Thinking Deeply for God’s Sake

 

by Alastair Begg Think over what I say, for the Lord will give you understanding in everything 2 Timothy 2:7 It is not unusual—in fact, it’s quite common—for Christian faith to be regarded as a kind of illogical belief in improbable events. For some, faith is seen as a crutch to prop up less rational people as they navigate life’s challenges. Such critics may be surprised to learn that in reality, Christianity calls its followers not to neglect their minds but to critically engage them. When we read the Bible, we discover that it never invites us simply to feel things; it never attempts merely to sweep us up in an emotional surge. God never once asks for or endorses the disengagement of our thinking processes. Instead, God’s word repeatedly shows us that Christianity is actually a call to think rightly and deeply about God, His world, and our place in it. When the apostle Paul addressed the Ephesians, we read that he was “reasoning daily in the hall of Tyrannus,” which was likely a school for philosophy or rhetoric (Acts 19:9). Paul wasn’t just singing songs or attempting to stir up some emotional experience. No, he essentially said, Citizens of Ephesus, I want you to think and reason with me today. In Thessalonica, too, Acts tells us that Paul “reasoned” with the people, “explaining and proving that it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead” (17:2-3). The book of Isaiah begins with a similar call to think earnestly: “Come now, let us reason together, says the LORD” (Isaiah 1:18). This exhortation to think and reason isn’t just for proclaiming the gospel but for growth in Christian maturity too. Writing to the Corinthians, Paul said, “Brothers, do not be children in your thinking” (1 Corinthians 14:20). He wanted the church to think intently and intensely about the issues they were facing. Paul was even more direct when he wrote to Timothy: “Think over what I say, for the Lord will give you understanding in everything.” We do need God’s Spirit to be at work in order to think rightly (Luke 24:45; 1 Corinthians 12:3), for our intellects are as affected by sin as every other part of ourselves (Ephesians 4:17). But it is as we expend mental energy to consider the wisdom of the Scriptures that God will give us greater and greater understanding. To follow Christ, then, is not to take a step of blind faith into the darkness but to have your eyes opened to the light of rigorous truth. It will take a lifetime—and more!—to unearth the riches of the truth you encounter in God’s word about His Son, but one thing is sure: today, as every day, God wants you to love Him and honor Him with all your mind.

Fully Known and Truly Loved

John Piper

Jesus knows us fully and completely. He knows us better than we know ourselves. And He loves us - truly, fully and completely.  Have you surrendered your life to Him? Have you put your trust in Him? Will you spend eternity with Him?

How to Live in the Last Days

by Jack Graham

There Must Be Blood

by James MacDonald The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world” (John 1:29, esv)! People often say, “I’m good enough for heaven. I don’t need Jesus.” As if they can choose heaven without choosing faith. As if they’d fit right in there, just showing up, claiming they don’t need a Savior. But that’s not what heaven is like. That’s not what heaven is for. Heaven is no place for people who are pretty sure they’ve got their sins covered without needing anyone else to do it for them. Heaven is for people who understand and embrace Jesus Christ as “the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world,” for which there is no other “good enough” option. If you’re not sure where this “Lamb” imagery comes from, think back to the first Passover. God was preparing to send the tenth and final plague against the Egyptians to loosen the iron grip on God’s people, so Pharaoh would release them from slavery and let them go. In anticipation of this plague, the Lord instructed each family of Israel to take a lamb, kill it, and sprinkle some of its blood on their doorposts. “For I will pass through the land of Egypt that night, and I will strike all the firstborn in the land of Egypt.” But “the blood shall be a sign for you, on the houses where you are. And when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and no plague will befall you to destroy you, when I strike the land of Egypt” (Exodus 12:12–13). You and I, of course, living in our culture, where we buy our meat at the market, would likely have balked at just the part about killing the lamb. In fact, “these things took place as examples for us” (1 Corinthians 10:6a)—as a picture for us today. But even they, who were accustomed to slaughtering their own animals for food, may have had a hard time seeing any need for slathering its blood over the door of their house. I’m not doing that, you can almost hear them saying. I’ll have to clean it up later. And what good is it for, anyway? I don’t need blood on my house to save me. Yes, that part did take a bit of faith. But God gave them an opportunity to choose. Doubt or faith? Good enough without the blood? Or were they in need of the blood, the way His Word said? Was the blood of the lamb—“without blemish” (Exodus 12:5)—really necessary? Decide. Far more than we’d like to admit, faith is a choice. You choose to believe in the sports teams you follow. You choose to believe your employer will compensate you for your work. You choose to believe the gas in your tank will get you to your destination, and you choose to believe the chair you’re about to sit in will hold you. You choose to believe. And if you don’t believe, you’ve chosen not to believe. “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world.” The One who knows our true heart and knows our true thoughts—who knows the good front we put up and knows we believe ourselves to be better than we are—has provided a Lamb whose blood can fit us for heaven. “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved” (Acts 16:31). Your faith belongs in the Lamb. And then you’ll belong with Him forever.

Treading Water