theology-sin

theology-sin

Hard Heads Often Lead to a Hard Life

/ Richard Bargas / Leave a comment

“How long, O simple ones, will you love being simple? How long will scoffers delight in their scoffing and fools hate knowledge? Proverbs 1:21–22 (ESV)

“If you keep going down this path, you two will end up divorced, your kids will be taken from you by the authorities, and you will end up in jail.” I remember the words coming out of my mouth and the shock upon the face of the couple as they sat in my study seeking counsel for their marriage. We had met over and over again. Sometimes the calls came in the middle of the night, sometimes they were desperate. Sometimes the conversations included drunken slurring of words and being hung-up on while speaking on the phone. Now they were desperate. Again they asked for help.

My sobering words to them were not my first words. They were what I feared would be my last words before disaster struck. Interventions with elders, other believers, social workers, and family had all gone unheeded. Temporary remorse was quickly undone by indulgence in sin. Drunkenness, drugs, adultery, anger and violent outbursts were all the fruit of their foolish lifestyle.

As Solomon appealed to his son to hear his words, he noted that wisdom is not hidden. She shouts in the streets to all who will listen, but the fool plugs his ears because he loves being simple. In v. 21, Wisdom asks the question, “How long?” Will this keep going?

I have heard those who have lived through difficult times refer to their education in the “school of hard knocks” as the only way they could learn the lessons they needed to learn. That is sad, because it isn’t the only way. Scripture is open, it continues to speak and hold forth light for those who are willing to accept it. What I think these people really mean is that they were so foolish and proud that they were unwilling to listen. Unable and unwilling are two very different things.

I can look back at my own life and many times see my own foolishness. O how I wish I had listened to the wise voices that pleaded with me. But I was unwilling. But Wisdom continued to speak truth, and finally the Lord’s words penetrated my foolish heart and I began to not only hear, but heed his Word.

Are you praying for a hard-headed fool? Don’t stop speaking truth. They may continue to delight in their foolishness for a time. Perhaps God in his grace and mercy will stop them dead in their tracks and open their eyes to see the truth, and will change them. He did it for me. And that couple? He did it for them as well. They finally heard the warnings and began to make the changes they needed to make, and God in his infinite love spared their marriage and their family, and began making something beautiful out of the ashes. He can do the same with the foolish person in your life as well.

Living a Robust Christian Life

/ Richard Bargas / Leave a comment

“Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called and about which you made the good confession in the presence of many witnesses.” (1Ti 6:12, ESV)

“No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.”

(1 Corinthians 10:13, ESV)

One of the dangers we are told exists with the current Coronavirus is the way that it is a particular threat to those with compromised immune systems and the elderly. Because this demographic in society often lack the physical stamina to fight off a severe infection, they can succumb more easily to viruses that attack the body than a person who has a stronger body and immune system.

In 1 Corinthians 10:13, the Apostle Paul is encouraging the church to develop a robust spiritual immunity by learning from the mistakes and sins of Israel. In many ways, Paul had heard many troubling things had taken root in this congregation, and Paul knows where this could very easily lead.

“Do not be idolaters as some of them were; as it is written, “The people sat down to eat and drink and rose up to play.” We must not indulge in sexual immorality as some of them did, and twenty-three thousand fell in a single day. We must not put Christ to the test, as some of them did and were destroyed by serpents, nor grumble, as some of them did and were destroyed by the Destroyer. Now these things happened to them as an example, but they were written down for our instruction, on whom the end of the ages has come.” (1 Corinthians 10:7–11, ESV)

What Paul saw happening in the church was a roadmap for destruction. He had seen it happen in the Old Testament as Israel left Egypt and indulged in sin with wanton abandon. Looking at their lives and their refusal to heed the patient and steady warnings of Moses and the Lord, the bodies of Israelites littered the wilderness for forty years.

How does sin “overtake us?” It is not because we are not equipped to handle temptation. The Israelite are described as having been fully aware of God’s presence with them when it says:

“For I do not want you to be unaware, brothers, that our fathers were all under the cloud, and all passed through the sea, and all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea, and all ate the same spiritual food, and all drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank from the spiritual Rock that followed them, and the Rock was Christ.” (1 Corinthians 10:1–4, ESV)

Israel was led by the shekinah glory cloud, by the Lord himself. They saw the Lord protect them and fight for them when they passed through the Dead Sea on dry land. They received provision in food and water in the wilderness, and all of these showed that they were led by God. But they still rebelled. This is how sin “overtakes us” in temptation. We give ourselves over to sin little by little. A little indulgence here, and a little there. We might have all the resources of Christ before us, but we do not take advantage of them. Instead we coddle our sin, like holding a rattlesnake to our chest. We love it, but it will destroy us.

