A Compelling Life

How Christian Ethics Point to the Reality of God.

by Clarke Dixon

Is the kind of life Christianity leads to compelling? Is it a beautiful life, or is it ugly? If Christianity is compelling, and if God is good, then we would expect the way God would have us live should bring beauty and not ugliness. So does it?

Some would say no. In the Margaret Atwood novel, A Hand Maid’s Tale, everything is supposedly ordered according to the Bible. It does not take too long for the reader to figure out that this is a very ugly society. Many would say that even without such Christian state control, the Christian life is ugly. The Christian life is described as blindly following many, many rules without any thought as to whether they are good or not. So is the Christian life beautiful or ugly? People may portray the Christian life as ugly, or even live out a Christian life that is ugly, but the Bible points to a life that is beautiful for the following reasons.

First, the Christian life is a Jesus centred life. 

18 And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” Matthew 28:18-20 (NRSV emphasis added)

The focus was not to be on the what the teachers of the law commanded in Jesus’ day. The focus is not to be on what the teachers of the law command in ours. The focus is on Jesus and what he commanded. It is not about powerful people or powerful traditions. It is about Jesus.

The focus is on Jesus, even when we are reading the letters of Paul, Peter, James, or John. The letters in the New Testament are not “here is something new, because Jesus did not say enough,” but, “here are the implications of Jesus on theology, and here is what the Jesus-focused life looks like for us.” What we have in the letters are the apostles working out the implications of Jesus for first century Rome, Corinth, Ephesus and so on.

This has important implications. Take slavery, for example. Some would say that the inclusion of slavery in the Bible demonstrates that the Christian life is ugly. Does the New Testament support the institution of slavery? Slavery was a part of life in that day, a fact which was not going to change anytime soon. Since slavery was a part of life, Paul offers how a Jesus-centred person should live when they happen to be a slave, or a slave holder. In fact, there are beautiful implications as we discover in Paul’s letter to Philemon where Philemon is encouraged to take back his runaway slave, Onesimus, “no longer as a slave but more than a slave, a beloved brother” (Philemon 16 NRSV). Philemon’s Jesus-focused life was to be a thing of beauty for Onesimus. Life is beautiful when it is impacted by Jesus.

All of the New Testament letters are part of the Word of God, yes. However, we do not read Paul’s letters to find out how to become a Paul follower, or how to be more focused on Paul in our lives. We read Paul to discover how people were encouraged to be Jesus followers, to live Jesus-centred lives in the first century. This helps us discover how we can live Jesus-focused lives in our day.

A Jesus-centred life is a beautiful life. Of course this is so, Jesus was a beautiful man! Notice the way he related to people, his integrity, his reverence for the Father, his focus on the spirit of the law and not the letter, his ability to challenge and unravel the status quo, his living out of the Great Commandments, his good works. Notice how he gave his life to rescue you and I from sin. Jesus is beautiful. A Jesus-centred life is a beautiful life.

Second, the Christian life is a Spirit filled life.

22 By contrast, the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against such things. 24 And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. 25 If we live by the Spirit, let us also be guided by the Spirit. Galatians 5:22-25 (NRSV emphasis added)

The “fruit of the Spirit” is all beautiful stuff! We would describe a person whose character is marked by such traits as being a beautiful person.

Fruit grows naturally. A beautiful character is the natural consequence of a relationship with God. Fruit naturally grows where the conditions are right. Our part is to see that the conditions are good by keeping our connection with God open through prayer, Bible reading, relationships with other Christians, and worship. But God is the One who makes fruit grow. A Spirit filled Life is a beautiful life.

Third, the Christian life is a life of wisdom.

13 Who is wise and understanding among you? Show by your good life that your works are done with gentleness born of wisdom. 14 But if you have bitter envy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not be boastful and false to the truth. 15 Such wisdom does not come down from above, but is earthly, unspiritual, devilish. 16 For where there is envy and selfish ambition, there will also be disorder and wickedness of every kind. 17 But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without a trace of partiality or hypocrisy. 18 And a harvest of righteousness is sown in peace for those who make peace. James 3:13-18 (NRSV emphasis added)

The letter of James has been described by some Biblical scholars as being like the “wisdom literature” from the Old Testament. It points to the good life and how to live well. Notice the focus on gentleness and peace. The wise person knows that being gentle and peaceable is a good thing. A wise person living in wisdom is a beautiful thing. A life of wisdom is a beautiful life.

