I personally relate to the patriarch Jacob in the Old Testament. Why? First, let me summarize his story. It begins with stories you are no doubt familiar with. Isaac and Rebekah have twin sons, Jacob and Esau. Esau was the firstborn but Jacob was trying to pull him back in the womb so that he could be the firstborn. His name Jacob means “he who takes by the heel or supplants”. The Lord predicted that the older (Esau) would serve the younger (Jacob).

Years later, Jacob took advantage of Esau’s hunger by giving him stew and bread for his birthright. What kind of a brother would take advantage of his brother like that? We. begin to wonder why God would choose to make the seed line of the Messiah through a man like Jacob. Hebrews 12:16 may answer that as the writer calls Esau an “immoral and ungodly” man for selling his birthright. Jacob had a lot of flaws, but apparently Esau had no appreciation for the spiritual, which would make it impossible for God to use him in His plans. We wonder even more when later, as an aging Isaiah’s eyes are too dim to see, he steals Esau’s blessing that Isaiah was trying to give Esau. With Rebekah’s help, he lied 3 times to his father, telling Isaiah that he was Esau, not Jacob, and deceived his father into giving him Esau’s blessing. What kind of a man would lie to his father like that and steal from his brother?

So Rebekah sends Jacob to Haran to her brother Laban, supposedly to get a godly wife (Esau had married Hittite women) but really to get him far away from Esau who was going to kill him as soon as Isaiah died. On Jacob’s first night away from his mom, he sees the vision of that ladder to heaven, wakes up and said, “Surely this is the house of God”. He named it Bethel, which means “house of God”. God assured him that He would be with him on his journey, and Jacob promised to give a tenth to God if He did bless him! I guess Jacob thinks he can make a deal with God and get what he wants! But God patiently works with Jacob. I think I know what it’s like to be away from a sheltered home life for the first time. When we got on the plane to go do mission work in Trinidad, West Indies, I remember feeling all alone, just me and my wife, without all the security my mom and dad had provided me. But it was important for Jacob, and me, to find my own faith with God instead of relying on my parents’ faith and protection.

So Jacob spends the next 20 years with Laban: the first 14 working to get his two wives, Rachel and Leah, and then the next 6 working for Laban to accumulate a lot of animal wealth. Laban was Jacob’s equal at trying to outsmart Jacob and take advantage of him, but God always thwarted Laban’s plans (he changed Jacob’s wages 10 times) and blessed Jacob at Laban’s expense. Upon leaving from Laban, Jacob acknowledged that it was God who had blessed him and thwarted Laban, and not Jacob’s own cunning (Gen 31:6-10). Perhaps Jacob is learning to trust in God instead of his own cunning? Have you thought your cunning was making you successful only to realize that it was really God blessing you? It seems like I have always relied more on my own cunning and intellect to get what I wanted and needed, and have been fairly successful at it, only to realize later it was God who made me successful.

If you want to read an inspiring story, read about George Mueller. He ended up establishing 5 orphan homes in late 19th century Bristol at a time when orphans were sent to the. workhouse and treated terribly. But the thing I admire is his philosophy on raising money for the homes. He would take no salary and always relied on God to provide what they needed on a daily basis. He would simply pray and then wait on God to provide. We in America are so blessed with material things and money that it is hard to really just rely on God for our daily bread. We typically have all kind of government and private funds to provide for our futures.

On the way back from Haran (and Laban), Jacob was told that Esau was coming to meet him with 400 men. I know what I would have thought! That Esau was coming to take vengeance on Jacob for what Jacob had done to him. After all, the last he had heard from Esau was 20 years earlier when he was told that Esau was going to kill him. Jacob is not doubt terrified (Genesis 32:7). It is interesting that God’s angels meet Jacob on the way. Jacob called the place, Mahanaim (God’s camp). I assume that was a message from God that He would protect Jacob when he met Esau. Jacob, as we would expect, started his own tactical plan to keep Esau from killing him. He sent droves of animals as bribes and made escape plans. He did pray for protection, so that’s a good step of faith. He sent the animals and his family across the river, but he stayed alone on the other side (was this a cowardly act to preserve his own life if his bribes failed to appease Esau?). A man wrestled with him all night, but then in the morning touched the socket of Jacob’s thigh, dislocating it. Well the man could have done that in the first minute of the wrestling match, or even worst (if he could do that, he could do anything to Jacob). An interesting observation about Jacob’s character appears here. I would have simply backed off wrestling with this man and hoped that he would go away. Jacob, however, realized this man was God Himself in the form of a man. Jacob then demand that the God-man bless him or he would not let him go! As if he could keep the man from getting away? He named the place Peniel (“face of God”). The man changed Jacob’s name to Israel (he who strives with God). Perhaps this is another growth step in Jacob’s faith. He sees a great need to obtain God’s blessings. Again, I can relate to Jacob. I am ashamed to say that much of my life has been striving with God, relying on my own ability, instead of just complete trust in God. At least Jacob seems to be learning spiritual lessons.

