The Peace That Jesus Brings

December 23, 2011 1 Comment

In my last post I explained that even though Christ’s birth didn’t actually usher in a time of “peace on earth,” prophecy teaches that one day He will bring in such a time, one thousand years worth of it to be exact. Now, with this post, I want to explain that Christ’s birth did usher in a time when the individual who believes in Him as Savior can come to know a personal peace.

First, this personal peace involves the believer being at peace with God, his Maker. The classic verse on this is Romans 5:1:

Therefore, having been justified by faith (referring to faith in Christ), we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.

I’m reminded of that story about the preacher who asked the man, “Have you made peace with God?” The man answered, “I didn’t know that we were fighting.” Well, the fact is that every member of the human race is born fighting with God. Romans 3:10-12 says:

There is none righteous, no, not one; There is none who understands; There is none who seeks after God. They have all turned aside; They have together become unprofitable; There is none who does good, no, not one.

Yes, the sinner is at war with holy God. That’s the bad news. But the good news is that Jesus, through His shed blood (Colossians 1:19-20), has laid a peace treaty on the table for any individual who will sign it. Isaiah 53:5 describes it so beautifully:

But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for out iniquities; The chastisement for our peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we are healed.

Second, this personal peace involves the believer being at peace with himself. Christ’s words from John 14:27 refer to this kind of inner peace. He says to His disciples:

Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.

In a recent series of devotions, my friend Malcolm Woody has been dissecting Philippians chapter 4, specifically as the verses relate to the inner peace of the believer. The devotions have driven home to me afresh and anew the fact that inner peace is there for the taking if the believer desires it. But even as I read those devotions each day it didn’t dawn on me that there was one particular area of my life concerning which I didn’t have an inner peace. It wasn’t until my brother Richie pointedly said to me the other day, “You just don’t a peace about you right now,” that I came to grips with the truth of that statement. I feel like the Lord worked through Malcolm’s devotions to set me on a tee and then He worked through Richie to whack me out of the park. Since my conversation with Richie, I’ve really been working hard at accessing the inner peace that I am afforded in Jesus as it relates to that one troublesome area of my life.

Christian, I gave you that bit of personal testimony to let you know that I speak from personal experience when I ask you if your heart is troubled about something right now. Is there some circumstance, some situation, some problem in your life for which you have no inner peace? If there is, you are, as I was, living beneath your privilege because you aren’t abiding in the peace that Jesus has given you. You need to repent of your worrying. You need to give up on trying to control things you can’t control. Most of all, you need to put your complete trust in your sovereign Savior and let His peace well up from inside you and begin to dominate your life as it should. A troubled heart and the peace that Jesus has given you just can’t coexist. We, as Christians, should obey the command of Colossians 3:15 and “let the peace of God rule in our hearts.”

Third, this personal peace involves the believer being at peace with others. Ephesians 2:14 plays off the fact that in the Jewish temple there was a wall that separated the Court of the Gentiles from the areas that were exclusively for the Jews. The verse says of Jesus:

For He Himself is our peace, who made both (the Jew and the Gentile) one, and has broken down the middle wall of separation.

In Bible times, it would have been impossible to imagine too more different people than the Jew and the Gentile. They were completely different races. They came from radically different backgrounds. They had strikingly different customs. And yet, through Jesus, the Jew and the Gentile could now be at peace with each other. This proves that, through Jesus, the Christian can peaceably get along with others. Jesus Himself says in Mark 9:50, “…have peace with one another.” Hebrews 12:14 chimes right in with that by saying, “…Pursue peace with all people.” And in 1 Thessalonians 5:13, Paul says to the Christians of Thessalonica, “Be at peace among yourselves.”

On the heels of such verses, you know what I’m going to ask you. Are you fighting with someone right now? Is there a person with which you currently are not at peace? If there is, let me encourage you to do all that you can to make peace with them, whoever they are. Remember that in His Sermon on the Mount Jesus taught that His followers (whom He called sons of God) should be “peacemakers” (Matthew 5:9). That means you, Christian. I’ll also quote Paul again here too. In Romans 12:18, he says:

If it is possible, as much as depends on you, live peaceably with all men.

These words certainly ring true for any time of the year, but surely they ring all the more true for this season of Christmas. How can a Christian properly celebrate the birth of his Savior, the Peace-Giver, if he is at war with a fellow human being? I know, I know, Paul said “If it is possible…”, and maybe you are saying, “It’s just not possible with that person.” Well, maybe it isn’t, and maybe you and that person will never want to climb into a car and take a road-trip together, but that doesn’t mean that you can’t at least do your part to make peace. At the very least, you can stop throwing gasoline onto the fire and making the relationship worse. Ask Jesus to help you to know exactly what to do and what not to do, and trust that He will. Take heart in the fact that peace between yourself and others is one of the kinds of peace that He died to bring you.

