Healthy Questions

Why Do We Have Genesis?

2012-01-27T06:26:00.000-08:00

A few months back I decided to get on a read-your-Bible-in-a-year plan. Frankly, I feel a little sheepish about the fact that I haven't ever read the Bible cover-to-cover. I was able to digest Tom Clancy's latest 800+ page offering in about a week over Christmas, yet I've left pages of God-written content untouched. (BTW, I'd say that Clancy did a better job with this year's novel than the last.) I searched for, and found, a website that offered a chronological reading plan - this makes sense to me: let Biblically-recorded history unfold itself in its proper sequence. For example, after finishing Genesis 10 you jump over to Job before continuing through the rest of Genesis. When reading about the kings of Israel you read related chunks from Kings, Chronicles, Psalms and the prophets all at the same time. As I said, makes sense to me that way.

Progress has been slow so far, mostly because I find it impossible to speed read anything in the Bible. This isn't fiction, this isn't even a mere history book, it is a God-given account of Himself and His dealings with mankind. That warrants serious attention and thought. It is also, quite simply, fascinating reading. The anti-diluvian (pre-flood) world is a very foreign place to me; I find myself immersed in a context that bears little resemblance to what I know. I wound up with a lot of notes, exclamation points, and unfinished thoughts.

Rather than paste all of that in this space, I want to reflect for a moment on why we have Genesis in the first place. Some folks I've talked to in the past believe that Genesis is a collection of Jewish myths and folklore: something along the lines of Greek mythology or King Arthur. This is a polite way of saying, "Nice stores, but I really don't see what they have to do with me." This argument has some merit, but I seriously wonder if these folks have read the entire thing. We aren't talking about a loosely connected collection of fables (no offense, Aesop), but a single story arc with a common theme centered around a single character. That character isn't Adam, Noah, or even Abraham, but God Himself. God shows up on the first page as he methodically and incomprehensibly creates the universe out of nothing. However, this God does not disappear behind the proverbial curtain - He continues His engagement with His creation on a most personal level. This God enters into the lives of men and forms relationship with them.

Others have proposed that Genesis (and other books in Scripture) cannot be trusted as it has passed through the hands of so many editors. To that I would say that they did a pretty poor job of editing. Seriously, why would Jews who hold Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in such high esteem leave in so many denigrating accounts of them? How about we skip the parts where Abraham continually fails to understand what God is promising to Him? Or Isaac's poor choice in wives? Or Jacob's deception? Or Joseph's trickery? These people could easily qualify for day-time talk shows, and the dirty laundry is left out to dry by the editors.

This ties us back to the queston of why we have Genesis and why it contains so many messy details. I submit that this is because we are meant to understand both God and man better. God is presented as all powerful, in control, and yet personally interested and graciously involved in the lives of men. Man, on the other hand, is shown to be rebellious, self-interested and foolish. This extreme contrast highlights the goodness of God: He not only tolerates man's continued existence, but seeks out a specific people and shows them unfathomable blessings. That the recipients are so utterly unworthy of such favor is precisely the point. None of these people are chosen on the basis of their own qualities, it would seem quite the opposite: they are brought into covenant relationship with God in spite of their wretched "qualities."

This is the nature of God's graciousness. He loves the unlovable. He justifies the ungodly. He reaches down into the masses of God-defying humans, and lifts out ones that He has unilaterally selected to receive His highest blessing. He does not paint over their filth and criminal activity, rather He transfers the deserved judgment to His own Son, Jesus - the God-man that willingly paid the death penalty on their behalf. And, yes, strange though it seems to our one-way linearity, this atonement works backwards in time as well as forwards. As the Christ Himself said, "Abraham rejoiced to see my day - he saw it and was glad." Abraham was an idol-worshipping pagan that was born and raised closer to Tehran than Jerusalem. He and his descendants entered into a permanent covenant with God purely at God's own discretion: the covenant was not one bit dependent on Abraham - he could not make it, and he could not break it. When the promise was made by God Abraham simply took God at His word and was granted right-standing before God.

In Genesis we see God bestow mercy, blessing - even love - on corrupt humanity. This is a good thing for us to contemplate.

Christ Jesus, You came into the world to save sinners, and I as guilty as the rest. There is now no condemnation for me - I am now found in You, my immoral and decayed heart completely regenerated, and filled with gratitude and worship for You.

For more on the arrangement between God and Abraham (and us), read Romans 4.

Where is C.S. Lewis?

2010-05-27T10:32:00.000-07:00

I came across an article that takes a concise, fascinating look at the theology of C.S. Lewis. I appreciated the brief biography at the beginning: it is easy to see how the mish-mash of his pre-Christian philosophies certainly left their mark on his Christian thinking. The article ends with the author making a compelling comparison between Lewis and the Church at Corinth. http://www.faithalone.org/journal/2000i/townsend2000e.htm

The article is obviously aimed at the old question of whether Lewis was an evangelical Christian, but this inevitably draws us into the greater question of what constitutes an evangelical in the first place. For that I recommend a life-long study of and obedience to the Scriptures, and perhaps listening to Don Carson’s lectures on the subject at http://pjtibayan.wordpress.com/2006/10/17/d-a-carson-audio-sermonslectures/.

Are You Trusting God?

2010-03-30T09:26:00.000-07:00

I recently heard a friend use the phrase, "I am trusting God for a matter." The matter involved expense, and I was immediately interested to find out what "trusting God" meant in this context. I was raised in an abberant movement which considered faith as being something God could not resist. If I prayed for something and believed strongly enough that God would provide it, God would have little choice but to do so.

Too many times we hear folks presuming upon God’s provision, as though they somehow had Him over a barrel. While we have boldness to approach God’s throne in times of need, our confidence is not in getting the thing we want as much as it is in getting the audience itself. This is supreme privilege, and the extent of it is the ability to make known our needs, to cast upon Him our cares. How God responds is for God to decide, and He keeps His own counsel. However, we can rejoice that He hears our prayers and always has our long term good in mind as He lovingly unfolds things around us.

Are you a son of God?

2010-03-09T15:11:00.000-08:00

(Romans 8:12-39)

Who are God’s Children?

It is often said that all of us are God’s children. President Obama recently said as much at a prayer breakfast, and many people say the same: all humanity are children of God. Is this true? Well, in a sense yes: in the sense that God created us in His likeness. Paul says this in Acts 17:28-29 when talking to the Greeks on Mars Hill – he was trying to explain that the true God could not possibly be like their gold, silver and stone idols, if we are in any way like Him. However, the Bible is clear that the only people that can call God Father are those that believe in His Son, Jesus. "But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name," (John 1:12)

The fact is that there is only one natural-born son of God: Jesus. God was His Father in every sense of the Word: remember that God, not Joseph, was Jesus’ biological Father. "The angel said to Mary, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; and for that reason the holy Child shall be called the Son of God." (Luke 1:35)
We on the other hand are natural-born enemies of God (5:10; Col 1:21). To become children of God, to be able to call Him “Father”, we must be adopted: "For you have not received a spirit of slavery leading to fear again, but you have received a spirit of adoption as sons by which we cry out, “Abba! Father!”" (Romans 8:15)

Adoption in the time of Paul’s writing looked a little different than it does today. It was finalized with a very formal ceremony which included 7 witnesses. The adopted child lost all rights – and all debts – associated with his old family, and inherited all the rights of a legitimate son of the adopting father. He was every bit as much a child of this father as were his new siblings. In fact, if he became the oldest son in the new family then he gained the superior privileges that went along with that. If, when the father died, anyone questioned the adopted son’s share in the inheritance, one of the witnesses would be called in to verify that the adoption was valid. In our case, that witness is the Holy Spirit: "The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God," (Romans 8:16)

So God is my Father…
So now I am a son of God. His loving choice of me was settled before time began - "He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will," (Ephesians 1:5), and has big implications for me here and now.
We are accustomed to calling God “Father” – perhaps too accustomed. I know that I address God as “heavenly Father” quite often in my prayers, but I don’t often stop and think about what that means. Paul didn’t take it for granted: of his 13 letters, 13 of them begin by referring to God as Father. Jesus Himself taught us to address God as “our Father.” God is not just my sovereign Lord, but my Father. Think about that for a moment. You and I have the God of the entire universe for a Father! I’ve tried to think about what this means for me, especially in the context of Romans 8. What does it mean for me to have God as my Father?

Provision

As a child of the Most High God I have a Father that provides for my physical needs, who gives

me my “daily bread.” The following verse leaves little doubt as to this: "Do not be worried about your life, as to what you will eat or what you will drink; nor for your body, as to what you will put on. Look at the birds of the air, that they do not sow, nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not worth much more than they?" (Matthew 6:25-26)

This does not mean that the children of God do not sometimes suffer poverty and hunger, rather it means that we need not worry about such things. We will have precisely what we need, although sometimes what we need is hardship; there are plenty of examples of this both in Scripture and Christian history.

In addition to this, we have complete spiritual provision. We have the spiritual armor that we need to fight sin, we have the Holy Spirit Himself within us to sanctify us, we have the gifts and abilities to accomplish all that God puts in front of us, in fact, “we have been blessed with every spiritual blessing.” God is the kind of Father who provides for our most important needs – the needs of our soul: "Now suppose one of you fathers is asked by his son for a fish; he will not give him a snake instead of a fish, will he? “Or if he is asked for an egg, he will not give him a scorpion, will he? “If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him?”" (Luke 11:11-13)

Growth
"And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose. For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren;" (Romans 8:28-29)

What good is God working towards in my life? Prosperity? Success? Personal achievement? Popularity? These verses show the big picture is none of these things. When God is at work in my life it is always with a view to me becoming more like Jesus. If you’re a little disappointed about this it is only because you don’t know what’s good for you. All these earthly goals fall way short of being “summorphos” (morphed) into Christ-likeness. You and I have a LONG way to go in this morphing, and it is the best and highest thing we can hope for. It certainly is God’s highest goal for us. So when does this happen – when am I to become Christ-like? Well, it happens in the past, present and future – just like our salvation.

When we were saved-justified, we became righteous in the eyes of God. We also became new creations, infused with spiritual life, rightful children and heirs of God, brothers and sisters of Christ, ambassadors of Christ, and temples of the Holy Spirit.
Now, as members of God's family, we are being saved-sanctified. "Be transformed by the renewing of your mind" (Romans 12:2) "But we... are being transformed into [Christ's]image from glory to glory." (2 Corinthians 3:18) Something about us is changing as we are "being renewed... according to the image of the One who created us" (Colossians 3:10)
Finally, we will be saved-glorified, and "we know that when He appears, we will be like Him." (1 John 3:2) In the day of the full revelation of Christ to the world, we will be made fully like him. Fully conformed to his likeness. "Just as we have borne the image of the earthy, we will also bear the image of the heavenly." (1 Corinthians 15:49) Romans 8:23 says that we wait "eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our body." To the Philippians Paul wrote that Christ "will transform the body of our humble state into conformity with the body of His glory" (Philippians 3:21) and that "He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus." (Philippians 1:6) When Christ returns for His children, His children will be transformed fully into His likeness. The process will be incredibly complete and we will be perfect!

Love

How can God prove to us the “deep love with which He loves us”? Well, "God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us." (Romans 5:8) Don’t doubt for a moment that your Father loves you. "See how great a love the Father has bestowed on us, that we would be called children of God." (1 Jn 3:1) This is not the emotionless outworking of a logical plan by a God that doesn’t really want to get involved personally. This is love. Read this excerpt from Psalm 103, and see how God feels about His children:

"The Lord is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in lovingkindness… He has not dealt with us according to our sins, nor rewarded us according to our iniquities. For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is His lovingkindness toward those who fear Him. As far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us. Just as a father has compassion on his children, so the Lord has compassion on those who fear Him. For He Himself knows our frame; He is mindful that we are but dust." (Psalm 103:8-14)

People who say that the God of the Old Testament is an angry God aren’t reading much of the Old Testament. When God formally introduced Himself to Moses, he said of Himself, “The Lord, the Lord God, compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in lovingkindness and truth; who keeps lovingkindness for thousands, who forgives iniquity, transgression and sin; yet He will by no means leave the guilty unpunished, visiting the iniquity of fathers on the children and on the grandchildren to the third and fourth generations.”" (Exodus 34:6-7) Let’s not run to the opposite extreme and look upon God’s love as weakness – Moses certainly didn’t: "Moses made haste to bow low toward the earth and worship.” His love is fierce, selective, uncompromising, and permanent. However, He is a loving God – love may the most significant attribute of God’s perfect character. These are not the words of an impersonal, uninvolved God, "My heart is turned over within Me, all My compassions are kindled." (Hosea 11:8) Paul described Him as “the Father of mercies and God of all comfort," (2 Corinthians 1:3)

When God sets His love on a person it is always undeserved, and it is always forever. Nothing can overturn the outworking of His love toward us – the chain of events described in v30 will be unbroken: "These whom He predestined, He also called; and these whom He called, He also justified; and these whom He justified, He also glorified." Nothing can interfere with this because “God is for us” (v31), He has already paid an unthinkable price for us (v32), and He has seen to the hard part already – our justification (v33). Furthermore, Christ not only died for us, but He intercedes for us to this today (v34 – see more on that here). Yes, “nothing will be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

As the song goes, “How deep the Father’s love for us, how vast beyond all measure…”

Sons of the Devil

Before we finish, we must also consider a natural consequence of God’s elective love: not all believe in Jesus as the Son of God, and therefore not all are His children. But whose children are they then? Look at the Pharisees: they claimed that God was their Father, yet they lied about Christ and even sought to murder Him. Jesus said to them, “You are of your father the devil, and you want to do the desires of your father.” (John 8:44) There are only two options here: if not a child of God you are a child of Satan: "The children of God and the children of the devil are obvious." (1 Jn 3:10)

So what kind of father is the Devil? Does he love his own? Does he care for them as a compassionate, understanding father? Look back to his first interaction with man, in Eden. His true character was revealed here: he lied to Adam and Eve, he twisted God’s words, and he brought about mankind’s corruption and death. He lies to this day, telling us that God doesn’t really mind sin – that He understands after all, or perhaps that God doesn’t exist – “Go ahead and do what you want, nothing bad will happen!”

Being a child of Satan does not mean you are a member of some devil-worshipping cult. It simply means you are in the majority. It is said in Revelation that he “deceives the whole world.” His children are immersed in a world of his distortions, no more aware of them than a fish is of being wet. He is the kind of father that, when asked for a fish, would gleefully give his child a snake, and when asked for an egg would happily provide a scorpion. His gifts to his children are sinful pride, deceit, lying, self-absorption, self-worship, and self-gratification. The fruit of his “gifts” are depravity, dishonor, degradation, and eternal damnation. This father is our enemy, and he overpowers man all too easily. “Armed with cruel hate – on earth is not his equal.”

Sons of God

"By this the children of God and the children of the devil are obvious: anyone who does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor the one who does not love his brother." (1 John 3:10)
Let me put it plainly: if you are not a child of God you are a child of the devil. You need adoption! Christ has overcome Satan, offers pardon for your sins against God, eternal protection for your soul, and adoption into the family of a truly loving Father. Are you a son of God?

40 Years Old

2010-01-06T08:32:00.000-08:00

Today I celebrate the completion of my fortieth year outside the womb. With tongues firmly planted in their cheeks, everyone wants to know how it feels to suddenly become old. I’ve been thinking about that this morning, and a few things come to mind.

I am 40 years old. It doesn’t seem so long ago that I was a teenager, but now I am 40. In a world of averages, it might be said that I’ve reached the half way point. 40 years is a long time for me – it is the span of my days on this earth so far. I’ve split that time between two different continents, have seen many things – good and bad, have formed my own family, and have experienced the grace of God beyond measure. However, when I consider God; ageless, timeless, pre-existant, infinite and immortal, I quickly see that I am a vapor, a mere breath upon the wind. Like a flower of the field – here today, but gone without a trace tomorrow. In the scope of human history, I am unknown, and my faint trace on this world will be quickly forgotten. In God alone, the Creator of all that exists, do I find eternity. I am swallowed up in His glory, with the chief aim being not my own legacy, but His. In this there is fulfillment, in knowing Him can I boast. I am a friend of God Most High, my name is written in His Book of Life. He remembers me – He even hears my voice when I pray to Him. All of this privilege and honor is mine only because of the eternal plan of God, and the merits of Christ Jesus. I earned nothing but a quick and painful exit from His world, yet He has shown great patience and mercy toward me, pardoning me for all my offenses – yes, even taking upon Himself the penalty for them all. Furthermore, He has exalted me, granting me a place in His royal family, as a son, fully reconciled to God. So the next 40 years will speed by and will barely register a tick against the clock of created time, yet I will then enter into an existence that far exceeds this one, where time without end will be spent in the presence of the One whose days cannot be measured, and Who’s astonishing power sustains all things – even time itself.

It could also be said that I’ve reached the halfway point of my adult usefulness, if that normally runs from 20 to 60 years of age. Yet, I do not look back and see 20 years of usefulness. I have lacked focus and godly ambition. My divided heart has entertained so many lesser notions, dreams, and pleasures that it has had too little room left for its Lord. Thankfully, in the last few years there has been a growing sense of wonder and admiration for Christ, and an increasing hunger and thirst for Him. Like David in Psalm 63, I begin to own Him as my God – God not merely of the universe but of Alan Richardson. More and more He owns my allegiance, my love, my strength. I pray daily for an ever- deepening desire, a stronger fervor for Christ. Daily I lay before Him all that I have and say, “I would hold on to nothing that would keep me from You. Nothing is too precious. All in this life that is truly good was given by You, and You may take it away as needed… only let me be wholly Yours.” As the lands of my heart are gradually surrendered to His absolute and loving reign, I know that He shall make me fit for His purposes. If I am indeed half-way done, then I pray that the second half is filled with such usefulness, that “zeal for His house would consume me,” uniting my heart, granting it single-mindedness, and accomplishing His will through me. I dearly want to invest wisely the Master’s talents so that at the end of life’s second half I would hear Him say to me, “Well done, good and faithful slave. You were trusted with little, now I will trust you with more. Enter into the joy of your Master.”

As I consider the 40 years God has given to me so far, my heart swells with joyful gratitude. I am nothing special, like a generic clay vessel, but He has filled me with the treasures of divine love, eternal life, and super-abounding grace. Time and again I’ve shown myself unworthy of His affection, and yet His love simply refuses to be removed from me. Truly He is more faithful than I am faithless. I cannot number the blessings I have received from His hand, and I know He is not done with me yet.

So, at the ripe old age of 40, I join with Mary and say, "My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord, and my spirit has rejoiced in God my Savior, because He has looked with favor on the humble condition of His slave. Surely, from now on all generations will call me blessed, because the Mighty One has done great things for me, and His name is holy. " (Luke 1:46-49)

What is Truth?

