hundreds of people? Her wheelchair was her comfort zone, but in faith she faced her fears and
received a miracle.
Faith is risky!
Faith is often accompanied by fear and trembling. How do you think Abraham felt as he was
about to plunge the knife into Isaac? We know that Abraham was fully persuaded that God
would raise the dead—that’s faith—but he would not have been human if he hadn’t trembled.
And do you think Rahab was in a joyful mood when she welcomed the spies of Israel into
her home? Her faith meant a death sentence if the soldiers of Jericho discovered her treason.
What about Daniel in the lions’ den, or David facing the giant, or Moses standing up to
Pharaoh? Is it so hard to imagine that these heroes of faith acted with fear and trembling?
Faith means putting something on the line. It might be your comfort, your reputation, your
family, your funds, even your life—but faith usually means something is risked.
You may want to run away
My favorite line in the film
Avatar
is “Run! Definitely run!” Apparently this is the proper thing to do when you meet one of Pandora’s more aggressive beasts. Fear often manifests as a desire
to run away. Indeed, the words fear and flight are connected in the Greek language. So our
choice is often one of faith or flight. I know something about that.
Years ago, when it became apparent that Camilla and I were going to be handed the
leadership of a church, I told her “pack your bags, we’re leaving.” I didn’t want to be a pastor. I
feared failure. Paul felt the same way about going to Corinth:
And so it was with me, brothers and sisters. When I came to you, I did not come with
eloquence or human wisdom… I came to you in weakness with great fear and trembling. (1
Corinthians 2:1a,3)
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GRACE REMIX
Paul was a mighty man of faith, yet he went to Corinth “with fear and great trembling.” A part
of him didn’t want to go. In fact, Paul was so fearful that God had to step in and say “do not be
afraid” (Acts 18:9).
There’s grace for us here. Paul is saying, “It’s not wrong to be fearful.” But in the presence of
these feelings, work out your salvation anyway. Take the faith-risk, because you will be blessed
if you do.
But you will be blessed if you stay
A preacher of works will use Philippians 2:12 to get you to perform out of fear. But there is a big
difference between works done in fear and works done in faith. In fear we may
work for God
, but in faith we get to do the
work of God
. In this passage Paul is talking about the second kind of work:
…for it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose.
(Philippians 2:13)
If God is the one working, what part do we play? We are the ones who decide who gets to see
the King! God can do whatever he wants, but in his wisdom he has chosen to reveal himself
through the faith of his saints. We preach and his signs and wonders follow. We lay hands on
the sick and his healing is released. So what happens if we don’t preach or lay hands on the
sick?
Paul didn’t want to go to Corinth, but he went anyway. Despite fear and trembling he
preached Christ crucified and the result was that many Corinthians believed and were baptized
(Acts 18:8).
Jonah didn’t want to preach in Nineveh, but he did and an entire city was saved. Both Jonah
and Paul took faith-risks despite their fears. As a result, the kingdom of God came to two cities
and thousands were saved.
Fear and trembling are normal. What you do with fear is the thing. We can live afraid and
see nothing change, or we can face our fears and see the kingdom come.
Working out our salvation means that at some point we’re going to have to get out of the
boat and take a risk. God won’t punish us if we hold back—this has nothing to do with
punishment. But we will be blessed, and the nations will be blessed through us, when we reveal
Jesus.
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ESCAPE TO REALITY – GREATEST HITS VOL. 4
I’ve given you a few examples of people who stepped out in faith with fear and trembling
(Abraham, Rahab, Paul, Jonah), but one reader suggested another:
At once Jesus realized that power had gone out from him. He turned around in the crowd
and asked, “Who touched my clothes?” … Then the woman, knowing what had happened
to her, came and fell at his feet and,
trembling with fear
, told him the whole truth. (Mark
5:30,33, emphasis added)
Two thousand years later we marvel at this woman’s faith, but let’s not forget her fear and
trembling. Under law, this woman was considered unclean (Leviticus 15:25), and as such she
was forbidden to touch others. Yet here in the press of the crowd she touched everybody,
risking their ire. But while she came “trembling with fear,” she left in peace and healed from her
suffering. What a difference faith makes!
You may be wondering what happened in my own story, the one where I told Camilla to
pack her bags because I didn’t want to be left with a church. Although the temptation to run
away was strong, we stayed for ten wonderful years. I learned so much during that time that if
we had run away then, I doubt I would be writing to you now.
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9. Three Reasons Why I Don’t Preach Turn from Sin
I’ve heard people complain that grace preachers don’t emphasize repentance sufficiently. It’s
true. I hardly emphasize it at all. But then neither did the Apostle John. Search his gospel and
epistles and you will not find the word repentance anywhere. I guess John must’ve been a grace
preacher.
Here’s something that may fry your mind: Repentance is one of the most important things
you’ll ever do—you need to repent!—but you won’t get people to repent by preaching on it.
“How can you say such heresy Paul?” I’ll answer that question in a moment.
But first, which of the following is the best definition of repentance:
1. Repentance means turning from sin
2. Repentance means changing your mind
Repentance, like football, means different things to different people. Those under law define
repentance as turning from sin. But when Jesus came preaching “repent and believe the good
news,” he meant “change the way you think about God.”
In the old covenant, sinners repented by bringing a sacrifice of penance and confessing their
sins (Numbers 5:7). But in the new we bring a sacrifice of praise and confess his name (Hebrews
13:15).
Under the old, you had to deal with your sin. But in the new, Jesus has done it all. Our part
is to quit trusting in dead works, believe the good news, and say thank you Jesus!
