The Promise of Completion

Philippians 1:6 contains a precious truth, accompanied by a potentially difficult concept to grasp.

“And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.”

The precious truth is that God will complete the good work he begins in us. It is the promise that once God saves us and begins the life-long process of making us like Jesus, he will finish the job. There are two implications we can draw from this truth:

1. Our salvation is secure because God has promised to complete the work he starts within us. In other words, once he saves us and gives us new birth, he will ensure that we remain in Christ so that he can complete his work in us.
2. If he starts the work of salvation and completes the work of salvation, then our remaining in Christ is resting entirely upon God’s power. It is not my efforts that keep me saved, it is God’s power that keeps me saved.

For many, number one is not difficult to embrace. Some Christians believe that a person who has been born again can fall away from the faith and lose their salvation, or become what some call carnal believers. I will put my cards on the table here and say I don’t believe in carnal Christians, nor do I believe the Bible supports their existence. Without going into a detailed explanation, let me just say that the Bible describes only two kinds of people: saved and lost; people who love the Lord and people who love the world; people who will inherit the Kingdom of God and people who will not. Read this for a brief, but succinct, explanation from the Scriptures of why there are no carnal Christians. And for those who believe you can lose your salvation, this verse presents an acute interpretive dilemma. How can one lose something that God has promised to complete? Either God is a liar, or it is impossible to fall away from the faith once you have been born again.

Now for the second implication; this one can make your head blow off. Philippians 1:6 describes in very brief terms the process of sanctification. Sanctification is the process which God puts us through so that we will become more like Jesus. The Bible contains several metaphors for sanctification. A particular favorite of mine is that of a refiner’s fire (Malachi 3:3). He burns out the impurities in our life. It is an intentional process where our life is tested by fire, and the things which are impure fall away, leaving a more Christ-like person. God has planned the end from the beginning. We will be more like Christ because he has given us his promise that he will completely transform us.

Here’s where it gets interesting. Where does our responsibility to obey come into play? How does God accomplish the transformation of our lives without violating our will? Let’s be honest. If God forced me to submit, the relationship wouldn’t be a love relationship. Somehow God accomplishes the transformation of our lives and yet at the same time, never forces us to love him and obey him. How? Through the cross, Jesus has purchased for us redeemed affections for God. In other words, when we are born again, the Holy Spirit takes residence within us and brings with him a new heart, new desires, and new affections toward God. Perhaps the most popular verse in all of Ezekiel describes for us what happens in salvation:

“And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.” Ezekiel 36:26

The Psalmist explains very clearly that God gives us new desires:

“Delight yourself in the?Lord,?and he will give you the desires of your heart.” Psalm 37:4

Without the new heart and the new desires we are given, we would never be transformed; thus, in order to transform us, God would have to violate our will. But because believers do receive these new desires and affections toward God in salvation, we genuinely desire to obey him all on our own, and pleasing him becomes our natural desire; thus God accomplishes our transformation with our willing participation. BUT, because God granted us the ability to willingly follow him when we were born again, any transformation we undergo still belongs to God and is from him, and through him and because of him. Believers can trust not only that God has forgave them saved them, but also that he will transform them and continually transform them until they stand before him, just like Christ, in Christ’s righteousness, glorified like Christ, and inaugurated into eternal rest with Christ. What a glorious promise it is!

Brother, sister, if you struggle with sin (and we all do), know that God will complete the good work he began in you. Don’t allow your setbacks and struggles to take your eyes off of the prize. Remember that he has made a promise to bring you to completion. Let this precious knowledge be what sets you free. Paul’s lament in Romans chapter 7 that he continues to sin even though he doesn’t want to (Romans 7:15-24) is immediately followed by these glorious truths in Romans 8:1-6, with which I will conclude:

“1?There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.?[1] 2?For the law of the Spirit of life has set you?[2] free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death.?3?For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin,?[3] he condemned sin in the flesh,?4?in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.?5?For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit.?6?For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace.” – Romans 8:1-6

True Gospel Love and Community

I must be honest. I began studying through Philippians last week with little enthusiasm. I wasn’t excited to study through it like I have been about other books which I’ve studied. I couldn’t put my finger on it. Maybe it was because Philippians doesn’t have any major church messes to address and therefore I felt it might be less instructive. I don’t know. After spending a few days hem-hawing around trying to get excited, I just decided to dive in. I’m pleased to report that I haven’t even finished chapter one and it’s been very rewarding.

The very first thing I was struck by was the relationship which Paul had cultivated with the Philippian people. It was a deep, heartfelt, emotional relationship which existed between them.

3 I thank my God in all my remembrance of you, 4 always in every prayer of mine for you all making my prayer with joy, 5 because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now. 6 And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.

