Showing posts with label Christian theology. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Christian theology. Show all posts
Friday, December 13, 2013
Wednesday, April 8, 2009
The wrath of God
While watching some TV preachers before church yesterday (Nov. 13, 2005), I was reminded that there appears to be a growing movement in contemporary Christianity which seems to downplay or ignore anything having to do with judgment. The idea seems to be, just focus on the positive, be tolerant, tell people how God loves them and wants to improve their lives so they can be healthy, wealthy, happy and prosperous.
Contrary to the impressions left by some preachers, God’s judgment is a significant theme in biblical literature. The Garden of Eden story is a story of people who rebelled against their Creator and came under judgment (Gen 1-3). The story of Noah’s flood is a story of God’s judgment on human rebellion (Gen 7-8), as is the story of the Tower of Babel (Genesis 11), Sodom and Gomorrah (Genesis 19), the plagues on Egypt (Exodus 7-11), the golden calf (Exodus 32) and the rebellion in the wilderness (Numbers 14). The Book of Deuteronomy warns of terrible judgments for persistent rebellion against God. The story of the conquest of Canaan is also a story of God’s judgment (Joshua) and the theme of judgment thoroughly pervades the book of Judges. God’s judgment is seen throughout the books of Samuel, Kings and Chronicles, in fact, the stories end with the forcible deportation of Israel from the Promised Land in a devastating act of God’s judgment. And of course the prophets, from Isaiah through Malachi strongly and repeatedly warn of divine judgment for idolatry and rebellion against the Creator.
Don’t even think about dismissing this theme of judgment as if it were only in the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament! In the New Testament, John the Baptist is consistently presented as a fiery preacher of judgment. In the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus ends his Sermon on the Mount with warnings of eternal judgment (Matthew 7:13-29) and many of Jesus’ parables warn of future judgment, including weeping and gnashing of teeth (Matthew 13). What is particularly sobering to me personally is Jesus’ scathing denunciation of self-righteous religious leaders and scholars, with names like hypocrites, blind guides, whitewashed tombs, snakes, vipers and sons of hell (Matthew 23)!
St. Paul follows Jesus’ example in warning of judgment. For example, Paul sums up his argument in the first three chapters of his letter to the Romans by quoting from his Hebrew Bible: “No one is righteous, not even one…no one does good, not a single one. Their talk is foul, like the stench from an open grave. Their tongues are filled with lies…they have no fear of God at all” (Romans 3:9-18). In those same three chapters, Paul says “a day of anger is coming, when God’s righteous judgment will be revealed” (Romans 2:5), and that God “will pour out his anger and wrath on those who live for themselves, who refuse to obey the truth and instead live lives of wickedness” (Romans 2:8).
Similarly, in his letter to the Galatians, Paul speaks of “sexual immorality, impurity, lustful pleasures, idolatry, sorcery, hostility, quarreling, jealously, outbursts of anger, selfish ambition, dissension, division, envy, drunkenness, wild parties, and other sins like these.” Paul continues, “Let me tell you again, as I have before, that anyone living this sort of life will not inherit the Kingdom of God” (Galatians 5:19-21). In Second Thessalonians the author speaks of the return of Jesus “with his mighty angels, in flaming fire, bringing judgment on those who don’t know God.” The writer says, “They will be punished with eternal destruction” (Second Thessalonians 1:9).
The writer of Hebrews warns of “the terrible expectation of God’s judgment and the raging fire that will consume his enemies” (Hebrews 10:27). The writer of Second Peter warns of a coming judgment in which “the heavens will pass away with a terrible noise, and the very elements themselves will disappear in fire, and the earth and everything on it will be found to deserve judgment” (2 Peter 3:10). The letter of Jude is filled with judgment and damnation, and of course almost everyone is familiar with the graphic depictions of divine judgment in the book of Revelation (which, by the way, sounds less and less far-fetched now than at any other time in history in light of the terrors of Islamofacism, state-sponsored terrorism, and the consequences of global warming).
Regardless of whether you dislike or disbelieve these stories, the fact remains that the Bible is, from cover to cover, filled with stories of divine judgment on human beings who, metaphorically speaking, have extended their middle fingers in the face of their Creator, saying, in effect, we will not worship or serve you and we will not follow your rules—we will do it our way!
The rest of the biblical story, of course, is about how God patiently and consistently warns people of the consequences of their rebellion and calls them to repentance. In the Bible, the story of God’s love is not about some abstract, warm-fuzzy feeling. It is a story about how, in spite of the fact that humans have essentially spit in the face of their creator, he patiently and persistently calls people to turn back to him in repentance and faith. The New Testament in particular is about how God enters humanity to save those who will genuinely repent of their rebellion (sin) and turn to Jesus Christ, the Son of God, in sincere loving devotion (faith).
The New Testament never commands believers to engage in holy wars to execute God’s judgment, but rather to warn people of divine judgment, with the goal of calling people to faith and saving them from this wrath. The whole point of this little theology lesson is that preachers who only preach about the love of God, without also warning about the wrath of God, are simply not telling the whole truth about the message of the Bible. On the other hand, some people today are no different than those over 2,500 years ago who, according to Isaiah 30:10-10, told their prophets, “Don’t tell us what is right. Tell us nice things. Tell us lies. Forget all this gloom. Get off your narrow path” (All quotes are from the NLT).
Contrary to the impressions left by some preachers, God’s judgment is a significant theme in biblical literature. The Garden of Eden story is a story of people who rebelled against their Creator and came under judgment (Gen 1-3). The story of Noah’s flood is a story of God’s judgment on human rebellion (Gen 7-8), as is the story of the Tower of Babel (Genesis 11), Sodom and Gomorrah (Genesis 19), the plagues on Egypt (Exodus 7-11), the golden calf (Exodus 32) and the rebellion in the wilderness (Numbers 14). The Book of Deuteronomy warns of terrible judgments for persistent rebellion against God. The story of the conquest of Canaan is also a story of God’s judgment (Joshua) and the theme of judgment thoroughly pervades the book of Judges. God’s judgment is seen throughout the books of Samuel, Kings and Chronicles, in fact, the stories end with the forcible deportation of Israel from the Promised Land in a devastating act of God’s judgment. And of course the prophets, from Isaiah through Malachi strongly and repeatedly warn of divine judgment for idolatry and rebellion against the Creator.
