Christian: Not Of This World 6v3814

Christian

Not of This World

Brian Byrne

Copyright © 2021 by Brian Byrne All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods without the prior written permission of the publisher. For permission requests, solicit the publisher via the address below. Christian Faith Publishing, Inc. 832 Park Avenue Meadville, PA 16335 www.christianfaithpublishing.com Printed in the United States of America

Table of Contents

Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Chapter 6 Chapter 7 Chapter 8 Chapter 9 Chapter 10 Chapter 11 Chapter 12 Chapter 13 Chapter 14 Chapter 15 Chapter 16 Chapter 17 Chapter 18

Chapter 19 Chapter 20 Chapter 21 Chapter 22 Chapter 23 Chapter 24 Chapter 25 Chapter 26 Chapter 27 Chapter 28 Chapter 29 Chapter 30 Chapter 31 Chapter 32 Chapter 33 Chapter 34 Chapter 35 Chapter 36 Chapter 37 Chapter 38 Chapter 39

Chapter 40 Chapter 41 Chapter 42 Chapter 43 Chapter 44 Chapter 45 Chapter 46 Chapter 47 Chapter 48 Chapter 49 Chapter 50

Letter to Those Who Believe

There are millions of us around the world, and we all have one thing in common. We all bear the name of the One who died and rose again and who invites us to believe in Him. We are Christians. We have that name in common even though the name Christian is written and spoken in a great number of different languages and interpreted through the vastly different denominational lenses of our faith. But there, our similarity to each other so often ends. Denominational teaching and prejudice so often divide us, separating those who acknowledge the Lord our God from one another. Those who belong to the Greek Orthodox Church define their faith in quite different ways from those who belong to the Salvation Army. And the same exasperating divide exists between of the Apostolic Church of Australia and the of the Catholic Church in Argentina. These denominational barriers tend to face each of us away from each other and into the closed confines of churches and the circumscribed walls of our own denominations. Facing inward strengthens our prejudices and continues to isolate us from each other, and I believe, grieves the Lord our God who said that He would build one church, not many churches—His church, not our denominational equivalents of His church (Matt. 16:18). We accept that soon the Lord will return and will call His bride the invisible church that exists in so many ecclesiastical churches, to meet Him in the air with the promise that each of us will be in His presence forever (Matt. 28:20). Though His beloved church is so divided, there are two things we all have in common: His name and the Bible. And there are degrees in the understanding and practice of these two elements of our faith. For some of us, He will be represented as an icon engraved with gold. For others, He will be inscribed in a cherished doctrine in a denominational creed or statement of faith. For some of us, the Bible may lie unopened on a shelf. For others, it will be a treasured resource poured over endlessly and its teachings digested. And for some, it will provide the principles on which our relationship with Him is founded.

But there are two elements of our lives that have the potential to draw us closer together and to unite is in our common faith. One is our faith in Him. The other is couched in Jesus’s own words, “Seek and you shall find” (Matt. 7:7). The first is the degree of our trust in our living Lord. The second is the degree of our search to find Him. All of us, to some degree, have these elements of our faith in common. I certainly have them, and I believe that you also, to some degree, know to trust him and to a similar degree know to search for Him. I invite you to in the narrative included in this book, Christian: Not of This World. In it, I explore what the scriptures tell me about being a Christian and about the One whose name we all bear: Jesus the Christ, Son of Man and Son of God. I direct this invitation to the multitude of those in every church around the world who bear the name Christian and who honor the teachings brought to us in the book we all revere. We Christians live in an uncertain age, part of which is described so accurately in the Lord’s instruction to the prophet Daniel. “But you, Daniel, shut up the words [of this prophesy] and seal the book until the time of the end; many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall increase” (Dan. 12:4). I believe that Daniel’s words so accurately describe people of this age who are looking for something that will provide certainty and serve as an anchor for their lives. In this narrative, I will describe my own search to fulfill what I believe are the Lord’s personal requirements for a Christian as they are spelled out in the scriptures. In my search, I will make use of three resources. The first resource is the knowledge I have stored away in my mind. The second resource is made up of the scriptures, which helps me make sense of all my experiences, past, present, and future. My third resources is supernatural and has a name. He is the Spirit of Truth who has been charged to guide us into all truth (John 16:13). He is the One who inspired the scriptures (2 Tim. 3:16), and because He knows everything in the scriptures so well—He dictated them—I can rely on Him to interpret them to me when I call on Him in wholehearted trust. As a Christian, I have found that the Lord was recognized as a prophet in His own day. And as a prophet, He stood between the Lord God Almighty and the men and women who needed to hear what God had to say. The words our Prophet speaks to us fall into two categories: prophetic messages that relate to events in the present and prophecies that relate to events in the future. What our Prophet had to say to Christians today includes the following seven themes:

His kingdom is not of this world. Jesus is the way to the Father. The Spirit of Christ will be in us. Jesus is the model for our lives. His own eternal life will be in us. Faith in Jesus Christ is at the heart of our relationship with Him. Our fellowship has to be modelled on the fellowship known and cherished in the Trinity.

I also find that our Prophet left us with seven prophetic themes about our future as Christians and the future of the church:

The professing church will fall away from the faith. Christians will be caught up to meet the Lord in the air and our bodies will be transformed. We will all stand before Him at His judgment seat to give and to receive appropriate rewards. The world will turn away from Him and be judged in the tribulation. He will return with us to rule the world for a thousand years. Satan and his evil hosts will be shut away forever. The New Jerusalem will be our home forever.

In this narrative, I will explore only those themes that relate to Christian’s immediate relationship with the Lord our God. Themes that relate to the world, the apostate church and to the evil kingdom will be explored in later documents. One final note. There are so many versions of the scriptures available today, but in this narrative, I use only the New King James Version, which I have found brings me as close as I need to the meanings of the original Greek text. I begin with some of the biggest questions facing every Christian: What is the Great Separation? Why does sin divide us from our Lord? And what provision has He made so that we might walk free of sin’s ungainly burden? So I invite all who are called by His name, of whatever stripe and color, of whatever language and denomination, wherever in the world you live, and in whatever church you worship, to begin the search to find and apply the principles that will unite all of us Christians in the lead up to our Lord’s return. This book is dedicated to that end, and to the only One who has the wisdom to take us there: Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Ages, Lord of Glory.

Introduction

This book, Christian: Not of This World, has proved to be the most difficult book I have ever written. I am confronted by a worldwide church that is not like any church I can find in the scriptures. It is hopelessly divided and continues an almost inexorable pressure to endlessly multiply those divisions. In spite of these divisions, I find that all of us who own the name “Christian” have four things in common. In the first place, we all bear His name. The first century believers in Antioch were called Christianoi (Acts 11:26), after the manner of those in the Roman empire who followed one of the emperors. Those who owed their allegiance to the emperor Galba, Galbianoi. Those who owe their allegiance to Christ, Christianoi. In the second place, all of us, of whatever shape and color, believe that there is a need for individual Christians to relate to the One who lived among us, died on that central cross, and defeated death on our behalf. He is the One we all have in common. We share the often unspoken need to go looking for Him, find where He is, and there respond to Him. The third thing we all have in common is the book. It may be written in Latin or Swahili or Classical Arabic or Portuguese. But it bears the imprint of His Spirit, and no matter how we use it, we believe that it is the final authority for what we believe and for how we practice our faith. The fourth item that unites us is the belief that there is more to our lives than our daily grind. All Christians agree that there is a destination beyond the tombstone that defines the body’s final resting place. How we get to that destination is another matter, and what we find on the other end of the rainbow can also be a matter for considerable debate. I believe that all Christians around the world recognize the divided state of the church and its . Perhaps, somewhere in our subterranean consciousness, there is a flicker of a prayer that wishes it were not so. In some of us, that minor prayer has much more shape and form and is based on the belief that the Lord, more than all of us, also wishes it were not so. I believe that He longs for

Christians around the world who will search for and find a core of belief that will unite all of us in preparation for His return. And that is the challenge that I face as a teacher and an author: search for and find the biblical foundation on which the unity of all who believe can be built. And then put those biblical truths into words so that all of us, of whatever church or denomination, can affirm the truths that unite us. In writing this book, I have faced three challenges. In the first place, the need to understand what it means to be a Christian in today’s world. I have a heartfelt desire that the obstacles that divide God’s children might progressively fall by the wayside and be done with before He returns to take us all home. I write for an audience that is made up of every Christian, of whatever church and denomination, in whatever language, and of whatever tribe and nation. I dare not write only to those who are evangelicals or Greek Orthodox or Closed Brethren or Charismatics. These subtitles of our faith don’t seem to matter anymore to me and to so many others. Paul wrote about the authority he had received as an apostle and teacher and added, “For edification and not for your destruction” (2 Cor. 10:8). In writing these pages, I find myself bound into the same instruction and prohibition. The things that divide us, no matter how grievous, are not what this book is about. It is not my part to tear down the barricades that Christians have built around their fragmentary beliefs and practices, seemingly to protect themselves from others. The Lord can do that much more effectively than I can, and after all, it is His church. We are His people (Matt. 18:16). But I can set before you the biblical teachings around which we can all gather and, in that gathering, find the love for one another that unites us. Accepting that we need not be divided is my first challenge. As Paul told those gathered on the Areopagus, “For we are also His offspring” (Acts 17:28). I write for all who bear the name of our beloved Lord in the earnest hope that the words I write will provide a basis of belief that could unite us. And contained in that hope is the prayer that we Christians will find fulfillment of the Lord’s word, “That they all may be one, as You Father are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me” (John 17:21). The second challenge takes me back to the scriptures where I find historical and

doctrinal records of what went on in those distant days. In those records, I have to find material that leads me to a definition of Christian as we are meant to be. I have two choices. I can use contemporary definitions and impose them on the biblical record. Something like making God in our image. Or like imposing the image of the greatly divided church of today on the united biblical church of the first century. I have taken the reverse approach. I refer to the scriptures so that I can make sense of the Christianity of today. I find I can use the scriptures as a mirror in which I can see reflected what Christians ought to be. Or like a window through which I can see those first Christians going about their lives under the direct and penetrating gaze of the Lord. The third challenge in writing this book is personal. I also am a Christian. My life, what I believe and how I practice my faith, has also to be the subject of my examination. I dare not take refuge in the assertion that I belong to this or that denomination or nondenominational branch of Christendom, that I don’t need anyone, and that I have the correct reading of the biblical record. I will not, must not, inject my belief system into this enquiry and in that way seem to set myself somewhat apart from people who differ from me. Instead I need to explore what it means for me to be a Christian as the scriptures define Christian in this uncertain age. I have arranged my findings in the following seven subject divisions.

The Great Separation Part 1 includes my exploration of how we became divided from the Lord our God. And that division did not take place in our world and in our time. Its roots are to be found in a different order of space and time and in the disobedience of one of God’s greatest creations. From Lucifer’s disobedience flowed the disobedience of man and his separation from the life that God intended for His premier creation, Adam, and then you and me. The fall of man, his place in a disobedient world, his separation from God, his spiritual death, and the final ing, all followed as terrible consequences of those first separations.

The One We Serve In part 2 of this narrative, I turn my attention away from that which divides us and focus instead on the One who is the center of our faith and around whom we are all able to gather. He is the One who greatly longs to unite us. He is the Lord. We know Him as Jesus of Nazareth, but the scriptures also refer to Him as Creator, Savior, Healer, Teacher, Prophet, Bridegroom, and Judge. In these chapters, I will explore each of these images of our Lord and how we are to relate to Him in each of those seven capacities.

Questions of Faith Faith is a vague subject that has taken on a multitude of denominational vagaries. In these chapters, I will explore why we believe and how faith only operates through love, its eternal twin. Then there are various meanings I need to explore to come to a careful profile of the One we need to trust for everything in our past, present, and future. Then I explore four obstacles to faith and the priorities the Lord needs to find in each of His children.

The Ways of the Spirit In our faith, there is nothing more important than the One we know as the Breath of God. Breath equals Spirit. In these chapters, I explore what happened the day the Spirit came and set a process in motion in a miracle instant that is beyond imagining. I find that the place He comes to live in Christians is His own temple in which He makes His priorities known to those who believe. The Spirit’s temple is also the temple of God and is the sacred inner place in each Christian where Christ Himself lives. And it is from that sacred inner space that we discover godliness and turn our backs on its odious twin, religion.

Christian as Disciple One of the great elements of our faith that I refer to as “the missing” is the identity of Christians as they were first known and as they understood

themselves to be, disciples of our Lord. The scriptures reveal seven qualifications for being a disciple that the Lord Himself defined: Follow Me. Take up your cross. Deny yourself. Forsake all that you have. Abide in My word. Bear much fruit. Love one another.

The Family of God In these chapters, I turn my attention to a most misunderstood biblical reality, the family of God. I explore the nature of the Father, who the Spirit is, and what He came to do in and for Christian, the One we know as the Firstborn among many brethren and who I love to think of as my Elder Brother, the divine nature, divine provision, the absorbing theme of fellowship, and how those who stray may return to the safe confines of the household of God.

The Final Challenge In these chapters, I explore seven elements of our most personal faith that I and all Christians need in our lives. These include bridging the gulf between God and man, His command to be holy as He is holy, Paul’s instructions to live by faith, the requirement that we be filled with and live in the Spirit, what it means for Christians to come into and enjoy rest, the very challenging and often misunderstood command to abide in His love, and finally a reflection on the heart cry of God.

For those who are taking the time to explore what I have written, I have one comment and a concluding suggestion. First, the comment: I believe that all Christians belong somewhere along a particular spectrum of faith. At one end of the spectrum are Christians who actively search for Him, who seek to find out who He is and what He has to say about being Christian. These are Christians who seek to live up to the sometimes bewildering but exacting standards provided for us in the scriptures. At the other end of the spectrum are those who, for all kinds of reasons, do not engage in this search, who may have given up, as I once did, and have become

locked fast in the status quo of church life and practice. I believe that all Christians fall somewhere between these two ends of the spiritual spectrum. I also believe it is the Lord’s earnest desire that all Christians move deliberately and wholeheartedly to the end of the spiritual spectrum where the search for Him and the focus on Him are ways of life. Of course there is a cost involved. But better to face those costs while we are able than to be called to for our failures when we stand exposed before Him at His judgment seat. My concluding suggestion: take your courage in both hands, read the words of the writer of the letter to the Hebrews, which I quote, and then decide whether the search is worth the candle. My testimony, and the testimony of the writer of the letter to the Hebrews, is that the search to understand the Lord’s requirements for being Christian has great rewards, both in this life and in the life to come. I commend to you the words of that writer. “But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he [or she] who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him” (Heb. 11:6).

Part 1

The Great Separation

Preface to “The Great Separation”

I how strongly I fought against the idea that I become a Christian. Any excuse would do. From “I will live according to my own integrity.” Whatever that means to “I can’t come with you to church because my shoes haven’t been shined.” And after I became a Christian, I found the same selfcentered predisposition to go my own way kept on recurring. And I have learned that that also is one of the forms that sin can take in my life. Now looking back, as I put pen to page, or keyboard to computer, I realize that there is much, much more to the problem of sin than refusing to go to church or spending money on needless gratification, and there have been many of those. I also find that many of my fellow Christians skate through life as I did for so long, without a thought to the quality of their words and actions or their effects on others. It is disturbing to realize that we are all bound up on the same bundle of life, God included, and that how I live my life will automatically have an effect on others. And if sin has a large part to play in my life, then its effects will spread like ripples from a stone thrown into a pool—one central act with everexpanding effects. And who can know the effect that one sinful act will have on others? I also acknowledge that my life has been made up of more than a sequence of sins. There have been moments of illumination when a choice has been made that will affect the lives of others for good. William Shakespeare is reputed to have written, “The evil that men do live after them; the good is often interred with their bones.” Fortunately that comment doesn’t with God. For all

that I do, both good and ill, is known to the Almighty and He has made provision for both. In part 1, “The Great Separation,” I will explore seven themes that have featured greatly in my own life. Some I lived with for a long time without realizing the devastating effect my attitudes have on my words and behavior. My solution to other parts of the problem of sin—which is an element in the great separation, notably the ways I have learned to deal with my sinful nature—are of more recent origin. This narrative cannot leave out the place the Lord has had in my life. Indeed, He is central to the ways I have learned to deal with the problem of sin. And a profound truth. The greater the part He plays in my life, the less effect my sin will have in my life and in the lives of others. I invite you to me in this enquiry. For the problem of our great separation from God faces all of us, no matter which church each of us belongs to. And if you are able to your search with mine, to understand the nature of our separation from God and the provision God has made to solve this problem, then perhaps, just perhaps, we will forge another link in the chain that connects the people of God with each other. In this way, we may be able to overturn some of the obstacles the devil continues to put in our way to separate the children of God from one another. I will begin my enquiry with what the scripture reveals about the first man and woman, for I believe it was there in the garden that sin first appeared. And here I run into an immediate difficulty. How I read and interpret the scriptures may differ considerably from how you read and interpret them. And these differences could divide us as they continue to divide so many in the Christian world. My intention is not to argue our relative positions regarding the scriptures. My need is simpler than that. When I read the scriptures, I obey a simple rule of interpretation. If the plain sense of the written word makes perfect sense, I will seek no other sense. Where the scriptures tell me that the Lord God took the dust from the ground and formed Adam, I accept that that is exactly what happened. And everything I write in this narrative conforms to this rule. I therefore invite you to read with the same attitude I use as I write.

Welcome to the search that unites us all.

1

The Great Disobedience

How you are fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! How you are cut down, you who weakened the nations! For you said in your heart: I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars [angels] of God; I will sit on the mount of the congregation on the farthest sides of the north; I will ascend above the heights of the clouds, I will be like the Most High. —Isaiah 14:12–14

He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources, for he is a liar and the father of it. —John 8:44

But if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing, whose minds the god of this age has blinded. —2 Corinthians 4:3–4

In the Beginning

In the beginning there was no beginning, but there was life that also had no

beginning. That life was and is and always will be eternal. For that eternal life consisted in the eternal lives of three divine Persons who filled everything with their presence. They could not be trapped in time, for time had not yet been created. And the spaces between continents and oceans, from the deepest lowland to the highest mountain and the forces that enable everything to whirl across space had been determined by them, and therefore cannot contain them. They hold together everything that exists (Ps. 104:30). As John records, “All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made” (John 1:3). He is One of the Three, separate from Them, though one with each of Them. At some interval in that faraway time that only They comprehend, the Father, the Son, and the Spirit decided on a notable act of creation, an archangel of the greatest beauty and wisdom, would be added to the vast hosts of heaven already created to do God’s bidding. Ezekiel described him:

You were the seal of perfection, full of wisdom and perfect in beauty. You were in Eden, the garden of God. You were the anointed cherub who covers; I established you; you were perfect in all your ways from the day you were created, till iniquity was found in you. (Ezek. 28:12–15)

His was the great disobedience. He was created in the perfections of heaven and in his being reflected those perfections. Love would have been in him, and the greatest degree of wisdom and obedience to his Creator. But on some unknown occasion, this created archangel sought to replace the one who created him. Ezekiel reports: “You were perfect in your ways from the day you were created, till iniquity was found in you” (Ezek. 28:15). There are no records that expand the bleak description of how iniquity was found in him. But in an instant, Lucifer made his decision to be like the Most High God and all the goodness that God had invested in him disappeared from his being, fled away into some bottomless pit. It was as though a vacuum was created in his person. And into that angelic void in the being of Lucifer every imaginable kind of evil, like iron to a magnet, fastened itself. Disobedience and hate corrupted the once-perfect, obedient, and loving being.

In one instant, Lucifer was the epitome of goodness, of love, of grace, of mercy, of holiness, of wisdom, of obedience, and of every kind of attribute created by God out of the infinite store of His own perfection. In the next instant, goodness in Lucifer was replaced by evil, love by hate, wisdom by crafty deceit, honesty by every kind of lie, the sanctity of life by the lust to kill, and obedience to his Creator by the great disobedience. His fall did not end there. Out of the vast host of angelic beings, he collected a third that would follow him in his disobedience, becoming utterly like him in all his evil. John, the last New Testament prophet, described a great fiery red dragon, another name for Lucifer and Satan, who “drew a third of the stars of heaven and threw them to the earth” (Rev. 12:4). (Stars are a symbol often used to refer to angels. See Revelation 1:16 and 20.) And everywhere one goes on earth today, as I have, one can encounter those same evil spirits also called demons, still possessing people as they did in Jesus’s day, attaching themselves to idols, images, religious artifacts, places of worship, and to objects that are connected with worship in different religions. These are the spirit forces that continually attempt to influence the lives of Christians in opposition to what God has ordained for His children. Satan’s hosts of angelic evil are arranged in a vast hierarchy that Paul described (Eph. 6:12). At the summit of this hierarchy, subordinate to Satan himself, and overseeing evil in all its aspects are those Paul referred to as principalities and powers. One of God’s mighty angelic beings came to Daniel and spoke of the prince of the kingdom of Persia and the prince of the kingdom of Greece (Dan. 10:13, 20). Both these princes of evil serve under the control and with the authority of the prince of darkness himself, Satan. Under these principalities and powers arranged in descending order are the rulers of the darkness of this age in different realms of the evil world. The author knows of their existence, for he heard one of them screaming at him when he ed through his space in front of a great temple. And at the very bottom are all the hosts of wickedness, demons that possess man, inhabit an image of a god, fill the precincts of a temple, or are confined to a ritual space to which people bring offerings and worship.

Satan’s Obsession

Our understanding of Satan and his ways depends to a large degree on what is not said in the scriptures, but what has to be concluded from the records of both the Lord our God and the evil one himself. The predominant element in his nature from which, I believe, everything else flowed and which explains so much of his evil intentions was his stated purpose, “I will be like the Most High” (Isa. 14:14). We know that the mind of Satan, unlike the mind of our Lord, which is filled with limitless knowledge, is strictly limited. What he knows cannot have its origin in his own being, for he was created as a strictly finite being. The knowledge that drives him has to come from somewhere else. And where better than from watching the One he aspires to be like, the One he dreams of replacing, our Lord Himself. He knew of God’s intention to create man after His own image, for the evil one would have heard these historic words. “Let is make man in our image” (Gen. 1:26). I believe he was there when the Lord God scooped up some of the red dust and formed Adam, and breathed into his nostrils the breath or Spirit of life (Gen. 1:27). His lust to be like the Most High inevitably forced the evil one to his decision to corrupt the man Adam, made in the image of God, and reshape him into his own evil image. And out of that decision flowed all the events that led to their expulsion from the garden. At that time, three things were let loose on an unsuspecting world—the natural human nature of man forever predisposed to sin, the cities that Cain and then Nimrod built, which became the kingdoms of the world in which every form of evil under the eye of Satan could flourish, and Satan himself with his vast array of demons through whom evil was spread around the world, and all committed to induce human beings to become part of the disobedient world that Satan rules.

The Wiles of Satan

In another faraway time, the apostle Paul declared that they were “not ignorant of his devices” (1 Cor. 2:11). For just as he expressed defiant disobedience to the One who created him, Lucifer, also called Satan, makes every effort to induce the people of God to the same disobedience. And he has three resources at his disposal: the nature of man that is predisposed to sin, the world with its undoubted beauty and its scores of deceits, and the hosts of wickedness in heavenly places. The tragedy for Christians and for the church is that one of Satan’s resources; the old nature, the flesh, is to be found within each believer. And this is the undoubted link between those of us who have been born of God and the world in which we all live. Paul, who wrote about the devices of the devil (2 Cor. 2:11), also wrote a command relating to our relationship with the world. “And do not be conformed to the world” (Rom. 12:2). The apostle knew that one of Satan’s devices is to connect each of God’s children to the world so that the deceits of the world can flow effortlessly into the heart of the disciple. And the unfortunate fact is that the bridge across which the things of the world find their way into a Christian exists within himself or herself and is activated by the believer, by his sinful nature. The apostle John referred us to this connection. “For all that is in the world—the uncontrolled desires of the flesh, activated by the desires of the eyes, and in agreement with the pride of life, does not come from the Father, but from the world that will away” (1 John 2:16; my paraphrase). Paul understood that the flesh has the capacity for desire that has been the undoing of men and women down through the ages. It all began with Eve who saw the fruit and desired it (Gen. 3:6). Cain desired recognition from the Father but went about gaining that approval through inappropriate means (Gen. 4:4–5). Moses desired the recognition of his fellow countrymen and used murder in an attempt to gain that recognition (Ex. 3:11–15). David desired a sexual interlude with Bathsheba and suffered the consequences (1 Sam. 11:1–4). And so the story continues. You can write your own s of desire. We all can. Desire. Epithumia. Desire for anything—person, place, object, dream, position, relationship, experience—that makes an attachment between the thing desired and the one expressing that desire, and which refuses to let go. Desire establishes the permanent link between things in the world and the being of the Christian. The inescapable fact is that the satisfaction of desire cannot bring an end to

desire. It is a wheel that turns endlessly, a part of the old nature that can never be satisfied. And using desire to augment oneself, a new house, hairdo, holiday, increase in wealth, sexual satisfaction has the opposite effect. In the long run, it depletes those who belong to the Father, for it distracts us from our obedience to Him and to all He stands for. The ways of desire, in effect, are the ways of disobedience that were first expressed when Lucifer desired to be like God. Jesus our Lord referred to the paths of obedience and disobedience. There are two ways. One broad way leads to destruction. The other way, narrow and difficult leads to life (Matt. 7:13–14). I have found that the broad way that continually leads to destruction is the natural way of the flesh. The narrow way that continually leads to life is the way of the Spirit that is the right of all who have been born into the kingdom of God through His Spirit (John 3:3, 5). In the following narrative, I will trace these two ways of life, available to all of those who have been born of His Spirit. The way of the flesh with desire as its primary force, can never be pleasing to God (Rom. 8:8). And the way of the flesh is the way of disobedience that has flowed across history since Adam and Eve first indulged in their life-changing disobedience. The way of the Spirit is the way the Lord followed throughout His life until the day on the cross when He yielded up His spirit (John 19:30) and beyond. And the way of the Spirit is the way that we, as Christians, are commanded to follow. In the following parts of this narrative, we will explore the difficult ways of obedience. And in doing so, we will part company with the one who made disobedience a way of life. Lock Lucifer and Satan away where he belongs: on the sidelines of our lives as Christians.

2

Man’s Disobedience

And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, “Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.” —Genesis 2:17

For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. —Romans 3:23

The Garden in Eden

Somewhere in the land of the four rivers, Tigris, Euphrates, Pishon, and Gihon, the Lord God planted a garden, and there He put the man He had created out of the red dust. And there also He put the woman Eve so that the three of them shared a relationship that was very special, unique, and never to be repeated this side of heaven. Also in the garden was a serpent we identify as Satan. He is referred to in the prophesy of Ezekiel, “You were in Eden, the garden of God” (Ezek. 28:13). But he had different plans for the couple God had created. He has a number of names, but one name in particular applies to the part he played in those recorded events. The one who deceives (Rev. 20:3).

As I read the scriptures, I find four elements that help me understand the place that sin played in the lives of the first couple, in my own life and, I suspect, in the lives of all of us. A relationship, a prohibition, the temptation, and the outcome.

The Relationship

Adam and then Eve had been made in the perfect image of God who is love (1 John 4:8). Their relationship with Him and with each other was marked by love. And trust was also a significant part of that relationship, though it isn’t mentioned in the record. Adam and Eve had the ability to hear what the Lord said to them as they shared their lives in the garden. At that time, there was nothing in the garden or in their lives that could disturb the perfection of their relationship with the Lord God and with each other. Trust in the Lord God was a significant element in their reciprocal relationship. I read that the Lord brought “very beast of the field and every bird of the air to Adam, to see what he would call them. And whatever Adam called each living creature, that was its name” (Gen. 2:19). No restraints. No conditions. Just the Lord God’s trust in Adam to know what he was doing and to respect Adam’s decision regarding the name of each living creature. And when Eve was created, the Lord brought her to Adam. “And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed” (Gen. 2:25). The fact of nakedness did not have any adverse effect on their relationship that was marked by love and trust. For both had been created in the image of God, Father, Son, and Spirit, where love and trust are reciprocal elements of the divine relationship on which Adam and Eve’s human relationship had been patterned.

The Prohibition

The biblical record tells me that the Lord had planted a garden eastward in Eden and that “out of the ground the Lord God made every tree to grow that is pleasant to the sight and good for food” (Gen. 2:9). And there were two other trees with very special features. One was the tree of life. The other was the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. And with that tree came the prohibition. “Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat, but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die” (Gen. 2:16–17). Why a tree of the knowledge of good and evil? And why the prohibition? Because both good and evil were present in the garden. The Lord God was there with the man and woman He had created and all was good, just as the One who created them was good. But there was another one in the garden referred to as the serpent and he was unspeakably evil. The principles of good and evil were also present in the two kingdoms in which they respectively ruled. The Lord God in the kingdom of righteousness in heaven. The serpent in the kingdom of evil over which he ruled with innumerable demon servants. The tree of the knowledge of good and evil epitomized the principles of good and evil that were present in the garden in the persons of the Lord God and of the serpent. The prohibition, not to eat of the fruit of that tree, confronted both Adam and Eve with the twin principles of good and evil and forced them to constantly make a choice. by that tree. ire its deceptive beauty. But refrain from touching the fruit that grew so abundantly among its branches. In the heart and mind of the Lord was knowledge that that choice had to be made continually so that the knowledge of evil could be constantly separated from those who had been made in the image of the good.

The Temptation

Here the adversary we know as Lucifer enters the picture. He would have known of the separation of good and evil in the mind of the Lord God, and he would have it otherwise. Satan, the serpent would also have known that Adam and Eve

lived on the side of good and righteousness. Their allegiance was denied Him, and he would also have that perfect state reversed. So he whispered into Eve’s ear, “Has God said, you shall not eat of every tree of the garden?” (Gen. 3:1). Subtle! Very much so, and that has always been the mark of his deception, and I know that from personal experience. Eve was drawn into the dialogue and put before the serpent the prohibition as she understood it. Then he replied with half-truth, half lie: “For God knows that in the day that you eat of it, your eyes will be opened and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” Part true. Part lie. The truth was obvious. The lie was hidden. She would indeed be like God knowing good and evil but God is also the master of evil, shutting it out of His realm. She could never do that for evil would master her. Then we have the three phases that inevitably led to Eve’s sin (Gen. 3:6). Many years later, John the apostle recognized these three phases and gave them names. She saw that the tree was good for food (the lust of the flesh), that it was pleasant to the eyes (the lust of the eyes), and a tree desirable to make one wise (the pride of life). (See 1 John 2:16.) I find that the three phases that led Eve to sin also led to sin for another notable figure in the Old Testament record. King David saw Bathsheba bathing on the roof opposite the palace and that she was beautiful (the lust of the eyes). He wanted to make love with her (the lust of the flesh). Then He had her husband murdered to protect his reputation (the pride of life). (For the record, see 2 Samuel 11:1–12:15.) There is a small note that refers to a notable element in Adam’s character. Why did he eat when he knew the consequences of that act? I only have one answer. He chose to Eve in her sin and the consequences of her sin, however unpalatable they might be, rather than have her bear the consequences alone. An extraordinary act of love.

The Consequences

I refer you to the Lord’s own words, “For in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die” (Gen. 3:17). The record tells us, “She took of its fruit and ate, she also gave it to her husband with her, and he ate” (Gen. 3:6), and at that moment they both fulfilled the Lord’s words, they both died. But here we have an anachronism. The record tells us that Adam, and presumably Eve, lived for many centuries, for Adam, 930 years (see Genesis 5:3). I believe that the record confronts us with two kinds of death. Human death— 930 years after they ate the fruit—and immediate spiritual death the moment the fruit ed their lips. In human death the body is deprived of physical life. In spiritual death, the person is deprived of the One we know as the Spirit of life (Rom. 8:2). And I believe that in their moment of disobedience they were deprived of the inner presence of the Holy Spirit. He was still there in the garden but from that moment to the day of Pentecost when the Spirit came and filled each on who believed (Acts 2:4), spiritual death reigned among mankind because of the lost presence in each person on earth of the Spirit of life.

The Journey

I have begun by exploring how the disobedience of sin featured in the lives of those of us who are pilgrims across the wastelands of this world. But there is so much more I need to explore about sin that has been an unruly presence in my own life. Now I have to go back to the garden where their disobedience gave birth to a monster that lies in wait to produce sin in all of us. It is called the sinful human nature. And that takes us to our next chapter.

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Shall Surely Die

For since by man came death, by Man also came the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ all shall be made alive. —1 Corinthians 15:21–22

For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him. —2 Corinthians 5:21

The Pronouncement

After the Lord had planted all the trees, including the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil in the garden, He said to Adam, “But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die” (Gen. 2:17). Up to that time, Adam, who had been made in the image of God, enjoyed the same life that was in God and that life would go on forever. For God had breathed into Adam the breath of life and that life was, and still is and always will be, eternal (Gen. 2:7). Sin changed everything, for it brought Adam and Eve face-to-face with two kinds of death: the physical death of the body and the spiritual death of the soul. And we are plagued with both.

In the instant they disobeyed God and ate the fruit, they both suffered spiritual death. They were both separated from the spiritual life that God had breathed into Adam when He breathed on him the Spirit of life. We know that the Spirit continued to be present in the garden, but He would not be actually present in Adam. When he sinned, the first man became separated from the life the Spirit brought, and in that way, Adam died. And from the moment Adam and Eve ate the fruit, their bodies began to die. Aging set in, and even though they both lived for many years, physical death was inevitable (Gen. 5:5). They would both be separated from the physical life of the body.

Death of the Body

Throughout the world, men and women of every major religion and religious cult fear death and make all kinds of preparation for that inevitable moment. People make every attempt to delay that moment, for what is beyond death is unknown and no one wants to go that way, into the unknown. The fact of dying has been taken up by the evil one who will never die, the one we know as Satan, the devil, Lucifer, the serpent who tempted Eve to sin so that spiritual and physical death became facts of life. And Satan makes use of man’s fear of the unknown to instill in them the fear of the great unknown, death and dying, and what lies beyond (see Hebrews 2:15). Man’s fear of death leads him to make all kinds of preparations for dying—some of them quite bizarre—and preparations also for what lies beyond. And we need to explore the preparations for death and dying made on our behalf by another who was bound by the same earthly limitations that we all bear. His body would also die, but more of Him later.

Death of the Soul

Just as physical death involves our separation from the physical life of the body, so spiritual death involves our separation from the life of the Spirit that God intended we should all enjoy. And just as human life brings with it the capacity for thought and feeling so the life of the Spirit brings with it a range of thought and feeling that is quite different from the faculties of a human being. The primary element of the Spirit’s life is love, not chancy human love that comes and goes, but God’s love that is accompanied by the deepest and most certain respect, iration, service, and affection. Peace is also part of the life of the Spirit, the divine contentment and tranquility in which there are no intrusive elements of strife or discord. There is also hope in His life, hope that doesn’t flutter to and fro like the response of a crowd watching and hoping for the victory of their team. The hope that the Spirit brings is more certain than the sunrise, for it is one expression of His life that is eternal. There are many more expressions of the life of the Spirit that Adam enjoyed in the garden, and the loss of all these was included in the Lord’s promise, that in the day that they ate of the fruit they would surely die. They ate. They died. The Spirit departed, not from the garden, but from the inner sanctuary of their hearts. Ezekiel puts it this way, “The soul who sins shall die” (Ezek. 18:20). Not only physical death but man’s separation from the life the Spirit is able to bring to all of us human beings. And the loss of the Spirit amounts to certain spiritual death. A small note. Physical death, man’s separation from the life of the body, happens at the end of life and cannot be reversed. Spiritual death is quite different, for the separation from the life of the Spirit is true for all of us from the moment we are born. In the midst of human life, we can be tragically separated from the life of the Holy Spirit with all the benefits of His life that only He can bring. We can be dead while we are yet alive. But Jesus of Nazareth, the Son of God who created Adam, came to change all that. To understand what He has done, I need to turn our attention to two ancient Jewish practices that dealt with the problem of sin. The first involved a goat that was called the scapegoat. The second involved an image of a serpent placed on a pole in the wilderness.

The Scapegoat

The Lord our God had chosen the Jewish people for Himself and brought them out of captivity in Egypt to the land of Canaan. And because He is a holy God, He had to make provision for sins the people committed against Him and which would separate them from Himself. One of those provisions involved the goat that the scriptures identify as the scapegoat. The Lord described one of the ways the sins of the people of Israel had to be dealt with. “Aaron shall lay both hands on the head of the [scapegoat], confess over it all the iniquities of the children of Israel, and all their transgressions, concerning all their sins, putting them on the head of the goat, and shall send it away into the wilderness. The [scape] goat shall bear on itself all their iniquities to an uninhabited land” (Lev. 16:21–22). We know that the scapegoat, bearing all the sins of the people would die alone.

The Bronze Serpent

The second image we have of God’s provision for the sins of the people concerned a time when they rebelled against the Lord God, doubting His provision and resenting what He had done for them. The Lord sent a plague of serpents among them. Many were bitten and died. Moses spoke with them and they confessed, “We have sinned, for we have spoken against the Lord and against you; pray to the Lord that He will take away the serpents from us” (Num. 21:7). After Moses had spoken with the Lord, he was told to make a bronze image of a serpent and set it on a pole, “and it shall be that everyone, when he looks at [the serpent] shall live” (Num. 21:8). The problem of sin for the Israelites was a national issue. For you and me, it becomes personal. Paul’s words apply to each of us. “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Rom. 3:23). Then Paul adds one further factor, “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Rom. 6:23). Uncomfortable as this is, I have to it that my name is

written into both these declarations. But then, Jesus of Nazareth, the Son of God and the Son of Man, enters the picture, and that takes us to the place of a skull called Golgotha where He was crucified between two thieves. It was there that the image of the scapegoat was fulfilled. In the years following His crucifixion, the image of the serpent on the pole would also be fulfilled.

Provision for Sin

I know that our sins, like the sins of Adam and Eve, separate us continually from the Lord our God. Jesus of Nazareth became the scapegoat we all need. Peter explains that Christ suffered for us even though He had committed no sin and that He “Himself bore our sins in His own body on the [cross]” (see 1 Peter 2:21–24). I believe, and the scriptures affirm this truth, that God the Father, like Aaron the High Priest, placed all our sins, mine and yours, in the body of Christ and sent him into the wilderness of death to die alone. In that way, the sins that separate us from the Lord our God were dealt with, and the justice of the Father was satisfied. But there is more to the cross than the Father simply placing our sins on the head of the scapegoat and sending His Son to die in the wilderness of death. Something about the cross was revealed to the Son in the garden of Gethsemane that caused Him to sweat great drops of blood. I do not believe that the Father, at that time, told Jesus He would die by crucifixion. He already knew that. (See Mark 10:33–34 and Luke 18:31–32.) Mark explains in guarded words that enable us to catch a brief insight into the coming suffering the Father would visit on His Son. Mark reports that the Lord with Peter, James, and John went deeper into the garden to pray. “And He began to be troubled and deeply distressed” (Mark 14:33). The Greek word translated began is written in the Greek aorist that signifies a completely new beginning. The words translated “troubled and deeply distressed” reveal that at that moment, Jesus was filled with shuddering horror at what the Father had revealed at that time to His Son. Not crucifixion. Something

much, much worse. And we find the details in Paul’s words to the church at Corinth: “For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him” (2 Cor. 5:21). I have to connect these words of Paul with other words he wrote, “Sin that dwells in me” (Rom. 7:17). He was speaking of the old man, the flesh, the sinful nature. Now I can understand what the Father told the Son in those final hours before His crucifixion. The sinful natures of all mankind would be poured into His spotless heart. And Jesus would become sin. Not some kind of vague notion of sin but the specific identities of sinners, including murderers, drunkards, idolaters, thieves, adulterers, and blasphemers; the sinful natures of all such, myself included, would be poured into His heart on the cross. I believe that this was what the Father told the Son that night in Gethsemane. That was the cup He asked the Lord to take from Him. And that was the cup He spoke of with the Father, “O My Father, if this cup cannot away from Me unless I drink it, Your will be done” (Matt. 26:42). In the last minutes of His life, He drank the cup filled to the brim with all our sinful natures. In that moment, He fulfilled what He had said to Adam so long ago. “In the day that you eat of it you shall surely die” (Gen. 2:17). Everything about sin, including our sinful natures, brings about our spiritual death, our separation from God. On the cross our beloved Lord drank that cup filled with all our sinful natures, drained its bitter contents to the end, became sin for all of us, and in our place suffered the final separation from God that is spiritual death that rightfully should be ours. And there on the cross, the Lord fulfilled what He had told Adam, “In the day that you eat of [the fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil] you shall surely die” (Gen. 2:17). On the cross, the Lord Jesus received into Himself the evil represented by that tree and in our place was fatally separated from the Father. In those moments, Jesus could not have known how the Father would respond, by looking away from His dying Son, hence the Lord’s terrible cry, “My God, My God, why have you forsaken Me” (Matt. 27:46)? Then He uttered His final words, “It is finished” (John 19:30). And my salvation had been bought and paid for, but at what terrible, unimaginable cost.

Then the image of the serpent comes into play. Jesus Himself explains, “And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:14–15). Believing in the One who was lifted up, and who, like the scapegoat, bore all our sins in His own body, shifts the responsibility from Him to each of us. But the cross wasn’t all that Jesus achieved. In those terrible moments on the cross, He cleared the way for my sins to be forgiven and for my spiritual death to be reversed. But that left my physical death uned for. The disciples took His body down from the cross and placed Him in a new tomb cut into the rock. Fearing that the Jews might say He was risen from the dead, as He told His disciples He would, the Jewish leaders prevailed on the governor to place a seal on the tomb and to have two soldiers guard over it. And this was done. Some of the women who followed Him went to the tomb very early in the morning, but they found the stone over the entrance to the tomb rolled away. They went into the tomb, but the body of the Lord had gone. Outside the tomb, they were met by two angels in white. Luke reports, “And it happened, as they were greatly perplexed about this, that two men stood by them in shining garments. Then as they were afraid and bowed their faces to the earth, they said to them, Why do you seek the living among the dead? He is not here, but is risen!” (Luke 24:1–6). Now my salvation is complete. Indeed salvation for all of us is complete. On the cross He made provision for my spiritual death to be reversed, and through his resurrection, He has done the same for my physical death. I know, and we all know, that we will all die but that can never be the end of our stories. He rose from the dead and so will we who believe in Him, not in our mortal bodies but with new bodies that will be immortal. And we will explore that wonder later in this narrative.

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The Sinful Nature

But now, it is no longer I who [sin] but sin that dwells in me, For I know that in me (that is in my flesh) nothing good dwells; for to will is present with me, but how to perform what is good I do not [naturally] find. —Romans 7:17–18

Then the Lord God called to Adam and said to him “Where are you?” So he said, “I heard Your voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself.” —Genesis 3:9–10

Responses

I have a confession to make, a confession that I believe is common to all of us. My first automatic response after I have sinned is to shut down the inner voice of conscience that the Holy Spirit uses to gain my attention. Deny that what I have said or done is sin. Tell myself it was okay. My sin was only human. Justify it with all manner of arguments that even the ill-mannered would see through. Or tell myself that the one I have hurt or offended was too sensitive and will get over it. Familiar responses? But there is more. When I get past my self-justification and turn inwardly to face the fact of sin, I find three little demons nipping at my heels. Shame because of what I have said

and done. Fear of being found out. And the compulsion to hide away from other people in case they find out the true nature of who I am. It is not surprising that these three little demons were also nipping at the heels of the first couple. Before sin became part of their lives, Adam and Eve were not ashamed of their nakedness (Gen. 2:25). Their consciousness of sin evidenced in their shame led them to sew fig leaves together and make coverings for themselves. Shame was the first response to the sin they had committed. Then they were afraid of how they were to answer to the Lord. Fear was their second response, just as it has sometimes been mine. Then they hid themselves from the Lord, their final response. In my own life, there is a consistency to how and why I sin and in the responses some part of me makes after I have sinned. And that consistency proves to me, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that there is an inner part of me that consistently embraces sinful attitudes flowing into sinful words and actions. Paul called it the sin that dwells in him (Rom. 7:17). And to my surprise, I find that the Lord speaking to Cain such a long time in the past used the same . Cain had murdered his brother. The Lord then found Cain and said, “If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin lies at the door. And its desire is for you, but you should rule over it” (Gen. 4:7). Both the Lord and Paul referred to a presence in all of us they identified as sin, not an act of sin, but an inner presence—part of their lives, that was continually predisposed to sin.

The Human Nature

Paul gave this presence in all of us a number of names. The first we have referred to “Sin that dwells in me” (Rom. 7:17). His second name for this inner presence was “the flesh” (Rom. 7:18). The third name is “the old man” (Col. 3:9). In this narrative, I will refer to it as my human nature. I recognize that my human nature is capable of both righteousness and sin. But in this narrative, I need to deal with my human nature’s propensity for sin.

I cannot tell how the sinful nature mysteriously originated in the life of each of God’s children. But I can tell you when. Somehow, part of the inner life of each of the first couple was corrupted at the precise moment they ate the fruit. And I can also identity how the sinful nature expresses itself. In Adam and Eve, shame, fear and hiding from God. In Cain, anger accompanied by resentment at God’s acceptance of his brother’s offering and then murder (Gen. 4:3–15). Sometime after God shut the door to the garden and sent a cherubim with a flaming sword to protect the way back, man’s expressions of his sinful nature got quite out of hand. The scriptures report, “Then the Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually” (Gen. 6:5). At this point, I need to make four comments about the sinful nature as I know it in myself. It is focused on myself. It functions through desire. It responds to life with emotion. And it is not pleasing to God.

Focused on Self

Eve’s three responses regarding the tree of knowledge of good and evil were as follows: “She saw that the tree was good for food,” that it was “pleasant to the eyes,” and that it was “desirable to make one wise” (Gen. 3:6; my paraphrase). All these responses were focused on herself and not on the instruction God had given them. In my case, I know this focus on myself so well. My human nature takes the form of self-interest, self-pity, self-condemnation, pride, selfjustification, self-gratification. The interests of God do not come into the question. Paul’s reference to sin that falls short of the glory of God (Rom. 3:23) accurately describes how I experience my own human nature. Every expression of my old nature, every sinful thought, word, and deed, is like me firing an arrow at a distant target. No matter how hard I try, how much effort I exert, and how hard I concentrate, every arrow falls short of the target, which is God’s requirements

relating to sin and righteousness. Every attempt I make to find God, as in all the other world religions, is made derelict on my sin that falls short of the glory of God. And God knows the limitations of my natural human nature and that is why He has provided a better way, and that is another part of this narrative to be dealt with later.

Desire

I know from often bitter experience that my old nature builds its case for existence on desire. We found this with Eve. She saw that the tree was desirable to make one wise (Gen. 3:6). Many years later, as we saw in our previous chapter, David desired Bathsheba. Again, more years in the future, Paul wrote of the flesh with its ions and desires (Gal. 5:24). Desire. Epithumia. Also translates as lust. This is an extreme term that suggests aggravated sexual desire. The gentler translation of epithumia is the English word desire, and this is the translation I prefer. I am aware from experience that desire attaches a willing Christian to any object, place, idea, dream, or person that is desired, and having made that connection, desire refuses to let go. Desire links Christian with the object of desire, making a normally unbreakable bond. And everything that Christian desires is judged to serve his or her own selfinterest. There is one further disturbing element in this expression of the flesh, the old sinful nature. Desire not only refuses to let go; it can never be ultimately satisfied. When one of my desires is apparently satisfied, my old nature replaces that desire with desire for something else. There is no end to desire in any of its forms. Satisfaction can never put an end to desire, and this is one of the most disturbing characteristics of the old nature that came into existence in the garden in Eden.

ions

Paul wrote of “the flesh with its ions and desires” (Gal. 5:24) and introduced me to the next expression of my human nature. ion. Pathema. (The e is long as in fete.) Expressions of the human nature are experienced in the emotional realm— affections, emotions, ions, and feelings. And these can and do vary from great emotion for things that please and gratify one, down to apathy for things we have to put up with, and across the divide to ions that amount to hatred. And this I resolutely reject. In the world we are invited to express varying degrees of ion for the objects presented to our desire. And the aging apostle John understood the connection our human natures make with the world. “For all that is in the world—the [desires] of the flesh, the [desires] of the eyes, and the pride of life—is not of the Father, but is of the world” (1 John 2:16). And with desire for the things of the world comes varying degrees of ion. In the Christian realm, we are also capable of expressing ion or the lack of it for varying church activities. In most cases, great ion is exerted by ministers and those in charge of varying departments of our church-based faith. But for those of us on the sidelines, ion is often at the bottom of the scale; in most cases, it is apathy that amounts to the absence of ion for the things of God.

Pleasing to God

Unfortunately, there is in all Christians, and I believe in all of mankind, a gaping vacancy that only God can fill. So many around the world attempt to fill that void with religious activities of varying kinds, Buddhism, Islam, Hinduism, pantheism, atheism, deism, and even Christianity. To the pursuit of varying religious goals and activities, mankind expends ranges of emotion from apathetic participation in the various forms a religion requires, to enthusiasm for church events, to violent emotion that leads to persecution of those who do not belong.

Many in the church believe that God can be sought and found and His approval obtained through the exercise of the powers of the old nature. Ministers may depend on emotional commitment in their own ministries and attempt to arouse the ions of human nature of their constituents in pursuit of their goals. But God has set other standards in place for His church both leaders and , and these standards exclude the old nature. In his letter to the church at Rome, Paul wrote a great deal about the flesh, the old nature. (See Romans chapter 7.) Then in chapter 8, he addressed a different standard for our lives as believers, living in the Spirit rather than in the flesh. And included in His writings I find the terse words, “So then, those who are in the flesh cannot please God” (Rom. 8:8). As Christians, we are bound by the standards that God has set down in the scriptures. And finding how to please God is a search that is binding on all of us. And we will explore the biblical requirement “how to please the Lord our God” later in this narrative.

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Temptation and Desire

For all that is in the world—the [desire] of the flesh, the [desire] of the eyes, and the pride of life—is not of the Father, but is of the world. And the world is ing away and the [desire] of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever. —1 John 2:16–17

But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed. Then, when desire has conceived it brings forth sin, and sin, when it is full grown, brings forth death. —James 1:14–15

And those who are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with its ions and desires. —Galatians 5:24

In the Garden

Satan’s part in temptation and desire was spelled out in the very beginning. His intention was to deceive the woman and to set her on a path of disobedience that would have consequences that would echo around the world for a very long

time. Satan knew this path very well indeed. He had followed the path of temptation and desire that led to his inevitable separation from the One who created him. His was the very first death. And from his separation from the life and peace of God, death of the Spirit comes for all of us. Death. Thanatos. Separation from life, both the natural life of the body and the spirit life of the soul. The Lord told Adam that his disobedience would inevitably lead to death. “But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die” (Gen. 2:17). Ezekiel made the same connection: “Behold, all souls are mine; the soul of the father as well as the soul of the son is Mine; the soul who sins shall die” (Ezek. 18:4). And we find the same connection in Paul’s first letter to the church at Corinth, “For since by man came death, by man also came the resurrection of the death. For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive” (1 Cor. 15:21– 22). There is a popular conception that death comes at the end of life. In human , that is true. But when we shift our focus to the death of the soul that Jesus spoke about with Adam, we are confronted with a most disturbing truth. The Greek verb Paul used captured the biblical meaning of death and dying, “For in Adam all die” (1 Cor. 15:22). The Greek verb translated die is written in the English form we know as the continuous present. And I could paraphrase, “As in Adam all of us are continually dying.” That means that in our natural state, we are continuously separated from the life and peace of God. Satan’s purpose is to induce us to remain in that process of being continuously separated from the life that only God can give. The devil uses temptation to maintain us in that state of being separated. (We will explore the subject of temptation in more depth later.) But he has another device up his voluminous sleeve that he can use most effectively. Distract the attention of sinners with options that appear valuable but fail to enhance the relationship with the Spirit of life. And one of those is the option to be religious. Religion. Threskeia. The religious performance of ritual and ceremony that is valued for its own sake but which does not advance the worshiper in his or her relationship with the Most High God. Every religion that does not have Christ at its center uses religious observance in order to find favor with the being at the

center of their worship—this god, that goddess, or these spirits. Unfortunately for us and to the evil one’s discredit and to our loss, he has shifted our faith into the realm of the world’s religions: into ceremonial observance, form not substance, ritual not reality. The evil one has led many to believe that what we practice in our churches is what was once delivered to the saints. In so doing, he has used one of his predominant characteristics as the great deceiver. Like the ancient Pharisees, Scribes, and teachers of the law, many believe that religious observance of ritual and ceremony is the whole truth and nothing but the truth. Now to return to our subject, temptation that Satan uses to perpetuate our spiritual death.

Temptation

James, who was one of the sons of Mary, the mother of Jesus, became a leader in the church in Jerusalem and wrote the letter that bears his name. In his letter, he dealt with the subject that is before us. “But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed. Then when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin, and sin when it is full-grown, brings forth death” (James 1:14– 15). A most frightening prospect for it implicates each of us in our own separation from God, our own spiritual death. In James’s teaching, there are seven key elements that the apostle included in the practical realities of his life. I don’t believe that James was restricting his words to sound doctrine. I believe that he was speaking from experience. And that assumption makes it the more important that we understand what James understood about temptation in his own life. Tempt. Peirazo. (The o is long as in mote.) To place our faith and our relationship with the Lord our God under trial, to test it as gold and silver are tested, to determine whether the character, attitudes, and the words and practices that flow out of our hearts match the inspired standards revealed in the scriptures. In James’s teaching, we find a progression, beginning with temptation to sin and

ending with death. Temptation takes our eyes away from the Lord our God and fastens them instead on some object, person, experience, attitude, possession, status to be desired. Of itself, temptation is not sin. It is certainly looking in that direction but can be resisted, refused a place in our hearts and minds so that it never comes to birth. The first phase of temptation involves us being drawn away from, hurried away from some fixed point by diverting one’s attention to some object, which we believe is to be desired. The Greek text suggests that we could be listening to suggestions coming from the old nature, from another person, or from one of the hosts of the evil one whispering the suggestion into our mental ears. All such suggestions tempt us to look away from the fixed point of our faith and love and to entertain a lesser option. In the early days of our faith, two of the Lord’s disciples fell into this trap. Ananias and his wife Sapphira owned a piece of land and—following the pattern of others—sold it and brought some of the proceeds to the apostles. The fixed point from which they began was that the land and the proceeds belonged to them. They were its custodians and responsible for its use. Somewhere in the process, they were drawn away from the fixed point of their ownership and believed that they could be acceptable to the believers by following the pattern that Barnabas had set (see Acts 4:36–37). Give some to the apostles but keep some of the proceeds for themselves, hiding their temptation to keep some for themselves under the deceit that all had been given. The consequences of being drawn away by desire were catastrophic. Desire. Epithumia. Desire, yearning and longing that fastens its attention of what is being desired, to desire earnestly, to long for, and in the aggressive English translation, to lust after something so that a connection is made between the one desiring and the object being desired. And what is desired can be anything in the world or even in the church. Nothing is exempt. Desire can be thought of as having both a positive and negative meaning. A pastor may desire to please the Lord with his or her trust (see Hebrews 11:6), with a teaching or with counseling of a person in need. This is the proper function of our capacity to desire something in the kingdom and is akin to the Lord’s command to seek first the kingdom of God (Matt. 6:33) or Paul’s command to “seek those things that are above where Christ is, sitting at the right

hand of God” (Col. 3:1). Desire can also be used by the adversary for his advantage and to Christian’s disadvantage. Paul’s letter dealt with this element of Satan’s armory in his command to the church at Colossae. His concern was for Christians to turn their attention away from objects of desire and have them direct their attention instead to where it truly belongs. “Set your mind…not on things of the earth” (Col. 3:2). Seeking those things that belong in His kingdom has the Lord’s approval (see Hebrews 11:6). Seeking those things in the world that are defined by our sinful nature or by the enemy of our souls falls into the category of desire that most certainly does not have the Lord’s approval. Such desires are strongly influenced by the world (see 1 John 2:16), which is the realm over which Satan claimed control (Luke 4:6). A significant element of desire is enticement. Something is presented to that person as a bait, an experience, idea, or relationship that appears to provide some degree of satisfaction. The word entice can also be translated as seduce, tempt someone, saint or sinner, with an option that they can justify in of some kind of benefit. The trap lies in the temptation to apply sensory or other human benefits to our lives, rather than applying the standards inherent in the Person of our Lord. As children of the Living God, we are required to correctly judge the nature of the bait that entices us away from the standards He sets for our lives as His disciples (see the Lord’s comment on this subject in John 7:24). Behind the act of Peter in refusing to eat with the Gentile Christians was the bait of acceptance. Paul writes about that event: “For before certain men came from James, [Peter] would eat with the Gentiles; but when they came, he withdrew and separated himself, fearing those who were of the circumcision” (Gal. 2:12). Peter in Antioch was faced with the perceived threat of antagonism by Jewish Christians, and rather than offend them, he applied the standard of selfpreservation to justify his acceptance of the bait. With Peter, as with all of us, desire is designed to bring about a most inappropriate offspring. In this case, desire is the mother that brings sin to birth in the believer. In most cases, the birth of sin out of the womb of desire and temptation is deemed to be a natural outcome of being human. And some, as

with Eve, say that others are to be blamed when we give birth to sin. “The serpent deceived me, and I ate” (Gen. 3:13). Or Satan made me do it. Such nonsense! In every case, temptation involves a willing desire to follow the path that desire and then temptation defines for us and which inevitably gives birth to sin. Sin. Hamartia. The miss or failure or departure from the principles of the faith that the Lord has laid down. The idea is that an attitude, word, or deed falls short of the standards God has set in the same way that an arrow we fire at a target continues to fall short of the target. The most common forms that sin takes in our lives appear as opposites of the standards our God has set. And that basic standard is that we trust Him at all times and in all situations. Failure to trust Him for the provision of our needs (Matt. 6:26–32), for safety in times of reckless danger (Matt. 14:31), and for wisdom (Matt. 16:8), all amount to falling short. All amount to sin. Temptation that arises out of our natural predispositions as with David (2 Sam. 11 and 12), or out of Satan’s whispers in the ear of Peter (Matt. 16:22–23), is designed to bring the offender sharply under the eye and into the realm controlled by the great tempter who is Satan himself. And when temptation has given birth to sin, we become fastened in the embrace of the tempter and continue to fall short of the standards that the Lord our God sets for His children, just as Satan himself fell short when iniquity was found in him (Ezek. 14:15).

Looking Back

Looking back, and with the benefit of the scriptures, we find that death, separation from the Spirit of life, has two faces. One is reversible. The other is irreversible. The cross has made it possible for sinners, and we are all potential sinners, to take advantage of His forgiveness of our sins and the cleansing of our souls. Forgiveness locks each forgiven sin away in what I choose to call, God’s forgetfulness. Jeremiah wrote, “For I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will no more” (Jer. 31:34). That is the reversible face of separation from the Lord our God. And we are fools not to take humble advantage of the

benefits the cross brings to all of us, sinners and saved alike. The irreversible face of separation that sin brings takes us to what John wrote in the book of the Revelation of Jesus Christ. He described the New Jerusalem and wrote, “But outside [the gates of the city] are dogs and sorcerers and sexually immoral and murderers and idolaters, and whoever loves and practices a lie” (Rev. 22:15). I believe that the irreversible separation of anyone from the Spirit of life destines those who have thus died to remain locked into the company of those John described outside the gates of the New Jerusalem. And there can be no possibility ever of release from the degrading bondage of that company. In this age, we are faced with so many opportunities for desire for the things of the world that result in temptation that can result in sin that inevitably results in spiritual death. Our challenge is to understand how this process works, how it applies to our lives, how each of us can experience desire that traps and seduces us and gives birth to sin against God’s will. Included in that challenge is for every Christian to understand how we can reverse the inevitable separation of our spirits from the voice and the blessings of His Spirit so that we may effectively walk with Him into the end of days.

6

The Disobedient World

And He said to them, “You are from beneath; I am from above. You are of this world: I am not of this world.” —John 8:23

But now after you have known God, or rather are known by God, how is it that you turn again to the weak and beggarly elements, [of the world] to which you desire again to be in bondage? —Galatians 4:9

And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. —Romans 12:2

Pilgrims and Aliens

Like all pilgrims, Christians travel through a world in which we do not belong. For we have been born into a different country with different principles to guide us on our pilgrimage. Peter understood the concept of belonging and of not belonging when he wrote, “Beloved, I exhort you, as sojourners and aliens, to

abstain from fleshly lusts which war against the soul” (1 Pet. 2:11, translation from the Greek text). Being a pilgrim or sojourner is a strange and unfamiliar concept. We have all been born into this world and have learned how to live in it and to find our way past the many obstacles that the world puts in the way of our faith. But Peter and the Lord both taught that we do not belong in this world. We have been born into and belong in another land, a different country, a kingdom of Spirit as opposed to the world of flesh into which we have all been born. Our Lord put it this way, “That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit” (John 3:6). And every Christian begins his or her pilgrimage by “being born of water for the cleansing of his heart and soul, and by the Holy Spirit for the renewal of his spirit and so is able to enter the kingdom of God and begin our pilgrimage” (John 3:5, my paraphrase). The problem all pilgrims face relates to our identity and to our belonging. In his first letter Peter used the word sojourner. This is a translation of the Greek word paroikia, which refers to one who dwells in a foreign country without the rights of citizenship. When we are born into this world, we assume the identity this world gives to its citizens. But as soon as we are born into the kingdom of God, our identity changes immediately, irrevocably, and forever. That is the truth behind Peter’s use of the word paroikia, sojourner. Peter used a second Greek word to describe our identity. Pilgrim. Parepidemos. (The second e is long as in fete.) One who lives as an alien in a foreign country, away from one’s own people, and who daily has to find his or her way in unfamiliar territory. Jesus knew the truth about being an alien and a sojourner. In His prayer to the Father, the Lord spoke of His disciples and affirmed, “They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world” (John 17:16). That presents all of God’s children with a most aggravating problem. Where do we belong? In this world in which, humanly speaking, we can be citizens? Or in the kingdom into which we have been born by His Spirit? And how can we function as citizens of both? Peter’s use of the words sojourner and pilgrim/alien puts us in a quandary. We find a great deal of information about the kingdom of God through Jesus’s teachings, but we have to look in the letters for information to help us

understand the world into which we have all been born. We begin with Paul.

Faces of Reality

This present evil world has many faces. The one I appreciate the most is the natural world of wonderful beauty and extraordinary diversity. But on this earth, man has erected a second world of buildings, some hovels barely able to keep out the rain and others that are magnificent masterpieces of design and engineering and everything in between, together with the infrastructures that make everything work. The third face of the world is human, both individual human that encomes you and me, and the social human that encomes business and government and religion and every kind of social grouping. Then there is a fourth face to this world and that face is unseen and unspeakably evil. It is like a great net enclosing the sphere of the world suspended in space. Every knot in that net represents an evil presence, one of the hosts of demonic beings—and there are millions of them—at the beck and call of the prince of darkness himself. As a pilgrim, I can appreciate the wonderful natural world that needs little assistance from man to enhance its natural beauty. The constructed world I can appreciate for its design and humanly devised beauty. But these two faces of our world cannot determine my identity. On the other hand, the human world and the spirit world can have great influence both on my identity and on my pilgrimage. And in these two worlds, I encounter three obstacles with which I constantly have to deal in my pilgrimage. The first is the world of evil supervised and controlled by the prince of darkness, and we explored that reality in chapter 1. The second is within me, the unregenerate sinful human nature that we explored in chapter 4. The third obstacle to my pilgrimage with the Master is the human world into which we all have been naturally born. And the subject of this present evil world (Gal. 1:4) now has to be addressed. I return to Paul.

