The value of reliable testimony

The following illustration is made-up.

Let's say I get a phone call from a very solemn-sounding doctor who tells me that my 18 year old son was in a car-accident and arrived at the hospital three hours ago.  He tells me it took three hours to track me down and find out how to contact me.  Panicked, I tell him that I'm on my way to the hospital immediately.

As I'm throwing my shoes on, my daughter walks in the house.  I relay to her the phone call I just received and she replies, "That can't be, I just saw him at school less than thirty minutes ago."

The weight of fear that overcame me begins to lessen as a ray of hope breaks through.  "Are you sure?" I ask emphatically.  "Are you sure it was only thirty minutes ago?"

"Yeah, I just came from the school," she replies.

In that moment I have a decision to make about who to believe.  On one hand I have a doctor telling me something and on the other hand I have an eye-witness to something completely different.  I think it is fair to say until I actually lay eyes on my son I wouldn't have complete peace that he was okay.  However, my daughter tells me that he's okay and she seems credible because she saw him herself after the doctor says he was taken to the hospital.

The dilemma highlights the value of reliable testimony.  Intrinsically I have to decide what makes a witness credible and whether I should believe them over and against other sources of information that seem credible too, even if they say something completely different.

I've been thinking about this issue a lot lately because it relates in no small way to how we know who Christ is.  In 2 Peter 1:16, Peter says, "For we did not follow cleverly devised stories when we told you about the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ in power, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty."  Similarly, the Apostle John says, "That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at and our hands have touched—this we proclaim concerning the Word of life." (1 John 1:1)  And then there's Paul, who wrote,

For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, and then to the Twelve. After that, he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers and sisters at the same time, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep. Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles, and last of all he appeared to me also, as to one abnormally born.  1 Cor 15:3-8

You can find a lot of smart people in the world today who will deny the divinity of Christ.  They may do it by poking holes in the virgin birth, or denying the historicity of the resurrection, or even trying to deny the existence of God altogether by laying out empirical evidence supporting evolution over creation.  But in the end, the question still comes down to this: do I believe Peter and John and Paul saw the Lord?  Did they see what they say they saw?  Because if they did--if what they testify to is true--then that overrides everything else and marginal issues like evolution become irrelevant to your faith.

Imagine the horror of standing before Christ one day and he asks, "Why didn't you believe me?  Why didn't you believe those who knew me firsthand?"  How unfortunate to have to respond, "Well, I saw this documentary on the History Channel that said the resurrection didn't really happen, and I believed it."  Or, "My college biology textbook said there was undeniable proof I came from a monkey, and I believed it."

Wisely consider whose testimony you choose to believe.

The natural tendency of clay to harden

But the Lord hardened Pharaoh’s heart and he would not listen to Moses and Aaron, just as the Lord had said to Moses. Exodus 9:12

There is much debate regarding the phrase "the Lord hardened Pharaoh's heart" because it seems to imply God caused Pharaoh to sin.  In other words, did God work evil into Pharaoh's heart to prevent him from obeying?  Martin Luther did not think so.  In his words, God does not "work evil in us (for hardening is working evil) by creating fresh evil in us." Luther continued:

When men hear us say that God works both good and evil in us, and that we are subject to God's working by mere passive necessity, they seem to imagine a man who is in himself good, and not evil, having an evil work wrought in him by God; for they do not sufficiently bear in mind how incessantly active God is in all His creatures, allowing none of them to keep holiday. He who would understand these matters, however, should think thus: God works evil in us (that is, by means of us) not through God's own fault, but by reason of our own defect. We being evil by nature, and God being good, when He impels us to act by His own acting upon us according to the nature of His omnipotence, good though He is in Himself, He cannot but do evil by our evil instrumentality; although, according to His wisdom, He makes good use of this evil for His own glory and for our salvation. (Martin Luther, The Bondage of the Will (Westwood: Fleming H. Revell, 1957), p. 206.)

The last time I took an art class was in middle school.  My favorite assignments were when we got to work with clay to make pottery.  The trick about working with clay as a medium is if you leave a block of clay sitting on a counter it will naturally harden and dry out.  Clay requires constant kneading with water to keep it malleable.  So every few minutes I would stick my fingers in a cup of water and rub the water into the clay to keep it soft.  The human heart works the same way spiritually.  Left to ourselves we dry up, crack, and harden.  God's grace is the only reason we can avoid sinning all the time.  So the phrase "the Lord hardened Pharaoh's heart" means the Lord withdrew his grace, allowing Pharaoh's heart to harden, all the while knowing Pharaoh would naturally respond out of the hardening with disobedience.

In Romans 1, Paul says that because man suppressed the truth, exchanged the glory of God for a lie, and did not acknowledge Him, "God gave them up" to "the lusts of their hearts", "dishonorable passions", and "a debased mind to do what ought not to be done" (Romans 1:22-28).  As a result,

29 They were filled with all manner of unrighteousness, evil, covetousness, malice. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, maliciousness. They are gossips, 30 slanderers, haters of God, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, 31 foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless. 32 Though they know God's righteous decree that those who practice such things deserve to die, they not only do them but give approval to those who practice them. Romans 1:29-32

Thankfully that's not the end of the story.  Yes, left to ourselves we naturally harden, but God in his love for us graciously has not left us to ourselves.  In my church, at the end of every worship service my pastor leaves us by quoting directly from the book of Jude.  Jude ends with this wonderful doxology:

24 Now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy, 25 to the only God, our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen. Jude 1:24-25

Christ through the Holy Spirit is able to keep us from stumbling.  Literally, from sinning.  Christ is able to present us blameless before himself.  And this He will do if we are in union with Him.

