Josh Benner

Category: Gospel

  • 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

  • Water and Spirit. Studying John 3:1-8

    Water and Spirit. Studying John 3:1-8

    In John 3, Jesus is approached by a leading religious teacher named Nicodemus. Nicodemus had heard of Jesus and his teaching and wanted to learn more. Jesus would tell him that he had to be born again. 

    In John 3:4, Nicodemus says: 

    Nicodemus said to him, “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born?”

    Water and Spirit

    In John 3:5, Jesus will elaborate further and say to Nicodemus: 

    Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.

    Water and Spirit. 

    Jesus has said unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God (John 3:3).

    And Unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. 

    They’re both obviously important in what Jesus is saying about how one can enter the Kingdom of God. 

    But what do they have to do with each other? Because they’re both connected to seeing and entering the kingdom of God. 

    The key to answering that question is found in Ezekiel 36. In that passage, water and Spirit are both present, and it says that the Lord will give the believer a new heart. 

     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. 26 And 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. 27 And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules.

    God giving his Spirit and a new heart. 

    “I will sprinkle clean water on you” 

    “I will give you a new heart and a new spirit I will put within you.” 

    “I will put my Spirit within you”  

    Where Jesus says we must be born again, it is by the Holy Spirit that we are born again. Jesus justifies by his perfect life and by his blood and it is the Holy Spirit who indwells the believer. It’s not up to us to save ourselves.

    The rebirth is through the Holy Spirit. 

    New theological term. This is referred to as baptism of the Holy Spirit. 

    Baptism of the Holy Spirit is different from water baptism. 

    That idea is first mentioned in John’s Gospel in John 1:33 when John the Baptist is speaking of Jesus and says: 

    He on whom you see the Spirit descend and remain, this is he who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.

    All four gospels make this same point. That Jesus brings a filling of the Holy Spirit to such an abundant degree that it is a baptism. 

    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

    This indwelling of the Holy Spirit is foretold in the Ezekiel passage. 

    And Ezekiel isn’t the only passage. Joel 2:28: 

    it shall come to pass afterward,  that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh

    This initial pouring out of the Spirit happens in Acts 2 at Pentecost. 

    All Christians have the Holy Spirit because all Christians are born again, which is of the Spirit. And all Chrisitans are baptized in the Holy Spirit at the moment they come to faith. 

    There is no way to be a Christian without these events happening in your life.

    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.

    The Spirit sanctifies us, he sets us apart.

    Romans 8:11: If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you. 

    The Spirit works to transform a believer: 

    2 Corinthians 3:18: we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit. 

    Spiritual life can only come through the Spirit. That’s what Jesus means in our passage when he says in John 3:6: That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.

    The flesh begets worldly sinful life. The Spirit begets Spiritual life, the new life that God promises his people. 

    There are many other things which the Spirit does in the life of a believer. All three persons of the Trinity are active in the gospel. We can’t just look at the love of God without the work of the Christ who died for a sinful world. 

    And we can’t discount the work of the Holy Spirit because without the Holy Spirit, a person does not have faith in the gospel because true faith in the gospel means a person has the Holy Spirit. 

    We must be born again. 

    Titus 3:4-6: 4 But 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, 6 whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior

    Salvation and the Spirit go together. 

    Jesus is the one who died for sins. But we are given new life through the Spirit. A person who truly has faith has the Spirit. 

    And once you have the Spirit, you cannot lose it. In fact, it’s because we need a work of the Holy Spirit that we can have assurance of salvation. Because it is God who works in us through the Spirit. 

    Jesus has said that we must be born of water and Spirit. Returning to our passage in John 3. 

    Is John 3 talking about water baptism? 

    Some take that to refer to water baptism. It seems logical. But there are a few things to keep in mind: Water baptism is not mentioned anywhere else in this passage. The Great Commission and the command to baptize have not yet been given. 

    Just because water is mentioned does not mean that baptism must be in mind. In our next chapter, John 4, Jesus talks of the water he provides and how the one who drinks of it will never thurst. In John 7, Jesus talks of the living water which he supplies and in that Jesus is using water to refer to the Holy Spirit. 

