What is Christianity? Some people think Christianity is just another way to find God. Others think it’s just the remains of a pre-enlightened time when people “believed in those sort of things.” For many it’s just an ethical code or list of values adopted as a crutch for life. But is that what the Bible teaches? What is biblical Christianity? And why should it matter? The early followers of Jesus were initially called people of “the Way” (see Acts 9:2, 24:14). This is because in Jesus, a new and final way to meet God and be human was introduced. This is also why the Bible says, “If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come” (2 Cor.5:17). One way to define Christianity is as “the new and living way” (see Heb.10:20). But what is this new and living way? What are some of the new things that have come?

A New Life

The first thing a Christian receives is new life. Jesus said, “I have come that you may have life” (Jn.10:10a). In the movie Pinocchio, Geppetto’s puppet begins by looking in every way like a real boy, but he is only wooden. Pinocchio existed and looked alive, but he wasn’t really alive until by some miracle, he became a real boy. Like Pinocchio, someone can exist physically but not yet be alive spiritually. To become a Christian is to go from being spiritually wooden to spiritually alive. Christianity is becoming “a real boy.” This means that like Pinocchio, being a Christian is not something that you happen to try, it’s something that happens to you. In other words, Christianity is not a side item to the same meal. It is not an “add on” to the same life; it is a new life all together. This is why a Christian is called “a new creation” or “born again.” And what is the newborn cry of the Christian? “I believe in Jesus Christ. I believe in the gospel,” which then brings about a new status.

A New Status

If you were a criminal who justly deserved the penalties of the law, yet someone paid all those penalties for you, the judge would have objectively declared you to be “not guilty.” This verdict would have immediately changed your status in the eyes of the law. You would go from a status of a condemned criminal to the status of a free and forgiven citizen. And after you heard this verdict, would you stand in the courtroom trying to convince the judge to acquit you, going on and on about your promises to change your ways? No, because your promises to change your ways do not change your status; your new status should change your ways. You would simply leave the courtroom differently, first positionally and then practically. This is the new status that Jesus has secured through his life, death and resurrection for everyone who believes. And with this new status comes a new identity.

A New Identity

In C.S. Lewis’ popular children’s novel turned film, The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, Peter, Susan, Edmond and Lucy find themselves in a new world and are quickly told by Mr. Beaver their true identity. They are royal rulers in the kingdom of Narnia who have come in fulfillment of the prophecy to help deliver the land from evil. As they hear this, they look around at each other with puzzled looks and say, “I think you have us mistaken for somebody else.” But Mr. Beaver was not mistaken. The children didn’t need to earn their identity; they needed to learn their identity and then live in line with it. They needed to learn who they were in the story, because if you know who you are in the story then you know what part to play. A Christian is someone who has received the new identity as a justified, forgiven, child of the King. Like the children in Lewis’ novel, Christians are royal soldiers who are called to work with the true Aslan to help deliver the world from evil, and how do you do this? You live in a new way.

A New Way

If you become a citizen of a new country and are graciously adopted into the royal family of that country, you are quickly taught the new way of living that is worthy of who you now are. A Christian does not live a different way in order to become a child of the King, but because he or she now is an adopted child of the King. Jesus is the model of how a citizen and child of God’s kingdom should live in the world. A Christian exchanges the way of pride for the way of humility, the way of bitterness for forgiveness, the way of grudges for mercy, the way of greed and grasping for generous giving, and the way of lust for a life of love. In other words, Christianity is a new way to be human. But it always takes God’s power to live God’s way.

 A New Power

The new way that Jesus calls his followers to proceeds from the new power that has come to dwell within. The power of the Holy Spirit that resides in every Christian is the same Spirit and power that raised Jesus Christ from the dead. This means that just as the Spirit raised Jesus to physical newness of life, the Spirit is now raising Christians to spiritual newness of life. In a world that relies upon human power and material means, a Christian relies upon the Spirit’s power and the means of grace to produce new character and new responses as agents of change in the world. As the world steps into another new year, may the new and living way of Christianity take one step closer to seeing God’s kingdom come, on earth as it is in heaven. 

Freedom is a wonderful word. In fact, freedom or liberty is at the heart of what it means to be an American, “where at least I know I’m free.” And in the height of any election season, protecting the various American freedoms is rightly at the forefront of the political debates. But have you ever asked yourself, “What is true freedom? Is freedom simply the accumulation of my various civil rights? Is freedom merely an outward experience or more of an inward experience? Am I truly free?”