2009-07-09T06:27:00.000-07:00

If you read John's account of the life of Christ, you find he uses some words very frequently. For example, "light" and "life" appear throughout his writings. Another keyword for John is "truth." He introduces the term early in the first chapter when he refers to Christ as, "The true light, which, coming into the world, enlightens every man." Here John combines truth and light, which helps us understand his use of "light" when referring to Christ. To turn a light on in a dark room is to show things as they really are. You can see the door, as well as many obstacles that might be misidentified - or even tripped over - on your way to the door. To shed light on on a subject is to bring correct understanding and dispel wrong assumptions. Depending on the situation, it could mean the difference between life and death.

The room that Jesus enlightens is the mind of man. To every man that will ever live Christ has explained God - indeed, has revealed Himself to be God. To those who receive Him as such, He gives the right to become children of God.

"So Jesus was saying to those Jews who had believed Him, “If you continue in My word, then you are truly disciples of Mine; and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.”" (John 8:31-32) Jesus' words are themselves truth.

Aletheia, the Greek word for truth, means reality; the unveiled reality lying at the basis of and agreeing with an appearance; the manifested, the veritable essence of matter. (Zodhiates)

Jesus' words reflect the reality which we are otherwise blind to. They turn on the lights and free us from a life of groping around in a world filled with guesses, speculation and empty wisdom. Without this light, without this truth, we are slaves to our sins, and cannot find our way to God. "I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me." (John 14:6) God's words are truth, and by them alone is man correctly informed, saved and sanctified. (17:17)

When questioned by the Roman governor, a man that held in his hands the authority to free or condemn his prisoner, Jesus told him simply, "For this I have been born, and for this I have come into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth hears My voice.”" (John 18:37) Jesus states plainly that He knows truth, and that He came to give it to the world. How does Pontius Pilate respond to this? Does He respond as Peter did, "You have words of eternal life. We have believed and have come to know that You are the Holy One of God." (John 6:68-69) No. Pilate is convinced that such truth simply does not exist. With Truth Incarnate - the God of the universe - standing before Him, he equivocates. He punts. He refuses to recognize the light which is now pressing against his mind. Unwilling to believe what is true, he remains in darkness, groping for excuses. As with the rest of fallen humanity he suppresses the truth - clinging to the comforts of darkness, unwilling to give it up and acknowledge what his consience contends is actually right.

"What is truth?" he asks. The way John writes this is actually has Pilate saying it repeatedly, as if he is trying to convince Jesus that there can be no such truth. "Come on, Jesus, that's a bit unrealistic, don't you think? A bit arrogant. After all, many people believe that they know truth, and that's just fine for them, but it just goes to show that there is no one, single truth out there. Such a concept just doesn't exist - you just have to go with what feels right for you, and respect everyone else's right to do the same."

Why? Why doesn't Pilate get it?

Sometimes a Christian will tell someone the truth about Jesus in the hope that the listener will accept the truth and believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, the only hope of escape from sin, death and hell. Often the Christian doesn't get what he's hoping for, and the listener walks away unconvinced. What went wrong? Surely, if what they're saying is right, and they convey it in a reasonable, genuine and passionate manner, the unbeliever will be persuaded, right? Not so. Look at Pilate: he has his Creator standing right in front of Him, and he trumps God's truth claim with old fashioned relativism, "There's lots of truths - which means there's no truth," a weak excuse.

The question is begging for an answer: why doesn't Pilate see it? Why don't people today see it and believe!?

Jesus answers the question once and for all, "Everyone who is of the truth hears My voice." Pilate didn't believe because He was not "of the truth." To be of the truth is to believe and understand the truth. However, this presents another question: if you can't believe unless you are a believer, then how do you become a believer in the first place? Apparently, you don't become "of the truth" by understanding the truth - quite the opposite, you understand the truth because you are first of the truth. But how? How do you then become "of the truth" so as to believe the truth?

Back in chapter 10, Jesus told the unbelieving Pharisees, "You do not believe because you are not of My sheep." By sheep, He meant those who believed in Him. You don't believe in me because you are unbelievers. This isn't double-talk. "My sheep hear My voice" - that is they believe I am God - "And I know them, and they follow Me; and I give eternal life to them, and they will never perish; and no one will snatch them out of My hand." How is it then that a person becomes "of the truth", becomes "one of His sheep?"

Jesus goes on to explain, “My Father, who has given them (the sheep) to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand." (John 10:26-29) There it is. That's what was missing with Pilate. The reason for his rejection of Christ's truth claim wasn't because his reasoning was better; it certainly wasn't because Christ couldn't explain things clearly. It was simply because God had not given Pilate to Christ.

John goes out of his way time and time again to make plain to us that "No one can come to Me (Christ) unless it has been granted him from the Father.”" (John 6:65)

Back where we started, in Chapter 1, John states that the whole world - including God's chosen people the Jews - has rejected Christ Jesus. They didn't know Him, they didn't receive Him. John goes on to say that, "As many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name." (John 1:12) So, how is it that those who normally suppress the truth, that prefer to cling to lethal comforts, will suddenly and inexplicably turn to the light? How is it that those who reject God suddenly receive eternal life? The next statement clears this up once and for all, "Children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God." As Paul also writes, "By God's doing you are in Christ Jesus... so that no man may boast before God." (1 Corinthians 1:30,29) God has to do something in a person for them to to see true light, to understand true truth. Man must believe Christ is God and the only way to God, or he will die in his sins. At the moment it is granted Him to do so, he must - he will - believe. No one will ever be able to take any credit for their decision to become a believer in Jesus. On our own, "We did not know Him."

We who believe have "received the love of the truth so as to be saved." (2 Thessalonians 2:10) Understanding truth is a gift from God to those whom He has called as His own. Christ is that truth which we believe. He is not merely a messenger, as was Moses through whom God gave the law. "Grace and truth came to be through Jesus Christ!" (John 1:17) Jesus embodies truth, personifies truth, "I am the truth." Therefore all His words are true, and we must make them an integral part of our daily lives. His words are left to us in Scripture, and only in Scripture.

Those who do not accept that Jesus is God, that Jesus alone is the way to God and eternal life, that Jesus accomplished this by paying our penalty of death with His own untainted blood - returning from the grave as supreme evidence of all this - to those who have not received this truth, do not delay - do not loose another minute - turn to God while you may still find Him, while there is still hope of salvation. Bend your knee, your heart, your mind, before Christ the Universal Lord now, during the hour of salvation. If you wait for any reason, you will not come at all. You will bend your knee later, as C.S. Lewis puts it, "When the anesthetic fog we call reality lifts and we are left standing face to face with the God that has been there all along." You will acknowledge His soveriegnty then, but you will be condemned, banished from His presence to suffer forever alone. Your sins whisper to you, entice you to remain where you are, to help you continue down the wide, easy path to your destruction. Repent of them! Reject them! Fall before Christ now - He stands ready to save!

"But what if I'm not one of His sheep, what if I'm not of the truth? Then turning to Christ will do me no good?"

I guarantee you this, if you turn to Christ He will not turn you away. Jesus Himself said, "All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will certainly not cast out." (John 6:37)

Lord Jesus, more than a giver of truth, you are truth. There is no truth apart from you. You are the only light by which we might see our way to God the Father. To know You is to have eternal life. Shine your light into the unbelieving recesses of this blind world. May many be born of God as I have been, may many be granted the right to become children of God. Let the truth of your word be the deep foundation of my life, that when the torrents burst and the winds slam against me, I will not be shaken.

"The unfolding of Your words gives light; It gives understanding to the simple." (Psalm 119:130)

Does Jesus Care About Sin?

2009-05-08T16:44:00.000-07:00

Early in his ministry (chapter 5 of John's gospel), Jesus heals a sick old man in Jerusalem. At the end of the account, he looks at the man and says, "See, you are well again. Stop sinning or something worse may happen to you."

The healing of this man, though quite miraculous, is apparently of secondary importance. It’s the man’s heart that is the greater concern for Jesus. The same could be said of the woman caught in adultery not much later. After turning away her executioners, his only words to her are, "Woman, where are they? Did no one condemn you? I do not condemn you either. From now on sin no more."

Today, much attention is given to Jesus’ treatment of the would-be stoners. Accordingly, these religious leaders are the bad guys of the story, ready to judge the poor, defenseless woman. This is both right and wrong. It is right to say that Jesus vilified the hypocrisy of Israel’s leaders. "Therefore all that they tell you, do and observe, but do not do according to their deeds; for they say things and do not do them. They tie up heavy burdens and lay them on men’s shoulders, but they themselves are unwilling to move them with so much as a finger. But they do all their deeds to be noticed by men…" (Matthew 23:3-5) It is wrong to paint the woman simply as an unwitting victim, whose actions are of little concern to Jesus.

In both these accounts, Christ is concerned with the sins of ordinary people. “Stop sinning. Sin no more.” God hates all sin. "Your eyes are too pure to look on evil; you cannot tolerate wrong." (Habakkuk 1:13) You’ve been healed, you’ve been spared, but don’t go back to sinning again. Why? The benefits they had received from Jesus were temporal; eternity still hung in the balance.

Today we are likely to hear from unbelievers, “Ahhh, God doesn’t punish sin. Look around you, Alan, people sinning all over, and they’re none the worse for wear. God understands that we’re only human.”

"Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these [sins] the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience." (Ephesians 5:6)

From the other side of things, many so-called Christians tell us to stop worrying so much about sin. People need to hear about God’s love, not about their sin. After all, Jesus doesn’t judge people, and we shouldn’t either. These folks are likely to lean on John 8 to help their case. But Jesus did not wink at the woman’s sin. He does not take sin lightly. He misses nothing, but in kindness gives us time to turn to Him in repentance. That is what now is for. If you are disobeying God you are being given the opportunity to repent and be saved from His anger and punishment. "Or do you think lightly of the riches of His kindness and tolerance and patience, not knowing that the kindness of God leads you to repentance?” But this opportunity must be taken advantage of. “But because of your stubbornness and unrepentant heart you are storing up wrath for yourself in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God." (Romans 2:4-5)

Yes, forgiveness from God may be found through Christ - praise Him! - but Jesus will not wink at sin that has not been forgiven. Contrary to our popular picture of Jesus-meek-and-mild, it is He that will judge us. "For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may be recompensed for his deeds in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad." (2 Corinthians 5:10)

The recompense for sin is death. Eternal death and torment. Turn from your sin today. Do not buy into the lie that God is not all that concerned with your actions; that disobeying Him is really not a big deal. Some day your long-suppressed conscience will scream at you, “I TOLD YOU!” But it will be too late, and you will have all eternity to anguish over your refusal to repent and turn to God. Therefore, "Repent and believe in the gospel... seek the Lord while He may be found."

“These things you have done and I kept silence;
You thought that I was just like you;
I will reprove you and state the case in order before your eyes.
Now consider this, you who forget God, or I will tear you in pieces, and there will be none to deliver.

He who offers a sacrifice of thanksgiving honors Me;
And to him who orders his way aright I shall show the salvation of God.” (Psalm 50:21-23)

Why Don’t We Sing? - part 3

2009-04-05T22:13:00.000-07:00

Speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs
- Ephesians 5:19

Our Spiritual Fellowship

Part 1: Singing was a natural extension of Christian fellowship.
Part 2: Spiritual singing should go beyond a pre-planned activity and the domain of the polished singer.

In this last part on “Why Don’t We Sing” I want to dig into perhaps the most controversial aspect of this verse. I believe this verse offers a ringing reproof of the nature of our Christian fellowship.

Let us Pray
I read recently about Charles Spurgeon’s sense of humor. Apparently, it was a good one. He would have a whole room laughing at a joke and then, without missing a beat, say, “Let us pray.” Apparently there was nothing incongruent about this; it wasn’t jarring for him to say this. There was nothing about his humor that was impure or ungodly, and so when the impulse to pray arose, it was natural to take to the task. He didn’t have to clear his throat into religious gear. He didn’t have to gently steer the conversation in a spiritual direction: it was already there.

Could it have been like this for New Testament Christians when it came to singing? Our text seems to hint at this. There are plenty of verses that suggest prepared singing in Church gatherings, but this one just doesn’t quite fit. It says, in essence, “Sing to one another,” and does so in the context of relationships within the local Church.

Time Wasting
Do you do this? When you hang out with fellow believers, how natural would it be for you say at some point, “Let’s sing.” For many of us the answer has to be, “Not very natural at all.” No kidding. It would be awkward, to say the least. This might be, in part, due to a lack of musical ability – not a good excuse, I’m afraid. However, it’s as likely to be attributable to the nature of our conversation as anything else. When we’re gossiping, or boasting, or arguing, or using worldly humor, we are not going to say, “Let’s sing!” In this same passage we are forbidden three types of worldly talk: filthiness (vulgarity), silly talk (clever, but immoral wit), and coarse jesting (low-brow wit.) Falsehood is also prohibited, as are rotten, bitter, angry, slanderous and malicious words. Certainly in such conversation, no one is going to pause and say, “Let us sing.”

However, the conversation need not be so blatantly offensive to create such a barrier. Idle, meaningless banter will do the trick. We can talk about sports, hair-do’s, celebrities, clothes, work, politics – any number of things, and not come within a mile of spiritual fellowship. “Make the most of your time,” says verse 16. Too often we fritter it away. I’m not saying there isn’t a place for non-spiritual conversation, I’m more worried that we’ve left no place for spiritual conversation. How do I know if I am making the most of my time in a given conversation? Might I suggest one test: would it feel like an out of body experience to suggest that you sing a spiritual song together?

If you’re not feeling convicted by this, then I freely confess that you are a more mature Christian than I. May God continue to bless you richly as you walk in a manner worthy of your calling, living in close fellowship with your Christian brothers and sisters. For myself and many others, Paul’s injunction to “sing to one another” exposes the soft underbelly of our fellowship. We love each others’ company. We enjoy spending time together. We know that we are fellow believers in Christ. But our thoughts and conversations are spent elsewhere. Why is this? As James says – and also in the context of our words – “My brethren, these things ought not to be this way.” Does God only own our fellowship on Sunday mornings and Wednesday evenings? Are we Christian friends on those days, and non-Christian friends on every other?

First, Be Filled
A pivotal statement for this passage is in verse 18, “Be filled with the Spirit.” That is the key to spiritual fellowship. In fact, our main text is a continuation of this command:

"And do not get drunk with wine, for that is dissipation, but be filled with the Spirit, speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody with your heart to the Lord; always giving thanks for all things in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to God, even the Father;" (Ephesians 5:18-20)

It is when we are filled with the Spirit that we sing to one another, that we sing to the Lord, and that we give thanks to God. To be filled with the Spirit is to be controlled by Him. In contrast to being controlled by alcohol and squandering our lives, we are to be under the influence of the Holy Spirit and spend our time wisely, in a spirit of thankfulness and sweet fellowship together. In Scripture, being filled - literally “be being kept filled” - with the Spirit is a continual state of submission for Christians. The Holy Spirit resides in every believer from the moment they are saved. It has nothing to do with supernatural gifts such as speaking in tongues or healing. It is the moment-by-moment act of “walking by the Spirit.” In the parallel passage of Colossians we read:

"Let the word of Christ richly dwell within you, with all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with thankfulness in your hearts to God." (Colossians 3:16)

Being filled with the Spirit is synonymous with letting the Word richly dwell within. Submitting to the Holy Spirit is submitting to what the Word of God instructs. If we would be under the control of the Holy Spirit we must be under the control of the Word that He has spoken. MacArthur again:

To be filled with the Spirit is to live in the consciousness of the personal presence of the Lord Jesus Christ, as if we were standing next to Him, and to let His mind dominate our life. It is to fill ourselves with God’s Word, so that His thoughts will be our thoughts, His standards our standards, His work our work, and His will our will. As we yield to the truth of Christ, the Holy Spirit will lead us to say, do, and be what God wants us to say, do, and be.

Again, there is nothing “super spiritual” about being filled. This filling is natural for all believers, and when it occurs it results not in signs and wonders, but in God glorifying speech and actions. Boice says:

In Acts there are ten occasions, at Pentecost and afterward, when an individual or group of individuals is said to have been filled with the Holy Spirit. In each case the common factor is that the persons involved immediately bore testimony to Jesus.

Don’t Touch that Switch!
If we would make the most of our fellowship together we must be filled with the Spirit. If this is not happening, then our time together will continue to be frittered away. Rarely, if ever, will anyone pause in the middle of such chat and say, “Let’s pray,” or “Let’s sing.” We are family. We have been given the mind blowing right to be called children of God. We share a salvation and an inheritance whose value cannot be measured, whose fullness cannot be grasped by the finite mind. We are filling up our minds and hearts with unfailing truth from Scripture, having the very core (“spirit”) of our mind renewed. How can it be that this does not overflow into our conversations? How did we find the off switch and why do we use it? Why don’t we sing?

Why Don’t We Sing? - part 2

2009-04-05T19:59:00.000-07:00

Our Spiritual Singing

Speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs
- Ephesians 5:19

In part 1 we observed that, in New Testament times, singing overflowed from informal Christian fellowship. Singing “in the moment” was natural to them, but is foreign to most of us. I want to draw two points from this. First, that there may be something awry in our spiritual singing. Second (next post), that there may be something awry in our spiritual fellowship.

Worship is not Music
I’m a musician. Being raised in a Charismatic Christian setting I’ve been involved in “worship music” a long time. For most of my life I’ve understood worship to mean spiritual music: if you want to worship God you better have a song in mind. In more recent years I’ve learned from Scripture that worship is nothing less than living the Christ-like life. Our “spiritual worship” is to “present ourselves a living and holy sacrifice” to God (Romans 12:1.) The Church I’ve become a part of refers to singing during a Church service as “worship in singing.” They believe that the entire service is to be worship – from the reading of scripture, to any singing, communion, giving, praying, teaching and preaching. Yes, even preaching is included. Here is a definition of worship by William Temple:

Worship is the submission of all of our nature to God.
To worship is to quicken the conscience by the holiness of God,
To feed the mind with the truth of God,
To purge the imagination by the beauty of God,
To open the heart to the love of God,
To devote the will to the purpose of God.
And all this gathered up in adoration is the greatest of human expressions of which we are capable.

Note the opening line, “submission… to God.” Worship is submission. When we sit under sound teaching we are submitting ourselves to the authority of God’s Word. What is says is what goes in our lives. Listening submissively to the Word of God taught accurately is an act of God-worship. This has been an important learning for me. Worship is so much more than singing. Worship is everything. “Man’s chief end is to glorify God, and to enjoy Him forever,” says the Westminster Shorter Catechism, and this sums up worship. My every thought, word and action ought to have that end in mind.

