Blessed Forever

As we approach Christmas, it’s likely that you’ve seen or heard some reference to Mary’s song of praise (the “Magnificat”) in Luke 1:46-55. In her book Jesus Through the Eyes of Women, Rebecca McLaughlin notes similarities between Mary’s words and Hannah’s praise in 1 Samuel 2. She notes,

“Looking at Jesus through the ancient telescope of Hannah’s and Mary’s eyes, we see the one who turns the tables on all human power, the one who lifts the humble and humbles the mighty, the one who is the Savior of his people, showing mercy even as he shows his strength.”

One thing I noted in reading through the Magnificat is how little of Mary’s praise is for her own personal blessing of being the mother of the Messiah. While it is true that Mary’s role was unique and that she was blessed in that way, it’s also true that every believer is blessed through our adoption into God’s family through Jesus’s birth, life, death, and resurrection. When Jesus began His ministry, some of His first recorded words are proclamation of blessings—the Beatitudes in Matthew 5—for the poor in spirit, meek, hungry for righteousness, merciful, pure in heart, peacemakers, and persecuted. In fact, there are several parallels between the Magnificat and the Beatitudes. Mary quotes from many Old Testament passages in saying that God has shown mercy to the meek, scattered the proud, exalted the humble, and filled the hungry.

In Ephesians 1:3 we’re reminded that God “has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places.” In a recent sermon from Immanuel Nashville, Barnabas Piper notes that Mary wasn’t chosen because she was spectacularly different from other people, and neither are we. God “chose us before the foundation of the world” (Eph. 1:4), not for anything we have done but by His own grace and mercy. Our blessed status is entirely dependent on Jesus’s righteousness, not our own. “For our sake He made Him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Cor. 5:21). And Jesus’s righteousness never changes. We can trust in His promised blessings forever. We can join Mary in saying, “My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, for He has looked on the humble estate of His servant. For behold, from now on all generations will call me blessed.”

During this Christmas season, rather than elevating Mary beyond measure, let’s give our praise to God, who elevates all believers beyond anything we could ever ask, imagine, or deserve. As Amy Orr-Ewing notes in an interview in Christianity Today, “It’s encouraging to know that, whatever our qualifications or status, we can have this deep theological conviction in the reality that Jesus is Lord of all.”

“Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all His benefits, who forgives all your iniquity, who heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from the pit, who crowns you with steadfast love and mercy” (Psalm 103:2-4).

 

© 2023 Dawn Rutan. Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture are ESV and all images copyright free from pixabay.com. The opinions stated do not necessarily reflect the views of my church or employer.

Belonging

Recently I was listening to a podcast from a Christian source talking about LGBTQ labels and identities. Although I disagreed with some of what was said, it did make me think more broadly about the desire of every human being to find a sense of belonging. We all want to feel that we are loved, accepted, and appreciated, but sometimes we look in the wrong places for that community. Our children and youth are subjected to an increasing number of identity “options,” as well as peer pressure to declare their chosen labels (although some change frequently!). Things were a bit simpler back in my school days when there were just a few cliques based on activities and not usually based on personalities, preferences, and attractions. We all knew that once we graduated most of those groups would disappear.

As Christians, we should be the people who are most comfortable with our identities and community—after all, we belong to the God who created the universe, who made us in His image and adopted us into His eternal family through faith in Jesus Christ. Our core identity as children of God doesn’t change. “You also have died to the law through the body of Christ, so that you may belong to another, to Him who has been raised from the death, in order that we may bear fruit for God” (Rom. 7:4).

In practice, however, many Christians still struggle with feelings of alienation, shame, and rejection. Churches tend to adopt certain standards of what a good Christian or a godly man or woman should look like, and whether we realize it or not, often those standards are based more on conservative culture than on biblical definitions. Some of us may feel like we don’t quite fit in if we look a little different, have different interests, or struggle with certain temptations that are deemed taboo to even talk about. We’re all sinners covered by the mercy and grace of God.

It’s often been said that Sunday morning is the most segregated time of the week. This isn’t just true of race, but of other characteristics as well. Some folks church-hop until they find one where everyone is just like them. Some churches segregate the ages into different groups. Churches separate themselves theologically based doctrinal distinctives. There’s a cowboy church down the road. You name it, there’s probably a church for it.

And yet every true believer is part of the same family, united under the headship of Christ and supposedly pursuing the same mission. What would it take for us to focus more on what we have in common in Christ than on the traits that separate us from other believers? How might we remind one another that we do belong together, even though we are each unique in many ways? I don’t have the answers, but I know that we adults need assurance that we are loved and accepted just as much as our kids do.

“In every nation anyone who fears Him and does what is right is acceptable to Him” (Acts 10:35). “I… urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called… eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace” (Eph. 4:1-2).

© 2023 Dawn Rutan. Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture are ESV and all images copyright free from pixabay.com. The opinions stated do not necessarily reflect the views of my church or employer.

Who Am I?

In many things I’ve read and listened to recently, I’ve seen a variety of comments about identity. In this helpful video from the ERLC, Katie McCoy described our cultural conflict as being an emphasis that “identity is self-created versus identity is God-given.” Whether we’re discussing gender and sexuality, personality tests, or a myriad of other topics, we’re being told that your identity is defined by how you feel. People are urged to adopt whatever labels fit them at a particular time, and then change them as often as they wish. It’s confusing for all of us to try to keep up.

