What You Would Have To Believe ...

... in order to qualify for the fellowship of some believers in my church tradition:

• That God is sovereign. Because Romans 9:18 says so: "Therefore hath he mercy on whom he will have mercy, and whom he will he hardeneth."
• That God is not sovereign. Because if you complete the five acts of salvation, He has to save you by contract because He said He would, and that is the only way you can be saved. (Jesus extending grace to the thief on the cross was a one-time only exception to this rule. And maybe Zacchaeus. And the man who was sick of the palsy. And the woman who anointed his feet. Maybe. But she probably sinned again after He said that, and was lost.)
• That God tells us everything we know to be saved. Because Romans 15:14 says so: "And I myself also am persuaded of you, my brethren, that ye also are full of goodness, filled with all knowledge, able also to admonish one another."
• That God doesn't tell us everything we know to be saved. Some of it we have to logic out for ourselves because He has hidden it in scripture, like the fact that He forbids everything that He does not specifically command, exemplify or imply there. And since he doesn't mention instrumental music in (most of) the New Testament, it's forbidden. Except pitch pipes, which are expedient. Or tuning forks. Or harps, when we get to heaven, but not before. Or when you're not in church. Maybe.
• That we are no longer under Old Testament law. Especially the parts about instrumental music. And the Sabbath.
• That we are still under Old Testament law. Especially the parts about God punishing those who disobey His unexpressed will, like Nadab and Abihu ... and we're still under most of the Ten Commandments, because Jesus repeated them. Except the one about the Sabbath.
• That couples who divorce and marry others must never divorce their new partners and remarry each other. Because Deuteronomy 24:4 says: "Her former husband, which sent her away, may not take her again to be his wife, after that she is defiled; for that is abomination before the LORD: and thou shalt not cause the land to sin, which the LORD thy God giveth thee for an inheritance." Although this one's dicey, because it might be part of the old law that we're no longer under.
• That couples who divorce and marry others must divorce their new partners and remarry each other. Because that's what 1 Corinthians 7:11 means when it says: "But and if she depart, let her remain unmarried or be reconciled to her husband: and let not the husband put away his wife" and, hey, we're being generous because literally this only applies to the woman; the man should not divorce anyone in the first place.
• Women are to keep utterly silent in churches. Because 1 Corinthians 14:34 says so: "Let your women keep silence in the churches: for it is not permitted unto them to speak; but they are commanded to be under obedience as also saith the law" and the Greek word for "keep silence" there means utterly silent, making no sound.
• Women are not to keep utterly silent in churches. Because they are commanded to sing like everybody else, but that's all they're authorized to do. Except for teaching other women or little children under the age of accountability, which is twelve even though the Bible doesn't say so and teaching them is not forbidden because, well, we say so because it's hard to find men who are willing to do it. And they probably really ought to wear a veil, too; but good luck making that stick.

Oh, there's a bunch more: Faith saves without works; faith plus works saves. In Christ there is no male-female difference and we should all submit to each other; women should submit to men and never vice-versa. Early Christians met every day to break bread; early Christians only met on Sunday to break bread.

This is just a bare sampling. I don't think I'm smart enough to be able to believe all of it at the same time. It's just too complicated.

And - well - contradictory.

You know what's much easier - though still deeply difficult in a way - for me to understand and believe?

"For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life." ~ John 3:16

"He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the LORD require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?" ~ Micah 6:8

That tells me that He loved the world to death. That law wasn't good enough anymore. That we couldn't pay off the debt of sin under it. That we all sin. That Jesus levels the playing field. He satisfies the justice, extends the mercy, walks the walk, fulfills the faith, loves the love, works the work, lives the life, dies the death, pays the debt, lives the life again and wants for all of us to be blessed by the fellowship of doing the same, to the very best of our ability - with Him walking at our sides! And with His help, we can share that blessing of fellowship with others who don't yet know and don't yet believe. That's life worth living forever.

And the rest of stuff some require for that fellowship is just so much mint, dill and cummin.

Congregational Autonomy

I just commented at Mike Cope's blog a little while ago:

I have two problems with the concept of congregational autonomy, which shouldn’t surprise anyone who knows me:

1. It’s not a concept found anywhere in scripture that I’ve found so far, and

2. I think that may be so because congregations are not autonomous. Neither are we autonomous as individual believers. We are subject to the King, and citizens of the kingdom. What each church and each believer says and does reflects on the entire kingdom, and we really need to start recognizing this.

I know this has unpopular ramifications. It means that we actually are responsible for teaching believers and churches which have fallen away from the doctrine of Christ (which is to love each other deeply) and that is exactly how we need to be doing it.

Am I just blowing bubbles through my snotty nose? Can someone point me to the book, chapter and verse where congregational autonomy is commanded, authorized, exemplified or reasonably inferred? Can someone give me a passage which even hints that it is what Jesus has in mind for us? That we are to be governed or ruled by anyone but Him?

Because the picture I get from "kingdom" is that He is in charge (Matthew 28:18) until He returns and hands the kingdom back over to God for judgment (1 Corinthians 15:23-28).

We answer to Christ.

We have elders/shepherds/bishops to help us know how to answer to Christ; to care for us, feed, teach, pray over us, and help direct the affairs of the church. I'm willing to give pretty wide latitude to the interpretation of that last phrase, but I find nothing in scripture which insinuates in any way that elders/shepherds/bishops are to be a ruling body or a board of directors over a single congregation.

The way we do church these days makes that almost a requirement, but that is not the way believers met together in the early days of Christianity. You've read the last verses of Acts 2; I don't need to explain this to you. They didn't own buildings, for instance (borrowed a lecture hall once, in Ephesus), but continued to meet in homes. That's not to say there's necessarily anything wrong with the way we do church now, but you have to admit, it's certainly not explicitly authorized by scripture. At least some ministers worked part-time to support their own ministry (Acts 18:2-3), and there's no indication anywhere in scripture that individual congregations supported their own minister (who was likely a traveling missionary, there for a few months or years only).

But when you have a building and a staff now, there are costs of maintenance, insurance, supply, policy and a thousand other items - and our very American way of doing church has virtually necessitated a board of directors, and somehow elders have ended up with the job, whether they wanted it or not.

And with that power and responsibility, even more has been taken.

Still, I can't tell you that there is necessarily anything wrong with that; serving in that way has just - in many cases - prevented men still working full-time from spending the time their church families need them to spend as shepherds, pastors, teachers and preachers (1 Timothy 5:17) - especially those latter two when there is no traveling evangelist available to do them (1 Timothy 4:13). I fear that it has sometimes led to levels of power and authority which tempt the lust for more - and the misapprehension that those levels of power and authority are innately theirs.

The idea that elders have some sort of absolute authority in their given congregation is simply unfounded. Of course, other believers are to respect them and they are to be men worthy of respect (1 Timothy 3:2-4). So are their wives (3:11) and deacons (3:8). We are to show respect to each other (1 Peter 2:17); husbands to wives (1 Peter 3:7); wives to husbands (Ephesians 5:33).

