Hi everyone,
It's been an awfully long time since I posted a new blog. I apologize--things have been kind of busy and I just got away from it.
At both Hazelwood and Sq Hill CC's, we've been seeing some cool things. We've had a lot of discussions on: baptism (what we do when we believe and want to follow Jesus--sort of the first step; see Mtk16:16, and Ac10:43 with 11:17 and 15:9), what it means to be justified (what happens to us when we have faith in Jesus and look to Him for salvation--we're put in a state of grace because of Jesus' work for us; see Ac13:38-39, Rom3:23-26, and Gal2:15-16), and yesterday we saw that church membership is just an extension of our being a part of the family of God through rebirth in Christ (see John1:12-13 and Gal4:4-6).
As every sermon and every Bible study is about Jesus, we've seen God's grace in the form of showing that things like these (justification, baptism, church membership, etc.) have to be understood in light of Jesus and His finished work. If we're not saved by our works but JESUS' work to be received in faith (which flows INTO good works as Jesus is in us--see Jn15:1-10 and Eph2:8-10), then the most important thing we could ever be reminded of is that what makes us Christians is Jesus, believed on and obeyed. It's His life and resurrection that has regenerated us and given us new life (see 1Pet1:3), and the Church is the Church when we're making much of Him and what He's done.
Everyone needs this. As a Christian, you're not allowed to say you believe that Jesus is God who came to save us and then turn around and not think that everyone needs it. Jesus Himself said that everyone is enslaved to sin (Jn8:34) and unless they believe in Him, they'll DIE in their sin (8:24).
Sin on earth makes everything dysfunctional as people more and more slide away from God (see the loss of sanity and sexual morality because of sin in Rom1:18-24, and the destruction of the family unit because of sin in Genesis3:8-4:7)--because of this, everyone has massive strongholds built up against the knowledge of God (see 2Cor10:4-5). This is why one must be reborn to follow Jesus (see John3:2-8).
The ones seeking to deal with the problems in 2013 Post-modern Post-Christian society from a Christian perspective are largely seeking to do so without the only source of power that there is: Jesus, and what He's done for us. Sure, many may talk about Jesus (His love, forgiveness, etc.), but no one talks about a) His finished work, which is supposed to be understood as giving us power to overcome sin (even sexual sin) (see Rom6:3-5), or b) the fact that BECAUSE He's loving, He tells the truth (John8:14, 18:37). Sometimes the truth hurts. But if the one telling us the truth went to the cross to die for our sins, obviously He's looking out for our best interest; and if the one telling us the truth rose from the grave, obviously He's God and knows best.
Jesus is God who came to save us from sin. Sin leads to a) hell on earth, and b) hell eternally. Hell on earth and hell eternally are both just and fair. Grace is rebirth and eternal life with God the Father and His Son, because of what the Father and the Son have done for us. He requires holiness and godliness from us, and in our state of sin and death, Jesus dies for us to provide holiness and godliness to us (see Rom5:6-8, Eph2:4-5).
This isn't an oppressive message at all--it's grace AND truth. If grace doesn't have truth, it's not really grace. Grace needs truth in order to be grace, because grace is mercy IN LIGHT OF the truth. "The Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory; glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth" (John1:14). Jesus doesn't sweep problems under the rug (see his handling of the Pharisees in Matt6:1-18 and 23:1-36). Instead, he tells the hard truth of sin, and then goes to the cross to die for said sin, that we'd believe and be saved, and then rise with Him into new life.
May Christ's Name be lifted high, and the Church look like the Church--bearing witness to His grace and truth. "We're eyewitnesses of His majesty".
Pray for revival in our city, so that people come to know Jesus not just as a concept...but for who He really is: a Person--God who came to save us. He builds His Church, and will continue regardless of what happens.
Scott Stine - PhD, Pastor of Darlington Congregational Church, Pawtucket, RI. Follower of Jesus; husband, daddy, distracted by basketball. My book "Christ and Theology: Toward Typological Realism" (Wipf and Stock) is available most places.
Monday, July 1, 2013
Tuesday, March 12, 2013
Righteousness and Discipleship
The call to discipleship is a call to life which begins with death. Much of the modern Christian message has been stripped of all of its weight because of the fact that the Christians don't know what the Gospel is anymore. Just like when people who don't know what the Scripture teaches about God's nature resort to defining Him by whatever it is they want Him to be like, so likewise when people don't know the Gospel, they conform it to their own nature as well. The writer is perhaps most guilty.
According to Mark's account of Jesus' life, He ended his time with them by telling them to go and preach gospel (see Mark 16:15--"Go and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation"). According to Matthew, this conversation went like this: "All authority in heaven and earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the Name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey all that I've commanded you. And surely I'm with you always, to the end of the age" (Mt 28:18-20). Finally, Luke has Jesus ending his time with them by saying, "When the Holy Spirit comes upon you, you will bear witness about me" (Ac 1:8). Whereas these differing accounts give slight variation, the variation is certainly only slight, and the message is still the same: "Go and proclaim ME." It's as if Jesus is telling them that their job description is to go and just talk about Him. In fact, the Acts account isn't even a command--it's a declaration: "You WILL proclaim me when the Spirit comes." This is reminiscent of His words to the disciples about their impending persecution in Mt 10:19-20: "Do not be anxious how you are to speak...for it is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you." He is promising that when "the Spirit of truth" (Jn 14:17, 15:26, 16:13), who is also the "Spirit of adoption as sons" (Rom 8:15), comes upon them, He will also become a "Spirit of power" (2 Tm 1:7) who will then become a "Spirit of conviction" to all they speak to (Jn 16:8, 1 Thes 1:5). The Holy Spirit will, for all intents and purposes, do everything in their ministry.
Whereas the Spirit has regenerated them into new life (see Jn 3:5, 6:63; cf Eph 2:4-5), and so now leads them into the truth (Jn 14:26, 16:13), He will then begin empowering them for ministry. The Spirit draws them to Christ, teaches them the truth, convicts them of sin, and sanctifies them...in other words, the Spirit brings them to become Christians and remain Christians. So also the Spirit will bring about and empower obedience to His call. The Christian who is called by Christ to ministry is never an island--he is always with a calling of which Christ already has the results, and he always has the promise that even if he fails in certain parts, he won't fail finally, because the results are Christ's (see Jesus' prayer for Peter in Luke 22:31-34, and Peter's subsequent fall and return in 22:54-62; also read carefully the language of Paul in Ephesians 2:8-10). As the disciples are sent to go and preach the Gospel, they can be sure that the Lord will bring about fruit...which is good because apart from Him, they couldn't bear any (see Jn 15:5).
What was the Gospel, in simple terms? Paul says in Romans 1:16-17 that the gospel is "the power of God for salvation, to everyone who believes", and then he says that in the Gospel, "the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith". So God literally saves people through the message of the Gospel, and in saving them, his righteousness is revealed. Still, it appears abstract.
But this is why the Scripture is so glorious. In 1 Corinthians 1, he defines this Gospel for us: "Christ did not send me to the baptize, but to preach the gospel, and not with words of eloquent wisdom, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power" (1:17). He continues, "For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God" (1:18). So whereas the Gospel is identified a certain way by Jesus in his commissioning of the disciples (obedience to Him, speaking about Him, etc.), Paul identified this further to help clarify (and so fulfill his mission given him by Christ--see Ac 9:15, 26:15-18): the Gospel is the message of the Cross. In IT the righteousness of God is revealed.
But how is this?
First, beginning with Christ's identity: "the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world"--Jn 1:29; He who will "save His people from their sins"--Mt 1:21; "the Word of God...who..became flesh and dwelt among us"--Jn 1:1-3,14, etc. If He who is from God and is the eternal sovereign Creator (see Col 1:15-16, Heb 1:2-4) has to go to the cross in order for anyone to be saved, the gap of righteousness/holiness between God and ourselves must be infinitely wide, so much that only God could span it Himself. God is infinitely holy--"holy" means "set apart", but when speaking of God, it doesn't just mean 'set apart' like the smelly kid at recess is 'set apart' from all the other kids because they don't like him--that kind of 'set apart' is different. The 'set apart'ness of God is one characterized by transcendence (Is 55:8-9), independence (Ac 17:25), and unapproachability (1 Tim 6:16). He is so holy that human eyes can't behold Him in all of his glory. Cross-reference Leviticus 11:44 (God saying "be holy for I am holy") with Matt 5:48 (Jesus saying "be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect") to see that Jesus defines "holiness" as "perfection". One begins to see the need for God to show grace and mercy--He could never be reached or approached by human effort. It's foolishness to trust in one's own goodness (see the Pharisee in Lk 18:9) especially when there IS no one good or righteous! (See Mk 10:18 and Rom 3:10, 8:7.) If Christ has to come and offer Himself on the cross, and this be the ONLY way to be saved (and it most certainly is: read...the Gospels), how righteous must God be, compared to how unrighteous we must be? In this, the righteousness of God is revealed through the cross. The cross might be foolishness to world, but to those who are saved, it's God's power to save them.
Second, when this is understood--that God is infinitely holy, and mankind, though once good but now sinners addicted to sin and incapable of changing self (see Ecclesiastes 7:29, Jerem 13:23, Jn 8:34)--one sees his utter despair and dependence on divine mercy from God. One sees that salvation/justification is something that he can't do enough for, because God is just that much more holy and good than any "holy" or "good" work a person can accomplish. A person, with the tax collector from the Luke 18 passage cited above, knows that he can't justify himself, and can only stand with his face pointed downward, beating his breast and crying out, "God, have mercy on me, a sinner!"
