Avoid the two thieves of the Gospel - Galatians 2

Galatians 2:16 "nevertheless knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the Law but through faith in Christ Jesus, even we have believed in Christ Jesus, so that we may be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the Law; since by the works of the Law no flesh will be justified."

Introduction:

Preachers of old have described the Gospel's relationship to two perversions of it in the imagery of Jesus' dying on the cross between two thieves (see Mark 15:27). The Gospel of course deals with how sinful man is reconciled and made right with Holy God of Eternity. The way the Gospel prescribes for this to occur is by grace alone (Ephesians 2:8) through faith alone (Ephesians 2:9; Romans 10:9-10) in Christ alone (Acts 4:12; John 14:6). 

When we consider the two thieves on either side of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, we are talking about the two extremes in which sinful man conceives of salvation. The first thief is that of license or lawlessness. Paul expresses the absurdity of this first thief in Romans 6:1-2 "What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin so that grace may increase? 2 May it never be! How shall we who died to sin still live in it?" There are some today who will teach that as long as someone says some type of prayer to Jesus, it doesn't matter how one lives after such a so-called profession of faith. Afterall, it is God's job to forgive. Such a thief mocks the true Gospel like the first thief did Jesus. The Gospel of lawlessness is no Gospel, but a perversion of it. Whenever Paul is recounting his preaching of the true Gospel in Galatians 2:9-10, he reminds his readers of the importance of good-works following after saving faith - "And when James, Cephas, and John, who seemed to be pillars, perceived the grace that was given unto me, they gave to me and Barnabas the right hands of fellowship; that we should go unto the heathen, and they unto the circumcision.10 They only asked us to remember the poor—the very thing I also was eager to do." The same James of whom Paul speaks in this verse warned of the first thief of a faith that has no works following in James 2:14-16  "What use is it, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but he has no works? Can that faith save him? 15 If a brother or sister is without clothing and in need of daily food,16 and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and be filled,” and yet you do not give them what is necessary for theirbody, what use is that?" So Paul laid to rest the charge that he was promoting some sort of salvation that required no change following saving faith. 

The second thief on the other side of the Gospel is perhaps even more subtle and more dangerous than the first. It is the so-called Gospel of law or legalism that attempts to preach salvation by works. This thief is the more seductive, more cunning of the two, since it is dressed in the garments of religion and ritual. Whenever Paul was writing Galatians 2, he was dealing with this second thief of the Gospel. A group of Jews called the "Judiaizers" were attempting to convince Paul's readers that in order to be justified or made right with God, one had to be circumcised. This particularly heresy of works righteousness proved to be so seductive that otherwise strong preachers of the true Gospel like Peter and Barnabas were beginning to compomise (see Galatians 2:13).

In our own day and age, this second thief of the Gospel, works righteousness, attempts to snake its way into our pulpits and churches. Secretly mankind, even after salvation, finds the seductive power of the so-called gospel of works righteousness appealing. Whether we add faith plus baptism or faith plus some type of ritual to the mix, the result is still the same - no salvation. Paul plainly asserts in Galatians 2:16 "Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law: for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified." As you read on down through Paul's main point regarding the true Gospel of the cross, he states in Galatians 2:17-21 "But if, while we seek to be justified by Christ, we ourselves also are found sinners, is therefore Christ the minister of sin? God forbid. 18 For if I build again the things which I destroyed, I make myself a transgressor. 19 For I through the law am dead to the law, that I might live unto God. 20 I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me. 21 I do not frustrate the grace of God: for if righteousness come by the law, then Christ is dead in vain."

