How to Protect Yourself from Suicide

I’ve noticed that when it comes to suicide, there is a lot of advice out there for the loved ones of a person who is suicidal. They are given various options on what they can do to help prevent their loved one from commiting suicide. But, what about the person who is struggling with suicide? Are they helpless? Can’t they also be responsible for protecting themselves? I’m not saying they should be blamed for mental health issues; however, I also believe that it could be empowering to them if there were things they could do to help protect themselves as well.

While I haven’t struggled with suicidal thoughts myself, I have struggled with depression most of my adult life. And I know that when it comes to mental health there are good days and there are bad days. On the good days people often worry about what they may do on the bad days. Similarly, most people who struggle with suicidal impulses, have good days where they dread being the person they become and having the thoughts they have on the bad days. But, we aren’t limited to just sitting around waiting for and fearing the bad days. Just as I can do things on my good days to help prepare myself for the bad depression days, I have to believe that people with suicidal impulses can use their good days to put up some “safety nets” in order to prevent the worst on their bad days. So, I’ve collected a list of tips, tricks, and advice that could hopefully help people protect themselves from suicide, and here it is:

Develop a Safety Plan

• List out warning signs which help you identify that you are starting to experience significant, severe thoughts of suicide. 

• Write out a safety plan and actively turn to it when the warning signs start to show.

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Preventative Steps You Can Take:

• Have a list of people to contact during a crisis.

Create this list by being honest with people and telling them about your struggles with suicidal thoughts. Ask them if they are willing and capable of being one of your accountability partners. Call or go to them when suicidal thoughts threaten to get the best of you.

•  Remind yourself that the feeling will pass.

It has before and always will. In contrast, acting on a temporary feeling has permanent consequences. Place notes or signs with this sentiment around your home, vehicle, and workspace, so they will be there when you need reminders.

• Find someone or something to live for: a family member, a friend, or a pet, which depends on you staying alive to take care of them; or even a future goal to accomplish.

Sometimes it is simply easier to stay motivated; to keep living for the sake of people or animals that you love, than it is to stay living for yourself. And that’s okay. There is nothing wrong with staying alive because of the knowledge that you are needed. And if you aren’t certain you are needed at the moment, then, on your good days, find a way to make yourself needed, so you have that safety net and knowledge for the bad days.

• On your good days work to sabotage your preferred suicide method, so when the bad days come it will be difficult to commit suicide.

Be honest with yourself about what your preferred method would be, and then limit your access to the things required to enact it. For example: unload guns, put dangerous things in a locked safe, take down any poles or hooks which can hold a lot of weight, have someone you trust be in charge of your meds-even over the counter ones like ibuprofen. Research shows that “method substitution”--choosing an alternate method when the original method is restricted--does not happen often. Put time and distance between yourself and your chosen method.

• Learn that you aren’t alone. No one is completely happy in their lives or their bodies. Most people have struggled with negative thoughts, and many with suicidal thoughts.

You aren’t abnormal. All those other people found ways to survive it and continue to live in spite of it/after it. They are proof that this can be overcome and you can win this battle.

• Figure out what kind of life you want and make a step by step plan for earning that life and work towards it.

A lot of people who have attempted suicide said that as they thought they were dying, they realized they didn’t actually want to die; they just wanted a different life. Starting a new life may seem hard or scary but it is a lot easier than suicide, and, if you think about it, what do you have to lose? Might as well try for a new life. Also, a step-by-step plan will give you a goal to focus on and each step completed will give you a feeling of success and accomplishment.

“Be merciful to me, O God, be merciful to me,

for in you my soul takes refuge;

in the shadow of your wings I will take refuge,

till the storms of destruction pass by.

I cry out to God Most High,

to God who fulfills his purpose for me.

He will send from heaven and save me;

he will put to shame him who tramples on me.

God will send out his steadfast love and his faithfulness.”

-Psalm 57:1-3 (ESV)

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What Does the Bible Say to do When Life Starts to Crush Us?

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It says to turn to God. He is our Savior from anything and everything. Ask Him for help, and trust that He will provide.

“Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you, casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you.” - 1 Peter 5:6-7 (ESV)

God loves you and made you in His image. You are worthy of a life filled with love and purpose.

If you struggle accepting this truth emotionally, you can find practical things to do that will encourage emotional acceptance of it: helping other people, spreading God’s Word, finding a job which adds value to society. Work to live your life according to God’s grander purpose and eventually you will be able to see how valuable your life is, not only to God, but also to the world around you.

Ask God for help and He will show up.

God will provide a way through the struggle but those provisions aren’t always miraculous occurrences or instant healing. Most of the time God provides quietly, in practical ways: like a phone call from a friend when you’re close to the edge, or an unexpected income source to pay for the bills accrued from going to therapy.

Even when you don’t know how to ask for help for yourself, the Holy Spirit knows what you need and is crying out to the Father on your behalf.

“In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans. And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for God’s people in accordance with the will of God.” -Romans 8:26-27 (NIV)

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Our world teaches us that the end goal of life is independence; but God wants us to accept our dependence on Him.

“No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.” -1 Corinthians 10:13 (ESV)

“But he (God) said to me (Paul), ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.” -2 Corinthians 12:9-10 (ESV)

These verses aren’t claiming that life won’t be harder than we can handle. They are specifically talking about overcoming the temptations which the world throws at us. But even for those temptations, we are not supposed to rely on ourselves to overcome them:  it is God who “provides the way to escape”. God uses our weaknesses to show the world His strength in order to draw people to Him.

“My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.” -Psalms 73:26 (ESV)

The best way to fight thoughts of sadness and even suicide is to regularly stay in the Word of God.

Find verses which remind you of God’s presence and power and of how much He loves you. Memorize them so you can repeat them to yourself in times of anguish. His promises will help you endure these times.

“The Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit. Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord delivers him out of them all.” -Psalms 34:18-19 (ESV)

“Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” -Philippians 4:6- (NIV)

Also see: Psalms 16:8; Psalms 23:4; Psalms 55:22; Psalms 94:18; Isaiah 53:4; Matthew 11:28-30; Romans 15:13; 1 Cor. 1:3-4; 2 Cor. 4:16-18; 1 Peter 5:6-10

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Do not try to go it alone.

If you feel suicidal thoughts start to invade your mind, seek professional help immediately!

Call your therapist and/or go to the Emergency Room.

There is no need to go it alone. God wants us to cry out to Him, to seek out godly counsel from others, and when necessary, to request medical help. We live in a sin-cursed world, which means our bodies are imperfect and sometimes things like hormones or brain chemistry can be off balance. God gave humans the intelligence necessary to understand science and create medical solutions. There is nothing inherently wrong with using helpful medications. 

Remember, with medical solutions there is usually a period of trial and error, because everyone’s body is different and you need to find what works for you. If you try one method or medication and it doesn’t work, don’t give up. Try a different one until you find the right fit. Millions of people have had success with medical intervention; it could work for you as well.

Healing Takes Time

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Contact the Suicide Prevention Lifeline

Call: 1-800-273-8255

or chat online: www.suicidepreventionlifeline.org

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You can download a free printout of this information by going to our “Free Material” Page and clicking on “Protect Yourself from Suicide (full page)” or for a shorter version: “What Does the Bible Say to do When Life Starts to Crush Us?”.

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This series of blog posts titled, “Holding on to Reason”, is named after Amanda’s favorite C.S. Lewis quote: “Faith is the art of holding on to things your reason has once accepted, in spite of your changing moods.”

Click here for more stuff written by Amanda Hovseth.

How Should We View Social Media As Christians? - Ask the Pastor

You can listen to Ask The Pastor every weekday at 9:00am MST on 97.1FM Hope Radio KCMI! You can also listen and subscribe to Ask The Pastor in your favorite podcast feed. Listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, Amazon Music and most other podcast services.

This edition of Ask the Pastor features Pastors Gary Schick, Ben Cline, and Jonathan Hernandez.