The deeper issue is that every person is trying to figure out where they fit in the grand scheme of life. Those of us who have been out of school for a while can remember the various cliques that existed in our day. My high school had the jocks, popular kids, band geeks, nerds, and stoners among others. There wasn’t a whole lot of question who was in each group. After graduation most people settled into life-stage categories—college, singles, married, children, middle age, and retirees.

Now it seems like the labels are constantly changing for every age group. That can largely be tied to the increasing individualization of Western culture. No longer are we defined by our place in our local village, but we have infinite choices—where to live, what kind of work we do and who to work for, what entertainment we pursue, where or if we go to church, who we want to associate with, etc. Each choice tends to group us with certain people and segregate us from other people. If we decide we don’t quite fit in one group, we’re free to relocate to another group. So we’re constantly trying to determine what identity label best fits us at any given time. Expressive individualism is the rule of the day.

We’ve lost our sense of belonging to a relatively consistent community. The church ought to be a pillar of light and truth in this darkness and uncertainty. Andrew Walker said in the above video, “We need to recapture the idea that there are universals—universal truths… consistent with our design as human beings.” Our identity needs to be tied to how and why God created us, our role in His eternal family, and how He has gifted us with abilities and relationships.

One of the challenges we face, even while we attempt to preach the truth of God’s Word, is the tendency to adopt stereotypes that are not based in Scripture. There is a saying that “If you’ve met someone on the autism spectrum, you’ve met one person on the spectrum.” In other words, the traits and characteristics are so diverse that stereotypes are often meaningless. The same can be said of many other labels. Yes, there are some binary categories—for example male (XY) and female (XX)—but the interests, abilities, and traits of men or women, married or single, young or old, educated or uneducated, are highly variable and often overlapping. If we focus too much on cultural stereotypes, we may unintentionally alienate people who are looking for their place in our community.

I’ve wrestled with the question of identity in a variety of ways. As a Gen X single woman (among other labels), I often focus more on the things that separate me from other people than on the things that unite us. But I’ve been reminded that if we actually take time to get to know one another deeply and spend unstructured time together, we’ll usually find that we have a lot more in common than we might otherwise assume. One recent highlight for me was several hours in a van with coworkers just chatting and asking goofy questions. Even though most of us have worked together for years, it made me feel more connected to our little community.

We in the church need to remember that relationships are not built by sitting together through a worship service, but by sharing life together in a wide variety of circumstances. Our identity is not simply as children of God, but as brothers and sisters walking together through life. We can’t have the Father without also connecting to our siblings. If we find our place in the “village” of our local church, it will go a long way toward helping us feel secure, loved, and accepted in our unchanging identity in Christ and in this world.

“For in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith. For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus” (Gal. 3:27-28).

© 2022 Dawn Rutan. Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture are ESV and all images are copyright free from pixabay.com. The opinions stated do not necessarily reflect the views of my church or employer.

In Triumph and in Death

 A Bible search for the word “always” led me to see to a curious juxtaposition of verses in 2 Corinthians. On one hand we have the victorious image of 2:14 (ESV):

“But thanks be to God, who in Christ always leads us in triumphal procession, and through us spreads the fragrance of the knowledge of Him everywhere.”

That’s the kind of verse everyone would like to claim. We’d all like to feel triumphant over sin, adversity, and death. And we often seem to think that our faith will be easily shared with others, like a fragrance wafting across the room with no real effort on our part. But then just two chapters later the Apostle Paul writes:

“[We are] always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our bodies. For we who live are always being given over to death for Jesus’ sake, so that the life of Jesus may be manifested in our mortal flesh” (4:10-11).

That picture isn’t so pleasant or desirable. We don’t particularly want any form of death, whether it is the daily death of our own selfish desires or the death that comes from persecution for our faith. Christianity would be so much easier and more appealing to the world if it were obviously victorious and comfortable. If it were really about health and wealth, it wouldn’t be hard to convert people. There would be no need for evangelistic crusades or prayer meetings or hard conversations. In fact, it wouldn’t even require the work of the Holy Spirit.

But from the beginning faith has required death. When Adam and Eve sinned in the Garden of Eden, death was introduced into the world (Gen. 3). The curse included the death-like futility of toil, physical death, and spiritual death. God’s first action after pronouncing this death was to kill animals in order to make garments of skins to cloth Adam and Eve (v. 21). It wasn’t long until the Old Testament sacrificial system was enacted as a temporary substitutionary death that pointed ahead to the Messiah who would “give His life as a ransom for many” (Matt. 20:28), and “without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins” (Heb. 9:22).

We must first put our faith in the One who died in our place, but it doesn’t end there. As we put on our new life in Christ, it requires the death of our old self—we can’t put on the new without putting off the old. “For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God… Put to death therefore what is earthly in you” (Col. 3:3, 5). We won’t be conformed to the image of Christ without sacrificing our own wills to His (Rom. 12:1-2). We won’t “spread the fragrance of the knowledge of Him everywhere” unless His life is being lived out day by day. “In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent His only Son into the world, so that we might live through Him” (1 John 4:9).

In this age of self, this is not a popular message. Everyone wants to live their own life, follow their heart, and fulfill their own desires. But for those who claim faith in Christ, it is not my life but His, not my desires but His, not my will but His. “Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body” (1 Cor. 6:19-20). This message is repeated in various ways throughout the New Testament, so anyone who believes that they can be a Christian and yet live however they please is sadly deceived.