Knocking down the last bastion of pride

Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we boast in the hope of the glory of God.  Romans 5:1-2

Faith is not why we are justified, it is how we are justified.   Faith is the means of our justification, not the cause of it.  If I travel from London to Paris through the Chunnel, the Chunnel is the means of my travel.  The Chunnel is not the cause of my travel.  If I travel from London to Paris by train, the train is how the travel occurs, not why the travel occurs.  God doesn't look at our hearts and say, "You have faith, so I am going to justify you."  He gives faith in order to justify us.

Even though I was once a blasphemer and a persecutor and a violent man, I was shown mercy because I acted in ignorance and unbelief. The grace of our Lord was poured out on me abundantly, along with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus.  1 Tim 1:13-14

For it has been granted to you on behalf of Christ not only to believe in him, but also to suffer for him  Philippians 1:29

Of waterfalls and God

I remember hiking in the woods alone one day while I was in college.  There was a little waterfall about an hour or so from campus that I would enjoy visiting.  I could lay for hours on some rocks below the falls just letting the sun warm me as I listened to the water splash down.  I did not have to understand the waterfall in order to enjoy it.  I could just lay there and savor it.

The top of the falls was about 100 feet above and it was not until after I graduated that I became curious enough to finally climb to the top of the falls to see where the water came from.  At the top of the falls I was reminded about something I learned in elementary school.  That the falls was actually fed by a stream.  And the stream was fed by water trickling down the slopes of the mountains.  The water came from rain that fell from clouds of moisture up in the sky.  The clouds were formed from water evaporating out of the oceans and lakes.  And the oceans and lakes are fed by water coming from the rivers which are fed by streams like the one I was beside.  When I really thought about how the whole water system works the waterfall I was looking at became even more amazing.  It was one small piece of a large whole, and contemplating the whole only made the part more amazing.

We all interact with the world in the same way.  That is, through the five senses: taste, touch, sight, hearing, and smell.  Our senses form a sort of baseline for how we experience the things around us.  If you had no knowledge of how the world around you works, you could still experience it with your five senses.  And as I found with the waterfall, I did not have to understand it in order to enjoy it.  Still, knowing where the water came from did not diminish my enjoyment of it.  In reality, knowing where the water came from only made the falls more amazing and enjoyable.  Just consider that the water I was looking at may have been in the Atlantic Ocean just a few days prior!

What I have found is that experiencing something amazing is more enjoyable if it is coupled with understanding it.  Understanding and experience must work in tandem.  Had I simply stayed at home and read about waterfalls I would have gained understanding, but I wouldn't have had nearly the enjoyment as if I actually sat next to one.  And yet, sitting next to a waterfall after having understood it better helps me to enjoy the experience even more.

I've found this to be true with God too.  A friend recently read one of my posts about a fairly deep theological topic and he called me.  He said, "I read your post.  It was pretty deep, and it made me wonder.  If I gave the Bible to someone who had never read it and did not have layers upon layers of church history and theology built up, what would they get out of it?"  He went on to say that he sometimes questions the value of delving into the deeper issues in theology.  He found that sometimes getting so deep prevented him from simply enjoying God.  I appreciated his thoughts, and as I considered them they made me wonder whether the "deeper" things do sometimes distract me from simply enjoying God at my base level--through the five senses, for example.  What I've found is that if I spend all my time trying to grow in understanding of the deeper things of God and neglect the experience of God, I lose my enjoyment of God.  Yet if I neglect the pursuit of understanding the deeper things and focus on simply experiencing Him, I forfeit some of my enjoyment as well.  The best, I have found, is to pursue understanding without neglecting experience.

God made him who had no sin to be sin

After the Israelites were freed from slavery in Egypt they wandered in the desert for forty years until the generation that lived in Egypt had died and a new generation could enter the promised land.  Only two individuals from the Egypt-generation were allowed to enter the promised land: Joshua and Caleb.  During this time of wandering God provided food in the form of manna and water for the people.  God himself was their supply and provision, yet the people of Israel frequently became impatient and complained.  Here is the story of one such episode:

4 From Mount Hor they set out by the way to the Red Sea, to go around the land of Edom. And the people became impatient on the way. 5 And the people spoke against God and against Moses, “Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is no food and no water, and we loathe this worthless food.” 6 Then the Lord sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people, so that many people of Israel died. 7 And the people came to Moses and said, “We have sinned, for we have spoken against the Lord and against you. Pray to the Lord, that he take away the serpents from us.” So Moses prayed for the people. 8 And the Lord said to Moses, “Make a fiery serpent and set it on a pole, and everyone who is bitten, when he sees it, shall live.” 9 So Moses made a bronze serpent and set it on a pole. And if a serpent bit anyone, he would look at the bronze serpent and live. Numbers 21:4-9

My paraphrase of this episode goes like this: Despite all that God had done for them in rescuing them from slavery in Egypt, saving them from the Egyptian army, bringing them through the Red Sea, and providing manna from heaven, the Israelites became impatient and in their complaining they sinned against God.  In His righteous indignation God sent snakes to bite the people so many died.  The people repented and so Moses interceded on their behalf.  God then provided the means to save the people from his punishment for their sins.  Anyone who had been bitten by a poisonous snake simply had to submit to the means God provided and they would be saved.  When I say "simply", I mean it.  All they had to do was look at the bronze serpent lifted high on a pole and they would live.

This story is relevant because it reveals a pattern.  It is a pattern of the gospel--the story of how God works to save His people.  We know this because Jesus says so.  In John 3 Jesus is speaking to a Pharisee named Nicodemus and he uses this story of Moses and the bronze snake to clarify the gospel to Nicodemus:

14 And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, 15 that whoever believes in him may have eternal life. John 3:14-15

So this story about the Israelites, the bronze snake, and God is a template for the story of us, Jesus, and God and functions as an aid to help us understand how the gospel works.

