Josh Benner

Tag: faith

  • Why was the cross necessary? Couldn’t God just forgive?

    Why was the cross necessary? Couldn’t God just forgive?

    A person might look at the crucifixion, look at what the Lord did on the cross, and wonder “Why was that the only way? Why was that necessary? Couldn’t God simply forgive us?”

    No.

    This is an idea I’ve heard from Tim Keller before, and it’s an important idea on having a theology of forgiveness.

    In any meaningful way a person has ever wronged you and you’ve forgiven them, when you forgive, you then bear a burden. You bear a burden for the way they originally sinned against you, and whatever you lost in the process: opportunity, time, happiness, money. Whatever it was. You were wronged and lost something. And when you forgive, you bear a cost a second time because you are relinquishing an opportunity to get even, to inflict vengeance upon them.

    And the worse the wrong is, the harder it is to forgive. The more costly the forgiveness, because it’s a greater debt that you’re forgiving. Not to say that people shouldn’t have consequences when they’ve committed crimes or acted violently. But even in those situations, we are called to be forgiving.

    But forgiveness is not as simple as just ignoring a wrong done.

    If someone destroys something you own, you can make them pay for it. That’s often what happens. Or perhaps you and the person can both pay for part of what was destroyed. Or you can personally pay for it. You can bear that cost yourself.

    My point is that in either event, someone has to pay. Forgiveness is not a write-off that where the wrong disappears and is forgotten about. Someone has to pay the price for what was broken.

    So with our sin against God, how does God approach forgiveness? All of the wrongs and injustices in the world. All of the wrongs and sins in our own lives, in our hearts, our actions.

    We could have never paid that price. We could never have done enough to earn our forgiveness. There was no hope.

    But on the cross, we see that Jesus himself bore the cost for us.

    That was the cost of forgiveness. The horrible death he died, the injustice that he faced. All of that shows us the cost of our sin.

    At the cross, we see the love of God.

    God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. 9 Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God. 10 For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life.
    -Romans 5:8-10

    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.

    If you’re not a Christian, you need to know that Jesus paid for sins on the cross. Jesus showed that he is the way to God. Jesus died so that we could have a relationships with him. He promises eternal life for everyone who comes to him.

    All you have to do is believe in that. The Bible says that faith is credited to you as righteousness.

    “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” (Romans 10:13)

    The Bible teaches that “there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.” (Acts 4:12).

    And the proof of that is on the cross. Many other places where people look for salvation, where people look for life.  None of those things will give you life. On the cross, Jesus died so that you could have life.

    You can’t earn God. The cross shows us that. If we could earn it, we wouldn’t have needed Jesus to die.

    1Timothy 2:5-6 says:
    5 For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, 6 who gave himself as a ransom for all, which is the testimony given at the proper time.

    Jesus said “I am the way and the truth, and the life, no one comes to the father except through me (John 14:6).

    The validation for these things, what testifies to the salvation and ope that is found in Jesus…is the cross.

    Because he died on the first Good Friday. But he rose on Sunday. God has authority over life and death. God has authority over how to be made right with him.

    And while we didn’t deserve it, the good news of the gospel is that he made a way.

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    Originally published April 2, 2018

  • Sermon: The history of salvation – Galatians 3:6-9

    As Paul continues to unpack the doctrine of justification by faith by its many facets, he points back to the great patriarch of the faith: Abraham, the man who was declared righteous because of his faith before the law had ever given. In that, we see that there has always been one way by which the Lord counts people righteous.

    Sermon manuscript

  • Blessed are the persecuted. Matthew 5:10-12

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    10 “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 11 “Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. 12 Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.
    -Matthew 5:10-12

    Almost 2,000 years ago when Jesus preached these words, they also would have been radical to his audience. Persecution is never looked at as a blessing.

    But in Matthew 5, Jesus says that it is.

    Part of what Jesus is saying in these verses is that there is blessedness for the person who’s life is so clearly devoted to God, who is so clearly living out their Christian faith, that they face opposition because of it.

