Sins and the Sinner

Dead Old Man (1)

Overheard somebody evangelizing his friend:

“You will agree with me that everyone has sinned,” said the evangelist.

“No. I don’t steal or kill; I don’t drink or womanize. I have done nothing that will put me in jail. I am a good man, not a sinner,” replied the non-believer.

“But you do lose your temper on your wife; and you couldn’t quit smoking though you wanted too,” the evangelist pressed.

“Well… I admit to that, but who could be perfect?”

“Jesus said you must be perfect like God. His standard is very high. Elsewhere – in Rom 3:23 – the Bible says all have sinned and fall short of God’s standard. That’s why you need Jesus; He can wash away all your sins."

…                             …                             …                             …                             …                         ...

Can you see through the simple technique? Most people like to think of themselves as being good, no matter if they believe in God or not.  You agree with them that they are no big sinner but press them to admit to their “little” sins. Play with their conscience, it is always more than happy to back you up. When they say no one can be perfect, you go along with them but stress that God has a different standard that He requires of us. There you have them cold. If they are still with you, bring out Rom 3:23 – memorize it if you need to. What about Matthew 5 where Jesus claimed that so much as you gaze at a sexy girl you committed adultery? Nudge them in that direction and before long you’ll have them confessing.    Since the non-believer admitted he has sinned, and that makes him a sinner, it follows that he needs a savior - here comes Jesus. Job done; give yourself a pat at the back.

Before, I would be elated if I manage to pull this off. I reckoned even Jesus would have been proud of me. I don’t mind telling you I’ve tried this many times over. But now I know better.

The problem with the above presentation is that it speaks only half the truth. And if we are not careful, we could find ourselves propagating a lie. What is true is this: Jesus could wash away all your sins – all the wrongs you’ve committed. What is not true is this: because you sin – commit wrongs - that constitutes you as a sinner. The truth is that because you are a sinner you sin; it’s not because you sin that you become a sinner.

Hold your fire if you feel like shooting me, I can prove to you what I say rather easily. But just think for a moment the implication of my proposition. If it’s true that because one is a sinner thereby he sins, then it’s not enough that Jesus only takes away his sins. The sinner will still sin. There are essentially two problems: the problem of sins (related to our actions and behavior) and the problem of the sinner (related to our nature and identity).

The question to ask is this: Does Jesus’ finished work provides for the forgiveness of sins only, or does it also deal with the problem of the sinner?

Make no mistake about it; I think the forgiveness of sins is most important. If we only have this it is still fantastic. It is still very good news. But if Jesus has also dealt with the problem of the sinner, then many have only heard half the truth. There is much more.

Photo Credit: chanpipat at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Favor Comes, Suddenly

Mei Wan's Christmas deco 2011

Christmas is upon us, suddenly.

Many of us are like that, so busy living life that we wouldn’t notice if Life has crept up on us. Whatever keeps us busy has a way of sucking us into its system, enticing us to look at things only from its perspective. This is especially so when we try to eke out a living. Our work becomes our life, and we have a great excuse to be complacent keep on going on. Even when good things are happening around us and for us, we are oblivious of them. We actually run the risk of losing our life trying to find it.

Perhaps this was the case also with the shepherds out in the field the night Jesus was born. They were minding their own business, unaware of the greatest blessing that has come upon them. That is, until the angels turned up. (Read the shepherd's story here)

And behold, an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them…(Luke 2:9, NKJV)

The night the shepherds found themselves in speak of the night in their hearts and in their lives; maybe yours and mine too. With our meagre effort, we could never hope to escape this darkness however hard we try. In fact our eyes would soon get used to the darkness.

But the good news is this: God is very eager to let His light shine on us and all around us. No matter what we are going through in life it’s never God’s will for us to get used to the darkness. He will do something. He will bring a bright and glorious morn.

This is what God’s messengers essentially said to the shepherds, “Do not be afraid, God has sent you His son Jesus to bring you peace and favour. His light has come.” (Luke 2:10-14) Today He says the same to us.

The shepherds put down their work and ran to find Jesus. They celebrated the first Christmas. Perhaps we should also lay down what we are doing to go into His presence. We will see what He is doing and receive from what He is doing. Then we’ll find:

His favor has come upon us, suddenly.

Merry Christmas!

Photo Credit: Mei Wan
Scripture Link: BibleGateway.com 

God’s Joy and God’s Providence

Charissa and her piggy-bank

In August, I left the job where I had been working for six and a half years. Leaving the company was easy; I had asked the Lord for the permission to move on since 2007 and the very moment I had a confirmation from Him I didn’t look back. It was a step of faith though, as I didn’t have any offer at the time I resigned.

I handed in my resignation on the last day of June and worked till end of July. Initially I didn’t actively look for a job, but explored the possibility of some business ventures with a few friends. Nothing concrete came of them. I had plenty of free time, so I took the opportunity to start my three-year-old daughter in a kindergarten, driving her to and fro and spending much time with her. I really enjoyed the time I could spend with her.

However, as the days wore on, I became more and more anxious. My reserve was dwindling, and it seemed that none of the business ventures was working out.

