Our Right Standing with Christ Frees Us from Rules, but Don’t Abuse This Freedom
Jesus’s sacrificial death releases us from the obligation of Old Testament laws. We have freedom in Jesus and don’t need to follow rules. Instead, we follow Jesus.
Yet we need to guard against getting carried away with our freedom. The Bible has much to say on the subject.
Free in the Spirit
Paul writes to the church in Corinth that Jesus (the Lord) is Spirit. Through his Spirit we have freedom (2 Corinthians 3:17).
Free in Christ
Paul reminds the church in Galatia, that Jesus has set them free, free from sin. Therefore, they aren’t obligated to be weighed down by being slaves to rules and regulations.
Free to Do Good
Yet some of the people in the church in Corinth overreach when they pursue their freedom through Jesus. They claim that they had the right to do anything, but Paul points out that not everything is beneficial. Not everything is constructive.
Instead of doing whatever they want to do, they should seek to use their freedom to do good for others (1 Corinthians 10:23-24).
Free to Love One Another
In similar fashion, Paul writes to the church in Galatia. He reminds them that they are free through Jesus. But this doesn’t give them the freedom to pursue self-gratification, that is, to indulge in human desires. Instead, they should use their freedom in Jesus to serve one another in love (Galatians 5:13).
Free to Live
Peter also confirms what Paul says, writing that we are to live as free people (that is, not under the law or bound by rules). We must take care, however, not to use this freedom in Jesus as a cover for evil living, that is, as an excuse to sin (1 Peter 2:16).
Freedom in Jesus
We have freedom in Jesus to do what is right and to benefit others, not out of obligation but as a response to what Jesus did for us.
Peter DeHaan writes about biblical Christianity to confront status quo religion and live a life that matters. He seeks a fresh approach to following Jesus through the lens of Scripture, without the baggage of made-up traditions and meaningless practices.
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According to those who track public thought and opinion, the majority of people don’t realize that Easter is a religious holiday—or at least a holiday with a religious origin.
Given this, we must reclaim Easter for what it means.
The commercialization of Easter is strange. To start, we have Easter bunnies and Easter eggs, with the implication that the rabbits produced the eggs. How illogical is that?
Then there are colored eggs (both the real and plastic varieties), Easter baskets with a requisite bed of faux grass, pastel colored candies, and my favorite, the marshmallow peeps.
We send our children on Easter egg hunts and pile them with sugary candy. We do all this with nary a mention of Jesus.
Jesus is our savior who died in our place for all our sins (the mistakes we make throughout our lives). Then he proved his mastery over death by rising from the grave.
Celebrate Easter
If there is any connection between all this and Jesus’s history-changing victory over death, it certainly escapes me.
Where is the empty cross, the open tomb, and the risen savior? (Though it would seem a bit sacrilegious to chomp into a chocolate Jesus.)
In light of this disconnect between the origin and present reality of this day, my goal is that with each dip into commercialized Easter, I will have a conscious reconnection to historical Easter.
As I nibble on my peeps, I will meditate on Jesus and all that he did for us through his death on the cross and resurrection from the dead.
Peter DeHaan writes about biblical Christianity to confront status quo religion and live a life that matters. He seeks a fresh approach to following Jesus through the lens of Scripture, without the baggage of made-up traditions and meaningless practices.
We Must Take Care What We Put in Our Minds for They Drive Our Attitudes and Actions
We talked about why we need to be careful with what we say. Then we shared some biblical tips to guard our thoughts, since what we think about often flows out of our mouth. Let’s consider some thoughts we should avoid.
They are to focus on whatever is true, noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable, excellent, and praiseworthy (Philippians 4:8). So much of our present society doesn’t align with this.
Considering the opposite of Paul’s list, we can look at our world today to determine areas where we might want to control or at least limit our exposure to. Here are some things to contemplate that encourages to dwell on thoughts we should avoid:
News
I stopped listening to the news on June 15, 2020. Every broadcast specialized in negativity and was only partially correct.
Yes, each news story began with an element of truth, but the coverage soon diverged into biases and falsehoods, many of which confronted the Word of God.
It mattered not which station I listen to or watched: liberal or conservative. I found none that met any of Paul’s eight characteristics.
So that I’m not completely out of touch, however, I’ve settled on one weekly newspaper as my source of current events.
Though I lack knowledge of what’s happening in our world on a day-to-day, minute-by-minute basis, not subjecting myself to this negativity has lifted a huge weight off my soul.
I now move about my day with a lightness instead of the darkness their news sources promote.