True Freedom

There’s a famous scene in the movie Braveheart where William Wallace (played by Mel Gibson) shouts to his followers, “They may take our lives but they will never take our freedom!” Yet how is that possible if freedom is simply the right to vote or to peaceably assemble? This quote captures people’s innate desire to experience a type of freedom that imprisonment, injustices, and even death cannot touch. But is there really a freedom like that? Christianity answers with an emphatic, “Yes!” Jesus said, “If the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed” (John 8:36), and the Apostle Paul pointed out, “For freedom, Christ has set us free” (Gal.5:1). In other words, in Jesus, people can experience a freedom that transcends any political freedom a nation or people group may or may not currently have. But if someone frees you, then you’ve been set free from something. So what does Jesus free people from?

Freedom From Something

Jesus said, “Everyone who commits sin is a slave to sin” (John 8:31). Jesus taught that the greatest form of slavery is the slavery to sin. What this means is that rebellion against God brings people under the just penalties of sin and the destructive power of sin and facing the eternal presence of sin. Yet Jesus frees people from sin through his own life and death. But how does this work exactly? In the famous novel, The Count of Monte Cristo, Edmond Dantes tries to escape from prison, but his plan fails. Yet, something happens to set him free. Faria, a priest and innocent cellmate who befriended Edmond, suddenly dies and the prison guards put the priest’s dead body in a sack and sow it up to be taken away. However, before they come back for the sack, Edmond sneaks into the priest’s cell to say his last goodbyes and suddenly is struck by an idea. He thinks, “Since only the dead leave this place freely, let us take the place of the dead.” Without wasting any time, Edmond removes the body, hides it in his cell, slips into Faria’s sack, and sows it up from the inside. Moments later the guards come and remove the body, but the body is actually Edmonds who is brought out of prison and he escapes as a free man.

This is a picture of how Jesus alone can set someone free. Jesus is the truly innocent Priest who befriends the sinner and dies on the cross for sin, but the only way Jesus’ death sets you free is when, like Edmond, you identify by faith with Christ’s death as your own death. When you receive Jesus’ life and death as your life and death, you’re then brought out from under all the demands and penalties of God’s Law because they have already been perfectly fulfilled in Jesus.

Imagine if you committed a number of terrible crimes and you’re caught, but on the way to court to receive your sentence, you happen to die. What can the law do to you now that you’re dead? Nothing! Because you died, the law can no longer enforce its demands or enact its penalties. This is precisely why the Apostle Paul reminds Christians that they have all “died with Christ” (Rom.6:8; Col.3:3, etc.). By faith, a Christian is united to Jesus and his life and death brings about his or her freedom. Yet, in order to be truly free, you must also be free to something.

Freedom To Something

A Christian has not only died with Christ, but has also risen with Christ. This means that the powerful Spirit of the risen Jesus has been given to every Christian to experience the freedom of overcoming sin and living the way a person is designed to live in dependence upon God. As Tim Keller says, “The birth of America is our independence day, but the birth of a Christian is our dependence day.” What he means is that true freedom is not living as your own authority and master but coming under the authority and liberating power of the right Master, namely Jesus. Many today seem to confuse liberty with license, but freedom is not living simply the way you desire to live but living in the way you were designed to live. Freedom is actually when your desire and design come together in Christ. A Christian is someone who has bet set free from sin and death and set free to a life lived with and for God forever. This is the true freedom that Christians everywhere should be the most passionate to share with others and fight to uphold because this is the only freedom that can never be taken away.

Fighting for Freedom

In the political passion of another election season and in the godly pursuit of maintaining and establishing ethical policies that are good for society, Christians should remember that the gospel is not getting your particular political party into the White House. No, there is only one person who can truly set people free, and his name is Jesus. Therefore, Churches and Christians must tell about the One who liberates the soul, renews the mind, and also changes the way you relate to those who disagree with you. As Bono, the lead singer of U2, said, “The Left mocks the Right. The Right knows it’s right. Two ugly traits. How far should we go to try and understand each other’s point of view? Maybe the distance grace covered on the cross is a clue.” It is remembering the true freedom that Christ purchased, that a Christian, no matter how the elections turn out or whatever may happen to him or her in life, can always say, “at least I know I’m free.” 

“Taking every thought captive to obey Christ” 2 Cor.10:5

Have you ever been in an emotional funk and didn’t know why? You sit there and negative thoughts just seem to run away with you. Clinical research has linked several physiological factors that affect the way one thinks, such as 1) the sleep you had the night before, 2) the food you’re consuming, and 3) the amount of exercise you’re regularly getting. These are all important. After all, you were created body and soul. However, the greatest tool in battling negative thoughts and feelings is the truth of God’s Word. In this verse, Paul addresses the nature of a person’s thoughts and what to do with each one.

