O Come All Ye Faithful

It’s that time of year again…Christmas carols! You know what they say, right? When you start seeing Christmas decorations and hearing Christmas carols in stores, the 4th of July is right around the corner…but I digress, as our ever-growing consumerism is a subject for a different blog post.

Recently, my daughter and I were killing some time while we waited for my wife to buy a couple items at the store. We were in the car listening to instrumental Christmas carols while circling the parking lot, and the carol which bears the title of this blog post came on. I started to sing along, and the opening line hit me in a way I’ve never experienced before.

“O come all ye faithful, joyful and triumphant…”

So, what about this phrase struck me? It hit me that while this is a Christmas carol, for those who have ears to hear it’s also an eschatological proclamation of the end of the age. What do I mean?

In the eBook I wrote and recently released on the theme of overcoming in the book of Revelation, I examined the call of Jesus to His people (the church) to overcome/conquer the soul’s three enemies—the world, the flesh, and the devil. We conquer by staying faithful to Jesus, avoiding moral and spiritual compromise, and willingly giving up everything (even our lives) for the sake of our allegiance to Him. And thus, the opening line from this Christmas carol hit me like a ton of bricks by reminding me of God’s call to triumph over all that would keep us from Him! This is not simply a cute song we sing at Christmas; it’s a declaration of the church’s victory and eternal rest in Christ.

And it reminded me of Jesus’ promise, that if we stay faithful to Him, He will bring us to His eternal kingdom (Rev. 2:7, 2:11, 2:17, 2:26-28, 3:5, 3:12, 3:21). This is what Scripture speaks of when it speaks of the church’s victory. It’s not a social/cultural victory, military might, or “taking back the nation for God” through power and politics. Our brothers and sisters in the early days of the church could do none of those things. Rather it means we as believers stay in the fight to the very end, walking with Jesus and keeping His commands, seeking to selflessly serve both our neighbors and our enemies with self-sacrificial love. In the midst of a culture, an empire, and a world which seek to draw us away from Him, we fix our eyes firmly on Him and never drift away.

The reminder from this Christmas carol, then, is to fight the good fight, keep the faith, and finish well. To not do so will lead to eternal ruin and misery. But doing so will lead to eternal joy and victory. This is why, historically, those believers who are alive on the earth have been traditionally called “the church militant,” since they are still fighting the good fight of faith. And those who have died in Christ are called “the church triumphant,” since they have finished their fight and have received the prize.

So then, during this holiday season (and beyond), let us stay in the fight, overcoming all that would hinder us from following Jesus faithfully. And let us remember the words preached and penned by the author of Hebrews:

“Therefore, since we also have such a large cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us lay aside every hindrance and the sin that so easily ensnares us. Let us run with endurance the race that lies before us, keeping our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of our faith. For the joy that lay before Him, He endured the cross, despising the shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.”

May we be those who are faithful, joyful, and triumphant.

Amen.

The Stone that Breaks Us

“You are to regard only the LORD of Armies as holy. Only He should be feared; only He should be held in awe. He will be a sanctuary; but for the two houses of Israel, He will be a stone to stumble over and a rock to trip over, and a trap and a snare to the inhabitants of Jerusalem. Many will stumble over these; they will fall and be broken; they will be snared and captured.” – Isaiah 8:13-15

“Jesus said to them, ‘Have you never read in the Scriptures: The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone. This is what the Lord has done and it is wonderful in our eyes? Therefore I tell you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people producing its fruit. Whoever falls on this stone will be broken to pieces; but on whomever it falls, it will shatter him.’” – Matthew 21:44 (emphasis mine)

The two sets of verses above were both leveled at the nation of Israel. The first, by the prophet Isaiah. Immediately preceding these verses, he prophesied that the Assyrian army would invade Jerusalem and carry the people off into exile because of their unfaithfulness to God and His covenant with them. Then God addressed the fear Isaiah was no doubt feeling, as the Assyrians were a BRUTAL people. For an overview of their various cruelties in battle, click here. Nonetheless, God instructed Isaiah to remain faithful and fear only Him. God then told Isaiah that He would be a “stone to stumble over and a rock to trip over” to the unfaithful in the land.

The second grouping of verses, spoken by Jesus, was also directed at Israel’s spiritual leaders. Matthew tells us in verses 23 and 45 of chapter 21 that these were the chief priests, elders, and Pharisees—Israel’s spiritual elite. And yet Jesus told them that the kingdom of God, for which they had been waiting and hoping their whole lives, would be taken from them (just like God took it from king Saul). Why would the kingdom be taken away from them, its heirs, and given to others (Jews and Gentiles who believed in Jesus)? Because of their rejection of Jesus. Just as the nation of Israel manifested unfaithfulness to God by not walking in obedience to His covenant with them in ancient times, so they manifested unfaithfulness to God by not believing in and following His Son when He came.

Jesus quoted Psalm 118:22-23 in His denunciation of the Jewish leaders, identifying Himself as the chief cornerstone. You may be wondering just what that means…

In God’s grand redemptive plan of the ages, Jesus is the chief (primary, most important) cornerstone/foundation-stone in that plan. In other words, everything God has done, is doing, and will do ultimately is based on, points to, and revolves around His Son. Israel’s spiritual leaders had rejected Jesus, not wanting to see that He was the very God they claimed to know and worship! And that was the crux of the matter. Rather than have soft hearts ready to receive God’s grace, they hardened their hearts against Him (as did the Pharoah during the Exodus so many years earlier) and went to war against His plan. Never a good idea…

The Scriptures talk in various places about the ungodly who desire to rebel against God, walk in their own ways, and live as His enemies (see Psalm1 and Psalm 2 for starters). The contrast between “the way of the righteous and the way of the wicked” is brought out in many places in God’s word. But this concept of the “two ways” of life was also taken up by the early church. This is from the Didache (which means ‘the teaching’), an ancient Christian writing on discipleship and how to live the Christian life faithfully: “There are two ways, one of life and one of death, and there is a great difference between these two ways.” [1] Indeed.

The call of God in these passages is clear: do you trust in Jesus? Have you come to Him in faith, trusting Him for your salvation and submitting to Him as your Lord and God? If so, you will face times when you are broken to pieces, but you will never be ultimately shattered. Do not be like the unbelieving religious leaders of Israel. Repent and seek Him today, rather than rebel against Him and ultimately be crushed by His holy justice.

Charles Spurgeon, the Prince of Preachers, had this to say: “Now He is the bond of the building, holding Jew and Gentile in firm unity. This precious cornerstone binds God and man together in wondrous [unity], for He is both in one. He joins earth and heaven together, for He participates in each. He joins time and eternity together, for He was a man of few years, and yet He is the Ancient of Days. Wondrous cornerstone!” [2] (emphasis mine)

[1] Veery Huleatt and Michael W. Holmes, The Two Ways: The Early Christian Vision of Discipleship from the Didache and the Shepherd of Hermas (Plough Publishing House, 2018), xi.