And they should be obeyed (Hebrews 13:17), as the context of the passage is more likely referring to spiritual leaders than earthly ones - whereas the context of 1 Peter 2:13-14 lists earthly leaders, yet leaves out any mention of spiritual leaders.

Why obey? Because "... they keep watch over you as men who must give an account. Obey them so that their work will be a joy, not a burden, for that would be of no advantage to you" (Hebrews 13:17, above). Of all people - elders need to recognize the authority of Christ, rather than to think it is innately theirs to wield over a church.

Remember what Jesus pulled his disciples over to the curb and told them after the sons of Zebedee used their mother in an aborted power-play?

Jesus called them together and said, "You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be your slave— just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many." ~ Matthew 20:25-28 (parallel passages, Mark 10:42-45; Luke 22:24-27)

If I'm right about this - if elders are not really elders in order to wield their own local authority, but to teach Christ's universal authority, and to serve/care for His flock - then what is the basis for congregational autonomy? Doesn't "autonomy" mean:

"independence," noun of quality from autonomos "independent, living by one's own laws," ... Self-government or the right of self-government; self-determination ... Self-government with respect to local or internal affairs ... ? (~ various dictionary entries)

Dear ones in Christ - we are not self-governing. Not as individuals. Not as churches. We are subjects of the King, as I said in my comment above, obedient to His authority. We are the ambassadors of Christ (2 Corinthians 5:20) in the frontier outposts of the kingdom of heaven, still breaking through from eternity to the earth right now (Matthew 11:12).

I know that the term "congregational autonomy" is used by many church fellowships to describe their independence from other fellowships' synods and bishoprics and regimenting hierarchies of church government - none of which are a part of the instruction of scripture, to be sure. But "congregational autonomy" is not a Biblical term.

And it is not a Biblical concept.

A Tale of Two Pretties

Well, we know that Esther was pretty, anyway (Esther 2:7). Ruth may have been as physically attractive as she was noble of character (Ruth 2:11 and 3:11). She's described as a Moabitess several times in the text, and Israelite men throughout the Old Testament seemed to find the women of Moab attractive, even when forbidden to mix with their people (Numbers 25:1; 1 Kings 11:1); etc.).

But that's not my point.

These two rather extraordinary women - Ruth for her boldness and character; Esther for her courage - have books in the Bible written about them. Moses doesn't have a book named after him. David doesn't have a book named after him. Books which do carry a person's name there often tell their story, and how God worked through them.

Esther's book is unusual in that it does not mention God at all, nor prayer, nor any of the practices of Israel (except fasting, which was almost always done in connection with prayer/mourning) - yet God's fingerprints are all over the ironies of the events which take place in it.

Similarly, God makes only cameo appearances in the book of Ruth; the strongest reference is to the fact that expatriate Israelite Naomi (mother of Ruth's late husband) "heard in Moab that the LORD had come to the aid of his people by providing food for them." Most of the rest of the references are Naomi's prayers that God will bless Ruth's acquisition of a husband after being widowed - or the frequent prayers of blessing which season the conversations of Boaz.

They're not long books - Ruth has four chapters; Esther, ten - and it's almost as if the writers (men?) felt uncomfortable in their culture, directly attaching the work of God as something done directly through these women.

Yet the results of His actions through them are unmistakable. In the time of the judges before the kings, Ruth woos and marries Boaz, and bears a child who will become the grandfather of Israel's greatest king - David. And in the time after the kings, when Israel is divided, disbanded, and dispersed mostly to Persia, Esther's actions will save her people from genocide.

Inculturation dies hard.

Jesus would show extraordinary, unprecedented grace toward women in His time: speaking to them, touching and healing them when they were ill, permitting those with damaged reputation to speak to and touch Him, permitting them to witness the truth about Him, even commissioning them to tell others the blessed news of His resurrection. On sons and daughters, according to Joel's prophecy, the Holy Spirit was manifest upon His followers at Pentecost. Prisca as well as Aquila instructed the visiting Apollos. The Lord opened Lydia's heart at Phillipi, and her entire household - perhaps even including employees of her business - were converted as well, and a church began as she hosted Paul and Silas.

But even the gospel writers seem reticent to divulge too much detail; to imply too strongly that God actually worked through these women.

Inculturation dies hard.

Today, believers continue to perpetuate a church culture which is completely uncomfortable recognizing God's work through women; the partnership which they share with men in the ministry of the gospel.

We justify it by quoting two instructions of Paul given to mixed Jew-and-Gentile-believer churches in Corinth and Ephesus, where there were difficulties with women disrupting worship with questions, not learning in quietness, dressing and behaving inappropriately. While there might still be churches where these problems exist, it's not likely that they exist to these biblical extremes.

Inculturation dies hard.

But at some point, inculturation has to give way to common sense - and scripture. The demise of inculturated values which have too long outlived their value to culture has to begin somewhere.

In scripture, it largely begins with Sarah and Rebekah and Miriam and Deborah and Jael ... and these two beautiful women - beautiful not wholly because of their physical attributes, but mostly because of their character.

Because they were willing to let God work through them.

When 'Conservative' Isn't Sound, by Mike Vestal

This article appeared in the April-June, 2002 issue of the Gospel Gleaner, a very conservative publication within the fellowship of Churches of Christ, published not too far away from me in Mabelvale, Arkansas. I could see no copyright on the issue, and that issue was not the article's original publication, so I hope I am not in violation by republishing it here.

When 'Conservative' Isn't Sound
by Mike Vestal

Being religiously “conservative” is not necessarily the same as being sound in the faith (Titus 1:13; 2:2). The two are not synonymous terms. Without any doubt, there are many areas in which Christians are to be, and must be, conservative. But this is not always so. Rather, we must always endeavor to be sound. Of the twenty-three passages where the Greek word for “sound” does occur, twelve are in the gospel accounts and nine are in 1 and 2 Timothy and Titus. The Greek word always has reference to health, wholeness and well being, whether in a physical or spiritual sense.

The idea of spiritual soundness is especially to be seen in 1 and 2 Timothy and Titus. We are to be sound “in the faith” (Titus 1:13; 2:2). We must cling to sound doctrine (1 Timothy 1:10; 2 Timothy 4:3; Titus 1:9; 2:1). And we must speak, hold and yield to the sound words of Christ (1 Timothy 6:3; 2 Timothy 1:13; Titus 2:8). The emphasis in these passages is on God’s word as a received body of fixed teaching that is to be used to give us the spiritual health we all should desperately desire, as well as to counteract any teaching, concept or practice that would threaten our soul’s health and well-being.

The fact is, there are real dangers in thinking that conservative always equals sound and vice versa. And this is not just an exercise in semantics or straining at some technical, but unimportant, subtlety. This becomes particularly true at a time in which an increasing number of brethren seem to be showing less respect for the authority and all sufficiency of Scripture (2 Timothy 3:16-17). It is possible to become so carried away with the disregard for God’s word that we are seeing on the part of some brethren that we fall from our own steadfastness (2 Peter 3:16-18). And just as some in their quest for something more have been guilty of compromising Scripture and of damaging their relationship with God, so some in their efforts to be conservative may unwittingly have exhibited something considerably less than what the Lord desires. Christianity involves all the love a man has — his heart, soul, mind and strength (Mark 12:30).

