A QUEST FOR SPIRITUAL MATURITY AND GODLINESS
We have pondered over ‘The Holy Spirit and Spirituality’, ‘The goal is maturity in Christ’, ‘Equipping the laity to serve, to evangelise, and to disciple in the church’ (Loving Christ and loving the church), ‘Seeking God’s glory first and foremost and not ours).
We noted that this is in line with the Great Commission given by the Lord Jesus, and in line with the teachings of the Apostles.
But the New Testament also reveals that it is no easy task. It requires the ministry and life of the Holy Spirit in believers, transforming them from inwardly; it involves the cooperation of believers in the process of transformation, and the willingness to work hard and be diligent in our quest for godliness, of course, in dependence on the Spirit. Thus Paul talked about himself striving and praying ‘until Christ is formed in you’ with reference to the believers and the church. Christians today, individually, and corporately, find this an uphill task and prefer the easy and instant path; and this is the sad state of affairs that principally prevents the goal of spiritual maturity from being realised in many contexts.
In today’s Christian world, restless experientialists are a familiar breed. Their outlook is one of casual haphazardness and fretful impatience, of grasping after novelties, entertainments, and “highs,” and of valuing strong feelings above deep thoughts. They have little taste for solid study, humble self-examination, disciplined meditation, and unspectacular hard work in their callings and their prayers (hence the low attendance in prayer meetings and bible study, with lack of interest in God’s revelation and Word). They conceive the Christian life as one of exciting extraordinary experiences rather than a resolute rational righteousness. They dwell continually on the themes of happiness, good health, satisfaction, with nor reference to the divine discontent of Romans 7, the fight of faith of Psalm 73, or the “lows’ of Psalms 42,88, and 102 (in other words, they do not expect or welcome ‘struggles’, ‘sufferings’ in the quest to be godly and mature, and see everything in Christian life with rosy spectacles).
Such believers need 1) the stress on God-centredness as a divine requirement that is central to the discipline of self-denial; 2) the insistence on the primacy of the mind, and on the impossibility of obeying biblical truth that one has not yet understood (hence it is futile to expect them to do well in various contexts of life as believers, whether it be work context, family context, the tasks of evangelising and discipling, ministry and service in churchlife etc.); 3)the demand for humility, patience, and steadiness at all times and or an acknowledgement that the Holy Spirit’s main ministry is not to give thrills, but to create in us Christlike character (hence such ones fail to recognise that feelings go up and down, and that God frequently tries us by leading us through wastes of emotional flatness); 4) the singling out of worship of God as life’s primary activity; 5)the stress on our need of regular self-examination by Scripture, in terms set by Psalm 139:23-24); 6) the realisation that sanctified suffering bulks large in God’s plan for His children’s growth in grace.
So we can understand why many believers and churches stumble in their quest for spiritual maturity and godliness, individually, and corporately. The desire for instant results, coupled with the prioritising of feelings above deep thoughts (developed through hard work in study, disciplined meditation, prayers, accompanied with dependence on the Spirit to grow and to fight the good fight against the flesh,the world and the devil). So it is so very easy to come out with ‘programmes’, training in techniques of evangelism for instance, teachings on how to work out as believers in the various contexts of life – all these without the quality of spiritual life and commitment in Christ that is of a significant level – and to end up disappointed and disillusioned as to why our efforts to nurture maturity in Christ fail miserably.
It is like going to war with soldiers who are not equipped to fight; it is like going (into enemy’s territory) as ‘little children’ who squeal at the first sight of ‘blood’. First and foremost, we need to train the Christian soldiers to be combat fit; we need to nurture spiritual babes to be adults who can endure and persevere in the face of struggles, and sufferings, and end up “standing for Christ” (Eph. 6:13-14).
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, let us get our priorities right and look to the Triune God to fulfil our task here on earth before the final battle, where Christ, as the Victorious King of kings, would end all evil and all that is against God and His desires.
A QUEST FOR GODLINESS AND MATURITY (B)
We noted in the previous sharing on the above subject that although believers have been ‘redeemed’, we are still living in a fallen world, with the enemies of the flesh (indwelling sin), the world (its negative influence and values), and the devil (who seek to oppose God and His people). Thus the task of accomplishing the goal toward spiritual maturity and godliness will not be ‘smooth-sailing’; this is more so as we live in the context of “already” and “not yet” when only at the end of the age, at the consummation of God’s salvation plan, will we experience the fullness of God’s desire for His people and His creation.
Take ‘Christian marriage’ and ‘Christian family’. It may come as a ‘shock’ for some to find out that the number of divorces among Christians in the US is alarmingly high, and this figure is catching up among believers in other countries as well.
The biblical ethic of training up children in the way they should go, to care for their bodies and souls together, and to educate them for sober, godly, socially useful adult living is no longer ‘fashionable’ and adhered to. Family life of order, courtesy, family worship, goodwill, patience,goodwill and loving attitude are all lacking and ‘disappearing’ (hence the bad behaviour of children in school, their disobedience to parents and authority, their bullying of their fellow students and acquaintances).
Home life as a school for character training and a nurturing of caring for one another, accepting hardships and disappointments realistically as from God and refusing to be daunted by them but instead labouring to forge fortitude and moral values has deteriorated so much as to cause family life to become brittle even among Christians.
For Christians, we love because God first loves us. John 3:16 reminds us that “God so loves the world that He gives….” The Lord Jesus ‘summarised’ the Ten Commandments as loving God with all our hearts, souls, and minds, and strength, and loving our neighbours as ourselves – this is the goal that characterises spiritual maturity in Christ and true godliness.
This love (Agape) is a “way”(1Cor. 12:31) – a path of action – of which four things are true. First, it has as its purpose doing good to others, and so in some sense making them great. Agape Godward, triggered by gratitude for grace, makes God great by exalting him in praise, thanksgiving, and obedience. Agape manward (love our neighbour) makes fellow humans great by serving their observed real needs. Thus, marital agape seeks fulfillment for the spouse, and parental agape seeks maturity for the children.
Agape is measured not by sweetness of talk or strength of feeling, but by what it does, and more specifically by what of its own it gives for the fulfilling of its purpose. Agape does not wait to be courted, not limit itself to those who appreciate it, but takes the initiative in giving help where help is required, and finds joy in bringing others benefit. The question of who deserves help is not raised; agape does good to the needy (however undeserving), not to the meritorious. Agape focuses on particular people with particular needs, and prays and works to deliver them from evil. In all this it is directly modeled on the love of God revealed in the gospel – and this is certainly also manifested in varying degrees in matured and godly believers individually and corporately.
With such a love (agape) in those who are on the road to spiritual maturity, one can imagine that they would certainly be good ‘ambassadors’ for Christ in their workplace, in the community, in society, in family and in other social interactions, both in their words and in their lives. Their words, their lives, their wisdom, their walk in the Spirit, their communication of the gospel would bear fruit with God’s blessings; without such a love and character, one cannot expect much to be seen as a good and attractive testimony for the Lord, even though they may ‘boast’ of much head knowledge and skills acquired from training and various programmes (even helpful ones).
