Thursday, October 27, 2011

Ephesians 2:1,2: Who We Were, Part 2

 "And you were dead in your trespasses and sins,  in which you formerly walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience."  Ephesians 2:1,2

When Paul thinks of his readers he can't help but remember who they were before the sovereign grace of God reached out and rescued them. He reminds them in these verses: "you were dead!" Their relationship with almighty God was lifeless. Their essential nature was so polluted by sin and its effects that they were without any spiritual ability either to regain relationship with God or in any way make themselves more attractive to Him. 

But as bad as that declaration was, it didn't tell the whole story. It wasn't just their nature that was polluted by sin. So were their lives, their thoughts, words, and deeds. Turns out the character of their lives was aligned with that sin soaked nature. They acted like who they were. In the court of Heaven, where the records are kept, it was evident that their bad records were the consequences of their bad hearts. 

In a clever use of words Paul states that, though dead, they were still living. And these lives bore daily testimony to the fact that they were of this world. They were conformed to the culture, captivated by the great enemy of God whose spirit continues to work through all who prefer unrighteousness. 

As Christ-followers it is so important that we understand the significant difference that is supposed to exist between those aligned with this world, and those who are citizens of Heaven. I am not here arguing for perfection in this life, but I am saying that those in whom the Spirit dwells must certainly demonstrate a different heart and life than those still in league with the Devil. 

This isn't a popular subject today. We seldom settle down and think about the fact that churches today are more and more filled with people who really don't want to follow Christ if it means radical change in the way they think, dream, love, and live. But that is exactly what Jesus said: "If you want to come after Me, you'll have to deny yourself, take up your cross, and follow Me."

 Now, the whole "deny yourself" thing is pretty inviting if you really understand the "self" you were when dead in trespasses and sins. When the Spirit opens our eyes to the reality of our deadness, how hard should it be to run the other way in stark terror? For me that's what it means to repent, and turn in faith to the outstretched arms of our waiting Savior.  And if I read my Bible right, I think that's the way it is supposed to be. 

But a strange thing happens if we never thought of ourselves as "that bad" If we just needed a conversion rather than a whole new life, if we just needed some help, some repair, some better advice, and a better group of friends, then the gracious gift of God in Christ simply won't be seen as the monumental value it really is. If the disease appears incurable, then any remedy will leave the patient marveling for a lifetime. But if the disease seems common and average, then the cure won't seem special. 

Jesus taught that there is a relationship between how much we have been forgiven, and how much we love (Luke 7:47). A great problem in the church today is the compromising of the sinfulness of sin in our presentation of the Gospel. We start off with "God loves you" instead of "God is holy, holy, holy, and you as a sinner are under His righteous wrath." Today we are having to deal with the consequences of decades of "gospel lite" in which people were never told that they were hopelessly corrupt, without any spiritual life, and on the road to eternal judgment. Consequently, their reasons for "accepting Jesus" were almost entirely self-centered, and focused on gaining better relationships, happiness, wealth, or simply escaping the fires of hell (though the idea of hell seems out of place in a Gospel that so minimizes sin). What ends up happening is those who have "trusted Christ" for selfish reasons fail miserably at the "deny" stage, rebel at the "take up the cross" stage, and re-define "follow Me" as "Jesus, I've hired you to be my Life Coach." How can their love be deeper than this when they have almost no concept of being graciously forgiven for an eternity's worth of wickedness and rebellion? 

Paul lays out a great pattern for understanding the Gospel here in Ephesians 2. He recognizes that the Good News is only good against the backdrop of the bad news. Our bad hearts have earned us a bad record in the Court of the Almighty. We weren't charged with misdemeanors that could easily be plea bargained away. Neither were we found guilty of petty crimes or minor offenses. No! Our entire nature was intoxicated with sin, our desires completely focused on self rather than God, and our wills held captive by Satan himself (see: 2 Timothy 2:24-26). And, not content to be sinful by nature, we also demonstrated our internal corruption through our daily actions. We were sinful and we were sinners and unless God changed the trajectory of our lives, we would end up bearing the eternal consequences of divine wrath. 

Paul's main point here is to show that, in our sins, we were on Satan's side. We weren't the independent individuals we thought we were. We were walking his path, doing his will, with no desire for God. And God could have justly let us keep going, walking away from Him. But, turns out God is a competitor! He determined that sin would not win, and so embarked on the greatest rescue mission ever attempted. He sent Jesus, and those whom He calls to new life in Christ will recognize the monumental mess they were in, and seeing how much they were forgiven, will love in a way that is progressively more satisfying and more radical. And that's the way it is supposed to be.