First, Paul teaches that not every thought and emotion is right and healthy. Therefore every thought must be “taken captive.” This means that not every thought should be entertained or dwelt on and allowed to “run free.” In other words, a Christian is someone who has a higher standard that judges even his or her own thoughts and feelings. This is why Paul could say elsewhere, "It is RIGHT for me to feel this way..." (Phil.1:7). This is very foreign to the cultural tendency to elevate personal thoughts and feelings to the highest standard. The culture would say, "It is right BECAUSE I feel this way." This is the underlying belief system under the popular expression, "At the end of the day you need to follow your own heart." Simply put, when all is said and done, you are the highest authority. This was not the way Paul could understand his difficult circumstances as divine opportunities or sing hymns while chained in prison. No, Paul realized the secret to right behavior was right thinking and the secret to right thinking was putting his thoughts and feelings under God’s authority not his own. Most people let their thoughts and feelings rule them; Christians let the Word of Christ rule their thoughts and feelings. This is a discipline that even Paul said, must be “learned and practiced” (see Phil.4:9), which means it doesn’t come natural.  

Second, understanding the nature of your thoughts is not enough; you must "take every thought captive." Thoughts are not like someone who unexpectedly knocks on the door of your house waiting for you to answer. No, your thoughts barge in and therefore each one must be quickly identified as either friends or foes. Your foes or enemies are the lies that you’re prone to believe about God, yourself, others, your past, or even how to interpret the world around you and the circumstances you’re in. Much like a murderer breaking in, these destructive thoughts must be cut off from their ability to cause you or your loved ones any harm by being taken captive. But what does this practically mean?

God’s truth is the rope that binds the lies and leaves them ineffective. This means when you start thinking, “I can’t change or this situation is hopeless,” instead of allowing that thinking to run free, you strangle the lies with the truth that “I am a new creation in Christ and my potential is now based on the God who lives in me and my situation is now seen through the lens of the cross and the God with whom all things are possible.”  Furthermore, through prayer you bring these enemies to the King and say something like, “Oh King, these are the intruders that have come into the space that is only rightfully owned by you. Help me to remove them and replace them with your kingdom rule and authority.” So, how are you protecting the castle of your mind? Get some sleep, eat healthy, workout, but most importantly take every thought captive through the power of God’s Word and prayer. 

There are times when everything in life seems to be as it should be. Where you, “think to yourself, what a wonderful world.” But it’s no secret; life is also full of trouble. In this life the sweet wine of joy is mixed with the bitterness of sorrow. There are times of distress, pain and spiritual dryness where we don’t feel like facing another day or have no clue how to get out of a particular struggle or difficulty. Maybe you’re right in the middle of a distressful time or don’t realize that trouble is right around the corner. What are you to do? What does wisdom look like in times of distress? Psalm 107 confronts the realities of distress and how to wisely respond to them.

Four different times the Psalmist mentions different types of distresses you can often find yourself in because of sin, your enemies or just the brokenness of the world around you.

Verse 5 – “They were hungry and thirsty; their soul fainted within them.”

Verse 12 – “They stumbled and there was none to help.”

Verse 18 – “They drew near to the gates of death.”

Verse 27 – “They were at their wits’ end.”

In times like these, the world tells us that a wise person turns to him or herself and should be able to get out of trouble on his or her own. But that is not wisdom. In this Psalm, when God’s people faced times of spiritual dryness, the consequences of their sinful brokenness, or impossible complex situations, in each instance listen to how they responded and what God did. 

Verse 6 – Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble,
 and he delivered them from their distress.

Verse 13 – Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble,
 and he delivered them from their distress.

Verse 19 – Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble,
 and he delivered them from their distress.

Verse 28 - Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble,
 and he delivered them from their distress.

The Psalmist is being repetitious for a reason. He’s trying to reinforce the simple practice of prayer that goes against our independent nature. Not a wordy prayer. Not a prayer that is filled with a mess of theological jargon. No, just a simple cry for help will do. It doesn’t take a PHD professor to be able to cry. Even an infant can cry for help. And maybe that’s the point. Maybe wisdom is being like a child. So, to whom are you turning for help? Unlike the false wisdom of the world, a wise person is not someone who turns to themselves in times of distress and leans on their own understanding; a wise person cries out to God. No matter what you’re facing today or will face tomorrow, be wise enough to cry out to the Lord like a helpless child. Because that’s in fact, what we all are. Sound your humble cry to the Most High and then wait upon the Lord. For our God is not distant. We don't have to wonder if He will hear our distress signal. For our God is near, a very present help in times of trouble. 