Foundation Principles

Paul left the churches in Galatia in the good hands of elders set in place during his first journey. Then he found that they had turned their attention away from the purity of the faith and had given their attention instead to the religious observation of days and months and seasons and years (Gal. 4:10). The observance of religious rite and ceremony had replaced their one on one relationship with the Lord their God and with His Spirit. Paul referred to these observances as “the weak and beggarly elements, to which you desire again to be in bondage” (Gal. 4:9). Element. Stoichia. The foundation principles that dictate how the world operates. I believe that the world’s stoichia, its foundation principles, can each be identified as weak and beggarly. The first of the world’s foundation principles is religious. Paul connected the religious observances of the Christians in Galatia with the world’s weak and beggarly elements of the world, and here we have to make a distinction. On the one hand, faith is one of the foundation principles of God’s realm. On the other hand, religious observance that drives man’s need to fill the aching void in all nonbelievers, is one of the foundation principles of this world. There are two more foundation principles of the world in which we live: desire that drives all kinds of human inventions, and pride in a great variety of human achievements.

The First Principle: Religion

Religious observance is one of the world’s foundation principles because the god of this world wants it so. He is the one we know as the devil and Satan and was once known as Lucifer (Isa. 14:12). His overwhelming desire to be like God (Isa. 14:14), carrying with it the equally overwhelming desire to be worshipped just as the Lord God is worshipped.

Paul referred to Satan, the god of this world (2 Cor. 4:4), and gods are there to satisfy man’s longing for something beyond himself, something that can be worshipped. That something might be the gods of Buddhism or Islam or Hinduism, or the spirit beings that inhabit different forms of occultism, or even the god of institutional Christianity. Religion. Threskeia. The outward form of ritual and ceremony, the observance of religious practices, the recitation of prayers and creeds and the performance of religious acts that depend only on the application of mind and emotion, the spirit being left silent. This definition can apply equally to Christianity as to any other of the world’s religions. The faith we all know and treasure involves an intimate relationship with Jesus our Savior and Lord. And that relationship involves trust and love in the Lord our God, and both are foundation principles of our faith. Our relationship with Him also requires worship involving the human spirit. Jesus Himself made this plain in His words with the Samaritan woman He encountered at the well in Sychar. He told the woman, “God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in Spirit and in truth” (John 4:24).

The Second Principle: Desire

The second of the world’s foundation principles is desire. Epithumia, that can also be translated lust that inexorably brings about an attachment of the person looking at something with desire, with the object of desire that has gained and held his attention. And that attachment has the capacity to be permanent. The person giving in to desire will not normally let the object of desire go from his or her inventory. Desire is one way the flesh asserts its authority; get rid of the flesh and desire will become powerless. Paul made this plain when he taught the Galatian churches that “those who are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with its ions and desires” (Gal. 5:24). A thoughtful view of what the media presents will reveal the disturbing connection between what the world presents to the eyes, with desire that lurks in the depths of the human heart.

It is a fact of life that the presentation of the daily news with its vast array of advertising is also driven by desire. And our human foible to be titillated by the news is another expression of desire. In this way, desire lives on and is certainly one of the foundation principles of this world.

The Third Principle: Pride

The third of the foundation elements of the world is human pride, and both desire and pride have been identified by John as belonging to the world and as expressions of the flesh. He wrote, “For all that is in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—is not of the Father, but is of the world” (1 John 2:16). Pride. Alazoneia. The character of a wanderer about the country, a false pretender, an imposter, one who exalts himself above what is his or her due. In his or her pride a person may boast, but that boasting does not make the one boasting one whit better, taller, wiser, or more beautiful, except in his or her own eyes, and that of course is a delusion. The ultimate example of pride is the devil himself who desired to be like God, and who in his pride was trapped into the greatest self-delusion (1 Tim. 3:6). Another thoughtful search of the media will reveal a great many examples of pride, from a beautiful hairstyle, the racy profile of a new car, and even the tallest building in the world. And each of them appeals to desire so that man’s capacity for pride can be gratified. Unfortunately, pride has invaded the kingdom of God, where this or that leader may take pride in his achievements, in the building they have created, in worship that raises the roof, in instruction so many applaud, in the money raised, or for programs that take food to the poor. None of these is necessarily good or bad. What lies outside the range of heavenly applause and God’s approval is pride in such achievements. And pride stands opposed to Paul’s words to Christians who have no right of ownership. They are not their own. “For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s” (1 Cor. 6:20).

Summing Up

In his letter to the church at Rome, Paul described God’s requirement for our relationship with the world with a negative command, and our relationship with the Lord our God with a positive command. “And do not be conformed to this world, the negative command, but be transformed by the renewing of your natural human mind, the positive command” (Rom. 12:2, my paraphrase). John gave further detail to this particular and most demanding command. “Do not love the world or the things in the world [more negative commands]. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him” (1 John 2:15, my paraphrase). Then the apostle added, “And the world is ing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever” (1 John 2:17).

7

The ing

But the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. —1 Corinthians 1:18

But God forbid that I should boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world. —Galatians 6:14

Now is the judgment of this world; now the ruler of this world will be cast out. And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all peoples to Myself. —John 12:31–32

Introducing the Unbearable

In our discussion, we have explored different forms that disobedience has taken in man, all stemming from the disobedience of the archenemy of our souls, the prince of darkness himself. He has no alternative but to follow the inexorable dictates of his evil mind. But the Lord our God has an alternative to the bondage of our disobedience. The name of Jesus and the promise that He would save His people from their sins (Matt. 1:21). And that brings us to the ultimate horror

story: the walk of Jesus our Lord to Golgotha where He was crucified. The cross is a permanent fixture in our society. It adorns steeples and churches without number. It is fixed to ears and worn on chains around the neck. It has been fashioned into a multitude of crucifixes where the sufferings of the Lord are on permanent display. And it is used in the sign of the cross that varies according to the denomination in which it is used. But the cross is none of these things. It is the place where a Man, his back shredded by a whip embedded with pieces of iron and bone, was led to a place outside the city of Jerusalem, a place called Golgotha, the place of a skull, where He was crucified. And it was there on the cross that He addressed the multiple problems of sin and of our sinful natures, our alienation from God, the power of this present evil world, and the seemingly intractable problem of the one who rules this world: Satan, the adversary and the enemy of our souls. In the narrative that follows, I will combine the s of those six terrible hours as seen by the four gospel writers, and without doing damage to the inspired words, tell the story of the sufferings and death of our Lord. I invite you to share in this remarkable journey that involves all of us, for it tells the story of our personal redemption.

Nine O’clock to Midday

It was the third hour when He came to Golgotha. Nine o’clock in the morning. He had been relieved of the burden of the cross on the way to Golgotha. The soldiers compelled a man named Simon who had come to Jerusalem from Cyrene to carry the cross to Golgotha. And Jesus, relived of the heavy cross beam, had stumbled His way to the place of crucifixion where the soldiers had the upright part of the cross waiting. A sign written in Hebrew, Greek, and Latin had been fastened to the cross: JESUS OF NAZARETH, THE KING OF THE JEWS. Before He was crucified, He was offered wine mixed with myrrh that was intended to provide some kind

of anesthetic for the pain of crucifixion, but He refused to drink it. Before He was crucified, they stripped Him to His undergarments and left them at the foot of the cross. The soldiers had to decide what to do with an outer garment that was woven in one piece, so they cast lots to decide who would take it. Nails were driven through his hands and feet. Then the cross on which He had been nailed was raised to the upright with Him fastened to it and was dropped mercilessly into the hole prepared for it. Two other men who were criminals were crucified with Him, one on the right, the other on His left. As He began His suffering the Lord said to the Father, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do” (Luke 23:34). A number of onlookers drawn by the spectacle blasphemed Him, wagged their heads, and said to Him, “Aha! You who destroy the temple and build it in three days, save Yourself and come down from the cross.” The chief priests and Scribes who had come to watch the One they had condemned to die on the cross, also mocked Him. “He saved others; Himself He cannot save. Let the Christ, the King of Israel descend from the cross, that we may see and believe” (Mark 15:29–31). “He trusted in God; let Him deliver Him now if He will have Him; for He said, ‘I am the Son of God’” (Matt. 27:43). At that time, both the criminals on crosses each side of Him reviled Him. One of the criminals blasphemed the Lord, saying, “If You are the Christ, save Yourself and us” (Luke 23:39). The second criminal rebuked the first. “Do you not fear God, seeing that you are under the same condemnation? And we indeed justly, for we receive the due reward for our deeds; but this man has done nothing wrong.” Then turning to Jesus he said those remarkable words, “Lord, me when You come into Your kingdom.” And Jesus replied, “Assuredly, I say to you, today you will be with Me in paradise” (Luke 23:42– 43). Gathered around the cross was a group of onlookers watching the Lord die. And among them was John, who had first fled when Jesus was arrested but who returned to Golgotha. And near the cross a group of women also stood watch. Among them was Mary, the Lord’s mother, Mary Magdalene, and Mary the wife of Clopas. Seeing them and indicating John, Jesus spoke to His mother. “Woman, behold

your son!” And to John, “Behold your mother!” (John 19:25–27). Only John records these words, for the other disciples probably in fear of the Jews had fled (Matt. 26:56). Immediately John took Mary to his own home in Jerusalem, probably to spare her the pain of watching her Son’s final suffering. Then John returned to the cross.

Midday to Three O’clock

At that time, the Lord had been on the cross for about three hours. It was the sixth hour, midday, and there was darkness over the face of the earth and that darkness persisted for three hours. During that darkness, the prophesy of Isaiah was fulfilled, “And the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all” and like the ancient scapegoat, “He bore the sin of many” (Isa. 53:6, 12). Part of our ransom had been paid but there was more to come. In the Lord’s final hours, He became the epitome of sin itself, bearing in His body the sinful nature of each of us and as Paul declared. “For He made Him, who knew no sin to be sin for us” (2 Cor. 5:21). The cup filled to the full with our sinful natures that the Father had revealed to His Son in the garden of Gethsemane, had now been drained to its terrible depths (see Mark 14:32–36). Jesus cried out, “Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani? My God, My God, Why have You forsaken Me?” (Matt. 27:46). And the great separation that sin brings to the relationship of man and God was now transferred to the relationship of the Father and the Son. His Son died without the comfort of the Father’s presence in the same way that every man whose sins are not forgiven will die without the Father’s presence. Hearing these words one of the onlookers took a sponge, filled it with sour wine, put it on a hollow reed and offered it to Jesus. Then Jesus cried out in a loud voice, “It is finished” and “Father, into Your hands I commit My spirit” (John 19:30 and Luke 23:46). Then He bowed His head and died. There is a postscript. The soldiers came to the two criminals and broke their legs so that, without the of their legs to ease pressure on their lungs, they would suffocate. Seeing that Jesus was already dead they thrust a spear into His

side and blood and water flowed from the wound.

Meanings

The Lord’s death on the cross, bearing our sins, being made to be sin, and being separated from the Father was the final ing. And at that time, four extraordinary benefits flowed from the cross, across the ages into the lives of all those who will receive them.

Everywhere man can be reconciled to the Father, for peace has been made with our God. Those who believe and are saved no longer face the eternal penalty for our sins. Everyman’s sinful nature has been crucified and we with it. The world has been crucified to each of us and we have been crucified to the world. Satan has been dealt with. He no longer can plague man with the fear of death for death has been swallowed up in the victory made possible by our Lord’s crucifixion.

Everything about the cross and what our Lord achieved there, has each of our names on it. The separation from God that used to be our lot has been reversed. We have been reconciled to the Father. The Lord’s death has enabled our enmity with God to be replaced by peace with Him. Our attachment to the world that has plagued all of us for most of our years has been dealt with, and the one who is so adept at whispering his evil suggestions into our mental ears and sponsoring the fear of death has been stripped of the power to lead us that way. This means that the cross is an intensely personal place and each Christian has to

respond. Being true to His love, He has provided all of us with details of the responses He needs each of us to make to Him. In the pages ahead, I will explore what the scriptures reveal about how I can take each of these benefits to myself.

Hearing the Voice of God

Eve defied God and Adam ed her in that defiance. That was the beginning of the great separation that I find was so much more that a doctrine. I how before He brought me to Himself, I was deliberately and unthinkingly at enmity with Him. I fought against Him. I believed that He and I belonged to different ways of life, and I resisted any effort for me to cross over from my selfassertiveness into the place where He and I could walk together. The cross changed all that. My enmity with God (James 4:4) deprived me of three enormous benefits: His peace, His love, and His voice. The one I need to deal with here is the benefit of hearing His voice. In ancient Jewish times, God made provision for the Jewish people to have access to His voice. He decreed that part of the tabernacle, and later the temple, should be reserved for a space called the holy of holies. Into those sacred precincts, God decreed that the high priest should come once a year with an offering of blood and there could hear what He had to say to His people. In the temple, the holy of holies was protected by a great curtain to restrict entry to anyone other than the high priest. When our Lord had completed His work that would enable each of us to be reconciled to the Father, the great curtain protecting the holy of holies from unwanted visitors was torn in two from top to bottom. And that would have taken the most powerful angelic hands for that veil was around four inches thick, very long and very heavy. This made access to the presence and voice of God possible for all His children. The Lord Himself made this clear. “If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him and We will come to him and make Our home with him” (John 14:23). Now the peace of God can be mine for it flows to me from

the Father who has made His home with me. (See Phil. 4:7.) The Father’s voice can also be heard because of the cross. For the Lord has substituted the holy of holies in the temple that has long ago been destroyed, for another holy of holies where He can still speak, and I can still hear His voice. Paul identified that sacred space. “Do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God” (1 Cor. 6:19). The Greek word Paul used and which is translated temple is naos, the holy of holies. And it is in this sacred place in each of our hearts where the Spirit dwells, that God is again able to speak to us. And more of that later. My response to this remarkable achievement that flowed from the cross has to be my willingness to learn the difficult though available skill of hearing His voice in the clutter of sounds and voices that plague all of us. And more of that also in the pages ahead.

Sin and the Sinful Nature

I am no stranger to sin and the unwelcome depredations of my own sinful nature. Both have been dealt with on the cross. I need no longer fear God’s justice for my accumulated sins for His justice has been fully satisfied on the cross where, as Isaiah wrote, “The Lord has laid on Him, the iniquity of us all” (Isa. 53:6). That leaves me free to deal with any sins that slip through my inattention, or even my deliberate attention. And He has made provision also for that. The way is clear. First repent of such sins, but this is more than a one-off repentance. I believe that He requires that I make repentance, facing away from what displeases Him and embracing what pleases Him, an attitude that I can make a permanent part of life. Regarding my sinful nature that was crucified with Him (Gal. 2:20) I find that the flesh may legally be dead and inoperative, but I have a disturbing choice. I can bring it back to life to continue to plague me. It was crucified with Christ on the cross (Gal. 2:20), but I am charged to continue that work that Jesus began. Paul said it this way: “And those who are Christ’s have crucified with flesh with

its ions and desires” (Gal. 5:24). I can ignore the deceits of the flesh, my sinful nature, or I can put it to death whenever I hear its unruly voice. I refer also to Paul’s words to the Ephesians: “That you put off, concerning your former conduct, the old man which grows corrupt according to the deceitful lusts” (Eph. 4:22).

The World Crucified to Each of Us

The third benefit Christ achieved for me on the cross was described by Paul in his letter to the churches in Galatia. “But God forbid that I should boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world” (Gal. 6:14). Like my sinful nature, His crucifixion separates me legally from the world. I now have nothing in common with the world as though it is dead to me and I to it. I am called to obey the command Paul wrote to the church at Rome. “And do not be conformed to this world” (Rom. 12:2). My choice! My daily choice whenever I have faced with the deceits of the world and the desires that are part of the world’s operating system that ping every so often on my spiritual radar (see 1 John 2:16). Treat them as I treat suggestions that come from my sinful nature. Ignore them. Put them also to death. But more than that. I have to obey the second command Paul wrote to the church at Rome. “But be transformed by the renewing of your mind” (Rom. 12:2). I understand that it is my responsibility to build mental barriers that enable me to see instantly and to judge what comes at me from the world and from the ruler of this world (John 12:31). And the scriptures provide the resource I can draw on for the renewing of my mind.

The Defeat of Satan

Part of the power of Satan rests in Him promoting the fear of death. And the Lord’s victory over death on the cross was validated forever by His resurrection from the dead. The writer of the letter to the Hebrews described the deliverance from the fear of death that Jesus makes available. “In as much as the children have partaken of flesh and blood, He Himself likewise shared in the same, that through death He might destroy him who had the power of death, that is the devil, and release those who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage” (Heb. 2:14–15). The image of death for those who are children of the Most High God has substantially changed. Once death was the entrance into an unknown abyss. Through the cross and His resurrection, death has become the doorway through which we all can enter realms of unimaginable glory. John described what lies beyond the doorway from this life into life beyond death. “Beloved, now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is” (1 John 3:2). Paul increases my wonder at what death conceals. And here I bring reflection in this chapter to an end. “For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. So when this corruptible has put on incorruption, and this mortal has put on immortality, then shall be brought to the saying: ‘Death is swallowed up in victory’” (1 Cor. 15:53–54).

Part 2

The One We Serve

Preface to the One We Serve

The One we love and serve was sent by the Father so that we could enjoy every part of His life and Being, but this is not a one-way street. I find that my relationship with Him has a price tag. He gives Himself to me and I have to give myself to Him. It is a two-way street; a reciprocal relationship that the Lord spoke about with His disciples, “And he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and manifest Myself to him” (John 14:21). Our relationship with Him is like a multifaceted diamond, and each facet of that diamond is a different part of His Person. Most Christians think of Him as Savior and sometimes as Lord. But He expressed Himself to people on the earth in a number of different ways. Being Savior and Lord are only two of those ways. In the coming chapters, I will explore seven expressions of His Person like seven facets of the most beautiful diamond that can ever be imagined, and each one helps Christians learn how to relate to Him. The seven images of our Lord are the following: Creator, Savior, Healer, Teacher, Prophet, Bridegroom, and Judge. Each of these images of Him reveal something different about His Person, about how He relates to the of His kingdom, and how we Christians are to relate to Him. We begin always with knowledge about Him, but this is a standoff kind of knowledge. It is also very safe. Knowing Him, as the word gnosis, knowledge, implies, involves each Christian in a mutual relationship with Him. He knows each of us and invites each of us to learn to know Him. He trusts each of us and we, in turn are invited to trust Him. He loves each of us and will reveal Himself to us, but only as we love Him and

open our hearts to Him. For that was the condition He gave to His disciple. “And he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and manifest Myself to him” (John 14:21). Mutual loving first and in that mutual loving, His promise stands, “I will manifest Myself to him.” And that is an amazing promise from this truly amazing Person. But love is only one of the responses we make to Him and in the coming chapters we will explore how He asks us to respond to Him in each of these seven expressions of His eternal Being. We begin with Him as Creator. I invite you as you read and reflect on what these pages contain, to find the prayers you need to pray so that your own relationship with Him as Creator, Savior, Healer, Teacher, Prophet, Bridegroom, and Judge will grow ever deeper.

8

Creator

He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. —John 1:2–3

The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament shows His handiwork. —Psalm 19:1

[W]hose minds the god of this age has blinded, who do not believe, lest the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, shine on them. —2 Corinthians 4:4

Our Common Faith

The element of our faith we all have in common is Jesus Christ. And each one of us, Greek Orthodox, French Catholic, South African Evangelical, and American Pentecostal have the opportunity that Paul wrote about, “That I may know Him” (Phil. 3:10). And I also have that opportunity. But that means I need to understand what Paul was talking about when he wrote about knowing the Lord.

Here the apostle used the Greek word ginosko (both o’s are long as in mote). This word does not mean know about something or someone. That kind of superficial knowing about Jesus is not what Paul had in mind. He was going much deeper. Ginosko refers to two people knowing each other in a mutual relationship and through shared experiences. And that takes our faith to a much deeper level. Most religions depend on superficial knowledge of the god they worship, but that is not the case with our faith. When He came to live among us, His disciples were confronted by this deeper knowledge of Him that they could only gain in the intimate relationship He asked of each of them. And so it is for you and me, if we are daring enough to spend our lives in His company. One of the ways I can know Him is as Creator. And that knowing Him can take two forms, for He is present in the outer planets of our solar system and the far distant galaxies of the universe (John 1:3), and in the innermost corners of my heart (Col. 1:27). I cannot share the vast experience of creation with Him. That is clearly impossible, but I can know Him as Creator as He reveals Himself in my heart and spirit and mind. In this chapter, I have decided to focus only on two aspects of His work as Creator. The first is the creation of the material universe, all of us included. The second is the creation of life and that brings you and me into the picture.

A Diversion

Long, long ago, the Lord God made the heavens and the earth so that they might declare His glory and reveal the splendor of His power and design. Today with modern technology, we can still wonder at what He has made, for the heavens continue to amaze us and fill us with wonder and awe. Clearly, the vast spread of the heavens, tell us in the words of the hymn, “How Great Thou Art.” Today His reputation as the One who created this masterpiece, both in the heavens and on the earth, is under serious threat. It appears that another being is

determined to reduce the glory we attribute to the One we serve and divert us from attributing all these things to the Creator so that He and He alone might have the glory. The world today has access to an alternative explanation for how all these things came to be. It is called evolution with its orphan child, natural selection. And this theory parading as science has disturbed the thinking of so many and truly diverted the world’s attention away from the Creator. I do not believe that creation of all things was the outcome of some form of serendipity, as one of my relatives contends. I believe that another mind has been at work to divert our attention from the Creator and give it to some natural process that leaves God entirely out of the picture. He has even been identified. Paul wrote of those “whose minds the god of this age has blinded, who do not believe, lest the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, shine on them” (2 Cor. 4:4). I believe that the time has come to stand in the way of the ascendancy of the god of this age, and challenge what I believe are the incorrect assumptions that so many who believe this evolutionary tale, have made. I believe it is time for Christians to give back to Him the glory that belongs to Him as the One who created all things. Hence the words on these pages. In the biblical record, I find two elements of our Lord’s creative genius that stand in the way of anyone attributing creation to an evolutionary process. The first is the origin of the material creation. The second is the origin of life. These two elements point us to the Creator rather than to an evolutionary process that is quite unable to explain either of them. I begin with the origin of the material world.

The Material World

The Bible addresses the origin of the material world, “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth” (Gen. 1:1). Buried in these words is a truth

that is often overlooked. The words “the heavens and the earth” do not simply refer to of the material creation that can be seen and examined. But let me begin with what can be seen, and then explore what cannot be seen. The material creation is unimaginably vast. Our own galaxy, the Milky Way, in which we find our solar system, is made up a number of spiral arms around a central black hole into which even light is drawn by gravity and disappears. The distance from of one side of our own galaxy to the other side is impossible to imagine. That distance has been calculated to be the distance light traveling at 186,000 miles per second would cover in 100,000 years. In our galaxy, there are an estimated 100 to 400 billion stars—our own sun is only one of them. The Milky Way galaxy contains a large number of nebulae. These are immense clouds of dust, hydrogen, helium, and other gasses. One of the nebulae in our galaxy is known to astronomers as the Rosette Nebulae. It glows red and is larger than 100,000 of our suns. And apart from the Milky Way galaxy, there are an estimated 100 to 200 billion galaxies in the cosmos, and each would contain billions of stars like our own sun. Coming back to earth, we find the planet we live on has a central core of nickel and iron that could be as hot as 600 degrees C. Surrounding the core is the mantle, and the part we see and live on is the crust. Around 70 percent of the crust is covered with oceans, leaving 30 percent of the planet’s surface for man to live on. From our limited point of view, the number of sunlike stars and planets like our own earth in all the galaxies in the universe is impossible to count. Yet the psalmist wrote, “He counts the number of the stars; He calls them all by name” (Ps. 147:4). And Isaiah captured some of the wonder of the universe that God created. “Lift up your eyes on high, and see who has created these things, who brings out their host by number; He calls them all by name, by the greatness of His might and the strength of His power; not one is missing” (Isa. 40:26). It is common in the world of science to trace the universe back to a beginning which has been called the “big bang.” And there are many explanations, none proven, of what happened at the big bang. The problem for the scientist is twofold. How can they explain the beginning of the created world and what was there before its beginning? They have two choices: Acknowledge that they don’t know, or confess that a great intelligence arranged all these things. In our ,

that great intelligence is God. What we see in the night sky is a fraction of the material element of His creation, but there is something I have left out of our discussion: the existence of the laws that govern the operation of the vast entity. Behind the visible reality we can see are the invisible laws that make everything work. And these also bear the mark of the Creator’s mind. Every day the tides of the sea lap on our beaches on a cycle determined by the force of gravity that binds the moon to the earth. He designed it that way. The same inexorable force pulls light into the core of our galaxy, into a super massive black hole from which light cannot escape. Also designed by Him. And when I drop my shoe, gravity takes it to the floor. Gentle or powerfully urgent. He designed the gravity that determines the relationship of every celestial body in the universe with every other celestial body and is an inexorable presence in all our lives. He also designed the sun that appears to circle daily across our skies. At its core is a massive nuclear-powered furnace that burns under the immense pressure of gravity at an estimated temperature of 27 million degrees Celsius. He designed that furnace and set it running. Just as He designed the planet on which we live and placed it unerringly in its exact orbit around the sun. If He had placed our earth two degrees further away from the sun our earth would be a frozen planet on which life would be impossible. Two degree further in toward the sun, and earth would burn into a lifeless wasteland. Now, because of the power of His mind and the words He speaks to create all things (Ps. 33:6), our planet is a beautiful blue sphere probably unique in the whole of the universe. Who made these and the countless functioning rules that determine how the universe works? He did. As the psalmists tells us, “He sends forth His Spirit and everything He has created is continuously renewed (Ps. 104:30, my paraphrase). The One who dwells in my heart created all these things and set them running with the efficient order that is a reflection of His own mind. I am in awe of Him (Col. 1:27). He is the God who created all these wonders and mysteries, but knowledge of Him is always personal. He is also the God who knows you and me so well and invites us into a special kind of relationship with Himself as Creator in which He can reveal Himself to us. And more of that elusive subject later.

He is not only the Creator of everything in the material world. Life itself owes its origin to Him. But now I have to shift my attention from the creation of all things to the One who determines how my body would work and how the attributes of life should be expressed in each of us.

Life of the Human Body

Two of the questions that have plagued scientists is what life is and where it came from. They see life everywhere. At the bottom of a Brazilian swamp, there are living things. Every forest is full of them and we ire the immense flocks of red-legged flamingos in Africa. There is life on the savannah of Tanzania where wildebeest pursue migration routes that have been born into their minds by their Creator. Butterflies have life, as do birds of paradise, the great humpback whales, schools of herring that swirl in safe circles of life in the sea. I could go on. The list is endless. And of course, there is much more. For every man, woman, and child on this planet is a person whose life takes him into a distinct realm above the animal world. And life in each of us is the greater wonder. Where did it come from? And how did I become a living person even before I was born? What part of me is the core of my life? How was that elusive item, my personality, created? Scientists have looked for the origins of human life and have even given their search a name: abiogenesis. Many scientists believe that life may have originated in inorganic compounds somewhere back in the beginnings of time and then evolved from nonliving to living entities. Life, they say, appeared on earth in Africa and then evolved through Homo habilis and Homo erectus through Neanderthal man to become Homo sapiens. Us. The problem with this evolutionary theory is that it is unable to define what life is and to for its origin. It cannot for the origins of mind or personality and certainly not for the origins of the spirit in man. Those subjects are far outside the realm of the enquiries of those who believe in evolution. The scriptures are very clear about answers to these two questions: What is life? And where did life come from? But here I run into a definition problem.

There are two kinds of life, not one. Human life was a creation of God when He breathed into Adam the breath of life and he became a living being (Gen. 2:7). And all of us have followed in Adam’s footsteps. As a newborn babe, I drew my first breath, and by some mysterious alchemy, my body became alive. Human life has a number of attributes. It is expressed in our minds, in our personalities, in our right to make independent moral decisions and to function in the image of the Creator creating masterpieces such as the Taj Mahal, the Mona Lisa, the Notre Dame Cathedral, the literary masterpieces of Shakespeare, and the satellites that enable us to capture news from around the world on our computers. Eighteen years later, I was born a second time with a different kind of life (John 3:3, 5), and that was through the agency of the One Paul called the Spirit of Life (Rom. 8:2). The Creator was involved both in bringing me into this different kind of life and guiding me in the creation of how I would respond to that life within me. Two kinds of life. Human life and Spirit life. Life of the human body and life of the divine Spirit. I accept that human life is a gift and that I am the custodian of how I manage that life. But the life of the Spirit is also a gift, a very rare and beautiful gift that I need to explore in this narrative.

Life of the Spirit

Here I must note that this spirit life has never been created. It has no origin apart from the One the scriptures speak about. “In Him was life, and the life was the light of men” (John 1:4). And the apostle John also teaches that life has never been created. It is eternal. The apostle writes, “And this is the testimony: that God has given us eternal life” (1 John 5:11). Unfortunately, the words “eternal life” have acquired a meaning that is quite misleading. When I first believed I understood that eternal life meant that I would go to heaven. It does. But I had missed the meaning of the word eternal. For something that is eternal has neither beginning nor end. Looking back, I realize that I had a beginning when I first believed, but by definition, eternal life

had no beginning. There had to be another meaning for this enigmatic term. The apostle John provides the answer: “And this eternal life is in His Son. He who has the eternal Son living in Him has His eternal life; and he who does not have the Son of God living in him does not have the Lord’s eternal life” (1 John 5:11–12, my paraphrase). And Paul agrees. In his letter to the church in Colossae, he wrote of the mystery of Christ in him (Col. 1:27). And to the churches in Galatia, Paul expanded this mystery (Gal. 2:20). Human life in every Christian had a natural beginning when we were born into this human world. The second form of life in each of us also had a beginning that the Lord spoke about with Nicodemus. “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” And then the Lord’s expansion, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God” (John 3:3, 5). Later Paul expanded the meaning of the Lord’s words about being born of water and Spirit. “Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us, through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit” (Titus 3:5). Two key words: washing and renewal. My sins are washed away when I am forgiven and my spirit is given a new kind of life. The Holy Spirit is an essential part of us being born into the kingdom of God and He is also an essential element in the life that Christians receive. Peter explained what follows the Lord’s cleansing and renewal. “And you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit” (Acts 2:38). The Holy Spirit is the One who brings a new and quite different kind of life to those being born into God’s kingdom. Paul referred to Him as the Spirit of life (Rom. 8:2). The Spirit of life is like a visitor to our house who comes in the front door bringing life with him or her, for many of our visitors are women coming to talk with Marie. Her visitors express life in our house, happiness or anxiety or frustration, or any of the emotions locked away in the heart. Marie knows them because they reveal themselves through these expressions of life and character. Change the image. The Holy Spirit comes into our hearts bringing His life with Him. As Jesus told His disciples, “But you know the Spirit of truth and life, for He dwells among you and after Pentecost He will be in you” (John 14:17, my paraphrase). I think of my heart as the sanctuary in me and in each of us where the Spirit dwells. He is a Person and we know nine of the elements of His

character. Paul identified them as fruit of the Spirit, and the first three are very special attributes of His eternal life. The first is eternal love. The second is eternal joy. The third is eternal peace (Gal. 5:22). Paul reports that the Spirit’s love, an attribute of the Spirit’s life, is poured out of Himself into the hearts of those who believe. “For the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us” (Rom. 5:5). And out of that great pool of God’s love in each of our hearts we are able to respond as He commanded, “And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength” (Mark 12:30). Some express their love in the words, “Lord, I love You,” as I do, but each one of us needs to find ways to respond to His love as we obey the greatest commandment. At the moment, we are born of His Spirit and receive the life of the Spirit, the twin attributes of the Spirit’s life, His peace and His joy, can also be expressed by the Spirit in our hearts. We know them because they are both unlike any human equivalent. Paul referred to the Spirit’s peace as “the peace of God that sures understanding” (Phil. 4:7). Not some kind of contentment when all is going well. His peace supersedes human contentment, like the roaring approval of a crowd supersedes the clapping of my hands. His peace, this expression of the Spirit’s eternal life, defies any human attempt to understand it. The Spirit’s joy has the same supernatural quality. Peter wrote of the Spirit’s joy as “joy inexpressible and full of glory” (1 Pet. 1:8). Certainly not human happiness that comes and goes. Both the Spirit’s peace and His joy clearly stand out over their human equivalents, like Mt. Everest over the mound of dirt in my backyard, and are easily recognized. His love, His peace, and His joy are attributes of life in the Lord and of His Spirit. When the Spirit of the Creator comes into our hearts, He is able to express these attributes of His life in each of our hearts. And here the creative responsibility shifts to us. We have to create the environment in each of our hearts where He is welcome and is freely able to express these attributes of His Being.

Our Response

The One who is at the heart of our faith is the Creator of all things. We can think of Him as distant and as unknowable as the far side of the Andromeda Galaxy. Or we Christians of whatever denomination can seek to know Him in the way He wants to be known. Personally. In the same kind of intimate relationship that He enjoyed with so many in His day. Because He is the Creator, we could believe that He doesn’t need anything from us. But this would be a grave mistake. I believe He needs us to Him as He continues to create His kingdom on earth. In working with the Creator, Christians can make three responses.

First, worship Him as Creator with reverence and awe. Bring our love and thanksgiving and praise to Him as essential elements of our daily relationship with the Creator. Second, maintain His dwelling place in each of our hearts free of every impediment that limits our ability to love Him and distracts us from hearing His voice. And in that sacred space, continue to listen for His creative instructions and obey them without hesitation. Third, He is the Creator, and His work among us is not yet complete. He needs to continue His creative work in each Christian and in the church. Our responsibility is to learn from Him what He requires from us as He continues the work He came to do until His work as Creator in each of us and in the church is over and we can all come into rest.

I have found to my cost that He doesn’t meet me when only my mind or my emotions are engaged. I come to Him; I relate to Him in the same unique way He relates to His Father and to our Father, in Spirit. For God is Spirit and like our worship (John 4:24), and our prayer (Eph. 6:18), everything else in our relationship with Him has to be in Spirit. But more of that critical subject later.

9

Savior

And [Mary] shall being forth a Son, and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins. —Matthew 1:21

Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I did not come to call the righteousness but sinners to repentance. —Mark 2:17

For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost. —Luke 19:10

Do We Need a Savior?

I haven’t found anyone who is not aware of personal failings of some kind or other. And even our language recognizes our capacity for multiple kinds of failings. I apologize. Please forgive me. Both recognize failings in our relationships with others and our need to bring those relationships back into some kind of order.

And this is true also of our relationship with the God who created us. But with Him, the standards against which we are to measure our lives are so much higher. The scriptures use three words when they refer to our inability to reach these standards for mind and thought and action. One is transgression, parabasis, which refers to us stepping aside from a standard God has set. Such transgressions can be deliberate as with David when he took Bathsheba into his bed, and with Ananias and Sapphira when they misled the apostles about the purchase price of the land they sold. And some transgressions can be in ignorance. The second word that describes our failings is iniquity. The Greek word is anomia, which literally means “without law.” An external law sets the standards against which our behavior might be judged. In human , breaking the speed limit is the deliberate failure to keep the law. It is anomia. But in of relationship with the divine Creator anomia, iniquity has a much more precise meaning. Central to the relationship He seeks with each of us is His love. And His love requires that we obey the law of love by loving Him as He has loved us and continues to love us. Breaking that law of love which is the greatest of all divine laws, is anomia, iniquity. The third word the scriptures use to describe our failings in the relationship He seeks with each of us is sin. Hamartia, a miss or failure from a law or duty that He requires of each of us. Sin is a falling short, like shooting an arrow at a target where the arrow simply refuses, no matter how hard we try, to reach the target. In any relationship with friends and family, the results of our failings can be buried by silence or by the refusal to confess them and to seek forgiveness. But with God, these standards are so much higher. In natural human , we are unable to reach those standards so that our transgressions, iniquities, and sins, from God’s point of view, are so much more grave. When we sin, we break the relationship with the Lord our God. Any form of sin separates us from Him. We know that, as He promised, He is always present: “I am with you always to the end of the earth” (Matt. 28:20). But sin deprives the sinner of the awareness and comfort of His presence. None of our sins can remove Him from us and separate us from His love (see Romans 8:38–39). The effect of sins of any kind is to shut the door of our minds and the window of our hearts to the experience of His presence. We are

responsible for shutting Him out of our lives where I believe He longs to belong. I also believe that shutting Him out of our lives offends His love for each of us and causes Him immeasurable grief. And that is where He comes to us as Savior.

Save My People

Somewhere in a house in Nazareth, Joshua was considering what to do with his pregnant fiancée. Then a superior angel came to him in a dream and told him, “Do not be afraid to take to you Mary your wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit. And she will bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins” (Matt. 1:20–21). Joshua would have understood the angel’s words from his own Jewish point of view. His people were those, like himself, who had been born Jews or brought into the Jewish nation as proselytes. But saving them from their sins would have to wait a considerable time, for around seventy years later, the whole Jewish nation was dispersed to the ends of the earth. Only in the twentieth century have they been restored to the ancient land and became a nation again. Saving the Jewish people from their sins is, for them, still a future blessing. The words the angel used, His people, have a second meaning. It refers to a special relationship God has made available for all, Gentiles as well as Jews. Each one can be born into the family of God (John 3:3, 5), adopted as legal of His supernatural family (Rom. 8:15–16), know the living Jesus of Nazareth as the Firstborn among many brethren (Rom. 8:29), be all called the children of God (Gal. 3:26) and all belong to Him because He bought us, paying the price of our salvation which is His own life willingly poured out through His death on the cross (1 Cor. 6:19). We are, therefore, His people whom He also came to save from our sins. The angel’s promise that Jesus would save His people from their sins lands squarely on our doorstep. We are also His people as were the ancient people of God, the Jews. They belong to Him through a covenant relationship (Gen. 17:1– 2, 7–8). We belong to Him because He bought us (see 1 Corinthians 6:20). And in both cases, the angel’s promise to Joshua holds true. He will save His people

from their sins (see Matthew 1:21). Now we have to discuss how He will save us and what He requires of each of us as our Savior. What is His part? And what is our part? And that takes us back into the garden the Lord God planted in Eden. There we find that Eve’s and then Adam’s sin separated them from the divine life that God had breathed into Adam (see Genesis 2:7). And as the Lord God told them, they would surely die (see Genesis 2:17). Their penalty was that they would be separated from the life of God for that is the meaning of the death the Lord promised them. The separation God promised had an immediate and then a long-term effect. Immediately when they sinned, the Spirit withdrew from their hearts, and in that special sense, they each died. Then there is the long-term effect. Their separation from God would continue after their human lives had ended. They would be eternally separated from the Lord God. Jesus came to reverse those inexorable effects of sin. Instead of each of us being separated from the Father, He accepted our sins into His body and endured separation from the Father in our place. The words “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?” (Matt. 27:46) were cried out to the Father in the midst of that separation. Now two things could come together. Our repentance and confession that face us toward a relationship with Him and His forgiveness that cements us in that relationship and the salvation the angel promised Joshua can begin. And that salvation has three phases. The first phase is immediate. The second phase takes a lifetime, and the final phase will take place when He calls us home.

Phases of Our Salvation

The first phase takes only as long as we need to repent and confess and as long as He needs to forgive us and to cleanse our hearts. Then we become children of the Most High God (Rom. 8:15–16). Then the second phase of our salvation that takes a lifetime can begin. And that second phase has a special name. In his letter to the church at Rome, Paul described what I believe is the chief

purpose of our salvation: “For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the first born among many brethren” (Rom. 8:29). This is most holy ground. That image of God that Adam expressed in the garden was lost because of Adam’s sin. Then Jesus came to earth to express the same image of God among men. Paul wrote of our Lord “who is the image of God” (2 Cor. 4:4). Jesus of Nazareth restored the image that Adam had lost, and we are to continue that process. He came in the image of God. We are to be transformed into the image of Christ. But we have an enemy that is within us, one who opposes our transformation into our Lord’s image. Paul called it “the sin that dwells in me” (Rom. 7:17, 20), the old man (Eph. 4:22), and the flesh (Rom. 7:18). This entity in each of us is packed full of the propensity to sin through its many ions and desires (see Galatians 5:24). It is the fountain out of which flows every kind of desire, sinful thought, and evil intent; and it has functioned in the world for a very long time. The Genesis record contains a description of the flesh in those ancient people: “Then the Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually” (Gen. 6:5). And I believe that nothing about the nature of man has changed since those ancient times. I must hasten to add that our human nature is also capable of great good. It is the sinful acts of the human nature that we have to deal with, and the Lord, as He always does, has made provision for us to overcome every sinful tendency within us. And that takes us deep into another mystery. Peter explained that our salvation begins when we receive the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:38). And He is the key to us overcoming the flesh. And this is where the mystery begins. For as Jesus told us, there are two opposing ways of life. One way of life follows the natural inclinations of our human nature. That is the way of the flesh. The other way, which is part of our salvation, is the way of the Spirit. And the two are opposed to each other. Paul makes this plain: “For the flesh, the desires of our natural human nature are opposed to the desires of the Spirit of God who lives in us and these two ways of life are contrary to each other” (Gal. 5:16, my paraphrase). So we Christians have a choice. We can live in the flesh or we can live in the Spirit (Gal. 5:25). We can be filled with human desire that comes from our sinful nature (Gal. 5:24), or we can be filled with the Spirit (Eph. 5:18). We can be led astray by the desires that seek to connect us with the world and shipwreck our

peace (1 John 2:15–16), or we can be led by the Spirit (Rom. 8:14), we can walk in the flesh (Gal. 5:16), or we can walk in step with the Spirit of God (Gal. 5:25). I believe that Jesus our Lord knew these opposing ways of life intimately. The writer of the letter to the Hebrews tells us that He “was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin” (Heb. 4:15). He knew the ways of the flesh, but He never gave in to those natural human tendencies. Luke provides us with details. Following His baptism, the Lord was filled with the Spirit who led Him into the wilderness where the devil was waiting to tempt him (see Luke 4:1). These matters of our salvation are known to the Lord who provides us with the model for the second phase of our salvation. Being conformed to the image of our Lord who knew everything about what it means to be human is the whole purpose of this second phase of being saved from our sins. He knew what it means to be human, yet He never plumbed the depth of being a willful sinner, as we all have.

Our Response

In his letter to the church at Philippi, Paul tells us how we are to respond to the One who bought and paid for our salvation. “Work out your own salvation, with fear and trembling; for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure” (Phil. 2:12–13). Paul made it abundantly clear that the responsibility for our salvation falls on two shoulders: His divine shoulders and ours. As the angel promised Joshua, “And she will bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name JESUS, for He will save His people from their sins” (Matt. 1:21). The cross started the process where He bore our sins in His own body. Paul makes it clear that we have to continue what He began by working out our salvation. But we are not along in that work. Paul also made it clear that God has His own part in working out our salvation. Again our response has three parts. Acknowledge the One who calls us to constantly seek His forgiveness and the great gift of His Spirit, and who deeply

longs for every Christian to enter into and enjoy a living relationship with the Son of the Father. Understand what it means to work out our salvation with the One who bought and paid for it, working with us to make our salvation real in everyday life. Our third response is often missed but must be brought back into focus. Here again we have a partnership, each of us working with our Savior to fulfill what He said He came to do. John made it plain, “For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through [the Savior] might be saved” (John 3:17). He is not here to proclaim the good news of His salvation but we are. He left us with clear instructions, to be witnesses Him and to His salvation until the earth comes to an end (Acts 1:8).

10

Healer

But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement for our peace was upon Him. And by His stripes we are healed. —Isaiah 53:5

Then His fame went throughout all Syria; and they brought to Him all sick people who were afflicted with various diseases and torments, and those who were demon possessed, epileptics, and paralytics; and He healed them. —Matthew 4:24

Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer of faith will save the sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven. Confess your treses to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed. —James 5:14–16

Isaiah

Years before the Lord was born to Mary, the prophet Isaiah understood that the

Lord would heal. He wrote, “By His stripes we are healed” (Isa. 53:5). In the beginning of His work among us, the Lord had authority over all kinds of sicknesses, diseases, and over the demons who brought about a range of ailments. This power and authority lay in Himself but after the cross and Pentecost the benefits of His power and authority became available to His disciples and to His church. We can now say, because of the stripes He suffered, and because of His crucifixion, we individually and as a church, may be healed. Heal. Therapeuo. (The o is long as in mote.) To attend to another person, take care of others especially the sick, wash and dress them, tend them, treat them medically, and bring relief to those who suffer various ailments. Therapeuo is a comprehensive term and covers physical ailments such as blindness (Luke 18:35–43), death (Luke 7:11–15), and demon possession that results in various medical condition such as blindness, the inability to speak, and epilepsy (Matt. 12:22 and 17:15–18). Heal. Iaomai. To heal and cure, to complete the work of a surgeon, to cause someone to live, to revive, to recover from an illness. This is the word used by the Centurion who came to Jesus to ask Him to speak a word so that his servant might be healed. It was also the word the Lord used regarding those whose hearts had grown dull, whose ears were hard of hearing and whose eyes had been closed so that they could not see and understand the affairs of the kingdom (Matt. 13:15). The Lord who heals fulfills the meaning of this word across the wide spectrum of human illnesses, as well as mental and spiritual disabilities. And that brings us to the brief the Lord accepted from the Father at His anointing with the Spirit. In the synagogue, in Nazareth the Lord, reading from the prophecy of Isaiah, identified five human conditions that need the attention of the Lord our Healer (Luke 4:18–19).

Ignorance of the good news among the physically and spiritually poor Lives that have been shattered and broken into pieces Souls taken captive by the enemy Physical and spiritual blindness

Emotional and spiritual oppression

I believe each of these five conditions called for the Healer to attend to these disabilities among people He met in His day, and also among men and women of our day, both in the church and out of it (Luke 4:18–19). (See also Isa. 61:1–2.) Christians may need to explore the application of these human conditions to themselves. And where they are present, each of us may need the attention of the Lord our Healer in the lead up to His return. We begin with the physically and spiritually poor.

Poverty

The Lord told the Jewish congregation that He had been anointed by the Holy Spirit to preach the gospel to the poor. One church tradition bases its ministry to the poor, those who live in the slums, on these words. And such ministries are certainly necessary but the term “the poor” has a double meaning. Poor. Ptochos. Those who have no wealth in themselves, who have to depend on the offerings of others, in the same way that a beggar has to depend on the alms of others, people who are poor in human , but also those whose spirits have never been enriched, in Jesus’s words, the poor in spirit. This was the word the Lord used when He itemized His list of blessings some refer to as the beatitudes. “Blessed are the poor in spirit for because of them is the kingdom of the heavens” (Matt. 5:3, literal translation). I believe that the coming of the kingdom that Jesus proclaimed was in response to the needs of the spiritually poor, those who had nothing in spiritual to depend on. This is also the word the Lord used in response to the enquiry from John the Baptist. Jesus instructed the disciples of John to tell John, among other things, that “the poor are evangelized” (Matt. 11:5, literal translation). Nowhere in the gospel records do I find the Lord giving alms to the poor.

I believe that this part of the Lord’s teachings was not directed to those such as the leaders of the Jews who believed that they were already rich as disciples of Moses. Jesus came instead to fulfill the spiritual definition of ptochos, to bring the good news to those who have no spiritual riches in themselves and have to depend on the grace and mercy that Jesus came to bring. These were and are the truly poor in spirit, and Christians should be included among that number. One such person was very rich in monetary but very poor in spirit. He was the tax collector Zacchaeus who lived in Jericho. I believe that Zacchaeus acknowledged that in spite of his wealth, there was something lacking in his life and particularly in his relationship with the Lord God. He belonged to the class of people the Lord called “poor in spirit.” The Lord called the tax collector down from his perch in the tree. “So he made haste and came down, and received [Jesus] joyfully.” And to demonstrate that his dependence on earthly riches had begun to be replaced by heavenly riches, he told Jesus, “Look, Lord, I give half of my goods to the poor; and if I have taken anything from anyone by false accusation, I restore fourfold” (Luke 19:6). The spiritually poor are subjects of the Lord’s healing in that He brings to them the riches that are already resident in Himself. Paul affirms that all the riches that the spiritually poor need are found in Jesus, “in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge” (Col. 3:2).

Broken Heart

In current , those who have broken hearts are those who have suffered the loss of someone they have greatly loved. The Greek words Jesus used in the synagogue in Nazareth have a quite different meaning. He was referring to those whose inner spiritual parts have been rubbed together and shattered. The different parts of his or her life no longer fit snugly together as they are meant to. They are broken apart. The person’s will, for example, is no longer able to respond to that person’s perception of what is required. His heart tells him one thing. His mind tells him another. His inner parts are disconnected, and he or she is brokenhearted.

Jesus told His listeners that He had come to heal those whose lives had been broken into pieces. One of those was the prostitute who came to the house of the Pharisee. She knelt behind the Lord, weeping so that her tears fell onto His feet. Then she used her long hair worn unbraided and loose in the manner of prostitutes of that time, to wipe her tears from the Lord’s feet. She had devoted most of her time to serving the sexual demands of others and had never paid attention to her own spiritual needs. Her guilt as a prostitute would have lain heavy on her, but she would not have known of any way to deal with her guilt. Those inner parts of her life—her conscience, emotions and will —had been forcefully disconnected. Then she heard of Jesus and the ways He healed those who came to Him with their needs. She had a need, a rather large need, so she found her way into the home of the Pharisee where the One she had learned about was reclining at the table. The Lord understood the inner state of her broken soul, the heavy load of her guilt and her inability to deal with it. So the Healer said to her, “Your sins are forgiven,” and “Your faith has saved you. Go in peace” (Luke 7:48, 50). There is no record of her response but it would be likely that she accepted the Lord’s forgiveness and peace immediately filled her heart. The broken parts of her life began to come together. Healing was taking place.

Captivity

The Lord addressed His words to those in His audience in Nazareth who supposed that they were free. There could have been some in that congregation, who in spite of their apparent freedom, suffered the different kind of captivity that Paul wrote about (see 2 Timothy 2:26). The words the Lord used referred to one taken captive in conflict and made a prisoner of war. These are those who have been trapped by the enemy into believing and living any kind of lie. Their failure to live in obedience to the truth who is Jesus results in them being made a prisoner in the never-ending war between the forces of good in the heavens and the forces of evil on earth. Satan is adept at taking men and women captive.

Being made a prisoner of war by the enemy may not involve Christians in some kind of obvious conflict. Satan is far more subtle than that. He and his host of evil spirits can whisper all kinds of deceptive lies into our minds: “You are not good enough.” “She doesn’t love you.” “You can afford that extravagance.” “You don’t belong in the church.” And when we accept what we hear we become trapped, and the lie doesn’t quietly go away. We become captive. One person who heard these whispers from Satan himself was one of the Lord’s disciples. Peter had affirmed, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God” (Matt. 16:18). So how could the One Peter knew to be the Messiah (Matt. 16:16) suffer such things that Jesus had spoken about? But a little later, Satan whispered into Peter’s ear that it was not right for Jesus to die. The disciple had just affirmed that Jesus was Messiah. How could be suffer and die? The Lord knew exactly what was happening. He turned to Peter and addressed His word to the deceiver who had whispered the lie into Peter’s mind. “Get behind Me, Satan! You are an offense to Me, for you are not mindful of the things of God, but the things of men” (Matt. 16:23). As the Healer, the Lord needed to deny Satan entry into Peter’s mind and soul where he could cause a great degree of malaise. Better for the Healer to prevent disease than to have to heal it later.

Blindness

We find two kinds of blindness in man. There are the physically blind whom the Lord healed on many occasions. And there are the spiritually blind who cannot see the things of the kingdom of God because they do not have the inner eyes to see them. And they cannot hear and understand the words of grace and salvation because their inner capacity to hear has been shut down. They have not been born of the Spirit, which enables Christian to both see and hear the things of God and of our salvation (see John 3:3). Others cannot or will not see and accept the principles that could govern their lives for they are not listening and looking. They suffer a degree of inner

deafness and blindness. Blind. Tuphlos. Unable to see at all, or unable to see clearly for what is meant to be seen is hidden behind a misty or darkened haze. The Pharisees fell into the first category as do many people in our churches. They were obsessed with religious principles that they believe have God’s approval. The Lord’s judgment? They are blind leaders of the blind (Matt. 15:14). The problem with being spiritually blind is the inability or refusal to see, and that brings about a state of inner darkness because the light of the Lord’s love and grace is unable to penetrate. One such person was Judas Iscariot who betrayed Him. For around three years, the betrayer had seen all that He did and had been exposed to all that Jesus taught. Yet none of this seems to have penetrated the inner darkness of Judas’s soul. We haven’t been told why Judas entertained such darkness, though we do know that Satan had a great deal to do with it (Luke 22:3). Judas’s problem was compounded by his inability to respond to so many of the Lord’s words, “Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these [human] things will be added to you” (Matt. 6:33, my brackets). “Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden and I will give you rest” (Matt. 11:28). And “As the Father loved Me, I also have loved you; abide in My love” (John 15:9). It may be that Judas chose the ways of disobedience that led him into darkness because his eyes were fastened on other things and on other ambitions. Whatever they were, and we will probably never know, Judas fulfilled the Lord’s words about inner eyes, “But if your [inner] eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in you is darkness; how great is that darkness” (Matt. 6:23)? And the outcome for Judas, as it could be with so many who claim to be Christians and who will not see, both in the church and out of it, was a darkness that never went away.

Oppression

The next element in the Lord’s commission relates to an inner state. He spoke about being set free from an inner state that could be personally entertained, induced by Satan, or be the outcome of the words of others directed against the well-being of a Christian. The word He used can be translated oppressed. Oppressed. Thrauo. (The o is long as in mote.) An inner state of anguish and perplexity induced by an influence apart from the will of the person who is being oppressed. One version translates the oppressed as the crushed ones and this translation suggests an image of a person hiding away and crushed by the great burden of pain brought on by some experience. Oppression, the state of being crushed, experienced by those who believe, is clearly the concern of the Healer. Oppression can begin with a small feeling of guilt and shame that is entertained and which then progresses to become a monster that tells the oppressed one, “I am no use to anyone. I cannot see the way ahead. Nothing will change. I would rather die.” All of us have the potential to entertain the thoughts and emotions that oppress us. For some, they are minor words in the closet of our minds and emotions. But when they are entertained, they fill the house with despair. One outcome of oppression is that the one suffering in this way will be unable to seek the attention of the Healer, at a time when His healing is so desperately needed. They become locked away in their own misery, turn inward, blame themselves, and some, for all kinds of reasons, delight in their misery. And some will seek the apparent release of suicide. All Christians have the capacity for oppression, and those who experience this disability are called to turn to the One who is also the Healer and respond to His invitation, “Come to Me, all you who labour and are heavy laden with oppressive thoughts and emotions, with guilt and shame, with self-afflicted judgement, and I will give you rest from everything that oppresses you” (Matt. 11:28; my paraphrase). The way we deal with oppression, whether minor or severe, has been described by Paul with two key words that need our objective attention: observe and examine (Gal. 6:1, 4). Not emotionally, but with objective care, observe and examine ourselves through the critical eyes of the Lord and the lens of the scriptures, and then submit ourselves to the gentle touch of the Holy Spirit who

will convict us of all sin (John 16:8, 9). From there, it is but a short step to our confession and His forgiveness, and our hearts will be cleansed of the stain of oppression in all its ugly forms.

Our Response

In the three years of His public ministry, the Lord as a Healer brought so many who needed a physician back into health. His commitment to continue to heal in our day is without question. Our response to Him can take three forms:

First, make sure that none of us Christians harbors any unhealed issues that needs the expert hand of the Master Surgeon. And if we find an ailment within ourselves go immediately to Him and seek forgiveness and healing. Second, look out for those in our respective circles who suffer from spiritual poverty, shattered lives, captivity, spiritual blindness, and spiritual oppression. And where we find them pray and direct them to the One who heals. Third, divine health is possible within each of us. We make spiritual health ours as we trust the Healer for His continued healing in our own lives, express our love for the Healer, and seek to live in harmony with the One who, with us, is responsible for our spiritual health and well-being.

And the grace, favor, and healing from the Lord our Healer will be with us all.

11

Teacher

This man came to Jesus by night and said to Him, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher come from God.” —John 3:2

And take My yoke upon you and learn of Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light. —Matthew 11:29–30

The Work of a Teacher

Looking into what the scriptures reveal about the Lord’s teaching during those biblical times, we find that He used three special elements in teaching His disciples: two before His death and resurrection and one after Pentecost. Before the cross: The disciples’ personal relationship with Himself, and then the commands He required them to obey. After Pentecost: the Holy Spirit as the Spirit of truth, who would continue teaching His disciples. Christians today, of whatever denomination or language, have access to these same three resources. A relationship with the Teacher, access to the commands He left us to obey, and the services of the Holy Spirit who would teach us all things.

It is an unfortunate fact in our Christian lives that His teaching has often been left on the sidelines. The purpose of these notes is to inform Christians of the heritage the Lord, as our Teacher, has defined for us. We begin with the Teacher’s relationship with each of His students.

Relationship with the Teacher

Every Christian’s relationship with our Teacher is defined by a special Greek word. One of His first commands was “Follow Me” (Matt. 4:19 and 9:9). Leave what they were doing: family, friends, businesses, possessions, reputation, walk away from them all and become His disciples. Follow. Akoloutheo. (The final o is long as in mote.) Walk beside Me or just behind Me but always within the sounds of My voice, so that as one of My servants I can tell you what to do, as one of the soldiers in My army, I can issue the orders that will direct you into battle, and as one of My students I can teach you. Implicit in the command to follow is the requirement that each student be constantly intent on the voice of our Teacher and on His instructions. The command “follow Me” applies to all Christians today as it applied to His first disciples. And the conditions that applied to their relationship with Him also apply nearly two thousand years later. First their trust. Then their obedience. And after Pentecost, their love. Each call, “follow Me,” had built into it, the requirement that each of those first disciples trust Him for everything. There would be no food or accommodation for them unless He arranged it. They had to trust Him that all their needs would be provided. He was quite specific about the need for their faith in Him. In part of the teachings we call “the Sermon on the Mount” the Lord instructed them about what they would eat or drink or wear (Matt. 6:31). And it appears that they were failing in their trust in Him for He upbraided them with the words “O you of little faith” (Matt. 6:30). Later He sent the twelve out on mission with a specific instruction that had the

built-in requirement that they trust Him. “Provide neither gold nor silver nor copper in your money belts, nor bag for your journey, nor two tunics, nor sandals, nor staffs; for a worker is worthy of his hire” (Matt. 10:9–10). Implicit in that instruction, though it is not spelled out, is the requirement that they trust Him for everything. The second element in each disciple’s relationship with their Teacher was their obedience. The relationship of the first disciples with Him began with a call that required their obedience; Follow Me! When the Lord sent the twelve out of mission He gave them clear instructions that required their obedience. We read of another act of obedience when He took Peter, James, and John up to a high mountain where He was transfigured (Mark 9:2–9). And coming down from the mountain, He gave them an order that also required their obedience (see Mark 9:9). In the final weeks and months of His earthly life, He told them of another event that would pose great danger for their Lord and perhaps for all of them, “Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be betrayed to the chief priests and to the Scribes and they will condemn Him to death and deliver Him to the gentiles; and they will mock Him, and scourge Him, and spit on Him and kill Him” (Mark 10:33–34). And yet they obeyed and followed Him into the terrible days when His words would be fulfilled. When those days were behind them, they were instructed to wait in Jerusalem for the Holy Spirit He had promised them. When the Holy Spirit came, He made it possible for the third element in their relationship to be fulfilled. On His last day, He told them to abide in His love (John 15:9). But at that time abiding in His love was impossible because the love God gives could only come through the Holy Spirit and the Spirit had not yet been given. But when He came at Pentecost the Holy Spirit was able to pour God’s love out of Himself into the hearts of each of the Lord’s disciples (see Romans 5:5). Obedience to His spoken words. Always obedience as an essential element in being a disciple, and for us, in being Christian. These three—trust in the living God, obedience to all that He commands and loving Him with all our beings—cross out of the first century and call us Christians in the twenty-first century. They apply with the same strength and urgency to Christians today as they applied to disciples who were learning from their Teacher in those far off times.

All That He Has Commanded

In some of His last words to His disciples, the Lord faced them with an instruction that has largely been lost to the Christian world. “Teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you” (Matt. 28:20). And if one was asked what commands the Lord was referring to, most Christians would undoubtedly refer to the first command, to love the Lord our God and the second command, to love one’s neighbor as oneself. What they would miss is the great number of other commands the Lord left for us to obey. There are over one hundred of them. Here are some of the most important that are written in the imperative form of the Greek verb, and some are double commands.

And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength. (Mark 12:30)

You shall love your neighbour as yourself. (Mark 12:31)

As the Father has loved Me, I also have loved you; abide in My love. (John 15:9)

But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. (Matt. 6:33)

Confess your treses to one another, and pray for one another. (James 5:16)

And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and perfect and acceptable will of God. (Rom. 12:2)

Put on the whole armour of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. (Eph. 6:11)

If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God. Set you mind on things above, not on things of the earth. (Col. 3:1–2)

Let [Christian] turn away from evil and do good; Let him seek peace and pursue it. (1 Pet. 3:11)

And do not be drunk with wine in which is dissipation, but be filled with the Spirit. (Eph. 5:18)

These commands lift the requirements for all Christians out of mere church going, important as that may be, into a living relationship where obedience to every one of these and so many more, commands is a part of the living mosaic of our faith. Obedience to these commands lifts our faith out of mediocre apathy into the relationship with Him where He is Lord as well as Savior.

The Holy Spirit

In His last hours before His crucifixion, the Lord promised that One would come

who would continue the work as teacher He had begun. He gave His disciples this promise, “And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may be with you forever—the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you” (John 14:16–17). At that time, the Lord gave the Spirit two names. The first is Helper. The Greek word is Paraclete, One who is called to be with each disciple to advise, help, and counsel each of us. The Spirit’s second name is Spirit of truth and His responsibility would be to carry on the Lord’s role as Teacher. The Lord was quite specific about that role. “But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, will teach you all things” (John 14:26). The Spirit’s teaching can only happen when three conditions are present and this provides a special challenge for Christians. The first is that we truly trust Him and we will deal with this most important part of our faith in this document. The second condition is that we be filled with the Spirit. And this is the subject for our study in part 4. The third condition is that we seek Him and the teaching that the Spirit will bring. Our Lord is a most gracious Person and will not impose Himself on anyone. If we are to benefit from His Spirit’s teaching, then we need to open our hearts and minds to Him and to seek that He instruct each of us in the ways of our faith. The writer of the letter to the Hebrews put it this way: “But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him” (Heb. 11:6).

Our Response

He is our great Teacher and the instruction of His children is very high on His agenda. He doesn’t want a tribe of apathetic Christians who do all the church things so many believe are necessary. He wants men and women who as disciples will attend to His teaching every day of our lives. Our teacher invites Christians to respond to Him in the following ways:

Hold fast to what He has already taught us and put that knowledge into practice. learning is only effective when it is lodged securely in the mind, affirmed in the heart, and applied every day through the exercise of the will. Examine what we have already learned, subject it to the test of the scriptures, be prepared to discard knowledge that doesn’t meet scriptural standards, and replace it with knowledge that meets the exacting standards of the whole of the scriptures. Put what the Lord teaches us into practice. His words to those who are willing to learn from Him through His Spirit, “Therefore by the fruit of their actions you shall know them” (Matt. 7:20, my paraphrase). Teach others what we have learned. Share with others our relationship with the Teacher and what He has taught us (Rom. 14:19) and encourage them to submit to the Teacher’s instruction as we have done.

Our continuing response to our Teacher is the earnest desire that He will continue to shape and form us to become like Him until we meet Him face-toface.

