Jim Wilson's Blog, page 2

Quarrels

“And the Lord’s servant must not be quarrelsome but must bekind to everyone, able to teach, not resentful. Opponents must be gentlyinstructed, in the hope that God will grant them repentance leading them to aknowledge of the truth, and that they will come to their senses and escape fromthe trap of the devil, who has taken them captive to do his will” (2 Tim.2:24-26).

Look back at verse 22: “Flee the evil desires of youth andpursue righteousness, faith, love and peace, along with those who call on theLord out of a pure heart.”

Verse 23: “Don’t have anything to do with foolish and stupidarguments, because you know they produce quarrels.”

I used to love to argue. That didn’t last long. I found fromthis verse that I wasn’t supposed to. Another reason it ended was I discoveredthat I could win an argument, but I would not win the person I was arguingwith. The servant of the Lord must not quarrel (v. 24, NKJV).

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How To Be Free From Bitterness and other essays on Christian relationships

Keeping Promises

“For no matter how many promises God has made, they are ‘Yes’in Christ. And so through him the ‘Amen’ is spoken by us to the glory of God”(2 Corinthians 1:20).

God has promised. The promises are fulfilled in Christ. We say Amento the promise and the fulfillment in Christ. This is all to the glory of God.

What about the promises we make? Let’s look at the next verse:

“Now it is God who makes both us and you stand firm in Christ.He anointed us, set his seal of ownership on us, and put his Spirit in ourhearts as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come” (2 Corinthians 1:21).

That is how we keep our promises. He does it. He makes us standfirm in Christ.

He anointed us.

He set his seal of ownership on us.

He put His Spirit in our hearts as a guarantee.

The Holy Spirit anoints, seals, and guarantees (see Ephesians1:14).

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How To Be Free From Bitterness and other essays on Christian relationships

God’s Secret Wisdom

“Such ‘wisdom’ does not come down from heaven but isearthly, unspiritual, of the devil. For where you have envy and selfishambition, there you find disorder and every evil practice. But the wisdom thatcomes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate,submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere” (James3:15-17).

Wisdom! Two kinds from two places with two very differentcharacteristics.

One kind of wisdom: of men, wisdom of the world, wisdom ofthis age.

The place: earthly, of the devil.

The character: bitter envy, jealous, unspiritual, selfishambition, boastful, denies the truth, disorder, every evil practice, eloquence,“wise” and persuasive words.

The second kind of wisdom: God’s secret wisdom, the wisdomof God.

The place: heaven.

The character: pure, peace-loving, considerate, submissive,full of mercy, good fruit, impartial, sincere, simple, powerful, notsophisticated, expressed in preaching the cross, humility, spiritual, hidden inthat it is not known by the world, communicated by the Spirit of God expressingspiritual truth using spiritual words, foolishness to those who are perishing,used to admonish and teach in order to present every man perfect in Christ,represents Jesus Christ Himself.

The natural man just does not understand God’s wisdom,because spiritual truth requires spiritual discernment.

For two years, I was the communication officer on adestroyer in the Korean War. There were thousands of messages transmitted andreceived. We always knew what frequency to be tuned to in order to receivemessages, and also we knew which frequencies to transmit on. The enemy did notknow this. If he found out which frequency, it still did not do him any good,because all messages were encoded, each one differently, with the code changingevery day.

The enemy of our souls and all those enslaved by him do notknow the frequency or the code. The wisdom of God is hidden from them. I hadbeen reading the New Testament every day for 20 months. It did not make anysense to me. Then in October 1947 I was born again by the Spirit of God. Atthat time, the Bible became English. I could understand it.

“No, we speak of God’s secret wisdom, a wisdom that has beenhidden and that God destined for our glory before time began. None of therulers of this age understood it, for if they had, they would not havecrucified the Lord of glory” (1 Corinthians 2:7-8).

Just think, if the enemy could have understood that thecrucifixion of Christ meant salvation for the world, he would not havedone it.

You, as a Christian, know the frequency and the code. Usethem! And for those who lack any needed wisdom we know this:

“If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who givesgenerously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him. But whenhe asks, he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave ofthe sea, blown and tossed by the wind. That man should not think he willreceive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all hedoes” (James 1:5-8).

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How To Be Free From Bitterness and other essays on Christian relationships

Intellectual & Moral Problems

Dear Joe,

In my years of personal evangelism mostly with universitystudents and faculty, I realize that there are two major problems: one isintellectual, the other is moral, and they go together. The major problem is amoral problem, but it certainly is influenced by the intellectual. And you knowfrom Romans 1 that the gross immorality it describes seems to be the result ofa wrong theology. There are certainly a lot of “conservative evangelicals” whoare not living godly lives. However, the fruit of the Spirit—love, joy, peace,patience, kindness, meekness—are certainly more in evidence in those who holdan authoritative view of Scripture and have a close, personal relationship withGod.

The needs that people have are intellectual and moral, andthey go together. People are willing to admit that they have intellectualproblems, but they are unwilling to admit that they have moral problems. ButJesus Christ primarily died for immoral people, not for intellectual doubters. Thegreat issue in this world is sin, not just the sins of war, but every kind ofpersonal sin: anger, enmity, lying, stealing.

