© Copyright Steven Ring 1994 - 1998 all rights reserved.
Second edition 2003
This document is copyright and should not be stored, copied or duplicated in any form without the prior permission of the copyright owner in writing.
Author: Steven R. Ring B.Sc.
Email: (Can be constructed as follows:) 'steven' then a dot, then 'ring' and then '@ieee.org'
Various versions of the bible are referenced by mnemonics in the text. Prior copyright rights are gratefully acknowledged as follows:
[NIV] New International Version, as follows: Scripture quotations taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission.
[NASB] New American Standard Bible, as follows: Scripture taken from the NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE®, © Copyright The Lockman Foundation 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 Used by permission.
[AV] Authorised Version, rights owned by the British Crown, Crown patentee.
[RSV] The Revised Standard Version, Copyright 1946, 1952 and 1971 National Council of Churches of Christ in the USA. As follows: Revised Standard Version of the Bible, copyright 1952 [2nd edition, 1971] by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
[THE MESSAGE] Scripture taken from THE MESSAGE. Copyright © by Eugene H. Peterson, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996. Used by permission of the NavPress Publishing Group.
One of the seven mysteries of scripture is the mystery of the gospel. In these superficially focused times, much of the meaning of the good news message has been dissipated and polluted by the world's ideas. The Christian lifestyle, the practical side of our faith, has therefore digressed a very long way from the experience and joy of our earlier forefathers in the faith of Jesus Christ. It is long overdue now, but better late than never, that we get in the mood to throw away our superficiality and rediscover what it is to fight for the faith of the gospel, that has once for all been delivered to the saints.
Steven Ring,
24. December 1998
"But now a righteousness from God has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus." (Romans 3 v 21 - 24 NIV)
These few words written by Paul succinctly introduce the gospel message and the mystery of the gospel set out and discussed in this book. Today the gospel message is often presented by emphasizing only the writings of the New Testament, however I believe that this leads inevitably to an unnecessarily partial understanding of the gospel message. As Paul says in the verses quoted above, the earlier scriptures in the Old Testament testify to the gospel. They give insights into the deeper meaning of the gospel that are found nowhere else and prefigure much of the teaching of our Lord and his apostles. For these reasons I have drawn extensively from the Law and the Prophets in the Old Testament as well as the more popular sources in the New, to build up a clearer picture of this great mystery.
Where then are the mysterious components of the gospel? There are several areas of great mystery surrounding the contents of the gospel message. For example it is clearly taught that the gospel is to be preached to all nations, (e.g. Mark 16 v 15) but on the other hand, that not all men can accept the message, (e.g. 2 Thessalonians 3 v 1 - 2). Why? What is it about the message of the gospel that selectively benefits certain people, and what characteristics are important for those who benefit from hearing the message? Jesus' parable of the Sower addresses this mystery, and He said it was key to understanding the kingdom of heaven, (Mark 4 v 11). And again, what is the nature of the gospel? Is it a powerful thing of itself or is it merely information? How does the Lord intend us to communicate the good news and what response should we expect? As Paul says in the verse above, the gospel is about a righteousness from God, but what does this mean exactly? Is it a gift from God entirely or does it also involve the fruit of a life changed by the finger of God? To what extent does this righteousness involve inner change and fundamental changes in the personality? The answers to all these questions touch at the core of the gospel message and therefore greatly influence our perception of what it really means to be a Christian in practice as well as in creed. This book explores these and many other issues fearlessly, drawing out practical answers to these questions from the word and dealing with common objections and current trends as they arise.
The idea of 'gospel' or 'the good news' is given prominence in the New Testament, but where do these ideas come from? The origin of the gospel idea is found in the Old Testament.
For a key example, the passages that Jesus quotes right at the beginning of His public ministry, in the synagogue of His home town, Nazareth, (quotations from Isaiah 58 v 6, and 61v 1 - 2a reported by Luke in Luke 4 v 18 - 19, & 21). The passages Jesus quoted from, are as follows:
"The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, Because the Lord has anointed me to bring good news to the afflicted [meek or poor are alternative meanings]; He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, To proclaim liberty [literally "opening wide"] to captives, And freedom to prisoners; To proclaim the favorable year of the Lord," [NASB] Isaiah 61 v 1 - 2a
And:
"And to let the oppressed go free" Isaiah 58 v 6
Luke records that Jesus had the scroll of the prophet Isaiah in His hands. In Appendix A, Jesus' words are compared with these source passages to conclude that Jesus was actually summarizing several key points after He had read out a much longer section from Isaiah. The words that Luke reports, (Luke 4 v 18 - 19, & 21) are what Jesus said after He had read this longer section. Jesus was summarizing who He was and what He had come to do by picking out several quotations and saying that He had come to fulfill the specific prophecies in these quotations. A detailed analysis of the longer Isaiah passage that Jesus read from and His concluding remarks, is included in the Appendices.
Firstly, let us draw some basic conclusions from the words Jesus emphasized from Isaiah chapters 58 through to 61 about the good news and the people it is especially addressed to.
It is very clear from what Jesus says in Luke 4 v 18 - 19 that He was anointed to proclaim good news about;
Freedom and release from oppression and imprisonment.
Restoring sight to blind people.
God's favour to people who were being oppressed and afflicted.
Such a message is bound to cause conflict between God and those who continue to oppress His people. Evidence for this conflict can be found everywhere in the New Testament, and it is a conflict that has raged ever since. The good news message is also in continuous ideological conflict with the ideas, ideals and ambitions of men and all the deceit of Satan. The significance of this ideological conflict will become clearer, later in this book.
Fundamentally, the good news is a message that originates with someone, and is addressed to others. There are therefore, three basic questions to be answered: First, where does the message originate? Second, who is intended to receive it? And thirdly, what is the message about? The answers to these three questions will be sought out initially in basic terms, leaving some of the deeper truth in the good news for later chapters.
"Now the Lord saw, and it was displeasing in His sight that there was no justice. And He saw that there was no man, And was astonished that there was no one to intercede; Then His own arm brought salvation to Him; And His righteousness upheld Him." [NASB] Isaiah 59 v 15b - 16 "make straight the paths of our God" [NIV margin] Isaiah 40 v 3b
These passages show that the good news is God's idea put into action through God's Personal initiative. We see God's arm, that is, His power at work and we see a plan of salvation coming from Him that will involve Someone to intercede between God and man to create a righteous people for Himself. Therefore it is clearly not man's idea or mans initiative, it was never planned by men, nor would it be achieved by human effort, nor is it any kind of human self-help scheme of moral instruction or control. What we see instead is that man must co-operate with God to be saved, (from the Isaiah 40 passage).
It is one of the simplest truths about the good news of a righteousness from God that it has been achieved solely by the power of God in the face of total human failure to achieve the same thing by any other way. God thought of it and came to bring it Personally, through Jesus Christ whom God has appointed as the sole mediator between Himself and mankind. There cannot be any other way devised or owned by man that would be adequate other than this path that God has made for men to have righteousness and peace with Him. This was the claim Peter made by the Holy Spirit during his defence to the Sanhedrin:
"..Jesus Christ of Nazareth.. ..Salvation is found in no-one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved." [NIV] Acts 4 v 10 & 12
Our attention is therefore focused on Jesus as the Saviour and a righteousness that comes through Him alone. But how does it come? As Paul said;
"I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile. For in the gospel a righteousness from God is revealed, a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: "The righteous shall live by faith."" [NIV] Romans 1 v 16 - 17
The practical manifestation of righteousness spoken of by Paul comes as a gift from God through faith in Him. We cannot find this righteousness within ourselves, we cannot attain it by our own efforts, only God has it; and He will give it only to those who actively seek Him for it. Therefore, in the gospel message the focus is on Jesus as the only Person you can go to, to find true righteousness.
Notice also from the Romans passage, that faith is not applied to the gospel message itself. The good news is about God's Redeemer, Jesus Christ; thus our faith is in a Person who can be known not in the message itself. The gospel message does not have magical power in its own right, but Jesus has all authority and power in heaven and earth and the gospel is His message. This is because our need is for Someone to intercede for us. This intercession cannot be achieved by a written code or anything other than a Saviour of God's choosing, sent into the world to help us. Therefore, the power of the good news is available only to those who seek Jesus, find Jesus, know Jesus and then believe in Jesus, He is the focus of our faith. The good news message points to our Saviour, it is not an end in itself. It is superstition to think that mere mental assent to a message or a creed has power to save anyone, Jesus himself is the Word and the Way, we cannot be saved apart from knowing Him and apart from His gifts of power and righteousness manifested in our lives.
To summarize what we have said so far. The good news is God's plan for people to get right with Him through faith in Jesus Christ. It is powerful because it carries the authority of God with it. Those who believe the good news and seek Jesus Christ are therefore entering a salvation of Divine origin and sponsoring, and leaving everything else behind them.
At first this question might seem a little strange, after all, isn't the good news supposed to be preached to everyone? This is quite true, but not everyone who hears it ends up following Jesus. In the parable of the sower Jesus teaches about the spreading of the word of God in the same terms as a farmer would sow seeds expecting to grow and reap a crop. In His allegory, the seed is widely distributed but with very different results depending on the quality of the soil and the competition from weeds growing in the same soil. In the same way, the word of life is widely distributed but the results vary depending on the quality of the hearts reached and the competition from life's distractions in those who hear the good news. I would like to ask two related questions;
What particular characteristics determine whether someone hearing the good news will respond positively and subsequently have the endurance to bear fruit for the kingdom of God?
What attitudes are important to be successful at overcoming life's distractions and pleasures that would otherwise smother the new life brought about by God's word?
These questions yield some unexpected answers that are helpful for us personally as we follow Jesus. They are also helpful to recognize and communicate effectively with those who are waiting eagerly to hear the good news from God and useful when we offer counsel to each other as believers.
Firstly, we will start looking for the characteristics that determine whether a person will respond positively to the good news message and then have the perseverance subsequently to mature spiritually to a degree sufficient to bear fruit themselves.
"We hope for justice, but there is none, For salvation, but it is far from us. For our transgressions are multiplied before Thee, And our sins testify against us; for our transgressions are with us, And we know our iniquities:" [NASB] Isaiah 59 v 11b - 12 "'A certain creditor had two debtors; one owed five hundred denarii and the other fifty. When they could not pay, he forgave them both. Now which of them will love him more?' Simon answered, 'The one I suppose, to whom he forgave more.' And he [Jesus] said to him, 'You have judged rightly.'" [RSV] Luke 7 v 41 - 43 "Therefore, I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven - for she loved much. But he who has been forgiven little loves little." [NIV] Luke 7 v 47
For some people who are conscious of their own sin, there is the feeling of being beset by weakness and an ever mounting debt of guilt before God. They cannot shake off their sins or change what they are inside, however much they might try. In fact, 'trying hard' is exactly he wrong response to this situation. We are like the king in another of Jesus' parables who, going out with an inferior force to war against another king with a larger army, decides that it would be wiser to seek terms of peace urgently, (Luke 14 v 31 - 32). After all, why face certain defeat and death? This strategic situation is the exact parallel of mankind's situation before God, we simply do not have what it takes, either to rid ourselves of our past sins or to live right in God's sight, our own efforts only seem to make it worse. There has to be some other way, and there is only one: we must stop trying to justify ourselves, surrender to Jesus by confessing our sins to Him and seek His terms of peace. As we see from the two passages from Luke above, this consciousness of sin is a hopeful sign, it means that we are ready for some very good news from Jesus, and afterward we will love Him a little more than most.
I would now like to spend a little time looking at the specific words used by God in the bible to address the recipients of His good news message. We have two words from the scripture in particular, the first taken from ancient Hebrew and found in the Old Testament, and the second from Common Greek found in the New. Neither of these ancient words has a direct equivalent single word in modern English that encapsulates all the ideas expressed by the originals. The best we can do is to identify these words and expand the ideas contained in them as English phrases. In this way we can get the full meaning, even if we cannot translate the words neatly into direct English equivalents. This may seem a lot of work, but the results provide a helpful and fascinating insight into the circumstances and attitudes of the people that God is trying to reach with some good news.
First, here are two example passages of scripture that contain these key words in Hebrew and Greek:
"The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, Because the Lord has anointed me to bring good news to the afflicted;" [NASB] Isaiah 61 v 1a (the Hebrew adjective `Anaw translated as 'afflicted' is the Hebrew word that is commonly used to describe the recipients of the good news. The meaning of this word is analyzed below) "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor." [RSV] Luke 4 v 18 (the phrase 'the poor' is translated from the Greek word, 'ptochois.' This word is the Greek word commonly used to describe the recipients of the good news, its meaning is also analyzed below.)
The Hebrew adjective `Anaw (Strong's number 6035) is translated 'afflicted' in Isaiah 61 v 1a quoted above, but from its usage elsewhere in scripture it appears to refer to people who submit to God and depend on His assistance. We now take a look at the usage of this word elsewhere in the Old Testament to extract its meaning. For example: Proverbs 3 v 34 contains this particular Hebrew word and explains its meaning by contrasting it with those who are proud of their own achievements and despise others:
"He mocks proud mockers but gives grace to the humble." [NIV] Proverbs 3 v 34 (here `Anaw is translated 'humble')
Quoting this exact verse, both the Apostles James and Peter teach that this `Anaw attitude is necessary before people can benefit from God's grace, (James 4 v 6 - 10 and 1 Peter 5 v 5). Psalm 25 v 9 and Proverbs 16 v 19 - 20 also contain this word:
"He guides the humble in what is right and teaches them his way." [NIV] Psalm 25 v 9 (again `Anaw is translated 'humble') "Better to be lowly in spirit and among the oppressed than to share plunder with the proud. Whoever gives heed to instruction prospers, and blessed is he who trusts in the Lord." [NIV] Proverbs 16 v 19 - 20 (here `Anaw is translated 'lowly')
From these texts and their contexts, `Anaw means those whom God can teach and lead in His own ways, and those who will trust Him. Isaiah 11 v 4 also contains this word;
"He shall not judge by what his eyes see, or decide by what his ears hear; but with righteousness he shall judge the poor, and decide with equity for the meek of the earth;" [RSV] Isaiah 11 v 3b - 4 (here `Anaw is translated 'meek')
And from this verse `Anaw means those who rely on God's power and righteousness and who rely on God to deliver them from His judgement. In the scriptures quoted above, meek people are contrasted with;
The proud,
Those who mock and jeer and
Those who resist God's word, (from Exodus 10 v 3 and Proverbs 3 v 34).
When we take a look at the Greek word used to describe the recipients of the good news in the New Testament the same ideas are also present. From the Luke 4 v 18 passage, the Greek adjective 'ptochos' is used which has the general meaning of those requiring assistance1 and so matches very well the idea of meekness behind the Hebrew original `Anaw. To summarize; those who can benefit from the good news are those who will submit to God's teaching, follow His guidance and depend on Him for assistance and protection.
I am convinced that Jesus had precisely this Hebrew adjective `Anaw in mind when He spoke the "Beatitudes." Many commentators have remarked that Jesus seems to be describing true Christian attitudes. For example, Jesus said "Blessed are the poor [Greek: ptochoi] in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven." (Matthew 5 v 3) In plain language and using our analysis of the Greek word translated 'poor,' this statement might be paraphrased: 'Extremely happy are those who cry out for spiritual assistance, for they have the kingdom of heaven.' Taking a look at the other statements Jesus spoke at the same time, many of the ideas expressed by the Hebrew word `Anaw that we have isolated above are expressed in different ways. For example, as well as those who want spiritual assistance, Jesus talks about those who mourn, those who want true righteousness and those who are prepared to suffer to hold on to it. In verse 5 of Matthew 5 Jesus uses the word 'praeis' in Greek, usually translated by the English word, 'meek'. This is another interesting word with no one word English equivalent according to Vines1. However so far as I can ascertain from [1], it means a uniquely Christian composure of mind; to rest in God, relying on His power and goodness in every situation. This idea is clearly very compatible, and very similar to the ideas contained in the Hebrew word `Anaw and the Greek word ptochos, as well as the other ideas Jesus is expressing in the Beatitudes passage.
Those who know they have sinned, those who will go to Jesus and surrender themselves to him confessing their sins, relying only on His mercy to forgive them. Those who will respond to God's teaching and leading, those who will trust God to deliver them and who cry out to God wanting His assistance; these are the people the good news is really intended for and these are the characteristics of people that will respond positively to it. For these people, the good news is that Jesus gave His life to purchase their forgiveness and will not turn away anyone who turns to Him. He is alive today and committed to us as the Good Shepherd, to supply our needs now, to protect us and give us the power and grace to live for Him by transforming what we are inside rather than merely specifying how we should behave through laws or rules.
In the last chapter, the intended recipients of God's good news message were identified and their attitudes were revealed to some extent. Having received the good news about forgiveness, what demands does the good news make on those who hear if they are to benefit in the longer term? Those who benefit from the good news are also those who are prepared to pay a price in other areas of their lives, in particular in their souls, (the emotional and motivational core of all human beings). The Lord warns us what this will mean in practice. He states clearly that this suffering is unavoidable for all those who follow Him. He warns us to expect trouble from the world, and in particular to expect the most trouble from the pseudo-religious rather than the pagan, from the supposed spiritual leaders rather than fellow disciples. Let us look at some scriptures where Jesus warns us about some of these things, (I will deal with the issue of where to expect the trouble from in more detail a little later on).
"Blessed are you when men hate you, and when they exclude you and revile you, and cast out your name as evil, on account of the Son of man! Rejoice in that day, and leap for joy, for behold, your reward is great in heaven; for so their fathers did to the prophets." [RSV] Luke 6 v 22 - 23 "And he said to all, 'If any man would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever would save his life [Greek- soul] will lose it; and whoever loses his life [Greek- soul] for my sake, he will save it. For what does it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses or forfeits himself? For whoever is ashamed of me and of my words, of him will the Son of man be ashamed when he comes in his glory and the glory of the Father and of the holy angels. ... '" [RSV] Luke 9 v 23 - 26 "'No servant is greater than his master.' If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also." ... "In this world you will have trouble, but take heart! I have overcome the world." [NIV] excerpts from John 15 v 20 & John 16 v 33 "Brothers, if I am still preaching circumcision, why am I still being persecuted? In that case the offence of the cross has been abolished." [NIV] Galatians 5 v 11
From the context of the passages above, it is quite clear that those who follow Jesus will find themselves in a conflict situation. Self denial consists of some straight choices, for example;
Between popularity with the religious fashion and with supposed spiritual leaders and following Jesus' guidance.
Between obeying Jesus' words and pleasing worldly men.
Between depending on the righteousness afforded by His cross and trying to justify our own actions somehow, (self-righteousness).
Between seeking right-standing with men and righteousness before Jesus.
Jesus warns us that following him will mean making such choices every day and will consequently involve pain in our souls and possibly physical risk. However, Jesus does promise to restore and reward greatly in heaven those who willingly pay such a price to follow Him and keep His word.
Notice how powerful the righteousness announced by the gospel is. It is a miraculous righteousness that is built to persist and endure even in a war zone caused by the hatred of the world to even the scent of Jesus' clothes, let alone the power of His word and the witness of lives devoted to Him. It is the power of the righteousness that God gives that makes the Christian life sustainable in the conflict we find ourselves in. I shall dwell more on this critical issue elsewhere in this book.
Summary: The good news is a message of hope for all those who are;
Conscious of their own sin and accountability before God
Conscious that they cannot change their own sinful nature
Willing to be transformed inside by the Holy Spirit in order to live acceptably before God
Prepared to depend on Jesus for His forgiveness, assistance and protection
Prepared to wait for and submit to the teaching and guidance of the Holy Spirit
Prepared to endure the world's hatred in order to stay faithful to Jesus and His word
The righteousness announced in the gospel is much more than a proclamation. The righteousness announced in the gospel is the essence of the power of the kingdom of God. Without righteousness there can be no kingdom of God. And since the righteousness we speak of can only come from God, the converse is also true; without the kingdom of God there can be no righteousness. Since all men are sinners, the kingdom of God could not appear amongst men or be imparted to men until the Righteous One, Jesus of Nazareth, the Lord's Anointed appeared for that very purpose. Precisely for this reason, there is no way that men can enter the kingdom of heaven unless they firstly encounter Jesus, because only Jesus can impart righteousness. (This is one good reason why Jesus is the only way to God!)
"Your throne, O God, will last for ever and ever; a sceptre of justice will be the sceptre of your kingdom." Psalm 45 v 6 [NIV] & see also Isaiah 42 v 1 - 9 "After John was put in prison, Jesus went into Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God. "The time has come," he said. "The kingdom of God is near. Repent and believe the good news!" Mark 1 v 14 - 15 [NIV]
The sceptre is the symbol of royal power and authority. Therefore the power and authority of the kingdom of God depends on the power of the King to impart righteousness. Another way of putting this is that the power of the Christian faith rests with the ability of Christ to bestow righteousness onto, and create righteousness within sinners. This is a more important objective for Christians than finding food and clothing, as Jesus said;
"But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well." [NIV] Matthew 6 v 33
Seeking Christ's rule in our day to day lives by His Spirit, is how we become righteous inside. Seeking Christ's rule is our daily priority, and if we make it so, Jesus will make sure we get the things that the pagan run after, (Matthew 6 v 32). Jesus' first recorded words in Mark's gospel above were to announce that the righteousness of the kingdom of God could now be imparted to men, and He called on them to give up their unbelief and obtain God's righteousness through faith in Him. Again, compare what He said with an earlier scripture;
"The time has come," he said. "The kingdom of God is near. Repent and believe the good news!" [NIV] Mark 1 v 15 "See, a King shall reign in righteousness and rulers shall rule with justice. Each man will be like a shelter from the wind and a refuge from the storm, like the streams of water in a desert and the shadow of a great rock in a thirsty land." [NIV] Isaiah 32 v 1- 2
Just as the power of the King is displayed in righteousness, so those who believe in Jesus and receive God's righteousness will also rule because of the righteousness they have received. The word says they will be empowered in three unique ways; they will be able to provide safe refuge in troubled times whilst offering the promise of spiritual life through the message of the gospel and relief and comfort to their fellow men in a world of hostile ideals and perverse values. In adverse circumstances it takes power to do these things. It takes power to provide shelter for others and to remain steadfast when everyone else is terrified by the brutality of evil men or deluded by some monstrous idea. What Isaiah has seen here is a robust kind of righteousness given to men that is capable of overcoming anything thrown at it and propagating itself at the same time. Next, we will see how comprehensively the righteousness that Jesus gives effects our lives as Christians.
"I proclaim righteousness in the great assembly; I do not seal my lips, as you know O Lord. I do not hide your righteousness in my heart; I speak of your faithfulness and salvation. I do not conceal your love and your truth from the great assembly." Psalm 40 v 9 - 10 [NIV]
The righteousness announced in the gospel message is surprisingly complex, being a combination of three different kinds of righteousness, not just one. Initially these three kinds of righteousness will be introduced and then each facet will be expanded in some detail. The detail present in the righteousness announced in the gospel has many practical implications, and these also will be explored.
"I will rejoice greatly in the Lord, My soul will exult in my God; For He has clothed me with garments of salvation, He has wrapped me with a robe of righteousness, As a bridegroom decks himself with a garland, And as a bride adorns herself with her jewels. For as the earth brings forth its sprouts, and as a garden causes the things sown in it to spring up, So the Lord God will cause righteousness and praise to spring up before all the nations." [NASB] Isaiah 61 v 10 - 11
Careful examination of this passage reveals three facets in the jewel of righteousness:
There is the clean outside through forgiveness and purification from sins, (from being clothed by God with a robe of righteousness).
There are deeds of righteousness, (from the bride putting on her jewels and the bridegroom putting a garland on his head).
There is righteousness growing inside the personality called our sanctification by the Holy Spirit through the word, (from the righteousness and praise that God will cause to spring up before all nations).
Notice also from the imagery of this passage, that this third kind of righteousness grows and sprouts from a seed that God has sown inside people and the result is cause for praising God!
Summary. The righteousness that God gives, has to do with three things together: forgiveness and purification from sins, personal fruitfulness and inner transformation. All three aspects of the righteousness revealed in the gospel message will be explored in more detail below.
First we consider a facet of righteousness that God accomplishes for us; being wrapped in the clean garments of salvation and the removal of our dirty clothes symbolizing the forgiveness of our sins. The imagery found in the Isaiah passage above is developed in another vision seen by Zechariah another prophet who lived many years afterward:
"Then he showed me Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of the Lord, and Satan standing at his right side to accuse him. The Lord said to Satan, "The Lord rebuke you Satan! The Lord, who has chosen Jerusalem, rebuke you! Is not this man a burning stick snatched from the fire?" Now Joshua was dressed in filthy clothes as he stood before the angel. The angel said to those who were standing before him, "Take off his filthy clothes." Then he said to Joshua, "See, I have taken away your sin, and I will put rich garments on you." ... "Listen, O high priest Joshua and your associates seated before you, you are men symbolic of things to come: I am going to bring my servant, the Branch. ... "" [NIV] Zechariah 3 v 1 - 4 & v 8
In this passage, the Lord is showing Zechariah a picture of the first kind of righteousness that the Messiah would bring. Expanding the metaphors used in the passage: Joshua was being destroyed already, (he was a burning stick in a fire) by his sins committed in the past, (symbolized by his filthy clothes). In the vision these sins are removed and replaced with the righteousness (rich garments) of Another.
The removal of the filthy clothes represents the forgiveness of our sins; but where do those rich garments in Zechariah's vision come from, and how do our filthy clothes come to be changed? Paul said:
".. that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men's sins against them. ... God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God." [NIV] 2 Corinthians 5 v 19 & 21
The rich garments were provided by Christ, they were His garments of righteousness and He gave them to us in exchange for our filthy clothes. Jesus is identified as the Branch in the Zechariah passage, the Servant of God whom Zechariah saw would come to make the change of clothes possible. Christ brought forgiveness for all those who believe in Him, that is, He has arranged for the removal of our filthy old clothes. He also gives us His righteousness, that is, He has clothed us with His own magnificent robes. Many powerful men seek to re-write history so that future generations will see them in a more favourable light. But for His people, God goes one step further. He obliterates our past sins completely, so far as He is concerned our past sins are gone and because of those new clothes, God sees us in the same favourable light as His own Son, Jesus. This is an important point; the robes of righteousness are not put on over our filthy clothes, the latter are removed first.
Much later on in the bible a very similar picture is painted of the way the Lord removes our sins. John records in the book of Revelation:
"Then one of the elders asked me, "These men in white robes - who are they, and where did they come from?" I answered, "Sir, you know." And he said, "These are they that have come out of the great tribulation; they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. ... "" Revelation 7 v 13 - 14 [NIV]
This picture describes the same idea, and we can see how far Jesus decided to go to get rid of our sins. The removal of our sins would require the spilling of His blood on the cross first. We also see that His people have washed their robes which corresponds to them confessing their sins to God and forgiving the sins of others.
So, when we believe in Jesus, this first facet of righteousness is fulfilled for us; our past sins are removed by Jesus and He gives us His righteousness instead. But what about afterward when we sin? Jesus spoke to Peter and the other disciples about how we can be cleansed from our sins after we start to follow Him:
"Jesus said to him, "He who has bathed needs only to wash his feet, but is completely clean; and you are clean, but not all of you."" [NASB] John 13 v 10 "You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you." [NASB] John 15 v 3 "Sanctify them in the truth; Thy word is truth." [NASB] John 17 v 17
Jesus is talking about the first kind of righteousness, the garments of salvation; He says they must be laundered frequently. God clothes us with the garments of His salvation as an act of His grace. Just so, Jesus has washed our feet. This foot washing corresponds to the removal of sin and worldly ideas that have a habit of clinging to our feet as we walk through this life. Jesus offers to clean us up Himself, but then He goes on to say that He is also setting an example for us to follow. That is, in an attitude of gentle humility and service he wants us to endure those 'smelly feet' and to confront each other gently with the word of truth, to forgive each other and to look out for each other lest those clingy worldly ideas pollute the atmosphere of our gatherings. Jesus teaches us also to receive this kind of ministry ourselves when it is offered with a servant attitude. What is clear from the passage in John 13 is that this is a vital ministry, but that it is as difficult to give as it is to receive.
So how can we keep ourselves clean? We have seen that this is possible, but how does this happen in practice? According to the passage in John 17 v 17, we can prevent ourselves getting into the mire to some extent by listening to Christ's word; learning from Him helps us to avoid accepting ideas that are contrary to His teaching.
