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Humble Boldness

This passage in Ephesians is especially encouraging to contemplate after the punch in the teeth of strong conviction that hit me in yesterday’s passage from Job:

Therefore I, a prisoner for serving the Lord, beg you to lead a life worthy of your calling, for you have been called by God. Always be humble and gentle. Be patient with each other, making allowance for each other’s faults because of your love. Make every effort to keep yourselves united in the Spirit, binding yourselves together with peace. For there is one body and one Spirit, just as you have been called to one glorious hope for the future. There is one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is over all, in all, and living through all.

Ephesians 4:1‭-‬6 NLT

The bulletpoints:

  • Be humble and gentle
  • Be patient with others, making allowance for their faults
  • Make all efforts to keep ourselves united in Spirit, bound together by peace

I love how this reminds us that boldness to proclaim the gospel is quite different from pride or self-righteousness. A follower in The Way, The Truth, and The Life can be humble and gentle themselves, yet bold about the gospel. We can bring forth into the light those things that we know that we have done ourselves that need to be confessed and repented personally. Even if what the gospel has to say about sin can be offensive to a world still enslaved by and serving that particular sin (conviction) — we can remain humble and gentle by offering the bent knee of our own repentance and open arms of the grace of the gospel!

We should not expect others to be perfect or consider ourselves better or worse than others, but we should consider ourselves equal at the foot of the cross. When we proclaim the gospel and it convicts our own heart towards repentance, we shouldn’t be surprised that it would convict others towards repentance. We shouldn’t be surprised that others’ rugs have dirt swept under them because we know that ours has the same. So we should be bold in the truth yet generous with forgiveness — both towards ourselves and towards others.

This sword of the Word of God is meant to be sharp and precise — but that is most true when we reveal what the Word has to say about sin and about grace, when we point that sword at ourselves, and when we allow others to hear and see the surgery that it can do upon a heart and a life.

If we are seeking to draw close to God, offense can try to work its way between us to divide us. So when a message hits me square in the teeth like Job hit me yesterday, I need to pay special attention — there is surgery that needs to be done.

Or when a preacher’s message hits that uncomfortable and protected area of my life — my carnal man wants to initially react in a way that protects my ego, that defends the sun, that justifies my continued rebellion, and that gaslights my own brain into shooting the messenger instead of heading the warning — but the Holy Spirit will whisper to me and offer me grace, peace, and life.

I remind myself, “Do not be offensive ourselves, but do not be afraid of speaking the offense of the gospel!”

If I complain and oppose the gospel — a fool would think he is just opposing just the preacher and the religion — while a wise man would see he is actually opposing the Living God, and would repent.

Lord, forgive me for so many times that I have been afraid to speak the offense of the gospel — even while I have been bold and proud in myself and all of my glorifying talk about the things of the world. Lord, you are strong enough to flip this on its head and by the power of your Holy Spirit turn hellbound fools into saints seated in heavenly places. In our weaknesses, we trust in you to do your work and your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Amen.

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Let the Thunder Roll

I remember Billy Graham’s preaching. The booming voice, the convicting message, the call to repentance and faith — and this passage in Job immediately reminded me of it:

Are you as strong as God? Can you thunder with a voice like his? All right, put on your glory and splendor, your honor and majesty. Give vent to your anger. Let it overflow against the proud. Humiliate the proud with a glance; walk on the wicked where they stand. Bury them in the dust. Imprison them in the world of the dead. Then even I would praise you, for your own strength would save you.

Job 40:9‭-‬14 NLT

And I don’t give credit to Billy Graham the man for the strength in his preaching, but I would say that the strength that saved him and that powered his preaching was from God — by way of the Holy Spirit in him.

I wonder if we would be bold enough to let our voices boom with the shocking message of the gospel?

I wonder if we would give vent to our anger against sin and hypocrisy and wickedness when we see it consuming the church from within and stealing from the people and blaspheming the name of God in the eyes of unbelievers?

When “church people” mock and ridicule others for their true, genuine, (even peculiar) worship and make it clear that this is not the church for them — will the Holy Spirit within us stir up and humiliate the proud and bury them in the dust?

When “church people” gossip and grumble with everything said about the church but praise and honor everything said about the world — will the Holy Spirit within us stir up and humiliate the proud and bury them in the dust?

I wonder how often we choose instead to be silent rather than offend others?