12

Prophet

So he who was dead sat up and began to speak. And [Jesus] presented him to his mother. Then fear came upon all, and they glorified God, saying, “A great prophet has risen up among us”; and, “God has visited His people.” —Luke 7:15–16

Are You the only stranger in Jerusalem, and have You not known the things that have happened there in these days? And He said to them, “What things?” So they said to Him, “The things concerning Jesus of Nazareth, who was a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people.” —Luke 24:18–19

The Great Separation

In the beginning, the words of the Lord who walked with the first couple in the garden were clearly heard. But sin changed all that. God’s desire to speak with man has not changed. What has disappeared from the dialogue between God and man is man’s willingness and ability to hear what the Lord God has to say. This unwitting silence of God speaking into the hearts of man is at the heart of the great separation. Not the fault of God. The fault of man. The Lord God has never given up on man and has never deliberately shut him out of the dialogue. The first step in reopening this discussion between God and

man was for Jesus to come amongst us. Some of those who heard Him and saw what He did testified that Jesus was a prophet sent from God (Luke 7:16). Prophet. Prophetes. (Both e’s are long as in fete.) The prophet is one who is sent to stand between God and man, bridging the great gulf between both. The prophet is sent to make known to man what God provides for his or her spiritual well-being, and how individual persons are required to respond so that the relationship between God and individual persons can be established, strengthened, and maintained. The prophet, to use a colloquial term, is God’s mouthpiece. When the Father needed to say something to His people, He told the prophet what needed to be said and the prophet made the Father’s message known. The prophet was enabled by the Father to speak about things, both in the future and in the present. Many of the Lord’s words while He lived among us foretold future events, both close at hand and in the distant future. He foretold His coming crucifixion (Mark 9:31), Peter’s denial (Matt. 26:34), the coming of the Spirit (Acts 1:5), the destruction of Jerusalem in AD 70 (Luke 21:20–24), and events at the end of days (Matt. 24:15–31). The second form taken by prophetic words do not point into the future but record what the Father wants to say to His people in the immediate present. And with our Lord as a prophet, there were many teachings the Lord as Prophet had to deliver from the Father to the Father’s children. These messages from the Father fall into seven groups.

His kingdom is not of this world. Jesus is the way to the Father. The Spirit of Christ will be in us. Jesus is the model for our lives. He will live His own eternal life within each of His children. Faith in Jesus Christ is at the heart of our lives.

The fellowship of Christians has to be modeled on the fellowship of the Lord with the Father and with His Spirit.

The first of these themes has already been dealt with and others will be included in parts 3 and 4. In this section of our discussion, I need only explore three themes that the Lord our Prophet has been sent to make known to God’s people; Jesus is the way to the Father, Jesus is the model for the lives of all who truly believe, and Jesus has been sent to express His own eternal life in the world and in each one who believes.

The Way to the Father

Thomas’s words, “Lord, we do not know where You are going, and how can we know the way?” and Jesus answered, “I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me” (John 14:5–6). With these words, the prophet Jesus of Nazareth revealed four truths that God wanted to make known so that the great separation between God and man could be overcome. We begin with the Prophet’s fourth revelation from the Father, “No one comes to the Father except through Me.” The most important part of this revelation from the Father is the word “comes.” It is written in a form of the verb that indicates continuous action. It’s meaning, “No one continues to come to the Father where coming is a way of life, except through the Lord Jesus.” The Lord’s meaning clearly stands opposed to the idea of coming only once to receive His forgiveness and gain a port to heaven. It is true that each one of us comes once to the Father for forgiveness and cleansing, when each one is born into the family of God. That first act of coming to the Father is the first in a long sequence of coming to Him that needs to continue until He calls us home. Beneath each act of coming to the Father are two attitudes. Jesus is always there to receive what we bring. The first attitude: He invites us to bring everything to

Him and through Him to the Father. Our second attitude: His invitation to come and to continue coming is not restricted to our woes and difficulties, but to our love and praise and worship and thanksgiving. And these most of all. Difficulties and woes come and go but our worship and praise and thanksgiving embedded in our love and brought to the Father are of the highest value and should go on forever as part of a Christian’s way of life.

Be Like the Lord

Before the Lord sent out the twelve with great authority, He gave them a special teaching that needs to be buried deep in our understanding. “A disciple is not above his teacher, nor a servant above his master. It is enough for a disciple that he be like his teacher, and a servant like his master” (Matt. 10:24–25). It is normal for people around the world to pattern their lives, consciously and unconsciously, on those closest to them and those whom they most value. Most often this involves parents, but it is normal for each of us to pattern our lives on someone else. Jesus took this human propensity and gave it a powerful Christian imprint. “It is enough for a disciple that he be like his teacher.” The Greek text gives these words of our Lord a more powerful meaning. Literally, “It is enough for the disciple to become as his teacher.” The Greek word translated become is genetai. (The second e is long as in fete.) It is written in a special form of the Greek verb, which tells us that becoming like the teacher begins when we are born into His family and that the process of becoming like our Lord continues throughout our lives. This is a very high standard indeed, but there are serious obstacles for us to become like Him. The first obstacle is within each of us. Our human nature does not like change, and in most of us, our human natures actively resist change. The second obstacle is in the spirit world, for Satan and his colleagues are seriously threatened by Christians becoming like our Lord. In His life Jesus actively resisted all the efforts of Satan to disrupt His life and the lives of His disciples. Our adversary’s tactics never change. Becoming like Jesus will result in each of us taking back what the evil one has taken captive, be it a whole life or even a

part of a life that Satan holds under his control (see 2 Timothy 2:26). The third obstacle to becoming like our Lord, oddly enough, is the church. Long centuries have taught us that Christians have little or no say in the life of the church. We have been relegated to being ive spectators. Being active participants in the life of the church disappeared long ago. Do what we are told and shut up. That is called staying locked into the status quo, and again oddly enough, most Christians like it that way. The recipe for becoming like our Lord has an active ingredient, like yeast in a loaf of bread. This ingredient was there in the Old Testament. Jesus certainly taught it as did Paul and the writer to the Hebrews. It has two names: Seek the Lord and search for Him. And both of those come at a cost. That cost is called repentance. Turn our backs on the old nature that resists change. Aggressively resist our natural tendency to be locked up in the church’s status quo. Face away from being a child, forever needing to be fed (see Hebrews 5:12). Look the Lord squarely in the face and tell Him we are ready to become like Him. We have embraced that challenge whatever it may cost and have ed the initiative over to our Teacher to manage the process of changing us into His image.

Eternal Life

The third revelation our Prophet has received from the Father is to make known to of the Father’s kingdom what eternal life is and how it functions. At first, I understood that eternal life was something special about my own very human life that now had a port into heaven. But I was seriously mistaken. My natural human life is not and never has been eternal. It had a beginning when I was born. It will certainly go on forever. But my human life is not eternal, for eternal life, unlike my human life had no beginning. The aged apostle John, writing in the last years of his life, stated, “And this is the testimony that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son” (1 John 5:11). Not in me. In Him. John was not writing about human life that would go

on forever. His subject was the life of Jesus whose life is indeed eternal. Two persons. Myself and the Lord and two forms of life. My natural human life and His eternal life. And one lived within the other. Paul understood the difference between his own natural human life and the divine eternal life of Jesus. “I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God” (Gal. 2:20). Paul’s words change everything for those of us who are Christian. Those words clearly teach us that each one who believes has two lives; his own natural life that he lives by faith in Jesus, the Son of God, and the life that Jesus lives within those of us who have been born of His Spirit. What evidence do I have from the scriptures that this conclusion? I can cite the Lord’s own teaching about an inner life that is eternal. In those last hours, the Lord told His disciples, “Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you” (John 14:27). His peace is an expression of His own life that is eternal. And the same applies to His love (John 15:9), and to His joy (John 15:13). Both His love and His joy are expressions of His own eternal life. And where does He live His life? According to Paul, Jesus lives His life in each one who believes (see Colossians 1:27). There is one further teaching from the Prophet that reinforces my conclusion about the location of eternal life. Following our repentance and confession the Lord our God forgives us and gives us the greatest gift any man can ever receive: the gift of His Spirit (Acts 2:38). He is also known as the Spirit of life (Rom. 8:2). The Holy Spirit is a Person, not an object or a principle or a teaching. The Spirit’s life is also eternal and He expresses His eternal life within each one who believes. There are nine expression of the eternal life of the eternal Spirit in each of us (Gal. 5:22–23). And the first three are also the expressions of the eternal life of our eternal Lord. The Lord’s love. The Spirit’s love. The Lord’s peace. The Spirit’s peace. The Lord’s joy. The Spirit’s joy. And every Christian, as a child of the eternal Father, has the right, to enjoy the Lord’s love, joy and peace expressed in his or her heart by the Spirit who dwells within each heart. These are powerful mysteries and it is our right and privilege to receive them with the great Prophet of our faith.

Our Response

With each of these powerful mysteries comes three personal responses: To make the Lord Jesus the central Person in my life, closer than any human relationship. This is the first response (John 15:9). And the closer I come to Him with my unquestioning trust and wholehearted love, the more He will reveal Himself to me just as He promised, “And he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and manifest Myself to him” (John 14:21). An awesome and most humbling promise from the great Prophet of our faith whose role it is to make the ways of the Father known to the Father’s children. Our second response is for each of us to constantly seek that intimate relationship with the One who loves us and invite Him to teach and train us to become like Him every day of our lives. And as our personal Prophet, to continually make known what the Father has to say to each of His children and to His church. The third response is for each of us to clear out the debris that becomes so easily lodged in our hearts. Our aim is for the inner sanctum of our lives to continually become a holy place where the Holy One can express those three elements of His eternal life: His love, His joy, and His peace. And where the Prophet of our lives can continually make the will and words of the Father known.

13

Bridegroom

He who has the bride is the Bridegroom; but the friend of the Bridegroom, who stands and hears Him, rejoices greatly because of the Bridegroom’s voice. Therefore this joy of mine is fulfilled. —John 3:29

For I [Paul] am jealous for you with godly jealousy. For I have betrothed you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ. —2 Corinthians 11:2

Let us be glad and rejoice and give Him glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and His wife has made herself ready. —Revelation 19:7

Mystery

One of the most profound and mysterious images in all the scriptures is the Lord as the Bridegroom. And that image has as its partner the image of His spiritual church as His bride. These images come out of the Jewish context of the biblical story so it is in Jewish marriage customs that we have to look for their meanings.

The story of a Jewish bride and groom begins with the betrothal; the coming bride is promised to the one she will marry. A ceremony takes place. Gifts are given. Promises are made. And from that sacred moment, the couple are bound together for life. He will then leave the place of betrothal. After a time determined by the coming bridegroom, he will return from some distant place where he has been preparing their future home. The formal marriage ceremony will then take place, the marriage will be consummated, and the bridegroom will take his bride away from her family and childhood home to live with him for the rest of their lives. We can divide the period that begins with betrothal and ends with the formal marriage into three parts. The first period contains the formal agreement that this man and this woman will one day be united in marriage. The second period contains two parallel strands. She prepares herself for that day when she will be united with her future husband, and he prepares a home in which they will live. The third period begins with their actual marriage, the consummation of those vows and continues with them living together. The Jewish marriage procedures have an exact parallel in the procedures that relate to the Bridegroom, who is Jesus our Lord, being married to His bride, who is the living and invisible church. This is a mystery, not like a human mystery to be solved as in a good human-style murder with a crime, a victim, and a perpetrator. The marriage of the Bridegroom with His bride is one of God’s mysteries waiting to be unveiled so that all the parts and their relationship with each other will become clear to the participants. Not to the Bridegroom for He knows exactly what the Father has planned for His Son. The mystery that is going to be unveiled is the part the bride will play in those mysterious events, from the day of her betrothal to the consummation of her marriage and their life together in their eternal habitation.

Betrothal

We begin with Paul’s description of the betrothal in his second letter to the church at Corinth. “For I am jealous for you with godly jealousy. For I have betrothed you to one Husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ” (2 Cor. 11:2). In his letter, Paul used a Greek word that refers to a permanent ing of the one being promised—the church and each of its —with the One to whom each of us has been promised. The betrothal of the coming bride to her future husband was not a single betrothal but many. Each one of us, at the moment of our birth into the family of God (Rom. 8:15– 17) was betrothed to our Lord, promised to Him so that, at some future time, all of us who have been born into His family, will become His bride and then His wife. That moment when each of us was united with Him involved three promises. His promise that each member of His coming bride would be forgiven of all sin and cleansed so that no residue of sin remained (1 John 1:9). We are then involved with the second promise: That we will accept His forgiveness and cleansing and devote our lives to the One to whom we have been betrothed and whom we know as both Savior and Lord. The third promise has been made by the Lord Himself. He will walk with each of us through our lives and equip us to be the bride and to become the wife who will be ed with Him forever (Matt. 28:20 and Eph. 4:12 where the term “the body of Christ” is another title for the term “the bride of Christ”).

Preparing for Marriage

The period between the betrothal and marriage is made up of two strands. One involves the bride to be. The other involves the Bridegroom. In Jewish tradition, she prepared herself and her wardrobe for the coming marriage. On His part, He went away to prepare the home in which they would live. Following our betrothal, there has to be a period of waiting when we, as the coming bride, prepare ourselves for our future union with the Bridegroom. Paul referred to this period of preparation in his letter to the Corinthian church. Each member of His future bride is to be “a chaste virgin” (2 Cor. 11:2). We need to explore what Paul meant with the words virgin and chaste.

Virgin. Pathenos. One who has no other lovers but who keeps herself only for the One to whom she has been promised. A lover is a person, place, or anything to which the Christian as the coming bride has given his or her love, devotion, and service, thus being distracted from loving the One with whom she will one day be forever united. Chaste. Hagnos. The state of being inwardly pure, with our hearts separated from anything that defiles that inner purity that came about when our hearts were cleansed from the stain and defilement of sin. And that includes any impurity that issues out of our sinful natures or out of the world. The challenge for each one who has been born into God’s family and has become a citizen of His kingdom is to use our time on earth to prepare ourselves for the coming glory that John wrote about: “Let us be glad and rejoice and give Him glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and His wife has made herself ready. And to her it was granted to be arrayed in fine linen, clean and bright, for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints” (Rev. 19:7–8). The Greek word translated “made herself ready” refers to the time when she began to make herself ready and that process continues until He comes to claim His bride. As we wait for that time, we are all obligated to keep ourselves only for Him. Each of us is told to resist every temptation that we should give our love to someone or something other than to the One to whom we have been promised. The Bridegroom has also a special part to play in His preparation for the coming marriage. The Bridegroom explained, “In My Father’s house are many mansions, if it were not so I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also” (John 14:2–3). Our Lord’s promise has different parts. In the Father’s house there are many mansions, literally dwelling places, in which each one who is a member of the bride of Christ may live forever. That is the first part. The second part of His promise tells of a period of time that began when He ascended to the Father (Acts 1:11) and will end when He returns to claim His bride. Jesus called that event, “receiving each member of His bride to Himself” (John 14:3). Paul described that event in careful detail: “For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain

will be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air.” The third part of His promise is contained in the words, “And thus we shall always be with the Lord” (1 Cor. 4:16–17). That will be the beginning of the period that will lead to the marriage of bride and Bridegroom.

The Marriage

The third part of the Lord’s promise, its fulfillment, was recorded by John in his last book. “The marriage of the Lamb has come, and His wife has made herself ready” (Rev. 19:7). Following our marriage as the bride of Christ with our Bridegroom a period will begin that will never end. In our Lord’s words to John. “That where I am, as the eternal One, you will be also and that period with Me as My bride is eternal” (John 14:3, my paraphrase). This is where the mystery of our future as Christians who have been promised to the Bridegroom grows very deep indeed. There are only two references to this mystery: The first to the marriage. The second to the marriage feast. I believe that the marriage will take place in heaven and will be presided over by the Father and attended by His Son, the Bridegroom, and His Son’s bride, the true and invisible church. No one knows what the marriage ceremony will involve when the Bridegroom and the bride meet in heaven and they are formerly married. The scriptures tell us that the marriage ceremony will be followed by the marriage supper (Rev. 19:9). Many believe, as I do, that this feast that Jesus spoke about will take place on our planet after the Bridegroom, now a husband, returns with the wife, the invisible church to which we belong, to rule the earth together for a thousand years (2 Tim. 2:12 and Rev. 20:6).

Our Response

As of His true and invisible church, our primary response is to fulfill what John recorded, “And to her it was granted to be arrayed in fine linen, clean and bright, for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints” (Rev. 19:8). Each of those who belong to the family of God were clothed in bright linen the moment they first believed in our Lord. John told us what the fine linen stands for: “the righteous acts of the saints.” At the precise moment He accepted our repentance and confession and we were born again into His kingdom (John 3:3, 5), our dirty rags (Isa. 64:6) were replaced by clean bright linen garments. We cannot see them. They are inward. They exist, and we have to protect them from anything and everything that contaminates our lives. That has to be the primary response that Paul wrote about. “That He might continually set His bride apart and continually cleanse her heart with the washing of water with the Word spoken by the Lord, that our Lord might present His bride to Himself, as a glorious church, her garments not having a spot or a wrinkle or any such thing, but that His bride should be holy and without blemish” (Eph. 5:26–27, my paraphrase). Our response? To discover what it means for each of us to be set apart for Him alone and for our hearts to be inwardly and continually cleansed of everything that can contaminate our lives. And there is one more response we are invited to make to the Bridegroom. The writer of the letter to the Hebrews put it this way: “So Christ was offered once to bear the sin of many. To those who eagerly wait for Him He will appear a second time, apart from sin, for salvation” (Heb. 9:28). Our response is inward and has two parts. Knowing that He could come at any time to claim His bride—the first part of our response. The second part involves the inner attitude to eagerly and expectantly wait for His return to claim those of us who are truly of His invisible church which is His future bride.

14

Judge

And as it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment. —Hebrews 9:27

For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive the things done in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad. —2 Corinthians 5:10

For the time has come for judgment to begin at the house of God; and if it begins with us first, what will be the end of those who do not obey the gospel of God? —1 Peter 4:17

Meanings

One dictionary defines judgment as a decision, decree, or sentence, handed down by a judge in a court of law. A judge therefore is a person who is correctly qualified to judge and has been given the right to judgment in his or her court. In our world, there is only One Person who is correctly qualified and has been given the right to judge.

Judge. Krites. (The e is long as in fete.) One who decides a matter, who weighs all the evidence brought before him and hands down a judgment whether for good or ill, not only a sentence of condemnation but also a sentence of approval with accompanying rewards. His judgment, krisis, is the act of separating evidence that results in condemnation, from the evidence that results in rewards. For each of us, judgment has both an immediate and a final application. Christians are instructed to judge, not according to outward appearance but to judge in the present with righteous judgment (John 7:24). The future application of judgment brings the Lord our God into the picture. Jude wrote that He will come with ten thousand of His angels to execute judgment on all (Jude 1:14–15). The future judgment of all the living and the dead, both saved and unsaved, will take place at three separate times and three different locations. The following table summarizes the subjects, place, identity of the Judge, and the times of those judgments.

The First Judgment: All who believe. Heaven. The Lord Jesus. Immediately after the Rapture. The Second Judgment: The Nations. Jerusalem. The Lord Jesus. At the end of the Tribulation. The Third Judgment: All the Dead. Heaven. God Himself. After the Thousandyear kingdom.

The first judgment will take place when all who are truly God’s sons and daughters are brought before the Lord’s judgment seat. This will take place in the courts of heaven after each of His children has been caught up to meet the Lord in the air (1 Thess. 4:13–17). And this is the subject of our present study. The second judgment will take place immediately after the great tribulation. The Lord Himself will sit on His throne in His new capital Jerusalem, and individual of all the Gentile nations will be brought before Him. The basis of this judgment will be how each Gentile person has treated individual of the Jewish people during their time of great persecution (Rev. 12:13–17, Matt.

25:31–46). The third judgment will take place at the end of the Lord’s thousand-year reign on the earth. God Himself from whose face the earth and the heavens will flee away, will take His seat on the great white throne. John describes how all the dead both small and great will be individually brought before Him. The books will be opened and each individual will be judged according to his or her own works (Rev. 20:11–15).

The Judgment Seat of Christ

The judgment seat on which our Lord will sit to dispense justice will be for Christians, a very lonely place. I understand that I will not be given an opportunity to justify myself or hide behind the security of my past achievements, or take refuge by blaming everything on others. At that one moment, when I am summoned to stand before Him, I will be isolated from everyone, from all experiences, and none of what I have achieved or done will protect me. I will stand alone and there fulfil the Lord’s words, “For there is nothing covered [in my life] that will not be revealed, and hidden that will not be known” (Matt. 10:26). A most frightening prospect. But there is another part of our identity as Christians I believe will be revealed on that terrible day. All the works we have completed and which have never been confessed and forgiven, all the human activities that depend, not on the power of the Spirit but on our own human energy and efforts, all the finesounding initiatives that may have exalted ourselves and not the Lord, all the ambitions and dreams we have brought to , or that have been lost in the detritus of our lives, will all be brought out into the light of His penetrating gaze. And what is most frightening is the possibility that what will be revealed and made known about each Christian’s life will also be known by all assembled with us in front of the Lord’s judgment seat. For all will be there. The vast host of those who have died in Christ and those yet alive when He comes to claim His bride. The first-century disciples—all the apostles; Mary, Martha, and Lazarus; Priscilla and Aquila; Paul and Barnabas—and those who have served the Lord

during the long centuries since Pentecost will also be there. Wesley, Martin Luther, my own father and mother, Marie my wife, our sons, and their families. And so many more. Multitudes from every language and nation on earth will be included in that host present before our Lord’s judgment seat. And me. When He calls me, I will be frighteningly alone. No one will stand at my shoulder and encourage me, “Brian, you can do it.” There will be no retreat into comforting words of scripture. No way to apologize and say, “I’m sorry” or “I’ll attend to it tomorrow.” I will be alone under the weight of all my years.

A Question of Works

I learn from Paul that my “work will become clear for the Day will declare it, because it will be revealed by fire; and the fire will test each one’s work, of what sort it is” (1 Cor. 3:13). The scriptures divide work into two great categories; works of the flesh (Gal. 5:19–21) and works of the Spirit (Gal. 5:16–17). I will never be judged for the works of the Spirit for each of these works depends on His leading me and directing my activities and they will never be condemned. Rewarded, certainly, but never condemned (Gal. 5:18, 25). But the works of the flesh are heartily condemned by Paul. He records that such works cannot please God (Rom. 8:8). He adds, “For when we were in the flesh, the sinful ions which were aroused by the law were at work in our to bear fruit to death” (Rom. 7:5). And “For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) nothing good dwells” (Rom. 7:18). And to emphasize where our priorities as Christians should be Paul writes, “I say then: Walk in the Spirit and you will not fulfil the lust of the flesh” (Gal. 5:16). And to strengthen the instruction Paul wrote the Greek word translated walk in the imperative, peripateite. It is a command. The natural inclinations of all Christians doom us to live in the flesh. Only obedience to the command of God revealed by the Spirit can produce works that will stand the penetrating test of His gaze when we all stand before Him at His judgment seat. Every unconfessed and therefore unforgiven work of the flesh (see 1 John 1:9)—

I need to stress, unconfessed and unforgiven—with the words, ambitions, desires, messed-up relationships, that are works of the flesh will be laid bare and judged. To the human mind, such works may seem good and righteous and even religious, but they remain works of the flesh and will therefore be judged. Everything that each of us has hidden away and refused to own will be brought out into the light of His gaze. Then something very painful will take place and human words are probably not adequate. Paul used these words to describe our predicament, “Each one’s work will become clear; for the Day will declare it, because it will be revealed by fire; and the fire will test each one’s work, of what sort it is… If anyone’s work is burned, he will suffer loss; but he himself will be saved, yet so as by fire” (1 Cor. 3:13, 15). I ask myself, “What does Paul mean? So as by fire? He will suffer loss?” And I know the answer. For all my works have become part of my identity. I built a business and I could glory in that accomplishment. I have traveled the world, walked on the Great Wall of China, written a number of books, been feted by educational leaders in Japan. These are things of which I could boast. And these correspond to me building with wood, hay, and straw. They could have become part of my identity. (But none of these things matter. They were confessed and forgiven long ago.) But if these works had not been confessed and forgiven, these accomplishments and so many more would be burnt up when I stand before His judgment seat. Then I would suffer loss, and my identity would be gravely diminished. These are the first consequences of my presence before His judgment seat. The Lord’s Judgment seat will also be a place of reward that will be beyond anything I can conjure up with my strictly limited human mind. The scriptures reveal two parts of the life of all Christians that will be judged and then rewarded. Reigning in life. Overcoming.

Reigning in Life

A first group of rewards will be awarded to those of us who have reigned in life. These rewards are referred to as crowns. The Greek word translated crown in stephanos, a victor’s crown. Paul calls these crowns imperishable (1 Cor. 9:25). They will be awarded to Christians who reign in life (Rom. 5:17). The word reign is the translation of the Greek word basileuo. (The o is long as in mote.) This word refers to each one being a king and having royal authority. And there is dignity attached to those who reign, for they are sure of their identity. Not for them groveling in the dust, defeated and beaten and bowed. They are kings who reign in this life. For them, the word of the prophet holds true. “But those who wait on the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint” (Isa. 40:31). In this life, such Christians can be continually trained in kingship, and they have the approval of the Great King from whom their authority flows. In the next life, they will be given crowns, which they will wear forever. At the judgment seat, the Lord our God will make the judgment about who has proved himself or herself worthy to wear a crown. I can visualize the one the Lord has judged worthy, kneeling before Him so that the Lord Himself could place the crown of glory on his head. And that crown will be his or hers forever.

Overcomers

The second group of rewards are for Christians who overcome, who have learned how to overcome all the activities of the flesh, and who are not deceived by the attractions that the world offers. Eight times in the book of Revelation, the Lord referred to these rewards. And these rewards are strange and wonderful and almost impossible to put into human language. Three of these rewards for Christians who overcome command my attention. The first is found in the letter to the church at Sardis. “He who overcomes shall be clothed in white garments, and I will not blot out his name from the Book of Life; but I will confess his name before My Father and before His angels” (Rev.

3:6). Not one promise but three: clothed in white garments, having our names as Christians recorded forever in the Book of Life, and hearing our names confessed before the Father and all the angels. The second is found in the letter to the church at Laodicea, “To him who overcomes I will grant to sit with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father in His throne” (Rev. 3:21). I note that this is a promise of great dignity, sitting with Him on His throne. And from that exalted place Christians who overcome (I seek to be one of them) will be bathed in the glory that belongs to the King of Glory. The third reference to rewards for overcomers is found in the final chapter of the book of Revelation of Jesus Christ and takes us far away, out of the hum drum and sometimes turbulent here and now and unites each of us with our Lord. “He who overcomes shall inherit all things, and I will be His God and he shall be My son” (Rev. 21:7). In this extraordinary promise, the Christian who overcomes will be associated forever with the Son who has already overcome. If I am one of them, I will share in the Lord’s own inheritance, for He also will inherit all things. Paul made this clear in his letter to the church at Rome. “And if children, then heirs—heirs of God and t heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together” (Rom. 8:17). These promises relating to the judgment seat of Christ take Christians out of the limited and confined world in which we live and reveal something of our lives to come that is infinite and eternal.

Our Response

In the preceding chapters, we identified the responses we Christians should make to our Lord as Creator, Savior, Healer, Teacher, Prophet, and Bridegroom. Putting all these responses together will be a most-rewarding preparation for us to face the Lord, our Righteous Judge at His judgment seat. The final response we Christians have to make is to the Lord as our Judge and again has three parts.

Our first response is to make sure that we are those who have truly been born into His family and Kingdom. That act of belief in Him separates Christians from the rest of the world. It also divides judgment into two parts: the judgment on the one hand that condemns the unconfessed and unforgiven works of Christians, and His judgment that rewards those who truly believe. Our second response is to critically observe ourselves to determine how much of our lives is lived in the flesh and how much is lived in the Spirit. Living in the flesh will invite the Lord’s judgment. Living in the Spirit will be greatly rewarded. Our third response is to examine our immediate relationship with the Lord. Do we trust Him at all times and in all circumstances? Do we fulfil the command to love the Lord our God with all our heart, with all our soul, with all our mind, and with all our strength? And are our relationships marked by His command to love one another as He loves each member of His family? Our studies in part 2 are now complete. But there is more that defines a Christian in our troubled world. In part 3 we will explore what it means for Christians to believe in the Lord our God, what are the obstacles to our trust in Him as Christians, and what it means to live a life of unqualified and unquestioning trust in the Lord our God.

Part 3

Questions of Faith

Preface to Questions of Faith

Throughout the scriptures, we find records of men and women who were challenged to believe, to implicitly trust the Lord their God and to walk in His ways. Unfortunately, the centuries have changed the concept of faith defined in the Greek text and practiced in the early church. Perhaps because the living faith inherited from the apostles has been downgraded, like substitute Rolex watches. But the comparison doesn’t end there. The substitute faith looks the same. The right words are used. Prayers are said, hymns are sung, and the scriptures are taught, just like the original, but for so many, these are only surface realities without the deep, inner convictions that need to underpin the practice of our faith. Inside the religion, as in the fake Rolex, are substitute practices that have an appearance of authenticity but lack the imprimatur and power of the One who said that He would build His church. and adherents of contemporary churches can be divided into two broad groups. The first group of Christians is made up of those who rely on the performance of ceremony, adherence to codes, creeds, and statements of belief, and the practice of Christian rituals, as Paul observed to Timothy, “Having a form of godliness but denying its power” (2 Tim. 3:5). The second group includes those who actively love the Lord our God, surrender their lives to Him, and implicitly trust Him with everything they say and do. Observance only in the first group. Active faith and love in the second. Jesus as a largely unknowable figure in the first group. Jesus as Savior and Lord and intimate friend in the second.

These are broad divisions, and of course, there are exceptions. Many in the theoretical group who worship according to traditional rituals have a living faith in the Lord our God. And many in the second group express their active faith in various kinds of formal church service. This narrative is based as surely as possible on the biblical record of the teachings and practices of the early church. And there we find that the term Christian is synonymous with the term disciple. The scriptures reveal that the Lord has left us with seven characteristics of those who would be His disciples. Each of these characteristics of a disciple involved of the early church in a vital relationship with the One they believed in and loved, with a faith that was pleasing to their God and Father. The writer to the Hebrews puts it very simply, “But without faith it is impossible to please Him” (Heb. 11:6). The disconcerting command that the just shall live by faith is stated four times in the scriptures: once in Habakkuk (Hab. 2:4), twice by Paul (Rom. 1:17 and Gal. 3:11), and once by the writer to the Hebrews (Heb. 10:38). And to emphasize the importance of faith for a Christian, the writer to the Hebrews devoted a whole chapter to the examination of faith as it was lived by the ancient Israelites (see Hebrews 11). The following seven chapters are devoted to the examination of what I believe to be the core elements of a living faith in Jesus our Lord.

Why Believe? Faith Working through Love Meanings and Definitions Profile of the One We Trust Past. Present. Future. Obstacles to Believing Faith’s Priorities

My aim in these chapters is to reinform myself of the biblical basis for my own faith and then to provide Christians everywhere with the foundation on which we can all build and sustain a dependable and satisfying faith relationship with the One whose name we bear.

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Why Believe?

And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart. I will be found by you, says the Lord. —Jeremiah 29:13–14

Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. —Matthew 7:7

But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. —Matthew 6:33

Why Seek?

I find that in the world of faith, there are two kinds of people: those who need their religious life locked up tight and who rely on formulae, creed, ceremony, and ritual as the way to express their faith. In His life among men, the Lord encountered the Pharisees and religious leaders of His day who wanted everything about their religion neat and tidy. They reduced everything to

questions to which they could find answers and having found an apparent cerebral answer they, imposed their answers on all their followers. The second group includes those who acknowledge their need for a relationship with the Most High God and search until they find something that will meet their need and His requirements. The Lord found these two ways of viewing faith in His experience in the home of Mary and Martha in Bethany. The elder sister had to rely on prescribed ways of doing things in their home and she couldn’t cope with any change to her routine. Mary, on the other hand, knew that there was an alternative to Martha’s set ways and sat at Jesus’s feet when the opportunity was given her. Martha refused to be vulnerable. I believe that Mary embraced vulnerability, and in the process found a serene kind of certainty. Martha found her certainty in established routine. Mary found her certainty in a relationship with Jesus. And Jesus recognized the distinction (see Luke 10:38–42). The Greek language has two words that express this distinction. The first is threskeia, which can be translated as “religious observance,” the outward performance of ceremony, the dependence on ritual as a way to please an unseen god. Most world religions practice threskeia, and our own faith, Christianity, is no exception. The second Greek word is eusebeia, which, in the Greek mind, was the opposite of threskeia. Eusebeia, translated godliness, refers to the vital, real, and true inner relationship in the Spirit with the Lord our God. With most people, belonging to a religion, including Christianity, provides the certainties that people need to counter their inner vulnerability. And so often, where people are faced with the lack of certainty in their religious observance, and with feelings of vulnerability, they become most uncomfortable. And yet the whole sense of vulnerability in religious permeates all that Jesus did and taught. This sense of vulnerability is reflected in two words that permeate the scriptures: the first is seek, the second is search. Jeremiah wrote, “And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart. I will be found by you, says the Lord” (Jer. 29:13–14). And Jesus’s words, “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and it will be opened to you” (Matt. 7:7). The prophet’s and the Lord’s words reflect the vulnerability that people bring to their

search for the Lord God. They knowingly or unknowingly acknowledge that there is something missing in their lives and reach out into the unknown for the unknown. And that is where faith comes into the picture. I believe that this search for spiritual reality in the unknown involves three stages of the search. The first stage is believing that something is true. The person embarks on this search because he or she believes that something or someone can be found at the end of the search. He or she steps away from a sheltered and secure environment and faces into the unknown. In the case of our faith, what we believe to be true is based on historical fact. Paul put it this way. “And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen by angels, preached among the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory” (1 Tim. 3:16). We believe that there is a Person who can be found at the end of our search. The second stage of our search has to be much more active. Believing that something is true is largely ive. But when we get off our stools and face into the unknown for someone we don’t know, then faith must be brought into the search. And that faith has to sustain us at every stage in the journey, overcome every obstacle the enemy of our souls inevitably puts in our way, and refuse to turn back when faced by these obstacles. The third phase in our search is full of joy. We find Him, or as Jeremiah puts it, He will be found by us (Jer. 29:14). Then we fulfil the Lord’s words to His disciples after His resurrection. “Blessed are those who have not seen, yet have believed” (John 20:29). At the end of our search to find Him, we enter that sacred place where each one who seeks Him finds Him and enters the extra special inner relationship with the Creator of the universe. In that relationship with the Lord our God, faith comes to its great fulfilment. But seeking Him does not end when we find Him. Nor does faith then become irrelevant. In one sense, faith then has to come to its full stature. And this was made plain when the Lord commanded His disciples to ask, to seek, and to knock. In each case, the Christians puts his or her faith in Him, as the One who will respond to our continual asking, seeking, and knocking. It is useful to note that each of these verbs is written both as a command: “Do it.” And as a way of life, keep on asking, keep on seeking, keep on knocking, and keep on trusting the

One to whom we direct our attention.

Why Believe?

I believe that all people face the question of a great inner vacancy that came about when Adam and Eve sinned. At that defining moment, the Holy Spirit left His treasured place in each of their hearts. The walls of their hearts did not close in as though no one had gone missing. I believe that in all of us, there is an inner void that came into being when the first couple sinned and when the Spirit left their hearts. Subconsciously, we know that void has to be filled. Some people fill that void with lots of great human activities or with many things they pursue in their lives. Others turn to a variety of gods and to countless religious endeavors. Christians seek to fill that inner vacancy in either of two ways: with a variety of religious church activities, or with a relationship with the One who left the hearts of the first couple in the garden—with the Holy Spirit of the Lord our God. Where people depend on different forms of Christian religion, then it is enough that they believe that everything about their religion is true. Faith in a Person is unnecessary. But when they embrace the Lord’s three commands—ask, seek, and knock, and face into the unknown and to the Person who can respond—then faith in the One we seek becomes fundamentally necessary. Why believe? Because there is no other way that rewards our faith in the unknown Lord. Nor is there any way we can cross the great gap that separates our natural human world from the divine and eternal world where the Lord our God is. Either we retreat into what can be seen and where faith in Him is unnecessary. Or we take our capacity for faith with us and knock on the door of the unseen kingdom where our Lord is waiting to receive us. In the chapters ahead of us, I will explore what it means for Christians to believe in the One who gave Himself for us and who lives to love and to be loved. He is the Lord our God who has promised that those who seek Him in faith and with all their hearts will be found by Him. And that is why we believe.

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Faith Working through Love

For in [the gospel] the righteousness of God is revealed, from faith to faith; as it is written, “The just shall live by faith.” —Romans 1:17

In this the love of God was manifested towards us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him. In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. —1 John 4:9–10

For in Christ Jesus, neither circumcision nor un-circumcision avails anything, but faith working through love. —Galatians 5:6

Division

In our faith, there are those who see Jesus of Nazareth as a distant figure who lived long ago, whose birth, death, and resurrection we celebrate, and who is recognized as the central part of the religion we know as Christianity. Many

Christians think of Him as part of liturgy, recognize Him in creeds and statements of belief, and acknowledge Him behind church doors. But for such people, He is rarely invited into their lives and to share their places in the world. For many Christians, however, Jesus of Nazareth is a living person who is present in their hearts and lives and with whom they have a real relationship. All relationships succeed when both parties contribute something to the relationship. And so it is with our faith. Jesus our Lord and Savior brings to us His forgiveness and the cleansing of our hearts, His eternal life, adoption into His family, His own Spirit, and the hope of eternal glory. These are free gifts beyond price. We Christians have our own part in the relationship with our living Lord. Jesus’s words: “For whoever desires to save His life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it” (Matt. 16:25). And Paul added force to Jesus’s words by giving us the reason that we owe Him everything in this relationship with Him, “For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s” (1 Cor. 6:20). The uncomfortable truth for Christians is that we owe Him our lives.

The Selfish Christian

For His part, the Lord brings a great deal to His relationship with each Christian, and everything is based on what He achieved for each of us on the cross and through His resurrection. And the gift of Himself to each Christian is beyond price and should never be taken for granted. It is because He was able to cry out, “It is finished” (John 19:30), that we are able to receive seven great gifts. These begin with the twin gifts of His forgiveness and cleansing (1 John 1:9), our adoption into His family and kingdom (Rom. 8:15–16), the promise of an inheritance (Rom. 8:17), the Father’s care of us throughout their lives (Gen. 22:14), the gift of Himself (Col. 1:27), and the gift of His Spirit (John 14:16). So many Christians believe that these gifts are theirs by right, and they act as though nothing is required in return. It appears that their only concern is that they escape hell and will go to heaven when they die. But a Christian’s

relationship with the Lord has to be two-way. If it is only one way, then it is not a relationship at all but some variation of a benevolent dictatorship and subservient inactivity. Jesus Himself taught that a two-way relationship was required of all Christians. “If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love Him, and We will come to him and make our home with him” (John 14:23). And “As the Father loved Me, I also have loved you; abide in My love” (John 15:9). Also “This is My commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you” (John 15:12). And each of these statements reveal the need for Christians to live in a two-way relationship with the Lord our God. So many Christians believe that all God requires of us is our presence in church, occasional reading of the scriptures, prayer for others, and giving to what the church leaders refer to as the work of the Lord. The scriptures reveal that sadly such Christians have missed the point. So many have lapsed into a most selfish yet false kind of Christianity where God gives everything and nothing is required in return. That was never how I was meant to be.

Faith and Love

The Lord asks two basic things of us, and these, I believe, are most precious to Him: our trust and our love. Paul connected these two individual responses, as though each depended on the other. He wrote that religious rituals, in this case, circumcision, did not have any power to please God, to change anything, or to make a difference in our lives. But only “faith working through love” (Gal. 5:6). These two lay the foundation in our lives so that He can continue to ask everything from us and we can depend on Him for everything. Paul gave added weight to the importance of these elements in our relationship with Him. “And now abide faith, hope, love these three; but the greatest of these is love” (1 Cor. 13:13). And it is here that we have to begin to answer the question about faith working through love that is the subject for our study. Paul’s words, “faith working through love,” contains a surprising truth. These

words could be paraphrased in this way, “Faith, that is unquestioning trust in our Lord, needs the environment of our love for Him for faith to be truly effective” (Gal. 5:6, my paraphrase). I believe that my faith should never be asked to operate on its own but always in the environment that His love and my love provides. Therefore we have to begin with the greatest commandment. “And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength” (Mark 12:30). Here, the Lord used a very ancient word for love. Moses recorded this command for the Jewish nation, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength” (Deut. 6:5). The Hebrew word that Moses used for love has been translated into Greek and is the word Jesus used. The noun is agape. (The e is long as in fete.) The verb is agapao. (The o are long as in mote.) The Lord God used this word because its meaning is quite different from the human kind of love that is based on chance and impulse. “Feel good about you, and I will love you. Feel bad about you and my love will be withdrawn.” Divine love never thinks of itself but always thinks of good for the other person. This was the pattern that the Father set for our lives when He gave His Son for all of us at such cost to Himself and to Jesus our Lord. Paul’s first letter to the church at Corinth (see 1 Cor. 13), contains that defining statement about God’s love and about the love that He commands all Christians to pour out of their hearts for the Lord our God. Paul’s words reveal the nature of God’s love for us as it was expressed in the life of Jesus and sets the standards for our love for Him and for one another. (See also John 3:16.) Love. Agapao. Loving that arises from a commitment to respect, ire, and reverence the Lord our God, to serve Him whatever the cost, and to bring Him our heart’s affection, worship, and adoration. It is important to note that this kind of love was put into practice by the Lord Himself when His love led Him to serve all of us by laying down His own life for each of us. And service of the Lord our God, at whatever the cost, is an integral part of agape and of agapao and of our response to Him. Our love for Him and for one another should always aim for the very high standards Paul identified in his letter to the church at Corinth. I have paraphrased

the Greek text and added my own applications of love that I believe the Lord requires in all our relationships.

Love suffers any rejection or indignity from another without withdrawing itself. Love always prompts kindness to another and invites kindness in return. Love does not envy another for who that person is, or what that other one has achieved. The standards a person uses to measure himself are always found in himself and in his on her Lord. Love does not parade itself before others but finds the measure of its own worth in the love the Lord God expressed in and for the world. Love does not base its responses to others on a false sense of its own worth. Love does not respond to others with words or acts that are unseemly or indecent or lacking moral worth. Love does not seek anything for itself; it is not focused on self-satisfaction but only on the Lord and on good for others. Love is not provoked to speak words or to carry out actions that defy the standards of love. Love does not entertain thoughts of any kind of evil or ill will toward others. Love does not rejoice in the wrongs suffered by others but rejoices when truth is expressed about itself and toward others. Love protects others from harm or ill without drawing attention to itself. Love believes the best in others and is anchored in the quiet hope for the best in the other person. Love endures whatever mistreatment it receives from others without complaint but with steadfast love toward that person. Love never falls away from the standards of love ordained by God for His

people.

Such love never stands alone but is always accompanied by trust for the One who pours love out of His Person into the heart of the believer (see Romans 5:5), and trust for the person who is the object of love. The environment of love both for God and for one another provides the power for the operation of faith. Take away love for Him, and faith struggles to function to the fullest extent that the Lord our God requires. In our next chapter, we will explore the meanings given in the Greek for the noun faith, and for the various forms of the verb believe.

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Meanings and Definitions

For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. —John 3:16

Then He said to them, “O foolish ones and slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken!” —Luke 24:25

You believe that there is one God. You do well. Even the demons believe—and tremble. —James 2:19

The One We Trust

Throughout the gospels and then through the remainder of the New Testament, we find faith like a silver thread tying everything together. (The other thread that is love is gold.) Nothing in our lives escapes the careful scrutiny of faith. From the moment we come into the family of God and begin to adjust to that world of Spirit and to learn its ways, to the last breath we breathe, faith enables each of us

to deal with all the vicissitudes of life in God’s kingdom. Through faith, we can be clear about our identity as children of God, make sense of our relationships with others in the family of God and walk in step with the One who is the focus of our faith: Jesus of Nazareth, Savior, Lord, Bridegroom and coming King. There are so many mistaken notions about faith floating about in the Christian ether, and many of them connect faith only with what we believe. What we believe is certainly important, but believing with the mind only, with the heart or spirit left idle, is a very inadequate foundation for our lives as Christians. One can’t imagine the Lord telling us to love Him with only our minds. Tell Marie, my lifelong wife and companion, that I love her with only my mind, and she could most likely laugh in your face. Some of the mistaken notions about faith relate to faith in what Jesus said and did, faith in what our particular church teaches, faith in the promises of scriptures, or faith in the leader of our particular denomination. All of these are important, but they pale into insignificance when compared with faith in the towering figure of Jesus of Nazareth who is the focus and foundation of our faith. We are required to trust a Person who is unlike any other person whoever was or whoever will be. In this chapter, I need to turn our attention to the meanings of words that relate to believing and to faith. In the following chapter, I need to look carefully at the One we trust and to explore why He is so trustworthy.

The Meanings of Faith

The Greek word translated “faith” is the noun pistis. Its active form is expressed in three verbs, pisteuo with three prepositions. Pisteuo eis, pisteuo en, and pisteuo epi. (In each case the final o is long as in mote.) These words are full of latent power for those who have faith, who believe with all their heart and soul and mind and strength, and who are firmly persuaded about the Lord and about who He is. Our conviction about Him is not based on sight or appearances or even on

knowledge but belongs in a relationship where He is the center of our lives. Our faith teaches us to rely completely on our Lord at all times, in all relationships and in all circumstances however difficult or demanding. It also teaches us to own Him as the Lord of our lives. The Greek noun translated faith is pistis and is expressed in the three important Greek verbs noted above that define elements in our relationship with the Lord Jesus. There is also one Greek construction that applies to what the demons believe, and when used alone relates to a faith apart from a relationship with Jesus our Lord. Believe into. Pisteuo eis. (The final o in pisteuo is long as in mote.) The little word eis means into. It tells me that a Christian’s trust in our Lord takes the believer out of himself or herself and into the Lord’s heart and mind and will. When we trust Him in this way, we give ourselves to Him. We surrender ourselves to His Lordship. We express our faith in Him by being fully convinced and confident in who He is, in what He teaches, and in what He has said and done. But most of all, our faith is in who He is. In the time of our Lord on earth, there were many whose faith moved them toward Him. But for me, one person stands out above many. Mary, the younger sister of Martha and Lazarus. There is no record of her faith, but when the Lord came to stay at her house, she sat at His feet while her sister bustled around preparing a meal. I believe her faith in Him moved her to value deeply His attention and words. Her faith moved her toward Him, and the Lord understood and valued this element in Mary’s life. “But one thing is needed, and Mary has chosen that good part, which will not be taken from her” (Luke 10:32). Believe on. Pisteuo en. This verb refers to the One who is the foundation of our faith. This definition cuts out many things that have crept into our religion. These include faith in our traditions, faith in a particular Bible interpretation, faith in a church doctrine. These definitions leave out wholehearted trust in our Lord and in Him alone. When I leave Him out, my faith will have no foundation. The apostle Paul knew that Jesus was the only foundation for His life. He acknowledged Him in many ways and in each of his letters to different churches. To the church at Corinth, Paul was quite explicit. “For no other foundation can

anyone lay than that which is laid, which is Christ Jesus” (1 Cor. 3:11). Believe into rest. Pisteuo epi. When we trust our Lord without question and without reservations, we enter into rest. This is the meaning of these two Greek words, pisteuo epi. We shift the burdens we habitually carry onto His shoulders, out of our minds into His mind, out of our emotional baggage into His capacious heart. This is the word the Lord used when He spoke with the two disciples on the road to Emmaus. He said to them, “O Foolish ones and slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken” (Luke 24:25). They were anxious about what had happened to their Lord and probably about their own futures. They had abandoned rest and the Lord chided them. The writer of the letter to the Hebrews understood this principle, which applied in the history of Israel. He understood that after the Jews fled from Egypt, they could not enter the Promised Land, which represented rest, because of their unbelief (see Hebrews 3:16–19). He then wrote, “There remains a rest for the people of God. For he who has entered His rest, has himself also ceased from his works as God did from His” (Heb. 4:9–10). Here the Greek word translated works is ergon. (The o is long as in mote.) I believe this writer had human energies in mind: energies we normally use to order our lives with all the burdens attached. Rest, therefore, involves giving all these burdens to the Lord and so being at rest. Hard to do? Definitely. But true trust in Him whatever the circumstances will always bring Christians into rest because they shift the burdens Christians habitually carry onto the shoulders and into the heart and mind of our Lord. Our burdens then become His responsibility. Believe that. Pisteuo hoti. Believing that something is true is an essential element in our faith. These words apply to how we view the scriptures, how we think of what Jesus said and did, and how we read the records of the early church. Belief that elements of our faith are true is an essential part of our faith. But there is a negative side to the belief that something is true, and that involves belief without any kind of relationship with the One who is the object of our faith. And that brings demons into the realm of faith. James referred to a very limited kind of faith. “You believe that there is one God. You do well. Even the devils believe—and tremble” (James 1:9). The words pisteuo hoti refer to a

belief that something is true but without a heart response. In our relationship with the Lord God, this kind of belief has no value unless it is linked to our heartfelt trust in Him. Believing that something is true on its own relegates our relationship with the Lord our God to a religious artifact. And our faith becomes just one more faith in the panorama of the world’s religions. But add our relationship with the Lord to pisteuo hoti, and it becomes an integral and most important element in our faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. The Greek construction James used relegates faith to impotence. One can’t move mountains with this level of faith (see Matthew 17:20). This form of the Greek verb, pisteuo hoti, believing that something is true, is most certainly an integral part of the Christian’s faith vocabulary. But on its own, this verb applies to what the evil spiritual world believes. It also applies in so many religious definitions of mediocre Christianity without power. And there is another Greek word where believing that something is true has its place. Religion. Threkeia. The performance of ritual and ceremony, the outward ceremonial observance that a religion requires of its —prayers, singing, statements of creed, performance of religious acts—carried out because they are required elements of our religion, and in a negative sense, religion includes belief in superstitions, with adherence to traditions that have no biblical foundation. Religion takes its power from the strength of what people believe in their minds without the love and worship and thanksgiving and praise that spring from the heart and which the Lord our God requires of those who truly believe. Jesus condemned this kind of religion as it was practiced by the Jewish leaders of His day. He described them in this critical judgment. “For they bind heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on men’s shoulders; but they themselves will not move them with one of their fingers” (Matt. 23:4). Such religion as practiced by the Scribes and Pharisees was detached from the cares and concerns of ordinary Christians. In so many cases, our own faith has been relegated to simply being another religion, perhaps a superior kind of religion, but religion nonetheless. Such Christianity, of whatever kind and vintage, urges its to believe that something is true without the power that comes from the intimate relationship with the Lord who walked the earth, who suffered on our behalf, who defeated

death and the grave, and who has made our cleansed heart His permanent dwelling place. Such religion neglects to put into practice what is so clearly taught in the scriptures. Jesus consistently seeks a relationship with those who will believe in Him, a relationship based on unconditional and unqualified trust, with love for Him at its heart.

The Negative Face of Faith

Believing in Him means trusting Him at all times in all relationships and in all circumstances however difficult and troubling they may seem. Our trust in Him shifts the focus away from ourselves and from the belief that we can solve the problem without Him, overcome the difficult situation without Him, and resolve a demanding relationship, again without Him. Our trust in Him shifts the burden from our shoulders and enables Him to step under the load and to bear it in place of ourselves. There is a negative face of faith that is most damaging to our trust in the Lord. A Christian’s refusal to trust our Lord has the Greek name, apistia, “distrust,” because a Christian tells himself that he or she doesn’t have to trust the Lord for a solution to a particular situation. They can manage it without Him. Unfortunately, unbelief has a serious consequence. The writer to the Hebrews referred to the Israelites leaving Egypt but refusing to believe that they could enter and take control of the land God had promised. “So we see that they could not enter in because of unbelief” (Heb. 3:19). The same writer then described the consequences of their unbelief. “Today, if you will hear His voice, do not harden your hearts” (Heb. 4:7). And Jesus Himself linked the failure or refusal to believe with hardness of heart. When He appeared to the eleven as they sat at the table, “He rebuked their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they did not believe those who had seen Him after He had risen” (Mark 16:14). The word Jesus used and which is translated hardness is sklerotes. (Both e’s are long as in fete.) It refers to a heart that is dry, has a hardened surface so that nothing can penetrate, like hard soil or rock that cannot receive water or seed. In this case, the heart of the Christian becomes hardened by his or her refusal to believe in the One we love.

Where a heart is hardened in this way, it cannot receive words spoken by the Lord for such words are effectively shut out. Nor can a hardened heart express love, for the heart becomes like a shell that is protecting itself. Nothing can penetrate and nothing can be released from a heart that has been hardened by any kind of refusal to believe in Him and to trust him. In our next chapter, we will explore what sets the Lord apart from others, and why our faith in Him is so well placed.

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Profile of the One We Trust

Then He said to the woman, “Your sins are forgiven… Your faith has saved you. Go in peace.” —Luke 7:48, 50

And when He had come into the house, the blind men came to Him. And Jesus said to them, “Do you believe that I am able to do this?” They said to Him, “Yes, Lord.” Then He touched their eyes, saying, “According to your faith let it be to you.” —Matthew 9:28–29

And the Lord said, “Simon, Simon! Indeed, Satan has asked for you, that he may sift you as wheat. But I have prayed for you, that your faith should not fail; and when you have returned to Me, strengthen your brethren. —Luke 22:31–32

The Face of Faith

In our world where Jesus is Lord, there are always opposites. Righteousness and sin. Light and darkness. Faith and works. Grace and law. Good and evil.

Obedience and disobedience. And belief and unbelief. In His time among men, the Lord was confronted by many human conditions that needed His attention. In each case He made a commitment to address the negative condition, such as blindness or sin or alienation, that He found in those who came to Him. And in each case, He reversed those negative conditions with healing or forgiveness or acceptance. And in each case faith was involved. In this study, I have found a number of such human conditions that the Lord addressed. I believe that each of these ill conditions has a counterpart in our society and also in our churches. I have personally known some of them and can bear witness to the Lord’s intervention in my own life, as I am certain He has intervened in yours. Some of our human conditions are the following: sin, demon possession, uncleanness, denial, danger, and alienation. They potentially apply to all of us. We know the Lord as the One with the wisdom, authority, and power to meet with our faith to reverse each of these conditions for our benefit and for His glory.

Sin. Forgiveness. Luke 7:36–50

In Capernaum, the Lord had been invited to a dinner in the home of the Pharisee named Simon. Somehow a prostitute, the scriptures delicately refer to as a sinful woman, found her way into the Pharisee’s home and was waiting for Him when He entered. He took His place, reclining at the table, and the woman knelt behind Him, weeping, and her tears fell on the Lord’s feet. She shook her hair loose, which in the manner of prostitutes of that day was not bound up, and began to wipe the tears from His feet. This little cameo of the relationships between the Lord and the Pharisee and the Lord and the sinful woman provides many insights into our Lord’s responses to sin and to faith. Simon the Pharisee, we note, expressed his religion, like so many in the church and out of it, in judgment of the woman. He was unable to see her tears and was completely unaware of her penitence, faith, and love. We can set him aside and focus our attention on the Lord’s understanding of the woman.

I believe He understood four aspects of her life and behavior that determined how He would respond to her. He saw that she was aware of and acknowledged her sin. That knowledge overwhelmed her with shame and regret, hence her tears, and brought her to the repentance that led her into the house of a man, Simon the Pharisee, who she would have known was opposed to her and to her way of life. And the narrative bears that out. Her faith was expressed in her belief that Jesus could do something about her life so she sought Him out. And He saw in her that special kind of love expressed in her decision to reach out to Him with respect and iration, not with the soppy kind of human love that so often masquerades as God’s love. His response was immediate. He forgave her. He affirmed that her faith had saved her, I believe from the kind of condemnation she encountered from the Pharisee, and from a future life of sinful degradation. And His words, “Go in peace” would have carried with them the promise of His own peace.

Demon Possession. Release. Matt. 12:22–32

Jesus was in Galilee when a man who was possessed by a demon that had made Him blind and mute was brought to Him. Matthew’s report is very brief. “And He healed him, so that the blind and mute man both spoke and saw” (Matt. 12:22). We hear no more of the man Jesus had released from his demonic captivity. Nor do we find any comment about the faith of those who brought the demon possessed man to Jesus or of the man’s faith. But this event marked a turning point in the Lord’s ministry, and a division between the kind of faith expressed by those who brought the man to Jesus, and the religious faith expressed by the leaders of the Jews, who hated and opposed what Jesus had done. The man who brought the demon-possessed man to Jesus was full of faith that Jesus could heal him, and He did. The Jews had a different kind of faith, not in a person but in their beliefs. Nothing that Jesus said or did could, by any stretch of the imagination, be made to fit what they believed. He belonged to a quite different world that could not be made to fit into their world. Both worlds were mutually exclusive. Jesus had put this into words when He spoke with the Jewish

leaders at another time and place, “And He said to them, ‘You are from beneath; I am from above. You are of this world; I am not of this world’” (John 8:23). And what the Lord would have understood was that their faith could not span the great gulf between the two worlds: His world and their world. Their faith in their own world was turned inward and was used to justify what their religion taught them and what they chose to believe. And so it is with so many in churches around our world. The faith of the man who brought the demon-possessed man to Jesus was turned outward, away from any selfish considerations and was completely justified by the results; the man was freed from his demonic captivity. The faith of the Jewish leaders was turned inward, and hence away from Jesus, and they were confirmed in their captivity. And I believe the unthinking belief that people give to their religion, apart from Jesus, confirms them in that captivity.

Uncleanness. Acceptance. Luke 17:11–19

On one occasion, when Jesus was going to Jerusalem, He ed through a village and found ten lepers who could not approach Him. According to the Jewish religion they were unclean. Wherever they went, in loud voice, they had to proclaim, “Unclean! Unclean!” Jesus said to them, “Go, show yourselves to the priests” (Luke 17:14). They heard. They obeyed, and as they went, they were healed. Like the sinful woman and unlike the Jewish leaders, their faith had saved them. Leprosy in the scriptures is always accompanied by the notion of uncleanness and by the deliberate need of lepers to separate themselves from others in case their uncleanness would contaminate other people. Their faith changed all that, but it was not faith operating in a kind of vacuum. The faith of the lepers was based on three things. They had to hear and understand what Jesus told them to do, even though it ran counter to what they have been told about the disease that made them unclean. They had to put their faith in what Jesus told them to do. Then they had to obey. From a human point of view, faith can be quite illogical. How can one trust

someone who lived and died long ago even if He rose from the dead and promises to be present with us? The only thing that brings faith into the realms of reality was the Lord’s involvement in human situations where faith was required. Faith on its own will not necessarily work. But faith based on the Person of Jesus and on what He tells any of us to do has immense power and authority.

Denial. Renewal. Luke 22:31–34

Before Pentecost, we encountered a quite different Peter from the one who appeared in the record after the Spirit came. Before Pentecost, he was indecisive, impulsive, fulfilling the name Jesus gave him. “You are Peter” (Matt. 16:18). Peter. Petros. A stone that can be held in the hand, rolled along the ground, and thrown away. Certainly not someone one could depend on. And this element in Peter’s character was evident in those last hours when it was clear that Jesus would be arrested. They were on the Mount of Olives when Peter, true to the human element in his character, protested, “Even if all are made to stumble because of You, I will never be made to stumble” (Matt. 26:33). Luke provides the Lord’s response, “Simon, Simon! Indeed, Satan has asked for you, that he may sift you as wheat. But I have prayed for you, that your faith should not fail; and when you have returned to Me, strengthen your brethren” (Luke 22:31–32). The Lord’s word “returned” provides the image of Peter facing away from the Lord and for a time denying his faith in Him. But the Lord saw beyond Peter’s coming failure to a time when this disciple would rediscover his faith and return to the Lord. The King James Version reads, “And when thou art converted.” Converted. Epistrepso. (The final o is long as in mote.) Turn back, turn from facing away from Jesus, to facing toward Him. Peter faced away from the Lord before the crucifixion, probably out of fear for his life, as did all the disciples, and as Jesus said they would (John 16:32). When the Spirit came, Peter found the grace and wisdom to turn from facing away to embracing the One who loved Him. At Pentecost, Peter was converted.

In those tumultuous days, all the resources Peter could draw on were within himself, and they were woefully inadequate. When the soldiers arrested his Lord, all that the Lord had taught him disappeared was submerged in the internal rubbish that dictated all his responses. He fled. When Peter had composed himself, he ventured into the courtyard of the high priest and denied the Lord three times. Jesus descending the stairs of that house looked at Peter, caught his eye, and Peter’s remorse overwhelmed him and he went out and wept bitterly (Luke 22:61–62). The Lord’s predictions that Peter would return to Him had to wait until his Lord’s death and resurrection were complete. When the day of Pentecost was fully come, Peter was with the other disciples in an upper room. The Spirit came; Peter received the Holy Spirit. His past disappeared. The life that the Spirit brought that was essential for Peter’s renewal flooded His being, and he and His Lord were reunited. Peter’s conversion was complete. All the elements of our conversion were present in Peter. Repentance with tears, waiting on the Lord, the coming of the Holy Spirit into His life, and the gift of eternal life that only the Spirit could bring. Our challenge is to follow in Peter’s footsteps, not as a once only act but as a continuing process. Daily we are called to live out the same conversion the Lord had in store for Peter.

Danger, Safety. Luke 8:22–25

The Lord was with His disciples in a boat crossing over the lake when their little boat was battered by an unpredicted storm and their boat was in danger of being swamped. Jesus was asleep through it all and they had to wake Him. “Master, Master, we are perishing.” Luke reports, “Then He arose and rebuked the wind and the raging of the water. And they ceased and there was a calm. But He said to them, ‘Where is your faith’” (Luke 22–25)? It is most likely that their faith in the One they followed had suffered the same fate that was about to overtake the little boat. Overtaken by a flood of negative emotions, the greatest of which was their fear that they with their Lord would all die. But that was not to be. The Lord’s work was not yet complete, nor was the work that He had in store for all those disciples. So He intervened in their

situation, stopped the storm in its tracks, and reminded them that faith in Him was the only thing that would take them out of danger and enable them to begin and then complete the work He had assigned each of them to do. One final comment. Our natural response to danger is to fasten our attention on the situation that puts each of us in danger, instead of on our Lord who will keep us safe. His plan for every Christian, whoever we are, is for us to complete the work He has given each of us to do, both in the immediate present, and until He returns.

Alienation. Acceptance. The Woman from Canaan. Matt. 15:27

She was an alien, a Gentile, a stranger to all the promises God had given the people of Israel. She was a Canaanite but Jesus had come to the region of Tyre and Sidon where she lived. Her daughter was severely demon-possessed so she came to Jesus, crying out, “Have mercy on me, O Lord, Son of David! My daughter is severely demon possessed.” Matthew reports that Jesus did not answer her, and His disciples urged Him to send her away for she was alien to them. I think of the woman and the Lord standing face-to-face. She had a need. He had the power to meet that need. But she was an alien, and He had not yet been sent to meet the needs of all people, Gentile and Jew alike. That would come later. So they faced each other. She would not give up on her persistence. He would not move away for her. At that moment, her alienation from the Lord of glory was fixed. Something was needed to bridge that gap between Lord and alien. The Lord knew what that bridge was and found it in this alienated woman. He offered her a way to respond when He said to her, “I was not sent except to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” Her response, “Then she came and worshiped Him saying, ‘Lord, help me!’ He met her half way with the words, “It is not good to take the children’s bread and throw it to the little dogs.” She met Him at that half way place, “Yes, Lord, yet even the little dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their master’s table.” Now, in spite of her alienation from the Lord, her connection with the Him was

complete. The gulf of her alienation had been bridged by the words He spoke with her. Then her faith completed that bridge. She stepped onto the bridge His words and her faith provided, and He met her with the words, “O woman, great is your faith! Let it be so as you desire” (Matt. 15:21–28). We are all strangers to Him, alienated from Him, and in our natural selves have no claim on His mercy. But He speaks to us as He did to the Canaanite woman. “Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest” (Matt. 11:28). There is the bridge. He has defined it for us as He did with the Canaanite woman. We who are burdened by the sin that alienates us from our Lord, have a choice. Ignore His words or take them at face value. Stay stubbornly on one side of the bridge He offers us, or with faith active, step onto that bridge with the response, “‘Yes Lord, I bring my burden to you and lay it at Your feet.’ And in that act, our faith in Him gives power to our intent. Our faith also enables Him to fulfil His part in the promise, ‘I will give you rest’” (see Matthew 11:28).

