Thoughts: From previous blog

I began thinking about the last blog (thinking can be dangerous). I wrote about Nicodemus the Pharisee. Pharisees are the “Pious ones.” They teach the law. They gather disciples. They argue doctrine so they can correctly interpret the word of God. They are presidents of the Synagogues. And they are on town councils where they make sure the law of the land is in accordance with scripture.

We as Baptists can be very similar sometimes. We teach, gather disciples, argue doctrine (one such argument is between Calvinism and Freewill Baptists), we work to help our government implement laws according to scripture. We sit in our churches, we talk to our friends about the Bible and as iron sharpens iron we develop within ourselves the correct understanding of scripture.

Jesus said of the Pharisees, “And you experts in the law, woe to you, because you load people down with burdens they can hardly carry, and you yourselves will not lift one finger to help them.” (Luke 11:46)

The Bible says: Jesus went through all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the good news of the kingdom and healing every disease and sickness. When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. Then he said to his disciples, "The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field."(Matthew 9:35-38)

Jesus said to His disciples and to us: “Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you." And with that he breathed on them and said, "Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive anyone his sins, they are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven." (John 20:21-23)

Often as we go, we tell people (as the Pharisees likewise did!) “Pray this prayer,” or “believe this doctrine.” These things can be done in the flesh. We can fake words without involving the heart. Jesus desires that we change from the inside, not the outside. (Ezekiel 18:31; 36:24-32; see also Jeremiah 31:31-34; Hosea 6:6; 1 Sam 15:22; Psalm 40:5-10)

Jesus said, “I tell you the truth, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit. Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit. You should not be surprised at my saying, `You must be born again.' The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.” (John 3:5-7)

As Jesus said to Nicodemus and He tells those of us enveloped in church culture, “You must be born again.” You see, “God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son. … God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.” (John 3:16-17) We are to go into the world, not to condemn the world, but to share the life changing message of Jesus.

Jesus said of the Pharisees, “You hypocrites! You travel over land and sea to win a single convert, and when he becomes one, you make him twice as much a son of hell as you are.” (Mt 23:15) He tells us, “This is what is written: The Christ will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, and repentance and forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things.” (Luke 24:46-48)

Paul wrote: “So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view. Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men's sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. We are therefore Christ's ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ's behalf: Be reconciled to God. God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” (2 Cor 5:16-21)

And he went on to say, “We put no stumbling block in anyone's path, so that our ministry will not be discredited. Rather, as servants of God we commend ourselves in every way: in great endurance; in troubles, hardships and distresses; in beatings, imprisonments and riots; in hard work, sleepless nights and hunger; in purity, understanding, patience and kindness; in the Holy Spirit and in sincere love.” (2 Cor. 6:3-6)

Let us do the same.