“Who May Ascend into the Hill of the Lord?”

“Who May Ascend into the Hill of the Lord?”

Throughout the Old Testament, and especially in the Psalms, the mountains are portrayed as the dwelling place of God.  “Who may ascend into the hill of the LORD?  And who may stand in His holy place?  He who has clean hands and a pure heart, who has not lifted up his soul to falsehood, and has not sworn deceitfully” (Psalm 24:3-4).

I underlined these verses in my Bible when I was a teenager.  I committed myself to trying very hard to keep my hands clean and my heart pure.  I aspired to tell the truth at all times.  I believed this commitment would give me entrance to the holy place of the Lord and entrance to God’s blessing.  I didn’t know how long it would take to feel that I had arrived at the top of the mountain.  Maybe a lifetime.

Little did I know at the time that reliance on my self-effort to ascend the mountain was a futile exercise.  It also wasn’t necessary.

When I believed the gospel message of Jesus Christ, my hands were made clean and my heart was made pure, right then and there.  Jesus’ new covenant arrangement with me made me clean, pure, holy, and forgiven.

When Peter returned from preaching the gospel to the Gentiles, he affirmed, “God made no distinction between us and them, cleansing their hearts by faith” (Acts 15:9).

“How much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without blemish to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?” (Hebrews 9:14).

“For by one offering He has perfected for all time those who are sanctified” (Hebrews 10:14).

“Yet He has now reconciled you in His fleshly body through death, in order to present you before Him holy and blameless and beyond reproach” (Colossians 1:22).

“Moreover, I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; and I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh” (Ezekiel 36:26).

And finally, “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God” (Matthew 5:8).  This beatitude was a prophecy from Jesus regarding what was coming to us under the new covenant.  A pure heart isn’t a goal to aim for.  You have a pure heart because Jesus gave you a new righteous heart.  Look back at our opening verse.  The “pure heart” requirement of Psalm 24?  It has been fully met by our faith in Jesus.

You do not need to “become” these things.  You ARE these things.  You HAVE clean hands and a pure heart as a gift of grace from Jesus.

This is such a beautiful promise of the new covenant.  There is no mountain to climb to reach the Lord’s presence.  He came to us.  He lived among us.  And when we believed His gospel message, He came to live IN us.  There is no mountain to climb!  Why?  Because the minute you believed the gospel, He whisked you straight to the top of the mountain to dwell forever in His presence.

“But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the ages to come He might show the surpassing riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus” (Ephesians 2:4-7).

Many believe that the Christian life begins at the base of the mountain.  We accept Christ and then begin an arduous journey of finding our way up the mountain.  We see the Christian life as a struggle to maintain our righteousness as we climb toward God’s acceptance, approval, and blessing.  When we are doing well (keeping our hands clean and our heart pure), we are making progress.  When we are doing poorly, we slide back down part of the mountain and have to begin that portion again.  Always striving.  Never arriving.

But I have good news for you.  No, GREAT news for you!  At your moment of salvation, you went straight to the top of the mountain!  We started the Christian life already on top of the “hill of the Lord.”  No climbing required.  You are already “seated with Him in the heavenly places.”  Maturing?  Yes!  Climbing?  No!  As we mature, we learn how to live out of our pure heart and clean hands.  We learn to tell the truth in keeping with our new identity as a Spirit-infused child of God.  But these efforts are not the means to reach God’s presence.  You are already there.  How?  By the blood of Jesus.

“Therefore, brothers, we have confidence to enter the holy place by the blood of Jesus” (Hebrews 10:19).  It is really that simple.  You started this journey called the Christian life already at the top of God’s holy mountain because the blood of Jesus placed you there.

Please look closely at this powerful and beautiful answer to our Psalm 24 question.  Question:  “And who may stand in His holy place?” (Psalm 24:3).  New covenant answer:  “We have confidence to enter the holy place by the blood of Jesus” (Hebrews 10:19).

We are the “who.”  The holy place of God’s presence is the “where.”  We are the ones “who may stand in His holy place.”  We are the “who” by the precious blood of Jesus.  Thank you Jesus!!!

“The True Grace of God”

Studies in First Peter Part 30

“10After you have suffered for a little while, the God of all grace, who called you to His eternal glory in Christ, will Himself perfect, confirm, strengthen, and establish you.  11To Him be dominion forever and ever.  Amen.  12Through Silvanus, our faithful brother (for so I regard him), I have written to you briefly, exhorting and testifying that this is the true grace of God.  Stand firm in it!  13She who is in Babylon, chosen together with you, sends you greetings, and so does my son, Mark.  14Greet one another with a kiss of love.  Peace be to you all who are in Christ” (I Peter 5:10-14).

When you emerge from your suffering, when you are rescued from this particular pain, you will feel the full experience of God making you “perfect, confirmed, strengthened, and established.”

“The God of all grace who called you” will give this to you.  He is “the God of all grace.”  Grace is not an attribute of God.  Grace is His essence!