Social Media
If the contents on all news broadcasts are negative and misaligned with Scripture, most posts on social media are an even worse source that promote spots we should avoid.
Though I have a presence on several social media platforms, I checked them infrequently.
I’ve also disabled all notifications. I check one platform once a day for a few minutes as I wrap up my work. For the others I stop by once-a-week. That’s enough.
I’ve often wondered about shutting them all down and walking away. So far, I haven’t. My once-a-day and once-a-week plan works for me.
Music
I’ve also weaned myself away from most music. Mostly, the styles I like contain lyrics I don’t appreciate.
I’m also prone to earworms, that is, “stuck song syndrome.” I’m okay if it happens to be something I heard at church on Sunday. But I’m frustrated if it’s from a commercial or other secular source.
Entertainment
So much of the content in movies and TV shows directly opposes a biblical worldview.
With most people shoving several hours of visual entertainment into their minds each day compared with a few minutes of Bible study, at best, there’s little doubt about which perspective will win out.
If we continually see people doing things contrary to God’s will, we can easily begin to regard their behavior as acceptable and then to embrace it.
Books
Just as movies and TV shows can pump ungodly content into our minds, so can the written word. Some books are positive and uplifting. Most aren’t. The key is to select with care the books we read and skip the rest.
Other Items
Other areas we might want to limit our exposure to is relationships that are toxic, close friendships with people living immoral lives, and affinity with groups whose purpose misaligns with God’s.
We should also be careful with where we go and how we spend our money.
I’m sure there are other things we could add.
We can think of these items as guardrails that help keep us on track with Jesus.
Not Isolation
These are sources that promote thoughts we should avoid.
In reviewing these items, we could conclude that we must remove ourselves from the world. Though various people have tried to do so in the past 2,000 years, their well-intended goal is off base.
Yes, Jesus said we are not of this world (John 17:16). And John later added that we are not of the things in the world. If we love the world, God’s love isn’t in us (1 John 2:15-16).
Yet Jesus also told us to go into the world and tell others about him (Matthew 28:18-20). How can we do this if we isolate ourselves from them? We can’t.
Therefore, as followers of Jesus, we must exercise care to the degree we immerse ourselves into our world. We must remain close enough to make a difference, well far enough away to not be pulled from our faith.
Peter DeHaan writes about biblical Christianity to confront status quo religion and live a life that matters. He seeks a fresh approach to following Jesus through the lens of Scripture, without the baggage of made-up traditions and meaningless practices.
Get the Bible Reading Tip Sheet: “10 Tips to Turn Bible Reading from Drudgery to Delight.” Enter your info and receive the free Bible Reading Tip Sheet and be added to Peter’s email list.
Our brain is our most powerful organ, which makes our mind a significant part of us. That’s how God created us. With our mind we can accomplish much, but through it is also the potential to lead us into wrong thinking, guide us into sin, and take us away from God. That’s why we must strive to take every thought captive (2 Corinthians 10:5).
Yet most people struggle to control their thoughts. Here are three encouragements from Scripture to guide us in how we can take every thought captive.
1. Set Our Hearts and Minds on Things Above
Jesus warns that from our heart can come evil thoughts. He lists murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, and slander (Matthew 15:19). But this doesn’t mean our hearts are always set on evil, we can establish our attention on what is good too.
Paul says to focus on what is above—on heavenly things where Jesus resides with Father God—and not on earthly concerns (Colossians 3:1).
After telling us to set our hearts on heavenly things, Paul adds a parallel element. He also says the set our minds on things above (Colossians 3:2).
Our hearts and our minds connect, with the priority of our heart directing the focus of our mind. What our heart yearns for, our thoughts take us there.
2. Think About Right Things
To the church in Philippi, Paul tells them to think about whatever is true, noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable, excellent, and praiseworthy (Philippians 4:8). These are 8 things we should think about.
If we’re contemplating these positive ideas, we’re not thinking about the opposite ones that Jesus listed and we already covered: murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, and slander (Matthew 15:19).
3. Fix Our Hearts on Jesus
We’re best to follow the advice we find in the book of Hebrews, to fix our thoughts on Jesus (Hebrews 3:1). He is the ultimate of all heavenly things, of all things above. He exemplifies whatever is true, noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable, excellent, and praiseworthy (Philippians 4:8).
This Is How to Take Every Thought Captive
When we do these things—set our hearts and minds on things above, think about what is good, and fix our hearts on Jesus—we prepare ourselves to guard our tongue and control what we say.
In this way, we can watch our words and exercise caution over what we say. And it starts when we take every thought captive.