Sometimes “conservative” is merely a buzz word for being sound asleep, or for excusing oneself from at least some aspect of the will of God. And that’s when “conservative” isn’t sound! To be more specific, consider the following occasions when being “conservative” isn’t sound.

Soundness always has reference to good health, wholeness and well being, whether in the spiritual sense (cf., 2 Timothy 1:13) or physical (cf., Luke 15:27). But this is not always true of conservatism. There is a “carnal conservatism” that is every bit as real and wrong as the increasingly blatant disregard a number of brethren are displaying toward the authority and all-sufficiency of Scripture. To be more specific, consider the following occasions when being “conservative” isn’t sound.

When One is Not Motivated by Love. Revelation 2:1-7 speaks of the church at Ephesus. This church was an active congregation as well as one interested in doctrinal purity. In many ways it would have seemed to be a wonderful congregation. But the Lord said they had “left” their “first love.” And that’s serious! 1 Corinthians 13:1-3 speaks of the possibility of eloquence in communication, depth in knowledge and sacrificial giving (all good things) being worthless unless one is motivated by love.

When One Fails to Act Wisely and Expediently. This has to do with the need to humbly respect God’s will and to do what He has authorized in a manner that reflects sound judgment and action (1 Corinthians 6:12). It is possible to believe what is right, but to lack a sense of discernment and diligence in properly carrying things out (Philippians 1:9-11; Hebrews 5:11-14).

When One Talks but Doesn’t Do. What is so sound about any individual or church that talks but does not practice it? (See James 4:17). And while none of us is perfect, those who truly love the Lord will ever strive to do His will more completely (Ephesians 6:6; 1 Thessalonians 3:8-10). As John penned, “My little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue, but in deed and in truth” (1 John 3:18).

Are both our actions and attitudes sound?

When Sinful Pride Replaces Humility. Is it not possible to become so proud of our stand on various biblical matters, as well as the acclaim, associations, and opportunities that may come along with that stand, that pride rears its ugly head in us? (cf., 1 Corinthians 10:12; Proverbs 16:18). One may take a stand for truth without knowing God deeply and richly, but God desires both! (Colossians 1:9-10; Philippians 3:10). Humility drives away sinful ego when we truly seek to know Him. As John the Baptizer said, “He must increase, but I must decrease” (John 3:30).

When the “Whole Counsel of God” Gets Lost in the Issues and Controversies of the Day. Truth is often controversial, and error must be dealt with, but the “whole counsel of God” must be proclaimed too (Acts 20:27). It is not enough to just rebuke and reprove error; one must exhort, comfort and strengthen (cf. 2 Timothy 4:2; Acts 20:20). God’s people must not be known only for what we are against. We must also be known for what we are for! (Acts 20:32; 2 Timothy 3:16-17). There is seemingly no end to the number of errors which may be seen about us, but that is no reason to give congregations a steady and constant diet of every issue and controversy among us. Evangelism and vital forms of edification can easily get lost in the shuffle when this is done. May God give us all greater wisdom in exercising biblical balance in this regard.

One of the greatest dangers of “carnal conservatism” is that it is so insidious. It is easier seen in others than in ourselves. And while I trust, “carnal conservatism” isn’t so in any of us, it is still wise and proper to ask, “Master, is it I?” (Matthew 26:22; 2 Corinthians 13:5; 2 Peter 1:10). For to be guilty of such is to be unhealthy and unsound. — Granbury Street Church of Christ bulletin (May 11, 18, 25, 1997).

I don't know if this is the same Mike Vestal who is now on staff at the Westside Church of Christ in Midland, Texas, but I strongly suspect that it is, for in a recent church bulletin, there is an article commending love above other law to the members.

And, while I would probably use different words to express similar ideas here and there in communicating the text of the article above, I cannot at all disagree with it. Nor can I insist that what it says can be said only of "conservative" members of churches of Christ. It is just as applicable to those of us who are called "progressive." (Though, within our fellowship, I would have to say that disregard for the authority and sufficiency of scripture is extremely rare among those of us called "progressive," much more scarce than those who are called "conservative" might believe.)

It is often a struggle for me to remember to love, to express love, to live out love - especially when engaged in impassioned debate with some of the folks whose views do not agree with mine.

But Mike Vestal has nailed it, in my opinion: If our actions and attitudes aren't as "sound" (and I would use the word "Christ-like") as our doctrines, we are only "only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal" (1 Corinthians 13) - whether we are "conservative," "progressive" or in that vast in-between.

How Can You Be Sure?

Think of a doctrine you have been taught in church.

Any doctrine. I don't care which. It doesn't matter.

Now ask yourself a question: "How can I be sure that this is God's will - for me; for His people; for His church; for anyone; for everyone?"

I'm betting your first answer to that question is: "Look in the Bible."

Good answer.

If you can find that doctrine taught explicitly in scripture, just as it was taught to you, you have been taught well and you have learned well.

What if the doctrine you thought of can't be found in scripture? And I don't mean that just you yourself cannot find it; I mean if no one can find it. What then?

You could pray for clarity and an answer from God. He gives them sometimes; don't tell me He doesn't. Gideon and the fleece. Job and the whirlwind. Elijah and the still, small Voice after the whirlwind and the earthquake. Jonah under the withering vine.

What if you don't receive an answer? Does that mean God doesn't want you to know? That you couldn't understand the answer? That it's none of your business what His will is in this matter?

Or does He want you to look some more?

Maybe outside of scripture. Maybe in a library, or on the Internet, or from a wise and beloved friend and/or teacher.

What if you find the doctrine in a book or on a site or from trusted lips, and it's attributed to someone who wrote long after the canon of scripture was collected?

Does that automatically mean it's a teaching of man, and not credible? Or is it possible that it is a teaching of a man acquainted with God's word and will and nature, and reliable as an interpretation of scripture?

What if you find credible, intelligent, reasonable, spiritual sources which contradict that doctrine and outline believable reasons why it is in doubt or error.

How can you be sure?

These are some of the things I would want to know about that doctrine:

• Does it say more than scripture says?
• Does it say less than scripture says? (Does it ignore scripture which may contradict it? Explain away those scriptures?)
• Does it actually say something different and contradictory to what scripture says?
• Is it consistent with both the just and merciful nature of God; His kindness and severity?
• Is it reasonable inasfar as human knowledge extends?
• Is it logical inasfar as human logic extends?
• Is it something that genuinely contributes to the transformation of the believer into the image of the living Christ? (Or does it have only an appearance of righteousness?)
• Does it reflect the nature of Christ to be shone among His followers, exhibiting the fruits of His Spirit? (Or does its practice lead to self-righteousness, judgmentalism, arrogance, hatred, envy, strife, anger, divisiveness, and the like?)
• Does the environment in which that doctrine is taught disallow or discourage investigation, especially using sources that are outside of its influence or which contradict the doctrine?

