There are many struggles among Christians today; battles between Grace versus Law, Old versus New, and lies versus truth. There are extremes on both sides of the isle, and I’ve seen a disturbing trend over the years of each side, so zealous for purity, that they throw out the proverbial baby with the bathwater— eliminating relevant portions of God’s message to support their particular position.
One such casualty that I’ve specifically taken notice of recently, are the blessings of the Gospel. Even among the more charismatic crowd, the blessings of the gospel are starting to be ignored because of the abuses which have been in the spotlight… and I don’t necessarily think that’s accidental. If there’s one thing that the devil hates and fears, it’s Christians that know what they have in Christ, and are willing to stand on those truths!
You see, the devil often can’t stop the flow of the gospel message, or the truths it contains; but his primary weapon is influencing people, to doubt what they hear.
But God tells us through the scriptures that He wants us to know what His blessings are, and stand firmly on them. His blessings are designed to strengthen us against the pressure of this world, and moreover they teach us our true spiritual identity in Christ.
Let’s check it out!
Maintaining the Gospel Perspective
When we look around at the the situations and circumstances of life, it’s sometimes very easy to forget everything that God has made available. Our initial human reaction and subconscious thoughts and feelings can see a particular point in time or event, and say “God isn’t here” or “God isn’t helping.” That’s the default mode for many Christians also.
The temptation is to focus on an event, and allow that circumstance to change and shape your theology, rather than allowing the scripture to change and shape your perspective. For example, someone may suffer an illness, or watch a loved one suffer and not see an immediate healing, and therefore conclude that God doesn’t heal anymore… even though scripture is clear on that truth.
The same is also true with some notable preachers who focus nearly exclusively on particular areas of scripture. For example, there are those who preach Old Covenant Law, focusing on the works of man, and human merit, missing Jesus entirely, and ministering condemnation and death as described in 2nd Corinthians 3:4-10.
Then there are those who focus entirely on earthly gain and riches. This is commonly called the “prosperity gospel” — but I don’t really like that term because it has the unfortunate side-effect of casting a negative shade on prosperity itself.
You see, there really is no such thing as a “prosperity gospel,” there is only the gospel of Jesus Christ and His kingdom. But as you read the description of the gospel laid out plainly in the scripture, you see that it does include prosperity… and complete prosperity for your spirit, soul, and body.
The danger with the extremes on both sides is that each one is so committed to their theologies, that they completely dismiss and exclude the other. Those against the “prosperity gospel” often throw out all prosperity in the process. Those against the charismatic movement, sometimes end up dismissing all miracles and the miraculous. Those against Law preaching sometimes disregard all rules of order.
Remember What God Gives You
All of these pet theologies pull us away from the simple message of the Gospel and what it actually includes. Consider Psalms 103:2-6:
“2Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits:
3Who forgives all your iniquities; who heals all your diseases;
4Who redeems your life from destruction; who crowns you with loving kindness and tender mercies;
5Who satisfies your mouth with good things; so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.
6The LORD executes righteousness and judgment for all that are oppressed.”
In these verses, David is very clear about what our perspective should be regarding the LORD. He says that we should bless the LORD, which means to speak well of Him— and that we should not forget any of His benefits.
Now, if the writing stopped there, we’d still be left with questions, however David goes on to list what the benefits of the LORD are. What we see in verses 3 thru 6 are the beginning of a list of benefits of the LORD that some might find surprising.
In verse 3, the first benefit of the LORD mentioned is forgiveness of all your iniquities… not just some, all. And the LORD also heals all your diseases… not some, all. Right here most people already experience some form of resistance or doubt, because they allow past experiences to shape their theology instead of what the scripture says.
Verse 4 continues along this same theme as we see the LORD redeeming your life from destruction (including the final destruction of hell). And we also see that the LORD crowns you with loving-kindness and tender mercies. The Hebrew word for crowns there is atar, which can also mean to surround. The LORD surrounds you with loving-kindness and tender mercies. It’s an amazing picture of His love and care for you!
Already with just these two verses, a lot of pet theologies are being turned upside-down, because people have a particular image or idea of God that they’ve been indoctrinated with through religion. I was one of those people, so I know the feeling well.
In verse 5 we see another big item: the LORD satisfies you with good. This is an important point because there are some who do not see God as a satisfier; they see God as someone who is unwilling to give freely, which is ironic since He already gave Himself as the ultimate sin sacrifice. The word “satisfies” used here in Hebrew is not just barely having enough— it means to have in excess. This detail is also crucial, because if you are in poverty, you can’t give; and we know that God wants His people to give generously, and share their blessings with others.
But more than that, He satisfies you with good. And the result is that God prospering you with good renews your youth!
Believe in God’s Grace
There’s a lot more in the blessing list in Psalm 103 and elsewhere in scripture, but for the sake of time, I want to address one more issue regarding blessings.
Even for those who believe every single thing that we have read so far, the doubting thought may come up that everything still hinges on your human performance, your strength, or your efforts. To address that idea, take a look at verse 10:
“10He has not dealt with us after our sins; nor rewarded us according to our iniquities.”
Friend, take a moment to meditate on what this verse is telling us about our relationship and standing with God. We are not rewarded according to our iniquities… that includes both the positive and negative sense.
God has not dealt dealt with us after our sins, nor rewarded us according to our iniquities. This means the bad or the good that we do. In-fact according to 2nd Peter 3:14, we appear before Him completely without spot and blameless.
So I encourage you today, to stay true to the gospel, and remember the blessings given to you freely, by the grace of God, in Jesus Christ.
Be blessed.