Wisdom From the Word

There is an interesting verse in Isaiah.

³¹  And the remnant who have escaped of the house of Judah Shall again take root downward, And bear fruit upward. Isaiah 37:31 (NKJV)

I want to look at the principle embodied in this verse rather than the context, although the context is about a people not a plant, because the principle underlies what spiritual fruit is produced in our lives.

The principle embodied is that of being rooted downward to bear fruit upward. Think of agriculture. Have you ever observed a farmer’s field after it has been sown? You look across and see soil and neat furrows. Over a period of time if there is sufficient water and sunlight you begin to see green shoots appear and they grow and produce seed according to whatever has been planted. What we don’t see is what is happening beneath the soil. Before that first little green shoot appears the seed has been busy. The seed germinated and cracked open and a little green tendril appeared. All unseen to those of us observing the field. Yet without this process nothing green would appear on the surface. The roots nurture and give life to the rest of the plant.

As the plant grows all may appear to be going well but if something attacks or affects the root system you will begin to see the plant wither and eventually die. The plant cannot survive and produce fruit without a healthy root system.

So what is the spiritual application? If we are to produce good spiritual fruit we need to embrace what Paul taught.

¹⁴  For this reason I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, ¹⁵  from whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named, ¹⁶  that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner man, ¹⁷  that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love, ¹⁸  may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height– ¹⁹  to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. Ephesians 3:14-19 (NKJV)

⁶  For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision avails anything, but faith working through love. Galatians 5:6 (NKJV)

These verses tell us that to function effectively we need our lives rooted and grounded in the love of Jesus so that we can effectively walk out our faith. Our part is to ask the Holy Spirit to strengthen our inner being to experience and live out of the love of Christ. The more we experience the more we release and the more His life (the fruit we want) is revealed through our lives.

Father, help us to develop deep roots and true fruits.

What happened to Job and why? Are those the right questions? We will never understand everything and sometimes we need to simply trust. Not trust in a “whatever will be will be” approach, that is fatalism, not faith. However we do need to trust that if we love Jesus and are pursuing His purpose He is ordering and guiding our life and we are in the process nurturing spiritual life.

In considering Job I have heard or read teachings seeking to explain away what happened to Job as being the responsibility of Job. Why do we do that? Partly because of our natural desire to understand and explain things and sometimes seeking to fit the scriptures into our pre-set theological frameworks. However then we seek to make Yahweh in our image. What we should be doing is submitting our beliefs and perspectives to His word and letting the scriptures actually be our guide.

When we read the story of Job we find that Yahweh initiated this test by pointing Job out to Satan (see Job 1:8-12). He said in verse 8 ‘have you considered my servant Job” or literally, “have you set your heart on my servant Job.” Satan already wanted to attack Job and Yahweh opened the door for Satan. Yet James tells us that the intended end was good. In the story of Job his three friends are at one point described by Job as “miserable comforters” because they kept telling Job he must have sinned or done something wrong to have brought this calamity on himself. In responding to their bad theology Elihu confronted both them and Job.

¹  So these three men ceased answering Job, because he was righteous in his own eyes. ²  Then the wrath of Elihu, the son of Barachel the Buzite, of the family of Ram, was aroused against Job; his wrath was aroused because he justified himself rather than God. ³  Also against his three friends his wrath was aroused, because they had found no answer, and yet had condemned Job. Job 32:1-3 (NKJV)

In the end Yahweh confronted and challenged Job and rebuked his three friends. In spite of all he had been through when Job saw the one he contended with he responded in this way.

¹  Then Job answered the LORD and said: ²  “I know that You can do everything, And that no purpose of Yours can be withheld from You. ³  You asked, ‘Who is this who hides counsel without knowledge?’ Therefore I have uttered what I did not understand, Things too wonderful for me, which I did not know. ⁴  Listen, please, and let me speak; You said, ‘I will question you, and you shall answer Me.’ ⁵  “I have heard of You by the hearing of the ear, But now my eye sees You. ⁶  Therefore I abhor myself, And repent in dust and ashes.”

