Come out of Babylon

If you are like me, you find comfort and confidence in God’s sovereignty in salvation. When God does a saving work according to his electing love, we live in confident hope of his eternal promises and power to keep us. We relish in the thoughts of God’s saving power and we are so relieved that we do not rely on our own power or the ability of others for people to know salvation.  While this is a glorious truth of Scripture, sometimes it is easy for us to overlook that it is also a glorious truth that God indiscriminately appeals to all mankind to repent of sin and come to faith in Jesus Christ. 

In Matthew 11:28-30, Jesus stands before a crowd full of people who seem to so easily reject him.  As much as Jesus says, “Woe” to those who reject him (11:20-24), Jesus appeals to all and also says “Come to me.”  Jesus offers rest to all those who will leave the burdensome life of this world and trust in him.

In Revelation, this same sort of appeal is made to us who are enticed by this world and blinded to its burdens.  As the Apostle John writes Revelation (as a revelation from Jesus), he often considers how the types and shadows of the Old Testament are universalized in the New.  In the Old Testament, Babylon is a nation that conquers the people of God and exiles them under the opulence and immorality of its own culture. It is a picture of power, wealth, worldly knowledge and pleasures. Those drawn into the pomp of Babylon and its false gods are subject also to its fall under God’s judgment.  In the same way, in Revelation this whole world is likened to Babylon.  The name Babylon depicts all the wealth, pomp, power, and pleasures of the world that are an abomination in the sight of God. They never satisfy and only accumulate the burden of judgment on the shoulders of all who embrace it.

 Revelation 18:2-5 And he called out with a mighty voice, "Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great! She has become a dwelling place for demons, a haunt for every unclean spirit, a haunt for every unclean bird, a haunt for every unclean and detestable beast. 3 For all nations have drunk the wine of the passion of her sexual immorality, and the kings of the earth have committed immorality with her, and the merchants of the earth have grown rich from the power of her luxurious living." 4 Then I heard another voice from heaven saying, "Come out of her, my people, lest you take part in her sins, lest you share in her plagues; 5 for her sins are heaped high as heaven, and God has remembered her iniquities.

Have you ever considered that God’s appeal to come out of Babylon is a glorious example of his grace? All those who forsake this world to trust in Jesus Christ will become part of the kingdom of Christ.  This is the victorious kingdom that will have comprehensive, eternal victory and provide hope for all its citizens for all eternity.  It is the kingdom of eternal rest and refreshment.

At the end of the day, God’s appeal to us must provoke us to consider that it is an appeal to save. It is an appeal for us to flee from judgment and to the arms of an all-powerful Savior who has completely dealt with our sin.  It is a flee to reconciliation and eternal hope. Jesus says, “Come.”

When we hear the word come, we should also consider that Babylon is simply not worth it. Jesus offers so much more!

Incomprehensible Savior: Guest blog from Nathan Ham

People have tough questions about God.

Questions like:

• Why would a loving God cast “good” people into hell?

• Why would an all-powerful God allow so much death and suffering in the world?

• Why would a good God allow children to suffer?

• If God knew the world was going to turn out so badly, why did He make sin possible in the first place?

We could go through each question and come up with some details from the Bible to help answer, but ultimately we will never be able to completely understand why God does what He does. This is because God is incomprehensible. He can’t be fully known and understood. And the only things we do know about God we know from an act of God’s self-disclosure. It’s not like we can scientifically study God and put Him under a microscope and figure Him out. And guess what? God doesn’t disclose all the reasons why He does what He does.

But the Bible does give us some foundational truths that will help us form a baseline for learning to trust the Lord with child-like faith (Matthew 11:25).

1.  God is working to showcase His multifaceted glory and power and beauty.

In Romans 9, Paul clearly states in verse 22, “What if God, desiring to show his wrath and to make known his power…” It’s a hard truth to accept, but God is working to show more than just His love and mercy. God’s justice and holiness and righteous anger are on display as well.

A big reason why such a thing as Hell exists is that God desires to display for all to see the purity of His holiness, the awfulness of sin, the magnificence of His power, and the fairness of His justice.

2.  We have a low view of sin.

Even if you’ve been saved 40 years, you probably don’t see sin as bad as what it really is. Sin is so bad and our sinful condition is so terrible that Isaiah 64:6 says the best we can ever do is this: “all our righteous deeds are like a polluted garment”.

All of us have lied at some point.  God. Hates. Lying. God calls a lying tongue an abomination in Proverbs 6:16-17. Lying is so bad that God punishes liars in eternal fire (Rev. 21:8).

Some answer: “Well, nobody is perfect and I was born this way. I can’t help it. God’s too harsh.”

I’ll never cease to be amazed that people would rather justify themselves than just admit their sin and seek God’s forgiveness. It really is that easy.

But at the end of the day, if God never intervened in human history and let every single person die in their sins and go to hell, God would be completely fair and just. Do you know why it’s hard to accept that truth? We have a low view of sin.

3.  The cross is our anchor.

Anytime you struggle with whether or not God is a good, loving God -- look to the cross and remember John 3:16, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.”

God was willing to pour out all of his wrath and hatred of sin against His only Son so that if you humble yourself and acknowledge your sin and trust Him as Savior, God will forgive you of all your sins. This is an incredible act of love and the most beautiful thing that’s ever happened in this world and it’s our anchor point to always know that God’s love knows no limits.

So next time you struggle with understanding God and why He does things the way He does, look to Christ. See Him as the Sovereign Savior who willingly suffered the righteous wrath of Almighty God so that we might have everlasting life if we believe in Him. It’s the goodness of God in Christ that makes me realize that even if I don’t always fully understand the Lord, I know that I can trust Him.

Was Jesus Harsh?

I would suggest that sometimes it is not easy to navigate between the biblical directions clearly given to us or whether the descriptions of the actions of others are for us to follow. Many scriptures clearly command us how to approach correcting others and approaching matters of sin. In 2 Timothy 2:24-26 we find a very direct command from the Apostle Paul for us not to be quarrelsome in correcting others. We are to be kind, able to teach and to correct our opponents in gentleness. In 1 Corinthians 13, love is commanded so that in our teaching we do not become a clanging gong as if we are just annoying noise in the ears of those under instruction. In Galatians 6 we are to restore a sinning brother or sister in gentleness. These and many similar verses are all commands of Scriptures. Theologians call these prescriptive texts because they are prescribed for us to obey in full compliance. If we believe these Scriptures to be the infallible word of God and of the same authority of every other Scripture, then we are obligated to obey them and live them out in faith.

At the same time someone may express an objection to only considering the prescriptives in the bible. They might say that there are many descriptive texts that would seem to suggest that we should think about the prescriptive texts in another way. Descriptive texts are those that narrate the actions and words of others. For example, in Matthew 11:20-24 Jesus seems to be very direct with people to the degree that some might say he is not living out what he himself commands of us. Is there a difference between us and Jesus? Well, I would answer “Yes, there is.” Let’s consider this one text of Matthew 11:20-24. “Then he began to denounce the cities where most of his mighty works had been done, because they did not repent. "Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the mighty works done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes. But I tell you, it will be more bearable on the day of judgment for Tyre and Sidon than for you. And you, Capernaum, will you be exalted to heaven? You will be brought down to Hades. For if the mighty works done in you had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until this day. But I tell you that it will be more tolerable on the day of judgment for the land of Sodom than for you." Sounds heavy, doesn’t it?

