Further Thoughts

DEVOTIONS FROM ROMANS 5 AND 6
This morning, in our congregation, the preacher preached on Romans 5:1-11.
It is a meaningful message: under the headings of 1) Rejoice in hope, 2) Rejoice in suffering 3) Rejoice in God.
My summary, as best as I received the message:
First the term ‘justified’ in verse 1. This is a legal word whereby God, the judge, declares the guilty sinner to be in the right with Him.
Three blessings flow from ‘justification:
1. God is at peace with us because His justice has been satisfied.
2. Not only do we have a relationship with God with an absence of anger, we have access to a gracious relationship.
3. We have the certain expectation (hope) that, in the future, we will share in the glory of God.
And how can we be sure that our hope will be fulfilled?
Verse 5 – God has given us the Holy Spirit who reminds us of God’s love.
Verses 6-8 – The objective ground of God’s love is the cross where Jesus died for our sin, even when we were enemies of God.
Verses 9-11 – Our hope will not be dashed because God reconciled us when we were yet His enemies. Now that we are His friends, and adopted children, He will surely save us and fulfil our hope.

I take the opportunity, at this juncture, to share some thoughts from Rom. 5:12-21 and Romans 6. Why these passages? In my Christian life, earlier on, I spent a great deal of time to understand these passages and how they relate to a life of Christian victory and holiness. It is not that I have now comprehended them holistically, but I thank the Lord for making some issues clearer to help me in my outworking as a child of God. We have shared previously that God reveals the truth to our minds, which is then internalised and assimilated in our hearts, resulting in the application in our life practically. In the issues discussed in these 2 passages, I have found that the applications must stem from an accurate understanding of what the Lord is communicating through Paul.
God’s grace in helping me in this understanding thus far has been a great blessing to my Christian life; and I trust I may be able to communicate this to all my dear brethren.
In Rom. 5:12-21, Paul sums up all that he has said about how God has released us from the penalty for sin. He shows that there were only ever two ‘camps’, two representatives – Adam (v14), and his counter part, Jesus Christ (v15). We are represented either by the first Adam or the second Adam.
The first man, Adam, by an act of disobedience, brought condemnation and death to us all (vv 16-17). The second Adam, however, brings grace and the gift of righteousness to His people (v17).
Paul also shows (vv 18-19) that the way we are justified parallels the way we were condemned. Adam trespassed and we were all condemned (v18). Christ obeyed and we who believe were all justified (v 18). The act of the one renders the ‘many’ either condemned or justified.

How were we condemned? God imputed to us the disobedience of our representative head Adam. Before we had actually sinned, Adam’s sin was debited to our account. That is why people were condemned before sin was defined by Moses and the law (vv. 12-14). They were condemned because Adam’s sin was imputed to them.
The way we are condemned is, in the case of Christ and the believer, a pattern for our justification. All the righteousness and obedience of Christ was imputed to us. It was credited to our account and we were declared righteous (v 19).
What then happened to all our debts – Adam’s trespass and our personal sin? It was reckoned to Christ’s account. He did not become actually sinful any more than we become actually perfect; but as with a bookkeeping entry, our sin was debited to him. He died to pay its penalty, and now His righteousness is credited to us (2 Cor. 5:21). It is through faith that we transfer from the camp of Adam (the camp of our birth) to the camp of Christ (the camp of the children of God); the first camp is by birth, the second is by rebirth (John 1:12-13).

Paul then goes on to tell us why we are to be holy and how truly we can be holy (and here is the elaboration of the concerns that many believers, including myself, ‘struggle’ with in terms of our understanding and outworking: Rom. 6:1-14).
Follow the following closely:
We are to be holy because we died with Christ (cf. Gal. 2:20). His death was a proxy death for us. We were with Him on the cross, with HIm in the tomb, and with Him in His resurrection (vv3-4). When Christ died for sin, we died to sin. Baptism is a constant reminder of our participation in Christ’s death and resurrection. Union with Jesus is the KEY to our justification and holiness.
When we died with Christ, we died to sin. Sin did not die, rather our physical body, which sin used as its instrument, was taken out of gear (v 6). Conversely, we have been raised with Christ to a new life (vv. 4,5,8). This new life is never ending (v9). Qualitatively, it is a life lived in knowledge of God and in reverence for Him (v10).

When it comes to justification, we have no contribution to make, so nothing can be commanded of us. But in verses 11-14, Paul gives a number of orders (which are to be observed in sanctification and a life of holiness). These are very important for us to know and observe if we desire to work out our sanctification and to be holy.
The first is attitudinal (v11). We are to make the same calculation about ourselves as God has made about us, that is, we are dead to sin and alive to God. As God sees us, so we are to see ourselves. Then (v12), we do not let sin reign over us. Next (v13), we do not keep going to sin’s temple to make offerings there (i.e we are not to continue to sin habitually); rather (v13), we commit ourselves once and for all to God’s lordship. We no longer live in a relationship ruled by observing law, or by earning merit; instead we live in an unconditional, undeserved relationship of grace.

The KEY to holiness is to recognise our solidarity with Christ and to stop sinning. As we resist temptation, God will help us to resist it (Philippians 2:12,13 – note: God works in us to will and to act).
We are either slaves to sin which leads to death, or slaves to obedience which leads to righteousness. We thank God that although we used to be slaves to sin, we have come (as believers) to obey from our heart the pattern of teaching that has now claimed our loyalty. As Christians, we have been set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness; we are no longer obliged to obey our previous master, sin, who pays a wage which is death. Through the obedience of the gospel that comes from faith, we come under the shelter and security of the gospel, which now keeps us safe. So why go back to the former master, Sin? We owe him nothing and we are ashamed of what we did with him (v21).
The image regarding holiness: First, union with Christ in death and resurrection; second, set free from Master Sin and enslaved to Master Righteousness (v18).
Sin pays a wage – death; God gives a gift (eternal life). The gift comes to us because of the work of Christ Jesus our Lord. We cannot have life apart from Him.

JESUS – THE GOD-MAN, OUR SAVIOUR AND LORD

When John stated that the Word became flesh (John 1:14), it means more than he encased himself in a physical body. It means that he took to himself, and entered right into, everything that contributes to a fully human experience. Because of what he experienced as a first-century male before his death at 33, he can now enter sympathetically into all human experiences, those of girls, women, sick people, the aged, no less than those of young males like himself. Thus Jesus is able to give to all the help toward right living that we all need (Heb; 2:18; 4:15-16).
This fact helps believers in their struggles ever since the day of the apostles; we can constantly ask Jesus to help us in whatever situation we may be in, in our life, and we can be sure that he understands, and indeed he does help constantly.
The true Christian claim is that incarnation made direct entry into human frustration and pain possible for the Son of God, who then out of love actually entered in person into the agony of crucifixion, and the greater agony of God-forsakenness (Mark 15:34) in order to bear our sins and so redeem us. We must never ever forget that and we must never allow this claim to be played down.
“For because he himself has suffered when tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted.” (Heb. 2:18)

But Jesus is not only human; he is also God – he is the God-Man, and after his resurrection and ascension, although he has a resurrected body, he still retains his identity as the God-Man, sitting next to the heavenly Father, and interceding for us.
The divine-human Lord underwent the transformation as he prayed in the Transfiguration (Luke 929) – this points significantly to the revelation of Jesus’ deity. It was a taste of things to come; it was a momentary transition from the concealing of his divine glory that marked his days on earth to the revealing of that glory when he returns and we see him as he is. The voice of the Father from the cloud confirmed the identification that the vision had already given.
At the Transfiguration Moses and Elijah represented the law and the prophets witnessing to Jesus and being superseded by him. They appeared and were talking about his ‘departure’ – referring to his death, resurrection and ascension – this is not just a way of leaving this world, but a way of redeeming his people, just as the exodus from Egypt that Moses led was to redeem Israel from bondage.
Let us not forget that our Saviour is also divine, although his glory was veiled while he was on earth. As God, he is almighty, transcendent, powerful enough not only to redeem us but also to mould us into his image and mad\ke us his siblings in the new heaven and new earth. Everything in heaven and on earth is now under his feet as he reigns in heaven!!