Gary Schick
So today's question, I'll kind of read it and then I'll explain it. It says, "Would your team like to tackle this article and help our listeners develop safeguards for their own personal use of social media? How should we view the phenomenon of social media?" So it was a Christianity Today article about a pastor. I think he was doing something called direct texting, and I don't know, is that even different than just regular texting? I'm not media savvy enough to know. But basically it was some conversation, and his wife knew about it, others knew about it and seemed to be okay with it. But at some point, it seemed to cross some kind of a line and he is now out of ministry. Which is a sad, always a sad thing to see a brother in Christ fall in a way that. And we've, boy, I've been hearing about it, really, my whole adult life, how ministers will fill in different ways. But the broader question is: Hey, all of us are involved in social media somehow. You know, whether it's through our computers or our phones, you know, if we have a Facebook page or something (more often than not, our churches have pages). It is so easy to communicate, and so easy to express ourselves. And there are so many ways we can connect, which is a good thing, but we can also get into trouble. You know, so how do we view it? And what safeguards should we set? Jonathan, what are your thoughts?

Jonathan Hernandez
Yeah, for sure. With social media really dominating our way of communication, I guess nowadays, we definitely need to take a step back and say, "Okay, these are the guardrails, the safeguards that I'll have in place as I communicate." I think, if we look in scripture, in 1 Thessalonians 5:22 it says, "Abstain from every form of evil." Or in the King James it says, "Abstain from all appearances of evil." And so how do we look at that and say, "Okay, as I interact on social media, I need to make sure that I'm living to the standard of what Christ set for us." And so, you know, what are we looking at? What are we, I guess, viewing as we're on those things? Having safeguards in place like: okay, if I notice anything that would be revealing of a lady, I'm not gonna look at those things. You know, we're friends with so many people on social media. I looked the other day and I'm friends with like, 1,100 people, or something like that. And how many of those people do I actually even know? And I'm just sitting here accepting friend requests from everybody, and not really looking to see, "who are these people?" And then, you know, you accept somebody and then, you know, a few days later you get a private message from them. And you know, all kinds of different things can be from that. And so we need to guard, I guess in that too, like, who are we friend requesting? You know, who are we allowing to become friends of ours on social media? I know I have a friend that his thought is always, "Well, if I don't accept them, how are they gonna hear the gospel?" And you know, I think about that; that's a good thought to have. But we also have to be cautious in how that looks, or how that goes. You know, I can't accept everybody, because some of these ladies that are on there, shouldn't be on my profile. So, that way I don't have to worry about looking at what they're posting, you know? So having those safeguards, you know, as a man, for those things. Another safeguard is, my wife has every password of mine. She knows every one of my social medias that I have---the passwords to those. She has access to my phone. Anytime she says, "Hey, let me look at your phone," you know, I have no problem handing it over. So I think having those safeguards in place, you know, as a husband and wife we know what our spouses are doing on social media. And we're okay with them looking at our phones whenever they feel that they need to. As a leader, I think, the Bible says that we'll be held at a higher standard, you know? So that also goes for us when we're on social media. You know, just like this pastor who had gotten in trouble, you know? His wife knew about the messages, the lady's husband knew about the messages, and they all felt like---I'm guessing we're just reading into the story. We're guessing that they're okay with the texting back and forth between those two, but at some point, where did it go? Um, too far. And so we have to know, what are our boundaries in that? Is my communication with another female, that's not my wife, or my mom or sister, you know, they can't go to a certain level of intimacy. They have to stay on that broad, you know, that baseline communication. And so, I think having some of those in place and knowing, "Okay, this is what I have in place, and I won't steer from that path. I'm not gonna test the boundaries." Cause I think we like to do that is, "If I get this close to the cliff without falling off, I'm okay." And no, we don't need to be that close. We need to have the boundary before the cliff, you know? So that way, we're not tempted to look over. And so I think those are kind of, you know, for me, my boundaries. I would probably include more stuff, but I just think, kind of that base thing of my communication. You know, I'm not communicating with women without my wife knowing about it. If I text somebody she knows that, "Hey, I texted this lady, this is the reason why I texted her." And so that way she knows, and she hears what I'm talking about.

Ben Cline
Yeah. Thank you Jonathan. I, you know, just echo a lot of the things that you said. I was just thinking, as you were talking too, that our lives have changed so much in the past 15 years, right? You know, I remember getting, and this was a long time ago, just to give you a hint of how old I am. But this was a long time ago that I remember getting my first friend request, which was over email for this new thing called Facebook. And it was from a family member, so I contacted her and I was like, "What is this?" And, you know, I just remember, and now our lives are so much revolving around the internet and, you know, access to and communicating so easily with other people on all these different apps. And, you know, it's just definitely something that we need to have a plan in place for. And I like the word that you used Jonathan: boundaries, because I think that that's really what it all comes down to. Is that you might be in a situation where you are married, right? And so you can set up those boundaries with your spouse. And you can say, "You know, I'm not gonna have that kind of interaction with somebody else without you having access to what's happening." And then also, the boundaries go further beyond that. Like you were saying, Jonathan: that you don't wanna walk right up to the edge of the cliff, just because it's the edge of the cliff and you're allowed to do that. But you set those boundaries back further. And there's a great passage, in Proverbs 4:23 it says, "Watch over your heart with all diligence, for from it flow the springs of life." You know, and there's a bunch of other verses that are surrounding that, that are talking about what it looks like as a follower of God, as a believer in God. To follow after the path that He has laid out before us, and it's not a path of the world, it's a path of righteousness. And so, those boundaries that we set are boundaries that need to reflect that righteousness that God wants us to live in. And you also brought up 1 Thessalonians 5:22. I think when situations like this come up that, you know, we read about in the article, that was brought up to us; that that's one of the first thoughts that comes to mind as we're thinking about scripture. Is, you know, that we need to, "Abstain from all appearances of evil," because our intentions matter. And I think looking at this particular situation, that there were maybe not any ill intentions, but the truth of the matter is that appearances matter too. And so, and the reason why, is because there's a world who's looking on, and they need to be viewing, you know, Christ-like characteristics within us. And then, another thing that I was thinking about too is, you know, that we need to remember all of the things that Christ has done for us. In 1 Peter 2, just a few verses in here, it says, "For you have been called for this purpose, since Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example for you to follow in His steps. Who committed no sin, nor was any deceit found in His mouth. And while being reviled, He did not revile in return while suffering. He uttered no threats, but kept entrusting himself to Him who judges righteously. And He himself bore our sins and His body on the cross, so that we might die to sin and live to righteousness for by His wounds, you were healed." And then verse 25 is so true about us. It says, "For you are continually straying like sheep, but now you have returned to the shepherd and guardian of your souls." And, you know, what powerful words I think those are, for us as believers. And really just, you know, if you're wondering how to handle situations in social media, I say, just go back to those two words: boundaries and righteousness. And those are some good guidelines.