The only proper place of worship is that which has a proper understanding of the identity of the one being worshiped vs the one worshiping. If a woman worships her beauty, it's inappropriate because beauty is only fleeting and can't truly give her what she needs anyways. If a man worships his favorite sports team, it's inappropriate because sports are simply games where the creators of the game created a goal (a football which needs to be brought to an endzone by a team of players), and then a problem which thwarts the accomplishing of this goal (the other team GUARDING said endzone). See? It's a game. Beauty, while beautiful, is fleeting; sports, while fun, are silly games. And most can't see clearly enough to tell the difference between appreciation and worship. Most women who worship their looks don't know they do, and most men who worship their sports don't know they do (though some know, but are just too lazy and stupid to want to deal with it).
And this is why the Cross matters so much. In the cross, God's righteousness is shown for what it is--perfection and holiness. In the cross, our righteousness is shown for what it really is--non-existent. At least, not before a holy God. The sovereign-Creator-turned-crucified-Savior has become a living sermon--none can be saved apart from Christ.
But then the second tier of God's righteousness at the cross is revealed--the righteousness which God gives to those who don't have any, but believe in Jesus.
--First, note that directly after the "trusting in self-righteousness" Tax Collector and Pharisee parable in Lk 18, Jesus rebukes his disciples for turning away people who brought their infants to him, saying, "Whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it" (18:17). Jesus had just told a parable rebuking those who "trusted in themselves, that they were righteous", and now He's rebuking the disciples for turning people away from coming to Him. THEN comes the rich young ruler. When he asks about how to receive eternal life, Jesus tells him to sell all he has, "and come follow ME" (18:22). This story is not about the man's riches--it's about the man's idolatry of his riches, and his need to come follow Jesus to have eternal life. Reading all of this together, it would appear that the message is that the only way to righteousness/justification is through coming to and following Jesus. He, and He alone, is the way to life.
--Second, note that Paul said this same thing: "The righteousness of God has been manifested...the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe" (Rom 3:21-22). He then continues on, talking about the cross. Referring to this righteousness as that which is manifested "through faith...for all who believe" is to say that the faith/belief the Christian has taps INTO this righteousness somehow. Note Paul's words in 2 Cor 5:21: "He (God) made Him to be sin who knew no sin (Jesus), that in him we might become the righteousness of God". Christians, with their sin placed on Jesus, have His righteousness placed on them. The two phrases the theologians use are substitionary atonement--that Jesus is our substitute, and imputed righteousness--that God accounts Jesus' righteousness to us who have none. Finally, note Paul's words in Philippians 3:8-9: "I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus...I have suffered the loss of all things...not having a righteousness of my own which comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith." Truly if Paul COULD have "righteousness of his own from the Law", it would not be enough, for "by works of the Law, none will be justified" since the Law only shows us how we can't keep it (Rom 3:20).
The righteousness of God is given to those who have faith in Jesus' work. And the Gospel comes to us in the message of the cross. When one, empowered by the Holy Spirit (1 Cor 2:4-5), is brought to the realization of their dependence on Christ's perfect work on the cross--and the cross is only what it is because of Jesus' perfect life of holiness--they've been given new life, exposed to the truth, and raised with Christ into new life. They are not depending on their self to be acceptable to God--rather, they're depending on God's mercy in Christ's work to be acceptable to Him. What a wonderful truth!--that I can know God because Jesus has done all the work which I couldn't do!
Belief in Jesus and obedience to Jesus are synonymous in the New Testament--see Jn 3:36, Ac 6:7, Rom 1:5, and Heb 3:18-19. To obey Him, one must trust that He's worthy of obeying, and it is His cross, resurrection, and effectual calling which proves His worth. Righteousness before God, this side of the Fall, is something that is only revealed and received through faith in Christ. He is either all in all, or He is none at all. Let those who have been humbled by the Gospel cry out "the former!", and let those who have been humbled by man's depravity cry out "I believe, help my unbelief!". The former will treasure Christ as the all in all, and they will "go and make disciples"--but not by their own power. Rather, it'll be by Jesus' power--and His power comes to us through His Spirit. The latter will cry out to Him for wisdom, sure that He will answer (see 1 Cor 1:30 with James 1:5), because He gives rest to those who come to Him. "Surely I will never cast them out" (Jn 6:39 with Mt 11:28-30).
According to Mark's account of Jesus' life, He ended his time with them by telling them to go and preach gospel (see Mark 16:15--"Go and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation"). According to Matthew, this conversation went like this: "All authority in heaven and earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the Name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey all that I've commanded you. And surely I'm with you always, to the end of the age" (Mt 28:18-20). Finally, Luke has Jesus ending his time with them by saying, "When the Holy Spirit comes upon you, you will bear witness about me" (Ac 1:8). Whereas these differing accounts give slight variation, the variation is certainly only slight, and the message is still the same: "Go and proclaim ME." It's as if Jesus is telling them that their job description is to go and just talk about Him. In fact, the Acts account isn't even a command--it's a declaration: "You WILL proclaim me when the Spirit comes." This is reminiscent of His words to the disciples about their impending persecution in Mt 10:19-20: "Do not be anxious how you are to speak...for it is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you." He is promising that when "the Spirit of truth" (Jn 14:17, 15:26, 16:13), who is also the "Spirit of adoption as sons" (Rom 8:15), comes upon them, He will also become a "Spirit of power" (2 Tm 1:7) who will then become a "Spirit of conviction" to all they speak to (Jn 16:8, 1 Thes 1:5). The Holy Spirit will, for all intents and purposes, do everything in their ministry.
Whereas the Spirit has regenerated them into new life (see Jn 3:5, 6:63; cf Eph 2:4-5), and so now leads them into the truth (Jn 14:26, 16:13), He will then begin empowering them for ministry. The Spirit draws them to Christ, teaches them the truth, convicts them of sin, and sanctifies them...in other words, the Spirit brings them to become Christians and remain Christians. So also the Spirit will bring about and empower obedience to His call. The Christian who is called by Christ to ministry is never an island--he is always with a calling of which Christ already has the results, and he always has the promise that even if he fails in certain parts, he won't fail finally, because the results are Christ's (see Jesus' prayer for Peter in Luke 22:31-34, and Peter's subsequent fall and return in 22:54-62; also read carefully the language of Paul in Ephesians 2:8-10). As the disciples are sent to go and preach the Gospel, they can be sure that the Lord will bring about fruit...which is good because apart from Him, they couldn't bear any (see Jn 15:5).
What was the Gospel, in simple terms? Paul says in Romans 1:16-17 that the gospel is "the power of God for salvation, to everyone who believes", and then he says that in the Gospel, "the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith". So God literally saves people through the message of the Gospel, and in saving them, his righteousness is revealed. Still, it appears abstract.
But this is why the Scripture is so glorious. In 1 Corinthians 1, he defines this Gospel for us: "Christ did not send me to the baptize, but to preach the gospel, and not with words of eloquent wisdom, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power" (1:17). He continues, "For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God" (1:18). So whereas the Gospel is identified a certain way by Jesus in his commissioning of the disciples (obedience to Him, speaking about Him, etc.), Paul identified this further to help clarify (and so fulfill his mission given him by Christ--see Ac 9:15, 26:15-18): the Gospel is the message of the Cross. In IT the righteousness of God is revealed.
But how is this?
First, beginning with Christ's identity: "the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world"--Jn 1:29; He who will "save His people from their sins"--Mt 1:21; "the Word of God...who..became flesh and dwelt among us"--Jn 1:1-3,14, etc. If He who is from God and is the eternal sovereign Creator (see Col 1:15-16, Heb 1:2-4) has to go to the cross in order for anyone to be saved, the gap of righteousness/holiness between God and ourselves must be infinitely wide, so much that only God could span it Himself. God is infinitely holy--"holy" means "set apart", but when speaking of God, it doesn't just mean 'set apart' like the smelly kid at recess is 'set apart' from all the other kids because they don't like him--that kind of 'set apart' is different. The 'set apart'ness of God is one characterized by transcendence (Is 55:8-9), independence (Ac 17:25), and unapproachability (1 Tim 6:16). He is so holy that human eyes can't behold Him in all of his glory. Cross-reference Leviticus 11:44 (God saying "be holy for I am holy") with Matt 5:48 (Jesus saying "be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect") to see that Jesus defines "holiness" as "perfection". One begins to see the need for God to show grace and mercy--He could never be reached or approached by human effort. It's foolishness to trust in one's own goodness (see the Pharisee in Lk 18:9) especially when there IS no one good or righteous! (See Mk 10:18 and Rom 3:10, 8:7.) If Christ has to come and offer Himself on the cross, and this be the ONLY way to be saved (and it most certainly is: read...the Gospels), how righteous must God be, compared to how unrighteous we must be? In this, the righteousness of God is revealed through the cross. The cross might be foolishness to world, but to those who are saved, it's God's power to save them.
Second, when this is understood--that God is infinitely holy, and mankind, though once good but now sinners addicted to sin and incapable of changing self (see Ecclesiastes 7:29, Jerem 13:23, Jn 8:34)--one sees his utter despair and dependence on divine mercy from God. One sees that salvation/justification is something that he can't do enough for, because God is just that much more holy and good than any "holy" or "good" work a person can accomplish. A person, with the tax collector from the Luke 18 passage cited above, knows that he can't justify himself, and can only stand with his face pointed downward, beating his breast and crying out, "God, have mercy on me, a sinner!"
