By: Dale Weckbacher
1 Timothy 1:15-16
15 The
saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance, that Christ
Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost. 16 But
I received mercy for this reason, that in me, as the foremost, Jesus Christ
might display his perfect patience as an example to those who were to believe
in him for eternal life.
(ESV)
Prior to his miraculous conversion and encounter with God on
the road to Damascus, the Apostle Paul was a staunch declarer of his view of truth,
the rejection of Jesus (Acts
8:1-3). His view of biblical truth,
however, was minus one thing, the power of the Spirit of God. It was not until his salvation through his
encounter with God on the road to Damascus that he experienced the power of God’s
grace and understanding that the truth of Scripture pointed to Jesus the
Messiah (Acts
9:1-19). While the church is a force
for truth, the force behind that truth must be the grace of God and the Power
of the Holy Spirit.
Prior to leaving to be with the Father, Jesus commanded His
followers to wait in Jerusalem until they received power from the baptism of
the Holy Spirit (Acts
1:4-5,8). This dynamic of ministry
is not optional and sadly missing in many churches and ministries today. In 1
Timothy 1:18, the Apostle Paul reminds Timothy that ministry is warfare
with the soldier engaged in this spiritual war needing both truth and power through
the grace of God and the Holy Spirit.
The Bible illustrates the magnitude of this spiritual war in
the account of Paul and Silas in Thessalonica and the riot that ensued (Acts
17:1-9). The jealous Jews, of which
the Apostle Paul used to be among, could only bring one charge against the
believers they brought to the authorities, that they had turned the world
upside down (Acts
17:6). Would the Church today be guilty
of the same accusation? Sadly, the
answer is no with the church having the full revelation of truth through the
Bible but lacking the power to declare its truth. Instead, the theology driving the church
today is either,
1)
Liberal believing in salvation for all through
God’s grace (Ephesians
2:8) – While there is nothing one can do to receive salvation from God, the
gift of salvation must be opened to be fully received (Romans
10:9-10). Jesus’ death on the cross
did not provide blanket salvation to all humanity but instead provides an
opportunity for salvation offered to all humanity. Like the Apostle Paul, each individual must
have a personal encounter with God where they either accept Jesus as their
savior or reject Him. Paul chose to
accept Jesus and after many days learning from the disciples in Damascus, began
declaring the Gospel of God’s grace in power in the synagogues (Acts
9:19-22).
2)
Legalistic and moralistic (Matthew
7:1-2) – While the Church possesses Biblical truth in its entirety through
the Bible, it must guard against becoming prideful by becoming legalistic and
moralistic. When the church presents the
Gospel in a legalistic and moralistic manner, the world seeks any sin in the
life of the one presenting the Gospel. Since
all believers have sin in their lives (Romans
3:23), those digging deep enough into the life of a believer will find
hypocrisy and a reason to reject the Gospel.
Those in the synagogue hearing Paul after his conversion were not
impressed with his moralism or theology but the miraculous change in his
life.
Instead of a message of acceptance for all or prideful
moralism and legalism, the church must return to a declaration of Biblical
truth empowered by God’s grace and the Holy Spirit. A culture of murder through the legalization
of abortion, a culture of perversion through acceptance of gay marriage, and a
culture of lies propagated through academia and fake media needs transformation. The early church understood this and was
guilty of turning its culture upside down (Acts
17:6) as it powerfully declared the Gospel of God’s grace empowered by the Holy
Spirit. The Church today needs the wildfire of the Holy Spirit
to bring revival to a dying culture. However,
just as the Apostle Paul had to have an encounter with God to experience Salvation
by grace, we too must accept God’s gift of grace. If you feel the need to accept this gift
right now, I encourage you to pray with me,
Dear Lord Jesus, I know I have sinned (Romans
3:23) and know that the penalty for my sin is death (Romans
6:23). I ask you to forgive me of my
sin and cleanse me as you promise in your Word (1
John 1:9). I believe you died, was
buried, and resurrected from the dead and now declare you Lord of my life.
My prayer is that the power of the Holy Spirit would make
the Church a force of God’s grace through sharing God’s transformation in our
lives. I also pray that we would learn
Biblical truth not to use it as a hammer to bash unbelievers with legalism or
moralism but to present the truth of a loving Heavenly Father who sent Jesus to
provide salvation for sinful humanity. I
also urge all believers to join me in praying for the wildfire of revival to turn
our culture upside down for Jesus. May
God bless everyone reading this.
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