Gary Schick
Right. Good stuff, Ben and Jonathan, you know, it is kind of an interesting thing. The internet, it's a new thing in the world, but there's no new sins. And so the internet is an opportunity, I think for, there's a lot of great ministry opportunity there to share the word of Christ. But there's also a lot of opportunity there to get into trouble. You know, I think I heard another pastor talking and I think he said this was a Woody Allen quote. I don't know, I don't follow Woody Allen at all, but I think it's a good quote. Something to the effect that people are themselves, only more so. And I think that is true when people get on social media. I think they're themselves, only more so. I think there's a sense in which, in the privacy of your own home or whatever, you just kind of feel comfortable. Which is good, but you can also kind of let some boundaries or barriers down. They could lead in some negative directions and, you know, without getting into the article that Russ shared with us, you know, it was one of those kinda difficult situations. It wasn't that a sin had specifically been committed, and yet it had drifted to a place where it just wasn't a good situation. And so, I think you guys both had some great scriptures there. Another one that came to my mind is Ephesians 5:3, "But among you, there must not be even a hint of sexual immorality or of any kind of impurity or of greed, because these are improper for God's holy people." So, you know, and I think there's so many ways that people can get into trouble on the internet. I mean, one is viewing inappropriate things. And so, you know, the words of Job kind of come to my mind, you know? "I set a guard over my eyes lest I should look at a woman lustfully." And so, you know, clear back in the Old Testament, Job was already uttering the wisdom of Jesus. You know, basically, watch your eyes. And of course, the internet is a very visual place, so that's one safeguard to have in mind. Another, I think, important safeguard is, putting a guard over our mouths. You know, James talks about the tongue. And not only in this situation, there was some kind of texting going on that would not quit, and wasn't going in a good direction. But Christians do not always reflect Jesus well on Facebook and other places on the internet. I mean, who was it? A guy I used to listen to on the radio, he'd talk about angry evangelicals. And you know, that is not a phrase that should exist. Evangelical means good news. We are proclaimers of the news of Christ. So how is it that we have become, in the world, really viewed over and over again for what we're against instead of the Jesus we're for? So anyway, I just jotted down three things that I think are helpful. Number one: would I want everyone to see this? Would I feel comfortable with everybody seeing either what I'm seeing or what I'm writing or what I'm seeing, you know? Is this open to the world? Because guess what, and this is the trick, and this is where I think social media and the internet can operate, not only is a good thing where it can be ministry, but it also can be one of Satan's lies. And that is that old lie, "Well, nobody will know. Nobody will see." No, good grief, everything you put on the internet's there forever. And first of all, if you wouldn't want everybody to be aware of it, you shouldn't be doing it anyway. That there you've crossed that line of sin. But also you've believed a lie, because at some point, everything you've put out there is likely to be open to the world. And so, you know, would I want everybody to see this? Both as a safeguard to say, "Well, you know, no. Then I probably shouldn't be putting it up there." And guess what, at some point they probably will. Also, I think it's a good question to ask ourselves, "How much time am I spending here?" You know, some of these things are really neither good nor bad, but they can sort of become all consuming. And I don't know, maybe we're getting used to it now, and we're starting to level out. But I remember when I was, you're talking about your first friend on Facebook, I remember when I was trying to learn how to use Facebook. And it just felt like it was like, taking up, you know, I would get home from my day and I would, "What are you doing? He's on Facebook." I was just trying to learn the stupid thing, you know? And early on, I was like, "I need to back away from this." And I kind of barely go on there at all anymore. I'm trying to wish people happy birthday, that's about it. But for a lot of people, it can just kind of become all. And so, maybe no sin is happening, but if it's dominating your life, if it's taking you away from the face to face in touch relationships with people right in front of you, that's not healthy. And I think this is the big one over all of it, "Am I bringing glory to Jesus? Does this glorify Jesus Christ? Am I lifting up the name of Jesus? Or am I getting caught up in all these arguments about culture or politics or whatever it is?" And you might have some really great views and some good points, but honest at the end of the day, if you haven't directed people toward Jesus, what good is it gonna be a thousand years from now? You know, I mean, when we direct people to Jesus, that could be good a thousand years from now, cause they could be a thousand years in eternity with Him versus without Him. I mean, you could be right in everything you're saying and doing, but if you're not pointing people to Jesus, what is it all about in the end? And I guess the counter question is, "Are we distracting from Jesus? Are we becoming known for something else? Are we, as evangelicals, known for anything but the gospel?" Which is what our name is, you know? Evangelical comes from the Greek εὐαγγέλιον; good news gospel. If we're about, I'm not saying that other things aren't important that we shouldn't be working toward a lot of things, but the good news of Jesus Christ needs to be front and center and not detracted from us at all.

What's in the Cross Reference Library? A Little Bit of Modern Christian Romance!

A Sparkle of Silver - Millie Sullivan plays a 1920’s-era guest during tours of a palatial estate on the shore of St. Simons Island, Georgia, where her great-grandmother was a real guest ninety years ago. When Millie learns of a lost diary that may contain the location of a hidden treasure on the estate and reveal the identity of her great-grandfather, she sets out to find the truth of her heritage—and the fortune she desperately needs. But it won’t be easy. When security guard Ben Thornton discovers her snooping in the estate’s private library, he threatens to have her fired. Still, her story seems too ludicrous to be fiction, and her offer to split the treasure is too tempting to pass up. Get ready for a romantic escapade through dark halls and dusty corners that will have you holding your breath and sighing with delight. 

A Glitter of Gold - Anne Norris moved to Savannah, Georgia, for a fresh start. Now her pirate-tour business is flagging and paying the rent requires more than wishful thinking. When she discovers evidence of a shipwreck off the coast of Tybee Island, she knows it could be just the boon she needs to stay afloat. She takes her findings to local museum director Carter Hale for confirmation, but things do not go as planned. Carter is fascinated with the wreck, the discovery of which could open the door to his dream job at a prestigious museum. But convincing Anne to help him fill in the missing pieces of the puzzle is no easy task. And working with Carter means that Anne will have to do the one thing she swore she’d never do again: trust a man. 

A Dazzle of Diamonds - Penelope Hunter loves her job as the event manager at one of Savannah’s premier historic venues—until her ex-fiancé walks into her office with his new bride-to-be. Surely she cannot be expected to plan their wedding. To make matters worse, a scheming social matriarch is threatening to take her big-ticket event elsewhere, especially if Penelope insists on being seen with her best friend, Tucker Westbrook. Since returning from serving two tours in the Middle East, Tucker has built a thriving security company. His work is nearly as stabilizing as his lifelong friendship with Penelope. But when the lone candidate for county sheriff goads him, Tucker loses his cool and ends up on the ballot—and on the receiving end of a smear campaign claiming the Westbrooks were traitors to the South. To clear his name, Tucker and Penelope must join forces to find the truth behind a lost Civil War treasure. But the more time they spend together, the closer she comes to losing her job—and falling helplessly in love. 

Sometimes, Christian Romance novels seem like a Hallmark movie. It is the continuous pattern of: they meet, they begin to fall for one another, there’s a harmless misunderstanding, and by the end everyone has their dream job and gets on their way to living happily ever after. But what fascinated me about Liz Johnson’s Georgia Coast Romance series, was how she introduced us to each of the characters in a way that shows us who they are individually. They aren’t strictly “romance” novels. They’re stories, filled with people who have money problems, family issues, job stress, and so many different things that they have experienced. Aside from the romantic relationships that authors focus on more than an actual story. So today, I’m going to talk about how Liz Johnson incorporated the theme of treasure into her unique romance series. 

The general definition of treasure is: a quantity of precious metals, gems, or other valuable objects; keep carefully (a valuable or valued item). And the latter definition pertains to these novels a bit more than the first definition. But if a treasure is something that you, “keep carefully,” then how do we, like the characters in these novels, end up on a search for lost treasure. How do you lose something that you were supposed to keep safe? Now, if you’re thinking of a treasure as an object, then losing it might make a little more sense (unless you’re actually keeping it under lock and key). In A Sparkle of Silver, we discover that Millie’s lost treasure isn’t the diary at all, but the secrets that it contains. And similarly, in A Glitter of Gold and A Dazzle of Diamonds, finding the remains of a shipwreck and a lost treasure from the Civil War is basically life-altering for the characters of these novels. 

So faith-wise, do you find yourself losing track of the treasures that the Lord has given you? He has given us His word, why don’t we take time to read it? He has given us a way to speak to Him through prayer, why don’t we give Him that time? God has given us so much. Now, it’s our turn to use the gifts He has given us to spread His word and to do His will! Come on in to the Cross Reference Library and check out the Georgia Coast Romance series and even more literary treasures that you may find on our shelves. 

— “But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”  Matthew 6:20-21

What's New at Cross Reference Library? What it Means to Heal

The Miracles Answer Book - How is a miracle different from a coincidence? Can I experience a miracle? Where are miracles most likely to occur? If you wonder about divine phenomena—whether they’re real and where they come from—Christian apologist Lee Strobel has answers to satisfy your heart and your mind. A former atheist turned Christian, Lee launched a two-year investigation of whether God is still performing miracles today. After witnessing multiple events in which God unmistakably intervened in people’s lives in dramatic and well-documented ways, he was a skeptic no more! Using the popular question-and-answer format, Lee will lead you on a voyage of discovery and discernment. You’ll emerge with a deeper faith and a sense of the profound lengths God will go in order to reveal His power and love to humankind. 

