Josh Benner

Category: Church

  • The American gospel and the meaning of Easter

    The American gospel and the meaning of Easter

    Statistically, we know that the vast majority of Americans believe in some form of a higher power. There are relatively few who are atheists. Since people do believe that there is something, and since it’s so easy to think of the majority of Americans as Christians, many simply attach themselves to Christianity.

    But what does it mean? Christianity?

    For so many, we call ourselves Christians but then never pray, or read the Bible, or go to church, or experience fellowship with other believers, or show any actual desire to have a relationship with Jesus. Without these, how can a person be Christian?

    We live in a culture where it is accepted to be a “Christian” so long as we have a faith that is extremely passive, watered down, and without conviction. In the eyes of the world, when we have a faith that actually impacts the way in which we live our lives, we’re labeled as extreme, strange, ignorant, or bigoted. For people who actually have faith, they’re thought of as being “really religious.”

    I argue that to be religious but not really religious is to be religious, not really.

    Contrary to popular opinion, the gospel isn’t that we just need to be a “good person.” To say that this was the basis of the message of Christ is a complete misunderstanding of the New Testament because He never says nor implies that our moral goodness is the thing which will save us. In fact, the point of the gospel is that our own actions cannot save us.

    All of us sin, and our sin separates us from God. But we are saved because of God’s grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone. That is the heart of the gospel. That we need Christ. Some might not like that because it’s exclusive. But the gospel is meant to be inclusive. Jesus died for all who will accept His gift of grace.

    Throughout the history of the church, there have been those who have unfortunately distorted the gospel or misused it. We can point to events like the church’s Crusades or her Spanish Inquisition. In modern times, we hear of abuses within the Catholic Church, and radicals like the Westboro Baptist Church who protest funerals. It’s easy to look to these things and to become disgusted with Christianity.

    But if Christ really died and really rose from the dead, the fact that people distort the message doesn’t change the reality that He came to forgive you of your sins. It’s not the message of the gospel that is the problem. The problem is man’s selfish usage of the gospel.

    But why should we be Christians? In our daily lives, we see people who claim to know God but who are hypocrites…

    That’s the point!

    Man is sinful! We are immoral. We were incapable of morally cleaning ourselves up.

    We needed a savior.

    And a savior came, and died, and rose, and lives.

    Some may argue, if there is a God, why does He allow people to tarnish His message?

    It’s because people aren’t spiritual robots. We are willing, moral beings. And there are people who choose to do morally egregious things in the name of the gospel. But that isn’t a shortcoming of the gospel. Like a shinning light, it clarifies the darkness of our hearts and shows our desperate need for grace.

    Some may want to live as Christians, but feel that they can do a better job on their own, instead of through organized religion. But the idea that you can be a Christian apart from church contradicts the teachings of Christ. Certainly, there are bad churches. But there are also a lot of very good, Christ-centered churches. One bad experience, or years of bad experiences are no excuse for someone whose trying to live as a Christian to ignore church.

    In discussions about religion, I’ve often times said that the gospel is either the most important thing in the universe, or it is completely irrelevant. Jesus was the God who died for our sins, or He wasn’t. If He was, we should worship Him. If not, then He is useless to us. The idea that Jesus might have just been a great moral teacher contradicts Jesus’ own teachings. His message revolved around Him being the savior of the world. If He lied about that, He cannot be a great moral teacher.

    So what do you believe? Where do you stand with Jesus? Was He God or was he just some guy?

    Jesus said “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for you souls.”

    No matter what you’ve done, no matter who you’ve hurt, no matter what addiction is suffocating your life, no matter what dark thoughts you have, it’s nothing so great that the risen Lord cannot forgive you.

    But where to start?

    As I’ve already said, I think it comes down to prayer, studying His word, getting involved in a good church, fellowship with Christians. Jesus said that we are to “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.” If you do that, I believe that God will lead you to truth.

    It’s not a self help message. Belief in the gospel isn’t a promise that you won’t have financial problems, or illnesses, or family issues, or countless other stresses and frustrations. The gospel is that you get God, and no matter what else is happening in this life, His truth will strengthen, and give purpose, and sanctify you.

    Maybe you’ve lived your entire life and said you were a Christian, but you’ve never really had faith. The gift of grace and the offer of salvation is just as real for you today as it is for a person whose never thought about the gospel.

    It’s easy to associate Christianity with a bunch of rules and a list of things that you can’t do anymore. If you truly accept the gift of grace by faith, no sin can separate you from God’s love or from the forgiveness that you have. A true faith in the gospel will also result in a transformed life. Certain things will become less appealing. But acting a certain way and following a particular list of rules is not what makes you a Christian. If it were, you would be earning your salvation which would have made Christ’s rising from the dead pointless!