“For we are the aroma of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing, to one a fragrance from death to death, to the other a fragrance from life to life. Who is sufficient for these things?” (2 Cor. 2:15-16).

May we be a fragrant offering, broken and poured out for Him.

“It is my eager expectation and hope that I will not be at all ashamed, but that with full courage now as always Christ will be honored in my body, whether by life or by death” (Phil. 1:20).

© 2020 Dawn Rutan. Unless otherwise indicated all images are copyright free from pixabay.com. The opinions stated do not necessarily reflect the views of my church or employer. 

Broken

“Trust Him in all this brokenness. It is a gift” (Ann Voskamp, The Broken Way).

I’m tired of brokenness.
I’m tired of a broken world,
  culture,
    system.
I’m tired of broken people
  breaking people,
Broken by sin,
  sickness,
    death.
I’m tired of being broken.
I don’t want to be weak,
  needy,
    dependent.
I’m tired of the pangs of sorrow,
  shame,
    anger,
      pain.
I want to feel strong,
  capable,
    prepared.
But You love the broken,
  the weak,
    the needy,
      the anxious.
You bind up the broken,
  use the humble,
    save the sinful.
Unless the ground
  is broken
    it cannot accept the seed.
Unless the grain of wheat
  is broken
    it cannot multiply.
Unless the grains
  are broken
    there is no bread.
Unless the grapes
  are crushed
    there is no wine.
Unless the Lord
  was broken
    there is no Savior.
Unless His blood
  was spilled out
    there is no redemption.
Unless the proud,
  self-sufficient,
    sinful
      are broken
        there is no mercy.
Broken is the gift
  we didn’t ask for,
    didn’t want,
      desperately need.
Broken is where
  He meets us,
    calls us,
      saves us.
Broken is where
  we find Him,
    see Him,
      cling to Him.
In the Broken One
  is where we find life,
    breath,
      hope,
        peace.
In the Broken One
  is where we live,
    and move,
      and have our being.

“For thus says the One who is high and lifted up, who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy: ‘I dwell in the high and holy place, and also with him who is of a contrite and lowly spirit, to revive the spirit of the lowly, and to revive the heart of the contrite” (Isaiah 57:15 ESV).



© 2020 Dawn Rutan. Unless otherwise indicated all images are copyright free from pixabay.com. The opinions stated do not necessarily reflect the views of my church or employer.

A Child of the King

In the children’s story Sara Crewe by Frances Hodgson Burnett, the young Sara lives in a boarding school and is suddenly orphaned. The headmistress begins to treat her as a slave. But Sara has a way of handling the abuse by imagining she is a princess. She tells herself:

“You don’t know that you are saying these things to a princess, and that if I chose I could wave my hand and order you to execution. I only spare you because I am a princess, and you are a poor, stupid, old, vulgar thing, and don’t know any better… I am a princess in rags and tatters, but I am a princess, inside. It would be easy to be a princess if I were dressed in cloth-of-gold; it is a great deal more of a triumph to be one all the time when no one knows it.”

As I was reflecting on the story and thinking maybe I need to try that tactic sometime, it hit me that I don’t have to imagine it—it’s already true. I am a child of the King of kings. I’ve been adopted into the royal family.

“For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, ‘Abba, Father!’ The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ” (Romans 8:15-17a ESV).

“He predestined us for adoption to Himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of His will” (Ephesians 1:5).

We all need to remember who we are. Though we probably won’t say it out loud:

• When people are abusive, “I’m a child of the King.”
• When someone says something inconsiderate, “I belong to God.”
• When the world mocks and condemns my faith, “I’m part of the family of God.”
• When suffering seems unending, “I’m loved with an everlasting love.”
• When I mess up and start condemning myself, “I have the righteousness of Christ.”
• When fellow Christians say or do aggravating things, “He or she is my brother or sister in Christ.”

I particularly like the reminder that it would be easy to be a prince or princess if everyone could see that’s what we are, but it is a challenge when we outwardly look the same as any other person. We are sanctified and matured by the process of clinging to the truth of who God says we are regardless of what the world tells us. It is a triumph of grace when we can live out of our new identity even when others can’t understand it.

I can’t end without a quote from C. S. Lewis:

“It is a serious thing to live in a society of possible gods and goddesses, to remember that the dullest most uninteresting person you can talk to may one day be a creature which, if you saw it now, you would be strongly tempted to worship, or else a horror and a corruption such as you now meet, if at all, only in a nightmare. All day long we are, in some degree helping each other to one or the other of these destinations. It is in the light of these overwhelming possibilities, it is with the awe and the circumspection proper to them, that we should conduct all of our dealings with one another, all friendships, all loves, all play, all politics. There are no ordinary people. You have never talked to a mere mortal. Nations, cultures, arts, civilizations - these are mortal, and their life is to ours as the life of a gnat. But it is immortals whom we joke with, work with, marry, snub, and exploit - immortal horrors or everlasting splendors” (The Weight of Glory).

We may not look or feel like princes and princesses right now, but if we know God as our Father that is our true identity.

“See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are” (1 John 3:a).

© 2020 Dawn Rutan. Unless otherwise indicated all images are copyright free from pixabay.com. The opinions stated do not necessarily reflect the views of my church or employer.

