The Lie of Religious Standards and Performance for Acceptance Self Deception Series 14 – Purity 11

To see today's photo, go to mt4christ.org or follow me, M.t. Clark, on Facebook or Twitter. Good morning. Today's photo of the setting sun painting the clouds yellow, orange, pink, purple, and pink, uh, come to us from Sammy Pat Harris, who captured this scene on Sunday while on vacation in Hilton Head Lake, South Carolina. Well, it's Tuesday, and my personal countdown for vacation is down to 4 days. Or 3 sleeps, as I will consider myself to be in vacation mode as soon as I leave work Friday afternoon. But to be honest, even though I will be off from work and will be traveling a bit, not much will change in terms of my routine when it comes to my walk of faith and my daily spiritual practice. I know the importance of staying in the presence of the Lord and reminding myself of who I am in Christ. And have no plans on taking a vacation from connecting to my Heavenly Father through my practices of prayer, Bible study, meditation, gratitude, and simply walking and literally talking to God as I go through my day. I don't think of these spiritual disciplines as work, as something I have to do. They are the ways that I relate to God, and they are something I get to do. And just like I know, just like how I know God will never, never takes a vacation from guiding the course of all things in time and space, it is my intention to never take a vacation from walking in the spirit with these practices. With that said, I feel I simply must point out that I don't do these things to feel accepted or approved by God. While they may remind me of the fact that I am accepted and approved by God because of my faith in Christ alone, my choice to practice these spiritual disciplines isn't about meeting some religious standard or about being perfect or performing for God. Our acceptance by God is about faith, not performance. We don't have to earn our way into God's kingdom or his love. God's love was demonstrated by Christ on the cross, and our invitation into his royal family came when we saw the truth of who Jesus is and how we could be forgiven and accepted by God when we put our faith in him. Our good standing with the Lord is a done deal, and while we can endeavor to know God more, seek our purpose in his kingdom, and to become more and more like Jesus in our character, We don't have to perform to be accepted. And that brings us to our current series on self-deception, where we have decided to investigate some of the ways we deceive ourselves by walking through Step 2, Deception vs. Truth, of the Steps to Freedom in Christ, to see what ways we may have deceived— been deceived by the world and ourselves, and in what ways we have wrongly defended ourselves. So, we present the 13th way you can be deceived by the world. Number 13: Believing that I must measure up to certain religious standards for God to accept me. The scripture reference for this point is Galatians 3:2-3, which says, "Let me ask you this one question: Did you receive the Holy Spirit by obeying the law of Moses? Of course not!" You received the Spirit because you believed the message you heard about Christ. How foolish can you be? After starting your Christian lives in the Spirit, why are you now trying to become perfect by your own human effort? And they also share Galatians 5:1, which says, so Christ has truly set us free. Now make sure that you stay free and don't get tied up again in slavery to the law. The reference verses for this point in Galatians point to the fact that Christ sets us free and we receive the Holy Spirit because we believe the message we heard about Jesus and made the decision to put our faith and trust in him as our Lord and Savior. As Ephesians 2:8-9 tells us, for by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is a gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast. We are not saved by works, we are saved by God's grace through faith in Jesus. We didn't earn it, so we can't boast about it. And as the Apostle Paul told the Galatians, we would be foolish if we now thought that we could become perfect in our own human effort and got tied up again in the law by thinking we could, could, or must somehow achieve or maintain our acceptance by doing it ourselves through our works. The performance-based system of the world doesn't apply to God's grace. It's a free gift. And once we are in the kingdom of God through our faith in Jesus, we are, we are told that nothing can separate us from God's love. We are in God's family when we put our faith in Jesus, and nothing can snatch us out of his hand. When we try to earn our way into God's kingdom, we have been We have been deceived, and we become vulnerable to Satan's accusations that we are not good enough, not saved, not a Christian, and a whole host of condemning lies that seek to steal our peace and joy of the Lord, destroy our relationship with the Lord and with the body of Christ, and to kill our assurance of our salvation or us literally by drawing us into temptation in things that would lead to an untimely death. I know Christians who were tempted, drawn away from what is good, and who literally died when they returned to the dark lifestyles of sin. So don't believe the lie that you have to meet some religious standard or do certain things to be accepted by God. Instead, believe the truth that because you put your faith in Christ, you have eternal life in God's kingdom, forever. And forever starts the minute you put your faith in Jesus, and the abundant life that Jesus has for you begins the minute you believe it and decide to live according to your new life in Christ by following him and his wisdom and ways. Today's Bible verses come to us from the Quick Scripture Reference for Counseling by John G. Cruis. This morning's meditation