    However, a person who is a Christian who has faith will have a life that is changed and will naturally live differently. This transformation is what shows that the faith is genuine.

    On the first Good Friday, when Jesus suffered that horrendous death for our sins, the Bible says that two other condemned criminals were also crucified with the Lord:

    39 One of the criminals who were hanged railed at him, saying, “Are you not the Christ? Save yourself and us!” 40 But the other rebuked him, saying, “Do you not fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation? 41 And we indeed justly, for we are receiving the due reward of our deeds; but this man has done nothing wrong.” 42 And he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” 43 And he said to him, “Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in paradise.” 
    -Luke 23:39-42

    Two condemned thieves found themselves condemned with Jesus. Both were guilty. One wanted Christ to work on his terms, the other recognized his guilt, and through faith sought forgiveness.

    All of us our guilty.

    Which thief will you be this Easter weekend?

    Thanks for reading! If you liked this post, please share and subscribe!

    Originally posted April 6, 2012

    Photo credit information: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/deed.en

    Other scriptures in this essay from:
    Matthew 11:28-29
    Matthew 22:37

  • The cross of Christ shows us the cost of sin

    The cross of Christ shows us the cost of sin

    We have a sinfully low view of sin. We cannot overestimate the weight of sin when we see the cost of sin on the cross. 

    None of us lives up even to our own moral standards. Do you ever get mad and you regret it? Ever yell at someone and wish you hadn’t? Ever look at something and feel shame for it? Ever tell a lie or bend the truth and wish you could have it back? Ever manipulate people to get your own way? Ever do something where you know deep down it’s not what you should have done? Of course you have. We don’t live up to our own standards. And if we can’t do that, how on earth do we live up to the standards of a holy God? We don’t and we can’t. 

    We have nothing to go to God with on our own and say “you have to accept me. You have to love me. You have to let me into heaven.” On what grounds? 

    We sin. And it’s not just “well nobody is perfect.” But that we sin. We rebel against God. In our thoughts, in our hearts, in our actions, in our inactions. Our view of sin is so low that we think we can master it on our own. Our view of sin is so low that we think we can do enough good to outweigh our sin. 

    Then why the cross at all? Why did Jesus die? The world likes to judge God. Likes to say what he should do if he really were loving. That he’d just wipe the slate clean. That that would be love. We like to tell God what love is. Because we have a sinfully low view of sin. Because the reality is that God SHOWS US what love is. On the cross. That’s what love is. Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friend (John 15:13). 

    Jesus shows us what love is when he lays down his life for you. When he endures the penalty of your sin for you. When he bears the wrath of God for you. And again that’s a message that many find offensive. That many hate. But that again shows our sinfulness when we try to judge God. We try to tell the God who made us what really would be just or holy or good. We can’t earn God but he freely gives himself. On the cross. 

    We might debate sin. Just how big of a deal it really is. Just how much it really matters. But Jesus shows us how big of a deal sin is on the cross. He shows us how imperfect we are on the cross, how sinful we are on the cross. Because he bears the weight of our sins. 

    We have a sinfully low view of sin. We cannot overestimate the weight of sin when we look at the price Jesus paid for sin. Jesus didn’t die for you because your sins weren’t that bad. He did it because of the holiness of God and our inability to live up to that. But rather than to just have us languish with no hope, he gave us hope. On the cross. 

    Jesus is God. And because he’s God, he was a worthy sacrifice for our sins. For all of eternity, Jesus is God. God came into the world. The word became flesh and dwelled among us (John 1:14). Born of a virgin at his incarnation, Jesus is fully man. And because he’s fully man, he is like us in our human nature. He lived the holy life we could not. The sinless life we could not. And he died for you. 

    Jesus goes to the cross and in going to the cross, he doesn’t simply die for us. He’s tortured for us. It’s not like our day and age where methods of execution are designed to be relatively painless. Crucifixion was designed to humiliate and maximize the torture and pain. It was designed to prolong suffering. After being flogged to within an inch of your life, a person would have to carry the top part of the cross beam, which weighed upwards of 125 pounds to the place of his or her death. Nails would have been driven through the wrists and feet. Just imagine the agony of that. And the cross beam would be hoisted up with the condemned person attached. Struggling to breathe, their body sagging down on the weight of their legs. Then pushing up somewhat to get more oxygen. And repeating this horrid cycle until a person died from asphyxiation or exposure to the elements. 