⁷  And so it was, after the LORD had spoken these words to Job, that the LORD said to Eliphaz the Temanite, “My wrath is aroused against you and your two friends, for you have not spoken of Me what is right, as My servant Job has.” Job 42:1-7 (NKJV)

Seeing the end from the beginning we can see that Yahweh had a purpose in what He put Job through.

¹⁰  My brethren, take the prophets, who spoke in the name of the Lord, as an example of suffering and patience. ¹¹  Indeed we count them blessed who endure. You have heard of the perseverance of Job and seen the end intended by the Lord – that the Lord is very compassionate and merciful. James 5:10-11 (NKJV)

So while pursuing our relationship with Him let us trust in His sovereignty and believe He has the same good end intended for us if we submit to His work in our lives. There is a simple expression I once read that encapsulates it, “Work toward goals, pray for desires.” I would add, “and in the process be found faithful” (1 Cor. 4:2).

Who sinned?

¹  Now as Jesus passed by, He saw a man who was blind from birth. ²  And His disciples asked Him, saying, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” ³  Jesus answered, “Neither this man nor his parents sinned, but that the works of God should be revealed in him.” John 9:2-3 (NKJV)

The disciples asked this question of Jesus because they lived within a paradigm that said good things were the result of good behaviour and bad things the result of bad behaviour. Is this how we think? Do we believe that someone must be at fault for this man’s blindness? Jesus answer refutes this way of thinking. Do we seek to understand or explain everything? Paul refutes this way of thinking.

²²  For Jews request a sign, and Greeks seek after wisdom; ²³  but we preach Christ crucified, to the Jews a stumbling block and to the Greeks foolishness, ²⁴  but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. ²⁵  Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men. 1 Corinthians 1:22-25 (NKJV)

 

We have a cultural expression, “Life’s not fair.” We may rebel against that thought and think, shouldn’t it be fair for Christians, His children? Yes and no. From a human natural perspective it will never be fair in this life. Yet in spite of that we can nurture life if we embrace some truths from scripture. The first is the frequently quoted Romans 8:28.

²⁸  And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose. Romans 8:28 (NKJV)

Notice there is both a qualifier in here tied to our intention and motivation and no promise that things will work together for our good from a natural perspective. Yet ultimately everything will come together. I believe Romans 8:28 so in difficult times it helps my heart to be at rest. The other thing I have is a deep confidence in His justice. Look at the scriptures below.

²⁵  “Far be it from You to do such a thing as this, to slay the righteous with the wicked, so that the righteous should be as the wicked; far be it from You! Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?” Genesis 18:25 (NKJV)

¹⁰  For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive the things done in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad. 2 Corinthians 5:10 (NKJV)

I believe that when all is said and done the Judge of all the earth shall do right, He shall administer justice. I also know that no matter what happens in this life every single one of us will ultimately step from time into eternity and we will be required to give an account of our thoughts and actions before the Lord Jesus. When He is finished we will acknowledge Him as the just and fair judge, just as I know the blind man did at the end of his earthly journey, and our hearts will be at peace. His Shalom will be our companion.

I want to complete this series by looking more at how we see ourselves. Recently I was reminded of a song that came out of the counter cultural hippie movement of the 1960’s. While there was a popular expression, “peace, love and Woodstock” and the “summer of love” in San Francisco, the fruit of the movement was primarily debauchery and rebellion. There were some things to challenge but by and large the fruit of this movement was not good and what saved our culture at the time was a revival known as the Jesus Movement that swept through the hippie movement. It touched North America and Europe and whether or not you are aware of it, greatly influenced the instruments you see and music you sing in the evangelical church today.

Joni Mitchell wrote a very popular song in November 1969 about the Woodstock music festival that immortalized and sanitized the event. The garden reference is to the Garden of Eden.