The first thing to notice is that in their grumbling and complaining the Israelites sinned against God.  Their sin was real and it made God justifiably angry.  The second thing to notice is that God punished them for their sin.  "the Lord sent fiery serpents among the people".  The venomous snakes were not coincidental.  They were punishment.  God sent them.  And God was justified in punishing the people because the people really did sin against Him.  Yet, God of his own discretion decided after Moses' intercession to show mercy to some.  That said, the third thing to notice is that though the people did not deserve mercy, God chose to be merciful by providing a means for rescue.  It's important here to understand the difference between justice and mercy.  Justice is giving someone what they deserve.  Mercy is not giving someone what they deserve.  So at the point someone deserves mercy, mercy ceases to be mercy and becomes justice.  The Israelites did not deserve mercy, they deserved justice, but God showed them mercy.

How did God show them mercy?  God did not simply withdraw the snakes.  His mercy was not preventative.  No, rather than withdraw the snakes and prevent bites He provided a means to rescue people after the venom was in their veins.  He did not save them from the snake bite, he saved them from the consequence of the snake bite which was certain death.  After being bitten they could simply look at the bronze snake Moses lifted on a pole and they would live.

Why lift up a bronze snake on a pole?  God could have told Moses to lift anything so what's special about the snake?  The snakes were the problem and God told Moses to lift the problem on a pole.  But why?  Because God wanted to communicate something to us.  The gospel tells us our sin is the problem.  To defeat sin Christ became sin and He was lifted and nailed to the cross.  2 Corinthians 5:21 says, "God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God." And Galatians 3:13 says, "Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us, for it is written: 'Cursed is everyone who is hung on a pole.'"

This story of Moses lifting the snake in the desert is so precious because it is a pointer to Christ defeating sin and death by becoming sin and dying for us.

Theological pornography

"Don't watch that movie." I was told.

"Why not?  It gets great reviews." I replied.

"It is a horror movie.  And it gave me nightmares."
  
I took the advice and did not watch the movie.  The person I was talking to was credible.  I knew that she and I had similar taste in movies.  I also knew I did not enjoy horror movies.  Did I miss out on a great movie?  Maybe, but I doubt it.  Do I regret not watching it?  Not at all.  I choose the media I watch carefully.  I should probably be even more careful.  The things I see in movies and TV shows tend to revisit me at the most inopportune times.  Like when I wake up in the middle of the night and in the darkness and silence some dreadful murder scene from a movie I just watched begins playing in my mind.  Or maybe I remember the scene of some topless actress in that romantic comedy I just watched.  The truth is, the media I put into my mind affects me.

Months ago I sat down with a pastor-friend of mine and asked him to pray for me because I was struggling with a lot of fear in my life.  We prayed and he asked me what I had been reading.  I told him I didn't read much.  He encouraged me to read some classic Christian books.  Why classics?  Because the classics have stood the test of time.  Let their words and truth pour into my heart and mind, he said.  He also encouraged me to listen to Christian music instead of my normal go-to stations on my morning commute.  The point was to immerse myself in Biblical truth as an exercise to build faith.  The first book I began reading was The Weight of Glory by C.S. Lewis.  From there I started Pilgrim's Progress by John Bunyan.  Then to Knowing God by J.I. Packer, Spectacular Sins, by John Piper, and then Trusting God: Even When Life Hurts by Jerry Bridges.  The point was not to read books specifically dealing with fear and trusting God, but to feed myself a consistent diet of Christ-centered ideas, and fear-conquering faith would be a natural by-product.

This process has taught me the importance of selecting wisely the books I read.  I choose the books I read the same way I choose the TV shows or movies I watch:  I want to know up front what kind of ideas they will be putting into my mind.  If I'm going to invest minutes, hours, or days consuming a show, movie, or book I want to know that time is well-spent and constructive.  I know as a male I'm drawn to visual images.  I do not want pornographic images infiltrating my thoughts so I try to avoid explicit visuals.  Likewise, as a sinful person it is always a struggle to be faithful to God and so I don't want theological pornography I read in some poorly chosen book being repeated over and over in my head at a moment of weak faith.  There are a lot of popular "Christian" books which are theological pornography.  They feel good now but destroy faith long-term.

When I use my GPS I always start by inputting my desired destination.  I want to know where it's taking me before I start driving.  When I read a book I start by asking up front where the author wants to take me and whether I want to go there.

Through the looking glass of Christ

A friend told me recently, "I don't relate to the God of the Old Testament.  I can relate to Jesus but I can't relate to that God.  They are different."  Her reason, to put it simply, was that God in the Old Testament seemed extremely harsh compared to Christ, who "did not come to judge the world, but to save it" (John 12:47).  This understanding caused her to buzzsaw not only the Old Testament but Revelations as well with all its imagery of destruction.  Christ was appealing but all the other stuff was not.

I rejoice that Christ was appealing to her.  If we stop there, all is well, because Christ is, after all, the overarching subject of the entire Bible.  Even if you can't see him in the whole Bible--he's there.  But I can't help but believe she is missing out on a depth of worship that can only come through understanding how vividly Christ reveals the heart of God to us, and how his loving plan is woven throughout the Old Testament and consummated in Revelations!  If you leave those books out you can still believe in Christ, but so much more joy and freedom is possible when we know the beginning and end of the story!

When I hear someone say, "I can't relate to the God of the Old Testament, but I can relate to Jesus" it throws up a red flag in my mind because they are the same God.  It pleased the Father to put all of His fullness into Christ.  Jesus himself said to the Pharisees, "You know neither me nor my Father. If you knew me, you would know my Father also." (John 8:19)  When Christ said "I and the Father are one" in John 10:30 he meant every part of the Father overlaps every part of the Son.  As Hebrews 1:3 says, "He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature."  What this means is Christ doesn't contradict God's justice, mercy, and faithfulness towards the Israelites in the Old Testament.  He clarifies it.  And when I read about Christ's compassion for the adulterous woman, his anger with the moneychangers in the temple, and his sacrifice on the cross I learn about the Father.