Now, because of Christ’s finished work on the cross and your belief in His gospel, you are already, “perfect, confirmed, strengthened, and established” no matter what circumstances you find yourself under.  But our experience of these things feels very far off in the middle of distressing times.  God knows this.  And though He does not cause our suffering, He does use it to produce good in our lives.  And we become stronger for it.

Peter’s final admonition in his letter is, “I am exhorting and testifying that this is the true grace of God.  Stand firm in it!”  This letter is grace from front to back, from beginning to end.

  • “May grace and peace be yours in the fullest measure” (I Peter 1:2).
  • “As to this salvation, the prophets who prophesied of the grace that would come to you made careful searches and inquiries” (I Peter 1:10).
  • “Fix your hope completely on the grace to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ” (I Peter 1:13).
  • “Show her honor as a fellow heir of the grace of life” (I Peter 3:7).
  • “Serve one another as good stewards of the manifold grace of God” (I Peter 4:10)
  • “God is opposed the proud, but gives grace to the humble” (I Peter 5:5).
  • “The God of all grace … will Himself perfect, confirm, strengthen and establish you” (I Peter 5:10).
  • “I have written to you briefly, exhorting and testifying that this is the true grace of God. Stand firm in it!” (I Peter 5:12).

It is the grace of God in which we stand.  And standing firm is available to us by the glorious power of Christ’s Sprit living in us.  “The Spirit of glory and of God rests on you” (I Peter 4:14).

“Firm in Your Faith”

Studies in First Peter Part 29

“8Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.  9But resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same experiences of suffering are being accomplished by your brethren who are in the world” (I Peter 5:8-9).

How do we “resist our adversary, the devil?”  What does standing “firm in our faith” against the evil one look like?

First, we recognize Satan as a liar.  Jesus identified Satan this way in John chapter 8, “The devil was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him.  Whenever he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own nature; for he is a liar and the father of lies” (John 8:44).

At the heart of Satan’s attacks and temptations are lies.  Lies about Christ and His character.  Lies about Christ and His finished work on the cross.  Lies about Christ and His promised victory over sin in our lives.  Lies about Christ and His goodness.  Lies about Christ and His living inside us.  Lies about Christ and His love, acceptance, and forgiveness.  Lies about finding our satisfaction in Christ rather than Satan’s idols and ways.

So how do we overcome this dark enemy and the temptations that come through his lies?  We overcome the devil by faith.  This is standing “firm in our faith.”  This is not just some kind of religious answer.  It has tremendous practical application.  The Bible teaches that “greater is He who is in you (God Himself) than he who is in the world (Satan)” (I John 4:4), and “this is the victory that has overcome the world – our faith” (I John 5:4).  We overcome Satan – ruler of the world system – by faith.

What does this faith look like in practice?  It means that when Satan tempts us with his lies, we resist him by faith; our faith in Christ and our faith in His promises.  When Satan holds up a mirror to our failures and says “failure” is who you are, we rest in God’s promise that we are loved, accepted, and forgiven (Luke 7:36-50).  When Satan digs up our sinful past and says “sinner” is who you are, we believe God’s description of us as “holy and beloved saints” (Colossians 3:12).  When Satan puts his finger on a current sin challenge and says “go ahead and give in” since this is who you will always be, we trust in God’s promise that change is possible and sin will no longer be our master (Romans 6:6).

This resting, this believing, this trusting is done by faith.  We don’t try to outwork or outwit Satan.  We resist him and experience victory by believing God’s truth in place of Satan’s lies.  Yes, Satan is a defeated foe, an assured loser in the war with God.  But until that final battle, Satan is working to disrupt God’s rule upon the earth.  And he is quite adept at throwing accusations, reasons for discouragement, and temptations our way.  We defeat Satan by our faith, that is, by believing God’s promises in the face of Satan’s accusations.

The apostle Paul writes, “In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith with which you will be able to extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one“ (Ephesians 6:16).  The shield of faith – put into action by walking by faith – is our primary weapon in the fight with Satan.  The shield of faith will extinguish the arrows of Satan.

We see a connection here in our I Peter passage between suffering and the attacks of Satan as it affects us and our brothers and sisters around the world.  I believe that Satan is the dark power behind death and disease in this world.  But that is a long conversation for another day.

For today, may we wield the shield of faith firmly and courageously and thus “resist the evil one.”

“He Cares for You”

Studies in First Peter Part 28

“5You younger men, likewise, be subject to your elders; and all of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, for God is opposed to the proud, but gives grace to the humble.  6Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you at the proper time, 7casting all your anxiety on Him, because He cares for you” (I Peter 5:5-7).

The original words here are gender neutral.  So the admonition is for all of us to submit to our elders.  And in doing so, we show ourselves “clothed with humility toward one another.”  Humility in the body of Christ is a two-way street.  Elders are to serve with humility as we learned last time, and we are to respect our elders with humility.