Healing What’s Hidden - Over the last decade, Evan and Jenny Owens have helped thousands of people overcome the trials, tragedies, and traumas of their past. In this book, they show you how you can overcome yours too. You’ll learn:

• Four wounds of trauma that distort your view of God, others, and yourself

• Simple yet powerful keys to healing that most people miss 

• A transformational equation that converts pain into purpose

• How to restore what seems broken beyond repair

• How to move forward when you’re stuck in the past

With empathy and insight, they offer a practical, step-by-step process to help you acknowledge your trauma, heal your invisible wounds, and reclaim your future so you can live beyond the anxiety, depression, and shame trauma leaves behind. Others are already experiencing healing. Now it’s your turn.

Reason & Riots - In the midst of teaching school, preparing for her wedding, and dealing with the violent reaction to the railroad accident, Jolie finds herself facing trouble from all sides. Her family’s homestead and the first house they’ve ever owned are threatened. The love lives of two of the younger members of the family arouse high emotions and crazy schemes. The greatest challenge the family has ever faced comes when one of their own is seriously injured. For the first time, Jolie struggles with not being able to take care of everything and everyone. Some would be depressed and crushed, but for Jolie it is a test of endurance and faith. And for the first time in her life, she doesn’t know how things will end. 

Theodicy: The Darkness Rises (Book #6 in the Future Perfect Series) - The Watchers have entered the world, and the Earth will never be the same. These mighty beings have their sights set on world domination. Can they be stopped? What of their children born to Daughters of Men? Who will stand against these Nephilim? The Head of Days has not left the world defenseless, but defeating the enemy will not be an easy fight. And what of Logan? Where do his loyalties now lie when one of the most famous men of history is born?

What Are Some Of The Indications That Something Is God's Will? - Ask the Pastor

You can listen to Ask The Pastor every weekday at 9:00am MST on 97.1FM Hope Radio KCMI! You can also listen and subscribe to Ask The Pastor in your favorite podcast feed. Listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, Amazon Music and most other podcast services.

This edition of Ask the Pastor features Pastors Mike Clement and David Clement.

Mike Clement
All right, so this is a family thing we've got going here tonight. And tonight in church, we actually touched on the whole idea of God's will. When I was a teenager, that was a big thing. We were all wondering what God's will was for our life. And we talked a little bit about it from the word, but I'd like to ask you guys. And I'm gonna start with you, Ariel. What were some of the indications to you, that something was God's will for you or was it God's will for you?

Ariel Clement
First of all, when I went away to college (at that time a lot of people sent their kids to a Christian college to find a mate), and I was not interested in finding a fellow because I had seven brothers and I had all kinds of male companionship; sometimes more than I wanted. And so I was not interested in finding a man to fulfill me at that particular point in time. But my parents had prayed for us as kids that we would marry godly, either men or women, depending on whether what was appropriate there. And I personally hadn't thought a lot about it, but I did because my parents had been so fervent in that. I had prayed also that God would provide for me a special person, but I was not looking for a person. And God did provide in my husband while we were in college. God provided a godly man for me to help me in life and to complete me. The areas that I am weak in, God has him very strong in. And so, I think that if we are willing to follow God and that is our desire, that God will bring people and situations into our life. So that we know that we are doing what He wants us to do.

Mike Clement
Okay. Very good. Did you have a checklist? I mean like in even an unofficial checklist?

David Clement
Bald. Overweight?

Mike Clement
Wow. It was pretty---sorry listeners, you can't see what I look like.

Ariel Clement
My main concern was that he would love the Lord and that he would desire to serve God in whatever God wanted for him. And that he would be someone who was a hard worker and would do what he needed to do so that God would be able to use him.

Mike Clement
You know, I don't think that's a bad thing. I've heard of people that had a big checklist for, "Oh, the person I have to marry needs to be this, that, and the other thing." And if somebody has a checklist like that, there's two things that they ought to do. One is they ought to see if the things that they're expecting are biblical. That really ought to be the main thing on your checklist, you know? Am I wanting what God wants? And another thing would be, do you measure up in those areas? It's one thing to want somebody who is this, that, or the other thing, but are you there? I remember hearing on a message that Howard Hendricks preached on. He's talking to some fella, and he had this great big, long list and he asked the guy, "How many of those things on your list are true in your life?" And he is like, "Well, I had to start scratching some things off." Anyway, so Dave, what about you? How have you discovered God's will for your life?

David Clement
Well again, that's something that people oftentimes ask and desire to know. I think the biggest thing about knowing God's will for our life is: first of all, we need to know God. And we need to have a desire to know Him more. And then we need to ask God to reveal these things to us. I don't think it's as hard as some people like to make it feel. I know when I was younger, I used to think, "Oh, this is just this magical thing that's out there and you’ve got to search for it. And you'll never know if you really have it or not." It's just this magical thing. But what I found in my life at least, was that it wasn't that difficult, as I was going through life doing what was there; God revealed Himself to me. And I think that that's the key, I think part of that is realizing what God has gifted you in. You know, God's gifted, and that's something that I'm walking through with my daughter right now. And she's just graduated high school and just, "Look, your taking some of the things that God has gifted you and some of the things that you get pleasure from and being simple about it." You know, again God doesn't want to punish us by forcing us to do His will, you know? And God's will isn't something that we're just gonna hate. That's not necessarily what's there. Oftentimes God, like you mentioned tonight, He gave us these talents and abilities from before we were born. Knowing what He had planned for us in the future. And so, now there's always room for growth, you know? Just because God's challenged you in this one way, it doesn't mean you don't have anything that you have to work on for the rest of your life, to accomplish His will. That's not true. We do have to strive for other aspects of it, but a lot of times, God, at least I've found in my life is, that God will just delight me in the things that He is bringing me to. And I just follow Him. And the scripture says, "Take delight in the Lord, and He will give you the desires of your heart." And, you know, when we are doing what He asked us to do, and when we are following Him, then He reveals His will to us.

Mike Clement
Yeah. The passage says, "To make God known in your ways, and in all your ways acknowledge Him and He will give you the desires of your heart." And there's a whole explanation of that. The passage that I used tonight in church was Ephesians 2:10, and most of us know Ephesians 2:8-9, "For by grace, you have saved through faith---and that not of yourselves, that is the gift of God. Not of works lest any man should boast," which is a reminder to us that you cannot earn your salvation. You could never be good enough, you could never change enough. You can't undo anything that you've already done. It's not possible to earn God's forgiveness, but it goes on to say, "For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God has before ordained that we should walk in them." And so it goes on to say, "On the one hand, you're not saved by works, but you're saved under good works." There are things that God intended for your life, and in fact, He created you in such a way that you could do what He wants you to do. One way to discern God's will for your life is, "Is this something I can do?" Now, it may be something that you don't like to do. It may be something that you need to learn how to do better. But if something is not possible for you to do, you don't have to worry about that. The Christian life, I should add, is not possible to live in the power of the flesh. It is not possible to live the way God wants us to live just by our own means and our own ability. But He's given the believer the Holy Spirit dwelling within, to empower us. So we can live the Christian life the way God wants us to live. "But even before," this verse says, "Even before you were born, you were His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works. Which He prepared beforehand that we should walk in them." God had a plan for your life. And so, the verse tells us that God does have a plan for our life. And the verse goes on to tell us that whatever that plan is, that we're already equipped. We have the tools that are necessary to be able to learn to do that. There's some things that I enjoy that I'm not very good at. You know, I'd like to play basketball, some kinds of basketball with the teens at camp and different things. I am never gonna be a basketball player. If I devoted my whole life to being a basketball player, I would've been a miserable failure, and been miserable at it. There's actually a Christian book that was written a number of years ago. And the fellow, in His book, said that God's will is fluid. It's not specific. God's will for you isn't necessarily one thing or another, there are a number of options you can choose out of all those options and be perfectly in God's will. And what was interesting, was he started using Bible characters and he said "Like Isaiah. He didn't have to be a prophet. He could have done something else." Well, I think the guy doesn't know what he's talking about. I think Isaiah had to be a prophet. Apostle Paul said, "Woe is me if I preach not the gospel." And now, there may be some flexibility within God's will, but I don't think it's a toss up. I believe that He has a perfect will. Now I do believe that in order for us to understand His will for our life, we need to want to do it.