The danger lies when we fail to use Christ as the lens through which we discover God in the Old Testament and instead throw out the Old Testament altogether as being inconsistent.  As Hebrews says,

1 Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, 2 but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world. Hebrews 1:1-2

God has revealed Himself through the entirety of his Scriptures and that is seen most clearly when we read the entirety of Scripture through the lens of Christ.

15 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. 16 For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. 17 And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together. 18 And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent. 19 For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, 20 and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross.  Colossians 1:15-19

It's bread, not an energy drink

I am fortunate to believe the Bible as much as I do.  I am fortunate because it answers the hard questions I have and it answers them with such profound truth that I feel sorry for anyone who does not believe the Bible is the Word of God.  Sadly, I cannot tell you the number of Christians I have spoken to who do not know what the Bible says because they do not read it.  And in truth, the reason so many Christians do not read the Bible is because they do not believe it is God's Word.  If people believed God's very Word was available to them they would read it.  I know this because I too went through a long period when I never read the Bible.  It just did not interest me and did not seem relevant to my life.  I wasn't opposed to it, I just did not care about it.  I owned multiple Bibles and went to church regularly but I was almost completely apathetic towards the Bible and assumed knowing what it said wouldn't benefit me.  I did not view the Bible as bread to be eaten in order to live but as an energy drink that didn't taste very good yet might provide a spark of insight if I hit a tough time in life.  Thankfully, God snapped me out of that daze, and I hope if you find yourself in the same apathetic mindset that He will snap you out of it as well.

Half-truths are more dangerous than outright lies

I am convinced that the greatest threat to truth is not outright lies but half-truths.  Counterfeit dollars do not resemble Monopoly money--they resemble the real thing--and for good reason:  outright fakes are easy to spot.  And so I am not concerned about being deceived by outright lies.  I am fearful, however, of being deceived by half-truths.  Half-truths operate by taking something true and distorting it ever so slightly.  Start with the truth, and then twist it.

Let me give you an example of this type of distortion: the Prosperity Gospel.  This gospel says God will bless his faithful with all sorts of material blessings.  Money, nice cars, luxurious living.  To build the case, teachers of this gospel will use verses like Romans 8:32, "He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?" or 2 Corinthians 8:9, "For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you through his poverty might become rich."

Folks, this is a distortion of the gospel of Christ.  God has not promised to bless our lifestyles, he promised to bless our lives.  And blessing our lives may mean depriving us of our lavish lifestyles.  Why is this?  Because God wants us to testify to the world that Christ alone satisfies.  But how will the world know that Chris satisfies if it looks as though we are satisfied by our new Mercedes?

Paul knew we could be led astray by false gospels.  He wrote to the Corinthian church,

3 But I am afraid that just as Eve was deceived by the serpent’s cunning, your minds may somehow be led astray from your sincere and pure devotion to Christ. 4 For if someone comes to you and preaches a Jesus other than the Jesus we preached, or if you receive a different spirit from the Spirit you received, or a different gospel from the one you accepted, you put up with it easily enough.  2 Corinthians 11:3-4

Do not "put up with" false gospels creeping into your theology.  There's only one way to protect yourself from being deceived by half-truths:  know the real truth with such intimacy that you recognize even the slightest variance.  Federal agents tasked with identifying counterfeit money do not study every possible fake, they study the real thing so when they see a fake they know it.  Art forgeries are spotted the same way.  Deceivers are always familiar with the real thing.  We must be more so.  When Satan tempted Jesus he deceptively quoted Scripture.  But Jesus was not deceived, rather he responded back with Scripture:

9 The devil led [Jesus] to Jerusalem and had him stand on the highest point of the temple. “If you are the Son of God,” he said, “throw yourself down from here. 10 For it is written:

“‘He will command his angels concerning you
    to guard you carefully;
11 they will lift you up in their hands,
    so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.’”

12 Jesus answered, “It is said: ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’”   Luke 4:9-12

To know the truth intimately we must love the truth deeply.  I encourage you to love the Word of God.  To hold fast to it as an anchor for your soul and never let go.  Test everything by it, so you will not be among the deceived (1 John 4:1).

Diet and exercise

Faith is a lot like a muscle.  A muscle requires two things to flourish: good nourishment and regular exercise.  When well-nourished and exercised regularly muscles get stronger.  Just like our muscles, we nourish our faith through the things we consume--the things we read, see, and listen to.  We exercise our faith through the trials we experience.  Both nourishment and exercise are necessary.  We often cannot control the trials we experience, but we can control how we nourish our faith.  So for the sake of your faith be smart about what you consume.

The blood is the life

23 But be sure you do not eat the blood, because the blood is the life, and you must not eat the life with the meat. 24 You must not eat the blood; pour it out on the ground like water. 25 Do not eat it, so that it may go well with you and your children after you, because you will be doing what is right in the eyes of the Lord.  Deuteronomy 12:12-25

I will set my face against any Israelite or any foreigner residing among them who eats blood, and I will cut them off from the people.  Leviticus 17:10

People try to find life in all sorts of things.  Sometimes it's a shiny new car, a bigger house, or better clothes.  Some people try to find life in the cool new iPad, or a higher salary, or a more important title, or security, or even by having children.  The list goes on and on.  This is not new.  In the ages of the Old Testament there was a common belief in pagan civilization that by drinking the blood of an animal you could attain some of the life of that animal.  One way God set Israel apart is by forbidding them from drinking the blood of animals.