Responses

The Lord we seek to know, love, and trust is the One who understands our sin, our attacks by the enemy, our uncleanness, our frequent denials, and the dangers we face in the world that is so opposed to us. He also understands the alienation from Him brought about by our sins. The writer of the letter to the Hebrews explains why we can trust Him when we experience any of these ailments and even when we don’t. “For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin” (Heb. 4:15). The writer continues with our response in any of the conditions and experiences we have explored in this chapter. “Let us continually draw near therefore with confidence to the throne of grace that we may continue to receive mercy, and grace we may find and continue to find for His timely help” (Heb. 4:16, my paraphrase). The scriptures make it quite plain that our Lord is able and willing to engage with us in every situation, problem, test, disaster, difficulty, and danger. His

willingness presents us with the bridge and with the invitation to come to Him in the middle of that bridge, which is an image of what He has promised. Our faith completes the transaction. We Him on that bridge of opportunity that the writer to the Hebrews described so well and our faith in our trustworthy Lord, who knows each of us so well, completes the transaction. We will indeed obtain the grace and mercy He promises in every part of our lives.

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Past. Present. Future.

For I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will no more. —Jeremiah 31:34

Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things that are behind and reaching forward to those things that are ahead, I press towards the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. —Philippians 3:13–14

Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ Or ‘What shall we drink?’ Or ‘What shall we wear?’ For after all these things, the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. —Matthew 31–33

Lord of Time

Jesus was in the temple area in Jerusalem where He was confronted by the Jews with so many questions. In that dialogue He said to them, “Your father Abraham

rejoiced to see My day, and he saw it and was glad.” When they protested the Lord said to them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I AM” (John 8:56–58). In the life of our Lord, there is no division of time into the past, present, and the future. Certainly He acknowledges time, for He spoke of their Father Abraham. And on the mountain where He was transfigured, He met with two figures from the past, Moses and Elijah, and spoke of things that were yet future: “His decease which He was about to accomplish in Jerusalem” (Luke 9:31). I believe that the past, the present, and the future were real to Him as though they were instantly present, but He was not bound by any of these things, as we so often are. Our faith, our trust in the One who is beyond time and not bound by it, has to provide us with the means to deal with everything in our lives—our past, our present, and our future. His intention is, that like Him, we should never be bound by anything that we have once known and experienced in the past, nor by anything we wish for in the future. And our trust in Him provides us with the means for us not to be bound by anything that time brings our way in the present. First, the past.

Trust Him Regarding the Past

On the day the Spirit came, Peter spoke to the crowd in the street below their meeting place. He told them how God wants the past to be dealt with. “Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of [your past] sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit” (Acts 2:38). Repent. Metanoeo. (The final o is long as in mote.) Continually turn away from everything that has been thought and said and done in the past and in the immediate present. His remission and forgiveness of sins follow repentance. Through our repentance and His remission of our sins, the Lord God sets a repentant sinner free from His judgment of all our past sins.

Jesus was in a house in Capernaum when a group of men lowered their paralytic friend through the roof. They trusted that Jesus would heal him. Mark reports, “When Jesus saw their faith, He said to the paralytic ‘Son, your sins are forgiven you’” (Mark 2:5). When Jesus told the man that his sins were forgiven, all the past sins of the paralytic were wiped away. His past disappeared. The Lord has always provided Christians a way for the past to be dealt with. King David wrote about the One, “Who forgives all our iniquities” (Ps. 103:3). And in the same psalm he wrote, “For as the heavens are high above the earth. So great is His mercy towards those who fear Him. As far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us” (Ps. 103:11–12). Centuries later, the prophet Jeremiah described what God does with our past sins. “For I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will no more” (Jer. 31:34). I have found, to my regret, that Satan tries to trap me with bad memories of my past. These are always subterfuges that seek to turn my attention away from the God of all time and to give it to something that has been dealt with. When I repent and confess my sins, our God removes everything in my past that I have confessed. His forgiveness is how the Father deals with my past. But the past is full of more than sin. There are also achievements and successful challenges and great discoveries and creative acts. Does our faith also cover these? Paul thought so. After listing His solid and commendable past achievements Paul wrote, “But what things [in the past] were gain to me, these I have counted loss for Christ” (Phil. 3:4–7). And later in the same letter, “Brethren I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press towards the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus” (Phil. 3:13–14). Paul’s way of dealing with his past was to live in the present and to press ahead for the knowledge of what God had in store for him. I find that Christians fall into three groups concerning how they handle the past. One group discards everything in the past, both good and bad, as dealt with and covered by the Lord’s forgiveness. Others have not found the provision His forgiveness makes possible and have not taken advantage of the provision Lord has promised, “As far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us” (Ps. 103:12). As a result, they find themselves constantly

bedeviled by their past. The third group is made up of those who wear the failures their past has imposed on them like a placard around their necks. They are stuck in the past. Their failures follow them like beggars begging to be noticed. And so often they seem to glory in what life has handed out to them. It becomes part of their identity as Christians. But the scriptures teach otherwise (see also Jeremiah 29:34). The Lord has forgiven all my past sins, and Paul chose to leave behind all his past achievements. Both of these can safely be left in the hands of the Lord our God. I trust Him for His forgiveness. I also choose not to dwell on my past achievements. Living in the past can only be a distraction in my relationship with the Lord our God. But what about the future? Does my faith also cover my future? Jesus thought so.

Trust Him Regarding the Future

In the Sermon on the Mount, the Lord Jesus spent some time teaching His disciples how foolish it was for Christians to be anxious. He told them, “Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own evil” (Matt. 6:34). I know that my future, beginning from this instant, belongs to Him. I can trust him to order every part of every day in my future to His advantage. The same rule about the future is found in David’s words when he wrote, “The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord, and He delights in his way” (Ps. 37:23). Because every future step is ordered by Him, I can trust Him to help me find my way into the future. David was not the only one trusting the Lord for His future. James had also learned that lesson. He wrote, “Come now, you who say, ‘Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city, spend a year there, buy and sell, and make a profit.’” He then added that the disciple had to rely on what the Lord wills for his life. “Instead you should say, ‘If the Lord wills, we shall live and do this or that’” (James 4:13, 15).

I have learned that I can trust Him to take care of both my past and my future. But what about the present? Does my faith cover every present moment of my life? I have to return to the words of our Lord.

Trust Him Regarding the Present

In the Sermon of the Mount, Jesus taught His disciples about a number of things in the present that people worry about. “Therefore I say to you, ‘Do not worry about your life, what you will eat, or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on” (Matt. 6:25). He reminded them that their relationship with their heavenly Father is based on trust. “Now if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will He not much more clothe you, O you of little faith” (Matt. 6:30). These are concerns that press themselves in on me very day of my life. My natural human response is to worry. When I worry, I can so easily become full of tense anxiety about anything in the present, or in the past and the future for that matter. I become full of cares and anxiety, which have a most unfortunate outcome. They distract me from trusting Him. I continue to learn that the way of the Christian is to trust the One who knows I have need of all these things. I need to learn to be firmly anchored in my confidence that He will provide. I learn to rely on His nature to care for and look after His children. This is also the message in one of His ancient names. “And Abraham called the name of the place [where the Lord provided the goat caught in the thicket] Jehovah Jireh, THE—LORD—WILL—PROVIDE” (Gen. 22:14, my brackets).

The Challenge

Failure to trust Him for all I need, past, present, and future interrupts my

relationship with Him. When I worry about anything in past, present, or future, rather than trusting Him to provide, my heart becomes filled with human care. When I fail to trust Him, I lose my peace. My joy disappears. I desert my place of rest, and my adversary is delighted. I believe that every Christian needs to find out how the Lord needs each of us to live resolutely in the present. I use the word needs because He will not compete with my intransigence, not knowing where I am to focus my attention. In the past that dogs my footsteps? In the future I have planned for myself? Or in the present where I live under the dictatorship of the demands and deceits of my old nature? Our challenge is to live in neither of three unsavory options. My Lord needs me, and all who are called by His name to give our complete attention to living in harmony with the One who loves us, and that means trusting Him with everything and continually loving Him with the same inner dedication that impels His love for us. We are called to live continually in the present in harmony with Him who is another part of our lives. Because of this challenge, we Christians need to understand the obstacles that stand in the way of the inner harmony with Him that trust produces and to learn to overcome those obstacles. And that is the subject of our next chapter.

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Obstacles to Believing

Now if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will He not much more clothe you, O you of little faith. Therefore do not worry, saying, “What shall we eat?” or “What shall we drink?” or “What shall we wear?” —Matthew 6:30–31

Then His disciples came to Him and awoke Him, saying “Lord, save us! We are perishing!” But He said to them, “Why are you fearful, O you of little faith?” —Matthew 8:25–26

But when [Peter] saw that the wind was boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink, cried out saying, “Lord, save me!” And immediately Jesus stretched out His hand and caught him, and said to him, O you of little faith, why did you doubt? —Matthew 14:30–31

The Obstacles

In our world, Christians do not walk alone. On the one hand, the devil with all

his lies and deceits. On the other hand, the Lord who s and encourages all our efforts to cast him, the adversary, off, set him adrift in the vast sea of irrelevance. And in the middle, we Christians with the ability to face either way and build relationships either in the world that Satan rules (John 14:30), or in the kingdom of our Lord, where Jesus rules. And we have an enemy that lives, not in the world that our enemy lusts after, but in ourselves. Paul called our enemy by three names, the flesh (Rom. 7:5), the old man (Eph. 4:22), and sin that dwells in me (Rom. 7:17). From this inner spring of unclean water (Mark 7:20–23) come the obstacles to us believing in the Lord with all our hearts. As well as the extreme expressions of the old nature that Jesus identified, there are those that are deceptively easy to accept and to dismiss as being only human, and they are all expressions of our old unredeemed natures. In their interaction with the Lord, the disciples revealed four expressions of the old nature that are opposed to faith. In each case, Jesus rebuked His disciples with the Greek term oligopistos, “of little faith.” These four instances are all recorded by Matthew, with Luke adding a note about one of their failures to trust Him. The four obstacles to faith are anxiety, fear, doubt, and reliance on human reasoning. We begin with Matthew’s report of the disciples’ failure to trust Him for their daily needs.

Anxiety

The Greek word Jesus used when He spoke with His disciples about anxiety is merimnao. (The final o is long as in mote.) This refers to one’s mind being divided, being distracted by care, being troubled by a supposed outcome. This was the word Jesus used when He spoke with Martha about being troubled about many things as she worked to prepare and serve the meal for the Lord and His disciples (see Luke 10:41). And this was the word Paul used when he wrote to the church at Philippi instructing them, “Be anxious for nothing” (Phil. 4:6). In His words to His disciples, the Lord referred to specific instances in the present when faith breaks down and anxiety takes its place. “Do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink or what you will put on”

(Matt. 6:25). And of course, anxiety does not end with these three. Most Christians will have been confronted by such things as anxiety about a bank balance in the red, one’s preparation for an appointment, an overdue letter they are depending on, a family member who doesn’t arrive home on time, and we worry about his or her whereabouts, the possibility of losing a job, and leaving a Christian without income. The list is endless, for we can use anything and everything in our lives to bring on anxiety. Jesus tied anxiety to being “of little faith,” which, when He found it in His disciples, earned His rebuke (Matt. 6:30). For anxiety, whatever its cause, comes about when we step away from trusting Him in any particular situation. We would rather trust our own judgment, trust our ability to work it out, or as Martha did in their home in Bethany, trust her energy to keep her preparation on track, the meals hot, the guests satisfied, the dishes cleaned up afterward. The Lord’s rebuke to His disciples was quite specific, “For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things” (Matt. 6:32). His implied rebuke is clear. “Why instead, don’t you trust your heavenly Father to provide these things as you need them?”

Fear

The fear the Lord referred to when the disciples woke Him in the boat when they were in danger of being swamped was not phobos, fear of such things as spiders and darkness and heights. The word Jesus used in the boat refers to the fear of making a decision because of timidity, or moral cowardice. It is the fear of being thought a fool, or simply the timidity that is reluctant to act in case I get it all wrong. We won’t do such and such because it could put us in hot water. “Someone might think badly of me. If I speak out, I could lose my job.” This fear of the consequences was probably the problem the disciples faced when Jesus was arrested, for we read, “Then they all forsook Him and fled” (Mark 14:50). If they went with Him, they might also be arrested. For Peter, fear took the form of his following the Lord afar off (see Matthew 26:58) and resulted in his three denials in the courtyard of the high priest’s house (Matt.

26:69–75). Jesus’s rebuke of the disciples in the boat included the same words He used regarding their anxiety, “O you of little faith” (Matt. 8:26). In other words, why can’t you trust Me for the consequences of whatever action you are facing? And the same question might also be asked by a Christian when faced with decisions that can potentially bring him or her into disrepute or into disfavor with another person. The word for all Christians ought to be “Trust Him for the consequences. Trust Him to care for you in whatever difficulties you experience. Trust Him to being about an outcome for His own glory.”

Doubt

The disciples were again in a boat that was in danger to being swamped, and Jesus came to them walking on the water. Peter, seeing what the Lord could do, wanted to do likewise and asked the Lord, “Lord, if it is You, command me to come to You on the water.” Jesus did so. Peter stepped out of the boat and began to walk on the water, but seeing the waves chopped up by the wind, he began to sink. The Lord had to catch his hand and hold him. He then said to Peter, “O you of little faith, why did you doubt” (Matt. 14:31). The word translated doubt refers to the very human predisposition “to stand in two ways, and to be uncertain about which way to take.” For Peter, this choice was between keeping his eyes on Jesus and to continue walking on the water, and looking away from the One who had called him and focusing his attention instead on the waves chopped up by the wind. His attention shifted back and forth between the two, and this was at the heart of His problem. He couldn’t make up his mind. James used a different Greek word, but which carries the same disturbing message of doubt: being of two minds and fluttering between the two, a failing that can unfortunately apply to all of us. James wrote, “If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him. But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind. For let not that

man think that he will receive anything from the Lord. He is a double minded man, unstable in all his ways” (James 1:5–7).

Human Reasoning

The fourth occasion Jesus used the words, “O you of little faith,” took place after the feeding of the four thousand men across the lake from Capernaum. They had recrossed the lake, and we read that the disciples had forgotten to take bread. Jesus was speaking about the leaven of the Pharisees, and Matthew reports, “And they reasoned among themselves saying ‘it is because we have taken no bread.’” Jesus immediately rebuked them. “O you of little faith, why do you reason among yourselves, because you have brought no bread” (Matt. 16:7–8). Jesus was facing a combination of two kinds of little faith in the attitudes and words of His disciples. They were relying on human wisdom and reasoning to understand Jesus’s words, and in doing so covered up their anxiety about having no bread. Experience should have told them that Jesus had provided bread in the past. Their trust in Him should have taught them that He would do so again. Human reasoning produced nothing more than Jesus’s rebuke, “O you of little faith.”

In Conclusion

The Christian’s need to trust our Lord for wisdom and understanding finds an echo in James’s letter when he wrote, “If any of you lacks wisdom let him ask of God,…but let him ask in faith” (James 1:5–6). The issue for James, for the disciples, and for every Christian across the ages is, how well are we prepared to trust Him for everything in this life however insurmountable? Are we as convinced as Paul that our Lord is willing to be involved in and through his love in any human circumstance we can ever

imagine? There is nothing on earth or in heaven that can, in any way, limit the Lord’s involvement in the lives of Christians—from the steppes of Russia to the mountains of Chile, the suburbs of Chicago to the slums of Mumbai, from outback Australia to the islands of the seas, and everywhere else in between where Christians of every denomination own the name of our Lord. Paul was clear about that in his first letter to the church at Corinth. “For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come; nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Rom. 8:38–39). There are no limits to the Lord’s care for every Christian, or His willingness and ability to arrange the circumstances of our lives for our benefit and for His glory. We are faced with the question: Are we Christians prepared to bring our unqualified and unquestioning trust in our amazing Lord, to bear on every situation we face, to the same degree that His love for each of us knows no bounds? Do we so easily let any or all these four obstacles stand in the way of each of us trusting our Lord with all our heart and soul and mind and strength? Or will He rebuke us with the same words He used to rebuke the disciples, “O you of little faith”?

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Faith’s Priorities

For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren. —Romans 8:29

That I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death. —Philippians 3:10

For the equipping of the saints, for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the full measure of the fullness of Christ. —Ephesians 4:12–13

Our Priorities

Every Christian’s first priority is to be established in a relationship with our risen Lord. The steps are very clear. First, turn away from old habits, from selfish independence, and from every form of sin that falls short of His glory. Then confess the faults that the Spirit lays on our hearts and so pave the way for God’s forgiveness, and for His cleansing of the muddied-up containers of our lives.

That sets the stage and enables every Christian to embrace the personal priorities the Lord has for our lives. It is customary for Christians to adopt the priorities a church or denomination has set in place for its . Some are demanding. Others are based on maintaining the church’s status quo. Some churches set no priorities at all, leaving it up to individual Christians to find their own way. But most church priorities are variations on four themes: attend church, read your Bible, pray, and give to the work of the church. Sometimes a fifth priority is added: speak to nonbelievers about the good news of our salvation and in doing so invite them to come to church. These priorities for Christians are well established in Christian thinking and are rarely challenged. The status quo of each individual church has long diverted Christians’ attention away from an intimate life of love, trust, and obedience to the Lord our God. For that is exactly what Satan desires: separate allegiance to our Lord from loyalty to a church. Give all our attention to our religion and leave the Lord out of the picture. One could not be faulted in accepting Paul’s judgment on this matter. “Whose minds the god of this age has blinded” (2 Cor. 4:4). Certainly in many quarters of the church, there seems to be a reluctance to challenge the status quo. It is much safer to stay resolutely committed to the status quo of what the current church asks of its . Where some are challenged to step out of their spiritual inertia and go on an adventure of faith, in their discomfort, they walk out the back door of the church and go looking for a church that will make them feel welcome but not challenge their insecurities. Better to stay safe in their self-imposed religious dignity than to set one’s eyes above the current church horizon and seek and find what the Lord, not the church, has to offer. But these practices fall far short of the priorities our Lord has set for His children.

God’s Priorities

We have the great benefit of a statement of God’s priorities that Paul included in his letter to the church at Rome. “For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to

be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover whom He predestined, these He also called; whom He called, these He also justified; and whom He justified He also glorified” (Rom. 8:29–30). The bedrock of God’s priorities is clearly stated. He foreknew who would respond to Him. His priorities are based on that foreknowledge. That rules out some sort of arbitrary choice God makes about who He will it into His kingdom and who He will shut out. Based on His foreknowledge of who Christians will be, and how they will respond to Him, the Lord our God sets four priorities.

The first priority: Predestine each Christian to be conformed to the image of His Son so that Jesus can be the firstborn in the entire family of God. The second priority: Call us to respond to His invitation to follow Jesus. Many will turn their backs on that invitation to follow Him, but some will abandon all attachment to the world and their self-interest and devote their love and obedience to the One who calls us. The third priority: Justify us by declaring the penalty for the sins we confess null and void. He made that justification possible because the penalty for our sins was shifted from our narrow shoulders into his Being on the cross. The fourth priority: Glorify us in the company of His Son when the impedimenta of the old nature and of the world has dropped away and will be left behind when we meet the Lord in the air.

The first priority in God’s agenda is that every Christian will be conformed to the image of His Son. Jesus put it this way, “It is enough for a disciple that he be like his teacher, and a servant like his [or her] master” (Matt. 10:25). This was the very first priority the Spirit shared with Paul. Be conformed to the image of Christ. Become like our Lord.

I have found and explored three paths that can take Christians out of the safety of church environments into a wider spiritual world where we can become like Him and be transformed into His image. Seek to know Him. Overcome the obstacles we find in ourselves to knowing Him. And enable His Spirit to reveal Christ to us so that we can obey His instruction to be transformed into His image. There is one element that needs to be present in the lives of all those who are called by His name. The author of the letter to the Hebrews identified this one essential element that we all need as we set our feet on these three demanding paths. “But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him” (Heb. 11:6). And to emphasize the importance of the principle of search, the author used words that can be translated, “God is a rewarder of those who diligently make the search for Him a daily commitment” (Heb. 11:6, my paraphrase). The three paths to becoming like our Lord: Seek to know Him. Overcome the obstacles to knowing Him we find in ourselves. And build a relationship with the Spirit who is the One who has been charged to make Jesus our Lord known to each of us.

Know the Lord

Here we encounter a mystery. It is easy to know about Him. The four gospels provide so much information about who He is, what He taught, what He did and then about His suffering, death in our place, and about His resurrection that put an end to the fear of death. And all that is necessary, even essential if we are to progress in our walk with the Lord. Then we come to the mystery, that Paul wrote was his priority, “That I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death” (Phil. 3:10). And that opens the door to a greater mystery. Again Paul, writing about a mystery that has been now revealed to the saints, “which is Christ in you the hope of glory” (Col. 1:27).

It is a certain fact of our lives with our Lord that following our repentance and confession, and His forgiveness and cleansing, the Lord Himself came into our hearts (see also Galatians 2:20). As an out-there person, I can know about Him, but as the Person who made my heart His dwelling place, I can know Him as He knows me in that most intimate relationship we share with each other. I cannot explain how we come to know Him. I only know that in countless ways He has made Himself known to me. His care. His longsuffering, His patience. His discipline. I also know that there are two principles that I have had to consistently apply if I am to know Him as my Lord, my elder brother, and my friend. Trusting Him implicitly with all my heart and soul and mind and strength is the first. The second principle: Make it my priority to tell Him daily that I love Him. Then His promise kicks into gear. “And he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love Him and manifest Myself to Him” (John 14:21).

Overcome Obstacles to Knowing Him

Are there obstacles to knowing Him? Most certainly! But two stand out like thornbushes in a garden of roses. The first obstacle is within me. I understand from human experience that I can only know someone who comes to our house if I am attentive to what he says, how he reacts and to the underneath emotions and attitudes that betray the true state of his or her being. The reverse is lamentably true. I cannot know my visitor if I am giving all my attention to my own cares, to the unhappy state of other relationships, to problems I am finding it difficult to resolve, or even to the happy delights I am experiencing and pleasures I am looking forward to. Focusing on myself is the first obstacle to knowing my Lord. That self-focus effectively shuts Him out, and in that state, I believe He will never reveal Himself to me. The second obstacle to knowing my Lord is also within me. Curiously enough, this obstacle is love, not human love; His divine love directed not to the One I am to love but to another entity altogether. The great command is that I should love the Lord my God with all my heart and soul and mind and strength (Mark 12:30). But there is a reverse side to the great command. John put it this way in a negative command. “Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone

loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him” (1 John 2:15). Loving the world or anything in it is the second obstacle to knowing Him. The logic is inescapable. He will only reveal Himself to me when His love for me is returned to Him with love out of the depths of my own heart. Jesus was quite specific. “He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me. And he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and manifest Myself to him” (John 14:21). If I don’t love Him, then His promise to manifest Himself to me, apart from His grace, is null and void. There is one further path I need to follow if I am to be conformed to His image. And that path is the way of His Spirit. Jesus told His disciples that no one comes to the Father except through Himself (John 14:6). He is the way to the Father and no one comes to the Father except through Jesus. I find the same principle governs my way to Jesus our Lord. For that way is through His Spirit. Jesus described the path we must take if we are to know Him. He told His disciples, “But when the Helper comes, whom I shall send from the Father, the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father, He will testify of Me” (John 15:26). Testify. Martureo. (The o is long as in mote.) Bear witness, make someone known, reveal the character and purposes of that person, testify of who He is and what He does. This was the word Jesus used when He promised that His disciples would be witnesses to Him (see Acts 1:8). In the same way the Holy Spirit would be the divine witness to make Jesus known to each of those who believe in Him, to Christians around the world in every place and in every church and denomination. In part 4, “The Ways of the Spirit,” we will explore in careful detail who the Holy Spirit is, what He has been sent to do, and how we are to relate to Him.

Part 4

The Ways of the Spirit

Preface to the Ways of the Spirit

In the upper room the night He was betrayed, the Lord told His disciples that He was going away. Then He made a promise to His disciples and to all Christians across the ages that He is bound, by His own nature, to keep. “I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever —the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him for He dwells with you and shall be in you” (John 14:16–17). Days later, the Lord kept His promise. On the day of Pentecost, the One He had spoken about in the upper room did come among them and filled them. Before Pentecost, the Holy Spirit was among them. On the day of Pentecost, He came and filled them (Acts 2:4). The Holy Spirit has other names. Paul referred to Him as “the Spirit of His Son” (Gal. 4:6), and as “the Spirit of Jesus Christ” (Phil. 1:6). The Person of the Holy Spirit and the Person of Christ are identical in every way. We think of the Holy Spirit as the breath of our Lord for the Greek word translated Spirit is pneuma, which is from the verb pneo (the o is long as in mote), meaning to draw breath, breathe, and so to live. The Spirit made possible what Paul wrote about in his prayer for the church at Ephesus, “That Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith” (Eph. 3:17). The Person of the Holy Spirit and the Lord Himself both dwell together in each heart in that sacred place Paul refers to as the temple of the Holy Spirit (1 Cor. 6:19). And wonder upon wonders, the Father Himself also makes each heart His own

dwelling place. The temple of the Holy Spirit in each of us is also referred to as the temple of God (1 Cor. 3:16). Dwell. Katoikeo. (The final o is long as in mote.) To settle down in a fixed place, to live permanently in the home of each one who believes, to bring every element of His person into each Christian’s heart, to be at home there, and to make Himself known. The purpose of the following chapters is to make known what the scriptures teach us about the Person of the Spirit and about how Christians are to live in and with the Holy Spirit. While the scriptures are clear about the importance of the Spirit in our lives, they are also clear that life in and with the Spirit does not come without cost for each one who believes. The scriptures teach that the way of the Spirit is opposed by another element in the lives of Christians. Paul called it the way of the flesh that is opposed to the way of the Spirit. “For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, so that you do not [naturally] do the things that you wish” (Gal. 5:17). Paul teaches us that the flesh has to die if the ways of the Spirit are to flourish in our lives. (See Galatians 5:24.) The following chapters will be devoted to our study of the creative place of the Spirit in the lives of Christians. Subjects include the following: the coming of the Spirit, the miracle of rebirth I have called the miracle instant, the temple of the Holy Spirit located in each Christian’s heart, two of the priorities of those who live in the Spirit, the Spirit of Christ in us, living in the Spirit, and the opposing subjects, godliness and religion. The destructive ways of the flesh will be examined later in this narrative.

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The Coming of the Spirit

The Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you now Him, for He dwells with you and shall be in you. —John 14:17

He commanded them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the promise of the Father, which He said, you have heard from Me. For John truly baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit, not many days from now. —Acts 1:4–5

Then there appeared to them divided tongues of fire, and one sat on each of them, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit. —Acts 2:3–4

Who Is He?

The scriptures tell us that the Holy Spirit has a number of names. Matthew wrote of Him as the Spirit of God (Matt. 3:16). Paul wrote of Him as the Spirit of Christ (Rom. 8:9). He is equal to both, for He shares the life, names, and

characters of both. What the Father is, the Son is and the Spirit is. The other great attributes of our God are also found in Christ and therefore in the Holy Spirit. God’s love, His peace, His joy, His patience, and His loving kindness all belong to the Spirit. They are part of His character. Just as God is holy and Jesus is holy so the Spirit is also holy (see Eph. 1:13). There are no shadows in Him. He is pure light just as God is light and our Lord is light (see John 9:5 and 1 John 1:5). I know that He is also the One who created all things and constantly renews them. The Psalmist wrote, “You send forth Your Spirit, they are created; and You renew the face of the earth” (Ps. 104:30). The Holy Spirit has incredible power. He set the whole Andromeda Galaxy with its trillions of suns in its place in the heavens. His power is far greater than the explosive power of volcanoes and the rolling havoc caused by tsunamis and tornadoes. Yet His power is so gentle. He set the fragile wings of a butterfly in place, gave voice to the songs of lark and cuckoo, and designed the fragile grace of humming birds and birds of paradise. And that gentleness applies to His work in each of us. Gentleness is one of the elements of His character (see Galatians 5:23). Three of His names describe part of His relationship with us. Paul called Him “the Spirit of Adoption,” for He was the One who brought each of us to birth when we were born of His Spirit. He watched over our legal adoption into the whole family of God (Rom. 8:15). At that time, the Spirit of God and of Christ became part of each of us and each of us became part of Him. For we are forever bound together (see Ephesians 1:13–14). He is also the Paraclete, which is translated both Comforter and Helper (John 14:16). Paraclete. Paracletos. (The e is long as in fete.) From para, by the side of, and kaleo, I call. (The o is long as in mote.) The Holy Spirit is the Paraclete. He is the One called to be constantly at the side of every one of God’s children, One who is sent to each of us to give counsel and assistance, a Person we can always be sure of, One who will never leave us and who has a permanent place within each of our hearts. His next name is Spirit of Truth (John 14:17). He has the responsibility to guide, lead, and direct each of us into all truth (John 16:13). We must not restrict this truth to what is in the scriptures. Those words certainly are true, but truth begins with Jesus who told His disciples, “I am the way, the truth, and the life” (John

14:6). The Spirit’s responsibility is to lead each of God’s children into the truth who is Jesus, the truth of His life and love, the truth of His mind and peace, the truth of His sufferings, and the truth of all these things combined in the truth of His Person. Truth is also expressed in the scriptures which are God breathed (2 Tim. 3:16). Both the Old and New Testaments reveal truth into which the Spirit will lead a Christian. And the Holy Spirit will also lead us into the truth about ourselves. When we disobey Him the Spirit tells us. When we offend another brother or sister the Spirit tells us (John 16:8). He also reveals the truth about the directions we are to take. I should never think of the Spirit as limited in what He knows. All knowledge is known to Him. And this why He is able to express Himself in us in words of knowledge and words of wisdom (1 Cor. 12:8). I now have to return to the day the Spirit came.

The Spirit Shall Be in You

The scriptures tell us that the Holy Spirit is an important and personal part of our lives. I read that I am to be filled with Him just as Jesus was filled with Him (Eph. 5:18 and Luke 4:1), and the first Christians were filled with Him (Acts 2:4). And this is what Jesus promised His disciples the last night before His death. He spoke of the One, “Whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and shall be in you” (John 14:17). Jesus promised that His Spirit would not be an outside influence. Not a doctrine. Not someone Christians have to invite to be present, as so many do. He will always be in each of us, a personal and permanent part of the life of every Christian who bears and hopefully honors the name of Jesus our Lord. In the Old Testament, I read that the Holy Spirit came upon people. This happened to Saul and he prophesied (1 Sam. 10:10). But the Spirit left Saul. He did not live in the king. But that changed at Pentecost. When the Spirit came, “they were all filled with the Holy Spirit” (Acts 2:4). Then Jesus’s promise that

the Holy Spirit would be in them was fulfilled. And so it has been ever since. That morning, not yet nine o’clock, the Spirit came with the sound of a mighty rushing wind. Something like tongues of fire rested on the head of each person in that room (Acts 2:1–4). At that moment, two wonderful things happened to and in each disciple. Both are recorded by Paul in his letter to Titus. “He saved us through the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit” (Tit. 3:5). I know personally that washing refers to making something clean, taking a dirty thing and washing away its impurities. In our case, washing refers to getting rid of the dirty stains stuck to the heart and the garbage that fills the heart and is ed in each of our minds. And this first took place at Pentecost when the Spirit came and filled each disciple. At that moment, their spirits were washed clean. Each of their spirits was born again. At that special moment, each of those disciples entered a brand-new life. The Spirit had brought each one to a new birth (John 3:3, 5). Paul also used another Greek word, which is translated “renewing.” This refers to a complete change in the human spirit, which becomes completely different to what it once had been (2 Cor. 5:17). And each of these miracles involved the One we know as the Holy Spirit. Without Him, a sinful man can never find his way into the family of God. His or her heart and mind can never be cleansed, nor can his spirit be renewed. Neither can he or she become a citizen of God’s kingdom.

Relating to the Spirit

A careful study of the Holy Spirit could take us a life time. And we would still be unable to understand who He is. But we can begin by exploring some of the elements of His character and how He responds to what we each say and do.

He can be obeyed: Acts 10:19–21

That was the case when the Spirit told Peter about the men from Cornelius waiting at the door. Peter came down the stairs and obeyed the Spirit’s instructions. But the Spirit can also be disobeyed. When I ignore the still small voice of the Holy Spirit, that is disobedience.

He can be resisted: Acts 7:51 That was the case with the leaders of the Jews listening to Stephen’s words before he was stoned to death. The Pharisees resisted all that the Spirit revealed in the life and words of Jesus. Once a message from the Spirit is clearly heard and understood, the hearer can make the choice. He can stand against the Spirit’s instructions and resist His prompting or accept His words and obey them.

He can be grieved: Ephesians 4:30 The Greek word translated “grieved” is lupeite, which means to make the Spirit sorrowful, to fill Him with grief. This word is stated as a negative command. Do not make the Holy Spirit sorrowful. We grieve Him when we ignore the instructions written for us in the scriptures or written on our hearts by the Holy Spirit (see Ephesians. 4:25–31). I grieve Him when I refuse to acknowledge Him in my testimonies and teaching.

He can be insulted: Hebrews 10:29 The writer to the Hebrews used the Greek word enubrizo (the o is long as in mote), which means by words or actions or even thoughts, to treat Him as if He was not important, as if He was some kind of optional extra to our lives. In this way, we insult Him.

He will lead each Christian into truth: John 16:13 He has access to all the knowledge of all the worlds and of all the ages of man.

This means that He is completely competent to know the way I should go. He will show me the way into truth and go before me as one of those dependent on Him to be led into all truth. He will reveal truth and open my mind and heart to understand the principles of my faith.

He will show us the way: Galatians 5:25 Paul referred to this work of the Spirit when he taught the disciples in the churches in Galatia to “walk in the Spirit.” The Greek word Paul used was stoicheo. (The final o is long as in mote.) This Greek word means “I am required to walk in step with the Spirit.” He knows what the Father wants to achieve in me and through me in the world and in the church. This means I always have to be listening to Him so that I can receive His instructions and walk in step with the Holy Spirit who knows the way the Father wants me to take.

He can be quenched: Thessalonians 5:19 The Greek word translated “quenched” means to put out a fire, or to turn off a light. I know that Jesus is the light of the world. Quenching the Spirit means that I turn off the light of the Lord’s life and love and wisdom shining in my heart. When I quench the Spirit, my heart will be filled with darkness. And I will lose access to the flame of His love in me.

Challenge

Our challenge as Christians is to learn how to live in and with the Spirit so that we might know and enjoy who He is. We also need to aim never to offend Him by our disobedience through the things we do, what we think, and what we say. We also need to learn how to let Him guide our steps as we follow the Lord. This means that as Christians called by the Lord’s name, we have to learn how to listen to the Holy Spirit speaking within each of us. Perhaps this is the greatest

challenge of all.

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The Miracle Instant

Jesus answered [Nicodemus], Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. —John 3:5

For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, Abba, Father. The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God. —Romans 8:15–16

For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free—and have all been made to drink into one Spirit. —1 Corinthians 12:13

Becoming Christian

The beginning of faith for so many Christians is unknown and perhaps shrouded in mystery. Other Christians, like the author, can point to a particular time and place when the relationship with the Lord Jesus began. Whether our beginnings took place in a miraculous instant of time or were spread over an extended

period, the scriptures are clear that every true beginning of our relationship with the Lord and hip in His family includes seven events that may occur in the miracle instant when we first become aware of and declare our active faith in the Lord. The scriptures do not teach any other way to become children of the living God. Those seven steps begin with repentance and end with a mystery the scriptures refer to as the baptism of the Spirit. Involved in each of these seven steps is the One we honor as the Christ, and His own Spirit we revere as the Holy Spirit and who is also called the Paraclete. Jesus has a great deal to teach Christians about the Holy Spirit. Before He left to return to the Father He told His disciples, “I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you” (John 14:18). The plan He revealed to His disciples was for Him to be with them forever, “And lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age” (Matt. 28:20). The Lord fulfilled these two promises on the day of Pentecost by sending His own Spirit into their hearts, and in that way they would never be orphans. The name the Lord gave to the Spirit who would come has a special significance for Christians. Jesus said, “I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may be with you forever” (John 14:16). Both the Lord and His Spirit are called to be continually present with everyone who has been born by the Spirit into the kingdom of God (John 3:3, 5). The scriptures reveal that becoming a child of the Father and a member of the family of God involves seven most important steps. The first two steps are our responsibility. The third step is the Lord’s responsibility. The remaining five steps involve activities of the Holy Spirit.

A sinner repents of past sin and of everything that separates him or her from the Lord our God. That same person then confesses his or her sins and failures to the Lord God with all his heart and soul and mind and strength and seeks His forgiveness. The Lord then forgives his sins and cleanses his heart from all that contaminates and separates the repentant sinner from the Lord our God. At that instant, that person is born again through the activity of the Holy Spirit.

Immediately, he receives the Spirit into his heart, which becomes the temple of the Holy Spirit and the temple of God. At the same time the Holy Spirit oversees that repentant sinner’s legal adoption into the family of God. And the greatest mystery completes the sequence. The human spirit of each one who is born again is baptized with and immersed in the Holy Spirit.

The First Step: Repentance

The call to repent, dominated the teachings of John the Baptist (Matt. 3:2), Jesus’s teachings (Matt. 4:17), the Lord’s messages to the church (Rev. 3:19), and is included in God’s message to the world in the end of days (Rev. 9:20–21, 16:9). On the day of Pentecost Peter’s message to the crowds included the same call: “Then Peter said to [the crowd] ‘Repent and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit” (Acts 2:38). Repent. Metanoeo. (The final o is long as in mote.) To change one’s mind and purpose but always for the better, not merely to forsake a sinful act or thought, but to repent of the inner impulses and attitudes that gave rise to those acts and thoughts, repentance being accompanied by feelings of remorse and sorrow. This is the first great requirement for a sinner to become a member of God’s family, and to be itted as a citizen into God’s kingdom. Repentance is not a fuzzy kind of feeling about things a sinner might have done wrong. It is always directed toward specific sins and failures that can be identified. And the Holy Spirit comes to a sinner’s aid when he or she approaches the narrow gate that Jesus spoke about (see Matthew 7:14). Jesus promised that the Holy Spirit “would convict the world of sin and righteousness and judgment” (John 16:8). A person knows with some certainty that he or she has offended the Lord our

God with this or that attitude or word and act and that knowledge may be accompanied by feelings of shame. The Spirit’s work is to remind those who need the Lord, of the inner thoughts words and deeds that have offended. Repentance then follows.

The Second Step: Confession

In some mysterious way confession is necessary so that a person’s repentance can be locked in place. The apostle John wrote, “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9). Confess. Homologeo. (The final o is long as in mote.) Share with another person, agree with that person so that both are of the same mind, in this case to agree with the Lord and with His Spirit that something has come between the person and the Lord, something that hinders fellowship, to confess these things directly to Him so that the knowledge of our sin is shared by both the sinner and the Lord.

The Third Step: Forgiveness and Cleansing

The forgiveness that the Lord our God promises a penitent sinner is remarkable. The psalmist put it this way, “As far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us” (Ps. 103:12). That is an immeasurable distance. He takes our confessed sins, forgives them, and separates us from each forgiven sin so that the sinner and the sin need never again be connected. The prophet Jeremiah adds another element to God’s forgiveness. “For I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will no more” (Jer. 31:34). Both these promises referred to the sins of the people of Israel, but I believe that they describe how God regards the sins of all mankind, sins that are confessed

and that He has forgiven. These promises are applicable to all people at all times. I believe that the Lord God’s forgiveness clears the way for Him to complete the transformation of the human heart to receive His Spirit. We know also from Jeremiah that the human heart, in its natural state is not a fit dwelling place for the Holy Spirit. The prophet wrote, “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked; who can know it?” (Jer. 17:9). And Jesus agreed, “For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornication, thefts, false witness, blasphemies. These are the things that defile a man” (Matt. 15:19–20). Most of us would protest that we could never be guilty of such extravagant sins. Yet the Lord teaches that even the thoughts of such things have the same effect; they separate us from the Lord and are an offence to Him (see Matthew 5:21– 22). Peter taught that the Lord God would give His Spirit to those who come with repentant hearts and whose sins have been declared free of any future judgment (Acts 2:38). And Jesus added that His Spirit would be in those who believe (John 14:17). But how could that be where the human heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked (see Jeremiah. 17:9). For the human heart or spirit to receive the Holy One of God, it must first be cleansed of all iniquity that defiles that sacred space. And this is exactly what has been promised (1 John 1:9).

The Fourth Step: Receive the Holy Spirit

In that incredible moment of time when we confess, He forgives and gives each one who has come to Him the greatest gift that can ever be given to man. Jesus explains, “If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him” (Luke 11:13). And Peter, speaking from experience, told the crowd in the street outside the house into which the Spirit had come. “Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit” (Acts 2:38).

I cannot begin to plumb the depths of the wonder that Jesus, and then Peter promised. This gift from the Father was the One who brooded over the waters at the beginning of creation (Gen. 1:2). He is the Spirit of life (Rom. 8:2). He shared in the explosion of power that brought all things into being (Ps. 104:30). He was the One who filled the Lord from the moment of His anointing at the Jordan (Matt. 3:16, Luke 4:1), to the time of His greatest pain and crucifixion, and to His final cry that is was finished when He gave up His Spirit (Luke 4:1, John 19:30). And in the Holy Spirit as the Spirit of Jesus are to be found all the wonders of wisdom and knowledge that have and will ever exist (Col. 2:3). But there are more wonders for those who call themselves by His name.

The Fifth Step: Born of the Spirit

Jesus affirmed that there are two kinds of birth and that they are distinctly different. The Lord told Nicodemus, “That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit” (John 3:6). We also know that we have to take two steps toward God so that we can be born of the Spirit. Repent of all sinful activity that separates us from God (Matt. 9:13). That is the first step toward our second birth and is followed by the confession of our sinfulness and that we need His forgiveness (1 John 1:9). The Lord our God then responds with His forgiveness and with the cleansing of our hearts. Immediately, the miracle of being born again takes place just as Jesus promised, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water for cleansing and the Spirit for renewal, he or she cannot enter the kingdom of God” (John 3:5, my paraphrase). There are very many who think of themselves as Christian who may not have followed the path described in the scriptures, leading to being born again. If you belong in this group, please check what Jesus has said and what the scriptures affirm. Then follow the steps to being born again that the scriptures set out for all of us. In that way, you also may become a legal member of the family of God and that takes us to our next study.

The Sixth Step: Adoption into the Family of God

The Lord God made doubly sure that we are able to belong to His family. The way of the Spirit and the way of the law. Please let me explain. In the instant that we have been born again, the Spirit manages the legal adoption of the born-again person into the family of God. Paul explains, “But you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, ‘Abba, Father’” (Rom. 8:15). The Lord our God through two divine activities becomes our Father. First through the birth that the Spirit arranges and second through the adoption that the Spirit supervises. Then to make quite sure that we know that we have been born again and legally adopted into God’s family the Spirit tells us so. Paul affirms this fact, “The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God” (Rom. 8:16). Now we can enjoy all the glories that belong to the children of God (see Galatians 3:26). The first we have discussed. The Spirit tell us that it is so. The second glory is that we will share with our Lord all that He will inherit from His Father and our Father. The third wonder is that we now have legal access to the Lord our God. The writer to the Hebrews explains. “Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need” (Heb. 4:16). But the work of the Spirit is not finished. He is involved in a greater wonder.

The Seventh Step: Be Baptized with the Holy Spirit

Perhaps this is the greatest miracle of all. We have discovered that the One the Lord promised would come and dwell in those who believe was involved in the great acts of creation, has all knowledge and wisdom (Col. 2:3), so that He Himself can give gifts to those who believe (1 Cor. 12:8), and delivers prophetic messages from the Father to His people (1 Cor. 12:10). This Holy One of God, who is God’s own Spirit (Rom. 8:9), chooses to confine His infinite Person to

the very restricted and constrained environment of a human heart. John the Baptist and the Lord described how He would do this. “I indeed baptize you with water; but One mightier that I is coming, whose sandal strap I am not worthy to unloose. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire” (Luke 3:16). Jesus repeated John’s promise (Acts 1:5), that was fulfilled on the day of Pentecost when they were all baptized in and filled with the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:4). Baptize. Baptizo. (The o is long as in mote.) Immerse an object such as a piece of cloth in a liquid such as a tub of dye so that the characteristics of the dye are transferred to the cloth. In the same way, John’s baptism of people in water meant that each one became wet with the characteristics of the water. They became wet all over. In the same way, the baptism of a cleansed human spirit in the Holy Spirit means that the human spirit is exposed to all the characteristics of the divine Spirit. His spirit is completely immersed in the Holy Spirit. What is so astonishing about the immersion of the human spirit in the Holy Spirit is that it had a specific beginning and will continue indefinitely. Paul wrote, “For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body,” which we know to be the church (1 Cor. 12:13). The Greek word baptized in written in the Greek aorist tense and refers to an event that would only happen once but which would have continuing consequences. This means that the baptism of the human spirit in the Holy Spirit is not a second blessing as some believe but is the single event that its a forgiven sinner into the church of the Lord at the very beginning of His hip as a Christian in the family of God. The aorist tense of the verb also refers to continuing consequences of that single act of being baptized in the Spirit. From the moment that the human spirit is totally immersed in the divine Spirit, the Holy Spirit is there to stay. This means that the Holy Spirit makes the human heart, now cleansed and filled with Himself, a continuing extension of the kingdom of heaven. There is even a special term that describes the place in each believer where the Spirit dwells and from which He continues His ministry to the believer. And we will explore His dwelling place in our cleansed hearts in our next chapter.

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Temple of the Holy Spirit

Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s. —1 Corinthians 6:19–20

Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you. —1 Corinthians 3:16

But as He who has called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, because it is written, “Be holy, for I am holy.” —1 Peter 1:15–16

Opposites

When the Holy Spirit comes into the lives of the Lord’s people, He encounters a dwelling place that is totally opposite to His holy nature. The ancient prophet wrote, “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked” (Jer. 19:9). Yet the human heart is to be the dwelling place of the Holy Spirit. One is

most holy. The other is potentially capable of great wickedness. How then can the Holy Spirit of God make the unholy human heart His permanent dwelling place? This is the challenge the Lord God faces with everyone who comes to Him and is itted into His kingdom and family. And the apostle John tells us how God meets the challenge of an unholy human heart. “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9). He has to cleanse our hearts so that each heart can be a fit dwelling place for His Spirit. Cleanse. Katharizo. (The o is long as in mote.) To rid a heart that is dirty and impure of everything that is impure and would contaminate it, to make the human heart free from any kind of blemish, to make it utterly clean and therefore a fit dwelling place for the Holy Spirit of God. With such cleansing, the heart can become the temple of the Holy Spirit for, because of God’s cleansing, there would be nothing in each heart that would offend His holy nature. The heart’s holiness would provide a starting point for the Holy Spirit’s experience of this most personal dwelling place. He would come into each heart, which has become His personal dwelling place, His own temple, and there begin to express Himself. The Holy Spirit is a Person and, therefore, like all of us, has His own character. We even have a description of His character. In his letter to the churches in Galatia, Paul wrote, “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control” (Gal. 5:22–23). The fruit of the Spirit is not some catalogue of virtues I can adopt or not, as I choose. Paul takes his analogy from nature where the fruit of a tree or vine expresses the character of that tree or vine. In Paul’s teaching, the fruit of the Spirit express the character of the Holy Spirit in His own temple, which is the heart of the believer. And His character has nine distinctive elements. The first three—love, joy, and peace—are quite different from the remaining six. And love functions differently from joy and peace. Let me explain why. The Spirit’s love as with the Father’s love and the love of the Lord Jesus is part of a flow of love that begins in the Father’s heart, in poured out in the heart of each Christian by the Holy Spirit, who Himself is also love, so that he can return

that love from his or her own heart back to the Father’s heart from which it came. And this flow of love in intended to be endless. I do not believe that death will interrupt this flow of love. I will only change some of the elements in the endless cycle of love. Joy and peace are quite different. They are individual expressions of the Spirit’s life within each heart. The Spirit expresses joy. Our hearts are filled with joy. He expresses peace and our hearts are filled with peace. And the great wonder is that these activities of the Holy Spirit all take place and involve the cleansed heart of each one who believes. The temple of the Holy Spirit is the central place where these three elements of His character are to be expressed. We begin with the greatest gift of all, His love. And forgive me if I have previously spoken of these mysteries. They are so great that they bear telling over and over again without destroying any of their wonder.

Love

It is a rather overwhelming fact of our relationship with God that each one who bears His name is loved by the Father and by the Son and by the Holy Spirit. We know this for two reasons. First the scriptures tell us that this is so, and we will explore what the scriptures tell us in a moment. Second, those who have been blessed with His grace know the love of God from experience. The scriptures teach us that God the Father loves each one of His children (John 3:16). And more personally, because Paul connects the flow of God’s love with the human heart. “Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us” (Rom. 5:5). Love is also an expression of the character of our Lord. During His last hours with His disciples He spoke much about love. “As the Father has loved Me, I also have loved you; abide in My love” (John 15:10). And “This is My commandment that you love one another, as I have loved you” (John 15:12). Love is also the first element in the character of the Holy Spirit. “The fruit of the

Spirit is love…” (Gal. 5:22). Love. Agape. (The e is long as in fete.) The love of God has four distinctive parts.

God’s love is quite unlike human love that is based on chance and impulse. God’s love flows out of His heart because He continually makes the decision to love. And that decision is not influenced by the character of the ones He loves. He loved the thief on the cross (Luke 23:39–43) in the same way that He loved Lazarus of Bethany (John 11:34–36). His love is expressed in respect, iration, and appreciation for the one to whom His love is directed. Again the character of the one He loves is not in question. He loves the unlovely (the thief on the cross) and the one who sits at His feet in silent adoration (Luke 10:38–42). His love is expressed in serving the ones He loves no matter what that service costs. Jesus described this element of service in God’s love in these words, “Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends” (John 15:13). (See also John 3:16.) The expression of love for another is accompanied by tender affection for that person. Paul put it this way in his letter to the church at Philippi, “Therefore if there is any consolation in Christ, if any comfort of love, if any affection and mercy, fulfil my joy, that being like minded, having the same love, being of one accord and of one mind” (Phil. 2:1–2).

The Holy Spirit has an essential part to play in bringing each Christian into the orbit of God’s love. Paul explains this mystery. “Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us” (Rom. 5:5). Paul didn’t say that love of God had been poured into our hearts as though someone outside our hearts emptied a contained of love into our hearts. Pouring out God’s love takes place in our hearts. The Holy Spirit in His own temple in our hearts, pours love out of Himself in each of our hearts. In this way, our hearts are continuously filled with His love, which is

the Father’s love and the Son’s love. Now we can effectively obey the Lord’s commands, “And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all you strength.” And “You shall love your neighbours as yourself” (Mark 12:30–31). In each case we turn away from the human love based on chance and impulse and make an endless series of deliberate decisions to love God and our neighbour, drawing on the great pool of love that now fills our hearts, which are temples of the Holy Spirit. These are vast and wonderful mysteries that we consider with awe because of the infinite love our God has for each of His children.

Joy

The second element of the Spirit’s character expressed in His own temple in our hearts is His joy which is also the Lord’s joy (John 15:11). And this joy is very special, so special that Peter said that the Spirit’s joy cannot be expressed in words. He wrote about our Lord, “Whom having not seen you love. Though now you do not see Him, yet believing, you rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory” (1 Pet. 1:8). This is joy that cannot be spoken about—joy that defies human explanation, and joy that doesn’t and cannot be expressed in human language. Only the Spirit of the Lord our God can express this joy and He expresses His joy and the Lord’s joy (John 15:11) in each heart, which is His own dwelling place, the temple of the Holy Spirit. Those who experience His joy can only wonder, for it can be like an explosion of pure delight. I have found His joy to be a constant experience in my own heart. It is quite unlike human happiness that can come and go, like the sunshine, here one day, gone the next. When I maintain my heart, the temple of the Holy Spirit, free from the defilement of any kind of sin, then the Spirit has a space in which He doesn’t have to compete with my own interests and troublesome emotions and desires. Then and only then will He express His joy, and my heart will be filled again with wonder.

Peace

The third great expression of the character of the Spirit in my heart is His peace (Gal. 5:22), which is also the peace of the Lord our God (Phil. 4:7), and the peace of our Savior and Lord (John 14:27). And like His joy, His peace is beyond any words I might use to try to describe it. Paul explains, “And the peace of God, which sures all understanding will guard your hearts and minds through Jesus Christ” (Phil. 4:7). The peace in each of us refers to an inner environment of undisturbed tranquility that is quite unlike any kind of human peace, here one day and gone the next. The peace of God is meant to be eternally present in each one in whom the Spirit dwells, in the same way that peace is eternally present in the Person of God and in His kingdom.

Standards

The three elements of the Spirit’s character, His love, His joy, and His peace, set the standard for every Christian. They are meant to be present the moment a person is born of His Spirit and in whom the Spirit then comes to dwell. They are expressions of the Spirit’s character. The problem for all of us is to maintain the inner environment of our hearts, the temple of the Holy Spirit, in such a way that the Spirit will not have to compete with any distractions and noises we introduce into that holy place and will be free to express Himself. I understand that my heart belongs to our Lord (see 1 Corinthians 6:19–20). It is the dwelling place of His Spirit and must therefore be kept free from everything that would offend the Holy One. For just as He is holy, so His dwelling place, my heart, the temple of the Holy Spirit, must also be kept holy. Nothing must be itted into the sacred space in my heart where He dwells, that would limit the expression of His love, His joy, and His peace.

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The Spirit’s Priorities

And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church. —Matthew 16:18

And He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. —Mark 16:15

All authority has been give to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age. —Matthew 28:18–20

Final Instructions

On that last day with His disciples, the Lord gave them final instructions, then He ascended to the throne room and took His seat at the right hand of the Father. He had completed the work the Father had given Him to do, mankind had been ransomed, death had given way to resurrection, and the world and Satan had

been defeated on the cross. When the Lord ascended to the Father, He left His disciples to continue the work that He had begun. He instructed them to make disciples and to teach them “to observe all things that I have commanded you” (Matt. 28:20). He also told them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do, he will do also; and greater works than these he will do, because I go to My Father” (John 14:12). And with those responsibilities came the promise of the One who would enable them and every disciple from that day to this, to complete the work the Father had sent the Lord to do. For the Lord’s priorities are always the priorities of the Spirit dwelling in each Christian. The Lord knew that those who would follow Him across the ages would need the same kind of power and authority the Lord had demonstrated among men so that they could complete the following elements of the work the Father had given His Son to complete.

The first element for Christians: Make disciples of all the people groups of the earth in the same way that He had called twelve men to follow Him. He would need many more disciples if He was to continue to heal the sick, cast out demons, and teach people the ways of His kingdom. The second element for Christians. The Lord told His disciple that He would build His church on the rock which we know to be Himself (1 Cor. 10:4). The Lord never began that building for His church had not yet come into being. The Lord would wait until Pentecost to send His own Spirit to enable His disciples to continue the work of building His church that He had begun.

The Lord never left His future disciples to carry on His work, the best they could, relying on the natural human abilities they had been born with. Human power and authority would never be sufficient for the work that lay ahead of them. Before He ascended the Lord promised those disciples that the means for them to discharge these responsibilities would be given them. “But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the

[chronological] end of the earth” (Acts 1:8). The Spirit’s coming was not a random kind of event, as though He came, He did what was required at Pentecost, and then left them to their own devices. Certainly not so. The Spirit’s coming was to be the beginning of the Lord’s presence in and among the disciples so that they could draw on His authority and use the power of His Spirit to continue His mission on the earth. The disciples were all together in one place when the Holy Spirit, the Lord’s own Spirit, came among them and each one in that upper room was baptized in the Holy Spirit (Acts 1:5), and filled with His Person (Acts 2:4). We know that in that moment the Holy Spirit came to each disciple and made His home in what we know to be the temple of the Holy Spirit and the temple of God in each heart (see chapter 24). From that inner holy place, each disciple would work with the Spirit to make disciples and to build the Lord’s church.

Make Disciples

The scriptures record two great commands left by the Lord for His disciples. First, the record in Mark: “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature” (Mark 16:15). Second, the record of Jesus’s words left by Matthew. “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations” (Matt. 28:19). These two commands were given to His disciples at different times and places, but they form a unified whole. The outcome of preaching the gospel would always be to make disciples. There is a cheap kind of gospel taught in many churches. Believe in the Lord and you will be saved. Be saved from hell. Obtain the port of His forgiveness so that you will go to heaven when you die. Nothing about following Him. No command to love Him or to be filled with His spirit. This kind of gospel is essentially selfish. It is focused on what He can give us, not on what He requires us to do for Him. Anything He asks us to do for Him is conveniently left unspoken. This is not the good news as He intended. It is some kind of selfish

parody of what God intended for those who would believe. The first men to be His disciples obeyed the call to follow Him (see Matthew 4:19 and 9:9). Peter and Andrew, James and John, and then Matthew, all heard the call to come and follow Him, and as Peter later said to the Lord, “we have left all and followed you” (Matt. 19:27). Follow Me. Akoloutheo. (The final o is long as in mote.) Walk beside Me or close behind Me, always within the sound of My voice. As My disciples learn of me as My students, as soldiers engaged in warfare against our common enemy, and as My servants committed to carry out everything I ask of you. These requirements for being the Lord’s disciples were not restricted to the first twelve. Many more would become His disciples, and He defined seven characteristics of all those who would follow Him. (We shall explore the seven characteristics of a disciple in part 5, “Christian as Disciple.”) The Lord is no longer physically with us so that we can walk beside Him or close behind Him. But following Him has a spiritual counterpart. In those days, they had to be able to hear His audible voice. In these days, we also need to be able to hear His voice. And what the Lord requires each of His disciples to be and to do in these last days will be told us by His Spirit. Jesus Himself made this plain in seven letters he wrote to seven churches in the Roman province of Asia. At the end of each letter, the Lord included the words “He who has an ear, let Him hear what the Spirit says to the churches” (Rev. 2:7, and the concluding verses in each of the six remaining letters). But hearing what the Spirit has to say is never enough. Obedience must always follow. Three young men came to the Lord, and He invited each of them to follow Him. But each one was unable to obey the Lord. They all had excuses. Their desire to follow Him was shallow. None of the three was prepared to pay the cost of obedience. There is another cost to being His disciple. Hearing the voice of His Spirit always comes with a cost. In this life, every one of His children can be plagued by voices entreating them to do this or that, go here or there, buy this or that product, set up different kinds of dreams and ambitions, go on this or that holiday, make friends with these people, or live in this or that dreamed of apartment.

These voices give many arguments why they should be listened to. But each one is a distraction, a very deceptive distraction. Each voice focuses our attention, not on His still small voice, but on the many voices in the world that crave our attention. The voices of the world are calling us to give our attention to the weak and beggarly elements of life in this world (see Galatians 4:9). In effect they say, “Listen out here! Pay attention to this deceptively cheap holiday or product or experience or haircut. Turn your attention away from your Lord.” The Lord, on the other hand, requires those who would be His disciples to listen inside themselves. There, if they are attentive, they would hear the still small voice of the Holy Spirit and through obedience to that still small voice the Lord will be able to do what He promised those first disciples. “I will build My church” (Matt. 16:18).

Build My Church

The Lord told His disciple that He would build His church on the rock which we know to be Himself (see 1 Corinthians 10:4). The Lord never began that building for His church had not yet come into being. It would be left to His disciples acting under the direction and with the power of the Holy Spirit to take up that challenge. The church that Jesus said He would build is more than buildings, ordained ministers, programs of activities, and Sunday services. In fact, the English word church was quite unknown when Jesus said He would build His church. Church. Ekklesia. (The e is long as in fete.) From ek, out of, and kalein, to call. Hence the church that Jesus said He would build would be an assembly of men and women called by Himself out of the world and out of lives of independence to believe in and follow Him. It would take many centuries for the word ekklesia that the Lord used (see Matthew 16:18) to be replaced by the word church. From cirice. Old English. The building in which the local lord of the land, duke, count, earl, or marquis lived. And from that beginning, the ekklesia, a community of those who believed

and who shared their lives in each other’s homes, has become the institutional church with all the trappings that we know today. The first ekklesia had another name. Paul referred to the ekklesia at Corinth, “Now you are the body of Christ, and individually” (1 Cor. 12:27). And just as a human body has a head so also does the spiritual body of Christ. For Jesus is the Head of the ekklesia (Eph. 5:23) and as its Head, He has the sole right and responsibility to build up each member of His own body. The church Jesus came to build shares another characteristic with a human body. The human body has life from the moment a newborn draws its first breath until it stops breathing and it dies. The scriptures tell us that the church also has life, but a quite different kind of life, and that life is the life of a person. His life, like Himself, is not of this world. In his letter to the church at Rome, Paul wrote, “For the law of the Spirit of life, in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death” (Rom. 8:2). The outcome of Jesus being the Head of His church and the Spirit being the life of His church is that the church the Lord intended to build is best equipped to discharge on earth all the responsibilities that Jesus discharged in His life among men. He listed His responsibilities in the synagogue in Nazareth. Preach the gospel to the poor, heal those with shattered lives, proclaim liberty to those taken captive by the enemy, bring sight to the blind, both those who are naturally blind and those whose spiritual eyes cannot see, deliver those who are oppressed from their oppression, and proclaim that now is the acceptable year of the Lord. In other words, today is the day of salvation. Many believe that multitudes of churches have lost both the Headship of our Lord to direct its life and activities and the life of the Spirit, enabling each member to function as a living participant in the life of the church.

Summing Up

One day, I believe very soon, He will return to claim His bride, which is the living and invisible assembly of those who have been called to follow Him. In

the time left, we are all faced with the task of surrendering our lives to Him and to His Spirit so that these two remaining and uncompleted works can be brought to completion. Make disciples of all people groups on the earth and build his church so that His body can function as it has always been intended to function, with the Lord as its active Head and each disciple as a participating member.

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Christ in You

To [the saints] God willed to make known what are the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles: which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. —Colossians 1:27

I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me. —Galatians 2:20

That I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death. —Philippians 3:10

Identities

In the sacred writings, I find a lot of information about the Father, the Son, and the Spirit. And when I explore their identities, I find that everything overlaps. What applies to the Son also applies to the Father and to the Spirit who filled and led the Lord throughout His life among us. And Jesus affirmed the fact of their

shared identity when He told Philip, “He who has seen Me has seen the Father” (John 14:9). The Lord affirmed that the expressions of His character are also expressions of the Father’s character and the character of the Spirit. The Lord’s love (John 15:9). His peace (John 14:27). The Father’s love (Luke 11:42). The Father’s peace (Phil. 4:7). The love and peace of the Spirit (Gal. 5:22). Jesus understood that within His human frame was the One who directed His life. He and the Father are one. But that applied on earth when He walked the dusty paths to His death. But our Lord has shifted this element of our faith into our own hearts. “If anyone loves me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will love him and make Our home with him” (John 14:23). As I write, I do so with the sure knowledge that the Father, the Son and the Spirit are very close indeed, not with an out there closeness, somewhere I have to go to them and entreat them to be present. Their closeness is far more intimate. The closeness is immediate. The Father, the Son, and the Spirit occupy that special place in my heart to which the scriptures give two special names. My heart is the temple of God (1 Cor. 3:16). It is also the temple of the Holy Spirit (1 Cor. 6:19). And that inner temple is also the place the Lord of glory has made His dwelling place. In the following pages, I will give my attention to only One of the Three, the One Paul identified as “this mystery among the Gentiles: which is Christ in you, the hope of glory” (Col. 1:27).