We as Christians must avoid these two thieves of the Gospel. Their efforts attempt to work their way into our hearts, our doctrine and our pulpits. Only the true Gospel of the cross: salvation by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone can save. We are saved by grace through faith apart from works in order to live a faith that works. We are saved by grace through faith alone and are as Christians being saved by grace through faith that is never to be alone apart from works. The Apostle John states concerning our Lord Jesus Christ in John 1:14 that He alone was "full of grace and truth" and that in John 1:18 that "grace and truth are realized" in Jesus Christ. The two thieves attempt to emphasize one or the other, hence stealing away the Gospel. May we avoid the two thieves of the Gospel: lawlessness and works rightousness or legalism.  We must embrace the only Gospel that saves from the wrath to come - salvation by grace alone, through faith alone in Christ alone.  

God's Divine "T"-square of Justification by faith alone in Christ alone

Galatians 2:16  "nevertheless knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the Law but through faith in Christ Jesus, even we have believed in Christ Jesus, so that we may be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the Law; since by the works of the Law no flesh will be justified."

Introduction:

When I would aid my father in various building projects around the home, he would often carry with him a straight edge "T" square. The device looked like a ruler connected to a cross piece running perpendicular to the ruler. Whenever my father needed to cut boards, he would grab his "T" square and mark off a perfectly straight line. I recall in one project, all of the boards that he had ordered were slightly crooked. In order to make them usable, my dad had to take the "T" square and draw a straight-line down the entire length of each board and then saw-off the material that didn't belong. My dad did all of this to make the boards "justified" or "right" with the purposes of his project and with the standard of his "T" square. 

The bad-news: We are all born crooked or "unjustified"

Every person born into this world, including you and me, arrived just like the boards above in the illustration - crooked and unusable. Romans 3:10-11 states - "as it is written, “There is none righteous, not even one; 11 There is none who understands, There is none who seeks for God". To extend the comparison, we are not only crooked, but rotton to the core, full of knots and ridden with bugs. Romans 3:12 reminds us:  "All have turned aside, together they have become useless; There is none who does good, There is not even one.” In Philippians 2:15 Paul writes regarding unbelieving humanity - "so that you will prove yourselves to be blameless and innocent, children of God above reproach in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you appear as lights in the world." The boards of human nature need to be justified or made right in God's sight for people to be deemed acceptable in His sight. The principle set forth by Solomon in Ecclesisates 1:14-15 is pretty bleak - "I have seen all the works which have been done under the sun, and behold, all is vanity and striving after wind. 15 What iscrooked cannot be straightened and what is lacking cannot be counted."

At issue is the fact that man by himself cannot make himself morally and spiritually right before God. Mankind has been affected by the fall of sin through and through. The question is raised in Job 25:4 “How then can a man be just with God?
Or how can he be clean who is born of woman?" 

The only One who can justify or make you right with God is Jesus Christ alone

When it comes to God's standards of what is right and wrong, such standards are located within His own being. In effect, God is His own "T" square. When Jesus the Son came to this world, He being very God in terms of His Divine essence took upon himself a very true and real sinless humanity. As God-incarnate, Jesus Christ walked as the Living standard of what constituted "rightness" (see 1 Corinthians 1:30). Romans 3:23-24 states - "even the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all those who believe; for there is no distinction; 23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 being justified as a gift by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus." 

The only necessary and sufficient means to receive Jesus Christ's righteousness is by faith alone

When Paul writes in Galatians 2 about the battle he was waging over how a person is made right with God, his message was emphatic: justification (being made right with God) has one basis: Jesus Christ's life and finished work. Additionally, justification has one means of reception: faith alone. Galatians 2:16 "nevertheless knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the Law but through faith in Christ Jesus, even we have believed in Christ Jesus, so that we may be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the Law; since by the works of the Law no flesh will be justified." Romans 3:22-24 states in even more vivid detail - "even the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all those who believe; for there is no distinction; 23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 being justified as a gift by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus." Hence the Divine-human "T" square of living righteousness, Jesus Christ, is the only way in which our other-wise crooked and unacceptable humanity can be made acceptable. By faith alone can the Divinely-drawn straight line of Christ's life and finished work be received, credited and applied. 