Don’t even think about dismissing this theme of judgment as if it were only in the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament! In the New Testament, John the Baptist is consistently presented as a fiery preacher of judgment. In the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus ends his Sermon on the Mount with warnings of eternal judgment (Matthew 7:13-29) and many of Jesus’ parables warn of future judgment, including weeping and gnashing of teeth (Matthew 13). What is particularly sobering to me personally is Jesus’ scathing denunciation of self-righteous religious leaders and scholars, with names like hypocrites, blind guides, whitewashed tombs, snakes, vipers and sons of hell (Matthew 23)!
St. Paul follows Jesus’ example in warning of judgment. For example, Paul sums up his argument in the first three chapters of his letter to the Romans by quoting from his Hebrew Bible: “No one is righteous, not even one…no one does good, not a single one. Their talk is foul, like the stench from an open grave. Their tongues are filled with lies…they have no fear of God at all” (Romans 3:9-18). In those same three chapters, Paul says “a day of anger is coming, when God’s righteous judgment will be revealed” (Romans 2:5), and that God “will pour out his anger and wrath on those who live for themselves, who refuse to obey the truth and instead live lives of wickedness” (Romans 2:8).
Similarly, in his letter to the Galatians, Paul speaks of “sexual immorality, impurity, lustful pleasures, idolatry, sorcery, hostility, quarreling, jealously, outbursts of anger, selfish ambition, dissension, division, envy, drunkenness, wild parties, and other sins like these.” Paul continues, “Let me tell you again, as I have before, that anyone living this sort of life will not inherit the Kingdom of God” (Galatians 5:19-21). In Second Thessalonians the author speaks of the return of Jesus “with his mighty angels, in flaming fire, bringing judgment on those who don’t know God.” The writer says, “They will be punished with eternal destruction” (Second Thessalonians 1:9).
The writer of Hebrews warns of “the terrible expectation of God’s judgment and the raging fire that will consume his enemies” (Hebrews 10:27). The writer of Second Peter warns of a coming judgment in which “the heavens will pass away with a terrible noise, and the very elements themselves will disappear in fire, and the earth and everything on it will be found to deserve judgment” (2 Peter 3:10). The letter of Jude is filled with judgment and damnation, and of course almost everyone is familiar with the graphic depictions of divine judgment in the book of Revelation (which, by the way, sounds less and less far-fetched now than at any other time in history in light of the terrors of Islamofacism, state-sponsored terrorism, and the consequences of global warming).
Regardless of whether you dislike or disbelieve these stories, the fact remains that the Bible is, from cover to cover, filled with stories of divine judgment on human beings who, metaphorically speaking, have extended their middle fingers in the face of their Creator, saying, in effect, we will not worship or serve you and we will not follow your rules—we will do it our way!
The rest of the biblical story, of course, is about how God patiently and consistently warns people of the consequences of their rebellion and calls them to repentance. In the Bible, the story of God’s love is not about some abstract, warm-fuzzy feeling. It is a story about how, in spite of the fact that humans have essentially spit in the face of their creator, he patiently and persistently calls people to turn back to him in repentance and faith. The New Testament in particular is about how God enters humanity to save those who will genuinely repent of their rebellion (sin) and turn to Jesus Christ, the Son of God, in sincere loving devotion (faith).
The New Testament never commands believers to engage in holy wars to execute God’s judgment, but rather to warn people of divine judgment, with the goal of calling people to faith and saving them from this wrath. The whole point of this little theology lesson is that preachers who only preach about the love of God, without also warning about the wrath of God, are simply not telling the whole truth about the message of the Bible. On the other hand, some people today are no different than those over 2,500 years ago who, according to Isaiah 30:10-10, told their prophets, “Don’t tell us what is right. Tell us nice things. Tell us lies. Forget all this gloom. Get off your narrow path” (All quotes are from the NLT).
God's unconditional love?
Yesterday I saw a sign in front of a Methodist Church that said, “God loves you unconditionally.” There is some truth to that, of course, for example, if the sign was intending to communicate St. Paul’s teaching that, “while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” The same principle is found in the Gospel of John which says, “For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son…”
But Paul makes it very clear that God’s love is not some abstract warm fuzzy unconditional tolerance toward everyone and everything. Paul defines God’s love very precisely when he writes, “God demonstrates his love toward us in that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us.” God’s love is demonstrated in the atoning sacrifice of Jesus Christ, not by unconditional tolerance of human rebellion.
Paul also makes it very clear that God holds people accountable for what he makes known to them. In Paul’s words, “But because of your hard and impenitent heart you are storing up wrath for yourself on the day of wrath when God's righteous judgment will be revealed.”
Similarly in the Gospel of John, the principle that “God so loved the world that he gave his only son” is qualified by “so that whoever believes in him might not perish but have eternal life.”
I suspect that the Methodist sign leaves many readers with the impression that God is always smiling on them, has warm fuzzy feelings toward them, and would never bring them into judgment regardless of how self-centered, unethical or immoral, they are.
Whatever one might say about such a god, it is most definitely NOT the God of the Bible (In fact, it is not the God of the Qur’an either—Muhammad, spoke in extended morbid detail of the torments of hell).
Since ALL of us have, to some extent, been self-centered, unethical and immoral, we are fortunate that God’s grace is “unconditional” toward those who sincerely repent of their sinfulness and turn exclusively to Jesus Christ in loving devotion (faith) as their Savior and King.
But Paul makes it very clear that God’s love is not some abstract warm fuzzy unconditional tolerance toward everyone and everything. Paul defines God’s love very precisely when he writes, “God demonstrates his love toward us in that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us.” God’s love is demonstrated in the atoning sacrifice of Jesus Christ, not by unconditional tolerance of human rebellion.
Paul also makes it very clear that God holds people accountable for what he makes known to them. In Paul’s words, “But because of your hard and impenitent heart you are storing up wrath for yourself on the day of wrath when God's righteous judgment will be revealed.”