Both the apostles John and Paul give some very helpful teaching about walking in the truth and being cleaned up. John begins by saying:
This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all. If we claim to have fellowship with him yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live by the truth. [NIV] 1 John 1 v 5 - 6
If we are not walking in fellowship with Jesus, then our walk is the problem. We are not following Him; therefore the vital relationship with Jesus is not working. If this is the case, we cannot please God by groping around in the darkness away from His presence;
".. the mind set on the flesh is hostile to God. It does not submit to God's law, nor can it do so. Those controlled by the sinful nature cannot please God." [NIV an NIV margin] Romans 8 v 7 - 8
The relationship with Jesus must be established as a first priority. It is counterproductive to claim everything is OK when we know otherwise. Instead, we must allow the truth to confront us. If this is your situation, then you need first to be reconciled to Christ, confessing your sins, trusting Him for the forgiveness of your past sins and asking Him to make Himself real to you by His Holy Spirit. In other words, you do not just need a clean up, you need to have your clothes changed in the first place! Having stressed this issue about the importance of our walk; John goes on to say about those who are walking in relationship to Christ:
"But if we walk in the light as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from every sin. If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us." [NIV] 1 John 1 v 7 - 8
Here John begins to teach about the situation where our walk is right, we are following Jesus, a relationship does exist with Him and with other Christians, because they are following Jesus too. He introduces the fact that even if our walk is right, we still do sin. The difference between walking in darkness and walking with Jesus is that His light illuminates us and we are honest with Him about our failings. Walking in the light means not running away from the truth He shows us about ourselves. When our walk is right, we are honest with God and with our brothers about the reality of our failings. John goes on to say that if we walk in the light, every sin can be cleansed by Jesus' blood. Verse 8 is very beautiful, but it is not the amazing paradox it seems; it is precisely because the truth is in us, that we are acutely aware of our failings. No relationship with Jesus can exist without the inner presence of the Holy Spirit;
"You, however, are controlled not by the sinful nature but by the Spirit, if the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Christ." [NIV] Romans 8 v 9
Since if the Spirit of God is not within, there is no-one there to make us aware of our many sins and sinful attitudes. When the Spirit is present in our souls, He illuminates our souls and begins to transform us bit by bit with our consent. This means that from time to time He will point out areas He wants to change. It is this transforming process that causes us to be aware of our sins. John continues:
"If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word has no place in our lives." [NIV] 1 John 1 v 9 - 10
The Greek word translated 'confess' is interesting. It means 'to say the same,' or 'to reason in the same way.' This is the Holy Spirit seeking our agreement to change our attitude. If we agree, we will be forgiven and a powerful event will happen to us; He will purify us from unrighteousness in the area of our lives He spoke to us about. This process is cumulative and causes a gradual transformation of the whole person towards a closer likeness to Jesus. Again at the end of this quotation, John makes it clear that if we say what we are doing is right when the Holy Spirit says it is wrong, we are not only sinning, we are also making Him out to be a liar. Notice that John mentions his word in verse 10. John is pointing out the way the Holy Spirit uses the scripture to persuade us that our lives are wrong in some particular area. If we then refuse to agree with Him, we are also denying the truth of God's word and so our lives as a whole will begin to regress away from the teachings of scripture, and our inner personality will begin to diverge from the likeness of Jesus. A few verses later on, John says something else about the word of Christ:
"We know that we have come to know him if we obey his commands. The man who says, "I know him," but does not do what he commands is a liar, and the truth is not in him. But if anyone obeys his word, God's love is truly made complete in him. This is how we know we are in him: Whoever claims to live in him must walk as Jesus did." [NIV] 1 John 2 v 3 - 6
We can see the affects of God's Spirit at work within us when we find ourselves obeying His commands, not because we are drumming them into ourselves but because obeying His commands starts to become our new inclination;
"because those who are led by the Spirit of God are the sons of God." [NIV] Romans 8 v 14
So you can see what the Holy Spirit is saying through these passages. By coming to Jesus and walking in His light, His light begins to illuminate our failings. If we then are honest with Jesus and choose to confess our sins to Him and to walk in humility with our brothers, He will cleanse us from all our sins. The Holy Spirit will lead us, and transform us from the inside out. We do not rely on rules to make us holy. Instead we rely on the light Jesus sheds on us as we put His teaching into practice and we rely on the power of the Holy Spirit to make us holy as we confess our sins to Jesus.
Beware! Some unscrupulous, spiritually unhealthy organizations try to modify this area of the gospel so that the organization can effectively control and enslave God's people. They do this by replacing the practical role of the scriptures to provide the standard of truth, and by discrediting the power of the Holy Spirit to change our lives from within. They do these things by teaching commands and traditions they themselves have made up and by enforcing them with man-made structures and schemes. These deceitful organizations often have statements of belief that include the true role of scripture and the ministry of the Holy Spirit, however in practice the opposite is the case. It is quite clear from these and many other passages of scripture, that the scriptures are the only standard of truth that can be relied on in practice, as well as theory. Jesus Himself warns us about such organizations and gives us a command;
"Jesus replied, "And why do you break the command of God for the sake of your tradition? .... Thus you nullify the word of God for your tradition. You hypocrites! Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you: 'These people honour me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. They worship me in vain; their teachings are but rules taught by men.'" ... Then the disciples came to him and asked, "Do you know that the Pharisees were offended when they heard this?" He replied, "Every plant that my heavenly Father has not planted will be pulled up by the roots. Leave them; they are blind guides. If a blind man leads a blind man, both will fall into a pit."" Matthew 15 v 1 - 14 [NIV].
Notice Jesus' command at the end to leave the deceitful organization. There is no scope for compromise or tolerance of deceitful organizations here, as soon as it becomes clear to us that the organization is teaching doctrines contrary or additional to the word of God, we are to leave immediately. If I were to say anything else, I would be teaching contrary to God's word myself. Any organization that makes up and enforces doctrines and traditions not found in scripture is, to quote the words of Jesus, a 'plant that my heavenly Father has not planted' that will be 'pulled up by the roots.' Thus, any time spent watering these weeds is wasted!
So, we have explored the first facet of God's righteousness; the removal of our past sins. In the process we have also touched on the third facet, the way that God's righteousness is planted in us, like a seed that will germinate and grow if we let it, until our personality starts to resemble our Saviour.
The ornaments that we ultimately receive as part of our salvation are related to the works that believer's do in response to God's call during their lives. These works of righteousness are distinguished from the other two facets of righteousness because:
They relate to a facet of righteousness that has nothing whatever to do with saving us from our past sins or transforming our inner nature, instead it is all about serving the Lord, about what we do with our lives now that we are being saved.
They are things that we willingly do by faith, unlike the other two facets that critically depend on the things that God has done already or is doing in our lives by His power.
In the Isaiah 61 v 10 - 11 passage above, the ornaments correspond to those things put on by the bride and groom. The ornaments I am referring to are our rewards for specific works of righteousness wrought through the Holy Spirit. These are gracious gifts that God will give to his people in heaven. He will give them to those who have walked in obedience to Jesus, working faithfully to complete the things He has called them to do in their lives. Notice that this is the only part of God's righteousness that is 'pie in the sky when you die', both of the others happen in the 'here and now'. Let us now take a look at several passages from the scripture that refer to this second facet of righteousness:
"Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also." [NIV] Matthew 6 v 19 - 21
Jesus speaks about the temporary nature and insecurity of worldly wealth and possessions as compared to the eternal nature and security of heavenly wealth and possessions. What is also clear from the words of Jesus is that these acts of mercy are based on faith. A person would be unlikely to make gifts of significant quantities of their wealth or possessions to others in need, (without trying to draw attention to their kindness), unless they believed Jesus' word that they would be rewarded later. This is an important point to answer those who might sneer at those giving now to be rewarded later. Jesus also points out an issue that matters to us in the 'here and now'. If a person believes Jesus' word and practices giving to those in need, that person's thought and actions are not only focused on the needs of others today, but also forward to life later in heaven. This provides those who believe in Jesus with an unusually long term vision. Their choices in other areas of their lives are influenced not only by shorter term constraints. See also Matthew 6 v 1- 4 & 19 v 16 - 30, Luke 14 v 12 - 14; where Jesus says that he will repay those who give, at the resurrection of the righteous.
"For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith - and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God - not by works, so that no-one can boast. For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do." [NIV] Ephesians 2 v 8 - 10
In this passage from Ephesians, the apostle Paul contrasts the facet of righteousness we are now talking about with the others connected with salvation that are due to God's work and gifting alone. We are saved by the grace, gifting and powerful workmanship of God; He is creating us again in His own likeness. However, He is not creating us to sit in our armchairs. He has created us to do some specific works that He has prepared beforehand for each of us to do. This is the facet of righteousness we are now talking about. Notice that we are created for some specific good works that God has already prepared for us individually. This implies that we are each being transformed inside by God's Holy Spirit in a slightly different way. Each of us is being transformed a way that specially equips us to accomplish the good works that God has in mind for us. See also 1 Corinthians 3 v 5 - 15, where Paul says we work with God as His servants according to the gifts He has given us. The passages 2 Peter 1 v 9 and 1 Corinthians 3 v 15 both show that rewards are separate from salvation itself. The passages Colossians 4 v 17 and 2 Timothy 1 v 6 ff. are two examples of believers being exhorted to complete their specific calling. Take a look also at 2 Timothy 2 v 20 - 21 and 2 Peter 1 v 5 - 8 for ways in which we can influence the kind of works that God will give us to do. Peter says in 2 Peter 1 v 8 that our fruitfulness is equivalent to our fulfillment of the specific works God has called us to do.
To some extent, if we are wondering what God has got prepared for us to do, we can ask ourselves; 'How is the Lord changing and equipping me?' The answers to this question might provide us with some insight into God's specific calling on our lives, or help us to discern whether we are on the right track.
"For I am already being poured out like a drink offering, and the time has come for my departure. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day - and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing." [NIV] 2 Timothy 4 v 6 - 8
These are very nearly the last recorded words of Paul before his death, (it is recorded outside the scriptures that he was beheaded on the orders of Nero Caesar soon afterwards4). Paul looks back briefly over his life and his assurance of a crown to be awarded to him by Jesus. Notice that he clearly identifies it as a crown of righteousness, to be awarded to him by a righteous Judge. Notice also that such a crown will be awarded to all those who long for Jesus' appearing again. This is no coincidence, such people long for Jesus' appearing because they have quietly suffered the loss of many things they valued believing that Jesus would restore their losses when He comes again. Clearly, for this reason all aspects of the righteousness announced in the gospel are obtained through faith, including our good works and the rewards that Jesus gives us as a result. I have made some comments in the appendices, (see Appendix C) about this truth and the difficulty that Protestant traditions have when it comes to accepting the work of the Holy Spirit.
And it is not only our losses that our Lord will restore when He comes:
"Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you." [NIV] Matthew 5 v 11 - 12; Luke adds from his account: " ...when they exclude you and insult you and reject your name as evil, because of the Son of Man." [NIV] Luke 6 v 22
As Jesus predicted, we also suffer because the world still hates Jesus; however when we suffer on His account we will be richly rewarded by Him when he comes. Jesus refers to the prophets; what this implies is that just as they were rejected for bringing God's word, so when we bring the word of Christ to our own times, so will we. I believe this is what Jesus is particularly referring to when He speaks of us suffering because of the Son of Man. Those who dare to speak His word prophetically, confronting the evils of their day will suffer these things, but can also look forward with confidence in Jesus' word to a wonderful reward from Him.
""Hallelujah! For the Lord God Almighty reigns. Let us rejoice and be glad and give him the glory! For the wedding of the Lamb has come, and his bride has made herself ready. Fine linen, bright and clean, was given her to wear." (Fine linen stands for the righteous acts of the saints.)" [NIV] Revelation 19 v 6b - 8.
The wedding feast is in heaven marking the wedding of the Jesus, the Lamb of God and His Bride, the Church. This feast will occur after the resurrection of believers. It is then that the saints will be given fine clothes to wear and other adornments like crowns, and they will put these on for the glory of the Lamb as they rejoice at seeing Him again, (John 16 v 22). However, notice from this passage that the Church has made herself ready. This refers to the aspect of righteousness we are now discussing. We are to complete the works that God has specially commissioned us to do, in faith, using the power that God will supply.
To summarize this chapter, Jesus graciously promises to reward those of His people who have:
Given assistance to the needy in secret.
Completed the works that He has prepared for them to do.
Suffered losses or persecution as a result of serving Jesus or being faithful to His word.
"Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed - not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence - continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose." [NIV] Philippians 2 v 12 - 13
God, having dealt with our past sins and sinful nature when we believed and were baptized into Jesus, goes on to make us perfect by a process of inner transformation wrought by the Holy Spirit in our souls. As this passage from one of Paul's letters says, God starts a construction project inside us! This construction project radically affects what we are and it is carried out only with our active consent and understanding at the beginning and at each stage thereafter. In the Isaiah 60 passage, this facet of righteousness is related to the righteousness that God will make to spring up before all nations. It starts as a seed planted in our inner selves that germinates and begins to grow, as Jesus illustrated it;
"He told them another parable: "The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, which a man took and planted in his field. Though it is the smallest of all your seeds, yet when it grows, it is the largest of the garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and perch in its branches." He told them still another parable: "The kingdom of heaven is like yeast that a woman took and mixed with a large amount of flour until it worked all through the dough." [NIV] Matthew 13 v 31 - 33
In both of these parables, the righteousness of God's kingdom is something we want. We can see this because the man deliberately planted the seed in his field and he deliberately cultivated it, and the woman deliberately introduced the yeast to the dough and she deliberately mixed it in. This underlines the principle of willing consent in our ongoing salvation from our old sinful natures into the new righteous inner nature of Christ. However the Seed itself and the growth both come from God;
"Now on the last day, the great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, "If any man is thirsty, let him keep coming to Me and let him keep drinking. He who believes in me, as the Scripture said, 'From his innermost being shall flow rivers of living water.'" But this He spoke of the Spirit whom those who believed in Him were to receive; for the Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified." [NASB and NASB margin] John 7 v 37 - 39
The Seed and the Yeast that Jesus was referring to in the two parables just quoted is the Holy Spirit. Those who believe in Jesus can receive the Holy Spirit, now that Jesus has been glorified. Later in John's gospel, Jesus explained that He would send the Holy Spirit back after His departure, and for this reason that it was better for His disciples that He should depart, (John 16 v 7). The passage from John 7 v 37 - 39 mentions not only the presence of the Holy Spirit, but also the anointing of the Holy Spirit. In essence, John says that the anointing of the Holy Spirit began to flow once the Holy Spirit became present after Jesus was glorified. The margin note in the NASB version used for the quotation from John 7 v 37 - 39 preserves the meaning of the original Greek text where it says "let him keep coming to Me and let him keep drinking." As Jesus illustrated in the two parables above, this facet of righteousness is a process not an event, something that grows and spreads throughout our whole inner being. It requires us to ask Jesus to anoint us with the Holy Spirit repeatedly, (corresponding to the man cultivating his mustard tree and the woman mixing the yeast into the dough) so that these life giving changes can occur. elsewhere Jesus speaks about our need to receive the Holy Spirit's anointing to continue our spiritual development in the same way as we need food to develop and live physically;
"What father among you, if his son asks for a fish, will instead of a fish give him a serpent; or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him?" [RSV] Luke 11 v 11 - 13
We keep coming back to Jesus to ask for spiritual assistance through His Spirit because we eagerly expect Him to affect moral changes within us. This is where we exercise our faith and the perseverance Jesus mentions in the parable of the Sower. We must exercise faith and perseverance to appropriate this aspect of the righteousness announced in the gospel. As Paul said;
"But by faith we eagerly await through the Spirit the righteousness for which we hope." [NIV] Galatians 5 v 5.
Notice that it says both 'by faith' and 'through the Spirit' not just righteousness by faith. Jesus' words in the passage from John 7 above also include the idea of an efflux or overflow of life from our inmost beings as a result of the constant influx of the Holy Spirit. This efflux includes the works of righteousness described in the previous chapter and praise, from the Isaiah 60 passage quoted earlier. If this is a correct interpretation, then works of righteousness are a by-product of our ongoing salvation, just as subatomic particles are produced as a by-product of a nuclear reaction. This would certainly agree with Jesus' statements about recognizing people by their fruits, since the things a person produces are indicative of their true inner nature just as you would expect a healthy fruit tree to bear some fruit;
"For no good tree bears bad fruit, nor again does a bad tree bear good fruit; for each tree is known by its own fruit. For figs are not gathered from thorns, nor are grapes picked from a bramble bush. The good man out of the good treasure of his heart produces good, and the evil man out of his evil treasure produces evil; for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks." [RSV] Luke 6 v 43 - 45.
And so, what we are will manifest itself. This works two ways, either we produce evil works and evil character however hard we try to put on a good show, or conversely we produce good deeds and good character that cannot be hidden, again, even if we try. The Lord is in the business of re-creating what people are on the inside, (2 Corinthians 5 v 17). He does not want unreality. He wants us to be honest with ourselves and with Him about our true condition. We should not be content with anything less than our continuing transformation either.
The prophet Zechariah, who saw a vision about the first facet of righteousness, also saw another about the third facet we are now considering;
"Then the angel who talked with me returned and wakened me, as a man is wakened from sleep. He asked me, "What do you see?" I answered, "I see a solid gold lampstand with a bowl at the top and seven lights on it, with seven channels to the lights. Also there are two olive trees by it, one on the right of the bowl and the other on its left." I asked the angel who talked with me, "What are these my lord?" He answered, "Do you not know what these are?" "No, my lord," I replied. So he said to me, "This is the word of the Lord to Zerubbabel: 'Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit,' says the Lord Almighty. ... ... Then I asked the angel, "What are those two olive trees on the right and the left of the lampstand?" Again I asked him, "What are these two olive branches beside the two golden pipes that pour out golden oil?" He replied, "Do you not know what these are?" "No, my lord," I said. So he said, "These are the two who bring oil and serve the Lord of all the earth." [NIV and NIV margin] Zechariah 4 v 1 - 6 and v 11 - 14
This is a somewhat complex vision, but in summary: The two olive trees symbolize the two infinite Sources of the power of the Holy Spirit. This flow of power is provided from two different Sources, symbolizing Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit, (it is easy to find Jesus as a Source of the Holy Spirit elsewhere in scripture; e.g. Matthew 3 v 11, Mark 1 v 8, Luke 3 v 16, John 20 v 21 - 22, Romans 8 v 2, Philippians 1 v 19). The oil is continuously fed via two pipes and blended in the bowl; this symbolizes how the power of the Holy Spirit is fed into a believer's innermost being from Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit. Seven oil lamps are provided with oil from the bowl via seven channels; this symbolizes the efflux of spiritual power and light from within a believer. Jesus taught several times about the efflux of His power from within believers;
"You are the light of the world, a city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on a stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven." [NIV] Matthew 5 v 14 - 16 & see also John 7 v 38
The Holy Spirit's anointing provides illumination in our minds and hearts, He helps us to understand the gifts that God gives and the works that He does in us as well as the works that He does through us. In this passage, Jesus teaches us to shed the light of understanding that the Holy Spirit gives to us so that men may understand that the good works we do are being produced as a result of the power of God. In this way men can see that our works are accomplished by God's power, not ours. The result of this will be that they give praise to our heavenly Father, (for example: Acts 4 v 1 - 13). What this means in practice is that the overflow of God's power in our good deeds should be accompanied by an overflow from our mouths according to the inspiration of our minds by the Holy Spirit.
This efflux of light includes the priority of shedding light on the good news, as Paul said;
"Therefore, since through God's mercy we have this ministry, we do not lose heart. Rather we have renounced secret and shameful ways; we do not use deception, nor do we distort the word of God. On the contrary, by setting forth the truth plainly we commend ourselves to every man's conscience in the sight of God. And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing. The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the glory of the gospel of Christ, who is the image of God. For we do not preach ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, and ourselves as your servants for Jesus' sake. For God who said, "Let light shine out of darkness," made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ." [NIV] 2 Corinthians 4 v 1 - 6
Jesus told a parable about the importance of a continual inward and outward flow of the graces of the Holy Spirit. After speaking about the time of His second coming being unknown He said;
"At that time the kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. Five of them were foolish and five were wise. The foolish ones took their lamps, but did not take any oil with them. The wise, however, took oil in jars along with their lamps. The bridegroom was a long time in coming and they all became drowsy and fell asleep. At midnight the cry rang out; 'Here's the bridegroom! Come out to meet him!' Then all the virgins woke up and trimmed their lamps. The foolish ones said to the wise, 'Give us some of your oil, our lamps are going out.' 'No,' they replied, 'there may not be enough for both us and you. Instead, go to those who sell oil and buy some for yourselves.' But while they were on their way to buy the oil, the bridegroom arrived. The virgins who were ready went in with him to the wedding banquet. And the door was shut. Later the others also came, 'Sir! Sir!' they said. 'Open the door for us!' But he replied, 'I tell you the truth, I don't know you.' Therefore keep watch, because you do not know the day or the hour." [NIV] Matthew 25 v 1 - 13
The problem with the foolish virgins was that they filled their lamps only once and had no intention of refilling them, so they took no extra oil with them. The five wise virgins on the other hand, filled their lamps initially and then kept topping them up from the jars they had brought with them so that their lamps would not go out. In this way they could be sure to see the bridegroom whenever he approached and to enter the wedding banquet with him. In the same way, there will be those who have tasted the gift of the Holy Spirit once and have not continued to come to Jesus to be filled repeatedly. These will not get to know Him and will not see that He is about to arrive in time to get themselves ready. On the other hand, those who keep coming back to Jesus to be filled repeatedly with His Holy Spirit will thereby get to know Him and for this reason they will be ready whenever He comes. Notice how Jesus links both knowing Him and watchfulness with being filled with the Holy Spirit over and over again; therefore both our spiritual readiness and our developing relationship with Jesus depend on our willingness to keep coming back to Him to be filled again and again with His Holy Spirit. We live in an age where we prefer things to be instant, we expect instant coffee, we expect instant communications, entertainment, holidays and so on. Such thinking cannot be applied to Christianity. We cannot expect to go to church and get saved one Sunday and hope to go to heaven, it does not work like that, and thinking of this sort can be spiritually fatal. Instead we are to come to Jesus for our salvation and then keep coming back to Him for more and more of His Spirit. Jesus said immediately after speaking the parable of the Sower about receiving the good news;
"Whoever has will be given more, and he will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken from him." [NIV] Matthew 13 v 12
Having a continual 'abundance' is the way our Sunday 'religion' begins to have meaning in our lives Monday through Saturday, and Jesus becomes our constant Companion through the years. Then, even if we sleep in death, we will be ready and there will be an abundance of oil for our lamps whenever the cry is heard, 'Here's the bridegroom! Come out to meet him!'.
As I have pointed out during the sections on the three kinds of righteousness, every facet of the righteousness announced in the good news is appropriated by faith, and unless we act based on trust in God and His word, we can have none of His righteousness whatever. To summarize the role our faith plays in each facet of the righteousness of the gospel;
We confess our sins to God and we trust Him to forgive us based on the work of Christ on the cross.
We give to the needy quietly, complete our individual calling in the service of Jesus and endure any persecution or losses that result; believing that God sees what we have done and will reward us.
We rely on Jesus' power. We continually come to Him asking for more of the power of the Holy Spirit to change us inside and to accomplish the works He has set for us to do.
The righteousness of the gospel has always depended on faith, even before Jesus Christ came, as the writers of the New Testament point out, (e.g. Hebrews 11, Galatians 3 v 1 - 9).
There are several places in the Old Testament where it is clearly taught that righteousness in God's sight comes by faith, for two examples;
"Abram believed the Lord, and he credited it to him as righteousness" [NIV] Genesis 15 v 6 "Faithfulness springs forth from the earth, and righteousness looks down from heaven." [NIV] Psalm 85 v 11
Each aspect of righteousness is ongoing for believers, this means that we will be continually exercising our faith as we make spiritual progress in our Christian lives, just as Paul later said;
"I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile. For in the gospel a righteousness from God is revealed, a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: "The righteous shall live by faith."" [NIV] Romans 1 v 16 - 17.
Thus, our whole lifestyle is dependent on knowing God and relying on His power in various ways. Inwardly we rely on the Lord for His forgiveness and inner transformation. Outwardly we rely on God through prayer for the power to cope with the difficulties we face and the power to complete the works that He has prepared for us to do.
The issue of who Jesus is, is basic to the gospel. We have seen that in the gospel a righteousness from God is announced that depends on our faith from first to last. We have also established that that faith is in a Person, not firstly in a creed and not in the gospel message itself. Our faith, and the faith of those who receive the gospel is in the Person of our Lord Jesus Christ. Who Jesus is, is therefore the most important foundation of the good news message, because Jesus is the Cornerstone, that supports the whole structure, (Psalm 118 v 22, Isaiah 28 v 16, Luke 20 v 17). Since the Christian faith is not a set of rules, or any kind of written code, the whole of our salvation depends on our relationship with Him. He is the way and the truth and the life, (Romans 7 v 6, John 14 v 6).
Who then, is Jesus? Let us start by looking at the most ancient creedal statements we can find. Creeds were written to counter false teaching, especially concerning the identity of Jesus. However there is no evidence in the new testament of the 'salvation by mental ascent to a creed' that has been practised in more recent times. Having said this, these early creeds provide us with exciting evidence of Jesus' identity, created and recorded well within the lifetime of many of those who met Jesus personally in the flesh. I believe there are two passages in the New Testament in particular that record fragments of such creeds used by the early Christians during the third quarter of the first century AD. They were both recorded by Paul in two letters he wrote whilst he was imprisoned, probably in Rome about 64 AD and certainly before 68 AD when Nero died. These passages are:
".. Christ Jesus. Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death - even death on a cross! Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father." [NIV] Philippians 2 v 5b - 11
The carefully phrased structure of this passage is most beautiful. In the original language, the creed begins by stating Jesus' continuing divinity. The Greek word translated 'being' in verse six is the key to the meaning of the entire passage. It means that He pre-existed in the form of God, continued to exist in the form of God whilst He was a man and remains in the form of God to the present day, not merely that He was at one time in the past, (see under 'BEING' in Vines1 ). The creed then depicts what He did, beginning with His life as God before His incarnation, before moving on to state His incarnation and something about His character revealed whilst He was in human form. It then records His death by crucifixion, and His exaltation back to God's right hand. The creed stresses that Jesus was God, that He continued to be God whilst for a time He assumed true human form, and that He returned again in triumph to God after His physical death and resurrection, and is still God today. These statements summarize succinctly who Jesus is.
"He appeared in a body, was vindicated by the Spirit, was seen by angels, was preached among the nations, was believed on in the world, was taken up in glory" [NIV] 1 Timothy 3 v 16b
This is a much simpler explanation of who Jesus is, it records that;
He was incarnated.
His identity was vindicated by the Holy Spirit.
He ascended to heaven.
He was preached to the world and that some believed in Him.
He has now been taken up into glory.
I find these passages very exciting summaries of the beliefs of the earliest Christians. They state clearly that Jesus is, and always has been God, that He came as a man for a short time and returned to heaven afterward. If this is the testimony of others concerning Jesus, we also have His own statements.
From the same era as these early creeds, we also have in the records in the synoptic gospels of Jesus' own statements about Himself. Of these, the following are particularly revealing about His identity;
"The high priest said to him, "I charge you under oath by the living God: Tell us if you are the Christ, the Son of God." "Yes, it is as you say," Jesus replied." [NIV] Matthew 26 v 63 - 64 "Jesus said to them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was born, I AM." [NASB] John 8 v 58 This statement has particular significance because it was originally spoken by Jesus in the Aramaic language where the word for 'I AM' is the Divine name that God gave to Moses when He appeared to him in a burning bush, Exodus 3 v 14. "I and the Father are one." [NIV] an alternative translation would be; "I and the Father are a unity" [NASB margin] John 10 v 30
To the sincere enquirer the fact that Jesus confessed to be God is confirmed beyond reasonable doubt by the context of all three of these passages; in each case He was accused of blasphemy and His hearers took immediate steps to try and execute Him for violating Jewish law. In the Matthew passage, Jesus clearly confesses that He is the expected Jewish Messiah, 'Christ' in Greek or Anointed One in English. He also confesses to be God's Son. In the first passage from John, Jesus clearly states that He is God, using the divine name that God gave to Moses to identify Himself. In the same passage He also states emphatically that He has always existed, even before His incarnation. In the second passage from John we have the most wonderful statement, Jesus states that He is a unity with God, of the same essence as God Himself.
The resurrection of Jesus, three days after His execution has critical importance to us as Christians for three reasons, as follows;
The resurrection is the greatest sign Jesus did. It proves that He is God, the Author of Life, (Acts 3 v 15).
Unless Jesus is alive and accessible now, the Christian faith as taught by Jesus and the apostles cannot be sustained. The Christian faith as taught by Jesus and the apostles relies on a life-giving relationship with the living Christ. If He is not alive and accessible through His Spirit, there can be no righteousness, and if there is no righteousness, there can be no salvation, (1 Corinthians 15 v 12 - 20).
The resurrection of Jesus is the basis for our hope as believers in Jesus. We too hope to experience a resurrection like His to eternal life based on our faith in Him, (1 Corinthians 15 v 20 - 22). The good news is good news because Jesus rose from the dead, (see Acts 17 v 18). The resurrection of Jesus means that there is real hope of eternal life for everyone. This is the best possible news for a mortal race like ours.
