Archives for November 2019

Only God’s Word Will Stand Forever

November 22, 2019 By Jan Blonk Leave a Comment

The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God will stand forever.

Isaiah 40:8

There’s an inseparable connection between God’s written word—the Bible—and His living Word—Jesus. John’s word choice doesn’t seem a coincidence: “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us” (John 1:14). Jesus is “The Word of God” (Rev. 19:13). Whether it’s God’s word of grace or judgment, Jesus embodies and executes it.

When we consider today’s verse, there’s an infinite contrast. While only “grass” and “flower” are mentioned, it implies everything that isn’t God’s word. Nothing will endure forever except what Jesus has accomplished and done.

That means that His gracious words will forever stand for those who have received Him as “The Word of God.” The other side of the coin is also true. His expressed judgment will forever stand for those who’ve rejected Him as “The Word of God.” Just like “the word of his power” upholds the universe (Heb. 1:3), even so His word of grace and judgment will fix eternal destinies.

Isn’t it an incredible thought that, in the end, only Jesus and everything He has accomplished will be able to stand the test of eternity? That should deeply humble us, realizing that all lasting fruit in our lives is wholly related to Him.

Let’s place our hope and value in God’s word. Everything else, no matter how useful or beautiful, will wither and fade. It will only cause major disillusionment when we place value on that which is not.

This devotional is from It’s All about Jesus: The Bible’s Grand Testimony. You can buy this one-year devotional for only $5.00. Click here to do so. You’ll be blessed and encouraged as you focus on Him each day.

The Father’s Christ-Centered Curriculum

November 21, 2019 By Jan Blonk Leave a Comment

It is written in the Prophets, “And they will all be taught by God.” Everyone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to me.

John 6:45

When Peter gave his confession of faith, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God,” Jesus stated: “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven” (Matt. 16:16-17). There’s no saving knowledge of the person and work of Jesus Christ apart from the Father revealing His Son to us.

That truth is also seen in today’s verse. There must be a personal revelation from the Father in order for anyone to embrace Jesus for who He is. Jesus said: “No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him” (John 6:44). He effectively does so through His word and Spirit.

This revelation is based on His grace and no one can claim any entitlement. For example, we read: “When he arrived, he greatly helped those who through grace had believed” (Acts 18:27). Not only is the gift of His Son by grace alone, but also the effectual revelation of that gift.

When Jesus quoted from Isaiah, He stated: “They will all be taught by God.” What’s the outcome of His teaching? Jesus gave the answer: “Everyone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to me.” When it comes to salvation, the Father has only one lesson plan: go to My Son.

Can we then not also assume that any teaching that isn’t centered on His Son isn’t from the Father? Coming to Jesus is the evidence that one has been taught by the Father. He doesn’t have any other curriculum regarding our justification, sanctification, and glorification.

When You Feel Useless

November 7, 2019 By Jan Blonk Leave a Comment

There are days when the dark clouds of affliction hinder my experience of the Son’s warmth. Whether it’s my personality, the seemingly never-ending reality of struggle, spiritual warfare, or a mix of all the above, at those times a sense of depression sets in. The dark clouds define my outlook on life.

Today has been one of those days. My gloominess increases during a time of sickness, when my energy level is around zero degrees Celsius (I’ve been living in the U.S. for over 18 years but can never make the switch to Fahrenheit).

As I’m recuperating after a few days of not being able to eat, I decided to eat something and go to the beach—a view of the vast Atlantic Ocean always benefits my mental stability. Seeing a “boundless” ocean helps me see things in a more proper perspective.

A Sense of Uselessness

While I felt useless, having no energy to do much of anything, the thought hit me that my usefulness or uselessness is ultimately not determined by what I do or not do. Rather, it’s entirely based on being a part of Christ’s body.

As a believer in Jesus Christ, I’m part of His body. Charles Spurgeon would emphasize how no one who has been born again can lose his salvation because it would make Christ’s body incomplete. Isn’t that an awesome truth (see John 10:28-29)?