Hope this helps,

David




Wednesday, October 26, 2011

Look before you leap

Recently I watched as some who claim to follow Christ acted in a most unchristian way. It seems they determined to make a series of decisions that ultimately impacted other believers in significantly hurtful ways. Along the way they rationalized appearances and circumstances so as to create in themselves the belief that they were doing the right thing. But ultimately they acted out of self-interest, and not in a manner worthy of the Gospel of Christ.

Their actions will certainly have consequences for others but I am concerned here about the fact that they did not take time to consider deeply the consequences their actions will have on them. If you fire a bullet in close quarters, you had better first determine the risk of ricochet.

In the arena of interpersonal relationships many times hurtful actions can have far-reaching and unintended  consequences. If you hit me, I will try hard to forgive you, but it doesn't mean that our relationship will ever really be the same. I may at some point trust you again, but in the back of my mind I will be ready to put up my arms in defense at the first sight of danger. This illustrates a huge and important point. Forgiveness on my part does not effect reconciliation apart from repentance on your end. And even where both exist, it will take time for me to test the sincerity of your repentance. In any event it will be some time before I stop seeing you as potentially dangerous. Trust is built over time while suspicion is born in a moment, and can make the re-building of trust a long, long process.

As Christ followers we are called upon to "be diligent to preserve the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace" (Ephesians 4:3). This means many things but it certainly includes the mindset that I am going to think carefully and righteously before I initiate any process that might bring division between believers. I am going to recognize the long-term consequences of my short-term decisions, and I am going to make sure that what I am about to do is both righteous, and being done in a manner worthy of the Gospel of Christ.

This episode has been a good reminder to me. We all better look before we leap, especially if we're looking to leap in a way that will hurt other believers. We have to be aware that when we leap, we've left the place of sure footing, and are in grave danger of hitting the rocks below ourselves.

Hope this helps,

David

Ephesians 2:1,2: Who We Were, Part 1

"And you were dead in your trespasses and sins, in which you formerly walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience. Ephesians 2:1,2

Having detailed the wondrous privilege of salvation through Christ Jesus from the heavenly point of view in chapter 1, Paul now turns to view the same process from the vantage point of earth. Chapter 1 gave us God's perspective; here we begin with the perspective of sinful mankind. And the view is pretty ugly.

For centuries Christians have discussed the essential question: "How does a sinner gain acceptance before a holy God?" But if Paul were to answer the question the way it is framed here he would say boldly "A sinner can never gain acceptance before a holy God because he is spiritually dead; any 'gain' must come about through the gracious activity of God." This is the point Paul is making in Ephesians 2:1,2.

When Paul declares that his readers were "dead" in their trespasses and sins he is saying they are completely devoid of any spiritual life. This is one of 3 illustrations that are used in the New Testament to describe the state in which unregenerate people find themselves. Perhaps the most common one is that they are blind. Paul knew this one first hand. As a Pharisee he believed he knew the truth. After all, he was so zealous that he travelled far and wide to find the enemies of God and put them in jail. Consequently, it was the height of irony that Christ, in order to show him just how spiritually blind he was, struck him with physical blindness! It was only after the scales fell from his eyes that he could truly see clearly. And when he did, he realized that Jesus was the Christ, the Son of God, and the only Savior of the soul.

The third illustration was used by Jesus Himself when He told Nicodemus that He had to be "born again." Here the picture is of the process by which a baby is conceived, matured, and finally born. It is the picture of a new life coming into this world. Obviously, this one aligns nicely with the first one (being dead) in that both speak of a new life coming into being.

If we look carefully at these three illustrations we find that they all have at least one essential trait in common. In all three, the necessary action comes from outside. That is, the dead cannot raise themselves, the blind cannot bring about their sight, and the unborn cannot cause themselves to be born. All need the power and action of something outside of themselves. And so it is with salvation. Being dead, we are wholly dependent upon God to initiate and consummate our spiritual rescue.

Paul starts his explanation of the cure (salvation) with a direct assessment of the disease (sin and its effects on the human animal). And, as we will see next time, our spiritual "deadness" is more than a mere characteristic; it actually determines how we live our lives.

Hope this helps,

David

Monday, October 24, 2011

Faithful Wounds

I was recently reminded of a powerful verse from the book of Proverbs: "Faithful are the wounds of a friend, but deceitful are the kisses of an enemy" (Proverbs 27:6). It caused me to wonder what Solomon had experienced that brought this powerful truth out of his life and into written form.

