Obeying the Gospel

Gary Henry

5.0 (7)
Christianity
Updated Daily

Why become a Christian? And what is actually required when you do? Gary Henry tackles these questions in Obeying the Gospel. Designed for both the skeptic and the saint, these three-minute, daily episodes explore the initial basics of salvation and the lifelong dedication required to keep our promise to God. Discover why the commitment is worth the cost.

6h ago

Freedom from Slavery to Sin (September 18)

FREEDOM FROM SLAVERY TO SIN (SEPTEMBER 18) View on Website -- https://wordpoints.com/freedom-slavery-sin-september-18/ "Jesus answered them, 'Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who practices sin is a slave to sin. The slave does not remain in the house forever; the son remains forever. So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed'" (John 8:34-36). WE STRUGGLE TO BE FREE FROM SIN — NOT JUST IN ONE WAY BUT IN TWO. In addition to the penalty of sin (eternal death), we also need deliverance from the practice of sin in our lives. The old hymn “Rock of Ages” prayerfully expresses these two things we need from Christ: “Be of sin the double cure, save from wrath and make me pure.” The second is no less important than the first. We should not be under any delusion about the seriousness of the sins we have committed. Sin is a good deal more than a slight inconvenience or an unhealthy habit — it ties us in bondage to a death-dealing slavemaster from whom we are helpless to deliver ourselves. As Paul reminds us, “Christ died for us at a time when we were helpless and sinful” (Rom 5:6 BBE). Jesus was not exaggerating when He said, “Everyone who practices sin is a slave to sin.” When we are thinking soberly, we see that no one else is capable of enslaving us more terribly than we have enslaved ourselves. Concerning those who advocated the “freedom” of a licentious lifestyle for Christians, Peter said, “They promise them freedom, but they themselves are slaves of corruption. For whatever overcomes a person, to that he is enslaved” (2 Peter 2:19). Beginning in the Garden of Eden, that has always been Satan’s lie. Promising freedom, he delivers slavery. Such is the nature of sin. And there is no middle ground. If we’re not in a right relationship with God, we are the slaves of sin. “Do you not know that if you present yourselves to anyone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience, which leads to righteousness?” (Romans 6:16). Deciding which path we’ll take is life’s most consequential decision. All sin comes down to pride and self-will, of course, and so deliverance from sin is deliverance from the bondage of selfishness. Having demanded to do as we please, we’ve sold ourselves into slavery. And as painful as it is, there is no better day than when we have the honesty to say, with Paul, “Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?” (Romans 7:24). "He is a slave of the greatest slave who serves nothing but himself" (Anonymous). Gary Henry - WordPoints.com + AreYouaChristian.com For more information, visit http://AreYouaChristian.com
1d ago

Rescuing All Three Parts of the Human Mind (September 17)

RESCUING ALL THREE PARTS OF THE HUMAN MIND (SEPTEMBER 17) View on Website -- https://wordpoints.com/rescuing-three-parts-human-mind-september-17/ "I will give them a heart to know that I am the Lord, and they shall be my people and I will be their God, for they shall return to me with their whole heart" (Jeremiah 24:7). ONE WAY OF LOOKING AT WHAT GOD WANTS TO DO WITH US IN JESUS CHRIST IS TO THINK ABOUT ALL THREE PARTS OF OUR “HEART” BEING REHABILITATED. Sin starts on the inside and works its way outward; so if the problem of sinful behavior is going to be corrected, the thing that most needs to change is inside of us. Our minds are complicated and not easily described, but for our meditation today, let’s say that our thinking falls into three categories: intellect, emotion, and will. To be redeemed from sin, all three of these must be rescued, not just one or two of them. INTELLECT. With our intellect, we process information: we learn, analyze, and store “facts.” But obviously, much of the “information” in our minds is incorrect, and that information, if we act on it, will produce behavior that is dysfunctional and destructive. Biblically speaking, untruth on the inside produces sinful behavior on the outside. So the first thing the gospel must do is establish truth in the intellectual part of our minds (John 8:32; Acts 26:18). EMOTION. As important as our intellect is, our emotions (or feelings) also play a critical role. Since our feelings grow out of our thinking (if I believe a burglar is in my basement, feelings appropriate to that thought will be generated automatically), it is critical that our thinking be based on truth. However, since our actions will mostly be determined by our feelings, we need to make sure our feelings are appropriate to the realities we’re dealing with. WILL. Our will is our decision-making ability, and freedom of the will means we can choose our actions individually. Here, then, is where the gospel of Christ makes the greatest difference. The disastrous conflict between our will and God’s will needs to be removed. Putting all of this together, we see an amazing plan. In Christ, we can make better decisions because our feelings are more appropriate, and we can do that because our thoughts are more truthful. In bringing us back to God, the gospel leaves no stone unturned. "Three things are necessary for the salvation of man: to know what he ought to believe; to know what he ought to desire; and to know what he ought to do" (Thomas Aquinas). Gary Henry - WordPoints.com + AreYouaChristian.com For more information, visit http://AreYouaChristian.com
2d ago

