Skip to content

Category: grace

Published on Leave a comment on Two Ways to Slave

There is a slavery on the near side of sonship.  (Galatians 4:7)

And there is a slavery on the far side of sonship.  (Galatians 1:10)

On the near side it's death.

On the far side it's life.

On the near side it's flesh.

On the far side it's Spirit.

On the near side it's your righteousness on show.

On the far side it's Christ's righteousness in you.

On the near side you don't know who you are without it, so you step it up.

On the far side you do know who you are without it, and you keep in step.

.

There is no way from slavery to sonship.

And there's no way to true slavery except sonship.

.

All of which means...

We must refuse to be slaves ascending to higher degrees of slavery.

We must look away from any schemes of progressive slavery.

We must proclaim sonship.

And not because we we're not into works.

If we want true works, we must strip away works.

We must be left bare in the presence of God with nothing but Christ for our justification.

We must know who we are without our works - sinners clothed in Christ.

We must know our sonship not in ourselves but in the Son.  This means by grace alone.

And now, in Him, we can do no other than gladly take our place in the Father's business.

But it is the Father's business.

The only gateway to true work is sonship.

The only Gate is the Son.

Published on Leave a comment on There is no-one like you

In Australia I heard a worship song that was new for me:  "There is no-one like you."

Not the Dave Crowder one.  This one is, almost note-for-note, sung to the tune of "What if God was one of us."  To the point where the urge to sing "...just a slob like one of us" became almost unbearable.

Do you struggle with other songs like this?  I find it difficult not to break out with "Go West" on the rare occasions we sing "Give thanks".  Other examples?

But actually "There is no-one like you" and "What if God was one of us" is an interesting juxtaposition.  And quite a biblical one.

Since ancient times no-one has heard, no ear has perceived, no eye has seen any God besides you, who acts on behalf of those who wait for him. (Isaiah 64:4)

What is it that sets the living God apart from every other deity conceived by the imagination of man?  This God works while we wait.  That's the difference.

Every other god waits while we work.  But this God works while we wait.  "His own Arm works salvation for Him" (Isaiah 59:16).  The Arm of the LORD (Isaiah 52:10) who is the Servant of the LORD (v13; 53:1) - He achieves our redemption for us.

When we think of the utter uniqueness of God, where do our thoughts take us?  When we conceive of the transcendent glory of God, what do we imagine? And how biblical are those conceptions?

From "There is no one like you" so often we take a left and descend a flight of stairs to "God is just really, really, completely and utterly different."  Ok, but then we cross a barbed wire fence and enter a haunted wood... "He's so totally other, we can't even begin to relate."  And we continue wandering down such darkened paths with the especially religious among us revelling in the murk.

People take a similar journey when discussing concepts of "glory" or "holiness" or "transcendence."

Ah yes, now we're talking about the real Godness of God.

Indeed.  But if God really is so different then it won't be obvious what that Godness consists in will it?  Or don't you believe in His difference after all?!

You can't just take some bog-standard definition of deity, pump it full of steroids, and then call that "glory" or "holiness" or "transcendence".  You'll have to study how this utterly different God shows Himself to be utterly different.

And - surprise, surprise - even His difference turns out to be different to how we'd imagined it.  His difference is not in some alien detachment but in intimate engagement. His glory is not His self-obsession but self-giving.  His holiness is not His shut-off-ness but His committed devotion.  His transcendence does not keep Him from us, it's a transcendent love that moves heaven to earth to save.

There is no-one like this God.  The God who comes as one of us.  Just a Slob like one of us.  Just a Stranger on the bus, come to bring us all Home.

That's what makes Him really different.

Published on Leave a comment on The Protestant Grace Ethic

I’ve been listening to some thought-provoking lectures by Vishal Mangalwadi on how the bible has shaped the West.  This one entitled, “Why Are Some Rich While Others Are So Poor” speaks of how traditional cultures have handled wealth.  Those without the influence of the bible have only known two responses.  Either you horde it or you display it.  You either stock-pile it for a rainy day or you show-case it for prestige.  In neither case will your economy grow.

But, in the west, Christians did this new thing – they re-invested it.  Mangalwadi points to things like “the parable of the talents” or the injunction to “love thy neighbour” as giving Christians this new idea – to put wealth to work.  He also points to the impact of the priesthood of all believers, releasing believers to work at all things “as unto the Lord.”  This gives rise to the protestant work ethic and incredible wealth-creation.

I’m sure all those ideas should go into the mix.  But I wonder whether the Protestant Grace Ethic needs to have a hearing here.  The bible is always linking grace and money (see these examples in Ephesians for instance).  It is the peculiar “idea” of the gospel that heavenly wealth comes down upon us not so that we may boast, nor that we might keep it to ourselves.  (And not even that we should repay the Benefactor (some kind of spiritual feudalism?)).  We are given an overabundance of undeserved grace in order that we might overflow.  Isn't this the most fundamentally liberating "idea" to grace the West?