The next day, Esau greets him with a hug and kisses, and they both weep. Esau had no desire for vengeance. He doesn’t even mention what Jacob had done to him. Jacob said, “I see your face as one sees the face of God” (33:10). Esau’s forgiveness gave him peace from his past deeds, just as if God had met him, hugged him, and kissed him. That statement has meant a lot to me. One time I was about to have a nervous breakdown worrying about something. I couldn’t sleep and would wake up in panic attacks. Finally, someone took me to a friend whose advice we trusted. I told our friend my worries, and He looked at me and said, “You don’t have a thing to worry about, and if something bad comes out of this, I will help you”. I slept for the first time that night. Seeing that friend’s face was like seeing the face of God and getting peace of mind. But why couldn’t I have just talked to God 2 months earlier and found that same peace? Probably because my faith in God wasn’t what it should be. I was too busy worrying, planning on what I would do if things went bad, coming up with plans B,C, and D, instead of just trusting in God to provide and protect. I have other things from the past that continue to haunt me, and future possibilities that scare me. I am making plans A,B,and C. I hope I can just trust God and be at peace. Even if we have, like Jacob, made mistakes in the past, God and others hopefully will forgive us and restore relationships with us that have been broken.

So Jacob arrives at Shechem and he builds an altar (33:20) and calls it El-Elohe-Israel (God , the God of Israel). That’s quite a change for Jacob. Abraham built altars everywhere he went, it seems. This is Jacob’s first altar that he ever built to God in worship. But then his daughter Dinah is raped by Shechem, a Hivite. Jacob is apparently afraid to confront the Shechemites for fear it would cause all his enemies in Canaan to unite and attack him (34:30-31), so he does nothing. Instead, Simeon and Levi trick the Shechemites into being circumcised and then come in and kill all of them. Jacob rebukes them for doing that. He later withholds blessings for them for what they did. Jacob might be growing spiritually along the way, but his is still controlled by his fears. I can so relate to that as I get older, being controlled in my thinking and actions by my fears. Can I do what is right without being afraid of how others will react? If I trust in God, I can.

You probably know a lot of the rest of the story. His favorite wife Rachel dies giving birth to Benjamin. His favoritism toward Joseph and Benjamin causes problems in his family and Joseph’s brothers sell him into slavery in Egypt. (Read my blog on “Joseph’s Epiphany” here to summarize how Jacob’s family came to move to Egypt). But let’s fast forward to Jacob’s last days in Egypt. When Jacob met Pharoah, he said, “The days of my sojourning have been few and unpleasant” (47:9). He bemoaned that he had only lived 130 years, which was less than Abraham’s 175 years. But what a sad commentary on your whole life: “few and unpleasant”. His striving with God all his life had robbed him of the joy he could have had. Compare that with Abraham who died “satisfied with life” (25:8). But to Jacob’s credit, when blessing Joseph’s two sons, he said “The God of Abraham and Isaac has been my shepherd all my life to this day, the angel who redeemed me from all evil” (48:15). Apparently in his last days he looked back and acknowledged that it was God shepherding him all along, providing and protecting him. Kinda like the story of the man looking at the footprints in the sand? The two sets of prints became only one set as they went along, and God told the man that was because God started carrying him! Or something like that! Jacob finally maybe finds peace and realizes it has been God carrying him all his life. I hope I can find that in my last days.

His very last days also reveal a growth in Jacob’s faith as he approached his death (47:29-31). He made Joseph swear that he would bury him in the Promised Land and not in Egypt. He then “bowed in worship at he head of the bed”. Hebrews 11:21 “as he was dying, he blessed each of the sons of Joseph, and worshiped, leaning on the top of his staff”. Genesis 49:33 “he drew his feet into the bed and breathed his last”. So in the end he has faith in the promises God made to him, to Abraham and to Isaac. He has faith that God will eventually lead his descendants out of Egypt to the promised land where they can bury him in the cave where his ancestors are buried. So maybe this helps us understand why God chose Jacob to be in the seed line. God knew Jacob’s weaknesses but also knew that, in the end, Jacob would appreciate God’s promises and that God could use him to fulfill those promises. That gives me hope. In spite of my weaknesses and striving with God, God can use me to do some good things for Him. He can use me to save some souls before I die, which is God’s ultimately plan. I hope one day I can look back at my life, even if I didn’t have the joy I should have had, and worship at the top of my bed, anticipating God fulfilling the promise of eternal life that he has for me. I hope this story will bless you as it has me.

I hope I used that word correctly, but thought it sounded like I was intellectual, so I used it. From a dictionary, it means: A sudden realization about the nature or meaning of something. An epiphany can often come about due to some experience that may trigger the sudden realization.