Who's Who

The Gospel Coalition posted this brief video on the subject of identity. Although the title ties it to sex and gender, it really applies all discussions of identity. It reminded me of a quote from Brennan Manning: “Be who you is, ‘cause if you ain’t who you is, you is who you ain’t.” The problem is that who we think we are often does not align with who God has made us to be. He is our Creator and He has absolute ownership rights over us, so He is the one who defines us. If that is true then:

I am not my temptations.

I am not my sins.

I am not my history.

I am not my wounds.

I am not my failures.

I am not my successes.

I am not my relationships.

I am not my academic degrees.

I am not my career.

I am not my abilities.

I am not my nationality.

I am not who I once was.

Who am I?

I am adopted as a child of God (Rom. 8:16).

I am chosen by God (1 Thess. 1:4).

I am a new creation (2 Cor. 5:17, Eph. 4:23).

I am clean (1 Cor. 6:11).

I am justified (Rom. 5:1, 1 Cor. 6:11).

I am sanctified (1 Cor. 6:11, Heb. 10:10).

I am free from condemnation (Rom. 8:1).

I am a member of the Body of Christ (1 Cor. 12:27).

I am God’s workmanship (Eph. 2:10).

I have been set free from sin (Rom 6:18).

I am loved by God (1 John 4:9-10).

I am His worker and ambassador (Eph. 2:10, 2 Cor. 5:20).

We all need to be reminded of the truth frequently—perhaps multiple times per day. The experiences of this life often seem more real than the truths of God’s Word. The old self seems all too lively in spite of having been crucified with Christ (Rom. 6:6). As Sam Allberry said in the video above, “the old self hasn’t left the building yet, and I feel his presence daily.” Scripture is full of the reminders we need, if we’ll just take the time to read it, pray through it, and believe it.

“Know that the Lord, He is God; It is He who has made us, and not we ourselves; We are His people and the sheep of His pasture (Psalm 100:3 NJKV).

Here are a few songs I’ve found helpful as well:

  “You Are More” -Tenth Avenue North

  “I Belong” -The Digital Age

  “Remind Me Who I Am” -Jason Gray

© 2020 Dawn Rutan. Unless otherwise indicated all images are copyright free from pixabay.com. The opinions stated do not necessarily reflect the views of my church or employer.

God's Treasure

I wrote the following during our Sunday school lesson today on the building of the tabernacle in Exodus 36-40:

From guilt to grace the people turned
To worship God, the One they’d spurned.
They gave their treasure to provide a place,
A reminder of God’s saving grace.

Will we likewise give our best
Or will we put Him to the test?
Our lives are His, and all we own
Belongs to God and God alone.

Forgive us when we hold too tight
To things we own and think we’re right.
Lord, open our hearts and hands to You
To give the worship You are due.

Use our lives to give You glory.
Use our mouths to tell Your story.
May we always worship You
With all we have and all we do.

“Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body” (1 Corinthians 6:19-20 ESV).

© 2019 Dawn Rutan. Unless otherwise indicated all images are copyright free from pixabay.com. The opinions stated do not necessarily reflect the views of my church or employer.

Giving Thanks?

This is one of those times when I have to remind myself that Thanksgiving is not merely a humanly contrived holiday but is a command of God. “Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you” (1 Thessalonians 5:18 ESV).

Abraham Lincoln’s Proclamation of Thanksgiving said in part:

“No human counsel hath devised nor hath any mortal hand worked out these great things. They are the gracious gifts of the Most High God, who, while dealing with us in anger for our sins, hath nevertheless remembered mercy… I do therefore invite my fellow citizens… to observe the last Thursday of November next, as a day of Thanksgiving and Praise to our beneficent Father who dwelleth in the Heavens. And I recommend to them that while offering up the ascriptions justly due to Him for such singular deliverances and blessings, they do also, with humble penitence for our national perverseness and disobedience, commend to His tender care all those who have become widows, orphans, mourners or sufferers in the lamentable civil strife…”

It is curious how we’ve turned the day away from thanking God for His divine mercy, and instead use Thursday and Friday for overindulgence and overspending. Quite honestly, I experience little enjoyment in the “holiday” that this has become. I would rather spend the day as a spiritual retreat (and I may well do that next year).

In an effort to refocus on reasons for gratitude toward God, here are a few reminders from Scripture:

“It is good to give thanks to the Lord, to sing praises to Your name; O Most High; to declare Your steadfast love in the morning, and Your faithfulness by night… How great are Your works, O Lord! Your thoughts are very deep!” (Psalm 92:1-2, 5).

“I praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are Your works; my soul knows it very well” (Psalm 139:14).

“O Lord, You are my God; I will exalt You; I will praise Your name, for You have done wonderful things, plans formed of old, faithful and sure” (Isaiah 25:1).

“But as for me, I will look to the Lord; I will wait for the God of my salvation; my God will hear me” (Micah 7:7).

“For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by His grace as a gift through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus” (Romans 3:23-24).

“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places” (Ephesians 1:3).

“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to His great mercy He has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you” (1 Peter 1:3-4).

“His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us to His own glory and excellence, by which He has granted to us His precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature…” (2 Peter 1:3-4a).

“In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent His only Son into the world, so that we might live through Him. In this is love, not that we have loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins” (1 John 4:9-10).

As we go through the next several weeks of Advent and Christmas, may we all be reminded of the blessings that are ours in Christ alone, and may we give thanks to Him every day.