Christ in You

There are far too many parts of my Lord’s life that could occupy our attention and prompt the search to know Him. John put it this way; “And there are also many other things that Jesus did, which if they were all written one by one, I suppose that even the world itself could not contain the books that would be written” (John 21:25).

The aged apostle also wrote of the One they had seen and heard and whose hands had held Him (1 John 1:1). They knew Him for they spent around three years in His presence, listening and learning. All of God’s children in every church around this world are challenged to know Him as Paul did (see Philippians 3:10). As always, my search has to take me back to the books that have indeed been written, and there, I find two challenges. The first is to know who He is. The second is to know how to relate to Him and to immerse myself in that relationship.

The Person of Christ

Christ living His own life in each of us is an immense mystery and too easily missed by those whose attention is given to things of this life. Scrabbling around in the refuse heaps of this world, when there is a mountain to climb and cliffs of learning to scale. He is the One who spoke and everything in the cosmos came into being (Ps. 33:6), who counts the immense number of the stars and knows each one by name (Ps. 147:4), the One in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge (Col. 2:3), who spoke to the dying thief on the other cross with the authority to promise him paradise (Luke 23:43), who bore our sins in His own body on the cross (1 Pet. 2:24), who conquered death (Luke 24:7), and who is seated at the right hand of the Father (Mark 16:19), and vastly more than we can ever hope to comprehend. This extraordinary Person has actually come to make His home in the cleansed heart of each one who believes. Everything about Jesus our Lord can be found, not in some faraway outside realm, but in the intimate sanctuary of the human heart. His character that Paul described as the fruit of His own Spirit can be revealed in the heart of those who believe (Gal. 5:22–23). The purposes for His life expressed in the synagogue in Nazareth (Luke 4:18–19), are not locked away in the sacred writings. They can be revealed to individual Christians who seek to understand these things by the Lord Himself, unveiling His purposes in the inner temple He shares with God and with His Spirit (1 Cor. 3:16). And it is in that same sacred inner space where our Lord lives that He speaks to each of His

children individually. And out of those inner sacred precincts the Spirit of our Lord will lead those who trust the Lord our God (Rom. 8:14). The presence of the Lord in the hearts of those who believe brings all the resources of heaven to that believer. The love and peace of God (Rom. 5:5 and Phil. 4:7) are expression of the Lord Himself and of the kingdom where He rules. The knowledge and wisdom we refer to as gifts of the Spirit flow out of the Person of the Spirit of God who dwells in our hearts. And Paul’s prayer for of the church at Ephesus, “To know the love of Christ which es knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fulness of God” (Eph. 3:19), finds it fulfilment and answer in the inner sanctuary of the heart. There is one negative side of these teachings about the One who lives His own life within each believer. We can ignore Him. Through ignorance, we can take no notice of the One who died and rose again, and in that way we desperately grieve His own Spirit. Paul was clear about this and issued a negative command to the church at Ephesus, “And do not grieve the Holy Spirit [of our Lord] by whom you were sealed” (Eph. 4:30, my brackets).

Relating with the Lord of Glory

He is here in our hearts for one most important reason that has two parts. Not merely blessing or empowering us or to enable us to receive the gifts of the Spirit. Paul put it this way, “That I may know Him” (Phil. 3:10). Know Him. Not a knowing about Him, but knowing Him as the divine person He is, in the relationship with myself in which He knows me. The Father has provided each of His children with the opportunity to relate to the Son in the same way He relates to each of us. Intimately, continually, and perfectly. It is most sobering to know that every wayward thought that crosses my mind, every emotional entanglement, every unnecessary desire, every dream and vision, every element of pride or self-pity or anxiety driven by the cares of this life is known by Him instantly and perfectly. Paul sought that he might know the Lord in the same intimate way that He knows each of us.

But there is a great deal more. On that last fateful night, Jesus promised His disciples that the Holy Spirit would come and live within each of them (John 14:17). He would be charged with three important services. Convict us of sin (John 16:8), lead us into all truth, and that includes teaching us (John 14:26, 16:13), and testify of Jesus (John 16:26). The Lord knew that I would not have to rely on my limited abilities in my search to know Him. The Holy Spirit who also came into my heart when I believed would testify to me of Jesus. He would continue to make Jesus known to me. But I have to play my own part in these transactions. I am responsible to continually develop my own relationship with the Holy Spirit. The critical issue for me and for Christians in any age is to live in the Spirit (Gal. 5:25), be filled with Him to the exclusion of all the other distractions that the world, the flesh and the devil would foist on my often-willing heart (Eph. 5:18), and to be attentive to His voice (Rev. 2:7). When the Spirit has my full attention and I am attentive to His voice, He will fulfil that last service, to testify of Jesus and to make the eternal One known to each of us. Then the circle will be complete. Just as He continues to know me in every detail of my life, so I will continue to grow in my knowledge of Him. And one day, I will know Him fully in the same way that He knows me. “For now we see [Him] in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part, but then I shall know [Him] just as I am known” (1 Cor. 13:12). But the relationship in which I learn to know Him has two conditions. First that I might trust Him, unconditionally with all the integrated harmony of my being, with all my heart and soul and mind and strength. I am to trust Him in the same way that I love Him. I am to trust Him implicitly for everything in my life, nothing excluded (see Romans 1:17). Nothing in my life or in any of my relationships falls outside the circle of His knowledge and power. And He will respond to my unconditional trust with all the grace and wisdom I will ever need (see 1 Peter 4:10 and Romans 11:33). The second condition is that I love Him, and that I, with all Christians who believe in Him, unconditionally obey the command, “And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength” (Mark 12:30). On His last night with His disciples, our Lord was quite specific with another command that adds to the great command and binds every Christian to Himself, “As the Father has loved Me, I also have

loved you; abide in My love” (John 15:9).

Abide, remain, live constantly in His love. At all times be attentive to His love and to His loving. Celebrate His loving and, at every opportunity, return His love. Give constant thanks that He ires and respects each of us no matter how we fail Him, that His heart is filled with tender affection for each of us, and that He is bound to serve His children as love requires. Abiding in His love and in His loving for each of us and each of us abiding in our love for Him means that love becomes a way of life.

Then I am complete. We are all complete. He receives our trust and our love and our desire to know Him as He knows each of us. He responds with His love and with the Spirit’s revelation of Himself, and these gifts of ourselves to Him fulfil the purpose that He has in coming to abide in our hearts. Paul celebrates the mystery and the wonder of our relationship with the Lord who is the Christ “that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height—to know the love of God which es knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fulness of God” (Eph. 3:17–19).

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Living in the Spirit

So then, those who are in the flesh cannot please God. But you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His. —Romans 8:8–9

And do not be drunk with wine in which is dissipation; but be filled with the Spirit. —Ephesians 5:18

I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfil the works of the flesh, for the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, so that [naturally] you do not do the things that you wish. —Galatians 5:16–17

Opposites

Our relationship with the Spirit presents Christians with a problem. He is holy and brings His holy nature into the prison of my most unholy being. I have to

begin my examination of living in the Spirit with an understanding of who I am, and therefore with who we all are. For what applies to me will most certainly apply to Christians of every language and denomination around this benighted world. Throughout our lives, we accumulate attitudes and patterns of life that become part of our identity. They are not simply things that we store in our minds. The foundations on which we build our identities are much deeper than superficial thought. They are found, not only in our minds, but also in our hearts. One of the surest indicators of our identities are the words we speak, and these flow out of what we store in our hearts. In His words to the Jewish leaders the Lord recognized this principle. “For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks” (Matt. 12:34). Some of what we store in our hearts has an appearance of good, looking after a sick person, giving to the needy, giving gifts, speaking well of another person, serving others, paying my taxes on time. But the heart also has the capacity for knowing and pursuing evil.

Important Note

I have the capacity to live at two levels, in the mind alone, or in the mind and heart. Thinking a wrong thought may not be a problem, for if I am alert, it can be recognized and dismissed. The problem comes when I accept that thought, dwell on it, chase it around and around in my mind, make it my own, share it with others, and lust after the image the thought presents. The thought then gains an identity all of its own that is far bigger than simply an idea. It then becomes lodged in my heart, and there it can stay forever and bring forth the unruly outcomes buried in the idea. The scriptures give three names to the natural part of me I know as my human nature. The old man (Eph. 4:22), sin that lives in me (Rom. 7:17), and the flesh (John 6:63). When I came to the Lord and was born again I received another life, different and separate from human life. This is life in the Spirit who is called the Spirit of life (Rom. 8:2). Peter tells us that when we are born again, we become “partakers of the divine nature” (2 Pet. 1:4).

Now I have two inner foundations on which I can build my life: the old degenerate human nature and the new perfect divine nature which is the nature of the Spirit who has come to live in my heart. I have a choice. I can live in the flesh, or I can live in the Spirit. I can fill up my life with all the works of my old nature, or I can fill up my life with everything the Spirit brings. I can dwell on and give my attention to everything that I have learned over the years, both good and bad, or I can dwell on everything the Spirit brings into my heart. I can live according to all that is found in my old nature, both good and bad, or I can fill my heart with what Paul calls the fruit of the Spirit and which he described in his letter to the churches in Galatia. Naturally, I know how to live in the flesh. I also know that living in the flesh cannot please God (Rom. 8:8). Where then can I find instructions about living in the Spirit that is so valued by the Lord our God? In the scriptures. Where else? There I find a command and four instructions that relate to my life in the Spirit. Be filled with the Spirit. That is the command. Then I am to live in the Spirit, be led by the Spirit, walk in the Spirit, and walk in step with the Spirit. I begin with the command.

Be Filled with the Spirit

Being filled with the Spirit is the foundation on which the life of the Spirit in Christians has to be built. This has to be the first of our priorities. The Lord set the standard “Then Jesus, being filled with the Holy Spirit, returned from Jordan, and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness” (Luke 4:1). The Spirit could only fulfill His work of leading the Lord into the wilderness because Jesus was filled with the Spirit. But He was not the only one who knew what being filled with the Spirit meant. Check the following references.

Luke 1:15: John the Baptist Luke 1:41: Elizabeth, the mother of John the Baptist

Acts 2:4: One hundred and twenty disciples in the upper room at Pentecost Acts 4:31: The disciples meeting with Peter and John Acts 6:3: The seven men chosen to care for the widows Acts 9:19: Paul Eph. 5:18: Disciples in the church at Ephesus

Being filled with the Spirit for all Christians is not an option. It is at the very center of our lives as children of our God. Paul wrote of this filling as a command, “And do not be drunk with wine, in which is dissipation; but be filled with the Spirit” (Eph. 5:18). I find, however, that being filled with the Spirit is a very imprecise term. Filled with what? I find then that the scriptures tell me more of what the Spirit means. I am to be filled with the elements of the character of the Spirit that Paul identified as fruit in his letter to the churches in Galatia. “Love, joy, peace, long suffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control” (Gal. 5:22–23). (See also chapters 24 and 26.) The first and the most important element of His character that is to fill my heart is His love. I have His command, “Abide in My love” (John 15:9). The second thing I have to make sure fills my heart includes all the words He speaks into my heart through His Spirit. And this is another command, “Abide in My word” (John 8:31). When I fill my heart with the elements of His character, particularly with His love (see also Romans 5:5), and also with His spoken words, I can make these divine provisions essential parts of my daily life. I will have replaced all the elements of my old nature with elements of the Lord’s divine nature. With these provisions in place in my heart, I can venture out into living in the Spirit with the three activities the Lord requires of me and of all of those who are called by His name: walk in the Spirit, be led by the Spirit, and walk in step with the Spirit. But first, live in the Spirit.

Live in the Spirit

The questions I have to ask and answer are the following: What fills my mind? To what do I give my attention? What purposes do I pursue? For people around the world, the answers to these questions come out of the human nature. From our first waking thought our lives are determined by the old nature Paul calls the flesh. Our emotions, our thoughts, the words we speak, and everything we do, both good and bad, are determined by those old natures we recognize as the flesh. We can be said to be living in the flesh. That is our natural way of life. Then we discover repentance when the Spirit convicts us of the focus on ourselves rather than the focus on what He requires of us. He reminds us that we constantly fall short and that He has done something about our ability to constantly miss the target of His righteousness. We confess our need for forgiveness. He intervenes, forgives our sin and wrongdoings, and cleanses out all the debris of the works of the flesh with which we had, up to that time, filled our hearts. Then His Spirit comes, and we have a remarkable choice. Live in the flesh. Let the old unproductive ways of the flesh dominate our lives. We are reminded that living in the flesh does not and can never please God (Rom. 8:8). When the Spirit came into my life, I found I had a choice, continue to live in the flesh, or discover an entirely new way of living that Paul referred to as living in the Spirit (Gal. 5:25). My choice. Continue to fill my mind with all the old patterns of thinking and feeling and speaking and doing. Or discover and fill my life with entirely new patterns that flow out of the heart and mind of the Spirit. I can choose to live in the peace His Spirit brings, or be content to live with mental and emotional disturbance. I can choose to let the Spirit’s joy fill my heart, or I can choose and be content with the superficial happiness that the world offers. I can also choose to abide in His love, fill my heart with His love, let that love suffuse everything I say and do, or be content with the human loving that is based in happenstance. I can also choose to listen for the still small voice of His Spirit, receive what He has to say to me, and then abide in the words He speaks, be at rest in those words, and carefully put every command and every instruction He writes on my heart into practice. In all these ways I will practice what Paul spoke of, living in the Spirit (see Colossians 3:1–2).

Walk in the Spirit

Those of us who follow the Lord live in two worlds where different kinds of life apply. The first is the life of the body that contains the life of the old nature. The second is the life of the spirit. I use my will to make decisions about each. The life of the body involves decisions about going to see a friend, visiting the shops, buying food, cleaning the car, or working in the garden. The Lord usually leaves me to make decisions about the life of the body. They are my responsibility, though I do seek His advice and guidance in all these mundane matters. But walking in the Spirit is completely different. Walking in the Spirit always involves decisions that relate to my part in His kingdom which I am taught to seek (Matt. 6:33). For all these decisions relating to the kingdom, the Lord has to tell me His particular will so that I make the right decisions. Decisions that involve the kingdom of God always need His involvement. They include such questions as “What to say to someone enquiring about the faith?” “For whom should I pray, and what should I ask?” “How can I edify this or that person?” “What other work for the Lord should I ?” “To what service for Him am I being called?” Walking in the Spirit is written as a command. Peripateite. The Geek imperative (Gal. 5:16). Obeying that command means knowing His will. And knowing His specific will means that I have to first hear His voice. One follows the other like sunshine after rain. They are both part of the same process. Walking in the Spirit results in a composite of all the decisions made by the Spirit with me as a co-decision maker. High standard? Indeed. But my other option is to make my own decisions, and hope without His involvement in those decisions that He approves and will bless each decision. That approach to making decisions that involve His kingdom is completely unacceptable. In some cases, He takes the initiative and makes the decision which I am then responsible to implement. I am called to walk in step with Him. In other cases, He leads me to a decision that needs to be made. In both cases, walking in the

Spirit involves making decisions that will further the purposes of the Lord our God in me and in His church.

Led by the Spirit

Luke reports that our Lord was filled with the Spirit and then led by the Spirit into the wilderness of temptation (Luke 4:1). I believe that the Spirit made use of a very precise process to get the Lord into that wilderness where the devil was waiting. The Holy Spirit received directions from the Father. He then spoke those directions into the mind and heart of the Lord. The Lord was listening, received those Spirit given instruction and obeyed. In His words to His disciples, the Lord spoke of the process of being led by the Spirit. “For I have not spoken on My own authority; but the Father who sent Me, gave Me a command, what I should say and what I should speak” (John 12:49). I believe that the Holy Spirit was the essential link between the Father and the Son (see John 16:13–15), so that the Son could be led by the Spirit to obey the Father’s instructions. In this way, the Lord Himself set the pattern for every Christian to be led by the Spirit. Paul connected these two elements, being a son of God and being led by the Spirit, and we need to take a moment to dwell on Paul’s words to the church at Rome: “For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God” (Rom. 8:14).The Greek word that is translated “led’ is agontai. It is a form of the verb that refers to continuous action. I could paraphrase. “As many as make being led by the Spirit a way of life, these are sons of God.” Or “The sons and daughters of God are continually listening for the Spirit’s voice so that they can obey His direction and be led by the Spirit in what to say and what to do.” However, I read these words, the message leaves me in no doubt about three most important parts of our lives as God’s children. The Spirit is an essential part of each of our lives. We are to be continuously intent on the Spirit’s voice. We need to obey His voice so that the Father’s will can be done. In this way, we fulfil the prayer the Lord taught His disciples, “Your will be done on earth, as it is [done] in heaven” (Matt. 6:10).

In Step with the Spirit

There are two instructions that I need to together. The first is for me to be led by the Spirit (Rom. 8:14). The second is for me to walk in step with the Spirit (Gal. 5:25). Here the Greek word translated “walk” is stoicheo (the final o is long as in mote), which means to walk with others as directed by the Spirit. To walk in step with the Spirit. When I walk in step with Him, He leads me to do what the Father directs. The Spirit knows the Father’s will for every member of His family, for His church, and for the whole world. He knows the way. I walk with Him. He leads me to do what the Father requires. This is the opposite of working out what I think God wants, and that means that I walk in the flesh. To walk in step with the Spirit means that I have to listen so carefully to His voice. This is what Elijah had to do as he stood at the mouth of the cave on Mt. Horeb. There the Lord spoke to him in a still small voice and then told the prophet what to do (1 Kings 19:11–18). On his second journey, Paul and Titus were being led by the Spirit. Unfortunately they had missed His direction. They tried to go first into the province of Asia and then into the province of Bithynia but in each case the Spirit said no (see Acts 16:6–8)! This was not the Father’s will for His Spirit. The Spirit wanted them to go with Him into Macedonia. So He brought them to Troas on the coast opposite Macedonia. There the Spirit gave Paul a vision of a man from Macedonia saying, “Come over to Macedonia and help us” (Acts 16:9). The Spirit found a way to lead the Lord’s disciples even when they couldn’t find the path by themselves. And walking in step with the Spirit brought the gospel to new cities first in Macedonia and then in Greece and finally back in the province of Asia. The same pattern that applied to Elijah and Paul, now applies to each of us. Listen for the voice of the Spirit. Walk in step with Him so that the Holy Spirit can involve each of us in doing

what the Father requires of the Spirit working in and with each of God’s children.

The Challenge

I find our greatest challenge begins with the command to be filled with the Spirit, which is with His life, character, mind, and will, rather than with all the ungainly works of the flesh. Being filled with the Spirit is like the divine anvil on which our lives can be beaten into conformity with His life, and our wills made subject to His will. But I find that being filled with the Spirit comes at quite a cost. Everything in my old nature demands my attention. When I get rid of one part of my old nature, another part takes its place and demands attention. I find that I am my greatest enemy. And that is the cost. Put part of myself to death. Crucify my old nature as Paul makes plain, “And those who are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with its ions and desires” (Gal. 5:24). If I am to be filled with the Spirit, to live in Him and to hear His voice so that I can walk in Him, be led by Him, and walk in step with Him, then part of me has to die, and I have to be the executioner. That is probably the greatest challenge a Christian can ever face.

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Godliness and Religion

And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen by angels, preached among the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up in glory. —1 Timothy 3:16

Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord, as His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by His glory and virtue. —1 Peter. 1:2–3

Hole in the Heart

In the Garden of Eden, Adam and Eve were complete people. They had been created in the image of God (Gen. 1:26). Nothing was missing for the Lord God had breathed into Adam His own breath, pneuma, Spirit, and Adam had become a living being (Gen. 2:7). Then sin intervened and both Adam and Eve lost that one thing that had given them life. The Spirit who is the breath of life was withdrawn, and in their spirits they died. The Lord then denied them access to the tree of life so that sinful man could not live forever and perpetuate his and her sinfulness eternally (Gen. 3:22–24). Inside the garden, completeness. Outside the garden, man with a permanent hole

in his heart. On the banks of the Euphrates River, man tried to fill that hole in his heart. They built a tower, and on its summit, they built a temple to the god Marduk. Their attempt? Fill the hole in man’s heart with religion. From that earnest beginning the religions of the world have sought the same object: fill the hole in the heart with religious creeds, the practices of an ever-increasing variety of rituals, and the worship of countless other gods. Then came the Lord and on the Day of Pentecost He provided those who sought Him a completely different way to fill that gaping void. He replaced what had been lost in the garden. No need for religious surgery. The Spirit came and filled the void. Man could again be complete. In the place of religion without a relationship with the living God, the Lord provided that long lost relationship with Himself that became known as godliness.

Godliness and Religion

Everywhere man seeks to fill that vacant place in his heart with worship. It doesn’t seem to matter that the gods he or she seeks to worship do not exist or that their images are home to countless demons who lust after the worship which the prince of darkness craves. The effort to bring worship and sacrifices and offerings of various kind to those deemed to be divine is in itself satisfying. But that is a very shallow satisfaction. Their search for god through religious observance does not involve that part of man where the inner hole in man is a gaping void. The hole is not in the mind or emotions. It is deeper down. It is in man’s heart or spirit. All Christians have that hole in the heart. I do. You do. But the continuing issue relates to our search to know those our God approves to fill that void. The Lord has provided His Spirit to fill that gaping void, but there are costs involved. If one can reduce our faith to belief in another religion, then tell ourselves that we are satisfied that we have reached out to god, then one doesn’t have to front up to God with the sacrifice of oneself (see Mark 8:34).

Across the centuries since apostolic times, the relationship-based faith of the Fathers has in many places been replaced by a non-relationship-based religion. In the first century, Paul referred to the essential core of our faith as godliness. There are therefore two ways people use to fill the hole in man’s heart.

One way has man’s approval and is decidedly ineffective. The other works perfectly and is approved by God. The first draws on the limited powers of the flesh. The other on the inexhaustible powers of the Spirit. The first will away when the world dies. The other is eternal. On the one hand, religion; on the other hand, godliness.

Religion. Threskeia. (The first e is long as in fete.) The external form, the outward observance of ritual and ceremony, superstitious belief, formal worship involving the mind and emotions with the spirit left vacant and inactive, bringing offerings and gifts to keep God happy, the practice of piety approved by that religion. The world is full of man’s attempts to achieve two religious purposes: keep a god or the gods happy, and attempt to fill the vacant hole in the heart that was left when Adam and Eve insisted that their hearts be filled with the product of their own sinful self-assertiveness. That meant that in the Garden of Eden the human heart ceased to be a dwelling place in which the Spirit could anchor His love and grace and the multiple gifts He can bring. When sin entered their hearts, the Spirit withdrew, not from them, for He is eternally present everywhere on earth, but from that once holy dwelling place in their hearts before sin came, which we now know as the temple of the Holy Spirit. From one end of the earth to the other, you will find men and women at worship as of five great world religions: Hinduism, Buddhism, Judaism, Islam, and Christianity, with a great many more in which people seek to fill their hearts with worship for something or someone beyond the limited horizons of their

world. Only one of those religions, Christianity, needs our attention. But its fall into two broad groups. Those who practice some form of Christian threskeia, religion, and those who seek the elements and practice of godliness. And of course these are not discreet and self-contained groups, for of the second, eusebeia, may express their faith in the external forms of religion. Godliness. Eusebeia. The real true, vital, and dynamic inner relation with God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit, where two elements of that relationship are, unequivocal and unconditional trust on man’s part, and unconditional love on the part of our God. Godliness is the state in which God and man meet and are ed in the eternal presence of God in the hearts of man and the presence of man in the heart of God. For out of that union flows the inestimable love and power of God. Godliness for me made its first appearance the day I was born into the kingdom of God through the activity of His Spirit. At that time, the Spirit of the Father and of the Son came into my heart and there set up the temple, which Paul called the temple of God and the temple of the Holy Spirit. Godliness was made up of the content of my relationship with the Holy Spirit who is also the Spirit of God and the Spirit of Christ (Rom. 8:9). That exciting and demanding content includes His peace that becomes my peace, His love which I return to Him, and the words from Him to which I give my obedience. These immense gifts—His peace, His love, and His word—were present in me the day I first believed. Godliness then is defined by the content of my continuing relationship with the Lord. But my relationship with Him and His relationship with me needs a very special kind of environment. An environment where neither of us can be distracted by the confusing noises generated by the world and the old nature that loves the world so much. We both need an environment in the heart and spirit in which each can focus on the other, I on Him, and He on me, without any kind of distraction. That environment was created in me after I had engaged my repentance gear and confessed my need of Him. His response was immediate, as though He was waiting for me to step into His world, which I did. He forgave me and

immediately cleaned out all the garbage in my deep-down self that I had accumulate over the years. At that moment, I discovered the perfect environment deep in myself in which He and I could relate to each other. A perfectly clean heart. At that moment godliness became a reality. But time ed, and gradually, I let me heart become the garbage dump for my motions, trivial things like pride and anxiety, all the emotions generated by relationships that defied every attempt I made at renewal, as well as the impact my adventures into the world had on my once pristine heart. Godliness was a forgotten experience, an adventure that ended in failure when He and I could no longer have an intimate one on one conversation, let alone enjoy a relationship in which we each shared our lives. There had to be a way back. And there was. But I had to make a humbling return journey to the time He first cleansed my heart. The Lord put it this way, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand” (Matt. 4:17). And when I checked what the Lord said, I found a very demanding Greek word. He wasn’t talking about a one-off repentance that marked the beginning of my life as a Christian. The Greek word He used was expressed as His command to make repentance a permanent part of my life, a continual turning away from anything that would hinder my relationship with Him. I had to turn away from making godliness a thing that happened only once, when I first believed and could best be forgotten. My check of the second response I made in those beginning days was confession. Again, the same disturbing truth facing me back to where I began my relationship with the Lord. Confession had to be a way of life. Then I read that His cleansing of my muddled heart is bound by the same imperative as my confession. It was not bound to the day I first believed but is to be a continuing response to my confession. He desires to go on cleansing my heart as long as I go on confessing that need, whenever the need arises. When I pause to reflect, it seems as though the Lord has His own longing to be part of godliness, to enjoy a continuing relationship with me, so that He matches my need to continually repent and confess my sins, with His need to forgive and cleanse my heart so that it can continue to be the cleansed environment in which we can truly relate to each other: Godliness coming home to the inner sanctuary of my heart where it belongs. Then I find that our relationship, our experience of godliness, is meant to have

quite specific content. He loves me and I am required to love Him. And here I find the central core of godliness. Again Jesus put it this way: “As the Father loved Me, I also have loved you; abide in My love” (John 15:9). Abide. Meno. (The o is long as in mote.) And He has made special provision for me to abide in His love. Paul tells me how. “Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us” (Rom. 5:5). Wow! Extraordinary! Now I can trace the sequence of events that binds the Lord as well as myself into godliness. I repent and confess. He forgives and cleanses, and together our responses to each other bring about a cleansed environment, my once sordidly contaminated heart, in which His love can flourish and out of which I can find the resources to love Him in return. Now I find that godliness, our continuing relationship, has at its core His commitment to go on loving me and my commitment to go on loving Him, a circle of love and of loving that completes everything needed for effective godliness. I have made one further discovery, two in fact. The first disquieting discovery is that my old nature stands in the way of godliness. It is as though my old sinful nature wants me entirely for itself and won’t easily give up its lust for possession. Certainly I have found that part of myself, my sinful nature seems to view the Lord as an unnecessary intruder, and godliness, an unwelcome obstacle to its lust for control of my life. The insistent voices of my old nature have to be resisted at all costs. And if I give in to the sin that lives within me (Rom. 7:17), then godliness becomes a distant memory. My second discovery is that my continuing daily entrance into that sacred relationship with my Lord had to be marked by death, the death of my old nature. Uncomfortable truth? Most certainly. But when I ask myself the question, What do I most desire, a life lived for myself with myself as the central focus of my life? Lonely and in God’s , immensely unprofitable? Or a life lived in harmony with the One who loves me? There can only be one answer. My old man, the flesh, my sinful nature with its focus on self and not on the Lord, must not be allowed to stand in the way of my relationship with Him. It has to be put aside. It has to die, or as Paul put it, be put off (Eph. 4:22). I have found one further element in my search to understand godliness. My Lord

died so that godliness, our experience of mutual loving, could be possible. That was the cost He paid. Now I have to pay the same price, the death of my old nature, so that living in the Spirit and engagement with the Lord in godliness can burst free of the restraining shackles of my old sinful nature and enjoy the freedom of the Spirit that He died to make possible.

And in Conclusion

I have found in my historical studies that for long ages, the church has lost the vitality of godliness, that inner intimate relationship of the Christian with the Lord and with His spirit. For uncounted multitudes, eusebeia, godliness has been replaced by threskeia, religion and the saints have lost a great deal into the bargain. Many believe that that situation is going to be rectified with a worldwide revival that one writer believes will involve the reformation of the church. I believe and pray that a great many Christians will find their way back into that relationship with the Lord we have studied in these pages. Eusebeia. Godliness, fulfilling the words of Paul to Timothy “Now godliness with contentment is great gain” (1 Tim. 6:6).

Part 5

Christian as Disciple

Preface to “Christian as Disciple”

In the first church, those who believed did not think of themselves as Christian. The Lord never used the term. Nor did Paul or Peter or John or the noted historian Luke. It was a Gentile word invented probably by a Roman in the coastal city of Antioch. He saw men and women standing out from the crowd because of their beliefs and practices and gathering for worship, fellowship, and teaching in this Roman city. This would have had to report these details to his overlords in Rome. So he invented the name “Christian.” This unknown person would have used a practice current at that time, of calling a group of people by the name of the person to whom they owed their allegiance. Pompey’s troops were called Pompeianoi. Those who owed their allegiance to the emperor Caesar were known as Caesarianoi. Therefore those who followed Christ had to be Christianoi. And as Luke reported, the name “Christian” was born. “And the disciples were first called Christians in Antioch” (Acts 11:26). Two names: disciple and Christian. For centuries, the first had been lost. The second has taken on the flavor and style of the church or denomination in which it is used. No Christian today normally thinks of himself or herself as a disciple of Jesus. Not only has the name “disciple” fallen into disrepair, but its meaning, to the church’s disadvantage has been also lost. Christians have vague ideas about what the word disciple means, and there is a certain undercurrent in Christian circles that attaches some importance to the word. That interest surfaces in the term

discipleship, a useful term that means “the ways of a disciple,” in the same way that scholarship refers to the “ways of a scholar.” Unfortunately, but in accord with the divided nature of the Christian church worldwide, the term discipleship is defined within the parameters of the church or denomination in which it is used. There is a Roman Catholic discipleship, a Pentecostal discipleship, and discipleship in the Evangelical and Greek Orthodox churches. And I suspect that of these groups would not recognize the definition of discipleship employed by those in other denominations. The preferred term, of course, is disciple, but where do we look for a definition of the term that was current in the church of the first century? There can be no higher authority than the Lord Himself. And in His words to various people, He defined the word He used to refer to those who followed Him. Disciple. Mathetes. (Both e’s are long as in fete.) One who follows a teacher, who observes the patterns of life, teaching and learning established by that teacher, one who believes in and adopts his or her teacher’s teaching, and puts that teaching into practice. A disciple is one who is a living example of the Lord’s words, “Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me” (Matt. 11:29). In His teachings, the Lord identified seven characteristics of those who would be His disciples. He defined a disciple as one who will follow Him, take up and bear his own cross, deny himself, forsake all that he has, abide in His spoken word, bear much fruit, and love one another. In our own days, these seven marks of a disciple represent seven demanding conditions that apply both to the Lord who calls each of us to be one of His disciples and to those who obey that call. Our Lord is literally saying, “If you want to be My disciple then these are the conditions that you will have to meet.” In this day and age, I find that it far easier to be a Christian in the status quo world of the church than it is to be one of the Lord’s disciples. In part 5, “Christian as Disciple,” I will explore each of the seven conditions that the Lord spelled out for those who truly seek to follow Him and be His disciples. Each one is most demanding, is not for the fainthearted, and calls for a lifetime of commitment. I believe it is of central importance in these last days before He returns to catch up His disciples to Himself, that we face up to the most demanding challenge to

be His disciples. This was the challenge that each of those first disciples had to face in their response to the Lord. Peter put it in these words, “See, we have left all and followed You” (Matt. 19–27).

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Follow Me

Then He said to [Peter and Andrew] Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men. They immediately left their nets and followed Him. —Matthew 4:19–20

If anyone desires to come after Me [as My disciple] let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me. —Luke 9:23

Misunderstandings

Like many in the church today, I used to think of following Jesus as a simple kind of life: go to church, read the Bible, give my tithe, pray, and witness to others. There is even a song that includes the words “I will follow Jesus.” But today’s concept of following Jesus is quite different from what Matthew and James and Peter and Andrew understood. For them, it was life-changing. And so it can still be for those whose hearts are given without conditions and reservations to the Lord. The following study examines how the first disciples understood this strange term akoloutheo, which is, translated, follow.

Matthew

When Jesus saw Matthew sitting at his tax collector’s table, He spoke two words, “Follow Me.” These two words were spoken in Greek as a command and they changed Matthew’s life. He himself records, “So he arose and followed Him” (Matt. 9:9). I have two questions. The first question is, what did Matthew leave behind? The second question is, what kind of life did Jesus call him to? Matthew left behind a number of things when he stood up to follow Jesus. He walked away from his network of friends and colleagues in the tax-collecting business. He left behind his reputation as a tax collector, despised by the Jews who saw him as a criminal. He left behind his family and his home. For he walked away from them all. He didn’t take them with him. And finally he left behind his right to make decisions for himself. The kind of life Jesus called Matthew to was totally different from his old life. His former network of friends and colleagues was replaced by a new network of disciples. His reputation as a criminal was replaced by his allegiance to the One he followed. The security of family and home was replaced by security in his relationship with Jesus. His right to make decisions for himself was replaced by his commitment to obey all that Jesus commanded. Jesus called Matthew to follow, and the word follow has a special meaning. It is the Greek word akoloutheo. (The final o is long as in mote.) The word means “walk beside me or just behind me” and therefore always within the sound of My voice. The word was used of three groups of people. A student who gave his time and attention to what his teacher would teach him. A soldier always alert for instructions from his commanding officer. A slave waiting at all times for his master’s commands. Whatever role the Lord required the disciple to play, each one demanded that His disciple, today’s Christian, always be listening, ever on the alert, instantly ready to listen, learn and obey. It is a demanding truth for all of us, that every disciple who follows the Lord has to fulfil Jesus’s words, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear” (Matt. 13:9). I personally know that these inner ears involve the Holy Spirit. And the scriptures confirm this connection. I need to remind myself that seven times in Jesus’s

letters to the seven churches the Lord instructed his readers, “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches” (Rev. 2:7). (See also the concluding instructions at the end of each of the other letters.) Like those who follow Jesus as His disciples, I need those inner ears. But they have to be made active by the Holy Spirit who is always listening to what the Lord God tells Him (see John 16:13). My spirit also has to be listening. The Holy Spirit listens to the Father. My spirit listens to the Holy Spirit who instructs me in what the Father commands. Every one of us has inner ears and is able to hear what the Lord will say to him or her. But some have permanently closed those inner ears. Others use their inner ears to listen only for what pleases them. The true disciple will carefully train himself to listen to the Holy Spirit, whose inner ears are always alert to hear what the Lord will say.

Follow as a Student

Like Matthew who left his tax collector’s table to follow Jesus, I face two challenges: to unlearn everything unproductive I had previously learned, the first challenge; and to open my heart and mind to learn all the new things the Lord would teach me; the second challenge. As a Jew, Matthew had mastered what the law required. He learned that salvation required obedience to the law and commandments. The bringing of sacrifices and offerings were legal obligations. He had to observe each of the annual festivals. For three years after he left his tax collector’s table, Matthew took into his heart and mind all that Jesus taught. He was there when Jesus taught what we call the Sermon on the Mount. The more Matthew learned from the Lord, the more he had to question his old religion. And Matthew’s unlearning applied to what to do and what not to do on the Sabbath. Today I also have to be prepared to learn what Jesus truly teaches and also be

prepared to question and, if necessary, unlearn what Christian traditions have taught me. Disciples who are students have to be open to what the Lord is going to teach them as His disciples. It is a demanding rule of life with the Lord that learning through the Spirit has to have a permanent place in the life of each of us as His disciples (see John 14:26). And as disciples we are committed to learn all that Jesus would teach us through His Spirit. It is important to note that the two Greek words translated “learn” and “disciple” are similar in sound and meaning. Jesus never intended that learning be an optional extra. Learning is one of the essential parts of being one of the Lord’s disciple. During the first days of the church Luke reports that the disciples “continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine [teaching]” (Acts 2:42). Paul called his teaching “the whole counsel of God” (Acts 20:27). It is an easy trap to focus only one small part of the scripture and to put the rest aside. Paul thought otherwise and so should modern-day Christians. The whole counsel of God included all Jesus’s teachings, His parables, the record of all He did, His instructions, and all His commandments. As one of those who follow Jesus as His disciples, I need to be prepared to take on the same burden of learning that Luke recorded in his introduction to the book of Acts, “The former [the gospel of Luke] I made O Theophilus, of all that Jesus began to do and to teach” (Acts 1:1). This Gentile doctor set the standard for all those who would follow our Lord as His disciples and students, all that Jesus began to do and to teach. Nothing less will do.

Follow as a Soldier

Satan is always seeking to take territory from the Lord and to hold its citizens captive. The kingdom to which we belong certainly needs protection against our enemy, Satan. But the Lord also needs to take back the territory Satan has captured and to set its captives free (see Luke 4:18). For that, the Lord needs an army of soldiers under his direct control, soldiers who are always waiting for orders to engage the enemy and who are equipped with the best armor.

The armor described by Paul in his letter to the church at Ephesus belongs in two categories: armor used in defense, and weapons used to attack the enemy. In this chapter, I will over those parts of the armor that are used for defense: faith, righteousness, truth, and the knowledge of our salvation. But there are two parts of the armor that are essential if we are to take territory from the adversary. The first is to be held in the hand, the sword of the Spirit. The second is what the disciple wears on his feet. And it is essential that both have to be under the control of the Holy Spirit and not under the control of my old nature. The latter will result in defeat. The former in victory over our adversary and over all that he represents. The first offensive weapon is the sword.

The Sword of the Spirit

I have had to learn, often the hard way and after many failures, that the sword of the Spirit is the word He speaks into my heart and mind. Many say the word of God is the scriptures, but the Greek word Paul used has a completely different meaning. The Greek word translated “word” is hrema, which refers to a spoken word, not to the scriptures which are written. These words of God are spoken into my heart and mind by the Holy Spirit. The sword of the Spirit is the weapon we use to attack the enemy and to take territory from him. But we cannot do this simply because we are confronted by our adversary. If we try to attack him without the Lord’s resources and power, we will most likely fail. Success in battle works like this. The Spirit gives us the words to speak. We speak those words as we are directed by the Spirit. The Spirit personally uses them as the sword in His capable and almighty hand to defeat the enemy. Then we can be sure of victory. These are very confining truths. They restrict us to receiving the words the Spirit wants to use and then being attentive so that we will know the time and place when those words need to be spoken. The Holy Spirit does the rest.

Sandals

What I wear on my feet is necessary so that I can always be ready to go where the Lord wants me to go. In this case, to carry the gospel with me on all my journeys. I must know what the gospel is and what peace is, so that I can be prepared to share the gospel of peace with others. What I wear on my feet, like the sword in his hand, has to under the control and direction of the Spirit of our God. Paul makes this clear in his letter to the churches in Galatia. “If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit” (Gal. 5:25). The term walk can better be translated as “walk in step with.” The Spirit who dwells within each of us knows the direction to be taken into the enemy’s territory where victory is waiting to be won, where the gospel can be proclaimed, and churches can be established. I need to note two responsibilities. I am responsible to put on the sandals. I have to be prepared always with a detailed knowledge of the gospel of peace and be ready to go where the Spirit directs. The Spirit is then responsible to tell me where to go with the gospel so that it will have the maximum effect. There is one further element of the soldier’s preparation for war. But it is not external like a shield or helmet. It is the inner attitude of readiness. In his letter to the church at Ephesus, Paul wrote, “Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand [the enemy] in the evil day, and having done all, to stand” (Eph. 6:13). The word translated “stand” is written as a command. Not march into battle! Not begin the conflict! But stand! The word means “stand firm” and “stand still.” I have had to learn that those who stand firm and still do so for two reasons. They are watching out for the enemy in the world he controls and are prepared for him to attack at any time. Christians who follow the Lord have to stand still so that they can listen for instructions from their Commanding Officer at any time. In an ancient battle faced by the Israelites, the Lord told His people, “For the battle is not yours but the Lord’s” (2 Chron. 20:15). The Lord’s disciples are commanded to stand still. Only in that way can disciples be ready to hear the Lord’s instruction about how He wants the battle fought. This is known in army circles as being battle ready. As I stand still and ready, I need my inner ears tuned to hear the Spirit’s voice.

The Holy Spirit has to direct me how to use the weapons. I therefore have to seek His guidance about their use in every situation. I have to be attentive all the time to Him to discover how He will direct me.

Follow as a Bond Slave

Being a bond slave can be traced to ancient Israel. A person who could not pay a debt was allowed to serve out the debt in service to the family. At the end of seven years, all debts in Israel were cancelled. The one who had been a servant had a choice. He could leave the service of the family for his debts were cancelled, or he could choose to be their servant forever. If he chose to continue as a family servant, the master of the house took him, stood him against the door post, and pierced his ear with a sharp tool. In this way, the person was marked as a bond slave and was bound to serve the master of that house as long as he lived. The master owned the bond slave. This is the meaning of the Greek word doulos, translated bond slave, that Paul, James, Peter, and Jude used to describe their relationship with the Lord (see Romans 1:1, James 1:1, 2 Peter 1:1, and Jude 1). As a bond slave, I exist to do what the Master commands. Like a student and a soldier, I have to be always listening, always alert for the Master’s instructions, always ready to obey what He tells me to do and when and how He wants me to do it. Modern bond slaves do not carry around a hole in their ear to mark them out as bond slaves. They are marked as bond slaves by the death of our Lord. Paul wrote, “And you are not your own. You do not belong to yourself. For you were bought at a price, therefore as a bond slave glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which belong by right of purchase to God” (1 Cor. 6:19–20, my paraphrase). In this age, Paul teaches us that the bond slave has only one purpose: to glorify God in his body and in his spirit. To glorify him means to enhance His reputation, and the term translated glorify is stated as God’s command. It is our

obligation to glorify Him and to magnify His reputation. We glorify Him through our bodies that belong to Him. Our actions and words have the power to bring Him honor. As one of His disciples, I glorify Him through what I do and say. My words and actions need to bring men and woman to think highly of our God. They will see that our Lord is an important part of our lives. In glorifying Him, I attract others to Him. We also glorify him in our spirits, which also belong to God. Our worship and praise and thanksgiving that flow out of our spirits glorify him. Words of wisdom and knowledge spoken by the Spirit out of our spirits glorify Him. Faith in Him that results in the healing of the body and mind and soul of others also glorifies Him. And finally, statements that reveal to the body of Christ what our Lord God is saying to His people through words of prophecy, “glorify our Lord.” Disturbingly, the reverse is also true. Words and actions that focus other people on themselves, on problems that seem to have no solutions, on selfish ambitions, on what we say and do, on our religion, on our traditions, or on anything that takes the attention of others away from the Lord our God, do not glorify the Lord. In these ways, we glorify ourselves or the church or one of our leaders, and not the One we love and serve. Paul had a scathing and penetrating instruction for the disciples at Corinth. “Do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s” (1 Cor. 6:19–20). This is the ultimate standard for those who would follow the Lord. It clearly applied to Paul and to all those he taught. But the standard spans the centuries into the living rooms of each Christian who would truly be one of the Lord’s disciples in the twenty-first century.

30

Take up Your Cross

If anyone desires to come after Me [as My disciple] let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me. —Luke 9:23

For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved, it is the power of God. —1 Corinthians 1:18

But God forbid that I should boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world has been crucified to me and I to the world. —Galatians 6:14

Whose Cross?

Jesus told His disciples, “If any one desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily and follow Me” (Luke 9:23). He didn’t tell me to take up His cross, the one that stood on Golgotha on which He died. For no one can ever do that. But the cross on which he died provides the model for each of us to take up his or her own cross as a daily activity.

The words Jesus speaks to me are very strong. The words “take up” are stated in the Greek language as a command. Jesus never intended that taking up the cross was something I could do when I felt like it. It was a command I have to obey daily, an attitude permanently embedded in my heart and mind. In this study, I will explore what taking up His cross meant for Jesus. From that, I will identify the principles that apply to each of us. Four of the principles of taking up our cross daily will be studied here. “To do your will, O God,” become obedient until death, what I must suffer, and my work beyond the cross.

“To Do Your Will, O God”

One theme runs through every part of the Lord’s life. It is found in the last words of this statement from the letter to the Hebrews. “Sacrifice and offering You did not desire, but a body you have prepared for Me…. Then I said, ‘Behold I have come—in the volume of the book it is written of Me—to do your will, O God’” (Heb. 10:5, 7). The central theme of the Lord’s life was to do the Father’s will. Every day the Lord put into practice what He told His parents when He was only twelve years old. “Did you not know that I must be about My Father’s business?” (Luke 2:49). Many think of Him vaguely as Lord and Savior and so He is. But His greatest characteristic was His obedience to the will of His Father. And that is the reason the Father was able to take Him to the cross. He submitted to the will of His Father and of our Father. To understand the will of the Father, I have to answer the question for myself, Why the cross? Two people tell us the answer. John wrote, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life” (John 3:16). The Father’s will expressed on the cross through His beloved Son was focused on the whole world. Peter echoed the will of the Father in his second letter, “The Lord…is not willing that any [in the whole world] should perish but that all should come to repentance” (2 Pet. 3:9, my brackets). The purpose of the cross was for all

mankind, including each of us, to come to daily repentance. The Father sees the whole world through all the ages of time and longs for all men everywhere to be saved. His will expressed in the cross covers it all. I cannot see the world as He sees it, but I can embrace that small part of the world the Lord places at my feet. And in this small part of our world, His will applies. I am bound to obey the will of the Father just as our Lord obeyed the Father’s will. That is one of the marks of taking up my cross. There is a difference between the Father’s general will for me and the Father’s specific will. The Father’s general will is that He came to seek and to save all who are lost (see Luke 19:10). His specific will, on the other hand, was directed to local situations and needs. For example, it was the Father’s specific will for Jesus to raise Lazarus from the dead (see John 11:38–44), and for Zacchaeus to become His disciple (see Luke 19:1–10). Jesus knew both the Father’s general will and the Father’s specific will because the Father revealed both to Him. The Holy Spirit translated what Jesus spoke into written words recorded in the scriptures. They reveal the Father’s general will. Words spoken as hrema into my heart express the Father’s specific will for me in any and every situation. Jesus Himself told His disciples, “For I have not spoken on My own authority; but the Father who sent Me gave Me a command, what I should say and what I should speak” (John 12:49). And in the Garden in Gethsemane Jesus affirmed His obedience to the specific will of the Father, “Father, if it is Your will, take this cup away from Me, nevertheless, not My will, but Yours, be done” (Luke 22:42). Note: Knowing and carrying out the Father’s general will require only that I read, understand, and obey the scriptures. Knowing and carrying out His specific will requires that I hear what He tells me is His specific will in any particular situation and how He wants me to respond in each situation. When I take up my cross, I commit himself to three things that first applied to the Lord and now apply to each of His disciples: Listen for the Father’s directions which can be revealed by the Spirit of the Father. Know what the Father’s will is in any situation. And obey what the Father tells me to say and do.

Become Obedient until Death

Obedience has to be my lifelong commitment. Paul in his letter to the church at Philippi wrote about Jesus’s lifelong commitment, “And being found in fashion as a man, He humbled Himself, becoming obedient until death, death even on a cross” (Phil. 2:8, translation from the Greek). For our Lord, obedience wasn’t simply doing what He was told to do, like an employee carrying out the boss’s orders until it was time to go home. Jesus took obedience to a much deeper level. For Him obedience was a way of life. He embraced the Father’s will until death and resurrection released Him from human suffering, and there among men, He set an example for all disciples through the ages. Mark reports, “Behold we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be betrayed to the chief priests and to the scribes; and they will condemn Him to death and deliver Him to the Gentiles; and they will mock Him, and scourge Him, and spit on Him, and kill Him” (Mark 10:33–34). This was the Father’s specific will. The Lord heard what the Father had to say and obeyed. He embraced what Judas would do to Him: betray Him. Then He embraced mockery and the physical pain of a flogging with a whip embedded with pieces of bone and iron. Then He embraced the suffering of crucifixion. All of this was part of the Father’s will. Jesus not only knew what the Father had planned, but He embraced it all. Just as Jesus obeyed the Father so I have to obey the Son. Not like an employee doing what I am told to do. I have to obey Him as He obeyed the Father, as a willing participant in the Father’s will for me, for all his people and for the world. I have to embrace what He wants me to be and to do with all my heart and soul and mind and strength. Knowing and being obedient to the Father’s will has to be a way of life.

What He Must Suffer

There is a teaching and an attitude abroad in the Christian church that Christian’s are not meant to suffer. This attitude has been expressed in a teaching with the nickname “Name it and claim it.” It is also known as the prosperity doctrine. But it seems to me that this doctrine was alien to Paul in the first century and to all the apostles. None of the twelve escaped persecution. Each one except John was martyred, some in ways too terrible to think about, and John suffered confinement in a rock cave on the Island of Patmos. And this was as our Lord predicted. “In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome he world” (John 16:33). Our Lord did not promise He would rescue persecuted disciples from their suffering. But He promised them they would find grace to bear the suffering (2 Cor. 12:9). Luke records that Paul saw the Lord on the road to Damascus and was made blind. In Damascus, the Lord told Ananias, one of His disciples, “I will show [Paul] how many things he must suffer for My name’s sake” (Acts 9:16). The Greek word translated suffer is patheo. (The o is long as in mote.) Which means to experience both good and evil, to suffer, to be subject to evil, to suffer because of evil. Paul knew all about the Lord’s prophecy. For him, it was fulfilled again and again. For the apostle, there was no doctrine of prosperity. In his second letter to the church at Corinth, Paul wrote, “Three times I was beaten with rods; once I was stoned; three times I was shipwrecked; a day and a night I have been in the deep…in weariness and toil, in sleeplessness often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and nakedness—” (2 Cor. 11:25 and 27). And in his letter to the church at Philippi, Paul wrote, “For to you has been granted on behalf of Christ, not only to believe in Him, but to suffer for His sake” (Phil. 1:29). Paul took this understanding to a new depth when he wrote to the church at Colossae, “I now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up in my flesh what is lacking in the afflictions of Christ” (Col. 1:24). In his sufferings, Paul expressed what it meant for him to take up his cross daily. And for disciples everywhere suffering from evil words or actions, when permitted by the Lord, is one of the marks of being His disciple.

Beyond the Cross

I find that the Father looked at the world and saw man suffering under the burden of sin. He knew that every individual sin had to be dealt with. He also knew that my sinful nature had to be dealt with. So He sent His Son to die for all of us in obedience to the Father’s perfect will. The Father still looks at the world. He still sees man suffering under the burden of sin. The Son has done His work on the cross. Now I have to continue that work. I have to take up my cross daily and follow in the same footsteps of obedience to the will of the Father. It has become my responsibility to carry on the work the Lord and Savior began. Jesus described that work beyond the cross in the synagogue at Nazareth. “The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because He has anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the broken hearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed; to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord” (Luke 4:18–19). Like all of us, I have to examine each part of the commission that our Lord detailed in the synagogue in Nazareth. That commission has to be part of what it means for me to take up my own cross, and follow Him beyond the cross into the world where all these things are waiting for my obedience.

31

Deny Yourself

If anyone desires to come after Me [as My disciple] let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me. —Luke 9:23

For I know that in me (that is in my flesh) nothing good dwells. —Romans 7:18

That you put off, concerning your former conduct, the old man which grows corrupt according to the deceitful lusts, and be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and that you put on the new man which was created according to God, in true righteousness and holiness. —Ephesians 4:22

Four Understandings

Our Lord identified seven marks of those who would be His disciples. I have examined two of them: follow Him and take up my cross. The third is equally demanding. Jesus told His disciples, “If any one desires to come after Me [as My disciple] let him deny himself” (Luke 9:23). Jesus’s statement raises two

questions. What does the word “deny” mean? And what is the self that one has to deny? The Greek word translated “deny” is aparneomai, which means “to deny, disown, refuse, decline oneself completely without leaving one part of self to continue to flourish.” This is a most demanding word and it is stated in the Greek as a command. Our second question: What is the self that disciples have to deny? Jesus doesn’t give me an answer. He simply commands me to deny myself. But Paul has a lot to say about this subject. In his letter to the church at Rome he described his identity, his self. “For we know that the law is spiritual, but I am carnal, sold under sin.” He then went further and gave a name to his inner self. “For I know that in me (that is in my flesh) nothing good dwells” (Rom. 7:14, 18). The heart of myself is my inner sinful nature which Paul called my old man (Col. 3:9). The Lord’s command that I deny myself can only become real when I understand four things: What the flesh is. What happened to the flesh on the cross. The connections between the world and my sinful nature. And how God has dealt with those connections.

The Flesh: Enemy of the Cross

In the church at Philippi, there were a number of people Paul knew: “Whose god is their belly, whose glory is in their shame—who set their mind on earthly things” (Phil. 3:19). These were believers who had lost the way. The energies of the flesh filled up their lives and dominated their responses. Paul described them as “the enemies of the cross of Christ” (Phil. 3:18). Their lives were focused both on the desires of their sinful natures, on earthly things, and on things of the world. The apostle knew that the ways of the flesh are completely opposite to the ways of the cross. Live in the flesh and the powers of the cross are set aside. Live according to the principles of the cross and the flesh becomes powerless. Not only that but Paul also wrote, “So then, those who are in the flesh, cannot please

God” (Rom. 8:8). I believe that it all began in the garden in Eden. Three things stand out in the Genesis record. The first is disobedience. The second is the first recorded activity of the flesh: focus on self rather than on the Lord God. The third is another activity of the flesh, anger that brought about a brother’s murder. Not only did the first sinful acts appear in the garden, but there, the sinful nature also made its first appearance. The flesh was the source of disobedience, of the focus on self rather than on the Lord God, and of anger leading to murder. I believe that the instant Eve entertained the serpent’s suggestion, the sinful nature was born in her and now in all of us. There is no natural escape from the depredations of the sinful nature, the flesh. Years later, God looked at the descendants of Adam and Eve and did not like what He saw. It is written, “Then the Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually” (Gen. 6:5), and later it is also recorded, “So God looked upon the earth and it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted their way on the earth” (Gen. 6:12). The activities of the flesh in man brought about the great flood. But the flood couldn’t wipe out the flesh. And it continues to plague disciples today. The flesh continues to make itself known through activities Paul listed in his letter to the churches in Galatia. This list includes such extreme items as adultery, fornication, uncleanness, idolatry, sorcery, selfish ambitions, and heresies. Each one is focused on the self. Just as there are extreme forms of the works of the flesh so there are also thoughts of the heart that can lead to these extreme forms, and I know most of them, for the flesh did not retire when I was born again. And as long I attend to its desires, it will continue to flourish and even to gain strength. Both the extreme form and the thought leading in that direction are works of the flesh (see Matthew 15:18–19). The flesh in me doesn’t need the outward acts to express itself. It can express itself very well indeed in inner thoughts and desires. These are the evil root that can grow into such things as selfish ambitions, false witness, and murder. And the more I let these thoughts express themselves, the more I harbor them, the stronger the flesh in me will become.

In this chapter, I need to examine three reasons disciples are called to deny themselves. In the first place, the source of my selfish acts, the sinful nature, was crucified with Christ on the cross. In the second place, I have been crucified with Christ on the cross. In the third place, the cross legally separates me from the world.

What Happened on the Cross?

I know that the Son of God died on that cross to receive in Himself the punishment for all my sins and indeed the punishment, separation from the Father because of all our sins. But was there more than that? Did the cross provide the solution to my old sinful nature, the flesh? And what does taking up my cross have to do with the flesh within each of us? Let me return to the day He died. Paul wrote, “For He made Him who knew no sin, to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him” (2 Cor. 5:21). The Greek word hamartia, which is translated “sin” refers not to a number of single sinful acts but to the whole evil inner source of those sinful acts. The flesh is like an inner spring out of which sinful acts, thoughts, attitudes, and words flow in a neverending stream. I believe that when the Father made Jesus to be sin, He filled the Son’s holy inner being with the evil source of all man’s sinful acts. Jesus actually became sin. My own sinful nature, and the sinful natures of all Christians, were embedded in His heart and life, together with the sinful natures of all who refuse to believe. When Jesus went alone into the Garden of Gethsemane, He “began to be troubled and deeply distressed” (Mark 14:32). The word translated “began” marks a turning point in the Lord’s walk to the cross. The Greek words translated “troubled and deeply distressed” reveal that our Lord was suddenly filled with shuddering horror at what lay in front of Him on the cross. Up to that time, He had known He would be crucified (Mark 8:31), but I believe that bodily pain was not something that would have caused Him to be troubled and deeply

distressed and filled with shuddering horror. The word Mark used that is translated “began” is written in the aorist form of the verb and marks a completely new beginning in the Lord’s life. At that moment in Gethsemane, the Father added something new to what Jesus already knew about His death. In the loneliness of that night, the Father told His Son that He would become sin. Not only bear the Father’s punishment for man’s sin, but that His being would be filled with all the sinful tendencies of all of us. Nothing else would for the shuddering horror our Lord experienced that night. That was the cup the Lord asked the Father to take from Him. Not the cup of physical suffering, but the ultimate cup of becoming the sin of all mankind. He was filled with our capacity for every murderous tendency, the desire to bribe and cheat and extort money, to lie, all man’s deceitful desires, every form of drunkenness, all idolatry, all adultery, every licentious capacity of which man is capable, genocide in all its forms, everything in man that reaches out to other gods, all of this and more would have wrenched the Father’s heart as He poured it all into the blameless heart and spirit of His Beloved Son. In that terrible moment, Jesus became sin itself. There was a further horror that our Lord would not have known until the darkness of man’s sin invaded His being. Not in the garden but on the cross itself. Experiencing that further horror was why He cried out, “My God, My God, Why have You forsaken Me?” (Mark 15:34). The Father turned His face away from His beloved Son. That was the second horror. And the heavens were darkened in sympathy, and the earth was convulsed in pain. These terrible costs to our Lord were paid so that I might live out two further marks of being His disciple. The first is, “I am crucified with Christ.” The second is, “The world has been crucified to me and I to the world.”

I Have Been Crucified with Christ

Paul made this extraordinary statement in his letter to the churches in Galatia. “I have been crucified with Christ” (Gal. 2:20). How was that possible? We have

already noted the answer. Paul wrote, “For He made Him who knew no sin, to be sin for us” (2 Cor. 5:21). There on that middle cross, Jesus received my sinful nature into His own being. He was crucified and my sinful nature, my flesh, in effect my sinful identity, was crucified with Him. In that moment, my flesh lost its power over me. It became legally dead. Although the flesh legally lost its power on the cross, I am still able to give it back the power it once had. My flesh is like an ugly black goat tied up in my backyard. If I feed it, it will grow strong; perhaps strong enough to break its bonds and roam free. If I starve it, it will continually become weaker and lose its power over me. I have to make the choice. Deny myself the desires of the flesh or give in to the hunger of the black goat. Paul summed up that choice when he wrote to the churches in Galatia, “And those who are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with its ions and desires” (Gal. 5:24). Unfortunately there is much ignorance in Christian circles about this extraordinary truth. The Greek words translated “have been crucified” are written in the perfect tense. That means the crucifixion of my flesh was complete. But I have to put that crucifixion into daily practice. Paul continues this instruction in his letter to the church at Ephesus. “If indeed you have heard from [Jesus] and have been taught by Him, as the truth is in Jesus: that you put off, concerning you former conduct, the old man which grows corrupt according to the deceitful lusts” (Eph. 4:21–22). That is my daily choice. Paul confessed to the disciples in Corinth, “I die daily” (1 Cor. 15:31). Not a literal death, but daily Paul put to death the old nature with its ions and desires. Daily he fulfilled the Lord’s command. He continued to deny himself. I am commanded to do the same.

The World Is Crucified to Me and I to the World

For many years, the world and I were good friends. I had learned my language with all its built-in biases from the world. My attitudes toward entertainment and politics and commerce and family had all come from the world. The world had

fed my sexual inclinations with images that aroused various kinds of desire. And from news reports, I learned to be gratified by the suffering and pain of others. Since the moment of my physical birth, the world and I have been tied together. My flesh loves the world and the world has its entrance into me through my sinful nature. And only death could separate us. But Jesus had other plans for His disciples. In His prayer to the Father the night He was betrayed, Jesus said, “They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world” (John 17:16). There has to be a separation between myself and the world. And that is why I am commanded to deny myself and sever those connections. In the past, many early Christians recognized this problem and withdrew into the desert or lived on top of a column or found a cave and lived in isolation from the world. But separating oneself from the world doesn’t solve the problem. The flesh will always lust after the world and its deceits no matter where or how I live. That is why Jesus dealt with my double problem when He died on the cross, both the flesh within and the world the flesh lusts after. Paul wrote, “I have been crucified with Christ” (Gal. 2:20). I have learned that my flesh was crucified that day with Christ. All the ability of the flesh to lust after the deceits of the world died that day. The link between me and the world was put to death. In that moment, the world was crucified to me and I to the world. But I can always refuse to deny myself. I can give the flesh back its life and keep intact my old links with the evil world that Satan rules over. In spite of what Jesus revealed, that we are not of this world just as He is not of the world, I can disagree with him. I can go on being part of this world even though I have been crucified to the world and the world has been crucified to me. Few people deliberately make the choice to stay connected to Satan’s evil world. But so many Christians are unaware of this problem. They drift through their Christian lives as though connections with the world did not exist. Either they haven’t studied what the Lord said that night and taken it seriously, or they have not been taught the distinction between the ways of righteousness and the ways of the world. And if they were asked, they would probably not be able to identify the ways of the world they need to deny. The Lord has never taken away my ability to choose. I can choose to restore the

link between my flesh and the world, or I can choose to put that link within myself to the world, to death. I can die to the world. I can daily deny that part of myself that wants to be tied to the world and to enjoy its pleasures as well as its deceits. I can choose to shut out from my mind and heart the pleasures and deceitful attractions the world offers. Denying myself is the pivot. On one side, the allures of the flesh and the tempting invitations from the world. On the other side, the life of godliness as one of His disciples.

Deny Yourself

The Greek word Jesus used and which is translated deny is written as an imperative. It is a command I am told to obey at all times. It applies during every waking moment. Nothing about my life as one of His disciples is excluded from this command. I believe, however, that the Lord would recognize and approve the many good things that also find their origin in our human natures, care for the sick, live at peace with my neighbors, serve my family, pay my bills on time, and so many more. In this narrative, my attention is given to the sinful expressions of our human natures. For a disciple and Christian, it is a matter of deliberate choice to obey His command to deny myself, not once now and then but all day every day. And it is certainly not a matter of casual impulse. Denying myself is too general an instruction. It has to be refined. The challenge for the disciples is to be aware of the differences between the ways of the flesh and of the world on the one hand, and the ways of godliness as disciples who follow our Lord on the other. The ways of the flesh and of the world are marked by the desire to please myself, to seek something for myself, to seek my own way, to surround myself with things that gratify myself. The way of the disciple, which is the way of godliness, is to seek the things which are above (Col. 3:1–2), and the things that please Him at whatever cost to myself. In denying myself, I signal my intention to live for Him, to please the Father, and to serve my Lord all the days of my life.