Fatherlessness is the most urgent social problem affecting our society today. According to the U.S. Census Bureau and the Department for Health and Human Services, 40% of all children in America will go to bed tonight without a father in the home. The effects of this are staggering. 85% of all children with behavioral disorders come from fatherless homes. In fact, fatherless children are at a greater risk of suicide, mental illness, poverty, substance abuse and are 20 times more likely to end up in prison. However, despite these bleak statistics and the pessimism that can follow, I believe there is hope for change and promise for our children’s future. But to see this issue overcome, we need to 1) confront the real problem, 2) raise children up and 3) know the true Father.

Confront the Real Problem

To clean up a river that’s continually being polluted, you don’t keep pulling out the trash; you go upstream and seek to effect change there. The statistics reveal that many of the issues facing society can be traced upstream to the absence of fathers. That’s the real problem. But the absence of fathers means more than just dads who aren’t around; it means the dads who are around but not being fathers. Just because there’s a dad living under the roof, doesn’t mean the children have a father.

That distinction may seem strange at first, but think about it - It’s one thing to be a dad and help bring a child into the world, it’s another thing to be a father and raise that child up to face the world. That’s why Paul wrote, “Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but raise them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord” (Eph.6:4). The Bible’s solution to the destructive behavior flowing from the anger that you see in kids is not to just make sure the dads are around (although that’s a start). The solution is for dads to fulfill their fatherly roles. But what is that fatherly role?

“Father knows best,” right? Hardly. Fatherhood used to evoke images of wisdom, goodness, and strength, but look at virtually any popular sitcom today like the Simpsons or the Family Guy or the trashy movie "That's My Boy," and you’ll find the fatherly role is being completely distorted. Today, father doesn’t know best, father barely knows anything at all and certainly nothing that spiritually benefits their family’s life and future. Now, don’t get me wrong, I’m not out to pick on secular sitcoms, but we need to understand the powerful images that are shaping what our culture thinks a father is and continue to counteract those images with godly men fulfilling their true fatherly roles. So what is a father’s main role?

Raise Children Up

Put simply, a father’s primary role is to raise his children up to be followers of Jesus. That’s why Paul tells fathers to “… bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord” (Eph.6:4). This means to raise them up to a place where they can move out into the world with the wisdom of God.

Cliff Huxtable, Bill Cosby’s fatherly character on the Cosby Show, had it halfway right. Cliff desired, more than anything, for his kids to grow up and get of the house. Part of the humor of the show was that they always kept coming back, but Cliff was on to something. It should be the goal of every father to raise his kids to stand on their own two feet. But how is that done? Through “… the discipline and instruction of the Lord.”

Discipline in this verse means nourishing correction - it’s coming alongside your child and confronting his or her behavior with the truth of God. And the word for instruction means to counsel the heart.  A father’s role is to raise his children up through both correction and counsel.  A father must address his children’s behavior but also their heart, to speak to them and spend time with them, to teach them both the ‘what’ and the ‘why’ of godly living. But many people have never experienced anything close to biblical fatherhood. Some dads desire to be a biblical father to his own children or a biblical mentor to others but have never seen it modeled. Where can we turn? The hope for all of us is to know the true Father.

Knowing The True Father

It’s interesting that Jesus came not to answer the question “Is there a God?” That was assumed. Jesus came to answer the question, “What is God really like?” And to that question, Jesus gave one reoccurring answer  – “Father.” One of the dominant themes in Jesus’ teaching is that anyone no matter what they’ve done or where they’ve come from can know the Father that all our hearts long for. By receiving the life and death of Jesus in our place and for our sins, we “receive the right to become children of God” (John 1:12). This means we can intimately know the true Father who is always ready to forgive our failures and graciously provide correction. In God we can know the Father who will never abandon us, is always ready to listen, and will give the wisdom and guidance needed to navigate life. There is no such thing as a perfect father here on earth, but there is One in heaven who we can know and model our lives after.

If your dad has been a good father to you, make sure you thank him. If you’ve never experienced this type of fatherhood or seen it modeled, know that it’s available through Jesus Christ. And remember, we can all help our society flourish and be part of the solution by getting upstream and being biblical fathers and/or biblical mentors to fatherless children because when people know and model the One true Father there is hope for the fatherless in any age. 

There I was  – sitting by myself on my back patio with my head in my hands after having blown it again. I wondered, “What does God think of me? Is He angry with me? What punishment could now be in store for me?” As a Christian, a right understanding of how God views us, especially after moments of failure, deeply affects how we view everything else in life. Knowing how God views us in Christ is crucial for overcoming sin, experiencing peace, and living in hope. So, is God angry with us believers when we sin? The answer is yes. But, it’s not in the way we usually understand anger. Let me explain.