From the get-go, Paul makes his feelings clear about the church at Philippi: he loves them deeply. From the moment they believed, they have partnered with Paul in his ministry efforts. Presumably they supported him in every way; through prayer, through financial giving, and perhaps even by helping supply Paul’s physical needs.

However, Paul’s most precious words to them in these opening verses are words of assurance and words of promise. In verse six he reminds them all that God will finish the good work which he began in them. He will see it through and bring it to completion when they stand before Jesus. This should bring hope to all of us that no matter how discouraged we may become as we live in this world that God is ensuring that we will persevere that we will make it to the end and that no matter how we may struggle, how we may fail, nothing will prevent us from being transformed into the likeness of Jesus Christ.

He doesn’t accomplish this by forcing us to obey. On the contrary, even though our transformation is orchestrated by God, it is a willing transformation on our part. Rather than forcing us to obey and violating our ability to choose to obey, he instead gives us new desires which go to war with our old desires. Our old desires are still present and active, but where before they stood uncontested on the throne of our heart, now we have a new heart with new desires and the ability to choose whether or not we will obey God or obey the lusts of our flesh. And because the Holy Spirit resides within us, he gives us what we need in order to overcome the old desires. So it is incumbent on us to make use of the power of the Holy Spirit in choosing to follow our new desires and undergo transformation.

But this isn’t what I came here to talk about. The portion of chapter one which has really got me excited is what comes next.

7 It is right for me to feel this way about you all, because I hold you in my heart, for you are all partakers with me of grace,[4] both in my imprisonment and in the defense and confirmation of the gospel. 8 For God is my witness, how I yearn for you all with the affection of Christ Jesus. 9 And it is my prayer that your love may abound more and more, with knowledge and all discernment, 10 so that you may approve what is excellent, and so be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, 11 filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God.

It is right for us to have deep affections for each other in Christ. This rings true with Jesus’ command for us to love each other in John 13:

“34 A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. 35 By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”

It is blatantly offensive to our faith when we live in a virtual isolation from fellow believers. And I don’t mean that we wall ourselves up in our homes. There are people who go to church every time the doors open who are isolated in their relationships and lonely. American/Western Christians have a monumental problem. We have forgotten how to truly love each other. True love for each other goes way beyond:

• Prayer groups
• Prayer chains
• Bible studies
• Church meetings
• Giving to missions or charities
• Feeling empathy for someone

While there’s nothing wrong with any of these things, they all can be used as substitutes for real loving community. People hide behind them all the time and insist that they are experiencing loving community, but they have never reached out and invited people into their home, they have never spent time with other believers outside of church activities, so they don’t really know the people who they claim to love. This must change. Deep love means breaking bread together, spending time together, investing in one another in a way that means if one suffers, we all suffer and if one rejoices, we all rejoice.

I am as guilty as anyone of lacking hospitality. I am as guilty as anyone of expressing a form of love that is filled with empty words of well-wishing and empty prayers of unfelt emotion. I want this to change in me desperately. And I believe the Holy Spirit is changing me in this regard, but the change must happen in more people than just me. I’m hoping and praying that God will do a work in me, in my family, and my friends where we insist upon deep, emotional, risky relationships (risky because of the potential for shared pain). This is what Paul had with the Philippians. This is what we should have with each other. This is what Jesus had in mind when he commanded us to love one another.

However, even as great as this love between Paul and the Philippians was, Paul prayed that it would increase. No matter how good we may be at loving each other, as long as we live here, there will be room for improvement. Paul throws in two particular ingredients which we are to add to our growth in love: knowledge and discernment.

Why knowledge and discernment? In verse ten, Paul says it will help us approve what is excellent so that we might stand blameless. The truth is that when we love people, there will always be a temptation to “go soft” on our loved ones when in actuality they may need a swift kick in the pants – in love of course! It is easier to enable a person to sin than it is to warn them and hold them accountable. It is easier to allow someone to go their merry way, especially when they appear to be happy. But if we mix with our love, knowledge and discernment, we will keep each other from blindly stumbling into sin. Community should be built around this! This is the type of community which will cause us to be filled with the fruit of righteousness. This is the fruit which brings glory to God (v 11). So if we don’t live in this type of community, what exactly is the fruit we are displaying?

The best answer I can give you is the fruit of religion. Religious fruit puts people in bondage to rules and regulations. It ministers guilt when we fail and ultimately condemns us in every area of life. It is no wonder that so many have fled the church seeking something which doesn’t bind them up in slavery to performance and condemnation! It’s not that the community of believers shouldn’t take sin seriously, but rather we should be taking Jesus seriously. We should be shifting our focus to Jesus and only Jesus and away from sin and techniques on how not to sin. When sin happens, we should deal with it, but we should deal with it by looking to Jesus and not rules and techniques.