    If a Christian goes through life and never faces opposition, you might be living too comfortably in the world.

    If you never face any heat because of your faith, you might not be associating with anyone who disagrees with what you believe.

    In 2 Timothy 3, the Apostle Paul talks about persecution.

    “Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted.”

    ALL who live for Christ will be persecuted.

    Persecution is part of the Christian life. The Bible does not shy away from this fact.

    Shortly before the time of his crucifixion, Jesus said to his disciples in John 5:18-19:

     “If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you.

    Something doesn’t have to be a matter of life and death to be persecution. In American society, we don’t generally hear stories of a person being killed just because they are a Christian. It’s not absolutely unheard of, but it’s rare.

    The persecution American Christians face is often times more social or legal. That can still put us in situations where it’s tempting to sin, where it’s tempting to respond a certain way that we shouldn’t. That still puts us in situations where it’s easier to just go along with what the world is doing than taking a stand for what you believe.

    I know a mechanic who’s a Christian. He was committed to being honest in his dealings with customers. He was so honest that his boss didn’t like him and eventually fired him.

    My wife told me a story about how when she was in high school, she was interviewing to be part of a local youth leadership program in her community. While she was at her interview, one of the people making the decision saw that she was a student at a Christian high school. He started berating her with questions about her faith, questioning how she could believe in Jesus. Asking nothing about this youth organization. Essentially just harassing her about her faith.

    Again, the gospel is a message that some find offensive. “To one a fragrance from death to death, to the other a fragrance from life to life (2 Corinthians 2:16).”

    There have been examples of groups trying to silence coaches of public school teams from praying with players before games, even when it’s voluntary. I read a story today about the Freedom from Religion Foundation suing a public school in Ohio. A local pastor was leading a Bible study with students at lunch. It was optional. But FFRF still needed to swoop in and sue. There have been legal pressures on Christian universities to cover abortions for staff.

    Those are just a few examples.

    But in living for Jesus, in a fallen world, it is inevitable that there will be times when a person’s faith comes under fire.

    Responding 

    When a person is being persecuted and has a choice of if they’re going to respond in a Christlike way or if they’re going to respond in a hostile way. You can be light to a dark world or you can just spread the darkness.

    The Apostle James talked about the various trials that Christians face:

    “Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing (James 1:2-4).”

    As evil as the persecution that Christians face can be, it’s an opportunity to respond with love. Jesus told us to pray for our enemies (Matthew 5:44).

    God can use those situations as a way to strengthen us in our own faith. To focus us on what we truly value.

    Another part of the reason why persecution is seen as a blessing is that the harsher the persecution, the more that is taken away from a person, the more someone is able to live in total dependence on God and reliance in his ability to preserve them. That’s not to say that the persecution is good in itself. It’s obviously not. That’s not to say that sin is good. It’s not. But through the evils that people commit, God can still use that for good.

    Again, if you’re not ever facing any pressure because of your faith, you might not be living in a way that is distinct from the world. I’m not saying we should go out of our way to be combative. The verse does not say that all persecution is good. It’s when a person is following Jesus and is persecuted for righteousness’ sake that blessed a person.

    It’s a radical idea. But let us remember that we have a savior who faced the ultimate persecution for righteousness’ sake.

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  • Seeing and believing. Studying John 4:43-48

    Seeing and believing. Studying John 4:43-48

    A crisis 

    John 4:43 begins right where the previous section left off where Jesus was among the Samaritan people. 

    Verse 43 begins: After the two days he departed for Galilee. 

    Jesus is making his way north. Galilee is the region where Jesus grew up. Nazareth was the town where he grew up, but Nazareth was in the region. So Jesus is journeying to Galilee and immediately John interrupts the flow of the story with a side note. 

    Verse 44:
    (For Jesus himself had testified that a prophet has no honor in his own hometown.

    That’s an interesting comment to note. A prophet has no honor in his hometown, and yet Jesus is traveling to his home. 

    Yet verse 45 tells us: 
     So when he came to Galilee, the Galileans welcomed him, having seen all that he had done in Jerusalem at the feast. For they too had gone to the feast. 

