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Forgiveness Frees Us To Love, Jesus in Life, Uncategorized

Christ is our High Priest of the New Covenant

The Jews had revelations given to them from God through the old prophets including Moses during the Exodus from Egypt. Many years later Jesus Christ came to earth through His incarnation teaching a new and expanded message of salvation.

“Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world. He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. (Hebrews 1:1-3 ESV)

A new perspective on our relationship with God

Indicating the relationship of Jesus to the heavenly Father, we note from the above verse:

1. God now spoke to His people directly by his Son.
2. God appointed Jesus Christ heir of all things.
3. God created the world, including His people through Christ “whom also he created the world” (vs. 2).
4. Christ “is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature”—I want to emphasize exact imprint of the mind, character, power and being of His Father.
5. Christ “upholds the universe by the word of his power”—sustains the entire universe by the command of his power.

Christ’s all-encompassing, and all-commanding power was and remains the same because he is God, one with the Father and the Holy Spirit. Christ’s participation in the godhead was validated by His miracles to heal, raise the dead and calm the seas. He is far greater than the prophets of old.

Jehovah Witnesses and Muslims claim Jesus was only a prophet and a man, not conceding to the fact that he is God. The portrayal of Christ in Hebrews adds to the facts regarding the deity of Christ and compares with the letter of Paul to the Colossians:

“He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things have been created through Him and for Him. He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together. He is also head of the body, the church; and He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that He Himself will come to have first place in everything. For it was the Father’s good pleasure for all the fullness to dwell in Him, and through Him to reconcile all things to Himself, having made peace through the blood of His cross; through Him, I say, whether things on earth or things in heaven”. (Colossians 1:15-20 NIV)

We also see this in the Gospel of John, the first chapter:

“He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not anything made that was made”. (John 1: 2-3 ESV)

When we acknowledge that Jesus Christ is God we can understand why Jesus has the authority to be our mediator on earth, between mankind and His Father, demonstrated when he created all mankind by directing His power over the universe.

The High Priestly Ministry of Christ

Since the fall of man in the garden of Eden, “death has passed unto all men” because “the wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23) Man is disconnected from God and needed our Lord Jesus Christ to show us the way to return to Him.

The entire work of Christ is to mediate our reunification to his Father. He achieves this as our High Priest, seated in the place of highest honour in heaven, at God’s right hand. God gave Jesus the seat of universal authority when He said, “Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet” (vs.13)

This place at God’s right hand belonged to Christ because he was more than just a high priest; he is God’s Son. Until Christ the Jewish priestly ministry advocated with God on behalf sinful man—it was only a representation or shadow of what was to come in Christ. Until Christ arrived on the scene it was only to “serve a copy and shadow of the heavenly things” (vs. 8:5). Christ’s ministry is the reality which the shadow-type pointed to.

The ceremonies of sacrificing animals to atone for man’s sin was only a dim illustration of what was coming—only theological symbols of the final great significance of Christ’s work to redeem man as the “Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world” as the apostle John pointed out.

Christ, as our High Priest, in lieu of the animal-type offering, made the real and effective sin-offering. He offered his own life to God in our place—the perfect gift that could never be surpassed. “He sacrificed Himself on the cross” (Hebrews 7:27 ESV).

Christ’s sacrifice is all-sufficient; that is, all sins are covered in his once-for-all offering to God. Therefore, his role as priest, his sacrifice, and his service to God all surpass the symbolic plan under the old covenant. The book of Hebrews does not try to describe heaven; instead, it shows how Christ serves in a better, more personal way than any other priest could.

The emphasis on the shadow ministry of the old covenant Jewish practices in the temple are clearly noted as being replaced entirely by the ministry of Christ as our High Priest: “But as it is, Christ has obtained a ministry that is as much more excellent than the old as the covenant he mediates is better, since it is enacted on better promises. For if that first covenant had been faultless, there would have been no occasion to look for a second” (vss. 8:6-7)

Jesus’ ministry emphasized a shift from an old covenant methodology of getting right with God using tradition and symbolism, to an entirely new new covenant (agreement with God) which is superior for several reasons.

What the New Covenant (NC) achieved to supersede the old:

• fulfills, ends, and replaces the priest’s’ ministry and the old covenant;
• Christ’s ministry lasts for eternity, because Jesus is High Priest forever;
• Jesus dies on the cross, and thus the NC requires no further sacrifices;
• Jesus accomplished what all the other sacrifices could not do—it truly atones for our sin;
• The death of Christ provided a substitute death taking the place for our eternal death, ransomed humanity giving us the opportunity to have a personal relationship with God (see vss. 8:10–11).

The old covenant was an imperfect shadow in the progression leading to the reality found in Christ: “if that first covenant had been faultless, there would have been no occasion to look for a second” (vs. 8:7) The need for a second covenant implies that the first covenant was faulty. Does this mean that God ordered Moses and Aaron (head of the Levitical High Priesthood) to begin a way of worship that was mistaken or poorly contracted? No, but the old covenant was in every way preparatory for and pointing to the dynamic of the new covenant (see 7:11–19; also Romans 3–4; 9–11).

The new covenant was prophesied long before Christ’s introduction of the New Covenant as coming to replace the old covenant. The following is a quote from the prophet Jeremiah:

“For he finds fault with them when he says: “Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will establish a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah, not like the covenant that I made with their fathers on the day when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt” (Hebrews 8:8-9 ESV; cited from Jeremiah 31:31)

Since the people continually broke God’s covenant, God found fault with the old covenant. A part of the covenant involved keeping God’s laws; however, the Israelites chose to disobey (see Jeremiah 7:23–24). When they failed to keep the requirements imposed on them, they broke the covenant. God, however, promised a new covenant that would not be filled with ceremonial laws about sacrifices and other external responsibilities. Rather, it would bring about spiritual reconciliation by producing a change in people’s inner beings by being born again of God’s Holy Spirit.

The old covenant was replaced because it was not eternal, not sufficient to completely deal with sin, and could not provide sinful humanity with a relationship with God. In its time, however, the old covenant was necessary which would lead us to Christ—teaching man that he cannot be saved by trying to be good, but by allowing the Spirit of Christ to dwell within the heart.

Why the new covenant replaced the new covenant?

The old covenant needed to be replaced by a better covenant, as was prophesied by Jeremiah and quoted in the following verses. Hebrews 8:10–12 quotes Jeremiah 31:31–34, which is the longest Old Testament quotation in the New Testament. Jeremiah prophesied about a future time when a better covenant would be established, because the first covenant, given to Moses at Mount Sinai, was imperfect and provisional for its time.

The Israelites could not maintain faithfulness to it because their hearts had not been truly changed. This change of heart required Jesus’ full sacrifice to remove sin and offer us the Holy Spirit’s permanent indwelling. When we turn our lives over to Christ, the Holy Spirit instils in us a desire to obey God in a personal relationship with him, and this is accomplished under the new covenant/agreement. Jeremiah prophesied of the coming change in the covenants—the new to replace the old.

“For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord: I will put my laws into their minds, and write them on their hearts, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. And they shall not teach, each one his neighbour and each one his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest. For I will be merciful toward their iniquities, and I will remember their sins no more”. (Hebrews 8:10-12 ESV; cited from Jeremiah 31:32-34)

The new covenant made the old covenant entirely obsolete.

When Christ died on the cross the curtain between the Most Holy places was ripped in two during an earthquake indicating the end of the old temple’s sacrificial services: “…behold, the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. And the earth shook, and the rocks were split” (Matthew 27:51 ESV)

“In speaking of a new covenant, he makes the first one obsolete. And what is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to vanish away” (Hebrews 8:13 ESV) The old one was fulfilled by Christ and completed by him; therefore, it was no longer needed. Old systems, old sacrifices, and the old priesthood now have no value in securing God’s approval.

Under God’s new covenant, God’s law is inside us. The 10 commandment laws are expanded by Christ in the new covenant. The Spirit of the expanded law encompasses and admits that all these ten moral laws were “holy just and good” (Romans 7: 12 KJV) The sacrificial ceremonial laws were changed, not the moral law of God which is His standard. Most great theologians such as Martin Luther, John Calvin, John Owens, and John Wesley have agreed with this theological premise.

For example, most agree, that Christ’ teaching that “to look at a woman to lust for her”, is the initiating intention to break the law “do not commit adultery” in your heart, which is where the new covenant is directed by the Spirit.

GP (10)

It is no longer an external set of rules and principles. The Holy Spirit reminds us of Christ’s words, activates our consciences, influences our motives and desires, and makes us want to obey. Now we desire to do God’s will with all our heart and mind.

The new covenant has four provisions as noted in Hebrews 8: 10-12:

1. The new covenant provides inward change: “I will put my laws in their minds … I will write them on their hearts.” This means having a new “heart,” and with it a new sense of intimacy with God where he is known as Father and where Christians are known as children of God and heirs. This new heart opens the way for people’s relationship with God to be realized at a personal level (not just through earthly priests as intermediaries). Having these laws written on our hearts motivates us to want to obey God.

2. The new covenant provides intimacy with God: “I will be their God, and they will be my people.” This reveals a positive, close relationship between God and his people. In the first covenant, people continually failed to live up to this relationship. In the new covenant, this relationship is secured through Jesus Christ. Although the promise was always there, it now has a newer and richer meaning because of the provision of Christ offering us forgiveness and redemption from sin and the hope of eternal life (versus eternal death).

3. The new covenant provides knowledge of God: “Everyone, from the least to the greatest, will already know me.” The new covenant brings a new relationship between people and God, making each believer a priest (1 Peter 2:5, 9). Every believer has access to God through prayer. Every believer can understand God’s saving promises as revealed in the Bible because he or she has God as a living presence via the Holy Spirit in his or her heart. There will still be the need for teachers, but every believer will be able to know God—not just priests or a select few.

4. The new covenant provides complete forgiveness from sins: “I will forgive their wrongdoings, and I will never again remember their sins.” People of the old covenant had forgiveness of sins (see Exodus 34:6–8; Micah 7:18–20), but they had experienced an incomplete, not lasting forgiveness as demonstrated by the ongoing need for daily and annual sacrifices for sins to be made for their sins. In the new covenant, sin and its effect of separating people from God are eliminated. God wipes out the memory of sin and reckons sin as if it had never occurred. Sin’s impact on our lives is completely overcome, making it possible for believers to receive the promised blessing. There is no longer any barrier to our relationship with God.

