Don’t Make Jonah’s Mistake

This article by Ruth was in our archives. She returns to her regular place on Fridays next week.

Jonah and the Psalm

A while ago, I posed this question as an informal Facebook poll: “Did the story of Jonah happen literally as it appears in the Bible?” The majority said yes. No surprise. The Church has been defending the story’s miraculous nature since the early Church Fathers. For many, it’s even a test of faith in God’s sovereignty; can you believe God didn’t do it, without believing God couldn’t do it?

People often say that it “must have happened—Jesus says it did.” Fair statement, but one that needs some thought. What is the relationship between Jesus and Jonah?

Let’s assume that the event literally happened to Jonah, son of Amittai, prophet to King Jeroboam. That Jonah’s psalm in chapter 2 was his prayer, recorded as he prayed it.

Why would Jonah sing his gratitude to God in the middle of this mess? Why does Jonah never expresses remorse?

And where does Jesus fit in?

Now the Lord had appointed a huge fish to swallow Jonah, and Jonah was in the fish three days and three nights. Jonah prayed to the Lord his God from inside the fish.

Matthew records Jesus saying: “…For as Jonah was in the belly of the huge fish three days and three nights, so the Son of Man will be in the heart of the earth three days and three nights.” Matthew 12:40 (HCSB)

Both events involve a prophetic man who comes back after three days of being given up for dead, but in all other respects, narrative contrasts are greater than similarities.

• Jesus is in conversation with God all through his approach to the grave: Jonah is silent until he can’t stand it any more.
• Jesus laments God’s turning His face away; Jonah is the one who turns his back.
• Jesus enters his grave as an act of submission: Jonah embraces death as part of his defiance.
• Jesus, as God, returns by an act of power and of will: Jonah as vomit.

I called to the Lord in my distress, and He answered me.
I cried out for help in the belly of Sheol; You heard my voice.

Jonah finally breaks his silence. Some suggest he’d been unconscious, others that Jonah physically died and was resurrected, based on Matthew’s “sign of Jonah,” and the reference to Sheol.

For Christians, “Sheol” can bring to mind medieval pictures of Hell, but to Jonah himself the image was very different. Sheol was beneath the earth, the farthest place from Heaven, where the dead descended to (or were raised from if God opened the gate). Those who entered it became silent shadows, without knowledge, passion, or hope. Yet God ruled there, and in the Messiah’s day the righteous would be released to joyously participate in His kingdom.

Some see a connection here with 1 Peter 3:18-20 and Ephesians 4:9 but there’s no real support in scripture for the idea of Jesus “descending to Hell.” Peter speaks of earth, and Paul of the past, not of metaphysics. Instead, they drive home for us the understanding that Jesus overcame time and space to walk in the dust, and “humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death—even to death on a cross.”¹

You threw me into the depths, into the heart of the seas,
and the current overcame me. All Your breakers and Your billows swept over me.

For modern songwriters, switching ‘voice’ mid-song is a no-no. Not true for the Psalmists who switch from addressing God, to His people, to the writer’s own soul and back again. Jonah moves from speaking about God, to direct, dramatic accusation.

Jesus also recognizes God’s hand in directing his path, but He does it with an attitude of humility and submission that culminates in His prayer, “If this cannot pass… Your will be done,”² modelling not blame but trust and obedience.

But I said: I have been banished from Your sight,
yet I will look once more toward Your holy temple.
The waters engulfed me up to the neck;
the watery depths overcame me; seaweed was wrapped around my head.

Jonah has what he wanted—to be far from the face of God—and realizes he should have been more careful in his wishing.

He’s bound and suffocating, tangled in something beyond his strength. He echoes Psalm 88: drowning, God’s wrath, an innocent sufferer, accusation, demands for rescue, loneliness.

At His loneliest moment, Jesus draws instead from Psalm 22 and its anticipation of praise in better days. Like Jonah, Jesus grieves God’s absence. Like Jonah, He identifies Himself as an innocent. Unlike Jonah, He actually is one.

At least Jonah is looking in the right direction—back where he came from.

I sank to the foundations of the mountains;
the earth with its prison bars closed behind me forever!
But You raised my life from the Pit, Lord my God!
As my life was fading away, I remembered Yahweh.
My prayer came to You, to Your holy temple.

Jonah continues to deny the cause of his trouble—his own choices. But something has changed.

He’s run as far as he can but still has a connection to the One from whom He ran. He knows to whom he speaks, how he will sound in those ears and what the response is likely to be.

In the darkest place possible, his heart and mind turn toward the brightest. In the grip of the worst monster, he looks toward the most loving Father. At his farthest from home, his mind turns to the Holy of Holies, the centre of all Creation.

To “remember” is not just to recall, but to be intentionally mindful. Of the past—what God has done. Of the present—where He meets us. Of the future—in which He awaits.

This is where Jonah comes closest to Jesus, who in His own climactic moment on the cross contradicted His own sense of abandonment and declared the words of Psalm 31:5, “Into Your hand I entrust my spirit…”…trusting God to “…redeem me, Lord, God of truth.”

Jonah, weakened and lost, cannot save himself but Yahweh-remembered can and will. Jonah is freed from the pit.

Those who cling to worthless idols forsake faithful love

Has Jonah learned anything? Has he changed? He hasn’t admitted his guilt. We see no contrition. Instead, he condemns “those” who forsake faithful love which comes from the God that Jonah fled. So who is he talking about?

“Those” sailors whose misfortune it was to give Jonah a ride? They’d been pagan until they met with Yahweh. Afterward they’d sacrificed and made vows to the LORD, a step toward becoming “Hebrews.” But Jonah didn’t see that happen. He was already underwater and sinking. All Jonah knew of them was that they were “those who cling to worthless idols.” Perhaps he assumes they’ve lost their chance.

“Those” Ninevites, violent and cruel people? He’s endangered his own life to scuttle their chance at receiving the faithful love of God. Is he hoping that this proverb is a promise?

All that’s left is himself—the prophet who clung to the idol of his nationalistic hatred, forsaking the faithful love of God. Jonah’s not the only prophet to object to his assignment. So did Moses, Isaiah, Ezekiel and Jeremiah. He is, however, the only one who upped sticks and ran. The others spoke honestly to God and received His response. Jonah built a wall of silence and refusal between himself and God.

Jonah and Jesus again part ways. Jesus didn’t only accept His role, He chose it. “…He emptied Himself by assuming the form of a slave, taking on the likeness of men.”

One rabbinic writer said:

“Jeremiah sought the honor of God and the honor of Israel;
Elijah sought the honor of God and not the honor of Israel;
Jonah sought the honor of Israel and not the honor of God.”

One might even substitute “Jonah sought the honor of himself…” Jesus sought the honor of the Father through obedience, pursuing and rescuing those who clung to their idols and could not, on their own, find the freedom of letting go.

…but as for me, I will sacrifice to You with a voice of thanksgiving.
I will fulfill what I have vowed. Salvation is from the Lord!

Then the Lord commanded the fish, and it vomited Jonah onto dry land.

The fish has been carrying around 180 extra pounds of ballast. Enough is enough. The LORD lets her off the hook. It’s time for Jonah to head inland.

Three days of petulant silence, followed by a burst of eloquent gratitude, and either hypocritical self-righteousness, or an excuse to head to Jerusalem instead of Nineveh. No wonder she was sick.

Jonah heads reluctantly to Nineveh, wanders around—in silence for three days—before delivering his message.

But Jesus spent His ministry reaching out and being available to not only men like Himself, but to enemies and invaders, strangers and rejects, women and children, heretics and hypocrites. After His resurrection, He allowed only moments to pass before reconnecting with the people He’d come to save.

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However… what if instead of Matthew’s rendering, we look at Luke’s record of the same statement: For just as Jonah became a sign to the people of Nineveh, so also the Son of Man will be to this generation. Luke 11:30 (HCSB)

Despite the fact that Luke wouldn’t have heard it first hand, his understanding of the Jonah/Jesus parallel seems better grounded: just as Jonah’s message of God’s grace toward Nineveh had “overturned” the city, so would Jesus’ overturn the world.

The verb in Jonah’s message to Nineveh seems intentionally ambiguous. Throughout Scripture, it’s translated as demolished, overturned, overthrown, transformed or turned around. Those who (eventually) heard it inferred a threat of destruction, creating fearful repentance. But was this true prophet of Israel not also used to point to an alternative fulfillment?

Nineveh was beautifully, life-givingly “overturned.”

So, yes. Jesus wanted us to remember this story. He wanted us to learn from it.

I’d argue that the least important question about this story is whether it “happened.” What matters is that we learn from Jonah’s mistakes and are free to not repeat them. That we learn from Jesus’ example and are free to make it real in our lives.

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1 Philippians 2:8 HCSB

2 Matthew 26:42

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More about Jonah: Here’s an article by Ruth that’s also about Jonah which appeared here just a few weeks ago.

Ruth Wilkinson is a pastor in south central Ontario, Canada.

Familiar Stories, Part One: Noah

On the Same Page: Noah and the Flood (Genesis 6:9-22)

by Ruth Wilkinson

Where is God in this story? We know where Noah and his family are. We know where the animals are. We know where the rest of humanity is. So where is God in this story?

