gospel – Page 6 – Christ the Truth

Why be good? Part one 12

glenscrivApril 8, 201312 Comments

In March I had a fascinating discussion with three Muslims at Plymouth University. Having just given a talk, my microphone was still on and I have the whole 40 minutes recorded. Twice in the course of our conversation a Muslim man admitted to me that, if there was no fear of punishment, he would 'get drunk and commit fornication all day.'

Rather than using this as proof of the perversity of the human heart, they used it as proof of the perversity of the cross. As far as they could see, this was the only logical response to a belief in Christ's atonement. If you knew you were forgiven once and for all, you would enjoy an over-realised Islamic eschatology right? You'd embrace 'paradise now' - rivers of wine, never-ending sex. That's the life, isn't it? It's just that Allah has ordained this life as a test. If you can forego such pleasures now, you'll be proved worthy of them later.

To me this sounds like those emotional intelligence tests where a child is told to resist eating a marshmallow for 10 minutes. If they pass the test, they get two for proving their patience. Is this how God operates? What would this mean about the character of God? What would it mean about the character of 'this life'? What would it mean about the character of goodness?

I've been thinking about this a lot because I've heard many Christians essentially ask the same question as the Muslims: Why be good? I mean really. If Jesus has really atoned for all my sins - past, present and future - why not get drunk and commit fornication all day?

At this point various answers are given that sound very close to:

"You're forgiven, but not that forgiven."

"You're provisionally forgiven, but you can lose those privileges."

"If you commit sins graded "delta" and above you prove that you were probably never forgiven in the first place."

"You're only forgiven if you're really repentant (and by that we mean 'you've been a decent chap(pette) all your life', none of those 'death-bed conversion' schemes)."

In other words, we don't really believe the gospel. We turn the promise of forgiveness into a status to be earned, and why? Well, because our fear is basically the same fear as the Muslims I spoke to. We imagine that declaring the free forgiveness of sins for the sake of Christ alone will lead to an exodus from the church and into the strip-club. Millions of Christians will rush into sin brandishing their 'get out of hell free' cards in the face of all naysayers - whether from earth or heaven.

Except that we won't. Because there's no such thing as a 'get out of hell free' card. There's only Jesus. He is our forgiveness, our free forgiveness. But Jesus is the One in whom these realities exist:

The Father has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. (Colossians 1:13-14)

We are not given diplomatic immunity and then set loose into enemy territory. We are rescued from enemy territory and delivered into a kingdom iridescent with the Father's love. We are now in Jesus, and He is the inescapable environment of our lives. Forgiveness is not a 'wiped slate', or even a 'Teflon slate'. Forgiveness is a realm into which we've been brought in Jesus - a realm of sonship; of freedom; of fellowship with the Beloved.

Why not get drunk? Ephesians 5:18 says the Spirit of this sonship is better. Why not 'commit fornication'? Paul writes to Corinthians visiting brothels and what does he say? Does he say, "Stop it, Jesus remains outside the brothel, arms-folded waiting for a very good display of contrition before He'll even consider forgiving this"? No, he says to the Corinthians "Stop it, you're taking Jesus into the brothel with you!" (1 Corinthians 6:15-17) And you say, "How horrible!" Well exactly. So don't do it. But don't give up fornicating because Jesus isn't with you all the way. Stop it because He is.

Paul doesn't say to sinners caught in the act: "Now you have less than forgiveness", he says "You have more." We have so much more - we have Christ Himself.

Why be good? Not to avoid punishment. If you're "good" in order to avoid punishment or to gain some other reward, then that aint "good"! That's self-interest. Be good because Jesus is yours and you are His. He has redeemed you, brought you out of the slavery of sin and opened your eyes to the real God and the real world. More on this tomorrow...

Easter Sermon – Isaiah 50 4

glenscrivApril 1, 20134 Comments

TEXT

POWERPOINT

AUDIO

Here’s the good news: You and I are sinking in quicksand. Jesus appears to say "Don't worry, I'm here to save you." He promptly dives in and sinks like a stone before us. When Jesus dies it looks like hope itself dies: our Rescuer perishes! It's strange news, but this is the way Christ rescues - through perishing.