I believe Joseph had just such an experience that triggered a sudden realization about what all had happened to him since he was sold into slavery in Egypt. It is found in Genesis 45:1-15. You probably know the story well. Joseph is Jacob’s favorite son (along with Benjamin, his 2 favorites sons by his favorite wife Rachel who died in childbirth with Benjamin). His jealous brothers sell him into slavery in Egypt to Potiphar. Joseph is a man of integrity (i.e. honest with strong moral principles), however, and is a faithful master over Potiphar’s house. He was probably bitter, but he made the best of his situation. He might have wondered why his father did not come rescue him, but, of course, he did not know that his father thought he was dead. But when Poliphar’s wife tried to seduce him (he was “handsome in form and appearance” Gen 39:6), he fled, refusing to sin against God and his master. Potiphar sent him to prison.

He could have been filled with self pity, but instead became such a model prisoner that he was put in charge of all the prisoners. He is a man of integrity. He interpreted the dreams of Pharoah’s cupbearer and baker, which led to the restoration of the cupbearer, which led (2 years later) to Joseph interpreting Pharoah’s dreams and being made 2nd in command of all Egypt. He had asked the cupbearer to mention him to Pharoah and help get him out of prison because he was innocent (a prisoner who really was innocent!), but 2 years had passed and the cupbearer forgot Joseph until Pharoah had his dreams. At least he remembered him then.

God sent the famine and Jacob sent 10 of his sons (except Benjamin) to Egypt to buy food. Joseph recognizes them but they do not recognize him. This begins a series of things that Joseph did to his brothers. He accused them of being spies on their first trip to Egypt, knowing they were not. To prove they were not spies, he kept Simeon in prison until they would bring Benjamin to Egypt. He also put their money they paid for grain with into the sacks of grain, making them look like thieves.

As the famine continued, Jacob was forced to allow the 9 brothers to take Benjamin on a 2nd trip to Egypt for food. They expected to die, but were instead treated to a meal at Joseph’s house. They were astonished that they were seated in order, from the youngest to the oldest. He released Simeon and allowed them to head back to Egypt with grain, but also planted his diviner’s cup in the sack of Benjamin. He sent his steward to stop them, and found the cup in Benjamin’s sack. He perfectly content to send the 10 back to Jacob, keeping Benjamin in Egypt; probably content to never see the 10 again. He would of course later tell Benjamin who he was and take care of him.

But then Judah tried to explain to Joseph that Jacob would die of grief if Benjamin did not return. Joseph hears for the first time that his father Jacob thought he was dead all this time. Judah offers to stay as a prisoner if Joseph would allow Benjamin to return to Jacob. At this point, Joseph had his epiphany. He broke down crying loudly. He apparently saw remorse in his brothers for selling him into slavery. He revealed himself to his brothers and then he said: ⁷ God sent me before you to preserve for you a remnant in the earth, and to keep you alive by a great ^[f]deliverance. ⁸ Now, therefore, it was not you who sent me here, but God (Genesis 45:7-8). He kissed them all and wept on them. He told them to go bring Jacob’s whole family (about 75 in all) to Egypt where he could take care of them during the last 5 years of the 7 years of famine.

So what was his epiphany? He realized that God had been working in all the past events to get Jacob’s family to Egypt to survive the famine, “to preserve a remnant of God’s people”. Perhaps he knew and remembered God’s promise to Abraham in Genesis 15 that Abraham’s descendants would be slaves in a foreign land for 400 years before they would be freed and allowed to possess the promised land. Perhaps he finally put 2 and 2 together and saw that all the past events were part of God’s plan to get that remnant to Egypt to make a great nation of Abraham as promised in Genesis 12. He also was able to forgive his brothers, whereas he had obviously been bitter with them up to that point. He could even say that it was not them who sent him to Egypt, but God, even though he knew it really was them. He realized God could use the bad deeds of men to accomplish his will. Yes, they should be held accountable, but don’t be bitter about how someone treated you in the past. Try to see the good that God can do using even the bad deeds of men.

The lessons from this story are many. Have you had some bad experience in the past, maybe from being mistreated by someone? You are still bitter towards that person? Or maybe just some tragic events in your past that, like Naomi, have left you full of bitterness, anger, and self pity? But then later, something happened, some experience, that made you realize that God was working out something in your life or the life of others that would eventually be good, not bad? Like Joseph, do you find yourself “playing god” with people who have wronged you, testing them, instead of just forgiving them? How do you handle false accusations made against you? How do you handle punishment that you don’t think you deserve? What about your integrity, your moral conviction, your honesty? Could you have resisted Potiphar’s wife’s advance if you were Joseph? How do you handle it when you help someone out but they forget you when you need help?