RECOVERING BIBLICAL CONVICTIONS

Over the many years in Church history, biblical teachings and apostolic witness to sound theological issues somewhat become ‘diluted’ or even ‘distorted’ – no doubt this is principally the work of the ‘enemy’, using individuals who prided themselves of their intellectual prowess and ‘theological knowledge’ and abilities to come up with ‘doctrines’ which eclipse the apostolic transmission.

Christians from the beginning believe the BIble is the Word of God; the Bible reveals to us the reality of redemption through Jesus Christ the Saviour. God himself has confirmed this through what is called the inward witness of the Holy Spirit. The Spirit’s witness to Scripture is like his witness to Jesus, which we note in John 15:26 and 1 John 5: 7-8. It is not an imparting of new information but rather an enlightening of previously darkened minds to discern divinity through sensing its unique impact – the impact of Jesus of the gospel and the words of Holy Scripture.
The Holy Spirit shines in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God not only in the face of Jesus Christ (2 Cor. 4:6) but also in the teaching of Holy Scripture – the result of the witness of the Spirit – Jesus is a divine person; Scripture is a divine product. God effects this by means of the searching light and transforming power of His Spirit whereby Scripture evidences itself to be divine.
Previously, we have covered the various ‘Creeds’ and Church councils in church history which affirm that Christ is both God and man, the Holy Spirit is God, and pointed out various heretical teachings which seemed convincing but were actually leading the church astray.
God authenticates Holy Scripture to us as his Word – not by some mystical experience or secret information privately whispered into some inner ear (claims which some make in affirming some teachings from private ‘visions’, and secret ‘word from the Lord’), not by human argument alone (strong as this may be), not by the church’s testimony alone (impressive as this is when one looks back over two thousand years).
God affirms the truth by means of the searching light and transforming power of the Spirit (and this in turn is confirmed by godly men in the various councils, resulting in the Creeds to protect these truths for future generations in the church.

We need to recover old truth that has been a means of blessing in the past and can under God become the means of blessing again in the present, while the quest for newer alternatives may well prove barren. We should not be daunted from attempting such recovery by any prejudice, ill will, or unsympathetic attitudes that may have built up against the old truth during the time of its eclipse in church history (eg. the prejudice against Reformed theology which was seen as biblical theology, and the presentation of alternatives like Pelagianism, Semi-pelagianism). Drawing on wisdom from yesterday can help us see how the relevant biblical instruction applies to us today (even accentuating the quality of worship and adoration of God).

Over the century, ‘holiness’ and ‘ministry’ have been treated as separate themes, which is in fact an error. God has linked them and we should not have the liberty to separate them.
One result of ongoing sanctification and holiness is that concern for others, with recognition of what they lack and wisdom that sees how to help them is increased. Ministry blossoms naturally in holy lives. In effective ministry, God’s power is channeled through God’s servants into areas of human need. A godly person of limited gifts is always likely to channel more of it than would a person who is more gifted but less godly. So God wants us all to seek holiness and usefulness together.
But, it is not uncommon for churches to appoint those with secular positions in society, and those with academic degrees and qualifications, to take on leadership roles in the church, irrespective of whether they are godly or holy in their lives.
The emphasis to serve in churches often results in accepting anyone who manifests willingness to serve without any due consideration that Christian service and ministry, to be effective, must flow over from lives that are godly and pleasing to God. At times, someone with inadequate spiritual quality and life has been sent to the ‘mission field’ because of the desire to be seen as a mission-minded congregation. The negative spiritual consequences that follow are not unexpected, for ministry by those unprepared for spiritual warfare may result in spiritual casualties, or conversely in pride, thinking that one is special because of such a ministry, compared to those who stay behind in apparently ‘mundane’ service. We have shared that God’s measurement of ‘success’ is greatly different from that of man’s; God’s work must be done in God’s way and by those approved by God in terms of their readiness and quality of life.

RECOVERING BIBLICAL CONVICTIONS(B)

ETERNAL PERSPECTIVE

God designed our nature to live in and by one’s hope, and part of the real Christian’s joy, increasing with age, is to look forward to eternal life in resurrection glory with the Father and the Son.
Christians sometimes described this present life, first to last, as preparation for death and eternity – this may sound gruesome as many do not like to talk about death or even mention death in their conversation – but this statement above is no more than just a matter of fact realisation of the truly natural outlook for us all.

Death comes to us all; whoever we may be, whatever our position and status in life; and it comes to various ones at different times and in unexpected moments, at different ages in life.
Unbelievers however decline to live, even to think of living, in terms of the world to come, and this, along with actual irreligion and egocentric immorality, constitutes the inward deformity seen in fallen human beings. Christians ought to be different in their outlook and perspective – but in reality, is there any essential difference in the attitude and perspective of believers when compared with unbelievers?
The deformity in fallen human beings leads to a constant diffused discontent with things as they really are, a miserable old age, because one has less and less to look forward to, and, one fears, a yet more miserable eternity. Man, a noble creation by God originally, but now one spoiled and wasted, has tragically lost the great potential for good and for joy at the FALL.
But for Christians, the apostle Paul wrote:
“Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory. Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry, because of these, the wrath of God is coming.” (Col. 3:1-6)
See yourselves as God sees you: we are citizens of heaven and what matter to us are “things above”, not earthly things; what we are looking for and have our hope anchored on is the ‘life with Christ and in Christ” and when Christ appears again, we will also appear with him in glory.
In other words, we are to rejoice in hope, and we are to live on earth, as pilgrims, on the road to the new heaven and new earth, with our hearts and our minds focused on the life that is to come and the life that is already ours in Christ, ‘already but not yet’; we are to have an eternal perspective and not one that is earthly, temporal, and set to pass away.

However, in practice, believers are ‘troubled’, ‘brought down’ by earthly matters and earthly issues in life; we despair in the face of sufferings, sickness, relationship issues, loss of career, and such; and we are so afraid of the pronouncement of ‘terminal illness’ because we want to live here on earth (if possible, as long as we can), and depression sets in when we are given the indication that our time to depart is nearer than we have hoped for. This is in fact setting our hearts and minds on earthly things, as contrasted with setting them on things above.
The apostle John wrote: “Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when Christ appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. All who have this hope in him purify themselves, just as he is pure.” (1John 3:2-3)
John was indicating that if we know that we shall be like Jesus at his appearing, then this hope will spur us to purify ourselves and to be holy and mature in Christ.
However, ease and luxury, such as our affluence bring us today (earthly things), do not make for Christian maturity: hardship and struggle however do. Hence, as we rejoice in sufferings, they produced a virility of character, undaunted and unsinkable, rising above discouragements and fears, for which our true models are men like Moses, Nehemiah and Paul. Rejoicing in sufferings include persevering and overcoming in spiritual warfare; Christians are to accept conflict as their calling, and see themselves as Lord’s soldiers, pilgrims, and not expecting to be able to advance a single step without opposition of one sort or another.
Paul added, “Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweigh them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal” (2Cor. 4:16-18).
Notice that it is still looking above and looking at what is unseen and eternal; it is this eternal perspective and vision that enables us to press one toward the glory that awaits us, and not to be brought down by momentary troubles and suffering on this earth.
Out of the constant furnace of suffering Christian maturity is wrought and the wisdom concerning discipleship is refined. Have Christians lost this biblical conviction and perspective over the years? Are we no different from those who put their faith and their security in what is passing away?