    But there we have God on earth. Dying in the most agonizing way. The most humiliating way. In a public way. But it was for the sins of the world. It was so we could be forgiven. Because as he was nailed to the cross, so was our sin.  We have a sinfully low view of sin. That that was the price to be paid for it. God on earth dying for it. But he did it willingly. Not because he had to. But because of his love for you. That’s what love is. 

    Jesus never leaves us, he never forsakes us. His disciples let him down. Three times they fell asleep in the garden. Three times Peter denies Jesus. Judas leads the party who arrests Jesus. Judas walked with the Lord for three years. And betrayed him. Jesus is brought before the Jewish ruling council. They’re not out for the truth, they’re trying to find any charges that will stick. They take his words out of context and bring him before Pilate, saying he should be crucified.  Pilate is an earthly authority, the governor. Pilate knows he can find no fault in Jesus. He sees the innocence of Jesus. Pilate symbolically tries to cleanse himself: he took water and washed his hands before the crowd, saying, “I am innocent of this man’s blood; see to it yourselves.” 

    In the face of intense pressure, Pilate can’t bring himself to do the right thing. He offers up an option. Pilate has a custom of annually releasing one prisoner. There is Barabbas who is a killer and an instigator of insurrection. Or they can have Jesus who is totally innocent. And they select Barabbas. The Roman guards later mock Jesus. They make a crown of thorns, they hand him a reed as a makeshift scepter, they put a robe on him. They bow down and say “Hail, king of the Jews.” But again they play into the irony. Because Jesus IS the king. He’s the king of kings. While he’s on the cross, the mocking continues. Jesus is crucified with two men who are guilty. And they too join in the mocking. The guilty mocking an innocent man. Dying people mocking the Lord. Crucified men who can’t even show humility for another man who is dying the same gruesome death. 

    The priests, scribes, and elders continue mocking Jesus, beginning in 27:42, “he saved others; he cannot save himself. He is the King of Israel; let him come down now from the cross, and we will believe in him.” 

    It’s because Jesus didn’t come down from the cross that we CAN believe in him. Because Jesus died on that cross that day. The mocking continues in 27:43 “he trusts in God, let God deliver him now, if he desires him.” Again they miss the point. God did not spare his son so that he could spare you. The followers of Jesus, the betrayer of Jesus, the ruling Jewish authorities, the ruling Roman authorities. All contributing in various ways to Jesus’ death. 

    This isn’t the isolated failing of one person. It’s not a lone wolf assassin who takes out Jesus. If that had been the case, maybe we could chalk it up to one bad egg. But in the passion narrative, it’s everyone. Everyone’s failures and sins lead to the cross. But even in spite of that, God is working it for his own glory. In spite of that, God had planned throughout all eternity to actually use that evil and wickedness for our salvation. Because even though it was sin and evil that brought Jesus to the cross, it’s because Jesus went to the cross that he was able to die to sin for all who believe in him.  

    We see the sinfulness of humanity in Christ’s passion. We can’t downplay the sinfulness of humanity when Jesus came into our world and we killed him. The righteous and holy God who made the world came into the world and we crucified him. We can’t downplay the severity of our sinfulness with that one. The most atrocious way that humanity has ever conceived of to end a person’s life, crucifixion is what is used against the righteous savior of the world. But in spite of all of that, we again see the grace of the Lord on the cross. Because Jesus bore infinite wrath for sin. 

    There is infinite grace when we turn to him. There is no sin he is unable to forgive. It’s not that he died and can forgive every sin, but he can’t forgive that one, or this one, or what you did, or what you’re struggling with. Infinite wrath because of our sin. But infinite mercy on the cross because of his grace.

    Thanks for reading! If you liked this post, please share and subscribe.

    Originally published May 1, 2018

  • Jesus and the Last Supper – more than just a meal

    Jesus and the Last Supper – more than just a meal

    As part of Holy Week, Maundy Thursday is recognized this evening. It was the night in which Jesus ate the Last Supper with his disciples. The time in which Jesus died corresponded with the Jewish holiday of Passover. And the Last Supper was the first night of Passover. An annual dinner for Passover is held, called a Seder, which is the Hebrew word for “order.” In 3,500 years, rabbinical tradition and teaching helped to form the ceremony of the Seder.

    Some of these pieces were traced back to the original Passover. Others came in Jewish history from rabbinical traditions.

    Also, once the Israelites were in the land, and after the temple was built, this impacted Passover traditions. When you had the temple, the lambs were sacrificed at the temple. But what didn’t change was that people could only sacrifice lambs that were perfect.

    I think it’s worth spending so much time in talking about Passover because I think it can help give us a greater context and understanding for the events surrounding the death of Jesus.