Similarly in the Gospel of John, the principle that “God so loved the world that he gave his only son” is qualified by “so that whoever believes in him might not perish but have eternal life.”
I suspect that the Methodist sign leaves many readers with the impression that God is always smiling on them, has warm fuzzy feelings toward them, and would never bring them into judgment regardless of how self-centered, unethical or immoral, they are.
Whatever one might say about such a god, it is most definitely NOT the God of the Bible (In fact, it is not the God of the Qur’an either—Muhammad, spoke in extended morbid detail of the torments of hell).
Since ALL of us have, to some extent, been self-centered, unethical and immoral, we are fortunate that God’s grace is “unconditional” toward those who sincerely repent of their sinfulness and turn exclusively to Jesus Christ in loving devotion (faith) as their Savior and King.
Pleasing God
According to Katharine Jefferts Schori, the head of the Episcopal church, “the Scriptures should not be taken too literally. "We are not handed a rule book and said you must live this way, according to every jot and tittle of these rules." She added, "We're called to wrestle with our faith" (OneNewNow).
That’s funny. The New Testament is filled with commands to live in obedience to the Word of God. I can’t think of a single place where we are “called to wrestle with our faith.” Whenever one of these apostates say we shouldn’t take the Bible too literally, it is usually code for, “We don’t believe or obey this part.” For example, when Paul says, “the works of the flesh are…sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envies, drunkenness, orgies….” the problem isn’t literal vs. non-literal interpretation. The problem is that we are guilty!
I recently wrote an essay on New Testament commands and obedience. I’ve pasted part of it below:
Love for Christ is essential to sanctification because the Word of God ties genuine love for Jesus to obedience. Jesus taught, “If you love me you will keep my commandments” (Jn.14:15). He said that anyone who loves him “will keep my word” (Jn.14:23-24, cf. Jn. 15:10). In fact, according to John, “Whoever says I know him but does not keep his commandments is a liar…” (1 Jn. 2:4)!
It is impossible, however, to obey the Word of our Lord if we don’t know the Word—and it is through the Word of God that we are sanctified. Jesus prayed, “Sanctify them in the truth; your Word is truth” (Jn.17:17). Paul says that Christ gave himself for his church “that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the Word” (Eph. 5:26, cf. Rom.12:2). The writer of Hebrews even implies that Christians who are not grounded in the Word of God are spiritually immature (Heb.5:13).
Being grounded in the Word of God means thoroughly knowing Scripture as well as you know your favorite movie—the one where you can describe all the scenes, identify the main actors, and quote many of the lines by heart!
James, the half-brother of Jesus and writer of the book of James, would insist, however, that that we are not sanctified simply by reading or hearing the Word alone, but by obeying it! James teaches that “faith without works is dead” (James 2:17, 26) and that those who hear the Word of God but do not obey are like people who view their scruffy face in a mirror and walk away without doing anything about it. He says such people are deceiving themselves (Jas. 1:22-25).
James is simply reflecting the teaching of Jesus who said that it was those who hear the Word of God and do it who are his mothers, brothers and sisters (Lk.8:21). In response to a woman who blessed him, Jesus said, “Blessed rather are those who hear the Word of God and obey it” (Lk.11:28). In fact, Jesus said that it was those who keep his Word who shall not see death (Jn.8:51-52, cf. Jn.8:31). Evangelicals rightly place a great deal of emphasis on Jesus’ command to go into all the world to make disciples but we don’t often hear as much about that fact that making disciples involves “teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you” (Mt 28:19-20). We are not really making disciples unless we are teaching people to obey Jesus.
What Jesus taught elsewhere about grace shows, however, that he was not thinking of salvation by works, but rather as Paul would later write, an “obedience that comes from faith” (Rom. 1:5; 16:26).
Throughout history some people have believed that Paul’s teaching on salvation by grace apart from works contradicted the teachings of Jesus and James on obedience, but this is not true. In a statement that looks like it could have come right out of the book of James, Paul writes, “It is not the hearers of the law who are righteous before God, but the doers of the law who will be justified (Rom. 2:13). In fact, many people might be surprised to learn how much emphasis Paul actually places on obedience. For example, roughly half of Paul’s letter to the Ephesians explains how we should live in obedience to God. Virtually the entire book of First Corinthians tells how Christians should live the Christian life; and in what may be regarded as the purpose statement for First Timothy, Paul writes, “I am writing these things to you so that…you may know how one ought to behave in the household of God” (1 Tim.3:14-15).
Paul went so far as to warn his readers that those who practiced such things as sexual immorality, homosexuality, adultery, idolatry, drunkenness, theft, and greed would not inherit the kingdom of God (1 Cor.6:9-11; cf. Gal.5:16-25). In fact, to his critics who said we should just live in sin to show how gracious God really is, Paul responded, “Their condemnation is just!” (Rom.3:8; cf. 6:1).
This emphasis on obedience is not just found in the teaching of Jesus, James and Paul (as if that weren’t enough) but appears throughout the entire New Testament. John, for example, wrote “…whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him” (Jn.3:36). The Book of Acts says God has given his Holy Spirit “to those who obey him” (Acts 5:32). The writer of Hebrews said that Jesus is “the source of eternal salvation to all who obey him” (Heb.5:9) and both Peter and Jude absolutely lambaste “ungodly people, who pervert the grace of our God into sensuality” (Jude 4, cf. 2 Pet.2).
In other words, the Word of God is not some magic charm that works sanctification simply by meditating on a few verses and waiting for God to speak. Nor does it bring about sanctification even by rigorous scholarly study of the Hebrew and Greek text. Sanctification involves obedience to the Word of God.
Obedience, however, is not a popular topic in modern Christianity. In fact, anyone who would dare to preach biblical obedience too strongly is bound to be attacked as self-righteous, judgmental, and legalistic! The critic will insist that Christians are free from the law and that Christianity is not about rules and regulations but about relationship, compassion and community. The critic may point out that Jesus says, “It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh is no help at all” (Jn.6:63). That’s true, but Jesus immediately follows up with, “The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life” (Jn.6:63). The words of Jesus are “spirit and life.” Spirit and Word are not played off against each other but go hand in hand.