“For everything in the world – the cravings of sinful people,the lust of their eyes and the boasting about what they have and do – comes not from the Father but from the world. The world and its desires pass away, but whoever does the will of God lives for ever” (1 John 2:15-17)

OUR CHRISTIAN HOPE

“He who was seated on the throne said, “I am making everything new!” (Revelation 21:5)
The first eight verses of Revelation 21 are variations on the theme of newness. For John saw a new heaven and a new earth, to which the New Jerusalem descended. The promise of a new universe was first made by God to Isaiah (Isa. 65:17; 66:22). Jesus himself spoke of it as “the renewal of all things”(Matt. 19:28), and Paul wrote of it as the liberation of creation from its bondage of decay (Rom. 8:18-25).
We can affirm that our Christian hope looks forward not to an ethereal heaven but to a renewed universe that will be related to the present world by both continuity and discontinuity. Just as the individual Christian is a new creation in Christ, the same person but transformed, and just as the resurrection body will be the same body with its identity intact (remember the risen Jesus’ scars) yet invested with new powers, so the new heaven and the new earth will be not a replacement universe (as if created anew) but a regenerated universe, purged of all present imperfection.

The descent of of the new Jerusalem – it points to the dwelling of God with men and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God will be with them and be their God (it incorporates the covenant formula that occurs again and again throughout Scripture: “I will be your God, and you shall be my people.”
The result of this living relationship between God and his people is that there will be no more pain, tears, mourning, or death. For these things belong to the old fallen world order that has now passed away. And only God can do this, since he is the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the end (v 6 of Rev. 21).
Christians can hope to spend eternity on a new earth on which we shall live to God’s praise in glorified, resurrected bodies, enjoying its beauties, exploring its resources, and using its treasures to the glory of God. Since God will make the new earth his dwelling place, and since where God dwells there heaven is, we shall then continue to be in heaven while we are on the new earth. For heaven and earth will then no longer be separated, as they are now, but will be one (Rev. 21:1-3). But to leave the new earth out of consideration when we think of the final state of believers is greatly to impoverish biblical teaching about the life to come.

The work of Christ is not just to save certain individuals, not even to save an innumerable throng of blood-bought people. The total work of Christ is nothing less than to redeem this entire creation from the effects of sin. That purpose will not be accomplished until God has ushered in the new earth, until Paradise Lost has become Paradise Regained – see God’s redemptive program in cosmic dimensions. God will not be satisfied until the entire universe has been purged of all the results of man’s fall.

Existence on the new earth will be marked by perfect knowledge of God, perfect enjoyment of God, and perfect service of God (Rev.22:4). This should give us hope, courage, and optimism in a day of widespread despair. Though evil is rampant in this world, it is comforting to know that Christ has won the final victory. Whereas ecologists often picture the future of this earth in gloomy terms, it is encouraging to know that some day God will prepare a glorious new earth on which the problem which now plague us will no longer exist. This does not imply that we need do nothing about these problems, but it does mean that we4 work for solutions to these problems, not with a feeling of despair, but in the confidence of hope.

MORE ON ‘ALREADY AND NOT YET’ (B)

SOME EXAMPLES OF THE TENSION BETWEEN ‘ALREADY’ AND ‘NOT YET’

‘Already’, we affirm that God has revealed himself to human beings, not only in the created universe, in our reason and our conscience, but supremely in his Son Jesus Christ, and in the total biblical witness to him. We dare to say we know God, because he has made himself known to us and we rejoice greatly in the glories of his self-disclosure.
‘Not yet’, however, do we know God as he knows us. Our knowledge is partial because his revelation has been partial. He has revealed everything which he wills to reveal, and which he considers to be for our good, but not everything which there is to reveal. There are many mysteries left, into which we should not try to penetrate because God has kept them from us. “We live by faith, not by sight’ (2 Cor. 5:7).

‘Already’ God has put his Holy Spirit within us, in order to make us holy (1 Thess. 4:7-8). Already the Spirit is actively at work within us, subduing our fallen, selfish human nature and causing his ninefold fruit to ripen in our character (Gal. 5:16-26).. Already, we can affirm, he is transforming us by degrees into the image of Christ (2 Cor. 3:18).
‘Not yet’, however, has our fallen nature been eradicated, for still ‘the sinful nature desires what is contrary to the Spirit (Gal. 517), so that ‘if we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves’ (1 John 1:8). Not yet have we become completely conformed to God’s perfect will, for not yet do we love God with all our being, or our neighbour as ourselves. These things await the coming of Christ.

‘Already’, we rightly affirm, Jesus the Messiah is gathering round him a people of his own. And already the messianic community is characterised by the truth, love and holiness to which he has called it. The church is ‘the pillar and foundation of the truth’ (1 Tim. 3:15), that is, its foundation to hold it firm and its pillar to thrust it high. As for love, Christ has by his cross ‘destroyed….the dividing wall of hostility’ between people of different races, nations, tribes and classes, in order to ‘create in himself one new man’ (Eph. 2:14-15). As for holiness, his new society is variously called a holy nation, a holy priesthood and a holy people (1 Peter 2:5,9). So truth, love and holiness are already essential marks of the new society of Jesus Christ.
‘Not yet’, however, has Christ presented his bride to himself ‘as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless (Eph. 5:27). On the contrary, her present life and witness are marred by many blemishes, by error, discord and sin. Church’s history is the story of God’s incredible patience with his wayward people. The church is both committed to truth and prone to error, both united and divided, both pure and impure. However, we are to cherish the vision of both the purity and unity of the church, namely its doctrinal and ethical purity and its visible unity.
And yet error and evil are not going to be completely eradicated from the church in this world. They will continue to coexist with truth and goodness. In the parable of the wheat and the tares, Jesus said, ‘Let them both grow together until the harvest’.

LOOKING AT ‘ECCLESIASTES’ AFRESH

Ecclesiastes is one of the OT Testament’s five wisdom books. It has been said that the Psalms teach us how to worship; Proverbs how to behave; Job how to suffer; Song of Solomon, how to love; and Ecclesiastes, how to live.

We have studied this book; sermons have been preached on it; and many questions have been asked as to how this book can teach us about how to live.
My first ‘conclusion’ in studying this book is to see how this book deals with life realistically – the first 3 chapters in particular seem to voice nothing more than bafflement and gloom at the way everything is. All is vanity and a chasing after wind, as the preacher (Qohelet) puts it (whether he is the real Solomon or not is not conclusive). The preacher, going on in subsequent chapters, manages to keep us from falling either into pessimism and cynicism by putting up a strong theology of joy.

Cynics are people who have grown skeptical about the goodness of life, and who look down on claims of sincerity, morality, and value. They dismiss such claims as hollow and criticise programs for making improvements. Feeling disillusioned, discouraged, and hurt by their experience of life, their pained pride forbids them to think that others might be wiser and doing better than they themselves have done. On the contrary, they see themselves as brave realists and everyone else as self-deceived. Many mixed-up young people slip easily into cynicism; as a practising medical practitioner, I have talked to many young patients who presented with depression (and invariably with cynicism) in life.
Cynical individuals developed a self-protective sarcasm, settled for low expectations from life, and grew bitter. Cynical believers may stand up for Christian truth (but with not much interest in God or a willingness to submit to Him in reality). Ecclesiastes presents a view of reality very different from such cynicism.

