Inspiring Articles

Galatians 2:20

"I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me."

Paul's letter to the Galatians was written due to his anguish over hearing about how many of his converts in what is now central Turkey were deviating from the true gospel. It was written after his first missionary journey and the Apostle was greatly dismayed over the large scale tainting of the gospel he had preached. Paul decided to address the issue by taking his readers back to the point of their conversion to explain just what happened to them there.

In the moment of conversion Paul affirms that Christians are "crucified with Christ." We join Jesus on the cross in His death, accepting it as our own. We all deserve death, but Jesus died in our place, so as we accept this fact we then become crucified with Him. Jesus took our sins upon Himself on the cross and our belief in that brings about conversion.

Joining Jesus in His death is what conversion is all about. We who have come to Christ are crucified people. We share in His death and sufferings so as to attain the high goal of salvation and the subsequent reconciliation with our God. It takes the cross to bring about this meeting with God.

You see, God will not relate with us in our sinful condition. Something has to happen to make restoration with God possible and that something is crucifixion. God will not reveal Himself to us in nature or what theologians call "general revelation." It is not in the creation where we meet God, but in the "special revelation" of Jesus Christ. In fact, God reveals Himself to us in the cross of Christ. It is there we can have fellowship with Him.

This is because God hides Himself from our sin by covering that sin with the blood of His beloved Son. That blood makes it possible for us to be clean enough to relate with God the Father. God can be intimate with us in the cross because the blood of Jesus washes away our sin and keeps it hidden from God's sight. For this reason we can have a personal relationship with our Creator.

We cannot change our own condition to suit God. He will not relate with sin. If we are still dirty in His sight, then He will not be intimate with us. God requires that we get cleaned up first and that can only happen at Calvary. We need to be spotless to meet with God as He is spotless. If we have but one little blemish He will refuse our fellowship.

Praise God that He has provided a way to be intimate with Him through the cross! It is there that God reveals Himself for communion with mankind. Those who accept the cross and allow themselves to be crucified there in a faith commitment to Jesus Christ will be involved in intimate fellowship with the Father. Those who refuse the cross will be left out.

Our conversion, then, is nothing short of a radical change. Conversion is about being changed by the cross so that we can be in fellowship with God. Unless we are changed no such fellowship is possible. Those who end up in Hell will be the ones who refused to be changed by the cross.

Conversion can be described as Christ living in us. How often have we heard people say, "I'd like to be a Christian, but I don't think I can live it." The same is true of me and every other believer in Christ. The point is that no one can live it! Christ has to live it in and through us. I have no innate ability to live out the Christian life as described by God's Word. If I try it on my own, as many do, I will fail. No, Christ must live it out for me. I show that I have been crucified with Christ as I allow Him to live out His new life through me in my everyday existence.

Christ lives in me and displays His power in my life. This is true of every authentic, born again Christian. Those who would seek Christ must stop trying to live by His ways on their own power. They must cease attempting to please and pacify God with their own assumed merit. The awful truth is that we possess no merit for salvation and reconciliation with God! We must allow ourselves to be crucified, as terrible as that sounds.

The shame and pain of the cross is to be borne by the faithful believer before an unbelieving and scoffing world. The organized rebellion against God is opposed to the cross and they find it an offense. Even I was offended by it at first. But then I realized, as many people have and do, that God reveals Himself to us there. I did not find God until I found Him at the cross. It was in that horrible, offensive cross that I met my God and began relating with Him on a daily basis.

Now when I was first converted, I did not fully understand all these implications. What I am explaining here is the theology of conversion. You need not know about all these details and ramifications to be saved. The full understanding of what happened to us at Calvary comes with time. All I knew at first was that Jesus came into my life and I began having a relationship with God.

Since that point I have been living my life in the body by faith in the Son of God. Trusting God in all things is important to our walk in the Lord. It was by faith that I accepted the message of the cross. It was by faith that I accepted the challenge to find God in the cross. When I took Him at His word I was astounded to find that the message was true! I did find my God in that ugly, humiliating cross. Because faith brought me into such reconciliation with God I continue to live by that same faith.

Once we meet God in the cross we realize that Calvary was the greatest act of love the world has ever known. All the world sees is the outer grossness of the cross. Indeed, it is not a pretty sight because what we see, initially, is our dirty, rotten sin hanging up there. That produces shame, repulsive shock and embarrassment. The initial response of most people is to despise the cross and run the other direction.

Our duty as Christians is to tell the people of the world that God can be found behind the outward ugliness of the cross. We need to tell them that God's love is to be found inside, behind the outer crust. Many do not believe that such is true, so they hate the cross. They just cannot get beyond what they perceive as an offensive concept that continually points out their sin and shame. Those riddled with guilt need to peak behind the display of sin and see that God is waiting there for them with open, loving arms.

