Our Hope Endures

When I came in to work this morning I was told the news that a co-worker and friend, Tony Ponga, who had been battling cancer passed away last night. Many people had been praying for Tony's recovery and I am sure his family took comfort in those prayers. While Tony did not ultimately recover in his physical body from the cancer he made the best recovery of all, in his spirit.
Tony was raised in the Catholic faith but did not have a personal relationship with Christ. In the midst of the tragedy of cancer, God was with him and drew Tony to Him. Several months ago, Tony was baptized into Christ after coming to a believing faith in Jesus. Not only Tony, but his wife and daughter also.
The tragedy is not that Tony's physical life has come to an end (as sad as that is). The real tragedy would have been if Tony's life had ended with him not knowing Christ as his savior. In 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 Paul writes:

"13 Brothers, we do not want you to be ignorant about those who fall asleep, or to grieve like the rest of men, who have no hope. 14For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him. 15 According to the Lord's own word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left till the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep. 16 For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. 17 After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever. 18 Therefore comfort one another with these words.”

Paul also wrote in 1 Corinthians 15:12-19 these words:

12 But if it is preached that Christ has been raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? 13 If there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised. 14 And if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith. 15 More than that, we are then found to be false witnesses about God, for we have testified about God that he raised Christ from the dead. But he did not raise him if in fact the dead are not raised. 16 For if the dead are not raised, then Christ has not been raised either. 17 And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins. 18 Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ are lost. 19 If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are to be pitied more than all men.

Since we believe in a bodily resurrection we have a hope that the non-believing world knows nothing about. When they die physically, it is their end to eternal damnation. These are to be pitied more than any others. When a child of God dies physically, it is far from the end. In fact, the Bible calls it a state of "sleep". But one day those of us who have fallen asleep will hear the voice of Jesus and be raised up to meet Him. Rather than being pitied, we have that blessed hope. Despite the outward circumstances and no matter how bleak things look, we have the eternal hope of Christ in us. There is a song by Natalie Grant that describes this very well. The refrain speaks volumes when it says "Emmanuel.. God is with us" and "El Shaddai.. all sufficient". God is always with us and He is also all sufficient for us. No matter how bad things may seem to get, our hope endures.

Our Hope Endures - Natalie Grant
You would think only
So much can go wrong
Calamity only strikes once
And you assume that this
One has suffered her share
Life will be kinder from here

[Chorus:]
Sometimes the sun
Stays hidden for years
Sometimes the sky
Rains night after night
When will it clear
But our hope endures
The worst of conditions
It's more than our optimism
Let the Earth quake
Our hope is unchanged

How do we comprehend
Peace within pain
Or joy at a good man's wake?
Walk a mile with a woman
Whose body is torn
With illness
But she marches - on

[Chorus]

[3x]:
Emanuel, God is with us
El Shaddai, all sufficient

We never walk alone
This is our hope
Our hope endures
The worst of conditions
It's more than our optimism
Let the Earth quake
Let the Earth quake
Let the Earth quake
Our hope is unchanged

A Sign of Their Times

As I have stated in prior posts, and firmly believe, it is crucial when trying to understand a passage of scripture that you acknowledge at least some of the following criteria: Who is writing the passage? Who is it written to? What is the reason it is written? I bring this whole topic up because in our recent bible study we were led back once again to James 2:17 which has the famous phrase “faith without works is dead”. This is one of the most controversial passages in the Bible because many do not know the proper interpretation of the verse. Many see this verse as contradicting the verse in Ephesians 2:8 when Paul writes that “By Grace are you saved through faith and not of yourselves.” Now on the surface these verses seem to contradict one another. However, we know that the Bible is the inspired word of God and does not contradict itself. Anyone, and I mean anyone, who tries to tell you the Bible is contradictory is doing the work of Satan himself and I don’t care what earthly title or degree he or she may hold.

So, since the Bible never contradicts itself, yet these verses on the surface appear to be opposites, we need to go below the surface and run these verses through the criteria I mentioned. Let’s examine the passage in James. First, James is the writer and he is a Jew. He is writing to fellow Jews. The reason he is writing this message to them is to exhort them to righteous living and good conduct. In biblical times Jewish people always required a sign before they would believe. How do I know this? Scripture tells us in 1 Corinthians 1:22 “For the Jews require a sign, and the Greeks seek after wisdom.” This is the reason the temporary gift of tongues was given … to give the Jews a sign. This is the primary reason Jesus performed so many miracles during His earthly ministry.... to help them believe that He was the Messiah (and even after all of that many still failed to believe). Remember doubting Thomas? He would not believe it was really Jesus he was seeing until Jesus showed him the nail pierced hands. Remember what Jesus told Thomas? In John 20:29 Jesus said, Then Jesus told him, "Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed."

The reason James is telling his fellow Jews that faith without works is dead is because he understood that Jews required a sign to believe anything. In order for a person back in biblical days to have someone truly believe they were a follower of Christ, they needed to have good works in the way they lived their lives as evidence of their faith. Now, we need to also define two words here … “works” and “dead”. What kind of works is James talking about? Keeping the law? Of course not. He is talking about good works such as showing love and kindness for a fellow person. It ties in with what Jesus said the two most important commandments were… “Love God with all your mind and love your neighbor as yourself”. What does dead mean? In the Bible, dead does not mean non existent, it means separation. Spiritual death does not mean the person ceases to exist. It means they are separated from God. In like manner, faith without corresponding action is separated and that person has no outward appearance of being a believer in Christ.

In a nutshell what James is saying is if we have authentic faith in Christ that we should have corresponding actions that accompanies that faith. Lack of corresponding works does not mean that a person’s faith is illegitimate. It means they are not living as they ought. Good works are a visible sign that other people can tell you are a follower of Christ without even knowing you personally. We as people see the outward appearance of others and focus on their actions. God sees the inner man. 1 Samuel 16:7 states But the LORD said to Samuel, "Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The LORD does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart."

We can be deceived by outward appearance. Think of Judas. Outwardly, he seemed to be one of the best of the disciples for he was the treasurer and only a well thought of person is left in control of the money. However, when the rubber hit the road his true colors were found out that he was not a believer at all. We can get ourselves in a whole lot of trouble if we try to determine who is a Christ follower and who is not simply based on their actions. You may want to read the parable of the wheat and the Tares that Jesus told in Matthew 13:24-30.