I am currently delving into a deeper understanding of the true meaning of the cross of Christ, how it relates to salvation and how it reveals God's heart.

Wednesday, December 31, 2008

Real Prophets

This command I entrust to you, Timothy, my son, in accordance with the prophecies previously made concerning you, that by them you fight the good fight, keeping faith and a good conscience.... (1 Timothy 1:18-19)

There is something in this verse that catches my attention and compels me to think and pray about it more. It gets my attention partly because it is so foreign to the culture in which I grew up and still live. It is the whole idea of living around and recognizing what the Bible refers to as prophets that can have an impact on the life of the church and individuals personally.

In my church the idea of prophets operating in today's world is almost non-existent. The idea of prophets speaking truths and inspiring people with a vision for their future in the present sounds not only strange but even suspicious. We have no problem believing that prophets operated in previous generations and have an intellectual belief that someday in the future it may happen again. But there is a subtle but very strong resistance to embracing the idea that there may be people gifted with the ability to prophecy living among us today.

Much of this resistance is due to a serious misunderstanding and interpretation of the whole concept of the role of a prophet. Most people that I know think that a prophet is just someone who has visions from God foretelling compelling events of the future. There is so much intense emotion and prejudice associated with the very word that even discussions of what a real prophet should look or act like can become a minefield in itself. But in the past few years I have become acquainted with some other religious cultures that feel quite comfortable with the idea of prophets operating in their midst. Over time I have been interested to learn whatever God wishes to teach me about this subject through observing and listening to what they believe while remaining cautious and alert to the guidance of the Spirit in my heart.

As soon as I say something like this I am aware that there will be many in my religious tradition that would immediately throw up a red flag of warning and might assume that I am already on a slippery slope into being entrapped by deceptions of false religion. I am aware that I need to keep that warning in mind, but at the same time I have been learning, like Peter struggled to learn with the vision of the animal sheet, that my religion has a great deal of prejudice that prevents me from seeing others the way God views them. I have been coming to embrace the truth for many years that I need to relate to others through the glasses of heaven instead of the filters of my particular church's prejudice and that most of God's true children are not presently part of my denomination.

In addition, the total lack of real awareness of the presence of prophets in the church by “my people” alerts me that this is very likely a blind spot for us that we have been unwilling to face for a long time. We have usually reacted to this subject with standard, homogenized arguments that quickly suppress and shuts down any real exploration of the subject. But that does not mean that what we have long insisted is necessarily truth as heaven sees things.

As is often the case, it is much easier for me to discuss the problems associated with a subject than to dwell on the positive aspects of it. This is particularly true of this subject partly because of my almost total lack of any real knowledge or experience in this area. If I am to believe that there are indeed prophets among us gifted by God for the upbuilding of the church, I would like to be more aware of their presence and how to relate to them. But I personally do not have any such experience from which to draw from so it is foolish for me to speculate very much on something I know almost nothing about.

However, I do not want to remain in this ignorance any longer. While I am not willing to simply endorse everything taught by others as blanket truth on this subject, I am keenly aware that there will always be a glorious truth to be found anywhere there is seen a strong counterfeit. And since there is obviously a lot of counterfeit prophet activity going on in this world then it is important for me to seek God's perspective and guidance to learn how to discern what He is doing in this aspect of the Bible's teachings.

It seems unavoidable from this text that Paul is speaking of something that was prophesied for Timothy personally, not just some general application of Bible verses from the writings of the ancient prophets. It is also clear from other references in the New Testament that the idea of active prophets in the early church was considered something of a norm, not just something that happened in the past. So if we today want to experience the dynamics of that early group of believers that challenged the paradigms of the whole world, then it only seems logical that present-day prophets would need to be a very important part of the mix of gifts that God would have in our midst.

There are very clearly other places in the New Testament that spell out the various roles and gifts that God intends for the church to have in order to grow and thrive. The problem seems to be that we are only willing to focus on the ones that seem comfortable with us and that fit our current list of church offices while avoiding the ones that don't seem so obvious in our community. And this issue of present-day prophets is certainly one that doesn't seem to fit into our current paradigms. But that does not mean that they are not present in our midst, it simply means that we may be overlooking them, ignoring them or even worse yet, suppressing or opposing their ministries to the body of Christ.

A few years ago I learned a great deal about the need for generational blessing. It was a concept that I had never heard of before and was something I learned from teachers outside of my own denomination. But as they explained from the Bible the supporting information for their beliefs, I had to agree that this was a very important truth that I had never been aware of before. This teaching involves a number of peripheral ideas that are all related to it including the idea of present-day prophets that speak words of destiny over others, particularly children and youth, as they are inspired by the Spirit of God.

All of this has greatly enhanced my awareness of the issue of true identity and our perception of who we really are. I have also become aware that many, if not most of our problems in living the Christian life are rooted in our false assumptions about our true identity. What I am also sensing through much of what I have been learning about this is that one of the important roles of true prophets in the church is to speak to our hearts and relay insights from God to us about our true identity and our destiny as God wants us to perceive it.

Moving into this arena of thought about this subject is like opening the door into a very large hall that will take far more time than I have right now to explore. But I do not intend to close the door but to ask the Holy Spirit to be my guide to take me through the various insights and aspects of this subject so I will not be too confused or misled. I want to know the real truth about prophets and their role in my life personally. But just as importantly I want to begin to experience the transforming effects of the work of true prophets both in my own life and in the lives of my family and those around me. I want to live in the power of the blessing personally and to be used by God to introduce blessing into the lives and hearts of others. For I am coming to see that this is the main purpose of every true prophet.

Tuesday, December 30, 2008

Shipwrecked Faith

This command I entrust to you, Timothy, my son, in accordance with the prophecies previously made concerning you, that by them you fight the good fight, keeping faith and a good conscience, which some have rejected and suffered shipwreck in regard to their faith. (1 Timothy 1:18-19)

In looking over this chapter and in context with the rest of this book, it appears to me that Paul is highlighting the differences between his teachings and beliefs as opposed to others who disagree with what he believes is important for salvation. In the first chapter he describes in more detail some of the characteristics of people he believes are misguided. He then spends the rest of the book itemizing the things that he wants Timothy to focus on instead.

Paul was Timothy's mentor but more than that, Paul had very strong emotional attachments to Timothy whom he treated as a son. He appreciated the responsiveness of Timothy to his teachings, warnings and instructions and was keen to protect him from the many deceptions and allurements of both the world and counterfeit religion. Paul was himself intimately familiar with the power of external religion to suck people into its vortex of trying to impress God or change His mind about saving us and he was quick to speak out against its deceptive power over men's minds.

By contrast, in verse five he lays out the signs, the characteristics that will result when true teaching is used. Then at the end of the chapter in his specific instruction to Timothy he refers to these same things again, particularly faith and a good conscience. He then shares that to reject these things as being the most important aspects of good teaching will cause one to suffer shipwreck in regard to their faith.

It is interesting to notice that Paul uses this analogy of shipwreck. Paul himself was personally quite familiar with the experience of being shipwrecked. The intense emotions and trauma that one experiences during such a life-threatening event is never forgotten and burns itself vividly into one's memory. When experiencing a shipwreck it is extremely helpful to have already established a pattern of faith-based thinking, to have a secure trust in the power of God to save. But when facing death in such a situation it is also essential to have the peace that comes from knowing that one's destiny is secure whether one lives or dies. To have a faith that can surpass the intense fears involved in a shipwreck is to be wealthy in the things that count the most.

Paul was also painfully aware of people who had been close to him previously that had since been drawn away from their faith in Jesus by the subtle deceptions of counterfeit religion or other allurements of the world. He had seen fellow workers lose their way and fail to protect the purity of their conscience and become re-infected with the disease of sin. Paul remembered the insecurity and terror of others who had gone through shipwrecks with him and maybe even some who had lost their lives. The contrast between the peace and confidence that Paul had compared with the terror of his fellow passengers was a perfect analogy to highlight the differences between the peace and security of total, resting faith in Jesus Christ for salvation and the alternatives that demand additional righteousness in order to be saved.

Friday, December 26, 2008

What Defines Strange Doctrine?

...so that you may instruct certain men not to teach strange doctrines, (1 Timothy 1:3)

I am finding this so full of valuable instruction for me. This morning the thing that grabbed my attention was this thing about strange doctrines. I have heard this expression for much of my life, but often from the other side of the fence from where I think Paul was talking about here. Let me try to explain.

