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17-May-2011

Posted by : David

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If, Then

Category : Holy Spirit, life

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One of the greatest sources of misery in our lives flows from “if, then” living. The attitude goes like this: “If I get life right by doing right things or believing right things, then life will go the way I want it to.” This is the essence of the law: “if you are careful to obey everything written in the book of the law, then I will bless you and things will go well with you” (Deuteronomy 30:16).

When we try to live “if, then” circumstances become incredibly important in the evaluation of our lives. If things are going well then we attribute it to our good living. This creates pride and condescension. When things are not going well, we wonder what we did wrong. This creates despair, anxiety, and blame: blaming God, others, and/or ourselves.

This is especially important in our lives with God. God has set “if, then” aside as the rule for living. Paul says in Romans 7 that the Law is our first wife that died and now we are freed to marry another. He says that we no longer serve in the old way of the written code, but in the new way of the Spirit. So “if, then” is no longer relevant when it comes to our life with God. Now the new “rule” of living is the Holy Spirit.

So this makes instruction on the Holy Spirit vitally important. The leadership of the Holy Spirit is how we live our Christian lives right now. He guides, comforts, convicts, challenges, gives wisdom, and points us to Christ’s work and not our own. The Holy Spirit produces what God commands. His power and presence is accessed by faith.

That is why life in the “new promise” of Jesus is so much better than the “old promise.” The old covenant said that if we obey, God will bless. The new covenant says that God has blessed us in Christ, and our present obedience is the work of another: God himself, living in us, carrying out His will.

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11-May-2011

Posted by : David

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Christ Formed in You

Category : Christian Life, life

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In the movie, “Big” a boy wishes he was older. And through magic, he transforms into an adult, played by Tom Hanks. Except that Tom Hanks is a boy trapped in an adult body. That’s a great premise for a movie because we see an adult bring the joy of childhood back to adult life. But what you also see is the boy learning to be an adult. He is becoming what he already is.

That is a good illustration for what growth in Christ is like. We come into what we already are. When we believed in Christ and submitted to His lordship, we were crucified with Christ and given Jesus Christ as our life. Our whole identity changed: someone who was “in Adam” to someone who is “in Christ.” This is not just some sort of thing that God says we are, it is an actual reality. Magic.

So we are, as C.S. Lewis put it, a “little Christ.” But the process of sanctification is to become what we already are. We are a child in an adult body; we grow into what we are. But what does it mean to be like Christ, to be “conformed to His image?”

It doesn’t mean to be conformed to his omnipresence, omnipotence, or omniscience. We will be conformed to what older theologians called His “moral excellence.” His moral excellence is his love, joy, mercy, longsuffering, etc. These qualities of God, which demonstrate His beauty, are ours in Jesus Christ. As we pursue Him by faith, these qualities will spring from us as surely as fruit from a healthy tree. We will be “holy as he is holy,” “perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect.” We will love like God loves, hate what He hates, have mercy like He has mercy. We will do good even to the unrighteous. Just like Jesus.

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04-May-2011

Posted by : David

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Justification’s Beginning, Middle, and End

Category : Christian Life

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Are you so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh? (Galatians 3:3)

Most of us learned justification as the beginning of our relationship with God, saying “we trusted Jesus alone for our salvation; we were declared “righteous” in God’s sight, given the very righteousness of Jesus as a gift.”

But what if justification by faith has a beginning, middle, and ending? Meaning this: when we initially believe that Jesus is Lord and Savior and receive Him by faith we are in, what Douglas Moo, calls, “the initial phase of justification.” But our justification is proved true as we walk out our life by faith, all the way to our death.

This why Galatians is such an important book. The Galatians began well — they trusted Christ alone for their salvation. But then false teachers moved in and began teaching that you must have faith in Jesus and obey the Law for justification. Jesus plus Obedience to the Written Code. The Judaizers were condemned for their teaching, and the Galatians were in danger of becoming like them. They were in great danger of proving their initial faith was not a saving faith if they embraced the law, typified in embracing circumcision.

This is also the point that Paul is making when he rebukes Peter, described in ch. 2. When Peter sides with the Judaizers and begins distancing himself from non-Jewish Christians Paul rebukes him by explaining justification. Look at what Paul says, “we also have believed in Christ Jesus, in order TO BE justified by faith in Christ and not by works of the law, because by works of the law no one will be justified” (2:16). “We have believed, in order to be justified by faith.