So to sum up, we need to change the way we love each other and it will by necessity cause us to change many other things in our lives. We need to break bread together, we need to know each other on a much deeper level than we can achieve by seeing each other at church or church functions. Paul and the Philippians have demonstrated for us here a gospel-centered, deep, emotional bond which was cultivated as he lived with them and shared life with them on a level which I’m afraid we have yet to experience. May the Holy Spirit grant to us this bond and in doing so bring glory to himself, Jesus, and the Father and cause his church to shine brightly before a lost and dying world so that they may see and believe.

Submissive Relationships

Ephesians has been a great book to study through. I just finished it this morning after a few months of study and it’s left me with much to chew on. I’ve had the topic of submission on my mind for about a week since it’s one of the last things Paul deals with in Ephesians. It’s not a fun topic, but mostly because it’s been misused and abused through the centuries. Yet even after having heard many teachings and sermons on submission, something new has popped out to me. Anyone who’s paid attention to the context knows that the thoughts about submission actually begin a few verses before verse 22. Here are the verses.

Ephesians 5:15 Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, 16 making the best use of the time, because the days are evil. 17 Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is. 18 And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit, 19 addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart, 20 giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, 21 submitting to one another out of reverence for Christ.

Verse three through twelve deal with things which believers should avoid: sexual immorality, impurity, covetousness, filthy talk, etc. In verse fifteen, Paul begins a section that basically says, “In light of these things you should be avoiding,” by opening with the words, “Look carefully then how you walk.” This phrase sets the context for everything that follows until 6:10, where he changes the thought one last time before ending the letter. The instructions in 15-21 include:

• walk wisely
• make the best use of time
• understand the will of the Lord

And then,

• be filled with the Spirit
• speak to each other with praises
• always be giving thanks
• submit to one another out of reverence for Christ.

The first three instructions, in verses 15-17, are very general, grand scheme instructions. Left to themselves they would not be very helpful because there’s no explanation of how to accomplish these things. So Paul zooms in a little further in verses 18-21 by being more specific. The key command here is to be filled with the Spirit. This is key for everything which follows. Nothing which follows can be accomplished in the power of human effort. The Spirit filled activities of singing and speaking to each other with praises, offering continual thanks, and having a mutual submission to each other are impossible for the natural man to persist in doing.

Here’s where things may get controversial. The verses which follow – 5:22 – 6:9, all fall under the context of verse 21. Verse 21 plainly states that we all are to have a mutual submission to each other out of reverence for Christ. Therefore any talk about relationships in the following verses, must be interpreted in light of verse 21. Wives submit to their husbands. Husbands submit to their wives. Children submit to the parents. Parents submit to their children. Slaves submit to their masters. Masters submit to their slaves. This mutual submission which we should all have for each other must be a willing submission.

Wives Submit

22 Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord. 23 For the husband is the head of the wife even as Christ is the head of the church, his body, and is himself its Savior. 24 Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit in everything to their husbands.

I want to walk carefully here. Remembering that the submission which we display is mutual and willing, the submission a wife displays to here husband is not forced, it is not contrived, but rather it should come from a heart that loves her husband. Willing, loving submission is the only type of submission which will endure. And if I may say, it is the only kind of submission which may win over an unbelieving husband. The key here is “as to the Lord.” If there is ever any question about what submission should look like, it should be the same kind of submission you offer to Jesus; a willing, loving, honest submission. However in all of this talk of willing submission, we cannot forget that it is a mutual submission, which means the husband has a role in his wife’s submission.

Husbands Submit

25 Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, 26 that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, 27 so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish. [1] 28 In the same way husbands should love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. 29 For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ does the church, 30 because we are members of his body. 31 ?€œTherefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.?€? 32 This mystery is profound, and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the church. 33 However, let each one of you love his wife as himself, and let the wife see that she respects her husband.

There is a reason that Paul has much more to say to husbands than he does to wives. Husbands have a larger responsibility in the mutually submissive relationship. If a wife is to willingly submit to her husband, it is the husband’s responsibility to make her submission willing. In other words, don’t be a jerk. If you love your wife the way you are commanded to love her, she will have no problems submitting to your leadership. How do you do this? You submit to her needs. If she needs a night away with her friends, let her have it and you watch the kids. You should submit to her gifts and talents. If she has a knack for financial thriftiness more than you, she should be the one (if she wants) to maintain the checkbook. This could even mean that your wife may have gifts and talents which allow her to make more money than you. Accept this and praise God that your wife is able to bring home the bacon that she brings home. Submit yourself to her gifts and talents and allow her to do the things which God has gifted her to do with a gracious heart. This equally goes for the wife as well. She should also submit to her husband’s gifts and talents. Mutual submission will make for a willing submission from both the husband and the wife.