So the quicksand scenario continues... After Jesus sinks without trace we feel a tug on our legs. Jesus drags us under with Him. He binds us to Himself in His death.

At this point you think the good news is really bonkers. And it is - it's utterly right-side-up. Jesus dies and put us to death in His death. He takes us down into His judgement for us. Then He bursts up out of the quicksand into new life - and He takes us with Him. That’s the meaning of Easter Sunday.

What does John 20:21-23 mean? 10

glenscrivMarch 26, 201310 Comments

Messiah mints — Don't worry, when Jesus breathes on you, it's always minty fresh

Many will be preaching on John 20 over the next two Sundays. Often the question comes: "What does Jesus mean in John 20:23?" Let me give you the context.

¹⁹On the evening of that first day of the week, when the disciples were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jewish leaders, Jesus came and stood among them and said,“Peace be with you!” ²⁰After he said this, he showed them his hands and side. The disciples were overjoyed when they saw the Lord.

²¹Again Jesus said, “Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.”²²And with that he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit. ²³If you forgive anyone’s sins, their sins are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.” (John 20:19-21)

How do we understand this? Can Christ's followers run out into the street and address passers-by: "Forgiven... forgiven... UNFORGIVEN... forgiven"? Is Jesus promising a heavenly underwriting of any and every act of forgiveness?

No. Verse 21 interprets verse 23: the disciples will forgive just as Christ has forgiven. How has Christ forgiven? On the basis of His death and to be received by faith. How should the disciples forgive? On the basis of Christ's death and to be received by faith. So as the disciples declare Christ and His forgiveness in the power of the Spirit, the world's response to their message will be its response to Christ (which, in turn, is its response to the Father).

Jesus has already taught them this in John 14. When Judas (not Iscariot) asks why Jesus will only appear to the disciples, Jesus essentially answers: "I don't need to appear to the world. I don't need to go on a resurrection roadshow to the nations. You need to go on the roadshow and take my teaching with you. The world's response to my teaching will be its response to me. So go in the power of the Spirit and take my words with you..."

²³Jesus replied, “Anyone who loves me will obey my teaching. My Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them. ²⁴Anyone who does not love me will not obey my teaching. These words you hear are not my own; they belong to the Father who sent me.
²⁵“All this I have spoken while still with you. ²⁶But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you. (John 14:23-26)

Even before His death, Jesus has taught His disciples how it's going to unfold. So in John 20, when He comes and breathes His Spirit on them, He's saying: "Now's the time. Go and testify. And as you go with my message, my forgiveness goes with you."

So does this verse endorse the willy-nilly preaching of an abstract forgiveness, divorced from the Forgiver? No. But it does give us great confidence as we share the words of Jesus. As we offer the apostolic gospel in the Spirit of Christ we are offering divine mercy.

This verse should not so much produce confessionals as confessors of Christ. But those confessors of Christ (which I hope is all of us) ought to know the power and privilege of offering Jesus. To confessing Christians and to seeking non-Christian we hold out the Christ in whom is all forgiveness (Col 1:13f). We don't just speak about forgiveness, we speak forgiveness itself, because, by the Spirit, the Forgiver Himself is given through the gospel.

The search for identity, or emotional gold-digging 10

glenscrivMarch 7, 2013September 9, 202110 Comments

"Finding your identity in Jesus" is very popular right now. It's the topical sermon series of choice, the convention title, the women's breakfast talk. Is it just me, or is this subject wheeled out at "women's events" much more than men's?

I see it a lot in Christian bookshops. Flicking through the women's devotionals I commonly witness a good cop, bad cop approach. One day you should really get your act together and become a woman of substance/ humility/ excellence/ gentleness/ boldness/ baking, etc. The next, while you're still reeling, you're reminded how your identity is independent of your achievements, you're a princess and you really must learn to rest in that.