Often Jesus is talking about judgment in a way that you and I can never can. Everyone in these cities will one day stand before Jesus in judgment. Jesus, and only Jesus, is able to point a finger of judgment because he is the God who knows the heart of every human of all time. If we were to say words like this, we would be speaking outside of our authority. In fact, just earlier in Matthew 7, Jesus warned us in his Sermon on the Mount that we should not judge because we will be judged with the same standard by which we judge others. He is not saying that we cannot make good judgments based on Scripture, just that we should acknowledge that even by our own standards of judgments we proclaim upon others, we will fail. Only Jesus never fails his own judgments and only Jesus can rightly point a finger of judgment that we can never point without being harsh and hypocritical.

In our Matthew text above, Jesus also displays something in his speech that we can never reproduce. Jesus displays his sovereign will over all time and with every person. Jesus makes a very clear statement of knowing every contingent possibility in history. If the cities of Sodom, Tyre and Sidon had experienced the revelation of Christ, it would have been better for them than for Chorazin, Bethsaida, and Capernaum. Because they rejected Jesus as the Messiah, Jesus can stand in front of them and say the words, “Woe to you.” These are three words that come out of the mouth of God in righteous judgment as he alone can see the heart of man. If we used words such as “Woe to you,” we would be speaking from an authority and knowledge we simply do not have.

Does that mean that a Christian cannot tell another person that their position outside of Christ is perilous? Does it mean we cannot warn others that they may be under the threat of the eternal judgment of God in hell? Of course, we can and must tell people what the bible clearly says about those who reject Christ. We must call people to repentance of sin and faith in Christ. We could even point to Matthew 11 and show how rejecting the revelation of Christ places one under the seriousness of responsibility before God in judgment. We must be true, but we must not be Jesus. There is only one God, and I am not him.

I do not think there is any contradiction between the prescriptive and descriptive in the biblical text. I do, however, think there are many who want to use the descriptive as license to use harsh speech and claim an authority that God doesn’t give them. The point is, the authority of Christ is Christ’s. I live under it. I can point to and live under his authority. I can even show how this authority allows me to confidently make correct statements about the world and the human condition. What I can’t do, is live out something I am not and in doing so ignore his direct commands in Scripture. I can’t treat another human being as if I am above them.

At the same time, we can actually warn people about hell using gentleness and compassion, showing them what the true judge of every man has proclaimed. Matthew 11 shows us that Jesus says “woe” to anyone who has heard of the gospel of Christ and rejected it. Jesus is not harsh, he is the only one who can use words of judgment with full righteousness of character and an absolute knowledge of the person in question. Jesus is not harsh. He is righteous and all knowing. You…..are not.

The Old Testament is Just the Introduction to Jesus

In some ways, saying this about the Old Testament may seem to trivialize what is very much the inspired Word of God. If we were saying that the Old Testament is like the prologue to a book that is easily skipped without really missing the real story, we would indeed be guilty of such trivialization. 

The Old Testament is a great span of history from the very creation of the world to the post-exilic era of Israel as we anticipate the coming of the Messiah, Jesus. If you are like me and believe the reality of the historical account in the Old Testament, then you also believe we are looking at an era of time of roughly around 4000 years. That is a significant chunk of human history.  As far as biblical history is concerned, the New Testament adds around 90 years (if John wrote the book of Revelation somewhere around 90 A.D.). In the span of biblical history, the Old Testament outnumbers the New in terms of the years of human history it records.

How then would we consider that the Old Testament is “just” and introduction? Well, it depends on what the Old Testament is introducing.  One clue we get is given by Jesus when he addresses the crowds concerning John the Baptist.  In Matthew 11:11 Jesus makes an astounding statement about John the Baptist. “Truly, I say to you, among those born of women there has arisen no one greater than John the Baptist. Yet the one who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.” On the one hand Jesus says that John is the greatest living human to that point of history, yet on the other, anyone living in the Kingdom of Christ is greater than John.

John represents the last of the Old Testament era (or the era of salvation history prior to the cross.). John lives like and is numbered among the old covenant prophets of God.  He is looking forward to the Messiah and longing for the kingdom of God to break into this world. He is the greatest among men because as the old era progressed toward the actual appearance of Christ, John is the prophet who was actually able to stand right in front of him and even dunk him under the water in baptism. John didn’t just prophecy about Jesus, he had the unique privilege of all old era history of introducing Jesus the Messiah to the world.  John however never got to see the ministry years of Jesus miracles or teaching, and he did not get to see the risen Savior after his redeeming work on the cross.  John was the introduction to Jesus and as such he really was the culmination of all in the Old Testament that looks forward to the Messiah longing to introduce Jesus to the world.

As John represents the old era, it helps us to understand the way in which the Old Testament is an introduction to Jesus.  As we see all the types and shadows in the Old Testament, we soon realize the each one in their own way is God’s masterpiece of literary genius as he designs all of the Old Testament history to point to Jesus.  The Old Testament introduces Jesus.  Let me give you a few examples.

Melchizedek is a king and priest who has no recorded beginning. – Jesus is a priest in the order of Melchizedek.

David is the King, sitting on the throne of an everlasting kingdom. – Jesus brings his kingdom into the world and establishes its rule for ever.

Israel is the son of God who are rescued from slavery in Egypt. – Jesus is the greater Son who increases the border of Israel to all tribes tongues and nations.

The temple is the house of worship in the midst of God’s people. – Jesus is the fulfillment of the temple indwelling all who believe in him.

The spotless lamb is brought to the altar for sacrificial atonement for the forgiveness of sins. – Jesus is our once and for all sacrificial atonement for the forgiveness of our sins.

The sabbath is the day of rest to be kept holy in the Lord. – Jesus is our sabbath rest forever more.

The promised land is the land of rest for the people of God coming out of exile. – Jesus is our rest and hope for an eternal rest in the new creation.

In these and so many other ways, the Old Testament introduces Jesus.  The Old Testament is glorious in the way it helps us see God’s sovereign plan of using actual human history to point to his Son.  God used 4000 years of human history to introduce Jesus.  Now that Jesus has come and the work of the cross is finished, it is our job to introduce Jesus to everyone else we know.

Do You See the Justice of God?

If you are a Christian who pays attention to the culture around you, you just might be tempted to yearn for some justice. We seem to so often be in a minority position. The power of the modern sexual revolution, the atheistic ideologies of our universities and the attack against the value of life seems utterly overwhelming. Many of us wonder how many more meetings of congress, or what legal decision might deem much of what we do and say to be illegal. Where is the justice for God’s people?

It’s easy to look at the world around us and miss some basic facts.  We know from Scripture that every single person one day will stand before the God of the Universe (Hebrews 9:27, 2 Corinthians 5:9-10). We know that God is sovereign over the nations and that there is none who will ever have power over him (Psalm 2, Isaiah 40:15, Revelation 11:18). We only need to read the book of Revelation to know that Christ brings victory in every realm in this world and over every spiritual force including Satan himself. We read these truths in Scripture and while we long for wrong to be put right at the end, we also wonder how it can be that the wicked prosper.

King Asaph wondered this very same thing and then realized that anyone rejecting God in this world may prosper for a while but will see greater folly in what is to come. Psalm 73:18-20 Truly you set them in slippery places; you make them fall to ruin. How they are destroyed in a moment, swept away utterly by terrors! Like a dream when one awakes, O Lord, when you rouse yourself, you despise them as phantoms.