Worship with Music
With all this emphasis on true worship, however, I think we may have lost a little something in the process. Singing – indeed music – is a vital expression of worship. Time and time again in Scripture we hear, “Sing for joy!” Singing is a unique manner of worship as it brings together the whole person like nothing else. The mind, emotions and body are involved in giving heartfelt praise to God! Whether songs are for thanksgiving, reflection, exaltation, encouragement, they offer the opportunity for us to draw into worship with our whole being. I believe we might have diminished the value of Church singing by relegating it to certain portions of certain organized gatherings. A Christian is a new creation – and this new creature has something to sing about! Listen to John MacArthur’s words from his commentary on Ephesians:

God’s Spirit in the heart puts music in the heart… The Spirit–filled life produces music. Whether he has a good voice or cannot carry a tune, the Spirit–filled Christian is a singing Christian. Nothing is more indicative of a fulfilled life, a contented soul, and a happy heart than the expression of song.

Few people do not at least hum or whistle a tune when they are happiest. Song is a natural expression of joy. How much more so for the man or woman that has been delivered from hell’s dark domain, and granted every heavenly blessing! Look at what has been done for us in Christ, the price that was paid to redeem our souls! Look at the faithfulness of God in our lives, as He patiently and successfully changes us into the likeness of His Son! Look at the future – look toward heaven: we will spend our eternity in the greatest bliss and satisfaction possible for a person to experience! Now tell me you don’t feel a song welling up within you! Does your heart not want to burst with joy inexpressible! Stop reading this right now and worship your God with your heart through your voice!

(If you're stil reading...) Singing is for any time. Furthermore, singing together is for any time.

Sing for Joy – but only if you can
And that’s where some of us get hung up. Many people don’t want to sing in a setting in which they might actually be heard because they don’t feel their voice is good enough. This is especially true if others in the group are talented singers.

The Christian scene today is blessed with many fantastic singers. Whether those voices appear in our Churches or on the CD’s we listen to, we know what a good voice sounds like, and, for most of us, our own voices don’t measure up. Many don’t feel that they can worship as well as these talented individuals, and the idea of singing together would only serve as a reminder of that. This is not right. As MacArthur says so well, vocal quality is not a measure of true worship. It was not even mentioned in Christ’s conversation about worship with the woman at the well. “You must worship God in spirit and truth… but only if you can sing really well.” Not true: worship is primarily a mental, not vocal, exercise. If we are to worship God in truth, then God’s truth must be the basis of our worship. However, truth must also be articulated in our worship. Peter Masters, pastor of Metropolitan Tabernacle in London, says emphatically that, “Worship is words! Worship is words!” Worship music must be a cognitive activity, one in which our minds are focused on the truth revealed in God’s word – “Your Word is truth,” said Christ.

Back in Romans 12:1 the Greek word for “spiritual” (as in “your spiritual service of worship”) is “rational.” Hence the King James rendition, “Your reasonable service.” This means your reasoning is involved, your thinking. Your mind is more important to your worship of God than your voice, especially when you remember that worship is so much more than singing. However, singing is a part of worship for everyone. God blesses His people with gifts, and for some that is the gift of music. However, this is not to make “non-musical” folks feel inferior, but to prompt them to worship their God. If you can’t hold a tune, then simply make a joyful sound… shout for joy!

We should not constrain singing to our Church services, nor should we limit it to the vocally gifted. We should be at ease singing in each other’s company at all times.

Next, we’ll look closer at what not singing together says about our fellowship.

Why Don’t We Sing? - part 1

2009-04-04T10:40:00.000-07:00

Speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs
- Ephesians 5:19

Important Disclaimer*

Flummoxed
I must admit that when I came to this exhortation I found myself at a loss. I looked at different translations, I examined the Greek words, I considered the greater context of this letter and its sister, Colossians... yet it still said the same befuddling thing: “Communicate among yourselves with singing!”

Less Than Organized
This made little sense to me. What does this look like? Spiritual singing in groups normally happens in a Church setting – or any place where Christians are meeting for the purpose of worship God together. That singing is planned and organized. However, I don’t think that’s what we’re looking at in Ephesians. Were Paul addressing here the Corinthians and their need for an “orderly manner” in their gatherings, then organized singing might be in scope, but here in Ephesians the focus is on the inter-relational workings of the Church. Paul is talking about unity – the God-given oneness of believers in the local Church – and how that unity is worked out among us. If we are to grow into Christ, we must do it together – that we cannot do it otherwise. How we speak to and act toward one another determines whether unity will be preserved or destroyed. So singing to each other here is something that happens in the context of those relationships.

Not Natural for Us
Perhaps you’ve a different experience, but my time with other believers is not characterized by singing spiritual songs. I can’t recall any conversations where one of us said, “Let’s sing,” unless it was Christmas carols or a musician-to-musician thing. So why don’t we sing?

Singing in the Early Church
Are we missing out on something that was common practice to earlier Christians? Singing certainly shows up in the New Testament . Christ sang with His disciples after the Last Supper. Paul and Silas sang in prison. Paul and James encouraged believers to sing. The Christians at Corinth also were prepared to sing when they gathered together. Pliny, a second century Roman governor in Asia Minor reported to Emperor Trajan that Christians met together before dawn (to avoid persecution) to sing praise to Christ as God. Tertullian, writing from North Africa toward the end of the same century, describes a Christian feast at which "Each is invited to sing to God in the presence of others from what he knows of the holy scripture or from his own heart."

So Christians have been singing a long time, and if we are to look at Ephesians 5:19 honestly, we must conclude that singing could, perhaps even should, happen at any time among believers. So why don’t we sing?

More to come...

*Disclaimer
If you are reading this post and have not trusted exclusively in Christ Jesus as God and Savior, then this will mean little to you. The sweetest possible fellowship between people is reserved only for those who have been "granted the right to be called children of God." We who have believed in Christ for salvation are family. Jesus Himself prayed for our unity and so, while it will never be perfect this side of heaven, we can say with the Psalmist, "How good and pleasant it is when the brothers live together in unity!" This salvation is available to all who repent of their sins and look to Jesus for forgiveness and mercy. Jesus said that any that fail to do so will die in their sins. Call on Him now and be saved from the wrath of God that will come all too soon.

What Does It Mean To Be Dead? - Part 3

2009-02-03T15:15:00.000-08:00

Part 1 described spiritual death. Not pretty.
Part 2 marveled that God would have mercy on the living dead.
Now, how did we get into this pickle in the first place.

Death Through Sin

"The wages of sin is death." Scripture makes is quite clear that we are dead because of sin. Disobedience against God's commands is tantamount to outright rejection of Him, His supremacy, and His standards. Anyone that chooses to follow their own inclinations in violation of God's own words suffers death. All sin is sin against God, and sin brings death. "When sin is accomplished, it brings forth death." (James 1:15) Sin breaks relationship with the Giver of life, so death falls to the offender. Sin isn't a popular topic, or pleasant thought, but all have sinned, and eternal death awaits.

Baby Sinners

"Isn't he cute?" When my children were born they were miracles! Not only were they new people but innocent, uncorrupted, without guile. I would look into their face and feel renewed; they seemed to lift off the heaviness of the world from my shoulders, take years off me. However, by two years of age, they were adding to my years. They lied, disobeyed and took things that weren't theirs. Now my kids weren't criminals against society at age two, but while I certainly hadn't taught them to do such things it seemed these sins came naturally to them. I couldn't blame it on kindergarten, TV, or even my own behavior (for the most part), and I noticed it wasn't just my young children; my friends' children were exhibiting the same things (of course I blamed that on bad parenting.) No, what I was witnessing was the outworking of a corrupted nature. Sadly, sin was part of the package with my children. They were born into the world as sinners - their sinful nature led to the sins, not the other way around. I love my children dearly, but they each were born as sinners.

Death Through Adam

In Romans 5 Paul writes that, "Through one man sin entered into the world, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men, because all sinned." Adam sinned against God and so mankind's nature was fundamentally peverted. The obvious evidence of this fact given in this verse is that all men across all time have sinned. I've often wondered about this. Why did Adam's sin so effect the rest of us? Why am I born as a sinner when I had nothing to do with Adam's disobedience? If I now sin because I am a sinner at heart - and the state of my heart is beyond my control - then how is it that I am held responsible for my sin? Quite frankly, that seems a little unfair. Yet scripture goes on to say, "Through the one man's disobedience the many were made sinners." This is tough stuff. How am I culpable for what Adam did thousands of years before I was even born? I've heard the old rejoinder, "Don't knock Adam - you would have done the same thing," but, well, I didn't... I wasn't there. Yes, I've sinned in my lifetime - things worse than eating forbidden fruit, but didn't I do that because Adam's sin gave me a sinful nature? This is a hard teaching, who can accept it? Two possible explanations for this are available to us in Scripture.

We Were There

The first explanation is that in some uncommon sense, we were physically present in Adam when he rejected his God. Hebrews 7 states that Levi was in the loins of Abraham, even though they were separated by several generations. Further it states that Levi - though not yet conceived - paid tithes through Abraham. As Abraham's actions were attributed to Levi, so Adam's actions were attributed to us. This is not a concept I like very much. If I'm going to be accountable for something bad, it better be something I actually did. However, the Bible clearly shows sins having an impact that extends beyond the law breaker to his descendants (e.g. Exodus 20:5-6 and 34:6-7.) While this notion is most foreign to our way of thinking, it is not foreign to the Bible. We were present in Adam when he sinned, and bear the reproach of what happened in the garden.

We Were Represented

If the Scriptural basis for the first explanation leaves you unconvinced, then consider this: we weren't there physically, but we were fully represented. As an ambassador speaks and acts for his people, all humanity was represented by its progenitor and the consequences for his choice fall to all humanity. Romans 5 says that Adam was a type (foreshadowing) of Christ, who is also called the last Adam (1 Cor 15:45.) Consider this from Matthew Henry:

In this Adam was a type of Christ, that in the covenant-transactions that were between God and him, and in the consequent events of those transactions, Adam was a public person. God dealt with Adam and Adam acted as such a one, as a common father and factor, root and representative, of and for all his posterity; so that what he did in that station, as agent for us, we may be said to have done in him, and what was done to him may be said to have been done to us in him.

Verdict: Guilty

Whichever way you slice it, we are guilty because of what happened in Eden. Thus we are born sinners, and it is natural to us to sin. No one teaches a baby to sin, yet they do it. Every person that ever lived has sinned, but one. How could Jesus, being fully man, be without sin? Because He was not born a sinner - He was not of the seed of Adam or of His nature. His sinlessness is further evidence of our built in sinfulness. King David famously wrote that "in sin my mother conceived me." Every person ever born is already a sinner, desires to be nothing else, deserves the full wrath of a jilted God. Our predicament from the beginning is such that, unless we believe that Jesus is God, we will die in our sins. (John 8:24)

Conclusion: What Does it Mean to be Dead?

We do not desire God. His ways are unnatural to us. Not a fiber of our being remains untouched by the ravages of sin, and we do no God-honoring good. We are helpless to save ourselves from this mess, but do not mind that in the least - we are quite literally hell-bent, twisted away from God. Our sins reflect this reality: we are born sinners. We transgress God's will because we are not of Him in the first place. If a man is to be saved, God must act first. Man must be given the desire to love God in order to choose to do so. More on that later.

What Does It Mean To Be Dead? - Part 2

2008-12-03T10:26:00.000-08:00

In Part 1 we looked at the question of what it means to be dead in sin. We finished with the sober realization that man, of himself, is detestable to God. Sin permeates him to the very core.

I want to briefly ponder an important implication of this for a moment.

While We Were Yet Sinners

Considering how vile we were in the eyes of God, it is astonishing that He did anything at all for us. In Romans 5:7 Paul states that we ourselves might be willing to offer our life in exchange for someone else's - although we would be extremely selective in whom to die for. We might die for our wife, our children, or a very honorable person, but we most certainly wouldn't see the point in giving up our life for someone we didn't like, or someone that hated us - let alone a violent criminal. However, this is exactly what God has done. What He did, He did for the ungodly (v6, 4:5), for those who were yet sinners (v8), for those who considered God a hated enemy (v10.) Jesus hung on the cross for people that reviled Him. He bears the weight of sin for people that despise Him. There was nothing appealing about us when God took the first step. "We love, because He first loved us." (1 John 4:19) God took the initiative - He had to! We were helpless (v6), literally without strength and powerless; we were dead in our trespasses and sins. Dead people are repulsive and incapable of action. The power of salvation is with God alone. As with Lazarus, God must give the command and the power for us to respond in faith and repentance. Jonah wrote that, "Salvation is from the Lord."

All of You, none of me,
Salvation is from the Lord,
All by grace, not my works,
By You my heart was stirred,
I love because you first loved,
Believe because you called,
You alone bring dead to life,
Salvation is from the Lord.

All of You, none of me,
If it were not so,
I would have failed to come to You,
For all who come are drawn,
And in your hands I am secure,
Nothing can take me away,
From the love of God which is in Christ,
Salvation is from the Lord.

You reached in to my grave,
Gave me power to be raised,
"Come forth!"
…and I could not but obey.

Jesus Christ did not bleed on the cross in the hope that you and I might decide to take Him up on His offer of salvation. He died that He might give life to those whom He would draw. At the moment immediately prior to His infusion of new life, we were dead! We could no more reach out to Him for salvation than a dead man can for resurrection. God's grace is truly to be given the whole credit for our new birth! Our seeming good deeds accounted for nothing in the matter. Our seeking for God could only be the result of His first seeking us.

Next we'll consider how we got into this mess.

What Does It Mean To Be Dead? - Part 1

2008-12-01T13:10:00.001-08:00

Part 1 - Rotten to the Core

"And you were dead in your trespasses and sins," (Ephesians 2:1)

What does it mean to be dead in sin? What causes such death? By what means can a person be made alive? These aren't easy questions, and the concept of spiritual death is strange to us. I'll try and tackle each question separately, beginning with what it means to be dead.

Under Sin & No Good
Reformed doctrine speaks of "Total Depravity" - a potentially misleading term necessitated by the acronym "TULIP." Sproul prefers "radical (or core) corruption." That is to say, "That sin penetrates to the root or core of our being. Sin is not tangential or peripheral, but arises from the center of our being." (Sproul, What is Reformed Theology?)

"...we have already charged that both Jews and Greeks are all under sin; as it is written, “There is none righteous, not even one; There is none who understands, There is none who seeks for God; All have turned aside, together they have become useless; There is none who does good, There is not even one.” “Their throat is an open grave, With their tongues they keep deceiving,” “The poison of asps is under their lips”; “Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness”; “Their feet are swift to shed blood, Destruction and misery are in their paths, And the path of peace they have not known.” “There is no fear of God before their eyes.”" (Romans 3:9-18)

To be "under sin" is to be under the control of sin. All are slaves to sin, corruption and death (Jn 8:34, 2 Pet 2:19, Rom 6:16-18, Tit 3:3) - sin is our master, and we wish for no other. In the first 3 chapters of Romans, Paul methodically - even ruthlessly - demonstrates that we are all guilty of sinning against God. His conclusions are clear and terrible, like the judge's gavel punctuating final sentence. "That every mouth may be closed and all the world may become accountable (under judgment, under sentence, condemned) to God." Even in introducing the remedy - "the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ," he once again pronounces the dreadful reality that, "All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God."

Man's corruption extends even to his good deeds, for these are not done unto God, but unto self-preservation, or self-esteem, or self-righteousness - all odious to a God who is primarily concerned with the motive behind every deed. Truly can Paul state that no man does good.

Am I Really Vile?

Death, however, is laden with additional connotations. This corruption is not merely academic, a clever thought to be analyzed or pondered in order that we might align our doctrinal ducks; rather, it speaks directly to the foulness of our condition. In Rock of Ages, Augustus Toplady wrote, "Vile I to the fountain fly, wash me Savior or I die." How many of us think ourselves truly vile, or foul? Most of us were raised with some level of decency - oh sure, we slipped up here and there, but we were hardly "vile." We reserve such terminology for serial killers, rapists, and pedophiles. Our books and movies even convince us that criminals can be good people (Ocean's 12, Spartacus, Gross Pointe Blank, etc.) - how much more so law-abiding citizens such as ourselves? Some of us put faith in Christ at a young age and are conflicted when we sing such verses as, "Amazing grace... that saved a wretch like me," or read that "we were enemies" of God who "formerly lived in the lusts of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind." Reading in Titus that, "We also once were foolish ourselves, disobedient, deceived, enslaved to various lusts and pleasures, spending our life in malice and envy, hateful, hating one another," we struggle to relate and perhaps even question the authenticity of our salvation.

The Living Dead

Let death be understood then. It does not merely describe the inability of man to respond to God - although it does that most effectively. It does not simply define the impossible chasm that separates unsaved man from His creator - although this infinite divide most certainly exists. It does not only delineate the saved from the unsaved, but serves to convey the most appalling realizations. A dead body isn't a pretty thing. It quickly becomes a wretched thing. Many horror movies make use of the "living dead" in order to present us with a character utterly contemptible, devoid of any appeal, and to remove from us any compassion or sympathetic feeling for them whatsoever. As we are presented with their decomposing flesh, their wooden motions, their insensitivity to any pain, their lack of remorse for the most ghastly crimes upon which they are fixated, we can only hate them and wish for their absolute and final annihilation. Sadly, this zombie-like state is a fitting descriptive for the mass of walking dead that is humanity. Physically alive for a while, death works from the inside out until the body soon follows - as it always has, beginning with Adam.

Deadly Looks

It is, however, important to recognize that, while all are most truly and equally dead, the appearance is not always consistent. Spurgeon draws on the events in which Jesus resurrected 3 different people (sermon #127). Jairus' daughter (Mk 5, Lk 8), the widow's son (Lk 7), and Lazarus (Jn 11.) He states that, "that the death is the same in all cases; but the manifestation of it is different." In the case of the young girl, the effects of death were hardly visible. Her family members were still with her in the room and funeral plans had not even begun. So it is with many young people - they are innocent of many evils, and it can be difficult to distinguish the living from the dead. Indeed, when such people receive resurrecting life from Jesus they do not have the before-after contrast that would have occurred were they to remain longer in grip of sin and death. We - and I include myself in this category - often make the mistake of lamenting the absence of such a contrast. We think that it would be better to have had a more dramatic testimony of conversion; that such would surely furnish a greater certainty of salvation. However, this is to wish that we had sinned against God more in order to prove the grace of God - something that scripture decries strongly. It is to wish that we might have continued to atrophy, to become more desperate in our sin, and to inflict our sickness on those around us. Should we desire the devil's company and mastery in order that we might better know what Christ has rescued us from? May it never be! Pointing to Jesus' command that the resurrected little girl be given something to eat, Spurgeon concludes:

When young people are converted who have not yet acquired evil habits; when they are saved before they become obnoxious in the eyes of the world, the command is, “Give them meat.” Young people want instruction, they want building up in the faith; they generally lack knowledge; they have not the deep experience of the older man; they do not know so much about sin, nor even so much about salvation as the older man that has been a guilty sinner; they need to be fed. So that our business as ministers when the young lambs are brought in, is to remember the injunction, “Feed my lambs;” take care of them; give them plenty of meat. Young people, search after an instructive minister; seek after instructive books; search the Scriptures, and seek to be instructed: that is your principal business. “Give her meat.”