In a flowing meditation on the business of living, it has two halves, each is a collective string of units without connectives in a loose-looking way, which yet links them logically and theologically by subject matter. And binding everything together are three recurring ‘imperatives’:

Revere or fear God: ‘fear’ in Ecclesiastes means “trust, obey, and honour,” not “be terrified” (3:14; 5:7-18; 8:12-13;12:13).

Recognise good things in life as gifts from God and receive them accordingly, with enjoyment (I2:24-26; 5:18-19; 8:15; 9:7-9).

Remember that God judges our deeds (3:17;5:6;7:29;8;13;119; 12:14).

There are two further unifying features.
The first is the book-end sentence, “Vanity of vanities, say the Preacher…All is vanity” – the opening words in 1:2 and the closing words in 12:8. Vanity literally means ‘vapor’ and ‘fog,’ and appears more than two dozen times to convey emptiness, pointlessness, worthlessness, and loss of one’s way. “Striving after wind – that is, trying to catch hold of it – it is an image of parallel meaning (1:14,17; 2:11,17,26; 4:4; 6:9). Both metaphors point to fruitless effort, of which the world is full of.

The second unifying feature is the phrase “under the sun.” It specifies the standpoint and pinpoints the perspective of no less than 29 verdicts on how things appear when assessed in this worldly terms without reference to God.
The first half of Ecclesiastes, chapters 1-6 is in effect a down-hill slide “under the sun” into what we may call the darkness of vanity. The natural order, wisdom in itself, uninhibited self=indulgence, sheer hard work, money-making, public service, the judicial system, and pretentious religiosity – are all canvassed to find what meaning, purpose, and personal fulfilment they yield. The reason for enquiring is given – deep down in every human heart, God has put “eternity” (3:11) – a desire to know, as God knows, how everything fits in with everything else to produce lasting value, glory, and satisfaction. But the inquiry fails. It leaves behind only the frustration of having gotten nowhere. The implication? This is not the way to proceed.

The second half, chapters 7-12, is somewhat discursive – we might even say meandering. It labours to show that despite everything, the pursuit and practice of modest, quiet, industrious wisdom is abundantly worthwhile and cannot be embarked on too early in life. After comparing old age to a house falling to pieces (12:1-7), the preacher works up to a solemn conclusion:
“The end of the matter; all has been heard. Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man.”

How then should we finally formulate the theology of joy that runs through and undergirds the entire book? Christian rejoicing in Christ and in salvation, as the New Testament depicts, goes further. But in celebrating joy as God’s kindly gift, and in recognising the potential of joy for everyday activities and relationships, Ecclesiastes lays the right foundation.

“There is nothing better for a person than that he should eat and drink and find enjoyment in his toil. This also, I saw, is from the hand of God (2:24).”
Discovering how under God ordinary things can bring joy is the cure for cynicism. For the Christian, however, there can be joy in the midst of pain, simply because pain and suffering are temporary and will pass away; our joy is embedded in Christ (‘My peace I give unto you’ said the Lord; “Rejoice in the Lord always, and again I say, rejoice” Paul exhorted).
Our union with Christ as Christians joins us to his life, his peace, his joy, and his victory over sin and death, and to a living hope of being with him eternally, in blissful worship and praise, forever, with all the people of God.

Ecclesiastes accurately and truly painted a picture that without God and the hope of eternity with him, there is only emptiness and a chasing after wind in our pursuit of all earthly ambitions and desires – they can never satisfy! Only God our Creator knows what is truly satisfying for his created beings; there is a vacuum in our lives which only God can fill! He has made us for himself, and apart from him, all is emptiness, pointlessness, worthlessness and a striving after wind, trying to catch hold of what cannot be grasped. I conclude from my first study of this book that it presents the hearer the reality of a life without the gospel – it resonates with what the Lord Jesus said, “For what shall it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses his soul; what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?”

COMMUNION WITH CHRIST

By ‘communion’ we mean the habit of ‘abiding in Christ’ which our Lord speaks of in John 15:4-8. Union with Christ is one thing, and communion is another. There can be no communion with the Lord Jesus without union first; but unhappily there may be union with the Lord Jesus, and afterwards little no communion at all. Union is the common privilege of all who feel their sins, and truly repent, and come to Christ by faith, and are accepted, forgiven, and justified in him. Too many believers, it may be feared, never get beyond this stage – they are content with a little faith, and a little hope, and a little peace, and a little measure of holiness.

Communion with Christ is the privilege of those who are continually striving to grow in grace, and faith, and knowledge, and conformity to the mind of Christ in all things. Union is the bud, but communion is the flower; union is the baby, but communion is the strong man. He who has union with Christ does wel; but he who enjoys communion with him does far better.
The grand secret of communion with Christ is to be continually living by faith in the Son of God, and drawing out of him every hour the supply that every hour requires. ‘For to me, to live is Christ’…’it is no longer I who live but Christ Jesus lives in me’ (Phil. 1:21; Gal. 2:20). Communion like this is the abiding joy and peace in believing.
Ignorance of this life of communion is one among many reasons why so many in this age are prey to formal religions and strange doctrines.Such errors often spring from imperfect knowledge of Christ, and obscure views of the life of faith in a risen, living and interceding Saviour.

Our previous sharings on re-focusing on Scripture; on the Cross, on the Holy Spirit – all these are intended to bring us to “Communion with Christ”.
The majority of believers today seem content with the barest elementary knowledge of justification by faith, and half a dozen other doctrines, and go on doubting, limping, groaning along the way to heaven, experiencing little of the sense of victory or of joy. The churches of these latter days (from the letters to the seven churches in Revelation) are full of weak, powerless and uninfluential believers, saved at last, but only as one escaping through the flames, but never shaking the world, and knowing nothing of a rich welcome into the kingdom of God (1 Cor. 3:15; 2 Peter 1:11).
The world is growing old and running to ‘seed’. The vast majority of Christians seem like the man in the time of Noah and Lot, who were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, planting and building, up to the very day when flood and fire came. They are always craving fresh excitement and they seem to care little what it is if only they can get it. Many believers are so infected with the same love of excitement that they actually think it is their duty to be always seeking after it. They take up a kind of sentimental, sensational Christianity, until they are never content with the ‘old paths’ and are always running after something new.
To see a calm-minded believer, who is not stuck up, self-confident, self-conceited,and more ready to teach than learn, but who is content with a daily steady effort to grow into Christ’s likeness, and to do Christ’s work quietly and inconspicuously, at home, is really becoming almost a rarity! Too many show how little deep root they have, and how little knowledge they have of their own hearts. They simply never think about God, unless frightened for a few moments by sickness, death in their families, or an accident. Barring such interruptions, they appear to ignore Christianity altogether , and hold on to their way, as if there was nothing worth thinking about except this world.
Anyone who knows them intimately can see with half an eye that their affections are set on things below, and not on things above, and that they are trying to make up for the lack of inward Christianity by an excessive quantity of outward show. And this formal religion does them no real good. It needs something more than going diligently to church, and receiving the Lord’s Supper, to take our souls to heaven. These things are useful in their way, and God seldom does anything for his church without them. But let us beware of being shipwrecked on the very lighthouse that helps to show the channel into the harbour.
We need to be thorough in our Christianity, and set our faces fully towards the Lord. Lay aside every weight, and the sin that so easily overtakes us. Strive to get nearer to Christ, to abide in him, to cling to him, and to sit at his feet like Mary, and drink full portions out of the fountain of life. This we can do only with “Communion with Christ”.
Communion like this is the secret of the abiding joy and peace in believing, as stated before. Communion like this is the secret of the splendid victories that men of God who overcome sin experience. It is communion with Christ that would ensure victory in the face of trials, particularly in these last days.
Are you alone? So was he. Are you misrepresented and slandered? So was he. Are you forsaken by friends? So was he. Are you persecuted? So was he. Are you wearied in body and grieved in spirit? So was he. Yes! He can feel for you, and he can help as well as eel. Then learn to draw nearer to Christ in communion with him. The time is short. In just a little while, all will be over: we shall soon be ‘with the Lord’.For surely, there is a hereafter, and your hope will not be cut off (Heb. 10:36-37).

