Josh Benner

Category: devotional

  • The danger of bad Biblical teaching

    The danger of bad Biblical teaching

    Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers, for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness. 
    -James 3:1

    Words matter.

    We can use words to bless, words to harm, words to boast, words to give instruction, and words to deceive. Through words we can tell a person that we love them, or that we hate them. Through words we can compliment or tear a person down.

    When the Prophet Isaiah had a heavenly vision of the throne room of God, and beheld the holiness of God, he said in Isaiah 6:5: “Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts!”

    Words were part of the original sin. In the garden, the serpent, twisting God’s words: “Did God actually say, ‘You shall not eat of any tree in the garden’?”

    God had never said that. He said they could eat of any tree except for the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

    “We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden,but God said, ‘You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it, lest you die” (Genesis 3:2-3).

    Eve also gets it wrong. God had never said they couldn’t touch the tree. Twisting God’s words. Further provoked into sin by the devil In Genesis 3:4-5, “You will not surely die. For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”

    When Adam and Eve are confronted with their sin, they use words to blame in Genesis 3:12, “The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me fruit of the tree, and I ate.”

    Words matter.

    In the first part of James 3, James zeroes in on teachers. He gives a warning to teachers that they will be judged with greater strictness. The reason why carries into verse 2 that we all sin in many ways, but one of the ways common to us all is that we stumble and sin in what we say.

    There is danger in bad Biblical teaching. It can lead people astray. It can teach people falsities, because the God who is revealed in scripture is the eternal, immortal, wise God. He’s the King of the universe, the creator of all things, he spoke the universe into being.

    There’s not a canvas where we are painting and where we can make something look however we want it to look.

    God is God. He has revealed himself in his scripture, his nature, his holiness. And so sound teaching about God matters. Teaching truth about God matters. Understanding God -in terms of how he has revealed himself in the Bible – matters.

    And not all churches do that. And not all teachers do that.

    Not many should be teachers because teaching necessarily involves words. Teaching about God’s word, teaching about God’s gospel necessarily involves words and language, and in talking, it makes it easy to say things that are untrue.

    We can’t be fast and loose with God’s gospel. We can’t make God who we want God to be if that’s not true about how God reveals himself in scripture.

    Unbiblical teachings that resort more to our feelings than to truth.

    Doesn’t God just want me to be happy? Not at the expense of sin!

    Words matter. How we approach the word of God matters. Like the serpent in the garden, twisting the very words of God.

    So it is true that there is a warning given to those who teach. And anyone who does teach from the word of God should question his motives, should be humble before God, and prayerful about the text. It should be taken seriously.

    We should be careful in our approach to God’s word.

    But regardless of if someone is a teacher or not, all of us should still use discernment in listening to what our teachers say. In listening to that which is in accordance with scripture. Of being fed by sound Biblical preaching. And that’s true here, and thats’ true if you ever move to a new community. And that’s true of any teacher who you might watch on tv or who you might podcast. We should be discerning with the Bible teachers we listen to.

    Originally published August 2, 2018

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  • Theology 101: Understanding Regeneration

    Theology 101: Understanding Regeneration

    Regeneration (also referred to as being “born again”) refers to new spiritual life which God gives a person. The new regenerative life is what brings a person from spiritual death to spiritual life. 

    The Holy Spirit is immensely important in the work of the salvation of souls and in the work of God’s church. In Ezekiel 36, the prophet points to a future time of washing and renewal. In that passage, we see three stages of regeneration which the Lord brings through the Spirit. 

    First, the Spirit brings renewal 

    Ezekiel 36:25: I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean from all your uncleannesses, and from all your idols I will cleanse you.

    Ezekiel is in the Old Testament and he’s looking forward to a future time of cleansing that God would bring by means of the Holy Spirit. We live in that time now. When we are regenerated, it is a Spiritual cleansing which the Lord brings. 

    With the water, it’s easy to draw parallels to baptism. And in fact, the filling of the Holy Spirit is referred to as a baptism. 