It has been many years since we last saw each other. Muchhas happened to both of us in those years. I heard recently that you and yourwife have gotten a divorce. I don’t know the issues that caused the divorce. Iam assuming that there were just an awful lot of little things that grew intobig things on both your parts. These little things I call sin. The big things Icall sin. And the wonderful thing about the love of God is that He forgivessin.

In Christ,

Jim Wilson

How To Be Free From Bitterness and other essays on Christian relationships

Attachment to Money

“Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, wheremoth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up foryourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and wherethieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heartwill be also” (Matthew 6:19-21).

“But godliness with contentment is great gain. For webrought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it. But if wehave food and clothing, we will be content with that. People who want to getrich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desiresthat plunge men into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root ofall kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faithand pierced themselves with many griefs” (1 Timothy 6:6-10).

Jesus and Paul both taught on attachment to money. Thepassages above are two examples of their teaching. In our wealthy evangelicalsociety, where wealth seems to be normal and not inordinate, we can easilythink that we are obeying this teaching.

Later on, in 1 Timothy 6, Paul speaks to the wealthy:“Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant nor to puttheir hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put their hope in God, whorichly provides us with everything for our enjoyment. Command them to do good,to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share” (1 Timothy6:17-18). 

We here in this ministry (Community Christian Ministries,ccmbooks.org) have been the recipients of giving. We in turn are giving out ofthis wealth.

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How To Be Free From Bitterness and other essays on Christian relationships

Fully Obedient

There is a verse that comes to my attention at least twice ayear. It should come to my attention daily.

“And so he condemned sin in the flesh, in order that therighteous requirement of the law might be fully met in us, who do not liveaccording to the sinful nature but according to the Spirit” (Romans 8:3b-4).

Notice what God did and why He did it: in order that.The words before “in order that” and the words after it are very powerfulwords.

Condemning sin in sinful man was a means for the righteousrequirement to be fully met in us. The “us” are those “who do not liveaccording to the sinful nature but according to the Spirit.” The “us” areChristians. When God saved us, He made it possible to be fully obedient.

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How To Be Free From Bitterness and other essays on Christian relationships

God’s Interest in Everyone

Have you ever noticed that God expresses a personal interestin everyone? Here are a few of those statements:

“The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as someunderstand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, buteveryone to come to repentance” (2 Peter 3:9).

“This is good, and pleases God our Savior, who wants all mento be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth. For there is one God andone mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as aransom for all men—the testimony given in its proper time” (1 Timothy 2:3-6).

He has given us some commands to obey concerning everyone:

“I urge, then, first of all, that requests, prayers,intercession and thanksgiving be made for everyone” (1 Timothy 2:1).

“Do not cause anyone to stumble, whether Jews, Greeks or thechurch of God—even as I try to please everybody in every way. For I am notseeking my own good but the good of many, so that they may be saved” (1Corinthians 10:32-11:1).

“And the Lord’s servant must not quarrel; instead, he mustbe kind to everyone, able to teach, not resentful. Those who oppose him he mustgently instruct, in the hope that God will grant them repentance leading themto a knowledge of the truth, and that they will come to their senses and escapefrom the trap of the devil, who has taken them captive to do his will” (2Timothy 2:24-26).

“Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the propertime we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. Therefore, as we haveopportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong tothe family of believers” (Galatians 6:9-10).

We find we are to pray for, to be kind to, to not stumble,and to please all people; all of this is part of the means of their salvation.We are also to be good to everyone. 

Are we obeying God in practice and with the salvation of allpeople in mind?

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How To Be Free From Bitterness and other essays on Christian relationships

Politics vs. Gospel

Dear X,

You said in your last letter that you were most sociallyactive in terms of things like the war, racial problems, and other issues thatcan be affected by taking political action.

I am sure you realize that John Wesley declared that it isno Gospel if it is not at the same time a social Gospel. “First as a greatevangelist and then as a zealous reformer, Wesley grappled with such greatsocial issues as ignorance, education, money, war, poverty, liquor, andslavery. These problems he tackled with holy zeal.”

J.W. Bready, a Christian historian, said, “If Wesley andWhitefield spent their careers as social reformers, they would have liveddisillusioned and died heart-broken men. From their efforts, however, emergedthe most profound political and social achievements, thus illustrating history’s central truth that the changingof the hearts of men is ever the surest road toward lifting the level ofhuman society.”

I would agree with you in most cases about the great socialneed in our society. But I don’t think we should go at it backwards.

In Christ,

Jim Wilson

How To Be Free From Bitterness and other essays on Christian relationships

A Malignancy Medicine Can’t Heal

Dear Susan,

I want to thank you for raising your son so well. He is awonderful husband and a great father. I understand that his decision to leavethe medical profession in order to be a pastor was a disappointment to you. Ican understand why. The medical profession is held in high esteem all over theworld, and the pastor’s income is small compared to a doctor’s.

