Look inside this book.Where the Bush is Burning: A Daily Devotional by [Thomas Tice]

Month: January 2018
‘By Faith’

‘By Faith’

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‘By Faith’

…and be found in Him, not having my own righteousness, which is from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith….

Philippians 3:9

We spoke yesterday of imputed righteousness or ‘justification.’ Today, we want to take a few moments to dwell upon how we receive this justification. Again, to quote the Catechism, ‘justiification is an act of God’s free grace, wherein he pardoneth all our sins, and accepteth us as righteous in His sight, only for the righteousness of Christ imputed to us, and received by faith alone.’ Notice the concluding words and ‘received by faith alone.’ What must we conclude from these things? We are left either to believe God or not. If not, then how are we to answer the abundant proofs from the Scripture that God justifies and that faith is the vehicle. What shall we say to such statements as, ‘the just shall live by faith?’ What can we respond to, ‘without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is the rewarder of those who diligently seek Him? Can we carelessly or easily cast aside, ‘for by grace are you saved through faith, and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not of works lest any man should boast?’ All these bold statements, plus our text for today, along with a host of other passages, lead us to the inevitable conclusion that our acceptance with God requires faith. Who can give me this faith but God Himself? Who can enable me to embrace Christ, but the Holy Spirit? To drum up this faith is impossible. God must grant it. The Holy Spirit must bestow it. Christ must be the Object of it. O, that it would be so for every one of us; that we would have that living experience that, ‘the just shall live by faith.’

Our Good and Gracious God,
we praise you for your act of free grace and the pardoning of our sins.
We rejoice that you accept us on the basis of Christ’s imputed righteousness,
and that we shall live by faith.

Tomm Tice
Where the Bush is Burning
Our Sure Foundation

Our Sure Foundation

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Our Sure Foundation

…and be found in Him, not having my own righteousness, which is from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith….

Philippians 3:9

We have spoken in the last few days of the things which we must discount if we are to have a relationship with Christ. Today we are going to move forward to consider the basis upon which our relationship must proceed. Having ‘cleared the decks’ of all dependency upon human merit. Paul proceeds to declare that he desires to ‘be found’ in Christ, ‘…not having my own righteousness, which is from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith.’  The foundation of our relationship with God is our acceptance with Him upon the merits of Christ. This brings us to the subject of justification. ‘Justification is an act of God’s free grace, wherein he pardoneth all our sins, and accepteth us as righteous in His sight, only for the righteousness of Christ imputed to us, and received by faith alone.’ We cannot have a relationship with Christ without this foundation. Everything that follows in our development in holiness rests upon this sure foundation. No attempts at holiness will succeed apart from the underlying foundation of justification. All of Paul’s thoughts of knowing Christ follow the laying of this foundation. Hence, we want to understand, and make much of this imputed righteousness of Christ to us. Justification means that in the eyes of God’s law, we are as righteous as Christ Himself. This does not respect our personal holiness, but rather our legal standing before God. Once that matter is settled, the rest of our relationship with Christ proceeds. Does your relationship with God, rest upon this sure foundation?

Our Holy and Justifying God,
we praise You that You make us righteous in Christ.
We rejoice that His merits are all the merit that we require
to be made acceptable in Your sight.

Tomm Tice
Where the Bush is Burning
Clearing the Decks

Clearing the Decks

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Clearing the Decks

Yet indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ.

Philippians 3:8

The great passion of Paul’s life was his relationship with Christ. To that end he sacrificed everything. We spoke yesterday of Paul’s clearing the area in order to build this relationship. We spoke also of all the human ‘merits’ upon which he might have depended to commend him to God. Paul categorically discounted all those things. In our text for today he totally ‘clears the decks.’  He declares, ‘Yet indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ.’ This statement provides some excellent value for us who desire a relationship with Christ. We want to be very clear about who and what we are by nature. We want to clearly understand that in order to have a vital relationship with Christ, we cannot approach Him with any idea that we have merit or ‘selling points’ to commend us to Him. Once we understand that, we, as helpless, hopeless breakers of God’s law, cast ourselves utterly upon the mercy of God. The foundation of our relationship with Christ will only ever exist after we have utterly abandoned all hope of redeeming ourselves. To this end, Paul clears the decks regarding his own merit. So also, must we, if we are going to have a relationship with Christ. This utterly abases our pride. It completely removes all our self-trust and self-righteousness. It is therefore, an excellent thing, because by that abasement we are prepared to start with Christ.

Our Great and Gracious God,
we praise You that the Righteousness of Christ is all we need.
We rejoice that we need not to depend upon any of our own merit,
but, that all righteousness comes from You.

Tomm Tice
Where the Bush is Burning
Counting and Discounting

Counting and Discounting

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Counting and Discounting

But what things were gain to me, these I have counted loss for Christ.

Philippians 3:7

The Apostle Paul clearly understood the Gospel.  He understood what is important in order to enter into a right relationship with God.  To use a common analogy, in order to erect a building, there must be a clear area in which to lay down a solid foundation.  In our text for today, Paul is declaring that he had, indeed, cleared the area.  We want to take a serious look at what he counted and what he discounted.  Earlier in the passage, he speaks of having, ‘no confidence in the flesh.’  He then lists the things which he discounted.  He speaks of the fact that he was, ‘circumcised the eighth day, of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of the Hebrews; concerning the law, a Pharisee; concerning zeal, persecuting the church; concerning the righteousness which is in the law, blameless.’  How may we categorize these things which Paul discounted?  He discounted his earthly pedigree.  This included all his standing as a member of God’s ‘chosen’ people.  Beyond those things, he discounted his very zealous religiosity, and his scrupulous adherence to the law.  If we are to embrace Christ, and enter into a relationship with Him, we must discount our status, intellect, and morality as things which would commend us to God.  We have no merit of our own.  We have no ‘selling points’ which we can set forth as reasons for God to accept us.  If we are to come to God in a right way, we must come having discounted all our merit.  Then we are approaching Him as we are, helpless sinners, in need of His Free and Sovereign Grace.

Our most Holy and Righteous God,
we come to You today, standing upon the merits of Christ alone.
We confess unto You, that we have no merit of our own,
but wholly rest upon His Righteousness.

Tomm Tice
Where the Bush is Burning

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