Often a Christian will take solace in the fact that God’s judgment will happen at some future time.  One thing many of us don’t consider is that God has already come into this world in salvation and judgment in the person of Christ.  In the reality of Christ and his work on the cross there is a sealing of judgment upon all who will not repent of sin and trust him. We understand this in two ways.  First, we understand that God is a God who is righteous and holy and must bring judgment upon sin. Second, this is displayed in the cross.

1 John 1:9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. God’s justice is shown in the cross in that it was poured out on Christ who substituted himself to receive punishment due for our sin. The reason we can be forgiven of sin is because of God’s justice.  His justice has been delivered upon Jesus. Anyone who believes in Jesus for forgiveness of sin and reconciliation with God can do so because justice has been served on the Son in our place. The cross is the seal of the justice of God. In rejection of the cross, God’s justice remains on the sinner and will be finally executed on the final day. 

Where is the justice for God’s people? It has already been delivered on Christ. Where is the justice for the rest of the world? It remains hanging over the head of every soul who will not repent and believe in Jesus Christ. We should be very careful to see that the winnowing fork of justice has indeed come in Jesus Christ and delivered in and through the cross. Whether someone does well or seems to have power in this world in the meantime is a trivial matter.  The cross will be the weapon of justice that everyone remembers for all eternity.

Please, Brothers and Sisters, Worship God!

One of the most serious and damning statements in the entire bible is the one that Jesus makes to the Jews who are accusing the disciples of overlooking Jewish customs and rules. It appears that the disciples did not wash their hands to eat and the Jews used this to accuse them of being unrighteous (Even though it was not a requirement of the Old Testament law to do so). Jesus, in his infinite wisdom, turned the Pharisees attention to the fact that they so easily ignore the law of God for their own traditions which end up in harsh treatment of others. They were more concerned for their traditions and rules than they were for living for God. Jesus says to them, "'This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me; in vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.'"

The Pharisees were not worshippers of God, they were protectors of their own glory.  What came out of their mouths about righteousness was not the same as what was in their heart about loving God. Their worship was in vain.  Their worship was nothing.

This is a huge warning for us. We can so easily come to church on a Sunday and speak and act as if our whole lives revolve around the glory of God when they don’t.  It’s possible for us to teach a Sunday School class with our lips and have our hearts far from God. It’s possible for us to sing the most beautiful harmonies to a hymn and yet have hearts during the week that sing the delights of the idols we worship.

The big point for all of us here is that worship is a matter of the heart. We worship God not through ritual or mere words but through a heart that is intent on his glory and submission to his authority. It is a heart that revels in the forgiveness found in the cross and responds with undying active gratitude. When we worship in all that we say, do and think, we declare with our whole being that God is Lord and has my love and devotion in every avenue of my life.

If we are to be a church of worshippers, we need to be a people intent on our gatherings being a reflection of what is already happening in our hearts.  We meet on Sunday because on Monday to Saturday God is adored and praised. And when we open our mouths to sing together on a Sunday morning, it is the culmination of week of adoration. It is the reflection of our hearts for God.

Church Membership is Helpful for One Anothering

One of the dilemmas some people have with church membership is the purpose of it.  Some people have rightly been against a formal church membership on the basis that it has been explained as the way of inclusion into the church.  Hopefully we would all agree that salvation through faith in Christ alone is that which brings inclusion into his church.  Church membership is not about inclusion, but identification. We are identified as believers through our testimony of Christ and hopefully through the fruit of Christ that will be evident in our lives (none more so than love).

We should be careful to note that when we gather together as God’s people, we will often have those among us who are not believers. Paul says as much in 1 Corinthians 14:23. How do we identify members of the church when we so often have unbelievers among us. As we get to know people, hopefully we get to ask about and hear their testimony and make assessment as to whether they know and have responded to the gospel. We make fallible assessments knowing that only God can truly see one’s heart. Have you personally done this with everyone in your church? Can you identify by actual spoken testimony and fruit who are members of the church? In most congregations, I would suggest the answer is no.

In the Scripture there are many responsibilities that church members have for the care of each other and the church as a whole.  The church as a congregational body is ultimately responsible in acknowledging the discipline of one from their number. To do so, the whole church body must first be aware that the disciplined member was already counted among them. The church as a body comes together to verify eldership direction in important matters of church life, direction, appointment of leaders, and sending for mission. One of the most important responsibilities each church member has for another is simply found in the one another statements in the New Testament. As an example, in Hebrews 3:13 we read, “But exhort one another every day, as long as it is called "today," that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin.” In this particular example, we are to regularly keep watch on each other and keep each other aligned with the truth of Scripture so that we might not stray into error and sin. The question is, who can you identify as the “one another” you are actually responsible for?

The objection so often arises that we see no example of a formal counting of membership in the New Testament as if there was no careful system in place to account for the actual known body of Christ.  If we think for a moment that there was no concern to formally identify members in the early church, I suggest we are being naïve and uncharitable to our ancestral brethren. I do not believe that the elders of the first formed New Testament churches were lax about who exactly they were given responsibility to shepherd. The responsibilities given to elders and churches necessitate that formal identification of church members has been in place from the very beginning. In fact, many times in the book of Acts we read that people were “counted” among the church upon their public identification in baptism.

The way membership lists help the church today is with this same seriousness of identifying the body. Through either baptism or public testimony of a believer who has already been baptized as such we publicly welcome believers among us as identified formal members. We ensure the other members are aware of it in a public setting and we formally note it. In this way we are declaring to the body that this person is your responsibility for one-anothering. We do not leave this to chance or guesses. The one another responsibilities of the church are too important for that. A caring church will be intentional about promoting membership and as such we will be intentional about taking the one another statements very seriously.

Have you been formally identified as a member yet?

Little Baby - Big God!

The book of Isaiah holds the two most quoted Old Testament statements about the promise of Jesus. In Isaiah 7 we hear of the promise of a virgin giving birth to a son. Isaiah 7:14 Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel. In Isaiah 9 we are told that this promise is greater than anyone might expect. Isaiah 9:6-7 For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and of peace there will be no end, on the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish it and to uphold it with justice and with righteousness from this time forth and forevermore. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will do this. In Isaiah 11 we are even told the ancestral line from which to expect this mighty child. Isaiah 11:1-2 There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse, and a branch from his roots shall bear fruit. And the Spirit of the LORD shall rest upon him, the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the LORD.

These verses are not only quoted in the New Testament and fulfilled in Jesus, but they also exist in the context of the book of Isaiah. It is so easy for us to have a sentimental view of Scriptures that we love so dearly. We sing them in carols, and we use them in children’s stories. We love to remind ourselves that these are prophecies that are fulfilled 700 years after they are written and tell ourselves that the bible is true. Of course, it is. The bible is true, and we should dearly cherish these precious statements about our Savior.

It is also true that the New Testament authors have shown us how to truly see these verses in all their fulfillment glory. They quote them to show that God inspired the words of Isaiah in the progressive revelation of his redeeming grace. Even so, when we understand the themes and context of the book of Isaiah, we also realize that the New Testament authors do not quote these verses as a proof text but in context.

Isaiah is constantly warning the kings and people of Judah not to put their trust in the gods and nations around them. Particularly in the first half of Isaiah, there is a repetitive behavior in Judah. They are threatened by a nation, they fear, and then the look to other nations (and even gods) to come to their rescue. They are constantly being told that God is greater than the nations. They have the only one true God and yet they are trusting in powers that are either non-existent or in comparison to God, impotent. It is God who judges and God who saves.