But doesn’t Paul say, “Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom” (2 Cor.3:17). Doesn’t Paul insist that “we are released from the law…so that we serve in the new way of the Spirit” (Rom.7:6). Doesn’t he also say, “The letter kills, but the Spirit gives life” (2 Cor.3:6). Isn’t Paul arguing that we are now free from the law and legalism?
Absolutely! But Paul was refuting the false notion that keeping rules, regulations or rituals can make us right before God. In Christ we are free from such legalism, but Paul never taught that we are free to live in sin. For example, in Romans Paul teaches that, “the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death,” but in the same letter Paul writes that those who are in the Spirit “put to death” the evil behaviors of the body (Rom.8:13).
Galatians is another letter in which Paul argues so fervently for our freedom from the law writing that we “were called to freedom,” but in practically the same breath he goes on to exhort, “walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh.” Paul ties the work of the Spirit to obedience saying “if we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit” (Gal.5:13-26). Paul then closes his letter to the Galatians with extended exhortations to godly behavior and serious warnings against sin (Gal.5:16-6:10).
The freedom of which Paul speaks is freedom from thinking we have to work or strive to be good enough to merit God’s justification, but for Paul, being called to “freedom” never means freedom to sin and never eliminates the need to walk by the Spirit in obedience to God.
It cannot be emphasized too strongly, however, that this teaching on obedience is not salvation by works but rather an “obedience that comes from faith” (Rom.1:5; 16:26). Just as a wood fire in the fireplace produces the byproduct of smoke in the chimney, so faith produces the works. Works do nothing to save us; they are simply the byproduct of a deep love for Christ working through the power of the Holy Sprit in obedience to the Word of God.
Unfortunately, there are no magic formulas for sanctification. Holiness is sometimes just hard work. For example, Paul says things like: “Do not let sin reign in your mortal body” (Rom.6:12), “Do not offer the parts of your body to sin” (Rom.6:13). Paul says that just as we once made our bodies available to impurity and wickedness, we must now make them “slaves to righteousness leading to sanctification” (Rom.6:19). There is really nothing mystical or mysterious about all this. Paul says just do it, or don’t do it as the case may be. We don’t have to contemplate it, pray about it or meditate on it! Just obey it!
Of course this is all very easy to write but often so very hard to obey. In fact, it is nearly impossible to preach or teach on biblical obedience without being painfully aware of how far we personally fall short. While sanctification can be a crisis experience, it is also a long progressive journey. On this journey, temptation can often seem overwhelming. We need to be constantly aware that our “adversary the Devil prowls around like a roaring lion seeking someone to devour” (1 Pet.5:8) and that “we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against…the spiritual forces of evil” (Eph.6:12).
Paul counsels that we should put on the “armor of God” including the “Sword of the Spirit which is the Word of God” (Eph.6:17). We may need to be on the lookout for that “way of escape” Paul talks about (1 Cor.10:13) in order to avoid overwhelming temptation. Sometimes we may need to seek someone who will keep us accountable (Jas. 5:16). In more severe cases like, for example, obsessive-compulsive disorders involving sin, Christian psychotherapy or psychiatry may be helpful. When Jesus counseled plucking out an eye or chopping off a hand (Mt.5:29-30; 18:8-9), he was not teaching dismemberment, but as a good teacher he was using hyperbole to make memorable the principle that sin is extremely serious and should be avoided at all costs.
In any case, we always need to pray for the Sprit’s wisdom and power, and we certainly need to sincerely repent when we sin—and we will sin. John writes that “if we say we have no sin we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us” (1 Jn.1:8). The biblical hall of fame is populated with repentant sinners: Moses the murderer, Samson the playboy, David the adulterer, Jonah the rebel, Peter the apostate, Paul the persecutor, etc. Being saved does not mean we never sin but it does mean that when we fall, we do not ignore the convicting work of the Holy Spirit, but sincerely repent and, by the power of the Holy Spirit, strive once again to live a life of obedience which is pleasing to God.
Last year, however, one of our chapel speakers argued forcefully that we should stop striving to please God since we are already accepted and pleasing in his sight. While this is true in a positional sense, it does not change the fact that walking in the Spirit in a life of sanctified behavior is pleasing to God.
Paul, for example, reminds the Thessalonians that he taught them how they “ought to walk and to please God” (1 Thess.4:1). Paul urges the Colossians to live their lives “in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him” (Col.1:10). He tells the Philippians that their sacrificial gift was “pleasing to God” (Phil.4:18). He tells Timothy that living a godly life “is pleasing in the sight of God…” (1 Tim.2:3; cf. 1 Tim.5:3-4). Similarly the author of Hebrews warns, “Do not neglect to do good and to share what you have, for such sacrifices are pleasing to God” (Heb.13:16).
Contrary to the leader of the Episcopal Church, the New Testament has quite a bit to say about obeying the Word of God and living a life pleasing to God. She just doesn't like much of what it has to say.
That’s funny. The New Testament is filled with commands to live in obedience to the Word of God. I can’t think of a single place where we are “called to wrestle with our faith.” Whenever one of these apostates say we shouldn’t take the Bible too literally, it is usually code for, “We don’t believe or obey this part.” For example, when Paul says, “the works of the flesh are…sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envies, drunkenness, orgies….” the problem isn’t literal vs. non-literal interpretation. The problem is that we are guilty!
I recently wrote an essay on New Testament commands and obedience. I’ve pasted part of it below:
Love for Christ is essential to sanctification because the Word of God ties genuine love for Jesus to obedience. Jesus taught, “If you love me you will keep my commandments” (Jn.14:15). He said that anyone who loves him “will keep my word” (Jn.14:23-24, cf. Jn. 15:10). In fact, according to John, “Whoever says I know him but does not keep his commandments is a liar…” (1 Jn. 2:4)!
It is impossible, however, to obey the Word of our Lord if we don’t know the Word—and it is through the Word of God that we are sanctified. Jesus prayed, “Sanctify them in the truth; your Word is truth” (Jn.17:17). Paul says that Christ gave himself for his church “that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the Word” (Eph. 5:26, cf. Rom.12:2). The writer of Hebrews even implies that Christians who are not grounded in the Word of God are spiritually immature (Heb.5:13).