THE GOSPEL MUST BE COMMUNICATED
In previous sharings, we have shared on SPIRITUALITY; THE GOAL IS MATURITY IN CHRIST; AUTHENTICITY IN CHRISTIANITY; A NEW CREATION – THE LORD GOD’S DESIRE TO RECREATE A NEW HUMANITY IN CHRIST – ONE OF RIGHTEOUSNESS AND HOLINESS.
We noted also that God’s plan of salvation with the above features centres on the church – we are to love Christ and to love His church, for God has always intended to fulfil HIs plan of salvation in Christ, through the church (the church comprising of the messianic community from Abraham to those who are followers of Christ; that is, the true Israel, the full olive tree).
But the church and all the above begin with: “THE GOSPEL MUST BE COMMUNICATED (PREACHED, VERBALISED). We know that the Holy Spirit is the One who draws man to the Lord God and He effects regeneration, and the new birth; but the content of the gospel preached and communicated, in dependence on the Spirit, must always control the methods of its communication, and we must judge the value of various evangelism techniques by asking how far they can and do succeed in getting the message across.
The gospel’s content includes a diagnosis of the hearers’ state and needs before God, value judgments on the life they live as compared with that which might be theirs, and a call to judge themselves, to acknowledge the gracious approach and invitation of God in Christ, and to respond by a commitment more radical and far-reaching than any they will ever make. The gospel is not fully communicated unless all this comes over.
So the gospel must be verbalized; it must be preached – that is, set forth by a messenger who interprets and applies it to the hearers in a way which makes its implications for them plain. Since the gospel is a personal message from God to each hearer, the only appropriate and effective way of communicating it is for a messenger to deliver it on God’s behalf, that is, identifying with God’s concerns and expressing the mind and heart of God, how He hates sin and loves sinners, and what He has done, is doing, and will do for the salvation of those who turn to Him.
So whatever technical skills a Christian communicator of the gospel may command, what will count ultimately is what he is in himself (the messenger must ‘look like the message he communicates’), whether or not his manner and life back up his matter in making God’s mind and heart known.
And who are these messengers? The church leaders (pastors, overseers,) must ensure that preaching must continue as a main activity of the church. Preaching is not equivalent to teaching sessions and theological education which may be needed on a different platform. The many messengers are those among the laity, those who have been taught and trained by pastors, teachers, to perform the work of communicating the gospel and the service needed to build up the church unto full maturity in Christ. These are those who first and foremost have responded by a commitment to Christ and are ‘born again’, spiritually made alive, and are on the road of radical discipleship in Christ. Such ones, with the training and teaching (primarily from the Scripture, and theology) are “equipped” to share the good news of Christianity and live the good news of Christianity, whether at home and in family contexts, or at work, or in the community; and the more mature ones would also help others on the road to maturity in Christ in the life of the church.
When the church concentrates on organising training programmes on evangelism, discipleship, fellowship, meeting the needs of the young and the old, in church and in society (all of which are needful) and ignore equipping the laity and members to be ready to be a servant people, to communicate the gospel, in their words, and in their manner of life, the church cannot hope to effectively communicate the gospel and to make disciples of all nations (beginning with our local community).
Paul, in writing to Timothy, highlighted certain issues which are more prominent now, more than ever:
“The Spirit says that in later times some will abandon the faith and follow deceiving spirits and things taught by demons. Such teachings come through hypocritical liars, whose consciences have been seared as with a hot iron.” (1Tim. 4:1-3)
“But mark this: there will be terrible times in the later days. People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving slanderers, without self=control, brutal, not lovers of the good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God – having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with such people.” (2 Tim. 3:1-5)
The time is short and many such ones would be ‘lost’ without the gospel. Some of them may also mingle with those who are authentic Christians. If the church fails to equip the Christians individually, and corporately, to become mature in Christ and to learn to walk in the Spirit, and be led by the Spirit, the task of evangelism would be badly hampered because those who are asked to communicate in their various contexts (work, family, community, etc) are behaving as badly as unbelievers or are oblivious of their commitment to Christ and their loyalty to God. Undoubtedly, the task of disciple-making would also ‘go down the drain’, for we need disciples to make disciples, in a community, the church, endowed with gifts from God, but unfortunately, those with these gifts fail to fulfil their responsibility and calling by God to ‘build the church’.
OUR GLORY OR GOD’S GLORY
One of the main differences between pre-Reformation religion and Reformation religion is that the former was in many respects human-centered, while the Reformers were determined to be God-centered. In the matter of authority they rejected human traditions, because they believed in the supremacy and the sufficiency of God’s Word written. In the manner of salvation they rejected the merits of human beings, because they believed in the complete effectiveness of Christ’s finished work. This is why they emphasised the doctrine of justification by grace alone through faith alone. In emphasising that the church’s authority came from the BIble alone (sola scriptura) and that the sinner’s salvation was by grace alone (sola gratia) through faith alone (sola fide), their motive in both was to the glory of God alone (soli Deo Gloria).
The Pharisees were obsessed with the quest for glory. They were not concerned to bring glory to God; they wanted it for themselves and this impaired the whole of their lives. But even for believers today, much of Pharisaism remains in our hearts. Even in our most sacred moments, we may find ourselves motivated by concern for our glory rather than God’s. Examples may be found in our worship, our evangelism and our ministry.
True heart-worship is the most God-centered, God-honouring activity in which we either can or will ever participate. It is to credit God with the glory due to his name, to be occupied with God and with God alone. Nothing so disinfects us of self-centredness. And this can only be manifested, in varying degrees, in Christians who are mature in Christ.
In our public worship, selfish vanity can subtly intrude. The minister becomes proud of the way he is leading the service, the preacher of his eloquence and learning, the choir and organist of their musical ability and the congregation of their piety in being in church at all! Just when our attention should be absorbed exclusively with God in self-forgetful adoration, we become self-conscious, self-righteous, self=important and self-congratulatory again.
Even in evangelism, much of it can be self-centred – evangelism is a proclamation of the gospel by which people are rescued from self-centredness and liberated into God-centredness. Yet much of our evangelism is human-centred – our publicity draws attention to the speaker or the sponsor more than the Saviour. We become proud of organisation or puffed up with conceit over our own evangelistic enthusiasm.
Take the exercise of ministry in the church. Ministry means ‘service’ lowly, menial service; it is therefore curiously perverse to turn it into an occasion for boasting. Those who serve are to take their model the Christ who came to serve, not those who preferred to be lords.The authority in ministry stems from from sound teaching and consistent example. It is never authoritarian to the extent that someone attempts to dominate another’s mind, conscience or will. Lording was what the Pharisees were doing, keeping the people in subjection under them. Such domination is an offene both to God and humanity, to three Persons of the Trinity and to the fellowship of believers.