David Clement
Well, I think that's something that's very key, you know? And, you know, people often think of God's will, as far as it comes to a mate people. And that's one thing that I thought was just cool here recently, just talking to one of the people in our church. Obviously, and mom talked about it just a little bit ago with the idea of sending your kids off to school to find a mate. And, you know, find a Christian just to find a Christian mate. And these folks in our church, they prayed about where to send their kids, because they knew that that was a possibility. The interesting thing is, all three of their kids went to school and none of them found their godly mate at school. They all found them. They found godly mates, but not at school. You know, but it was just a reminder to me of being where God wants you to be when God wants you to be there. One of them, one of the young ladies was up at camp. She was just at a camp retreat, and there was a young man there all the way from the state of California that she would've never met probably any other way. However, she was where God wanted her to be. And he was where God wanted him to be. And he wasn't there to have fun, he was there to work. He was there working with his family. And here, God had brought both of them, following the Lord, and God had brought both of them together. But the same is true in every aspect, not just that one, you know? I know that I was a pastor for a while, an interim pastor in a church here in town for a while. And I never really thought myself as being a pastor before. You know, again, I didn't really see myself gifted in that area. Didn't really see myself along those lines of preaching. But the more that God, I considered myself a servant. God really, when I do things for people, I find the most pleasure in helping people. And it's just for bringing me the most pleasure in my life, is when I'm able to help people. And so, you know, whether it's at work and doing a service for people at work. I own my own business now, and I get pleasure in that. But God worked on my heart when it came to taking this position as the interim pastor. And as I thought, "No, no, no, I'm not a preacher. I'm not a speaker. I'm not any of these other things." God said, "No, but these people need to see somebody." And I realized that I could serve people and still get great pleasure and joy out of it. Even though it was serving in a way that I wasn't comfortable doing. And so, my spiritual gift, if you wanna call it that, still was in play there. It wasn't that I was an evangelist. It wasn't that I was a great speaker or anything else. But God touched my heart through the spiritual gift that these people need somebody. And it was a way that I was able to serve the Lord by realizing, "Yeah, the Lord had gifted me." Not necessarily in that. And that's a whole other story about a pastor's responsibilities and his jobs. But in all reality, speaking from the pulpit is one of his least responsibilities.

What's New at Cross Reference Library?

Joni & Ken: An Untold Love Story - Tragic circumstances often stretch relationships to their breaking point. But God’s grace is always more than enough. For Ken and Joni Eareckson Tada, enduring quadriplegia, chronic pain, cancer, and depression only made their love more vibrant through thirty years of marriage. Discover a bond that has seen the worst and claimed the best. With sixteen pages of photos, peek into Joni and Ken’s challenges firsthand. Discover God’s immeasurable grace along the way as their story inspires and enriches your own relationships. 

Journey: A Study of Peter for Stumbling Toward Jesus’s Extravagant Grace - Peter was an ordinary, hardworking, often overlooked fisherman. But that didn't stop God from calling him on an extraordinary journey to become a lasting and inspiring example for Christians worldwide. In this eight-week inductive Bible study, Jodie Niznik follows Peter’s complicated, often rocky journey of following Jesu. She delves into the ways Peter’s missteps and failures reveal God’s grace, and shows where we can draw parallels to our own lives and struggles. Moreover, she helps you establish specific mindfulness practices for approaching each week’s study with a quiet mind and a ready heart. Though Peter lived two thousand years ago, his life is still proof that God can use your life for His glory—despite all the ways you may feel yourself failing, coming up short, or falling away.

Does God Knowing The Future Negate Our Free Will? - Ask the Pastor

You can listen to Ask The Pastor every weekday at 9:00am MST on 97.1FM Hope Radio KCMI! You can also listen and subscribe to Ask The Pastor in your favorite podcast feed. Listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, Amazon Music and most other podcast services.

This edition of Ask the Pastor features Pastors Ben Cline, Gary Schick and Johnathan Hernandez.

Gary Schick

All right. Well, our question for today is, "Does God knowing the future, negate our free will? Do we have a free will? What is the extent of that will?" Well, I can freely say I have no choice, but...actually, Jonathan, would you get us started on, kind of a tough question? Where do free will and predestination meet? Or do they?

Jonathan Hernandez

Yeah, definitely. So this question definitely could be a four or five episode type of question. You know, we could really dive into a lot of theology, I guess, and debates and different things with this. You know, free will, predestination, those type of different things; we could hop into a lot of those. But, you know, I think for me, I think of this question and sometimes I think we want every answer to every single thing. We wanna know God completely, and I think that's a great thing for us to go after, cause we should go after knowing God as much as we can. You know, but I think of things like, "how can God be three in one?" You know, that's a question that I think we can go after forever and not fully, you know; our finite minds can't fully comprehend some of these things and stuff. And so, you know, I think of some of those questions. But you know, I think of 1 Corinthians 10:23, and it says, "you say 'I'm allowed to do anything,' but not everything is good for you. You say 'I'm allowed to do anything,' but not everything is beneficial." You know, we have free will to pick these different things, but how much of it is beneficial for us to actually do? You know, I can freely decide to, you know, do something that's harmful, but is it actually beneficial in the end? You know, when we see this verse it's making it, you know, why it's true that we have the right to do anything we want. The truth is, everything we do is not beneficial for us too. And then, how beneficial is it for us, or for the people that are around us too? You know, I think of that question. Even as in 1 Corinthians 10:23, if we jump to the next verse in 24, it says, "Don't be concerned for your own good, but also the good of others." You know, so I, when we think about free will we have to also think about, "if I have free will to do anything or everything, is it beneficial? Not only to me, but for, you know, the people that are around me. And if it's not beneficial for us, then should we be doing it?" You know? So I look at some of those things. Like I said, we could go for a long time on a lot of these questions. So I think we look at free will and then divine sovereignty. You know, is it human's responsibility and then is it God's responsibility? You know, where is the line, you know, in that. And so I had just a couple verses that we could look at. John 1:12, it says, "But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God and to those who believe in His name." So we would look at that and we would say, "Is that human responsibility, or is that divine sovereignty?" And based off of what we just read, we'd probably say that's human responsibility. But if we go to the next verse in 13, it says, "Who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God." We'd look at that, and we'd say that leans more on divine sovereignty. So, you have these two back-to-back verses and one's human responsibility and one's divine sovereignty. And we could actually go to Matthew and we have the same thing in 11:25. And it says, "At that time, Jesus answered and said, 'I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that You have hidden these things from the wise and the prudent and have revealed them to the babes. Even so, Father, for so it seemed good in Your sight. All things have been delivered to Me by My Father and no one knows the Son except the Father. Nor the father, anyone knows, except the son. And the one to whom the son wills to reveal Him." We would look at that and we'd say that's divine sovereignty. And then if we jump to the next one, it says, "Come to me all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest." And we'd say that one's human's responsibility. So, we could go back and forth on this, you know, debate, and I guess, depending on what church you're raised in, you'd have the two different Calvinist thought processes or the median thought processes. And so, that's kind of where I'm sitting. That I'm kind of in the middle on that.

Ben Cline

So you're saying that you're a Calvinist Armenian?

Jonathan Hernandez

Yeah. Somewhere in the middle.

Ben Cline

So, like you said, this is one of those hot questions. And it's a hot question because we don't understand it, and so we debate it a lot. And, you know, thinking of how the question itself was worded. You know, he talks about, or the listener talks about God knowing the future. And I think another way of thinking of God knowing the future; another way to say that is that He's sovereign. That He's sovereign over all things. And what that means is that He has control and He has full understanding over all things. And those are two things that we don't have.

Gary Schick

We are always trying to get them though, aren't we?