From chapter 40 in Isaiah we find Isaiah writing to a people who have suffered the consequences of not trusting in God. When Judah comes under the domineering power of Babylon, they are captives looking for a Savior. A repetitive message in the second half of Isaiah is that Judah will not be saved by the might of nations. The Savior will not come by military conquest but ultimately will bring them redemption through a suffering Servant. This Servant will be “pierced for our transgressions and crushed for our iniquities” (Isaiah 53:5). Because of this selfless act of substitution, this same Servant is the one in Isaiah 63 who comes in the victorious red robes stained by the blood of his enemies.

When we understand the big picture of Isaiah, we must consider the quotes used in the New Testament as they relate to the big context of the Old Testament book. The New Testament authors are not merely saying that the baby in a manger is a fulfillment of prophecy. They are saying that the baby in a manger is the God of the universe. He is bigger than the nations. He is the Savior of his people and he will come in conquering victory. They are giving us the same basic message that Isaiah was giving to Judah. Do not trust in the poor pitiable nations, kings and false gods. Behold your God who is bigger than your greatest enemies.

Our greatest enemy is sin and death, but we have a Savior. Isaiah’s Savior is our Savior. He is Christ the Lord and he might have come as a little baby, but he is a BIG God.

How Do You Respond to Rebuke?

It’s hard to be wrong. It’s even harder to be on the end of a rebuke that brings our wrongdoing into the open in a way that requires a response. It’s during these times that the voice inside us starts speaking lies to us. “If you give in to this, you will give them the upper hand.” “If you back down on this, you will tarnish your reputation.” “If you admit to wrong, who will respect you?” Pride so often prevents correction in our life. We don’t want to admit wrong because our pride does not want us to allow people to see we are fallen. We so often forget that pride doesn’t protect us from being fallen, it’s the cause of it. Proverbs 16:18 - “Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall.”

Our church has been on a journey through the book of Galatians. The book of Galatians is basically a public rebuke letter from the Apostle Paul. Judaizers had come among Galatian churches to persuade them with a works-based gospel. They were attempting to add adherence to the Mosaic law as a necessary element of salvation. It is not the fault of the Galatian church that these false teachers came to them, but the Galatian church is guilty of giving them a platform and being lured away from the gospel of salvation through faith in Jesus Christ alone. The Galatians were wrong, and Paul had made that very clear.

Throughout Paul’s letter he told them of his astonishment that they were being lured away by a lie. He told them they were being foolish and wondered who had bewitched them. At the same time, Paul called them brothers and showed confidence that they would indeed heed his warning. At the very end of his letter, Paul finishes with these words. “From now on, let no one cause me trouble.” (Gal 6:17).

We are left wondering about the response from the Galatian churches. Did they humbly accept the rebuke from Paul and repent of allowing false teaching to creep into the church? If one has the same confidence as Paul, it seems likely that they would have heeded his warning.

If we consider the trouble that was brought into the churches of Galatia through the Judaizers, we can imagine what a repentant response from these churches would have been. Perhaps they finished reading the letter and then discussed all the major points. Maybe they took some time to contemplate how they had allowed their confidence in Christ to be swayed by the lure of performance. Maybe they took time to talk about how confidence in performance had brought division among them. Perhaps they admitted their error and committed to standing with Paul in the one saving truth they had originally come to know. Did they get on their knees and confess their sin to the Lord? Did they write to Paul asking for his forgiveness for causing him such trouble? Did they admit wrong in the way of rectifying it? I wonder if they shut down the voice of the Judaizers among them. I wonder if any of the Judaizers realized their error and came to know the truth of the gospel. I wonder if the Judaizers were sent on their way having been corrected and rejected. I wonder if the Galatians were persecuted for their faith after rejecting confidence in the law of Moses to live in Christ in the law of love.

I hope that’s the way the Galatian church responded. I hope it’s the way I do. How about you?

Jesus Came to Glorify Himself, Not the Culture

Not many books have been written so successfully as to reach a 50th anniversary edition. The late Richard Niebuhr’s book, “Christ and Culture,” is one of them. It shows that the questions about Christ and culture are of high importance and value to the church. It helps us understand the issues of Christian ethics in the society we live. Our positions on Christ and culture will determine how we think about politics and social issues. It will determine what we believe are the right and wrong responses to the ethical dilemmas of our day. There are some people who would stand strongly on a side that says we are to make every effort to fight the culture to bring about change that would result in a culture more aligned with biblical morality and values. Others have a much more separatist view that disengages with culture entirely as they restrict all cultural influence possible.

It is easy to see that there can be extremes in the answers to the Christ and culture question. Christians need to be careful to keep a biblical balance when considering our engagement with the culture. We should be careful to see two strong principles at play. 1. Jesus has called us to engage with the culture and glorify him in our lives. 2. Christians have been saved into a heavenly kingdom.

1. Jesus has called us to engage with the culture and glorify him in our lives.

As we look at Jesus’ ministry, we sometimes see things that make us feel a little uncomfortable. In fact, I would put it to you that the whole matter of the incarnation is uncomfortable. The perfect God of the universe came INTO this world to be with sinners. His very name, “Immanuel,” means “God with us.” In his ministry we often find Jesus being criticized by the Pharisees for dining with sinners and tax collectors. While the religious elite wanted to point their fingers in accusation toward sinners, Jesus saw people who were in great need as a result of their sin and reached out to them in compassion (Matthew 9:9-13). In doing so, Jesus never once sinned. He lived out his holiness, spoke in holiness, and reached out compassionately by engaging with the lost. While there were many opportunities to do so, not once did Jesus attempt to return Jewish rule or ethics, and certainly not by political means. Instead, Jesus said things like, “Give to Caesar what is Caesar and to God what is God’s.” (Matthew 21:21). When the crowd wanted to take Jesus and make him king (John 6:15), Jesus withdrew to pray. Jesus is the one among us all who could indeed take advantage of an opportunity to replace Caesar and restore Jewish ethics and rule. Instead, he withdrew. Many times, Jesus left the Jewish perimeter to venture into Gentile territory to reveal his good news. He sat with a promiscuous Samaritan woman and offered her himself as living water.

As we read through the New Testament, it is hard to get any strong argument that the Christian is called to engage with the culture for the purpose of bettering or winning against culture. If there is any such benefit from Christianity, it would seem to be secondary to the purpose. Often as the gospel has spread through different places in different times, conversions of greater magnitude have resulted in the betterment of laws and social morality and even compassionate services as Christians have lived out their faith engaging with their culture. The true purpose of engagement with culture given to God’s people is the great commission. Matthew 28:19-20 “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age."

2. Christians have been saved into a heavenly kingdom.

In answering the Governor, Pilot, Jesus stated that his purpose was not to set up a worldly kingdom but to save people into his heavenly kingdom (John 18:36). If Jesus was attempting to bring new and better rule to this world, he could have inspired a political coup, but he didn’t. He came into this world to introduce us to his heavenly kingdom and save us from destruction.

