Called to Serve in Love, John W. Errington [to read list txt] 📗

your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I tell you: Love your enemies[b] and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.

Luke 6:31-33 (New International Version)

Do to others as you would have them do to you."If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? Even 'sinners' love those who love them. 33And if you do good to those who are good to you, what credit is that to you? Even 'sinners' do that.

Consider this also… Saul of Tarsus who by his own account imprisoned, persecuted and voted for the execution of many Christians in his time. (Paul: “Indeed, I myself was convinced that I ought to do many things against the name of Jesus of Nazareth. 10 And that is what I did in Jerusalem; with authority received from the chief priests, I not only locked up many of the saints in prison, but I also cast my vote against them when they were being condemned to death.

11 By punishing them often in all the synagogues I tried to force them to blaspheme; and since I was so furiously enraged at them, I pursued them even to foreign cities.)

{Saul was to the Christians what Hitler was to the Jews}


Saul, a terrorist in his own right, had an encounter of the Divine Kind on the road to Damascus. Why didn’t God kill him? Why didn’t God punish this evil, evil man?

Because according to I John 4:8 “God is Love” and as stated earlier Love is unconditional! So if God could love men like Saul, Hitler and Saddam HE can most certainly love you and me without condition!!!

1 John 4:10 (New International Version)

This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.

God loves us as we are! Despite what we have done, are doing or will do He loves us! NOTHING can ever change that! Now I know that sin... for Christians, it's a big deal. For some it is a focal point, if not the foundation, of their beliefs.

A lot of time and energy is invested in a focus on how wretched, despicable and unworthy we are. It seems that some cannot get over the fact that we were born into sin and feel that we must constantly remind ourselves of how vile we are.

I am reminded of a fictional character that spent his youth doing vile and evil things. Just hearing his name struck fear in the hearts of the bravest people. Then one day he had a life changing experience and spent the rest of his life in "atonement" attempting to right the wrongs and to redeem himself.

I cannot help but wonder if some folks have the same mindset which serves to fuel their self-hatred and loathing. Not only does it lead to self recrimination but seems to compel them to vehemently point out how evil and vile we all are with a promise that God's wrath will reign down upon us. What troubles me is that they are not talking to those not of the Christian faith, but those of the Christian Faith!


NO LONGER SINNERS

To a Christian way of thinking we all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23). Most of us believe that sin entered the world through one man, namely Adam (Romans 5:12).

We believe that in order to be saved from sin we must confess with our mouths and believe in our hearts that Jesus Christ is Lord. We are told that if we make this confession that we will not perish but shall have ever lasting life (John 3:16, 2 Timothy 1:8-10).

A Sinner Saved by Grace!

I hear and see that declaration a lot. And to a point it is true, we are saved by Grace, no good work or deed could ever earn us God's Grace and Mercy (Ephesians 2:6-9).

However that is what Grace is all about unmerited favor from God due to His great Love for us. Grace is perpetual & timeless (2 Timothy 1:9), it cannot not be depleted nor can we turn it off or do anything to "fall from Grace".

Yes, once I was a sinner, a wretched, vile man full of hate, anger and bitterness. But I am no longer that man, I confessed that Jesus is Lord and I believe that in my heart thus I am no longer a sinner but a Child of God, one whom he loves!!

Adopted!

Sin is the orphanage, Salvation the Adoption contract, and God the adopter. Through Christ we have entered into sonship with the Father.

"For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father." (Rom. 8:15, Ephesians 2 His Grace is sufficient (2 Corinthians 12:9)!

N0 longer do we have to view ourselves as wretched!

We are His sons and daughters, His love for us blots out our transgression and covers a multitude of Sins! If Grace were an ocean we would all be drowning!!

Our Mission

As adopted sons and daughters of God we have a mission. Paul said it best in Acts 20:24: I consider my life worth nothing to me, if only I may finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me--the task of testifying to the Gospel (GOOD NEWS) of God's GRACE.

