(This is the second post in a series.)

The first fruit of redemption that we’ll discuss is conversion.

What is conversion?

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. (2 Corinthians 5:17)

“…in Christ…”

Have you ever considered what it means to be “in Christ”? Simply put, it is to have absolute assurance that Christ is the complete and perfect propitiation for our sin and by faith—through grace—we believe in His work on the cross.

It is to rest in Him and to know that He resides in us. It is also to let Him live through our lives so He may be glorified in all that we do (yes, everything…that means eating, drinking, working, playing, resting…everything). It is not just having belief with no result, but it is knowing with full confidence that the Lord is fighting for us.

“We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.” (Romans 6:4).

That’s what it is to be in Christ.

What does it mean to be a new creation? or to have newness of life?

“New” implies a new nature quite different from anything that previously existed. This “new” is not comparable to adding a new paint job; for this is just applying a new thing to the old—simply a cover up. Rather, this “new” is like the complete stripping of a wall to the bare bones—the foundation. Everything old is removed and rebuilt in perfection.

And guess what? The same goes for our new nature. Before Christ, our nature was totally and utterly depraved, trodden down and hopeless. Now, like that wall, our old nature has been torn completely down, burned up and blown away in ash. A new creature has been built, a nature that is perfect through Christ alone and whose sin has been washed away by His blood.

Redemption by the blood of Christ has converted us from children of wrath into children of glory. From darkness to light. From an enemy, into a son of God.

“Behold,” the Word proclaims, “the new has come.” It blows me away when I meditate and think upon the “new”. There’s no stopping after we say a prayer and get saved, only to see no corresponding result or fruit. Our life is completely transformed and every action, every thought and every deed is new. It is through Christ that we live and it is Him who enables us to live a life that is centered on the cross. This should be the proper response because we are no longer our own but have been bought with a price—the blood of the Lamb.

“People are strange”

True conversion is that strange thing a lot of non-believers notice but do not quite understand. It is what separates us from the world. Conversion completely changes our hearts and minds so that our affections are rightly fixed where they ought to be: on Jesus Christ, the Messiah. Just as God created life out of darkness, so it is with the believer.

We now have true life.

Stop right now to consider and meditate on the many ways that God, in your own life, has made the old pass away and the new come.

Do you have faith in Christ? If so, you have been converted. Rejoice, you have been born again!

• Fruits of Redemption: Introduction

FACT #2: I am not alone in this. I am not the only one out there that naturally skirts over the deeper theological waters only to wade in the comfortable shallow end.

You might be someone like this.

In spite of these facts, when we actually seize the chance to sit down, remove ourselves from the busyness of the world and think about the underlying blessings of those deeper truths found within God’s Word, it opens up a world of joy. I am not saying this is essential; however, I am saying it is important.

Digging deep is important because it can drastically change our lives by bringing us into closer communion with Christ. When we dive down into the Word, it allows the Holy Spirit to change our hearts, conforming us more and more into His image. Our hearts become fertile soil.

Knowing Him better also allows us to love Him better.

The tiers of truth, when searched out and revealed to us in His Word, will absolutely cause us to love Him more. It will bring out praise that pours from our hearts. It will gives us a desire to please Him—to live for His glory. The more we actually delight in true and majestic things about Him, the more this world and its corresponding pop culture will grow strangely dim. The world and its things are but a vapor in the wind; Christ, however, remains the solid rock of the ages.

I want that. I want Christ. I want to dive into the deep with God and enjoy Him, don’t you?

Thankfully, Jesus Christ takes us there and bestows His truth. He makes the deep things of God plain to the believer. He does this by His Spirit and through His Word. One of these truths—and one of the most spoken of—is the particular work of redemption. We see it so clearly both in the old and new testaments:

• through acts of undeserved grace, God worked through the nation Israel to continually bring them out of bondage…
• furthermore, through Christ—the Perfect Sacrifice—He completes His plan of redemption for mankind. Our God is a great Redeemer.

What does redemption really do?

But what does redemption really do in our lives, and what comes from it? To know that we have been bought with the blood of Christ is an awesome truth, isn’t it? If you are a believer today, knowing you have the security of the cross, which fully satisfied the wrath of God on your behalf, is beyond normal human comprehension. It blows us away; it makes us stand in complete and utter awe.

Consequently, we find that studying beyond and into the work of redemption on the Cross is like swimming in an endless ocean that quenches the broken soul and never dries up… ever.

Redemption is everything to the Christian.

