Isn't it incredible how the Holy Spirit graciously illuminates the Word at different points in our lives. In our own power, we can read and re-read a passage of Scripture and never see anything new, then one day the Spirit leads us into some new profound truth. Praise God for teaching us. On our own, the Scriptures would contain nothing but foolishness to us. A year or two ago, the Spirit impressed upon me this idea of Christians "being saved." In other words, as a matter of legal position, a born-again believer has been saved (i.e., in the past at the moment of his conversion). But as a matter of practical experience, the Scriptures are plain that we are also in a process of being saved. I don't say this in the Roman Catholic sense of earning or maintaining salvation with my works throughout life, but in the sense that God is keeping me saved from conversion until heaven and shaping and sanctifying us along the way. It's amazing how once God shows you a truth, you then see it exemplified all over the place in the Bible. Take, for example, 1 Corinthians 15:1-2:
"Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand, and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you--unless you believed in vain."
Here, Paul indicates that his brothers in Christ that received the gospel "are being saved" through that gospel. In other words, the power of the work of our Substitute is where we go to for daily forgiveness and the grace to do what is right and live for God. Paul underscores this by sharing his value judgment of that gospel:
"For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas...the twelve...five hundred brothers...James...all the apostles...to me." (15:3-8)
This gospel by which I am being saved is of first importance. Do I consider the gospel as it relates to my daily Christian life? I fear that I don't most days. But God is gracious and leads me to repent when I try to stand, much less advance, in my own power. This blog is testament to His gospel power in my life. I have so often prayed for God to incline my heart to His Word and have me engage with it. When I have attempted this through brute piety and even with the assistance of accountability partners, I have failed miserably. However, when God answers my prayers and changes my heart (as he did at my conversion), it is as if I am riding on the crest of a spiritual wave. Savoring the Scriptures is no doing of my own. Praise God for this time in my life where He is making Jesus Christ altogether beautiful to me, which is why I currently have a desire to read what He has to say to me.
Last note: Chapter 15 is found in the context of men loving themselves and loving other people seeing them have great gifts rather than encouraging and building up their brothers. I pray God will guard me from such spiritual pride and work His love and grace through me as his vessel of blessing to others.
Tuesday, April 17, 2007
Friday, April 13, 2007
How Much Are They Worth?
In reading through 1 Corinthians I am being impressed by the fact that I need to be reminded again and again that I have no intrinsic value. Any worth that I have to the church is because of Christ. God didn't look around for the smart and talented people and choose them because He would then have a lot to work with to build His church. I know this. But my wicked, prideful heart always wanders away from this truth and tries to come up with some scheme in which I bring something to the table. My value comes from the fact that Christ bought me back from my sin. I need reminding. 1 Corinthians 12:27 says: "Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it." I read that and am reminded that what makes me special is that I, along with all my brothers and sisters, are part of Christ's church. And Christ church was bought with His own blood. I had nothing to do with constructing Christ's church. My individuality only is important as I serve the whole. This is said plainly: "As it is there are many parts, but one body." (12:20, see also v.12). It also makes it clear that my ability to serve is also not due to myself: "All these [gifts] are empowered by one and the same Spirit, who apportions to each one individually as he wills." (12:11, see also vv.4-7).
The necessity for Christ to die and buy each believer back from death puts us all on the same level. It didn't cost Christ more to buy me than my brother. The fact that the quiet introvert who loves to pray, the gregarious business man who loves to give sacrificially, and the charismatic lady who loves to teach other women all had to be redeemed by Christ, speaks to the fact that they are all of equal value. Each one cost God the same amount: His Son. Because of that fact, everyone in the church is of the same worth to God and, as such, should be of the same worth to each other. Each man is priceless to God because He spent His Son for each. That should impact the way I view my fellow believers. Each Christian is priceless to God because of Christ. This is the basis for unity in the church. That is why Paul is hammering the Corinthians (through multiple topics) to sacrifice for each other, love one another, use their gifts for one another. In so doing, they will agree with God's view of the church.
One passage that really brings this out is 1 Corinthians 11:17-34 dealing with Communion and the Corinthinans' lack of concern for one another. Paul asks this biting question: "[D]o you despise the church of God and humiliate those who have nothing?" (v.22). And later warns them: "For anyone who eats and drinks without discerning the body eats and drinks judgment on himself. That is why many of you are weak and ill, and some have died. But if we judge ourselves truly, we would not be judged." Much could be said here, but the general principle I take from this passage is that when I fail to sacrificially love my brothers, I fail to judge correctly (i.e., that we are of the same value to God) and reveal that at some level I hate God's church. What a terrible, sinful attiude! When I put myself first, my behavior is contrary to the gospel. The death of the Savior needs to impact how I view and treat others. I reflect the love of Jesus when I die to self for the benefit of the church.