Children Submit

6:1 Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. 2 ?€œHonor your father and mother?€? (this is the first commandment with a promise), 3 ?€œthat it may go well with you and that you may live long in the land.?€? 4 Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.

It should not be necessary for me to sit here and extol the virtues of children obeying their parents. This should be very clear to us. Children should submit to their parents willingly because their parents love them and have understanding and wisdom which will protect them and keep them from unnecessary harm. However I concede that there are bad parents in the world which make the issue of obedience difficult at best, particularly when there is abuse occurring.

Parents Submit

I believe these verses actually have much more to say to parents. How do parents submit to their children? Parents are not to provoke the anger of their children. This doesn’t simply mean that we shouldn’t antagonize them. What is the thing which angers children the most? In my experience, the thing which angers my children the most is being told “no”. Now obviously, when we tell our children “no” we have a good reason. Right? Well, I think if we consider it, many of our “no’s” can be traced to selfishness. We tell our kids “no” when we don’t want to be bothered. We tell them “no” when it would be inconvenient for us. The fact is we tell our children “no” many times when there really is no good reason to say “no.” How many fits are thrown? How much anger is pent up because parents needlessly say “no” to things that really should be “yes”? As parents, if there is no good reason to say “no”, we should say “yes.” In doing so, we submit to the desires of our children, to their imaginations, to their need for interaction. And this builds up willing submission in our children when they are faced with the choice to obey or disobey. Yes, they will still be kids and disobey, but I am inclined to believe that if we submit to their needs, they will much more consistently choose to obey because we have consistently demonstrated our love for them in our submission to them.

Slaves and Masters Submit

5 Slaves, [1] obey your earthly masters [2] with fear and trembling, with a sincere heart, as you would Christ, 6 not by the way of eye-service, as people-pleasers, but as servants [3] of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart, 7 rendering service with a good will as to the Lord and not to man, 8 knowing that whatever good anyone does, this he will receive back from the Lord, whether he is a slave or free. 9 Masters, do the same to them, and stop your threatening, knowing that he who is both their Master [4] and yours is in heaven, and that there is no partiality with him.

Mutual submission may find no stranger bedfellows than between slaves and masters. For our context in 21st century America, the employee and employer relationship will substitute nicely. The Bible has Christian slaves and Christian masters in mind here, but these principles should apply to any employee or employer, Christian or not. Popular culture doesn’t portray the boss/employee relationship as one of mutual submission. But the Scripture is clear that mutual submission should exist between the employer and the employee. The employee should submit to the direction and orders which are received from his boss, and bosses should submit to the needs of his or her employees. This is a two way street, where if employees submit willingly, the boss will certainly be more inclined to submit and vice versa. Mutual submission has a part to play in every type of relationship we cultivate.

I hope this sheds some insight upon the dynamics of submission and what true submission should look like. For all of the good teaching I’ve heard over the years about husband and wife relationships and children, few, if any, took 5:21 and systematically applied it to all of the following verses which speak about our relationships, up to 6:9. It’s been helpful to me, and I hope it will be helpful to you. We must remember that all of this is Spirit enabled. Mutual submission is not something that flows from the natural man. Only the Spirit led, Spirit enabled, Spirit filled individual will be able to consistently walk in mutual submission in all of this relationships.

Why Did God Save Me?

Why did God choose to save me? Perhaps you’ve asked yourself this question at some point or another. I know that many times after I’ve done or said something and immediately I feel that nudge from the Holy Spirit which tells me I’ve acted or spoken sinfully, I ask myself that question. Particularly if its one of those nasty habitual sins which we all struggle with from time to time. Why did he save me? Of course, no one can answer the question, “Why did God save me and not this other person?” That isn’t the question of which I am speaking. In order to gain some insight into why God chooses to save us, let’s answer two other questions:

• What have I been saved from?
• What have I been saved for?

Question: What have I been saved from?

The simplest and most obvious answer to the first question is that we have been saved from hell. This answer is correct, but often doesn’t effect much of a change in how we live. Too many people who “get saved” do so to escape hell, but almost never live the way Jesus says born again people are supposed to live. Although we are all at risk of dying any moment and therefore one heartbeat away from heaven or hell, we don’t live or think that way. Consequently, we tend to think of heaven and hell as distant eventualities which we won’t have to worry about until we’ve lived a long full life. So escape from hell doesn’t normally result in a long lasting, life-long commitment to Christ-likeness.

A proper understanding of what we’ve been saved from not only involves our eventual salvation from hell, but it also involves a present, ongoing salvation from the power of sin. We have been saved from slavery. We are all born into slavery to sin and the powers which rule this earth, namely, Satan and his demons. Upon our birth into this world until the moment we are born again, we are helplessly enslaved to the passions and desires of our flesh. In the moment the Holy Spirit gives us the new birth, we are set free from our slavery because the Holy Spirit takes residence within us and gives us the power to say “no” to sin and ungodliness. From then on, for the believer it is simply a choice of obeying the Spirit or obeying the lust and passions of the flesh.