32

Forsake All That You Have

Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—is not of the Father, but is of the world. —1 John 2:15–16

Because you say, I am rich, have become wealthy and have need of nothing— and do not know that you are wretched, miserable, poor, blind and naked. —Revelation 3:17

So likewise, whoever of you does not forsake all that he has cannot be My disciple. —Luke 14:33

The Problem of Attachment

Forsaking all that I have does not necessarily lead me to a cave in the desert. Nor does it tell me to sell all that I have and give the money to the poor. That kind of forsaking can be a lonely experience and far from what I believe the Lord had in mind for all His children. Forsaking all that I have need not refer to things

possessed. I find that I can read these words of the Lord with two words included “Forsaking attachment to all that he has.” In our previous studies, we examined ways the flesh is mortally attached to the world and the things of the world. Putting that attachment to the flesh and to things in the world to death (see Romans 12:2) releases me into the wonder of a life lived in harmony with God who is love and with His Son and Spirit whose characters have love at their center (1 John 4:8, Gal. 5:22, and John 15:10). I have learned that forsaking attachment to the flesh and to the things of the world frees me for a far greater allegiance. Turning away from these attachments enables me to focus on priorities at the other end of the scale. Paul put it this way, “Set your mind on things above, not on things of the earth” (Col. 3:2). Rather than explore how I am to forsake attachment to the flesh and to the world, which is covered in our study of denying ourselves, I need to focus on the benefit of forsaking, and that takes me into the heart of the Lord our God.

Love One Another

The first command to love was expressed by the Lord, “And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength. This is the first commandment” (Mark 12:30). This commandment has agape, divine love, at its heart. The night He was betrayed, Jesus told His disciples, “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another” (John 13:34–35). This is the second love command. It is also built around agape, divine love, the love that flows out of the heart of our God. Jesus used the Greek word agape, which is translated “love.” Up to that time it didn’t exist in classical Greek literature but only in the translation of the Hebrew Old Testament into Greek. There were other words that included the idea of love; loving another person, phileo; a word that was used for loving the brothers, philadelphia; and another word for the love of man, philanthropia. The Lord had

to draw on the use of agape in Deuteronomy: “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength” (Deut. 6:5). Agape is a noun. It has a verb form, agapao.

What Is Love?

Jesus began to define God’s love the night He was betrayed. That night He took a towel and washed His disciples’ feet. Then He told them, “If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet” (John 13:14). The strength of the Lord’s instruction to His disciples hangs on His next words. “A servant is not greater than his master” (John 13:16). The Greek word translated “servant” is doulos, which means “bond slave,” one bound to the Master in love and obedience for the rest of his or her life. The Lord became a bond slave to the Father so that He could demonstrate love. He set the example. We are bound to follow. When Jesus washed His disciples’ feet, He was doing the work of a bond servant. This was the most menial work. Only the lowest servant would wash another’s feet. In that act, Jesus revealed one face of love. Love that serves another at whatever the cost. But there are other faces of this love that comes from God. Agape refers to love that flows out of respect for and iration of another. When directed toward God, agape refers to reverence for Him. Agape operates when a Christian makes the deliberate choice to love rather than acting on impulse. And agape always expresses itself in comionate devotion to the other person. Those who love with God’s love serve the other person at whatever the cost to themselves. The night Jesus washed His disciples’ feet, He was prepared to humble himself and take the form of the lowest servant. The loss of His dignity and pride were the costs to Himself of loving His disciples. And so it has to be with Christian. The next day, Jesus demonstrated the ultimate form of God’s love for man. He

bore our sins and sinful natures when He was made sin for all of us. He did this willingly at the extreme cost of separation from His Father. In that act, He fulfilled the Spirit’s words, that “God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life” (John 3:16). Agape is also expressed within each disciple’s heart as inner tenderness toward the other person. That is how the Lord watches over me, with tender affection for me and for each of His children. And I am bound to express agape in my heart with tender affection toward the Lord I love and toward one another.

Faulty Love

After His resurrection, Jesus met with some of His disciples on the shore of the lake. After eating with them, the Lord asked Peter, “Do you love Me more than these?” The word Jesus used was agapao, which is the verb form of agape. Loving with God’s love. Loving with divine love. Peter could not tell the Lord he loved Him in that divine way. He didn’t know what agape was. Instead He replied, “You know that I love you” (John 21:15). The word Peter used was phileo. When it is used of man’s love for man it refers to love that comes about by chance, and which is so often the result of impulse. I can always love another person in this human way when that relationship is running sweetly. I am tempted to withdraw from that love when the relationship runs into difficulty. I am able to love with human love when I have been gratified. Such love is selfish. When people turn against me, I normally stop loving them in this human way. That evening, Peter couldn’t love the Lord with agape love. All he had in his heart was the faulty love based on chance and impulse. Peter had to wait until the fires of Pentecost burst upon the disciples before He could love the Lord with divine love. On that day, agape, the love of God, was poured out of an eternal vessel, the Holy Spirit, into Peter’s receptive heart (see Romans 5:5).

Command: Love One Another

The fourth mark of a disciple was spelled out by the Lord that last night with His disciples. “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all [men] will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another” (John 13:34–35). Jesus left us with a clear command and also with a puzzle. The command is obvious. Love one another as He loves us. The puzzle? How will all men know that we love one another and are therefore His disciples? Jesus knew the shape of His church after Pentecost. Luke reports, “And breaking bread from house to house, they ate their food with gladness and simplicity of heart” (Acts 2:46). In each comfortable home-based environment, loving one another would have been easily expressed. And loving one another would have been accepted as the mark that distinguished them from those in the outside world. But what about those in the outside world? How would they have known that the disciples belonged to Jesus? How would they have witnessed this love for one another that set them apart as disciples of the Lord? That is the puzzle. Again it is Luke who provides at least part of the answer. He wrote, “And through the hands of the apostles many signs and wonders were done among the people. And they were all with one accord in Solomon’s Porch. Yet none of the rest dared them, but the people esteemed them highly” (Acts 5:1–13). The temple was a very public place where the relationships between disciples could well have been visible to outsiders. What they saw brought about esteem and respect. The public place of Solomon’s Porch was indeed where other men could see this love for one another. But there was another environment. Paul knew that unbelievers would be accepted into their gatherings in different houses. He spoke of this in his first letter to the churches in Corinth. “But if an unbeliever or uninformed person comes in [to the house meeting], he is convinced by all, he is convicted by all” (1 Cor. 14:24, my brackets). Although Paul was writing about prophecy, the unbeliever in a house church would also have witnessed the love they had for one another. But how would that love have been expressed? We use Paul’s and Peter’s instructions to of local

churches meeting in each other’s homes to provide us with the answer to our question.

TO THE CHURCH AT ROME Be kindly affectionate to one another with brotherly love, in honor giving preference to one another. (Romans 12:10) Do not set your mind on high things, but associate with the humble. (Romans 12:16) Greet one another with a holy kiss. (Romans 16:16)

TO THE CHURCH AT CORINTH Therefore, my brethren, when you come together wait for one another. (1 Corinthians 11:33) That there should be no schism in the body, but that the should have the same care for one another. (1 Corinthians 12:25)

TO THE CHURCH AT EPHESUS With all lowliness and gentleness, with long suffering, bearing with one another in love. (Ephesians 4:2) Submitting to one another in the fear of God. (Ephesians 5:21)

TO THE CHURCH AT COLOSSAE Bearing with one another, and forgiving one another, if anyone has a complaint against another; even as Christ forgave you, so you also must do. (Colossians 3:13)

TO THE CHURCH AT THESSALONIKA Therefore comfort each other, and edify one another, just as you also are doing. (1 Thessalonians 5:11)

TO THE RECIPIENTS OF PETER’S FIRST LETTER Likewise you younger people, submit yourselves to your elders. Yes all of you be submissive to one another, and be clothed with humility. (1 Peter 5:5)

All these intimate and very personal activities of love expressed in the early church would have seemed very odd to pagans who came into their gatherings. Visitors would have seen how different these disciples were from their pagan neighbors. Then the questions would have followed. Why are they so different from us? What makes them so different? And can I have what they have found? It is sad fact of churches today that nonbelievers are rarely present in our Sunday services. In any case, the differences between disciples and people in the world have become so blurred that nonbelievers would have difficulty telling the difference. In fact, in some churches the intimacy in relationships of love that the early church enjoyed is actively resisted. Like all of the Lord’s disciples in the present world, I must seek to forsake everything to which I have become attached, and so free myself to love. I must attend to what the scriptures teach me about love and loving but must not leave what I have learned on some convenient shelf of my mind but make love a reality in my relationships, both with God and with others. I understand that this is what Paul meant when he wrote about working out my salvation (Phil. 2:12), before He returns to claim His often-recalcitrant bride.

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Abide in My Word

If you abide in My word you are My disciples indeed. —John 8:31

Your word I have hidden in my heart, that I might not sin against You. —Psalm 119:11

If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him. —John 14:23

Abiding

In the last days of His life among men, the Lord left His disciples with one of the conditions for being His disciple. John records His words: “Then Jesus said to those Jews who believed in Him, If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed” (John 8:31). There are two questions I need to ask. What does it mean for a disciple to abide? And what is His word? And both separate the lives of Christians from the lives of those who do not believe.

Abide. Meno. (The o is long as in mote.) Remain, abide, dwell as a permanent resident, be thoroughly at home, be familiar with all the facilities, resources, and appurtenances of that dwelling place. We are to be continually at home in Him (John 15:4), in His love (John 15:9), and in the words that He personally speaks into our hearts (John 8:31). The word abide has both a physical and a spiritual meaning. When I live in a house, I am familiar with all its contents. I am not in transit. I know how to keep the house clean and tidy and how and when to dispose of the rubbish. Only those people I approve of are invited into my house. And I know how to use each room as it has been designed to be used. I abide in my house because it is a most comfortable place to be. And all this applies in the world of the Spirit. The word abide is used by Jesus of me abiding in Him (John 15:7), abiding in His love (John 15:10), and abiding in His word (John 8:31). It is also used of His word abiding in us (John 15:7), and of the Holy Spirit abiding with us (John 14:16). For me, abiding is a word of great comfort. It is like the comfort of arriving home where there is always a welcome. Most of us know of homes where we are uncomfortable and where we would never choose to abide. Unlike such places, abiding in Him, in His love and in His word must be the comfortable standard for our relationship with Him.

Words from God

The Bible is full of references to ways the Lord our God makes Himself known. One of those ways is through the sacred writings we know as the scriptures. A second way is through the words about Himself recorded in the gospels and in the remaining books of the New Testament. And here we must make several distinctions between several words that are used to refer to these sacred writings. The first is “scripture.” Luke reports our Lord’s discussion with two disciples on the road to Emmaus after His resurrection. “And beginning at Moses and all the prophets, He expounded to them in all the scriptures the things concerning

Himself” (Luke 24:27). He was referring to the books of the Old Testament that were known as “the scriptures.” The second is hrema, the third is logos and the fourth found in the sacred writings, but which Christians have invested with its own meaning, the Word of God. Scripture. Graphe. (The e is long as in fete.) Literally “that which is written,” the writings, and these include the following: the five books of the Pentateuch— Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy; twelve historical books, beginning with Joshua; five poetical books, beginning with Job and including the Psalms and the Song of Solomon; and seventeen books of prophecy, both major and minor. Word. Logos. The word that is spoken but never written, connected to, and an expression of the mind and thoughts of God, the whole substance of what God has spoken into His creation, His logos, the word that was spoken to bring all things into being (Ps. 33:6) is the spoken word we are instructed to hide in our hearts (Ps. 119:11), and the spoken word in which we are instructed to abide (John 8:31). Word. Hrema. (The e is long as in fete.) That which is spoken not written, a word, sentence, saying, promise, declaration, discourse, or command. The words spoken to Nicodemus and to the Samaritan woman at the well belong in this category. Hrema refers to those often-brief words we in our hearts and minds that have their origin in the mind of God. Word of God. Ton logon tou Theou. The person of Jesus, who was in the beginning with God and who was God (John 1:1) was the one who rode the white horse, who was clothed in a robe dipped in blood and whose name is the Word of God, Ton logon tou Theou (Gen. 19:12–13). He is the Word of God. We do the Lord a great injustice, almost amounting to blasphemy, when we apply His awesome and eternal title to the pages of a book. In the scriptures, there are a great many references that require our interpretation. The rule is always “let the scriptures interpret the scriptures.” For the meaning of one reference in Genesis will always be consonant with a parallel reference in the book of Revelation. This rule has to be applied to the we use when we speak about the words God has spoken. We know that the term the scriptures referred to the books of the Old Testament

and these were the writings that Paul referred to in his second letter Timothy. “All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness” (2 Tim. 3:16). In the course of time, the books of the New Testament would also be included under the general term, the scriptures.

The Word of God

We have found that the term the word of God applies to Jesus. He is the Word of God. Yet for a long time, many Christians have used this term to refer to the scriptures. Here we have a discrepancy. One term. Two meanings. To resolve this discrepancy, we have to apply our rule of interpretation. Let the scriptures interpret the scriptures. When the newly formed church began to meet, the apostles found that some of the widows were not receiving the care they needed. So they appointed seven men to take care of the matter. Luke reports the apostles’ response. “It is not right that we should leave the word of God and serve tables,” and “but we will give ourselves continually to prayer and to the ministry of the word” (Acts 6:2, 4). The use of the term “the word of God” to apply to the apostles’ study of the scriptures glosses over two problems. In the first place, the New Testament scriptures had not even been thought about at that early stage in the church’s history, and by no stretch of the imagination could they be studying the Old Testament whose scrolls were safely locked away in their own sacred place in the various synagogues. The second gloss concerns one of the words Luke used, “We will give ourselves continually to prayer and to the ministry of the word.” The problem lies with the Greek word translated “ministry.” The word is diakonia, which correctly refers to the service of another person for that person’s benefit. The apostles were intent on serving a person, not a bunch of written documents. And that person could only be the One John called the Word of God.

Scriptures interpreting the scriptures. The apostles were giving themselves to the One who was with God in the beginning (John 1:1), and who, clothed in a garment dipped in blood, was riding a white horse (Rev. 19:13). They were intent on attending to the spoken words they were hearing from the living Word of God who, in Spirit was in their presence as He promised He would (see Matt. 28:20), and communicating with them. The other references to the word of God Luke used in Acts can also be interpreted in the same appropriate way. (For example, see Acts 6:7, 8:14, and 12:24.)

Abiding in His Spoken Word

Abiding in His word means being completely at home with the One who speaks the word, at home with the message of His word I receive, at home in my relationship with the Holy Spirit who brings those words to me, and finally at home and at rest within myself so that I can listen for and hear the logos and hrema the Lord speaks into my heart. The scriptures help me define some of the content of the words Jesus seeks to speak to me and each has a purpose.

Wisdom to know how to handle particular relationships in the church and in the world (1 Cor. 12:8). Knowledge of Him, of myself, and of people and situations I face in my walk with Him (1 Cor. 12:8). Understanding of particular things God wants to speak into the lives of of His family, words of prophecy both illuminating present situations and foretelling what is to come (1 Cor. 14:39). Instruction expressed in me and in the church in words of another language whose meanings depend on words spoken in interpretation of those words (1 Cor. 12:10).

Instructions the Spirit deems necessary as He leads me in the way the Father wants me to go (Rom. 8:14). Words that guide me when I encounter someone who needs healing, whether to lay hands, or not to lay hands on that person and to pray for healing (1 Cor. 12:9). Words that tell me what His will is for men and women for whom I am to pray (1 John 5:14). And finally words that I need when I encounter the aggression of the enemy and which the Spirit can use as His own sword to combat that evil one (Eph. 6:17).

I do not believe it is possible to set a limit on the words He will speak into the hearts of His children. In the words He speaks, and in which we are to abide, He reveals His will. In the same way His will for creation was revealed in the words He spoke that brought all creation into being. Indeed the words spoken into the hearts of His people are instruments through which His will can be known and carried out by those who are willing to share those acts of creation with Him. I find that abiding in His words has three elements. Abiding begins when we accept that there are words that He wants to speak into our hearts. And in that acceptance we reinforce our commitment to keep the temple of God and the Spirit within, which is in our hearts, swept clean of any unnecessary debris. He needs that inner environment where He is able to speak, kept entirely for Himself. No distractions in that sacred space. No opposing voices. Just our Lord and we alone sharing that inner space where we are always listening, and He is intent on speaking the words that will bring His will to fruition, like Mary sitting at His feet in their home in Bethany, intent on every word the Lord would speak to her. The second phase is to accept a particular word, it in the mind, whether it is an audible word, a word written across the back of the mind, a deep-down certainty about a situation that is under His control, knowledge of a person’s wounds, or despair to which His grace and love have to be directed, wisdom embedded in words that lead a son or daughter to a solution to another person’s problem, words of encouragement for someone who is struggling with life’s

burdens, words given in a teaching, or as with this author, words that express some teaching that needs to be written onto a page. I find that there are no limits to the words He speaks, or to their form or timing. For He and His knowledge, wisdom, and grace are limitless. The third phase in abiding in His word is to put into practice any word that needs to be fulfilled in this way, to say to others what He has spoken into our hearts, or merely to let a particular word or words remain in the heart and mind until that day He instructs us in their use and application. The remarkable wonder of abiding in His words is that this instruction is clear and unmistakable evidence of a continuing partnership between the things of heaven and things of the earth, between the Son of heaven, Jesus Emmanuel, our Savior and Lord, and any son or daughter on the earth who is intent on abiding in His words, a partnership we pray will continue forever.

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Bear Much Fruit

I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing. —John 15:5

The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long suffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. —Galatians 5:22–3

By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit; so you will be My disciples. —John 15:8

Introduction

Jesus revealed the sixth mark of a disciple on His last night among His disciples when He told them, “By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit; so you will be My disciples” (John 15:8). The Greek word He used and which is translated “fruit” is karpos. There have been many attempts to tell us what these fruits are, but the only answers we can depend on are those found in the

scriptures. And that is where our search has to take us. Paul, Peter, and the writer of the letter to the Hebrews referred to the fruits of righteousness, but they don’t tell us what those fruit are. But Paul does. Twice. In his letter to the church in Ephesus, he referred to the fruit of the Spirit and connected this fruit with goodness, righteousness, and truth (Eph. 5:9). In his letter to the churches in Galatia, Paul was more specific. “The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long suffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control” (Gal. 5:22–3).

Definitions and Patterns

In the natural world, there is an organic link between the roots of the vine, the stem, the branches, and the fruit. A form of natural life flows from the roots along the unseen pathways in the vine and its branches so that the vine can produce the fruit the farmer looks for. The Lord used the image of the vine in the natural world to paint a picture of the vine in the spiritual world, and the patterns in the natural world have counterparts in the world of the Spirit. The farmer in the natural world is replaced in the world of the Spirit, by the Father whom Jesus called the Husbandman (John 15:1). It is the Husbandman’s desire that the vine in the world of the Spirit should fulfil the purposes for which it was designed: bear much fruit. I have discovered that the natural vine is replaced by Jesus, whom He called the true Vine. The branches are the disciples. The life that flows through the vine in the natural world is replaced by the life of the Holy Spirit. And the grapes that are the outcome of the flow of life in the natural vine are equivalent to the fruit, which are the outcome of the life of the Spirit that flows through the Vine and His branches. And the Lord’s disciples fit into this divinely ordained pattern. The Father’s purpose is that all disciples bear much fruit. And for that to happen, each of us has to be part of a very special cycle of life.

Cycles of Life

In the natural world, a vine lives because natural life flows through its cells in the stem and branches. In the world of the Spirit, the True Vine lives because there is an abundant flow of spiritual life from the Father into the Son. The life that is needed so that the branches may thrive and the fruit be abundant has to be the life that the Father and the Son have in common. This life is in the Spirit who is the Spirit of life (Rom. 8:2). We can think of the relationship between Father, Son, and Holy Spirit as a cycle of life. I know that the life of the Father is expressed in the Son through the Holy Spirit. This makes the circle of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit complete. But man has always been on the outside. He is not part of that divine cycle of life and while he remains on the outside of the cycle and is separated from the life of the vine, there can be no fruit. For the Spirit who bears the fruit does not belong in the natural cycles of human life, only in the cycles of life that flow between Father, Son, and Spirit. Disciples have to be introduced into this sacred circle and God has made provision for that. When Jesus was speaking with His disciples that last night of His earthly life, the cycle of three eternal and divine Beings was already present on earth and among those disciples. Then Jesus made a promise about how that cycle of three would be changed. “If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and the Father will love him, and We will come and make Our home with him” (John 14:23). The Lord also promised those disciples that the Father would give them a Helper who would abide with them forever. “The Spirit of Truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him, but you know Him, for He dwells with you and shall be in you” (John 14:17). In this way, the cycle of three divine Persons—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit— becomes a cycle of four. Man would be included. I can be included. Every Christian can be included. The life that unites Father, Son, and Holy Spirit would now flow through the new member of that divine cycle: the disciple, who would be born again by the Spirit Himself (see John 3:5). The promise that the Spirit of the Father and of the Son would be in Jesus’s disciples was abundantly fulfilled on the Day of Pentecost. On that day, the

Spirit came and they were filled with him (Acts 2:4). Then the circle of life in the Spirit became truly complete. The disciple is included with the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit in one eternal intimate circle. Now the life that flows through each member of the Trinity can also flow through the disciple. Now it will be possible for the disciple to bear the fruit which is an expression of the lives of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

The Fruit of the Spirit

I have to emphasize the fact that each fruit of the Spirit is not a separate virtue I can learn like when I make a cake or drive a car. They are expressions of the life of the Spirit in the same way that figs are the expression of the natural life that flows through the fig tree and olives are the expression of the natural life that flows through the olive tree. The fruit Paul wrote about in his letter to the churches in Galatia are the expressions of the life of the Spirit. Christians who explore these things in the scriptures become aware of two kinds of life: the life of the flesh and the life of the Spirit. And both are capable of bearing fruit: different kinds of fruit, fruit with different qualities and purposes. The fruit produced by the flesh focuses attention on the one who consumes that fruit, the person who lives in the flesh, both the unredeemed sinner, who has no choice, and the redeemed saint who has the choice to live in the flesh. The fruit of the flesh gratify the person served by his or her fleshly nature. The fruit of the Spirit, at the opposite end of the scale, provide sustenance for the saint so that he or she may grow in the knowledge and love of God. And for that to happen, each saint will need to live in the Spirit (see Galatians 5:25) and not in the flesh. Only in this way will the Holy Spirit of our God truly express each of those nine fruits of His divine character. In effect, these nine fruits are locked away in the inner resources of our hearts where the Spirit dwells. And they will stay there and remain unavailable as long as the child of the Father lives in the flesh. The spiritual skill each Christian has to learn is how to cooperate with the Spirit in any situation or relationship so that together the fruit of the Spirit can be

expressed.

Expressing the Fruit of the Spirit.

In every situation a Christian encounters, he is not alone. The Spirit of the living God stands with him or with her, and the Holy Spirit is fully aware of the elements of that situation in which a particular fruit of the Spirit may be needed. In that partnership, I believe two things are needed. Christian has to be clear that his repertoire of responses in such situation is strictly limited and that he has to draw on the unlimited responses that can be made by the Spirit Himself. In the silence of his heart, he will need to draw on the prayer, “Lord, I don’t know how to respond. I need your help. Please teach me.” And then trust Him to do so. In that brief moment, Christian will find the appropriate response: kindness, self-control, long-suffering, gentleness, faithfulness, or goodness, as a small germ of a thought, and in responding with this desired fruit of the Spirit, he or she will be ed by the Holy Spirit with the matching expression of His nature. Together, the problem will be solved and the difficulty met and overcome. A much-needed and particular fruit of the Spirit will make its appearances in attitude, behavior, or word. And over time and with repeated application, each fruit of the Spirit will become a permanent element in the character of the disciple. And needless to say, the outcome will be for the benefit of the person in need and the Lord will be glorified.

Final Comment

The first three fruits of the Spirit—His love, His joy, and His peace—create a very special environment in the Christian. In such a spiritual environment, he or she is able to work with the Spirit to release the power and effect of appropriate

fruit into the dialogue with the person in need. The first occasion may seem tentative and the outcome uncertain. But the author has found that repeated applications of these spiritual skills will make their application more certain, until expressing any one of the fruits of the Spirit becomes automatic. The needs of another person, of any situation or relationship will be met, the Lord will be glorified, and by slow degrees, the Christian will progressively be transformed into the image of our Lord.

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Love One Another

By this all will know that you are My disciples if you have love for one another. —John 13:35

He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me. And he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and manifest Myself to him. —John 14:21

This is My commandment that you love one another, as I have loved you. —John 15:12

The Seventh Mark of a Disciple

Jesus left us with the seventh mark of being His disciple when He told them. “By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another” (John 13:35). This seventh mark of a disciple is fully in accord with Jesus’s words. “This is My commandment, that you love one another, as I have loved you” (John 15:12). Paul applies this love to one of the most common of all relationships, that between husbands and wives. He wrote, “Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave Himself for her” (Eph. 5:25). His

love is the standard for two divine institutions: the church and the family, and also the standard for each disciple’s relationships with others.

Love Is the Standard

All through the ages, our God has set standards for His people and the greatest standard of all is love. His love. The Father’s love. But man is a perverse creature who has consistently turned his attention away from the standards God has set for all relationships in His kingdom. This was true in the Garden God planted in Eden. There, Eve shifted her focus away from the love standard the Lord had set when He made man in His own image, which is the image of love. Eve replaced this divine standard with a standard she set for herself. Her focus was not on God and His commands, but on herself and on what she could gain by eating the forbidden fruit. The arguments she used to justify eating the fruit had herself at the center (see Genesis 3:6). I find that this is also the case with love. Around the world, love has become downgraded from divine love with God at its center, to human love based on impulse, which can be selfish, capricious, and self-centered. This means that the command for Christians to love one another as a mark of being His disciple is in danger of being downgraded and corrupted. Human love cannot be used as one of the marks of being His disciple. It is a common error among Christians to confuse heavenly or divine love with earthly love. The earthly love is based on chance and is the result of impulse when situations are favorable. Heavenly love is the result of the deliberate decision to love another whether the situation is favorable or not. Jesus was speaking about His deliberate decision to love His disciples even when He was confronted with two brothers with fiery temperaments (Mark 3:17 and Luke 9:54), a disciple who betrayed Him (John 12:4), disciples who fled when confronted with danger (Matt. 26:56), and a disciple who denied Him (John 18:25–27). The human kind of love would have withdrawn when confronted by someone with a fiery temperament, or by betrayal, fear, or danger.

Not so the love our God has for us. He never withdraws His love no matter how we fail (Rom. 8:38–39). And His love is the standard for how I am to love others. I need to explore the Father’s love in more detail, for it is the basis of all that follows in this study. I begin with a reflection on His standards for the love I am commanded to express to Him and to one another.

The Supreme Sacrifice

The seventh mark of a disciple, “love one another as I have loved you,” takes me far beyond the realms of human nature and experience. I know that man was created in the image of love (Gen. 1:27). And just as God is love (1 John 4:7–8), so also was the first man. Not the fitful parody of divine love, human love, and loving that focuses on itself, but the love of the Father expressed in the noun agape and in the verb agapao. This kind of love flows from the repeated decision to ire, respect, and revere the other person however unworthy of love that person may be. Agape creates a warm tenderness of heart toward the other person and is expressed in serving that person whatever the cost to oneself. The supreme example of God’s love serving sinful man whatever the cost was expressed by the Lord Himself when He told His disciples, “Greater love [agape] has no one than this, than to lay down His life for His friends, and you are My friends” (John 15:13–14). I know He was speaking of Himself and of His disciples. What Jesus did not describe at that time was the terrible cost of loving the world (John 3:16). Peter described part of that cost. “Who Himself bore our sins in His own body on the [cross]” (1 Pet. 2:24). Every individual sin, from the smallest lie to the vilest murder was placed in His body. Paul describes more of the cost of love and of Him serving His friends and also us. “For He [the Father] made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us” (2 Cor. 5:21). The apostle reminds us that Jesus actually became sin. The sinful natures of all of us were embedded in His spotless heart. Jesus became a sinner in my place and was therefore reserved for the Father’s judgment on sin. The cost of service that comes with divine love applied to both the Father and the Son. The Son bore the Father’s judgment of sin. He was flogged and then

crucified on our behalf. In those sufferings, He was serving all of us. On the cross, the Father turned His back on the Son who had become sin. The Son knew the terrible pain of the cost of loving and serving sinful man when He cried out on the cross. “My God. My God. Why have you forsaken Me?” (Matt. 27:46). The cost of loving and therefore serving sinful man, for the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, was extraordinarily high. I am convinced that the cost born by the One who loves needs to be understood by every disciple. The Father and the Son willingly bore the cost of love. And that cost applies to those who would be His disciples. Disciples who are willing to bear the seventh mark of being His disciple are bound to love as Jesus loved and to serve the Lord God and one another as He did, whatever the cost.

Living in the Spirit of Love

I believe that the greatest element of living in the family of God is love, and that love is at the heart of the life of the Spirit of God who also is love (1 John 4:8). Living in the Spirit inevitably means living in love. And living in love is the uniting and enabling power of the church the Lord came to build. The Holy Spirit has many names. But one of those names links Him eternally with love. He is known as the Spirit of God (Rom. 8:9). And since God is love (1 John 4:8), so also the Spirit is love. Love is the primary expression of His character (Gal. 5:22), and this divine love in poured out into our hearts by the same Holy Spirit (Rom. 5:5). The command to be filled with the Spirit (Eph. 5:18) is in effect a command to be filled with love, which is the essential element of the Spirit’s character. And every element of the disciple’s relationship with the Spirit carries the same imperative. Be led by the Spirit (Rom. 8:14), live in the Spirit (Gal. 5:25), walk in the Spirit (Gal. 5:16), and walk in step with the Spirit (Gal. 5:25), all depend on the love the Spirit has poured into our hearts. Each of these instructions could be reworded: Be filled with love, be led by love, live in love, walk in love, and walk in step with love. Just as love is the dominant

element in the life of the Lord our God, so also it must be the dominant element in the lives of those who love and serve the One who is love. I know that the Holy Spirit came to live in our hearts when each of us was born of His Spirit and entered the kingdom of God. He continues to love us no matter how often we turn away from Him and so often offend Him. That is one part of our relationship with the Holy Spirit. The other part of that relationship puts the responsibility back with us. We are to love Him, our Lord and His Spirit, as He loved each of us. As we love Him, His Spirit fills us, leads and guides us, and directs our paths. There is a cost for all of us in loving the Lord our God and the Spirit He has sent. The Father’s intention is that I should serve Him and that comes at a price. From Eve, I learn the selfish human love that focuses on itself. The old nature, the flesh, has no intention of loving and serving God. It is addicted to loving and serving itself. Myself. That is why serving the Lord our God comes at such a price and the price is the death of the old man, the daily crucifixion of the flesh that cannot please Him so that I may love Him as He requires (Gal. 5:24). Paul made this clear in his letter to the church at Ephesus, “That you put off, concerning your former conduct, the old man, which grows corrupt according to the deceitful lusts, and be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and that you put on the new man which was created according to God, in true righteousness and holiness” (Eph. 4:22–24). The old man is committed to serving itself. The new man is committed to loving and serving the Lord our God whatever the cost. The Father’s love in the heart of the disciple is to be expressed out in the world. With that love in our hearts, we can go out to build relationships with those who are alienated by sin and separated from the Father. And as we love them, one by one, so does the Spirit express His love to them and draws them to the Father. In this way, we work with Him who came to call sinners to Himself so that He might save them (Luke 19:10).

Love Is the Breath of the Church

Throughout His life, Jesus lived in closest company with the twelve. Apart from the times when He withdrew to pray and when He was taken from them for trial, He shared their lives in intimate detail. As we have seen and know, neither fiery temperaments nor betrayal nor fear nor danger caused Him to withdraw His love. And we can add to that list the selfish ambition of the mother for her two sons (Matt. 20:20–21), Martha’s anxiety about many things (Luke 10:38–41), and the crimes of the thief hanging on the cross (Luke 23:43). The Lord’s intimacy with His disciples was the environment in which His love for them could be expressed and which they could receive. If we look at the early church, we will see assemblies of men and women marked by imperfection. In Corinth, one believer went to court with a complaint against another (1 Cor. 6:1–6). Another in the same church had a sexual relationship with his own mother (1 Cor. 5:1). In Antioch, two of the chief apostles were divided from their brethren because of doctrinal differences (Gal. 2:11–12). In Rome, one of Paul’s assistants fled perhaps because of persecution (2 Tim. 4:10). The church in Philippi had to deal with two women who were in conflict (Phil. 4:2). And one of the greatest churches of that age, Ephesus, had begun to desert its first love (Rev. 2:4). Yet disciples in each of these churches were bound, as we all are, by the Lord’s command to love one another. This intimacy in human relationships was one of the characteristics of the early church. Although there are no instructions recorded for disciples to establish this intimacy, the early disciples seemed to know it intuitively. Luke records the intimacy in which love can truly be expressed very early in the life of the new church. “Now all who believed were together and had all things in common” and “So continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they ate their food with gladness and simplicity of heart” (Acts 2:44, 46). The Lord’s command for disciples to love one another in the intimate fellowship of the church had two great benefits. In the first place, love covers the sins that divides the saints from one another (1 Pet. 4:8). In this way, love brings each member of the assembly into line with the Lord Himself. Love forgives and so must the Lord’s disciples (1 John 1:9). I find from personal experience that the Lord never looks at me through a pair of sinful lenses. The Father sees me robed in the righteousness of Christ. Disciples need to see man the same way. By focusing on a person’s sin, we are stepping into the world of Satan, for that is exactly how Satan looks at man and gloats at those he has trapped into so many

sinful ways. In the second place, love is the power that enables the saints in the church to function effectively toward one another. All of the instructions and descriptions of life in the church have love at their center. Paul made this clear in his instruction to the disciples in the church at Ephesus. “With all lowliness and gentleness, with long suffering, bearing with one another in love, endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace” (Eph. 4:2–3). Love among the brethren underpins the Lord’s requirements that there be no division in the body (1 Cor. 12:25), that we forgive one another (Eph. 4:32), that we comfort and edify one another (1 Thess. 5:11), that we be on of one mind (1 Pet. 3:8), and that disciples confess their treses to one another (James 5:16). By loving one another, we enable the Lord to actively build His own church (Matt. 16:18). Remove love and we strip the church of this great enabling power, inhibit the Lord in His desire to build His church, and confine the Holy Spirit who pours His love into our hearts, to the sidelines. Actively love and serve one another, with hearts filled with tender affection, and we align ourselves with the Lord who is love.

Part 6

The Family of God

Preface to the Family of God

The term “family of God” is poorly understood in Christian circles. It suffers from the same treatment we give to many of the we are to hold dear. We define it not as it is defined in the sacred writings, but so that the definition fits the doctrines and practices of contemporary churches. Find a church, any church, with who may or may not have an active faith in our Lord, who may or may not love Him, whose sins may or may not have been forgiven and who may or may not have been born of the Spirit, and attach the name family of God to this diverse crew of sinners and saints, saved and unsaved, repentant and unrepentant. All are said to be of the family of God. Sounds good. But it is sadly lacking any vestige of the truth that God uses for His people and suffers from three faults. In the first place, the human definition of the term family of God denies the Lord’s words that His people are not of this world just as He is not of this world (John 8:23, 17:16, and 18:36). In our world, reality is human. In the Lord’s world, reality is spirit. In our world, the family of God is said to be made up of ordinary human beings. In His world, the family of God is filled with men and women who have been born of the Spirit. In the second place it denies what Jesus told Nicodemus that night in John’s house in Jerusalem. “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he [or she] cannot enter the kingdom of God” (John 3:5). The family of God is part of the kingdom of God. And since the kingdom of God is a spirit kingdom just as God is Spirit (John 4:24), so the family of God is a Spirit family. And entrance into the Spirit family of God is not through the doorway of

human birth but through the narrow gate where one is born of the Spirit. And in the third place living in the family of God, as the scriptures define that term, does not depend on its drawing human breath. It depends on the One who has been identified as the Spirit of life (Rom. 8:2). The Holy Spirit is to be the life and breath of every member of the family of God. The Father of the family has made it possible for everyone—man, woman, and child—on the planet to become of His own divine family. The way to be received as a member is straightforward and has already been described in this narrative (see part 4, chapter 23, “The Miracle Instant”). Every member of the family of God has equal rights and privileges, just as they do in a normal human family. But I believe that every member of His divine family has access to and enjoys the following seven rights and privileges:

Immediate and continuing access to the Father, who is the Head of the divine family of God. Intimate relationship with the Spirit of God who is the breath of life of each member of God’s family. Intimate relationship with the Firstborn, our elder brother, who is Jesus the Christ, our living Lord. Sharing the nature both of the Father and of our elder brother and which we share with every other member of the family. Daily provision of all that is needed for a member to function as a fully accredited member of His family. Fellowship shared by of the family of God with the Father and the Son. Immediate access back into the family of God where one has strayed and become lost to its welcome.

When I consider the rights and privileges enjoyed by of the divine family of God, I find distinctive differences between the same seven rights and privileges enjoyed by of normal human families. I stress the word “normal,” for so many human families are not normal in the acceptable meaning of the word, some through no fault of their own, others because of the vagaries that human nature visits on families in today’s world. The rights and privileges of of normal human families are so often conditional. The father has left. Mother has died. One member is in prison. Parents are estranged. The list could go on. And each of these factors changes the nature of the rights and privileges that might be enjoyed by of such families. The rights and privileges of of the family of God are unconditional. They are guaranteed by the One we know as Abba, Father (Rom. 8:15). The only way in which a Christian may not enjoy these seven rights and privileges is where he or she turns his back on them. The family will continue, but the one who turns his back shuts the entire family out of his life and deprives himself or herself of all that God provides for every member of His beloved family. In the pages that follow, I will explore each of the seven rights and privileges that can be enjoyed by of the family of God. And each of the seven will remain on the agenda of our lives in and with the Father forever. They will only be taken off the Father’s agenda when the Lord, our Elder Brother, calls each member of His family home. Then each member of His family will be united with Him forever. And that will be the final right and privilege of all the sons and daughters of the Lord our God.

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Head of the Family

For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, “Abba, Father.” The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God. —Romans 8:15–16

Grace, mercy and peace will be with you from God the Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of the Father. —2 John 1:3

If you endure chastening, God deals with you as with sons; for what son is there whom a father does not chasten? —Hebrews 12:7

Introductions

The story of the family of God and of Christian’s place in the family has to begin with three introductions. The first is to God the Father. The second is to the Son of the Father. The third is to the Spirit of the Father. Each of these of God’s family has a special part to play in the life and management of the family. In this chapter, we will concentrate on the part the Lord our God, the Father of the family, plays in the affairs of His family. In coming chapters, we will seek to understand the part played in the family by the Spirit of the Father. For He is the life of the family. Then the part played by the Son of the Father for He is the elder brother of all those who belong to the family of God. There is a fourth introduction that needs to be made. Christian is an integral member of the family of God. He or she was once alienated from God’s family by the humanly insurmountable barriers of his sinning and by the sinful nature that is obstinately opposed to everything that has to do with God’s Spirit (see Galatians 5:16). But his repentance and confession brought him up close to the entry place into the family of God where the Lord, the Elder Brother, was waiting. There he or she found forgiveness and cleansing (1 John 1:9). The barriers fell away and the once-sinner, now a member, a most valued and loved member of God’s eternal family, was welcomed into the family by the Father Himself, the Spirit of life of the family, and by Jesus, our Elder Brother. This was the special moment Jesus spoke about, “And We will come to Him and make Our home with him” (John 14:23).

Father of the Family

I find that here I am confronted by a most remarkable truth. The One who is our Father dwells in light to which no one can approach. Moses found this to be true when he was on the mountain and God came down to give him the two tablets of stone. Moses said to the Lord God, “Please show me your glory” (Ex. 33:18). The Lord who is Father in our family replied, “You cannot see My face; for no man shall see Me and live” (Ex. 33:20). Many years later, Paul wrote about the Person who loves us with an everlasting love (Jer. 31:3), a love that sures all human knowledge (Eph. 3:19), and “who alone has immortality, dwelling in

unapproachable light, whom no man has seen or can see” (1 Tim. 6:16). This immortal Person is the Father of the family to which we all belong. Even though no man has ever or can ever see His face, yet He has made His home with us and in our presence brings the benefits of His Person and Fatherhood into the family. I have experienced much of His presence as my Father but seven benefits clearly stand out, seven on His part calling for seven responses on my part. And here I must not quote doctrine. Doctrine won’t necessarily convince you. My experience of the Father is testimony to the life He and I share, the Father with me, and myself with Him (see 1 John 1:3). I want to write about seven elements in my fellowship with the Father.

His Love, My Love

The first element in our fellowship, my fellowship with Him and His fellowship with me, is love—His love that is expressed in His respect and iration of me, in whatever state I find myself and however I sin against Him, His service that fulfills His words that His Son did not come to be served but to serve (Mark 10:45), and the tender affection for me that is always present in the heart of my God. My response. Step for step, pace for pace. The utmost respect and iration for the One who occupies the special chamber of my heart that Paul called the temple of God (1 Cor. 3:16). Serving Him at whatever cost to myself and in whatever way His Spirit requires of me. And then out of the depths of my heart, as I express my response, “Lord, I love you,” tender affection for Him completes every interaction.

His Peace, My Undistracted Heart

The second element in my fellowship with the Father of our family is peace, His

peace, the peace of heaven that has now become peace in the family of God. Paul called peace one of the fruit of His Spirit, but I prefer to describe His peace as one of the preeminent expressions of the character of My Father. And where better place to express His peace than in my heart, originally cleansed from all sin (1 John 1:09). My response: keep my heart free from everything that will inhibit Him from expressing His peace in my heart and distract me from knowing and enjoying His peace that sures all my understanding. His peace takes me out of myself and into the realm of pure Spirit where He dwells. His peace expressed in my heart is one of the testimonies I have about fellowship with the Most High God who is the Father of the family of God.

His Provision, My Trust

The third element in our relationship is His provision of everything that I and the family of God will ever need. As the Head of His family, He is under obligation to provide everything the family needs in the same way that the responsibility to provide for the families around the world falls on the shoulders of heads of human families. His responsibility to provide the food, clothing, and shelter the family needs is linked to a command and a promise. The Lord’s own words, “Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink’ or ‘What shall we wear?’” He then adds, “But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you” (Matt. 6:31, 33). The Father of our family of God has another much deeper responsibility regarding providing everything His family needs. Sadly the attention of most Christians is on their material needs and not on this undiscovered area of need in the spiritual realm. But Paul made a number of references to what the Father is responsible to provide His family. One is found in his letter to the church at Colossae. Writing of our Lord Paul added, “In whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge” (Col. 2:3). Add to the treasures of wisdom and knowledge the third provision of grace. The writer of the letter to the Hebrews describes that provision, “Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace,

that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need” (Heb. 4:16). My response: Trust Him with all the integrated harmony of my being; all my heart, all my soul, all my mind, and all my strength, that He will provide everything we need in the physical and the spiritual areas of our lives as of His divine family.

His Joy, My Rejoicing

The fourth element of my relationship with the Father is joy that I cannot describe for it is inexpressible. I do not pluck joy out of the air or hope it will flow into my heart from some undefined place. Joy has a very special source. It flows out of the heart of our Lord. The Lord told His disciples, “These things I have spoken to you, that My joy may remain in you” (John 15:11). Joy is an expression of His character and the Spirit expresses that joy in our hearts as a fruit of His own Being (see Galatians 5:22). Peter referred to our response to the Father’s joy in his first letter, “Whom having not seen you love. Though now you do not see Him, yet believing, you rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory” (1 Pet. 1:8). He expresses His joy in my heart. I respond with rejoicing, and here Peter uses a special Greek word that defines rejoicing as leaping about, dancing with joy, rejoicing with song and dance, exulting, leaping for joy. My age prohibits me from leaping about. But deep down in my spirit where joy is ed, I leap about, exult, rejoice with song that Peter says is filled with glory. And this is the right and privilege of all who belong to His divine and eternal family.

His Law, My Obedience

The fifth element of fellowship in His family is law. Not the law written on

tablets of stone (see Exodus 31:18). Jeremiah prophesied that a new law for the children of Israel would be written on the tablets of their hearts (Jer. 31:33). That prophecy applies to the future regathered Jewish people who survive the final great anti-Semitic persecution. The lives of Christians in the family of God are to be guided by a new law, a different kind of law, not law written on tablets of stone or included in creeds and documents, but the law Christians are to obey is found in a person. Jesus put it this way, “Do not think that I came to destroy the law or the prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfil [the law]” (Matt. 5:17). We understand that the Lord fulfilled the law, not by obeying each of its precepts, but in His life, by living the foundation principle of the law which is love, thus through the love He expressed among them. He told His disciples, “As the Father loved Me, I also have loved you; abide in My love” (John 15:9). Some years later, Paul understood that the old Jewish law had been replaced by the law that has love as its central command. “Owe no one anything except to love one another, for he [or she] who loves another has fulfilled the law” (Rom. 13:8). (See also Romans 8:9–10.) The law of love has been written on my heart (see Romans 5:5), and I am called to obey. Love the Lord my God and love my neighbors as myself. His law. My willing and unhesitating obedience.

Dialogue, Speaking Together

The sixth element in Christian’s fellowship with the Father is dialogue. Not a musty kind of supposed dialogue with a God who is somewhere up there, but an internal dialogue, His Spirit with my spirit. His heart with my heart, and most definitely; His mind with my heart and mind. I need to explain the mystery of His mind in dialogue with my heart and mind. Paul wrote, “For who has known the mind of the Lord that he may instruct Him? But we have the mind of Christ” (1 Cor. 2:16). And add to that certainty—the mind of Christ—the second certainty that His mind is within each one who believes. As Paul said, “It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me” (Gal.

2:20). His mind functions in three ways according to three Greek words.

Ennoia. What the Lord knows and what is stored in His mind. Noema. (The e is long as in fete.) What the mind produces; ideas, thoughts, intentions. Dianoia. The mind thinking through an issue, the reflective exercise of the mind.

Now we are confronted with a mystery and by a question. The Lord within each Christian thinks through every situation that confronts each of us. He does His thinking within each one who believers. That is the mystery. The question follows. Can He, and is He able to communicate what He knows and what He thinks into the mind and heart of the believer? The answer is a most definite yes! What He knows can be made known to each believer through His Spirit as words of knowledge (1 Cor. 12:8). The product of His mind can be made known also through His Spirit as words of wisdom and prophecy (1 Cor. 12:8, 10). And His reflection on situations can be made known to those who are listening, who are walking in step with the Spirit (Gal. 5:25), who will communicate the Lord’s decisions about the way ahead for each one who believes. But there is a condition. All these activities of His mind can only be known by a Christian who is living in the Spirit, who is focused on the Lord, is not distracted by all the noises of the world, the flesh and the devil, is listening, and is intent on knowing the mind of the Lord in all situations. Then He speaks and I listen. And in those intimate moments, which the author knows well, I also speak and He listens, thus completing the cycle of dialogue that is an essential part of each Christian’s relationship with each member of the Godhead in the family of God.

His Chastens, I Submit

The seventh element in our relationship with the Father is His chastening that may be waiting for me when I refuse the repentance and confession that He asks of all of us. The writer of the letter to the Hebrews wrote of this element. “My son, do not despise the chastening of the Lord, nor be discouraged when you are rebuked by Him; for whom the Lord loves He chastens, and scourges every son who He receives” (Heb. 12:5–6). Chasten. Paideuo. (The o is long as in mote.) To bring up or rear a child in the family of God, to train and educate a member of the family in the ways of the family, to make an offending member of the family aware of his or her misdemeanors, and to have that member submit to the Father’s chastening. Scourge. Mastigoo. (The final o is long as in mote.) In physical , to whip and scourge so that the bones are laid bare, as with the Lord’s scourging before His crucifixion. In spiritual , to repeatedly lay the matter bare in the mind and on the heart and conscience of the Christian, to emphatically and repeatedly bring his or her attention to the offence that needs correction, to produce shame as the basis for the deliberate decision to turn away from the offending word or action. Forgiveness cleans out the obstacles to our relationship (1 John 1:9). Chastening is designed to train a Christian not to walk again in the ways that distress the Father. Chastening is not a random experience that falls on a Christian unexpectedly. The Father of our family has designed a careful process to keep us on track. It begins with the Spirit whom the Father has given us. The Lord identified the first step leading to chastening. “And when He comes, He will convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment” (John 16:8). Most of us know so well that still small inner voice that s the Spirit’s disapproval. Our immediate response should follow. Repent (2 Tim. 2:25). Confess the wrong thought, word, or action. Receive His forgiveness and cleansing and begin again (1 John 1:9). Chastening becomes necessary when a Christian refuses to listen, denies the inner voice of conscience, and justifies his or her decision to continue in the way that is contrary to the ways of the Father. The Lord’s words can be applied to the Christian who has been reminded by the Lord of her or her misstep. “Agree with your adversary quickly, while you are in the way with him” (Matt. 5:25). And here we can read the adversary as the Lord Himself.

When our sin interrupts our fellowship with the Father, it becomes necessary and urgent that we find a way to return to the fellowship with the Father that He longs for, and for which Jesus died to make possible. Then the rule follows. He chastens. I submit.

In Conclusion

Fellowship with the Father in the family of God is most precious, to be desired above all else, and to be protected whatever the cost. The seven elements in Christian’s relationship with the Father are seven of the most wonderful rights and privileges any member of the family of God can know. Where any of the seven is missing in our relationship with the Father, the reason for its absence should be examined, understood, and given priority in the search to know our Lord and the Father of our family. Each of these seven was an element in the Lord’s own relationship with the Father. He established these seven patterns. Paul wrote that we are to be conformed to the image of our Lord’s relationship with the Father (Rom. 8:29). Love. Peace. Trust. Rejoicing. Obedience. Dialogue. Submission. And these are the challenges each member of the family of God faces in these last days before He returns.

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Spirit of the Father

Thomas said to Him, “Lord, we do not know where You are going, and how can we know the way?” Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.” —John 14:6

And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever—the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you. —John 14:16–17

I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who will believe in Me through their word; that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You, that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me. —John 17:20–21

Sin Divides

In the human world where sin is the dominant principle, people are divided from

one another and, more importantly, from the Lord our God. This was not so in the beginning when man was made in the image of God. At that time, the Lord’s intention was for the union of one person with another. And that was achieved in the garden when Adam and Eve were united with each other and both were united with the Lord. Then sin entered the human race, and as a consequence, division of man from each other and from the Lord have become distinctive ways of life. Jesus came to undo the shackles that bind man to sin, and to restore the union that sin, at the beck and call of Satan, had destroyed. On that final night, Jesus prayed to the Father, probably in the company of John, who is the only one who records the Lord’s Prayer. And in His prayer, the Lord spelled out His intention: restore the unity that was lost when Eve made her bargain with the devil. John records this element in His prayer, “I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who will believe in Me through their word; that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You, that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me” (John 17:20–21). That was before the cross when He would achieve the great purpose of the Father. Paul records what happened that day after the Lord prayed this most significant prayer. “For it pleased the Father that in [Jesus] all the fullness should dwell, and by Him to reconcile all things to Himself, by Him, whether things on earth or things in heaven, having made peace through the blood of the cross” (Col. 1:19–20). Then came Pentecost and the “sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind” (Acts 2:2). We know who came that day. He was the One Jesus had promised would fill them, dwell in them, and also unite them. From that day, the union of of the family of God that Jesus prayed for became truly possible.

Spirit in the Family

In the world’s eyes, there are various ways men and women can be united. Legally they can be bound to each other by law or regulation as of

some kind of institutional order. They can find common ground in some voluntary grouping such as a stamp club, a flying club, or an embroidery circle. In the third place, they can be bound together by birth as human of a family or clan or tribe. None of these human provisions for the unity of one person with another goes deeper than surface appearance. Unity can be like wallpaper, which, on the surface, is beautiful but hides the blemishes, cracks, and defects of the wall beneath that paper-thin masquerade of beauty. Our Christian religion is so often like that wallpaper, a surface appearance of unity hiding a multiplicity of divisions, defects, and the innate blemishes of our distinctly sinful natures. The Lord who took on the form of a servant (Phil. 2:6–8) knew what was in man for He had been tempted as we all are yet without sin (Heb. 4:15). His intention was for man to return to the unity that was first ordained in the garden. First He dealt with the sin that divides, and through the cross, made reconciliation of man to Himself and to each other (see Colossians 1:20). Then He established a way for the unity He died for to be reestablished on earth as it had in the days of Adam. His provision? The family of God. Not a structured organization. Not a humanly engineered structure of relationships. And not a voluntary association of like-minded individuals. The family of God is a functional union of men and women bound together at three levels. They are all born of the same Father and legally adopted into His single family (John 3:5 and Rom. 8:15–17). In the second place, they all have the same life and are bound together by the Spirit of life. In the third place, theirs is a unity of purpose under the Head of the Family who establishes and directs the of His family in pursuit of His purposes. And there are two purposes that God has established and which He consistently pursues: glorify God, make His name and reputation great on the earth (see 1 Corinthians 6:20), and each member of His body to be progressively conformed to the image of their elder brother (Rom. 8:29). Having established the family of God at Pentecost, the Father of the family did not leave them to their own devices, as Christians are wont to do. Instead He provided the family with His own Spirit so that His words to His disciples could be fulfilled in and through His family. The Lord’s words, “I am the way, the truth, and the life” (John 14:6). And to put these three elements of the life of the Lord into practice in the family of God, the Lord asked the Father and He sent

His own Spirit into the family of God (John 14:16). We will examine these three purposes in reverse order. As the Spirit of life, the Holy Spirit was sent to provide the family, and each of its with life in all its manifest detail (Rom. 8:2). His second purpose: As the Spirit of truth, to lead and guide the family and each of its into truth (John 16:13). His third purpose: to lead the family and each of its in the way to the Father (Rom. 8:14).

The Spirit of Life

The Holy Spirit’s presence and work in and through the family lifts the family of God out of the human dimension and gives it its rightful place in the heavenly realm. For the family of God is an extension of the kingdom of God which is a Spirit kingdom. The Head of the family is the Father Himself and He is Spirit (John 4:24). Everything about the family of God has to be thought of and judged in this dimension of spirit, His Spirit and our spirit. The life the Spirit brings to the family is always individual, but it is manifest both in individual and in the family as a whole. Christian is to be filled with the Spirit (Eph. 5:18). And that filling makes it possible for the character of the Spirit to be expressed in each member of the family. We know nine elements of the character of the Spirit. Paul identified them as nine fruit of the Spirit, which like the fruit of a tree or vine expresses the character of that tree or vine. Three preeminent elements of the Spirit’s character are discussed in chapter 24, “The Temple of the Holy Spirit.” The remaining six elements of the Spirit’s character have been discussed in chapter 26, “Christ in You.” Paul identified the Father’s priority for each member of His family: to be conformed to the image of the Firstborn, their Elder Brother (Rom. 8:29). This means that of the family of God are not to be left to their own devices and to make themselves into the best human image that is humanly possible. Theirs is a much higher standard. Nothing less them being conformed to the image of Christ will do. And the first and primary objective is for each member of the family to understand and then to make his or her own, every element of

the Spirit’s character, which is also the character of our Lord (see Galatians 5:22–23). In churches today, these nine elements of the Spirit’s character have been largely forgotten and, where known, have been sidelined. This was never how the Father intended His family of God to function. In the early days of the church, the of His family met in each other’s homes, which provided the perfect environment for the nine elements of the character of the Lord and of His Spirit to be expressed. The environment of each other’s homes enabled the whole family to express love to one another (1 John 4:7), where peace, the Spirit’s undisturbed tranquility, was the environment in which they met and shared their lives (Phil. 4:7). (Note: The words “your hearts” are plural.) And where the Spirit’s joy was the impulse for their exultant rejoicing (1 Pet. 1:8). I believe that now, the twenty-first century, is the time when the church must radically reassess where it meets, how its respond to each other, and how the life of the Spirit can be effectively expressed in their meetings together.

The Spirit of Truth

The Lord affirmed that when He came the Spirit of truth would guide every member of the Father’s family into all truth (John 16:13). Two words stand out, in reverse order: truth and guide. Truth. Aletheia. (The first e is long as in fete.) Not the outward appearance of a person but the inward reality of the One who is the Truth, the essence of the life of that Person, the inner essence of His being that underpins all that He is, all that He says, and all that He does. The truth in and of Jesus was the well spring of His life among men. Guide. Hodegeo. (The first e and the final o are long as in fete and mote.) To lead the way into all truth, as One who knows both the destination, the direction, and the process, to progressively guide each Christian to that destination, which is not simply things that are true; but the One who is truth, not merely to the Person of Jesus, but to the inner reality of His Holy Being.

This work of the Spirit functions best when each member of the family of God gives the Spirit of truth his or her undistracted attention. The Lord made this abundantly clear when He commanded His disciples, “Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness” (Matt. 6:33). Seek first. Give the search your undistracted attention. Paul understood this need in the family of God as he wrote, “If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God. Set your mind on thing above, not on things of the earth” (Col. 3:1–2). Pursuing things of the world will always be a distraction for those who seek the truth who is Jesus the Firstborn and our Elder Brother in the family of God.

Spirit of the Way

The Lord defined that essential part of the way with His next words, “No one comes to the Father except through Me” (John 14:6). Many think that Jesus spoke only of the first coming for forgiveness and for acceptance into the family of God. But the words our Lord used have a much broader meaning. The Greek word translated comes in written in the tense that is equivalent of our English present continuous, literally, “No one continually comes to the Father every moment of every day of his or her life, except through Me and through My Spirit” (my paraphrase.). The way to the Father for His initial forgiveness and acceptance into His family is only the beginning of the process. From that first moment, the Father of our family is always to be approached through the Spirit of the Lord Jesus, and here again, we encounter a mystery. The Father is seated on His throne in the fastness of heaven. The Lord who gave us this instruction lives in our hearts (Col. 1:17). Now I have to rethink what it means for me to come to the Father. The process I use in approaching the Father of our family goes like this.

I encounter a need in a member of the family that is often expressed as a jumble of impressions, emotions, images, and ideas. I define that need, then give it

precise shape and form. The writer to the Hebrews calls it giving substance to what I want to ask the Father (Heb. 11:1). I refer my now well-defined request to the Spirit of the One in my heart who is the door into the Father’s presence (John 10:9). If my request does not line up with what He has taught us as defined by the scriptures, then He will take away my peace about that form of my request, and I will have to go back to my mental drawing board. I may need to consult with the person who brought me that need in the first place. He or she may not be clear, and it will be my responsibility to help the one in need to precisely define the need that is impelling his or her prayer request. And this is what the Lord Himself did when He was approached by the blind man at Jericho: “What do you want Me to do for you?” the Lord asked. The blind man was very precise, “That I may receive my sight” (Mark 10:51). And in the same way, the one in need and I must also approach the Father, not with the vague prayer words so many use but with a request that has very precise shape and form. When my request has the Spirit’s approval, the Holy Spirit and I approach the Father and ask Him to grant our request. And He always does, for I am asking the Father in the name and therefore with the approval and authority of His Son. When the Father’s response is in our hands and in our midst, and we have the evidence of our faith before us (see Hebrews 11:6), then I return to Him, again through the Spirit of our Lord, with thanksgiving (see Colossians 4:2).

The way to the Father through the Spirit of our Lord needs one further comment. I must come to the Father in a way that pleases Him. And that is most certainly not through the fallible strength of my human energies, for the energies of the flesh can never please God (see Romans 8:8). Paul made it clear that the flesh is always opposed by His Spirit (Gal. 5:16). The apostle also made it clear how I am to come to the Father. “Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit” (Eph. 6:18). Not by means of the energies of my fallible human nature, but only through the Spirit of the Lord am I to approach the Father.

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The Firstborn: Our Elder Brother

For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren. —Romans 8:29

But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name: who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. —John 1:12–13

For if you live according to the flesh you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. —Romans 8:13

Elder Brother

I find to my surprise and considerable wonder that He and I have one thing in common. We are both firstborn in our respective human families. I am the firstborn son of Leslie Charles and Dorine Clarice. He was the firstborn of Joseph and Mary of Nazareth. But the similarities between our Elder Brother and

every member of His family of Spirit that confound me do not end there.

He was born of the Spirit (Matt. 1:20) and so is every member of God’s family. Jesus was baptized in water by John in the Jordan (Matt. 3:13–15). Every member of the family of God is baptized by the Spirit (1 Cor. 12:13). The Father affirmed that the Lord was His Son (Matt. 3:17). Everyone who is born of the Spirit into the family of God has the Spirit’s witness that he or she is a member in the family of God (Rom. 8:16). The Lord was tempted in all points as we are (Heb. 4:15). of the family of God are also tempted (James 1:14). The cross was the center and focus of the Firstborn in the family of God (Matt. 20:18–19). Crucifixion is the centerpiece of our management of the flesh (Gal. 5:24). He was declared to be the Son of God through His resurrection (Rom. 1:4). of His family are to share in the power of His resurrection (Phil. 3:10). Our Lord is immortal (1 Tim. 1:17). of the family of God are to put on immortality and to share in His glory (1 Cor. 15:53).

What do I conclude from these remarkable comparisons? That the Firstborn in the family of God, our Elder Brother, has defined what it means to be a member of this family. There are so many things we have in common with Him, but in this narrative, I will focus on only three: being born into the family, living in the family under the eye of the Father, and sharing in His glory, that for us is yet to come.

Born into His Family

In His encounter with Nicodemus, the Lord spoke of two births: one human, one divine. “That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit” (John 3:6). Two kinds of birth and therefore two kinds of family; the great many human families into which we are all born, but only one divine family. Being born into our human families involves activities of the human nature which Jesus recognized as the flesh (see John 3:8). Being born into the Spirit family of God involves the activities of the Spirit of the Father. (Details of that humanly impossible Spirit birth are contained in chapter 23, “The Miracle Instant.”) Every Christian has access to three worlds. The first is the physical world of animate and inanimate objects that we are all able to ire and enjoy. The second is the human world where every member has a body that will die, a soul that combines the operation of mind and emotions and a spirit. The third world includes the spirit family of God and is a world of Spirit, which is like the wind Jesus spoke about with Nicodemus (John 3:8). All Christians face the problem of living in two distinct worlds, the human world of flesh and blood and the world of God that is spirit. Each world functions because its are born with three faculties: the faculty of the mind, the faculty that incorporates feelings such as tenderness, and the faculty of the will. The human person is born with these faculties. The spirit person is also born with these faculties, but human and spirit faculties operate quite differently. And this presents every Christian with a problem and a challenge. Human faculties are necessary so that Christians can function in the human family. The parallel spirit faculties are needed so that Christian can function in the Spirit family of God. And those spirit faculties include inner ears and eyes that can hear and see what the Spirit wants to reveal to us as Spirit born children of God.

