Archive for April, 2009

For the 3rd Sunday of Easter of Series B, the three readings are Acts 3:11-21; 1 John 3:17 and Luke 24:36-49. The sermon to be preached this Sunday uses the text from 1 John 3:6, “Whoever abides in Him does not sin. Whoever sins has neither seen Him nor known Him.”

This is one of those passages that simply cannot be understood properly apart from the distinctions between Law and Gospel. The question to ask the congregation is whether any of them ever sin. If so, does that mean that you are neither abiding in Him as well as have neither seen Him nor known Him??? To make matters worse, in the SAME letter of 1 John, in chapter 1, verse 10, it is revealed that if you say you have not sinned, you are calling God a liar! These verses are a perfect example of why some consider the Bible to be filled with contradictions.

Of course, there are no real contradictions because though we have many writers of the Bible, we have only one Author–God Himself. Thus, faith assumes that what appears to be a contradiction is in reality a paradox. One of the finest works about the paradoxical nature of the Christian faith is Peter Kurowski’s “Seduction of Extremes.” It can be found at www.lawgospel.com.

So how does one go about revealing to others that what appears to be a contradiction is in reality a paradox? The principle key for that is context, context, context. Not only the immediate context but the entire book of the Bible as well as both the Old and New Testament books. To tell the truth, the apparent contradition of chapter 3 of 1 John is solved in chapter 1. Note well, that verse 9 does not say that God gets rid of your sins but rather first forgives them and then cleanses you from all unrighteousness.

It is that last phrase that is so misunderstood by theologians of self-glory who boast about being cleansed from sin by showing us their good works. This clearly confuses man’s idea of being cleansed with God’s revealed Word of what it means. To be cleansed according to Scripture is not to be rid of your sins but to be rid of the consequences of those sins. You are clean because due to the theology of the cross, Jesus Christ has taken away the punishment that should have been yours known as the curse of the Law. He paid that curse of separation from the Father (death) in order that you might never be forsaken by the Father.

The cleansing of the Holy Spirit according to Acts, chapter 2 involves not only the forgiveness of sins but also the gift of the Holy Spirit. That gift includes your body now becoming the temple of God as Jesus Himself dwells in you spiritually. In Romans 7, Paul clarifies that every Christian is both old Adam and new Man. That old Adam is the devil who does nothing but sin. That new Man is none other than Christ Himself Who does nothing but sinless good works known as the fruit of the Holy Spirit.

Understanding that distinction clarifies chapter 3. For according to verse 9, that which is born of God is the new Man Who does not sin even though the old Adam continues to bring forth sin by the Christian. The Christian is at one and the same time both 100% sinner and 100% saint. That’s how God regards the believer in Christ. This simply distinction between our sinful nature and the new Man within us moves the third chapter of 1 John from contradiction to paradox. And it also comforts every believer with the knowledge of how God regards His children. Under the Law we are poor, miserable sinners deserving nothing but temporal and eternal punishment. But under the Gospel, in light of the cross of Christ, we are forgiven saints wearing His glorious robe of righteousness having been forgiven of every one of our sins with heaven as our sure hope!

The festival of Easter for the Series B set of readings has these texts: Isaiah 25:6-9; 1 Corinthians 15:1-11 and Mark 16:1-8. Chosen to preach on for Easter Sunday is Isaiah 25:8, “He will swallow up death forever, and the Lord God will wipe away tears from all faces; the rebuke of His people He will take away from all the earth; for the Lord has spoken.”

Unlike the Gospel from Mark 16 which primarily details the historical events of that first Easter Sunday, the Old Testament prophet Isaiah speaks theologically as to the primary significance of the Resurrection event. Verse 8 of chapter 25 reveals that “He will swallow up death forever.” What does that mean? The word “swallow” in Hebrew is used to describe what the serpent rod of Moses and Aaron did to the magicians’ serpents in swallowing them. It is also used to describe Jonah being swallowed by a large fish that God had prepared. That is the literal use of the word. The figurative use of the word is used in numerous passages of God having His unfaithful people swallowed by the earth. In other words, the word “swallow” figuratively can be translated as “destroyed.”

But how is that helpful in regard to death being swallowed up? Does that not take place only after Judgment Day because until then both believers and unbelievers continue to experience death. Or do they? As with most theological words in the Bible, there is often more than one meaning. So also with “death.” On the one hand, it refers to that cessation of life here on earth. But in regard to the spiritual realm, it refers to separation from God. Hell is a living death.

The death that is swallowed up in victory took place at the cross with the words, “It is finished” and was certified by the Resurrection 3 days later. But how exactly is death swallowed up? Recall, that which truly separates us from God is not sin but the curse of the Law: “In the day you sin, death is the result.” That eternal separation that should have been ours was taken by our Substitute, the Christ Jesus with the words, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?” The answer is that Jesus carried on His cross the sins of the entire world.

The primary emphasis of theology for Easter is that the forgiveness of sins is provided by the Christ. What exactly is that forgiveness? It is the promise of God that He will no longer hold you accountable for your sins. Easter does not remove sins as it removes the curse of the Law from keeping us in bondage. We are now free! Free at last because He swallowed up death forever.