The only proper place of worship is that which has a proper understanding of the identity of the one being worshiped vs the one worshiping. If a woman worships her beauty, it's inappropriate because beauty is only fleeting and can't truly give her what she needs anyways. If a man worships his favorite sports team, it's inappropriate because sports are simply games where the creators of the game created a goal (a football which needs to be brought to an endzone by a team of players), and then a problem which thwarts the accomplishing of this goal (the other team GUARDING said endzone). See? It's a game. Beauty, while beautiful, is fleeting; sports, while fun, are silly games. And most can't see clearly enough to tell the difference between appreciation and worship. Most women who worship their looks don't know they do, and most men who worship their sports don't know they do (though some know, but are just too lazy and stupid to want to deal with it).
And this is why the Cross matters so much. In the cross, God's righteousness is shown for what it is--perfection and holiness. In the cross, our righteousness is shown for what it really is--non-existent. At least, not before a holy God. The sovereign-Creator-turned-crucified-Savior has become a living sermon--none can be saved apart from Christ.
But then the second tier of God's righteousness at the cross is revealed--the righteousness which God gives to those who don't have any, but believe in Jesus.
--First, note that directly after the "trusting in self-righteousness" Tax Collector and Pharisee parable in Lk 18, Jesus rebukes his disciples for turning away people who brought their infants to him, saying, "Whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it" (18:17). Jesus had just told a parable rebuking those who "trusted in themselves, that they were righteous", and now He's rebuking the disciples for turning people away from coming to Him. THEN comes the rich young ruler. When he asks about how to receive eternal life, Jesus tells him to sell all he has, "and come follow ME" (18:22). This story is not about the man's riches--it's about the man's idolatry of his riches, and his need to come follow Jesus to have eternal life. Reading all of this together, it would appear that the message is that the only way to righteousness/justification is through coming to and following Jesus. He, and He alone, is the way to life.
--Second, note that Paul said this same thing: "The righteousness of God has been manifested...the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe" (Rom 3:21-22). He then continues on, talking about the cross. Referring to this righteousness as that which is manifested "through faith...for all who believe" is to say that the faith/belief the Christian has taps INTO this righteousness somehow. Note Paul's words in 2 Cor 5:21: "He (God) made Him to be sin who knew no sin (Jesus), that in him we might become the righteousness of God". Christians, with their sin placed on Jesus, have His righteousness placed on them. The two phrases the theologians use are substitionary atonement--that Jesus is our substitute, and imputed righteousness--that God accounts Jesus' righteousness to us who have none. Finally, note Paul's words in Philippians 3:8-9: "I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus...I have suffered the loss of all things...not having a righteousness of my own which comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith." Truly if Paul COULD have "righteousness of his own from the Law", it would not be enough, for "by works of the Law, none will be justified" since the Law only shows us how we can't keep it (Rom 3:20).
The righteousness of God is given to those who have faith in Jesus' work. And the Gospel comes to us in the message of the cross. When one, empowered by the Holy Spirit (1 Cor 2:4-5), is brought to the realization of their dependence on Christ's perfect work on the cross--and the cross is only what it is because of Jesus' perfect life of holiness--they've been given new life, exposed to the truth, and raised with Christ into new life. They are not depending on their self to be acceptable to God--rather, they're depending on God's mercy in Christ's work to be acceptable to Him. What a wonderful truth!--that I can know God because Jesus has done all the work which I couldn't do!
Belief in Jesus and obedience to Jesus are synonymous in the New Testament--see Jn 3:36, Ac 6:7, Rom 1:5, and Heb 3:18-19. To obey Him, one must trust that He's worthy of obeying, and it is His cross, resurrection, and effectual calling which proves His worth. Righteousness before God, this side of the Fall, is something that is only revealed and received through faith in Christ. He is either all in all, or He is none at all. Let those who have been humbled by the Gospel cry out "the former!", and let those who have been humbled by man's depravity cry out "I believe, help my unbelief!". The former will treasure Christ as the all in all, and they will "go and make disciples"--but not by their own power. Rather, it'll be by Jesus' power--and His power comes to us through His Spirit. The latter will cry out to Him for wisdom, sure that He will answer (see 1 Cor 1:30 with James 1:5), because He gives rest to those who come to Him. "Surely I will never cast them out" (Jn 6:39 with Mt 11:28-30).
Tuesday, January 29, 2013
Christ and the Spirit
I've been reading The Holy Spirit, written by the late Arthur Pink (1886-1952), and published posthumously. It has been an amazing study of the Scripture's teaching on the Person and work of the Holy Spirit, both in the life of the Christian, and in the operation throughout the world (Christians and non-Christians included).
Instead of writing a typical post from my own studies, I thought that I would share from this book a section that to me has been enormously profitable. In this section, Pink outlines 18 parallels between Christ's coming into the world and the Spirit's coming into the world.
As one who lives and breathes Scripture (not in the sense that I perfectly embody Scripture--rather just that I constantly study, read, think, pray it, etc.), seeing connections therein which are obviously there to prove Sovereign God's goodness and transcendent intelligence has proven again and again to be fire-starting in my heart. Things like these cause me to glorify God, with the psalmist, saying, "Your testimonies are my delight--they are my counselors...I find my delight in your commandments, which I love!" (Ps 119:24,47), so that my prayer becomes, "Give me understanding that I may learn your commandments" (119:73), because His Word has proven to be more desirable "than gold, even fine gold, and sweeter than honey, and drippings of the honeycomb" (19:10). By His grace, I've begun to understand that I live "by every word that comes from the mouth of God" (Deut. 8:3, restated by Jesus in Mt. 4:4). Seeing parallels such as what follows prove a real delight to the eyes and heart of faith. Hopefully as you see the similarities between Christ's Advent and subsequently the Spirit's Advent, you'll cry out with me, "Oh the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God!" (Rom. 11:33)
Before you read, remember one thing: Jesus, the night He was betrayed, told His disciples, "It is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you" (Jn 15:7). Without sacrificing reverence to the Name of our Sovereign Lord and God Christ Jesus (the only Name by which man can be saved), we understand His words to mean this: Whereas He, after dying to pay for sins and then rising from death, was to go to sit at the Father's right hand to intercede for His people until He returns finally (see Ps 110:1, Mt 26:64, Eph 1:20, and cross-references), the Holy Spirit would be sent to His people to replace Christ's physical presence on earth. The coming of Christ (His Advent) was to dwell on earth and then pay for sins, and the coming of the Spirit (His Advent) was to apply Christ's work to Christ's people and dwell with them until Christ returns (see Jn 14:16). Thus noticing the parallel is appropriate. That said...
1. Whereas Christ was present in the Old Testament (Ac 7:37-38, 1 Cor 10:4) but the fullness of His presence was to be realized in the New Testament, so it was with the Spirit that He was present with God's people in the OT (Neh 9:20, for example), but the fullness of His presence was realized in the NT.
2. Christ's Advent was predicted and foretold in the OT (as is well documented), but so was the Holy Spirit's (which is much less documented) (see Ps 68:18, Is 32:15, Ezek 36:26, etc.).
3. As Christ had John the Baptist to "prepare the way" for His coming, the Holy Spirit had Christ to prepare the way for Him.
4. Christ was sent by God "when the fullness of time had come" (Gal 4:4), just as the Spirit was sent by God "when the day of Pentecost was fully come" (Ac 2:1, KJV, also in Greek text).
5. Just as the Son of God was made incarnate in the Holy Land of Israel in Palestine, so the Holy Spirit of God descended first in the Holy City of Jerusalem.
6. The "angel choir" sang at Christ's coming (Lk 2:13) while was a "sound from heaven" at the Spirit's (Ac 2:2); likewise the "Shekinah glory of the Lord shone" around those present at Christ's coming (Lk 2:9) and there were "tongues of fire" which rested on those present at the Spirit's (Ac 2:3).
7. An extra-ordinary star marked the house where the Christ-child was (Mt 2:9), while a divine (truly extraordinary) shaking marked the house where the Holy Spirit was (Ac 2:2).
8. Whereas Christ was first made known to a few, but when manifested to Israel, was publically identified (Mt 3:17, Jn 1:29), so the Spirit was first made known to a few, but when manifested to Israel, was publically identified (by Peter--see Ac 2:16-36).
9. As Christ became a man, dwelling in a human "temple" (Jn 2:19), so the Spirit came to dwell in the bodies of those who belong to Christ (Jn 14:16), so that they are "God's temple, in whom His Spirit dwells" (1 Cor 3:16).
10. When Christ was born, "Herod and all of Jerusalem with him were troubled" (Mt 2:3), whereas when the Spirit came, with its loud sound, "the multitude (in Jerusalem)...were bewildered" (Ac 2:6).
11. While it was predicted that Christ would be unrecognized and underappreciated (see Is. 53), so also Christ predicted about the Spirit that "the world can't receive Him, because it doesn't see him or know him" (Jn 14:17).
12. As the Messianic claims of Christ were called into question (see Jn 7:40-52, and cross-references), so also the people, when the Spirit came, "were amazed, and doubted, saying 'What does this mean?'" (Ac 2:12).
13. As Christ was termed a drunkard (wine-bibbler, KJV) (Mt 11:19), so when the Spirit came, those filled with Him were accused of being "drunk with new wine" (Ac 2:13).
14. As the public Advent of Christ was heralded by John the Baptist (Jn 1:29), so the Spirit's was interpreted by Peter (Ac 2:15-36).