THE IMPORTANCE OF AUTHENTICITY IN CHRISTIANITY

If we look at the parables spoken by the Lord Jesus Christ in the gospels, we note that many of them are intended to put in strong contrast between the true believer and mere nominal believers (in name only). The parables of the sower (which we covered), the weeds, the net, the two sons, the wedding garment, the ten virgins, the talents, the great banquet, the ten minas, the two builders, all have one great point in common – they all bring out in striking contrast the difference between authenticity and unreality in religion. They all show the uselessness and danger of any Christianity that is not authentic, thorough and true.

Let us look at the language of our Lord Jesus Christ concerning the scribes and the Pharisees. Eight times in one chapter we find him denouncing them as ‘hypocrites’, in words of almost fearful severity. ‘Serpents, brood of vipers! How can you escape the condemnation of hell?’ (Matthew 23:33). What can we learn from these severe strong expressions of our Lord? How is it that our gracious and merciful Saviour used such cutting words about people who at any rate were more moral and decent than the tax collectors and prostitutes?
It is meant to teach us how exceedingly detestable false profession and mere outward religion is in God’s sight. Open wickedness and wilful submission to fleshly lusts are no doubt ruinous sins, if not given up. But there seems nothing so displeasing to Christ as hypocrites and unreality.

Let us also look at the startling fact that there is hardly a grace in the character of a true Christian that does not have a corresponding counterfeit described in the Word of God. There is not a feature in a believer’s countenance of which there is not an imitation.
Is there not a false repentance? Remember Saul and Ahab, Herod and Judas Iscariot – they seemed to feel sorrows about their sin, but they never really repented unto salvation.
Is there not a false faith? It is written of Simon Magus, at Samaria, that he ‘believed’, and yet his heart was not right in the sight of God. Acts 8:13 and James 2:19 declare that the devils ‘believe – and ‘tremble!’
Is there not a false holiness? King Joash of Judah appeared to everyone as holy and good, so long as Jehoiada the priest lived. But as soon as he died the religion of Joash died at the same time (2 Chronicles 24:2). Judas Iscariot’s outward life was as correct as that of any of the Apostles up to the tie that he betrayed his Master.
Is there not a false love and kindness? There is a love which consists of words and tender expressions, and a great show of affection, and calling other people ‘dear brethren’, while the heart does not love at all. John the disciple, whom Jesus loved, wrote: “Let us not love in word or in tongue, but in deed and in truth.” Paul wrote: “Let love be without hypocrisy” (1 John 3:18; Rom. 12:9).
Is there not a false humility? There is a pretended meekness which often covers over a very proud heart. Paul warns against a false humility and speaks of having ‘an appearance of wisdom, in self-imposed religion, false humility (Col. 2:18,23).
Is there not a false praying? Our Lord Jesus denounces it as one of the particular sins of the Pharisees – that for a ‘pretence make long prayers’ (Matthew 23:14). He does not charge them with not praying, or with praying short prayers. Their sin lay in the fact that their prayers were not authentic.
Is there not a false worship? The Lord said to the Jews: “These people…..honour me with their lips, but their heart is far from me” (Matthew 15:8). They had plenty of formal services in their temples and their synagogues. But their fatal defect was their lack of authenticity and heart.

What shall we say about these things? They show clearly the immense importance that Scripture attaches to authenticity in religion. They show clearly we need to be careful lest our Chrisianiiy turn out to be merely nominal, formal, unreal and inferior.
We will sometimes see various ones ‘boiling over’ over outward expressions of worship such as church music and order of service, while their hearts are manifestly in the world. Of the inward work of the Holy Spirit – of living faith in the Lord Jesus – of delight in the BIble and religious conversation (which include study of BIble and fellowship in the Lord) – of separation from worldly silliness and entertainment – of zeal for the conversion of souls to Christ – of all these things they are profoundly ignorant. And is this kind of Christianity authentic? It is nothing of the kind. It is a mere name.

Our Christianity, if it is authentic, and given by the Holy Spirit, must be in our heart. It must hold the reins. It must sway the affections. It must lead the will. It must direct the tastes. It must influence the choices and decisions. It must fill the deepest, lowest, inmost seat in our soul.
The Christianity that is from the Holy Spirit will always have a very deep view of the sinfulness of sin. It will not merely regare sin as a blemish and misfortune, which makes men and women objects of pity and compassion. It will see in sin the abominable thing that God hates, the thing that makes man guilty and lost in his Maker’s sight, the thing that deserves God’s wrath and condemnation. It will look on sin as the cause of all sorrows and unhappiness, of strife and wars, of quarrels and contentions, of sickness and death – the curse that cursed God’s beautiful creation, the cursed thing that makes the whole earth groan and struggle in pain. Above all, it will see in sin the thing that will ruin us eternally, unless we can find a ransom – lead us captive, unless we can get its chains broken – and destroy our happiness, both here and hereafter, unless we fight against it, even unto death. Is this our Christianity?
Authentic Christianity will make a man glory in Christ, as the Redeemer, the Deliverer, the Priest, the Friend, without whom he would have no hope at all. It will confidence in Him, love towards Him, delight in HIm, comfort in HIm, as the mediator, the food, the light, the life, the peace of the soul
Authentic faith will produce in the man and woman who has it repentance, faith, hope, love, humility, spirituality, kindness, self-denial, unselfishness, forgiving spirit, truthfulness, hospitality and patience.

Authentic repentance towards God, authentic faith towards our Lord Jesus Christ, authentic holiness of heart and life – these, these are the things which will alone stand the judgment at the last day. Remember the solem saying of our Lord Jesus Christ: “Many will say to me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in your name, cast out demons in your name,and done many wonders in your name?” And then I will declare to them, “I never knew you; depart from me, you who practise lawlessness!” Matt. 7:22-23).