All our worship, evangelism and our ministry all become contaminated whenever the focus shifts from bringing glory to God to bringing glory to ourselves or other people. To love the glory of God more than our own glory is also to seek approval from God rather than other people. Matured believers would focus on glorifying and honouring God, whether in work, in family, in community or in social interaction; and certainly in church and in the activities which spring forth from the desire to please God.
If our concern is to be highly regarded by other people rather than God, it invariably makes a negative impact on every aspect of our lives.
It silences our witness. Our eyes will be on other people; we cannot bear the prospects of being ridiculed and rejected which would follow an open commitment to Christ. We look for popularity and praise. The same self-regarding anxiety to stand high in the opinion of others keeps many Christians dumb today when they should speak up for their Lord. It also ruins the ministry of every preacher and teacher who are more concerned to please the congregation than the Master (theirs and ours).
We cannot expect such believers to do well as ‘ambassadors’ for Christ in many situations, whether it be in a work context, or in other situations. Their commitment to Christ is suspect, and they cannot expect to be good witnesses for Christ in any situation for that matter. All the ‘drilling’ on the theology for these various contexts would make not much difference, because the ‘life’ and the ‘spiritual substance’ is lacking; in other words, they are not mature but they are half-baked believers, neither ‘hot’ or ‘cold’.
The main difference between Pharisaic piety and Christian piety is not what they do but rather in how and why they do it, and in its consequences.
Ultimately, it is seeking God’s glory first and foremost that truly matters in real and effective testimony, ministry, and life!!
WHAT TO EXPECT AS MATURED BELIEVERS
Beginning with the positive – fruitfulness (as noted in the parable of the Sower). Fruitfulness in Christian practice (in whatever context – work, family, church, society etc,) will not only bring glory to God, but will supply the best evidence to our own hearts that we are real disciples of Christ (i.e. assurance of salvation), and also to those who are young Christians and unbelievers around us.
We saw that fruitfulness is principally manifested in the fruit of the Spirit (the nine facets of this fruit), and indicate that we cannot hope to be fruitful without the ministry and presence of the Holy Spirit in our lives as believers. Also, note that the first facet highlighted in the fruit is ‘Love’ which we elaborate in the last sharing, and love would be seen in sharing the gospel in our words and life.
Assurance of our interest in Christ, and of our consequent eternal safety, is one of the highest privileges in religion. To be always doubting is miserable work.
But what true and matured Christians must expect to meet in this world – hatred and persecution. And this can come from the most unlikely source. We see how Saul, who described himself as a Hebrew among Hebrews, trained under Gamiliel, who claimed that with regard to keeping the Torah and the Law, he was outstanding. Yet Saul was one of the fiercest prosecutors of the Christians in the early Church before he met the Lord Jesus on the road to Damascus, and was converted, and became one of the greatest Apostles for Christ.
But pause and consider: how is it that Saul, with all his knowledge of the Old Testament, and all the training under Gamiliel and the teachers of the Law become such a fierce persecutor of believers? It goes to show that even extensive intellectual knowledge and intense training on how to be righteous before God does not guarantee that the person involved can be truly spiritually mature and godly. It was only when the Holy Spirit removed Paul’s blindness (recall the removal of scales from him by Ananias) and made it alive spiritually that he could see everything clearly, to the point that many years later, he realised he was the ‘chief of all sinners’ and the ‘least of all the apostles’.
And Paul immediately testified for the Lord Jesus in Damascus, refuting the Jews, and he was so effective that this time the Jews sought to kill him, and his disciples (note his fruitfulness in preaching the gospel, in so short a time) helped him to escape.
If the disciples and matured Christians looked for kindness and gratitude from man, they would be painfully disappointed. They must be prepared to be ill-treated like their Master. In fact, the Lord Jesus told them: “The world hates you. Be not moved or surprised. If they have persecuted Me, they will also persecute you. If they have kept my saying, they will keep yours also.” Painful facts in every age supply abundant proof that our Lord’s warning was not without cause. All your knowledge from the Scripture and theology will not help you in various contexts as matured believer (whatever the context may be); even your right and godly behaviour would encounter persecution, even from those who are supposed to be believers, and those who claim to know God (do not forget the example of Saul/Paul).
Persecution is the lot of all really godly people at this very day. Ridicule, mockery, slander, misrepresentation still show the feeling of unconverted people and jealous fellow-believers against the true matured and godly Christians. Mere churchmanship and outward profession are a cheap religion, of course, and cost a man nothing. But real authentic vital Christianity will always bring with it a cross. But such a vital Christianity is the result of many believers being equipped to build up God’s church and being true servants and ‘ambassadors’ of Christ, and this is not achieved by just emphasising on ‘training’ and the communication of just intellectual knowledge which are not assimilated to build godly lives, through the transformation of the Holy Spirit!!
SALVATION – IMPACT ON LIVES AND COMMUNITY
The gospel changes everything, for the individual and for the community of God’s people, the church, as well as for their impact on the society and on every sphere of life they are in, and interact with.
In God’s providence, we are to reach out to the world and engage in this world; in this light, we are to prioritise discipleship individually, and corporately, fulfilling the Lord Jesus’ Great Commission and building up the church (believers and new converts) unto spiritual maturity in Christ.
Seeing God’s Word change our lives happens only through His Spirit’s work. The apostle Paul wrote, “The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned”(!Cor. 2:14 ct Matt. 16:17; John 14:26; ;1613; Acts 8:31; Rom. 8:7-8). There ought to be a conviction that the Bible is God’s Word and therefore manifests an overarching unity. The goal of God’s revelation in the Scripture is to prescribe a certain lifestyle and worldview for all its readers and to seek to enliven within them worship and deeper surrender to the living God through Christ. God and not any human person is the ultimate author of Scripture” (2 Peter 1:21). We must therefore push to grasp the unified theology and the whole story of the whole BIble, which comes from the Almighty Triune God who discloses His character and purposes in space and time.
God reigns, saves, and satisfies through covenant for His glory in Christ. All the Bible grows out of the unchanging nature of God and must be understood to align with His unified purpose of exalting Himself over all things, ultimately through Jesus (Eph. 110; Col. 120). This unity is what makes biblical theology possible and necessary.
Salvation history is the progressive narrative unfolding of God’s kingdom plan through the various covenants, events, people,and institutions, all climaxing in the person and work of Jesus.
Redemptive history moves from creation to the fall to redemption to consummation. Biblical theology arises out of the narrative framework of salvation history, but we cannot restrict the discipline to redemptive-historical connections because the Bible includes more than the story of God’s glory in Christ. We must consider every passage in light of its placement and role within the canon as a whole, which contains two Testaments, each with corresponding narrative and commentary sections and each with a potentially corresponding three- part structure (Law, Prophets, Writings).
The narrative history of redemption frames both the Old and New Testaments and therefore calls us to relate everything to the story of salvation that moves from Genesis to Revelation. But the BIble also includes prophetic commentary – sermons and songs, preaching and poetry, letters and laments, wisdom and worship – that informs our reading of the story and contributes in its own way to the portrait of God’s glory in Christ. The Latter Prophets and Former Writings in the Old Testament and the Pauline Epistles-Hebrews and General Epistles in the New Testament supply colour and shape to the Bibles’ message, clarifying through propositions, predictions, prayers, and praises the character of God in Christ and the nature of faith, hope, and love.