Here even an apostle of Christ is in danger because he has stopped living by faith and has taken up the law. (We know that Peter repented of this error, and that Peter was present to settle the matter at the Jerusalem council in Acts 15). But do you see? Justification is by faith alone in Christ alone, but it is not just our beginning — our justification is confirmed as we continue to live by faith, forsaking sin AND the law.

Therefore we can conclude that there are two ways to show that an initial faith in Christ was not a saving faith at all. One is to fall away from the faith, rejecting Christ after once “accepting” Him. And the other is to fall  from grace: to pursue your life with God by works and not by faith, looking to the Law, and, your obedience of it, to give you assurance, security, and blessings in this life and the next.  So to summarize, we can begin with God and prove our belief to be false belief by falling away from the faith and going back to living for self, or falling away from grace and living for God by the law.  They both end in condemnation.

Justification is by faith alone, a faith that looks to Christ for salvation and present life. That is why FAITH is so important AFTER our initial belief. Much more is at stake RIGHT NOW for all believers. Salvation is not beginning with faith and then being inoculated for the rest of your life no matter how you live. Salvation is secured by faith in Christ from FIRST to LAST (Romans 1:17). We can’t trust Jesus for a relationship with God and then not trust God with our life afterwards.

So how do you know if you are a living a life of faith after beginning by faith? Look at the fruit of your life. If the fruit of your life is fear then you are not living by faith. If what is coming out of you is the works of the flesh: jealousy, envy, strife, hatreds, sexual immorality, impurity and other things like these — then you can know that you are not living by faith. But if the fruit of your life is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control as a whole, then you can know that you are living by faith.

These are not emotions. They are motives. If you are motivated by fear (If I don’t get life right then I won’t get the life I want) then you can must assuredly know that your initial faith is a of little use.. You are trusting the law, heaping condemnation on yourself.

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27-Apr-2011

Posted by : David

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Abiding in Christ

Category : Christian Life, life

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Nothing is more important to experiencing God’s abundant life than obeying the command Jesus gives us in John 15: “Abide in Me.” Jesus gives us an illustration: He is the vine and we are the branches. A branch cannot bear fruit apart from the vine. If the branch is apart from the vine, then the branch is worthless, fit only for burning. Without Jesus “we can do nothing.”

But I have misapplied this teaching with some tough consequences. Because abiding in Christ is a command, I interpreted obedience to this command as something I do. The thought goes like this: “Jesus wants me to abide in Him. I will do that by Bible reading and reflection, prayer, and other periodic spiritual disciplines like fasting, solitude, etc.”

But the more I did these things (and I have been quite disciplined in these) the less fruit I felt like I was bearing. Not just external fruit, but the Fruit of the Spirit: Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. In fact, I actually experienced more fear, jealousy, and depression than ever before. Yes, that’s right. The more I strove to abide and obey the more undone I became – the more I produced the works of the flesh. Why?

Because I don’t abide in Christ by my action! I abide in Christ by His action. The branch does not hold itself in the vine. The vine holds the branch. Obeying the command, “abide in me,” is not obeyed by bible reading and prayer, but by faith. Faith that relies on God’s ability to hold me in the vine. I saw that I always abide in Christ. There never has been a time as a believer that I didn’t abide in Christ. The question is, “will I believe it?” not “will I work for it?”

I was trying to do what has always been done. Now I just count on it. And I tell you truly, I bear fruit — especially the internal fruit of love, joy, peace, and patience. Nor more striving, I only count on the work of another.

And it keeps getting better, which is subject of my next post.

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18-Apr-2011

Posted by : David

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We Have Been Filled

Category : Holy Spirit

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I want to tell you about a teaching that drove my life into the ground.

It goes like this: Jesus gives us the Holy Spirit for salvation and power for living. In order to tap into His power we need to be “filled with the Spirit.” Although God has given us His Spirit, there are degrees of filling with the Spirit. In order to be filled with the Spirit, we need to make sure that we have confessed our sin, remain consistent in Bible reading, prayer, and other spiritual disciplines.

Other Christian traditions will tell this two stage story a little bit differently. But no matter how you tell the story, the story is wrong.  We play no part in the filling of the Spirit. We are filled with the Holy Spirit if we are in Christ.

Colossians 2:9-10 says, “For in him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily, and you have been filled in him, who is the head of all rule and authority.”

If we are in Christ, we have been filled. We don’t lose the filling of the Spirit, ever. When we sin, we did not cease to be filled with the Spirit. In fact, we confess our sins BECAUSE we are filled with the Spirit, not in order to get the filling of the Spirit back.  If we grieve the Spirit, we don’t cease to be filled. We will know His grief because He has filled us. He never leaves you. He does not leak.

