Keys to Successful Living: 12 Ways to Discover God's Best for Your Life (3 page)

W
ERE
YOU
STARTLED
by the first resolution? We found it in Hebrews 4:1: “Let us fear.” That is not the kind of step most of us would take unless we were directed to do so by the Word of God. Remember that this was particularly appropriate because of the spiritual condition of the Hebrew believers. What was that condition?
Presumption
,
carelessness
,
laziness
—a general failure to benefit from all the special spiritual blessings they enjoyed. They seemed to be taking it for granted that they were God’s people. In that position,
they probably felt rather superior to others—and that they were not required to do much to maintain that superiority.

In essence, they had stopped listening for His voice. Thus, the first key to any measure of true success reminded them to fear the loss of what was most essential in their lives. This was appropriate to Hebrew believers in those days—and to us, professing Christians who are, for the most part, not of Jewish origin.

Let’s look now at the next scriptural key to a life of blessing. The second
Let us
resolution occurs later in the fourth chapter of Hebrews.

This second key is based on the experience of the Israelites when they were on their journey from Egypt through the wilderness. Many of them never made it through to the promised destination—the rest God had promised them—because of their misconduct and their wrong attitude; consequently, they died in the wilderness. Scripture testifies that their corpses fell in the wilderness because
of unbelief and disobedience (see Numbers 14:29, 33). Once again, they had the externals, but they did not have the great, essential, inner reality of true religion—hearing the voice of the Lord.

We see that this mistake of Israel was a tragic error. After pointing out the flawed example of their forefathers—the failure to hear God’s voice—the writer of Hebrews goes on to say, “Let us be diligent.” I believe what he describes with that second key is a natural progression. If we really take to heart the dangers of the Israelites’ spiritual condition—and we respond properly with a sense of godly fear—the next step we will naturally take is to become diligent.

What Is Diligence?

Let’s consider for a moment what diligence is. Sometimes one way to find out the meaning of a word is to consider its opposite. One obvious opposite of
diligence
is
laziness
.

The Bible has not one good word to say about laziness. Actually, this theme does not receive enough attention in contemporary Christendom. Look, for instance, at what the writer of Hebrews says about it:

We want each of you to show this same diligence to the very end, in order to make your hope sure. We do not want you to become lazy, but to imitate those who through faith and patience inherit what has been promised.

Hebrews 6:11–12
NIV
1984

The warning here is that we need to be not only diligent, but diligent to the very end. We must continue to be diligent. The opposite of
diligence
is there stated in plain words—it is to become lazy. This is not primarily a physical laziness, but spiritual laziness.

Let’s compare what we have seen so far with the words of Peter. In his second epistle, he says this:

For this very reason, make every effort [“applying all diligence”
NASB
] to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, love.

2 Peter 1:5–7
NIV
1984

You see, the Christian life is not a static condition. Rather, it is a life of adding. It is a life of growth and of progress. To be static in the Christian life is to backslide. But to move forward and do that adding requires diligence. It requires making every effort. In this same passage Peter goes on with an
if
.

For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. But if anyone does not have them, he is nearsighted and blind, and has forgotten that he has been cleansed from his past sins.

2 Peter 1:8–9
NIV
1984

Do you believe that the condition Peter describes could be possible? That somebody who has been cleansed from past sins could possibly forget that it has even happened? It may seem implausible to you, but Scripture indicates it is possible.

Peter really sets before us two alternatives. The one is to be effective and productive in our knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ. The other is to be ineffective and unproductive with a condition he describes as being “nearsighted and blind.” I think you would agree that those are strong words.

In light of this potential in each of us, Peter continues in the next two verses:

Therefore, my brothers [because of the warning Peter has given], be all the more eager to make your calling and election sure. For if you do these things, you will never fall, and you will receive a rich welcome into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

2 Peter 1:10–11
NIV
1984

What Peter says here is really good news. There are actions we can take to guarantee that we will never fall. Actions that will guarantee that we will have a rich welcome into the Kingdom of our Lord.