    On its face, verses 44 and 45 can appear to be at odds. 

    Verse 44 says a prophet has no honor in his hometown, however verse 45 says that the Galileans welcomed Jesus. 

    How can these two things be? The answer to that question is important to making sense of this whole story. 

    As verse 45 reports, Jesus is indeed welcomed by the people of Galilee. 

    Jesus is welcomed by the people having seen all that he had done in Jerusalem at the feast. 

    This is referring to the Passover season in chapter 2 where Jesus is at the temple, turning over tables and calling out the religious elites. They have heard and seen Jesus, and they’re drawn to him. 

    But the issue we see in this passage is that they’re coming to see Jesus, not because of who he is, or because of the kingdom of God that he is bringing into the world. We will learn in this passage that they’re drawn to the spectacle. 

    Verse 46, Jesus comes to Cana in Galilee, the very same town where he had made the water wine.

    John is reminding us that this had been the location of Jesus’ first sign back at the beginning of chapter 2. We talked about this at the time, but John’s gospel uses the word signs over miracles. Signs point us to who Jesus is as the divine son of God in the world. 

    So Jesus is in Galilee. 

    The story shifts us to a town about 20 miles away called Capernaum. 

    4:46-47:

     at Capernaum there was an official whose son was ill. 47 When this man heard that Jesus had come from Judea to Galilee, he went to him and asked him to come down and heal his son, for he was at the point of death. 

    The verse mentions that an official’s son had been ill. When John refers to an official, he’s talking about a man who was an official of the Roman government. It’s likely that this man was therefore not Jewish, although we can’t be absolutely positive. So this Roman official approaches Jesus and his son who is ill. 

    The passage tells us that he’s at the point of death, so it’s very serious. 

    Jesus has become known in the area and this man approaches Jesus to see if anything can be done. 

    Verse 48:

    So Jesus said to him, “Unless you see signs and wonders you will not believe.”

    The “you” to whom Jesus is referring is plural. He’s not only speaking to the royal official, but also to the crowd. 

    That brings us back a couple of verses where it talked of a prophet having no honor in his hometown and the crowd that had come out to see Jesus. That’s the larger audience to whom Jesus is speaking. 

    Many are drawn to the things Jesus does, but not to Jesus himself. Jesus does not merely want to be followed for what he can do, but of greater significance is who he is. 

    Jesus is the eternal God of creation who is all powerful. He’s the savior of the world. He is the one who forgives sins. And so what he desires are disciples and not spectators. People who are looking for a savior and not a genie. People who follow him because of who he is, not just what he does. 

    Question: why do we worship? 

    The character and glory of Christ is why he is to be worshiped. 

    In sports, there’s a term for someone who’s a fair weather fan. That refers to someone who is only interested in a team when they are winning but when they’re not playing well, they pay less attention. 

    We are not called to be fair weather Christians. It can be tempting to want to turn our backs on the Lord when things aren’t going how we want. 

    But he is just as worthy of our worship and praise in the difficulties as he is in the victories. 

    If things were always easy…

    God does not always do what we want, give us what we want, even for things that are legitimate and good. 

    The Roman official isn’t asking for something frivolous. He has a child who’s near dying and this man has come to advocate for his child. But no matter how worthy the request, it is not always granted. 

    What is our response to Christ when things don’t turn out the way we wanted? No matter how worthy those requests were? That’s where the rubber meets the road. That is where the gospel becomes foolish in the eyes of the world. 

    In the eyes of the world, a good God would always grant the life and death prayer request. To not do that would make the world’s vision of God not good but evil. 

    Unless you see signs and wonders you will not believe

    We need to understand the goodness, and glory, and sovereignty of God. God is worthy of worship and praise because of who he is not just because of what he does. Faith needs to be rooted in the character of God. 

    If we make our worship and love for God hinge on getting our own way, then we are not worshiping God as God. We are not here to serve him, we are not subject to him, we make him subject to us and his goodness contingent upon how he satisfies us. 