Rather than wish that we had experienced - even practiced - more evil, we should rejoice that Christ reached into our graves and granted our salvation before we had putrefied any further. We should seek understanding from scripture, allowing God's words to inform us of what we truly were and how necessary was our salvation.

Without the supernatural intervention of God, the manifestations of death would have quickly made their mark on Jairus' little girl. Soon she would have been like the widow's son. Unlike the girl, he was hidden in a coffin. Those present would have recoiled in disgust and grief from the appearance of his body. More so the body of Lazarus. Dead for 4 days, his rotting corpse emitted such a stench that even his sister - she who had just said, "Yes, Lord; I have believed that You are the Christ, the Son of God" - even this sister wavered when faced with the thought of opening her brother's tomb.

An Affront to God

As with these 3 who died, so with us spiritual death works its process slowly, inexorably. Some of us Christians might have difficulty at first identifying with scripture's proclamations of our radical corruption, but we must not allow ourselves to be fooled as to our former condition - and the wretched state of those around us who have not yet been saved by Christ. The contrast between saved and unsaved is as extreme as that between a dead corpse and a living person. With out new life from God, each of us is an affront to God - an abomination before Him, and will ultimately be consumed in His fierce wrath.

Part 2...

Are the Branches Going to Hell?

2008-11-24T06:05:00.000-08:00

A couple of weeks ago a good friend asked me what I made of John 15, specifically these verses:

"Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit, He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit, He prunes it so that it may bear more fruit." (John 15:2)
"If anyone does not abide in Me, he is thrown away as a branch and dries up; and they gather them, and cast them into the fire and they are burned." (John 15:6)

Do these verses indicate that those who are "in Christ" may ultimately end up in hell?

Allegory Alert
Proposition: If "in Me" is to be born-again, and being "taken away" and "cast into the fire and burned" represents eternal punishment, then this passage clearly speaks to believers that become unsaved.

Clearly, this view hinges on what Jesus means by being "in Me." Before we discuss that, however, a warning is needed: Allegory Alert! Yes, that's right, this is a symbolic representation, a visual aid. After leading the disciples out of the upper room, and coming upon a vineyard, Jesus stops the group and uses the vine to further explain what He is already talking about. The vineyard allegory therefore serves one point, not many. We must look to the context of what Jesus is talking about before, during and after this illustration and understand His teaching in that context. We should not get caught analyzing details beyond the obvious meaning. For example, is "in Me" really germane to the message, or just a necessary part of the vineyard picture? If the latter, then we must not get caught up trying to attach meaning to it. After all, there are many other unexplained aspects of the vineyard which we could get quickly lost by analyzing: the Father is human, but Christ is a plant... what does that say about Christ's humanity? And what about the soil? Surely every vine is planted in earth... where does Christ draw His nutrients from? Can't be the Father - He's already represented... is the soil the Holy Spirit? No, not every aspect of the allegory is intended to convey meaning.

The Meaning of the Allegory

So what is the clear meaning here? Obedience. We cannot live in Christ if we do not keep His commands. We cannot love Christ if we do not keep His commands. This has been the theme since the group left the upper room, and will continue through to Jesus' "high priestly" prayer. It is a theme carried through by John in his first epistle. This then is the object of Christ's teaching in John 15. To be in Christ is to obey Christ. Obeying Christ results in fruit bearing. Those who do not bear fruit - who do not obey - do not have the life of Christ in them. Other scriptures similarly show that God has no use for plants (people) that bear no fruit - (Matt 3:10, Matt 21:19, Lk 13:7-9, Heb 6:7-8.) "He who does not obey the Son will not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him.”" (John 3:36) In John's language, obedience is synonomous with belief. To disobey Christ is to disbelieve that He is God's Son, and to forsake the only possible means of reconciliation with God - obedience to the call and commands of Christ.

The Limitations of the Allegory

The branches that do not bear fruit are therefore branches that do not obey Christ. They have no place in the vine and are cast off. Does this mean that they once had a place on the vine, that they once drew saving life from Christ? Again, you're dealing with the limitations of the chosen allegory. Would it have been better for Christ to start the picture with branches that were never part of the vine? How then would these branches have ever come into existence? Did they grow out of the ground by themselves? Clearly not; they have to be branches of something else, in this case, the vine. This fact was a necessity of the visual aid, not a theological statement.

Dead From the Get-Go

The fact that Jesus does not at all explain the original standing of the dead branches means that it must have been plain to all. Jesus has already shown that all who are His will remain His. Those who are born again, cannot become unborn again.

"All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will certainly not cast out." (John 6:37)
"This is the will of Him who sent Me, that of all that He has given Me I lose nothing, but raise it up on the last day." (John 6:39)
"My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me; and I give eternal life to them, and they will never perish; and no one will snatch them out of My hand. “My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand." (John 10:27-29)

Further, in his proceeding prayer (Jn 17) Jesus prays repeatedly that God would keep (guard) His followers. As He kept them while with them, He prays that God would keep them after His departure. These passages make it difficult for me to accept that Jesus is teaching here that the unfruitful branches were once fruitful, were once true believers, but now are lost forever.

Believer's Discipline?

Could the "burning" refer to the discipline of a believer? Do obedient believers undergo the fires of affliction? Absolutely, but that is clearly different in nature and purpose from discipline for disobedience. The metaphor for a believers' discipline is already taken by "pruning."

Conclusion - The Clear Meaning

The vineyard picture is an allegory, and comes with all the limitations of allegory. We must understand the clear meaning, and be wary of proceeding further. To be fruitful is to keep Christ's commands, and we cannot have any part in Christ if we do not do so. This is a major theme of all of John's writings. Wheat and tares may grow together, but are distinguishable by their obedience:

"By this we know that we have come to know Him, if we keep His commandments. The one who says, "I have come to know Him," and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him; but whoever keeps His word, in him the love of God has truly been perfected. By this we know that we are in Him: the one who says he abides in Him ought himself to walk in the same manner as He walked." (1 John 2:3-6)
"By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and observe His commandments." (1 John 5:2)

There is a clear warning in the vineyard allegory: if we do not keep Christ's commands, we will never be His and we will die in our sins. If you are willfully disobeying the commands of Christ, you must repent and call upon Him to save you, or you will be taken away and burned for eternity.

For those who have already received God's mercy through Christ, let's take the clear meaning - obedience - and apply it to our lives.

Does God Have An Eraser?

2008-11-21T10:02:00.000-08:00

This question was raised by a friend who was reading Revelation 3:5:

"‘He who overcomes will thus be clothed in white garments; and I will not erase his name from the book of life, and I will confess his name before My Father and before His angels."

He's done his own research, but I wanted to think it through for myself. What is the big deal about this verse? Well, if God erases peoples' names from the "book of life" then it can be said that salvation may be lost. This shatters the notion of "once saved, always saved" and makes salvation always at risk, always hinging on each man's actions. Therefore this is a critical question; it touches on a fundamental issue of the Christian faith. I won't deal with the larger context, but rather just focus on the book of life and possibility of being erased from it.

(If you're unclear on the purpose of the book of life, take a look at Revelation 20.)

So, starting with Revelation 3:5. A plain reading (no Greek look-ups, commentaries etc) of the text reveals a couple of things:

This text never says that God will erase anyone’s name from the book of life
It does not state that those who are dead/asleep in the Sardis church have a place in the book of life

To infer from this verse that one can become unsaved is to build an argument on inference alone. There are many references to the book of life found in scripture, and all but three of them simply state that a person’s name is either in it or not. These three then:

"“But now, if You will, forgive their sin—and if not, please blot me out from Your book which You have written!” The Lord said to Moses, “Whoever has sinned against Me, I will blot him out of My book." (Exodus 32:32-33)
In his desperate plea for the Israelites, Moses offers himself for punishment in their place. “God, spare them – take me!” However, God will not accept Moses’ offer – He is the God that “will by no means leave the guilty unpunished.” While God will always remember His covenant with Israel, He has many times cut off those who have offended Him. However, those whose faith is in Him, in His provided redemption, these are the true Israel, and this remnant will always be His people (Rom 9-11.)
"May they be blotted out of the book of life and may they not be recorded with the righteous." (Psalm 69:28)
This Psalm of David is a plaintive cry for help; his enemies have acted diabolically towards him – hated him without cause, attacked him without remorse, and exulted over his dishonor. David composes a verse of curse of these men, from v22-28, culminating with the above line. Can we build a doctrine of uncertain salvation on this statement? Before that happens, we better read the previous verse where David prays that these people, “may not come into Your righteousness.” There is nothing in this Psalm to indicate that these are righteous men – in fact there is all the evidence to the contrary: they are bitter foes of God’s rightly appointed king. The case for losable salvation is weak here also.
Revelation 3:5 - I’ve already commented on this one.

Do these verses show that salvation can be forfeit? None of them makes the case clearly - at best, any of these verses could possibly be considered as a support for such a view, but they fail to establish the view. Even if the view could be established elsewhere in scripture, I would still suggest staying away from these verses for support: the whole concept of the book of life tends to be much more conducive to an “irrevocable salvation” perspective. After all, the names of the saints were written in this book “before the foundation of the world” (Rev 13:8, 17:8.) To suggest that God must later erase any of them is to question His omniscience, which is to make Him less than God. So, no, God does not have an eraser.

Why Did God Make Eden?

2008-10-27T10:52:00.000-07:00

We were just finishing our bedtime prayers last night, when my seven year old little girl asked me, “Daddy, if God knew that people would be bad, why did he make Eden and everything?”

Passing the Test

Sometimes parenthood can get real interesting, real fast. You’re tired… you’re ready to finish up your own day – and you are unexpectedly asked to give an account for God’s actions in the history of men. We had just read a few pages of “The Voyage of the Dawn Treader” and with that in mind I responded with, “Because God wants the story to play out… He wants to see all of history happen.” I then held my breath to see if this would pass muster. I can’t imagine many situations being as tough as this; I felt like a candidate before a confirmation hearing, or a student in a national spelling bee final: I had given my answer to a complex question, and must now await the verdict. My daughter’s approval of my answer was evident in the fact that she moved on to a completely different subject. Trust me, if the answer hadn’t held water, we would have still been talking about it. “But what about…?” Or, “Then why did…?” Really, this question could have been discussed indefinitely by the world’s great theological minds – they would not have quickly exhausted the topic and its implications. I strive to give my young children answers to their questions, without losing them in thought process that produced the answers. As they get older then I begin asking them questions that force them to consider what they know, and will spend more time exploring the “why’s” with them.

Surprise Ending?

This is, nonetheless, a probing question. If He knew the end, why did God bother with everything that led up to it? We see history like a story; it has a beginning and end, with a sequence of events in between that connect the two. Applying that metaphorically, we see history as the story and God as its author. Then we consider all the problems of human history and wonder why God bothered with everything in between. Admittedly, we like a good story and most of us - my wife excluded - like to work from front to back, enjoying the unfolding of the story, and the surprises it brings. However, God is the author, not the reader; there are no surprises for Him in the story precisely because He wrote it. He sees the end from the beginning – existing both in our timeline, and outside of it. So He's not playing out history to see what happens at the end!

All About Him

I think part of the reason behind our “Why did He bother?” question is that we place ourselves in the center of the story. Most of us – even on our bad days – are glad for the beginning; we’re happy to be around. All true believers look forward to what lies ahead, an eternity with Christ – the living hope unique to Christians. However, when we look at the unfortunate things that have afflicted humanity over the ages – above all the curse of sin – we wonder why God let it all happen. Why not create us to be with Christ in heaven from the beginning? Again, I say that this question arises from a preoccupation with ourselves. It reveals a self-concern and unawareness of God’s part in history: history is not primarily about us, it is about God. Even human history is about God, His desires, His plans and intentions. He chose His people before His people were made, gifting them to His Son, who in turn redeems them and gifts them back to the Father! We do not exist for ourselves, but through and for Him.

The End is Nigh

God allows humanity to endure the consequences of their insurgence in order that His plans and desires might be fulfilled. He has written the story and is determined to see it play out, one chapter at a time. I’m looking forward to the end, where,

"The Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we shall always be with the Lord." (1 Thessalonians 4:16-17)

Why is Christ Interceding for Us?

2008-10-19T19:03:00.001-07:00

A friend asked me a question last week that I had to admit I couldn't answer: What does Scripture mean when it says Christ is interceding for us? What is He doing?

The greater part of my confusion on this matter comes from a misunderstanding of the word "intercede." I have always associated this word with prayer, and so when I hear the Word say that Jesus "always lives to make intercession for us" (Heb 7:25) I immediately conclude that Jesus is in heaven praying for me all the time. I remember that Jesus prayed to His Father for His followers in the "High Priestly Prayer" (Jn 17), so this is at least conceivable. It does introduce another matter in which I have little understanding, which is why Christ prays to God… but I'm not opening that can of worms just yet. I think I can avoid that because, with a little study, I can conclude that Christ's heavenly intercession for us is not primarily about Him praying.

Intercession Defined

Here are the references to intercession from the NASB:

"Festus said, “King Agrippa, and all you gentlemen here present with us, you see this man about whom all the people of the Jews appealed to me, both at Jerusalem and here, loudly declaring that he ought not to live any longer." (Acts 25:24)
"In the same way the Spirit also helps our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we should, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words; and He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He intercedes for the saints according to the will of God." (Romans 8:26-27)
"who is the one who condemns? Christ Jesus is He who died, yes, rather who was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who also intercedes for us." (Romans 8:34)
"God has not rejected His people whom He foreknew. Or do you not know what the Scripture says in the passage about Elijah, how he pleads with God against Israel?" (Romans 11:2)
"Therefore He is able also to save forever those who draw near to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them." (Hebrews 7:25)

From these verses we can see that the act of intercession is not limited to God, and that it clearly does not always mean prayer. In fact, only Romans 8:26-27 seem to refer to prayer, and this is work of the Holy Spirit within us, not of Christ in heaven. So intercession can mean to appeal for/against, to pray for, and to plead for/against. The English definition is "to intervene with a view to reconciling differences.” With reference to Christ's intercessory work, I think Warren Wiersbe's definition is fitting:

"Intercession means that Jesus Christ represents us before the throne of God and we do not have to represent ourselves."

A Living Intercessor

Romans 8 and Hebrews 7 speak of intercession in a present, ongoing tense. What does this mean? Is He praying for us continually? Perhaps making some sort of periodic sacrifice as did the priests in the old covenant? The meaning of this is drawn out in Hebrews. "He always lives to make intercession for us”, simply makes the point that our High Priest will not ever be prevented by death from presenting His sacrifice to God on our behalf. In this regard, He is the perfect High Priest; His redeeming sacrifice needed only to be offered once, and He will always be around to vouch for it.

"The former priests, on the one hand, existed in greater numbers because they were prevented by death from continuing, but Jesus, on the other hand, because He continues forever, holds His priesthood permanently. Therefore He is able also to save forever those who draw near to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them." (Hebrews 7:23-25)

Romans 8 is consonant with this as it asks, “Who condemns?” – literally, “Who pronounces sentence?” – then answers definitively, “Christ Jesus is He who died, yes, rather who was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who also intercedes for us." (Romans 8:34) Christ is our appointed judge and intercessor. He lives, and is able to intervene on behalf of those who He has pardoned. He Himself will answer the very valid accusations against us, our violations of God’s law, "Having canceled out the certificate of debt consisting of decrees against us, which was hostile to us; and He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross." (Colossians 2:14)

Praise God in Christ - He has done it all! In spite of our actions, we shall enter heaven as His children, clothed in His righteousness, granted the entitlements of children and full heirs of the Most High!

Present Benefits

The intercession of Christ in Romans 8:34 becomes the basis for some astounding present-tense implications:

"Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? Just as it is written, "For Your sake we are being put to death all day long; We were considered as sheep to be slaughtered." But in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord." (Romans 8:35-39)

Meditate on that for a moment and let your heart swell with joy! Because Christ died and now lives, nothing can pull us away from God now - not my will (or lack thereof), not anyone else's will, not even any turn of events. Whatever may befall us, the living Christ is up to the task. This is cause for great rejoicing and assurance.

"Who will bring a charge against God's elect? God is the one who justifies..." (Romans 8:33)

The question is asked incredulously, and answered with preemptive finality. No charge against God's elect can stick because He has already declared us righteous, having previously accepted His Son's payment for our sins. Praise be to Jesus Christ for making this possible! He has secured our pardon and fully satisfied the impeccable justice of God. Incredible! Our election, settled by God in love before human time began, is provided for in Christ's death, secured in His resurrected life, made apparent in our conversion, and fully realized in our ultimate redemption.

"These whom He predestined, He also called; and these whom He called, He also justified; and these whom He justified, He also glorified." (Romans 8:30)

Conclusion

When we read that Christ always lives to make intercession, we should understand that He has intervened on our behalf through His death, and that this sacrifice remains acceptable to God because Christ lives forever to present it before Him. Because He is both a living High Priest and ultimate sacrifice, He is sufficient to save forever and completely those who draw near to God through Him. This is significant because no other priest could make this claim, and no other sacrifice was ever designed to have this permanent effect. Even with a rudimentary understanding of Hebrew law and practice, we can see that our Savior is fully able to save us from the penalty we deserve, and we can be thankful for this tremendous assurance.

Why Don't We Share the Gospel?

2008-10-15T17:17:00.000-07:00

The study guide I am using for Ephesians contains the following question:

The New Testament repeatedly calls the message of God’s offer of grace to sinners through the substitutionary death of Christ the “gospel” or “good news”. When we hear good news, we want to share it spontaneously with everyone we meet. For example, think of getting a raise, finding out you’re going to have a baby, and so forth. Yet many believers in Christ are reluctant to communicate their faith with others. They seem complacent about this staggering promise of salvation from sin and death through Christ. Why is this so?

Thinking about this, I came up with three reasons.

Firstly: Weak Faith

…or, a lack of appreciation, understanding and love for Christ and all that He accomplished for us.

