We come to God in a variety of ways. This devotional reading looks at different ways of accepting religion.
Nuggets
- We get out of religion what we put into it.
If we were to give the devotions we’ve completed in this study a name, we would call it the Outward v. Inward series. If I’ve done my job, we’ve compared the two and found out we don’t want an outward religion.
We want an inward religion. The rest of the devotions will tell us how to get that. It is the Getting Religion series.
The problem is we all come at religion from different ways. We are all different people with different values and different experiences.
We also have different expectations. Some think it is a one-and-done shot that leads to total peace and contentment.
What do we get with religion, and how do we go about getting it?
Let's Put It into Context
To read devotions in the Habitual Holiness of Heart and Life theme, click the button below.
Here is a running list of nuggets for the theme.
Devotions in the Outward and Inward Religion study
Here is a running list of nuggets for the study.
We are using Boston’s sermon as the foundation for this series.
Resource
Weight of Acceptance
“For which of you, desiring to build a tower, does not first sit down and count the cost, whether he has enough to complete it? Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation and is not able to finish, all who see it begin to mock him, saying, ‘This man began to build and was not able to finish’” (Lk. 14: 28-30 ESV)
We get out of religion what we put into it.
Boston said that each of us puts a different importance on religion. He wrote, “In the weight which their entering on their religion had on their spirits. Some come very lightly by their religion; hence it sits lightly upon them, and often goes as lightly from them. They venture upon building a tower without counting the cost. To others it is not so easy, but they are brought to the utmost seriousness in the matter (Luke 14:28, 29); hence they go to the bottom of the matter, while others satisfy themselves with superficial work.”
Resource
At first glance, we may be somewhat surprised that there are different weights of acceptance in our spirits regarding religion. I mean, God is pretty explicit about His expectations for us.
If we are doing this, wouldn’t we be doing it the right way?
Not necessarily for some.
We all have different reasons for seeking God. Some may just want salvation from the horrible thing they are going through at the moment. Others might like the principle of God, as we talked about in the last devotion, but not the reality of submitting to that God.
Then we have those that just want the fire insurance.
Let’s face it. What God is calling us to do is not always easy.
In fact, it is downright hard. “And he said to all, ‘If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me’” (Lk. 9: 23 ESV).
We may have different concepts of how hard it will be to follow Jesus. So, some just jump in when we hear His message.
Jesus said we shouldn’t. He wants us to count the cost.
But what does counting the cost even mean? Keach explained that by telling us what it means to be a non-counter. He wrote, “They counted not the cost — what corruptions they must mortify, what temptations they must withstand, what reproaches they must expect to meet with, what enemies they may find, and what relations they may enrage and stir up against them.”
Resource
Jesus likened it to building a tower. Keach said there was a specific reason He did this. We know in the Old Testament people tried to build a tower to reach Heaven (Gen. 11: 1-9).
They had the goal right. The motivations were wrong.
We need to aspire to Heaven. But we can only attain that by accepting God’s Plan of Salvation and all that means. The foundation must be built on Jesus.
Salvation is the gift of life through the deliverance from condemnation and sin to acceptance and holiness and changes us from being spiritually dead to spiritually alive.
- Sin is not believing that Jesus is our Savior to save us from our actions by humans that disobey God and break one of His reasonable, holy, and righteous laws and commandments, goes against a purpose He has for us, or follows Satan’s promptings.
- Holy means to be set apart — because of our devotion to God — to become perfect, and morally pure while possessing all virtues and to serve and worship God.
- Perfection means we reach a state of maturity because the combination of the spiritual graces form, when all are present, spiritual wholeness or completeness — holy, sanctified, and righteous.
- Spiritual graces are worldly morals that have been submitted to God to further His kingdom instead of enhancing this world.
- Sanctified means to be set free from sin.
- Righteous means we are free from sin because we are following God’s moral laws.
- Pure means not being sinful or having the stain of sin.
- Virtues are standards of moral excellence.
- Perfection means we reach a state of maturity because the combination of the spiritual graces form, when all are present, spiritual wholeness or completeness — holy, sanctified, and righteous.
- Holy means to be set apart — because of our devotion to God — to become perfect, and morally pure while possessing all virtues and to serve and worship God.
- Holiness is the transcendent excellence of His nature that includes elements of purity, dedication, and commitment that lead to being set apart.
- Purity means possessing God’s moral character, having eliminated the stain of sin.
- Spiritual death is the spiritual separation from God that occurred as a consequence of Adam and Eve’s original sin.
- The spiritually alive are those who have ABCDed, so they are no longer separated from God.