This is excellent news. However, in my experience and I’m sure in everyone else’s experiences, we don’t always understand the far reaching depth of our former slavery. After seventeen years of being a believer, I am only scratching the surface on understanding the depth of my former bondage. Because, even though I am set free, there are still areas of my life in which I live as though I were still enslaved. As I recognize these areas, I must allow Jesus to redeem them. I must allow the Holy Spirit to begin the process of shedding light upon these areas so I can confess them and repent. Bringing these areas under subjection to Jesus is the only way I will ever experience the freedom which Jesus purchased for me on the cross.

Answer: I have been saved from hell and I have been saved from the enslavement to sin which I was born into.

Question: What have I been saved for?

Everything which God does, God has a reason and purpose for doing it. This means that if you’ve been born again, God has a reason for saving you. He has a purpose for your life in the grand scheme of his ultimate plan for the Bride of Christ, the Church. Ephesians 2:10 has this to say:

“For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.”

Every person whom He redeems, He has prepared for them redeemed works for them to accomplish. There are particular things which God will accomplish through us once we have been born again.

Unfortunately, armed with this knowledge, many people expend much time and energy trying to figure out these works ahead of time. “What’s God’s will for my life?” This maybe the most common question asked by Christians. It also may be the most misunderstood question which Christians ask. Because we as people like to know what’s coming at us so that we may map out our course, we tend to approach God’s will as a puzzle which must be pieced together and mapped out so we can know what’s coming. The problem with that is it isn’t Biblical because Jesus himself instructs us to cease worrying about tomorrow. It’s not that we shouldn’t try to plan and make provisions for the future. But we must ultimately understand that:

“The heart of man plans his way, but the Lord establishes his steps.” – Proverbs 16:9
“The steps of a man are established by the Lord, when he delights in his way;” – Proverbs 37:23

Ultimately, no matter what our plans, if we delight in the Lord, he will direct our steps. It is in this directing that we accomplish each of those “good works” which he has prepared for us to do. Delighting in the Lord will always lead you to accomplish his will for your life. So delight in the Lord. If we have been saved for good works which he prepared for us, and delighting in the Lord will lead us to accomplish those good works, then the answer to our question is simple. Delight in the Lord.

Answer: We have been saved so that we may delight in the Lord and thereby accomplish every good work which he has prepared for us.

A natural side question might be, “What are these good works?” While no one can make an actual list because they vary from person to person and situation to situation, there are some works for which every believer shares responsibility. Here’s a short list just to name a few:

• Evangelism – Matt 28:16-20
• Love for each other – 1 John 3:16-18
• Hospitality – Romans 12:13, 1 Peter 4:9
• Bearing of each others burdens- Galatians 6:1-2

These works and many more should never be excused or rationalized away in our hearts. We are all commanded to do them. And if we truly love Jesus, why wouldn’t we desire to do these things?

So back to the original question: Why did God save me? I’m not sure I can sum it up succinctly in one sentence or phrase, but he saved you and I so we can be free from the power of sin. He saved you and I so we can take delight in him because there’s nothing else in the universe in which we can delight that satisfies us like he does. He saved us so that through that delight, we will do the good things which he prepared for us to do. He saved you and I because he chose to love us before the world began. We don’t deserve it, and it makes me all the happier to know that even still, he chooses to save.

Love the Sinner and Hate the Sin?

I was reading this morning from the book, Death by Love, and came across an interesting point. The phrase “love the sinner, hate the sin” actually has its origins in the Hindu Gandhi’s 1929 autobiography, yet Christians toss about the phrase as if it comes directly from the Bible. (Before you jump to a conclusion about what I’m saying, please read on.) However, in contrast we can find several places in Scripture where God clearly says that he hates certain individuals or people groups.

“The boastful shall not stand before your eyes; you hate all evildoers.” Psalm 5:5

“The Lord is in his holy temple; the Lord’s throne is in heaven; his eyes see, his eyelids test the children of man. The Lord tests the righteous, but his soul hates the wicked and the one who loves violence.” Psalm 11:4-5

“Every evil of theirs is in Gilgal; there I began to hate them. Because of the wickedness of their deeds I will drive them out of my house. I will love them no more; all their princes are rebels.” Hosea 9:15

(NOTE: I’ve heard people say that “hate” means “to not prefer”, and that almost always is used in the context of Jacob and Esau. Without outright denying that interpretation, I will say you cannot apply that particular translation of the word “hate” every time the Scripture says God hates something or someone.)

How do we reconcile our use of this phrase “love the sinner and hate the sin” with the Scriptures? If we are going to so freely toss this phrase about, then we must build a case from Scripture that will help it stand. I find it troublesome that Hindu wisdom has crept into the vocabulary of the born again church.