When we barely understand the gospel ourselves we have little to tell anyone else. When we don’t see the exceeding sinfulness of our sin, the rightness of God in condemning us, the personal cost He paid to redeem us, and the pure grace of God in saving us, our weak faith is unprepared to give an account for itself to others.

A man might discover the world’s largest raw diamond in his garden, but only know it as rough piece of glass. He might keep it in his shed with other odds and ends, or, if he really likes it, place it on a bookshelf in his living room. However, when upon the urging of a friend he takes it to a jeweler, the man finds, to his amazement, that the piece of glass is the most valuable stone in the world. He now has quite a different view of the stone, and treats it quite differently. He finds a secure way of protecting it from theft, but also makes sure it is very visible. When people visit his home; there it is, the very centerpiece of the home, secure in its nicely lit and unbreakable glass display case. It is also the centerpiece of conversation as owner and visitor alike discuss the wonders of its beauty; how the light refracts within the diamond, how it seems to transform the ordinary room into the finest art museum, how utterly unique and rare it must be , and how incalculable its value.

Of course this is an imperfect analogy – after all, the man would be justified in selling the diamond if he needed the money, but it serves to illustrate that we often have a very weak grasp of what salvation means. Sometimes we look at the people to whom we ought to be communicating the gospel and instead can only think about wanting the things that they have! What an imbalance! What can be more precious than the good news of salvation in Christ? This treasure is not subject to rust, moth, or theft. It is a gift of immense practical worth – not an ornament merely to be admired, but an ongoing catalyst of change that serves to make us more and more like our savior with each passing day. Even still, its full worth still lies ahead, for when we pass from this life we find that our salvation has brought with it riches beyond comprehension. The full measure of our inheritance awaits us in the heavenly presence of Jesus Himself, where we will at least see him face to face, gazing without obstruction upon His beauty and perfection. There we will lay down all our God-given honors at His feet and worship Him from hearts bursting with joy. There we will have glorified bodies, undying fellowship with one another, and we will know in full what we now only know in part.

However, the part many of us now comprehend is too small. We must pray with Paul, “That the eyes of our hearts may be enlightened, so that we will know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, and what is the surpassing greatness of His power toward us who believe,” and that we, "May be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge, that we may be filled up to all the fullness of God." (From Ephesians 1 and 3.)

Moreover, we must also apply ourselves to God’s Word which is able to “build us up,” to help us “grow in respect to salvation,” and to purify us. Our ability to stand strong in the faith and to increase our understanding of God is rooted in our study of His Word. Yes, we must pray; yes we must walk the walk; yes we must love God… but what of these things can be accomplished without knowing how we must pray, what the walk is, and who God is? Scripture is remarkable in that through it an infinite God communicates to finite minds. It is a power convertor of sorts, taking the current of a completely different frequency and making it usable to appliances that otherwise could not accept it. If we would immerse ourselves in God’s Word we would become filled with the joy of the gospel, for in Scripture are found all the realities of new life in Christ. We are better able to articulate the gospel as we read of it carefully, with our thinking caps on. If we find that our testimony is weak and not worthy of undue attention, we must recognize our miserly condition, repent of living like a pauper when we are made princes, and set ourselves to the grand task of growing up in the faith. "Brethren, do not be children in your thinking; yet in evil be infants, but in your thinking be mature." (1 Corinthians 14:20)

Secondly: Fear of man

For many people who are growing in their faith there is yet an additional hurdle to overcome when seeking to share the good news; the fear of man. Perhaps this is because we don’t want to look silly. Or perhaps we don’t want to suffer a negative reaction that might also hold future consequences. Or possibly we are simply of such a timid disposition that we cannot endure a direct conversation on the subject.

If you fear a negative reaction from your hearers, then your fears are well-founded. We are told that the world will hate us because we belong to Christ. Of course, this infers that the world must know we actually belong to Christ; there is no such thing as silent Christianity. Our lives and our words should work in unison to present hope to the world around us, as lights amidst a crooked and perverse generation. Such exposure will inevitable draw affliction: "Indeed, all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will be persecuted." (2 Timothy 3:12) This is not New Testament promise we like to lay hold of, nonetheless it is a reality of New Testament living.

This is not to say that all such conversations will be hostile, but that we should not set out with any false assurance of peace, lest we crumble when resistance is encountered. All the apostles suffered severe persecution precisely because they lived and communicated their faith with boldness. What was their reaction to being flogged for preaching Christ? "So they went on their way from the presence of the Council, rejoicing that they had been considered worthy to suffer shame for His name." (Acts 5:41) May our attitudes be so radically changed that we join with Paul in praying, "that with all boldness, Christ will even now, as always, be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death." (Philippians 1:20).

These men were motivated by an overwhelming desire to see their fellow man spared from the wrath of God. Paul wrote, “Therefore, knowing the fear of the Lord, we persuade men.” (2 Corinthians 5:11) He had been speaking of God’s final judgment upon man, and wanted as many as possible to hear the message of salvation through faith in Jesus Christ before that day. Fear of man is overcome by a healthy fear of God.

If you fear is appearing foolish before men, then I urge you to fall quickly to your knees. The wisdom and opinion of unsaved man is, in God’s sight, utter foolishness. Unregenerate thinking is degenerate thinking before Him. For us to fear that communicating the pure wisdom of God might put us in a bad light is to turn the whole thing upside down. The only wisdom that matters is Godly wisdom; if we are fools to them, then we are fools for Christ’s sake. We should not let concern over self-image cause us to exchange wisdom for foolishness, and cower before men.

If your natural shyness keeps you from giving the good news to others, then contemplate their certain fate if they do not hear it. Theirs’ is the same doom that you faced before God’s mercy was revealed to you. In Romans 10, Paul says that faith comes from hearing the word of Christ. He therefore begs the question, “How will they believe in Him whom they have not heard? And how will they hear without a preacher?” It is God that saves, and He saves those whom He has chosen, but He has chosen to introduce this salvation through the mouths of sanctified men and women. Think less of your inhibitions and more of what you have been spared from by the grace of God. How will you give account for yourself to God for your unwillingness to reach out to those around you who are walking the broad path towards their own destruction? Plead with God for the courage you need, then act; He will provide what you need – perhaps in full, more likely in measure. Also consider your love for Jesus; He who paid an infinitely dear price for your deliverance; He who loved you while you still reviled Him; He who has chosen to set His affection on you forever. Dwell on these things and your fears will diminish. Fear is soon overcome by a deep love for Christ.

Lastly: your own deadness

It is an unpleasant but necessary possibility to mention. Perhaps the reason you do not tell others about your faith in Christ is because you have none. Oh, you’ve heard the message, you know the right words, you can even imitate a Christian lifestyle to some extent, but you have not appropriated the new birth in any way. Examine your life in light of Scripture: are you willfully continuing in the practice of certain sins, are you lacking a practical love of the brethren, do you feel no gratitude toward God for His great mercy, do you have no compelling desire to know Christ above all else? Does the Holy Spirit testify with your spirit that you are indeed a child of the Most High God? "Examine yourselves to see if your faith is genuine. Test yourselves. Surely you know that Jesus Christ is among you; if not, you have failed the test of genuine faith." (2 Corinthians 13:5) If you fail the test then you have good reason for not preaching the Gospel; you also have need of repentance and of coming to Christ in brokenness for salvation. "‘And it shall be that everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.’" (Acts 2:21) Again, do not delay, do not wait for anything - act now!

Ambassadors for Christ

I am familiar with each one of these possible reasons for a weak or non-existent witness. I have personally been in each category at some point in time, so I speak with conviction not condescension. From what I see, the New Testament Church never questioned whether believers should share their faith with others, they simply did it because they knew what they had and, therefore, what others were missing. "Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were making an appeal through us; we beg you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God." (2 Corinthians 5:20) Christians are citizens of the kingdom of God, and His representatives in this world. Paul is not making a request, he’s making a statement of fact. If we know Christ as our Savior, God as our Father, and the Holy Spirit as our indwelling helper, then we must reach out to those around us who are daily drawing nearer to their eternal grave. God help us – myself included – to “have far more courage to speak the word of God without fear.”

Should You Hand Me Over to Satan?

2008-10-10T09:48:00.000-07:00

The other night we stumbled upon (and over) 1 Timothy 1:19-20, in which Paul instructs Timothy to fight the good fight,

"keeping faith and a good conscience, which some have rejected and suffered shipwreck in regard to their faith. Among these are Hymenaeus and Alexander, whom I have handed over to Satan, so that they will be taught not to blaspheme." (1 Timothy 1:19-20)

This passage raised a few eyebrows, mine included. We discussed it for a while, but I realized I needed to come back and study it closer. The questions that come to mind:

Who were Hymenaeus and Alexander?
What does it mean to suffer shipwreck in regard to our faith?
What blasphemy caused Paul to react so strongly?
What does it mean to hand someone over to Satan?

Please don’t conclude from the title of this post that I find humor in the subject, or that I take lightly the notion of being handed over to Satan. Whatever it means, it is not something I wish to come within a million miles of. However, you may more accurately derive that, at the beginning of this small study, I do not have a clear idea of what it does mean. If you don’t have time to think this through with me, feel free to skip to the conclusion. However, feedback will be most helpful if you’ve read through this article.

Who were Hymenaeus and Alexander?

Hymenaeus appears not only here, but also in Paul’s second letter to Timothy:

"But avoid worldly and empty chatter, for it will lead to further ungodliness, and their talk will spread like gangrene. Among them are Hymenaeus and Philetus, men who have gone astray from the truth saying that the resurrection has already taken place, and they upset the faith of some." (2 Timothy 2:16-18)

This man’s impact on the Ephesian Church spanned both of Paul’s letters to Timothy – a period of 1-4 years.

The name “Alexander” shows up in several places, however there is no clear link between these persons, and so we must acknowledge relative ignorance beyond what we see here in 1 Timothy; namely that he was associated with Hymanaeus and that he too blasphemed.
Paul’s letters to Timothy had a great deal to say about elders, and it is not unreasonable to assume that these men were elders in the Church at one time.

What does it mean to suffer shipwreck in regard to the faith?

These two men had rejected faith and a good conscience and subsequently suffered shipwreck in regard to their faith. The key to this shipwreck was their rejection of faith and conscience. The New Living Translation reads, “For some people have deliberately violated their consciences…" Moral self-awareness is a gift from God, serving as watchman over our thoughts and actions, ringing the alarm bell when the walls are breached. This constant prompting is intended to convince us of our crimes before it is too late to do anything about them. “Look to yourself! You are breaking some law! Wrong, it’s wrong!” On some matters the conscience can be informed - and misinformed - with instruction, but its core is an intuitive part of the human package, provided by God as a bellwether of truth. However, it can be silenced. Whether by a gradual increase of ignorance over a long period of time, or by sudden, blatant violations, the awareness of truth can be suppressed in unrighteousness. Given time the conscience is silenced, replaced with a perverted, treacherous sentry that welcomes breaches, and calls evil good, and good evil. So it was with Hymanaeus and Alexander who had rejected what was right and true; but to reject truth means they had some knowledge of it in the first place. That is the damning reality of the human state: we know enough to repent and turn to God, and yet we refuse. Our minds create a surrogate wisdom, and our hearts become unable to tolerate truth. It has been said that the most acute anguish of hell will be the relentless “I told you so!” of our conscience, and that we will no longer be able to suppress it.

The fact that these two men rejected faith tells us that they had it within their grasp at some point. As we will see from the remainder of the verse, it is likely that these men were formerly members of the Church in Ephesus. They had heard the Word preached, received it with joy, had likely made a profession of faith, enjoyed the sweet fellowship of the saints, and born witness to the work of Holy Spirit all around them. However, not all seed is sown in good soil, and some who initially appear to be of the body of Christ are later revealed as otherwise by their sins.

Hymanaeus and Alexander’s experience with the Christian faith had come to a disastrous end. They had gone astray from the true course, intent on their own setting, and had smashed themselves against the rocks of unbelief and deceit. We landlubbers would be more likely to say “trainwreck” than “shipwreck,” however, in a shipwreck the ship is not only damaged but sunk; lost. Whatever they knew of the faith they had twisted into something else, losing any inkling of true faith.

(Some references for the above: Romans 1:18-32; Hebrews 6:4-6; Mark 4:13-20; 1 Timothy 5:24, 1 Timothy 6:3-10)

What blasphemy caused Paul to react so strongly?

“So that they will be taught not to blaspheme.” In the general sense, to blaspheme somebody is “to speak against them in such a way as to harm or injure their reputation” (Louw & Nida.) In other scriptures, the Greek word blasphemeo is rendered, “spoken against,” “dishonored,” “malign,” and “hurling abuse.”

" The next Sabbath nearly the whole city assembled to hear the word of the Lord. But when the Jews saw the crowds, they were filled with jealousy and began contradicting the things spoken by Paul, and were blaspheming." (Acts 13:44-45)

What blasphemy have Hymenaeus and Alexander committed? In his letters Paul refers to false teachings involving legalism, immorality, greed and so on. To misrepresent God's truth is to slander Him. This is why we must be so very careful in handling His Word, and quick to acknowledge our errors. In his second letter Paul states plainly that Hymenaeus had been teaching, “The resurrection has already taken place.” What does this mean?

This was a clever deception. Hymenaeus didn’t deny the bodily resurrection of Jesus. He didn’t even deny that there was a resurrection for believers. Rather, he claimed that this resurrection had already occurred. To naïve Christians, this seems innocuous enough – after all, Jesus said we must be born again to enter the kingdom of heaven, and even Paul would say that we have already been “made alive in Christ.” However, this idea has a payload: if the believer’s resurrection is only a spiritual one, then there is no future physical resurrection waiting for us. This was an appealing thought to the Greek mind which sneered at the idea of physical resurrection (Acts 17:32), but it undermined peoples’ faith. As Paul says,

"If we have hoped in Christ in this life only, we are of all men most to be pitied." (1 Corinthians 15:19)

Paul had labored relentlessly, risking his life in the preaching of the gospel and in the service of the believers in Ephesus. For someone else to devour the flock provoked Paul to holy anger. In his second letter (2 Tim 2:17) he refers to this teaching as “gangrene” – cancer would also suffice here as both maladies attack the blood and can lead to death. This speaks not only to the fatal consequences of the heresy, but also to the nature of its working; gangrene and cancer spread quickly and will consume the vital organs – if not the entire body – when left unchecked. So errors spread in the body of Christ, and so they multiply in their teachers as one error invariably leads to another. Even when treated effectively, permanent damage can be unavoidable.

God commands us to use discernment in identifying false teachers, provides us with the criteria by which we can evaluate such things, and gives us the steps needed to deal with them. All this is in His Word. Paul had caught this foul disease early on – his response had been to hand these men over to Satan.

What does it mean to hand someone over to Satan?

First of all, as I said earlier, whatever this means, it isn’t good. It is strong, shocking language and reflects the seriousness of the matter, and the exhaustion of Paul’s patience with these men. They had gone too far and now faced the terrifying reality of being handed over to Satan.

I will readily admit that I have never heard anyone say that they have handed a person over to Satan. Other than its mention in scripture, I have never even heard the phrase uttered, written or practiced. This term is therefore foreign to most of us, not having any place in our language or understanding. That being the case, scripture will be my only source for unlocking the meaning.

A few years earlier, Paul had to deal with an ugly situation in Corinth (1 Cor 5). A man was sleeping with his step-mother, and this behavior was being tolerated by the rest of the Church. Paul chastises the Church for this, decrying their lack of discernment, their abdication of responsibility, and their ultimate peril in allowing such wickedness to fester.

"When you are assembled in the name of our Lord Jesus and I am with you in spirit, and the power of our Lord Jesus is present, hand this man over to Satan, so that the sinful nature may be destroyed and his spirit saved on the day of the Lord." (1 Corinthians 5:4-5, NIV)

Here the context gives us a clear understanding of what Paul intends by this. “Shouldn’t you rather have been filled with grief and have put out of your fellowship the man who did this?” “Clean out the old leaven.” “Do not associate with immoral people [within the Church].” " I wrote to you [previously] not to associate with any so-called brother if he is an immoral person, or covetous, or an idolater, or a reviler, or a drunkard, or a swindler—not even to eat with such a one." “Remove the wicked man from among yourselves.”

What action does Paul command? Put the man out of the Church.

The last quote, “Remove the wicked man from among yourselves” is a reference to many Old Testament passages (Deu 13:5, 17:7, 12, 21:21, 22:21) which are concerned with the purity of Israel. Similarly, Paul is concerned with this moral and doctrinal purity of the Church:

"For I am jealous for you with a godly jealousy; for I betrothed you to one husband, so that to Christ I might present you as a pure virgin. But I am afraid that, as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, your minds will be led astray from the simplicity and purity of devotion to Christ." (2 Corinthians 11:2-3)

God demands holiness because He is holy. He is a holy God, and therefore His own must be holy. He is so pure that He cannot bear to look upon sin (Hab 1:13), and will not tolerate it in His Church. The man in Corinth and the false teachers in Ephesus were contaminating the local Churches, and the filth was spreading. Christ has a passion for holiness and will not tolerate blatant sin in His own body, detailing for us how to respond to such situations (Matt 18.) The ultimate consequence of unrepentant sin is disassociation; the offender is no longer to be considered part of the body. As Paul says, all fellowship with such a person is to cease.

As I drive by Church buildings in my area I see advertisements such as, “The Church for Everyone,” and “You Belong Here.” It is true that God will save from among all peoples and races, but there is an attitude of all-inclusiveness which so pervades our thinking that we really struggle with the notion of putting someone out of a Church. After all, don’t they need to keep hearing the Word? How do you expect anyone to make a positive change when they are cut off from Christian fellowship? Sometimes we even fall back on the thinking that, “Well, nobody’s perfect… are you going to evict everyone?” Scripture agrees that Christians indeed sin, but that they also repent, strive to live holy lives before God, and show progress in doing so. When this is not the case, when someone continues in their sin – even when challenged – they are to be separated from the Church. If allowed to remain it is not merely their own souls that are at stake; they become a danger to the body as others follow the precedent. Contagious diseases infect and sicken those nearby.

However, such “handing over to Satan” should be done with great trepidation as well. Paul tells the Corinthians that they should have mourned the presence of sin in their midst. This mourning almost certainly extends to the sorrow they would feel both in coming to terms with the person’s apostasy, and at having to cut them off from their fellowship. Through admonition and confrontation – initially in private - we must strive to win over our brother. Love rules. However, it is not love to allow a false illusion that they are part of the body of Christ, thus blinding them to the reality of their impending destruction.

One question remains for me on this matter. Why does Paul say, “Hand them over to Satan” instead of simply, “Put them out of the Church.” It seems a bit extreme, and certainly isn’t as clear in its meaning. I think part of this is due to how we view Church today. When someone was denied fellowship in a New Testament-era Church, they couldn’t just go down the street to the Second Church of Ephesus. Perhaps there were different homes in which groups met, but there was one Christian community per city in those early days. If someone was put out of the Church everyone would know about it; there were social ramifications that we just aren’t accustomed to.

