Christian Resolutions

“Christian Resolutions” by Romans

Well, here we are in the first few days of the New Year. It is a cultural tradition that we make resolutions for what we are going to accomplish, add to our lives or put out of our lives in the coming New Year.

Would anyone like to share with us any resolutions that you made for 2012, or, any stories about past resolution successes or failures?

Tonight, as last week,  I offer you a Discussion in the spirit of the New Year, but this time with a very different focus than last week. Tonight, we are going to look at what I call, Christian Resolutions. I will be utilizing some Topic Headings and Scriptures provided by Torrey's Topical Textbook, and Nave's  Topical Bible, and I give them each general credit, here.

What is a resolution? It is an action, a change in our lives that we resolve to make, or are determined to be performed.

Living a Life as a follower of Jesus Christ is a Life that should include regular personal spiritual self-examination, followed by changes in thought and behavior. In the Church I attended in Philadelphia, whenever we partook of the Lord's Table, a Verse was included during the ceremony that I have not heard included in the Service since moving to Virginia in any of the various Churches I have attended.  The Verse was quoted in context, and is found right in the midst of Paul's instructions regarding partaking of the Lord's Table, that he wrote to the Corinthians in 1 Corinthians 11:27: “Wherefore whosoever shall eat this bread, and drink this cup of the Lord, unworthily, shall be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord. But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of that bread, and drink of that cup.”

Let me ask all of you, has anyone else heard the Verse about self-examination included during the taking of Communion?

Let's read that Verse again and make sure we understand it: “But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of that bread, and drink of that cup.” We should not practice this self-examination with an eye toward not partaking of the Lord's Table, but rather participating. Self-examination brings us to an awareness of our sins. And when we become aware of them, what should we do? Confess them to God. Days before the Service, in a room alone and without distractions, review your activities, your responses to negative situations, your priorities, your generosity or lack thereof, your willingness to forgive offenses, your indulging lustful thoughts... Review in your mind the Ten Commandments. Read Jesus' Sermon on the Mount in Matthew, chapters 5 through 7. Allow God's Word to speak to you and correct you. Then allow that self-examination to lead to  confession and repentance days before the Communion Table.

Scripture tells us in 1 John 1:9: “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”

It all brings us to a clearer understanding of why we are partaking of the Communion Table at all. And then, as Paul continued in his instructions, after the self-examination and confession process is complete, "...  so let him eat of that bread, and drink of that cup.”

We read in Matthew 26:26: “And as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and blessed it, and brake it, and gave it to the disciples, and said, Take, eat; this is my body. And he took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, Drink ye all of it; For this is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins.”

But self-examination should take place even when we are not at the Communion Table.

Consider the following Verse:

2 Corinthians 13:5: “Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves. Know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates?”

That is, admittedly, a bit difficult to follow in King James English: Allow me to quote that again from a more modern translation in the hope of making clearer: From the International Standard Version, we read “Keep examining yourselves to see whether you are continuing in the faith. Test yourselves! You know, don’t you, that Jesus the Messiah lives in you? Could it be that you are failing the test? ”

Matthew Henry has this to say of that Verse: “Though it is God's gracious method to bear long with sinners, yet he will not bear always; at length he will come, and will not spare those who remain obstinate and impenitent. Christ at his crucifixion, appeared as only a weak and helpless man, but his resurrection and life showed his Divine power. So the apostles, how mean and contemptible soever they appeared to the world, yet, as instruments, they manifested the power of God. Let them prove their tempers, conduct, and experience, as gold is assayed or proved by the touchstone. If they could prove themselves not to be reprobates, not to be rejected of Christ, he trusted they would know that he was not a reprobate, not disowned by Christ. They ought to know if Christ Jesus was in them, by the influences, graces, and indwelling of his Spirit, by his kingdom set up in their hearts. Let us question our own souls; either we are true Christians, or we are deceivers. Unless Christ be in us by his Spirit, and power of his love, our faith is dead, and we are yet disapproved by our Judge.”

While you are digesting those words, listen again to that Verse as translated in the International Standard Version:

“Keep examining yourselves to see whether you are continuing in the faith. Test yourselves! You know, don’t you, that Jesus the Messiah lives in you? Could it be that you are failing the test? ”

This need not be a condemnation but it is a sobering question. However, it is also a question for which Scripture provides a positive remedy. Listen to these words Peter penned in his Second Epistle. In chapter 5 and Verse 10 we read: “Wherefore the rather, brethren, give diligence to make your calling and election sure: for if ye do these things, ye shall never fall:”

“If you do these things, ye shall never fall.”