Filed under Adversity, Attitude, Christ's birth, Christmas, Doing Good, Extending Forgiveness, Inner Peace, Personal, Personal Holiness, salvation, The Sermon On The Mount, Trusting In God, Worry Tagged with , , , , , , , , ,

The Shipwrecked Christian

December 13, 2011 Leave a comment

Maybe you’ve heard the old line, “The world has become so churchy and the church has become so worldly that you can’t tell the difference between the two.” Unfortunately there is a great deal of truth to this. Backslidden Christians create such a major hindrance to what God wants to accomplish in the world. Even more than that, they do untold harm to their own lives.

One of the best descriptions I’ve ever read concerning the worldly, carnal, backslidden Christian comes from Charles Spurgeon. In the October 14 evening devotion from his book Morning & Evening, he compares such a Christian’s entrance into heaven to a shipwrecked sailor having to climb up the steep rocks of his homeland just to get home. There is no peaceful sail into the safe harbor. There is no confident expectation of praise for a job well done. There is no triumphant entrance. There is only the exhausted, worn out, frazzled Christian scratching and clawing his way to a place of safety.

My guess is that Spurgeon had 1 Timothy 1:18-20 in mind when he used that illustration. In those verses, the apostle Paul explains to the young preacher Timothy that some Christians have rejected faith and a good conscience and “concerning the faith have suffered shipwreck.” Paul then gives the specific names (Hymenaeus and Alexander) of two such Christians and says that he delivered them to Satan so they would learn not to blaspheme. According to 1 Corinthians 5:1-7, the term “delivered them to Satan” means what we call “church discipline” (excommunication, “churching” someone). This should show us just how serious backsliding is.

Spurgeon closes out his devotion with the following words:

It is dangerous for an heir of heaven to be a great friend with the heirs of hell. Even small inconsistencies are dangerous. Little thorns make great blisters, little moths destroy fine garments, and a little frivolity and mischief will rob faith of a thousand joys. O believer, you do not realize what you lose by your conformity to the world. It cuts the tendons of your strength and makes you crawl where you ought to run. For your own comfort’s sake and for the sake of your growth in grace, if you are a Christian, then be a marked and distinct Christian.

To these words I can only add the question: “Christian, do other people think of you as a marked and distinct Christian? I once heard a preacher say, “Some Christians don’t do enough for the Lord to attract a used demon!” Is that you, Christian? Are you, as not only Spurgeon but also Paul described, living a shipwrecked walk with Christ? If you are, my prayer is that you will do the necessary confessing and repenting today. Remember that 1 John 1:9 is still in the Bible and it still works:

If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

Filed under Backsliding, Change, Church Discipline, Confession, Demons, Heaven, Personal Holiness, Repentance, salvation, Sin Tagged with , , , , , ,

So Far, So Good

November 18, 2011 3 Comments

A man jumped off the Empire State building. As he went plunging down past the 50th floor, an onlooker spoke to him from an open window and said, “Well, how does it feel?” The jumper answered, “So far, so good.”

Just as that jumper didn’t grasp that the end of the story hadn’t been written yet, many people don’t understand that we shouldn’t judge God’s opinion of a situation based solely upon the current outlook. Take the great flood for instance. Genesis 6:3 tells us that God instituted nothing less than a 120-year countdown for that judgment:

And the Lord said, “My Spirit shall not strive with man forever, for he is indeed flesh; yet his days shall be one hundred and twenty years.”

(By the way, some have wrongly taught that this statement was God limiting the individual lifespan to 120 years. Long after the flood, however, Abraham, Sarah, Isaac, Ishmael, and Jacob each lived more than 120 years. So, clearly, the 120 years refers to how long it would be before the flood struck.)

Now imagine that you were a citizen of earth during those 120 years. Couldn’t you have said, “So far, so good”? Jesus spoke of the footloose and carefree attitude that people had during those years. He said:

“For as in the days before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark and did not know until the flood came and took them all away…” (Matthew 24:38-39)

Right here I could really run with the fact that Bible prophecy teaches that this world has some dark days slated for its future. It’s hard to read Revelation chapters 6 through 19 and miss that. But I feel led to present the application in a different way. Rather than focus upon the coming judgment laid out in Bible prophecy, I want to ask you to examine your own life. Have you been engaging in some sin for which you haven’t paid the price yet? If the answer is yes, consider this post to be your wake-up call. God is longsuffering, but He isn’t foreversuffering. Just because you have gotten by with your sin so far, you shouldn’t take that to mean that you are untouchable. The truth is, you’re already on God’s countdown and a flood is headed your way. So why not repent of your sin today, confess it to Jesus, and lay hold of the forgiveness that comes with believing in Him as your personal Savior? If you don’t, all I can say is enjoy the free-fall while it lasts because you won’t like how it ends.