This is also the essence of what Paul talks about when he explains the gospel to the Galatians. In Galatians 1:3-5 the gospel is explained as Jesus saving us out of this present evil age/world. At the end of Galatians as Paul summarizes his letter he talks about the work of the cross as crucifying us unto this world and the world unto us (Gal 6:14). In a sense, we Christians should see ourselves as exiles engaging in a foreign land. We are saved from the worldliness of this world and everything we might desire to put our confidence in outside of the cross of Christ. In the cross, we have been crucified to the world and Paul says that our only boast (or glory) is in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. In one sense you could say that this shows us that Jesus never came to make the culture glorious, but to save people out of the culture through the glory of his cross. Paul makes it clear that God shows his glory in the cross. The glory of the cross is eternal, change in a culture still awaits destruction. Glory is found in the heavenly kingdom.

Conclusion

If we keep these balancing truths in place, we start to live and engage in this world with gospel priority. We will know that our purpose is to see people saved to the glory of Christ as we live and speak the glory of Christ. We will say that our only glory is in the cross of Christ and our engagement with culture will be with the purpose of reaching the lost that they may know the glory we have.

We don’t make this culture glorious. We seek to save people out of this culture to glory found in Jesus alone.

Am I Complacent About Protecting the Gospel?

So often we read the bible and skip over words that were never meant to be taken lightly. Sometimes the words we so easily read past are truths for our soul and encouragements for our heart. Sometimes the words we pass by so flippantly are commands that we are expected to take seriously. Some of these commands are life and death matters.

The gospel is a life and death reality. What anyone does with the truth of Jesus is a matter of eternity and as we read through the letters of Paul we constantly find the Apostle defending the one true saving gospel truth. Paul is often dealing with people attempting to add or take away from the gospel message. As we see Paul upholding the essential tenets of the gospel, we see him explaining the gospel and then helping the church to go on protecting that truth. One of the greatest examples of this is found in Galatians.

Paul explains the gospel.

Galatians 1:3-5 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, who gave himself for our sins to deliver us from the present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father, to whom be the glory forever and ever. Amen.

Paul tells us to protect the gospel.

There are various times in Galatians where Paul defends and admonishes the church to protect the gospel. He does so by both rebuke and command. In Galatians 6:6-7, Paul instructs the Galatians to give to those who will teach them. Paul has spent most of his letter defending and teaching against some false teachers who have come among the Galatians. He wants the Galatian churches to be as solid as possible as they stand on the irreducible gospel message that is being perverted. It seems that Paul considers that setting aside someone for intense study and teaching of the gospel will help them to stand more firmly against those who may seek to pervert it. Galatians 6:6-7 “Let the one who is taught the word share all good things with the one who teaches. Do not be deceived: God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap.”

Within these words, Paul gives a strong command. “Do not be deceived.” This is a command that he makes with the passive voice (not an action that you do, but one that happens TO you). The command to the church is for us not to allow anyone to deceive us – not to allow their deception to be enacted upon us. Do all that you can to protect the gospel from those who may come among you and take you from its truth and saving power. Paul is not just concerned that we know the gospel in a positive sense, but that we protect against any negative influence that might come upon us and lead us from it. He says a similar thing to the Colossians when he says, “See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the world, and not according to Christ.” (Colossians 2:8).

When we see commands like, “See to it,” and “Do not be deceived,” we can so easily read over them as little phrases that are no more profound than the space they occupy on the page. In reality, they are meant to be speed bumps that slow us down and cause great caution. When we think through them, we are left with the intention of the author. Paul might as well say, “In everything you are hearing about the seriousness of the gospel in this letter, please don’t underestimate how important it is for you to uphold and protect this truth against others who will bring their own ideas to deceive you.” It’s life and death. Set someone aside to teach the truth. Stand together against the humanistic philosophies of the world. Uphold, proclaim, and never stray from the one true saving message of the gospel of Christ. Give to, support, protect, uphold and proclaim this gospel. Don’t be deceived. See to it!

The danger is for us to read this and acknowledge its importance and still just skip over it. Please don’t. Ask yourself the question today. Am I seeing to it? Am I protecting myself from deception? Am I in a bible teaching church that upholds the same gospel as the Apostles? Am I giving to that ministry? Am I in a church that has a biblical leadership structure in place to protect it? Am I allowing the Bible to tell me how to discern what I hear in the world and not the other way around? Do I use the Scriptures as my authority in the way I assess this world and my life? Am I living this way in front of others? Am I protecting from deception? How much do I value the gospel?

Are We Truly Building Ourselves up in Love?

This week, HPBC has our Big Discipleship Day. It is our day to think about how we counsel each other in through sin and suffering in life and seeking maturity in Christ. In a beautiful twist of God’s providence this week (never fate), I listened to a great podcast from the Association of Certified Biblical Counselors. Dr. Andrew Rogers spoke about the culture of discipleship in a church and quickly quoted this one verse.

Ephesians 4:15-16 Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love.

As I meditated a little on this verse the one thing that I particularly noticed is that Paul talks in such a complete and inclusive way about the entire church of Ephesus. They are to grow up in “every” way into Christ. As we first consider that the church is made up of regenerate believers who have come into union with our Lord and King, our common union in Christ means that we have a common calling. The Christian calling is never to allow one to stagnate in maturity in Christ, but every Christian is called to grow in Christ in every way. We do not have super Christians in the church, and we do not have stagnating Christians in the church. The church has growing Christians who grow together and help each other in the growing.

Paul does not exclude even one Christian in the church when he talks about our responsibility to come along side each other to help each other grow in Christ. He says that while Christ is always head, it is the “whole body,” “every joint,” and “each part” who bear responsibility for helping each other to mature in Christ. There is not one person in the church who can say the words that Cain so callously used in his response to God when he killed Abel. “Am I my brother’s keeper?” Paul says that in the church the answer is always, “yes.” Each one of us are our brother’s and sister’s keeper. Each part and joint of the body is to work as a whole body and in so doing will work properly when there is a body that is building itself up in love as it grows in Christ.

As you look around our local church, I wonder if you think to yourself that you are responsible for helping that person across the aisle grow in Christ. I wonder if you consider that you need help from that brother or sister sitting in front of you. I wonder if you realize that your elders, even while leading, are not immune from needing help in our pursuit of Christian maturity. The point that Paul is making is that we need each other. Yes, all of us, the whole body, every joint and each part. The question is, are you willing in obedience to claim that responsibility? Are we a church willing to have every part working properly?

I pray that we are.

An Open Gratitude for Our Church Family

Last week our church considered Galatians 5:25-6:3. If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit. 26 Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another. 6:1 Brothers, if anyone is caught in any transgression, you who are spiritual should restore him in a spirit of gentleness. Keep watch on yourself, lest you too be tempted. 2 Bear one another's burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ. 3 For if anyone thinks he is something, when he is nothing, he deceives himself.

As I read, meditated, studied, and preached through this text, I was often wondering how many pastors may perceive this text as they think about the church they are in front of Sunday after Sunday. Most assuredly I am not the only pastor who can read a passage of Scripture like this with a sincere sense of joy in my heart as I think of the people to whom I am preaching. Yet, I asked myself the question, “I wonder if other pastors have the same joy I have about this Scripture?”

Our church has been developing a culture of discipleship whereby we can come alongside each other to help each other in our times of need. This is often through practical help such as a meal, a practical helping hand, a hospital visit, money and resources, and just an encouraging word. I have also witnessed a confrontation in love. I have seen admission of sin and a sincere request to help in repentance. I have watched our church family come around each other in so many situations. Perhaps it is because I am a new(ish) pastor that I have never really so intimately realized the beauty of the church as we reflect our Savior together. Even so, I have heard of far too many instances of pastors walking into churches and finding division and battling on every ground where there is disunity and selfishness.