The trouble is that most people, when attempting to build a Scriptural case for “loving the sinner and hating the sin” will turn to places in the Gospels where Jesus fellowships with sinners and tax collectors, and yet ignore the places in the same Gospels where Jesus speaks very harshly to the Pharisees and chief priests. We can’t build an argument for loving sinners without taking into account the fact that for some sinners Jesus reserved some very harsh judgments (woes). Even in Jesus’ ministry, there seems to be some sinners upon whom he poured out love, and some sinners upon whom he poured out anger.

The importance of this question is actually huge. It’s not that we become hateful in our demeanor toward the person sinning, but if we see someone sinning, we do become angry about the sin and toward the person who is committing the sin. What’s the difference between rape and the rapist; murder and the murderer? Can the person sinning be completely extracted and separated from the sin they are committing and be treated as two separate entities? So in the church, when a person is living in open sin, do we say to the person in sin that we don’t agree with what they’re doing, but continue to treat them as if they were doing nothing at all? That’s called a passive condoning of the behavior and actually makes us accomplices to the sin because we enable it to continue. That’s what happened in Corinth in 1 Corinthians 5 when they continued to fellowship with the guy who was sleeping with his step-mom. And in their passivity they too were sinning.

I may sound like a warmonger, but I assure you I am not. I’m just kind of tired of hearing Christians say that born again people should never become angry over sin. And in part, I attribute it to the acceptance of worldly or pagan philosophy, like “love the sinner, hate the sin.” I readily admit that ultimately our anger should always be a motivator to see that justice and righteousness prevails, which is the most loving thing that could happen to the person in sin, thereby in a sense, making Gandhi’s statement applicable. But due to bad teaching in the church at large, we have redefined love to mean the absence of hate. Any parent should know, if I don’t hate the things that would harm my children, then I will eventually allow those things to bring harm to them simply through my passivity. So even though I have hate in my heart toward certain things, I am still a loving father, and I am more of a loving father because I allow myself to hate certain things.

“What about my own sin?” Some people, when confronted with the sin of another person, may begin dwelling upon their own sin and thereby feel condemned because they have exhibited self-righteous anger toward another person for sins that are just as damning as their own sin. I understand why someone may think this way. We must remove the plank from our eye before removing the speck from someone else’ eye. I firmly believe this needs to happen. But let me be clear about this. Satan will attempt to diffuse your righteous anger over sin and injustice by sort of “blanket condemning” you over your own sins. If he can successfully diffuse your anger, then the motivation to hold anyone accountable will be quenched. This type of general conviction over your own sin is not from God, but rather is condemnation from Satan. Conviction from the Holy Spirit is specific and tells you exactly what needs to be repented from. The counterfeit conviction from Satan is often vague and non-specific as if there’s a mystery sin issue you need to deal with, but you just can’t finger it, or it maybe just a general sick feeling about your sinful condition as a whole. This is what will entangle you and could even cast you into a kind of spiritual depression. And it is this sort of non-specific spiritual malaise about our sins which Satan will cast upon us to attempt to derail the healthy, righteous anger which we should have about sin.

I admit that what I am proposing here walks a knife’s edge. If we allow anger to rule over us, we fall into sin. But if we do not exhibit anger and stifle it when it is the appropriate respone, we also sin. Jesus never said that trying to live like him would be without difficulty. So after all of that, let me refocus and ask you all this question: Can a solid Biblical argument for “love the sinner, hate the sin” be built which takes into consideration healthy, righteous anger against sin and those who commit it willfully?

Godly Sorrow, Worldly Sorrow: Which One?

I’ve recently read through 2 Corinthians 7. It has been very timely. I find it curious that I’ve arrived at this place during this time in the life of our church. It has brought me great cause for searching myself to see if there be any offensive way.

“As it is, I rejoice, not because you were grieved, but because you were grieved into repenting. For you felt a godly grief, so that you suffered no loss through us. For godly grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation without regret, whereas worldly grief produces death.” 2 Corinthians 7:9-10

What kind of sorrow is being stirred in our midst? Who is feeling sorrowful through this situation? It is my hope that any repentance demonstrated in the midst of this ordeal is not only genuine, but contagious. Perhaps we have too often characterized revival as something joyful. Perhaps we’ve been wrong all along. If revival begins with true repentance, revival will be utterly and deeply painful because no one enjoys true repentance. Too often true repentance has to be brought on by traumatic circumstances. Have we not been praying for revival? Have we not been singing songs asking for God to revive us? Is the situation we find ourselves in as a church the answer to our prayers and our longings? Will God break us so that he may start anew with us? If so, then God’s light will continue to expose the darkness of our hearts, and we will see more brokenness and more sorrow before we see the light and joy that comes in the morning. Only men and women of humility and contrition will endure to see the bounty of revival.