When we are commanded to be filled with the Spirit in Ephesians 5:18, Paul is contrasting getting drunk. His point is NOT that there are degrees of filling with the Spirit, but to be careful what influence we come under. The thought is this: “filled with the Spirit” is who we are in Christ, don’t come under any other controlling influence.  See Michael Horton’s very helpful explanation here.

This error drove me to the ground because I was the responsible for the filling of the Spirit. I had to work to get life and power from Jesus. But I will work no more! His life and power is always available to me. I simply trust (believe!) that I “have been filled.” And if He fills me, He will perfectly carry out His will in me and through me.

Think that’s to good to be true? It gets even better.

To be continued…

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11-Apr-2011

Posted by : David

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Marriage Doesn’t

Category : Marriage

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Have you heard the phrase, “marriage isn’t supposed to make you happy, it’s to make you holy?” That sounds about as appealing as a punch in the face.

We say this with good intentions. When we make marriage about our personal happiness, then our well-being is a house built without a foundation. Whenever we don’t feel happy in our marriage we feel insecure about our decision. If we are REALLY unhappy, then we are convinced that the marriage should end.

So to counter this harmful view of marriage, we say marriage is more about character development, i.e. holiness. This means we can stick the marriage out, no matter how we feel. We say, “We might be miserable, but we are committed, and it all works out for the best because this is making me a better person.”

But that is still building on the wrong foundation. God didn’t give me a spouse for personal gratification or personal improvement. He gave me a spouse so I could be a storyteller. Our marriage’s purpose is to tell an age-old tale.  A story of how God loves His people, and how they flourish under His care as they respect and honor Him.

Paul says in Ephesians 5:32 that marriage is a “profound mystery.” It is not a mystery because we can’t figure it out — it’s a mystery (something hidden that now is revealed) because marriage reflects Christ and His church.

So our marriages are like a play. Men, we have the part of Jesus Christ — loving, nourishing, and cherishing our bride. Women, your part is the church — respecting, honoring, and submitting to your husband. To the degree that we “play” our parts faithfully, our marriage will be gospel proclamation. In an evil world filled with broken relationships, love and honor can thrive.  And those in and around our marriage: the couple, the children, the extended family, the church, the community, will get a practical demonstration of God’s love for them.

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04-Apr-2011

Posted by : David

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On Cynicism Part 2

Category : Christian Life, life

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So how do we fight cynicism? (See part one for context).

Since cynicism is primarily a sin of anger, then we fight cynicism by fighting anger. But we often don’t want to fight anger. We don’t want to fight because we feel justified in the way we feel. To give up anger often means having to give up our correct position – a position we think we deserve.

We must move forward, though, before the arrogance grows until it envelops our whole self. That is, until we are just a SELF, nothing more.

So first, as in all anger, we must humble ourselves. Cynicism says, “the world would be a better place if people just thought like me.” We have to give up this position. The world would be a better place if the cynic immediately forgoes their superiority.

Of course it is easy to say that the prideful must humble themselves. How simple! But cynicism is the outcome of an identity – an identity where knowledge has puffed us up.  And identities are not easy given up. Identities can’t just be dropped, they need to be replaced.

If cynicism says, “I distrust you because I know better,” than a new identity must say, “how can I understand you and help you?” But how to get this new identity? How do we truly seek to understand and serve people?

We clothe ourselves in the story of the One who understood us and served us anyway. Jesus is superior! But instead of flaunting his superiority, he clothed himself as a servant. He put himself in our position.

But he didn’t do this for innocent victims. He did this for arrogant people, people who thought they were better than others. Jesus was better than others! But he willingly took our reproach upon himself, and gave us his righteousness.

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30-Mar-2011

Posted by : David

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On Cynicism

Category : life

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Anger always has an exhaust pipe. For some it’s a temper. For some the anger turns inward and comes out as depression. For some, though, anger escapes through cynicism.

Cynics constantly want to manage people, put them in their boxes. Cynics have a high view of their understanding and a low view of another’s point-of-view. If they can’t find a flaw in an argument, they can find one in motives or in tone.

They are focused on their will, their version of events, their commentary. They pride themselves in seeing around people, or seeing through them. But they never actually see them. And it’s anger, resulting from the obstruction of their will. Their will is for people to see things the way they see: always questioning, never trusting.

Above all, cynics don’t pray for people.