MORE ON AUTHENTICITY IN CHRISTIANITY

In Acts 6 and 7, Stephen was brought before the Sanhedrin and accused of speaking blasphemous words against Moses and against God. When the high priest queried Stephen whether the charges against him were true, Stephen replied with a rather long narration of what God had done for Israel, beginning with Abraham, the 12 patriarchs, Moses, the Exodus and the coming of the Messiah.
And in his concluding remarks, Stephen said, “But our ancestors refused to obey him (Moses), instead, they rejected him and in their hearts turned back to Egypt”(the land of bondage; Acts 7:39).
“You stiff-necked people! Your hearts and ears are still uncircumcised. You are just like your ancestors: you always resist the Holy Spirit! Was there ever a prophet your ancestors did not persecute? They even killed those who predicted the coming of the righteous One. And now you have betrayed and murdered him – you who have received the law that was given through angels but have not obeyed it.” (Acts 7:51-53)

Notice that the Israelites (including the high priest and sanhedrin) were descendants of Abraham and supposedly God’s people. Stephen shared that they, in their behaviour and response to what God had done for them, were disobedient, stiff-necked, with uncircumcised hearts and ears, always resisting the Holy Spirit, and even betrayed the Messiah, the righteous One, and murdered Him.
The above is a description of supposedly a people of God, who, in reality, were rebellious, disobedient, and unauthentic in their ‘religion’. They appeared to be people who were chosen; yet, in reality, they rejected the ‘prophets’ and ‘spokesmen’ of God, and even betrayed and killed the Messiah, the Son of God! In some similar ways, those who claim to be Christians and a people of God, who are not authentic in their faith and religion, are actually hypocrites, like the disobedient and rebellious Israelites. Such ones actually have ‘uncircumcised’ hearts and ears in the sense that they are not actually listening to God and His revelation; they follow all the outward requirements of their faith, but their hearts are disobedient, rebellious and always resisting the Holy Spirit! Hence, God detests hypocrisy and half-hearted, half-baked believers, who profess loyalty to God but are actually eyeing the things of the world and the desires of their self-centered fleshly hearts.

What about authentic believers? Holy Scripture, which is Law and Light, is also Life, in the very precise sense that it bestows life through the Holy Spirit because the Holy Spirit writes it in their hearts. ames 1:21 actually gives us this thought: “Receive with meekness the implanted word.” God implants the Word in our hearts, just as we implant seeds in our flowerpots.
The implanted Word continues James, “is able to save your souls,” The Word takes root in our hearts, and changes us in ways of which we are not at first conscious; in due course, however, we become aware that we are different from the way we were. Once we did not see Jesus in his glory and now we do. Once we did not love our heavenly Father of our Saviour, and now we do. Once we did not honour the Holy Spirit and now we do. Once we did not find worship a joy and now we do. Once we did not desire to please God more than we desire anything else in the world, once we did not desire God’s fellowship and communion, but this has changed.

What has happened? What has happened is that the Word has been implanted and taken root, and through the Holy Spirit it has become the means of life in our hearts (remember the parable of the Sower). It is the fulfillment of the New Covenant prophecy of Jeremiah 31:33: God writes his words in our hearts.
Bible truths imparts spiritual life, and we need to ask ourselves in Scripture if we are ever to learn how to know and love and serve and honour and obey our Lord (as authentic Christians, but not perfected as yet).
May God grant us to share in the excitement and in a full measure of that divine life to which the love of God’s Word opens the door.
Let us beware that we become like those Israelties who, in many ways, enjoyed God’s favour and interventions in their lives, and yet rejected His spokesmen and His Son, and desired to return to bondage and the ways of the world. Let us not resist the Holy Spirit and betray the Son of the Almighty God who loves us and desires to make us His own!!

THE HEART OF A TRUE BELIEVER

With God, the Searcher of hearts, the inner realities are as important as the external performance of the actions themselves.
For the true believer, the authentic Christian, the motivation, purpose, and desire that prompt and energise his/her actions are as significant to God as the actions in themselves – i.e. God evaluates the actions on the basis of the inner motivations and desires.

God assesses all our vacation from the inside as well as the outside, as Jesus tried to teach the Pharisees, who refused to learn.
Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples: “The teachers of the law and the Pharisees sit in Moses’ seat. So you must be careful to do everything they tell you. But you do not do what they do, for they do not practise what they preach. They tie up heavy, cumbersome loads and put them on other people’s shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to lift a finger to move them. Everything they do is for people to see….they love the place of honour at banquets and the most important seats in the synagogues; they love to be greeted with respect in the market-plaes and to have people call them “Rabbi”.” (Matt. 23:1-7)
What follow from verse 13 to the end of the chapter is the pronunciation of ‘Woes” to the teachers of the law and the pharisees: (vs 13;vs 15; vs 16; vs 23;vs 25;vs27;vs 29 -altogether seven ‘Woes’).
Notice that following the woes directed to them was the reference to them as ‘hypocrites’ each time: they do not practise what they preach and they themselves do not enter the kingdom of heaven; they make the converts worse than them in unrighteousness; they devalue the more important spiritual things and replace them with their own values; they neglect the real important matters of God’s law like justice, mercy and faithfulness and replace them with own interpretation; they are more concerned with the external appearances than the real purity within; they seem spiritually ‘beautiful’ and alive but they are dead within; they murdered and persecuted the prophets and spokesmen of God to preserve their own status and position!!
This is what hypocrisy amounts to: the average person may not be able to discern what is within their hearts; but God and those who are given discernment by the Lord see the inner reality and impurity.

Take note that the Lord Jesus pronounced seven ‘woes’ in succession, indicating the seriousness of the problem; ‘hypocrisy’ is so serious to God that the Lord had to highlight his displeasure and anger against it in so many ‘woes’, lest we miss it.
Also, note that the people addressed with this problem were spiritual leaders, teachers of the Torah (and OT Scripture) – and this is still a concern today, There are spiritual leaders in the churches, Christian organisations, Mission groups, who are not just leading others astray but in their own hearts, they are ‘condemned’ by God with similar ‘Woes’. Even Christians who are not in the leadership but are holding some relevant positions in the churches, and organisations, are also not exempted from such a malady; ordinary believers who attend to all the formality and externalities in the churches and groups and are even highly regarded by others and the leadership may also fall into this ‘unhealthy’ category.

It is time for self-examination before God before it is too late. Jesus said that those who were leaders and hypocrites would not enter the kingdom of heaven – this concerns their eternal destiny!
Those who are hypocrites may perform ‘prayer’ mechanically without any focused thoughts and in a state of suppressed resentment and perhaps, having to do it from a heart that is not as should be and so the performance is in God’s eyes unacceptable and hypocritical to a degree. Such ones do not pray to further the praise of God first and foremost but to gratify selfish concerns in which God has no place.
Holiness and piety among the true believers are not lapsing into legalism, and expressive shameful lurches into license (for immoral practices). They know that Scripture is the unalterable rule of holiness, and they never allow themselves to forget it.
On the other hand, hypocrites fall into the dishonesty and deceitfulness of fallen human hearts. The true believer practices regular self-examination to deal with spiritual blind spots and lurking inward evils.