So, what do I say to our church? Well, I have to acknowledge something first. This is God’s church and all that is happening is a direct result of his sovereignty and kindness to his people. I also have to acknowledge that God works through the obedience and worship of his people. I therefore acknowledge this on two grounds. God is so gracious toward us in his leading and I am so thankful to our God for our church family in the way we are growing through obedience in the attributes of a Spirit-filled togetherness that we see in Galatians 6:1-3.

I can also say that I am thankful for a family of God’s people who seek to show a selfless love and humble spirit – a people who recognize that our next sin is just around the corner and cannot point a condemning finger at others – a people who come for help when sin is overwhelming – and a people who jump generously when one of us is in trouble.

Can you join me in thanking God for our church? I hope you can. We are not perfect, and we are not there, but I can see desire and growth in us as we live out the law of Christ. What a joy it is to be a pastor of this family. What a privilege. Thank you!

Christians Can Never Be Pacifists

This year my family stood in front of an American flag and promised to bear arms for this nation if we were ever called upon by the Government to do so. It is a basic expectation of an American citizen. I hope never to be in a position of being called to do so and especially never in a position where there may be a reasonable objection to do so if tyranny ever became a character trait of this country. I made this promise on the basis that the USA is not by trait a tyrannical power (some may disagree). When it comes to matters of war, Christians may or may not agree to participate in battle on the basis of their biblical conviction, but it is by biblical conviction that Christians must always be at war. The Christian must always be a soldier and always in a constant battle. We do not wage war against countries but against our own flesh. Even if we never fight for a country, we can never be pacifist with our flesh.

In Galatians, the most prominent theme seems to be the theme of freedom. In Galatians 5, Paul really concentrates on our freedom in Christ from the slavery of the law. He explains that we are free from the condemnation of the law, but this freedom is not a license for sin. If we give in to our fleshly desires, we are as much a slave to sin as to the law. This is why the cross is our only hope and our power found in the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit.

The freedom Paul talks about in Galatians could be seen as a freedom to fight. Those who are slaves are under bondage from their masters, but the Christian, being freed from sin, is able to stand free against our old master. Through the power of the Holy Spirit we have every resource to resist the desires of the flesh and live to please Christ. Every time we hear a description of this in the New Testament, it sounds like a war. We put our enemy to death. We resist the enemy that wages war against our soul. We know that our new desires in the Spirit are against and opposed to the desires of the flesh. In this world, this is freedom. For some this may not sound like freedom. War is difficult and every battle can be wearisome, but there is a greater reality. In Christ our victory is secured and we have a power within us that is greater than the power we are against. Freedom is no longer being under the dominion of sin and death and the evil passions of our flesh. Christ has broken us free from the chains of the flesh so that we can fight and know the victorious glory of living in the Spirit. It’s a war, a glorious war, a war worth waging. One day, every battle will be eclipsed by the final victory as the last enemy of death is finally defeated.

Romans 8:13 For if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.

Colossians 3:5 Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry.

1 Peter 2:11 Beloved, I urge you as sojourners and exiles to abstain from the passions of the flesh, which wage war against your soul.

Galatians 5:17 For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do.

But let’s never forget:

Galatians 5:24 And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.

Are You as Confident About the Church as Paul?

I have often wondered why so many people are so quick to speak with great pessimism about the church. Perhaps some of you have just read this first sentence and thought to yourself that I must be blind and deaf. Is it possible that I have not seen once famous, conservative, evangelical pastors now denying the faith? Did I miss the television evangelists robbing thousands from unsuspecting viewers who need a miracle? Have I not considered churches that call themselves Christian denominations while they deny fundamental doctrines essential for salvation? No, I haven’t missed any of it. How can I possibly be confident about the church?

As is always my plea, I am careful to define the church. The church which is otherwise known as the Bride of Christ is the regenerate people of God who have come to faith in Christ alone through his all-sufficient work on the cross. Once we start defining the church on the basis of regeneration and the one true narrow way of salvation, the use of this word disqualifies some of those already mentioned. Of course, we would eliminate those already rejecting the essentials of the biblical gospel. When we see a church or believer toying with dangerous ideas that could take them into apostacy, how do we act? I think we can take the same approach as Paul. We can warn with confidence.

The Galatians were toying with the idea of a works-based salvation by adding law to grace. They were being led astray by the Jewish ideologies of the day. When we see this happening today, we often witness two extremes. On the one hand we witness a pointed finger of condemnation from those who are outraged that a Christian might detour. On the other hand, we witness a complacency from those who think that worldly ideas ultimately do no harm.  Neither is right and neither is a tactic we see from the Apostle Paul.  Paul may have been alarmed that the Galatians were moving in the wrong direction, but he was by no means condemning them as if non-believers.  Nor Was Paul complacent about a teaching that had potential to destroy the church. Contrary to both positions, Paul was diligent to warn his brothers and sisters in confidence that Christians would be corrected and stay the course of the gospel in Christ.

In Galatians 5 Paul gave the Galatians a serious warning not to put their confidence in anything other than Christ because in doing so they would lose Christ.  “Look: I, Paul, say to you that if you accept circumcision, Christ will be of no advantage to you.” (Galatians 5:2).  Paul also follows this statement up with the reason he is confident that they will heed the truth of the gospel. “I have confidence in the Lord that you will take no other view, and the one who is troubling you will bear the penalty, whoever he is.” (Galatians 5:10).  If we don’t put these two statements together, it seems like Paul is a pessimist about the church, but Paul’s confidence is high.  Paul had already stated in his letter that they had received the Spirit and the inheritance of Christ as sons and daughters of Abraham. He had seen them come to Christ and believe solely upon Jesus Christ for their salvation. These fallible humans were now being persuaded by false teachers and needed a recalibration to the one true gospel of Christ. If what Paul had once seen in them was true, he had every reason to be confident.

Notice, however, that Paul’s confidence in the church is not simply in the church.  He is confident of them not ultimately taking the view of the Judaizers because his confidence is in the Lord. We may say that this is indication that Paul had no confidence whatsoever in the church but only in the Lord and in a sense this is true. The reason, however, that Paul has confidence in the Lord that they will not take another view is because they are in the Lord. Paul is confident in warning rather than condemning this church because Paul believes they are regenerate believers who will desire to align to the teaching of Christ above others. Paul knows how to define the church and he speaks accordingly. When we define the church as regenerate believers (this vastly decreases the population associated with that definition), you can speak optimistically “in the Lord.” They will stay the course on the apostolic gospel because Paul is confident that they are the church and the church is indwelt by Christ.

When we see sin and error in others, we are sometimes quick to immediately point fingers, accuse them of compromising, and even question their salvation.  This is not Paul’s “go to.” Paul warns in confidence to help the erring believer know the consequence of where he is headed. He even communicates his confidence in them because of Christ and believes that they will heed the truth of the gospel. The question is, are we like that? Do we warn with confidence or are we self-appointed accusers and judges? Warning with confidence is gentle, kind, and thinks the best.  Warning with confidence is living out love and this is one of the main characteristics of love.

1 Corinthians 13:7 Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

When The Gospel Actually Affects Your Life

When Paul wrote the letter to the Galatian churches, there was no beating around the bush. In his opening remarks he moves straight to the point that they were being lured toward a false gospel. Of course, Paul is concerned that there is no salvation in a false gospel. When we read the letter of Galatians, we might think that Paul is only ever talking about matters of justification (being declared righteous by God through faith in Christ). It is certainly true that the great emphases and warnings of the letter are centered in the idea of justification, but Paul also shows how the one true gospel makes a difference in the way we live our life. The gospel is not just for justification, but also for sanctification.