I wonder how often we would rather let God puke them out of His mouth as lukewarm and not truly His — rather than call for repentance and risk them turning away from us just like they have turned away from God?

I wonder how often we are enticed by our own temptations and let our own feelings, opinions and desires speak to us loudly and justify our wickedness and refusal of God — instead of allowing the Word of God and the Spirit of God to thunder loudly inside of us to deliver us from our own sin?

Do we truly believe what God says in His Word?

Do we have faith in the God of the Bible, or have we traded Him for a “Daddy in the Clouds” that we have made in our own image to our own liking?

One of these perspectives would have God praising us, saying “Well done my good and faithful servant!”

Lord, help us.

A reminder from Billy Graham: https://youtu.be/g3krcCSrJjo

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The law?

The law doesn’t exist for us to live up to in order to please God — the law exists to keep us from harming ourselves and others.

If our theology is about being good enough for God, we are probably departed from the narrow path of the gospel and veered into the pit of self- righteousness.

If our theology allows us to hate God’s Word, make fun of those who worship Him, and live in continued rebellion against His will and His law, we are probably departed from the narrow path of the gospel and veered into the wide path of destruction and into luke-warm “Christianity” that will be puked out of His mouth and turned away as “I never knew you”.

If you sin, how does that affect God? Even if you sin again and again, what effect will it have on him? If you are good, is this some great gift to him? What could you possibly give him? No, your sins affect only people like yourself, and your good deeds also affect only humans.

Job 35:6‭-‬8 NLT

We cannot be “good enough” to please God. But we can be sinful enough to be far from Him or self-righteous enough to be a stench in His nostrils.

It’s your sins that have cut you off from God. Because of your sins, he has turned away and will not listen anymore.

Isaiah 59:2 NLT

Dear friends, if we deliberately continue sinning after we have received knowledge of the truth, there is no longer any sacrifice that will cover these sins. There is only the terrible expectation of God’s judgment and the raging fire that will consume his enemies. For anyone who refused to obey the law of Moses was put to death without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. Just think how much worse the punishment will be for those who have trampled on the Son of God, and have treated the blood of the covenant, which made us holy, as if it were common and unholy, and have insulted and disdained the Holy Spirit who brings God’s mercy to us. For we know the one who said, “I will take revenge. I will pay them back.” He also said, “The Lord will judge his own people.” It is a terrible thing to fall into the hands of the living God.


Hebrews 10:26‭-‬31 NLT

Yet they say to each other, ‘Don’t come too close or you will defile me! I am holier than you!’ These people are a stench in my nostrils, an acrid smell that never goes away.

Isaiah 65:5 NLT

“I hate all your show and pretense— the hypocrisy of your religious festivals and solemn assemblies. I will not accept your burnt offerings and grain offerings. I won’t even notice all your choice peace offerings. Away with your noisy hymns of praise! I will not listen to the music of your harps. Instead, I want to see a mighty flood of justice, an endless river of righteous living.

Amos 5:21‭-‬24 NLT

It isn’t by the law or by religious activity and traditions that we please God, but only by a humble and contrite spirit that comes through faith.

My hands have made both heaven and earth; they and everything in them are mine. I, the Lord, have spoken! “I will bless those who have humble and contrite hearts, who tremble at my word. But those who choose their own ways— delighting in their detestable sins— will not have their offerings accepted. When such people sacrifice a bull, it is no more acceptable than a human sacrifice. When they sacrifice a lamb, it’s as though they had sacrificed a dog! When they bring an offering of grain, they might as well offer the blood of a pig. When they burn frankincense, it’s as if they had blessed an idol. I will send them great trouble— all the things they feared. For when I called, they did not answer. When I spoke, they did not listen. They deliberately sinned before my very eyes and chose to do what they know I despise.”

Isaiah 66:2‭-‬4 NLT

And it is impossible to please God without faith. Anyone who wants to come to him must believe that God exists and that he rewards those who sincerely seek him.

Hebrews 11:6 NLT

So we must repent.

We must humble ourselves before God.

We must see where we have turned away from His good advice and helpful wisdom to go out own way into destruction.

We must decide to trust His Word and His law and His Word and His people as precious.

We must have faith that He knows best.

We must be willing to recognize and admit our own shortcomings and rebellion as harmful to ourselves and others.

We must decide to trust God, to believe Him.

Amen.

We must recognize that we have lied to ourselves in convincing ourselves why it would be better to go out own way instead of God’s way.