Strange is one of those word that is an explicitly relative term depending on your current understanding and biases. It is relative like the word short or warm or a host of other words that need a reference point, a context or else they are impossible to determine the real meaning of the word. For instance, in the case of strange, what feels very strange to one person is absolutely the center of normal for other people. In this case, those who think themselves to be teachers of the law, who pay attention to “myths” and endless genealogies would most likely consider the teachings of Paul to be strange and even something to be avoided. In fact, they would not necessarily believe that what they were paying attention to were even myths. They would probably have taken offense at these words of Paul and would have dismissed him as simply one who was holding a grudge or was prejudiced against the “truths” that they were trying to teach from the same Scriptures.

These teachers might also be incensed that Paul would say that their discussions were fruitless. They might point out that it is only through protracted discussions and detailed analysis of language and subtle nuances in writings from the ancients that one could ever hope to begin to discover real truth. They might believe that only in tracing their authority back through proper channels of heritage could they even determine who should be qualified to have credibility, who had been endowed with the authority passed down from the fathers, who was qualified to be leaders over those around them.

It is this kind of collective wisdom based on the traditions of “our people”, whoever that may be for any group, that often determines who we decide to listen to and receive our belief system from. Many people have been trained from early childhood to put more value on tradition and on submission to those who have been trained or authorized by “the system” than on seeking to pursue and receive truth directly from its only Source. The massive systems of education and qualifications set up by men through their educational institutions more often than not set up more obstacles to knowing truth than in helping people toward living in it.

Am I against all formal education. No, that is not what I am promoting. But until we are willing to face the fact that we have a penchant for giving more credence to formal recognition and degrees awarded by men's systems of brainwashing over listening to the unpopular convictions of the Spirit, we will always be in danger of staying in a state of deception and will fail to follow the leading of God into a genuine, saving relationship with our Savior. That is not to say that all those who participate in these systems fail to understand salvation. God has His people in all sorts of places, people who are listening to the Spirit of God in their souls and following His guidance and exerting an influence for good. But as a whole, the institutions of men almost always gravitate toward putting more credence on credentials from each other than on valuing real truth as revealed by heaven.

So the result of this massive system usually designed to justify and propagate deceptive ideas that sound more appealing to humanity's sinful desires than the straight truths of the Bible; the result of caring more about what men think of us than what God speaks through our conscience and His Word, is that the messages from God's servants like Paul will often sound strange to us and we will be tempted to explain away or twist their meanings to fit our preconceived ideas more closely.

So, the experience that I have had is that the things I am now seeing in the Bible and the wonderful revelations about God He has been showing me, would be considered strange doctrines, things to be warned against by those who had strong opinions about what they believed was “truth”. Beliefs that now are foundational to my relationship with God were labeled as strange and heretical by those who were supposed to be my religious mentors. Even the idea of a relationship with God being of high importance for spirituality was considered a heresy by staunch religious authorities in my life. So from my own experience, just because the words strange doctrines are invoked does not mean that the ideas being referred to are necessarily what Paul was talking about when he referred to them in this passage.

Thus it is very important to allow the author of a statement define what he intended when he expressed it instead of supposing that our context is the one used to explain it. And even more importantly, we need to have hearts that are awake, humble and in tune with the quiet Spirit of God, that we listen for the inner voice of conviction, of affirmation and of revelation that will help us understand the Scriptures from the perspective that they were written instead of insisting on maintaining our own biases and entrenched beliefs to define truth.

There is another phrase in the next verse that I find encouraging and instructive. Instead of depending on men's systems of determining truth and credibility, Paul says that our instructing should further the administration of God which is by faith. (1 Timothy 1:4) There is an alternative wording of this phrase which for me is more clear. This word administration can also be translated as provision. So what this text can be saying is that instead of being distracted by the philosophies and expostulations of religious people, I need to pay closer attention to the provisions of God which are along the lines of true faith.

This aligns perfectly with everything else I have been learning about God and His plan of salvation. My first need is to focus on God myself more than on other people's expostulations about Him. I need to fill my mind with ever increasing light about His true character instead of dwelling on confusing presentations designed to make me a follower of some self-proclaimed religious guru or popular religious preacher. I need to listen to the voice of the Spirit guiding me in careful examination of the Word of God more than trusting in some person who may have spent years earning degrees and gaining authority over others through human systems of knowledge. And although I may learn many wonderful and useful truths from people who have spent years of training in human institutions of education, the Word of God must be my highest source of authority for doctrine and belief and experience.

I have been learning that God is not only willing but is desirous and eager to teach and personally mentor each child of His who is willing to become a willing and responsive student. Religious education may sometimes help or enhance that mentoring process, but each person is accountable personally to God for how much they are willing to be led by His Spirit. The reality of eternal life is that it is only those who are being led by the Spirit of God, that are sons of God. (Romans 8:14)

Thursday, December 25, 2008

Quality Instruction

But the goal of our instruction is love from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith. (1 Timothy 1:5)

Well, I thought that I was going to go through this book much, much faster than I did through Romans. But if this is any indication of what is ahead I don't think that is going to happen. Every time I come back to read some more I end up hearing something very important for my heart in the very same verses again. But then, that is the primary reason I come here anyway – to hear something from God, not just to cover ground reading the Bible. So I will not complain or feel guilty about sitting in the same spot for extended lengths of time. What I value more is that God continues to share new things with me and especially things that affect the way my heart perceives Him.

When I compare this verse with the descriptions of the alternative kind of teachers in both the preceding and following verses, I sense that I need to be convicted of the times when I participate more in fruitless discussions than in meaningful instructions. And since I don't want to stay in that position but want to learn how to align myself more closely with the right kind of dialog with others, I feel the need to meditate on these verses and listen to what the real difference is between these two paradigms.

I really like the simplicity of this description of the right kind of instruction. There are three things that can be viewed as trademarks of healthy spiritual dialog. The first is love from a pure heart. This is the most important goal of the three listed here and the one most needed to prepare us to see God. It is learning to live in love and not fear that is the only way that anyone will ever be prepared to encounter the close presence of the living God and survive without being tortured in agony of spirit. Only as we learn to respond with love that is without resistance to the love flowing toward us from God's heart will we be able to live in the presence of love of that magnitude. Thus the need for a pure heart filled with love, for purity simply means that our love will be undivided, undiluted and increasingly loyal to the One who gave His life in love for us.

The second hallmark of good instruction listed here is a good conscience. This is a little bit harder to really understand because of our nebulous ideas about what our conscience actually is. But to have a good conscience in the presence of God is also a very important attitude to pursue if we seriously want to have our hearts and minds in such tune with God's Spirit that we can hear Him speaking to us from the inside on a regular basis. A person who is serious about following the leading of the Holy Spirit in their life will find that there are many things that they can no longer participate in or allow their minds to dwell on or else their conscience will become contaminated and it will be much more difficult to hear clearly the voice of God speaking to the soul.

The last thing listed here as a sign of true spiritual instruction is sincere faith. Again, because we tend to have such confused concepts of what faith really is we fail to realize just what this may be referring to or talking about. What I have been learning is that faith is something that is caught and reflected much more than worked up as I used to think. In fact, I am coming to believe more and more that the best way to increase faith or trust in our hearts is to fill our minds with thoughts and reminders of the enormous faith that Jesus has in us even before we ever began to respond to His love for us. As we become aware of the total faithfulness of God and the things that make Him worth trusting, we will be inspired with faith ourselves. To have a sincere faith is to allow faith to develop in an atmosphere in our heart of acceptance and belief in the truths about Himself that God wants to reveal to us.

Alternatively, a person who is involved in fruitless discussions, who wants to be a teacher of the law while not really knowing what he is talking about but thinks he does, is probably going to be lacking in at least one of these qualifications listed for true instruction. This person will many times be so out of touch with their own heart that they will find it baffling to even comprehend the real meaning of this phrase, love from a pure heart. It may be something that they can dissect and analyze from an intellectual perspective and even pontificate on as teachers thinking that they have figured out just what it must mean. But if they have not allowed their own heart to be humbled before the presence of God and have listened to the longings of their heart for real healing and growth, then they are likely to be found in the latter group and their discussions will tend to be rather fruitless when it comes to affecting the hearts of other people on a deeper level.