Now here's something weird, 'learning how to rest in my Christian identity' is almost always experienced as more burdensome than admonishments to 'godliness'. Why? Well, here's a guess - because whether your devotional is on a carrot day or a stick day it's basically about you! Can you look within and find enough strength to be godly or enough peace to be content? Answer: No, but no-one wants to let the side down, so we march on.

And in the absence of serious reflection upon Christ the reader of such devotionals has to use their imaginations to appreciate their Christian identity and how it all applies to them. Verses are deployed in order to spur you on or prop you up, but not to show Christ off. It's about grabbing a sweet verse from Psalms today to help yesterday's medicine from Proverbs 31 go down.

So what's wrong with all this.

Well, first of all, when this search for identity becomes the goal rather than the fruit of our union with Christ, it's using Jesus to feel better about me. So that's a bit off. Think of it this way, you might like the way your spouse makes you feel, and that's a nice fringe benefit of the relationship. But if your goal in marriage is to get that feeling, you're an emotional gold-digger. And seeking that security (rather than trusting it) always back-fires. The assurance: "Of course I love you" is less and less convincing the more you've had to ask for it.

You see it just doesn't work. Maybe I'm wrong - contradict me in the comments. But have you ever met someone who's found a rock-solid, contented sense of Christian identity by searching for "identity"? I haven't. And I think it's because it's psychologically impossible.

It's unconvincing when you repeat human affirmations to yourself "You're good enough, you're smart enough and doggonnit, people like you." But, psychologically speaking, it's rarely any more re-assuring when you mentally sign God's name to the bottom of them.

Why? Many reasons, but perhaps mainly because we imagine God's basically like us anyway. And without really opening up the word of Christ we're never going to dethrone the God of our imaginations who - surprise, surprise - thinks of us just like we think of ourselves. So signing His name to the bottom of some lovely sentiments only adds to the sense that this is basically wish-fulfillment.

Want a good sense of self? Forget self. That is precisely Jesus' teaching on the matter:

Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. (Matthew 10:39)

The search for yourself can never work. Because finding a lost person is never any help. Lost people don't need to find themselves. If they do, they'll only find that they're lost. Which is no great find.

If you're lost you need to find home. The good news of Jesus is that He's come from Home to find us (Luke 19:10). It's as we're swept up into His life - like a sheep hoisted onto the shepherd's shoulders - that we'll find ourselves. When we're completely knocked off our feet by Jesus - then we are found. And none of it happens through our own grand quest. Only through His.

You want to know the Shepherd hoisting you onto His strong shoulders? Keep looking at the Shepherd. Keep looking at how He seeks and saves. Allow yourself to be told of His coming, His doing and dying. The Spirit applies the word of Christ to you as you look to Him.

As the Issues Etc motto goes: "It's not about you, it's about Jesus for you."

Now notice this crucial point: this isn't your cue to play the noble martyr. You're not abandoning self-regard because Jesus is so self-centred and you need to get on board with His ego-trip. (Well done you!) No, you're abandoning your self-image because you're no good at it. Entrust it to Jesus, because He really is for you. And the more you see His self-giving love, the less you'll need your self-accomplished identity.

So often I'm tempted to complain: "I know I'm meant to feel God's love, but I just don't". But right there I'm casting myself as a victim. I've tried ever so hard but God's love just hasn't made contact with me, poor me! This is a lie and a great affront to the One who's loved me to death. The problem is not that I've failed to appreciate my belovedness, I have failed to appreciate His mighty, blood-earnest love.

Knowing your belovedness is not the point. Knowing His lovingness - His cross - is. Aim at Christ and you'll get your identity. Aim at your identity and you'll get neither Christ nor identity.

Mike Reeves: James does not contradict Paul or the Reformers 84

glenscrivFebruary 20, 201384 Comments

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=udclCIFCGr4]

Taken from Mike's series on justification here.

Five Devotional Talks on Luke 8 1

glenscrivFebruary 18, 20131 Comment

I gave these short talks at the daily prayer meetings for Falmouth CU mission week.

Throughout Luke 8 we see the Word spreading powerfully though it's opposed at every turn. Through death, darkness and much frustration, light and life does triumph.