 

4

Published on 4 Comments on For God’s Sake Don’t Grow Up For God’s Sake

For God's Sake Grow Up For Your Neighbour's Sake

.

This is just a reflection on that saying of Luther's: "God doesn't need your good works.  Your neighbour does."

And Dave K's observation that, post-resurrection, no-one summarizes the law with "love God and love neighbour" but only with "love neighbour".

.

A friend recently told me of some "higher life" Christians he met who would chant together:

I refuse, I refuse, I refuse to come down from heaven to deal with earthly realities.

They were horrible people to be around.  Their marriages were a mess.  And it was impossible to get at their sins because they were supposedly "hidden" from it all at God's right hand.

Well you do have to admire their sense of unbreakable union with Christ.  I will give them that.

But you've also got to question the kind of Christ they feel united to.

Isn't the true Jesus exactly the kind of Person who does come down from heaven to deal with earthly realities?  Isn't that His eternal glory?  And therefore, doesn't Paul constantly take us from that secure union and then into those battles with the flesh?

Never for the sake of our union. But always from that union and in the power of it.  How can union with this Christ mean anything else?

Jesus said: "For their sake I sanctify myself."  (John 17:19).

Our response should not be "And likewise, Lord, for your sake I sanctify myself."  No.

But there is a response to Christ's work.  And it does involve our sanctification.  We pass it on in costly ways - just as Jesus passed it on to us in the most costly way.

We do engage with the mess, not for God's sake but for our neighbour's.  Jesus doesn't need my sanctification, but my wife does.  Desperately.  And the way I glorify the other-centred Christ is not to pay Him back with godliness but to pass it on in sacrificial love.  "Hidden in Christ" does not mean hidden from the battle.  Christ leads me into the battle because He's adopted me into His kind of other-centred life.

So, for God's sake, don't grow up for God's sake
But, for God's sake, do grow up for your neighbour's sake.

.

Published on Leave a comment on For God's Sake Don't Grow Up For God's Sake

For God's Sake Grow Up For Your Neighbour's Sake

.

This is just a reflection on that saying of Luther's: "God doesn't need your good works.  Your neighbour does."

And Dave K's observation that, post-resurrection, no-one summarizes the law with "love God and love neighbour" but only with "love neighbour".

.

A friend recently told me of some "higher life" Christians he met who would chant together:

I refuse, I refuse, I refuse to come down from heaven to deal with earthly realities.

They were horrible people to be around.  Their marriages were a mess.  And it was impossible to get at their sins because they were supposedly "hidden" from it all at God's right hand.

Well you do have to admire their sense of unbreakable union with Christ.  I will give them that.

But you've also got to question the kind of Christ they feel united to.

Isn't the true Jesus exactly the kind of Person who does come down from heaven to deal with earthly realities?  Isn't that His eternal glory?  And therefore, doesn't Paul constantly take us from that secure union and then into those battles with the flesh?

Never for the sake of our union. But always from that union and in the power of it.  How can union with this Christ mean anything else?

Jesus said: "For their sake I sanctify myself."  (John 17:19).

Our response should not be "And likewise, Lord, for your sake I sanctify myself."  No.

But there is a response to Christ's work.  And it does involve our sanctification.  We pass it on in costly ways - just as Jesus passed it on to us in the most costly way.

We do engage with the mess, not for God's sake but for our neighbour's.  Jesus doesn't need my sanctification, but my wife does.  Desperately.  And the way I glorify the other-centred Christ is not to pay Him back with godliness but to pass it on in sacrificial love.  "Hidden in Christ" does not mean hidden from the battle.  Christ leads me into the battle because He's adopted me into His kind of other-centred life.

So, for God's sake, don't grow up for God's sake
But, for God's sake, do grow up for your neighbour's sake.

.

Published on Leave a comment on You are entirely unnecessary but utterly loved

On the King's English I've been thinking about a triune creation.

In the beginning

Let there be light

Let us make man in our image

Be fruitful and multiply

Behold, it was very good

God rested

The Breath of Life

It's really striking me how profligate is the triune God of grace.  The Father, Son and Spirit bubble over in love.  A unitarian god needs creation.  And all relations between such a creator and its creature are quid pro quo arrangements.  The triune God does nothing about of necessity.  It's all about gift and free overflow.

We can genuinely say "You really didn't have to."  And the Lord will reply, "I know, but I wanted to."