Accepted in the Beloved

One of the keys to Jesus’ joy and peace in the midst of all the trials He faced was His profound sense of His Father’s love and approval. He had, on more than one occasion, heard the voice that we all must hear, “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased” (Matt.3:17,17:5). But why is it that many Christians, rather than God’s love and approval, live with a continual sense of God’s disapproval. How do we hear that voice of love and acceptance?

In the very beginning of Ephesians, Paul says something absolutely shocking. God has blessed us “in the Beloved” (Eph.1:6). Did you catch that? He didn’t just say, “in Christ.” Paul specifically points out that by faith we have received all the blessings of the Beloved Son. This means that even in the midst of moral failure, the same voice of approval and acceptance that Christ heard is shouting over us today. When God looks at a Christian, He is completely pleased with him or her. How is this possible? Because the Father’s acceptance of us is not due to anything in us, but rather it is due to us being "in Christ.”

At the cross, the Father looked upon His perfectly obedient Son and saw us and all our sin (past, present, and future) and in His righteous anger poured out all the just punishment that we deserved. Now, God looks upon us and even in the midst of our sin sees His perfect obedient Son. That’s why Paul could say such shocking things like, “Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus” (Rom.8:1). Or “You have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God” (Col. 3:3). But, what about the passage that, like a Father, God disciplines those He loves? 

Our Father’s Discipline

This truth laid out for us in Hebrews 12:5-12 was given to a people who were ready to throw in the towel and so the writer is encouraging them. The letter is one big counseling session to not turn back and give up on Jesus. And one of the ways we’re supposed to be encouraged is to know that because God is now our Father in Christ, everything that happens is His perfect and loving discipline. Yet, the writer is quick to point out the difference between the way imperfect fathers correct and instruct their children and the way our perfect heavenly Father works with us.

As a father, I know that my anger and displeasure towards my daughter’s actions is far from perfect. Sadly, unlike God’s anger, I’m often motivated out of selfish interests and can be touchy and temperamental. However, when I see my daughter willfully doing something that will immediately or inevitably hurt her, I respond in anger and displeasure, not because I don’t love her, but precisely because I do love her. I actually never feel more like her Father than when I have to bring correction and consequences into her life for her good. Most other times, I just feel like her grown up friend. But how do we know when God is disciplining us?

The Way Forward

One of the greatest comforts and implications of the gospel is that God’s pure and righteous anger is no longer against us as a judge, but is 100 % for us as a perfect Father. This means in Christ, God is the best Father we could ever imagine. In His wisdom, God brings the exterior brokenness of the world together with the interior brokenness of our heart at the right time, in the right place and in exactly the right measure, not to break us, but to make us. So, in a sense, everything in life we experience is God’s loving discipline aimed to correct us and instruct us. God is not up in heaven with a scorecard keeping tally of every wrong just waiting to “take us to the woodshed.” No. God is looking over our lives as a gracious and patient Father who sees us in Christ and is working all things together for good. What He asks of us is to get up and move forward in response to that truth.

That’s why Paul wrote, “Therefore, be imitators of God, as beloved children” (Eph.5:1). “Beloved children” is our permanent position. Imitating the character of our Father is the practice that we’re called to strive for in the power of Christ. In other words, The Christian life is not trying to become someone we’re not; it’s learning to become who God says we already are. So, how does God view us when we fail and we come with our heads in our hands, seeking His forgiveness and wanting to please Him better? Exactly the way Jesus described it in His parable (see Luke 15:11-32). The Father is running to us with welcoming arms and joy in His heart.  

I couldn’t believe what I was hearing, and to make matters worse, I didn’t know how to respond at the time. I was talking with a Christian friend of mine who was in his early thirties. He was well educated, intelligent and very healthy. Yet, he happily lived at home with his parents, worked a low-paying part-time job and did nothing with his free time except watch movies and play video games. When I confronted him about his use of time and resources, he said, “I’m content with this lifestyle, and doesn’t the Bible say that I should be content?”

Like my friend, it’s very easy for us to be confused about contentment. And this confusion is very dangerous because a true understanding of contentment is tied to experiencing a life of true joy. In order to understand contentment we need to recognize 1) What’s it’s not, 2) What it is, and 3) How we get it.

What It’s Not

In Philippians, the Apostle Paul said that he had learned the secret to being content in any and every circumstance (Phil.4:11). But in chapter 3 of the same letter, Paul said, “Forgetting what is behind and straining forward to what lies ahead … I press on” (Phil.3:13-14). So which is it? Should we strain forward and press on? Or should we be content? The answer, of course, is both, but we must first understand what contentment is not for these to function together.