Only relationship-based motives of faith and love towards God through Jesus Christ brings about a true righteousness that could not be known under the old covenant. “We love because he first loved us” (1 John 4:19 NIV)

Understanding the shift from the old to the new covenant is a vital truth misunderstood by many well-meaning Christians. It emphasizes a shift from salvation by works, to salvation by faith in Jesus Christ provided by His sacrifice for our sins, replacing the old shadow animal sacrifices, symbolic of the true and sufficient sacrifice “once and for all” achieved in Christ. He ministers to us via the Holy Spirit with an emphasis on living by faith.

Be assured beloved that “We have this as a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul, a hope that enters into the inner place behind the curtain, where Jesus has gone as a forerunner on our behalf, having become a high priest forever” (Hebrews 6:19-20 ESV)

Second Coming of Jesus in Glory

What event brings about the resurrection of the dead?

glen001-sm  By Glen R. Jackman

Study:1 Thessalonians 4 on the Second Coming of Jesus Christ

The Apostle Paul like Jesus before him always taught people about the future—that salvation carried a promise of eternal life. Jesus can offer us the power to overcome death, because “all things were created by Him and for Him and through Him” (see Colossians 1)

Resurrection

Jesus Christ who died, arose, and ascended would one day return. This will be what is referred to as his “Second Coming” or “Second Advent” (1 Thessalonians 2:19). The early believers knew that this could occur at any time unannounced, though Jesus cautioned us not to place a date on this event. Let’s address several questions regarding the resurrection of believers and the Second Coming.

Early Christians in Thessalonica, Greece – believers in Jesus Christ – questioned Apostle Paul regarding the Christians who had died. The believers had been taught that Christ would one day return and take his people to himself—every believer should be ready for that return at any moment.

In the interim as the believers awaited Christ’s return, some of them had died. The Thessalonians were wondering why this had happened before Christ’s return, and what would happen to those who had died before he came back. Some may have feared that believers who had died would miss the Kingdom.

The thought that their loved ones would not be with Christ caused them great sorrow. Paul comforted them: “Brothers and sisters, we do not want you to be uninformed about those who sleep in death, so that you do not grieve like the rest of mankind, who have no hope.” (1 Thessalonian 4:13 NIV)

Paul wanted the Thessalonians to understand that death is not the end. When Christ returns, all believers—dead and alive—will be reunited, never to suffer or die again. Believers need not be full of sorrow like people who have no hope. Paul recognized that the death of loved ones naturally results in grieving; but when Christians grieve for Christians who have died, there is a difference. Their grief is not hopeless. While the pain is real, the fact is that these loved ones will be seen again as the following verse describes. “For we believe that Jesus died and rose again, and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him. (2 Thessalonians 4:14 NIV)

Believers can have hope in the resurrection because of what happened to Jesus. Because Jesus died and was raised to life again, believers can also trust that those who have died will also be resurrected and made alive agin with Him. And exactly at the same time, when Jesus comes, God will bring back with Jesus all the Christians who have died.

Believers who have died are with God and will come with Jesus at the event of his second return to earth. They haven’t missed out—in fact, they are enjoying God’s protection and immortality because as believers in Christ they have entered eternal life with Jesus (see 2 Corinthians 5:8 and Philippians 1:21–22 for this assurance).

Here is a key verse about all Christians being united together to meet the Lord upon His return, as they claim absolute victory over death:

“According to the Lord’s word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. (1 Thessalonians 4:15-16 NIV)

All Christian believers can be assured that neither the dead nor the living would be at any disadvantage with regard to Christ’s return. All believers will share the blessings of the resurrection. Those who have died are already with Christ and will be with him when he returns: “God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him” (4:14); those who are still living when Christ returns will not rise to meet him ahead of those who are in their graves.

Instead, all the Christians who have died will rise from their graves first. Knowing exactly when the dead will be raised, in relation to the other events at the Second Coming, is not as important as knowing why Paul wrote these words. He wrote them to challenge and motivate believers to comfort and encourage one another when loved ones die – a great comfort when any believer dies.

The same love that unites believers in this life (4:9) will unite them when Christ returns and reigns for eternity” “After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever. Therefore encourage one another with these words.(2 Thessalonians 4:17-18 NIV)

The Second Coming will occur in God’s timing. He alone brings it about. Christ, who is the Lord himself, will descend from heaven, for that is where he has been since after his resurrection (Acts 1:9–11). Christ’s return will be unmistakable. No one will miss it, for he will descend with a shout, with the call of the archangel, and with the trumpet call of God. Whether these are three different ways of referring to one sound, whether they happen simultaneously, or happen in sequence is unknown. But these sounds will herald his return.

Paul used distinctive imagery associated with the end times. An archangel is a high or holy angel appointed to a special task. Clearly, the angelic hosts will be taking part in this celebration of Christ’s return to take his people home (Mark 8:38). A trumpet blast will usher in the new heaven and earth (Revelation 11:15). The Jews would understand the significance of this because trumpets were always blown to signal the start of great festivals and other extraordinary events (Numbers 10:10).

After the dead have risen from their graves, the believers “who are still alive and remain on the earth will be caught up in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air”. A reference to “clouds” in the Bible often symbolizes the presence of God (Exodus 13:21; 14:19; 19:16; 24:15; 40:34–38; Mark 9:7; Acts 1:9).

Jesus also indicated that His Second Coming would have a majestic visible sign – atomic-like light will encompass the earth as He returns in glory: “For as the lightning comes from the east and shines as far as the west, so will be the coming of the Son of Man.” (Matthew 24:27 ESV)

Christ’s purpose is to execute judgement and command His angels to separate His believers – those that are saved – and take only His faithful. Are you ready for this apocalyptic event to occur? “Then will appear in heaven the sign of the Son of Man, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. And he will send out his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other”. (Matthew 24:30-31 ESV)

You can be ready. Simply confess that Jesus Christ is Lord (see Colossians 1 to see Him as your Creator and Life-giver). Jesus admonishes all mankind to “…stay awake, for you do not know on what day your Lord is coming”; and “…you also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect”. (Matthew 24:42,44)

Clearly, all believers—whether they are alive or have died at the time of Christ’s return—will be together with one another and with the Lord forever. This supernatural event will cause a great reunion among believers who are alive and those who have already died. Both groups will experience Christ’s return together. This joyous reunion will go on forever.

Love & Grace, Uncategorized

Let Your Love Light Shine!

The Manifesto of God’s Love for You: Part 2

by glen001-sm Glen R. Jackman

In the Greco-Roman world, only the wealthy could afford the luxury of having a facial mask sculptured. Today we use photographs or paintings, as well as sculptures which are usually of famous men like Churchill or Lincoln. The following mask was unearthed from an ancient ruin site in Greece. Deterioration due to its age has made it appear to have tears running profusely from its eyes. When I see this photo it reminds me of the misunderstanding of God’s love for those he came to redeem  – a visual allegory for the dysfunction of love in our world. We do selfies galore to boost our self-worth or to fit in with society, but inside we may feel a degree of disconnect from others. We can feel unloved, like an outcast or lack mutual trust.

Face Mask, Ruins, Greece, 2002, by Glen R. Jackman

Photo by Glen R. Jackman

Jesus foretold our day in which we live: “Sin [missing the mark of love] will be rampant everywhere and the love of many will grow cold”. (Matt 24:12) The apostle Paul said the same thing, with an emphasis on the powers of love becoming self-directed; not firstly God directed, and further not properly expressed to others: “For people will love only themselves and their money. They will be boastful and proud, scoffing at God, disobedient to their parents, and ungrateful. They will consider nothing sacred”. (2 Timothy 3:2) Many people today are breaking the two laws of love, considering “nothing sacred” while “scoffing at God” and loving “only themselves and their money”. Do you see this in our current society?

Jesus spoke of the two laws as all encompassing to live by:

“You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.” (Luke 10:27; cf. Deut 6:5, Lev 19:18 ESV)

Our hearts often deceive us and create thoughts and emotions that are destructive and against the second law of love, to truly love others. A man spoke up  “desiring to justify himself, said to Jesus, ‘And who is my neighbor?’” (vs. 29) When Jesus spoke of the heart, he meant the mind. He knew our problem was a universal issue that most people struggle with at some point in their lives. We do not, and we cannot change our way of thinking, when we continue to disobey the commands to love both God and others.

Why does loving God become a determining factor?

If we side-step loving God with an attempt to love others without His influence, this will fail, because we cannot appropriate the blessings of love without abiding by the first principle addressed by Jesus Christ in our life, to love God. Love is empowered by the Spirit of God, when God is reciprocally loved in return for His love. In fact God, who “is Love”, manifests His uniting love, when two or more people, who love God meet or converse: “For where two or three gather together as my followers, I am there among them”. (Matthew 18:20 NIV) Moreover God’s love is reliable and inseparable from loving others: “…we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him”. (1 John 4:16 NIV)

This is often seen when one or more individuals’ unity appears to cool off and drift. A man cannot fully comprehend love without understanding the motivation of God’s love from His source purpose to bless the families He created and to have generations taught to love and serve Him first: “But the love of the Lord remains forever with those who fear him. His salvation extends to the children’s children” (Psalms 103:17) The acknowledgement of God’s love in the widening circles of the family can be noted in many scriptures such as: “Let this be written for a future generation, that a people not yet created may praise the Lord” (Ps 102:18)

Without understanding the two principles of love as Jesus taught, the Agape love of God uniting the family in a generation-to-generation continuum via the powers of love, unity begins to break down in either the first or a successive generation. Consciences are then weakened, love fades, division occurs, and mankind begins to prey on one another’s weaknesses magnifying our selfish fallen nature in our society. Jesus taught: “If a house is divided against itself, that house cannot stand”. (Mark 3:25)

Our best human analogy of the characteristics of love permeating interrelating minds together is in a sharing relationship of two loving individuals sharing mutual dependence upon one another as found in the case of a genuine marriage. Here a man and a woman become “one flesh”; that is, live according to a common life pattern of loving God and each other. There is no more creative human relationship either physically or spiritually. The outcome of this affects the children and our grandchildren. Likewise, for the Christian individual the new life in Christ is unexcelled in bringing meaning and hope to life lovingly with others – family and friends alike.

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Clarifying the term “sin”

Because all true law is based on Agape love, when we misperceive this love, we will misunderstand that all God’s moral laws are intended to support His Spirit’s empowerment of love for the good of man. Breaking any one of God’s laws premised on God’s true love, is referred to as “sin”: “Everyone who sins is breaking God’s law, for all sin is contrary to the law of God”. (1 John 3:4) Another way of putting it is “sin is breaking the principles of true love (Agape)”. The end result of this misconception of love is that sin is man living from the center of his selfish heart, which is the opposite of living by the Spirit directing a man in the path of God’s motive of true love.

Why has man become so selfish?