I thought I could shed some light on his reasons. I made asimilar decision when I was 29 years old. I had a professional education to bea naval officer, and I practiced it for 6½ years. I had a wife and threechildren with a well-paying job.

During those years on active duty, I saw thousands ofimmoral, profane officers and men. While on active duty, I was able to helpperhaps 100 of them become moral men. These men were otherwise healthy andintelligent. But spiritually they were sick with a malignancy that the medicalprofession could not cure.

I had been cured of this evil my second year at the U.S.Naval Academy. I knew intellectually, and spiritually, the solution to theirproblems (including marriage).

For the next five years after resigning from the navy, Itravelled to all of the academies—navy, army, air force, coast guard, merchantmarine, plus several other military schools including the Royal MilitaryCollege in Canada. Men’s lives were changed everywhere I went. For the nextfive years, I spent most of my time at the U.S. Naval Academy. The last fortyyears, I have been working at civilian colleges.

The first twenty years of my life, I tried being good.Compared to others, I succeeded. I did not drink, smoke, use profanity or evenslang, or have sex. The last two years of that twenty was in the Navy. I wasbetter than most people, knew it, was pleased with it, and took credit for it.I was not happy, joyful, nor at peace. That story is told in my booklet Saved from Being Good.

If I had had cancer and heard of a simple, free cure forcancer and took it and was cured, I would want to tell everyone who had cancerof this simple and free cure.

However, if I thought that I should not force my experienceon anyone else and therefore told no one, it would be immoral of me. I would beobligated to spread this good news.

I am going to quote some scripture to you, some from Jesusand some from St. Paul. I am not expecting you to obey these, because no onecan obey them. I want you to know what they are and know that even if youwanted to you couldn’t obey them.

“But I tell you who hear me: Love your enemies, do good tothose who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you.If someone strikes you on one cheek, turn to him the other also. If someonetakes your cloak, do not stop him from taking your tunic. Give to everyone whoasks you, and if anyone takes what belongs to you, do not demand it back. Do toothers as you would have them do to you. If you love those who love you, whatcredit is that to you? Even ‘sinners’ love those who love them. And if you dogood to those who are good to you, what credit is that to you? Even ‘sinners’do that. And if you lend to those from whom you expect repayment, what creditis that to you? Even ‘sinners’ lend ‘sinners,’ expecting to be repaid in full.But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting toget anything back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be sons of theMost High, because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked. Be merciful, justas your Father is merciful” (Luke 6:27-36).

St. Paul wrote, “He saved us, not because of righteous things we had done,but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth andrenewal by the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us generously through JesusChrist our Savior, so that, having been justified by his grace, we might becomeheirs having the hope of eternal life. This is a trustworthy saying. And I wantyou to stress these things, so that those who have trusted in God may becareful to devote themselves to doing what is good. These things are excellentand profitable for everyone” (Titus 3:5-8).

God is going to judge us by His standard, not by ours. Hedoes it by an absolute standard, not by a comparative standard. This may notmake sense to you.

I could not live by God’s standard, and your son could not.So we both called on His grace and mercy.

St. Paul wrote, “You see just at the right time, when wewere still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly” (Romans 5:6). “But Goddemonstrates his own love for us in this: while we were still sinners, Christdied for us” (Romans 5:8). “He was delivered over to death for our sins and wasraised to life for our justification” (Romans 4:25).

Christ died for the ungodly. He loved and died forsinners. It is necessary to be ungodly in order to go to heaven. Christdid not die for good people. Good people do not need forgiveness. St. Paulwrote, “There is no one righteous, not even one” (Romans 3:10). “For all havesinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23). “The wages of sin isdeath, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord”(Romans 6:23).

No one naturally can live a righteous life.

When your son received Christ, he received a new nature.When that happened, it was then possible to live a righteous, holy life with adesire to live it. He married a woman whose life had also been changed when shereceived Christ.

You might not understand why they do what they do, but youmust know that they are happy and loving to everyone. They do not do this justby choice, but because they have the fruit of the Spirit which is described inGalatians 5:22: “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience,kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.” These aregifts from God, not earned or deserved.

I realize you might be upset by this letter. You know thatyour son has something in his life that you do not have and did not give to him.This is something good that came from God.

God loves you because He is love and has love for everyone.

With love,

Jim Wilson

How To Be Free From Bitterness and other essays on Christian relationships

The Only Way

Among nominal Christians, some world religions, and evensome real Christians, there is a belief that many ways lead to God.

Here are three verses that followers of the Way shouldmemorize and meditate on:

Jesus: “Jesus answered, ‘I am the way and the truth and thelife. No one comes to the Father except through me’” (John 14:6).

Peter: “Salvation is found in no one else, for there is noother name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:12).

John: “No one who denies the Son has the Father; whoeveracknowledges the Son has the Father also” (1 John 2:23).

There is no wiggle room in these Scriptures. They are eithertrue or false.

This post coordinates with today's reading in the SamePage Summer Bible Reading Challenge. If you are not in a daily readingplan, please join us at TotheWord.com. We would love to have you reading withus.

How To Be Free From Bitterness and other essays on Christian relationships