Lecrae

I was recently listening to the song "Boasting" by Lecrae. Here are the lyrics:
[Chorus:]
If this life has anything to gain at all
I'll count it loss if I can't hear you, feel you, 'cause I need you.
Can't walk this earth alone.
I recognize I'm not my own, so before I fall
I need to hear you, feel you, as I live to make my boast in you alone.

[Verse 1:]
With every breath I take, with every heart beat,
Sunrise and the moon lights in the dark street.
Every glance, every dance, every note of a song.
It's all a gift undeserved that I shouldn't have known.
Every day that I lie, every moment I covet
I'm deserving to die, I'm just earning your judgment.
I, without the cross there's only condemnation.
If Jesus wasn't executed there's no celebration.
So in times that are good, in times that are bad
For any times that I've had it all I will be glad.
And I will boast in the cross. I'll boast in my pains.
I will boast in the sunshine, boast in his reign.
What's my life if it's not praising you?
Another dollar in my bank account of vain pursuit.
I do not count my life as any value or precious at all.
Let me finish my race, let me answer my call.
[Verse 2:]
Tomorrow's never promised, but it is we swear.
Think we holding our own, just a fist full of air.
God has never been obligated to give us life.
If we fought for our rights, we'd be in hell tonight.
Mere sinners owed nothing but a fierce hand.
We never loved him, we pushed away his pierced hands.
I rejected his love, grace, kindness, and mercy.
Dying of thirst, yet, willing to die thirsty.
Eternally worthy, how could I live for less?
Patiently you turned my heart away from selfishness.
I volunteer for your sanctifying surgery.
I know the Spirit's purging me of everything that's hurting me.
Remove the veil from my darkened eyes.
So now every morning I open your word and see the Son rise.
I hope in nothin, boast in nothin, only in your suffering.
I live to show your glory, dying to tell your story.

[Bridge:]
Glory was solely meant for you.
Doing what no one else could do.
With All I have to give, (With all I have to Give)
I'll use my life, I'll use my lips. (My Lips Yeaaah)
I'll only glory in your Word. What gift to me I don't deserve.
I'll live in such a way that it reflects to you, my praise

This song screams forth the gospel. Lecrae has managed to capture with this Rap the many things that so many artists before him have attempted to accomplish. I love his line "God has never been obligated to give us life. If we fought for our rights, we'd be in hell tonight." This is the gospel. We do not deserve on any level whatsoever to be given life and freedom and the love of God. Yet, God has given us those things. Which is absolutely beautiful. The only right that we hold as human beings, is to get what we deserve. What we deserve is merely death. We are born with sin and are unable to do good without Christ. Therefore the only thing that we deserve is death for our trespass of sin. 

Salvation

"How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!” But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Isaiah says, “Lord, who has believed what he has heard from us?” So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.

(Romans 10:14-17 ESV)

Why is this passage so hard for us to understand? Paul here, in Romans, is clearly stating that the only way that people can come to a saving belief in Christ is by hearing the word of God preached. Paul uses a reference here to Isaiah 52. The idea that those who bring the gospel to people have beautiful feet is not a new idea. Paul not only draws on his learning from his teachers in Jewish law, but also on the foundation that God had already laid in the Old Testament.
In this passage we see Paul make an argument that has steps in it. If one of them doesn't happen, then they all don't happen. He says that people cannot call on Christ unless they have already believed. This is a very controversial idea in Christianity today. However, this should not be the case. Paul is very clear in these verses. People do not like to think that they have already believed in Christ before they call on him. That takes away from their feeling of having a part in the saving faith that they receive. If you tell a person that they are saved before they repent (call on God) then they have nothing whatsoever that they can boast in. The whole work of salvation then comes down to the sole grace of God and his saving ability.
Through this passage we can see then that God sends forth people to preach the gospel. Those people preach the gospel to people who hear what they are saying. Through the presentation of what they hear, their hearts are moved/sparked/brought to life. Those same people then call on the Lord in whom they now believe. Through this belief they repent and turn from their sin.

Initial Thoughts

I am new at this whole blogging thing. Yet, I feel the need many times to write down the many thoughts that come across my mind during a day and week. I hope that this blog is an encouragement as well as a deep challenge for everyone who takes the time to read it.

        By His grace and for His glory,
               Steve

So many people take the word of God and merely try to apply it to their life. Is this really what God has called us to do? I think not. We are called to seek and to search out the true meaning of what scripture says. Yes, there are applications to each of our lives that we can take away from the Bible, yet at the same time there are things that are not meant for us. They were written to give us an insight into scriptural meaning or to better understand the person of Christ. In that manner they are for us, but other than that we have no application of them to our lives.
There are so many things that we will never understand about God and his will for our lives. Are we supposed to give up searching then, to never try to understand the wonderful beauty that is Christ? I think that this is quite contrary to what scripture has to say. We are to try to discern the will of God, and yet this would be impossible without continually trying to understand. Even if it takes a whole lifetime. We need to take courage and grace from the fact that Christ says that he will reveal himself to us more and more each day that we seek him. Why do so many Christians ignore this truth? It is because they don't want to know him more. They are content with the small and insignificant lives that God has blessed them with. They do not even notice that it is God who has given them these small earthly blessings. We need to call out to God for help and direction in this area.