Luke 8:1-15 - The Word like Seed

Luke 8:16-21 - The Word as Light, Investment & Adoption Papers

Luke 8:22-25 - The Word that rules creation

Luke 8:26-39 - The Word that conquers evil

Luke 8:40-56 - The Word that defeats death

On Not Taking Yourself Too Seriously 2

glenscrivFebruary 14, 20132 Comments

Here's a repost about the vital importance of not being too earnest...

First of all, taking yourself lightly needs to be held together with the other half of the truth: we must take God seriously. Once I take God seriously - and by that I mean the trinitarian God of the Gospel - only then am I freed to get my eyes off myself.

Every human religion has humanity working before a watching God. The true God works before a watching humanity - Isaiah 64:4. In fact, as Isaiah says, that is the distinctive of the living God - He is the God of the gospel. And this gospel is that the Father, Son and Holy Spirit take salvation entirely into their own hands and leave not one calorie of effort to be done by us.

Once we see the Son taking our humanity, empowered by the Spirit to live our life before the Father and then die the death we should die - all in our place and on our behalf - then we see that it's out of our hands. Completely out of our hands.

Hence the punchline of so many of Paul's gospel explanations: "Where then is boasting??!" (Rom 3:27; 4:2; 1 Cor 1:29,31; 3:21; Gal 6:14; Eph 2:9). Boasting is essentially the definition of taking yourself too seriously. And it's the opposite of joy!

The gospel means that we must get off centre-stage, sit in the audience and watch the living God work salvation for us. And thus we take God seriously and we do not take ourselves seriously. In fact the essence of faith is to transfer our focus entirely from self to Christ.

Before Paul came to faith he used to take himself very seriously. He would spend his time building and making known his spiritual CV: Circumcised on the 8th day, of the people of Israel... (Phil 3:5ff). But when he came to see Christ as the gift of righteousness from God to be received by faith he counted that whole self-focused, CV-building, take-myself-very-seriously Pharisaism as dung! Total crap! (Phil 3:8). (And if we don't like those words maybe we need to lighten up and stop taking ourselves so seriously!)

Now he just wants to be found in Christ (Phil 3:9). The old Paul is dead, crucified with Christ (Rom 6:3ff; Gal 2:20; 6:14). And he entrusts every judgement about himself into Christ's hands:

I care very little if I am judged by you or by any human court; indeed, I do not even judge myself. My conscience is clear, but that does not make me innocent. It is the Lord who judges me. (1 Cor 4:3-4).

In the (half-remembered) words of Tim Keller, Paul is basically saying "I don't care what you think of me, I don't even care what I think of me." Paul has been so liberated by Jesus from self-focus, he knows his life is hidden with Christ in God - that's where his true life is (Col 3:1-4). And he refuses to be drawn back down into navel-gazing.

So that's what I basically mean when I say, Take God seriously, Don't take yourself seriously. Be released by Jesus into happy dependence. Then you can roar with laughter and not worry about what a goof you look. Then you can make fun of yourself and all your ridiculous self-salvation projects. Then you can hold everything else lightly because you know that you yourself are gripped by the triune God.

I admit that this can all sound quite radical because we tend to think that spiritual people are very serious people. And the more spiritual, the more serious. Well that's true for every human religion. But the gospel of Jesus is utterly different. And it's the one power to liberate us from the slavery to self and truly release us into the joy of the Spirit.

Law-Gospel in Isaiah 23

glenscrivJanuary 30, 201323 Comments

Isaiah is the tale of two cities. Both of them are Jerusalem.

There is the old Jerusalem with its temple - the House of God. It represents the pinnacle of human and religious strength. If anywhere could be safe from the coming judgement, it would be Jerusalem. Yet the LORD repeatedly asserts that Jerusalem is first in line for divine judgement.

A few examples:

In Isaiah 5 there might be a 6-fold "woe" pronounced on the people in general, but it culminates in the temple with the LORD's own prophet (Isaiah 6:5).