Being grounded in the Word of God means thoroughly knowing Scripture as well as you know your favorite movie—the one where you can describe all the scenes, identify the main actors, and quote many of the lines by heart!
James, the half-brother of Jesus and writer of the book of James, would insist, however, that that we are not sanctified simply by reading or hearing the Word alone, but by obeying it! James teaches that “faith without works is dead” (James 2:17, 26) and that those who hear the Word of God but do not obey are like people who view their scruffy face in a mirror and walk away without doing anything about it. He says such people are deceiving themselves (Jas. 1:22-25).
James is simply reflecting the teaching of Jesus who said that it was those who hear the Word of God and do it who are his mothers, brothers and sisters (Lk.8:21). In response to a woman who blessed him, Jesus said, “Blessed rather are those who hear the Word of God and obey it” (Lk.11:28). In fact, Jesus said that it was those who keep his Word who shall not see death (Jn.8:51-52, cf. Jn.8:31). Evangelicals rightly place a great deal of emphasis on Jesus’ command to go into all the world to make disciples but we don’t often hear as much about that fact that making disciples involves “teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you” (Mt 28:19-20). We are not really making disciples unless we are teaching people to obey Jesus.
What Jesus taught elsewhere about grace shows, however, that he was not thinking of salvation by works, but rather as Paul would later write, an “obedience that comes from faith” (Rom. 1:5; 16:26).
Throughout history some people have believed that Paul’s teaching on salvation by grace apart from works contradicted the teachings of Jesus and James on obedience, but this is not true. In a statement that looks like it could have come right out of the book of James, Paul writes, “It is not the hearers of the law who are righteous before God, but the doers of the law who will be justified (Rom. 2:13). In fact, many people might be surprised to learn how much emphasis Paul actually places on obedience. For example, roughly half of Paul’s letter to the Ephesians explains how we should live in obedience to God. Virtually the entire book of First Corinthians tells how Christians should live the Christian life; and in what may be regarded as the purpose statement for First Timothy, Paul writes, “I am writing these things to you so that…you may know how one ought to behave in the household of God” (1 Tim.3:14-15).
Paul went so far as to warn his readers that those who practiced such things as sexual immorality, homosexuality, adultery, idolatry, drunkenness, theft, and greed would not inherit the kingdom of God (1 Cor.6:9-11; cf. Gal.5:16-25). In fact, to his critics who said we should just live in sin to show how gracious God really is, Paul responded, “Their condemnation is just!” (Rom.3:8; cf. 6:1).
This emphasis on obedience is not just found in the teaching of Jesus, James and Paul (as if that weren’t enough) but appears throughout the entire New Testament. John, for example, wrote “…whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him” (Jn.3:36). The Book of Acts says God has given his Holy Spirit “to those who obey him” (Acts 5:32). The writer of Hebrews said that Jesus is “the source of eternal salvation to all who obey him” (Heb.5:9) and both Peter and Jude absolutely lambaste “ungodly people, who pervert the grace of our God into sensuality” (Jude 4, cf. 2 Pet.2).
In other words, the Word of God is not some magic charm that works sanctification simply by meditating on a few verses and waiting for God to speak. Nor does it bring about sanctification even by rigorous scholarly study of the Hebrew and Greek text. Sanctification involves obedience to the Word of God.
Obedience, however, is not a popular topic in modern Christianity. In fact, anyone who would dare to preach biblical obedience too strongly is bound to be attacked as self-righteous, judgmental, and legalistic! The critic will insist that Christians are free from the law and that Christianity is not about rules and regulations but about relationship, compassion and community. The critic may point out that Jesus says, “It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh is no help at all” (Jn.6:63). That’s true, but Jesus immediately follows up with, “The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life” (Jn.6:63). The words of Jesus are “spirit and life.” Spirit and Word are not played off against each other but go hand in hand.
But doesn’t Paul say, “Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom” (2 Cor.3:17). Doesn’t Paul insist that “we are released from the law…so that we serve in the new way of the Spirit” (Rom.7:6). Doesn’t he also say, “The letter kills, but the Spirit gives life” (2 Cor.3:6). Isn’t Paul arguing that we are now free from the law and legalism?
Absolutely! But Paul was refuting the false notion that keeping rules, regulations or rituals can make us right before God. In Christ we are free from such legalism, but Paul never taught that we are free to live in sin. For example, in Romans Paul teaches that, “the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death,” but in the same letter Paul writes that those who are in the Spirit “put to death” the evil behaviors of the body (Rom.8:13).
Galatians is another letter in which Paul argues so fervently for our freedom from the law writing that we “were called to freedom,” but in practically the same breath he goes on to exhort, “walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh.” Paul ties the work of the Spirit to obedience saying “if we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit” (Gal.5:13-26). Paul then closes his letter to the Galatians with extended exhortations to godly behavior and serious warnings against sin (Gal.5:16-6:10).
The freedom of which Paul speaks is freedom from thinking we have to work or strive to be good enough to merit God’s justification, but for Paul, being called to “freedom” never means freedom to sin and never eliminates the need to walk by the Spirit in obedience to God.
It cannot be emphasized too strongly, however, that this teaching on obedience is not salvation by works but rather an “obedience that comes from faith” (Rom.1:5; 16:26). Just as a wood fire in the fireplace produces the byproduct of smoke in the chimney, so faith produces the works. Works do nothing to save us; they are simply the byproduct of a deep love for Christ working through the power of the Holy Sprit in obedience to the Word of God.
Unfortunately, there are no magic formulas for sanctification. Holiness is sometimes just hard work. For example, Paul says things like: “Do not let sin reign in your mortal body” (Rom.6:12), “Do not offer the parts of your body to sin” (Rom.6:13). Paul says that just as we once made our bodies available to impurity and wickedness, we must now make them “slaves to righteousness leading to sanctification” (Rom.6:19). There is really nothing mystical or mysterious about all this. Paul says just do it, or don’t do it as the case may be. We don’t have to contemplate it, pray about it or meditate on it! Just obey it!
