Today’s question is about the rightness or the wrongness of celebrating Christmas. I guess my initial answer would be, “if you believe it’s wrong to celebrate Christmas, then it is wrong for you.” I’d never ask you to violate your conscience and do something that you feel is wrong. That’s the short answer.
The longer answer is that maybe we should ask if it really is wrong to celebrate Christmas.
We’re going to talk about the law of Moses—the moral requirements of the law of Moses—and how it has or has not changed under the New Covenant.
So let me start by asking you, what was the highest moral law? That is, in relationship to how we relate to other people? What’s the highest moral law in the law of Moses? You tell me.
I am a Christian. That means I’m a person who believes that Jesus is the Son of God, and that makes Him a unique person of all history.
I believe He is still alive. I believe He’s seated at the right hand of God the Father. And one day all of us—you and me included—are going to have to stand before Him and give an account of our lives. Therefore I’m doing my best to try to obey what He said.
In our last Little Lesson, we were talking about how to prevent or stop your child from being a brat. I thought it would be good to continue on this same theme because the principles are the same when it comes to figuring out how to get your little child to sleep all through the night. It comes down to reinforcement.
My wife and I have had three children, and we succeeded in getting them to sleep all the way through the night pretty early on. So I’m going to share my secret with you so that you can also enjoy a good night’s sleep. All right?
Wow, it is no easy task raising children! I’ve had the blessing of raising three. They’re all grown and married and they’re raising their own children today. As I watch them, I just think to myself, “Oh my goodness! That takes so much work and effort. Did I actually do that?” Because now as a grandfather, I don’t have what it takes any longer. I can love them and leave them and that’s about the extent of it.
Last month’s e-teaching generated a lot of interest, receiving 4,700 views on our website so far. In that teaching, I did my best to show that God does not require of divorced and married Christians what “Divine Divorce Proponents” claim He requires, namely that they divorce again and remarry their first spouse, or live celibate lives until that person, to whom they are allegedly “still married in God’s eyes,” is dead. If you didn’t read that article, it would be best that you do before you read what follows.
Today, we’re going to talk about good works and what part they play in the equation of salvation.
Now, there are extreme views on this topic. Some, the Greasy Grace guys—the hyper-grace folks—tend to promote an idea that good works are not a part of the salvation equation at all. And if you just pray a little prayer and ‘accept’ Jesus as your personal savior, you’re in, and you got it, and you can’t lose it.
How do I get victory over sin in my life? That’s a great question. The first thing to understand is that that’s not an unusual question because it’s not an unusual struggle. Just because you’ve become a believer in Jesus doesn’t mean that you automatically are a super holy person.
The Apostle Paul wrote to the Galatian Christians that “the flesh sets its desire against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; for these are in opposition to one another, so that you may not do the things that you please” (Galatians 5:17).
Today’s Little Lesson is especially for people who are married or people who want to get married. Is there a secret to having a great marriage? I think that there is. I’ve been married for 38 years and I think I have a great marriage. If I was going to break it down as to why, of course I’ve got a great wife. That’s it. But what makes her so great? Have I helped out at all in this equation?
When you come to believe in Jesus—when you’re born again—you just want everybody to be born again, you want everyone to believe in Jesus! Because your sins are forgiven, God is your Father and you have eternal life. Naturally, you want everyone else to have that same blessing. And if you haven’t felt that desire for other people to have that same blessing, that’s probably an indication that you really don’t have it yourself yet.
As we endeavor to try to tell people the Good News of Jesus Christ, should we attempt to persuade them to “accept Jesus” as their personal Savior? I ask that because that’s a very, very common expression that we find within the evangelical world.