Contrary to popular use, the biblical word for contentment does not primarily mean to be satisfied. It’s because of this misunderstanding that leads people, like my friend, to confuse contentment with complacency. To be content does not mean that we just sit back and do nothing because we are “satisfied” with the ways things are. Contentment does not mean that if we don’t have a job, we don’t seek a job. Being content does not mean that we refuse to set goals, work hard, or dream big. Contentment is not tied to inactivity in our lives; it’s tied to trusting God’s activity in our lives.

What It Is

The word Paul uses for contentment literally means to be sufficient. Contentment is the attitude or mindset that who I am, what I have, and where God has placed me right now is sufficient to biblically fulfill the roles and responsibilities God has given to me. Let me explain.

As a young boy, I loved watching the television show MacGyver. The show follows secret agent Angus MacGyver who faced a slew of situations that looked hopeless. As you watched, you would think to yourself, “What he has is not sufficient to succeed.” And what made the show so interesting was that MacGyver always found a way of escape or a way to make something work with just the simple things that were around him. MacGyver could break out of prison or jumpstart a car using things like a pair of scissors and toothpaste. In any and every situation, even when it didn’t look like it, MacGyver revealed that he actually did have everything he needed. It was as if he knew that what he had around him was sufficient. This is contentment.

Contentment is recognizing that even though it may not look like it, we have everything we need to biblically succeed. Contentment is making the most of what we have in front of us today. That’s why Paul says in verse 13,  “I can do all things.” He’s saying that he’s learned to maximize the moment, to make the most of having a lot or having a little to the glory of God.  So how do we get it?

How We Get It

Learn the Lesson: One of the most encouraging things about contentment is that it first must be learned. Paul says twice in verses 11 and 12 that he had to learn to be content. Why is that encouraging? Because biblical contentment is not just given to those “super Christians.” Contentment doesn’t just drop out of the sky for special people. It comes when we embrace what God is teaching us through any and every situation. And what is God teaching us? That He has and will continue to provide for all our needs.

Get to know God: The secret to contentment is not found in what we have but in Who we know. That’s why Paul goes on to say, “And my God will supply every need of yours according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus” (Phil.4:19). How could Paul make such a radical claim? Where did Paul get that type of confidence? Paul knew His God and applied the gospel. The gospel is the primary way Christ strengthens us to “do all things.” But how does this work?

Apply the Gospel: Elsewhere, Paul says, “He who did not spare his Own Son, but gave Him up for us all, how will He not also with Him graciously give us all things” (Rom.8:32). You see what Paul is doing? He’s working out the implications of the gospel. In essence, he’s saying, “Look at the lengths God went to meet our ultimate needs. God gave us His best while we were at our worst.” God did not hold back what we needed most. He gave us His Son who lived the perfect life that we all need to stand before God and willingly took the penalty for our sins that need to be punished by God. And three days later Jesus rose again from the dead.

Paul knows that Christ is alive. Therefore, the God who supplied our needs then, is the same God who will supply all our needs now! If God met our ultimate needs in Christ, He will meet our immediate needs in our circumstances today. God is not a cosmic miser. Joy comes by knowing God is not withholding one thing that we truly need today. Contentment is recognizing that what I have is sufficient and then making the most of it. So if God heals my sickness tomorrow, it means that I didn’t need it to be healed today. If God financially provides for my car to be fixed next week, it means that I didn’t need it to be fixed today. This is the secret to contentment, that like Paul, we all must learn in order to live with joy.

So, no matter where we find ourselves in life, let’s look to the God of the gospel for strength and then seek to make the most of who we are, what we have and where God has placed us for His glory. 

Building strong relationships is tough work. There can be miscommunication with my wife over our plans for the evening, a misunderstanding with a family member or friend over what was said, or even mistreatment from a co-worker because of a difference in opinion. With so many types of viewpoints, backgrounds and upbringings in our society, we often lose hope for genuine peace with those around us. We ask ourselves, “What is it going to take to make this relationship really work?” Thankfully, the Bible has an answer. It takes wisdom. But not just any wisdom. It takes “the wisdom that comes down from above.” It takes the wisdom of God.

