Michael-Grams

BTW, when I taught on The Christian’s Concept of Success back in the early to mid-eighties (last century!) at a local Baptist church in Chattanooga, my premise on biblical success was knowing and doing the will of God. There was a Canadian evangelical pastor, Henry Blackaby, who wrote an excellent book entitled Experiencing God: Knowing and Doing the Will of God. It was originally published in 1990. Approximately 17 years later (~2007), I got wind of it and read it.

Five or six years before his book was published, I had come up with this working definition of success for Christians before I ever knew anything about Blackaby or his book. It confirms that we both had the same advisors: the Holy Spirit and the Word of God! It was very satisfying that his book validated my view on the core idea behind biblical success. I mentioned this to illustrate that no one has a patent on the truth of God.

As believers, we all experience the need to calibrate knowing and doing the will of God throughout life’s experiences. We all have our undulating moments. None of us are perfect, of course, but imperfections are not a valid excuse before Yahweh (cf. 1 Pet 3:18; 2 Tim 3:16-17; Php 4:13).

When the Apostle Peter’s wrote his last words under inspiration, he was not postulating an optional theological theorem on spiritual growth but commanding all of us to consistently grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior (2 Pet 3:18). This epistle would be the last we hear from Peter. He knew the vital importance of spiritual growth into Christlikeness. We cannot become like the Person we don’t know, and we cannot know about Jesus unless we get in the Word and under the authority of the Word of God!

I cannot stress enough how critical a role learning the Word, loving the Word, and living the Word plays in being successful in knowing and doing the will of Yahweh for life!

Should any believer take the biblical view of success to heart, I believe that he or she will bring glory to God in their life in Christlike worship and service to Yahweh. This, of course, will yield a better outcome at the judgment seat (bema) of Christ, where our service to Him will be evaluated from the moment we are born again until we die or are raptured.

The greatest threat to Christianity has always been the willful ignorance of the Word of God. I think at times we are our own worst enemy due to willful disobedience to the will of God! We keep doing things that muddy the waters! Oh, we want God’s blessing, alright, but by our own time and expectations! A bit of hubris, don’t you think?

Biblical success is not a self-entitlement program requiring little to no effort. We need to read these verses carefully and ask ourselves, “Is this a spiritual snapshot of me?” – Psa 86:12; Mt 5:16; 1 Cor 6:19, 20; 10:31; Php 1:20, 21.

Have you ever noticed that some so-called believers spend so little time with Jesus while on earth, but they want to go to heaven and spend an eternity with Someone who is more a stranger than not during the terra firma days! It’s crazy, right?

Jesus asked, Now why do you call Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not do what I say (Lk 6:46)? Jesus told His disciples, If you love me, you will keep my commandments (Jn 14:15; cf. Jn 14: 21, 23). How do we show our love to the Lord, obedience to His word!

(Lk 6:47) “Everyone who comes to Me and hears My words and does them, I will show you whom he is like:

(Lk 6:48) he is like a man building a house, who dug and went deep, and laid a foundation on the rock; and when a flood occurred, the river burst against that house and could not shake it, because it had been well built.

(Lk 6:49) “But the one who heard and did not do accordingly, is like a man who built a house on the ground without any foundation; and the river burst against it and immediately it collapsed, and the ruin of that house was great.”

Jesus quoted Isaiah, This people honors Me with their lips, but their heart is far away from Me. But in vain do they worship Me, teaching as doctrines the commands of men (Mt 15:8-9).

Okay, that was a clump of verses to process. This is where we are – living in a time of postmodern Christianity. What do I mean by that? Instead of looking at the world as it is through the eyes of the Creator (His Word, objective truth), we are looking at the world around us through our own eyes (subjective experiences). Truth becomes subjective and relative based on self-perception and personal experiences rather than seeing and interpreting how the world really is through the lens of Scripture, the objective and absolute truth.

Let me ask you, “Who is more authoritative in all matters of faith and practice? You, another, or Scripture (2 Tim 3:16-17)? Our bema experience will be according to the objective truth of Scripture, not our subjective, personal perception of truth or following someone or something contrary to the Scriptures. We will see how the Creator of the Universe sees the truth with great clarity (cf. Jn 14:6)!

Believers today are not looking at the world through the eyes of the Creator (via the Scriptures), but determining what the truth is through their own eyes. In other words, the creature (us) naturally prefers looking at the world through his or her own eyes (experiences). Truth is how we interpret it, not the Scriptures. And we wonder why our lives are often turbulent, troublesome, and toilsome! We are running on the wrong set of values for success, according to Yahweh.

Have you ever played on a team sport where the coach yells out to his players, “We got to get back to the basics!” You and I cannot call Yahweh, “Lord,” unless we adorn Him as Shepherd in our lives (cf. Psa 23:1). Sheep follow the shepherd. Believers are the sheep, and they follow Yahweh as the good Shepherd. This is Spiritual Maturity 101. My sheep hear my voice (the Word of God), and I know them, and they follow Me, yes (Jn 10:27)!?

How do we identify other sheep in the world instead of “baaaah?” They follow Jesus or, in our day, they follow His Word (cf. 1 Jn 2:3). Willful spiritual ignorance follows another shepherd; it goes wordless and worldly – the ego (edging God out).

Have you ever heard of the one-minute devotional? To me, this is such a sad testament but not surprising of postmodern Christianity! Are we saying by this ministry, “We know you're very busy, but why not take just a minute out of your busy schedule for God? It will do your soul some good!” We are placating bad behavior. All we have time for God today is one minute of each day!?

Look, we know the world system doesn’t have time for God, period, for time is money. Some unbelievers want to spend eternity in heaven with Jesus (as opposed to Hell, if it exists according to them) but do not have the time for Him while on earth!? I was once spiritually dead; I get it! As with unbelievers, this is the way of many postmodern Christians today, but not all.

When our pace of living is 100+ mph, everything is a blur. Blurry is good for the postmodern Christian. One of the negative consequences of willful spiritual ignorance of the Scriptures for the believer is that it leaves only worldly options of wood, hay, and straw services to the Lord; these qualities do not fare well at the judgment seat (bema) of Christ (1 Cor 3:10-15). Knowing and doing the will of God according to Scripture, however, yields high-value service to God (cf. Mt 25:23), emblematic of the caliber of gold, silver, and precious stones that will not turn to smoke under Divine scrutiny.

This knowing and doing the will of God for life reveals that the rudimentary Solomonic principle is being taken seriously,

The fear of Yahweh is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding (Prov 9:10).

Okay, the elephant in the room is the last remaining thing I’m leaving with you to address! Are you a biblical success in your own eyes or in Yahweh’s eyes? In the future, you and I, along with all the rest of the believers in Christ, will stand before the judgment seat (bema) of the all-knowing Christ, One-on-one!

Our service to the Lord as a child of God will be under review. For whatever length of service, there are only two results: smoke or rewards. The former is lost forever; the latter is either gold, silver, or precious stones for the well-done faithful servant.

Jesus died for you and me, and He demonstrated His love for us on Calvary (Rom 5:8). He didn’t suffer, die, be buried, and rise again to leave us to be a failure in our service to Him, but the law of the harvest – we reap what we sow, is going to play out. Yes, He is a God of love, but He is also holy! Listen to the Apostle Peter again,

But now you must be holy in everything you do, just as God who chose you is holy. For the Scriptures say, “You must be holy because I am holy.” And remember that the heavenly Father to whom you pray has no favorites. He will judge or reward you according to what you do. So you must live in reverent fear of Him during your time as “foreigners in the land” (1 Pet 1:15-17, NLT).

Biblical success is knowing and doing the will of God for life. <><