When the LORD commissions Isaiah to preach to Jerusalem, his preaching will completely cut down the tree until only the Holy Seed is left. (Isaiah 6:13)

When Isaiah pronounces oracles against the nations (Isaiah 13-21) they culminate with Jerusalem (Isaiah 22; 29-31).

In Isaiah 51, it is Jerusalem that will drink the cup of the LORD's wrath first (cf Jeremiah 25).

Yet on the other side of this judgement comes a salvation that is also "to the Jew first."

Isaiah is cleansed by fire from the altar (Isaiah 6:7)

The holy Seed will come as a shoot from the stump of Jesse to be universal Ruler (Isaiah 11).

After cosmic judgement, our hope will be manifest "On this mountain" (Isaiah 25:6) but "On that day" (Isaiah 25:9).

After drinking the cup, the LORD takes it out of Zion's hand and comforts them (Isaiah 40:1ff; 51:22)

So we see that judgement and salvation as preached by Isaiah is not like this:

Judgement&Salvation1

It's not that good behaviour could ever avert the judgement of God that rests on Jerusalem. Instead it's like this:

Or, to be more precise, it's like this:

Judgement begins with the house of God (1 Peter 4:17). Israel is the house(hold) of God. The temple is the house of God. And, in fact, the world is the house of God. But it's all scheduled for demolition - from the top down.

Yet what about this holy Seed? What about this Offspring of Jesse? Surely He will sum up Israel - isn't that what a King does? Represent people?

What about this Servant King who is the covenant (Isaiah 42:1-6)? What about this Anointed One who takes up the lost cause of His people? (Isaiah 61). He will bring salvation to Zion, light to the nations, peace to the ends of the earth (Isaiah 11). First He must suffer in a very temple-kind-of-way (Isaiah 53:1-10) and then be glorified (Isaiah 53:11-12). In this way He will sprinkle clean many nations (Isaiah 52:15). They will stream to the true House of God (Isaiah 2:1-4) and so salvation can reach the ends of the earth (Isaiah 65-66).

In this way the preaching of Isaiah is classically law-gospel. There is the righteous judgement of God which cannot be evaded by any of our own righteousness (Isaiah 64:6). And there is one hope for us - the Divine, Davidic Christ of God. He alone bears our punishment and rises to give life. We who receive His word are brought into His eternal covenant and blessed with all His divine blessings (Isaiah 55:3).

Luther did not invent such a paradigm. It pulses through the Scriptures. Because all the bible preaches salvation by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone.

Law-Gospel: Not a Procrustean Bed 28

glenscrivJanuary 29, 201328 Comments

As early as 1520, Luther identified a proper distinction of law and gospel as central to his evangelical understanding of the Scriptures:

“the entire Scripture of God is divided into two parts: commandments and promises.”

The commandments are law and to be obeyed. The promises are gospel and to be trusted. Confusing these categories is the fast-track towards losing the gospel.

For Luther and the reformers, the theological use of the law is to convict us of sin and guilt and to drive us to Christ. His blood alone can answer the demands and damnation of the law.

And so, for Luther (and for many even in the reformed tradition), evangelical preaching involves this journey of law and then gospel - the demands that kill and the promise of Christ that brings life.

At which point, non-Lutherans are liable to say, "That's sweet. And artificial. Are we really meant to force Scripture into this mould?" It can seem a little alien.

Now I'm not a Lutheran, certainly not in the denominational sense. But let me suggest that something like "law-gospel" is not a Procrustean bed for the Scriptures, but the natural contour God's Word.

As I argue here - it's not just Genesis 1 that can be divided into forming and then filling. The whole of the bible runs from form to its filled-full reality. The law is a key example of this. The Good Life outlined by Moses is filled full by Jesus (Matthew 5:17).

And the journey from form to filled-full reality is a journey from death to life. First comes darkness, then light. First the seed, then the plant. First the curses of exile, then the blessings of restoration. First Adam, then Christ. First the cross, then the resurrection. First the old covenant, then the new covenant. First the old earth, then the earth renewed.