Because the resurrection has such importance to the validity of the good news message, I will spend a little time collating the evidence for the resurrection appearances of Jesus from the scriptures. To present all the proofs we have of the resurrection thoroughly is beyond the scope of this book, however after establishing from the scriptures that Jesus really did die, I will concentrate on the instances when Jesus was seen alive again, by various witnesses. There is a great deal of additional evidence of different kinds for the authenticity of the resurrection based on the scriptural account, made up as it is by the separate accounts of many eyewitnesses recorded by different people.
"The soldiers therefore came and broke the legs of the first man who had been crucified with Jesus, and then those of the other. But when they came to Jesus and found that he was already dead, they did not break his legs. Instead, one of the soldiers pierced Jesus' side with a spear, bringing a sudden flow of blood and water." [NIV] John 19 v 32 - 34
That Jesus died can be readily confirmed from the facts of this eye witness account. It is clear from the context, especially John 19 v 26 and v 35 that these events were witnessed personally by John the apostle who recorded them in his gospel. With characteristic brutality and efficiency, the Roman soldiers knew how to kill and they also knew death when they saw it. Death would have been particularly easy to detect for these soldiers, since had Jesus still been alive, the open wounds in His feet and hands would still be bleeding and His respiration would have been obvious because he had earlier been stripped of His clothes. Firstly then, we have the opinion of professional soldiers who saw that Jesus was dead. Secondly, it became obvious to both John and the soldiers when the soldier thrust his spear into Jesus' side that His blood had begun to separate, indicating that his blood circulation had ceased for some time before the moment he was stabbed by the soldier's spear. For these reasons we conclude that Jesus was certainly dead well before his body was finally taken down from the cross and placed in the tomb.
The New Testament contains evidence of at least eight separate appearances of Jesus, alive in His body again after His death. These appearances occurred during the forty days that elapsed between His resurrection and His ascension back to heaven. During these appearances He was seen alive by eyewitnesses, and I will present the records of these appearances and show how the behaviour of these eyewitnesses was altered in ways consistent with what they had experienced. Four appearances are recorded on the day of the resurrection in Jerusalem, followed by two others also in Jerusalem, one the same week and one early the week after. The final two appearances were during a fishing trip to Galilee, and at Christ's ascension from the mount of Olives near Jerusalem.
First Jesus appeared to Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James (and Jesus?), and Salome, early, about dawn on resurrection morning, see Matthew 28 v 7 - 10, Mark 16 v 1 - 8, John 20 v 1 and 11 - 18. Just before meeting Jesus, Mary Magdalene was weeping, (John 20 v 11). When Mary met Jesus, she was the first to see Him alive after His resurrection. She also became the first person to worship him, (Matthew 28 v 9, John 20 v 17). These passages record that Mary clasped His feet, this act would not have been possible if Jesus were only a spirit. The disciples were mourning and weeping and most of them did not believe these women when they reported seeing Jesus alive, (Mark 16 v 10 - 11, Luke 24 v 11 - 12). Mary told all eleven of the disciples and all the rest, (Luke 24 v 9). The disciples were mourning in their own homes at this time, they were not assembled, (Luke 24 v 12, John 20 v 10).
Next, Jesus appeared to Simon Peter privately during that same day, Luke 24 v 34, 1 Corinthians 15 v 5, (1 Peter 3 v 18 - 20 may also relate to Peter's conversation with Jesus at this meeting). Luke said that the disciples had been 'collected together' by resurrection evening, (Luke 24 v 33) but how had they come to be gathered? It is likely that Jesus told Peter to do this during this private meeting. Also, this is likely because after leaving Peter, it is recorded that Jesus went out personally looking for two disciples on the road to Emmaus! (See number 3 below.) Jesus did not want the sheep to scatter too far! (Matthew 26 v 31.) It is probable that the dangerous job of collecting Jesus' disciples continued for about a week until five hundred had been assembled, see number 5 below. It is extremely unlikely that such a large number would have been assembled in these dangerous circumstances unless there was good reason to 'collect' them.
Jesus then appeared to the travellers on the road to Emmaus, on resurrection day afternoon to early evening; Luke 24 v 13 - 35 and Mark 16 v 12. The travellers were sad to begin with, then encouraged by Jesus' ministry. After their meeting with Jesus, they returned to Jerusalem as quickly as they could to rejoin the other disciples who were now being assembled.
Jesus appeared to the assembled disciples behind locked doors on resurrection evening; Luke 24 v 36 - 43, John 20 v 19 - 23, 1 Corinthians 15 v 5. At the time they gathered, John records that they were afraid of the Jews, (John 20 v 19). Jesus appears and commands them to receive the Holy Spirit and He breathes on them, (John 20 v 22). In the context of the same meeting it is recorded by Luke that they were joyful, (Luke 24 v 41) and that Jesus opened their minds to understand the scripture, (Luke 24 v 45). It is interesting to compare Luke 24 v 27 and 24 v 45; in the first passage Jesus is explaining the scripture but in the second He is making it possible for them to understand it without explanation! At this meeting Jesus promises they will soon be "clothed power from above" and commands them to "sit" in Jerusalem until that power comes, (Luke 24 v 49, Acts 1 v 4 - 5). Thomas had been told of Jesus' resurrection by Mary Magdalene along with the other disciples; either he could not be found that evening, or what is more likely in view of John 20 v 25, he refused to join the other disciples for this appearance of Jesus. When Jesus first appeared that evening, He did something very simple to prove to them that He was alive in His body and not merely a ghost. He asked for something to eat, and ate a piece of broiled fish in front of them, (Luke 24 v 41 - 43).
According to Paul in 1 Corinthians 15 v 6, Jesus then appeared to five hundred brethren assembled at once. This appearance probably occurred during the week the resurrection occurred since Paul says that when He was seen by 500, some of the Apostles had not yet seen him and we know that Thomas and maybe others were not present during Jesus' earlier appearance on resurrection evening, John 20 v 24. Thomas was present eight days later, when they saw Jesus again, (see number 6). Sometime during this first week Jesus also appeared privately to His half-brother James. As a result of this meeting it is known that James and Jesus' other half-brothers believed in Jesus for the first time, (1 Corinthians 15 v 7, John 7 v 5, Acts 1 v 14)
Jesus appeared to the disciples who had locked themselves indoors eight days later, when Thomas was present, (at last!) See John 20 v 26 - 29 and 1 Corinthians 15 v 7. When Thomas met Jesus he worshipped Him as God, a highly significant act, given the Jewish attitude to blasphemy.
Jesus appeared to Peter, Thomas, Nathaniel, James, John and two other disciples whilst they were fishing on lake Tiberias (another name for lake Galilee). See Matthew 28 v 7, 10, 16 and John 21 v 1 - 25. The exact time of this appearance is not recorded, however it must have been between two and five weeks after the resurrection, (since lake Galilee is 75 miles away from Jerusalem. At walking pace, this distance would have taken them between four and five days to travel and the same again returning to Jerusalem afterward).
Jesus appeared to His disciples on the mount of Olives just before and during His ascension, on a Saturday forty days after the resurrection. See Matthew 28 v 16 - 20, Luke 24 v 51-53 and Acts 1 v 6 - 12. Matthew records that most worshipped Jesus at his ascension but that some were uncertain what to do. In his gospel, Luke records the great joy of the disciples at the time of the ascension and that they were continually blessing God in the Temple once they had returned to Jerusalem. For the Apostles and the disciples to be in the Temple, (right under the noses of the Jewish leaders) continually blessing God was very bold given the threat the Jewish leaders posed to their lives at that time. This bold behaviour is in marked contrast to their earlier behaviour of fleeing Jerusalem or hiding in the privacy of their own homes. Their recorded feelings of fear on the day of the resurrection, when they were terrified that the Jews would put them to death as Jesus had been. Their timidity was in marked contrast to their later joy and corporate worship at the time of the ascension.
To summarize, we have established that Jesus claimed to be God and confessed His true identity under oath. We have also established that He was found in truly human form and that He died on a cross. We have also established that after His death He was seen alive again in His own body by many people, who touched Him, held Him and saw Him eat in front of them. We therefore conclude that the bodily resurrection of Jesus happened, and as a result, Jesus Christ is who he claimed to be, He is God. Also, since He rose from the dead, He is still alive today, and He remains the Cornerstone of our faith. All other religious leaders of antiquity lie buried, and their followers today only have the written teachings that they left behind. However, Jesus is alive. And as well as having His teaching we can also have Him in our souls, follow Him in our daily lives, listen to Him speaking through His Spirit, and look forward to seeing Him again in glory, for;
"To them God has chosen to make known among the Gentiles the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory." [NIV] Colossians 1 v 27.
So far we have explored the righteousness announced in the gospel in some depth without focusing on what Jesus did to achieve it for us. Every aspect of the righteousness we have been discussing has either been accomplished by the work of Jesus Christ already, or is being accomplished by His Spirit now, or will be completed when Jesus returns a second time. It is fitting, therefore, that we should focus now on the work of Jesus. The work He has already done, the work that He is now doing, and the work that He will do, to accomplish righteousness for us in God's sight and complete salvation for all people who believe in Him.
Jesus' preaching and ministry to the sick were only part of His mission and purpose in coming to the world of men. Throughout His ministry He spoke about an appointment with death that He was soon to keep. Jesus did not speak very much about it to the crowds of people that came to hear Him, however He did speak about it to His disciples in private, particularly as the time of His arrest approached. He had some difficulty making it clear to them what was about to happen, and even so, the disciples were perplexed that He should talk so willingly about going to His death. The fact remained that Jesus' death was part of His purpose. He foresaw what would happen to Him, (Matthew 6 v 21). Even though He clearly predicted His own sufferings, He was determined to go through with them. The sufferings and death of Jesus are clearly predicted in great detail by many passages in the Old Testament, for example; Psalm 22, Isaiah 50 v 6, 52 v 14, 53 v 3 - 11. Therefore it was also clearly part of God's plan that Jesus should come, suffer, die and rise again as He did. Jesus showed His own understanding of His mission and supreme courage when did not resist or object as He was arrested and tried by the authorities, before being humiliated and handed over to be executed by crucifixion. He willingly allowed Himself to be taken and executed because He knew it would be necessary to give His innocent life to pay the price for the sins of others, who were then the enemies of God. His aim was to bring about a reconciliation between God, His Father, and all those who believed in Him before and after His death. Jesus demonstrated His own love, and the Father's love for individual people by offering Himself for punishment in their place. His death on the cross means that it is now possible for our sins to be forgiven, blotted out and replaced with the innocence and righteousness of Christ, as we have discussed.
The crucifixion of Jesus Christ exposes both the true gravity of our sins and our inability to save ourselves. To some, who already consider themselves righteous, this is offensive, to others whose consciences are enlightened by the Holy Spirit, the message of the cross is just what they are waiting to hear. The gravity of our sins in Gods sight can be measured by the cost of their complete removal; nothing less than God's only Son willingly submitting himself to a slow and painful death on a cross. The magnitude of our sins is seen in the extremity of His humiliation, sufferings and death. If our sins where not so grievous, or if we could help ourselves to be better people, then Christ would not have needed to suffer so excessively or to have paid for our sins with His life in order to secure our salvation;
".... for if righteousness could be gained through the law, Christ died for nothing!" [NIV] Galatians 2 v 21b
What Paul is saying is that obeying rules cannot make us right inside. Therefore, if we say we have no sin and are already righteous in God's sight, we not only deceive ourselves, but we also mock Christ's agonies for us as unnecessary foolishness and make Him out to be a liar. If we call Jesus a liar we necessarily deny that He is God, (this is probably the definition of unbelief). Either this is so, and what Jesus did was foolish, or Jesus loves us as no-one else could ever love us.
"For Christ did not send me to baptize but to preach the gospel, and not with eloquent wisdom, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power. For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. For it is written, 'I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and the cleverness of the clever I will thwart.'" [RSV] 1 Corinthians 1 v 17 - 19
The crux is simply this; either God is lying about us and Christ died for no reason or we are in serious trouble and need a Saviour. If we do need saving, then Jesus Christ is the only one who can do the job. If we will believe in the power of His work for us on the cross and seek His power to change us inside, confessing our sins, then God is faithful and He will forgive us our sins. Moreover, through Jesus' work on the cross, He will cleanse even our consciences from the inner stain of unrighteousness;
"Let us draw near to God with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water." [NIV] Hebrews 10 v 22
If we follow Him by walking by His Spirit, He will go on rescuing us from the tyranny of our sinful lusts by His power at work within us, (Galatians 5 v 16, also 3 v 3 and Romans 6 v 10). God has already demonstrated the love He has for us when He forfeited His life Personally on a cross to save us, therefore He will never, ever forsake those who depend on Him. God the Father showed His approval of Jesus' work on the cross for us by raising Him from the dead after three days. The Father promises the same resurrection to all those who put their hope in Jesus. Furthermore, it is the Father's express purpose to make us the beneficiaries of His kingdom, (Luke 12 v 32). This is the power of the message about the cross for those of us who believe in Jesus. This is our strong assurance of the love God has for us. The love of God for us is stronger than death and more powerful than the grave.
"because by one sacrifice he has made perfect for ever those who are being made holy" [NIV] Hebrews 10 v 14
Jesus' Self-sacrifice on the cross achieved the "perfection in perpetuity" of those who are being sanctified. Note the tenses here: Firstly; Jesus has made perfect for ever - the verb is in the perfect tense, one action in the past that never has to be repeated, secondly; those who are being made holy - the verb is in the present tense. The significance of these tenses is that even though we are not yet perfect, we who are being made holy are fully accepted by God already. This "perfection in perpetuity" was achieved for us by Jesus on the cross and it corresponds with being clothed with a robe of salvation as described earlier from the passage in Isaiah, (Isaiah in 61 v 10).
In addition, the context of the tenth chapter of Hebrews also contains some wonderful depth of truth about the cross. In this chapter, the "perfection in perpetuity," (Hebrews 10 v 14 quoted above) that Jesus achieved for us is contrasted with the sin offering under the old system of sacrifice commanded in the law of Moses, (Hebrews 10 v 1). In particular, the old sin offering is seen as defective because it could not remove either the guilt, or the guilty conscience of the people, see Hebrews 9 v 14 and 10 vv 2 & 11. Worse still it had to be offered repeatedly by another man, (a priest) which only served to rub it in, perpetually reminding people of their sins, (Hebrews 10 vv 3 & 11). In contrast to this, Jesus' death on the cross was a single sacrifice accomplished in the past that removes both the sins and guilty consciences of His people continually in the present, (Hebrews 9 v 14 and 10 vv 14 & 22). Thus, for those who believe in Jesus' finished work on the cross, complete forgiveness is available, (Hebrews 10 vv 18 & 19). Unlike people under the old covenant system who had to rely on second-hand knowledge from the priesthood, our Father wants us to rely on the present reality of His forgiveness with direct and personal access into His presence when we pray, (vv 1, 10 & 19 - 22). Are there some outwardly Christian rituals today that perpetuate the old order of guilt, Divine remoteness and continual sacrifice, as if Jesus dies every Sunday and people need reminding of their sins? If so, then perhaps the good news about forgiveness and peace with God should be announced instead! The Holy Spirit warns us that those who try to perpetuate the old system by whatever means will die in their sins, since there is no way that sacrifices can remove them, (Hebrews 10 v 4). The sacrificial death of Jesus for the removal of our sins brings perpetual perfection, since God's complete satisfaction with Jesus' offering was demonstrated when He raised Him from the dead. Therefore, if we are living in God's grace and power and believing in our Lord's work on the cross for us, we cannot possibly improve our position, the job is already done! I will explain in more detail why it is impossible to improve our status in God's sight in the next section about the continuing work of Jesus in heaven.
The works of Jesus did not finish with His death and resurrection. After He ascended to heaven from the mount of Olives, (Acts 1 v 9 - 12) He was to start working for us in heaven. When Jesus was talking with His disciples, shortly before His arrest, He spoke about His departure to heaven and began to talk to them about the work that He would do in heaven, work that He is even now doing there;
"Now I am going to him who sent me, yet none of you asks me, 'Where are you going?' Because I have said these things, you are filled with grief. But I tell you the truth: It is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Counsellor will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you. .. " [NIV] John 16 v 5 - 7.
Once Jesus had departed to heaven He sent the Counsellor, the Holy Spirit, (v 13) to continue our salvation, (v 12 - 13) and to take command of the spread of God's kingdom in the world, (v 8 - 11). A little later, whilst praying with His disciples, Jesus said;
"For them I sanctify myself, that they too may be truly sanctified." [NIV] John 17 v 19.
Now, in heaven, Jesus' efforts are focused on the task of making us holy like Him. He expands a little on this by saying to the Father;
"I have made you known to them, and I will continue to make you known in order that the love you have for me may be in them and that I myself may be in them." [NIV] John 17 v 26.
Not only is Jesus in heaven now, but also at the same time He is within those who believe, making the Father and the Father's love known to us. In this way He joins us inwardly to the heart of God in heaven whilst we are living down here. The purpose of Jesus joining us to God like this is that we will share more of the Lord's thoughts, and of course, He will share ours. This is the type of inner two way prayer that we constantly experience as believers, to supplement the shorter times that we can set aside to devote to prayer.
When we initially become disciples of Jesus and are baptized into His name, Jesus Himself deals with our sinful nature, removing its capacity to dominate our lives. This is part of the continuing work of Christ on our behalf, as Paul says;
"In him you were also circumcised, in the putting off of the sinful nature, not with a circumcision done by the hands of men but with the circumcision done by Christ, having been buried with him in baptism and raised with him through your faith in the power of God, who raised him from the dead." [NIV] Colossians 2 v 11 - 12.
In addition to these activities, Jesus constantly deals with our sins after we believe in Him and speaks to the Father in our defence, as the apostle John says;
"My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have one who speaks to the Father in our defence - Jesus Christ the Righteous One. He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world." [NIV] 1 John 2 v 1 - 2 and see also Hebrews 7 v 24 - 25
Again notice the present tense in the statement; "He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins," this is the reason that Jesus is called the Lamb of God in heaven. In his book of Revelation, John sees Jesus as having the form of a lamb that has been slain;
"Then I saw a Lamb, looking as if it had been slain, standing in the centre of the throne, encircled by the four living creatures and the elders." [NIV] Revelation 5 v 6a
The meaning of all this is that Jesus still is the atoning sacrifice for our sins right now, and His atonement for our sins is right at the centre of the throne of God. Why did God show John that the atonement for our sins is right at the centre of the throne of God? The atonement has to be there, because so are we. Our spirits are already seated with Christ, (Ephesians 2 v 6). Our home with Jesus in God exists because the blood of Jesus that takes away our sins has been taken by Jesus right into the presence of God, as is recorded in book of Hebrews;
"He did not enter by means of the blood of goats and calves; but he entered the Most Holy Place once for all by his own blood, having obtained eternal redemption." [NIV] Hebrews 9 v 12.
Jesus' single completed act of atonement for our sins makes us constantly acceptable in God's sight in the present, if the atonement were not at the centre of the throne of God, we could not dwell with Him;
"But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions - it is by grace you have been saved. And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus." [NIV] Ephesians 2 v 4 - 7
It is not possible for us to improve on our status in God's sight by our own efforts because it is not possible to get any higher than Jesus has already placed us. As we have discovered, Jesus joins us continually to the heart of God, His Spirit dwells in us and our spirits dwell with one another and with Christ in God. Together we are already trophies of our Father's grace and kindness, sinners whose sins are atoned for, dwelling with our Saviour in God.
I have begun to speak about the shared life of all those who follow Jesus Christ. This shared life is part of a great mystery, called the mystery of the Church. Jesus is currently working to build His Church. As He said;
""But what about you?" he asked. "Who do you say that I am?" Simon Peter answered, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God." Jesus replied, "Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by man, but by my Father in heaven. And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven."" [NIV] Matthew 16 v 15 - 19.
The mystery of the Church does not consist of beautiful buildings or ancient architecture. However, Jesus uses the language of building and architecture to describe what it is. Using a word play, Jesus calls Simon a single detached boulder, (Greek 'petros'). Jesus says that He would build Peter into His church based on the solid rock (Greek 'petra') of Himself and the testimony concerning Himself. Elsewhere in scripture, Jesus is referred to as the Cornerstone or Foundation of a great building. The great building built on Christ and the testimony about Him is the true substance of the church. The 'great building' is made of many single stones. Each stone is a person who has witnessed first hand that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God. Notice that Jesus says how God the Father had revealed Jesus' identity to Simon directly through revelation. It is this direct revelation that made Simon a first hand witness of Jesus' identity. As a result, Simon became Peter, the first of many members of the church that Jesus had started to build.
Peter understood exactly what Jesus said to him. Later he expanded significantly on what Jesus said in one of his letters;
"As you come to him, the living Stone - rejected by men but chosen by God and precious to him - you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ." [NIV] 1 Peter 2 v 4 - 5 (The theme continues to verse 8.)
And so, as God the Father reveals Jesus to others, Jesus builds them into His Church today. They become part of the spiritual structure with Christ and all the others who believe in Him. The design and the construction of the Church are further significant aspects of the continuing work of Christ, the glorious unveiling of which will occur later on, (Revelation 21 v 9 - 27).
The scriptures clearly teach that Jesus is due back on earth for a second visit. As it says in the book of Hebrews;
"so Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many people; and he will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for him." [NIV] Hebrews 9 v 28
The second visit will not be like the first and will have nothing to do with getting rid of our sins. Instead, Jesus will come again to bring a gift for us, our salvation. But what does this mean exactly?
"For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive. But each in his own turn: Christ the first fruits; then, when he comes, those who belong to him." [NIV] 1 Corinthians 15 v 22 - 23
The salvation that Jesus will bring us when He comes is new bodily life in resurrection. But this new life will not be temporary like our present lives, our new bodies will be eternal. Paul goes on to speak in detail about our gift of new life, (1 Corinthians 15 v 35 - 58). The Spirit says through Paul that our present bodies are like seeds, when we are buried after our death it is like being planted. Later we 'germinate' and God causes us to grow into a body very different in form to the 'seed' that was planted when we died. Paul contrasts the 'seed' with what grows from it;
"So it will be with the resurrection of the dead. The body that is sown is perishable, it is raised imperishable; it is sown in dishonour, it is raised in glory; it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power; it is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body." [NIV] 1 Corinthians 15 v 42 - 44a
Paul develops this last contrast between the natural body and the spiritual body further. First he says that we cannot have this spiritual body unless we have previously had a natural one;
"If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body." and "The spiritual did not come first, but the natural, and after that the spiritual" [NIV] 1 Corinthians 15 v 44b and v 46
This means that our spiritual bodies will have a uniqueness dependent on our present form. Secondly, Paul says that just as we bear the likeness of our common forefather Adam, (and we are all different nevertheless), so in our new lives we will bear the likeness of Jesus, whilst remaining unique in appearance;
"And just as we have borne the likeness of the earthly man, so shall we bare the likeness of the man from heaven." [NIV] 1 Corinthians 15 v 49
Thus we have a wonderful picture of our destiny in Christ. We will retain our uniqueness of appearance as well as character, but all the negatives about our present bodies will not be there in our new ones. We will no longer be perishable, or disfigured, or weak; but instead, imperishable, glorious and powerful.
OK, so we have new eternal bodies, but where will we live? Jesus also said about His second visit;
"In my Father's house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. And if I go to prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am." John 14 v 2 - 3
Our salvation also includes our accommodation prepared by Jesus within His Father's house. The rooms already exist and Jesus is graciously working right now to prepare the internal decor and furnishings individually for each one of us. I wonder what He will put in each of our rooms?
These are the facts about the salvation that Jesus is bringing with Him when He comes again to fetch us. There are many more events that will occur when Jesus comes again, but this is part of another mystery to be explored separately.
Throughout the bible, salvation is presented as a Way, or a road from where we are now to peace and habitation with God. Here are two examples where salvation is spoken of in these terms, one from the Old and one from the New Testament:
"And a highway will be there; it will be called the Way of Holiness. The unclean will not journey on it; it will be for those who walk in that Way; wicked fools will not go about on it. No lion will be there, nor will any ferocious beast get up on it; they will not be found there. But only the redeemed will walk there, and the ransomed of the Lord will return. They will enter Zion with singing; everlasting joy will crown their heads. Gladness and joy will overtake them, and sorrow and sighing will flee away." [NIV] Isaiah 35 v 8 - 10 '"In my Father's house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. You know the way to the place where I am going." Thomas said to him, "Lord, we don't know where you are going, so how can we know the way?" Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No-one comes to the Father except through me. If you really knew me, you would know my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him."' [NIV] John 14 v 2 - 7.
The good news has two distinct parts. Firstly as has already been said, it is a message about God's provision of righteousness for us. Second the good news contains a series of signposts pointing toward our Saviour Jesus as the only one who can give us the complete righteousness announced in the good news and bring us to the Father. Because, unless we know Him in increasing measure there can be no salvation. Jesus is the way, therefore following Him and asking for His assistance is how you get there.
A journey towards a gate is also how Jesus thought about salvation, and these thoughts feature prominently in the good news message He taught. For example, elsewhere Jesus teaches about a narrow way and a gate that leads to a life, but with few finding it, (Matthew 7 v 14, Luke 13 v 24 ff.). And again, He accused the religious leaders of the day of preventing the people from entering through this gate, (Matthew 23 v 13) At this point, an illustration might help to explain what is meant by the signposts contained in the good news, and this is shown nearby. This diagram shows the signposts that point towards Jesus along the Way of Holiness as announced in the good news message, (see Isaiah 35 v 8 above). Unfortunately, just as in the time of Jesus, many people today are hindered or prevented from following one or more of these signposts pointing to Jesus. These hindrances are not confined to churches of certain traditions, they are a widely present and they constitute an ever constant threat to individual Christians wishing to walk the way of holiness.
The first signpost to Jesus concerns His practical demonstration of how a life can be lived that is fully pleasing and righteous in God's sight. Following this signpost leads us to a conviction in our conscience that we do not even come close to living a life like His. For some, the life of Jesus is very attractive, much more so than their present lives, even if it is likely to mean suffering. This leads to a series of personal decisions and actions called repentance towards Jesus. Repentance has almost nothing to do with 'being sorry,' if we are sorry for something it implies either we have been injured by something we have done, or that we feel guilty about something we have done. Unlike 'being sorry,' repentance has to do with the future not the past. In general terms, repentance means firstly to recognize specific attitudes and areas in our lifestyle where our conscience, newly enlightened by God's word, tells us we are offending. Specifically, in the case of our conversion to Christ, we are doing a U-turn away from unbelief, turning round to believe in Jesus for the first time. Again in general terms, repentance then leads on to a voluntary change in our attitude to be like God's attitude in these specific areas. In conversion, we are believing God's judgements about who Jesus is, that we have sinned in His sight and that Jesus died that are sins can be forgiven. Generally, if repentance is genuine, this change of heart should have some practical expression, however limited initially. In the specific case of our conversion to Christ, the practical expression of our repentance from unbelief to believe in Jesus Christ, is to become His disciple by being baptized. (See the sections on responding to the good news later in this book for a more detailed explanation of this.) A change of heart can do nothing of itself to remove our responsibility and accountability for our past offences and this is where the second signpost to Jesus appears.
The second signpost to Jesus is the problem of our past sins and the justice of a righteous God. The helplessness is real. It is supposed to be there. It is supposed to point us towards faith in Jesus' work on the cross, ideally in the context of Christian baptism as the next practical and spiritual step forward to complete forgiveness and peace with God. (That is, full acceptance with God and an end of guilt before God for our past sins.) Through faith in Jesus' personal sacrifice for us and being baptized into His name, we can be certain that He has removed the threat of judgement for our past offences. However, a change of heart and the forgiveness of our past sins only sets our direction for the future; we are still as helpless as we were when we started when it comes to moving on in our chosen direction because we are prevented by own sinful inner nature. God has declared His intention to break the domination of our lives by our sinful nature when we are baptized into the name of Jesus, (Colossians 2 v 11 - 12).
The third signpost to Jesus is the very helplessness that we feel when confronted with the stunning righteousness of God as demonstrated supremely in the Person of Jesus. How is it possible to have an inner nature like His? The only way is have Christ's inner nature formed inside His. We cannot change what we are inside however earnestly and successfully we try to reform our external behaviours. We can and should restrain ourselves from sin, since we have a will of our own and we are morally accountable beings, but it must be realized that this restraint does not change the essentially sinful bias within our souls. Our complete helplessness to affect inner moral change is the third signpost to Jesus implicit in the good news message. It points us towards faith in the working of God to break the power of our sinful nature when we are baptized and afterward towards asking for and receiving Jesus' Spirit, if we are to share His nature, (this is the essence of Paul's argument in Romans 8). The presence of the Holy Spirit progressively transforms our inmost being to resemble the moral nature of our Creator and thereby to make us sons of our heavenly Father through our inheritance of His inner nature, (one of Paul's conclusions in Romans 8 v 15 - 17). The scripture calls this new way of life God's 'New Creation,' (Galatians 6 v 15 - 16). This statement by Paul should be taken very seriously, the Holy Spirit really does mean that the new life we have through the Spirit is like Genesis 1 v 1, God is creating again, creating something in us that has not previously existed. I have developed this momentous subject at some length in a separate book3 entitled "The Mystery of Man."