“Now these things took place as examples for us, that we might not desire evil as they did.” (1 Corinthians 10:6, ESV). A robust faith is an exercised faith. It is one that fights sin. It may get knocked now, it may slip and fall, but it gets back up. It is a faith that cries out to God for mercy and help. It sees its own weakness without Christ and leans upon the salvation won by him on the cross. It looks and learns from not only the victories of others, but also the failures as well.

A robust faith is active. It isn’t like the seaweed that drifts back and forth in the tide of culture. It doesn’t wait until someone else comes to push us, but seeks to grow in faith by the study and application of the Word to self, and then seeks to go and help the weak in faith.

Temptation will always present itself. But like those that are physically healthy and strong can resist most diseases and threats to their immune system, so too will the one who is spiritually healthy be better prepared to face the temptations when they come. And even if they should succumb to the threat, they will grow wiser and stronger, even in their failure, and the next time, they will not fall as quickly or as easily.

Ugly Ambition or Faithful Service? Which Describes You?

/ Richard Bargas / Leave a comment

““Woe to you, when all people speak well of you, for so their fathers did to the false prophets.” (Luke 6:26, ESV)

“This is how one should regard us, as servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God. Moreover, it is required of stewards that they be found faithful.”

(1 Corinthians 4:1–2, ESV)

I don’t think there is anyone that wants to live and die in obscurity. But today, working hard and living a quiet life isn’t enough for many people. For a growing number, becoming YouTube or Tik Tok famous is what they aspire to become. That urge, and many more “acceptable” goals have driven people to do shameful and underhanded things throughout human history.

I wish I could say that this ugly ambition is largely absent from the church of Jesus Christ, but I would not be speaking the truth. Many Christians have moved their ambition from godliness to the glittering promises of our media age. Today, it would seem, anyone can grasp at a bit of celebrity. I am not saying that all ambition is wrong, but what is the goal that we are seeking? How do we want people to regard us?

In 1Corinthians 4:1, the word “this” (“This is how one should regard us…”) refers back to what precedes chapter 4, specifically, 1Cor 3:18-23, where Paul rebuked the Corinthians for boasting in their favorite teachers. Instead of seeking to be lifted up in our identification with men, we should first consider ourselves servants–but specifically servants of Christ. I have seen repeatedly how young men have hitched their wagon to their favorite pastors, teachers and theologians, as if somehow their identification with these men will given them credibility with the right sort of people.

So, who did Paul “hitch his wagon” to? How did he want to be known? He connected himself to Christ, but he did so by being identified as Christ’s servant, as his steward. This reference to servants and stewards fits well with Paul’s self-reference to him and Apollos as humble field workers in 1Cor 3:5. There is no great glory or honor in a field worker, yet there is a great importance attached to this enormous responsibility for the land owner and master. There is accountability that will come at the harvest and there is great dignity for the hard working farmer who sows and then reaps in due time.

So, while the proud, carnal believers in the church were crowing over who it was they were identifying with in order to boost their own credibility, Paul refused to play this game, and instead stated that he was content with simply being a third-galley under rower who is never seen by the Captain. Paul is a work-horse, an inboard motor for the ship. He is happy to work behind the scenes, so that the Master of the house is glorified, guarding himself from stealing any of that glory.

But, there are lazy servants. There are servants who steal, and loaf around, and some who distract the other workers with bickering and fighting. What sort of servant and house steward was Paul ambitious to remain? Paul wanted what his Master wanted-and the Master requires stewards to be found faithful at their work. Faithfulness is what is foremost in importance in the steward. All other attributes pale in comparison if he is not faithful to carry out his master’s desires and bring him the fruit of his labors. The dependability and trustworthiness of a steward has a direct bearing upon his being judged as faithful. The farmer who is not consistent, who does not work hard, who steals from his master, who is lazy will not be judged as faithful. First Corinthians 3:8 speaks of the farmers who will do their jobs faithfully and in the end will receive their wages according to their labor. The comparison of the faithful and unfaithful laborer is seen in 1 Cor 3:14-15.