    In the gospels, the time of the death of Christ revolves around the Passover. That’s not a coincidence! Jesus would be sacrificed at the time that was associated with sacrifice. Jesus had gone to Jerusalem for Passover. In Jerusalem, the city within the Roman Empire that was the epicenter of Jewish culture, thousands of lambs would have been slaughtered annually. Jewish people would have been coming in from all over the empire.

    We see many traditions of the Seder at the last Supper.

    Some of them are small things. In the gospel accounts, it talks about Jesus reclining at the table (Luke 22:14).

    Jesus wasn’t sitting in a la-z-boy. He was on a couch that he was lying on, that was a Seder tradition. They had been enslaved in Egypt but being able to lie down showed the freedom and security.

    Or when Jesus is alluding to his betrayer, he says in John 13:26, “It is he to whom I will give this morsel of bread when I have dipped it.” So when he had dipped the morsel, he gave it to Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot.

    Again, I know the mental image that most of you probably have when you read this. It’s hard to know precisely where in the Seder this is, but it seems that it’s probably referring to when you take Haroset which is made from apple, nuts, cinnamon. They weren’t eating the Last Supper at an Italian restaurant. They didn’t have a bowl of olive oil in the middle of the table. But all of the elements we see at the Last Supper are part of what you’d see in a traditional Seder.

    As part of the Seder, you’d take the unleavened bread…looks like a cracker. And you’d break the bread.

    Luke 22:19, “And he took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.”

    For over a thousand years of Seder dinners, bread had been broken. Unleavened bread, just like the Israelite forefathers had eaten before fleeing from Egypt.

    The body of Jesus, given for you, given for your sins. Given for your forgiveness. And he says “do this in remembrance of me.”

    What more fitting words could you say at a Seder? A meal revolving around remembrance, about retelling the story of God saving his people by the blood of the lamb.

    Remembering what God has done. Remembering what Jesus has done. Remembering the sins that he’s redeemed you from. Remembering his body that he gave for you. Remembering his death that he died for you. Remembering the grace that he offers to you. Remembering his gospel.

    Luke 22:20 says, “And likewise the cup after they had eaten, saying, “This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood.”

    The Seder dinner involves four glasses of wine. This seems to have been the second or third glass of wine in the meal, although there’s scholarly debate.

    But how profound it is. Wine drank in remembrance of the Passover. Jesus takes the wine, he blesses it, he says it is the new covenant in his blood, at the Seder dinner.

    It clearly points backwards to the blood of the Passover lamb, the blood that was put on the door posts. And it also points forward to the blood of Christ, shed for the forgiveness of sins. The blood of the true lamb.

    At the beginning of the gospel of John, when John the Baptist sees Jesus he says “Behold, the lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.” Jesus is the true lamb of God. The lamb who took the penalty for sins. The one who was scarified for the salvation of God’s people.

    And by trusting in him and having faith in him, that puts the blood on the doorpost of your heart. On the first Passover, there would not have been a pardon for a person who didn’t put blood on the doorpost. It wasn’t that the blood saved them, God saved them. But to not put the blood on the door was to show that a person didn’t have faith in the Lord, didn’t trust in the Lord.

    When we take the Lord’s Supper, it’s not arbitrary. It’s not just using the random items that were around. It’s all symbolic. It takes symbols important to the first Passover, the first time God had delivered Israel, and it reminds of the new Passover, from the perfect sacrifice for sins.

    The Passover passage in Exodus 12:5 says that the lamb that was used had to be without blemish. Jesus is the ultimate lamb without blemish, a life lived in perfection.

    1 Corinthians 5:7 says “Cleanse out the old leaven that you may be a new lump, as you really are unleavened. For Christ, our Passover Lamb.”

    Thanks for reading! I’d love to hear what you think, and don’t forget to subscribe! 

    Originally published April 13, 2017

    Photo credit information

  • The importance of constant gospel focus

    The importance of constant gospel focus

    As someone who doesn’t have kids, over the last few years, more and more of my friends have began to have children.

    When you have your first kid, you’re a member of a new club. You are a parent. Being a parent is something that becomes part of who you are. Your whole life, you haven’t had kids….but then you leave the hospital, and you have this baby. 

    I’ve always thought, “Wow. That must be so…weird!”

    Your whole life, you haven’t had kids, and then suddenly you have one, and forever. 

    And it’s a new life. It effects your habits, effects your sleep, how you spend your money. It effects how you spend your time, what you have time for. There are responsibilities: to love the child, to care for him or her, to teach, to be a role model. 

    Or at least, these are the ways things should be. 