The fourth signpost to Jesus arises because our inner transformation by the Holy Spirit does not remove our bodies of flesh as the source of moral temptation. Nor can the frailty of our present physical bodies carry our new inner life into Christ's heavenly kingdom, (1 Corinthians 15 v 50 - 58). It is far easier to appreciate how utterly helplessness we are to change our bodies for new ones! But it is this very helplessness and weakness that points us to the great hope and culmination of the good news message from God. The good news contains an assurance; that at the resurrection, God will transform our mortal bodies into new immortal ones. The resurrection will happen when Jesus returns a second time, (see 1 Corinthians 15 v 50 - 58 and 1 Thessalonians 4 v 13 - 18). I say that God will transform rather than replace our existing bodies because we will share the same kind of resurrection that Jesus experienced. When Jesus was resurrected, He was reunited with His transformed body. According to John's eyewitness account, Jesus' body was removed from within tightly wound strands of cloth that had bound it without the cloths having being unwound, they just lay where they had been, (compare this with the record of Lazarus' resurrection in John 11 v 44). The significance of the way these cloths were lying when he and Peter entered the tomb was the thing that convinced John that Jesus had indeed been raised from the dead. John believed this even though, as the record states, at that time John was not aware of the scriptures that predicted Jesus' resurrection. For if Jesus' body had been removed by any human activity, either the cloths would have been unwound from the body or, (more likely) the body would have been taken away still wrapped up in the cloth, (John 20 v 2 ff.).
Thus the way of holiness ends with our complete salvation. We will be presented to our Maker and dwell with Him with our sinful natures and past sins purged by Christ and by His blood, our inner nature completely transformed by the Holy Spirit, and our frail temporal bodies transformed into powerful eternal ones given to us by our Father at the resurrection when Jesus comes again.
Four signposts to Jesus on the way of holiness
"but whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to stumble, it is better for him that a heavy millstone be hung around his neck, and that he be drowned in the depth of the sea" [NASB] Matthew 18 v 6
For Christians within various church traditions, progress along the way of holiness is impeded or halted altogether by erroneous practices and counterproductive teaching at the signposts along the way. These hindrances can be found in some surprising, as well as some not so surprising places. Individuals can experience these difficulties in otherwise healthy church situations. Conversely, even in the most unfavourable settings, some individuals do manage to express faith in Christ's work on the cross and to benefit from the forgiveness and peace that God gives. Ultimately, it is individuals who are saved, or not, from the terror of the judgement day. So I would like to address you as an individual Christian brother or sister and to explore the scripture to try to expose these hindrances for what they are. All I ask is that you accept that scripture is God breathed, true and supreme over any tradition you or I might adhere to. If you cannot accept this, then none of what I have said in this book will be of any value to you. It simply is not my intention to subvert or go beyond the teaching of the scriptures, but instead to search out what is written and to present it to you fearlessly, (2 Timothy 3 v 16, Revelation 22 v 18 - 19). As someone else exposed to the church scene in our own time has said about the hindrances faced by Christians inside as well as outside the churches;
"It is time for Bible-believing Christians to begin to cultivate the sober graces and to live among men like sons of God and heirs of the ages. And this will take more than a bit of doing, for the whole world and a large part of the church is set to prevent it. But if God be for us, who can be against us?" - A. W. Tozer5.
Sometimes these hindrances have been introduced and cast in stone over many centuries but sometimes they are introduced or perpetuated for more cynical reasons connected with declining church attendances or finances or the other needs of the organization. Either way, all hindrances to the progress of salvation are evil. They are the devil's schemes. The demonic origin of hindrances is confirmed by the Holy Spirit speaking through Paul;
"The Spirit clearly says that in later times some will abandon the faith and follow deceiving spirits and things taught by demons. Such teachings come through hypocritical liars, whose consciences have been seared as with a hot iron." [NIV] 1 Timothy 4 v 1.
Those hypocrites who introduce, enforce or perpetuate hindrances to the salvation of God's people will not escape the wrath of God, for as Jesus says:
"but whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to stumble, it is better for him that a heavy millstone be hung around his neck, and that he be drowned in the depth of the sea. Woe to the world because of its stumbling blocks! For it is inevitable that stumbling blocks come; but woe to that man through whom the stumbling block comes!" [NASB] Matthew 18 v 6 - 7
The second signpost on the way of holiness points to Jesus' death on the cross leading to forgiveness and peace with God. In some traditions having a material or sacramental emphasis, progress after conviction and repentance is strongly resisted. The practical denial of forgiveness that results from this approach, leads to many lives that are perpetually full of guilt and shame. In such systems, a replacement for forgiveness is offered. An assurance of forgiveness based on faith in the atoning work of Christ on the cross, is replaced by an assurance provided by men based on things that can be seen. These human sources of assurance require no act of faith. These replacement sources of assurance can take different forms, for example;
Election to church membership where some are excluded.
Doing something to feel absolved from guilt.
The conferring of some indication of superior status or acceptance by the organization.
The participation in certain theatrical 'sacraments' that are supposed to appease God or to win His forgiveness.
In such systems, and for all practical purposes, the prerogative of Almighty God to grant assurance is usurped by individual leaders, litany, hierarchies, systems or organizations. Also, the spiritual credibility and acceptability of individuals are determined and controlled only by the leaders of the organization, rather than by the views of the majority. This replacement of God's prerogatives with human schemes and the subjugation of believers by authoritarian means is nothing other than idolatry, and it is very widespread today. A very helpful description of the nature of idolatry can be found in the fourteenth chapter of Ezekiel;
"These men have set up idols in their hearts and put wicked stumbling blocks before their faces." [NIV] Ezekiel 14 v 3 ff.
This verse not only says that idolatry is wicked, but also that it is a hindrance or stumbling block, (a term Jesus uses in Matthew 18 v 6 - 7). Notice that the idol can be something set up by men in their hearts as well as an object or person of worship that can be seen. Therefore, idolatry occurs whenever a person gives their inner heart allegiance and outward practical service to anything or anyone other than God. Thus, idolatry includes;
Allegiance to cherished traditions that offer false comfort by purporting to provide us with assurance of our forgiveness that can only be provided by the Lord our God, (see the list above).
Allegiance to autocratic leaders who encourage the cult of their own personality and enforce their views on believers.
I repeat, those who practice and insist on such things are participating in, and enforcing idolatrous practices amongst the people of God. God Himself will judge these people, (see Matthew 18 v 6 - 7 quoted above).
In some traditions, notably those that adhere to the so called 'reformed' Protestant theology, there are problems not at the first two but at the third signpost in the good news message. Faith in Christ is preached, but there is strong resistance at the next step. In such systems there is a paranoia about the Person and work of the Holy Spirit that causes a total denial of His involvement in any practical matters connected with the ongoing process of salvation. I believe there are historical reasons for this denial dating back to the time of the Reformation. I have commented briefly on these matters in the appendices, (see Appendix C).
The denial of the role of the Holy Spirit to affect the ongoing salvation of believers is contrary to the clear teaching of scripture, (e.g. Ezekiel 36 v 27, John 14 v 25 - 26, John 15 v 1 - 8, Titus 3 v 5 - 8, 1 Thessalonians 5 v 23 - 24, etc.). This denial leaves those newly believing in Christ in an extremely vulnerable position, they are not encouraged to seek assistance from the Holy Spirit and so they lack that Divine influx of power necessary to begin and continue their inner transformation. The inevitable consequence is that people who believe the word cannot retain it as described by Jesus in the parable of the sower. However, in the 'reformed' Protestant tradition (and very like the sacramental tradition), similar alternatives to God's assurance and the sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit are offered that allow leaders, hierarchies, organizations, or programs of moral teaching to usurp God's roles of forgiveness and sanctification in practice. These alternatives often take the form of programs of moral teaching that include regular financial giving and church attendance as routes to 'holiness', at least as far as the organization is concerned. Using the alternatives to God's salvation mentioned above, people are abused by the organization to satisfy the needs of the organization. Whilst they remain within such organizations, the 'success' of an individual is measured according to these alternative schemes and according to how effectively they can propagate the same form of powerless and godless religion to others. As a result, many individuals face the prospect of spiritual stagnation and decay because no further spiritual progress can be achieved by human effort and the purpose of the gospel message is thereby thwarted. Paul wrote to the Christians at Galatia who had started well in the Spirit but who like so many today also sought to continue their salvation through their own efforts, he said:
"Are you so foolish? After beginning with the Spirit, are you now trying to attain your goal by human effort?" [NIV] Galatians 3 v 2
The whole of Paul's letter to the Galatians is of particular relevance to many churches today who have a tradition of starting new converts well and then preventing them from growing in Christ through the denial of the role of God the Holy Spirit in their continuing development in all aspects of righteousness, not just the forgiveness and remission of their past sins. If forgiveness and remission of past sins were the only aspects of God's righteousness that mattered, then why did Paul say in the same letter:
"But by faith we eagerly await through the Spirit the righteousness for which we hope." [NIV] Galatians 5 v 5
Since we know that both Paul and the Galatians were already converted, why would he say such a thing? He says these words because the Holy Spirit was still sanctifying him by faith. Righteousness through faith in Jesus Christ is not an instant thing that happens only at conversion. Righteousness through faith is a continuous miracle of inner transformation that begins at conversion and the Agent of this miraculous transformation is the Holy Spirit, notice that he said, "We eagerly await through the Spirit."
In many situations where these hindrances exist, there are things offered that purport to replace the faith of believers and the powerful working of God in salvation. These substitutions are usually offered in the context of some kind of legalistic system. A legalistic system is a practical system of demonic origin, not a creed. Legalistic systems vary widely and differ in the severity of spiritual abuse inflicted upon their adherents. These devilish schemes can exist and even thrive where the doctrinal basis of a church organization is thoroughly orthodox. This fact was pointed out by Jesus when He said about the Pharisaic sect;
"The teachers of the law and the Pharisees sit in Moses' seat. So you must obey them and do everything they tell you. But do not do what they do, for they do not practice what they preach." [NIV] Matthew 23 v 2 - 3.
Jesus points out that a clear dichotomy between teaching and practise in a legalistic organization. Another word for this behaviour is of course hypocrisy, which behaviour is specifically mentioned by Paul in the 1 Timothy 4 v 1 - 2 passage already quoted and again in Titus 1 v 16. Accordingly, legalistic systems can be more easily recognized by one or more telltale practical characteristics, rather than recognized from statements of creed or teaching, (for an interesting example, in Revelation 2 v 6, notice how the practices of one heretic group are singled out rather than their beliefs). Actions do speak louder than claims! These practical characteristics of legalistic systems are described in the sections that follow.
People are motivated by fear of the system and what it might do to them if they are not seen to conform with its demands for more and more performance. Leaders regularly posture themselves as powerful people and are arrogant when speaking about others of presumed lower status in the organization. The people's fear of being shamed by the organization is reinforced by occasional displays of public 'discipline and humiliation' to keep the rest of the people in line. Following on from the quotation above, Jesus says;
"They tie up heavy loads and put them on men's shoulders, but they themselves are not prepared to lift a finger to move them." [NIV] Matthew 23 v 4.
Because of the tyranny within legalistic systems, people become tired and worn out. The unhealthy organization will then start to put more pressure on people to try harder still.
In another place it says about those who are arrogant and despise others;
'To some who were confident of their own righteousness and looked down on everybody else, Jesus told this parable: "Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood up and prayed about himself: 'God, I thank you that I am not like other men - robbers, evildoers, adulterers - or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.' But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, 'God, have mercy on me a sinner.'" "I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God. For everyone who exults himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted."' [NIV] Luke 18 v 9 - 14
Notice how the Pharisee in this parable tries to smear and then humiliate the tax collector in public by his loudly spoken prayer. This tendency to inflate their own piousness at other people's expense, is a particular characteristic of abusive leaders and ambitious people within legalistic systems today, (for example, see 2 Corinthians 11 v 12 - 21 where Paul identifies these same characteristics in false apostles who infiltrated the Corinthian church and describes how God views such people and what will happen to them in the end).
Tyranny by those in charge of a church is specifically forbidden in scripture and will be punished very severely by Christ:
"Jesus said to them, "The kings of the Gentiles lord it over them; and those who exercise authority over them call themselves Benefactors. But you are not to be like that. ... " [NIV] Luke 22 v 25 - 26a "But suppose that servant is wicked and says to himself, 'My master is staying away a long time,' and he then begins to beat his fellow servants,.... The master of that servant will ... cut him to pieces and assign him a place with the hypocrites, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth." [NIV] Matthew 24 v 45 - 51 (excerpts)
Notice that Jesus again refers to the perpetrators of legalistic ideas as hypocrites, and that even if they start out as 'fellow servants' they will still end up being torn to pieces and assigned a place with all the others in hell for eternity. In other words, these perpetrators of legalistic ideology will lose their salvation. For more teaching about abusive leaders in the Church, see Matthew 7 v 15 - 20. In contrast to the tyranny of legalistic organizations and the hypocrisy of those who lead them, the healthy organization is characterized by 'leadership by example' and humble service, Peter put it like this:
"Be shepherds of God's flock that is under your care, serving as overseers - not because you must, but because you are willing, as God wants you to be; not greedy for money, but eager to serve; not lording it over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock. And when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the crown of glory that will never fade away. [NIV] 1 Peter 5 v 2 - 4
Notice how different the emphasis in this passage is compared to the attitude of leaders in legalistic organization. The emphasis in the healthy organization is on meeting the needs of the people, not the needs of the leaders and the organization! Also notice from Peter's words that those who lead in healthy organizations, serve the rest of the flock knowing that they will give account to Christ for the trust placed in them. They can look forward to a wonderful reward from Jesus for all their faithful service. This attitude is completely different to that of leaders in an unhealthy organization. Leaders in an unhealthy organization behave autocratically or as vicious zombies, just following tenets of the 'system' or the orders of others. They behave as if they are unaccountable for their own actions and try to pretend they are not responsible for the failings of the 'system'. The fact is, as Jesus clearly says, both legalistic autocrats and their followers are accountable to Him and will be severely punished for their deeds by Christ when He comes again.
Externalism is another hallmark of the legalistic pseudo-Christian organization. By externalism, I mean an emphasis on the importance of certain high profile religious behaviours. Religious status, spirituality and devotion are measured by the zeal shown in the performance of services for the organization. For example;
Donations to the organization.
Regular attendance at meetings.
Endorsement of leader's authority.
Recruiting more unfortunate people into the organization.
Participation in ridiculous, often highly theatrical displays of piety, etc.
Following the quotation from Matthew 23 above, Jesus continues:
"Everything they do is done for men to see: They make their phylacteries wide and the tassels on their garments long; they love the place of honour at banquets and the most important seats in the synagogues; they love to be greeted in the marketplaces and have men call them 'Rabbi'." [NIV] Matthew 23 v 5 - 7
Notice the essence of what Jesus is pointing out; the emphasis is on looking good, using dress to display piety, the requirement for deference at social functions and special forms of greeting and so forth. If things have changed in detail, they certainly have not changed in essence! Elsewhere Jesus points out how people practising their religion in a legalistic setting make a big show about how much they give financially, (Matthew 6 v 2). Jesus continues in Matthew 23 to condemn people who make a hypocritical show of their piety, "Woe to you." He says seven times, whilst accusing them of seven crimes;
Not entering God's kingdom themselves and preventing those who want to, from being saved.
Recruiting more people through grand evangelistic endeavours, only to make them even worse sons of hell than they are themselves.
Swearing falsely (lying) and using God's name presumptuously to cover their greed.
Engulfing God's people in trivial regulations whilst neglecting the important issues.
Greedily extorting God's people under a cloak of decency.
Displaying piety whilst practising wickedness.
Paying lip service to God's word whilst showing themselves to be like those who murdered His prophets.
In contrast to the externalism of the unhealthy organization, a healthy organization is more concerned with being useful to others in the community than it is about its public image. Individuals too, are concerned to follow Jesus' example in their lives, even if, like Him, they are criticized for it by those they live amongst. Jesus was constantly criticized within the society of the day. Some criticized Him for eating with tax collectors because these were regarded by society as collaborators with the hated Roman occupation forces. Others criticized Him for associating with prostitutes and people of little learning or status. He was constantly confronted by religious leaders who were offended at the way He ignored their laws about personal hygiene and what could and could not be done on a Sabbath. In the same way, being a Christian today is not a way of pleasing the so called 'moral majority' either, these are the very people who will die before they will respond to the good news themselves and they will do everything they can to hinder a devout Christian.
Externalism contrasts with the teaching of Christ. In Christ's teaching the emphasis is on following His example and teaching, without drawing these actions to the attention of men, (e.g. Matthew 6 v 1 - 4). The thing to remember is this; we are serving Jesus, not men. He sees what we do and therefore that is enough. This approach turns the simplest act of mercy into an act of faith because we trust that Jesus sees it and will reward it, (e.g. Matthew 6 v 6 and 18). These are the kind of actions that God wants from us, those that implicitly involve trusting Him.
This degree of degenerate organized behaviour was not present during the time of Jesus. To find scriptural coverage of this phenomenon we must look further back to the time just before Judah was conquered and exiled to the land of Babylon or we must look forward to events of the present day foretold in the scripture.
Jeremiah the prophet was sent to the people of Israel by God, just before their conquest by the Babylonians and their subsequent exile. In Jeremiah 5 we read,
"Yet even in those days," declares the Lord, "I will not destroy you completely. And when the people ask, 'Why has the Lord our God done all this to us?' you will tell them, 'As you have forsaken me and served foreign gods in your own land, so now you will serve foreigners in a land not your own.'" [NIV] Jeremiah 5 v 18 - 19
But how did this idolatry come about? A little later in the same passage we read:
"A horrible and shocking thing has happened in the land: the prophets prophesy lies, the priests rule by their own authority, and my people love it this way. But what will you do in the end?" [NIV] Jeremiah 5 v 30 - 31
This verse describes an idolatrous religious organization. The idolatrous religious organization plays God to those inside the system and requires and demands obedience. Dissent is disciplined based on the presumed divine authority of leaders. In practice, being in favour with the hierarchy is equated with divine approval and vice-versa. This is the essence of organizational idolatry.
Why are false prophecy and autocratic rule equated with idolatry? They are equated with idolatry because men try to replace God in the minds of the people, they do not want to hear God's word; instead they make it up themselves and persuade the people that God has said it, (compare Jeremiah 6 v 10). The people of the days of the prophet Jeremiah loved it liked this, they knew what was really happening, but they wanted to serve those liars and tyrants! Such was the attraction of a legalistic system in those days, and people in churches nowadays who have no interest in history could just be destined to repeat it. I say again, such practices are entirely feasible even if an organization has an orthodox statement of Christian belief.
Notice in the closing statement in Jeremiah 5 v 31, "But what will they do in the end?" This is the crunch point for those individuals and churches who indulge in idolatry. Ultimately, the organization, the person or the piece of stone they worship cannot rescue them from their fate; they are powerless to save. They cannot help anyone; on the contrary, they abuse their devotees.
The idolatrous organization that captures the fear and reverence of the people away from God is also connected with the time preceding Christ's return in scriptural prophecy. In Jesus' own words:
"For false Christs and false prophets will appear and perform great signs and miracles to deceive even the elect - if that were possible. See, I have told you ahead of time." [NIV] Matthew 24 v 24 - 25
Notice the similarity between this passage and the Jeremiah passages quoted before it. Here again is this deadly double-act of false prophet and autocratic priest. I would like to draw your attention to some interesting aspects of our Lord's warning. Firstly, the elect would be unlikely to join an organization whose leader claimed to be the Christ. However they might join an organization that seemed to be performing great miracles and had an orthodox creed, if they failed to notice that the organization sought to deceive them into worshipping the leaders in practice. Jesus is therefore warning us about a subtle threat, not an obvious one. A legalistic organization is one example of an organization where creed and practice differ. It is therefore a small step for a legalistic organization to begin to interfere with the spiritual devotion of the people in an idolatrous manner. Jesus makes another key point in the quotation above. Great signs and miracles might be impressive, but these things alone are no guarantee that an organization is healthy, or even orthodox. For this reason, charismatic activity in a church is an unwise objective in itself, as it does nothing to guarantee the spiritual health and credibility of the organization. Jesus also said about the leaders of idolatrous organizations, who presume to use Jesus' name and the Spirit's power to deceive;
"Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven. Many will say to me on that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?' Then I will tell them plainly, 'I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!'" [NIV] Matthew 7 v 21 - 23.
Notice that those who invoke Jesus' name and the power of the Holy Spirit without knowing Jesus are doing evil. This means that it is possible for an unhealthy organization to continue to do things that Jesus would never do, things that are the contrary to His very character, and then cover its evil tracks with charismatic activity like prophecy, expelling demons and other miracles done in Jesus' name. There is nothing wrong with charismatic activity in a healthy organization, but it can be a very deceptive indicator of spiritual progress.
Manifestly, the sin of idolatry is not obsolete amongst the churches today. In legalistic systems, people are hindered from putting their faith in Christ by leaders or organizational hierarchies who deliberately put stumbling blocks in the way. Leaders or organizational hierarchies are given much greater prominence than Christ, subverting the sovereignty and saving power of God in practice if not in creed. Those who attempt to make the people fear them and respect them as if they were God, or His intermediaries, will enter utter darkness and endure the jealous punishment of our God:
"You shall have no other gods before or besides me." [NIV + NIV margin] Exodus 20 v 3 "I am the Lord; that is my name! I will not give my glory to another or my praise to idols." [NIV] Isaiah 42 v 8 "But you are not to be called 'Rabbi', for you have only one Master and you are all brothers. And do not call anyone on earth 'father', for you have one Father, and he is in heaven. Nor are you to be called 'teacher', for you have one Teacher, the Christ. The greatest among you will be your servant. For whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted." [NIV] Matthew 23 v 8 - 12. "For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus," [NIV] 1 Timothy 2 v 5
All these scriptures forbid idolatry. The last two quotations from the New Testament extend the idea of idolatry to include idolizing people in religious organizations. Notice how in the passage from Matthew's gospel, Jesus commands three times that God has exclusive rights to our worship and obedience and we should not give these to anyone else. Notice also that we are required to obey Jesus rather than anyone else, to call God our Father and no-one else, and to follow Christ's teaching alone. These commands of Jesus necessarily exclude any layer of 'middle management' between us and God. There are movements of our day that I have personally witnessed that impose personal shepherds on God's people. These so-called shepherds are part of a hierarchy tasked with controlling the people, and the people are required to obey whatever the 'personal shepherd' asks them to do. This kind of thing is one of many examples of organizational idolatry today. These 'middle managers,' 'priests', 'shepherds' or 'episcopal monarchs' go by a multitude of different titles, however they all demand that we accept their control of our beliefs and our lives. Believers wanting to live according to the lordship of Jesus, should recognize these demands and refuse them firmly; for 'we ought always to obey God rather than men.' When two of the apostles were ordered to submit to the authority of some 'spiritual autocrats,' this is what happened;
"So they ordered them to withdraw from the Sanhedrin and then conferred together. "What are we going to do with these men?" they asked. "Everybody living in Jerusalem knows they have done an outstanding miracle, and we cannot deny it. But to stop this thing from spreading any further among the people, we must warn these men to speak no longer to anyone in this name." Then they called them in again and commanded them not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus. But Peter and John replied, "Judge for yourselves whether it is right in God's sight to obey you rather than God. For we cannot help speaking about what we have seen and heard."" [NIV] Acts 4 v 15 - 20.
According to the statements of Jesus in Matthew 23 v 8 - 12, anyone who demands to control believers in this way is a false Christ, a deceiver who wants the status that Jesus has in our lives. In order to remain faithful to Christ, we can and must counteract the demands of false Christs by following the example of the apostles. By following the apostolic example, we are to resist these false Christs, and expose their vile sham for all to see.
Collective cruelty occurs when the needs of individuals are denied for the supposed good of maintaining 'the system'. The problems people have are seldom faced because they might threaten the reputation of the leaders or the system. People trying to cope with life's tragedies and difficulties, or their own failings are often surprised to find that their situation is made much worse by the organization. What usually happens is that people with problems or needs are suppressed, morally smeared or in extreme cases excommunicated to preserve the desired veneer of a successful and neatly functioning system.
At the time of Jesus, widows were a source of annoyance to the Pharisees. They became 'a problem' because after the loss of their husbands they often became dependent on alms, as they had no other means of earning a living in that society. Because the need of the widows was a 'problem' for their 'pious' organization, the Pharisees invented a scheme to deprive the widows of their homes to raise some cash for themselves, (Luke 20 v 46 - 47). In this way the widow and her family were victimized by the organization following their bereavement. I know from my own experience that similar things have happened recently at the hands of abusive churches, and similarly appalling things do happen to people experiencing other kinds of tragedy and difficulty. Unfortunately, collective cruelty it is not something confined to the past.
The way the Pharisees treated widows is an example of what I mean by collective cruelty. Churches that allow themselves to be infected with the leaven of the Pharisees, very soon find themselves trying to justify such outrages against the name of the Lord Jesus:
'"Be careful," Jesus said to them. "Be on your guard against the yeast of the Pharisees and the Sadducees." ... Then they understood that he was not telling them to guard against the yeast used in bread, but against the teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees' [NIV] Matthew 16 v 6 & 11
And the teaching of the Pharisees and the Sadducees was that righteousness could be had by following the rules that they themselves had made up, in other words by participation in a legalistic system. And again He says about the false prophets who spread these evil ideas and principles so that they can capture, control and devour God's people;
"Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves. By their fruit you will recognize them. ... " [NIV] Matthew 7 v 15 - 16a
Again, allow me to emphasize. We face a deceptive threat of organizational cruelty. We face a serious threat that can result in us being torn to pieces spiritually. This threat threatens us today. I have personally experienced these threats myself.
The essence of an unhealthy organization can be reduced to a few principles, common to all. As Paul said,
"But now a righteousness from God has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus." [NIV] Romans 3 v 21 - 24
There is a fine tension here in this passage. Salvation can never be controlled by men, mechanized, sold or taken for granted since it always comes as an act of God's grace, however at the same time God promises to give salvation freely where He recognizes true faith in Jesus. What is also crystal clear from this passage is that God retains control throughout, as Jesus so graphically expressed this truth, He is the gate for the sheep, to quote His words more completely:
"I tell you the truth, the man who does not enter the sheep pen by the gate, but climbs in by some other way, is a thief and a robber..... I tell you the truth, I am the gate for the sheep. All who ever came before me were thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them. I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved. He will come in and go out and find pasture. The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full." [NIV] Excerpts from John 10 v 1 - 10
Many do resent that God has control of the gate of salvation and many evil devices have been invented that purport to 'climb into salvation by some other way.' Sadly, these alternative gospels are quite common and they seriously threaten the integrity of the church in many places today. I will now summarize the principles of some of these evil devices:
Substitution of religious performance for faith in God, such things being enforced as rules, laws or traditions. In this kind of scheme salvation is not presented as being given freely but instead, salvation is made dependent on certain participations and contributions made by individuals. The organization can then proceed to specify what it wants and begins to exploit their victim's energy and resources for their own ends, all supposedly aimed at earning Divine approval; which approval is of course measured only by the leaders!
Salvation is seen as free, by grace and through faith, however only the organization can authenticate or recognize 'true' faith. In this kind of scheme the organization can appear to control who is all right for salvation and who is not. This message is usually communicated subtly in different practical ways. For example an exclusive inner circle of 'members,' and a strong emphasis on hierarchy or the authority of leaders to elect new members and remove people again. This scheme is used as a powerful lever to control the hearts and minds of the people through fear, often besides controlling their behaviours and the roles they play within the organization.
Salvation is presented as the prerogative of individuals alone who control their own salvation and have the necessary power of themselves. In this scheme, salvation is presented as completely within the control of an individual. In this case, salvation is seen as an entitlement provided the right external things are said or done thereby ignoring that God gives salvation as an act of His grace and sovereign choice. This scheme naturally leads on from denying grace to further denials of reality in various ways. For example; taking the form of official cover-ups and concealment of wrongdoing, or public delusions about all manner of supposedly spiritual phenomena, hypocrisy and so on.