Peter DeHaan writes about biblical Christianity to confront status quo religion and live a life that matters. He seeks a fresh approach to following Jesus through the lens of Scripture, without the baggage of made-up traditions and meaningless practices.
Get the Bible Reading Tip Sheet: “10 Tips to Turn Bible Reading from Drudgery to Delight.” Enter your info and receive the free Bible Reading Tip Sheet and be added to Peter’s email list.
There’s a saying of disputed authorship, “Better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak and remove all doubt.” As such, we need to be careful what we say. The Bible has much to share about our words and our tongue.
Tame the Tongue
James tells us that we verify our religion—our faith—by what we say, good or bad. We must keep a tight rein on our tongue, or our beliefs mean nothing (James 1:26).
Later, he writes that we are to tame our tongue. Just as we can control a horse by putting a bit in its mouth or steer a ship with a rudder, our tongue—though small—can do much. With our mouth we can praise God. But from the same mouth can flow forth curses.
Our words can do good. They can also cause much damage. In this way, what we say can corrupt our entire body. But with God’s help we can control what we say. In doing so we can keep our whole body in check (James 3:1-12).
Keep Your Tongue from Speaking Evil
Peter adds to the discussion, saying that if we love life and want to experience good, we must keep our tongue from speaking evil and uttering deceitful lies (1 Peter 3:10). In writing this, he quotes the words of King David as found in Psalm 34:12-13.
Be Careful What You Say
The Pharisees confront Jesus because his disciples aren’t following their tradition of ceremonial handwashing before a meal. He launches into a teaching to remind them what matters more.
He concludes by saying that what we put into our mouth—that is what we eat—doesn’t matter to God nearly as much as what comes out of it. Our words matter. And when wrong words come out, it defiles us more than the foods we eat.
Our words come from our heart and reveal evil thoughts, thoughts of murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, and slander (Matthew 15:11-20).
Yet when we speak positive words, we reveal our good heart. Proverbs reminds us that the wise person chooses words carefully and is even-tempered (Proverbs 17:27).
Keep Our Words in Check
God wants us to be careful of what we say and keep our words in check. When we do so, we honor him and provide a positive example to others, building them up and pointing them to Jesus.
Peter DeHaan writes about biblical Christianity to confront status quo religion and live a life that matters. He seeks a fresh approach to following Jesus through the lens of Scripture, without the baggage of made-up traditions and meaningless practices.
Get the Bible Reading Tip Sheet: “10 Tips to Turn Bible Reading from Drudgery to Delight.” Enter your info and receive the free Bible Reading Tip Sheet and be added to Peter’s email list.
Discover What the Bible Says about the End of Time
Some Christians give a lot of attention to the end times. Others choose to ignore it. Interestingly, the phrase end times doesn’t appear in the Bible, at least not in the NIV. Though four subheadings, added later, do carry this phrase.
The End Times
These passages about the end times are Daniel 12, Matthew 24, Mark 13, and Luke 21:5-36. Surprisingly, John’s epic end-time prophecy in the book of Revelation doesn’t mention that phrase. This is despite containing most of the Bible’s text about the subject.
What does the end times refer to? We might think of it as the judgment day or Armageddon. Other understandings are the end of the world, the day of reckoning, or the Apocalypse.
The End of Time
If these things are the end of time, what happens after it? Do all things, including us, cease to exist?
This might be a logical conclusion, but it’s the wrong one.
When God created our world and the cosmos that surrounds it, he also created time. Remember that scientists teach that time and space exist on a continuum. This means we can’t have one without the other. So, if God created space, he had to have created time along with it.
This means that the end of time doesn’t signal the end of everything, just the end of our temporal existence and the space that surrounds it. We will live on in the spiritual realm.
Revelation ends with a glorious look at a new heaven and a new earth, ushered in when time as we understand it ends. Eternity awaits.
Eternal Life
To those who reject Jesus and don’t accept his gift of eternal life (John 3:14-17), they’ll encounter an unpleasant outcome. They had the chance. And they’ll have more chances.
According to the book of Revelation they’ll have multiple opportunities to repent of their wrongdoing and follow Jesus. But many won’t. They’ll receive an eternal reward instead—eternal punishment. This is something to fear.
Yet to those who follow Jesus (Luke 9:23), whose names appear written in the Lamb’s book of life (Revelation 13:8 and Revelation 21:27), the end time is nothing to dread. We are on the winning side, and good will prevail over evil. We’ll spend eternity with Jesus.