“Through Him then let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that acknowledge His name” (Hebrews 2:15).

© 2018 Dawn Rutan. Unless otherwise indicated all images are copyright free from pixabay.com. The opinions stated do not necessarily reflect the views of my church or employer.

New Apparel

I recently listened to a podcast from CCEF. They used an interesting analogy for sanctification and growing in Christ. It’s like being given a new set of clothes and having to discard the old, comfy, worn clothes we like. After a while the new clothes become more comfortable, but then we have to change once again. Trusting God is a constant surrender of the old life and learning to walk in the new life. Those who are completely unwilling to change may not actually be Christians. As Sam Allberry has said more than once, “If you think the gospel is something that can be slotted neatly into your life without any change, it’s not the real gospel you’ve got.”

I can look back at different times in my life where I had to give something up and did so willingly. But other times I have delayed and held on to the old clothes as long as possible, like the rich young man in Matthew 19 who was unwilling to let go of his riches to follow Jesus. I wonder if he returned later after reconsidering? I believe God often gives us more than once chance to surrender. Sometimes we have to let go a little at a time. And it’s not just sin that we need to give up. It can also be good things such as certain relationships, the career we think we want, or our dreams of the future.

Sometimes I’m not sure I want to change in a particular area, and other times I realize I have to again surrender something I’ve taken back. I tend to think that I should be farther along in my Christian walk, that I am a disappointment to God and others because I feel stuck here. “But by the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace toward me was not in vain…” (1 Corinthians 15:10a ESV). It seems like I’ve been wearing this set of clothes for a while now, but God said through the Apostle Paul that His grace toward us is not in vain. He also said, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is made perfect in weakness” (2 Corinthians 12:9b). He will accomplish His purposes in us and through us in His own good time. Our reluctance to change is no surprise to Him, so we can’t disappoint Him.

I came across this quote that had been taken out of its original context:

“It [is] impossible… to be converted to Christ while at the same time loving [your] sin. It is true that anybody who comes to Christ will come with sin. In fact, he or she will come precisely because of that sin—that is, to be rid of it and its awful result. But to come to Christ while loving and cherishing sin is totally impossible. It is like an airplane trying to fly in two directions!”

The context in which I found the quote (a Sunday school lesson) might lead one to think that the author is referring to all the areas of sin in a person’s life at the time of conversion, when in fact he was referring to an individual who wanted to knowingly continue one particular sin and yet become a Christian. The fact is that we don’t even know all the areas in which we are holding onto sin even after a lifetime of faith in Christ. If God revealed every sin and forced us to choose before we could come to Him for eternal life, no one would be saved. Jesus told the woman caught in adultery “Neither do I condemn you” before He told her “Go and sin no more.” Some people try to reverse the order and say, “If you forsake all sin, then God won’t condemn you.” God is far more gracious than we even realize. He is gracious enough to reveal our sins and to cultivate our distaste for sin over time.

Tammy Maltby writes in Confessions of a Good Christian Girl:

“Even though I knew my Savior, I kept coming to points in my life when I needed more of Him than I ever thought possible… I learned firsthand that good Christian girls need the grace of Jesus just as much as unbelievers do—and that grace is abundantly available to anyone who is willing to be honest about her pain and cry out for help. But honesty can be a problem, especially for us good Christian girls, because we are so used to thinking of our lives as before-and-after stories… [The] implication is that once a person accepts the Lord, she stops sinning and lays all her brokenness outside the door. The implication is that churches are populated by those who are joyfully and triumphantly healed. And that’s just not true...” (3, 6).

Thankfully, God understands me better than I understand myself, and He extends grace for each change along the way. He knows just how much time and grace is needed to both inspire and enable change. Perhaps someday I’ll look back and realize I have changed without even realizing it. For example, I remember times in school where I played sick so as to avoid public speaking. Now I know that wasn’t nearly as big of a deal as I’d thought at the time. God brought a change in perspective over the course of several years. I trust He can and will do something similar for any and all areas of my life that may be contrary to His perfect plan. His grace is never in vain.

“Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely... He who calls you is faithful; He will surely do it” (1 Thessalonians 5:23-24).

© 2018 Dawn Rutan. Unless otherwise indicated all images are copyright free from pixabay.com.

Refreshed

I recently read this article from John Piper, http://www.desiringgod.org/interviews/i-know-god-loves-me-but-does-he-like-me, and I appreciate his reminder that God takes great delight in His children. I was reminded of Hebrews 2:11 (ESV): “For He who sanctifies and those who are sanctified all have one source. That is why He is not ashamed to call them brothers.” Or as the NIV puts it: “Both the One who makes men holy and those who are made holy are of the same family. So Jesus is not ashamed to call them brothers [and sisters].” It seems to me that our modern, Western idea of family has not only diminished the depth of our relationships within the Church, but has also depreciated our understanding of God as our Father and Jesus as our Brother. God’s love for us is not an obligation, but a deep affection flowing from the heart of a father.

As Piper mentions in his article, our own awareness of our sinfulness hinders our perception of God’s love. How could He desire to be with a person who keeps breaking the law? But that reveals an underlying misunderstanding (or doubt) about what Scripture says of those who are in Christ. Galatians 2:20 (ESV) says, “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.” We have more knowledge of our sinful condition than we do of our holy position in Christ.