    John 1:33. John the Baptist is speaking about Jesus and says: He on whom you see the Spirit descend and remain, this is he who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.

    It is a privilege which all Christians share, as we see in 1 Corinthians 12:13: For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body

    All believers in the gospel of Christ are filled with the Spirit. There’s no such thing as a Christian who does not have the Spirit. 

    Romans 8:9-10 is a great passage which communicates this idea: 9 You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him. 10 But if Christ is in you, although the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is life because of righteousness.

    So we are baptized into the Holy Spirit. Water baptism then is a symbol of the regeneration and cleansing which comes through the Holy Spirit. Baptism does not bring salvation in itself. It’s an important and powerful outward symbol of an inward work which the Lord has done. 

    I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean from all your uncleannesses, and from all your idols I will cleanse you.

    What a powerful picture of God’s grace and renewal. 

    In Shakespear’s great play, MacBeth, there’s a scene where Lady MacBeth is overcome with grief and guilt for her murderous greed and ambition and she desperately tries to wash a blood stain off of her hands. 

    There’s no actual blood stain. It’s in her mind. But that’s the brilliance of the scene. Because we all have a stain of sin upon our hearts and lives that we cannot wash away on our own. It is God who brings the cleansing and renewal. 

    In Psalm 51, David too is ravaged by guilt and grief over a terrible sin he’s committed. His affair with Bathsheeba and him sending her husband Uriah to the frontlines in battle where he was killed. 

    David pleads with God: Have mercy on me, O God, according to your steadfast love; according to your abundant mercy blot out my transgressions. 2 Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin! 

    And in John 3:3, Jesus says: Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God

    He will then talk of the cleansing which accompanies regeneration. John 3:5-6: 5 Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. 6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.

    Water and Spirit. 

    To have faith is to have the Spirit and to have the Spirit is to be cleansed. 

    You have all sorts of rituals in the Old Testament. Washing is a powerful symbol of purity throughout various cultures and religions. 

    The washing that God gives through the Spirit is a cleansing of the human soul. 

    We see the language of this renewal again in Titus 3:4-5: when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, 5 he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit

    It is because of the mercy of God that we are made morally clean through the work of the Holy Spirit. 

    So through regeneration, God cleanses us. Through being born again, God cleanses us. 

    When Jesus says, “you must be born again,” that’s another fantastic metaphor for regeneration. 

    Because it is a new birth. You’re a new person in Christ. Also, the metaphors matters because we are regenerated as a one time event. 

    Jesus said that we must be born again. He did not say that we must be born again…and again and again. 

    It’s not that we are saved today, then we lose that, then we do better and we’re saved tomorrow. Many Christians believe that. It’s not a Biblical idea. 

    We’re sealed with the Holy Spirit as a guarantor of our salvation. 

    Ephesians 1:13-14: In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, 14 who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory. 

    Second, the Spirit gives us a new heart 

    Returning to our passage in Ezekiel: I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.

    Once again, what an incredible metaphor that the Bible uses. I assume it’s because of the Bible that the heart has become such a powerful symbol in our culture. Think about it for just a moment. 

    Someone who’s very kind if referred to as tender-hearted. Someone who’s unkind and unfeeling is called cold-hearted. When we’re really sincere, we say something is from the bottom of our heart. When we see an impressive athletic display, we say they played their heart out. Really difficult situations are seen as heartbreaking. 

    And there are lots more little phrases like that. It’s a powerful symbol in our culture that we see as being the seat of our emotions. 

    Because of regeneration, God gives us a new heart. Thousands of Americans wait on donor lists in need of heart transplants. Heart disease is annually the leading cause of death in America with more than 1 in 5 deaths coming from heart disease. 

    Our hearts don’t last forever. And certainly, the heart is important in the Bible. Love the Lord your God with all your…What comes first? Heart. 