Filed under Backsliding, Coming Judgment, Forgiveness, God's Wrath, God's judgment, Personal Holiness, Repentance, Sin, Sowing and Reaping Tagged with , , , , , , ,

Baptists, Sacrifices, & Mark Twain

November 14, 2011 Leave a comment

A man was robbing a train and came to the seat of a preacher. The robber shoved his gun into the preacher’s chest and said, “Gimme your money.” The preacher said, “But you wouldn’t rob a preacher, would you?” The robber replied, “Oh, you’re a preacher? What denomination are you?” With great pride the preacher answered, “I’m a Baptist.” At that the robber switched his gun to his left hand, extended his right hand to shake the preacher’s hand, and said, “Put ‘er there, preacher, I’m a Baptist too.”

Consider the following verses:

1. 1 Samuel 15:22: So Samuel said: “Has the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed than the fat of rams.”

2. Proverbs 15:8: The sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination to the Lord, but the prayer of the upright is His delight.

3. Proverbs 21:3: To do righteousness and justice is more acceptable to the Lord than sacrifice.

You’ll note that each of these Old Testament verses speaks of sacrifices. To understand this, you must understand that the Old Testament Jews lived their lives under that body of law that God had given to them through Moses. Sacrifices were a fundamental, foundational part of that law. The law laid out incredibly precise rituals for the offering up of: burnt offerings, peace offerings, sin offerings, trespass offerings, freewill offerings, and heave offerings. These categories of offerings all involved the sacrificing of animals. Also, the law laid out precise rituals for grain offerings and drink offerings. Israel even had an entire tribe (the tribe of Levi) that served as its priesthood, and those priests, dressed in their priestly garments, faithfully offered up all these offerings at the tabernacle (later on, the temple).

You see, when a Jew brought an offering to a priest for it to be offered up, that was nothing less than an Old Testament worship scene. They didn’t have churches or synagogues. They had the tabernacle (the temple) and the law-prescribed sacrifices. That was how they publicly and corporately worshiped the Lord.

So do you see the teaching? Let’s use the Proverbs 21:3 verse as an example. If it was being written to the Christian realm today, it could read something like this:

To do righteousness and justice is more acceptable than going to church, praying, reading your Bible, dropping money in an offering plate, or giving to missions.

The point is that God really isn’t all that impressed with your attempts to worship Him when you spend the vast majority of your life doing sinful things. What you call “worship” doesn’t fix, excuse, or legitimize a lifestyle of habitual sin. If you lay drunk all week and then come to church on Sunday, that’s a problem. If you smoke pot or do other kinds of drugs Monday through Saturday and then come to church on Sunday, that’s a problem. If you roll out of bed with a person to whom you aren’t married and then drive to church, that’s a problem. If you won’t pay your bills, but you drop $10 in the offering plate every Sunday, that’s a problem. If you engage in dishonest business practices but you say the blessing before every meal, that’s a problem. If you treat people like dirt but you read your Bible every night, that’s a problem.

There’s an old story that supposedly comes from the life of Mark Twain, and it sums up what I’m trying to say here. So I’ll close with it. A man once said to Twain, “I’m going to take a trip to Israel. When I get there I’m going to hike to the top of Mount Sinai, and then I’m going to shout down the ten commandments.” Twain looked at the fellow and said, “I’ve got a better idea. Why don’t you stay home and keep them?” That was a good comeback then, and today’s church-goers and professing Christians could still learn something from it.

Filed under Backsliding, Character, Commitment, Discipleship, Doing Good, faithfulness, obedience, Personal Holiness Tagged with , , , , , , , , ,

Physical Beauty

November 9, 2011 Leave a comment

I walked past Tonya the other day as she was watching the Miss World beauty pageant. It didn’t take me long to notice that the host looked like a Keebler elf compared to those Amazons. I mean, really, if the girls all have to be in the 5’11-6’0 range, the show is going to have to hire a basketball player as the host. But I digress.

When I think of physical beauty, I think of the Bible’s Esther. She won a national beauty contest and became the Queen of Medo-Persia, the most powerful empire of that day (Esther 2:1-18). Working from that position she became the vessel through which God kept Haman (an Old Testament Adolf Hitler) from wiping out the entire Jewish race. Do you know what that tells me? It tells me that God can use physical beauty to accomplish His work.

Of course, there’s no doubt that Satan can use it to accomplish his too, is there? Every smut magazine, pornographic film, scantily clad model, and “sex object” starlet is evidence of that. Take beauty pageants for example. The only way they will ever have my respect is if they take out the swimsuit competition. Yeah, right, like that’s going to happen.

In Proverbs 31:30, the Bible says that “beauty is passing.” Likewise, Psalm 49:14 says that it shall be “consumed in the grave.” So the real issue is: How will a woman use her beauty during those years in which she has it? Will she be an Esther who uses it for God’s glory? Or will she use it to tempt, entice, allure, and manipulate men to accomplish the devil’s purposes? I’ll leave you with Proverbs 11:22, a verse that I think a lot of women need to heed these days. It says simply:

As a ring of gold in a swine’s snout, so is a lovely woman who lacks discretion.