In Christ, What Are We Saved From? (September 16)

IN CHRIST, WHAT ARE WE SAVED FROM? (SEPTEMBER 16) View on Website -- https://wordpoints.com/in-christ-saved-from-september-16/ "For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people" (Titus 2:11). WHEN WE’RE HONEST, WE SEE THAT OUR SINS AGAINST GOD HAVE PUT US IN A DESPERATE SITUATION. In our most private moments, we all have known the agony of Paul’s cry, “Who will rescue me from this body of death?” (Romans 7:24 NRSV). Surely, we need not only to be saved, but we need a Savior. But if you and I made a list of all the things we’d like to be saved from, it would be a long list, would it not? There is much about our lives in this world that we find disappointing, disagreeable, and difficult. What is it, then, that we desire to be saved (i.e., delivered or rescued) from? When we come to Jesus Christ, what is the help we’re seeking more than any other kind of help? ETERNAL CONDEMNATION. Even if there could be no relief in this world from all the things that have gone wrong, we would surely long to be with our God in eternity rather than be banished from Him. So heaven is the highest and most important promise of the gospel. This, above all, is what we should be seeking from Christ. OUR DISOBEDIENT ACTIONS. The gospel involves not only forgiveness but reformation, and it should be this deliverance from our sinful habits and weaknesses that we long for. It is not enough to be protected from the punishment for sin; we need to be saved from the practice of sin. This desire for obedience should move us deeply. OUR WAYWARD HEARTS. Since our actions flow from our hearts, it is our hearts that are the main problem. Whatever outward sources of difficulty may disturb us, we should be more concerned about the darkness that is still in our own thoughts and motives. We ought to long fervently for the hearts that can be ours in heaven. The thread running through every mention of the gospel in the New Testament is the idea of a unity being restored that was broken by sin. Sin has broken apart everything that was meant to be together, but through Christ all is being brought back into harmony. Our disintegration — our broken-to-pieces-hood — is being healed. In Christ, our hope is for eternal health and wholeness. "The terms for salvation in many languages are derived from roots like salvus, saos, whole, heil, which all designate health, the opposite of disintegration and disruption. Salvation is healing in the ultimate sense; it is final, cosmic, and individual healing" (Paul Tillich). Gary Henry - WordPoints.com + AreYouaChristian.com For more information, visit http://AreYouaChristian.com
3d ago

Appraising Jesus (September 15)