Additionally, in those days, to be a Christian was to be in a local Church. Today this concept is becoming lost as more and more people joined the “unchurched” Christian community. Such folks will claim that this community is really more like the Church Jesus intended than the institutional Church we see today. (There are simply too many biblical obstacles to this perspective. I touched on this here.) Consequently, being outside of the Church today does not carry the implications it did in Paul’s day. In fact, some consider themselves better – more independent and intelligent – for being so. From within their loosely formed communities many of them criticize individualism, yet they epitomize it in the context of the Church. They often look with pity on the poor souls that continue to inhabit the dusty confines of traditional Church, hoping that these too will someday be freed from the shackles of oppressive conformism, and liberated into real relationship with God. Such well-meaning intentions reflect a completely different mindset towards the Church than existed in Paul’s day. (If this reflects your view, please don’t blame it on the sorry state of the Church today… the NT Church was rife with problems as well, yet there was never any question as to its centrality in the Christian life.)

To New Testament believers the Church was an umbilical cord of Christian life. In a sense it was the very womb in which that life took place. While they lived in the world, believers were of the body, not of the world. The Church nourished and protected believers old and new. Elders existed to watch over souls, and were to be held accountable by God for doing so. Believers used their gifts to serve one another in love, helping, sharing, encouraging, strengthening and admonishing one another. The Word was taught here and baby Christians grew into mature men and women, each learning to love and honor Christ, changing into His image day by day. Even unbelievers reaped benefits of being in the Church community. To be put outside this was to be cut off from spiritual life and blessing, exposed to Satan and the world without the loving protection of elders and fellow believers. To a follower of Christ this was a horrific turn of events, and with this in mind it makes perfect sense for Paul to consider it as handing someone over to Satan.

Conclusion

To hand someone over to Satan is to carry out the final step of Church discipline prescribed by Jesus Himself; that is, expulsion from the local Church in everything from worship gatherings to ordinary meals. In reality this serves to disclose the rebellious heart of the individual and to remove any illusion anyone – especially the apostate - might have about their spiritual state. The Apostle John warns that, “The one who makes a practice of sinning is of the devil,” and conversely that, “No one born of God makes a practice of sinning.” The devil’s own do not belong in the body of Christ, and the body is to remove wickedness and wicked people from its fellowship in order that it might be pure and holy before God. In the instance of a believer being put out, there is also the individual benefit of being chastened and purified, albeit at the hands of Satan.

Hymenaeus and Alexander were put out of the Church because they rejected the faith and invented their own. Not content with that, they taught these false ideas to anyone that would listen and turned people away from truth. As a result of their continual sin they were removed from fellowship with the Church in Ephesus, released from the protective environment of the body of Christ, and handed over to Satan.

Should We "Lay Down Our Crowns"?

2008-10-04T22:12:00.000-07:00

They will cast their crowns before the throne.
"The twenty-four elders will fall down before Him who sits on the throne, and will worship Him who lives forever and ever, and will cast their crowns before the throne…" (Revelation 4:10)

Preparing for worship this Sunday, we have a song that reads:

We fall down,
We lay our crowns,
At the feet of Jesus.

This song is most clearly taken from this scene in John's revelation. Okay, so we can sing the song and not be unbiblical in so doing, but can we sing it biblically? That is, can we sing it with the meaning intended in scripture?
The impression I've always had when singing this song: anything of worthiness, any accomplishment, any acclaim we have, we surrender to Jesus as an indication of submission to His universal lordship. Does that hold up?

My questions:

What things does scripture have in mind when it mentions humans' crowns?
If this is a heavenly scene, ought we be laying crowns down here on earth?

Crowns in Scripture
Scripture mentions the crowns of our God-King in several places. His thorny crown of suffering, His ruler's and conqueror's crowns in Revelation. A crown in integral to the concept of kingship. A ruler without a crown may be a president or a prime minister, but he is no king. Good or bad, he has no absolute right to rule with sovereignty over his people. The crown symbolizes ultimate authority to a subject. Even so, earthly dominions may be corrupt, they may also be resisted - even overcome. However, Christ's kingdom will ultimately stand alone, and every creature - heavenly, earthly, and hellish - will acknowledge Him as Supreme Lord. Christ is seen with crowns because He has conquered sin and death, has held His victory parade, and now reigns far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and every name that is, and will ever be, named.
So what is this about us having crowns? Surely this does not refer to symbols of earthly authority, does it? Here are the relevant references:

The Crown of Life
"Everyone who competes in the games exercises self-control in all things. They then do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable." (1 Corinthians 9:25)
"in the future there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day; and not only to me, but also to all who have loved His appearing." (2 Timothy 4:8)
"Blessed is a man who perseveres under trial; for once he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to those who love Him." (James 1:12)
"And when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the unfading crown of glory." (1 Peter 5:4)
"Be faithful until death, and I will give you the crown of life." (Revelation 2:10)
"‘I am coming quickly; hold fast what you have, so that no one will take your crown." (Revelation 3:11)

This crown represents the reward of eternal life given to believers. All but one of these verses is referring to events that occur at the end of mortal life, and James 1:12 does not make any time-related reference at all. MacArthur writes of the Rev 2:10 reference:
Those who prove the genuineness of their faith by remaining faithful to the Lord until death will receive as their reward the crown (stephanos; the victor’s crown) of life. The crown (reward, culmination, outcome) of genuine saving faith is eternal life...

The Crown of Joy
"Therefore, my beloved brethren whom I long to see, my joy and crown..." (Philippians 4:1)
"For who is our hope or joy or crown of exultation? Is it not even you, in the presence of our Lord Jesus at His coming?" (1 Thessalonians 2:19)
Crown in this sense is a synonym for "reward." In a sense, Paul's work of preaching the gospel was it's own reward. "What then is my reward? That, when I preach the gospel, I may offer the gospel without charge..." (1 Corinthians 9:18)

The joy at seeing people escape the wrath to come was very precious to Paul. He placed tremendous value on the salvation of souls, and the prospect of seeing these believers in the presence of Jesus was the ultimate reward for his toil. He could boast of their faith in Christ, encouraging others - and himself - by the fact of their re-birth. While he himself could not save a single soul, yet these fellow believers were his crowning achievement. Anyone that has been used by Christ to aid in the drawing of a brother or sister feels this same joy. When we have given the gospel to someone and seen them respond with repentance and faith, our hearts well up with joy as we celebrate their salvation, their baptism, and their progress in the faith. Life holds few rewards as great as this.

Other Crowns
"Around the throne were twenty-four thrones; and upon the thrones I saw twenty-four elders sitting, clothed in white garments, and golden crowns on their heads." (Revelation 4:4)

Editor's note: Originally I had postulated that these elders were redeemed men in heaven. These "elders" appear in 12 verses of John's vision. Thanks to Don Carson for making me look to these texts for a better understanding of the identity of these elders. These beings are likely angelic because:
- they present the prayers of the saints to God (5:8), a task assigned to angels (8:3)
- they speak to John, a role normally reserved for angels in apocalytic writing (7:13; 5:5)
- they are numbered among the other angelic beings (5:11-14; 7:11; 19:4)

The crowns the elders wear are not described and may or may not apply to us directly. However, these ruling angels lay down their crowns in fealty to Christ, affirming His copmlete Lordship over all of heaven.

Should we be "Laying Down" our Crowns?
"And when the living creatures give glory and honor and thanks to Him who sits on the throne, to Him who lives forever and ever, the twenty-four elders will fall down before Him who sits on the throne, and will worship Him who lives forever and ever, and will cast their crowns before the throne, saying, “Worthy are You, our Lord and our God, to receive glory and honor and power; for You created all things, and because of Your will they existed, and were created.”" (Revelation 4:9-11)

This is the text we started with. Every created being, at the sight of Christ, immediately yields whatever honor has been bestowed and humbles themselves in the presence of God the Son. All honor was on account of Him in the first place; an extension of His favor to much lesser beings. Dukes, barons and other nobility receive their elevated status from the Crown, retain it at the Crown's discretion, and place their rightful resources in the service of the Crown. They may hold court in their own county, holding the highest of positions and responsibilities, but they are mere subjects in the presence of the king himself. Likewise, when Christ appears, the elders immediately fall off their thrones and yield the symbols of their own privilege to the Great King of Heaven - from whom they were received. At that point, all they can do is worship.

So that's heaven... but what about here? Must this act of worship wait for heaven? Not at all. We are after all His subjects here and now. We have already taken hold of eternal life, haven't we? We have already received a deposit of the full inheritance that awaits us, haven't we? Are we not daily blessed by never-ending mercies pouring forth from the throne of Christ? Do we not already know the joy of the Lord, if not in full at least in part? Does the Word of God itself not demonstrate the continuous lovingkindness of God toward finite minds? Is the joy of fellowship with each other not a sign of His tenderness and care for us?

No, there can be no doubt that we already have received much undeserved honor from God on account of Christ, and that the only right response is to surrender it all back to Him. Victories over sin can be laid as swords and shields at the feet of our conquering King. The salvation of friends and family members should result in the praise of His name - "The Lord Saves." Answered prayers, perseverance, righteous acts - all should be catalysts for the most reverent worship. With our voices and bodies we can outwardly pay homage to Him as an overflow of our heart's attitude towards Him. Indeed, to keep such feelings hidden is to draw into question either His worthiness, or the existence of such feelings.

We know now in part. We do now in part. The praise we will offer in heaven will be complete; nothing will be held back out of embarrassment, shame or ignorance. In response to His incomprehensible holiness we will become living instruments, together creating a symphony of glorious praise for our God and Savior. Yet even now we are in His presence, and even now we can strive to honor Him with our worship.

Lord, help me to worship you with my whole being. To love You with my whole heart, mind, soul and strength. May I willingly offer to you all the credit and glory for every good thing in my life. May all my actions and thoughts be brought into line with the reality of your consummate supremacy. And when I join with my fellow subjects in worship, may I hold nothing back. May my voice ring clear and resonate with the chorus, may my hands play instruments with passion and skill; and as this offering rises up to You, may you somehow transform it into something beautiful... a fragrant aroma... an acceptable sacrifice, well-pleasing to God.

What about Church?

2008-10-03T13:26:00.000-07:00

This post started out as a response to a question from Ted Kluck. In the process I wound up saying quite a bit about my experience and thoughts on Church and I moved it here instead. This isn't comprehensive by far - there are many places where I wanted to add an asterisk to indicate "a whole 'nother story." So, for anyone with too much time on their hands...

Pre-Emergent
(That's agriculture humor, there)

I have been part of the emergent movement - long before I ever heard the term used. We left the charismatic church out of discontent with many things, and started in-home meetings. We (~10 families) even moved into an urban neighborhood together, trying to emulate early church community. We dropped as many traditional terms and practices as possible, striving to be something new and fresh. After 6 years or so things became very difficult and we each moved to different corners of the area. We maintained some relationships but sought to follow Christ individually.

As time went by I found myself beginning to wonder why I believed what I believed; Is my faith merely a result of my upbringing? Furthermore, certain events caused me to question whether anything I knew could be called true, or just my own idea of truth.

Objective Truth
At that point I turned a critical eye to the Bible. I knew lots of verses, had heard preaching from the earliest age, but my faith had much more to do with my experiences and the “voice of the Spirit.” Now as I began to see the critical flaws in this approach and the destitute state of my heart I grasped for something dependable. The Bible seemed like the right place to start, but not without some tough questions: is it what it says it is - accurate, complete, divine? I wanted to believe it was, but for the first time in my life I wasn't willing to let my heart lead where my mind wouldn't follow. So I examined the Bible: has it been changed since the now-lost originals... why does everyone interpret it differently... what makes us think it is really God's words....? I found the answers to these questions satisfactory and I was excited that here was truth, here was an objective measure by which I could line up everything else and determine right from wrong.

Convicted about Church
Very quickly the words of scripture started convicting me of various things. One was my attitude towards Church. You see, we had treated the Church derisively. We condescendingly called it "The Institution", and saw it as a man-made organization that simply got in the way of relationship with God. In fact, to some of us it was a hindrance to the very return of Christ. It was full of professionalism, hypocrisy and formulas that blinded people to spiritual realities, instead placing the emphasis on outward conformity and performance. It failed to meet peoples' real needs, instead demanding unquestioned submission to human leadership and mediation. We needed to be free from these obstacles, recognize the equality of all believers and their need to "be and not do." Whatever the Bible had to say about Church, it was not talking about the institutional club we saw today. We more-or-less ditched the idea of local Church and focused more on the universal Body of Christ. However, I was now coming across passages that stopped me dead in my tracks. It became quickly apparent to me that, while there is one universal Church that all true believers are part of, there is also a local assembly that is an integral part of God's will. Moreover, God had given specific guidance as to how things should operate in that environment; how it should be led, how services should be ordered, how discipline should be handled, how we should serve one another etc. When I came to Acts 20 and read that Christ loved the Church so much that He shed His own blood for her, I was immediately ashamed of my attitudes.

Jesus loves the Church - and we can't, in light of scripture, limit that to the invisible fellowship of all believers world-wide. For me to stand back and throw rocks at the Church is to despise that which God Himself has established and paid dearly for.

Blessed by Church
I immediately sought to line up with God's will by visiting some Churches. Unfortunately I went right back to the type of Churches I had come from and quickly began to wonder if I would ever be able to reconcile what scripture said with what I saw in practice. The issue for me was teaching; I was spiritually anorexic and needed nourishment, not candy. I simply couldn't remain with a Church where the teaching was weak, where scripture merely served to buttress flavor-of-the-day messages. By God's mercy I stumbled, albeit unwillingly, upon a Church that claimed to teach the Word "one verse at a time." I showed up at the beginning of a study on Malachi and was surprised to find that there was a first chapter in that book - I had only ever seen chapter three used in reference to the curious doctrine of tithing. The Pastor (took a while to get used to that term again) only made it as far as verse one that morning. He set the book in its historical context, explaining the state of Israel at that time and its attitude of passive aggression towards God. Four months later he concluded the study on this little book and I was hooked. "Long for the pure milk of the word that by it you may grow in respect to salvation." I was fed. I was challenged. I was growing. Ahhhhh.

Great News
Along the way I heard the gospel preached. I recall hearing at least parts of the gospel as a child, but now it seemed that I was hearing it for the first time. I had always heard that God loved me, but, "So what? Why wouldn't He?" I suddenly understood that His love was the only thing that could possibly spare me from HIS wrath! I was a sinner and a hater of God, barreling forward down a path to my own destruction. But God, being rich in mercy, had died for the ungodly! Why had I never seen these scriptures before!? I was overcome by a sense of God's grace towards me. I repented and called out to Him in faith!

Jesus was immediately compelling, His words therefore of inestimable value and relevance. Front-to-back, the Bible would forever be my guide, my comfort, my conscience, my desire. "Open my eyes that I may behold wonderful things from your Law." Better yet, I was becoming a part of the Body of Christ. Encouragement, admonition and a wealth of resources that spurred my joy and progress in the faith.

So God has brought me along in His perfect timing and kind intention. He is at work to make me more and more like Christ. He has forgiven me so much and granted me such a rich inheritance. I know He is able to keep me in His hand and present me to the Father blameless and with great joy. I love His Church – no, it is not perfect (see: me) - but she is precious to Christ, His handiwork.

Feel Your Pain
My own experience leaves me with some empathy for those who have walked away from Church in disgust. I understand the subsequent need to explain away local Church. The desire to shake off all the trimmings of Church is strong for such folks, and they strive to visibly distance themselves from it. As the snowball accelerates downhill many other implications are inevitable, until ultimately one is left with an entirely different way of looking at such things - and a smattering of select scriptures as props.

The good news is that God is sovereign. While I see many Churches spinning away from the Biblical model – away from a good understanding of scripture itself – I also see that God is still at work in His Church. There are good Churches here in St. Louis – and most other towns. 40 minutes back and forth several times a week is a small price to pay for the spiritual nourishment of my family.

Understand also that there has been a cost during this upheaval. There has been much friction – even breakdowns – in the relationships I used to have. Friends and family. Sometimes it has been my own fault as I have spoken truly, but carelessly. Where I have seen this, I have repented to that person and God. Some might feel I still owe them an apology, and I encourage them to get in touch with me if that is the case. However, it may also be that I have said hard things that I do not regret and that should not be repented of. I have sought to understand others and help them understand in return, but in many cases there now exists a chasm between us.

Don't Give Up On Her
May those struggling with Church and Christians (yeah, we can be an ugly bunch sometimes) remember that we are called to be like Christ, and that this is a journey of devoted obedience on which some are farther along than others. Don’t throw the baby out with the bath water. His Word is true, and must be studied and obeyed. His Church is out there – physically manifested in local gatherings, reflecting what you see in scripture. If you are the sort that thinks you’ve got it together and the Church doesn’t, then recognize that you are part of the problem with Church and repent of your pride. I can say this with boldness because I was such a person.

Revisit: Does God Love Those Who Will Never Believe?

2008-09-29T08:41:00.001-07:00

The last post generated some very interesting discussion. I wanted to respond to a few of the comments, but it got lengthy and made more sense as a new post. The main focus here is God's love for the unelect - those who will never truly be His and will not gain eternal life.

Dave: "I am not a Greek scholar but as a layman I can see that “world” [in John 3:16] has at least five different meanings in the NT.
>> I agree that Kosmos has at least five general meanings: creation, the present age, world system, adornment and people. However, none of these definitions equates to "elect" or "chosen."

Dave: I think the context is clear...we have Jesus talking with Nicodemus (a Jewish Pharisee) about how in the past God provided healing for the Jews by lifting up a brass serpent, but under the new covenant, saving is not for the Jews only, but for the whole(believing) world. (those from every tribe, tongue and nation)...... by looking to Jesus (who became sin, as the serpent represents - and brass, symboling judged) hanging on the tree."
>> Jesus was telling Nicodemus that his birth into the human line of Abraham was not sufficient - that even a Jew needed a spiritual birth in order to enter into the Abrahamic covenant of faith. So, yes, I can see that Jesus emphasis here is that salvation is for the whole world - without distinction to race. Thanks for nudging me into that greater context. However, this does not deliver any constraint on "world" - as with similar NT verses (Rom 10:12-13) it speaks inclusively of all races, not exclusively of particular people.
Also, with due attention to context, I'm curious as to how you would interpret "world" in v19.