Through it, Christ changes your heart into a new one that seeks after His will and glory. It brings joy to the believer. It brings delight. It is moving from death to life—and so much more.

Over the next several weeks, we will unpack the fruits of redemption.

There is so much to cover, and we will only scratch the surface.

My prayer for you is this: that you will enjoy each of eight snapshots throughout the next several weeks on the fruits of redemption, and that it will fill your heart with joy and confirm your assurance in Jesus Christ, our Great Redeemer.

Stay tuned.

(to be continued…)

This is the fourth, and last, post in a series of four.

In my first post, I stated that I’ve found at least five ways we can faithfully listen to a sermon in a way that seeks Christ, honors the word of God and blesses the sanctified believer. In my second post, I discussed the first two of these points. In my last post, I discussed the third and fourth point. Today, I’ll conclude this series by going over the fourth and final point:

4. Think about how the message is binding on your life

2 Timothy 3:16-17 says, “All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be competent, equipped for every good work.”

This may sound obvious, but it still deserves attention. The way most of us talk about application in preaching is whether, or how, the preacher applied the ideas of the text to the lives of his listeners. For example: as one listening to a sermon, I might consider if the preacher did a good job of explaining how the biblical text specifically applies to my life.

This is a dire necessity, of course, but it might be helpful–to the listener–to think of sermon application as more the act of the one hearing the message. Sure, the preacher can and must show the relevance and significance of a text for our lives, but only we, by the power of the Spirit of God, can actually apply the truth to our lives. Again, this takes an active engaging in the biblical truth being proclaimed. There can be a truly beautiful and organic dialogue taking place during the sermon event between God, preacher, and congregation all at the same time!

Truth be told, a lot of the time our complaints of a pastor’s sermons not being relevant enough actually indicate our laziness, not the preacher’s incompetence. In a time like ours when all kinds of authority are being called into question (perhaps rightly in some instances), we have to consciously work against all self-induced cynicism. It jades our reception of God’s word.

God is our authority, and he lovingly exercises that authority by his Word in the Church.

So, when we sit under the teaching of our pastors, we consider the words of the apostle Paul, remembering that all Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be competent, equipped for every good work. We can ask ourselves, “What sin is this addressing in my life that I need to repent of?” “What kind of encouragement can I receive from this?” “What do I believe about God that needs to be corrected or reenforced by this text?” The possibilities for application multiply numerously as we think about it in this way.

Conclusion

Don’t waist your Sundays! It is rare enough that God’s people are gathered together corporately for the unified purpose of hearing God speak and so being built up and worshiping him. Why just go through the motions when we can anticipate God speaking to us through his Word and actively receive it with faith? I hope this series has been helpful! Feel free to offer critique or offer any additional thoughts you might have on the subject.

God bless.

• Part 1
• Part 2
• Part 3

This is the third post in a series of four.

In my first post, I stated that I’ve found at least five ways we can faithfully listen to a sermon in a way that seeks Christ, honors the word of God and blesses the sanctified believer. In my last post, I discussed the first two of these points. Today, let’s go over the next two:

3. Think about what is being said

How often do we sift through the words that are preached to weigh the biblical truths that are being taught?

Not everything that is said from a pulpit or stage in church should be taken ipso-facto. In the New Testament church, even the prophecies spoken in the church at Corinth were to be weighed (1 Cor. 14:29). We can actively engage the content of the message by asking questions such as: “Is this true?” “Do I concur? And if not, do I need to repent?” “How is this shown from the scriptural passage?” “Is there something I don’t understand about this?” “Is this argument coherent and sensible?” “Does this message exalt Christ or man?”

Part of the problem, I think, is that TV,music and other media has sadly conditioned us to listen passively, expecting to be entertained. We are hoping to be served well–all along getting our proverbial fix–by what we are hearing. Hearing a sermon takes a measure of concentration combined with faith, so that the information doesn’t just come to a standstill in our minds, but rather, it sinks into our hearts and changes us.

4. Pray for yourself

Sound self-centered? It’s not meant to be. Praying for yourself acknowledges that you humbly recognize your place: that through his word, it is God who speaks and it is we who listen.

Preaching is a mysterious and spiritual event, not just a physical one.  From beginning to end, the building up of the church that takes place during a sermon can only take place by the work of the Holy Spirit. The preacher does not just deliver information to those listening; he is speaking words that (in so far as they are faithful to the Biblical text he is speaking) are impingent upon people as God’s word.

