The Outcome of My 2017 New Year's Resolution

Opposed to many sincerely unkept New Year’s Resolutions about going to the gym or starting a new diet, I decided to try something else this year. At the end of 2016 I looked at myself and said, “I do not want to go to the gym or stop eating my favorite foods, but I would like to make a resolution anyway.” After all, that seemed to be the thing to do at the start of a new year.

Since 2017 began on a Sunday, I felt that whatever I chose to do I would need to follow through with because it was both a fresh start to the new year and to the new week all at the same time. So, I decided I would track how many minutes of every day I would spend studying God’s Word.

This was my first New Year’s Resolution and even my wife thought I would not continue tracking my time after the first couple of weeks given the statistics for Resolutions. Nevertheless, after 365 days of carrying around index cards to write down my time, I am proud to say that I have kept my New Year’s Resolution for 2017!

Hip! Hip! Hooray! As the choir plays their kazoos.

Why Did I Do This?

I did this so that I could see how much time I actually spend in God’s Word. The Bible speaks of a tithe in which we give ourselves to God. This tithe includes everything from our money and gifts and abilities to, yes, even our time. Since tithe also means a “tenth” I wanted to see whether or not I dug into God’s Word at least 10% of my time. The reality is both insightfully discouraging and inspirationally encouraging.

It is insightfully discouraging because, as you can see, I did not spend 10% of my time filling my mind with the Truth of God’s Word. It scares me to think of how much of my life is filled with fantasy and false realities (through movies, Facebook, etc.) and yet, only 9% of my time is focused on what is real. However, the numbers in the chart are also inspirationally encouraging because I see that I spent over 9% of my time, better translated as 797 hours, learning from God’s Word this last year.

What Was Included?

This does not include singing or praying or anything else. The times listed in the above chart are only when I was studying the Bible. However, I did generally include the following:

1.      Reading Scripture

2.      Listening to Sermons

3.      Reading Books About the Bible

What Did I Learn?

Obviously, because life is life, I had some really high weeks and some really low weeks. I learned that during the low weeks, when I studied the least, I struggled more with temptation to sin. It was during the days when I spent little to even no time in God’s Word when evil thoughts would come into my mind. On the flip side, as my wife can surely attest, it was during those high weeks in which I believe I honored and loved my wife the most.

It would be easy for some to say that I was able to study this much because I am currently in Seminary. However, I would like the record to show that I did not begin Seminary until late August and, as can be seen in the chart above, I spent more time in God’s Word when I was not in Seminary. If anything, my time in God’s Word only decreased while in Seminary because of all of the other subject matter vying for my time.

How Am I Challenging You?

If you make a New Year’s Resolution, then try to be realistic. No, not pessimistic; realistic. If you are up to the challenge, then I would ask you to track your time spent in God’s Word for this coming year. 2018 begins on a Monday which, just like last year, is a good time to start something awesome.

No, You're Not Freed from the Law!

As Caitlin and I were driving home from church on Sunday, we passed a police officer parked on the side of road taking radar.

Sunday. High noon. Churches everywhere just letting out.

That means that most of the drivers on the road are those heading home from church. They are the individuals who consider themselves to be dead to the Law and released from its grip. Or so they think? However, I can guarantee that the officer would not see it that way if he had to pull someone over for speeding.

I can see it now…

[Officer]: Do you know why I pulled you over?

[Christian]: Was I going too fast?

[Officer]: You were traveling eight miles over the speed limit. I am going to have to write you a ticket for breaking the law.

[Christian]: Oh well, you see…I am not actually under the law anymore. I died and am now free.

[Officer]: Step out of the car, sir.

The above illustration may be ridiculous, but we tend to act like this all the time. I cannot count the amount of times I have heard pastors bragging about how fast they drive. It concerns me that we in the Church do not see anything wrong with this kind of behavior.

After all, if leaders in the church speed and openly boast about it then so can I…right? Wrong. Behavioral problems like this one stem from a misunderstanding of what it truly means to be free from the Law.

Dying to the Law does not mean that you now have freedom to live your life indulging in your own sinful cravings. It is still wrong to murder, fornicate, steal, lie, overeat and, yes, speed. Speeding, at least within our cultural context, is an open declaration of rebellion against God’s established order of government. As Christians, we tend to justify our own sins or even overlook the “small” ones in our lives.