I would say that if my answer to any of those questions regarding that doctrine is undesirable, unscriptural and unenlightening, then I have a serious and legitimate cause for doubting the doctrine.

You can bet I am going to ask God again. And I am going to keep asking. And keep asking. And keep asking.

Would you like to know why?

I believe God listens, and He answers, and He wants us to know His will. I believe this because of Luke 11:1-11. If that passage were suddenly expunged from all scripture and remained only in my head, I would still believe this because of John 14:12-14. And if all the red-letter words in all the red-letter Bibles faded bleachingly away in the night tonight, I would still believe because of James 1:5-7. And 1 John 5:1-5.

And many others.

He might speak through His word in a way you've never read and perceived it before. He might speak through His very Spirit commingled with yours, in a still, small voice that hushes whirlwinds and earthquakes and brings peace to the soul. He might speak through others with whom you converse, circumstances in your life, songs that you hear, books that you read, e-mails that you receive - any way He chooses.

If it is a doctrine you need to know and obey, He will not encrypt it, obscure it nor hide it. He is not in business to make your life more difficult to be like Him; to make it harder to obey.

That's Satan's job.

And that should give you some idea where false doctrine - hidden doctrine, secret doctrine, gnosis doctrine - comes from.

You can be sure of it.

But don't just take my word for it.

Ask. Seek. Knock.

Especially ask.

Health Care Reform

I am willing to give it a try.

Anything that doesn't work can be adjusted or repealed.

I am saddened that it has become a wedge to further drive apart two extremist positions connected to the major political parties who believe they have the uncontested fealty of 100% of Americans.

They do not.

Republicans seem to feel that this bill is some kind of referendum that declares their laissez-faire policy toward all free enterprise, including health care, a failure. Well, it's not. But more legislation was needed to rein in greed, and Congresses dominated by Republicans had plenty of opportunity to file and pass it for many, many years. They didn't step up to the plate.

Democrats seem to feel that this bill gives them the opportunity to throw as much money as they want to at a problem, that cost-saving efficiencies and total coverage will pay for it, and oh-well-what-the-hay-we're-in-debt-up-to-our-eyeballs-anyway-so-how-can-this-make-it-much-worse. Well, it can. The savings numbers are optimistic to say the least, so we'll see. Congresses led by Democratic majorities had brief opportunities to file and pass legislation that would have helped over the years. They didn't step up to the plate.

Health care providers and insurance companies, with free rein to charge whatever they wanted to, give as many unnecessary tests as they wanted to, refuse care to whomever they wanted to, ran amuck.

And we all let them. Believers in Christ, and those who do not yet believe. We treated health care as if it were something sacred, and forgot what truly is sacred.

It was not that way in the early centuries of the Christian faith. While plagues ravaged Europe and outlying areas and a lot of non-believers abandoned cities to escape the contagions, a lot of Christians stayed behind and cared for their sick and dying - at risk to themselves, but at no risk to their faith or their promised destiny.

Some day, believers need to take back the care of the poor and the sick.

Will we step up to the plate?

What Counts

Circumcision is nothing and uncircumcision is nothing. Keeping God's commands is what counts. ~ 1 Corinthians 7:18-20

For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision has any value. The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love. ~ Galatians 5:6

Neither circumcision nor uncircumcision means anything; what counts is a new creation. ~ Galatians 6:15

"Keeping God's commands" can't refer to keeping the whole of the old law; circumcision was one of those commands. And the law was a prison warden (Galatians 3:23); a school bus driver that made sure we got to school and were educated (3:24). And following the commands of law can't save (Acts 13:39; Galatians 2:21). So what are God's commands now?

In the past God overlooked such ignorance, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent. ~ Acts 17:30

A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. ~ John 13:34 (see also Galatians 5:14 and 2 John 1:6.)

So would it be fair to concatenate all that into one big thing that "counts"...?

"Keeping God's commands - expressing your faith through love - makes you a new creation. That's what counts."

Definitely not circumcision ... well, not the physical kind, anyway:

No, a man is a Jew if he is one inwardly; and circumcision is circumcision of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the written code. Such a man's praise is not from men, but from God. ~ Romans 2:29

God still wants us to be circumcised, but in our hearts. He wants us to let Him cut out and away from our hearts the temptations and distractions of the flesh, just as a surgeon might excise obstructing tissues from the heart that pumps our blood. Then we become one of God's chosen people, whether a Jew or Gentile. We each become a new creation (2 Corinthians 5:17).

Do we express our faith through love in baptism (Acts 18:8)? in giving (Luke 12:33)? in telling about Him to those who haven't heard His name (Matthew 28:16-20)? in encouraging others (Hebrews 10:25)? in helping the poor, the widows, the orphans (James 1:27)?

And in a thousand other ways which serve God, bless others, give glory to His name, testify of His grace and transform us into that new creation; into His very image (2 Corinthians 3:18)? Is there anything He wants us to do or not do that He has ever hidden or withheld from us (Philippians 3:15; Hebrews 6:17)?

Is there anything unclear about this ...?

Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God — this is your spiritual act of worship. Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will. Romans 12:1-2

Isn't the very core message of these verses that we sacrifice self - the flesh - every day in gratitude for His mercy (this is worship! Sunday or not!); we have to leave behind the urge to be conformed to the world's pattern of law-and-disobedience (Romans 11 just before this verse!) and be transformed into Christ's image so that we'll know what God's good, pleasing, perfect will is?

So here's my conclusion again:

"Keeping God's commands - expressing your faith through love - makes you a new creation. That's what counts."

Are we insisting on a lot of other stuff - a lot of man-made law - that doesn't count at all?

The God Who Walks

Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the LORD God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the LORD God among the trees of the garden. ~ Genesis 3:8

And after he became the father of Methuselah, Enoch walked with God 300 years and had other sons and daughters. Altogether, Enoch lived 365 years. Enoch walked with God; then he was no more, because God took him away. ~ Genesis 5:22

This is the account of Noah. Noah was a righteous man, blameless among the people of his time, and he walked with God. ~ Genesis 6:9

I will walk among you and be your God, and you will be my people. ~ Leviticus 26:12

And now, O Israel, what does the LORD your God ask of you but to fear the LORD your God, to walk in all his ways, to love him, to serve the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul ... ~ Deuteronomy 10:12

But be very careful to keep the commandment and the law that Moses the servant of the LORD gave you: to love the LORD your God, to walk in all his ways, to obey his commands, to hold fast to him and to serve him with all your heart and all your soul." ~ Joshua 22:5

... and observe what the LORD your God requires: Walk in his ways, and keep his decrees and commands, his laws and requirements, as written in the Law of Moses, so that you may prosper in all you do and wherever you go ... ~ 1 Kings 2:3

"And if you walk in my ways and obey my statutes and commands as David your father did, I will give you a long life." ~ 1 Kings 3:14

"He forsook the LORD, the God of his fathers, and did not walk in the way of the LORD." ~ 2 Kings 21:22

He has driven me away and made me walk in darkness rather than light ... ~ Lamentations 3:2