While I'll never know what Solomon went through, I do know the times in my life when this proverb proves itself to be true. As a somewhat public figure I know what it feels like to be on the receiving end of bombs lobbed from a distance. The advent of email has made this particularly easy. People can sit far away, and whenever it suits them, they can fire off criticisms and negative perceptions based on nothing more than their own analysis, faulty as it may be.

Over time I have learned that even the most antagonistic critic can offer some truth that needs to be heeded. If fact, it actually helps me withstand criticism if I find something valuable in it. This turns a certain negative into somewhat of a positive. But I have to be direct and honest here: criticisms from those who are invested and engaged in the mission of Christ through the church to the world carry much more value in my eyes. Even more, those who have decided to partner - not merely join - with us here at Grace Baptist occupy a position in my heart that grants them the highest level of attention, regardless of whether their thoughts are critical or encouraging. The wounds of those who are friends and partners are worth so much more because of their faithfulness to our shared mission.

Some people just don't understand this. They think I should be as receptive to their criticisms as I am to the concerns of those pulling the plow alongside me. And, as stated above, I do believe that the Lord wants me to analyze every suggestion that comes my way to see what helpful truth might be there. But, the simple truth is this: if you're sitting in the stands watching the rest of us fight the battles, your perception and suggestions and criticisms just don't carry much weight. If you're not a real friend and partner, I may not really have time to heed your words. You can still send them my way, but if you really want me to stop everything and consider what you're seeing and saying, sign on, step up, and join the struggle.

On the opposite side of the equation, if you're throwing kisses from up in the stands recognize that those of us in the battle are wise not to fully trust your motives. If you really appreciated what we were doing, you'd join us. So please excuse us if we're less than giddy about your long-range commendations. As a good friend has said "compliments are like perfume; a little is nice but you should never drink it."


Hope this helps,

David

Ephesians 1:22,23: Our Sovereign Savior

Ephesians 1:22, 23: "And He put all things in subjection under His feet, and gave Him as head over all things to the church, which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all."

We in America bristle at the thought of absolute authority. Our history is built on a united opposition to the rule of a monarch, and if you want to stir up a real argument just suggest that certain "rights" ought to be restricted. We are a nations of individuals who believe we are entitled not only to personal freedom, but also to our own personal definition of that freedom. This is why we American Christ-followers find it so hard to believe and trust in the concept of Christ's absolute sovereignty over His church.

The concept of sovereignty - that Christ has both the right and power to do whatever pleases Him - falls on our ears in a harsh way. But such would not have been the case in first century Ephesus. For Paul's readers, the question was not about the rightness of living under sovereign rule; the question was all about finding the best sovereign ruler. And for those who have been chosen in Christ, redeemed through His death, and are sealed with the Spirit, the good news was that they were now in the Kingdom of God, completely subject to Jesus Christ in the same way that the body was ruled over by the head.

In our day this is hard to understand and largely we have Lord Acton to blame. He is the author of that now famous statement "Power corrupts, and absolute power tends to corrupt absolutely." We've taken that to heart and decided that no one - not even God! - should be entrusted with absolute power. A second problem is that we have no human models of truly righteous sovereignty. No man has ever possessed the attributes of absolute power and infinite righteousness. Given this, we have a very hard time imagining how this combination looks, even when Scriptures present it boldly in the nature of God.

And so the question is this: what do we do when our natural inclinations are at odds with God's Word? What are we to do when what we believe deeply conflicts what what the Scriptures command us to believe? This first chapter of Ephesians has tested this all along. We've been told that God chose some in Christ for salvation before time even began. We been told that our salvation was not effected because of things we could do, but completely because of what Christ has done. Furthermore Paul has not stopped to defend these concepts a though they would be offensive; on the contrary, he apparently is listing these and other facts of God's gracious rescue of sinners as though we ought to be rejoicing in them. Paul certainly is asking us to realign our natural inclinations about fairness and democracy with the sovereign actions of our God who always does what is best and right.

So what does Paul want us to take away from these concluding verses in Ephesians 1? Just this: It is a grand privilege to be in the body over which Christ is the Head. There is great protection here, and even greater provision. To be under the sovereign rule of Christ is to be plucked out of the domain of darkness and transferred into the Kingdom of the Beloved Son (Colossians 1:13,14). To be under the feet of Jesus Christ, God's King, is to be in the greatest place of blessing, as power and knowledge and love and faith flow down, through the Spirit, to nourish and mature our souls. Stay close, stay submitted, and stay thankful.

Hope this helps,

David