Likewise, people who allow themselves to compromise their conscience, who think that they can feed their minds with worldly entertainment or engage in activities out of harmony with the ways of heaven and still be actively involved in leading out in religious instruction for other people's lives; these people will not often even realize that their conscience has been compromised and is not trustworthy to be relied on to lead them in the right direction. Because they have violated their conscience so many times in what they consider little insignificant things, they do not realize that they are not even hearing the real voice of God in their hearts. Instead they tend to depend more on their knowledge of Bible texts, their extensive training in religious training and their acquirement of doctrinal truths to be their support that makes them think they are right with God.

And lastly, the faith that they believe they have is generally only an intellectual “faith” which is really more of an assent to what they believe is truth instead of a heart connection with the heart of God. Their faith is not really sincere from God's perspective and when the day of reckoning comes they will be surprised to hear Jesus say to them, I never knew you. Depart from me... They may have spent their whole life working very hard for God, doing all sorts of very successful religious activities and even leading many others to a knowledge of God as a career veteran in God's church. But because they failed to engage their own hearts in serious pursuit of an intimate connection with Him at the most vulnerable depths of their soul, they will be shocked and even angered when they discover that they have spent all their energies in the wrong priorities.

I want to be keenly aware of the differences between these two kinds of teachers so that I can be aware of when I am slipping into the wrong mode of thinking or teaching. I want to keep myself accountable to this verse that reminds me of the real purpose of all religious instruction. I want my heart to be pure and reflective of God's love for me. I want my conscience to be good and protected from the contamination of worldly influences designed to corrupt and compromise it. And I want my faith to be genuine, sincere and growing each day as I make myself more and more aware of the amazing faith that fills the mind and heart of my Savior and His incredible worth that makes Him worth trusting to the uttermost.

Monday, December 22, 2008

Grace After Law

But we know that the Law is good, if one uses it lawfully, realizing the fact that law is not made for a righteous person, but for those who are lawless and rebellious...(1 Timothy 1:8-9)

I keep coming back to this part of the chapter listening for what else God has to show me here. Now I am beginning to see some connections more clearly between these two parts of this passage.

Paul was intimately familiar with the kind of people he was referring to in this passage, people who thought of themselves as teachers of the law but actually were engaged in fruitless discussions. How did he know so much about them? Because he used to be right in the center of them himself. He was one of the main people who studied the law endlessly to amass proof for the beliefs that he had grown up being taught. He himself had researched endless genealogies and had speculated with his peers who were among the elite scholars of the Jews. So he was not just making accusations about people he knew little about. He had once been a strong leader doing the very things that he now warns others against getting involved in.

He was also painfully aware that he himself was one of the people that he lists here as those who needed the law. While professing to be a strict adherent and teacher of the law himself and considered himself to be very righteous, he also used his zeal for the law to persecute and advocate violence against all those whom he felt were betraying the law of the Jews by spreading heresy. He was particularly upset by a new and very dangerous cult that were teaching perverted interpretations of the Torah and making claims that to any good Jewish scholar were obviously blasphemy. And it was well established that the punishment for blasphemy according to the law was death by stoning. So Paul, back then Saul, was not out of line at all in simply trying to enforce the clear pronouncements from the very mouth of God given through Moses in the law.

This is the context from which Paul is now writing his letter to Timothy. He knows that anyone who is aware of his background could consider him a hypocrite for saying such things about people who were no different than the life he had once strenuously advocated. But he makes the point here that there was something about his heart that was very important in God's eyes. While he was honest to admit that he was wrong in many of the things he had done in the past, he insisted that he had done them from a position of ignorance and in sincerity.

I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who has strengthened me, because He considered me faithful, putting me into service, even though I was formerly a blasphemer and a persecutor and a violent aggressor. Yet I was shown mercy because I acted ignorantly in unbelief; and the grace of our Lord was more than abundant, with the faith and love which are found in Christ Jesus. (1 Timothy 1:12-14)

Is Paul trying to diminish the severity of his past mistakes? Is he trying to justify himself in some way? Does unbelief excuse us from guilt? Absolutely not! But notice the main emphasis in these verses. The main point he is focusing on here is not his relative innocence or guilt but is the attitude of Jesus toward him while he was fighting ferociously against His followers. The absolutely stunning thing about God is that He has so much faith in us even when no one else sees any reason to do so. He considered me faithful, putting me into service... This was the surprise ambush of Jesus that caught Paul's heart in a conspiracy of kindness. And Paul is very clear in Romans 2 that it is the kindness of God that leads us to repentance.

Paul for the rest of his life can do little more than gush about the faith that Jesus has in sinners, the grace of our Lord that is more than abundant and the faith and love which are found in Christ Jesus. As Christians we far too often tend to gravitate into thinking that faith and grace and love are things that we have to come up with in order to satisfy God's requirements so we can be saved. But it is impossible for us to have any of these things ourselves without having them just reflected from our lives. And the only way that a mirror can reflect anything is if the mirror is turned to face that thing or person. When the mirror of our heart is turned to focus its gaze on the amazing truths that define the very nature and character of God, those realities can then become seen more and more clearly in the lives of all who choose to turn to Him.

Faith can only exist as a response to faith. Love can only be ignited in response to being loved. And grace is learned and empowered by experiencing grace. It is only as I come to Jesus and encounter His heart with my heart that I will be able to reflect those characteristics necessary to enjoy the atmosphere of heaven. And in addition, the context of this passage implies that this is the only way that the law of God will be fulfilled in my own life.

The Law of God is nothing more than a very simplified description of what God is like. The only way that I can come into harmony or synchronization with the character of God, His law, is to practice reflecting Him. That process is known by the saying, By beholding we become changed. Paul was transformed from a law-enforcing zealot to a Jesus freak who couldn't ever keep his mouth shut about the grace that had shown so much faith in him while he was still an open enemy of Jesus. For the rest of his life Paul was happily willing to endure any pain, threats or abuse in order to demonstrate the grace to others that had so radically altered his perception of God.

I want that kind of radical encounter with Jesus. I want a much clearer inner picture of this stunning grace, this bizarre faith that comes from Jesus, this love that I find so hard to practice myself. I crave a clearer glimpse of the face of God so that my own heart will become supercharged with a reflection of the real truth about Him which is His glory.

Monday, December 15, 2008

Using Law Lawfully

But we know that the Law is good, if one uses it lawfully, realizing the fact that law is not made for a righteous person, but for those who are lawless and rebellious.... (1 Timothy 1:8-9)

I am a little puzzled by the way this is expressed. It seems on the surface to be circular reasoning, though I am sure it has a much deeper importance and reservoir of truth than that. But I have heard enough abuse of this text from both sides to make me want to listen for a bit as to what God has to say about the real meaning of this passage.

In my study in Romans I remember Paul spending quite a bit of time and effort trying to explain a Christian's proper relationship to the Law. In all of his writings Paul always affirms that the Law is good. And yet the way he words things sometimes has given rise to many people believing that the Law is not really that good and can be ignored in the light of Calvary. Claiming that the Law was done away with at the cross, they embrace a religion that seems to be not much more than magic where they have people repeat certain phrases and then assure them that they have secured for themselves a place in paradise. As a result of such teachings and beliefs, many have minimized the place of the Law of God and have introduced all sorts of speculation and confusion that have caused many to lose their way to God.

On the other side, some people have emphasized the Law and tried to teach it so forcefully that they quickly lose sight of the real plan of salvation and the real meaning of the gospel. They consciously or unconsciously promote keeping the Law as a means of convincing God that they are ready to enter into heaven and receive His rewards for their good works of Law-keeping. This is more likely the group that Paul was referring to in this passage.

While I cannot subscribe to such teachings, I am presently unsure of just what this phrase means, if one uses it lawfully. That almost sounds redundant to me. How could one really use a law unlawfully?

Then there is the next phrase that equally is almost as puzzling, the law is not made for a righteous person. This is the phrase that has confused millions over the years and has been misapplied to the devastation of many people's experience. But to simply try to assert the opposite of what people falsely teach is not necessarily to teach the truth either. Instead of basing our beliefs on the apparent opposite of what others teach that we believe is wrong, it is far more important to go to the source, consider the context and ask the Spirit of the Author to explain it to us better.

Father, please explain this to me. I am sitting here with an open mind and heart to receive whatever You are wanting to teach me. You are faithful and good and the Law is a description of Your character of perfect love. Please reveal to me what You intended for me to know when this was written by Paul.