Maybe you can look back and see how God was working through tough times in your past. Or maybe you are right in the middle of tough times and can’t see anything good that God might be working out. Can you simply relax and leave the outcome to God? Can you have faith that something good can come of the bad? Has this study of Joseph helped you? Would you pray for your own epiphany to help you? Can you use the story of Joseph to help others who might be struggling to understand how God might be working in tough times in their lives? Where does prayer fit in all this?

Let's try to simplify this discussion. Much debate over whether reckoned righteousness (Romans 4) is inherent (transferred) righteousness (Catholic view) or imputed (reckoned, accounted, credited) righteousness (Protestant view). Those words in the Protestant view are in the Bible, whereas “inherent or transferred" are not).  So let’s stick with Bible terms. 

Bottom line, Phil 3:9: there is a “righteousness of my own” that Paul spoke of that a man could have if he obeyed the laws of God, “derived from the Law”. Zacharias and Elizabeth were both “righteous in the sight of God, walking blamelessly in the commandments and requirements of the Lord” Lk 1:6.
But Paul says as a believer in Jesus he had a righteousness that is through faith, the righteousness which comes from God on the basis of faith. Let’s go to Romans where Paul elaborates on this new righteousness in Christ. However, “by the works of the Law no flesh will be justified in His sight” Rom 3:20. But apart from the Law, the righteousness of God has been manifested…even the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ… Rom 3:21,22. So believers are justified by grace through faith to “demonstrate God’s righteousness (i.e. He is the only One who perfectly does everything in a just and right way) Rom 3:24-28. Justification is “by faith apart from the works of the Law” Rom 3:28. A simply definition of the word justification is “to be declared righteous in God’s sight”, to be cleared of all guilt, to be pardoned from all punishment, to be declared to be “just-as-if-I-had-not-sinned”.

Paul goes on to use the examples of Abraham and David to show that their righteousness was as “reckoned” to them Rom 4:3 (quoting Gen 15:6) on the basis of their faith, and not their works. Certainly, with Abraham, it wasn’t through keeping of the Law of Moses which had not even been given during his life; he hadn’t even been circumcised yet in Gen 15:6 (Rom 4:10). This method of reckoned righteousness was to be the model for all believers of all times, Jew or Gentile (Rom 4:11). This was essential to the concept of salvation by grace, not Law-keeping (Rom 4:16). Paul later in Romans said that “if salvation is by grace, it is no longer on the basis of works, otherwise grace is no longer grace” (Rom 11:6). If God bases our salvation in any degree upon our works, we will fall short and not be saved. It must be 100% by grace. God demanded that salvation be such, so that all the glory would go to Him and not to man. It would exclude all boasting (Rom 3:27). Finally, Paul says that righteousness would be reckoned to the one who believes in Jesus (Rom 4:23-24) just as it was to Abraham (and David).

The Biblical use of the words “counted, reckoned, credited, imputed”: how do we best illustrate that? Something that is considered yours even though it is not really yours or of your doing. A bank account has credits and debits. A credit is something put to your account. That is usually a deposit you made or a direct deposit of your paycheck, for example. But what if all of a sudden you notice that a credit of $1,000,000 shows up on your bank statement that you did not earn or deposit. But it is now considered or reckoned to be yours for you to used to pay your debts. That is salvation. Our righteousness will not save us. David says our righteousness is as filthy rags, no matter how great it is (like Zacharias). But God credits our spiritual bank account with righteousness that is not ours, but which will be credited to our account, totally sufficient to save us. Whether it is imparted, imputed, transferred, inherent, let us not get caught up that squabble among the theologians. God declares us to be righteousness in His sight by grace through faith, not works. This is called justification, a term in God’s spiritual courtroom where He judges us. Once we are covered by God’s grace through faith, He continues to reckon us to be righeous his sight even though we still sin, but “blessed is the man whose sin the Lord will not take into account” (Rom 4:8). God does not account our trespasses against us (2 Cor 5:19). If we walk in the light, the blood continues to wash away any sin we commit and it is not charged against us (1 Jn 1:7).
This would apply to all sins, past, present and future, as long as we are covered by grace. Yes, we can fall from grace, but don’t let that possibility take away from the joy of reckoned righteousness. And the assurance of continued salvation by grace through faith that we have in Christ.

