Archives for May 2016

Ah – the beatitude I have been waiting to get to…because it discouraged me for years.  “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God” (Mt 5:8). If Jesus is giving a command, we need to quit right now. The good news is that it is not a command, not a standard to live up to. It is a statement of the reality of grace.

By grace alone and by faith alone, you have passed through the creative hand of God a second time. You have a new heart – one that is holy and pure! What Ezekiel prophesied, “I will give you a new heart and right desires, and I will put a new spirit in you. I will take out your stoney heart of sin, and give you a new, obedient heart” (Ezekiel 36:26,27 NLT) has come true in us.

I recently realized that there is no place in the New Testament where we are given instructions on how we are to work at making ourselves holy. Why? Because we can’t. And it is not our job. It is God’s. If we could crank up our purity of heart so we are acceptable to stand in the presence of God and see Him, then the life and death of Christ was a waste of time.

Ephesians 4:24 describes this new heart we have. God says it is “created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.” This changed everything I understood about living my Christian life. I always thought it was my job to become holy by discipline, hard work and lots of accountability. This is WRONG. Not only is it wrong, it is anti-gospel. God has already changed me…now it is my role to mature out of what He has done in me. I cannot change my DNA, but God has. Now I put my effort not into becoming someone different, but into living out of what He has already done in me…so it comes to the surface and people see it like a new set of clothes.

This Beatitude connects with another verse that always guaranteed my failure – Psalm 11:7, “the upright shall behold his face.” I always immediately thought this leaves me out…go to the back of the line Bill. Wrong again! Now I have written in the margin of my Bible next to this verse, “I am that!” The gospel not only declares me righteous but also implants it in me.

“Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God” is not a standard for you to aim at by trying harder. It is a statement about what is true about you right now. WOW! What incredible good news. It is mountain top shouting news.

P.S.  Follow on Twitter this week for follow-up thoughts about this unbelievable good news. Just go to @billtell.

 

In my last post, we looked at the Beatitudes (Mt 5:2-11) in their historical and gospel context. This changed everything. No longer are they standards to hurdle to be blessed, rather they are statements of grace in our brokenness. The words of Jesus stop being burdens and are actually blessings. Today. Just as I am.

Remember Jesus’ audience (Mt 4:23-25). They were “the sick, those afflicted with various diseases and pains, those oppressed by demons, epileptics, and paralytics.” They were the broken, those without a future and a hope. As we saw last week, they were those who were already “poor in spirit” and “those who mourn.” They did not need to become “poor in spirit” or “mourn” more. Jesus healed them. He blessed them as they were. They experienced grace.

Now the next two statements of grace. First, “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth“ (Mt 5:5). Remember Jesus is describing those He just blessed. Because of their situation in life, they were continually the intimidated. They were those unable to assert themselves and present their legitimate claims. They were the taken advantage of. Any property or rights that they had were taken. There was no way they could become more meek. They were as unassertive as they could be. And what did Jesus do? He blessed them just as they were and then promised that they would “inherit the earth.” Those who had nothing would by the grace of God have all they need.

Next, “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.” (Mt 5:6). Is Jesus telling us that we need to hunger and thirst more before He will bless us? NO! He was describing those he had just blessed who had been hungering and thirsting for things to be made right for years. They had been severely wronged and suffered injustice…some for decades. Like the Israelites in exile, “God heard their groaning…God saw the people…and God knew” (Exodus 2:24,25).

And so for us. “Let us then with confidence, draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in the time of need.” Just as we are. This line in the song, Come Ye Sinners, says it so well – “if you tarry till you’re better, you will never come at all.”

QUESTION: Am I allowing myself to receive the grace of God just as I am? Am I passing it on to others just as they are?

PS: Thanks so much for your comments! Join us on this journey of Laying it Down by adding your email in the subscribe box…and then share this with your friends. We need one another. (Next week: “the merciful” and “the pure in heart.”

PS: You can also follow on Twitter @billtell.

I was teaching a class of 20-somethings and announced we would be looking at the beatitudes (Mt 5:3-11). A godly young woman raised her hand and said “I hate the beatitudes.” And then another voiced the same opinion. This continued until it seemed like the entire class echoed the same attitude. They totally disliked what Jesus was saying.

Why? They had all been taught Jesus was saying they had to be better than they were in order to be blessed. They needed to be more “poor in spirit” before they would be blessed. For sure they needed to “mourn” more for their sin. Do everything a little better and then you can be blessed. No grace without better performance. The New Testament’s Ten Commandments.

I didn’t like the beatitudes either…that is until about ten years ago. That’s when I learned to read them through the lens of grace and they become good news. Great news.

The key to unlocking the beatitudes as good news is to understand the context. Jesus was teaching and healing “all the sick, those afflicted with various diseases and pains, those oppressed by demons, epileptics and paralytics” (Mt 4:24). This attracted huge crowds and uses it as a teachable moment.

Jesus first says, “Blessed are the poor in spirit…“.  Who had Jesus just blessed with His teaching about the Kingdom and with His healing? The most hopeless, the marginalized and helpless, those who were written off. Those who were already the poorest in spirit had just been blessed. They didn’t have to become more humble and humiliated first. Grace says I am going to love you and bless you just as you are.

Next Jesus declares, “Blessed are those who mourn…”. I was always taught I needed to mourn more for my sin, and then Jesus would bless me, but this doesn’t fit the context. Those he had just preached the gospel to and healed were already mourning – mourning the loss of their health, their careers, their family, their dignity.

Jesus wasn’t exhorting them to mourn more, rather He was saying I am meeting you just as you are. You don’t have do anything to make yourself more acceptable before I will bless you. He had just demonstrated this amazing truth about grace. “God loves you just as you are, not as you should be” (Brennan Manning).

Personally, when I began to read the Beatitudes this way and in context, it gave credibility to Jesus’s words in Mt 11:30, “My yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” Walking with Jesus is good news. It is a joy.

Next week I will continue to work our way through these beautiful grace filled verses.

QUESTION:  How have you been reading these verses? Have they been good news or exhortations to work harder so you can qualify for God’s blessing?

PS: Let me encourage you to listen to this past Tuesday’s podcast with Dr. Bryan Chapell. Bryan compares the pain of “stop it” with the healing and hope of grace.