031807 Biblical Stewardship Principles III

Christian stewardship is the free and joyous activity of the child of God—God’s family, the church—in managing all of life and life’s resources for God’s purposes.

Maturing stewards do the right things for the right reasons and strive for excellence in all they do!

III.    GOD’S STEWARDS ARE SAINTS AND SINNERS.

This means that God’s stewards rejoice in and live out what the Lord has declared them to be through the cross.  At the same time His stewards recognize they are sinners who fight sin and its consequences each day.

All eight of the Biblical Stewardship Principles involve a tension.  This third principle underscores the classic Lutheran understanding that we are simil ustes et peccator at the very same time saint and sinner.  The point here is that there is nothing in us or about us at any time that is not tainted by sin even though as Christians we desire it to be otherwise. But we don’t need to be disheartened by this terrible affliction. What I mean is this: Even the heartfelt desire to do God’s will is in us because God’s Spirit lives in us by an act of pure grace. God’s Spirit always seeks to do what is pleasing to God. And it is God’s Spirit that motivates the Christian steward to action. To God be the glory! Apart from God’s Spirit active in a person’s life there will not—there cannot—be God pleasing stewardship. May God always be praised then for all that He works in and through us.

So when we are faced with the on-going conflict described by Paul in Romans 7:21-25, we by God’s Spirit can rejoice in the knowledge that we are His.  Being His, gives us hope to know that our salvation is secure in Christ.  Even when we lose a battle against sin, we can thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord who frees us from this body of death and takes us into the body of life.

This doesn’t mean that we ignore our sin. Remember the battle Paul fought with himself. There literally exists in every Christian the heartfelt desire to do that which is good in God’s sight. Sin does not fit into God’s good. The Child of God accepts that truth and accepts the struggle as a part of their Christian stewardship.

Paul speaks further about this principle in Ephesians 4:22-24. Here though, he speaks in terms of discarding those things that belong to the old self (the old sinful nature), and putting on the things of the new self (the new nature that is created in the likeness of Christ Jesus). That putting off of the old and putting on of the new is not all the effort of the believer. The middle voice of the verbs indicate that we cooperate with God in this endeavor. That is further stated by Paul when he uses the passive voice in the verb “to be renewed in the spirit of your minds.” This means that we are not the ones active in this renewal. God is! We have so much to be thankful for. By this renewing work of God we are enabled to make choices for good.

The Scriptures speak of Justification of the sinner as a done deal—that’s the work of Christ on the Cross, guaranteed by His Resurrection on the third day. Sanctification on the other hand (this renewing of the mind and putting off the old and putting on the new) is a life-long process.  Illustrate with “Footprints” from Leroy.

The scriptural precept of our sanctification is well demonstrated by Paul’s words in Romans 7:21-25:  Think of it this way: Just when we want to do our very best, evil jumps out in front of us from the shadows (the trunk of our life)!  But, thanks be to God we are fully forgiven in Christ from the guilt of our sin. We should not confuse this relief of guilt with the consequences sin brings. The release of guilt before God is certainly a most wonderful gift, albeit undeserved on our part. You see, God placed our guilt on His own Son and sent Him to the Cross for it. Accepting His sacrifice in faith justifies the sinner before God. But let there be no doubt, there are consequences for sin. (E.G. Texas lady who bludgeoned three people to death).

We might wonder how anyone like that could possibly be a child of God. But 1 John 3:1-2 beautifully points that God’s declaration of grace means being made a His very own child.  And a child of God stands in forgiveness by virtue of Christ’s righteousness. Do you know what that means for you? I certainly hope that you all do. It means you are able to enter into God’s glory forgiven, sinless, righteous, and pure in God’s sight. To God be the glory! Even through the challenges of the sinner/saint syndrome we will one day shine in glory just as our Lord is now. That’s what being justified before God means. That is what a Christian steward is! That’s true royalty don’t you think?

And that is precisely what Peter says. 1 Peter 2:9-10 speaks to what we truly are “in Christ.” We are by virtue of who Jesus Christ is, a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a people belonging to God, a people who have received mercy. 

My dear friends, are you beginning to see what motivates the sanctified life? Are you beginning to see how blessed we are to be God’s Stewards? Are you beginning to understand that your life in Christ is far more valuable than all the world’s possessions? Are you beginning to feel like someone God has truly blessed? I pray that you all can answer yes to these questions. Yes, because in Christ all the promises of God are yes and amen to you!

So let’s talk about a few things we can do as God’s Stewards, and a few things that we shouldn’t.

HOW IS THIS DONE?

As children of God through faith in Jesus Christ, and with the Holy Spirit's help, we will:

·       Recognize that the potential for great good, or great evil, lies in the way stewardship is presented and received; The challenge here is to present Christian stewardship based on God’s Word. That’s where all true Christian stewardship begins. Presented in this way, great good is done. But Great evil is done when Stewardship is not also seen as a critical part of our sanctified life.

·       Evaluate carefully all communication, oral or written, according to the proper distinction between Law and Gospel, and in keeping with the biblical truth that each steward is at the same time saint and sinner; it is good to remember that our sanctified life is brought about by our justification before God. It is therefore a matter of the Gospel, not Law.

·       Offer varying opportunities for Christian stewards to grow, recognizing that they are at different points of spiritual maturity. We do this by remembering that all of God’s stewards are not at the same level of maturity.  All of us have areas in our lives that have not been sanctified.  Some stewards are still taking baby steps while others take giant strides, but the truth remains that all of us have fallen short of God’s righteous expectations.  So it does take effort to work patiently with each other. It does take effort to do things that builds people up rather than tears down.  Cf. Romans 14 and Galatians 6.

As children of God through faith in Jesus Christ, and with the Holy Spirit's help, we will not:

·       Assume that, because we are dealing with Christians, we can set aside the proper application of Law and Gospel in serving God's stewards;

·       See all Christians as being at the same maturity level; or,

·       Use any approach to stewards that appeals to the sinful nature, selfish interest, or something other than faith active in love.