15. God appointed Christ to the work of purchasing His people's redemption (Mt 10:45), and so He appointed the Spirit to APPLY said redemption (see Romans 8:10-13).
16. As in Christ's work "the Son honored the Father" (Jn 14:10), so in His work, "the Spirit glorifies the Son" (Jn 16:13-14).
17. As the Father told the Son's disciples to "listen to Him" (Mt 17:15, cross-references), so the Son tells His Church to "hear what the Spirit says to the churches" (Rev 2:7).
18. As Christ committed His true peoples' safe-keeping to His Spirit (Jn 14:16, 16:7, 2 Cor 2:22, Eph 1:14), so His Spirit is committed to delivering Christ's true people to Him (Jn 14:3).
I trust that reading this has been as profitable and fulfilling as it was when I first read it. God's Word is good, Christ as Lord is wonderful, and knowing Him truly is eternal life. Go in the Spirit, for "all who live by the Spirit are sons of God" (Rom 8:14).
Instead of writing a typical post from my own studies, I thought that I would share from this book a section that to me has been enormously profitable. In this section, Pink outlines 18 parallels between Christ's coming into the world and the Spirit's coming into the world.
As one who lives and breathes Scripture (not in the sense that I perfectly embody Scripture--rather just that I constantly study, read, think, pray it, etc.), seeing connections therein which are obviously there to prove Sovereign God's goodness and transcendent intelligence has proven again and again to be fire-starting in my heart. Things like these cause me to glorify God, with the psalmist, saying, "Your testimonies are my delight--they are my counselors...I find my delight in your commandments, which I love!" (Ps 119:24,47), so that my prayer becomes, "Give me understanding that I may learn your commandments" (119:73), because His Word has proven to be more desirable "than gold, even fine gold, and sweeter than honey, and drippings of the honeycomb" (19:10). By His grace, I've begun to understand that I live "by every word that comes from the mouth of God" (Deut. 8:3, restated by Jesus in Mt. 4:4). Seeing parallels such as what follows prove a real delight to the eyes and heart of faith. Hopefully as you see the similarities between Christ's Advent and subsequently the Spirit's Advent, you'll cry out with me, "Oh the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God!" (Rom. 11:33)
Before you read, remember one thing: Jesus, the night He was betrayed, told His disciples, "It is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you" (Jn 15:7). Without sacrificing reverence to the Name of our Sovereign Lord and God Christ Jesus (the only Name by which man can be saved), we understand His words to mean this: Whereas He, after dying to pay for sins and then rising from death, was to go to sit at the Father's right hand to intercede for His people until He returns finally (see Ps 110:1, Mt 26:64, Eph 1:20, and cross-references), the Holy Spirit would be sent to His people to replace Christ's physical presence on earth. The coming of Christ (His Advent) was to dwell on earth and then pay for sins, and the coming of the Spirit (His Advent) was to apply Christ's work to Christ's people and dwell with them until Christ returns (see Jn 14:16). Thus noticing the parallel is appropriate. That said...
1. Whereas Christ was present in the Old Testament (Ac 7:37-38, 1 Cor 10:4) but the fullness of His presence was to be realized in the New Testament, so it was with the Spirit that He was present with God's people in the OT (Neh 9:20, for example), but the fullness of His presence was realized in the NT.
2. Christ's Advent was predicted and foretold in the OT (as is well documented), but so was the Holy Spirit's (which is much less documented) (see Ps 68:18, Is 32:15, Ezek 36:26, etc.).
3. As Christ had John the Baptist to "prepare the way" for His coming, the Holy Spirit had Christ to prepare the way for Him.
4. Christ was sent by God "when the fullness of time had come" (Gal 4:4), just as the Spirit was sent by God "when the day of Pentecost was fully come" (Ac 2:1, KJV, also in Greek text).
5. Just as the Son of God was made incarnate in the Holy Land of Israel in Palestine, so the Holy Spirit of God descended first in the Holy City of Jerusalem.
6. The "angel choir" sang at Christ's coming (Lk 2:13) while was a "sound from heaven" at the Spirit's (Ac 2:2); likewise the "Shekinah glory of the Lord shone" around those present at Christ's coming (Lk 2:9) and there were "tongues of fire" which rested on those present at the Spirit's (Ac 2:3).
7. An extra-ordinary star marked the house where the Christ-child was (Mt 2:9), while a divine (truly extraordinary) shaking marked the house where the Holy Spirit was (Ac 2:2).
8. Whereas Christ was first made known to a few, but when manifested to Israel, was publically identified (Mt 3:17, Jn 1:29), so the Spirit was first made known to a few, but when manifested to Israel, was publically identified (by Peter--see Ac 2:16-36).
9. As Christ became a man, dwelling in a human "temple" (Jn 2:19), so the Spirit came to dwell in the bodies of those who belong to Christ (Jn 14:16), so that they are "God's temple, in whom His Spirit dwells" (1 Cor 3:16).
10. When Christ was born, "Herod and all of Jerusalem with him were troubled" (Mt 2:3), whereas when the Spirit came, with its loud sound, "the multitude (in Jerusalem)...were bewildered" (Ac 2:6).
11. While it was predicted that Christ would be unrecognized and underappreciated (see Is. 53), so also Christ predicted about the Spirit that "the world can't receive Him, because it doesn't see him or know him" (Jn 14:17).
12. As the Messianic claims of Christ were called into question (see Jn 7:40-52, and cross-references), so also the people, when the Spirit came, "were amazed, and doubted, saying 'What does this mean?'" (Ac 2:12).
13. As Christ was termed a drunkard (wine-bibbler, KJV) (Mt 11:19), so when the Spirit came, those filled with Him were accused of being "drunk with new wine" (Ac 2:13).
14. As the public Advent of Christ was heralded by John the Baptist (Jn 1:29), so the Spirit's was interpreted by Peter (Ac 2:15-36).
15. God appointed Christ to the work of purchasing His people's redemption (Mt 10:45), and so He appointed the Spirit to APPLY said redemption (see Romans 8:10-13).
16. As in Christ's work "the Son honored the Father" (Jn 14:10), so in His work, "the Spirit glorifies the Son" (Jn 16:13-14).
17. As the Father told the Son's disciples to "listen to Him" (Mt 17:15, cross-references), so the Son tells His Church to "hear what the Spirit says to the churches" (Rev 2:7).
18. As Christ committed His true peoples' safe-keeping to His Spirit (Jn 14:16, 16:7, 2 Cor 2:22, Eph 1:14), so His Spirit is committed to delivering Christ's true people to Him (Jn 14:3).
I trust that reading this has been as profitable and fulfilling as it was when I first read it. God's Word is good, Christ as Lord is wonderful, and knowing Him truly is eternal life. Go in the Spirit, for "all who live by the Spirit are sons of God" (Rom 8:14).
Tuesday, January 15, 2013
Righteousness From Christ
"...in order that I may gain Christ, and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith..."
Philippians 3:8-9
I was recently reading a Time Magazine publication that compared different religions, and it said that fundamentally Christianity was simply "following Jesus' example." Now whereas the need to follow His example is a fundamental aspect (see Rom 15:1-7, Phil 2:5-8, for example), to describe this concept as the whole of Christianity's scope is a misunderstanding.
Jesus tells His disciples in Acts 1:8 that when the Holy Spirit comes on them, they will "bear witness about (Christ)". Primarily the message the disciples were to preach was the Gospel (Mk 16:15) of Jesus' Person and work and all that He accomplished. This is why Peter immediately begins preaching Jesus as the Christ promised from the Scriptures (Ac 2:16-36) followed by a call to forsake self (repent) and take on Christ's Name to receive the same Holy Spirit (2:37-39). Later, as Peter is in the Temple in Jerusalem, he preaches Christ as "the Author of Life" (3:15--an unheard of designation to a "mere man") and then he challenges the people to "Repent therefore, and turn again, that your sins may be blotted out, that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, and that he may send the Christ appointed for you, Jesus" (3:19-20). So the message is Christ's Person and work on the cross (2:23-24, 3:14-15), the application is forgiveness of sins as they're "blotted out", and the challenge is repentance for the sake of receiving Christ and His Spirit. Later on, Peter, before his Christian brothers in the Jerusalem Council, summarizes the effect (application) of Jesus' work by saying "We believe that we will be saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus" (15:11). So this saving is something that happens by grace and the One who initiates it is Jesus. It's His grace that saves us. And the transaction is, in order, His work, our forgiveness, and His Spirit dwelling in us (Jn 14:16-17), as He promised.
Later, Paul explains even further. In Romans 1-2, he has been laboring to show the effect of sin and peoples' ignorance of God and His righteousness since the beginning. He concludes the section in 3:9-11 "All, both jews and greeks, are under sin...None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks for God." If this were the case, then even man's intellect is under sin--so as man attempts to "follow Jesus' example", he'd continually fail, because in his sin, he can never be sure if he's living in truth, or if he's missing the mark, sure that he's doing "a good job" while JESUS doesn't think he is. To be "under sin" is to be enslaved to it, meaning that righteousness in and of one's self is entirely impossible. Jesus himself had said this in Jn 8:34: "All who sin are slaves to sin". This means that one can try and try to save himself by good works and by even obedience, but sin will always win out.