We have an obligation, as Christians, to tell the world that Jesus saves via the cross. The only way to be saved is to find God. We can only find God as we are crucified with His Son.

What God shows us at the cross is twofold: we are sinners who need redemption and God loves us enough to provide a way to accomplish that goal. Our Lord displays His great love for us in the act of death He experienced at Calvary's hill. God's love is so tremendous that He gave His all to save us. Christ's death on the cross was a great sacrifice of the grandest proportions. You will not find a more wonderful and complete act of love in human history.

Since this is true we should labor to tell the world that, although the cross displays their sin, it also is where God meets sinners. Those sinners are transformed in the power of the cross so that they are prepared for intimacy with the One who created them. At the cross God presents Himself on a basis to meet with sinful people. The world needs to hear that so that they may get around the shame of the cross and bask in the sunshine of God's love found therein.

We encounter the love of God in the cross because we encounter God Himself there. Jesus woos us to the Father via Calvary. He gave Himself for this cause so that sinners could be reconciled with the Father and be with Him forever. This ought to compel us to reach out to the dying souls out there who currently do not see the love of God in the cross.

It is true that many will not accept God's love and salvation because, for them, the price of crucifixion is too high. They instinctively know that such a thing leads to discipleship and a different lifestyle. In the cross we are changed from the inside out and many people would avoid that. Still, we must proclaim the good news that Jesus absorbed our sin so that we might be redeemed for all eternity. We must tell people in rebellion that there is much more to the cross than the outward pain and the horrifying stench of our sin. We need to explain that, while the cross may display their "dirty laundry," it is also the place where they can find God.

Some may say, "So what! I don't want God or His love!" However, there will be those who heed the message and accept personal crucifixion as the means of finding God. As we live for Jesus by His power we will be able to win others to God who is waiting for them at the cross.

David Hills

Light of Jesus Ministries

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Philippians 4:8

"Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable - if anything is excellent or praiseworthy - think about such things."

The Apostle Paul gives us some excellent guidelines here regarding what believers in Christ should find acceptable as we live in this earthly and often unholy realm. In its context, this verse follows what Paul taught about God's transcending peace that rules the hearts of those who are faithful to the Lord. The Apostle has already exhorted us to rejoice in the Lord always and to remember that the Lord is near. We overcome fear and anxiety in prayer and as we give thanks to God the peace we seek will be ours in abundance.

Verse 8 continues Paul's line of thought as he explains what we should find acceptable in life. Those who are living in God's peace and are dwelling in Christ with an attitude of rejoicing and thanksgiving will live honorable lives and cling to what is good and decent. He follows verse 8 with the admonition in verse 9 to follow his example. If we do these things, Paul insists, the peace of God will be with us.

First of all, Christians need to cling to what is true. There is so much falsehood in our culture and throughout the entire world that it is imperative for us to follow God's truth and live therein. We need to think about whatever is true and fill our minds with truth. The fake and the bogus abound in our land and Christians are often taken in by such things. I would submit that the Church is not immune to the infiltration of falsehood into its subculture and thought patterns.

False doctrines and practices have flourished in the Church for centuries. We are all too familiar with those things and they are exceedingly numerous, even in the modern Church. It is the wise among us who avoid such lies and deviations so that God's peace will not be eroded in our lives.

Paul then states we are to think about what is noble. This is a very foreign concept, indeed, in today's world, even in the current Church. The cheap, the shallow, the hollow, the stupid and inane are all embraced with great affection while that which is noble and of high quality is often disdained. We dare not be too lofty these days or we will suffer the ridicule of the general populace, both in and out of the Church. These people favor the ignoble. This trend is seen in our literature, our music, our entertainment, etc. Men and women of noble character are so few and far between that any attempt to be such a noble person is viewed with contempt and such persons are accused of fakery. "We're real around here" insist many of today's less-than-noble Christians who live rather unspiritual lives that are often no higher in standard than the pagans living around them. I have even encountered various churches that have slogans along the lines of "being real." What they mean is that they make no attempt at being noble - they consider such a condition to be phony.

This sad state of affairs flies in the face of Paul's admonishment to us to look to the noble. Some people do not think it is possible to be noble in character. They do not recognize the power of God that lifts us up to such a level. Since they fail to see that such a thing is possible, these folks illogically conclude that people who do strive toward the noble goal are not being "real."

In my ministry I have observed that many people in today's Church avoid the standard of thinking about and living by what is noble. It is considered too costly by many, and many more do not even believe that a noble lifestyle is possible. Thus a whole new theology has developed that permits Christians to live a lifestyle that is below the biblical norm. We have now made it easier to follow Jesus. You can follow Him on the high road if you want to, but since most of us do not want to do that, there has evolved a very dangerous alternative theology that permits us to follow Jesus on the low road. In short, we can now dismiss what Paul told the Philippians and whether people realize it or not, that is exactly what is happening.