Preaching is really an act of  worshipful submission for the Church. Think about it. This is why Paul can remind Timothy of his role as pastor by saying, “Command and teach these things. Let no one despise you for your youth, but set the believers an example in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith, in purity.” (1 Tim. 4:11-12) What we need in order to submit is humility, a right consideration of ourselves and our place. I don’t think I’m alone in saying that my heart is not always in submission mode when I come to hear my pastor preach Sunday mornings. Though, it needs to be.

It helps if we pray  before–or even during–the sermon, submitting our hearts to God and his Word and asking that His Spirit would open our hearts and illumine the truths of Scripture being set before us.

(…to be continued…)

• Part 1
• Part 2

This is the second post in a series of four.

In my last post, I stated that I’ve found at least five ways we can faithfully listen to a sermon in a way that seeks Christ, honors the word of God and blesses the sanctified believer. Today, I’ll discuss the first two:

1. Listen for the big idea

Not every sermon has a clear and concise theme statement that is repeated throughout, nor does every sermon need one. The basic concept is this: everyone who attempts to preach a sermon is talking about something—or rather some theme. Have you ever noticed that good preaching usually has some kind of unity to its message? Thus, it is helpful for us, when listening, to look for this united theme. A helpful way to get at the main theme of a sermon is to ask, What is my pastor saying? or What is the text talking about? then, What is he saying about what he is talking about?

For example: Is he talking about prayer? What is he saying about prayer, other than that we should do it?

Also, when listening for the big idea, it is of foremost importance to mindfully ask ourselves: What does this say about sin? What does this say about sin in my own life? These things considered, what does this say about my wonderful Savior?

After all, Christ and him crucified is always integral to Christian preaching (1 Corinthians 2:2).

2. Pray for the preacher

The act of preaching is very complex. A lot of things happen in sermon delivery both in the minds of the audience and the preachers. We listeners can often be naïve in considering how difficult the preachers task actually is. When listening to a sermon—or even preaching one—becomes routine, it is so easy to ignore how the sermon was prepared, and even how it is delivered.

Your pastors are concentrating on explicating a biblical passage and bringing it to bear on peoples lives in the midst of much unseen opposition. Things like stress, illness, discouragement, hostility from congregants, a sense of personal inadequacy while at the same time guarding against pride, or any fun conglomeration of psychological states that might be impinging upon your pastor as he strives to faithfully deliver a message from the Word of God, to build up the people of God.

Thus, the least we could do is pray for our brother-in-Christ, the preacher, who has been gifted by God with an enormous responsibility. Just as the apostle Paul asked that the Church would pray for him in his own efforts for the Gospel (Col. 4:3, 1 Thess. 5:25), we can pray that the pastor would have clarity of thought and word, personal conviction, and  a right understanding of his role and task. We pray also for the implementation of the message, the pastor’s growth in love for God and the congregation, and even boldness as he inevitably will come across truths that will not be received well.

In considering today’s two points: listening for the big idea and praying for the preacher, let us pray in humility and ask ourselves: Am I mindful of the big idea being preached? Am I allowing the gospel message to confront my sin and exalt my Savior? Do I pray for my preacher in a way that I would want someone to pray for me, if I were in his shoes? Do I love and encourage him as a brother?

(…to be continued…)

• Part 1

All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be competent, equipped for every good work. (2 Timothy 3:16-17)

Listening to a sermon… the faithful preaching of God’s word. Sounds important, right?

I’ve read many a book on how to preach a sermon in my formal theological education days. What I have not read is a book on how to listen to a sermon. An obviously important goal in a sermon preached is making sure that it is listened—and received. Ironically, that is what many people in our churches are unable to or unwilling to do.

This creates an inevitable problem: not only can there be a lot of bad preachers in our churches, but there can also be a lot of bad listeners. And if you think about it, there are far more listeners than there are preachers, aren’t there? In any given week, you will find more people that listen to sermons than you will find people that preach them.

In affirming this fact, John Calvin described the preaching event as being only half the role of the pastor/preacher. The event of preaching involves the whole worshiping church. The very action of the congregation in receiving that which is preached is not a passive one. The listening that goes on in the congregation during a sermon should be a “listening of faith.”

I’ve found that there are five ways that we can faithfully listen to a sermon in a way that seeks Christ, honors the word of God and blesses the sanctifying believer. I’ll go over each of them over the next few days.

In the meantime, let’s ask ourselves: How much care do I give to the faithful act of listening to a sermon? Am I positioned in a place of reverence? Am I mindful of the word of God preached?