Yet some people just can’t see the cross for their sins. No matter how much I tell them about
God’s goodness, they tell me I’m under-selling repentance. What they really mean is, “Paul
you’re not telling people to turn from their sin.”
In many churches this is exactly the message you will hear. “God is holy and he won’t
accept you unless you turn from sin.” It’s sold as a message of repentance and it appeals to our
sense of right and wrong, but it’s dangerous and misleading for it promotes dead works and
can keep you from coming to Jesus.
It may seem like I’m splitting hairs, but what you think of when you hear the word repent is
the difference between life and death. Does your repenting cause you to think of your badness
or God’s goodness? Does it lead you to dwell on your sins or his Son?
As I say, repentance is essential. We all need to repent and repentance ought to be our daily
lifestyle.
But there are at least three good reasons why you should reject any message that defines
repentance as turning from sin:
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ESCAPE TO REALITY – GREATEST HITS VOL. 4
1. Preaching “turn from sin” puts people under law
“Turn from sin or you’re not saved.” This is pure law. It’s prescribing sin-rejection as a means
for salvation. This law-based message sounds good but it actually leaves listeners worse off
because it empowers the sin that enslaves while scorning the grace of God that might otherwise
save us (see 1 Corinthians 15:56).
The righteousness that God offers is not purchased by your turning performance. The free
gift of righteousness comes by faith from first to last.
2. Preaching “turn from sin” doesn’t actually lead people to salvation
Suppose I call you up and give you an invitation to come to my house. You’ve never been here
before so you need directions. There are two ways I could direct you. I could give you my
address and provide an accurate picture of where I live. Or I could say, “Flee from your
house—just drive as fast as possible and don’t look back.” Do you see the difference?
In both cases you’re going to leave your house, that’s guaranteed. But only by trusting my
directions will you actually arrive at my house. Repentance is just like that. It’s not fleeing from
sin like a Pharisee; it’s turning to God in faith. In both cases you will leave your sin. But only by
trusting God will you actually arrive someplace better than where you started.
To get people to repent (change their minds) Jesus preached the good news of the kingdom.
He painted a picture of where God wanted them to be (with him) and he gave them clear
directions on how to get there (turn to God in faith). Jesus never preached “turn from sin.” He
preached the gospel and the result was people turned from sin.
3. We’re called to preach the gospel, not “turn from sin”
Repentance is one of the most important things you’ll ever do but you’ll never do it without a
good reason. Jesus is the good reason! Your sin is an inferior reason.
Jesus loves you, he died for you and offers you his righteousness.
Do you believe it?
Faith and repentance are two sides of the same coin. Repentance, like faith, is a positive
response to something God has done.
In his gospel John never mentions repentance directly, yet he talks about believing again
and again. He wrote his book so “that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God,
and that by believing you may have life in his name” (John 20:31). The key to life is not in
turning from sin but trusting in Jesus. This is the true meaning of repentance.
Paul said repentance comes from hearing about the goodness of God (see Romans 2:4). You
want people to repent? Then preach the gospel that reveals the goodness of a good God: Jesus
has done it all!
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GRACE REMIX
Oh boy, what a hornet’s nest this article proved to be! It’s probably the most controversial thing
I’ve written.
Some complained that I am opposed to repentance. (I am not. I’m 100 percent for it!) Others
said I was preaching universal salvation. (I’m not sure how since I’m encouraging people to
turn to God and believe in Jesus.) And a few called me a heretic. (It wouldn’t be the first time.)
But what no one did was dispute my claim that preaching “turn from sin” puts people
under law and distracts us from preaching the gospel. On this we are all agreed. (I think.) So
what’s the problem? Why the fuss?
The problem is there has been such a huge emphasis on old covenant repentance (turn from
sin), that we have gotten used to it. It seems right that we should turn from sin (we should!) and
that if we want more people to turn from sin we should tell them to do it (we shouldn’t!). I’m
not questioning the logic. I’m just saying it doesn’t work. It never has.
I’m with Spurgeon who said, “Repentance will not make you see Christ; but to see Christ
will give you repentance.”4 You want people to repent? Then reveal Christ. Preach the gospel of
Jesus.
4 This is from Spurgeon’s book
All of Grace
, which is one of the best books on grace you’ll ever read. Since it has long been out of copyright, you can get PDF copies of it for free off the web. Google it.
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10. What is Biblical Correction?
What you look through determines what you see. Read the Bible through the fractured lens of
human wisdom and you will think the secret to life is doing right and avoiding wrong. You’ll
go to God with an attitude of, “Just tell me what to do and I’ll do it.” But this is eating from the
wrong tree. It leads to independence instead of faith.
Life is not about doing right and avoiding wrong. Nor is it about sinning versus non-
sinning. That’s a language your Father doesn’t speak. The issue isn’t good versus evil, but life
versus death. And this issue is clearly seen when dealing with sin.
How does God respond when I sin?
Elsewhere I have said that the Holy Spirit never convicts us of our sins. Instead, the Holy Spirit
brings about a life-saving correction.5
“But Paul, isn’t that just two ways of saying the same thing? What’s the difference?”
The difference is this: If you think the Holy Spirit convicts you
because of your sin
or corrects you
because of your sin
, you’ve missed the cross. You’re looking backwards instead of forwards
and down instead of up.
The Holy Spirit isn’t your personal sin manager, but your Helper, your Comforter, your
Counselor. And in that role he will guide you, correct you, and, if necessary, rebuke or
admonish you. He does none of this in reaction to your sin, per se. He does it because he loves