As shared previously on Agape (love), Christians understand that we are made by and for eternal love, which is the primary meaning of life. Even the Christian doctrine of God as triune, consisting of three persons who have known and love one another from all eternity, demonstrates the relationships of love are the building blocks of all reality. And the ultimate purpose of God’s work of creation was to create a world of persons with whom he could enjoy a relationship. God created people, not to receive love and honour from them but to share the love, joy, honour, and glory He already had within the Trinity (but that does not preclude the chief purpose of man is to worship God and enjoy Him eternally).
Love, then, occupies a supreme place in the Christian imagination. As Jesus says, to be fully human boils down to loving God and loving our neighbour. Everything else – our accomplishments, our causes, our identity, and our feelings – is a distant second. Of course this understanding of the nature of reality will have an extensive impact on how we do our work, how we relate in the family, in the church, in the society with non-believers and young believers, and so on. But let us not forget that all these spring forth from our love for God and for our neighbour (which is really an overflow of true spirituality and Christian maturity). Without this love and maturity, we can expect our impact on every sphere of life would not be as impactful and positive as it should be. And this impact comes from our conduct, our words, deeds, our communication of the gospel, our actions and reactions to difficult and stressful contexts, including persecutions, sufferings, and ‘unfair treatment’. This impact cannot come forth just from attending courses, training programs, theology classes and accumulating knowledge without the reality of love and spirituality within. Love builds up; knowledge puffs up, so says apostle Paul. Equally, the impact cannot come from hearts and lives which do not hold matured Christian values; if in each sphere of life, our focus is on wealth creation as a means to the end goal of loving others and sharing the gospel, it goes against the grain of the value inculcated by God – and therefore it cannot honour Him or lead to actual human flourishing.
At the end of our life, will we regret that the things we clamour for have become our idols – whether it be in the family, in work context, in human relationships in church, and society? Will we wish that our time, passion and conduct have been nurtured and used to deepen our love for the Lord God and for people, and in producing products and contributions that help people to give and receive more love because they have come to know and love our God in Christ Jesus?
Coupled with the supremacy of love, Christian faith gives us another resource for ethical behaviour in all spheres of relationships – a basis for honouring fellow humans. If every person is made in the image of God, he or she has the inviolable rights, regardless of that person’s background, class, gender or race.
Calvin wrote: “Scripture helps us in the best way when it teaches that we are not to consider that men merit of themselves but to look upon the image of God in all men, to which we owe all honour and love….look upon the image of God in them.”
It is understandable that as we seek to help fellow believers in their struggle in family life, we embark on a course of theology of family; or in order to give guidelines in the struggle in careers, work, we consider a theology of work, and seek to see how Biblical theology and Systematic theology fit in, and also how Practical theology can offer practical applications for various ones. But Christian life and Christian living cover more than specific spheres of life; they are much wider and extensive than this – hence we must not forget that growth in Spiritual Maturity and Godliness would provide a basis to deal with all kinds of situations in our pilgrimage on earth, and they also prepare us, individually, and corporately for the eternal life to come, in the midst of a fallen world, with spiritual enemies to combat and to overcome.
THE HEART OF THE MINISTRY OF THE CHURCH
Many churches, as they observe ‘Good Friday’ and ‘Easter Sunday’, use this season to remember what God has done for believers some 2000 years ago. It is important, as we remember this ‘season’, to look closely at the one factor which gives basic shape to everything the church does, the element which lies at the heart of all its functions, namely, the gospel, the good news. At the beginning of his ministry Jesus announced that he had been anointed specifically to preach the gospel; later he charged the apostles to continue his ministry by spreading the gospel. Without doubt, then, the gospel lies at the root of all that the church does. Jesus entrusted to the believers the good news which had characterised his own teaching and preaching from the very beginning (we see this affirmed in the Gospels; Mark (1:14-15); Luke (4:18-19).
The key New Testament word with reference to the gospel, euangelion, denotes good tidings. It has two basic senses: active proclamation of the message and the content proclaimed (1 Cor. 9:14; Rom. 1:16; 10:16; 112:28). If Paul and his readers viewed the gospel as involving a certain content, what is that content?
Paul viewed the gospel as centering upon Jesus Christ and what God had done through him (Rom.1:3-4; 1 Cor. 15:1,3-8; 2 Tim. 2:8). The essential points of the gospel are Jesus Christ’s status as the Son of God, his genuine humanity, his death for our sins, his burial, resurrection, subsequent appearances, and future coming in judgment.
We must not think, however, of the gospel as merely a recital of theological truths and historical events (like remembering the season with sentimentality and forgetting it soon thereafter). Rather, it relates these truths and events to the situation of every individual believer. Thus, Jesus died. But he died “for our sins” (1 Cor. 15:3). Nor is the resurrection of Jesus an isolated event; it is the beginning of the general resurrection of all believers (1 Cor. 15:20 in conjunction with Rom. 1:3-4). Furthermore, the fact of coming judgment pertains to everyone. We will all be evaluated on the basis of our personal attitude toward and response to the gospel (2 Thess. 1:8). Only the gospel can bring salvation along with all its attendant blessings; the gospel is absolute and exclusive – the gospel “is the power of God for salvation for everyone who has faith (Rom.1:16).
Paul insists that nothing is to be added to or taken from the gospel, nor is there any alternate route to salvation. Knowing that the gospel is the only route to salvation, Paul is determined to defend it (Phil.1:7). In creating belief in the gospel, the Holy Spirit does make use of human minds and reason. But Paul not only defended the gospel, he also went on the offensive as well. He was eager to proclaim the good news to all nations. He had a sense of compulsin about his mission. “Woe to me if I do not preach the gospel” (1Cor. 9:16). It had been entrusted to his stewardship and he had a sacred obligation to proclaim it.
The gospel not only cuts across all racial, social, economic, and educational barriers (Rom. 1:16; Gal, 3:28), but also spans the centuries of time. A message which does not become obsolete (Jude 3), it is the church’s sacred trust today. The good news which the church offers to the world brings hope. In this respect the message and ministry of the church are unique.
In this world today there is little hope. Existentialism has spawned literary works; there is little encouraging news, whether social, economic, or political, in the newspapers and media. The philosophy of this generation: not God is dead, that period was passed long ago. This generation thinks – and this is its thought of thoughts – that nothing faithful, vulnerable, fragile can be durable or have any true power. Death waits for these things. By contrast, the church says with Peter, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! By his great mercy we have been born anew to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead” (1 Peter 1:3). There is hope, and it comes to fulfilment when we believe and obey the gospel. Because the gospel has been, is, and always will be the way of salvation, the only way the church must preserve it at all costs.