I notice that Paul gives a qualifying statement a few verses before this explaining what is the goal of the kind of teaching that he used with people. But the goal of our instruction is love from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith. (v. 5) Does this imply that a person doesn't need the Law but only needs to just have love as the hippies of the 60's used to talk about so much? I do not want to downplay Paul's words here in the slightest. He is very clear that the focal point for the result of his teaching is the fruit of love. This fruit of love, according to this verse, will be rooted or based on three things: a pure heart, a good conscience and sincere faith.

This sounds to me very much like a description of a righteous person. So what relationship does a righteous person have to a Law that, according to this text, is not made for them? Are they to use it as a club to make all the other people that are listed in the next two verses feel guilty, shamed or frightened? Is that really how love exhibits itself? That is certainly how many people perceive God as relating to sinners, but is that really true or just our assumed perceptions about Him?

I see in the context of the larger passage here evidence of a tension between the teachings of certain men (v. 3) as compared to the instruction of Paul and those he was mentoring like Timothy. It seems apparent to me that Paul is trying to discriminate between the goal of his teaching and the implied goal of others whom he feels are improperly using the Law. For in verse seven he describes them as wanting to be teachers of the Law. But I want to be very careful not to bring in my own assumptions and preconceived ideas into the text as much as possible. I want to remain open to insights that are currently out of my radar range at the present. I want every conclusion that I find to be rooted in the text so that it can be solid and verifiable and connected to the power of God inherent in His Word.

Part of the reason I feel a need to understand this more clearly is that I do not want to be found to be a teacher that does not understand either what I am saying or the matters about which I make confident assertions as described in verse seven. But on the other hand, I don't believe that this means that a person should never make confident assertions. What it does seem to say is that confident assertions need to be rooted securely in proper understandings and application of the Law, and even more importantly coming from a pure heart, a good conscience and sincere faith.

If the goal of my teaching is not love induced in the lives of others as well as my own, then I am more likely to find myself among those who are speculating and engaged in fruitless discussion as described in the context here.

I am not going to attempt to close this off with a nice, pat conclusion at this point. This is far too big for me to force it into a nice writer's ending and I want to remain open to further thoughts from God on this. I know He can be trusted to keep sharing His truth with me from His Word because He has been doing it for some time now. So I don't have to be afraid of what others may think about me for leaving this hanging for the time being. As I learn more and will take time to share more.

Saturday, December 13, 2008

Can You Stay Awake?

And He came and found them sleeping, and said to Peter, "Simon, are you asleep? Could you not keep watch for one hour? (Mark 14:37)

I am not sure why, but this verse came to my mind this morning as I was lying in bed talking with God. Actually I was misquoting it in my mind and was surprised when I looked it up that it didn't say what I thought it said. I was all ready to put together some interesting ideas based on the wording that I thought was in this verse but had to rethink my assumptions after realizing that this verse did not say what I thought it did.

What I thought Jesus asked was for His disciples to pray with Him for one hour. But upon looking more carefully at the verse and its context I realized that something else very important was here for me to discover. Jesus did not specifically ask His disciples to pray with Him necessarily, but He certainly did ask them to do something that is very relevant for me to pay attention to today. And just as the story reveals the weakness of the disciples and their inability to carry out such a simple request by Jesus in a time of extreme intensity in His heart, so too do I find that same weakness in my own flesh when Jesus asks me to do even simple things like getting out of bed a little earlier on a cold morning to have time to listen to Him and deepen my intimacy and knowledge of Him.

The first thing I wanted to do was to look up some of the original words to see what they might really mean. This idea of watching has never really clicked with me. It is another one of those words that religion has generally obscured the real meaning of for many of us. I always like to explore what the words I am hearing really mean before trying to unpack the larger meaning of a text.

I realize that sometimes people around me may think that I am very nit-picky or that I am simply trying to stir up controversy because I ask so many questions about what is really being conveyed in language, especially in the study of the Bible. But I sincerely want to understand much better what is real and unmask what is fake and confusing or blurred over by tradition and counterfeit ideas embedded in our language and culture. I have found it very liberating and refreshing to discover over and over, new and exciting truths as I have challenged the common assumptions about nearly every text and passage that I grew up hearing about.

This word watch means to keep awake, watch (literally or figuratively), be vigilant, wake, watchful. That is pretty much straightforward as far as it goes. But I felt that there was still something I was missing. Why would Jesus only expect His disciples to stay awake and nothing more? So I went back a few verses to find out what it was He had asked them to do in the first place that they were not doing.

And He said to them, "My soul is deeply grieved to the point of death; remain here and keep watch." (Mark 14:34)

"My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death," he said to them. "Stay here and keep watch." (Mark 14:34 NIV)

What I discovered in this verse was something that really caught my attention. When looking at more of the words in the Greek I noticed that the word for remain here is the very same word used throughout the Bible that is one of the most important things we need to know in order to grow as a real Christian. This word is used repeatedly in the discourse in John 14 and 15 when Jesus was sharing with His disciples how they needed to live. And in fact He had just finished telling them all of this only minutes before He asked Peter, James and John to practice what He had just told them about.

Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you unless you abide in Me. (John 15:4)

Remain here and abide are translated from the very same word in the original. So what Jesus was asking three of His disciples to do was to practice for at least one hour what He had just taken time to describe to them in great detail. In essence He was saying to them, I have just told you all about how you must live in order for you to be my loyal disciples successfully. You must learn to abide in me and I in you so that you will be prepared for anything that might happen to you. Now that I have taught you verbally this lesson it is now time for our first test on what you have heard and find out if you were really listening. Take what I have just taught you and practice it for one hour. If you do, you will be empowered to meet what is about to happen to us. If you don't take this activity seriously you will find yourself helpless and clueless as to how to act like yourself when a massive assault is launched against us in a few minutes.

Well, most of us know how that first quiz turned out. They all failed quite spectacularly and ended up running away in fear and shame. Many theologians have analyzed endlessly the events that ensued that night as to why Peter denied his Lord, why each of the disciples did what they did and why everything seemed to go wrong. But much of this would have turned out very differently if just three of the disciples had taken the words of Jesus seriously and instead of thinking more about themselves and fighting over who was the most loyal and most important among themselves, they had actually listened with their heart and received the warnings that Jesus had been giving them all evening.

It is very sad to think about the tragic outworking of their bad choices that night. But the story is not really over yet. Each one of us also receives the very same instructions from Jesus to learn what it really means to abide in Him. And Jesus is hoping that maybe we just might learn enough from observing the results of those disciple's failures in this story to make a different choice ourselves.

Am I willing to learn what it really means to abide in Christ and allow Him to abide in me? Am I ready to carefully study and ponder and meditate on what the real meanings of His words are to me today? Am I willing to practice in real life situations how to abide in Him even when I meet the little difficulties that I am sure to encounter?

Am I am willing to learn in the little things how to trust God, to stay awake when it is easier to roll over and fall asleep? Am I willing to marinate in the presence of God and soak up more of His kindness, His goodness, His grace and be filled with His peace? If I am willing to take to heart the example of the failure of those disciples and in humility choose to take a better option in my own life, I can in some way rewrite the story of that crisis and demonstrate in my life what Jesus intended for all of His disciples to experience. I can learn to abide, to pray and stay alert and listen and be ready to be strengthened by angels of glory just as Jesus experienced in the garden. And if I choose that option in obedience to the invitation of Jesus to abide in Him and stay alert, my story can be different than the stories of His disciples during that last tragic weekend of His crucifixion.

Jesus, teach me what it really means to abide in You today. Help me to pay attention to the messages from Your Spirit to my heart. I choose to listen to You and obey Your promptings today. Help me to avoid all the interfering noise of the world designed to drown out your quite voice inside of me. Make me alert and ready to act instantly for You whenever You need me to be a channel of blessing, comfort or encouragement to one of Your children. Thank-you for Your faithfulness and love in my life.