The Wisdom of the Cross

If there is anything that we learn about God from the Bible it’s that He is all wise. So why does the Apostle Paul call the cross of Christ the wisdom and power of God (see 1 Cor. 1:18-24)? It’s because the evidence of wisdom is the ability to bring two things together – people with people, problems with solutions, etc. Put simply, wisdom always relates well. In order for any relationship to exist there must be some connection. In His infinite wisdom, God has restored the severed connection between Him and us caused by our sin through the cross of Christ. God solved the perceived problem of upholding His justice for our sin while at the same time displaying His love to us while we were yet sinners. The cross of Christ is the basis then for our permanent connection with God, but it is also the basis for a lasting connection with others. It is the cross that relates well.

The cross that brings true peace between God and us is the same power and wisdom that brings peace with one another. Yet, the Bible defines a wise person not as someone who knows a lot but someone who appropriately applies God’s truth to real life (see Matt.7:24). So what does it look like to apply the truth of the cross in our lives? Let me share a few ways the cross has helped me to more effectively relate with others.

The Power of the Cross

The Power for Humility: At the cross I see how desperate my condition really is and I see the humility of Christ in giving up His rights in order to redeem me. So the cross breaks down the dividing wall of hostility that pride can create and calls me to see my true condition apart from Christ. With just one honest look at the cross, I see that I need the same grace from God that He is calling me to extend to others, which calls me away from contempt to true humility.

The Power for Honesty: At the cross of Christ I see my new identity in God, and honesty has everything to do with identity. The reason we lie is because in that moment we’re trying to uphold an identity in something other than God. For example, if my identity is in being perceived as “the perfect pastor” then I might lie to my congregation to look better than I am. If my identity is in other’s approval of me, then I might lie to keep their respect. But the cross calls me to see that who God is for me in Christ and who I am in Him is more important than any other identity I could try and build for myself which then frees me to be honest with myself and with others.

The Power For Trust: At the cross I see the justice of God and the provision of God which shows me that I can leave judgment and vengeance in God’s hands knowing that one day He will perfectly right every wrong. The cross also frees me from having to manipulate people to meet my needs, for at the cross I see that if God met my ultimate need of salvation, then He will meet my immediate need in my current situation (see Rom.8:32).

The Power for Forgiveness: At the cross I see how to respond to mistreatment for I see Jesus, the only truly innocent person, crying out for forgiveness and releasing the hurt in His heart into the hands of His Father. True forgiveness always absorbs the cost. When I see Christ absorbing the cost of my sin at the cost of His life, I’m confronted with the truth that God has gone to the greatest length to forgive me of much and calls me to forgive as I have been forgiven. Moreover, those who have been forgiven much love much (Luke 7:47).

The Power For Love: At the cross I see the love of God –a genuine love that gives the best to those who are at their worst. Many of us have a slot machine approach to relationships. We want to put in as little as possible and get out as much as we can. We put in nickels and expect to get out rich relationships. But the cross tells us that in a world that barely gives their leftovers to their friends, God gave His best to His enemies. In a world that stretches out their hands only to take, Jesus stretched out His hands only to give.

The list could go on, but as we all work through the various pitfalls, joys, and challenges that old and new relationships bring us, even if a relationship needs to end for biblical reasons, may we know that there is hope. Because our hope is not in the wisdom of the world, our hope is in the wisdom of God. Our hope is the cross of Christ. So let’s begin by shifting our focus away from the specific relational problems and the sin of others and onto the cross, the only solution to transform our hearts, heal our wounds, and give us the wisdom and power to reach out and restore our broken connections. 

In the beginning of Paul’s final remarks in the book of Ephesians, he calls the church to fight and stand against the spiritual forces of evil that are unseen but very much real. And like any good military general, Paul calls us to be strong, but he distinguishes where we get that strength, which can really be a distinction between religion and gospel. “Be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might.” 

• Legalism says, "First be strong for the Lord, but the Gospel says, "The Lord was first strong for you."

• Legalism says, "Be strong to get God’s might," but the Gospel says, "Be strong in God’s might."

• Legalism says, "Your life for God," but the Gospel says, "God’s life for you."

• Legalism says, "Give your righteousness to God," but the Gospel says, "God gives His righteousness to you."

• Legalism says, "God’s strength is something we must earn," but the Gospel says, "God’s strength is something we must receive."

• Legalism says, "First offer to God your best," but the Gospel says, "God first offers His Best to you."

• Legalism says, "You must be strong like God for others," but the gospel says, "God became weak for you."

“For I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me” (Gal.2:20).

When we look at our lives and consider the spiritual growth and fruit we want to see, it begs the question – How does it happen? How do I grow? There are two common approaches to Christian growth in our culture. The first is to just focus on behavior (What am I not doing? Or what am I doing but not enough?). The second is to just focus on feelings (How can I change my attitude? What can make me feel better about my circumstances and myself?). Yet both of these fail to get to root of the problem. We need to get beneath our behavior to our belief and beneath our feelings to our faith. In essence, we must go beneath our actions and attitudes to where we are not believing and applying the gospel in our lives.