What it Means

Romans 6-7 is where you will find the famous passage of Scripture which speaks of the believer’s death to sin and the Law. However, if it is still wrong to do things like murder and steal, then apparently believers are not free from the Law after all.

Death to the Law does not mean that from here on out all forms of obedience are tossed out the window. Freedom from the Law does not mean that you can now enslave yourself into various forms of idolatry. Being released from the Law means that you are no longer held guilty of crimes against the Godhead which are punishable by death.

Yes, the Bible is a love letter from God to you. However, it is also a warrant for your arrest. The Old testament is God’s case against mankind and we are left with no defense. We have nothing to do but plead guilty of high treason.

Yet, this is the beauty of Romans 7:4 because it says that, as Christians, we have died to the Law. It is as if we committed a crime. For example, let’s say we robbed a bank and the police are now looking for us. The Law is out to get us in order to bring about justice. However, God has identified us with the death and resurrection of His Son to the point that, when Christ died, so did we. Thus, the Law is no longer looking for us to pay the price because we already died—in Christ.

Conclusion

Police do not arrest dead men. A judge would not sentence a corpse to suffer a death sentence. Neither will we who died in Christ ever suffer condemnation from the ultimate judgment of the Law. However, this freedom does not give you the license to sin. Obedience to God is still, just like it always has been, the Christian life. 

Redefining Terms

The cultures of the world are striving with all their might to redefine naturally logical definitions such as marriage, gender, race and, well, you get the idea. Everything is up for grabs. Nothing makes sense anymore. The world is gone, and the mind is lost.

Yet, for some reason many in the Church are surprised at the events taking place. Honestly, this cultural shift should come as no shock to worldwide Christianity because the Church has been redefining terms for centuries.

What do I mean? Well, for example:

The Thousand-Year Rule of Christ

Scholars, rejecting the reality of a thousand-year millennial reign of Christ, which seems to be just around the corner, have sought to redefine the definition of the numerical value of a “thousand” for well over a thousand years. This is because of a belief known as Amillennialism which states that there is no thousand-year reign. Thus, whenever Scripture directly states that Christ will come and rule for one thousand years upon this world, they have chosen to reinterpret the meaning of the word to fit their own preconceived ideas. Revelation 20 speaks of this future thousand-year period, both as having a beginning and an ending, yet the Amillennialist has chosen to redefine the meaning…six times in this passage.

The Coming Temple

Ezekiel 40-48 is a section in Scripture giving a detailed account of the exact measurements of the new temple that will be built in Israel in the coming years. Again, this is a passage that many tend to redefine because it does not fit into their end-times chronology. I agree that there are some things in Scripture which are confusing, but I don't believe this is one of them. If we are to understand this and other passages accurately then we must take it at face value and allow it to speak for itself. I had a teacher in Bible college that said, “If your theology does not match Scripture, then change your theology.”

I was talking about this with my wife a few days ago and she said something very profound. She said, “the point of measurements is to be as exact and precise as possible.” However, scholars who believe differently than what I am presenting to you must change these passages and the terms found in them to try and somehow make sense of their apocalyptic model. Thus, you will find theologians claiming these measurements to simply mean “full” and “complete” opposed to an actual description of a future construction project.

Now, I'm not saying that believers who uphold the Amillenialist apocalyptic model are somehow a lesser Christian. On the contrary, several of my heroes of the faith are Amillenialists themselves. But what I am striving to communicate is the danger of prescribing symbolism where the Biblical context is speaking literally. 

Final Thoughts

I congratulate men like C. I. Scofield who lived during a time when the belief in a literal return of Israel looked insane, both politically and historically. Under intense opposition, these scholars were willing to read and teach God’s Word at face value and their legacy has only been one of blessing and triumph for their courage.

While doctrinal disagreements in the Church can aid in the health of the Church in clarifying the basis for what we believe, we should guard against changing Scripture to fit into our preconceived ideas, lest the world continue following after our example by seeking to redefine Biblical terms to fit their own agenda. We must never forget the degree to which the Church really does impact the cultures around the world.

The main reason why Amillennialism has been so prevalent throughout Church history has been because there has not been an ethnic Israel. However, God has brought His people back into their land and the most recent step in God’s program has been to officially recognize Jerusalem as their capital. This will lead to a literal fulfillment of Ezekiel 40-48, Daniel 9:24-27, and a literal reading of Revelation. However, by the time the temple is rebuilt, the Church will be gone, so make sure you’re not left behind.