First, God is on His sovereign throne looking down at the earth. God has authority. He speaks, expecting and deserving our response.

God looks down from His throne and sees that “the earth was corrupt in the sight of God, and full of violence.” In the beginning, God created the world and saw that it was good. In Noah’s day, only ten generations from the garden of Eden, God saw that it was corrupted. In that Eden event, God made His first covenant with humanity: “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth …” (Genesis 1:28)— “Fill it with My image. Make the earth fruitful and filled with good things.”

Instead, 10 generations later, God looks… And does not see good. He sees that yes, we have filled the earth. But we have filled it with violence. We have filled it with corruption.

That word corrupt means to take something good and twist it, to spoil it. We polluted what God had made. It’s as if we took a magic marker and drew a mustache on the Mona Lisa. We wrecked it. It’s spoiled. The kind of thing that makes us shake our heads and say, “What a waste.”

That word violence means a disruption of the divinely established order of things: oppression of the weak by the strong, exploitation of the poor by the rich. It means not only physical violence, but also relational violence—pollution that prevent us from pursuing and receiving God’s blessing. That ruins our relationships with each other and with the world. Broader than just physical violence, it tears apart what God has made. Destroys our relationships with each other and with him. In Eden, God’s covenant gave us the earth for food, shelter, and comfort. He gave to us the earth and the animals. He gave us to the earth and the animals so that we could care for and cultivate the world of which we are a part. And we twisted those relationships. We did violence to the earth. We did violence to ourselves.

Noah was born into a people who lived in a land watered by the rivers that had flowed through Eden itself… but on a completely different planet. God on His throne, in His sovereignty, looked down and saw that it was not good, but corrupt. He saw the harm that we had done to the world. The direction we were going. So God on His throne made a sovereign decision.

The second place I see God in this story is walking with Noah as a loving creator.

In the beginning, God created us in His image. He walked with us in the garden. He gave us these gifts of sustenance and safety and companionship. Of our animal brothers and sisters. Of each other. And we completely failed. What is God’s response? According to the text–with regret. He regrets having created humanity. You would expect God to be angry. You would expect him to say, “How dare you spoil what I have made? How dare you ignore my sovereignty? How dare you defy my authority? How dare you do things so opposite to what I set you to do?” You would expect God’s response to be anger, but there’s no indication of that in the text.

There is sadness. There is sorrow: grief at what has been lost, at what should have been. The fact that God regretted the situation does not necessarily mean that He was surprised by it. We can know that something is going to happen, and still be disappointed when it does. It doesn’t mean that we’re angry. It means that we are sad. God grieves over the situation.

His response (the thing that we struggle with the most, that makes this story so difficult) is not to abandon the mess and just say, “Oh, forget it. That was a bad idea. I’m never doing that again.”

His response is to engage in an act of recreation.

In the beginning He creates. In Noah’s day, He re-creates. God found a family He could invest in because they were “righteous.” That righteousness is the opposite of corruption. Righteous means ‘in right relationship,’ going in the right direction. It means engaging correctly with His commands, living His values. That righteous family was faithful to God. They were faithful to each other faithful in their community. They were whole. They had healthy relationships, and healthy characters. They lived in accordance with God’s principles. Especially Noah. And God chose this family to start again.

Genesis 1:2 says that in the beginning, “the breath of God, the spirit of God hovered over the face of the deep.”

In Genesis 2:7, God gives the breath of life to Adam and Eve.

In Genesis 7:22 breath is taken from all life on earth.

And then in Genesis 8:1, God sends a breath to blow over the waters that covered the poor, beleaguered, cursed earth to start bringing it back to life. To start bringing life back to the earth. To start doing what God alone can do: moving our story towards redemption and towards new life. Giving us, and giving our world, what only He can give: the breath of the spirit of life.

God’s work through the flood and through Noah’s family was an act of re-creation, giving us another chance, giving us a second opportunity to obey His sovereignty. A second change to walk alongside Him.

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There is much debate about the story of Noah and the flood—starting with the question of whether it “actually happened.” In other words, whether it is a parable or an event.

Regardless, it is Scripture. It has authority. It’s there for a reason. Parable or event, it speaks to us in a God-breathed way.

If, for example, we interpret Noah’s flood as being a parable, it still has authority for us. When Jesus talks about His second coming, about His return to earth in ultimate power, about that ultimate act of re-creation, He says this:

No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the son, but only the father. As it was in the days of Noah so it will be at the coming of the son of man, for in the days before the flood, people were eating and drinking and marrying and giving in marriage up to the day Noah entered the ark. And they were oblivious until the flood came and swept them away. So will it be at the coming of the son of man. Therefore keep watch, because you do not know the day on which your Lord will come. (Matthew 24:36-42)

Jesus is teaching from Noah’s story the same way He teaches from parables: picking out one particular core truth, and using the story to reveal a mystery. “You can’t know what’s going to happen, so pay attention to your everyday life. Live your life the way I want you to live. Be righteous. Be like Noah.”

If, however, you interpret Noah’s story as an event (an actuality that happened to people on this planet) then it’s part of our story. It’s part of our history: our relationship with the world, and our relationship with God.

It reminds us that our future, our destiny, is inextricable from that of our world. Our planet, the plants and the animals, and the earth we are part of—this whole great creation, our relationships with each other and our relationships with God—are connected.

Throughout that history, God made covenants with a number of people: with Adam and Eve, with Abraham, with David, with Moses. Jesus made a covenant with us, promising what He was going to do in us, for us, and through us.

Noah’s covenant with God is a little bit different.

God said to Noah and his sons with him, “Behold, I now establish my covenant with you and your descendants after you, and with every living creature that was with you… I establish my covenant that never again will all life be cut off by the waters of the flood.” (Genesis 9:8ff)

God is making a covenant not just with Noah, or with his family. God’s covenant is with all of creation: that our shared destiny will never again go down that path. That God has a different plan for us, and for the animals and for all creation. God’s covenant is with the world.

We have been created by, we share the universe with, we are accountable to a God who loves us enough to make us better. Who loves us enough to teach us. To refine us. To bring us through the crises of our lives closer to him. A God who has made a promise to us and to every living creature that our story will be completed. That our story will come to its true and best ending.

The creation waits in eager expectation for the revelation of the sons of God. For the creation was subjected to futility not by its own will, but because of the one the sovereign, one who subjected it in hope that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to decay. And brought into the glorious freedom of the children of. God and we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childhood. (Romans 8:19-22)

The story of Noah and the flood is a chapter in our story. It’s a chapter in the story of our world. The story that God is guiding, and writing, and that He will complete.

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Rev. Ruth Wilkinson is a pastor in the Canadian Baptists of Ontario and Quebec (CBOQ). Her sermon blog is Pastor Percipia. Click the title of this post for a link to the full article and a video sermon of which this is an excerpt.

It’s Already Paid For; It’s Yours!

Over the years we’ve introduced a number of writers here who may have felt they were blogging in obscurity until we encouraged them greatly by stumbling over their work and sharing it with our readers.

But occasionally, we’ve borrowed from the best, including a few websites that already have a bajillion daily readers. A few times in our earlier years, that was a pastor who needs no introduction, Rick Warren. His devotions appear at PastorRick.com. Click the header below to read this particular one at source. While the message is simple today by C201 standards, at the end I share why I chose this one to be reprinted here.

How to Claim Your Inheritance

“I commit you to God and to the word of his grace, which can build you up and give you an inheritance among all those who are sanctified.”

Acts 20:32 (NIV)

You have an inheritance coming to you. How do I know that? The Bible promises an inheritance to those who read God’s Word.

The Bible says in Acts 20:32, “I commit you to God and to the word of his grace, which can build you up and give you an inheritance among all those who are sanctified” (NIV).

An inheritance is what you get for being part of a family; it’s rightfully yours.

If your father dies and you never took the time to read his will, you’d be foolish. You wouldn’t get what was rightfully due to you. You wouldn’t benefit from what belongs to you as his child.

When you become a follower of Jesus, you’re not just a believer—you’re a belonger. You become a part of God’s family. Family privileges come along with that decision. You have a spiritual inheritance!

But if you walked through your entire life and you didn’t know what benefits were available to you as a child of God, that would be sad—and foolish. God wants you to grow and know what’s available to you from him. To do that, you need to read the Bible.

The Bible says in 2 Timothy 3:16-17: ^“All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work” (NIV).

The purpose of the Bible is to help you live out your purpose that God has for your life; it’s God’s inheritance that’s due to you. God wants you to be thoroughly equipped for what he made you to do. To do that, he does four things through Scripture:

He teaches you. God shows you the path on which you should walk.
He rebukes you. God shows you when you’re off the path.
He corrects you. God shows you how you can get back on the path.
He trains you. God shows you how you can stay on the path.

That’s how God’s Word helps you grow and get that great inheritance he has prepared for you. But you only get it if you open up the Bible and start reading!

Talk It Over

• How should your life be different when you have an inheritance from the King of Kings?
• Do you want the Bible to teach, rebuke, correct, and train you? In what ways does your time in God’s Word reflect your answer?
• What are some habits you need to change so that you are taking full advantage of the Bible’s instruction?

Have you claimed your inheritance through Jesus?