Bear in mind, that Jesus came to teach us why we were and still remain in a mess. Today with many temptations at every turn, the mind’s judgments may not be based on the protective Spirit managing Agape love from within. The mind is easily distracted and wanders off in any one of the mind-sets and behaviors that destroy love, ways that Jesus pointed out. The primary mistake man makes is the misuse of his free will when he begins to follow his lust versus the guidance of God: “For from within, out of a person’s mind, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, wickedness, deceit, lustful desires, envy, slander, pride, and foolishness”. (Mark 7:21)

How do we limit our selfishness?

God promised to abide “within” our hearts/minds but Jesus noted it is the mind “within” that actually creates these thoughts, precursors to behaviors. So what is our society’s main problem? The majority of people no longer acknowledge, listen to, or have the Spirit of God abiding in them. “Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God?” (1 Cor 6:19) Many have entirely ignored, or defiantly shut the Spirit of God out of their lives, as they freely choose to walk separate from God. Mankind has developed many philosophies, physiological reasons, academic replacement theories, 1,000 religions, ideologies, idolization, corruptions of God’s good gifts such as sex, and endless superstitions to side-step facing the truth of our dilemma.

Jesus taught that there is an aspect of our heart that leans towards thoughts that miss the mark of love, which leads to deeds that harm others. “Sin” is missing the mark of love. Sin is the antithesis to love. This aspect of man’s anti-love character has separated man from others and his God. All the prophets talked about this problem. Jeremiah, one of the greatest prophets, wrote: “The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?” (Jer 17:9) And Job was one of the few men on earth that remained close to God in ancient times. He said: “Who can bring what is pure from the impure? No one!” (Job 14:4) Thus our efforts to live within the scope of good behavior, becomes impossible without the indwelling Spirit, regardless of the many alternate views we accept to explain man’s love-less mean disposition, or the popular masks that we hide behind in order to fit in with the world’s viewpoint that it is more important to take care of number one, at all costs, including the value of loving others.

Why can’t a man make himself good?

Paul taught that people who do not practice the two laws of love can lose their conscience, one of the perceptive faculties of the conscious mind: “Now the Holy Spirit tells us clearly that in the last times some will turn away from the true faith; they will follow deceptive spirits and teachings …their consciences are dead”. (1 Tim 4:1-2) Mankind is medically concerned about various diseases of the mind such as Schizophrenia, Alzheimer’s, Mad Cow disease etc., but are we collectively concerned about losing our individual consciences, the governing, directorial facility of our mind?

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The ruination of our consciences has been achieved through deceptive “teachings”. Much of our loss of love can be attributed to the influence of others who deny the love commands given by God, beginning by hating, not loving God: “They are backstabbers, haters of God, insolent, proud, and boastful”. (Romans 1:30) Many influential people in society loathe the Bible as “haters of God”, denying His very existence and refer back historically to the defamation of Christianity in general by the errors of both Catholicism and Protestantism, such as the “holy wars” and the terrible acts against martyrs and those who did not believe specific doctrinal truths. I agree that the history of the false front of Christendom as religious eccentricity, ecclesiastically and gross times of militaristic intent was horrific, and failed for the same reason that we are failing in society today while living in a false pretense of love. It failed because it was devoid of the empowering Spirit of God and His Agape love.

The only restoration of love for God and our fellow man is firstly to be restored to friendship with God, through Jesus Christ: “For since our friendship with God was restored by the death of his Son while we were still his enemies, we will certainly be saved through the life of his Son”. (Rom 5:10)

Jesus was not far off when He said: “What comes out of a man’s heart is what makes him ‘unclean.’” (Mark 7:20) “Unclean” is a term that means that mankind in general trends towards collectively corrupting his purpose of life, to love God and others. Corrupting himself, by either not understanding or by disobeying the command to love God first and others reciprocally, mankind has collectively separated from God.

Jesus Christ has offered to give mankind a better view of our heavenly Father’s love and has given us the Spirit to restore our capacity to love God and each other. As the song goes, Let Your Love Light Shine!

The Manifesto of God’s Love for You: Part 1

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Bible Study Notes

You are God’s Own Child – His Possession

glen001-sm by Glen R. Jackman

The letter to the church at Ephesus was authored by the apostle Paul. This study looks at the first chapter of his letter.

“the redemption of God’s own possession, to the praise of His glory” (Ephesians 1:14 NAS)

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As Christians we find that our greatest blessings are more deeply appreciated when we comprehend that our Father – the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ is glorified in the process of blessing his children (cf. Eph 1:14). Most fathers find great joy when their children are around them united in kindred spirit. I recall taking all my four children into a restaurant when they were young during a holiday trip. The restauranteur said to me with great admiration as he sat us around a special table, “you have a beautiful family”. In a way, I understand the Father’s joy when his redeemed children have returned to his realm and are spiritually close to Him. As a father looking at my children I was indeed delighted. The story of the prodigal son also illustrates the love of our heavenly Father as he yearns for his lost children to come home to Him.

I have no greater joy than to see my children walking in the truth (cf. 2 John 1:4, 3 John 1:3). In good family relationships children also are happy to be around their fathers: “the glory of children is their fathers” (Prov 17:6 ESV)

Moreover we are to reciprocally bless, meaning praise God the father for his blessings: “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places” (Eph 1:3 ESV)

It is also noteworthy that the Father has blessed us “in Christ”, which denotes a necessary vital union with Jesus Christ. The following explanation that the apostle Paul gives, emphasizes this vital union that “in Christ” means:

“He chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love he predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will” (vss. 4-3).

Key points are revealed here:
1. We were predestined as chosen by the Father in Christ – “in him”.
2. We were chosen long before the world was created – “before the foundation of the world”.
3. Our predestined selection was a sovereign act of love for us with a view that we are his children adopted out of the world – “in love” by “his will”.
4. Our enablement to rejoin the Father’s family was achieved “through Jesus Christ” whose act of dying for our sins as an atoning sacrifice – dying in our stead – opened up the only way that we can be reconciled to the God the Father. This occurred when our sin was paid for by his ransom-death for us on the cross. When we accept his ransom offered to us we are freed from the condemnation of sin and resulting eternal death.
5. We are viewed as “holy and blameless” in Christ, firstly as we are covered by his redemptive act of atonement on the cross referred to as legally justified (cf. Romans 3: 24-26, ch 5) – holiness can only be our ongoing aim – and will always not yet be obtained (Phil 3:12) as we approach purity and a likeness of Christ via restoration by his indwelling Spirit

Our blessing came to us through Jesus Christ’s redemptive act of dying for our sins on the cross of Calvary as the entrance method God chose to bring us back home. He has blessed us “in Christ” also noted as “through Jesus” – reiterated for impact as “in the Beloved” and “in him” – “…he has blessed us in the Beloved. In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace (Eph 1:5-6 ESV).

The blessings that we derive are primarily spiritual and cover the wide scope of life now and into eternity, things that only followers of Jesus can understand and appreciate by faith. Paul notes that the Father has blessed his chosen, preordained children who come to him via Jesus by faith with “every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places…according to the riches of his grace” (vs 3, 7)

We know these are spiritual blessings because as the Father’s children we acknowledge that he gives us insight into the gospel of grace in the Word of God to the degree that he has “lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight making known to us the mystery of his will” (vs 9)

The church is universally united via the Spirit of Christ “according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth” (vs 9-10).

Again I want to draw attention to the “the Father of glory” (v 17) who is at work to “give you the Spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him, having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe” (vs. 17-19)

Why would the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ be so concerned that you have wisdom, a revelation of the knowledge of him, by having our hearts enlightened? Clearly it is so that you reader, can know “the hope to which he has called you” and that you understand all of God’s efforts via his Word set forth by reading, by pastoral ministry, preaching and by prayer to him, available as God the Father’s own possession.

King David, a man of great power and wealth and victory over his enemies could say prayerfully with praise to the father: “You formed my inward parts; You wove me in my mother’s womb. I will give thanks to You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made” (Psalm 139: 13-14 NASV)

Have you ever thought about being a child of God? Let’s go one step further. Have you ever considered that you came to your father as the one who created you and gave you your life? Through Jesus Christ by faith, this life is renewed and restored to both you and your Father. You are not your own possession! The Father is actually taking back his rightful fatherly role over you as his child in the process of redeeming you from the corruption of this world (which continually disregards his Creatorship/Fatherhood).The New American Standard Bible puts it this way:

“In Him, you also, after listening to the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation—having also believed, you were sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is given as a pledge of our inheritance, with a view to the redemption of God’s own possession, to the praise of His glory”. (vs13, 14)

Summary: You were elected — predestined to be reunited to the Father by faith in his son Jesus Christ. The gospel is a message of truth bringing you salvation from eternal judgment. Now, by being in connection with Christ to the family of God, the Father is taking you back as his created, and now redeemed possession. This offers you unlimited spiritual blessings now and in eternity as you follow Jesus Christ. The Father “gave him as head over all things to the church” (v 22) and Jesus continues to lead and guide his true followers showered with eternal blessed insight.

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Holy Spirit, Jesus in Life, Sanctification: Living a Holy Life

Sanctification message of the New Covenant

glen001-sm By Glen R. Jackman

“To those who are elect…according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, in the sanctification of the Spirit, for obedience to Jesus Christ and for sprinkling with his blood: May grace and peace be multiplied to you.” (2 Peter 1:1-2)

What do the theological terms justification and sanctification mean? Justification means our declared righteousness before God, made possible by Christ’s death and resurrection for us. Sanctification means our gradual, growing in righteousness, made possible by the Spirit’s work in us. The Apostle Paul taught that our righteousness continues as we cooperate with the Holy Spirit as He leads us in life:

“There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death. For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit”. (Romans 8: 1-4 ESV)

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Clearly continued walking with Christ led daily in the Spirit is the only way to be distinctly separated from and saved from the corruptions of the world and the flesh and enter into the process of becoming holy, recognizing that we have inherited eternal life, demonstrated firstly in our lifestyle here and now:

“The mind governed by the flesh is death, but the mind governed by the Spirit is life and peace. The mind governed by the flesh is hostile to God; it does not submit to God’s law, nor can it do so. Those who are in the realm of the flesh cannot please God. You, however, are not in the realm of the flesh but are in the realm of the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, they do not belong to Christ”. (Romans 8: 6-9 NIV)

The either/or choice is clear We need to allow Grace  to reign in our life, not sin. Paul has formed a clear message: “just as sin reigned in death, so also grace might reign through righteousness to bring eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord”. (Romans 5:21) John impresses us with the importance of knowing the source of Life personally. Jesus said: “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me”. (John 14:6) Salvation is only experienced in our lives while we remain in Christ and live our life through Him led by the Holy Spirt in a born again experience.

