Blessed are you who are Poor

Read: Luke 6:20

What does it mean to be poor in spirit? The closest single word that describes poor in spirit is “humble”. I want to give a more detailed definition, and then try to convince you from scripture, in future posts, that this definition is correct.

To be poor in spirit means to humbly acknowledge that I am spiritually and morally bankrupt, with nothing to commend me to God. I am spiritually worthless.

Not only does what I just said go against our culture, it goes against our human nature. It is offensive. But Jesus said, “Blessed are the poor in spirit.”

Being poor in spirit is a state of complete repentance before God. It’s not something that can be put on or acted out. It’s not self-pity, or self-hate or self-loathing.

Being poor in spirit is also not about having no value as a person. We have value. As Jesus said, “we are of more value than many sparrows.” We have value to God, but we have no moral goodness of our own. It is in this way that we are spiritually worthless.

So what is the opposite of poverty of spirit? What does it mean to be “rich in spirit”. It means that I have spiritual and moral value, and I have some redeeming features to offer God. It means I deserve God’s mercy, or even that I don’t need God’s mercy.
There’s no blessing for the “rich in spirit”; there’s only a curse: a pronouncement of woe.

Faith, Not Works

Read: Romans 9:30-33

Most Christians understand, at least in theory, that salvation within the New Covenant, in Christ, is by faith and not works (Ephesians 2:8-9).

On the other hand, many believers assume that within the Old Covenant, from Abraham to Moses to John the Baptist, salvation was on the basis of works, and not faith. This passage (Romans 9:30-33) is very clear: many within the Old Covenant were not counted righteous because they also thought that they could attain it by works, and not by faith.

It is one thing that those within the Old Covenant fell over the stumbling block laid in Zion, but why do so many Christians today also stumble when they look at the saints of the Old Testament?

Consider also the teaching of Romans 4:3-8:

For what does the Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness.” Now to the one who works, his wages are not counted as a gift but as his due. And to the one who does not work but believes in him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness, just as David also speaks of the blessing of the one to whom God counts righteousness apart from works:

“Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven, and whose sins are covered;
blessed is the man against whom the Lord will not count his sin.”

Abraham was saved by grace through faith. David was saved by grace through faith. To see the Old Covenant as one of salvation by works is to look at it either in ignorance, or as a Pharisee, tripping over the stumbling block that was laid in Zion. But we must not to stumble over him: instead, whoever believes in him shall not be put to shame.

Read Luke 5:27-32
Levi left everything, and then threw a party for Jesus. Who did he invite? People he knew: other tax collectors and other low-lifes of society. The Pharisees were not impressed.

In reply, Jesus says that he came to heal the sick, rather than the healthy, to be healed, and to call sinners, rather than the righteous, to repentance and salvation.

But isn’t everyone spiritually “sick”? Isn’t everyone a sinner? Who are these “well” people that don’t need the physician or these “righteous” people who aren’t called to repentance?

These “righteous” are self-righteous. They are righteous is their own eyes, but not before God.

Jesus doesn’t disagree with the fact that the tax collectors and everyone at the party are sinners. But does Jesus consider the Pharisees to be righteous? Absolutely not.

Jesus hated self-righteousness and hypocrisy, because it’s the worst kind of un-righteousness. This is why Jesus was so uncompromising with the Pharisees: they knew the scriptures, so they should have known better. If you’re not convinced that Jesus identified the Pharisees generally as rotten-to-the-core hypocrites, read Luke 11:37-44, and Luke 12:1.

When Jesus said to the Pharisees, “I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance” he meant something like this: “While you are stuck in your hypocrisy, pointing the finger at others, there is no call of repentance and salvation for you. You need to know and confess that you are a sinner, that you’re sick and in need of a doctor. You need to know that you are poor, a captive of sin, and blind and oppressed before you can be healed.”

What category do you place yourself in? The righteous who needs no repentance, or the sinner who needs saving?

If you see yourself as righteous, and in no need of repentance, let me tell you plainly: you’re not. If you need more convincing, leave a comment.

If you recognise that you’re a sinner, but have faith in God, through the work of Christ, then you’re a true Christian brother or sister.

If you don’t have faith in Jesus, and don’t acknowledge Jesus as Lord and Saviour then you desperately need to confess to him that you’re a sinner, and repent, and be healed by the great physician.

The truth is: I can’t tell what’s in your heart. I’m quite easy to fool, but not God. The self-righteous exist within the body of Christ: they look and sound and act like our brothers and sisters, but inside are “full of greed and wickedness”. It’s a fearful thing. That’s why the Word says, “Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.”

Was Christ's Death Necessary for God to Forgive Sins?

I recently heard an mp3 file of sermon delivered in a church in the town that I live in. Within the sermon (not the key point), the preacher said that

the death of Jesus was not neccessary for the forgiveness of sins. God was able to forgive sins in the Old Testament times if the offerings were done the right way. This means that God could forgive sins without the death of Jesus. (NB: This is a summary, not an exact quote)

I was shocked to hear this come from the pulpit of an apparently Christian, protestant church. You may not have even come across the notion that the death of Christ was not necessary for God to forgive us our sins - I hadn't. Here are some verses to read that demonstrate that the Old Testament offerings didn't take away sin (but only pointed towards Christ), and that Jesus' death was the only way that God could reconcile sinners to himself:

• Hebrews 9:23-26
• Hebrews 10:1-4
• Romans 3:21-26
• Matthew 26:39
• Luke 24:25-27

Jesus & Jehovah

Please read: Exodus 20:14 and Matthew 5:27

I had a very good conversation with someone today. I'd describe him as a straying, semi-secular Jehovah's Witness. His parents are Jehovah's Witnesses, and though he's wondered from that faith, it still makes up much of his core belief system.

JW's maintain that Jesus is not God (or Jehovah).

I shared the Matthew 5 scripture above and explained that when He gave the ten commandments, Jehovah-God said, "You shall not commit adultery". Then Jesus came and said, "You heard that it was said, 'You shall not commit adultery.' But I say to you..." That's a big call: to quote Jehovah, and then say, "But I say to you."

My friend hadn't realised that Jesus made claims like this; making himself equal to Jehovah.

The cycle of prayer and reasoning continues.

The Deity of Christ

Read: John 1:1-3

Believing that Jesus Christ is, always was, and always will be fully God is a fundamental teaching of the Christian faith. It's very important. The first few verses of John is one of the most significant passages in the Bible that establishes this doctrine: the "Deity of Christ".

Verse one is very plan; however, Arian heretics pose an argument based on the absence of an indefinite article in the Greek. Because there's no "the" in Greek, the verse could be saying - they say - "...and the Word was a God."

This is really a smoke-screen, and not worth arguing with, because verse three leaves no doubt. Verse three implies there are two categories of existence: things that were made, and things that weren't made. Jesus wasn't made, because without him was not any thing made that was made. He couldn't have made himself - he wasn't made - he's in the "things that weren't made" category. There was never a time when Christ was not. There was never a time when the Father did not have The Son.

We worship God who became man.