    Jesus criticizes Nicodmeus for not understanding what he’s saying. If he’s referring to water baptism, that rebuke makes little sense. How would Nicodemus be expected to understand the ordinance of water baptism before it had been given to Chrsitians? 

    But it would make sense to expect Nicodemus to understand Ezekiel 36. 

    Baptism IS important, but baptism is an action that is symbolic of your inward faith, a faith where God has poured his Spirit upon his people. Baptism does nothing if you are not ultimately born again. And that’s true regardless of if someone believes in believer’s baptism or infant baptism. The baptism must ultimately be accompanied by faith. 

    Given his study of the Bible, given the promises of God giving his spirit, given the Ezekiel 36 promise of a new heart, for all of these reasons, for Nicodemus, it should not be a logical leap that a new birth, a new life would be necessary in truly coming to faith in God.

    We often miss this point too.

    The Bible constantly talks of the necessity of faith, the Bible constantly talks of our sin. Throughout the gospels, we see constant references to Jesus’ death for our sin.

    And yet we so often face the temptation to think our standing before God is based on ourselves.

    Verses 7 and 8, Jesus says: 7 Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’  8 The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.” 

    Jesus gives an illustration based on the weather. 

    Jesus was telling this to people before modern meteorology. 

    But even still, to the average person, we don’t really know how the wind works, or what causes its changes. Yet we feel it, we see the impact it has, we hear it. 

    Jesus says “so it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.”  

    The point is that there is evidence of the work of the Spirit in the life of a believer. We don’t always understand how the spirit works but his work in the life of a believer is evident. 

    And I again refer us back to Ezekiel 36:27:

    I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules.

    Israel was given the law and continued to sin. In the new covenant, God gives his Holy Spirit and it is by his Spirit that we are enabled to follow his laws.

    God works within his own people enabling us to do the will of God. That is a tremendous grace which God gives to the world. 

    That’s not to say that you will never sin again. That’s not to say you will never struggle again. At the moment you come to faith, you are justified before God by the justifying work of Christ. You’re forgiven in an instant, indwelled with the Holy Spirit. But the rest of life is meant to be a journey of growing in faith and holiness. 

    You must be born again

    Have you been born again? Has your life been changed by the gospel? 

    God does a heart transplant whenever someone comes to faith. He gives a new heart. Do you have joy in the Lord? Love for God? Are there areas where you’ve seen fruit in your life?

    Do you have confidence in God’s goodness and his promises? Do you have a greater appreciation for the weight of your own sin? Do you feel like your life has been oriented around God?

    Being born again results a life that is transformed because it is not about our strength to live in a Godly manner but God works in us.

    So that is the command which Jesus has given. That for a person to enter the kingdom of heaven, being born again is necessary. Again, it’s not just my opinion on the subject. 

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

    The positive, 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 was 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 says:
    Trust in the Lord with all your heart,
        and do not lean on your own understanding.
    6 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.

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

    Originally published March 6, 2019

  • Destroy this temple, and in 3 days, I will raise it up. John 2:18-25

    Destroy this temple, and in 3 days, I will raise it up. John 2:18-25

    Summary John 2:13-25: As Jesus begins his ministry, he cleanses the temple in Jerusalem. In the first century, the temple had become a commerce center during Jewish holy days and so Jesus will drive the merchants out from the temple in verses 13-17. In verses 18-22, we see the response to Jesus

    John 2:18: So the Jews said to him, “What sign do you show us for doing these things?”

    That is not an inherently absurd question. Jesus is driving people out of the temple, and so they want to know how his actions are justified. It seems like they expected some grand miracle. 

    Instead, Jesus tells them of a future sign which he will perform. 

    Verse 19:  Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” 

    Jesus says that’s the sign he can do. 

    20 The Jews then said, “It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and will you raise it up in three days?”

    The religious authorities look to how long it’s taken to build the temple and it therefore seems absurd that Jesus could possibly raise it in three days.

    They miss the point. 

    Rebuilding the temple

    At the time of Jesus, the temple in Jerusalem was actually still under construction. I always thought it was complete and when they talk about 46 years,  they’re referring to how long it took to complete the work. 