In the parable of the vine, Jesus makes this clear as He teaches the dependency of union to our life link just as the vine is necessary for the life of the branches: “I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing.” (John 15:5 NAS) A Christian life is unrealistic if not submitted entirely to the Holy Spirit’s leading.

God has numerous legal and judicial terms regarding the potential of falling into apostasy and into judicial scrutiny in the New Testament as taught by the Apostles. He has revealed throughout the entire Word, that He sees everything that resides in our heart. He often calls us in scripture to listen, repent, return to Himself, be born again, and submit to the Holy Spirit and be reformed unto personal spiritual obedience in godliness (some call it victory over temptation with the Holy Spirit of Christ leading in our lives). We see this with regard to Christ’s call to the Laodecian Church in the Book of Revelation to which many Christians can identify:

“I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! “So, because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of my mouth. You say, ‘I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.’ But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked. I counsel you to buy from me gold refined in the fire, so you can become rich; and white clothes to wear, so you can cover your shameful nakedness; and salve to put on your eyes, so you can see. Those whom I love I rebuke and discipline. So be earnest and repent. Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with me. To the one who is victorious, I will give the right to sit with me on my throne, just as I was victorious and sat down with my Father on his throne. Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches”. (Revelation 3: 15-22)

Many scriptures advocate the necessity of forming a disciplined approach to responsible sanctification only achievable by the indwelling Holy Spirit. We are cautioned of the need to be one with God while one with Christ (read John 17).

I believe the entire Word is sufficient to lead us to eternity via the Spirit actualizing the Word in our submitted obedient lives. This is the sanctification teaching of Christ in the New Covenant.

If we walk in the Light we are safe and we can enjoy Peace and Life now even in this world: “Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” (John 8:12 ESV)

Holiness is a lifelong journey of letting God lead instead of Satan

Aiming at holiness and living a sanctified life is a process that we are to persevere towards as Paul notes: “Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me.Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 3: 12-14)

 

 

Jesus in Life, Uncategorized

Living with Christ as Your Example

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…it is written, “Be holy, because I am holy.” 1 Peter 1:16

glen001-sm Article by Glen R. Jackman

As a Christian desiring to imitate the Lord’s manner of living among men on earth, we must  take note of His personal life and teachings as our mentor. His instruction is there for all of us in the Gospel. The New Testament’s availability was designed by God, in order that we may be influenced by His life and be conformed character-wise into the image of His Son.

By beholding His life, a desire to conduct one’s life similarly on earth touches our affections. This is the purpose of the Bible. To influence our hearts by Christ’s display of love for others, as He sought to reconcile man with His Father.  “And we all…beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit” (2 Corinthians 3:18 ESV) From one degree of glory to another is the key takeaway. Growing in the Christian life is progressive, not immediate.

The Puritan theologian, John Owen whose writing I enjoy, was chaplain to Sir Oliver Cromwell and regarded as a practical scholar of the Word of God in his time. He stated that “Faith will cast the soul into the form or frame of the thing believed”. It is important, therefore, to understand what the Bible says, to help shape our  beliefs as we study the life of Christ.

With the Holy Spirit’s help, we form a belief that it is the will of God in these matters, that Christ be our example. “Faith comes by the hearing of the Word” (Romans 10:17). Some may discount this view. They may feel that aiming to be like Christ is an unreachable perfectionist desire and a recipe for failure. However we can choose to aim and we can grow towards this viewpoint: “Previously, you let yourselves be slaves to impurity and lawlessness, which led ever deeper into sin. Now you must give yourselves to be slaves to righteous living so that you will become holy” (Rom 6:19 NLT)

As a grandfather I understand that if my granddaughter does not first play tee-ball, she may not learn to understand baseball in all its fullness nor enjoy the game with her peers as my daughters have over the years. Even tee-ball develops a certain discipline to pay attention to what matters, yet we are patient with our children just as Christ is with us.

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By reading the Gospels we can see the wonderful graces of Christ’s kindness to others while living as a man. We can also see His example in carrying out the duties of obedience to His Father as a man. The human nature of mankind was indwelt by Jesus, incarnated by Him, yet Christ had the divine image of God as it was implanted in it, via the Holy Spirit at His virgin birth.

He did not inherit the gross nature of sin as we do as sons of Adam. He did however inherit our weakened human nature as being the Son of man, within which nature Christ lived as a man on the earth as “God with us” via his birth as man, indwelt by the Holy Spirit. Owen notes that He did not inherit all the gross propensities and long effects of sin as do each of us as children born into a lineage of a fallen race – fallen when Adam sinned and lost his privilege of living in the light of the presence of God in Eden.

For he derived not his nature from Adam in the same way that we do; nor was he ever in Adam as the public representative of our nature, as we were. But our nature in him had the image of God implanted in it, which was lost and separated from the same nature…

The apostle Paul bears out the fact that Jesus Christ was and is God who prior to the incarnation and after His ascension “is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things have been created through Him and for Him. He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together” (Colossians 1: 15-17 NASV) John Owen adds that it was God’s intent to have us follow Christ’s example as a man on earth:

…the infinite wisdom of God had this farther design in it also,—namely, that he might be the pattern and example of the renovation of the image of God in us, and of the glory that doth ensue thereon. He is in the eye of God as the idea of what he intends in us, in the communication of grace and glory; and he ought to be so in ours, as unto all that we aim at in a way of duty.

We are predestined to be changed into Christ’s image in order to represent His character. We are predestined to be renovated to the state of what Adam lost in the garden of Eden: “For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified… ” (Romans 8:29-30 ESV).

Consider how important it is to raise your children up for Jesus Christ that they also will take the Gospel seriously. They will be faced with many temptations in the world as they grow up and are tempted by the popular culture. (A few pictures of my children are used in this article from my youthful days of ministry)

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The whole inheritance of Christ as sons of God is offered to us that we may be glorified by following His life and in Spirit-union with Him. Certainly we can only share the glory of Christ as we reflect His lifestyle to others on earth as the Holy Spirit empowers us to do so. The development of Christian character is a lifelong process during our lives on earth “until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ” (Ephesians 4:13 ESV).

Our personal growth in Christ will be carried out to the degree or the measure that we allow the Spirit of God to lead us into holy living, “for those who are led by the Spirit of God are the children of God” (Romans 8:14 NIV). And it is clear that the ultimate standard of that measure is Christ Himself.

It is all about aiming to please Christ, aiming to reflect His goodness in our worship to God and in our relations with others. It is by beholding Him in scripture that we are changed into His likeness, as this was the Father’s good intention for us.

Knowing that Christ is our example, our standard of measure whom we seek to emulate, we will always know that in comparison to Him, we are sinners in need of divine grace, “Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own” (Philippians 3:16, 12 ESV)

From one degree of glory to another is how we grow as Christians. The process is is progressive, not immediate.

Discernment and Thinking, Uncategorized

God Knows our Mind

glen001-sm  By Glen R. Jackman

For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart. (Hebrews 4:12 ESV)

God understands our thoughts and discerns the motives of our mind, which is clear from the above verse: “discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart”. The NLT version uses the word “exposes” for discerning while the NIV uses the word “judges”. The reality is that God knows our thoughts and as our creator assesses the construction of our attitudes framing all our thinking which is the cause and effect of our actions – our deeds. This is a truth that the great prophet Jeremiah pointed out when the majority of the Israelite’s due to wayward leadership, had wandered away from God, and would soon go into captivity under His judgement: “I the LORD search the heart and examine the mind, to reward each person according to their conduct, according to what their deeds deserve.” (Jeremiah 17:10 NIV) The link between Yahweh assessing the mind is directly related to our outward actions towards God and man: “according to…their deeds”.

God Searches our hearts
As we seek to follow the Lord in holiness, we need to comprehend that He is indeed aware of our every thought. Jesus while on earth, indicated that he knew the thoughts of men before they even spoke: “Jesus knowing their thoughts said, ‘Why are you thinking evil in your hearts?’” (Matthew 9:4 NAS) He reiterated this ability as our Lord in heaven – he searches our hearts in relation to our deeds: “I am He who searches the minds and hearts; and I will give to each one of you according to your deeds.” (Revelation 2:23 NASV)

This revelation of God’s unity with us in mind as our creator who has set guidelines for our thinking, was expanded by our Lord in His Sermon on the Mount: “but I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart”. (Matthew 5:28 NASV) Jesus was expanding the principles of the New Covenant based on the axiom of love. He would further pray that His disciples live out this maximal importance of unity of thinking based on the Law of Love with the effect that others would believe in the Gospel mission of redemption. He prayed: “that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me”. (John 17:21 ESV)

Paul would echo this in his writing. He advocated that we would have our minds lined up with God’s mind to reflect His views on life and His Sovereign governance: “Have this mind in you, which was also in Christ Jesus” and that God would give us “the same attitude of mind toward each other that Christ Jesus had”, with the primary intention “that with one mind and one voice you may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ” (Philippians 2:5; Romans 15:5-6 NASV )

Understanding God’s Mind as a Master Database
With our ability to search rapidly for any theory or information that man has ever developed or philosophies conceived, it is easy for us to fathom a God who can know what we are thinking and/or search our minds which He made. Moreover He wants to bring our mind into harmony with His will via our unity of mind with Him to the extent that the Spirit Himself prays for us to achieve this. “He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He intercedes for the saints according to the will of God” (Romans 8:27 NASV) King David contemplated this unity of mind when he wrote his beautiful Psalm about God’s all-knowing watch care: “You have searched me, LORD, and you know me” (Psalm 139:1 NIV) This ability to knowingly search our mind is prophesied also by Jeremiah. God said to him: “I the LORD search the heart and examine the mind” (Jeremiah 17:10 NIV)

Some may think that they can side-step God’s two royal laws as His mandate to live according to love by both loving the Lord first and your neighbour as yourself (cf. Matthew 22:39) without saying “Lord who is my neighbour?” Of the Pharisees He said, “You are the ones who justify yourselves in the eyes of others, but God knows your hearts. ‘What people value highly is detestable in God’s sight’” (Luke 15:15 NIV). His all-knowingness was confessed to the Lord when the disciples prayed for mission guidance “Lord, you know everyone’s heart. Show us which of these two you have chosen” (Acts 1:24 NIV)

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Michelangelo, The Last Judgement, Sistine Chapel Ceiling

Benedict Spinoza was a Jewish philosopher who understood the reason why and how God knows our every thought. When you study his Ethics he evidently viewed our lesser mind as inset in God’s Sovereign Mind which governs our thoughts by inspiring or by judiciously knowing them. He points out that our thoughts are inadequate compared to His own, which any Christian will admit is true. What he developed was the truth that our minds are operative and functional as tandem to and housed in God’s primary Mind: “whatsoever takes place in the object constituting the idea of the human mind, the knowledge thereof is necessarily in God, in so far as he constitutes the essence of the human mind.” This does not mean that God condones sinful thinking. He rather patiently allows it until the second advent of Jesus Christ.