Trouble is, Jesus does not walk on the low road as we understand it to be. He does walk the road of lowliness in regard to humility and reaching out to the poor and the downtrodden. But when it comes to holiness and righteous living Jesus only walks the high road. The dangerous thing here is that the people who insist on taking the low road of sub-biblical standards are not walking with the true Jesus. They are walking with a figment of their imagination or worse!

It is very possible, in God's divine empowerment to walk with Jesus on the high road of righteousness. God tells us to live a certain way and then He gives us the power to actually do it. I believe that it is substandard and biblically unacceptable NOT to be of noble character and to think about what is noble. We are called to be people who concentrate on what is of high quality, what is outstanding, what is of greatness and to walk in the ways that reflect this standard.

The implication here is obvious. If we think about and focus on that which is noble, then we will be people of noble personality and character. If we focus on that which is base, coarse, vulgar and obscene we will not be people of noble character. As we think, so shall we be.

Christians today need to stand up for what is right. We need to fill our thoughts with right things and focus on what is true and right in all areas of life. Paul says we should think about what is right and it does not take too much thought to figure out what right is and what right means for the Christian. Worldliness is not right, holiness is right. That may be over-simplifying the issue, but that is the situation in a nutshell. In Christ we can determine what is right and what is wrong as He shows us according to the standards of Scripture.

In addition to these things Paul also says we should think about that which is pure. Purity is not a popular concept anymore, especially in the entertainment industry. Neither is it popular in the area of human sexuality. But God blesses those who concentrate on what is pure with great peace. If we would experience His peace, then we must follow what is good and wholesome. Chasing after the impure things in life will bring a lack of peace.

The next thing Paul speaks of is whatever is lovely. Here again, we falter miserably in our culture. Loveliness, even in feminine beauty, for example, is not welcome on the whole. The beauty and charm that used to be the norm in what was expected in female attractiveness has been displaced by the distasteful and the vulgar. This is not true across the board, but it is often the case. Being lovely in the traditional sense of the term is passe today. This also would apply to our music. Loveliness in music is a thing of the past that is severely ridiculed if it is encountered at all. The carnal, grotesque and tasteless material being passed off as music in the past thirty to forty years has made us immune to beauty, class and charming loveliness in music. Even in the Church we often prefer the vulgar to the lovely in our music.

Whatever is lovely is not popular today. The whole concept of loveliness is seen as "wimpy" and "weak." The loveliness of a classic hymn, for another example, is often an offense today, along with any other beautiful forms of music. That which is lovely, wherever it may appear, is distrusted much to our shame. But Paul claims we will have God's peace if we think about (i.e. accept and embrace) that which is lovely.

On top of all this we are to cling to that which is admirable. This falls in line with a sense of the noble, as opposed to the base and unwholesome things in our world. God wants us to be admirable people. To accomplish this we must think about what is admirable.

We should also focus on that which is excellent and praiseworthy. There are many great things in this life that fall into that category. These are the things which need to be found in our lives. Our labors should result in such things as well. We should concentrate on excellency in all we do. God blesses us with peace as we follow this line.

These things are to govern our lives as Christians. While I would not encourage rigid, extreme conservatism here, I would say that these principles should control what we watch on television, what we listen to on the radio, what movies we see, what books we read, what music we listen to, etc. Too many Christians throw out these guidelines, or are seemingly ignorant of them, and then accept anything and everything with no thought to the standards of the Lord. This could explain why there is such a lack of peace among us. We cannot have peace if we ignore God's expectations. Many are those who throw out God's standards and then cannot figure out why they need therapy.

We must strive to cling to what is good, wholesome, respectable, honorable, etc. This is God's will as Paul has described. If we fill our hearts and minds with the world's low quality junk, then we will be low quality, junk people. The well-worn adage "you are what you eat" applies not only to food, but also to everything else we allow to come into our hearts and minds. Our spiritual and emotional health depend upon following Philippians 4:8. Without these guidelines we will falter and fail. We will totter on the brink of despair as God's peace leaves us and we become stranded in the desert of the world's ugly trash. Clinging to the godless, the unlovely, the impure and the false can only lead to spiritual decay and the result of that is a lack of peace. Scraping the bottom of the barrel and digging up the scum is for the non-Christians who have not the Holy Spirit. Christians should avoid playing in the dirt and the mud of the world.

It is important that we fill our lives with what is right, beautiful, lovely, admirable and excellent. We should strongly reject all that is unworthy of the Christian spirit. We should avoid false concepts and philosophies that destroy. Instead we need to cling to what is righteous and remember that holy living cannot be separated from Philippians 4:8. Thinking on these things and allowing our lives to be governed by these principles is what holiness is all about. Anything that is beneath the standard that Paul has described should be thrown out by the followers of Jesus. Such action is the only way to true peace for believers in Christ.

David Hills

Light of Jesus Ministries