THE HOLY SPIRIT AND SPIRITUALITY (SPIRITUAL FORMATION)

When the apostle Paul speaks of the Holy Spirit, in his epistles, as the “Spirit of Christ” (Rom.8:9; Gal. 4:6; Phil.1:9), he more typically refers to the Holy Spirit as the “Spirit of God.” Both phrases emphasize that the Spirit is conveying the activity of either God or Christ to the believer. For Paul, the presence of the Spirit is the reality of God’s personal presence in the midst of his people. The Spirit is always understood as a person, not some impersonal force or influence or power.
The Spirit is God’s own personal presence in our lives as believers, individually and corporately. The fruit of the Spirit’s dwelling are the personal attributes of God (Gal.5:22-23 – the nine facets of the fruit of the Spirit). Hence spirituality and spiritual formation in Christians individually and corporately without the Spirit becomes a feeble human project.
There is scarcely an aspect of genuinely Christian life that is not “spiritual’ in the sense of being lived in and by means of the third person of the Trinity.
Salvation originates in the Father’s redeeming love; it is in Christ, brought about by his death and resurrection; and it is realised in the life of the believer by the Holy Spirit, the empowering presence of God. Therefore, the people of God are Spirit people; they walk by the Spirit and are led by the Spirit since ‘getting saved’ first of all means “receiving the Spirit.” in conversion, the believer has been invaded by the life-giving Spirit and thereby transformed from within.
Conversion by the Spirit involves a commitment to a life of walking in the Spirit, being led by the Spirit, sowing to the Spirit. It means being a Spirit
person, first and foremost, since the Holy Spirit is the absolutely essential constituent of the whole of the Christian life. It is tragic that most expressions of the Protestant tradition have ended up being trinitarian in name only, but not in practice. Thus in belief, Protestants maintain their trinitarianism (in the Creed) but in practice, many of them are thoroughly binitarians.
The church leaders must throw away the boxes in which they have kept the Spirit securely under their own control, and to trust the Spirit to guide the whole community to a life in the Spirit that leads to genuine ‘Spirituality’ in the believers’ daily lives. Even more so, the plea would be for a similar genuine Spirituality in the gathered believing community that remains open to the Spirit to do things his way rather than to be invited in to be the silent partner of the Trinity so that we may continue to “do church” our often ineffective and powerless way.

There is of course the ‘fear’ that pneumatic preoccupation (as in the Charismatics) can slow down spiritual maturity too. Many Charismatics appear anti-intellectual in basic attitude, impatient with biblical and theological study, insistent that their movement is about experience rather than truth, content with a tiny handful of biblical teachings, and positively zany in their unwillingness to reason out guidance for life from the Scriptures. Endless possibilities of self-deception and satanic befoolment open up the moment we lay aside the Word to allow supposedly direct instruction from the Spirit in vision,dream, prophecy or inward impression. The history of fanaticism is gruesome – we do not want to see it return among our Charismatic friends. But this is always a danger when the formation of the mind by the Word is in any way neglected. What is needed across the board is constant instruction in biblical truth with constant prayer that the Spirit will make it take fire in human hearts, regenerating, redirecting and transforming into Christ’s likeness at character level. Christ’ prayer that his people would be sanctified by the Spirit through God’s Word of truth should be the first concern.

One critical aspect of our coming to terms with a more biblical understanding of ‘spirituality’ might be for evangelical believers to be done with their latent tendencies toward the heresy of Apollonarianism, in which the deity of Christ is so strongly superimposed over the historical Jesus that he is basically a “little God” walking among us.The biblical texts are quite clear that his miracles and insights into people’s lives were the direct result of living by the Spirit; or to put it the way Luke termed it, “who went around doing good….because God was with him.” Looking just at Luke (which we studied),we see that Jesus is the Spirit person par excellence. Jesus is prophesied to be filled with the Spirit from birth (Lk.1:15). At his baptism, the Holy Spirit descends upon him to empower his future ministry (Lk.3:22). Full of the Holy Spirit, he is led into the wilderness to be tempted (Lk.4:1), returns to the Galilee in the power of the Spirit (Lk.4:14( and announces his ‘manifesto’ with the recognition that the Spirit is upon him (Lk.4:18). He is filled with joy through the Holy Spirit (Lk.10:21). If believers were more attuned to the centrality of the Holy Spirit in the life and ministry of Jesus, we might be able to hear Paul himself a bit better, so that “living in/ by the Spirit likewise means for us to”do what is good for, and to, one and all.”
Paul means that the Spirit is both the ‘locus’ and the ‘enabler’ of our lives as believers (as supremely exemplified and seen in the perfect God-man). An example is seen in Acts 9:32-43; Peter healed Aenas, who was paralysed and bedridden for eight years, and he also raided Dorcas (Tabitha) from the dead. Notice the similarity and parallel in Jesus’ healing of the woman with bleeding for twelve years, and the raising of the daughter of Jairus, a synagogue leader, in Luke 8:40-56. What may not be obvious is to note that Peter’s healing of a paralysed person and his raising of Dorcas from the dead was through the enabling and power of the Holy Spirit which was also the case when Jesus, full of the Spirit, healed the woman with bleeding and raise the daughter of Jairus. It is in fact God’s continuing ministry of the risen ascended Christ through the Holy Spirit (given to believers and the church from God the Father and Jesus the Son) in the ministry of Peter and the early church.
We see how the Trinity is fully involved in God’s plan of salvation and in the enabling of believers, individually and corporately, to walk in the Spirit, and to keep step with the Spirit!

THE GOAL IS ‘MATURITY IN CHRIST’

“We proclaim him, admonishing and teaching everyone with all wisdom, so that we may present everyone fully mature in Christ. To this end I strenuously contend with all the energy Christ so powerfully works in me”, (Col. 1:28-29)
This is in line with the Lord Jesus’ commission to the eleven disciples in Matthew 28: “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptising them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” (vv.19-20)

Through the transforming power of the gospel, men and women would become “mature in Christ” – this is the Lord’s desire in his commissioning of the disciples – to make disciples, to produce maturity in Christ, to have Christians who are whole, complete and fully grown up in Christ. This is not just for individuals but for his people, his church; and the apostle Paul was clear of his mission – to admonish, correct, teach such that he may present everyone mature in Christ.
Paul was clear of his goal – not just that people would hear the gospel proclaimed, or understand it principally at an intellectual level, or even become converts to a new social movement. His aim (as directed by the Lord Jesus) was that the proclaimed good news would be received and would enact its effective work at the deepest level of the human spirit, shaping the hearts and minds of people so that the new life of Christ, given by the Holy Spirit, would so animate their character and conduct that they would truly become “like Christ.” This goal was not reserved for a small spiritual elite but was intended for everyone. It was meant to mark individual lives and communal experience (in the church). In that light, we shared in the previous sharing regarding the Holy Spirit and spirituality (spiritual formation and spiritual maturity). Along the same line, the Lord Jesus told his disciples to teach the believers everything He has commanded them (in the community, after baptising them into the church and into the Triune God).
So God’s workers, preachers, teachers, and leaders are all given this task and objective – maturity and discipleship are to mark individual lives and communal experience.
Paul tells the Galatians that he is “in travail” (ministering with an agonized yearning and consistent striving) until Christ be “formed” in them or “until they take the shape of Christ” (Gal. 4:19). Paul was clear that becoming like Christ means being conformed to the crucified One and therefore living a “cruciform” life (Gal. 2:19-20). Despite our contemporary individualism, we need to recall that Paul is thinking primarily of the church as a corporate entity, a body, being formed into Christlikeness,not merely about individuals. This “cruciform” life is marked by the presence of the fruit of the Spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control (Gal. 5:22-23 – shared in the previous sharing also).
The apostle Paul is also abundantly clear in arguing that becoming like Christ in attitude, character and self-giving service is not something that results from human effort alone. Rather, he is clear that being formed in Christ necessarily involves “walking in the Spirit” and “living in the Spirit” (Gal. 5:16,25). The Christians’ responsibility is to to allow the Holy Spirit’s transforming work to take full effect in their daily lives. The emphasis on formation into mature conformity to Christ through cooperation with the work of the Spirit is not exclusive to Paul; the same basic claims are found throughout the New Testament in the varied language of the four Gospels, Peter’s letters and John’s epistles. Christians of every age and every tradition are called to “life in the Spirit.”
The church and God’s people must not forget that this is the task and commission given by the Lord in His plan of salvation; they must not be ‘side-lined’ into concentrating on peripheral issues and organising meetings, management principles and the like, although some of these may be necessary at some points of time. They also must not forget that spirituality, maturity, spiritual formation and discipleship cannot be achieved without the Holy Spirit and HIs presence in the midst of His people; it involves a commitment to a life of walking in the Spirit, and being led by the Spirit. The Triune God is intimately involved in this process and the people of God are to labour and travail in cooperating with God to fulfil this task.
The makings of maturity may require God’s people to be prepared for conflicts, seeing themselves as their Lord’s soldiers, pilgris, and not expecting to be able to advance a single step without opposition of one sort or another.The moral and spiritual victories will be won by keeping sweet, peaceful, patient, obedient, and hopeful under sustained and seemingly intolerable pressures and frustrations; out of this constant furnace experience maturity is wrought and discipleship is refined.