Hopelessness is hell – literally. As God made us to fulfill a function and attain an end (for man’s chief end is to glorify God, and to enjoy him for ever”), so he made us creatures for whom hope is life, and whose lives become living deaths when we have nothing good to look forward to. The deep hopelessness of the culture of this fallen world tightens its chilly grip on us; we are made to feel this increasingly, and so can better appreciate the infinite value for life today of that exuberant, unstoppable, intoxicating. energising hope of joy with Jesus in the Father’s presence forever, which is so pervasive a mark of New Testament Christianity.
But wait a minute: does this describe the state of Christians today? Christians are supposed to be in the ‘sunshine’, endlessly rejoicing in “Christ Jesus our hope” (1 Tim. 1:1). Those without Christ are without God and without hope, living already in a dusk of the spirit that is destined to grow darker and colder. But believers today somehow look like those without Christ in their attitudes, values, and emotional, psychological well-being, as well as their outworking in work situations, family contexts and relationships – even in the community of the church.
We started by saying that the gospel gives basic shape to everything the church does , the element which lies at the heart of all its functions. However, the church today seems to “be fighting fires which spring here and there” – organise ‘fellowship’, outings for those who seem lonely, lost and apparently without hope (seniors looking at the hopeless perspective of getting sick and dying); organise seminars, functions to make ‘members’ feel they belong and are not alone; put up teaching sessions to help ‘members’ deal with disappointment, crisis, and despair in work, in family relationship, in almost every aspect of society.
The heart of the ministry of the church is forgotten and left behind; believers are as good as non-believers in the quality of their lives – they are not struggling positively, in dependent on God’s Spirit, to proclaim the gospel; they are struggling to keep their ‘heads above water’ lest they are ‘drowned’ by the world, the devil and their fleshly desires for self-gratification. Loving God, enjoying God, glorifying God – these are far from what are noted in their lives.
To begin with, many are far from being mature in Christ; pastors and teachers are desperately trying to do everything themselves when they ought to ‘train’ and ‘mobilise’ the members (the laity) to do the task of sharing, proclaiming the gospel and contributing to discipleship ‘growth’ i the context of churchlife.
Do we realise that many of our churches are steeped in sentimental remembrance of the season of lent, but remain the same, later in terms of fulfilling the heart of the church’s ministry, commissioned by the Lord?
THE HEART OF THE MINISTRY OF THE CHURCH (B)
We have considered the heart of the ministry of the church – the Gospel!
It may be helpful, at this juncture, to highlight the major points of the Gospel:
1. The plight of man is not merely one of guilt fo rains but also of pollution in sin and bondage to sin – the state of being wholly dominated by and inbred attitude of enmity to God.The index of the soundness of a man’s faith in Christ is the genuineness of the self-despair from which it springs. Hence, in sharing the gospel, the believer, in dependence on the Spirit, needs to communicate the content of the gospel clearly such that the recipient may be convicted of his sin and in repentance, cries out to God for forgiveness and reconciliation.
2, God is hostile to sin, not only in the present, but also he condemns sin in the future; man must be made to see that his wrong relationship with God is not tolerable here and now.
3. The goal of grace is the glory and praise of God, and our salvation is a means to this end. God has chosen to redeem us, not for our sakes, but for his own name’s sake.
4. The sufficiency of Christ: men are not to trust in a theory of the atonement, but a living Redeemer, the perfect adequacy of whose saving work they never tired of extolling.
5. The condescension of Christ: He was never less than the divine Son, and his mercy is measured by his majesty – the love of the cross is magnified by dwelling on the greatness of the glory Christ left for it.
The doctrine of salvation is the good news of the Father’s giving us his Son to redeem us and his Spirit to renew us. The doctrine of the Trinity is the good news of three divine persons working together to raise us into spiritual life and bring us to the glory of God’s kingdom.
Hence we cannot dismiss the doctrine of the Trinity in God’s salvation plan – if the place of any of the three persons is misconceived or denied, the gospel falls (hence the detailed discussion previously on how God, in Christ Jesus, reconciled the world to himself. All three persons of the Trinity are involved: we must give equal emphasis in our thinking and our witness to the sovereign initiative of the Father who planned salvation, the atoning sacrifice of the Son who obtained salvation, and the mighty power of the Spirit who applies salvation.
Many preachers today, and other Christian teachers too, in their thinking and speaking either stress the cross all the time and say all too little about the Spirit, or stress God’s saving plan or the Spirit’s renewing work all the time and say all too little about the cross. We must take care not to do this.
So let the truth of the Trinity keep us balanced; make it a matter of conscience to do full justice in our thoughts, speech, and our worship, both in public and in private, to the love, wisdom, power and achievement of each divine person separately. as well as of all three together. Then our theology will benefit, and our soul will prosper in God’s sight.
THE HEART OF THE MINISTRY OF THE CHURCH (C)
We have established that the heart of the ministry of the church is the Gospel. But we need to realise also that the centrality of our redemption and the gospel is the CROSS. As shared previously:
The cross stands as the test and the standard of all vital Christian ministry. The cross not only establishes what we are as servants of God; it also determines how we are to serve, teach, and preach in the church. It also prescribes how Christian servants, preachers, teachers, and leaders are to be viewed and evaluated.
We are to return again and again to the cross of Jesus Christ if we are to take the measure of our Christian living and Christian service, as well as our Christian ministry.
The only polarity that is of ultimate importance that distinguishes those who are perishing and those who are being saved is the dividing line between the two groups – the message of the cross. “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 Cor. 1:18). The message of the cross is none other than God’s way of doing what he said he would do: by the cross, God sets aside and shattes all human pretensions to strength and wisdom. God made us to gravitate towards him, to acknowledge with joy and obedience that he is the centre of all, that he alone is God.
Rebellious human beings make themselves the centre of their thoughts and hopes and imaginations. This vicious lust to be first and number one works its waly outward not only in hatred, war, rape, greed, covetousness, malice, bitternessw, and much more, but also in self-righteousness, self-promotion, manufactured relligions, and domesticated gods.
However, we are impotent when it comes to dealing with our sin and being reconciled to God, but where we are impotent God is powerful. Human folly and human wisdom are equally unable to achieve what God has accomplished at the cross. The gospel is not simply good advice, or is it good news about God’s power. The gospel is God’s power to those who believe. The place where God has supremely destroyed all human arrogance and pretension is the cross.
The utter bankruptcy of all the world’s efforts to know God was part of God’s wise design. However, their failures to understand God are blame-worthy; their ignorance of God and their endless self-centred preoccupation are culpable. Nevertheless no evil, certainly not theirs, can escape the bounds of God’s sovereign providence – it is God himself who ensures that the world in its wisdom does not know him.
God determined that some men and women would come to know him – but through a means utterly unexpected and unforeseen by the “wise” people of the world (here we see ‘election’ and ‘predestination’ coming into play). God was pleased through the foolishness of what was preached to save those who believe (1 Cor. 1:21) – God determines that the message of the cross, the content of what is preached, should save “those who believe” (note the close relationship between the gospel content and the cross).