“For God is opposed to the proud, but gives grace to the humble” takes us back to the words of Jesus.  In answering the Pharisee’s charge of “friend of sinners,” Jesus said, “I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance” (Luke 5:32).

The “righteous” that were left out of Jesus’ mission were the self-righteous.  High on their own perceived moral superiority, they were unable to see that they were sinners; sinners who needed to repent and believe the gospel message of Jesus, sinners who needed a Savior.  They were left out in the cold, not because they are righteous, but because they see themselves as righteous with no need of a Savior.

To the “righteous”, Jesus gave the cold shoulder of the Law.  To the “sinners”, He gave grace upon grace.  Grace was the reward of their humility.  Christ opposed the self-righteous.  And He gave grace to the humble.

Now humility is not seeing ourselves as worthless.  It is quite the opposite.  Your worth is tremendous.  Jesus, the God of the universe, came to redeem you; came to die for you!  And when you believe in Him, you become a born-again child of the King of Kings, indwelt by God Himself, a partaker of His divine nature, proclaimed righteous, blameless, holy, perfected, and glorious.  This is who you are!  Your worth is off the charts!

So how do we keep our pride in check in the midst of all the beautiful that we now are?  By recognizing that our worth is off the charts, and our merit is zero.  Our merit is zero.  We had nothing to contribute to our incredible worth.  It all was a pure gift of grace.  We did not earn any of it by our merit or good works.  There is no pride in our new and righteous identity; only gratitude and thanksgiving for the gift of His grace.

And as we practice humility before the Lord, before the church, before the world, God raises us up at the proper time.  It would be self-serving (especially in a post about humility) to share the numerous times when I have felt like I was in an obscure place and God swooped in to bring me to a situation where I could be a help to someone.  I am sure you could share similar stories.

Finally, any anxiety you have around your place in His plans; around the topics and feelings of humility, selfish ambition, patience, pride, grace, and exaltation; give those over to the Lord.  Literally, “cast all your anxiety on Him, because He cares for you.”

And it goes beyond just these topics.  “Cast ALL your anxiety on Him.”  God’s shoulders are broad enough.  He will carry it for you.  Your weight can be lifted.  God cares about you.  It is a consistent theme and promise throughout both the old covenant – “Cast your burden upon the Lord and He will sustain you” (Psalm 55:2).  And “Blessed be the Lord, who daily bears our burden, the God who is our salvation” (Psalm 68:19) – and new – “Casting all your anxiety on Him, because He cares for you.” (I Peter 5:7).  God cares and is caring for you!

Leading with Humility

Studies in First Peter Part 27

“1Therefore, I exhort the elders among you, as your fellow elder and witness of the sufferings of Christ, and a partaker also of the glory that is to be revealed, 2shepherd the flock of God among you, exercising oversight not under compulsion, but voluntarily, according to the will of God; and not for sordid gain, but with eagerness; 3nor yet as lording it over those allotted to your charge, but proving to be examples to the flock.  4And when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the unfading crown of glory” (I Peter 5:1-4).

We learn from the opening verse in Peter’s letter that it is addressed to churches in Asia Minor.  These churches likely by this time had some structure to them including the appointment of elders.  These church leaders are exhorted to lead in the way of Jesus, “the Chief Shepherd.”  And what does leadership in this way look like?”

It is “exercising oversight; voluntarily, according to will of God, not for sordid gain, eagerly, not lording over” folks with your position, “but proving to be an example to the flock.”  Let’s break down this oversight by looking at these key words:

“Not under compulsion, but voluntarily.”  Eldership is a voluntary service.  We are not serving reluctantly or aloof and disinterested.

“According to the will of God.”  The will of God is not complicated.  In its simplest form, it is doing the right thing.  It is living righteously in keeping with our new righteous identity.  And elders are encouraged to serve in this way.

“Not for sordid gain.”  Serving as an elder is an exercise in service for ministry sake.  Not to gain a financial position or to boost one’s reputation.

“Eagerly.”  I love this.  Although I no longer serve as an elder in a formal church setting, I enjoyed the service and interaction that went with it.  I honestly did it “eagerly”.  Now I write books and posts “eagerly”.

“Not lording it over.”  This so aligns with the way of Jesus.  “Calling them to Himself, Jesus said to them, ‘You know that those who are recognized as rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them; and their great men exercise authority over them.  But it is not this way among you, but whoever wishes to become great among you shall be your servant; and whoever wishes to be first among you shall be slave of all.  For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many’ ” (Mark 10:42-45).

We follow the way of “the Chief Shepherd” when we lead with humility.  We “prove to be examples to the flock” when we teach, when we serve, when we walk, in humility.

Peter also identifies himself as a “fellow elder.”  And he throws in a bit of his own history.  Peter was a “witness of the sufferings of Christ;” he was there and witnessed the death of Jesus first hand.  “And a partaker also of the glory that is to be revealed; he saw the glory of Jesus spectacularly displayed at His transfiguration (Mark 9:2-8).  A glory that will be revealed to us all at the end of the age.