Most of us have heard the phrase before that “Christianity is not a religion, but a relationship”. It has become a somewhat cliché catch-phrase, or something clever and witty to say. Many people say it, many people hear it, and nod in agreement,, but their relationship is really empty on the inside of them; and I am speaking of believers when I say that. And please understand that I am not saying that in a judgmental way and certainly not in a condemning way. I am going to be completely open and honest right up-front that my intention today in this study is to encourage you in your personal relationship with Jesus and how to live every day through that relationship, because really that’s the only way to live.
I have encountered a vast number of people in my time, who will readily claim to have a personal relationship with Jesus because it is expected of them to say that. It’s the “proper Christian response” but inside they are desperately hurting and empty and their spirit is starving because they honestly don’t know how to have a personal relationship with Jesus. So, these people walk around empty, but too afraid of the ridicule of those around them to actually admit that they don’t understand, and suffer in ignorance. In many churches today, Jesus has been reduced to nothing more than a Fire Net that saves you from going to hell when you die and that is it. Yet He is so very much more, and He came to give you much more as well. He’s didn’t come to just be merely a Fire Net, He came to give you Himself, and to enable you to live through Him, and this personal relationship is what we will be studying today.
A long time ago, there was a popular praise song that we always used to sing; the lyrics in-part were “we bring a sacrifice of praise into the house of the LORD.” This is a reference to Hebrews 13:15, saying that we should continually offer such a sacrifice to God. This phrasing has always puzzled me. Because in my human mind, the word “sacrifice” always implied cost, or some kind of a victim. Often times we hear preachers say that in order for our praise and worship to mean anything to God, it has to “cost us something”, and this left me even more confused because it really wasn’t costing me anything to praise God – as a matter-of-fact I enjoyed praising Him! So did this then mean that my praise was worthless?
I struggled with this thought for many years, and it led me into a performance-driven, merit-centered mentality where I was trying to give something of value back to God, which I naturally assumed was my own works and efforts; my performance and law-keeping. However, this idea is not actually supported in scripture. In-fact the Bible is very descriptive regarding what the real sacrifice of praise is which we are to offer, and this is precisely what we will be studying today.
We’ve all heard it quoted before, that “Your body is not your own, you were bought with a price...” and this quote from scripture is usually delivered in a negative and condemning way in an attempt to bring guilt and fear on the people. In my earlier years, I used to become angry at the mention of this scripture – not because I hated the verse itself, but because I hated the guilt and condemning tone in which it was being presented; and many people also feel the same way about it even today.
It may surprise you then to learn that this verse was never intended to be guilt-inducing, fear-generating or condemning in any way… in-fact it is actually a great encouragement and reason to rejoice! What we will be studying today in scripture is how the promise that your body belongs to the LORD is actually a fantastic assurance, and how this verse no longer has to be something that brings guilt or condemnation, but great joy in Christ Jesus.
You have probably heard it quoted before, that you must fear the LORD thy God and serve Him only. This is a popular quote from scripture that seems to get a lot of circulation. Though in all of its popularity and use, it never really is explained what exactly this fear is. Are we to tremble and quake before a holy God as some preachers would have us do? Or does it mean something else entirely?
You might be surprised to learn that Biblical fear is something different than the kind of fear that we often associate with it today. It is by understanding the word fear as the Bible defines it, that we can begin to see what the scripture is actually telling us, versus what man merely assumes of it. This is what we will be studying today.