[2] “Psalm 118 – The Chief Cornerstone,” David Guzik, Enduring Word, accessed September 9, 2023, https://enduringword.com/bible-commentary/psalm-118/

Judge Not? Love, Judgment, and Other Light-Hearted Matters, pt. 2

“The command to judge not is not a requirement to be blind, but rather a plea to be generous. Jesus does not tell us to cease to be men (by suspending our critical powers which help to distinguish us from animals) but to renounce the presumptuous ambition to be God (by setting ourselves up as judges).” [1]

In part 1, we looked at the being of God, what love truly is according to His Word, and the tangible ways in which God has proven His love for His people. In this second post, we’ll look at discernment and judgment, their similarities and differences, and how we can be faithful to our calling as Christians in both.

Discernment vs. Judgment

This brings us now to an important clarification that must be made between discernment and judgment. It’s true that we are not called to judge others; however, we most certainly are called, indeed commanded by our Lord, to make value-judgments (discernment). In regard to Matthew 7:1 (“Judge not…”) consider the following:

“Judge (krinō) often carries the connotation ‘condemn’, and it is in that sense that it is used here. The use of our critical faculties in making value-judgments is frequently required in the New Testament. There may be a place for verbal rebuke and even stronger measures. This passage (Matthew 7:1), however, is concerned with the fault-finding, condemnatory attitude which is too often combined with a blindness to one’s own failings. The least that such an attitude can expect is to be judged with equal harshness by other men. But the passive [verb tense in Greek], as often in Matthew, probably conceals God himself as the agent. Just as He will forgive those who forgive (6:14–15), He will condemn those who condemn… the hypocrite’s error is not in his diagnosis, but in his failure to apply to himself the criticism he so meticulously applies to his brother.” [2] (emphases mine)

If we look at others and harshly condemn them while simultaneously exalting ourselves, blind to the ways in which we have offended God, then we have crossed the line and are judging others in an unbiblical way. However, if we simply assess a situation or a person’s behavior and rightly discern that we’re seeing things that offend God and point that out, that’s not a violation of Jesus’ command in Matthew 7. That’s exactly what we’re supposed to do as God’s people. Don’t believe me? Read the Old Testament prophets. On God’s behalf they denounced evil behavior both among God’s people and the pagan nations.

Ultimately, look at Jesus. He denounced the hypocritical behavior and covenant-unfaithfulness which characterized the religious leaders of Israel during His ministry. And while He reserved His harshest words for the “insiders,” He was nevertheless pronouncing prophetic judgments against sin and those who practice it. He did not accept everyone unconditionally and look the other way.

A popular refrain in church circles is that “God loves everyone unconditionally.” The problem, however, is that this is stated nowhere in Scripture. The reason? It’s not true. That may be a paradigm-breaking idea for you but hang with me. As one biblical scholar noted, and I fully agree with his assessment, “God’s love is unconditioned, but not unconditional.” In other words, God’s love and acceptance of sinners (and that’s all of us!) is not based upon anything in us, or any good we’ve tried to do. He bestows His love freely and offers His gracious salvation to all based solely on His good will and pleasure. But His love and acceptance are not unconditional—to be in relationship with Him requires repentance from sin and faith in what He has done for us in His Son. Without faith and repentance, we sinful people most certainly will not be accepted by God but will be judged eternally for our sin.

Now, what about discernment vs. judgment? As an example, it is not unloving and “judgmental” (in the bad sense in which that word is usually intended) for me as a Christian to say that homosexual behavior is an abomination to God, sex outside of marriage is immoral, and lying is wrong. He Himself clearly states these things in His Word and promises that He will judge those who choose to engage in those behaviors. As unpopular as this may be in today’s world, it’s the truth. That’s discernment, making biblical value-judgments. However, I would be crossing a line if I were to go on and exalt myself, think of myself as the paragon of virtue, blind to my own sins, and think I’m better than “them,” and that God must be more pleased with me because I’ve earned His love through my morality. That would be a repugnant attitude which God hates and is what “judge” means in Matthew 7:1. Does that make sense?

All of this to say, as Christians, we must “think God’s thoughts after Him.” This means we both believe and declare what He has revealed in His Word. The most unloving thing we could do is to pretend that God won’t judge people for their sin and therefore not offer them His salvation in Christ. While staying silent in the midst of the decadence which increasingly characterizes our Western society may be easier and seem like the loving thing to do (since it’s “nice” to not rock the boat), it is in fact a dereliction of our Christian duty and quite unkind to our neighbors who so desperately need to be reconciled to God through His Son.

And by the way: judging people for judging people still counts as judging people. Don’t forget that when you’re accused of being judgmental simply because you proclaim biblical truth. Those who condemn us for saying what God has said are still practicing the very judgment they claim to despise, which is quite ironic. When it all comes down to it, it’s impossible to live without making judgments. What matters is what kind of judgments one makes.

“The judgmental person by not being forgiving and loving testifies to his own arrogance and impenitence, by which he shuts himself out from God’s forgiveness.” [3]

[1] D. A. Carson, “Matthew,” in The Expositor’s Bible Commentary: Matthew, Mark, Luke, ed. Frank E. Gaebelein, vol. 8 (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House, 1984), 184.

[2] R. T. France, Matthew: An Introduction and Commentary, vol. 1, Tyndale New Testament Commentaries (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1985), 146–147.

[3] Carson, 184.

Judge Not? Love, Judgment, and Other Light-Hearted Matters, pt. 1

“On things that are manifest, therefore, let us pass judgment, but with regard to hidden things, let us leave the judgment to God. For whether the works themselves be bad or good, they cannot remain hidden when the time comes for them to be revealed. [1] ” – St. Augustine

It seems that no matter who you talk to these days, everyone knows the same two Bible verses…“Judge not” and “God is love.” It’s as though some people think the entire canon of Scripture can be comprehensively summed up in these two (partially-quoted) verses. But is this true? Does everything boil down to these two things?

Well, the quick answer is an obvious NO…but if you’ve read anything else I’ve written, you know I don’t like quick answers. So let’s dive in a bit and see what’s under the surface.

The Definition of Love

Our starting-place in this whole conversation must simply be this question…what is love? If we have various opinions on what love actually is, we’ll get nowhere. So then, where do we look to find out what love is?

Hollywood? If we look there, we’ll get the idea that love is two naked people in bed together (and usually not within the covenant of marriage). Or that love is a bunch of flowery words and empty rhetoric based primarily on the feelings of the moment.

“[Sex] is easier than love, easier than life, it’s easier to fake and smile and bribe, it’s easier to leave, it’s easier to lie, it’s harder to face ourselves at night // feeling alone, what have we done, what is the monster we’ve become? Where is my soul? - Switchfoot, “Easier Than Love”

Woke American/Western culture? This one is currently more common, and it states that love is an unconditional acceptance and tolerance of anyone and everyone, along with their lifestyle, love life, priorities, etc. This view of “love” refuses to pass judgment on anyone—except those who disagree with this definition, which is another (ironic) story in and of itself.

But what about those of us who are Christians? Where (or to whom) do we look? We look of course to the Triune God to find the definition of love. As Scripture says, God is love. But what does that mean? That God accepts everyone and their behavior without passing judgment? That He’s cool with anything as long as we’re all nice people and don’t hurt others? That because He’s a loving God He would never judge anyone, tell them they’re wrong, and cast them out of His presence on the Day of Judgment?

Hardly.