Woodstock

I came upon a child of God
He was walking along the road
When I asked him where are you going
This he told me.

I’m going down to Yasgurs farm
Think I’ll join a rock and roll band
I’ll camp out on the land
I’ll try and set my soul free.

We are stardust, we are golden
And we’ve got to get ourselves back to the garden.
Then can I walk beside you
I have come here to lose the smog

And I feel just like a cog in something turning.
Well maybe its the time of year
Or maybe its the time of man
And I don’t know who I am

But life’s for learning.
We are stardust, we are golden
And we’ve got to get ourselves back to the garden.
By the time I got to Woodstock

They were half a million strong
Everywhere there were songs and celebration
And I dreamed I saw the bombers
Riding shotgun in the sky

Turning into butterflies
Above our nation.
We are stardust, we are golden
And we’ve got to get ourselves back to the garden.

We are stardust, we are golden
And we’ve got to get ourselves back to the garden.
We are stardust, we are golden
And we’ve got to get ourselves back to the garden.

Songwriters: JONI MITCHELL
© Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Crazy Crow Music / Siquomb Music Publishing
For non-commercial use only.

I think many of us in the church are like the sentiment expressed in this song, trying to ‘get back to the garden.’ That is only one of the many wrong concepts here. The song expresses a longing for something lost and a belief that we need to recognize that we are ‘stardust and golden.’ Yet humanity without Jesus is lost, not stardust and golden. There is a longing in this song to ‘become who we are’ but it is really a longing to become who we were created to be while missing the only thing that will enable us to achieve that, the new birth.

The sentiment in the song is about identity. The issue in the church is identity. Once we have encountered Jesus and been born again our goal should never be to ‘get back to the garden.’ Adam and Eve never had what we have. Prior to the Fall they had innocence but lacked Jesus; Yahweh’s nature, in their spirits. We have that and to ‘become who we are’ we need to reflect that in our beliefs and speech. Do we think of ourselves as sinners? Is that our identity? That may reflect popular church culture but it is just as aberrant as Joni Mitchell’s song.

The scriptures teach what we are;

¹²  But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name: John 1:12 (NKJV)

⁶  knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin. Romans 6:6 (NKJV)

⁵  having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will, Ephesians 1:5 (NKJV)

¹⁰  For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them. Ephesians 2:10 (NKJV)

⁹  For in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily; ¹⁰  and you are complete in Him, who is the head of all principality and power. Colossians 2:9-10 (NKJV)

¹⁷  But he who is joined to the Lord is one spirit with Him. 1 Corinthians 6:17 (NKJV)

¹⁷  Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new. 2 Corinthians 5:17 (NKJV)

²¹  For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him. 2 Corinthians 5:21 (NKJV)

⁹  But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light; 1 Peter 2:9 (NKJV)

¹  Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God! Therefore the world does not know us, because it did not know Him. ²  Beloved, now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is. 1 John 3:1-2 (NKJV)

This is by no means an exhaustive list, search the NT for other references and meditate in and on this reality and cooperate with the Spirit of Life and Truth. Turn these truths into prayers and declarations to truly become who you are. Here is truth about us.

²⁰  I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me. Galatians 2:20 (NKJV, emphasis mine)

 

Look at the verse below.

¹⁹  My little children, for whom I labor in birth again until Christ is formed in you, Galatians 4:19 (NKJV)

The context is Paul writing to believers, new creations, and speaking to them of the need for Christ to be formed in them. How does that make sense? It requires understanding the need to become who we are. We are new creations in that we have a new spirit at conversion. What we don’t receive is a new soul (our mind, will and emotions). What is in our recreated spirit (Jesus nature) needs to be formed and manifest in our soul. That is Paul’s point in Galatians 4:19. He reinforces this in other places.

²³  and be renewed in the spirit of your mind, ²⁴  and that you put on the new man which was created according to God, in true righteousness and holiness. Ephesians 4:23-24 (NKJV)

Here Paul is saying that deep within our thought processes we need to align with what we are in our spirit, a new creation created in righteousness and holiness (imparted righteousness). This will be reflected in our behaviour.