I read a great chapter in a book by William Worthy. It begins with a quote: “The image of covering occurs frequently in Scripture particularly in connection with atonement.” R.C.Sproul

1. Garments for Adam and Eve (Gen 3:7,21). They covered their private parts with leaves, but God gave them coverings of animal skins. Not to read too much into this story, but interesting that God provided clothing for their sinful condition. Their covering of leaves was inadequate even though they were the only ones in the Garden at that time. Is that a lesson that we can’t provide our own righteousness?
2. The dirty garments of Joshua, the High Priest (Zech 3:1-5). Joshua was the high priest, who along with Zerubbabel, led the 1st return from Babylon to rebuild the temple. His special priestly robes had perhaps become dirty from working on the temple? Satan was accusing him before the Lord. For what? Not being dressed appropriately? Not resuming the work on the temple that had been delayed? Not sure. But the Lord rebuked him and gave Joshua clean garments and took his iniquity (whatever it was) away from him. Then the angel of the Lord told him that he was a symbol of “My Servant the Branch” (i.e. the Branch of David which is Jesus). Not sure the typology here. Jesus our High Priest obviously. All believers are priests in the new covenant, and they will be given the clean clothing of imputed righteousness.
3. The wedding garment of Matthew 23:1-13. The guest who actually accepted the invitation and attending the wedding feast did more than the Jews who rejected the invitation to come into the kingdom of God. But he didn’t have on the appropriate wedding garment. Surely he was offered one (an assumption but a reasonable one), and perhaps refused it. Maybe he didn’t think he needed one. I have always thought this man was a Judaizer who would actually become a member of the church kingdom but yet continued to trust in his own goodness and law keeping, i.e. a legalist. The wedding garment would be the imputed righteousness offered to every member of the kingdom, a nice garment probably unlike what they normally wore since they had been brought in from the highways and byways.
   In connection with this story, read Isaiah 61:10: he hath clothed me with the garments of salvation, he hath covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom docket herself with ornaments and as a bride adorneth herself with her jewels. In Isaiah, believers get even more than just a guest garment; they are given the clothes the bride and groom would wear.
4. The best robe for the prodigal. The prodigal son in the parable In Luke 15:22-24 was forgiven and was given the “best robe”. I’m sure this irritated the elder brother who was probably still in his work clothes since he had continued the hard farm work while his younger brother was out wasting his inheritance. Again, this could be stretching it a little perhaps, but could represent the robe of imputed righteousness that prodigals, sinners, receive. But legalists have always been a thorn in the church kingdom, trying to make the new covenant a law of works instead of a law of faith. They trust their own righteousness and law keeping instead of God’s grace and reckoned righteousness.
5. Clothed with Christ. Galatians 3:26,27: you are children of God by faith in Jesus Christ. For as many of you as have been baptized have “put on” Christ (as if putting on clothes). Romans 13:14 put on the Lord Jesus Christ and make no provision for the flesh…. I mean, how can you “put on” Jesus as if He is a piece of clothing. The idea must be the reckoned righteousness that is given us by faith in Jesus.

I hope this article helps explain “reckoned righteousness”. On your worst day (as long as you have not fallen from grace), you can rejoice in knowing that you have this reckoned righteousness, and that God sees and considers you to be righteous in his sight even though you sin often. Some worry that this doctrine will cause Christians to sin willfully since they are covered by grace. Paul foresees that and asks, “Shall we continue in sin that grace might abound? God forbid” Romans 6:1. Anyone who willfully sins without any regret simply is not a sincere believer, a true believer. Suppose someone gives you a beautiful new white suite or dress so you can attend a special wedding of a friend or loved one. Who would just willfully go out and roll in the mud, dirtying that new garment, and then walk into the wedding to honor the bride and groom?

Yes, I know all the passages. Philippians 4:6-8

⁴ Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice! ⁵ Let your gentle spirit be known to all men. The Lord is ^[c]near. ⁶ Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. ⁷ And the peace of God, which surpasses all ^[d]comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

⁸ Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is ^[e]lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, ^[f]dwell on these things.

Yes, I know worry is a lack of faith. Matthew 6:25-34

²⁵ “For this reason I say to you, ^[n]do not be worried about your ^[o]life, as to what you will eat or what you will drink; nor for your body, as to what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? ²⁶ Look at the birds of the ^[p]air, that they do not sow, nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not worth much more than they? ²⁷ And who of you by being worried can add a single ^[q]hour to his ^[r]life? ²⁸ And why are you worried about clothing? Observe how the lilies of the field grow; they do not toil nor do they spin, ²⁹ yet I say to you that not even Solomon in all his glory clothed himself like one of these. ³⁰ But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the furnace, will He not much more clothe you? You of little faith! ³¹ Do not worry then, saying, ‘What will we eat?’ or ‘What will we drink?’ or ‘What will we wear for clothing?’ ³² For the Gentiles eagerly seek all these things; for your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. ³³ But ^[s]seek first ^[t]His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be ^[u]added to you.

³⁴ “So do not worry about tomorrow; for tomorrow will ^[v]care for itself. ^[w]Each day has enough trouble of its own.