Glossary
The ABCDs of Salvation
If you have not become a believer in Christ, please read through the
Plan of Salvation and prayerfully consider what God is asking you to do.
A – admit our sins
B – believe His Son Jesus is our Redeemer
C – confess God as Sovereign Lord
D – demonstrate that commitment by making any changes needed in our lives to live the way in which God has called us
The Disciple’s Job Description
Keach likened the tower to being a fortress. Within the walls of the fortress, we are safe and protected. God’s fortress is designed to protect our souls from Satan’s onslaught until we gain eternal life.
Outside, we are on our own.
The same goes for inward and outward religion. Inward, we are living according to God’s standards in His perfect Will. Outward, our souls are experiencing varying degrees of being out of compliance with those standards.
Do you want to know the wonderful part? God gives us all the materials we need to build the tower.
We have the source material. This comes through God’s Word and His continued revelations through the Holy Spirit.
God also gives us the means in which to use that material. We have to search for and seek God. We search for Him when He isn’t our Father, and we continue to seek Him when He is.
Searching for and Seeking God
Hearing His Word (Rom. 10: 17)
Reading His Word (Rev. 1: 3)
Praying to Him (Heb. 4: 16)
Studying His Word (Ac. 17: 11)
Meditating on His Word (Ps. 1: 1-2)
Memorizing His Word (Ps. 119: 11)
Trench said something that kind of turns the dial on counting the cost. We usually look at it as we are willing to pay the price.
But isn’t Trench right? We will never have enough to finish the tower.
We have to realize Paul was taking about this, too, when He was talking to the Philippians.
- “I can do all things through him who strengthens me” (Phil. 4: 13 ESV)
- “Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, 14 I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus” (Phil. 3: 13-14 ESV).
- “And my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus” (Phil. 4: 19 ESV).
What all this is saying to me is salvation is free. Sanctification is going to cost us. It is going to cost us to become rooted and grounded.
Sanctification is the transformational process of the mind, body, and soul, which begins with regeneration; gradually changes our nature and morals through the promptings of the Holy Spirit; and ends with perfected state of spiritual wholeness or completeness.
- Regeneration is being changed from spiritually dead to spiritually alive and the internal new birth and requickening that God brings about through the work of the Holy Spirit to give us new character.
Glossary
God asks us to renounce sin and seek holiness. We have to renounce our self-righteousness.
We have to question whether we were really saved or not if we don’t face the hardships. Satan isn’t going to go after someone who is already His. He is going to attack someone who is a child of God.
Jesus knew it was going to be hard to follow Him. We have to give up our sins. We have to change our mindset from what we think is God’s religion to accept what really is His religion. Sometimes, that means giving up associating with people who are important to us.
What we gain is so much more when we accept Jesus. Those cost of refusing to believe in Jesus is devastating.
Making the Connections #1
We’ve stated the cost negatively. Beddome helped give us some wording to say it positively.
- We exercise the spiritual graces.
- We resist temptations.
- We vanquish our enemies.
- We perform our duties.
Resource
Yeah, it is going to take time and patience. A long time and a lot of patience.
But we are building something for eternity. It has to be lasting.
That is why we have to realize it is going to put us in opposition to the world we live in. Jesus was presenting a counterculture. That will put us in conflict with spiritual enemies.
Yes, our foundation has to be firm.
Making the Connections #2
Are those that turn away the ones that didn’t count the cost in the first place? Did they lose their salvation, or did they not have it in the first place?
Keach said three things happen when a non-counter turns away.
- They are subject to ridicule from others.
- They grieve God and the Holy Spirit.
- They experience the contempt of Satan.
Resource
No, we shouldn’t make our decisions of what others will say about us. Whether they jump for joy or deride us, we should only concentrate on what God is calling us to do.
We need to make a conscious decision to follow God. We have to know what we are believing and why we are believing it. We have to know we will have to give up things even if they are near and dear to us.
How Do We Apply This?
- Realize we are going to experience rough times and count the cost to ensure our continued reliance on God.
- Accept that we cannot gain salvation on our own.
- Put our complete and constant dependence on Jesus.
- Protect against growing cold by continually counting the cost.
- Endure until the end.
- Depend on God.
- Don’t judge others in how they are hesitating to build their tower.
- Reject sin upon salvation and seek holiness.
- Renounce the world and its pull on us.
- Serve only God as our master.
- Expect it to be spiritual warfare.
- Understand we must endure until the end of our lives.
Resource
Father God. We come to You knowing we cannot save ourselves. We seek Jesus to be our Savior. We seek holiness to become more like You. Amen.
What do you think?
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