LOVE CHRIST, LOVE HIS CHURCH

“Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish.” (Ephesiasn 5:25-27)

The church that Christ loves and sustains is the key feature of God’s plan for both time and eternity, and care for the church’s welfare, which is what love for the church means, is an aspect of Christlikeness that Christians must ever seek to cultivate. We are right to take the church on our hearts; we should be wrong not to. For our Lord Jesus says to us all, “Love me, love my church.”
Notice that Paul wrote that Christ loved the church and he expressed his love for the church by giving himself up for her, in order to sanctify her (having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word) so that he can present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle, that is, that she might be holy and without blemish as his bride’
Note also that the key feature of God’s plan for both time and eternity is Christ’s love and sustenance of his church, beginning with his bringing in the New Age and Era with the founding of the church in completing his mission as the Messiah, and as the head of a renewed re-created humanity as the second Adam. This in fact focuses on God’s eternal purpose to create through Jesus Christ a new society and humanity, one characterised by life in place of death; unity and reconciliation instead of division and alienation; righteousness in place of corruption and wickedness; peace and love in place of strife and hatred; and by a continual conflict with evil and the evil one instead of weak compromise with the evil one.
This vision and purpose of God stand in deep contrast to the realities of sin and lovelessness in so many of our churches; those who call themselves the church in our contemporary society are often guilty of dishonoring Christ, contradicting the true nature of the church and depriving the Christian witness of integrity and truth. The church is supposed to be a beacon of light to lead fallen men and women back to God but she would not be able to do that without being transformed increasingly to be holy and a true people of God.
So God’s vision and radical solution for the fallen humanity: a new creation! Through Jesus Christ God is recreating men and women ‘for good works’, creating a single new humanity in place of the old disastrous division in this present world with its decaying values and impending disaster, and recreating believers in His own image in true righteousness and holiness. The new man and the new society are God’s creative work; it is beyond the capacity of human power and ingenuity. It depends on the power and work of the divine Creator alone.

What we need to see clearly is that God is first and foremost focusing on creating a new humanity, recreating believers in His own image of righteousness and holiness! And how does God do it in the church?
“So Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ (the church) may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ. (Ephesians 4:11-13). Christ’s giving of his gifts to the church is to equip the Christians for the work of ministry, that is for work in his service, and his ultimate purpose is ‘for building up the body of Christ’ unto the fullness of Christ, a holy and unblemished bride of Christ. The word ‘ministry’ is here used not to describe the work of pastors but rather the work of so-called laity, that is, of all God’s people without exception. Ministry is not the prerogative of a clerical elite but as the privileged calling of all the people of God – it is an ‘every member ministry’. The pastor is in fact to help and encourage all God’s people to discover, develop and exercise their gifts from God to be a servant people, ministering actively but humbling according to their gifts in a world of alienation and pain. Thus, instead of monopolizing all ministry himself, the pastor actually multiplies ministry.

There is a place for organising training for evangelism, for Christian education, and the like, but the first and foremost priority is to equip and minister to Christians to grow unto maturity in Christ, and to develop and exercise their gifts simultaneously as a renewed society and part of a recreated humanity, with Christ as the head.
How believers relate to family and family relationships as a redeemed people; how they look at work and career; how they behave as upright citizens and as those who have the ‘good news’ to share – all these would come about as an ‘outflow’ and an ‘overflow’ of the ‘life’ and ‘power’ of Christ in them, through the inward working of God’s Spirit. We must not put ‘the cart before the horse’.

As for theology, there are various theological disciplines:
Systematic theology examines what the Bible teaches about certain theological topics.
Biblical theology considers how God’s Word connects together and climaxes in Christ (i.e. it covers the ‘story’ of the Bible from Genesis to Revelation).
Practical theology details the proper Christian response to the Bible’s truths.
Biblical interpretation is not complete until it gives rise to applications through a life of worship. Exegesis moves to theology, and the whole process is to result in a personal encounter with the living God disclosed in Scripture. Doxology – the practice of glorifying or praising God – should colour all biblical study and theology.
If, for eg., we study how Christians should behave as spouses, a topical study on marriage as in Systematic theology may give us many verses to consider on marriage, but biblical theology would help to put some of these verses in the right context, and then practical application as in Practical theology can then be implemented in real life situations.

But the end of bible study and interpretation is to lead us to love Christ, to glorify him and to honour him and the Father, through the Spirit. This is also the objective of sermons, theology and the sacraments. All these are to enable us to love Christ and His church.

LED BY THE HOLY SPIRIT

In a previous sharing on ‘The Holy Spirit and Spirituality’, the apostle Peter was featured in Acts 9 in healing Aenas and raising Dorcas from the dead. There is no doubt that Peter did all these in the power and ministry of Jesus through the Holy Spirit. This was the same Peter who, out of fear, denied the Lord Jesus three times before Jesus’ crucifixion. We see here the great contrast in Peter – once who failed the Lord previously – now manifesting power in prayer, in healing, and even in raising the dead.

However, Acts 10 paints a different picture – this has to do with the Lord’s desire for Peter to go to Cornelius and to share the gospel. Peter’s vision during his prayer revealed God’s vision to him, to share the gospel with a Gentile, which was unheard of for a Jew to do, in regard to visiting a Gentile in his home and associating with him. The vision which commands Peter to kill all kinds of four-footed animals, as well as reptiles and birds and to eat them was distasteful to Peter, for he had never eaten anything unclean or impure (according to the teachings of his Jewish background and religion). But God told Peter not to call anything unclean that God has made clean. The ‘vision’ happened three times, perhaps indicating that it was very difficult to make Peter change his mind and attitude. While Peter was wondering about the meaning, Cornelius’ men appeared , and Peter was told by the Spirit to go with them, for He (the Spirit) had sent them. So Peter went with some believers and we know the rest of the story, how God caused Cornelius and his household to come to belief in Christ. Peter had to explain himself subsequently to the Jews and leaders in Jerusalem why he went to a Gentile’s home, associating with the ‘unclean’.

It is helpful to know that those who walk in the Spirit and are led by the Spirit are not ‘perfect’ in their ways and thinking. What is essential is to overcome our prejudice, our previously wrong understanding, when the Spirit makes it clear for us to do or act contrary to what we hold ‘dear’ and proper in our previous experience. Walking in the Spirit may involve obeying Him even though it is contrary to our feelings, and understanding, when the Spirit makes it clear that we are to obey in some particular contexts. We need to be prayerful and open to the leading and enabling of the Holy Spirit even though we may have wonderful exploits in our previous ministry. We must not be guilty of resisting the Spirit, and even grieving the Spirit by keeping to our own ways and prejudices. The Spirit knows what is the wisest and best way in a situation; He also knows what is the wisest and best time to act or to wait. We must learn to move when He urges to; and we must learn to wait for His promises when we are told to be patient.