APPRAISING JESUS (SEPTEMBER 15) View on Website -- https://wordpoints.com/appraising-jesus-september-15/ "From now on, therefore, we regard no one according to the flesh. Even though we once regarded Christ according to the flesh, we regard him thus no longer" (2 Corinthians 5:16). SOMETIMES WE SAY, “THERE’S MORE TO THAT PERSON THAN MEETS THE EYE.” In reality, that is true of everybody we’ve ever met. We never see anything more than the tip of the iceberg in anyone’s life, and it is hazardous to form conclusions about their character if all we have is a first impression or a superficial acquaintance. With people (and even with situations and circumstances), discovering the whole truth requires more digging than many of us are willing to do. First impressions may get us started down the road to understanding, but finding out what is really going on usually takes patience and fact-finding. It can be hard work. In 2 Corinthians 5:16, Paul admits that his previous rejection of Jesus as the Messiah was the result of having judged Him “according to the flesh.” Eventually, however, Paul came to see that the truth about Jesus was something that could not be seen if all one did was look at outward, worldly appearances. So as we form our own opinions about Jesus, let’s think of two important principles. (1) Sometimes we need to find out more of the facts before we draw a conclusion. Given the far-reaching implications of the question, it is amazing how many people reject Jesus while knowing very little of His life and teachings from the original sources. Whatever our ultimate decision turns out to be, surely that decision needs to be based on more than a few tidbits of information. (2) But also, we need to be careful about the criteria we use to make our evaluation. Even when we have a lot of information about a person, our assessment of their character is determined by the value system we apply to them, and this is especially critical when it comes to Jesus. If Jesus truly was the Son of God, we would not expect that truth to be obvious to us if our “eyes” can only see the things that this world considers to be important. So may we avoid judging Jesus “according to the flesh.” There is more to Him than meets the eye. May we appraise Him carefully — and appraise His inner character the most carefully of all. "Jesus Christ always speaks from the source of things; consequently those who deal only with the surface find him an offense" (Oswald Chambers). Gary Henry - WordPoints.com + AreYouaChristian.com For more information, visit http://AreYouaChristian.com
4d ago

What If 'Reason' Were Just a 'Natural' Process? (September 14)

WHAT IF "REASON" WERE JUST A "NATURAL" PROCESS? (SEPTEMBER 14) View on Website -- https://wordpoints.com/reason-natural-process-september-14/ "Did any people ever hear the voice of a god speaking out of the midst of the fire, as you have heard, and still live? . . . To you it was shown, that you might know that the Lord is God; there is no other besides him" (Deuteronomy 4:33-35). WHEN GOD SPOKE TO ISRAEL ON MOUNT SINAI, SOMETHING HAPPENED THAT HAD NO NATURAL CAUSE. Assuming that what is recorded actually took place, the event was not triggered by any natural event that preceded it — it was the introduction of something “new” or “extra” into nature’s progression of cause and effect, something from outside that closed, deterministic system. I suggest that the operations of our own reason are similar, not that they are divine communications, but that they cannot be explained as the result of natural causes producing natural effects. Many neuroscientists today, of course, dispute this; they argue that what we call human “reason” is nothing more than the brain at work as a physical organ. When science has learned more about the brain, they say, we will recognize that a person never has any thought that cannot be accounted for neurologically and biochemically. Every firing of every neuron is the result of something within nature. Nothing freely decided upon ever comes into the sequence — whatever happens, it was determined materialistically. But think about this comment from Douglas Groothuis: “if materialism were true, we could never grant reasons for holding beliefs since all our brain states would be rigorously determined in a materialistically caused fashion. Thought would be reduced to a mere reflex action on the order of a muscle twinge. But can glorified muscle twinges weigh evidence and reach warranted conclusions?” We ought not to minimize what is required if our reasoning is to be objectively valid. It must be the working of something personal — an independent force not chained to the sequence of physical cause and effect. And in the biblical account, that is exactly the case: we are dual creatures who straddle the physical and spiritual worlds. We have a brain, but we also have a mind — a reasoning faculty that reaches far beyond what the brain (which is its servant) can do. "The validity of our reasoning depends upon the transcendence of reason itself. Reason must stand outside of nature in order for it to give us truth about nature. Our thinking, if we are to regard it as true or false, must be a shot from Something beyond nature, a beam from the Light beyond the sun, a participation in the eternal Logos" (Joe Rigney). Gary Henry - WordPoints.com + AreYouaChristian.com For more information, visit http://AreYouaChristian.com
5d ago