Dave: Outside of this controversal verse, we do not see one verse in the Gospels, Acts, or the Epistles speaking of God loving everyone in the whole world.
>> I agree that the vast majority of verses mentioning God's love, have believers as the object of His love. But how about this, "But when the kindness of God our Savior and His love for mankind appeared, He saved us..." (Titus 3:4-5a) This suggests that God has a love for man in general that spurs Him to rescue some. Also, as previously mentioned, Psalms 104 and especially 145. Jesus also speaks of God's goodness both to believers and unbelievers, "“But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven; for He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous." (Matthew 5:44-45)

MacArthur writes, "The fact that some sinners are not elected to salvation is no proof that God’s attitude toward them is utterly devoid of sincere love. We know from Scripture that God is compassionate, kind, generous, and good even to the most stubborn sinners. Who can deny that these mercies flow out of God’s boundless love? Yet it is evident that they are showered even on unrepentant sinners. According to Paul, for example, the knowledge of divine goodness and forbearance and patience ought to lead sinners to repentance (Rom. 2:4). Yet the apostle acknowledged that many who are the recipients of these expressions of divine love spurn them and thereby store up wrath for themselves in the day of wrath (v. 5). The hardness of the sinful human heart is the only reason people persist in their sin, despite God’s goodness to them. Is God therefore insincere when He pours forth mercies calling them to repentance? And how can anyone conclude that God’s real attitude toward those who reject His mercies is nothing but sheer hatred? (MacArthur, The God Who Loves)

For me there is something quite incredible about God's love. Why He loves. How He loves. How His love perfectly coexists with His wrath and justice. How, in measure, He loves those that will ultimately suffer His eternal wrath. Paul refers to, "the love of God that surpasses knowledge." (Eph 3:19) The matter of God's love is so sublime that we cannot fully grasp it. That's not to say that we can't understand any of it; after all, this statement occurs in the middle of a prayer which asks that believers be "able to comprehend... and to know" this love of God. God's love is to be studied, to be experienced, to be appreciated, and to be returned to the utmost of our ability.

Does God Love Everyone? - 4

2008-09-24T12:41:00.000-07:00

God Loves the World

To help (me) keep track of where we've been:
Part 1) All are sinners
Part 2) Sinful man hates God
Part 3) God hates sinful man

Let's see if I can wrap up my thoughts in this fourth post.

God Loves the World
If my last conclusion is correct and God hates man, how can He therefore "love the world" as John 3:16 states? Perhaps this passage is referring only to those "chosen before the foundation of the world" (Eph 1:4 etc.) and not the whole of humanity. In other words, "God so loved His chosen ones that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life." Unfortunately, I'm not convinced that we can interpret world in this way. When John uses world it clearly means only one of two things: either this physical world (Jesus made the world and came into the world), or the world of humanity (the world did not know Him, the world hates Jesus.) I don't think we can confidently translate kosmos as elect. Therefore, God loves the whole world. There are numerous passages that attest to this wonderful truth:

"The Lord is good to all, And His mercies are over all His works." (Psalm 145:9)

"The eyes of all look to You, And You give them their food in due time. You open Your hand And satisfy the desire of every living thing." (Psalm 145:15-16)

"They (God's creatures) all wait for You To give them their food in due season. You give to them, they gather it up; You open Your hand, they are satisfied with good." (Psalm 104:27-28)

But the Whole World is not Saved
However, John 3:16 also makes it clear that not all will be saved. There's a whoever in there that limits the scope. While this doesn't limit the scope of God's love - He loves all - it does mean that some will perish, some will not gain eternal life. John also writes, "As many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name." (Jn 1:12) Only those who believe in Jesus Christ will be saved, and this is owed entirely to God's choosing (Jn 1:13.)

Love and Hatred
Somehow, in His perfection, God can both love and hate the same object at the same time. This love does not guarantee eternal life, and his hatred does not guarantee eternal death. However, it is clear that eternal death is the natural end of man unless God intervenes. "For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord." (Romans 6:23)

A Greater Love
There is a gift to be had. Like any gift it must be given. It cannot be purchased or taken by force. God gives the gift of eternal life to whom He wills. To those who receive the gift of Christ - His substitutionary death and resurrection power - a greater love of God is shown. This uncommon grace far exceeds the love which causes rain to fall and food to grow. This love is the reason that God shows general kindness and mercy - such universal favor exists to give men time to repent of their sins and become "in Christ." (Rom 2, 2 Pet 3) In God's goodness and immense patience, He sustains life in order that those He has given to the Son may be with the Son and see His glory (Jn 17:11).

"But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved)," (Ephesians 2:4-5)

" See how great a love the Father has bestowed on us, that we would be called children of God; and such we are. For this reason the world does not know us, because it did not know Him." (1 John 3:1)

More than Love
There is much to be said about God's love - much more than I've covered here (I second Jason's recommendation of MacArthur's "The God Who Loves.") We must be careful, however, to keep in mind that this is not the whole definition of God; it is only one part of the overall picture. Yes, God is love... God is also "Light" - morally perfect, perfectly holy. God's love is one marvellous aspect of God's essence - just not the only one. We must keep His love in balance with His holiness lest we "think lightly of the riches of His kindness and tolerance and patience." (Romans 2:4) A God who is only loving, who does not fully punish sin, who does not judge us all, is an idol of our own making. In scripture, God gives us a full-orbed presentation of Himself; we must not take what we want and fill in the gaps.

Amazing Love
How wonderful is God's love! To think that He loved me while I hated Him! So much has been given to one who deserved absolutely nothing but punishment! Blessed be God... because He has blessed us so freely, so richly! He truly loves His enemies, and enables them to love Him. He loves all men - just not all in the same way. Time and again we see God promise salvation to those who love Him, who fear Him. His wrath will be fully unleashed on those who spurn His free gift of love. We may receive salvation at His expense, but what a cost to Him! Nothing greater could God have given but His own dear Son. That He would willingly send His Son into this world that He knew would not accept Him, and would ultimately kill Him, is beyond comprehension. God's love is truly astounding.

"He has not dealt with us according to our sins, Nor rewarded us according to our iniquities. For as high as the heavens are above the earth, So great is His lovingkindness toward those who fear Him. As far as the east is from the west, So far has He removed our transgressions from us. Just as a father has compassion on his children, So the Lord has compassion on those who fear Him." (Psalm 103:10-13)
"For Your lovingkindness is great above the heavens, And Your truth reaches to the skies." (Psalm 108:4)

Shackology: Is it Heresy?

2008-09-06T23:07:00.000-07:00

Rather than add yet another review that may only draw more attention to the book called "The Shack," I have decided to make my point brief and direct folks to existing reviews.

For myself, I found the following:

The book is poor fiction
The fiction is a vehicle for the theology
The theology is rotten

I haven't yet found a comprehensive review - I suppose such a thing would be a book unto itself, but here's a few of the better ones:

Tim Challies (17 page .pdf)
Albert Mohler (radio)
Hank Hanegraff (brief)

If you must read the book (and you really don't have to), please realize that you will be absorbing more theology in the few hours it takes to read it than you will in most calendar months. Examine Young's version of God in light of what the Bible says about God. Use the reviews to help with this.

Other related resources:

The Love of God, John MacArthur. Young's God is not only love, but is really ONLY love. This is a classic and appealing distortion of ONE of God attributes. MacArthur's book does a good job of explaining God's amazing love in the context of ALL of His attributes.
Why We're Not Emergent: By Two Guys Who Should Be, De Young & Kluck. The authors of the Shack deny any connection to the emergent movement, but they sing its tune perfectly. Coming from an emergent background, I am appreciating this book - a little less academic than Carson's excellent Becoming Conversant with the Emergent Church.

WARNING

If this book has transformed you or a loved one, seek help now.

Does God Love Everyone? - 3

2008-08-14T05:28:00.001-07:00

God Does Not Love Sinners

I've been working on the question of whether God loves all people. I've been doing so because there's a lot of confusion on this matter, and I can say that until the last few years I was very unclear on it myself. As usual, these blog posts serve to help me think through the question personally, and open up the possibility of some healthy discussion on the subject - feel free to participate.

The whole question was triggered by a fairly simple statement made by someone dear to me. At the time there was no opportunity for this discussion, but I very much wanted to air out my thoughts and see if they held up under the light of God's Word.

Part 1: "God loves sinners too, Alan." I knew there was truth in this comment, but I also knew that there was room for misunderstanding. The misunderstanding often begins with a case of mistaken identity: we fail to see that we are ALL sinners. The implication therefore is that God must somehow love sinners, or love no man at all.

Part 2: I very briefly explored the ultimate effect of sin on us: we're all dead. The Bible pulls no punches on this; it covers the topic of sin in excrutiating detail and terrifying depth. We are no more capable of making any move towards God than a corpse is towards fresh air. In fact, the real issue is not ability but desire. We do not wish to please God or be anywhere near Him. Natural enemies. We don't go to hell to die, we're already dead. We go to hell because that's where we belong.

Now for Part 3:

God Does Not Love Sinners

"Wait a minute! I thought you said God loves all people!"
Well, actually, I didn't.
"But, as you pointed out, the Bible says we're all sinners... and the Bible also says that God loves the whole world. Common sense, therefore, demands that God loves sinners!"
Now therein lies the confusion for most of us. While some deny that we're sinners at all, most of us acknowledge that at least some of us are sinners - but also that God hates the sin not the sinner. Well, that's a nice sentiment, but not how God sees things. As Beyond Zaphon points out in a comment to Part 1, the Bible states that God hates all who sin. In Proverbs 16, there are 7 things the Lord is said to hate, and each one of them is a person who commits specific sins - most of which are fairly common to all men (lying, pride, etc.)

When we diminish the importance and impact of sin on humanity, when we brush it aside so that we can talk about a loving God, we fail to understand why we even need God's love in the first place. After all, if we're all pretty decent, and God is simply a loving Papa, then how great is this much-touted love after all? And why on earth would He need to suffer such abuse and degradation at the hands of man. And why would he need to be crushed and forsaken by His Father? These are desperate measures, and they can only point to the desperate need of man.

Aside: There is currently a brand of heresy claiming that God did not punish Jesus on our behalf. I'm not going to refute that in any detail here, but suffice to say that this represents a denial of Christ's mission, of the Father's love, and sacred scripture itself.

Man does not need to love himself, to accept himself, to forgive himself. He is DEAD. He needs to have his just penalty paid by someone else. He has rebelled against an infinite God, and will suffer infinite punishment as a result. Only the Son of God, God-become-man-yet-still-God, Jesus Christ, can bear this punishment for us. I'm not talking about the brutality inflicted upon Jesus by the Jews and Romans, that was nothing compared to His spiritual suffering. What was the source of this spiritual torment? Was it man? No. Was it the devil? No.

It was God.

According to the Holy Spirit, through the lips of His prophet Isaiah, God "caused the iniquity of us all to fall on Him." Struck down. Pierced through. Put to grief. Crushed. All by His own Father.

Listen - for us to understand the depth of the love of God that is at work in all this, we have to first understand the depth of our depravity. The whole human race stands condemned! Salvation from Jesus is not about being spared hell. Salvation from Jesus is not about being saved from the claws of Satan and his demonic host. It is not even about being saved from misery here on earth.

We are saved from God Himself.

"For while we were still helpless, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly... God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from the wrath of God through Him. " (Romans 5:6-9)

Why? Because we have grossly offended an infinitely just God. He will settle all accounts because He is completely just, and recompense each man according to his own actions. That's not good news for us, because "All have sinned." We are criminals in the eyes of God. And the punishment for sin is death. Ours.

"Cursed is he who does not abide by all the things written in the book of the Law so as to perform them (Deut 27). Prior to conversion I was under the very curse of God. What does it mean to be under the curse of God? It means that the sinner is so vile, so sickening, so wicked, so loathsome, not only before a Holy God but a Holy heaven, that the last thing that sinner will hear as he takes his first step into hell is all creation applauding God because God’s rid the earth of him."
- Paul Washer

For all of us have become like one who is unclean (defiled),
And all our righteous deeds are like a filthy garment;
And all of us wither like a leaf,
And our iniquities, like the wind, take us away.
(Isaiah 64:6)

God clearly despises sinners.

What DON'T you believe?

2008-06-30T06:45:00.000-07:00

Looking at the “What We Believe” section of college and church web sites I am reminded of something I heard John Piper say recently. He was commenting on Ephesians 2:9 - “not by works” – and said that by using this negative assertion Paul was able to more clearly explain what he meant in v8 “saved by grace through faith.” He said we find out much more about what people really believe when we ask them what they DON’T believe.

Based on their doctrinal statements, it seems most Christian organizations share much in common, and yet this is obviously not true in many cases. I'm not trying to cause division where it doesn't exist, but there are simply huge and conflicting differences between organizations that share an almost identical "What We Believe" section. Most everyone believes that eternal life comes through Jesus Christ, but in practice there are vast differences in how we are led to obtain that eternal life. Most everyone believes the Bible is God's writing, but in practice it is interpreted in many contradictory ways.

So, I vote for these web sites and handouts to also include, "What We DON'T Believe" sections. These would serve to refine the "What we do believe" sections. Of course, many would think these sections would reflect a judgmental attitude, but we are called to be discerning - "diakrisis", which also means to judge. Hebrews 5:14 therefore means that we are to judge good from evil, truth from error (also 1 John 4:6), on the basis of what we learn from scripture (see v13.) So there is a healthy (non-hypocritical) judging we are supposed to do - even our love for the brethren is supposed to be rooted in knowledge and discernment (Philippians 1:9.)

These "negative" sections would surely help me get to the bottom of what would otherwise only become apparent with more time and experience. Could save a whole lot of heart ache and avoid some unnecessary primrose paths.

Does God Love Everyone? - 2

2008-06-25T08:12:00.000-07:00

2. Sinners are Dead

I started the conversation by asking “who are sinners?” This is important for a couple of reasons. Firstly, some folks think that God loves only people that are not sinners. Well, as we saw previously, if that’s the case then God loves no one. Secondly, we have to understand what sin means to us in order to grasp God's love.

A lot of us want to play down the issue of sin. Recently I was told that people understand sin well enough and that Christians ought to be talking about God’s love instead. They are concerned that telling people about sin will simply push them further away from the splendid realities of God’s love; that we should love them, not judge or condemn them. Now there’s a part of that I agree with – we should love all men, and should demonstrate and communicate God’s love at every opportunity. However, if sin is indeed their problem – the thing coming between them and God, the thing that propels them on a trajectory towards ultimate and eternal torment, then it wouldn’t be very loving if we failed to draw their attention to that fact.

The Bible certainly doesn’t try to hush sin. Jesus was prophesied as the one who would save people from their sins. The first words of Jesus’ ministry are “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.” He said that He would die “for the forgiveness of sins.” In his first sermon Peter answered the question, “What shall we do?” with “Repent, and each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins.” In his very next sermon he urges people to “repent and return, so that your sins may be wiped away.” And so on.

Paul tells us that we are all “dead in our sins.” This means that we are naturally lifeless and unresponsive towards God. Even our best actions are considered futile and rebellious – “filthy rags” – by God. In this state we are “haters of God.” We want nothing to do with a holy God and reject as foolishness the idea that we need to be saved from anything at all.

So we are all helpless sinners, twisted away from God by our own desires, lusts, and actions.

But, even still, even if we hate God, doesn’t He still love us?

Does God Love Everyone? - 1

2008-06-16T15:02:00.000-07:00

1. Who are Sinners?

Someone I love dearly made a comment yesterday that got me thinking about this question. The conversation was so brief that I really don’t know exactly what they think about this, so this is really more about me clarifying my own thinking on the matter.

I had made a comment that ugly behavior is to be expected because all people are sinners. The response was that “God loves them all.”

So… does He? Does God love all sinners?

First up, let’s take a look at who exactly sinners are. Paul writes in Romans 3 that “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” A few verses before that he states that “both Jews and Greeks (i.e. all people) are all under sin.” He follows that by quoting a couple of Psalms, “There is none righteous, not even one; There is none who understands, There is none who seeks for God; All have turned aside, together they have become useless; There is none who does good, There is not even one.” In John 8 Jesus is recording as telling the Pharisees that unless they believed that He was God (“I AM”) they would die in their sins. In his own letter to the Church, John writes, "If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar and His word is not in us."

So who are these sinners? Everyone. You. Me. Every person that ever existed. Sin consists of willful violation of God's commands. Adam introduced sin to the human race when he chose to rebel against his Creator, and the whole race has been enslaved to it ever since. Sin is man's problem - Paul writes that the penalty for sin is death. Jesus - God Himself - became man in order to save us from this eternal death and is the only possible escape from the deserved penalty.

So if all are sinners... does God love everyone?

The Infinite and the Finite

2008-05-13T07:15:00.000-07:00

From "The Valley of Vision - Puritan Prayers and Devotions."

THOU GREAT I AM,
Fill my mind with elevation and grandeur at the thought of a Being
with whom one day is as a thousand years,
and a thousand years as one day,
A might God, who, amidst the lapse of worlds,
and the revolutions of empires,
feels no variableness,
but is glorious in immortality.
May I rejoice that, while men die, the Lord lives;
that, while all creatures are broken reeds,
empty cisterns,
fading flowers,
withering grass,
he is the Rock of Ages, the Fountain of living waters.

Turn my heart from vanity,
from dissatisfactions,
from uncertainties of the present state,
to an eternal interest in Christ.
Let me remember that life is short and unforseen,
and is only an opportunity for usefulness;
Give me a holy avarice to redeem the time,
to awake at every call to charity and piety,
so that I may feed the hungry,
clothe the naked,
instruct the ignorant,
reclaim the vicious,
forgive the offender,
diffuse the gospel,
show neighbourly love to all.
Let me live a life of self-distrust,
dependence on tyuself,
mortification,
crucifixion,
prayer.

Is Certainty Bad?

2008-04-02T20:49:00.000-07:00

Responding to Jason's post "Is there any place for Mystery?"

I think there is a very strong reaction to dead orthodoxy. I grew up with a strong dislike for Churches that claimed to be orthodox, but had no life. As a descendent of the Pietists, my battle cry would be "Life, not doctrine!" Unfortunately this overshoots the mark. It should no more be "Life, not doctrine" than "Doctrine, not life." Life AND doctrine should go hand in hand. Truth AND love. Right-thinking and zeal for Christ! These things must be in equal portions.

Paul tells Timothy, "Watch your life and doctrine closely." How important did he consider this attention to both aspects? "Persevere in them, because if you do, you will save both yourself and your hearers."

As Jason points out, in studying carefully all that God has said, we should be careful not to overestimate our knowledge of Him. It is the idea that our minds can contain and explain an inifinite God that so offends people, and rightfully so. However, they ride the pendulum too far in the other direction when they claim that any certainty of knowledge is a bad thing.