In all this, the ultimate reality is known and intended in advance, but there is a journey to undergo. And law-gospel is but one expression of that journey - through death to life. Luther was by no means the first to spot this pattern. I want to argue that this is the basic preaching of the prophets. Today we'll think about Jeremiah. Tomorrow, Isaiah.

In Jeremiah 1, the prophet is called by the Appearing Word of the LORD who puts His words in Jeremiah's mouth. At this point in history, the Word of the LORD will not appear to Israel en masse (Hebrews 1:1). Christ speaks through His prophets to the people. Only in the last days does the Word of the LORD come in the flesh as His own prophet (Hebrews 1:2).

But here in Jeremiah 1, what is the shape of the proclamation which Christ commissions Jeremiah to fulfil?

⁹Then the Lord reached out his hand and touched my mouth and said to me, “I have put my words in your mouth. ¹⁰See, today I appoint you over nations and kingdoms to uproot and tear down, to destroy and overthrow, to build and to plant.” (Jeremiah 1:9-10)

Notice the pattern? Uprooting, tearing down, destroying, overthrowing. But then: building and planting.

As Jeremiah speaks to his own people he will proclaim total destruction. Exile will come. Inescapably.

Essentially, those in Jerusalem respond: "Yeah, sure. We're with you on the total destruction thing. Total destruction for the nations. But we have the temple of the LORD, the temple of the LORD, the temple of the LORD!" (Jeremiah 7:4)

But no, says Jeremiah. The temple is the first place to feel the flames. Judgement begins with the house of God (cf 1 Peter 4:17). God's people are not exempted from judgement. In fact they are judged more harshly. Doom is coming. And it is unavoidable. Your special status, special places, special rituals, special behaviours, special leaders are all worthless. The end is nigh. Your only hope is God's Leader, His Shepherd:

“The days are coming,” declares the Lord,
“when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch,
a King who will reign wisely
and do what is just and right in the land.
⁶In his days Judah will be saved
and Israel will live in safety.
This is the name by which he will be called:
The Lord Our Righteousness. (Jeremiah 23:5-6)

It's law then gospel. It's Israel and all its worthless efforts then Christ and all His mighty salvation.

The whole pattern of prophetic preaching is like this. The prophets preach righteousness to the people. But they also make it clear that the people's righteousness cannot save. Exile is coming and the only hope is God's Messiah on the other side of judgement.

Law-gospel isn't a 16th century invention. It's at least 2000 years older than that.

Genesis 12 Sermon – the Fall of Abram 2

glenscrivJanuary 27, 20132 Comments

Audio Text Powerpoint

Here's a point I didn't have time for in the sermon...

In Egypt, Abram is far from the altar of the LORD and so he's far from calling on the Name of the LORD. It's the altar of the LORD that makes sense of the Name of the LORD.

Think of where Abram's altar is. It's on a mountain ridge between Bethel and Ai. "Bethel" means “house of God” and "Ai" means “ruin”. To the west lies the presence of the Lord. To the east lies a ruin. And this hilltop place of sacrifice stands between them. Where God’s house meets our ruin – there is bloody sacrifice.

At the altar God meets our ruin and provides the blood that saves. Here sinners can call on the true Name of God. Through the blood of the sacrifice we find that the LORD truly is "the compassionate and gracious God..." (Exodus 34:6ff). But who can call on the gospel character of Christ when they are far from His altar??

Abram shows what happens when we stray from the cross. Having sinned, he gives us a picture of a spiritual sulk. In Genesis 13:3, he moves through the “Negev” - the "wilderness" - going from place to place. Moping in the dryness, moping around the fringes of the promised land.

Isn't this what we all do when we fail? I do. I put myself in a self-imposed “time-out” with God. I try not to bother Him for a while and hope He forgets what I’ve done. But no, time doesn’t atone for our sins. Tears don’t atone for our sins. The LORD Himself provides our atonement.

So then, let's flee to the cross, let's know the blood of the LORD Jesus. Let's not mope around on the fringes of His promise, let's not try to clean ourselves up. Let's come to Christ for the bath. Then we will call on His gospel character - the Name that makes sense at the altar.