Conclusion.

Some paint the Christian life as being ugly. It is portrayed as blindly following rules without any thought given as to whether those rules are helpful or not. It is portrayed as a very narrow life with no fun allowed at all. But that’s not it! The Christian is to be Jesus-centred, Spirit filled, and wise! The Christian life is a beautiful life, just as we should expect if Christianity is true, if God is good. While many world-views and religions can lead to ugly places, the beauty of the Christian life is yet another aspect of Christianity that is compelling.

---

This post is part of a series called “Compelling” which begins here. The full sermon can be heard on the podcast which is found here.

 

Forcing a Way Into the Kingdom

by Russell Young

By Russell’s count this is his 100th post here at Christianity 201. We thank him for his faithfulness to this project.

The Lord said, “The Law and the Prophets were proclaimed until John. Since that time, the good news of the kingdom of God is being preached, and everyone is forcing his way into it. It is easier for heaven and earth to disappear than for the least stroke of a pen to drop out of the Law.” (Lk 16: 16─17 NIV)

It is apparent that even during the Lord’s days on earth false teaching concerning entrance to God’s kingdom was being presented, probably through the promotion of Jewish customs and Old Covenant theology. Other teachings were presented to the seven churches following his crucifixion which permitted breaching the wall and these were unacceptable to God, as well. Entrance to his kingdom is only availed to those who “overcome” their misconceptions and evil practices, overcome the hindrances revealed to the churches through Christ’s revelation. (Rev 21:7)

1. To the church in Ephesus Christ addressed the need to maintain “[their] first love” (Rev 2:40; to continue doing the things that they had done when their love was fresh.
2. Those in the church in Smyrna he encouraged resistance to fear and to be strong in suffering persecution even to the point of death.
3. The teachings of the Nicolaitan were being promoted in the church of Pergamum. It remains unclear concerning the nature of those teachings, however, the Lord has connected them to the teaching of Balaam who enticed the Israelites to sin by committing immoral acts. Perhaps the teachings being referenced allowed for the freedom to engage immorality without consequence.
4. Some in the church of Thyatira had learned “Satan’s so-called deep secrets” and were practicing idolatry and adultery. Their love for Christ had been lavished on Satan’s interests and on his deceptions.
5. The church in Sardis was tolerating unrighteous practices. They had a reputation (outward appearance) of being alive but were dead according to the Lord’s revelation.
6. The church of Philadelphia was being challenged by the teachings of the Jews and the imposition of Jewish customs, probably through the need for circumcision and obedience to the Law.
7. Those in Laodicea attended church but were “lukewarm” and indifferent. They enjoyed wealth but were shamefully naked when it came to righteousness.

Unrighteous practices and lawlessness were the issues of concern, and teaching did not promote the requirement for victorious living. As stated at the beginning, the Lord taught the need to fulfil the Law. He stated that “until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished.” (Mt 5:18 NIV) The law of the New Covenant is the law of Christ (1 Cor 9:21), the law of the Spirit of life (Rom 8:2), and not that of the Old Covenant. “The righteous requirements of the law [are] fully met in us who do not live according to the sinful nature but according to the Spirit.” (Romans 8:4 NIV) This teaching does not allow that the righteous life of Christ is his imputed righteousness other than is provided at confession of faith, but that the life of Christ lived in them (Col 1:27) is their source of righteousness and of eternal salvation. (Heb 5:9) The presence of the Spirit is not sufficient since he may be denied, thwarted, or quenched; the believer must live according to the Spirit’s leading.

John the Baptist told the Pharisees that they were to produce fruit in keeping with repentance (Mt 3:8) and cautioned that “every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.” (Mt 3:10 NIV) (Christ repeated this admonition. (Jn 15: 6) Paul told King Agrippa he “preached that [his listeners] should repent and turn to God and prove their repentance by their deeds,” (Acts 26:20 NIV)

The Lord admonished listeners, “I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes (transforms, disciplines and punishes) so that it will be even more fruitful…Remain in me, and I will remain in you.” (Jn 15:1─2… 4 NIV) The responsibility remained theirs to remain in him.