You’ve got a place in God’s forever family ready and waiting for you. The invitation is wide open. But you must believe in Jesus and receive him as your Lord and Savior.

Are you ready? Start by praying this simple prayer:

“Dear God, I know when I die, I’m going to give an account of my life to you. I know I have sinned against you, and I have lived by my plan, not yours. I want that to change, starting right now. I want to turn away from my sins and toward you.

“Thank you for sending Jesus to die for all that I’ve done wrong so that I don’t have to pay the penalty. I know I don’t deserve your forgiveness. I know only your grace can save me, Lord. I could never be good enough to get into a perfect place.

“Jesus, thank you for loving me so much that you took all my guilt on yourself. You made me acceptable for heaven, and I humbly ask you to save me. I believe in you, Jesus. And I believe you will keep your promise to save me instantly, certainly, completely, and eternally. In your name I pray. Amen.”

If you just prayed to accept Jesus, please email me at Rick@PastorRick.com and let me know. I’d like to send you some free materials to help you start your journey with Jesus.

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Why I chose this particular devotional:

In our part of the world it’s common that if the post office tries to deliver a parcel to your home, and you’re not there to receive it; instead of abandoning it, they leave a card. You show up at a specified address later, show the card, and claim the package that’s already yours.

You can wave the card around for weeks and say, “Look what I got!” But you have nothing until you redeem the piece of paper for what it represents.

I frequently speak with people who don’t understand that Christ’s offer of salvation is free, but they have to claim it. It’s not theirs until they accept it. But doing so doesn’t involve a lot of effort (or what we in the church call works) but rather, as Rick shows above, it can be a short, simple prayer. “…I humbly ask you to save me…”

 

What is Double Predestination?

The topic of today’s study is something that has been on my mind for several weeks, if not months, but surprisingly, it’s a theological term that until today does not appear anywhere at Christianity 201.

I should also add that for some of you, the more elementary question of what is meant by simple predestination is something you haven’t studied, and I encourage to consult some of the theological dictionaries online if the term is new to you.

There are no direct scripture references embedded in today’s article, but you’ll find them in the linked articles. For more, read Romans 9 today.

Let’s start at GotQuestions.org:

Double predestination is the belief that God creates some people whose purpose in existence is to be sent to hell. Is this concept biblical?

There then follows a study of verses from Romans 1 and Romans 9, which you need to read for better understanding of where the term might be seen as emerging.

I’m not a fan of using of using Wikipedia as a source for theological discussion, but it’s interesting to see how they frame the answer differently. They begin taking a step back as I referred to earlier.

Predestination is a doctrine in Calvinism dealing with the question of the control that God exercises over the world. In the words of the Westminster Confession of Faith, God “freely and unchangeably ordained whatsoever comes to pass.” The second use of the word “predestination” applies this to salvation, and refers to the belief that God appointed the eternal destiny of some to salvation by grace, while leaving the remainder to receive eternal damnation for all their sins, even their original sin.

So while it’s the second part of that answer we’re more interested in, it is worth noting that the broader topic is placed as being part of our understanding of the sovereignty of God. Then, a few paragraphs later,

Double predestination is the idea that not only does God choose some to be saved, he also creates some people who will be damned.

Some modern Calvinists respond to the ethical dilemma of double predestination by explaining that God’s active predestination is only for the elect. God provides grace to the elect causing salvation, but for the damned God withholds salvific [saving] grace. Calvinists teach that God remains just and fair in creating persons he predestines to damnation because although God unilaterally works in the elect producing regeneration, God does not actively force the damned to sin.

I included all that because I want you to see the tension building here! This isn’t an easy one to process, and sometimes our emotions lead the way, especially if there was someone close to us who, inasmuch as we knew them, never answered Christ’s offer of salvation. (Or someone who is currently still in our lives.)

This is a very difficult doctrine to deal with, and the Wikipedia link above is to a much shorter article than the longer piece Wikipedia offers on the topic, which contains this definition:

Double predestination, or the double decree, is the doctrine that God actively reprobates, or decrees damnation of some, as well as salvation for those whom he has elected. During the Protestant Reformation John Calvin held this double predestinarian view: “By predestination we mean the eternal decree of God, by which he determined with himself whatever he wished to happen with regard to every man. All are not created on equal terms, but some are preordained to eternal life, others to eternal damnation; and, accordingly, as each has been created for one or other of these ends, we say that he has been predestinated to life or to death.”

Let me state that while anyone (including me) can become an editor on Wikipedia pages, the end result is often somewhat more balanced than you might see elsewhere. For example, some of the search engine results I was given were for explicitly Calvinist websites, which, for the writers, involves repeating the ‘party line’ on what key terms mean, but sometimes you want a broader perspective.

The site CompellingTruth.org has a concise answer to this question that I recommend reading in its entirety. (It will take you just 3 minutes.) This is where they land the plane:

…But should this passage be applied to all people, or was Paul simply making an argument about Pharaoh and others, like Esau or Judas, who were “vessels prepared for destruction” and chosen for the purpose of furthering God’s plan? Paul does not extrapolate the argument to all people. And elsewhere in Scripture there are verses that support a) God’s desire to see all men saved (1 Timothy 2:4; John 3:16) and b) the importance of the choices we make (Luke 13:34; Matthew 11:23).

Double predestination is largely a human extrapolation of these texts in an effort to make sense of the tension that exists between God’s will and our choices. The result is often that we come to a conclusion that the Bible does not explicitly give us. This usually creates more problems than it solves. One clear point of Romans 9 is that God’s will is paramount, and when His will doesn’t make perfect sense to us, we need to trust Him, and assume that He knows what He’s doing (Proverbs 3:5–6).

That’s exactly where GotQuestions (the link above, where we started) concludes:

…God elects certain people beforehand for His glory. In other words, before the foundation of the world God chose certain people to be His children in order that He would be glorified (see Ephesians 1:4). It does not say that God chose people to damnation or predestined people to wrath. The Bible never speaks about a double predestination where God elects or predestinates some to hell, others to heaven. Those who are under God’s wrath are in that position because they have rejected God. Those that have the righteousness of God are in that position because God has chosen them to be His children.

I could keep going here, but your computer has a search engine, too. You just need to know that some sites, (Desiring God, Ligonier, Monergism, etc.) are written from within the Calvinist movement, where some doctrines are not up for debate.

I would also like to add that I believe what may shape your conclusion on this issue (and many others) is your evolving picture of God’s nature and character as you get to Him in the scriptures and in relationship to Jesus. Perhaps this is just the beginning of some discussion among your Christian friends.

Ask yourself, does this conform to the picture of Jesus I have formed over years of walking with Him?

■ Readers: For additional historical context, see the first reader comment which appears with this article.

Something — Lots of Things — To Think About

In the days long before “Footprints,” you could walk into a Christian bookstore and buy the “Whatsoever things are true…” plaque, also known as “Think on These Things.” Perhaps you had one in your home growing up; but in a recent survey of Christian giftware, it’s actually now hard to find.

In a world where everything was in black-and-white and in King James English, your plaque of Philippians 4:8  probably read like this:

Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.

Here’s how The Message translates it, with verse nine added:

Summing it all up, friends, I’d say you’ll do best by filling your minds and meditating on things true, noble, reputable, authentic, compelling, gracious—the best, not the worst; the beautiful, not the ugly; things to praise, not things to curse. Put into practice what you learned from me, what you heard and saw and realized. Do that, and God, who makes everything work together, will work you into his most excellent harmonies.

The challenge is that it’s easy for wild thoughts to enter our heads and park there.  Sometimes we’re capable of either remembering or even creating stuff that shouldn’t be there.   I believe it’s possible for us to de-toxify our minds, but getting clear from concepts or narratives that are lodged there may take days or weeks and requires discipline.

Nobody likes to think of themselves as “depraved” but one of the things Calvinism has highlighted to us is the phrase “total depravity;” it’s actually the “T” in the “TULIP” acronym.

Catholics say that we are born with “original sin;” though to see to widespread nature of different types of sinful acts is to know there’s nothing original about it.

The “Four Spiritual Laws” begin with premise that “Man is sinful and separated from God…”

But what happens after conversion?

Much of the Apostle Paul’s writings discuss the dual nature; the fight put up by the desires of the flesh. James talks about “double mindedness.” In the epistles at least, we get a picture of the spiritual warfare raging all around us; the accompanying tension between where we are positionally in Christ, and where we find ourselves pragmatically in the world.

But on Sunday mornings, nobody wants to admit this.  That’s probably why in surveys of “weird hymn and chorus lyrics” people always vote for:

Prone to wander, Lord I feel it;
Prone to leave the God I love.

I mean seriously, what terrible advertising for the Christian life. Nobody wants to admit to that propensity to sin. And as for depravity, Dictionary.com defines it as “moral corruption” and there are people I know who don’t know Christ that I would regard as “upstanding morally;” so I don’t think too many Christ-followers would even want to say they were depraved before they made Him lord of their lives.

Have you ever been driving your car or out for a walk and your mind wanders into less than stellar territory?  Then, after the thought has flashed through your brain — or perhaps parked there for about five minutes — you realize how people are — how you are and how I am — always just a few mis-steps away from conceding to our human nature and its way of thinking.