All the nations may walk in the name of their gods; we will walk in the name of the LORD our God for ever and ever. ~ Micah 4:5 ... He has showed you, O man, what is good. And what does the LORD require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God. ~ Micah 6:8

As Jesus walked beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and his brother Andrew casting a net into the lake, for they were fishermen. ~ Mark 1:16

During the fourth watch of the night Jesus went out to them, walking on the lake. When the disciples saw him walking on the lake, they were terrified. "It's a ghost," they said, and cried out in fear. But Jesus immediately said to them: "Take courage! It is I. Don't be afraid." "Lord, if it's you," Peter replied, "tell me to come to you on the water." "Come," he said. Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus. But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, "Lord, save me!"Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him. "You of little faith," he said, "why did you doubt?" ~ Matthew 14:25-31

They got up, drove him out of the town, and took him to the brow of the hill on which the town was built, in order to throw him down the cliff. But he walked right through the crowd and went on his way. ~ Luke 4:29-30

When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, "I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life." ~ John 8:12

Then Jesus told them, "You are going to have the light just a little while longer. Walk while you have the light, before darkness overtakes you. The man who walks in the dark does not know where he is going. ~ John 12:35

As they talked and discussed these things with each other, Jesus himself came up and walked along with them; but they were kept from recognizing him. He asked them, "What are you discussing together as you walk along?" ~ Luke 24:15-16

Whoever claims to live in him must walk as Jesus did. ~ 1 John 2:6

Yet you have a few people in Sardis who have not soiled their clothes. They will walk with me, dressed in white, for they are worthy. ~ Revelation 3:4

Here is a God who has wanted to walk with us since the very beginning. When we stopped walking the same direction He was going, all we could do was walk before Him. As we got further away, all we could do was walk in His ways. At last, we walked away ... all the way to captivity and estrangement and lamentations, alone. He spoke through his prophets of walking in hope, back toward Him. Then He came, in the flesh, and walked among us. He healed those who could not walk. He rescued those in engulfing water who tried to walk to Him, but couldn't. He walked a lifelong example for us, then walked up a hill with a cross on His back. He still walks with us in a different way now, and when He speaks our hearts burn within us, and we recognize Him in each word. It's the yearning to walk with Him again which ignites our spirits - and one day, washed and dressed in clean white, we will.

It's what He has wanted all along.

The Sin That Cannot Be Forgiven

"And so I tell you, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven men, but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven." ~ Matthew 12:31

"I tell you the truth, all the sins and blasphemies of men will be forgiven them. But whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will never be forgiven; he is guilty of an eternal sin." ~ Mark 3:29

"And everyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but anyone who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven." ~ Luke 12:10

Jesus speaks of a sin that will not be forgiven. It's not divorce and remarriage or failure to attend church or doubting God (contrary to what some have taught), unless you can somehow prove that all of those things and many more somehow equate to "blasphemy against the Spirit." I am sure there are some who have tried.

Here's why I believe those teachings fail:

There is never a point at which you cannot repent of those things.

"... if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land." ~ 2 Chronicles 7:14

"Peter replied, 'Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.'" ~ Acts 2:38

"The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance." ~ 2 Peter 3:9

God wants to forgive those who repent, and will.

So if all those sundry sins are not "blasphemy of the Holy Spirit," then what is?

I believe that the key to understanding the term is - of course and always - in the context of the verses in which it is planted.

All three of the synoptic gospel writers record this teaching of Jesus in what is likely the same situation: the first two with fairly short teachings; the other in a much longer one.

In Matthew 12, Mark 3, and Luke 11 & 12 the setting for this warning from Jesus comes right after a charge by Pharisees (Matthew) and teachers of the law (Mark), who said: "He is possessed by Beelzebub! It is only by Beelzebub, the prince of demons, that this fellow drives out demons." Matthew has already told us that Jesus has just healed a demon-possessed man who was blind and mute (Luke adds that afterward the man spoke), and that when it happened, people around were astonished and wondered "Could this be the Son of David?"

The teaching and record of the events that followed in Luke is so much longer that the healing takes place in chapter 11, and the teaching continues through chapter 12. Matthew adds that Jesus knew their thoughts before he began teaching: "How can Satan drive out Satan?" and adds: "He who is not with me is against me, and he who does not gather with me scatters. And so I tell you, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven men, but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven. Anyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but anyone who speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven, either in this age or in the age to come."

The people accusing Him of consorting with demons are so twisted in their thinking that - because they have already rejected Him as good and of God - they see the wonderful outcome of a wondrous miracle as deceit from Satan; from Beelzebub.

They are so prejudiced that they can no longer tell right from wrong. They are like the people that the prophet Isaiah proclaimed a woe upon hundreds of years before:

"Woe to those who call evil good
   and good evil,
   who put darkness for light
   and light for darkness,
   who put bitter for sweet
   and sweet for bitter." ~ Isaiah 5:20

It's impossible to repent when you believe evil to be good and good to be evil.

I believe this is the reason why God commanded the Israelites, fresh into their promised land, to dedicate/completely destroy some of the cities which they would take after He had conquered them: men, women, children, old people, cattle, donkeys, sheep and goods (Deuteronomy 7). The original word may have a footnote in your NIV Bible that helps define it, saying "The Hebrew term refers to the irrevocable giving over of things or persons to the LORD, often by totally destroying them."

Why? God tells them:

"You must not worship the LORD your God in their way, because in worshiping their gods, they do all kinds of detestable things the LORD hates. They even burn their sons and daughters in the fire as sacrifices to their gods." ~ Deuteronomy 12:31

They did these horrible, despicable things as worship to their gods, Baal (the earlier name for Beelzebub) and Molech and others; it was their religion, their culture, their upbringing to believe that this evil was good.

They were like the false teachers that Paul would warn Timothy about, hundreds of years later:

"The Spirit clearly says that in later times some will abandon the faith and follow deceiving spirits and things taught by demons. Such teachings come through hypocritical liars, whose consciences have been seared as with a hot iron." ~ 1 Timothy 4:1-2

It's impossible to repent when you believe evil to be good and good to be evil.

That's why I chose to change the word "will not" in the title of this post to "cannot." It isn't just that God will not forgive this sin.

It's that the sin cannot be repented of.

This is how the writer of Hebrews tried to explain the common-sense justice of it:

"It is impossible for those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, who have shared in the Holy Spirit, who have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the coming age, if they fall away, to be brought back to repentance, because to their loss they are crucifying the Son of God all over again and subjecting him to public disgrace." ~ Hebrews 6:4-6

"If we deliberately keep on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth, no sacrifice for sins is left, but only a fearful expectation of judgment and of raging fire that will consume the enemies of God. Anyone who rejected the law of Moses died without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. How much more severely do you think a man deserves to be punished who has trampled the Son of God under foot, who has treated as an unholy thing the blood of the covenant that sanctified him, and who has insulted the Spirit of grace? For we know him who said, 'It is mine to avenge; I will repay,' and again, 'The Lord will judge his people.' It is a dreadful thing to fall into the hands of the living God." ~ Hebrews 10:26-31

That, I believe, is what Jesus is talking about when He speaks of blaspheming the Holy Spirit.