All I could take heart of was the fact that I could spend more time with my little girl. In the course of time we have formed a habit – everyday I would give her a fifty-cent coin for her piggy-bank. Every time she received it from my hand she would beam a hearty smile and said, “Thank you, daddy.” It was lovely. I truly enjoyed seeing her so happy.

One day, as I was about to hand Charissa her fifty-cent coin, a thought came to me that I should keep it instead. But then I thought how could this small amount make any difference to my financial condition? There and then I resolved not to allow any change into this gesture of love between father and daughter. Indeed I want to be able to provide for my family all that they need and desire. As I handed her the fifty-cent coin, I uttered a simple prayer in my heart to my Father God that He would see to it that my desire be fulfilled. Charissa smiled and said thank you as usual, but this time with her smile I heard God’s voice speaking in my heart:

Son, as much as you take pleasure in the smile of your daughter, so do I take pleasure in your smile. If you know how to give good gifts to your child, how much more do I know how to give good gifts to you?  I will provide.

That was some time in August. In mid September, I went for my first formal job interview since 2007. Before the interview was over, I was offered a job, with a substantially better pay than my last one.

As my Father in heaven says, I will provide.

River of Life

Living Inside Out (5)

One day I made a casual remark to my three year-old daughter that Jesus was inside her. Bemused, she asked, ‘Jesus in my stomach ah?’

What’s inside us? This is an interesting question.

Man is made up of body, soul and spirit. One good definition goes like this: man is a spirit, he has a soul and he lives in a body. It is important to understand that man is a spirit being, it is his spirit that defines what he is and who he is, not the soul or the body. The soul is made up of mind, emotion and will – the thinker, feeler and chooser. The body houses the soul and the spirit; it is what others see us from the outside and it comprises all the physical senses.

In the beginning, man had uninhibited communion with God through man’s spirit, for God is a spirit. He was alive unto God. But after man sinned – Adam ate from the forbidden tree - his spirit became dead to God. At the same time he also became alive to sin. Instead of being joined to God, his spirit is now joined to sin and sin became his master. So after the Fall, man’s nature took on that of his master, bent to do sin’s bidding – to sin is now natural to him. More than that, sin’s dominion brought about everything bad and evil to his life: curse, strife, sickness, poverty, physical death and all forms of darkness.  

How could man get out of this miserable condition? Jesus told Nicodemus that he must be born again (John 3:3).

It’s a spiritual birth, not a natural one. The result is that man’s spirit becomes alive unto God again. In fact God’s spirit – the Holy Spirit – comes to dwell in man’s spirit. The Holy Spirit is in you, so long as you have Christ.  You are a new creation joined to God.

The Holy Spirit lives in the believer, and He wants out! Not that He doesn’t like to be with us, but His nature is like a river that flows. On two separate occasions Jesus spoke of the Holy Spirit in such manner, you can read about it here: John 7:37-39, John 4:13-14. But to me the most vivid picture of the Holy Spirit as a river is given by Ezekiel 47.

Ezekiel was shown a vision of the River of Life that flows from the temple towards the east ending at the Dead Sea. The prophet recorded an astonishing sight. Through the course of the River it became very wide and very deep and brought life to everything it touches. Fishermen’s business flourished because the Dead Sea’s water, once couldn’t sustain life, was healed and become filled with fish. Fruit trees grew in abundance along the River and bumper crops were harvested every month. Leaves from the trees became medicine for healing. You have healing, and you have prosperity. The last sentence of Verse 9 pretty much sums it up: everything will live wherever the river goes (NKJV).

You have the River inside you. When it flows out, it will touch your spirit, soul, body, your family, your relationships, your finance, your job, your business, your study and the world around you. It doesn’t take much to be blessed and be a blessing, just be aware of the River of Life and let it flow. 

Everything will live wherever the river goes.

Scripture Link: BibleGateway.com 

You Can Have What You Say

Living Inside Out (4)

One way to release the Kingdom is by speaking.

Jesus showed us how this is done in the Mark 4 passage. In this passage, how did Jesus calm the storm? He arose and rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, “Peace, be still!” And the wind ceased and there was a great calm (Mk 4:39, NKJV). Jesus “rebuked” the wind and “said” to the sea – that’s how He did it, by His words.

Words carry enormous amount of power: death and life are in the power of the tongue (Prov18:21). Jesus said His words are spirit and are life (John 6:63). Words are of the spirit realm and His Kingdom is also of the spirit realm. The Kingdom could be carried by words. In fact, Jesus demonstrated that He could use words to bring the Kingdom into the world around Him. When peace replaced the storm, when the reality of heaven prevailed, it was proof that the Kingdom had come on the scene.

But just as life could be transmitted through words, so could death. Therefore it’s not the case of saying words like a formula to get what we want, but what matters is the spirit that the words carry – whether it is of the devil or of God. Only faith-filled words bring God’s Kingdom on the scene. Having said that, we could all start with being careful in what we say.