verses come from the section on affliction, discipline, chastisement, and trials, and it's the whole first chapter of Job, so buckle up. And it's Job 1 through 22, and we're reading from the ESV. And the word of God says, there was a man in the land of Uz whose name was Job, and that man was blameless and upright, one who feared God and turned away from evil. There were born to him 7 sons and 3 daughters. He possessed 7,000 sheep, 3,000 camels, 500 yoke of oxen, and 500 female donkeys, and very many servants, so that this man was the greatest of all the people of the East. His sons used to go and hold a feast in the, in the house of each, of each one of his day, and they would he would send and invite their three sisters to eat and drink with them. And when the days of the feast had run their course, Job would send and consecrate them. And he would rise early in the morning and offer burnt offerings according to the number of them. For Job said, 'It may be that my children have sinned and cursed God in their hearts.' Thus Job did continually. Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord. And Satan also came among them. The Lord said to Satan, 'From where have you come?' Satan answered the Lord and said, 'From going to and fro on the earth and from walking up and down on it.' And the Lord said to Satan, 'Have you considered my servant Job, that there is none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man who fears God and turns away from evil?' Then Satan Answered the Lord and said, does Job fear God for no reason? Have you not put a hedge around him in his house and all that he has on every side? You have blessed the work of his hands, and his possessions have increased in the land. But stretch out your hand and touch all that he has, and he will curse you to your face. And the Lord said to Satan, behold all that he has in your is in your hand. Only against him do not stretch out your hand.' So Satan went out from the presence of the Lord. Now there was a day when his sons and daughters were eating and drinking wine in their oldest brother's house, and there came a messenger to Job and said, 'The oxen were plowing and the donkeys feeding beside them, and the Sabeans fell upon them and took them and struck them— struck down the servants with the edge of the sword, and I alone have escaped.' escaped to tell you. While he was yet speaking, there came another and said, the fire of God fell from heaven and burned up the sheep and the servants and consumed them, and I alone have escaped to tell you. While he was yet speaking, there came another and said, the Chaldeans formed 3 groups and made a raid on the camels and took them and struck down the servants with the edge of the swords, and I alone have escaped to tell you. While he was yet speaking, there came another and said, 'Your sons and daughters were drinking, eating and drinking wine in their oldest brother's house. And behold, a great wind came across the wilderness and struck the four corners of the house, and it fell upon the young people, and they are dead, and I alone have escaped to tell you.' Then Job arose, tore his robe, shaved his head, and fell on the ground and worshiped. And he said, 'Naked I came from my mother's womb, and naked shall I return. The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away. Blessed be the name of the Lord.' In all this Job did not sin or charge God with wrong. Today's verses, uh, are the second— well, let's see, today's verses are the verses that are related to the second point of our counseling guides reference— counseling reference guides resource section on affliction, discipline, chastisement, and trials. And that second point is, God— Job, a godly man, was severely tried. He lost his possessions and his children, as today's, you know, first chapter in his story tells us. So why do bad things happen to good people? Ask Job, because while there technically are no good people because of our sin, our resource highlights verses 1 and 8 above to show that even Job— even God considered Job to be blameless and upright. While the text doesn't say that Job was perfect, as his story demonstrates, the Bible does show us that sometimes it is not easy to figure out why we are suffering. Suffering can happen to good people, the upright and blameless anyway, and there may be unseen forces behind the scenes that can influence our lives. Job's story tells us to endure in our faith, to rightly see that God gives and that he can take away. And because of all he— we have received from God, it is always appropriate to worship him. So, should we suffer, or I should say that when we suffer, we should remember Job and thank God for being with us in our trials and afflictions. As someone who has suffered losses with and without Christ, let me assure you that God is, God is with the brokenhearted, and when we remember His truth and stay in His presence, the Lord will comfort us and remain with us all the days of our lives. In sickness and in health, for better or worse, until death, where we will not part but be immediately welcomed into his eternal glorious kingdom forever. The church is the bride of Christ, and our covenant with God endures for all time and will give us the strength to endure what, what needs to be endured until we experience his glory. As always, I invite all to go to mtforchrist.org, where I always share insights from prominent Christian theologians and counselors to assist my brothers and sisters in Christ with their walk. Today we continue sharing from A.W. Pink's The Holy Spirit, and we're sharing from chapter 15 again, The Spirit Drawing. And it tells us, uh, today's section anyway, the natural man rejects God. So if you want to read about what A.W. Pink has to say about the natural man rejecting God, go to mtforchrist.org and you'll see that