When we contemplate the importance of thinking holy thoughts as we are resident minds within His overseeing mind, as One with Him, we are deeply humbled as we also realize that our thoughts, if not monitored, self-controlled and carefully submitted to the Holy Spirit’s leading, can be corrupted by this world’s influence in which we live, even as little as having a judgemental attitude toward an erring brother. As Christians, we must understand Christ’s priestly prayer to His Father on our behalf, to be united in mind with Him as He is united in Mind with the Father.

Spinoza though not a professing Christian gets this right: “whatsoever takes place in the object constituting the idea of the human mind, the knowledge thereof is necessarily in God, in so far as he constitutes the essence of the human mind”. Considering that we are made in His image, his deduction about man’s thinking is profound: “the essence of man is constituted by certain modifications of the attributes of God”.

We can also fathom why God is vindicated when we abuse our rights and misuse our minds to think ungodly thoughts. Many today are tempted by think of the lusts of the flesh as this is rampant in our culture. Spinoza using careful deductive reasoning comes to the realization that we are, in my own words, hosted minds within God’s Mind. To abuse this honour would be dangerously parasitic. We have looked at scripture which supports this view that God with responsibility only to His own glory must finally judge men and women who live wildly without concern for His allowance of our operative mind as secondary to His Mind, and concomitant life within and secondary to His source of life – via the Spirit, and connected to His being as the great I am:

Everyone must surely admit, that nothing can be or be conceived without God. All men agree that God is the one and only cause of all things, both of their essence and of their existence; that is, God is not only the cause of things in respect to their being made (secundum fieri), but also in respect to their being (secundum esse).

God will vindicate His holiness and magnify His glory at the final judgement ushered in when Christ comes in the clouds in His full glory with all His holy angels to separate the godly from the ungodly: “Let the evildoer still do evil, and the filthy still be filthy, and the righteous still do right, and the holy still be holy.” (Revelation 22:11 KJV)

Love & Grace, Uncategorized

You recieve Jesus by faith—not by works of the law

“Therefore let it be known to you, brethren, that through Him forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you, and through Him everyone who believes is freed from all things, from which you could not be freed through the Law of Moses.” Acts 13:38-39 NASB)

The Gospel of John, chapter 1, verses 1-18 is referred to as the Prologue, which means the introduction to John’s particular Gospel, which was written, most scholars will agree after the Synoptics—namely after the Gospel of Matthew, Mark, and Luke—around AD 85 after the destruction of Jerusalem in AD 70.

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As we look at John 1:1-18 the introduction summarizes how the ‘Word’ which was with God in the very beginning came into the sphere of time and history—how the Son of God was sent into the world to become the Jesus of history, so that the glory and grace of God might be beautifully and most perfectly and most truly displayed. God’s self-disclosure by the Word—an acronym for Jesus—was accomplished by our Lord becoming flesh, when He dwelt among us (1:14) and thereby revealed His glory. This man Jesus, the Word continues to this day to make God known (1:18) and attract people to His Kingdom.

1. The result of Jesus — the Word becoming a man — coming to earth

“The true light, which gives light to everyone, was coming into the world. He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him” (John 1:9-10) We are introduced to the result of this gracious revelation of Jesus becoming man—which enjoins John’s purpose statement in His entire Gospel—certain people, while not others, become the children of God by believing on the name of Jesus: “But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God” (v. 12)

The rest of John’s Gospel—and his letters likewise—actually articulate exactly just who are the real children of God, in contrast to warnings as to who are not the true children of God. Paul referred to these people as the true children of Abraham. Apostle Paul, the great revealer of the mysteries hidden in the Old Testament, chosen by Jesus to unpack the mystery of the Gospel, tells us that “those who are led by the Spirit of God are the children of God” (Rom 8:14), and he ties it into the Israelites believing in the arrival of their Messiah: “Understand, then, that those who have faith are children of Abraham” (Gal 3:7)

The following verse indicates that these people, who have received Christ are differentiated by one thing: they are born again and have received the Holy Spirit: “But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God” (v. 12-13) They are also noted as concomitantly receiving both Jesus and His Spirit: “The Spirit you received does not make you slaves, so that you live in fear again; rather, the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship. And by him we cry, “Abba, Father.”—and an inner communion begins in the heart i.e. the mind. “The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children. Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ” (Rom 8: 15-16)

What is the reason that many did not become Christians in John’s day? They simply did not receive Jesus as the Messiah and chose not to follow Jesus. “The true light, which gives light to everyone, was coming into the world. He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him. He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him” (v. 9-11)

Christ is the “life” that is the “light of men.” In him God’s purpose and power are made available to men. He is their ultimate hope. “In him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it” (v 4-5) The metaphorical contrast between light and darkness represents the powers of good and evil in the world—antithetical, opposing powers battle between good and evil. Metaphorically we have a preview of the triumph of light over darkness, which is later personified in Christ’s work on the Cross. Those among His own people—the Jews—did not receive him. They ultimately had Him crucified. John said: “This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but people loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil” (John 3:19)

Just as there is a contrast between darkness and light, there is also a contrast between rejection and reception. Despite the historical witness of many rejecting our Lord in John’s day, just as many reject the Gospel today, but—just as there were also some who received him then, some receive Christ today—today is the day of salvation: “all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God”. The definition of “believe” equates with “receive.” When we accept a gift, we demonstrate our confidence in the generosity and trustworthiness from whom we receive it. We make Jesus our own possession—we become allegiant, loyal to Christ—we own His insignia and are marked as the book of Revelation tells us,  with His church name—a name that the Jews then could understand—the “New Jerusalem”. Augustine referred to the New Jerusalem in his masterpiece—his book “The City of God”.

Jesus receives those into His Kingdom who receive him—gives them a right to membership in the family of God as His children. From a spiritual perspective, the New Jerusalem has no need of a temple, as the people of God indwelt by the Spirit are the temple—the building blocks of the church, Christ being the chief cornerstone. (see Eph 2:20) And the church of Jesus Christ is illuminated by the Light of the Lamb—a metaphor for Jesus Christ built into the book of Revelation’s symbolism of the New Jerusalem.

2. Decisions to follow Jesus are motivated by the manifest Glory of Jesus, full of Grace and Truth

John refers to Jesus as one coming to us as a man incarnate—to Jesus as the light, as the Word. He made this possible by willingly and purposefully leaving His Sovereign reign in heaven as our Creator-God at His incarnation when born as a man to His virgin mother Mary. As he grew up and became a man, He fleshed-out the Word—made the entire scriptures of the Old testament, the writings of the prophets and the law of Moses clear, so that His grace and truth could be seen by human beings lived out in a human being: “we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth” (1:14).

The glory of God manifest in the incarnate Word was full of grace and truth. John is reminding his readers of the writings of Moses in Exodus 33–34. Moses begged God, “Now show me your glory” (Ex. 33:18). The LORD replied, “I will cause all my goodness to pass in front of you, and I will proclaim my name, the LORD, in your presence. I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion” (Ex. 33:19). God’s glory, then, is His goodness revealed in our presence. So Moses stands on Mount Sinai—“the LORD came down in the cloud and stood there with him and proclaimed his name, the LORD. And he passed in front of Moses, proclaiming, “The LORD, the LORD, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin” (Ex. 34:5–7) Note the cloud in this picture.

Now let’s look at the Gospel of Luke. During the Transfiguration we see an illustration of the glory of Jesus: “he took with him Peter and John and James and went up on the mountain to pray. And as he was praying, the appearance of his face was altered, and his clothing became dazzling white. And behold, two men were talking with him, Moses and Elijah, who appeared in glory and spoke of his departure, which he was about to accomplish at Jerusalem” (Luke 9:28-31).

Peter and the disciples are sleeping. When they awake Peter says, “‘Master, it is good that we are here. Let us make three tents, one for you and one for Moses and one for Elijah’—not knowing what he said”. He missed the point! The appearance of Jesus’ face alters, his clothes begin to glow dazzlingly white. Moses, the law-messenger is present with Jesus in glory. Elijah, the law reformer is present with Jesus in glory. What are they discussing? The cross—Jesus’ departure from this world. Peter begins to rashly talk, let’s build a shelter for Moses, Elijah, and Jesus! God says in effect, NO! “As he was saying these things, a cloud came and overshadowed them, and they were afraid as they entered the cloud. And a voice came out of the cloud, saying, “This is my Son, my Chosen One; listen to him!” And when the voice had spoken, Jesus was found alone. And they kept silent” (vv. 34-36) The Father said NO—“this is my beloved son, LISTEN to HIM”. Can you say Amen? Seeing the Father in the life of Christ via the Word—the Bible—wakes us up and still moves men to follow Him, to receive Him by faith! We listen, believe and receive, only when we see Jesus.

His own people, the Jewish nation—referred to as his own “did not receive him” (1:11). Nothing blinds men from seeing the Gospel more than tradition, popularity among others who we’ve growth up with, or friends at the golf club who say Jesus, but don’t receive Him; or someone who had never read the bible becomes an expositor of the bible finding fault with it—a so-called academic genius and people believe this nonsense; or your 300 friends on Facebook, or 700 faithful followers on Twitter—some are even becoming more popular than Jesus—John Lennon started that notion. Or there’s the spouse who does not want to hear about “your Jesus”—it messes with his or her adulterous lifestyle; or the philosophical traditions of the world like theosophy—namely, The Law of Attraction, The Secret, and the like. What about multicultural shake and bake religion? Let’s meditate away our stress, or play the big drum and get entranced, and just know that the force is with you—live long and prosper. Jesus has a lot of competition with our little self-created gods—or does He?

Once you dig into the gospel of John, it is clear that people who were moved by the Holy Spirit recognized their Saviour-Messiah—the disciples eventually did. Didn’t Peter say “Where shall we go Lord, you alone have the Words of eternal Life”. This includes Pilate who said “I find no fault in Him”; Judas the betrayer who would say “I have betrayed innocent blood”; Martha and Mary, sisters of Lazarus, Nicodemus, Joseph of Arithema, the centurion whose boy/servant was ill and cured from a distance—yes God is watching—the man born blind since birth; the thief on the cross; the centurion below the cross—the 120 in the upper room after the cross as tongues of fire danced across the room proclaiming Jesus as Lord in every language; the conversion of the Apostle Paul who challenged and killed Christ’s followers—Paul in a flash of atomic white light was impacted by the glory of Jesus! Men like Timothy, Barnabus, and Apollos––and converts like the Roman, Cornelius who opened their minds to the Spirit—he gathered his whole household to hear Peter. Women like Lydia, Eunice, and Priscilla all received Jesus. And what of the boy in the city of Nain, the only son of his widowed mother and Lazarus, both raised from the dead right before many eyewitnesses among the mourning people who began to praise God for sending Jesus to earth to reveal His glory?