Living in the Family

Jesus, the firstborn among many brethren and therefore our Elder Brother, has left us with patterns for our lives as of God’s Spirit family. He Himself identified two of the most important elements of His life as a member of God’s eternal family: hearing what the Father has to say to Him, and knowing and obeying the will of the Father. Our Lord made a remarkable confession to His disciples, “For I have not spoken on My own authority; but the Father who sent Me gave me a command, what I should say and what I should speak. And I know that His command is everlasting life. Therefore, whatever I speak, just as the Father has told me, so I speak” (John 12:49–50). The pattern is clear. Every part of our Lord’s daily life unfolded in accord with the Father’s continuing direction. And so it must be for Christians. The second part of the Lord’s pattern for the lives of Christians related to the will of the Father. That final night in the Garden of Gethsemane the Lord laid bare His dependence on the Father for guidance and direction. And in that intimate moment, our Lord confirmed that the will of the Father took precedence over His own will. He said, “Abba, Father, all things are possible for You. Take this cup away from Me. Nevertheless, not what I will, but what You will’” (Mark 14:35–36). In the Garden in Gethsemane, the two elements of the Lord’s relationship with the Father, communication with Him, and submission to the Father’s will, are revealed as two parts of a seamless whole. And here we find the same doublesided pattern in our relationship with the Lord as of the family of God, communication with the Father for daily guidance and direction, and the need to know His will for our lives. Let us examine each in turn.

Communication with the Lord

From the very beginning of the church at Pentecost, Christians understood that communication with their Lord was an essential part of their lives. The first

record of the dependence on communication with the Lord and His Spirit is found in Luke’s of Philip being told by the Spirit to go down on the road to Gaza. Then when he did, the Spirit told him, “Go near and overtake his chariot” (Acts 8:29). Luke also records the two-way communication between Ananias in Damascus and the Lord regarding the Lord’s plans for Saul who would later be renamed Paul (see Acts 9:10–16). Then Saul was filled with the Spirit so that communication between Saul and the Lord could continue to be possible. Peter had the same facility to hear the Spirit and obey His instructions. He was coming down the stairs of the house of Simon the tanner when the Spirit said to him, “Behold, three men are seeking you. Arise therefore, go down with them, doubting nothing; for I am sent them” (Acts 10:19–20). In direct communication, through the visions of angels, and through dreams, our Elder Brother communicates with different of the family of God and makes the Father’s will known. This pattern of communication continued throughout the history of the early church. Very little is recorded about this element in the lives of early Christians, but there are no indicators that this requirement for member of God’s family has ever been withdrawn. We, therefore, believe that God continues to communicate with His people, and His people need to cultivate the faculties of seeing and hearing what the Lord has to reveal to each member of His family.

The Will of God

Just as our Lord submitted His will to the will of the Father, so also are Christians taught to do the same. The Lord Himself referred to this element in His words to His disciples in Capernaum, “For whoever does the will of God is My brother and sister and mother” (Mark 3:35). It is quite evident that knowing and doing the will of God is an integral part of every Christian’s relationship with our Lord. Paul taught the of the family of God in Rome, “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God” (Rom. 12:2).

In the early church, knowing and doing the will of God were essential elements in their lives as of the family of God. And the same applied to prayer. John wrote, “Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us” (1 John 5:14). Two comments. As we have seen, the will of God for of His family takes two forms: His general will and His specific will. The Lord’s general will includes proclaiming the gospel (Mark 16:15), and seeking and saving the lost (Luke 19:10). His specific will is tied to specific things the Lord wants said and done, such as with Philip and Peter (see above). Our second comment relates to knowing His specific will, for that depends entirely on how well a Christian is listening for what He wants said, done, and prayed for. Every Christian has been given the spirit faculties of seeing and hearing what God wants to reveal to us. The question facing every Christian is, “How well am I listening?” And the related question, “What other voices are commanding my attention, distracting me from listening, and in effect shutting my inner ears to the still small voice of His Spirit?” From the very beginning of life for our Lord (Matt. 1:20), until the last minutes on the cross when “He yielded up His Spirit” (Matt. 27:50), the Spirit of the Lord and of God elevated the life of the Lord out of ordinary human existence into the realm of the Spirit where He belonged. And so it has to be for every member of God’s eternal family. For all of us are bound by the Lord’s own words, “It is enough for a disciple that he be like his teacher, and a servant like his master” (Matt. 10:25). Our Lord was filled with the Spirit and the same applies to each individual Christian. The Spirit’s command expressed in Paul’s letter to the church at Ephesus, still applies to every member of the living family of God, “And do not be drunk with wine, is which is dissipation; but be filled with the Spirit” (Eph. 5:18). Some might argue that the need to be filled with the Spirit and to listen for and obey the voice of the Spirit was set aside when the scriptures were given. There is no absolutely no scriptural warrant for this view, which amounts to a lazy man’s way of justifying his or her failure to obey the Lord’s command, stated seven times in His personal letters to the churches. “He who has an ear, let him heart what the Spirit says to the churches” (Rev. 2:7, and the concluding verses in the remaining six letters). And that brings us to the concluding triumph

for every member of the family of God, the glory that is to be unveiled.

We Shall Be Like Him

Again, our Lord has set the pattern. His birth was the pattern for our birth into the family of God. His life sets the pattern for our lives as of the family of God. And His resurrection and glory sets the pattern for what the Father has in store for each of His children. The aged apostle and prophet John describes what is in store for the of God’s family. “Beloved, now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is” (1 John 3:2). At the incredible moment when we see Him in the clouds (see 1 Thessalonians 4:17), the Lord’s prophetic instruction that we are to be like our Teacher will be fulfilled. We shall be like the One who was with some of His disciples on the mountain. Matthew records what they saw: “And He was transfigured before them. His face shone like the sun, and His clothes became as white as the light” (Matt. 17:2). Ours will not be a future blighted by every wayward misdemeanor or filled with the profligacies of the world. Those will all be things of the past. John was clear about our future. “We shall be like Him” (1 John 3:2). None of us wants to diminish the glory that is to be revealed. And because of that wonder of all wonders, we are called to manage ourselves in this life in preparation for the life to come. And that takes us deep into the next chapter where we will consider another wonder: the divine nature in Jesus that was revealed among men and which can now be revealed to the world through each member of the family of God.

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The Divine Nature

[by] His divine power [He] has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by His glory and virtue, by which have been given to us exceeding great and precious promises, that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature. —1 Peter 1:3–4

That Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height—to know the love of Christ which es knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fulness of God. —Ephesians 3:17–19

I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. —Galatians 2:20

The Impossible

I grew up with an ordinary man’s view of faith: Be saved, go to church, read my

Bible, attend to my prayers. And if I am disposed, say something about Christ to someone else. We Christians are ordinary people in great danger of making our extraordinary faith into our very ordinary human likeness. When I began to read and explore what the Bible says, my attention was drawn to elements of our faith that were far from ordinary. They are, in fact, quite extraordinary. In the years since my conversion, my early awareness of a faith that is way outside the ordinary has been confirmed time and time again. The threads woven into the canvas of our faith depict words and images of an extraordinary Lord. The scriptures are full of them. Leave out the miracle of His birth and resurrection and attend to what the scriptures tell me about ordinary men and women. Here are seven elements that belong in the realm of our extraordinary faith.

We have been born again into the family of God through the words and actions of the Spirit of God (John 3:3, 5). God whose face no one can see and live, has become our Father (Ex. 33:20 and Rom. 8:15–16). The limitless Spirit of God who brought the universe into being has come to live in our ordinary lives (Ps. 104:30 and John 14:17). The Son of God loved each of the world’s unlovely people, suffered and died on our behalf, so that our sins might be forgiven and we might become full of His eternal family (John 3:16). It is entirely possible for Christians to be filled with all the fulness of God (Eph. 3:19). Our right and privilege as Christians is to have daily access to the One who is enthroned in glory and surrounded and worshipped by countless angelic beings (Rev. 5:11–14). Christians who overcome in this life, will inherit all things and God will acknowledge them as His sons and daughters (Rev. 12:7).

It is a sad fact of church life that so many Christians have a diminished kind of faith; taking these seven elements of our faith, and many like them, and reducing them to mentally acceptable creeds and statements of church doctrine. Restrict our faith to matters of the mind. Leave out the heart and spirit. In this way, many have reduced our faith to what it was never meant to be, a matter of church doctrine and practice, rather than a living network of relationships, with the Lord God at its center. One of the early disciples who understood the place of the extraordinary in the ordinary fabric of our lives was the apostle Peter. In his second letter, he wrote that we have been given everything that relates to life and godliness together with great and precious promises that reveal the right of every Christian to be “partakers of the divine nature” (2 Pet. 1:4). Nothing could be more extraordinary; nothing could lift Christians out of the very ordinary humdrum lives we all suffer, than the knowledge and experience of actually participating in the nature of the living God.

The Nature of God

In this letter, Peter used three Greek words and each one has special importance in our discussion and in our hearts. We need to dwell on them and give each one our careful and deliberate attention. Peter’s words, “You may be, partakers of the divine nature” (2 Pet. 1:4). Become. Genesthe. (The second e is long as in fete.) With this word, Peter used a Greek tense that points us to the beginning of our relationship with the Lord, with the Father and with His Spirit. Literally at a single moment in time, those who believe become partakers of the divine nature. At the moment of our acceptance into the family of God, Jesus came to dwell in our hearts. His nature is the divine nature with all its wonder and complexity that He can express in our hearts. Partakers. Koinonoi. (The middle o is long as in mote.) Sharing what one person

has in common with another person. Every Christian shares with God what both have in common: God the Father’s own divine nature that can thus be known and become part of the lives of those who believe. Nature. Phuseos. (The o is on as in mote.) The essence of a person, the inborn quality, the source and origin of that person’s words and actions, in this case the essence of the Being of God, which at the moment of our new birth, can indeed become the inner essence of those who believe.

The Nature of Christ

Our Lord made it clear to Philip, “He who has seen Me has seen the Father” (John 14:9). In their times together, Philip and the other disciples saw at firsthand the divine nature that was expressed by the Son. Elements of God’s divine nature have been identified in different parts of the sacred writings and we have been given an itemized list of those elements by Paul in his letter to the churches in Galatia (Gal. 5:22–23). Here I need to explore how the Lord expressed these elements of His divine nature in His interactions among people on earth.

Love: The Rich Young Ruler Love is the primary element of the divine nature that we share with God and with our Lord. A certain young man came to Jesus to ask how to inherit eternal life. Jesus told him to observe the commandments, and when the Lord heard that the young man had done all those things from his youth, He looked at him and loved him (Mark 10:17–21).

Joy: The Disciples In the Lord’s last hours on earth, when He knew the pain that faced Him, He told

His disciples, “These things I have spoken to you, that My joy may remain in you, and that your joy may be full” (John 15:11). The joy that was an expression of the Lord’s divine nature would, for the first time be expressed in each disciple by the Spirit at Pentecost so that they might each know His joy regardless of what the world might visit upon them.

Peace: The Prostitute A notable prostitute had found her way into the home of Simon the Pharisee and, kneeling behind the Lord, had wept so that her tears fell onto His feet. He later told her that the confused nature of her life had been forgiven and out of His divine nature He blessed her with peace (Luke 7:37–50).

Long-suffering: Peter Peter, the small stone that could tumble along the way, tumbled that night when Jesus was betrayed. The Lord said to him, “Simon, Simon! Indeed, Satan has asked for you, that he may sift you as wheat. But I have prayed for you, that your faith should not fail.” Peter’s response, “Lord I am ready to go with You, both to prison and to death” The Lord replied, “I tell you, Peter, the rooster shall not crow this day before you have denied Me three times” (Luke 22:31–34). No hint of a rebuke. In His long-suffering with Peter, the Lord simply stated the facts, and more. Not only suffering long with Peter in his intransigence, but going beyond. “I have prayed for you.”

Kindness: The Thief on the Cross This brief and precious image of the dying thief is a cameo of the Lord’s kindness. In his pain, one thief cried out, “If you are the Christ, save Yourself and us.” The other rebuked him and then, looking at the Lord, said, “Lord, me when You come into Your kingdom.” And the Lord’s response uttered in kindness that looked into and beyond the dying thief’s circumstances, “Assuredly, I say to you, today you will be with Me in paradise” (Luke 23:39– 43).

Goodness: John and Mary They were both there that day: the Lord’s natural cousin John and His mother. Looking at both of them the Lord expressed the goodness that always seeks the goodness in another. John records the Lord’s words. “When Jesus therefore saw His mother, and the disciple whom He loved, standing there, He said to His mother, “Woman behold your son!” Then He said to the disciple, “Behold your mother!” And from that hour, setting the standard of goodness for all the ages, that disciple responded to the Lord’s goodness, with his own goodness. “And from that hour that disciple took her to his own home” (John 19:26–27).

Faith, Faithfulness: Lazarus Lazarus died while Jesus was with His disciples on the other side of the Jordan. He then took His disciples and returned to Bethany where Lazarus has been entombed. “Take away the stone,” He commanded. Then calling out with a loud voice Jesus expressed His faithfulness, both to His calling and to Lazarus whom He loved. “Lazarus, come forth.” Lazarus obeyed and came out of the tomb, his body still wrapped in grave clothes. John reports, “Jesus said to them, ‘Loose him, and let him go’” (John 11:38–44). In His faith Jesus brought together the power of the Spirit in His divine nature, the need of His dead friend, and the hope of what could be for all Christians: resurrection.

Gentleness: The Adulteress The Jews found her in bed with another man, not her husband, and brought her to Jesus. There was no gentleness in what the law of Moses required. She should be stoned to death (Lev. 20:10). The Scribes and Pharisees explained, “Now Moses, in the law, commanded us that such should be stoned. But what do you say?” John reports, “But Jesus stooped down and wrote on the ground with His finger, as though He did not hear. So when they continued asking Him, He raised Himself up and said to them, ‘He who is without sin among you, let him throw a stone at her first.” Conviction and embarrassment. One by one, beginning with the eldest, they left the two of them alone. The Lord gently ed beyond the

law’s requirements and found her heart. Then His gentle response true to the divine nature within Him, “Neither do I condemn you: go and sin no more” (John 8:3–11).

Self-Control: Judas Late Thursday night or early Friday morning, Jesus and His disciples were at the entrance of the garden in Gethsemane. Judas with a detachment of troops and officers of the chief priests and Pharisees found them there. Judas had given them a prearranged signal they should arrest the One he kissed. Luke reports that Judas, “Drew near to Jesus to kiss Him.” There would have never been a time when the betrayer deserved the Lord’s strong rebuke and condemnation. But the self-control in the Lord’s divine nature shifted from what the situation so clearly deserved, and focused instead on two simple questions: “Friend, why have you come?” (Matt. 26:50), and “Judas, are you betraying the Son of man with a kiss?” (Luke 22:47–48).

In Summary

The resources of the divine nature that was at the heart of all that the Lord said and did is potentially at the heart of all that a Christian can say and do. Christians have access to two natures: the flesh demanding attention, and the divine nature of Christ waiting for instructions. Again, there is a choice. There is always a choice, for that is the essence of being Christian. Let the old nature have its way, or learn how to live in the Spirit so that the nine elements of the divine nature that guided the Lord can progressively guide us in our relationship with Him and with the world.

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Divine Provision

For after all these [earthly] things, the Gentiles seek, For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. —Matthew 6:32–33

that [our] heart may be encouraged, being knit together in love, and attaining to all riches of the full assurance of understanding, to the knowledge of the mystery of God, both of the Father and of Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. —Colossians 2:2–3

If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God. Set you mind on things above, not on things on the earth. —Colossians 3:1–2

Diverse Needs

of the family of God, like families everywhere, are plagued with the

human needs that sustain life, and some that do not. Food, clothing, shelter, employment, friends, provision for the future, transport, money in the bank, a place for the children to play, school, and so much more. We pursue these needs so that the daily grind of our lives can be managed without too much anxiety. The Lord made a clear distinction between two brackets of needs: the needs that are part of normal family life, and a bracket of needs in the family of God which is part of His kingdom. We are to trust Him to provide the first and commanded to seek the second. What we shall eat, what we shall drink, and what we shall wear are normal and rather than delve into anxiety and gloom and let these negative emotions rule our lives as Christians, we are to trust Him to provide. And those who neglect trust in the Lord to provide these things, and whose lives are impelled by worry about such needs, the Lord rebuked with the well-earned phrase, “O you of little faith” (Matt. 6:30). Trust Him for the first; seek the second. “But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these things will be added to you” (Matt. 6:33). Seeking the kingdom is a strong imperative; a command that binds all Christians to obedience. For this command is designed so that the Father might provide for the spiritual needs of the family of which He is responsible. Spiritual needs in the family of God fall into three well-defined categories of needs: resources that enable of the family to relate to the Lord our God, resources that enable of the family to relate to each other, and resources that enable of the family to relate to the outside world. God, as Father of the family provides resources in these three categories.

Relating to our Father

It hardly needs stating that relating to God our Father has nothing whatever to do with the physical bits and pieces of this world. Our God is Spirit (John 4:24). It follows that our relationship with Him has to take place in our spirits united with His Spirit and not in the flesh. It also follows that the essential resources that Christians need can only be found in the Spirit realm of the Father.

We speak from personal experience of our relationship with the Father and of the two resources we each need to enable and strengthen that relationship. The first clearly is love; the second is trust. Both operate in tandem and both depend on the activities of the Spirit (Gal. 5:6). First, love. When we are born into the family of God, the only love we bring with us is the deeply flawed kind of love and loving that interlaces the lives of the people in this world. This love is based in the impulse to love another person when circumstances favor that love. Introduce any kind of shadow into human relationships and human love will retreat into the corner and hide its face, like a child relegated into a corner of our lives until the shadowed circumstances fade away. Such love cannot serve the Lord our God. For He does not love on impulse when circumstances are favorable. If the Father’s love for us was based only on favorable circumstances, He would never love those who sin against Him. Jesus would have never come and died to make reconciliation with the Father possible, and the family of God would have never come into existence. If our Lord was bound by human love then He would have shied away from everything to do with the lives of sinful men and women. Another quite different kind of love was needed in Christian’s relationship with God the Father, Son, and Spirit. That love flows out of the Father’s own being and is an extension of His Person. For God is love (1 John 4:8). When each one of us brought repentance and confession to the altar, these sacred and most personal gifts were received, and His Spirit brought the ultimate gift; the resource that enables each of us to function at full capacity in the family of God. Paul explains, “Now hope does not disappoint; because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us” (Rom. 5:5). Out of this great resource that the Spirit God has given each of us comes our love for Him and for one another. His love unites all of us to Him and to one another (see Mark 12:30–32) and is the basis of sharing what we have in common, our fellowship with Him, and with one another (see 1 John 1:3). Trust is the second resources that the Father provides so that we might be further bound to the Father and to each other. The trust He asks of each of us is unconditional, has no ifs and buts, covers all the circumstances we face as of His family, and contains in its embrace our surrender to His

Lordship. As I noted above, love and trust are holy twins. They operate in tandem. Paul makes this clear. “For in Christ neither circumcision nor un-circumcision avails anything, but faith working through love” (Gal. 5:6). I might paraphrase, “Faith draws its purpose, motivation and energies from the love God’s Spirit has poured out in our hearts.” Just as the Father has provided the resource of love to bind us to Him and to each other, so also has He provided the resource that sets faith in motion. Paul explains, “So then faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God” (Rom. 10:17). We have to read this promise in the Greek text where its meaning is made plain. “Then faith comes through hearing a particular word that God has spoken, and which has been heard with the inner ears of our spirit” (my paraphrase). The first key word is hearing. The Greek word translated hearing is akoes (the e is long as in fete) and refers to the inner faculty of hearing that is able to hear what the Spirit is saying at all times, what He is ing in our spirits that have been united with the Father’s Spirit. One can’t do away with the faculty of hearing, but one can turn it off by focusing one’s attention on other voices. The second key word is hrema. (The e is long as in fete.) A hrema is a word spoken by His Spirit into our hearts and spirits and then ed in our minds. (Note: Hrema does not refer to the scriptures that are written.) Putting it all together. Trusting the Father draws it strength and direction from the Christian’s inner relationship with the Father: He speaks and we listen. The greater that dialogue, the more effective faith will be. The resource the Father provides so that we might fully trust him is made up of the continuing dialogue each Christian has with the Father. And the converse is true. Take away that dialogue or reduce it merely to an occasional cry for help, and faith will be diminished and perhaps fatally weakened. Build that inner relationship with the Father so that His Spirit-spoken words are clearly heard, and faith will flourish.

Relating to One Another

Relationships in the family of God are always based on, and draw their strength from the dual commands: trust the Lord our God (Rom. 1:17), and love the Lord our God and one another with all our heart and soul and mind and strength (Mark 12:30–31). The practice of trust in the Father and in one another and its twin, loving the Father and one another creates the environment in which the needs of the family might be met. Like every human family, the family of God has three special and overarching needs: the need for oneness of heart and mind, the need for health and wellbeing, and the need for growth and development.

The Need for Unity

In the records of the early church, we find that unity was one of the unspoken conditions that applied to the disciples waiting for the Spirit to come. Luke writes, “These all continued with one accord in prayer and supplication with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus and with His brothers” (Acts 1:14). At that time, their unity was based on what the Lord had told them to do (see Acts 1:4). After He had returned to the Father, a different basis had to be found for that treasured unity. Not now His physical presence and His commands, now the presence of His Spirit speaking to them individually and collectively. The need for the family to be united is repeatedly stressed in the writings of the apostles. Paul instructed the church at Corinth, “That there should be no schism in the body” (1 Cor. 12:25). The apostle also wrote, “For the rest brothers, rejoice, perfect yourselves, encourage yourselves, mind the same things” (2 Cor. 13:11). (See also Philippians 2:2.) In his first letter, Peter adds his voice: “Finally, all of you be on one mind” (1 Pet. 3:8). The commands are clear. What is also clear is that the Lord has made provision in the family for divisions among of the family to be dealt with. We know the effects that sin has on our relationship with the Father. Our sins shut Him out, deny Him a voice, and introduce discord into that relationship: on our

part, not on His. He is the victim of our disunity. In the family of God sin builds walls between different rooms of our palace and shuts their inhabitants away from meaningful discourse with each other. Sin has to be dealt with if unity in the family of God is to be restored and maintained. James tells us how with a three-pronged attack on sin’s defensive walls. “Confess your treses to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed” (James 5:16). Confession. Prayer. Healing. Each has its separate part to play but the power behind these three words is the Holy Spirit who binds them together in the heart of each Christian. Confession is not the action of an angry man, resentful of the exposure of himself or herself to others. This is the cry of someone whose heart has been transfixed with shame and whose cry: “Please let me out of the cage I have built myself into” is directed first to the Lord who holds the key to our cage, and then to others in the family who seek the intimacy of relationships that are marked indelibly with love. His love. The Father’s love, the love the Spirit pours out of Himself daily into our hearts. Treses, a falling away by the roadside, a stumbling in the way, because of the fragility and weakness of that member of the family of God. Confessing one’s treses in the gathering of family involves reaching out to others in trust, for their understanding, and where one or more has been offended, for their forgiveness. In that intimate moment, each member of the assembled family is asked to pray for the one who has stumbled and who needs to be helped back onto his or her feet. And in the process of praying for each other, the gentle healing at the hands of the Lord and His Spirit, erases the sin and its effects on relationships, and the unity of the family is restored.

Health in the Family

Health in the family of God is not some magic outcome of a special church program or the outcome of a course of study. Impulses resulting in health

originate in of the family and in the relationships that sustain the family in its health. Health in the family does not therefore come from an outside influence but flows out of the hearts, minds, and spirits of of the family who care for and love one another. And specifically from two responses of the family make to each other in their assembled gatherings. The first is contained in the word onish. The second in the word exhort. onish. Noutheteo. (The final o is long as in mote.) Bring to the attention of a fellow family member that what he or she is saying or doing is dangerous has unfortunate consequences, and then to warn that member of the family of God about that course of action, hence to onish. And contained in God’s purpose to onish another in the family of God is the unspoken principle that spiritual health will follow when the one who has been onished accepts those humbling words and acts on them. Exhort. Parakaleo. (The o is long as in mote.) To call another to come near, to call to one’s side, to speak words that call for a particular effect, in this case, encouragement to continue diligently in the way. This is the Greek word Jesus used for the Holy Spirit: Paraclete, one who is called to one’s side to encourage and exhort and to remind us of the standards for which we are to aim. Christians in the family of God acting in tandem with and under the direction of the Holy Spirit. The responsibility to onish and exhort another member of the family of God falls not on a leader, though he or she may be involved, but on of the family who are watching out for the health and well-being of each other. Intrusive and aggressive words are not appropriate, for such words swing shut the doors between of the body that had been open, and the need for health cannot then be met. The actions of onishing and exhorting one another have their best and most-desired effect where they are impelled by the tender affection of love for the other person and with the Spirit being an essential part of the interchange. The of the family on whose shoulders the burdens of onishment and exhortation fall come to the other with love, trust, and affection. The ones for whom onishment and exhortation are intended, are asked to receive the words of fellow with the humility that Peter spoke about, “Yes, all of you be submissive to one another and be clothed with humility, for God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble” (1 Pet. 5:5).

Learning in the Family

Learning in a normal family is an incidental element and is rarely, if ever, a scheduled part of family life. This general approach to learning in the family generally does not apply in the institutional church. Throughout the scriptures, we find references to the need for learning and growth. The Lord Himself set the standard when He told His disciples, “On this rock I will build My church” (Matt. 16:18). The Greek word the Lord used and which is translated “build” is oikodomeo. (The final o is long as in mote.) This word refers to a process of building, and hence to learning, that continues indefinitely. On another occasion, the Lord referred to disciples learning of Him (Matt. 11:29). Here the Greek word the Lord used is mathete (both e’s are long as in fete), that refers to the process of learning that had a beginning but which would continue indefinitely. The concept of continued growth in the family of God also occurs in Paul’s writings. Christians are to be progressively conformed to the image of Christ (Rom. 8:29). Christians are to attend to the continued renewing of the mind (Rom. 12:2). And Christians are to make seeking the things that are above, a continuing element in their learning (Col. 3:2–3). In a majority of modern churches, this process of teaching, edifying, and building up the family of God is, by default, the responsibility of pastors, ministers and priests, and of other to whom this responsibility has been delegated. Not so in the early church. We know that an apostle, such as Paul would teach, and he usually did (2 Tim. 1:11 and Acts 20:20). We also know that elders could be required to teach (1 Tim. 3:2). But one group of teachers in the early church has long been forgotten, their responsibilities taken over by others. Paul explains, “How is it brethren? Whenever you come together, each of you has a psalm, has a teaching, has a tongue, has a revelation, has an interpretation. Let all things be done [when you meet together] for edification” (1 Cor. 14:26, my brackets). There is that word again; the word Jesus used. Edification. Oikodomeo (Matt. 16:18). The word Jesus used became an expected part of

different ’ contribution to edification in the church. He promised that He would build His church. They fulfilled His promise. The New Testament scriptures contain over fifty references to an enigmatic Greek phrase translated one another, referring not only to one on one relationships, but to the occasions when the family of God met together. In that list, are Paul’s instruction to the church at Rome, to pursue the things by which one may edify another (Rom. 14:19), to the church at Colossae, to teach and onish one another (Col. 3:16), to the church at Thessalonica, to edify one another (1 Thess. 5:11), and to the church at Ephesus, that the words of the family of God spoken together, would be for the edification of the family of God (Eph. 4:29).

In Conclusion

I find a disturbing gap between what the scriptures reveal about the life of the family of God, and the practice of churches who unthinkingly refer to themselves as the family of God. In many instances, of God’s invisible true family have become spectators, relegated to the rows of pews, facing the one or ones who have taken on the responsibility to grow His church, but rarely do. I believe that there are relatively few years left when the church can mend its ways and give back to the of the family of God who have been equipped by the Spirit, the responsibility to teach one another they were originally charged with. When that happens, of the Father’s family will need to be equipped, as Paul taught the church at Ephesus, to train of the family of God so that all might be equipped to prepare others for the work of ministry and for the edification of the body of Christ (Eph. 4:12). We trust that that day will not be too long in coming.

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Fellowship

And they continued steadfastly in the apostles’ [teaching] and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in prayers. —Acts 2:42

Therefore if there is any consolation in Christ, if any comfort of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any affection and mercy, fulfil my joy by being likeminded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind. —Philippians 2:1–2

That which we have seen and heard we declare to you, that you also may have fellowship with us; and truly our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son, Jesus Christ. —1 John 1:3

A Different Lifestyle

When I began to explore what the scriptures teach about the fellowship of of the family of God in the first century, I was confronted by a considerable problem. I instinctively interpreted those images through the lenses

of contemporary church practice. And I came up short. I am so used to thinking of fellowship as what church do before and after church. But these contemporary images of people gathering around coffee and tea and cakes don’t fit the portrait of fellowship in the early church. I have to make a mental shift. Put aside what I have learned about fellowship in the congregations that meet every week around the world. Begin again. Go back to the original text. Build an image of how God intended the family of God to function in fellowship with one another. The fellowship enjoyed by of the family of God in the early church was also translated as partaking and took two forms. The first form, metokos, involved of the family of God participating equally in a t experience. The second form, koinonia, involved of the family of God sharing what they had in common with each other, and that is where I need to begin this part of my narrative. And one of our foremost authorities of fellowship in the early church was John, the one described as the disciple Jesus loved. For John, fellowship for the early church did not begin with people meeting together. There were three others involved in their concept of fellowship: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Writing in Ephesus, John addressed his first letter to a group of people so that they might have fellowship with John’s immediate circle, and then adds the extraordinary, “And truly our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ” (1 John 1:3). Fellowship. Koinonia. (The second o is long as in mote.) Sharing what different people have in common. John describes an almost impossible standard. Those first disciples, contemporary with John, understood that fellowship, koinonia, involved of the family of God in sharing what they had in common with the Father and the Son, and what the Father and the Son shared in common with those first believers. What therefore did of that first family of God have in common with the Father and the Son? A great deal. Not the surface impedimenta of daily human life, for the Father and the Son have no fellowship with the affairs of natural man on this tiny planet. Understanding our natural human lives? Yes! Fellowship with natural humanity? No!

But their own eternal lives had been transposed at Pentecost into the lives of the first believers, the life of the Father, the life of the Son, and the life of the Holy Spirit (John 14:23). The lives of these three holy Beings have been shared with their children and formed the basis for koinonia in the early church. The life of the Spirit became one of the elements of koinonia, fellowship that each disciple had in common with each Member of the Trinity. A final note before we go any further. Fellowship, as the first disciples knew it, operated at a very deep level, which involved their experience of fellowship, deep down, unseen, where the only reality is spirit. Fellowship in the Spirit with the Father, Son, and Spirit is beyond price for those who experience the inner presence of these three divine Beings (John 14:23).

Fellowship with the Father

What could the first of the family of God have in common with the Father? What could they possibly share with the Father? These are impossible questions, yet they are crucial to our enquiry. Without fellowship with the Father and the Son that John wrote about, fellowship quickly degenerates into the afterchurch talk fest that misses the point entirely. Again the scriptural record. And the scriptures reveal the first and one of the greatest elements of His divine Being. He is love (1 John 4:4). Not love stored away in some divine attic, but love that has its origin in the heart of God and has become part of the inner life of every member of God’s human family. Again Paul explains, “Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us” (Rom. 5:5). Paul has identified the first connection between our finite human world and that seemingly distant world where God dwells. The love His Spirit has poured out of Himself into our cleansed hearts is the first element we have in common with the Father. Love that springs out of a person’s decision to respect, ire, and esteem the other person, love that gives itself in service to that person at whatever the cost and, which, in the loving, kindles a deep inner well of affection for the one being loved and served.

But there is another link between these two separate worlds. Again Paul: “And the peace of God, which sures all understanding, will guard your hearts through Jesus Christ” (Phil. 4:7). Peace. The peace of God and the peace the Lord promised His disciples that last night (see John 14:9) is the second thing we share in our fellowship with the Father, the Son, and the Spirit and potentially with each other. The Lord’s peace that He longs to make part of the life of every Christian involves being continually at rest in contrast to living in strife. This peace out of the heart of God brings inner disturbances to an end, and results in a state of inner undisturbed well-being, the tranquility of God in His eternal realm, which is one element of His divine character and which is the Father’s gift to of His family. Such peace sures, is superior to, and is substantially different from any kind of human peace. Jesus made this clear, “Peace I leave with you, My peace I give you; not as the world gives do I give to you” (John 14:27). These three eternal elements of the Person of the Lord our God—His life, His love, and His peace—are brought into the renewed heart and spirit of each member of His family when we first believe. They are the first elements of our lives that each member has in common with the Father, the Son, and the Spirit. His divine life, His love, and His peace.

Fellowship with Christ

Fellowship, as the scriptures define this term, has a definite beginning that was bought and paid for. Before Christ came, lived among us, died on our behalf, and rose from the dead, fellowship had no presence except among the dead. Nor was there any hope for mankind except a bleak-looking forward to death and to what might or might not lay beyond. The Lord’s resurrection when death was consigned to the dustbin, brought fellowship back from the dead, and gave it life. And that fellowship could only be found in the Lord Himself. John wrote, “The life was manifested, and we have seen, and bear witness, and declare to you that eternal life which was with the Father and was manifested to us—that which we have seen and heard we declare to you, that you may have fellowship with us; and truly our fellowship is

with the Father and with His Son, Jesus Christ” (1 John 1:2–3). John reinforces the elements of fellowship spoken of above. Out of the Lord’s resurrection came life in the Spirit, or more correctly, the Spirit of life. And with Him came His love and His peace. And these three are at the heart of our fellowship with each other, as expressed in what we think and say and do with each other. The greatest expressions of fellowship with one another in gatherings together would be such times as when we confess our faults with one another and pray for on another (James 5:16) and when we obey Paul’s edict. “Whenever you come together, each of you has a psalm, has a teaching, has a tongue, has a revelation, has an interpretation” (1 Cor. 14:26). In these instances, what we have in common with one another will be laid bare.

The Spirit of Life

When the Lord took some of the dust of the earth in Eden and fashioned Adam, this newly created being had no life. Then the Lord breathed into Adam the breath of life and he became a living being. The Hebrew word translated breath can also be translated spirit. On the day the first couple sinned, they died (Gen. 2:17). I believe that the Spirit of life was then withdrawn, not from creation, but from the beings of the sinful couple. Death in the spirit realm was instant, and from that day, fellowship as the early church knew it, was impossible. Impossible until the Spirit of life could be returned to man because sin was no longer an obstacle to fellowship. It had been dealt with. The first element in our fellowship with the Lord is the life of His Spirit. “In Him is life” (John 1:4). And His Spirit is called the Spirit of life (Rom. 8:2). This life, the life of Christ and the life of the Spirit, is one of the remarkable elements in the fellowship we Christians have with Christ and with each other. And with the Spirit comes all the elements of the Spirit’s life, led by that eternal trio, His love, His joy, and His peace and followed by His long-suffering, kindness,

goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control (Gal. 5:22–23). In this way, our fellowship with the Lord through His Spirit takes a huge leap into the future. In the beginnings of our walk with the Lord, it is probable that these nine fruits of the Spirit were largely unknown. But with His grace and our deliberate obedience to the things of the spirit, and with the reforming work of the Spirit in our lives, these nine attributes of the Lord’s character will progressively be brought to birth in each of the of His family. They will become elements of the fellowship we share with the Lord and with each other. In this way, our fellowship with Christ, what we have in common with Him, will become more complete.

Hope in Christ

The second element in our fellowship with the Lord is hope. This is not the spurious hope that it won’t rain or that the price of fuel will fall or that Tom and Jane will not separate or that our political party will win at the next elections. Our necessary reliance on such temporal hopes disappeared when Christ rose from the dead. Now we have a better and more certain hope. Hope. Elpis. The sure and certain expectation of something future that can be relied upon, a well-grounded and a gladly and firmly held prospect of a future good that is based entirely on what God has said would be, our faith in Him is the substance of a certain hope (Heb. 11:1). We have an eternal hope that has two faces. The hope in Christ for our immediate, continuing, and unfolding salvation that Jesus died for (1 Thess. 1:3). (See also 1 Timothy 1:2.) The hope of our immediate salvation is certain because each one who has been born of His Spirit has been legally adopted into the family of God. And nothing in heaven or on earth has the power or the authority to undo our legal hip in the family of God. Unless of course a member of the family deliberately rejects his adoption and for him or her there is no hope but “a fearful expectation of judgment” (Heb. 10:27). The second face of hope is future, our certain hope for something that waits us

beyond the curtain that divides this life from the next. Paul declared that we are “looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ” (Titus 2:13). And we share that hope with our risen Lord. The agenda of the Lord our God is for Him to return to claim His bride, meeting her in the clouds (1 Thess. 4:14–17). He will then return with His saints that we might govern the earth with Him for a thousand years (Rev. 5:10 and 20:6). Here in this terminal life, we are filled with and share this hope with our Lord. Such a divinely apportioned and joyous hope is one of the elements of fellowship we have with the Lord and with each other.

In Summary

Our fellowship with the Father and with the Son includes at least four elements: the Father’s love, the Father’s peace, the life of the Spirit, and the hope that is in Christ. Engaging in this quality of fellowship depends entirely on whether we know these four elements in our relationship with the Father and with the Son. If we don’t, then we will probably have to be content with the spurious after church talk that es for fellowship but can’t measure up to the standards required by both the Father and the Son. The point of our discussion is to identify four elements of our fellowship (see above), that can also serve as four elements of our search to grow in our relationship with our Father and with His Son, Jesus. Our fellowship with the Father and the Son will almost certainly never be complete. Certainly we resist the complaisance of thinking so, and face into the ancient challenge spoken of by John “that which we have seen and heard we declare to you, that you also may have fellowship with us; and truly our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ” (1 John 1:3). In our next chapter, “Welcome Back,” we will explore the provision the Father has made for those who wittingly or unwittingly, have left the safety of the family of God.

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Welcome Back

What man of you, having a hundred sheep, if he loses one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness and go after the one which is lost until he finds it? And when he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders rejoicing. And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and neighbors saying to them, “Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep that was lost.” —Luke 15:4–6

But when [the prodigal son] came to himself, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired servants have bread enough and to spare, and I perish with hunger! I will arise and go to my father, and I will say to him, ‘Father I have sinned against heaven and before you, and I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’ —Luke 15:17–19

I know your works, your labor, your patience, that you cannot bear those who are evil, And you have tested those who say they are apostles and are not, and have found them liars; and you have persevered and have patience, and have laboured for My name’s sake and have not become weary. Nevertheless I have this against you, that you have left your first love. —Revelation 2:2–4

Two Sons

The Lord told a parable of a family in which three people feature prominently; the father and two sons. Type and anti-type. One son, the youngest, left the family and had to find his way back. The other never left the family but is presented as alienating his love from his family. The youngest satisfied the longings of his human nature to go his own way. The other also basing his behavior on his human nature, stayed at home, also going his own way. The youngest took his loyalty to the family with him, and it was that loyalty that brought him home. The eldest son exhibited his loyalty in unswerving and probably unthinking obedience to what the father required of him, but his loyalty is presented as covering up a disinterest in the beating heart of the father around which the life of their family revolved, and that heart was love. Type and antitype. Two churches through history follow the pattern of the two sons. Again, type and anti-type. One church is loyal to the Father of the family of God but has to struggle with the constant demands of the old nature that plagues all of us and leads us outwardly to wet our feet in the pigsties of the world, while inwardly, the longing for the comfort of home is no more than a thought away. The other church is made up of stay-at-home people, safely hiding away from the world and all its corrupting influences while claiming the right to belong. The heart of the first church is never far from the Father and the way home from whatever distant country is only a heartbeat away. The heart of the other church misses this point entirely and has replaced the bonding of love that always brings its home, with legal requirements to do what the family of God requires. Type and anti-type. Godliness and religion. The cry for forgiveness and the demand for self-justification. The need to return to where belonging is always secure and the right to protect the right to stay at home. In this final chapter in The Family of God, I need to give my attention to two questions. How does a family member find his or her way back into a family when that one seems to have rejected the heart values of family but has never been guilty of that offense? And how does a family member who has never left the safe precincts of the church discover the heart values that seem to have been replaced by the legal requirements that drive the affairs of the world? We are set to find out.

The parable that Jesus told, the parable to which we have given the name “the prodigal son,” features four elements in the life of the prodigal and his family that are true for every member in God’s family.

The first element is the right and also the need for every member to build his life around deliberate choice. The responsibility to stay or not to stay rests with each member of the family of God. The second element is the attraction that the world has for of the family, seeking to entice family away from the enjoyments of life in the family of God. The third element involves the intuitive knowledge built into family , that there is always a way home. But the way back will involve acknowledging the benefits of all that home represents, turning one’s back on the attractions of the world, and deliberately looking for and finding the way home. The fourth element presents the Father of the family of God, continually watching out for the lost one and believing that he or she will find the way home.

Choice

At home among the family, the younger son would have faced a number of choices: honor his father and mother, respect his father’s direction concerning the affairs of the family, in the daily routines of the family farm, care for his own needs, keep the affairs of the world at a distance, and respect the individual of the family. Somehow, we are not told how the younger son faced away from the family as the place where all his needs could be met and began to face into the ways of the world where the latent desires of his human nature called for attention and hastened his departure. All these details are buried in the Lord’s parable, and we

can only assume why the younger son yearned to leave home. The options that the Lord presents to of His family are also based on instruction and command. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and soul and mind and strength and love your neighbour as you love yourself (Mark 12:30–31). Make the love the Spirit poured out into our hearts our continual abiding place (Rom. 5:5 and John 15:9). Listen for what the Father has to say to each member of His family (Rev. 2:7). Hide those words in our hearts (Ps. 119:11) and make His spoken words, hidden in our hearts, our continual resting place (John 8:31). The family of God is intended to be a secure place where there is comfort and encouragement and a place for acceptance, security, and challenge. But staying at home, for some, means that the desires that were the downfall of the younger son have to be kept in their proper place—under the carpet, in the cellar of our intentions, buried deep in obedience to the ways the Father requires of all of His family. Desire is always available and can be followed into the ways of the world at a moment’s notice. But that is not the way of the Father.

The Ways of the World

There is no indication that the younger son knew what he was going to encounter in the world before he left. But the Lord’s words, “and there wasted his possessions with prodigal living,” suggest that the prodigal had prior knowledge of the pleasures that attracted the attention of desire latent in his nature. Certainly the elder son seems to have suspected what attracted his younger brother. “Devoured your livelihood with harlots” (Luke 15:13, 30). Throughout the New Testament, we find references that are designed to keep our inner eyes faced away from the world. Paul referred to the principles that govern the world as “weak and beggarly elements” that are quite capable of attracting of the family of God to leave the security of love in the family of God (John 15:9 and 1 John 3:23) and venture into the bondage of what the world offers (Gal. 4:9–10).

The Lord Himself referred to the world a number of times in His high priestly prayer making it quite plain that involvement in the ways of the world is not appropriate for of the family of God (see John 17:6, 14, 16, 25). Later, the apostle John made a clear and definite distinction between the ways of the family of God and the ways of the world. “Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him” (1 John 2:15). And Paul added his voice, “Be not conformed to this world but be transformed by the renewing of your mind” (Rom. 12:2).

Knowledge: There Is a Way Home

When the prodigal son had explored all that the world had provided to satisfy his profligate desires and there was nothing left to buy his way out of disgrace, he was forced into abject poverty. But even in the pigsty, there was something left, a residue of what he had learned in the company of the family that had nourished him. He knew that the family could nourish him in a way that the pigsties of the world never could. Drawing out of some deep knowledge of the family the prodigal said to himself, “I will arise and go to my father.” He knew that in the family he had left, he could be certain of acceptance, food, and forgiveness. And as the narrative progresses, we find that his faith in his father was completely justified. The family of God in its truest form provides its with everything a prodigal needs to come home. The knowledge that he or she will be accepted, that in the family there will be provision for the spiritual food we all need and forgiveness for our wayward wanderings. And something else. When the prodigal son left home, he took with him the knowledge that he could always come home. He would have learned that essential bit of spiritual truth from his first conscious days in family. Love and acceptance and forgiveness would have taught him that. And knowledge of these elements of successful family life would have made his repentance that much easier. But there is an unfortunate flip side to this coin that we will need to check out a little later.

The Father’s Watch

The prodigal’s return seems to have been expected. The Lord provides the details, “But when he was a great way off, his father saw him and had comion, and ran and fell on his neck and kissed him.” Was the father watching out for his son, expecting his return and believing that the younger son would come home? I believe, most certainly! For there is no indication that the father was distracted by the cares of family and farm and had given up on the prodigal. That is a perfect picture of the heavenly Father in our family of God. Always aware of where the prodigal is, what he is doing, the state of life he is experiencing, and daily expecting his or her return. And that is a measure of the faith of our Father in each of us, and of His love that will wait for us and receive us when we return. But there is more for the prodigal Christian. The Spirit of the Father has a very special role with regard to prodigals from the contemporary family of God. Jesus told us that He will convict the world of sin and righteousness and judgment (John 16:8). Out there in the world, He will convict the prodigal of his state and of the need to find the way back. Convict. Elencho. (The o is long as in mote.) To cause a person to experience disgrace, to feel shame about a particular word, attitude, or action, to know the Father’s stands against such waywardness, and to convince that person of the need to turn away from his or her self-centeredness, and come home to the Father and to the family of God. The Father of our spiritual family, like the father of the prodigal, stands a long way off but is constantly watching out for the wanderer’s return. Not standing still and watching but hastening to meet the one coming home and then providing the welcome that tells the prodigal that he is a treasured member of the family. Welcome back, wanderer. The Father and the family of God welcomes you. Now, the flip side.

The Prodigal Church

The wanderer from the family of God that operates as it should will gladly turn away from the world and look for a way back. The family of God will be a most attractive place. But where the family of God has lost hold on these essential spiritual ways of life, the modern prodigal may well find nothing in the family of God that attracts him. No ed acceptance, no spiritual provision. And no forgiveness. Why come home? He or she has come to believe that the world provides all that is needed. All that such families provide is uncaring rejection, poverty of spiritual teaching, the apathy in which nothing of welcome and forgiveness and love can survive. What modern church fits this image? Why find one’s way to such an uncaring atmosphere? Why indeed? The Lord provides us with a picture of the church that had begun to reach into its own brand of prodigality. It was the church at Ephesus to whom the Lord had written the first of His seven letters. They had much to commend them; hard work, patience, perseverance, they had not become weary, and they knew the difference between sound doctrine and false (see Revelation 2:2–3). But then the Lord’s telling observation, They had left their first love (Rev. 2:4). What the Lord does not record is a parallel departure. Leaving their first love meant that they had also left the Spirit who poured that love out of Himself into their hearts (see Romans 5:5). One cannot have love without the Spirit. One cannot have the Spirit without love (see 1 John 4:8). The two are inseparably bound together. Leaving their first love inevitably meant that they had left, deserted, walked away from, taken leave of the Spirit of love. And in doing so, the church at Ephesus had taken the first step on the pathway to becoming the prodigal church at Laodicea. Not only prodigal but apostate. They had believed that they had everything but denied the Lord Himself. He had to stand outside the church and knock to be let in (see Revelation 3:14–20). I am afraid that today’s Christian world is full of prodigal churches. And such churches are full of prodigals who have lost their way, cannot tell the difference between the ways of the flesh and the ways of the Spirit, resolutely defend their right to apathy, have lost any inclination to return to the Father, and do not even

believe such a return is necessary. For them, the out-there world with its weak and beggarly elements is of little interest, for the world has become part of the church. It is terrifying thought that of the prodigal church who themselves have become prodigal from the Lord will find very little in the church they walked away from, which invites their return, and which will make their welcome secure. And it is a contrasting and wonderful principle that the Father of the family of God will be looking out for the prodigal who knows where he or she belongs and understands that there is indeed a welcome waiting, not only by the Father of the family but by individual of his or her family. The Father will be looking for the necessary requirements for acceptance, repentance from the prodigal ways of the world and, like the prodigal, for his confession: “I have sinned against heaven and before you, and I am no longer worthy to be called your son” (Luke 15:18–19). And when He that sees these conditions in the heart and mind of the prodigal have been met, He will unfold His personal response; forgiveness and the cleansing that wipes the dirty slate of the prodigal clean (1 John 1:9). Welcome home, prodigal! In the last chapters of this book, I will examine seven elements of a most personal faith that characterize those who belong in the family of God. Churches whose have lost these seven elements have truly become prodigal. For them, the way back into fellowship in the family of God will be much more difficult than it was for the prodigal son, and will involve not only spiritual revival of individual Christians, but also reformation of the church itself.

Part 7

The Final Challenge

Preface to the Final Challenge

An honest examination of the state of Christianity in our day will reveal a number of differences between the Christianity represented in our churches, and the faith once delivered to the saints (Jude 1:3). It is quite possible to show that the One Paul acknowledged to be the Head of the church (Eph. 5:23), does not at present exercise that authority in His own church. It is true that he is honored in creeds and statements of doctrine but that is a far cry from personally exercising His Headship and directing the life and activities of the church. I find the same discrepancies in the lives of of the church. Everywhere I read the scriptures, I find that He is both Savior and Lord. People rejoice in being saved, but His place as Lord in the lives of Christians is out of sight. Salvation for so many is simply being saved from the penalty of sins with no thought to being saved from the power that sin exercises in so many lives. And the fountain head of sin, the sinful nature, is a forgotten mystery. This narrative is very personal because everything I have written, and a great deal more, has been played out in my own life. I have had access to two remarkable resources. One is the Lord Himself. The second is His Spirit. They have both persistently nudged me in the way I should go and patiently taught me, first how to live by faith and then how to live in the Spirit—both central pillars in the household of faith and of God. Previously I have explored six parts of what the scriptures reveal about being a Christian: “The Great Separation,” “The One We Serve,” “Questions of Faith,” “The Ways of the Spirit,” “Christian as Disciple,” and “The Family of God.”

Now in this seventh part of this study, I need to reflect on seven threads of the wonderful tapestry of the salvation that God has provided for those who love Him and who are committed to work out their salvation with fear and trembling.

Bridging the gulf that is a constant challenge to our unity with the Lord our God, the unity that He promised and which He constantly longs for. Being holy just as the Lord our God is holy. A very high standard indeed, but which, like all the standards of our faith, is made possible by His Spirit. Living by faith, a reminder that implicit trust in our Lord is not an optional extra but is the only way we can please the Father who sent His Son among us. Then that remarkable command for every Christian to abide in His love, but more importantly, to become an integral part of His loving. Being filled with the Spirit who will lead us through every tangled human encounter and along every tortuous path. Implicit in our faith is our surrender to His Lordship. Rest, the sixth thread through this narrative has been missing for long centuries, yet it speaks of the part we are to play in working with the Lord. We being at rest so that He can work out His will for us, for the church and for the earth. And finally, I need to write about the Lord’s heart cry for those who are called by His name and for the church He bought for Himself.

In the following chapters, I focus our attention on these seven essential elements of being Christian. I have two prayers. First, that you will find a lodging place in your heart and mind for all that the scriptures teach about our identity as Christians. Second, that you will give all these truths the dimension of reality that only comes when you put them into practice. Then you and I will have something to spread out before the Lord when we give of all our works at His judgment seat. And rewards will follow.

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Bridging the Gulf

And He said to them, “You are from beneath; I am from above. You are of this world; I am not of this world.” —John 8:23

[Christ] being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bond servant, and coming in the likeness of men. And being found in fashion as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross. —Philippians 2:6–8

For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another. —Galatians 5:17

The Greater Gulf

Everywhere people around the world gather to worship they affirm a great gulf between the things on earth and what they perceive to be the things of heaven.

On the one side of this great gulf, our side, are men and women who reach out with different degrees of longing for what they believe is over there. Whether it is the Indian god Brahma, a multitude of minor Indian gods and goddesses, a Tibetan bodhisattva, the Moslem Allah, the Jewish Jehovah, the spirits worshipped in Japan or Bali, or even our own God—everyone is actually or believed to be on the other side of the gulf that separates the things of earth from the real or supposed things of heaven, wherever that place is supposed to be. Jesus came to fix all that. For because man could not cross over from our side of the gulf and ascend to heaven, the One who has His being on the other side of the gulf, in heaven itself, the One we worship, sent His Son to cross over from His side of the great gulf to our side, from heaven to earth. And Jesus Himself reinforced this distinction. “You are from beneath; I am from above” (John 8:23). Here on our side of the gulf, He subjected Himself to the Father’s judgment, bore our own sins on the cross, and made it possible for those on this side of the gulf to be saved. But our salvation certainly does not remove the great gulf separating His world from our world. The gulf remains for all of us. It has simply shifted its location. Then we come to our Lord’s words in His high priestly prayer, “They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world” (John 17:16). Now we have a very serious enigma. Clearly the Lord includes all those who would believe as those who are not of this world. But here I am, secure in my home in a little Australian coastal city, with a car and a bank and family, and everyone knows that I am clearly of this world. Then the enigma is compounded by Paul’s words. “Seek those things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God” (Col. 3:2). Paul, how am I supposed to do that when I am on this side of the great gulf and He is on the other side? You, Lord, came from Your side to my side. How am I supposed to make the reverse journey, as clearly I am supposed to, and daily cross over from my side to Your side? But the Lord had that in mind when He spoke with His disciples before His crucifixion. “Nevertheless I tell you the truth. It is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I depart, I will send Him to you” (John 16:7). And there is the resolution to the enigma of

two worlds separated by a great gulf. The Lord crossed over from there to here, suffered and died and rose again. Then as He promised, He crossed back over from our human side of the great gulf to His side in the heavens but made the promise that He would send One He called the Paraclete from heaven’s side of the great gulf to our human side. And that He would be in us (John 14:17). Now the transaction is complete. The gulf has been permanently bridged by the One who came from His side and now lives among God’s children on our side. He is the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of God and of Christ (Rom. 8:9).

The Great Immeasurable Gift

On the day the Spirit came, Peter told the crowd that they would receive the gift of the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:38). But Peter’s words need to be read in the context of other statements about how the gulf between the Lord’s world and our world has been bridged. There are four gifts for Christians.

The Lord Jesus. “I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me” (Gal. 2:20). The Father. “If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with Him” (John 14:23). The Divine Nature. “[God has given to us] exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature” (2 Pet. 1:4). The fruit of the Spirit. “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control” (Gal. 5:22–23).

Note: The fruit of the Spirit includes elements of the character of the Spirit and therefore elements of the divine nature. These are all part of the great mystery that has brought these three holy Persons with their divine nature from heaven to earth, from their side of the gulf to our side, and more particularly, into the heart of every one who believes. The gulf that separates man from God has been permanently bridged. As the Lord promised, the Father, Son, and Spirit have come to make their home with and in us and to bring the divine nature of God into the born-again heart of every Christian on the planet. The Lord our God has made it possible for every Christian to know and experience each of the elements of the divine nature. This was what Paul wrote about in his letter to the church at Ephesus, “To know the love of Christ which es knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fulness of God” (Eph. 3:19). The fulness of God. The complete divine nature of God. We know a great deal about the divine nature that has been formed within each Christian. It is the right of every Christ to know in experience the love of God and of Christ and the Holy Spirit (Rom. 5:5, Eph. 3:19, Gal. 5:22); the peace of the holy Trinity (Phil. 4:7, John 14:27, Gal. 5:22); and their joy (John 15:11, Gal. 5:22). Their gentleness, long-suffering, kindness, patience, goodness, and faithfulness are known to us (Gal. 5:22–23). And we can experience these elements of the divine nature in our relationship with each of these holy and divine Persons.

The Lesser Gulf

Unfortunately, there is opposition in each of us to embracing the divine nature and to living in the Holy Spirit. We are all plagued with the human nature that has been part of each of us since the day we were born. Jesus spoke about the things that come out of the heart of man, that is out of his or her old sinful nature (Luke 6:45). Paul makes it clear that every Christian benefits from the things of the Spirit but

has to contend with the sinful ways of the flesh. And these are in opposition. “For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another” (Gal. 5:16). God had made it possible for the gulf between God and man to be permanently bridged. But in doing so, another gulf has been created that is just as wide and just as intractable. This gulf is between the things of the old human nature, and the things of the divine nature and of the Spirit. Now all of us who believe and are called by the name Christian, have access to two natures. The divine nature we inherited from the Father through His Spirit and the human nature with which we were born. And there is a gulf between the two. Jesus makes this plain, “That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit” (John 3:6). The divine nature may be a stranger to many but the sinful human nature is wellknown. We live in the flesh daily and each of us is prone to the attitudes that produce the works of the flesh Paul wrote about (Gal. 5:19–21). We don’t have to learn these things. They come naturally. But we do have to learn and apply the elements of the divine nature that can be expressed in the heart of the believer (see Galatians 5:22–23). Just as there are two natures in each of us, so there are two choices that daily we can make. We can choose to live in the flesh, as we have all done, more or less successfully since the day of our birth, or we can choose to live in the Spirit. We can be content with the mixture of all kinds of good and evil in our human hearts, or we can choose the purity of life in the Spirit who is called holy. We can let our lives be defiled by all that the world brings our way, or our lives can be filled with the elements of the nature of God that is divine and holy and distinct and quite separate from the ways of the human nature and of the world. There is another choice that believing Christians are invited to make. Living in the Spirit within the bounds of the divine nature means that we have to choose to turn our backs on the ways of the old sinful nature. Paul put it this way, “That you put off, concerning your former way of life, the old man, the sinful nature which continues to grow corrupt according to its deceitful desires” (Eph. 4:22, my paraphrase). Paul used a more descriptive and aggressive word for putting off the old sinful

nature and all his or her ways. “And those who are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with its ions and desires” (Gal: 5:24). It is as though the old sinful nature and the new divine nature are linked in our imagination by a very short path on which we are called to walk every day of our lives. Choices! Face away from the demands of the sinful nature and embrace the wonders of living in the divine nature which is in the Spirit. Put the old ways of the flesh to death. Bring the new ways of the Spirit to life by giving them our undivided attention. And these are the choices that enable us to daily cross that inner gulf between the ways of the old unholy human nature and the ways of the new holy divine nature of God. But as always, there is a cost. For most, if not all of us, the ways of the human nature that is predisposed to sin are securely embedded in our identities. Putting the ways of the old nature to death inevitably means putting part of oneself to death, discarding those attitudes and practices that bind us to the ways of flesh and of the world. Is it all worth the effort? Paul thought so. He wrote of the inestimable riches of knowledge and wisdom that are hidden in Christ and which are available to those who seek Him (see Colossians 2:2–3). Add these to His salvation, His peace (Phil. 4:7) and the joy the Spirit brings (1 Pet. 1:8) and the comparison between what the old nature offers and what the world makes available will never hold up. Peter gives us another way to describe these choices: “But as He who has called you is holy, you also be holy in all your [life], because it is written, ‘Be holy, for I am holy’” (1 Pet. 1:15–16). And that takes us into the next part of our discussion.

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Shall be Holy

And the person who turns to mediums and familiar spirits, to prostitute himself with them, I will set my face against that person and cut him off from his people. Consecrate yourselves therefore, and be holy for I am the Lord your God. —Leviticus 20:6–7

But as He who has called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, because it is written, “Be holy for I am holy.” —1 Peter 1:15–16

Pursue peace with all people, and holiness, without which no one will see the Lord. —Hebrews 12:14

Holy, Unholy

Objects, places, and people in the world fall into two categories. The first category is made up of the objects, places, and people that, by their nature, are secular and therefore have no religious affiliation. The second category is made up objects, places, and people that are tied to the service of either Satan and his

host of evil spirits, or of the Lord our God. In this part of our study, we will first give our attention to the objects, places, and people that are d with Satan and his evil hosts, and which God says are accursed. Joshua had led the people of Israel across the Jordan and into the Promised Land. The first city they encountered was Jericho, which God would miraculously deliver into their hands, but with one proviso. His instructions: “Abstain from the accursed things, lest you become accursed when you take of the accursed things, and make the camp of Israel a curse, and trouble it” (Josh. 6:18). The Greek translation of the ancient Hebrew word translated “accursed” is anathema that applies to offerings to other gods, to things devoted to destruction, and which are cursed. And so it was with Achan who took things from Jericho that were accursed, coveted them for himself, became a curse and visited that curse on the people of Israel. The Lord, therefore, removed His blessing over Israel. They were defeated at Ai, and remained in an abject state of defeat until the sin was dealt with and the curse removed. Achan defied the separation between what God decreed should be for Himself and His people, and what belonged to the adversary, Satan who watched over the walled city of Jericho. Before the city fell, the people of Israel were aligned with the character and purposes of their holy God. In Old Testament , all the people of Israel, including Achan, were holy. They fulfilled the words written in Leviticus. “And the person who turns to mediums and familiar spirits, to prostitute himself with them, I will set my face against that person and cut him off from his people. Consecrate yourselves therefore, and be holy for I am the Lord your God” (Lev. 20:6–7). Holy. Hagios. Any person for whom reverence is due. God is holy as is the Lord and His Holy Spirit. On earth, anything that is not polluted in any way, by sin, by things of the world, or things of Satan, is holy. Being holy involves not being a mixture of sin and righteousness, of ways of the Spirit and ways of the flesh, or of any kind of holy and unholy elements. A person is holy when his or her person is filled only with things that express God’s holy nature. Being holy is also expressed in the verb hagiazomai, which refers to being in a state of holiness, a state that is not common to man, a state that is separated from what is common and brought into a state that refers to the essential state of an uncommon God.

Being holy is a state of being, not the quality of some kind of supposedly holy place or object. In the first century, being holy was reserved exclusively for God and for those whom God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, had made their dwelling place. Hence Peter’s words to Christians, “But as He who has called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, because it is written, ‘Be holy for I am holy’” (1 Pet. 1:15–16). But the definition of being holy and how Christians thought about holiness, changed. Very early in the history of our faith and after the destruction of the temple in AD 70, Christians had two meeting places, the first in their homes, the second in the tombs where they sought refuge from persecution. And by association with the holy dead, the places of the dead, especially the catacombs in Rome, become holy places and took on the terminology of pagan religion. From there, it was an easy slide into the church being a holy place, the cross being a holy image, the sign of the cross being a holy ritual, crucifixes being holy representations of our dying Lord, the Bible being a holy book, and objects such as icons having the character of holiness. Holiness that had been reserved for persons, both human and divine, took on the pagan paraphernalia of holiness —temples and churches, places, relics, vestments, altars, and worship. Being holy is now thought of as something outside and separate from our hearts and minds, and Christians without holiness have slid unwittingly into being secular. (See above, “Holy, Unholy.”) How far have we fallen from the holiness of our first century parents in the faith?