The first two devices are seen as very attractive by organizations, since they can be employed to exercise tight control of people and to extract energy, money and willing compliance from the people. Schemes employing these principles have existed since ancient times and just as Jesus said, the motivations are fundamentally theft and destruction of God's property, (from John 10 quoted above). The third device is attractive for individuals who do not want to submit to God, but who want the credibility of those who do. Paul points to this scheme as one peculiar to the present time, (2 Timothy 3 v 1 - 9) being based on selfishness and hypocrisy. The result of all such schemes is deadening to the church, and potentially spiritually fatal to individuals. Only through accepting Jesus' control in practical matters and submitting to His teaching does the life begin to flow again.
God commands those who lead such organizations that enslave His people;
"The Lord, the God of the Hebrews, has sent me to say to you: Let my people go, so that they may worship me in the desert. But until now you have not listened." [NIV] Exodus 7 v 16
God does not change. His attitude to leaders today, even now, who will not listen to His word is identical to His attitude to Pharaoh. These 'leaders' play god, like Pharaoh did; they indulge in elaborate counterfeiting of signs and wonders seen as essential to their credibility, just as Pharaoh did; their motives for continuing to enslave God's people are economic, as Pharaoh's were; they resist the Holy Spirit and all those God sends, just as Pharaoh did and they will be destroyed with all their followers just as Pharaoh was. Three examples of such destruction have made world headlines in the last decade or so, (the destruction of the 'Branch Davidian' sect in the USA and mass suicides by cults in Central America and Switzerland). The Holy Spirit solemnly warns such leaders through the words of Moses, that as God demonstrated His power and holiness to the whole world when He destroyed Pharaoh, so He will demonstrate it again and again to the whole world by destroying these leaders and by freeing His people from their power, to worship Him alone. The Lord is exceedingly jealous for His people, and He will not wait forever. The comparison I have drawn between the time of the Exodus and the current situation of many of God's people is profound and could be developed in much greater detail than is possible here.
But I say;
"Open for me the gate of righteousness; I will enter and give thanks to the Lord. This is the gate of the Lord through which the righteous may enter. I will give thanks, for you answered me; you have become my salvation. The stone the builders rejected has become the capstone; the Lord has done this, and it is marvellous in our eyes. This is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it." [NIV] Psalm 118 v 19 - 24.
Amen!
I have set out above how a legalistic system can be recognized and how it puts practical obstacles in the way of people who want to start and make progress on the way of holiness. We have seen how progress on the way of holiness depends on coming to Jesus repeatedly. We have also established how legalistic ideas and organizations put obstacles and hindrances in the way of God's people. They try to prevent people from going back to Jesus repeatedly to find their salvation. Such systems prevent people from entering the kingdom of God at first and they hinder new converts from making progress on the way of holiness. Sometimes the damage inflicted on individuals by a legalistic system can be spiritually fatal; people are sometimes devoured spiritually.
It is imperative to rid ourselves of ideological obstacles that prevent us from enjoying the fullness of life that Christ gives. We must do this for the sake of our faithfulness to Christ, our own spiritual survival and our sanity. This is easy to say, but there is often a high cost attached to gaining our freedom and standing for Christ. The cost should be counted and the risks calculated in proportion to our faith. At the very least, we risk our social standing, friends, popularity, position and credibility being taken from us as we start to counter the legalistic and demonic ideas within an unhealthy organization.
Judge the following two matters for yourself. Firstly, whatever we might lose to appropriate freedom for ourselves or others, consider how much Christ willingly paid to buy it for us. Secondly, if Jesus thought it was important enough to be crucified to obtain our freedom, should we now value that freedom so little that we are prepared to throw it away in order to keep our place in the heap or avoid offending others?
The Holy Spirit says;
"It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery." [NIV] Galatians 5 v 1
The consequences of unhealthy organizations are extremely serious, and every believer in Jesus should do whatever they can to expose them and prevent these evil schemes and ideas from causing further damage, wherever they are found. In the next chapter I will describe further how legalistic or abusive systems can be countered in practical ways based on the teachings of scripture. It is however very difficult to loosen the bonds of God's people and to release them from the yokes of iniquity, and we will need all the power and wisdom of the Holy Spirit and much endurance to achieve it. For as the Spirit says;
"Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen: to loose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free and to break every yoke? Is it not to share your food with the hungry and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter - when you see the naked, to clothe him, and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood? Then your light will break forth like the dawn, and your healing will quickly appear; then your Righteousness One will go before you, and the glory of the Lord will be your rear guard. Then you will call, and the Lord will answer; you will cry for help, and he will say: Here am I." [NIV and NIV margin] Isaiah 58 v 6 - 9.
I think it is worth going without a few things if we can see an end to the chains and yokes of legalism. We must have Christ, and we must rid ourselves of everything to get Him.
The apostle Paul wrote about the "robust righteousness" announced in the good news in terms of the armour worn by a soldier on active service, he introduces this teaching as follows;
"Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armour of God so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms." [NIV] Ephesians 6 v 10 - 12
Paul describes Christians as being in the middle of a conflict, a difficult struggle between God and God's righteousness and the devil and the devil's schemes rather than a conflict between people. I have often reflected on the fact that an idea is very much more powerful than the largest army. Ideas can captivate the world, however they cannot be destroyed by conventional warfare; killing people never wipes out their ideals. It is a spiritual battle against evil ideas and the devil's schemes that Paul focuses our attention on, things that underlie and ultimately control the thinking of millions of people around the world and even inside the Church and which stand against all that Jesus is, and everything He ever said. These evil ideas and schemes are our spiritual enemies as Christians, they are the missiles we are constantly being bombarded with, and this is the true nature of spiritual warfare. These ideas and evil schemes threaten us directly and individually; they are thriving within the church today masquerading as the bona-fide as well as outside in popular culture. They are compromising the reputation of the churches as well as nullifying the effectiveness of our individual witness.
Because of the ease of air travel and our access to communications, we now live in a global village. Information and ideas can be communicated around the world very rapidly. These aspects of the times we live in were foretold long ago in the book of Daniel, (Daniel 12 v 4). Now, more than any other time in the past we are being bombarded with new ideas, the latest teaching and information from everywhere in the world, and we Christians are not generally on our guard or prepared for those unwelcome evil schemes and subtle lies mixed in with the rest. Our times convey many opportunities to us for the communication of the good news that were not available to our predecessors; however these factors have also greatly intensified the threats we face as Christians from evil ideas and the devil's schemes.
Returning to our passage from Ephesians. Having focused our attention on evil ideas and the devil's schemes as our adversaries; Paul continues by teaching how we are to defend ourselves against them:
"Therefore, put on the full armour of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything to stand. Stand firm then, with the belt of truth bucked around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints." [NIV] Ephesians 6 v 13 - 18
Take hold of truth and reality in your personal life. Take hold of the righteousness that Christ gives with a clear understanding of your salvation. Take your stand on what God has announced in the good news. Exercise your faith in Christ when things are difficult and trust in Jesus for your salvation. Allow the Holy Spirit to teach you from God's word and pray for what you need, remembering also to pray for the needs of your fellow Christians. This is a poor paraphrase of Paul's teaching, but out of this passage there are some specific personal areas where we are threatened by the devil's evil schemes and foul ideas;
Our personal integrity.
The fact that our past sins are forgiven.
Being prepared and fit to share the good news.
Our ability to trust God when all men doubt us.
Our understanding of our salvation and of the scriptures in general.
Our prayerful dependence on the Lord and concern for others.
These are the areas where we need to function, these are our vulnerable points, and this is where the devil's ideological attacks are concentrated. If Satan can stop us or hinder us from functioning in any of these ways using some scheme or other, then he will. Our enemy's aim is to neutralize our threat to his kingdom. According to Paul in v 13 - 14 we must stand our ground; he says this three times in the space of two sentences! This means we are constantly in danger of being swept away by new ideas and schemes and of being dashed to pieces on the rocks of deceit, (Acts 13 v 10, Ephesians 4 v 14). That is why God's righteousness has to be robust, and why we must become more alert and proactive as Christians in defence of the gospel and our faith.
'See to it, that no-one takes you captive of you through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the basic principles of this world rather than on Christ.' [NIV] Colossians 2 v 8
Today our faith is gravely threatened by the devil's evil schemes, disguised as 'heritage', 'tradition' or 'philosophy' and many of these are already inside the church and gaining acceptance without our knowledge. When these deceptions are questioned and thought through, they do not depend on Christ, or His teaching. In fact, they are opposed to it!
Based on Paul's teaching, how might we defend ourselves? Firstly we must beware of, but not be distracted by the people involved. Paul emphasizes that our enemy is spiritual, involving ideas and schemes of demonic origin that are counterproductive to our salvation. As he says elsewhere;
"The Spirit clearly says that in later times some will abandon the faith and follow deceiving spirits and things taught by demons. Such teachings come through hypocritical liars, whose consciences have been seared as with a hot iron." [NIV] 1 Timothy 4 v 1 - 2
If we are functioning well in all the areas listed above, then it will be possible for us to recognize and expose the error in whatever evil scheme or foul ideal we face. If we are more of a victim of such a scheme, then the best initial action is for us to face the issues listed above personally and to make some prayerful changes in our personal lives in aid of our own recovery. Praying for the Lord to strengthen us in His righteousness, and in our understanding of His salvation. The greatest caution must be exercised if you are presently inside an unhealthy organization, these systems are usually configured to;
Prevent you from recovering spiritually.
Prevent you from leaving the organization.
Try to force you continue to practise your faith according to the rules they have made, despite the clear witness of scripture that such things bring death not life, because no-one will be justified through works of law, (Romans 3 v 20, Galatians 3 v 21).
Spiritual life comes only through the initiation and working of the Holy Spirit, whose assistance we should urgently seek in prayer, (John 3 v 5 - 6, Titus 3 v 5). By standing our ground spiritually, and refusing to submit to the yokes that are thrust at us, we will be victorious at last, even if it does mean we must suffer the pain of being excluded from the organization. (By excluding you, the organization is admitting defeat and trying to prevent your example being followed by others.) As I have already said, once it becomes clear to us that the organization is teaching and enforcing things not found in scripture, Jesus commands us to leave anyway, (Matthew 15 v 1 - 14 and especially v 13 - 14). Once you have left an unhealthy organization, be careful not to fall into the same trap again when finding a new church. Nothing is achieved, and much can be lost by being a perpetual victim of spiritual abuse. Recovering from the effects of spiritual abuse can take anything from a few months to some years, depending on the amount of support available from your network of Christian friends and family unconnected with the unhealthy organization and the strength of emotional and other ties that remain with people inside the unhealthy organization. I personally owe a debt of gratitude to my long standing (and in many cases long-suffering!) Christian friends and family for helping me recognize and escape just such a situation.
Returning again to our passage in Ephesians. Paul's teaching concentrates on the weapons and armour at our disposal to counter these evil schemes.
On the defensive side, (and most of the weapons we have are defensive) we must maintain a truthful approach and guard our own integrity carefully, (the belt of truth holds everything else together!). Also we should continue in well doing. Whatever the Lord gives us to do for Him, we should continue diligently. This is the breast plate of righteousness that protects us from being injured by wild accusations and other attacks. Jesus exercised this aspect of His defensive body armour when He asked the Jews, "I have shown you many great miracles from the Father. For which of these do you stone me?" (John 10 v 32) Despite constant death threats from powerful political figures, Jesus continued His compassionate ministry of preaching and miracle working, refusing to bow to the fear of men, (Luke 13 v 31 - 34). And this will also be true of us. However much they try, evil men cannot stop us doing the will of Christ. Jesus also continued to preach the good news, and so should we, even when we are engaged in pitched battle with notions contrary to its message. It is important to continue to preach the gospel, whilst tearing down falsehood. This prevents us from turning negative in our outlook, like poor Elijah did when he complained to God that he was the only prophet left in Israel and that the other Israelites were all trying to kill him, (1 Kings 19 v 14 ff.). We should be used to exercising our faith in Jesus for our forgiveness, but we are also called to exercise it during our battle against pseudo-religious falsehood. Meeting threats made by the unhealthy organization to our safety or well-being or public integrity with quiet confidence in our Lord's ability to defend us and to provide what we need to continue the work He has given us. Finally, the helmet of salvation, a clear understanding of our own salvation. This is so important when tackling falsehood - we do not want to become victims of falsehood again! Since the unhealthy organization has constructed its own non-biblical ideas that sustain it during its vile progress, recovery from spiritual abuse will involve unlearning much that the organization has fed you about salvation over the years. This unlearning process is best done piece by piece, searching the scriptures yourself to discern truth and lie. Pray for help from the Holy Spirit, who wants to help you to understand, as Jesus said;
"I have much more to say to you, more than you can now bear. But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come. He will bring glory to me by taking from what is mine and making it known to you. All that belongs to the Father is mine. That is why I said the Spirit will take from what is mine and make it known to you." [NIV] John 16 v 12 - 15
On the offensive side we have but one weapon, the sword of the Spirit, the Word of God. Paul places the helmet of salvation together with the sword of the Spirit, because these are the two edges of the same sword so to speak. One edge is for our benefit, the Spirit teaches us about our salvation through the word and the other edge is for the destruction of falsehood that threatens us from the outside, again through the word. Notice that it is the sword of the Spirit; just as we allow the Spirit to teach us personally, we should also rely on Him to help us speak in defence of the truth of the gospel, (Luke 12 v 11 - 12). Elsewhere, Paul warns people inside another church;
"For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments, and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ." [NIV] 2 Corinthians 10 v 3 - 5
In this graphic depiction of spiritual battle, Paul emphasizes repeatedly that our weapons are peaceable to people but destructive to the devil's schemes, thoughts, arguments and ideas. This peaceable approach ought always to be the case. There is no justification for violence in the name of Christ because we live as the servants of all men for the sake of Christ. Again we are not struggling to win arguments with people, since in competitive intellectual sparring the intellectual defeat and humiliation of others is the prime goal. Instead we aim to destroy the argument completely whilst showing every respect for the dignity of the people involved. As such we are trying to persuade people to drop the falsehood; we are not seeking their humiliation but their consent. This is an important point. It is possible to win an argument and loose the engagement completely, since in winning the argument, we do not secure the consent of the people to forsake the falsehood. Moreover we do not gain allies for the truth and nothing positive results. Paul approached a believer called Philemon who owned a newly believing slave in this way. Paul could have written angrily and ordered him to set the slave free, (Philemon v 8) but instead he sought to provoke Philemon to act voluntarily, (Philemon 14 - 16). Remember also that we are not seeking followers for ourselves, but for Jesus. Remember, remember, the falsehood is the enemy, not the people.
I have no hesitation in calling for Christians everywhere to wake up to the serious threats to their spiritual safety and well-being posed by falsehood within the church today. Firstly, I appeal to my brothers and sisters in Christ to secure themselves from the evil schemes that are counterproductive in their own spiritual walk by putting on the whole armour of God and standing firm for Christ. And secondly by loving example, through reliance on the word of God, prayer, faith and the Holy Spirit's power, I appeal to my brothers and sisters in Christ to loosen the bonds of iniquity that bind others within the local church context. As it says in the book of Isaiah;
"Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen: to loose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free and break every yoke? Is it not to share your food with the hungry and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter - when you see the naked, to clothe him, and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood? Then your light will break forth like the dawn, and your healing will quickly appear; then your righteousness will go before you, and the glory of the Lord will be your rearguard. Then you will call, and the Lord will answer; you will cry for help, and he will say: Here am I." [NIV] Isaiah 58 v 6 - 9
Having discovered the Source and addressees of the good news, as well as something about its basic content; we now explore the scriptures to find out how the gospel is intended to be announced and communicated.
"And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come." [NIV] Matthew 24 v 14
The good news of the kingdom of God will eventually be preached all over the world before this age is over. This age is referred to in the New Testament as the 'last days' spanning the time between Jesus' first and second comings. In view of other scriptures in John's revelation, the preaching of the good news around the world will be completed by angels, not men;
"Then I saw another angel flying in mid-air, and he had the eternal gospel to proclaim to those who live on the earth - to every nation, tribe, language and people." [NIV] Revelation 14 v 6
Once this age is ending, the angels will evangelize the whole world to ensure that they all have opportunity to repent who are alive at that time. However, this does not remove the importance of preaching the good news to those who are alive now. We must preach it urgently because there are very few opportunities for many of the people who are now alive to hear the good news of Jesus Christ and repent. If they do not hear the good news from preachers who are sent, preaching it to them before their lives end, their only opportunities to believe in Jesus are;
Directly, Christ revealing himself personally.
Through the general revelation of the creation, (like the evangelistic message preached by the angels in Revelation 14 v 7 referring to Jesus as the Creator rather than by His name).
Through reading about the good news in the bible or some other book.
By some other indirect means, for example broadcasting.
It may be that the angels do not mention Jesus by name in their evangelistic message, (Revelation 14 v 7) because those who are listening to them have never heard of Jesus. The people listening to the angels only being aware of God through the things He has created, (Romans 1 v 19 - 20).
I can think of many ways that we can fail the preacher's fitness test. For example, if you belong to an unhealthy organization as I have discussed elsewhere in this book, even if you have managed to survive spiritually yourself, how sensible is it to participate in the recruitment of more people, many of which will become victims of spiritual abuse? Incidentally in these circumstances, that is all the activity is focused on; recruitment, not salvation. This is an important issue, and an important consideration for anyone weighing the cost of leaving and finding a more healthy local church. As Paul says in the context of being fit to preach the gospel:
"For the appeal we make does not spring from error or impure motives, nor are we trying to trick you." [NIV] 1 Thessalonians 2 v 3
Paul mentions that preaching can spring from error. It is most important that we understand the basics of the gospel message and that we announce it fully. Secondly, Paul mentions impure motives as a hindrance to preaching. When we preach, do we wish to fill our pockets, or to gain influence or authority over people? Or do we do it out of rivalry in competition with other people or other local organizations? Or do we preach because that is our calling and we wish to honour the name of Jesus by fulfilling our calling? Thirdly Paul mentions that some people preach because they are trying to trick others into an organization that will make a prey of them. This is the situation I mentioned above, where the gospel is preached more or less correctly, however the organization receiving those who believe in Jesus does not practice the teachings of the gospel. This is one form of spiritual abuse called a 'bait and switch', the 'bait' used is the good news about Jesus which is 'switched' for something else once the message has been believed. In these cases, the gospel is a means to an end for the sponsoring organization. Inside the sponsoring organization, the teachings of the gospel are contradicted in practical ways and the authority of Jesus is not taken seriously. It is important for those who wish to honour the Lord Jesus to expose such practices and to attempt to 'let the captives go free' (Isaiah 61 v 1, Luke 4 v 18) through prayer and direct action. In doing so we will become imitators the ministry of the Lord Jesus our Saviour. We should have nothing whatever to do with wrong preaching motives and practices, they are evil and the worthy only of our contempt.
Coming a little closer to the quick, what if we do not understand the gospel adequately ourselves? Should the blind lead the blind? First we must be certain that we both understand the commands of Jesus and practise a life in tune with the commandments of Jesus. For there are at least two purposes for which God has placed us on earth; to complete the things God would have us to do, and to become the people, God would have us to be. Both purposes are important together; one is not enough without the other. We cannot be the people God would transform us into, without being ready to do the things God asks us to do, and we cannot expect to please God just doing things without allowing God to transform us inside.
If we all waited until we are perfect in understanding and perfect inside, then no preaching would ever occur. What I am saying is that if we want to be effective in our service of the Lord, we should be making progress in our own inner lives before we think of starting to preach the gospel. As Peter put it;
"His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. Through these he has given to us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature, and escape the corruption in the world caused by evil desires. For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self control; and to self control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, love. For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ." [NIV] 2 Peter 1 v 5 - 8.
And so I repeat, are we fit to preach the gospel? If we are making progress in our inner lives, then we are in a good position to be very effective at whatever God gives us to do, including spreading the good news. Fitness to peach is more than merely our readiness to do so. Continuing our quotation 1 Thessalonians;
"For the appeal we make does not spring from error or impure motives, nor are we trying to trick you. On the contrary, we speak as men approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel. We are not trying to please men but God, who tests our hearts. ... " [NIV] 1 Thessalonians 2 v 3 - 6 (excerpt)
We are now moving towards the topic of the next section. Readiness to preach is important, however in addition it is vital that we ourselves are 'approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel.' This is the theistic element missing from the attitude of many. In fact, the evangelization of the planet is being planned and executed by God.
"Unless I go away, the Counsellor will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you. When he comes, he will convict the world of guilt in regard to sin and righteousness and judgement: in regard to sin, because men do not believe in me; in regard to righteousness, because I am going to the Father, where you can see me no longer; and in regard to judgement, because the prince of this world now stands condemned." [NIV] John 16 v 7b - 11
Although as we can see, the Church has been charged by God to preach the gospel and make disciples of all nations, again we find that the vital power comes from God the Holy Spirit not our evangelistic zeal. Notice in this passage from John 16 that it is the work of the Holy Spirit;
To convict people of their sinful refusal to believe in Jesus.
To convict people of their unrighteousness and to show them the One in heaven who alone can give them righteousness.
To condemn the prince of this world.
Just as we do in every other area of our salvation, we are to carry out the command of God first by recognizing our own inability to perform it ourselves by our own efforts, fancy schemes and slick organizations. Secondly by seeking the power of the Holy Spirit. Yes, we even evangelize by faith! It is only fair really, if we are asking our hearers to believe on Jesus Christ and trust in His forgiveness and power for their salvation, why should we not demonstrate the life of faith, and believe on His Holy Spirit for the power to evangelize? Without the Holy Spirit's active involvement and empowering there can be no effective evangelism. This was the attitude of the apostles to evangelism, for example;
"Now, Lord, consider their threats and enable your servants to speak your word with great boldness. Stretch out your hand to heal and perform miraculous signs and wonders through the name of your holy servant Jesus." [NIV] Acts 4 v 29 - 30 "Pray also for me, that whenever I open my mouth, words may be given me so that I will fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I may declare it fearlessly as I should." [NIV] Ephesians 6 v 19 - 20
These are no mere platitudes spoken on a Sunday afternoon over tea. In the first case Jesus had been murdered only a few months before and the disciples were praying and asking for boldness to continue to confront the same people who had carried out His murder. They were in real danger. In the second passage Paul is in chains in Rome not knowing from one day to the next whether it would be his last. He was in peril too. In both cases the attitude of the apostles was that the job had to be done, but they were fearful and felt ill-equipped to do it by themselves. So as God's servants about their Master's business, they actively sought the assistance of God and the prayer support of other believers to continue to proclaim the message of the good news boldly.
I believe that all those the Father has called will have the opportunity to become disciples of Jesus somehow; Jesus will ensure they hear, as He says;
"My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no-one can snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no-one can snatch them out of my Father's hand." [NIV] John 10 v 27 - 29
So what can we do? If Jesus and the Father and the Holy Spirit are all working to bring in the lost sheep, where do we come in? Those who believe in Jesus want to follow Him and get involved in whatever He is doing and this includes rounding up His lost sheep. It is truly an honour and a great privilege to be sent to preach the good news, because it is an invitation from Jesus to serve Him whilst He finds and saves the lost. When Paul and the other apostles speak in this way about preaching the good news, they are not being polite or modest about their ministry, they are stating the facts, for example;
"What, after all, is Apollos? And what is Paul? Only servants, through whom you came to believe - as the Lord has assigned to each his task. I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God made it grow. So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow. The man who plants and the man who waters have one purpose, and each will be rewarded according to his labour. For we are God's fellow-workers; you are God's field, God's building." [NIV] 1 Corinthians 3 v 5 - 9
We see exactly the same kind of partnership between the Lord, one of His enemies at the time and several of His servants in a passage from Acts, (Acts 8 v 4 - 25). Philip had fled from Jerusalem, because Saul, later Paul the apostle, was arranging the arrest and execution of believers in Jerusalem. Leaving Jerusalem, Philip went north to Samaria and preached the good news there;
"But when they believed Philip as he preached the good news of the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both men and women." [NIV] Acts 8 v 12
In this instance, Philip planted the seed. Later we see Peter and John being sent to water it;
"When the apostles in Jerusalem heard that Samaria had accepted the word of God, they sent Peter and John to them. When they arrived, they prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Spirit, because the Holy Spirit had not yet come upon any of them; they had simply been baptized into the name of the Lord Jesus. Then Peter and John placed their hands on them, and they received the Holy Spirit." [NIV] Acts 8 v 14 - 17
All through these events, the Lord was controlling the situation, even using the violence of Saul to get the apostles to venture outside Jerusalem! The Lord then split the remaining work between three of His servants, Philip, Peter and John. Jesus himself had personally started the evangelization of the region of Samaria earlier, and He was continuing His own work through the people mentioned, (John 4 v 39 - 42). Notice that the Lord was prepared to abandon the majority of His sheep in Jerusalem that were not lost to ensure that the message reached some lost sheep in Samaria! Just as He had said earlier, He is prepared to leave the 99 sheep in the flock to find the one that got lost! The issue is one of control: We do not control the spread of the good news, Jesus does. We can therefore bring very little to the planning of the mission; all we can do is pray for God to find us worthy to serve with Him, and for Him to appoint us to do some of the work with Him. If you still doubt that this is so, and you will not listen to me, then listen to what Jesus said to Peter and Andrew when they first met;
""Come, follow me," Jesus said, "and I will make you fishers of men."" [NIV] Mark 1 v 17
Why do some Christians behave as if Jesus Christ were dead or as good as dead? Why do they treat the New Testament as if it were His last will and testament, that He is incapable of carrying out after His death? The fact is He is alive, and the statements in the New Testament are not clauses from His last will and testament, they are expressions of what He is doing now, and what He wants us to do right now with Him. Consider the resurrection life you hope to participate in when Christ returns; Jesus has been resurrected already! Consider also believers who are already dead, they are safe with Christ in spirit but they will not have new bodies to live in until the resurrection when He comes again; Christ already has! Christ is not only alive in Spirit, He has a body too and the power of an indestructible life. He wants us to have the privilege of working with Him. However, Jesus can and will evangelize the world without our help if necessary.
Elsewhere Paul spells out the futility of trying to spread the gospel merely by human effort;
"How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? and how can they hear without someone preaching to them? And how can they preach unless they are sent? As it is written, "How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!" ... And Isaiah boldly says, "I was found by those who did not seek me; I revealed myself to those who did not ask for me."" [NIV] Romans 10 v 14 - 21.
To unravel this passage a little: Unless we have preachers who are sent, we will not ultimately get people responding by calling on the name of the Lord Jesus and believing Him for their salvation. This agrees with the earlier command of Jesus;
"Then he said to the disciples, "The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field."" [NIV] Matthew 9 v 37 - 38.
If it were true that we should just organize ourselves and publicize the good news in response to the great commission, then why does Jesus command us to ask the Lord of the harvest to send out more workers into his harvest? (See Matthew 28 v 29 ff.) The answer to this is simple, it is His harvest field not ours and He is Lord of it, (see 1 Corinthians 3 v 9). God decides when to plough, sow and reap in His own field, He is in day to day control, not us. Thus, it is futile to form an evangelism committee, leaflet the neighbourhood and invite a speaker unless we are specifically instructed to do it by God. Ouch! This means that besides God's great commission to 'preach the gospel to the whole creation' we need God's specific commission if we really want to spread the gospel effectively! Not only do we need God's specific instructions to evangelize, but Jesus commands us to pray to God and ask for them!
If we are fit to preach the gospel, are we actually being sent to do so? Any commander that cares for the soldiers under his command would not send his troops into battle unless they were adequately supplied and trained to fight, to do so otherwise would almost certainly be to send them to their death. In the same way, the kingdom of God is a battle ground between the good news and all the evil schemes and deceit of our enemy the devil. To go into battle with an inadequate understanding of the truth or an inadequate reliance on the supply of God's grace is asking for trouble. It is also inviting disaster if there are significant gaps in any other part of our personal armour, (see Ephesians 6, and elsewhere in this book). Jesus has warned us that the whole way the world works is hostile to His message; for this reason those who preach the good news can expect a hostile reception and many difficulties along the way. Preaching the gospel is not for the faint-hearted, nor is it for those heroes who go forward without seeking God's supply of grace through the Holy Spirit. This calls for a powerful attitude of biblical meekness; an inner conviction of the love of God and the courage to trust Him and seek His assistance, (because no-one else can help) and a willingness to obey Him when the risk or the pain or the cost is high.
For these reasons we have to be fit and ready to fight for the faith of the gospel. But who judges whether we are fit or not? Paul testified about what happened in his own case;
"I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who has given me strength, that he considered me faithful, appointing me to his service. Even though I was once a blasphemer and a persecutor and a violent man, I was shown mercy because I acted in ignorance and unbelief. The grace of our Lord was poured out on me abundantly, along with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus." [NIV] 1 Timothy 1 v 12 - 14
We know from the book of Acts, that Paul was the subject of a prophecy at the start of his calling, (Acts 13 v 1 - 3). The believers in his church prayed for him and laid their hands on him and sent him off, not really knowing what God would have him do. At the time of this prophecy, Paul's inner experience was of God calling him, strengthening him, having mercy on him, pouring out His grace on him and giving him the faith and love of Christ. Furthermore the Holy Spirit led him in the way that he was to travel, (Acts 13 v 4). What happened to Paul, and his inner experiences give us some guidance about what to expect, and what not to expect, when it comes to God's specific commission to preach the good news. According to Jesus' command therefore, let us ask the Father to send out labourers into His harvest field. Let us be willing to recognize and respond to God's call to set out, without requiring to know where He is sending us. Let us ask Him for preaching that overflows from the grace bestowed by the Holy Spirit, and for listening that is quickened by the understanding provided by the Holy Spirit.