But we are also possessed of a divine nature. I want to end this the way the song quoted above ends; with a prayer for redemption;  this was my prayer for the beginning of this week, and it’s not such a crazy hymn lyric, either:

Here’s my heart, oh take and seal it;
Seal it for Thy courts above.

What fills your mind? Take a cue from Philippians and determine to think on better things.

Salvation’s Transactional Element

…and the transaction so quickly was made, when at the cross I believed…

~lyrics, “Heaven Came Down”

This article appeared here ten years ago, and I can think of some reasons why it was never repeated, because there is a danger in seeing salvation as just a transaction. Nonetheless, I wanted to repeat this because I believe an understanding of the foundation underpinning salvation — which goes back to the book of Numbers — is often missed, even by seasoned Christ-followers who have been on this journey for a long time.

The moment of salvation is an invisible transaction. Under the blood of Christ given for the forgiveness of sin, I trade my sin for his righteousness.

For some people there is an inward witness that verifies that step of faith.

John 9:24-25

(NIV)

²⁴ A second time they summoned the man who had been blind. “Give glory to God by telling the truth,” they said. “We know this man is a sinner.”

²⁵ He replied, “Whether he is a sinner or not, I don’t know. One thing I do know. I was blind but now I see!”

In other words, he was sure and he was confident that he had passed from blindness to sight; just as, under Christ’s atonement, we past from darkness to light. But for some people, there is a desire to understand the underpinning of how that invisible transaction takes place. An entire branch of theology is devoted to this:

so·te·ri·ol·o·gy

[suh-teer-ee-ol-uh-jee]

~noun Theology.

— the doctrine of salvation through Jesus Christ.

Dictionary.com

So while the healing of the blind man in the story above provides its own satisfactory proof if you are, in fact, the blind man or his parents; for everyone else we have the books of Romans and Hebrews to understand the depth of salvation doctrine; how the saving work of Jesus meets all of the criteria necessary for the forgiveness of sin.

But we often miss a basic fact of how salvation works, though readers here are warned not to try to dissect the thing to death.*

John 3:14

(NIV)

Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up…

The verse recalls a story from the book of Numbers often overlooked in times of increasing Biblical illiteracy:

Numbers 21:7-9

(NIV)

⁷ The people came to Moses and said, “We sinned when we spoke against the Lord and against you. Pray that the Lord will take the snakes away from us.” So Moses prayed for the people.

⁸ The Lord said to Moses, “Make a snake and put it up on a pole; anyone who is bitten can look at it and live.” ⁹ So Moses made a bronze snake and put it up on a pole. Then when anyone was bitten by a snake and looked at the bronze snake, they lived.

The concept of the invisible transaction was once entrenched through a hymn written by William Ogden in 1887 that was popular in some circles, the chorus inviting you to…

“Look and live,” my brother, live,
Look to Jesus now, and live;
’Tis recorded in His word, hallelujah!
It is only that you “look and live.”

Youth ministries in the late 1960’s borrowed a phrase from a popular Clairol commercial and suggested that the invisibility of the transaction was such that “only your hairdresser knows for sure.” In other words, there isn’t necessarily a physical manifestation of salvation.(Though it’s often accompanied by a big smile!)

More to the point, there isn’t anything tangible that you do to cross the line of faith. The simplicity of ‘looking to the cross’ stands in contrast to those belief systems that promote a ‘works-based’ salvation.

But as with so many things in God’s kingdom, there is a balance to be found on that issue (the invisibility of crossing the line of faith) since the visible manifestation of salvation ought to be the presence of the fruit of the spirit.

Ultimately, the invisibility of the salvation transaction ought to be central if putting our trust in Jesus Christ to both redeem us and then from that point guide us is to be considered part of the realm of faith. You don’t get a certificate, or a wallet card — though sadly, some churches do just that — when you decide to become a Christ follower.

We cross the line of faith to become Christ followers at some point, but the line itself remains seen only in the spiritual world.

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Today’s music:

For complete original lyrics to Heaven Came down, click here.

For an abridged version of the original redone in a modern style by David Crowder, click here.

Go Deeper:

To see an index of the main subjects that form a study on soteriology, note the ten sessions covered on this page.

To go extra deep on this topic, check out this teaching page.

Finally, here are links to dozens of other resources on the doctrine of salvation.

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re. “but the cat will be dead.”

*I have found this analogy increasingly useful. If you want to understand how a cat works, you can dissect it until you’ve seen every part of its insides. At that point, you’ll know how the cat works, but the cat will be dead. In the church, we often take doctrines apart to the point where we think we fully understand them, but we’ve robbed them of their life.

~PW

More Thoughts for 3:16 Day

Last year at this time we noted that many Christians were observing “3:16 Day” on social media, in recognition of one of the Bible’s most familiar verses. We took the time to see what various online commentaries had to offer with respect to John 3:16. Today I want to continue that with a closer look at the verse itself.

First of all, if you have a red-letter Bible, is this verse in red? I believe it is more likely that at some earlier point in the chapter the apostle John stops quoting the conversation between Jesus and Nicodemus and is offering a summary statement. Speaking of himself, Jesus tended to use the “Son of Man” nomenclature.

However, that is exactly what’s happening in verses 14 and 15.

“…Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, that everyone who believes may have eternal life in him.” (NIV)

The quotation marks in the NIV begin in verse 11, but note that they end with this passage. But only in the NIV. The NLT, NASB and ESV have the familiar passage (v16) as a quotation, and one that runs to the end of verse 21.

You can decide.

What we all must agree on here is the comparison that’s being made to the passage in Numbers where Moses is instructed to make a bronze snake and mount it on a pole, and that by just looking at that (or to that) the people would be healed.

Numbers 21:7-9

(NIV)

⁷ The people came to Moses and said, “We sinned when we spoke against the Lord and against you. Pray that the Lord will take the snakes away from us.” So Moses prayed for the people.

⁸ The Lord said to Moses, “Make a snake and put it up on a pole; anyone who is bitten can look at it and live.” ⁹ So Moses made a bronze snake and put it up on a pole. Then when anyone was bitten by a snake and looked at the bronze snake, they lived.

So I need to make a digression here for a moment. The imagery of what happens in Numbers and what happens at Calvary is similar. It’s very, very similar. But we can’t read backwards from this and assume that Jesus was crucified on a pole (or stake) when we know that Roman crucifixion involved something more cross-shaped. So I don’t know where the Jehovah’s Witnesses get that idea, nor why they allow an obsession with it to obscure what’s actually happening on Calvary, the purchase of our atonement.

End of digression.

In August of 2015, I wrote about the “invisible transaction” that takes place when today, a sinner turns to look to the cross. At the time, I contended — and still believe — that any Christ-follower who wants a full and complete picture of what’s happening on the cross needs to have some familiarity with that particular piece of Old Testament imagery.

It’s important because both narratives involve not having to actually do anything. One need simply look. The concept of the invisible transaction was once entrenched through a hymn written by William Ogden in 1887 that was popular in some circles, the chorus inviting you to…

“Look and live,” my brother, live,
Look to Jesus now, and live;
’Tis recorded in His word, hallelujah!
It is only that you “look and live.”

It is entirely not works-based. It is given freely, but one need only (but must) turn toward it. When it comes to salvation, there is currently no closing date on God’s offer. True, a day will come when that will change. Also true, you don’t know long you have to take advantage. But it’s a free offer. As long as we’re quoting old hymn lyrics, here’s one that’s perhaps more familiar to some (italics added):

Mercy there was great and grace was free
Pardon there was multiplied to me
There my burdened soul found liberty
At Calvary

Reading this right now however, there are some who (rightly) cringe at the idea of salvation as just transaction. I don’t usually repeat material which appeared here from secondary sources, but this analysis from Ken Keathley which appeared here in February, 2014 is so very appropriate:

…Most evangelistic methods present salvation as a commodity that Jesus purchased and now offers.  Christ is presented as having bought salvation by His death on the Cross, and if you ask Him then He will give it to you.  Salvation, redemption, and forgiveness are understood entirely as a purchase, a business deal, or a transaction.  Salvation is reduced to the offer of a “Get Out of Hell Free” card.

But one can do business with someone he really doesn’t care for.  In fact, one can receive a gift from someone he positively dislikes (just think of how much foreign aid has gone to countries that don’t like the USA).  Here’s the important point: salvation is not something Jesus gives; salvation is something He is.  One does not receive salvation from Jesus.  You and I receive Him–the Lord Jesus Christ–for Who He is, and in receiving Him we receive salvation, redemption, and eternal life.  We are not simply being offered a really great bargain; we are called to enter into a covenant relationship with Christ.

We affirm the penal substitution of Christ upon the Cross, and gladly use the language of “purchase,” “redemption,” and even “transaction.”  But to see salvation only in those terms runs the danger of viewing salvation merely as a commercial contract.  A saving relationship with Jesus Christ is more than just a contractual agreement–it’s a covenantal relationship.  Scripture describes a saving relationship with Christ in terms of marriage (Eph 5:23-27). Marriage is indeed a contract (as least, as far as the state is concerned), but it’s not merely that.  Who wants a relationship with his or her spouse that is entirely or only legal in nature? Marriage is a rich and effective metaphor for describing our salvation because it teaches us, that above all else, salvation is a proper relationship between the Lord Jesus Christ and us.