Be Holy as He Is Holy

The command for Christians to be holy was first written in the book of Leviticus (Lev. 20:6–7), and then repeated by Peter in his first letter, “But as He who has called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, because it is written, ‘Be holy for I am holy’” (1 Pet. 1:15–16). That is the most uncompromising command. Christians, be holy in the same way that He is holy. In human , that is totally impossible. I am faced with the question: Is man naturally capable of holiness? The answer

is rather obvious. Most certainly not. Both Old and New Testaments are clear about that. Jeremiah. “The heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked” (Jer. 17:9). Then Paul. “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Rom. 3:23). The only One who is capable of being holy is God Himself. Under the Old Covenant, their holy God had provided a meeting place where He could meet with the representative of the Jewish nation. Once a year, with an offering of blood, the high priest went into the holy of holies in the temple and there he met with God and they spoke together. Under the New Covenant, God has also established another meeting place, again with blood, where the High Priest of our faith (Heb. 3:1), can meet with those who believe in Him. And that holy place is the temple of the Holy Spirit (1 Cor. 6:19), which is also the temple of God (1 Cor. 3:16). That temple is in our hearts. The holy place is within us. How do we, who are sinners, become holy? the definition. Holy— without impurities, clear of sin, free from defilement of any kind. Holiness for a Christians begins in that miracle instant when we are born again. First our repentance, then our confession that clears the way for the Lord our God to forgive us and cleanse us of all sin (1 John 1:9). His cleansing makes each of us holy, gets rid of all defilements, so that we might be united with a holy God; with the Lord who comes into our hearts to make our hearts holy and a fitting place for the Lord our Lord, His own personal holy dwelling place (Col. 1:27). In the beginnings of our walk with Jesus, the Holy One, holiness is within our hearts. That holy dwelling place where the Holy God is united with newly made holy believers is a constant and considerable threat to the enemy of our souls. Our union with God brings His great power, which is in the Holy Spirit (Acts 1:8) into our hearts. Our holy hearts, untroubled by any kind of defilement, from the world, the flesh and the devil are places where the Lord reigns, where love is (Rom. 5:5), from which love is expressed (Mark 12:30), where peace rules (Phil. 4:7), where abounding joy fills our hearts with worship (1 Pet. 1:8), and where the wisdom and knowledge of God is freely accessible (Col. 2:3). All this makes each holy heart a fortress, a bastion, against all the powers of the evil world and from which, the powers that defeat the enemy and all he stands for may readily be launched. The power of the Holy Spirit in our hearts made

holy by His cleansing, places all the realms of the evil one and all his evil works constantly under threat. The problem for a Christian is not being made holy. That happens at conversion, which is at a proper conversion, when all our sins are washed away and we are born of the Spirit into the kingdom of God. At that moment, we are made holy, our hearts cleansed, and therefore free from all impurities because of being washed in His blood. The problem is, how are we to continue in that state of holiness where our hearts remain free from any kind of defilement? There are three opponents who oppose that inner purity of heart, that state of holiness we come to know because of the cleansing of our hearts (Rev. 1:5). He made us holy. Now the responsibility es to each Christian. Our responsibility is to remain holy by making sure that our hearts are not defiled by sin or by defilement of any kind. Where does defilement come from? Defilement has three potential sources. Satan and his host of demonic beings. And that was the case with Achan in ancient Jericho. We refuse him any place on our hearts by resisting him (James 4:7). The second source of defilement is the world. We refuse the deceits and principles of the world any place in our hearts by obeying the Lord’s command not to be conformed to the world (Rom. 12:2). That leaves us with the most persistent, intractable, and formidable enemy of our hearts and of holiness: the most unholy human nature in each of us. Paul called it “sin that dwells in me” (Rom. 7:17). And it is sin of any kind and from any source that so readily defiles out hearts, that effectively sidelines all the benefits the Holy One is capable of bringing to our hearts. The Lord will not compete with sin and defilement. The challenge for every Christian is to keep his or her heart in a state of holy readiness. The purpose of being holy? So that the Lord our God has a place in His own temple of our hearts where He can be worshipped (see John 4:24), where He can speak to us and where we can hear Him (Matt. 13:9), and where we can receive every blessing from the Lord our God (see Matthew 5:8).

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The Just Shall Live by Faith

That I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death. —Philippians 3:10

But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarded of those who diligently seek Him. —Hebrews 11:6

For in [the gospel of Christ] the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, The just shall live by faith. —Romans 1:17

Antioch in Syria

Luke reports that those who followed Jesus were first called Christians in Antioch (Acts 11:26). The name tells it all. On the one hand, men and women who expressed their belief in Jesus as Savior and then as Lord. On the other hand, the Person of Christ who died on the cross, rose again and ascended to the Father. And linking them is a bond that is and should continue to be eternal: the

large questions of faith and of believing. In His time among men, we find that many trusted Him for healing (Matt. 9:29), for forgiveness (Luke 5:20), for setting people free from demonic bondage (Matt. 17:18), and from a sinful way of life (Luke 7:50). Each of these events have two things in common: the Person of the Lord Jesus. And in each case, those faraway people were connected to Him through faith: they trusted Him. Throughout the writings of the apostles, we find Jesus Christ and His Spirit up front and center. He is the One who instructed John to care for His mother, who called Paul, who directed Peter to take the message to the Gentiles, who instructed Ananias in Damascus to receive Paul, who sent Paul and Barnabas on mission into Galatia, who resolved the issue of circumcision in the Jerusalem church, and who told Philip to himself to the chariot of the eunuch from Ethiopia. The Person of Jesus is central to each of their stories. Paul understood that Jesus of Nazareth was the center of his life, the foundation on which he built, and the heart of his faith. He defined His purpose in life: “That I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death” (Phil. 3:10). The immediacy of the Lord in the lives of these first servants has somehow got lost as the history of the church unfolded. It began with the church at Ephesus who lost their first love and, in doing so, walked away from the Spirit of the Lord (Rev. 2:4). Somehow, they lost sight of the very practical purpose of the Holy Spirit: to continually pour the love of God out of Himself and into their hearts. Their loss of connection with the Spirit of love ended with the church at Laodicea where the Lord had effectively been relegated to the outer suburbs of that church (Rev. 3:20). And so it seems to be the case in our day and age, the Lord has gone missing, and the need to trust Him for everything has been erased from the manual. Instead we have a great deal of Christian religion where we celebrate Him and what He has done, but little godliness that involves the most intimate of all relationships, a Christian walking through life, arm in arm and heart in heart with the Lord our God, with faith linking the two. I believe that it is time to revisit the words of Paul, and the words of the writer of the letter to the Hebrews “The just shall live by faith” (Rom. 1:17 and Heb.

10:38). “Shall live” sounds like an imperative. Not an optional extra. Not a ing thought. Not something for Sundays and perhaps for the times when people gather for prayer. For those early Christians believing in Jesus was the foundation for their lives (1 Cor. 3:11). (See also Philippians 1:21.) Paul put it this way in his letter to the churches in Galatia: “And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave Himself for me” (Gal. 2:20).

A Private Testimony

I began my own relationship with the Lord by trusting Him to come into my heart and to make it His dwelling place. Very soon after that event, I entered seventeen long years of religious life in which the active presence of the Lord was missing from my consciousness. He was observed in name only, in sound Christian practice, in missionary service, but not in the daily hurly-burly and in the to and fro of life in the church and in the world. Then the Lord intervened and introduced me to faith. I with two others had been praying for some special kind of blessing, and the Lord wrote four words across the back of my mind, “It is by faith.” I grasped hold of those four words with unspoken certainty that they could show me the way out of my gray religious years and joy that I had not known for seventeen years exploded in my heart. The next day, I set out to discover what the Lord had in mind: “It is by faith.” I had to give faith an operational definition that I could apply all day, every day, and for the rest of my life. In the beginning of this new way of life, I defined faith as living on a knife edge of time, living in the thin boundary between the past and the future, and trusting Him for everything on either side of the present. That meant training my mind to shut out every thought of the past or the future except thoughts of those things that I had to objectively deal with—the plan to go shopping, to plan to go to the bank. Then His joy and His peace became regular parts of my life. Later I redefined my operational definition of faith to include trust in Him to handle every part of the present outside the small circle of time I called “the tick

on the clock” and the small circle of space on which I stood or sat or moved. I taught my brain and heart to trust Him for everything outside those two circles. Everything! Nothing excluded! And that gave my tired old human nature no occasional at all to deceive me with its false promises and desires and the turbulence of emotions I am so familiar with. In effect I shut him down, or in Paul’s words, I put the old man to death (Eph. 4:21–23). And this application of my operational definition of faith became a way of life, and it is to this day. Looking back, I can see that, without thinking, I had applied the Greek definitions of faith and of believing. Believe. Pisteuo. (The o is long as in mote.) Trusting Jesus my Lord without question or qualification, trusting Him for everything in my life that I could itemize and bring to His attention, trusting Him at all times, wherever I lived, with whoever I met, in every circumstance however trivial, troublesome, or vexing, and in that process of trust to surrender myself to His Lordship. In this way of faith, two things have to be added to my trust in Him. The first is search that includes a bundle of spiritual skills and activities that include considering and examining my relationship or lack of a relationship with the Lord, turning my back of everything that is displeasing to Him, seeking His forgiveness, and searching for and adopting the new ways of relating to the Lord our God that He brought to my attention The second was love. And both had to become active parts of my life.

Consider. Examine. Repent. Search. Adopt.

The writer of the letter to the Hebrews made an emphatic connection between faith in Him and our search for Him. He wrote, “But without faith it is impossible to please God, for it is right that the one drawing near to God should believe that He is, and that He becomes a rewarder to the ones seeking him out” (Heb. 11:6, literal translation from the Greek). The success of the process of seeking Him out depends on five activities in sequence. Consider. Skopeo. (The second o is long as in mote.) To step back from oneself

so that one can identify and consider the elements of his or her relationship with the Lord. This is not an emotional activity but involves objective consideration of the state of that relationship (see Galatians 6:1). The verb Paul used refers to continuous action. Considering oneself needs to become a thoughtful and objective element in one’s continuing relationship with the Lord. Examine. Dokimazo. (The final o is long as in mote.) This word is written as a command and refers to the process of submitting what has been considered in the relationship with the Lord, to the most severe test, a test that is similar to the stringent test used to determine the quality of gold, as by fire, to critically examine what has been observed, to judge its quality and its relevance to one’s biblical relationship with the Master and to put everything so discovered into practice. Repent. Metanoeo. (The final o is long as in mote.) To change one’s mind and purpose, to turn one’s back on what is found to be displeasing to the Lord, and to face toward what needs to be included in our relationship with Him. The Greek word repent is written in two forms. One refers to repentance as the beginning of a process. Repent and be born again (see Acts 2:38). The second refers to repentance as a way of life (see Mark 1:15). Our relationship with Him begins with the single act of repentance and continues with repentance, continually turning our backs on the unproductive parts of our lives, and facing into the new ways of trust, faith, and love, as continuing parts of our daily relationship with the Lord. Search out. Ekzeteo. (The second e and the o are long as in fete and mote.) Not a general kind of attitudinal search, but a search that has a specific object in mind. Literally to seek Him out. This is the New Testament version of the prophetic words of Jeremiah, “And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart. ‘I will be found by you,’ says the Lord” (Jer. 29:13–14). Christian’s relationship with Jesus our Lord therefore has two elements. We are to continually search Him out. And He is continually waiting to respond to our search so that He might be found. Do. Poiete. (The first e is long as in fete.) After the Lord had washed His disciples’ feet He said to them, “If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them” (John 13:17). Do: Put the principles of our faith, trusting Him in every which way and for everything, into practice, continue to build the relationship with Him that is our right, privilege, and obligation (see also Philippians 4:9).

Consequences

Our journey with the Lord along the path of faith is frequently made up of many fits and starts. I find that I am frequently confronted by choices, react this way, stomp on that person’s attitude, react positively to a suggestion, hide a bit of the truth from another, refuse to accept some good advice, make a necessary apology. And each choice marks a place in my journey where the road divides. And that is why this part of the narrative has the heading Consequences. One part of the pathway leads to a dead end called the status quo, apathy, being stuck in place, and having to make do with the second or third or fourth best. Following the other part of the pathways has three consequences. Peter referred to the first of those consequences in this way. “But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ” (2 Pet. 3:18). Paul set down the second consequence of tracking through these five spiritual activities: Consider. Examine. Repent. Search out. Do. Being progressively conformed to the image of Christ (Rom. 8:29), a transformation through the necessary and continual renewing of our minds (Rom. 12:2). The third consequence of these five stages in our walk with the Lord is also found in Paul where he listed the five ministries the Lord has set in the church. He concluded that these are for equipping the saints for the work of ministry, diakonia (literally serving others for their benefit), and all for the edification of the body of Christ (Eph. 4:12). The edification of the body of Christ is the third consequence of obedience to those five stages: consider, examine, repent, search, and do. Our growth is not like a single pathway where we walk alone. Never the Lord’s intention. There is a song that contains the words “you shall never walk alone.” When we embrace growth, being conformed to the image of Christ, and having our minds transformed, others are always caught up in the process. This may not be a conscious outcome, but the Holy Spirit of our Lord who encourages and blesses our faith and makes our growth possible, is also responsible to encourage the faith and bring the same kinds and degree of growth to others in the body of Christ.

As the central Person in our walk of faith, we need to fully understand the place of the Spirit of Christ in our lives as Christians and how we are to respond to Him. And that takes us to the next subject for our reflection and application.

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Be Filled with the Spirit

And do not be drunk with wine, in which is dissipation; but be filled with the Spirit. —Ephesians 5:18

And those who are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with its ions and desires. If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in [step with] the Spirit. —Galatians 5:24–25

For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God. —Romans 8:12

Conversation with Nicodemus

A leading Pharisee and member of the Jewish governing body came up the outside stairs of the house and found Jesus. In their conversation, the Lord made it very clear that the Spirit of God is to be an integral part in the life of every Christian. Christians have to begin their relationship with Jesus our Lord and

Savior by being born of the Spirit (John 3:5). The Lord then added, “That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.” In these words to Nicodemus, the Lord made a distinction between two kinds of birth and two kinds of life (John 3:6). And Nicodemus would have left his encounter with Jesus in no doubt that the Spirit had a central part to play in the lives of Christians. We also know something of the Spirit’s works long before Pentecost. He was present when the Lord God made heaven and earth. “The earth was without form and void; and darkness was on the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters” (Gen. 1:2). We also read, “You send forth Your Spirit, they are created; and You renew the face of the earth” (Ps. 104:30). This miraculous Person was promised by Jesus to be in those of us who believe (John 14:17). He will testify to Christians about Jesus (John 15:26), convict us of sin (John 16:8), and will guide Christians into the knowledge and application of all truth (John 16:13). To reinforce His importance, we find that the Lord was filled with the Spirit (Luke 4:1), the first disciples were all filled with the Spirit (Acts 2:4), Peter was filled with the Spirit (Acts 4:8), and Paul was filled with the Spirit (Acts 13:9). But the importance of the Spirit does not end there. In the scriptures, we find six instructions for Christians and each one speaks of the Holy Spirit. Be filled with the Spirit (Eph. 5:18), be led by the Spirit (Rom. 8:14), walk in the Spirit (Gal. 5:16), live in the Spirit (Gal. 5:25), walk in step with the Spirit (Gal. 5:25), and bear the fruit of the Spirit (Gal. 5:22–23). And finally we know something about the character of the Spirit that Paul has identified in nine fruit of the Spirit. We know that fruit are expressions of the character of the tree or vine that bears that fruit. In the same way the nine fruit of the Spirit are expressions of nine elements of the character of the Spirit of Christ who is also the Spirit of God (Rom. 8:9). We find that He is gentle, kind, filled with goodness, faithful, and long-suffering with those of us who so easily stumble. He is also eternally at peace. His tranquility is never and cannot ever be disturbed by anything we Christians might foist upon Him. Like the Father and the Son, the Holy Spirit is love itself. Every word and action that flows from His being into the lives of Christians is an expression of love

(Gal. 5:22–23). And His joy that can so readily explode in our hearts is the divine provision that underpins our rejoicing (1 Pet. 1:8), and also our worship in the Spirit (John 4:24). Christians who are born of the Lord’s Spirit begin a relationship with this formidable Person, the Spirit of God and of Christ who brings the life of God and of Christ into our hearts. What therefore does the Lord require of each of us in our relationship with the Holy Spirit? In the scriptures, I read of three elements in that relationship that we need to attend to, and more so as we see the day of His return approaching. Enjoy His company, be conformed to His image, and listen for His voice. These three experiences of the Spirit are intensely personal. They are best treated not as doctrine to be agreed with, but as a personal narration of my relationship with the Spirit that can serve as a pattern for a relationship with Him for those who read these pages.

Enjoy His Company

The Holy Spirit is a divine visitor in my life. He has made Himself comfortable in the place God has prepared for Him in my heart that has been cleansed from all sin. His inner sanctuary is called the naos, the holy of holies, the temple of the Holy Spirit (1 Cor. 6:19). His own temple in my heart has a second name. Paul to the church at Corinth: “Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you” (1 Cor. 3:16). One inner temple, my heart, prepared by God’s cleansing for the coming of the Spirit of Christ who is also the Spirit of God. Like any visitor, the Holy Spirit is willing and fully prepared to express Himself in that inner sanctuary so that I might enjoy His company. Two of the most notable expressions of Himself are His peace, “which sures understanding” (Phil. 4:7), and His joy that is “inexpressible and full of glory” (1 Pet. 1:8). These were most evident in the opening hours of my relationship with Him when my confession was accepted and His forgiveness ed my acceptance into His divine family.

Then there is love, that divine provision that the Spirit pours into my heart which is His dwelling place, the temple where He dwells and where I worship Him (Rom. 5:5, John 4:24). And when I take time to express my love for the Lord my God, the Spirit fills my heart with that tender affection for the Lord God that is deeply satisfying.

Being Conformed to His Image

Paul makes me aware that God predestined me “to be conformed to the image of His Son” (Rom. 8:29). That opens the door to a transformation of my character from its normal intransigence to being in line with the character of the Lord who walked among men. The Greek word Paul used translated “be conformed” is an adjective that describes my completed transformation into His image. But life is not like that. For me being conformed to His image is a process that intimately involves the Spirit. It happens like this. I am confronted by a situation to which my old nature instinctively responds: aggression, rebuttal, anxiety, anger, pleasure, selfgratification, self-pity. Take your pick. There are so many, and each response is focused always on myself. I have two choices. Rush in with my response to the other person or situation, or wait for the Spirit to provide the alternative. That first response will never advance me in being conformed to His image. All it will do is reinforce my dependence on the responses that flow as an unwelcome stream out of the deep well of my conscious being. The second response is gentle in accord with the nature of the Spirit. I step back from immediate engagement with the person or situation, and for a brief moment, refer the situation to the Spirit. Then He s the alternative response that is in accord with His nature. Instead of aggression, gentleness. Instead of debate with the person respond with respect. Instead of flailing at him with words and actions, exercise self-control that tells him or her that I am listening. Instead of self-pity that focuses on myself, comion that focuses on the other person. And every response indelibly s in my heart and mind some element of the character of the Spirit who always leads me to my alternative response.

Put all these responses together, and little by little over days, weeks, months, and years, I am being progressively transformed into the image of my Lord through His Spirit who, in His person, is the model for my transformation. Progressively His character is becoming indelibly imprinted on my soul. His character is becoming my character. Are there backward steps? Yes! Many! For every time I respond out of the cries and laments and aggressive voice of my old nature, I put my transformation into the image of my Lord at risk. And I have to begin again. Repent. Confess. Seek His forgiveness. And the response I should have made. How many times will this happen? Many! Beyond counting! For I have learned to fulfill the little adage I have carried in my heart and mind for many years. Life is full of a thousand new beginnings.

Listening for His Voice

I know to my costly embarrassment that my relationship with Marie with whom I share this life suffers when I am silent or when I am not listening to her to what she says and to the messages that her actions and even her silence sends in my direction. Take away communication and our relationship would descend into the kind of nonresponsive kind of relationship I have with a bank teller or with the one who sees me through the checkout. The Lord knows how important communication with the Spirit is for those who belong in His eternal family. Seven times to seven churches the Lord spelled out His requirement that when the Spirit speaks they were to be listening. “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches” (Rev. 2:7, and the concluding verses at the end of each of the subsequent letters). Mother Theresa of Calcutta is reported to have said, “He speaks and I listen. I speak and He listens,” and this is what Elijah found on the mountain when the Lord spoke to him. Not in the wind, not in the earthquake, not in the fire, “and after the fire a still small voice” (2 Kings 19:12). God spoke and Elijah was listening. And the same pattern of intense and most personal communication between Peter and the Spirit is recorded by Luke. “While Peter thought about the

vision, the Spirit said to him, ‘Behold three men are seeking you’” (Acts 10:19). Peter heard and obeyed. The voice of the Spirit is required if I am to be led by the Spirit (Rom. 8:14) and to walk in step with the Spirit (Gal. 5:25). Take His voice away, and it is most unlikely that I will ever be led by the Spirit, however much I protest to the contrary. But this presents me with a very considerable difficulty. Hearing His voice depends on two conditions. First that He will indeed speak with me. And second that I will be listening. Imagine a visitor to my house, someone with a great character and with the vast knowledge that I need. I welcome him in and find him a seat. Then I turn my back on him and engage with numerous demands on my time and attention. In effect, I say to him, “Sit there until I am ready for us to talk together.” And being the gentleman he is, he will patiently wait until I am finished with what I believe is more important than my visitor. Nor will he interrupt me as I bustle around, like Martha preparing her meal but ignoring the Lord. My house is my body. The visitor is the Holy Spirit of my Lord. The room where the visitor is waiting for me is my heart, which is also His temple. The concerns that draw my attention away from Him flow from my human nature. In this situation, two conditions will never be met. The Holy Spirit, being the gentleman He is, will not insist that I attend to who He is and what He wants to say to me. And I will never be able to listen to Him for the cares of this life and the noises from my old nature will effectively distract me from the Spirit of the living God. The only solution I have is to deal with the old nature and all the intrusive noises that I allow to turn my attention away from Him and give it to myself. And that brings me to the next and most important theme. Inner rest in which He will be free to speak, and I will be free to listen.

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Rest for the People of God

But you shall before your brethren armed, all your mighty men of valour, and help them, until the Lord has given your brethren rest, and they also have taken possession of the land which the Lord is giving them. —Joshua 1:14–15

For if Joshua had given them rest, then He would not afterwards have spoken of another day. There remains therefore a rest for the people of God. For he who has entered His rest has himself also ceased from his own works as God did from His. —Hebrews 4:8–10

Take My yoke upon you, and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. —Matthew 11:29

Opposites

For most people in our western hemisphere, nothing is black and white, only a vast panorama ranging from the deepest black to the purest white, with every

shade of gray in between. This way of thinking is alien to the One who dictated the sacred words we value so much. Such principles as faith and works, sin and righteousness, grace and law, religion and godliness, darkness and light, life and death are at opposing ends of our continuum of faith and obedience. And now we are confronted with two more opposing elements in the eternal life that is His gift to us. Work and rest. The Greek word translated works is ergon and refers to work or deed and then to the outcome of that work or deed. God worked for six days to bring all the wonders of creation and the principles that undergird its operation into being. Then He ceased from that work and rested and made the seventh day holy in His edicts for the Jewish nation (Gen. 2:2). Our Lord Jesus spoke of the creative works He had done while He was among them (John 10:38). The Greek word translated “rest” is katapausis and refers to a resting down, putting down one’s tools of labor, putting part of one’s labor to rest. Rest is associated not with inactivity, but with acts of faith and obedience. The ancient Israelites were refused entry into the land of rest because of their unbelief, their refusal to trust the Lord. “And to whom did He swear that they would nor enter His rest, but to those who did not obey? So we see that they could not enter in [to rest] because of unbelief” (Heb. 3:18–19). In the New Testament, rest refers to an active and deliberate state of trust in the Lord regarding any person, place, or situation that demands our attention. He becomes actively involved in all those affairs and the Christian shuts down the energetic energies of the human nature and stays at rest. Unrest refers to a failure to trust Him and the insistence that I have to carry the burdens of life by myself.

Joshua and the Land of Rest

The story of the land of rest began many years before Joshua led the Israelites across the Jordan. It began with the promise God made to Abraham and restated a number of times. “Also I will give to you and your descendants after you the land in which you

are a stranger, all the land of Canaan as an everlasting possession; and I will be their God” (Gen. 17:8). For more than four hundred years, this promise was held in abeyance. The Israelites were in captivity in Egypt, but the Lord our God never abandons His promises. He raised up Moses, trained him in the courts of Pharaoh, and when the time had come, He led the Israelites out of Egypt on a journey that would take them to the land God had promised Abraham. He led them. They obeyed. Their trust in Him brought them into rest. Then their disobedience kicked into gear. And that disobedience had the unwelcome partner, unbelief. Instead of trusting the Lord to deal with their enemies in the land, they turned their eyes back on themselves and on their inability to enter the land. The writer to the letter to the Hebrews notes, “Now with whom was [God] angry forty years? Was it not with those who sinned, whose corpses fell in the wilderness? And to whom did He swear that they should not enter His rest, but to those who did not obey? So we see that they could not enter in [to rest] because of unbelief” (Heb. 3:17–19). Unbelief. Apistia. Faithlessness, distrust, unbelief; the deliberate refusal or unwitting failure to trust the Lord God to manage the affairs of one of His children. Unbelief involves reliance on human reasoning and abilities rather than on the Lord God. Apistia is the negative form of pistis, which refers to the unqualified trust in the One who promises His active involvement in the affairs of His people. Joshua, Moses’s apprentice brought the people of Israel to the Promised Land. They crossed over, and relying on the Lord’s guidance delivered through Joshua, began the conquest of Canaan. Rest for the Israelites had one fact at its heart. The Lord was with them as He promised Joshua. “No man shall be able to stand before you all the days of your life; as I was with Moses, so I will be with you. I will not leave you nor forsake you” (Josh. 1:5). The Lord was with them and fought for them. He underpinned each victory with careful guidance through Joshua and with His insistence that they trust Him. They fought under the Lord’s direction and therefore won every battle. Except the battle in which they tried to replace His guidance with reliance on their own

flawed wisdom. They worked out for themselves what to do with the walled city of Ai, and lost (Josh. 7:2–3). When the problem of Achan was discovered and dealt with, they reasserted their reliance on the Lord, and the sequence of their inspired victories continued. They came back to acceptance of the Lord’s guidance and to trust that He would fight for them. They came back into rest.

Rest for the Christian

Rest for the Christian begins the moment he understands that he cannot save himself. In trust he consigns his sins to the Lord who puts them figuratively to the flames. In these acts, he steps away from reliance on himself and puts his or her unqualified and unconditional trust in the Lord, and so comes into rest. The problem for those who are truly born of the Spirit is not coming into rest. That is the consequence of being saved through the Spirit. The problem is how to stay at rest. The ancient Israelites had to do battle with numerous foes hiding away behind walled cities. Rest for them meant a series of victories over their enemies. Rest for the Christian is built on a similar series of victories. Not out there in the world, but in that inner place where the sinful nature once ruled, in the inner courts of the old nature Paul referred to as the flesh. Rest involves constant victory over the unruly demands of the old nature. At the heart of rest for the Christian is the One who provides the wisdom and power for us to fight our battles against the flesh. Paul put it this way: “I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lusts of the flesh” (Gal. 5:16). Solomon had it right with his proverb. “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths” (Prov. 3:5–6). We might add, “And bring you into rest.” Rest is the outcome of refusing to give the ionate noises, desires, and confusions of the old sinful nature any place in our lives (see Galatians 5:24). Shut the sinful nature down. Deny it any place in our lives and whenever the

flesh becomes apparent, put it to death so that the Spirit of the Lord can reign in our lives. Rest is then the inevitable outcome of our trust. The writer of the letter to the Hebrews had this to say about rest. “For he who has entered His rest has himself also ceased from his own works and God did from His” (Heb. 4:10). His own works include the ions and desires of the old nature, the demand to have his own way, and the insistence that Christians can live their lives any way they like. The purpose of being at rest is to replace one power plant—that of the old nature —with much greater authority and power, that of the divine nature in which the Spirit expresses His character and exercises His power (2 Pet. 1:4 and Acts 1:8). Being at rest from the old nature provides the inner environment in which the Spirit can express Himself. Then His peace and joy flood our hearts and loving the Lord our God is the natural consequence of being at rest. Rest creates the environment in which the voice of the Spirit can be heard, for the noises of the old nature are stilled. There is then no competition for Him to express Himself and to make the will of the Lord God known. And a side benefit. The absence of these expressions of the Spirit, His peace and His joy, and our reluctance to love the Lord our God are sure indicators that rest has slipped its moorings and we are adrift on the fateful sea of the world’s influence. In that vast sea of unbelief, the old sinful nature will reassert its presence and influence in our lives. Shut the old nature down. Kill it off. Put it to death. And as Paul said, “And those who belong to Christ, have crucified the sinful nature, the flesh, with its ions and deceitful desires so that the Spirit can have His rightful place in the lives of those who belong to the Lord and so can come continually into rest” (Gal. 5:24, my commentary). Every Christian has a powerful tool in this constant conflict with the flesh. Our minds can be used for good or for ill, and when used for good, His peace can reign in our hearts. Paul issued these comprehensive instructions to Christians in the church at Philippi. And with this expanded statement from Paul that reflects the experience of so many, I can bring this part of our narrative to an end.

Be anxious for nothing, for this adverse emotion, anxiety, flows out of the benighted life of the unregenerate old nature that we need to put to death; but in

everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving in the Spirit, let your requests be made known to God, again in the Spirit; and the peace of God which is one of the foremost fruit of the Spirit and which sures all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in peace through Christ Jesus. Finally brethren, fill your minds with these things, and make them your constant mental companions; things that are true, noble, just, pure, lovely, of good report, things filled with virtue, things one can honestly praise. Meditate on these things, and emphatically not on their unruly opposites; things that are untrue and ignoble, unjust, impure, ugly, of bad report, morally wrong, and from God’s point of view, certainly not to be praised. In these ways the old nature will have no place in our lives as Christians and we will continually be at rest. (Phil. 4:6–8, my commentary)

48

Abide in My Love

And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength. This is the first commandment. And the second, like it, is this: You shall love your neighbour as yourself. —Mark 12:30–31

As the Father has loved Me, I also have loved you; abide in My love. If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love, just as I have kept My Father’s commandments and abide in His love. —John 15:9–10

By this we know love, because He laid down His life for us. And we also ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. —1 John 3:16

The Source of Love

From the very beginning, the Lord established the primary element in all His relationships, and that element is love. Moses understood where God’s love

fitted in His relationship with His people. He wrote, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength” (Deut. 6:5). Many centuries later, the Lord in His response to the Scribe, quoted these words, “And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength. This is the first commandment. And the second, like it, is this: You shall love your neighbour as yourself” (Mark 12:30–31). These two great commandments require our obedience now, as they did for the people of Israel in the times of Moses. For in them, God has left us traces of His own character, His purpose and will, His love and His loving. In the beginning, the only strength man had to obey these commands was found in the human nature that had been defiled in the Garden of Eden. And this was certainly so when Jesus responded to the Scribe’s question: “Which is the first commandment of all?” (Mark 12:29). The only resource man had to obey these commandments flowed out of the will and power of his human nature. Then, as the Lord promised, the Spirit came and everything changed. We have read that the Spirit bridged the great gulf between God and man and brought in Himself the divine nature of God. And love was and is the essential heart of that divine nature. Paul explains, “Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us” (Rom. 5:5). In this part of his letter to the Christians at Rome, Paul was careful to make a very special distinction. It is found in the words, “Has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit.” Love arrives in our hearts in a most intimate manner. It is not poured into our hearts from a great height, like heaven opening its portals and pouring out love. His love is poured out in our hearts by the Person who lives in our hearts. In a very special sense, the love of God is poured out of the heart of the Spirit into the heart of the believer. Not from a distant height but up close and personal. The Spirit comes into the believer’s heart, bringing the love of God with Him. And in the instant that He arrives in the cleansed heart of the believer, His love is poured out of His divine Person into the believer’s heart which is the Spirit’s holy dwelling place.

Another Command

When I first encountered the two commands, love the Lord and love one’s neighbour, I believed that these two commands summed up the complete essence of our relationship with our divine Lord. But I was wrong. There is a third command that our Lord stated twice to His disciples in the last hours before the cross. “Abide in My love” (John 15:9–10). His command takes the two great commands to love God and one another out of some out-there environment that is not myself and makes them personal and immediate. The command to abide in His love s myself, and incidentally all Christians, with His Holy Person, not only with His love, but with the whole process of His loving. Not only are we to love as He loved, but we have to participate in the loving He showed the world on the cross and which He continues to direct to the whole of His creation, Christians included. I have to begin with the love for all of us that sent Him to the cross. But first a reminder of the meaning of those two ancient, though very up-to-date, Greek words, translated love and loving. Love. Agape. (The e is long as in fete.) The love of God that arises from the Lord’s decision to continually respect, ire, and esteem sinful men and women such as you and me, to give Himself in service for us at the cost of His suffering and death. His love and loving is always accompanied by the deep inner well of His affection for each of us, and indeed for all the totally unlovely men and women in this world. The noun agape is always made active in the verb agapao, “I love.” (The o is long as in mote.) Loving, as the Lord loves and in which we are to abide—that is to totally immerse ourselves—has three ways in which it is expressed in the circle of our lives. In the first place, by loving those we encounter with the divine love that fills His heart and now fills our hearts. For just as He expresses the love of God to them, so are we commanded with Him to express the same love to both the lovely and the unlovely. In this way, we abide in His love and have a share in His loving. In the second place, we abide in His love by serving those the Lord loves in the same way that the Lord God served us, as Paul notes in his letter to the church at

Philippi, He “became obedient to the point of death, even the death on the cross” (Phil. 2:8). This kind of service is rendered without any thought of cost. The motive to serve as Christ served and continues to serve us, overcomes any thought of what that service might cost. Loving another disregards the cost of expressing that love in service. In the third place, we immerse ourselves in His loving by introducing each one we love to the eternal life that is beyond human life, so that they also may be able “to know the love of Christ which es knowledge; that [they] may be filled with all the fulness of God” (Eph. 3:19). We abide in His love and in His loving so that others also may learn to abide in His love and in His loving.

Love One Another

The purpose of the love that is poured into our hearts is to build up others in the family of God. Paul understood that authority was given to him “for edification and not for destruction” (2 Cor. 13:10). Each of us will know that the words and actions of others delivered without love can have the ability to destroy something we value, to tear down something we have painstakingly built, to introduce us to self-condemnation, and worse, to plunge us into the depths of despair where we could sink without a trace. His loving will never bring about these outcomes. Nor may we. Our aim with all we say and do with and for other people has to follow in the Lord’s intended footsteps. Encourage, edify, teach, fill our words with love so that in everything, we will build up the faith and love of others. We learn to stay away from anything that will have the opposite and negative effect, anything that will tear down and not build up.

Serve One Another

The standards for loving as the Lord loved are very high indeed. In His person, He knew that He was the Son of God, that His rightful place was at the right hand of the Father, that it was His right to receive the obedience of countless angels, that He was the One who would one day restore Israel to her rightful place as the ancient called out children of God, and as their King, sit on His rightful throne and rule the earth for a thousand years. And yet! And yet! To reinforce the place of service in love He told His disciples, “Just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life [in service] as a ransom for many” (Matt. 20:28). And on His last night with them and as an example of that service, He took a towel, wrapped it around Himself, and took on the labor of the lowest of slaves in Jewish households. He washed His disciples’ feet. The Lord embraced the cost of loving by denying all that was rightfully His and then by serving you and me. In His engagement with the Father in the Garden of Gethsemane, the Lord learned that He was to become sin for all of us and in that discovery was repulsed by what was clearly at odds with His own sinless heart. His word to the Father reveal the utter depths of His willingness to serve you and to serve me. “Nevertheless, not what I will, but what You will” (Mark 14:36). Paul describes the purpose of His obedience to the Father’s requirement that He serve the world at the supreme cost to His own inner identity. “For He made Him who knew no sin, to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him” (2 Cor. 5:21). The service that springs out of the unqualified love for another may come at a significant cost. In our , service may be at odds with our own priorities. Our reputation may be on the line. Even our identity as the boss or the one with great education and qualifications, may mean that others serve us. But where our identity runs counter to the Lord’s call for us to love and to serve one another, obedience to His instruction to serve as He served, has priority over everything else in our lives.

Abide in Love

In His instructions to the disciples, the Lord spoke of abiding in His love. He used two forms of the Greek word meno translated “remain” or “abide.” (The o is long as in mote.) One is future, the other is present, and both depict abiding in love as a continuous, every day, moment-by-moment part of our lives. Loving is revealed as an integral part of everything we say and do, and the central element of the attitudes that underpin our words and actions. In his letter to the church at Ephesus, Paul took up the Lord’s commands with his prayer for the saints at Ephesus, “That Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height—to know the love of Christ which es knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God” (Eph. 3:17–19). In this prayer, Paul is giving Christians a glimpse into a world that in human and apart from Him is quite impossible. But that world can become our world when we give our attention to a command Paul directed to the church at Colossae, “Seek those things which are above, where Christ is” (Col. 3:1). It is the realm of God, that, for so many, is up there and unreachable. Yet in the scriptures we find words that bring that seemingly unreachable realm of God, the realm of the Spirit, into the intimacy of our hearts where we have fellowship with our Lord and with His Spirit (see 1 John 1:3). And in that realm and in the intimacy of our hearts we are able to obey that special command, “Abide in My love” (John 15:9–10).

49

Heart Cry

I have stretched out my hands all day long to a rebellious people. —Isaiah 65:2

O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the one who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, but you were not willing! —Luke 13:34

For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. —John 3:16

The Character of Our God

In the Hebrew past, the Lord our God constantly faced His rebellious children and confessed, “I have stretched out my hands all day long to a rebellious people” (Isa. 65:2). This image of the Lord is like the image of the father of the prodigal watching out for his son to come home and then eagerly running to

meet him to embrace him and to restore him to the safe environment of the family. This is not the image of a distant God looking at the people of the world with disheartened disapproval. To all of us, He stretches out His hands so that we might stretch our hands back, take hold of outreached hands, and be swallowed up in an embrace with the Lord our God Most High. He sent His Spirit into our hearts so that His remarkably unbounded love (Rom. 5:5), His character (Gal. 5:22–23), and the riches of His person (Col. 1:17), might be accepted and enjoyed by those who receive Him (John 1:12). As children of the living God, all these benefits are ours by right of divine birth and paid for on the cross of inestimable pain and suffering. The great problem for Christians, which most emphatically affects the Lord our God from whom these blessings flow is that so many, a great many, a multitude of those who own His name either do not know these benefits of sonship or are unwilling to embrace the Spirit disciplines involved in living as of the family of God. Paul was quite specific about the uncountable treasures accessible for the children of God and of Christ, “In whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge” (Col. 2:3). Peter added to the tally of the treasures accessible to the children of the living God. “Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord, as His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue” (2 Pet. 1:2–3). Remarkable. Uncountable blessings for God’s children. I believe that the love the Lord has for His people is accompanied by an immense grief that so few of His children are receiving the blessings He died to make available and which are ours by right of birth. His grief accompanies our refusal, witting or unwitting, to give our lives back to Him. For He paid for them in the first place. (see 1 Corinthians 6:20). The two images: the Lord stretching out His hands to a rebellious people, and the Lord longing to gather His children under His capacious wings are undoubtedly part of His relationship with all Christians. So many have not, or cannot, or do not want to enter into that relationship with the Lord our God.

They deprive themselves of riches beyond measure and of the immediate inheritance of sons and daughters of the living God. They seem to count the cross of their salvation of little value except for forgiving their sins and gaining them entrance into heaven. And in all these responses, Christians lock themselves into extreme poverty of spirit when all the riches of heaven are held in store for them. I also believe that the Father’s heart cry is for all His children, all those who bear His name, to receive all the uncountable riches that the death of His Son makes available. The requirements are so simple. Know, recognize, and acknowledge the sins that we so we readily commit. Repent and confess them so that everything that divides us from the Person we so often offend, both by our actions, inactions, and by our silence, can be forgiven and be removed from our hearts and minds as far as the east is from the west (Ps. 103:12). What, therefore, hinders us? What is it about rebellious Christians that locks the cry of God into His heart? Why do we ignore, or at the worst, turn away from the one who loves us with all His heart and soul and mind and strength? There are many reasons. Fear of losing our independent way of life. A stubborn refusal to acknowledge spiritual need. Ignorance of who the Father is and what He provides because of the death of His son. Uncritical acceptance of the status quo as an inevitable religious part of our Christian lives. Blindness to the things of God induced by the god of this world. A network of relationships in the world in which we give the Lord our God no place. But two factors override them all. The first is recognition in the Christian that there is something missing in his or her life, some deficiency, and the corresponding search for God to supply that need. The second factor involves the whispered call of the Holy Spirit to come. Putting it in Jesus’s words, “Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest” (Matt. 11:28). The heart cry of the Lord is exactly that: for anyone who dares to acknowledge his or her unproductive religious labor, apparently for God’s acceptance, and who is heavy-laden with any of sin’s by-products, “Come to Me and I will give you rest.” There are no boundaries here, no denominational barriers, no religious conditions. Two people, and only two. The one with the burden who wants to

come to the Lord, and the One who calls for him or for her to come. One seeking. The other waiting to be sought, so that He, the Lord of glory, can make the connection, and all that God has in store for His recalcitrant children can be lavishly poured into their lives. The time for any Christian of any creed, of any denomination, or in any church, or out of fit, is remarkably short. The signs that speak of His return to claim His invisible confessing church, seem to multiply almost every day. The pandemic is one of those signs. (See Matthew 24:7–8.) That means Christians everywhere need to take heed to Paul’s word to the church at Corinth, “Behold, now is an acceptable time! Behold now is a day of salvation!” (2 Cor. 6:2, Greek translation). Now is the time for each of us to grasp with both hands and with all our heart and soul, and mind and strength, everything the Lord our God died to make available. The previous chapters describe the great provisions that love longs to make available for His so often unheeding children. The heart cry of our God is for Christians around the world, you and me and all of us, of whatever denomination, language, or creed, to face the final challenge to be Christians as we are meant to be. This is the heart cry of the One who is love and who desires to receive His own love poured out of our hearts back into His heart. This is the heart cry of love Himself. And He will continue to reach out His hands and His heart for we Christians to receive all that He died to make available for us, and for Him to receive our love, obedience, and worship that are undoubtedly His due.

Part 8

Consider, Examine

Preface to “Consider, Examine”

Part 8 of this narrative has been called “Consider, Examine” for a very special reason. In his letter to the churches, Paul and the Lord had established in Southern Galatia, Paul dealt extensively with the ways of faith and Spirit. He then introduced those Christians to two key principles that have key parts to play in the lives of Christians in our century. The first is skopeo, to consider elements of our lives as though looking at them objectively from a distance. The second is dokimazo, examine, to put the principles of our faith through the fire of critical examination, seeking the meaning of each principle as intended by the Spirit who dictated these principles so long ago. (See Galatians 6:1, 4.) Chapter 50, “Word Studies,” contains a number of the principles of our faith that have been embedded in key Greek words in the New Testament. Every one of these principles, from abide, meno, to works, ergon, needs to be understood and to become part of our lives as Christians. Paul provides us with details. “All scripture is given by inspiration of God and is profitable for [teaching], for reproof, for correction, and for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work” (2 Tim. 3:16). Our first priority in our study of the words of scriptures is for the principles of our faith to become fully known and firmly stored in the compendium of our knowledge of the faith. Further priorities are for us to permit the Lord to reprove us where our walk with Him has departed from the guidelines deposited in these many words. Then for Him to correct how we relate to Him and to others, and to teach and train each of us as little children are taught in the ways of righteousness.

These words are like signposts that mark our advance along the way of faith to our final ing. Not merely as attending of the professing church but as pilgrims with our attention firmly fastened on the Lord and on the way ahead. Therefore the final word, pilgrim. And perhaps this is the most important word that embodies the characteristics of Christians who are not of this world. Pilgrim. Parepidemos. (The second e is long as in fete.) A sojourner who is ing through the land and people where he or she doesn’t belong, a person whose identity has been determined by hip in another family, who belongs to a different kingdom, whose life is governed by principles that are alien to the principles of this world, whose allegiance is not to things of this world, but to the One from a different world who calls each one on his own pilgrimage of faith. Chapter 50, “Word Studies,” is provided as a resource to be referred to continually until the meaning and practice of each word becomes permanent parts of our lives. In this way, we will honor Paul’s instruction to the Christians in Rome. “And do not be conformed to the principles of this world in which we are aliens and only ing through, but be transformed by the renewing of our minds in which we store the principles of that other world as we strive to complete our journey with Him” (Rom. 12:2, my commentary).

50

Word Studies

All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work. —2 Timothy 3:16–17

A

Abide. Meno. (The o is long as in mote.) Remain, abide, dwell as a permanent resident, be thoroughly at home, be familiar with all the facilities, resources, and appurtenances of that dwelling place. We are to be continually at home in Him (John 15:4), in His love (John 15:9, and in the words that He personally speaks into our heart (John 8:31). Meno is also used of the Holy Spirit abiding with us (John 14:16).

onish. Noutheteo. (The final o is long as in mote.) Bring to the attention of a fellow family member, that what he or she is saying or doing is dangerous, has unfortunate consequences, and then to warn that member of the family of God about the inevitable outcomes of that course of action, hence to onish.

Anxiety. Merimnao. (The final o is long as in mote.) Anxiety refers to one’s mind being divided, being distracted by care, being troubled by a supposed

outcome. This was the word Jesus used when He spoke with Martha about being troubled about many things (see Luke 10:41), and this was the word Paul used when he wrote to the church at Philippi instructing them, “Be anxious for nothing” (Phil. 4:6).

B

Baptize. Baptizo. (The o is long as in mote.) Immerse an object such as a piece of cloth in a liquid such as a tub of dye so that the characteristics of the dye are transferred to the cloth. In the same way John’s baptism of people in water meant that each one became wet with the characteristics of the water. They became wet all over. In the same way, the baptism of a cleansed human spirit in the Holy Spirit means that the human spirit is intimately exposed to all the characteristics of the divine Spirit.

Become. Genesthe. (The second e is long as in fete.) With this word, Peter used a Greek tense that points to the beginning of our relationship with the Lord and with the Father and His spirit. Literally at a single moment in time that we might become, pointing to the once only beginning of our relationship with the Lord when we become partakers of the divine nature.

Believe into. Pisteuo eis (The final o in pisteuo is long as in mote.) The little word eis means into. It tells me that a Christian’s trust in our Lord takes the believer out of himself or herself and into the Lord’s heart and mind and will. When we trust Him in this way, we give ourselves to Him. We surrender ourselves to His Lordship. We express our faith in Him by being fully convinced and confident in who He is, in what He teaches, and in what He has said and done. But most of all our faith is in who He is.

Believe into rest. Pisteuo epi. When we trust our Lord without question and

without reservations we enter into rest. This is the meaning of these two Greek words, pisteuo epi. We shift the burdens we habitually carry onto His shoulders, out of our minds into His mind, out of our emotional baggage into His capacious heart.

Believe on. Pisteuo en. This verb refers to the One who is the foundation of our faith. This definition cuts out many things that have crept into our religion. These include faith in our traditions, faith in a particular Bible interpretation, faith in a church doctrine. These definitions leave out wholehearted trust in our Lord and in Him alone. When I leave Him out, my faith will have no foundation.

Believe that. Pisteuo hoti. Believing that something is true is an essential element in our faith. These words apply to how we view the scriptures, how we think of what Jesus said and did, and how we read the records of the early church. Belief that elements of our faith are true should always be an element of the active parts of believing listed above.

C

Chasten. Paideuo. (The o is long as in mote.) To bring up or rear a child in the family of God, to train and educate a member of the family in the ways of the family, to make an offending member of the family aware of his or her misdemeanors, and to have that member submit to the Father’s chastening.

Consider. Skopeo. (The second o is long as in mote.) To step back so that one can identify and consider the elements of his or her relationship with the Lord. This is not an emotional activity but involves objective consideration of the state of that relationship (see Galatians 6:1). The verb Paul used refers to continuous action. Considering oneself needs to become a thoughtful and objective element in one’s continuing relationship with the Lord.

Church. Ekklesia. (The e is long as in fete.) From ek, out of, and kalein, to call. Hence the church that Jesus said He would build would be an assembly of men and women called by Himself out of the world and out of lives of independence to believe in and follow Him. It would take many centuries for the word ekklesia that the Lord used (see Matthew 16:18) to be replaced by the word church. From cirice. Old English. The building in which the local lord of the land, duke, count, earl, or marquis lived. And from that beginning the ekklesia, a community of those who believed and who shared their lives in each other’s homes, has become the institutional church with all its trappings that we know today.

Cleanse. Katharizo. (The o is long as in mote.) To rid a heart that is dirty and impure of everything that is impure and would contaminate it, to make the human heart free from any kind of blemish, to make it utterly clean and therefore a fit dwelling place for the Holy Spirit of God where He can express Himself.

Confess. Homologeo. (The final o is long as in mote.) Share with another person, to agree with that person so that both are of the same mind, in this case to agree with the Lord and with His Spirit that something has come between the person and the Lord; something that hinders fellowship. Confession will bring that offending item out into the light so that He can deal with it.

Convert. Epistrepso. (The final o is long as in mote.) Turn back, turn from facing away from Jesus, to facing toward Him. Peter faced away from the Lord, before the crucifixion, probably out of fear for his life, as did all the disciples, and as Jesus said they would (John 16:32). When the Spirit came, Peter, as with all of us, found the grace and wisdom to turn from facing away to embracing the One who loved him. At Pentecost Peter was converted.

Convict. Elencho. (The o is long as in mote.) To cause a person to experience disgrace, to feel shame about a particular word, attitude, or action, to know the

Father’s opinion about such waywardness, to convince that person of the need to turn away from his or her self-centeredness, and come home to the Father and to the family of God.

D

Deny. Aparneomai. Deny, disown, refuse, decline oneself completely without leaving one part of self to continue to flourish, a most demanding word and it is stated by the Lord in the Greek as a command (see Luke 9:23).

Desire. Epithumia. Desire for anything, both good and bad; person, place, object, dream, position, relationship, experience, that makes an attachment between the thing desired and the one expressing that desire, desire establishes a permanent connection between the being of the disciple and things that are desired and refuses to let go.

Disciple. Mathetes. (Both e’s are long in as in fete.) One who follows a teacher, who observes the patterns of life, teaching and learning established by that teacher, one who accepts and adopts his or her teacher’s teaching and puts that teaching into practice. A disciple is one who is a living example of the Lord’s words, “Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me” (Matt. 11:29).

Do. Poiete. (The first e is long as in fete.) After the Lord had washed His disciples’ feet He said to them, “If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them” (John 13:17). Do: Put the principles of our faith into practice, continue to build the relationship with Him that is our right, privilege and obligation. (See also Philippians 4:9.)

Doubt. Merimnao. (The o is long as in mote.) The human predisposition to stand in two ways, and to be uncertain about which way to take. Doubt divides the mind as it did for Peter. His choice was between keeping his eyes on Jesus and to continue walking on the water, and looking away from the One who had called him and focusing his attention instead on the waves chopped up by the wind. Doubt means that one’s attention shifts back and forth between two options without the benefit of a decision.

Dwell. Katoikeo. (The final o is long as in mote.) To settle down in a fixed place, to live permanently in the home and heart of one who believes, to bring every element of His divine person into each Christian’s heart, to be at home there and to make Himself known.

E

Examine. Dokimazo. (The final o is long as in mote.) This word is written as a command and refers to the process of submitting what has been considered in the relationship with the Lord, to the most severe test, similar to the stringent test used to determine the quality of gold, as by fire, to critically examine what has been observed, to judge its quality and its relevance to one’s biblical relationship with the Master.

Exhort. Parakaleo. (The o is long as in mote.) To call another to come near, to call to one’s side, to speak words that call for a particular effect, in this case, encouragement to continue diligently in the way. This word also applies to the Holy Spirit who is called the Paraclete.

F

Faith. Pistis refers to our firm persuasion or conviction, and our confidence that relies completely on our Lord at all times and in all situations. Pistis can also be translated trust and applies to God the Father’s faith in Himself and to what He has promised (Deut. 7:9). Jesus is faithful (2 Tim. 2:13), and faith or faithfulness is an expression of the character of the Holy Spirit (Gal. 5:2). Faithfulness describes the way the Lord relates to each of God’s children.

Fellowship. Koinonia. (The second o is long as in mote.) Sharing what different people have in common. John describes an almost impossible standard. Those first disciples, contemporary with John, understood that fellowship, koinonia, involved Christians sharing what they had in common with the Father and the Son: their life, their joy, and their peace. And in the church this high standard of fellowship applies with Christians being able to share the life of Jesus and the joy and peace the Spirit brings with each other.

Follow. Akoloutheo. (The final o is long as in mote.) Walk beside Him or close behind Him, always within the sound of His voice. His disciples learn of Him as His students, as soldiers engaged in warfare against the common enemy, and as His servants committed to carry out everything He asks of them.

G

Gentleness. Praotes. (The e is long as in fete.) Gentleness, also defined as meekness, has two parts. The first part is the inner quality of goodness, agothosune, which is expressed as the inner disposition of gentleness within the inner man and as gentleness toward others. The Greek concept of gentleness does not convey the idea of weakness. Such gentleness, as with the Lord dealing with those who would betray and deny Him, was a deliberate choice made in great strength. Gentleness is an expression of the character of the Father (Ps. 18:35), of our Lord (2 Cor. 10:1), and of the Holy Spirit (Gal. 5:22).

Godliness. Eusebeia. The real true, vital and dynamic inner relation with God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit, where two elements of that relationship are, unequivocal and unconditional trust on man’s part, and unconditional love on the part of our God, where godliness is the state in which God and man meet, are ed in the eternal presence of God in the hearts of man and the presence of man in the heart of God. For out of that union flows the inestimable power of God.

Goodness. Agathosune. (The o and e are both long as in mote and fete.) Agathosune refers to the quality of a person who is ruled by kindness, inner goodness, moral worth, sterling goodness apart from outer attractiveness, and who values this quality in others. The supreme expression of goodness is the nature of the Father (Ps. 52:1). Goodness is also an expression the life of the Son (2 Thess. 1:11) and an expression of the character of the Holy Spirit (Gal. 5:22).

Guide. Hodegeo. (The first e and the final o are long as in fete and mote.) To lead the way into all truth, as One who knows both the destination and the direction, to progressively guide each Christian to that destination which is not simply things that are true; but the One who is truth, not merely to the Person of Jesus, but to the inner reality of His Holy Being.

H

Hardness. Sklerotes. (Both e’s are long as in fete.) Dryness, having a hardened surface so that nothing can penetrate, like hard soil or rock that cannot receive water or seed. In this case the heart of the Christian becomes hardened by his or her refusal to believe in the One we love.

Hearing. Akoe. (The e is long as in fete.) The inner faculty of hearing that is able to hear what the Spirit is saying at all times, what He is ing in our spirits

that are united with His Spirit, and then interpreted in our minds. One can’t do away with the faculty of hearing, but one can turn it off by focusing one’s attention on other voices.

Holy. Hagios. Any person for whom reverence is due. God is holy as is the Lord and His Holy Spirit. On earth anything that is not polluted in any way, by sin, by things of the world, or things of Satan, is holy. Being holy involves not being a mixture of sin and righteousness, of ways of the Spirit and ways of the flesh, or of any kind of holy and unholy elements. A person is holy when his or her person is filled only with things that express God’s holy nature. Being holy is also expressed in the verb hagiazomai, which refers to being in a state of holiness, a state that is not common, a state that is separated from what is common and brought into a state that refers to the essential state of an uncommon God.

Hope. Elpis. The sure and certain expectation of something future that can be relied upon, a well-grounded and a gladly and firmly help prospect of a future good that is based entirely on what God has said would be. Our faith in Him which has the substance of certainty.

K

Kindness. Chrestotes. (Both e’s are long as in fete.) A person’s sweetness of disposition, active goodness in a relationship with another in spite of ingratitude by the other person. This element of the Father’s character was expressed to the saints through Jesus (Eph. 2:4–7). Kindness is also an expression of the character of the Holy Spirit (Gal. 5:22).

L

Led. Agontai. It is a form of the verb that refers to continuous action. With the Holy Spirit knowing the way and leading each one who believes in that way. The sons and daughters of God are continually listening for the Spirit’s voice so that they can obey His direction and be led by the Spirit in what to say, what to be and what to do.

Long-suffering. Makrothumia. To be long-suffering is for one to endure a contrary person without becoming angry with him. The Father was longsuffering toward the children of Israel (Isaiah 65:1–3). Jesus was long-suffering with Peter when he told the Lord he would not deny Him (Mark 14:29–31).

Loving. Phileo. (The o is long as in mote.) Phileo is the verb form of philos, a friend, the one we embrace or kiss, denoting the sense of the ion of human love, in human , this loving arises out of situations that are favorable, is impelled by impulse and chance and can be withdrawn when the one loving encounters adverse conditions in that relationship. This word is never used of our love for God, and because of this phileo is powerless to bridge the gulf between God and man.

Love. Agape. (The e is long as in fete.) Divine love that arises from a person’s decision to respect, ire, and esteem the other person, love that gives itself in service to that person at whatever the cost and which, in the loving, kindles a deep inner well of affection for the one being loved and served. The noun agape has a verbal equivalent agapao. (The final o is long as in mote.)

M

Mind. Nous. The organ used in our perception of reality, both natural and

spiritual. The mind of man and of our Lord is used in three ways; to store knowledge, to reflect on experience, and to give substance and direction to what the mind thinks to do.

Mind. Knowledge. Phronema. (The e is long as in fete.) What is contained in the mind, the storehouse of wisdom and knowledge that largely determines how one thinks, believes, speaks, and acts. What each of us has in our minds is strictly limited. What the Lord has in His mind is infinite. And that infinite knowledge is contained in Himself within each of us. Because we have the mind of Christ (1 Cor. 2:16) He is able to convey what He knows into our minds and spirits (see 1 Cor. 12:8)

Mind. Outcomes. Noema. (The e is long as in fete.) The product of the mind, what has been thought out, then the purposes, devices, and thoughts that the mind produces as preludes to how we speak and act. Because we have the mind of Christ (1 Cor. 2:16), He is able to convey what He has decided should be any course of action to those who believe.

Mind. Reflection. Dianoia. The activity of the mind that thinks through any area of knowledge and experience, the faculty of thought, the reflective exercise of the heart and mind. In this way, the mind seeks to make sense of both immediate and expected experience. Every person on earth shares this faculty with the Lord Himself. Because we have the mind of Christ (1 Cor. 2:16), we can have access to His reflective thought and judgment about any situation we face.

N

Nature (Divine). Phuseos. (The o is on as in mote.) The essence of a person, the inborn quality, the source and origin of that person’s words and actions, in this case the essence of the Being of God which at the moment of our new birth,

potentially becomes the inner essence of those who believe (see 2 Peter 1:4).

P

Peace. Eirene. (The middle e is long as in fete.) Rest in contrast to strife, peace that brings inner disturbances to an end, a state of inner undisturbed well-being, the tranquility of God in His eternal realm, which is one element of His divine character and which is the Father’s gift to of His family. Such peace sures, is superior to, and is substantially different from any kind of human peace. Jesus made this clear, “Peace I leave with you, My peace I give you; not as the world gives do I give to you” (John 14:27).

Pilgrim. Parepidemos. (The second e is long as in fete.) A sojourner who is ing through the land and people to which he or she doesn’t belong, a person whose identity has been determined by hip in another family, who belongs to a different kingdom, whose life is governed by principles that are alien to the principles of this world, and whose allegiance is not to things of this world, but to the One from a different world who calls each one to this pilgrimage of faith.

R

Religion. Threskeia. (The first e is long as in fete.) The external form, the outward observance of ritual and ceremony, superstitious belief, formal worship involving the mind and emotions with the spirit left vacant and inactive, bringing offerings and gifts to keep God happy, the practice of piety approved by that religion. Threskeia accurately describes elements of the Christian religion that is opposed to godliness.

Repent. Metanoeo. (The final o is long as in mote.) To change one’s mind and purpose, to turn one’s back on what is found to be displeasing to the Lord, and to face toward what needs to be included in our relationship with Him. The Greek word repent is written in two forms. One refers to repentance as the beginning of a process. Repent and be born again (see Acts 2:38). The second refers to repentance as a way of life (see Mark 1:15). Our relationship with Him begins with the single act of repentance and continues with repentance; constantly turning away from the unproductive parts of our lives, and facing into the new ways of trust, faith and love, as continuing parts of our daily relationship with the Lord.

Rest. Katapausis. A resting down, putting down one’s tools of labour, putting a part of one’s person to rest. Rest is associated, not with inactivity, but with acts of faith and obedience. The ancient Israelites were refused entry into the land of rest because of their unbelief, their refusal to trust the Lord. “And to whom did He swear that they would nor enter His rest, but to those who did not obey? So we see that they could not enter in [to rest] because of unbelief” (Heb. 3:18–19).

S

Search out. Ekzeteo. (The second e and the o are long as in fete and mote.) Not a general kind of attitudinal search, but a search that has a specific object in mind. Literally to seek the Lord out. This is the New Testament version of the prophetic words of Jeremiah, “And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart. ‘I will be found by you,’ says the Lord” (Jer. 29:13–14). Christian’s relationship with Jesus our Lord therefore has two elements. We are to continually search Him out. And He is continually waiting to respond to our search for Him by being found.

Scourge. Mastigoo. (The final o is long as in mote.) In physical , to whip and scourge so that the bones are laid bare, as with the Lord’s scourging before His crucifixion. In spiritual , to repeatedly lay the matter bare in the mind

and on the heart and conscience of the Christian, to emphatically and repeatedly bring a person’s attention to the offence that needs correction, to produce shame as the basis for the deliberate decision to turn away from the offending word or action.

Self-control. Enkrateia. This Greek term was once translated temperance. It refers to mastery or dominion over an adverse emotion, to the command of oneself in such situations, and hence to self-control that is necessary to counter the influences of the world, the flesh and the devil. Self-control with the Father refers to His unwillingness to condemn His children for their willful disobedience (Ex. 14:11–15). Self-control was an element of the Lord’s behavior that final day of excruciating agony (Isa. 53:7). Self-control is an expression of the life of the Holy Spirit (Gal. 5:22) and is one of the fruit each Christian is to seek and value in his or her own life (2 Pet. 1:6).

T

Testify. Martureo. (The o is long as in mote.) Bear witness, make someone known, reveal the character and purposes of that person, testify of who He is and what He does. This was the word Jesus used when He promised that His disciples would be witnesses to Him (see Acts 1:8). In the same way the Holy Spirit would be the divine witness to make Jesus known to each of those who believe in Him, to Christians around the world in every place and in every church and denomination.

Truth. Aletheia. (The first e is long as in fete.) Not the outward appearance of a person but the inward reality of the One who is the Truth, the essence of the life of that Person, the inner essence of His being that underpins all that He is, all that He says, and all that He does. The truth in and of Jesus was the well spring of His life among men.

U

Unbelief. Apistia. Faithlessness, distrust, unbelief; the refusal to trust the Lord God regarding who He is and what He has promised. Unbelief involves reliance instead on human reasoning rather than on the Lord God and on His promises. Apistia is the negative form of pistis, which refers to the unqualified trust in the One who promises His active involvement in the lives of His people. Apistia, unbelief brings about the separation of the human person from the life and power of God and results in hardness of the human heart (see Hebrews 3:15–19).

W

Walk in step. Stoicheo. (The final o is long as in mote.) which means to walk with another as directed by the Spirit. To walk in step with the Spirit. When we walk in step with Him, He leads each one to do what the Father directs.

Works. Ergon. Work or deed and then the outcome of that work or deed. God worked for six days to bring all the wonders of creation and the principles that undergird its operation into being. Then He ceased from that work and rested and made the seventh day holy in His edicts for the Jewish nation (Gen. 2:2). Our Lord Jesus spoke of the works He had done while He was among them (John 10:38). The scriptures also use the word works to refer to the activities of the old nature (Gal. 5:19).

About the Author

Brian Byrne is a Christian of longstanding with extensive experience as a businessman, Bible teacher, curriculum writer, and missionary. In his later years, he began the study of being a disciple and has written a number of courses that deal with this subject. The course that is at the heart of his teaching, “Living by Faith in the Spirit,” has been translated into over thirty languages and local dialects including Swahili, French, Telegu, Burmese, Urdu, Arabic, and Persian. Brian Byrne has travelled and taught widely—Australia, Africa, India, China— where his focus has been on training pastors in how to make disciples in their churches. Brian is married with Marie, who is also an author, and are both retired from active ministry. They have five sons, fourteen grandchildren, and six greatgrandchildren. Marie is the founder and leader of a network of people interested in a variety of garden plants. She is also writing the story of the Lord’s engagement in her own life. Brian devotes his time to writing. His books are published by Christian Faith Publishing Inc. His first three books form a trilogy devoted to the place of the believer in the work of the kingdom—Identity: The Way of a Disciple, Disciple: Beyond Mediocrity, and The Leaders: As Those Who Serve. He is now working on his second trilogy. The first book, Christian: Not of This World, is with the publisher. Brian has three ions that guide his life and thinking. The first is an abiding ion for the church and its to regain the vitality given by the Spirit at Pentecost, but much of which has since been lost. His second ion is to prepare for the final great awakening that will sweep the world before the Lord returns to claim His bride. His third ion, which he plans to explore in later books, is related to all that will unfold in the end of days. In his spare time, Brian grows orchids.