Friday, December 12, 2008

Ignorant Unbelief

Even though I was formerly a blasphemer and a persecutor and a violent aggressor, yet I was shown mercy because I acted ignorantly in unbelief. (1 Timothy 1:13) I have been starting to read in 1st Timothy over the past few days after finishing up my two year study of the book of Romans. So far I have not decided to do as intensive an examination of this book as I did in Romans, partly because I want to cover more spiritual ground in less time and partly because I did that in Romans because it was one of the more difficult books for me to understand. But I do want to continue to take time to think carefully and meditate on what I am reading and reflect in my spirit on whatever God may want to reveal to me each day. And since I have found that writing has been a most useful process for helping me think more clearly I want to continue to use that tool to help me listen to God each day. In verses 3-7 Paul writes some very compelling things about people who have a lot to say but little understanding of what they are talking about. I thought about exploring this deeper but for now I have decided to camp on the above verse instead. The issue of unbelief is something that I have been thinking about and warned about in my spirit at different times and here I find some very helpful insight about unbelief that I had not thought about much before. I have long believed that unbelief is an extremely dangerous thing, and I still believe it is. However, as I look at this verse more carefully this morning I am seeing that there may be different kinds of unbelief or at least different reasons for it that may create mitigating factors in how successfully God can reach our hearts in this condition. I want to be completely free of all unbelief when it comes to the things of God and the real truth about God. So I welcome knowing how God can rescue me from this most subtle of self-deceptions that prevents God from working freely in my heart and life. I have observed that unbelief is possibly the single greatest reason that blocks people from hearing God's voice to them, from experiencing His miracle-working power in their lives and from perceiving His will for them more clearly. Unbelief keeps us in a lukewarm spiritual condition, feeds our mediocrity in the church and prevents us from being effective witnesses for the real power of God to transform lives. Unbelief keeps many of God's blessings at arm's distance from us and frustrates God's desire to fill us with His true Holy Spirit. It is unbelief that lies at the root of many of our questions, though not always. We must be very careful not to judge others in this area and to keep ourselves reminded of the words of Jesus to remove the log from our own eye before attempting to identify and remove a speck from someone else's. We need to become aware of our own unbelief, confess it clearly and be healed from it before we will be able to assist others in getting freedom from it. Amazingly, pride and unbelief are the means by which puny human beings can successfully hold off all the power of the universe brought to bear on them for their own good. Even though God has unleashed all power in heaven and earth to attract us into a saving relationship with Him, if we choose to remain in unbelief against the truth about Him we can successfully resist His supreme authority and cause ourselves to lose out on heaven and eternity. And sadly this most often happens while believing strongly that we are in fact assured of a place in heaven and we think we are following God. This was the condition of Saul before his conversion on the way to Damascus. Unbelief is a most pernicious and deadly condition, but it is not hopeless as this verse points out. What is interesting to note here, though, is that the unbelief that Paul describes from his own past experience is an unbelief based on ignorance. This ignorance I believe is the lack of a true knowledge of what God is really like, not a lack of knowledge about religious facts. Paul grew up as one of the most knowledgeable people of his day as far as religious facts were concerned and God did not reach his heart by teaching him more facts or new doctrines. Instead, He transformed his whole perspective of reality and God by revealing the truth about His kindness and compassion that melted Saul's resistance and exposed his misinterpretations of all the religious facts that he had amassed and misused throughout his life up to that point. This leads me to ponder what other kinds of unbelief there may be. If Paul here describes unbelief that is based on ignorance, then evidently there must be another kind of unbelief that is not based on ignorance. And quite likely that unbelief is likely much more dangerous if not impossible from which to recover. For as Paul wrote elsewhere, once a person has tasted the goodness of the Lord and then turned away from it back to his old life – of unbelief – it is now nearly impossible for that person to once again repent and return to a real saving relationship with God. Some have become so frightened by this scenario that they sometimes think they may have committed the unpardonable sin if they sin against God after becoming a Christian. Satan has used these verses and others like them to discourage many people into giving up trying to be a Christian because they believe they have gone too far for God to save them. But this is not at all what the Bible is talking about. These notions are all schemes of the enemy to prevent us from really experiencing the infinite goodness and forgiveness of God and believing the real truth about Him. This is not the kind of unbelief in spite of seeing clearly God's glory but is unbelief based on ignorance of the true character and mercy of God. When Paul, then Saul, was living in unbelief in his younger years, that unbelief in the real truth about how God relates to people caused him to be a very violent person against anyone who disagreed with his religious perspective. Likewise, today it is still true that believing wrong ideas about God that we insist have to be true will cause a person to become very defensive and aggressive against others who do not share their viewpoints. There is a large and growing segment of people in my own denomination that are gravitating in this direction and some of my own family members have been caught up in various forms of this intensity. But as dangerous and argumentative and even hateful as these people may become, I must remind myself to see them through the eyes of heaven just as Jesus could see the secret inner condition of Saul even while he was violently persecuting and oppressing the people who followed the teachings and example of their Master. I must remember that as a Christian who is learning the real truth about God and who is under obligation to follow the instructions of the One who came to reveal the heart of the Father to us, I am to pray for my enemies and bless those who persecute me, not curse them. To do this, it makes it easier – though maybe only slightly – to keep in mind that these people are very possibly acting in the ignorant kind of unbelief that can be reversed when their inner heart catches a glimpse of the real truth about God's passionate love and unconditional forgiveness for them. Of course the frightening thing is that God wants to demonstrate His love and forgiveness to them through my own life in response to their mistreatment of me. If I will be so transformed in my heart and spirit by God's presence that I reflect the spirit of Jesus and allow Him to live out His life in me during these assaults against me, then His enemies will get a close-up chance to see the face of Jesus in me and have their hearts offered an opportunity to melt in the presence of God's kindness and grace and mercy through God's presence in my life. This is one of the ultimate callings and responsibilities of each child of God. The grace of our Lord was more than abundant, with the faith and love which are found in Christ Jesus. (1 Timothy 1:14) God can deal with ignorance. But we tend to be far more impatient and judgmental against people who are violent aggressors and often label them for life based on their outward behaviors from the past. But we easily forget that ignorance is a strong mitigating factor in the eyes of heaven and that our own spirit of judging is far more egregious to God than the apparent wickedness of those who oppose us. We are not called to judge other people's motives no matter how obvious they may seem to us. We are called to allow the Spirit of Jesus to so dwell in us that our spirit and attitude and actions reflect the real truth about God. Then as the beauty and attractiveness of God becomes evident through a living human being in the face of evil, God is again reincarnated in human flesh and His true character is allowed to be demonstrated to draw all into His healing heart of love. Father, this is a very difficult revelation to obey. It sounds so good on paper but when I am under attack or am accused falsely or judged or persecuted, it is so much easier to react in defensiveness and in fear. Please fill my heart and mind with Your love that expels all fear. Show me more clearly Your face, Your grace, Your faithfulness and beauty and perfection so that my life and the atmosphere surrounding me will reflect only Your character and not anything from my flesh. Your will be done, not mine.

Friday, December 5, 2008

Conclusion - 6

Now to Him who is able to establish you according to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery which has been kept secret for long ages past, but now is manifested, and by the Scriptures of the prophets, according to the commandment of the eternal God, has been made known to all the nations, leading to obedience of faith; to the only wise God, through Jesus Christ, be the glory forever. Amen. (Romans 16:25-27) As I look at this one more time to see how all these elements fit together, I am more and more convinced that they all refer to each other almost equally. Especially the beginning and ending factors lend themselves easily to all of the following or previous ones respectively. So here is how they might be seen. Him who is able to establish you according to my gospel according to the preaching of Jesus Christ according to the revelation of the mystery by the Scriptures of the prophets according to the commandment of the eternal God leading to obedience of faith. Now here it is again but looking back from the other end. Obedience of faith is a result of... understanding the commandment, the will of the eternal God immersing one's self in the messages from the prophets having a revelation of the mystery about God in one's heart and mind hearing the presentation of the real truth about God as revealed in Jesus Christ learning the good news about God that is the essence of the gospel this obedience itself is what it looks like to be established by God. Surrounding this like a protective encasement that shields it from the deceptions and attacks of the enemy is the beginning and ending phrases referring to God the Father. Now to Him, to the only wise God... be the glory forever. Again, in this last verse there is a descriptor of how that glory is channeled. All the glory that is produced for God is a result of the work and example and teachings of Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ is the revelation of God's glory and the one who attracts all praise and glory to be returned back to its source. Jesus takes God's glory and transforms it into understandable forms for others to understand and appreciate. And as that glory spontaneously produces praise, gratitude and love, all of those things are received by Christ and returned to the Father. This whole cycle is literally a circuit of life-giving love which is the current that powers all of the universe. It is crucial that each intelligent being find their proper place within this circuit and be aligned correctly with that current of power so that the whole circuit will fulfill its original purpose and design. And it is only as we discover and are restored to our proper place and function within this circuit will we find the deepest sense of fulfillment, satisfaction and joy in our own hearts. This is what we were created for in the first place and only this will bring us into alignment with what our deepest cravings long for. We are right now living in a time different from any other time in history. In this generation the final polarization is going to be completed. God is moving in dramatic ways to attract and permanently seal everyone who is willing to listen with their heart to His Spirit drawing them to Himself. Each one who responds and follows on to know Him and chooses to let go of their pride and independence will find themselves drawn closer and closer to others who are likewise being drawn into His intimacy. At the same time, all those who resist His drawing on their hearts and the messages of truth to their minds will have that resistance polarize them, blinding them and hardening their hearts. But because of the deceptive nature of this hardness they will not realize they are becoming hardened until it is far too late. They will believe that they are saved, that they are on the right track, that their form of religion or the emotional highs they get in religious services are what God designed for them to thrive on and live by. But if they do not humble themselves under the mighty hand of God, they can never be lifted up by that same hand and instead they will become more aligned with the counterfeit system of religion that feels like it is the real deal. Jesus said that narrow is the way that leads to life and very few will find it. It is not because God does not want us to find it or that it is too hard to find, but it is because the only way to find it and stay on it is with a spirit of humility and submission to the work of God in the soul which is very often painful and even abrasive at times. If I am not willing to endure the pain of the polishing and the extraction of the sinful cravings from deep in my own heart, then I will be embraced by the counterfeit grace that appeals more to my pride and independence. I will have my own desires reinforced by those around me and will become united in heart and spirit with the majority of the world in a spirit of independence and a thrilling sense of power. I want to have this mystery of truth revealed to me, to my heart and mind and soul. Further, I want to be a channel of this revelation to other hearts through the transformation of my life and spirit and soul. I want to be a “little Christ”, one who reveals the real truth about God's faithful love and compassion and goodness to others who are afraid of Him because of the lies they believe about Him. I want to be established by the eternal God in a solid, clear understanding of the gospel as it is in Jesus Christ. I want this passage to be a description of my life and my experience.