    In the same way, when a person begins walking with Jesus, that also is a new life. It’s saying goodbye to a former life. A parent is always a parent. In Colossians 3, the apostle Paul is talking about the new life that is found in Christ. 

    To understand the gospel, to be walking with Jesus, to know his grace, you’re never the same. 

    IF THEN YOU HAVE BEEN RAISED WITH CHRIST, SEEK THE THINGS THAT ARE ABOVE, WHERE CHRIST IS, SEATED AT THE RIGHT HAND OF GOD. SET YOUR MINDS ON THINGS THAT ARE ABOVE, NOT ON THINGS THAT ARE ON EARTH.
    -Colossians 3:1-2

    When you’re walking in faith, you have been “raised in Christ.” Jesus died and we are united with him in his death SO THAT we can be raised with Christ. 

    As Jesus was victorious over death, so too will we be. We are united with Christ in what he has accomplished. 

    And then Paul gives a command to: seek the things that are above… and the reason why we are to focus on the things above is because it is in heaven where Christ is seated. There is no higher place to focus, no pun intended, than on the things of Christ. To have a mind that is focusing on the goodness of Jesus.

    In verse 2, the language intensifies: we go from seeking the things that are above to being called to “set your minds on the things that are above.” 

    The Lord in whom we have placed our faith and trust, we are to continually have a focus on Jesus, his teachings, his ministry, his gospel, his grace for our sin. This is an essential step in continuing to have a greater understanding for the person of Christ and of our union with Christ, our union with him in the death he died for us and the life we are raised to because of him. 

    We are to set our minds on the things that are above, and “not on the things that are on the earth.” 

    What’s that mean? 

    It’s not saying that we aren’t to have any thought about anything related to daily life. The point is rather that in our areas of sin, instead of dwelling on sins. Instead of focusing and setting our mind on sinful behaviors, instead of letting anger fester, instead of letting our minds run wild in a fantasy world, instead of dwelling on those, we need to give our minds over to focusing on things that are above. 

    The gospel is something with which we need to be thoughtful. 

    I think about the military and their training.

    Psychologically there are elements to the training that are separating a person from their former way of life. For men, they cut you hair. You don’t just wear whatever you want, you wear what they tell you to wear. In training, you are introduced to a group where when a person makes a mistake, it effects everyone. Numerous other ways how a person is molded into a soldier, sailor, airmen, or marine.

    When we begin walking with Jesus, that also changes a person.

    To recognize your sin, to recognize that you are not righteous on your own, that you are not worthy of God on your own, and to accept by faith the grace that Christ extends, that is also walking away from a former life. 

    God is making us a new creation. Jesus came to save us but he also came to transform us. And for a person who knows of their sin, how incapable we are of living to God’s standard. To place trust in Jesus, to acknowledge that we can’t do it on our own, and to have faith that he lived that perfect life that we could not live is to trust in a God who is perfect and who is ethical. And therefore the commands he gives for how we ought to live are also ethical and right. 

    When I was a kid, sometimes I’d get a savings bond for Christmas. There wasn’t much I could do with it at the time. My parents would put it away some place for me. 

    Too many people in our society want to think of the gospel like that. You have it, but you set it off to the side and think it’s not worth a whole lot today. 

    “Sure, I accepted it, but I’m going to do my own thing.”

    But the gospel necessarily impacts our lives. 

    If we believe in the Lord who saved us, it results in a transformed life. 

    We can’t simply say we believe in a god, as some sort of impersonal force. 

    To place faith, to place trust in Jesus, to know that you cannot earn salvation on your own and to accept what Jesus offers, to have no change in life is to not really believe. 

    One of the best ways how we can know God is to focus on him, is to be mindful of him. 

    Eastern, mystic religions that use meditation, it can have an inward focus. But we are to have an upward focus. To focus on God. In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus said “blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.” 

    It’s hard to truly be walking in a steadfast focus on the things above and to be sin. People who hurt others aren’t committed to God when they do it. Have you ever been walking in Spiritual bliss, pondering at the glory of God and told off the cashier at the grocery store? Having a mindset that is focused on God, his goodness and gospel is transformative. Let us set our minds on the things that are above.

    Thanks for reading! If you liked this post, please share and subscribe.

    Originally published October 31, 2016.

  • Sermon: Witness to the truth – John 18:36-38

    How is truth defined? Biblically, we see truth by looking to Jesus. As Pilate continues to question Jesus, Jesus will teach that he has a kingdom that is not of this world. Pilate misunderstands and Jesus will give the further clarification that Jesus has a kingdom which is based In truth which is comprised by those who follow the truth.

    Sermon transcript