I suspect that we tend to emphasize only the transactional aspects of redemption because such an objective understanding seemingly provides certainty.  Relationships, in contrast, are subjective by their very nature, and therefore more complicated, maybe even messy.  Yet you and I are called to be in vital union with Christ, and it is in this relationship we are saved.  “He who has the Son, has life.” – 1 John 5:12

With that in mind, others might ask, if Jesus was “the lamb of God* that was slain,” why in the comparative passage is he then represented by a serpent, given the previous serpent imagery in scripture? The answer is simply that it is an analogy and analogies can only go so far. To read more on that, check out this post here from April, 2017.

Or, another way to approach this is to think in terms of it being our sin which was crucified on that cross. The one who knew no sin was made sin on our behalf. (2 Corinthians 5:21) There’s more on that at this article here from August, 2018.

So…all this to say that verse 14 and 15 form a vital backdrop to John 3:16, and if asked for further clarification, it’s helpful to have a familiarity with this background that you can use in conversation.

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For the lamb imagery, see Revelation 5, Isaiah 53 and John 1 (the baptism of Jesus), all summarized at this link.

For an interesting graphic depiction of the invisible transaction, check out the image at the end of this post from February, 2014.

Saved: We Were, We Are, and We Will Be

This is our seventh or eight time at the blog with the unusual name, More than Useless, written by Thom Fowler. One time I decided to find out why it has the name it does. It’s taken from the lyrics of a Reliant K song.

And sometimes I think that I’m not any good at all
And sometimes I wonder why, why I’m even here at all…

…But then you assure me
I’m a little more than useless
And when I think that I can’t do this
You promise me that I’ll get through this
And do something right
Do something right for once

Clicking the title which follows will take you to where this blog post first appeared.

Past, Present, and Future

Father, You are fully aware that there have been some twists and turns in situations close to our hearts. You are already there; we trust that Your will will be done. Amen.

We were given this hope when we were saved. (If we already have something, we don’t need to hope for it. But if we look forward to something we don’t yet have, we must wait patiently and confidently.)  Romans 8:24-25

In reading the notes of my Life Application Study Bible New Living Translation, I found the comments on verses 24-25 very interesting. I’ve never thought of our salvation this way, but it stated that in Romans, Paul presents the idea that salvation is past, present, and future.

It is past in that from the instant we placed our faith in Jesus Christ as our Savior we have been saved. Romans 3:22-24 reads,

We are made right with God by placing our faith in Jesus Christ. And this is true for everyone who believes, no matter who we are. For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard. Yet God, in his grace, freely makes us right in his sight. He did this through Christ Jesus when he freed us from the penalty for our sins. NLT

Our new life – eternal life – begins at that moment.

And it is present because each day we are being saved. Paul speaks a lot on this concept from the beginning of chapter 6 through the end of chapter 8. From the moment we accept Jesus’s forgiveness, we begin our journey of becoming like Him. Sometimes it feels like a one step forward, two steps back kind of thing.

We have this habit of thinking that we are the only ones that struggle, but the reality of it all is that we all struggle. Yes, some may be more diligent in pursuing Jesus and His call on their lives, but being transparent here, that has rarely been me. Most of the time I feel like I’m falling more than I’m striding in my walk with Jesus. Too often I’m pulled off the path, by some simple distraction, and before I know it I’ve wandered far from where I was headed.

But know this, Jesus is with us all along the way, and though our actions may break His heart, He is more than willing to lovingly…gently lead us back onto the path of His choosing. Each day we are being saved in that we grow, and stall, and grow some more. It all makes us who we are, and Jesus patiently walks all the way along with us. It is an ongoing process.

But at the same time, we have not fully received all the benefits and blessings of salvation that will be ours when Christ’s new Kingdom is completely established. That’s our future salvation. While we can be confident of our salvation, we still look ahead with hope and trust toward that complete change of body and personality that lies beyond this life, when we will be like Christ.

Beloved, we are [even here and] now children of God, and it is not yet made clear what we will be [after His coming]. We know that when He comes and is revealed, we will [as His children] be like Him, because we will see Him just as He is [in all His glory]. 1 John 3:2 AMP

Know this, God has it all thought out. Don’t give up! Keep on striving to be all He knows you can be! And probably most importantly of all, you are not alone – He is with you all the way!

 

Seeing Ourselves as Beloved by God

See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are. The reason why the world does not know us is that it did not know him. Beloved, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is. – 1 John 3:1-2 ESV

Just less than a year ago, we introduced you to Jake Owensby, a Bishop in the Episcopal Church in the United States, and the author of Looking for God in Messy Places: A Book About Hope (Abingdon, 2021). This appeared recently at his blog, which is also called Looking for God in Messy Places. Click the title which follows to read it there.

Doing a Hard and Risky Thing

A dear old mentor of mine passed away a few years ago. But the lessons he taught still help me see things—see myself—a little more clearly. Maybe the most important of those lessons came in the form of a story he once told on himself in his usual self-deprecating way. He said:

“I used to be perfect and I was miserable. So I went to therapy. I got all screwed up but I’m really happy now.”

It can be terribly difficult to admit when we’re wrong. That our choices and our actions have taken us deep into the weeds. At some level we sense that coming clean about our blunders and missteps offers the only way out of the mess we’re in. But man, it’s hard. It’s emotionally risky.

Psychologists tell us that when we struggle to admit that we’re wrong it’s because of what they call cognitive dissonance. If the world presents us with evidence that contradicts our beliefs, we’re likely to experience an inner tension. Our turmoil becomes especially acute when the world tells us that we’re wrong about who we think we are.

That’s exactly what John the Baptist was telling the people around Jerusalem. You’re not all that. You really need to admit it. Like, you know, now. Or as Matthew’s Gospel puts it, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.” (Matthew 3:2)

You might have heard John’s words as something like this. God is coming soon. You do not measure up. At all. God has high standards. And even if God grades on a curve, you’re not going to make the cut. Get your act together before it’s too late.

As for me, I hear something different. It goes like this. You’re only as sick as your secrets. Keeping those secrets about your messy old self is exactly what makes you sick. Your problem is that you assume that you have to make yourself lovable.

Look, God isn’t just on the way to you from a distant planet. God is here. Right now. Already all up in your stuff. God knows everything—simply everything—about you. And God loves you to death. Sort of literally.

You’re already God’s beloved. Life is not about making yourself worth loving. Life is about discovering and then acting like you are the beloved.

Paradoxically, we discover the depth to which we are loved precisely when we look honestly at what we take to be unlovable about ourselves. We see that we are loved because, well, Jesus. Not because of us. Not because of what we accomplish or achieve. Jesus loves us because that’s who Jesus is.

And here’s the deal. Not only does knowing that God loves us give us the courage and the freedom to admit just how messy we can be. That admission carries us a step toward becoming a truer version of ourselves.

A beloved person can forgive, even themselves. A beloved person begins to heal and offers compassion to the wounded. A beloved person responds to another’s need without weighing what they might deserve.

Now don’t get me wrong. Like my old mentor said, you and I have quite a way to go. From time to time we will hurt other people, get resentful or envious, struggle to be generous or to forgive, say things (at least in our heads) that make Jesus run for the airsickness bag.

John the Baptist told his listeners that he baptized with water to mark their repentance. He wasn’t announcing their graduation from human boneheadedness. No, that involves another. Another would come to baptize with the Spirit and with fire. That other of course is Jesus.

The presence of Jesus in our lives is like fire. Not the destructive fire that blisters skin and razes villages. His is the fire that warms and transforms. Gradually. Often imperceptibly. Over time.

Admitting that at times I’m a mess can be hard and risky. And it’s how I discover again and again that I am the beloved.

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Jake’s book is Looking for God in Messy Places: A Book About Hope; available where you buy books.

Desperate for the Gospel

Through a roundabout series of adventures, I was directed this morning to a currently inactive blog site, Deny Yourself Daily, where this was written by Susan Yenser. I knew it was meant to be shared here.

^CEB.Rom.7.21 So I find that, as a rule, when I want to do what is good, evil is right there with me. ²² I gladly agree with the Law on the inside, ²³ but I see a different law at work in my body. It wages a war against the law of my mind and takes me prisoner with the law of sin that is in my body. ²⁴ I’m a miserable human being. Who will deliver me from this dead corpse?

I Need the Gospel

There is nothing more terrifying in all of my imagination than being left to my flesh, to my natural self. The thought of the Lord turning me over to the sin that so deeply burns within me is the most disgusting, most disturbing thought I ever can imagine. And yet the Lord has every right to. He has no reason to save me from the depths of depravity that is called Susan Yenser. None. I deserve to be left in my sin to die and be punished eternally for my wicked heart that is set in enmity towards God and towards my neighbor. I fail so miserably in fulfilling the law. I don’t love God with all my heart, soul, and mind, and I don’t love my neighbor as myself.

The only time I remotely show progress in doing so, it is Christ doing it through me. Not very often does the Lord show us the true depths of our own sin. But woe be to the one whom He does. Every ounce of my being is tainted with the fall and with the inclination to dishonor my Lord. The reality of Romans 7 has me turning the very same direction that it had Paul and that is to cry out WHO CAN SAVE ME FROM THIS? Who can I turn to that will take me out of this miserable state of flailing around in sin and lawlessness even when the spirit in me does not want to?