“The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.” Psalm 51:17

There is, though, a worldly sorrow. How does this compare with godly sorrow? In their initial outward appearance, they will be identical. There will be expressions of remorse, there will be apologies, they may be tears, there will be self deprecation; the initial actions will be very similar. And for the Christian, there will even be pleas for forgiveness to God and to the people against whom the individual sinned. If godly sorrow and worldly sorrow are so similar, how can one discern the difference?

The difference will always be in the results. Godly sorrow produces repentance which leads to salvation. Life is the fruit of godly sorrow. The person undergoing godly sorrow will become more Christ-like through the process: more humble, more servant-like, more loving, etc. Worldly sorrow will never produce Christ-likeness. As a matter of fact, it will only lead to more sin – to death. Worldly sorrow produces no true repentance. It only produces a remorse of being caught. The fruit of worldly sorrow may affect a behavioral change, but there isn’t an ounce of heart change, and more sin is inevitable. It may manifest itself in self-hatred, depression, condemnation, anger, bitterness, but no Christ-likeness.

So what do we do when someone says they have repented? We wait and watch. The only thing we can do is encourage them in their professed repentance, try to shepherd them and wait for the fruit of their sorrow to come to light. It is a heart matter, and matters of the heart are only revealed in the harvest of fruit.

2 Corinthians 6:1-4

Here’s another journal entry from this week . . .

Journal Entry: May 12, 2009, 6:45 AM

“1 Working together with him, then, we appeal to you not to receive the grace of God in vain. 2 For he says, In a favorable time I listened to you,and in a day of salvation I have helped you.Behold, now is the favorable time; behold, now is the day of salvation. 3 We put no obstacle in anyone’s way, so that no fault may be found with our ministry, 4 but as servants of God we commend ourselves in every way:”

What does it mean to receive God’s grace in vain? First of all, this is a message, I believe, addressed to believers. It is to those who have received God’s grace. To receive his grace in vain then has application to those who have been born again. It must be actions which nullify the power of the gospel in the individual and in the church. It is those actions which would cause God’s efforts in saving us to appear futile. Dissensions, factions, gossip, slander, adultery, strife, murder, envy: everything which Paul has admonished the Corinthians to expel from their midst.

My mind goes to the difficulties we are experiencing in the final days of our church building’s construction. God has been gracious to us throughout this process. Yet I, and others, sense an undercurrent here which could threaten to sweep us away and make all of God’s graciousness through this entire journey for naught. I personally only know a little bit. I do not know every detail of what is awry. But there is a tension in the air that is tighter than a snare drum. All I can do at this moment is cry out to Jesus to loosen the strain upon our emotions and to make things right. I know this: the deeds done in secret will be brought to light. If there has been any wrong-doing, the Holy Spirit will make it known. Judgment always begins with God’s people. And God will purify his church if there exists any reason to purify. It will be fearful, but it is totally avoidable if all is confessed and all is repented of willingly. But I am speaking to the air because I don’t know anything for sure. I just trust my discernment that something isn’t right. Willing confession and repentance will bring honor to God and prove his grace to not be in vain.

Now back to the verses. Today is the favorable time to repent. Today is the day of God’s favor. The urgency to respond to the Holy Spirit cannot be underestimated. True, this verse speaks of salvation and believing today, however the application is also to the killing of the flesh and our sanctification. The longer we resist the Holy Spirit, the deeper we plunge ourselves into callousness and hardness of heart. The maintaining of short lists with God keeps our hearts sensitive to conviction. Sin is toxic and it poisons you and everyone with whom we love and have relations. Even if it is an unseen sin there are still spiritual consequences with everyone in your life. So now not only have you sinned, then sinned again by resisting the Holy Spirit, but you sin again by bringing toxicity to those around you. YUCK! Today is the day to repent, for your sake, for the sake of Christ’s glory, and for the sake of the spiritual health of everyone surrounding you.

Paul said they put no obstacle in the way of people repenting. He added no difficult, extra requirements, he presented no moral objections to the way he conducted his ministry and his life. He made sure that no one could look at his life, ministry, or his message and make an objection. We too should be careful to ensure that no one can raise a legitimate objection against us, giving them reason to discount our message. This does not imply perfection, but rather along with striving to live holy, when we do fail, there is quick – if not immediate – confession, admission of wrong-doing, repentance, and where necessary, restitution. So long as we practice this, people who do raise objections will have no solid biblical ground upon which to accuse us. So then, even in our imperfections, God will glorify himself.