These people are saved by God, not because he chooses those who boast some superior trait or insight, not because he loves people who judge themselves to be wise, but because he determined to rescue those who believe him. By his grace, they trust him, they rely on him, they abandon themselves to him.
From the human perspective, faith appropriates the peerless benefits of Christ’s cross. But the question of ultimate cause might be asked. If it was God’s wisdom that ensured that the world through its wisdom would not know him (1:21), how did these people come to believe? If everyone finds the cross foolish and repulsive, how did these people come to delight in it? The answer: they were called by God himself (1:24) – a point Paul reiterates a couple of verses later. What the world dismisses with a shudder is nothing less than God’s means of bringing blessing the world cannot otherwise obtain. What the world dismisses as sheer foolishness, the foolishness of God proves “wiser than man’s wisdom (1:25). God acts to redeem fallen men and women because he is gracious, and for no other reason. He does not owe anyone in the world forgiveness and eternal life.
Recognise that a cross-centered ministry is characterised by the Spirit’s power and is vindicated in transformed lives. Paul’s message was attended “with a demonstration of the Spirit’s power, so that the faith of his converts might not rest on men’s wisdom, but on God’s power (1Cor. 2:4-5).
Biblical preaching emphasises the gospel and constantly elevates Christ crucified (again see the relationship between gospel and the cross). But is also recognises that the cross is not our creed, it is the standard of our ministry.
EDUCATING AND TEACHING THE CHURCH TOWARDS MATURITY
We have shared that the goal for believers and the church is spiritual maturity in Christ. We noted the heart of the ministry of the church is the gospel; and we also saw that the centre of redemption and its message is the Cross. Earlier, we are told that God gives gifts to the church – pastors, teachers, leaders – to equip the church (which comprises the members of the laity) to do the work of the ministry of evangelism, disciple-making, and all that contribute to spiritual maturity in Christ. The book of Hebrews exhorts believers to progress to ‘meat’ and not continue in partaking ‘milk’ as spiritual babes – clearly the call is to progress to spiritual maturity in the Lord God.
Acts 2:42-47: “They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, in the breaking of bread and to prayer. Everyone was filled with awe at the many wonders and signs performed by the apostles. …They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favour of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved”.
Here we see the early church devoting themselves to the apostles’ teaching and fellowship, communion (Lord’s supper and prayer)…. and they enjoyed the favour of the people, and the Lord added converts to their number daily.
We see ‘teaching’, or ‘catechesis, as integral to the all-age Christian nurture that every congregation should be practicing. Today however, teaching or catechesis has been eclipsed in the church for the most part; we need to unite in seeking the recognition, restoration, and indeed enhancement of it as a basic discipline of Church life.
What confronts us is a case of being so close, yet so far away. Although congregations have done well in so many ways, something more is needed. What is exactly the problem? The wanting to do things more quickly so as to get on with whatever we see as the next business, the hurrying mindset has led to the ‘fast-food’ revolution, in which we snack as we go along rather than treat proper meals as important for physical nutrition and ‘growth’. The desire for ‘instant’ results, instant growths in spirituality and increase in numbers in the congregation – all these can make us full (as in partaking food) but it is not a balanced diet at all! Something similar seems to happen in our churches; the ‘food’ we get and give, in our learning and teaching, though no doubt tasty, does not nourish us as spiritual food should. Before anything else, adjustments in our diet are needed, or we shall never be upright strong Christians – resilient, passionate for God in the way the believers in the early church were.
In some churches, the situation may be even more ‘acute’: it is like leaving babies in the supermarkets surrounded by tins of milk powder but the babies ‘starve’ for lack of milk and nutrition. Some in such congregations may be serving for years as ‘leaders’; and yet they know so little of the Bible and Scripture. They may be skilled in daily conversations and interactions at a ‘superficial level’ but they certainly are not equipped to serve God effectively and they surely are not able to equip others to grow unto spiritual maturity when they themselves are so lacking. And the pastors and teachers are counting on them, oblivious of their real spiritual state and level of maturity. All too often, churches appoint individuals with highly recognised secular ‘positions’ to take on leadership when they may perform well in their secular work but are ‘babes’ in Christ as far as spiritual work is concerned.
A spiritually healthy diet is the primary need of the present day for the churches; and spiritually healthy leaders are needed to equip the laity to do the work that God desires for the church.
What are some inhibitory factors against the call for a renewal of catechesis (teaching) in the church. One main factor is the turning away from external authority.
Many church leaders remain largely unaware that the real roots of Christianity – namely belief in theTrinity, the incarnation, salvation in Christs, and the supernaturalness of the church – are being replaced by the idea that those who adhere to the church system and keep up religious appearances are still free to believe or disbelieve as their personal judgement may suggest. This liberal mindset undercuts catechesis completely, for catechesis assumes the existence of authoritative truth that needs to be taught. Liberalism, in the church as in today’s wider culture, says there is no such thing.
The second inhibiting factor, a corollary of the first, is resistance to authoritative instruction within the Christian community. In Bible studies generally, participants are led to look directly for personal devotional applications without first contemplating the writers’ points about the greatness, goals, methods, and mystery of God. Such studies are carried out in a rush, and may conclude with various ones having their own views intact but inaccurate as far as the text of study is concerned; we learn to cultivate a mode of piety that rests upon a smudgy, deficient, and sometimes misleading conception of who and what the God we serve really is. So the result is along the line of personal guesses and fantasies about God replacing the church’s dogma as our authority. For not too few believers, the Bible remains on the ‘shelf’; and many have not even read through the Scripture, which is God’s revelation to His people, to help them grow unto spiritual maturity. Reminds me of the anecdote when a Bible College student, attending a course on the OT, asked the Lecturer whether Daniel was a real person in the OT, and this in the context of a lecture on the book of Daniel.
The next inhibitory factor: preoccupation. In many churches, the Sunday and weekly programs are already as full as can reasonably be managed. To make room for catechesis, some familiar elements of church life will have to be pushed into the background, if not, indeed, terminated. Otherwise, the good will be found blocking out the best.
What is communicated here is not meant to be a negative criticism of faithful pastoral ministry and positive leadership in not too few churches. What is shared is to be read as to see the good made better and the lacking made right so that God can be honoured and glorified, and HIs eternal purpose of “I will be your God and you shall be my people” be truly realised. And the desire is to see the “bride” made ready and unblemished and pure for the wonderful “Bridegroom” in the heavenly wedding!!
OUR CERTAIN HOPE OF GLORY
The channel through which power to endure and to persevere flows is hope – which is faith’s forward look. Scripture tells us that the righteous shall live by faith and not by sight; and as we live by faith and look to faith’s forward look which culminates in the new heaven and new earth, we are empowered to press on to finish the journey here on earth as pilgrims on earth and citizens of a heavenly city.
We are to be upheld by our hope, the sure and certain hope of glory promised to us in the gospel – the glory to which a life of faithful service and endurance is guaranteed to lead us.
The disciples of Jesus were dispersed and disappointed when he was crucified at Calvary. They were looking forward to the victory and deliverance as God’s people with the coming of the Messiah. All seemed lost when Jesus died at the cross.