No matter who you are as a Christian, whether you’re a strong leader, able to move mountains by faith, or are a struggling Christian, regularly sinking in the waters of doubt and fear, Jesus paid the price for you and you are His—you’re an essential part of His body. That makes all the difference.

You’re Indispensable

Incredibly, Paul wrote: “The parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable” (1 Cor. 12:22). Whether you feel greatly used or useless, if you have received Jesus by faith, you are a necessary part of Christ’s body. God has set it up in such a way that Jesus’ body would not be complete without you.

Your indispensability is wholly grounded in God’s everlasting love and His faithfulness: “I have loved you with an everlasting love; therefore I have continued my faithfulness to you” (Jer. 31:3). Your salvation is “to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved” (Eph. 1:6).

Being “in the Beloved” is the whole of your temporal and eternal reality, whether or not the clouds of affliction may hide that truth at times. Jesus’ finished work on your behalf infinitely outweighs everything else. That’s certainly good news on days when the Son is hidden behind the clouds.

Jan Blonk was born and raised in the Netherlands (“yawn” is the Dutch equivalent for John). He permanently moved to the U.S. in 2001 and is the author of It’s All about Jesus: The Bible’s Grand Testimony, a one-year devotional about the person and work of Jesus Christ. All his books are used as a fundraiser for the spread of the gospel through reputable ministries: www.thecauseofchrist.com

Strange Logic

November 6, 2019 By Jan Blonk Leave a Comment

And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.

2 Corinthians 3:18

There’s a strange “logic” in the Bible; it defies human reasoning. For example, when the Israelites had sinned and God sent fiery serpents, they experienced healing by simply looking at a bronze serpent on a pole (see Num. 21:4-9). We have the same kind of “logic” in today’s verse.

As Christians, we want to be like Jesus as much as possible. Obviously, we fall short, to say the least. What’s God’s answer to our need (and desire) to become more like Jesus? Is it primarily up to our commitment and dedication?

We were saved when God opened our eyes and saw Jesus for who He is, entrusting ourselves to Him. The same is true for our sanctification—our growing conformity to Jesus. We are to behold His glory. As a result, we’re “being transformed into the same image,” slowly but surely.

Paul wrote that the answer is found in “beholding the glory of the Lord.” Are we too pragmatic for such a simple answer? Often, we have the Nike mindset: “Just Do It.” For the most part, we assume self-sufficiency.

The more we see of Him, the more we’ll become like Him. John wrote: “But we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is” (1 John 3:2)? Are you consistently gazing at Christ’s glory? The Father has made that essential to your spiritual growth.

Together for the Gospel!?

November 1, 2019 By Jan Blonk 2 Comments

While I’m using the name of an annual conference with both an exclamation and question mark, this article isn’t addressed to the organizers, speakers, or participants of Together for the Gospel.

Rather, it’s much broader in nature. It addresses each Christian and in particular one’s attitude toward those who are in the faith—those who are part of God’s family—who don’t necessarily fit within your theological persuasion.

In today’s social media, there are many attitudes and actions that seem to be more so dividing than uniting believers in Jesus Christ. Many communicate “the truth” without seemingly much if any sense of love, respect, or desire to have fellowship with the ones they address.

Lately, the church in Laodicea has been convicting me, not so much their lukewarmness, but the fact that Jesus desired to have genuine, personal fellowship with these believers in this Christ-less church.

Yes, He strongly reproved and disciplined them, but it was out of deep love that longed to have fellowship with them. He sought them out, which is an expression of His grace.

Obviously, there’s nothing new under the sun and “what has been is what will be, and what has been done is what will be done” (Eccl. 1:9), including current churches where Jesus Christ isn’t truly the focus at all—where He stands at their door and knocks to come in.

While I’m not advocating any togetherness for the gospel without definite gospel boundaries—embracing the historic tenets of the Christian faith—I am advocating that Christians, including myself, should examine their heart and assess if there’s genuine love for each of God’s children, especially toward those who don’t fit within our theological framework?