    Quoting again from David in Psalm 51:10, he asks God: Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me

    We cannot make our hearts pure. But the good news is that through regeneration, God does a heart transplant in us. He gives us a new heart and a new Spirit. So the Spirit brings renewal through cleansing, it is through the Spirit that we are given a new heart. 

    Third, the Spirit enables us to follow God’s law 

    The gospel changes lives. When we’re born again, that doesn’t mean that we never struggle, it doesn’t mean we’ll never sin. But we are forgiven. 

    We aren’t perfect but we’re declared righteous because of the righteousness of Christ. But true recognition of sin, true faith in Christ, that changes a person. And it’s often especially noticed when an adult comes to faith. 

    If you have a child who’s grown up in the church and always had faith as part of their life, that’s an incredible blessing. And there certainly is a moment when faith becomes more real to a person, where their trust truly is in the gospel. 

    But when you have someone who’s an adult and gone years of living their own way, pursuing their own interests and desires, and Jesus comes into their life, there should be fruit of that. Not all at once. It’s not saying a person suddenly never has any areas where they struggle. It’s a process. We’ll talk more about that next week. But when the light of the gospel truly takes root in a person’s heart, it causes a change.

    It’s like you suddenly see the world through a different set of eyes. It’s like in the Wizard of Oz where the story goes from sepia to color. And the reason why there are changes and sudden changes is again due to the Holy Spirit and the process of conversion. 

    The Spirit enables us to follow God. 

    We certainly see that idea in Ezekiel 36:27: And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules

    It is the Spirit of God working in us which enables us to follow the will of God. When God works in a person’s life, and transforms a person to love him and love him and enables a person to follow his commands, that is miraculous. 

    In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. 2 The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters. (Genesis 1:1-2)

    That same Spirit who was in the beginning, part of creation, and who hovered over the waters dwells every single person who is a Christian and who believes in the Good News of Jesus Christ. 

    How amazing is that! 

    And it’s not because of us. It’s because our God is a good God. 

    Consider Ezekiel 36:22: Thus says the Lord God: It is not for your sake, O house of Israel, that I am about to act, but for the sake of my holy name, which you have profaned among the nations to which you came. 

    God’s works of grace are not because we were deserving. God ultimately makes grace available because of his character, because of his goodness, because of his faithfulness to the promises he had made, and for the sake of displaying his own divine glory and greatness. 

    Yes, God loves us. But it’s not because we’re lovable but because God is loving. And so through the gospel, through the work of Christ on the cross, we are forgiven and justified. But what separates real faith, what separates the believers from the pretenders is regeneration. 

    In his systematic theology, Louis Berkhoff says: 

    “Regeneration consists in the implanting of the principle of the new spiritual life in man, in a radical change of the governing disposition of the soul, which, under the influence of the Holy Spirit, gives birth to a life that moves in a Godward direction.”

    Numerous passages in the New Testament talk about the work that God does in the life of a believer. 

    1 Corinthians 2:14-16: The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned. 15 The spiritual person judges all things, but is himself to be judged by no one. 16 “For who has understood the mind of the Lord so as to instruct him?” But we have the mind of Christ. 

    God works through us. We don’t regenerate ourselves. We don’t cause our own Spiritual growth. We participate in the work which God is doing in us but we don’t cause it. I hope that makes sense. 

    In Philippians 2:13, Paul puts says: it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure. 

    God works in us. New birth, being born again changes a person. 

    While it is through Christ that we are forgiven, justified, and given eternal life; we see that the Spirit is involved in bringing new life – specifically through cleansing us, through indwelling us, through causing a change in our heart, and by enabling us to live for God. 

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  • War criminal to Christian: the power of the gospel

    No matter how sinful a person is, there is no one who’s beyond the saving grace of Christ. No matter how far from God is, there is no one who’s life can’t be changed. That’s the power of the gospel.

    I first learned the story of a man named Comrade Duch in Lee Strobel’s book “The Case for Grace.” Duch passed away in Cambodia on Wednesday at the age of 77. His story is incredibly compelling.