    People wanted the signs. They want to be dazzled. We want to see the incredible story, we want to hear the unbelievable testimony. 

    Those things do happen. Praise God when they do. 

    And I’m not saying that an incredible work of life can never be used to turn a person to God. It can and does. But our faith cannot exclusively be in the marvelous and incredible events. 

    Because that’s not most days. And much of life and much of our walk with God is very ordinary. How do we respond in those times? 

    Even today, there is a temptation in our world to be drawn to mystics and faith healers. Our world eats it up. People fill arenas. These people travel the globe promising the miraculous and to heal. 

    “Unless you see signs and wonders you will not believe.”

    People who peddle a prosperity gospel revolving around how God wants to bless you and that get away from the gospel of sin and salvation and preach a message that revolves around man’s worthiness of blessing and that puts our focus on material blessings dominate the world of televangelism. 

    In 1 Corinthians 2:1-2, Paul says: 

    when I came to you, brothers, did not come proclaiming to you the testimony of God with lofty speech or wisdom. 2 For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. 

    That must be the basis for our study of the Bible, our preaching and teaching in churches. And it needs to also be the basis for the preaching and teaching to which we expose ourselves. 

  • Excuses why people don’t get baptized

    Excuses why people don’t get baptized

    At the end of his ministry, Jesus commanded his disciples to go out into the world and baptize people in the name of the father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit (Matthew 28:18-20). Baptism is not meant to be an option for the church. It is a command of Christ. 

    If you’ve never been baptized but consider yourself to be a Christian, I want to encourage you to get baptized. 

    I’ve heard various excuses throughout the years as to why people haven’t gotten baptized. 

    I wanted to just address a few of those. 

    1. it’s not necessary 

    Yes it is. Jesus commands it. 

    2. I’m afraid of water

    The pastor is not throwing you out into the ocean. If it’s a church that does baptism by immersion, the pastor is right there. You’ll be fine. 

     3. I don’t want to get my hair wet. 

    Wear a swim cap. 

     4. I’m too old. 

    You’re neve too old to be obedient to God,

    5. I’m embarrassed. 

    I can appreciate that. I really can. There might be different reasons why a person would be embarrassed. Maybe you’ve never gotten baptized and you’re at an age where you feel like you should have by this point but never got around to it and now you think you’ll look really silly. 

    I can appreciate that. 

    It’s not a good reason to not get baptized but I’m just saying I personally can appreciate that. 

    In Luke 9:26, Jesus said: 

    whoever is ashamed of me and of my words, of him will the Son of Man be ashamed when he comes in his glory and the glory of the Father and of the holy angels.

    If you’re someone who hasn’t been baptized and you do feel embarrassed about that fact, come talk to me. I promise you I’m not going to recoil in disgust that you haven’t done it. The fact that you didn’t do it in the past is something you can’t change. But you can do something about it and get baptized.

    Part of the purpose of baptism is that it’s a public proclamation to the world that you identify as a follower of Jesus Christ. If you’ve waited this long and finally do it, people aren’t going to judge you. People will think it’s so great that you’re finally doing it now. You ever see those news stories at graduation time about some like 90 year old who finally is finishing up her college degree? People love those stories. 

    Don’t let stage fright be a reason to not get baptized. Don’t let pride be a reason to get baptized. 

    6. God hasn’t told me to get baptized yet. 

    It’s the devil who’s telling you not to get baptized and to disobey Jesus’ command!

    You don’t need a divine prompt to do something that Jesus universally commands of his church. 

    You have God’s word and that tells you to do it. 

    7. it doesn’t apply to me.

    It applies to all Christians. 

    Yes, there is the thief on the cross in Luke who’s promised heaven. Yes there are death bed conversions. But that’s not the same as a professing believer who’s simply dragging their feet. 

    8. I just don’t want to.

    Once again, it’s a command of Christ for all Christians. 

    9. I’ll do it next time. 

    Why then and not now? 

    As Nike used to tell us, just do it. 

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