resource at the end of of today's blog post. As always, we recommend a lifestyle of Christian discipleship, um, of seeking the Lord and his will for our lives, and to practicing, uh, spiritual disciplines on a daily basis to connect to the Lord, to know him, and to, uh, stay in his presence, to experience your freedom in Christ. And if you don't know what that means, the Your Freedom in Christ, we offer our discipleship classes that we've taught that are available on our blog and, well, on our podcast and YouTube channel anyway, for Victory Over the Darkness, The Bondage Breaker, and Freedom in Christ. They're all audio recordings, and they're, they're from the work of Dr. Neil Anderson, and they're all based on the Word of God. And I recorded those teachings originally at my local Church in 2021, and I'm blessed to have people thank me for putting them out there. So we're very, very humbled that even the few, you know, granted not millions, but some people have found them and found them to be impactful. And I've received thanks, and I've received requests for the class materials. So if you're interested, you can email me at mtforchrist247@gmail.com and I'll send you the class materials via email at no cost, because I found those teachings to be very impactful and to help me in my faith walk. Um, you know, I went from the sinner saved by grace, the guy who condemned himself and just stayed in his trespasses and sins and hoped that God would forgive, even though, you know, the Word tells me he did. Um, you know, when I, when I went to recovery and then eventually found these teachings, um, I really started to experience my freedom in Christ and realized that I was free not only from death but free from sin, as the Word of God tells us. And, you know, that I could be free from sin. That I was set free from sin, and then it was a matter of believing it and walking it out. And it's, you know, it's a work in progress, but we've had great victories over addiction and sexual immorality, and we're still walking in that. And, you know, we're crucifying the flesh in terms of being a good steward to our bodies, trying to get in good physical shape because I want to, uh, I want to be healthy for the glory of the Lord, and I want to, uh, continue this life so I can share this message of freedom in Christ. And so that's why we do the blog, that's why we do the podcast, and I would say that's why we do our spiritual disciplines. But, you know, to, to stay in the Lord's presence is really really it. It's not to be accepted by the Lord. Just to remind myself every day, yes, you are a Christian. Yes, you're still free. And yes, the Lord is with you. And yes, he loves you. And those are, those are good things to remember. And so we encourage you to develop a practice where you tell yourself these things, because it's not just putting on, you know, some positive affirmations. It's agreeing with the the truth of God's Word, what he says about you and who you are in Christ. So when you do that, you'll stop— you'll turn away from the things that don't represent the kingdom. You'll turn away, and the Lord will change you from the inside out and help you in good times and bad, help you through times of suffering, and he'll make you an overcomer. So, you know, what's— you know, why would I want to walk in the Spirit? Well, I hope all those are good reasons, because it's what the Lord calls us to, is probably the most important reason, to be with him in, in our everyday life. So we encourage people to do that, and obviously we encourage reading the Bible. We just shared an entire chapter of the Bible today, which is definitely not typical, but we That doesn't mean we're not in the Bible every day. You know, we might not— actually, we might miss a day on occasion, but there's no day that we don't hear the word in one way or the other, you know, through the things we listen to— Christian podcasts, Christian messages, you know, we just basically keep— and worship music that quotes the word of God. You know, we keep We stay in God's presence throughout our day and literally talk to him and ask him for help, for help and guidance all the time. It's a life of peace. The fruit of the Spirit grows when you walk in the Spirit. That's why we, that's why we do what we do and why we encourage it, because we never, never knew this before. We didn't know this all our lives. We, we came to understand it because the Lord showed it and revealed it to us. His word told us all about it, but we, we saw that it was true. So we encourage you to, you know, seek the Lord and, uh, keep following him, because he's got a good life for you. Even if there's suffering, his presence will, uh, will make it, make it different, uh, will give you the strength to, uh, carry on and, uh, seek the good things that he has for you in your life. So let's pray. Lord God, Heavenly Father, we thank you for another day in your kingdom. We thank you for all that you've given us through our lives, and we know that you've given and you can take away, um, and we accept your will for our lives. And Lord, we just pray for you to go before us today, open our eyes to the things you want us to see, and lead us into the things you want us to to do. And Lord, we also pray for the people who might be listening or reading this message, that you would come alongside them and their prayer requests and help them in their walk of faith. Because Lord, we all need your help. We need to remember who we are in Christ. We need to remember who you are and that you never leave us or forsake us. We remember those things, we're filled with hope and joy and peace and we can make it through, uh, whatever trials that we might have to face. So Lord, we, we thank you, we praise you, and we love you. And we pray all these things in the mighty name of Jesus. Amen.