    Duch had been part of the tyrannical Khmer Rouge movement that was responsible for millions of deaths in his homeland in the 1970s. Specifically, Duch had been the head of S-21 prison camp where thousands of Cambodians were interrogated, tortured, and killed. Of roughly 20,000 people who were imprisoned at S-21, there were only 12 known survivors.

    In 1995, Duch had had a dramatic conversion to Christianity under the ministry of Christopher LaPel, a Cambodian who had lost relatives at the infamous S-21 camp. At the time, LaPel had not known Duch’s identity, but he would later say in interviews  “Before he received Christ, he said he did a lot of bad things in his life,” LaPel recalls. “I don’ know if my brothers and sisters can forgive the sins I’ve committed against the people.”

    Duch became an avid student of the Bible, eventually became a lay pastor. He worked with the Christian relief agency World Vision in the late 90s. In 1999, a journalist tracked Duch down and connected him to the atrocities in Cambodia.

    Duch admitted his guilt.

    In his confession and apology, Duch said:
    I would like to apologise to all surviving victims and their families who were mercilessly killed at S-21. I say that I am sorry now, and I beg all of you to consider this wish. 

    Duch was one of the few leaders of the Khmer Rouge to admit guilt for his crimes against humanity. After being convicted for his crimes in 2010, Duch spent the rest of his life in prison.

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  • The positive and encouraging message isn’t always the message we need

    The positive and encouraging message isn’t always the message we need

    It’s interesting to me to consider the popular Christian music. It’s almost always easy listening.

    I was looking at some of the slogans for popular Christian radio stations.

    Perhaps the biggest in America, K-Love, which plays on 440 stations “positive – encouraging.”

    The River, which is the Christian radio station in Columbus, “uplifting and encouraging.” Smile FM, which is a popular station in Michigan says “positive hits.” Air1 which plays on 123 stations in 43 states: “positive hits.” Joy FM which is in Florida “helping you find joy.” Way FM “uplifting, upbeat, real.”

    There’s no Christian radio stations that advertise as being “convicting and sanctifying.” None advertise as being “sackcloth and ashes.”

    Now there’s nothing wrong with being positive, there’s nothing wrong with being encouraged.

    But is that the way Christians are always supposed to feel? Our society likes the easy listening message. The American church likes the positive and encouraging message.
    But we come to the second of the Beatitudes, in the Sermon on the Mount, and it’s: “blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.”

    Life verses

    I think of popular life verses people pick. Philippians 4:13: “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me”

    Or Jeremiah 29:11 “For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord.”

    PROVERBS 3:5-6

    TRUST IN THE LORD WITH ALL YOUR HEART,
    AND DO NOT LEAN ON YOUR OWN UNDERSTANDING.
    IN ALL YOUR WAYS ACKNOWLEDGE HIM,
    AND HE WILL MAKE STRAIGHT YOUR PATHS.

    Positive, encouraging verses.

    There are churches where there’s almost this pressure on people to always be smiling, happy, positive.

    Because we like a positive, encouraging culture. But what about when you’re not doing well?

    Is a church to be another place where a person has to put up a front? Or is it a place where people can be honest?

    Now I’m not saying we should be unkind or rude to one another. But sometimes people are hurting. And there’s no virtue in white-knuckling it when you’re struggling.

    Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.
    Church is not a place that’s primary mission is positivity and encouragement.
    It’s preaching Christ crucified (1 Corinthians 2:2).

    And in studying God’s word, the primary goal should not always be the easy listening, K-love, positive and encouraging message.

    Because blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.

    The first of the Beatitudes is “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”

    And that is for the person who realizes that they are nothing and have nothing to offer God, to warrant favor, to merit grace, to earn heaven. And the blessedness is realizing that the grace of God is your only hope.

    The second of the beatitudes flows from the idea of the first. For a person who realizes how small they are before God and their utter need and dependence on God, that in seeing sin, there is blessedness in that.