Faith knows, even though it may not fully understand - a short study on Job's faith

Job 13:15 “Though He slay me, I will hope in Him. Nevertheless I will argue my ways before Him."

God was developing in Job a stronger reliance upon the words of God and prayer. Undoubtedly Job was recognizing he did not understand some of the ways of God as much as he thought He did. Nevertheless, in the midst of Job's grief and pain we find two statements in Job 23:10 and 12. In Job 23:10 Job states - "But He knows the way that I take, when He has tried me I shall come forth as gold." Then we see a second statement in Job 23:12 - "I have not departed from the command of His lips, I have treasured the words of His mouth more than my necessary food." The contents of these two verses represent what Job knew at that moment and time in his life. 

What was it that Job knew? Everything else: his family, his health, his possessions, his comfort and his friends were like shifting sand in the storm of his suffering. Job was learning to fear God. Job was learning to trust in God whom He did not completely understand. 

Faith that is true faith knows that it knows God, even though it may not fully comprehend about God. When I was a child, I would watch my dad construct different projects out of wood. In my little young mind, I did not understand the purpose of the particular projects nor was I able to grasp their intended end. Yet, I knew the character of my dad. I knew that whatever he was making (whether it be a chair, a window or a shelf), he was doing the work to the ultimate benefit of another. A lot of times I would gather the left over pieces of wood on the ground or make little roads in the saw dust around his tools. To me, the comfort I had in those memories derived from the fact that though I did not always understand as a childf all the work he did, I knew my dad, loved my dad and knew that he felt the same about me. God's grace frames faith, which in turn points us to Jesus Christ. Let us persevere in the grace of God by faith, since in these trying times, God aims to bring His people forth as gold for His glory.

Spiritual Boldness - A Character Study on the Prophet Nathan

2 Samuel 7:1-3 "Now it came about when the king lived in his house, and the Lord had given him rest on every side from all his enemies, 2 that the king said to Nathan the prophet, “See now, I dwell in a house of cedar, but the ark of Goddwells within tent curtains.” 3 Nathan said to the king, “Go, do all that is in your mind, for the Lord is with you.”

Introduction: The prophetic office in the Old Testament

According to Dr. Gleason Archer in his book: "A Survey of the Old Testament Introduction", three main words are used to define a prophet in the Bible. The first term of course is the Hebrew word (Na-bi) translated "prophet", meaning a bearer of God's news, one who announces, summons or calls God's people to follow after God. The second term mentioned by Archer is the phrase "man of God". If the purpose of the prophet's office is defined by the title "prophet", then the one occupying the office itself is indeed a "man of God" or one who is devoted to God and personal fellowship with Him. The third term typically used to describe the prophetic office is that of "Seer". This term refers to the activity of the prophet. 

Prophets do not see things like most people see. A good example that comes to my mind is 2 Kings 6, where the prophet Elisha "saw" the armies of angels protecting he and his servant who could only see what was before him. According to Bible scholar Harold Wilmington, there are roughly 40 prophets, both writing prophets and non-writing prophets. 

The prophet Nathan - a spiritually bold prophet
As we just observed, there are roughly 40 prophets mentioned in the Bible. One of those prophets, Nathan, is used of God to bring forth the prophetic Word to two of Israel's greatest kings: David and Solomon. Nathan's name literally means: "He gives". Without a doubt, Nathan demonstrates courage and boldness in specific moments where such things were in short supply. Nathan was also priveleged by God to be the mouthpiece to deliver one of the the most important prophecies in all of the Bible - the Davidic Covenant (2 Samuel 7:8-16). When we look at Nathan's career and ministry, we find 2 main episodes in 2 Samuel (parallel accounts are also found in 1 Chronicles) and one main episode in 1 Kings:

1. Nathan's prophecy of the humanity of the ultimate King, the Lord Jesus Christ, coming through David's bloodline (i.e The Davidic Covenant). 
2 Samuel 7:1-17; 1 Chronicles 17:1-15

2. Nathan's confrontation of David over his sin with Bathsheba. 2 Samuel 12:1-25; Psalm 51

3. Nathan, along with other court officials, boldy anointed Solomon as King in opposition to a well publicized attempt by a rival brother of Solomon, Adonijah, to ascend to Israel's throne. 
1 Kings 1:1-45. 