At times Paul uses the word “commend.” It doesn’t mean congratulate like we may believe it to mean. Often we use the word “commend” in a context of congratulating someone. That isn’t what it means here. The word “commend” really means “to present.” So when we say we commend something, we are saying we present something to you. Therefore when Paul says, “we commend ourselves in every way,” he means that they have went to great lengths to present themselves to them in such a way that there would be no obstacle in themselves which would prevent them from believing and repenting. In other words, they have gone through hell to present the gospel to them in a way which would keep the focus squarely on Jesus Christ and him crucified and raised. What lengths do we go through to ensure that the sin in our lives does not corrupt the message of the gospel? It is not legalistic perfection we seek, but rather a loving pursuit of holiness which is quick to confess, quick to repent, and easy to convict. (Ease of conviction meaning the Holy Spirit needs only offer gently correction instead of earth shattering rebuke.)

2 Corinthians 5:16-21

Here’s a one of my recent journal entries . . .

Journal Entry: May 7, 2009, 7:00 AM

“16 From now on, therefore, we regard no one according to the flesh. Even though we once regarded Christ according to the flesh, we regard him thus no longer. 17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation.The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. 18 All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; 19 that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. 20 Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. 21 For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.”

This is a very well known, very well cited passage. However there is a portion here which often doesn’t get included when quoted. Verse 16 says, “From now on, therefore, we regard no one according to the flesh.” The new creation we become in Christ is held to a different standard of life. We should not hold each other to worldly standards. In conflict, we look to the Scriptures. In times of peace, we look to the Scriptures. If we are unsure, we look to the Scriptures. If we need encouragement, we look to the Scriptures. Our standard is heavenly by nature and to abide by it we become like Jesus. If we abide by worldly standards, we will become like the world, and in the end will be indistinguishable from the word, which will ultimately give no one good cause to consider following Christ due to the lack of God’s power in our lives.

I love verse 18, where it says, “All of this is from God.” There is great comfort in knowing that this new creation which I am, and am becoming, is completely a work of God. I do not make this new man by my efforts. It is God who creates the new man within me. This doesn’t mean I have no responsibility in my transformation; indeed I am responsible to obey every prompting of the Holy Spirit and every command which Jesus issued for us to follow. But here is where I end and God begins. More obedience isn’t what really transforms me. If obedience was all it took to be transformed then every legalist would be the most transformed people in the church. We know this cannot be. If it were, the Pharisees would have been the good guys. No, there is something about loving Jesus enough to obey him that affects the change in me. And I suppose therein is the difference: love. There is the person who obeys from fear of losing blessing. There is the one who obeys to obtain favor. These are the legalists among us, and in them transformation is stunted, if not altogether halted. But the one who obeys because he loves Jesus and just wants to pleas him, he will be transformed from one degree of glory to the next. And God steps in and is happy to do the work in the one who loves his son. How simple!

This transformation into the new creation is the sure sign that we have been reconciled to God through Christ. Only those who are being transformed are those who are reconciled. No transformation is equal to no reconciliation. And since we are reconciled to God through Christ, and the Holy Spirit resides in us, we have been given opportunity to share in this ministry of reconciliation. Allowing God to work through us in the declaring of the gospel so that other may hear the gospel, repent and too be reconciled to God. This chance to work with the Holy Spirit in reconciling others to God is the highest calling to which one can be called. Being chosen to serve as an ambassador for the King of all creation cannot be surpassed by any earthly honor. Why do we treat it as something common? Why do we often approach the calling in a cavalier manner? If God were a CEO and we were his employees all of us would be jobless. Thankfully he is not a CEO, but rather he is merciful and slow to anger and long-suffering with our failures. And this should cause us to love him even more.

Journal Entry: May 11, 2009, 7:05 AM

And finally the clincher of this passage: “He made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” The very purpose from eternity past, which was given to Jesus, was to become a curse for us, to die a sinner’s death, to absorb the full wrath of God upon sin, to take upon himself the sins of the world, past, present, and future so that we who have trusted in him would not be held responsible for our sins, stand before God and be declared not guilty! What wonderous, unexplainable, ill-deserving, deep, deep love Jesus has for the Father and the Father has for us to endure such injustice, such pain and suffering so that we could be reconciled to God – even while we continue to sin.

Because of this we become the righteousness of God. It is the great exchange where when the Holy Spirit regenerates my heart, he not only removes my sin, but applies the righteousness of Christ to me so that I can stand before the Father blameless! This positional righteousness is the guarantee that I will persevere. Once I am his, no one can revoke that ownership. I am secure. But this righteousness that is applied also applies itself in my horizontal life. As the Holy Spirit transforms me, the righteousness of Christ he applied to me becomes more and more visible. Hence, I become more like Jesus, even while I am on this earth. And this is why there can be no salvation in the absense of transformation. The righteousness of Jesus will conquer the flesh and shine through in those he saves. Not every believer is transformed at the same pace, but for sure, transformation is occurring.