¹  I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. ²  And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God. Romans 12:1-2 (NKJV)

Paul here exhorts us to wholly surrender to Jesus nature in our recreated spirit and reflect in our lifestyle what is good and acceptable in our behaviour.

¹⁶  I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. Galatians 5:16 (NKJV)

²²  But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, ²³  gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law. ²⁴  And those who are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. ²⁵  If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit. Galatians 5:22-25 (NKJV)

In these passages from Galatians Paul provides more of the how. Walking in the Spirit requires a daily submission and surrender of our desire and will to the Holy Spirit. We can know we are doing that when what is reflected in our behaviour and attitude is the fruit of the Spirit, love, joy, peace, etc. When this is what is consistently reflected in our lives we have become who we are. While I don’t believe any of us will ever complete this in our lifetime that certainly needs to be our goal, reflected more fully over time. Paul put it thus.

¹²  Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected; but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me. ¹³  Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, ¹⁴  I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. Philippians 3:12-14 (NKJV)

Jesus laid hold of us to conform us to His image and be bearers of His glory in broken vessels. Let us press on that others may encounter Jesus shining through us.

NOTE – For further teaching on understanding spirit and soul search my blog for my post “Restoring Repentance Part 5.”

I looked at imputed righteousness in my last post, Jesus righteousness being credited or ‘imputed’ to us which leads to the Father treating us as He would Jesus. I also referenced imparted righteousness. If imputed righteousness treats us as having something we don’t actually possess what is the effect of imparted righteousness?

Before answering my question let me ask another question. If we have been born again what happened? What have we become? Understanding this tells us how we both can and should live. Our calling as believers is something the Holy Spirit spoke to me over two decades ago, ‘Become who you are.’ I have continued to understand that at deeper levels over time. Then in recent years I was at a work event and a speaker was sharing about a change they had gone through and said, “To become who we are we have to let go of who we were.” I thought about that. That thought further captures the working out of imparted righteousness. While 2 Corinthians 5:21 talks about imputed righteousness, earlier in the chapter Paul captures imparted righteousness.

¹⁷  Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new. 2 Corinthians 5:17 (NKJV)

Paul here refers to conversion and what happened in our spirits. While he does not use the exact same language as Jesus, he is referring to what Jesus spoke of in John 3, the need to be born again, or more literally, born from above. Our spirit is literally reborn at conversion. Being born again or becoming a new creation is the same thing. Having a new spirit means that we have had something imparted to us. Our calling then is to learn how to live out of this new nature, to become who we truly are.

The answer to my earlier question around the effect of imparted righteousness is that we need to learn to understand who we truly are and live out of that identity.

I will expand further on this in my next post as this is the answer to the question so many of us have about how to live the Christian life.

What did Jesus tells us about righteousness and salvation?

²⁰  For I say to you, that unless your righteousness exceeds the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven. Matthew 5:20 (NKJV)

Given that we can’t get in to heaven without a great deal of righteousness how do we acquire it? Where do we go to receive it? The obvious answer if we have been a believer for any length of time is that we get it from Jesus. I once said in a message, “Only one person is going to heaven.” That got people’s attention, to which I added, “Jesus, and those who are in Him.” Why is that? Jesus is the only one who met His Father’s standard of righteousness. We learn from 2 Corinthians 5:21 how this standard is met.

²¹  For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him. 2 Corinthians 5:21 (NKJV)

As a result of Jesus death and resurrection all those who repent and receive His free gift of salvation experience this divine exchange that Paul described – He gets our sin, we receive His righteousness. Now righteousness has two forms – imputed and imparted. Imputed righteousness is Jesus deeds being credited to our account. Many years ago my wife and I received our statement from the bank and it wasn’t good. When I went in to the branch to sort things out I discovered what had happened. Two branches had merged and a couple at the other branch had the same account number as us. In the merger they gave the other couple our funds and we acquired their debts. Thankfully they quickly reversed things once they discovered what they had done. This is what Jesus did. He received our debts and we had His funds (righteousness from His righteous acts) credited to our account. This is the ‘imputed’ part.