Read more in Peter’s devotional Bible study, A New Heaven and a New Earth: 40 Practical Insights from John’s Book of Revelation.
Peter DeHaan writes about biblical Christianity to confront status quo religion and live a life that matters. He seeks a fresh approach to following Jesus through the lens of Scripture, without the baggage of made-up traditions and meaningless practices.
An Academic Pursuit of Religious Knowledge Can Cause Much Harm
When I wrote about the dangers of pursuing a right theology, I noted that God doesn’t want us to know about him. He wants us to know him on a personal level. In our pursuit of knowledge, we seek to categorize our understanding of God.
We’ve taken the mystery of who God is and turned him into an academic pursuit. We organize, and we intellectualize. In doing so we risk producing three negative outcomes.
1. Theology Labels
Theologians love to give highfalutin names to murky philosophical constructs in a vain attempt to quantify God and explain who he is. This produces labels for various theological thoughts.
People who study God from an academic perspective will align themselves with viewpoints they like and distance themselves from others.
Using these labels, they determine who is with them and who is against them in their spiritual comprehension of faith (see 1 Corinthians 1:12-13).
People too often try to do this with me. They ask, “Are you a (insert-theological-label)?” They grow irritated when I don’t answer. This is because I can’t.
By intention I’ve not studied the nuances of the doctrine they mentioned. Instead I study God as revealed in the Bible and through the Holy Spirit.
I follow Jesus and strive to be a worthy disciple. That’s all that matters. Seriously. Don’t let theological labels detract from this singular focus that trumps all others.
If we’re all on Team Jesus, everything else becomes a nonissue.
2. Theology Judges
As we put labels on certain theological perspectives, we apply these tags to those who align with them. We judge people based on which camp they reside in according to their set of beliefs.
As a result, we view some people as in and others as out (see Romans 14:10 and James 2:4).
If they agree with the beliefs we hold dear, we accept them. But if they have an alternate view, we judge them as unworthy of our attention and push them aside.
In most cases, the judgments we form by our nuanced theology force many people away. It’s us versus them, even though we all pursue the same God—the God of the Bible.
3. Theology Divides
First, we label. Next, we judge. Then we divide. We see this most pronounced on Sunday morning. We go to church with other people who believe just like we do. And too often we vilify those who believe differently.
This is why Protestantism has divided itself over the centuries to produce 42,000 denominations today. Most of these spring forth from theological disagreement.
Jesus prayed for our unity (John 17:20-21), and we responded by allowing our theological squabbles to divide us. Denominations are the antithesis to Christian unity.
Tool or Distraction?
For some people, an academic quest to understand God is a tool that brings them to him. Yet many more pour themselves into pursuing a right theology as if it is the goal, as if nothing else matters.
They risk having this intellectual path distract them from truly knowing God, from having an intimate relationship with him.
The result is labeling, judgement, and division. This trio harms the church of Jesus, distracting us from becoming all he wants us to be.
Read more about this in Peter’s thought-provoking book, Jesus’s Broken Church, available in e-book, audiobook, paperback, and hardcover.
Peter DeHaan writes about biblical Christianity to confront status quo religion and live a life that matters. He seeks a fresh approach to following Jesus through the lens of Scripture, without the baggage of made-up traditions and meaningless practices.
As we read through the law of Moses in the book of Deuteronomy, we come across a command that says that we are to “give generously to them and do so without a grudging heart” (Deuteronomy 15:10).
We might have the inclination to dismiss this command as part of the old covenant, which Jesus came to fulfill, but remember that he modeled and taught generosity.
For example, in his Sermon on the Mount, Jesus says to give to those who ask and don’t ignore those who want to borrow (Matthew 5:42).
This Old Testament command says to give generously to “them.” But who does them refer to? The context in Deuteronomy is other Israelites.
We can extend this concept to us today and apply it by saying that it means those in our church or other followers of Jesus.
This is an ideal place to start, but Jesus’s command to give doesn’t limit us to our own congregation or spiritual community. The context of the passage in Matthew seems to include everyone.
Applying Moses is teaching in Deuteronomy to Jesus’s call to give, adds the stipulation to not do so begrudgingly, that is, without a grudging heart. To give generously with the wrong attitude is disobedience.
There’s one more item from Moses’s teaching. He promises a reward for those who give generously and not grudgingly. He promises God’s blessings to those who give. The blessings apply to their work and everything they do.
But Jesus doesn’t promise a blessing when we give. He just says to do it. This should be enough. If we receive a blessing for our generosity, that’s a bonus.
May we give generously to those in need without thought to a reward, because Jesus says to—and it’s the right thing to do.