Don't misunderstand: I am not preaching a gospel of works, here! I am saying two things: First, that we should regularly examine ourselves. And then, not if, but when we find sin in our lives, we are to confess those sins, and God will forgive us and cleanse us of unrighteousness. And then God would have us put whatever sins we confess out of our lives.

Notice what Paul writes in Ephesians 4:31-32: “Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice: And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you.” I do not believe in or teach Salvation by works. But the Bible clearly teaches that there are things that Christians will do not in order to be saved, but rather in response to being saved. We read of Jesus' words in John 8:31: “Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed;”

Now, let's back to Peter's words: Peter assures us that there are things that, if we do them, we “shall never fall.”

What things?

The things that he lists in the Verses that precede his assurance, and we'll look at those in a second.

These things are what I am calling for tonight's Discussion,  “Christian Resolutions.” These are the things Peter admonishes us to do, to make our calling and election sure.

Beginning in 2 Peter 1:5, we read: “And beside this, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge; And to knowledge temperance; and to temperance patience; and to patience godliness; And to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity. For if these things be in you, and abound, they make you that ye shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. But he that lacketh these things is blind, and cannot see afar off, and hath forgotten that he was purged from his old sins. Wherefore the rather, brethren, give diligence to make your calling and election sure: for if ye do these things, ye shall never fall:”

First, before we focus on Peter's list of what I am calling Christian Resolutions, let us notice that we are adding these things to what is already there, namely “Faith.”

Faith:

What do we know about Faith? Where does it come from? Are we born with it?

No...

As we read in Hebrews 12:2 that Jesus is “the author and finisher of our faith.” It is imparted to us.
Notice what the rarely cited Book of Jude has to say about it. We read in Jude 1:3 that we should “... earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints.”

Faith was delivered unto the saints. It was and is a Gift from God to the saints who were alive when Jude wrote this epistle, and it is God's Gift to us. But as the Parables of the Talents and the Pounds taught us, we are to use this Gift and bear fruit with it to God's Glory and Honor.

Of Faith, Matthew Henry writes: “Faith unites the weak believer to Christ, as really as it does the strong one, and purifies the heart of one as truly as of another; and every sincere believer is by his faith justified in the sight of God. Faith worketh godliness, and produces effects which no other grace in the soul can do. In Christ all fulness dwells, and pardon, peace, grace, and knowledge, and new principles, are thus given through the Holy Spirit.”

James tells us beginning in James 2:22: “Seest thou how faith wrought with his works, and by works was faith made perfect? And the scripture was fulfilled which saith, Abraham believed God, and it was imputed unto him for righteousness: and he was called the Friend of God. Ye see then how that by works a man is justified, and not by faith only. Likewise also was not Rahab the harlot justified by works, when she had received the messengers, and had sent them out another way? For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also.”

So Faith in a Christian is a basic prerequisite for being a believer. It is there because God put it there. We believe in Faith, but we are to act on it and show that it is alive in us. James explains in James 2:18: “... shew me thy faith without thy works, and I will shew thee my faith by my works.”

To that Faith we are to Add Virtue:

Virtue is translated, here, from the Greek word “arete” meaning “excellence.”

Merriam-Webster's Online Dictionary defines “virtue” as “conformity to a standard of right”

For Christians, “Who is our Standard of Right”? It is Jesus Christ, Who told His followers in Luke 9:23: “If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me.” His words “Follow Me” occur 17 times in the Four Gospels. If we are to add to our Faith, Virtue, which is “conformity to a standard of right,” then the why not add the Supreme Standard of Right, namely Jesus Christ? If fact, Scripture tells us to do just that: Notice the instruction in 3 John 1:11: “Beloved, follow not that which is evil, but that which is good. He that doeth good is of God: but he that doeth evil hath not seen God.”

To Virtue we are to Add Knowledge:

What kind of knowledge?

Matthew Henry writes, “The believer must add knowledge to his virtue, increasing acquaintance with the whole truth and will of God.”

How can we do that? By getting in to the Word of God, and getting the Word of God into us. We read some sobering words that we find in Hosea 4:6: “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge: because thou hast rejected knowledge...”