God wants us to find life in Him.  And this is good for us because that's the only place life can be found.  All other avenues lead to death, not life.  So for Israel, God forbade them from drinking the blood of animals.  God was their life.

The Jews in the time of Jesus took this command seriously, so imagine what they thought when Jesus came along and said while teaching in the synagogue,

"Very truly I tell you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. 54 Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day. 55 For my flesh is real food and my blood is real drink. 56 Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in them. 57 Just as the living Father sent me and I live because of the Father, so the one who feeds on me will live because of me. 58 This is the bread that came down from heaven. Your ancestors ate manna and died, but whoever feeds on this bread will live forever."  John 6:48-58

To the unaware this appeared to be a direct assault on the commands of God, and yet, in reality it was the explanation of the commands of God.  We are to find our life in Christ and him alone.  There is no life for us outside of Christ.  This is one reason, among many, why the sacrament of Communion is so important to the Christian.  Each time we drink the cup of wine or grape juice, which Christ said is his blood, we agree with Christ and witness that He alone is our life:

26 While they were eating, Jesus took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to his disciples, saying, “Take and eat; this is my body.”  27 Then he took a cup, and when he had given thanks, he gave it to them, saying, “Drink from it, all of you. 28 This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.  Matthew 26:26-28

Do you want true and lasting life?  "Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day."  (John 6:54)  Partake of Christ.

The smell of smoke

A father tucked his son into bed and opened the window like he always does to let the cool summer breeze in.  "Goodnight, son," he said.  And he gave his son one last kiss before shutting the bedroom door and heading downstairs to his own bed.

Hours later the father awoke to the smell of smoke.  He quickly got up out of his bed and ran over to his bedroom door.  When he grabbed the door knob it was so hot it burned his hand and he had to let go.  Fortunately his bedroom was on the first floor so he ran over to his window, unlatched the locks and opened it.  He kicked the screen off and quickly climbed outside.  He came out in such a hurry he lost his balance and fell into the bushes underneath his window.  He ran a few feet away from the house and looked back.  He saw the flames were coming out of the first floor windows but they hadn't yet reached the second floor where his son's room was.

A couple months prior the father had purchased a fire-escape rope ladder, yet he hadn't put it in his son's room yet or shown him how to use it.  It was sitting in the garage still in its packaging.  The father ran over to the garage window and after grabbing a stick from the flower bed he smashed the glass.  He unlocked the window, opened it and climbed inside.  The smoke in the garage was almost too much to handle but he covered his face with his white t-shirt and quickly found the rope ladder.  After climbing back out of the garage he ran around to the front of the house.

By the time the father made it to the front of the house smoke was already pouring out of his son's open window.  "Son!  Come to the window!!" he screamed up, but there was no response.  In a panic the father pulled the rope ladder out of its packaging.  The ladder had two large hooks on the end of it for hanging on the windowsill.  The father yelled, "Son you need to grab the ladder!  Wake up!"  But still his son did not come to the window.  The man threw the ladder up and tried to reach the window but the hooks hit the siding of the house and fell back to the ground.  The father tried again and one of the two hooks caught the bottom of the window.  "Climb down the ladder!" the father screamed.  "Son!  Climb down, son!  You can do it.  You've got a way out now!  I've made a way for you!  Just climb down!" But there was no response.

That is where my story ends.  So now a question for you:  If you were the father what would you do?

1 And you were dead in the trespasses and sins 2 in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience— 3 among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. 4 But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, 5 even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— 6 and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, 7 so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. 8 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, 9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast.  Ephesians 2:1-9

63 “It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh is no help at all. The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life. 64 But there are some of you who do not believe.” (For Jesus knew from the beginning who those were who did not believe, and who it was who would betray him.) 65 And he said, “This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless it is granted him by the Father.”   John 6:63-65

The Road Not Taken by Robert Frost (modified by me)

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim
Because it was grassy and wanted wear,
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way
I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I,
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference. 
I took the one deemed safe, and why
I'll always mourn the difference.

Who authored the Scriptures?

41 Now while the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them a question, 42 saying, “What do you think about the Christ? Whose son is he?” They said to him, “The son of David.” 43 He said to them, “How is it then that David, in the Spirit, calls him Lord, saying,

44 “‘The Lord said to my Lord,
“Sit at my right hand,
    until I put your enemies under your feet”’?

45 If then David calls him Lord, how is he his son?” 46 And no one was able to answer him a word, nor from that day did anyone dare to ask him any more questions.  Matthew 22:41-46

In this passage Jesus is reasoning with the Pharisees about their expectations of who the Christ would be.  Jesus references Psalm 110:1 which was written by King David.  The Pharisees believed the Christ would be a man--and only a man--from David's lineage (that's why Christ is called "son of David") but Jesus questioned their understanding by showing that David, who lived multiple generations earlier than them, called Christ his Lord.  "The Lord (the Father) said to my Lord (the Son), 'Sit at my right hand, until I put your enemies under your feet.' "  David would not have called Christ his Lord if Christ was merely a man because the title "Lord" infers subjugation and you are not subject to people who live multiple generations after you die.  By calling Christ his Lord David showed he knew the Christ would be a God-man.

How did David have this insight?  Jesus says because David was "in the Spirit" when he wrote those words.  In other words, his words were not his own but they were given to him by the Holy Spirit. Peter provides more insight into this phenomenon as he explains why the apostles' testimony is dependable:

16 For we did not follow cleverly devised myths when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty. 17 For when he received honor and glory from God the Father, and the voice was borne to him by the Majestic Glory, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased,” 18 we ourselves heard this very voice borne from heaven, for we were with him on the holy mountain. 19 And we have the prophetic word more fully confirmed, to which you will do well to pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts, 20 knowing this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture comes from someone's own interpretation. 21 For no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.  2 Peter 1:16-21

What this means is people put pen to paper to write the words we can now read as Scripture, but it was the Spirit who instructed them what to write.