Thanks be to Jesus Christ, my Lord, who can deliver me from this body of death! The moments when all of Christ’s love and grace and mercy seem to have been removed from you so that you can sit and burn a little in the sting of your own sin, to a Christian, is it not the most terrifying of states? To see sin and to know that you cannot fight it on your own strength, is there any more frustrating of a position? It certainly doesn’t feel like it. It certainly feels like the most hopeless of all situations. To be left to myself in my sins, oh Lord, I can think of nothing worse.

My words only fail me at this point. They don’t do this topic justice. I must turn outside of myself. I, like Paul, do not cry out to myself for the remedy. I must cry out to the only, perfect, redeeming Savior, Jesus Christ. He has fulfilled the Law. He has done it for me. If it wasn’t for His righteousness I would be the savage that my heart was enslaved to be. Even when the Lord lets me feel those chains of slavery that were mine, may it not let me lose heart. Though it may for the moment, may it never keep me so down that I forget to look back up to the righteousness of my Lord that has saved me from myself and from Himself and His wrath.

Don’t give me your bankrupt preaching. Don’t give me a gospel that points me to myself. Don’t even give me a gospel that points me somewhat to myself and somewhat to Christ. It makes me want to vomit right now just thinking about it. Yes, the taste of sin in my mouth and the thought of being preached a watered down message that is pseudo-orthodox mixed in with the latest celebrity pastor’s own thoughts and reason literally makes my stomach turn with nausea. The thought that you would even try to give me more law on top of sincere disgust for the sin within myself, makes me feel hopeless.

Don’t give me the message that “God smiles when you be you.” In this state of hatred for the burning of the sin that seems to be hijacking my body and ruining my soul, DO NOT tell me that God is giving me a mulligan to re-do my life. A second chance. Don’t you see??? With this sin that is festering…I will only make it worse the second time around! I need a Savior! I need someone who did it FOR ME in my place while I sit here hopeless and unable to even move right or left without a sinful thought or deed. I need a message that will make me fall down on my face. One that will make me fight like hell. One that rages war on this sin within me and conquers it, not because of my actions, but because of the actions of Another.

I am a Christian and I need the Gospel. So much so that right now it seems so desperate as if I could not breathe another breath without it.

Jesus is Very Near

^CEB.Rom.5.1. Therefore, since we have been made righteous through his faithfulness, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.

^NLT.Col.1.20 and through him God reconciled
    everything to himself.
He made peace with everything in heaven and on earth
    by means of Christ’s blood on the cross.

^{NKJV.Acts.2.38} Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, each of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.

^NIV.Heb.2.18 Because he himself suffered when he was tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted.

^{NRSVue.1John.5.4} for whatever is born of God conquers the world. And this is the victory that conquers the world, our faith.

Once again today, a new devotional source to introduce to you, The Preacher’s Blog, which is one part of the website of Eastside Church of Christ in Morganton, Georgia. Clicking the title which follows will take you to where this first appeared. Because this article is based on an old gospel song, I’ve included it as well at the end. (Some of the referenced scriptures are cited above; you’re encouraged to look up the rest.) The author is pastor Robby Eversole.

Burdens Are Lifted At Calvary

“Days are filled with sorrow and care;
Hearts are lonely and drear.
Burdens are lifted at Calvary;
Jesus is very near”
– John M. Moore, 1952.

Calvary is the most pitiful, painful, prolific and powerful place on earth. No other place on this terrestrial ball comes close to the impact on history and humanity than “the place of the skull.” Places like Pearl Harbor, Normandy, and New York hold immense value in remembrance within the hearts and fibers of millions because of the awful things that transpired there. These places are forever etched into the lives of many because of the steep price that was paid. But, add them all up, they fall far short of Calvary.

Life here on earth is difficult. The devil is daily on the grind, grinding at the lives of men doing everything within his power to make one fall. Nothing makes the devil happier than successfully causing doubt or disgust within the hearts of the saints. See, children of God enjoy something the devil can never have… “Peace with God” (Romans 5:1).

It is through the blood of the cross of Jesus that peace is realized (Colossians 1:20). The heaviest burden man would ever bear is the burden of sin (Matthew 11:28; Romans 3:10, 23; 6:23). Jesus, at Calvary, lifted the burden of sin for the whole world (Hebrews 2:9; John 3:16). And while men “struggle through life with worry and strife, I’ve a glorious hope to give cheer on the way” (Noah White, Paradise Valley). Jesus offers reprieve from the chaos. While the days are evil- Jesus offers himself to guide through the valleys of life. While the seas are rough, Jesus offers to walk upon the waves of our troubles to offer a calming word, “Peace be still.” Those “waves” which trouble life are already under the feet of Jesus, and in the midst of the storm, Jesus is very near.

There are three distinct places this author wants to bring to your remembrance about the burdens that Calvary lifts. The past burdens, the present burdens, and the future burdens.

First, Calvary takes care of the past. When Jesus went to the cross of Calvary, He did so to offer men remission from their past sins (Acts 2:38; Hebrews 8:12). When a subject made whole by Christ comes up out of the watery grave of baptism, the old man with all the sins are done away (Romans 6:4; Colossians 2:12-13). The burden of the past is erased and forgotten and Jesus is very near.

Second, Calvary takes care of the present. In the giving of the great commission, Jesus said, “Lo, I will be with you always, even unto the end of the world” (Matthew 28:20b). Jesus is very active on behalf of His brethren presently (Romans 8:34; Acts 7:56). As men walk through the valley of the shadow of death, Jesus is with them (Psalm 23:4). Jesus walks with men through their struggles, and He identifies with those struggles (Hebrews 2:18). Calvary takes the present struggles and gives them perspective and power to persevere. Jesus is very near.

Third, Calvary takes care of the future. Jesus, at Calvary, is able to take the Christian struggles and turn them in to the “Glory Land Way.” No matter what is manifested in the present, the faithful know because of Jesus, the victory is won (1 John 5:4). Thus, the wonderful anthem pierces the airwaves around the meeting places of the saved, “Oh, Victory! In Jesus, my Savior forever.” No matter how sore the trial here, the Christian knows, “I’ve a home prepared where the saints abide, just over in the glory land.” This reality demands that each of Gods children march onward into battle with confidence toward God (2 Corinthians 3:4; 1 John 3:21). Jesus paved the way and spoiled the ending! Now, saints know that God holds the future in His hands. Thus, the future burdens are lifted at Calvary. Jesus is very near.

These old songs should “rev the motor” of every saint as they ponder the teachings. The Christian really is never alone and never left to bear a load they cannot take. Praise God for His Son, and the “great love wherewith He loved us” (Ephesians 2:4).

Jesus is very near, and the Father is too (Acts 17:27).

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Legalism Leads with the Law, Rather Than the Gospel

We’re back for a third time with author K.K. Hodge, who writes devotions at Inspirations from the Funny Farm and you can read this one at source by clicking the title which follows.

Legalism vs. Grace

Galations 2:16-21 (NLT) Yet we know that a person is made right with God by faith in Jesus Christ, not by obeying the law. And we have believed in Christ Jesus, so that we might be made right with God because of our faith in Christ, not because we have obeyed the law. For no one will ever be made right with God by obeying the law. But suppose we seek to be made right with God through faith in Christ and then we are found guilty because we have abandoned the law.

Would that mean Christ has led us into sin? Absolutely not! Rather, I am a sinner if I rebuild the old system of law I already tore down. For when I tried to keep the law, it condemned me. So I died to the law—I stopped trying to meet all its requirements—so that I might live for God. My old self has been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. So I live in this earthly body by trusting in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. I do not treat the grace of God as meaningless. For if keeping the law could make us right with God, then there was no need for Christ to die.

My daddy is a wonderful Christian man. We know that there was only one perfect Man who walked this earth, and His name was Jesus. Daddy isn’t perfect, but I know that my daddy has been made right through the blood of Jesus Christ. He loves to tell others about Christ. He helped to build the foundation for me to become the believer that I am today, and I want to be a witness like he is to others. He told me once that his goal is to share the plan of salvation with someone at least once every single day. When he told me that, I thought, “Wow, I want to be just like him!”

I remember a situation a couple of years ago in which a pastor caused my daddy to have a bit of a spiritual battle, and it had to do with legalism. I’m not a pastor. I don’t have a theological degree. I’m just a nurse practitioner and a farmer who has a heart for Christ and for sharing His word with others, but it is my opinion from studying God’s word that grace defeats legalism every time!

My daddy was raised in a Landmark Missionary Baptist Church. Actually, the church formed in my grandparents’, his parents’, home. They were charter members. It is still a wonderful church, and we have visited from time to time. They preach the word, no doubt. As young children, we attended a Southern Baptist Church, and in our teen years, we attended another Missionary Baptist Church. We were fed the gospel at both churches. I loved both churches. I grew in my faith at both churches. The church ordinances may have differed, but the fact remains that the gospel was being preached at both churches.

Did difference in ordinances make one church wrong and one church right? I’m not here to determine that. My belief is that if a pastor/preacher is preaching and teaching the word of God and the gospel of Jesus Christ, then that church is doing the right thing. How do we determine that the truth is being preached? Well, we have to study the word of God ourselves.