Yes, that was an Old Testament condemnation to the stiff-necked and rebellious children of Israel. But the principle is that lack of knowledge or rejection of knowledge leads to destruction. Of those who resist and reject the Word of God, we read in Romans 1:28: “And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient;”

We read in Psalms 119:66: “Teach me good judgment and knowledge: for I have believed thy commandments. Before I was afflicted I went astray: but now have I kept thy word.” Having the Knowledge that God would impart to us through His Word keeps us from going astray and into error, and destruction.

We read in 2 Peter 3:18: “But grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ...” And that growth will often require that we abandon and/or revise ideas and conclusions that were the result of misunderstanding, or an incomplete familiarity with Scripture. We are to grow into His Truth by the leading of the Holy Spirit. Notice Jesus' Words when He promised to send the Holy Spirit: We read in John 16:13: “Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear...” And we are to follow His lead, the lead of the Holy Spirit as the Father speaks to us through Him. We are renewed by the knowledge imparted to us, knowledge for which there is no other Source. Notice Colossians 3:9: “Lie not one to another, seeing that ye have put off the old man with his deeds; And have put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him:”

To Knowledge we are to Add Temperance:

First, Merriam-Webster's Online Dictionary defines “temperance” as:
 “1: moderation in action, thought, or feeling, restraint; and
   2: habitual moderation in the indulgence of the appetites or passions”

Matthew Henry writes of adding Temperance: “We must add temperance to knowledge; moderation about worldly things.”

In one of the occurrences of Jesus inviting His disciples to follow Him, He spoke of temperance in Luke 9:23: “If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me.”

Certainly self-denial would easily fall under the definition of temperance, being the “habitual moderation in the indulgence of the appetites or passions.”

But remember that Jesus doesn't speak of us merely following Him. As I quoted earlier, He said in John 8:31: “If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed.” We are to follow Him, but then once we start, we are to continue to follow Him! Jesus said in Luke 9:62: “No man, having put his hand to the plough, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.”

Notice Paul's understanding of the need to both follow Jesus and to continue to follow Jesus, all the while in the context of temperance: He wrote in 1 Corinthians 9:25 and 27: “And every man that striveth for the mastery is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a corruptible crown; but we an incorruptible.” (27) “But I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection: lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway.”

Paul writes of adding both Virtue and Temperance in Romans 13:14: “But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh, to fulfil the lusts thereof.”

Our temperance should be something that serves as an example and a witness to all those who know us: We read in Philippians 4:5: “Let your moderation be known unto all men. The Lord is at hand.”

To Temperance we are to Add Patience:

Matthew Henry writes of adding Patience: “... add to temperance, patience, or cheerful submission to the will of God. Tribulation worketh patience, whereby we bear all calamities and crosses with silence and submission.”

We are told that God is the God of Patience, but notice what Paul adds:

Romans 15:5: “Now the God of patience and consolation grant you to be likeminded one toward another according to Christ Jesus: That ye may with one mind and one mouth glorify God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

We are admonished to be likeminded not merely with fellow-believers, but with God's own attitude toward us of “patience and consolation.” Listen, again, to how the Verse is phrased: “ Now the God of patience and consolation grant you to be likeminded one toward another according to Christ Jesus...”

Christ is also cited as an example of  Patience:

Isaiah 53:7: “He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth.”

Various Trials of saints lead to Patience:

Romans 5:3: “And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience; And patience, experience; and experience, hope: And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us.”

Patience leading to hope is re-affirmed by Paul in Romans 15:4: “For whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope.”

This idea of the spiritual fruits of patience is confirmed by James when he wrote in James 1:3 “Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience. But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing.”

We are to Exercise Patience in Running the Race Set Before Us:

After reviewing all of the heroes of Faith listed in Hebrews 11, chapter 12 opens with the words in Hebrews 12:1: “Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us...”

We are to Exercise Patience in Bringing Forth Fruits

In His Parable of the Sower, Jesus describes the seeds which fell on good ground with these words in Luke 8:15: “But that on the good ground are they, which in an honest and good heart, having heard the word, keep it, and bring forth fruit with patience.”
We are to Exercise Patience in Well-doing:

Romans 2:7: “To them who by patient continuance in well doing seek for glory and honour and immortality, eternal life:”

To Patience we are to Add Godliness:

Of adding Godliness, Matthew Henry writes: “To patience we must add godliness: this includes the holy affections and dispositions found in the true worshipper of God; with tender affection to all fellow Christians, who are children of the same Father, servants of the same Master, members of the same family, travellers to the same country, heirs of the same inheritance.”