What's the real question?

Choices.  Let's suppose I put two briefcases in front of someone.  Both contain my own money which I want to give away.  One of the cases has one hundred dollars in it.  The other case has one million dollars in it.  I then tell the person that they can choose freely which one they want and it's theirs without condition.  They look at me bewildered but I assure them I'm telling the truth.  Which one would they choose?  This is not a trick question.

I think you will agree everybody in this situation, having complete freedom, would choose the briefcase with one million dollars in it.  The choice is so obvious it is almost absurd.  No one would need to force or compel them to choose that case because the value of one million dollars is so much greater than one hundred dollars that the choice is irresistible even though the person had complete freedom to choose either case.  The issue guiding the person's decision is not whether the person has free will to choose but whether the person can correctly value the contents of each briefcase.

Now I put two different options in front of someone.  They can choose self or choose Christ.  They can live their life and do whatever they want to do or they can live their life and do whatever Christ wants them to do.  But here is what is at stake: if they choose self, they get to do whatever they want in this life but forfeit an eternity with Christ in the next.  If they choose Christ, they get to do whatever Christ wants in this life and get an eternity with Christ in the next.  Which one would they choose?

The same question underlies this choice as with the choice of briefcases.  It's not a question of whether the person has free will (it never has been).  It's a question of does the person correctly value the options?  Does the person understand the value of Christ?  The unbelieving world is unbelieving precisely because they do not and so pursuing their own ambitions and catering to themselves is always more valuable to them than a relationship with Christ.  Yet when someone actually sees the "surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus" (Phil 3:8)--just like the person who sees the value of the million dollars--they will always choose Christ and they will do so without compromising their free will.

Once you've gotten this far then we can move to the next question, which is how does someone come to see the surpassing value of knowing Christ and why do so many people not see?

7 But whatever were gains to me I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. 8 What is more, I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them garbage, that I may gain Christ 9 and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ—the righteousness that comes from God on the basis of faith. Philippians 3:7-9

Understanding death gives us hope!

Have you ever wondered why people die? I'm sure everyone does at some point. You could take it from a physical perspective and say we die because our heart stops pumping and so on. But that's only a secondary cause.  I'm talking about the primary reason people die.  Sure, people die because the heart stops beating, but why does the heart ever have to stop beating?

If you've grown up in church your immediate response may be "because of sin."  And yeah, that's true, we die because we sin, but that answer actually begs another question which is why then do babies and those in utero who have no opportunity to actively sin still die sometimes?  The Bible says some amazing things about sin and how it relates to death and ultimately our hope.

"Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all people, because all sinned—" (Romans 5:12).  This verse basically supports our first supposition which is all people die because all people sinned and death is the penalty for sin.  Notice it says sin entered the world through one man, which is referring to Adam.  For some context, if you read the account in Genesis you'll see the first sin occurred when Adam disobeyed a command from God not to eat fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

There was a span of time, at least several hundred years--maybe even several thousand--between Adam and Moses where people had no direct command from God. During this span of time between Adam and Moses people still sinned but their sin was not charged against them since there was no law to obey: "To be sure, sin was in the world before the law was given, but sin is not charged against anyone’s account where there is no law." (Rom 5:13)  Adam's sin was charged against him because God expressly commanded him not to do something and then Adam did it anyway.  But after Adam lots of people prior to Moses sinned by doing things counter to God's unexpressed will yet their sin was not counted against them because they had no command telling them to do otherwise.  Still, even though their own sin was not counted against them they all died!  As Paul says, "Nevertheless, death reigned from the time of Adam to the time of Moses, even over those who did not sin by breaking a command, as did Adam, who is a pattern of the one to come." (Rom 5:14)  So why did all of these people whose sins were not counted against them still die?  Because of Adam's sin.  That is, the people who died between the time of Adam and Moses did so not because they sinned by breaking God's commands, but because Adam sinned and Adam represented them.  This reality is repeated 5 times by Paul:

• Verse 15: "By the transgression of the one [Adam] the many died."
• Verse 16: "The judgment followed one sin and brought condemnation."
• Verse 17: "By the transgression of the one, death reigned through the one."
• Verse 18: "Through one transgression there resulted condemnation to all men."
• Verse 19: "Through the one man's disobedience the many were made sinners."

You may be wondering how one person's sin can affect all of humanity.  It seems so unfair, doesn't it?  Yet, a similar question should be asked.  Namely, how can one person's sacrifice benefit all who are in Him?  Notice in verse 14 Paul calls Adam "a pattern of the one to come", meaning Christ.  So Adam, our representative, follows the pattern of Christ, who is the representative of all who are in Him.  It would be quite odd to accept one representative and not the other.  Paul's goal in these verses is not actually to explain why death occurs, but rather why Christ's death and resurrection can effectively give us new life.  To help us understand Christ, Paul explains Adam.  "For if, by the trespass of the one man, death reigned through that one man, how much more will those who receive God’s abundant provision of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ!  Consequently, just as one trespass resulted in condemnation for all people, so also one righteous act resulted in justification and life for all people." (Romans 5:17-18)

So, why do we die?  Because Adam sinned (as do we).  Why can we live?  Because Christ died and lived again.

"May grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord. His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence," 2 Peter 1:2-3

A modern-day Matthew 20:1-16

At a restaurant one day a man was at the checkout counter buying his meal.  Looking behind him he saw a line of several people waiting to check out as well.  He looked at the cashier and said, "I'd like to buy the food for the 3rd and 4th people behind me."  Out of his wallet he pulled a 20 dollar bill and handed it to the cashier. "This should cover it," he said.