We must understand and worship God on the basis of what he has revealed about Himself. He is a self-disclosing God who has gone to great lengths to give us a written record of Himself and His dealings with man. Can we understand everything about God? Certainly not - not in a million lifetimes can the finite fully grasp the infinite - but that does not mean that we cannot even now, "grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ." (2 Peter 3:18)

Peter states that one way to grow is by earnest and diligent study and application of the Bible: "like newborn babies, long for (desire earnestly!) the pure milk of the word, so that by it you may grow in respect to salvation," (1 Peter 2:2)

Why don't we know who Jesus was?

2008-03-29T20:22:00.000-07:00

Why do we keeping asking a question that was answered authoritatively?

Got a phone call from a friend recently who had watch the CNN program "The Mystery of Jesus" - (transcript here.) The show had provoked a number of questions about the basics of Christian faith, such as "Did Jesus' body go into heaven?" and "what happens to our bodies?" I read a few relevant scriptures that answered those questions for us, and we went on to talk about some related things.

CNN has been trotting out this show for the last few years at Easter time. Good for ratings, I guess. However, this kind of program is a real shame.

The only historical record we have of the life of Jesus is the Bible – specifically the 4 gospel accounts. These records pass the tests of historical reliability, are amazingly consistent with each other, are supported directly by the New Testament epistles, and indirectly by many other early Church writings.

That being said, the question we should be asking is , “What do the Biblical accounts tell us about Jesus?”

On the flip side, if people doubt the historical integrity or reliability of the Bible, then why even give the “Who is Jesus” question a second thought? Without the Biblical accounts, Jesus is almost completely unknown. He is at best a legend or myth. Interestingly, one of the experts in this show – Bart Ehrman – does not believe the New Testament we have is accurate. In fact, the Washington Post reports that Dr. Ehrman is no longer a Christian.

The program quotes Jesus and says,

"But who do you say I am?" That's a question Jesus asked his disciples. And it's the very same question Christianity has been trying to answer for more than 2,000 years.

Amazingly, the program never mentions that Jesus' question received an answer. What was the response? “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” (see below) And this answer Jesus states as God-given! In light of this, which Christians are still asking the question!? Incredible that this was left out of the CNN show.

So why do men struggle with this question when it has been made so clear? Perhaps the answer lies in another part of scripture: "For even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks, but they became futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened." (Romans 1:21)

" Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, He was asking His disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” And they said, “Some say John the Baptist; and others, Elijah; but still others, Jeremiah, or one of the prophets.” He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” Simon Peter answered, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” And Jesus said to him, “Blessed are you, Simon Barjona, because flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but My Father who is in heaven." (Matthew 16:13-17)

How Should We Defend Ourselves?

2008-03-15T15:00:00.000-07:00

Sometimes healthy questions receive bad answers. As I said before, Christianity can face the tough questions and provide deeply coherent explanations and answers. However, sometimes the answers given fall short; they are unsatisfactory.

I came across this blog post recently, in which a Christian author, Wayne Jacobsen, defends his writings against various accusations, including heresy. This is not a critique of The Shack, but of his response. I know Wayne a little and have spoken with him on this subject. I won't detail our conversation except to say that, while it ended amicably, we still disagree quite strongly. His blog post grieved me and deserves a response. As he did not allow my response to be added as a comment to his original post, I will place it here.

Apparently some folks had written some pretty critical things about the book, and Wayne felt it necessary to respond through his blog. He calls attention to critical reviews on Amazon.com, although it should be noted that 85% of the reviews were 5 stars, and less than 6% were 3 or lower – hardly controversial by most standards. I suggest you read the entire article first.

The Best Defense

I tire of the self-appointed doctrine police, especially when they toss around false accusations like ‘new age conspiracy’, ‘counterfeit Jesus’ or ‘heresy’ to promote fear in people as a way of advancing their own agenda.
…the hostile tone of false accusation
…people want to use a book like this to polarize the God’s family
…people read their own theological agendas into a work, then denounce it as heresy
…the ravings of those who misinterpret this book, either threatened by its success, or those who want to ride on it to push their own fear-based agenda.

The opening defense is really more of an offense. It puts his opponents on the stand, classifying their motives as self-serving and controlling. This is a tempting approach for almost all of us when under fire, establishing an even playing field as quickly as possible. However, it is also as uncharitable as the criticisms that spurred the original post. Is he right about his critics having an agenda? Maybe. Does it matter? It shouldn’t… a proposition should be evaluated on its own merits, and the bias of the critic should be considered only after that... otherwise we are guilty of bias ourselves.

God Will Tell Me If I'm Wrong

But such reviews also confuse people who are afraid of being seduced into error and for those I think the false accusations demand a response.

Here the motivation is given: it's not about himself or his own reputation, rather he is standing up for the weak and unsuspecting. But is it unreasonable to ask a person to explain themselves? Some of the criticisms I read on Amazon.com were calm, concise and cogent. Do these not warrant some sort of response? Or does the author believe his work to be beyond admonition? Take a look at this statement from another earlier post in which Wayne responds to charges of heresy:

If my deluded soul needs to awaken, you’re welcome to pray to that end. I think Jesus is quite capable of taking care of that, if need be.

This gives the impression that the only person qualified to correct him is Jesus Christ Himself. It reminds me of a local (but globally known) preacher who once said:

“I no more believe that my God is going to let me stand around and believe a lie than I believe that I am going to turn green in the next two minutes. God is my source and He loves me and I am after God with my whole heart. And if I am accidentally, or any other way, getting into error, I am going to have a bell go off on the inside of me that is going to be so loud that not only am I going to hear it, but so is everybody else.”

The problem with such statements is they insulate a person from any criticism, giving them an air of infallibility, rather than humility.

I Mean Well

Let me assure any of you reading this that all three of us who worked on this book are deeply committed followers of Jesus Christ who have a passion for the Truth of the Scriptures and who have studied and taught the life of Jesus over the vast majority of our lifetimes. But none of us would begin to pretend that we have a complete picture of all that God is or that our theology is flawless. We are all still growing in our appreciation for him and our desire to be like him, and we hope this book encourages you to that process as well. In the end, this says the best stuff we know about God at this point in our journeys.

This puts motive ahead of doctrine. If my motives are pure, you have no reason to doubt what I say. I may not have everything figured out yet, but I know I’m okay because I love God dearly. Listen, teaching is evaluated based on the content, not the motive of the speaker. Truth is truth, and error is error. What's in the teacher's heart is largely between him and God. The complaints I read were not that The Shack was an incomplete picture of God, but that it was a wrong picture of God.

Not Wrong, Just Incomplete?

Is it a complete picture of him? Of course not! Who could put all that he is into a little story like this one? But if it is a catalyst to get thousands of people to talk about theology—who God is and how he makes himself known in the world—we would be blessed.

It's not of first importance to get people talking about God. It's most important what we get them talking about. If people aren't talking about God as He has revealed Himself, then they're talking about someone else. This is called idolatry. And we don't have to know or write about God comprehensively (we never will) to represent Him faithfully.

Motive Again

I know how threatening my thoughts can be to those who think they have the only expression of church life that God sanctions in the world. Theirs is a darker prison, unfortunately, and I always hope to write something that might put a crack in the door to a brighter world.

Again, the smokescreen of motive. The author believes so strongly in the viability of his writing, that his critics simply must be negatively motivated... in this case by feeling threatened. These people live in a "dark prison," into which he hopes to bring some light. There may be some individuals that feel their ideas of Church are threatened by this book, but it's a big stretch to assume that's the case for everyone. This is a classic straw man play: putting the opponent in an indefensible position.

But those who confuse the issues by making up their own back-story for the book, or ascribing motives to its publication without ever finding out the truth, only prove our point.

Ironically, the author accuses his critics of playing the same game. I'm sure there have been some irresponsible criticisms levelled against The Shack, but those are in the minority, from what I have seen. You can't go after the motives of your critics, while simultaneously chastising them for doing the same to you.

Conclusion

As Christians, we proclaim truth with our words and our lives. We will be asked to defend our faith at times. I hope that we do it in a godly manner, treating our critics fairly and respectfully as we seek to further the cause of Christ in this world. May we "sanctify Christ as Lord in our hearts, always being ready to make a defense to everyone who asks us to give an account for the hope that is in us, yet with gentleness and reverence;" (1 Peter 3:15)

Can I ask for a Ferrari?

2008-02-15T07:19:00.000-08:00

Can I really ask for anything in Jesus' name?

I recently subscribed to http://www.icr.org/ for their terrific creation/evolution newsletter. Along with that I started getting daily nuggets and today's "Asking in Jesus' Name" was good.

"And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son" (John 14:13). In the Gospel of John there are at least six promises that, if we pray in Jesus' name, God in Christ will answer our prayer. ... The key, however, is the significance of the phrase, "in my name." This obviously means more than simply beginning or ending our prayer with this or some similar phrase.

In the first place, we must recognize that it is only through Jesus Christ our mediator that we dare enter the presence of the omnipotent God at all. "No man cometh unto the Father, but by me" (John 14:6), He said. That being true, it also implies that our prayer must be in agreement with what Christ Himself would pray. No Christian should ask for something he knows to be against God's will. "If we ask any thing according to His will . . . we know that we have the petitions that we desired of Him" (I John 5:14,15).

When we come to the Father in Christ's name, we are in a very real sense representing Him. Therefore, we must come with clean hands and motives worthy of the One in whose name we profess to come. Unconfessed, unrepented sin would surely misrepresent Him, and we could hardly speak in His name in such a case.

Praying to God "in Jesus name" does not mean some sort of formality, or incantation. Not terminology we use commonly, but when someone comes "in somebody else's name" they are speaking on behalf of and representing that person. Their words are not their own, but those of the person they are representing. We call this person an ambassador. Paul says that we (His redeemed children) are all ambassadors for Christ (2 Cor 5:20.) Scripture is clear that we represent Jesus to the world 24/7, that "no one of us lives for himself, and not one dies for himself; for if we live, we live for the Lord, or if we die, we die for the Lord... we are the Lord's." (Rom 14:7) However, the ICR article touches on another aspect of representing Jesus - when we come to God our Father in prayer. We must come in purity. We must come with Jesus' words, words that align with His desires.

"Who may ascend into the hill of the Lord? And who may stand in His holy place? He who has clean hands and a pure heart, Who has not lifted up his soul to falsehood And has not sworn deceitfully." (Psalm 24:3-4)

But what about that verse that says He will give me whatever I desire?

That verse reads, "Delight yourself in the Lord; And He will give you the desires of your heart." (Psalm 37:4). It means that if you make God the object of your delight/desire, He will place in your heart desires that are "true... honorable... right... pure... lovely... of good repute... excellent... worthy of praise." (Philippians 4:8)

So don't hold you breath for that Ferrari - if you are delighting yourself in God, you won't want to.

Should I die for my faith?

2008-02-11T19:03:00.001-08:00

Is there ever a circumstance under which a person should have to die for what they believe?

Had a couple of conversations recently where the matter of putting it all on the line came up.

First one was with a friend at work, who is curious about Christianity. I was telling him about the times of persecution where Christians chose death before giving public worship to the Roman emperor Decius. My friend asked, "But couldn't you just say you worshipped the emperor, knowing all the time that you really worshipped God?" Good question... not one I haven't wondered myself. But let me ask this (and I did ask him), if you can say something completely contrary to what you believe, then what does it mean to believe something? I'm not saying it would be easy to put your life on the line - and many didn't - but, I don't think you can say you believe something if you're willing to claim the exact opposite in order to (literally) save skin. It begs the question "what does it really mean to believe in something?"

The other conversation was in a small group setting where we were talking about Epaphroditus. This man "risked his life" in service of the gospel. This led us to talk of the Christians of plague-ridden Carthage who in 252 A.D., when the corpses were piling high in the streets and no one would touch them, buried the bodies, and cared for the sick and the dying. The question was asked, "We've got children and others who depend on us... should we really put them at risk by exposing ourselves to such fatal dangers?" Of course we shouldn't do this unnecessarily. There are many ways of protecting ourselves from communicable diseases. However, Christians throughout history have put themselves in harm's way countless times, all in the name of Jesus Christ. These people followed Christ's example, who "humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death." He practiced what He preached, "Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends." His beloved John testified to this reality and its implications when he wrote, "We know love by this, that He laid down His life for us; and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren." (1 John 3:16)

So putting it on the line for our faith is part and parcel of the Christian faith. Jesus taught that there are worse things than death. "Do not fear those who kill the body but are unable to kill the soul; but rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell." (Matthew 10:28)

(I've done a poor job of representing some major historical events. For more info on Church history, see Eusebius, or Bruce Shelley's readable Church History in Plain Langauge. For some examples of Christians paying the ultimate price, see the Bible, especially the book of Acts (all but one of Jesus' disciples died as martyrs), and Foxe's Book of Martyrs. Christians are dying daily: see here and here and here.)

At What Cost Comfort and Convenience?

2008-02-05T19:41:00.000-08:00

What price are we willing to pay for our own comfort and convenience?

Saw a link to this story the other day: "Why I became an abortion doctor." Read it for yourself, but here's a quick summary:

Garson Romalis became an ob/gyn in the early 60's. Early on he saw the terrible side-effects of illegal abortions-gone-wrong. Seeing so many women suffering from back-alley abortions motivated him to become an abortion provider. "...I believed strongly that a woman should be able to decide for herself if and when to have a baby..."
Despite two very real attempts on his life, he finds the work very satisfying because his patients are truly grateful. e.g. "Did you do an abortion on my daughter?" ... "Yes, I did." The mother replied: "Thank you, Doctor. Thank God there are people like you around."

First, a couple of quick points:

I don't think that there's any justification for the attempts made on his life. I am not a pacifist (as C.S. Lewis says, "I can respect an honest pacifist, though I think he is entirely mistaken"), but I don't believe this kind of approach is acceptable.
Does this doctor believe he is killing people? Of course not. Does that thought ever cross his mind... I've no idea. The Bible says clearly that mankind supresses the truth, stifles the voice of his conscience in order to do that which pleases him. This post is not so much about the doctor as the rest of us.

Now I want to comment on a few things he says:

"...I believed strongly that a woman should be able to decide for herself if and when to have a baby..."
I agree heartily with this statement. I think every woman has this responsibility to choose if and when to have a baby. However, this is determined as a woman decides whether or not to have sex, or use a contraceptive. Choosing ends at the moment that there is another life involved. At this point a woman is no longer deciding just for herself; she is deciding for someone else also... does she have the right to do that?

A couple of examples are given of when abortions "save lives" and "give women their lives back." Again, there is virtue in this only if a life is not lost in the process.

Obviously the crux of the matter is whether or not the fetus is a child. Personally I think there is good - even overwhelming - reason to believe that this is the case. However, there are many folks who articulate this far better than I. You may not agree with me here... the fetus is simply tissue, it does not meet the requirements for human life. I want to ask you just one question:

What if you're wrong?

Now you may not agree that a fetus is a child, but before you dismiss what I have said ask yourself how you know this: how do you know for certain that we are not talking about a child here. If there is any chance that the fetus is a child, is it really worth our convenience and comfort to abort it? If the fetus is in fact a child, we have made a tragic mistake. 46 million mistakes every year!

The Dark Ages

I've heard it said that we need to allow for safe, legal abortions because people are going to do it anyway, and we can't go back to the dark ages of medically unsafe procedures. Do we really believe that we should condone illegal behavior simply because the consequences might be dangerous? I thought that's what "consequences" meant. We are far too quick to evade responsibility for our own actions. You could say that prison is a dangerous place for people, so let's do away with the whole concept. Does that make sense?

Comfort and Convenience

Another argument put forward for legalized abortion is that sometimes women are impregnated against their will (rape), or there is danger to their own health. I respect the difficult position a woman might find herself in under these circumstances*. However, take a look at the Wikipedia page on abortion, you'll find:

A 1998 aggregated study, from 27 countries, on the reasons women seek to terminate their pregnancies concluded that common factors cited to have influenced the abortion decision were: desire to delay or end childbearing, concern over the interruption of work or education, issues of financial or relationship stability, and perceived immaturity.

Not convinced? Look at this chart. This is stunning. The vast majority of abortion are matters of personal comfort and convenience. I don't doubt that these folks have been in tough spots - perhaps dire circumstances, but rarely life threatening.

We block our ears and cover our eyes to protect ourselves from what might be troubling truths... in order to protect our "rights" (read: desires). I believe this strongly refutes the common arguments for condoning abortion (endangered mother, rape, incest), and reveals that, at the end of the day, abortion is a matter of selfishness and an abdication of responsibility.

Are those motives strong enough to ignore the possibility that someone might be paying for our self-centeredness with their life? Is it possible your own desires for freedom from conflict personal fulfillment are drowning out the uncertainty?

All comes down to sin

The Bible hails this principle in general to be the result of sin. God's commands are given for our good and the good of the world we live in, but we violate them to satisfy our desires. Abortion is just another manifestation - albeit a horrific one - of the state of mankind. "...since they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, he gave them over to a depraved mind, to do what ought not to be done." In fact, abortion is most often the sinful solution to a previous sinful act... all in the name of comfort and convenience.

Is Christianity a Religion?

2008-02-02T19:37:00.000-08:00

Is religion merely blind adherence to a set of ideas?

Blind Faith
"Blind faith lands evolution squarely in the category of religion." A friend made this remark the other day, and it got me thinking.

I think there's some validity to the evolutionism-equals-religion claim, but a quick disclaimer first: I use the term "evolutionism" as distinct from evolutionary theory, which, as a theory, is simply a set of ideas that can be evaluated on their own merits, and may be accepted or rejected. Evolutionism, on the other hand, I use to describe the believe-it-at-all-costs approach some have taken when considering the theory.

More importantly: I don't consider "blind faith" to be an accurate definition of religion. Believing something to be true when there is evidence to the contrary can be called a number of things, but religion is not one of them.

Standing the Test
Why do I care? Well, as a Christian, I have a set of religious beliefs... you might say I belong to a certain religion. Does this mean that I uncritically accept all things under the umbrella of Christianity? That what I believe to be true cannot be examined, put to the test? Of course not. I believe that Christianity's claims are both sound and defensible - able to withstand the scrutiny of those who will seriously consider it. Myself included. We either need to be more careful about using the term "religion", or just take Christianity out of that context altogether. True Christianity is not reckless fanaticism, or a crutch for the weak-minded.

As such I welcome that scrutiny here. I am far from Christianity's best apologist (defender), but I believe that every Christian should be "ready to make a defense to everyone who asks you to give an account for the hope that is in you, yet with gentleness and reverence" (1 Pet 3:15). If we aren't prepared to do that, perhaps we too are believing blindly, and our "faith" is built on the wrong kind of hope - a hope that is mere wishful thinking.