June 2005 chaplain's corner
The Chaplain's Corner is a monthly message for chaplains.
Chaplain's Corner – June 27, 2005
Rev. Rich Hines
Chaplains, Teach Professing Believers They MUST Live Holy Lives
This message is prepared especially for those in the United States who call
upon the name of Jesus Christ as their own Lord and Savior from sin, and serve
as a chaplain in a jail, prison or a follow-up ministry such as a rescue
mission.
All Scripture quotes are taken from the New King James Version (NKJV),
copyright 1979,1980,1982 by Thomas Nelson Inc. Used by
permission. All rights reserved. When quoting a text, any
deviation from the NKJV text is within parenthesis signs ( ). These
usually occur as direct translations from the original languages,
or as notes from the original setting, to help apply the text to today's
culture. ALL CAPITAL LETTERS are sometimes used to emphasize a text, or to make
a comment about the text.
Dear Chaplains, I’m sure you realize that we live in the time of the worst
moral health
There are many contributing factors, but the bottom line is there are many
hypocrites who profess to be followers of Christ. Our time and culture is very
similar to what God described to His prophet Ezekiel, in about 580 BC.
Ezekiel 33:30-32
30 As for you, son of man, the children of your people are talking about you
beside the walls and in the doors of the houses; and they speak to one another,
everyone saying to his brother ‘Please come and hear what the word is that
comes from the LORD.’
31 So they come to you as people do, they sit before you as My
people, and THEY HEAR YOUR WORDS, BUT THEY DO NOT DO THEM; for with their mouth
they show much love, but their hearts pursue their own gain.
32 Indeed you are to them as a very lovely song of one who has a pleasant voice
and can play well on an instrument; for THEY HEAR YOUR WORDS, BUT THEY DO NOT
DO THEM.
Similarly, for many in
So this month I want to focus on the need to teach professing Christian inmates
and residents that they MUST LIVE HOLY LIVES. Said
another way, they have to be PRACTICAL Christians, rather than just mental
Christians. They must be more than those who can recite Bible verses and
teachings.
There are many passages in God’s word that emphasize the call to live out
(practice) what He says. That’s what “wisdom” is throughout the book of
Proverbs.
Even the two shortest New Testament books stress that the truth from God is not
just something to be stored up mentally, but rather it is to be lived out, or
as the Apostle John put it – to be WALKED IN. That phrase means life lived ON
THE BASIS OF THE TRUTH. Note it in 2 John, and 3 John.
2 John 1,2,4
1 The Elder. To the elect lady and her children, whom I love in the truth, and
not only I, but all those who have known the truth,
2 because of the truth which abides in us and will be with us forever. … 4 I
rejoiced greatly that I have found some of your children WALKING IN TRUTH, as
we received commandment from the Father.
3 John 3,4
3 … I rejoiced greatly when brethren came and testified of the truth that is in
you, just as you WALK IN THE TRUTH.
4 I have no greater joy than to hear that my children WALK IN TRUTH.
Speaking about faith in Jesus Christ and the salvation it brings ( see 1 Peter 1:7-9), God says through the Apostle, in 1
Peter 1:14-16,
14 as obedient children, not conforming yourselves to the former lusts, as in
your ignorance; 15 but as He who called you is holy, you also be holy in all
your conduct,
16 because it is written, “Be holy, for I am holy.”
A literal translation of verse 15 would read – “But according to the Holy One
having called you (plural), you all must become yourselves also holy, in all
conduct.”
So how does a believer do that? How does one begin to obey God’s command to
become holy, in all conduct? For one thing, not all by them
self - not by just their own effort.
I say that because the verb in 1 Peter 1:15 “become holy,” is a passive verb.
That means the subject – “you all” becomes holy by the action of another
working on them! That other Person then would have to be God, the Holy Spirit.
James 1:21,22 goes a bit farther with the wonderful
answer to the question, “How does a believer become holy in all their conduct?“
It says -
21 … lay aside all filthiness and overflow of wickedness, and receive with
meekness the IMPLANTED WORD, which is able to save your souls. 22 But BE DOERS
OF THE WORD, and NOT HEARERS ONLY, deceiving
yourselves.
The FIRST answer James 1:21 gives on how to live or walk in the truth, how to
be holy in all conduct is: when and where there is a need, REPENT.
“LAY ASIDE” means to put off from oneself. The voice (middle) of the verb means
that the subject, here the professing Christians, are to act some way upon
themselves. The verb tense also means this is a command to do it whenever it is
needed, now or in the future.
So, God is commanding believers to put off sin at any point they find
themselves in any kind of – “filthiness and overflow of wickedness.” The word
“FILTHINESS” here comes from the word for “dirt.” In this verse, it means moral
defilement. “OVERFLOW OF WICKEDNESS” can be translated as “rank growth of
evil.”
