assurance

2 Corinthians 13

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Read 2 Corinthians 13.

Paul wrapped up this letter by warning the Corinthians again about his coming visit. He was hopeful, as we saw in earlier chapters, that his visit would be warm and affirming. Yet, he was concerned about how he would be received and whether or not he would have to deal with those who were in sin through church discipline (v. 2b).

Rather than waiting for Paul to arrive and sort the situation out, it would be better if the church examined and corrected itself. So, Paul urged them in verses 5-6 to examine themselves “to see whether you are in the faith.”

If someone is a genuine believer in Christ, certain things will be true. One of those things is dealing properly with sin in his or her life. Genuine Christians sin and may resist dealing with sin for a time, but no genuine Christian will be complacent when there is serious, ongoing sin in their lives over an extended period of time. Anyone who calls himself a Christian but lives in sin for an ongoing length of time is either headed toward God’s discipline in his or her life or not one of God’s children at all. Since the Corinthians were once again tolerating unrepentant sin in their church (v. 2), Paul called them to examine themselves.

There are some Christians who struggle with doubts about their salvation, some for many years. These believers live in a state of continual self-evaluation. Since none of us is perfect, there is always evidence of our sinfulness in our lives. Many Christians overlook all the positive growth and godly character qualities they have developed and focus only on their in struggles. This passage really isn’t for them.

Instead, this passage is for those who are highly confident of their salvation, but display little to no fruit in their lives–no souls saved, no growth in holiness, nothing really but an empty profession of faith. That person is in a dangerous place because their lives show more evidence of unbelief than of genuine faith.

Could that be you? Does your life give evidence that you are a Christian or do you comfort yourself that you are a Christian based only only your profession of faith?

Exodus 1, Job 18, Hebrews 7

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Read Exodus 1, Job 18, and Hebrews 7.

This devotional is about Hebrews 7.

We are far removed from the world of animal sacrifices in the temple and the priests who offer them but this letter was written to “Hebrews” not to “North Americans.” Priests and their work were important to Hebrews because their law and their worship revolved around the temple and its sacrifices.

Imagine that someone told you to move whatever you had in terms of money out of dollars and into something new like Bitcoin. I am not recommending that you do that nor am I giving you any financial advice at all. But if someone whose financial acumen you respected told you to move to Bitcoin, you still might have a hard time doing that. Dollars are all we’ve ever known, right? So could it really be a good idea to move away from all of that?

That’s sort of what it was like to tell a Jewish person to forget about the Old Testament sacrificial system. The author of Hebrews in this chapter argues to them that there is a priesthood that is older than Aaron’s priesthood in the law of Moses. To return to our analogy, then, the author of Hebrews is not arguing for Bitcoin but for gold. Gold has been used for currency long before money came along and the value of our money used to be based on gold. Spiritually, then, Jesus is less like Bitcoin and more like a return to the gold standard. His priesthood, symbolized by Melchizedek, predated and was superior to Aaron’s priesthood (vv. 1-10), was spoken about during Aaron’s priesthood (v. 15-17, 20-21), and is superior to Aaron’s priesthood because he represented a better covenant than Moses’ covenant (v. 22).

The Hebrews who read this letter were drawn in faith to the promises and person of Jesus but they were uncertain about leaving Judaism behind. Judaism felt like a reliable currency for them; it wasn’t, really, but it was all they knew. The author of Hebrews was concerned that his readers were trying to keep a foot in both worlds; that is, they wanted to be Christian and Jewish at the same time. His warnings, which occur periodically in this book, were written to urge them not to turn their backs on Jesus to return to Judaism. Now, here in chapter 7, he urges them to turn their backs on Judaism and go completely with Jesus.

Verses 23-28 brings this discussion of priests to a point where we Gentiles can see the importance of Jesus’ priesthood. Verses 24-25 tell us that Christ is a permanent priest. Since there is no longer any “changing of the guard” now that Christ is our priest, we can be certain that our salvation is eternal because “he always lives to intercede for” us (v. 25b). In addition to being our permanent priest, Jesus’ priesthood is perfect. His perfect moral nature (v. 26) means that he is always qualified morally to be our priest. Because he was the perfect sacrifice, too (v. 27b-28), our sins are atoned for permanently.

Our eternal salvation is secure eternally because our priest is permanent and perfect. Although we have not yet been perfected, we don’t need to worry that our sins will cause us to fall out of God’s favor. That’s because Jesus’ perfect sacrifice atoned for all our sins–including those in our future. Also, his perfect priesthood causes him to intercede on our behalf perpetually. If you struggle with assurance of your faith, the priesthood of Christ is just the doctrine for you. God gave us the perfect sacrifice that we could never offer and the perfect person to speak to God on our behalf when we sin.

2 Chronicles 25, Zechariah 8

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Read 2 Chronicles 25 & Zechariah 8.

This devotional is about Zechariah 8.

How much work would you do on a house that was about to be demolished?
How much would you spend fixing a car that had over 200,000 miles on it?
Would you put a lot of effort into anything that you thought might not last very long?

That’s the question God’s people were grappling with after they returned to Jerusalem from Babylon. God had returned them, yes, but what about the next time he was angry? What about the next world power driven to domination? Maybe some of the older adults would live out their natural lives in this homeland, but would their children enjoy the same peace and stability?

In this passage God assured his people that his blessings would reside in Jerusalem for a long time. People would get old there (v. 4) and watch families form, have children, and grow into adults (v. 5). That was hard for the people to believe (v. 6) but not for God to accomplish. Notice that he is called “the LORD Almighty” twice in verse 6.

The promise of this chapter was that people should make significant capital investments in the land and the city again because those investments will pay off (vv. 12-13). The ultimate investment they needed to make was in God’s house, the temple. Verse 9 says, “This is what the Lord Almighty says: ‘Now hear these words, “Let your hands be strong so that the temple may be built.”’” God was committed to these blessings but in order for the spiritual aspects of them to manifest (such as verse 8), they needed to rebuild the center of worship and instruction, the temple.

That was the application for them. What about us? Jesus could return at any moment and God’s presence rests in the people, not in a church building. So how would this passage apply to us?

The New Testament teaches clearly that Christ’s coming could happen at any time and that no one knows when it will happen. We should be ready, therefore, for Jesus to come. BUT, the same apostles who taught us to be ready for Christ’s coming also commanded us to be busy while we wait for Jesus (see 2 Thessalonians 3:6-13). We should not wait for Jesus as if we are waiting for a bus; we should wait for him as if we are waiting for guests to come to our home. They could come at any time so we should be busy preparing to welcome them. We should invest in God’s work as if it will last 100 years or more because it might last that long on this earth and, even if it doesn’t, God will reward us for investing our time for him and his work.

One more thing about all of this: In Zechariah 8, God’s concern was that his people think long-term by building a building. Buildings can be great tools but God’s work is about people, not buildings. So when I talk about investing in God’s work “as if it will last 100 years or more” I am talking about reaching and discipling the next generation. Do you have a younger person in your life that you are investing in spiritually? A church can die in one generation if it fails to reach, train, and engage the next generation in ministry. All of us, then, should be looking for younger people–our children/grandchildren first–to disciple and develop. It is too rare to see in one church “men and women of ripe old age” (v. 4) and “boys and girls playing there” (v. 5). It is a rare thing to see but a beautiful thing in God’s sight. May it be true of our church as we seek to invest in the Lord’s work for generations.