Then comes the resurrection; and everything changed. Seeing their resurrected Master, their hope revived and spiritually, they became ‘fired up” for the Lord God. Their hope for the soul became firm and secure (Heb. 6:19) like an anchor of a ship. Anchored ships stay steady; anchored Christians do the same – the anchor that can and does hold us steady is the hope that is ours in Christ.
God made us hoping creatures, creatures who live very much in their own future, creatures whose nature is to look forward, and to get excited about good things that we foresee, and to draw joy and strength to cope with the present from our expectations of future fulfillment and delight.
In my twilight years, I have been reminded that there are not many years more to go to ‘finish the race”. As I ponder over the years that have passed in terms of Christian service and stewardship, at times, I feel sad and somewhat dejected as I consider the many lives of believers individually and corporately that the Lord has allowed me to interact with and to minister, and to be ministered to. Somehow, I wish the quality of response to the Lord on the part of many can be much better and more encouraging; instead, I find it rather disappointing and discouraging. Even when it comes to my own life and response, there is not much to rejoice over.
But I am reminded that God never intends for us to live without hope; in fact, He has given Christians the most magnificent hope that ever was. It is the riches of the glory of “Christ in you, the hope of glory” (Col. 1:27). Jesus himself to whom we who believe are united even now, is the Christian’s hope. Indeed, God who has begun a good work in us will complete it on the day of Jesus, as we continue to press on to “know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and attaining to the resurrection from the dead” (Phil.3:10b-11).
Each of us is travelling along a path that He has appointed for us to an eternity of joy in which He will be the center, the focus, and the source of our endless delight. Hence we are not to lose hope, even in the midst of the struggles to be holy, even in the face of disappointment, pain, and suffering. As the Holy Spirit is the source of spiritual life within us, so he is the dynamic by which we are being made more like the Lord Jesus.
He produces his fruit in Christ-like character and enables us to mature as Christian disciples. He is our ability in prayer, our guide and strength in the issues of life; He is the divine enabling by which we have everything we need to live a godly life in this world.
He is the power which shields us from the world, the flesh and the devil, keeps us persevering in faith and obedience and who eventually will secure our safe arrival in our Father’s heavenly home. There is no need to be dejected, discouraged, for God has provided us everything we need to be godly, and to persevere and finish the race. Thanks be to God!
WHAT HAVE GONE WRONG WITH PREACHING TODAY(B)?
A.W Tozer once said, “If God were to take the Holy Spirit out of this world, most of what the church is doing would go right on and nobody would know the difference.” The activities in the church, the meetings, the planning; – all these would carry on without the awareness of the absence of the power and presence of the Holy Spirit. This is also true of ‘Preaching’.
How does the Holy Spirit help us in our preaching? To begin with, we know that the Spirit is the author of the Bible as well as the One who illuminates Scripture for His people. If this is true, we can never expect to preach wholesomely without His teaching, enabling, and presence {in the preparation, which includes much prayer, from the preacher and the congregation; in the spirit of dependence on Him in the delivery, as well as in the results and effects of the sermons on the hearers].
The Spirit is the One who gave us our call and equipped us with the gifts he wants us to have and use. He also assists us in understanding the Word as we study. God has given teachers in the church – and we need to hear them and read what they have written – but ultimately only the Spirit can make God’s truth meaningful in our lives and ministries. We want tobe “Spirit taught” and not “man taught/” It is good to read what scholars have written in books – but it is also good to let the Spirit enlighten our hearts (Eph. 1:15-23) and write the truth there as well (2Cor. 3:1-3). No matter what others have written for our learning, there is a freshness about the ministry of a Spirit-taught minister whois marked by the oil of God on his head.
When the Spirit has taught us in the study, the message from the pulpit will be true to the Scriptures and will exalt Jesus Christ (John 16:14); and no matter how brilliant or eloquent the preaching may have been, the message was not given by the Spirit or delivered in the Spirit if Jesus was not glorified. I recall a pastor who told me that he always has a ‘sermon’ ready in his pocket, and ready to be preached whenever the occasion calls for it. I wonder how this particular sermon would benefit the hearers when it is recycled, and not only suitable for another congregation, but also may be irrelevant to the next congregation which happens to have the ?’good fortune’ to hear it. Some preachers even exclaimed that they have preached on a certain book of the Bible umpteen times and the notes are always available when called to preach the same book.
Where does the Spirit come in when we are always ready with our prepared notes, gleaned from various sources on the subject, and we are not very conscious that we need His help for every fresh ‘assignment’ God calls us to??
We must want our message to come “not simply with words, but also with power, with the Holy Spirit, and with deep convictions”(1 Thess. 1:5); and relevant spiritually to each group or congregation God desires us to minister to, at each point of time. We need to be careful that we do not divorce the power from the Spirit (who is a person, the third person of the Godhead).
The power the Spirit gives is the result of our relationship to HIm. If we want His ministry only so we can succeed in preaching a good sermon,then we will probably be disappointed. If we want the fullness of the Spirit for our preaching, we must cultivate a mature relationship to the Spirit in every aspect of His person and work and in every area of our life and work.
We have no right to ask the Spirit to empower us to preach a message that He did not help us prepare and that we have not obeyed in our own life. To ignore the Spirit’s ministry all week and then implore HIm for help on Sunday morning is coming dangerously close to tempting the Lord. The Spirit is ready to empower and use all who are thirsty for God and want to glorify Christ and bear witness to Him.
Not only must we be filled with the Spirit of God, but we must also be filled with the Word of God (this has been covered extensively in previous sharings). “Let the Word of Christ dwell in your richly”(Col. 3:16). Some churches are rich in tradition but poverty-stricken when it comes to the Word. The Holy Spirit uses the Word of God to accomplish His purposes; He does not work in a vacuum. It is dangerous to seek the fullness of the Spirit apart from the fullness of the Word, for the Spirit wrote the Word and the Word reveals Christ. Any ‘experience’ of the Holy Spirit that ignores or contradicts the Scripture should be immediately suspect, for it is possible to be fooled by the spirits when we think we are filled with the Spirit.
We need the Spirit’s power if we are going to practice what we learn; the mark of true BIble study is not a big head; it is a burning heart and an obedient will!
Blessed are the pastors whose ministry is faithfully supported in prayer by their people! A praying congregation believes that God’s power still works today, and they assemble, expecting the Spirit to work as they pray.
The best way to “rewire the pulpit” is to get the people praying. But if we look at prayer meetings of many churches, big or small, the number present and the quality of the prayers are dismal, to say the least. Obviously, if the congregation does not prioritise prayers as a group, one wonders whether there is any personal prayer, at home, at all!
I conclude with the words of Richard Baxter some two hundred years before:
“O, my brethren, all your preaching and persuading of others will be but dreaming and vile hypocrisy, until the work be thoroughly done upon your own hearts.” This is sound advice for all preachers of God, not just for yesteryears, but for today, and for everyday that God permits us to preach the Word, in season, and out of season. God bless!