We often thank God for our being blessed with living in a land where we can worship God without fear of arrest or persecution. Such is not the case for many Christians living in China and various countries dominated by other religions. We should not take our religious freedoms for granted. Paul instructs us in 1 Timothy 2:1: “I exhort therefore, that, first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for all men; For kings, and for all that are in authority; that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty.”

We read in Psalms 4:3: “But know that the LORD hath set apart him that is godly for himself: the LORD will hear when I call unto him.”

How important is it to be assured that when we call, God will hear us? This is in addition to Peter's telling us how important it is that we add godliness and these other things we are examining, to our faith, assuring us that if we do so, we shall never fall.

To Godliness we are to Add Brotherly Kindness:

This comes from the Greek word, “filadelfia” meaning brotherly affection.

Romans 12:10: “Be kindly affectioned one to another with brotherly love; in honour preferring one another.”

Hebrews 13:1: “Let brotherly love continue.”

At the same time we should not limit our expression of kindness to fellow-believers. Jesus said in Matthew 5:47: “And if ye salute your brethren only, what do ye more than others? do not even the publicans so?”

Brotherly kindness, then, is the kindness that we extend to a stranger, as we would a brother. This is confirmed in 3 John 1:5  Beloved, thou doest faithfully whatsoever thou doest to the brethren, and to strangers; Which have borne witness of thy charity before the church:” Which brings us to the next item Peter said we should add to make our calling and election sure:

To Brotherly Kindness we are to Add Charity:

The word “charity” used here is translated from the Greek word, “agape.” Strong's Concordance defines it as “love, i.e. affection or benevolence.” It is most often understood as the Love of God, much higher than “fileo” or brotherly love.

The best way to discuss a believer's expression of “agape`” or “charity” or “the Love of God” to our fellow man, I turn to 1 Corinthians 13, known as the “love chapter.” As you will see as we review the details of how charity is expressed, we are not talking about brotherly love, but rather about love as God loves us:

1 Corinthians 13:1: “Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not charity, I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal. And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge; and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not charity, I am nothing. And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, and have not charity, it profiteth me nothing. Charity suffereth long, and is kind; charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up, Doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil; Rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth; Beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things. Charity never faileth... And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity.”

So, that's Peter's list of the items we should add to our Faith: Virtue, Knowledge, Temperance, Patience,   Godliness, Brotherly Kindness; and Charity. But where and how are we supposed to obtain the items on the list?

There is an another interesting list of spiritual qualities found in the Book of Galatians, beginning in  “Galatians 5:22: “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, Meekness, temperance.”

Peter said to our Faith  we add these things on his list. But we learn here that Faith, itself, is a Fruit of the Spirit.

Peter said to add Virtue, also defined as Goodness, which is another Fruit of the Spirit.

Peter said we are to add Knowledge, and we read in 2 Corinthians 4:6: “For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.”

Peter said to add  Temperance which is another Fruit of the Spirit.

Peter said to add Patience. Longsuffering is a Fruit of the Spirit.

Peter said to add Godliness and Charity (agape`). Love, translated from the same Greek word “agape`,” is a Fruit of the Spirit.

Peter said to add Brotherly Kindness. Paul tell us in the love chapter that “charity is kind.”

Besides that, we read in 1 Thessalonians 4:9: “But as touching brotherly love ye need not that I write unto you: for ye yourselves are taught of God to love one another.”

The items included in Peter's list of spiritual qualities that we should add to our lives, are all Gifts from God to us. All we have to do is receive them, and apply them. And, as Peter said in 2 Peter 1:8: “For if these things be in you, and abound, they make you that ye shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.”
I will conclude this Evening's Discussion with Matthew Henry's summary of these “Christian Resolutions” as I have called them, which Peter assures us, that if we add them to our lives and practice, we shall never fall:

“The promises to those who are partakers of a Divine nature, will cause us to inquire whether we are really renewed in the spirit of our minds; let us turn all these promises into prayers for the transforming and purifying grace of the Holy Spirit. Wherefore let Christians labour to attain assurance of their calling, and of their election, by believing and well-doing; and thus carefully to endeavour, is a firm argument of the grace and mercy of God, upholding them so that they shall not utterly fall. Those who are diligent in the work of religion, shall have a triumphant entrance into that everlasting kingdom where Christ reigns, and they shall reign with him for ever and ever...”

This concludes this Evening's Discussion, “Christian Resolutions”

Romans, January 6th, 2012