There are some valuable lessons to learn about spiritual boldness from these three episodes of Nathan's life. Let's briefly list them...

1. Boldness to hear God. 2 Samuel 7:1-17
When David told Nathan of his desire to build a temple for Yahweh, Nathan responded with the natural assumption that it would be no problem for the King to pursue such a project. However, God later told Nathan that it would not be David, but his son who would build the temple. Moreover, God had greater plans for David that included the bringing about of the humanity of the ultimate King. 

Imagine what it must had been like the next time Nathan saw the king. The day before he told the king it was o.k to build the temple. Now he was going to tell David that God said "no", and that God had a far greater plan. We know of course David's response of praise from hearing Nathan's prophecy (2 Samuel 7:18-29). 

Nathan had the Holy Spirit-given boldness to hear God and speak for God. When we see his boldness, we need to remember that it is God we must aim to bring pleasure, not men (1 Thessalonians 2:4). Nathan was willing to forego the fear of the moment for what God in faith was showing him concerning the Divine destiny of the King. Thus we see the first lesson in being bold for God, namely the spiritual boldness to hear God. But now let us notice a second lesson about spiritual boldness from Nathan the prophet....

2. Boldness to hate sin. 2 Samuel 12
Imagine if you will being not only the King's prophet, but one of his closest friends. Word has reached your ears concerning God's planned judgment on the King. As you begin to understand what took place, it is discovered that King David has been emeshed in a conspiracy that entailed murder and forced impropriety on the wife of the man he had murdered! If you were Nathan, how would you respond? In 2 Samuel 12:1-7, we see Nathan tell a parable to King David, with David's response: "Then the Lord sent Nathan to David. And he came to him and said,
“There were two men in one city, the one rich and the other poor. 2 “The rich man had a great many flocks and herds. 3 “But the poor man had nothing except one little ewe lamb which he bought and nourished; And it grew up together with him and his children.
It would eat of his bread and drink of his cup and lie in his bosom, And was like a daughter to him. 4 “Now a traveler came to the rich man,
And he was unwilling to take from his own flock or his own herd, To prepare for the wayfarer who had come to him;
Rather he took the poor man’s ewe lamb and prepared it for the man who had come to him.” 5 Then David’s anger burned greatly against the man, and he said to Nathan, “As the Lord lives, surely the man who has done this deserves to die. 6 He must make restitution for the lamb fourfold, because he did this thing and had no compassion.” 

As you see the tension mounting, the ring of inevitability is about to strike. The hammer will soon fall on David's heart. Nathan's terse response to David is one of the most penetrating sentences in all of sacred scripture, notice 2 Samuel 12:7 "Nathan then said to David, “You are the man! Thus says the Lord God of Israel, ‘It is I who anointed you king over Israel and it is I who delivered you from the hand of Saul." 

The Prophet risked his life to deliver God's stinging indictment to King David. It took spiritual boldness to deliver God's Word. Hatred of sin is necessary if we expect to be spiritually bold for God and boldness to hear God is a requirement. Jude 1:20-23 states - But you, beloved, building yourselves up on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit, 21 keep yourselves in the love of God, waiting anxiously for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to eternal life. 22 And have mercy on some, who are doubting; 23 save others, snatching them out of the fire; and on some have mercy with fear,hating even the garment polluted by the flesh." In spiritual matters, only when we know what we love more than anything will equip us to despise and put away from ourselves those things that get between ourselves and the object of our affections. Now let's consider one more trait of spiritual boldness from Nathan's life...