"One day as he was teaching the people in the temple courts and preaching the gospel, the chief priests and the teachers of the law, together with the elders, came up to him. "Tell us by what authority you are doing these things," they said. "Who gave you this authority?" [NIV] Luke 20 v 1 - 2.
Jesus must have preached the gospel in the imperative, as a command. This much is clear from the reaction of the Elders, the chief priests and the teachers of the law who asked him whose authority he claimed to exercise! The imperative nature of the gospel is also clear in other scriptures, e.g. 2 Thessalonians 1 v 8, Acts 17 v 30, 1 Timothy 4 v 11. It is vital to understand that God commands obedience to the gospel from all men; on the other hand, we are not permitted to command other men to obey the gospel but instead to appeal to them on God's behalf, (2 Corinthians 5 v 20). Paul, whilst preaching at Athens appeals to people in this way in the Acts 17 passage I have just mentioned;
"In the past God overlooks such ignorance, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent." [NIV] Acts 17 v 30
Paul did not say, 'I command you'. He said, 'God commands' instead. God is the subject and we are the object of the command. We should not issue the gospel as a command as if we ourselves had the right to do so, our role as believers is to announce it, not enforce it. This is the difference between a town crier announcing a decree and a troop of soldiers sent to enforce one. We are heralds, not policemen!
Another factor affecting how the good news should be announced depends on the fact that God is still in day to day command of the mission to spread the good news. Several times in the New Testament we see that the good news was spread to a new region and churches established through the ministries of several different people, (e.g. Ephesus & Corinth, Acts 18 - 19) each worker being sent to accomplish only a part of the task. For this reason, we should not attempt to monopolise every aspect of the mission; if God sends us to baptize, then we should confine most of our efforts to that, if He sends us to announce the good news we should mostly do that, if He sends us to encourage believers we should concentrate on this ministry. Always trusting God that He will send others to complete the tasks that we have not been sent or equipped to do; sometimes we are called to believe in God by allowing room for others to work. For some examples, we see that Jesus was not sent to people who already considered themselves to be righteous, (Matthew 9 v 12 - 13), nor was He sent to preach to the Gentiles, (Matthew 15 v 24), neither was Peter, (Galatians 2 v 7), nor was Jesus sent to baptize, (John 4 v 2), neither was Paul, (1 Corinthians 1 v 17). Apollos was sent to encourage believers rather than to plant churches, (Acts 18 v 27, 1 Corinthians 3 v 6). In most of these cases we have evidence that utter strictness was never intended by God. We see this through some exceptions that God made to the main calling of individuals recorded in scripture. One exception occurred when Peter was specially sent by God to preach to a Roman Centurion in Caesarea, (Acts 10) and we see another when Jesus ministered to several Gentiles, (e.g. Matthew 15 v 22 ff.). Nevertheless, the important thing is that we are sent by God to do whatever it is, and we should welcome the help of our brothers and sisters, making room for them to work with us to complete the task in hand.
"But I make known to you, brethren, that the gospel which was preached by me is not according to man. For I neither received it from man, neither was I taught [it], but by the revelation of Jesus Christ." [AV] Galatians 1 v 11 - 12. "And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God: Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching for this purpose with all perseverance and supplication for all saints; And for me, that utterance may be given to me, that I may open my mouth boldly, to make known the mystery of the gospel, For which I am an ambassador in bonds: that in it I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak." [AV] Ephesians 6 v 19.
We must do what we can to set forth the good news clearly, relying on the wisdom of the Holy Spirit to speak the message. However, there is only so much that we can do to communicate the gospel. Even Jesus the Master Preacher knew that some of His hearers would never understand it, because the good news found no place in their hearts and minds. There is therefore a mysterious dimension to the gospel that can only be communicated by the Spirit of Christ working on the inside of our hearers. The gospel can be taught by men, but the fullness of the gospel can only be understood through a revelation of Jesus Christ by the Holy Spirit.
That there has to be a valid work of the Holy Spirit in our hearers before they are enabled to respond to the good news, is yet further reason for relying on the power and direction of the Holy Spirit to spread the good news. Only He knows what to do to advance the kingdom of God. The best we can do is what He tells us to, when and where He wants it done, as He reveals it to us by prophecy through prayer.
The gospel is God's message to everyone, but for some it isn't good news at all. For those who are proud and self righteous, the gospel is offensive because it says that they are helpless sinners. For those who have a 'do it yourself' religion, (and most religion is a D.I.Y. human attempt to replace the salvation that God has already provided) the gospel is offensive because the gospel speaks of a salvation accomplished already by Jesus on the cross that we cannot earn or invoke by our own efforts. By 'D.I.Y. religious people' I mean those who advocate any teachings or practices not taught or practised in scripture but invented and constructed by men instead. Do it yourself religion is a force to be reckoned with everywhere within the churches today as well as outside it. It is enshrined in denominational traits, senseless rituals, hierarchical and authoritarian control structures, false teachings, personality cults, exclusive religious clubs, rules of behaviour, religious fashions and the like.
Everyone should be offered the good news, however in practice the word teaches us to be prudent about who to share the good news of the gospel with. I think there are some very good reasons for thinking twice in some situations based on the scriptures. There are some situations where it is highly beneficial to tell people about the good news and there are others where there is nothing to be gained, and still others where it is possible to endanger ourselves or others unnecessarily by doing so. We see this reticence to preach in scripture, even the Lord Jesus refused, or was reluctant to preach openly to certain people in some situations, notably where there was refusal to listen or where the people were from regions outside the Jewish territory, (e.g. Luke 8 v 37, Luke 10 v 10, Matthew 15 v 24). We hear Jesus warning us not to cast our pearls before swine, (Matthew 7 v 6). Elsewhere pearls are symbolic of the great worth of the kingdom of God, (see Matthew 13 v 45). Even when preaching to the Jews, to whom Jesus was specifically sent, we mostly hear Jesus using parables because He did not want to give away the secrets of the kingdom to people who had no intention of entering it, (compare Mark 4 v 10 - 12 with Luke 11 v 52). In contrast to His approach to the Jews, we hear Jesus preaching in wonderfully plain language whilst talking to a (non-Jewish) Samaritan women at the well of Sychar, (John 4 v 1 - 42). Interestingly, the group of new believers that resulted from the woman's testimony and Jesus' subsequent preaching in her village constitutes the earliest recorded Christian church, it was established by our Lord Himself, and it was not Jewish! We can conclude from this that even from the earliest days of Jesus' ministry, the gospel was intended for everyone, not just the Jewish people and that His statements in Matthew 7 v 6 cannot be referring to non-Jews as swine or dogs. Who then was Jesus talking about when he spoke of casting pearls before "swine?" In the Matthew passage Jesus refers to the swine as those who would trample the sacred word under their feet and then tear the preacher to pieces. What groups of people behaved like this at the time of Jesus? The people of Jesus' day who opposed His word and eventually arranged for His violent death were the religious leaders, the Scribes, the Sadducees, the teachers of the law and the Pharisees. These men considered themselves religious experts and leading devotees of their religion and enjoyed the respectability, political power and income that this status brought them. These people vigorously opposed Jesus' message and when they failed to discredit Him or His message they tried to destroy and remove Him by violent means. Certainly, John the Baptist, whilst he freely preached to the people, refused to minister to these same Sadducees and Pharisees because they were hypocrites who had no intention of repenting, (Matthew 3 v 7 - 12). What groups of people behave like this today? Perhaps there is little point sharing the gospel with people who share these characteristics today? I believe Jesus' warning is similar to Paul's two warnings contained in his letters to Timothy; (1 Timothy 4 v 1 - 3 and 2 Timothy 3 v 1 - 5) where Paul counsels Timothy to have nothing whatever to do with such people. Elsewhere Paul warns the Ephesian church that such people will arise in the church, some of them actually assuming leadership status and that they will cause much harm, (Acts 20 v 25 - 31). Let us now look at these passages in some detail:
"Do not give dogs what is sacred; and do not throw your pearls to pigs. If you do, they may trample them under their feet, and then turn and tear you to pieces." Matthew 7 v 6 [NIV] "I know that after I leave, savage wolves will come in among you and will not spare the flock. Even from your own number [i.e. the Ephesian Elders] men will arise and distort the truth in order to draw disciples after them. So be on your guard!" Acts 20 v 29 - 31a [NIV] with my context note in square brackets. "The Spirit clearly says that in later times some will abandon the faith and follow deceiving spirits and things taught by demons. Such teachings come through hypocritical liars, whose consciences have been seared as with a hot iron. They forbid people to marry and order them to abstain from certain foods, which God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth." 1 Timothy 4 v 1 - 3 [NIV] "But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days. People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God - having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with them." 2 Timothy 3 v 1 - 5 [NIV]
Clearly, these hypocrites can arise anywhere: They can reside within a church. They can take over and subjugate a church, taking the leadership role that is Christ's alone. They can arise as 'alternative' spiritual authorities in the church or in the outside world, introducing laws and rules of conduct that they themselves have invented so that they can control God's people. They all share a 'form of godliness' and outward respectability but inwardly they are full of evil and vice, often worse than unbelievers since their consciences are either distorted or burned away completely. The clear teaching of scripture is to avoid such people altogether and to refrain from sharing the gospel with them.
It is also clear from the passages covered elsewhere in this book that the good news is for sinners and in no way do these passages counsel that they should not hear or be told about the good news. Paul's list of vices in 2 Timothy 3 are common to sinners except the last one; 'having a form of godliness but denying its power', it is this vice that is crucial to what Paul is saying. The scripture passages that caution against sharing the good news therefore refer specifically to sinners who insist that they have nothing to be ashamed of for one reason or another. To give some modern examples of people that might fall into this grouping; such a person might be engaged in all kinds of wickedness and yet feel that they are above reproach as an official of a church, or another might feel that they are doing their bit every Sunday morning and therefore their continuing vices at other times in the week are OK, or still another might be a humanist who has trouble with any notion of accountability for their offences let alone to any form of deity claiming to pronounce absolutes of right and wrong. In all these people, their consciences are deceived or gone altogether. Where a person's conscience is deceived, invariably they respond to the gospel with indignation of varying degrees and will try to discredit or remove the message or the messenger of the gospel. Where the conscience has been burned out, the response to the gospel message will often be vicious, the person applying the same brutality to the preacher as they have previously done to their own conscience. Where the conscience is intact, the good news message will appeal to it, and the person may respond however sinful their life might be.
There are other situations where the scriptures teach us to refrain from preaching the gospel. Jesus instructed his disciples not to force people to listen to their preaching if they are not welcomed in a town they visited, (Mark 6 v 11). Jesus Himself accepted the wish of some people not to hear His message, and He departed, (Luke 8 v 37). This is a very important aspect of sharing the gospel; there must be consent from the hearers and it must be possible for them to refuse to hear. No attempt should be made to force people to hear the gospel or to take advantage of an incapacity to refuse to hear the gospel. Much damage has been done for many years by attempting to force the good news down people's, (especially young people's) throats by institutionalizing religion in the fabric of society. All such attempts are contrary to scripture and the will of God, who wants, but will not force, all men to repent. Remember, if it were God's will, He could force men to repent. However, consistently throughout scripture we see Him withholding that force. We see Him trying to persuade Pharaoh to let His people leave Egypt. We see Him sending the prophets to Israel to persuade them to listen, and so on. Sometimes people consented to hear and respond to God's message, like the Ninevites who listened to God's messenger Jonah, and sometimes they refused to listen like Pharaoh, but always they could choose.
"Since, then, we know what it is to fear the Lord, we try to persuade men." 2 Corinthians 5 v 11
Until now in this section, we have explored whether there are groups that the scriptures teach us to beware of when preaching the gospel, and other situations where we are to refrain from preaching the gospel. In contrast to this, what I would like to explore briefly are the specific groups and situations where the scriptures teach there is a clear priority to preach the good news.
It may surprise us to find how many souls there are already in the churches, who have sought out a church because they want to hear the gospel, but they are not hearing it and they are not seeing it being lived out in practice. I believe that, of all the mission fields today, these people represent an urgent priority for two reasons;
Jesus has compassion on those who feel helpless and abused in such situations, (Matthew 9 v 36).
These people are the principal 'addressees' of the good news as defined earlier in this book; those afflicted souls who are actively seeking spiritual assistance from the Lord.
There are other people in a similar situation, who have been afflicted so much by the organizations they joined in search of some help from God that they have either left or been thrown out. Jesus spent much of His time ministering to those who had been excluded from religious life in this way. Today we are witnessing a proliferation of cults and pseudo-Christian organizations who are ensnaring large numbers of people all over the world. We see them pushing their evil wares on our own doorsteps often enough. I predict that following this proliferation we will see many more people who are afflicted, cast out and still wanting to find the Lord.
When communicating the gospel, is it helpful to realize that there are some basic questions that many people have in their minds. They want a simple explanation to some basic questions. Frequently, people do not understand the reason for the 'state of the world' or how God can exist and permit so much suffering. They do not understand why they exist or the purpose of their own existence. Most people ask these questions at some time in their lives, and the gospel provides some basic explanations. It is not possible for us to prove, but it is possible for us to offer a reason for our hope as believers in Jesus Christ. Hope is the root issue underlying these basic questions. The state of the world, the sufferings of many people and more personal feelings of purposelessness all eat away at our feeling of self worth and our hopes for the future. When communicating the gospel, I believe it is important to deal with these questions seriously. Starting from where people are in their thinking, and offering an explanation is an excellent way to begin when sharing your faith. There are only a few examples of Christian preaching to non Jews recorded in the New Testament and Paul's message to the Athenians is one of these, (Acts 17 v 22ff). Paul's address to the Athenians starts from a publicly acknowledged 'unknown God' that the people worshipped and he offers the Athenians an explanation. In our own time it is equally important to start from where people are, and the questions that they have today.
Someone asked me once, why the world was in such a state and how I could believe in God and His goodness in such a place as this. I explained that it depends on your perspective; if this life is the only life there is, then nothing makes any sense. However if your perspective includes a continuity of life beyond death, then things are very different and life in the real world starts to make sense. God wants people who will love Him sincerely for Himself as their free choice. If God was to employ His power, He could without difficulty control everything and everyone, and remove all traces of suffering and need from the planet. However, this way, no-one would have any choice, they would all have to obey God. Also, if life were to be long, easy and pain free, why would anyone have any reason to look for God? If we had no choice but to obey God, how would He make a people who sincerely loved Him? We see that the rich and famous of this world have exactly this sort of problem. How can they tell whether someone they themselves care for, sincerely loves them or just wants to have the wealth or power of the rich person? The rich and famous cannot tell. Many such people end up suspecting everyone and becoming totally friendless. The smart approach is to hide the money and power until you are sure of someone's true motivations. In the same way, God has created a set of circumstances that makes it possible for us to freely decide whether we want to find God or not. As far as anyone can prove, there are no benefits to believing in God, on the contrary, history tells us that there are many hazards to faith in God. In the real world, today, people have to make a determined choice to seek God. And that is precisely as it should be. Those who believe in God must also trust God without proof, and this also, is precisely how it should be.
Those who are able to respond as God intends to the message of the gospel and to benefit from it, have been profiled in an earlier chapter. To summarize again; the kind of people who can respond to, and benefit from the gospel message are:
Conscious of their accountability before God and of falling short of His standard.
Conscious that they cannot change their own sinful nature.
Willing to be transformed inside by the Holy Spirit in order to live acceptably before God.
Prepared to depend on Jesus for His forgiveness, assistance and protection.
Prepared to wait for and submit to the teaching and guidance of the Holy Spirit.
Prepared to endure the world's hatred in order to stay faithful to Jesus.
We express true love for God by keeping the commands of Jesus which are;
To repent, turning from our unbelief to believe in Jesus, that He is the Christ the Son of the living God.
To become His disciples by being baptized into Jesus, for the forgiveness of our sins, (Matthew 4 v 17, John 6 v 28 - 29, Matthew 21 v 28 - 32, Romans 6 v 1 - 11).
In these contexts, repentance is an active word; it means to perceive that your past deeds and beliefs have been wrong in God's sight and to reform your behaviour and beliefs according to the will of God through a process of continual dependence on the Holy Spirit. To believe is also an active word, to believe in Jesus means to be convinced of His trustworthiness and to rely upon him for your salvation.
The Lord spoke to Ezekiel the prophet a number of times about the gospel that would be announced afterwards by Jesus the Messiah. For example in the following passage God lists the aims of the gospel for us personally:
"Therefore, O house of Israel, I will judge you, each one according to his ways, declares the Sovereign Lord. Repent! Turn away from all your offences; then sin will not be your downfall. Rid yourselves of all the offences you have committed, and get a new heart and a new spirit. Why will you die, O house of Israel? For I take no pleasure in the death of anyone, declares the Sovereign Lord. Repent and live!" [NIV] Ezekiel 18 v 30 - 32
In this preview of the aims of the gospel there are four necessary things that must happen if our salvation is ultimately to be accomplished, these are:
We must consider our offences and turn away from them, (in other words, we must repent).
Our sins must be forgiven and disposed of.
We must have received a new heart.
We must have received a new spirit.
These four necessary things are accomplished by a process not a single event. Repentance is more dependent on our own will, the other three involve our consent but can only be accomplished by Jesus as an act of His gracious will and choice. These four things must happen to us and God our Father has the power and the will to make them happen for us, if we will seek Him for it continually. As God said to Ezekiel a little later:
"I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean: I will cleanse you from all your impurities and from all your idols. I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws." [NIV] Ezekiel 36 v 25 - 27
In this stunningly clear prophecy summarizing the gospel message, God explains how the four aims of the gospel will be accomplished in practice, He says;
He will cleanse you from your sins, especially idolatry.
He will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you.
He will remove your old heart of stone and replace it with a heart of flesh.
He will put His Spirit in you to motivate you and teach you His ways from the inside out.
No 'trying your best' or 'working hard to be good' here at all. Instead, the gospel depends on us knowing Christ and asking for this practical help to make these wonderful things happen for us for real. It means dependence on God and hungering after His Spirit to change us rather than trying to act independently with self-reliance. For as Jesus elaborated the gospel during the sermon on the mount:
"Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled" [NIV] Matthew 5 v 6
By saying this, Jesus was announcing a gospel consistent with the message of all the prophets including Ezekiel just quoted. There is no evolution here - no sudden change of God's mind - this is the gospel pure and simple, just as God had said it would be centuries before.
When seen as a pathway, salvation is accomplished one step at a time through faith in God, it does not all happen at once, that is why we must exercise our faith and perseverance, (Luke 8 v 15).
Jesus' parable of the sower, (Luke 8 v 4 ff., Matthew 13 v 1 ff., Mark 4 v 1 ff.) provides a summary of how the good news is received by different people. In this parable the farmer sows the word. This corresponds to the preaching of the good news message. The seed falls in four types of soil; the hard path, the rocky soil, the soil with weeds and the good soil. These correspond to four different kinds of heart that receive the good news.
The path corresponds to the hard heart that cannot understand the good news at all and rejects it vigorously, (Luke 8 v 5). The devil removes the seed completely so that the person who does not understand and rejects the good news cannot later believe and so be saved, (Luke 8 v 12).
The rocky soil corresponds to the shallow heart that receives the word with joy, but does not allow the good news to touch the whole of his or her life. Commitment to Christ is superficial, and as soon as trouble or persecution comes they fall away, (Matthew 13 v 21).
The weedy soil corresponds to a busy person with a crowded heart that receives the good news as one of many influences in their life. Commitment is not wholehearted, but divided between Christ and desires for other things like enjoyment of wealth, worries, pleasures and so on, (Mark 4 v 18 - 19). These people can never mature sufficiently to be able to sow the good news in others, (Luke 8 v 14) - they are never able to bear fruit, (Matthew 13 v 22).
The good soil corresponds to the person hears the good news and understands it and decides to persevere at applying it to their whole life until they are transformed, (Luke 8 v 25). This kind of person grows spiritually until they are able to give the good news away to many others. They become the farmer in the parable again, wanting to sow his seed and reap a good harvest in due season.
Notice also from the parable of the sower, that Jesus implies that spiritual maturity occurs when a believer has both understood and worked through the good news in practice, sufficiently well to begin communicating it to others. Jesus says elsewhere, (John 15 v 16 - 17) that He chose us and has appointed us individually to bear fruit that will last. This means that everyone called by Christ also has a divine appointment to a work of God's choice that will result in eternal fruit.
'For this reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self control; and to self control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, love. For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ." [NIV] 2 Peter 1 v 5 - 8
Having and demonstrating Christ's love is also a mark of maturity, (John 15 v 13, 1 Corinthians 14 v 1, 2 Peter 1 v 5 - 8), as is revealed knowledge, (John 15 v 15). More and more of Christ's love in action is a sure sign of growing up into Christ, (2 Peter 1 v 8).
The title of this section and the titles of the next two are taken from the apostle Peter's address to the crowds who witnessed the day the Holy Spirit came upon Jesus' disciples in Jerusalem, (Acts 2 v 38). He said;
"Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off - for all whom the Lord our God will call." [NIV] Acts 2 v 38 - 39
These are the apostle Peter's words in response to a question from the crowd who had just heard him preach the good news who wanted to know what to do about it. This chapter and the two that follow will expand on the three things that Peter mentions are essential to respond adequately to the good news message. In his reply quoted above, Peter mentions; repentance, baptism and the gift of the Holy Spirit. The first of these is that we should repent, but what does this mean exactly?
First, a quotation from the book of Proverbs;
"All the ways of a man are pure in his own eyes, but the Lord weighs the spirit." [RSV] Proverbs 16 v 2
All of us have our own ideas about ourselves, and we are quick to justify ourselves, whatever we do. This is human nature, and it is what we are all like before we repent. Notice that regardless of how we justify ourselves, God weighs our real motives and has His own judgement on our actions. On the one hand there is our judgement of ourselves and on the other there is God's judgement of how we really are. This is the situation before we repent. Let us return again to the Pentecost address Peter gave in Jerusalem;
""Therefore let all Israel be assured of this: God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ." When the people heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the other apostles, "Brothers, what shall we do?"" [NIV] Acts 2 v 36 - 37
This passage is immediately before Peter tells them to repent, and what do we see? Here we see that there were two judgements, a judgement the people made and a judgement that God made and the two judgements were opposed to each other. On the one hand the people had justified their action to crucify Jesus because they judged Him to be a blasphemer and on the other, God had made this Jesus whom they had crucified both Lord and Christ. When they heard this, the people are cut to the heart, or convicted that what they did was evil in God's sight. How did they become convicted about the wrong they had done, when only fifty days previously they had been demanding the crucifixion of Jesus at the top of their voices? Jesus had said about the Holy Spirit;
" .. he will expose the guilt of the world in regard to sin .. because men do not believe in me .. " [NIV + margin note] John 16 v 8 - 9 excerpts
So, whilst Peter spoke to them, the Holy Spirit was at work in the hearts of those who were listening, convicting them of the evil they had done. This conviction afflicted them so much that they wanted to know what they could do, and so they asked the apostles who told them to repent. To repent means to humble ourselves by accepting God's judgement of what we are and what we have done and to change what we do and what we believe to reflect our acceptance of God's word. For these people listening to Peter, repentance meant to accept God's judgement that Jesus really was the Messiah they had waited for, and that they had just murdered Him. In the context then, repentance did not mean a general repentance of past sins, but a specific repentance. They were being commanded by Peter to abandon their false judgement about Jesus and to accept God's judgement that Jesus is His Son. Secondly, their repentance led them to action, by believing in Jesus and becoming His disciples. Today, for our hearers, the situation has changed surprisingly little, according to John 16 v 8 - 9 sin is still defined as unbelief. The reasons for this are very simple; Jesus died for our sins, if we say we have not sinned, we are saying that He died for no reason, we are unbelievers. Jesus is God, if we say He did not die for our sins, then we do not believe He is God, we are unbelievers. Sin and unbelief were therefore tied together when the Lord Jesus was tied to the cross. Now that Jesus has been crucified, sin and unbelief are seen to be one and the same. Therefore in the context of responding to the good news, repentance is an acceptance of some very specific things; that we have sinned, that Jesus is God and that He has died for our sins, followed by our action to become His disciples. All of us have sinned in many different ways, since 'the road to hell is wide and many travel thereon'. However the only sin that will condemn us at the future judgement is unbelief in Jesus Christ, because He is the only Person who can save us from the judgement day. As Jesus Himself tells us;
"For God did not send his son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God's one and only Son. This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil." [NIV] John 3 v 17 - 19.
Notice that the trial of those who do not believe has already happened long ago, and the verdict has already been returned and the sentence has already been read out. Therefore, those who do not believe in Jesus are already on their way out from the court and are destined for an eternity in hell.
On the other hand, those who repent by accepting that they are sinners and that Jesus is God and died for their sins, can become His disciples by being baptized!
To summarize this chapter, to repent in the context of hearing the good news means; to humble ourselves by accepting that Jesus is God's Son and by accepting God's judgement that we have sinned and to obey His command to be baptized.
We know from the gospels that John the Baptist baptized people. What is less well known is that Jesus also instructed His own disciples to baptize new disciples, (John 3 v 22 & 26, 4 v 2). Also from the book of Acts we know that baptism was the first step people took once they believed the good news about Jesus and had repented, (e.g. Acts 2 v 38 - 41). Paul spends some time in his letters to the Roman and Colossian Christians teaching about baptism in the wider context of our justification through the death of Jesus for our sins. Peter also gives a little teaching on baptism in his first letter. For these reasons we must consider being baptized as a significant part of our first response to the good news, it is something we are commanded to do in response to the good news, (Acts 2 v 38). The meaning behind being baptized into Jesus is an important issue that has vexed and divided the Church since the first churches were founded in the New Testament era. Let us now look at the scriptures that show us something about baptism and what it means;
"The Pharisees heard that Jesus was gaining and baptising more disciples than John, although in fact it was not Jesus who baptized, but his disciples." [NIV] John 4 v 1 - 2
It is clear from this passage that those who wanted to follow Jesus were baptized. It was the way that people became His disciples then, and as we shall see, it still is. In those days, the association in people's minds between baptism and discipleship was very strong indeed. This association was so strong that it caused divisions and confusion in the church at Corinth that Paul had to deal with in his first letter, (1 Corinthians 1 v 10 - 17). The believers in Corinth were starting to divide based on who had baptized them. Those who had been baptized by Apollos, considered themselves to be the disciples of Apollos. Those who had been baptized by Paul, considered themselves to be Paul's disciples. This is why John the Baptist was initially so reluctant to baptize Jesus. In his humility, John wanted both himself and everyone else to be a disciple of Christ, (Matthew 3 v 13 - 17 and John 1 v 35 - 37). There was no way that John wanted to have Jesus following him! John only agreed to baptize Jesus, when Jesus made it clear that His own baptism had a different meaning - more about this a little later. In the culture of the day then, baptism was a public act demonstrating discipleship to another. That it remains the way that people become disciples of Jesus today is due to powerful spiritual factors through the unchanging nature of God's word. These things we will now explore.
"In Him you were also circumcised, in the putting off of the sinful nature, not with a circumcision done with the hands of men but with the circumcision done by Christ, having been buried with him in baptism and raised with him through your faith in the power of God, who raised him from the dead." [NIV] Colossians 2 v 11 - 12 "Let us draw near to God with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water." [NIV] Hebrews 10 v 22
Baptism is seen by Paul and the writer of the letter to the Hebrews as an act that has spiritual significance, (see also Galatians 3 v 27 where Paul says that as many as have been baptized into Christ, have put on Christ). It has spiritual meaning because by being baptized, a believer gives his or her consent to God to do away with their old sinful nature. To put it more bluntly, we are willingly and deliberately asking God to put our sinful nature to death by being baptized in response to the good news message. Paul explains that when we are baptized, our old nature is buried with Christ, and as we emerge from the water we are expressing our faith in the power of God to give us a new life, just as Christ emerged alive from the dead. Baptism is therefore a prayer and an expression of our faith rolled into one action that requires the action of Christ to remove our sinful nature to make it effective. This is wonderful truth, Christian baptism, like every other step in our conversion, requires the coincidence of our faith and will, with the will and working of Christ; all are vital. As Jesus said;
"I tell you the truth, no-one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit. Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit. ... " [NIV] John 3 v 5 - 6.