Yes, I know Peter tells us to “cast all anxiety on Him for He cares for you” (1 Peter 5:6). I know I should just turn it over to the Lord. I know Jesus said, “fear not little flock” (Luke 12:32). But that is just hard for some of us to do. Worrying is our thorn in the flesh. Maybe a parent constantly made us afraid of what might happen, of real or perceived danger, of “what if”, etc. Maybe it could be genetic in our personality. But fear is a crippling emotion. Fear can be good. The Bible even says “the fear of God is the beginning of wisdom”. Fear is natural. I have a fear of heights, but someone should be afraid to climb carelessly hundreds of feet up on a building ledge. But most fear is not healthy. The 10 spies were afraid of the giants they saw in the Promised Land and their fear caused them to rebel against God. We should never make decisions based on fear not faith. David was not afraid of Goliath because he had faith in God who had helped him kill the bear and the lion while shepherding the sheep. We can’t let our fear paralyze us into refusing to obey God or into not stepping out in faith even if we are afraid. My daughter was going to backpack across South America for 6 months. A missionary friend told me that if she did that she would be robbed several times and her money and passport taken, leaving her in dire straits. I begged my daughter not to go, but she said, “I refuse to not do something just because I am afraid. Please don’t discourage me with your fear”. She went and had a great trip, passing through 6 different countries in South America, going all the way south to Usula, the southern most city in South America, just across from the South Pole. She walked with penguins, climbed the mountains in Peru with the native Peruvians, and spent 3 days in the Amazon with a little native guide (that one almost gave me a nervous breakdown). Could something bad have happened? Absolutely. But her faith overcame her fear, and that is the point.

I love the story of Daniel’s 3 friends. Their reply to the king when threatened with the furnace of fire: Daniel 3:16-18 ¹⁶ Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego replied to the king, “O Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to give you an answer concerning this matter. ^17 [o]If it be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the furnace of blazing fire; ^[p]and He will deliver us out of your hand, O king. ¹⁸ But even if He does not, let it be known to you, O king, that we are not going to serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up.” Faith does not mean that we believe God will never allow something bad or tragic to happen to us or to our loved ones. The 3 friends knew they might die in the fire, but they were not afraid even if that happened. They were not afraid to die. Shakespeare: “Cowards die many times before their death. The valiant never taste of death but once” (Julius Caesar, Act II, Scene II). Or as paraphrased centuries later by Ernest Hemingway: “A coward dies a thousand deaths, the brave man dies but once” (A Farewell to Arms).

I know all that about fear, but I still react as Esther did when Mordecai asked her to go before the king to change Haman’s edict to have all the Jews killed. She was afraid. Even the queen did not just go to the king without being called for. She could face death if she did that. Mordecai told her that if she refused to go to the king that God would find someone else to do His will and she would perish anyway. He added that maybe God had put her in the position as queen just for that occasion to save her people the Jews. She overcame her fear and went in to the king. She said, “If I perish, I perish”. We know God was with her and her courage saved the Jews. I guess there have been times when I did what I thought God wanted me to do even though I was afraid, like when we did mission work for 5 years. But too often I don’t step out in faith because of my fear.

The doctors tell us us that stress is a killer, and it is. Of course, we will have our things we are “concerned” about. Even Paul said that he had intense concerns. ²⁸ Apart from such^[m]external things, there is the daily pressure on me of concern for all the churches. ²⁹ Who is weak without my being weak? Who is ^[n]led into sin ^[o]without my intense concern? 2 Cor 11:28,29. A parent can’t help but be concerned about the health and safety of his/her children. I know my wife and I are concerned about the health of her aging parents and their care as they are in their 90’s, and her dad has alzheimer’s. That will produice stress. Our jobs produce stress. Paul did not sin by being concerned over the spiritual welfare of his converts. I guess you could say he was stressed out over that. But I am confident that he turned that concern over to God in prayer, like he did everything else. He prayed 3 times for God to remove his “thorn in the flesh” but God would not. God simply told him:⁸ Concerning this I implored the Lord three times that it might leave me. ⁹ And He has said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness.” Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast ^[c]about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me. ¹⁰ Therefore I am well content with weaknesses, with ^[d]insults, with distresses, with persecutions, with difficulties, for Christ’s sake; for when I am weak, then I am strong. 2 Cor 12:8-10

So, how do I deal with my fear, worry, and stress? I wish I could tell you that I have overcome by the power of God and of the Holy Spirit, but I haven’t. I had one issue I was worried about and I think it put me in afib. Another issue is just hanging over my head like a raincloud and threatens to make my mind stressed out for many months. I really do try to turn it over to the Lord, but it is hard. My wife gives me good advice (unlike Job’s wife), but it doesn’t seem to help a lot (her support and just being there does help a lot). I tell myself how stupid it is to worry yourself sick, as they say, but I still do it!

If you are reading this blog, can you relate to all this? I guess we worriers just have to keep trying to allow the Spirit of God to overcome our fleshly nature. I have so much to be thankful for. I have been so blessed with my family and friends. I am usually worrying and afraid of “what if” instead of something that has actually happened. That’s really dumb. I have the joy of salvation. I can be at peace no matter what happens. I need to try to enjoy my salvation every moment no matter what the circumstances, good or bad. I need tro pray more.