What is the benefit of imputed righteousness? The best summary is in Hebrews.

¹⁶  Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need. Hebrews 4:16 (NKJV)

We can come boldly to the throne of grace because Jesus righteousness, that which far exceeds the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, is ours as a believer. This is our access pass. So make use of it, come boldly and often and before this throne present not only requests, pursue intimacy with the Father, Son and Spirit.

¹⁴  The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all. Amen. 2 Corinthians 13:14 (NKJV)

Next post I will begin explicating how imputed and imparted righteousness relate and what it means for our walk with and identity in Jesus.

Paul was the preeminent theologian in the New Testament. A man driven even harder by passion for Jesus than his opposition to Jesus when he was Saul of Tarsus the zealously religious Pharisee. He knew the heights and depths of Jesus amazing love. Does that mean he always lived on the mountaintop? No, read his letters, he clearly did not. Yet he had these experiences and prayed that we would as well (see Col. 1:9-11, Phil. 1:9-11 and Eph. 1:17-21, 3:14-21). The prime drive for Paul was his awareness of the heart of the gospel.

¹⁶  For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek. ¹⁷  For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, “The just shall live by faith.” Romans 1:16-17 (NKJV)

There is a little phrase in these two verses we would do well to understand and embrace, “in it the righteousness of God is revealed.” Most of us likely understand the scriptural truth that salvation is by faith through grace (Eph. 2:8-9). Yet how does salvation by faith through grace reveal the righteousness of God? Righteousness is a word connected to covenantal commitment.

“The concept of righteousness in the Old Testament is wholly a religiously determined idea. It does not express any abstract ethical norm or concept. Neither is it any ideal moral system or set of universal laws. Righteousness describes the relationship which Israel had with Yahweh. Essential for the basis of righteousness is the covenant relationship. This alliance presupposes a mutual righteousness between the two parties which is expressed most fully in faithfulness to the covenant relationship. The righteous or just one fulfills to the other party the obligations that are dictated by the covenant.

This is not to say that the covenantal parties of the Old Testament were equal; on the contrary, God was the Master, and Israel was the servant. The covenant relationship was created in the first place because of God’s merciful initiative to choose a sinful people.”

Complete Biblical Library Greek-English Dictionary

In the OT the ‘righteous or just one’ was Yahweh. Fulfilling the covenant depended on His fulfilling His commitment. While this is framed as a legal transaction we see the true outworking of covenant when we read Psalm 23. Here David describes the outworking of this covenant in terms of friendship and intimacy. No legal language here!

¹  The LORD is my shepherd;

I shall not want. ²  He makes me to lie down in green pastures;

He leads me beside the still waters. ³  He restores my soul;

He leads me in the paths of righteousness

For His name’s sake. ⁴  Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,

I will fear no evil;

For You are with me;

Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me. ⁵  You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies;

You anoint my head with oil;

My cup runs over. ⁶  Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me

All the days of my life;

And I will dwell in the house of the LORD Forever.

Psalm 23:1-6 (NKJV)

When you read and meditate on this Psalm recognize that this is the covenant of righteousness that Paul experienced after conversion. He knew covenant as a Pharisee, he lived covenant as a believer. Let us go and do likewise.

More to come…

In the previous three posts I sought to include examples and illustrations of why Jesus wants to draw close to us as a friend and looked at how His love moved Him to die on our behalf, in spite of us being His enemies at the time. My point is that the opportunity for intimacy with Jesus isn’t dependent on our skills or abilities in any area. It only depends on our desire and willingness to draw near (see Jas. 4:8 below). Jesus loved and wanted to draw near to us in spite of where we were prior to our conversion. How much more does He want to draw close once we have been born again?