Back to my story, this man told Daddy that the women at the church Daddy attends wear lipstick, cut their hair, wear pants, and sometimes even wear shorts, and therefore, it is wrong for him to attend that church. Y’all don’t pull out your stones or torches just yet, but I’m going to tell you about me. This girl right here wears lipstick, cuts her hair, wears pants, and yes, on a hot summer day in south Mississippi, this girl even wears shorts! BUT, BIG BUT, not little but, this girl also loves Jesus Christ as her Lord and Savior more than anything else in this world. Am I going to die and go to hell because “the rules” of my church are different than “the rules” of another church? I must answer emphatically–NO! I know that my eternal home is in heaven. There is not even a shadow of a doubt in my mind!

I prayed a lot before I wrote this today. I don’t want anyone to think that I am making light of the choice of church in which one chooses to be a member. I merely want to point out that Baptists won’t be the only ones in heaven, y’all. There will be Baptists, Methodists, Non-denominationals, and Pentecostals there too (to name a few)! God isn’t going to just call one church home. He is going to call THE CHURCH. You don’t get to heaven by attending a certain church on Sunday and following the ordinances of that church. You get to heaven by placing faith in Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior. It’s a free gift of grace that was given to each of us when His blood poured out on the cross.

Legalism leads with the law rather than the gospel. The gospel stands on it’s own. It doesn’t need any help from us to give it strength. Paul reminds us of this in Ephesians 2:8-9 , “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast.” We can’t work our way into heaven, but we work for the gospel and Christ because of the gracious gift of salvation.

But if works are taking the lead over the gospel of Jesus Christ, this is legalism. It’s human nature to distort the glorious truths of God, and I think we have all been guilty of trying to misuse that free gift of grace. God has given us all that we need for godliness. We desire to live for Christ, and we have deep convictions that the sins in our life dishonor God. But sometimes, in the midst of our pursuit for godliness, we forget that it is only by the grace of God that we can live for Him. Unfortunately, we sometimes tend to forget that any and all godliness comes from the Father. We become all puffed up and start projecting our standards on others. We soon begin to judge people and pressure them to conform to our “God lifestyle.” We forget about the principles that the word of God reveal to us, and we teach our own preferences and practices of the law.

In Galatians 2, Paul brought up an example of when Peter went to Antioch. When Peter first arrived, he ate with the Gentile Christians who were not circumcised. But later on, when some of the friends of James came, Peter wouldn’t eat with the Gentiles any longer. He was afraid of the criticism that he would receive because the other people insisted on the necessity of circumcision.

Paul later says, “Yet we know that a person is made right with God by faith in Jesus Christ, not by obeying the law. And we have believed in Christ Jesus, so that we might be made right with God because of our faith in Christ, not because we have obeyed the law. For no one will ever be made right with God by obeying the law.” Those uncircumcised believers were believers too, and they have receive the gracious gift of salvation and eternal life just like their fellow circumcised believers.

We have to learn to balance the reality that our faith is through grace alone and by faith alone. We are called to glorify God, and we are called to follow His word. Grace teaches us to separate ourselves from cultural sin, but it never teaches us to use ourselves as the standard for grace. We must look to Christ as the standard, not ourselves! The important questions to ask yourself are, “Have I received the gift of salvation? Am I a child of God?”

If you know that the answer is yes, then you know. We aren’t perfect. We are perfectly imperfect children of a perfect God, and it is through Him that we are made right. We can’t do this thing called life on our own accord, but with God we can. We were created to glorify God. If what you are doing is sharing the gospel and bringing honor and glory to our Father, then keep on doing that! That is His desire for each of us. I leave you with this a word from 2 Corinthians 12:9 that assures us, ““Each time he said, “My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness.” So now I am glad to boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ can work through me.” Alone, we are weak, but the power of the Father works best in our weakness.

His grace is all we need!

 

The Opposite of Sola Scriptura

Today’s devotional study is going to be interesting, to say the least. Far more so now than when much of it was posted in March, 2017. And the title I gave today’s thoughts was chosen to be deliberately provocative.

So first let’s deal with that title. In offering the opposite of sola scriptura (the word of God alone) I realize that some, especially if you are from a tradition which holds high “the five solas,” are going to be thinking that anything that opposes this view is heretical.

Years ago, someone challenged me with the question, “Are there things we know about God that we don’t know from the Bible?” I thought about my university philosophy studies and how some of the characteristics of God were intuited or deduced based on other information we have about God. In other words, we could say ‘If God is all-knowing, but he’s also just, then _________.’ (I don’t have a particular answer in mind there, but I wanted you to see the form such reasoning might follow.)

If we were to ask, “Are there things we know about Jesus we don’t know from the Bible?’ then the answer is more clear. Even the most conservative Christians are content to draw from the writings of Josephus and others to get a fuller picture of Christ’s impact, and the life of the Early Church. The Bible tells us even as much itself, The disciples saw Jesus do many other miraculous signs in addition to the ones recorded in this book. John 20:30 NLT and “There are many other things that Jesus did. If every one of them were written down, I suppose the whole world would not have room for the books that would be written.” – John 21:25 NET

Instead, I want to propose that there is a different type of opposite to sola scriptura, one that is not to be condemned, but rather to be considered, and perhaps adopted in your own Biblical studies.

It’s usually referred to today as “The Wesleyan Quadrilateral.”

This week we visited another church, as Ruth Wilkinson (who you’ve read here regularly) was preaching. The pastor chairing the service mentioned that the week before, he had spoken about this quadrilateral, and I checked and we’d only really mentioned it here once.

Actually, that’s not entirely true. In November, 2012 it briefly was part of a devotional by we ran by Scott Lencke.

Now, while some might loathe the idea of utilizing our experience to understand Scripture, I wouldn’t say it’s completely terrible. I’m an advocate of something like the Wesleyan quadrilateral that recognizes we have more than Scripture alone in helping us understand God’s revelation. Rather this perspective takes a more holistic approach, identifying a) Scripture, b) tradition (there is such things as good tradition), c) reason (not ‘objective rationalism’) and d) experience as important in grasping the revelation of God.

So, my point is that understanding Scripture is not completely devoid of our human experience and encounter with God and his truth.

But we got ahead of ourselves. What is the quadrilateral?

Here’s what Wikipedia has to say:

The Wesleyan Quadrilateral, or Methodist Quadrilateral, is a methodology for theological reflection that is credited to John Wesley, leader of the Methodist movement in the late 18th Century. The term itself was coined by 20th century American Methodist scholar Albert C. Outler.

This method based its teaching on four sources as the basis of theological and doctrinal development. These four sources are scripture, tradition, reason, and Christian experience.

Upon examination of Wesley’s work, Outler theorized that Wesley used four different sources in coming to theological conclusions. Wesley believed, first of all, that the living core of the Christian faith was revealed in “scripture” as the sole foundational source. The centrality of scripture was so important for Wesley that he called himself “a man of one book”. However, doctrine had to be in keeping with Christian orthodox “tradition.” So, tradition became in his view the second aspect of the so-called Quadrilateral. Furthermore, believing, as he did, that faith is more than merely an acknowledgment of ideas, Wesley as a practical theologian, contended that a part of the theological method would involve “experiential” faith. In other words, truth would be vivified in personal experience of Christians (overall, not individually), if it were really truth. And every doctrine must be able to be defended “rationally.” He did not divorce faith from reason. Tradition, experience, and reason, however, are subject always to scripture, which is primary.

Each of the “legs” of the Wesleyan Quadrilateral must be taken in balance, and none of the other three apart from scripture should be viewed as being of equal value or authority with scripture. None of these should be taken in isolation without the balancing effect of the others, and always Scripture should have the central place of authority.

Here are some images from various places online, where people tried to illustrate the concept graphically:

Do an image search for Wesleyan Quadrilateral and you’ll find various attempts to explain it.

I’m not sure the one on the bottom left is what Wesley had in mind. This is how stereotyping leads to divisiveness. And as I said earlier, the headline I chose would immediately cause some readers to think that the opposite to “scripture alone” would be something bad, or fringe, or not Christian at all.

Personally, I think it is another way forward. It gets us past the notion “The Bible says…” and also the resistance that we’re going to meet in the broader world when we start with “The Bible says…” The pastor we spoke with this morning mentioned that one of the people he’s read says our interactions should begin with experience.

Would that make scripture interpretation subjective? Perhaps, but the truth about God and the narratives about Jesus are subjective in the sense they are going to impact lives in a very personal, very individual sense.