Of course this is all very easy to write but often so very hard to obey. In fact, it is nearly impossible to preach or teach on biblical obedience without being painfully aware of how far we personally fall short. While sanctification can be a crisis experience, it is also a long progressive journey. On this journey, temptation can often seem overwhelming. We need to be constantly aware that our “adversary the Devil prowls around like a roaring lion seeking someone to devour” (1 Pet.5:8) and that “we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against…the spiritual forces of evil” (Eph.6:12).
Paul counsels that we should put on the “armor of God” including the “Sword of the Spirit which is the Word of God” (Eph.6:17). We may need to be on the lookout for that “way of escape” Paul talks about (1 Cor.10:13) in order to avoid overwhelming temptation. Sometimes we may need to seek someone who will keep us accountable (Jas. 5:16). In more severe cases like, for example, obsessive-compulsive disorders involving sin, Christian psychotherapy or psychiatry may be helpful. When Jesus counseled plucking out an eye or chopping off a hand (Mt.5:29-30; 18:8-9), he was not teaching dismemberment, but as a good teacher he was using hyperbole to make memorable the principle that sin is extremely serious and should be avoided at all costs.
In any case, we always need to pray for the Sprit’s wisdom and power, and we certainly need to sincerely repent when we sin—and we will sin. John writes that “if we say we have no sin we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us” (1 Jn.1:8). The biblical hall of fame is populated with repentant sinners: Moses the murderer, Samson the playboy, David the adulterer, Jonah the rebel, Peter the apostate, Paul the persecutor, etc. Being saved does not mean we never sin but it does mean that when we fall, we do not ignore the convicting work of the Holy Spirit, but sincerely repent and, by the power of the Holy Spirit, strive once again to live a life of obedience which is pleasing to God.
Last year, however, one of our chapel speakers argued forcefully that we should stop striving to please God since we are already accepted and pleasing in his sight. While this is true in a positional sense, it does not change the fact that walking in the Spirit in a life of sanctified behavior is pleasing to God.
Paul, for example, reminds the Thessalonians that he taught them how they “ought to walk and to please God” (1 Thess.4:1). Paul urges the Colossians to live their lives “in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him” (Col.1:10). He tells the Philippians that their sacrificial gift was “pleasing to God” (Phil.4:18). He tells Timothy that living a godly life “is pleasing in the sight of God…” (1 Tim.2:3; cf. 1 Tim.5:3-4). Similarly the author of Hebrews warns, “Do not neglect to do good and to share what you have, for such sacrifices are pleasing to God” (Heb.13:16).
Contrary to the leader of the Episcopal Church, the New Testament has quite a bit to say about obeying the Word of God and living a life pleasing to God. She just doesn't like much of what it has to say.
Hilary's Sunday School Teacher
Yesterday (December 18, 2007) Hillary Clinton’s old Sunday School teacher happened to be in a crowd where Hillary was speaking. The Sunday School teacher spoke up and asked Hillary if she was a Christian.
This morning TV pundits were wondering whether the question was another plant. I think a more important question is how Hillary defines “Christian.” My question is not an attack against Hillary but rather an acknowledgement that much of what has been called “Christian” down through the ages would be completely unrecognizable to Jesus, his apostles and the early church.
Many political and religious leaders have oppressed, enslaved and slaughtered others in the name of Christ, purely out of their own greed and lust for power. They were no more Christian than Muhammad.
On the other hand, there are today many religious people who call themselves Christian but who have denied virtually every historic tenet of the Christian faith. Take Marcus Borg, of the Jesus’ Seminar for example. Borg denies:
1) that there is a personal God
2) that Jesus was born of a virgin
3) that Jesus was the Christ or ever thought of himself that way
4) that Jesus was in any sense God or ever thought of himself that way
5) that Jesus died as an atoning sacrifice for our sins or
6) that Jesus physically rose from the dead.
All of these are things that the Bible teaches and that Christians, both Catholic and Protestant, have affirmed since earliest times, and yet Borg denies all of them and still wants to call himself a Christian! That’s like someone denying that Muhammad was a prophet and still wanting to be called a Muslim! Unfortunately, Borg is not an isolated example. Many in mainline churches believe very much like Borg.
Borg would no doubt argue that Christianity has evolved in these enlightened times. What Borg and his religious-scholar colleagues would call “enlightened,” however, really just came from a relatively small group of white, Eurocentric, elitist academics pontificating about how “modern man” can no longer believe (all evidence to the contrary) in miracles or divine intervention.
So what does it really mean to be a Christian? The best explanation comes (not surprisingly) from Jesus and the Apostle Paul. In his letter to the Romans Paul begins by saying that God has made himself known to everyone, but rather than worshiping and giving thanks to their Creator, people rejected what they knew of God and chose to worship created things instead.
In what Paul calls, "the wrath of God," Paul says that God, therefore, "gave them up" (Paul emphasizes this by repeating it three times)! God "gave them up" to go their own way and do their own thing. Paul says that people became filled with lust, envy, evil, deceit, strife, malice, and murder. He says they became faithless, heartless and ruthless.
One scholar characterized this as God giving humanity just what we wanted (to do our own thing--like the Frank Sanatra song, "I did it my way") and allowing us to reap the consequences —stewing in our own juices, so to speak. This scholar said that it was probably the worst thing God could have done to us. The history of man’s inhumanity to man would seem to support his interpretation.
Ah, but you may think, that’s not me! I’m not a heartless, ruthless murderer!
Maybe not, but Paul continues by insisting that we all do the same things. In other words, we are all guilty of envy, lust, strife, malice, deceit, gossip, lack of faith, etc. All of us have failed to give our Creator the worship and thanks He deserves. We have all rebelled against God’s law. We have all contributed to other people’s pain through our words or actions. In other words, we have all contributed in some way to this horrible “stew.”
Paul then goes on to address the religious teachers: Those who pride themselves in knowing God’s Word and think they are guides to those who are in spiritual darkness. Paul says that we fail to keep the very law of God that we proclaim! We don’t practice what we preach and we fall under God’s condemnation just as much as anyone else.
