Archive for May, 2006

The great festival of Pentecost will take place this year on June 4, 2006. The three readings are Ezekiel 37:1-14 (dry bones); Acts 2:22-36 (Peter’s sermon) and John 7:37-39a (Receiving of the Spirit). The text chosen is John 7:37 which reads, “On the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, ‘If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink.’”

The question before us is whether this verse is Law or Gospel. At first it sounds like Gospel in that all who come to Jesus will drink. However, one way to distinguish Law from Gospel is that the Law is a demand while the Gospel is a promise. Clearly there is no promise mentioned in verse 37. The promise is found in verse 38 that “out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.”

Therefore, verse 37 is speaking to those who are thirsty and are invited to come to Jesus to drink. As we have already mentioned, theology is the art of making distinctions not only between Law and Gospel but also between the kinds of Law. Is verse 37 a kind of law or command that human beings are able to fulfill of their own free will? The only law that fits such a circumstance would be a command to be done in the temporal realm such as stopping at a stop sign, paying your taxes on time and the like.

However, in regard to spiritual commands, no human being has an innate ability to fulfill any such instruction. While it is true that it is the Law that is used to create thirst for salvation, the Law cannot motivate anyone to seek out Jesus in order to quench that thirst. The reason? Because prior to seeking out how to quench a thirst, one needs to know that what is taken will indeed quench that thirst.

For example, if after playing tennis a person is thirsty, they would not look for the nearest flower to eat to quench that thirst. Why? Because they would not believe that the flower is used to quench thirst. Instead, they believe that a liquid is necessary to quench thirst. The point is simple. Prior to using an item to quench thirst, there must be faith that the item will indeed quench that thirst.

Similarly, though the Law’s accusations and demands make it clear that we are indeed thirsty for salvation, until we believe in Jesus as the One Who only can quench that thirst, we will never come to Him. Thus, faith always precedes action. Though the command is to come to Jesus, the ability to do so is only given by the Holy Spirit by creating faith in the heart of an unbeliever who now has become a believer.

That is why verse 39 is so critical to understand that the only ones who will have living water flowing out of their hearts (verse 38) are those who through the Holy Spirit have received the gift of believing in Him (verse 39). While the Law can make demands in both the temporal and spiritual realms, only with the Holy Spirit are the spiritual demands met as He creates a clean heart and renews a right spirit. God gets all the credit for our having been saved.

On May 28, 2006, the 7th Sunday of Easter is celebrated. The three designated readings in the common three year lectionary are Acts 1:15-26 (Choosing Matthias); 1 John 4:13-21 (Abiding in God) and John 17:11b-19 (High Priestly Prayer of Jesus). The text chosen to preach about is 1 John 4:13 which reveals, “By this we know that we abide in Him, and He in us, because He has given us of His Spirit.”

The text incorporates the question asked by all Christians as to how might we know that we abide in God and He in us. Another way of phrasing this universal question is, “How can I know that I am saved?” There are two ways in which people arrive at an answer that satisifies. The first way is the way of the Law done by those who live under the Law and are theologians of glory.

That means that our assurance of salvation is found in us; that is, in something we have done to gain the favor of God. Whether is it a change of our life from one of great sin to minimal sin–at least from our point of view–or whether it is because of the great knowledge we have amassed about God or whatever, we look to that for our assurance.

In contrast, the theologian of the cross looks outside of himself to find assurance. At first reading, however, the verse that provides assurance sounds like our assurance is something we do. It is verse 15, “Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God.” However, that we are able to confess that Jesus is the Son of God is NOT something we have done but rather a gift from God Himself to us the unworthy.

An analogy that is helpful is to recognize that the assurance that I am in the family of my parents is because I refer to myself as Tom BAKER. Though it is I who calls myself Baker, that name was not of my creation but rather an act of my parents in naming me at my birth. Therefore the assurance of abiding in God and He in me is indeed due to a gift of faith which God provided me by grace on account of the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

It would also be important to recall our baptism in which Peter preaches according to Acts 2 that one of the gifts received in Holy Baptism is the gift of the Holy Spirit. To deny that I have received that gift is to regard God as a liar because He attaches His promise to water and the Word. Thus, rather than look at my changed life or bounty of good works, I look to the Word of God connected to the sacrament of baptism and find assurance that I abide in Him and He in me by grace, through faith on account of Jesus Christ.

This year the 6th Sunday of Easter occurs on May 21, 2006 with the readings as Acts 11:19-30 (Agabus); 1 John 4:1-11 (Antichrist) and John 15:9-17 (New commandment). The verse chosen for preaching this Sunday is 1 John 4:8 which reads “He who does not love does not know God, for God is love.”

We thought the Bible revealed that those who know God are those who trust in Jesus Christ as Savior. Once more we have a passage from the Bible that appears to contradict the central message of Christianity that not by works or love but by trust in Jesus as Savior we both know God and are known by God. The first problem that arises is the notion that our love is what gets us to know God so that we are the ones who begin the process of being saved.

However, that false teaching is contradicted both by verse 10 of 1 John as well as verse 16 of the Gospel for today from John. Verse 10 reads, “In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins.” And John 15:16 quotes Jesus Himself as saying, “You did not choose Me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain…”

These two verses indicate who is running the verbs in our salvation; that is, Who really gets the credit for our entire salvation. And that person is God! In fact, verse 16 of John 15 also provides insight into the role of good works including love in the life of the Christian. Not only has Jesus chosen us from before the foundation of the world (Ephesians 1) but He has also appointed us to bear fruit.