Forgiveness and Transformation (September 13)

FORGIVENESS AND TRANSFORMATION (SEPTEMBER 13) View on Website -- https://wordpoints.com/forgiveness-transformation-september-13/ "We are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ" (Ephesians 4:15). WHEN WE OBEY THE GOSPEL OF CHRIST, GOD’S FORGIVENESS OPENS THE DOOR TO OUR TRANSFORMATION. Not only does God want to forgive us of our sins; He wants to repair sin’s damage and rebuild our character, transforming us into creatures who can enjoy a perfect relationship with Him in eternity. The great importance of forgiveness is that it leads to this transformation. Our being molded, shaped, and conformed to God’s character is the main goal of all that He has done (and is doing) in Jesus Christ. A GRADUAL PROCESS. When we are baptized into Christ, we rejoice in the forgiveness of God — but we dare not underestimate the work that remains to be done. The sins of our past, which God has now forgiven, were produced by character traits that must be gotten rid of. These must be replaced by the virtues of God’s character (2 Peter 1:3-11) or else we will continue to live as we used to live. Such a drastic rebuilding of our character does not happen overnight. It takes time. But while there is a need for patience, we also need to be diligent. Our transformation will not take place automatically, by divine decree. We have to embrace the process actively and wholeheartedly, submitting to God’s training for however long it takes. A PAINFUL PROCESS. Most kinds of growth in this world require discipline, and we should not expect our spiritual growth to be any different. When we need chastening, that is exactly what God will provide. “He disciplines us for our good, that we may share his holiness. For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it” (Hebrews 12:10,11). A GLORIOUS PROCESS. The gradual, and often painful, process of being transformed into godly creatures is one that we submit to because of its goal: we are on our way to becoming the sons and daughters of God, in the very highest sense. He created us in the first place, and through the gospel He is now re-creating us in the glorious image of His Son, Jesus Christ. Only God could do this, and if we persevere, one day we will see His face (Revelation 22:4). Sin will have been destroyed, and we will have forever to rejoice. "Thus we enter through our heart into the heart of God, who embraces all of history with his eternally creative and recreative love" (Henri J. M. Nouwen). Gary Henry - WordPoints.com + AreYouaChristian.com For more information, visit http://AreYouaChristian.com
6d ago

Salvation by Baptism Only? (September 12)

SALVATION BY BAPTISM ONLY? (SEPTEMBER 12) View on Website -- https://wordpoints.com/salvation-by-baptism-only-september-12/ "And the hand of the Lord was with them, and a great number who believed turned to the Lord" (Acts 11:21). THE “FAITH ONLY” DOCTRINE IS NOT TAUGHT IN THE SCRIPTURES. Merely believing that Jesus is the Christ is not enough to save us from our sins. In the words of James, “As the body apart from the spirit is dead, so also faith apart from works is dead” (2:26). But neither will we be saved by “baptism only.” The person who thinks his only problem is that he was attending services at the wrong church, and that he is now saved because he “got baptized” and the Lord added him to the “church of Christ,” is out of touch with reality. His problem was far deeper than attendance at an unscriptural church. It was the problem of sin — sin in his heart as well as in his actions. And if that problem is going to be corrected, a radical turning (or “conversion”) will have to occur. BAPTISM WITHOUT FAITH? For baptism to result in the forgiveness of sins, it must be an act of faith, or trust, in God (Ephesians 2:8). BAPTISM WITHOUT CONFESSION? Baptism is meaningless if it does not result in a life which confesses Christ — in deed as well as word. BAPTISM WITHOUT REPENTANCE? Like John the Baptist (Matthew 3:7-9), Jesus would rebuke us if we wanted to be baptized but were not willing to repent of the sins that had separated us from God. BAPTISM WITHOUT CONVERSION? In Acts 2:38, Peter told his hearers, “Repent and be baptized.” In the very next chapter, he told another audience in Acts 3:19, “Repent and be converted” (NKJV) or “turn back” (ESV). Baptism is the crucial turning point at which we pass from being lost into the state of being “in Christ” (Romans 6:3; Galatians 3:27; Colossians 2:12). But if faith without works is insufficient (James 2:14-26), so is baptism without conversion. If we do not walk in “newness of life” (Romans 6:4), it is to be wondered whether we really did die with Christ when we were baptized. In 1 Thessalonians 1:9, Paul wrote that the believers in Thessalonica had “turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God.” And today, even if we’ve never worshiped a physical idol, this is what must happen. We must turn to God intentionally, ceasing from our old lives and living as those who are truly “in Christ.” "Conversion may occur in an instant, but the process of coming from sinfulness into a new life can be a long and arduous journey" (Charles Colson). Gary Henry - WordPoints.com + AreYouaChristian.com For more information, visit http://AreYouaChristian.com
Sep 11