Right now the demographic records show that this gospel has gone to the whole world—His church is now readying to meet Him is multi-millions strong worldwide! “But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name”—“He gave the right to become children of God” (vv. 12-13)

3. The meaning of believing on the Name of Jesus
These people believed in his name. The name is more than Christ’s birth record in history; it is the character of His person, or even the person Himself. Faith in His name yields allegiance to the Word, frees oneself to trust the name of Jesus completely, acknowledges his claims and confess Him as Lord with gratitude. That is what it means to receive him.

Receiving Him does not come by entitlement, not by assuming you are of a Christian nation or family, not by getting married in a church in your old town, not because your grandma or uncle goes to such and such church. It does not come by being a good person, or believing philosophical ideas such as “the Secret” which has some gooey bible insinuations, which as I mentioned is the old deception of theosophy in disguise, which manifests itself in other formats even in the church: name it and claim it, brag it and bag it. No, becoming a child of God is simply by believing on His name. There is no other name under heaven whereby a man can be saved! No other. All true believers come to the Father, firstly by coming to me—by my name said Jesus.

To people who receive him, to those who display such faith, Jesus gives the right to become children of God. These people enjoy the privilege of becoming the covenant people of God, a privilege lost by the Messiah’s own people (1:11), those who had related to him by being born children of Abraham.

The grace of the old covenant was illustrated in shadow-types, given by the messenger Moses, protected by the reformers Elijah, Jeremiah and the prophets—because the law foretold of Christ and led men to Him. John, a Jew, was awaiting the coming Messiah when he was with John the Baptist at the Jordan warning the people to make straight the way of the Lord. John, a Jew, was awaiting the coming Messiah when he was with John the Baptist at the Jordan warning the people to make straight the way of the Lord—prepare for the Messiah’s arrival. Jesus told the disciples walking with Him on the road to Emmaus, that all the scriptures of the law and the prophets pointed to Him. John sees his history as a Jew laden with grace: “For from his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace. For the law was given through Moses” (v 16-17)

4. The old law had symbolic messages of grace––Jesus introduces us to superseding true grace

To some, it appears that the grace and truth that came through Jesus Christ replaces the law—most believe that the law itself is understood to be an earlier display of active progressive grace when you consider that the true and final manifestation of grace did not actually come via the law given by Moses. Is John speaking of the grace of Jesus and His message as replacing the progressive grace upon grace illustrated symbolically in the law?

Paul often contrasts grace and law, as a contradistinction. Paul also told us that the law is ‘holy’ and ‘good’ (Rom. 7:12, 16). Let’s see if we can unpack law versus grace.

Looking at verse 17: “For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ” one may think—Moses/law versus Jesus/grace. As if the two are different, opposing each other. Law versus Grace! A preferred way of viewing this may be—the covenant of law was a gracious gift from God. It is now replaced by an ever-magnified further gracious undeserved gift: ‘grace and truth’ intertwined/embodied in Jesus Christ. —v.17 mentioned the full name of Jesus Christ—His full name enjoining the man Jesus plus the anointed Word-made-flesh—”Jesus Christ” our Lord’s full name is used, meaning God incarnate in man. It was in His life that the Light of Life was displayed, where mercy and love was demonstrated, people were forgiven, healed, undeservedly honoured—at least from our perspective and the crowds were humbled, awestruck, amazed how He loved us.

The Old Testament Scriptures are understood to point forward to Jesus—prophetically anticipate Him—and thus Jesus fulfilled them. “For all the Prophets and the Law prophesied until John”—John the baptizer (Matt 11:13)—this timing arrived at the Jordan when John baptized Jesus—and now having come in the name of Christ, the law of the old covenant, must to a degree be displaced.

When reading your Bible, all the types that pointed to Christ such as the morning and evening sacrifices offered by the Levitical priesthood and the Day of Atonement officiated by the High Priest once per year, do not lose their historic validity as we look at the majestic scope of redemption. As Paul noted “Christ was crucified since the creation of the world”. As far as authority goes, law is bypassed by grace—that to which it announced has now arrived. The law, i.e. the law-covenant—the Old Covenant, was given by grace surely, as law anticipated the future salvation of mankind via the Creator, the incarnate Word, Jesus Christ—this prophecy and fulfillment reality underscores why the two displays of grace in time, are not precisely identical. “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished” (Mat 5:17–20) The Apostle Paul wrote of God’s grace being ‘made perfect’ in Christ (2 Cor. 12:9). Jesus accomplished what the law anticipated as our schoolmaster intended would later conclude—redemption at Calvary when He cried out “it is finished”.

Compare this with Christ’s numerous teachings of the New Covenant which He said would be realized in His blood, “after supper he took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant
in my blood” (1 Cor 11:25; cf. Luke 22:20, Matt 26:28, Mark 14:24). We simply must open our eyes to seeing all things in a new light apart from the law.

  • He turned the Jewish water used for OT ritual cleansing into wine at the wedding feast. (see John 2:9)
  • He said that new wine can not be put into old wine skins–meaning New Covenant thinking won’t be accepted if one is bound only to the Old Covenant ways. (see Matt 9:18, Mark 2:22, Luke 5:37)
  • He said that new cloth cannot be sown into an old garment. (see Matt 9:16, Mark 2:21, Luke 5:30)
  • The Alpha and Omega in Revelation is Christ and He said: “Behold, I am making all things new.” (Rev 21:5)

The Apostle Paul wrote of God’s grace being ‘made perfect’ in Christ (2 Cor. 12:9). Jesus accomplished what the law anticipated as our schoolmaster intended would later conclude—redemption at Calvary when He cried out “it is finished”. I like the scholar, D.A. Carson’s viewpoint:

In Judaism, the law became an end in itself, something that could be separated from Moses through whom it was given. The grace and truth which came by Jesus Christ can never be dissociated from Jesus—the law ‘was given’ (Greek edothē), grace and truth ‘came’ (Greek egeneto). We have received this new grace in Christ for all who share the same faith.

Paul supports this premise:

  • But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it (Rom 3:21)
  • For we hold that one is justified by faith apart from works of the law (Rom 3:28)
  • For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God (Eph 2:8)

“Grace and truth ‘came’; they were not ‘given’ like the law. No Giver used a human instrument and made grace and truth a gift. God did not merely tell us about grace and truth, so that he could have used another Moses or an array of prophets. Jesus himself was grace and truth” Lenski

Only the law’s symbolic sacrificial system was given to Moses in the Old Covenant. I’m driving home the idea that grace and truth “came” to actualization at the Jordan for the first time—coming into existence upon the arrival of Jesus Christ. The actual work of redemption in the thought of God was being conveyed to men by promise since Genesis 3:15—it was conveyed in the law using symbolic shadow-types of the final work of Jesus. Only Jesus himself was the reality show of grace and truth come to fruition—manifested before our eyes in word and deed! He alone came as grace and truth—He alone could present the true reality of His own redemptive work. The final lamb was slain as the old shadow system of types came to an abrupt end at the cross—behold the Lamb of God, God incarnate dying for His own creation to display the Father’s glory of forgiving man for ongoing disobedience to His laws based on love.

The contrast between law and grace as methods of God’s dealing with men is expressed here plainly in the above-noted Pauline writings. The law represented God’s standard of righteousness and reveals sin and man’s need of a propitiatory sacrifice when Christ arrived as the better sacrifice once and for all. Grace exhibited His attitude to failing, defeated human beings who found that they could not keep the law—could not save themselves so to speak. This attitude of grace was depicted in the person and life of Jesus. This contrast to law has a parallel in the argument of Hebrews 3:5–6: “Moses was faithful as a servant in all God’s house, testifying to what would be said in the future. But Christ is faithful as a son over God’s house.” Hebrews stresses the superiority of the Son to a servant––to administer the law correctly—the Son, who is the ruler of the house—He can act with ultimate authority that surpasses the authority of the servant-directed law seen so often in the scribes and Pharisees. This is seen in the Sermon on the Mount: “You have heard that it was said.… But I tell you” (Matt 5:21–22, 27–28, 22:33–34, 38–39, 43–44).

5. The Gospel of Grace actualized cannot be encumbered with the shadows of Law displaced

The principal reason that grace and truth is distinct from and trumps the Old Covenant Law is this: you must only focus on Jesus Christ—you must only see Him in the Word—you must only listen to Him if you are to comprehend the final Atonement of Jesus Christ achieved on Calvary once and for all for you. Apostle Paul was emphatic: “And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross. He disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in him” (Col 2:13-15) Christ disarmed the legal Pharisees and the lawyers who would leverage the Old Covenant law even trying to use it against the Law-giver—the Son of God—the rock that followed and protected the Israelites in the Sinai wilderness—Jesus disarmed the law of its wrath by taking on the wrath of God on the cross on your behalf by His grace and truth in action.

The word “grace,” so common in synoptic gospels and apostolic writings appears only here in the prologue of John four times and then disappears. Following the common understanding of the synoptic writings, John certainly was noting the generous work of God in sending his Son, which results in our salvation. Grace is found in God’s coming and working despite the hostility and rejection of the world. Grace is not merely an attribute of God. It is known when someone enjoys his goodness. It is the recipient who knows grace, not the pew-warmer or the academic who just has studied it. Thus in verse 1:16 John emphasizes our experience and reception of this grace as its chief merit. But you may reason in your mind that you are a good person and do not need a Saviour to die in your stead for legal redemption and forgiveness. Of the Jews who crucified Him, Jesus said “he who is forgiven little loves little” (Lk 7:47 NASB) You will not love Jesus Christ nor receive if you are self-righteous.

The epistle to the Galatians made this very clear, that you cannot preach law and grace out of both sides of your mouth. One must calibrate his or her teaching which affects believing and receiving Christ, so that we can joyfully proclaim Him—receive Him with gratitude for God’s supreme sacrifice of His Son—our Father’s excessive, and super-abounding love-gifting of His Son.