Filed under Aging, Character, Dress and Appearance, God's Work, Personal Holiness, Sex, Sin, Temptation Tagged with , , , , , , , ,

What the Bible Teaches About Drinking Alcohol (9)

November 1, 2011 6 Comments

With this post, we’ll finish up this series. I didn’t plan for the series to run quite this long anyway, but as we’ve seen this is a complex subject that brings in quite a bit of scripture. People really do it a disservice when they try to simplify it and make it a one-size-fits-all, black-or-white kind of thing. And, unfortunately, the material that I’ll offer in this last post is going to complicate things a bit more. In the previous post, I explained the term “Christian liberty.” I won’t rehash all that information here, but I do need to say a few more things on that whole subject. Think of this as me now giving you the flip side of the “Christian liberty” coin.

It’s certainly true that the Bible teaches that a Christian has a sizable amount of God-granted liberty when it comes to, shall we say, “debatable” matters. However, the same Bible also lays down three rules for the use of this liberty. Let’s take them one at a time.

Rule #1: A troubled conscience always cancels out Christian liberty. The interesting thing about your conscience is that it can’t tell the difference between a rule that can be supported by scripture and one that can’t. Really, your conscience is only as good as the information sent to it by your brain. So the problem is simple: a faulty understanding creates a misfiring conscience. Well, let’s say that a Christian is raised in a home, city, and culture in which everyone considers the drinking of even one beer a mortal sin. As we’ve seen in this series, that rule can’t be supported by scripture, but until that Christian learns this he or she is left to believe that drinking a beer is a sin. And what does that set-up do? It allows that Christian’s conscience to send out all kinds of warning bells if that Christian even looks at a beer. Yes, they will be misinformed bells, alarms sounded from faulty information, but they will be warning bells nonetheless. And so at that point the Christian’s conscience will keep him from being able to evoke Christian liberty to enjoy a beer. We can describe this as sinning against one’s conscience. 1 Corinthians 8:7 talks about this kind of thing in regard to the ancient Christians eating meat that had been offered to idols. It says:

However, there is not in everyone that knowledge; for some, with consciousness of the idol, until now eat it as a thing offered to an idol; and their conscience, being weak (we might say misinformed), is defiled.

Romans 14:23 applies here as well. It goes so far as to teach that even if an act isn’t a sin, it actually becomes a sin for you if you can’t do it with a completely clear conscience:

But he who doubts (doubts the scriptural legality of the act) is condemned if he eats, because he does not eat from faith; for whatever is not from faith is sin.

Rule #2: The Christian commits sin if he exercises his liberty in a way that causes someone else to sin. Let’s say that a friend and I go out to eat at a restaurant that serves delicious ribs that just drip with sweet barbecue sauce. So we each order a plate of ribs. Then my friend listens in astonishment as I order a beer. Well, he was raised to believe that drinking a beer is a sin, but he thinks to himself, “Russell is a preacher, and so if he says that’s it alright to drink a beer, it must be.” So my friend then says to the waitress, “I’ll have a beer too.” But the problem is that as soon as those words fall from his lips his misinformed conscience starts gnawing at him. And by the time the beers come and he and I each take a sip, he is in full-blown sin. Now what happened there? I wrongly used my Christian liberty to lead my friend into sin. Listen to the words of 1 Corinthians 8:9,12:

But beware lest somehow this liberty of yours become a stumbling block to those who are weak (misinformed)…But when you thus sin against the brethren, and wound their weak conscience, you sin against Christ.

And then there is also Romans 14:15-16, 20-21:

Yet if your brother is grieved because of your food (or for our topic, drink) you are no longer walking in love. Do not destroy with your food (drink) the one for whom Christ died. Therefore do not let your good (the fact that your conscience is operating off correct information) be spoken of as evil…Do not destroy the work of God for the sake of food (drink). All things indeed are pure, but it is evil for the man (your friend with the misinformed conscience) who eats (drinks) with offense. It is good neither to eat meat nor drink wine nor do anything by which your brother stumbles or is offended or is made weak.

Rule #3: Even though some acts might be allowable under Christian liberty, the Christian shouldn’t engage in them if they are not helpful to him. It’s hard to see how a Christian who is a recovering alcoholic or who has at least had several bouts of drunkenness in the past is going to be helped by drinking one beer, one glass of wine, or one shot of liquor. If a dog has bitten you in the past and sent you to the emergency room, why keep trying to pet it? If your track record shows beyond a doubt that you have a natural bent toward becoming addicted to a certain thing, why go out of your way to place yourself in the path of temptation? This third rule isn’t about categorizing an act as “sin” or “not sin.” The act in question is clearly “not sin.” But the point is that the act simply isn’t helpful (spiritually constructive, edifying, and empowering) for that specific Christian. Particularly, this rule applies to acts that have the potential to lead to addiction, a list which can certainly include the drinking of alcoholic beverages. In 1 Corinthians 6:12, the apostle Paul puts it this way:

All things are lawful for me, but all things are not helpful. All things are lawful for me, but I will not be brought under the power of any.