⁸  Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded. James 4:8 (NKJV)

³  The LORD has appeared of old to me, saying: “Yes, I have loved you with an everlasting love; Therefore with lovingkindness I have drawn you.” Jeremiah 31:3 (NKJV)

Have you wondered about how to draw close to someone living inside your skin? Sound strange? Viewed from the outside our faith can seem a little odd – we have someone intimately part of us who wants to get to know us! Not only does the Living One live within us, He wants us to draw close to the Father’s throne to experience intimacy. One way the scriptures describe Jesus sacrificial death is in Hebrews.

¹  Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, ²  looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Hebrews 12:1-2 (NKJV)

Jesus saw joy on the other side of the cross. The joy of being reunited with his Father certainly, but His primary purpose for taking on flesh was to redeem and restore all who would come to Him. His future joy lay in His nature being birthed in all who received Him.   

¹⁷  Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new. 2 Corinthians 5:17 (NKJV)

²¹  For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him. 2 Corinthians 5:21 (NKJV)

We have a new nature and are clothed in His righteousness. If we recognize that the throne of judgment is also the throne of grace we will respond by coming boldly into His presence and drawing near to His heart. After all, the invitation and door are both always open.

¹⁶  Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need. Hebrews 4:16 (NKJV)

 

There is another part to Jesus being our friend that may require some repentance (a change of mind and heart) on our part. Jesus wants to be our friend because He loves us. Yet do we believe He loves us because there is something attractive about us? If so there are two problems we need to address (this is where the repentance comes in). First, if we believe Jesus love is based on our attractiveness what happens if we sin or believe we aren’t attractive to Him? Can we ever be His friend? We all know sin is not attractive to Jesus. After all it required His agonizing death. Secondly, what does scripture teach us about sin and ourselves?

Look at what Paul said.

¹⁸  For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) nothing good dwells; for to will is present with me, but how to perform what is good I do not find. Romans 7:18 (NKJV)

When he refers to our ‘flesh’ Paul is referring to what he possessed in his natural or pre-conversion self and what stayed around in spite of his new birth and new nature. He describes the same thing in an expanded way in Ephesians 2.

¹  And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins, ²  in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience, ³  among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, just as the others. Ephesians 2:1-3 (NKJV)

Paul informs us that prior to conversion we were under God’s judgment and wrath. He further reinforces this in Romans 5.

⁶  For when we were still without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. ⁷  For scarcely for a righteous man will one die; yet perhaps for a good man someone would even dare to die. ⁸  But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. ⁹  Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him. ¹⁰  For if when we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life. Romans 5:6-10 (NKJV) NOTE – Paul refers to our pre-conversion not our present state as being sinners.

So why does Jesus want to be our friend? Is it something in us? Clearly not, it is something in Him. Let us go back to one of the most famous passages in the scriptures.

¹⁶  For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. John 3:16 (NKJV)

Jesus wants to be our friend not because of something inherently loveable in us but because it is His nature to love. After all John described Him as love.

⁷  Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. ⁸  He who does not love does not know God, for God is love. ⁹  In this the love of God was manifested toward us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him. ¹⁰  In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. 1 John 4:7-10 (NKJV)

At first glance we may find this discouraging. It shouldn’t be. If Jesus was so passionate about how He could transform His enemies (all of us at one point) that He loved them  enough to die for them what do you think He desires in terms of relationship now that His nature is in us through the new birth?

Paul said, ³  Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, ⁴  just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love, ⁵  having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will, ⁶  to the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He has made us accepted in the Beloved. Ephesians 1:3-6 (NKJV) emphasis mine

This awareness of us being made accepted in Jesus is what led to Paul’s prayers in Ephesians 1:17-21 and 3:14-21. Jesus died for us because He loved, and loves, us and nothing we do can separate us from that incredible love. We can rest in His eternal commitment to work things out for our good and present us in His splendor to His, and our, Father. So let us rest in His love for us that He may reveal more of Himself through us.