The cashier looked at the man and, referring to the 3rd and 4th person in line, asked, "Are they in your group?"

"No, I just want to buy their meals," the buyer replied.

The people in 3rd and 4th place didn't hear the buyer talk to the cashier, but the person directly behind him did and chimed in indignantly, "Wait a second. Why did you skip me? Why would you buy their meals but skip me? You got something against me?"

"Not at all," the buyer responded. "I just want to do something nice for them."

"That's messed up man. Skipping over me."

"I'm sorry you think I'm being unfair," the buyer responded. "When you came into the store, didn't you expect to buy your own meal? So why is it unfair for me to buy a meal for whoever I want to with my own money?"

More thoughts on N.T. Wright's view of justification

A couple weeks ago I wrote about my view on justification and why I disagree with N.T. Wright.  If you're interested, you can view it here http://mycircumlocution.blogspot.com/2013/04/my-thoughts-on-nt-wrights-view-of.html.  Here are a few more observations on N.T. Wright's definition of justification.

1) N.T. Wright's view on justification handles our case before God as a civil complaint rather than a criminal complaint.  He says our justification is when God's court, in a dispute between two opposing parties, finds in our favor.  This dispute is not a moral dispute as in "I, the plaintiff, accuse you, the defendant, of breaking the law" but a "who's right/who's wrong" dispute.  He argues, "JUSTIFICATION denotes, primarily, that action in the lawcourt whereby a judge upholds the case of one party in dispute before him (in the Hebrew lawcourt, where the image originates, all cases consist of an accuser and a defendant, there being no public prosecutor).  Having heard the case, the judge finds in favour of one party, and thereby ‘justifies’ him" (http://ntwrightpage.com/Wright_NDCT_Justification.htm).  In other words, in a dispute between two parties, justification is when God declares one party right and one party wrong and in God's court the Christian faithful will ultimately be vindicated.  Wright sets this up as a dispute that will be resolved on Judgement Day.  He says "justification is the covenant declaration, which will be issued on the last day, in which the people of God will be vindicated and those who insist on worshipping false gods will be shown to be wrong" ("What Saint Paul Really Said: Was Paul of Tarsus the Real Founder of Christianity?", p131).  There are two issues with this in my mind.  The first issue is who Wright identifies as the accuser (the plaintiff).  In his view it is idolators who are the plaintiffs and Christians who are defendants.  In my opinion, one reason Wright is wrong here is because in the Bible it is not idolators that accuse Christians before God, it is Satan himself who is our accuser (Zech 3:1, Rev 12:10).  Satan is the plaintiff.  The second issue is the nature of the dispute.  The judgement is not a question of "who's right?" and "who's wrong?" (as in a civil case) but rather "does the accused (defendant) hate God and love evil or do they love God and hate evil?" (as in a criminal case) The case of Job is relevant here.  God asks Satan, "Have you considered my servant Job? There is no one on earth like him; he is blameless and upright, a man who fears God and shuns evil." (Job 1:8), to which Satan replies, "Have you not put a hedge around him and his household and everything he has? You have blessed the work of his hands, so that his flocks and herds are spread throughout the land. But now stretch out your hand and strike everything he has, and he will surely curse you to your face." (Job 1:10-11)  So Satan seems to make the accusation that Job is a disobedient God-hater who loves evil.  I agree with Wright that in the end Christians will be vindicated and declared to be "in the right", but I think this verdict will be a result of our being "in Christ" and therefore found to be morally blameless--people who fear God and shun evil (something that is only possible by a Spirit-regenerated life found through faith in Christ).

2) I think N.T. Wright's definition of God's righteousness is too shallow.  I do not mean that in a derogatory way, but in a descriptive way.  He says "God's righteousness refers to his own faithfulness to the covenant he made with Abraham" (http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2009/june/29.34.html?start=1).  If this is true then God's righteousness is dependent on the existence of the covenant and therefore God's righteousness was non-existent prior to the Abrahamic covenant.  I just don't believe this to be true.  Rather, I understand God's righteousness to be an immutable attribute of God that has always been and always will be--just like his love and his glory.  It is not dependent on anything outside itself.  I agree with John Piper who says God's righteousness "is his unwavering faithfulness to uphold the glory of his name in all he does. No single action, like covenant keeping, is God's righteousness. For all his acts are done in righteousness" (http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2009/june/29.34.html?start=1).  So while God's righteousness includes his faithfulness to the covenant he made with Abraham, it is not limited to that faithfulness.  Why is this distinction important?  Because Wright's understanding of justification is dependent upon his definition of God's righteousness.  Due to his definition he argues God's righteousness cannot be transferred to believers.  If God's righteousness is an action like faithfulness to a covenant then he argues it cannot be given to others.  He says, "If we use the language of the law court, it makes no sense whatever to say that the judge imputes, imparts, bequeaths, conveys or otherwise transfers his righteousness to either the plaintiff or the defendant. Righteousness is not an object, a substance or a gas which can be passed across the courtroom." (N.T. Wright, What Saint Paul Really Said, p98).  I believe Wright's error here is that he focuses on what God's righteousness does and not on what it is.  Paul indeed says that Christ's righteousness is credited to us (Romans 4:22) which communicates to me that there is indeed a transfer taking place.  Another key verse to make mention of is 2 Corinthians 5:20, "For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God."  Wright suggests this verse actually means "for our sake God made Christ, who did not know sin, to be a sin-offering for us, so that in him we might become God’s covenant-faithfulness." (http://ntwrightpage.com/Wright_Becoming_Righteousness.pdf)  Yet when I read his interpretation of that verse I feel like he is massaging it a little bit too much to fit his paradigm.