Now, in closing, let me say that by abiding by these three rules the Christian can keep himself within the banks of using his Biblical liberty to engage in a “debatable” act such as drinking alcohol. Christian liberty must never be used as a license to sin, but when it is rightly understood and lived out it will be a wonderful source of blessing for the Christian. After all, “liberty” is a good word, right? It’s not something to shy away from or fear; it’s something to embrace and enjoy. Just be careful, Christian, that you don’t forget these three rules. God wants you to enjoy life, but He doesn’t want you to do it like a half crazed wild-man who has no scriptural moorings. Remember that liberty walks hand in hand with responsibility. You’re not a child. So don’t act like one.

Filed under Addiction, alcohol, balance, Choices, Christian Liberty, Influence, Personal Holiness, Sin, Temptation, Uncategorized Tagged with , , , , , , , , ,

What the Bible Teaches About Drinking Alcohol (8)

October 26, 2011 Leave a comment

Did you know that the early churches of the New Testament struggled mightily with an issue that we think nothing of today? I mean they got into heated disputes over this issue. Some Christians would separate themselves from other Christians over it. Others would call the salvation of fellow Christians into question over it. And so what was this divisive issue? It was the eating of meat that had been offered to idols.

In ancient cities such as Rome, Corinth, and Ephesus, pagan temples dedicated to pagan gods were commonplace. As part of the idolatrous worship at these temples, priests would offer up animal sacrifices to the false gods. These animals were choice, unblemished, high-grade meat. Following a sacrifice, the “leftovers” were sold in the meat markets of the cities. The meat was the choicest available, but the price was cheap because the meat was “used.” Naturally, the lost people of the city thought nothing of purchasing the meat and eating it. The Christians, on the other hand, didn’t know how to handle the dilemma. Eat meat that carried the taint of idol worship? Would God allow such a thing? The answer you got depended upon which Christian you asked.

The Gentile Christians who had been saved out of idolatry and paganism were particularly sensitive about the whole issue. They just couldn’t make their consciences believe that God was okay with them eating that meat, no matter how much of a bargain the meat was. We can liken each of those Christians to one who has been saved out of alcoholism. No matter how many preachers, Bible teachers, and commmentators tell that Christian that it’s alright to drink a beer or a glass of wine, that Christian won’t quite believe it. His past experiences have just been too scarring.

Well, it was clear that the early churches needed some God-inspired guidance concerning the eating of that meat. And who better to provide the guidance than the greatest theologian the world has ever known, the apostle Paul? So it’s no wonder that he devoted extensive sections of his letters to the Christians of Rome and Corinth to the topic. And what was his take on the meat? We find the answer in the following passages:

#1: Therefore concerning the eating of things offered to idols, we know that an idol is nothing in the world, and that there is no other God but one. (1 Corinthians 8:4)

#2: Eat whatever is sold in the meat market, asking no questions for conscience’ sake; (1 Corinthians 10:25)

#3: I know and am convinced by the Lord Jesus that there is nothing unclean of itself… (Romans 14:14a)

#4: For every creature of God is good, and nothing is to be refused if it is received with thanksgiving; for it is sanctified by the word of God and prayer. (1 Timothy 4:4-5)

Now, I do realize that I’m only giving you half of what Paul taught on this subject, and I promise you that we’ll get to the other half in the next post. But for now just let the first part of Paul’s God-inspired teaching wash over you and penetrate down into your soul. The man taught, “Since there is only one true God, an idol is really nothing. As nothing, it certainly doesn’t have the power to taint meat. So don’t let your conscience wear you out over such meat. Eat whatever is sold in the meat market.” In 1 Corinthians 8:9, Paul calls the option to eat that meat “this liberty of yours.” That’s where we get the term “Christian liberty.”

But now here’s the question for us Christians today: How does Paul’s teaching on “Christian liberty” come into play in our lives? I mean, we don’t have to deal with meat that has been offered to idols, do we? No, but we certainly have to deal with things such as: wine, beer, liquor, secular music, secular movies, secular t.v. shows, and the latest fashions. Oh, we can be good little legalists who live miserable little lives. We can throw out our televisions, shun movie theaters, keep our radios turned off, wear Puritan-style clothing, avoid any restaurant that has a bar, refuse to celebrate Christmas, Easter, and Halloween (all of these holidays have pagan trappings, you know), and spend all our time praying, reading the Bible, and listening to gospel music. But is that really how God wants us to live? I think not. Jesus wasn’t a hermit-like isolationist. He got out among the masses and enjoyed life. As a matter of fact, His “Christian liberty” kept the legalistic Pharisees, Sadducees, and scribes torn all to pieces. They couldn’t believe that He had the gall to do some of the things He did.

