Give Virtue a Voice
We need the same holy boldness Peter and John of which it was said, “Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were uneducated and untrained men, they marveled. And they realized that they had been with Jesus.” (Acts 4:13)
The disciples had gotten in bad trouble and then prayed. They did not pray for protection or revenge. They prayed for the thing that got them in trouble, boldness. Their boldness caused them great grief. But it changed their culture and transformed lives. If asked was it worth it their response based on their bravado would be a resound “Yes.”
Our culture is seeing a flood tide of immorality and cultural deterioration. Most of the phases of American life have a voice or voices that paid the price resulting from challenging the harbingers of debilitating moral change.
The reason for such boldness was a rock solid faith in the Lord and a selfless commitment to Him.
As you quibble and waiver in renewing your allegiance to our Lord, may you become as resolute in expressing your devotion as Samuel Rutherford, the Scotch Covenanter who was imprisoned in Aberdeen for his faithfulness to his Lord. He expressed his devotion in this manner: “O my Lord, if there were a broad hell betwixt me and Thee, if I could not get at Thee except by wading through it, I would not think twice, but I would plunge through it all, if I might embrace Thee and call Thee mine.” That is love such as our Lord deserves.
Few, perhaps none reading this, are likely to be a social media voice appealing for moral issues. However, all will daily engage in conversation when the voice can be raised. In doing so on occasion you might be body slammed and you not carry the day. However, a voice will have cried out in the wilderness and a seed thought planted.
When multiple small voices are simultaneously raised, the chorus is sure to be heard. What if all the lambs roared at once rather than seeking the shelter of silence. Instead, ““Be strong and take heart, all you who hope in the Lord.”
Do Babies Go to Heaven?
Do babies who die before they have the capacity to make rational decisions go to heaven?
Every person is born with two natures: the old sin nature, one is often called the Adamic nature, or the fallen nature. As they grow and reach what is called the age of accountability they are responsible for their personal sins. This is the point at which they have the ability of discernment, the capacity to reason and make logical choices. Some religious groups set the age at 10 and others 12. However, that age varies from person to person depending on their pattern of growth. At the point of reasoning they are accountable for their personal sins.
Scripture records that people are judged on the basis of sins committed voluntary and consciously in the body (see 2 Cor. 5:10; 1 Cor. 6:9–10; Rev. 20:11–12). In other words, eternal judgment is always based on conscious rejection of divine revelation and willful disobedience. Infants are not capable of either. There is no explicit account in Scripture of any other judgment based on any other grounds. Infants do not come under these conditions and hence are unaccountable.
Before an infant reaches the age of accountability they don’t know good or evil and hence lack the capacity to make morally informed—and thus responsible—choices. According to Deuteronomy 1:39 they are said to “have no knowledge of good or evil.”
This same principle relates to those who live beyond infancy but, because of mental disability or some other handicap, are incapable of moral discernment, deliberation, or volition.
Jesus was born of the virgin, thus He had no old sin nature. He lived a sinless life and was free of personal sin. When He died on Calvary He saved us from all sins, those of our old sin nature and the repentant of all personal sins.
Thus, He died for the infants old sin nature. At that stage the infant has no personal sin. Not being accountable for either the old sin nature and having no personal sin for which they are accountable, the child is free of sin and goes to heaven.
Critics who question Jesus’ virgin birth and say it is irrelevant overlook this vital factor. On the basis of the virgin birth rests the eternal destiny of the baby. It is worth noting that includes those aborted also.
An aside question relates to how old will babies be in heaven, and not only they, but all people. Eternity is a timeless sphere and hence all heavenly bodies will be ageless. Our new body will indeed be new chronologically and in composition. That is just one of the many miracles we are unequipped to fully answer.
Self-Control: Do You Have It? Part Four
“Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a servant, and coming in the likeness of men. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross.” Philippians 2: 5 – 8
The striking definitive nature of Jesus is summed up as: He “… emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men.”
Understanding the nature of Jesus is difficult. He was as much God as though He was not a man, and He was as much man as though He were not God. He was the God/man, the man/God.
Scripture relating to Him “emptying Himself “means He never used His divine nature for His personal welfare, but He did use it for others. So, when Jesus was confronted by the devil in the wilderness of temptation He did not call on His divine nature to respond, but His human nature. Thus, He became a peerless example of self-control. He was tempted even as we are. “For we do not have a High Priest who cannot be touched with the feelings of our infirmities, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin.” (Hebrews 4: 15) Consider the three temptations.
“Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. After fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. The tempter came to him and said, ‘If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.’”
This was a temptation regarding provisions. We don’t like deprivation. Our inclination regarding things challenges our self-control.
“Then the devil took him to the holy city and had him stand on the highest point of the temple. ‘If you are the Son of God,’ he said, ‘Throw yourself down.’”
This was a temptation regarding protection.
‘Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor. ‘All this I will give you,” he said, “if you will bow down and worship me.’” This was a temptation regarding possessions.
(These three tests are based on Matthew 10: 1 – 11).