3. Boldness to full obey. 1 Kings 1
We have learned from Nathan the need to boldly hear God and hate sin in the quest for spiritual boldness. But what about full obedience? In 1 Kings 1, the proverbial sun is sinking into the horizon of David's reign. For over 30 years the prophet Nathan had stuck by his master's side. We saw him near thebeginning of David's reign in Jerusalem in 2 Samuel 7 - boldly hearing God. Then somewhere approaching the middle of David's reign, perhaps near the zenith of his power, we see Nathan boldly hate sin and confront his erring King. 

However in this final scene, we find the same King David on his bed of affliction. The throne of Jerusalem was in the cross-hairs of David's overly-ambitious son - Adonijah. David's other son - Solomon, was to be the rightful heir. Adonijah had presumed upon the moment and set up a public coronation of himself. The sound of crowds gathering could be heard. Nathan and a few of David's closest family and friends were in a dangerous position. 

To oppose Adonijah's meteoric rise to power would mean possible death. However, Nathan recalls God's Word to David that he spoke to Solomon as recorded in 1 Chronicles 22:6-12. In that passage, David promised Solomon that he would be his heir. Nathan took that to be the Word of the Lord and thus he knew he had to heed the Word and fulfill his responsibilities, along with the remainder of David's court. As you read on down through 1 Kings 1, Nathan and the rest of David's court hasten to put together a public coronation of Solomon, with shouts of "Long Live the King". The ceremony is accompanied by a Divine quaking, causing the rival Adonijah to quake in fear.  

What would you and I had done? Is full obedience to God only popular when it seems to benefit our cause. What happens when circumstances are less than ideal and the prospect of failure, ridicule or even death looms overhead? Then what? Will following through in obedience to God be so eagerly embraced? Nathan finished well. He saw Israel's next - true king - crowned. What a life of spiritual boldness! To hear God, hate sin and fully obey! Would it be that each of us, dear readers, be a spiritually bold generation for God.

Understanding how justification and sanctification relate to one another

2 Corinthians 5:21 "He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him."

The respulsive nature of our sinfulness before saving faith that deserves judgment

Whenever you read some passages in the Bible, you may come away sometimes in shock or even disgust at the imagery and events. Certainly God's graphic description of the sins of His people is shocking and disgusting. Isn’t that what sin should be to us? Grotesque! James 4:4 reminds us - "You adulteresses, do you not know that friendship with the world is hostility toward God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God." The description of Jerusalem and Judah in Ezekiel's day would had matched any other wicked city such as Ninevah in Assyria, Babylonia in Babylon or Sodom and Gomorrah. God's point was well made - sin is disgusting, repulsive and should be despised by God's people. Moreover, our sin before a Holy Righteous God does nothing for us but to make us guilty and deserving of judgment. As a result of Adam's rebellion in the garden - death, sin and guilt have been inherited and experienced by every human being born in history (with the exception of Jesus).  

How justification by faith alone removes the penalty of our sin

Whenever you turn to James 2, you read about the nature of true saving faith - that faith will always be followed by good deeds. Though we are saved by grace through faith apart from the law (the point of the book of Romans), yet saving faith should and must evidence a life that is not lawless (James' point). Both books do not conflict, but rather complement one another in seeing the same saving faith with respect to what it takes to get right with God in salvation (Romans = saved by grace alone through faith alone) and the nature of such faith following salvation (James = kept by grace and a faith that is never alone).

The Biblical doctrine of justification teaches that faith alone is necessary and sufficient to receive salvation. At saving faith, the entire active obedience of Christ in His life and passive submission in the cross and empty tomb is credited or imputed to our spiritual poverty. When Jesus was on the cross, our willful disobedient life and refusal to submit to God was credited or imputed to Jesus Christ. Hence in the Biblical teaching of justification, the spiritual transaction that occurs stems from a double-crediting, a double-imputation if-you-please. In other words, Jesus on the cross was treated like me so that in saving faith I could be credited the Father with the righteousness of Jesus Christ (see 2 Corinthians 5:21). In justification, the penalty of my sin is removed. 