If you read Scripture honestly, you see very quickly that God is also holy, just, righteous, and much more. And while I don’t want to get too far off on a theological rabbit trail, this touches on the doctrine known as divine simplicity. What this basically states is that God is not a composite being—in other words, His various attributes are not separate from His being. Rather, all of His attributes comprise His being…or, as Dr. Matthew Barrett succinctly stated it, “God is His attributes.” [2]

So why does this matter? Because when we say God is love, we’re saying His love is holy, righteous, just, etc. We cannot separate God’s attributes and elevate one over the others. But people do this all the time when they talk about God’s love as if it were separate from His other attributes.

Our God is a consuming fire (Hebrews 12:29) and He will one day judge the living and the dead. He will put an end to all that corrupts His good creation (namely, sin) and He will cast out, eternally, from His presence all those who practice sin rather than humble themselves and submit to His lordship.

So then, what is the biblical definition of love? When we look at the entire canon of Scripture, we see that love is an unwavering commitment to do what’s best for the object of one’s love, even if the one being loved is unfaithful or an enemy. “God so loved the world that He gave His only Son…” (John 3:16, emphasis mine). “God demonstrated His love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8). God didn’t just say He loved us; He proved, through concrete action, that He does—in the words of Bob Goff, “love does.”

“How vast the everlasting love of God…” - Matt Papa and Matt Boswell, “The Everlasting Love of God”

[1] Manlio Simonetti, ed., Matthew 1–13, Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2001), 147.

[2] Dr. Matthew Barrett, “Divine Simplicity,” The Gospel Coalition, accessed September 18, 2022, https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/essay/divine-simplicity/

Toward A Biblical Model of Discipleship and Practice

“Christianity without discipleship is always Christianity without Christ.” - Dietrich Bonhoeffer

Making Disciples

The only command given by Jesus in Matthew 28 (the Great Commission) is to make disciples. We do this by obeying what Jesus commanded and teaching others to do the same. We in the Western world need to focus on a few mindset shifts in our churches among staff, elders, deacons, and members: we need, from the top down, a biblical model of how we think of ourselves. We are not consumers of religious goods and services—we are missionaries, called and sent by the Triune God to be His ambassadors.

We are placed, in God’s sovereignty, in the places He’s put us—our families, jobs, friendships, our (literal!) neighbors and neighborhoods, etc. We are to be disciples and disciple-makers in all these places. We are Spirit-filled and empowered missionaries, and we need to understand our identity in Christ and see ourselves that way. Imagine if older members were equipped to disciple the younger, if parents were equipped to disciple their children, if everyone was equipped to have their neighbors and co-workers to their homes for meals and spiritual conversations: the Lord would use us mightily!

The Attractional Church Model

In the “attractional” church model (which became popular in the West in the 80s and 90s with the rise of mega-churches), the church staff designs programs and events for church members to get them to come to church. What this does is make the church staff very busy—leaving pastors less time for the ministries of prayer and the Word, and all staff less time to be with (shepherd) and make disciples of the congregation—this means the staff doesn’t have much time to devote to discipleship. Further, it causes members to become dependent on church staff for spiritual nourishment.

This is a holdover from the seeker-sensitive, attractional church model—come and see—and it causes us to view the Christian faith as going to church, giving tithes and offerings, and being consumers of religious goods and services.

This has crippled the Church in the West, as it has divorced discipleship from conversion.

“Knowledge coupled with obedience creates disciples and draws them closer to God…the Church today is preaching to produce conversion; then teaching to increase knowledge; then giving periodic attention, usually in sermons, to encourage converts to obey what they have learned. Jesus’ strategy was different.” [1]

The Biblical Church Model

In the model we see in Scripture, the pastors and elders equip church members to be and to make disciples. This way, the lay-members see themselves as Spirit-empowered missionaries whose task is to fulfill the Great Commission. Imagine if our churches functioned in this way—if each of us saw ourselves as ministers, following and obeying Jesus’ commands and always, constantly making disciples who make more disciples. Rather than wanting the church service to meet our felt needs, what if we viewed it as something meant to energize us? For me personally, Ephesians 4 is one of the callings God has put on my life as a pastor—to equip my fellow Christians so that they can do the work of ministry in their daily lives.

The Older and the Younger

We want to be about the Kingdom work of making disciples. What if the older men in your church each invited a younger dad/husband (or single guy) to their house once/month on a Saturday morning for breakfast and fellowship/discipleship? Or, what if the older and younger guys all gathered together once/month for this purpose? We need to be training our older members to understand that events for them, designed for their encouragement, are great and we’ll keep doing them. But God’s priority is for them to be discipling the younger people in the church (Titus 2:1-5) and that needs to be the focus.

Older members in Jesus’ Church need to understand that they have a crucial role to play: the discipleship of the younger members and the practice of Gospel-centered hospitality. Our focus cannot and should not be to design comfortable events and programs for members. This is not why Jesus created the Church.

 Programs and Activities

Church programs and activities are, quite honestly, kind of boring. And I think that’s why we have to keep coming up with new ones. And that’s unfortunate. Jesus, during His incarnate ministry, did not create programs—He did life with His disciples. What if we did this in the Church? What if we lived as faithful disciples of Jesus (obeying His commands), trained and equipped our people to do the same, and then they went out and did this? That would probably eliminate the majority of church programs, as members would be too busy making disciples!

  I wonder if our flurry of activity and program-driven ministries are sometimes ways we mask our disobedience to Jesus and His commands, and serve as a salve for our convicted consciences?

 A More Compelling Vision

What if we offered people a grand vision of God’s Kingdom and of what awaits us in eternity? What if that was what we set before our people and that by which we inspired them? I think a lot of us are bored, because the Christian life in much of the West has been reduced to going to church, paying tithes, and passively watching the church staff “do” the work of ministry on Sunday mornings. But that’s not a very compelling vision, and it causes people to only focus their perspective on eternity—biding time until we’re Home.

But just waiting in boredom for Heaven is not what Jesus has called us to—He has called us to make disciples and be ambassadors for His Kingdom. What does this mean? It means we join Him in His mission of the renewal of all things. We make disciples, pursue shalom and justice, and do all we can to bring the Gospel to the ends of the earth. We order our families and priorities around the Missio Dei (the Mission of God) and have a renewed perspective on our jobs. We view ourselves as Spirit-empowered missionaries.

I believe this is a much more compelling vision for what the Christian life is from day to day. Ultimately, the most satisfying thing is growing our relationship with God each day and then living the life of a faithful disciple in this world.

I write this post neither as a criticism nor a complaint…rather, as a full-time pastor, I desire to be a more faithful disciple of Jesus and to encourage and equip my fellow Christians to be the same. I’m so thankful to be part of a church that has a missional, disciple-making focus! We’re about to launch Alpha, an 11-week course structured around meals and conversation, meant to introduce Jesus to those in our communities who don’t yet know Him. All that we do has discipleship and Mission in mind as the end goals.

I love and believe in the Church, and have given my life to serve her. My prayer is that these brief thoughts of mine will spark conversation and encourage you, the reader, into deeper discipleship to Jesus.

[1] Jerry Trousdale, Miraculous Movements (Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 2012), 100-101.

Where is the fear of God?