Paul most likely recognized that as he was writing, some would be coming to their conclusions about how successful he had been in being faithful. Some would deem Paul a failure, and other a smashing success. But Paul cut through all of this, knowing that this sort of comparison ends mostly in sin, and he stated these words in his letter:

“But with me it is a very small thing that I should be judged by you or by any human court. In fact, I do not even judge myself. For I am not aware of anything against myself, but I am not thereby acquitted. It is the Lord who judges me.” (1 Corinthians 4:3–4, ESV)

It is the master of the house who determines whether his servant is faithful. That isn’t for me or for you to say. In the end, on the last Day, that will be determined. For me to try and guess, and for you to try and judge is neither fruitful nor charitable. After all, we should be more concerned about how we will be judged. Because on that Day, the eyes of the Lord will be upon each of us. So, how will we be found? I pray that I will be found faithful. What about you?

The Soon-Crushed Serpent

/ Richard Bargas / Leave a comment

“I appeal to you, brothers, to watch out for those who cause divisions and create obstacles contrary to the doctrine that you have been taught; avoid them. For such persons do not serve our Lord Christ, but their own appetites, and by smooth talk and flattery they deceive the hearts of the naive. For your obedience is known to all, so that I rejoice over you, but I want you to be wise as to what is good and innocent as to what is evil. The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you.”

Romans 16:17–20, ESV

This morning as I was getting into my car, I noticed a large weed growing at the edge of my front lawn. Not far was a large patch of clover that has continued to spread throughout my yard. As I began to look around, I began to notice more and more weeds. I take a bit of pride in my yard, and the battle against weeds seems to be never ending. I had a small shrub die recently, and I can’t figure out why, but I never tend to the weeds and they still flourish. All of this reminds me of the curse of sin.

As the Apostle Paul closed out his letter to the Romans, he thanked a litany of saints that had been a blessing and encouragement to him in the ministry of the gospel. However, in verses 17-20, after having thanked the hard workers in the church, Paul diverted his words to address the danger of false teachers who will work to break up that unity through their deceptive speech that makes it seem like they care for the church, but in reality they only care about themselves.

I don’t know of a pastor that hasn’t come face to face with a false teacher who has sought to divide the church, and many times under the guise of what is best, in their eyes, for everyone. As a pastor, it hurts to watch this poisonous deception spread like weeds in the hearts of those who listen to the smooth words of these liars. Paul had seen it happen, and he warned the church to watch out for this among themselves as well. He knew that when division comes, the work will stop. Satan knows this too.

Today I asked my wife to call a company to come and spray weed killer and fertilizer on our lawn. The weeds will be kept at bay while the grass will have time to thicken and grow stronger roots, enabling it to fight off the weeds as it grows more robust. But the fight against the weeds will never end…that is until the Lord Jesus returns.

Paul sees this as well. Paul wrote, “The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet…”(v. 20). The “peace” is the eternal peace given to the children of God through the atoning work of Christ. There will be no peace accord with the enemy. This God who brings peace through Christ will crush Satan, that serpent of old, not only under the feet of Christ, once and for all, but he will crush Satan under our feet as well. We will share in the victory that was won at the cross and which culminates at the Second Coming.

So for now, we fend off the brood of vipers, and we seek the welfare of the church through the fertilizer of the Word, knowing that it will help keep the liars at bay. But we also recognize that until the Serpent-Crusher comes to make all things right, we can take courage in knowing that he has already won the victory through the cross of Jesus Christ.

The Communicable Disease of Sin

/ Richard Bargas / 1 Comment

“I will not set before my eyes anything that is worthless. I hate the work of those who fall away; it shall not cling to me.” Psalm‬ ‭101:3‬ ‭

Using the perfect tense (“I hate”), David is steady in his hatred. David’s hatred is addressed toward the “work” of the wicked, perhaps leaving room for mercy by the repentant. David’s hatred, however, is for a personal reason. The nature of wickedness is that it is a communicable disease, and if tolerated, will eventually stick to those who give toleration to it (“it shall not cling to me.”). Only persistent care will keep it away.

Today we are warned of contracting a virus that may or may not sicken you, may or may not kill you, and may or may not be transmitted to others. There are many opinions both medical and anecdotal, but the Spirit’s words here have the weight of Divine truth–sin infects others easily, and it condemns the soul that does not run to Jesus Christ for their purification.