Trust, the Only Path to Truth, Is Dangerous (September 11)

TRUST, THE ONLY PATH TO TRUTH, IS DANGEROUS (SEPTEMBER 11) View on Website -- https://wordpoints.com/trust-only-path-truth-dangerous-september-11/ "Commit your way to the Lord" (Psalm 37:5). IN OUR SECULAR WORK AS WELL AS OUR SPIRITUAL JOURNEY, WE FIND THAT “REWARDS REQUIRE COMMITMENT.” If we are so averse to risk that we won’t trust anything enough to commit ourselves to it, we will, wanting mainly to avoid being wrong, never know the joy that could have been ours if the commitment was right. Nothing good comes from the commitment-free life. Commitments are scary, to be sure, but as the saying goes, he who hesitates is lost. We might say, “Well, yes, commitments are necessary, but before we make them, we need to make absolutely sure there is no possibility of our being wrong.” In the real world, however, there are no such scenarios. We never have enough information to be absolutely certain about our decisions, and even if we did, that kind of decision-making would not require any faith. For faith to be faith, there must be some risk, some element of uncertainty. Obviously, we need to be careful in our commitments. Even if complete information is not available, we need to gather all the evidence we can, so that our faith is not blind faith but serious trust based upon consideration of the best information we could get. But to return to our main point, all the good things in life require committing ourselves to them. Hesitancy, doubt, and tentativeness will cut the very heart out of our discipleship to Christ. Distrusting God, we will never get the answers to our questions. In her book on the practice of mindfulness, Kim Davies says, “The foundation of any practice is a certain level of commitment: you have to not only make a clear decision to try mindfulness but also to maintain your practice and awareness.” I agree. And when it comes to godliness, a practice much higher than mindfulness, the principle of “rewards require commitment” is even more true. David said in Psalm 37:5, “Commit your way to the Lord.” This means counting the cost, accepting the risk, and putting our trust in God. It also means binding ourselves resolutely to the practice of godliness. Not only is this the right thing to do, but it is, in the end, the only way to know if the Lord’s way is good. The path to truth requires trust — the kind of trust that knows what commitment is. "There is no discovery of the truth of Christ's teaching, no unanswerable inward endorsement of it, without committing oneself to his way of life" (J. B. Phillips). Gary Henry - WordPoints.com + AreYouaChristian.com For more information, visit http://AreYouaChristian.com

5

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Why become a Christian? And what is actually required when you do? Gary Henry tackles these questions in Obeying the Gospel. Designed for both the skeptic and the saint, these three-minute, daily episodes explore the initial basics of salvation and the lifelong dedication required to keep our promise to God. Discover why the commitment is worth the cost.

Creator

Gary Henry
Years Active

2020 - 2026
Episodes

31
Rating

Clean
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© Copyright 2021 Gary Henry & WordPoints
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Obeying the Gospel