I recall when I first accepted Jesus Christ as my Saviour, in a supernatural instant, I experienced liberation from destructive habits, fears—release from psychological and philosophical bondage. I did not process His grace logically in my mind—I was completely changed when I heard the Gospel for the first time. I experienced it in my heart! Grace offers Christ’s gift of unmerited favour—grace offered by simply believing in His love, His undeserved forgiveness, and His favor in your life, found in His name—His Sovereign God Persona. When you believe right about His grace you will believe in the name of the person—you will begin to live in the way of Christ.

In verse 17 both “grace and truth” are regarded together—the verb “came “is used in the singular. Grace and truth “came” united—grace in the truth of Jesus—one and the same thing. Grace is the truth that has the power to set you free from fear, guilt, and all addictions—Grace equals Jesus: “And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free” (John 8: 32). It is the truth of grace—not of the law that brings you true freedom. Bondage to a curriculum of law is most discouraging within Christendom!

6. Children of God in Christ learn of a New Covenant Consciousness

Grace is not a doctrine. it is a person who has redeemed you from the curse-effect of the law. If the law is focused on too much beyond a historical typology/shadow of true grace, Satan will abuse you and those you preach to. Grace is Jesus Himself. “For the law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ” (John 1: 17).

The truth that has the power to fling wide open the prison doors of religious formalism in the knowledge of  His grace. When you taste Jesus’ love and savor His loving-kindness and tender mercies, every wrong law-bound encumberment, morphs into grace, empowered by the glory of His love, forgiveness, and joy—empowered by Jesus who is alive and ministering His Spirit to us, as he advocates for us.

When God takes this initiative, new possibilities are born. Divine power is released into the broken world and broken lives like Zacchaeus, like Mary Magdalene, like me, like you—so that new life is possible.

The theological key that the world finds so foreign lies here: Transformation and hope cannot be the fruit of some human endeavor. Only God can take the initiative, and men and women must see, receive, and believe the work he desires to do—less the side-bar of the law—administering grace upon truth and grace. And when they do, they are reborn to become God’s children.

God discloses himself. God enters our world bearing truth and grace in order to transform whoever will receive him. Transformation is not an inspired human work—it is not law based obedience which is a self-deceptive tactic of trading our own “good” works for a self-reward of redemption to circumvent the divine strategy of God in the propitiatory work of Christ on the cross to save mankind from his downward spiral in sin. No—redmption is a divine work led by the Spirit of Christ in our heart.

Jesus, the father’s Son was “full of grace and truth”; that is, he proved a wonderful expression of His father running to us, like the prodigal father’s imagery—running to his world-worn son when he discerned his son coming home, who said “I have sinned against my father and heaven”. Are you ready to receive a complete, perfect expression of God’s covenant-keeping faithfulness? You are a child that He co-created with the Father. He knows you personally. Jesus redeems His own children who receive Him: Gen. 1:26, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness.” It was in our likeness that He came to reveal His glory as of the only begotten Son of God. As many as received Him He gives the right to become the children of God.

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The Church Part 2: The Westminster Confession of Faith

May/June 2014

WESTMINSTER CONFESSION OF FAITH (25.4–5)
This catholic Church has been sometimes more, sometimes less visible. And particular Churches, which are members thereof, are more or less pure, according as the doctrine of the gospel is taught and embraced, ordinances administered, and public worship performed more or less purely in them.

The purest Churches under heaven are subject both to mixture and error; and some have so degenerated, as to become no Churches of Christ, but synagogues of Satan. Nevertheless, there shall be always a Church on earth, to worship God according to His will.

WHERE WAS YOUR CHURCH BEFORE THE REFORMATION? Roman Catholics have thrown this question at evangelicals over the centuries. Of course, we might quip, “Our church was in the Bible, where yours never was!” We could point out that the Roman papacy was an innovation that arose long after Christ, and in the late fourteenth and early fifteenth centuries was split among two or three rival popes.

However, we might also respond with the Westminster Confession that the church has been sometimes more, sometimes less visible. This means that the true church passes through times of darkness, weakness, or persecution when it is largely hidden. We think of Elijah crying out, “I, even I only, am left; and they seek my life, to take it away” (1 Kings 19:10). The official church of Israel had given itself over to idolatry. Yet God had preserved seven thousand
faithful worshipers, a hundred of whom were hiding in a cave (1 Kings 19:18; 18:4).

We should not take Christ’s promise to preserve His church (Matt. 16:18) to mean that the visible church will always be faithful or that the true church will always be strong. In the fourth century, godly Athanasius was repeatedly forced into exile because many powerful leaders were Arians who denied that Christ is the eternal Son of God. But the faithful overcame this heresy and purified the church.

The Confession calls us to a realistic view of local churches. Congregations are more or less pure with respect to what is taught in them, how the sacraments are administered, and how public worship is conducted. One need only read Christ’s words to the seven churches (Rev. 2–3) to see that churches often slide into errors of doctrine or practice. When someone says he wishes we could go back to the ways of the first-century church, perhaps we should ask if he means the church in Corinth? They had problems with division, pride, a celebrity mindset, incest, failure to implement church discipline, fornication, people getting drunk at the Lord’s Supper, and false teaching about the resurrection. Nevertheless, Paul addressed them as “the church of God which is at Corinth” (1 Cor. 1:2).

The best of churches are subject both to mixture and error. There may be hypocrites among the members of a true church and great Christian leaders can make great mistakes, though they are sincere believers. Sadly, some churches and denominations have fallen into such profound errors that they can no longer be called true churches of Christ. Though it is possible that some true believers remain in them, the official teachings and practices of their churches deny fundamental truths of God’s law and gospel. Let us watch and pray, lest our churches slip into this terrifying pit.

However, we should not fear that the church will disappear from the earth, for there shall be always a church on earth. The Son of God said, “I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it” (Matt. 16:18). One name for believers is overcomers. The world wages war against Christ and His church, but “the Lamb shall overcome them: for he is Lord of lords, and King of kings: and they that are with him are called, and chosen, and faithful” (Rev. 17:14). Though we are called to watchfulness, we are to watch in hope, for the wedding day of Christ is coming, and His bride, the church, will be beautiful on that day (Rev. 19:7–8).

Westminster Confession of Faith (25.6)
There is no other head of the Church but the Lord Jesus Christ; nor can the Pope of Rome, in any sense, be head thereof; but is that Antichrist, that man of sin, and son of perdition, that exalts himself, in the Church, against Christ and all that is called God.

THE BIBLICAL DOCTRINE OF THE CHURCH revolves around Jesus Christ. He is the head of the church, which is His body, and He must have the preeminence (Col. 1:18). He has supreme authority (Col. 2:10). The church submits to Him as its Lord (Eph. 5:22–24). He is the source of our life (Eph. 4:15–16). When men claim to follow Christ but really follow their own personal notions or traditions and man made rules and forms of worship, they are not holding the Head (Col. 2:18–23). Christ must always be first, or we have ceased to be the church of Christ.

One of the great heresies of the Roman Catholic Church is their exaltation of a man to the place of Christ. The Pope or Bishop of Rome takes the title “Vicar of Jesus Christ, meaning that he acts as Christ’s representative, ruling as the supreme head of the church on earth. He is also called “Pontifex Maximus,” meaning supreme or great high priest (Lev. 21:10, Vulgate), but the Bible says our great high priest is Jesus, the Son of God (Heb. 4:14). Invoking the authority of Peter, the Pope claims to speak infallibly on matters of faith or life, placing his own words on the level of the words of Christ.

It may surprise modern readers that the Westminster Confession calls the Pope the Antichrist. Today the Antichrist is popularly conceived to be a great military leader who will rule the world with supernatural powers. But in the Scriptures, the word antichrist is used of false teachers who deny fundamental teachings of the faith. John wrote, “Little children, it is the last time: and as ye have heard that antichrist shall come, even now are there many antichrists” (1 John 2:18; cf. 2:22; 4:3; 2 John 7).

The Lord Jesus warned that “false Christs, and false prophets” will come (Matt. 24:24). Paul foretold the coming of the “man of sin, the son of perdition” who would exalt himself to the place of God in the temple (2 Thess. 2:3–4). The Westminster divines believed (and make a good case for their beliefs in their frequent writings on this subject!) that the office of the Papacy (not any one individual Pope) fulfilled these prophecies, asserting its claim to rule the universal church, which is the New Testament temple of God (1 Cor. 3:16).

Thus the Westminster Confession closes its chapter on the church with a solemn warning. Christ alone is the head of His church. He who dares to usurp Christ’s place becomes an enemy of Christ. The confession of the true church has ever been, “Jesus is Lord!” It was this conviction that led early Christians to choose death rather than to worship the emperor of Rome, and the same conviction strengthens the church in every age. The blessed hope of the church is the return of her King, and her prayer is ever, “Come, Lord Jesus!”

Rev. Paul Smalley is Dr. Beeke’s teaching assistant.

Dr. Joel R. Beeke is president and professor of Systematic Theology and Homiletics at Puritan Reformed Theological Seminary, and a pastor of the Heritage Netherlands Reformed Congregation of Grand Rapids, Michigan.

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The Church Part 1: The Westminster Confession of Faith

Westminster Confession oF Faith (25.1) The catholic or universal Church which is invisible, consists of the whole number of the elect, that have been, are, or shall be gathered into one, under Christ the Head thereof; and is the spouse, the body, the fulness of Him that fills all in all.

After Peter Confesses that Jesus is the Christ, the Lord makes this remarkable pronouncement: “I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it” (Matt. 16:18). The Greek word translated “church” means a number of persons called together in a public assembly (Acts 19:32, 39, 41). When the Jews translated the Hebrew Old Testament into Greek, this word was used for the congregation of Israel at Mt. Sinai (Deut. 4:10; 9:10), and later assemblies, especially for worship (2 Chron. 6:3, 12, 13; Ps. 22:22, 25; Joel 2:16).

Christ seized this word with a rich history in Israel and claimed it as His own: My church. He is the Lord of the congregation of God’s worshipers, the King of the true Israel (Phil. 3:3). Christ builds the church by His power, and He promises that Satan will never overthrow it.

This church transcends each local congregation of worshipers. A local church can die spiritually (Rev. 3:1), and Christ Himself may remove its light (Rev. 2:5). There are many sad sights of empty buildings where a church once met or where formerly faithful churches have fallen into heresy. But Christ said that His church cannot fail.

Therefore Christ spoke of what the Westminster Confession calls “the catholic or universal church,” both the church worldwide and the church in heaven and on earth. (The word catholic comes from a Greek word meaning universal or international, and does not necessarily or exclusively refer to Roman Catholicism.) Some of the church’s members are already in glory (the church triumphant). Some still fight the good fight of the faith on earth (the church militant). But all are one people called out of the world into holy union with Christ (1 Cor. 1:2). When we meet in local congregations, we join with saints in heaven and throughout the earth to worship God through Christ as one great assembly (Heb. 12:22± 24).