Besides, as Michael Simpson informed us in the same article linked above:

This is a methodology for theological reflection that is credited to John Wesley, leader of the Methodist movement in the late 18th Century. In this method, tradition, experience, and reason are employed, while being subject always to scripture, when forming and applying our theology. Each of the “legs” of the Wesleyan Quadrilateral must be taken in balance, and none of the other three apart from scripture should be viewed as being of equal value or authority with scripture. None of these should be taken in isolation without the balancing effect of the others, and always Scripture should have the central place of authority. (italics added)

In an article posted in October, 2020, Matthew Marino reminded us that:

New folk are often struck by how much Anglicans talk about “the tradition.” People sometimes assume we mean, “That’s just how we’ve always done it.” But that is not what we are talking about at all. Refusal to change is not “the tradition,” just stasis. Jaroslav Pelikan, called that, “Traditionalism, the dead faith of the living.” The Great Tradition is the living faith of the dead. What we mean by “tradition” is robust and life-altering. The Apostle Paul commended the Corinthians because they, “maintain the traditions as I delivered them to you.” (1 Cor 11:2) and, “stand firm and hold to the traditions that you were taught by us, either by our spoken word or by our letter (2 Thes. 2:15). So while Jesus criticized the traditions of the elders (Matt 15:3), the traditions of the Christian faith passed along both verbally and in scripture are applauded…

…Why not just go with the Bible? Because heresy after heresy and schism after schism arose in those first five centuries. The early church dealt with them and told us how to deal with them. St. Vincent of Lerins referred to the tradition as, “That which has been taught always, everywhere, and by all.” In our era many claim God giving them new revelation. Yet these “new ideas” are always remarkably similar to ideas resoundingly rejected by the Church as novelty centuries ago. “The Tradition” is Mere Christianity, the core of the faith, that which has been passed from generation to generation.

The verb form of the Greek word for tradition, “paradosis” is “handed off” or “delivered.” When Paul said in 1 Cor 11:2, “maintain the traditions as I delivered them to you.” Paul literally said, “maintain the traditions as I traditioned you.”

He used the same word when he said, “For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures” (1 Cor 15:3). Jude called it, “the faith once for all delivered.” “The tradition” is nothing less than the core of the faith that is handed from generation to generation. It is the baton that must be passed, the irreducible minimum.

And so, tradition. We could also look in detail at the other two “legs” of the Wesleyan hermeneutical tool in a similar fashion.

Again, the way I framed this may upset the preconditioning of some readers, but I hope you’ll at least file it away and perhaps, a situation will cross your path sometime soon where this interpretive tool is useful.

 

 

 

 

Bind My Wandering Heart to Thee

Today we introduce you to another devotional writer appearing here for the first time. Marilyn Daniels writes at Marilyn’s Meditations. Clicking the title which follows below will take you to where this appeared first, and from there you can check out other topics.

Prone to Wander

Lamentations 3

There is some good theology written into many hymn lyrics. One particular favourite links our human struggles with those of the writer of “Come Thou Fount of Ev’ry Blessing”. In May 1758, when he was only 22 years old, Robert Robinson penned “Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing” for his sermon on Pentecost Sunday. In the following year of 1759, the lyrics of this powerful hymn were included in a small hymnal entitled A Collection of Hymns used by the Church of Christ.

His loudest praise is for “streams of mercy that never cease”. Surely he had been reading Lamentations 3:22-23. “The Lord’s compassions never fail”, Jeremiah was inspired to record. In fact God’s blessings are new every morning, because He is a faithful and loving God! “Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed”. What a glorious truth!

Young Robinson recognized that his salvation was fixed upon the “mount of Thy [God’s] redeeming love”. Although Jeremiah calls himself “the man who has seen affliction” (3”1) he relies on the fact that “the Lord is good to those whose hope is in Him, to the one who seeks Him” (3:25). After all, Robinson’s testimony went like this: “Jesus sought me when a stranger, wand’ring from the fold of God”. Amazing how he worked that truth into poetic form to be sung in ages to come by many believers for whom Jesus had “interposed His precious blood”.

He knew his Bible. It was to “grace” that he was indebted. It was God who daily bound his wand’ring heart to Himself. Jesus Himself assures us “No one can snatch them [His sheep – His followers] out of My hand….no one can snatch them out of My Father’s hand” (John 10:28).

Yet the struggles of each human heart are very real. Reading through the Bible there is no one who has not wrestled with temptation, no one who has not wandered, Abraham, Moses, David, to name a few. Yet they trusted in the God who “Though He brings grief, He will show compassion, so great is His unfailing love” (Lamentations 3:32). The prophet then prescribes a remedy: “Let us examine our ways and test them, and let us return to the Lord” (3:40), lest today we find ourselves unforgiven because we did not repent. The prophet feared he had been cut off (3:54), but in the end “You heard my plea,…… You came near” and “You redeemed my life” (3:56-58).

We are only saved by the goodness of God who “binds my wand’ring heart” to Himself. In fact our salvation is sealed for what purpose? – to worship God in His courts above (Revelation 7:9-10). Our worship rises up as a sweet smelling sacrifice, spreading everywhere “the fragrance of the knowledge of Him [Christ]…”…and blessing God because “we are to God the aroma of Christ” (2 Corinthians 2:14-15).

Reflection:

Through His Holy Word God reassures us that, though we are prone to wander, He is ever faithful to those who call upon His name for their salvation. We trust Him to exemplify the kindness to which He calls us, as representatives of the Lord Jesus Christ here on earth. He gives meaning and purpose to each of His children and through the power of His Holy forgiveness enables us to pass on to others all that we have received from Him – grace, mercy, peace, joy and love. Praise the Lord! (1 John 1:8-10)

The Bible in One Short Sentence

Today we want to return to an author that we featured only once here, in 2012, and share for the first time an archived post from his blog from 2016. David P. Kreklau blogged at For the Glory of God, which you can also reach by clicking the header which follows.

I Am God: The Point of the Bible

Listening to a seminary lesson years ago, the professor asked what the central theme of Scripture was for the whole Bible.  What would you say?  Well, he entertained several opinions and he eventually offered that it’s hard to settle on one.  I thought at the time, “Seriously? It’s redemption… right? RIGHT?”  But thinking about it now, even the events that stand inside God’s great redemptive historical narrative are all meant for a very specific purpose: to glorify God.  This glorification of God is all for the purpose of Him demonstrating His greatness… more than that, His holiness, which means His “set apart” self.  I.e. He is the only God, the one true God.

His whole point of Scripture is to demonstrate that “I Am God.”

Redemptive History

The Bible, as a whole, is about how God preexisted creation, God spoke into existence that creation of all things (including us and our world), God entered into creation to redeem what we destroyed, and God is making and will ultimately finish making new that creation.

Recall that in the Garden of Eden, He had one rule: do not eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil (Genesis 2:16-17)… the basic gist of this command: “You can do anything but be God because I am God.  Do not try to be God!”

So naturally… we tried to be God (Genesis 3).

And then He spent the rest of the Old Testament describing how despite our treason of trying to be God (when only He is God), He would find a way to rescue us…

And then He begins the New Testament revealing how God, at great personal sacrifice, made a way through Jesus Christ to redeem us from our treason.  He continues the New Testament by revealing how God, through the Holy Spirit, picks up the mantle of redemption in the Church Age, and He finishes the New Testament with a glimpse of the close of history and what it looks like when God’s plan has come to fruition.

Scriptural Pronouncements

When Moses first meets God in the burning bush in Exodus 3, God tells him His name is “I AM WHO I AM (written about previously here).”

The intro to the Ten Commandments in Exodus 20 start with “I am the Lord your God,” which pretty clearly states the thesis of this blog.  He goes on to spend the next three commandments basically saying “do not try to be God or make any other gods because I am God.”

In the Gospel of John, we see Jesus make several pronouncements of His divinity, statements of “I Am” followed by supporting clarifications:

“I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst (John 6:35).”

“I am the light of the world.  Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life (John 8:12).”

“I am the door.  If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture (John 10:9).”

“I am the good shepherd.  The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep (John 10:11).”

“I am the resurrection and the life.  Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die (John 11:25-26).”

“I am the way, and the truth, and the life.  No one comes to the Father except through me (John 14:6).”

“I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser.  Every branch in me that does not bear fruit he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit (John 15:1-2).”

And one additional statement that speaks to Christ’s preexistence of Abraham, the patriarch of the Jewish faith (but I would argue is also indicative of His preexistence to all creation as a whole), is John 8:58, “Jesus said to them, ‘Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I Am.’ ”

In fact, the beautiful irony is that we could never make ourselves God.  Yet out of love when we least deserved it, He made us one with God through His Son, and gave us the gift of the Holy Spirit to live in us.  We are now one with Him, and at the end of all things, everything will be renewed… including our perspective where we will no longer have a mutinous desire to be God, but will joyously spend the rest of eternity proclaiming the breath-taking glory of He who is the one and only God (Cf: Revelation 4).

A Final Word

One final thought to drive home this thesis: at the beginning of Scripture, He gives us the one rule that basically says, “Don’t be God because I am God.”  And I already spelled out above how the Ten Commandments and the whole of Scripture underline this message that “I Am God.”  So when we come to the consummate kingdom, one may notice that there are no longer any rules… and one might say, “Well why not?  Can’t we break that one rule again like we did before?”  But this time, the difference is that God has come to live in the lives of believers and we are now one with Him.  We are no longer alone in our wretched selves, but, as 2 Peter 1:4 says, we have become partakers in His divine nature.

Thus, so it is that the only thing that will keep us from usurping God… is FROM God.  Left to ourselves, we cannot coexist with Him without trying to usurp Him.  The only answer is for Him to come to us and help us let Him be God… which is what he did through Christ Jesus… the one and only God… the one and only way to God.

He Is God.