We have good news to share! How can we share this good news if we are always declaring how wretched and horrible we are? That was the old person; we have put on the new person (Ephesians 4:21-24)!

We need to be living testimonies of God's Grace; we need to live as if we are saved! We have cause for joy, happiness and peace! We need to stop focusing on what we once were and focus on what we are now. Sons and Daughters of the Most High God!

Pressing on Toward the Goal

Philippians 3:10-16 (New International Version)

10 I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death,

11 and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead.

12 Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me.

13 Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead,


14 I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.

15 All of us who are mature should take such a view of things. And if on some point you think differently, that too God will make clear to you. 16 Only let us live up to what we have already attained.

Beloved, because of His unconditional love for us we have attained Grace and Mercy through our faith in Jesus Christ, so let us act like it! We belong to Him; we have been adopted and are no longer sinners!

If you are the type to go around declaring you are a sinner saved by grace out of some misguided sense of piety then stop it! Nothing grieves the Holy Spirit more than for us to infer (by that declaration) that Christ’s sacrifice was in vain!

Sometime in your life you heard God’s Word and your Faith was built up and believing in your heart you confessed with your mouth that Christ is Lord. Some wonderful things happened:

1.Your sin was blotted out, wiped away. (Acts 3:19)

2.He took residence in you and you in Him. (1 John 4:15)

3.You were adopted and became a joint Heir with Christ (Romans)

4.You were reborn, born anew into hope into an inheritance imperishable, undefiled, and unfading.(1 Peter 1)

5.He has put away your sin once and for all – He does not remember them! (Hebrews 9:26 & 10:17)

6. You have been made Holy, by His sacrifice, for ALL time. (Hebrews 10:10)

So while the statement, “I am a sinner saved by Grace” sounds nice and humble it is not
accurate!
What you are is redeemed (Gal 4:5-7)!

Therefore …

Psalm 107

1 O give thanks unto the LORD, for he is good: for his mercy endures for ever. 2 LET THE REDEEMED OF THE LORD SAY SO, whom he hath redeemed from the hand of the enemy;

So while the statement, “I am a sinner saved by Grace” sounds nice and humble it is not
accurate! What you are is redeemed (Gal 4:5-7)! Therefore …
Psalm 107
1 O give thanks unto the LORD, for he is good: for his mercy endures for ever. 2 LET THE REDEEMED OF THE LORD SAY SO, whom he hath redeemed from the hand of the enemy;


SERVING THE ONE

There is high value in the one.

There is a saying “The Needs of the Many Outweigh the Needs of the Few or the One” You may recognize this quote from Star Trek’s Spock He said it in STAR TREK: THE WRAITH OF KHAN” For a long time I believed this to be the only way to think about the value of people and logically I suppose it has some truth to it.

In the day of Mega-churches, TV Churches and Internet Churches it certainly seems to be the way Pastors and other Christian think. There is a strong desire to reach the masses. I recently heard of one mega-church giving away a car to the person that brings the most people to their Easter service. Volume and quantity certainly appear to be the focus.

But what about the one? What about the individual? Whilst reaching the masses for Christ certainly is the most effective and efficient way to minister there is value in the one.


Matthew 18:11-14

“See that you do not despise one of these little ones. For I tell you that in heaven their angels always see the face of my Father who is in heaven. 12 What do you think? If a man has a hundred sheep, and one of them has gone astray, does he not leave the ninety-nine on the mountains and go in search of the one that went astray? 13 And if he finds it, truly, I say to you, he rejoices over it more than over the ninety-nine that never went astray. 14 So it is not the will of mye Father who is in heaven that one of these little ones should perish.
Does he not go in search of the ONE that went astray? A worthy question, one that deserves an answer. In this parable, not only did the Shepard leave the 99 but when he found the ONE he rejoiced even more so than over the 99 that never left! The ONE has value! As Pastors (Shepherds) we should never lose sight of this great truth! Yet so many times when the few oe the one leave our churches we simply take comfort that we still