Paul wrote: “Let love be genuine” (Rom. 12:9). He also wrote that if there’s no such love toward God’s children, whatever our correct understanding of doctrine, we’re like “a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal” (1 Cor. 13:1). We may then be like the one who “looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like” (James 1:24).

What is the gospel?

Sometimes, we have to take a few steps back in order to move forward. As such, let’s start with the very basics. The apostle Paul gave us a classic definition:

Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand, and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you—unless you believed in vain. For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures (1 Cor. 15:1-4).

At the core, “the gospel of the grace of God” (Acts 20:24) is Jesus’ righteous life, sacrificial death, and glorious resurrection for those who don’t deserve anything from God. Additionally, we can add His victorious ascension, effectual intercession, and consummating second coming, which are also an essential part of His saving work.

Since the person and work of Jesus Christ is the whole of our salvation, we have perfect common ground in Christ with every other Christian, including giving one another “the right hand of fellowship” (Gal. 2:9). As long as anyone has received Jesus by faith as God’s inexpressible gift, we are united with every other Christian, whatever one’s nationality, religious or secular background, societal position, or any particular theological distinctive.

Paul’s words are always true, no matter what the secondary issues are: “Do nothing from rivalry or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves” (Phil. 2:3). It’s certainly much easier to believe in the doctrines of grace, for example, than to express such graciousness to those who don’t hold to them. It’s much easier to be right in doctrine than right in love, right?

Who Is a Christian?

If a person has been born from above, whether one holds to faith preceding spiritual birth or spiritual birth preceding faith, he or she is a brother and sister in Christ and should be treated as such. The apostle John made an undeniable statement: “We know that we have passed out of death into life, because we love the brothers. Whoever does not love abides in death” (1 John 3:14).

Undoubtedly, John didn’t refer to “the brothers” as those who exactly hold to the same theological convictions. He referred to everyone who has been born again. Before anything, you should ask yourself this question: is he or she a brother or sister in Christ?

If so, any other distinctive is secondary to that reality. If God has brought someone forth “by the word of truth” (James 1:18), that’s a decisive, irreversible, eternal reality that outweighs everything else, including theological differences.

What about the Distinctives?

There are almost as many distinctives as there are Christians. While that’s an exaggeration, it does address the main point. It’s foolish to deny these differences—there are too many to list. Should we just ignore them? Should we make them less important than we believe they are?

We should be diligent students of God’s word: “Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth” (2 Tim. 2:15). Yet, we must do so with absolute graciousness, realizing that any correct understanding of God’s word is a gracious gift. A few verses later, Paul wrote: “And the Lord’s servant must not be quarrelsome but kind to everyone” (2 Tim. 2:24).

As an authoritative apostle, God called Paul to write many admonishing and correcting statements. Yet, the root of everything he communicated was his realization of God’s grace toward him: “For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned” (Rom. 12:3). His awareness of God’s grace to him was so deep that he referred to himself as “the very least of all the saints” (Eph. 3:8).

For a Christian, God’s grace is the sole root of anything that’s pleasing in our lives, effectually worked within us through Jesus Christ (Heb. 13:20-21). It cuts off any self-exaltation, looking down on others. We don’t have any boast except in His grace, which is the only fertile ground for humility. How we refer and relate to other believers is a strong indicator in what measure we live in the nature and reality of His grace toward us.

Conclusion

While Paul specifically addressed the Jewish and Gentile believers in Rome, it’s applicable to every Christian: “Therefore welcome one another as Christ has welcomed you, for the glory of God” (Rom. 15:7). Christ’s welcome of you was, is, and will be entirely based on His grace, which is for the glory of God. Even so, we must “welcome one another as Christ has welcomed you.”

To be passionate about the glory of God is synonymous with embracing every other believer with genuine love and sincere graciousness that doesn’t ignore secondary issues, but that primarily relates to one as having been born from above—as one having been welcomed by Jesus Christ Himself, “for the glory of God.”