Here Jesus makes it very plain that we have to be given a new spirit, and that being born again spiritually can only be achieved by the Holy Spirit. It manifestly cannot be achieved by human effort or will, (please see John 1 v 12 - 13 for further confirmation of this fact). Since Jesus says we have to be born of the Spirit, it also follows that we do not have a spirit beforehand. This point is reinforced when Jesus speaks of mankind as merely flesh, only being capable of procreating more flesh.
Turning now to some scriptures from Paul's majestic epic of devotional thought about the good news in the book of Romans, (please see Appendix B). The whole of which extends from Romans 1 v 16 through to Romans 8 v 39;
"What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it? Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death. We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life. For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his." [RSV] Romans 6 v 1 - 5 (to be baptized means to be immersed in water[1]).
Here we have Paul addressing believers who have already been baptized, who, knowing the message about God's grace, appear to be reverting to their old sinful ways. He asks them how they can live in sin if they have died to it when they were baptized. Through Paul's question we can see some truth about baptism. Paul clearly expected his hearers to have been affected morally through their experience of baptism; in particular he expected them to experience release from the pull of their sinful natures and a newness of life in Christ. He also sees that their will was expressed in their baptism and Paul cannot understand how they can will to live in sin if they have previously willed to end its influence on their lives.
Another spiritually significant component of baptism was hinted at by Jesus when He was baptized. Jesus only persuaded John the Baptist to baptize Him when He said;
"Let it be so now; it is proper for us to do this to fulfil all righteousness." [NIV] Matthew 3 v 15
The precise meaning of this statement would remain uncertain if it were not for Paul's words just quoted that link baptism to the instant when we are freed from the need to live by the requirements of whatever laws guided us before we were Christians. Paul's words come from a context where he is talking about the death of our sinful nature at baptism being the end of living by the law and the beginning of a new way of life by faith in God, (please consult the context of the Romans passage or the summary presented in the appendices). This being so, we can understand why Jesus wanted to be baptized. Jesus was demonstrating the fulfillment of all the righteous requirements of the law by being baptized. This is what Jesus meant when He said, ' .. to fulfill all righteousness.' Since He Himself had committed no sin, He was declaring to the world through His own baptism that He was going to die for the sins of others and rise again for their justification. In this way, Jesus was declaring His death on the cross to be the sacrifice that would satisfy all the righteous demands of the law of Moses. When we are baptized into Jesus, we are participating in His death and benefiting personally from the sacrifice Jesus made - our sins are blotted out, and we are no longer required to order our lives by the law on Moses but to live in submission to the Holy Spirit instead. As Paul goes on to say in Romans chapter 8;
"For what the law was powerless to do in that it was weakened by the flesh, God did by sending his Son in the likeness of flesh to be a sin offering. And so he condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the righteous requirements of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit." [My translation] Romans 8 v 3 - 4
To reinforce the meaning of Jesus' baptism, God gave two signs, (Matthew 3 v 16 - 17, Mark 1 v 10 - 11, Luke 3 v 22, John 1 v 32 - 34). In the first sign, the Holy Spirit descended from heaven in bodily form and came to rest upon Jesus, and remained on Him, indicating two things:
That Jesus already possessed the Spirit of God in full measure.
That Jesus will baptize all those who follow Him with the Holy Spirit and that the Holy Spirit would remain in them.
In the second sign, God said from Heaven that Jesus is His Son, and that He is well pleased with Him. This sign indicates two things:
That Jesus is truly God's Son.
That God accepted Jesus' sacrifice for our sins in fulfillment of all the requirements of the law of Moses.
The meaning of Christian baptism highlights an important distinction between the gospel and the many human and demonic 'moralist' or 'legalist' artifices designed to imitate it. When a person is baptized into Jesus Christ they are fulfilling all righteousness. Christ has satisfied all the righteous demands of the law of Moses on our behalf, nailing them to His cross! (Colossians 2 v 14). According to the scripture, every law that God gave to Moses, every single one, is fulfilled by someone who is baptized into Jesus Christ. Therefore, when we are baptized we cease to live by any laws, rules, and human ideologies and we begin to live by the law of Christ; the role of the written code and everything else that we lived by before we turned to Jesus, is replaced by the rule of the living Person of Jesus in our lives, achieved by the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.
"and corresponding to that, baptism now saves you - not the removal of dirt from the flesh, but an appeal to God for[of1 ] a good conscience - through the resurrection of Jesus Christ." [NASB] 1 Peter 3 v 21 - The correction in square brackets is suggested by Vines1 (see under Eperotema on page 63), and the NIV and the INTERLINEAR literal translation.
Here we see the one being baptized exercising their faith and good conscience. The one being baptized appeals to God to take away their sins and is saved by his or her faith in the justification evidenced by the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
To summarize the meaning of being baptized;
Christian baptism, if accompanied by faith is the moment when Christ's death atones for and removes our past sins.
It is a willful act of a person wanting to follow Jesus coincident with an act of Jesus to remove the sinful nature. Those wanting to be baptized therefore act in faith relying on Jesus to circumcise their heart.
Christian baptism is the event that ends the old way of life governed by moral laws and the beginning of a new way of life governed by the Holy Spirit.
For these reasons, baptism cannot be performed on, or received passively by an adult, let alone by an infant who cannot even understand what is happening. It is an informed act of our faith, our will and our eager consent. Nor can it be effective without the sovereign working of God to atone for past sins and change the moral character. Through baptism, Jesus deals with our past sins, removes the power of our sinful nature in the present and offers us His Lordship for our future lives.
For all these reasons, water baptism stands at the brink of our new Christian lives as taught by scripture and we have looked at some length into its true meaning. However, despite everything that Christian baptism means, there is nothing automatic about what goes on spiritually if someone is baptized. God looks into our minds and thoughts, and He knows whom He has called and He alone judges both our understanding and our true motives. Also, there is no order in scripture for baptism, the spiritual effects can occur before, during or after baptism. Normally, as in Peter's preaching that we are currently studying, the Holy Spirit is given after baptism. But in some cases, like Paul the apostle, (Acts 9 v 17 - 19), individuals are baptized only after they receive the Holy Spirit. In all things, God acts sovereignly and at times of His own choosing.
We have explored repentance and baptism; now we come to the third component of our initial response to the good news.
"Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off - for all whom the Lord our God will call." [NIV] Acts 2 v 38 - 39
From the way that Peter speaks about the gift of the Holy Spirit we can see that it is a promise that depends on the repentance and baptism that precede it. However we can also see that Peter is talking about a gift, something that God wants to give us. God wants to give us Himself, His own Spirit. This means that those who repent, and are baptized, and receive the gift of the Holy Spirit have two spirits within their souls where previously there was nothing. First their new spirit is begotten by the Holy Spirit during baptism, (see John 3 v 5 - 6 quoted earlier) and second the Holy Spirit comes to live in us as well. Thus we are given spiritual life and then put in direct fellowship with God at the spiritual level. I have given a much wider treatment of this momentous truth in a separate book entitled, "The Mystery of Man."3
We have now established from Peter's words that the gift of the Holy Spirit is intended to be given after repentance and baptism. However the Holy Spirit remains a very personal gift; the decision to give remains with the Giver. Just to prove that we really are living under the Lordship of Jesus without a written code, we also have evidence that the order of events is not strict. For example, Paul was given the Holy Spirit through God's instruction after he had repented but before he was baptized, (Acts 9 v 17 - 18). We also see from a number of instances, including Paul's, that believers would pray for new converts to receive the gift of the Holy Spirit just as Ananias prayed for Paul and placed his hands on him. Some today believe that the prerogative to pray for others to receive the gift of the Holy Spirit rested only with the apostles and their 'successors' (by the way, there is no evidence in scripture for the validity of an apostolic succession). However there is no evidence that they had this exclusive role since according to Acts 9 v 10, Ananias was an 'ordinary' disciple, (in fact there is no other kind of disciple). The important thing is that Ananias was sent by Jesus to pray for Paul to receive the Holy Spirit. The apostles who prayed for people to receive the Holy Spirit were also sent by Jesus to pray for people in particular situations. Therefore the authority to pray for others to receive the Holy Spirit was not due to 'rank' in the Church, it was due to the command of Jesus. By the way there is only one rank in the Church under Christ, we are all brothers, see Matthew 23 v 8. The assumption of a prerogative to bestow the Holy Spirit based on rank is one subtle way that authoritarianism seeks to replace the day to day rule of Christ as head of the Church. So any disciple can pray for a new disciple to receive the gift of the Holy Spirit, provided they are sent by Jesus to do it in that particular instance, this is the critical factor.
One important point to make about the gift of the Holy Spirit is that we are here speaking of the presence of God inside believers. In the scriptures there is a practical and theoretical distinction between the presence of the Holy Spirit and the power of the Holy Spirit; the power of the Holy Spirit may be evident without the presence of God and the presence of God cannot be proved by the power of the Holy Spirit. They are distinct phenomena. The presence of the Holy Spirit is proved by supernatural grace that fills the soul resulting in the fruit of the Spirit; love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness, righteousness, truth and self control, (Ephesians 5 v 9, Galatians 5 v 22). Notice that if we have the Presence of God through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit our personality will change. The lists describing the fruit of the Spirit from Ephesians and Galatians are describing a single Personality, this is why they cannot be divided into 'fruits' and treated as individual 'virtues,' we are not merely receiving 'virtues,' we are receiving the Personality of Jesus, (2 Corinthians 3 v 17 - 18). Personality change is therefore a fundamental result of the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, (see also Philippians 2 v 5, Colossians 3 v 9 - 10, 2 Peter 1 v 4). Just as there is an immediate and fundamental change in our personality caused by the Holy Spirit when He first comes into our souls, there is also a progressive change as He continues to dwell within us, (again, please see 2 Corinthians 3 v 17 - 18).
To digress briefly from the subject of the presence of the Holy Spirit, we will explore the power or anointing of the Holy Spirit. Those who have the presence of the Spirit can be filled with the power of the Spirit, however this is a separate gift that you can pray for;
"Do not get drunk with wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit." [NIV] Ephesians 5 v 18
Here Paul cannot be teaching about God's presence because you cannot have degrees of God's presence, He is either there or He is not. What Paul is talking about is the anointing or power of the Holy Spirit - this you can have in varying degrees from time to time. It can increase, (e.g. Acts 9 v 22) and it can also ebb away;
"I have been reminded of your sincere faith .. For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands." [NIV] 2 Timothy 1 v 5 & 6 excerpts
Note also from the 2 Timothy passage that Timothy is being reminded to do something, the degree of his gift can be increased if he relies on God and exercises his gift a bit more.
Returning again to our subject, the presence of the Holy Spirit. Jesus speaks to His disciples about the new way the Spirit would relate to them after He returned to His Father;
"If you love me, you will obey what I command. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counsellor to be with you for ever - the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you." [NIV] John 14 v 17
Jesus explains how the Spirit will be in them later after His crucifixion and resurrection. He also makes a promise that if we do what He commands, He will ask the Father to put His Spirit within us. His commands are simple, to abandon our unbelief and believe in Jesus, (that is to say, we must repent, John 6 v 29, Matthew 4 v 17) and be baptized! (John 4 v 1, Acts 2 v 38) So we are back to where we started in this chapter, the promise of Jesus that Peter repeated to the crowd about the promised gift of the presence of the Holy Spirit.
Jesus announced who He was and what He had come to do by quoting from several passages in the book of Isaiah. Jesus quoted from these passages right at the beginning of His public ministry, in the synagogue of His home town, Nazareth, (quotations from Isaiah 58 v 6, and 61v 1 - 2a reported by Luke in Luke 4 v 18 - 19, & 21). The passages Jesus quoted from, are as follows:
"The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, Because the Lord has anointed me to bring good news to the afflicted [meek or poor are alternative meanings]; He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, To proclaim liberty [literally "opening wide"] to captives, And freedom to prisoners; To proclaim the favorable year of the Lord," [NASB] Isaiah 61 v 1 - 2a "And to let the oppressed go free" Isaiah 58 v 6
Luke records that Jesus had the scroll of the prophet Isaiah in His hands. The words above are drawn from the precise section of this book that Jesus had in front of Him, but compare these source quotations with the words Jesus actually said as recorded by Luke, as follows:
"1 The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, 2 wherefore he anointed me to evangelise the poor, 3 he has sent me to proclaim release to captives and 4 sight to blind ones, 5 to send away those having been crushed in release, 6 to proclaim a year of the Lord acceptable. ..... Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your ears." Author's paraphrase from [7] Luke 4 v 18 - 19, & 21
A detail comparison of Jesus' actual words with the source texts yields some interesting information. In the passage above, I have divided Jesus' words into numbered phrases, and now each of these phrases will be examined in turn:
The first statement is quoted verbatim from Isaiah 61 v 1, apart from the way Jesus avoids speaking the Divine Name which is consistent with ancient Hebrew custom; (the word following Lord in the Isaiah text is the word signifying the personal name of God given to Moses in Exodus 3 v 14).
The second statement is also quoted directly and contains the Greek word 'evangelize' which is the equivalent of the Hebrew 'to bring good news.' It is the Greek New Testament word 'evangel' that is translated into English as the word 'gospel.' Jesus then skips a statement from the original Isaiah passage about the brokenhearted.
The third and fourth statements preserve the text in Isaiah 61 v 1b but in reverse order. The fourth statement preserves a valid interpretation of the Hebrew text, where the eyes of the blind are being opened. Jesus underlines this as the correct interpretation from His words recorded in a different gospel where He quotes the same passage in Isaiah 61 to the disciples of John the Baptist, (Matthew 11 v 5).
The fifth statement is drawn from another part of Isaiah, from the earlier 58th chapter.
Finally Jesus returns to Isaiah 61 v 2a for His sixth and final statement about the year acceptable to the Lord.
It is clear from his other writings that Luke knew the book of Isaiah very well indeed. Due to the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls, we also have a good copy of the book of Isaiah from just before the New Testament period, so that we know the text that Jesus had in front of Him is reflected faithfully in the text of most modern translations. Luke also tells us that Jesus was looking at the actual text of Isaiah when He spoke. From these facts and the simple analysis above, we can see that Jesus could not have been reading from Isaiah directly when He spoke in Luke 4 v 18 - 19, because His statements do not exactly match the text from Isaiah. Instead, He appears to have read out a much larger section of scripture, (from the origins of the passages Jesus quotes, probably from 58 v 1 through to Isaiah 61 v 11). Jesus seems to have then offered the comments recorded by Luke as a short message after the reading, to highlight His particular interpretation. Thus, the evidence of the Luke text indicates that Jesus was not reading out loud but rather collecting some thoughts gained from the texts and teaching a message about Himself and His mission based on the prophecies of Isaiah. This conclusion is supported by cumulative evidence from the context of the Luke 4 v 18 - 19 passage itself. If Jesus had merely been reading the scripture out loud to the others in the synagogue there would have been no reason for His hearers to take offence as they did, since He would only have been repeating out loud the words of a prophet they revered and acknowledged. On the other hand, if Jesus was making specific claims about Himself and His mission based on the predictions of Isaiah, then their violent reaction makes complete sense.
The conclusion that Jesus was selecting scriptures from a larger portion of Isaiah He had just read out loud in order to make claims for Himself and His mission, focuses our attention on this larger portion of Isaiah as a likely place to find some fundamental answers about the basic nature of these 'good tidings' that Jesus would preach to 'the poor' over the three years of His public ministry. Jesus saw in these passages from Isaiah, the clearest prophecy foretelling the purpose of His own life and ministry and He used them to announce to the world that the time, place and Person to fulfill them had fully come, it was literally being fulfilled in their hearing. Let us now take a look at the larger section of Isaiah that Jesus read that Saturday morning.
An overview of Isaiah 58 to 61. Isaiah 58 v 1 - 5 is an indictment of Israel's religious elite; God accuses them of gross hypocrisy. Firstly, of highly organized but utterly empty religious observances designed to impress others of their piety and secondly and concurrently with a vigorous campaign behind the scenes involving the ruthless oppression of the poor. Isaiah 58 v 6 - 14 is God's teaching about religious behaviours that are truly acceptable in His sight. Jesus quotes from Isaiah 58 v 6 in His message after the reading, about letting the oppressed go free. This second half of Isaiah 58 contains important elements of the gospel that Jesus preached later on, (for example, compare Isaiah 58 v 7 with Luke 14 v 12 - 13). In Isaiah 59 v 1 - 15a God maps out the seeming hopelessness of His people's sinful condition; their total inability to act righteously and their consciousness of their own guilt, (59 v 12). In the longer section from Isaiah 59 v 15b to Isaiah 60 v 22 the Lord promises to come Personally as the Redeemer for those of His people who will turn from their sins, (59 v 20). In this passage the Lord describes the salvation He will accomplish for His people;
He will send His Holy Spirit to accomplish righteousness in His people, (compare 59 v 21 and 60 v 21).
He will raise His people from their graves, (60 v 1 - 2).
He will build His people a city to live in, (60 v 10).
He will protect them with His own presence, (60 v 18 - 19).
In Isaiah 61 v 1 - 3 the Lord focuses in on Himself as the anointed Servant, (or 'Christ,' which is the Greek word for 'anointed'). This is the passage that Jesus draws on for most of His short message. The anointed Servant is sent to accomplish His people's redemption, the redemption of the meek, (61 v 1 & see below) and the redemption of those who turn from their sins. In His salvation, the Lord will exchange their shame for the inheritance of the Lord's first born son, (this is the meaning of the double portion) and everlasting joy will be theirs, (61 v 7 - 9). The Lord will clothe His people with righteousness and with His salvation, (61 v 10).
If this all seems familiar material that might be found in many parts of the New Testament, then as I have said, this is no accident!
The passage of Paul's letter to the Roman Christians from Romans 1 v 16 to Romans 8 v 39 represents one contiguous set of thoughts concerning the good news and the salvation that Christ has achieved for us. The theme is the same throughout this long passage; only the approaches vary from one section to the next. The first three sections are three different descriptions of the good news from three different viewpoints;
Firstly from the viewpoint of heathen nations outside Jewish influence.
Secondly from the Jewish viewpoint.
Thirdly arguing from the viewpoint of the whole of humanity beginning with the origin of the whole human race.
Following these three descriptions of the good news, Paul then develops several themes from the good news and teaches about various practical matters connected with working out our salvation here and now. Finally, he looks forward to the completion of our salvation in the future and the assurance of God's deliverance from our present difficulties.
After introducing the main themes of the good news, (1 v 16 - 17), Paul shows how those who have no Jewish background and who have never heard the good news preached are clearly aware of God's character from what He has created, (1 v 20). Even so, Paul says that they have deliberately ignored this revelation and have lived their lives in disobedience to it, (1 v 32). Paul then explains how all men, regardless of their background in Judaism or heathenism have been disobedient to the revelation of God's nature that they had, (2 v 12 & 3 v 9 & repeated 11 v 32). Paul lumps all kinds of revelation about God's nature together and calls them all 'law,' (2 v 14 - 15), saying that all men are accountable for their disobedience, (2 v 16). This is an important point to remember when reading the rest of Romans. When Paul mentions the concept of law, he is including within the 'law', all moral codes invented by men based on the witness of their consciences. Having established that all men have received some kind of law from God, either through the direct revelation to Moses or through their consciences; Paul says that no-one can ever be justified in God's sight by following that law, because God's purpose in giving law was not to correct behaviour, but to define sin in God's sight, (3 v 20). Having shown that all men are accountable to God and have deliberately sinned, and that there is no way to correct the situation by following the law anyway, Paul says that God has announced a righteousness that can be achieved without using the law to justify our actions, (3 v 21). Paul then repeats the good news message, (3 v 21 - 26) that God's righteousness can be received as a gift by faith in Jesus Christ because of His sacrifice on the cross, (3 v 25). Paul then ties up a number of loose ends in his line of thought;
Because Christ has expiated our sins, God can justify us without compromising His righteousness, (3 v 25 - 26).
Because we receive God's righteousness as a gift, we cannot boast about our piety, (2 v 27 - 30).
Because Christ has paid the price for our sins stipulated under the law, we uphold the law when we have faith in Jesus, (3 v 31).
Approaching the good news in a different way; Paul points out that Abraham was justified in God's eyes through his faith rather than through what he did, (4 v 1 - 5), and that furthermore, Abraham is the father of all those who have faith in God for their justification regardless of their racial origin, (4 v 11 & 16 & 24). Paul builds on these facts by saying that those who have faith in God and are thereby justified are Abraham's rightful heirs. They inherit the promises God gave to Abraham, (4 v 13 - 24). So then, Paul says that Jesus was killed for our sins and rose to life again for our justification, (4 v 25); for this reason we have peace with God through Jesus Christ, (5 v 1). Paul then states the good news again, this time in more detail and for the first time mentions that those who have faith in Jesus are also given the Holy Spirit, (5 v 5). Paul then points out that our salvation is assured now that Christ is alive again with God, (5 v 10), because;
Christ loved us enough to die for us whilst we were still His enemies, (5 v 8).
At the same time, God the Father gave the life of His only Son so that we could be reconciled to Him.
Put another way, God the Father and God the Son are working together in heaven for the salvation of those who have faith in Jesus, and God the Holy Spirit is given to us on earth for the same purpose. With this level of commitment being shown by God, the salvation of those who have faith in Christ is assured, (5 v 10).
Approaching the good news from yet another direction beginning from Romans 5 v 12, Paul contrasts Adam who introduced disobedience, sin and death into the world, (5 v 12 & 19) with Jesus who brought obedience, justification and life, (5 v 16 - 19). Paul then contrasts law and grace, (5 v 20 - 21) and says that just as sin dominated us through the demands of the law and led to death, grace now rules us through the righteousness that God gives and leads to eternal life through Jesus Christ.
Paul develops this simple contrast between the reign of sin and the reign of grace by saying that those who have faith in Jesus should no longer live as slaves to sin, (6 v 1 - 2 & 6). Paul speaks to those who have already been baptized, (6 v 3) who appear to be ignorant of its meaning. By consenting to go down under the water we both identify with Christ's death for our sins and we consent to let God bury our old nature with Jesus, (6 v 3 - 4a). Coming up from the water we identify with Christ's resurrection and declare the new life and walk that we now have, (6 v 4b). Paul reinforces his point by saying that our future depends on the reality of the declarations we enact when we are baptized, if and only if we are united with Christ in His death, will we be united with Him in a resurrection like His, (6 v 5). Paul then continues by saying that when we are baptized we are giving God our willing consent to destroy the hold our bodies have over us to make us sin, (6 v 6 - 7). We are also witnessing to the new life that Christ has given us with God, (6 v 11). This being so, we have a choice whether to let sin enslave us again, and Paul says, don't let it! Else the only wages we will get will be death, (6 v 12 - 13 & 23). Or we can yield ourselves to God's purposes in our lives that will make us holy as a gift instead, (6 v 13 & 19 & 22). Paul then emphatically states that sin can no longer dominate our lives if we are living in God's grace, (6 v 14 & 8 v 13) - we really do have a choice! If we choose to obey God in our lives, He will sanctify us and give us eternal life at the end, (6 v 22). Once we were slaves to sin and condemned by the law, having no ability to overcome sin, e.g. 7 v 18 - 20. Now we are owned by God and justified by grace as a gift, (7 v 4) so that we can bear fruit for God in our lives. We can now serve God with our new spirit and with the Holy Spirit, (7 v 6). Because we are freed from the law through our faith in Jesus, there can be no condemnation awaiting us that has not already been borne by Christ on the cross, (8 v 1). Therefore we are free to live our lives by His Spirit rather than by trying to walk according to any code of conduct, (8 v 2 - 4). Paul then contrasts the old and the new way of life, those whose minds are set on obeying the sinful nature and those whose minds are set on serving God in their spirit, (8 v 5 - 8). He then goes on to contrast the two different identities of those who obey the sinful nature and those who live by the Holy Spirit, the latter belonging to Christ, the former not, (8 v 9 - 11 & 14). Paul speaks about the way the Holy Spirit dwells within a believer: The Holy Spirit encourages him or her to relate to God the Father as a son and heir of their heavenly Father, a child not only in theory, but a child who inherits with Christ, (8 v 17 & 29) and a child who suffers like Jesus did. Paul collects his thoughts by looking into the future, saying that our sufferings are small compared to the glory ahead of us, and that the outcome of them will be our resurrection, (8 v 19, 23, 30). A resurrection that will be shared by the whole creation when it too is freed from its own futility and bondage to decay, (8 v 21).
Finally, Paul exults because the wondrous salvation that God has bought for us, (8 v 31 - 39).
The security we have because of His love, (8 v 31).
The greatness of His love for us, (8 v 32).
The way He has completely justified us for ever, (8 v 33 - 34).
The way Christ is constantly speaking to God on our behalf, (8 v 34).
The way His love will never let us go whatever happens to us, (8 v 35 - 39).
The Protestant reformation paved the way for many advances in Christian thought because it removed the shackles of the ipse dixit style of the Roman Catholic tradition. Protestant ideology provided a framework where it was possible for individuals to ask questions about the truths of Christianity, rather than having to accept the dogmatic assertions of others. As a result of the Protestant reformation it became possible for individuals to read the scriptures in their own language and to gain a much better understanding of their faith, rather than 'having it all done for them' by a 'priesthood' speaking in Latin. For these and many other reasons we are indebted to Protestant thinking.
Having said all these things about the virtues of Protestant thinking, there are some areas of the gospel message that have suffered mortally through the reaction of Protestantism against Roman Catholicism. The areas of the good news message that speak about the process of sanctification and the ministry of the Holy Spirit leave many Protestants very uncomfortable in their seats. They are suspicious about all manifestations of the power of the Holy Spirit. Also, they cannot accept that Christ wants to rule the Church in the day to day sense besides governing its teaching through His guidance contained in the scriptures. I believe there are very specific reasons for this. And I would now like to discuss these very briefly.
When the Protestant movement began, it was a reaction against the authoritarian control of the Roman Catholic church over the moral conduct of participants. Protestantism replaced this authoritarian control with a form of individualism. In Protestantism;
The individual has access to the scriptures.
The individual is expected to respond to the preaching of God's word.
The individual is held accountable for their own actions before God.
The individual has faith in God for the forgiveness of their past sins.
The individual is expected to repent and to reform their own moral character, and so on.
In the violence of this reaction at the heart of the Reformation, Protestantism neglected an important fact. Long before the Reformation, the Roman Catholic church had substituted an authoritarian regime for the day to day control of Christ over His own Church, and replaced the power of the Holy Spirit to cause moral transformation in believers with a heavy weight of religious observances. The role of Christ was replaced by a human Patriarch with a hierarchy beneath him to administer the church. And the role of the Holy Spirit had been denied and replaced with various kinds of religious performance vainly aimed at moral improvement. The Protestant movement was right to react against these things, but it replaced them with other things that failed to recognize the present rule of Christ and the ministry of the Holy Spirit. If Roman Catholicism had been authoritarian, stipulating a series of sacraments by which its adherents could reach heaven, the new Protestantism relied on the individual to work out their own salvation. Certainly the individual was expected to believe in Jesus and to have faith in Christ for the forgiveness of their past sins, and this is good. But once their past sins had been forgiven, an individual was expected to become holy by their own efforts, usually involving kinds of religious performance not practised by Catholics! Where Catholics relied on their priesthood for moral guidance, Protestants relied instead on the moral guidance pushed from the pulpit or found in the scriptures. I believe this is why Protestants are so uncomfortable with the scriptures that teach about the ministry of the Holy Spirit. They have been taught to live by the moral guidance found in the scriptures but they have not been taught the scriptures about God's power to transform their inner natures through the gift of the Holy Spirit. They have been taught about the virtues of hard work, but they have not been told about reliance on the power of the Holy Spirit. They have been taught to obey their leaders, but they have not been shown the scriptures that speak of Christ's rule in the day to day running of the Church, (for example, see 2 Corinthians 13 v 3 - 4).
It is time to reform our thinking once again to recognize that Christ is the Head of the Church, not only that He was the Head of the Church at sometime in the past. Jesus Christ is the Head of the Church in deed and in truth, not merely in theory. It is time to reform our thinking again to recognize that the Holy Spirit is sent to convict the world of sin and righteousness and judgement and that He is sent to transform us into the holy sons of God. I would like to end this plea for change with an example from Luke chapter 7;
"Jesus .. entered Capernaum. There a centurion's servant whom his master valued highly, was sick and about to die. The centurion heard of Jesus and sent some elders of the Jews to him, asking him to come and heal his servant. When they came to Jesus, they pleaded earnestly with him, "This man deserves to have you do this, because he loves our nation and has built our synagogue." So Jesus went with them. He was not far from the house when the centurion sent friends to say to him: "Lord, don't trouble yourself, for I do not deserve to have you come under my roof. That is why I did not even consider myself worthy to come to you. But say the word, and my servant will be healed. For I myself am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. I tell this one, 'Go', and he goes; and that one, 'Come', and he comes. I say to my servant, 'Do this', and he does it." When Jesus heard this, he was amazed at him, and turning to the crowd following him, he said, "I tell you, I have not found such great faith even in Israel." Then the men who had been sent returned to the house and found the servant well." [NIV] Luke 7 v 1 - 10.