So my friend, whoever you are.  Know in your heart: You are entirely unnecessary.  Entirely.  Unnecessary.  You are a profligate extravagance, a superfluous addendum, a needless flourish.  The Lord, His universe, His church, His kindgom purposes could so easily do without you.  You are completely surplus to requirements.

And you say "I need to be needed!  If my children don't need me, I'll fall apart.  If my church doesn't need me, I'll crumble.  If my work doesn't need me, who am I?"

But you don't need to be needed.  You only think you need to be needed because you've forgotten you're loved.  So let me remind you...

You are wanted.  You are desired.  And not for anything 'you offer.'  You are surplus to requirements.  But our God doesn't deal in requirements, He enjoys the surplus.  He delights in you.

Because of His great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions--it is by grace you have been saved.  (Eph 2:4-5)

You are entirely unnecessary, but utterly loved.

Published on

From my sermon this morning (Isaiah 9:2-7).

Audio here.

Don't have the spirit of Scrooge.

Don't have the spirit of Winterfest.

Don't have the spirit of Santa.

Look again to the manger.

Text below...

...continue reading "Santa is anti-Christ"

3

Published on 3 Comments on Sinning really isn’t the worst thing [repost]

Oh it's bad.  It's very bad.  It's murdering your Maker.  It's cheating on your Lover.  It's grieving His Spirit.  It's tearing apart your soul.  It's bad.  Bad, bad, bad.

But not receiving forgiveness is far worse.  Failure to accept the grace of Jesus dwarfs all other sins in its monstrosity.  To refuse the vulnerable humility of God; to trample on the Lamb and blaspheme His Spirit as they offer blood-bought mercy and cleansing - this is unspeakable evil.  It's the reason people perish eternally.

Don't believe me?  1 Thessalonians 2:10:

They perish because they refuse to love the truth and so be saved.

Those in hell are there for refusal to love the life-saving truth of the gospel.  To sin is one thing.  To refuse forgiveness is itself unforgivable.

Now we know this on a macro level.  We know that eternity does not depend on minimizing sin.  It depends on receiving forgiveness.  We believe it for that Day, but do we believe it this day?  Do I live today as though sinning (or not sinning) is the ultimate spiritual barometer?  Or is my spiritual barometer daily calibrated to the forgiveness of Christ?

Here's how I naturally assess my Christian walk.  I rate my 'performance' largely by how much distance I've managed to put between me and my last 'big sin.'  (Of course it's 'big sins' I'm interested in, if I worried about the little ones my holy-count would never get off the ground).  When the number of 'sin-free' days hits double figures I'm doing great.  In fact, once I'm talking in weeks rather than days it rockets me into the righteousness stratosphere.  Best of all, it finally allows me to minister to people from the safe distance of 'All-figured-out-holiness.'

Of course when I sin it sucks.  Why?  Because I'm back to zero.  My functional righteousness is caput and I'll have to endure the hassle of a 'holy' fortnight before I can feel good again.  If I minister to people it will have to be out of broken messiness and a dependence on the grace of Jesus.  Ewww.

Now that's a stark way of putting it.  But I don't think there is a nice way of portraying this mindset.  While ever we pursue the Christian life as though sinning is the worst thing and 'not sinning is the most important thing' then such a foul system will develop.   But it's to entirely forget the gospel.

So friends, perhaps you've really blown it recently.  Praise God this could be the opportunity to realize your profound and continual need for the blood of Jesus.  Allow this to teach you the truth - the person you showed yourself to be in your sin is the person you have always been.  It springs from a heart full of evil which you will carry to the grave.  Your only hope lies far above and beyond yourself at God's Right Hand.  He is your profound and continual need.

Perhaps you blew it a while ago but you just can't seem to get beyond it.  Friend - the Word of God forbids you to take your sin more seriously than Christ's forgiveness.  Is your sin great?  Yes.  But is it greater than the Lamb slain before the foundation of the world?   Is it beyond the redeeming value of God's own blood (Acts 20:28).  I think your sin has met its match in the blood of God, don't you?

Perhaps you haven't blown it for a while now but you're realizing you operate according to a functional righteousness.  You hate sin only because it spoils your 'holy count'.  You're proud and graceless.  Well meditate on Philippians 3:1-11.  Know that such 'righteousness' is dung and reckon it all as loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ.  He alone is your life and peace.

Or perhaps you're a blogger who writes about grace.  You can dissect the sins of works-righteousness and see through latent Pharisaisms.  Well neither are you righteous for your pithy critiques of the flesh.  You haven't got it figured out.  If you know anything it's that you're ignorant.  If you have any strength it's only found in your helplessness.  There's no credit to your insight, there's only rest in His mercy.  You are nothing.  Jesus is everything.

.

Twitter widget by Rimon Habib - BuddyPress Expert Developer