It's a passage of scripture that is not without problems. Why Jesus is recorded as saying "Anyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven" in Matthew 12:32 and Luke 12:10, yet is also recorded as saying "But he who disowns me before men will be disowned before the angels of God" in Luke's previous verse 9 goes over my head, even when I'm standing on a chair.

It may be a simple as the fact that while here, enfleshed as a man, Jesus our example showed the same respect and awe toward God's Holy Spirit as any man should. Blaspheming Jesus or disowning Him at that time, perhaps, could be forgiven: He looked like a man; ate, drank, walked, grew weary, slept, lived, died as a man. But the life-giving, life-sustaining, life-returning things the Spirit did through Him were undeniably good, and should not have been mistaken for evil - could not have been by any right-thinking person. Jesus seemed to be communicating that He understood this when He said: "The miracles I do in my Father's name speak for me" (John 10:25) and "even though you do not believe me, believe the miracles, that you may know and understand that the Father is in me, and I in the Father" (John 10:38), and "Believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; or at least believe on the evidence of the miracles themselves" (John 14:11).

Peter, perhaps, could be forgiven when He disowned His Lord three times - having traveled with Him; having seen all the miracles; having been part of some of them. Even though he was the one who identified Jesus as God's Son, he could be forgiven for those moments of cowardice when he said, "I don't know Him" thrice.

The Pharisees and teachers of the law, on the other hand, may not have been forgivable at all. For they tried and tortured and crucified Him, all the time believing it to be the right and just and holy thing to do; their consciences seared as with a hot iron ... calling good "evil" and evil "good" ... trampling the Son of God underfoot.

It's impossible to repent when you believe evil to be good and good to be evil.

So I hope this helps explain, at least - even if I am totally wrong - why I sometimes become passionate in my discourse with brothers in Christ who preach that it is right and just to be judgmental and condemnatory toward those who do not observe their rules ... why I sometimes lose my composure when dealing with those who proclaim that they love the targets of their attacks yet spew words of hatred and mockery; who do all of their witch-hunting and false-prophet marking and apostate-declaring with absolutely clear consciences, believing themselves directed by God to do so without a hint of mercy, compassion, or grace.*

I know that it's easier for a camel to go through a needle's eye than for someone so enriched by the satisfaction of knowing he is right to ever enter the kingdom of heaven, ruled by the One who is perfect.

I know that I should pray for them, and I try. I really do. I want to care about them. I want to love and respect them. I want to remind myself that Christ died for them as surely as for me.

But from time to time, all I can pray for is "May God have mercy on their souls.

"And on mine, because of what I feel toward them."

---

_{*This tasks me, because Christian Courier editor Wayne Jackson, after quoting Matthew 12:31 earlier in the article, writes that "Any sin for which one seeks forgiveness through God’s prescribed plan can be forgiven." (Blasphemy: What is This Great Sin?). But what about sin that one does not see as sin; that one sees as good? For Apologetics Press, Kyle Butt concludes (regarding unforgivable sin) that "The fact that it is not mentioned after the resurrection, lends itself to the idea that it cannot still be committed. In fact, the indication from passages such as 1 John 1:7,9 is that 'all unrighteousness' that a person could commit today can be forgiven by the blood of Jesus." (Blasphemy Against the Holy Spirit—The “Unpardonable Sin”) That scripture, of course, closes with: "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness." One cannot confess what one does not perceive as sin. I can find no reference to this question on Forthright.net nor Seek The Old Paths. Other references to it on the Web are, as you might expect, all over the map - but so far, I have not encountered the view I've outlined here.}

A Hymn of Surrender

Have Mine Own Way, Now

(with sincerest apologies to Adelaide Pollard and Geo. C. Stebbins)

See it my way, plebe
My way's His way
I am the potter
You are the clay

I will remake you
formed to my will
after berating
you to be still.


Do it my way, grunt
Do it my way
You're just not trying
Faster today

Whiter than snow your
face looks just now
As in my presence
frightened you bow.


Have mine own way, now
Have mine own way
Wounded and weary,
You need not pray

Pow'r of persuasion
Surely is mine!
I have convinced thee
My will's divine!


Teach mine own way, slave
Teach mine own way
I hold o'er your mind
Absolute sway!

Broken your spirit
So all shall see
Only and always,
You'll follow me!

~ Author known, but not telling

Our Singing Idol

On another blog recently, a friend adjured me to keep breaking down idols.

It hadn't occurred to me until then that my fellowship's obsession with a cappella-only worship is an idol.

It is.

We of the churches of Christ worship it above the unity Christ prayed for on the night He was betrayed. We worship it above the teaching of Paul to Galatia that adding any law to the atonement of Christ is a fruitless attempt to weaken the power of His blood. We worship it above dozens of more life-shaping, world-saving instructions Jesus explicitly left, which we ignore at our own leisure - and peril.

And by "worship," I mean that we elevate a cappella-only worship above all of these things. We preach it. We argue it. We condemn others who do not accept it.

Yet a cappella-only worship is a teaching of man which - though it may go back to a human preference expressed very early in church history - has no firm or inarguable basis in scripture. There is certainly no command for it. There is no example of it. There is no unimpeachable inference of it, for those who require such things.

It is a doctrine which pends solely - not on love for God and for others - but on a singular way of looking at scripture as law, the silence of which on any given practice expresses God's disapproval and condemnation.

That "law of silence" is called the "regulative principle of worship," and has its origins in the teachings of John Calvin, many of whose other teachings my fellowship (Churches of Christ) would immediately repudiate.

And the view of scripture as law persists in spite of verses like:

"But now, by dying to what once bound us, we have been released from the law so that we serve in the new way of the Spirit, and not in the old way of the written code." ~ Romans 7:6

"Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death. For what the law was powerless to do in that it was weakened by the sinful nature, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful man to be a sin offering. And so he condemned sin in sinful man, in order that the righteous requirements of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the sinful nature but according to the Spirit." ~ Romans 8:1-4

"So I say, live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature. For the sinful nature desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the sinful nature. They are in conflict with each other, so that you do not do what you want. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under law." ~ Galatians 5:16-18

The clear implication of these passages - and many, many more - is that we didn't need more law. We needed grace. We needed Christ. We needed the guidance of His Spirit within us.

No matter what anyone tells you, scripture doesn't tell you that Christ came to bring more law. His singular commandment, "Love one another as I have loved you," expresses all the law and the prophets; for love that acts for the benefit of others mirrors God's love, and expresses love for God as well. This is the "law of Christ," spoken of in Galatians 6:2, because it expresses love by carrying others' burdens. This is "Christ's law" spoken of in 1 Corinthians 9:21, because it wins those not having the law, rather than binding its restrictions on them.

Law does not express love. Law expresses guilt and failure and judgment. It does not unite; it separates. It sees everything as intrinsically right or wrong, where common sense reveals that some things are neither. Because law must be interpreted, authority is required to clarify. Judgment must take place. Violators must be punished.