Jesus did not need to come under the centurion's roof to work His powerful healing on the centurion's servant. In the same way, Jesus does not need to be physically present on earth to control the situation we find ourselves in today. All Jesus has to do is say the word, and it will be done now, just as it was then. It is precisely the same great faith of the Roman centurion that we need today. We must realize, as the centurion did, that distance makes no difference to the authority of Jesus. When the centurion dictated his message to Jesus, to one of his servants, Jesus was not there, he was outside. However Jesus' word outside the house cured the servant inside. In the same way, any word Jesus' speaks in heaven as a result of our prayer today will be done on earth immediately. After all, Jesus is the Word of God, through whom God created everything that exists. The immediacy of Christ's authority and power as Head of the Church is real, and it is time we brought our thinking and behaviour into line with the truth, (Matthew 28 v 20). When Jesus comes, will He find anyone with this kind of faith on earth? (Luke 18 v 1 - 8).
Reformed Protestant, Calvinist and Puritan theology has spread widely. Today it is accepted by many groups of churches and it has influenced many others. Wherever this theology is accepted, denial of the authority of Jesus is not primarily a doctrinal matter, it is a matter of practice. Most would say in chorus, 'Jesus is Lord,' whilst at the same time they would not expect or allow Jesus to give them instruction or guidance though any prophetic utterance. In practice they will attempt to use human methods and wisdom to carry out their own ideas of what Jesus might want. Neither do 'reformed' Protestants expect or allow the Holy Spirit to fill them, instead they fail to become holy because they try to employ the forces of law, guilt and shame to restrain their own sinful natures instead. Thus, whoever practices these things denies the doctrine 'Jesus is Lord.' Practical denial of Jesus' authority leads to many other errors. For example, some of those who accept 'reformed' Protestant and similar theologies, say that they possess the Spirit already without ever having received Him. This absurd notion is based on an incorrect argument starting from a scriptural teaching, as follows;
All those who believe in Jesus have the Spirit dwelling within them, (e.g. John 7 v 37 - 39) and therefore,
Since they say they believe in Jesus, they must have the Spirit within them.
Yes, the scriptures do teach that those who believe in Jesus have the Spirit dwelling in them. But the scriptures do not teach that someone who claims to belong to Christ necessarily does, quite the reverse. The scriptures are much more cautious about that. Jesus says that we will know them by their fruits rather than by what they say, (Matthew 7 v 15 - 20). Therefore, it is those who display Christ's love and Personality who truly belong to Him. And no-one can display Christ's Personality unless they first have His Spirit dwelling within them, (2 Corinthians 3 v 17 - 18, Galatians 5 v 22). Therefore it is those who possess the Spirit who truly belong to Christ, (Romans 8 v 9). This is because the Holy Spirit is God's seal of ownership placed within us, (Ephesians 1 v 13 - 14). Therefore, those who say they believe in Jesus Christ but who will not receive the Holy Spirit, are lying, they do not really belong to Christ at all. Appeasing those who will not receive the Holy Spirit by telling them that they have the Holy Spirit already, may delude them into hell, (Matthew 7 v 15 - 20 again). Confronting those who will not receive the Holy Spirit with the scripture, might lead some of them to repent and find Christ for real; but be prepared for a hostile reception from the rest!
This teaching lays emphasis on a peculiar idea of verbalized faith, that acts like a spiritual 'force' and on the importance and spiritual significance of health and prosperity. These three themes often reoccur and distinguish this teaching from the main stream of Christian thought. The basic tenets of this teaching are as follows:
You get whatever you ask for, limited only by your faith, (this is based on Mark 11 v 22 - 24). Conversely, if one does not get what one asks for, one does not have enough faith. Great stress is put on the power of ones words by this teaching, (based on Romans 10 v 9 - 10).
Seed faith, the hundred fold return for financial giving, (based on Mark 10 v 29 - 31). Therefore, strong faith leads automatically to prosperity and a lack of faith automatically to poverty. Therefore, rich believers in this teaching have strong faith and the relatively poor have proportionately less faith. Therefore, those who are shown to lack the necessary faith to talk their way to riches, are also assumed to lack the necessary faith to achieve their forgiveness and salvation. This happens because this teaching redefines a strange kind of verbalized faith that can achieve both riches and forgiveness.
Good health, like forgiveness was purchased for us by Jesus on the cross, (based on Isaiah 53 v 4 - 5, Matthew 8 v 17 and 1 Peter 2 v 24b). There are two teachings that sprout from this idea:
Firstly, together with the first teaching above, forgiveness of sins and therefore salvation can be claimed verbally by faith as a covenant right, (an extreme form of Arminianism). In this teaching, man is in control of salvation. God must save a person based on their verbal confession of faith.
Secondly, we are entitled to claim bodily healing through faith as a covenant right. Therefore, those who are sick and who adhere to this teaching, must claim their healing by faith. If they are not healed, they are taught to deny the reality of their sickness and to exercise more faith. Anyone who continues in ill health is therefore thought of as lacking in the necessary faith. Therefore, those who are shown to lack the necessary faith for their personal healing, are assumed to lack the necessary faith for their forgiveness and salvation. This happens because of the close link forged between health and forgiveness by this teaching.
A) This teaching misrepresents itself as Christian because it contradicts Christ's clear teaching. B) This teaching causes the victimization of the poor and the sick who adhere to it and convinces them that they cannot be saved by God. C) This teaching is a basis for the financial exploitation of all those who adhere to it.
For a teaching to be Christian, it must agree with the teaching of Jesus Christ taken as a whole. If it contradicts the message that Christ brought, then it cannot be Christian. Take a look at the prosperity gospel's emphasis on the positive spiritual significance of riches and health. Immediately it will be seen that nearly half of the prosperity teaching is based on the positive spiritual significance of health and prosperity. This emphasis contradicts the message that Christ taught in His parable of the rich man and the poor and diseased Lazarus who sat by the rich man's gate, (see Luke 16 v 19 - 31) and Christ's teaching about the negative spiritual value of greed, (see Luke 12 v 13 - 21). In Christ's parable of the rich man and Lazarus the hungry diseased beggar, we see that Lazarus though poor and covered in sores is saved by God and goes to heaven and the rich man who has money and everything good in this life goes to hell and lives in agony for ever. In this parable, there is a clear teaching for the rich to use their riches to alleviate the suffering and hunger of the poor rather than to continue to live in luxury and ignore their plight. Jesus' teaching about the peril of greed is equally clear, (see Luke 12 v 13 - 21). Wanting to get rich, or to accumulate money for oneself in this life, is both wrong and foolish in view of the eternity before us. Paul also says the same about those who have wandered from the faith by thinking that Christianity is a means to financial gain, (1 Timothy 6 v 3 - 5). James also warns the rich not to discriminate against the poor, (James 2 v 1 - 4). James also says that God has singled out the poor to be rich in faith and heirs of His kingdom, (James 2 v 5). So that it is very clear what other people understood by Christ's teachings on these matters.
Prosperity teaching defines verbalized faith in a way that is alien and contrary to scripture. In Jeremiah's time false prophets used to speak only positively about the political situation of their day. However their words had no force because they went contrary to the sovereign will of God which was to destroy Jerusalem and many of its people by the sword, hunger and disease because of their unrelenting wickedness, (Jeremiah 14 v 11 - 16). This is one example of God's sovereign will being contrary to what most people might wish. In reality, the scriptures teach that God never automatically answers our prayers, however holy and full of faith we are, (see Jeremiah 15 v 1 and Daniel 3 v 16 - 18). So that Jesus' promise about answering our prayers in Mark 11 v 22 ff. does not mean that He will automatically obey our every word, rather it means that God's definition of 'faith that can move mountains' includes both our knowledge of His sovereign will and how faithfully our prayers agree with it. This interpretation of Christ's promise in Mark 11 v 22 ff. is confirmed by Christ in a more detailed explanation about how God answers our prayers in John 15 v 1 - 17 and note especially verse 7.
Prosperity teaching has a view of how God forgives us and saves us which is contrary to Christ's teaching. Christ teaches that we must receive Him and believe in His name before He will give us the right to become God's children, (John 1 v 12 - 13). Christ is clearly in control of salvation as He says again in John 10 v 1 - 10. Our words, just like any other action on our part alone, are not enough to save us, only Christ can do that as an act of mercy, (Ephesians 2 v 3 - 5). Paul's statements in Romans 10 v 9 - 10 are true, but they have to be understood together with Paul's other words about the ineffectiveness of our deeds, (Ephesians 2 v 8 - 9) and Christ's teaching already mentioned.
Those who continue to be poor and sick are victimized by the prosperity teaching. When someone who fellowships with those who believe the prosperity gospel is in material need or becomes ill, their suffering is made worse by the others. The prosperity gospel teaches a general denial of their need or sickness, this means that they are unlikely to receive any financial help or care from the others. Worse still, the others who hold with the prosperity teaching begin to assert that the needy or sick person has sinned and lacks faith, (like Job's 'comforters' see for example Job 4 v 7 - 9, Job 8 v 1 - 6, Job 11 v 13 - 14, etc.). This is terrifying for the needy or sick person, because they have been taught that they need this faith for their sins to be forgiven by God! And it is clear that God rebuked Job's 'comforters' for their foolish words, because they said that Job's suffering and diseases and financial ruin meant he had sinned, (Job 42 v 7). However, God Himself twice testified that Job was a righteous and blameless man, (Job 1 v 1 and Job 1 v 8). Therefore, his sufferings, poverty and personal loss had nothing to do with his moral condition before God. Thus the whole message of the book of Job shows that the teachings of the prosperity gospel are not biblical in origin. Victimizing the sick and those in financial need is spiritual abuse, as defined by Christ in his denouncements of the Teachers of the law, (Luke 20 v 47) and dead faith as defined by James in James 2 v 14 - 17.
Prosperity teachings about seed giving and the hundred fold return are applied to encourage prosperity teaching devotees to give money to prosperity teaching 'ministries' in return for a presumed automatic Divine refund of a hundred times the amount given. The motive for donations is therefore the financial gain of donors. However the 'financial gain motive' has already been shown above to be contrary to Christ's teaching. It is also clear that prosperity teaching can be used as a basis for the financial exploitation of devotees.
Whilst I am active in telling others about Christ, I am not an evangelical Christian. Unfortunately, the term 'evangelicalism' does not mean a branch of Christian thought that emphasizes a readiness to spread the gospel, (even if this is the Greek root of the word). Rather, it refers to a belief-system that offers an alternative to biblical Christianity. An alternative gospel, so to speak.
Evangelicalism is yet another pervasive strain of alternative gospel in the world today. It is also a very self-confident strain of teaching that purports to occupy the moral high ground of Christianity in Europe and in the USA and in other parts of the world also. The tag, 'evangelical', like the word 'digital' in the marketing of high technology products implies high fidelity and performance to many people. It is synonymous with the word 'devout' or 'born-again' though it usually means neither when compared to the example and teachings we have inherited from Christ. Evangelicalism exists in diluted forms and as concentrate - dilute evangelical ideas are very widespread, only in some places are evangelical ideas more concentrated. In majoring on the evils of the concentrate, I am aware that most will have only tasted a diluted cordial. The flavour of evangelicalism is nevertheless unmistakable in several ways.
To highlight three specific flavours which distinguish evangelicalism from Christianity:
Deism and denial of the Holy Spirit in practical ways
An emphasis on high-fidelity performance, (legalism).
Salvation and damnation arbitrated by men, (arrogance and organizational idolatry).
By deism, I mean a tendency to regard the Godhead as remote from everyday life or essentially passive when it comes to church things. Deists are secret or overt dispensationalists, they believe (amongst other things) that scripture is the only way that God communicates with us now and that miracles and visions and the like are confined to the distant past. The effects of deistic belief are all to obvious; Prayers tend to be formal and patronizing, and full of carefully practised jargon; Preaching is sterile of revelation and mostly confined to moral instruction; 'God' is confined to Sundays and possibly a daily 'quiet time' ritual of bible readings and hasty requests. The bible is revered on the one hand and decimated and explained away on the other. For the Deist, God is so remote as to be dead for all practical purposes. In fact the scriptures are regarded in much the same way as someone would view the last will of another who has died - the content is on the one hand venerated as true whilst at the same time it is seen as the word of someone who can no longer speak for themselves. It is precisely this attitude that lies at the root of the hatred evangelicals have towards the Person and every day work of the Holy Spirit. Despite the fact that the scriptures originated from the Holy Spirit, evangelicals refuse to accept that He is alive and still speaking! The deist evangelical trait was not invented by evangelicals, rather it originates from Protestantism and the Protestant Reformation as I have explained earlier in this book. As such, evangelicalism inherited the Protestant ways of thinking and, as we will now see, added a few distinctive ideas of its own.
By performance I mean that evangelicals have invented a distinctive performance based religion based on the letter of scripture. Evangelical preaching has two purposes. Either to provide strict moral instruction emphasizing the Old Testament requirement for obedience. Or, by way of ironic contrast, to elaborate on the fact that we are saved by grace regardless of works. These opposites are resolved by evangelicals so that salvation is by grace in theory, but in practice it depends on your performance, especially showy, high profile religious performances on a Sunday. This leads me to my third point.
Salvation might be by the grace of God in theory, but in practice, anyone who fails morally in an evangelical group is victimized by leaders seeking to reinforce their 'moral authority' and sometimes leads to the exclusion of 'sinners' from the religion. There is one of Jesus' parables that is very difficult to understand from an evangelical point of view that speaks directly to this unwise behaviour.- the parable of the unrighteous steward, (Luke 16). The reason for the difficulty is quite simple, the steward's master seems to commend the steward for dishonest behaviour, despite this, Jesus puts forward the steward's behaviour as a role-model for his followers! (v8). The key to understanding this parable is that the unrighteous steward had authority given to him by his master to reduce debts that other people owed his master. In just the same way, morally imperfect Christians have God's authority to forgive other people's sins, (John 20 v 21 - 23). Now, if we who are morally imperfect victimise and exclude morally imperfect brothers and sisters in order to reinforce our 'moral authority' what do you think God will do to us? On the other hand, if we choose to forgive other people, reducing their debt to God, Jesus says that God will commend us for acting prudently, (Luke 16 v 8). With the measure we use for others, it will be measured to us, (Matthew 7 v 2). On the one hand, if we measure out the law of Moses to others, we will be judged strictly against the law of Moses. No mercy will be shown to us - and cursed and damned will be anyone who does not obey the whole of this law, (Deuteronomy 28 v 15 - 68, James 2 v 12 - 13a). On the other hand, if we show the mercy, love and forgiveness of Jesus towards each other then we will not be judged, (Matthew 7 v 1 - 5, James 2 v 13b).
In concentrated form, evangelicalism is truly an aggressive and formidable cult based on absolutes, ruthlessly applied by leaders who do not apply the same standards to themselves. Fear of disapproval by leaders drives it all and keeps the troops in line. Leaders cultivate each another and mutually reinforce their 'right to rule' and pretend to arbitrate the eternal fate of their subordinates. In reality this leads to the unspoken idea that salvation is indeed by grace - however not the grace of God but instead the 'grace' of the leaders who craftily abuse the gospel in this practical way in order to get and keep power for themselves.
Evangelicalism can be summarized fairly compactly:
The evangelical 'shop' advertises Jesus on the outside, but inside, only Moses is sold.
There is of course nothing wrong with the teachings God gave to Moses. Moses handed on to us a revelation of what is right in God's sight. If we did not already know it, the law of Moses exposes all of us as morally imperfect beings. However, this revelation is incapable of helping us live in a way that is right before God. Evangelicalism purports to offer Jesus to all, but this position is essentially dishonest since those who are attracted to Jesus are fed only the ideas of Moses when it comes to practical teaching and instruction about living. I have observed, listened to, and sometimes openly opposed these astonishing ideas over many years of exposure to evangelical ideas. Evangelicalism quietly rejects the Christian message and substitutes it with a subtle works-based legalistic system carefully disguised as a particular interpretation of Christ's teaching. As I have pointed out above, the disguise evangelicalism uses to cover its tracks consists of a de-emphasize of the role of the Holy Spirit in every day Christianity, a subculture of jargon to twist the meaning of 'difficult' scriptures and peer pressure and leadership control hierarchies to provide cohesion and structural stability to evangelical groups.
Paul wrote a letter to the Galatians who had allowed themselves to be subjected by Judaistic ideas. Judaism is very similar to evangelicalism because evangelicalism is based on obeying rules based on the letter of scripture just like Judaism. Paul's letter to the Galatians has some examples of the strongest language found anywhere in scripture as Paul struggles to find words to condemn those who replace the gospel with the letter of scripture, (see especially three passages; Galatians 1 v 6 - 10, 2 v 21, 5 v 2 - 12). The only other passage that I can think of in the New Testament that has stronger language than Galatians can be found in Matthew 23 where Jesus condemns the same ideas and similar practices of the Pharisees.
In Galatians 3, Paul appeals to the Galatian church to reconsider their beliefs:
"You foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you? Before your very eyes, Jesus was clearly portrayed as crucified. I would like to learn just one thing from you: Did you receive the Spirit by observing the law or through believing what you heard? Are you so foolish? After beginning with the Spirit, are you now trying to attain your goal by human effort? Have you suffered so much for nothing - if it really was for nothing? Does God give you his Spirit and work miracles among you because you observe the law, or because you believe what you heard?" [NIV] Galatians 3 v 1 - 5
In the same way, I appeal to evangelicals to abandon their human efforts to appear religious and instead to seek their goal by going to Christ again and again to ask and receive the powerful inner work of the Holy Spirit to make real changes to their inner nature. For no amount of human effort can change any part of our insides - only the Spirit can do this and without His work, no-one can be saved. Evangelicals pride themselves that they are the 'people of the Book' without realizing that it is the old covenant that was served up by the letter of the Book not the new. The new covenant is different, it is served up by the Spirit of God. In 2 Corinthians 3 v 6, Paul identifies the old covenant with the letter of the Book and the new covenant with the ministry of the Holy Spirit, and then he says; "... for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life." Therefore I simply appeal to evangelicals to seek life and to abandon ideas and legalistic practices that lead to spiritual death and condemnation.
From reading Calvin's treatise, [see 8] and following the thread of his ideology back in time to Arius, (early 4th C), and further back to Tertullian, [see 9] (written late 2nd C) here is what I uncovered.
Calvin, (arguing from the old Catholic Trinity teaching, see "The Mystery of Christ" book) argues that Jesus had no choice but to come and die for our sins. He quotes Peter's address early in Acts to justify this conclusion. Peter uses words like, God foreknew that Jesus would come and die on the cross, (see Acts 2 v 23). Calvin then applies some deductive reasoning to say that God's foreknowledge is the same as predestination, is the same as God pre-determining Christ's sacrifice on our behalf. Then Calvin applies his artificial interpretation of the word 'predestinate' which involves God compelling Christ to come and die for us to the other occurrences of the same word in the New Testament.
Calvin applies his artifice to Paul's use of the word in Ephesians where he says some things like, 'God predestined us to be adopted ... ,' (see Ephesians 1 v 5 & v 11). Calvin interprets these statements to mean that God compels us to be saved and that we have no choice, we are compelled by Almighty God, (just as Jesus was). Based on this idea, Calvin also proposed the subsidiary notion that once someone is 'saved' they cannot ever loose there salvation. This is so, says Calvin, because the One who wills our salvation is Almighty and no-one can oppose the Almighty.
So, to summarize, Calvin says:
God compels people to be saved, however much it appears otherwise.
Once saved, nothing you do or others do can make you loose your salvation.
Calvin's ideas are castles built upon an old Catholic Trinity false doctrine. (Trinity teaching is analyzed and refuted thoroughly in favour of the original New Testament Godhead doctrine in the book, 'The Mystery of Christ'). Trinity doctrine, as it was first proposed, labels Jesus as a created but divine being, 'a derivation of the whole' as much less in degree compared to the Father as something merely derived from the Father. As such Tertullian (whose idea it was) said that the Father ranked high above Jesus who remained God but only as a derivation of the first deity of the Father. Tertullian having perverted the teaching about the Godhead, created the perverted notion of a subjugated Christ. Calvin built on this hierarchical trinitarian nonsense the idea that Christ was compelled to come and die on a cross, and so on.
So at its root, Calvinism denies that Jesus is as much God as the Father and the Spirit. We know also that this tune is sung by the father of lies and that the truth is as Jesus Himself said, 'Before Abraham was, I am'. Jesus is One with the Father and the Spirit, united in Godhead and equal in divinity. Like the Father and the Spirit, He is uncreated. Arius, who also built his ideas on Trinity said (Arianism) that 'there was a time when Jesus was not'. Not so! 'I am' was, is and will always be. Besides, Calvin denies that Jesus died for us because he loved us. He, (and Tertullian before him by implication) would have us believe that Jesus had no option. This is so contradictory to the gospel as to be beneath contempt. As Jesus said, 'No greater love hath any man, than a man lay down his life for his friends...' Were these words the words of a Jesus under compulsion or acting voluntarily out of love?
Anyway, since for these reasons I have binned Calvin, Arius and Tertullian's ideas we are left with the New Testament idea that God's foreknowledge does not equate to God pre-determining events. God just knows what will happen. Salvation does indeed require God's action, but it also requires our ongoing consent. As Paul said, (Ephesians 5 v 22 ff.) Jesus and the Church are like a man and wife - they both love each other and they both want the marriage union. Jesus teaches that not everyone who calls Him Lord will be saved, (Matthew 7 v 21 ff. & Matthew 13), so we see the frailty of Calvin's ideas about no-one loosing their salvation.
There is a mystery of God's purposes and will for the Israeli people. The part of this mystery that concerns the way that they will finally respond to the gospel is summarized here.
The scriptures have some remarkable things to say about the evangelization of the Jewish people. It is well known that Jesus Christ was a Jew, and that He was sent primarily to find the lost sheep of Israel, (Matthew 15 v 24). It is also well known that they rejected and murdered Him, and that as a result the good news was spread to the Gentiles instead, (Acts 8 v 1). The Gentiles therefore benefited from the disobedience of the Jewish people, (Romans 11 v 11). Let us now take a closer look as some prophetic statements in the scripture that speak of the Jewish people accepting Jesus as their Messiah in large numbers, for indeed these things are clearly prophesied.
"For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek." [RSV] Romans 1 v 16. "For I do not want you, brethren, to be uninformed of this mystery, lest you be wise in your own estimation, that a partial hardening has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in, and thus all Israel will be saved, ... " [RSV] Romans 11 v 25 - 26a.
The last nation to respond to the gospel message en masse will be the nation of Israel. Israelis will be saved in large numbers, but only after all the gentiles that are going to respond to the good news have done so. This will fulfill Christ's own prediction that the Israelite people, who were the first to be aware of His message shall be the very last to receive Him as Saviour;
'"Strive to enter by the narrow door; for many, I tell you, will seek to enter and will not be able. .. There you will weep and gnash your teeth, when you see Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God and you yourselves thrust out. And men will come from the east and the west, and from north and south, and sit at table in the kingdom of God. And behold, some are last who will be first, and some are first who will be last."' [RSV] Luke 13 v 22 - 30 excerpts, (& see also Luke 4 v 23 - 29).
Jesus said these words to Jews who practised Judaism, warning them that they were not going to make it into the kingdom of heaven, whilst some gentiles would do so instead of them. Jesus also said that although they were first to hear His message, they would be last to respond to it. The long delayed response of the Jewish people was clearly prophesied long ago and awaits fulfillment in the future, maybe even quite soon. As Isaiah said;
"For with stammering lips and another tongue will he speak to this people. To whom he said, This is the rest with which ye may cause the weary to rest; and this is the refreshing: yet they would not hear. But the word of the LORD was to them precept upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there a little; that they might go, and fall backward, and be broken, and snared, and taken. Wherefore hear the word of the LORD, ye scornful men, that rule this people which is in Jerusalem." [AV] Isaiah 28 v 11 - 14.
Israel will at last believe in Jesus, but only when they hear the gospel preached to them by a gentile preacher sent by God, speaking to them in a foreign language. As Jesus arranged that Jewish people would be the ones to preach the gospel to the gentiles, so He has also purposed that a gentile will preach the gospel back to His own people. Jesus has a track record of using the despised members of a community to announce the good news, like the Samaritan women in John 4 who announced Jesus to her village. In the same way, Jesus will send a gentile to announce Himself to the Jews to demonstrate His mercy to all peoples and so that both Jew and Gentle believers have no grounds to boast or envy one another. Notice also from this passage, that the Holy Spirit predicts how Jesus would offer God's people rest and refreshment instead of the rule of the law of Moses, but that they would not listen to Him. The Jews were the first to hear - and reject - the gospel. This part of the prophecy has already been fulfilled. We therefore await the conversion of the Jewish race, which the Holy Spirit says will be through the preaching of a Gentile sent by God. The scripture teaches that this Gentile will not be an eloquent speaker and the preaching will not be in the Hebrew language! This presupposes a great deal of eagerness and humility from those Jews who will hear the good news, most unlike the Jews of Isaiah's day whom God calls 'scornful men' in our quotation above.
Other prophesies in the Old Testament and New Testament speak about the circumstances that will prevail when the Jews find Christ. In the Old Testament, Israel's history of exile and near extinction is highlighted as a miraculous sign from God by the prophets (2 Kings 19 v 30, Isaiah 1 v 9). Such events prefigure the way that God will purge the Jewish people in the last days, (Isaiah 1 v 21 - 27, Isaiah 10 v 20 - 23, Ezekiel 20 v 33 - 44). God will decimate the Jewish people and overwhelming destruction will come upon them, much more so than happened in Nazi occupied countries earlier this century, terrible as that blood bath was, (Isaiah 10 v 22 - 23). At that time;
'A remnant will return, a remnant of Jacob will return to the Mighty God.' [NIV] Isaiah 10 v 21
And;
'I will purge you of those who revolt against me. Although I will bring them out of the land where they are living, yet they will not enter the land of Israel. Then you will know that I am the Lord.' [NIV] Ezekiel 20 v 38 'And everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved; for on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there will be deliverance, as the Lord has said, among the survivors whom the Lord calls.' [NIV] Joel 2 v 32
From the Old Testament prophets, we have a picture of a God expatriating the Jews from their places of residence and repatriating only a fraction of their number in the land of Israel. This scenario is followed by a massive loss of life in Israel and a few humble survivors who will turn to the Mighty God, finding Christ, last of all the nations. From the New Testament we get the same message. Jesus prophesied this devastation of Jerusalem at the end of this era, and for a sign that this future devastation would surely take place he accurately predicted the details of the Roman destruction of the city in AD 70, (Matthew 24, see especially v 21 - 22 where Jesus refers to the survivors). It is sobering to consider that the AD 70 - 73 blood-bath of about 750,000 Jews and the physical destruction of Jerusalem recorded by Josephus [6] were only a pointer to an even worse event that is yet to occur.
At present, and until God takes them all back to Israel, the nation of Israel is in the situation described by the prophet Hosea:
'For the Israelites will live for many days without king or prince, without sacrifice or sacred stones, without ephod or idol. Afterwards the Israelites will return and seek the Lord their God and David their king. They will come trembling to the Lord and his blessings in the last days.' [NIV] Hosea 3 v 4 - 5
This then completes a brief outline of the circumstances that will surround the salvation of the Jews. Of course, some Jews believe in Jesus already, but we are speaking here of a more comprehensive return to the Lord.
"Vine's Expository Dictionary of New Testament Words"; Vine, W. E., Publ. MacDonald ISBN 0-917006-03-8
"Vine's complete expository dictionary of old and new testament words"; Vine, W.E., Unger, M.F. and White, W. Publ. Thomas Nelson 1985, ISBN 0-8407-7559-8
"The Mystery of Man"; Ring, S. R. 1994 (Unpublished book).
"The History of the Church", Eusebius, (AD 260 - 339), book 2; Tiberius to Nero #25, Publ. Penguin Classics 1989.
"We Travel An Appointed Way", A. W. Tozer. Copyright 1988. Publ. OM Publishing, ISBN 1 85078-116-8, p59
"The Jewish War" (Flavius) Josephus, son of Matthias (c. AD 37 - c. AD 100). Publ. Penguin Classics 1981
"The RSV Interlinear Greek - English New Testament"; Marshall, Rev. A, Copyright 1958 Samuel Bagster and Sons Ltd. Publ. Samuel Bagster ISBN 85150 105 2.
"The Institutes of the Christian Religion" Calvin, J. written 1558. Copyright 1996, Logos Research Systems Inc. Publ. (CD ROM)
"Against Praxeas" by Tertullian see the following website and URL for an English translation: http://ccel.wheaton.edu/fathers2/ANF-03/anf03-43.htm#P10395_29126 30