I have a message from God in my heart concerning the sinfulness of the wicked; there is no fear of God before their eyes. In their own eyes they flatter themselves too much to detect or hate their sin. – King David in Psalm 36:1-2, NIV (emphasis mine)

I sigh with a heavy heart as I read yet another account of a pastor I knew who has fallen from his pedestal in a very public and scandalous way. And it’s not just him. This is kind of thing is becoming almost routine, and that scares me. A lot. So, what was it last time…Sexual predation? Narcissism? Abusive and disqualifying leadership behavior? Bullying staff and silencing critics? All of the above? What it will it be next time? More of the same?

Lord, have mercy.

From Ravi Zacharias to Mark Driscoll to James MacDonald to…well, the list seems endless these days. The list of high-profile Christian leaders with significant platforms and publicity who have spectacularly fallen from grace and been exposed as being men with years or even decades of disqualifying, unbiblical, and unchristian behavior that is not just an occasional besetting sin, but rather a defining character trait continues to grow. And I look in the mirror, praying I’m not like them and remembering that I must be on my guard lest I become the next sad statistic. After all, my heart is just as deceitful as any of theirs. The prophet Jeremiah had something to say about that, as did the Apostle James.

But the more immediate question that burns in my mind and weighs down my heart is simply this:

Where is the fear of God?

What has happened to us that has allowed this kind of spiritual abuse and ministerial malpractice to flourish in our churches? Why do we look for dynamic leaders, strategic visionaries, and CEO-types to be our spiritual shepherds (none of those things are mentioned as biblical qualifications for pastors by the way) and downplay that same person’s piety, humility, personal holiness, and the evidence of the fruit of the Spirit in his or her life? Why do we see such a lack of the fear of the LORD in our lives all around us and even within us?

It's simple, really…we’ve lost sight of God.

“Woe to the shepherds who are destroying and scattering the sheep of My pasture!” declares the LORD. Therefore, this is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says to the shepherds who tend my people: “Because you have scattered My flock and driven them away and have not bestowed care on them, I will bestow punishment on you for the evil you have done,” declares the LORD. – Jeremiah, 23:1-2, NIV

I remember several years ago when R.C. Sproul said the problem with the Christian Church is that we don’t know who God is. We have downplayed His holiness and majesty, His hatred for sin and the promise of His coming judgment. We have replaced these biblical concepts with a squishy, non-defined definition of “love,” a revulsion to obligations of obedience in the Christian life, and a view of God in which we identify Him as our “homeboy” rather than the eternal, sovereign King of the universe who will one day return “in power and great glory to judge the living and the dead” (Mark 14:62; 2 Timothy 4:1).

We must recover the fear of the LORD in our lives. We need to live lives of continual repentance, humility, and brokenness before God, pleading with Him to grant us soft consciences so that we might hear and respond in obedience to the conviction of the Holy Spirit. Otherwise, sin will gain a foothold and lead to our destruction, both temporally and eternally.

The union with Christ which produces no effect on the heart and life is a mere formal union, which is worthless before God. The faith which has not a sanctifying influence on the character is no better than the faith of devils.” – J.C. Ryle, Holiness (emphasis mine)

And we need to recover the biblical vision of a faithful minister; one who exhibits the fruits of the Spirit and shepherds God’s people faithfully and humbly. I pray that I will, more and more, be that kind of pastor. And I pray we all will walk in the fear of the LORD and pursue holiness, because without it, we won’t see Him (Hebrews 12:14).

How do we recover the fear of God in our own lives, in our churches, and in the Church? I know a great way to begin…get saturated in Scripture. Read God’s Word and as you read, focus on God’s attributes and character traits. What will you see? You will see a God who is compassionate, gracious, slow to anger and abounding in faithful, covenant love toward His people. You’ll also see this same God as a consuming fire, a righteous Judge, and an absolute Monarch.

“When I saw Him, I fell at His feet as though dead…‘Woe to me!’ I cried. ‘I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the LORD Almighty’.” – Revelation 1:17a, Isaiah 6:5

Martin Luther once said he only had two days on his calendar at any given time…today and that Day (he was referring to the day of final judgment). I think Luther was on to something big. Knowing that we will stand before Him on that Day, may we set our minds upon God and His unspeakable holiness and live in light of those realities. Then we will desire to live holy, Spirit-filled lives and we will be those people “offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ” (1 Peter 2:5).

“When our Lord and Master Jesus Christ said, ‘Repent,’ He willed the entire life of believers to be one of repentance.” – Martin Luther, thesis 1 of his 95 Theses

Union with Christ, pt 2

Prayer is the natural out-gushing of a soul in communion with Jesus. Just as the leaf and the fruit will come out of the vine-branch without any conscious effort on the part of the branch, but simply because of its living union with the stem, so prayer buds, and blossoms, and fruits out of souls abiding in Jesus.” – Charles Spurgeon, Encouraged to Pray: Classic Sermons on Prayer

In the previous post, we saw the biblical foundation and theological roots of our union with Christ. Every blessing we enjoy in the Christian life comes from this reality. And our union with Christ is not a feeling or something we hope for with uncertainty; rather, for those of us who have trusted fully in Jesus, our union with Him is a declared fact.

Christ is our Head. The apostle Paul tells us that He is the Head of the Church, from whom all the body (the Church) gets its life. A body, apart from its head, has no life in itself. If it is disconnected from its head, it can do nothing. It’s dead. The same is true for us Christians. We, the Church, do not have life in ourselves. We get our life from our Head, the Lord Jesus Christ. He it is who has given us eternal life, and who lives in and through us each day, making us alive through His Holy Spirit. What did Paul say in Galatians 2:20?

I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me.

The great Puritan theologian John Owen wrote,

(Union with Christ) is the cause of all other graces that we are made partakers of; they are all communicated to us by virtue of our union with Christ. Hence is our adoption, our justification, our sanctification, our fruitfulness, our perseverance, our resurrection, our glory. Paul teaches that we are chosen “in him before the foundation of the world” (Eph. 1:4), called (1 Cor. 7:22), made alive (Eph. 2:5), justified (Gal. 2:17), created “for good works” (Eph. 2:10), sanctified (1 Cor. 1:2), enriched “with all speech and all knowledge” (1 Cor. 1:5), and assured of the resurrection (Rom. 6:5). The apostle says that in Christ alone we have redemption (Rom. 3:24), eternal life (Rom. 6:23), righteousness (1 Cor. 1:30), wisdom (1 Cor. 4:10), freedom from the law (Gal. 2:4), and every spiritual blessing (Eph. 1:3)

Just as the benefits of our union with Christ apply to each believer individually, they also apply to the entire Church corporately. Remember: we are not islands. No Christian lives in complete solitude and isolation. We are the temple of God, living stones in close proximity to one another.

The whole Church was included in Him as her Head. In an objective sense she was crucified with Christ, she died with Him, she arose in Him from the dead, and was made to sit with Him in the heavenly places. All the blessings of saving grace lie ready for the Church in Christ; man can add nothing to them; and they now only await their subjective application by the operation of the Holy Spirit, which is also merited by Christ and is sure of progressive realization in the course of history.[1]

Of primary importance is that because of our union with Christ, we have been adopted as sons and daughters of God. The apostle Paul wrote,

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual 

blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the 

world, that we would be holy and blameless before Him. In love He predestined us to adoption

as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will, to the praise 

of the glory of His grace, which He freely bestowed on us in the Beloved. – Ephesians 1:3-6

What an amazing truth. Now, look at the logical outflow of what this promise means for you and me: if we who are in Christ have been adopted as sons and daughters by the Father, what does that make us? Brothers and sisters. We are family. All of us in Christ are the family of God.