Sometimes Paul’s statements about the sanctifying power of the gospel are explicit. Galatians 3:3 Are you so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh? Paul talks about beginning by the Spirit and being perfected by the Spirit (as opposed to the flesh). Paul does not want the Galatians to put their faith in their own works or the law to transform their lives. The law has no salvific or transformational power. That power belongs to the Holy Spirit through the gospel of Christ.

In other places Paul implies that the gospel will impact the way we live when we respond to the message of the cross in faith. In Galatians 5:5, Paul says, “For through the Spirit, by faith, we ourselves eagerly wait for the hope of righteousness.” This statement implies that when we come to Christ in faith, our lives are impacted by a hope that eagerly awaits for righteousness. This must surely mean that in this life we have our eyes set on standing before God and being declared righteous. Our prize is the righteousness of Christ for all eternity. It is something we have now because Christ has given his righteousness to us through faith, but we also wait for the day of final declaration and perfection in glory for all eternity.

This has to say something about what is important in the message of the gospel. It is a message that focuses on our need for righteousness. This is the good news. The good news is that, in Christ, we are able to stand before God and be declared righteous when we have only unrighteousness in ourselves to give. The gospel is a message that helps us to understand that our greatest problem is our unrighteousness and our greatest need is a righteousness that needs to be given to us. It is an acknowledgement that we have some true comprehension of the sinfulness of our sin before the holy all-powerful God who we have sinned against. Through the substitutionary atonement of Jesus Christ, we have our debt paid and forgiven and we are clothed in his perfect righteousness in place of our sin. We live now in eager anticipation for the day when God will declare it in all finality.

How does a message like this impact your life? When the righteousness of Christ is your great need and treasure, we live now in anticipation of that final reward. Our heart says, “sin separates me from God, but Christ’s righteousness is my adoption paper into his family.” If I yearn for that righteousness as my great salvific need, I am going to live according to it, especially when the Holy Spirit is given to me as a guarantee of my eternal inheritance.

Unfortunately, the sinfulness of sin is often overlooked in gospel presentations. Many people present the benefit of the gospel as a ticket to heaven, or an insurance policy to stay out of hell. In both of these instances, if you believe you have your spot, who cares how you live? Why should that message impact your life now and give you any type of hope that has you eagerly awaiting righteousness? It is only the message of the sinfulness of our sin in the light of our awesome holy God that can humble us to the degree that we must exchange our unrighteousness for Christ’s righteousness. We never want to go back to pursuing unrighteousness again. We eagerly await the hope of righteousness and we live accordingly in anticipation of that day because of the greatest possible gift we have been given in our Savior.

The bottom line is, Paul’s statements such as “hope of righteousness,” are intentional. We need to think through them and ask what it means and why it’s so important. Where does it come from, and how does it impact my life? This is a gospel that affects your life!

The Difficulty with Preaching Gospel Freedom

Galatians 5:1 For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery.

Sometimes when people hear passages like this, we want to put a million caveats around it. We want to make it known that Christ has not given us freedom to be unholy. We want people to understand that we are not free to live any way we want according to our sinful heart. We want people to know that we have not been given a free pass for lawlessness.

That’s all true, but we also want to take the spirit of the text that is being preached. Paul is writing a letter to a group of churches in Galatia who are being led astray on the gospel. They are not running toward lawlessness but are desiring to live by the law for both favor with God and growth as God’s people (justification and sanctification). The problem for Galatia is that they are seeking to be governed by something that can only show them how sinful they really are and place them under the bondage of living in condemnation. They are chasing a gospel without freedom – a gospel that is not a gospel.

Sometimes we need to understand this same reality and it doesn’t always mean that the emphasis of a disclaimer is helpful. Of course, we need to define what true freedom is. It is freedom from the curse of sin and slavery to this world. It is freedom to know the saving work of Christ in our life. It is freedom to rely on what has been done for us in comparison to the unachievable standard of what we must do. The problem is that sometimes it’s only the disclaimers that people remember. The disclaimers that emphasize, “We must not be lawless.” We love the disclaimers and want to hold on to them. But how does that help us when we are sitting under the accusation and condemnation of our own consciences?

Gospel freedom reminds us of who we are in Christ. We know that for freedom, Christ has set us free and for Jesus, it came at great cost. The penalty of our sin paid on the cross is something none of us can even imagine. Jesus became the curse of sin in our place so that we might be freed from condemnation we deserve. This freedom must be the ringing message in our hearts and minds. If we are in Christ, it does us no good to live in a disclaimer that says, “but you must still abide by the law.” If this is all we hear from our conscience, we will only ever live in condemnation and hopelessness. When we are struggling with sin and fighting to live according to God’s holiness, we must remind ourselves first and foremost of who we are. We are people who are in union with Christ because he has defeated sin on our behalf. Through Christ we have the indwelling power of the Holy Spirit. The law in our conscience may want to condemn us but we must, every time, preach the gospel to ourselves so that we understand the forgiveness in the cross and our identity as a new creation in Christ. The more we preach the powerful message of gospel freedom, the more we live in it and look like Jesus. We must remind ourselves that while the law will convict us of sin, it can never save, and it can never transform. Our hope is as always in Gospel Freedom! Therefore, do not submit to the yoke of Slavery. The yoke of Christ is easy, and his burden is light!

Why Our Church is Patient with Sinners

Galatians 4:19 …..my little children, for whom I am again in the anguish of childbirth until Christ is formed in you!

The reason our church is patient with sinners is easy to answer. God has been long suffering with us. The Apostle Paul made it clear that we are to be “patient with them all.” (1 Thes. 5:14). Paul also made it clear in the way that he deals with sinful, erring churches in his letters, that this was his normal practice.

Even when the Galatian church was veering toward heresy, Paul was not willing to abandon them. He called them brothers and addressed them as his children. He said that he was “again” in the anguish of childbirth for them. He was committed to them until Christ was formed in them. This means he was willing to do all that it took to see them knowing and living in the truth and freedom of Christ.

The fact that Paul is patient doesn’t mean that he does not confront sin in the Galatian churches. Paul’s more loving and relational appeal to them doesn’t come until the fourth chapter of his letter after he had already comprehensively made it clear that the Galatians were going down a very dangerous road. They were being led from the gospel of justification through faith in Christ for the additions of works of the law. They were being tempted to turns their backs on the complete and final satisfaction of Christ’s work of redemption. The reality is that while Paul is quick to recognize error and point out this sinful trend, he is also patient to first explain it from every angle so that this church understands and actually sees what they are doing. He is intentional about telling them that, even through this letter, he is laboring for them that they might not lose the freedom they have been given in the cross.

One other very noticeable inference that Paul makes is that he truly believes that these Christians have come into salvation and have received the Spirit. In Galatians 3:3 he actually reminds them that they have begun by the Spirit (not by their own works) and have no reason to put their confidence in the flesh. The very fact that he says this means that Paul’s confidence in them is in the indwelling presence of God in their lives through Christ. They may be toying with dangerous and heretical ideas from Jewish false teachers, but Paul’s first reaction is not to question their salvation but to question the doctrine that is distracting them. He calls them to reject what is wrong. It would seem that Paul considers them able to be corrected and returned to what is wholly true. Paul’s confidence for this surely must be based on the Christ they claim and the Spirit who indwells them.