Wednesday, December 3, 2008

Conclusion - 5 The Glory

To the only wise God, through Jesus Christ, be the glory forever. Amen. (Romans 16:27)

This is the glorious climax of the final exclamation of Paul at the very end of his letter to the Romans. It is not only a summary of and finale of what he wants to convey to us in this letter, but it is also something of a synopsis of the history of the great war between God and his archenemy who defected from the highest position of trust and honor in the whole universe.

These last three verses cover the whole history of the earth as well, from its beginning to the future eternity that we can experience with God on the earth restored and made new. They point out that there has been a mystery that has been hidden from mankind for many ages – since the fall of man really. But during those ages of mystery we were not left clueless about how God felt about us. God spoke important truths and interacted with those on earth through various means and at various times more directly. He used prophets in particular to communicate His thoughts and desires to His people on earth. Much of the Old Testament Scriptures is the records of what some of these prophets had to say on behalf of God as well as stories of how God interacted with those living on earth.

But all during those times God's will and His ways and attitudes toward humanity remained a mystery. People were baffled by the seemingly strange symbols that God used to reveal things about Himself. People became confused by the language and commandments of God reading much of their own cultural assumptions into the things God was trying to convey to them. The Old Testament Scriptures are often referred to, especially by those that He chose to be His people during that time period, as the Law and the Prophets. But even though the Jews had a long history of direct attention and divine favor from the God of heaven and they had the written words reminding them of all that God had tried to do with them, still the nature and disposition of God toward humans remained largely a mystery. Very few during the Old Testament period caught on to the true beauty and attractiveness of the glory of God.

But things changed at the appearance of Jesus the Christ (or Messiah – the one sent to rescue). Jesus was sent by the Father to change this situation, to radically disrupt our paradigms, to shatter our assumptions about a distant, frightening, intimidating God that appeared all too much like many of the other pagan false gods evolved from the imaginations and fears of selfish men. Jesus came to unmask the mystery that clouded our hearts from knowing the real truth about how God feels about humans. Jesus was sent to show us what the Father really is like and how passionately He desires to have us in close, intimate relationship with Himself. Jesus came to explode the myths about God that have haunted humanity ever since the days of sinful Adam, and to shine a brilliant light that would expel the deep darkness created by the myriad lies of Satan about the Father.

The mystery has been dark for long ages, not because God wanted the truth about Him to be hidden from us, but due to the enormous mass of lies under which we have been buried – lies both about God and about the real truth about ourselves. This mystery has continued to be a mystery because of the blindness of our own hearts, not because God has been hiding from us.

Even during those long ages of dark mystery God had stated quite plainly at times that the real problem has always been with us, never with Him. Behold, the Lord's hand is not so short that it cannot save; nor is His ear so dull that it cannot hear. but your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God, and your sins have hidden His face from you so that He does not hear. (Isaiah 59:1-2) It is this separation that has created and amplified the mystery for all the long ages past and for too many even yet today. For the core of the reason there is a mystery to begin with is our unbelief about the real truths about God and how He relates to those who rebel against Him.

The unmasking of this mystery became very intense in the life and example of Jesus while He lived among us here on earth. It was not just his sinless behavior that was helpful for us to see, but far more important was the attitude that He revealed about how God feels about sinners. The interactions of Jesus as He encountered all sorts of people in all kinds of situations was intended to show our hearts the real grace that fills the heart of the Father and the passion with which He desires to attract us back into a loving, trusting relationship with Him.

For those who feel determined to resist these revelations about the heart of the Father, the truth will continue to remain a mystery. In fact, sadly these people will find themselves becoming angry and scandalized by the revelations of the heart of the Father whenever they encounter them either in the stories of Jesus or in the lives and teachings of those being transformed into His image and likeness. For the real truth about God, His grace, His compassion, His unconditional love and forgiveness is so abrasive and contradictory to the things we have believed about Him in the past that without a radical new birth experience we cannot embrace them or believe them authentically.

But when a person surrenders to the love and becomes overwhelmed with the beauty and passion that emanates from the heart of God for each of His created children, that person is empowered to suddenly begin to perceive the glory of God as revealed in the life of Jesus as well as being able to experience it in their everyday relationship with Him through the presence of His Spirit. Instead of living in constant resistance to the love that is the life current that powers all of the universe, they will come into proper alignment with it so that it will become a source of life-giving power instead of pain-producing irritation. The things they once ridiculed and resisted they now embrace with enthusiasm and passion.

In the revelation of this mystery will be found true wisdom. I believe that most of us have very little real perception of what wisdom really means. We have some vague ideas of what we think wisdom is, but until we encounter a personal, radical, disturbing conversion experience in our deepest heart and thinking, we are unable to even perceive what constitutes true wisdom. Instead, we often believe that wisdom is the high intellectual constructs that we have created in our own intense study of various subjects including the study of God. We think that because our minds are acute and we have figured out how many things seem to fit together that we have found wisdom.

But real wisdom has far more to do with a vital and on-going interaction with the mind of God who is the only real source of wisdom than it has to do with figuring out how things work or the accumulation of enormous amounts of knowledge.

If we were to have our eyes opened we would be ashamed to see that we have created multitudes of false gods and worship all sorts of false idols just as much or more than the pagans and heathen did centuries ago. It is just that we do not use the same terminology for them as the pagans did so we don't often realize that we are worshiping things that have no wisdom in them.

Repeatedly throughout the Old Testament God pointed out the foolishness of those who worshiped idols that couldn't see or hear or think. And at times He even likened His own people to be just like the idols that they worshiped – not able to see or hear.

Now hear this, O foolish and senseless people, who have eyes but do not see; who have ears but do not hear. (Jeremiah 5:21)

Son of man, you live in the midst of the rebellious house, who have eyes to see but do not see, ears to hear but do not hear; for they are a rebellious house. (Ezekiel 12:2)

This is the real cause of the truth about God being veiled as a mystery for long ages. It is a mystery largely because we live in a state of rebellion that has been going on far longer than even this world has been around. And on top of that we were born with a rebellious nature inherited from our ancestors and infused into our human nature by the sin of our parents in Eden.

But God is in the process of unveiling the mystery about Himself and the most prominent way that He has chosen to do that is through the revelation of Himself through His Son Jesus Christ. That is why the presentation of Jesus through preaching, teaching and living with Jesus in the heart is a powerful means of bringing light to shine in the hearts of those still enshrouded in the shadows of the mystery. And as we perceive the real truth about God and how He feels about His created beings, we also begin to see the wisdom that we have been lacking in our blindness of rebellion against Him.

As the wisdom of God becomes more evident to our hearts, the resulting amazement, gratitude and expressions of life and joy all add to the great concert of honor and praise from the rest of the universe which brings glory to the reputation of God. What I see here in this last verse of Romans is Paul's invitation for each one of us to join in this great, stirring, life-changing symphony of praise and worship that will prepare our hearts more deeply to glorify God throughout all of eternity.