In his commentary on Galatians 2:17-20, Martin Luther made the following comments:

“The Law drives us away from God, but Christ reconciles God unto us, for ‘He is the Lamb of God, that taketh away the sins of the world.’ Now if the sin of the world is taken away, it is taken away from me. If sin is taken away, the wrath of God and His condemnation are also taken away. Let us practice this blessed conviction” (48). 

“Faith connects you so intimately with Christ, that He and you become as it were one person. As such you may boldly say: ‘I am now one with Christ. Therefore Christ’s righteousness, victory, and life are mine.’ On the other hand, Christ may say: ‘I am that big sinner. His sins and his death are mine, because he is joined to me, and I to him’” (53). 

“For Christ is Joy and Sweetness to a broken heart. Christ is a Lover of poor sinners, and such a Lover that He gave Himself for us. Now if this is true, and it is true, then are we never justified by our own righteousness. Read the words ‘me’ and ‘for me’ with great emphasis. Print this ‘me’ with capital letters in your heart, and do not ever doubt that you belong to the number of those who are meant by this ‘me.’ Christ did not only love Peter and Paul. The same love He felt for them He feels for us” (57).

You can begin to sense some of the amazement Luther felt when he realized that justification is by grace through faith, not by works. And it’s not just that we are legally made right with God, but that He truly loves us, accepts us, and delights in us. He doesn’t just take away our guilt for sins we’ve committed, but He adopts us into His family on equal footing with His beloved Son, Jesus Christ (Rom. 8:16-17).

Though I’ve known these truths for many years, lately I’ve encountered several refreshing reminders in Scripture (eg. Eph. 1:4-5; Gal. 4:7; Isaiah 43:4; 1 Cor. 6:11) and in other reading. We can quickly forget who we are and as Piper noted, we need to take a “Bible bath” to renew our minds with the truth.

“And because of Him you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption” (1 Cor. 1:30).

“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come” (2 Cor. 5:17).

© 2017 Dawn Rutan. Unless otherwise indicated all images are copyright free from pixabay.com.

Be First

There are preachers who quote 1 Peter 1:15-16 (ESV), “...Be holy in all your conduct, since it is written, ‘You shall be holy, for I am holy,’” as a basis for works righteousness. God is holy so He wants us to live holy lives, or so the argument goes. However, that little word “since” makes a big difference in these two verses, meaning that verse 16 is the reason for verse 15. The Greek word translated “You shall be” in 16 is not a command, but future indicative tense. In essence Peter is saying, “Because you will have the holiness of God, therefore you can live holy lives now.

We also can’t ignore the greater context of Peter’s letters, as well as the rest of the New Testament. Peter started his first letter by stating who we are in Christ. “According to His great mercy, He has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead... who by God’s power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time” (1:3b, 5). On the basis of our identity, “Therefore, preparing your minds for action, and being sober-minded... As obedient children, do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance” (13-14). Peter uses a similar format in his second letter, “His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us to His own glory and excellence... For this very reason make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue...” (2 Pet. 1:3, 5). Only because of who we are in Christ and all the blessings we have received from Him can we then pursue holy living.

Paul’s letters are also full of reminders of who we are in Christ. “But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God... [He] who is joined to the Lord becomes one spirit with Him... Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body” (1 Corinthians 6:11b, 17, 19-20). Because of who you are in Christ you can glorify God. “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come... Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ” (1 Cor. 5:17, 20a). As a new creation you can represent Christ to the world.

It’s so easy to get it all backward and think that we have to live holy lives in order to be made right with God, that we must behave a certain way so that we can one day be accepted into His kingdom. But Scripture says that being precedes doing. We are made able to obey because of who God says we already are. This is a truth that I never knew until was an adult. The preachers and teachers I heard in many different churches while growing up never bothered to tell me who I was in Christ. All they seemed to care about was how people acted, and for many of us it was truly an act. We tried to look good so that people would believe we were saved. It created a lot of fear, wondering “How good is good enough?”

This world we live in today is even more confused. Identity gets tied to education, career, sexuality, family role, economic status, etc. Christians need to remind one another of who we are in Christ, because that is the only thing that will last. Everything else will pass away. In the Kingdom, we won’t be known as doctor, lawyer, gay, married, wealthy, or anything else like that. We will be—and already are—children of God, loved, accepted, new creations, righteous, redeemed, free, heirs, brothers and sisters, made alive, faithful, reconciled with God, saints and overcomers. That alone is our motivation for how we should live. If we are living out of any other identity, we have to constantly perform a certain way in order to maintain it.

Sam Allberry said, 

“I’m defined by who I am before God the Father in Jesus Christ... Who I most truly, ultimately, and fundamentally am is someone who is in Christ. And therefore when I’m striving to be holy, when I’m striving to be Christlike, I’m not going against the grain of who I really am, I’m going with it. As someone who is in Christ I am most being me when I am pursuing godliness, not when I am pursuing sin.”

For the person who is in Christ, sin is no longer “natural,” regardless of how it may feel. Instead, righteousness is our new nature and the life we are meant to pursue. Yes, it takes effort, but it is an effort that is guaranteed to pay off as we become more and more like God made us to be.

“For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them” (Ephesians 2:10).

© 2017 Dawn Rutan. Unless otherwise indicated all images are copyright free from pixabay.com.