Each test has a strong appeal on all persons. Each represents a good thing which the devil tempted Jesus to use in an improper way at an inappropriate time.
Some of the devil’s most clever tactics are not the use of a bad thing, but the use of a good thing in a bad way. Under those conditions self-control is most genuinely threatened.
Jesus put each temptation in the proper context by the proper use of Scripture. In each instance He interpreted the appeal in light of the teaching of Scripture.
This necessitated Him being prepared for the allurement by knowing the Scripture and how to apply it.
The Lord offers three gifts as an antitoxin to the wrong response to good things: “For God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.” (II Timothy 1:7)
Bronze them and put them on the mantle of your mind: power, love, and a sound mind.
Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus.
Self-Control: Do You Have It? Part Three
“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law.” Galatians 5: 22
You can’t read the gospels without knowing Jesus lived with a spirit of joy and humor and warmth in whose presence other people genuinely enjoyed. Humor of the day, satire, and irony overflowed the cusp of the teaching of Jesus. His vision of God’s kingdom effervesces with joy. Spirit guided self-control enables the faithful to enjoy these attributes. Jesus wasn’t a kill-joy and neither are His teachings.
In His teaching there is enough wholesome fun to go around without stepping over the line into the border of impropriety. That is when joy goes out of the balloon of life. Only one personal attribute guards the border wall, and that is self-control. It is enabled when the Holy Spirit is allowed to pick its succulent fruit. Self-control is a fruit of the Spirit, an enabling grace who stands on guard in the life of the faithful.
Abuse of the good gifts that God provides leads to diminished self-control, but life in the Spirit frees the Christian to enjoy genuine joy, peace, contentment, and freedom.
We can overcome temptation if we avoid the road of compromise and choose the road of integrity. No one is perfect. We resolve to “try harder,” yet our self-effort always falls short.
How can self-control become our “new normal”? As we depend on God’s grace, we are enabled to live within the boundaries He has established, motivated not by rules, but by our love for Him.
Take this test of self-control, do you have it?
Can I be alone with an appealing member of the opposite sex and not want to be inordinately expressive sexually?
Can I control my indulgent inclinations?
Can I control my passion?
Can I control my strengths and my weaknesses?
Can I control my propensity toward improper self-gratification?
Can I control my lethargy?
Can I control my appetite at a sumptuous meal?
Can I control my sweet tooth, my soft spot, and my big eyes?
Can I control the embellishment of my deeds?
Self-control can become your new normal regardless of your efforts to try harder have failed to exercise self-control.
Only by depending on God’s grace, we are enabled to live within the boundaries He has established. It is love for the Lord resulting in obedient dependence on Him that enables us to exercise self control, not by a bunch of does and don’ts. We are not motivated by rules, but by our love for our Ruler. It is divine inspiration that results in self-control, not our impulses, or instincts. These last two are often the battering ram to tear down our resistance leading to the loss of self-control.
Always pick the fruit of the Spirit and enjoy its companions: love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness. After all, Jesus embodied those traits and you can enjoy them.
Self-Control: Do You Have It? Part Two
Failure in self-control leads to a person’s ego depletion and likelihood of further failure. It should not and does not need to. It can lead to “paralysis by analysis” and should not.
The Apostle Paul with this in mind found the antidote: “…one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 3: 13, 14)
The elevator door opened and out stepped a young man who looked at me and instantly said, “FIDO, I remember you, you spoke to our UGA football team before a game and said, ‘If you make a mistake or blow a play don’t dwell on it —-FIDO, Forget It and Drive On.’” Several years had passed since I said that, but it had become an influence in all of his life. I commend it for use when you fail to exercise self-control. Ask the forgiveness of the Lord and resolutely press on to what is ahead. Don’t dwell on past failures. You can’t drive a car looking in the rear view mirror, and you can’t press on toward your goal reliving a past short coming.
The challenge of self-discipline is a life-long one. The Apostle Paul, as devout as he was, struggled with it saying, “For what I am doing, I do not understand. For what I will to do, that I do not practice; but what I hate, that I do.”
(Romans 7: 15) He then admitted, “I find then a law, that evil is present with me….” (Romans 7: 16) He was acknowledging that though he was a new creature in Christ his old sin nature still on occasion challenged his conduct.
Anyone who has tried to do good is aware of this struggle. We never know how hard it is to stop sinning until we try. C. S. Lewis said, “No man knows how bad he is until he has tried to be good.”
Avoiding temptation requires anticipating situations where unwanted desires might emerge and taking steps to avoid the allurement. To avoid undesirable personal conduct keep your hand out of the cookie jar if you are not going to eat the cookies. Don’t put yourself in a position where it is difficult to turn back. Turn off the heat before the kettle begins to boil. Preemptively act.
The word used in Scripture to describe avoiding the powerful pull of temptation and exercise self-control is “flee” it. The word means to run from it so fast as to kick up dust.
Self-control means to stop and think of what could happen? Is that what you want? Solomon wrote: “Whoever has no control of his own spirit is like a city broken down, without walls.” (Proverbs 25: 28)
Awaken the godliness within you.