted to immorality by Potiphar’s wife, his response was, “how then could I do such a wicked thing and sin against God?” (Genesis 39:9, NIV). He didn’t calculate the possible wrath of Potiphar or the forfeiture of God’s blessing, but was motivated by reverence for God. He obeyed a sovereign, holy God, even though God had allowed him to be sold into slavery by his own brothers.

Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians 7:1, “since we have these promises, dear friends, let us purify ourselves from everything that contaminates body and spirit, perfecting holiness out of reverence for God” (NIV). These promises he mentioned were God’s promises to be our Father and to make us his sons and daughters (6:18). Philip Hughes commented on this passage, “The logical consequence of possessing such promises is that Christ’s followers should make a complete break with every form of unhealthy compromise.” Here again, promises come before duty, and duty flows out of a heartfelt response to the promises of God.

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Today’s Scripture: 1 Peter 2:22

“He committed no sin.”

Christ’s life is meant to be an example of holiness for us. Peter told us that Christ left an example for us to follow in his steps (1 Peter 2:21); he spoke particularly of Christ’s suffering without retaliation, but in the following verse he said also that Christ committed no sin. Paul urged us to be imitators of God (Ephesians 5:1) and also said, “Follow my example, as I follow the example of Christ” (1 Corinthians 11:1, NIV).

Clearly, the sinless, holy life of Jesus Christ is meant to be an example for us. Consider then his statement, “I always do what pleases him.” Do we dare take that as our personal goal in life? Are we truly willing to scrutinize all our activities, all our goals and plans, and all our impulsive actions in light of this statement: “I’m doing this to please God”? If we ask that honestly, we’ll begin to squirm a bit.

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Today’s Scripture: Colossians 1:10

“Walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him.”

We should commit ourselves to doing everything we do, not in the way that might seem to best accomplish our personal objective, but in the way that will be most pleasing to God.

This principle applies to the way a student approaches his or her studies, to the way we do our shopping and buying, to the way we compete in games and athletics, to the way we decorate our houses and keep our lawns, and even to the way we drive.

The city where I live attracts a lot of visitors in the summer, and the road I used to drive to our office is frequently crowded at that time with tourists. Being unfamiliar with the city and sometimes unsure of their directions, tourists often tend to drive more slowly than we locals. It’s easy in such a situation to become impatient with them and to show that impatience in the way we drive. Sometimes, after I’d “whipped around” someone while driving to work, I found myself hoping that person didn’t see me turning into the driveway of a Christian organization.

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Today’s Scripture: Romans 5:21

“Sin reigned in death.”

Think of a man sitting on death row, convicted of heinous crimes. All legal appeals to spare him have been exhausted. His impending execution looms nearer every day.

Suddenly the cell door is flung open. The judge who sentenced this man to die stands there with a full pardon in his hand. Moreover, the judge has now adopted him into his family as his own son, to be taken in and provided with all the love and care the judge lavishes on his own children.

We truly did live on God’s eternal “death row.” “For the wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23)—physical and eternal death. As believers we know that we have been delivered from eternal death. That’s not the final word, however, for “we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies” (Romans 8:23). Our redemption and our adoption into God’s family will reach ultimate fulfillment at the resurrection, when we receive our immortal bodies and dwell forever in the immediate presence of the Lord.

Continue reading The Navigators – Jerry Bridges – Holiness Day by Day Devotional – Released and Adopted →

Today’s Scripture: 1 Timothy 2:5-6

“Christ Jesus . . . gave himself as a ransom for all.”

If Christ paid our ransom price, to whom was it paid? Some have thought it was paid to Satan, who holds unbelievers captive, but this cannot possibly be true. If it were, there would be a sense in which Satan was victorious over Christ. If we think of the ransom in terms of money, Satan would be “laughing all the way to the bank.” The better answer is obviously that the ransom was paid to God acting in his capacity as Judge. It was God’s justice that Jesus satisfied, his cup of wrath that Jesus emptied, and his curse that Jesus bore as he paid our ransom price.

Once again, a human analogy of biblical truth ultimately breaks down when pressed to every detail. In human experience a ransom is paid to an adversary—a kidnapper, an opposing army, or a slaveholder. But God both demanded the ransom price and paid it in the death of his Son. In human experience we also recognize a distinction between the ransom price paid and the redeemer who pays it. Jesus, however, was both redeemer and ransom as he laid down his life in our place.

Continue reading The Navigators – Jerry Bridges – Holiness Day by Day Devotional – Who Was Paid? →

Today’s Scripture: 2 Corinthians 8:9

“You know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

Living under the grace of God instead of under a sense of duty frees us from a self-serving motivation. It frees us to obey God and serve him as a loving and thankful response to him for our salvation and for blessings already guaranteed to us by his grace. Consequently, a heartfelt grasp of God’s grace—far from creating an indifferent or careless attitude in us—will actually provide us the only motivation that is pleasing to him. Only when we’re thoroughly convinced that the Christian life is entirely of grace are we able to serve him out of a grateful and loving heart.

I knew a man who was a strict tither, giving exactly 10 percent of his income to God’s work: never one penny less and, as far as I know, never one penny more. I asked him why he did this. He replied, “I’d be afraid not to.” I knew this man fairly well, and I suspect his motivation was mixed. He did somewhat enjoy giving his 10 percent, but his basic motivation was a fear of the consequences if he did not tithe. He was not motivated to tithe from a joyful and grateful heart.

By contrast, the apostle Paul appealed to Christ’s grace as a motivation to give: “For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you by his poverty might become rich” (2 Corinthians 8:9). Paul wasn’t “laying a guilt trip” on the Corinthian believers. Rather, he wanted them not only to give generously but to give from a sense of gratitude for God’s grace—as a cheerful, loving response to what God had already given them in Christ.

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