A BRIEF OUTLINE OF ‘REVELATION’ AND ‘INSPIRATION’
Many seminary students have shared that God was less real to them after their theological studies than he had been prior to them. Perhaps one of many problems is the failing of seminaries to make a real connection between Christian theology and Christian living. The books of the New Testament were written to make disciples, not simply to share Christian ideas and concepts. There ought to be a close connection between ‘systematic theology’ and ‘spirituality’. The application of truth (theology, ethics and apologetics) to life is to look at life as itself a relationship to
God, and when one does that, one is talking spirituality.
We cannot function well as counsellors, spiritual directors and guides to birth, growth and maturity in Christ unless we are clear as to what constitutes spiritual well-being as opposed to stunted and deformed spiritual development. For that, we need theology – theology is taught by God, teaches God, and takes us to God.
The proper subject-matter of systematic theology is ‘revealed truth about the works, ways, and will of God’. This view places considerable emphasis on the authority of Scripture, which is seen as God’s own didactic witness to himself. There is a need to bring systematic theology and spirituality together. ‘Knowing true notions about God ‘(theology) and ‘knowing the true God himself’ go hand in hand, with one reinforcing the other. Theological students should not find that knowing more about theology impoverishes their spiritual development, or that deepening their love for God and personal relationship with him allows them to dispense with the need for critical theological reflection. The two should go together, as inseparable companions.
In that light, we should realise that Christian theology as taught in the BIble is an organic unit, and should be studied as such. No part of it is properly understood except in relation to the whole. No single doctrine is mastered until one knows its place in the system.
The doctrine of biblical inspiration is part of the general doctrine of revelation, which, in its turn derives from, and must be constructed in terms of the fundamental doctrines of creation and redemption. We know and affirm that God is the Author of the Bible (revelation) and he reveals himself and his purpose through human writers (inspiration). As a young Christian, as I read and study the Old and New Testaments, I could find no real connection between the two, as far as Revelation is concerned.
Hence, I find a brief outline of ‘Revelation’ from the Old Testament and the New Testament and their connection may be helpful for believers, particularly for the young (in chronological age and in spiritual age), as it has been especially helpful for me in my early years as a believer.
The Old Testament constantly affirms that Israel’s existence and history as a nation and her religion, were wholly the result of divine revelation. God had revealed himself in covenant to Abraham, and had pledged himself to continue in covenant with Abraham’s seed (Gen. 17). Accordingly, he had brought them out of captivity into the promised land and made them a nation to serve him (Exod.6:2-8; 19:3-6; Ps.105:43-45). He had given them his ‘law (torah, literally instruction), and taught them how to worship him. Throughout their history, he raised up a succession of spokesmen to declare to them ‘the word of the Lord’. Again and again at decisive moments he demonstrated his own complete control of circumstances by foretelling what he would do for them before the event (cf. Is. 48:3-7).
Israel was very conscious of the uniqueness of her relationship to God (Ps. 147:19-20). True religion was, to her, precisely the knowledge of Yahweh, and presupposed Yahweh’s self-disclosure in covenant. The Gentile world lacked this and had fallen into idolatry and the revealed religion of Israel threw into relief the essential blasphemy of all other religions whatsoever. Hence, when God revealed himself to other nations, with whom he had not entered into covenant, it was exclusively in judgment upon them for their sins (Exod. 7:5; Ezek, 25:11,17; 28:22-24).
The Old Testament verdict upon Old Testament revelation was that it was not a complete whole, but preparatory for something greater. The prophets looked forward to a day when God would reveal himself by mightier works than ever yet: he would raise up the Messiah, gather his scattered people and establish his kingdom among them. Heaven and earth would be made new (Isa. 65:17-25). Israelite religion would be transformed (Jer. 31:31-34); and all nations would see and acknowledge the glory of God in Israel as never before (Is. 60:1-14; Ezek. 36:23).
The New Testament
The New Testament writers were convinced that the meaning of Jewish history and of the Old Testament was to be found in Christ: that, in other words, the course of events in Israel from the very beginning and the composition of the Old Testament over the centuries had been completely controlled by God with the incarnation in view (recall this in the study of the gospels).
The idea is this: God, the sovereign Creator, who within his world “worketh all things after the counsel of his own will” (Eph. 111), foresaw the ruin of the race through sin, determined to glorify himself by saving a church, and appointed his Son to effect its salvation by his mediatorial ministry. World history has been to date, and will be to the end, nothing more or less than God’s execution of the plan which he then formed in order to compass his goal. After the Son had been raised, exalted and enthroned in his messianic kingdom, he sent the Holy Spirit into the world in order hoth to complete the disclosure, which he had himself commenced while on earth, of his Father’s purposes for the church, and also to bring his people, through faith to himself, into the possession and enjoyment of the salvation he won for them. The revelation of God’s plan was duly completed by the Spirit, who made it known in full to the apostles; its performance will be completed by Christ at this appearing (parousia), when the church will be made perfect. This is the outline of the framework which underlies the New Testament teaching about revelation. So we see the progress of revelation in God’s plan of redemption.
But what about creation?
The original revelation
The doctrine of revelation is grounded upon the fact that God made man in his own image, to know, love, worship, serve and so glorify him. We saw that man’s religion, if it is to be true, must be grounded on God’s revelation, and God accordingly revealed himself to Adam as fully as was necessary for Adam to live in fellowship with him. Adam knew God, then, first through his works of creation. The world on which he looked out bore eloquent testimony to the power and wisdom of its Maker. The created order, though since involved in Adam’s ruin (Gen. 318; Rom. 8:19-22), still proclaims God’s glory (Ps. 191f.; Rom. 1:19-20), much more must it have done so before. Adam knew God, too, by his knowledge of himself; as God’s noblest creature, he was a part of God’s revelation of his glory, as well as being its recipient. Again, God’s works of providence brought him knowledge of his Maker’s goodness. If, despite the chaos that has entered the world through sin, the course of events still bears Adam when he knew only the garden, the animals God had brought him to rule, and the wife he had made for him (Gen. 2:18-24). Finally, the testimony of God’s works was supplemented by verbal revelation as and when necessary (Gen. 2:16-17).
God makes himself known to man so that man may attain the end of his creation, which is to know, love and worship him. The transcendent Creator is inaccessible to his creatures and he discloses himself, and man’s knowledge of God, where it exists, is correlative to and consequent on God’s prior self-revelation. Adam in Eden needed revelation if he was to live in fellowship with God. It was not enough for Adam to see God in his works; he needed to hear his word, to receive verbal or propositional revelation. So, when God reveals his love to men, the depths of meaning contained in the words in which he avows it to them become clear only in the light of their experience of what he does for them. God’s personal attitudes towards men, therefore, require works as well as words for their revelation. When men fell, he jeopardised his status and corrupted his nature. God therefore adapted his self-disclosing activity to the new situation, integrating it into the redemptive process which he had at once initiated in order to remedy sin’s effects.That leads to the plan of salvation and its outworking in God’s redemptive process for men.