That reminds us of two other pasasges in which Jesus reveals that He is the Vine and we are the branches and apart from Him we can do nothing (John 15:5) as well as the verse after the famous revelation that we are saved by grace through faith and not by works. Vese 2:10 of Ephesians continues, “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.”

Note well the place of our love in the process of being saved. It never occurs prior to being fully saved in the sense of having received the full forgiveness of sins and the robe of Christ’s righteousness. The point of these passages as well as the book of James is that when that faith is really present, then good works occur by the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. And who does not love and know God through faith in Jesus Christ? Note well that because John encourages us to continue to love that means that our love is never perfect but increases the more we are aware of what God has done for us in Christ Jesus.

On Judgment Day God will point out thousands of fruit of the Holy Spirit of which we were unaware. For in Christ we think, say and do things that are totally contrary to the spirit of the Antichrist since we have the Spirit of God within us. However, because these fruit have almost become second nature to us, we do not realize how unique and special they are in the eyes of God Who moves in us to do what we were unable to do. We cooperate with God in not rebelling against His love for us which then translates in love for one another.

In preparation for Sunday, May 14, we examine the three readings for this 5th Sunday of Easter including Acts 8:26-40 (Ethiopian eunuch); I John 3:18-24 (love in deed and truth) and John 15:1-8 (I am the Vine). The verse chosen to preach on is I John 3:22 which reads, “And whatever we ask we receive from Him, because we keep His commandments and do those things that are pleasing in His sight.”

Is there a verse other than this one which appears to be so contrary to the Christian faith which faith teaches that we are saved not by works but by grace through faith? Instead, this passage gives the impression that God gives us what we request because we obey His commandments and the things we do are pleasing in His sight! Once more we find a verse that can create much confusion without making the proper distinction between Law and Gospel.

As we have already noted, the theological difference to keep in mind is not only that between God’s use of the Law and His use of the Gospel. The other difference to keep in mind is the two ways in which the concept of Law/Gospel is understood. For example, those who live under the Law imagine that the Law is given to us by God to follow in order to please Him. Then the Gospel good news is that once God is pleased with you, He rewards you by making you a member of His family.

So different is the view of those who live under the Gospel. The law from God is now understood to be used to show people their sins and make them aware of their lost condition. The Gospel is then understood as the gracious gift from God Himself to provide salvation by becoming a human being, suffer and die on the cross as our Substitute.

So you can imagine the confusion when our relationship appears to be dependent on our keeping His commandments and do those things that are pleasing in His sight (I John 3:22). But we realize that even as a Christian we are unable to do perfect, sinless works and thus always fall short of pleasing God entirely. How then can be ever hope that He will give us what we request if we fail to obey the Ten Commandments?

That is precisely our problem by imagining that to “keep His commandments” means that we obey the Ten Commandments. That may be true under the old covenant established in Exodus 24 in which the people promise to obey Him. However, under the new covenant, to “keep His commandments” cannot mean to obey His Law perfectly for no one would be saved. Then what does it mean to “keep His commandment”?

We need go no further than the next verse 23 which reads, “And this is His commandment: that we should BELIEVE on the name of His Son Jesus Christ and love one another, as He gave us commandment.” Note the huge difference between an obedience that is established by perfect behavior in contrast to an obedience that is established through faith on the name of Jesus Christ.

My plan for this Sunday is to pretend that verse 22 is interpreted to mean that Christians better be sinless in their works or else God won’t provide them with what they want. Once the hearers realize that the burden is too great, then verse 23 would be quoted to reveal that salvation is not by our works but through faith in the works of Jesus Christ. Once more the distinction between Law and Gospel clarifies that which at first appears confusing but is soon understood to be in agreement with the rest of God’s holy, inerrant Word.

This year the fourth Sunday of Easter is on May 7, 2006 with the readings from Acts 4:23-33 (Peter & John’s prayer for boldness); I John 3:1-2 (we are children of God) and John 10:11-18 (Jesus is the good Shepherd). The text chosen to analyze is 1 John 3:1 which states, “Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God.”

There are two ways to interpret every passage in the Bible. The first is from the point of view of living under the Law in which we are the center of attention and what we do makes a difference as to how God regards us. The second is from the point of view of living under the Gospel in which Jesus is the center of attention and what He did and does makes the difference in how God regards us.

With this background it is clear how the text can be misunderstood and misapplied. In a sermon that confuses Law and Gospel, the preacher would exhort the hearers to act more like a child of God so that the Father would consider us as His children. For who would want to have a child who is rebellious and disobedient? The point in such a sermon would be to place the burden of childhood upon the hearer who needs to make a choice as to whether he/she would serve the true God or some idol.

On the other hand, the text is properly understood and applied when we realize that being a child of God has nothing to do with our works. The original Greek is clear that the verbs are in the passive as regards our contribution to becoming a child of God. The first verb is “bestowed” which means that being a child of God is a gift from God which He bestows on us; not something which we do! The second verb is “should be called” which again points to the action of God referring to us as children of God.

This understanding agrees with the rest of Scripture through which Jesus reminds us that we did not choose Him but He chose us and that from before the foundation of the world we were “predestined to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself” (Ephesians 1:5). In fact, when one thinks of a real adoption, what baby has anything to do with the parents choosing him as their child? And after the adoption, his behavior has nothing to do with whether the adoption remains valid. How can we not give to God the same recognition particularly when He reveals that we are saved by grace through faith and not by works lest anyone should boast? (Ephesians 2:8-9).