The necessity for Christ to die and buy each believer back from death puts us all on the same level. It didn't cost Christ more to buy me than my brother. The fact that the quiet introvert who loves to pray, the gregarious business man who loves to give sacrificially, and the charismatic lady who loves to teach other women all had to be redeemed by Christ, speaks to the fact that they are all of equal value. Each one cost God the same amount: His Son. Because of that fact, everyone in the church is of the same worth to God and, as such, should be of the same worth to each other. Each man is priceless to God because He spent His Son for each. That should impact the way I view my fellow believers. Each Christian is priceless to God because of Christ. This is the basis for unity in the church. That is why Paul is hammering the Corinthians (through multiple topics) to sacrifice for each other, love one another, use their gifts for one another. In so doing, they will agree with God's view of the church.
One passage that really brings this out is 1 Corinthians 11:17-34 dealing with Communion and the Corinthinans' lack of concern for one another. Paul asks this biting question: "[D]o you despise the church of God and humiliate those who have nothing?" (v.22). And later warns them: "For anyone who eats and drinks without discerning the body eats and drinks judgment on himself. That is why many of you are weak and ill, and some have died. But if we judge ourselves truly, we would not be judged." Much could be said here, but the general principle I take from this passage is that when I fail to sacrificially love my brothers, I fail to judge correctly (i.e., that we are of the same value to God) and reveal that at some level I hate God's church. What a terrible, sinful attiude! When I put myself first, my behavior is contrary to the gospel. The death of the Savior needs to impact how I view and treat others. I reflect the love of Jesus when I die to self for the benefit of the church.
Wednesday, April 11, 2007
Got Jealousy?
I was thinking about a situation I had recently where I was jealous of a believing colleague(will call him Ron) getting 2 new clients that were people I knew. My sinful thoughts spun like this: "Those are folks that know me. I'm more experienced than Ron. I'm a better attorney than him. Why would they go to him over me? This is not fair. I should have them as clients..." Garden-variety, sinful jealousy. The problem, other than my sin, was that I didn't know how to "fix" my thinking. I knew it was wrong, but simply saying, "Jeff, stop thinking sinfully!" wasn't working. I knew the gospel should inform my thinking, but I couldn't figure it out...
God then spoke to me through 1 Corinthians 8-10. These chapters have a theme running through them which goes like this: "Discern well what your rights in Christ are, then be ready to set them aside out of love for others." Though there are many verses that speak of it (i.e., 9:12, 15, 19; 10:23-24, 28b, 31-33), consider 8:8-12 :
"Food will not commend us to God. We are no worse off if we do not eat, and no better off if we do. But take care that this right of yours does not somehow become a stumbling block to the weak...And so by your knowledge this weak person is destroyed, the brother for whom Christ died. Thus, sinning against your brothers and wounding their conscience when it is weak, you sin against Christ. Therefore, if food makes my brother stumble, I will never eat meat, lest I make my brother stumble."
The question I am trying to answer is: "How does the gospel affect how I think about my brother and how I treat my brother?" The passage reminds us that Christ died for our brother. Many implications can be seen from this. Two that help me properly view my problem is (1) Christ laid aside his rights in order to benefit others, and (2) my brother is valuable to Christ because He bought him with His blood.
My focusing on the fact that I deserved the clients' business (whether this thought is accurate or not) is akin to me saying "I have the right to eat this meat and I will not be denied that right even if a brother stumbles as a result." My focus should rather be on the benefit to my brother! I should be looking for ways to say: "I have a right to that, but I have the opportunity to benefit my brother by sacrificing that right." In doing this, I reflect in some way Christ's thinking in going to the cross.
The other implication is likewise applicable to me. Selfishly obsessing on my right to have the business over my brother reveals that I do not place a high value on him. He is not valuable enough to cause me to sacrifice my rights for his benefit. This is exactly opposite of what the gospel teaches us. God bought him with the invaluable gift of Jesus. God could not have placed more value on my brother than giving His Son to redeem him. When my thinking is in contradiction to God's valuation, I actually "sin against Christ" (v.13). It turns out that my sinful jealousy is far uglier than I thought.
Bottom line: Jealosy reveals a wrong view of myself, a wrong view of my brother, and a lack of conformity with the gospel.