Ben Cline

Right. Yeah, we don't have full control, we don't have full understanding over all those things. But in that sovereignty, it's so interesting because, you know, in that sovereignty that God has, He has given us the free will to make choices. And, you know, how does that work exactly? Well, we don't know. It's impossible, I think, for us to fully understand, you know, how those two things intertwine together. But there, I think, are a couple of things from scripture that we do know for sure. One of those things is that God knows all things. I was reading through Psalm 139 and in the first four verses it says, "Oh Lord, you have searched me and known me. You know when I sit down and when I rise up; you understand my thought from afar. You scrutinize my path and my lying down, and are intimately acquainted with all my ways. Even before there is a word on my tongue, behold oh Lord, You know it all." And that Psalm just goes on and talks more and more about the knowledge that God has. He knows everything about us. He knows our future, He knows our past. And, the other thing that we know for sure is that God has given us the ability or the free will to make choices. And we see that even back all the way to the first human beings on earth, right? That God gave them the ability to make choices. And what did they choose? Well, they chose something like you were saying Jonathan, "that was not beneficial." And yeah, it messed a lot of things up. And, you know, I can't blame that on them, because I can't say that, you know, I wouldn't have made the same choice. But, you know, God did give us those choices. But another thing that we know for sure is that we must choose God or be eternally separated from Him. And Romans 3 makes that very clear, like you were talking about with the responsibility that we are accountable for our choices. It says in Romans 3:19 that we are accountable to God. But you know, even though we find difficulty in trying to understand this, I think that there's a couple of warnings in this first of all. You know, one is that there are a couple of extremes that people take. One is: the extreme of emphasizing God's sovereignty so much that it eliminates our free will, at least in our minds. And that's kind of like the scenario where we're just all these pre-programmed robots that God has created that are walking around on the earth, and we really don't have any free choice. But, you know, the other extreme is: emphasizing the free will of man so much that in our minds, it means that God doesn't still have full control. And, you know, both of those things are not, you know, a biblical way of thinking of things. I came across this quote as I was reading about this. It says, "The truth is that God does not violate our will by choosing and redeeming us. Rather, He changes our hearts so that we will choose Him." And then they talked about 1 John 4:19 that says, "We love Him because He first loved us." And then, John 15:16, where he says, "You did not choose me, but I chose you." And so we have these dynamics that just make things, you know, so interesting for us to think through. But there is a point of encouragement here too. That the sovereignty of God is not meant to be something that we're, you know, to be really concerned or anxious over. It's supposed to be something that gives us comfort. And, you know, so I guess my encouragement is: even though we don't, and never will completely understand that, you know, to have comfort in that fact that God is sovereign over our lives, but that he's also given us the free will to make choices.

Gary Schick

Right. Well, you know, and it's a hard question. A lot of people struggle with it. I think the reason is, as you guys have both pointed out, and I love this, cause you come from really different backgrounds, but I think we're in agreement here. Both sides of this question are actually true. God is fully sovereign, knows the future, determines every outcome. On the other hand, we are absolutely free and act entirely as free agents. And so someone said, "Well, you can't have it both ways, there's a contradiction." Well, but there's also something in this world called a paradox. And it's a place where two outwardly opposed truths come together as one. And we see throughout scripture, as you have pointed out, and I think Jonathan, you did a great job of taking us to several scriptures where we have both truths. Man is freely choosing; God is sovereignly determining. And so it's not an either or, they're both occurring. And so we see this throughout scripture, that those predestined for good, whose actions, and those who are predestined in some ways for evil; both according to their own desire, and yet nevertheless fulfilling God's will. And so like, for example, you know, we would look at the Old Testament. We read about these pagan princes, like Nebuchadnezzar and Cyrus and others, and they are freely acting on their own. They don't even know the Lord, and yet they are fulfilling to the letter, His good plan. We see it in the New Testament. We see it in Judas. Judas is fulfilling scriptures that we read about in Psalms, and yet he is completely acting on his own, and receiving the penalty for it. And preeminently, of course, we see it in Jesus Himself, who fulfills God's will in all things. And personally, I respectfully disagree with those who say, and I didn't hear it from either of you guys today, "That God, you know, He knows what we are gonna choose in the future. And then He just sort of shapes the future around our choices." I think rather, He doesn't weigh it on us, but He takes the lead in all things. We are not predestined according to our choices, but according to His will. Nevertheless, we act as free agents, and I think your scriptures pointed that out. I also think of, you know, that story between the sun and the wind. And they both said, "Well, let's see who can get that guy to take off his coat." And so I think a lot of times we think about God's predestining work as if it's somehow forced. It's a little bit like the wind. "And so he just blows harder and harder and he gets colder and colder, and the guy just wraps his coat around him tighter and tighter. And then the sun says, 'my turn' and he just warms the guy up and the guy just, 'oh, it's a warm day,' and he just takes off his coat." And so you see, there he's freely acting, but also in response to what something greater is doing. And so, we do act according to our natures, and I guess left to just that, nothing good is gonna come. So I'm glad that God is sovereign, and I'm glad that He intercedes. And actually, I think if anything, He's curbing the outcomes of what I would set in motion. And I really also love, not only what Jonathan shared, but Ben, what you were saying about the comfort aspect of this. While these truths, kind of like this was pointed out in the Trinity, it's a little beyond us. We can kind of glimpse it, you know, we can see it in different things. Nevertheless, it is given to us as a comfort. And so I just want to close with a few words here from Ephesians that put the predestining work of God in terms of a comfort to us. "In Him, we have obtained an inheritance. Having been predestined according to the purpose of Him who works all things according to the council of His will. So that we who were first to hope in Christ, might be to the praise of His glory. In Him, you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation and believed in Him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit. Who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of His glory." And it's a passage that's talking about our salvation, it's a passage about the fact that we freely embrace the salvation in Christ. And yet, that God in His sovereignty is sealing us and destining us to greater things than we could ever hope for. And so, you know, I think what it really comes down to as a comfort is, is that in Christ we don't do what we would just do naturally on our own. We don't slip. We place our hand in a hand that is much firmer than ours. And the grip is tight, for our benefit. You know, when I'm holding my kids, as I'm walking on the hike and there's kind of a steep drop, they're not saying, "Oh dad, you know, leave me alone so that I can fall off this cliff." They're saying, "You know, thank you. That you hold me fast and I can enjoy the view from the comfort of being kept safe in your arms." And I think that is the healthier way to look at what is frankly, a mystery.

What's New at Cross Reference Library? Timeless Hymns for Family Worship

Joni Eareckson Tada and Bobbie Wolgemuth wrote this book together. “Two girls with boys’ names,” they were the best of friends. Then Bobbie stepped into heaven. Now Joni invites you to rediscover some of our faith’s most beloved hymns, embrace their rich spiritual truths, and discover their fascinating historical background. Find comfort and strength in classics like “Holy, Holy, Holy!,” “A Mighty Fortress Is Our God,” and “How Great Thou Art.” Experience God’s love, hope, and peace as you worship together as a family.

When I saw that this book was donated for our library, I was really interested in what Joni and her dear friend Bobbie, had discovered. Along with being fascinated by history and what stories can be told through it, I also really love hymns! Before finding the church I’m in now, I grew up in a little country church with a congregation of 10 people. And during our worship time, everyone would pick up a hymnal and find song requests for my grandma—also the church pianist—to play as we sang along. I simply loved that part of the church service! It didn’t matter how good or bad anyone sang; the strength of the piano and of the lyrics in those beautiful hymns seemed to turn 10 people into 50. As I read through this book, I was excited to see Joni add some pretty interesting input to some of my favorite hymns. A good example is her commentary on, “How Great Thou Art:”

“You already know what it feels like to marvel at something like the mighty ocean or a massive thunderstorm or a sky filled with unbelievably bright stars. When you choose to follow Jesus, prepare to be blown away by His love and grace and power. The more time you spend in His presence, the more you will learn about Him and the more you will become like Him. You’ll experience His greatness and awesomeness, and you’ll live a life of excitement and adventure.”

In reading this book, you will find great thoughts about some of the best hymns ever written. And maybe the next time you are taking part in the worship service in your church, think about what the lyrics mean to you and your relationship with the Lord. So come on down to the Cross Reference Library and check out this beautiful book.