So Paul says next, "But now the righteousness of God has been manifested...the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe...all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received in faith" (3:21-25). With these words Paul explains the riddle of the transaction we saw earlier--it is Jesus' work (propitiation--a sacrifice of judgment, whereby he redirects God's wrath over our sin from us to Himself by taking the sin onto Himself) which brings justification, and this justifying (counting people righteous though they aren't righteous) is received "by his grace as a gift...to be received in faith". With these words Paul explains to us that salvation before a holy God can only be received as a gift, because man is too sinful to be able to DO anything to save himself. This is the whole point of why Jesus had to come--if man could be righteous by himself, "Christ died for no purpose" (Gal 2:21). But Christ came and was righteous for me, and in his suffering, my sin is dealt with, and faith in Jesus' Person and work of suffering and dying instead of me justifies me entirely before God. In this, God is "just, AND the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus" (Rom 3:26). I'm saved by faith in Jesus' work.
It is no coincidence that each sermon in Acts is 95% about Jesus's work and only 5% about our response (those of course are not actual figures). This is because salvation is worked when one understands what Jesus has accomplished, because when they understand it, if it be received in faith, they are justified. RC Sproul has said "justification by faith alone is one of the simplest of concepts, and yet it is one of the most difficult to accept". The reason for this is that man wants to feel in control and that he could be righteous if he wanted to (and many think they ARE). But man isn't in control and he isn't righteous...he is enslaved to sin...He's a sinner who can't stop. "The intention of man's heart is evil from the time he's a youth" (Gen 8:21); "the heart is deceitful above all things and desperately sick--who can understand it?" (Jer 17:9); "all who sin are slaves to sin" (Jn 8:34); "the mind set on the flesh is hostile to God..it does not submit to God's law, indeed it can not" (Rom 8:7). Man is not righteous before a holy God, because a holy God expects holiNESS, and unless man be completely holy, he has no righteousness before God.
But the reason why Jesus came was to provide a way...THE Way (Matt 7:14, Jn 14:6, Act 16:15). And this "Way" is very simply what HE has done. Speaking of the sin and subsequent death that came into the world through Adam "and spread (from him) to all men, because ALL sinned" (Rom 5:12), Paul continues by saying, "If, because of one man's trespass (Adam's), death reigned through that one man, much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man Jesus Christ" (5:17). Death came through Adam because Adam sinned; but grace and the gift of righteousness has come through Jesus Christ. "One act of righteousness leads to justification and life for all men...by one mans disobedience (Adam's) the many were made sinners, so by the one man's obedience (Christ's) the many will be made righteous" (5:19).
Do you understand? It is Adam's sin which brought death and condemnation (though we are responsible, because we've all sinned!); but it is Christ's righteousness and obedience which brings something else...righteousness! It is Jesus' living a perfect life, entirely righteous and obedient before the Father, and then pouring out His life on the cross in obedience that, received by faith, connects me with His righteousness, and accounts His righteousness to me. "He became sin...that (I) might become the righteousness of God" (2 Cor 5:21). Though I'm NOT righteous in and of myself, Jesus is, and faith in His Person and work accounts me righteous, on the basis OF His Person and work.
But what does it mean to "have faith in Jesus"? What is "belief in Jesus"?
First, it's something that must be believed in the heart (Rom 8:10). Second, since the heart is deceitful and sick (Jerem. 17:9), only the Holy Spirit of God can enlighten the heart and draw it to Christ. "It is the Spirit which gives life; the flesh is no help at all" (Jn 6:63). "No one can say 'Jesus is Lord' except in the Holy Spirit" (1 Cor 12:3). Just as only the Father can draw the wayward sinner to Christ (Jn 6:44), only the Father can reveal to the spiritually dead sinner that Jesus is the Christ (Matt 16:15). "Salvation is of the Lord" (Jonah 2:9), because only the Lord can illumine the person to understand that before a righteous and holy God, they have no righteousness or holiness. And when they realize this, they are confronted with the truth of the Gospel--that gracious and wonderful and life-giving truth: "by Christ's obedience, YOU are made righteous...to be received in faith".
This is why it's nowhere near sufficient to say that Christianity is fundamentally about following Jesus' example. Of course, "even the demons believe, and shudder!" (Jms 2:19). But belief, for the Christian, is trust...trust in what? In the righteousness of Christ to make me righteous before a righteous God. I, in and of myself, have no righteousness. It is all Christ, or it's nothing. Yes, I believe, but only because the Spirit quickens me. Yes I follow Jesus' example, but only because God has accounted Jesus' obedience to me by grace through faith. It completely takes the onus off of me, and puts it on Jesus. Not what I do--what HE does, and what He continues to do. Otherwise, the Gospel isn't good news at all--it's just another religious theory for how to present yourself before God. But the Christian gospel IS good news because it's the news about what Jesus has done for us--and when it is believed on and trusted in, then "if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation" (2 Cor 5:17).
This is why (in the Philippians passage) Paul wants to be "in Christ", not having a righteousness of his own but the righteousness from God through faith in Christ. Paul knows that Paul doesn't HAVE any righteousness...his righteousness can only be that which is from Christ. When you understand this, it's wonderful. And when you know it's all you'll ever need, it begins to be all you ever want.
Philippians 3:8-9
I was recently reading a Time Magazine publication that compared different religions, and it said that fundamentally Christianity was simply "following Jesus' example." Now whereas the need to follow His example is a fundamental aspect (see Rom 15:1-7, Phil 2:5-8, for example), to describe this concept as the whole of Christianity's scope is a misunderstanding.
Jesus tells His disciples in Acts 1:8 that when the Holy Spirit comes on them, they will "bear witness about (Christ)". Primarily the message the disciples were to preach was the Gospel (Mk 16:15) of Jesus' Person and work and all that He accomplished. This is why Peter immediately begins preaching Jesus as the Christ promised from the Scriptures (Ac 2:16-36) followed by a call to forsake self (repent) and take on Christ's Name to receive the same Holy Spirit (2:37-39). Later, as Peter is in the Temple in Jerusalem, he preaches Christ as "the Author of Life" (3:15--an unheard of designation to a "mere man") and then he challenges the people to "Repent therefore, and turn again, that your sins may be blotted out, that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, and that he may send the Christ appointed for you, Jesus" (3:19-20). So the message is Christ's Person and work on the cross (2:23-24, 3:14-15), the application is forgiveness of sins as they're "blotted out", and the challenge is repentance for the sake of receiving Christ and His Spirit. Later on, Peter, before his Christian brothers in the Jerusalem Council, summarizes the effect (application) of Jesus' work by saying "We believe that we will be saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus" (15:11). So this saving is something that happens by grace and the One who initiates it is Jesus. It's His grace that saves us. And the transaction is, in order, His work, our forgiveness, and His Spirit dwelling in us (Jn 14:16-17), as He promised.
Later, Paul explains even further. In Romans 1-2, he has been laboring to show the effect of sin and peoples' ignorance of God and His righteousness since the beginning. He concludes the section in 3:9-11 "All, both jews and greeks, are under sin...None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks for God." If this were the case, then even man's intellect is under sin--so as man attempts to "follow Jesus' example", he'd continually fail, because in his sin, he can never be sure if he's living in truth, or if he's missing the mark, sure that he's doing "a good job" while JESUS doesn't think he is. To be "under sin" is to be enslaved to it, meaning that righteousness in and of one's self is entirely impossible. Jesus himself had said this in Jn 8:34: "All who sin are slaves to sin". This means that one can try and try to save himself by good works and by even obedience, but sin will always win out.
So Paul says next, "But now the righteousness of God has been manifested...the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe...all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received in faith" (3:21-25). With these words Paul explains the riddle of the transaction we saw earlier--it is Jesus' work (propitiation--a sacrifice of judgment, whereby he redirects God's wrath over our sin from us to Himself by taking the sin onto Himself) which brings justification, and this justifying (counting people righteous though they aren't righteous) is received "by his grace as a gift...to be received in faith". With these words Paul explains to us that salvation before a holy God can only be received as a gift, because man is too sinful to be able to DO anything to save himself. This is the whole point of why Jesus had to come--if man could be righteous by himself, "Christ died for no purpose" (Gal 2:21). But Christ came and was righteous for me, and in his suffering, my sin is dealt with, and faith in Jesus' Person and work of suffering and dying instead of me justifies me entirely before God. In this, God is "just, AND the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus" (Rom 3:26). I'm saved by faith in Jesus' work.
It is no coincidence that each sermon in Acts is 95% about Jesus's work and only 5% about our response (those of course are not actual figures). This is because salvation is worked when one understands what Jesus has accomplished, because when they understand it, if it be received in faith, they are justified. RC Sproul has said "justification by faith alone is one of the simplest of concepts, and yet it is one of the most difficult to accept". The reason for this is that man wants to feel in control and that he could be righteous if he wanted to (and many think they ARE). But man isn't in control and he isn't righteous...he is enslaved to sin...He's a sinner who can't stop. "The intention of man's heart is evil from the time he's a youth" (Gen 8:21); "the heart is deceitful above all things and desperately sick--who can understand it?" (Jer 17:9); "all who sin are slaves to sin" (Jn 8:34); "the mind set on the flesh is hostile to God..it does not submit to God's law, indeed it can not" (Rom 8:7). Man is not righteous before a holy God, because a holy God expects holiNESS, and unless man be completely holy, he has no righteousness before God.
But the reason why Jesus came was to provide a way...THE Way (Matt 7:14, Jn 14:6, Act 16:15). And this "Way" is very simply what HE has done. Speaking of the sin and subsequent death that came into the world through Adam "and spread (from him) to all men, because ALL sinned" (Rom 5:12), Paul continues by saying, "If, because of one man's trespass (Adam's), death reigned through that one man, much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man Jesus Christ" (5:17). Death came through Adam because Adam sinned; but grace and the gift of righteousness has come through Jesus Christ. "One act of righteousness leads to justification and life for all men...by one mans disobedience (Adam's) the many were made sinners, so by the one man's obedience (Christ's) the many will be made righteous" (5:19).