Those are strong words. Those terms sound like what our society, especially those in custody and on the “streets” are or have been
heavily into. God commands believers to be rid of those things, put them off –
to REPENT of them.
NEXT in verse 21, He says, “RECEIVE” His power through His word.
“… receive with meekness the IMPLANTED WORD, which is
able to save your souls.
The word “RECEIVE” here pictures a “ready and deliberate reception of what is
offered” (see Vine’s Expository Dictionary). It pictures a welcoming or
appropriating of something that is seen as deeply needed by the recipient.
There are three things here that need to be pointed out. WHAT is to be
received, HOW it is to be received and WHAT RECEIVING IT WILL DO.
WHAT IS TO BE RECEIVED? -
True believers are to receive God’s POWERFUL WORD, even the word He, by His
Spirit caused to grow in the soil of their hearts (or implanted) when they
first heard His gospel.
The word of God is powerful. We don’t even need to cross-reference other good
verses like Hebrews 4:12 here, because the next few words in James 1:21 say
that it’s powerful. “The implanted word WHICH IS ABLE,” that word “ABLE,” (a
word we get our English word ‘dynamite’ from) means it has POWER.
The grammar of this verse is also saying God’s word, which He caused to take
root and grow and produce new life in the believer, is ALWAYS ABLE. It’s
CONTINUALLY POWERFUL. You and your co-workers need to stress that when teaching
the Bible.
God’s word MUST be RECEIVED. But, HOW IT IS TO BE RECEIVED?
–
James 1:21 says “receive WITH MEEKNESS the implanted word.”
Meekness doesn’t mean weakness, but rather it means being teachable. It
pictures the taming of a wild horse, not so that it’s
spirit is broken but so that it’s power can be rightly directed in training. In
regards to us it means coming to a point where we are through doing things our
own way, “MY WAY,” and are now ready to be led by the Lord to do things His
way.
WHAT RECEIVING GOD’S WORD (in true meekness) WILL DO –
James 1:21 says it will “SAVE YOUR SOULS.“
Though this verse speaks of repentance, and reception of God’s powerful
message, and the saving of the soul, and those same points should be stressed
to unbelievers and involved WHEN THEY WANT TO SEEK TO BE MADE RIGHT WITH GOD,
AND DELIVERED FROM HIS ETERNAL JUDGMENT, that’s not primarily how they are
intended here.
Here, the FIRST INTENT is not evangelistic or towards justification, but rather
to help with practical sanctification.
When a true believer, who is already justified, repents and receives anew and
afresh God’s powerful message, the word DELIVERS (saves) THEIR INNER LIFE
(their soul) from inconsistency in holy living.
NEXT, those that God has caused to be born again (verse 18) through the work of
the “word of truth,” are told to PRACTICE living out it’s
commands.
22 But BE DOERS OF THE WORD, and NOT HEARERS ONLY,
deceiving yourselves.
A truly born again of the Spirit person is a DOER of the word. If on the other
hand, there is never any evidence of obedience to God’s word, then that person
who has heard God’s message is still unregenerate. If they think they’re a
Christian they’re only self-deceived.
But verse 22 addressed and applied to true Christians is a command to
constantly DO what the word of God says to do. Yet, they, AT CERTAIN TIMES,
might ONLY BE HEARERS and NOT BE ACTING IN OBEDIENCE
TO WHAT IT SAYS. In such times they need to REPENT. If they don’t, if they
think everything is all right because they have come faithfully to be taught
God’s word, they just like the unsaved religious persons are SELF-DECEIVED.
Those two words at the end of James 1:22 are strong ones. The word “DECEIVING”
comes form two words, para (or next to) and logic.
Another way to express this would be to say people are using pseudo-thinking
rather than true logical thinking. The word SELF means we do this to ourselves.
We lie to ourselves! In such cases, thinking ourselves to be wise, we are in
reality, fools.
God through James continued with an illustration of such self-deception in
verses 23,24. He said it’s like someone who looked
into a mirror to see what their condition was and then, does nothing about what
they saw! The mirror told the truth about dirt or messy hair or whatever one
used the mirror to find out, but the looker tells them self they’re OK and that
they don’t need to do anything. That’s self-deception.
You need to stress to inmates and residents the dangers of self-deception! In
most cases, that was involved in getting them where they’re at in life,
incarcerated or on the street. Another thing about self-deception is that it’s
usually the hardest kind of deception to detect and deal with.
That’s true because pride is so hard to deal with. Pride tells us “Other people
are wrong and are lying to us, but YOU SELF, can’t be wrong!” Unless pride is
being dealt with daily, none of us will be ready to live a holy life for God’s
glory.
I want to end where I began. Teach professing Christians God says they must
live holy lives. Teach them to put aside hypocrisy and moral uncleanness. Teach
them to be PRACTICING CHRISTIANS.
For the One that desires “truth in the inward parts,” (Psalm 51:6)
Rich Hines, Minister To Chaplains for