…separated to the gospel of
God… —Romans 1:1
{CHAMBERS} “Our calling is not primarily to be holy men and women,
but to be proclaimers of the gospel of God. The one all-important thing is that
the gospel of God should be recognized as the abiding reality. Reality is not
human goodness, or holiness, or heaven, or hell— it is redemption. The need to
perceive this is the most vital need of the Christian worker today. […] Personal holiness is an effect of redemption,
not the cause of it. If we place our faith in human goodness we will go under
when testing comes. Paul did not say that he separated himself, but “when it
pleased God, who separated me…” (Galatians 1:15). […] And as long as our eyes
are focused on our own personal holiness, we will never even get close to the
full reality of redemption. Christian workers fail because they place their desire
for their own holiness above their desire to know God. […] God cannot deliver
me while my interest is merely in my own character. Paul was not conscious of
himself. He was recklessly abandoned, totally surrendered, and separated by God
for one purpose— to proclaim the gospel of God (see Romans 9:3).”
{ELGIN} The pastor of Clearpoint
spoke some weeks ago about – the root – and the fruit in our lives. At the root of our lives we found the basis
for our existence. It’s the foundation
from which we exist … Before Christ, living in our old nature – the source of
our being was Sin. The root had to be
dealt with before the fruit in our lives would ever change. When I spoke in Haitian churches I would use
the example of a Mango tree. Mango trees
are as common in Haiti as oak trees are in the U.S. If the tree is a Mango tree then the fruit it
bears will be Mangos. But, if a tree
says “I am a Mango tree”, but when I go to pick a Mango I find Oranges, then I
know that the root of the tree is that of an Orange tree .. an inescapable
conclusion. (Matthew 7:16-20) “You will know them by their fruits. Do men gather
grapes from thorn bushes or figs from thistles? Even so, every good tree bears
good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit,
nor can a bad tree bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is
cut down and thrown into the fire. Therefore by their fruits you will know
them.” Now it is possible for people to appear to be one thing but really be
another. When our mom first became a
Christian, she behaved differently. We
knew what she was like before salvation and, not being Christians ourselves therefore
having no spiritual understanding, we, the older children, thought she was “faking
it” and would eventually go back to the way she was .. the mom that we
knew. That did not happen. Certainly she had feet of clay, meaning she
was not perfect, but she was not the same person we had grown up with .. she
had been born again. The old root had
been replaced with a new one.
I see Christians, more often
than I would like, who are trying to live like a Christian .. talk like a
Christian when they are around other Christians .. but are embracing their old
life .. not their new one. I have to
smile, probably should not, when I am speaking to someone .. a guy typically ..
and they almost let a swear word slip out in the conversation, but they catch
it before they do .. just saying the first letter or so. Do they not know the God sees the heart? They
know it, but they don’t believe it, and they certainly don’t live like it. So what is the problem? The problem is that they are living in
carnality. They don’t want to believe that. They have a simple understanding of their new
life. They mistake “church behavior” as
the Christian life. It’s a “face” they
put on when they are in church or around
other Christians. They are living a “half-hearted”
Christian life. Instead of bearing the
fruit from the root of Jesse; (Isaiah
11:10) “In that day the Root of Jesse will stand as a banner for the
peoples; the nations will rally to him, and his resting place will be glorious.”
(Romans 15:12-13) “Isaiah says, “The
Root of Jesse will spring up, one who will arise to rule over the nations; in him the Gentiles will hope.” May the God of
hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may
overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.” They are bearing the fruit of their old
nature most of the time. That is a hypocritical
way to live and they miss the blessing that is theirs in Christ. Listen – that is an easy thing to let happen
in your new life. Be very careful. And if you are there already .. repent and be
restored and refreshed … bear the fruit that God intended in your new life. (Galatians 5:22-25) “But the fruit of
the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness
and self-control. Against such things there is no law. Those who belong to
Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in
step with the Spirit.”
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