⁴ I will also raise up shepherds over them and they will ^[b]tend them; and they will not be afraid any longer, nor be terrified, nor will any be missing,” declares the Lord. Jeremiah 23:4. This was a promise of God to the remnant of the Jews who would believe in Jesus as the Messiah when he would come centuries later. Sheep are notoriously fearful animals. God is promising his sheep that they will not longer be afraid or terrified any longer because God and Jesus will be our shepherds, and He will even raise up human shepherds to take care of the flock. We are the flock of God. I will try to see myself as a sheep in the care of Jesus the good shepherd (John 10). He will care for me no matter what happens. I will try to be at peace as I listen to His voice leading me to green pastures and away from danger.

I am a control freak. I try to control things, and actually am pretty good at it most of the times. I relate to Jacob in the Old Testament. He always “wrestled with God” all his life, conniving, getting Esua’s birthright and blessing by his own cunning. He matched wits with Laban for 20 years, and actually came out ahead, but only because God was blessing him. But he was scared to death when he had to face Esau on his way back to Bethel. That’s when he wrestled with the man, probably the angel of Jehovah. The man changed Jacob’s name to “Israel” (he who wrestles with God”). He continued to try to control everything through different events, many of them bad: the rape of Dinah, trying to keep Benjamin instead of allowing him to be taken to Egypt by his brothers. After Joseph brought Jacob’s whole family to Egypt, Jacob told Pharoah, “Few and unpleasant have been the years of my life”. He had actually lived 130 years, but he looked back on them as few and unpleasant because he had always wrestled with God, trying to control circumstances, operating out of his fears. However, he did tell Joseph before he died, “God has been my shepherd all the days of my life”. He finally realized that God had been shepherding him through all the tough and dangerous times. His life could have been much more pleasant if he had just trusted in God as his shepherd. As I get older, I hope I can finally relax and be at peace, resting in the arms of God and Jesus, my shepherds.

I hope this blog article will help me, but I hope it will help you also. I hope 2019 will be a different year, freer of the worry, stress, and fear that I can’t seem to shake. I pray the the Holy Spirit will help me be at peace and help me release all the stress. May God bless all us worriers in 2019! He wants us just to relax and enjoy our salvation and all the good things He has given us.

⁵ 

It is studying the Bible to determine what the words meant as written to the original recipients of the words. The Holy Spirit had one and only one original message. Of course, passages could have different applications to different readers of different cultures, but there was only one original meaning, and we should seek to discover that meaning. This would involve determining to whom the passage was written, why it was written, when it was written, and where ti was written. This would involve trying to understand the circumstances involved.

Technically, none of the Bible was written to us today. For example, all the New Testament was written to someone living in the first century. The Old Testament was written to people living back then. Paul did say that those things in the Old Testament were written “for” our exhortation, but they were not written directly to us.

Of. course, there are principles that, even though they were written to someone living in the first century, should have the same impact as if they were written directly to us. For example, the command for husbands to love their wives as found in Ephesians. That was not written to us us today, but I’m sure the Holy Spirit would command husbands today to love their wives.

James Stewart Russell calls this “audience relevance”. He looks at each passages and asks, “What was the relevance of this to the audience being written to”? That’s easy to accept when it comes to Noah being told to build an ark. We know that wasn’t spoken to us, and that we are not being commanded to build an ark. But then we get to a New Testament command where Jesus told his apostles to “wash one anther’s feet” (John 13). Is that a command for us also? Many take it to be such and practice foot washing. Others find a way to rationalize that it was a cultural thing only needed for the apoostles’ dirty feet back then and that it is not a command for us to follow. So who decides which commands are spoken to someone else in the New Testament and yet are commands for us also? Often we leave this decision to individual conscience or to group preference (the Primitive Baptists practice regular foot washing in their church assemblies). Sometimes a group will decide that a command is for us also and will make it a test of fellowship with other Christian groups. For eample, Jesus told his apostles to take the Lord’s Supper, “as oft as you do this”. Although He was commanding this of his apostles at the Last Supper, most of us take this to be a command for us also. Then we find the early church apparently taking the Lord’s Supper in their assemblies on the first day of the week. That is what is called an “inference” based on 1 Cor 16 where they took up a collecdtion on the first day of the week and on 1 Cor 11 where they were rebuked for not partaking of the Lord’s Supper in the proper way. So, some groups take all this to be a command for us to take the Lord’s Supper every first day of every week. Some would make that a test of fellowship. Others take of the Supper but not every week. It is interesting that some who make the taking of the Supper every week a test of fellowship use 1 Cor 16 as part of their arguments. But in that passage, Paul is telling the Corinthians to take up a collection for the saints in Jerusalem. This was a big part of his 3rd missionary journey, getting the Gentile churches to take up a collectdion for the poor saints in Jerusalem who were suffereing from a recent famine. He teells them to take up that collection every week and have it ready for him to take when he comes to visit them. Obviously, that command was for them and them only. Even then, the command would cease to apply to them after he came and took the collection. Yet there are groups that have used 1 Cor 16 as a basis for making a collection a part of the commands that we must do on the first day of every week.