This reality is one of the big implications of our union with Christ—we are sons and daughters, brothers and sisters, the family of the triune God. Paul again writes,

Therefore I, the prisoner of the Lord, implore you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, showing tolerance for one another in love, being diligent to preserve the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit, just as also you were called in one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all who is over all and through all and in all. – Ephesians 4:4-6

So, what does this mean for you and me? One, it means that as Christians we are family. We are to love one another. You know how Paul said in 1 Corinthians 13 that if we understand all doctrine and theology, yet don’t have love, we’re nothing? That’s so true and so important for us to understand. Our union with Christ is everything, and so if we’re treating one another poorly, we’re missing one of the foundational aspects of the Gospel. It means we don’t really believe our fellow Christians are part of God’s family.

Also, it means we rightly understand the legal implications of our justification. The very righteousness of Christ has been imputed to us by the Father, and we’ve been declared righteous by Him.

And once in the family we are forever part of the Body of Christ. God is our Father, and our fellow Christians are our brothers and sisters. It is clear how our salvation, our union with Christ, has profound implications on the way we relate to and treat one another.

“A Christian fellowship lives and exists by the intercession of its members for one another, or it collapses. I can no longer condemn or hate a brother for whom I pray, no matter how much trouble he causes me. His face, that hitherto may have been strange and intolerable to me, is transformed in intercession into the countenance of a brother for whom Christ died, the face of a forgiven sinner.” – Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Life Together

[1] Berkhof, L. (1938). Systematic theology (pp. 448–449). Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans publishing co.

Union with Christ, part 1

“Our whole salvation and all its parts are comprehended in Christ.” – John Calvin

From a theological standpoint, what is union with Christ? What exactly are we looking at and speaking of here?

In this post I’m going to focus on the “vertical” aspect of our union with Christ, namely how it relates to our relationship with Him. Then next week we’ll see how our union with Christ affects our relationships with one another—the “horizontal” aspect.

“… every aspect of God's relationship to believers is in some way connected to our relationship with Christ. From God's counsels in eternity past before the world was created, to our fellowship with God in heaven in eternity future, and including every aspect of our relationship with God in this life—all has occurred in union with Christ.” – Dr. Wayne Grudem

Basically, union with Christ is the fact expressed by Paul in the New Testament that as believers, we are in Christ, and because of that we are blessed by God the Father with every blessing. Everything in our Christian life comes to us a result of us being united to Christ by faith. It’s all of grace, and that grace comes to us in and through Christ alone.

This union with Christ begins in the electing foreknowledge of God the Father. The apostle Paul wrote in Ephesians 1:3-6,

“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and blameless before Him. In love He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace, which He freely bestowed on us in the Beloved.”

For us who are Christians, our union with Christ (and thus our salvation) began in eternity past according to the grace of God the Father when He chose us in Christ.

Theologian Anthony Hoekema says that we should see union with Christ “extending all the way from eternity to eternity.” He outlines his material in this way:

    1      The roots of union with Christ are in divine election (Eph. 1:3-4).

    2      The basis of union with Christ is the redemptive work of Christ.

    3      The actual union with Christ is established with God’s people in time.

We see that this doctrine is to be seen by us believers as extending from eternity past to eternity future—it’s all God’s work.

In Romans 8:29-30 the apostle Paul wrote,

“For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren; and these whom He predestined, He also called; and these whom He called, He also justified; and these whom He justified, He also glorified.”

In the final clause of the verse, we that justification (through Christ), sanctification (in Christ), and glorification (with Christ) are all based on our union with Christ. There is no justification apart from Christ. No one can be sanctified by the Holy Spirit apart from first being “in Christ,” and there is no one who is in Christ who will not be glorified with Him. See that? It’s our union with Christ.

“If we are united to Christ, then we are united to him at all points of his activity on our behalf: We share

    •       in his death (we were baptized into his death),

    •       in his resurrection (we are resurrected with Christ),

    •       in his ascension (we have been raised with him),

    •       in his heavenly session (we sit with him in heavenly places, so that our life is hidden with Christ in God), and we will share

    •       in his promised return (when Christ, who is our life, appears, we also will appear with him in glory)” – Dr. Sinclair Ferguson

I know this is merely an overview of this wonderful truth of the Christian life, but it is vitally important that every believer understand it.

In conclusion, the premise of all this is that every single blessing we enjoy in the Christian life comes to us as a result of the fact that we have been united to Christ forever.

“Union with Christ is . . . the central truth of the whole doctrine of salvation. . .. It is not simply a phase of the application of redemption; it underlies every aspect of redemption.” – Dr. John Murray

Great Grace in 2 Corinthians 13, pt. 5

“After the severity, the struggle and the debate, there comes the serenity of the benediction. One of the best ways of making peace with our enemies is to pray for them, for it is impossible to hate people and pray for them at the same time. And so we leave the troubled story of Paul and the church of Corinth with the benediction ringing in our ears. The way has been hard, but the last word is peace.”[1]

To sum up the benediction at the end of 2 Corinthians, Paul prayed that the Triune God would bless this dysfunctional church. Paul had planted the church in Corinth and brought many of them to Christ, but in spite of that, through their bad behavior and rebellion against his apostolic authority, the Corinthians had treated Paul as if he were their enemy rather than their spiritual father.

This caused Paul immense grief and pain, which is why he seems to wear his emotions on his sleeve in this letter. But ultimately, his response is beautiful, reflecting others-centered love grounded in the love demonstrated by the Father and the Son for the sake of the world. Paul, in invoking this blessing over the Corinthians, is practicing the kind of selfless, non-retaliatory love Jesus both demonstrated and commanded His followers to practice.

I believe the reason Paul wrote so harshly to them was because of the love he had for them. And in this we see a deeper theological truth; God will, when necessary, speak to us and discipline us harshly, precisely because He is our Father (if we’re in Christ). God loves us too much to allow us to stray from Him without convicting and warning us, and disciplining us. And that is wonderful news.

“It is a singular paradox that a letter so full of indignation, remonstrance, and gyrating emotions should conclude with the most elevated trinitarian affirmation in the NT couched in the form of a benediction addressed to all the members of a factious church.”[2]

Such is the marvelous love of God.

For part 4 of this series, click here

For part 3 of this series, click here

For part 2 of this series, click here

For part 1 of this series, click here

[1] William Barclay, The Letters to the Corinthians, 3rd ed., The New Daily Study Bible (Louisville, KY; London: Westminster John Knox Press, 2002), 317.

[2] Murray J. Harris, The Second Epistle to the Corinthians: A Commentary on the Greek Text, New International Greek Testament Commentary (Grand Rapids, MI; Milton Keynes, UK: W.B. Eerdmans Pub. Co.; Paternoster Press, 2005), 941.