We see from these passages that, basically, the condition we are warned against is laziness. I am deeply troubled about the lack of concern in Christian circles about laziness. The majority of Christians, for instance, view sins like drunkenness with horror. But in the Scriptures, laziness is much more
severely condemned than drunkenness. The problem is that many Christians who would never be found in a drunken state are habitually lazy. What is our conclusion? Let’s use that second key and be diligent.

Making Diligence Practical

Consider for a moment some additional aspects of what is involved in diligence. Two beautiful verses in Proverbs 10 have long been a kind of guiding light to me in my own experience. Together they sum up the two conditions for true riches or enduring wealth. One condition is on the Lord’s side; the other condition is on our side. Both conditions must be fulfilled to attain the result.

Here is the condition on the Lord’s side: “It is the blessing of the L
ORD
that makes rich, and He adds no sorrow to it” (Proverbs 10:22). Clearly, the great, primary condition for true riches, spiritual and otherwise, is the blessing of the Lord. We cannot count on anything really good apart from the blessing of the Lord.

On the other hand, the blessing of the Lord, by itself, is not sufficient. Proverbs 10:4 gives us our side of the equation: “Poor is he who works with a negligent hand, but the hand of the diligent makes rich.”

First of all, the blessing of the Lord makes rich. But second of all, the hand of the diligent makes rich. It takes the Lord’s blessing plus our diligence to attain to true wealth. It is not enough simply to expect the blessing of the Lord or even to
receive the blessing of the Lord. It will not accomplish its purpose in your life unless you add to it your own personal diligence. (Remember, diligence is the opposite of laziness.)

Here is my testimony: I have proved these two Scriptures true in my own experience through many years of Christian living. I have been in many different situations, in many different forms of ministry, in many different lands and on different continents. By the grace of God, I can testify that I have always displayed diligence in small things and in great things. In every situation for which I have had to shoulder responsibilities, I have left that situation in a better condition—spiritually, financially, in every obvious way—than it was when I found it.

First and foremost, I thank the Lord for His blessing. But the blessing of the Lord would never have been fully realized had I not added to it my own diligence. As we close this chapter, let me leave those two words with you: “The blessing of the L
ORD
makes rich,” but also “the hand of the diligent makes rich.” Add those two together and you have true spiritual riches. What is the underlying factor for all of this? It is our second key from Hebrews: “Let us be diligent.”

A
S
WE
OBSERVED
EARLIER
,
this book’s special purpose is to equip you with a good attitude and outlook. You can use the twelve keys given here to help you appropriate the fullness of God’s provision and His blessing in the days ahead. I suggest, therefore, that you make a point to memorize them. Then, by the time you finish this book, you will have more than just a general impression; you will have positive and permanent steps to take with you into the future.

To help you in this, I will list the keys at the opening of each chapter as we go along. Here again are the first two:

1. Let us fear
   
2. Let us be diligent
   

In this chapter, we go on to the third key—the third
Let us
found in the book of Hebrews. This one, like the first two, is found in the fourth chapter (actually, the first four keys are all found in Hebrews 4). It has to do with the words that come out of our mouths.

The word
confession
is derived from a word in the original Greek of the New Testament that means “to say the same as.” The basic meaning of
confession
, therefore, is “saying the same as.” In its scriptural context,
confession
means that we say the same as God says. We make the words of our mouths agree with God’s Word.

There is a further implication in the word
confession
. It means that we “say it out boldly”—that we are not intimidated. The word
confession
has a considerable history in the
foundations of the Christian Church. Certain “confessions,” or statements of faith, have been significant for God’s people throughout the ages. In many eras, it has taken boldness and courage on the part of those who made these confessions to take the stand they took. But the Bible encourages us in this regard: “Let us hold fast our confession.”

Jesus as High Priest and Advocate

In the context of this third
Let us
statement, the writer of Hebrews then points out particularly the confession that relates us to Jesus as our High Priest. Many Christians do not have a clear picture of Jesus as High Priest, yet it is one of His most important ongoing ministries on our behalf. Jesus is there as our representative in the presence of God the Father, standing as guarantor for us. Every time we make the right confession—we say the right, positive declaration with our mouths—Jesus has obligated Himself to ensure that our confession is made good in our experience.

