August 26, 2019 - Cleary give direction...

Since my time as a student at Florida Bible College, I have understood the importance of CLARITY! As a minister/teacher/coach/trainer, the greatest compliment I can hear is that I made things simple… or clear…


For instance, when I am doing a basketball clinic, I will typically sit players down and go through very basic FUNdaMENTALs of ball handling… i.e. that the ball is full of air, which causes it to bounce, therefore one doesn’t have to “beat it up” to dribble it (I’m sure you have seen the little kids playing basketball and slapping it all over the place to try and dribble it)… but instead just use the fingertips to direct it... there’s really not any work involved in dribbling a basketball. I know this is a “duh” statement, but the point is to let the air do its job…


I am currently working on our ministry’s (and my) vision for 2020… as each year winds down, my job is to cast clear direction for our board… for our volunteers… and for my scheduling purposes. (Be on the lookout for our Fall InBounds Illustrated newscast coming in the near future.)


But this week’s devotion is not about planning or scheduling, but about sharing the truth clearly… The Apostle Paul ran into issues of teachers and ministers (and even other apostles) that were adding to the Gospel presentation.


Paul went to great lengths to defend the clarity of the Gospel! He emphasized the free gift of God… the fact that salvation is not about what we do for God, but instead what He has done for us. (He still taught holiness, but not for the purpose of gaining salvation.)


Some folks claim that to teach the Gospel as being just about belief (faith) in what Christ has done is to cheapen salvation. Two problems with their argument… the word grace has the implication in its definition of something that is free… and second, to claim something is cheap, means that the person claiming it has affixed a cost to salvation. (Cheap, by definition, means “low in cost or something that is worth more than it cost.”) IN other words, if someone says that salvation is more than believing in the finished work of Christ, he has affixed a cost… has eliminated grace from the picture.


Galatians 2:21 I do not set aside the grace of God; for if righteousness comes through the law, then Christ died in vain.


Romans 4:4-5 Now to him who works, the wages are not counted as grace but as debt. But to him who does not work but believes on Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is accounted for righteousness.


Please remember to be clear in your Gospel presentations… this is vital not only in our presentations, but also for when we look in the mirror and feel unworthy… it is because we are unworthy… but Jesus is worthy… thank God for GRACE!


In ball handling I emphasize letting the air do its job… in salvation, let Jesus do His (it did cost Him)!