Great Grace in 2 Corinthians, pt. 4 - Fellowship

“Paul closes his letter with prayer, taking great care to unite them all with God. Those who claim that the Holy Spirit is not God because he is not inserted with the Father and the Son at the beginning of Paul’s letters are sufficiently refuted by this verse. All that belongs to the Trinity is undivided. Where the fellowship is of the Spirit, it is also of the Son, and where the grace is of the Son, it is also of the Father and the Spirit. I say these things without confusing the distinctiveness of the Persons but recognizing both their individuality and the unity of their common substance.”[1] – St. John Chrysostom

In the final clause of Paul’s three-part benediction over the church in Corinth, he invokes the fellowship of the Holy Spirit. There are several aspects to the Spirit’s fellowship and I’d like to briefly look at two of them in the following paragraphs and then focus in on the grammar of this clause, for it has profound theological implications for us.

First, there is the fellowship of the Holy Spirit with our spirit (Romans 8:16). God’s Spirit communes with us, speaks to us, leads us, and ultimately brings us into greater conformity to Christ.

Second, we have fellowship with the Father and the Son through the Holy Spirit. He is the One who baptizes us into Christ, opens our hearts to receive the Gospel, illumines our understanding of Scripture, and by whom we are sealed until the day of redemption.

“Love is the movement, love is the revolution…” – Switchfoot, Love is the Movement

The word “fellowship” in Greek is koinonia, which essentially means “participation.” And in Greek, the clause “the fellowship of the Holy Spirit” is a genitive construction, which can be understood either in the objective or subjective (the genitive form allows for both). I will briefly outline what each one means and show why it’s important.

Understood as an objective, this clause refers to the fact that participation in the Holy Spirit is something in which all Christians take part. Those of us who are born again in Jesus have active participation in and fellowship with the Holy Spirit.

Understood as a subjective, this refers to the fellowship amongst Christians which the Holy Spirit creates and in which we participate. And we can only have participation in the Holy Spirit if the Spirit Himself makes it possible.

Therefore, Paul is praying that these believers in Corinth, who were an ethical train-wreck and who had treated him with contempt, would both be participants in the Holy Spirit and enjoy true Christian fellowship. Paul demonstrates in a powerful way the others-centered, forgiving love of the Triune God in invoking this blessing of participation and fellowship over these people who had declared him their enemy.

“Veni Sancte Spiritus, veni Sancte Spiritus, come reveal what’s in Your heart, show us who we really are…” – Matt Maher, The Invocation

For Part 3 of this series, click here

For Part 2 of this series, click here

For Part 1 of this series, click here

[1] Gerald Lewis Bray, ed., 1–2 Corinthians, Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1999), 316.

Great Grace in 2 Corinthians 13, pt. 3

“Here is the intertwining of the Trinity and the unity of power which brings all salvation to fulfillment. The love of God has sent us Jesus the Savior, by whose grace we have been saved. The fellowship of the Holy Spirit makes it possible for us to possess the grace of salvation, for He guards those who are loved by God and saved by the grace of Christ, so that the completeness of the Three may be the saving fulfillment of mankind.”[1] – Ambrosiaster

In our previous posts from this series we looked at the background of Paul’s relationship to the church in Corinth. We saw how his tumultuous relationship with them puts the benediction at the end of 2 Corinthians 13 into sharp focus as a Christocentric, others-centered love. Paul wished that the grace of Christ would be upon these people who had, for all intents and purposes, made Paul their enemy. In this, Paul reflected the very love of Jesus, a love which sacrifices self for the good of even one’s enemy.

This week, I want to look at the second clause of Paul’s benediction: “the love of God.” Paul specifically references God the Father as he works his way through a Trinitarian blessing.

“God knows we stumble and we fall, but He so loved the world He sent His Son to save us all.” – All the People Said Amen, Matt Maher

God’s undeserved love was one of the major themes of Paul’s theology, and is perhaps seen most clearly in his letter to the Romans. This is a love which actively sacrifices self for the good of the other. And in invoking the Father’s love over the Corinthians, Paul demonstrates that he has been a recipient of this love. The Corinthians did not deserve to be loved by Paul, and much less by God. And yet Paul sincerely desires that they know the unfathomable depths of God’s love for them. How would they know this love? By being the undeserved recipients of it through Paul.

This is the love of God in action. And this is the love that all of us who follow Jesus are commanded to demonstrate, even to our enemies. It is endlessly comforting to know that Paul’s love for these wayward believers was merely a faint reflection of God’s love for them, and thus, for you and me as well. Truly, God so loved the world…

For part 1 of this series, click here

For part 2 of this series, click here

[1] Gerald Lewis Bray, ed., 1–2 Corinthians, Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1999), 315.

Great Grace in 2 Corinthians 13, pt. 2

“Therefore, since grace is a gift by which sins are forgiven: “Justified by his grace as a gift” (Rom. 3:24), and the remission of sin is accomplished in us by the Son who took our flesh and satisfied for our sins: “Grace and truth came through Jesus Christ” (Jn. 1:17): for this reason, the Apostle attributes grace to Christ, when he says, the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ.” – St. Thomas Aquinas

In our previous post, we looked at an overview of Paul’s history with the Corinthian church and his tumultuous relationship with them. We saw a series of correspondences, both in-person and via letter. This week, we’re beginning our three-part look at the benediction at the end of 2 Corinthians. We begin where Paul began—with the grace of Jesus.

“The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ…be with you all.” – Paul the Apostle

The grace of Jesus which Paul invoked over the Corinthians is a grace that is absolutely undeserved. It reflects the kind of grace Jesus has lavished upon us. This is a grace that desires the well-being of one’s enemies, the blessing of those who have done one wrong.

The relationship between Paul and this church had disintegrated to such a point that Paul was, for all intents and purposes, their enemy. But this was not by his own doing. Paul desired relationship with them, and he proved this by leading them to Christ and shepherding them in their faith in Him. But because he had spoken truth to them and called out their disorder, they set their faces against him. The Corinthians, for all intents and purposes, considered Paul their enemy.

With this background, we can see why Paul’s invocation of Christ’s grace upon this church is such a reflection of God’s love: he wished the blessings of God upon those who had made him their enemy! And in this we see a beautiful reflection of the love and grace of Jesus. He is God who laid His life down for His enemies. Paul echoes that love here.

Jesus “came to His own, and His own did not receive Him” (John 1:11). Paul’s willingness to suffer for his children in the faith was motivated by a heart aflame with the love of Christ. It is this love for others that must possess, and be possessed by those who lead in Christ’s Church.

“It were a suitable arrangement to begin with the grace of Christ, which was the procuring cause of God's adopting us into the number of his sons, and honoring us with his love…”[1] – John Calvin

[1] John Calvin. The Complete Biblical Commentary Collection of John Calvin.

Great Grace in 2 Corinthians 13, pt. 1

“For before indeed He loved us when hating Him, and reconciled us who were His enemies; but henceforth He wishes to love us as loving Him. Let us then continue to love Him, so that we may be also loved by Him.”[1] – St. John Chrysostom

In this new series, we will be looking at the benediction which closes the book of 2 Corinthians. If you’ve read any of 1 and 2 Corinthians, you know that Paul’s history with this troubled church was nothing if not tumultuous. And it is that very struggle which makes this verse so beautiful and rich, and a powerful reminder of the love of the Triune God for us.

Before we launch into the passage itself, let’s do a little background work. Following is an overview of Paul’s history with the church in Corinth.