God then spoke to me through 1 Corinthians 8-10. These chapters have a theme running through them which goes like this: "Discern well what your rights in Christ are, then be ready to set them aside out of love for others." Though there are many verses that speak of it (i.e., 9:12, 15, 19; 10:23-24, 28b, 31-33), consider 8:8-12 :
"Food will not commend us to God. We are no worse off if we do not eat, and no better off if we do. But take care that this right of yours does not somehow become a stumbling block to the weak...And so by your knowledge this weak person is destroyed, the brother for whom Christ died. Thus, sinning against your brothers and wounding their conscience when it is weak, you sin against Christ. Therefore, if food makes my brother stumble, I will never eat meat, lest I make my brother stumble."
The question I am trying to answer is: "How does the gospel affect how I think about my brother and how I treat my brother?" The passage reminds us that Christ died for our brother. Many implications can be seen from this. Two that help me properly view my problem is (1) Christ laid aside his rights in order to benefit others, and (2) my brother is valuable to Christ because He bought him with His blood.
My focusing on the fact that I deserved the clients' business (whether this thought is accurate or not) is akin to me saying "I have the right to eat this meat and I will not be denied that right even if a brother stumbles as a result." My focus should rather be on the benefit to my brother! I should be looking for ways to say: "I have a right to that, but I have the opportunity to benefit my brother by sacrificing that right." In doing this, I reflect in some way Christ's thinking in going to the cross.
The other implication is likewise applicable to me. Selfishly obsessing on my right to have the business over my brother reveals that I do not place a high value on him. He is not valuable enough to cause me to sacrifice my rights for his benefit. This is exactly opposite of what the gospel teaches us. God bought him with the invaluable gift of Jesus. God could not have placed more value on my brother than giving His Son to redeem him. When my thinking is in contradiction to God's valuation, I actually "sin against Christ" (v.13). It turns out that my sinful jealousy is far uglier than I thought.
Bottom line: Jealosy reveals a wrong view of myself, a wrong view of my brother, and a lack of conformity with the gospel.
Tuesday, April 10, 2007
He Has to Do It for Me
Galatians 3:3 is the springboard verse for this blog. Here goes. I turn Paul's question to myself: "Am I so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit, am I now being perfected by the flesh?" It's a hard question to ask yourself. I mean, who wants to risk evaluating their own earnest efforts at sanctification and find that they were folly? It's a bit intimidating to look into the mirror of Scripture at this point. The alternative, however, is far worse: trying in vain to perfect myself in my own power. Unfortunately, I have found myself in that very spot too often, trying to reason myself into sanctification: "Jeff, you know that God is in sovereign control of everything. Not having peace in the middle of this trial is foolish. You're more mature than that!"
While God's attributes (e.g., His providential control over events) absolutely have the capacity to be beneficial, I cannot in my own power even meditate on them in an effective way. It's only when I come to the end of myself and my efforts and ask God to do it for me that I can even benefit from meditating on His promises. I think this is the first time I've given a lot of contemplation to the noetic effects of the fall with respect to sanctification. When I try to pull myself up by my own spiritual or intellectual bootstraps, I am living like I'm under the curse of the law. A few verses later, Paul says as much: "For all who rely on works of the law are under a curse...[However], Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us--for it is written, 'Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree'--so that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles, so that we might receive the promised Spirit through faith." (3:10, 13-14).
The gospel truth I should be meditating on is that Christ put to death my self-help efforts to manufacture peace for myself in the middle of a trial. He bought me back from the curse of thinking the answers to my problems lie within myself. Having begun by the Spirit, I must also be perfected by the Spirit. Christ has to do it for me. He has to appropriate the gospel truths by causing me to meditate properly. Just as the Holy Spirit helps me by shaping my prayers, Christ helps me by shaping my thoughts.
While God's attributes (e.g., His providential control over events) absolutely have the capacity to be beneficial, I cannot in my own power even meditate on them in an effective way. It's only when I come to the end of myself and my efforts and ask God to do it for me that I can even benefit from meditating on His promises. I think this is the first time I've given a lot of contemplation to the noetic effects of the fall with respect to sanctification. When I try to pull myself up by my own spiritual or intellectual bootstraps, I am living like I'm under the curse of the law. A few verses later, Paul says as much: "For all who rely on works of the law are under a curse...[However], Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us--for it is written, 'Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree'--so that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles, so that we might receive the promised Spirit through faith." (3:10, 13-14).
The gospel truth I should be meditating on is that Christ put to death my self-help efforts to manufacture peace for myself in the middle of a trial. He bought me back from the curse of thinking the answers to my problems lie within myself. Having begun by the Spirit, I must also be perfected by the Spirit. Christ has to do it for me. He has to appropriate the gospel truths by causing me to meditate properly. Just as the Holy Spirit helps me by shaping my prayers, Christ helps me by shaping my thoughts.
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