The Lord spoke of the necessity of applying serious effort to enter the kingdom. “Make every effort to enter through the narrow door, because many, I tell you, will try to enter and will not be able to.” (Lk 13:24 NIV) This “effort” should not be confused with salvation by works.

Much of western theological teaching is presented to “force” or to find easy entry into the kingdom of God. It cannot be gained in any other way than through Christ and the righteousness that he is able to provide as the believer lives obediently through the Spirit. Such a life demands death to self-interest (Lk 17:33) and a whole-hearted commitment to God. (Mk 12:30) Only through such dedication can the requirements of the law be fully met, and the kingdom legitimately entered. Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling (Phil 2:12 NIV); there will be no forcing and there is no other means. Christ is the way, the truth, and the life, and the confession, promise, and covenant of his lordship (Rom 10: 9:10) as he lives righteously in the believer is the life availed through his death, that provides legitimate entry into the kingdom of God. He is the narrow gate.

---

Author Russell Young lives in Canada and is the author of Eternal Salvation: Really? available in print and eBook in the U.S. through Westbow Publishing, Amazon, and Barnes and Noble; and in Canada through Chapters/Indigo.  His column appears here on alternate Tuesday.  To read all of Russell’s contributions here at C201, click this link.

---

Spiritually: How Much is Nature; How Much is Nurture?

“You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot.”

~Matthew 5:13

 

My first-year Sociology professor spent much of the course dancing around what he viewed as the central question of that discipline, “How much is nature and how much is nurture?” In other words, how much of how we live — our preferences, our choices, our actions — flow out of what it means to be humans and have our specific human personality traits; and how much does society shape those preferences, choices and actions?

It’s a question Christians need to ask themselves as well. How much of the spiritual quality of our lives is the natural outworking of the Holy Spirit within us, and how much is shaped by the expectations of our church, Christian sub-culture, or the need to outwork the life of Christ in areas where doing so is contrary to the human nature that still wages war within us?

I got thinking about this last night when the song (below) was running through my mind. It offers the prayer, “Make us salt, make us light…” Wait a minute!  Make us salt? I thought scripture says we are the salt… Wouldn’t the regeneration of the new birth within us mean we are immediately transformed into new creations who are salting our world?

Well of course, we know it isn’t that simple.

Paul knew this well. The Message translates a familiar passage in Romans 7 like this:

^14-16 I can anticipate the response that is coming: “I know that all God’s commands are spiritual, but I’m not. Isn’t this also your experience?” Yes. I’m full of myself—after all, I’ve spent a long time in sin’s prison. What I don’t understand about myself is that I decide one way, but then I act another, doing things I absolutely despise. So if I can’t be trusted to figure out what is best for myself and then do it, it becomes obvious that God’s command is necessary.

^17-20 But I need something more! For if I know the law but still can’t keep it, and if the power of sin within me keeps sabotaging my best intentions, I obviously need help! I realize that I don’t have what it takes. I can will it, but I can’t do it. I decide to do good, but I don’t really do it; I decide not to do bad, but then I do it anyway. My decisions, such as they are, don’t result in actions. Something has gone wrong deep within me and gets the better of me every time.

Thus the admonition in Philippians 2:12:

…continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling

I guess what struck me in our lead verse today wasn’t what it means to be salt — the part of the verse that’s usually discussed — but that little verb are. You are the salt, you are the light; but at the same time we need God’s help to be all the salt and light we need to be.

A pastor friend of ours from another denomination frequently mentioned that some things in the worship life of a church shouldn’t be forced, but should be allowed to happen organically. Within our individual lives however, we should want to invite God’s Spirit to have full control so that things that should happen are happening.

Matthew Henry sees a number of issues here. This isn’t a full quotation, but his outline is:

(1.) What they are to be in themselves
(2.) What they are to be to others
(3.) What great blessings they are to the world

The text then reminds us that salt can lose its saltiness, so we need to recognize that asking God to “make us salt” is going to be an ongoing process.  It also needs to uppermost in our conscience, we can’t ‘coast’ on some spiritual occurrence that happened years ago.

Here’s the song from Christian singer Jami Smith.