First, Paul wrote them an initial letter which we don’t have—although some scholars believe this letter, known as the “previous letter,” is contained in 2 Corinthians 6:13-7:2. An interesting possibility.

He then received news in response to his first letter that matters in the church were not going well at all. And so, he wrote them another letter, which is what we know as the book of 1 Corinthians. When you read 1 Corinthians, you realize that things in Corinth were bad.

Now, as a result of 1 Corinthians, things got even worse. Rather than repent, it seems they dug in their heels and became even more obstinate against Paul and his authority. So, Paul decided to pay them a visit. But not only did his visit not rectify the situation, it in fact exacerbated the already bad situation there and made things, yet again, EVEN WORSE.

Next, Paul wrote them what he called a “severe letter,” which many scholars believe is our 2 Corinthians 10-13. He wrote this letter out of severe anguish of heart and mind (2 Corinthians 2:4, 7:8). He was extremely anxious to know how this letter would be received, and he set out to meet Titus (who had delivered it) to see what the Corinthians’ response was.

Paul was relieved to hear that the letter had had the intended effect of bringing repentance and humility to the Corinthian church, and he then wrote his final correspondence to them, what we know as 2 Corinthians 1-9.

That’s a lot of background, but it’s important that we understand the literary and situational context in which Paul penned his benediction. Most likely, it was placed at the end of the “severe letter,” meaning he desired the blessing of God upon this church who had become, for all intents and purposes, his enemy. And in this, Paul reflects the nature and character of Jesus who commanded His followers to love our enemies.

When we consider his desire for our Lord’s grace to be with them, he was writing out of the anguish of his spirit, sincerely wishing them to know and understand Jesus’ grace. What a heart of humble, others-centered love! And that love, which can only be the result of God’s work in the human heart, is what we will look at over the next few posts.

“After the severity, the struggle and the debate, there comes the serenity of the benediction. One of the best ways of making peace with our enemies is to pray for them, for it is impossible to hate people and pray for them at the same time.”[2] – William Barclay

Check out the Bible Project’s videos on 1 Corinthians and 2 Corinthians!

[1] John Chrysostom, “Homilies of St. John Chrysostom, Archbishop of Constantinople, on the Second Epistle of St. Paul the Apostle to the Corinthians,” in Saint Chrysostom: Homilies on the Epistles of Paul to the Corinthians, ed. Philip Schaff, trans. J. Ashworth and Talbot B. Chambers, vol. 12, A Select Library of the Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers of the Christian Church, First Series (New York: Christian Literature Company, 1889), 419.

[2] William Barclay, The Letters to the Corinthians, 3rd ed., The New Daily Study Bible (Louisville, KY; London: Westminster John Knox Press, 2002), 317.

Advent - Christmas Eve - CHRIST

On this Christmas Eve night after the final Sunday of Advent, the large, white candle in the center of the Advent wreath is lit. This candle symbolizes the coming of Christ, who is the Light of the world, and the salvation He brought to us. We are reminded that He has brought us out of darkness and into His glorious light. That this candle burns at the center of the Advent wreath reminds us that Jesus is the Telos, the culmination of God’s plan of salvation and the center of Scripture. He is the One to whom everything was pointing. May we as a church fix our eyes on Jesus once again, giving thanks to God for this unspeakable gift of our salvation. “And He is the Head of the body, the Church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything He might be preeminent.” – Colossians 1:18

Advent week 4 - LOVE

4th Sunday of Advent – Love

For this final week of Advent, the Church turns her attention to the love of God displayed in Christ (Romans 5:8). The sending of God’s Son was the ultimate demonstration of the love of God for humanity. Once again, our attention is refocused on the very center-piece of our faith, namely Jesus’s incarnation, fulfilling of the Law’s righteous requirements on our behalf, His death, and His resurrection and ascension. Jesus is the center of biblical theology, the culmination towards which all of the Old Testament points. As we look back to Christ’s first coming and reflect on this priceless gift, may we gain a renewed appreciation of God’s love for us and be motivated to love one another as we await His second coming. “Beloved, let us love one another. For love is from God, and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God.” – 1 John 4:7

Advent week 3 - JOY

For this third week of Advent, the Church’s focus is joy. And the joy we have is not based on circumstances, but rather on a deep, abiding faith in the goodness and sovereignty of our triune God. The Advent candle for this week is traditionally pink, signifying a mixture of colors. In the same way, our joy in this life is often mixed with sorrow, yet we rejoice nonetheless (Philippians 4:4). And this mixture of joy with grief is meant to call our thinking back to Jesus’s first coming, when the joy surrounding the arrival of the Son of God was pierced by the sorrow of His eventual crucifixion. Let us remember God’s big-picture plan, and that He is at work in the world even when we don’t understand what He’s doing. Allow the Holy Spirit to remind you of the joy that is yours in Christ. “…nor anything else in all creation shall be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.” – Romans 8:39

Advent week 2 - PEACE

Last week I began a series of brief Advent devotionals for our church. I’m posting them here on the blog as well and I pray they’ll be a blessing to you! May Christ’s incarnation, death, and resurrection anchor our souls as we rejoice that we have been reconciled to God. And may His future return motivate us unto holy living.

For week 1, click here

For this second week of Advent, Christ’s incarnation is to fill us with gratitude, knowing that through His death and resurrection we have peace with God (Romans 5:1) and with each other. And as we look forward to His second coming, we are filled with thanksgiving that our future with God is secure. Jesus will return to eradicate sin and evil and unite us, His Church, to Himself forever. And all of this because of the Gospel. All who call upon the name of the Lord are members of His family, the Church. Therefore, may we allow the future return of our Lord to motivate us to pursue peace with one another.

“Let brotherly love continue.” – Hebrews 13:1

Advent week 1 - Historical background and HOPE

An introduction to the Advent season

As we move into the season of Advent, we remember that it is a season of preparation for the celebration of Christmas, the incarnation of our Savior. It is a time to look back to Jesus’s first coming, when God broke through the darkness of our world and brought us hope. It is also the time when we look forward to His second coming, knowing that evil and darkness will be abolished forever. And it is a time for us, the Church, to remember that we are to love one another, just as God has loved us.

For those who are interested, the word advent comes from the Latin word adventus, which is a translation of the Greek word parousia, a word which means “coming/advent” and is used to describe both Christ’s incarnation and His second coming.