    In the first case, you realize that God is your only hope.

    In the second, it’s having a greater sense of the state from which God redeemed you.

    Blessed are those who mourn.

    That word. “Blessed.” It’s one of those theologized and churchy words. Another way to translate it would be fortunate are those who mourn” or “happy are those who mourn.”

    And abundant, supernatural heavenly blessing for those who mourn.

    Part of what the beatitudes are doing is showing us that the values of heaven are not the same as the values of this world. In fact, it’s a set of values that are utterly incoherent to our world.

    Perhaps none of them more starkly displays the difference in the values of heaven and earth than the second of the beatitudes. Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.

    That’s not the K-love message. That’s not the positive and encouraging message.

    And that’s ok.

    In fact, I hope you don’t always leave encouraged.

    That’s not saying I want you to be discouraged. That’s not to say I want you feeling hopeless. That even when a text hits us hard, that we might rejoice all the more because of the hope that we do have in Christ.

    But in studying the Bible, I hope there are times when the weight of God’s word eviscerates you.

    There should be times where you’re convicted because of it. Times where you reexamine your life, your heart, your decisions, your motivations because of it.

    There should be messages that ring in your heart long after the benediction.

    But again, not to be left in total despair, but to be worshipful and rejoicing in the tremendous grace that Jesus gives.

    And that might not always be cheery and positive. Because we’re sinful people. And for a thoughtful Christian, sometimes we get hit by stark realities about ourselves and our hearts as we study his word.

    Originally published on March 6, 2019

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  • Marriage as a picture of the gospel

    Marriage as a picture of the gospel

    In the Bible, so much of the marriage language about weddings, brides, and grooms is discussing the relationship between God and his people. In the Bible, in spite of humanity’s sin, turning away from God, the Lord is depicted as a faithful groom.

    In the New Testament, the church is depicted as the bride and Christ is the groom. That’s part of the reason why our passage said “husbands love your wives as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her.”

    Jesus has a sacrificial love for the church. In Ephesians 5, the Apostle Paul says:  “This mystery is profound, and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the church (Ephesians 5:32).”

    What Paul is saying is that marriage itself is a picture of the love that Jesus has for his church. The gospel gives a picture of what marriage is supposed to be.

    Marriage is about faithfulness. God is faithful to his people. He is faithful to his promises.

    Marriage is about forgiving. Because we sin. And the closer a person is to us, the deeper the wounds we can afflict. And nowhere is that truer than in marriage.

    Marriage is about grace. You are to love your spouse unconditionally. They don’t earn your love or approval. We can’t earn God’s love. God freely offers the love that we could never earn.

    Marriage is about love. Because “God so loved the world that he gave his only son that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life (John 3:16).

    THE BIBLE SAYS THAT  “LOVE IS PATIENT AND KIND; LOVE DOES NOT ENVY OR BOAST; IT IS NOT ARROGANT OR RUDE. IT DOES NOT INSIST ON ITS OWN WAY; IT IS NOT IRRITABLE OR RESENTFUL; IT DOES NOT REJOICE AT WRONGDOING, BUT REJOICES WITH THE TRUTH. LOVE BEARS ALL THINGS, BELIEVES ALL THINGS, HOPES ALL THINGS, ENDURES ALL THINGS (1 CORINTHIANS 13:4-7).”

    The gospel gives marriage its greater meaning. Jesus is the groom who sacrificed everything for his bride.

    Despite all of our imperfections, our mistakes, our times of selfishness, the worst things we’ve ever done, in spite of that, God offers to love freely and unconditionally. God loves us at our worst. God does not love us because of what we have done, or how we make him feel. He loves us because he loves us. And all we have to do to receive that love is to accept it. To know there is grace.

    When marriage is done right, there aren’t many things better than that in the whole world. Two people who love each other who have fun with each other, who bring out the best in each other.

    Originally published January 4, 2019

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