Do you understand? It is Adam's sin which brought death and condemnation (though we are responsible, because we've all sinned!); but it is Christ's righteousness and obedience which brings something else...righteousness! It is Jesus' living a perfect life, entirely righteous and obedient before the Father, and then pouring out His life on the cross in obedience that, received by faith, connects me with His righteousness, and accounts His righteousness to me. "He became sin...that (I) might become the righteousness of God" (2 Cor 5:21). Though I'm NOT righteous in and of myself, Jesus is, and faith in His Person and work accounts me righteous, on the basis OF His Person and work.
But what does it mean to "have faith in Jesus"? What is "belief in Jesus"?
First, it's something that must be believed in the heart (Rom 8:10). Second, since the heart is deceitful and sick (Jerem. 17:9), only the Holy Spirit of God can enlighten the heart and draw it to Christ. "It is the Spirit which gives life; the flesh is no help at all" (Jn 6:63). "No one can say 'Jesus is Lord' except in the Holy Spirit" (1 Cor 12:3). Just as only the Father can draw the wayward sinner to Christ (Jn 6:44), only the Father can reveal to the spiritually dead sinner that Jesus is the Christ (Matt 16:15). "Salvation is of the Lord" (Jonah 2:9), because only the Lord can illumine the person to understand that before a righteous and holy God, they have no righteousness or holiness. And when they realize this, they are confronted with the truth of the Gospel--that gracious and wonderful and life-giving truth: "by Christ's obedience, YOU are made righteous...to be received in faith".
This is why it's nowhere near sufficient to say that Christianity is fundamentally about following Jesus' example. Of course, "even the demons believe, and shudder!" (Jms 2:19). But belief, for the Christian, is trust...trust in what? In the righteousness of Christ to make me righteous before a righteous God. I, in and of myself, have no righteousness. It is all Christ, or it's nothing. Yes, I believe, but only because the Spirit quickens me. Yes I follow Jesus' example, but only because God has accounted Jesus' obedience to me by grace through faith. It completely takes the onus off of me, and puts it on Jesus. Not what I do--what HE does, and what He continues to do. Otherwise, the Gospel isn't good news at all--it's just another religious theory for how to present yourself before God. But the Christian gospel IS good news because it's the news about what Jesus has done for us--and when it is believed on and trusted in, then "if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation" (2 Cor 5:17).
This is why (in the Philippians passage) Paul wants to be "in Christ", not having a righteousness of his own but the righteousness from God through faith in Christ. Paul knows that Paul doesn't HAVE any righteousness...his righteousness can only be that which is from Christ. When you understand this, it's wonderful. And when you know it's all you'll ever need, it begins to be all you ever want.
Wednesday, December 12, 2012
Christianity: A Past Event and Present Reality
"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, then to the twelve."
--1 Cor. 15:3-5
All too often the cross and resurrection of Christ is proclaimed as though it's a fairy-tale. I don't question whether preachers and Christians believe in it or not. I think most of them do believe it happened--I just know that for a long time I believed in it like I believed in poverty in other countries: Something that's real, but since it didn't immediately effect my present situation, I never was forced to wrestle with it or think about it in deep and "present" terms. It's important, but only in conversation--not existentially.
Yet Christianity, since it's inception, has been entirely wrapped up in an event that happened. The work of the Son of God who stepped foot onto earth 2000 years ago and fulfilled the Law of God which man is entirely incapable of keeping (see Mt 5:17, Rom 8:1-4), is to pay a ransom for the sins of many people (Mk 10:45) who are His sheep/Church (Jn 10:15), that they would be "set free from sin" (Jn 8:34-36, Ac 13:39). His being betrayed, tried, condemned, and crucified was all the work of Sovereign God opening the way of salvation (see Ac 2:23, 3:18, 4:27-28) for those in darkness, as also was Christ's being risen the work of God (2:23, Rom 8:11). Through His work on the cross--His death as a perfect final sacrifice instead of the person--the person can receive the gift of eternal life simply by having faith in the goodness of the work in Christ's death and resurrection (see Rom 3:23-26), because through the work of Christ, His Spirit comes from Him to the person, and they are counted righteous, seated with Christ "in the heavenly places" (Eph 2:4-5), and through His work they begin to walk in "good works, which God has prepared for (them) to do" (2:10).
Do you understand this? The cross and resurrection as an event that actually happened is at the center and core of all that Christianity is. If it didn't happen, or if it is only approached flippantly and half-asleep, the natural course of the Christian message will be legalism masked as "Gospel": "Obey these commands, and you'll be saved", which is no different than the Law of the Old Testament. This is why almost all Christian preaching and writing is to one of two extremes: Hyper-legalism (command-keeping as the central tenet), or Relative-loveism (no command matters, just love). Of course, these are both the same thing. The former is just explicit with setting up a Law for sinful and spiritually dead people to follow by their helpless self; the latter deceives itself to think it has the better standard, but it certainly is still a standard which helpless people have to keep, and so is a Law as well.
And neither one is a Gospel, because both give the hearer a standard to have to measure to from where they're at presently.
But the Christian message has been about good news even 400 years before it happened (see Isaiah 40:9, 52:7), as it was from the beginning of Jesus' earthly ministry (see Mk 1:15), and so also when He ascended to heaven after the resurrection his disciples were to preach the same good news/Gospel (see Mk 16:15). And what was the message?:
--"When the Spirit comes upon you, you will bear witness about me"--(Jesus in Ac 1:8).
This is why every page of the book of Acts has the Apostles preaching sermons about Jesus' good work on the cross and out of the grave. And this is why Paul, writing in the original passage at the top of the page, reminds the Corinthian church that just as he came preaching the gospel of "Christ crucified" (see 1 Cor 1:17-24, 2:1-5), he also came preaching Christ resurrected (15:4-5). The message, from first to last, was entirely Christ's finished work of going to the cross, rising from the grave, and sitting down at the right hand of God (see 15:27, and the Old Testament passage there quoted).
Because of this event in history, there are infinite riches in the present reality. The gift of Son/Daughter-ship is a present reality dependent upon the past event (Rom 8:15-17, Gal 4:4-7), as well as the gift of belonging to Christ (1 Cor 3:9,16,20; 6:19-20), and the gift of the sanctifying power of Christ to make us pure and holy in Christ-likeness (Jn 17:19, 1 Cor 6:11, Eph 5:26-27, 2 Thes 2:13, Heb 9:14).
Of course this is all dependent upon the greatest gift of all: His Holy Spirit. It has been said that Christ's work was really meant to be the precursor to the fuller work of the Holy Spirit. This wouldn't be inappropriate to say, especially in light of the fact that the Prophets have God's giving His Spirit as THE Great Promise (see Prov 1:23, Ezek 38:27, Joel 2:28-29), and Jesus refers to Him (the Spirit) as the "promise of the Father" (Luke 24:49).
But also note that the Holy Spirit, in Jesus' and the Scripture's own words, can't come unless He goes to the cross and then ascends back to heaven (see Jn 7:39 "those who believe in Him were to receive...the Spirit...(but it) had not been given (yet), because Jesus was not yet glorified", and also Jn 15:7 "it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you."). And when the Spirit comes, He will "guide (believers) into all the truth" (Jn 16:13), dwell in the believers as Christ's presence (see Jn 14:16-24, and read it carefully), and He will cause them to bear witness about Jesus (Ac 1:8, and note the structure of the sentence).
Do you see what I'm saying? The Cross and Resurrection of Jesus Christ is what drives and fuels all of the Christian life, and from it we derive all of our life and identity and worth and focus. But without the Cross and Resurrection as an explicit and definite event that happened, approached in reverence and humility among the people of God, the benefits of it's work will never be understood clearly, and so Christianity will be lost among those among whom it has no reason to be lost. Legalism (on one polar end) and relative love-ism (on the other) will be the message to be preached. And while the intention of the proponents of either might be as good as can be, neither message is a Gospel. And so neither message is Christianity. Because neither depends on Christ.
--1 Cor. 15:3-5
All too often the cross and resurrection of Christ is proclaimed as though it's a fairy-tale. I don't question whether preachers and Christians believe in it or not. I think most of them do believe it happened--I just know that for a long time I believed in it like I believed in poverty in other countries: Something that's real, but since it didn't immediately effect my present situation, I never was forced to wrestle with it or think about it in deep and "present" terms. It's important, but only in conversation--not existentially.
Yet Christianity, since it's inception, has been entirely wrapped up in an event that happened. The work of the Son of God who stepped foot onto earth 2000 years ago and fulfilled the Law of God which man is entirely incapable of keeping (see Mt 5:17, Rom 8:1-4), is to pay a ransom for the sins of many people (Mk 10:45) who are His sheep/Church (Jn 10:15), that they would be "set free from sin" (Jn 8:34-36, Ac 13:39). His being betrayed, tried, condemned, and crucified was all the work of Sovereign God opening the way of salvation (see Ac 2:23, 3:18, 4:27-28) for those in darkness, as also was Christ's being risen the work of God (2:23, Rom 8:11). Through His work on the cross--His death as a perfect final sacrifice instead of the person--the person can receive the gift of eternal life simply by having faith in the goodness of the work in Christ's death and resurrection (see Rom 3:23-26), because through the work of Christ, His Spirit comes from Him to the person, and they are counted righteous, seated with Christ "in the heavenly places" (Eph 2:4-5), and through His work they begin to walk in "good works, which God has prepared for (them) to do" (2:10).