Maybe even more than anyone else. Jesus, for example, absolutely lambasted self-righteous religious leaders, calling them hypocrites, blind guides, fools, whitewashed tombs, vipers and even children of hell (Matthew 23)!
Anyway, Paul concludes the first section of this letter to the Romans by saying that there are really no truly righteous people at all—not one! He says that all people have turned away from God and the whole world will be held accountable to God. Then, as if to drive the nail in the coffin, Paul adds that there is absolutely nothing we can do to make it right! (Romans 1:18-3:20).
I was explaining the progression of Paul’s thought to someone one time when at this point he suddenly burst out exclaiming, “Well how can anyone be saved then?”
It was a great question. I suspect that was exactly the effect that Paul was going for because he answers the question in the very next verses. Paul says that although "all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God," we can be justified (declared “right” before God) by faith in Jesus Christ whom God gave as an atoning sacrifice for our sin. Paul says there is nothing we can do to earn this gift. It is God’s free gift of grace through faith in Jesus alone (Romans 3:21-28; 5:1; 6:23).
Paul originally wrote his letter to the Romans in the Greek language and in ancient Greek the words “believe” and “faith” are derived from the same root, and like all words, they have a range of meaning. Depending on the context, “believe” or “faith” could simply mean accepting something as true; like, “I believe that the Pyramids of Egypt exist.”
Although this intellectual aspect is part of what it means to have faith in Jesus, there is more to it than that. In the New Testament letter of James, the writer says that even the demons “believe,” but they tremble! James’ point seems to be that demons believe that God exists but that kind of faith doesn’t save them from judgment.
I think one of the best illustrations of true, biblical saving faith comes from a story in the life of Jesus. According to the Gospel of Luke, Jesus had accepted an invitation to eat at the home of one of the religious leaders. While they were eating, a woman who was characterized as a “sinner” (probably a prostitute) came in weeping and began anointing Jesus’ feet with oil and wiping them with her hair.
The religious leaders at the table were disgusted that Jesus would even allow such a woman to touch him. Jesus reminded his host that when Jesus came to his house, the religious leader had not even extended the basic common courtesies to Jesus, like the middle-east custom of a kiss on the cheek. Jesus referred to the woman and said “her sins, which are many, are forgiven—for she loved much.” He then turned to the woman and said, “Your sins are forgiven…your faith has saved you. Go in peace” (Luke 7:36-50).
The moral of the story seems to be that genuine saving faith is NOT like that of the self-righteous, religious leaders but rather like that of this woman who comes to Jesus, broken in sorrow over her sins, and turns to him in sincere loving devotion. Jesus calls that heart of repentance & loving devotion “faith.”
Saving faith—the kind that makes someone a genuine Christian—is not about just believing certain facts about Jesus (but if the facts about Jesus are not true, all the faith in the world won’t save us from anything). Saving faith is a change of heart. It involves a sincere, sorrowful, repentance for one’s sin and a turning in sincere loving devotion to Jesus who forgives sin.
Of course, anyone who is sincerely and lovingly devoted to Jesus will also sincerely desire to obey his teachings. Paul makes this point forcefully in Romans 6:1-23. Of course, Christians may sometimes fail miserably (a point I believe Paul makes in Romans 7), but when we do fail, we repent and continue striving to obey our Lord, not in order to get saved, (nothing we do will earn a right standing before God) but because of our love for the One who died for us.
When asked if she was a Christian, Hillary answered yes. I sincerely hope she means that in the New Testament sense described above.
This morning TV pundits were wondering whether the question was another plant. I think a more important question is how Hillary defines “Christian.” My question is not an attack against Hillary but rather an acknowledgement that much of what has been called “Christian” down through the ages would be completely unrecognizable to Jesus, his apostles and the early church.
Many political and religious leaders have oppressed, enslaved and slaughtered others in the name of Christ, purely out of their own greed and lust for power. They were no more Christian than Muhammad.
On the other hand, there are today many religious people who call themselves Christian but who have denied virtually every historic tenet of the Christian faith. Take Marcus Borg, of the Jesus’ Seminar for example. Borg denies:
1) that there is a personal God
2) that Jesus was born of a virgin
3) that Jesus was the Christ or ever thought of himself that way
4) that Jesus was in any sense God or ever thought of himself that way
5) that Jesus died as an atoning sacrifice for our sins or
6) that Jesus physically rose from the dead.
All of these are things that the Bible teaches and that Christians, both Catholic and Protestant, have affirmed since earliest times, and yet Borg denies all of them and still wants to call himself a Christian! That’s like someone denying that Muhammad was a prophet and still wanting to be called a Muslim! Unfortunately, Borg is not an isolated example. Many in mainline churches believe very much like Borg.
Borg would no doubt argue that Christianity has evolved in these enlightened times. What Borg and his religious-scholar colleagues would call “enlightened,” however, really just came from a relatively small group of white, Eurocentric, elitist academics pontificating about how “modern man” can no longer believe (all evidence to the contrary) in miracles or divine intervention.
So what does it really mean to be a Christian? The best explanation comes (not surprisingly) from Jesus and the Apostle Paul. In his letter to the Romans Paul begins by saying that God has made himself known to everyone, but rather than worshiping and giving thanks to their Creator, people rejected what they knew of God and chose to worship created things instead.
In what Paul calls, "the wrath of God," Paul says that God, therefore, "gave them up" (Paul emphasizes this by repeating it three times)! God "gave them up" to go their own way and do their own thing. Paul says that people became filled with lust, envy, evil, deceit, strife, malice, and murder. He says they became faithless, heartless and ruthless.
One scholar characterized this as God giving humanity just what we wanted (to do our own thing--like the Frank Sanatra song, "I did it my way") and allowing us to reap the consequences —stewing in our own juices, so to speak. This scholar said that it was probably the worst thing God could have done to us. The history of man’s inhumanity to man would seem to support his interpretation.
Ah, but you may think, that’s not me! I’m not a heartless, ruthless murderer!
Maybe not, but Paul continues by insisting that we all do the same things. In other words, we are all guilty of envy, lust, strife, malice, deceit, gossip, lack of faith, etc. All of us have failed to give our Creator the worship and thanks He deserves. We have all rebelled against God’s law. We have all contributed to other people’s pain through our words or actions. In other words, we have all contributed in some way to this horrible “stew.”