A few days ago I had an experience that illustrates the point well. Over the telephone Sister Rose complained to me about an abnormal condition: she was shivering in cold and sweating profusely at the same time. She had not been feeling well for over a month and the condition was getting worse. The doctors did not find anything serious except to say that a valve of her heart was not functioning well. The medication did not seem to help. But our sister sure believed in God’s healing power and gladly received my prayer. While I prayed the Lord led me to speak against an evil oppression on her. I rebuked the oppression and commanded the body to be well. It didn’t take long after putting down the phone that she found herself completely liberated. She went for a walk and the sweating and the “body-cold” left her. This is a classic case of speaking the Kingdom into the situation, even over the phone.

Jesus’ disciples used words too in the crisis: Teacher, do You not care that we are perishing? (Mk 4:38, NKJV) However, their words were not positioned to make a decree on the situation to change the circumstances, but merely state the fact they were facing. It’s like what the Lord told Charles Capps once (which he related in his book The Tongue – A Creative Force):

I have told my people they can have what they say, but my people are saying what they have.

Release the Kingdom - you can have what you say.

Releasing the Kingdom

Living Inside Out (3)

We can only give what we have.

One time the apostles Peter and John went up to the temple at Jerusalem and on their way met a lame man at the gate who begged for money. Then Peter said, “Silver and gold I do not have, but what I do have I give you: In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk.” (Acts 3:6, NKJV) The lame man was healed on the spot, strength coming into him. Leaping up, he stood on his feet and walked.

What Peter had done was simply to give away the Kingdom. It’s not that there was no silver or gold in God’s Kingdom, but Peter understood that there’s health and wholeness in the Kingdom - that’s what the lame man needed.

Just as Peter could release the Kingdom into the world around him, so could all born again believers. God’s Kingdom is within us (Luke 17:21) – this is an amazing truth. It doesn’t matter what are the needs we face or others around us face, we have the solution. Every time the Kingdom comes into collision with the reality of this world the Kingdom always wins, and the reality of the Kingdom would take over. There is life, peace, health and abundant prosperity in the Kingdom, but there’s no lack in anything.

Jesus asked His disciples to pray that the Kingdom come (Matt 6:10). The Kingdom can come upon the believer as well as being released from the believer. If you think about it, this is similar to the Holy Spirit. Jesus told His disciples before His ascension that they shall receive power when the Spirit has come upon them (Acts 1:8). But before that He also said that the Spirit would flow from their hearts like rivers of living water (John 7:38-39). Although we can’t say that the Spirit and the Kingdom are one, we do know that the Kingdom is in the Spirit (Rom 14: 17). Therefore, like the Spirit, the Kingdom can be released from the believer.

Now, this is the make-up of the believer: he hosts and releases the Kingdom. But like Jesus’ disciples facing the storm, many of us have not learned to live this way. Perhaps it is simply because we are not aware of what we carry inside.

Rise up and calm the storm! You can give what you have.


Photo Credit: Evgeni Dinev on FreeDigitalPhotos.net
Scripture Link: BibleGateway.com

Let Your Internal Reality Change Your External Circumstances

Living Inside Out (2)

Mark 4:35-41

Jesus had perfect peace inside, and His focus was on this internal reality rather than the storm outside. That’s why He did not panic like His disciples did.

When facing difficult circumstances we can choose to remain at ease connected to God’s Kingdom or we can act according to what we see and feel. As children of God, His Kingdom is within us (Luke 17:21). If God is with us, we will surely make it to the other side. To choose to live according to what we see and feel is to ignore the invisible and invincible Kingdom inside.

Jesus’ disciples allowed themselves to be overwhelmed by the storm. They saw, they felt, they thought about it and they decided that it could be fatal. Before they approached Jesus their hearts were already gripped with fear. Fear is something tangible, it’s something real. But this reality is inside, not outside. So what actually happened to the disciples?

The storm had moved from outside their body to inside their soul.

We have to guard what we have, because there is a thief who comes to steal, kill and destroy (John 10:10). If we are not careful, he will steal our peace. Then, like the disciples, we would have let what’s outside affect what’s inside.

Jesus lived the other way round. He would not let the outside affect the inside. I have read the passage in Mark many times, but every time I thought it comical that Jesus could keep on sleeping in that kind of condition. Apart from the fact that it’s because He lived in Shalom peace, I believe Jesus also wanted to teach us something by his sleeping. He was effectively saying this: shut the external conditions out of your system. Ignore them. Of course, Jesus could laugh heartily and He could weep at what He saw. He lived like a normal man. Even so, He was never fazed or intimidated by unfavorable external circumstances.

But there’s more to it. Inside Jesus there’s no storm, but He did have a lot of peace. His Kingdom is peace. He carried it in great measure and He could release it to the world around Him. What He had not he could not give but what He had He could give. He released His Shalom peace into the outside world. Just as the disciples’ fear was tangible, His peace was also tangible and of superior reality. The storm had to cease. Jesus then rebuked His disciples; obviously He meant that they could have done what He did. So, in whatever storm you find yourself in, do what Jesus did:

Let your internal reality change your external circumstances.


Scripture Link: BibleGateway.com