3) N.T. Wright sees no connection between the problem of our sin and our need for justification.  In his view, God justifies us on the basis of our being "in Christ", not on the basis of our moral standing.  "The person justified is described as ‘just’, ‘righteous’ ... not as a description of moral character but as a statement of his status before the court (which will, ideally, be matched by character, but that is not the point)." (http://ntwrightpage.com/Wright_NDCT_Justification.htm)  My reply to him would be, "Yes, but...our being 'in Christ' perfects our moral standing."  You cannot separate the two.  The easiest way to answer the question "Why are people justified?" may be to answer its corollary:  Why are some people unjustified and therefore condemned?  To me the Bible seems clear those who are condemned are so because of their imperfect moral standing (evil deeds).  Consider Jesus' words in John 3:

18 Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son. 19 This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but people loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil.  John 3:18-19 (emphasis mine)

Here Jesus explains that people are condemned because they do not believe.  But why don't they believe?  His answer is:  because they love the darkness since their deeds are evil.  The darkness hides the evil.

Also consider what Paul says in Romans:

5 But because of your hard and impenitent heart you are storing up wrath for yourself on the day of wrath when God's righteous judgment will be revealed. 6 He will render to each one according to his works: 7 to those who by patience in well-doing seek for glory and honor and immortality, he will give eternal life; 8 but for those who are self-seeking and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, there will be wrath and fury. (Romans 2:5-8)

Unjustified people are condemned because their deeds are evil.  Since their deeds are evil they love the darkness because it allows them to continue doing evil deeds.  So if people are condemned because of their imperfect moral standing, it follows that people are justified because of their perfect moral standing, and perfect moral standing is only possible through faith in Christ when his righteousness is credited to us (Romans 4:24).

Furthermore, a direct rebuttal to Wright's view is found in Acts 13, where Paul states, "Therefore, my friends, I want you to know that through Jesus the forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you. Through him everyone who believes is set free from every sin, a justification you were not able to obtain under the law of Moses." (Acts 13:38-39, emphasis mine)  Paul makes it extremely clear that our justification equates to being "set free from every sin" through belief.

4) Finally, Wright says the gospel is not "a system of how people get saved" ("What Saint Paul Really Said: Was Paul of Tarsus the Real Founder of Christianity?", p45).  Instead, to Wright the good news is the declaration that Christ is the fulfillment of God's promise to Abraham.  He says, the "gospel is the royal announcement that the crucified and risen Jesus, who died for our sins and rose again according to the Scriptures, has been enthroned as the true Lord of the world" (http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2009/june/29.34.html?start=2).  The byproduct of this gospel, he argues, is that people get saved, but the opportunity for salvation is not the gospel itself.  I completely agree the gospel is the good news that Christ is the fulfillment of God's promise to Abraham, but I would argue the fulfillment of God's promise includes salvation.  Referring again to Acts 13, Paul starts his message by defining the good news:  "We tell you the good news: What God promised our ancestors he has fulfilled for us, their children, by raising up Jesus." (Acts 13:32-33)  But Paul doesn't stop there.  He ends his message with the wonderful reality that "through Jesus the forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you. Through him everyone who believes is set free from every sin" (Acts 13:38-39).  So the full gospel message includes "Christ is King" and also "Christ is Savior".  What's fascinating here is that this is emphasized by the very name "Jesus Christ".  "Christ" comes from "christos", a Greek word meaning "anointed one".  It equates to the Hebrew word for "Messiah" (John 1:41).  The "anointed one" refers to a priest or king--both of which describe Christ's role.  "Jesus" means "YAHWEH is salvation".  Mary was told to name her baby "Jesus" because "he will save his people from their sins" (Matthew 1:20-21).  This sheds light on why Christ said "Whoever believes in [God's Son] is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God" (John 3:18, emphasis mine).  The name "Jesus Christ" is the gospel.

In light of Romans 10:9 it's questionable to me whether an individual has to know their sins are forgiven in order to be saved.  However I do think forgiveness of sins and assurance of salvation is what makes the good news truly "good".  The question should be asked about Wright's view:  what's good about news that doesn't imply some potential benefit to the hearer?  In order for the news that "Christ is the fulfillment of God's promise" to be good news I have to know how it affects me.  It is indeed good news to those who believe, but it is terrible news to everyone who doesn't.  That's why the gospel includes the declaration that through faith we (each person and individual) can receive freedom from slavery to sin and become children of God, which is indeed a message of salvation.  I agree with Wright the gospel is not a message instructing people "how to get saved" simply because there is nothing to do in order to be saved.  The gospel is a message that you either believe or you don't.  And Paul knew by sharing this message with people some would be saved because they would believe the news.

There are other issues where I completely agree with N.T. Wright, like the historical resurrection, for instance.  While I do not fully agree with his view on justification, I think his explanation of justification is a positively challenging one.  It certainly forced me to try to figure out what I believe.

Why is it important to be clear about what justification is and what it does?  First, it's important because justification is the moment at which you become reconciled to God and God becomes "for you".  When you know God is for you can live empowered and confident as Paul did (Romans 8:31).  Also, when sharing the gospel with someone we need to understand what the "good news" is and justification is a huge part of the message.  People want to know how this good news affects them.  Why is it relevant?  The answer is because it offers freedom from sin and kingdom benefits.  Justification is what makes the good news truly "good" for the individual.   Understanding how justification works will help make us much clearer communicators of the message.

One size does not fit all

Jesus did not employ a one-size-fits-all ministry.  To the rich young ruler who thought he had obeyed every commandment perfectly Jesus gave a requirement too difficult for the young man to embrace--give away everything he has (Mark 10:17-22).  Yet to the broken woman about to be stoned for adultery he gave grace (John 8:1-11).