Paul then goes on to address the religious teachers: Those who pride themselves in knowing God’s Word and think they are guides to those who are in spiritual darkness. Paul says that we fail to keep the very law of God that we proclaim! We don’t practice what we preach and we fall under God’s condemnation just as much as anyone else.
Maybe even more than anyone else. Jesus, for example, absolutely lambasted self-righteous religious leaders, calling them hypocrites, blind guides, fools, whitewashed tombs, vipers and even children of hell (Matthew 23)!
Anyway, Paul concludes the first section of this letter to the Romans by saying that there are really no truly righteous people at all—not one! He says that all people have turned away from God and the whole world will be held accountable to God. Then, as if to drive the nail in the coffin, Paul adds that there is absolutely nothing we can do to make it right! (Romans 1:18-3:20).
I was explaining the progression of Paul’s thought to someone one time when at this point he suddenly burst out exclaiming, “Well how can anyone be saved then?”
It was a great question. I suspect that was exactly the effect that Paul was going for because he answers the question in the very next verses. Paul says that although "all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God," we can be justified (declared “right” before God) by faith in Jesus Christ whom God gave as an atoning sacrifice for our sin. Paul says there is nothing we can do to earn this gift. It is God’s free gift of grace through faith in Jesus alone (Romans 3:21-28; 5:1; 6:23).
Paul originally wrote his letter to the Romans in the Greek language and in ancient Greek the words “believe” and “faith” are derived from the same root, and like all words, they have a range of meaning. Depending on the context, “believe” or “faith” could simply mean accepting something as true; like, “I believe that the Pyramids of Egypt exist.”
Although this intellectual aspect is part of what it means to have faith in Jesus, there is more to it than that. In the New Testament letter of James, the writer says that even the demons “believe,” but they tremble! James’ point seems to be that demons believe that God exists but that kind of faith doesn’t save them from judgment.
I think one of the best illustrations of true, biblical saving faith comes from a story in the life of Jesus. According to the Gospel of Luke, Jesus had accepted an invitation to eat at the home of one of the religious leaders. While they were eating, a woman who was characterized as a “sinner” (probably a prostitute) came in weeping and began anointing Jesus’ feet with oil and wiping them with her hair.
The religious leaders at the table were disgusted that Jesus would even allow such a woman to touch him. Jesus reminded his host that when Jesus came to his house, the religious leader had not even extended the basic common courtesies to Jesus, like the middle-east custom of a kiss on the cheek. Jesus referred to the woman and said “her sins, which are many, are forgiven—for she loved much.” He then turned to the woman and said, “Your sins are forgiven…your faith has saved you. Go in peace” (Luke 7:36-50).
The moral of the story seems to be that genuine saving faith is NOT like that of the self-righteous, religious leaders but rather like that of this woman who comes to Jesus, broken in sorrow over her sins, and turns to him in sincere loving devotion. Jesus calls that heart of repentance & loving devotion “faith.”
Saving faith—the kind that makes someone a genuine Christian—is not about just believing certain facts about Jesus (but if the facts about Jesus are not true, all the faith in the world won’t save us from anything). Saving faith is a change of heart. It involves a sincere, sorrowful, repentance for one’s sin and a turning in sincere loving devotion to Jesus who forgives sin.
Of course, anyone who is sincerely and lovingly devoted to Jesus will also sincerely desire to obey his teachings. Paul makes this point forcefully in Romans 6:1-23. Of course, Christians may sometimes fail miserably (a point I believe Paul makes in Romans 7), but when we do fail, we repent and continue striving to obey our Lord, not in order to get saved, (nothing we do will earn a right standing before God) but because of our love for the One who died for us.
When asked if she was a Christian, Hillary answered yes. I sincerely hope she means that in the New Testament sense described above.
I didn't have to blame myself!
There is a quit smoking commercial on TV in which one of the actors says, “I didn’t have to blame myself.” I think this statement epitomizes one of the attitudes of our generation. The woman’s addiction to smoking is not her fault. It is someone (or something) else’s fault! Maybe it’s just my impression, but it seems like fewer and fewer people are willing to take responsibility for their own behavior.
I suspect that this is one of the reasons genuine, classic Christianity is so offensive to many people. Genuine Christianity says it is your fault! You have sinned against a Holy God! We’re not just talking about robbers and rapists and terrorists, but even those who imagine themselves to be “good” people. St. Paul says that all have sinned and come short of the glory of God” and that the only way to be made right with God is through faith in Jesus Christ.
Non-Christians are those who say, no, I’m not a sinner. I’m basically a good person (or, even if I’m not a good person, I don’t need any God-crutch). Sure, I make mistakes but so does everyone and after all, it’s not really my fault anyway.
By contrast, Christians are those who drop all the excuses, recognize and sincerely repent of their sinfulness and turn in faith to Jesus Christ as their Lord.
Regardless of whether you are offended by this message or not, this is the message of genuine, classic, first-century Christianity as found in the Gospels and Paul. When you hear someone preaching some other version of Christianity you can be sure it is a perversion of the real deal.
I suspect that this is one of the reasons genuine, classic Christianity is so offensive to many people. Genuine Christianity says it is your fault! You have sinned against a Holy God! We’re not just talking about robbers and rapists and terrorists, but even those who imagine themselves to be “good” people. St. Paul says that all have sinned and come short of the glory of God” and that the only way to be made right with God is through faith in Jesus Christ.
Non-Christians are those who say, no, I’m not a sinner. I’m basically a good person (or, even if I’m not a good person, I don’t need any God-crutch). Sure, I make mistakes but so does everyone and after all, it’s not really my fault anyway.
By contrast, Christians are those who drop all the excuses, recognize and sincerely repent of their sinfulness and turn in faith to Jesus Christ as their Lord.
Regardless of whether you are offended by this message or not, this is the message of genuine, classic, first-century Christianity as found in the Gospels and Paul. When you hear someone preaching some other version of Christianity you can be sure it is a perversion of the real deal.
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