Here is what the writer of Hebrews says just a little earlier in chapter 3: “Therefore, holy brethren, partakers of a heavenly calling, consider Jesus, the Apostle and High Priest of our confession” (Hebrews 3:1).

Notice those last words, “[the] High Priest of our confession.” That means that our confession enlists Jesus as our High Priest. Unfortunately, the opposite is also true. If we do not make a confession, we have no High Priest. Not that Jesus
has ceased to be our High Priest, but we have given Him no opportunity to minister as such.

Jesus is the High Priest of
our confession
. If we make the right proclamations in faith, with our mouths, according to Scripture, then Jesus has eternally obligated Himself to see that we will never be put to shame—we will always come into the experience of what we confess. However, if we fail to make the right declaration, then, alas, we silence the lips of our High Priest. Lacking our confession, He has nothing to say on our behalf for us in heaven.

In connection with this, Jesus in 1 John 2:1 is also called our Advocate. The word
advocate
is pretty similar to the modern word
attorney
. Jesus is the legal expert who is there to plead our case in heaven. He has never lost a case. But if we do not make a confession, He has no case to plead. So the case goes against us by default.

The Relation to Salvation

Can you see how important confession is? It is vitally important that we give heed to this third
Let us
of Hebrews: “Let us hold fast our confession.” This principle of right confession—saying the right words with our mouths—has a central place in the Gospel and in our experience of salvation. In fact, there is no salvation without right confession. Here is what Paul says in Romans 10, in which he explains as clearly as
anywhere in the New Testament what is required for salvation. He begins this way:

“The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart”—that is, the word of faith which we are preaching [The basis for salvation is the word. It has to be appropriated by faith. This is the message:], that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you shall be saved.

Romans 10:8–9

There are two steps we have to take: one with the heart, one with the mouth. First, we have to believe with the heart. But next, we have to confess, or say it out, with the mouth.

In the next verse, Paul explains further: “for with the heart man believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation” (Romans 10:10).

We see from this a vital principle: no confession, no salvation. It is good to believe in your heart, but that is not sufficient. Not only must you believe in your heart—you must also say it out boldly with your mouth, making the words of your mouth agree with the Word of God.

Confession Determines Destiny

Our initial confession relates us to Jesus as our High Priest. His ongoing ministry on our behalf as High Priest, however, depends on our ongoing confession. The whole Bible shows
that our words determine our destiny. Would you like to see a penetrating Scripture that makes this point? Here is one: “Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruit” (Proverbs 18:21).

We will have one of two results in our lives: Either the tongue is going to produce death if we make a wrong confession, or it is going to produce life if we make a right confession. Scripture attests that we are going to eat the fruit of whatever we say with our tongues.

Look at the words of Jesus: “And I say to you, that every careless word that men shall speak, they shall render account for it in the day of judgment. For by your words you shall be justified, and by your words you shall be condemned” (Matthew 12:36–37).

I have often heard Christians make silly statements they really do not mean—ones that are not honoring to God. Then they excuse themselves by saying, “Well, I didn’t really mean it!” But Jesus says, “Every careless word that people speak, they shall give an account for it in the day of judgment.” It is not an excuse to say you did not mean it. You must hold fast your confession.

Two Alternatives

Ultimately, we only have two alternatives in our relationship to Christ and to Scripture: to confess or to deny. Listen to what Jesus says:

“Every one therefore who shall confess Me before men, I will also confess him before My Father who is in heaven. [That is His response as our High Priest. If we confess Him, He confesses us. But the alternative is given in the next verse:] But whoever shall deny Me before men, I will also deny him before My Father who is in heaven.”

Matthew 10:32–33

Beyond those two choices, ultimately, there is no third alternative. In the long run, with spiritual matters there is no neutrality. Jesus said, “He who is not with Me is against Me” (Matthew 12:30). Either you are going to make the right confession to salvation, or you are going to make a wrong confession, and it will not produce salvation.

“Let us hold fast our confession.” Keep affirming your faith verbally. Use the positive to exclude the negative.