To the only wise God, through Jesus Christ, be the glory forever. Amen.

(next in series)

Tuesday, December 2, 2008

Conclusion - 4 The Mystery

... according to the revelation of the mystery which has been kept secret for long ages past, but now is manifested.... (Romans 16:25-26)

Part of the ways listed here by which God is going to settle me into the truth about Him is by the revelation of the mystery. To talk about the mystery is almost problematic to start with, for to explain a mystery is to assume that one already understands the mystery themselves. That is a very tricky proposition in my opinion.

On the other hand, Paul in various places makes it quite clear that he believed he understood what this mystery was as had devoted his life to sharing it with anyone who would listen. He said that this mystery had been personally revealed to him by God and therefore by implication he was capable of unveiling it for others.

I do not doubt that Paul had a good grasp of what was contained in the mystery that he refers to in a number of his letters. He talks the most about it in the letter to the Ephesians and also some in Colossians. I have spent some time studying Ephesians with other people at times that were very intense and tremendously enlightening. And what I learned in those times of revelation and amazement was that the mystery is far deeper and bigger than anyone usually ever imagines. As a result I have great suspicion about those who flippantly attempt to toss out simplistic ideas as to what this mystery is that Paul refers to in this passage.

But I believe that one reason this good news is such a mystery to us is not because God is trying to hide it from us but because of the preconditions in our own thinking that preclude us from believing many of the things necessary to comprehend this mystery. This verse says that this mystery has been kept secret for long ages past. But it does not say that God hid it through long ages past. I don't believe that God deliberately hides truth from people who are willing to be open to receiving it. Jesus stated that He Himself was the truth and He spent His whole life trying to get people to know Him and by extension to really know the Father.

The truth about the mystery of God is revealed more and more as we come to accept the real truth as it is revealed in the attitudes and actions of Jesus who came to reveal how God really feels about us. The greatest obstacle to absorbing the content of this mystery is not its unavailability but is a spirit of unbelief. I have observed this more and more over the past few years, both in others and in my own heart. I am becoming more aware and convicted that it is my resistance to believing what God reveals to me about Himself that is the greatest hindrance preventing me from entering into the mystery and experiencing the awe and joy of that mystery. This resistance is what the Bible calls unbelief. I see it in myself and I see it displayed in the attitudes of most people around me.

Paul here declares that though this mystery has indeed been kept secret for long ages past for whatever reasons, it is now manifested. So there is no excuse not to find out for ourselves what this mystery is if we truly desire to know it. But it will take far more than just an intellectual curiosity to be able to know what this mystery contains. I am convinced that until the heart is warmed by the Spirit of God and the soul becomes intensely hungry to know the real truth about God, the mind will be incapable of coming up with a valid explanation of what constitutes the real essence of this mystery.

As I keep looking at this passage to see clues as to how to know more about this mystery, I notice that the mystery is manifested partly through the other elements listed in this text.

  • The mystery will be perceived by listening to the gospel as Paul understood it.
  • The mystery will be heard in authentic preaching of Jesus Christ.
  • The mystery will be found in an honest search of the Scriptures and by paying attention to the prophets. And I believe that this is not necessarily restricted to prophets published only in the Old Testament.
  • And finally in this list, the mystery is manifested because the eternal God has commanded it to be manifested so that it will be made known to all the nations on earth.

The purpose for the revelation of this mystery is made clear at the end of verse 26. It says here that the result of the manifestation of this mystery leads to obedience of faith. That implies that there might be some other kind of obedience that is not of faith. Of course that is something of an oxymoron, for the Bible declares that whatever is not of faith is sin. But there is a pseudo-obedience that many people believe is real obedience that is not of faith but from self-effort. And it is likely the prevalence of this confusion about obedience based on false assumptions that has kept the truth in this mystery veiled for so many long ages.

So, just what is this mystery that Paul declares here has been manifested?

I am not going to attempt a detailed explanation of what is in this mystery, for to do so would be to assume that I understand it well which I am not ready to claim. But I do believe that God has been in the process of slowly revealing it more and more to me over the past few years as my heart has been more open to receive from Him. And all of these elements listed in this passage have had a part in revealing to my heart and mind the true nature of what is likely contained in this mystery.

  • My increasing awareness of the truly positive nature of what is called the good news, the gospel.
  • The reception of occasional but refreshing authentic presentations by others of the real truths about Jesus Christ.
  • A more intense and deliberate and careful personal examination of the Bible which contains far more than I ever dreamed possible most of my life.
  • And most importantly, personal revelations by the Spirit to my heart and mind as I allow all of these influences to affect and transform my perceptions about God. Through the will of God – His commandment – the revelation of this mystery is slowly becoming a reality in my own life as I let go of more and more of my resistance and unbelief.

As I did a search on this word mystery with my Bible software, I found it interesting that the only reference to the word mystery in the Old Testament is in the book of Daniel. But then I also noticed that the first reference to this word in the New Testament is the words of Jesus to His disciples telling them that He was revealing this mystery to them because they were His followers. (Mark 4:11)

From the texts that I observed in this short research, the most clear and concise explanations as to the content of this mystery are two places found in Colossians. The first one comes from a passage that very closely parallels this one in Romans. But I will only quote the final punch line, so to speak.

...God willed to make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. (Colossians 1:27)

The second text reinforces the truth found in this first one.

...that their hearts may be encouraged, having been knit together in love, and attaining to all the wealth that comes from the full assurance of understanding, resulting in a true knowledge of God's mystery, that is, Christ Himself. (Colossians 2:2)

Father, fill my mind and heart with a fresh infusion of the reality of Your mystery. Encourage my heart, knit my heart together with Yours and with the hearts of Your children in love. Cause me to attain to and make use of all the wealth that comes from the full assurance of understanding so that I may experience the result of knowing Your mystery – Christ Himself. Thank-you for knowing my heart, for accepting my prayers and for revealing more about Your mystery to me this morning.

(next in series)

Monday, December 1, 2008

Conclusion - 3 Preaching

Now to Him who is able to establish you according to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery which has been kept secret for long ages past, (Romans 16:25)

Yesterday I started to unpack this verse but actually overlooked the first word. From the context it appears that Paul is signaling that he is beginning the conclusion of his letter, which is indeed what this is. In fact, it appears to me that this is the sum of everything that he has written condensed into one long sentence. That this is his concluding statement is signaled in this word now.

The object of this long sentence interestingly appears both at the beginning and at the end of it. This sentence goes from here all the way through verse 27. Here at the beginning the object of the sentence, which is later identified as God the Father, is presented as the one who is able. The word in Greek is very compelling much more than in English. It is very similar to the word from which we get our word dynamite. It denotes power as well as possibility. Following is the reason or target for this potential power which is identified as being us and our settling into a saving relationship with Him. This is contained in the root word for establish.

Everything after this until verse 27 are descriptors of how God goes about doing this in our lives. So everything we look at in the next couple verses reveals how God intends to settle us into the truth about Him and about reality. And the very first thing listed is that God intends to settle us into the truth according to the gospel as Paul viewed it.

For me this is very significant maybe more than for others. For I grew up with very confusing ideas about what the gospel was and I still struggle to unwrap just what it really refers to, though I have drastically updated much of what I used to assume. I can remember many times when a teacher would say that the word gospel meant “good news”, and in my mind I would wonder what was so good about anything I was hearing about God.

But in the past few years I have been led by the Spirit of God to challenge much of what I was taught growing up and to let go of many of the false assumptions about God I collected along the way. This was done by allowing myself to take a fresh look at the Word of God for myself using new “glasses” so to speak. Over and over God impressed me with new insights of what He was really like and how He felt about me. As my conceptions begin to align more closely with what I was being taught directly by the Spirit of God, the more alive and congruent and attractive the messages and instructions from inspired sources became for me.

What I see Paul saying here is that as I learn the real truth about God which is contained in the real gospel, I will experience the power of God drawing me deeper into that truth about Himself. And this leads me to the next point that he makes which is the preaching of Jesus Christ. For it is the revelation of God through the life and death of Jesus that reveals much more plainly how the Father feels about me than anything else. And it is through the sharing of the story of Jesus that humans become attracted to God in a way that nothing else can accomplish.