How Do We Reconcile The Seemingly Different Scriptures As It Relates To Faith And Works? - Ask the Pastor

You can listen to Ask The Pastor every weekday at 9:00am MST on 97.1FM Hope Radio KCMI! You can also listen and subscribe to Ask The Pastor in your favorite podcast feed. Listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, Amazon Music and most other podcast services.

This edition of Ask the Pastor features Pastors Ben Cline, Gary Schick and Johnathan Hernandez.

Gary Schick

You know what I kind of appreciate about these questions? One, every week they're honest. And two, it not only allows us to look at the scripture, but also there's things, and today's gonna be one of them, where we've kind of heard this, but is that exactly how it was? You know what I mean? So I know for my part, I'm gonna dig into that a little bit too. But anyway, it's just kind of good to be able to look into scripture and history and then back to scripture again, and where it all kind of comes together. So here is today's question that kind of deals with a little of both. "How do we reconcile the seemingly different scriptures in Romans and James, as it relates to faith and works? Martin Luther could not reconcile them." So, Jonathan, what have you got on this?

Jonathan Hernandez

Yeah, so I have quite a few scriptures, so we'll try to see what we can get through. So I started with James 2:24, and it says, "you see then that a man is justified by works and not by faith alone." But then when we jump to Romans or jump backwards, I guess to Romans, we have Romans 3:28. It says, "therefore, we conclude that a man is justified by faith apart from deeds of the law." And so when we look at those two scriptures, we'd say, "Whoa, those kind of contradict each other, right? And we know that scripture doesn't contradict itself, and so when I looked at this, I looked at the word justified out of here. And my Greek's not very good so, so sorry, but it's δικαίωσις(dik-ah'-yo-sis). And so to define that, it would say, "to show to be righteous or declared righteous," are the two meanings for this word. And so we look in Romans and in Romans, it's more of like a legal meaning and so it's 'one who's declared righteous or acquitted.' And so we'd say that's the process of justification. You know, there's a process where we become right with God, we're sinners and we repented and then we believe in Christ. And so therefore, Christ declares us righteous. And so that's the way we would look at those things, and then we would see this throughout the whole book of Romans. And then also in Galatians and Titus, they kind of follow the same declared righteous process. And to kind of give you scriptures within that, we'd have like Romans 3:24, "Being justified freely by his grace, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus." Then we'd have Romans 4:2-5, Galatians 2:16, Galatians 3:24, and then Titus 3:7. And with these each, they would be walking that line of being declared righteous and instead of being shown to be righteous. And then the second meaning, like I said, "is to be shown to be righteous," and we'd see that here in the book of James. And James says, "we see Abraham's work show He was righteous," and this is out of James 2:21-23. "Don't you remember that our ancestor Abraham was shown to be righteous because of what he did when he offered his son Isaac on the altar?" And so we're seeing this same word, "justified," but in a different light. With Romans it's, "to be declared righteous," and here it's that we're being "shown to be righteous." James 2:25, where it talks about Rahab, is another example, she was shown to be righteous with God by her actions. And so they just can continue to walk down this line of showing to be righteous. And so I think a lot of times when we look at this word, and even any words, we look at them and we think of our meanings for everything. And so we're using that through the scriptures instead of looking "Okay, what does the intended word here mean when we look at these things?" So, we would say, "okay. James, isn't disagreeing with Paul by saying that we are declared righteous by faith and works." And, you know, even though they look like it's two totally different things, they're still walking the same line. And so that's kind of how I would put this, you know? The main goal of Paul is to teach the true meaning of justification by faith alone and how a person is saved. And then in James, they're teaching how to declare the genuineness of someone's faith. And so we're seeing that's where---I guess that's what I wrote down---how I looked at it and how I would justify how these all come together. Or reconcile it.

Gary Schick

And it's not an easy question. I mean, Luther did struggle with it as we'll see. But excellent, thank you. Ben?

Ben Cline
Yeah. Thank you, Jonathan. You know, I was looking through this last night and this really is one of those questions that I really appreciate, because it's one that really makes us delve in scripture. And so, you know, just looking into the passages that are in Romans and the passage that is in James, you know? One of the things that I was thinking about is that God has certain desires for us as Christians, as followers of Him. And, you know, one desire is that we have faith in the finished work, the finished work of Christ on the cross. And that's a desire that He has for us. And that is something that He says, "Believe in this, and you will be saved," but He also has the desire for us to walk in righteousness. You know, holiness is a big, big topic in scripture. And, you know, in Romans, Paul makes the argument that we are justified by faith apart from the law. And it's really interesting, I came across Romans 6:1-2, and he says, "What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin so that grace may increase?" And he says, "may it never be. How shall we, who died to sin still live in it?" And then I think that James is actually kind of answering that question, and he says, "We don't continue to live in sin. We live in holiness." You know, I came across an article last night, too, you know, as I was looking through different things. And the person who wrote this article, they said, "James doesn't teach a different gospel than Paul. He simply emphasizes that faith and works are inseparable. James warns about hiding in a merely theoretical faith that has no practical relevance." And I just thought that was such a great way to put that. That our faith is, you know, practically what saves us and what declares us as righteous before God. But there is a result, right? There's a result from that. And that is that God wants us to live a holy life before Him. And, you know, there's passages in Titus 2, just a couple of passages I wanted to read real quick. And these are two passages that I think tie these two ideas together very, very, succinctly. And this is Titus 2 starting in verse 11, it says, "For the grace of God has appeared bringing salvation to all men." And then it says, "Instructing us to deny ungodliness and worldly desires. And to live sensibly, righteously, and godly in the present age; looking for the blessed hope in the appearing of the glory of our great God and savior Jesus Christ. Who gave Himself for us to redeem us from every lawless deed. And to purify for Himself, a people for His own possession, zealous for good deeds."

Gary Schick
"Zealous for good deeds." Saved by faith, but the good deeds should follow.

Ben Cline
Yeah, exactly. And then he ends that by saying, "These things speak and exhort and reprove with all authority and let no one disregard you." And that's the approach that I think both Paul and James are taking. They're speaking it with authority and they're not allowing anyone to disregard those words. The other passage, you know, you guys know Ephesians 2:8-10. You know, that we're saved by grace through faith, and it's not by works so that none of us can boast. But then it talks about, in verse 10, that we were created by Christ Jesus for the works that He laid out before us. And so those things are tied together in scripture, they're inseparable.