This is the case with the law of silence, specifically reformulated within the Restoration Movement to exclude everyone who didn't agree with what the excluders believed, especially about a cappella-only worship. I am sorry to have to speak so plainly; it is a shameful fact of our history.

We can choose to perpetuate this error by continuing to condemn those who do not bow down to our idol of a cappella-only worship.

Or we can

• repent of our guilt,
• stop condemning what God commanded and approved in the Old Testament (and never repealed, if we can only see scripture as a matter of law)
• stop consigning to hell those who practice vocal and instrumental worship,
• admit that a cappella-only worship is a matter of personal preference - and has been since just after the first century -
• and that New Testament scripture says virtually nothing about it.

(Except, of course, that it does not seem to be practiced in the eternal heaven revealed to John in Revelation 15:2-3.)

If we refuse and say, "I'd sooner die first," then God can certainly arrange that. He has done so before for idolators. And we just might end up somewhere that a cappella-only worship does not take place.

But it might not be the place we'd prefer.

Preaching Jesus

Take a look around on the Internet at the orders of worship and sermon topics of churches which post them, and you might get the impression that many ministers of the gospel have the idea that "You can only preach so much Jesus."

Really?

Because you can preach "the plan" all you want to, and if you don't preach "the man," you'll have converts to a system, not the Savior.

You can preach "the church" all you wish, and if you don't talk about the Bridegroom who purchased her with His blood, you'll be preaching narcissism.

You can preach against sin all year every year, and if you don't proclaim the One who died to save us from it and lived again so that we could live, you'll only be spreading guilt and despair and hoplessness - not the gospel.

You can preach about your experiences in life till the cows come home, but if you don't share His, will your church end up knowing more about your life on the farm than the Son you live for?

You can preach about biblical history, eschatology, pneumatology, soteriology, theology, or any other -ology ... but if you don't tell people about Jesus of Nazareth and what He taught and how He lived and how He reigns, just exactly what are you doing in the pulpit of a church in the Christian faith?

Have you actually shared all there is to know about Jesus of Nazareth, Son of God, Son of Man, Savior, Redeemer, Rabbi, Teacher, Lord, Master, Friend, High Priest, Sacrifice, Good Shepherd, the Holy and Righteous One, Firstborn of the Dead, Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace? The One to whom virtually all scripture points and praises - like John, His cousin - "Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world!"

Has your church plumbed the depths of its relationship with God through Christ?

Have you told them all there is to know about His love; how far He would go and what He gave up?

Or have you given up?

Paul didn't give up, and Christ was all he resolved to preach (1 Corinthians 2:2).

Peter knew there was no other name that could save (Acts 4:12).

John knew that it is through Him that we have fellowship (1 John 1:5-7).

Not just a plan. Not just a church. Not just a history. Not just a theory of His return, His Spirit, His divinity, His salvation, or His relationship with His Father.

But HIM.

Have you actually worn out the Ancient of Days?

Have you truly out-taught the Teacher?

Have you really mastered the Master?

Now there were some Greeks among those who went up to worship at the Feast. They came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, with a request. "Sir," they said, "we would like to see Jesus." ~ John 12:20-21

Where Old Sins Go to Die

"... Your sins are forgotten
They’re on the bottom
Of the ocean floor

"Your sins are erased
And they are no more
They're out on the ocean floor."
~ Ocean Floor as performed by Audio Adrenaline

"You will again have compassion on us; you will tread our sins underfoot and hurl all our iniquities into the depths of the sea." ~ Micah 7:19

Unless you can afford to send Dr. Robert Ballard down there after them, that sounds really remote; pretty much irretrievable.

So why bother?

Let 'em sink and die.

What Does God Want From Us?

Maybe we should see what God asked of those who served Him.

This is what Moses told the gathered masses after his second journey down the mountain with tablets of stone autographed by God:

"And now, O Israel, what does the LORD your God ask of you but to fear the LORD your God, to walk in all his ways, to love him, to serve the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul, and to observe the LORD's commands and decrees that I am giving you today for your own good?" ~ Deuteronomy 10:12-13

This is what Moses' successor Joshua told the two-and-a-half tribes who remained on the far side of the Jordan River:

"Now that the LORD your God has given your brothers rest as he promised, return to your homes in the land that Moses the servant of the LORD gave you on the other side of the Jordan. But be very careful to keep the commandment and the law that Moses the servant of the LORD gave you: to love the LORD your God, to walk in all his ways, to obey his commands, to hold fast to him and to serve him with all your heart and all your soul." ~ Joshua 22:4-5

This is what David, in his final days, told his son Solomon:

"I am about to go the way of all the earth," he said. "So be strong, show yourself a man, and observe what the LORD your God requires: Walk in his ways, and keep his decrees and commands, his laws and requirements, as written in the Law of Moses, so that you may prosper in all you do and wherever you go, and that the LORD may keep his promise to me: 'If your descendants watch how they live, and if they walk faithfully before me with all their heart and soul, you will never fail to have a man on the throne of Israel.' ~ 1 Kings 2:2-4

Micah relayed God's case against Israel in poetry:

He has showed you, O man, what is good.
   And what does the LORD require of you?
   To act justly and to love mercy
   and to walk humbly with your God. ~ Micah 6:8

This is what was prophetically revealed through Zechariah of the Lord's charge to a future high priest named Joshua, through whom He would forgive all sin in a single day:

The angel of the LORD gave this charge to Joshua: "This is what the LORD Almighty says: 'If you will walk in my ways and keep my requirements, then you will govern my house and have charge of my courts, and I will give you a place among these standing here.'" ~ Zechariah 3:6-7

Leaders and kings who miserably failed their tasks were said to have walked in their own ways, or the ways of their fathers. Those who pleased God were the ones spoken of as having walked in His ways.

They walked. They moved. Either toward Him ... or away from Him.

The good ones kept His commands, yes. But was it just obedience for the sake of being good?

Or was it also that they loved and served the Lord, heart and soul ... saw His requirements as for their own good ... held fast to Him ... believed in His promise ... feared His justice, and acted justly ... loved His mercy ... and walked humbly with their God?

What does God want from us now?

This is what Jesus gave as His commandment to His closest friends after washing their feet:

"A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another." ~ John 13:34-35

And they did not forget this simple instruction (Romans 12:10, 13:8; Galatians 5:13; Ephesians 4:2; Hebrews 10:24; 1 Peter 1:22, 3:8; 1 John 3:11, 3:23, 4:7, 4:11-12; 2 John 1:5, et al).

After all of the 613 precepts of the law given by angels through Moses, does that seem too simple?

Jesus said that the law and the prophets pend completely on only two commandments:

Jesus replied: "'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.' This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments." ~ Matthew 22:37-40

And He said that one instruction - so simple that we teach it to our children as we were taught it when children - summarizes them all in a scant few words:

"So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets." ~ Matthew 7:12

If we can master that simple thing, love that acts - and even if we can't, but try! - we're equipped to tackle His last instruction:

Then Jesus came to them and said, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age."

What does God want from us?