I think that Chuck Swindoll, the well known pastor and radio preacher, has given us a wonderful illustration of why Christians desperately need to grasp the concept of Christian liberty. In his study guide for Romans chapters 12-16, under a heading entitled “Taboo Or Not Taboo?”, he writes:

Isn’t it funny how religious convictions can vary so widely among Christians? Let’s invite some believers of different backgrounds to a pool party, just to see what will happen.

Out on the pool deck, our party is well under way: the hot dogs are roasting on the grill, the drinks are getting iced in the coolers, and our guests are happily visiting and laughing under a warm, sunny sky.

Suddenly events take a turn for the worse: three couples from California decide to take a dip in the pool before lunch. They toss off their sandals and T-shirts, jump into the pool, and begin tossing a beach ball around. Bill, from Alabama, practically falls out of his chair. He doesn’t believe in “mixed bathing” – males and females swimming in the same pool at the same time. He quickly excuses himself and walks into the house whispering in disbelief, “What bacchanalian ritual have I stumbled onto here?”

Passing Bill in the doorway is Amber, the teenage granddaughter of Ethel, our senior party guest. Amber, in a cool tank top and shorts, is just showing up for the party, but she barely gets both feet on the deck before Ethel meets her with a bright pink, oversize beach towel in hand. “Amber dear,” Ethel says, “For goodness’ sake, cover yourself before you cause some poor boy to stumble!” Amber – now a pink terry cloth mummy – trudges to the first chair she can find, plops herself down, and commences to sulk.

Andy, our Lutheran guest, tries to lighten things up. He turns to Mike, a Southern Baptist, and asks, “Want a drink from my cooler?” Mike heartily accepts, and Andy raises the lid, revealing several of his favorite brands of beer. “Which one would you like?” Mike doesn’t answer, but quietly joins Bill inside the house.

“What’s with him?” Andy asks. “There’s nothing wrong with having one dang beer!” “Andy!” his wife exclaims, “Watch your mouth! That graphic language really bothers me.”

Now do you see the need that we Christians have to truly understand Christian liberty?

Filed under alcohol, balance, Choices, Christian Liberty, Personal Holiness Tagged with , , , , , , ,

What Does the Bible Teach About Drinking Alcohol? (4)

October 14, 2011 4 Comments

I used yesterday’s post to condemn the sin of drunkenness. Now I want to share a few thoughts on addiction to alcohol. All drunkenness is sin, but there’s a difference between getting drunk once at a party and being a full-blown alcoholic.

I take no joy or pride in admitting that alcoholism runs on both sides of my family. So, trust me, I could write an encyclopedia on the subject. Isn’t it amazing how easily one glass of wine or one can of beer can turn into decades of hard drinking? The old saying is so true: “First the man takes a drink. Then the drink takes a drink. Then the drink takes the man.”

I think this explains why I haven’t been getting much feedback on these posts. The viewing numbers are down, and no one is hitting the “like” button. Why? It’s because many of us know all too well the incredible damage that alcohol can do to a life. That’s why we shy away from the subject. We fear that if we give ground on having even one glass of wine with a plate of lasagna at Olive Garden, one bottle of beer at a July picnic, or one shot of liquor on a cold night, that we will fan the flames of the already raging bonfire of alcohol addiction in this country. That’s why so many of us want to either ignore the subject altogether or try to cling to our fortress retreat in the high, unsoiled mountains of total abstinence. Our problem, however, is that neither approach lines up with the totality of what the Bible teaches.

Is alcoholism a very real problem? Of course it is. But does everyone who drinks become addicted? Believe it or not, no they don’t. Maybe your uncle Joe did. Maybe your cousin Sue did. Maybe your child did. Maybe you did. But that doesn’t mean that everyone does. You see, in one way alcohol is like food. When used appropriately it can be viewed as a blessing from God. It makes this difficult life a little more enjoyable. It brings pleasure to the taste buds. It can even help settle the stomach. But when it is used to sinful excess, the good turns to harm. Just as overeating creates the sin of gluttony and causes all kinds of physical, emotional, and psychological problems, drinking too much creates the sin of drunkenness and causes the same kinds of problems. Is it any wonder then that the Bible so frequently links the sins of gluttony and drunkenness together? (Deuteronomy 21:20; Proverbs 23:21; Ecclesiastes 10:16-19; Isaiah 22:12-13; Amos 6:3-7; Luke 12:19; 1 Peter 4:3)

And so how should we deal with addiction to alcohol, or any addiction for that matter (food, drugs, pornography, sex, etc.)? Well, it sounds like a cliche but the cure for every addiction is Jesus. I can think of two passages that say it all. First, there is John 8:34,36:

Jesus answered them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, whoever commits sin is a slave to sin…Therefore if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed.”