The Confession has a number of things to say about the universal church.

First, this church is invisible. That does not mean its members are ghosts that meet in phantom buildings; it means that the universal church is defined in ways that are spiritually discerned and not physically seen. The church is not a building but a people who worship in spirit and truth, a temple built with living, personal stones (John 4:20± 24; 1 Peter 2:5). It is not a particular denomination and cannot be defined by allegiance to any mere man such as the pope of Rome (1 Cor. 1:12± 13). At certain times and places, the true church may exist as hidden gatherings of believers fiercely persecuted by leaders of the visible church (Rev. 13:11± 15).

We cannot produce a complete list of the church’s members, for some whom we thought to be saved fall away and show that they never really belonged (1 John 2:19). Not everyone who confesses Jesus as Lord is known to Him or saved by Him (Matt. 7:21± 23). The church’s membership is not defined by participation in baptism and the Lord’s Supper, for some who receive the sacraments are not in Christ (Acts 8:13, 18± 24; 1 Cor. 10:1± 8), and some true believers do not have the opportunity to receive them (Luke 23:39± 43).

The true church is defined by invisible factors. The qualifications for membership are the secret election of God and the internal work of the Holy Spirit to produce faith. We can see evidence of these divine operations in the fruit of the Spirit, but the true identity of the church is invisible. Yet it is visible or known to God: “The Lord knoweth them that are his” (2 Tim. 2:19).

Second, the church consists of the elect. God elected or chose individuals in order to save them from their sins, adopt them as His children and heirs, and make them holy by union with Christ (Eph. 1:4). The church is “a chosen generation,” joined to Christ who is Himself “chosen of God, and precious” (1 Peter 2:4, 9). The Bible says, “Christ died for the church” (Eph. 5:25), that is, He decreed to redeem the elect long before any of them were born (Eph. 4:5). Their names were “written in the book of life from the foundation of the world,” and when they believe in the Lamb, they overcome the world because they are “called, and chosen, and faithful” (Rev. 17:8, 14).

Third, the church is in union with Christ as the bride or spouse of the Lord. The church was promised to Christ in God’s eternal counsels (2 Tim. 1:9) and is betrothed to Christ by the Spirit in effectual calling (1 Cor. 1:9; 6:17). As Christ’s spouse, the church is the object of Christ’s redeeming love and His nourishing and cherishing affection (Eph. 5:25, 28± 29).

Fourth, the members of the church are joined to Christ in a living, organic, and personal union, knit to Him as closely as the members or parts of a man’s body (Eph. 5:30– 31). Since Christ is the church’s head, He rules over it as Lord and the true members of the church submit to His Word as it washes them clean (Eph. 5:23, 24, 26).

This unspeakable privilege of union with Christ makes the church the recipient of the fullness of Christ’s graces, “his body, the fulness of him that filleth all in all” (Eph. 1:23). There is no station in life higher or more privileged than to be a member of the true church!

Westminster Confession of Faith (25.2) The visible Church, which is also catholic or universal under the gospel (not confined to one nation as before under the law), consists of all those throughout the world that profess the true religion; and of their children: and is the kingdom of the Lord Jesus Christ, the house and family of God, out of which there is no ordinary possibility of salvation.

In this section the Westminster Confession discusses the visible church. We make this distinction because the church is a people called together, but the call is twofold. There is an external call through the voice of the preacher (Matt. 22:9–10, 14), and an internal, effectual call through the powerful work of the Holy Spirit upon the soul (1 Cor. 1:23– 24). We can see the people who have outwardly responded to the preacher’s call, but we cannot directly view the inward working of the Spirit.

Sometimes people find the distinction of visible/invisible confusing. Are we talking about two different churches? By no means! Perhaps an analogy would help. An old Dutch divine, Wilhelmus à Brakel, compared it to the soul and body of a man. We recognize that human beings have an invisible aspect and a visible aspect to their lives. The soul is hidden within the body, but we do not divide the soul and body of a living man. We do not expect people to walk around as souls without bodies. Nor do we say that a body without a soul is really a man—it’s just a corpse.

In the same way, we recognize that the church has an invisible aspect and a visible aspect. The invisible church is hidden within the visible, but we do not divide them into two churches. The claim to be part of the invisible church while having nothing to do with the visible church is as plausible as spirits walking around without bodies—and almost as frightening. On the other hand, a church without a vital union with Christ by the Holy Spirit is not a true church. It is an institutional corpse. In reality, the invisible church shows itself on earth in and through the visible church.

The Confession teaches us that the visible church is also universal, adding the explanatory note that it is not confined to one nation. From the days of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, God’s visible church consisted of Israel and those few foreigners such as Rahab and Ruth who were joined to Israel. The risen Christ commissioned His servants to make disciples of all nations (Matt. 28:19), and this they did by planting churches in many lands (Acts 14:23).

Historically, Reformed and Presbyterian Christians have taught that the universal church is visible not only in local churches but also in the order or structure that binds many congregations together into one, such as classes or presbyteries, and synods or general assemblies. This church polity is distinguished from Congregational (and Baptist) polity, in which the visible church has no higher authority than the elders who rule over local congregations, though congregations may consult together and cooperate in missions.

The visible church consists of all those throughout the world that profess the true religion. That is to say, membership of the visible church is defined by those persons who confess the faith, who publicly declare that they believe in Jesus Christ, and who obey the teachings of Christianity. The New Testament argues that personal trust in Christ will produce a public confession of Him before men (Rom. 10:9–10), and warns that those who refuse to confess Christ will not be owned by Him on Judgment Day (Matt. 10:32–33). A true profession of Christ as Lord also includes receiving the sacraments and walking in obedience to God’s laws (Matt. 28:19–20; Acts 2:38, 41; 1 Cor. 11:26). The visible church has a responsibility to exclude from its membership those who embrace serious error or sin and refuse to repent.

In addition to professing believers, the confession declares that the children of those that profess the true religion are also members of the visible church. Here the Confession stands on the pattern of the covenant that is universal in Scripture, whereby promises made to believers are extended to include their children (Gen. 17:7; Acts 2:39). Note that membership in the visible church is no guarantee of membership in the invisible church. Nonetheless, the practice of the visible church must conform to the promise, and so children of believers are to be baptized and received as members of the church.

Though it is true that some in the visible church are not saved, we should never fail to cherish the visible church. The Confession says that it is the kingdom of Christ and the house and family of God. The exiled Judean poet expressed it well: “If I forget thee, O Jerusalem, let my right hand forget her cunning. If I do not remember thee, let my tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth; if I prefer not Jerusalem above my chief joy” (Ps. 137:5, 6).

It may shock modern evangelicals, but the Confession also says that there is no ordinary possibility of salvation outside of the visible church. The Book of Acts tells us about many miracles done by the apostles and visits from angels. But in nearly every case where someone is saved from sin, it is by the ministry of the church. Even when an angel visited Cornelius, the angel did not proclaim the gospel to him, but directed him to the apostle Peter, “who shall tell thee words, whereby thou and all thy house shall be saved” (Acts 11:14). We do not deny that God may use a gospel tract or well-placed Bible to convert a sinner. But His ordinary means are set forth in Paul’s argument for the necessity of preaching: “How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher?” (Rom. 10:14). Therefore, cherish the visible church, faithfully attend its assemblies, and make diligent use of the means of grace it provides, for God is pleased to use the preaching of the Word to save sinners.

Westminster Confession oF Faith (25.3) Unto this catholic visible Church Christ has given the ministry, oracles, and ordinances of God, for the gathering and perfecting of the saints, in this life, to the end of the world: and does, by His own presence and Spirit, according to His promise, make them effectual thereunto

Some People think that true spirituality is so mystical that we really do not need the church with its creeds and confessions, and its forms of worship, so long as we follow what God says to our hearts. A personal relationship with the Lord surpasses everything else, even the plain teaching of the Bible. Other people put so much stock in the sacraments that they think receiving baptism, attending church, and taking the Lord’s Supper virtually guarantees their salvation unless they do something really bad. Reformed Christianity, in contrast to these extremes, does not separate the life of the visible church and the invisible work of the Spirit, but emphasizes both as crucial to knowing and pleasing God.

We treasure the church because Christ has given to the visible church the means by which He saves His people. First, Christ gives them the ministry, that is, men gifted and called as servants of the Word. Paul taught that the ascended Christ builds up His body by giving ministers of the Word to the church (Eph. 4:10± 12). These men are not saviors but only servants of God and stewards of God’s truth (1 Cor. 4:1). Still, ministers who are faithful in their lives and teachings are instruments by which God saves the church from sin and brings it to glory (1 Tim. 4:16; 2 Tim. 2:10).

Second, Christ gives to the church the oracles of God (Rom. 3:1± 2), the Holy Scriptures. We are grateful that in America we live in an age of unprecedented access to the Scriptures (just a click away on the internet). But the church, as “the pillar and ground of the truth” (2 Tim. 3:15), still plays a central role in preserving the Scriptures, guarding their faithful translation and interpretation, promoting education and literacy, reading them as part of public worship, and encouraging the private reading of the Bible in personal devotions and family worship.

Third, Christ gives the ordinances to the church. By “ordinances” the confession refers to the public means of worship which Christ ordained or commanded, such as baptism, the Lord’s Supper, public prayer, and singing praise to God (see Confession, 21.5). The holy God inhabits the praises of Israel (Ps. 22:3), and many times God’s people have experienced His presence dwelling with them as they worship together on the Lord’s Day. Indeed, Christ promised His special presence when believers assemble in His name (Ps. 22:22; Matt. 18:20).

Christ commanded His church to preach the Word and to use the ordinances, and promised, “Lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world” (Matt. 28:19± 20) implying that these means of grace will never grow obsolete and we must faithfully use them to the end of the world. Far from despising the means, we should use them with great expectation, for as we use the means, Christ is present with us. And Christ will not let His church fail.

However, we do not turn the means of grace into a surrogate Christ, but instead, as the Confession says, believe that Christ must make them effective by His own presence and Spirit. Mechanical rituals and even the preaching of sermons do not have any inherent power to do spiritual good. Reformed Christianity rejects the ex opere operato (“by the work having been worked”) principle of the Roman church where the mere performance of the liturgy confers grace. Instead, the church constantly remembers Christ’s words, “I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing” (John 15:5).

Rev. Paul Smalley is Dr. Beeke’s teaching assistant.

Dr. Joel R. Beeke is president and professor of Systematic Theology and Homiletics at Puritan Reformed Theological Seminary, and a pastor of the Heritage Netherlands Reformed Congregation of Grand Rapids, Michigan.