——————————–

Cynicism is a great temptation, especially if people have hurt us or let us down. Because a few didn’t act in good faith, that means everyone doesn’t. Because some had impure motives, everyone must as well. So the conditions of our acceptance of people is based upon their agreement with us. We erect a high wall of ideology. In cynicism, we are the free thinkers high in the clouds, while everyone else is a lemming, marching mindlessly with the crowd.

Cynicism is a trap, keeping us from love, because love hopes all things, believes all things. Cynics can’t really love, because they’re arrogant. They can love those who are like them, but as Jesus said in his most famous sermon, “if you love those who love you, what good is that?”

So how do we fight cynicism? That’s my next post…

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28-Mar-2011

Posted by : David

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Hell Wins

Category : bible

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A number of pastors and theologians wrote some great reviews to Rob Bell’s “Love Wins.” I don’t feel the need to repeat them, only that I thought it important to read the book for myself and provide my own thoughts for the people at Passage Church. Because of the extraordinary publicity this book received, the influence of Bell, and the fact that many evangelicals WANT Bell’s version of the afterlife to be true,  I thought it important to provide a commentary.

So, in short, hell wins.

If what Bell says is true, then the orthodox, Christian understanding of hell for the last two thousand years is evil. Not just wrong, evil. It is oppressive, bigoted, against the good of humanity. I couldn’t imagine the forces of hell wanting anything more.

Twenty-first century Americans are asking the question, “How can a loving God send people to hell?” But the Bible doesn’t answer that question. When we become Christians we don’t just get answers to OUR questions, we get new questions. That is part of the “renewal of our minds:” as we submit to the Bible, we see things from God’s perspective, not ours. Even our questions change.

For that is the essence of understanding: to see where another is coming from — not bringing our paradigms or experience to what another person is saying. This seems to be what Bell’s friends and fans are demanding for Bell, but in fairness, Bell needs to do that with the Scriptures. For the Bible doesn’t answer the question, “How can a loving God send people to hell?” It answers the question, “How can a holy God accept sinners?” And when we understand biblical questions we get biblical answers — answers that humble us, but amaze us.

Bell is a communicator that knows how to elicit strong emotional responses from his audience. This is not a bad thing. But he is playing to all the wrong emotions – namely the emotional desire for God to be like us, answering to us, not for us to be like him, answering to him. Of course, Bell doesn’t mock God, he mocks the people of God who hold to the historical understanding of the Scriptures and the church. He’s got an easy scapegoat (some metaphors still apply), but a holy God is still on trial. As Saul learned on the road to Damascus, when the people of God are maligned, so is Jesus (“why are you persecuting me?”).

That’s why in “Love Wins” hell wins. The age-old strategy of the serpent is to ask questions that call into question the goodness and wisdom of God’s word. Satan did this in the garden of Eden by focusing on what God restricted, making God look like He wasn’t good. The Deceiver would want us to think that we have just misunderstood God — that we can decide for ourselves what is good and evil.

Sound familiar?

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24-Mar-2011

Posted by : David

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Struggling with Jesus

Category : bible

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About two months after I became a Christian, I was reading the New Testament and I became so angry with what Jesus said that I threw the Bible across the room. I simply couldn’t believe that Jesus said the things he did. His words infuriated me.

What was happening? It was the conflict between me and God’s word. Was I going to mold God’s word to fit me or was I going to be molded by God’s word? Since this was the first time I read the Bible, the conflict was intense.  I was discovering Jesus and realizing we were very different.

That is why I am generally encouraged by people who struggle with Jesus as they are drawing near to him. I know that they are approaching him honestly. The people that don’t seem to struggle with Jesus are the people that almost always fall away. They aren’t taking him seriously. They think his values and theirs are one and the same.

But Jesus is Creator and we are creatures. We have to eventually come to a place where we let God be God. He is a person and is who He is. To make Him who we want Him to be is delusional. It is a worship of a false god. But that is the human predicament. We have replaced the Creator God for a god of our own imagination (Romans 1:18-19).

This is also not to say that we can’t misinterpret the Scriptures — this is why we need the present body of Christ and the historical understanding of the Church. But we don’t have the leisure of rejecting things about God just because we don’t like them. In Jesus day, the religious leaders didn’t like the mercy of God. In our day, there are cultures that are similar. They like holiness and obedience, not grace.

But our culture loves mercy and grace, but dislikes Truth. But with Jesus we get a man full of grace and truth (John 1:14). No wonder we can’t stand him.

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