Peter DeHaan writes about biblical Christianity to confront status quo religion and live a life that matters. He seeks a fresh approach to following Jesus through the lens of Scripture, without the baggage of made-up traditions and meaningless practices.
Get the Bible Reading Tip Sheet: “10 Tips to Turn Bible Reading from Drudgery to Delight.” Enter your info and receive the free Bible Reading Tip Sheet and be added to Peter’s email list.
Be Sure to Follow Through on What You Promise to Do
Have you ever promised God that you’d do something for him? Sometimes these occur from the Holy Spirit’s stirring within our souls.
Yet other times, these come at a traumatic moment in a person’s life when they’re in the middle of a crisis.
They bargain with the Almighty. They make a conditional vow to God: “If you get me out of this jam, then I will do ______ for you.”
What goes in the blank varies. It may be an act of service, to give money, or to change a behavior, either to start doing something good or to stop doing something they shouldn’t be doing.
Regardless of the promise they make and the fact that it contains a stipulation for God to act first, the result is they are making a vow to God.
I’m not sure how God views these provisional pledges. On one hand it seems a bit manipulative by the person making the promise.
Yet there is the potential for good to come out of it, providing the person making the pledge keeps their vow to God.
Lest there be any doubt about it, God expects us to follow through and keep our vow.
In the book of Numbers, Moses writes that when we make a vow to God or promise to do something we must keep our word and not break our pledge (Numbers 30:2).
Though the Bible doesn’t require us to make a vow to God, it does clearly state that if we choose to do so, we must follow through and do all that we promised.
Moses later writes an additional command on the subject. He adds that when we make a vow to God, we must not be slow in fulfilling that promise. To procrastinate is a sin (Deuteronomy 23:21). A delayed obedience is disobedience.
Jesus repeats this instruction in his Sermon on the Mount. Then he adds a wise addendum, telling the crowd that the better solution is to not make a promise in God’s name (Matthew 5:33-34).
This last part is wise advice for us to follow. Don’t make a rash vow to God. Instead, live a life where we don’t feel we have to.
Peter DeHaan writes about biblical Christianity to confront status quo religion and live a life that matters. He seeks a fresh approach to following Jesus through the lens of Scripture, without the baggage of made-up traditions and meaningless practices.
Get the Bible Reading Tip Sheet: “10 Tips to Turn Bible Reading from Drudgery to Delight.” Enter your info and receive the free Bible Reading Tip Sheet and be added to Peter’s email list.
We Demonstrate That We Follow Jesus through the Things That We Do
I’ve written that we should treat love like a verb. I also suggested that we’ll do well to view Christian as a verb and not so much a noun (and certainly not an adjective). We should do the same thing with faith. Yes, faith is a noun, but we will do well to consider it as a verb, to behave as though faith is an action.
If we move forward and treat faith as a verb, we put our faith into action, actions that speak louder than words. If our faith fails to produce an outward expression that impacts others, what good is it? James writes that faith apart from action is dead (James 2:17).
Faith is Not an Intellectual Assent
Some people claim that faith is a personal thing, something they keep to themselves. And other people act that way.
Yet what good is a faith that we don’t share with others? Jesus says that if we acknowledge him to other people, he’ll acknowledge us to Father God in heaven (Matthew 10:32). The implication is that if we deny him, he might deny us. That’s an eternally monumental risk to take.
Belief is not enough. James confirms that even the demons believe God exists (James 2:19).
Faith Is About What We Do
James continues discussing the subject in his letter when he challenges people to figure out a way to demonstrate their faith without any action. They can’t. For his part, James shows his faith through his deeds, by virtuous actions (James 2:18).
He gives an example to drive home his point. Imagine meeting someone lacking food or clothes, and we give them a blessing and send them on their way. If we don’t attend to their physical needs, what good is that? What does our faith accomplish (James 2:15-16).
Faith Without Works Is Dead
James wraps up his teaching on the subject by saying that just as a body without its spirit is dead, so too is faith without any deeds (James 2:26).
If we aren’t willing to tell others about our faith and demonstrate it through our deeds, it accomplishes nothing. It is dead.
Peter DeHaan writes about biblical Christianity to confront status quo religion and live a life that matters. He seeks a fresh approach to following Jesus through the lens of Scripture, without the baggage of made-up traditions and meaningless practices.
Get the Bible Reading Tip Sheet: “10 Tips to Turn Bible Reading from Drudgery to Delight.” Enter your info and receive the free Bible Reading Tip Sheet and be added to Peter’s email list.