We see in the end of Gal.2:20 that Paul continued to live his life in light of the truth of the gospel. For Paul, the gospel was never something that he “got over;” it was always something he saw himself growing in. So how do we grow? “By faith in the Son of God who loved us and gave himself for us.” In other words …

Believers Grow by Believing the Gospel: Believing the gospel is tied to three things: The principle we live by, the place we live in, and the person we live for.  

 1. What We Live By: “... and the life I now live … I live by faith …” Paul understood that beneath all sin was unbelief (cf. Rom.14:23b). Therefore, we are not only justified by faith alone, but we are also sanctified by faith alone (cf. Acts 26:18, Rom. 1:16-17). Growth isn’t going to first come by behavior modification, but by belief modification - a perpetual and particular faith in the Son of God. We must live by the principle of faith that Christ can carve out a far better future in our obedience than we could carve out for ourselves in our disobedience. We then see our circumstances through the lens of the cross where the gospel becomes not only a truth that we look at, but also a truth that we look at our world through.

2. What We Live In: “… in the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me.” Where does your heart hang out? Where does it abide? If we want to grow, we must abide in the love of Christ. Jesus said, “Abide in me … for apart from me you can do nothing.” This means that in prayer, reading the Bible, Sunday worship, etc., we must lay our hearts upon the love of Christ and rest in it. We must put our hearts under the love of Christ and receive from it. And we must preach to our hearts about the love of Christ and by faith respond to it.

3. What We Live For: “… If I were still trying to please man, I would not be a servant of Christ” (Gal. 1:10). We all live for something and whatever we ultimately live for ultimately controls us. For example, if I live for the approval of people, then I’m controlled by their opinions. All our actions and attitudes come out of what we’re living for. Beneath every sin is an exchange of living for the glory of God for the glory of something else. But now because of the gospel we are free to live for the only Master who will satisfy our souls, for in Him we have everything we need. So how does this work out on a daily basis? …

5 Steps in Applying the Gospel for Spiritual Growth.  

Step 1) Recognize

First, recognize your helplessness, hopelessness, and spiritual poverty apart from Christ. Jesus said, “Blessed are those who are poor in spirit for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven” (Matt.5:3). In other words, until we recognize and admit that without Christ we are spiritually bankrupt, we won’t know what it means to live spiritually wealthy. Recognize that apart from Him you can do nothing today, and ask for His grace and fullness. 

Step 2) Remember

We are prone to forget who God is for us in Jesus and who we are in Him.  The only command in all of the first 3 chapters of Ephesians is the one word ‘remember’ (see Eph 2:11-12). Its as if Paul knows we can’t live the fruitful life if we live the forgotten life. Peter says the same thing. In 2 Peter 1:9 we learn that if we’re finding ourselves ineffective and unfruitful its because we’ve forgotten something … we’ve forgotten that we’ve been cleansed from our former sins. Remember who God is for you and what He has done for you and in you. This doesn’t mean just recalling it, but setting our minds upon it.  

Step 3) Repent

“It is the kindness of God which leads us to repentance” (Rom.2:4b). Biblical repentance involves three things – 1) Seeing our sin, 2) owning our sin, and 3) turning from our sin back to God. By remembering all that God is for us and what in Christ He has accomplished for us, it should turn us away from trusting in our own strength, wisdom, and understanding and turn us back to lean on Him for everything we need and every decision we need to make for the day.

Step 4) Remain

What consumes our thoughts? What do we meditate on? In other words, where do our hearts and minds remain? God wants us to remain in the love of Christ, to set our minds on things above. To rest there. To receive there. To daydream there. We are never called to produce fruit. That’s not our job. Our job is to bear fruit and we do that by the Holy Spirit bringing us again and again back to Christ so that by abiding in Him in thought and in deed, the fruit will occur naturally. Or should I say, supernaturally.

Step 5) Respond

We must respond to the God of the Bible with faith. Faith that the God who met my ultimate needs at the cross can meet my immediate needs today. Faith that the God who had a plan to send Christ in the fullness of time to die for my every sin, also has a plan for my time today and every situation. Faith that the God who gave His best while I was at my worst cares more about me and my circumstances than I do about Him. Faith that the God who raised Christ from the dead, is good and faithful. Obedience may cost me, but what I will lose is far little to what I will gain. Obedience from faith will only end in a resurrection of true joy.  So the question of our spiritual growth becomes … where are we not believing the gospel?