Do you understand this? The cross and resurrection as an event that actually happened is at the center and core of all that Christianity is. If it didn't happen, or if it is only approached flippantly and half-asleep, the natural course of the Christian message will be legalism masked as "Gospel": "Obey these commands, and you'll be saved", which is no different than the Law of the Old Testament. This is why almost all Christian preaching and writing is to one of two extremes: Hyper-legalism (command-keeping as the central tenet), or Relative-loveism (no command matters, just love). Of course, these are both the same thing. The former is just explicit with setting up a Law for sinful and spiritually dead people to follow by their helpless self; the latter deceives itself to think it has the better standard, but it certainly is still a standard which helpless people have to keep, and so is a Law as well.
And neither one is a Gospel, because both give the hearer a standard to have to measure to from where they're at presently.
But the Christian message has been about good news even 400 years before it happened (see Isaiah 40:9, 52:7), as it was from the beginning of Jesus' earthly ministry (see Mk 1:15), and so also when He ascended to heaven after the resurrection his disciples were to preach the same good news/Gospel (see Mk 16:15). And what was the message?:
--"When the Spirit comes upon you, you will bear witness about me"--(Jesus in Ac 1:8).
This is why every page of the book of Acts has the Apostles preaching sermons about Jesus' good work on the cross and out of the grave. And this is why Paul, writing in the original passage at the top of the page, reminds the Corinthian church that just as he came preaching the gospel of "Christ crucified" (see 1 Cor 1:17-24, 2:1-5), he also came preaching Christ resurrected (15:4-5). The message, from first to last, was entirely Christ's finished work of going to the cross, rising from the grave, and sitting down at the right hand of God (see 15:27, and the Old Testament passage there quoted).
Because of this event in history, there are infinite riches in the present reality. The gift of Son/Daughter-ship is a present reality dependent upon the past event (Rom 8:15-17, Gal 4:4-7), as well as the gift of belonging to Christ (1 Cor 3:9,16,20; 6:19-20), and the gift of the sanctifying power of Christ to make us pure and holy in Christ-likeness (Jn 17:19, 1 Cor 6:11, Eph 5:26-27, 2 Thes 2:13, Heb 9:14).
Of course this is all dependent upon the greatest gift of all: His Holy Spirit. It has been said that Christ's work was really meant to be the precursor to the fuller work of the Holy Spirit. This wouldn't be inappropriate to say, especially in light of the fact that the Prophets have God's giving His Spirit as THE Great Promise (see Prov 1:23, Ezek 38:27, Joel 2:28-29), and Jesus refers to Him (the Spirit) as the "promise of the Father" (Luke 24:49).
But also note that the Holy Spirit, in Jesus' and the Scripture's own words, can't come unless He goes to the cross and then ascends back to heaven (see Jn 7:39 "those who believe in Him were to receive...the Spirit...(but it) had not been given (yet), because Jesus was not yet glorified", and also Jn 15:7 "it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you."). And when the Spirit comes, He will "guide (believers) into all the truth" (Jn 16:13), dwell in the believers as Christ's presence (see Jn 14:16-24, and read it carefully), and He will cause them to bear witness about Jesus (Ac 1:8, and note the structure of the sentence).
Do you see what I'm saying? The Cross and Resurrection of Jesus Christ is what drives and fuels all of the Christian life, and from it we derive all of our life and identity and worth and focus. But without the Cross and Resurrection as an explicit and definite event that happened, approached in reverence and humility among the people of God, the benefits of it's work will never be understood clearly, and so Christianity will be lost among those among whom it has no reason to be lost. Legalism (on one polar end) and relative love-ism (on the other) will be the message to be preached. And while the intention of the proponents of either might be as good as can be, neither message is a Gospel. And so neither message is Christianity. Because neither depends on Christ.
Thursday, November 29, 2012
Coming to the Cross
"He who would come after me must deny himself and take up His cross to follow me."
Mk 8:31
If one could keep the commandments of God just by sheer will, the Christ wouldn't have had to go to the cross. But since He did go there, all others who follow Him must go there as well. Following Him there means not just obedience to His command (though it does include this), but it first means acceptance of the fact that sheer will is not enough get there. Rather, we're led and drawn to the cross. Every command of Jesus must be understood in light of the cross, and this means that Christ's righteousness poured out on the believer (through the cross) is what BRINGS them to the place of obedience to the command. This is because they can't be justified/saved/righteous by obedience (they're NOT obedient). They need an initial act on God's part BRINGING them TO obedience. That initial act is Christ going to the cross. Otherwise, the commands are just isolated commands to isolated individuals who, isolated, must decide...CHOOSE...whether or not they'll follow Jesus. But "those who did receive Him..he gave the right to become children of God, who were born, NOT of...the will of flesh or the will of man...but of GOD" (Jn 1:12-13)..."whoever does what is true comes to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that his works have been carried out IN GOD" (3:21).
With these words the Scripture imprisons any obedience or following on our part up underneath the gracious work of God first. Perhaps much of Christianity's softness in our time is directly related to the fact that most have refused to come to the cross by accepting that their coming is an act of God. And this is certainly also the reason for much of Christianity's hardness, too: those who have "come to Jesus" are convinced that they were 'good enough' to bring themselves to it. If it's about what WE do, then either a) the unbeliever must will their self to be as obedient as I have been, or b) since 'a' is not a very loving perspective, we must just "love" people and not preach the cross. And the Gospel is left out of both scenarios. "When you've lifted up the Son of Man, you will know that I Am Who I Am" (Jn 8:28, Greek). One can only know Christ through the cross, and one can only come to the cross through "the Word of Christ" (Rom 10:17).
"I've obeyed, others haven't, therefore I have room for boasting", some might say (wouldn't SAY, but would certainly FEEL). But this is not in accordance with Scripture. The question is much less about a theological agenda (there is no such thing for those in Christ), but much more about whether or not one has denied one's self completely by coming to the cross completely, "to show that their works have been carried out in God".
In this, those that are in Christ must be humble and gracious, because they know that Christ has been humble and gracious towards them. That which conservatives hate (a lack of costliness in the gospel) is covered by Christ, and that which liberals hate (a lack of love) is covered by Christ. How is this so? In the fact that it is much more about Christ and HIS call, than it is about us.
Mk 8:31
If one could keep the commandments of God just by sheer will, the Christ wouldn't have had to go to the cross. But since He did go there, all others who follow Him must go there as well. Following Him there means not just obedience to His command (though it does include this), but it first means acceptance of the fact that sheer will is not enough get there. Rather, we're led and drawn to the cross. Every command of Jesus must be understood in light of the cross, and this means that Christ's righteousness poured out on the believer (through the cross) is what BRINGS them to the place of obedience to the command. This is because they can't be justified/saved/righteous by obedience (they're NOT obedient). They need an initial act on God's part BRINGING them TO obedience. That initial act is Christ going to the cross. Otherwise, the commands are just isolated commands to isolated individuals who, isolated, must decide...CHOOSE...whether or not they'll follow Jesus. But "those who did receive Him..he gave the right to become children of God, who were born, NOT of...the will of flesh or the will of man...but of GOD" (Jn 1:12-13)..."whoever does what is true comes to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that his works have been carried out IN GOD" (3:21).
With these words the Scripture imprisons any obedience or following on our part up underneath the gracious work of God first. Perhaps much of Christianity's softness in our time is directly related to the fact that most have refused to come to the cross by accepting that their coming is an act of God. And this is certainly also the reason for much of Christianity's hardness, too: those who have "come to Jesus" are convinced that they were 'good enough' to bring themselves to it. If it's about what WE do, then either a) the unbeliever must will their self to be as obedient as I have been, or b) since 'a' is not a very loving perspective, we must just "love" people and not preach the cross. And the Gospel is left out of both scenarios. "When you've lifted up the Son of Man, you will know that I Am Who I Am" (Jn 8:28, Greek). One can only know Christ through the cross, and one can only come to the cross through "the Word of Christ" (Rom 10:17).
"I've obeyed, others haven't, therefore I have room for boasting", some might say (wouldn't SAY, but would certainly FEEL). But this is not in accordance with Scripture. The question is much less about a theological agenda (there is no such thing for those in Christ), but much more about whether or not one has denied one's self completely by coming to the cross completely, "to show that their works have been carried out in God".
In this, those that are in Christ must be humble and gracious, because they know that Christ has been humble and gracious towards them. That which conservatives hate (a lack of costliness in the gospel) is covered by Christ, and that which liberals hate (a lack of love) is covered by Christ. How is this so? In the fact that it is much more about Christ and HIS call, than it is about us.
Tuesday, November 20, 2012
Religion Apart From the Gospel
"You know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, that by his poverty you might become rich."--2 Cor. 8:9
The Gospel of Christ begins and ends with what God has accomplished through Him, apart from any works or "doings" on humanity's part. Even the very betraying, condemning, and crucifying of the Lord is attributed in Scripture to God's doing (see Ac 4:28 for example). Far too often the commands of God are preached, taught, and understood as starting from man and not from the Gospel--as commands to be obeyed apart from "the grace of our Lord", instead of commands to be kept BECAUSE OF "the grace of our Lord" through which HE kept what we by nature are unable to keep (Jn 15:5, Rom 8:3). This has become almost so universal that it's not even questioned by most anymore. Most understand Christianity as obeying a set of rules, apart from God's doing, as though God's only parts to be played in humanity's existence are a) creation, b) answering of prayers (that man brings to Him of his own initiative), and c) judgment (at the End). In this, God has no part to play in man's life presently, and man is "on his own" in his faith, obedience, and religion. And in this, the very Gospel itself is betrayed.