Justification by faith is likened unto a mother and the works of sanctification are the little children following 

However following salvation, good works proceeding from faith is the chief evidence demonstrating the reality of one's justification. (James 2:14-20) We are saved by grace through faith alone, however following salvation, we are being saved by a faith that is never alone. All good works that follow from the one-time Divine pronouncement of justification at saving faith is what the scriptures call "sanctification". Many over the centuries have wondered how justification by faith and sanctification in good works relate to one another. Think of faith as a mother and good deeds like the children that follow the mother. Wherever the mother is, the little children are there in close proximity. We see this in how human mothers and children relate to one another. We moreso see in the animal kingdom this same principle, such as ducklings or chicks following their mother. 

With justification, the penalty of my sin is removed and in sanctification the power of the necessity of sin is removed. Although the presence of sin won't be removed until believers are in the Lord's presence, the sanctifying work of the Spirit gives power to fight and overcome sins and desire righteousness. The wonder of sanctification is not only in being set free from sin's power, but also having the power to live right and do right for God on the basis of Jesus' credited righteousness. 

To further elaborate the distinctions between justification and sanctification: in justification, I am positionally deemed righteous by God with Christ's righteousness. In sanctification, the Holy Spirit is making me in experience whom God has declared me to be in position. Both graces together work in the Christian to make them like a child following after their Lord. 

Biblically illustrating justification and sanctification in action

We started out this post by noting the disgusting nature of sin. However James points out that a harlot by the name of Rahab was justified by faith and demonstrated such faith by hiding the Jewish spies in the days of the conquest of Jericho (James 2:25). She was justified by faith apart from works and continued living by sanctifying faith that does work. Can God save harlots? Absolutely! God's grace is the only thing that can reach you and me in the depths of our sin and Christ's blood is the only thing that can overflow the heights of our sin and wipe away its guilt. That's the relationship between justification and sanctification. 

How Israel is God's Calendar and Window

Ezekiel 20:38 "and I will purge from you the rebels and those who transgress against Me; I will bring them out of the land where they sojourn, but they will not enter the land of Israel. Thus you will know that I am the Lord."

Romans 11:25-26 "For I do not want you, brethren, to be uninformed of this mystery—so that you will not be wise in your own estimation—that a partial hardening has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in;26 and so all Israel will be saved; just as it is written, “The Deliverer will come from Zion, He will remove ungodliness from Jacob.”

Introduction:

Israel is God's calendar for the events of history and His window through which to preview up and coming events. Whenever you read Ezekiel 20:1-32, God reviews with the people of God through Ezekiel His historical dealings with her, her failures, His attempts to redeem her and her many refusals to submit to His will. 

Three particular occasions are mentioned by God: Israel's rebellion while in Egypt before the Exodus (Ezekiel 20:1-8); her rebellion in the wilderness following the Exodus (20:9-17) and the rebellion of the second generation following Moses right up to the entry of the promised land in Deuteronomy (Ezekiel 20:18-32). Each time they rebelled, God chose to spare them for the sake of His name. (Ezekiel 20:9, 17,22) Unless God had intervened in Israel's past, she would never had survived beyond that first generation. 

Ezekiel then fast forwards into the millennial reign of Christ in Ezekiel 20:33-38. The Millennium will begin when Christ returns at the end of this current age, sets up His Kingdom and restores the nation of Israel and brings into His Kingdom those Jewish people who by grace through faith looked upon the One whom they had pierced. (Zechariah 12:10; Luke 21:28) The Apostle Paul reminds us that all Israel will be saved and that our salvation in this current age is integrally connected to God's faithful promises to His chosen people - Israel. (Romans 11:25-26) 

Ezekiel's prophecy, having covered Israel past and Israel future deals with Israel in immediate history in Ezekiel 20:39-21:32. She would choose to spurn the voice of God in favor of pursuing her own direction, resulting in her being taken into exile in Babylon. Like Adam and Eve who broke the covenant of works in the Garden of Eden, Israel the nation would also be operating with a broken covenant of her own. 