And the meaning of the word is basis for the Church’s observation of Advent. For the first two weeks, we focus on Jesus’s future second coming, and for the final two weeks we focus on His first coming. Advent marks the beginning of the Church’s liturgical year, and throughout the celebration of this liturgical season we remember that we are living in “the great in-between,” the time between our Lord’s resurrection and second coming. Advent, then, is meant to call our attention both forward and backward as we fix our eyes on Jesus, the Author and Perfecter of our faith. “The birth of Christ is the central event in the history of the earth—the very thing the whole story has been about.” – C.S. Lewis

Week 1 of Advent - HOPE

This first week of Advent focuses on hope. We, the Church, look to Scripture and rejoice in God’s revelation of His redemptive plan. We remember that He revealed His plan of salvation to His people, that He sent His Son as the fulfillment of that plan, and that we are waiting for Christ’s return to fully complete the plan. We fix our hearts on Jesus’s future return, waiting for Him as a bride faithfully waits for her groom to appear (Matthew 25). Our confidence lies not in ourselves, but in God who is faithful. As He was faithful to fulfill Old Testament prophecy and come the first time, so He will be faithful to fulfill New Testament prophecy and come again, bringing history to its conclusion and uniting His Church to Himself forever. Thus, we look forward in hope! And hope, as described in Scripture, is not wishful thinking. Rather, it is the confident expectation that God will do what He’s promised, based upon His past faithfulness. “And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, ‘Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be His people, and God himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away’.” – Revelation 21:3-4

Natural Theology and God's Sovereign Rule - The Kingdom of God, pt. 8

“The knowledge of God is the cause of things. For the knowledge of God is to all creatures what the knowledge of the artificer is to things made by his art.” – Thomas Aquinas

The Apostle Paul affirmed in Romans 1 that God has revealed Himself through creation. He also tells us in Ephesians 3 that God has revealed Himself through His Word (Scripture). And the author of Hebrews began his masterpiece asserting that God has revealed Himself to us in the Incarnation. It’s the first of these revelations that theologians call natural theology, and is where we’ll start in this final post on the Kingdom of God.

Interesting fact (for you nerdy types) …in the ancient Near-East, kings would have statues of themselves erected in the far-off regions of their empires in order to provide a visual reminder of that king’s dominion over the land. And how much of the earth does God rule over as King? All of it. And what has He placed in every part of His earth? Humans! We are made in His image (Genesis 1-2) and scattered over the face of the earth. This means that humanity’s rule over the planet is to mirror God’s rule over humanity.

When humans govern the earth the way God intended, in relationship with Him, it advances His reputation. But humanity is fallen, and thus, those of us who have been redeemed are to advance His reputation before a non-believing world. And our Lord’s redemptive plan for sinful humanity involves His redeemed people advancing His Kingdom in the here and now—not escaping the planet to somewhere better while the world goes to Hell.

“And besides the pious opinion concerning the Father and the Son, we confess to one Holy Spirit as the divine Scriptures teach us; who hath inaugurated both the holy men of the Old Testament and the divine teachers of that which is called the New.” – Alexander, Bishop of Alexandria

But back to natural theology. When we don’t understand the goodness and importance of creation we can easily slip into a mindset of thinking that the world is pointless, it’s all going to burn, and so let’s just get out of here. But that kind of mindset negates the entire Kingdom-paradigm that is replete throughout Scripture.

God has revealed Himself through creation. The Psalmists unanimously proclaim that creation declares His glory (read Psalm 19). When we see the orderliness of creation, we can extrapolate something regarding God’s nature—that He is a God or order. When we see the raw power in creation (think Niagara Falls, for instance), we get a glimpse of God’s unimaginable power. You get the idea.

So then, when we labor for the salvation of our fellow human beings, we bring glory to our Triune God. The enemy has invaded and brought sin, death, and chaos to God’s good world, but God has destroyed the work of the devil through the cross and the resurrection. Now as His children and ambassadors we’re called to “bring the world back” to God, the way things were originally intended to be. Or, as Paul said in 2 Corinthians, we’ve been given (by God) the ministry of reconciliation. All of this is part of the biblical paradigm of God the King reconciling His creation back to Himself.

As Christians, it’s of the utmost importance that we pick up on these themes and understand them, lest our reading of God’s Word be truncated and distorted, and we miss a huge part of God’s story and will. May His Kingdom come on earth as in Heaven, and may we all play our part in fulfilling our Lord’s words. For the glory of the only true God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen.

“Wake up, O human being! For it was for you that God was made man. Rise up and realize it was all for you. Eternal death would have awaited you had He not been born in time. Never would you be freed from your sinful flesh had He not taken to Himself the likeness of sinful flesh. Everlasting would be your misery had He not performed this act of mercy.” – St. Augustine

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America and the Kingdom, pt. 2 - The Kingdom of God, pt. 7

“Take your Bible and take your newspaper, and read both. But interpret newspapers from your Bible.” – Karl Barth

One day in my Old Testament class at Western Seminary a few years ago, one of the students mentioned that he had been in Israel listening to a Jewish scholar. The scholar was speaking about salvation and how the point of Scripture was modern-day Israel as the place to which all of the world will come in order to learn, from the Jews, how to love God, love neighbor, and work for Kingdom good on earth. My fellow student mentioned that this really shook him for a few weeks. I found that to be very interesting because it gets back to the division in our view between orthodoxy and orthopraxy—faith and works. This Jewish scholar had the good works part down, but he was missing the most important part, the very heart of the Gospel—Jesus!

One cannot love God and neighbor and do authentic Kingdom work apart from being born-again by the Holy Spirit through Jesus. This is because apart from Jesus, all humanity is dead in sins and trespasses. That’s why we must get the order correct—the ordo salutis (order of salvation)—we must be reconciled to God the Father through God the Son. THAT is the primary thing. Only after that has happened can we truly love God, love neighbor, and work for God’s shalom and justice (Kingdom) on earth.

“There is none righteous, no, not one.” – The Apostle Paul, Romans 3:10

We the Church must get the Gospel right! This is of the utmost importance and is the foundation for all we believe, do, and hope for. I hope and pray we don’t end up with a generation of pastors, scholars, and seminary profs who diminish the holiness of God and the substitutionary atonement of Jesus and choose to focus exclusively on working for justice and doing Kingdom work. We need both.

We must be those who endeavor to remain faithful to our Lord and to His Word. I am a huge proponent of having a more holistic view of the Gospel, including everything that God has told us in His Word that is near His heart. As stated previously, I believe we have truncated the Gospel to merely how to go to Heaven when we die. But that’s not the fullness of the Gospel. At the same time, we must be faithful to believe and proclaim even those aspects of it that seem to have fallen out of favor.

What’s interesting is that a gospel that only preaches social justice, good works, and love for people is a gospel that can actually be accomplished apart from God—and that is a false gospel. Paul tells us clearly what the Gospel is in 1 Corinthians 15—he talks about Jesus’ death, burial, and resurrection according to the Scriptures. That’s the Gospel, the Good News. By necessity, the Gospel produces fruit and results in good works. But God forbid we would ever substitute the heart of the Gospel for anything else. If we do that, we no longer have any right to call ourselves the Church.

Additionally, the Scripture is clear that the Gospel is offensive to the unregenerate person. The Gospel crushes our pride and humbles us, and due to our sin nature, we don't want to be humbled and admit we need the Saviour. If we preach a gospel that is palatable to the unregenerate, and calls for no self-sacrifice, discomfort, and self-denial, we’re not preaching the true Gospel. The true Gospel is offensive to an unbelieving world, and the only way that the impenitent heart can be softened to receive it is by the sovereign work of God the Holy Spirit.

Jesus is God, King, and Lord. If we, His Church, are to faithfully proclaim His Gospel and Kingdom, we must tell people the truth—they must come under the Lordship of Jesus. And that doesn’t happen unless they are born-again by His sovereign work. The Bible could not be clearer on that.

“The Church is the Church only when it exists for others…not dominating, but helping and serving. It must tell men of every calling what it means to live for Christ, to exist for others.” – Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Letters and Papers from Prison

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