Gary Schick
Well, and as I looked into this, you know, I kind of thought about that little piece there too, about Luther and his struggle. With what he saw as a contradiction between Paul and Romans and James. And, you know, he did not seem to like the book of James. He appears to have taken an issue with it. He didn't think it expressed the nature of the gospel, because it appeared in his mind to contradict Paul's statement about justification, by being justified by faith. And because it didn't seem to directly mention Christ after the opening verse. And so here's what Luther actually said, he said, "Therefore, St. James epistle is really an epistle of straw compared to these others, for it has nothing of the nature of the gospel about it." So that, there's a slam; but it gets worse. So he was openly critical of James. He wondered if it belonged in the Bible. He never though, and this is important, he never formally proposed that it should be removed from the scriptures though. Even though he didn't like it, he didn't say we should take it out. And he did, however, interestingly suggested it be taken out of the schools. So here's the first guy saying, "Let's pull it out of the school." And here's what he said about that, he said, "We should throw the epistle of James out of this school, for it doesn't amount to much. It contains not a syllable about Christ, not once. Does it mention Christ except at the beginning? I maintain that some Jew wrote it, probably, who wrote it and probably heard about Christian people, but never encountered any. Since he heard that Christians place great weight on faith in Christ, he thought, 'Wait a moment. I'll oppose them and urge works alone. And this, he did." Well, those are really strong words. But here's something really interesting about Luther. So outwardly he's, "I don't want James," but when I was in seminary, somebody did a statistical analysis of all of Luther's quotes of scripture. And here's, what's really cool. Luther quoted James as often, and with the same authority to which he gave any other scripture. Anything that Paul wrote or anywhere else. So he didn't like it, because in his mind it contradicted. But at the same time, he quoted it as frequently as any other scripture. And I think what we have to keep in mind friends, is historically where Luther was coming from. You know, today James is like the favorite book of most Christians I know, because it is so practical in how we live out our faith. What does living faith look like? But in Luther's day, that wasn't exactly the question. In Luther's day, the church of Rome had so befuddled the gospel by saying, "You know, faith is good, but you can't be saved without faith plus doing these works." And then even defining what these specific works of righteousness were, that had to be added to your faith. And this was a struggle for Luther. If you know his story, he wanted to earn his salvation. I mean, he was going to his confessor every day saying, "And I had this thought and I had that thought." To the point where his confessors said, "Luther, come to me when you got something worth confessing," you know? But he was right in the sense that, "I can't be pure enough for a holy God." Until he came to Paul's words (Romans 1:17), where Paul is actually quoting Habakkuk 2:4. "The just shall live by faith." This is Luther's salvation verse. This is where he is set free from trying to earn his salvation. The just will live by faith, will be justified by faith; as you pointed out in the scriptures you guys each read. And that's a quote that he pulls up again in Galatians 3:11. And by the way, it's also quoted by the author of Hebrews in Hebrews 10:38. Which, some believe Paul could have been the author of Hebrews, we don't entirely know. I think where it all comes together for me is, Ephesians 2:8-9. Paul says it so beautifully, "For it is by grace that you have been saved, through faith---this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God---not by works, so that no one can boast." So Paul, for the people in the time of the reformation, and for us as well makes it crystal clear: you are saved by faith, not by works. However, and this is where we sometimes forget. We also gotta look to verse 10 for Paul writes, "We are God's handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do." So Paul is saying, "look, you're saved by faith, not because of anything you do." And yet he continues, "and saving faith then has this fruit of good works." Yeah, it's not getting the cart before the horse. We're saved by faith and saving faith does good works. And this is where he and James actually come together, because they're answering different questions. Paul is saying to brand new believers who are trying to work their own way into heaven, "Cut it out. You can't do that. You can't work your way in, this is a gift you receive." James is saying to those new believers, "And now having received this faith, this is how you live it out." And curiously, while, you know, mentioning the fact of James, he really does only name Jesus right there at the beginning. But he refers to Jesus over and over again in the sense that he is quoting Jesus' teaching. Particularly, from the Sermon on the Mount, which is all about how we live out our faith. All through his beautiful, practical letter. So on the surface, do they seem to contradict? Sure. But when you dig in, James and Paul, as you guys pointed out, walk hand in hand. And Luther, on the surface, can't stand the book of James, but underneath, when it gets practical, when in terms of living out our faith, he's quoting James just as much as anybody else, because it's God's word. And, you know, we make a lot of a guy like Martin Luther, because he was the springboard to the reformation. But his words, thankfully are not divine scripture, are they? You know, they were a guide to the people of his time, as they were really shaking free from something heavy. A heavy chain that we are not walking in today. So we gotta give Luther a little bit of a break for his strong words, which are overboard, because he was facing something that was overboard. And that was the idea that somehow, it's Christ plus all the merits of the saints, plus what you and I can do plus...and you just can never do enough if you're trying to earn your way in. So, is there any more that you guys have on that?

Ben Cline
No, this is great!

Gary Schick
Yeah. Kind of fun to dig into the history too, isn't it? We're living in hard times. He did too.

What Did Jesus Mean In Matthew 3:15? - Ask the Pastor

You can listen to Ask The Pastor every weekday at 9:00am MST on 97.1FM Hope Radio KCMI! You can also listen and subscribe to Ask The Pastor in your favorite podcast feed. Listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, Amazon Music and most other podcast services.

This edition of Ask the Pastor features Pastors Ben Cline, Gary Schick and Johnathan Hernandez.

Gary Schick
Well, here's the question guys, "In Matthew 3:15, what did Jesus mean when he said 'permit it to be so now; for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness." Jonathan, what do you think?

Jonathan Hernandez
Yeah, so this portion of scripture is talking when Jesus walks up to John the Baptist and asks him to baptize him. And we all know that John's like, "Wait, what? Shouldn't you be doing this to me?" And so, you know, we get into this verse where Jesus says, "permit it to be so now; for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness." And so as we look at this, I look at it as, so this is the completing of every righteous requirement. This is what Jesus is basically saying. "I've come to complete all these things," and we see that on the cross, "but here I'm fulfilling the the cleansing of the lamb." Cause He's the lamb that dies for us, the sacrificial lamb. So He was a sacrificial lamb, this is the cleansing of Him in that sense the Lamb's supposed to be spotless, blemish. And obviously we know that Jesus, you know, has no sin. So the baptism that John is baptizing with is that repentance. And we would ask, "Okay well, why is Jesus being baptized when He has nothing to repent of?" Right? He's already clean, He's already spotless, but He's taking these on for us, you know? And ultimately He'll die on the cross for our sins. So this is how I see it, as that was the fulfillment of every righteous requirement leading up towards that cross.

Ben Cline
Yeah, again it's important, like Jonathan did, to look at the context of that verse. And just to understand that Jesus definitely did not have to be baptized. He didn't need the baptism of John, because again He didn't have anything to repent for. Jesus was perfect and he didn't have any sin but, you know, you think of this as a time of transition too. Where people had been following John the Baptist and they'd been following his teaching and he had been teaching them about two things. He had been teaching them about repentance, and then the second thing was very closely tied to that. They were, you know, repenting in anticipation for the coming Messiah, and now this time of transition, they're transitioning from following John and his teaching to following Jesus and His teaching. This really was the launch of the public ministry of Jesus into the world and He would be teaching sinners about Himself.

Ben Cline
And so when you think about Jesus being baptized by John the Baptist, again, He really had no need of the baptism of repentance. But it was a way for Him to identify with the sinners that He came to save. And it really was a beautiful picture as well, just the baptism that happened that day. There were really a couple of cool things that I think came out of that. You know, number one: that being baptized by John the Baptist was, you know, I think a validation of John's teaching and his ministry. And then also you see in that baptism, a picture of the three persons of the Godhead who are involved. You know, Jesus being baptized in water, He was picturing his death, burial, and resurrection. And then, you see the Holy Spirit's presence there with the dove just showing His presence of truth and His presence of peace throughout the life and ministry of Jesus Christ. And then the Father also coming in and they could audibly hear His voice and saying that He was pleased with His Son and also loving Him through that sacrifice that He would be making. So just some thoughts. I mean, I'm not sure if, you know, I answered this particular question, but there's some thoughts that I think relate back to that question.

Gary Schick
Well and, you know, one thing that I was thinking was, as we look at this verse, and I think you guys did a great job with it. We look at it in the context of what comes before and after. And so I'm just gonna pause here and read the passage from Matthew, starting at verse 13. It says, "then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan, to John to be baptized by him. John would have prevented him saying, 'I need to be baptized by you and you come to me?' But Jesus answered him, 'Let it be so; for thus, it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness,' then he consented. And when Jesus was baptized immediately, He went up from the water and behold, the heavens were open to Him and He saw the spirit of God, descending like a dove and coming to rest on Him. And behold, a voice from heaven said, 'this is my beloved Son with whom I am well pleased." And so, just to kind of recap what you both said. Number one: John got it right with his question, "I need to be baptized by you Jesus, cause you're the sinless one," you know? And so Jesus is not coming for the washing wave of His sins, just like He didn't go to the cross for His sins. But He is, from the baptism to the cross identifying with, actually it starts at the conception when He identifies with us and our humanity. But now, He is really identifying His mission. He's come to be identified with the sins of the world, even though they are not His. And to walk in this life in a public way, and at the same time, as He is identified with us, the Holy Spirit and the Father---the other two aspects of the Triune God---identify with Him publicly. The Spirit descends upon Him, and the voice from heaven, "Here is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased." And so at his first public identification with us in our humanity, the Father and the Spirit publicly announce His divinity. And as you pointed out so well, the whole mission is encapsulated. And even right down now, you know, to our baptism, which is different than the baptism of John. It was, you know, repentance and preparation for the Messiah. And here He is now, ours looks back on Him and celebrates. You know, everything we do in baptism, no matter what your background is on that, it's still really about the same thing. It's about Jesus. It's about the washing away that He came to do, that we receive by faith in Him and just how totally exciting that is!