Just as Adam and Eve needed God to issue a second covenant, a covenant of grace based upon the shedding of blood receive by faith, Israel portrays in a small way the need of every man to receive by grace through faith the covenant of grace paid for by the shed blood of Jesus Christ. When you turn to the book of James, you read about the Jews who are scattered all over the world. 

Israel to this day is still God's calendar and window. It was through the Jews that God sent His Son to enter into history through the virgin birth, to live, die, be raised from the dead and ascend into heaven. In this current age the God of heavenly lights, with Whom they is no shifting of shadow, desires by His Spirit to draw forth those Whom He loves to believe, be born again and to love in such a way as to be salt and light in a dark world. Soon Christ will return, which is why now counts for eternity.

Sovereignty and human responsibility in the post-conversion Christian life

Hebrews 13:20-22 "Now the God of peace, who brought up from the dead the great Shepherd of the sheep through the blood of the eternal covenant, even Jesus our Lord, 21 equip you in every good thing to do His will, working in us that which is pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be the glory forever and ever. Amen. 22 But I urge you, brethren, bear with this word of exhortation, for I have written to you briefly."

Introduction:
The Christian life is a life that is to be lived out by the Christian and at the same time can only be lived out by Christ working in the Christian. Hebrews 13 is a very practical chapter that illustrates this two-fold truth of Christian in the post-conversion Christian life (i.e sanctification): namely me living in Him and He living in me. In the opening verses above, we see not a contradiction, but complementary truths regarding our responsibility in God's grace and God's grace working forth the desire to be responsible in the Christian life. 

With regards to the Christian's responsibility in sanctification, we are to show Christ's love (13:1-3), honor our marriages (13:4), cling to God's promises (13:5-8), center on the cross (13:9-14), worship Him with our life (13:15-16), prayer for the pastor (13:17-19), rely on His strength (13:20-21) and study the scripture (13:22-24). All of these important activities could not be done apart from Jesus Christ equipping us with every good thing to do His will according to His grace. (Hebrews 13:20-21,25) 

To demonstrate that this two-fold reality is not restricted to the New Testament, Ezekiel 17-19 teaches this same principle of the life of faith needing to be lived out by the believer and yet being only done so as God grants His grace of presence to do so. Ezekiel tells a version of a parable of soils and seed being sown in fertile soil, much like Jesus would do centuries later in Matthew 13. In Ezekiel's version of the seed planted in soil, God is the only one who can sustain the vine that has sprung up and grown. Unless God is sustaining the believer, no matter how strong them may seem, they will wither and die. (Ezekiel 17) 

What Ezekiel writes in Ezekiel 17 sounds similar to what Jesus taught his disciples nearly 600 years later in John 15 about He being the vine, and they the branches.  As Jesus teaches in John 15, apart from Him, no believer is able to do anything of spiritual value that contributes to their salvation or sanctification.  The Sovereign grace that sustains in Ezekiel 17 is put alongside the believer's responsibility to live the life of faith in Ezekiel 18. 

What happens if a person fails to heed God's word? Whose fault is it? It is the person's fault. We learn from Ezekiel 18 that God does not rejoice in the death of the wicked.  Even though He is the Just God, He also is not willing that any would perish, but would love to see all come to repentance. (2 Peter 3:9-10) The mystery of God's Sovereign grace working in a person's life is the reason why anyone remains in the faith. Likewise when anyone rejects or turns away from the faith, truly that person, not God, bears the blame. 

I would urge us all to pray the words of Hebrews 13:20-21 and 13:25, recognizing that it is Christ the Great Shepherd of the Sheep that sustains and leads His sheep. May we heed His voice through His word, for He is the same yesterday, today and forever. (Hebrews 13:8)