When I see Paul’s patience with these professing believers and his willingness to labor in anguish over them multiple times, I am often left wondering how that looks in our church when someone sins or is led astray by false ideas. Most of us are very aware of the Matthew 18 disciplinary process for churches. We all see that the Scriptures do not give us any space for tolerance of sin. We all surely agree that there are instances of immediate action required in circumstances of high-handed grievous sin in our midst. Paul rebukes the Corinthian church for not decisively dealing with the overt sexual sin of a man with his stepmother (1 Cor 5). Even when taking immediate action as required, surely the ongoing ramifications of sin and error in the hearts of Christians require patient discipling. We need instruction and biblical appeal, encouragement and guidance in repentance, and a desire for restoration through the gospel and the application of God’s truth. We need to work with receptive sinners relying on the Spirit to work in their lives.

While there are undoubtedly three identifiable steps in the Matthew 18 disciplinary process, Paul gives us an idea about the kind of patience and relational discipleship that happens between those steps. We are not a quick three-step church. We are a patient, appealing, instructing, and discipling three-step church. Our first step is not to say, “you are not a Christian,” but to warn and expect that through discipleship a Christian brother or sister will repent and abide in Christ.

I Was Walking down the Street and......WOW!

Sometimes I can read through scripture like I am walking down a street not really paying attention to the detail before me. I can be oblivious to anything that is happening around me and it takes something amazing to attract my attention. One of those amazing “somethings” in the first letter of John is what he says to us about the Father’s love.

1 John 3:1 See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are….

John warned his readers of false teachers who will deceive you and distract you from abiding in Christ. Right in the middle of these warnings is 1 John 3:1. It’s stunning! It’s a verse that we must consider as our motivating factor to stay in the truth of God’s Word and prepare ourselves to stand before him when Christ returns. John starts by telling us to look at a particular kind of love that the Father has given us. We need to actually see it. John also says it is a kind of love that has been given. The perfect tense verb that John uses, “has been given,” specifies that this Father’s love is a kind of love that has been given in the past for ongoing possession in the present. It remains with us, and we should be intentional about seeing it.

In 1 John 1:1-4 we are told that John and the other apostolic witnesses saw, heard and even touched that which was from the beginning – before time began. They physically saw, heard and touched Jesus. God became man and brought with him the gift of life, eternal life. Now John tells us to see this for ourselves. In trusting Christ there is an eternal blessing that becomes a reality for us all. A reality that every Christian needs to see.

Jesus is the love that God has given us who brings us into God’s family. This is our motivating factor for remaining faithful to the end. Through Christ, the kind of love that the Father has given us is adoption. Look at it. See it. This is the kind of love that the Father has given us. We have become children of God. Don’t glance over it. Don’t read on. Just take it in. See it. Think on it.

You were in a warring family against God. Your old family and your old father, the Devil, were once in co-operation against the God of the universe. There is no picture to truly describe this division. Even in the great play, Romeo and Juliet, the Capulets and the Montagues are warring families of equal standing as humans against each other with wrong on both sides. This family division doesn’t even come close to the division between a sinful human creature and the omnipotent, holy Creator of all. It should be astonishing to us to think that this Creator would forgive us. Well, the astonishment infinitely intensifies when we consider that he also adopted us into his family. We are his children. We call him Father. This should ring in the relief of praise upon our lips for all eternity. I am now in God’s care. I am his child. I am in the family of the King of the Universe and will live on his estate in full access to his glory for all eternity.

So, look now at his love. He sent his only Son to be one of us, live with us, die for us, and rise for us. He did it so that he might adopt us as his own through repentance and faith in Jesus. God, who can speak the universe into existence, is the one I call Father. That’s worth abiding in. That’s worth living for. That’s worth everything. See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God, and so we are! Are you kidding me?? Children of GOD. Pinch yourself!

Social Critical Theory or Social Corrupted Theory?

Time after time I find the major problem with human theories, is humans. We tend to put a lot of confidence in human ability, goodness, and wisdom to understand and solve the problems of the world. One of the hotly contested issues in the church right now is the subject of social justice. When we talk about social justice, we are considering the just treatment of humans in society and how to deal rightly with societal ills. Especially when considering the subjects of race and gender, this debate has caused major divisions among conservative, American evangelicals.

In the current debate about social justice I have heard many scholars share opinions about how much we should engage with a human theory called (Social) Critical Theory. Critical theory seeks to govern equality through diversity in every sphere in the eradication of privilege or any perceived superiority. This means that equality in diversity must be procured geographically, economically, psychologically and even politically. If this is achieved in society, it brings equal opportunity and justice for all.

As stated earlier, the one problem with Critical Theory is humans. When justice is left up to humans, there is no true justice. Isaiah makes this point very clear.

Isaiah 59:4 No one enters suit justly; no one goes to law honestly; they rely on empty pleas, they speak lies, they conceive mischief and give birth to iniquity.

Even when talking to people who have suffered the injustice of exile, God sees that human justice falls short on every account. Humans go to court to find justice according to their own definition of what that justice is. Nobody goes to the courts in an honest manner. What Isaiah means by this is that when we go to court to fight for our rights and justice, we do not go in acknowledgment of the justice that should be brought upon us. We seek justice dishonestly when we ignore that we are greater sinners against God than anyone else can ever be toward us. As a result, human justice can only be constructed of lies and begets mischief and sin. We ultimately desire justice apart from righteousness that can only come from God.

We have certainly seen this in our country in the major issues of our day. Christians have become unjust in the eyes of a community that desires equal rights for women to murder their babies or for marriage to go beyond the boundaries of one man for one woman. Human courts are deciding in favor of a justice without righteousness; a justice that breeds sin and mischief.

Isaiah then says, “They hatch adders' eggs; they weave the spider's web; he who eats their eggs dies, and from one that is crushed a viper is hatched. Their webs will not serve as clothing; men will not cover themselves with what they make. Their works are works of iniquity, and deeds of violence are in their hands. Their feet run to evil, and they are swift to shed innocent blood; their thoughts are thoughts of iniquity; desolation and destruction are in their highways. The way of peace they do not know, and there is no justice in their paths; they have made their roads crooked; no one who treads on them knows peace. Therefore, justice is far from us, and righteousness does not overtake us; we hope for light, and behold, darkness, and for brightness, but we walk in gloom.”(59:5-9)

The problem with social Critical Theory is that it misses the nature of the human heart. It misses the fact so often the equality in diversity that humans desire comes from selfish motivations that can only lead away from God’s righteousness. The answer to the social justice concerns of today’s society is not diversity quotas but regeneration through the gospel of Christ. We need new hearts. The world will never get justice right and Christians should never put their hope in it even being possible.

Does this mean that the church is powerless when it comes to social justice? No. We get to be the light and salt of the gospel in a dark world. Every Christian in every place has opportunity to show that the most level ground for everyone is at the foot of the cross. It is there where we are either lost for all eternity in rejection of Christ or adopted into the family of God with a full and eternal inheritance. The cross is the place of honest justice where we are all the chief of sinners. It is the place where true justice is declared and God’s wrath upon sin is poured out in the fury of his righteousness. It is the place where the price is paid in full for all those who will put their faith in Jesus Christ. It is the place where mercy reigns while justice is never ignored. There is no other place of justice like it.