And then second, there is Luke 4:17-18:

And He was handed the book of the prophet Isaiah. And when He had opened the book, He found the place where it was written: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because He has anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed; to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord.”

And so we see that Jesus is the liberator for anyone is enslaved by or held captive by addiction. He is the Moses who can lead that person out of that Egypt. He is the David who can slay that person’s giant. He is the Solomon who can erect a shining new temple of holiness in that person’s life. Addiction doesn’t intimidate Him in the least. He has released scores of captives from its grip already and stands ready and willing to do it one more time.

Filed under Addiction, alcohol, balance, Choices, Christian Liberty, Drugs, Gluttony, Personal Holiness, Sin, Temptation Tagged with , , , , , , , ,

What Does the Bible Teach About Drinking Alcohol? (2)

October 12, 2011 1 Comment

In yesterday’s post I said some things about wine in the Bible. With this one I want to do the same concerning “strong drink.” In case you don’t know, “strong drink” is different from wine.

The Hebrew word that gets translated as “strong drink” is shekar. It is used a little over twenty times in the Old Testament. The New Testament equivalent of the Hebrew shekar is the Greek sikera, and it is used just once in the New Testament (Luke 1:15).

I’m generalizing here a little bit, but I think we can basically set up two broad categories of alcoholic beverages. One category is “wine” and the other one is “strong drink” (beer, liquor, etc.) For the record, there are three other Hebrew words that the classic K.J.V. translation renders as “liquor” or “liquors.” They are mishrah (Numbers 6:3), mezeg (Song of Solomon 7:2), and dema (Exodus 22:29). However, each of these words can rightly come under the heading “strong drink” without doing any harm to its meaning.

And so what does the Bible say about strong drink? Does it allow for any drinking of such beverages? You might be surprised to learn that it does. The passage is Deuteronomy 14:22-26. Let me lay the groundwork for it.

These verses are a part of that body of law that gave to Israel, and they specifically relate to Israel’s tithing. I won’t take the time to trace down every detail of what the law taught about tithing, but I will point out that the law called for the paying of three separate tithes. These were the “Levite’s tithe” (Numbers 18:21-24), the “poor tithe” (Deuteronomy 14:28-29), and the “festival tithe” (Deuteronomy 14:22-26). It’s the “festival tithe” that we want to more closely examine.

Each year a Jew was to round up a tithe (tenth) of the yearly increase he had seen from farming. This included his grain, new wine, oil, and the firstborn of his flocks and herds. He was then to take all that tithe to the tabernacle. Once there, he and his family were to eat a feast out of that tithe. Whatever was left over after the feast went to the Levites, Israel’s priestly tribe. (When the temple was ultimately built to take the place of the tabernacle, the “festival tithe” was to be taken there and eaten.)

Now, some Jews lived many miles from the site of the tabernacle, and that made paying the “festival tithe” difficult. God understood this. That’s why He built a plan B into the law. By law, if a Jew lived far away from the tabernacle, he could gather together his “festival tithe,” sell it for a fair price, and then take the money to the tabernacle. There he was to use the money to buy whatever his heart desired for his feast before the Lord.

Here now is where we come to our verse. Read it carefully and see if you notice anything:

And thou shalt bestow that money for whatsoever thy soul lusteth after, for oxen, or for sheep, or for wine, or for strong drink, or for whatsoever thy soul desireth: and thou shalt eat there before the Lord thy God, and thou shalt rejoice, thou, and thine household. (Deuteronomy 14:26, K.J.V)

In case you are wondering, the Hebrew word that is translated there as “strong drink” is indeed shekar, which means that the translation is thoroughly correct. “Russell, are you telling me that God’s holy law actually allowed a Jew to drink not only wine but also strong drink as a part of a feast at the tabernacle, the most holy site in all Israel, the site where God manifested His presence?” Yes, that’s what I’m telling you. Let me shock you even more. The Holman Christian Standard translation and the New Living Translation even translate shekar in Deuteronomy 14:26 as “beer” rather than “strong drink.” Drinking beer and wine at the tabernacle? With God’s approval no less? You got it.

Okay, with that said, is there any other Bible passage that allows for the consumption of “strong drink”? Yes, there is. Proverbs 31:6-7 says this:

Give strong drink (shekar) unto him that is ready to perish, and wine unto those that be of heavy hearts. Let him drink and forget his poverty, and remember his misery no more.