If you were to read through your New Testament, you would see that all of the commands of God are connected to Christ and His work. Christ's work is of both fulfilling the Scripture (Mt 5:17, Lk 4:17-21, 24:44-45, Jn 5:39,46) and keeping the commands SO THAT through faith in Him and by His power, righteousness would be kept in us (see Rom 8:1-4 and 2 Cor 2:20-22 for example). If mans' sin is that he's "fallen short of the glory of God" (Rom 3:23), the only way he could be saved is if God Himself sends a Christ who will fulfill "the glory of God" perfectly--this is promised to be the case in Is 11:1-5, 42:1, and being fulfilled in Christ (see Mt 3:17 and Jn 13:31-32, 17:4), it is the new "Way" of salvation for God's people. By Christ's obedience, believers are MADE righteous (Rom 5:19), so that His righteousness and obedience would be accounted to us and applied to us--and the fruit of it is His believers striving for His glory in all things. (Do a study of how often the New Testament says "to God be the glory in Christ" or something similar...you'll be amazed). This is why He's a faithful and necessary Savior (see Heb 5:7-10).
This is why all of Paul's writings of admonition (teaching, commands, etc.) begin with Gospel theology and then move into the practical implications (notice Romans has 12 chapters on Gospel theology and ch 13 begins with practicals, and the rest of the letters are similar). Peter's is the same, John's, James', etc.
But what about all of Jesus' teaching in the Gospel accounts? He seems to lay down a pretty heavy load of teaching on what we are to do and not do...how do we reconcile with that? It's very simple--every gospel account ends with Him being crucified and resurrected. All of Jesus' teaching is meant to be understood in light of the cross, because all of His teaching inevitably leads to the cross and flows from the cross. This is why He says that in order for one to "follow Him" he must "take up his cross" (Mk 8:34). Coming to and following Jesus means "learning from Him" (Mt 11:29), and not only that, but keeping and obeying what He says (see Jn 14:15, 15:10). It would seem burdensome, because who could keep His commands perfectly? That's the point--if He was just another teacher of the Law, there would be no gospel. The point is that HE keeps the Law for us, that by faith in His Person and work, "the righteous requirement of the law would be kept in us, who walk by the Spirit" (see how Jn 14:15-17 connects with Rom 8:3-4...amazing!). We take up our cross, because Jesus took up His cross, and we obey because Jesus obeyed to make us able to obey...by His Spirit. This is why Jesus says "apart from me you can do nothing"...apart from Him who went to the cross in my place, I can't do anything. But IN Him, "I can do all things" (Phil 4:13). What a wonderful gospel!
To preach obedience and righteousness apart from Christ's obedience and righteousness is to completely miss the point of the Gospel (and sadly, many...including the writer for a long time...have missed it). In the same way, to preach God's love apart from His anger over sin is to miss the point. The Scripture never proclaims His love apart from Christ's righteous obedience (see Jn 3:16-17). The reason is that you need Jesus in order to have God. "No one comes to the Father except through me...apart from me you can do nothing."
Christ, who is so rich that all things have belonged to Him for all of eternity, became poor, homeless, despised, and rejected. He who holds all things in His hand (Heb 1:3) gave himself into the hands of sinful men (Ac 2:23)...sinful men whom He had created and whose lives He upheld even in those moments! These men thought that they were rich, great, and "in control"...and yet Christ was in control the whole time (Jn 10:17-18, Ac 4:28). And what did He do? He suffered...because only through HIS suffering could anyone actually be reconciled to the Holy God-Creator from whom they were fallen (Rom 3:23) and of whom they were hostile enemies (Rom 5:8, 8:7). In this, there are riches beyond comparison (Mk 10:21, 1 Cor 3:21-22, 1 Pet 1:4)...but outside of this it is only death and it will all perish.
The glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ will continue to be proclaimed and sung by the people of God for all of eternity...we'll worship Christ because He went to the cross (see Rev 5:9-10). Because He suffered and wept and was betrayed, one day, when all things are new, we the people of God will never suffer, weep, or be betrayed ever again (Rev. 21:4). Those are true riches--riches that are worth dying for. They're riches that Christ DID die for. Let all of God's people rejoice!
The Gospel of Christ begins and ends with what God has accomplished through Him, apart from any works or "doings" on humanity's part. Even the very betraying, condemning, and crucifying of the Lord is attributed in Scripture to God's doing (see Ac 4:28 for example). Far too often the commands of God are preached, taught, and understood as starting from man and not from the Gospel--as commands to be obeyed apart from "the grace of our Lord", instead of commands to be kept BECAUSE OF "the grace of our Lord" through which HE kept what we by nature are unable to keep (Jn 15:5, Rom 8:3). This has become almost so universal that it's not even questioned by most anymore. Most understand Christianity as obeying a set of rules, apart from God's doing, as though God's only parts to be played in humanity's existence are a) creation, b) answering of prayers (that man brings to Him of his own initiative), and c) judgment (at the End). In this, God has no part to play in man's life presently, and man is "on his own" in his faith, obedience, and religion. And in this, the very Gospel itself is betrayed.
If you were to read through your New Testament, you would see that all of the commands of God are connected to Christ and His work. Christ's work is of both fulfilling the Scripture (Mt 5:17, Lk 4:17-21, 24:44-45, Jn 5:39,46) and keeping the commands SO THAT through faith in Him and by His power, righteousness would be kept in us (see Rom 8:1-4 and 2 Cor 2:20-22 for example). If mans' sin is that he's "fallen short of the glory of God" (Rom 3:23), the only way he could be saved is if God Himself sends a Christ who will fulfill "the glory of God" perfectly--this is promised to be the case in Is 11:1-5, 42:1, and being fulfilled in Christ (see Mt 3:17 and Jn 13:31-32, 17:4), it is the new "Way" of salvation for God's people. By Christ's obedience, believers are MADE righteous (Rom 5:19), so that His righteousness and obedience would be accounted to us and applied to us--and the fruit of it is His believers striving for His glory in all things. (Do a study of how often the New Testament says "to God be the glory in Christ" or something similar...you'll be amazed). This is why He's a faithful and necessary Savior (see Heb 5:7-10).
This is why all of Paul's writings of admonition (teaching, commands, etc.) begin with Gospel theology and then move into the practical implications (notice Romans has 12 chapters on Gospel theology and ch 13 begins with practicals, and the rest of the letters are similar). Peter's is the same, John's, James', etc.
But what about all of Jesus' teaching in the Gospel accounts? He seems to lay down a pretty heavy load of teaching on what we are to do and not do...how do we reconcile with that? It's very simple--every gospel account ends with Him being crucified and resurrected. All of Jesus' teaching is meant to be understood in light of the cross, because all of His teaching inevitably leads to the cross and flows from the cross. This is why He says that in order for one to "follow Him" he must "take up his cross" (Mk 8:34). Coming to and following Jesus means "learning from Him" (Mt 11:29), and not only that, but keeping and obeying what He says (see Jn 14:15, 15:10). It would seem burdensome, because who could keep His commands perfectly? That's the point--if He was just another teacher of the Law, there would be no gospel. The point is that HE keeps the Law for us, that by faith in His Person and work, "the righteous requirement of the law would be kept in us, who walk by the Spirit" (see how Jn 14:15-17 connects with Rom 8:3-4...amazing!). We take up our cross, because Jesus took up His cross, and we obey because Jesus obeyed to make us able to obey...by His Spirit. This is why Jesus says "apart from me you can do nothing"...apart from Him who went to the cross in my place, I can't do anything. But IN Him, "I can do all things" (Phil 4:13). What a wonderful gospel!
To preach obedience and righteousness apart from Christ's obedience and righteousness is to completely miss the point of the Gospel (and sadly, many...including the writer for a long time...have missed it). In the same way, to preach God's love apart from His anger over sin is to miss the point. The Scripture never proclaims His love apart from Christ's righteous obedience (see Jn 3:16-17). The reason is that you need Jesus in order to have God. "No one comes to the Father except through me...apart from me you can do nothing."
Christ, who is so rich that all things have belonged to Him for all of eternity, became poor, homeless, despised, and rejected. He who holds all things in His hand (Heb 1:3) gave himself into the hands of sinful men (Ac 2:23)...sinful men whom He had created and whose lives He upheld even in those moments! These men thought that they were rich, great, and "in control"...and yet Christ was in control the whole time (Jn 10:17-18, Ac 4:28). And what did He do? He suffered...because only through HIS suffering could anyone actually be reconciled to the Holy God-Creator from whom they were fallen (Rom 3:23) and of whom they were hostile enemies (Rom 5:8, 8:7). In this, there are riches beyond comparison (Mk 10:21, 1 Cor 3:21-22, 1 Pet 1:4)...but outside of this it is only death and it will all perish.
The glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ will continue to be proclaimed and sung by the people of God for all of eternity...we'll worship Christ because He went to the cross (see Rev 5:9-10). Because He suffered and wept and was betrayed, one day, when all things are new, we the people of God will never suffer, weep, or be betrayed ever again (Rev. 21:4). Those are true riches--riches that are worth dying for. They're riches that Christ DID die for. Let all of God's people rejoice!
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