This is where I need to face yet another trigger word in my own experience. This word preaching for me has far too much unwanted baggage from a lifetime of dry, Christless sermons and hours of just filling up time to fulfill the demands of tradition in formal religious services. Most religions have long histories of assumed traditions of how to do worship and unfortunately, when the truth is finally exposed, it has to be admitted that we have actually come to value and even worship our routines more than we value God Himself. Of course we cannot admit such a thing openly as that would sound blasphemous; but the same problem existed in Jesus' day and indeed has been a problem all down through much of the history of the world.

Thus it is that preaching itself has taken on a mantle of “holiness” in the sense of the common assumptions of what that word means. Most churches today would be horrified and scandalized at the thought of not having a formal sermon each week. They would think that we had abandoned our devotion to God and there would be an outcry to restore the old traditions and re-institute the traditions of our fathers by placing the sermon at the center of our church service. Just think about this realistically for a little while yourself and ponder if what I am saying is true or not.

What has come to exist is that our routine, and particularly the exercise of preaching a sermon, has almost become the most important and hallowed exercise in all of Christianity. And yet if one carefully examines the record of the New Testament it is not preaching that is at the center of the gospel message. There is almost no record at all of Jesus preaching, especially in the sense that we think of it today. And even the sermons of Paul were quite likely not delivered in the way that preaching has become for most of us today. In fact, Paul himself referred to preaching as something he called foolishness. Does that not give us reason to pause and rethink our fierce defensive attitudes about how we conduct our own worship services?

And yet God continues to work with us where we are in the midst of our prejudices and traditions. But that does not mean that He endorses them or desires us to remain stuck in habits that lend themselves to keeping us at a distance from Him. Please don't misunderstand me here. I am not claiming that we should eliminate preaching altogether or ban it from our churches. But what I am saying is that we are so reluctant to expose this practice to the true light of the gospel, the real truth about God, that we tend to often enshrine preaching itself in place of cherishing God in our religious performances.

Having said all that, I will note here that Paul states in this verse that part of the way God settles us into the truth is through the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery.... Far from being something to be sidelined, the activity of preaching needs to be reinvented and reinvigorated by infusing it with the passion of God Himself. Preaching should be a means of unveiling the mystery about God that it too often obscures instead. Too much of our preaching leaves the listeners wondering just what it was that they learned that day or maybe leaves them feeling good about themselves with wonderful new suggestions as to how to get along with others. But how much preaching centers around the revelation of God by explaining how Jesus reveals the mystery about Him that has keep Him hidden from our hearts for so many years?

I am hungry for preaching, teaching and any other activities that will focus on uncovering the light of God's glory to believers and unbelievers alike.

I am starved for preaching that challenges my heart while at the same time fills me with hope and faith and love.

I crave to hear preaching that will fan the fire in my bones with the passion of Christ and to unmask the dark lies about God by revealing the real truths about His beauty, compassion and perfect love for all of us.

I want to experience preaching that actually follows the formula laid out by Paul in these verses so that anyone listening can never be the same again once they have been confronted by the real gospel.

I want to see our preaching center every presentation around the truth as it is revealed in Jesus.

God, send us bold and passionate people to preach the truth about You as revealed in the life of Jesus. Expose our silly exercises of filling up time to satisfy our mindless demands for routine and formalism. Heal us of our fear of breaking with traditions and cause us to see the living power of the gospel that You are waiting to share with us when we let go of our devotion to tradition. Send us real preachers of the gospel who are not afraid of us because they are so focused on You and Your glory. Lord, send us preachers of the real gospel.

(next in series)

Sunday, November 30, 2008

Conclusion - 2 Repentance

Now to Him who is able to establish you according to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery which has been kept secret for long ages past, but now is manifested, and by the Scriptures of the prophets, according to the commandment of the eternal God, has been made known to all the nations, leading to obedience of faith; to the only wise God, through Jesus Christ, be the glory forever. Amen. (Romans 16:25-27)

In my last post I arranged this text in an outline form to present one option of how it might fit together. I feel that there are possibly many ways that the various pieces may compliment and enforce each other and I would like to possibly look at several. At the same time I also want to start unpacking what some of the words and phrases mean as well as how the context influences that.

Now to Him is an interesting phrase that confused me somewhat when I looked it up in the Greek. I could not find any reference to the to Him part of this phrase. But when I contacted a theology professor who taught Greek he assured me that it was inherent in the language nuances of the original Greek words. I have to take his word for this since I have no training in Greek myself.

What does seem more evident to me is that Paul begins to apply a long list of qualifiers to this first subject and does not return to “finishing the sentence” until the very end of the last verse where he then identifies who the him is. Paul is known for some of his rather lengthy and sometimes convoluted language structures which at times evidently even caused some of the other apostles to scratch their heads trying to figure out just what he was trying to get across. (see 2 Peter 3:15, 16)

But in the end, the him referred to is interestingly God the Father. I find this very helpful and informative given that very often Christians tend to put so much focus on Jesus that they create a rift in the minds of many between Jesus and the Father and cause many to think that Jesus and God are somehow different in their attitudes and feelings towards us. But in this passage Paul makes it very clear that everything we learn about God is expressed from the Father through Jesus. But now I am referring to the end of this text instead of starting at the beginning as I intended.

What does become more clear at the beginning of this passage is that it is the Father God who is the one causing us to be established using all the following ways listed of accomplishing this goal. I find this very compelling and even comforting. For too many years I, like many others, lived in secret fear of God the Father while Jesus seemed much more likable and approachable. I was taught externally that Jesus and God were supposed to be the same, but the implications of much of the religious teachings that I absorbed growing up often implied something quite different than this. So I lived with the assumption that Jesus was somehow sent to this earth to run interference between me and God and to satisfy His hunger for vengeance, to exhaust His wrath against me and to protect me from the fierce punishments that the Father seemed eager to dish out on anyone not thus shielded.

I am very glad to be in the process of coming free of these terrible lies about the Father. It still makes me very upset when I hear people teaching and promoting such concepts, but I have to remember to be patient with them as well, just as God has been patient with me for so many years while I changed my opinions about Him. Now I am coming to realize the glorious truth that God the Father Himself is just as eager and willing to draw me into His grace and peace and love as anything I have ever learned about Jesus. This verse tells me that it is the Father who is the one who is able to establish me through the various ways that are spelled out in these two verses.

I looked up the Greek word for this establish and found it helpful in enhancing my understanding of what God wants to do for me. Here is the explanation of what this word means from Strong's definition.

to set fast, i.e. (literally) to turn resolutely in a certain direction, or (figuratively) to confirm:--fix, (e-)stablish, steadfastly set, strengthen.

One thing that I really like to remind myself of when thinking about this definition is that it is God, yes even God the Father, who is the one who causes me to turn resolutely in a certain direction, which is toward knowing Him and drawing close to Him. This reminds me of the text that reveals one of the real truths about repentance which is what this seems to be likely referring to.

The God of our fathers raised up Jesus, whom you had put to death by hanging Him on a cross. He is the one whom God exalted to His right hand as a Prince and a Savior, to grant repentance to Israel, and forgiveness of sins. (Acts 5:30-31)

Repentance is a gift that must be received from God before anyone can use it or implement it in their salvation. Too often we think that we can just repent any time we feel like it and turn our life around when we get around to it. But this is not the truth as taught in the Word of God. Repentance is a change of mind and direction inwardly that can only happen in us when we choose to accept this work in our hearts through the power of the Holy Spirit sent to us by Jesus. The changing of direction in our hearts is only accomplished through the power of God, not by our own willpower. The part we have in this is to accept the spirit of repentance when it is offered to us, take possession of it by choosing to own it and then exercise it immediately in obedience to the promptings of the Spirit, which then gives the Spirit permission to implement it effectively into our experience.

As I accept this gift of repentance and experience the transformative changes that it brings into my life, I will also become established, steadfastly set, settled and strengthened in the truth, the truth about reality and my relationship with God and how He thinks about me. And the really good news (which is what the gospel is all about) is that it is God the Father along with His Son and His Spirit that are all eager and ready to do this in my life personally. They want me to be set in my ways and unmovable as I settle into the real truth about God and come to know and love Him more and more.

I choose to accept this invitation by the Father to have Him grant me repentance and settle me into the truth about Him. I accept the truth in this verse that He is able to do this in my life and I ask Him to do it right now.

Next time I want to explore more of just how this is to take place – through the gospel, the preaching of Jesus Christ, through the unveiling of the great mystery that is waiting to glow with transforming light deep within my soul.

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