I’ve read those who attempt to explain this passage’s call to give “strong drink” by saying that it was for medicinal purposes to ease the intense pain of the one at death’s door. This would be akin to the way today’s hospitals give morphine to the dying. Well, I understand how one could use that interpretation, but what do we do with the call to give wine to those that be of heavy hearts? Let’s be honest in admitting that having a heavy heart certainly isn’t a terminal condition. Also, the last part of the passage talks about drinking to forget your poverty and misery. That’s a far cry from drinking to relieve the pain of a medical problem.

Now, in closing, I feel like I should mention that I never drink anything stronger than Dr. Pepper. So, trust me, I haven’t written all this to justify, rationalize, or explain my own imbibing of beer, wine, or liquor. No, I’ve written it in an attempt to be honest and legitimate about what the Bible teaches about drinking “strong drink.” Is this all that needs to be said on the subject? No, it isn’t. Along those lines, my next post will deal with certain restrictions to drinking wine and “strong drink” as well as the sin of getting drunk off either. But, for now, I’ll stop right here because I trust that I’ve made the point that I was trying to make with this post.

Filed under Addiction, alcohol, Choices, Personal Holiness Tagged with , , , , , , , ,

What Does the Bible Teach About Drinking Alcohol? (1)

October 11, 2011 Leave a comment

One of the more passionately debated Biblical subjects is that of the drinking of alcoholic beverages. Does the Bible make some allowance for such drinking or does it forbid it altogether? This is a question to which I’d like to devote several posts. For this first one, I’ll deal with what the Bible says about drinking wine.

I should begin by pointing out that the Bible uses the word “wine” well over two hundred times, and it offers many different Old Testament Hebrew and New Testament Greek words for wine. The Hebrew words are: yayin, tiyrosh, raaph, chamar, mamcak, cobe, aciyc, enab, and shemer. The Greek words are oinos and gleukos. The most used Hebrew word is yayin, which is used over 130 times. The most used Greek word is oinos, which is used over 30 times.

And is the “wine” of the Bible alcoholic (fermented, as opposed to being mere grape juice)? Of course it is, and if you can’t see that you’re just not trying. Do you remember that I said that yayin is the Old Testament’s most common word for wine? Well, it was yayin that got Noah drunk (Genesis 9:21). Do you remember that I said that oinos is the New Testament’s most common? Well, Ephesians 5:18 says “And do not be drunk with wine (oinos)…” You can’t get drunk on grape juice.

What we have to understand is that wine was as common to the Jewish way of life as milkshakes are to ours. I went with milkshakes because the Jews didn’t drink wine for their typical meals like they did water or milk. They usually saved it for special occasions such as feasts and celebrations (Genesis 14:18; 27:25; 2 Samuel 13:28; John 2:1-10). But make no mistake, wine was common to them. Let me offer three evidences of that.

First, the Jews saw wine as nothing less than a symbol of God’s blessing. When Isaac pronounced his patriarchal blessing upon Jacob, part of it was that God would give Jacob “plenty of grain and wine” (Genesis 27:28). Moses told the Jews that if they would faithfully obey the law that God had given them they would receive great blessings. Some of those blessings would be “your grain and your new wine and your oil” (Deuteronomy 7:13). Psalm 104:15 clearly lists wine as a blessing on par with oil and bread. (By the way, that verse describes wine as that which “makes glad the heart of man.” Grape juice doesn’t do that.)

Second, the God-given Old Testament law commanded the Jews to tithe their wine (Deuteronomy 12:17; 14:22-23). This makes perfect sense in light of the fact that they viewed wine as a blessing along the same lines as oil and bread. Since it was made from harvested grapes, they also saw it as a part of their harvests, which certainly qualified it for tithing.

Third, under that same body of law, the Jewish priests were to use a specific amount of wine in the daily offering up of two “drink offerings” (Exodus 29:38-45). One drink offering was to be done in conjuncture with the morning sacrificing of a lamb, and another drink offering was to be done with the evening sacrificing of a lamb. For the record, the Hebrew word that is used in that passage for “wine” is that familiar word yayin, which makes it alcoholic wine, the same kind that got Noah drunk. Yes, God really did command that alcoholic wine be used as a part of certain daily, holy sacrifices to Him.

You see, the idea that the Jews of the Bible were teetotalers is just plain wrong. They knew all about drinking wine. Furthermore, the idea that the wine was non-alcoholic grape juice is just as wrong. I’m not trying to make anybody mad or suggest that each of us should go have a glass of wine. I’m just conveying what the Bible teaches and letting it say what it says, not what some of us might like it to say. Is this all that I have to share on this subject? Certainly not. This has simply been an opening post to cover some of the basics about the Bible and wine. Hang with me for the rest of this series and I promise that we will cover much more ground, topics such as: “strong drink,” drunkenness, Jesus drinking wine, Jesus making wine, prohibitions against drinking, Christian liberty, and causing a brother to stumble. Stay tuned.

Filed under Addiction, alcohol, Bible Study, Choices, Christian Liberty, Doing Good, Personal Holiness Tagged with , , , , , ,

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