The same thing now as always:

Believe. Fear. Obey. Serve. Walk. Love. Act. Do. Go. Make. Baptize. Teach. Endure.

And He will be right there with us, every step of the way.

Earning Salvation Through Obedience

If you're going to teach that, you'll have to ignore or explain away:

"All of us have become like one who is unclean,
   and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags;
   we all shrivel up like a leaf,
   and like the wind our sins sweep us away." ~ Isaiah 64:6

Our righteousness is worthless before God.

"'These men who were hired last worked only one hour,' they said, 'and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the work and the heat of the day.'
"But he answered one of them, 'Friend, I am not being unfair to you. Didn't you agree to work for a denarius? Take your pay and go. I want to give the man who was hired last the same as I gave you. Don't I have the right to do what I want with my own money? Or are you envious because I am generous?'
"So the last will be first, and the first will be last." ~ Matthew 20:12-16

God is sovereign. He pays the denarius at the end of the day. It is His denarius.

"For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith — and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God — not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. ~ Ephesians2:8-10

We are not saved by our works, but to do good works.

"Because God wanted to make the unchanging nature of his purpose very clear to the heirs of what was promised, he confirmed it with an oath. God did this so that, by two unchangeable things in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled to take hold of the hope offered to us may be greatly encouraged.' ~ Hebrews 6:17-18

God doesn't communicate His purpose or promise unclearly: it is our hope. He does not hide His instruction for us by His silence, nor does He obscure it in code requiring logical decryption from the awardees of Ph.D.s in biblical languages and deductive reasoning. His desire is for all to come to repentance, not just the smart people.

Those few are just a handful of verses you'll have to ignore or explain away in scripture in order to teach that we earn our salvation through our obedience.

You see, Jesus earned it through His obedience (Romans 5:19). Our obedience comes from faith in Him (Romans 1:5). And faith itself is God's gift to us (Ephesians 2:8).

There are a lot more verses like that.

But these few are enough.

The Laws of God, The Laws of Man

A.E. Housman's Original: The laws of God, the laws of man     He may keep that will and can Not I: Let God and man decree     Laws for themselves and not for me; And if my ways are not as theirs     Let them mind their own affairs. Their deeds I judge and most condemn     Yet when did I make laws for them? Please yourselves, Say I, and they     Need only look the other way. But no, they will not; they must still     Wrest their neighbor to their will, And make me dance as they desire     With jail and gallows and hellfire And how am I to face the odds     Of man's bedevilment and God's? I, a stranger and afraid     In a world I never made They will be master, right or wrong;     Though, both are foolish, both are strong And since, my soul, we cannot flee     To Saturn or to Mercury Keep we must, If we can     These foreign laws of God and man.

My version: The laws of God, the laws of man     May all discern who will and can And find that God's grace sets one free     From laws that tutor you and me; Grace teaches care as His heart cares,     And bids us share as His love shares, Where man's law would but judge, condemn,     and favor these, or those, or them. Love God; do what you please, I say     For He loves, and won't look away. He always has and always will,     Though men won't see; feel they must still Make you to dance as they desire     With jail and gallows and their ire God's law is love; what are the odds     God won't obey a law that's God's? If you, a stranger and afraid     Love in this world that God has made He'll help you master right and wrong;     Though weak and foolish, you'll be strong And then your soul will someday flee     To God's own home, eternity So keep we must, if we but can     This law of love for God and man.

Answers

Answers are overrated.

Answers to difficult questions about God and His relationship to mankind are overrated, anyway.

I don't mean to completely downplay the value of having good, reliable answers to honest and fair questions. Unlike the poster (at left) seen in the quaint-but-ominous "Village" of the enigmatic mid-1960s British TV series "The Prisoner," my purpose is not to discourage curiosity or control freedom to ask.

I just want to point out that at a certain point, human wisdom ends (Ecclesiastes 1:16-17). At a certain point, God's willingness to explain Himself ends (Ephesians 1:9). At a certain point, our ability to understand what God might try to reveal to us, ends (Job 38).

Where believers too often go wrong - to the right or to the left, as the books of Moses say - is in latching on to the answers/interpretations of one man (or one group of men) and anchoring our souls to them as if they necessarily were the very words of God.

May I suggest a rule of thumb? If a belief system has the name of its human creator attached to it, or can be traced to a human creator; if it has "ism" at the end of its name, it is a teaching of man (Matthew 15:9 et al). It is not a doctrine of God. It is a disputable matter (Romans 14:1). It goes beyond a doctrine of God; beyond what God was willing to teach us in His word (2 John 1:9).

And it's not worthy of your time or mind or heart ... certainly not your soul.

Oh, it may have value in illuminating some aspect of the questions you have in your heart; I don't discount that for a moment.

Calvinism has much to teach about God's sovereignty (Psalm 68:20; Jude 1:4) - as long as we don't let it persuade us that His sovereignty invalidates the gift of choice He has given us.

Universalism reminds us that God, indeed, is patient and is not willing that any should perish (2 Peter 3:9) - as long as we don't permit it to convince us that "... but that all should come to repentance" is somehow optional.

Even legalism can serve to nudge our memory about the importance of obedience over mere "mental assent" belief - if we see obedience as the response of a grateful and believing heart rather than as the works by which we somehow earn salvation (Philippians 7:11; Epehsians 2:4-10).

"Being certain of Scripture's authority is humility. Being certain my interpretation is always right is arrogance." ~ Rick Warren, on Twitter (not too many hours ago)

"Faith is not opposed to knowledge; it is opposed to sight. And grace is not opposed to effort; it is opposed to earning." ~ Dallas Willard, Hearing God

I don't have to agree with everything these two fellows teach in order to see wisdom in these words. What they - or you, or I - might be wrong about does not negate what we are right about, and what we know: God's grace is sufficient for us (2 Corinthians 12:9); that His revelation of His will for us is sufficient (Romans 1:16-17); that His grace supplies everything that we need (Philippians 4:19; 2 Corinthians 9:8).

So if you catch yourself thinking (as I still frequently do): "I have to understand the answer to this, or I just can't believe anymore!" - just remember how much He has already revealed, provided, given and therefore forgiven:

His Son, in a manger, on a cross, in a tomb, now at His right hand.

Don't you think that's enough?

"May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit." ~ Romans 15:13

Praying for CFTF, Day 4

Patient Father who commands all to repent, not desiring that any of us should perish, may honor and glory be Yours forever and ever.

Today I lift the final speakers in the Contending for the Faith lectures to Your throne for Your touch in their lives and Your presence in their words: John Rose, Jimmy Gribble, Lee Moses, Gary Summers, Jess Whitlock, Dub McClish and Gary Summers. May Your Spirit inspire each one who will be His host; may Your word and Yours only be spoken; may the truth be spoken in love not just by these men but also by all those who seek to speak on Your behalf.

When such events occur in the future, may all participants be faithful in contacting in advance those whose works they doubt or oppose, in the Spirit of Matthew 18:15-17 and 5:23-24, to discuss with them any possible misunderstandings within or without the text.

I pray this in the name of Jesus, the Christ, Son of God:

Amen.