    Incorrect. 

    Little bit of history. 

    The Jewish people built a temple during the reign of Solomon. That’s the first temple. It was destroyed in 586 B.C. when Jerusalem was conquered by the Babylonians. 

    About a century later, reconstruction began of the second temple. That temple was pretty modest, and it saw a major renovation which began around the year 19 B.C.

    In other words, the major renovation BEGAN about 46 years before Jesus cleanses the temple here in John 2. 

    By the time of Jesus, they’re saying that construction had been under way for 46 years. 

    Construction would not be complete until 63 A.D. which was some 35 years after the time of Jesus. 

    I point that out because 46 years is a long time. But the actual temple renovation took more like 80 years. 

    And if it sounded absurd that someone could rebuild in just three days what had taken 46 years, imagine it from their perspective in the first century as they looked at a temple that was still being renovated. And someone saying he could build that in three days. 

    The authorities don’t challenge Jesus’ claim. But Jesus isn’t referring to the building anyway. 

    John makes that explicitly clear in the next verses. 

    Verses 21-22:

    21 But he was speaking about the temple of his body. 22 When therefore he was raised from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this, and they believed the Scripture and the word that Jesus had spoken. 

    Jesus is the temple and he’s referring to his death and resurrection. 

    Jesus died and rose on the third day.

    Jesus is the true temple

    The significance of the temple in the Bible is that the temple is the place where God is with his people. 

    That’s why the temple was so important in the Old Testament. 

    When Jesus says “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up” (John 2:19, yes, it’s referring to his death and resurrection. But it is also pointing to Jesus as the greater temple. 

    The temple was just a building. Merchants could encroach upon the holiness of the temple. But in Jesus, we have an incorruptible temple, an incorruptible savior through whom we are brought into the presence of the Lord. 

    And we are again reminded of that death that Jesus would die for sin. 

    In chapter 1, we see Jesus called the Lamb of God (John 1:29), referring to his sacrificial death. In John 2:4, Jesus pointed forward to his crucifixion. 

    This book is constantly pointing to his death. 

    Eight full chapters of John are dedicated to the final week of Jesus’ life. 

    Why so much about his death?

    Abraham Lincoln’s two secretaries John Hay and John Nicolay wrote an expansive biography about our 16th president. It’s 5,000 pages and they talk about his death on just 20 of those pages. 

    Between the four gospels, roughly one third to one half of the books are devoted to Jesus’ death. 

    Why? Why is there this constant focus on his death? Because it is the only way to redemption. It is the only way to God. It is the only way to forgiveness. It is the only way to heaven. 

    There’s no other way than through the presence of God on earth who was torn down and raised back up three days later. 

    Jesus cleanses the temple but in cleansing the temple, it points to himself as the temple who does not need cleansed. 

    The temple was always meant to point to Jesus. 

    In the Old Testament, you have all of these exact specifications for the temple, and its precursor, the tabernacle. You have dramatic Old Testament texts which talk of the presence of God filling the temple. You have Israel who continues to fall into sin and idolatry, in spite of warnings from God’s prophets. Eventually they’re conquered, they’re exiled, they lose the land, the temple is destroyed.

    They would later be freed from exile and given the command to rebuild the temple. 

    But all of that is pointing forward to the true temple. 

    In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. It was the unmitigated presence of God. And humanity sinned. Paradise was lost. 

    God gave the law through Moses. Humanity continued to sin and God continued to be faithful. 

    The temple was built and sin continued. The temple was lost. 

    And on the grounds of a new temple, we again see sin. We see people dishonoring a holy place. 

    Left to our own devices, we’ll continue to lose the temple, to squander God’s grace because we’re sinful. 

    But instead of having a building which represents the presence of God, we’re given a person. 

    Jesus Christ, the eternal God of creation himself becomes the temple. We are welcomed back into the garden because Jesus left heaven. We are welcomed into the presence of God because Jesus was forsaken. We are invited into the presence of God because Jesus is the true temple.

    We are given grace which cannot be lost because it was bought by a savior who does not sin. 

    The Word became flesh and dwelt among us (John 1:14). 

    Jesus came to be with us so that we could be with him. 

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