You Are More

This weekend I was reading a couple different books that used the same phrase. The first was a novel by Marianne Evans, in which a character said that her infertility made her feel “less than.” In comparing herself to others, she felt she came up short every time. Mary DeMuth reflected the same feelings in Live Uncaged as she evaluated herself after a history of sexual abuse. Perhaps you’ve felt that way as well. I know I have. It may not be infertility or abuse that color our self-perception. Things that make us feel less can include:

• Lack of education or experience
• Being unmarried or separated
• Children who have strayed
• Loss of a job or home
• Health concerns
• Criticism from others
• Body size or shape
• Lack of skills (social, artistic, sports, etc.)
• Not matching cultural stereotypes

…and the list goes on. Any area in which we judge others is an area in which we can feel “less than.” Sometimes other people try to label us as inferior, but we often do it to ourselves as well.

God wants to remind us “You are more!” More than the sum of our abilities or lack thereof; more than our education and skills; more than the roles we take on as spouses, parents, employees, ministers; more than our accomplishments or our failures. The song “You Are More” by Tenth Avenue North is a great reminder that our value is not determined by what we do, but by the One who chose us as His own.

As our church was reminded in Sunday’s sermon on 1 Corinthians 4:1-13, human judgment is superficial. While it is easy to say we shouldn’t judge others (and in fact we get judgmental about judgmentalism), it’s not always so easy to deflect the judgment we heap on ourselves for our perceived inadequacies and failures. Most of our supposed shortcomings probably aren’t even known to anyone else, but we berate ourselves anyway. Mary DeMuth shared what her husband told her, “Mary, I would never treat you that way, and you wouldn’t treat others that way. Why in the world would you treat yourself like that?”

Even as I was planning to write this post I found myself thinking, “Why am I such an idiot?! I deserve ___!” God had to remind me once again “You are more than the sum of your past or present mistakes.” Mary put it this way:

• “You are not the person devalued by others’ casual opinions.
• You are not the sum of your righteous (or unrighteous) acts.
• You are not a thing to be consumed or used.
• You are not small and unworthy.
• You are not insignificant.
• You are not deserving of deceit.
• You are not the words spoken over you.
• You are not what they say you are.

You are who He says you are:

Beloved.

Welcomed.

Cherished.

Powerfully weak.

Beautifully rejuvenated.

Whole.”

The music video of Jason Gray’s song “Remind Me Who I Am” is a testimony to the power of God’s truth in our lives. No matter what label we think we deserve, God reminds us we are His beloved children. Even if He has to remind us every day, He is delighted to do so to keep us from being overwhelmed by the lies.

“I am my beloved’s and His desire is for me” (Song of Solomon 7:10 ESV).

© 2016 Dawn Rutan. 

Mercy, Fools, and Losers

This Sunday in Sunday school we were discussing 1 Timothy 1:12-17. Verse 13b in the ESV says, “I received mercy because I had acted ignorantly in unbelief.” Other translations say “I obtained mercy,” which seems to me to be a poor translation. Mercy is not something you can obtain like a 4.0 GPA or a rental car. Mercy is by definition something that is unearned. You can’t buy it, work for it, or even repay it. All you can do is ask for and accept it when it comes. Mercy is God’s gift to give as He pleases.

Verse 16 takes it a step further, “But I received mercy for this reason, that in me, as the foremost [sinner], Jesus Christ might display His perfect patience as an example to those who were to believe in Him for eternal life.” God doesn’t grant mercy and save people because we are so deserving, or because He feels sorry for us, or because He’s lonely and wants companionship. He saves us because it glorifies Him. It magnifies His love and dominion. Everything He does is for His glory alone.

Amazingly, God doesn’t stop at granting us mercy and forgiveness. He goes on to give us “all things that pertain to life and godliness” (2 Peter 1:3). Other verses give even broader descriptions:

• “Fear not, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom” (Luke 12:32).
• “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” (Romans 8:32).
• “For all things are yours, whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas or the world or life or death or the present or the future—all are yours, and you are Christ’s, and Christ is God’s” (1 Corinthians 3:21-23).

God is the Creator and Owner of all things, and in Christ we have access to all that is His. But again, there is nothing we can do to earn it, pay for it, or lay claim to it except through the blood of Jesus Christ. As we were reminded in the sermon from 1 Corinthians 3:18-23, God has redeemed us and restored us to our proper Owner. This world doesn’t own us, and God doesn’t exist to serve our purposes. God owns us, our lives, and our church, and the world exists to glorify Him. Everything of value is ours in Christ, but we are recipients, not achievers.

We have no reason for pride or judgmentalism. Secular learning and achievements have no lasting value and can’t even be compared to the depths of wisdom that come from the Holy Spirit. Our life in Christ and the things that we value because of Him won’t make sense to the rest of the world, but that shouldn’t bother us. We may be seen as fools, but we know the truth because we know the One who is the Way, the Truth, and the Life.

As Daniel Hochhalter wrote in Losers Like Us: Redefining Discipleship After Epic Failure:

“Where we see a lack of experience and polish, God sees leadership potential. Similarly, human credentials were notably lacking in the twelve losers on whom Jesus built his church. What made them world-changers was not their credentials, but simply their willingness to follow him… So why has Jesus always, then and now, chosen losers to lead the kingdom? I think there are four main reasons, all closely related: teachableness, lack of ego, brokenness, and empathy. These are the areas in which losers truly excel.”

Because of these truths we should be grateful for God’s saving grace, humble recipients of His mercy, and willing witnesses to His glory.

“Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are Mine… Because you are precious in My eyes, and honored, and I love you, I give men in return for you, peoples in exchange for your life… Everyone who is called by My name, whom I created for My glory, whom I formed and made… You are My witnesses” (Isaiah 43:1, 4, 7, 10).

© 2016 Dawn Rutan. 

United

We’re all familiar with the scriptural admonition that is often repeated at weddings, “So they are no longer two but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let not man separate” (Matthew 19:6 ESV). The Apostle Paul repeated part of this verse in Ephesians 5:31 and then adds, “This mystery is profound, and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the church.” Sam Andreades points out in his book enGendered that we tend to get this backward—it’s not that Christ and the church is like marriage, but that marriage is like Christ and the church. Marriage is a metaphor for the reality of union with Christ.

There are many Scriptures that talk about our union with Christ both as individuals and as a Body. Here are a few:

“For if we have been united with Him in a death like His, we shall certainly be united with Him in a resurrection like His. We know that our old self was crucified with Him… So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus” (Romans 6:5-6, 11).

“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” (Galatians 2:20).

“There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call—one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all” (Ephesians 4:4-5).

“So we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another” (Romans 12:5).

“…We are to grow up in every way into Him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part if working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love” (Ephesians 4:15-16).

So if we are united as one body with Christ, what God has joined together let no man put asunder. I think this has many applications for us individually and collectively.

1) If we have indeed been crucified with Christ and are dead to sin, then we have the ability to resist temptation, but even if we do sin we are not torn away from union with Christ. We may lose some of the intimacy of that union for a time, but we are not permanently separated.

2) If we in the local church are united with Christ, we should also be united with one another in worship, fellowship, and work. Those who choose not to participate are either not members of the body to begin with, or they are malfunctioning members who hinder the unity of the church. If they are indeed members of the body, then the body is responsible for bringing them back into fellowship and equipping them to work properly.

3) If the Body of Christ is the universal Church, united across time and distance, then some of the nonsense that divides us needs to be set aside. That’s not to say that we won’t have differing opinions on some interpretations of Scripture, or that there won’t be heretics in sheep’s clothing, but the true Body should be united in the essentials of faith. We have more in common with one another than we should have with those outside the Church.

Unity with Christ and in Christ is not just the ideal state, but it is the reality. God has indeed joined two into one flesh, and man cannot separate them. We may not really understand or know how to live in that reality now, but one day we will see the full consummation of it when Christ returns.

“For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 8:38-39).

© Dawn Rutan 2016. 

New and Improved

In some recent reading I encountered the idea of “sins of identity,” where we justify or even celebrate sin by saying “That’s just the way I am.” In our scientific-oriented society, we tend to point to biological factors to explain and excuse the way we think, feel, and behave. But a genetic proclivity towards alcoholism (for example) does not mean drunkenness is okay. Genes are only part of the story.

I think sometimes the difficulty comes in discerning what things are truly sin and what are just normal variances in personality types and interests. To take this a step further, what elements of personality and socialization are part of the flesh and therefore eliminated in the new creation, and what ones are not? I don’t think heaven will come with a complete personality overhaul. However, if anything is related to fear/anxiety or pride/shame, obviously that will have to be removed. The question is, what should that look like now as we are being conformed to the image of Christ and transformed by the renewing of the mind?

I started researching Scriptures that speak to the difference between the old man and the new creation. Probably Galatians 5:19-23 is the clearest list of what needs to go and what needs to grow:

“Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law” (ESV, see also Colossians 3).

I’m sure we can all find some things in those verses that we need to work on. My prayer at this point is that God would give me specific direction and reproof where needed, and would remove any false guilt the enemy seeks to lay on me. I don’t want to become overly introspective, but nor do I want to become calloused to God’s work in my life. Finding that balance is not easy. It is clear that we all have blind spots, and the things I see in myself may not be my biggest problems. It would be easy to tune out what others may have to say.

As I was thinking about the contrast between old and new, I coincidentally read a couple different chapters and took note of these verses:

“Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For His sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ...” (Philippians 3:8).

“I fear that when I come again my God may humble me before you, and I may have to mourn over many of those who sinned earlier and have not repented of the impurity, sexual immorality, and sensuality that they have practiced” (2 Corinthians 12:21). “Their end is destruction, their god is their belly, and they glory in their shame, with minds set on earthly things.” (Philippians 3:19).

What stood out to me was that in Christ even the good seems bad, but in the flesh even the bad seems good. For those who know the surpassing worth of Christ, even the best achievements and successes of life pale in comparison. But for those who do not value Christ, all the evils of this world start to look desirable and laudable. I think of some who claim to be Christian but have embraced a sinful identity, and I wonder if they will be among those who hear “Depart from Me, I never knew you” (Matthew 7:23). I pray that those I love will not fall into that trap of self-deception.

My hope is that I would never desire anything above the “surpassing worth of knowing Christ” and I would “seek first His kingdom and His righteousness” (Matthew 6:33). And as we heard in last Sunday’s sermon on Wisdom & Discipline, we who are in the Body of Christ have an obligation to remind and correct one another in love. May we never shirk that duty out of fear or ignorance.

“The ear that listens to life-giving reproof will dwell among the wise. Whoever ignores instruction despises himself, but he who listens to reproof gains intelligence. The fear of the Lord is instruction in wisdom, and humility comes before honor” (Proverbs 15:31-33).

© 2016 Dawn Rutan.