So what commands are for us today and who decides? Each believer must decide for himself. As Paul said in Romans 14, some believe there is a command to not eat meats and others eat meats. Some observe one day above another. He says in that chapter that each should follow his own conscience and that we should not judge or withdraw our fellowship from those who disagree with us. Grace will cover us even if we are not understanding a command accurately and that we should not violate our conscience.

But are there some basic commands or teachings that we absolutely must understand and obey accurately or else we cannot be saved? Certainly. The core teaching of the gospel is “salvation by grace through faith in the propititatory sacrifice of Jesus on the cross”. In the New Testament, sinners are told to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and be saved. Surely that is a command for all sinners for all times. The apostle John says that is a test of whether we are waling in the light or not, of whether we have fellowship with the Father, Son, or other believers (1 John 2). He goes on to say that love is a similar test of fellowship, as well as obedience to moral commands for purity. Surely those would be commands for us today also. Paul gives a list of sins that he says we cannot “practice” and still inherit the kingdom of God and salvation. Only diehard Calvinsts say that a convertred sinner can continue to stay drunk the rest of his life and still be saved (once saved, always saved).

But notice that there are very few such commands that must be understand and obeyed just as they were given in the first century in order to be saved. Multiple other commands should not be tests of fellowship even if we disagree on whether to keep them or not. In the Church of Christ fellowship, multiple splits have occurred over which New Testament examples are binding on us. The argument is that we must have an “approved example” for every religious practice we do today. The argument is that we must have such an example of a church using money out of the collection plate to send to a non-Christian group or even to help a non-Christian. Why would anyone say that just because someone practiced a command in a certain way in the first century means that we have to practice it in the same way way today. Of that if they didn’t practice it in a certain way i nthe first century means that we can’t practice it in any other way than the way they practiced it? Yet this illogical reasoning has split multiple churches over issues like Sunday school classes, one cup for the communion, etc.

BTW, Paul says in Galatians 4 that there is great danger if we make such “non-essential” commands and issues as tests of fellowship. The Judaizers were demanding that the Gentile converts be circumcised. They were withholding fellowship from those who. refused to do this. Paul told them they could choose whether to be circumcised or not, but if they made this issue a test of fellowship that they would “fall from grace”. Making it a test of fellowship would mean that they are trusting in their own methods of law keeping instead of grace for salvation. That is “legalism”. I personally will not make any issue or command or doctrine a test of fellowship unless the Bible specifically makes it a test of fellowship as in 1 John.

Some believe that the use of instrumental music in worship is a sin, and many who feel that way have made it a test of fellowship. The arguments used to condemn its use are not the subject of this essay. Each person must analyze the arguments and decide if it violates his conscience to use instrumental music in worship: if it does, then he/she should not use it. He probably would not be able to worship with those who use it. But he/she should not make it a test of fellowship. The New Testament does not specifically make this a test of fellowship issue. It is simply one that we choose to disagree over. Surely grace will cover the one who uses it even if it is actually forbidden by whatever arguments some might use. One of the main issues that separated the Christian Church and the Church of Christ was the use of instrumental music. It is interesting that Barton Stone, one of the founders of the Church of Christ movement, once commented that it was good that the congregations were not making its use a test of fellowship. That changed toward the end of the 19th century when some decided it should be a test of fellowship, and a few years after that the separation came. Paul did indeed tell the Ephesian and Colossian Christians to “sing and make melody in your hearts”, but why would that mean that one could not sing along with a harp, as David would have done? But again, even if the command to sing excludes the use of all other types of instruments of music, which is the argument usually made, why would I make the way I understand that to be a test of fellowship?

Finally, examine each passage to determine what the Holy Spirit meant it to mean to the people He was speaking or writing it to through some inspired apostles, prophet, or teacher. Then try to determine how it might or might not apply to us today. Then follow your conscience and obey any command that you thnk applies to you. Determine if you think the command or issue in an “essential to salvation” issue or not. If not, then allow the grace of God cover those who disagree with you and do not withdraw fellowship from them. If you determine that it is an “essential to salvation” issue, then stand firm on that issue. Paul said in 2 Timothy 2:24-26, “the Lord’s bond-servant must not be quarrelsome, but be kind to all, able to teach, patient when wronged, ²⁵ with gentleness correcting those who are in opposition, if perhaps God may grant them repentance leading to the knowledge of the truth, ²⁶ and they may come to their senses and escape from the snare of the devil, having been held captive ^[i]by him to do his will”. That might mean withdrawing fellowship.